Heart of Justice

by ShadeJak

Teen detective Kyoko Kirigiri had strived to get into her father's school since she was a child, but one fateful night changed everything and she found herself forced to move and stuck on probation under false charges. But fate had other ideas, for her to take on the role of a trickster and topple corruption. Inspired by EpicLinkSam's P4/DR crossover fic "Nothing But The Truth"

49. The Pharaoh's Wrath

8/1

Kyoko was glad she waited a day before calling the meeting with yesterday's torrential downpour that left her indoors the whole day save a trip to Takemi's clinic. Overcast still lingered, offering some relief from the summer sun as she'd called the others to gather in her attic room for a meeting. Makoto and Ann had taken a seat on the sofa, with Ryuji and Yusuke having taken up a chair and a bench respectively while Kyoko sat at the head of the table with Morgana sitting atop it as she discussed the plan she'd laid out.

"So, then we thinkin' about chargin' into Futaba's room?" asked Ryuji, holding up the calling card.

"This'll be different from past cases," Morgana explained. "This time, we'll be handing the card directly to Futaba herself. Soon as she reads it, we head straight into her Palace!"

"The question remains on how we'll be able to convince Futaba to let us into her room. Even Boss is forbidden from entering," said Yusuke.

"We'll just have to be straight with her," Kyoko said.

"Makes sense," said Makoto. "Futaba will trust us more that way, I think. She doesn't know what we're doing inside her Palace, exactly, so we need to tell her we've come to steal her heart but need her to open the door for us, surely she'll do it."

"Precisely," said Kyoko. "Futaba came to us to have her heart changed, and even gave us what we needed to enter her Palace in the first place. There has to be a chance she'll do so willingly if we explain that to her."

"True, our feelings should get through if we try and talk to her, then!" Ann said.

"Alright! I believe in Futaba!" Ryuji cheered, stretching as he rose from his seat. "C'mon! Let's head over to Boss's place and get this done!"

"Since the storm's passed, he's keeping the place open all day, we shouldn't have any problem going over," Kyoko said.

"It's a shame we gotta sneak in again, forgive me, Boss," Morgana lamented as the others prepared to head downstairs.

---

Within the dark recesses of her bedroom, Futaba Sakura, clad in a striped pajama shirt and shorts with a pair of headphones over her ears, crouched in her chair at her computer desk, though her attention was not on the screens sitting there, but rather the one on her phone.

"An eyeball?" she wondered aloud, staring at the strange app icon that'd appeared on the screen. "When did this get on here?"

A brief dizzy spell passed as she tapped away at the icon, and felt a chill. She knew Sojiro was at the cafe but for some reason, she didn't feel like she was alone. Glancing towards the closet, the girl nearly fell from her chair as a likeness of herself, wreathed in red smoke and wearing robes of an Egyptian queen, stood before her, gazing at her with glowing gold eyes.

"Wha... who are you?!" she cried out, the phantasm continuing to stare at her before it spoke.

"I am the other you," the double said in a voice devoid of emotion.

"I-Is this some kind of hallucination?! It's... different from usual," Futaba stammered, frightened. The apparition stepped forward, its gaze unwavering and seemingly staring into Futaba's soul.

"How long will you continue blaming yourself, and shutting yourself away from the world?" it asked.

"Blaming myself for what?" asked Futaba.

"...For your mother's death," it answered. "Don't you believe it's time you grasped the truth of that moment?" the strangely-dressed specter of her took another step forward. "...What happened before your eyes, what happened to your mother?"

"The... the truth..." Futaba shook her head. That awful memory of that awful day, how could it ever leave her mind? She relived it every day, her mother walking out of the house, her running after her, pleading her to speak to her, and seeing her mother throw herself into the incoming traffic. She remembered every horrible detail of when the vehicle struck Wakaba Ishiki and ended her life, and all that followed...

"...Why did you choose to rely on the Phantom Thieves?" the double of her asked. "...Are you simply going to shut yourself in and do nothing? Are you going to avert your eyes from the true answer?"

Futaba squeezed her eyes shut, gripping the headphones on her head that were all that kept the other voices that haunted her out.

"If that is what you desire, I will kill them in your world," the specter stated, vanishing in a flash of red light and Futaba was once more alone in her room.

"W-What should I do...?" Futaba whimpered, hugging herself in her chair, nearly jumping when she heard a soft knock at her bedroom door.

"Futaba? Futaba are you there? Please... answer us!" a voice she recognized to belong to Makoto Niijima called from the other side.

Outside the bedroom, Kyoko and the others had gathered in the hallway, the young detective folded her arms as a moment passed and no response came from Futaba.

"There's no question this door matches the barrier we found in the Palace," Kyoko said. "Direct conversation doesn't seem to be working any more then before, we'll need to try the alternative, Makoto."

Nodding, Makoto knocked again. "Alibaba? We know you're there. If you're more comfortable with chat-messaging Kyoko, then do that, alright? Just answer us."

Within seconds, Kyoko's phone hummed in her skirt pocket. Taking it out, she saw the approach did indeed work as a new message from Alibaba, grinning icon included, had appeared on its screen.

[You should have told me you were coming] it read.

"She answered," Kyoko affirmed. "Tell her what we're here for, I'd rather not have to type all of it."

"Futaba," Makoto said, giving the door a light tap. "...Please listen to what I have to say: In order to steal your heart, we need you to open this door. We can't do it otherwise, so please let us in."

Kyoko's phone hummed again a few seconds later, as another message appeared.

[I'm not mentally prepared!] it read, getting a sigh from Kyoko.

"This is going to be more difficult then I thought," she muttered as she typed a response.

[Then get mentally prepared. We don't have very long for this.] she messaged.

[It's too sudden!] Futaba's response read.

Kyoko sighed once more, approaching the door and knocking.

"Futaba? Your Shadow... the other you, the one we found within your heart told us you have to open it," she said. "Unless you do, then changing your heart will be impossible for us."

"Deep down, you want to open this door, don't you?" Makoto asked softly.

A few seconds passed before another message came on Kyoko's phone, getting her attention.

[The other me?]

"Yes! We're trying to uphold our promise, but you're the one resisting!" Makoto explained.

A few more seconds passed, and Kyoko's phone hummed once more.

[Gimme some time.]

"Ten seconds!" Makoto said sternly. "Like Kyoko said, we can't do this until you let us in."

[That's not enough! I need minutes!] a new message from Futaba's Alibaba account read on Kyoko's phone.

"We don't have time for this, Futaba!" Kyoko said sharply. "What do you think will happen if Sojiro comes home in the next few minutes? We'll likely never have our chance again."

"You don't want that, do you?" Makoto asked. "...That's ten seconds passed. Time's up, Futaba! We'll kick down this door if we need to!"

Kyoko's phone indicated another message had been sent to her.

[Okay, I'll open it now.]

"So, unlike Madarame, she needs to be the one to invite us in?" Yusuke asked.

"Better safe then sorry," Morgana said. "If we don't do it this way, her Palace may remain impossible to infiltrate further."

The click of a lock was heard, and Futaba's door handle slowly turned before the door slowly opened slightly ajar before the group heard the sound of frantic retreating footsteps and the sliding of another door.

"Let's go," Kyoko said, pushing open the door into the darkened bedroom and leading the way inside.

"What is this?!" Yusuke wondered aloud soon as they'd all entered. Indeed the room was hardly in a state that one would consider presentable with scattered books and magazines littering the floor, as well as the trashbags piled on nearly every surface making the room's furnishings seem crammed. Various textbooks, as well as some action figures decorated the remaining shelves and various posters and flatscreen TVs hung on the walls above game consoles near the bed, the monitors on the computer desk providing the only illumination other then the translucent star patterns on Futaba's closed window curtains.

"Hm, medical science, information technology, biology, psychology," Makoto read through the different covers on one of the shelves. "These are all technical books!"

"She keeps herself cooped up in a room like this all the time?" Ann asked, scrunching her nose and shaking her head in disbelief.

The only thing that did NOT seem to be in this cluttered space, Kyoko noted, was its supposed occupant.

A thump in the nearby closet, however, quickly answered to her whereabouts.

"She'll shut herself in to the bitter end, it seems," Yusuke lamented.

"We made it into her room, though, didn't we?" Ryuji asked.

"Doesn't matter. With her still shutting us out, we'll just get stopped again inside the Palace," said Morgana. "...I bet a fence or something has already formed right around the Treasure, now."

"What?! Th-That makes no sense! Explain yourselves!" a faint, but frantic girl's voice cried out from within the closet, a familiar voice Kyoko and the others recognized had to be Futaba's.

"Whoa! She actually talked to us!" Ryuji gasped.

"Futaba," Kyoko said, approaching the closet door. "It's difficult to explain even if we told you, but the only way we have any chance of stealing your heart is if you open that door and not shut us out. It's the only way to change your cognition."

"So basically, my cognition is a hinderance that's keeping you away from the core of my cognitive world?" Futaba asked.

"She understood it?" Ann gasped, wide-eyed in surprise. Kyoko herself, even couldn't help but be a little surprised as well Futaba had essentially summed it up without any sort of layman's terms.

"How do you know about all this?" she asked. The young detective had her suspicions, but chose not to press right away. She took a breath, it was better if Futaba herself answered.

Unfortunately, Futaba had chosen to go silent again.

