The operation to save Guernica began. Their mission? Recover the three pieces of Guernica's statement to restore her heart. It wasn't going to be easy, but even though there were only six of them, the Phantom Thieves were up for the challenge. "So, how are we going to start?" Luca asked the others.

"You're good at sneaking around, yes?" Dragon asked Luca, who nodded in response. "We will need you to act as an extra pair of eyes. We usually have our navigator, Oracle, take care of it. But since we are short handed at the moment, I was hoping you would take on that role."

"Of course!" Luca said with an excited nod. She was more than happy to do what she could to help.

"Perfect!" Dragon grinned. "The plan is this. The others are going to go ahead of us. I will need you to scout out areas in front of them, while I remain here."

"What are you going to do?" Luca asked.

"Use this!" She pulled out her sniper rifle. "I have an incredible amount of range, which I can best use to assist from afar. I will be taking potshots at enemies to either finish them off, or create an opening for the others. There is no doubt we will have to fight some enemies, but our primary goal is stealth."

"I got it." Luca balled her hands into fists. "You can count on me!" With a nod, the Mouscot scurried off down below, while the others were getting into position.

"Ugh..." Viper groaned. In order to get where they needed to go, they had to traverse through enemy paint. All of that pink splattered on the ground made it difficult to move. "This paint is such a pain..."

"If we get surrounded while in this stuff, it won't end well for us." Fox noted.

"Then we best move to ensure that doesn't happen." Crow was taking point, mostly because he didn't want to waste much time. Since they had a better understanding of how combat in this world worked, Crow was willing to test something. "Stay right there."

"Uh..." Viper looked at the others, who just decided to listen to Crow for the time being.

Crow snuck his way up one of the smaller buildings, creeping behind a lookout Shadow. He waited for the right moment, when it wasn't looking, and then slashed at it with his sword. The Shadow fell from the roof, and Joker used this chance to shoot at it. His bullets crashed into the Shadow just before it hit the ground. When it did crash onto the ground, green paint splattered everywhere as the Shadow itself was defeated. "Hm. So that does work."

"I did notice that...!" Violet nodded.

"So when we make our attacks against the enemy, we gain advantageous paint." Fox said in understanding.

"Just make sure you don't get any of that stuff on me." Viper said.

"Alright! Let's move!" Joker told the others. Dragon and Luca were going to be their extra pair of eyes as they snuck around the area. Luckily for them, the types of enemies either ranged from a shooter or a large hulking one. So far, they could deal with these numbers and slip past them.

Joker did frown at some point. "Damn...this world is a bit weird. I don't think I can get to the Velvet Room either. I'd love to use some other Personas..." It felt like he was stuck with just Raoul. While this wasn't a bad thing, he did feel a little...naked. He was used to switching Personas on the fly to adapt to the situation, but now, he was just stuck with what he had.

"So sorry you have to be brought down to the level of other Persona users." Viper rolled her eyes quietly. That remark didn't exactly make Crow laugh, but behind his mask was a vaguely bemused grin. She took cover, peering around a corner as a large hulking Shadow was patrolling the area. "Ugh, a big one..."

"That's the only way forward." Violet frowned.

"If we catch it by surprise, we should be able to slip past." Fox said while drawing his sword. "I will strike second."

"I'll go first!" Violet said. She waited for the Shadow Slammer to turn around, before emerging from cover with her musket aimed forward. "Take this!" She fired a bullet, and the Slammer grunted and staggered forward. Since it was exposed, she expected it to recoil...but instead, it quickly turned around and instictively jumped at her. "Gah!?" It happened so quickly, she didn't have time to react as the Slammer crashed down on top of her. Pink paint splattered in all directions as Violet was thrown back. "Ouch!"

Despite that insanely fast reaction time, the Slammer simply didn't move after that, its guard lowered after the counter attack. Fox used this chance to slip forward, his blade covered in ice as he slashed at the Slammer, taking it out. "Enemy down! Violet, are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Violet did take some damage, and there was some paint splattered on her body and outfit, but she was able to shake some of it off. "I wasn't expecting it to do that..."

"I'm sorry I can't give you too much information about the enemies here." Luca frowned. "Fighting them is, well..."

"You needn't apologize." Fox shook his head. Luca was resisting in her own way, and getting into needless conflict wasn't apart of that.

"These enemies are different than the Shadows we are used to facing." Crow crossed his arms. "We are going into this with little information, but trial and error is expected. It is, however...slightly unfortunate that Violet had to be the guinea pig."

"Slightly?" Violet rubbed the back of her neck. It at least sounded like Crow was kind of lamenting what just happened...

"Eyes sharp!" Luca snapped everyone back to focus. "Enemies up ahead...and there are some scouting the paths and buildings. They're really everywhere..."

