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!

35. Cores and Shows! CEO's Downfall part 3

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 around, so we'll go ahead and cut to the disclaimer.

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 for Draconis, Pendragon, and Seraphim, all of which I do own. I do not, however, own the OC Personas Hester and Houdini, nor the Phantom Thief attire concepts for Shiho/Flare.

The OC Persona Hester and the Phantom Thief attire concepts for Shiho/flare were created by, and thus belong to, thalassatides (at symbol) bsky on X (or Twitter as it used to be called). If you happen to be on X, feel free to look up thelassatides (at symbol) bsky's work, as they do some good work. As for the OC Persona Houdini, that belongs to Flower Boy Jun over on Amino Apps. If you use that site, go look him up, since he has some very interesting OC Persona designs and also does amazing work.

As far as the Phantom Thief attire concept for Akane/Auburn, Atlus technically owns the attire that Akane/Auburn's Phantom Thief attire was based off of, aka her Monarch outfit, but I own the modifications made to the outfit to create her Phantom Thief attire, so I own Akane/Auburn's Phantom Thief attire, but not the outfit it's based on, if that makes sense at all)) and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus and Sega (where it comes to Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal, as well as Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Reload), as well as to a point Koei Tecmo (where it pertains to Strikers). The rest of the spinoffs belong to various other companies, all of whom know who they are.

As far as Persona 1, Persona 2-Eternal Punishment, and Persona 2-Innocent Sin? As far as I know, they were made by a different studio, who also knows who they are. Full ownership credit for the Persona spinoffs (Phantom X, Tactica, the 'Arena' games, the 'Dancing' games, and the 'Q' games) belong to the studios that helped make them, as well as Atlus and possibly Sega. And full ownership credits for Persona 1, Persona 2- Eternal Punishment, and Persona 2-Innocent Sin belong to the studios that made those games, so all credit to them.

With that longer than usual disclaimer out of the way, since I almost forgot to do it, let's get a real quick learnset and affinities list thrown down for Auburn, since she's the final one to get one. That being said, since I remembered to do it in time, here's a breakdown of the affinities and learnset for Houdini!

AFFINITIES AND LEARNSET FOR HOUDINI (Credit to jdimock for helping design the moveset and affinities for Houdini)

LEARNSET FOR HOUDINI

● Agilao (Innate)
● Diarama (Innate)
● Triple Down (Innate)
● Maeiga (Innate)
● Regenerate 2 (Innate)
● Life Drain (Innate)
● Dodge Ice (Innate)
● Dodge Bless (Innate)
● One-Shot Kill (Lv. 57)
● Evade Ice (Lv. 59)
● Agidyne (Lv. 62)
● Diarahan (Lv. 65)
● Maeigaon (Lv. 68)
● Evade Bless (Lv. 70)
● Charge (Lv. 73)
● Regenerate 3 (Lv. 75)
● Riot Gun (Lv. 77)
● Abyssal Wings (Lv. 80)

AFFINITIES FOR HOUDINI: Physical-Neutral Gun-Resist Fire-Resist Ice-Weak Elec-Neutral Wind-Neutral Psy-Neutral Nuke-Neutral Bless-Weak Curse-Drain

One other quick note to make regarding the final move in Houdini's moveset is that the move Abyssal Wings is a Severe-tier Curse move that originally is only seen in Persona 4 Arena/Persona 4 Arena Ultimax as part of the moveset of Tsukiyomi, the Persona of one Sho Minazuki, or one of the antagonists of Persona 4 Arena/Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. So if anyone wondered about where Abyssal Wings comes from, now you know. Also, there wasn't really a better option for a Severe-tier Curse move to give her, so jdimock and I decided on this as a stand-in. Hopefully it's not a big deal.

And there we are, the learnset and affinities for Houdini! Hard to believe that that's the final one of those I have to do for this story, but there you go. Yep, you heard right. Auburn is the final Phantom Thief to join up in Rise of the Monarchs. But that's probably for the best, since after this Arc, there's only two Jails left of Strikers anyways, and one of those Jails already revolves around a certain someone's backstory as it is, while the other leads up to facing the final boss of Strikers.

With that being said, I think that's sufficient for now as an A/N. Keep reading after the chapter for another A/N, which will probably be at least slightly longer than this one. But for now, here's chapter 35!

Chapter 35- Keeps, Explorations, and More! CEO's Downfall part 3

(In the RV, the following afternoon after the end of Chapter 34, with Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, Goro, Sumire, Kusa, Sophia, Sojiro, Shiho, Zenkichi, Nanako, and Akane)

After the group had a chance to relax a bit and de-stress from the near-miss the group had encountered in the Osaka Jail at the hands of a cognitive Owada the night before, Ren looked at the group and spoke up.

"Well, we've had a long enough break to rest, de-stress, and fuel up with food. Who's ready to get back in that Jail and give our newest teammate her first proper taste of infiltrating a Jail?" Ren asked as virtually everyone else cheered immediately, with the exceptions of Zenkichi and Makoto, who half-heartedly cheered due to their mutual concerns over letting Akane be part of the team. But they knew she'd earned it after she had inexplicably shown up in the Osaka Jail to save them all by awakening to the power of her Persona, Houdini. Ren then turned to Akane and smiled as he kept speaking.

"And Akane, are you excited to finally be able to properly join us on a trip into the Metaverse?" Ren asked as Akane smiled and spoke up.

"Dang straight! Let's get in there and change Konoe's heart! The sooner we do that, the sooner we can start focusing on Owada!" Akane said eagerly as Zenkichi spoke up.

"Just make sure you take this seriously, Akane. Being a Phantom Thief isn't all fun and games." Zenkichi lightly rebuked Akane, who huffed and nodded before smiling as she spoke up.

"I realize that, Dad. I'm allowed to be excited about being a part of the group I've idolized for so long, though. But I appreciate the concern." Akane said as Zenkichi nodded before Ren pulled the group back into the Metaverse...

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

As the group landed in the entrance of the Osaka Jail, Joker looked over the assembled group and spoke up.

"Hard to believe we're still doing this, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles in this case. Anyways, since this is Auburn's first proper infiltration as a Phantom Thief, we now have 17 people in our group. With Oracle navigating, we now have enough for 4 groups of four. So let's set up the groups for this run. In Group A, which I will personally lead, will be myself, Skull, Panther, and Noir. In Group B, which Draconis will lead, will be himself, Wolf, Auburn, and Seraphim.

In Group C, which Crow will lead, will be Crow, Pendragon, Fox, and Flare. Finally, in Group D, which Queen will lead, will be Queen, Violet, Mona, and Seeker. As always, Oracle will handle navigation and act as a go-between for the four groups. Any objections or questions?" Joker said, nodding when no questions or concerns were raised. Auburn smirked as she spoke up.

"I'm ready to get started. Let's go change Konoe's heart!" Auburn said as Wolf spoke up.

"It's not as simple as that, Auburn. Changing hearts is a very long and precise step-by-step process. Just stick close to myself and Seraphim, and you'll learn the ropes as we go." Wolf said to Auburn, who nodded her understanding as Joker warped the group to the 'Juoji Zoo' checkpoint to resume the infiltration. While beating Shadows, Panther hit level 57 and gained the high-tier healing skill 'Diarahan', making her smile as she spoke up.

"Oh! I've got a new skill!" Panther said as Flare spoke up.

"Very nice, Panther. A very sexy skill, just like the lady learning it." Flare said with a coy wink, making Panther blush as she spoke up.

"Flare! Don't flirt with me like that around Seeker! You know how Violet gets about people trying to corrupt her. Also, I don't think we should be giving Seraphim and Auburn any ideas, either. After all, we're kind of role models for them in a sense, now that they've followed in our footsteps by becoming girlfriends." Panther said as Flare apologized and was forgiven while Celestine acquired 'Diarahan'.

After fighting their way across the Juoji Zoo, the group proceeded onward, and after proceeding further in the area, Queen spoke up.

"I have to say, this city seems almost devoid of life. Is this really the society Konoe's hoping to create?" Queen asked as Noir spoke up.

"It's unsettling, but in a different way from the research lab in Okinawa." Noir asked as Auburn spoke up in confusion.

"What makes you say that? And I'm asking this because I wasn't with you guys when you went to Okinawa." Auburn said as Draconis spoke up.

"Let's just say that the Okinawa Jail is a bit more on the creepy side of things and that it literally turned a part of Okinawa's population into a cult-like state. In fact, if it wasn't for Wolf, we would've been in a much different place by now." Draconis said as Auburn spoke up.

"I see then. Well, I'm glad all of you guys came out okay. Especially you, Dad." Auburn said as Wolf smiled as Seeker spoke up.

