Chapter 29: A Night at the Museum

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

The rest of the afternoon he spent with Ann she mostly talked about exercising to get ready for her future career as an actress, and he chimed in occasionally with tips. After it began getting late into the evening, he walked through Central Street, heading for Big Bang Burger.

"So, what are we doing, exactly?"

"I need a taste of home," Akira chuckled in answer.

"I'm pretty sure Big Bang Burger started in Japan," Morgana noted. The not-cat had spent most of the time they were in the park exploring it further, apparently having been entranced by nature during their last visit, so much so that he'd even skipped out on time he could've spent with his 'Lady Ann.'

"Yes, but their portions are Eagleland sized," he smirked. "And that's what I need to get over my homesickness."

"Or you could just call your parents."

"Good idea, I'll get two burgers."

"Ugh." Morgana ducked back into his bag as he walked up to the counter.

"I'd like to take the Big Bang Challenge."

The cashier smiled the standard retail worker smile that showed how dead and empty their souls truly were as she answered. "Alright, at this time the challenge is only five-hundred yen. As you don't have any badges, I'll assume this is your first attempt?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Very well. Go have a seat, and good luck."

Morgana mewled quietly as he set his bag down on the bench next to him, before cracking his knuckles and taking several napkins from the holder on the table, stuffing his neckline and his lap with them.

"Aren't you going overboard there?"

"I am not going back to Leblanc covered in sesame seeds and beef."

After several minutes passed, the cashier had come up to his table. "As it is your first time, your rank is that of third mate. And so, your aim will be… the comet burger!"

A second worker walked up with a plate with a burger about as wide as his torso and half as tall as his head placed in front of him, alongside a large glass of water. "That's… a lot bigger than I was expecting."

The employee cleared her throat, then began speaking in a monotone voice, "This burger is as voluminous as a soaring comet burning in the sky. It will not be overcome easily. But should you conquer this challenge, you will be rewarded with an extravagant prize."

"Ooh, a prize?" Morgana asked excitedly.

"Foolish, foolish Morgana," he chuckled, reverting to English. "In this challenge, the burger IS the reward. For five-hundred yen, I can devour this meal? Acceptable."

"Alright," the woman said, ignoring him speaking a different language. "I'll start the thirty-minute timer now. Good luck." She placed the small machine on the table and it began counting down, before walking away.

He immediately tore into the burger, not bothering to taste it. He filled his mouth as much as he could before swallowing, chugging a mouthful of water, before going for another bite.

"Yeah, that's it! Don't hesitate, just bite and swallow! But still, that's a lot of food… are you sure you'll be able to finish that whole thing?"

"…" he swallowed, before closing his eyes. "Yes. In Eagleland… this is merely a kid's meal!"

The minutes quickly passed, and the burger was whittled down just as fast. He swallowed the final bite, chugging the last of his water to wash it down, and slammed his hands on the table. "Complete!"

"Whoa, that was incredible!"

Walking back towards his table, the worker nodded at his empty plate. "Congratulations on completing the challenge. Since you managed to extinguish the Comet Burger, I present to you the Second Mate Badge." She handed over a badge that looked like a burger-shaped U.F.O., and a number two on it. "And to the burger baron who defeated this challenge, we present to you… Our world-famous Big Bang Burger, on the house. We hope you enjoy the taste of victory."

A large takeout bag was placed on the table, with several large burgers inside, though not of the same size as the Comet Burger. "New challenges will await you now that you've become a Second Mate. I look forward to your next attempt at our challenge."

"Man, you really took that burger down! The courage, pacing, strategy, the spectacular way you devoured it… Everything was perfect!"

"I have a lot of practice from eating burgers back home. That was nothing." He slipped his bag back on and walked out into the night, clothing fluttering heroically in the wind.

The toilet of Leblanc met a mighty challenger that night.

Ω • Ω • Ω

5/24, Tuesday

DEADLINE: June 5th

DAYS UNTIL LEGAL ACTION: 12

Steal Madarame's heart.

•Akira•

"Alright, is everyone ready?" He got various nods of assent, and he pressed down on his screen.

"Beginning navigation." The world distorted, and the Museum stood before them, spotlights piercing the darkness of the night. He rolled his shoulders, stepping into the parking lot as the other Phantom Thieves followed.

