Phantom Files Book 2: Rise Of The Monarchs

by sithlorde1988

The sequel to Persona 5-The Phantom Files. A few years after Ren returns home, the Phantom Thieves find themselves drawn back into the Metaverse once again out of nowhere after a mysterious app surfaces with the powers to access the Metaverse. Can the Phantom Thieves stop a mysterious new group of individuals called Monarchs? Better summary in chapter 1! BOTH STORY AND EDITS DONE!

10. Orb Gathering! Phony Overlord part 3

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Phantom Files, Book 2: Rise Of The Monarchs! We're inching ever closer to the second Monarch fight, which is something I'm actually legit excited to type up since I have a few change-ups in mind for it. But you'll have to wait for that fight to see what I mean by that. Anyways, for now, let's hit up the disclaimer and get that out of the way, yeah?

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (aside from the OC Kusa/Draconis, and any other OCs that appear in the story, all of which are made and therefore owned by me unless otherwise noted), and the actual ownership for the Persona series belongs to Sega, Atlus, and Koei Tecmo (at least insofar as the spinoffs, such as Strikers, Tactica, Phantom X, the 'Q' games, the 'Arena' games, and the 'Dancing' games are concerned), so all credit to them!

That being said, I don't think I have a lot else to say, so on with chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Exploring Natsume's Jail! Overcoming the Fearsome Four and Obtaining Rain! Phony Overlord part 3

(In the Sendai Jail, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Violet, and Seeker)

After the group proceeded forward to keep going, the group found their path blocked by a familiar-looking man in a business suit, who laughed mockingly at the group as he spoke up.

"Heheheh, well well, what have we here? We meet again, chosen heroes." The man in a business suit said as Oracle spoke up with a frown.

"Hey, you're that jerk from earlier!" Oracle said as Queen spoke up with a nod.

"Yep, it's him all right. What was his name again? Domu?" Queen said as Violet spoke up.

"Was it Domu? I thought it was Namu or something like that?" Violet said as Joker smirked before speaking up.

"Nah you're both wrong. His name was very clearly Dora." Joker said as unbeknownst to the group, Ordained Green observed the group's encounter with the familiar-looking man in a business suit from a rooftop above the group, groaning as he massaged his forehead over his mask, grumbling under his breath about forgetful idiots as he did so.

Meanwhile, back with the group and the man in a business suit, the man in a business suit glared at all the incorrect guesses at his name before speaking up.

"Wh-What!? You're all wrong! At least the man in the black trench coat was pretty close with his guess, as was the biker chick. My name is DOMA! I am Doma of the Fearsome Four!" Doma said as Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Very well, Doma. But tell us this. Are you the one who brought us here?" Fox said as Doma laughed mockingly and spoke up.

"Heheheh, that's correct. That is my duty. I am tasked with bestowing our master's trials upon the chosen heroes. In addition, I've also been entrusted with protecting this sacred land that our Master calls home. And know this as well. If the orb of rain is what you seek, then you'll have to defeat me!" Doma said as Joker spoke up with a confident smirk on his face.

"Is that so? We defeated you once before, and we can do it again! If we have to face you to proceed, then so be it. Bring it!" Joker said confidently. Oracle spoke up with a smile at that point.

"Yeah, bring it, Four boy! The chosen heroes are gonna take you down!" Oracle said as Doma once again shifted forms into a Jack-O-Lantern as a fight started! As the group worked on whittling down the waves of minor Shadows that Doma kept summoning, Mona and Seeker formed up on Joker and Violet as the quartet kept the pressure up on Doma until Joker managed to hit a lucky shot with Agi that broke the last of Doma's down gauge, at which point he turned to Mona and spoke up.

"Wanna do the honors, little bro?" Joker said to Mona, who nodded and spoke up.

"Gladly, Joker! EVERYONE! TIME FOR THE ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Mona said as the group charged in for an assault, slashing/striking/swinging at the enemies with all their might until Mona did a backflip, landed several rapid strikes on Doma, then whipped him in the face with his tail as he backflipped to the ground and did an epic fist pump while speaking up after running him through with his scimitar as an explosion echoed behind him.

"Heh! THE. END!" Mona said as he posed in an epic manner in front of the explosion to end both the All-Out Attack and the battle! After the fight, Doma groaned as he hit the ground and spoke up.

"Urrgh!" Doma said as Mona spoke up with a sigh.

"Ugh, did we get him for good this time!?" Mona asked as Doma laughed mockingly and spoke up even as he groaned in pain.

"Ngh, not bad! Eheheheh, impressive. So, you've come this far, have you? Well done, chosen heroes. But I was but the weakest of the Fearsome Four." Doma said as Oracle scoffed and spoke up.

"Really? Gimme a break! It's the next guy's job to tell us that!" Oracle said as Doma groaned and spoke up again.

"Urgh! My fellow Fearsome Four shall surely make you suffer for defeating me. BLERGH!" Doma said before slumping forward dramatically and exploding into black and red mist. After he dissolved, Oracle groaned and spoke up.

"Huh? The heck was that all about?" Oracle said, but before the group could answer her, a slow clap was heard from above, making the group look around as Queen spoke up warily.

"Hm? Who's there!?" Queen asked as a dry chuckle answered her question as a familiar-sounding voice spoke up.

"Good question, Phantom Thieves. But do not be alarmed. I come in peace." Ordained Green said from above as the group looked up to see him smirking at them from a nearby roof. Joker and Violet's eyes widened as they, along with Seeker, spoke up in unison.

"ORDAINED GREEN!?" Joker, Violet, and Seeker all asked at the same time, before blinking and smiling at their unlikely synchronicity. Ordained Green nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. It is I, Ordained Green. First off, let me congratulate you on vanquishing the first of the Fearsome Four! Well done on your victory over Doma. However, I also come with a warning. Ignoring Doma's incredibly trite remark about being but the weakest of the Fearsome Four, the Fearsome Four from here will not be nearly the pushovers that Doma ended up being. They will continue to get progressively stronger as you proceed. However, you should be able to handle them easily enough if you make it a point to strengthen yourselves as you go. After all, is it not the main goal of a Phantom Thief to better themselves as much as they can before taking on a new target?

That said, the Orb of Rain should be fairly close by. As I said before, trust in the one you call Fox to show you the way with the atlas of this land, or the book that you all call 'Prince of Nightmares'. It has pretty much everything in it you'll need to be able to traverse these lands. For now, concentrate on eliminating the rest of the Fearsome Four and obtaining the Orb of Rain.

Once those tasks are complete, and only then, your next objective will make itself known. But for now, enjoy your victory while you can. And on that note, I'll be taking my leave of you, Phantom Thieves. Stay strong, and until we meet again? Farewell." Ordained Green said as he tossed down a flash bomb to obscure the group's view. Once everyone could see again, Ordained Green was nowhere to be seen. After a bit, Queen spoke up.

"What the heck was Ordained Green talking about when he said 'your next objective will make itself known'?" Queen asked as Skull spoke up with a frown.

"Good question, babe. Prolly there's another obstacle after the Fearsome Four that we have to tackle to get into Natsume's castle." Skull said as Violet spoke up.

"I'd buy that. After all, I highly doubt that the Fearsome Four is the Overlord's, or more likely Natsume's, only line of defense. I have no idea what else we could be up against though, unless we're meant to fight the Ordained Guides later?" Violet said as Queen shook her head and spoke up.

"I highly doubt that will end up happening, Violet. I feel like they'd have already fought us if that were the case. Besides, I didn't get a hostile vibe off of any of them. In any case, I sense we'll find out what that other obstacle is soon enough. Well, whatever it turns out to be, we can keep going now. Let's find that orb." Queen said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Oh, uh, right. Good point, babe." Skull said as Noir spoke up.

"Wait a moment. So now that we've defeated Dora, no, Domu? Do you think we can use the checkpoints again?" Noir said as Violet spoke up.

"Pretty sure his name was Doma. But that seems like a reasonable guess, Noir." Violet said as Oracle looked at the checkpoints before speaking up.

"Oh? Ooh! They're working again! And there's one nearby, too. Perfect! Now we can head back to the real world and stock up on supplies and stuff if we need." Oracle said as Mona spoke up.

"Makes sense to me. Y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if something like this happened again. It might be a good idea to prep some more, just to be on the safe side." Mona said as the others nodded and kept moving. After heading to the next area following a detour to do a bit of prep at Mona's recommendation, Seeker spoke up once the group arrived in a new area, one where it was raining.

"I see, how interesting. Is this what they call rain?" Seeker asked as Violet spoke up.

"Exactly. Very good, Seeker. This is indeed what they call rain." Violet said approvingly as Noir spoke up.

"Indeed. Moreover, it just started pouring all of a sudden. Maybe this is the place we're looking for, you guys?" Noir said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. It certainly matches the 'land of rain' moniker. No doubt the orb is somewhere nearby." Fox said as the group kept moving. Once Joker went to go grab an item nearby, Oracle spoke up as the camera panned to show the view of an impressive looking cathedral nearby, complete with beautiful stained-glass windows.

"Whoa, what's that!?" Oracle asked as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Whatever it is, it sure looks suspicious, doesn't it? Think that's our target?" Skull said as Mona spoke up with a nod.

"I agree, Skull. It does look rather suspect. For all we know, it could be a trap. But we don't have any other choice. Don't let your guard down." Mona said as the group kept moving. After moving forward a bit, Mona spoke up with glinty eyes.

"Hm!? I'm sensing what feels like Treasure nearby." Mona said as Seeker turned to Violet and spoke up.

"Um, Violet? Do Mona's eyes do that a lot?" Seeker asked as Violet looked down at Seeker and spoke up.

"You mean go glinty? Not really? He mostly does it around Treasure and Treasure-like items. But I can see why you'd be confused." Violet said kindly as Mona spoke up after what appeared to be a moving gemstone in the shape of a pink gem moved around and stopped near the group.

"There!" Mona said as a wide-eyed Seeker spoke up.

"Wha!? Is that jewel moving? Are gemstones usually supposed to be alive?" Seeker asked as Violet spoke up.

"No, not really. Those are just a rare type of Shadow that are usually unique to each new location we go to." Violet said as Mona spoke up.

"Ooh, it's a Treasure Demon! Get it before it escapes!" Mona said as a battle started! However, the battle wound up not being very long when the group figured out that the Treasure Demon was weak to Ice, at which point Fox and Joker quickly tag-teamed it with their strongest Ice-based moves and led the group into an All-Out Attack to finish it off, ending the fight. After the battle, Seeker spoke up in confusion.

"Uhh, what was that?" Seeker asked as Mona spoke up.

"Oh, sorry, Lady Seeker. I forgot that you've not likely seen one of those before. They're a rare type of Shadow we sometimes see in the Metaverse. We call them Treasure Demons. Taking one down can net you all kinds of big rewards." Mona said as Seeker smiled and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. I'll be sure to remember these Treasure Demons. So if we see one, we should try to defeat it like the one just now?" Seeker asked as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right, Lady Seeker. They're quick to run away, though, so you gotta be careful." Mona said as the others nodded and the group kept moving. As the group kept moving, Oracle made a note of a really tough Shadow nearby, prompting Joker to realize it was likely another Dire Shadow and wisely avoided it while heading for the cathedral doors. On trying to open them, they wouldn't budge. Seeker frowned at this and spoke up.

"The door is closed." Seeker said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"So we can't get inside? I don't see a keyhole anywhere either. What a pity." Noir said as Queen spoke up.

"Indeed. Let's take a look around. There might be another way in for all we know." Queen said sagely as the group kept moving. After smacking the Shadows around, Mona hit level 18 and got the healing skill 'Recarm'. Mona grinned at this and spoke up.

"Oh? This new skill suits me!" Mona said as Seeker blinked and spoke up.