"Um, why'd you contact us as "Alibaba" and put us through all that?" Ryuji asked, stepping forward. "...You knew who we were and how to get in touch with us, couldn't you have just asked us directly if you wanted help?"

"Mmm... I... w-was... eh... mmbrrrmm..." Futaba's voice mumbled from within the closet.

Ryuji exchanged a glance with Kyoko and the others and cocked a brow at the closet door. "Huh? I didn't catch that."

A frustrated grumble was heard from within. "Because I was embarrassed!" Futaba answered sharply after.

It was now Kyoko's turn to cock a brow at Futaba's words, Ann however frowned in concern.

"Asking for help isn't always easy," the blonde said.

"I need to ask, Futaba, how do you know about the cognitive world?" Kyoko asked. "Earlier you sounded like you knew exactly what we were talking about."

"'Cause I knew about it," Futaba muttered matter-of-factly, as though it were obvious. "You know about what my mom was studying, right?" she asked. "I've been watching you, I know you've heard a few things. You're a detective, aren't you? You already know."

"What Sojiro and that woman were talking about when she was harassing him, your mother was involved in a research project called "Cognitive science", correct?" Kyoko asked.

"Cognitive PSIENCE!" Futaba corrected abruptly from within the closet. "With "PSI" in the front, you know? Less scientific, more supernatural. That's important!"

"At least we've gotten her attention," Yusuke observed. "It looks like we're on the right track."

"Cognitive... psience?" Makoto asked. "Futaba, what exactly was it your mother was working on?"

Silence.

"Futaba... can you please tell us what happened?" the brunette asked softly.

Silence.

"Futaba, the more you tell us, the easier it will be to understand," Kyoko said, taking a step towards the closet. "I have my theories of the circumstances surrounding what happened, but I need to hear what you know about this "Cognitive Psience" research your mother was involved in."

Silence.

"Yo, Kyoko? We should probably save this for after. She's already been through some serious shit," Ryuji offered.

Kyoko folded her arms, sighing. "You're probably right. We're getting nowhere again and there'll be time after. There's a lot of questions that need answers," she said. "If I were simply doing an interrogation on a case this would be easy, but given what we're trying to accomplish, now, we seem to be at an impasse again."

"Let me try," Ann said, stepping forward. "Futaba... answer truthfully... did you really kill your mother?" she asked, skepticism in her tone despite her blunt question. "Wasn't her death an accident? What exactly happened? "Maternity Neurosis"?! Is that really true?"

Kyoko blinked in surprise. Okay, maybe the interrogation route was possibly the answer, here, after all, judging from Ann's approach. It surprised her a little, seeing someone like Ann go such an method.

"...We've seen what your heart is like, there's something that doesn't add up," Ann explained, speaking more gently, now. "The mother Boss told us about is completely different from your cognition. We want to hear the truth from your mouth, Futaba."

"...M-My... mmm-mom was..." Futaba started to whimper in her hiding place. "Th-The one who k-killed her w-w-was... nnngghh!"

"She may not remember right because her heart's so distorted," Makoto said softly.

Ann drew closer. "Futaba... believe me, I went through a lot, myself... I-I'm sorry."

To everyone's surprise, the closet door suddenly slid open, Futaba just as suddenly springing forward with her arms spread out, her eyes squeezed shut and her head lowered.

So this is the real Futaba Sakura, Kyoko thought to herself. Still, she wondered what Futaba was trying to accomplish, here.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"GO ON! NOW STEAL IT!" the smaller girl declared anxiously, trembling in place as she held her stance. "...C-C'mon! Hurry up and do it!"

"Futaba, when we say "steal your heart" we don't mean literally or done out here in the real world," Kyoko said, facepalming as she realized what Futaba seemed to believe was going on.

"...What?!" Futaba asked, glancing slightly upward at her before letting out a deep sigh as her arms promptly dropped limply at her sides, her head slumping down as well in defeat as she silently stepped back into the closet and slid the door shut once more in a single, abrupt motion.

"What's the meaning of this?!" her voice immediately demanded from within the closet. "D-Did you guys trick me?!"

"...Seems she understands the cognitive world but not how a change of heart truly works," Kyoko said as she looked back at the others, folding her arms again. "...Let's try this another way... Futaba, what can you tell us about the cognitive world? How much do you know about it?"

"Just that it's another world, one created from and based on cognition," Futaba explained. "I don't know how to get there, though."

"I see," replied Kyoko. "...From your mother's research, this "cognitive psience", it was based around that, correct?" she asked.

"Yeah that's right," Futaba muttered from behind the closet door. "You mentioned "seeing my heart" earlier, right? So that means you guys know how to get there? How do you do it?"

"There's an app on our phones," said Makoto.

"...An app?" Futaba asked, though sounding more intrigued then skeptical.

"...It sounds absurd but there's an app that when the correct information is entered, we're able to travel to this "cognitive world", referred to as a "Palace", a place within the cognitive world formed by someone's distorted desires," Kyoko explained.

"Requires a person's name, a place that's important to 'em, and a distortion of how they see it, those three," Ryuji chimed in. "So in this case, it was "Futaba Sakura", "Sojiro Sakura's house", and..."

Makoto raised her hand abruptly as a thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Futaba? You don't happen to have this app, do you?"

"This... I don't," Futaba answered.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Makoto sighed in relief.

"...Can you take me with you, too?" Futaba asked next.

"I'm sure you're curious but to be frank with you, Futaba, that'd likely be a bad idea," Kyoko replied. "The cognitive world, particularly these "Palaces" can be very dangerous, especially for normal people. Even I'm still trying to solve everything about it."

"Gotta agree, best leave it to us," said Ryuji.

A disappointed sigh came from within the closet. "...I'll leave it to you, then." Futaba muttered.

"And you'll keep your promise to us if we succeed?" Kyoko asked.

"I will," Futaba said softly, albeit somewhat annoyed.

"...Well, guess that's that, then," Makoto said.

"Oh! Almost forgot!" Ryuji slipped the calling card from his pocket and sliding it through the crack of the closet door. "The Treasure, that "core" you mentioned? It ain't gonna appear for us to take unless ya read this!"

"I can't read this, it's too dark!" Futaba protested.

"Then come out of there when you do," Kyoko said before turning to the others. "...We should probably leave, now."

"I can make sure she comes out and reads it! You guys go on!" said Morgana.

"We're going now, Futaba," said Makoto. "Once we're gone, promise you'll come out immediately and read it, understood? We can't do this unless you do."

"Yeah, okay," Futaba mumbled back.

As soon as she heard the footsteps of her visitors depart, Futaba cautiously slid open her closet door and peered around. The room appeared to be empty, and her bedroom door had been left ajar but there was no sign of anyone in the hall, either. Sighing in relief, Futaba crept out of her closet and into her bedroom near the glowing monitors to read the card that'd been placed in with her. The front bore the Phantom Thieves' now-famous logo, the back meanwhile had a message addressed to her.

"Hm, let's see..." Futaba muttered to herself, looking over the card. "...Futaba Sakura has committed a great sin of wallowing in wrathful wishes upon herself, thus we will rob every last bit of those distorted desires..."

Reality flickered, the bedroom vanishing into an empty void.

"No," Futaba's Shadow declared, the sound of an alarm ringing in the darkness. "...I'm going to die!"

"It worked! Good!" Morgana sprung out from under Futaba's bed as he watched reality shift back to normal, it was evident the calling card had indeed done its job.

"Kitty?! You again?!" Futaba cried out in shock as the cat immediately fled her bedroom to rejoin the others.

---

"The Palace's security level is so high I can feel it already out here!" Panther remarked as the group stood at the entrance of the pyramid. The sky had reddened noticeably, and reality rippling before their very eyes. Indeed, it seemed the calling card had been a success.

"I don't get it, though," said Skull. "Futaba was totally for gettin' her heart stolen. What's up with all this?"

"I don't know," said Mona. "...Something about this place still feels unusual... there's a presence I'm feeling but I'm not sure where."

"You mean other then the Treasure?" asked Ace.

"Yeah, it's... strong..." Mona shook his head. "...Honestly, though, it doesn't matter! There's only one thing we need to do now that we sent the calling card as this all means the Treasure's fully manifested!"

"True, still, let's remain on-guard. Whatever it is, it'll likely try to prevent us from getting it," Ace warned.

"It should be right through that door at the top'a the stairs, right?" asked Skull.

"Yes, and if our visit with Futaba worked, then it should be open," said Queen.

Adjusting her gloves, Ace took a breath as she lead the way in and they were soon at the foot of the main stairway. Fatigue never set as adrenaline filled her when Ace rushed up the steps, her fellow Thieves following her pace as they ascended the stone stairs.

"I only hope she read the calling card," said Panther.

"From what I saw, she did!" replied Mona.

"After all the trouble we went through, what matters is if indeed the path is clear or this is for naught," said Fox.

Fortunately, it seemed it was not the case as the doorway was gone, leading into a small room with a stone tablet on a pedestal and green glyphs on the floor. Approaching, Ace studied them.

"It seems to be some kind of elevator," she said, gesturing the others to enter with her as she pressed her hand on the tablet, causing it to glow a bright green before the floor began to rise, bringing them further upward at a quick speed to another floor.

