Chapter 30: Admission Possible
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
Traversing the rest of the paintings had not been as difficult as they'd expected. While they were sent back to the desert painting, it was a simple matter of taking another path in the mountain painting to reach the stormy seas.
Avoiding the tentacles from what was either a giant octopus or squid, they pressed another button and the final painting was revealed, a temple hall in a tranquil forest. Each new painting had Madarame monologue on what his vision of 'true' art was, and yet, when they exited the final painting…
"Not once did he mention a love for art," Fox growled. "These are no 'paintings', they are just meaningless self-assertions placed into picture frames!"
"I'm excited to see how the change of heart alters him. Now, let's hurry!" They sped down a hall with more lasers and then into some mix between a storage room and a hall, paintings hidden beneath tarps, cages holding empty painting frames, and a small number of guards patrolling.
"Ready?"
"Yeah!"
"IKUZO! I'll reveal your true form!" A guard cried out when he tore off its mask, and Joker backflipped away from it as it transformed into a number of Shadows. One of the dogs, the onion-headed Shadow, and a Tangoo. "Tangoo are weak to holy, Mona, take down the dog, Fox, the onion! Panther, with me!"
Mona leaped towards the dog with his saber drawn, Fox doing the same with his katana against the onion bird before his attention was captured by the Tangoo, bringing its flute to its lips. "Panther!"
"Already on it!" Her whip snapped out and snatched the Tangoo's flute before it could begin playing, and she pulled hard. It scrambled to keep hold as it was dragged towards her, and he jumped forward, stabbing down into the top of its head, rolling over its back, and finally slashing to cut completely through its neck.
He hit the floor as the Tangoo dispersed into goo and smoke and nodded at Panther. "Nice work."
"Thanks! I'll help Fox, you back up Mona!"
"I thought I was the leader?" He asked himself with a smirk, sprinting towards his teammate and his opponent. Zorro appeared behind Mona and whipped up a Garu that threw the Shadow through the air with a yelp. As it tumbled it saw him coming and attempted to slash at him, but he slid beneath it and slashed up with his dagger, cutting its tail.
As he flipped onto his feet he pulled off his mask and summoned Kodama. "Garu!" The second wind spell annihilated the Shadow and scattered its ashes to nothingness, and Mona hopped over while shaking his head.
"I had him on the ropes, you know."
"Oh yeah, I just felt like stealing the kill." Fox and Panther finished off their opponent as they talked, Fox freezing it with a Bufu, before Panther snatched it with her whip, spun it around, then shattered it to pieces against the ground.
"Good work guys. Let's keep moving!"
"Ah, one moment. I'm running a bit low on energy right now, so I believe it would be best if Skull takes my spot on the advance team."
"Are you sure? We've only been in here for a couple hours."
"Yes, it seems my Persona is not suited to using too many magical attacks. This will give me a chance to recover my energy."
"Sounds like a good idea to me, Joker."
"Alright, Fox. Wait here for a few seconds." He wandered back the way they'd come, finding Skull waiting just far enough that he wouldn't be spotted, but close enough if there was an emergency.
Skull raised his eyebrows when he saw him, stepping away from the wall he had been leaning against. "Yo, what's up?"
"You, looks like Fox's Persona is even more specialized towards physical attacks than yours, so he's taking your place in the backline to regain some energy. You're up."
"Yes!" Skull clapped him on the shoulder and grinned as he ran past. "Finally, I've been waiting to kick some butt!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't go too wild," he smirked back. When they regrouped with the others, Fox nodded at them, before waiting patiently as the advance team advanced. They continued through the mix of a storage room and hall, encountering several more Shadows along the way. The battles continued, and eventually, the end of the hall was in sight.
"Agi!" Carmen launched the fireballs toward a Shadow that was some odd mix of tiger, monkey, and snake. Apparently, Skull, Mona, and Panther had fought it themselves back when he had been opening up the peacock door.
The main body winced in pain and recoiled, while the snake tail shot out and attempted to snap at Panther. "Mona!" The not-cat shot forward at his order, doing a somersault and slashing the tail off before it could strike. Roaring in anger, the main body tried to leap forward and crush him.
"Skull!"
"Whip 'em, Persona!" Captain Kidd slammed into the Shadow and sent it careening to the side, off balance and completely missing Mona. "Hrraaaaaghhh!" Skull jumped onto Kidd's ship deck and then off of that, before smashing his hammer down and crushing the monster's head. It trembled against the ground, struggling to rise, before he walked forward, placed his Governance against its bleeding and broken head, and pulled the trigger.
"Well, that went well," he grinned.
"A lot better than when we had to take that thing on with just the three of us," Skull agreed.
"That's because you weren't following my orders last time."
"Maybe you shoulda given better orders then."
"Alright, let's not get into that now." He waved them forward before Mona suddenly began sniffing the air.
"Hold on, I think I'm getting the feeling… of a Will Seed nearby!"
