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!

28. Into the Citadel! Masked Memories part 2

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Phantom Files, Book 2: Rise Of The Monarchs! Don't really have a lot to say this time, so let's just cut to the disclaimer for now, yeah?

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form ((excluding the OCs Kusa/Draconis, Taichi, Momoe, the OC Personas Malefor and Albus, and the Phantom Thief attire ideas for Draconis, Pendragon, and Nanako, the latter of which will be getting her code name this chapter. I do not, however, own the OC Persona Hester, nor do I own the design concept for Flare's Phantom Thief attire. Both of those belong to thalassatides (at symbol) bsky on X (or Twitter as it used to be called), who created them both, even if they have Shiho labeled with the code name 'Pearl' in the design they created, as they do some great work.

I'm using the concepts for the purposes of the story, but absolutely all creative credit and ownership of both belong to them)) and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus and Sega (at least insofar as Persona 3, 4, and 5 go. Apparently some other studio owns Persona 1 and both games of Persona 2, so whatever studio that is, they know who they are and they get credit for owning those games) as well as Koei Tecmo (at least with regards to Persona 5 Strikers. A lot of other studios made the other spin-offs, like Tactica, Phantom X, the 'Arena' games, the 'Q' games, and the 'Dancing' games. I only know that Arcworks helped with and thus has slight ownership credit for the Arena games).

Whoever owns the rest of the spin-offs alongside Sega and Atlus knows who they are, and they receive their fair amount of ownership credit! So all ownership credit to Sega, Atlus, and the various companies that own Persona 1, both of the Persona 2 games, and every spinoff that isn't Strikers, who know who they are!

And now that that really long disclaimer is dealt with, let me just say that we're closing in on being 60% of the way done with this story already, if not more! After all, there'll only be three Jails left after the Yongen Jail before we get to the home-stretch. If I can fit it in, the tenth arc will probably be an epilogue arc of sorts, where I do a lengthy little send-off of sorts for the Thieves to end the story!

That being said, let me go ahead and post below the learnsets and affinities for Hester and Sraosha (aka Flare's Persona and Nanako's Persona)! I was gonna wait for a few more chapters, but jdimock suggested I do it now, so I'm humoring him here since he does such good work on editing this story. So here's the learnsets and affinities for Hester and Sraosha!

LEARNSETS FOR HESTER AND SRAOSHA

HESTER'S LEARNSET

• Bufula (Innate)
• Memory Blow (Innate)
• Mediarama (Innate)
• Divine Grace (Innate)
• Recarm (Innate)
• Freila (Innate)
• Ice Boost (Innate)
• Nuke Boost (Innate)
• Oni-Kagura (Lv. 48)
• Samarecarm (Lv. 50)
• Soul Thief (Lv. 53)
• Bufudyne (Lv. 55)
• Brain Buster (Lv. 58)
• Mediarahan (Lv. 60)
• Nuke Amp (Lv. 63)
• Freidyne (Lv. 65)
• Angelic Grace (Lv. 68)
• Myriad Slashes (Lv. 70)
• Ice Amp (Lv. 72)
• Diamond Dust (Lv. 78)

SRAOSHA'S LEARNSET

• Zionga (Innate)
• Heat Wave (Innate)
• Divine Grace (Innate)
• Mazionga (Innate)
• Recarm (Innate)
• Elec Boost (Innate)
• Hama (Innate)
• Dodge Curse (Innate)
• Ziodyne (Level 50)
• Samarecarm (Level 53)
• Charge (Level 57)
• Hamaon (Level 59)
• Brave Blade (Level 62)
• Maziodyne (Level 64)
• Angelic Grace (Level 67)
• Salvation (Level 70)
• Elec Amp (level 73)
• Wild Thunder (Level 79)

AFFINITIES FOR HESTER AND SRAOSHA

HESTER- Physical-Neutral Gun-Neutral Fire-Weak Ice-Resist Elec-Neutral Wind-Neutral Psy-Weak Nuke-Resist Bless-Neutral Curse-Neutral

SRAOSHA- Physical-Neutral Gun-Neutral Fire-Neutral Ice-Neutral Elec-Drain Wind-Neutral Psy-Neutral Nuke-Neutral Bless-Resist Curse-Weak

And there we go! A full learnset and affinities listing for both Hester and Sraosha!

With that being said, let me also take this chance to state that contrary to my previous statements about there not being an adaptation of Tactica, I might actually do one down the line a ways.

That being said, let me state now that if (and that's a big IF) I do decide on a Tactica adaptation, it will be re-worked slightly so it starts probably a year, maybe two years, after the end of Rise Of The Monarchs. However, I'll have to re-work a LOT of Persona 5 Tactica's plot in order to accommodate the larger overall roster of Phantom Thieves that exist in Rise of the Monarchs.

This is mainly since outside of DLC, the only Thieves confirmed to be in canon Tactica are Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, and Noir! And one other new character who's less of a Phantom Thief and moreso a short-term guest ally (similar to how both Crow and Violet were initially one-off guest allies in canon Royal, before the latter joins back up alongside Violet for the final Palace of the game).

But outside of that, there is no mention of the following Thieves: Wolf, Sophie/Seeker, Crow, and Violet (granted, the latter two ARE technically in Tactica, but again, that's ONLY if you get the 'Repaint Your Heart' DLC which they want an extra almost 20 bucks for. Seems a bit pricey just to get a little extra story and a chance to use Crow and Violet in Tactica though, if you ask me.)

I'd have said no mentions of Draconis, Flare, Pendragon, *REDACTED*, and *REDACTED*, but those five only exist as Phantom Thieves in Persona 5: The Phantom Files, and in the cases of every one of the above named thieves, Phantom Files Book 2: Rise of The Monarchs. So I'd have to re-work the plot to accommodate an additional nine Phantom Thieves, since by the end of this story, there will be a total of 17 Phantom Thieves. Just putting that out there.

But anyways, that's not gonna be for a while. And besides, you're here to read more Rise Of The Monarchs and not my tangents about future/potential stories, yeah? So let's get the chapter going! Stay tuned after the chapter for a longer A/N, where I might break down potential plans for my future projects after this story. But for now, here's chapter 28!

Chapter 28- Code Names, Planning, and Return to Yongen Jail! Masked Memories part 2

(Shortly after the end of chapter 27, in the RV, on the bottom bunk, with Akane and Nanako)

As Akane laid on the bottom bunk, her eyes alternated between staring out of the nearby window and looking over the pseudo strawberry-blonde young woman laying on her, looking almost dreamily content as she slept, unaware of Akane watching her in amusement, smiling at her as she spoke up.

"Heh, look at that smile of yours. Who knew I'd manage to make someone that comfortable resting on me." Akane said in amusement as she absently ran her fingers idly through Nanako's hair out of boredom, enjoying how smooth and silky it felt to touch. After a bit, Akane kept speaking.

"I didn't think following the others into the Metaverse would take that much out of you, Nanako. But I suppose it is what it is. Despite the circumstances, I don't mind watching you sleep, since you look so pretty doing so." Akane said before slyly smiling as she leaned down to kiss Nanako on the cheek gently, smirking at the subtle hints of red now on Nanako's face from Akane's action.

After getting back into a laid-down position, Akane smiled as she watched Nanako doze peacefully, her head gently resting on Akane's chest, snuggled cutely into Akane's cleavage. After watching Nanako like this for a little while longer, Nanako's eyes slowly cracked open as she yawned and stretched in a very adorably cat-like way as she slowly sat up, blinking sleepily as she realized she was back in the real world. Akane chuckled at the adorably confused look on Nanako's face and spoke up.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty. Finally up from your nap, I see." Akane said teasingly as Nanako spoke up while giving Akane a perplexed look.

"Nap? Did I fall asleep on you?" Nanako asked as Akane nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. My dad and the others brought you back from the Metaverse, and not long after I gently pulled you into bed with me, you collapsed on me. Lucky me, though. You ended up falling asleep immediately as soon as your head hit the pillow that you made my chest into. Not that I minded, since you look so beautiful when you're sleeping." Akane said as Nanako spoke up with her cheeks reddening as she registered Akane's compliment of her while she spoke.

"W-Wait, what? You think I'm beautiful!? And you watched me sleep? You didn't try anything funny with me while I was napping on you, did you?" Nanako asked, her face going red in embarrassment at her own question. Akane giggled and spoke up, finding Nanako's question highly amusing.

"No, I didn't. Not to say that that wouldn't be tempting, because it would. But I'm not trying to make you do anything you don't want to. Though I will admit to being tempted to take off my own clothes so you could use my bare chest for a pillow, but I didn't want to embarrass you too much. As it is, I did strip the both of us down to our bras and panties so we'd be more comfortable while sleeping. The fact it led to you cutely nuzzling your face into my cleavage to use it as a pillow was just an added bonus, as well as being highly coincidental to what I did." Akane said as Nanako blushed prettily and spoke up.

"Y-Yes, well, I'm glad you refrained. I'm not sure how I'd have reacted if I'd woke up and found myself laying on a naked woman and using her breasts for a pillow. It's bad enough you were brazen enough to take most of my clothes off without asking me, as well as most of yours. Mind you, I bet your bare breasts do make for a very comfortable and smooth pillow. But that's neither here nor there. I wonder when the others are due to get back?" Nanako asked as Akane giggled and spoke up.

"Ooh, did you just admit to being curious about my breasts, Nanako? I had no idea you have such a naughty mind in there." Akane said as she leaned in to whisper suggestively into Nanako's ear.

"Just so you know, I don't mind baring it all for you anytime you like, provided we're not around a bunch of other people." Akane said as Nanako blushed bright red at that, speaking up shyly.

"Um, okay then? If you say so, Akane? But thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Now stop teasing me. You're going to start tempting me to want you if you keep being so se-err, I mean facetious." Nanako said as Akane grinned and spoke up.

"You were about to call me sexy, weren't you? It's not a crime to think I'm sexy, you know." Akane said as Nanako blushed and spoke up, torn between being annoyed at Akane's teasing remarks and her sudden inexplicable desire to straddle Akane while making out with her.

"I-I, umm, shuddup!" Nanako said before deciding to shut up Akane by reaching for Akane's bra straps and pulling her into an abrupt yet passionate kiss, making Akane blush but smile as she returned the kiss eagerly, sneakily moving Nanako so she was sitting on Akane's lap, allowing Akane to innocently run her hands along Nanako's body to get a feel for her figure while occasionally letting her hand accidentally slip under Nanako's underwear to stroke her bare skin. Nanako giggled and spoke up even as she blushed prettily from what Akane was doing, with a genuine smile on her face as she had to stop herself from enjoying what Akane was doing to her too much.

"You're really that shameless, aren't you? You're trying to seduce me right now, Akane!? What if the others come back and catch us doing that?" Nanako asked as Akane spoke up with a sly smile.

"Maybe I don't care? Besides, I'm pretty sure that out of the others, pretty much all of them suspect that we're attracted to each other, so it probably wouldn't be that big of a shock to find us in our birthday suits and ravaging each other on this bed." Akane said slyly as Nanako spoke up.

"Perhaps, but last I checked, this bed we're laying on is Ann's and possibly Shiho's bed. So is this really the place for us to be doing that?" Nanako said as Akane spoke up.

"I don't think they'd mind that much. But if you really don't want to fool around right now, I understand. And to answer your question, from what I heard from my dad and the others, they said they'd be gone for a couple of hours, but they left like an hour ago." Akane said as Nanako seemed to hesitate before speaking up.

"I see. Let's not do that now, but maybe a bit later on we can try fooling around. But I'd rather not do that when we're laying on Ann's bed, whether they'd be fine with it or not. It just feels rude to try and take advantage of their hospitality like that. However, that's not to say that I wouldn't be averse to possibly pushing you up against one of these other walls and doing stuff." Nanako said as Akane smiled slyly as she spoke up.

"Oh? But what's to stop me if I were to get up, lock the door to the RV, and push you to the ground and take you there?" Akane asked as Nanako blushed and spoke up.

"Besides the fact that I'm nearly positive either Ren, Kusa, or Goro likely took the key with them? How about the fact I'm not sure I'm ready for that just now?" Nanako said as Akane smiled and spoke up.

"Fine, I'll be good. But you owe me one for being such an irresistibly sexy tease, Nanako." Akane said slyly as she reached for Nanako's bra straps to pull her into another kiss that Nanako eagerly returned. After the two spent a few rather enjoyable minutes happily making out, they sprang apart as they heard the RV door open, hurriedly fixing their dissheveled underwear, which had partially come undone in Akane's case, and making sure the sheets on the bottom bunk were still neatly made.

After the door opened, the rest of the group walked in, both Futaba and Ryuji grinning at the sight of the two red-faced girls currently wearing identical blushes on their faces at their current relative lack of clothes. Sumire, for her part, sighed but just shook her head as she spoke up.

"Why am I not surprised that we'd come back to catch the two of you half-naked and kissing? At least you're not doing that around Sophia. I feel like she's already confused enough about stuff as it is." Sumire said as Sojiro smirked and spoke up.

"You say that like she didn't totally educate herself on that stuff with Futaba's internet access. After all, it's not a secret that Futaba has no child-lock on her phone to stop Sophia from looking at that sort of thing." Sojiro said as Ren spoke up.

"Yes, well, let's not try to make Sumire angrier at Futaba than she might already be, shall we? Besides, I didn't think you were trying to egg Sumire on this much, Sojiro." Ren said as Goro spoke up.