Rising into the new chamber, Ace could see it was a vast room with several platforms connected by stairs, down below was an empty abyss of green light. The walls, however, were noticeably different: Various computer monitor screens drifted around them, and seemingly endless green binary coding covered the walls entirely. Several columns, coffins and other décor were twisted and tipped haphazardly or suspended in the air forming makeshift platforms in a spiraling motion towards a large, singular platform further up.

"This part must resemble Futaba's room, itself," Queen observed.

"Yup, this would be the heart of a hacker, alright!" Skull said.

"The Treasure has to be here!" replied Mona.

"That'd be why the distortion's the strongest," Ace said. "...I would suspect the Treasure must be on that platform at the top!"

"I think you're right, Ace," Mona said, his ears twitching. "I'm getting a really strong signal from above, so that's gotta be it! Let's hurry and steal it while we can!"

Ace cautiously approached a set of stairs, then saw it lead to platforms where upon inspection, were crawling with Shadows. Her eyes turned to where the platform at the top was situated and focused, closing them a second as her vision altered to where she noted a few glowing points on the floating debris and a corner of her intended destination.

"Kyoko?" Queen asked, looking at her curiously, as the young detective turned to face the others.

"...I suggest everyone hold on," she said, taking out her grapple gun. Soon as everyone had done so, she fired it. Kyoko felt the wind as she and the others' feet left the ground, hurtling into the code-littered void as they swung and looped over a sarcophagus, Ace taking aim again as the momentum sent them flying high into the air before firing once more and pulling them all up to the platform at the top of the chamber, albeit in a less then graceful way as they crashed on to the stone surface in a heap.

"Ohhh man, felt that!" Skull moaned as he stood himself up.

"Ugghhh... next time, better just say your plan, Kyoko," Panther muttered as she righted herself as well.

"Look, it seems the path is clear," Fox said. "...That door, though, very curious..." His attention was on the door that stood at the end of the platform they'd landed on, which had only a chunk of wall surrounding it despite it opening to a hallway.

"There's no doubt about it, though, the Treasure is definitely right through there!" Mona said.

"What shall await us beyond, though," Fox mused.

"No matter what it is, we need to be ready for it. What do you say, Ace?" Mona asked, looking up at Kyoko.

"Let's go," Ace replied. "The sooner we take it the less likely we'll be faced with any serious opposition."

Tossing back her hair and adjusting her gloves, Ace lead the way, gun appearing in her grip in case they ran into any trouble...

---

Futaba stared at the strange app on her phone that resembled a stylized red eyeball as she sat in her desk chair, knees brought up and hugged against her chest as she fiddled with the menu the app brought up. The others had disappeared without a trace as she'd not even remembered hearing the front door open and close, and what they'd said had only piqued her curiosity about said app, now.

"So... if I use this," she mused to herself, "...I can change my heart?"

Pressing one of the menu bars, the girl cocked an eyebrow at the command on the screen. "...Vocal input...?"

Taking a deep breath, Futaba spoke the first command. "...Fu... taba... Sakura..."

Nothing seemed to happen aside from her name appearing in the menu tab, the teen tried to recall the other things she remembered her unexpected guests had mentioned as well.

"...Sojiro Sakura's house."

"CANDIDATE FOUND!" the app replied.

"...And then, something about... "distortion"...?" Futaba wondered aloud, repeating the last word over a few times, until an eerie screeching, faint at first but growing louder to the point of deafening was suddenly sounding in her head, like the sound of a vehicle trying to stop...

Futaba could feel anxiety wash over her, panic rising as she knew what always came next after she heard that awful screeching sound that brought up that terrible memory with it.

"YOU KILLED HER!"

"YOU'RE A PLAGUE!"

"MURDERER!"

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!"

"N-No! Stop! STOP IT!" Futaba screamed out, trembling as she pressed her earphones desperately against her head to drown them out. Tears ran from her eyes as she saw angry faces all around her, glaring down at her with hateful glares as they screamed those awful things at her.

"YOU DESERVED TO DIE NOT HER!"

"WORTHLESS CHILD!"

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!"

"STOP CRYING THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

"NO!" Futaba sprung to her feet, rushing out of her room and looking around the darkened hallway frantically.

"That's right... I remember..." Futaba struggled to hold back tears as the voices briefly faded into white noise, "...Back when they were here, I... messaged "tomb" in the chat, and-"

"INPUT ACCEPTED!" the app declared from Futaba's phone still in her grip. The teen's eyes widened as reality suddenly, and briefly flashed red and rippled around her. "SEARCHING FOR ROUTE TO DESTINATION!"

"Huh?!" Futaba gasped, looking at her phone and the eye-like icon that now took up the screen. "...Can I go in, now?"

"Futaba..."

"Hm?" Futaba looked down the hall, having thought she heard her name.

In an instant realization came to her as the ambience in her ears was soon drowned out once more by angry jeers, growing louder and louder.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!"

Futaba recoiled, those horrible voices, she could now make out their owners, shrouded in the shadows of the darkened hall, pointing at her with faces twisted in hateful rage as they drew closer, glaring furiously at her.

"MURDERER!"

"MURDERER!"

"MURDERER!"

"FUTABA..."

One stood out above the others, a voice filled with venom and contempt as a woman with short dark hair and glasses Futaba recognized right away stood before her, gritting her teeth as she gazed down at Futaba.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAD YOU!"

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Futaba cried out, gripping her head and collapsing to her knees as she broke down sobbing, the world and the apparitions spinning around her as reality began to twist and warp around her.

"I'M SORRY!" Futaba wept, tears flowing from her eyes as she heard the app announce it beginning its navigation. "...I'M SORRY!"

---

The tiny chamber the door had lead into was dark, save for the faint green light of binary code and glyphs decorating the floor and highlighting a large sarcophagus at the center of the room. A low, triangular ceiling steepled above the Phantom Thieves as they'd entered. The room was otherwise completely empty, and Futaba's Shadow was nowhere to be found.

"The hell? This ain't what I imagined," Skull muttered, looking around.

"Were you expecting a mountain of gold and jewels or something of the sort?" Fox asked dryly.

"Futaba's Treasure is likely in that sarcophagus," Ace said, pinching her chin in thought and approaching it.

"Well, guess we better open it up and find out!" said Panther.

"T-Treasurrrre!" Mona purred excitedly, coming over to Ace's side as the others reached for the lid.

No sooner had their fingers touched when another tremor, much like the ones from when the puzzles during infiltration had been solved, suddenly struck the tomb, as though something outside had slammed into it. A loud, inhuman shriek echoed outside as if to confirm it.

"Something's here," Ace aimed her gun around at the ceiling cautiously. "Sounded like it was right outside..."

"I got a bad feelin' about this," Skull muttered, gazing around the steepled ceiling with concern.

"LOOK OUT!" Ace immediately pushed Mona aside as chunks of the ceiling suddenly collapsed, landing on the floor and leaving a hole, the sun shining through the newly-made skylight.

It didn't last, however, as the group soon found themselves staring back at a massive, bloodshot eye darting about and gazing down at them through the opening.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Skull cried out in alarm.

"FUTABAAAAAAAAA!" the eye's owner screamed out in a shrill, barely human voice.

"Is it her Shadow?!" Queen gasped. "No, wait..."

"It's not Futaba," Ace said, readying her gun. "It's something else!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" the unseen behemoth shrieked, the roof sustaining more powerful tremors as though the creature outside were beating against it, more chunks of debris crumbling away as it suddenly shattered apart from a mighty gust of wind, revealing what waited outside.

"IF IT'S NOT A SHADOW THEN WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Skull screamed out, digging his fingers into the ground to avoid being swept away in the gust.

"A COGNITION! A MONSTER BORN FROM FUTABA'S SUBCONSCIOUS!" Mona explained.

The beast that had destroyed the shadow descended, slamming its massive paws down on either side of the pyramid floor that had now become its roof and swatting away several columns, one nearly landing on Queen as she hurriedly rolled out of its path, and now, in full view, it revealed itself.

It resembled a sphinx, very much the same size as the one depicted in Egypt's famous sculpture; its body that of a lioness with massive gray feathered wings of an eagle that kept it up in the air, and wearing a red scale cuirass over its chest. Its most notable feature, however, was its face, one that Ace immediately recognized as that of the woman depicted in the Palace's puzzles, that of Futaba's deceased mother, Wakaba Ishiki.

The sphinx depicted in that map we got, Ace determined. So this is how Futaba sees her mother, now...

Quickly aiming her gun, Ace fired several shots at the sphinx, which suddenly launched itself up high into the sky with a mighty flap of its gigantic wings.

"DO NOT APPROACH THE PHAROAH'S TOMB! MISFORTUNE AWAITS YOU!" the sphinx bellowed at her as it circled around the pyramid from high above.

"We'll never reach it that high up! Let's use our guns and Personas' skills to try and bring it down!" Mona ordered.

"Let's give that a try! PHOENIX!" Ace shouted, summoning the fiery bird Persona to unleash a blast of blue nuclear energy at the creature.

"JOHANNA!" Queen's motorcycle Persona materialized, sending a blue energy blast of her own at it as well.

"CARMEN!"

"CAPTAIN KIDD!"

"GOEMON!"

"ZORRO!"

Flames, lightning bolts, ice, cyclones, all flew at the airborne monster, striking it. The creature, however, barely seemed to acknowledge it at all, as thought it'd hardly even felt their attacks.