"The skill might suit you, but I didn't think it was that much of a cause for celebration?" Seeker said in confusion as Mona spoke up.

"Eh, good point. Sorry, Lady Seeker. It's kinda become something of a force of habit. I blame Joker." Mona said, ignoring the mixed confused/offended glare he got from the Phantom Thief in question as both Violet and Seeker giggled at the accurate statement by Mona as Diego acquired 'Recarm'. After smacking around a strong Shadow with the newly tagged-in trio of Fox, Queen, and Noir, Fox hit level 18 and learned the Ice skill 'Mabufu', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Oh, a new skill? I must try this skill out soon." Fox said sagely as Violet spoke up.

"Impressive, Fox. Well done." Violet said as Kamu Susano-o acquired 'Mabufu'. Additionally, Queen also hit level 18 and gained the Physical skill 'Sledgehammer', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Nice! My Persona has learned a new skill!" Queen said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Truth, babe! And it looks like a badass skill to boot! Good job!" Skull said approvingly as Anat acquired 'Sledgehammer'. After that, the group kept moving. After clearing a bit of a stealthing puzzle, the group found an open window leading into the cathedral from before, at which point the group spotted an orb on a pedestal, prompting Fox to speak up.

"Aha, so it was here after all." Fox said sagely as the others nodded and kept moving, leading to Joker snatching the 'Ominous Rain Orb' from its pedestal, prompting the sound of spawning-in Shadows to be heard as a sentry spoke up.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" The sentry said before shifting forms into what Joker knew from his fusings to be a 'Berith' as a fight started! As the fight kept going, Skull leapt up and knocked down a chandelier, staggering the enemy before Violet stepped up, having been told by Oracle that her Showtime gauge had filled.

"Let me end this, will you?" Violet said as Skull and Joker nodded prompting Violet to smile and speak up.

"Thanks. SHOWTIME!" Violet said decisively as she called Ella to her and brandished her rapier as she spoke up.

"Shall we, Ella?" Violet said as Ella nodded, tossing Violet into the air as she swung her rapier in a graceful arc, as if it were a ribbon in her hands. As she spun around to drill downwards, rapier extended outwards, she smirked as she crashed hard into the 'Berith' and slammed it to the ground in an explosion of Bless power as Violet spoke up once more.

"Finish it, Ella! DIVINE JUDGMENT!" Violet called as Ella extended her sword and swung it downwards in a slow arc, instantly slicing the 'Berith' in half, the two pieces splitting off in different directions and both dissolving to black mist as Violet posed cutely and spoke up.

"YOU'VE JUST BEEN JUDGED! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!" Violet said as she bowed gracefully while her Showtime ended, thus ending the fight. Seeker and Joker both gaped at the Showtime as the latter spoke up.

"Whoa. Damn, Violet! I have to admit, that was an impressive display just now." Joker said as Violet smiled coyly at Joker and spoke up while giggling at Joker's adorable look of awe and shock, not seeing the similar look of awe on Seeker's face as she was focused on Joker.

"Aww, thanks, Joker. Just doing my best, that's all. Hee hee." Violet said as Joker nodded and Queen spoke up.

"Well, as awesome as that Showtime was, one thing's for sure. We now have the sun and the rain. Let's head back to the tower, yeah?" Queen said as the group nodded and kept moving. Once the group walked out of the now-open cathedral, Panther blinked and spoke up.

"Oh, look. The rain stopped. Think it's because we took that orb?" Panther asked as Skull spoke up.

"Prolly so, yeah. Seems like as good a reason as any to me." Skull said as the group kept moving. After heading back towards the bridge, Skull spoke up.

"Y'know, this place is treating us like a bunch of RPG heroes. Why don't we decide each others' job classes and stuff?" Skull said as Oracle spoke up.

"We could do that, even though I feel like this is better left for Draconis to do, since he's played more of that sort of game than I have. But I've played enough to have a basic understanding of the main classes. As such, to use the core six classes from the original Last Adventure, Joker is definitely a Red Mage. Both Violet and Seeker are White Mages, as is Mona, though Mona could also be part-Black Mage too. But Panther is probably the primary Black Mage for the team, but she could also double up as a Summoner with that whip of hers. As far as Fox goes, he'd be the main Thief of the group, alongside Crow.

As far as Noir and Draconis go, they'd be our primary Fighters/Knights, Draconis moreso than Noir since unlike Noir, Draconis actually gets a decent enough pool of recovery magic to be able to utilize the Knight's white magic capabilities, whereas Noir is moreso the Fighter side of that coin since she mainly fights and uses slight Psy abilties, meaning she'd be a Fighter/Black Mage hybrid. And then Queen would probably be the main Black Belt/Red Mage hybrid, since she can do a bit of both recovery and attack magic while she fist-fights.

As for me, I don't really dabble in combat that much, despite my combat-specced Persona suggesting otherwise. I suppose I'd be most akin to the Bard class, since they keep their distance and support from far away in fights, often through songs and the like." Oracle said as Skull spoke up with curiosity. *1*

"And what about me?" Skull asked as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"You? You're the Jester, Skull. Done deal." Oracle said as Skull sputtered and spoke up while both Mona and Seeker had to fight not to burst out laughing at the offended look on Skull's face while he spoke.

"Wha-!? A jester!? Are you serious?" Skull said as Joker grinned and spoke up.

"Take that as a compliment, Skull! If there's one thing I remember very distinctly from all those hours I spent watching Draconis grind Draco Odyssey 3 when we were younger, it's that while the Jester class seems useless at first glance, they often prove to be the most rewarding for those who put the time in to get them up a ways in level. Mostly because they're the only class that can freely access a certain class that others have to use an item to get access to, thus revealing the Jester's true potential." Joker said reassuringly to Skull, who grinned as he clapped Joker on the back gratefully and high-fived him. *3*

"Hell yeah, Joker! You always seem to know just how to make me feel better, don't you bro?" Skull said as the group kept moving. After the group mowed down a bunch of enemies that were in the way, the group reached the door that the orbs went in, where Mona spoke up.

"Okay, let's try putting the orbs where they need to go." Mona said as Joker placed the orbs in the proper places, making the door vanish in a flash of light as Oracle spoke up with a smug smile.

"Ooh, it worked." Oracle said as Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Indeed. So the proof is in here. Let's have a look inside." Fox said sagely as the group moved forward into the opened room, where a mocking laughter greeted them followed by a female voice speaking up.

"Hohohoho! You've done well to make it this far, chosen heroes!" The group heard, turning as one to see a woman standing before them, wearing a red silky knee-length dress, a necklace, and a smug smirk as she had one hand on her hip. Panther blinked at the sudden appearance of the woman as she spoke up.

"Whoa! Where'd she come from!?" Panther said as Queen sighed and spoke up.

"No clue, Panther. Ugh, but never mind that. Can we assume this is another one of the Fearsome Four?" Queen asked as the woman spoke up with a laugh.

"That is correct! I am indeed one of the Prince of Nightmares' Fearsome Four! You may call me Ante!" The now-named Ante said to the group before she kept speaking up in a very imperious sort of voice.

"If it's proof you're after, you'll have to defeat me! Still, you would do well to avoid mistaking me for a pushover like Doma!" Ante said as Noir spoke up in confusion.

"Doma? Who was that again?" Noir asked as Oracle looked at Noir and spoke up.

"That jerk we clobbered earlier. The first of those Fearsome Four creeps." Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"At least you remembered his name this time, Noir." Violet said sagely. Ante giggled as she spoke up.

"Hee hee, confused? I'll let you in on a little secret, just between us. Doma was the weakest amongst we of the Fearsome Four. My power far exceeds his! Your doom is nigh!" Ante said as Skull scratched his head in confusion and spoke up.

"Riiight, this is the part where we find that out properly, isn't it? Sorry, we kinda already knew that thanks to Doma himself." Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"Good point, sweetie. Well, it looks like we'll just have to fight her." Queen said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"True. Granted, my mom raised me never to strike a woman if it can be avoided, but like I did for Queen's sister when we had to fight her in her Palace, a bit less than four years ago, I might have to make an exception in this instance so we can proceed. Also, is she really a woman if she's a cognitive being?" Joker asked as Violet spoke up.

"Not really. Sure, she has a feminine build and appearance, but since this isn't the her in the real world, we're basically fighting a Shadow, thus not a real female." Violet said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"I thought as much. In that case, prepare yourself, Ante! That proof is ours!" Joker said as Ante huffed and spoke up.

"So you say! Come! Let's begin!" Ante said as she shifted forms into a being Joker recognized from his past fusions as a 'Lamia' before a fight began! The ensuing fight was a tough one, largely since Ante kept spamming 'Brainwash' on people, and she eventually managed to hit a lot of 'Burn' ailments too. However, in the end, a well-placed blast of Bless energy into a conveniently placed ice crystal finished off Ante, ending the fight as she slumped to the ground in defeat. The ensuing EXP gain lifted Panther to level 19, at which point she gained the support skill 'Dekaja', making Panther smile as she spoke up.

"Oh! I've awakened to a new power!" Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"Not bad, Lady Panther. That's a good skill to get. Well done." Mona said approvingly as Hecate acquired 'Dekaja'. Additionally, both Joker and Oracle hit level 21, the latter gaining the passive skill 'Active Support', making it so she can now give the power of 'Charge' to the group as well as increase the rate at which their Showtime meters fill up in battle, among other beneficial effects. Oracle spoke up.

"Woo! I got a new skill!" Oracle said as Seeker blinked and spoke up.

"Woo? is that a slang term?" Seeker asked in confusion as Mona spoke up.

"Not usually. That would be 'woot' that's a slang term, I think. 'Woo', in this case, is probably short for 'woo-hoo', which is something often yelled when cheering. 'Woo' also has another meaning, but we won't get into that right now, if for no other reason than to preserve Violet's peace of mind." Mona said sagely as Violet spoke up, not realizing what Mona was getting at first until her eyes widened in realization behind her mask mid-way through her response.

"Yes, let's preserve Violet's-HEY! Don't be trying to corrupt Seeker, Mona! She's not nearly old enough to hear the other meaning of 'woo'!" Violet said in annoyance as Oracle giggled and spoke up.

"Heh, yep, there's no doubt about it. Violet is most definitely going 'mama bear' on Mona. Mwehehe." Oracle said as Al Azif acquired 'Active Support'. After the battle, Ante groaned as she spoke up.

"Well done, chosen heroes. You have bested me in combat, fair and square. As promised, you may proceed. I will open the door for you to be on your way. I wish you luck in the rest of your journey. Urgh, forgive me, my darling Overlord. I have failed you." Ante said as she dissolved into black mist, at which point Oracle scoffed and spoke up.

"Ugh, she's doing one of those sentimental plot thread things." Oracle said as Mona spoke up.

"Whatever. Either way, let's go get that proof!" Mona said as the group kept moving, unaware of the figure observing from above. Once the group ascended the steps, Joker seized the materialized core/proof, or a copy of 'Prince of Nightmares'. Oracle frowned and spoke up from inside of the cage.

"Is this the proof we need?" Oracle asked as a chuckle from nearby answered her question.

"Indeed it is, little lady. Indeed it is. That right there is the first of the three proofs you'll need to enter the Overlord's castle. Also, well done on besting the second of the Fearsome Four. You are now halfway through eliminating them. But beware, the remaining two will get tougher still!

However, I see you were able to get the sun and the rain to open this door, so you have the respect and appreciation of us Ordained Guides for doing so. That's one less task for you all to complete before seeking out the Overlord." The group heard, turning to see a familiar cloaked figure standing on the nearby wall, making Oracle blink as she spoke up after taking in the mixed gold and black cloak the figure was wearing.

"Hang on a sec. Aren't you Ordained Gold? I seem to recall that you weren't nearly this talkative when you were with Ordained Green and Ordained Indigo?" Oracle said as Ordained Gold smirked and spoke up.