"Getting back on topic. I might want to point out that if we get captured, there's a good chance we'll end up in one of those cages. Be careful, Mona." Seeker said as Mona smiled and spoke up.

"Don't worry, Lady Seeker. I'm not gonna get caught. The same goes with the rest of us." Mona said as the group then found their way to a path leading into a building, but once they entered the building, they found their forward progression halted by a barrier connected to a console. Seeker spoke up understandingly at that point.

"We can't get through this barrier. Looks like it's Oracle's turn." Seeker said as Auburn frowned and spoke up.

"Barrier? You never mentioned one of those before?" Auburn said as Draconis spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you, Wolf, and Seraphim haven't taken part in a situation like this yet. In a nutshell, we occasionally run across obstacles that are meant to impede our forward progression in a Jail, often in the form of a strong Shadow, or a barrier such as the one in front of us. Fortunately for us, we have the inestimable Oracle on our side, who is an unrivaled goddess of the hacking and computer arts." Draconis said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"While you're not wrong, don't forget that there have been instances of people other than Oracle having to take a turn filling her role on the team. For instance, both myself and Mona have had to take shifts covering for Oracle as the navigator, and in Mona's case, he was the full-time navi before Oracle joined up. Also, you might recall that we left Oracle back at the entrance of the Okinawa Jail with Pendragon to watch over Wolf, Seraphim, Flare, and our parents before Wolf, Seraphim, and Flare got their powers. As a result of that, you had to take a turn at being the group hacker when we ran into a console near the end of the Okinawa Jail. And as I recall, you did quite well at it." Crow said as Oracle blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, for real!? Draconis pulled off his first hack and never told me!? That's so awesome!" Oracle said as Draconis blushed in embarrassment and spoke up.

"Right, I knew I forgot something. But that's a long story, so I'll tell you about it later, Oracle. Anyways, where was I? Ah, right. I was explaining hacking battles to Auburn, Wolf, and Seraphim. Anyways, other than the exception Crow just pointed out, Oracle USUALLY is the one we leave in charge of the hacks. That being said, as long as we can keep Oracle safe, she can work her techno-magic and clear our way to keep going. Does that answer your question?" Draconis asked as Auburn nodded and fell into line next to Seraphim as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Roger that, Seeker! It's hacking time! It's my first time doing it since Sapporo, so I might be a bit rusty, but I'll do my best to get us through here quickly! Everyone ready?" Oracle asked as Joker spoke up.

"Definitely! Groups A, C, and D will handle the larger chunk of the enemy hordes while I leave Group B to stick close to you and keep you safe as you hack. And I'm sure Draconis prefers it that way." Joker said as Draconis spoke up with a huff.

"Shuddup! Get over there with the others and get ready to fight! Leave protecting Oracle to myself, Wolf, Seraphim, and Auburn." Draconis said, getting nods of agreement from the three named Thieves as the rest joined Joker on the front lines as Joker spoke up.

"You ready, Oracle?" Joker asked as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yup, I'm starting the hack now. Make sure all of you watch my back." Oracle said and at that point, a huge army of Shadows spawned in as a fight began! After a lengthy battle, in which Draconis had to use Malefor to blast back at least two to three waves of enemies who snuck through the front lines to keep Oracle safe, Oracle eventually spoke up triumphantly.

"Aaand voila! One hack, well performed! Thanks for the backup!" Oracle said as the battle ended. The ensuing EXP gains brought Noir, Skull, Draconis, Crow, Pendragon, and Flare all to level 57, along with bringing Joker, Oracle, and Violet to level 62. As the group proceeded further into the area, Fox spoke up.

"There is an undeniable beauty in the aesthetic of this place, but I sense little passion from its creator." Fox said as Flare spoke up.

"I agree. Despite noting how beautiful this Jail is, there really is not much going on in this place." Flare said as Panther spoke up.

"I know what you mean Flare. I feel like there's nothing to make it feel alive, so it all feels sort of 'meh'." Panther said as Oracle spoke up.

"I get a little something from these, though. See these slits with the light coming out of them?" Oracle said as she pointed to the line of blue light on the ground as Skull spoke up.

"Oh yeah. Your computer setup's kinda like this, ain't it?" Skull said as the group continued to move forward and after finding and helping Queen and Flare fight off a Treasure Demon, Wolf hit level 58 while Queen and Seraphim hit level 57 along with Auburn hitting level 56, the level-ups giving both Wolf and Seraphim new moves in the form of the Severe-tier Physical move 'Deathbound' and the support/buff move 'Charge'. Wolf spoke up first, a grin on his face.

"Heh, a new skill. Not bad." Wolf said as Auburn blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Umm, so is this supposed to be the 'brags' that most of you supposedly do upon gaining a new move? Gotta say, that was pretty lame as brags go, Dad. But at least the move you got looks super-useful, so I guess it evens out. Good job." Auburn said as Seraphim giggled and spoke up.

"Trust me on this, Auburn. The brags are usually way cooler than that. Your dad's just old-fashioned in how he does things, that's all." Seraphim said as she kept speaking once Valjean acquired 'Deathbound'.

"Speaking of cool brags, I just picked up a new move! Looks like it's time for Sraosha to get charged! Pretty good to be me! I got a new girlfriend, and Sraosha got a sweet new move! Read it and weep!" Seraphim said as Draconis smirked and spoke up approvingly.

"Heh, now THAT is how you do a brag! Nice one, Seraphim. I knew you'd be a natural at this once you finally got motivated a bit. I bet having Auburn around helped you find that motivation, though. Hehehe." Draconis said with a teasing wink, making both Auburn and Seraphim blush under their masks as Oracle smacked Draconis on the arm and spoke up.

"Be nice, Draconis! Can't you see Seraphim's trying to show off for her new girlfriend? Also, I don't think Wolf needs any more stress. He looks ready to have a heart attack over there." Oracle said as Wolf frowned and spoke up.

"Ha freaking ha, Oracle. Excuse me for being a concerned father for my daughter. I'm sure Pendragon can relate to what I'm feeling right now, given the fact his daughter's in this group too." Wolf said as Pendragon smirked and spoke up.

"I feel you on that, Wolf. But also, I think you need to relax. Yes, I can sympathize with your worries for Auburn, but you have to accept that she's growing up and is old enough to make her own choices for the most part. Yes, you can be concerned, but you also should be there for her and support her choices too." Pendragon said sagely as Wolf sighed and nodded before he spoke up.

"Yeah, that's true. Maybe you're right, Pendragon. But I think I'm allowed a bit of lenience here, considering I'm watching my daughter put herself at risk to help us bring down Konoe. It's bad enough I lost my wife to Owada, and I don't know what I'd do if we lost Auburn to the likes of him, too." Wolf said, almost wincing as he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder, before looking up to see Draconis give Wolf an understanding smile as he spoke up.

"I get it, Wolf. You're worried for Auburn. But you need to relax. Between all of us, Auburn is insanely safe right now. I don't think there's a single one of us here who would let anything happen to her, especially now that she's one of us. So trust in us, and let Auburn have this chance to spread her wings, so to speak. I think you'll be surprised at how well she handles herself if you give her that chance." Draconis said sagely, getting an understanding nod from Wolf and grateful smiles from both Seraphim and Auburn for his intervention as Sraosha learned 'Charge'.

While fighting their way across the next area, the group eventually reached the next part of the Osaka Jail. Once there, everyone gaped at the sight of a familiar tower in the distance, with an equally familiar cage-like structure atop it. Noir was the first to speak up after finding her voice.

"There it is, the Prison Keep." Noir said as Auburn spoke up with a frown.

"Prison Keep? What's that?" Auburn asked as Joker spoke up.

"Prison Keeps are the places in a Jail where the Monarch of said Jail keeps each of their three Cores, or the keys to unlock the lair of the Jail's Monarch, in this case Konoe. Each Prison Keep has a core in it, usually guarded by a powerful foe." Joker explained as Auburn nodded and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. So they're essentially our stepping stones, so to speak, towards reaching and confronting Konoe, then?" Auburn asked as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. You're a quick study, Auburn. Anyway, I see a radio tower, too. That's probably how they're controlling all the surveillance cams. If we can just steal the core, those things'll be totally bricked." Oracle said as Crow spoke up.

"Assuming your theory is correct, that is. We don't know that for certain yet, Oracle." Crow said as Fox spoke up.

"True, but there's only one way to know for certain, isn't there?" Fox said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"That's correct, Fox. We'll have to go there anyways, so your point is valid." Crow said as Fox nodded his agreement while he spoke up.