"No good! Our attacks aren't at their peak when they reach it!" said Ace, gritting her teeth as the beast turned and began to fly towards them.

"Let's try our guns, then! Open fire once it gets close!" Mona ordered.

Their gigantic foe drew closer, swooping towards the Phantom Thieves as they summoned their respective guns and opened fire on it, only to miss as it let out a sinister shriek before passing over them at incredible speed, causing a powerful gust in its wake that knocked them all over, scattered like bowling pins. Ace groaned in pain, turning to see the creature beat its wings again, launching itself up even higher then before into the air that she could no longer see it with the sun in her eyes.

"MONA! IT'S GONE!" she cried out, shielding her eyes with her arm and the others doing the same as they frantically searched for their missing enemy.

"I-I know! I can't... I can't sense its presence anywhere!" Mona stammered anxiously, looking around with equal urgency but not seeing the monstrous cognition anywhere, either.

"It's got to be planning an ambush! NIGI MITAMA!" Ace summoned the raindrop-like Persona, bathing everyone in a purple aura for what she suspected was an impending attack while Mona summoned Zorro to heal everyone.

"Everyone! Get ready! It's..." Mona looked about at the sky, but saw nothing. "No... I can't... where is it?!"

"Mona, can't you sense it yet?" Skull cried out, staggering as he attempted to stand.

"I... I can't!" Mona gasped as he suddenly saw a silhouette seemingly drop from out of nowhere at a blinding speed.

SMASH!

Not even the Thieves' preparations aided from the sphinx's suddenly body-slam on to the pyramid's new rooftop, the beast crashing down hard atop it and causing a destructive earthquake from the impact as it promptly swung one of its paws, striking the entire party save Mona, who'd ducked barely in time but the wind pressure alone sent him flying and crashing into a column, the others scattered once more and barely able to stand now.

"S-Sentata..." Ace struggled despite her injuries to summon the next Persona, glaring at the gigantic monster and seeing what may have been the only opportunity to attack at close range. The spear-wielding warrior launched itself at the sphinx but the beast despite its size managing to dodge it with ease as it leaped into the air, its wings fanning out and propelling it further up into the sky and out of sight once more.

"Unnhhh... i-it's no good!" Mona whimpered as he lay sprawled on the roof, sore from his own injuries. "I can't... I can't do it! I can't tell at all when it's gonna attack!"

"Y-You can't... tell?!" Queen protested, dazed and straining from her own injuries from the recent attack. "Mona... w-we can't do this without you!"

"I can't help it! There's some things even I can't do!" Mona protested as he attempted to call Zorro once again to try and heal them.

"IT'S COMING BACK!" Panther screamed out in alarm, pointing at the rapidly descending dark shape in the sky swooping towards them once more.

"TRY AND DRIVE IT OFF! ISIS!" Ace summoned the golden-clad goddess Persona to unleash a brutal gust.

"GOEMON!" Fox joined in, his kabuki Persona firing a blast of cold.

"CAPTAIN KIDD!" Skull's pirate Persona aimed its cannon to fire a bolt of lightning.

"CARMEN!" Flames erupted from a spin of Panther's Persona.

"JOHANNA!" Queen's motorcycle Persona emitted a beam of blue energy.

"We... we can't win..." Mona uttered to himself in horror as their foe powered through the attacks in its swift descent...

---

"So... this is the inside of my heart?" Futaba looked around in surprise at the strange surroundings, a twisted stairway of debris and décor suspended in a void of glowing binary code and hieroglyphs, which had replaced her bedroom.

Futaba had barely had the chance to approach the doorway at the end of the platform when a loud tremor suddenly shook the otherworldly chamber and a gigantic mural dropped in front of her.

"Huh?!" the girl gasped, when another unexpected sight appeared before her as well, the double she'd seen earlier dressed in Egyptian pharaoh robes. Her Shadow as she understood it.

"...Do you remember?" the doppelganger asked, her voice with an unnatural reverberation to it and its eyes glowing a golden yellow as it stared at her sternly.

Futaba looked up at the mural, depicting the pharaoh version of herself seated with hawk-headed men in suits standing before her, the one in the front reading from a piece of paper.

"This... this is..." Futaba could feel her eyes grow wet. "...the suicide note... those men in the black suits read it to me right after Mom died..."

The other her nodded. "That is correct. Now look at this one," she said, raising up her hand as the mural shifted into a new one, where a weeping Futaba knelt on the sidewalk while a woman in front of her was flinging herself into traffic.

"This... it's... w-when Mom jumped in front of that car!" Futaba whimpered as she looked at the image.

"That's right, now the next," the Shadow Futaba replied, as another mural replaced it, this one depicting the smaller Futaba being scolded by her busy mother.

"No..." Futaba fell to her knees, covering her eyes as she felt ready to cry. "Please..."

"Don't run," the other her stated, its tone stern yet not cruel or harsh. "...I thought you made your mind up after you talked to the Phantom Thieves..."

Futaba could feel her body tremble as she hugged herself into a fetal position, shaking her head as she struggled to find a sliver of willpower within herself to look at another moment she'd felt nothing but shame for. A moment had passed, before finally, slowly, she stood herself up and looked at the mural.

"...It's me... complaining. Mom... sh-she scolded me for... for bothering her," she stammered, slowly looking away to the floor.

"Correct... do not avert your eyes," her Shadow self ordered.

Futaba shook her head anxiously, pressing her fingers against her forehead as she covered her eyes. "N-No! I was right!" she wept. "It was me who killed Mom! I'm the reason she wanted to die! B-Because I was such a bad daughter! I weighed her down and she hated me for it! I remember all of it!"

"...Are you sure?" the other her asked softly. "Remember everything. Do not look away... when did this happen, exactly?"

"It was... just a little before Mom died," Futaba said, holding her left arm with her right hand and a tear running down her cheek. "...I whined about wanting to go on a family trip... but she scolded me and said no."

"Was that all she said?" the double inquired, approaching.

"Mom said..." Futaba looked at the mural, feeling her thoughts begin to grow clearer. "...She said "I'm too busy right now, I have to finish my cognitive research as soon as possible"..."

"And what did you do next?" the Shadow self asked, her gaze meeting Futaba's.

"I-I threw a tantrum, I told her she thought her research was more important then I was," said Futaba, ashamed and trembling as she looked back at her double. "...and that's when she scolded me..."

Her Shadow stared at her, bearing impassive frown yet did not appear satisfied by her answer as the double spoke again. "...But what did she say after? There was more."

"She..." Futaba looked at the mural again, feeling more clarity in her mind as she did. "She said to me... "My research is almost over, Futaba. Once it's finished, we can go anywhere you like. I'm sorry I left you feeling alone for so long, Futaba. Please try to understand"," she said. "...She told me "This research is really important. I need to complete it, even if it costs me my life"..."

"...Did she hate you?" her Shadow asked, her frown deepening to a more stern look like she expected Futaba should already know the answer, now.

"She... she didn't..." The mural glowed, the image changing ever-so-slightly but Futaba immediately noticed the difference. "She smiled!" the teen's eyes went wide with awe, but the realization was then hit with a sharp migraine that fell her to her knees, clutching her head in pain. "Gahh...! W-Which one... which is true?!"

"Your memory is," her Shadow responded as it vanished from sight.

Futaba's pain faded, only for a terrible tremor to suddenly shake the walls of the chamber, accompanied by an unhuman shriek of her name that sounded like it came from outside. "Huh...?!" Futaba stood up, noticing the doorway was now unobstructed. "It's... calling me...?"

Breaking into a run, Futaba rushed for the doorway.

---

"The HELL?! We ain't doin' SHIT to it!" Skull protested under strained breaths as he attempted to stand. The entire group looked no better for wear either as they barely could stand any better as the massive sphinx's form loomed over them, glaring down hatefully at them as it gripped the sides of the pyramid.

"It's... too powerful," Ace gasped. She felt exhausted, both from their opponent's onslaught and keeping them permanently on the defensive. Every time they'd attempted to recover, from their Personas' abilities or the medicines she'd brought, its attacks always left them barely clinging to life. Even she could not think of a solution at this point; with their guns out of ammunition and the fact it was simply too strong to provide a window to attack, and too quick to successfully harm or defend against.

"Wha... FUTABA?!" she heard Queen's voice cry out, prompting her and the others to turn towards the stairs that'd lead into the former chamber, where stood none other then Futaba Sakura, dressed in her sleepwear rather then Pharaoh robes confirming it was indeed the real one that was staring in confusion at them, now.

"Futaba? What are you doing here?! It's dangerous!" Ace shouted.

"The person themself coming into their own Palace?!" Mona gasped in surprise. "If that happens, though..."

Futaba's eyes went wide as the sphinx descended, no longer eclipsing the sun and revealing its all-too-familiar face to her. "What the...?! Th-that's...!" Futaba shuddered, cowering towards the stairs in terror as reality around her began to undulate and ripple, taking on an eerie, blood red hue.

"YOU KILLED HER!"

"WHY DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?!"

Two men, her mother's relatives, her own family, stood there, now in place of the Phantom Thieves, glaring and pointing furiously at her with hateful glares.

"N-No!" Futaba whimpered, wilting and collapsing to her knees as she hugged herself.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT SHE DIED!"

