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!

11. VS The Overlord! Phony Overlord part 4

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Phantom Files, Book 2: Rise Of The Monarchs! For those lucky enough to get it, hopefully people are enjoying Persona 5 Tactica (which came out yesterday alongside the Super Mario RPG remaster as of the time of typing out this start-of-chapter A/N), though I'll admit that it might be a bit before I get my hands on it, provided I get lucky enough for Christmas to get it. But we'll see what happens.

Worst case, I can look into getting a copy of it for my birthday, but that's a ways off at this point, considering we're currently in roughly mid-November (specifically it's Saturday, November 18th, 2023, as of the point I'm typing this start-of-chapter A/N), and my birthday is in August, meaning I had my birthday for this year almost three months ago already. But no matter. I don't think you guys came to hear me wax poetic about Persona 5 Tactica, you came to read my Strikers adaptation. So let's keep focused on that. And in that spirit, let's get the disclaimer knocked out, yeah?

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in ANY way, shape, or form (excluding the OC Kusa/Draconis, and any other OCs who might appear in this story, all of whom are made by, and thus belong to, me unless otherwise stated), and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Sega, Atlus, and to a point Koei Tecmo (at least insofar as the spinoffs, such as Strikers, Tactica, Phantom X, the 'Arena' games, the 'Dancing' games, and the 'Q' games are concerned), so all ownership credit is theirs to take, and all credit to them!

That being said, I don't think I've got much more to say at this point. I might have more to say in the end-of-chapter A/N, so keep reading after the chapter's end if you want to check that out. Otherwise, enjoy the chapter! And on that note, here's chapter 11!

Chapter 11- Storming the Overlord's Castle! Identifying Natsume's Trauma! Phony Overlord part 4

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

As the group got to the location of the Overlord's castle, Fox spoke up.

"At last. We have all the proof we need. We should be able to enter the Overlord's castle now." Fox said as Joker spoke up.

"True, but let us not forget the warnings that the Ordained Guides gave us of there still being more obstacles in our path even after entering the castle. So let us not go in there carelessly." Joker said as Violet nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. After all, apparently the Overlord has a retainer standing guard in there. And I doubt very much he'll be an easy fight if he's the personal guard of the Overlord." Violet said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Violet. Let's be appropriately cautious going forward. Well, time to make our way over, then. Let's go, team!" Mona said as the others nodded and approached the metal gate that had two dragons on the doors, where Mona kept speaking.

"We've got everything we need. Let's use the proof and open that gate!" Mona said as Joker nodded, holding up the proofs to the gate with Violet and Seeker's assistance, and one flash of light later, the gate disappeared to reveal a path forward. Oracle gaped and spoke up in surprise.

"Ooh, it actually opened!" Oracle said as Skull pumped a fist and spoke up.

"Right? We can proceed! All right, look alive, guys!" Skull said as Joker grumbled under his breath about having his job taken by everyone. Violet giggled, having heard Joker, and leaned in to whisper into Joker's ear.

"Cheer up, Joker. They might be taking turns trying to lead, but none of them make it look as sexy as you do. So you'll always be the leader in my book." Violet said reassuringly, making Joker smile at her gratefully as he sneakily kissed Violet on the cheek, making her smile shyly as she blushed while Seeker giggled, being the only one to see the display between the two as Fox spoke up.

"I can understand your enthusiasm, Skull, but hold on. Did we already forget what Ordained Green warned us of? It's likely the Overlord's retainer that we were warned about is waiting for us inside the castle. As such, it's sure to be a difficult fight. Let's be on our guard." Fox said as Panther winced and spoke up.

"True. Uhh, do you think there's more like the Fearsome Four in there?" Panther said as Violet spoke up.

"Probably not. I think we'd be likelier to have all four of them attack us at once in one final bid to stop us, than to have others like them inside the castle." Violet said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Violet. Besides, I doubt Natsume's that creative to have thought of a rematch scenario with the Fearsome Four. Now, if Draconis were the one writing this, that might be a concern, since Draconis is easily twice the writer Natsume could ever hope to be." Oracle said as Mona spoke up.

"I agree with Oracle and Violet. And don't worry, Lady Panther. If there are others like that inside, I won't let them hurt you!" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"Well, I guess it's true when they say 'once a simp, always a simp'. Eh, Mona?" Joker said teasingly as Skull and Oracle both exchanged an amused look before they burst out laughing, and even Violet giggled a bit at the teasing remark from Joker despite herself. Joker then got serious as he kept speaking.

"No, but in all seriousness, and with all jokes aside? We're closing in on our goal here. Once we scale the Overlord's castle, we should be just about at this Jail's Birdcage of Desires, meaning we're close to the point of another detour. So let's get to work." Joker said decisively. Seeker smiled at Joker's motivational speech and spoke up.

"Okay, Joker. Let's go!" Seeker said as Violet smiled and patted Seeker lightly on the head, proud of how eager she was to get to work as the group kept moving. As the group rounded the corner to begin the march on the Overlord's castle, a ton of Shadows spawned in to block their path, as one of the sentries spoke up.

"Damn it! Someone stop them!" The sentries said as a fight began, but thanks to Fox's quick thinking and the group's strong teamwork, the fight ended quickly. After the group advanced a bit further, they found their way once more blocked, this time by a strong-looking Shadow, who spoke up.

"Hm? 'The brave heroes approach their foe in hopes of reaching the Overlord'? Who goes there? Who dares disturb my slumber?" The 'Awakened Slumberer', as Oracle had identifed the enemy, said as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"Oh crap! We got another one!" Oracle said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"True. And what's up with the narrating?" Panther asked as Violet spoke up with a wince.

"Unfortunately, this is par for the course with people like the Overlord. We're at the part where the bad guys break out the bad monologues." Violet said as the Awakened Slumberer spoke up.

"Silence, whelps! I am his excellency the Overlord's retainer, Doramu the Loyal!" The now-properly named Doramu the Loyal said before he kept speaking.

"As you might have guessed by now, my liege's castle lies just beyond. Lowly humans such as yourselves have no place in its hallowed halls! Your end is at hand! Prepare yourselves, you foolish, repulsive-looking creatures!" Doramu the Loyal said as Violet winced and spoke up.

"HEY! Did you just call us repulsive!? RUDE!" Violet said, looking offended at being called repulsive. Joker smiled at Violet and spoke up.

"Calm down, beautiful. Don't let that idiot's bad opinions upset you. We know you're far from repulsive. But we can save the sweet nothings for later. Let's kick this guy's ass for now first, yeah?" Joker said as Violet nodded her agreement while Doramu the Loyal shifted forms into what Joker recognized from his fusings as a Pisaca, and a fight began!

As the fight proceeded, Doramu showed that his strength was not exaggerated in the slightest when he summoned vast hordes of Shadows to slow the group down, only for the second wave to easily plow through their ranks, thanks to most of them being enemies weak to Fire and Bless, or in other words being easy prey for Seeker and Panther, along with Joker, who had Personas for nearly every element on hand.

As the backups kept the reinforcements in check, Joker and Violet formed up on Doramu as they worked together to whittle Doramu's health down as far as possible, before Seeker happened to find herself next to Joker and Violet as the latter managed to land a strong Bless hit on Doramu and break the last of his down gauge. Violet then saw Seeker nearby and spoke up.

"Hm, I don't think we've seen your All-Out Attack yet, Seeker. Care to finish this man off?" Violet said as Seeker nodded and spoke up.

"Got it, Violet! Leave it to me!" Seeker said as she called for the All-Out Attack, where everyone rained down attacks on the stunned Doramu, before the shot shifted to Seeker priming Pithos as she spoke up.

"Here we go! Pithos, fire all weapons at MAXIMUM POWER!" Seeker said as Pithos fired an impressive barrage of Bless energy bursts at Doramu, one of which slammed him hard into the nearby wall and made him groan as he slid to the ground and landed in a heap near the group as Seeker kept speaking.

"Ooh! So much damage! And so powerful! I think I'm stronger than I thought?" Seeker said as her All-Out Attack ended along with the battle. After the battle, Doramu the Loyal spoke up with a groan.

"Urgh, not bad. To think that even I, the mighty Doramu, could be bested by the likes of you. Impressive." Doramu the Loyal said as Seeker smiled and spoke up.

"Cheer up, Doramu. You were a fierce opponent to the end. And you proved that your strength was very much the real deal. You put up an impressive fight." Seeker said as Doramu chuckled fondly, finding Seeker's words oddly comforting as he spoke up.

"Heh, is that so? Very well, I am defeated. Go on then, chosen heroes, and proceed on your way. But be warned of one thing. If you thought I was strong, you've seen nothing yet. My master is all-powerful, and will doubtless be more than a match for the likes of you! So if you truly mean to challenge him, you better bring all the weapons in your arsenal to face him! Forgive me, my liege. I've failed you for the last time. Blergh, farewell." Doramu the Loyal said as he groaned one last time and dissolved into black mist as the group proceeded to the door that Doramu had been guarding, at which point Mona spoke up.

"Once we get in the castle, we're headed straight for the roof. Are you ready?" Mona said as Joker spoke up.

"We're ready as we're ever gonna be. So let's go." Joker said decisively. Mona nodded as he spoke up.

"All right, let's go!" Mona said as the group entered the castle, at which point Oracle spoke up.

"All right, we've made it inside. Let's keep up the pace!" Oracle said as the group kept moving after Joker swapped out Fox and Noir for Skull and Panther. After eliminating some Shadows in the group's way after escaping an air vent, Queen hit level 23 and gained the mid-tier healing skill Diarama, making her grin and speak up.

"Oh, a new skill! I can't wait to try this one out!" Queen said as Skull spoke up with a smirk.

"Truth, babe! Nice job. We need all the healing skills we can get." Skull said sagely as Anat acquired 'Diarama'. After navigating the underground path and coming out in the castle's entrance hall, the group made to proceed, only to be stopped by a group of Shadows as a sentry spoke up.

"Don't get cocky!" The sentry said as a fight started! The fight took a bit, mostly because of how resilient the Shadows were, but in the end they fell to the group's power. After entering the next room, Panther spoke up.

"About how far are we now?" Panther asked as Oracle spoke up.

"We're about halfway there. We've still got a ways to go before we hit the top." Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"I see. So in other words, we need to not use all our strength early on then." Violet said as Noir spoke up.

"Precisely. We'll have to keep an eye on our strength as we keep moving." Noir said as the group kept moving. After going into the next area, they heard a voice stop them.

"Don't move!" The group heard as a group of Shadows spawned in and a fight began! The group won the fight rather handily thanks to good usage of the surrounding environmental hazards, after which they kept advancing until a massive sentry that took the form of an Eligor stopped them and spoke up after summoning other Shadows to assist it.

"Go! Eliminate them!" The sentry said as another fight started. The fight was a rough one, largely thanks to Eligor having similar charging capabilities to Betero, but in the end, the group triumphed. The ensuing EXP gains lifted Fox to level 24, where he gained the passive skill 'Freeze Boost', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Mwehehehe! What a skill!" Fox said as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, not bad, Inari. I didn't think you'd manage to get that laugh down so well. Also, good job on that skill!" Oracle said as Kamu Susano-o acquired 'Freeze Boost'. Afterwards, the group went to check a nearby door, only to discover it wouldn't open. Luckily, Noir spotted a ledge above the group they were able to use to advance to the next section, which had them doing a long dash to the 'Cage of Vanity'. Once the group crossed the area, Queen spoke up.

"Hm. This birdcage is massive. More importantly, it's just like the one back in Shibuya." Queen said as a voice spoke up from nearby.

"Indeed. You are just about to the point where you'll have to make a detour to pick the lock on the Overlord's lair. Once you've done that, the showdown with the Overlord himself can finally begin! And once that happens, it will finally be time for all to be revealed to you. You're so close, Phantom Thieves. Just a little more to go before the promised hour arrives." The group heard, turning as one to see Ordained Gold standing on the top of a nearby tower. Oracle spoke up.

"Ordained Gold, is it? I see we've reached another encounter with the Ordained Guides. Tell me, exactly which part of the book was your trio mentioned in? Because Fox looked it up recently when I asked, and there was no mention whatsoever of your group to be had in the book." Oracle said as Ordained Gold spoke up.

"Alas, I must apologize. That is not information which I am privy to, little lady. As the leader of our trio, Ordained Green keeps most of the important information close to his chest, so only he knows most of the answers you seek. But I know he has good reasons for keeping his metaphoric cards close to his chest for now. Just try to understand that this is a very carefully calculated strategic ploy to try and catch the Overlord by surprise when the time comes. I think that's all I can comfortably tell you at this time. But the time is drawing near for all to be revealed. Knowing this, keep going and do your best to make that hour arrive by your own hand. Until then, farewell." Ordained Gold said as he tossed a flash bomb down to blind the group long enough to make his exit.

Once the group could see again, Violet grumbled as unsurprisingly, Ordained Gold was nowhere to be seen. She then spoke up in annoyance.

"Ugh! I get that they're trying to help, but do they have to be so damned ominous about it? I think even Joker's getting frustrated with it, even if he won't say so. Also, why do they always use flash bombs, of all things, to make their escape!? I wasn't aware the Ordained Guides were also trained ninjas? Then again, I do recall that we have a teammate who has a knowledge of such tactical escape moves, in part because Mona imparted that knowledge to him. But I suppose we'll have to wait for this 'fated hour' Ordained Gold spoke up to know for sure if we're right in our theory." Violet said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Truth, Violet! But back on the subject of this cage, if this is like the cage in Shibuya, does this mean that bastard Natsume's kickin' it somewhere inside?" Skull asked as Mona spoke up while hopping up and down.

"Violet has a point. But I can't say for sure if one of the Ordained Guides is Draconis or not. Anyways, I'd like to say we should just bust our way in, but I dunno. How does it look to you, Lady Seeker?" Mona asked Seeker, who frowned as she saw a lock on the cage with what looked to be a dragon on the lock and horns on the sides of the upper lock.

"It looks like it's still locked, Mona. We'll need someone to touch it so we can hear the voices in his heart." Seeker said as Panther spoke up.

"Okay then, if you say so, Seeker. You're up, Skull." Panther said as a wide-eyed Skull spoke up.

"Huh?" Skull asked as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"Well, it looks like it's gonna hurt, and it doesn't seem right to ask Seeker to do it." Panther said sheepishly as Skull growled and spoke up.

"Oh, but it's cool if I do it!?" Skull asked as Panther spoke up persuasively.

"Come on, Skull. You're, you know, badass and all, not to mention tough." Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"Panther has a point. Also, I do feel bad that you're being asked to do this Skull, but there's really not a better choice. Not only do you have the best stamina and resilience of us all, aside from maybe Joker and Draconis, but you're also hard to keep down, and you've already experienced it once before. If anything, that makes you the ideal candidate." Fox said as Joker spoke up.

"To be fair, Skull has probably the fifth best stamina here, behind myself, Draconis, Crow, and Violet. That being said, however, he is the only one who's experienced a Birdcage's effects up close and personal, so I'm sorry you're being basically forced into this, but you're our only hope, Skull." Joker said as Skull sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, fine. Just my luck, I guess. At least buy me a bowl of ramen or something one we're done, yeah?" Skull said as Seeker spoke up.

"If you're that reluctant, I could do it instead if you want, Skull." Seeker said as Mona, Violet, and Joker all spoke up together.

"NO! NOT HAPPENING." Joker, Violet, and Mona all said at the same time, making them smirk at the rare triad synchronicity between the three as Skull spoke up.

"Nah, it's cool. I appreciate the offer Seeker, but I got it. Panther had a point when she said it wouldn't be fair or right to ask that of you." Skull said as Seeker smiled gratefully to Skull's considerate words and spoke up.

"Thank you, Skull. That's very kind of you. It seems that despite your gruff and vulgar potty mouthed exterior, you have a heart of gold deep down." Seeker said kindly as Queen nodded and spoke up with a proud closed-eye smile.

"That's right, Seeker. And it's that heart of gold that drew me to him in the first place. Skull might have his flaws, but he's really a great guy once you get past them." Queen said kindly as Skull walked forward and pressed a hand to the birdcage, at which point the screen flashed white as some voices could be heard.

"Sheesh, you'd think someone his age would have at least SOME talent to speak of." A haughty voice could be heard saying as a familiar sounding voice spoke up.

"Hah, like it matters. This kid's gonna make us a fortune with his books, and that's what matters." The familiar voice said as Mona spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm hearin' voices all right." Mona said as Queen spoke up in confusion, her eyes widened slightly.

"I see. Then these voices are somehow related to Natsume's emotional scars?" Queen asked as Seeker nodded and spoke up.

"Most likely. We just need to listen to the conversation and figure out the source of his trauma from there." Seeker said as Panther spoke up.

"I see. So we're looking for something like what Shujin Academy was to Alice." Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. That being said, we should keep listening. There's bound to be some sort of clue here." Fox said as the familiar voice spoke up once more.

"Sir, try to keep your voice down. He'll be back any minute." The familiar voice said as the haughty voice, which apparently was that of a chief editor, spoke up.

"Oh, come off it. Can you really blame me for complaining? I'm the one who has to read his crap every day." The chief editor's voice said as the familiar voice spoke up.

"True. The kid's got motivation, but that's all he's got. Seems any talent for writing in that family died with his grandfather. Oh, 'scuse me. Can I get another Gatorre Coffee?" The familiar voice said, aiming the back half of his words at a passing staff member who spoke up.

"Yes, sir, just a moment." The staff member said as the chief editor's voice spoke up.

"Well, he's still our little money tree. No way in hell we're letting him go." The chief editor said as the familiar voice spoke up with a laugh.

"You're terrible, sir. You're only keeping that kid around for the money he'll make us?" The familiar voice said as another familiar voice gasped from outside, having heard the last thing the first familiar voice had said. The second familiar voice, which the group recognized as Natsume's, spoke up.

"What the hell? What's going on here?" Natsume's voice said as the white flash went away and the group could see again. Skull spoke up with a wince as he backed away from the cage.

"Urgh! Yow! Damn, this shit hurts!" Skull said as Fox smiled and spoke up.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Skull. Thanks to that, however, we've managed to hear a good amount." Fox said as Skull spoke up with a nod.

"Well, that's good. I didn't really get it, but from what I did understand, it sounded like some kinda cafe?" Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed. I heard one of them say 'Gatorre Coffee' quite distinctly." Yusuke said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Right, Gatorre is the name of a cafe chain. But I don't think I saw any around Sendai Station that I can recall?" Noir said as Mona hopped up and down as he spoke up.l

"If there aren't a lot of them, it'll make finding the right one that much easier." Mona said as Oracle spoke up.

