Persona 5P: The Phantom Paradox (Persona 5 Royal & Strikers / Young Justice: Outsiders)
Chapter 5: Doctor X
Hotel Markov, Markovburg, Markovia
July 26th, 2018 9:20 PM EEST
That night, the Phantom Thieves gathered in the boy's hotel room again. Naomi had gone to sleep early, which made it easy. They're not sure if they should talk about these things in front of her.
"So, tell us, Futaba," Ren said softly as they sat on the beds. "Who is this Doctor Simon Ecks?"
"A doctor working for Markovburg Children's Hospital," Futaba answered. She connected her laptop to the hotel TV to display the information to everyone. "Why this guy stands out from the hospital staff you ask? Because he happens to be a world renowned geneticist working at a low paying job."
"Geneticist? What the hell is that?" Ryuji asked.
"Can't you take a hint, Ryuji? It's someone who studies genes." Ann said. Then frowned and said, "But I don't see why he would stand out."
"I agree. They probably hired him to act as a medical geneticist," Yusuke said. "They diagnose and prescribe treatment for patients with conditions resulting from genetic anomalies."
"You think I hadn't thought of that, Inari?" Futaba said, annoyed that she was being doubted. "I singled him out because the genetic anomaly they may be checking the patients for may be the metagene."
That piece of information got everyone's attention now.
"The metagene?" Ryuji exclaimed. "You mean the thing that gives people powers and shit?"
"Exactly," Futaba nodded. She opened another window detailing handwritten notes. "I couldn't find anything before he transferred to Markovburgs Hospital. But I did find his account for Stratos Storage. Apparently, he thought it would be safe online. How he was proven wrong…"
Futaba chuckled mischievously. A while back, she was the notorious hacker Medjed. The criminal activities committed by her got their own book. However, because she remained anonymous, other hackers began using the name all over the world, eventually forming a hacktivist group. The real Medjed found it too much trouble to control and expose the imposters and simply changed her handle to Alibaba and stepped away from hacktivism. The Phantom Thieves are glad that she's on their side. When she joined the Phantom Thieves two years later, her skills haven't diminished a bit. With just a few keystrokes, she hacked into the nationwide broadcasting system to deliver a calling card. They we're glad that she's on their side.
"So, what did you find?" Ren asked.
"His notes into research of the Metagene," Futaba continued. "Some of them include blood samples through your nasal cavity. And theories about how to activate it via putting the subject under duress. The last time it was accessed was when he moved to Markovburg two years ago."
"Two years ago…" Haru muttered. "Isn't that the same time the fatality rate reached an all-time high?"
"Yeah," Ren said, recalling the timetable where the fatality rate escalated. He steepled his fingers. "Then a few days later, Princess Tara was kidnapped…coincidence?"
He stressed that last question. A geneticist with interest in the metagene shows up in a hospital and suddenly a Princess is kidnapped. Then suddenly, more people are dying more frequently than any other hospital?
"Are you saying that the hospital could potentially be his personal laboratory?" Yusuke asked darkly. "That he's responsible for the deaths that is happening over there and the kidnapping of a princess?"
"It would make sense," Makoto said with a deep frown. "A hospital would provide him with plenty opportunities for him to test the patients for the metagene. If they tested positive, then it would be a simple manner of declaring them dead and selling them off."
"And nobody would be none the wiser," Morgana muttered angrily. "If anyone asks, the Security Forces, from what I can tell, will establish a faux investigation and say that they are missing. It would explain why nobody has caught these amateurs. The clues are right there in plain sight and nobody picked up on it."
Ren nodded. Then, something occurred to him. He pulled out his phone and opens his map app. He enlarged the area of Markovburg. In his mind, he imagined the metaverse map interface, specifically the location he got from the shadow whose power is his now.
"Something on your mind?" Morgana asked.
"Does everyone remember when we got the location of the processing plant?" Ren asked. "Because I think I just found it."
Everyone took a look at his phone and it clicked in. Fortunately, Makoto had a foldable map of Markovburg on her and took it out. With a marker, she circled the spot where the hospital was at. They drew a mental image of the metaverse map in their minds and compared it to the real one. All eyes narrowed at the connection Ren made.
"Looks like the hospital is the processing plant," Ann spat in disgust.
"They would turn a hospital into a lab?" Haru asked in outrage.
"Wouldn't they? Remember, Baron DeLambs distortion covers all of Markovburg," Morgana reminded. "If he is letting a geneticist operate illegal experiments, under his authority, then it will be part of his domain."
"Sound to me like we got a plan," Ryuji growled, cracking his knuckles. "Go over there and trash the place!"
"I hope you meant the Metaverse version of the place," Makoto pinched the bridge of her nose. "We can't just go barging in telling everybody that their children are being shipped into slavery. We'll be arrested for causing a civil unrest."
"Not to mention that any police force would be happy to arrest us than do something helpful. And that's as long as the Baron has them in his pockets," Ren points out. He got up from the bed and stretched. "Why don't we stop here and hit the hay? We'll investigate this matter early in the morning."
"Agreed. We'll need our strength for tomorrow," Morgana declared with a yawn as he stretches his limbs and tail.
"One can only imagine the horrors that await us there," Yusuke muttered darkly. "Do you think the ghosts of the deceased await us?"
Makoto paled at the thought of ghosts. She hugged herself as she shook slightly. Haru gave her a comforting pat on the back. She seemed to have calmed down from that. Futaba gave the artist a harsh glare.
"Are you trying to scare us, Inari?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
July 27th, 2018 9:11 AM EEST
Naomi woke up the next morning with her breath ragged and sweat dripping from her forehead. Sunlight had begun to peek through the window, signaling that it was early morning. Sitting up, the blanket covers she shared with one of her newfound friends fell down.
She had the same nightmare where she was taken away by the men in the black found her and sold her off to the Metahuman trafficking to do god knows what. Her high school decided to take a trip to Europe for their studies. It was right after she fell asleep at their hotel that she was kidnapped.
"Are you alright, Naomi?" Ann asked. The Japanese tourist girls offered to share one of the beds with her. One of them had to sleep on the floor to which she insisted on not being more of a bother. But they insisted, saying they'll take turns being her sleeping partner. Ann is the second to change with the first being Futaba.
"I just had a nightmare," Naomi admitted. "Let's just say that being in a hotel isn't doing any favors for me."
"From what you told us, it can't be helped," Ann said. "Being kidnapped doesn't exactly leave a good impression on your mind. Trust me…we know what it's like."