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!"

More people she knew from her family, now all surrounding her, pointing accusing fingers and faces twisted with hate and rage as they now loomed over her, closing in around her.

"It's my fault... it's my fault," Futaba repeated to herself as she could feel fresh tears forming again in her eyes.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" a horrible, shrill voice screamed at her, Futaba saw the sphinx's face, a hateful likeness of her mother she knew despised her, was now glaring down at her as well. "YOU KILLED ME!"

"I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! I n-never m-meant to... I...!" Futaba sobbed, cowering under the cognition's furious gaze.

"Her distorted memories from her guilt, it must've altered her cognition of her mother, creating this monster!" Mona explained. "She wished for her mother to be alive, but her guilt and those awful jeers she believes to be true were mixed in as well!"

"YOU'RE SORRY?! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A SELFISH, UNGRATEFUL BURDEN WHO STOOD IN MY WAY! YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN!" the sphinx snarled down at Futaba as it hovered in the air.

Ace's brow furrowed, her teeth grit. Something in her own mind clicked, the words her grandfather used to describe what her father thought of her and why he'd given her up...

Words he used to describe her father, words she no longer felt certain were even true the more she thought about it, along with his own disgust at her arrest as though it hurt him more then her...

She'd dwell on these thoughts this entire ordeal was making her question later, as an anger of her own began to boil in the young detective listening to this twisted monstrosity speak so horribly to Futaba, saying things Ace and the other Thieves had already determined were in no way true, either. Either way, she'd heard enough.

"Futaba, listen! That thing is not your mother!" she snapped, slowly standing herself up and approaching the frightened girl, then glaring back at the looming monster as the others began to stand up as well, Queen rushing to Futaba's side to console her.

"Wh-what?" Futaba stuttered, shaking as the visions of her relatives had vanished, though looking over, she could see the nightmarish monster that bore her mother's likeness had not, and was indeed very much real.

"...YOU KNOW THAT WITHOUT YOU, I COULD HAVE ANNOUNCED MY RESULTS WITHOUT HAVING TO WASTE MY TIME ON YOU!" the sphinx bellowed in response. "I POURED MY HEART AND SOUL INTO THAT RESEARCH! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY IF YOU'D NOT GOTTEN IN MY WAY!"

"What does she mean by that?" asked Queen.

"She must be referring to the "cognitive psience" Futaba described," said Ace.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, FUTABA, JUST LIKE YOU DESERVE!" the Wakaba-sphinx screamed in a rage as it hovered in the air, beating its wings more furiously and kicking up sand and wind at the group before it. "THERE IS NO MEANING TO YOUR LIFE! NO ONE NEEDS YOU!"

"Nobody... nobody cares about me... no one..." Futaba sniffled, curling up into a fetal position with a thousand-yard stare on her face.

"..."I never should have had Futaba, she was always such a bother to me." ...Well, it seems like you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan!" a man's voice suddenly stated, his tone condescending and causing the Thieves to turn and see a cognition of a suited man standing before the sphinx, narrating off a paper he was holding and giving a faux-apologetic smirk at Futaba. "...She must've suffered some kind of maternity neurosis because of you!"

"This must be the man who read the suicide note," Ace seethed, glaring at him. "...One of the people who covered up her death."

"Wha...?" Futaba stammered, looking at her, only to immediately cower in terror at the sphinx's hateful glare as apparitions of her mother, bruised, bloody, broken, twitching from the fatal accident like a reanimated corpse reached for her, gasping out her name and glaring at her with angry eyes.

"N-NO!" Futaba screamed, covering her head, sobbing. "I'M SORRY, MOM! I'M SO SORRY!"

"Futaba's survivor guilt, it gave birth to a Palace where her mother wants her dead?" Queen asked.

"Futaba! Listen to us! That monster, those people, they're just illusions in your mind!" Panther shouted.

"Futaba, those men lied to you!" Ace stated sternly.

"Wh-what are you... lied...?" Futaba asked, struggling to look at her again through tear-filled eyes.

"She's right, this is all a false memory that's been imprinted onto you by them!" said Fox.

"What do you mean?!" Futaba pleaded. "This was my fault! I know it was!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, FUTABA! IT IS YOUR FAULT! YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED INSTEAD AND I'D HAVE FINALLY BEEN RID OF YOU!" the sphinx sneered as it rose higher, looming over them.

"Futaba, that monster, those men, all of them are lying!" Ace shouted. "Sojiro told me your mother loved you, Futaba," she said, looking back over her shoulder at the younger girl. "...My investigation has convinced me your mother didn't just die, she was murdered by a mental shutdown!" she explained, glaring at the cognition of the suited man and the imposing beast looming behind him. "...I suspect for her research, and those men were involved somehow and made you a scapegoat as a means to cover it up!"

"...You made your mother destroy her research, Futaba-chan," the memory of the suited man stated coldly. "Research she worked so hard on! She lost her mind all thanks to the stress of having to deal with you, and took her life as a result."

"MURDERER!"

"YOUR FAULT!"

"Don't listen to 'em, Futaba!" Skull snapped sharply, coming to her side as well. "That piece of shit LIED to you and your family so you'd get blamed! Your mom didn't hate you!"

"FUTABA SAKURA! REMEMBER!"

Everyone turned sharply at the sound of a voice similar to Futaba's own, her Shadow now stood at the stairs, pointing at the cowering girl.

"Listen to these Phantom Thieves, Futaba... and ask yourself why you thought it was suicide," the Shadow said, approaching as the figments of Futaba's relatives and the suited man suddenly flickered and vanished.

"B-Because of the note," Futaba replied meekly, the world around her fading into a darkness where only she and her Shadow self existed.

"Exactly, the men in the black suits read a suicide note to you, and what was written on it?" the Shadow asked.

Futaba sniffled, trying to dry her tears. "...All of her complaints about me."

"Yes, the shock and pain led you to avert your eyes," her Shadow replied. "But they kept reading it aloud, in front of all your relatives. Think hard, was that suicide note actually real?"

Kyoko's words entered Futaba's mind, about a murder, a cover-up, and her mind began to feel a clarity again as she remembered what the young detective had said, from her investigation based on her own findings and deductions.

Sojiro telling Kyoko and the others her mother loved her, not hated her.

"Sh-she... she did love me..." Futaba whimpered.

"Yes, and would the mother who loved you so much ever have truly written such things, let alone say them to you?" her Shadow asked, staring down at her.

Futaba's eyes widened, her mind growing clearer once more as memories, different memories, loving memories, entered it.

"She wouldn't!" Futaba declared, wiping away her tears and slowly standing up. "She scolded me when I had tantrums, but she loved and cared for me!"

"...Then what of the suicide note?" her Shadow inquired.

Futaba felt a new emotion form within her, besides resolve: Anger. Pure anger boiling inside her as she recalled what Kyoko had determined was what truly happened.

"A TOTAL LIE!" she shouted. "Those men, they DID lie to me! They forged a suicide note so they could lay the blame on me, and they read it to my relatives so they'd blame me, too!"

"That's right," her Shadow answered. "Those men in the suits took advantage of your grief, and trampled all over your young heart after your mother was stolen from you! Be angry! NEVER forgive those men for what they did!"

"I couldn't face myself, or Mom's death," Futaba said, standing firmly. "How could they go and do that?! Why did they have to go and yell at me?!"

Futaba found herself back on the roof of the pyramid, the Phantom Thieves standing around her, and the horrible monstrosity with her mother's face looming behind them.

"NOW, FUTABA, I'LL END YOU MYSELF!" the creature bellowed, raising its paw to strike them all...

"Oh god," Queen gasped, even Ace looked worried as the massive paw swung towards them...

...Only to stop short as it impacted a glowing barrier, binary code flashing across it and surprising the beast as it recoiled in pain, the binary code began to condense, circling around Futaba and glyphs on the floor glowing a bright green as she suddenly held her head in pain, no longer from horrible visions but now something, a power she knew to be her own, pounding within.

"What denies you is an illusion," a new voice that sounded like her own echoed within her mind. "...A curse put upon you by the heartless. You knew from the very beginning and yet you cowered with fear..."

"Th-That's right!" Futaba whimpered through the pain, looking over at Ace. "You... were right... and I think... I did know from the start! B-But I...!"

"NO! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" the sphinx screamed angrily as it hovered in the air nursing its burned paw. "THIS TIME YOU'LL BE THE ONE TO DIE AS YOU SHOULD HAVE!"

"Will you die, just as you were told?" the voice in Futaba's head inquired. "Whom will you obey? Cursed words spat out by a seething illusion, or the truth within your own soul?"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" the sphinx shrieked, beating its wings and taking higher into the air with a mighty gust of wind. "YOU DESERVE TO DIE, FUTABA! YOU KNOW THIS TO BE THE TRUTH!"

"That's not true at ALL!" Futaba screamed out, ignoring the pain in her head as she glared back at the monster. "I won't let those distorted lies deceive me anymore, and I won't be led astray by others' voices, either! I'm going to trust my own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies!" she grit her teeth, her brow furrowing to a look of rage at the beast glaring down at her. "There's no way you're my mom! You're nothing but a fake created by those awful adults who took her from me!"

The young girl clenched her fists, teeth gritting as she stared down the towering foe. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THEM!"