"Indeed. Then, let's slip inside and steal it." Fox said as Wolf frowned and spoke up, having noticed something that the rest of the group had overlooked.

"Not so fast. There're cameras here too. What are we supposed to do about those?" Wolf asked as Draconis thought about it and spoke up.

"Snipe out the cameras?" Draconis suggested as Crow shook his head and spoke up.

"Smart, but where would one snipe from in this place?" Crow asked as Joker spoke up after thinking about it.

"Let's go around. I don't think there's a reason to crawl through here, and I doubt sending Skull at this will help anything. However, I wouldn't be shocked if there was a long way around that Konoe might have overlooked somehow." Joker said sagely as Panther nodded and spoke up with a frown.

"Good idea. It doesn't look like the front door's much of an option anyway." Panther said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. Besides, the straight path isn't always the quickest, right? Let's see if there are any other ways in." Queen said as the group kept moving. After finding an alternate route, the group reached the entrance to the Prison Keep, only to groan at the sight of another barrier and console combo blocking the way in. Oracle frowned at this and spoke up.

"What, another one!? Well, whatever. Guess there's nothin' for it but to get it done. This should get us into the Prison Keep if I can get past this. I'm gonna hack in. Watch my back!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Definitely. You can count on us, Oracle! As for the rest of you? We're using the same strategy as before. Groups A, C, and D, with me! Group B, follow Draconis' lead and protect Oracle!" Joker said as the others nodded, getting into formation as Oracle spoke up with a nod.

"All right, hacking in! As always, make sure you back me up!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Leave that to myself, Wolf, Seraphim, and Auburn. Everyone else is getting ready to hold off the bulk of the enemy forces while we protect you and chase off any stragglers that sneak through the front lines." Draconis said as another fight began! The ensuing fight was tough, mostly due to how many Shadows there were, and the fact that quite a few stragglers broke through the front lines and rushed Group B, forcing Wolf and Draconis to practically have to fight back-to-back as Malefor and Valjean blasted the hordes back with Seraphim and Auburn alternating between buffing, throwing extra damage, and providing the occasional group heal. After a much longer struggle than usual, Oracle eventually spoke up.

"That wasn't easy, but we did it. Ladies and gentlemen, your hack is now complete! Been a pleasure!" Oracle said as the fight ended. From the ensuing EXP gain, Seeker hit level 58 while Auburn hit level 57, the level-ups giving Houdini the heavy-tier Gun skill 'One-Shot Kill', making Auburn smile as she spoke up.

"All right! A new tool for Houdini's bag of tricks! Let's go!" Auburn said as Seraphim giggled and spoke up.

"Not bad for your first brag, Auburn. You're a natural at this. But then again, I already figured you'd make what you do look good." Seraphim said coyly as Auburn smiled and spoke up.

"Thanks. You're making it look pretty good yourself, you know. But, umm, maybe let's not flirt while we're on the job, yeah? I think we should stay focused on the task at hand. We can save the celebrations for later." Auburn said as both Queen and Wolf gave her approving nods while Seraphim pouted and spoke up.

"Aww, that's no fun. Ugh, fiiiine. I'll behave for now. But you'd best make it up to me later, Auburn." Seraphim said coyly as Houdini acquired 'One-Shot Kill'. After running into the Prison Keep, the group found another sentry waiting for them, with a horde of smaller Shadows in tow. Before the group could do more than blink, the sentry spoke up.

"This area is off limits! Villains who violate the rules will be purged!" The sentry said as Wolf chuckled dryly and spoke up.

"Heh, what are you, some kinda watchdog? Let's wrap this up quick and shut down those cameras!" Wolf said as the others nodded and a fight began! As the fight went on, the enemy, who'd shifted forms into what Joker recognized from his fusings as a 'Sarasvati' kept pelting the group with strong attacks, eventually forcing everyone but Queen, Flare, and Joker backwards, as Flare spoke up.

"Oracle, can you get a scan on the strong Shadow? I have a theory on how we can beat it, but I need to confirm something first." Flare said as Oracle spoke up.

"Coming right up, Flare! All right, let's see here. Oh! This says that the 'Sarasvati', or the "Strumming Veena Player', blocks Ice, resists Elec, and is extremely vulnerable to Nuclear damage." Oracle said as Flare smirked and spoke up.

"Perfect! That's what I thought. Queen, you and Joker can use Nuclear moves, right?" Flare asked as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. Joker has a few Personas with Nuclear skills, and Agnes excels at that type of skill. Why?" Queen said as Flare spoke up.

"Because the three of us are gonna focus on hammering the 'Sarasvati' with its weakness! While we do that, the others can try and mop up the followers!" Flare said as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"I like it. Let's do it." Joker said as he, Queen, and Flare all worked together to hammer the 'Sarasvati' with their strongest Nuclear attacks. After a bit, the enemy reeled as its down gauge was shattered, prompting Queen to speak up.

"Looks like it's time for an All-Out Attack. Do you two mind if I take this one?" Queen asked as Joker and Flare shook their heads before Queen cracked her knuckles and spoke up.

"Good. EVERYONE! TIME FOR AN ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Queen said as the group nodded and charged in for an attack, pelting the enemies with strikes before Queen cricked her neck and punched her fist into her open palm, causing an explosion of Nuclear energy behind her that massively decimated the enemy forces and damaged the 'Sarasvati' while she spoke up.

"HMPH! JUSTICE IS SERVED!" Queen said before posing like a badass to end the All-Out Attack. After a bit, the rest of the minor enemies were destroyed, leaving just the 'Sarasvati'. At that point, Joker noticed Flare surrounded by a familiar light, making him smirk and spoke up.

"Hey, Flare. Looks like your Showtime is ready. Care to do the honors of ending this?" Joker said as Flare nodded and spoke up.

"Yep! Don't mind if I do!" Flare said as she spoke up.

"Prepare to fall! IT'S SHOWTIME!" Flare said as her Showtime started! Once the Showtime begain Flare swiftly turned to look at Hester as she spoke up.

"Shall we, Hester?" Flare said as Hester nodded, waving her arm to create a pool of Shadow, which Flare vanished into. Seemingly as fast as she'd vanished, Flare reappeared, slashing her tonfa furiously at the horrified 'Sarasvati', speaking up as she did so.

"Confused!? Don't blink, or you'll miss me!" Flare said as she rapidly sprinted back and forth while slashing at 'Sarasvati'. After 'Sarasvati' got dizzy from trying to keep up, Flare giggled and spoke up.

"Aww, what's wrong? Dizzy from my speed! TOO BAD! That's just what I was hoping for! AND NOW FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT!" Flare said as she pushed out her tonfa in front of her while drilling towards the 'Sarasvati' at near-invisible speeds, shooting through her chest and coming out of her back, hitting the ground as the 'Sarasvati' cried out in pain as Flare huffed and spoke up with an unconcerned look as she set up the finisher for her Showtime.

"BEGONE! YOU'VE BEEN BAD! AND NOW YOU'VE BEEN PUNISHED FOR STANDING IN OUR WAY!" Flare said, glaring at the downed 'Sarasvati' before swiftly smacking her tonfa together to create a shockwave that crashed into the downed 'Sarasvati' for good damage, making her groan as she smacked into the nearby wall and slid to the ground with a groan and slump over in defeat to end Flare's Showtime, as well as the battle. From the ensuing EXP gain, Mona and Fox both hit level 58 and Fox gained the Severe-tier Physical skill 'Myriad Slashes', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Hm, I've gotten a new skill. I can do much with this, I'm sure." Fox said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, not bad, Fox. Looks pretty deadly to me, just like those katanas of yours. Well done on getting that move." Crow said as Fox nodded before Gorokichi acquired 'Myriad Slashes' as the group kept moving. After scaling the tower, Joker found the first core, which he seized to get a 'Dirty Figurine' key item. At that point, Oracle spoke up.

"Nice, the radio signal's kaput. That takes care of the cameras." Oracle said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Right. That should allow us to check out those places that were blocked off earlier. Let's head back to the entrance." Mona said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, let's. The way to the castle should be wide open now." Oracle said as Panther spoke up all while looking at Joker with an intrigued look on her face.

"Also, I happen to notice that you seized the core, Joker. What did it end up being, by the way?" Panther asked as Joker held out the figurine in his hand so the others could see, making Queen blink and speak up.

"Is this supposed to be an action figure?" Queen said as Oracle took one look at the figurine and spoke up, her eyes widening behind her visor as she spoke up.