Skull leaned down and placed his hands on his knees. "Where is it, boy? Where is it?! Go get the Will Seed!" He was then thrown on his ass when Mona shot him in the face with his slingshot. "OW!"
"I'm not a dog either, Numbskull!" Everyone laughed at the two as they began searching the area, eventually finding a ledge they could grapple onto, and with a press of a button a nearby gate retracted and revealed the vine-covered door.
"Alright, let's grab the- Aw crap, aren't we forgetting that one from right before the garden area?"
"Oh, you're right." Joker furrowed his brow, thinking back to the area that they'd said they'd explore more of when they returned, and how Mona had felt there was a Will Seed near it. "Before we leave today, we'll check it out."
For now they walked over to the door, finding that while it was still surrounded by vines, the plants that had crossed the door in Kamoshida's Palace were now ropes. "I guess it's different for every Palace, huh?" Panther noted.
He cut up the ropes and pushed the doors open, revealing the Will Seed. They ignored the murmurs of Madarame's subconscious as he pulled it free as easily as Kamoshida's. Fox looked disturbed by the sight of the seed in his hands before it was slipped into his pocket, eyes wide. "What is this… this sinister-looking object? It's so abhorrent… and yet, also so compelling!"
"They're kinda like a Treasure, but instead of being the distorted desires, they're the deep feelings that led to them being distorted… I think?"
"Pretty close Panther, good explanation. Now come on, let's keep moving." A regular door lay at the end of the hall, and through it a golden light shone. It was so bright that they couldn't see what was beyond it until they physically stepped through and were immediately stunned by the sight.
It looked like an MC Esher painting, with staircases that mixed together or went nowhere, sideways doors in walls that floated above nothing, a general madhouse. "Shit… What the hell is up with this place?!"
"There's so much gold…! It's hurting my eyes…"
"The distortion is especially bad here… It's barely holding up. Plus, it's not even on our map."
"Then we're definitely getting close to the Treasure."
"So we must ascertain the truth through our eyes alone…" He frowned at Fox's words, before jerking his head to the right, where they could see more Shadows roaming.
"Follow the guards, find the way forward… for now, at least. There's probably some goddamn puzzle in here that we need to solve to get out." They began running, along sideways staircases and on the undersides of hallways. A guard ahead of them jerked as it heard something, and before it could see them he jumped over it and onto its back. "Show us your true form!"
The museum guard exploded into several of the masked, winged creatures that they'd fought when Fox had Awakened. "Looks like a job for the Jackster! Ravage them!"
"Hee to the ho, let's-a-go!" The snowman demon hopped forward with a smile, breathing out an icy fog with his Mabufu, sending the Shadows falling to the ground. One managed to avoid the fog by flying up above it, only for Skull's shotgun to completely blast off one of its wings.
"Hell yeah! Time to kick some ass!" Everyone grinned as they launched into an All-Out Attack, Skull finishing them off with a flourish. "That's all he wrote!"
"The quote is 'that's all she wrote."
"But I'm a guy?"
Mona just groaned, and he snickered at the two of them. His mask reformed, saving Jack Frost from Panther, who had slowly been inching closer while wringing her whip out. "Let's keep up the pace!"
Ω • Ω • Ω
It was nearly impossible to remember which staircases and which upside-down or sideways halls they'd traversed, especially with how the entire area just didn't exist on the map. It was only his excellent memory and Fox's eye for detail that allowed them to keep track of where they had been, and where they had come from.
"I thought I'd seen everything there was to see of this distorted world, but to think it would conjure up such a bizarre place…"
They stopped at a blank wall, no way forward. He sighed and leaned against a large painting as Fox pondered their surroundings, having caught up when they'd stopped. Panther pretty much ignored his ramblings, looking around in concern. "So, like, which way are we supposed to go? I didn't see any other ways forward, did you?"
"I didn't see sh…it… Hey, what's this?" Skull leaned over and grabbed a piece of the wallpaper near the floor that was sticking out, peeling it off to reveal a glowing blue doorway. "...Huh. Thought that wall felt kinda weird. Wait, it wasn't an actual wall?! Are we gonna have to worry about fake walls now too?!"
"I see, so it was camouflaged. We may have been trapped here for eternity had you not noticed that."
"Ooh, nice work, Skull! You did it!"
"Good eye," he agreed.
"Uh, sure… You know I just got lucky right?"
"Oh just take the compliment," he chuckled as he walked past. Unlike the paintings he didn't feel any sensation at all as he entered the blue glow, one moment he was walking into the doorway and the next he had come out somewhere completely different.
A moment later, his fellow thieves popped up next to him. "Whoa, that thing warped us?"
"It seems even the paths beyond these apertures are distorted in the same way as this room."
"Even more crap to keep track of. Come on." More walkways and portals followed, eerily empty of Shadows, until they came across two easels. Each held a picture of the 'Sayuri', only one had a red shirt, and the other a blue shirt.
"Why is this here?"