As the words left Futaba's lips, a flash of light emitted from her, Futaba's Shadow self clad in its pharaoh robes rising up several feet above her, glowing in a green light as its form then vanished, in its place an entirely new one.

Where Futaba's Shadow had once been, now hovered what appeared to be a personal aircraft resembling a black "flying saucer" UFO covered in green grid-lines along the rim, five spinning orbs emitting blue-green energy framed by a red pentagram symbol rotated underneath the dish portion and a winged gargoyle perched on its top as a decorative ornament. A hatch underneath suddenly slid open as the translucent chains surrounding its form snapped away, and metal tendrils slid out, wrapping themselves around Futaba's body and limbs. The girl gasped in surprise as the tendrils pulled her up through the hatch and inside the small spaceship, it closing once she'd disappeared from sight.

"Futaba!" Panther cried out in alarm.

"Wait, I think..." Ace's eyes went wide. "...That has to be her Persona!"

"I think so! She's awakening!" Mona said. "Look at that thing!"

"Contract established," a voice similar to Futaba's own though sounding more mechanical echoed from the ship. "I am thou, thou art I! The forbidden wisdom has been revealed!"

Futaba's eyes snapped open as she found herself seemingly floating in darkness, suddenly lit up by rings of binary code orbiting around her like an atom model, various monitor screens suddenly winking into existence before her displaying various code sequences, schematics, and a view of outside. She also noticed her clothing had changed as well, having become a form-fitting black bodysuit with light blue gridline patterns running along it, with neon-green gloves and boots in black covers and a pair of thigh pouches attached to criss-crossing belts as she found she was seated in a reclining position within the strange craft

"No mysteries, no illusions shall deceive you any longer!" the voice declared.

"I'm okay, guys!" Futaba shouted down to the Thieves from within the spacecraft. "Now, help me out here, 'cause that monster's gotta go! Here's a little boost!"

Ace and the others were promptly engulfed in a prismatic burst of light, feeling completely refreshed as the light faded. The young detective gave a faint smile as she turned away from the hovering spacecraft, seeing the sphinx now descending once more as it circled around the pyramid, the beast shrieking Futaba's name furiously but remaining out of range.

"FUTABAAAA!" it bellowed, "I DIDN'T RAISE YOU TO BE LIKE THAT! HOW DARE YOU RUN AROUND WITH SUCH AN AWFUL CROWD! THE ONLY THING YOU SHOULD DO IS OBEY MY ORDERS!"

"M-Mom..." Futaba looked away from the screen within her spacecraft Persona, her mother, the thing with her mother's face, filling it as it glared at her with rage. Shaking her head, the girl cleared her head. "No! You're NOT mom! You're nothing but a monster!"

The screen flickered, her mother's image replaced by the suited man's.

"You're already to blame for her suicide, Futaba-chan," he said in a patronizing tone. "...Do you really intend to insult her memory further by acting like this?"

"SHUT UP!" Futaba screamed out furiously, remembering those words being said to her when she'd started crying years ago listening to him read the forged note. "Nice try, but that trick won't work on me anymore, either!" The screen flickered back to the sphinx's own angry likeness of her mother as it let out a frustrated shriek.

"YOU DARE TALK BACK?! YOU WOULD LISTEN TO THESE NO-GOOD PUNKS RATHER THEN ACCEPT WHAT IS TRUTH?!" the sphinx screamed out as it began to close in. "I WILL CRUSH THEM ALL!"

With a mighty flap of its wings, the sphinx suddenly rocketed high up into the sky and out of sight once more

"Glad to be back in the game, but what do we do, now?" Skull asked anxiously.

"If it's gonna swoop down again, we need a plan!" Panther said.

"Damnit, what can we do?!" Mona protested, looking around frantically for any sign of the airborne monster.

"Futaba! Is there anything you can do?" Ace asked, looking back at the hovering craft.

A chuckle came from the ship. "Don't you worry! I've got this! It's my cognitive world, right? That means hacking into the distortions should be no problem!"

"Whatever you've got in mind, make it fast!" Ace ordered, seeing a dark shape rapidly descend towards them.

"DIIIIIIEEEEEE!" the sphinx screamed out as it swooped down, ready to body-slam the roof and crush everyone on it.

The attack never hit.

The sphinx screamed in agony as it instead struck a glowing green force field, stronger then the last barrier that stopped it, that had covered the Phantom Thieves and Futaba's spacecraft like a bubble, various glyphs and symbols rotating and glowing brightly on its surface as the creature was promptly and painfully electrocuted by the force field's energies and causing it to grasp its head in pain before collapsing and tumbling over the side of the pyramid into the sand below.

Ace smirked lightly, nodding in approval. "That suffices," she said.

"We're... we're alive!" Queen gasped.

"Would appear so," Fox said.

"Whoa! Awesome work, Futaba!" Skull cheered.

"GYYYAAAAGGGHHH!" the creature let out a pained snarl as it got back on its fleet and took to the skies again, though it was moving noticeably weaker now and attempting to once more stay out of range. "YOU... ROTTEN... BRATS!" it snarled between strained breaths as it circled the pyramid trying to recover.

"It's definitely weakened, but I suppose something that big won't go down so quickly," Ace stated.

"I doubt it'll make the same mistake twice, though, and our Persona's abilities aren't going to be effective against it at this range," said Queen.

"I got that covered!" Futaba's voice spoke from her spacecraft as said occupant fiddled with a holographic keyboard in front of a screen before her. "I'm summoning the ultimate weapon to the battlefield to bring that monster down!"

The UFO's underbelly glowed a bright green, flashing blue rings beaming down from it on to the roof of the pyramid and the debris pixelated and reshaped into...

"A ballista?!" Mona cried out in disbelief as the UFO Persona raised itself up from its handiwork.

"You should be able to shoot it down with this, then finish it off!" Futaba ordered.

"Good enough for me!" said Skull.

"It's really big, and we'll need someone to aim it if we're gonna take that thing out," Ace said, her gaze flickering away from the massive sphinx circling the pyramid and to the newly-made giant weapon. "Skull, Fox, you're both the strongest, so I'll be counting on you two to aim and then fire it when I say "go"," she explained, checking her pistol. "Panther, Queen, Mona, seems Futaba's spell got us reloaded, so you're both with me on attacking the enemy to keep it occupied. Panther and Queen will aid me on offense after and Mona, you're on support to keep us going in case it attacks us. Soon as we shoot it down, we all deal with it once and for all!"

"Solid plan you can count on us!" Skull said with a thumbs-up. "Let's take this giant cat down, Fox!"

"Of course, I can't stand the sight of it, personally!" Fox said with a nod as he and Skull immediately rushed over to the ballista, operating its turning and tilting cranks together so it faced forward.

"Offensive team, FIRE!" Ace shouted; her, Panther, Queen, and Mona immediately as one opening fire at the airborne beast and causing its flight to falter noticeably as it swatted its paws angrily while now hovering in the air.

"NNGGGHHH!" the monster thundered as it flailed in the air from the gunfire. "...AFTER ALL I DID TO RAISE YOU, FUTABA, YOU'D DARE NEGLECT YOUR MOTHER LIKE THIS?! I AM YOUR MOTHER, THE ONE AND ONLY YOU HAVE IN THIS WHOLE, AWFUL WORLD!"

Ace grit her teeth in disgust, her stoic mask cracking from the creature's cruel taunts and attempts to weaken Futaba's resolve, noticing the spaceship hovering in the air and the sound of Futaba's frustrated muttering.

"Ignore it, Futaba!" Ace shouted back, firing more rounds at the creature till her gun ran empty, glaring as it flailed about once more in the sky from her attack grazing its wing. "You have Sojiro, and you have us, too."

"You're right, Kirigiri," Futaba replied. "Mom is gone, and no matter how much I wish her to be with me, it'll never come true. That's why I'll live in the real world, now, even if she's not there with me. I'm gonna live my life as free and happy as I can with the people who do care about me!"

"LIES! FOR A CHILD TO SURVIVE IN YOUR CRUEL WORLD, THEY NEED A CONCERNED MOTHER FIGURE LIKE MYSELF!" the sphinx bellowed.

"I think Futaba-chan's already given you her answer," Ace said with a cold glare, her gaze flickering behind her and noticing the boys had successfully lined up the ballista and thrust her finger forward at the beast. "GO!"

THWANG!

The ballista bolt flew from its slider, rocketing straight at the sphinx and piercing it clean through the center of its chest. The monster screamed out in pain as red and black smoke erupted from the massive wound as it toppled down from the sky, crashing onto the side of the pyramid impaled on the large bolt from the weapon.

"GYAAAAAGGGHH!" the creature staggered up, an agonized look on its human face fighting its cruel glare. "YOU... DARE... DO THIS TO YOUR MOTHER, FUTABA?! NAUGHTY CHILDREN... WHO DISOBEY... SHOULD BE PUNISHED!"

"My mom is precious to me, I love her a ton, but you're not her and I won't live a life where everything gets decided by someone else!" Futaba snapped.

"FUTABA! FUTABA! FUTABAAA!" the sphinx roared furiously and in anguish as it struggled to stand with its wound. "DISOBEYING YOUR MOTHER IS DISGRACEFUL!"

Smoke formed from the ground before the Thieves and Futaba's spacecraft, forming into faces familiar to them.