"That's because they like to do most of the talking for the group. I only step in when needed to reign them in if they get too out of sorts. You see, while Ordained Green might be the leader of our group, he's also the youngest of our trio. In actuality, I am the oldest member of our trio, which is why I'm usually the voice of reason for the trio. But you have a journey to finish, don't you, Phantom Thieves?

In that case, don't let me hold you up. With any luck, you'll reach the third member of the Fearsome Four soon enough, at which point Ordained Indigo should be waiting. He might then decide to reveal more information about our trio. But for now, farewell." Ordained Gold said as he threw down a flash bomb to blind the group. When they could see again, Ordained Gold was gone, having made his exit while the group was blinded. Violet blinked and spoke up.

"Well, that was an event that just happened. Still, why do I find it familiar that Ordained Gold said he's the eldest of the Ordained Guides, even though it's Ordained Green, the youngest of the three, that is the leader? Very strange. But I suspect that we'll know more about the Ordained Guides soon enough if we keep going." Violet said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed, Violet. I agree with that assessment. And to your question, Oracle? Most likely. Still, this is rather odd, for the very book I've been using to help us proceed to be one of the proofs we need." Fox said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, there's no doubt about it. This is 'Prince of Nightmares'. Or more aptly put, this is Ango Natsume's novel." Queen said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Man, again with the book? Why would that be what we need?" Skull said as Joker spoke up with a frown.

"Keep in mind that what I'm about to say is purely just a guess, and therefore amounts to little more than idle speculation on my part. That said, I think that this is a proof because if we hadn't ran into the Ordained Guides several times thus far, it would've been our hint that we can use the book to make our way through this Jail." Joker said with a frown as Noir spoke up.

"That seems like a reasonable guess to me, Joker. Still, do you think maybe it's one of the Jail's cores?" Noir asked as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"Oh! You mean like back in Shibuya?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up with a nod.

"Yeah, that's gotta be it. They're essentially the Monarchs' source of power. Looks like keeps and cores are a few things these Jails have in common." Mona said as Seeker nodded and spoke up with a slight frown.

"I see. So if we need two more pieces of proof to get into the Overlord's castle, then it tracks that we'll need to find the other two Prison Keeps." Seeker said as Mona nodded before Queen looked at Fox and spoke up.

"Fox, you're the one with the guidebook of this place, so to speak. Do you have any hints on that?" Queen asked as Fox spoke up.

"Hm. According to the book, the other towers are somewhere beyond the land of rain." Fox said as Queen spoke up with a nod.

"I see. Then, we'll have to go back to that rainy area." Queen said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right. All right! Back to it, everyone!" Mona said as Joker frowned at Mona and spoke up.

"I'm pretty sure that's my job to make calls like that. However, I'll allow it this time, since you're probably showing off for Panther and/or Seeker. But don't make a habit of trying to do my job for me, Mona." Joker said firmly to Mona, who winced but nodded his understanding as the group kept moving. As the group exited the Prison Keep, Queen spoke up.

"I wonder why these Jails are so massive. I bet it'd be nice to cruise around here on Anat." Queen said as Oracle spoke up.

"Eh, maybe? The closest frame of reference I have is getting to navigate from inside of Al Azif, so I wouldn't know." Oracle said as Violet shrugged and spoke up.

"I've never ridden around on a motorcycle before, so I'll take your word for it, Queen? That being said, I'm sure it's pretty fun." Violet said as the group kept moving. Once the group found the correct path and reached the next area, they blinked as they saw pillars of light blue light beams shooting upwards from some of the building rooftops, eventually showing a rumbling as a giant grated door in front of the group opened up and a wide-eyed SKull spoke up.

"Whoa! The door just up and opened for no reason!" Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"I doubt very much that this door opened for no reason, Skull." Joker said rebukingly as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Joker. Perhaps it's because we proved we're worthy of passage." Fox said before the camera panned to show a beam of light on the other end of the long hallway visible through the open pathway, making Mona blink as he spoke up.

"Hm? What's that?" Mona asked as Panther spoke up with a wary look on her face.

"I could be wrong, but it looks like some kinda light from here." Panther said as Violet spoke up.

"Whatever it is, we should be cautious if we investigate it, I think." Violet said, getting nods from the others as the group kept moving. After slowly aiming up and taking out the eyeball-shaped traps above with his assault rifle, Fox led the group down the hallway, where Joker examined the pedestal and seized the 'Infernal Red Orb' from its pedestal, making Oracle blink and speak up in surprise.

"Ooh. Looks like we've found another orb." Oracle said as Queen spoke up with a nod.

"Indeed we have. And with how things have been going, we'll probably use this to open some kind of door." Queen said as Joker and Mona exchanged winces as the former spoke up.

"Since they weren't there for the Palace in question, I don't expect Noir, Oracle, Violet, or Seeker to get this reference. But for the rest of you, am I the only one getting strong flashbacks to those damned Anubis orb puzzles in our fourth Palace? If Draconis were here right now, I guarantee you he'd have made the same connection I did." Joker said as Violet frowned and spoke up.

"You're probably right, Joker. But wait a minute, wasn't the fourth Palace that of-?" Violet asked as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. The fourth Palace was my own Palace, or perhaps it might be more accurate to say that it was the Palace ruled by the distorted cognitive spirit of my mom with my Shadow acting as a figurehead ruler in her stead. I like how Joker left out the part where Draconis was totally the MVP of that Palace from what I was told by the others later." Oracle said as Joker spoke up.

"Yes, well, if you heard that from Draconis, he likely at least semi-embellished his involvement and downplayed the big parts myself, Queen, and even Fox, Mona, Panther, and Skull all played near the end of that Palace. That win was very much a team effort, regardless of Draconis' claims to the contrary." Joker said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed, but I think we can forgive him embellishing a bit in that instance, since he was no doubt doing so to impress his then-crush and now girlfriend. And as to your assessment, Queen? It is a safe assessment to say the least. Indeed, this is most likely one of the novel's 'tri-color orbs'. It says we're to gather the red, blue, and yellow orbs in order to open the sealed doors." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I see. All right, then! Let's look for a door we can open with this." Mona said as Seeker's eyes widened fractionally before she spoke up with a frown.

"Wait! The enemy is closing in!" Seeker said as the battle started! It was tough, largely due to the closed quarters involved in the fight, but thanks to some ingenuity, teamwork, and skill, the group proved triumphant in the end. From the ensuing EXP gains, Fox, Mona, and Seeker all hit level 19, the level ups giving Seeker access to the move 'Tetraja?', making Seeker smile as she spoke up.

"I've learned a new skill!" Seeker said as Mona smirked and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. Very useful, much like yourself, Lady Seeker. Well done on the new skill!" Mona said kindly, turning away with a smirk, and thus missing the embarrassed hue of red on Seeker's cheeks from Mona's friendly yet kind praise as Pithos acquired 'Tetraja?'. As the group headed back down the hallway, Fox noted a red door on his right, gesturing to the others, who nodded as Fox held up the 'Infernal Red Orb' to the door, which flashed before opening up, making Oracle speak up in visible surprise.

"Wha!? Oh, it's open!" Oracle said before she and the others frowned as they noticed a yellow and a blue door further down the pathway, making a wide-eyed Queen speak up.

"Wait, what? But there's even more of those doors." Queen said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, babe. I think Fox said somethin' about tri-color orbs? And I believe he said the other two orbs were blue and yellow? Therefore, I bet these doors are gonna need orbs too, huh? C'mon, let's take a look around." Skull said as the group proceeded forward, mowing down any Shadows they ran across, eventually finding another orb nearby, only to be shocked when a laser field went up around the orb as a small army of Shadows spawned in ahead of a sentry speaking up.

"Not so fast, heroes! That orb is ours!" The sentry said as the fight began! After a short, if difficult, fight, the group defeated the enemies and seized the 'Frigid Blue Orb' from its pedestal, making Queen speak up.

"Well, now we've got a blue orb. Now we should be able to open up the blue door." Queen said as Violet spoke up.

"Makes sense to me. Shall we head back that way?" Violet said as the group headed back to the blue door, where Queen presented the 'Frigid Blue Orb' to the door which opened up. Panther then did a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Nice, it opened! So all that's left is the yellow one, right?" Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"I'd believe it. But the only way to know for sure is if we keep going. So shall we keep going?" Joker said as the group nodded and kept moving. After smacking around some Shadows, Noir hit level 18 and gained the Psy skill 'Mapsi', making her smile as she spoke up.

"I got a new skill! Now I can be even more helpful!" Noir said as Violet spoke up.

"I agree. That's a very nice skill to get, Noir!' Violet said as Astarte acquired 'Mapsi'. After navigating some upper ledges, the group eventually located the 'Blinding Yellow Orb', which Violet seized from its pedestal as she spoke up.

"Aha, the last of the orbs!" Violet said, only to groan as a huge swarm of Shadows spawned in as if in response to the orb being seized, prompting a fast but furious fight that ended with the group's victory. Afterwards, Violet spoke up.

"Shoot, they didn't make that one easy on us, did they? At least now we have all three orbs. Now to go open that yellow door." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"Agreed. Let's keep moving." Joker said as the group kept moving. After backtracking to the yellow door, Violet presented the 'Blinding Yellow Orb' to the door, which opened up, prompting Fox to smile as he spoke up.

"At last, we've opened all the doors. Now to enter the Prison Keep." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"All right, let's move, double time!" Mona said as Violet smirked and spoke up.

"I get you and Seeker are hitting it off, but don't you think you're getting a bit full of yourself there, Mona?" Violet said with a smirk as Mona spoke up.

"Wh-Whaaaa!? I'm not full of myself, Lady Violet! I just happen to be eager to get the route to the birdcage secured, since the less time we have to spend in this cringy place, the better." Mona said as Seeker smiled and spoke up.

"Mona has a point. After all, the only ones of us not to really have had at least one point where we were either embarrassed, annoyed, or sad so far are Queen, Panther, and technically both Joker and Mona. Therefore, if we can get out of here without those four being upset or bothered, it would be a moral victory for us." Seeker said wisely as the group kept moving. After finding the entrance to the Prison Keep, Oracle blinked at the hacking terminal nearby and spoke up.

"Hm? Looks like this way's blocked too. Should be able to hack our way through, though. You guys ready? I'll need you to watch my back!" Oracle said as Joker spoke up with a smirk.

"Definitely, little sis! You worry about that hack, and leave protecting you to the rest of us." Joker said confidently as Oracle spoke up.

"Got it, big bro! Starting the hack now! Don't forget to keep me covered per usual!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"All right! Here's our plan! Wave 1, which for now is myself, Violet, Panther, Skull, and Noir, will work on fighting off most of the Shadows. Meanwhile, Wave 2, which is Fox, Mona, Seeker, and Queen, will focus on staying close to Oracle and picking off any Shadows who wander too close to her! Is everyone okay with their roles?" Joker asked as the group nodded agreement as a fight began! Though the ensuing fight was long and tedious, after a while, Oracle triumphantly cheered and spoke up.

"And voila! One hack, well executed! Thanks for the backup, everyone!" Oracle said as the battle ended! Afterwards, Oracle kept speaking.

"All right, we're back in business!" Oracle said as the group headed into the keep where another chuckle stopped them as they saw a man in a business suit not unlike Doma's, though this man was considerably younger looking than Doma, with short cropped sandy blonde hair. The man spoke up tauntingly.

"Mwahahaha! Welcome, chosen heroes!" The man said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"You must be one of the Fearsome Four!" Noir said as Joker spoke up.

"That or just a bad guy with really cheesy dialogue." Joker said as Violet spoke up.

"What's the difference? Aren't those the same thing, Joker?" Violet asked as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"Not at all, Bad guys with really cheesy dialogue are way more evil than these Fearsome Four have been thus far." Oracle said sagely before she smirked and kept speaking.