"Hm…" Yusuke looked at the Palace, a grimace of displeasure on his face.

"So, before we do anything, I believe we need to come up with a code name for Yusuke."

"Oh shit, that's right!" Skull grinned and clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Can't just go calling you 'Yusuke' in here."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's to keep our cover," Panther answered. "If we shout our names in here, we might get Madarame to be more cautious or angry at us in the real world."

"Exactly, Lady Ann. So, we've got Joker, I'm Mona, he's Skull, and she's Panther."

"I see… very well. I am open to suggestions."

"It has to be 'Kitsune.' Y'know, because of the kitsune mask and everything!"

"Hell yeah. That really leaves an impression!"

"Hmm…"

"Well, Yusuke? Is that good, or do you have any other ideas?"

"Yeah, what do you want your name over here to be?"

"...I'd say Da Vinci."

"Nope." Yusuke recoiled, shocked, at Ryuji's bland tone. "Well, you've got that mask-like Panther said… plus there's that weird tail… Alright! You're Abura-age!"

"Snrk…"

Yusuke smiled, nodding. "Very well."

"He's agreed to it?!"

"It's decided then!"

"Nuh-uh! Not happening! Come on, Joker, give him something that's actually good."

"Good idea, Lady Ann. Let's leave this to the leader!"

"I dunno, a name with a pun in it might be fun."

"Joker!"

"Alright, alright!" He looked Yusuke up and down. "How about 'clown'?"

Skull grinned at him. "I dunno, ain't that a bit too close to 'Joker'?"

"I guess we do already have a clown on the team," Panther giggled.

"Alright, listen here you little shits—"

"Ugh, we're wasting way too much time out here! Let's just keep it literal and go with 'Fox', alright?!"

"Just keepin' it plain, huh? Well, sounds good to me."

"What do you think, Fox."

"It's acceptable. It's set then. Let's go!"

"Up up up! Before any of that." He pointed at Skull. "You. Back of the line. Fox, you're in the forward group."

"Aw man…"

"Oh yeah, I think I remember you saying something about that back at Shujin. What's this about? Not having battles be so crazy?"

"Pretty much, Panther. We risk hitting each other with attacks in a battle with more than four people. I don't even want to think about what we might do to each other in an All-Out Attack."

"It'll be harder to move around as a group as well. We'll stand out more. With how we've operated so far, we should have four starters, and the fifth will be backup. Skull, that means you'll be following at a distance. Not so far that you lose track of us, but not too close that you get involved with any traps or ambushes."

"Sure. And I guess when we're switchin' out members, the Leader's always gotta be part of the advance team, right?"

"Exactly. So once your punishment ends, Joker will be selecting who's on the advance team!"

"Aw man."

He grinned and clapped Skull on the shoulder as he walked past. "Chin up, Skull. We'll let you join the rest of the advance team when we're in relatively safe areas or figuring out puzzles. Now, be a good Thief and watch our backs!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

Returning to the courtyard through the use of the shortcuts they'd created, they gazed at the massive open doorway. "Looks like everything is still open."

"I told you it would work!"

"Yes, because we never had reason to doubt you, Mona," he drawled. The not-cat huffed but didn't say anything, hopping along next to him. They passed some cans of black paint, before passing through the unlocked gates and into the next part of the Palace.

"Those looked like the door the Sayuri were kept behind."

"Remember, this is Madarame's mind. These doors were linked to the one in reality. To open these, we had to unlock that one."

"I see…"

"It's alright if you don't understand it, the Numbskull still doesn't either."

"Shut up, Monamona!"

The next area of the museum was not off to a good start when they were immediately greeted by the sight of a golden statue of Madarame, but they mostly ignored it, barring Fox who scowled at it. Behind it and up two ramps was another stand of brochures, and he grabbed one, opening it up.

Skull glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "Ain't this one different from the first one we got?"

"You're right, it says it's the second out of two," Mona noted.

"That makes sense. If there's a section of the museum that wasn't on the last map, it'd be on this one."

"Oh, and it looks like it has the rest of the Palace too! Check it out, doesn't this place here kinda look like where a Treasure might be?"

He looked at where Panther was pointing and saw what looked like the top of the tower the building they were in was in front of. "Is it going to be at the top of a tower every time?" He asked drily.