"Luckily for us, sneaking around is what we do." Joker grinned. The others followed his lead, slipping behind cover to blend into the Shadows. When it looked like the enemies were unwilling to move, that's when Dragon acted. She used her sniper rifle to take one out. The green paint from this impact splashed around the other enemies, leaving them unable to act.

"Right on time!" Viper grinned at Dragon's timing, before lunging forward with Joker and Crow to take out the stunned enemies. The paint of this world was tricky to maneuver, but as long as they kept a good eye out, they were fine!

"Not bad so far..." Joker said while hiding behind a corner, peering ahead.

Dragon leapt across a few buildings once the coast was clear, just to stay close to everyone. It was a team effort, and so far, everyone was putting in the work. "Things are progressing smoothly..." They were evading enemies where they could, and taking them out when necessary, arousing little suspicion. "I thought I would be a bit rusty at this, but that isn't the case."

"Wait!" Luca stopped everyone from moving. Tucked away in a faraway corner, she could spot it. she pointed to a colorful slab of rock, surrounded between bland pieces of rubble. It really stood out in comparison. "Look - I found it! Up there, on top of the trash heap! I don't see any guards...now's our chance to take it!"

Speak of the devil, because Jerri flapped down with haste to stop them. She was perched atop a cane, pointing her wing indignantly at the little mouse. "I would believe not, Luca!"

"It seems we've been found..." Fox grunted. They were spotted much faster than he expected.

"Why, you smug little birdbrain bitch!" Luca shouted. "I'm sick of you ruining everything!"

"HAH!" Viper couldn't help but laugh at that one. Suddenly, her opinion of Luca went up drastically. "I like her, actually! I hate this dumb bird, too."

Obviously, Jerri didn't take too kindly to this. "Foul-mouthed as ever, aren't you? Clearly you weren't raised right."

"Are you done trading insults?" Crow asked, bored of the back and forth. Jerri was some kind of problem, and he didn't particularly care about wasting much time on her. "We are here to pick up that piece of trash behind you. Whether you choose to move or not doesn't matter to me."

Despite the threat, Jerri wasn't fazed. In fact, she saw an opportunity. "Well, if it isn't the boy from outside - quite an interesting turn of events, your aiding Luca. But why, exactly, when the matter doesn't concern you? If you're looking for a way home, I can give you one...right now." The bird spoke, attempting to entice the outsiders into leaving.

"Wait - don't believe anything she says! You can trust the devil before you trust her!" Luca interjected.

"I'd trust anything before I'd trust a bitch with wings." Mika said.

"Hah..." Dragon let out a dry laugh.

"Come now! Don't speak such slander!" Jerri was holding an amicable tone. If she could convince the outsiders to leave, then everything would be solved! Just like that.

"Liar! This is just another one of your dirty tricks! Just like you did with Guernica!" Luca spat.

"How many times must I tell you? All I've ever done is respect Guernica's wishes." Jerri said casually. "The current state of The Streets is entirely of her own doing."

"That's a lie!" Luca shouted so passionately. The fact she was so enraged by Jerri's words did intrigue everyone. "Guernica would never want things to be like this!"

Clearly, speaking to Luca wasn't going to work. "You're quite the handful..." The bird's eyes then landed on Joker. "Ah! I know! Excuse me, mop-headed boy - would you be a dear and hand Luca over? If you do, I'll send you all back to your own world. A rather sweet deal, don't you agree?"

"Mop-headed boy?" Joker almost took offense to this.

"She's kinda right. But that's besides the point. I hate her." Viper glared at Jerri, wishing she had her own crow present so it could fight her.

"Is she serious?" Violet looked at the others. Even with that offer presented, none of them seem rather interested.

"I believe I'm beginning to understand the situation here." Fox wasn't moved by that enticing offer.

"Screw you." Viper scoffed.

"We've already made our decision." Dragon said.

"Yeah. Get outta here." Joker waved his hand at Jerri, motioning for her to buzz off.

With that collective 'no' for an answer, Jerri groaned. "Ugh! Did any of you learn manners!?"

"I think it's rather obvious what we're here to do." Crow said with a grunt. "We're here to stop Guernica. And your attempts at manipulation have put a very sour taste in my mouth." As he said this, he pointed his gun forward, taking aim at the mysterious bird.

"So you prefer to be dealt with by cruder means? Very well." If that's how they wanted to play, Jerri was more than happy to oblige. "Perhaps you'd enjoy this while you last?" And with that, a large, Slammer Shadow appeared once again. But this one had a different coloration to the rest, a bright orange and black.

"This guy!" Luca grit her teeth. "This is always the guy that chases me off!"

"I can see why." Crow said while quirking a brow. "It looks well above the trash we've been clearing out so far."

"Just as ugly, too." Viper remarked.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to avoid this one." Fox said. Right after he said that, the Mad Slammer punched a barrel of paint towards the group of six, causing them all to disperse.