"Your mother's gone because of you, Futaba-chan," the visage of the suited man with the suicide note stated as it materialized before the group again, along with the facsimiles of those who'd yelled at Futaba in her traumatic memories.

"SHE'S A MURDER!"

"IT'S ALL HER FAULT!"

"SHE'S A PLAGUE!"

"SHE NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN BORN!"

Without skipping a beat, Ace gripped her mask as she and the others stared down the advancing cognitions in defiance.

"SENTATA!" she shouted, the spear-wielding Persona launching itself forward and impaling the suited man cognition, causing it to scream out in an inhuman shriek not unlike the sphinx's as it burst into a cloud of smoke.

"CAPTAIN KIDD!" the pirate Persona blasted one of the ghostly figures to bits with a blast of lightning.

"GOEMON!" the kabuki Persona breathed a blast of cold at another, shattering it.

"ZORRO!" Mona's the topheavy swordsman slashed another in two, it dissolving as well.

"CARMEN!"

"JOHANNA!"

The dancer and motorcycle Personas' combined attacks demolished the remaining cognitions to nothing, the sphinx crying out in frustration with its remaining trick thwarted.

"YOU'RE... MY... PROPERTY... FUTABAAA! I SHOULD... NEVER HAVE BIRTHED YOU!" the sphinx groaned impotently, thrashing in a rage as its wings gave off a weak flap in its attempt to leave the ground again, fear forming in its bloodshot eyes as the Thieves now all had their weapons trained on it.

"No matter what you say to me, I WILL LIVE!" Futaba shouted at the top of her lungs from within her spacecraft, its lighted form glowing brighter and brighter emitting another brilliant flash of light that engulfed Ace's form. "Take the shot, Kirigiri! FINISH HER!"

Ace noticed her gun glow a bright blue light, and took aim, right between the sphinx's eyes and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

A flash of bright light erupted from the sphinx's forehead when the empowered bullet struck as the creature let out a shriek, lurching backwards as its eyes rolled upward, the life leaving it as it tumbled down the massive structure and fell to the sandy ground in a heap with a deafening crash, ending the battle at last.

"Futaba!" Ace turned and saw Queen consoling a collapsed Futaba, the spacecraft Persona having vanished after lending its power for the final shot and now leaving its user on the roof of the pyramid with everyone else. Along with her grid-patterned bodysuit, Futaba now also sported a mask resembling a virtual reality headset with ear speakers and large red goggles.

"Futaba, are you okay?" Queen asked, the diminutive girl gripping her hand as she caught her breath.

Pulling herself up to her feet, Futaba felt the headgear she was wearing and looked down at her gloved hands. "Whoa!" she gasped. "What in the world?! And it's totally skintight!" she noted, feeling around her new costume before suddenly pausing as a bright light suddenly shone at the edge of the pyramid roof, getting everyone else's attention as well.

"Something else comin'?" Skull asked.

"...Mom?" Futaba stared in disbelief, a translucent image of Wakaba Ishiki, as she'd looked in life, stood before her. The malice and rage of the sphinx that had her likeness was not present at all, and rather instead a warm and loving smile was on the woman's face.

"...Futaba," the specter said softly, her voice as kind as her smile. "Thank you, for choosing to remember the real me."

"Oh, Mom...!" Futaba whimpered, looking down ashamed. "...I'm so sorry for being so selfish!"

Before the girl had a chance to run to her mother to hug her, the spirit raised her hand. "No, Futaba, don't come over here," she said. "This isn't where your supposed to be, is it?"

"But... but I finally get to see you again!" Futaba sniffled. Her mother, however, just smiled.

"Are you being selfish again?" she asked.

Futaba sighed, nodding quietly. "...Yeah, I guess I was," she said, managing a small smile of her own as she fought back tears. "I... I love you, Mom..."

"I love you, too, Futaba," Wakaba said warmly as she glowed in a bright white light and vanished, only her voice echoing behind her as she disappeared. "...Now, you should get going..."

Futaba watched the flecks of light fade and drift away before turning sharply to face the others. "...Oh, right, Medjed!" she said suddenly before walking towards the empty sarcophagus on the roof with them.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Queen.

"Home," Futaba said casually, as though she were now entirely past all that'd transpired. "I know how to use the Nav, now!" she stated, placing her hands behind her back and strolling over to the open coffin, vanishing in a flash of light as well.

"She just... left," Panther uttered in disbelief.

"It is her Palace, so it stands to reason there are things she's able to do inside it that we can't," Ace mused, pinching her chin as she stared at the empty casket where Futaba had last been.

"She certainly marches to the beat of her own drum, I'll give her that," Fox remarked.

"Like you're one to talk," Skull replied.

"But if we have her on our side, now," Queen mused, before her eyes went wide noting the vacant sarcophagus. "W-Wait! What about her Treasure? It's not there!"

"Hm," Ace pondered, eyeing it and recalling Futaba having approached it before vanishing from the Palace. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a sudden, sharp tremor that shook the entire pyramid. It was unlike the attacks by the now-deceased sphinx cognition but rather like...

"THIS WHOLE PLACE IS ABOUT TO COME DOWN! WE NEED TO GO!" Mona cried out urgently.

"But what about the Treasure? Why isn't it here?!" Skull asked.

"Unless Futaba herself was her Palace's Treasure," Ace replied. "Of course, it makes sense, now!"

"She's gone, now, so it's empty and so's the Palace! Let's go!" the catlike thief ordered. "Not only did the real person come into her own Palace but she awakened to a Persona while she was here, too! This place is gonna collapse any second!"

"If that's the case, then our mission's accomplished," Ace said, the group then retreating to the side of the roof as the floor, the empty sarcophagus included, suddenly grooved inward with a loud groan of grinding stone and collapsed into the darkness.

"LET'S GO!" Mona shouted, the group soon finding themselves urgently leaping down the rows and rows of stacked stone brickwork that made up the exterior of the rapidly collapsing pyramid, portions collapsing in on themselves one after another from the top down at a rapid pace as the panicked teens and cat barely kept out of the destruction's reach.

"We're... not... going... FAST ENOUGH!" Panther protested, suddenly snatching up Mona and flinging him like a softball down at the foot of the pyramid. "TRANSFORM ALREADY!"

In an instant, Mona had become his vanlike form, the back opening up like a giant rounded mouth and sucking the whole group in when the shockwave of the collapsing Palace sent them flying towards the ground.

"Quick! Let's go, Queen!" Ace ordered, struggling and crushed between the others while Queen climbed through the chaos of flailing bodies and limbs in the back to floor the pedal with her hand and send the van barreling out of control at full speed but widening the distance between it and the crumbling pyramid as it sank into the desert behind them.

---

"Is...everyone alright?" Kyoko asked as she sat up, her vision unblurring and noticing that she and the others had ended up in an alley outside Leblanc, back in their normal clothes confirming they had indeed escaped the metaverse safely.

"Yeah, I think so," said Makoto, sitting herself up and suddenly pointing at her. "...Um, Kyoko?"

Kyoko blinked, realizing Makoto was pointing not at her but rather slightly upward, she felt something in her hair and swatted it away, discovering it to be a discarded ramen cup which she immediately crushed and tossed in a nearby trash bin in disgust.

"Ugghhh, I'm... H-HEY! LET GO ALREADY!" Ann's voice protested, Kyoko turning in time to see her shove Yusuke on his back.

"...Again," he muttered, nursing his side where he'd been elbowed as the back door to Leblanc suddenly opened.

"What's all the noise?" Sojiro asked as he emerged from the door and stepped outside. "Kyoko? Hey, what're you all doing back here?"

"My apologies, it's... a long story," Kyoko replied as she stood up, brushing herself off. "I had gotten take-out and decided to use the back way to throw my trash out first without disturbing the customers, and I wasn't watching where I was going and slipped, Ryuji tried to catch me and we both fell."

"I... see," Sojiro replied, cocking an eyebrow. "...You could have just used the front, there's no customers right now."

"Oh! Where's Futaba?" Ryuji asked as he stood himself up as well.

"What about Futaba?" asked Sojiro, confused.

"Hey, um, we... came all this way, would it be alright if we could enjoy some coffee?" Makoto asked.

"That sounds great, I'd love some if that's alright!" said Ann, putting on her best smile.

"That's fine, I suppose, but-" Sojiro began.

"I'm not thirsty, though," Yusuke replied bluntly, getting a disapproving glare from the brunette for missing the hint.

"Actually, I have some business real quick! Kyoko, could you assist me?" Makoto asked, getting a look from the other girl. Once the others had gone inside, Makoto turned her attention to her. "I guess Morgana must've gone to look for Futaba, we should probably go find him."

"That'd be a good idea. It's possible she ended up somewhere outside her bedroom as well," said Kyoko, leading the way out of the back alley. The search did not take long at all as they both soon heard Morgana's voice call out to them.

"Hey! Over here!" Following it, Kyoko and Makoto found themselves at the gates surrounding the Sakura residence, with Futaba, back in her pajama shirt and shorts, curled up in a fetal position outside the gate but unresponsive.

Concerned, the two rushed over.

"Futaba! Futaba! Say something!" Makoto pleaded while Kyoko took up the girl's hand and looked her over, confirming a pulse and steady breathing.