"Heh, Fearsome Four, they say? More like 'Fearsome Snore', if you ask me, but that's just my opinion." Oracle said as the man frowned and spoke up.

"How dare you!? I am one of the Fearsome Four and a servant to the Prince of Nightmares, the great Kuga! I suppose you must possess some skill if you were able to best both Doma and Ante. But you'd be foolish to assume I'd be as easily defeated as them!" The now-named Kuga said as Skull frowned and looked to the others as he spoke up.

"Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't the last one say somethin' similar?" Skull said as Oracle sighed and nodded as she spoke up.

"You're right, Skull. Ante did make a similarly bold statement that ended up being proven false in the end. Ugh, so that means either Natume didn't vary his characters enough or he lacked the creativity and started copy-pasting." Oracle said as Joker spoke up.

"Regardless, the time for battle is now! Hand over the proof!" Joker said as Kuga chuckled and spoke up.

"Hah! You've got spirit, I'll give you that. I'm starting to like you, chosen heroes! Now then, let's fight, and may the best battler win!" Kuga said as he shifted forms into what Joker recognized as an 'Orthrus' as the fight started! Kuga proved that not all of the Fearsome Four were pushovers when he managed to down half of the back-up wave, while also downing Noir and Panther. After running through the group's supply of revival supplies, the group was brought back to their feet in time for Skull to speak up.

"Screw this guy! Joker! Let me finish him!" Skull said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"You think you can do it, Skull? Well, okay. I have faith in you, bro! Get it done!" Joker said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"No problem, Joker! SEITEN TAISEI! LET'S DO IT! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Skull said as he assumed a runner's stance before sprinting full speed at the enemy, eventually leaping up into the air at the same time that Seiten Taisei launched an orb of mixed Elec and Phys energy, which Skull swung his mace at like a baseball bat as he spoke up.

"BATTER UP!" Skull said as he slammed his mace into the improvised attack, launching it square into the horrified face of Kuga, slamming him into the nearby wall where he hit with an ominous 'THUD!' and slid over to the ground where he slumped over in defeat to end both the Showtime and the battle. After the fight, Skull and Panther hit level 20 and Skull gained the passive skill 'Rebel Soul', which upped the rate at which Skull's Showtime gauge filled up. After racing up the steps, the group found the second core, or Proof, which took the form of a 'Soukaisha Award'. Noir frowned at the form the core had taken as he spoke up.

"It looks like this core is an award of some sort, perhaps a trophy? It says 'Soukaisha Awards.' Is that a competition of some sort?" Noir asked as a dry chuckle from nearby preceded the appearance of a cloaked figure on the nearby rampart, making the cloaked figure speak up in a dry but amused tone.

"Did you just ask if the Soukaisha Awards were a competition? How silly of you, Noir. The Soukaisha Awards are only one of the most prestigious and coveted competitions around, and one that any aspiring writer worth their salt hopes to win! I lose count of the amount of times Ordained Green has already grumbled about how much of a show-offy hack the Overlord is. But if you ask me, I think this whole award concept is just a bunch of pretentious dog-and-pony bullshit designed to praise those who've managed to achieve greater heights in mediocrity." The cloaked figure said as Violet smirked and spoke up.

"Hm, that cloak, and those dry and barbed mannerisms? No doubt you're the one and only Ordained Indigo, here to grace us with both your presence and your irreverent wisdom. So do go on and impart your wisdom, on wise and benevolent Ordained Guide." Violet said mockingly, making Ordained Indigo blink behind his mask before letting off an amused laugh at Violet's shot at him while he spoke up.

"That was pretty good, Violet-san. Not as good as Joker's barbs, but he's got a lot to learn still, I think. But anyways, back to the main reason I'm here. Well done on besting Kuga. You are now three-fourths of the way to ending the threat posed by the Fearsome Four. At this point, you have but one Proof left to obtain, and one member of the Fearsome Four to vanquish! But be warned! The final member of the Fearsome Four is the strongest of them all! And if rumors are to be believed, he's a very crafty and sly opponent. So don't expect to win with just brute force alone. You'll also need your wits about you to succeed against this opponent. Good luck pulling that off if you're Skull and/or Mona.

But some of you, such as Joker, Violet, Noir, and even Oracle, I expect to get by with no difficulty at all. I have no judgement where it comes to Queen, Fox, Panther, and the one you all call Seeker. But I believe they'll pull through well enough. Even so, don't think you're finished once you make it past the final member of the Fearsome Four. Once you've done that, and obtained the final proof, the path to the Overlord's castle should then open itself to you. And once you go in, your real trial will most assuredly begin. So exercise all due caution should you choose to enter the castle, Phantom Thieves." Ordained Indigo said dryly as Mona and Skull both sputtered and spoke up.

"Wh-WHAT!? How dare you put me in the same category as Skull, you masked creep!?" Mona snarled as Skull spoke up angrily.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, ORDAINED INDIGO!?" Skull snapped, in a rare show of agreement with Mona as Ordained Indigo spoke up once more.

"Ahaha! That, right there, is precisely what I'm speaking of! For all that you both criticize each other for it, you're both equally prone to angering far too quickly. And this is only going to be to both of your mutual detriment that you can't keep your tempers in check. And on that note, I think I will take my leave, lest I say too much. Farewell." Ordained Indigo said before tossing down a flash bomb and vanishing in a blinding flash of light, much like the other Ordained Guides had done. After the group could see and Ordained Indigo had left, Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph, screw that stupid bastard and his smug attitude. Anyways, back on the topic of this trophy. Hmph, as if it's not obvious that Natsume probably got this by cheating, too." Skull said as Queen frowned and spoke up.

"Skull, focus! You might be right to be angry at Ordained Indigo, But look at this date on the trophy. This was definitely before people's hearts started to change." Queen said as Panther frowned and spoke up with a confused look on her face.

"So, if that's the case, does that mean he won this on his own?" Panther said as Oracle shook her head and spoke up bluntly.

"Hmm, to be honest? Nah, I don't buy it. You can't win an award just by ripping people off, after all." Oracle said as Fox spoke up.

"Perhaps you're right, Oracle. Regardless, that's two pieces of proof we've obtained." Fox said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. That means there's just one left. Where haven't we checked yet?" Mona asked as Seeker spoke up with a frown.

"Hmm...I recall there being an ominous looking metal door back when we first entered. Maybe we should look there." Seeker said as Oracle spoke up.

"Maybe. We did score another piece of proof, so maybe it'll open now. Let's head back." Oracle said as the group nodded and proceeded to backtrack to the long hallway they'd entered their current location from, eventually finding that another path across the way had opened up, making Skull blink and speak up.

"Yo, that door was closed up tight before, but now it's wide open? Think that's our way forward?" Skull asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Perhaps so. Final piece of proof, or bust!" Oracle said as the group kept moving. After navigating out the other hallway and coming out in the middle of a street, the camera panned to a giant birdcage, no doubt the final Prison Keep for the current Jail. Queen frowned at the giant iron gate in the way as she spoke up.

"I can see the Prison Keep, but the entrance is closed." Queen said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, nope. Don't think we're getting in that way. Did the book have any other hints, Fox?" Oracle asked as Fox spoke up.

"Maybe? I read something in the story about a test of the heroes' nerve where they had to walk across an invisible floor to get inside." Fox said as Noir spoke up.

"An invisible floor, you say? How do we find something we can't see?" Noir asked as Mona spoke up.

"Outiside of insanely strong instincts, the best I can suggest is that we'll just have to look really carefully. Maybe something'll turn up." Mona said as Violet spoke up.

"Strong instincts, you say? Hmm. I wonder if perhaps Joker's Third Eye could come in useful for this instance? Surely an invisible floor would be a snap for him to spot with his Third Eye, since as I recall, it's said to be invaluable for revealing otherwise-invisible things to the naked eye." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"Hm, it's worth a try, at the least. But let's keep going for now and see what we can scrounge up." Joker said as the group kept moving. After crossing the road to search for the invisible floors, a ton of enemies spawned in as a sentry spoke up.

"Who the hell are you!?" The Sentry said as a fight started! After a short but winnable fight, the group kept going through their infiltration. After clearing out more Shadows, Seeker hit level 21 and gained the healing skill 'Recarm?', making her smile as she spoke up.

"New skil obtained! I'd like to try it out sometime!" Seeker said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Trust me, Seeker. You'll have your chance soon enough. Of this, I have no doubts." Violet said kindly as Seeker beamed from Violet's words as Pithos acquired 'Recarm?'. After finding some ledges to leap up, more sentries spawned in in the form of beings that Joker recognized as 'Orthrus' Shadows. One sentry spoke up.

"Stop right there!" The sentry said as a fight began! The fight was largely uneventful and ended quickly. The group then kept going forward, eventually finding seemingly uncrossable gaps. However, the real shocker came when Fox tried to look around, only to find that he was able to use the same Third Eye ability that Joker had previously used. Fox blinked at this and spoke up.

"Hm!? I can use Third Eye!? I thought only Joker could do that!?" Fox said as Violet spoke up.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that's another variant for this new version of the Metaverse, that we can all use some of Joker's powers. In this case, his ability to see the otherwise undetectable. That's a neat discovery, if it's true." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"Indeed. Do you see anything, Fox?" Joker asked as Fox nodded before speaking up.

"If you all look, there are invisible floors right in front of us in what otherwise should be thin air." Fox said as the others tried, finding that he was right. As they proceeded across the floors, Panther spoke up.

"Invisible floors? Are they safe to cross?" Panther asked as Seeker spoke up.

"From the scan I took, they seem structurally sound and solid. So I would guess that they're safe." Seeker said as Mona spoke up with a smile.

"Relax, Lady Panther and Lady Seeker. If it'll make you two feel better, I'll go first to test how safe the floors are." Mona said, hopping forward and landing smoothly on the invisible floor. He then kept speaking.

"See? Nothin' to it! Just take it nice and easy, and let's try and cross in something of a single-file line, just to avoid the off chance that these tiles could break if too many of us step on them at once." Mona said as the group moved across the tiles, while Queen spoke up.

"Right. N-No need to worry. We're just hopping across invisible floors in mid-air. Totally normal." Queen said, seemingly trying to convince herself, and nearly jumping when she felt a hand gently pat her on the shoulder comfortingly, somehow not caring about her spiked shoulder pads while doing so. Queen turned and smiled as she saw the hand belonged to Skull, who smiled and spoke up.

"Calm down, Queen. I'm right behind ya. I'll catch you if you do slip and fall, so just breathe and stay focused on the task at hand, yeah?" Skull said as Queen smiled and nodded before speaking up gratefully.

"R-Right. Thanks, sweetie." Queen said, kissing Skull on the cheek in gratitude as Violet spoke up from nearby.

"Let's keep going! If we're lucky, we can take these all the way to the Prison Keep!" Violet said as the group kept crossing the invisible floors, eventually following them to some small platforms that the group hopped across, stopping on the way to liberate a 'Bufula' Skill Card from a locked chest as they reached a roof on the other side. Once there, they defeated another swarm of enemies that lay in wait, causing Panther to hit level 21 and gain the mid-tier Fire skill 'Agilao', making her smile and speak up.

"I got a new skill! I can't wait to put it to use!" Panther said as Noir spoke up with a smile.

"That's the spirit, Panther! Good job on the new skill!" Noir said approvingly as Hecate learned 'Agilao'. After following the platforms, the group eventually found more invisible floors, following them to a locked chest which had the 'Heavy Pound' weapon inside. Skull grinned as Joker pulled the weapon out of the locked chest and spoke up.

"Oh, those look like a weapon Queen could use. What do you think, babe? Wanna give them a try?" Skull asked as Queen spoke up.

"A stronger weapon? For me? Yes, please. Let me try 'em on." Queen said as Joker gave the 'Heavy Pound' to Queen, who tried them out and smiled as they fit perfectly, letting her nod approvingly as she kept speaking.