"Oh, no waaay! It's him, you guys! It's Zephyrman!" Oracle said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Hm? You mean like the keyword?" Skull said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. Somehow, I'm not surprised that Oracle ended up hooked on that show. I thought it was pretty good myself, but I think that any action show that was made about our adventures would be way more entertaining to watch, if only because of all the hilarious parts we've been through so far." Draconis said with a smirk. Crow spoke up with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised that you'd suggest we try to market ourselves, Draconis." Crow said as Pendragon spoke up.

"I could see us being rather profitable. But I seem to recall that it was Draconis himself who once pointed out that fame is fleeting and fickle, and that we're not in this for the fame." Pendragon said sagely, making Draconis wince and speak up.

"Good point. I did say that, didn't I? I was just being a smart-aleck anyways when I suggested we have our own show." Draconis said as a confused Wolf spoke up.

"Uhh, so what does all that mean again regarding Jail cores? To tell you the truth, I may have only been half-paying attention back in the Yongen Jail since my mind was thinking about Auburn who was waiting for us back in the real world as we did our infiltration." Wolf said and as Crow grumbled the words 'kill me' to himself, Mona spoke up with a frown.

"I knew you weren't entirely paying attention to Joker and Draconis when we were in the Yongen Jail, Wolf. Ugh, listen up. You too, Auburn. This could be a good learning experience for you. Jails house power sources that act as a symbol of the Monarch's power. We call them 'cores'. This is one of them." Mona said as a skeptical Wolf spoke up.

"This thing? You're telling me this little action figure is a core? Why would this be a symbol of power?" Wolf asked as Panther spoke up warily.

"Uhh, maybe he just really likes Zephyrman?" Panther guessed as Auburn scoffed and spoke up.

"That's possible, Panther. But if I had to venture a guess? I'd say it's a matter of symbolism. Perhaps each of a Monarch's cores represents different aspects of their past. For example, you mentioned that the cores of the Yongen Jail were a briefcase, a glove, and a used gun. Perhaps each of those things had sentimental value and symbolized a significant event in that Monarch's history." Auburn suggested as Draconis blinked before slowly nodding, giving Auburn an approving smile as he spoke up.

"That makes a lot of sense, Auburn. The briefcase was the same one that Crow carried around a lot when we first met him. The glove was apparently a twin of one that Crow threw at Joker when issuing a challenge for a rematch. This happened just after Joker kicked Crow's ass a few years ago in a one-on-one fight in a very out-of-the-way place called Mementos, which I'll explain to you as well as those who have not been in the group during that time about it later. And the used gun? I don't like to think about that one, but you deserve to know.

That gun was the same one that was used to seemingly end Joker's life. Or so the Black Mask thought. Little did that overconfident bastard realize that he'd been suckered. All that gun was used for was to murder a cognitive doppelganger of Joker, while the real one sat in an interrogation room in the real world with a shit-eating grin on his face as he got to pull one over on the Black Mask. But I could see all three of those events as having significance to the Yongen Jail's former Monarch. So your theory has a lot of merit, Auburn." Draconis said as Auburn spoke up in surprise.

"I see. Sorry for forcing you to bring up a rough memory, but it was just a thought I had." Auburn said as Panther spoke up.

"Ehh, it's fine, Auburn. It's not like your thought was any more out there than my suggestion that Konoe really likes Zephyrman." Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"Indeed, Panther. It's very possible that Konoe likes Zephyrman to such an extent that he would call himself a hero." Fox said as Seeker spoke up with a serious look on her face while she stood between Violet and Joker, the latter of which was standing between Seeker and Mona.

"Even though he's clearly a bad guy, and not a hero." Seeker said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Very well spotted, Lady Seeker. You're as clever as you are lovely. But let's stay on task for now, shall we? Whatever the reason, we have to focus on securing a route to the castle." Mona said as Skull nodded and spoke up, keeping the group's attention off the shyly blushing Seeker, who was clearly flattered by Mona's praise of her, as he spoke.

"Right. Let's head on back to where those infrared lasers were and see if we can find the next Prison Keep." Skull said as the group kept moving. As they made their way out of the Prison Keep, Panther noticed the surveillance cameras being turned off and spoke up.

"Hey, look! Are the security cameras off now?" Panther asked as Violet spoke up.

"From the looks of it, they are. At least that's one less thing to worry about." Violet said as Fox spoke up.

"This will let us move around more freely. Perhaps we should return to Shinsekai at this time? Fox said as Skull spoke up.

"Yeah, I remember seeing one place we couldn't get to before. We should stop by and check it out?" Skull said as the group proceeded back to Shinsekai. As they were fighting enemies to get back to the first area of the Jail, Seeker, Panther, Skull, Noir, Pendragon, Crow, Draconis, Flare, and Seraphim all hit level 58 while Joker, Oracle, and Violet all hit level 63, the level-ups giving both Flare and Draconis new moves in the form of the heavy-tier Physical skill 'Brain Buster' and the support/debuff skill 'Debilitate' respectively. Flare smirked as she spoke up.

"Not bad. Looks like Hester's learned a new trick! Maybe this could be of use in our coming battles?" Flare said as Panther spoke up.

"Uhh, do any of us even want to know how being able to bust brains could be of use to us?" Panther asked uneasily as Flare giggled and spoke up.

"It's a figure of speech, Panther. Hester's not really busting brains. Don't worry that sexy head of yours so much." Flare said as Panther pouted cutely and spoke up.

"Hey, no fair. Don't tease me like that, Flare." Panther said as Flare giggled and kissed Panther cutely on the cheek by way of apology, making Panther smile and forgive Flare as Hester acquired 'Brain Buster'. At that point, Draconis spoke up.

"Okay then? I didn't think Flare would use a brag as a chance to flirt with Panther, but if that's what gets her lucky, then more power to her? But let's get back on topic. Looks like Malefor's finally gettin' the good skills! Sure, this is a skill that Crow got to first, but it's still pretty useful for what it is, I think." Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"Definitely. Don't sneeze at a skill that can lower all stats of one foe for a time." Joker said sagely as Oracle spoke up.

"Joker's right. Mwehehe! And besides, you look plenty amazing the way you are, Draconis. So it doesn't matter if you're the second to get that skill." Oracle said as Draconis nodded his understanding and spoke up.

"Fair enough. Fear Malefor, if you dare!" Draconis said, making both Joker and Crow groan as Malefor acquired 'Debilitate'. While clearing out more Shadows in the first section of the Osaka Jail, both Queen and Auburn hit level 58, the level-ups giving Queen access to the Heavy-tier Nuclear skill 'Mafreidyne', making Queen smile as she spoke up.

"All right! I've awakened to a new skill!" Queen said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Nice one, babe! That looks like it'll pack a real wallop! Proud of ya." Skull said approvingly as Queen blushed and thanked Skull as Agnes acquired 'Mafreidyne'. After wandering around the entrance area of the Osaka Jail for a bit, the group found a pathway leading to an elevator near the back of the area, at which point Oracle spoke up.

"It looks like that elevator'll take us closer to Konoe's castle." Oracle said as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"Good point, Oracle. We're finally making progress. We've still got a long way to go, though, before we've reached our goal." Noir said as Crow spoke up.

"I agree. We're not done here until we find Konoe and hold him accountable for what he's done." Crow said, getting nods of agreement from the others as the group kept moving. Once the group headed over into the next area, they noticed that the area they'd walked into was very akin to a storage room of sorts. Fox then spoke up.

"This is certainly a change of scenery. It looks like some sort of storage warehouse in here." Fox said as Wolf frowned and spoke up.

"I see. Guess the castle's still pretty far off. This is gonna take some serious patience." Wolf said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"True, but if you and Auburn are going to be part of the team for the long haul, patience will come to you naturally over time. After all, look at myself and Crow. Neither one of us were by any means patient men before we joined the Phantom Thieves, and now we're some of the most patient people on this team." Draconis said sagely as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"Draconis is right. Though I have a feeling Auburn's already got a pretty good bit of patience in her by default, given how patiently she waited to stake claim to not only her crush, but to her place on this team. I have to say, I respect her tenacity and resolve, if nothing else." Crow said as Auburn blushed in embarrassment and spoke up.

"Aww, geez, Crow! You're gonna make me blush over here if you keep praising me like that." Auburn said as Seraphim spoke up.

"I think he's just trying to be nice. He has his own girlfriend to spoil already, anyways." Seraphim said teasingly as Crow glared and spoke up, though the sound of a plane passing by at that moment drowned out what was basically Crow telling Seraphim to screw off and mind her own damn business. At that point, Panther's eyes widened as she spoke up in shock.

"Uhh, ignoring what Crow just said to Seraphim for now, I think we have more important problems. Does anyone else hear that? It sounds like a plane or something." Panther said as Oracle's eyes widened in recollection and she spoke up.