The way she said it made it seem like she experienced something similar. Naomi had to admit, she was attracted to Ann. Platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, flawless skin…a lot of guys must've been fawning all over her. If she didn't already have a girlfriend, she'd probably ask her out or die of embarrassment upon rejection.
"Is everybody up?" Makoto asked as she sat up from the bed, she was sharing with Haru. The latter sat up and removes the sleep mask she wore. In between the beds, Futaba sat up with a yawn and fumbled for her glasses on the nightstand.
"I'm all up and ready," Futaba said groggily as she puts them on. "Who's going to get breakfast?"
"The boys volunteered last I checked," Makoto answered.
"By boys, do you mean Ren, Mako-Chan?" Haru asked with a smile.
"He and Yusuke volunteered first. Ryuji got looped in by them. Ren messaged me that they would be coming at any time now."
A few seconds after she said that there was a knock on the door. Seeing Naomi tense up at the sound. Noticing this, Makoto slowly got up from the bed and walked towards the door. When she got close enough, she peered through the peephole. A second later, she sighed with relief.
"It's alright," Makoto said as she opens the door. Walking in are the boys with trays filled with breakfast. Ryuji gave the girls a grin that is filled with food.
"Who's hungry?"
A few minutes later, everybody had gathered on the beds. The boys made an excellent job of bringing Naomi's breakfast by disguising it as extra helpings to their own. That way, no one will ask questions as to why they have an extra plate of food.
"Hey, Naomi!" Futaba piped up as she finished her breakfast. The girl turned her attention to her as she pulled out a cracked phone. "I managed to fix your phone. But, you do have warranty for it, right? Despite it being fully functional, the phone screen needs to be replaced due to the cracks in it. And while I'm at it, make sure you don't throw it against the ground again. Technology can be very delicate you know."
"Thanks Futaba," Naomi said, taking her phone back. "And don't worry, I bought this phone a few months ago, so it has about 10 months left to get it repaired." She said, before pressing the power button and the screen flashed to life. "It's even got a full charge?"
"I have a similar AC adapter," Futaba simply said. "Want to call your dad again?"
"I would love to," Naomi said. "The last time I talked, he was relieved to hear from me again."
"Well maybe you should contact him again," Ren said. "I'm sure that your parents have a lot to catch up on. We'll leave you alone."
"What are you guys going to do?" Naomi couldn't help but ask.
"We're going to see a man about a hospital," Ryuji said before anyone could stop him. Ann swatted his arm while the girls gave him a death glare. The blonde gulped and bowed his head in shame.
"A hospital?" Naomi scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "Why are you going to a hospital?"
"We just learned that someone we knew been hospitalized there," Ren lied smoothly. "We were getting concerned so we are going to check on him."
"He's a friend?" Naomi looked around. "How come I didn't see him with you guys?
"He arrived on a later flight," Ren answered easily. "He had trouble with things back at home, so he caught a later flight. Unfortunately, he got into an accident and called us from the hospital."
"I see," Naomi nods in understanding. "We'll don't let me keep you back. I'll just be here, clammed up in a hotel room."
"Don't be like that Naomi," Futaba said. She opens her laptop and pushes it towards her. "Here, you can watch the rest of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R! I even have the PC version Featherman Seeker!"
"Oh yeah, you told me about that," Naomi said with a smile. "Sure, I'll bite."
"Yeah," Futaba nodded. Then her face scrunched into a frown. She leaned in and whispered to Naomi, "Just a fair warning, keep any figures you get away from Inari."
Futaba shot Yusuke a look before she walked out of the room. Naomi had a look of confusion on her face and she asked, "Did something happen between you two?"
"I rearranged her Featherman figurines without her consent one time," Yusuke sighed. "She hasn't quite gotten over that apparently."
"What did you expect? Those things cost over 200,000 yen," Ryuji said rubbing the back of his head. "That's like…how much in American dollars?"
"Roughly 2,000," Ann answered. "It's no wonder why Futaba would be protective of them. Anyway, we better get going. I promise, we will bring you something for lunch make up for getting holed up in here, Naomi."
"You better before I get cabin fever," Naomi said. "I don't know how long I can take staying indoors."
"Don't worry, Naomi," Ren said as the they began to exit the room. "We're going to help you out of this. We promise."
With that the door closed. While the thieves felt guilty about lying to their friend, they knew it was for her own good. They couldn't exactly explain the existence of the Metaverse and drag her into their business. It was too dangerous for her.
And it is about to get even more dangerous for them when they are going to see a doctor.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
July 27th, 2018 11:50 AM EEST
"So... How should we do this?" Ryuji asked.
The Phantom Thieves stood on the sidewalk in front of an electric sign labeled 'Markovburg Children's Hospital'. The hospital is a five-story red-bricked building with glass windows. On each side are four towers framing two of the front entrances while the main one is underneath an arch. Surrounding it is a lush green forest with towering trees. They had taken a bus halfway over and had to walk the rest of the way.
The thieves have taken a unanimous vote to investigate the doctor. That is something that they must do before conducting an action. For all they know, it could just be coincidence and Ecks could be an unwilling victim. But if this hospital has something to do with a Metahuman trafficking ring, and Simon Ecks could be involved, then the hospital could be another palace. If that was possible, then that would mean they have to steal his heart.
For now, they are stuck at what to do.
"Well, we can't just waltz in," Ann said. "I mean…we don't exactly have a plausible excuse to enter the hospital."
"How about a fake injury?" Haru suggested. "Yusuke could paint some blood and make it look like one of us had an accident."
"I didn't bring my paint set," Yusuke said. "I only brought my sketching tools. But the idea does sound appealing…"
"Can we not?" Makoto asked. "None of us aside from Futaba are young enough to convince them to take us in."
"Hey! I am not going to be bait!" Futaba protested.
"Have we really fallen out of touch?" Morgana sweat dropped from Ren's bag. Ren would have to agree with him. They wanted to get a glimpse of the man firsthand, or to be more exact, a look into his personality. The mask that he wears in the real world. Yet they can't think of a way to confront him without entering the hospital which would probably kick them out.
They were deep in the conversation when someone bumped into Ann.
"Hey! Watch where you're-!"
The words died on her throat when she saw who she was talking to. The thieves we're also stunned by who dropped a file filed with paper. It was like somebody spoke his name without them knowing and he appeared.
"My apologies, miss," Doctor Simon Ecks, the man they wanted to survey, says as he bent down to pick up papers he had scattered when he bumped into her. Unlike his file, he was wearing a white physicians coat. "I probably should just be reading my patients file at my office, rather than out and about. I was in a rush."