"We'll have to pass through the lounge to reach there…" Fox murmured.

"And security will get even tighter the further in we go. We'll have to advance carefully, especially since we're splitting up a bit. You can at least handle not getting caught if you're just trailing behind us, right Skull?"

"Oh shut it, Mona, you're the one who set off that pressure plate after gettin' on us about being careful!"

"Alright, let's go before this devolves even further."

A grate waited ahead of them blocking a doorway, and peering through it revealed a massive, open room. By all of the small pillars erected throughout it, it was easy to tell that lasers were crisscrossing everywhere. And activating his Third Eye revealed just how many there really were.

"I do not fancy my chances avoiding all of those," Fox murmured.

"Well… we're right behind you, fearless leader! Go get 'em!"

He blandly stared back at her, before turning to the lasers and sighing. "Let's see…" the room darkened while the lasers brightened, and he casually made his way through. The other thieves followed, carefully taking his exact path.

At one point they all felt a jolt in their chests, and in the back of their minds they could hear Madarame yelling about something as the security level raised ever so slightly. In perfect synchronization, all four on the advance team turned to look back at Skull as he jumped away from the laser he'd nicked. "Sorry!"

In the wide open room every guard should have immediately spotted them, with no cover in between them. For some reason they weren't even noticed, except for the nearest guard that looked confused at the raise in the security level. Maybe the lasers interfered with their Shadow… vision… thing.

Arsène snorted. Personas are the other side of the coin when it comes to Shadows, Trickster. And we do not see in infrared.

'You want to explain to me how they can't see us with all this open space between us then?'

All he got in response was the feeling of a shrug. He sighed and refocused, seeing that the only thing between them and the Shadow was a wall of lasers, with a gap at the bottom.

"Advance team, ready up…" There was a moment of stillness, the guard turned away, and then he burst forward, sliding beneath the gap and then throwing himself into the air to latch onto the Shadow's back. "Show me your true form!"

The guard grunted as he tore its mask off before it exploded into three Shadows. Two of them were dog-like creatures with pure white bodies except for the black heads and red symbols atop them, and the third creature was some kind of mix between a man and a snake, holding a flute.

As the Shadows were still disorientated, he pulled out his gun and opened fire on one of the dogs. The bullets pinged off, not even leaving a scratch, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Luckily his fellow thieves appeared at his side by then, and Zorro let loose a Magaru attack, sending them all reeling. Fox descended from above, either having used someone as a launchpad or the poles that the lasers extended out of, to drop attack them.

The dog he struck faded to ash within an instant, while the second struggled to right itself and attack, slashing at him with its claws. The blue-clad thief dodged back, barely avoiding a wall of lasers in the process, while Panther snapped her whip out and snagged the dog's body.

At the same time, the snake creature had recovered and placed its lips on the flute, beginning to play a melody. He stumbled as he began to feel drowsy, before slapping himself out of the Dormina spell and growling. "Ravage them, Ame-No-Uzume!"

The dancing kami unleashed a Mazio, and while it flinched, the attack didn't knock it down. Out of nowhere the second dog Shadow bowled it over, Panther having dragged it back and tossed it over. Mona struck, spinning like a saw blade and cutting through the dog, while heavily injuring the snake-man.

It fell to the ground, attempting to slither away before he stomped on its tail. Crying out, it tried in vain to blow through its flute at him, a purple mist beginning to seep from it for a moment before he kicked it in the face. "Wait! Wait! Pleassse, ssspare me!"

He grinned and pulled out his gun, jabbing its face. "And why should I do that? You got something to give me?"

"I-I can give you power! A lot of power!"

"Oh? I might be interested in power."

"Ye-Yeah! Everyone likesss power! Ssso whaddya sssay, kid?"

"I say… how do I know you won't betray me?"

"W-Well…" the snake paused. "You got me there… you're sssmarter than I wasss at your age, youngssster… hey, I remember!" It wriggled, so he stepped back and let the Shadow rise into the air. "I'm a creature that exissstsss in the Sssea of Sssouls! My name isss Tangoo! Let'sss do great thingsss, partner!"

It transformed into a mask and crashed into his face, and Joker smirked as he felt his new Persona settle into his mind. It'sss a bit cramped in here…

Welcome, Tangoo. Be careful you don't knock over the table, we're playing beer pong.