"Oh, that's right, there was a transportation station nearby. Maybe it'll have something to help us get around." Oracle said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Perhaps. Only way to know for sure is to keep going, I'd say." Draconis said as the group kept moving. After moving forward and trying to get a higher vantage point, a sentry Shadow spawned in and spoke up.

"Intruder located!" The sentry Shadow said as it spawned in a bunch of Shadows, starting a fight! After the fight, which was quick and winnable, Mona hit level 59. As the Thieves were then moving along on a ledge next to a wall, Wolf spoke up.

"Whoa, whoa, we're actually going through here? You guys are nuts." Wolf said as Auburn spoke up.

"Come on, Dad. Even I'm not afraid of doing something like this." Auburn said as Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"That's the spirit, Auburn. Also, make sure to watch your step, Wolf!" Oracle said and after the group reached the ground level on the opposite side, the group found their path blocked by a giant laser wall, making an uneasy Seeker speak up.

"Caution! Those are infrared sensors. I don't recommend trying to pass through them." Seeker said as Oracle pouted and spoke up.

"Whaaat? But the station is right there, Seeker!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up with a shake of his head.

"No, it's not worth the risk. Even if those lasers don't slice us to pieces, the security level will probably shoot through the damn roof, and we'll have to come back later. I don't think we want that kind of detour right now, Oracle." Draconis said as Oracle pouted and spoke up.

"Awww, but we're so close, Draconis!" Oracle said as Draconis smirked and pulled his pouting girlfriend into a hug as he spoke up.

"I know, but that's all the more reason to be smart about this, Oracle. Trust me, we all want to get at Konoe as much as you do, but we can't rush this." Draconis said as Wolf spoke up.

"Hey, uh, I don't know a damn thing about this kinda stuff, but couldn't we just turn those things off?" Wolf asked as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"That's true, Wolf-san. We could definitely try to disable these lasers. There might be a Prison Keep that controls the sensors." Noir said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Right. Let's see if we can find it." Queen said as Violet spoke up.

"Preferably before Konoe has a chance to smear our names through the mud more than he already has." Violet said bluntly as Joker smiled and spoke up.

"It's all right, Violet. With all apologies to both you and Seeker for the language I'm about to use, I couldn't give two fucks less what a cowardly pissant like Akira Konoe thinks of us. We all know we're in the right here. So he can't break us if we remember that. Besides, that'll just make it all the more satisfying to bring him to justice ourselves, by having him use his own mouth to clear all of us of what he tried to frame us for. Think about it. The very instrument that tried to bring about our downfall instead ends up being our salvation. Can you feel the irony in that?" Joker said sagely as Pendragon chuckled and spoke up before Violet could do more than pout at Joker cussing around Seeker.

"Well said, Joker. Let's keep going and find that Prison Keep before Oracle has a tantrum in Draconis' arms." Pendragon said teasingly, prompting Oracle to childishly stick her tongue out at Pendragon in response, making Auburn and Seraphim both giggle at Oracle's childish outburst while Draconis just shook his head fondly as the group kept moving. As the group was making their way across some shipping containers, Panther spoke up.

"Look at all these containers. What do you think's inside?" Panther asked as Skull spoke up.

"Judgin' from all this other shit lying around, I say it's probably weapons or some kind of freaky machines." Skull said as Noir spoke up.

"It could also be food. I wonder what people from the future eat?" Noir asked as Oracle spoke up.

"Bet you it's some kinda nutrient jelly ration bar thing! That's the classic dystopian diet!" Oracle said as Pendragon sighed and spoke up.

"I don't think that's the only thing that people from the future would eat. I'm just hoping that curry can still be a worthwhile food in the future." Pendragon said as the group kept moving. Later on, as they were fighting off Shadows, Joker, Oracle, and Violet hit level 64 while Wolf, Fox, and Seeker all hit level 59, the level-ups giving Oracle a new move on her 'Albus' Persona in the form of the support/buff skill 'Masukukaja', making her grin as she spoke up.

"Mwehehe! Behold my power! Albus grows ever stronger." Oracle said as Draconis groaned and spoke up.

"That was just terrible, Oracle. You didn't need the 'Behold my power!' part of your brag. But I guess you get to get away with it since you're so cute." Draconis said as he heard Skull, Joker, and Crow all use their tongues to simultaneously make whip sounds, making Seeker, Seraphim, and Auburn all giggle at the rather put-out look on Draconis' face as he kept speaking.

"You three can go ahead and shut your instigating mouths right now. Especially you, Joker! What sort of an example is that to set for Seeker?" Draconis said as Seeker giggled and spoke up.

"Calm down, Draconis. It's just harmless fun. Sure, Joker could probably do without making you annoyed, but that's what brothers do, isn't it? They give each other a hard time because they care." Seeker said as Draconis went to make a snarky remark, only to blink and rethink his response at how wise Seeker's words were as he spoke up.

"That's...surprisingly wise and profound, Seeker. Well played throwing my words back at me like that." Draconis said, lightly patting Seeker on the head fondly. Violet giggled at this and spoke up.

"Aww, how adorable. I knew there was a sweet side to you in there somewhere, Draconis. I bet you'll be a great dad when the time comes." Violet said teasingly, not seeing Draconis' eyes widen under his helmet at Violet's remark, not having given any serious consideration to the idea of possibly having children with Oracle prior to that point. Draconis then shook himself mentally to keep from freezing in place with his shock at Violet's remark, as well as mentally reminding himself to stay focused on the task at hand as he spoke up.

"Perhaps you're right, Violet. But that's a subject for another day. We're trying to bring down Konoe, not talk about having families." Draconis said firmly as Albus acquired 'Masukukaja'. After moving into the next section of the Osaka Jail, Seeker then noticed more infrared sensors in the distance and spoke up.

"Look, there are even more infrared sensors here." Seeker said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Thanks for the heads up, Lady Seeker. That being said, we've really gotta do something about those. Let's find that Prison Keep ASAP." Mona said as the group made their way to the left of the sensors. As they were fighting off more Shadows, Wolf smirked and spoke up.

"I know this isn't probably the best time for it, but I gotta put this out there. This outfit? Heh, it's so freakin' badass." Wolf said as Skull, Crow, and Draconis all high-fived Wolf while fighting off Shadows as Auburn smirked and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Wolf. Your brags might be a bit on the lame side, but your outfit? I find it to be totally cool and awesome. Not to mention those guns you got with it give off a 'Western' vibe, I think." Auburn said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Truth, Auburn! I could definitely see Wolf being a part of Western films with that attire! Granted, I'm pretty sure they didn't have machine pistols back then, but no one said Wolf's outfit was historically accurate to that era anyways." Skull said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Perhaps, but I think Westerns would be way more interesting if they mixed up the attire and guns once in a while." Crow said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Well said, Crow. Nice to see you have a similar sense of badassery that Skull and I do." Draconis said approvingly before turning to Wolf as he kept speaking.

"That being said, I absolutely agree that your Phantom Thief outfit is badass, Wolf! Not only that, but your current threads seriously scream 'Desperado' to me. That, and with all apologies to Seeker since there's not a nicer way to put this, it gives off some serious 'don't fuck with me if you value your life, since I'll absolutely wreck your shit!' type of energy. I bet both Skull and Crow can legit relate to that vibe at times." Draconis said as Skull high-fived Draconis and spoke up.

"Truth, man! That was such a mood for me back before we formed the Phantom Thieves most of the time." Skull said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"And it was, as Skull just said, 'a mood' for me a lot too, especially before I warmed up to the idea of working with your group. To be honest, and with my apologies to you all, I used to not be able to stand most of you. Some of you more than others. But now I see that all of you are pretty worthwhile individuals to work with. So I guess that goes to show you truly do learn something new almost every day." Crow said, making most of the others nod their agreement of Crow's words, even Violet who was busy glaring at Draconis for cussing around Seeker. Seeker, for her part, smiled and spoke up.

"Sounds like Wolf is, as some of the cool kids would probably say, 'a badass'. Duly noted." Seeker said, and at that point it was hard to tell if Pendragon, Violet, Queen, or Wolf was doing the best fish impression at the sight of Seeker cussing, before all four of them glared at Draconis and Skull, the latter of which spoke up.

"WHAT!? Why're you glarin' at me!? Draconis is the one who was just swearin' up a blue streak! I know I have a lack of filter, but I'm tryin' to cut back on it." Skull said as Draconis winced at all the pissed-off looks thrown his way and spoke up.