"To be honest with you, Ren? Neither did I. But then again, Sojiro probably realizes that Futaba's probably gonna inevitably end up pissing Sumire off enough to get either beat up or teased back. Personally, I feel like Sumire would be in her rights to tease Futaba by kissing Ren around her, or something like that." Goro said with a grin as a red-faced Sumire spoke up.

"Yeah, no. I'm not trying to accidentally re-engage Futaba's bi-curious phase, thanks." Sumire said as Ann giggled and spoke up.

"That's okay, Sumire. I'm pretty sure she's moved on to having girl-crushes on both myself and Shiho by now, anyways. The only reason we're not encouraging it is because I think Futaba and Kusa are super-adorable together." Ann said as Kusa spoke up with an amused smirk.

"True, but I believe I've said before that I don't mind if Taba fools around with girls as long as I don't have to worry about her leaving me for said girls. Besides, I heard what you and Shiho said the other day about wanting a threesome with Taba. And I have no issues with that, since I know you two wouldn't take advantage of her. Mind you, I also would have a hard time saying I'd join in too, if only because I've already said that I view Ann as being like a sister to me." Kusa said as Ann giggled and spoke up.

"Fair enough. However, who's to say you have to do anything with me? You could just keep it to Shiho and Futaba?" Ann pointed out as Kusa spoke up with wide eyes.

"That...is actually a very good point, Ann. I feel like I'm excluding you, but it's definitely an option to consider. Besides, I'm sure Ren would rather have Futaba be with you two than having her continue to try and hook up with Sumire. I recall Sumire teasing Ren once about possibly being bi-curious, but never acting on it. So who's to say that Sumire couldn't be tempted to mess with a girl on the sly at some point? Err, but that would only happen with Ren's permission, of course." Kusa said teasingly as Sumire blushed bright red and spoke up while lightly smacking Kusa on the arm before cutely pouting as she spoke up.

"Stop teasing me, Kusa! Besides, I was teasing Futaba when I said that before. I only have eyes for Ren." Sumire said as Ren smiled and spoke up.

"Relax, beautiful. You know I love you. And all I care about is making you happy." Ren said as Sumire smiled before happily kissing Ren as Yusuke spoke up.

"Umm, how did we go from getting ready to induct Nanako into the group to a bunch of potentially debauch talk about everyone's sexual preferences?" Yusuke asked as Morgana spoke up.

"Good question, Yusuke. Personally, I'd say it was probably Akane's fault, since she was probably the one to entice Lady Nanako into kissing her. I could see Akane being a take-charge girl like that." Morgana said as Akane giggled and spoke up.

"Good guess, Morgana. Can I help that Nanako's too irresistibly beautiful for her own good, and that she makes it way too easy to be attracted to her?" Akane said slyly as Nanako pouted and spoke up while adorably blushing.

"Akane? I hate you so much right now." Nanako said, childishly crossing her arms over her chest and pouting as the others laughed before Shiho spoke up.

"It's okay, Nanako. Akane might be teasing you now, but you can always get her back by pranking her later in a way she won't expect." Shiho said slyly as Sumire, Sojiro, Ann, Zenkichi, Kusa, and Goro all spoke up.

"SHIHO!" Sumire, Sojiro, Ann, Zenkichi, Kusa, and Goro all rebuked Shiho as Ren spoke up.

"If you're going to talk Nanako into naughty revenge schemes, at least don't do it when Sophia's in earshot, Shiho. I'd rather not have to stop Sumire from attacking you if you corrupt Sophia with naughty stuff." Ren said as Sumire was now the one to pout as Makoto sighed and spoke up, massaging her forehead in annoyance as she spoke.

"Oy, vey. Can we stay on topic, please? I believe we wanted to formally add Nanako into the group?" Makoto said as Ryuji spoke up with a nod.

"Truth, babe! Work now, play later." Ryuji said as Makoto nodded approvingly to Ryuji's words and spoke up.

"Well said, Ryuji." Makoto said as Zenkichi frowned and spoke up.

"I realize that she's almost a grown woman, but do I have to have mental images of Akane being a wild child? There are some things a father doesn't need to see, and his daughter's intimate life is one of those things." Zenkichi said as Sojiro patted Zenkichi on the shoulder and spoke up.

"I feel you there, Zenkichi. I shudder to imagine how much worse off the both of us would be if it'd been Futaba that Akane was in love with instead of Nanako. As it is, I wouldn't be surprised if either Nanako or Akane, if not both of them, finds themselves curious enough to try and rope Futaba into a threesome at some point. I'm nearly positive I overheard them discussing a foursome with Ann and Shiho once." Sojiro said as Ann giggled and spoke up.

"Can you really be mad at Akane for having great taste in girls to be attracted to, though? After all, she chose myself, Shiho, Futaba, and Nanako to have crushes on, and we're all very sexy women. So if anything, I feel like you should be proud of how refined and discerning your daughter's tastes in potential girlfriends is, Zenkichi." Ann said as Futaba spoke up with a pumped fist.

"Mwehehe! Hear, hear!" Futaba said as Goro groaned and muttered what sounded like 'please shoot me into the sun' under his breath as Haru smiled and spoke up, having heard him.

"It's all right, Goro. Don't let the thirsty who-err, I mean horny girls fool you. They mean well. But in all seriousness, let's stay on task." Haru said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone, which was in Sumire's hand, preceded Sophia speaking up with a smile on her face.

"I take it we're ready to bring our new teammate into the ranks of the Phantom Thieves, then?" Sophia asked as the others nodded, and once Akane and Nanako had gotten dressed properly while everyone was seated, Ren spoke up.

"Well, since Nanako managed to not only awaken to her Persona, but also save us from a dire situation, I think she's more than earned a place in our ranks. Now all that's left is to decide on a code name for her." Ren said as Akane spoke up.

"Hmm, well, is there a way to get an image of Nanako's Phantom Thief attire on display as a reference tool, so we can have an easier time deciding on her code name?" Akane asked as Yusuke smiled and spoke up.

"I can always do a sketch of it from memory. Would that be acceptable?" Yusuke asked as Akane nodded and Yusuke got to work sketching Nanako in her Phantom Thief attire. After he was finished, Akane smiled and spoke up.

"Well, if nothing else, her outfit is very skin-tight. Especially the body suit that went under the unitard. But the unitard looks pretty good too." Akane said slyly as Nanako blushed and spoke up.

"Akane, behave! We're trying to figure out my code name, not listen to you wax poetic about how good I look in uniform, no matter how flattering your words are. Also, from what I understand, everyone's Phantom Thief attire is like this, or at least all of the women's attire. Not sure about the men's though." Nanako said, trying to keep a stern look on her face, even if she was internally smiling from Akane's praise. After Akane apologized, the rest of the group cheered approvingly to Ren's suggestion and started brainstorming possible name ideas for Nanako's code name. After a bit, Sojiro spoke up.

"Hmm. Well, given how angelic-based her Phantom Thief attire is, and the fact she can use a bow and arrows, I'd be inclined to suggest Cupid as her code name. Y'know, with the whole shooting arrows through Kunino-Sagiri's heart and all? I feel like it's an appropriate enough code name." Sojiro said as some of the group seemed to consider Sojiro's suggestion, before a groan drew the group's attention to Goro as he spoke up.

"Forgive me Sojiro-san, but that is one of the corniest things I've ever heard. While it is true that Nanako's Showtime and her All-Out Attack both seem like something out of a song, I don't know that I agree with Cupid as Nanako's code name." Goro said as Nanako spoke up.

"Honestly? I'm not sure I agree with it either. If nothing else, I can just imagine how much both Yosuke and Teddie would tease me if I let my code name be Cupid. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to veto your suggestion, Sojiro. But I like that you at least offered an idea." Nanako said as Sojiro nodded his understanding as a silence fell over the group for a time before Morgana grinned and spoke up.

"Ooh, I know! If we're going for a heaven-based theme with Lady Nanako's code name, why not go for the literal approach like we did with Skull's code name, and use Angel for her code name." Morgana said as at least five different voices spoke up in unison.

"WHAT!?" Goro, Kusa, Sumire, Ren, and Ryuji all said as the latter kept speaking.

"Was that a serious suggestion, Morgana!? Hell no! Aside from the fact that RenRen once used a Persona called Angel, I can't hear that name and not remember those creepy guys who tried to hit on me a few years ago in Shinjuku." Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up after having to resist the urge to laugh.

"Ryuji has a point. Sorry for having to stop myself from laughing just now, but your reaction just now made me remember your reaction from back then, when you ran off like a bat out of hell after those guys chased you off with a dress, Ryuji. What they did is really screwed up, but you do have to admit your expression at the time was pretty funny." Kusa said as Ann spoke up with a soft gasp of realization.

"What are you guys-? OH! Are you referring to that incident you mentioned before in a group chat that you said you'd explain in detail to me but forgot to explain it then, Kusa?" Ann asked as Kusa winced and spoke up.

"Yeah, that'd be the one. Sorry about that, but the stuff that happened right after that kinda drove the incident out of my mind. But in my defense, I think I can be forgiven for being a bit forgetful at that time, especially after considering who ended up becoming a big part of the group around that time and all." Kusa said, giving a fond smile to a suddenly blushing Futaba before wincing as he turned to Makoto and kept speaking.

"And I also have to apologize once again to both you and Ryuji for how much I bit your head off back then, Makoto. Even if I was trying to stick up for Futaba, I could've been way less of a dick to you guys over it. All I can say in my own defense is that guys in love can do stupid things when protecting those they care about." Kusa said as Makoto smiled and spoke up.

"I forgave you for that a while ago, Kusa. But I appreciate that you own what you did. That's very mature of you. I'll also admit I could've been a bit more understanding of Futaba's desires back then too. But at least we learned from that experience, right?" Makoto said as Kusa nodded and Nanako spoke up.

"Ryuji and Kusa's reactions aside, I don't feel like Angel is a good code name for me either, if only because of the fact that Big Bro would probably put his foot down since both Teddie and Big Sis often refer to me as a little angel anyways." Nanako said as Morgana winced and spoke up.

"Oof. I didn't realize that when I suggested that. Sorry, Nanako." Morgana said as another silence fell over the group before Yusuke spoke up with a smirk.

"Hmm, given how artistically divine Nanako's performances were previously, why not go with something suitably divine as her code name? For example, what if we gave Nanako-san the code name Aphrodite?" Yusuke suggested as a lot of the group gave Yusuke a mix of confused and/or wide-eyed looks of shock at his suggestion before Futaba leaned in to whisper into Kusa's ear so only he could hear.

"Wait, wasn't Aphrodite a goddess of love and/or fertility?" Futaba asked as Kusa whispered into Futaba's ear so only she could hear.

"Close, but not quite. I believe I recall reading something once about Aphrodite being considered the goddess of sexual love and beauty. So, while she IS divine, I'm pretty sure that's not necessarily the type of divine that Nanako's going for in her code name. Then again, maybe Akane would approve, given how much she seems to be attached to Nanako recently?" Kusa said as Futaba stifled a giggle as she nodded her agreement before Sumire's eyes narrowed as she spoke up.

"Hold on. Aphrodite IS divine, yes. But if I recall what we learned about her in school correctly, she was a symbol of sexual love. Pretty sure that's not what Nanako wants her code name to represent, Yusuke. Also, is that REALLY something we want to be calling her around Sophia?" Sumire pointed out dryly as Goro smirked and spoke up.

"Nice. For once, I don't have to be the killjoy. But at the same time, I wonder if Akane-san would actually approve of that code name, particularly given her and Nanako's recent activities?" Goro said with an amused smirk as three different voices spoke up at the same time, two of which belonged to red-faced girls.

"NOT HELPING, GORO!" Sumire, Akane, and Nanako all yelled out as the former kept speaking while glaring at Goro with an unimpressed frown on her face.

"Also, don't be mentioning Akane and Nanako's activities around Sophia, please. It's bad enough Futaba exposes her to that sort of stuff. I don't need her to hear about real-life instances of it." Sumire said as Goro winced and spoke up.

"Right, sorry. I always forget that I have to censor myself around Sophia. You can tell I'm not used to having kids in earshot when I speak. Anyways, that being said, are you sure you're not a mother? You've already got the natural maternal instincts down to a T, Sumire-san." Goro said as both Ren and Sumire's jaws dropped at Goro's playful jab before the former huffed and spoke up.

"Shut up, Goro. If Sumire and I decide to be parents for Sophia, that's our choice, and not for you to comment on. It's bad enough that I had to keep from punching Ryuji the last time he tried to chime in on that subject. I still can't believe he thought it was a good idea to ask me why I didn't just take Sumire to bed and stick a Sophia in her. Like, really? Who says something like that in front of impressionable kids?" Ren said with a huff as Morgana grinned and spoke up.

"And you already sound like a natural dad, Ren. Maybe Sumire was onto something when she called you 'Papa Joker' before?" Morgana joked as both Kusa and Futaba's eyes widened at the twin death glares Sumire and Ren aimed at Morgana for his joke. However, before either could light into Morgana, a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded Sophia speaking up with a smile.

"I think she said that to tease Ren more than anything, Morgana. But as far as Nanako's code name, why not go with a term that's synonymous with angels?" Sophia suggested as the others all pondered the idea, as it wasn't bad. Eventually, Zenkichi smirked and spoke up.