"Yes! These fit me like a glove! Thanks, Joker." Queen said as the group followed the invisible tiles all the way to the Prison Keep, as Violet had thought. Once inside the Keep, the group found their way blocked by a serene-looking old man, who laughed mockingly at the group as he spoke up.

"Hohoho, well now, what have we here? I've been waiting for you, chosen heroes. I am one of the Fearsome Four and servant to the Prince of Nightmares, Betero." The now-named Betero said as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Wow. Didn't expect an old geezer to be the final member of the Fearsome Four." Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"Oracle, be nice! Even if he is the final member of the Fearsome Four and therefore our enemy as a result, he's still our elder, so we should at least show him a small modicum of respect, if only as a professional courtesy and matter of general principle." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"Well said, Violet. However, that doesn't change the fact that he must be defeated for the sake of our mission." Joker said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Right, Joker? And to be honest, I feel kind of bad for having to fight this guy. He looks like he'd fall over from just a little push." Panther said as Betero chuckled and laughed as he spoke up.

"Ohohoho, is that so? I'm flattered that you seem to know enough to respect your elders. But then again, I'm sure you're aware that appearances can often be deceiving, can't they? Despair, for I am the strongest of the Fearsome Four! Your journey ends here!" Betero said as Noir spoke up.

"I see. Well, if he wants to fight, then I guess we don't have to hold back!" Noir said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"I'd rather not have to fight you if it can be avoided! Hand over that proof!" Panther said insistently. Betero blinked at Panther's words and spoke up.

"Hmmm!?" Betero said as he walked over and looked Panther over appraisingly before he spoke up.

"Oho, well now, aren't you quite the looker, young lady? Ohohoho, yes indeed, you are quite lovely." Betero said as Panther winced at the flirting and spoke up, unaware of both Mona and the figure watching from nearby also speaking up.

"W-What are you talking about?" Panther said as the same time that both Mona and Ordained Green, the latter crouching on a ledge high above the Keep, yelled out 'WHAT!?' to what they saw as Betero shamelessly hitting on Panther. Speaking of Betero, he started leering at Panther as he spoke up.

"My, you're a curvy little thing, aren't you? Ahh, you're a real sight for these tired old eyes, eheheh! And so are your friends over there, too! All of you young ladies are cute." Betero said flirtatiously as Joker and Skull both glared at Betero, along with Violet, who was annoyed at Betero for not only hitting on her, but on Seeker too, along with the other girls. Nearby, Ordained Green also gave Betero a stink eye through his mask, resisting the urge to jump in. The girls all growled at the shameless flirting by Betero, Panther being the most audible in her growls. She then spoke up with a frown on her face.

"Sorry, did I say I was reluctant to fight this creep? I take it back. All right, he's going down." Panther said as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"Agreed." Joker said before glaring at Betero as he kept speaking.

"As for YOU! That's enough out of you, hitting on these women without their consent! While it is true that both Noir and Seeker are technically single, they're also way too young for you! And the rest are spoken for, so back off!" Joker rebuked Betero, who glared at Joker before shifting forms into a being that Joker recognized from his past fusions as being an 'Eligor' as the fight began!

As the fight went on, Betero proved he lived up to being the strongest of the Fearsome Four, as he kept landing moves that inflicted the 'Forget' condition on the group, making them temporarily unable to use their Personas. However, Queen's new weapons proved to be the difference maker, as she kept clocking powerful punches on the enemy, and Skull being a Zio user helped as well due to Betero's weakness to Elec moves.

After a bit, Skull growled as he saw Betero launch into a charging attack where he managed to connect and launch Joker, Queen, Fox, and Seeker into separate walls, making Skull, Mona, and Violet all glare at him as Skull managed to break the last of Betero's down gauge. While Panther and Violet worked with Mona to get the wounded team members patched up, Skull turnd to Noir and spoke up.

"Noir, help the others get the people who're hurt back on their feet. I'll finish this putz off!" Skull said as Noir nodded and rushed to help with the healing while Skull charged in for his All-Out Attack, where he slammed his mace into Betero's face numerous times, eventually staggering Betero as he threw an uppercut to knock Betero backwards before charging up for a rising haymaker and launching Betero off his feet as he spoke up.

"THAT'S FOR QUEEN AND THE OTHERS, YOU CREEP! SEE YA!" Skull said as his rising uppercut slammed Betero into the wall, where he slumped over in defeat to end the battle, right in time for the people who'd been slammed into the walls to get to their feet. From the ensuing EXP gain, Fox hit level 21 and learned the passive skill 'Dodge Fire', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"A new skill! I'll have to try it out soon!" Fox said as Joker spoke up.

"Not bad, Fox. That's a useful skill to have when offsetting your weakness. Well done." Joker said as Kamu Susano-o acquired 'Dodge Fire'. After the fight, Betero looked up as he spoke up.

"Not bad, chosen heroes. You've bested me, Betero. With my defeat, you've beaten the last of the Fearsome Four. At this point, once you obtain the proof I was guarding, you'll be able to enter the Overlord's castle. However, don't think you'll be able to just waltz right up to his throne room. Someone like the Overlord will surely have other guards waiting inside the castle. So be prepared to fight your way there. Anyways, that's it for me. Say, any chance any of you ladies might decide to visit me in the afterlife?" Betero said as Panther and Violet both spoke up.

"UGH!" Panther and Violet said as Panther kept speaking.

"In your dreams, you disgusting perv!" Panther said as Betero dissolved into black mist while Seeker spoke up.

"Perv? What is a 'perv'?" Seeker asked as Mona tilted his head to the side before speaking up.

"Simply put? The term 'perv' is a short-hand way of saying 'pervert'. Betero was a good example of a pervert. Perverts are people who often pay unwanted attention or advances to women. And it's just Panther's bad luck she seems to somewhat be a perv magnet, considering how often she's had older guys hit on her that I've seen. I think this is the third time now it's happened?" Mona said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"No, this is more like the fifth time, if you count those two creeps we fought in Mementos that were hitting on all the girls of the group, along with Kamoshida and that womanizing molester in Shido's Palace." Panther corrected Mona as Seeker spoke up.

"Ah, I see. Registering the terms 'perv' and 'pervert' to my database." Seeker said as Oracle spoke up.

"Aaaanyways, moving on. Now that we've taken care of Old Man Ogles-A-Lot, all that's left is to nab the proof." Oracle said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. To the top of the tower!" Queen said as the group headed up the stairs. Once at the top, the group seized the 'Gaudy Fountain Pen' that was awaiting, giving the group all three pieces of proof. Mona then spoke up.

"Okay, that's three pieces of proof." Mona said as the group heard a voice speak up from a nearby ledge.

"Well done, Phantom Thieves. Well done. You've not only defeated all four members of the Fearsome Four, but you've also obtained all three pieces of proof that you need to get into the Overlord's castle, so all that remains is to storm the castle. However, I advise you take Betero's last advice to heart. That man might have been a dirty rotten creep, but he was no fool. From what we've been able to glean of the Overlord's castle, he has a retainer inside who serves as his loyal protector. So you'll have to get past him to get inside.

Once you've bested the Overlord's retainer and entered the castle, it should then just be a straight shot up to the top, where you'll find the Overlord's throne room. And if you can make it there, you'll only need to complete one final task to earn the right to face the Overlord himself. Hang in there, Phantom Thieves. You're so close to bringing him down. Just a little longer. Now go. I know you can do it. If you can reach the Overlord's throne room and challenge him, all will be revealed at that time." The group heard, turning as one to see a familiar cloaked figure standing atop a nearby tower as Oracle spoke up.

"Ordained Green, right? Why are you and the other Ordained Guides so eager to help us reach the Overlord, anyways? I don't think Fox's book mentioned any Ordained Guides? So what's your true agenda?" Oracle asked as Ordained Green spoke up.

"Alas, my dear Oracle, I must apologize. But the first thing you ask of me? That is something that I cannot divulge at this time. But I commend you for trusting the one you call Fox. Trust in the book, and you'll reach the Overlord for sure. Now, until the time comes for you to confront the Overlord, I bid you all farewell." Ordained Green said while tossing down a flash bomb to blind the group as he made his exit. Violet blinked at Oracle and spoke up.

"Why do you think those Ordained Guides are so eager to help us, Oracle?" Violet asked as Oracle shrugged and spoke up.

"Heck if I know, Violet. I can't help but notice that he referred to me as, and I quote, 'my dear Oracle'. But that doesn't mean anything for now, I suppose. On top of that, I feel like I've heard Ordained Green's speech patterns somewhere else before, but I can't quite put my finger on where." Oracle said as Joker spoke up.

"Hm. Now that I think about it, you might be right, Oracle. I can't explain why, but I do slightly feel like Ordained Green reminds me vaguely of Draconis. And now that I think about it, didn't you say he hinted he had managed to recruit two others to join the group? And correct if I'm wrong at all, but isn't it interesting that there just so happens to also be three Ordained Guides? I'm not saying this is the case, but what if it turns out that Draconis and his reinforcements are actually the Ordained Guides?" Joker said as Violet spoke up.

"Perhaps, but it depends on who those reinforcements turn out to be. After all, I'm pretty sure we all heard the distinctly masculine voices that each of the Ordained Guides has." Violet pointed out. Oracle nodded her agreement as Fox spoke up.

"Good point. But let's worry about this proof for now and table the subject of the Ordained Guides for the time being. That said, seems like this proof is a fountain pen. Fitting for a writer, I suppose." Fox said as Skull spoke up with a frown.

"True. So now we can get into the Overlord's castle, right?" Skull asked as Fox spoke up.

"If we're following the novel, then yes." Fox said as Seeker smiled wryly and spoke up.

"I see. We're finally going to storm the castle." Seeker said as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Good. Hmph, been waiting for this. 'Bout damn time. The Phantom Thieves are comin' for you, asshole." Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"I admire your enthusiasm, sweetie. But hold on. Maybe we should head back for now? If we're going to charge into enemy territory, we should make sure we're prepared." Queen pointed out as Panther winced and spoke up.

"Good idea, Queen. Ugh, to be honest? I'm all sorts of tired after that last fight." Panther said as Noir chuckled nervously and spoke up.

"Ahaha, that's understandable after what Betero did to all of us women during the fight. Also, sorry I couldn't help more with the healing, Panther." Noir said as Mona turned to Joker and spoke up.

"Hmm, you have a point, Queen. It might not be a bad idea to fall back and regroup. That being said, what's the plan, Joker?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Let's head back for now, if only to prepare for the raid on the Overlord's castle. And I'm not fool enough to assume that we don't have at least some of us who could do with a bit of a break." Joker said wisely. Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Joker. I know Draconis would agree with you if he were here right now. After all, we gotta be at the top of our game before a big operation. That's Phantom Thieves 101." Oracle said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"That settles it, then. Let's make our way back." Queen said as the group nodded and exited the Metaverse for the time being, unaware of the conversation going on inside the Overlord's castle...

(At the same time, inside the Overlord's throne room with the Overlord and a kneeling man in a suit)

"So the Fearsome Four were defeated by the chosen heroes?" The Overlord, a leering man with spiky blonde hair, piercing yellow eyes with red outlines, and a long flowing red cape to cover his imposing black body suit with gold accents, along with gold-framed glasses and horns on either side of his head, said. The kneeling man, identified as the 'Man in Black', nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, my lord, that is correct. It seems they were felled by a new group of heroes calling themselves the 'Phantom Thieves'. And to make matters worse, we've heard intel of a trio of cloaked individuals who are calling themselves the 'Ordained Guides', who've been seen around the towers of each of the Fearsome Four, that have been seemingly guiding the heroes as they advance through the area. If I were to guess, I'd assume that they'll be on their way here soon enough now that they have the proof they need." The Man in Black said as the Overlord winced and spoke up.