"Sorry. Got caught up in the moment a bit. And Seeker? I realize that you were making a point, but even so, don't cuss. That's not something a young lady like you should be doing. Granted, I can see how both Oracle and Violet can be bad examples of this at times, to say nothing of Panther, Flare, Queen, and even both Seraphim and Auburn. But I know I'm probably the guiltiest of us all when it comes to excessive swearing outside of Skull. Do as we say, Seeker. Don't do as we do." Draconis said as Seeker nodded before giving Violet an apologetic look with her eyes arranged in an adorable way.

This decision by Seeker would end up making Joker, Oracle, Seraphim, and Mona have to stifle laughs as they realized she was trying to pull off a puppy-dog eye pout, making Queen, Pendragon, and Wolf all glare at the first three aforementioned Thieves respectively while an embarrassed Violet was glaring at a chuckling Mona, who was gently pulling a blushing Seeker into a comforting hug. Eventually, the group kept moving. After a bit, the group was stopped by a yellow door, making Oracle frown as she spoke up.

"Crap! This door's locked." Oracle said as Crow smirked and saw a chance to snark a bit as he spoke up.

"Thank you for that oh-so-wonderful insight, Captain Obvious. What will you tell us next?" Crow deadpanned as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Be nice, Crow. I know you're teasing, but Oracle is trying her best." Draconis said firmly but kindly as Oracle spoke up.

"Exactly. Draconis gets it. That said, these types usually open with a switch, but I don't see anything like that nearby to speak of. Hmm, let's see if there's anything else here. We'll just have to find some kind of secret passage. Any idea where we should look?" Oracle asked as Auburn spoke up.

"Probably not. I mean, that is why they're called 'secret' passages, am I right?" Auburn pointed out as Seraphim spoke up.

"I believe so. However, nine times out of ten, secret passages are often hidden in places you wouldn't think they'd be in." Seraphim noted as Oracle stuck her tongue out childishly at Seraphim and Auburn, making Pendragon frown and speak up.

"Behave, Oracle. They're just trying to help." Pendragon said rebukingly as the group kept moving. After a moment, Joker used his Third Eye to look around, resisting the urge to groan as he spotted a hidden vent really close to the sealed door, gesturing for the others to follow as he guided them through the vent, coming out near a red door, with a switch next to the door that was the same color. Joker hit the switch and then examined the door, which opened up, making Seeker smile as she spoke up.

"Oh, it opened." Seeker said as Queen spoke up.

"From the looks of it, this door seemed to open up when Joker hit the red switch next to it. I wonder if that means we need to find a yellow switch for the yellow doors then? In other words, is it possible that each of the doors in this area are connected to a switch of the same color as the door?" Queen asked as Pendragon spoke up.

"That makes sense to me, Queen. I could see Konoe being condescending enough to think his adversaries wouldn't be able to figure out that his switches are color-coded, the egotistic jerk he is." Pendragon said as Crow, Skull, and Draconis chuckled at Pendragon's roast of Konoe while Noir spoke up.

"I see. So, if we see another door like this one, we should find the switch that matches that door's color to go with it." Noir said as Crow spoke up.

"Pretty much. But for now, let's just focus on ki-err, I mean defeating as many of our foes as possible, yeah?" Crow said as Noir nodded and the group kept moving. As the group fought off a small army of Shadows behind a purple door, some of which Joker recognized as 'Fortuna', Skull ended up speaking up as he took something of a device that was in the corner of the area in awe.

"Holy shit, is that thing for real?" Skull asked as Oracle gasped as she spoke up.

"Omigosh, is that a railgun!? That's THE weapon of the future!" Oracle said as Draconis groaned and spoke up.

"Seriously, Oracle? Is now a good time to be in one of your geek-out sessions?" Draconis asked as Panther spoke up.

"I agree with Draconis. You two are way too hyped about this." Panther said as Oracle and Skull ran towards the rail gun as the latter spoke up.

"Oh man, I bet this thing packs a punch! C'mon, we gotta shoot it at least once!" Skull said as Oracle nodded as she spoke up while aiming the rail gun at the Shadows with Skull.

"Ooh, this is a real beaut! Makes a geek girl want to cry. Now let's zap them, Skull!" Oracle said as Skull spoke up while calling out to the rest of the group.

"HEY EVERYONE, STAND CLEAR! ORACLE AND I GOING TO TROUNCE THE REST OF THESE GUYS!" Skull said as Draconis looked at Joker and spoke up.

"Are we seriously going to let them do this?" Draconis asked as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Well, if it can finish these Shadows off quicker, I say we go for it. EVERYONE MOVE ASIDE!" Joker ordered as he and the rest of the Thieves moved aside allowing Skull and Oracle to aim a clear shot at the remaining Shadows as they blasted with a huge ball of Electricity, eliminating the rest of them. As a result, the ensuing influx of EXP brought Skull, Panther, Queen, Noir, Crow, Pendragon, Draconis, Seraphim, and Auburn all to level 59, the level-ups giving Crow, Seraphim, and Auburn each new moves in the forms of the heavy-tier Curse skill 'Eigaon', the upgraded Bless insta-kill move 'Hamaon', and the passive skill 'Evade Ice', respectively. To start, Crow grinned and spoke up.

"Well, well. What's this? It would seem I've beaten Joker at something for once. In this case, I'm the first one to get to a skill that does heavy-tier Curse damage." Crow said as Joker grinned and spoke up.

"Nope, no such luck, Crow. Seth has 'Eigaon', too." Joker said as Crow swore and spoke up after snapping his fingers in disappointment.

"Dammit! Well, it's fine. 'Eigaon' is still a good skill." Crow said as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Actually Crow, you did beat Joker with getting 'Eigaon'. While Seth was able to get the skill before Hereward, you were able to get 'Eigaon' before Joker when you got Loki back as your Persona." Draconis said as both Crow and Joker blinked before the latter spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well, I guess I was wrong Crow, you did technically beat me with getting that skill. So congrats man." Joker said as Crow chuckled before speaking up.

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing. At least for once, I managed to beat you in something." Crow said as Hereward acquired 'Eigaon'. At that point, Seraphim smiled and spoke up.

"Ooh, looks like Sraosha got a power-up! All right!" Seraphim said as Auburn smiled and spoke up.

"How is it that you can make something that's so incredibly childish seem so unbelievably adorable at the same time, Seraphim? And good job on the new move." Auburn said as she smiled at Seraphim, who shyly nodded as her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment while Sraosha acquired 'Hamaon'. Finally, Auburn smirked as she spoke up once more.

"Ooh, nice! Looks like I've picked up a new trick along the way." Auburn said as Wolf smirked and spoke up.

"Not bad, Auburn. You're a fast learner, it seems. I'm proud of you. Keep up the good work." Wolf said, patting his daughter on the shoulder encouragingly as Auburn nodded with a soft smile as Houdini acquired 'Evade Ice'. After the group kept moving, they found a white door, only to look up and see a familiar birdcage behind the white door, making Oracle frown as she spoke up.

"Looks like we found our Prison Keep! The only thing now is, with that door in the way, how do we get there?" Oracle asked as Fox spoke up.

"Good question. I don't see a keyhole anywhere on this door. How is anyone supposed to open this?" Fox asked as Noir spoke up.

"Hmm, that's a good point. Well, this door's color is rather obviously white. So if this is like the other ones we've faced so far..." Noir said, trailing off as Panther spoke up to finish her thought.

"...Then, we gotta find a white switch! Let's take a look around!" Panther said as the group kept moving. After clearing out more Shadows, Wolf hit level 60 and got the heavy-tier Almighty skill 'Megidola', making him smirk as he spoke up.

"Oh? Looks like a new skill! Not bad." Wolf said as Draconis and Crow's jaws dropped as the former spoke up.

"No way! Is Wolf..." Draconis started as Crow followed up to finish his thought.

"...going to rival our mastery of Almighty moves!?" Crow said as both spoke up at once.

"FOR REAL!?" Crow and Draconis said as Wolf grinned and spoke up.

"Heh, you boys better look out. I might actually pass you two up at this rate. Better stay sharp." Wolf said as Joker and Mona looked at each other before both burst out laughing at the identical dumbfounded looks on Crow and Draconis' faces as Joker spoke up.

"You know he's not wrong. Wolf could end up getting his most powerful Almighty skill before you two get yours. In addition, I could get a Persona with a severe-tier Almighty skill before you guys get yours. However, this could also apply to Oracle as well since Albus is able to use Almighty skills. But who knows, you two might be able to acquire the rest of your skills before Wolf so hang in there you two." Joker said as Noir and Oracle hugged their boyfriends comfortingly while Valjean acquired 'Megidola'. As the group then ventured through the various corridors of the Jail, Wolf spoke up.