"Good idea, Sophia. And, to be honest, Now that I think about it, your suggestion reminded me of something I heard once. Apparently some types of angels are referred to as seraphims. And given how angelic Nanako's attire appears to be, I wonder if we could get away with using Seraphim for her code name?" Zenkichi suggested as several blank looks were aimed at Zenkichi, confused by his suggestion. Eventually, a soft yet almost melodic giggle drew everyone's attention to Nanako as she spoke up.

"Seraphim, huh? That's actually not too bad. And I'm pretty sure that's a term for the highest order of angelic beings? So perhaps it's actually rather appropriate, given I felt like I got a pretty top-tier Persona from my Awakening. Yeah, I think Seraphim could work quite nicely." Nanako said with an approving nod as Ren spoke up.

"In that case, let's put it to a vote. All in favor of Nanako's code name being Seraphim?" Ren said as literally every hand in the room, even Sophia's, went up in agreement. Morgana smirked as he spoke up.

"Looks like it's unanimous. So much so that even Lady Sophia agrees!" Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"Indeed. Well, since we seem to be in agreement, and since she seems to approve of it, Nanako's code name shall be Seraphim going forward. I think at this point, there's only one thing left to say. Welcome to the Phantom Crew, Seraphim." Ren said as Nanako smiled and spoke up as she shook Ren's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Joker. Glad to be an official part of the team." Nanako said happily as Akane spoke up.

"I'm happy for you, Nanako. Of course, now that just leaves me without one of those Personas that you guys used, let alone a code name." Akane said with a frown as Zenkichi put his hand on his daughter's shoulder and spoke up.

"Cheer up, Akane. You might not have the same things we do yet, but you do have friends who'll support you no matter what. Not to mention, you have Nanako, who seems to be unable to pry herself away from you. I know you two said you're figuring out how you feel about each other, but I think you might already have that figured out. And for what it's worth? Even if Nanako's friends don't approve of it, you two have my blessing if you decide that the two of you want to be more than friends." Zenkichi said honestly as Nanako smiled and spoke up.

"Thank you, Zenkichi. That means a lot. But truth be told, I think I do know how I feel about Akane. I just don't want to make Akane feel like she has to rush into anything. Besides, if I'm being totally honest? I also fear that some of my friends might take it rather badly if I did decide to ask Akane to be my girlfriend." Nanako said honestly as Akane smiled and spoke up while giving Nanako a one-armed hug of comfort, ignoring the amused smiles she got from both Futaba and Sumire for her actions.

"And what if I don't care what they think? Sure, they're like family to you, but if they're so close-minded that they'd take issue with you finding happiness with another woman, then that's their issue. And if you do happen to feel more than friendship towards me, I'm fine with that. But I think we can wait until after you help the others with their mission before we derail things by discussing our feelings. After all, I feel like it'd be so much hotter if we finally hooked up as part of a celebration of a job well-done, rather than us sneaking a hook-up while you're on the job." Akane said kindly as Nanako smiled and spoke up while hugging Akane.

"Akane? Thank you. And you're right. I can take my time and figure things out. I'll just have to hope that Big Sis is at least open-minded enough to help talk Dad and Big Bro down when and if I do come out to them. Because, if I'm being honest with myself? I think what we've done so far tells me that at the very least, I'm bisexual. I almost said lesbian, but then I recalled that I not only have feelings for you, but also for Morgana, so I can't be strictly lesbian since Morgana is a guy.

Granted, Morgana did all but admit that he likes Sophia, so I don't think he and I would really have much of a shot together anyways. But I'm fine with that, since he deserves whatever happiness he can find, even if it is with an AI, of all things. Err, no offense to you, Sophia. But you have to admit that you and Morgana being together is a bit unusual." Nanako said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded a smiling Sophia speaking up.

"I understand. There are a lot of unusual things about mine and Morgana's relationship, with me being an AI in the likeness of a young girl, and Morgana being a cat turned human. Granted, Morgana always insisted he wasn't a cat, and as it turns out, he was right to do so. But even so, he used to have a feline form, so ours is more than likely what one would consider the textbook definition of a 'side-show attraction' among relationships." Sophia said as Morgana spoke up.

"And yet the only one bothered by that seems to be you, Lady Sophia. As for me, I could care less what people think of who I like, much less what I look like." Morgana said confidently as Ryuji high-fived Morgana and spoke up.

"Truth, Morgana! If people have issue with you having a crush on Sophia, then screw 'em! As long as you and Sophia are happy together, that's the important thing." Ryuji said wisely as Sojiro spoke up.

"Well said, Ryuji. People can say what they want, but at the end of the day? The important thing is how you and your girl feel at the end of the day, when it's just the two of you cuddling underneath the covers." Sojiro said sagely as Kusa smirked and spoke up. *1*

"Sojiro has a point, you know. The important thing is that you two are happy with each other." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"Precisely. Well, now that we've settled Nanako's code name and given her ample time to rest, do we want to get back to work on that Jail? Unfortunately, you'll have to remain behind while the rest of us go, since you still have no means of self-defense, Akane." Ren said as Akane smiled and spoke up.

"That's fine. I'm sure I can keep myself occupied while you're gone somehow." Akane said as the others nodded before the Thieves headed towards the nearby cabin so Ren could use his phone to pull them back into the Metaverse to resume their infiltration of the Yongen Jail. Once Akane was alone in the RV, she sighed and spoke up.

"Please be careful, you guys. Come back safe and sound, Dad. Same with you as well, Nanako. I don't know what I would do if either of you got hurt or worse." Akane said to herself as she then waited for the others to return from the Yongen Jail...

(In the Metaverse, at the entrance of the Yongen Jail, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, Draconis, Seeker, Pendragon, Flare, Wolf, and Seraphim)

After landing back at the entrance of the Yongen Jail, the group looked around as Seraphim winced and spoke up.

"Wow, I didn't really have a chance to look around while I was following you guys before, but this place really does look like a desolate pit of despair and misery. Yet the Monarch of this place called it his 'Citadel of Anarchy'? Am I the only one who thinks that seems a bit odd?" Seraphim asked as Queen spoke up with a shake of her head.

"No, we all find that unusual as well. But for now, let's keep going since the front gates are open still." Queen said, gesturing to where the previously-barred gates were now open, presumably as a result of having defeated Namatame's Shadow and Kunino-Sagiri. As the group walked inside, Crow and Noir exchanged winces as they saw what was unmistakably a group of big, burly Shadows standing over a group of chained-up cognitive beings, keeping them working. As the group hung back to listen, they heard one of the guards speaking up.

"You think this is a time to be lolly-gagging, do you? Guess again! Our wise and beloved dictator has given us strict orders to ensure that you miserable spineless worms work your filthy fingers to the bone in order to build character for the rest of your miserable lives. Maybe that'll discourage you from trying to incite riots and anarchy in this facility!" Joker heard one of the burly Shadows, who had a surly expression, say as a second burly Shadow spoke up.

"And if you don't want to listen? We have orders to execute anyone who steps out of line! So if you want to live another day, you'll do as you're told! Got it!?" The short-tempered Shadow said as the group of fearful prisoners could only nod meekly as the group shook their heads disapprovingly and kept moving until they were out of the Shadows' earshot, at which point Skull spoke up with a pissed-off look on his face.

"DUDE! WHAT THE EFF WAS THAT!? I get the Monarch here is probably some crazy friggin' dictator or somethin', but that's no call to make people work in inhumane conditions!" Skull said as Seeker spoke up.

"Technically, they'd be inhumane if those were actual humans, and not just cognitive beings. But I get your point." Seeker said as Crow frowned and spoke up.

"Somehow, I get the feeling the Monarch of this place doesn't care about things like being humane or decent. I suspect they only care about ruling with an iron fist. But we'll have to wait until we see the Monarch to see if my theory is correct or not." Crow said as Pendragon spoke up.

"Agreed. And to be honest? I could go several lifetimes without having to see that thing Draconis and I had to fight off again." Pendragon said as Violet spoke up.

"I don't think the Monarch will waste their time bringing back the Wakaba-Sphinx for a third time, so you shouldn't have to worry about it anymore, Pendragon." Violet said as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"I agree with Violet. I feel like we're more likely to see enemies we've not beaten yet from our past. From what I've tallied so far, we still have seven other Palace Rulers we've previously beaten that we could potentially run into again." Joker said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"I think you mean four other Palace Rulers, Joker. After all, Pendragon and I beat the ruler of Oracle's Palace when Pendragon awakened to Kohryu's power. In addition, most of us defeated Kamoshida's Shadow again during the Okinawa Jail when Flare awakened to Hester's power. Also, I don't see the Monarch here being foolish enough to try and revive Yaldabaoth, much less try to resurrect the Shadow of Noir's father, and I don't think Doctor Maruki had a Shadow to revive. Sure, the Monarch could attempt to revive Azathoth and/or Adam Kadmon, but would that accomplish much without Doctor Maruki to wield them?" Draconis asked as Wolf spoke up.

"I'm guessing all those names you just dropped are past Palace Rulers you guys fought before myself, Flare, Seraphim, Pendragon, and Seeker joined?" Wolf said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"True, plus Crow, Violet, and Noir were also not part of the group yet in at least the cases of our first four Palace Rulers." Mona added as Oracle spoke up.

"Good point. Not counting the Wakaba-Sphinx, Kamoshida, Yaldabaoth, Maruki, or Okumura, that leaves the Shadows of Madarame, Kaneshiro, Shido, and Queen's sister as potential opponents for us to face." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Not to mention that clone of mine who said he'd be back, along with possibly a cognitive re-creation of Akane's Shadow." Draconis said as Wolf winced and spoke up.

"Please don't bring up the possibility of having to fight my daughter's Shadow again. I don't think any of us, let alone me, would want to go through that again." Wolf added as Seraphim spoke up.

"I agree, I know wasn't there for it, but I don't know what I would do if I had to fight Akane's Shadow. With that being said, do you guys have any idea where we should go? Since you guys have more experience than I do." Seraphim asked as Joker spoke up.

"Ah right. I forgot that you, Wolf, and Flare weren't present when we tackled the first three Jails. If it's anything like them, I don't think we're going to be able to head straight toward the Monarch, let alone infiltrate his actual fortress. I think our best bet is to try to find this Jail's Prison Keeps." Joker said as Flare spoke up.

"Prison Keeps? What's that?" Flare asked as Draconis spoke up.

"Prison Keeps are where the Shadows of those whose Desires got stolen get imprisoned. In addition, that's also where a Monarch keeps the Jail's cores, which are items that correlate to the Monarch of the Jail. If we can hopefully find three Prison Keeps and take their cores, then we might be able to have a better chance of accessing the main Citadel." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"Good point, Draconis. That said, now that we have Seraphim with us, we have enough for three teams of five. As such, for the time being, I will expand the group size from four people to five. In Group A, which I will personally lead, I want myself, Seraphim, Flare, Wolf, and Pendragon. In Group B, which Draconis will lead, I want Draconis, Mona, Seeker, Violet, and Fox. In Group C, which Queen will lead, I want Queen, Skull, Panther, Noir, and Crow. Finally, Oracle will assume the role of navigator as she usually does, acting as a go-between and coordinating our efforts while we go through this Jail. Any objections?" Joker asked as no one raised any objections and the others nodded before splitting into the indicated groups and kept moving. After a bit, the group found themselves walking towards an open archway leading towards what looked to be a raised-up birdcage, making Fox speak up in surprise.

"Truly? Have we found the first Prison Keep of this Jail already?" Fox asked as at that moment, the intercoms blared on as if in response to Fox's question.

"Would you look at that? It looks like you came back into my Citadel of Anarchy after all, Phantom Thieves! I'm impressed. And I see you brought your new ally along too. Not that it makes much of a difference given how many of you there are, since you'll all fall here one by one in the end. But to answer the question of the one you called Fox? Yes, you've found the first of my Prison Keeps. But don't expect to have an easy time getting the items that are contained within. I am not as complacent as the other Monarchs you've faced thus far, nor am I as overconfident. I have expertly-trained guards stationed at each of my Prison Keeps. You'll have to defeat each of them to get the items you need to reach my inner sanctum.

After all, it is only by passing the Tests of Cunning, Charisma, and Confidence that you can open the way to my lair. And even then, I think you'll find there's another obstacle to get past if you wish to reach me. And if by some chance, you do reach me? You will then get to face me directly. However, if you get that far, be aware that I will not go down as easily as the rest of the Monarchs you've bested thus far. So be sure you're thoroughly prepared for each of my trials. Good luck, Phantom Thieves! You're gonna need it! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The voice of the Monarch of Yongen Jail echoed, making the group frown as they decided to head into the Prison Keep to see what they were dealing with. Once inside, the group gasped as they saw a tower with a birdcage on top of it. However, unlike other Prison Keeps, there appeared to be no sign of a staircase leading up for them to take. Panther frowned at this and spoke up.

"Are you serious!? This Jail's Monarch has a Prison Keep that's impossible to climb!? UGH!" Panther said in annoyance as Queen spoke up.

"I doubt it's impossible to climb it, Panther. Odds are there's a guard here somewhere that we have to defeat in order to proceed, if I had to guess." Queen said as a familiar voice, at least to some of the group, spoke up.