"True. Well, at the very least we've got a lead on finding the Trauma Room now." Oracle said as Skull spoke up.

"Right, let's get outta here and find us a coffee shop." Skull said as the others nodded before the group exited the Metaverse at that point...

(In the real world, with Ren and Morgana)

"Mmhm. Gatorre Coffee, huh? If that ends up being the entrance to the Trauma Room, we could find ourselves face-to-face with another real threat, like last time we went into a Trauma Room. Let's get ready for any sort of combat that might get thrown our way. After that, it's back to the hideout. Then, the Phantom Thieves begin the search for Gatorre Coffee." Mona said sagely as Ren nodded his agreement and went about making his preparations. As part of his preparations, Ren found all the sweets Ann was looking for and finished Ann's request, making her speak up as Ren presented the sweets to her while he found her by herself.

"What!? Whoa, you actually bought them! They all look so good, though. Let's split them up and eat them as a group later! Also, I'm sorry to put out such a selfish request. Sweets just kinda brighten the mood, don't you think? It's times like these that I want to put a smile on everyone's faces in whatever way I can." Ann said before getting a closed-eye smile on her face as she kept speaking.

"Eheheh, at the very least, I know I'll be happy! Thanks a bunch, Ren! Don't forget to share your share with Sumire, so she doesn't feel left out or jealous." Ann said as Ren nodded before Morgana spoke up from Ren's bag.

"Ahh. Did you see her smile, Ren? Hey! I want to see Lady Ann smile brighter than ever before!" Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"First of all, you're lucky it's just us two right now, so I can't really get mad at you for openly simping for Ann. That said, I'd suggest you not do that so much in front of Sophia, lest you give her the idea you might still have a crush on Ann. After all, I think we both know she admires you a lot. So I wouldn't be so quick to break Sophia's heart just to make a girl smile that you'll never be able to be with. And with that warning administered, I think I can help you with that, Morgana." Ren said firmly but fairly, a wry smile on his face. Morgana gave Ren a closed-eye smile as he spoke up.

"Yeah, good point. I'll try to be more conscientious about lavishing praise on Lady Ann when Sophia's around. After all, she is a valuable member of this team, and I'd hate to be the reason that she's in no shape to pull her weight. And to be honest? If she does end up catching feelings for me, that's not the worst thing that could happen.

Granted, she's an AI, and I'm a cat, or at least in a cat-like form, so it'd make it tricky at best to see a relationship really working between us. But I've seen stranger things happen before. So it could happen. Also, hey! All right! I knew you'd understand. Oh, but here's a thought. Do you think we can find something even more amazing than the stuff we just got for her?" Morgana said as Sumire walked over and spoke up.

"Ah, here you two are. I thought you might be here doing some shopping. So what's up?" Sumire asked Ren, who quietly filled her in on the request he'd just finished for Ann, promising her to split his share with her 50/50, making Sumire smile as she agreed to do the same with her share. While they made that agreement, a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Even more amazing than the sweets you just got, eh? So super amazing, then. I've got it. Let me do a search." Sophia said, focusing on the problem at hand, rather than what she'd heard Morgana say to Ren. as she agreed with the points Morgana had raised. Morgana smiled a closed-eye smile at Sophia as he spoke up.

"Ooh, nice! Thanks, Lady Sophia!" Morgana said as Sophia shyly nodded and spoke up after her search was finished, not seeing the smirk Ren and Sumire had exchanged at the sight of her slightly reddening cheeks as she spoke.

"There we are. Sweets found. I've got hits of an extremely limited quantity of a parfait that some have even called 'legendary'." Sophia said as a wide-eyed Morgana spoke up.

"Legendary!?" Morgana said as Sophia nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, legendary. It's called, according to this article, the 'Zunda Supreme Parfait'." Sophia said as Sumire subconsciously licked her lips at the mention of a parfait, having a very slight weakness for parfaits, but also not having had one since before she lost Kasumi a bit over three years ago. As she was lost in thought, she didn't hear Morgana speak up.

"Perfect, Lady Sophia! Where do we find it?" Morgana said as Sophia frowned and spoke up.

"And that's the difficult part. Unfortunately, there aren't any details to its exact location. There are only reports that it's been seen in Mount Aoba Park." Sophia said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Right. Well, if it's an extremely limited quantity item, I'll bet you can probably count the number of people who've bought it on one hand and have fingers left over. Also, if we can't get any more info online, then we'll just have to ask around at the park." Morgana said as Sophia spoke up.

"Okay! I've registered this as a request from Morgana. Once you've accepted it, let's head to the park and see if we can learn anything." Sophia said as Morgana gave Sophia a very happy yet roguish closed-eye grin as he spoke up that had Sophia smiling happily as she saw the smile on Morgana's face.

"Thanks, Lady Sophia! You're so thoughtful and amazing." Morgana said as Sophia smiled at the praise from Morgana and spoke up.

"You're welcome. Praise accepted." Sophia said, before disappearing into Sumire's phone at that point before anyone saw how red her face got from Morgana's kind praise and genuine compliments of her. Ren and Morgana blinked at this but shrugged as Sumire fell into step with them as they kept moving. While going back through the Shibuya Jail to beat up more Shadows for extra yen and training, Noir hit level 24 and got the passive skill 'Gun Boost', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Ooh, a new skill! Very nice! Now I can be even more helpful!" Noir said as Mona spoke up.

"Not bad, Noir! That's a very useful skill! Good job." Mona said as Seeker nodded her agreement, not surprised by Mona being kind, as it seemed like his thing to do in the Metaverse. At that point, Astarte acquired 'Gun Boost'. After taking out a Treasure Demon, Mona hit level 26, and got the mid-tier Wind skill 'Garula', making him grin as he spoke up.

"Mwehehe! This new skill is perfect for me." Mona said as Seeker spoke up.

"That's a new one, Mona. But I do agree that you got a very nice skill just now, so well done." Seeker said, smiling as she fondly patted Mona on the head while humming to herself cutely as she did so, making Mona give off some involuntary yet cute purrs from Seeker's actions as the others laughed while Diego acquired 'Garula'. After exiting the Jail, and checking that he had sufficient funds, which he did since that Treasure Demon netted around a 50,000 yen profit for killing one, Ren accepted Morgana's request and found a woman wearing mostly red near the souvenir shop and spoke to her.

"Excuse me, what do you know about something called the Zunda Supreme Parfait?" Ren asked politely as the 'Maiden' as she was identified spoke up.

"The Zunda Supreme Parfait, you say? Oh, I think I heard one of the visitors at the shrine mention that name. That said, I think the manager has to specially acknowledge you or something like that." The maiden said as Morgana spoke up with a frown.

"What did you say? So you need their approval? What do you have to do to get that?" Morgana asked as Ren and Sumire shrugged as they kept moving. After moving a small ways away, Sumire noticed a woman standing nearby and spoke up.

"Hey, Ren! Is that the person the maiden mentioned just now?" Sumire asked as Ren spoke up.

"Could be. Let's find out." Ren said before walkng over to the woman and speaking up.

"Excuse me. Do you know anything about the Zunda Supreme Parfait?" Ren asked the woman, who blinked and spoke up.

"Oh, the Zunda Supreme Parfait? I saw someone buy one at a cafe around here." The woman said as Ren thanked her in time for Morgana to speak up from Ren's bag with a closed-eye grin on his face.

"Ooh! We have a lead!" Morgana said as the woman that had been previously speaking kept speaking.

"Oh, one more thing. Apparently, it's not on their official menu, though. And you can't just order one, either." The woman said as Morgana spoke up from in Ren's bag with a frown.

"You can't just order it? Is there some kind of trick?" Morgana asked as the woman spoke up again.

"Oh, right! You know, I think the person who bought the parfait was talking to the lady outside the shop if I recall correctly." The woman said as Morgana spoke up.

"Does she mean the manager? I wonder what they were talking about, now." Morgana said as Ren shrugged before leading the group back to the parfait shop, where the manager saw Ren and spoke up.

"Excuse me, but is there something I can help you with, young man? I've seen you looking around several times now." The manager said as Ren spoke up.

"Sorry, I was just looking around then. But as for now, there is something you can help with. Do you know anything about how to get ahold of a Zunda Supreme Parfait?" Ren asked as the manager blinked and spoke up.

"Did you say the Zunda Supreme Parfait? Oh, I see. You've heard the rumors, is that it? Very well, then. If you'd please provide the password." The manager said as Ren and Sumire exchanged surprised looks at the mention of a password, though Morgana was the one to voice their thoughts instead when he spoke up from Ren's bag.

"Password!? We didn't hear anything about a password from any of the people we spoke to." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't know there'd be a password." Ren said as the manager smiled and spoke up.

"That's quite all right. In any event, it doesn't seem like you know it. Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The manager said as Mona spoke up with a frown.

"Well, we've got the right place. Now we just need that password, and we're in business." Morgana said. A 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Please tell us the password. Ann's happiness depends on it." Sophia said as Sumire spoke up so only Sophia could hear.

"I really doubt that's going to work, Sophia. But it's adorable that you thought to try, sweetie." Sumire said to Sophia as the manager spoke up.

"Hm? Who said that?" The manager said as Morgana's eyes widened while he spoke up from inside Ren's bag.

"L-Lady Sophia!" Morgana said as Ren gave both Morgana and Sophia a look that said 'stop talking!' before he turned to the manager.

"Ignore what you heard. But to be fair, I do plan to buy a Zunda Supreme Parfait to give to a friend, since she has a pretty intense passion for sweets." Ren explained as the manager spoke up.

"Hm? Ah, I see. It sounds like you're planning to give it to someone important to you, but I will make no exceptions. Just the other day, a man came begging to get one for his 'honey pie', whatever that means. Nevertheless, I refused him. No doubt he's out searching high and low for the password as we speak." The manager said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"So he's looking for it too, is he? Looks like we're back to square one." Morgana said as Ren thanked the manager and moved out of her earshot before speaking to Morgana.

"Not necessarily, Morgana. As it happens, that lead she gave was very useful. As it so happens, both Sumire and I know just which man she means, given we both went to a certain out of the way side path before when gathering intel on Natsume, where the man in question is usually hanging out. Remember, Sumire?" Ren said as Sumire blinked before her eyes widened slightly as she spoke up.

"Ohh, right! That was the guy that complained about his honey pie apparently leaving him, wasn't it?" Sumire said as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Yup, that's the guy, Sumire. Also, don't give up, Morgana. I'd ask if this was for your honey pie, but not only am I not going to basically emasculate you like that, but that would be incredibly rude to ask something like that in front of Sophia, so it's as much for her sake as yours that I'm refraining." Ren said. Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Y-You're right. I can't get discouraged here." Morgana said as Sophia spoke up from Sumire's phone.

"Is that so? How about we head to the station for now? Someone there might know something. Also, cheer up, Morgana. I think it's quite admirable that you're trying to do everything you can to make others happy. I find that to be very gallant, kind, and amazing." Sophia said cheerfully to Morgana, who nodded and spoke up with a resolved look on his face.

"Yeah, you're right, Lady Sophia! We've done all we can here, at any rate. Let's try asking around at the station. I'm sorry to keep dragging you along with this, Ren, but I've just gotta make Lady Ann smile! After all, there's no better way to raise one's mood than to see a beautiful lady smiling at you happily!" Morgana said sagely as Sophia blinked at Morgana's words, before making a mental note that Morgana seems to enjoy seeing pretty women smile at him, making her idly question if she was considered pretty enough, but not voicing her thoughts aloud as the group kept moving. As the group eventually back-tracked to find the spot Ren and Sumire had brought up, Sumire spoke up.

"Wait, stop. Isn't that the guy over there muttering to himself?" Sumire said, pointing to where the man with a fedora was muttering to himself. Ren nodded as the group hid to listen in as the man muttered to himself.

"Oh, my darling honey pie. Where did I go wrong? Oh! It couldn't be that! Was it when we went to eat that Zunda Supreme Parfait together? Was it because I couldn't get through to that fussy manager? I had no idea at the time! Who knew you needed a password for a parfait!? After all my frantic searching, I finally figured it out. It's 'zunda shiro'. But it doesn't matter anymore, not without you by my side. Oh, my sweet honey pie, will you ever come back to me?" The man said as Morgana spoke up after the group moved out of his earshot.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Morgana asked as Sophia spoke up with a nod from inside of Sumire's phone.

"Indeed. It sounds like he's lost his 'honey pie'. Regardless, 'zunda shiro' should give us access to our legendary dessert." Sophia said as Morgana gave her a very appealing closed-eye smile as he spoke up.

"Yeah, now we just need to tell that to the cafe manager at Mount Aoba, and the parfait is ours!" Morgana said as Sophia smiled her own cutesy sort of smile and spoke up.

"We're just one step away from making Ann smile. Let's head back to the cafe in Mount Aoba." Sophia said as Ren nodded, leading the group back to the cafe to give the password to the manager. Ren then spoke up.

"Excuse me, we have the password now for the Zunda Supreme Parfait." Ren said as the manager spoke up.

"Oh? Please provide it then." The manager said as Morgana spoke up with a closed eye smile.

"All right, Ren! Let her have it!" Morgana said as the manager blinked and spoke up.

"Oh my, he's an excitable little kitty, isn't he?" The manager said as Ren spoke up.

"That's true. Morgana can be excitable a lot. But staying on topic, the password is 'zunda shiro'." Ren said as he gave the password to the manager, who smiled and spoke up.

"Yep, that's it! Excellent. You see 'Zunda shiro' is a legendary type of soybean, born from many years of selective breeding. That is the meaning of the password." The manager said, before blinking at the look in Ren's eyes as she kept speaking.

"Oh, what's this? Looking closer, I can see that you have the eyes of a true hunter, and one who always ensnares his sweet, sweet prey. Those glasses can't hide your passion for sweets from me. No, sir." The manager said as Ren laughed and spoke up.

"Passion for sweets? That's a good one. I might like sweets a lot, but if anyone has a passion for them, it'd be my sister Ann and my younger brother Kusa. Those two, plus my girlfriend Sumire, who is standing next to me, are the real sweet enthusiasts." Ren said as Sumire smiled at Ren calling her his girlfriend while the manager spoke up.

"Ah, I see. My mistake, sir. Very well. The Zunda Supreme Parfait is yours to purchase." The manager said as Mona gave Ren an ear-to-ear beaming closed-eye smile while he spoke up.

"Wow! You did it, Ren! Do we just buy it at the counter? C'mon, let's not waste any time!" Morgana said as Ren nodded and went to the counter to purchase the Zunda Supreme Parfait. Once he purchased it, a smiling Sophia spoke up from Sumire's phone.

"Well done! Looks like we had no problem purchasing it. I'll contact Ann once you've marked the request as fulfilled on your phone." Sophia said as Ren nodded and headed over to the RV to turn in the finished request. Once he did so, Sophia kept her end of the deal and contacted Ann, who came over and saw the parfait with wide eyes as she spoke up.

"WHAT!? Is that a Zunda Supreme Parfait!? You guys really got this for me, didn't you!?" Ann asked as her wide-eyed expression became a brilliant closed-eye smile that she aimed equally at Ren, Sumire, Sophia, and Morgana while she kept speaking.

Looks delicious! Oh, my gosh! It's beautiful! And it looks so good! I'm freaking out over here!" Ann said as Morgana spoke up with his own closed-eye smile.

"All in a day's work, so long as it means seeing Lady Ann smile. Right, Ren!?" Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"Right. But keep in mind that while Ann has a nice smile, she's not the only woman we know who has a pretty smile. As it is, I know of two such women right here next to me, even if one basically lives inside of a phone at the moment." Ren said kindly, making Sumire smile prettily once she realized that Ren meant herself and Sophia with his remark about women with pretty smiles. Sumire then spoke up.

"Thank you, Ren. At least you think about the others around you and how they'd react before you speak, unlike a certain someone else I could mention." Sumire said, giving Morgana a pointed look that had Morgana wincing as he saw Sumire glaring at him. Ann spoke up with a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Ohh, I get it. Sophia helped out too, just to try and impress Morgana, didn't she? That seems like the sort of thing that she'd do. That said, Morgana, Sophia, Ren, and Sumire, thank you all! Aw, you guys are the best!" Ann said with a closed-eye smile as Morgana also had a closed-eye smile while he spoke up, not seeing Sumire's glare somewhat turn into a death glare at what he said next.

"Mwehehe, it was nothing! Besides, Lady Ann's smile is as radiant as the sun! And there are few others whose smiles could hope to rival Lady Ann's smile!" Morgana said happily, not feeling the very subtle flick Sumire gave the back of his head on Sophia's behalf after seeing the slightly hurt look on Sophia's face at Morgana's blatant praising of Ann. Morgana then turned to Ren and Sophia as he spoke up.

"Ren, Sophia, and even Sumire, thanks. I couldn't have done it without you three, even if it was mostly Ren and Sophia who helped out." Morgana said as Sumire glared at Morgana while she spoke up.

"You better remember that we helped out, Morgana! And don't think you're getting out of the earful you've got coming from me for not being more considerate of others' feelings!" Sumire said as Morgana's eyes widened at the angry look on Sumire's face as he hopped out of Ren's bag and darted off to escape Sumire, who was chasing him around, clearly looking to throttle the cat for upsetting Sophia. As for Sophia, she blinked at the sudden turn of events with Sumire and Morgana as she spoke up from Sumire's phone to Ren, who Sumire had handed her phone too so she could chase after Morgana with both hands.

"Umm, I'm not sure why Sumire's so angry at Morgana, but I suppose it's not a big deal? Anyway, the important thing is that both Ann and Morgana are smiling now. I'm glad I was able to help, if only to be able to see for myself how incredibly impressive and umm, I think the word is handsome? Yes, let's go with that. I got to see how incredibly impressive, amazing and handsome Morgana's smile is." Sophia said happily as Ren spoke up.

"To be honest? I think Sumire might be about to throttle Morgana for seemingly flirting with Ann around you. But try not to be upset that Morgana does that. Believe it or not, that's his way of showing a girl he likes her.

And in fairness, he's had a crush on Ann since pretty much the day that he, Kusa, and I met her. But it's usually just harmless simping on his part, since Morgana knows damned good and well that Ann isn't into men nearly like she used to be ever since some bad stuff happened to her and a friend of hers at the hands of a very bad man about three years ago. But I'll leave that at that for now, since that's something Ann should tell you, since it's not my place to put her private business on blast to the whole world.