'Hold up, I'm sixteen, you guys can't be having beer in my head! Wait now I have a table in there?! What the fuck are you all doing in there?!'

…Nothing.

Ω • Ω • Ω

"Damn, that's a strong-lookin' one! Think that's one of those Savage enemies?"

"Well, it has the aura of one," he chuckled. Skull had caught up with them as they hunkered by a corner, a dangerous Shadow just ahead of them.

"Savage enemies?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know about those!" Panther turned to Fox, explaining the danger of them. "They're, like, super tough Shadows that take a lot to put down! They're like mini-bosses!"

"I… see?"

"All you need to know is that they're damn hard to take down, so get ready for a tough fight. This one is blocking the only way forward." He nodded at everyone, and Skull stayed back as he, Fox, Panther, and Mona moved forward.

The Shadow immediately noticed them, but he didn't stop to let it talk, instead slamming into it with the force of a freight train, flipping his knife up, jamming it under the Shadow's mask, and ripping it off.

What came out was a massive creature that looked like it was made of paper, maybe eight or nine feet tall, with its front colored white, and its back colored red. It roared and slammed its fist into the ground where he had stood a moment before.

"Too slow! Jack Frost, Bufu!"

"Hee-how about this, ho?" An icy wind buffeted the Shadow, but it didn't pause, simply ripping its paper fist from the crater in the floor and attempting to uppercut him. He leaned back and flipped away, as Fox sped beneath him and slashed out with his blade.

"Ngh!" Instead of cutting the monster his sword bounced off its body and he recoiled, put off balance when he didn't cut through as he expected. "Whoa!" Panther's whip wrapped around his waist and dragged him back before it could crush him, and the Shadow roared again, snapping its arm out as it chased Fox down.

Pellets bounced off its 'face,' Mona's slingshot having done just as little damage as Fox's sword. "It's immune to all forms of physical damage!"

"Hit it with all the magic we've got! Izanagi-Picaro!"

"Carmen!"

"Goemon!"

"Zorro!"

Lightning, fire, ice, and wind all mixed into a vortex that erupted beneath the monster. A cloud of smoke covered the field and everyone began coughing, Zorro attempting to whip up another gust of wind to blow it all away.

Mona was abruptly batted away with a yelp before his Persona could do so, the Shadow exploding out of the smoke cloud and slamming into the not-cat. "Ack!" It spun and threw its arm out, punching Panther in the stomach and tossing her off her feet.

"Izanagi-Picaro!"

"Already on it!" The progenitor God rushed forward and began grappling the Shadow, struggling against it. It may not have been able to be damaged by physical attacks, but it was still a physical being. It wouldn't be hurt by it, but Izangi could still at least hold it in place while they regrouped.

"Zorro, show your might!" a quick Dia later and Panther was back on her feet, just in time as the paper monster had broken out of Izanagi-Picaro's grasp, and subsequently punched him in the face before he could retreat.

"Ow!" He winced as the pain his Persona felt slammed into him, before the Shadow grabbed one of Izanagi's helmet spikes, and began continuously punching him in the face. "Ow, ow, ow, ow—!"

"Agi!" Fire burned its arm and it retreated, but only for a moment. In that instant, Goemon appeared between the Shadow and the Persona, unleashing a Bufu that froze the monster in place. They once again had a moment of respite, but not a long one, as the ice began cracking.

"We need another way to take this thing down, we aren't doing enough damage!"

"I've got an idea. Once it breaks free it's going to be disorientated for a few seconds. Fox, you and Goemon grab one arm. Panther, Mona, you and your Personas grab its other arm. I think I have a way to deal with this guy."

"Roger that, Joker!" Everyone jumped forward, Fox to one side, Panther and Mona to the other, summoning their Personas. Not a moment too soon as the ice shattered and the Shadow came out roaring.

It attempted to charge him, as he was the first person it saw, before his fellow thieves grabbed its arms with their own arms, whips, and Personas, holding it in place. "Tangoo, Dormina!" The Persona appeared next to him and began blowing into his flute. Blue bubbles floated forward and began popping on the Shadow, and it jerked, faltering, before shaking itself awake. "Again!" More sleep-inducing bubbles, and for a second time it began falling asleep until it roared and forced itself awake.