"Heh, good guess, Queen. Or would you prefer that I address you as the younger sister of the beautiful and talented Sae Niijima?" The group heard, slowly turning as one until they saw a familiar figure approaching, slowly clapping his hands as his purple-skinned face split into a smirk, his hands smoothing down the wrinkles from his neatly pressed silvery-grey business suit with black lining and a purple tie, under which you could see a white button-up dress shirt thanks to the suit jacket being worn open along with having black shoes, his striking yellow eyes standing out in contrast to his dark black hair. Joker, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Draconis, and Mona all had horrified looks on their faces as they recognized the figure approaching them. Pendragon then turned to the seven horrified Thieves and spoke up.

"Why do you seven look like you've seen a ghost?" Pendragon asked as Joker answered.

"It's because we are currently seeing one right now, Pendragon. Much like before when we fought Kamoshida's Shadow, we appear to once again be put in the position of facing another of our former foes that we defeated during our initial run as Phantom Thieves. In this case, this is the Shadow of our third target, one Junya Kaneshiro, who we only managed to outwit and beat with Queen's help. Ironically, it was during Kaneshiro's Palace that she awakened to her Persona and joined the team." Joker said as both Wolf and Crow spoke up with wide-eyed looks of surprise on their faces.

"JUNYA KANESHIRO!?" Wolf and Crow asked in surprise as the former of the two kept speaking.

"As in the Kaneshiro that even the SIU had trouble with? I recall that even PubSec had a hard time dealing with this guy a few years ago. Truth be told, I still can't believe you were able to succeed where even the most elite of Tokyo's crime-fighting units failed." Wolf said as Crow spoke up.

"Oh, you have no idea how much grief Kaneshiro gave the SIU, Wolf. I recall many different occasions where I had to listen to Sae-san venting about how difficult Kaneshiro was to capture before he finally turned himself in to the police, seemingly of his own accord." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Joker's correct, but he left out the part where Kaneshiro took incriminating photos of us with his phone." Draconis said as Queen spoke up.

"Not to mention, blackmailing us to bring him three million yen." Queen said as Skull followed up.

"All while tying Queen up and trying to force her to sell herself to make the aforementioned three million yen, and then trying to trick us into paying back twice what we owed him once we went into his Palace." Skull said as Fox continued Skull and Queen's explanation.

"All because we managed to get to the bottom of his drug-smuggling ring he had going in Shibuya." Fox said as Mona spoke up.

"And let's not forget the part where he threatened to cause problems for Queen's sister, who he apparently used to be in a relationship with, if we didn't comply." Mona said as Panther spoke up.

"To sum up, this guy is straight up the worst sort of greedy scum imaginable." Panther said as Wolf and Pendragon nodded before Seraphim spoke up.

"I see. I'm sorry, but what exactly did Queen's sister see in that guy if she used to date him? Or was she even in her right mind when she agreed to be his girlfriend?" Seraphim asked as Draconis spoke up with a smirk while high-fiving Seraphim, ignoring the amused looks on the faces of Crow, Joker, Violet, and Oracle while he spoke.

"THANK YOU! Seraphim knows what's up! I'm sorry Queen, but even you have to admit that your sister dating Kaneshiro was a bit of a questionable judgment call on her part. Not trying to besmirch her honor or anything like that, just calling it how it is." Draconis said as Wolf spoke up with a frown.

"Odds are she probably felt sorry for him if she agreed to date him. That, or he made her an offer she couldn't refuse, if any of you gets my drift." Wolf said as everyone else except Pendragon, Oracle, Joker, and Draconis all gave him confused looks before Violet frowned and spoke up.

"Are you trying to suggest he seduced her into dating him, Wolf!? If so, kindly don't mention that around Seeker, please." Violet said as Pendragon smirked and spoke up.

"Pretty sure that was a mafia reference, not an innuendo. But sure, Violet. We'll agree with you, for Joker's sake if nothing else." Pendragon said as Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up.

"Not that I don't find all this colored commentary absolutely riveting, because I do, but I am contractually obligated by the decree of this Jail's Monarch to point out that you have to defeat me if you want what's in this Prison Keep." Kaneshiro's Shadow said as Draconis scoffed and spoke up.

"Riiight, because you'll totally face us yourself. Last time we fought you, you had a bunch of your hired goons face us before we basically forced you to face us yourself. Excuse me for not immediately believing a word that a coward like you has to say, Kaneshiro." Draconis said as Kaneshiro's Shadow laughed and spoke up.

"Very perceptive, as usual. I don't have to fight you myself when I can get these guys to do it for me. And the best part? I didn't have to pay them a dime! They were programmed to obey my commands without question! Come forth!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said, snapping his fingers as a pair of dog-like Shadows materialized before shifting forms into what appeared to be orange flaming tigers with black stripes, causing Seraphim's eyes to widen in recognition behind her mask as she spoke up.

"No way! I remember my Big Bro summoning one of those when he fought Namatame-san before. I think he called it a 'Gdon' if I recall correctly?" Seraphim said as Noir spoke up.

"Oracle, can you be able to identify their affinities? From the looks of it, we never fought these Shadows before during our initial run as Phantom Thieves." Noir asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Already on it, Noir. It says here that each of these things are also referred to as a 'Well-Trained Hellcat'. It also says they have a weakness to Ice attacks, but can absorb Fire-type damage." Oracle said wisely as Joker spoke up with a nod after seeing Kaneshiro's Shadow summon a pair of well-built guard Shadows with riot shields to protect him.

"Got it. Everyone except for Fox, Flare, Wolf, Seeker, and Seraphim can help me take out the big guys, while the five I just listed can take on the Gdons." Joker said as the group nodded as a fight began! Once the fight began, Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up with a sneer on his face.

"Heh, just look at all of you. Scurrying around trying to fight your way through the hordes I've summoned to face you. Truly pathetic. And even if you do somehow defeat them, you still have me to deal with. And I won't go down so easily this time! You might have tricked me with the whole throwing something pricey down to distract me before, but that won't work this time!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said as Queen scoffed and spoke up.

"Riiiight. We'll believe that when we see it." Queen said as Mona spoke up.

"And when you say we'll have you to deal with, I'm sure you mean you and that giant piggy robot you used before. Which if so, I'm impressed you were able to get it repaired, given how badly we wrecked it when we fought you before. Speaking of which, how DID you manage to return? Last we checked, not only did you return to your real self, but you seemed quite purified when we saw you again in that prison down in the Depths of Mementos about three and a half to four years ago. How do you explain that?" Mona asked as Fox spoke up with a scoff.

"If it's like the last few enemies we encountered, odds are he had help from a certain 'powerful being' to pull it off. But that's just a guess on my part." Fox said as Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up.

"Good guess. But only partly true. I'm here right now because the Monarch of this place brought me here and offered me a high-paying position if I agreed to safeguard some important item he placed in this Keep. Considering he threw in the added bonus of being able to punish any uppity prisoners, I saw no reason to refuse him. So here we are now. Any other stupid questions?" Kaneshiro's Shadow said as Draconis huffed and spoke up.

"No. And the only thing stupid here is you, so I'll thank you to not insult us with such factually inaccurate slander and lies." Draconis said as Seeker tilted her head to the side and spoke up.

"Is it really slander if he's not overly insulting anyone, though?" Seeker asked as Violet spoke up.

"Yes and no. It is slander because he's massively insulting most of us by calling us stupid. But it's not because he's not going after any one person specifically." Violet said as the group kept fighting the tigers. After a bit, Seeker jumped back in shock as she saw one of the Gdons try to leap at her and nibble on her wrist, smacking it on the nose with her yo-yos like they were a rolled-up newspaper as she spoke up.

"HEY! I'm not on the menu! You're a very bad kitty!" Seeker said as Mona frowned as he saw the Gdon try to attack Seeker, leaping in to blast it backwards into a wall with Diego's strongest wind moves, where it slumped over and dissolved into black mist. *2*

"Hmph! Serves you right for not only daring to try and attack Lady Seeker, but also giving all respectable cats everywhere a bad name by your existence!" Mona said as Violet just sighed and shook her head in exasperation, not surprised by Mona's predictable simping. Seeker, for her part, giggled and spoke up.

"Look at you acting like my knight in shining armor, Mona. Thank you." Seeker said while kissing Mona gratefully on the cheek, smiling at how red Mona's face got afterwards. At the same time, Fox and Flare combined their strongest Ice moves to eliminate the other Gdon and the minor enemies that were with it. At the same time, Joker and Draconis combined their best Almighty moves to eradicate the other minor Shadows, leaving Kaneshiro's Shadow to blink in surprise as he spoke up.

"Not bad. Looks like I'll have to deal with you busters myself after all. So be it. I guess I'm going to have to bring out the big guns, and don't expect me to be taken down so easily compared to last time. TIME TO ROLL OUT ONCE AGAIN! COME, PIGGYTRON!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said, snapping his fingers as a giant robotic silver pig appeared, Kaneshiro's Shadow climbed inside of it thanks to a conveniently placed ladder he had installed on the side of Piggytron, smirking as he spoke up from the inside of Piggytron, whose eyes glowed a distinct shade of red as it glared at the Phantom Thieves.

"Gyahahahahaha! What now, Phantom Thieves!? Get a load of the new and improved Piggytron! It's not the same as it was before, and neither am I." Kaneshiro's Shadow said as Crow cringed and spoke up.

"What the heck is that overgrown eyesore supposed to be!?" Crow asked as Flare spoke up.

"From the looks of its design, it seems to be in the shape of a pig." Flare said as Panther spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Flare. Believe it or not, it's a giant mechanical pig robot that Kaneshiro's Shadow tried to run us over with the first time we fought him. We only avoided being run over back then thanks to Mona's quick thinking in using valuable items to distract him. But if we believe what Kaneshiro's Shadow just said, that trick won't work this time." Panther said as Crow and Wolf smirked, the former speaking up.

"I see. Well, even though it appears to be massive and annoyingly resilient, we can probably overwhelm it if we make good use of buffs and debuffs, and possibly also Triad Specials if necessary. So it's not like we're without ways to damage that thing." Crow said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"True. Let's just do our best against that thing, regardless." Draconis said as the fight against Piggytron began! As it started, Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up.

"Afraid of the new and improved Piggytron? Heh, ya should be. Let me demonstrate what it can do!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said as he snapped his fingers and Piggytron stood on four legs before its' snout opened up and a giant missile protruded from the hole where the snout was. Kaneshiro's Shadow smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, have some of this! FIRE AWAY, PIGGYTRON!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said as Piggytron fired the missile, which flew towards the group, only just missing a direct hit but causing an explosion that knocked Queen, Seeker, Violet, Noir, and Panther off their feet, only to have all five blush in embarrassment as they were caught by their respective boyfriends/crushes/girlfriends bridal-style and gently set back on their feet as Joker frowned at Kaneshiro's Shadow and spoke up.

"Okay, really? I can see trying to beat us, but shooting a giant fricking missile at us!? Are you out of your friggin' mind, Kaneshiro!? You could've killed all of us!" Joker snapped as Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up.

"That was the idea!" Kaneshiro's Shadow said as he started steering Piggytron around, making it try to run each of the Thieves over, only barely missing most of his targets due to them being pulled out of the way by the others at the last moment. After a bit of unsuccessfully trying to run the Thieves over, only managing to ram into Mona and Skull. The impact of Piggytron hitting them head-on had the result of launching Mona and Skull into a nearby wall where they impacted with a dull grunt as they were helped up by Seeker and Queen.

Meanwhile, Piggytron leapt upward as its legs turned into hover devices that allowed it to begin hovering off the ground for a time before slamming itself down and creating a giant shockwave that threw the Thieves around, tossing all of the present females into the laps of their respective boyfriends, girlfriends, and/or crushes.

While that was going on, Kaneshiro's Shadow hit some buttons inside of Piggytron, revealing a pair of miniaturized machine guns to come out of Piggytron's ears, which he then used to open fire on the Thieves, who quickly hit the ground to avoid the oncoming torrent of bullets. After the miniature machine guns were put away, the guys helped the girls back to their feet, Joker glared at Kaneshiro's Shadow while he spoke up.

"So you're still trying to kill us, then? I see. In that case, I think it's time to break out the big guns on you. You're not the only one who's brought new tricks to this rematch." Joker said before turning to Skull and Seeker as he kept speaking.

"Skull? Seeker? Shall we show this overweight tub of lard what I mean?" Joker asked as Skull and Seeker nodded, the former of the two speaking up.

"Hell yeah! Let's put this asshole in his place once and for all!" Skull said as Seeker spoke up.

"Ignoring your choice of phrasing, I agree. Let's end this fight!" Seeker said as she, Joker, and Skull spoke up in unison.

"GO, TRIAD SPECIAL!" Joker, Seeker, and Skull said in unison as they started their Triad Special.

"RAOUL! COME AND LAY DOWN THE GROUNDWORK FOR OUR MOVE!" Joker said as Raoul appeared and formed a large sphere of Curse energy that he tossed forward as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"MY TURN! POWER THAT SPHERE UP, SEITEN TAISEI!" Skull said as Seiten Taisei nodded, slamming his staff down and causing the sphere of Curse energy to be electrocuted, making it crackle with a mix of Curse and Elec energy as Seeker spoke up.

"AND NOW FOR THE FINISHING TOUCH! PITHOS, GO! ILLUMINATE THAT SPHERE WITH YOUR DIVINE POWER!" Seeker said as Pithos fired a blast of Bless energy into the sphere, which turned white and started charging energy as Joker turned to Skull and spoke up.

"Skull? Would you care to do the honors, bro?" Joker asked as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Don't mind if I do, Joker!" Skull said as he hefted his mace and approached the now fully-charged sphere as Joker and Seeker spoke up.