"Ordained Guides, you say? They sound like threats. We might need to dispose of them soon. And as for the others, you called them the Phantom Thieves? You mean the same Phantom Thieves everyone won't stop talking about? You don't think-? Ahem! I mean, do they truly believe they're going to change my heart? Heh, how absurd! Eheheh, I don't care how powerful they're said to be! No one can defeat the mighty Overlord! If they do try to come for me, I'll merely overpower them with the force of my sharp intellect and ruthless strategies. NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME! Ahahahahaha!

Also, they mean to topple the Overlord himself? FOOLS! They're destined to fail, just like all who came before them! This world is under MY absolute control! NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE IT FROM ME! No matter who's brave enough to try, be it the Phantom Thieves or those Ordained Guides you mentioned. I will defeat ANY who try to challenge my absolute power!" The Overlord, or Natsume's Shadow, said confidently as he laughed maniacally while the Man in Black nodded subserviently...

(Back in the real world that same evening, with Ren, Morgana, Sumire, and Sophia)

As Ren stood around inside of Sendai Station, his phone went off with a private chat. Looking at it, Ren saw it was from Futaba, so he opened it up to view it.

"Heyo, got a sec, big bro? Found something interesting. I'll let the others know! Swing by the hideout when you're free." Futaba sent as Ren put his phone away and did a bit of shopping before he and Sumire headed back to meet up with the others at the RV. Once everyone was seated outside after having had a meal, Futaba spoke up.

"Hey, guys, sorry to bring up business when we're all tired and stuff." Futaba said as Haru smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, no, you're fine. I think we're all feeling a lot better now that we've eaten. So, what did you find out?" Haru asked as Yusuke spoke up.

"Good question, Haru. Did you find something out about Natsume, Futaba?" Yusuke asked. Futaba shook her head and spoke up, shocking most everyone else with what she said next.

"Nope, not Natsume. This is about Alice." Futaba said as a shocked Ann spoke up with wide eyes.

"Alice?" Ann said as Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. Truth be told, I was looking into this even after we changed her heart back in Shibuya not that long ago. But it looks like some of her fans never reverted back to normal." Futaba said as everyone else gave her shocked looks before Morgana spoke up.

"What? How can that be? I thought we released all of the Desires she stole from people?" Morgana said as Ryuji spoke up.

"Yeah, we did. I mean, we saw 'em all go back to their owners, right?" Ryuji said as Futaba frowned and spoke up.

"We did, but despite that, it seems that some people still get set off if you criticize Alice even just a little bit. There're reports of people getting threatened and even attacked over it. Seriously messed up." Futaba said as Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"You're saying their obsession with Alice hasn't dissipated?" Yusuke said as Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. Also, I'm thinking maybe some Desires haven't returned to their owners." Futaba said as Morgana spoke up with a frown.

"I see. So it's possible they haven't returned?" Morgana asked as Sumire spoke up at that point for the first time in a bit.

"Seems like it, Morgana. Also, it's not impossible that some of the Shadows in the Jail seized some of the Desires before they could be returned to their owners, so that's something we have to consider." Sumire said as Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"Sumire and Futaba both have good points. Especially Sumire. There's a lot we still don't understand about the Jails, so we can't exactly rule that out at this point. For all we know, both Futaba and Sumire are right in their guesses. And maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the fact that the Shibuya Jail didn't just disappear." Makoto said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"Hmm, that is concerning when you put it that way, Makoto." Morgana said as Ren spoke up with a nod.

"I agree. However, we need more information before we do anything. No sense in taking action until we have a better understanding of what we're dealing with. After all, is that not the same principle we've been operating under for both of the Jails we've found thus far?" Ren said wisely. Morgana nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Yeah, good point. It'd help if we had a little more to go off." Morgana said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone, which was conveniently set in a stand next to Morgana, preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Why not just visit the Jail?" Sophia said as Morgana spoke up with a frown.

"As much as I love that suggestion and would love to do that, we can't just leave here and go back like that, Lady Sophia." Morgana said as Sophia spoke up with a smile.

"Silly Morgana. There's no need to go back. I meant you should just visit the Shibuya Jail from here." Sophia said as Ann's eyes widened and she spoke up.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ann asked as Sophia spoke up with a smile.

"Simple. Ever since we left the Shibuya Jail, I've wondered if we might be able to get back inside. Hoping to find out, I put in the keyword earlier. Sure enough, I was given access to the Shibuya Jail." Sophia said as Sumire frowned and spoke up.

"Impressive, but how did you manage to do that without at least dragging me along for the ride? After all, as far as I'm aware, you live inside my phone. Surely that would've pulled me into the Metaverse with you when you went to the Shibuya Jail?" Sumire said in confusion as Ren spoke up. *2*

"If I had to guess? I think it might be possible that the Metaverse only materialized inside of your phone when Sophia tried the keyword, hence why only she would've gone inside. But maybe in theory it'd pull you in since it's your phone it happened in? I'm not sure how that works." Ren said as Sophia spoke up.

"I think it might be the fact that I'm an AI that makes it so that only I was sent into the Metaverse when I tried the keyword for Alice's Jail earlier. But that's purely a guess on my part. As far as my attempts to use the keyword to return at will? I couldn't do the same with the Sendai Jail, however, so it may have something to do with the fact that the Shibuya Jail no longer has its Monarch. It works somewhat like a backdoor function, I think." Sophia said as Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"So we can enter even though we're nowhere near the same place in the real world? We certainly couldn't do that with the Palaces." Makoto said as Sumire spoke up.

"True, but unlike Jails, Palaces didn't stay standing once you defeated the Ruler. Or am I wrong to say that?" Sumire said as Morgana shook his head and spoke up.

"You're not wrong at all, Sumire. Just the idea of a Metaverse area existing without an owner is a first for us. I guess our experiences with the Palaces can only help us so much here, as it turns out." Morgana said as Ryuji grinned and spoke up.

"Dude, this is pretty sweet, though, ain't it? We can basically warp to Shibuya now, right?" Ryuji asked as Sophia spoke up.

"I can see why you'd think that Ryuji, but that's not how it works. No, it's not as if you could leave the Jail and appear in the real-world Shibuya. You can only visit the Jail from here. Leaving will simply take you back to where you first entered." Sophia said gently as Yusuke spoke up.

"Good point. I suppose things wouldn't be that convenient." Yusuke said as Haru smiled and spoke up.

"This is still better than nothing, though. Thanks for looking into that, Sophia." Haru said as Ann spoke up with a closed-eye smile on her face.

"Yeah, that's super helpful!" Ann said as Sophia smiled and spoke up.

"Yay, I've made myself useful!" Sophia said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"That's the spirit, Sophia. Way to stay positive, little one." Ren said wisely. Sophia smiled and spoke up.

"Mmhm! I will continue to do my best." Sophia said as Sumire smiled and spoke up.

"You do that, Sophia. Look at you, being all cute and useful! I'm so proud of you." Sumire said happily as Sophia beamed from Sumire's praise while Futaba spoke up.

"All right, how 'bout we check out the Shibuya Jail later on, then?" Futaba said as Makoto spoke up.

"No objections here. As for the Sendai Jail, let's meet up at the hideout once we're ready. We'll leave the timing to you, Ren." Makoto said as Ren nodded and the group dispersed from there. Once they'd gone their separate ways, Ren saw he had another private chat from Futaba, which he opened up.

"So, about going back to the Shibuya Jail, big bro. I gathered some info and listed them like requests for you. Take a look when you get to the hideout!" Futaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Will do, little sis." Ren sent as he put his phone away. Once the group was gathered at the hideout, Ren inspected the request, which was from a woman whose boyfriend seemed to still be obsessed with Alice. She asked for help getting his Desires back. Accepting the request, Ren had the group infiltrate the Shibuya Jail, getting nods from everyone as they infiltrated the Shibuya Jail...

(In the Shibuya Jail, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Violet, and Seeker)

After the group safely arrived in the Shibuya Jail, Panther's eyes widened behind her mask as she spoke up.

"WHAT!? Wow, it worked! We really made it back to the Shibuya Jail." Panther said as Seeker nodded once and spoke up.

"Yep. Told you it'd work." Seeker said calmly. Skull spoke up.

"It even went WOWOWOW and everything, too. That's freakin' nuts!" Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"That means that Jails truly don't disappear after their Monarch is defeated. Hmm, it seems Jails truly are different from Palaces." Fox said as Skull spoke up.

"Right? So, what do we do now?" Skull asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Let's look around and see if we find a Desire that didn't return to its owner." Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"That should be easy enough. After all, if we got a request about someone's boyfriend acting obsessed with Alice, that's a pretty big hint there is at least one Desire here still." Violet said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Violet-chan has a point, but this place is rather large. Won't that mean we'll be here for awhile searching?" Noir asked as Queen nodded and spoke up with her own frown.

"Noir's right. This is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. If only we could track it down somehow, it'd be a lot simpler." Queen said as both Seeker and Joker turned identical knowing looks onto a confused Mona, who spoke up.

"Um, why are you two looking at me like that, Joker and Lady Seeker? I might be able to detect Treasures and Desires, but that doesn't mean I can track down small ones! Wait, scratch that. I'm getting a faint scent! There's a Treasure, err, I mean a Desire over at Shibuya Crossing!" Mona said as a wide-eyed Skull spoke up.

"FOR REAL!?" Skull asked as Oracle smiled and spoke up.

"All right! Nice sniffin', Mona! Let's get over there! Let's get movin'!" Oracle said eagerly as Joker nodded and leapt into action. After landing, the group headed forward and spotted a Jack-O-Lantern enemy holding a small gemstone-like object next to it. Skull blinked and spoke up with a frown.

"Yo, ain't that a Desire next to that Shadow!?" Skull asked as Mona spoke up.

"Seems like it! Is that really a Desire over there!?" Mona said as the Jack-O-Lantern spoke up.

"HEE-HO! Th-This Desire is mine-ho! It's my treasure-ho! No one can have it!" The Jack-O-Lantern said, summoning in back-up as the fight began. However, the fight was over quickly, largely due to how much higher-level the group was compared to the last time they'd visited this Jail. After the fight, Skull spoke up as the notification popped up on screen that the request 'Take Back The Desire!' was marked as 'REQUEST COMPLETED'.

"Tch! The hell was that all about?" Skull asked as Violet spoke up.

"Sounds to me like I was right. Shadows other than the Monarch can hoard Desires if they so choose." Violet said as Noir spoke up.

"Good point, Violet-chan. Speaking of which, and more importantly, isn't this a Desire?" Noir asked as Fox spoke up with a nod.

"Indeed. Noir is correct about this being a Desire. I see. It seems there was a Desire left here, just as Oracle mentioned. And just as Violet mentioned, it was being hoarded by a smaller Shadow." Fox said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, but why was it left behind?" Skull asked as Joker spoke up.

"Did someone pocket it? I think Violet was on to something when she said some of the Shadows could've seized stray Desires for themselves after we beat Alice's Shadow." Joker said as Seeker blinked and spoke up.

"Pocket it, did you say?" Seeker asked as she glanced towards the barely-visible pouches on Mona's Phantom Thief attire, making the Phantom Thief in question blink at Seeker, noticing her looking rather intently at his attire, prompting him to speak up warily.

"Meow? Um, Lady Seeker? I get that I'm cute, but am I really so cute that you can't stop looking at me? Also, hey! Why are you staring at my pouches?" Mona asked as Panther looked at Joker and spoke up.

"By 'pocket', you mean someone stole it, right?" Panther asked as Mona spoke up with a frown.

"Probably. But that Shadow earlier said the Desire was his. I'm thinking it didn't return to its original owner because he had his mitts on it the whole time. So I think Violet's right when she says smaller Shadows can take Desires too." Mona said wisely as a bright flash of light blinded the group. When they could see again, the Desire had vanished from view, making a wide-eyed Panther speak up.