"Joker, we're losing our grip!"

"Again, Tangoo!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got thisss!" Once again the sleep spell was cast, and finally, it worked. The Savage Enemy collapsed, beginning to snore.

"Now, Eternal Rest!" A discordant tune was played through Tangoo's flute, which made everyone wince but caused the paper creature to groan and collapse, dissolving into black ash.

"Easssy prey," Tangoo smirked before reforming as his mask.

"What was that?"

He shrugged at Mona and smiled. "Little trick of Tengoo's. Get an opponent asleep and he can kill them instantly if they're weak enough."

"It was cool as hell either way," Skull cheered in the back.

"But that was a totally different level from the other enemies though… they really do live up to the name," Panther sighed.

They continued, except for Fox, who bent down to pick up a card that had dropped where the Savage Enemy died. "What's this?" He turned it over in his hands, seeing a stylized golden sparkle and the word 'media' on it.

"What's it for? I've never seen anything like it…"

"Ain't it just some kinda loot? Hand it over to Joker and let's get back to explorin'."

Fox shrugged and handed it over, and he glanced at it before shoving it in a pocket. "Alright, let's move."

Ω • Ω • Ω

"His feet?"

"This has got to be indicative of some kind of fetish, right?"

"Please don't," Mona sighed.

To continue forward they needed to shut down security. To do that they needed to input a password into one of the computers in the room that the Savage Enemy had guarded. And to find that, they'd eavesdropped on a Shadow that had mentioned it had set the password as 'the numbers for Lord Madarame's feet.'

"Okay, but the hell is it even supposed to mean?!"

"Maybe… his shoe size?"

"Yo, Fox, you know that bastard's shoe size?"

"Unfortunately, I have never heard him mention it. Are we sure that is the proper password…?"

"Madarame's feet…" Mona huffed and crossed his stubby arms, grumbling to himself.

"Well, I, personally, would rather not think too deeply about some old man's feet, so let's try and solve this quickly."

"I said to stop!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

They kept exploring, trying to find the answer, and eventually returned to the large statue of Madarame. At the base, they looked at the plaque standing next to the statue and Joker crossed his arms as he read what it said.

"'Here we praise our most holy lord Ichiryusai Madarame, the one ray of hope in this depraved world. He stands alone as his two adept hands paint into the future. None shall ever match his excellence."

"…"

"…"

"…what a narcissist."

"Can we focus on what if this is what we're looking for?" Mona sighed.

"I believe it is… It is, after all, at his feet," Fox murmured.

"But isn't the password supposed to be a number of some kind?"

"Yes, but I do believe there are numbers here though… 'One' ray of hope stands 'alone' with 'two adept hands.' 'none' shall match him… that means…"

"It'd be one, one, two, zero."

"I think you're right, Joker!"

Skull grinned. "Sweet! Let's head back and shut down that security!" As they'd already cleared the path to the security room they didn't need to worry about more Shadows on the way. The password ended up being correct, and the gate next to them opened with a rattle of metal. "Whoo!"

"At least it was better than 'hello,'" he snorted.

They walked through and found nothing except for a massive Japanese painting of some bamboo shoots. He looked at it out of the corner of his eye, trying to recall if that was the woodblock style… It likely was… But he was no expert on art.

He sighed and took a step back, craning his neck back to look around the room. Was there something he could use as a grapple point? Where the hell did they go next?

Are there any other security rooms? Perhaps we missed one?

'Maybe…'

Behind him, the others were looking at the painting more closely. "What a giant painting…"

"Indeed. It bears such a bizarre texture as well. It's as though I could simply slip inside… W-What the-?!" He spun around at Fox's cry, sprinting over while snapping his head left to right to keep an eye out for any Shadows that may have been attacking.

"What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Fox's hand slipped into the painting!"

"So we can enter the paintings? Well, I didn't see any other paths for us to take… think we should give it a try?"

"Let's. Hopefully, the inside isn't just the small area we can see, otherwise, there won't be a way forward."

Fox was the first inside, not able to hide his excitement at being able to physically enter a painting, followed by the rest of the thieves. Passing through the canvas felt like jumping into a pool of water, but thicker. He supposed calling the consistency similar to that of paint would make sense.