The important thing is that you shouldn't get discouraged or upset if Morgana doesn't seem to notice you. To his credit, you are a rather young-looking lady, Sophia. So it might be that he realizes how you feel, but isn't sure if it'd be appropriate to reciprocate your feelings while there's such an age gap between you two. So really, it's less that he doesn't feel that way, and more that he's waiting for you to be a bit older to decide if he wants to reciprocate your feelings or not. Does that make sense?" Ren asked as Sophia smiled and nodded as she spoke up.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I can't help it that I'm so young, but I can understand Morgana wanting to be patient in letting things develop between us naturally, if they develop at all. I get it." Sophia said maturely as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Good answer. I'm proud of how you're handling this, Sophia. Very mature of you." Ren said as Ann nodded and spoke up.

"Right? Hey, why don't we all eat the parfait together? You guys went through all that trouble to get it for me, after all!" Ann said as Ren smirked and spoke up.

"You have a point. But first, we should wait to see if I'm going to end up having to stop Sumire from severely hurting Morgana for simping for you in front of Sophia." Ren said sagely. At that point, Morgana walked back into view and spoke up as he heard Ann bring up the parfait and spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Mwehehe! Aww, Lady Ann's so considerate! How can we say no!?" Morgana said as Sumire walked over, glared at Morgana, and eventually sweatdropped before she reluctantly sighed spoke up.

"We really can't. But, I think someone owes someone an apology first, before we serve up the parfait." Sumire said, giving Morgana a pointed look while crossing her arms as Morgana spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah, I get the hint. Sorry for being inconsiderate of your feelings, Lady Sophia. I've just always been rather partial and attached to Lady Ann for as long as I can remember. But I really do mean it in the most platonic and friendly way possible. Besides, with apologies to Lady Ann for saying this in a public place, she's not into guys anymore, so I'd be the wrong gender for her regardless. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy making her smile, because I do.

Nevertheless, it was wrong of me to make you feel inferior or inadequate as I no doubt did when I saw that few others could rival Lady Ann's smile before. I spoke tactlessly when I said that, and I apologize for it. For what it's worth, though? You'd be one of those very few, Lady Sophia. So I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. Can you forgive me?" Morgana asked as Sophia cutely smiled at Morgana and spoke up.

"I forgive you, Morgana. I realize that I'm a bit young for you anyways, so I can respect that you want to take your time and keep things moving slowly when it comes to us getting to know one another more. However, that said, I do hope I'm not being too impetuous to ask if we're at least friends?" Sophia asked shyly as Morgana smiled and nodded while speaking up.

"Of course we're friends, Lady Sophia. I might not be sure how I feel about you exactly, but that doesn't mean I don't consider you a close friend just the same, because I totally do. Never doubt that I'll always consider you a close friend, Lady Sophia." Morgana said as Sophia smiled and spoke up.

"That's reassuring. So, as they say, we're cool then?" Sophia asked as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, we're cool." Morgana said as Ren spoke up with a relieved smile on his face.

"And now that that's sorted out, let's eat before Morgana manages to piss Sumire off again, since I doubt she'll be as forgiving this time if he does." Ren joked as Sumire smiled and spoke up.

"Hmph. I won't apologize for protecting those I care about, Ren. But yes, let's eat. This parfait looks amazing!" Sumire said as Ren nodded and helped Ann divvy up the parfait so everyone got an equal portion to eat, which they all ate together gladly. After finishing the meal, the group gathered in the RV to discuss their next move. After they gathered in Sendai Station, Futaba spoke up.

"All right, we're on the hunt for a Gatorre Coffee! First, let's find out how many are in the area!" Futaba said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Gaterre Coffee, eh? I see. Ah, I got it! There's only one that's close to Sendai Station." Sophia said as Ann spoke up in shock.

"Whoa, that was fast." Ann said as Sophia spoke up from Sumire's phone.

"It was nothing. Also, it's a bit of a walk, but I'll be happy to guide you to the destination." Sophia said as Haru spoke up.

"You're amazing, Sophia. It's like you were made to be a navigator." Haru said as Futaba winced and spoke up.

"Ngh, that is true, Haru. But being the navigator is my job, and has been since I took it from Morgana fair and square after joining the group." Futaba said as Ren smiled at Futaba and spoke up.

"Don't get jealous, little sis. You're amazing too, Futaba. I'd say you're adorable, but we all know that's Kusa's job to say such things. Granted, he's not here, but that's irrelevant." Ren said kindly to Futaba. Yusuke nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Ren's right. It's simply a question of having the right person for the right job. Fear not, Futaba. There are plenty of things that only you can do." Yusuke said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Huh, I guess that's true. After all, nobody else can act like a weirdo quite like you do, Inari." Futaba said as Yusuke sputtered and spoke up.

"Wh-What!? Who are you calling a weirdo!?" Yusuke said as Ryuji spoke up, deciding to get the group back on track.

"All right, I guess we'll just head over to the cafe then, yeah?" Ryuji said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, let's get going." Morgana said as Sophia nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"Okay, I've got it." Sophia said as she guided the group to the cafe in question. Ren found himself involuntarily blinking at how similar the cafe's entrance struck him as being to the entrance of the Penguin Sniper darts lounge in Kichijoji, which was where he often would meet Akechi and the others for games of darts and/or billiards. Once the group reached the cafe, Makoto spoke up.

"Well, this is it. Gatorre Coffee." Makoto said as Yusuke spoke up.

"I can smell the coffee. It seems to be just an ordinary cafe." Yusuke said as Haru spoke up with a frown.

"Are we sure we have the right place?" Haru asked as Morgana spoke up.

"We'll just have to put in the keyword and see." Morgana said as Futaba pumped her fists excitedly and spoke up.

"All right, let's make it happen! The Trauma Cell's calling our names!" Futaba said as Ann blinked at what Futaba said and spoke up with wide eyes?

"Trauma Cell?" Ann asked as Futaba turned to face Ann and spoke up.

"It's just a name I came up with. 'Trauma Room' sounds like some kinda cheesy hospital drama." Futaba said as Ren spoke up.

"Good point. Also, very sound logic." Ren said kindly to Futaba. Ryuji nodded and spoke up.

"That's fine. Call it whatever you want-we gotta roll!" Ryuji said as Morgana spoke up.

"The key to opening that birdcage has gotta be here somewhere. Do you remember the keyword?" Morgana asked as Yusuke spoke up with a slight frown on his face as he recalled what Natsume had said about the 'Sayuri' before giving Yusuke his keyword.

"Of course I do. How could I forget, after what he said about the 'Sayuri'? The keyword is 'Prince of Nightmares'!" Yusuke said as the group was whisked into the Metaverse at that point after the successful keyword input...

(Inside of the Metaverse, in the 'Trauma Cell', with Violet, Joker, Mona, Fox, Oracle, Panther, Noir, Skull, Queen, and Seeker)

"It's just like what happened in Shibuya. This is where Natsume's trauma comes from, no doubt." Mona said as Fox spoke up.

"What could've happened to him, I wonder, to make him like this?" Fox asked as Queen spoke up.

"Shh! Someone's up ahead!" Queen said as the group saw a pair of men talking to each other at a counter nearby. Fox frowned as he recognized the man on the right as the guy who'd been sucking up to Natsume at the party when he got the keyword from Natsume. The group hung back to listen in to the two men's conversation.

"Are you sure about this? Awarding him the grand prize for THAT? Heh, Ango Natsume. What a hapless fool. The kid's actually entered every contest, but he's never made it past the first stage. He's as stubborn as he is incompetent. What's more, his writing is so painfully generic. It only becomes more obvious when you compare it to the other candidates." Natsume's editor said as an echoing voice that the group recognized with a start as Natsume's spoke up.

"W-What?" the apparently invisible Natsume said as he heard the man who had been speaking, or his editor, talking to the other man. Fox frowned and spoke up.

"That voice just now. Is it Natsume?" Fox asked as they heard Natsume's voice speak up once more.

"They can't be serious, right? They acknowledged my work as being great!" Natsume said in shock and disbelief. The other man, who had a pin on his jacket that said 'Chief Editor', identifying him as a Chief Director, spoke up.

"It's fine. He's the great Sogo Natsume's grandson, remember? Brand recognition is a huge part of marketability. Nobody gives a rat's ass about what's behind the cover. Though a certain someone seems to think he's actually worth a damn." The chief editor said as Natsume's editor laughed and spoke up.

"Good point. Poor kid can't even see just how hopeless he really is. Seriously, it's pathetic. Haha." Natsume's editor said mockingly, unaware of Natsume hiding nearby, now fighting back tears as he spoke up.

"No, this can't be real! I'm trying as hard as I can!" Natsume's voice said as the chief editor spoke up.

"No skin off my nose so long as he keeps raking it in. We hit the jackpot with that one, and I plan on riding him straight to the top. And if he does by some miracle make something decent of himself, well, then everyone wins, right? Ahahahahaha!" The chief editor said as he shifted forms into a Lock Keeper, though Joker noticed with a grimace that this Lock Keeper had swords in its hands where the previous Lock Keeper did not as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Ugh, these guys are the worst sort of scum imaginable." Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"True, but there's no more time for talk. Here it comes!" Fox said as a fight started! As the fight started, the Lock Keeper spoke up.

"Write all you want, but a talentless hack like you is hopeless, hopeless, HOPELESS!" The Lock Keeper said as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"What!? This is the same thing we saw in Shibuya!" Panther said as Mona spoke up.

"Careful! It's using different weapons from last time!" Mona said as the fight began! Joker quickly took charge, looking at the group as he spoke.

"Wave A, with me! We'll rough up the enemy as best we can! Wave B, you focus on whittling down the backup forces as best you can!" Joker said as the groups nodded while Wave A, which was Joker, Violet, Skull, Fox, and Noir, charged the Lock Keeper, leaving Wave B, or Queen, Mona, Seeker, and Panther, to whittle down the backups as Oracle provided support from inside Al Azif. As the battle proceeded, Skull winced and spoke up.

"You know, I might not like that Natsume guy, but regardless of how any of us might feel about him, that doesn't change the fact that it's these assholes here who were using him the whole time, right?" Skull asked as Noir winced and spoke up with a nod.

"Yeah, that's true. To be honest? I feel kind of sorry for him. They only chose him for who he was, not what he wrote." Noir said as the Lock Keeper spoke up with a cold laugh.

"Hahahaha! Authors are just chips in a bigger game! They exist solely for us to win!" The Lock Keeper said as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"Yeah, good point, Noir. Also, from what I can tell? His editor was a real scumbag." Oracle said as Fox winced and spoke up.

"Indeed. Truth be told, I know his pain perhaps more than anyone, with the possible exception of Draconis, who had considered taking up writing at one point according to Joker. And it's for that reason that I refuse to let this go on any longer." Fox said resolutely as the Lock Keeper spoke up.

"He can't seriously be proud of submitting this trash, can he?" The Lock Keeper said as he swung his swords towards Skull, Fox, and Noir, who barely dodged out of the way in tie as Skull spoke up.

"Shit! That last attack was crazy fast!" Skull said as Queen nodded from nearby and spoke up.

"That's true, sweetie. But on the other hand, such wide swings only leaves him wide open. Dodge the attack, then hit him with everything you've got!" Queen said as the Lock Keeper sneered at the group and spoke up.

"You'd better cling to that name of yours, because the way I see it? It's all that you'll ever have!" The Lock Keeper said tauntingly as Seeker blinked and spoke up.

"Wow! It's warping around using sneak attacks and moving at high speeds. Is this what they call a 'ninja'!?" Seeker asked as Violet shook her head and spoke up.

"I doubt that, Seeker. He might have ninja-esque qualities, but I highly doubt any of these Lock Keepers are trained in any sort of ninjutsu." Violet said as Oracle spoke up.

"What Violet said! Also, not exactly! Last I checked, ninjas don't use giant freaking machetes!" Oracle said as Joker smirked at Violet, who blinked before speaking up in embarrassment.

"What? It's not like I could avoid knowing at least something about ninjutsu with how interested in it Kasumi was at one point when she was younger. After all, as her twin, I usually tried to get into all the same things she was into. However, I will admit that ninjutsu wasn't really something that interested me all that much. But that might be the fact that most ninjas are trained into lethal assassins." Violet said with an embarrassed pout as Joker smiled and spoke up.

"Understandable, beautiful. But let's stay focused on the task at hand, shall we?" Joker said, carefully guiding Violet out of the path of an oncoming sword strike, getting a grateful smile from her as she nodded. After a bit, the Lock Keeper spoke up in a distinctly annoyed sounding voice.

"Y'know, I said I was only in this for the money, but holy hell, reading through this shit is tortuuure!" The Lock Keeper said as he reared back to strike, making Oracle speak up in shock.

"Guys, look out! He's getting ready to try and ram you! Get out of the way!" Oracle said as the Lock Keeper charged at the group, eventually speaking up after a few unsuccessful charge attempts.

"Hey, cheer up! You might be a shit writer, Mister Natsume, but at least you've got a knack for stringing yourself along! Hahaha!" The Lock Keeper said as Queen winced and spoke up.

"It's fast, everyone! Be careful not to get caught up in its attacks!" Queen said as Seeker spoke up with the equivalent of a closed-eye smile behind her mask.

"Okay! Taking evasive action!" Seeker said as the Lock Keeper spoke up dryly.

"Even worthless trash like yours can sell. And as long as there's a buyer, I'll be there to bleed you dry!" The Lock Keeper said as Fox scoffed and spoke up.

"Spare us the meaningless bravado, fiend! A sword is nothing if you lack the conviction to swing it! Such a dull blade is worthless against me!" Fox said rebukingly as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"No! It's the same as what we went through in Shibuya!" Panther said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"True. Once again, it seems there's a despicable fiend using the suffering of another for their own benefit. In this case, it's the man who's supposed to be in charge of nurturing Natsume's future, not exploiting it for his own gain! In that regard, he's no better than Madarame!" Fox said as the others nodded and the fight kept going for a while until the Lock Keeper spoke up once more after using one of its swords to slam both Skull and Violet, the latter of which had also been crashed into by the former, into the nearby wall, where both hit with distinctly audible thuds before sliding to the ground side by side with dull groans of pain.

After Queen and Joker helped them up and walked them over to be patched up by Mona and Panther, the group glared as they heard what the Lock Keeper had to say.

"You're my ticket to the big-time, eh, 'Mister Natsume'? Ahaha, you may be a talentless hack, but as long as there's at least one buyer there to indulge in your work, I'll be there to bleed you dry! Mwahahaha!" The Lock Keeper said as Violet glared and spoke up after being patched up by Mona.

"How sick and disgusting! This guy just wants to use Natsume to line his own pockets!" Violet said as Mona spoke up.

"Agreed! That's unacceptable!" Mona said as Queen winced after seeing the Lock Keeper swing another of its swords right at an unsuspecting Panther, only just missing her because she had leapt aside at the last second after hearing the sound of the sword being swung, though the sword kept going until it collided head-on with Seeker, taking her right to the ground. After Mona and Violet rushed to Seeker's side to tend to her, Fox frowned before he spoke up with a sigh.

"But it's also the cold, cruel, truth of the art world. Oftentimes, those who are easily led astray, like I once was, are easy prey for those seeking to find an up-and-coming talent to use for their own gain. For that reason, I cannot allow this to go on!" Fox said as the others nodded, and Joker turned to Fox after breaking the last of the Lock Keeper's down gauge and speaking up.

"I understand. I think, therefore, this should be your fight to finish." Joker said as Fox nodded and spoke up after seeing Mona and Violet get Seeker back onto her feet, albeit a bit unsteadily.

"Joker, thank you. I accept! Everyone! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Fox said as the others nodded, and the group rushed the enemy as Fox unsheathed his blade and spoke up.

"Prepare yourself, you vile fiend! I shall end you, here and now!" Fox said as he swung his sword forwards in an arc, loosing a wave of Ice energy that slammed head-on into the Lock Keeper at the same time that Fox valiantly sheathed his sword and spoke up.

"Behold! And the curtain falls!" Fox said as he put his sword away at the same time that the Lock Keeper groaned and fell to the ground.

"W-Well, so this is your skill, eh 'Mister' Natsume? Ahahaha, you're worthless!" The Lock Keeper said before dissolving into black mist as Oracle spoke up.

"Nice one, Fox! You did it! That Lock Keeper bit the dust!" Oracle said as the fight and Fox's All-Out Attack both ended. From the ensuing EXP gains, Queen hit level 25 and gained the mid-tier Nuke move 'Freila', making her smirk as she spoke up.

"Nice, a new skill!" Queen said as Skull spoke up.

"Awesome, babe! You reached a new level of Nuclear power!" Skull said approvingly as Anat acquired 'Freila'. After the battle, Mona sighed and spoke up.

"Whew. Well, I guess that does it." Mona said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Right. We can get inside the birdcage now, right? Better get going, then." Skull said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, but what was that we just saw?" Panther asked as Queen spoke up with a frown.

"Proof that the art world is crooked. It seems Ango Natsume wasn't given that award on his own merit. Those editors just used him for his name." Queen said as Fox frowned and spoke up.

"So there was a secret behind that novel, after all." Fox said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"But, despite what he's done now, he's really not a bad guy, is he? It sounded like he entered the competition a whole bunch of times." Panther said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"True. And just when he thought his hard work was paying off, he had to hear all that. It must've been devastating." Mona said as Noir spoke up with a nod.

"I agree. Those editors are horrible. They knew his writing wasn't good enough, but they still gave him the prize just so they could make money." Noir said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"That's right. While it is true that what Natsume's done is horrible, we can't ignore that it was these editors that started him on his path. So as such, they're just as much to blame as Natsume is." Joker said wisely. Mona spoke up.

"True. But even so, it still doesn't justify what he's doing now." Mona said as Fox spoke up.

"That's also true. Nevertheless, I'm beginning to understand how he feels." Fox said as Panther blinked and spoke up.

"Fox?" Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"Rising to fame atop stolen ideas, pulling at people's emotions with a fabricated story that wasn't the best it could be. Even worse, robbing others of their free will, changing their hearts, and wallowing in his own vanity. These crimes are unforgivable. There's no denying that he's been a fool. And yet, in spite of all that, it doesn't change the fact that Natsume spent years giving it everything he had.

Creative work is often a lonely endeavor, and battling against that loneliness is truly a challenge in and of itself. And as if it wasn't hard enough, if you don't produce results, no one will even think twice about you. One might even begin to think that such dark and unfulfilling times are all that's in store. Truth be told? Had I taken one wrong step, I may very well have turned out to be just as hideous as him." Fox said as Oracle looked at him in a mix of shock, awe, and even a bit of respect, as she spoke up.

"Inari, that's so profound and wise. I'm actually impressed." Oracle said as Fox spoke up.