"D-don't worry about it," Ann said, recovering from her shock along with her friends. She bent down and began helping him with the papers. "Would you like some help?"
"Thank you, but I'll be fine," Simon waved her off, but he took the papers regardless. "While I would appreciate it, my patients have a right to their confidentiality, and I intend to uphold that agreement."
"I'm sorry," Ann said. If one we're to listen carefully, they would've picked up the small hint of sarcasm in her voice. Fortunately, he didn't seem to pick up on that as they stood up. "You must really care about your patients."
"Of course, I do," Simon said. "It is my duty as a doctor to ensure that my patients live a long and healthy life. Is that why you and your friends are here?"
"We heard that one of our friends is injured," Ann said. "The problem is that he didn't exactly specify which hospital he was taken to. Unfortunately…we lost contact with him, so we have to search the hospital by hand."
"Couldn't you have just called the other hospitals?" Simon asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure that would've been a faster option."
"Well…you see," Ann said nervously as she tried to come up with a lie. "The phone lines where we are staying…went out. Nobody was willing to lend us a phone, so we have to search the hospitals…one by one. We came to this one because we we're afraid for his life."
"Why would you be afraid?"
"Oh…it's just some rumor we heard," Ann said carefully. "Something that anyone admitted here would end up dead or missing. Is that true?"
Ann said that last part on purpose. Simon's face briefly shifted to one of alarm before recomposing himself. But it was too late. The moment had been there, and they had witnessed it. That reaction told them everything they wanted to know.
"I'm not sure where you heard that ridiculous rumor," Simon said slowly, but was laced with suspicion. "But our hospital does everything in its power to save our patients. I myself included."
"Well, T-that's a relief…" Ann said unconvincingly. "But I think it's better safe than sorry, don't you think?"
"I agree. If it were one of my patients, I certainly would be worried as you. What happened to your friend?"
"Oh, he was in an accident…something about a…crazy drunk driver running him over. It broke him all over and it's unknown if he'll ever make it…"
"Lady Ann is still embarrassing herself…" Morgana muttered. Behind her, the Thieves cringed at every word she said. It looked like Ann hadn't improved her acting skills. More like they had gotten worse. It was a sheer miracle that it had fooled people back in the Phantom Thieves heyday.
"Well, that's unfortunate," Simon said. "Tell you what…why don't I take a look and see if your friend had checked in. What's his name?"
"Really? Thank you," Ann said with a twitching smile. Ren knew that it was time for them to bail out. He took out his phone and held it to his ear.
"Hello…Mishima, is that you?" Ren asked with faux surprise. "Thank god, we we're getting worried!"
His friends look over to him questioningly. But Morgana understood what he's doing. So, when the feline thief shot them a look, they immediately played along.
"Is that Mishima? How's the poor guy?" Ryuji asked.
"I was just getting to that," Ren told him before going back to his 'call'. "Okay where are you…what? But they told us—ARGH! Next time…please tell us what hospital you were brought to BEFORE you lose consciousness. We we're looking for you all morning!"
With that, Ren ends the fake call and puts it in his pocket. He looked to his friends and said, "Remember the last hospital we visited? Yeah…it turns out that was where he is."
"For real?! But they said they didn't admit him?!" Ryuji shouts with noticeable irritation.
"Could it be an honest mistake?" Yusuke asked.
"The depends. If it's otherwise, I'm suing the hospital," Ann said. She turned back to Simon, "It looks like we found our friend. I'm sorry to trouble you."
"It's no trouble miss," Simon replied with a kind smile. "I'm pleased that you are able to find your friend. If I may recommend something…a phone is much faster than checking individual hospitals."
"I'll bear that in mind next time. Thank you!" Ann said with a disarming smile. The second that she and her friends walked several feet away from the man, it turned into a scowl.
"Well, that was easy," Ryuji muttered. "What do you guys think of him?"
"I think he's a total sleazeball," Ann growled. "I could swear that he was checking me out all over. What about you guys?"
"He seemed like a good doctor," Haru said with a frown. "But is it genuine or is it a mask to hide behind?"
"That is the question isn't it?" Yusuke asked. "Honestly…I get the feeling that it was good that we didn't enter that hospital."
"He's hiding something," Futaba suddenly said. The thieves stopped walking to glance at her. Their hacker had a dark look on her face. "That guy is definitely involved with those deaths. I can feel it."
"So, can I," Morgana muttered. "I could tell by his reaction that he knows EXACTLY what we are talking about."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough when we enter the Metaverse," Makoto said determinedly as they reached the bus stop where they are dropped off and checked the time. "When does the next bus arrive?"
"We got about thirty minutes before the next bus comes. Want to check out the town for a little bit and decide on lunch?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Whew! I hadn't used this form in a while!"
"It's been a while since we rode the Mona, hasn't it?"
"How else were we going to get to the hospital?"
The first thing that the Phantom Thieves did when they got back to the hotel is give Naomi her lunch. After exchanging a few bits of conversation about their fabricated trip to the hospital, they went to the boy's room to enter the Metaverse.
The second they exited the hotel, Mona walked to the street, and with a puff of smoke, transformed into a Citroën H Van. Like his fur, it is dominantly painted black, with three yellow stripes on the hood. On the grille is a small golden emblem representing his head. The headlights are blue like his eyes, his ears sticking out from the front side of the roof, and his tail is attached to the back. The thieves piled in and drove off.
"Now that I think about it, I'm curious about something," Yusuke said. In his hands, he was examining a Colt M4 carbine. "Normally, we need to get model guns and weapons to bring to the Metaverse to fight. Yet when we stepped into the Metaverse this time, we are armed to the teeth. Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know," Makoto admitted as she checks a Colt 1860 Army - .44 caliber. "Maybe it's because this time, the MetaNav is now an MMO launcher on the Goode Goggles?"
"Remember, there is no such thing as a real world," Morgana spoke from a cat-like dashboard. "What each person's sees and feels—those are what shape reality. From our perspective, accessing a virtual reality game is like stepping into another world. Like when we enter the metaverse to become the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, we become different people when playing the game. However, anything that happens in the game, stays in the game."
"I actually read something similar to this once," Joker said as he drove, not taking his eyes off the road. Beside him, Skull was keeping a look out for any Shadows that would ambush them. At the corner of his eye is a mini map of the Metaverse. He is following the dotted line towards the waypoint where the hospital is.