He barely had enough time to orient himself when Madarame's booming voice crashed over them. "How dare you trample on my tranquil bamboo garden with those grimy feet! You shall not leave alive!"

"Creepy. Get ready for if he sends any Shadows after us." The inside of the painting was odd. There was an almost dreamlike quality to everything that he could see, the bamboo stalks wavering back and forth in a non-existent breeze ever so slightly, and the air itself slightly thicker than normal, but thankfully not as thick as the surface of the canvas as they had passed through. To their side, they could see out the painting to the gallery where they had stood a few moments ago.

"We're probably just hearing his thoughts, so there's no need to panic… but stay ready just in case. Anyway, it looks like there's a path," Mona pointed, "think we should follow it and see where it leads?" It could barely be called a path, simply a small area where the bamboo didn't grow, leading into the distance.

They began walking along it, Fox murmuring something about Madarame to himself, and after several moments there was a rushing sensation, the area around them blurred, before coming back into focus. It didn't look like much had changed, but the area outside of the painting was completely different.

Panther looked outside in surprise, "Oh… we're in another painting…"

"Hm… so this space is not merely one, but a multitude of paintings."

Skull blinked at Fox. "…You're tellin' me they're all connected? Which one goes where?"

"That, we will have to continue walking to find out…"

He just clapped his hands together and grinned. "Easy enough right now, but with how convoluted Palaces get, I'm willing to bet we'll soon be confronted with a dozen paintings, all of them connected. Who's ready for some maze puzzles?"

"Oh, I hate when those pop up in games…"

Mona shook his head at Panther's whine. "Joker, think you will be able to figure out which ones lead where if need be?"

"Sure, if not with my Third Eye, then just by keeping a mental map of which ones go where. Now come on." They pushed through more bamboo, following the vague dirt road they could see. A small chasm appeared in the center of the forest and they hopped across, but he didn't pick up any abnormalities with his psychic sense. Outside the painting, however, he could see a ledge that they would be able to jump to. "Let's see if that goes anywhere," he pointed out.

Sloshing out the canvas, which felt weird when no liquid was attached to them, they saw a vent they could trek through. "That was useful… keep an eye out for any more paintings we might be able to traverse, Joker."

"So he dares call us thieves who dirty his heart," Fox murmured as they walked, "The one who has sullied the very nature of art itself has no right to accuse us of such a thing!"

"Yeah, I'd say his heart was plenty dirty already," Joker chuckled.

"Save your emotions for later! We have to keep moving!" Fox just nodded and followed as he led the way into the vent.

"Hey, don't go starin' at my butt," Skull said somewhere behind him.

"...What are you talking about?"

"Ugh, shut up, Skull."

After reaching the vent's exit he kicked off the cover and looked around the hallway it led into. One end would bring them back into the laser-filled atrium they had navigated earlier, and the other way was unknown. Following the unknown led to another Safe Room and a guard that patrolled in front of it. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

He grinned. "Then let's see its true form!" The Shadow stumbled as he leaped onto it and tore off its mask, then kicked it onto the ground. After trembling and then exploding into a Jack Frost and two Onmoraki, an onion-headed bird creature. Near immediately Panther had her whip wrapped around Jack Frost's throat and was choking it to death.

"H-Heeeee!"

"Panther certainly carries a grudge," Fox noted as he sliced cleanly through one of the Onmoraki, causing it to shriek and attempt to fly away. Goemon swept it out of the air with his ax pipe and it crashed to the floor, dispersing into sludge.

"A good reason to never piss her off," he chuckled, pulling out his gun and filling the second bird full of lead. It screeched and Mona jumped it from behind, spinning like a wheel and cutting it in half. As it dissolved into ash he caught the not-cat on his arm, bumping him up onto his shoulder with a grin.

"Gentlemen shouldn't be getting ladies angry in the first place," Mona huffed.

"Duly noted."

Panther huffed and finished killing the Jack Frost, which vanished with a final cry of 'hooo…' "Let's just move on."

'Guess I'll be keeping you off the battlefield whenever Panther's part of the advance team,' he chuckled.