"Man, you guys sure have a lot of energy. My eyes are starting to hurt." Wolf said as Fox spoke up.

"Is that so? Your mask's design led me to believe it had built-in sunglasses." Fox said as Mona groaned and spoke up.

"Phantom Thieves are supposed to move in darkness. What good would sunglasses do?" Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"The lights here are pretty blinding, though. Do you want to take a break?" Queen asked as Joker spoke up.

"Sorry, Queen. But thanks to the ambush that was caused by that cognitive Owada, we lost valuable time infiltrating this Jail. We need to do as much as we can today to make up for what happened yesterday." Joker said as Queen nodded in understanding as Seeker spoke up.

"Going back to the topic of our masks, mine has a shades mode built in. We could have matching masks, Wolf." Seeker said as Auburn spoke up.

"I don't think Dad can be able to match with you, Seeker. Especially since yours is more high-tech. Not that I'm trying to be mean or anything. Both your mask, as well as Dad's, look awesome." Auburn said as Wolf smiled and spoke up

"Thanks, Auburn. Oh, and to answer what you asked before, Seeker? While I appreciate the sentiment of you wanting to match with me with our masks, I'm not entirely sure if it's feasible or not at this point in time. That being said, I appreciate what you were trying to do Seeker, but I think I'll be fine." Wolf said as the group continued onwards. Later on, while fighting more Shadows, Mona hit level 60 and gained the heavy-tier Wind skill 'Magarudyne', making him grin as he spoke up.

"Heh! Take a look at my new skill!" Mona said as Seeker giggled and spoke up.

"Silly Mona. Why are you such a show-off? You're lucky I think that aspect of you is cute. But in all seriousness, that's a very useful skill you just got. Good job." Seeker said, making sure no one was looking before sneakily kissing Mona on the cheek, making his eyes widen in shock behind his mask as his face went bright red under his mask, shyly smiling while holding a hand briefly to the spot where Seeker's lips had touched his cheek, clearly stunned at her bold move.

Seeker then smiled at Mona before walking back over to fall into step with Violet as Mona smiled and nodded once Draconis and Crow both clapped him on the back in a manly fashion as Diego acquired 'Magarudyne'. After the group kept moving, they eventually came to yet another console/barrier combo, making Seeker frown as she spoke up.

"This door seems familiar too. It's not the type that opens with a switch. We need Oracle's help for this one." Seeker said as Draconis spoke up.

"Son of a-! They used this gimmick THREE TIMES IN ONE JAIL!?" Draconis said as Skull's eyes widened and he spoke up.

"For real!? Damn. I guess they really did. They did it three times in a row, man." Skull said as Oracle spoke up. *1*

"Mwehehe! I guess this is the Metaverse's way of making up for the lack of these in the Kyoto and Yongen Jails. So what if they've used it three times in this one Jail? That just means I get to strut my stuff that much more! All right, I'm gonna start the hack! You know the drill!" Oracle said as Joker nodded and spoke up.

"Definitely. Groups A, C, and D fight off the big hordes, and Group B stays behind to watch your back and drive off any stragglers that get past us." Joker said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Very good. All right, hacking in! Make sure you back me up!" Oracle said as Draconis nodded, gesturing for Group B, which was somehow still himself, Wolf, Auburn, and Seraphim, to take positions near Oracle as a battle started. The battle that ensued was difficult, mostly due to how frequently the enemies poured in, but in the end, the group held out long enough for Oracle to finish the hack and speak up.

"Oof, cut that way too close. But in the end, I still got it! Voila! Thanks for the backup, everyone!" Oracle said as the battle ended. After moving through the open passageway, the group found themselves greeted by a strong Shadow, who glared and spoke up.

"So you're the ones who've been wrecking our security! Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable! Prepare to face the almighty hammer of justice!" The 'Enforcer of Justice', as Oracle had identified it, said as it shifted forms into what Joker immediately recognized as a 'Thor', right as Oracle spoke up.

"This one looks tough. Get ready!" Oracle said as the group nodded before a fight began. The fight that ensued was tough, but winnable. From the ensuing EXP gains after the fight, Seeker hit level 60, and to the shock of Seeker, as well as both Violet and Joker, Seeker gained the high-tier healing skill 'Samarecarm?'. Seeker smiled and spoke up.

"Ohh, my. I gained a new move! I didn't think I still had this many moves left?" Seeker said as Mona smiled and spoke up while gently hugging Seeker, who found herself quite pleasantly surprised by what Mona said to her next.

"Of course you do, Lady Seeker. You've still got all sorts of potential left inside of you. You're only done when you say you're done. But I know that a lovely Treasure like yourself is a long way from done. But with a bit of hard work, and a little polish, you'll shine with your optimum radiance soon enough." Mona said, before shocking Seeker further as he kissed her on the cheek with a smirk, walking off to stand with Draconis as Seeker was left gaping in surprise, her cheeks both going red under her hood at how gently yet boldly Mona had kissed her.

And at the same time, Seeker felt something she couldn't quite describe stir within her as she felt Mona's lips touch her cheek, prompting her to almost reflexively give off a quiet gasp as she put a hand to the spot where Mona's lips had touched her cheek. While Violet managed to shake Seeker out of her stupor after giving Mona a disapproving look for his brazen actions towards Seeker, Pithos acquired 'Samarecarm?'.

Shortly after finding the white switch that was needed to unlock the Prison Keep, the group headed back to where that white door was and after Joker examined the door, it was able to open up for the group as Mona spoke up.

"All right, it's open. Come on, everyone!" Mona said as the group all ran into the Prison Keep only for them to find themselves surrounded by a massive army of Shadows as a Shadow sentry spoke up.

"Intruders! Those who disturb the peace will be purged!" The Shadow sentry said as Wolf spoke up.

"Geez, it's just one cliche after another with these guys." Wolf said as Flare spoke up.

"That's just how Shadows are Wolf. What do you expect from those that follow the will of a Monarch." Flare said as Pendragon chuckled and spoke up.

"You bring up a good point Flare. In my opinion, I think Shadows are similar to bees, with the one thing in common is that they are operated under one mind." Pendragon said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"True, but that makes it much easier for us to deal with most of the time." Violet said as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"You took the words right out of my mouth beautiful. And with that being said, LET'S TAKE CONTROL OF THIS PRISON KEEP GUYS!" Joker said as the group dispersed to fight off the massive army of Shadows. However, like what happened with Owada ambushing the group, for every so many the group cut down, another dozen or so took their place. After a bit, Auburn found herself pushed back to back with Oracle and Seraphim, the former having decided to join the fray in battle mode after putting Al Azif on auto-pilot for navigating. While trying to fight off the seemingly endless swarms of enemies, Seraphim gritted her teeth and spoke up.

"Dang it! How many of these things is Konoe going to send at us!?" Seraphim asked as Auburn frowned and spoke up, seemingly aiming her next words at Oracle.

"I dunno. Hey, Oracle! Is it common for Prison Keeps to throw multiple waves of enemies at us like this?" Auburn asked as Oracle shook her head and spoke up.

"Actually yes. I remember from some of the earlier Jails that there were instances where we were swarmed by a ton of enemies. But if we don't do something, we're gonna end up overwhelmed at this rate!" Oracle said as Auburn nodded before speaking up with an unreadable look on her face.

"I see. Fortunately, I think I do have a plan to at least somewhat thin the enemy's numbers a tad." Auburn said as Seraphim spoke up.

"Oh? I take it you have a way out for us?" Seraphim said as Auburn nodded and spoke up.

"Correct. You see, while we were going through this Jail, I was thinking about what Oracle and Draconis had explained to me about Triad Specials and how they can turn the tide of a battle. And while I did that, I had an idea come to me for a potential Triad Special of my own. However, I'll need help from the two of you to pull it off." Auburn said as Oracle spoke up.

"Me and Seraphim, eh? Mwehehe, I'm down. About time we had an all-girl Triad Special anyway. Other than the supposed Triad Specials Draconis got with Pendragon and Mona, and then later with Joker and Crow, there have not been any other mono-gender Triad Specials thus far.

"I'm in too, Auburn. No chance in hell that I would leave my girlfriend hangin' when she needs my help." Seraphim said coyly as Auburn nodded and spoke up.

"Good. Ready, you two?" Auburn asked as Oracle and Seraphim nodded before the three of them spoke up in unison, surprising the others when they heard the trio speak.

"GO, TRIAD SPECIAL!" Auburn, Seraphim, and Oracle said as their Triad Special started. To start out, Auburn spoke up while looking at Houdini.

"HOUDINI! LET'S SET THE STAGE FOR OUR NEXT TRICK!" Auburn said as Houdini nodded and waved his left arm, causing a veil of shadow to cover the battlefield, obscuring the Shadows' vision, and indirectly the rest of the group's, as Seraphim spoke up.