"The light novel ignited the phenomenon of virtual reality novels. The main character even gave the same speech about there being 'no real world' Mona. That despite being in an imitation of reality, we are still living. You remember Mona?"
"Well, mine was more passionate than his," Mona said, the dashboard face scrunching up in a huff. Then he grumbled, "I'm jealous that he got together with HIS love…"
"What was that Mona?" Panther asked.
"Nothing, Lady Ann," Mona's reply was too quick.
"Well, this talk of VRMMO would make sense," Skull said. "I mean it even had a Marketplace tab on our interfaces."
They discovered the Marketplace for the MetaLauncher. There was one problem though. According to Futaba, going by Oracle in the Metaverse, it is an in-game platform for microtransactions for players who want to purchase something to help them out with the game. Anything they would need such as weapons, medicine, and other items can be found. There was just one catch.
"It sucks that we have to use real money," Skull groaned. "There was a shotgun that would've made me look like a badass."
"That's how business works, Skull," Noir explained. "To obtain something you have to give something in return."
"I'm sure that there are other ways to get new weapons," Joker said assuring to Skull. There is more than one way to get weapons. Already, he was thinking back to such a method. The upside is that there is no money needed. Just some materials that can be found in the real world and metaverse. He'll have to talk with Lavenza about this the next time he visits the Velvet Room.
"But why the hell does the Metaverse want money, anyway?" Skull asked heavily. "Just what does it do with it anyway?"
Everyone blinked. Skull was actually making sense if not the first time. Maybe he did some growing up when they parted ways.
"That is a good question," Joker said. "Maybe we can ask whoever made the launcher. Assuming we can find whoever made it…"
He said the last part quietly, but his friends heard it, nonetheless. The MetaLauncher showing up on their Goode Goggles raises a lot of questions. The only human they know who was capable of developing it had reformed. As for who made the MetaNav app before EMMA, he has been defeated. So, who created the MetaLauncher?
"We're here," Joker announces as he pulls the van to a stop. The thieves exited the van and gaze upon their destination. Behind them, Mona reverted back to his humanoid cat form. His looked to where they were staring at.
What they were looking at wasn't the Children's Hospital. Standing there is a stone like factory-like building. Crawling up the walls are the same grapevines they saw all over the Walled Vineyard. The surrounding forest is replaced with grapevines propped on posts. A tall wall stood around the complex, the main entrance being an open arch where trucks loaded with human grapes are passing through. The thieves hid among the grapevines, out of sight of any guards.
"Well, this confirms it," Skull muttered. "This guy has a palace."
"More like a prison," Oracle muttered. She wore a skintight black bodysuit with fluorescent neon green glowing stripes and matching black boots with neon green soles. Unlike the rest of the Thieves, her mask is a pair of big black goggles and orange lenses. "But you know, is it even possible for there to be more than just one ruler of a cognitive domain?" She asked before turning to Mona. "Mona? What do you think?"
"I'm not sure," Mona answered. "As far as I know, there can't be two rulers of the same domain. It could be the cognitive version of Simon Ecks that is running this place for him. I mean, DeLamb can't be running the place by himself."
"Imagine that…Baron DeLamb throwing his weight all over Markovburg," Joker said with a grin. His fellow thieves chuckled at the thought of the Baron running all over the place, trying to make sure everything is running smoothly. Eventually, they stopped to focus on the matter at hand.
"So where do we begin our infiltration?"
"The front entrance is guarded," Morgana said as he studies the plant. "The walls are too high to scale, except for Joker."
"Hold on for a moment…" Fox said slowly. "Do my eyes deceive me, or do the guards look like the doctor?"
The Thieves blinked and followed his gaze towards the guards. They wore simple tuxedos and wielded assault rifles. Another Ecks was examining trucks as they passed through, one by one. But what caught their attention was the fact that they shared the same face of Doctor Simon Ecks. Right down to the pencil mustache.
"What the hell?!" Skull yelped. Fortunately, they are far away for anyone to hear them. "Am I seeing double?"
"You are… As a matter of fact, we're all seeing double," Panther confirmed, her eyes wide behind her mask. "Just what are we looking at?"
"I'd say that these are Shadows guarding the hospital, but not ones looking so…human," Queen said. "Does he really have a view of himself so much that he micromanages everything?"
"It would make sense if he thinks that he's in charge of the hospital," Noir said. "How do we get in?"
"We'll need a distraction to lure the guards away from the entrance," Queen said. "But we have to do it in a way that doesn't alert the rest."
Just then, they heard the sound of another truck coming. The Thieves ducked down as it passed by them. They raised their heads to see the truck approaching the gate. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her head.
"Joker…when you and Mona were working on the infiltration tools beforehand, would one of them happen to be a Molotov Cocktail?"
Joker and Mona blinked before their faces broke into sinister grins. The leader of the Phantom Thieves reached behind his back and pulled out a bottle with a cloth wick sticking out of the stopper. Morgana took a lighter out of his utility belt.
"I like where you are going with this, Queen," Joker said. Queen grinned back at him. "Light it up, Mona."
Another truck carrying human grapes is approaching the gate. Just as it was about to reach it, something shattered onto the hood of the truck, which is followed by a fireball. Fire spread across the hood, the bright heat blocking the driver window. The drivers swerved and crashed into a field of grapes. A spark lit the nearest post and set it ablaze. The fire spread along the row of grapevines like a rope of fire. This got the attention of the Simon Ecks guards, who watched with horror.
"What the devil?!" One of them shouted. "Someone put that fire out! Quickly before it spreads to the rest of the vineyard!"
The two guards rushed to the crash site. Behind them, several more Ecks' came running out. Some of them carried buckets of water, a fire hose, and for some reason a flamethrower. More and more Eck's came running from the building. Finally, after what seemed like a long parade of Eck's, the gate is abandoned. The Thieves didn't waste this opportunity.
"Geez, how many Eck's does this guy need?!" Skull asked incredulously as they ran past the gate. "Isn't one bad enough?"
"Doesn't anyone find it strange that none of them are carrying a first aid kit?" Noir asked.
"Maybe he thinks they're expendable," Fox said. "It's easy to replace forces as long as you have a wealthy backer."
"That wouldn't explain why they all look so alike," Queen said. "The Shadows protecting a palace don't work like that. Why would Eck's view himself as expendable?"
"One of the greatest mysteries we can solve later," Joker said. "Take a look at what's in front of us."
In front of them are gigantic wooden crates filled to the brim with human grapes. There are trucks that were in the process of being empty until the Ecks' ran out to deal with the crash. The people inside the grapes still looked blissfully asleep, unaware of the danger they are being brought to.