"H-Hey, where'd it go, you guys!?" Panther asked as Joker spoke up.

"If I had to guess, it vanished because we beat the Shadow hoarding it." Joker said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Mm-hm, mm-hm! Joker's right! And since we took him down, the Desire was finally released." Oracle said as Noir spoke up warily.

"Then, would that mean the Alice fan who was still acting strange is back to normal?" Noir asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Might as well check. Maybe I can find a post about it online." Oracle said as Queen spoke up.

"Yes, that's true. Let's head back to the hideout for now." Queen said as the group nodded and fought their way back to the entry point, from which they exited the Metaverse...

(Back in the real world, with Ren and Morgana)

"All right! Okay, let's go surf the web and get some useful intel." Morgana said while nodding as he returned to the hideout and turned in the finished request, at which point Noir spoke up.

"Hey! Well? Any luck so far?" Haru asked as Futaba spoke up with a sigh.

"Nope. Nothin' just yet, but I'll let ya know-WHAT!? Hup! Strike that! Here we go, this looks promising. A buncha people who went off the deep end for Alice got together and published a public apology online! It says 'We are truly sorry for causing so much trouble over a celebrity. Our actions were wrong, and we apologize to both the people and to Alice for how shamefully we behaved.' Okay then. Not only that, the so-called 'anti-Alice' people are saying they're not getting harassed anymore! They've even accepted the apology!" Futaba said as Ann spoke up.

"Wow! Then that means it worked, right?" Ann said as Sumire spoke up.

"Seems like it, Ann. But I'm guessing you moreso meant did the Desires return to their owners?" Sumire said as Makoto spoke up.

"Indeed. Like Sumire said, I think we all want to know this. Does this mean the Desires went back to their owners? We really were able to undo their changes of heart?" Makoto said as Ren spoke up.

"It seems that way. However, we can't celebrate just yet. We have to have confirmation that the Desires returned. And even then, we have other things to worry about." Ren said wisely. Yusuke nodded his agreement as he spoke up.

"Yes, there is a chance the situation isn't wholly resolved. Remember, we have no idea if there are more cases like this." Yusuke said as Morgana spoke up.

"So, there are Shadows that go after the Desires we release back to their owners in the hopes of seizing the Desires for themselves. I don't think we can call this case closed until we take out those Shadows, too." Morgana said as Ryuji spoke up.

"Yeah, but how the hell are we gonna find 'em?" Ryuji asked as Sophia spoke up from Sumire's phone.

"We can find them if Morgana sniffs out the Desires they hold." Sophia said as Morgana spoke up.

"Yeah, I suppose I can do that, if it's a request from a lady." Morgana said as both Ren and Sumire coughed what sounded suspiciously like 'simp!' under their breaths as Ryuji grinned, having heard the two. Futaba then spoke up.

"Excellent! Leave it to the Phantom Nose!" Futaba said with a laugh as Ren and Morgana both spoke up together, identical looks of confusion on their faces.

"THE WHAT!?" Ren and Morgana asked as Morgana kept speaking while giving Futaba a wide-eyed look of mixed horror, annoyance, and shock.

"Hey! That is NOT my title! ANYway, it looks like we've got a whole other fight lined up for us now. We should have Futaba and Sophia search for any other cases like this too." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"They can do that on their own time if they want. But let's not forget why we're out here right now. Natsume comes first for now." Ren said firmly but sagely. Futaba nodded as she spoke up.

"Yup yup! Of course! We don't give up on missions so easily! If any of you come across another situation like this one, send it my way! I'll compile the relevant info and list it up for you-kinda like how we used the requests on the Phan-Site!" Futaba said as Haru spoke up.

"Yes! Good idea, Futaba-chan! This way, we can resolve these requests and make progress in our infiltration at the same time!" Haru said as Makoto spoke up.

"Hmm. Sounds like our hands are starting to get full. Let's do our best out there, everyone!" Makoto said as Futaba spoke up.

"Oh! Listen up! I almost forgot about this part. Here ya go! That no-good Desire-pocketing Shadow dropped it!" Futaba said as Ren accepted a 'Motto Hoodie' armor while Morgana spoke up.

"Hey! Tomorrow's our final siege on Natsume's castle. We need to be good and ready for whatever he may throw at us." Morgana said as Ren nodded, before telling the others to rest up for the siege on Natsume's castle the next day. He mainly got noises of agreement from the others as the group went to sleep, unaware of the conversation happening in a nearby location with another smaller group...

(At the same time as the group's run into the Shibuya Jail, in a nearby restaurant with Goro, Kusa, and Sojiro)

"I'll admit it. I'm impressed with how proficient that group's gotten in the past three years. But can they get past Natsume's Shadow? That, I think, is the real question." Goro said sagely as Kusa spoke up.

"To be honest? I'm not sure, Goro. I'd say probably, but who's to say for sure? Either way, I think we're all glad that we won't have to keep our distance from them for much longer. My concern at this point is that they don't manage to bungle the calling card, once they get to that point. In fairness, they did good with Alice's calling card, but I sense that's because Ann and Sumire wrote it.

I have no idea who they'll get to write this card. Probably Yusuke, if I had to guess? That should be interesting, since he's usually our illustrator, not our card writer. Heck, he even had me create Madarame's calling card on his behalf a couple years ago because he didn't want his writing style to be recognized. And since I'm not there right now to write for him, I'm curious if he'll write it himself or not. Also, how will they post it? Because I don't think they can just cut into a broadcast this time like they likely did for Alice's calling card. So I might have to keep an eye peeled, so to speak, and see if I can intercept whichever one is sending the calling card, just in case it needs a bit of my personal touch added to it." Kusa said as Sojiro spoke up.

"Perhaps. But how're you gonna figure out who's sending it, much less intercept them? Seems like a rather long shot to me." Sojiro said as Kusa spoke up.

"Perhaps, but odds are they'll send it sooner or later, likely through a gathering of Natsume's. Oh well, I guess for now let's just keep an eye peeled. Luckily, we still have a good way of spying on them while they go through Natsume's Jail without them being any the wiser. I still think we might end up having to step in and bail Joker out if things get dicey when they fight Natsume's Shadow, hence why I insisted we not immediately link up with the others when we got here. But we shouldn't have to keep this up for more than hopefully a couple more days. I give it three to four days, tops, before we can reveal ourselves to the others. I still maintain that most, if not all, of them will lose it when they see you in uniform, Sojiro." Kusa said as Goro smirked and spoke up.

"You're probably not wrong, Kusa. I'm just excited to finally have the chance to get that rematch your brother owes me." Goro said as Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"So you say, Goro. I think you're also excited to get to see Haru again. I know you won't admit it, but I can tell you have a crush on her, even if you won't admit it." Kusa said as Goro huffed before sighing as he spoke up.

"Am I that obvious? Fine, I like Haru-san. But I'm not trying to presume I have the right to make a move on her after what I did to her three years ago. She's well within her rights to not only never forgive me for taking her dad from her, but also refuse to want anything to do with me because of it. Since that, as well as what I put your girlfriend through, are both wholly unforgivable acts." Goro said as Sojiro frowned and spoke up.

"Nonsense. If I can forgive you for taking Wakaba from Futaba and I, then Futaba and Haru can eventually learn to forgive you. Hell, even Kusa forgave you. So it's not impossible for you to find some level of forgiveness for what you've done." Sojiro firmly rebuked Goro, who sighed and nodded as he spoke up.

"You're probably right, Boss. But still, it's going to take time for me to be able to forgive myself for what I've done." Goro said sagely as Kusa spoke up.

"That will hopefully happen in time, Goro. You really don't need to be beating yourself up over it, though." Kusa said as Goro shrugged, and the three enjoyed their meal before heading back to get comfortable for the night in the car...

(The next afternoon, in front of the camper, with Morgana and Ren)

"All right, today we're going to storm the castle! Once we're ready, let's move out." Morgana said as Ren nodded, only to blink as his phone went off with a private chat from Ann.

"Hey Ren. It's not important, but I want to talk to you about something. Can you come see me when you have time?" Ann sent as Ren nodded. While he was thinking of it, Ren looked around the area and bought some new things, including a 'Salmon Bowl' recipe, at which point Haru walked over and spoke up.

"Hello, Ren. You know, I've been curious about this place. It smells so good here, even from outside. Beef tongue is probably the most well-known specialty in Sendai, but salmon bowls seem to be popular as well. If it's all right with you, why don't we try it out together? Better than eating alone, right?" Haru said as Ren nodded and enjoyed some salmon bowls with Haru. After the two finished, Haru giggled and spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Hee-hee! Mmm, this was definitely the right choice! There's no way simmering salmon with rice wouldn't turn out delicious!" Haru said as Ren nodded, feeling a flash of inspiration hit him. After a bit, Ren found Ann and spoke up.

"What's up, Ann?" Ren asked as Ann spoke up.

"Oh, hi Ren. Did you get my message? I assume you did. Um, this might seem kinda out of nowhere, but do you like sweets?" Ann asked as Ren spoke up.

"You're asking the wrong Amamiya sibling about sweets. I love them, yes, but I'm not gung-ho for them like Kusa often is." Ren said. Ann blinked as she spoke up.

"Good point. Kusa is moreso the sweet addict of you two, now that I think on it. Wait, really? Do you love sweets too? Oh, perfect! So this really isn't a big deal or anything, but Sendai's got these regional specialty sweets, right? I figured, since we're here, we should try as many new things as we can. Well, it turns out there's a lot more to try than I thought. I doubt we have enough time to get to them all. So now I'm not sure which ones to go for at this point." Ann said as Ren spoke up with a smile.

"Why not just go for however many you can with the time we have left?" Ren suggested as Ann spoke up.

"Oh, that sounds good! Ooh, I know! We set it up so people can send requests to your phone, didn't we? Pretty sure we did. So if I do this, then-Aha! There! Sent!" Ann said as she hummed a bit before she kept speaking.

"Ohhh, what's that, Ren? I think someone sent you something. You should probably accept that request right away! I think whoever sent it would be really happy if you helped them out! Aha, you won't turn it down, will you? Ahaha! Pleeease! 'Kay, thanks!" Ann said as Morgana spoke up.

"Hm. It looks like Lady Ann's gone and sent you a request. It's not really the kind of request you make to the Phantom Thieves, though, is it? But we can't let Lady A-err, I mean, we can't let our friend down. We should lend her a hand!" Morgana said as a 'BIP!' from nearby caught Ren's attention, making him turn around and smile as he saw Sumire walk over to him, pulling out her phone in time for Sophia to speak up.

"Greetings, Ren and Morgana. I have confirmed that a request has been posted. Let's do what we can to help." Sophia said as Ren spoke up.

"Sure, but what's to say Sumire doesn't have other things she's doing right now? It's not like I can just have her drop everything to help me?" Ren said as Sumire smiled and spoke up.

"No need to worry, Ren. My plan was to hang out with you. So if you need help with this request, consider me to be at your disposal." Sumire said as Ren nodded. He then turned and saw an annoyed look on Ann's face, so he spoke up.

"Umm, why the pissed-off expression, sis?" Ren asked Ann, who looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about that last Fearsome Four member we fought. Y'know, that disgusting geezer, Betaro, or, uh, what was it? Well, whatever his name is! Just thinking about him makes me so mad. He was more like a real-life creep than any character in a book I've heard of." Ann said as Sumire spoke up.

"That's pretty impressive, considering how much of a creep Kamoshida was to you and Shiho before his heart was changed three years ago." Sumire said as Morgana spoke up.

"Good point, Lady Sumire. And I think his name was Betero, Lady Ann. That said, I don't know for sure, so treat this as speculation on my part. Anyways, this might only be speculation, but the Shadow was probably taking the form of someone from Natsume's cognition-or at least, that's my guess." Morgana said as Sophia spoke up.