He shrugged at Panther's words, slowly circling the pieces. "Considering it's the 'Sayuri', I'm willing to bet it's pretty damn important to his cognition. But why two? And one is clearly wrong."
"You say one's clearly wrong, but aren't they all counterfeit? Well, I guess the real one could be in here too…"
Mona just narrowed his eyes as she thought out loud, suspicions of something growing. "I wonder… Ugh, either way, the fact this is here, it might be connected to this space in some way."
Joker swore that he heard someone mutter "Yeah, no shit," to themselves, but couldn't tell if it was Skull or one of his Personas. He looked around the area they were in, and could only see three blue doorways, or portals since that's what they acted like. "Skull, go back through the door we came through. Panther, that upper one there. Mona, you enter that bottom door."
"Why?"
"I want to test something out. If you end up somewhere completely different, come back through." Everyone looked at each other but ended up shrugging and went through with it. Just as he suspected, when they entered their respective doors, they each reappeared at the door they'd entered the area from.
"Whoa!"
"So we're trapped here?"
"Not necessarily." He turned to the paintings and looked between them. "The question is: Do we need to know which is the correct painting, or the incorrect painting?"
"Maybe we need to spot the incorrect painting?" Panther suggested. "Like, he's a fraud through and through, so maybe we'd need to recognize the fake?"
"What's the worst that could happen?" Skull questioned with a shrug, before tapping the canvas of the blue 'Sayuri'. The painting wavered, before vanishing. There was a moment of stillness until they all felt a jolt as the security level jumped and guards appeared around them in bursts of goo.
"Shit, we're surrounded!" He had to ignore the others around him and focus solely on the guard that was swinging a baton at him, jumping back out of range, before charging back in and slashing it across the chest. The Shadow convulsed, before exploding into another dog and monkey/tiger/snake creature. "Izanagi-Picaro!"
"Behold the truth!" With a powerful Cross Slash the dog was sent reeling, and would have fallen into the void below the walkways had it not been able to float. The tiger Shadow leaped at him and he rolled under its body, then used his arm to throw himself to the side and avoid the snake tail. As he did a flip he couldn't avoid the arm that was swung at him, and he grunted at the impact.
He flipped end-over-end, almost falling off the ledge before he caught himself. As he scrambled back up he had Izanagi-Picaro attack the tiger, while the dog flew towards him. He narrowed his eyes and instead of climbing onto stable ground he leaped at the Shadow and startled it, stabbing it in the throat.
It screeched in pain and tried to claw at him, and he grinned as he vaulted up into its back, his dagger beginning to freeze it solid. He pierced its brain with the weapon, before backflipping off onto solid ground as it dissolved into black ash and vanished. He refocused on Izanagi-Picaro who was in the middle of completely chopping off one of the Shadow's arms with his Naginata.
The Shadow roared in pain and Izanagi went to stab it through the heart before it leaped forward and tackled the Persona. Joker winced as he felt the pain of the impact, but kept moving, somersaulting over the snake tail when it attempted to snap at him, cutting it off, and then plunging his dagger into the back of the main body's head.
It slumped, dazed, and Izanagi-Picaro vanished as he slid off its back and onto the floor. He pulled out his gun and aimed down, pulling the trigger several times as the Shadow suddenly attacked, jumping up with black fire in its mouth. The bullets tore through its head and turned it to goop, then vanished into the wind.
He quickly holstered his gun and looked around. Skull and Mona weren't fighting together, thankfully. They would have done more damage to each other than the Shadows. Instead, Skull was fighting alongside Fox and Mona next to Panther. Neither group was having more trouble than the other, but since Panther and Mona were a bit squishier than Fox and Skull, he dashed towards the first pair.
He arrived just as they were dodging away from several purple orbs, being fired from the mouth of a Shadow that looked similar, but not identical, to the dog Shadow. Its head was flatter and its entire body was a light gray in coloration. Three of the winged Shadows wearing tengu masks were floating behind it launching Garu attacks, and one of them had the purple coloration of a Disaster Shadow.
He smirked as he sprinted past Mona and Panther, sliding under the wolf Shadow, his dagger flashing out, ready to cut into the flying Shadows. "Having trouble?"
"We had this, but feel free to help out!" Mona smirked back, trying to shoot it down with his slingshot, only to groan when the 'bullets' bounced off.
"Thanks, Joker!" Panther called, snapping her whip out and wrapping it around the Shadow's middle. She spun and dragged it around, before slamming it into the ground and started lashing it wildly.
The Shadows attempted to launch blades of wind at him by flapping their wings hard, so he jumped to the side to avoid them, slipping slightly and using his hand to catch himself, before bursting forward once more. One attempted to punch him, but he grinned as he leaped over it, grabbing its outstretched arm as he landed on its back and forced it to the ground, pulling hard and dislocating it.
Another gust of wind courtesy of a Garu threw him back, but he quickly recovered with a flip, skidding along the ground as he landed. His hair and coat settled and he smirked at the remaining two Shadows, ignoring the one writing in pain on the floor. One, the Disaster Shadow, hovered ignoring everything, while the other readied another Garu. "Showtime!"