"The poor kids…" Noir mumbled sadly.
"Remember, these are only cognitive versions of the hospitals victims," Mona said. "There's nothing that we can do to help them."
"Who's there!"
"Dammit!" Skull cursed. "Hide!"
The thieves disappeared in the blink of an eye. Two more Simon Ecks' appeared from around the corner of the left crate. Their eyes scanned the area the voices came from.
"Thought I heard something," Ecks One said. "My ears must be playing tricks on me."
"All the same, it's best we keep look out," Ecks Two said. "Word is that a couple of thieves got caught sniffing around the vineyard. And something tells me that what happened in front of the facility is no accident. Let's get some more guys over here."
"Right."
The Ecks twins walked away, unaware of the thieves that are in their midst. They hid themselves inside the crates, peering out to make sure that they are gone.
"There's only two of them," Skull muttered. "We can take them."
"They mentioned that they'll be bringing more," Mona hissed. "I saw an alarm near the door. It'll bring the facility upon us if one of those guys presses the button."
Joker scanned the area. At the front entrance, four more Ecks lookalikes have entered the front, making it complicated to use that entrance. While he's confident that he and his friends can take them down in a fight, they have much to gain through stealth. Like true phantom thieves.
His eyes scanned the building until he saw a way in. Up the side of the building is a set of red fire escape stairs. For each floor, there is a red window that would grant the occupants of the hospital access in case of a fire. Or provide a way in for unexpected visitors.
"It would appear that even Ecks isn't foolish enough to neglect fire safety," Joker said, drawing their attention. "But it never crossed his mind that it might be a way in."
The Thieves followed his gaze and caught onto his plan. Together, they stealthily dropped down from the crate and creep around them. The crates were big enough to hide their crouching forms from the Ecks guards. Slowly, they made their way to the fire escape stairs. The ladder, however, is out of the reach.
"It's too high…" Skull whispered.
"Hang on," Joker said. He took out his grapple hook and threw it upwards. It caught on a rung of the ladder and the line became taut. Joker pulled down, bringing the ladder down with a metallic screech. The Thieves tensed up, waiting for the Ecks guards to come over after hearing the alerting noise. After a few moments, there were none coming, allowing them a sigh of relief.
"Looks like they didn't hear," Mona said. He moved to ascend the ladder before stopping. Instead, he twirled on his heel and gestured of Panther to go first. A dreamy look was on his face.
"After you Panther! ~"
"Thank you, Mona," Panther said, a little off put by his weird look. As she climbed the ladder, she half-yelled over her shoulder to the rest of the Thieves, specifically the boys, "Nobody better be looking at my butt, you hear me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Skull said, a blush tinting his cheeks. Joker and Fox looked away. Queen and Noir were watching them as Oracle followed behind Panther. The boys followed after them. As a precaution, they decided to enter at the top floor. Joker used his knife to jimmy the window open. One by one, they entered through and closed it.
"You know, if they are going to use the hospital as a hideout, the least they can do is keep it tidy," Noir commented angrily. Sure enough, the hallway they stepped into looks like nobody had been home for some time. It's already starting to fall into disrepair, exposing plumbing and wiring.
"I don't think they care about that Noir," Queen whispered. "I think they're more concerned about utility."
"Let's not wait any more to find out," Joker said. The Phantom Thieves began to creep around the floor of the hospital. They peered through every door they came across before entering. Each room told them a different story about the place.
"What the hell is this?" Skull asked in the room that the Thieves have entered. As expected, there was no hospital equipment or beds with patients. Instead, there several basket-like contraptions.
"What are those things?" Panther asked.
"They're basket presses," Noir answered. "It's one of the first methods of wine pressing that hasn't changed in over 1,000 years."
"Now that I think about it, this is like the seven stages of winemaking," Noir held up her hands, raising a finger as she listed them off. "Stage one: harvest. Two, destemming and sorting. Three, pressing. Four, fermentation. Five, aging. Six, bottling. And seven…selling."
"So, the trucks gathering the people in the city like grapes is the harvesting stage," Makoto said slowly. "Outside the hospital, we got the destemming and sorting stage. So right here, we are seeing the pressing stage."
"After that is fermentation. They transfer the juices to tanks where they transform them into alcohol," Noir explained. "During this stage, yeasts transform sugars present in the juice into ethanol and carbon dioxide."
"Damn, Noir. When did you become an expert in winemaking?" Skull asked.
"I did some reading on the process before this trip. I wanted to be prepared for the Winery tour. But after this, I'm not feeling up to it."
"I wouldn't complain, especially after seeing this" Panther said, looking like she wanted to puke. Nobody could blame her, as the grapes they are crushing are people. Then they heard a click as another door began to open. "Someone's coming!"
Just like the front of the hospital, the thieves vanished in a black blur. Entering the room is ANOTHER Simon Ecks. He walked through the room, scanning the basket presses. In his hands, he was writing on a clipboard.
"Hmm…baskets one and two are almost done. I believe it's time to move them to the fermentation room. room. Three to five aren't even close to being finished. Oh well…I guess that's to be expected from a couple of weak legs. I'd better get a few guys to get them out."
"Okay, seriously, how many of himself does this guy need?" Skull whispers as they watched him from the doorway. When they are certain that he is distracted, they left the doorway and continued their skulking.
"We got to be more careful this time," Mona whispered. "Who knows how many Ecks we could run into. Noir, the fermentation stage is next right?"
Noir nodded. They continued to explore this hospital of horror. Eventually, they found themselves descending to the next floors. They saw more press machines before seeing the fermentation tanks that Noir mentioned. It sickened them to see the patients being treated like this, but they had to press on. They had to see the horrors that is occurring in this hospital.
They had made it to the first floor when they heard the sound of voices. The thieves pressed themselves against the wall, finding concealment in the shadows. The voices drew closer, one of them being a deep, gravelly voice.
Two men stepped into view, one of them being Simon Ecks, the other a middle-aged man with white hair. Unlike Ecks, he didn't wear a hospital or scientist garb. He wore a green coat, black shirt, black pants, a belt with a golden buckle, a golden pendant, and some kind of headgear. He spoke with a thick eastern European accent.
"Are we certain that our lab rats are unharmed, Vertigo?" Ecks asked nervously.
"My men have assured me that they are alright," the man, now named Vertigo, said coldly. "Of all the things you could do with your powers, you don't even bother to deploy some to the vineyard."