"BATTER UP!" Joker and Seeker said as Skull spoke up with a smirk.

"ALL RIGHT, LET'S DO THIS!" Skull said as he, Joker, and Seeker spoke up in unison.

"HA! HAVE A TASTE OF OUR REBELLIOUS VENGEANCE BURST!" Joker, Skull, and Seeker all said as Skull slammed his mace into the sphere, which flew forward into the open hole where Piggytron's snout was, since Kaneshiro's Shadow had forgotten to close the opening. Right after that, Kaneshiro's Shadow closed the hatch to try and contain the attack, but to no avail as he felt Piggytron start to rumble ominously as he spoke up.

"Uhh, Piggytron? Are you all right?" Kaneshiro's Shadow asked before yelping in shock as Malefor burst into the cockpit of Piggytron, flew past him, and snatched him up using his hind legs, eventually flying him out of the cockpit and dropping him gently on his feet outside of Piggytron a safe distance away while Kaneshiro's Shadow could only watch in horror as Piggytron started sparking violently as its metallic surface started to have a spiderweb effect in that cracks appeared all over its outside, before finally giving one last rumble and violently exploding into tons of small pieces that dissolved into black mist before hitting anyone as the group converged on a defeated-looking Kaneshiro's Shadow, who sighed and spoke up.

"Dammit, not again. Guess you guys beat me fair and square this time. Very well. You win." Kaneshiro's Shadow said as the battle ended. After the fight, Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke up.

"Impressive. As promised, you may proceed since you beat me. However, just because you beat me doesn't mean you're any closer to fighting the Monarch of this place. Remember, you still have to find all the key items and then get to the inner sanctum of this facility before you can face the Monarch of this place." Kaneshiro's Shadow said as the intercoms flared on again as the Monarch's voice could be heard speaking once more.

"Well, well. It seems like this fool wasn't able to stop you after all. So be it. You've conquered the first of my Prison Keeps, Phantom Thieves. But I still have another piece of business to attend to with Kaneshiro's Shadow. He failed me, and he knows full well, as will all of you in just a second, that I inflict a very heavy penalty upon all who fail me. And as he failed at the job he was given, he's failed me for the last time! Time for him to pay the price!" The voice of the Monarch of the Yongen Jail echoed over the intercoms as a giant burst of black and red flame shot out of a nearby loudspeaker above the group, dropping down on a shocked Kaneshiro's Shadow, who could only scream as he hit the ground and tried to stop, drop, and roll the flames out.

However, his attempts at putting the flames out not only had no purpose, but merely made it possible for them to slowly consume him and burn him to nothing as he gave one final shuddering whimper and dissolved into black mist, prompting most of the Thieves to gasp in horror as Wolf eventually spoke up to voice what the group was thinking, minus Seeker, whose eyes had been covered by Mona so she couldn't see the horrific spectacle amid an approving nod from Violet.

"Did that seriously just happen!? Did we just watch the Monarch of this place literally burn someone alive remotely?" Wolf asked as Draconis spoke up.

"It would seem so, Wolf. But then, I'm pretty sure Crow, Pendragon, and myself already realized the Monarch of this place is one seriously cruel-hearted scumbag." Draconis said, having to resist the urge to cuss out the Monarch, to Joker and Violet's relief. At that point, Crow frowned and spoke up.

"Hold on, though. If that was actually Kaneshiro's Shadow that we just saw the Monarch kill, wouldn't that mean the real Kaneshiro could be at risk of a mental shutdown?" Crow asked the others as Mona spoke up.

"That would be true, IF that was Kaneshiro's Shadow. I know it looked and acted like him, but I got the sense that it was just a very convincing recreation or lookalike that the Monarch conjured to slow us down. But we'll know soon enough if that actually was Kaneshiro's Shadow, especially if the real Kaneshiro has a sudden mental shutdown. But I don't think he will, so we should be fine?" Mona said uneasily as the rest of the group could only shrug and concede Mona's point. At that point the intercoms came on again as the voice of the Monarch was heard once again.

"And now that I've disposed of that failure, I will release the steps up to the item you seek. But before that, let me warn you on one matter. You might have already noticed it, but this facility has a special quirk to it. Not only does it excel in forcing the prisoners to relieve their worst memories, I can use this place to make people relive parts of their past they'd rather not relive.

Furthermore, because most of this Jail is just confronting the past, even if you defeat every enemy in this place, you will not get any stronger while in this place. The battle that the ones known as Draconis and Pendragon had with that Wakaba-Sphinx, as well as the one battle where those two and my doppelganger fought against me has inspired me to implement this unique feature into this Jail.

To summarize, you lot won't become any stronger than you already are while you're in this Jail. So don't count on gaining any new skills to bail you out before having to face me. All you'll have at your disposal is what you came in with. Well, I guess I'll get out of your hair for now. Until we meet again, Phantom Thieves. AHAHAHAHAHA!" The voice of the Monarch of the Yongen Jail said over the intercoms as a rumbling sound was heard as a flight of stairs appeared around the tower, leading up to the birdcage that the group had previously seen.

Once the group scaled the steps and reached the first birdcage, the group found what appeared to be a glowing sphere, which Joker seized to get the first core of the Jail, making Crow blink and speak up in surprise after the core was revealed to be, of all things, a silver briefcase with the letter 'A' on the front with a circle around the A.

"Wait, hold up. Is that my old briefcase? I thought I lost that?" Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"I have a feeling that's just a cognitive recreation of it, but yes, I do believe that is the same case you used to carry around a lot." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's a symbol of what Crow used to be. And judging from the fact that we had to fight Kaneshiro's Shadow to get it, I'd say this is the item representing Cunning." Joker mused as he acquired a 'Briefcase of Cunning' key item. Afterwards, the group left the Prison Keep and looked around. After moving through a few sections of the facility, the group eventually stopped short as they saw an odd bush formation nearby that had Noir blink as she spoke up.

"Oh? I didn't know that prison facilities had bushes inside them? How unusual." Noir said as Flare spoke up.

"I'm pretty sure they don't, at least as far as I know." Flare said as Crow spoke up with a frown.

"No, you're absolutely right. Indoor hedge formations like that aren't a common sight in any prison facility I know of. But perhaps there's a reason it's here?" Crow asked as at that moment, the intercoms came on as if Crow's question had been some form of unspoken cue.

"Ah, I see you've found the entrance of the Labyrinth of Memories. That's one of the more notable destinations inside this facility. Usually, that's where most prisoners are sent to test their mettle. The problem is, since you have to successfully reach the center of the maze to reveal the path forward, despite the fact that a large amount of prisoners have gone into the maze and attempted this challenge, none have ever finished it successfully. However, there may or may not be a Prison Keep stashed in the middle of the maze as well. So it'd be well worth your time to try and conquer the maze if you can.

However, I feel I should point out the fact that if you go in, your group will no doubt be split up and scattered to different sections of the maze. Not only will you have to try and reunite your group and reach the center, but you might have other obstacles in the maze that you have to overcome. So enter the maze and try your luck ONLY when you're well prepared for anything, or possibly even for nothing. Or don't go in, and write the maze off along with the potential Prison Keep awaiting at the center. But whatever you decide, know that you will have to go in eventually if you wish to gather all three key items that you need in order to reach my lair. Until later, Phantom Thieves. Farewell." The group heard the voice of the Monarch of the Yongen Jail say over the intercoms as Joker spoke up with a frown.

"Huh. So it sounds like we're gonna have to conquer this Labyrinth of Memories if we're going to reach the next Prison Keep. Any objections to going right in and getting it over with?" Joker asked as no one raised an objection despite Oracle speaking up.

"I don't have an objection, but I do have a question/concern. I might be outfitted for navigation and combat, but will this maze interfere with my navigation abilities?" Oracle asked as Pendragon spoke up while crossing his arms.

"Good question, Oracle. If I had to guess, I'd say it probably will." Pendragon said bluntly as Joker nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"I agree with Pendragon. It's probably a safe bet that the Monarch of the Jail will have rigged the place to make it hard for you to navigate in the maze, Oracle. But the only way to know for sure is to get in there and try it out. So shall we head in?" Joker asked as the group nodded as Joker spoke up again.

"Alright then. If what the Monarch says is true and we're going to be split up once we head into the labyrinth, then I wish you all good luck and I'll see you guys on the other side." Joker said as the group then proceeded to make their way to the entrance of the maze where they stepped inside together...

(Inside the maze, near the start of the maze with Mona)

Mona groaned as he sat up and looked around, seeing hedge walls to either side of him. Mona frowned as he realized he had to keep moving, before his eyes widened as he didn't see anyone else around. He then called out to see if anyone was nearby.

"Hello? Guys!? Anyone out there!? Helllllooooooo!?" Mona called, only to get no response. As he sat there and frowned, he jumped as the path both in front of and behind him suddenly were blocked off by walls, leaving him just enough room to move around before a pool of red and black liquid formed in front of him, and before Mona's horrified eyes, the liquid started pooling until a shape slowly rose up from it, slowly starting to take form before the eyes of a horrified Mona.

After a bit of time had passed, the figure eventually wound up resolving itself into a shape that made Mona's eyes widen in both horror and realization, as he'd seen this figure many times in his dreams during the year that Joker lived in Yongen-Jaya with Mona and Draconis. After a bit, the figure stood up to reveal it was a darkened version of Morgana's former cat form, with the most unique feature being the yellow eyes just like the Shadows of the Thieves' previous targets. As soon as the Shadow-cat doppelganger locked eyes on Mona, it chuckled as it spoke up.

"So, we finally meet, Mona. What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" The being, which Mona thought of as Mona-Cat's Shadow, said as Mona spoke up.

"No. I just never thought we'd meet face to face. For so long, you were merely the fuel for my nightmares. Why are you here now?" Mona asked in confusion as the Mona-Cat's Shadow spoke up.

"That's easy. You willed me into existence thanks to your continued denials of your former status as a cat, Morgana. Sure, you're a human now, but you used to be a cat for as long as you can remember. And for most of that time, you were going around trying to regain your lost memories, only to find out you were little more than a glorified night-light designed to put humanity back on the correct path.

Yet now, here you are, trying to act as if none of that ever happened. You disgust me. And now, I have the chance to not only end you, but take your place. Sure, I might have to change my form to fool the others, but I'm sure if I tried hard enough, no one would notice the difference. Not even that little amnesiac waif of an AI girl that you're so hopelessly in love with, even if you haven't admitted that fact to yourself yet." Mona-Cat's Shadow said tauntingly as Mona frowned and spoke up, pointedly ignoring Mona-Cat's Shadow mentioning the possibility of his being in love with Seeker, as he was focused on the task at hand.

"HEY! Whether I love Lady Seeker or not is none of your business! So kindly don't talk about Lady Seeker like that! She might have amnesia, but she's still plenty beautiful and amazing as she is. As for your other words about me denying myself for so long, shut up! What would you know about that!? You're just some creepy manifestation of my nightmares! But there's no way that you're me!" Mona said as Mona-Cat's Shadow laughed and spoke up.

"GOOD! I'm able to be myself now! AHAHAHA!" Mona-Cat's Shadow said as he suddenly powered up with a dark aura as he spoke up.

"Try and defeat me if you can! I doubt you'll be able to!" Mona-Cat's Shadow said as he charged at Mona to start a fight! As the fight started, Mona-Cat's Shadow spoke up with a smirk.

"Oh, wait, how did that saying go for the start of one of these fights? Oh, I remember now! I am a Shadow. The true self! You cannot beat me." Mona-Cat's Shadow said as he snapped his fingers, and to Mona's shock, a shadowy clone of Diego appeared next to Mona-Cat's Shadow. Mona then spoke up in horror.

"WHAT!? How are you also able to use Diego!?" Mona said in shock and horror as Mona-Cat's Shadow laughed and spoke up.

"Easy! I'm everything you are, but better!" Mona-Cat's Shadow said tauntingly as he ran forward and slashed his scimitar at Mona, who barely leapt over the attack and brandished his own scimitar, leading to a swordfight between the two Monas as the two Diegos also clashed blades. After Mona managed to blast Mona-Cat's Shadow back with a well-timed Garula from Diego, he glared at Mona-Cat's Shadow and spoke up.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been denying myself for too long. But if you really are me, you'd realize that being a cat is not only embarrassing, but a bit inconvenient. Or are you going to stand there and tell me that you don't also secretly admire Lady Panther and want her to be yours?

After all, if you are me, you'd like all the same people that I do, except perhaps Lady Seeker, considering you called her, and I quote, 'that little amnesiac waif of an AI girl'. And that right there shows that even if you are me, you don't have the same taste in ladies that I do. But maybe it's time I put you out of your misery!" Mona said as he felt a light around him to signify his Showtime was ready, which he hadn't used since his transformation into a human. Mona-Cat's Shadow scoffed at Mona's remark before he spoke up.

"So you say. But do you have the strength to beat me? Also, you never acknowledged my remark about you being in love with the one you call Seeker. Why is that? Cat got your tongue?" Mona-Cat's Shadow asked as Mona spoke up.

"Shut up! But if you must know, I didn't acknowledge it because I'm not sure how to respond to that. I admit that you could have a point, since I'd never considered that possibility myself. And if you're right, that would probably explain why I enjoy being close to Lady Seeker so much more with this form than I did as a cat. Plus, it would explain why Lady Seeker kissing me on the cheek meant so much more to me when she did it recently." Mona said before Mona-Cat's Shadow spoke up.