He launched forward, ducking and weaving between the deadly sharp blades of wind. The Shadow attacking began backing up in panic, but it was too late, and he was on it with a flurry of swipes. In only a few seconds the Shadow had been sliced to ribbons, blocks of ice forming where his Blizz Dagger had frozen it enough. He grinned and used the Shadow as a springboard, leaping high into the air and over the Disaster Shadow.
"Jack Frost!" A Bufu later and the Disaster Shadow was weakened enough for his dagger strike to the head to kill it completely. It trembled violently, before exploding and consuming the downed Shadows as he flipped away.
He dusted himself off as he landed, looking over his shoulder to see Mona standing triumphantly atop the wolf Shadow that Panther had hogtied on the ground. "Well well, what do we have here?" He grinned and knelt next to the Shadow.
"Um… me wolf."
He rolled his eyes. "I can see that."
"Then why you ask?"
"B-Because I— I was being facetious."
"Me don't know what that is. Can you eat it?"
"…" he stared at the Shadow for a moment in silence, before looking up at Mona and Panther in exasperation. Mona just shook his head and Panther laughed at his expression. "Just… just give me your money."
Ω • Ω • Ω
More portals, more paintings, more puzzles. Joker huffed, proud of the potent p-alliteration.
Wow, his brain was frying from the confusing goddamn mess this entire place was.
After the Shadows had been killed they tapped the 'real' 'Sayuri,' and it transformed into golden light and flew into a portal, which similarly turned from deep blue to gold. Traveling through it led to a new area, confirming that they needed to figure out which painting was the correct one, and each new set got harder and harder to discern.
The first few had changes such as the branch in the background not being there, having so many flowers on the branch that it looked like it was overflowing, or multiple branches coming from both sides of the paintings. Each set also had more paintings to differentiate, and Fox wanting them to see if they could tell which was real wasn't helping matters.
It eventually got so subtle that one painting had a branch with one petal too few, while another had the 'Sayuri's' smile ever so slightly at an angle. Something that only Fox noticed, and everyone was justifiably angry at him for not mentioning it. The final set they found didn't have the real 'Sayuri' in it, the real painting was actually hidden behind a wall.
That one infuriated Skull so much that he nearly kicked it off the ledge they stood on. At the very least he'd gotten another chance to get the wolf Shadow over the course of the exploration, a Makami, with some good abilities he could make use of.
But finally, finally, they passed through a long hallway, and on the other side of the doors at the end was a normal-looking room. Normal enough for a Palace, anyway.
"A-Ah, that is…!" On the opposite side of the room was a large open doorway that led to an open space, and in the center was a cage of lasers keeping the familiar cloudy form of the Treasure, as well as Shadow Madarame, safe. "Just as I expected… Madarame!"
"There's the Treasure behind him!" He motioned for Fox and Panther to be quieter, and began stalking forward. There wasn't much cover that they could use to hide from Madarame's gaze, besides the frame of the doorway, so it would be best not to draw any attention.
"Kinda hard to make out… can't we get any closer?"
"Skull… how exactly are we going to get any closer when he's watching this doorway like a hawk?"
"Uh… I mean, you can use that psychic instant transmission thing right?"
"Call it that again and I'll slap you. I am not risking a copyright lawsuit." He still used it, his body melting into blackness for less than a second as he reappeared inside the room, having traversed several meters and moving from cover to cover within the minuscule time frame before his body became flesh and blood again. He was hidden behind a podium, where all the guards patrolling couldn't see him if he was careful.
He frowned as he looked around, spotting no other entrances, no vents, nothing they could use to enter undetected. He couldn't see any power cables that they could cut to shut down the lasers either, so even if they could find their way in without being spotted, the Treasure was still out of their reach.
Looking up, there were several rooms high above them, but the bright lights shining down made it hard to tell if there was anything they could use. He turned and used his Shadow ability, reappearing next to the others. "Good news is, that's definitely the Treasure, so we've reached the end of the Palace, or explored most of it. Bad news, there's no getting around those lasers, and no easy cable to cut. We need to find a security room or something like it."
"I believe I have a question," Fox spoke. "If the treasure is a cloudy haze, how would we abscond with it?"
"Don't worry, once we send the calling card, it'll pop into existence like 'yoo-hoo!'"
"I… see."
"So what do we do now?"
"Let's check those other two doorways," he spoke up. "Maybe one of them will lead us further up the tower. If we can't get in through the sides, we could descend from the top."
"Good thinking, Joker. Just like a Phantom Thief!"
Fox stayed behind, partly as he wasn't on the advance team, partly to continue glaring towards Madarame as the Shadow barked orders to the guards around the room, before following after them.
One hall had led to another Safe Room, where they didn't stay long, while on the other side of the same hall was another control room. "Sweet, maybe we can do something here!" Joker quickly caught Skull's wrist before he could start mashing buttons. "C'mon man I wasn't just gonna press everything."