"But Baron Bedlam already has some of his men gathering grapes…"
"Then they must not be doing their job well," Vertigo said curtly. "Because what happened wasn't engine trouble. Somebody threw a Molotov cocktail at the hood. Crude, but effective. We lost nearly a tenth of our harvest thanks to the fire."
"Are you saying someone threw it, intentionally?"
"I'm not implying, Doctor. Somebody threw that cocktail at the hood. Probably to distract your clones at the front so they could sneak in. Double the guard in the facility. If not your brain, you can do something as useful as that…can you?"
"What are you saying?! Haven't I done enough for Bedlam already?" Ecks said indignantly. He stopped walking for a moment. Then, he walked forward leaving a copy of himself behind. More and more copies of himself walked out until there are nearly fifteen of them standing in the hall.
"Grab some weapons and sweep the area!" Ecks ordered. "Leave nothing unturned!"
The clones nodded and proceeds to walk in the opposite direction of Vertigo and Ecks. Thankfully, none of them noticed the Thieves hiding in their midst. When they are gone, they stepped out from the shadows.
"Vertigo…I've heard that name somewhere before…" Queen muttered.
"Forget that! Did you see what that Ecks guy did?" Skull said in flabbergasted shock. "The dude just LITERALLY made copies of himself!"
"I've never heard of a shadow that can do that…Except Madarame's," Fox said, thinking back to a battle between the Thieves and his former mentor. His eyes widened in realization. "Could it be…"
"He's a metahuman!" Oracle declared. "A secret metahuman! That explains why there are so many Ecks' running around! That guys a walking army like Duplicaternum!"
"By if he's a metahuman, why is he part of a metahuman trafficking?" Noir questioned. "Wouldn't he be enslaved?"
"I think he has more to offer than extra manpower," Panther said with a low growl. "You heard him, that guy is acting as a scientist for this operation. He's performing experiments on these kids."
Behind their masks, the Thieves expressions darkened. It all made sense. Every patient admitted here is a lab rat for experiments to turn them into Metahumans. Apparently, the process is fatal, otherwise there wouldn't be a fatality rate. If anyone survived, then they would be shipped off to slavery and be declared dead anyway.
"Let's follow them," Joker declared, but his voice was carrying an edge. Everyone agreed and followed him. They followed the route that Vertigo and Ecks went until they came to a set of doors with the sign above reading, 'Morgue'.
"How ironic," Fox muttered. "We appear to be going to the section of the hospital where they store corpses."
"Let's get this over with," Queen said determinedly. She walked forward and pushes the door with both her hands. Both of the thieves followed her in. As expected, the room look reminiscent to a morgue. Steel body carts are left unattended and cold storages are open to the left. There are sinks that are dripping with water, but there are no bodies.
"Ain't this supposed to be filled with dead bodies?" Skull asked. "And where the hell are those two asshats anyway?"
"Now that you mention it, we should've run into them about now," Queen said. Despite the bravado she was mustering, she was shaking.
"Queen, are you alright?" Joker asked.
"I-I'm fine," Queen said unconvincingly. "Just…can we get moving please…?
Joker knew what was up with her. Despite being the most temperamental in a fight, she had a distinct fear of ghosts. Most of the time, Queen would cling to his leg and beg for her sister to save her. Seems like hasn't gotten over that.
Morgana then walked over to a wall. "Hmm, despite there being a wall here, I think I sense a Will Seed in this direction." He said as the others turned to the direction of the wall he was standing in front of.
"wait, there's a Will Seed here and the sensation is coming from where that wall is? How-?" She stopped herself upon making a revelation. "OMG! Isn't it obvious!?" Oracle asked heatedly, making Queen jump. She stomps forward to the far wall. "They obviously used a secret passage to a secret lair! It's like bad guy 101!"
Oracle felt the wall with her hands. She stopped on one of them and gave it a hard press. The brick swung out, revealing a glowing red LED. She turns around and puffs up her chest in triumph.
"See? What did I tell you?"
"Hot damn your right!" Skull exclaimed. "Can you hack it?"
"I can't," Oracle shook her head. "The locking mechanism doesn't have any console that I can exploit. The only way we can get past is by a facial or retinal recognition scan."
"You can tell?"
"How else do you explain the fancy camera?" Oracle asked. "This is going to be a problem since the only people it recognizes is that Vertigo and Simon Ecks."
When Oracle mentioned the doctor, the thieves blinked. Slowly, they look at each other as if they realized what she just said. The silence was so thick it could be tasted.
"I'm going out for a bit," Joker walked towards the door. "Skull. Queen. Can you come help me with something?"
"You got it, Joker," Skull chuckled, his face splitting into an evil grin. He knew what his leader had in mind.
"O-Okay," Queen said, feeling glad to be leaving the room if only temporarily.
The rest of the thieves watched the three of them leave. Then, they sat back and began to talk casually, like the weather is just fine. Noir and Mona were grinning so evilly it looked like he was the one who came up with the plot. Fox and Panther were talking about the possible existence of a hospital demon.
Then, after what seemed like several minutes, the doors burst open. The three returning thieves were running into the room, carrying a struggling Simon Ecks clone like a battering ram. Joker held his mouth closed, Skull held him by the torso, and Queen held him by his feet.
"Oracle. We have our skeleton key," Joker told the hacker, who gave him an ear-splitting grin.
"The keyhole is right this way," Oracle gestured to the scanner. The thieves brought him before it and held him still. Joker removed his gloved hand from the clone's mouth.
"Let go of me this instant!" The clone cried out as the interface began to scan his face. "Wait! No! Don't open up that door!"
His cries were in vain as the light turned green. Several bricks shifted like locks and the door swung inward, revealing a dimly lit passageway.
"Open sesame!" Oracle declared. She looked down at the Simon Ecks clone, whom Mona had gagged with a black cloth. "What do we do with him? I mean…I know that he's just a clone of a cognitive copy…but…"
Joker looked towards Queen and Skull and nods towards the cold storage. They understood what he meant and nodded. Together, they carried the still struggling clone and forced him into the storage. With all their strength, they closed it and locked it. Taking deep breaths, they stood up as the clone banged inside the storage. Joker turned to the awaiting thieves.
"Why don't we give this guy time to chill out?"
They all chuckled a bit at his Joke. "Nice one." Said Mona, before turning to the wall opposite of the cold storage. "And before I forget, there." He said seriously as they all looked to where he was looking, finding the same sort of unusually large bunch of vines and leaves from yesterday in the vineyard, which was covering part of the wall.
"I take it that this where the next Will Seed is then?" Asked Fox.