"Looks like we're fighting! And it looks strong!" Violet said while flipping backwards. During her flip, she aimed her gun at the Mad Slammer and took a shot. It was a direct hit, and the Mad Slammer countered by lunging after her, just like the one before. "Again!?" Violet's eyes widened as she jumped onto a box, only for the Mad Slammer to just narrowly miss her. But there was an explosion of pink paint as a result from its impact.

"It paints where it hits!? Ugh, that's so annoying!" Viper groaned as her mask burned away. "Nuwa, let's zap this ugly thing!" The serpentine lady appeared, slithering around Viper before releasing a bolt of lighting from her finger tips. This was a direct hit no the Mad Slammer, stunning it for just a second...before it then leapt towards Viper. With an annoyed yelp, she had to leap back to avoid a direct hit. But the shockwave of pink paint still caught her and she had a tumble. "Ugh! What the hell, why didn't it go down like the last one!?"

This was the same as the large Slammer enemy from earlier, but something was different. Crow and Fox began to shoot at it with their guns, landing hits, but the bulky Mad Slammer was hardly budging from it. It punched the air, sending a sphere of paint towards Fox that exploded against him, staining the streets pink from the impact. "Oof! This one has some power behind it..."

"Hereward!" Crow wasn't in the mood to pull punches and took shots with Hereward. Arrows of curse magic exploded against the Mad Slammer, who took the hits, turned to Crow, and aimed a punch at him instead. Crow crossed his arms as the large fist slammed against him. He slid back a great deal, over a drainage gate. "Tch..." His eyes then glanced at the trail of paint. It stopped at the drainage gate. "The paint stopped here."

"Oh, uh, yeah! Watch out for that!" Luca shouted from afar. It was a warning, and she didn't really seem too focused on the battle. But at the same time, all of the attention was on the Phantom Thieves.

"Sword of Judgement!" Dragon flipped forward as Bella appeared, numerous blades of light appearing in front of her. These swords began to rain down on the Mad Slammer, causing it to cross its arms. It then slammed on the ground, pushing away her swords with a wall of paint that knocked her down, covering her in paint. "Eugh, this feels wrong..."

"How are we going to break this things defenses..." Joker was looking around for an idea. Everything they threw at it failed! Still, he would use his grappling hook to attach to a building, using this to swing around and aim shots that landed. Getting close to the Mad Slammer was asking for a painful retaliation. "Raoul!" His persona appeared, flipping into the air before landing an axe kick on the Mad Slammer to inflict damage. His mobility worked, for the Mad Slammer wasn't able to get a hit on him. But he could only play this way for so long.

The Mad Slammer, frustrated, then began to hurl barrels of paint around towards everyone. This forced them on the defensive and they had to take cover. "It is surrounded by its own paint." Dragon pointed out. "No matter what we do, it's going to have the strength of it's paint around it. We will never be able to land a decisive blow like this...Fox, can you keep it from moving the second it lands!?"

"Leave it to me!" Fox nodded.

"Viper-san, let's draw its attention!" Violet looked to Viper with a firm look.

"You should be calling me senpai!" Viper exclaimed, but she'd go along with it. The two of them sprinted left and right.

"Ella!" Violet decided to draw the Mad Slammer's attention by calling her Persona, shooting beams of light towards it to strike. These attacks did land, and the Mad Slammer jumped towards Violet. At that moment, Viper commanded Nuwa to slam into it while it was in the air! It was a direct hit and the Mad Slammer crashed into the ground. Before it had the chance to move...

"Gorokichi!" Fox stabbed his sword into the ground, causing a trail of ice to entrap the Mad Slammer, keeping it pinned. "Now!" Joker, Crow, and Dragon all moved into attack at once, but the Mad Slammer broke free from the ice and slammed the ground, causing another explosion of paint to cover them and push them away.

"Damn...!" Joker grunted.

"Curses!" Dragon scowled. This thing was so annoying!

"I'm starting to grow irritated." Crow said, calmly. "...I have an idea."

"All ears, because this is pissing me off." Viper furrowed her brows.

"Lead it over there." Crow motioned to the drainage gate. "After that...grab some paint."

"Leave it to me!" Fox said as he sprinted forward, capturing the Mad Slammer's attention by running past and slashing it. This worked, and the Mad Slammer leapt into the air to slam down on Fox. He avoided this by leaping into the air, and noticed how the paint around the Mad Slammer was no longer present. "Of course!"

"Hey! Loser!" Viper shouted from a rooftop, pointing her twin machine guns at the annoying brute. "Take this!" She began to open fire, and these bullets were effective now that the Mad Slammer didn't have protection from its paint. It had to shield itself at first, but planned to retaliate by leaping at her, but this was all part of the plan.