"Doubtful." He leaned over the computers and looked them over. "Well, no password is needed, for some reason…"
"That's lucky," Panther commented.
He began pressing keys and saw several commands that could be inputted, instead of needing to type a specific command. He could open a pair of shutters in the opposite hall that would lead up the tower, shut down the laser system, and turn off the main power. Seeing no Shadows near the gates, he opened them.
The next two buttons he wasn't sure of. Both would be very obvious, and likely get the Shadows to investigate. "Hey, look at this… there's a failsafe on this one, Joker." Mona pointed at the option to shut down the lasers, which had a warning next to it. "'Only Lord Madarame can access this due to Maximum Security Protocol."
"Ugh, really?!"
"There was no point in even comin' here then!"
"We can still attempt to shut down the power… just be ready to run in case Shadows investigate." He tapped the keyboard and the lights went dark, plunging the room into blackness. The only things visible were the red light of the lasers, likely still powered by some backup generators, the faint light of the Treasure, and Madarame, illuminated by both.
"Wh-What is the meaning of this!?"
"I-I'm not sure! It seems we have lost power…"
"Re-routing the backup generators to handle the main power alongside the lasers!" Another Shadow shouted.
Sure enough, the lights flickered back on, with the lasers only wavering for a brief moment. Shadow Madarame scowled as he looked around the room. "What a nasty surprise… hm… could this also be…? Hey, you two!"
"Tch, came back on pretty damn fast, didn't they?"
"Yes, and the infrared lasers remained active even during the power outage."
"So we only have a brief moment where we won't be seen, and the lasers won't shut down when the main power…"
"Guys, I think those guards are coming our way!" Panther pointed to two Shadows that were sprinting out of the room.
"Alright, let's go!" They ran out of the security office and reached the Safe Room on the opposite side of the hall just as the guards appeared, moving towards the office.
He stayed behind the door, peering through the crack at the Shadows as the others discussed behind him.
"So, all we got done was open some shutters? Damn!"
Fox sighed. "On top of that, we can only turn the lights off briefly, and the lasers remain unaffected."
If we wanted to be pedantic, then the lasers did flicker at the end there, Kouhai, Izanagi pointed out.
'Shut up,' everyone else said back.
"So all we can do now is see what's past the shutters, huh?"
"Seems so, Panther." Mona sighed and shook his head. "Joker, is the path clear?"
"…Now it is, yeah. Let's move." They snuck out and across the halls, finding the hallway that the shutters had blocked off. It was angled to lead upwards, and filled with yet more paintings and display cases of items… of which he stole several. They sped from cover to cover, the number of guards in the area less, but nearly all of them had the bright red aura of a Savage Enemy.
So close to the end, they wasted no energy on fighting and instead stuck to avoiding the Shadows, until they'd reached a balcony. Below them was the laser cage holding Madarame's Shadow and the Treasure, and across from them was another balcony. He nodded at the others, before snapping his grappling hook out and swinging across the gap.
His heart thudded in his chest and his grin widened at the thought that if anyone below them looked up they'd be seen, before he reached the other side and disengaged his hook, the wire snapping back as he fell. Just as he did a guard stepped onto the balcony, wrapped in the aura of a Savage Enemy, and his grin transformed into a smirk as he descended onto them. "I'll reveal your true form!"
The mask was ripped from its face and revealed the white monster they'd fought before, which felt loose a bellowing roar as he flipped away from it. "Tangoo, Dokumu!" The snake-man appeared and blew into his flute, creating a sickly purple cloud of noxious gas, poisoning the Shadow.
The monstrous Shadow roared and charged him, swinging its fists wildly. His smirk didn't change as he dodged back, weaving between the blows, and watching his fellow thieves swing across the gap toward him. All at once Mona, Panther, and Skull landed on the Shadow's back, and even if it couldn't take physical damage it could still be hit, meaning their combined weight slammed it to the ground.
The three backflipped away, and they all locked eyes, smirks that mirrored his appearing on their faces as they reached towards their masks. "Jack Frost!"
"Captain Kidd!"
"Carmen!"
"Zorro!"
"Ravage them/Get wrecked/Dance/Show your might!"
An explosion of elemental fury encompassed the Shadow, ice, lightning, fire, and wind all whipping together and surrounding the enemy. A cloud of smoke was the result, but it didn't stay long, as the Shadow burst out and sprinted towards Skull. The boy grunted as he met it halfway, Captain Kidd slamming into it and unloading multiple Zio bolts into its body.
Snarling, the Shadow punched the Captain hard enough that Skull was forced to dissipate him, wincing in pain, before grabbing the boy and preparing to throw him off the ledge. Neither he nor Morgana were going to let that happen, as he called out Izanagi-Picaro and slammed into the back of the Shadow's knees, and Mona launched a Garu into its face.