"She's alive, just... seems she's unconscious," Kyoko said. "I'm no doctor but if I didn't know better I'd think she just decided to take a nap out here instead of going back inside, first."

"If that's the case she's out cold for sure! She's not reacted at all when I got here!" Morgana explained.

"Could this be our fault? Because we defeated that monstrous cognition of her mother and Futaba had gone in her own Palace?" Makoto whimpered anxiously.

"No, the monster was just a cognition her mind created when it'd become distorted," Morgana explained. "Destroying a cognition wouldn't cause memory loss or cause physical burden on her."

"So what could it be, then? What do we do, we can't just leave her here! What would Sojiro say if he saw her out here?!" Makoto shuddered.

"Sojiro's likely to find out regardless of what we do, we should get her a doctor," Kyoko said, taking out her phone and looking up Takemi's number and pressing the speed-dial.

In a matter of moments, Takemi had arrived at the Sakura residence and helped Kyoko and Makoto move the unconscious Futaba indoors and on her bed, the girl somehow not having so much as stirred despite the procedure of bringing her there and remaining sound asleep while the doctor examined her.

"This house call is gonna cost ya, you know," Takemi said dryly, glancing up at Kyoko as she finished the examination.

"Cost? How much?" Makoto asked nervously.

"I'm joking," Takemi said with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it... nor your friend's condition. Her pulse, breathing, temperature, and blood pressure are all normal. No ocular abnormalities, either," she explained. "I'm not sure why, exactly, but she seems to be in some kind of a... light stupor. Furthermore, she lacks muscle for her age, so I doubt she has much stamina, either."

"I see," said Makoto, "...Then the rebound from her awakening was too strong..."

"There may have been too many abnormal circumstances," Morgana offered from his spot on Futaba's dresser.

"We may as well let Sojiro know, now," said Kyoko, brushing back her hair with a sigh. "It's only a matter of time before he finds out so we should call him over."

"Good idea, we probably should," said Makoto.

"But won't he figure out our identities?" Morgana asked, Takemi glancing in confusion at what appeared to be a particularly noisy cat meowing at the two teenagers.

Kyoko had no intention of telling the entire story, but simply finding Futaba outside like that when they were attending to the unfinished business Makoto had used as an alibi would be plausible enough, she gathered, as she took out her phone to call him and give him the news.

---

"Hey! Futaba! Heeeeey!" Sojiro said with a slight raise and sharpness to his voice at the sleeping Futaba after he and the others had gathered into the crammed and cluttered bedroom as well. Futaba, however, only barely stirred just to turn slightly and go back to sleep.

"The doctor found nothing wrong with her," Kyoko said, arching a brow in concern. "But it doesn't seem like she's being responsive at all."

Sojiro shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "No need for any long faces," he said with a sigh that sounded more like exasperation then worry.

"What about her condition?" asked Ann.

"This? It happens every so often," Sojiro explained. "She must've used up all her energy again, it's kind of like... she ran out of batteries, basically. I think it happens because she doesn't get enough exercise, especially for her age."

Kyoko blinked in disbelief at what she'd just heard. Of all the explanations, it was certainly an unusual one, but thankfully not one that suggested she was in any danger.

"She stays like this for a few days whenever that happens," Sojiro continued. "I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest, so I might as well close up shop for the day as well. Just keep an eye on her till I get back." he said. "Also, thank you for coming by, doctor. Sorry for the scare, they were just concerned for her and didn't know about this."

Takemi nodded. "It's alright. Just see that she's getting proper nutrition in her diet from now on for starters, it'll help alleviate this. A girl her age needs to be eating well and getting some sun and fresh air when she can, too."

"I'll... see what I can do about that," Sojiro said, frowning a little as he looked down at her. Kyoko could understand the concern as he'd not been present for all that happened, Futaba would for all he knew, still be the same reclusive shut-in she was before whenever she woke up. Hopefully, whenever that did happen, it would no longer be the case as Futaba had promised to handle Medjed if they'd helped her.

"Well, I'm glad she's okay," Ann said, breaking the awkward silence that followed once both adults had left. "...But what're we gonna do about Medjed?"

"Mmmm..."

The teens looked over at Futaba, whose eyes had opened as she stirred in her spot on her bed.

"...Medjed," Futaba mumbled to herself as she stared at the ceiling. "...Tired, gonna sleep for a bit," she said before closing her eyes, light snoring following only mere seconds after as it was evident Futaba had indeed fallen sound asleep once more.

"D-Did she just fall asleep again?!" Ryuji protested, staring down at her in disbelief.

"Seems so," Kyoko replied dryly with a light, frustrated sigh. Seemed fulfilling her promise was going to need to wait, and it didn't look like Futaba had any plans of waking up for a while.

"Should we try waking her up?" Yusuke offered.

"Probably not," said Ann, sighing in dismay as well.

"What to do, then," Yusuke wondered.

"It's too late to look for another hacker," said Makoto.

"Then all we can do is wait for her to wake up," said Morgana. "...However long that takes."

"But what about Medjed? What're they gonna do if we don't stop 'em in time?" Ryuji asked.

"It's hard for me to even fathom what it could be," replied Yusuke.

"People have been up in arms about the whole cleansing thing," Ann muttered, looking down at the slumbering Futaba.

"It's very concerning no matter how you put it that a global hacking group would choose to target us," Kyoko said. "Regardless, there's little we can do and worrying about it won't change anything. As Morgana said, we'll have to wait for Futaba to wake up on her own accord and hope she can handle it. If we can come up with any other solutions prior, we can go over them," she explained. "...For now, though, we may as well head home. We've freed Futaba from her Palace's hold, and I have to update my case files as well."

"Hm?" Makoto looked at the young detective.

"There's a lot Futaba may know regarding more on this cognitive psience her mother was researching," Kyoko explained. "...I want to know what was so important about it that someone would have her assassinated and cover it up the way they did. When I think about what Kaneshiro's Shadow told us..."

"Someone using Palaces and the Metaverse, and this black-masked person," said Yusuke.

Kyoko nodded. "We've stumbled on to a bigger mystery that Futaba's mother was clearly involved in. It's evident those men in the suits who read the suicide letter were connected to her mother's assassination. Cognitive psience involves some form of research around the metaverse given Futaba's own knowledge of it. It's likely they hoped to..."

"...Drive Futaba into taking her own life out of guilt to cover it up further?" Ryuji asked, gritting his teeth. "What kinda soulless monster puts a kid through that?!"

"What kind, indeed," Kyoko said, pinching her chin in thought. "The kind who our black-masked man is the weapon of..." the young detective took a breath, closing her eyes a moment, lost in her thoughts.

"The mystery just keeps raising more questions the deeper we find ourselves," Morgana said, looking down at Futaba.

"I have one other concern, though," Kyoko said, opening her eyes looking back at her friends. "...When Futaba recovers, and if she successfully takes down Medjed on our behalf, that leaves the question of if this mysterious mastermind will suddenly decide to deal with us more personally, and if so, how."

"Now that you put it that way," Ryuji uttered, wide-eyed.

"I guess being a detective, you probably made enemies solving cases," Makoto said softly.

"I have," Kyoko said, one gloved hand brushing the other. "...It's why I'm concerned. Between being able to control the Kuzuryu clan into leaving Kaneshiro alone, to orchestrating a researcher's death and setting it up as suicide no one questioned, along with sending people to shake down Sojiro over knowledge on the project... with proving we have the power to overcome a global hacker network, it's only a matter of time before this person or persons will consider us a threat."

"Whatever the future holds for us, we'll need to keep our eyes open," said Yusuke.

"For now, though, we'll deal with the immediate concern when opportunity arrives. We still have time before they make their move," said Kyoko, rubbing her temples as she felt the fatigue from the metaverse mission begin to set in on herself as well.

There were many unanswered questions, old and new to the young detective, but they had accomplished what they'd come for, and saved Futaba. Hopefully, she'd be able to help them in turn, now.

---

A/N: And at last, another chapter finished! I decided to just get to the heist itself since it felt like a full chapter in and of itself with all that leads up to it and a single day of confidant activity didn't feel like enough to fill one. I'd also heard Futaba's sin was meant to be Wrath, with the Sloth aspect mentioned on the calling card in the game supposedly a mistranslation. Futaba's wrath however is directed upon herself rather then others, resulting in a Palace where her Shadow is oppressed by a monstrous and vengeful cognition of her mother. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter as Kyoko finds herself deeper and deeper into the mysteries in both reality and the metaverse!

0 - The Fool: Rank 6

I - The Magician: Rank 6

II - The Priestess: Rank 3

IV - The Emperor: Rank 3

V - The Hierophant: Rank 4

VI - The Lovers: Rank 7

VII - The Chariot: Rank 9

VIII - Justice: Rank 3

X - Fortune: Rank 1

XI - The Strength: Rank 5

XII - The Hanged Man: Rank 3

XIII - Death: Rank 6

XIV - Temperance: Rank 7

XV - The Devil: Rank 2

XVII - The Star: Rank 2

XVIII - The Moon: Rank 4

XIX - The Sun: Rank 4

XX - Judgement: Rank 2

1 - The Councillor: Rank 5

? - Faith: Rank 3

Kyoko's Personas: Anzu, Nigi Mitama, Flauros, Naga, Neko Shogun, Sandman, Phoenix, Setanta, Clotho, Isis