"Thank you, Oracle. But let's stay on topic. And we were talking about Natsume. He has gone down a truly dark and borderline irredeemable path at this point. And in all honesty, it's thanks to your friendship that I didn't stray from the path I'm on. He, however, doesn't seem to have anyone. Natsume should know better than most that there's no meaning in superficial glory. And now he's turned his back on what he truly wants to write for the sake of spinning this infernal novel of lies that he's written. As such, someone needs to bring him back to his senses." Fox said as Oracle smiled and spoke up with a smirk.

"Heh, you seem pretty motivated this time around, Inari." Oracle said as Fox nodded.

"Indeed. However, it's not so much that I'm 'pretty motivated' as you put it, Oracle. As one who's dedicated his life to art, I simply cannot condone his actions." Fox said as the group got to their feet as he kept speaking.

"Now, let us bring this to an end. We'll send the calling card, then wrest the Overlord from his throne!" Fox said firmly as the others nodded while the group left the Metaverse at that point...

(That evening, at the RV, with Ann, Futaba, Morgana, Makoto, Haru, Ren, Sumire, Sophia, Yusuke, and Ryuji))

"Okay, all that's left is the calling card." Ryuji said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Right. We need to make Natsume aware that we're coming to steal the Desires. That should materialize them." Morgana said as Makoto spoke up.

"We'll need to decide how we want to do it. What's the best way to make sure he gets the message?" Makoto asked as Ren spoke up.

"There's not really a good way to do that this time. As loathe as I am to lean on the same trick over and over, maybe we'll have to use the same method we did in Shibuya?" Ren said, unsure of how to send the card in this instance. Futaba shook her head and spoke up.

"As much as I like that you liked my Futaba Cannon, I doubt it'd work so well this time. That only worked last time because we had all those people to help spread the word. As we don't have that here, it probably wouldn't have the effect we want." Futaba said as Haru spoke up with a frown.

"Hmm, that is a good point. What do we do?" Haru asked as the group's discussion was interrupted by the sound of a lost child wailing nearby.

"Waaaaaah! Mommyyyyyy!"" The lost child wailed, though their voice identified the child as male, making the group exchange confused looks as Makoto spoke up.

"Hmm, he could be lost, maybe? I'll go take a look." Makoto said as Ren thought about it before he spoke up.

"I'll go too. If nothing else, there's safety in numbers." Ren said sagely. However, before the group could begin to look for the lost kid, they blinked as they saw Inspector Hasegawa walk over to the lost child and speak up.

"Hey, what's wrong, kid?" Hasegawa asked the lost boy. He saw the look in the kid's face as he spoke up.

"Ohh, I see. You got separated from your mom, huh? Don't worry, I got you." Hasegawa said as a wide-eyed Morgana spoke up.

"Is that actually Zenkichi, helping that lost child out?" Morgana said as Ryuji spoke up, drawing Hasegawa's attention to the group with what he said next.

"What? Gramps was already here?" Ryuji asked as Hasegawa pulled out his phone and called a number, speaking into it when a voice answered on the other end.

"Hey, it's me. I got a kid who was separated from his mom here. Send someone over to look ater him, would ya? I'm over at Mount Aoba Park in Sendai." Hasegawa said before frowning as he heard the voice on the other end speak up before sputtering as he spoke up.

"Wh-WHAT!? Huh? What do ya mean it's not worth PubSec's time? Quit screwing around! You call yourself an officer of the law!? Or are you saying you'd abandon your own kid, too, is that it? A lost kid's no joke, you know!" Hasegawa said as the lost boy turned away and shuddered as he spoke up.

"Ngh, is this man gonna help me?" The lost buy muttered to himself. Unbeknownst to Hasegawa, the lost boy, or the group, a certain trio happened to also be walking by around that point, managing to see Hasegawa come to the lost boy's aid as a result of when they showed up.

The trio ducked out of sight, not wanting the rest of the group to see them just yet, but the short-haired male was shocked to see an officer of the law actually doing something nice for someone else for a change. The longer-haired male exchanged a significant look with the short-haired male, before they both nodded to the bearded man as they walked off to watch things play out from just off-screen. Back with the lost boy and Hasegawa, the lost boy started walking off, leaving a flustered Hasegawa to chase after him as he spoke up.

"Hey, wait, where are you going!? It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything!" Hasegawa said as he gave chase to the lost boy as Futaba winced from nearby and spoke up.

"Oof, the kid totally thinks he's a creep probably." Futaba said as the group nodded their agreement while they waited for Hasegawa to sort out the lost boy. After a while, an out-of-breath Hasegawa walked over and spoke up.

"That kid sure made things difficult. He didn't have to run away like that, right? Right?" Hasegawa said as Futaba spoke up.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not exactly cute and cuddly, Gramps. You probably made the kid think you're a creep the way you approached him and then tried to get someone else to look after him. And honestly, I don't blame him." Futaba said as Hasegawa frowned and spoke up.

"Fair enough. And will you stop calling me Gramps?" Hasegawa said as Morgana spoke up.

"This is perfect timing, actually. Let's ask Zenkichi what he thinks." Morgana said as Hasegawa spoke up with a nod.

"Sure. After all, we're supposed to be working together, anyway." Hasegawa said as Makoto spoke up.

"We're all set to go inside Natsume's Jail. There's just one thing left to do. The only problem is, we're not sure how to send our calling card." Makoto said as Hasegawa blinked in confusion before speaking up as he stroked his beard contemplatively.

"Sending a calling card, you say? Oh, you mean that thing you guys did with the screens in Shibuya? If you want my advice, you should avoid any high-profile stuff like that. The police aren't that stupid as to ignore that forever. Eventually, you'll get caught if you keep doing it. I know I'm supposed to help you and all, but I gotta draw the line at breaking the law." Hasegawa said as Futaba smirked and spoke up.

"I see. Hmm, so the adult is the voice of reason here. You really are a Gramps, you know that?" Futaba said as Hasegawa sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, you're pretty set on calling me that, aren't you? Ugh, whatever. My point is, go with something simpler." Hasegawa said as Haru spoke up.

"Fair point. We need a way to guarantee that Natsume will read the calling card, though. Maybe if we knew where he was going to be, we could set something up before he arrived somehow." Haru said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Oh? In that case, I've found just the event." Sophia said as Sumire pulled her phone out and spoke up.

"Yeah? And what're you getting at, Sophia?" Sumire asked Sophia, who spoke up.

"Simple. Natsume is holding another book-signing at the bookstore near the station. Natsume will most certainly be there. It starts as soon as the store opens at 10 a.m., so we'll have to do whatever we do tonight so we can get it set up before he shows up." Sophia said as Ryuji pumped a fist and spoke up.

"Ooh! That sounds doable. I bet it'd be easy to set up if we roll in at night." Ryuji said as Hasegawa frowned and spoke up.

"Hey, didn't you hear what I said? Breaking and entering is a crime, you know." Hasegawa said as Futaba smirked and spoke up.

"Well, that's where you come in, Gramps." Futaba said as Hasegawa blinked and spoke up in shock.

"Huh!?" Hasegawa said as Ann nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"Yeah. if we did it and got caught, they'd lock us up." Ann said as Hasegawa frowned and spoke up.

"They'd lock me up, too!" Hasegawa pointed out as Ryuji scoffed and spoke up.

"Oh, are you sayin' you can't do it? Tch, some help the police turned out to be." Ryuji said as Futaba smirked slyly at Hasegawa and spoke up.

"Wasn't the deal that you'd cooperate with us? I thought adults kept their word." Futaba pointed out as Hasegawa frowned and spoke up.

"Ngh, I did say that. You kids are really trying to twist my arm here, aren't you?" Hasegawa said as Yusuke spoke up with an unreadable expression.

"All right, it's settled. I will go and prepare the calling card." Yusuke said as Morgana spoke up approvingly.

"Yeah. You got this, Yusuke. That goes for you too, Zenkichi. We'll leave the planning to you." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"I know you don't want to do this, but I think you'll find you don't have a choice, unfortunately. We need that calling card sent, and to our knowledge, you're our best shot at doing so. So we're counting on you to ensure that Natsume sees the calling card. So don't sweat the small stuff, Inspector Hasegawa. You've got this. I know you do." Ren said encouragingly as Sumire spoke up.

"Of course he does, Ren. He knows that this is his turn to live up to his end of our bargain to some extent, since we've been pretty good about cooperating with him thus far. Besides, all we're asking him to do is to find a legal way to ensure that Ango Natsume gets our calling card in a timely fashion. Surely that's a task he can handle?" Sumire said slyly as Hasegawa sweatdropped and spoke up.

"Ugh, am I seriously gonna go through with this?" Hasegawa said as he sighed and headed off to await the group's signal to send the calling card. Unbeknownst to the group, a certain trio had been eavesdropping on the entire exchange from a nearby set of bushes they had ducked behind to avoid being spotted...

(A short time later, in the RV, with Ren, Morgana, Sophia, Ryuji, Haru, Makoto, Ann, Futaba, Yusuke, and Sumire)

"Listen to me! Natsume will look at the calling card tomorrow morning, and if all goes to plan, it'll be then that we're going to finish this. You should prepare while you have time. Once we head in, there's no turning back. Yusuke's handmade calling card that he both illustrated and wrote is ready. It's time Natsume got a visit from the Phantom Thieves!" Morgana said as Ren nodded his understanding and took a minute to review his preparations to see if there were any other preparations he needed to make. Unbeknownst to Ren, while he was doing so, Hasegawa was having an interesting encounter after parting ways with the group for the night...

(Elsewhere, with Hasegawa)

As Inspector Hasegawa walked back to his patrol car to get ready to get comfortable for the night, he blinked as he saw a familiar figure walking over, making him blink as he spoke up.

"Wait, am I losing it? Or am I really looking at the younger of the two Amamiya brothers?" Hasegawa said as Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"Nope, you're not losing it, Inspector. It's me. Before you ask, I got here a couple days ago. I actually arrived with some friends of mine shortly before Ren and the others did. But I've been keeping a low profile since I have a feeling in my gut that this time around, they're going to have a rough time with the Monarch when it comes time to confront him.

So that's why myself and two others are currently keeping a low profile while keeping tabs on Ren and the others to ensure we're in position to act when the time comes and we have to bail them out of whatever sticky situation they inevitably land themselves in. After all, we both know that most of Ren's group has a tendency to get in over their heads at times. And without an ace in the hole, let's just say that this could potentially be one time where they wind up in something they can't get back out of." Kusa said sagely as Hasegawa nodded and spoke up.

"I see. That does make sense, to some extent. But when you say two others, who exactly are you referring to?" Hasegawa asked as Kusa slyly grinned at Hasegawa before he spoke up in an amused yet rebuking tone.

"Oops, I'm sorry. That part is strictly classified and on a need-to-know basis, and for now? Let's just say that you don't need to know, Inspector. Besides, I know you're familiar with the expression 'loose lips sink ships'? Let's just say I'm using that as a guidepost for not spoiling the surprises that I have up my sleeve for my brother and our friends. But if I'm correct, the reason you're walking back on your own is because the others are trying to recruit you to send the calling card. Am I right?" Kusa asked as Hasegawa winced but nodded as he spoke up.

"That's correct. But they don't seem to realize that what they're suggesting is a crime." Hasegawa said as Kusa smirked before speaking up slyly.

"That is true. However, it's only a crime if you get caught, isn't it? And you say that like any of them would let themselves get caught. But I will concede that you have a point about it being risky, since a lot of them made the news with that calling card they sent the first Monarch. Even those of us who only had a radio for news coverage know about that.

However, not all of us were involved in that calling card. I know of at least two of our group that weren't there for that card who wouldn't be so easily recognized. And as long as we're in disguise when we send the card, who can prove it's us? After all, other than the time they sent that televised calling card to one of our foes a bit over three and a half years ago, it's very rare that people have seen the group's faces, so it'd be difficult to prove what the Phantom Thieves look like.

But I'm getting off topic. If you truly don't want to send it, you can always bring it here, and I'll take it off your hands and send it myself, after giving it a personal once-over to see if it needs any of my personal touches added to it for extra flair. Besides, between myself and my current associates, we have a knack for going around in disguise at this point. So it would be like child's play to send this without being recognized. But if you want to send it yourself, I respect that too. It's your choice, Inspector." Kusa said as Hasegawa considered Kusa's words carefully.

"You raise a good point. And if you're the one sending it, that would allow not only myself, but the others as well, to have the advantage of plausible deniability if asked about it. So I might take you up on that. And I won't press you for details, since you also have a point about a secret being easier to leak if too many know of it. Hmm, I'll tell you what. If you want, you can hang here for a while, and when the group makes contact to send the card, I'll bring it here for you to read over and then send the card for me after you make sure it's good enough to pass muster. How's that?" Hasegawa said as Kusa nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Good idea, Inspector. I think I'll take you up on your offer, since it makes things easier for both of us. Oh, but if Ren and the others ask? You didn't see me at all recently, got it? I don't want them to know I'm here just yet, in case one of them figures it out and accidentally blows the cover that me and my associates have built up wide open trying to find us when the time comes.

After all, there is something to be said for keeping one's cards close to their chest to be played at precisely the correct moment. I'm sure that you, of all people, can appreciate that, no? After all, I can tell you're just trying to do what you have to in order to make ends meet for your kid. And I truly respect you for it, Inspector." Kusa said as Hasegawa's eyes widened at Kusa mentioning his daughter indirectly. Hasegawa eventually spoke up.

"Understood. And from your lack of reaction, you seem to understand my position to some extent." Hasegawa said as Kusa spoke up.

"I wouldn't say that I understand, so much as I'd say I realize that you have your reasons. But I will warn you now on one matter. If I find out that you knowingly did anything to betray and/or hurt my family, you'll be dealing with me. And I fight hard to protect those I'm close to, no matter who wishes them harm. As long as you keep that in mind and behave accordingly, we'll get along just fine." Kusa said bluntly yet sagely as Hasegawa could only nod his understanding before the two spent a while making small talk...

(Back at the RV hideout, with Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Sumire, and Sophia)

Ren looked at the others and spoke up with a nod.

"Well, there's no time like the present, yeah? Who's ready to send this calling card?" Ren said as Yusuke nodded and spoke up.

"We're sending it now? Understood. I will entrust Zenkichi with this calling card. Regardless of what drove Natsume down this path in the first place, he has been gripped by vanity. Turned to evil. If he cannot see the distortion in his heart for himself, then we will lay it bare!" Yusuke said as Sumire spoke up.

"Careful with your word choice around Sophia, Yusuke. I know we've had this discussion before." Sumire said sagely as Yusuke winced and nodded before speaking up.

"Ah, yes. So we have. My apologies for forgetting myself for a second." Yusuke said as Sumire smiled and forgave Yusuke as he went to entrust the card to Zenkichi...

(A short time later, with Hasegawa and Kusa, by Hasegawa's car)

"...And that's the story of why no one trusts Yusuke with money. Crazy, right?" Kusa said as he finished regaling Hasegawa with the story of the time Yusuke got swindled out of all his money to buy an oni mask in Hawaii. Hasegawa blinked and spoke up with a nod.

"Yeeeah, pretty crazy. That's so crazy that calling it crazy is almost an understatement, I think. Between Kitagawa and your brother, I wonder who's worse with money?" Hasegawa said as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"If this was Ren before we moved to Yongen, I'd say probably a tie. But nowadays? Definitely Yusuke. Unlike Yusuke, Ren's usually reliable with managing a budget. Other than the time he went and blew 100,000 yen out of his ass on a so-called 'Holy Stone' that turned out to be little more than a huge-ass chunk of rock salt, Ren's usually pretty smart with money. But that may or may not be a byproduct of my teaching him how to manage his funds better while we lived in Yongen-Jaya together about three years ago." Kusa said with a sage nod. Hasegawa nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Well, it's just about time for the others to make contact and deliver the calling card. So unless you don't care if they see you, I'd advise that you find somewhere to hide yourself, since Kitagawa is due here any time to drop off the calling card." Hasegawa said as Kusa nodded, ducking swiftly into a nearby bush to hide as Yusuke walked up and handed the calling card over to Hasegawa and leaving as swiftly as he'd come. Once he was well out of both sight and earshot, Kusa came out of hiding and looked over the card.

"Hmm, looks like Yusuke's gotten a lot better with his writing. This is really good. Just needs one more finishing touch and it's good to go." Kusa said before looking at Hasegawa as he kept speaking.

"Sorry to ask, but do you happen to have a pen on you, Inspector? I think I left mine with my associates when I came over here." Kusa said as Hasegawa nodded and got a pen from his glove compartment, which Kusa took with a nod as he quickly composed a small post-script for the card and spoke up.

"There we go. Much better. Now, if you'll excuse me, me and my associates have a card to deliver. Pleasure doing business with you, Inspector." Kusa said as he abruptly turned and left, leaving a bemused and perplexed Hasegawa to wonder if he'd made the right call entrusting the delivery of the card to Kusa...

(The next morning, at the Sendai Station bookstore book signing, with Natsume and his editor)

As Natsume stood around doing his book signing, his editor walked over and spoke up.

"M-Mister Natsume!" Natsume's editor said as Natsume smiled and spoke up.

"Good morning. I see there's quite a crowd today as well." Natsume said as his editor nodded and spoke up.

"Um, yes, that's correct. But, um? About that, there's something you should see." Natsume's editor said as Natsume looked at him in confusion and spoke up.

"What is it?" Natsume asked before turning to see calling cards spread across the walls of the bookstore, speaking up with wide eyes.

"What the-? What? What is this!?" Natsume asked as his editor spoke up nervously.

"No one knows. And well, when the staff came to open the store this morning, it was already like this, for some reason. They called the police, but they were told to leave it as is, apparently. Something to do with wanting to preserve the crime scene." Natsume's editor said as Natsume snatched up one of the cards and read it.

"Hm? This says, 'To the ostentatious swindler who is otherwise known to the masses as Mister Ango Natsume, as much as we don't want to do this, your actions leave us no choice. You are a depraved miscreant who holds others in contempt and steals their work, lining your own pockets all the while. As such, we refuse to overlook the crimes you commit while wearing a false crown. Tonight, we take back the Desires you've stolen.' Are they serious!? Oh, wait, there's a P.S. too.

'P.S.: The venerable Draconis was here and offers his praises to the others on a well-written calling card. But don't expect to have an easy time at all if you intend to stop the Phantom Thieves from taking your Desires, Ango Natsume! The group you've seen? That's not nearly ALL of the collective might of the Phantom Thieves! There are still others lurking in the wings! So be prepared for anything if you don't want to have the rug snatched out from under you when you least expect it! We will not fail to seize your Desires! You have been warned.' Really!? Heh. Heheh. Ahahaha! That last part aside, since I feel like that's more like what I expected a calling card to say, honestly? How stupid can you get!? Dammit! What nonsense is this!?" Natsume said angrily as the screen flickered to a shot of his Shadow as he spoke up.