It stumbled, off balance, and awkwardly tried to throw Skull, but Panther easily latched onto him with her whip and dragged him back onto the balcony. He grinned and threw his arm out as Mona jumped aside, Panther turning as she had Carmen unleash a roiling wave of flame, consuming the Shadow while he shouted "PSI Rebellion α!" The explosion of psionic power forced a roar from the Shadow.
Now burning and poisoned, the Shadow stumbled forward and awkwardly tried to crush her, which she side-stepped easily. Let me be in on this! He chuckled and pulled off his mask, manifesting the hunting wolf spirit, Makami. "Alright! Me take them out!"
"Frei!" The wolf Persona howled, a ball of light purple energy forming in his maw, which he quickly fired at the rampaging Shadow. When it impacted, the Shadow let loose another roar, but this one was clearly a pain-filled one. It fell to its knees, and he quickly took the opportunity, pulling out his dagger and shouting, "All-Out Attack!"
Everyone leaped forward, and even though normally their physical strikes would have had no effect, it seemed like they were actually doing damage. Once they leaped away, he tightened his glove and turned, letting the Shadow jet black blood into the air behind him. "The Show's Over!"
Ω • Ω • Ω
They had finally reached the top of the tower, and after passing through a doorway, found a room filled with various mechanisms.
"Another security room?" Skull asked, scratching his head.
"No," Fox wandered in after them, looking around. "I believe all the mechanisms of the exhibition hall are controlled from here. Given the number of hanging works, it would make sense to have a room dedicated to controlling them."
"The observational skills of an artist are out of this world…"
"It's also called common Sense, Panther," Joker snarked at her. She slapped him on the shoulder, and everyone chuckled as they spread out. As they looked over the levers and buttons, he looked toward a ladder that led to several pieces of scaffolding that hung above the lights shining down on the exhibition room below them. He crept forward and looked over the edge, and directly below them, several meters down, was the Treasure. "Skull, everyone, check this out…"
"Whoa, we're right above the Treasure!"
"And there aren't any lasers above it!"
"This is quite the large hole in their security… but what do we do? Jump down and retrieve it?"
Mona shook his head. "We wouldn't be able to get out if we did that though. Look up." They did and spotted a hook, attached to several meters of cable.
"Ah… I see!" Fox nodded.
"The controls should probably be around here somewhere. Let's find them!" Everyone spread out, Joker continued along the scaffolding, looking for any way of lowering the crane, while the others returned to the mechanism room. He didn't find any levers, but he did find two things of note. One was a window leading outside onto the tower, which could very well be their exfiltration route, and the second was a small vent he could crawl through.
"C'mon, c'mon, I wanna explore!" Most of his Personas chuckled at Kodama's excitement, so he got down on his hands and knees and began crawling. The vent wasn't long, and after reaching the end and falling through into a crouch, he unlocked a door barred by a grate and followed the halls.
At the end, he cursed and pressed his body against the wall, spying another Savage Enemy guardian at a Will Seed door.
Well? How shall we handle this? Apsaras questioned, and he could practically hear her raised eyebrow.
Facing an enemy as powerful as that on our own would be… ill-advised.
Me can take them!
'We don't know if it's the same type of Savage Enemy as the others,' he thought, 'so I'd rather not have a one-on-one where we've got to experiment with what they can do and what they're weak to. Let's retreat for now.'
He backtracked to the scaffolding and leaped across the gaps, finding the others talking in the mechanism room. "Where've you been?"
"Exploring. I found what could be a shortcut back up the tower from the Central Garden, and a way out when we steal the Treasure. Also another Will Seed, but whatever. What did you find?"
"You what?"
Mona interrupted Skull, waving at a nearby lever. "We found what controls the crane, and we've come up with a plan."
"Oh? Do tell."
"We're gonna do an Admission Possible!"
"…meaning?"
Panther giggled at his flat look. "We're strapping Mona to the hook, and we'll lower him down to grab the Treasure after we've sent the card."
"Good idea, he's definitely not chonky enough to snap the cable."
"Excuse me?!"
"Don't worry, Mona, I believe your child-like charm is very aesthetically pleasing. I would be happy to paint you sometime."
"R-Really? Well, I am— HEY! I'm suave and cool, not cute and child-like!"
Joker chuckled at the byplay, before looking over the edge and down into the room absolutely filled with Shadows. "What if someone sees you? They'll swarm us before we can even say 'Treasure.'"
Mona opened his mouth to answer, before closing it and frowning. "Well, we did think that most of the guards would be focusing on the entryways, and not the Treasure itself…"
"I tried to tell you," Fox sighed. "To believe they wouldn't have at least a few eyes on the Treausure would be… well, I think it would be unlikely."
"Alright, alright!"
"Can we find those backup generators or somethin'? Maybe smash those up?"
"That would cause the security level to skyrocket, and those things would probably be as guarded as the Treasure room." He hummed and thought. "What if… we have someone in the security room to shut down the power when Mona is sent down?"
"Hmm… yeah, that could work! That's our Joker!"
"Oh right, they took a few seconds to turn the lights back on when we shut down the power in that control room!"