Oracle nodded. "Sure looks that way. Also, Inari? You're up."
Said thief sighed. "Er... Alright." He slashed through the vines and leaves, revealing the door.
"Thanks Fox." Said Joker, as he proceeds to open the door, before stopping to turn back to him. "Also, if it makes you happy, if we come across the third and final door for the last Will Seed, I'll handle getting rid of the vines and leaves."
Fox smiled. "Works for me."
Joker then pushed open the door, revealing the Red Greed Seed in the middle of the room, as it gave off a red glow. Joker went in and grabbed it before walking out.
"Okay, now that's the Red Greed Seed down. There should only be one more to go up in the castle. In the meantime, lets see where this leads." He said.
The rest of the Thieves nodded in agreement. Then together, they descended into the passageway. They walked for several minutes in silence. Nobody spokes a word, lets the echo give them away. Finally, they arrived at the end of the passage.
The room they found themselves is spacious. Wooden beams held up the ceiling as supports. Towering over them are barrels stacked in a triangle formation. Lights hanged overhead, providing light to the room. The walls are made of stone bricks.
"It's cold!" Skull hugged himself. The rest of the thieves felt the temperature drop, especially Panther, Queen, and Oracle.
"Wine has to be stored at cold temperatures, or else the heat will spoil them," Noir explains. "They must be storing the wine here for the aging process. They do it to create different flavors as they mature."
"Shh!" Mona shushed. His ears are twitching as he picked up sounds. "I hear a voice…it's Ecks!"
The Thieves immediately became silent. Slowly, they crept through the Wine Storage. They peek around the barrels of wine to avoid bumping into any guards or Ecks clones. The voice of the evil doctor sounded closer. What followed him was the sound of machinery.
They found him standing before a machine. Its frame is stainless steel and emitted noise as it worked. Liquid finished pouring into a gigantic bottle and got sealed. Then, the conveyer belt moved it away and an empty bottle took its place.
"Time to bring out Mister Furth. He's been in there long enough" Ecks said, nodding to his left. Two Simon Ecks clones came forward, rolling another barrel to the side of the machine. They disconnected a tube connecting to an empty barrel and replaced it with the one they brought. On the sides of the barrel is the name 'Otto Von Furth'.
"If he's anything like his sister, he'll probably be as hideous as her," Ecks commented with a sneer.
"I don't like the way he was talking about him," Fox said in disgust. He is clenching his katana's hilt with enough pressure he wanted to break it.
He connected a tube to the barrel and began to turn a dial. Aged wine traveled up the tube and began to fill the bottle with a rich red.
But there was something moving in it, and it didn't look human. It was a hulking creature that is mostly half-transparent with a reddish hue and black streaks. The arms stretch below the knees and the brain is visible through the body. The creature let out a roar as it pounded against the glass bottle.
"I stand right!" Ecks cackled gleefully. "He's just as hideous as his sister! Perhaps we should keep you here as a guard dog?"
"That bastard!" Skull growled. "He turned him into a monster."
"He's a victim not a monster, Skull," Queen countered, but she was clenching her fist in rage. "That doctor is the monster here."
"All the more reason to take him down," Joker said, equal anger laced into his voice. Suddenly, they began to feel dizzy. The thieves began to lose their sense of balance and their vision began to become disoriented. They fell to their knees as a voice cut through the pain.
"I thought that some rats had snuck in." They all looked up, seeing who the voice belonged to.
"Aw, crap! You're that Vertigo guy!" Skull shouted. Standing behind him is the man known as Vertigo.
"That's Count Vertigo to you, peasants" Vertigo corrects as he holds his fingers to his headgear. Waves of psychic force emitted out from him, keeping them kneeling. It kept coming as they are surrounded by Shadows and Ecks clones. They aimed an assortment of weapons at the intruders.
"It appears that I was correct, Doctor," Count Vertigo said condescendingly. "Not only have your clones fail to keep these peasants out, but they also allowed them to go deep within our operations."
"I'm sorry Count Vertigo," One of the clones apologized. "It won't happen again."
"It better. Be glad that your intellect is the only thing keeping you alive," Count Vertigo warned. He sneered at the thieves. "On the other hand, we could use some new test subjects."
"Indeed," Eck's eyes were glittering dangerously. The Thieves knew what Vertigo was implying, and the thought of it made them sick with fear. But their anger overpowered it and focus their eyes on the enemy.
"How can you do this?!" Queen demanded. "You're a doctor! Protecting and healing these kids is part of your doctor's oath! Not experiment and sell them into slavery!"
"But I did heal them," Ecks said smugly. "I didn't force them if that's what you are thinking. All I did is offer them a process that would heal their genetic defects. As for selling them into slavery…well, nothing is free in this world. Think of it as payment for their treatment."
"Treatment my ass!" Skull yelled. "I don't know what hole you crawled out of, but I'm going to say this flat out…YOU'RE JUST A WORTHLESS CRIMINAL!"
"That's quite enough out of you peasant," Count Vertigo ordered coldly. He sent out another wave of psychic force at them, making them clutch their heads. "Even dogs know when to keel over and die."
"Sorry, Count," Joker gritted his teeth as he tries to stand up. His legs feel wobbly from the wave of vertigo he and his friends got hit with. "But we're all kinds of stubborn. Laying down and dying isn't our thing."
"You took the words out of my mouth, Joker!"
That cry came from Mona, who is standing on top of a stack of barrels. He aimed his slingshot at Count Vertigo and let's go of the sling. The pellet flew and struck Vertigo in his temple. He let out cry of pain and knelt down.
"Got to thank my small size for not getting noticed," Mona said as he hopped down with a satisfied smile. The thieves we're beginning to feel the headache fade from their minds and stood up. After a few seconds, they regained their balance and pulled out their weapons. The looks on their faces are murderous.
"Now it's your turn to be the mouse," Joker declared, brandishing his knife at the Ecks.
"Get them!" One of the clone's shouts, activating a red energy whip.
"Oracle. You might want to clear out, things are about to get messy."
"Way ahead of you," Oracle said as she tore off her mask with a show of blue flames. "Necronomicon!"
Appearing from above is her Persona. Instead of a humanoid figure, it is a black UFO with intricate green symbols. Perched on top is a black gargoyle. Five blue domes glowed from beneath it as the hatch opened up. Black tentacles stretched out towards Oracle, wrapping themselves around her and bringing her inside.