"I see. Let me ask this, then. Have you found yourself wanting to spend more time with her since the last time she kissed you on the cheek? Or have you thought about her more since then?" Mona-Cat's Shadow asked as Mona spoke up.

"Maybe? I do know I have had a harder time getting her out of my head since then." Mona said as Mona-Cat's Shadow grinned and spoke up.

"I could probably make it easier for you by killing her so you don't have to figure it out." Mona-Cat's Shadow said darkly as Mona scowled and spoke up.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!? How dare you threaten Lady Seeker like that!? That tears it! It's time to end this! Time to teach you a little lesson in respecting women, you faker! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Mona said as he started his new Showtime.

"DIEGO! SLOW DOWN OUR FOE'S MOVEMENTS SO I CAN TEACH THIS FAKER SOME MANNERS!" Mona said as Diego nodded and used Masukunda on Mona-Cat's Shadow to lower his speed and critical rate, after which Mona rushed forward, scimitar in hand, and spoke up while staring Mona-Cat's Shadow down.

"Confused? Don't blink or you might miss what I decide to do next!" Mona said as he swiftly raced back and forth in front of Mona-Cat's Shadow, slashing at it with his scimitar before standing back and charging Wind power into his blade as he spoke up.

"AND NOW, THE FINISHER! TIME TO BLOW YOU AWAY!" Mona said as he slashed his scimitar at Mona-Cat's Shadow, who was flung backwards onto his back, rolling around a bit before skidding off a wall and going to a knee as the wind burst hit him and knocked him onto his back, ending both Mona's new Showtime and the battle, at which point Mona holstered his scimitar and extended a hand to Mona-Cat's Shadow and spoke up.

"Do you yield?" Mona said as Mona-Cat's Shadow nodded and spoke up.

"I do. You have beaten me fair and square." Mona-Cat's Shadow said before sitting idle as Mona spoke up with a grim smile.

"Good. And, um? I'm sorry for denying you for so long. You're right. Whether I like it or not, my feline form is a part of me, especially with how long I was stuck in the form of one. So as much as I hate to admit it, not only am I you, but at the same time? You're also part of me." Mona said as Mona-Cat's Shadow nodded, dissolving into black mist as Mona smiled at him. Once Mona-Cat's Shadow had dissolved into black mist, Mona felt something stir within him, making him cognizant of the fact he'd learned a new Master Art in the form of 'Miracle Rush', which was functionally a wide-range version of his 'Miracle Punch' Master Art.

Afterwards, Mona noticed a portal turn on in front of him that he walked through after noticing that the wall behind him hadn't disappeared after overcoming Mona-Cat's Shadow, despite the wall in front of him disappearing. Shrugging and figuring he had to keep going, Mona walked through the portal...

(In a different part of the maze, with Seraphim)

As she sat up and stretched after coming to, Seraphim frowned when she didn't recognize her surroundings right away, before realizing that she was surrounded by hedges on most all sides of her, excluding in front of her, but as she went to move forward, a hedge wall sprang up to block her progress. Seraphim frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, why am I being trapped in a small space like this?" Seraphim asked warily as a familiar voice chuckled and spoke up darkly.

"Probably because you bit off more of a challenge than you could handle?" Seraphim heard, blinking as she saw a pool of dark liquid form, and from it rose a figure that she never expected to see, making Seraphim's eyes widen behind her mask as she spoke up.

"What are you-? Hold on, do I-? Oh! BIG BRO!? How are you here? I thought you went with the others to handle things?" Seraphim asked as the figure that resembled Yu laughed darkly and spoke up.

"Others? Oh, you mean those flunkies that I call friends!? Nah, I sent them to go report in with the others. I then doubled back to try and follow you guys into this Jail to try and test your skills myself. After all, if you're going to try and step up as a Persona-user, it seems only natural I'd be the one to put your skills to the test. So what do you say? Do you have the courage and resolve to face me?" The figure that resembled Yu said, laughing darkly as he took in the confused and horrified look on Seraphim's face before she frowned as she noticed that this Yu had yellow eyes and spoke up.

"Wait a minute. Your eyes are yellow! Big Bro has grey eyes usually, not yellow. Are you his Shadow!?" Seraphim asked as realization set in. To her shock, the being that resembled Yu laughed and spoke up.

"Very observant, Nanako. Or would you prefer I call you Seraphim?" Yu's Shadow said tauntingly as Seraphim frowned and spoke up.

"How do you know my code name? I don't think you were around when we decided on it?" Seraphim asked in confusion as Yu's Shadow spoke up.

"I have my ways. But surely you must realize what us being in this place right now means?" Yu's Shadow said as Seraphim frowned but slowly nodded while she spoke up.

"I do. I wasn't expecting to have to fight you in here, but I'll do what I have to in order to keep moving, since my friends are counting on me to keep going." Seraphim said as Yu's Shadow smirked and spoke up approvingly.

"Good. You seem to have a good bit of backbone on you after all. Maybe this won't be a total waste of my time then?" Yu's Shadow said as Seraphim spoke up.

"I hope not. I might be relatively new at using a Persona, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hold anything back." Seraphim said as Yu's Shadow gave her a feral, almost sinister, smile and spoke up.

"I wouldn't want it any other way. Now let's begin. COME, IZANAGI!" Yu's Shadow said as he summoned his Persona, to the surprise of Seraphim, who blinked before she spoke up.

"As you wish. SHOW YOURSELF, SRAOSHA!" Seraphim said as she summoned her Persona while readying her halberd. After that, Yu's Shadow charged at her as a fight began! When the fight started, Yu's Shadow spoke up.

"So, the time has finally come for me to face you then. I won't lie, I half-expected my first opponent to be the other me, but this is fine as well. After all, imagine how much it will break the other me to find out you met your end at what would technically be his own hand, since I am him. After all, you know how the saying goes. 'I am a Shadow. The true self.' Basically, that means that just as your 'Big Bro' is me, I'm also him. Now let us have at each other!" Yu's Shadow said as he brandished his katana and charged Seraphim, who blocked the attack with her halberd.

The impact of their colliding attacks wound up slowly pushing Yu's Shadow backward while Seraphim wasted little time priming an arrow that she fired at Izanagi, who winced at the impact as Sraosha scored a clean hit with his cane, staggering Izanagi as Seraphim managed to slam her halberd into the stomach of Yu's Shadow, who grunted and skidded backwards a bit from the impact. Yu's Shadow then spoke up with a glare.

"Impressive. You're a natural at this. Maybe it's time to take this up a notch. SMITE THEM, IZANAGI!" Yu's Shadow said as Izanagi nodded, waving his free hand and making Seraphim have to dodge and weave to avoid the rain of small meteors that rained down on her when Izanagi tried to hit her and Sraosha with Agneyastra, before Yu's Shadow kept speaking.

"Strike her with your lightning, Izanagi!" Yu's Shadow said as Izanagi summoned bolts of lightning that Sraosha easily shook off, managing to heal Seraphim when he absorbed the damage, to the shock of Yu's Shadow, who frowned as he kept speaking.

"WHAT!? Your Persona absorbs Elec moves!? Interesting. Very well, physical moves it is." Yu's Shadow said as he charged Seraphim again with his katana, making Seraphim bring her halberd around to once again block the attack before smiling sadly as she spoke up.

"You know, for the fact you're supposed to be the Shadow of my 'Big Bro', you're not doing a very good job of being him. Between not knowing your Persona's affinities, as well as seeing how sloppy your strategy seems to be, it's almost sad to call you his Shadow. But at the same time, I understand that you don't have a solid frame of reference to draw from, considering Big Bro is one of the strongest people I know.

Even so, you could at least TRY to put up more of a fight. But then again, despite what you said about wanting to kill me, deep down you still share the same feelings of care for me as my real Big Bro does. Oh, well. Guess it's time to finish this. Sraosha! Let's end this!" Seraphim said as Sraosha nodded and swung his cane around, slamming it into the ground and causing a shockwave that knocked both Izanagi and Yu's Shadow off their feet, bringing the latter to a knee as he gritted his teeth and spoke up.

"Damn, you're pretty good, Nanako. I'm impressed." Yu's Shadow said as the battle ended. Afterwards, Seraphim looked down at Yu's Shadow and spoke up after Iznaagi and Sraosha had vanished, returning to their wielders.

"You were pretty good yourself, despite what I said previously. But just so you know, you don't have to act out so much. I know Big Bro accepts you, since he's able to use the same Persona you can, and I accept you. You might not be as strong or capable as the real 'Big Bro', but you have the potential to reach his level if you put in the work. So let's put this behind us and get you back where you belong, yeah?" Seraphim said as Yu's Shadow blinked at her before slowly nodding as a rare smile spread over his face while he spoke up.

"Yeah, you have a point, Nanako. I think I will return to him now. And to be honest, I can't speak for the other me, but as far as I'm concerned? You're mature enough to make your own choices. So if you truly are falling for this Akane girl, then more power to you if you two end up deciding to become each other's girlfriends. But again, I can't promise that the other me, along with your dad, will be as accepting of your choices. That being said, well done on defeating me, and good luck." Yu's Shadow said before fading away in a flash of light, causing the path forward to open up for Seraphim, who shrugged and headed into the activated portal...

(In another section of the maze, with Wolf)

After sitting up and looking around once he came to, Wolf blinked as he realized none of the others were anywhere to be seen. After trying and failing to get a response from any of the others, Wolf took a look at the hedges to either side of him, frowning as he realized he likely wouldn't be able to cut or blast his way through the walls with his weapons. Seeing that his path backwards was also walled off, he took the only remaining path, or the forward path, only to gasp as the path forward suddenly became obstructed, making Wolf frown as he spoke up.

"Wait, what the heck!? Why did the path forward obstruct itself?" Wolf asked, not expecting to hear another voice speak up to answer him.

"Simple. Because this is part of the labyrinth. Each of your group has to face specific obstacles tailored to that person, and/or pair/trio in some cases." Wolf heard, before looking around for the source of the voice until a red and black mist appeared, and from out of it stepped the last person Wolf expected to see. However, there was no mistaking the chocolate brown hair nor the hazel eyes this person had, let alone the slender yet attractive build they sported. Wolf gasped and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? It can't be...AOI!? How are you here right now!? You're supposed to be dead!" Wolf said as the now-named Aoi smiled and spoke up.

"That's easy. I was chosen to be your obstacle to face. After all, it's not exactly a secret that you've spent quite a lot of time hiding your head in the metaphoric sand since my death, and quite a bit of that time was spent ignoring our daughter's wishes and immersing yourself in hiding behind those in power, using the pretense of waiting to avenge me as your justification for not being there enough for Akane.

You're lucky you've started to make strides towards making amends to her, or I'd be even more livid with you than I already am, Zenkichi! Now, come. Ready your weapon. Your only way forward is by defeating me!" Aoi said before shifting forms into a monster form that was mostly blue, except for the fact she retained her brown hair and hazel eyes. However, she also had a sea-green figure hugging unitard on to cover herself with so as not to be overly indecent. Wolf sighed as he reluctantly readied his weapon and spoke up. *3*

"Well, as much as I have no interest in doing this, it seems as if I have no choice if I'm to proceed. Very well then, I accept your challenge." Wolf said as Aoi spoke up with a smirk.

"Good. I was hoping you'd say that. Let us begin, and may the best battler win." Aoi said as she charged towards Wolf as a fight began! As the fight started, Aoi spoke up once more.

"Well, I never thought this day would come. But here we are, on opposite ends of a battlefield. Let's hold nothing back and settle this quickly." Aoi said as Wolf seemed to hesitate before finally nodding as he spoke up.

"Very well, if that's what you want. I do owe you that much given how much I've let both you and Akane down in the past few years. So if you want a fight, you've got one! RISE UP, VALJEAN!" Wolf said as he summoned his Persona before brandishing his zweihander and slashing at Aoi, who nimbly sidestepped the attack and blasted Wolf with a powerful Ice move that sent him skidding backwards. After shaking off the attack, Wolf waved an arm, which Valjean took as the cue to fire his guns at Aoi, pelting her with a mix of gunfire and Almighty energy, sending her sliding backwards to hover in place a few feet in front of Wolf. Aoi glared at Wolf as she spoke up.

"Is that the best you can do? You barely left a scratch on me, Zenkichi! I thought you were stronger than that! How do you expect to protect Akane with such feeble strength!? Show me you actually have some backbone, you spineless coward!" Aoi said as Wolf frowned and spoke up.

"That hurts, Aoi! But you're not wrong, which is the worst part. I am spineless, and I have let our daughter down repeatedly recently. But no longer! I am done being spineless! I will rise up and protect Akane, with my very being if necessary!" Wolf said as he hefted his zweihander and slashed at Aoi, pushing her backwards a bit before she and Wolf started attacking each other for a time.

After a bit, Wolf stopped attacking and looked at Aoi, only to have to stop himself from going bright red in embarrassment as it became apparent that Wolf's most recent attacks had inadvertently sliced up the front of Aoi's unitard, leaving it hanging open to either side of Aoi and only just keeping her lower half covered, while leaving her bare chest hanging out for Wolf to look at.

Rather than let himself be distracted by what appeared to be the view of Aoi's bare breasts, Wolf shook his head and stayed focused on the task at hand as he used a Heat Riser from Valjean to buff his stats before taking his machine pistol and taking aim at Aoi, pulling the trigger and hitting Aoi first in the stomach, then the arm, bringing her to the ground, at which point Wolf pointed his sword at Aoi and spoke up.