Fox shook his head at Panther's words. "Yes, but as you said, only for a few seconds. There would not be enough time to make it all the way here."
"Then we'll split up the tasks and work together to pull off this heist! One person will shut the power off, another will lower the crane, and I'll grab the Treasure!"
Skull frowned. "You sure that's gonna work? Seems like they'd realize what's goin' on at some point."
"Sometimes bold moves have the greatest payout. Unless someone has a better idea?"
"I think it's a sound plan."
"Well said, Joker! You understand what being a phantom thief really means!"
"I think he understands it too well," Panther murmured to Skull.
"All right, it's settled. Our infiltration route is secured! Now, it's time to send the calling card!"
"Are we forgettin' the Will Seeds?" Skull asked. "And, like, we gotta check if that window Joker found is actually good to escape outta."
"…huh. Wow, good point, Numbskull."
"Shut up!"
"As I said, I found another Will Seed, but it was guarded by a powerful Shadow. I think we should wait for the heist day when all the Shadows will be distracted by the Calling Card and guarding the Treasure. We can sneak in and grab the Seed before beginning our plan. I think we're all a bit too tired today to risk fighting a potentially powerful Shadow fight now."
"What about the first Seed we missed, before the garden area?" Panther questioned.
"Let's see if that window is actually a good shortcut down and back up before we check that Will Seed out." Joker led his fellow thieves across the scaffolding to the window he'd found, and jammed his knife into the base of the sill, pushing it open.
Everyone except for Fox shivered at the cold the strong winds brought with them, the height of the tower being even higher than that of Kamoshida's. They slipped out onto the golden ledge, the ground… far beneath them. He could see the Central Gardens far below, and thankfully, the building was constructed in such a way that they could hop down the building, from geometry to geometry, until they were a single ledge above the gardens.
The last drop could have been done safely, but it was too high to jump back up when they would return, so instead, they took more rope from Mona's pouch and used it to get down the side, hiding it around a corner, with one of the massive peacock doors helping to further keep it out of sight.
"Alright, that's our route set up! Let's grab that second Will Seed and we'll head out!"
"So, when will we steal the Treasure?" Fox asked as they walked through the garden.
"Well, we do need to prepare a Calling Card, figure out how to deliver it, and make sure we're rested for the day of the heist. That means, at the very least, two days of rest beforehand. However, I would like at least one more training session for you, so we'll likely traverse Mementos. Since we'll have some rest tomorrow thanks to Skull's inability to study—" Skull grumbled at that. "We can go on Thursday. Two days of rest will let us send the Calling Card on Saturday, meaning we'll steal his Treasure on Sunday. That gives us… a full week between his stolen heart and the end of the exhibit. Plenty of time for the guilt to crush him and confess his crimes before he can take legal action on us."
Everyone just stared at Joker in silence, having not expected the long-winded rant. "What?"
"Nothing, just… man, you really like planning, huh?"
"It's called being responsible, Skull. Something you could learn. Maybe it would help you get out of needing extra classes in the future."
"Would you please stop bringing that up?!"
Skull and he continued their banter for the rest of their journey through the Palace, eventually locating that first damn Will Seed, and leaving for the day, to rest and recuperate.
Their route had been secured. And when the time was right, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts would steal their second heart.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Sapphire•
A dark tunnel
Endless rails leading into darkness
A blade pierced his hand, he grinned and punched his attacker in the face
Barely concealed bloodlust and battle rage energized him
Don't show it
Live a normal life
The bringer of death bore down on a white-masked boy
NO!
If you wish for the power to save him, then accept me! Revel in your Wrath! Reveal your wrath! The time of hiding your True Self is long past!
"Yeah… alright, I get it. Fine! NO MORE HOLDING BACK! THIS IS WHO I REALLY AM!"
"Hahahaha! I am the Raider of the Endless Sands! Ra-The—!"
Sapphire gasped as he woke, lurching up and lunging. Noct stood before him, covered in blood and bruises, having to dodge back as Sapphire surged upwards, throwing a punch.
His body was aching, similarly covered in bruises and blood leaking from several scrapes and his nose, but he ignored that in favor of planting his feet and throwing a jab. Noct smacked it aside with one hand before kicking out at him. He grunted as he caught the attack, throwing his opponent's leg up to try and get him off balance, but Noct simply landed on his hands and flipped away, before rushing back in, arm cocked back.
Sapphire ducked to the side, Noct's fist soaring past his head, before burying his own fist into Noct's gut. The man's eyes bulged and he was physically lifted into the air several inches from the force of the blow before he wound up again and punched Noct in the face.
His opponent was thrown onto his back, before smoothly rolling over himself and onto his feet. He stood up and rolled his neck, before motioning for Sapphire to come at him again. Sapphire grinned as excitement washed over him, and he roared as he charged forward.