"Not only am I the great Overlord, but I am the Monarch. My followers are loyal. That is, they're only loyal as long as I hold their Desires. No, I can't let you have these! Having these Desires is proof of my claim to power. Proof of my sovereignty! I won't hand them over so easily, Phantom Thieves! Nor will I give them up without a fight! And besides, you foolish heroes are nothing but talk. Come, then! Bring all the cavalry you like! I'll crush every last one of you!" Natsume's Shadow said threateningly...

(Outside the Sendai Station bookstore, with Makoto, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Futaba, Haru, Sumire, Sophia, Hasegawa, Morgana, and Ren)

"All right. His cognition should be changed now." Yusuke said as Haru smiled at Hasegawa and spoke up.

"Thank you for all of your help, Mister Detective." Haru said as Hasegawa sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh. And with that, I've officially become an accomplice of the Phantom Thieves." Hasegawa said as he had a thought go through his head.

'Still, I have to say, that gamble I took in getting Amamiya the younger to handle the card appears to have paid off in a big way.' Hasegawa thought as Morgana spoke up with a frown.

"What're you complaining about? You're the one who proposed working with us, remember?" Morgana said as Futaba spoke up with a coy smile.

"And you did a great job! As a reward, I'll try to start calling you Zenkichi instead of Gramps from now on, 'kay?" Futaba said as Sumire huffed and spoke up.

"I guess it's better than Gramps, but am I the only one who thinks we should be getting his say-so before addressing Hasegawa-san by his first name? I know if he were here, Kusa would no doubt agree with me." Sumire said as Yusuke spoke up with a frown.

"Hmm, you do raise a good point, Sumire. But on the other hand, here's something you likely didn't consider. Inspector Hasegawa is quite a mouthful." Yusuke said Ann nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, Yusuke has a point. Zenkichi's good, don't you think?" Ann said as Haru spoke up with a smile.

"Okay, then. From now on, you're Zenkichi-san, all right?" Haru said as Ren spoke up.

"This assumes he's okay with that, Haru. After all, what are you all gonna do if he doesn't want us calling him by his given name?" Ren pointed out sagely. Sumire nodded her agreement before a 'BIP!' from her phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"I agree with Haru. I'm looking forward to working together with you, Zenkichi." Sophia said as Hasegawa gave Ren and Sumire a grateful nod for at least trying to be considerate as he spoke up.

"I appreciate the consideration, but at this point? I'd rather not be called Gramps anymore. If that means I have to let you all be on a first-name basis in order to make that happen, then so be it. So fine, whatever. You've already dragged me along this far, dammit. I might as well go along for the ride at this point." Zenkichi said with a shrug as Yusuke spoke up.

"Now then, the Desires should have materialized at this point. It's up to us to take them back and return them to their rightful owners. And in doing so, we'll set his distorted heart straight." Yusuke said as Ren spoke up with a smirk.

"Good point, Yusuke. And don't worry. We'll do our best to bring him back to his senses." Ren said as the others nodded and headed into the Metaverse at that point after Zenkichi left...

(Inside of Natsume's Jail, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Violet, and Seeker)

After looking at the group, Joker spoke up.

"All right, let's do this! For this battle, I want Fox, Noir, and Panther on the front lines with myself and Violet, while Mona, Skull, Queen, and Seeker are our backup wave, with Oracle doing her usual back-and-forth navigation duties as needed inside of Al Azif. Any objections?" Joker said as no one spoke up.

"I'll take the lack of objections to mean we're unanimous! Let's do this!" Joker said as the group headed to the 'Mount Aoba' checkpoint, during which process Fox spoke up.

"Let's go. We're taking back those stolen Desires!" Fox said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah! Natsume won't know what hit him!" Oracle said as the group fast-traveled to Mount Aoba. Once they arrived, Panther spoke up.

"Ooh, let's get something sweet after this. I think we deserve a little reward, yeah?" Panther said as Violet spoke up.

"That's an option. But let's focus on defeating Natsume and taking the Desires back first before we make any plans past that." Violet said sagely. Once the others nodded, they headed for the castle, where like in Shibuya, a giant chain extended down from the birdcage to the ground, making Oracle smirk as she spoke up, seeing the Natsume statue tipped over under the chain.

"Whoa, check out that statue that totally ate it! And hey doesn't that remind you of how we got to the top in Shibuya? Ready for round two?" Oracle said as the group went up the chain and dashed into the birdcage. Once inside, they found that it had transformed into a throne room, in which a smirking blonde-haired man with a very pompous looking red and black outfit with a red cape and horns on the sides of his head waited. Joker blinked at the yellow eyes on the male, which had red outlines.

"You're Natsume's Shadow, aren't you?" Joker asked as the now-identified Natsume's Shadow spoke up with a smirk.

"Correct! I am Natsume's Shadow, or more accurately put? I am the Overlord of this realm! Hmph, how rude. You certainly took your time, Phantom Thieves. Or should I say, chosen heroes?" Natsume's Shadow, or the Overlord, said as Skull cracked his arm and rotated it in anticipation while he spoke up.

"Bout time we met, eh, 'Mister' Overlord?" Skull said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"You're going to give back all those Desires you stole!" Panther said as Joker spoke up.

"I know you're as sick of this whole farce as we probably are, so why put it off? Let's settle this." Joker said bluntly, not seeing the trio of cloaked figures nodding approvingly from outside on the roof, where they were observing the imminent battle. The Overlord laughed and spoke up.

"Heheh, you FOOLS! Hahahaha! Such foolishness. You haven't the slightest idea of what you've just walked into." The Overlord said as Fox spoke up with a frown.

"Hmph. That appearance, that stance. That can only mean one thing. This is no doubt the Overlord from 'Prince of Nightmares'." Fox said as Noir spoke up in confusion.

"He certainly gives off that impression, yes. But weren't the Fearsome Four just dressed like normal people?" Noir said as Oracle spoke up with a nod.

"Yeah, you're right. Thinkin' about it, those guys didn't get much love from the author, did they?" Oracle said as the Overlord laughed tauntingly.

"Heh, the girl in the musketeer suit has a point. But at the same time, I'd think you'd all know full well by now not to be deceived by appearances. After all, I've heard about the ones that call themselves the 'Ordained Guides'. Let me then ask you this. Hasn't it struck any of you as odd that they exist here, when there was no mention of any Ordained Guides in 'Prince of Nightmares'? Think about it.

And having said that, you're all fools! You've come all this way only to fall right into my trap. This world belongs to me and me alone. It takes shape solely according to my design. Here, the Overlord rains justice upon the holier-than-thou heroes who would dare brand him as evil. Here, you are nothing more than flies to be swatted. I'll enjoy hearing those filthy screams as you atone for your transgressions." The Overlord said as Queen frowned at him and spoke up.

"Oh? That's an awfully bold statement to make for someone who stole others' Desires just to satisfy their own selfish wants." Queen said as Skull nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, what my girlfriend said! And if you're really the Overlord, ain't this the part where you get your ass kicked?" Skull asked as the Overlord scoffed and spoke up.

"Hmph. Don't be ridiculous! Tell me, how many of my demon brethren have you slaughtered while spouting such despicable hypocrisies?" The Overlord said as Oracle spoke up with a frown.

"Wow, so unoriginal. This guy's reading right from the handbook, isn't he?" Oracle said as Fox spoke up.

"Enough of this. It's time we fought. No matter how brave a facade you put on, it's clear you're just afraid of losing that hollow throne you're so proud of." Fox said as the Overlord winced and spoke up.

"What was that, you fool?" The Overlord said as Fox spoke up again.

"It's just as I said! Your reign is naught but an illusion, Natsume! Allow us to show you the truth!" Fox said as the Overlord's eyes twitched at Fox's remark as he looked from one end of the group to the other, as if sizing the group up. Eventually, the Overlord spoke up.

"SHUT UP! I'm sick and tired of everyone looking down on me and acting like I'm nothing! Yes, at last, the time is now! The appointed time has come for me to show off my true power. You wretches shall witness all of my power and greatness, as I unleash MY FINAL FORM!" The Overlord said before seemingly vanishing in a flash of red and black.

As the group looked around in confusion, the room started rumbling before an explosion echoed behind the group as a giant purple-skinned dragon with golden armor and familiar blonde hair flew through a hole he created in the roof right at the group, shooting right past a confused and intrigued Seeker as the dragon flew circles around the confused Phantom Thieves.

After he flew a few more circles around the group, the Overlord flew back to hover in place in front of the group briefly before settling into a standing pose as he hovered threateningly in the air and unfolded his massive wings in a flash of golden light and crossed his arms as if assuming a battle-ready stance. The group had to shield their eyes from the blinding flash of light that came off of his golden armor as he roared threateningly as the battle with the Overlord's 'final form' began! As the fight started, Natsume's Shadow, or the Overlord, spoke up.

"You ignorant whelps dare to challenge the great Overlord himself!? Imbeciles! I will feast upon your bones!" The dragon form of the Overlord said angrily as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"Holy crap! A dragon!" Oracle said as Joker scoffed and spoke up.

"So? He's not all that! I've seen far scarier dragons than this plenty of times! Or do I have to remind everyone of why we call our missing teammate 'Draconis'?" Joker said calmly as Oracle spoke up.

"Good point, Joker. Even so, be careful, guys! This one's really tough!" Oracle said as the fight began. After a bit, Oracle spoke up once more.

"Wait, what's he doing? Oh, crap! He's writing something! You guys have got to stop that pen of his! Wait, can you guys find a way to target his weakness?" Oracle said anxiously as Fox and Joker worked together to clock damage while capitalizing on the enemy's weaknesses to Bless and Ice. While doing so, Oracle spoke up after seeing a brief flash of light come from the Overlord.

"Whoa, he's powered up like crazy! He must be getting serious now! Careful, guys!" Oracle said as Violet spoke up with a nod.

"Good advice, but I think it's rather obvious he's not holding back." Violet pointed out to Oracle.

After a while, Oracle blinked as she saw the Overlord's pen move in a weird way before she spoke up with wide eyes as she heard what sounded eerily like the sound of chains, before noticing movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Crap! Guys, get out of the way! It's a-!" Oracle said, but before she could finish her sentence, a giant cage dropped down on top of every member of the group excluding Violet, Oracle, and Joker, trapping them inside as the Overlord smirked and extended a claw and dragged a shocked Violet to his side, using his free claw to hold a nail that was the size of a knife in his current form to Violet's throat while speaking up.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! I told you I'd get you fools! And look at you now! Other than a pair of red-headed women and the so-called 'Joker', I've trapped all of you in my cage! Do you dare persist in defying me alone, Joker!? Or will you surrender? Do so, and all your lives will be spared." The Overlord said smugly as Panther scoffed and spoke up.

"Seriously!? As if we'd EVER join you! Thanks, but no thanks!" Panther said as the Overlord spoke up.

"SILENCE, FOOL! No one was talking to you! Now be silent before I turn you all into dinner!" The Overlord snapped as a slow clapping could be heard nearby, making everyone, the Overlord included, give a visible start before looking around for the source, eventually finding it as a familiar voice spoke up from above.

"How predictable. The great and powerful so-called 'Overlord' is so scared to lose that he resorts to cheap tricks like caging his foes and taking hostages to try and turn the tables in his favor! And you wonder why people call you evil!? What a pretentious fool." Joker and Natsume, along with the other Thieves, heard from above. At that point, Violet gasped as she looked up and saw the trio of familiar cloaked figures standing in the opening that the Overlord had made when crashing back into the room in his current form.

"Joker! It's the Ordained Guides!" Violet said as Joker looked up, and sure enough, a familiar trio of cloaked figures exchanged nods with each other before leaping down into the field of battle, landing behind Joker, who turned to face the Ordained Guides as Ordained Green spoke up, the tone of his voice making it rather obvious that he found Joker's situation vaguely amusing as he spoke.

"Well done, Joker. You've played your part magnificently, but now we've reached the wholly expected point of you and the others inevitably getting in over your heads. But fear not. Do you recall that we foretold that you would have three others show up when you least expect it to save the day?" Ordained Green asked as Joker nodded before a wide-eyed Oracle spoke up, having gleaned the hidden meaning in Ordained Green's words.

"Wait! Were you able to say that because the three of you are, in fact, those reinforcements!?" Oracle asked as Ordained Green nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Very good, my beloved Oracle. I knew you'd figure it out in the end." Ordained Green said approvingly before turning to Ordained Gold and Ordained Indigo as he kept speaking.

"Well, shall we show them our true forms, boys? We no longer need these disguises, am I right?" Ordained Green said as Ordained Indigo spoke up with an eager nod.

"Are we finally joining the fray!? If so, ABOUT DAMN TIME! I was getting impatient waiting for my turn to get in on the fight. Ready, Ordained Gold?" Ordained Indigo said as Ordained Gold nodded and spoke up.

"As I'll ever be, you two. Let's do it!" Ordained Gold said as all eyes turned to the Ordained Guides as Ordained Green spoke up.

"Very well. Joker? Surely you must have realized that there were no actual mentions of any Ordained Guides in the book by now, yes?" Ordained Green said as Joker nodded slowly before Ordained Green nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Good. And it's to your credit that you did realize that, for the title of 'Ordained Guides' was little more than a conveniently-planned disguise that we three used to guide you to this point so that we could lure the Overlord into OUR trap, and combine our forces to take him out once and for all. For, you see, Joker? You guys aren't the only ones that can wield Personas. But let's let our actions answer the rest for you, yeah? Here goes! ORDAINED GUIDES, TRUE FORM REVEAL!" Ordained Green said as he exchanged nods with Ordained Indigo and Ordained Gold before the three swiftly tugged their cloaks off and tossed them into the air, causing flashes of dark green, dark blue, and gold to cover the figures revealed briefly.

Once the light had died down, literally every Phantom Thief present gasped at the figures revealed after the unmasking of the true identities of the 'Ordained Guides'.

As the three landed on the ground, revealing a figure wearing a mostly black and blue body suit with a black helmet in the shape of a bird, clawed black gloves, and imposing blue and black boots, a figure wearing a dark grey dress suit, dark green leather boots, dark green gloves, spiked platinum shoulder pads, and a green helmet in the shape of a dragon's head with a buckle on the forehead that had a small yin-yang engraved on the buckle, along with a figure wearing what appeared to mostly be a golden set of armor, complete with matching shoulder pads and leg armor.

The only parts of the figure's attire that were black was the chainmail just visible under the golden chest armor, as well as the black leather gloves covering the figure's hands, and even the figure's mask that covered most of the upper half of their face was golden, leaving a distinct view of this figure's rather prominent beard. Joker also happened to notice the just-visible golden hilt of what Joker figured to be the figure's melee weapon, most likely some form of one-handed sword, which fit with the golden shield Joker could just see on the figure's right arm.

Once the figures' true identities were made apparent, virtually every single one of the caged Phantom Thieves along with Joker were wide-eyed as they took in the sight of both of their missing comrades as well as a third, not as familiar, figure. Once she'd recovered her voice, a wide-eyed Oracle, who was the first to find her voice after the unexpected reveal of the Ordained Guides' true identities, spoke up.

"Wait, hold up. WHAAAAAT!? Draconis!? AND Crow!? You're both actually here right now!? Not sure who your friend is, but if he's with you, I think we can trust him, whoever he might be." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up with a brief nod to Oracle.

"Yes, it's us. But it's a bit of a long story behind how Crow is here right now. And as much as I hate keeping you hanging, isn't it a bit more important that we deal with the Overlord before we digress into such a long discussion? Or do we expect the Overlord to just stand there long enough for such a discussion. As for our friend in gold? You'll understand a lot more once you hear his code name. Crow, if you'd do the honors?" Draconis said kindly yet wisely as Oracle merely nodded her understanding before Crow smirked and spoke up, seemingly reveling in the stunned expressions on the rest of the groups' faces at the code name he uttered with both his own code name and Draconis' while he spoke.

"Oh, you want me to be the one to reveal our friend's identity to the others? Very well. Ahh, much better. How I've longed to be able to use this form again. Not that I minded the other form, but I've always felt this was my ideal form. But enough talking. Draconis! Coffee Daddy! Let us summon our Personas and free the others!" Crow said, ignoring the ten sets of widened eyes from the others at his unexpected reveal as Ordained Indigo. Before Draconis or Coffee Daddy could respond to Crow's suggestion, an irate Overlord spoke up.

"So, the so-called 'Ordained Guides' are in actuality just more of you accursed Phantom Thieves!? Why doesn't that surprise me one bit!? Well, no matter. I'll defeat you all just the same, whether there are a handful of you or if there are several dozen! The addition of a few more irritants makes little difference in the long run!" The Overlord gloated. Crow scoffed at the Overlord and spoke up.

"Shut up, you overgrown windbag! You might think you're all-powerful, but no one's bested the Phantom Thieves yet, and we're not about to lose to the likes of you! But let me show you what I mean, rather than just be all talk! Ready, Draconis!? Coffee Daddy!?" Crow said confidently while crossing his arms imposingly. As he did this, Draconis and Coffee Daddy, or Ordained Green and Ordained Gold respectively, nodded as the trio spoke up.

"PERSONA!" Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy all called out, while the group took in the sight of the golden chestplate, shoulderpads, half facemask, and leg armor covering black chainmail going the length of Coffee Daddy's body other than his hands, which were covered in black leather gloves. While the group were in awe of what they were seeing, Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy kept speaking.

"TIME TO DESCEND, MALEFOR!/TO ME, HEREWARD!/REVEAL YOURSELF, MIGHTY KOHRYU!" Draconis, Crow and Coffee Daddy said as they summoned their respective Personas respectively, making Joker gasp at the appearance of what was once one of his Personas during his initial run with the Phantom Thieves. But Joker figured it seemed appropriate that Coffee Daddy had taken it over, since it was originally Coffee Daddy himself who'd given Joker access to Kohryu. Back in the cage, Noir and Queen exchanged shocked looks.

"Clearly, two of those three are Crow and Draconis. But why do I feel like I've seen the beard on the third guy before?" Queen asked as Noir spoke up.

"Good question. I feel like it seems familiar to me too." Noir said as Oracle blinked in confusion and spoke up.

"Wait, hold on. A beard, and Crow called him Coffee Daddy. I could be wrong, but it sounds like it could be him." Oracle said before turning to Coffee Daddy and speaking up, her eyes widening comically in realization as she spoke.