I've got no hee-problems with that, ho…

After taking a short break in the Safe Room and going over the maps, they continued on and found a balcony overlooking a massive room with several different paintings, none of them were of the same thing, one of a shrine gate, another a desert with camels, another a mountainous area, so he couldn't tell just from looking whether any would connect… but knowing their luck, they'd have to find their way through them anyway.

"Whole lot more big paintings here, huh?"

Fox hummed at Skull's words, eyes looking them over. "There is something off about these though…" He gazed upwards and pointed out another two. "See there, there are even frames that have no paintings at all."

"Let's go have a closer look." Following Panther's words they walked along the balcony and through a doorway, which led to scaffolding directly next to the desert painting. They carefully navigated onto it, and he pressed his hand against the painting to feel the same sensation as the earlier traversable ones, a thick paint-like liquid sensation.

"So, like last time?" Skull questioned. "Y'know, with the whole secret passage inside and everything."

"Well, none of them look the same that I can see."

"Guess this is where we find out whether I can lead us through a maze of paintings," Joker chuckled.

They slipped inside, and along with the same 'thickness' that the air had in the previous paintings, this one had the vague sensation of heat. He could feel the sand shifting beneath his boots, and the camels ahead of them shifted, not moving anywhere specific, simply back and forth through a heat haze.

"Alas. This world is a desert filled with laymen who cannot understand true beauty…! The slow drain of my skull is inevitable when I am surrounded by such mediocrity…"

"So he's gonna blame the world for his declinin' skill? Heh, that bastard never had any real talent to begin with!"

"We are so kicking his ass when we steal the Treasure."

"Fox has dibs, just remember that."

They wandered into the desert, with no trail to follow besides the direction the camels were facing, and nothing changed for several moments. He almost activated his Third Eye to see if there was any hidden path before the scenery changed in a heartbeat. Now they stood upon clouds, with the texture beneath their feet soft, almost spongy in how it felt. Behind a Torii gate far in the distance was a mountain, capped with snow.

"The gods, even in their dormancy, are worshiped constantly. Art is practically the same. In the end, it is all just a matter of imagination…!"

"Huh?! Even if that's true, that doesn't give you the right to be deceiving people!"

Everyone huffed their agreement with Panther's words before he led them through the gate. Upon stepping on the other side the scenery changed once again. Now hard stone was beneath them, interspersed by soft vines or patches of grass. They were within a cave now, a large pillar of stone leading to the outside, and at the opposite side of where they had entered, he could see more scaffolding outside the painting, with some machinery on it..

"Hard work is not what makes a sapling grow thick with green leaves. Too many young people do not see the true value in youth these days. What fools… Is it truly wrong for an expert such as myself to capitalize on that youth before it wastes away?"

"What the heck? He's basically just saying that he's jealous of young talent! Look at me! I was turned into a cat, but I'm still fighting. Age isn't a valid excuse."

"Agreed, little meow meow," he absently spoke.

"Oi!" Everyone chuckled at his attempt to lighten the mood and followed when he hopped out of the painting. Unfortunately, the scaffolding didn't lead anywhere. Fortunately, it did have a button on it.

"Should we press it?"

"I'm not seeing any danger signals," he spoke while viewing it with his Third Eye. One press of the button later, and seemingly nothing had happened.

"Hey, up there! Another painting!" They followed Skull's finger and saw a picture of a boat on the stormy seas.

"So, passing through one hidden route leads to the formation of another… what an elaborate ruse… It's highly likely there is a new path through the paintings. We should investigate, Joker."

"Don't worry, I've beaten all of Fromsoft's Soulbourne games. I'm quite familiar with Painted World's."

"What?"

"…forget about it…" He sighed and jumped back in, and their quest through the Painted World of Ariandel.

I understood that reference!

Eyyyy!

He just glowered in response.

Life do be getting in my way.

Well, either way, the newest chapter has been uploaded. Hope it was enjoyable and apologies for the delay! Anyway, we finally get the first Mother series Shadow/Persona. Tangoo! I made sure to incorporate a bit of the lore I wrote for it back in Bound By Our Hearts. Should I do stat sheets for new Personas? Could be a fun exercise for me. Maybe I'll do one for Tangoo next chapter.

Also, Big Bang Burger! Gotta get those badges, baby, need those points! But in all seriousness, let me know what you think of the chapter, or just leave a 'nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time!