Noct met him halfway, both winding up for a punch before they traded blows. Their fists met each other's faces, and Sapphire could feel the pain blossom and… what was probably a tooth being knocked loose. Noct similarly was sent reeling from the attack, before using the momentum to spin and slam his foot into the side of Sapphire's head.
He felt the ear that had been struck begin ringing and suddenly he was on the ground, warmth pooling in the wounded side of his face, blood most likely. He grunted, arms struggling to push himself up, before he collapsed back down, panting. He rolled over, now half-deaf on his right side and both eyes nearly swelled closed from his bruises.
He could see Noct leaning down and offering him a hand, which he gratefully accepted, letting his friend pull him to his feet. His body ached, he was near certain that several bones were at the very least cracked. Really, his entire body was one big, pain-filled sore. He grinned at the feeling.
He loved it.
"You're improving. Or, returning to how skilled you used to be." Noct clapped him on the shoulder, golden light flowing from the Asian man's hand. It washed over them both, black and blue skin turning back to its normal coloration, opened wounds closing, his tooth fitting back in, and his ear finally ceasing that damn ringing.
He stepped away from Noct and stretched, before looking back toward his friend. The dude was a mountain of a man, somewhere over seven feet, and pure muscle. Gave the dude one hell of a right hook. "Yup. But I guess I still can't beat ya when it comes down to a fight without PSI, huh?"
"I simply kept training while you settled down." Sapphire looked away. "It is no wonder that your skills would have stagnated while mine grew. Though, I do believe you could still turn the tides on me if we had incorporated PSI into the fight. Your ingenuity would have surely closed the gap."
Sapphire grinned and filled his arm with PSI, snapping it out in a punch so fast that it couldn't be seen. His knuckles stopped bare centimeters from Noct's face, who raised an eyebrow in amusement at him as powerful winds courtesy of his punch caused Noct's black, braided hair to flap wildly behind him. "And I've always been better at Enhancing myself than you have, huh?"
"That too, I suppose." They walked off the scarred battlefield, A couple of Noct's handmaidens waiting dutifully with their clothes, the two men having stripped to boxing shorts in Sapphire's case, and a gi in Noct's case. Neither wanted their clothes to be ruined in their match. "Speaking of… why did you wish to fight without weapons or PSI in our match? Another vision?"
He grimaced and nodded. "I've been getting more of them, though they're still not too common. In them, it feels… I feel weaker, I'm not as strong or fast as I could be. And I know I have gotten weaker, but not to such an extent. It's like I'm not even Enhancing myself at all."
"You believe something will happen that strips you of your PSI?"
"That or weakens it." He shook his head. "I also never see Casey in the visions… but I feel her nearby. It's odd."
"And Willow? Have you told her of your visions yet?"
"Not yet. I will, but I don't want her to worry, especially since I can't tell what exactly is going to happen. Once I have a better idea, I'll tell her. She wouldn't forgive me for going off half-cocked on another adventure without taking her along," he chuckled.
"Hm. Well, your precognition was always either useful or barely told you anything. It is likely for the best you do not get ahead of yourself."
"Yup. During the fight, that brief moment where you knocked me out, I got another one. It was some… train tunnel. I was fighting some guy in all black, then I had to save some white-masked guy from this giant floating monster. I think I heard my Shadow speaking to me too. Can't make heads or tails of it."
Noct frowned. "Didn't you come to terms with your Shadow and get it to accept you upon defeating Nightmare? Why would your shadow…?" They finished dressing, and Noct shook his head. "In any case, if something will happen soon and you cannot use your PSI during the event, then you must continue training your combat skills. Especially hand-to-hand, if Casey is not with you."
"C'mon Noct, the only one I can't beat in a fight without PSI is you."
"Me and any other number of actually trained fighters," Noct snarked back. "You're good at fighting. But you're no master. I'd say you aren't even an expert. You know the forms and the moves. You don't have the proficiency or the skill."
"So, what, sapphire belt?" He questioned with a grin. "Maybe you should make some PSI shadow clones for me to fight."
Noct just laughed, slapping his back as they walked off the field, having had enough of beating the shit out of each other for the day.
Alright, there we go. The route has been secured, all that's left is the final preparations, and maybe some Mementos training for Fox. Maybe a couple Mementos targets. I had fun with the small segment of Akira failing to negotiate with Makami. He's smart, but he hasn't gotten Yoshida's full training just yet. Another appearance by a couple members of the C4. Also, the chapter is named after one of the movies you can watch at the theatres if anyone hasn't spent their time watching them. I think 'The cake knight rises' is my favorite lol.
By the way, found a great story on Ao3 I've been reading, it's given me a lot of great ideas for a Fate/Grand Order and Persona 5 crossover. Loving it so far and it's a real fun read. I'd put a direct link for it but FF gives hissy fits about links, so instead the name of the story is "The Trickster and the Grand Order" by Kenjichan251. Really recommend it, even if someone doesn't know much about Fate I think it explains Fate concepts pretty well so people shouldn't be too lost. Though obviously there are spoilers there if you don't know Fate lol.
Anyway, 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!