"Haaah!" Violet kicked a barrel of paint into the air. Her main goal wasn't to hit the Mad Slammer, but this did put it in prime position for Joker. He launched himself into the air, and with his grappling hook, grabbed the airborne barrel of paint, and crashed it into the Mad Slammer. An explosion of green paint occurred in the sky, causing the large Shadow to crash down onto the ground. With the enemy paint on it, its movements were a lot more sluggish, and it tried to stand up. But it wasn't going to get that chance. Viper, Dragon Crow, and Violet proceeded to bombard it with barrels of paint, completely covering in green paint.

"It's immobilized!" Fox shouted.

"Now's the time to strike!" Dragon shouted.

Dragon from the front, Joker on the left, and Crow on the right. They were in the prime position for a Triple Threat better known as...an All Out Attack! The three of them brandished their guns and began to open fire on the Mad Slammer, shooting at it from a number of angles. This bombardment of bullets was finally more than enough to defeat the Mad Slammer once and for all! Dragon landed on the ground with a grin. "Checkmate!"

Jerri watched the entire fight with intrigue. She really didn't think they would be able to defeat the Mad Slammer. "Really now? I may have underestimated you...perhaps this is more to your liking?" With a simple wave of her wind, she summoned a mini army of Shadows to surround the group.

"Are you kidding me!?" Viper let out an aggravated groan. "What's with this stupid birdbrained bitch!? I'm really sick of her!"

"Guys!" Luca called out to everyone. There was a glyph on the ground under the first piece of Guernica's statement.

"Luca-san?!" Violet gasped.

"I got everything ready while you were busy - let's grab that slab and bounce!" Luca exclaimed, having their escape route repaired.

Jerri's eyes were wide at Luca's ploy. The others didn't waste any time and began to rush towards the open manhole Luca created. "She's using a manhole to steal it? No! Stop them at once!"

Before Jerri's forces could begin to chase them, Fox quickly turned around and slashed his sword at the ground. This prompted a large glacier to stand between the Phantom Thieves and their pursuers. "I don't think so!"

"Let's go!" Violet shouted as they began to jump down the hole.

"How many times will we be doing this...?" Both Crow and Viper groaned at the same time. But with those complaints out of the way, they managed to escape with the first piece of Guernica's statement.

.

.

There was a bit of an uncomfortable landing back in the current hideout. Since the group was somewhat used to it and prepared, they could at least stand on their feet. "Is everyone okay?!" Sumire asked while looking around.

"Can we not have a more luxurious hideaway..." Mika groaned. She immediately went to flop on the couch. That was a lot of work, and they were only one third of the way done.

"That was a close one." Ren said with a small exhale.

Luca, meanwhile, was extremely excitable. "We did it! We recovered the first part of Guernica's statement! Thank you!"

"Only two remaining." Hifumi said with a slight smile.

"I don't just mean that." Luca turned to the group, giving a warm smile. "For having my back, and not just handing me over to Jerri."

"Screw that bird." Mika waved a hand dismissively. "I don't like people, or birds, with egos bigger than mine. That usually means they're bad people. Plus, she's totally fake."

"There it is." Sumire said with a faint snicker. Mika was nothing if not consistent.

"We weren't going to betray you." Yusuke said with a firm nod. "On top of that, I do not trust that Jerri one bit."

"The smug parrot's proposition simply carried far too many risks. Besides, breaking our deal wouldn't sit well with me...or the others." Akechi said.

Luca looked to Akechi with a slight smile. If anyone was going to say that, she didn't expect it to be him. "You're a stand up guy, aren't you? And here I thought you were just some heartless, hyper-rational bastard."

"..." Akechi didn't respond to this. But he wanted to. Oh, did he want to. His brow twitched in slight annoyance. The fact that Mika laughed at this did not help. "...For the sake of everyone in this room, I will move on from that comment and ask a different question. Who is Jerri?"

"I don't know..." Luca shook her head. "Everyone here is supposed to born from some part of Guernica's heart. But...I can't imagine any part of her...being so cruel. I know Guernica wasn't going bonkers until that bird showed up."

"If we follow the information thus far, it is clear that Jerri has a more important role in this than we may have thought." Yusuke commented.

"She did say something about wanting to fulfill Guernica's wishes, though..." Ren said.

"Obviously, she was lying!" Luca exclaimed, getting that passionate tone once again. "Guernica would never do these kinds of things on her own!"

"We believe you." Sumire said with a sweet smile. "We'll focus on collecting the rest of her statement as well!"

"Thank you..." Luca had a relieved smile. It still felt like a dream that she had this kind of help. "I could already tell you were a good person. Now I like you even more." In response to that, Sumire just giggled.

"Everyone here is born from her heart, hm? In this case, yes, that is absolutely true. So then..." Akechi thought to himself. Of course, such was the case with cognitive worlds. This was a very obvious conclusion to draw when it came to this stuff. But that only rose one single question...who exactly was Luca?