"Is that you, Sojiro!?" Oracle said in shock, causing the other caged Thieves' eyes to widen at this question, only to widen more when Coffee Daddy nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, it's me. But there's not enough time for me to get into all the details right now. I think the bigger priority is dealing with that overgrown lizard over there." Coffee Daddy said sagely as the others nodded and fell silent as Crow and Coffee Daddy kept sprinting towards the cage to break the others out of it. While Crow and Coffee Daddy started rushing towards the cage to free the others, Draconis did a sprinting dash to reach the Overlord, who scoffed at Draconis' advance and spoke up.

"You think you can take me on!? FOOL! I was born of nightmares blacker and darker than darkness itself! Watch as I unleash hell!" The Overlord taunted Draconis, who huffed and spoke up.

"Really? That's got to be one of the most cheesy and cliche lines in the villain handbook, Overlord! Also, I've seen things far blacker and darker than you could ever be! Take Crow for instance! He might be cleaning up his act now, but back before he changed his ways, Crow was a very black and dark individual! He was so black and dark, he could literally break people's minds and turn them psychotic! So I think your show of bravado pales in comparison to that!" Draconis said irately as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Well said, Draconis. This pissant is nothing compared to how dark and twisted I used to be as Black Mask." Crow said bitterly as Mona laughed and spoke up inside the cage.

"Mwehehe, yep. That's definitely Crow, all right. And Draconis, too. But I think the biggest shock is seeing the chief using a Persona and wearing Phantom Thief attire. I honestly didn't think that would happen this soon, if at all. Looks like I owe Oracle some yen later, since I bet her 5000 yen that Draconis' reinforcements were Lady Suzui and possibly Maruki, as unlikely as that might be to happen. Also, it looks like he's got the advantage while he's in the air! Oracle, isn there anything we can do!?" Mona said as Oracle giggled and spoke up from inside of Al Azif after spotting something nearby that could be of use.

"Over there! Those swords stuck in the ground! Use those and turn him into a pincusion! Also, mwehehe! Did you learn your lesson, you silly cat? Never bet against me! I rarely lose!" Oracle said confidently as Draconis shook his head fondly at his girlfriend's taunting of Mona while he kept charging towards the Overlord, who smirked and spoke up after breathing a torrent of flame at the caged group.

"Hahaha! How was that!? If you thought that was Agidyne just now, think again, you fools! That was Agi!" The Overlord said as Oracle sighed and spoke up.

"Oh, boy. Yeah, I've definitely heard that line before." Oracle said as Joker sprinted over to the indicated swords and flung them at the Overlord, who winced and spoke up, not seeing Draconis drawing closer to him as he spoke up.

"Guh, that hurts! Also, be careful with those! These swords were once wielded by past heroes! I see that even in death, they continue to defy me!" The Overlord said as Skull winced and spoke up from inside the cage.

"Yo, what the hell's he talkin' about?" Skull asked as Fox spoke up from next to him.

"It seems he's added some backstory. That said, those swords work quite well against him." Fox said wisely as Panther nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, it definitely looks like it. We should probably keep using them then, huh?" Panther said as Violet winced and spoke up from where she was being held at claw-point by the Overlord.

"Yes, well, anytime you guys wanna get him off my literal neck, that would be just swell!" Violet said, trying to hold still as she felt the tip of the Overlord's claw against her throat, drawing dangerously close to breaking the skin of her throat. As he heard this, the Overlord cackled maniacally as he spoke up.

"Foolish humans! The least I can do is grant you a peaceful death." The Overlord said as Joker spoke up irately.

"Yeah, no. How about the only one tasting defeat here is you!? Draconis, now!" Joker said as Draconis nodded while drawing ever closer to the Overlord. Once he got close enough to the Overlord, Draconis proceeded to use his staff and smack the Overlord's claw away from Violet, who scrambled to Joker's side and away from the Overlord, right as the cage fell apart from Crow and Coffee Daddy's combined attacks and freed the others. Once the group had rushed back to Joker's side, Draconis spoke up.

"OVERLORD! You thought you had the jump on these guys, didn't you? Too bad you failed to heed the warning that I added to your calling card before myself and Crow ensured you got it. However, I feel that I would be remiss not to point out just how appropriate it is that your own hubris and ego will be your undoing. But don't take my word for it. Let me show you what I mean with a new move that Crow and I discovered while exploring the Metaverse recently! CROW! COFFEE DADDY! TO ME!" Draconis said as the two named Thieves flocked to Draconis' side as he kept speaking.

"Ready to show the Overlord what I mean?" Draconis asked Crow and Coffee Daddy, who nodded as they spoke up.

"RIGHT!" Crow and Sojiro said as the trio charged forward, their Personas forming up on a stunned Overlord in time to be pelted with the strongest moves each of them knew as Draconis, Crow, and Coffee Daddy spoke up.

"HA! TAKE THIS! TRIAD SPECIAL!" Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy said in unison as a small explosion rang out from where the moves collided with the Overlord, who winced as numerous cracks appeared in his armor as the Overlord spoke up around a wince.

"Ow, that smarts! Also, FOOLS! Hahahahaha! I've done it! No greater masterpiece has ever been written! G-Guh! Dammit! You made me lose my edge, you pest!" The Overlord said smugly as he felt the impact of the combined assaults of Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy while a wide-eyed Mona spoke up in shock.

"WHAT!? Is that why our old Showtimes don't work the way they're meant to!?" Mona asked as Draconis nodded sagely before speaking up.

"Exactly. Crow and I were surprised by that at first, too. However, once we did a bit of research into it, we discovered that this new version of the Metaverse has relegated Showtimes to being little more than finisher moves everyone can now use individually. Instead of what they used to be, we now have unique combo moves that we can use in trios, hence 'Triad Special' as the name for them. And as it so happens, I've figured out one of the actual combos for one. But to do so, I'll need Violet and Fox's assistance, since parts of the combo I figured out will require their specific specialties to pull it off." Draconis said as Violet and Fox nodded before darting to Draconis's side as Oracle suddenly spoke up.

"Guys! Good news! His buff's gone! Time to put the real hurt on him!" Oracle said as Draconis nodded approvingly before turning to Violet and Fox as he kept speaking.

"Good, glad to see you're willing to help me out, Fox and Violet! I appreciate it! That being said, here we go! PREPARE TO EAT IT, OVERLORD!" Draconis said as he started spinning his staff in a fast and furious circle, whipping up a mighty gust of wind from how fast he was spinning it. Fox then saw the subtle nod of Draconis' head and returned the nod as spoke up.

"COME, KAMU SUSANO-O! LET US PUT ON AN ICY SHOW!" Fox called out while he summoned Kamu Susano-o to shoot a torrent of ice into the wind, making it act like a blizzard. When Draconis nodded to Violet, she spoke up.

"LET'S DANCE, ELLA!" Violet said as she summoned Ella, who waved a palm and made a torrent of Bless energy flow into the icy wind, making it form a divine tornado of icy wind, which slammed head on into Natsume as Draconis, Fox, and Violet spoke up.

"HA! TASTE THE POWER OF OUR DIVINE BLIZZARD!" Draconis, Fox, and Violet said in unison as the improvised trio attack slammed hard into the Overlord, making his armor fall off in pieces along various parts of his body as he glared at the group and spoke up while summoning a horde of Shadows to assist him, which the Phantom Thieves noticed as most of the Thieves, alongside Crow and Coffee Daddy, scrambled to deal with the reinforcements while Joker, Draconis, and Violet stared down the Overlord as he spoke.

"Hahahaha! Is that the best you fools can do!? Pathetic humans! Gaze upon my magnificence! I, the Prince of Nightmares, carry the blood of dragons in my veins! No mere human could ever defeat me! Lay down your weapons and submit! Do so, and all of your lives will be spared!" The Overlord said tauntingly as Noir spoke up.

"Are you truly that blind!? We just did quite a bit of damage to that so-called armor of yours! Don't be such a smug, overconfident jerk!" Noir rebuked the Overlord as Panther scoffed and spoke up.

"Pfft! Like we'd EVER join you? Thanks, but no thanks!" Panther said as Skull spoke up while swatting aside some minor Shadows who were trying to sneak up on Queen and Panther.

"Besides, the evil Overlord's destined to get his ass beat! That's fantasy rule number 1, dude!" Skull said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Skull is right! Hear me now! Ango Natsume, you are a shameful despot steeped in vanity! Today, your reign comes to an end!" Fox said as the Overlord spoke up with a huff.

"SHUT UP! Witness as I pen the legends of the great Overlord!" The Overlord said as Oracle spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. We've heard it before. Guys! I've confirmed he has weaknesses to Ice and Bless! Anyone who can hit those will be able to do massive damage to Natsume!" Oracle said as Violet spoke up.

"Oh? I wonder if that's why that Triad Special that Draconis, Fox, and I just did was so effective, was because we hit both of his weaknesses at once?" Violet mused as Draconis spoke up.

"It's possible. Also, didn't you say that you and the other ponytailed redhead both use Bless moves!? Maybe it's time for you two to tag-team him, while Fox provides Ice support along with Joker, since I'm sure he has at least SOME Personas that can use Ice moves!" Draconis said decisively as Joker nodded along with Fox as the four in question rushed in to pelt the Overlord with their strongest Ice and Bless attacks to capitalize on his weaknesses. As he felt the attacks connect, the Overlord groaned and spoke up.

"GAH! Ergh, why, you little pests! WHY WOULD THE GODS FAVOR YOU OVER ME!?" The Overlord asked while Coffee Daddy scoffed and spoke up.

"Maybe because unlike you, we fight for what's right!? Ever consider that!?" Coffee Daddy snapped rhetorically at the Overlord as Oracle winced and spoke up.

"Man, he's really committed to this role, isn't he?" Oracle asked as Queen winced and spoke up with a nod as she dove out of the way of an attack that nearly knocked her off of Anat.

"Agreed! Perhaps even too committed, almost? Also, that almost took me off of Anat!" Queen snapped as the Overlord leapt backwards out of the path of the group's attacks before he lifted his tail up and made Panther, Oracle, and Draconis' eyes all widen as the Overlord's tail turned into a pen out of nowhere. Panther spoke up in shock.

"Whoa, since when could he do that?" Panther asked as Oracle spoke up in shock.

"Never mind that! His tail is a pen now!?" Oracle said in shock before barely swerving Al Azif out of the way as she saw globs of ink fly past where Al Azif had just been hovering, making her swear as she kept speaking.

"CRAP! Watch out, everyone! He's trying to blind us with his ink!" Oracle said worriedly as the Overlord flew up in the air and waved his pen tail around, seemingly charging up an attack while he spoke up.

"Time to pen the next legend of the great Overlord! Prepare yourself to taste the wrath of my NIGHTMARE INFERNO!" The Overlord said as he started charging up Almighty energy in the tip of his tail, making Crow groan as he spoke up.

"Really!? This pathetic worm is trying to steal our attacks now, Draconis!?" Crow said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Seems like it to me, Crow! Too bad we can do it much better than he can!" Draconis said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"I concur. TO ME, HEREWARD!" Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Let's do this, Malefor! Time to put this poser in his place!" Draconis said sagely as the two prepared to use their Personas to shield the others if needed. To Crow's shock, Noir was suddenly heard speaking up from nearby.

"Huh? What's this? I feel weaker somehow all of a sudden." Noir said as Draconis blinked before his eyes widened and he bit back multiple swear words while speaking up.

"Did he just-!? I think he did! That son of a-! He managed to use a makeshift Debilitate maneuver on Noir! That scum!" Draconis said as Crow glared at this and spoke up.

"How dare he!?" Crow said as Oracle spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt what I'm sure is a moment where you're getting all righteously indignant on Noir's behalf, but wha? He's totally debuffed us all with that attack of his!" Oracle said as Joker spoke up in shock, his eyes widened behind his mask.

"All of us!?" Joker asked in shock as Queen spoke up.

"That's what Oracle just said, yes." Queen said irately as an irritated Overlord chose that moment to speak up as his armor started falling off of him in various places.

"Kgh, argh! What was that!? Blasted little rats! You don't get it! Those with talent are always being dragged down by those without. How can you be so ignorant!?" The Overlord said as Fox spoke up derisively with a huff.

"What was that!? Villain, you have no right to say such a thing!" Fox said harshly to the Overlord, who huffed and spoke up.

"W-What? Are you suggesting that I have no talent!?" The Overlord spat as Fox huffed and spoke up.

"Oh? And what talent can you claim to possess? Stealing others' work for your own selfish interests? You've cast away both your soul and your pride as a writer, Ango Natsume! To be blunt, you've no place calling yourself a writer!" Fox said as a now-enraged Overlord spoke up.

"Dammit, how dare you talk to me like that!? Dammit, dammit, dammit! YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM! You're just like those bastards who denied me! You think you're better than me!? I'll show you how wrong you are!" The Overlord spat angrily at Fox. Draconis, for his part, scoffed derisively at the Overlord's bold words before he spoke up.

"Fool! Is that truly what you think, Natsume!? If so, then perhaps you're the one who is ignorant! Yes, it's true that you've been through some messed up stuff in your life, but that's no call to go around doing the same thing to others! But if you won't heed our words, maybe we'll have to beat some sense into you!" Draconis said as he summoned Malefor, who smirked at the Overlord before shooting off a powerful burst of white-hot Almighty fire at the Overlord, knocking him into a wall and causing his armor to crack all along the surface before exploding off of the Overlord in a burst of golden rain as the Overlord gasped and spoke up while lashing out with his tail, managing to line up the shot just right to lift Mona off his feet, launching him into Al Azif, sending the ship-like Persona crashing to the ground with Oracle inside.

"GAH! My armor! I mean, what the hell are you doing!?" The Overlord said as Fox spoke up.

"Hmph. So even that golden armor of yours was a sham. You're a fraud to the very core, aren't you, Ango Natsume!? How pitiful!" Fox rebuked the Overlord as Queen spoke up.

"I agree. It seems everything's finally been revealed. Time to finish him off!" Queen said as Fox winced after seeing the Overlord's claws lash out and score a powerful hit on an unsuspecting Skull, blasting him off his feet and into Seeker, sending both tumbling to the ground while slamming into Mona, and taking him down as well. Fox then spoke up.

"So powerful...Is this the Overlord's true strength?" Fox asked as Queen spoke up while moving to patch up Skull, Seeker, and Mona.

"I don't know, Fox." Queen said as Mona frowned and spoke up after pulling himself out from under Seeker's stomach, where he'd been pinned when Seeker and Skull had landed on him.

"Either way? We need to avoid taking another direct hit like that at all costs!" Mona said as Oracle spoke up with a nod.

"Agreed. Fortunately for us, he's running out of steam! Now would be the time to pull out all the stops, guys!" Oracle said encouragingly while Draconis crossed his arms and spoke up while Violet and Seeker rushed to help Mona to his feet and try and get Oracle out of the downed Al Azif.

"What Fox said! And to answer your question from before? We're doing you a favor and bringing your warped ass back to your senses!" Draconis said before turning to face Crow as he kept speaking.

"CROW! You heard what Oracle said! It's your turn to make him suffer!" Draconis said as Crow smirked and spoke up after finishing off the last of the Shadows he'd been fighting..

"Finally! HEREWARD, BREAK HIM!" Crow said as Hereward nodded, nocking an arrow laced with Curse energy from his quiver into his bow, and taking aim at the Overlord, slamming it straight into his chest and knocking the Overlord backwards as Fox blinked and saw that his Showtime gauge had filled up. He then turned to face the Overlord, smirking as he chuckled while seeing Violet manage to drag a stunned yet conscious Oracle out of Al Azif as it went into a sort of recharge mode to recover from the hit it had taken, and realizing that this needed to be finished before the Overlord could do any further damage. Queen then spoke up.

"Looks like he's almost finished. I'll leave the rest to you, Crow." Queen said as Fox cut in before Crow could reply to Queen.

"Hold! Crow? Draconis? Coffee Daddy? I want you three to know that I appreciate you helping us out and all, but if you three wouldn't mind, would you allow me to finish this with my Showtime?" Fox said as Draconis and Joker looked at one another briefly before both nodded and the former of the two spoke up.

"Fine by us. You were the one to write his calling card, so it seems only fair to let you end him. Go for it, Fox." Draconis said as Fox spoke up with a nod.

"Thank you, Draconis. SHOWTIME!" Fox said as he started his Showtime! As it started, it showed Kamu Susano-o making a torrent of snow and ice flow from his sword as Fox spoke up while drawing his own sword.

"SUCH BEAUTY! And beauty, as we all know, IS DEADLY!" Fox said as he spun his sword around in an epic fashion before he kept speaking.

"And now to finish you! Kamu Susano-o! PULL!" Fox said as he impressively sheathed his sword at the same time that a giant chunk of ice slammed head-on into the Overlord, who groaned in visible pain and slumped over, falling face-first to the ground in defeat as he spoke up in audible pain and agony.

"N-No. This can't be. The great Overlord? Defeated!?" Natsume's Shadow, now stripped of his Overlord status, said in a mix of shock and disbelief as he hit the ground in defeat. The ensuing EXP gain brought Panther to level 25 and Violet to level 26, where the two females gained the mid-tier healing skill 'Diarama' and the healing skill 'Recarm' respectively. Panther then spoke up with a closed-eye smile..

"I've gained a new power!" Panther said as Seeker spoke up.

"I see. Most of us are starting to get our mid-tier skills now. Impressive." Seeker said as Hecate acquired 'Diarama'. Violet nodded as she spoke up.

"Agreed. But at the same time, consider this. I also got a new skill! Looks like my hard work is paying off!" Violet said as Joker grinned and spoke up.

"Nice one, beautiful! Keep it up!" Joker said coyly as Violet blushed but nodded as Ella acquired 'Recarm'. At the same time, Crow, Coffee Daddy, and Draconis all hit level 25, gaining new skills for both Coffee Daddy and Draconis in the forms of the mid-tier Psy skill 'Psio', and the rare passive skill 'Almighty Boost' respectively, making both Coffee Daddy and Draconis speak up after exchanging smug grins.

"Oh-ho, looks like you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Not bad." Coffee Daddy said while Draconis spoke up.

"Ooh, is that an early buff to the power of Malefor's Almighty fury!? Nice, if so." Draconis said as Oracle spoke up after hugging Draconis briefly and then glaring at him with a very irate expression on her face as she spoke, her fists planted on her hips disapprovingly as she proceeded to tear into Draconis verbally.

"I can't believe you three are actually here right now! Also, I get why you wanted to not spoil the surprise of Sojiro having a Persona and being part of your reinforcements, but I'm still mad at you, Draconis." Oracle said, turning her nose up cutely in a pout as Kohryu and Malefor acquired 'Psio' and 'Almighty Boost', respectively. After the battle, Skull spoke up as the group formed up around the downed Overlord.