Oracle found herself floating in a black void, her mask replaced by her glasses. Immediately, the void is filled with faint light. Rings of green symbols orbited around her. Various screens flickered into existence around her, streaming various amounts of data. She focused on one screen where her fellow thieves are fighting against the evil doctor.
"Go get him guys!"
The Thieves are fighting with vengeance and sully. Joker gladly took this opportunity to unleash the new Persona's that he acquired during this mission. The Wine Storage is lit up with a canopy of wind, flames, ice, lightning, nuclear, and psy as the Thieves unleashed their Personas on the Ecks' and Shadows. Some like Queen were content with beating the living crap out of them with their weapons. Barrels of wine got caught in the crossfire, but that made them even more content to trash the place.
At the corner of her screen, Oracle noticed that Count Vertigo is struggling to stand up. It appeared that Mona's attack didn't keep him down for long. She alerted Joker about it on the comms.
"Joker, fair warning, Count Vertigo is trying to get back up!"
"I see him," Joker said as his mask rematerialized onto his face. Rather than using a Persona, he aimed his gun at the Count and fired. The bullet struck the count dead on, downing him again.
"I think it's about time we finished this, don't you agree?" Joker asked, turning to his fellow thieves. The floor is littered with various prone bodies of Ecks.
"Let's finish this!" Queen declares as she held an Ecks by the lapels. She promptly punched him in the face.
"Time to say farewell!" Noir cried out in agreement. Together, the Phantom Thieves sped around the Wine Storage as black blurs. They reappeared again, and Mona had taken the time to smoke a Cuban cigarette. He gave a sinister grin as he tapped ashes off.
"Mission Accomplished!"
The Ecks' and Shadows finally registered the brunt of their All-Out Attack. An explosion erupted behind them, blowing them all up. Vertigo was caught up in the blast, disintegrating into black ash.
"Does this mean it's over?" Skull asked.
"Not quite," Oracle answered from Necronomicon. "I'm still picking of signs of life hiding inside the barrel closest to you. It's Doctor X."
"Doctor X?" Skull asked. "As in the letter or…?"
"Of course, I mean the letter! Every bad guy has to have a supervillain name. I was going for Doctor Double X, but that was too lame. Doctor X sounded cooler, and it's in his real name."
"So, he was hiding in a barrel while his cronies are doing the dirty work?" Queen snarled. "Coward!"
"I'll handle this," Joker said, walking towards the barrel Oracle indicated. Deciding that using a persona wouldn't be worth it, he pulled out his gun again. Opening the barrel, he aimed it at the cowering scientist.
"The only cure for stupidity is death," Joker said in cold rage. He pulled the trigger, the bullet blasting a hole right near his ear. It blew a hole in the wood of the barrel. The doctor fainted, foam dripping down from his mouth. Joker lowered his weapon and walked towards his friends.
"So, we won for real?" Skull asked again. "I mean…this place is going to start crumbling or what?"
"That's not how it works Skull," Joker sighed. "I'm afraid we were only fighting the cognitive copy of Doctor X and Count Vertigo, not their shadows. The signs weren't there."
"There's no treasure here either," Mona said. "That means that as far as anyone's concerned, this hospital is under Baron DeLamb's domain. Or Baron Bedlam as he appears to fancy himself with."
"Damn!" Skull cursed, hitting a nearby wooden pillar. Nobody could blame him. They weren't counting on it, but they were hoping that this was another palace. With the inhuman experiments going on here, it could've been one for Doctor X. They could steal the treasure and have him expose what's going on here to the world. But that isn't happening.
The sheer powerlessness of the situation filled their minds. Some of them wanted to cry or take their anger out on more shadows. But they couldn't. If they did, they would not be able to stop and get exhausted. While there could be more kids that are dying or vanishing, they have to take the fight to Baron Bedlam.
"But how do we get to the castle?" Panther asked. "The Vineyard is like a maze in there. It could take us days to navigate it!"
"That's why we have Oracle don't we?" Skull asked. He looked to where she was standing only to find her missing.
"Oracle?" Joker called out. The others were looking around for her.
"I'm over here!" Oracle waved them over. She was crouching before a wall, feeling it over. "While I was up there, I found another secret passage."
"Another secret passage?" Skull asked. "Where does it lead to? Another laboratory for Doctor X?"
"If they needed another lab, they wouldn't go through the trouble of hiding it," Mona snapped at Skull.
"Guess there's one way to find out," Oracle said as she pressed a brick. Another facial recognition scanner was hiding behind the brick. "Somebody get X over here."
After dragging the body of the sinister scientist, unlocking the door, the Thieves walked through another dark tunnel. Queen, even after a battle with shadows, was clinging close to Joker. Nobody could blame her as they could barely see, and it gave off some bad vibes.
"Will this passage ever end?" Skull asked.
"What do you think is underground that allows them to travel undetected?" Panther asked.
"Maybe catacombs?" Fox asked.
"Don't be stupid, Inari!" Oracle shouted. "Look! You're scaring Queen!"
"I-I'm fine…" Queen mumbled. "Please don't let them get me sister…please don't let them get me…"
"There, there, Mako-chan," Noir patted Queen's back. "We're here with you. Nothing is going to get you."
"I found the exit!" Mona shouted. He had run up ahead to scout for any Shadows hiding in the tunnel waiting to ambush them. They found him standing next to a ladder leading up to a hatch. Taking initiative, Joker climbed up the ladder and twisted the hatches handle. Opening it, he peered his head through the opening.
It appeared to be another wine storage. This time, it was wine bottles organized onto wooden racks instead of barrels. Unlike the ones they saw in Doctor X's lab, they were small and appeared to be meant for drinking. Upon hearing footsteps, Joker closed the hatch.
"What is it Joker?" Skull asks as he climbed down.
"It would appear that this passage led us to another wine storage."
"Not just any wine storage," Oracle said. Her tone made them turn to her. She was fiddling with her map interface with excitement. "Do you guys know where we are?"
"Well do keep us in suspense, Oracle," Panther said. "Where are we?"
"We're standing right under the palace!" Oracle revealed with a grin, enjoying the surprise looks on their faces. "Baron Bedlams palace! We've found a way into the palace! We can start planning our heist!"
As you can all probably tell, the Sword Art Online franchise was mentioned in this chapter. And no, not by me. It was originally mentioned by I Am The Prophet. Neither one of us owns the franchise, except for the company that does own it. I will say this, though. Later on, I may consider using gadgets from the James Bond & Mission: Impossible movies, as well as some other stuff, like drones from the Watch Dogs videogames. I own none of those either. They all belong to the respective companies that do own them.