"Give up. You've lost. There's no honor in ending a defenseless foe. Also, I'd rather not have to destroy you, even if you're just a look-alike of Aoi." Wolf said as Aoi nodded and went to a knee, signifying that she conceded the battle, ending the fight. Afterwards, Aoi looked up and spoke up after reverting to normal.

"Not bad, Zenkichi. You've gotten so strong and resolved. I can see you're sincere in wanting to change. Well done, my love." Aoi said as she dissolved into black mist, making Wolf frown in confusion as he spoke up.

"Aoi? Thank you." Wolf said before jumping as he heard Aoi's voice once more.

"Why are you thanking me, Zenkichi? You're the one who chose to change and do the right thing. This is all you, my love." Wolf heard, gasping as he saw the spirit of the real Aoi Hasegawa briefly shimmer into existence for him, a smile on her face as she kept speaking.

"I realize you've made your share of mistakes, but you've owned up to them and kept moving forward. Truly, I'm happy that you've wised up and changed your ways. And I'm happy you're making strides to repair your relationship with Akane. She needs you, probably now more than ever. After all, our little girl is growing up and at the age to start dating.

And if what I've seen is any indication, I think she's finding herself quite clearly drawn towards women, specifically a certain pseudo strawberry-blonde ally of yours. Furthermore, if those two do end up deciding to date, I think they'd be amazing together. Hopefully you won't have any issues with it if Akane does decide to be with that girl, I think you called her Nanako or Seraphim? Either way, if that's Akane's choice to date her, we need to be there for our daughter and support her wholeheartedly. Can you do that, Zenkichi?" Aoi asked Wolf, who nodded and spoke up with a smile.

"I can do that. I also agree that Seraphim, or Nanako as her real name is, is quite adorable with Akane. So I would wholeheartedly approve of it if they were to come to me and tell me that they decided to try having a relationship with each other. I'm not sure if Nanako's dad or 'Big Bro', who is actually her cousin, would be so approving of her having a girlfriend, but I don't know them well enough to say one way or the other how they'd react.

But I'm fully prepared to be there for Nanako if it comes to that, since I agree that she's good for Akane. If nothing else, Akane's been a lot happier than I remember her being since she met Nanako. The fact that she might be rather brazenly making passes at Nanako is both immaterial and irrelevant to the matter at hand. So don't worry, Aoi. I have no intentions of failing Akane again. I plan to be there for our daughter, no matter what. I also intend to support whatever choices she might make. So you can rest easy. I won't let those two be without anywhere to go or anyone to have their back if they need it." Wolf said honestly as Aoi smiled and spoke up.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Also, I know you've been grieving for me in the past five or so years since I died, but I don't want to see you closing yourself off to the world over my death. I want you to get back out there and try to find happiness for yourself, too. If that means you decide to take a chance on getting to know that silver-haired defense attorney who bailed you out of that sticky situation you wound up in recently, then so be it.

I feel like she's likely a smart, kindhearted woman, who has a good head on her shoulders. Sure, you might have to ease Akane into the idea of her being your new girlfriend, but I think if you get her used to it soon enough, she'll warm to the idea in time. So if you want to try dating this Sae, if I have her name right? Go for it. You can't keep dwelling on me forever, after all. So promise me you'll let your feelings of grief and loss go and let yourself move on, Zenkichi." Aoi said as Wolf nodded and spoke up.

"Very well, if that's what you want. I give you my word that I'll do my best to try and move on and look for someone new, Aoi. But never doubt that I'll always have a place for you in my heart. Goodbye, Aoi. And rest in peace." Wolf said as Aoi smiled and nodded as she leaned in to share one last kiss with Wolf before fading away before his horrified eyes, before he sighed and nodded, realizing he had to accept that Aoi was gone and he couldn't keep grieving over her. After reaching this resolution, the path forward appeared, which Wolf steeled himself before going through the activated portal...

(In another part of the maze, with Noir)

As she sat up and looked around, Noir frowned and noticed that she was in a walled-off section of the hedge maze, with the path behind her walled off, along with the path to either side, leaving only the path forward available. However, as she walked forward, the path suddenly was closed off as Noir blinked in confusion and spoke up.

"Umm, how am I supposed to proceed forward if there's no paths forward?" Noir asked as a robotic, yet eerily familiar voice, answered her question.

"You're not. You're trapped here, Haru. But I prefer it that way." the voice said as a red and black mist appeared, and to Noir's shock the person, or rather robot, that wheeled itself into view was the one person that Noir hated more than anything else as she spoke up in anger.

"Sugimura?! What are you doing here?" Noir said as the robotic voice of Noir's ex-fiance spoke up.

"That's a loaded question, isn't it? Well, I guess I might as well answer it since there's no reason not to. You see, while putting this obstacle together, the Monarch of this Jail realized that there was no way to bring your father's Shadow back as your obstacle, and so he chose me instead. All the better for me, though, since this way I now have all the time I want to get back at you for the humiliation that you and those lowly mongrels you call friends inflicted upon me, especially that smart-mouthed bastard with a girly-looking ponytail and that stupid fleabag of a cat with a hero complex. That thing's lucky I didn't kick it into that wall harder, to be honest. But never mind that, the biggest annoyance here is YOU!

Specifically, the fact that you had the gall to refuse my hand in marriage, only to turn around and willingly offer yourself to some long-haired bastard who you probably felt sorry for, like some sort of common-bred whore! Honestly, how many of those accursed Amamiya siblings are there, anyways!? If I didn't know better, I'd think their parents were half-rabbit with the way they breed. However, since I have you here, I see a chance to exact restitution from you for all you've done to me." Sugimura said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"Funny, I missed the part where I have to justify myself to an abusive and morally deficient scumbag like you, Sugimura! After all, you care more about your ego and your sex life than actually being a good lover to anyone. And you wonder why you can't find a girlfriend for yourself. Also, for your information? Those 'accursed Amamiya siblings' and 'long-haired bastard' you speak of are my pseudo-younger brothers and my boyfriend respectively, so I'll thank you to try and watch your mouth when you're talking about them." Noir said firmly as Sugimura spoke up.

"So what!? They're still bastards, especially the one with the brown hair and ponytail! I remember him saying he'd kick my ass. How dare he threaten me!? And that cat's lucky he got away. I should make you watch as I slowly and painfully end him in front of you." Sugimura said uncaringly as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"If you mean Draconis, he was absolutely in the right to want to kick your ass that day. After all, not only did you kick Mona-chan and send him flying into a wall, but you also were putting your hands on me! And Draconis is insanely protective of those he cares about. So of course he was ready to throw hands at you to protect me. Also, before you get all lippy about Crow, he was once a feared hitman, and he knows his way around a gun. I wouldn't be pissing him off if you value your life." Noir warned Sugimura, who scoffed as he spoke up.

"Me? Fearing for my life!? Don't be ridiculous! So what if your current boyfriend used to be a hitman? I don't fear him. And I don't see him here right now, so it looks like you've gotta stand up for yourself this time." Sugimura said as Noir frowned but nodded as she spoke up.

"Very well. I suppose I don't have any choice but to face you if I want to make the path forward appear. In that case, bring it on!" Noir said with a sad sigh before Sugimura smirked and spoke up.

"Finally! Something we agree on, Haru! And once I beat you and break that will of yours, I'm going to make you my fiance again, and this time you won't be able to get away from me! So if you've got the courage, then ready your weapon and prepare to fight." Sugimura said as he flicked his mechanical wrists and made guns appear on each of his arms that he aimed at Noir, who sighed and spoke up.

"Very well, so be it. COME, LUCY! LET US END THIS QUICKLY!" Noir said as she summoned Lucy and hefted her axe as Sugimura charged at Noir to start a fight! Once the fight started, Sugimura spoke up.

"Well, do you have the courage and resolve to best me? Time to put up or shut up! I hope you've got some fight in you, Haru." Sugimura said as Noir spoke up.

"I'd rather not fight you, but I don't think I have a choice in this case. Prepare to be defeated!" Noir said as she took aim and launched several grenades at Sugimura, who was blasted backwards into the wall by the explosion, dealing a lot of damage to him as he got up and spoke up.

"Not bad, but now it's my turn." Sugimura said as he pulled his guns and fired at Noir, who nimbly dodged every bullet and spoke up.

"You're resorting to guns? In that case, let me respond in kind! BLOW HIM AWAY, LUCY!" Noir said as Lucy made her gatling guns appear from her skirt, taking aim at Sugimura and opening fire, pelting him with lots of gunfire as he was slammed down onto his back, before struggling to his feet and speaking up as his robotic form cracked all along the surface before shattering to pieces, and revealing a copper-brown haired young man in a dark grey business suit with a purple dress shirt underneath, matching dark grey dress pants, black loafer shoes, and a smart-looking silver necktie visible over the dress shirt. Sugimura then sneered and spoke up.

"Well, well. So you were able to destroy my robotic form. I guess that just means I have to use this form, then!" Sugimura said as he shifted forms into what appeared to be a Jack Frost at first glance, only for Noir to realize it wasn't a Jack Frost at all, but rather a Black Frost, when she saw the black skin, purple hat, purple cape, and purple boots, the hat and boots both having silver lining as well along the wrist and ankle. The being's beady red eyes looked Noir over as it spoke up, mistaking the slight look of horror on Noir's face for an impressed look.

"Impressed? Good luck destroying this form, Haru!" Sugimura said as the fight resumed! As Sugimura looked at Noir, he spoke up.

"Let's see you take my attacks after I do this!" Sugimura said as he used 'Concentrate' to double the power of his next attack. Noir winced as she spoke up.

"Well, I can't do much against you, but I can at least go down fighting." Noir said as she ran forward and swung her axe at Sugimura, sending him reeling backwards and causing his subsequent attempt to blast Noir with Mabufudyne to go way off course and fly off into the sky out of sight. After he struggled to his feet, he was blasted back down by two well-placed shots from Noir's grenade launcher as she felt her Showtime gauge fill up and spoke up.

"Oh, what's this? Looks like my finisher is ready. Time to put an end to you! SHOWTIME!" Noir said as she started her Showtime. She then bowed to Lucy and spoke up.

"Care to join me?" Noir asked as Lucy nodded and the two did a sort of intricate waltz around as Lucy produced her guns from her skirt and took aim at Sugimura and Noir darted out of the way in time for Lucy to pelt Sugimura with gunfire as Noir spoke up.

"You've been bad! And this is your end!" Noir said as she leapt up in the air, axe in hand, speaking up as her axe glowed with Psy power.

"COUP DE GRACE!" Noir said as she swung her axe, slashing out a burst of Psy energy that knocked Sugimura through the air to land on his back with an audible crash, where he groaned but didn't get up, ending the fight. After the fight, Sugimura turned back to normal and spoke up.

"Argh, I lost. I'm impressed. You're stronger than I gave you credit for, Haru. Maybe it's not worth my time to try and break you while bending you to my will. Go ahead and go running back to that bastard you're dating. I'm sure you'll even spread your legs for him like you've probably been doing the whole time. But if you want to be with trash that badly, then this is goodbye! And good riddance to ungrateful whores like you!" Sugimura said before turning on his heel and vanishing in a flash of light, leaving a confused and upset Noir behind, her eyes slowly filling with tears from the hurtful things Sugimura had said. As Noir felt her tears start to fall, another familiar voice spoke up, this one being one she'd genuinely not expected to ever hear again.

"Come now, Haru. Did I really raise you to let such petty insults get under your skin? I know what Sugimura said was uncalled for and hurtful, but I know you're stronger than that, my daughter." Noir heard, gasping as she turned around and saw the spirit of her late father, Kunikazu Okumura, standing in front of her. Noir gasped and spoke up.

"F-Father!? How is this possible! You died!" Noir said as Kunikazu's spirit nodded and spoke up.

"That's true. But I've been given a chance to come and see you to try and apologize. Haru, I'm so sorry for being such a bad father to you. I was so immersed in my own ambitions, I was ready to whore you out to the heir of the Sugimura family without a second thought, just because his family had influential connections. How could I put something as petty as political aspirations above the happiness and well-being of my only daughter? I don't expect you to ever forgive me for what I've done, but I at least want you to know how much I regret everything I put you through." Kunikazu said as Noir smiled and spoke up.

"It's okay, Father. I forgave you the day you died. After all, Draconis told me of the final request your Shadow made of him to watch over me. He's been doing good about living up to it too, even if he's had a lot of his own things to deal with over the past three, almost four, years since your death. But I understand why you did what you did, Father. But thank you for apologizing. It means a lot to me.

Between my friends, Mari-san, Takakura-san, and even the unlikely help of Goro, I've had a lot of support to help me cope with losing you. I suppose in the interest of being honest with you, I've annulled my engagement to Sugimura and entered into a relationship with Goro. I know that's probably a slap in the face to you that I'm dating the young man who ended your life, but I could tell he was genuinely remorseful for doing it, and that he was doing it under duress from his own father.

But then to be fair, I think we both can agree that Masayoshi Shido is his own sort of scum. It took me a while to stop crying over how much I miss you, but I managed to get back up and keep living my life. I've even taken up managing the family business to some extent, even if I also juggle it around my college studies. Takakura-san's been a great help in keeping Okumura Foods going." Noir said as Kunikazu frowned and spoke up.