"Game over, Mister Overlord." Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"You've lost! Accept your defeat." Joker said. Natsume's Shadow meekly spoke up.

"W-Wait! We can rule this world together! You can have half the world." Natsume's Shadow said as Draconis scoffed and spoke up.

"Don't insult our intelligence, you phony frickin' scum! What do you take us for, the silent protagonist of a video game!? Also, we're not dumb enough to fall for that trap, so don't waste all of our time." Draconis said dismissively as Natsume's Shadow blinked, leaning forward in confusion, but causing the armor around him to fall to the ground with a clatter, revealing that it was little more than a cutout, showing that his true armor was nothing more than some horns, gloves, and a pair of pinkish-red boxers that had Violet glad that she, Mona, Joker, Crow, Draconis, Fox, and Coffee Daddy, along with Oracle, were all blocking Seeker from seeing this. Natsume's Shadow spoke up in humiliation.

"M-My mantle! My magic armor! D-Don't look at me! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Natsume's Shadow said as a wide-eyed Queen spoke up while Mona saw an opening that was created for Seeker to peek through, so he padded over and quietly hopped onto Seeker's shoulders, gently covering her eyes with his paws, getting a grateful smile from Violet as Seeker involuntarily giggled at the feeling of Mona's paws over her eyes. Crow scoffed and spoke up.

"Of course you'd fall so far that you have to resort to recruiting small children to try and make up the extra numbers that the group is lacking as a result of both mine and Draconis' absence from the lineup." Crow said dryly as Draconis spoke up with a frown.

"Not now, Crow! We can discuss that later!" Draconis said firmly as Queen spoke up in shock.

"Thank you, Draconis. Also, is that pitiful person on the floor his true form?" Queen said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Looks like it. So, in the end, even his identity was just a cheap imitation." Mona said as Fox walked forward and spoke up.

"It's over, Ango Natsume." Fox said as Natsume pouted and spoke up.

"What do you know!? You're just a bunch of stupid fools! You don't know how much I've suffered! It's not too late for me. I've still got my reputation as a writer! I've won an award! I've sold books! It's not too late for me! It's never too late!" Natsume's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Bullshit! You might have your reputation as a writer, but what good is a reputation that is built on a foundation of lies!?" Draconis said as Fox nodded and spoke up.

"Draconis is right. You only have a reputation built upon lies and deceit. And that's good enough for you?" Fox said as Natsume's Shadow gasped and spoke up.

"What!? What do you mean by 'reputation built upon lies'!?" Natsume's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Easy. You lied to get where you are now. And more than that, you became consumed with the desire to get revenge on those asshats who call themselves editors! So in that way, you were easily able to put yourself in the shoes of your own character." Draconis said as Fox spoke up.

"Exactly, Draconis. And Natsume? This fame you've acquired through deception and the brainwashing of others for your own selfish purposes, is it truly fame? And if so, is that truly what you wanted? Think! What was the real reason you started writing novels?" Fox asked as Natsume's Shadow spoke up.

"I don't know. I mean, I thought I knew, but do I know? Dammit, how could it have come to this!? Dammit! I tried my best. I really tried, just like everyone else! I read and read, all through the night! I wrote hours on end, like my life depended on it! And for what!? Nothing I wrote was ever 'mine'. It was just another work from 'Sogo Natsume's grandson'. No one! No one ever acknowledged my effort! Not my effort! Not my work! Not even me!" Natsume's Shadow said as Fox winced at that. Natsume's Shadow kept speaking.

"No matter where I look, all I ever see is a bunch of thoughtless idiots, those who are slaves to appearances and nothing more than that. Acknowledge me, dammit! Acknowledge Ango Natsume's efforts for once! I just want someone to see that I really try!" Ango Natsume said as Fox spoke up.

"I do." Fox said as Draconis stepped up next to Fox and spoke up.

"And so do I." Draconis said as Natsume's Shadow looked up at Fox and Draconis and spoke up.

"Wait, you both do? Huh?" Natsume's Shadow said as Fox spoke up.

"It's very clear just how much work you've put into writing your novels. A life led by creativity is almost always a lonely one, no matter your profession. You were battling that loneliness. You braced yourself, pouring your very soul into your writing, bringing it to your publisher time and time again. I will gladly acknowledge such effort and determination." Fox said as Draconis spoke up.

"Fox is right. Once you get past all the plagiarism you do, I can see from the parts of your writing that is your own that you have a surprising amount of writing talent in you. You just haven't had anyone care enough to try and nurture it in you until now. Sure, a lot of your writing seems copy-and-pasted, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, if done in moderation, and if the appropriate credit is given to the people whose work you use, after getting their permission to do so. And I can tell that if you try, you have the potential to be an even better writer than your grandfather was.

So what if your editors were the scum of the freaking earth who would sooner use you to get rich than to actually see you for the creative mind and honest man you truly are deep down!? Yes, you've not made the best choices of late, but we can understand you losing your way out of a sense of depression and wanting to make people acknowledge you." Draconis said as Natsume's Shadow blinked at this and spoke up.

"Wh-What did you say!? I've only ever told that story to a select few people." Natsume's Shadow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Yep, including a certain volunteer newcomer to your security detail who you decided to confide in out of needing someone to vent to recently. Or do you not remember the time you opened up to one of your security team about your past?" Draconis said as both Fox and Natsume's Shadow gasped at this while the latter spoke up.

"Wait, what!? Are you saying that YOU were that security guard!?" Natsume's Shadow said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"That is correct. I used the guise of that guard to get into your party that night without an invitation so I could discreetly monitor the progress of my friends from a distance and ensure they were progressing smoothly. However, as someone who themselves had previously considered becoming a writer, I can sympathize with your struggle, Natsume-san. I truly can." Draconis said as Fox spoke up.

"I can also sympathize, even if my field is more painting than writing. And back to my point from before, there are many out there who give up that battle, even those of exceptional skill and creativity. To be able to continuously bring life to new works without giving up, however? Not only is that a rare skill, but that is also perhaps the most exceptional talent of all.

There was once a time when you kept fighting. That is one part of your career that could NEVER be labeled a fabrication. So start over, Ango Natsume! Don't let this setback break you! Claw your way back up from nothing and move forward. After all, there are some things that simply cannot be painted without a blank canvas." Fox said as Natsume's Shadow winced as he spoke up.

"Tch!" Natsume's Shadow said as Fox spoke up.

"It is because everyone believed in me that I was able to choose the path that I now walk upon today. I stopped lying to myself, and was able to begin anew. And so it is now my turn to pay it forward with you. Even if I'm the only one in the world to do so, I will believe in you." Fox said as Draconis shook his head and spoke up.

"Not true, Fox. I also believe in Natsume. Sure, he's got a lot of work to do to improve as a writer, but he has the raw talent inside of himself to be truly great." Draconis said as Natsume's Shadow sighed and spoke up.

"Heh, wow. You stupid fools, talking my damn ear off. But in the end? You're both right. This identity of mine was built on nothing but lies." Natsume's Shadow said as he snapped off his horns as he kept speaking.

"I don't need it anymore! I'll do it. I'll climb my way back up! And I'll do it on my own strength! I'll write a novel that'll capture the hearts of countless readers, just like my grandfather before me. I'll write something I can be proud of, to everyone who believes in me. I swear it!" Natsume's Shadow said as Fox did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Yeah? That's good. And I'll be looking forward to the day I get to read it." Fox said honestly and sincerely as Draconis spoke up.

"As will I." Draconis said as Natsume's Shadow chuckled and spoke up.

"Is that right? Maybe you're not so bad after all? Haha. You know, I really am stupid. How did I let myself forget what I strove for? I know now, in my heart, what it is I really wanted." Natsume's Shadow said as he vanished in a flash of light, preparing to return to his real self. Once he was gone, Seeker spoke up with wide eyes.

"Oh! He's gone." Seeker said as Draconis nodded once before the cage started rumbling and Fox spoke up.

"The cage is collapsing. Come on, we're all leaving! Draconis, that includes you, Crow, and Coffee Daddy, too." Fox said as Draconis nodded as the group exited the Metaverse together...

(Back in the real world that evening, with Haru, Futaba, Ryuji, Makoto, Yusuke, Ann, Sumire, Sophia, Ren, and Morgana)

"Whew, that was intense. Looks like it's over for now." Ryuji said with a grin as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Mission complete." Sophia said as Haru spoke up.

"I wonder if everyone's Desires have been returned yet?" Haru asked as Futaba spoke up.

"Probably. They all went flyin' out of the cage, after all." Futaba said as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"Perhaps, but I'm still worried. For one thing, we don't know yet if Natsume returned to his real self or not. And also, we're missing three people who were supposed to be right behind us in exiting the Metaverse." Ren said. Before any of the group could reply, an amused voice spoke up with what sounded like a laugh.

"Did you forget that we entered the Metaverse from different locations, Ren? So of course we'd exit it in different places too. Also, it took some of us a minute to get here." Ren heard, before he and the others turned around as one to see a trio of figures approaching them, of which the one that Ren had heard speaking was easily described as being a short-haired male with brown hair, the second figure of the trio being a lighter brown haired male with hair that went to his shoulders, and the third being a black-haired male with a beard and goatee that the group instantly recognized. Ren turned to the bearded man and spoke up.

"I'm not sure who the younger guys are with you, but I think we all recognize you at least, Boss." Ren said as Sojiro smirked and spoke up in amusement.

"That's because in Kusa's case, he had to cut his hair as a show of solidarity with Goro, who had to grow his hair out for various reasons." Sojiro said, jerking a thumb to the short-haired male and long-haired male in turn to show who he meant with each part of his response. Futaba smiled at Kusa, who had been identified as the short-haired male, and spoke up.

"Hee hee, so you finally trimmed back your mane, eh Kusa? I kinda like it short. Sure, you look a bit like a commando, but I somehow find it sexy." Futaba said as she happily launched herself at Kusa, hugging him for all she was worth. As for the rest of the group aside from Sojiro, they turned simultaneous looks of shock onto Goro as Haru spoke up.

"Did Boss-san really just call you Goro? Then does that mean you're-?" Haru asked as Kusa sighed at Haru being the first to realize what Sojiro was alluding to before he nodded once and spoke up.

"Yes, Goro is who you think he is. But if it's all the same to you, both Goro and I would appreciate it if you don't finish the sentence you were no doubt in the middle of saying, Haru. It's a bit of a long story, but the gist is that he's trying to discard his old identity in the hopes of having the chance to try and right all his wrongs. Let's just say it'll likely be covered when Goro here gives Ren the explanation he promised that we'd give him three years ago, the night before we all fought Maruki.

But in any case, it's nice to have the whole team together again, even if we have two new faces in our ranks at this point. Granted, I don't see that little red-headed girl who was standing near Sumire in the Metaverse anywhere, but I figure there's a reason for that?" Kusa said as Sumire spoke up.

"Oh, you mean Sophia, or Seeker as we call her in the Metaverse? Yeah, she's an AI who lives inside of my phone." Sumire said as she turned her phone screen so Kusa could see it as Sophia popped up on screen and spoke up.

"Ah, so you're the Kusa that everyone talks about. Nice to finally have a face to put to the name. I am Sophia, humanity's companion." Sophia said as Kusa blinked and spoke up, giving Sophia a shocked look as he spoke.

"Wait, what? An AI that can talk and is sentient? I didn't think it was possible. But clearly I was wrong. Nice to meet you, Sophia. I'm sure you know already, but I am Ren's younger brother, Kusa 'Kung-Fu Dragon' Amamiya. The middle part is a nickname I got through my martial arts skills. But you can search for that yourself on the internet later on, if you're interested in reading more about my nickname.

As for these two, the long-haired one on my left is my half-brother Goro Amamiya, and the bearded gentleman on my right is the man I consider as good as a father, or one Sojiro Sakura, who is also Futaba's father. He says he's her surrogate father, and he probably is. But I still think they're as good as blood-related with how similar they are. And YES, before any of you ask, Boss has a Persona now. That's ALSO a long story that will be explained later, in a more secure location where we can't be overheard." Kusa said firmly as Goro blinked and spoke up.

"Well, well. Never thought I'd be introducing myself to a sentient AI, but I suppose there's a first time for everything. As Kusa said, my name is Goro Amamiya." Goro said as Sojiro spooke up.

"And I am Sojiro Sakura, though most of these guys tend to just call me 'Boss', along with like half of my customer base when I run the coffee and curry shop known as 'Leblanc'. You might recognize it as the place where these guys keep their main hideout when they're doing Phantom Thief stuff." Sojiro said with a smirk to Sophia, who merely nodded her understanding before Makoto also nodded and spoke up.

"Boss has a good point. But at the same time? You also raise a very good point, Kusa-kun. Anyways, back to what we were discussing before. Maybe we should check on the people back in town, just to be safe." Makoto said as Morgana spoke up.

"Good idea. That said, while it's nice to have the team together again, I have to point out that the Jail didn't disappear this time either." Morgana said as Kusa blinked and spoke up.

"This time either? I'm guessing that the other Jail you guys cleared out didn't vanish either when you beat Alice?" Kusa said as Morgana nodded, not questioning how Kusa knew about Alice as he spoke up, also not seeing Sojiro's eyes widen slightly when he realized he was actually able to understand what Morgana could say, figuring that Kusa's recording of Morgana had done its intended job of allowing Sojiro to understand Morgana.

"Precisely. Anyways, now I'm sure of it. Jails really aren't the same as Palaces." Morgana said as Sojiro blinked and spoke up.

"They're not the same? I know I'm not the most versed in these things, but there's a difference between those two?" Sojiro asked as Morgana blinked at Sojiro's response and spoke up in surprise.

"Wait, you can understand me now!? That's a new one for me." Morgana said in surprise as Kusa spoke up.

"Oh, right. I knew I forgot something. I showed Sojiro the recording I had you do where you recreated that internet cat meme Taba showed us once about the cheeseburgers. I still say your recreation of said meme was hilarious, though." Kusa said with a grin as Goro scoffed and spoke up.

"Can we stay on topic for now, Kusa? And yes, there does seem to be a few differences between Palaces and Jails. But we'd be here too long if I listed them all right now, Sojiro. I'll have Kusa explain them to you later. As for what Morgana just said? You seriously only just realized that now? And here I thought you'd have gotten at least a bit more perceptive over the past three years, Morgana." Goro teased Morgana, making the cat in question glare at Goro and speak up.

"What was that!?" Morgana said as Ryuji, for once, was the one to break a fight up when he spoke up.

"Be nice, Morgana. Pretty sure Goro here didn't mean any harm by his comment. Also, that's gonna take some gettin' used to, Goro using Ren and Kusa's last name." Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up.

"Technically speaking, he didn't give any of you leave to address him on a first-name basis yet, Ryuji. Granted, in this case, it might be necessary to do so, just so you're not having to call him Amamiya all the time." Kusa pointed out as Goro merely nodded his agreement and Ryuji spoke up.

"Good point. Well, we can worry about it later." Ryuji said as Yusuke spoke up with a nod.

"Indeed. Let's go." Yusuke said as most of the group left, though a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone stopped Ren and Sumire, along with Morgana, who was riding shotgun in Ren's bag, as Sophia spoke up.

"Hey, Ren and Sumire." Sophia said as Sumire spoke up after pulling out her phone so she and Ren could look at Sophia.

"Yes, sweetie? What's up?" Sumire asked as Sophia spoke up.

"I feel as though I'm restless right now. Do you know what this is?" Sophia asked as Ren spoke up.

"I have a few ideas, but nothing I can say outright without a bit more information. Is there something bothering you?" Ren asked Sophia, who spoke up with a vaguely sad look on her face.

"Maybe? I'm not sure what's wrong. Natsume tried his hardest, but somewhere along the way, he lost sight of what mattered to him. He is a strange person, Natsume." Sophia said as Ren spoke up.

"He's made his share of mistakes, just as we all have. So at this point, this is a new start for him, regardless of what he did in the past." Ren said sagely. Sophia nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, that's true. He did say he would climb back up. Yusuke said that Natsume lost his way because he was alone. Whenever I think about that, I feel restless inside. Even though Natsume hurt a lot of people and was, for some time, one of our enemies, I still feel restless inside. What is this feeling?" Sophia asked as Sumire spoke up.

"I could be wrong, but it sounds vaguely like you're empathizing with Natsume somewhat?" Sumire said as Ren spoke up.

"Perhaps. But it'd be more accurate to say that she's likely having the same feelings Yusuke had when he spoke to Natsume before. And really, it seemed to a point like Kusa also felt sorry for Natsume somewhat." Ren said as a wide-eyed Sophia spoke up.

"The same as Yusuke felt? I see. So that's why Yusuke saved Natsume. It was because Natsume's reason for doing all those terrible things was really sad and resonated with Yusuke on a personal level. I think I understand now. Sadness can hurt people, but it can also save them. It can give humans a reason to support one another." Sophia said as Ren nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"That's right, Sophia. I couldn't have said it better myself." Ren said kindly. Sophia smiled at Ren and spoke up.

"Right. You can count on me." Sophia said before humming, making Sumire blink as she realized Sophia had changed out her tune a bit. Sumire then spoke up while looking at Sophia.

"Didn't know you could change your tune up like that, Sophia." Sumire said as Sophia nodded and spoke up.

"Of course. Can't just keep humming the same exact tune all the time. I believe that's what people refer to as 'stale'? Okay, in any case, we should get going, Ren and Sumire. After all, the others might be wondering why we're not behind them." Sophia said as Ren slyly grinned and spoke up.

"Probably not. If anything, most of them probably figured Sumire pulled me off to the side to make out with me or something. That is, assuming I had to venture a guess." Ren said as Sumire swatted Ren lightly on the arm and spoke up.

"Don't corrupt her like that, Ren! She's not old enough to learn about dating yet." Sumire rebuked Ren as Ren nodded and the quartet walked off to catch up to the others, doing so in time to hear a dissatisfied woman speak up nearby.

"So you know how I was all excited for the Tanabata festival that's coming up? My boyfriend says he's already got plans." The dissatisfied woman said as her friend, a manga fan, spoke up.

"I see. Oh, by the way, did you ever finish reading that manga I lent you? I got someone else who wants to borrow it when you're done." The manga fan said as Ann blinked and spoke up.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but if I had to guess? I think it worked?" Ann said as Morgana spoke up from Ren's bag.

"Yeah. Doesn't look like anyone's talking about Natsume anymore." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Seems like it to me too. Now all that's left is to confirm that his change of heart happened, and I'd say we're just about done here." Kusa said sagely as Yusuke nodded and spoke up.