"I see. So in other words, there's a good chance that the person the Shadow took the form of likely exists somewhere in the real world. Some kind of acquaintance to Natsume." Sophia said as Ann's eyes widened and she spoke up.

"WHAT!? You mean I might actually run into that guy somewhere around here!? Now I'm REAL skeezed out! Thanks for that, Sophia." Ann said as Sophia frowned and spoke up.

"Sorry, Ann. I didn't mean to upset you. I was just stating an observation I made." Sophia said as Sumire spoke up.

"Don't feel bad, Sophia. I think Ann was just speaking out of fear and hurt. She didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Sumire said as Ren kept moving, figuring it was wiser to separate Ann and Sumire for the time being as a precaution. After a bit, Ren took the group back into the Shibuya Jail to grind for levels and yen along with doing some requests. After finding and destroying a Treasure Demon, Mona, Violet, Skull, and Seeker all hit level 22, with the result that the level ups gave Mona the upgraded healing move 'Diarama'. Mona smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, this new skill fits me like a glove!" Mona said as Seeker spoke up.

"I didn't know you could wear gloves with paws, Mona?" Seeker asked as Mona blinked and spoke up.

"Um, it was a figure of speech, Seeker." Mona said as Diego acquired 'Diarama'. Additionally, the level-ups also gave Violet a new move in the form of the mid-tier Bless skill 'Kouga', making Violet smile as she spoke up.

"All right! I gained a new talent! Looks like my training is starting to produce results." Violet said as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"Riiight. And Joker's not already totally hot for you as it is. By all means, keep on training and see how much Joker struggles to take his eyes off of you." Oracle said teasingly as Joker settled for flipping off Oracle where only she and Skull could see, getting amused grins from both as Ella acquired 'Kouga'.

While navigating around the area, Seeker hit level 23 and gained the mid-tier Bless skill 'Kouga?', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Oh! A new move! I'd like to try it out soon!" Seeker said as Mona spoke up.

"Well done, Lady Seeker. I'm impressed." Mona said kindly as Seeker's cheeks pinked a bit in embarrassment from Mona's praise as Pithos acquired 'Kouga?'. After finishing their requests and enemy hunt in the Shibuya Jail, the group returned to the real world, at which point Ren went out and bought a bunch of healing supplies with the small windfall of loot the group had accumulated from felling three different Treasure Demons inside the Shibuya Jail.

After also upgrading the group's armor and weapons for the most part, Ren even had enough leftover to buy some ingredients, even still having a five-digit amount of yen leftover after his mini-shopping spree. Once back at the hideout, Ren cooked a bunch of food with the extra ingredients, including the 'Salmon Bowl' he'd acquired the recipe for with Haru. Once he cooked it, Makoto spoke up in surprise.

"Wow, Ren, that smells amazing. And it really is delicious." Makoto said as Haru spoke up with a smile.

"I have to agree. It might even be tastier than when I've had it at a restaurant. More aromatic, too." Haru said as Ryuji grinned and spoke up.

"People get these for lunch all the time, right? I've seen 'em all boxed up, but I never actually had one ready-made." Ryuji said as Makoto gave a closed-eye smile to Ren and spoke up.

"I agree, sweetie. Sometimes food tastes better when it's freshly-made, and this is one of those times. It's such a luxury to enjoy it freshly cooked. Thank you very much, Ren. Thanks for the food!" Makoto said as Sumire spoke up with a smile.

"Seconded!" Sumire said eagerly, making Ren laugh fondly at his girlfriend's predictable appetite. Ren also noted idly that the salmon bowl seems to have been a big hit. Ren figured he should eat the leftovers later. As he and the others enjoyed their meal, Ren started going over plans for the rest of the raid on Natsume's Jail, having the sense he needed to be thinking about it more rationally than usual...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And there we go, another chapter done and dusted! Despite what I thought previously, it'll probably be another couple of chapters before we see the second calling card and second Monarch fight. The next chapter will likely be the raid on Natsume's castle, the birdcage, and the Lock Keeper fight. Maybe, if time permits, I might throw in the calling card and boss fight to pad the length of the next chapter a bit. However, the odds are better than fair that it'll be the chapter after next when I cover those, especially with the couple of change-ups I have in mind for that fight.

Anyone who's been paying attention to the arc thus far, specifically the events that unfolded inside of Natsume's Jail thus far, already have a pretty good idea of what one of the change-ups will be. But the other is one that I'm fairly sure no other author's ever done in a Persona fic before. I'm not sure how well-received it'll be, but it's something I wanted to try out regardless.

Anyways, back on the topic of this chapter, I got a lot in here! The majority of Natsume's Jail, the introduction of requests, which made their return from Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal, but better, since most of them are repeatable! And most of the repeatable ones give money on repeat completions, making them a viable method of yen farming. I thought I'd point that out because it's such a neat touch by the developers.

Back on the subject of this story, thanks to all who've supported the story thus far, as your input is both invaluable and key to keeping this story flowing smoothly through your input! If you want to make your thoughts on the story known, feel free to either leave them in a review or PM me if you don't want to share them in a review. I welcome hearing from my readers either way. Also, for those interested, I do have a Discord I use to discuss ideas for my story, so feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to get in on that and I'll try to sort you out as best I can.

Either way, I enjoy hearing from my readers! And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - I couldn't resist having Oracle break down her Final Fantasy (or the game that Last Adventure is a parody of) party job comparisons for each Thief. Granted, a lot of the Thieves are difficult to pin into one singular class, since other than maybe Crow and possibly Oracle, the majority of the Thieves easily fall into multiple classes with their characteristics.

I listed them all pretty handily in the chapter, with the exception of *REDACTED*, since only Crow and Draconis know he's awakened to a Persona at this point, so it's a bit too soon to list him there. For those curious, with the skillset I have in mind for him, odds are pretty good he'd be a mixed Thief/Ninja with his Persona's characteristics. If you're curious about those listings, feel free to shoot me a PM and we can go over them more there.

*2* - First of all, in the canon version of Strikers, Sophia lives in Ren's phone and not Sumire's, since she's completely and totally absent from Strikers, despite a lot of people theorizing that Sophia/Sophie (as she's called in canon Strikers) is a knock-off Sumire/Violet stand-in, which I disagree with. Secondly, this is a legit thing I'm curious about, as well as a possible plot hole that no one's spotted.

Legitimately, how can Sophia access a Jail like she claims to have done in this scene, and not have at least brought Ren/Joker along for the ride since she's doing this inside his phone, and possibly Morgana/Mona since he often rides shotgun in Ren's bag? I feel like that makes no sense from an analytics standpoint. But feel free to correct me on it in the reviews if I'm misunderstanding this point or wrong to say this makes no sense. Also feel free to share your opinions on this in the reviews if you want.

*3* - Only those who've played Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest III, which is the game that Draco Odyssey 3 is a parody of, will get this reference. For those who don't get it, those two games have a very powerful secret class called the Sage which is only obtainable in two ways.

Firstly, you have to find an item called the 'Zen Book' (though it might have a different name dependent on the version of the game you're playing), which can be then given to any party member that isn't the main character, since it lets any class change into the Sage class if they've hit at least level 20 (which is a secondary pre-requisite for class changes in Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior III).

However, Zen Books are a one-use item, so each one can only change one character to a Sage, meaning you'll need three to fill your whole team with Sages, since you only get four characters total in Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest III.

That said, the other way is to level up a Jester class to level 20 (which is a LOT harder and more time-consuming than it sounds, since Jesters don't always follow commands in battle, plus they take a lot longer to level up than most classes). But if you have the patience to level a Jester up to level 20, they can become a Sage for free without the need for a Zen Book. However, it's not recommended to have more than one Jester in the party at once, since it makes the level-grinding process take way longer than it needs to take.

But Sages, as you might guess? They're WELL worth the time spent getting them, since they learn all the same spells as both the Cleric and Mage classes (or Pilgrim/Wizard and/or Witch, as they're called in the NES version of Dragon Warrior III), AND they have some pretty nice stat gains as they level up. Don't be surprised if you take most of the game to get to two Sages, unless you level up two separate Jesters during the first half of the game, which if you do that? Kudos to you for having a lot of time and patience! But it's often a good idea to have at least two Sages in your team, if only for the sheer versatility of their spell list and all-purpose skillsets. Makes life a lot easier, to say the very least. But that's just my opinion.

PHANTOM THIEVES/ALLIES LISTING AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 10

JOKER (Ren) - Level: 25 Current Personas: Raoul, Ame-No-Uzume, Archangel, Jack Frost, Lilim, Lamia, High Pixie, Orthrus. Equipped Persona: Raoul

SKULL (Ryuji) - Level: 23 Current/Partner Persona: Seiten Taisei Persona Moveset: Zio (Elec), Lunge (Physical), Tarukaja (Support/Buff), Headbutt (Physical), Mazio (Elec), Rebel Soul (Passive)

MONA (Morgana) - Level: 23 Current/Partner Persona: Diego Persona Moveset: Garu (Wind), Dia (Healing), Media (Healing), Magaru (Wind), Technical Adept (Passive), Recarm (Healing), Diarama (Healing)

PANTHER (Ann) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Hecate Persona Moveset: Agi (Fire), Dia (Healing), Tarunda (Support/Debuff), Soul Thief (Passive), Maragi (Fire), Dekaja (Support/Debuff), Agilao (Fire)

FOX (Yusuke) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Kamu Susano-o Persona Moveset: Bufu (Ice), Cleave (Physical), Sukukaja (Support/Buff), Knockdown Style (Passive), Giant Slice (Physical), Vicious Strike (Physical), Mabufu (Ice), Dodge Fire (Passive)

QUEEN (Makoto) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Anat Persona Moveset: Frei (Nuclear), Dia (Healing), Rakukaja (Support/Buff), Mafrei (Nuclear), Media (Healing), Sledgehammer (Physical)

NOIR (Haru) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Astarte Persona Moveset: Psi (Psy), Evil Touch (Ailment), Snap (Gun), Hysterical Slap (Physical), Technical Adept (Passive), Amrita Drop (Healing), Mapsi (Psy)

ORACLE (Futaba) - Level: 25 Current Personas: Al Azif and *REDACTED* Equipped Persona: Al Azif Persona Moveset: Analysis (Passive), Moral Support (Passive), Active Support (Passive)

SEEKER (Sophia) - Level: 23 Current Partner/'Persona': Pithos Persona Moveset: Kouga? (Bless), Rakunda? (Support/Debuff), Dia? (Healing), Makouha? (Bless), Media? (Healing), Bless Boost? (Passive), Tetraja? (Support/Barrier), Recarm? (Healing)

VIOLET (Sumire) - Level: 25 Current/Partner Persona: Ella Persona Moveset: Kouha (Bless), Cleave (Physical), Dia (Healing), Rebellion (Support/Buff), Dream Needle (Physical), Makouha (Bless), Kouga (Bless)

KNOWN BUT ABSENT PHANTOM THIEVES

DRACONIS (Kusa) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Malefor Persona Moveset: Double Fangs (Physical), Agi (Fire), Garu (Wind), Media (Healing), Rising Slash (Physical), Megido (Almighty)

CROW (Goro) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Hereward Persona Moveset: Eiha (Curse), Giant Slice (Physical), Triple Down (Gun), Rakunda (Support/Debuff), Maeiha (Curse), Mudo (Curse), Megido (Almighty)

*REDACTED* (Sojiro) - Level: 22 Current/Partner Persona: Kohryu Persona Moveset: Psi (Psy), Snap (Gun), Headbutt (Physical), Spell Master (Passive), Mapsi (Psy), Dekunda (Support/Buff), Psy Wall (Support/Wall), Psy Boost (Passive)

ALLIES: Zenkichi, Shiho