"I see. Well, as shocked as I am to hear that you've taken up with Goro Akechi, of all people, I also respect your decision. And for what it's worth, I forgive him for what he did. After all, I know full well it was Shido who gave the order, and so it's ultimately him who is to blame for my death, rather than Goro. And I appreciate how much Goro's been there for you recently, so if he's what makes you happy, I give my full blessings to your relationship with him, Haru. I just want you to be happy and move on with your life in a way that makes you happy.

And if you see Goro, you can pass my forgiveness on to him. Also, you can tell the ones you call Joker and Draconis that I thank them both for taking such good care of you over the years. Know that I'm always watching over you with pride, my daughter. You truly embody the true essence of the Okumura family legacy and all it stands for: honor, integrity, kindness, and compassion. But alas, I'm afraid my time is just about up. I'm glad to have had this chance to clear the air with you, though. Know that I will always love you, my daughter. Go now, and be strong. And I hope that we don't see each other again for quite some time. You deserve to live a long, happy life." Kunikazu said as Noir's eyes started to fill with tears as she spoke up.

"Father, I knew there was still decency and humanity left in you somewhere. Thank you. It means so much that you came to me to clear the air. I promise I'll do my best to live a long, full life you can be proud of, so that when we meet again, we can look back on all the things you missed out on and laugh together. Until then, farewell, Father." Noir said as Kunikazu smiled and nodded once more as he ended up giving his daughter one final hug and fading away before Haru's eyes.

After her father's spirit was gone, Noir let herself cry a bit for her father's departure before standing up and steeling her resolve, smiling as she felt something stir inside of her, causing her to awaken to a new Master Art in 'Life Wall'. After she acquired her new Master Art, Noir walked forward through the opened portal to try and find the others, unaware of the trials most of the others were presently facing, as well as the trials that Mona, Seraphim, and Wolf had all already faced in the labyrinth thus far...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! I know it's not as long as some of the previous chapters, but I'm hopeful it'll be interesting enough to make up for the lack of length this time around. That being said, despite how relatively short it was, it still took me the best part of four days to finish this chapter, partly because things kept coming up in real life. But I'm going to finish this regardless.

That being said, the next chapter should have the rest of the 'Labyrinth of Memories', as well as possibly the second and third Prison Keeps being conquered for the Yongen Jail. Probably the chapter after next will be the 'Trauma Cell' fight for the Yongen Jail and probably the battle against the Monarch. If all goes to plan, odds are that arc 6 will be finished in chapter 30. From there, depending on how many chapters I put into each of the next few arcs, I could see this story potentially hitting anywhere between 50 and 65 chapters in length, depending on how long Arcs 7, 8, and 9 wind up being. Also, it depends on how many parts I make the 'epilogue' arc for the story (or Arc 10) as well. So there's your bit of previewing to look forward to.

Changing the subject for a moment, I was asked by jdimock to let people know that for story reasons, there will be no level-ups for any of the Phantom Thieves in this arc. However, as a trade-off, each of the 'original' Phantom Thieves that don't already have Tier 3 Personas (basically Skull, Panther, Fox, and Queen) will potentially get those in this Jail, as well as all of the 'original' Phantom Thieves (Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, and Draconis) getting new Master Arts to replace the 'Tier 3' skills that their Personas should've gotten on evolving. But you'll have to keep reading to see these Master Arts. So yeah, figured I'd let you all know about that. As a further note, the full list of Master Arts/rewards each Phantom Thief gets will be in the end-of-chapter A/N for the next chapter.

Also, since we're getting closer to the end of Arc 6, I might think about throwing up a poll at the start of Arc 7 that will stay up for the remainder of the story to decide what my next fanfic project will be once Rise of the Monarchs is done. As a heads-up, it more than likely won't be another Persona story, since by the time this is done, I'll have typed out two full-length Persona adaptation stories back-to-back, so I think I'll have earned a short break from Persona stories by then for sure. However, I'm still figuring out what all story options to put on that poll, so it'll still be a bit before I put it up.

Speaking of polls, I forgot to mention it in the last couple chapters, but the Morgana poll ended a bit over a week ago. And I have to say, I didn't expect the result to be so unanimous. By a very underwhelming vote of 2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0, the winner is Sophia! So as of now, that means MorganaxSophia will be a for-sure pairing that happens in this story. However, that's not to say that I don't have a backup plan in mind for Nanako and Akane, as anyone who's read the last few chapters probably noticed. Hopefully I get more votes on the next poll I put up. But I digress.

Thank you to everyone who's read this far into not only the chapter, but the story, for showing so much support and interest in this story. Hopefully I can make the rest of this story as enjoyable for the readers as the story so far hopefully has been. So yeah, thanks to all who keep reading, and those who follow, favorite, and leave reviews on the story, as your support and feedback are invaluable to letting me continue to make this story the best it can be.

Specifically, I want to give a big shout-out to jdimock, who's been nearly exclusively providing invaluable feedback on the story and helping me get through the past few arcs. If anyone needs an editor, feel free to consider him. However, I should mention his schedule might not be as open as he'd like due to having other things to attend to for the time being. I won't go into detail on these things out of respect for his privacy. But yeah, thanks for all your help! You've been a big reason this story has kept going as long as it has! Keep up the good work!

Quick fun fact: The prequel to this story, Persona 5: The Phantom Files, had a reviewer by the name of AKANOS who played a similar role to jdimock, but in more of an overall critique capacity, in that he pointed out things I could do better and gave feedback on what he'd read of the story at various points in The Phantom Files.

Jdimock, however, merely points out all the edits that need to be made for Rise of the Monarchs and is very patient and understanding about explaining them carefully. Truly, he does amazing work with what he does. So I appreciate both of them for being so helpful with both stories.

I welcome hearing from all my readers though, so if you feel like it, don't be shy about leaving a review with your thoughts/opinions/feedback/constructive criticism on the story thus far, or if you're not comfortable leaving a review, you can send it in a PM. I welcome the chance to hear from readers either way. So feel free to make your voices heard, so to speak.

And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - Probably a bit of an obscure reference to have Sojiro make, but Sojiro's a cool guy, so I figured why not? Only those who've seen the movie 'A Bronx Tale' will probably understand what Sojiro's getting at here. If you've not seen A Bronx Tale, go give it a watch. It's a really good movie, if a bit graphic in certain parts. But it also has its share of humorous parts as well. I definitely recommend it.

*2* - Again, a bit of an obscure reference, but I think this one might be a bit more recognizable, especially if you watched a lot of Dreamworks movies in the mid-to-late 2000s, since that was when a lot of the really good movies came out, such as Madagascar, or the movie I got this line from. Anyone who gets the reference is not only awesome, but has great taste in movies! And if you've somehow not seen it, go watch it! It's really funny for what it is. Very much recommended.

*3* - For once, this note isn't actually a reference. In this case, I figured I'd clarify something for anyone curious. The being Aoi turns into while fighting Zenkichi? It's Undine, from Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden. The unitard was something I added in as a bit of censorship since in Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden, Undine is depicted as a naked female water spirit, and I'm not sure that having Wolf fight a nude water spirit is a good idea, even in an M-rated game series like Persona.

Interesting fun fact: Undine isn't the only Persona 4-exclusive Persona I used in this chapter.

The fire tigers that Kaneshiro's Shadow summoned to fight the group in the first Prison Keep? Those were Gdons, who are also exclusive to Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden, having appeared in no other Persona games (even if they've appeared in a few SMT titles). As a slight aside, for anyone who's seen Gdon's design in Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden, am I the only one who thinks Gdon looks like it would make for a really sick looking tattoo design? Just putting that out there as some food for thought, as well as your random fun facts for the chapter.

PHANTOM THIEF SKILL LISTINGS AND ALLY LIST AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 28

JOKER (Ren) - Level: 54 Current Personas: Raoul (Level 32), Jack-O'-Lantern (Level 42), Jack Frost (Level 42), Okuninushi (Level 48), Pixie (Level 35), Pisaca (Level 35), Norn (Level 54), Ganesha (Level 54), Queen Mab (Level 51), Fortuna (Level 54) Equipped Persona: Queen Mab Persona Moveset: Mazionga (Elec), Bufudyne (Ice), Makajamaon (Ailment), Concentrate (Support/Buff), Mapsio (Psy), Makouga (Bless), Garula (Wind), Agidyne (Fire)

SKULL (Ryuji) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Seiten Taisei Persona Moveset: Zionga (Elec), Megaton Raid (Physical), Matarukaja (Support/Buff), Attack Master (Passive), Mazionga (Elec), Rebel Soul (Passive), Swift Strike (Physical), Shock Boost (Passive)

MONA (Morgana) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Diego Persona Moveset: Garula (Wind), Diarahan (Healing), Mediarama (Healing), Magarula (Wind), Wind Boost (Passive), Samarecarm (Healing), Masukunda (Support/Debuff), Dodge Elec (Passive)

PANTHER (Ann) - Level: 50 Current/Partner Persona: Hecate Persona Moveset: Agidyne (Fire), Burn Boost (Passive), Fire Boost (Passive), Soul Thief (Passive), Maragion (Fire), Matarunda (Support/Debuff), Marin Karin (Ailment), Diarama (Healing)

FOX (Yusuke) - Level: 50 Current/Partner Persona: Kamu Susano-o Persona Moveset: Bufula (Ice), Speed Master (Passive), Masukukaja (Support/Buff), Knockdown Style (Passive), Vicious Strike (Physical), Tempest Slash (Physical), Mabufula (Ice), Dodge Fire (Passive)

QUEEN (Makoto) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Anat Persona Moveset: Freila (Nuclear), Dekunda (Support/Buff), Marakukaja (Support/Buff), Mafreila (Nuclear), Diarama (Healing), Flash Bomb (Physical), Mediarama (Healing), Nuke Boost (Passive)

NOIR (Haru) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Lucy Persona Moveset: Psio (Psy), Psy Boost (Passive), Heat Riser (Support/Buff), Triple Down (Gun), Evil Smile (Ailment), Amrita Shower (Healing), Mapsio (Psy), Gun Boost (Passive)

ORACLE (Futaba) - Level: 54 Current Personas: Al Azif and Albus Equipped Persona: Al Azif Persona Moveset: Analysis (Passive), Moral Support (Passive), Active Support (Passive), Moral Boost (Passive), Active Boost (Passive), Moral Boost EX (Passive), Active Boost EX (Passive), Final Guard (Passive)

SEEKER (Sophia) - Level: 49 Current/Partner 'Persona': Pithos Persona Moveset: Kougaon? (Bless), Bless Amp? (Passive), Diarama? (Healing), Makouga? (Bless), Mediarama? (Healing), Marakunda? (Support/Debuff), Divine Grace? (Passive), Recarm? (Healing)

WOLF (Zenkichi) - Level: 53 Current/Partner Persona: Valjean Persona Moveset: Megido (Almighty), Gun Boost (Passive), Dekaja (Support/Debuff), Technical High (Passive), Triple Down (Gun), Heat Riser (Support/Buff), Enduring Soul (Passive), Sukukaja (Support/Buff)

VIOLET (Sumire) - Level: 50 Current/Partner Persona: Ella Persona Moveset: Kouga (Bless), Dodge Curse (Passive), Diarama (Healing), Bless Boost (Passive), Heat Wave (Physical), Makouga (Bless), Tempest Slash (Physical), Samarecarm (Healing)

DRACONIS (Kusa) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Malefor Persona Moveset: Agilao (Fire), Garula (Wind), Mediarama (Healing), Rising Slash (Physical), Masukunda (Support/Debuff), Vicious Strike (Physical), Megido (Almighty), Almighty Boost (Passive)

CROW (Goro) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Hereward Persona Moveset: Eiga (Curse), One-Shot Kill (Gun), Maeiga (Curse), Deathbound (Physical), Debilitate (Support/Debuff), Mudo (Curse/insta-kill), Megidola (Almighty), Curse Boost (Passive)

PENDRAGON (Sojiro) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Kohryu Persona Moveset: Psiodyne (Psy), Assault Dive (Physical), Concentrate (Support/Buff), Mediarama (Healing), Mapsio (Psy), Evade Nuke (Passive), Spell Master (Passive), Psy Boost (Passive)

FLARE (Shiho) - Level: 49 Current/Partner Persona: Hester Persona Moveset: Bufula (Ice), Oni-Kagura (Physical), Mediarama (Healing), Divine Grace (Passive), Recarm (Healing), Freila (Nuclear), Ice Boost (Passive), Nuke Boost (Passive)

SERAPHIM (Nanako) - Level: 48 Current/Partner Persona: Sraosha Persona Moveset: Zionga (Elec), Heat Wave (Physical), Divine Grace (Passive), Mazionga (Elec), Recarm (Healing), Elec Boost (Passive), Hama (Bless/insta-kill), Dodge Curse (Passive)

Allies: Ichinose, Akane, Taichi, Momoe, Sae, Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, Naoto

LIST OF KNOWN TRIAD SPECIALS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 28

DIVINE BLIZZARD (Draconis, Fox, Violet)

PURGATORY ARROW (Crow, Noir, Panther)

REBELLIOUS VENGEANCE BURST (Joker, Skull, Seeker)

SNOW CAT-JUTSU (Mona, Flare, Wolf)

JUDGEMENT STRIKE (Oracle, Queen, Pendragon)

STORM OF HEAVEN (Violet, Mona, Seeker)