"Indeed. Then I'd say that other than the question of if Natsume's change of heart ended up happening or not, all's as it should be. Including our team being back together again." Yusuke said as Goro spoke up.

"Indeed. All 11 of us are together for the first time in about three and a half years, and we even have two extra allies in Sophia, if I have her name right, and Sojiro." Goro said, not seeing the shocked looks on both Ren and Futaba's faces at Goro calling Sojiro by his name, while Kusa, who did see the shocked looks on Ren and Futaba's faces, smirked smugly at Goro and spoke up.

"I told you you'd stun people if you referred to Sojiro by his name, Goro. Let's not go around purposely trying to give anyone a heart attack, yeah?" Kusa said teasingly as Goro huffed and spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll behave." Goro said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Heh, yep, you're definitely Crow. Anyways, attaining fame through some deceptive power doesn't fit Natsume's image." Yusuke said as Makoto gave Yusuke a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"This wouldn't have been possible without you being there to open his eyes, Yusuke. And it was also only made possible by Kusa, Goro, and Boss all intervening when they did to save us. Thank you guys for that." Makoto said as Futaba gave Yusuke a proud smile and spoke up.

"Well done. You really took charge today, Inari." Futaba said as Ren spoke up.

"True. Yusuke was rather heroic back there. Truth be told, I thought it was rather touching." Ren said honestly. Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, it was pretty emotional, huh? A real work of art." Futaba said as Yusuke gave the group a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Yes, well, as I said before, I owe it to you all keeping me on the right path. So thank you, everyone." Yusuke said as Ren smiled, feeling as if he could sense a strong bond with his friends, even the newly-returned Goro and Kusa, along with the unlikely addition of Sojiro. Yusuke then kept speaking.

"However, we're not finished just yet. We must confirm whether the change of heart was a success." Yusuke said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"True. For now, we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out." Morgana said as Ann sighed and spoke up.

"Whew, good point. Well, since we've got some free time, can we unwind at a bathhouse or something? I'm totally beat." Ann said as Haru smiled and spoke up.

"Good idea. We can freshen up a little before we head back to the car." Haru said as Futaba spoke up while getting to her feet.

"You heard 'em, Sophia. It's all you!" Futaba said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up.

"Okay. I'll find the best bathhouse in the area." Sophia said as the group went to freshen up before returning to their vehicles for the evening...

(The following evening, at the Sendai press conference venue, with Natsume)

"Good evening. Thank you, everyone, for coming. I've called this press conference to give an announcement, as well as a formal apology. First, my novel 'Prince of Nightmares' was bestowed with the honor of receiving first place in the Soukaisha Awards, beating out lots of other incredible writers for that much-coveted honor. However, after some extensive soul searching, I have decided to give the award back." Natsume said as murmurs broke out and cameras flashed as he kept speaking.

"I've also decided to recall all published copies of the book, not to mention take the necessary steps to refund everyone's money. I'm sure you all want to know my reasons for doing so. The truth is that my book, 'Prince of Nightmares', only won because of my status as Sogo Natsume's grandson. In short, the competition was fixed. In addition, I've stolen the work of countless other authors, word for word. Lastly, the story I told about writing to inspire a hospitalized girl was nothing but a lie to garner sympathy. This fabrication allowed my book to sell a number of copies it nowhere near deserved.

I wish to apologize for this scandal. And I'll start by personally seeing to it that everyone who bought my book is refunded. I promise, my writing career ends here! I am deeply sorry for all that I've done! To all of you!" Natsume said as he bowed to the cameras as his editor came out and spoke up, his hands waving frantically as he spoke.

"H-Hold on, Mister Natsume! What do you think you're doing!?" Natsume's editor said as a stout editor ran out and spoke up.

"Hey, time to wrap it up! Get everyone out of here now!" The stout editor said as Natsume spoke up pleadingly.

"Please, don't interfere! This is my way of taking responsibility!" Natsume said as a doubtful reporter spoke up amidst a sea of murmurs that had broken out.

"Wait, what? Hey, something doesn't seem right here. Mister Natsume's the one who put this thing together, right?" The doubtful reporter said as a speculative reporter next to them spoke up.

"Do you think the editors were just trying to profit off Mister Natsume's family name?" The speculative reporter asked, making both editors wince as Natsume's editor spoke up.

"Gah!" Natsume's editor said as he and the stout editor were then inundated by shouts of angry reporters and demands for them to explain themselves. At that point a familiar voice was heard in the crowd, followed by a second.

"Hey!" Yusuke called out as he, Ren, and Kusa walked up to Natsume as Natsume's Editor spoke up.

"Huh!? W-Who are you!?" Natsume's editor said as Kusa spoke up with a frown while glaring at the editors, clearly unimpressed with them.

"We're people who actually care about Mister Natsume's well-being and believe in him, unlike you two self-serving sad sacks." Kusa snapped as Yusuke spoke up.

"Indeed. What Kusa said. Also, I will not allow this." Yusuke said as Natsume's eyes widened as he recognized Yusuke and spoke up.

"You, in the blue and black jacket. You're the one from the party. I'm so sorry for what I said back then. And your friend in the dark green shirt, I've seen him before too." Natsume said as Kusa spoke up with a smirk.

"Probably it was when I was posing as part of your security team to get into your party that night. I was the one who escorted Yusuke here off the premises to prevent a fight from breaking out." Kusa said as Yusuke spoke up, not giving Ren or Natsume time to do more than give Kusa wide-eyed looks of shock at his reveal.

"I will not allow you to cower and run away, Ango Natsume. You intend to make a comeback, don't you?" Yusuke asked as Natsume's eyes widened and he spoke up.

"Wait, what? Huh?" Natsume said as Yusuke spoke up.

"I believe you will return one day. And when you do return to the literary world, I want to see a book with YOUR name on it, not your grandfather's!" Yusuke said as Kusa spoke up.

"I agree with Yusuke. I know you're not used to having people acknowledge your effort and believe in you, but you do have some real talent, once you get past all the copying of other people's work that you do. And to tell you the truth? I can sense the creative muse that lies dormant in you. But I think your problem is that you have a hard time finding the muse to truly express your creative vision, hence why you resort to the muses of other writers to try and convey that vision instead.

Moreover, I believe that if you dig deep, you can find the confidence to be able to express your creative vision in your own words with your own writing. You just have to believe you can do it, that's all." Kusa said as Natsume blinked at this and spoke up, not expecting the encouraging words he'd gotten from Kusa.

"Oh!" Natsume said as Yusuke spoke up, waving an arm emphatically as he spoke.

"You're going to write a novel that you can be proud of, aren't you!?" Yusuke said as Ren spoke up.

"I know it might seem like it to you at times Natsume-san, but I want you to know something. You're not alone. Even if you think you are, you're not. As long as you can reach out to your readers and make them resonate with your work, they'll always be connected to you through your work, if that makes sense." Ren said sagely. Kusa nodded his agreement as Natsume bowed and spoke up with tears in his eyes.

"R-Really!? Thank you all. Thank you so much." Natsume said as a doubtful reporter spoke up.

"Who are they supposed to be, anyways?" The doubtful reporter asked, but was ignored as Natsume spoke up.

"I promise you all, once everything is rightfully resolved, I will make my return. Even if there's only just a few people out there waiting to read my stories when I return, no matter what? I will keep writing." Natsume said as he got to his feet and kept speaking.

"I can only hope that I can one day save someone's soul the way my grandfather's novels saved mine when I was young, once upon a time. And that is why I write!" Natsume said as the conference proceeded from there. Once the group returned outside, they were surprised to see Zenkichi sitting on a bench near Goro and Sojiro, his arms crossed as he glared at Yusuke and Kusa while speaking up.

"Really!? Sheesh, I have to say that you kids are something else, barging in on a press conference like that." Zenkichi said as Yusuke winced and spoke up.

"My apologies. It was imperative that I speak with him." Yusuke said as Kusa spoke up.

"And Ren and I accompanied him for moral support, and to try and give him a bit of a pep talk in my case. Granted, Ren kinda beat me to it to some extent there at the end. But then, I guess I can't be shocked he's gotten better at that in the past three years." Kusa said as Zenkichi shrugged and spoke up.

"Eh, it's fine. All right, well, I've gotta run. I have to go and question Natsume." Zenkichi said as Ann winced and spoke up.

"Oh, right, that makes sense. Yeah, I guess it wouldn't end with just an apology." Ann said as Futaba spoke up in shock.

"Zenkichi's really doing his job! It's almost like he's an actual cop or something!" Futaba said as Zenkichi huffed and spoke up.

"I AM an actual cop! Anyway, it won't take long, so go on and wait for me back at the car." Zenkichi said before walking off. Once he was out of sight, Ryuji spoke up.

"Guess we should get rolling, then." Ryuji said as Makoto spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Right, we'll leave the rest to him." Makoto said as the rest of the group made to leave, excluding Ren, who was stopped by Yusuke as he spoke up.

"Sorry, but do you have a moment, Ren?" Yusuke asked as Ren turned to face Yusuke and spoke up.

"Sure. What's up, bro?" Ren asked Yusuke, who spoke up.

"Something about Natsume's been bothering me, truth be told. What he did was no doubt unforgivable. Nothing will change that. However, was he really like Madarame? Can he truly be called evil like the Palace rulers we've confronted in the past? Had he simply ignored his editors, would he have strayed from his path? Or am I reading too much into it, and am I perhaps just sympathizing with someone who pursues the arts like myself? What do you think?" Yusuke asked as Ren spoke up.

"Truth be told? I don't know, Yusuke. And if you think about it, not all of those Palace Rulers were truly evil in the end. I can think of at least three who weren't truly evil, anyways. So it's hard to say what could've happened if Natsume had ignored his editors." Ren said wisely. Yusuke nodded his understanding.

"I see. That's a fair point. And also, yes, it is a rather difficult question. Forgive me, I didn't mean to hold you up. We should return to the car as well." Yusuke said as Ren nodded. After Yusuke left, Morgana spoke up from Ren's bag.

"Let's go! Looks like everyone's headed back to the camper. We should go too, Ren." Morgana said as Ren nodded and headed back towards the hideout. Once at the Mount Aoba Park, Morgana spoke up.

"There's nothing more we can do now. We should wait at the hideout until Zenkichi reaches out." Morgana said as Ren shrugged and kept moving. After finding a bench to sit on, Ren decided to take a moment to think about everything that had just happened, figuring the others could wait a bit for him to get back.

Sure, some small part of Ren wanted to go back and make sure he hadn't imagined Kusa returning abruptly during the battle with Natsume's Shadow with Goro and what appeared to be Sojiro in tow to save the day, but Ren figured he'd waited three years already, so a little longer couldn't hurt. So decided, he let himself do a bit of reflecting, inwardly glad that the team was back together seemingly...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And there we are, another chapter done and dusted! To be fair, I hadn't planned to throw the fight with Natsume's Shadow into this chapter, but when I got to the end of the Lock Keeper fight (or the point where I originally intended to end the chapter), it was only just over 15k words in length, and I usually try not to have a chapter be under 20k words in length if it can be avoided, unless it's an interlude chapter, in which case 15k words is the minimum acceptable length, or 10k if there's not enough content to pad the length to 15k.

Thus, I included the fight with Natsume's Shadow, along with the surprise mid-battle reveal of the 'Ordained Guides' being unmasked as the missing Phantom Thieves, who had disguised themselves to keep an eye on the Phantom Thieves from a distance to be able to await the opportune moment to step in and save the day, per Draconis' premonition of Natsume's trap being sprung by most of the others.

Additionally, those of you eagle-eyed enough to read the chapter carefully will have noticed I also added a new element to the story during the Natsume's Shadow fight after the sudden entrance of Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy, made apparent in the form of the 'Triad Special' that was used first by Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy, and then later used by Draconis, Fox, and Violet. For reference, the one used by Crow, Draconis, and Coffee Daddy was just a demo Triad Special and not an actual one being used in the story. The one used by Draconis, Fox, and Violet is the first actual Triad Special of the story.

And to clarify what a Triad Special is, it's basically a reworked variant of the Showtimes used in Persona 5 Royal, but modified so that it has three people involved in it. But at the same time, it also has traces of being similar to fusion attacks from other RPGs in that it usually involves at least one person in the Triad Special using their Persona as part of the move, and one using either their weapon or the weapon of their Persona in the attack. So we'll see how people receive them before I really try to do much else in the way of unique moves.

One thing I will say up front is that much like the Showtimes of Royal, most likely each character will have two unique Triad Specials that they initiate, but may also be involved in others' Triad Specials as happenstance, hence Draconis being in both Triad Specials used in this chapter. Also, feel free to say so in reviews or a PM if you have a better name for these Triad Specials, and if I hear a better one, I'll likely change it and credit the suggester in a future A/N. So don't be shy about giving suggestions.

Also, as far as Sojiro getting properly inducted into the team? That will probably happen in the next chapter if I can fit it in. And if not, then that'll be part of the Arc 2 interlude chapter (YES, I'm doing an interlude for Arc 2. And anyone who read the last couple of chapters of the original Phantom Files will want to read that interlude, since it may or may not be linked to a certain promise Crow made to Joker prior to that story's final battle being fulfilled) for sure. So there's that to look forward to.

That being said, though, I will say right now that the next chapter might be delayed in getting typed out, since I plan to take a few days off in the coming week for both Thanksgiving and any Black Friday-related shenanigans that might end up going down, plus most years I end up spending time with my nephew and brother for Thanksgiving, so there's the slim chance that I might not be home for a day or so, maybe two, after Thanksgiving. Thus I won't be able to type new chapters even if I wanted to, since I usually have to leave my setup at home for various reasons. So there's a good chance that I'm taking some time off from typing chapters for various reasons.

However, odds are good that the upload of the next chapter should still be on schedule to happen around 4 days from the time this gets uploaded (which I have no clue when that will happen, since as of the point I'm typing this end-of-chapter A/N, which is 2:11PM Pacific Time on Monday, November 20th, 2023, I'm currently preparing to upload chapter 3 of Rise of the Monarchs, which should more than likely have been up for a while by the time you're reading this chapter), so there's at least that to be relieved about.

EDIT: It is currently December 23rd, 2023 (or at least it's past midnight on the 22nd, making it December 23rd. Specifically, it's currently 2:18AM on December 23rd as I type this part of the A/N), so since I doubt chapter 12 will be uploaded in time, let me take this chance to wish an early Merry Christmas to anyone reading this far into the chapter, and remind people to enjoy the holiday and spend plenty of time with your families, since Christmas is, above all else, a time for family. So to all my readers reading this, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Also, let me once again thank everyone who's following and favoriting this story, as the support means a lot. If you want to give input on the story, or just voice your opinions, feel free to leave a review with your opinions/feedback/constructive criticism/suggestions on the story, or you can PM that to me if you don't want to leave parts of it in a review, as I enjoy hearing from my readers either way. And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

PHANTOM THIEF LISTINGS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 11

JOKER (Ren) - Level: 29 Current Personas: Raoul (Level 18), Setanta (Level 28), Jack Frost (Level 28), Orthrus (Level 26), Principality (Level 28), Mothman (Level 28), Ame-No-Uzume (Level 29) Equipped Persona: Ame-No-Uzume Persona Moveset: Bufula (Ice), Masukukaja (Support/Buff), Divine Grace (Passive), Frei (Nuclear), Soul Thief (Passive), Makajama (Ailment), Diarama (Healing), Recarm (Healing)

SKULL (Ryuji) - Level: 25 Equipped/Partner Persona: Seiten Taisei Persona Moveset: Zio (Elec), Lunge (Physical), Tarukaja (Support/Buff), Headbutt (Physical), Mazio (Elec), Rebel Soul (Passive)

MONA (Morgana) - Level: 26 Equipped/Partner Persona: Diego Persona Moveset: Garu (Wind), Dia (Healing), Media (Healing), Magaru (Wind), Technical Adept (Passive), Recarm (Healing), Diarama (Healing), Garula (Wind)

PANTHER (Ann) - Level: 25 Equipped/Partner Persona: Hecate Persona Moveset: Agi (Fire), Dia (Healing), Tarunda (Support/Debuff), Soul Thief (Passive), Maragi (Fire), Dekaja (Support/Debuff), Agilao (Fire), Diarama (Healing)

FOX (Yusuke) - Level: 26 Equipped/Partner Persona: Kamu Susano-o Persona Moveset: Bufu (Freeze), Freeze Boost (Passive), Sukukaja (Support/Buff), Knockdown Style (Passive), Giant Slice (Physical), Vicious Strike (Physical), Mabufu (Ice), Dodge Fire (Passive)

QUEEN (Makoto) - Level: 26 Equipped/Partner Persona: Anat Persona Moveset: Frei (Nuclear), Dia (Healing), Rakukaja (Support/Buff), Mafrei (Nuclear), Media (Healing), Sledgehammer (Physical), Diarama (Healing), Freila (Nuclear)

NOIR (Haru) - Level: 26 Equipped/Partner Persona: Astarte Persona Moveset: Psi (Psy), Evil Touch (Ailment), Snap (Gun), Hysterical Slap (Physical), Technical Adept (Passive), Amrita Drop (Healing), Mapsi (Psy), Gun Boost (Passive)

ORACLE (Futaba) - Level: 29 Current Personas: Al Azif and *REDACTED* Equipped Persona: Al Azif Persona Moveset: Analysis (Passive), Moral Support (Passive), Active Support (Passive)

SEEKER (Sophia) - Level: 25 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: 26 Current/Partner Persona: Ella Persona Moveset: Kouha (Bless), Cleave (Physical), Rebellion (Support/Buff), Dia (Healing), Makouha (Bless), Dream Needle (Physical), Kouga (Bless), Recarm (Healing)

DRACONIS (Kusa) - Level: 25 Current/Partner Persona: Malefor Persona Moveset: Double Fangs (Physical), Agi (Fire), Rising Slash (Physical), Media (Healing), Almighty Boost (Passive), Garu (Wind), Megido (Almighty), Vicious Strike (Physical)

CROW (Goro) - Level: 25 Current/Partner Persona: Hereward Persona Moveset: Eiha (Curse), Giant Slice (Physical), Rakunda (Support/Debuff), Mudo (Curse/insta-kill), Megido (Almighty), Triple Down (Gun), Maeiha (Curse)

*REDACTED* (Coffee Daddy/Sojiro) - Level: 25 Current/Partner Persona: Kohryu Persona Moveset: Psio (Psy), Headbutt (Physical), Psy Boost (Passive), Spell Master (Passive), Psy Wall (Support/Wall), Snap (Gun), Dekunda (Support/Buff), Mapsi (Psy)

ALLIES: Zenkichi, Shiho