"Nice. SRAOSHA, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Seraphim said as Sraosha nodded, slamming his staff into the ground to summon an ominous-looking set of thunderclouds as Oracle spoke up.

"ALBUS, LET'S ADD OUR OWN PERSONAL TOUCH TO THIS SHOW, SHALL WE?" Oracle said as Albus nodded, swinging his staff expertly and slamming it into the ground, coating the thunderclouds with Psy energy as well as additional Elec power as Auburn spoke up.

"HOUDINI, PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR TRICK!" Auburn said as Houdini nodded, snapping his fingers as the thunderclouds crackled with an ominous dark red energy, signifying that the power of Curse was added to the attack, right as Oracle, Seraphim, and Auburn touched their weapons together and spoke up.

"THE STAGE IS SET! NOW TO GET SOME VOLUNTEERS FROM THE AUDIENCE!" Auburn said as Houdini waved his free hand, lifting every remaining Shadow on the battlefield into the air as Seraphim spoke up.

"AND NOW THAT WE HAVE OUR VOLUNTEERS..." Seraphim said as Oracle spoke up while Auburn crossed each of her fans over Oracle's beam staff and Seraphim's halberd.

"...WE WILL TURN THEM INTO A PILE OF ASHES!" Oracle said as Auburn smirked and spoke up.

"TIME FOR THE GRAND FINALE! READY, LADIES?" Auburn asked as Seraphim and Oracle nodded before all three spoke up.

"BEHOLD THE SPLENDOR AND SPECTACLE OF OUR CHAOTIC PLASMA RAIN!" Auburn, Seraphim and Oracle said as they pointed their crossed weapons at the improvised storm clouds, hitting them with a triple beam of Elec, Psy, and Curse energy, causing the storm clouds to crackle ominously before bursting open and letting loose a deadly torrent of multi-colored rain and lightning that washed over all the immobilized Shadows, leaving them helpless to do more than scream in agony as the rain eroded them to nothing, right as Houdini snapped his fingers and sent the Shadows crashing down to the ground in time for Oracle and Seraphim to speak up.

"BEGONE FROM OUR SIGHT, FOOLS!" Oracle and Seraphim said as they slammed their beam staff/halberd into the ground together while Auburn dipped into a curtsy, fans extended in front of her as pillars of flame shot up from the ground to blast all of the Shadows, reducing them to black mist while Auburn, Seraphim and Oracle all dipped into a bow as both the Triad Special and the battle ended.

From the ensuing EXP gain, Joker, Oracle, and Violet all hit level 65 while Fox, Noir, Crow, Draconis, and Flare all hit level 60, the level-ups giving new moves to Noir, Violet, Draconis, and Flare, in the forms of the passive skill 'Ailment Boost', the passive skill 'Bless Amp', and two instances of the high-tier healing move 'Mediarahan'. To start out, Noir spoke up.

"Hm? Oh! A new move! I didn't think I was getting one here, but I'll take it." Noir said as Crow spoke up with a smile.

"You were probably due for one, Noir. And might I say that it suits you rather well? After all, a better chance of impairing our foes means further chances to see them suffer." Crow said as Joker sighed and spoke up.

"You're never going to completely outgrow that bloodlust, are you Crow?" Joker said as Crow spoke up.

"Nope. That's just who I am. But I don't hear Noir complaining about it." Crow said as Noir smiled and spoke up.

"That's because, believe it or not? I find that sadistic side of you oddly sexy. But that's probably the sadist side of me talking." Noir said as Crow smirked and kissed Noir on the cheek as Lucy acquired 'Ailment Boost'. At that point, Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Oh, wow! I got a new move! Looks like my training is starting to bear fruit. What do you think, Senpai?" Violet said as Joker smirked and spoke up.

"I think you look incredible as always, and that your new skill suits you." Joker said as Violet smiled and stole a kiss from a surprised Joker, amid giggles from Seeker, Seraphim, and Auburn while Ella acquired 'Bless Amp'. Next, Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"All right, got another new power! And this one's a good one. Looks like I'm starting to finally come into my own as a healer. Granted, I'll probably never be quite on the same level as Mona, Violet, or even Seeker, but I can at least do a good job if needed." Draconis said as Oracle stuck her tongue out at Draconis childishly and spoke up.

"Of course you'll never be on their level, Draconis! You're meant to be a battler moreso than a healer. But that's still a good skill to get." Oracle said as Malefor acquired 'Mediarahan'. Flare then blinked as she spoke up.

"Wow. What are the odds I get the same skill that Draconis just got? Also, nice! Hester's got a new weapon, so to speak, for her arsenal." Flare said as Panther giggled and spoke up.

"Nice. That skill looks really sexy on you, Flare. Good job." Panther said as Flare smiled and looked into Panther's eyes before discreetly stealing a kiss from her, amid more giggles from Seeker, Seraphim, and Auburn, as Hester acquired 'Mediarahan'. After taking the steps to the top of the Prison Keep, Joker found the second core, which he seized to get an 'EMMA' key item. Fox then spoke up.

"That makes two cores now that we've seized." Fox said as Joker revealed that the second core was a smartphone with an eerily familiar app on it, that Queen winced on recognizing, as did Auburn. Queen then spoke up.

"Is this supposed to be EMMA?" Queen said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I believe so, Queen. EMMA is the source of Konoe's power. Seeing it as one of his cores doesn't surprise me one bit." Mona said as Pendragon spoke up.

"Perhaps, but wouldn't the fact that EMMA let herself be used as a core in the first place be rather surprising to a point?" Pendragon asked as Crow spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Pendragon. I'd be shocked to be one of Konoe's cores too if I were EMMA, truth be told." Crow said as Noir spoke up.

"Good point, Crow. That being said, I wonder if those infrared sensors are gone yet?" Noir asked as Seeker turned around to scan out in the distance before nodding as she spoke up.

"Yep. They're gone, Noir." Seeker said, not seeing Mona smirk as he discreetly looked Seeker over appreciatively. Fox nodded as he spoke up.

"Good. Now we can proceed even further. We should head back." Fox said as Panther blinked at something in the distance and spoke up.

"Hey, do you think that'll get us back faster?" Panther said pointing towards a side path the group hadn't noticed previously, making Oracle smirk as she spoke up.

"Oh, hey, look at that. Good find, Panther. It's a railway for all those containers. Yeah, Konoe won't mind if we hitch a ride!" Oracle said as Mona spoke up with a confident smirk on his face.

"Sounds like we have a plan. All right then, we're moving!" Mona said as the group kept moving. After riding the shipping containers back to the previous area where they first saw the infrared sensors, Oracle spoke up after the group noticed a nearby elevator.

"Oh! That elevator should take us right to the station!" Oracle said as Mona spoke up with a frown.

"And hopefully that brings us closer to Konoe's castle." Mona said as Seeker smiled at him and spoke up.

"I'm sure it will, Mona. We just have to believe that it will, not unlike how I believe in you." Seeker said, not seeing Mona blush under his mask at Seeker's words before he spoke up once again.

"You know what? You're absolutely right, Lady Seeker! You're as smart as you are lovely." Mona said honestly, turning away before he could see Seeker's face go red from Mona flirting with her. However, Violet did see this and spoke up.

"You've really got it bad for Mona, don't you, Seeker?" Violet asked Seeker so only she could hear, making her hesitate before speaking up.

"Maybe you're right, Mom. However, might I remind you that I am still learning about the heart? So I'm not too familiar with the concept of love, much less how to tell if one is in love." Seeker said as Violet spoke up after briefly pondering the best way to answer Seeker's question..

"There's not really a way to tell, necessarily. It's just a feeling you get in your gut, and to a point your heart. Also, you'll know if you love him when you find yourself thinking about him a lot, as well as managing to feel a lot better just by being in his presence. If nothing else, I know that's often how I feel when I'm around Joker. So just take your time and think it through, Seeker. I'm sure that deep in your heart, you already subconsciously realize how you feel about Mona." Violet said sagely as Seeker nodded before the group kept moving.

Once the group took the elevator to the next area, they eventually arrived in an open area with a window allowing them a view outside of the Jail, at which point a wide-eyed Queen spoke up at the view of the outside where what appeared to be aircraft could be seen outside.

"This looks like an airport, you guys." Queen said as at that moment, almost as if on cue from Queen's remark, the intercom came on again with a familiar voice speaking up over it.

"The flight from Juoji bound for Abeno Haretas will be departing shortly. Those who seek an audience with Lord Akira, please make your way to the airship departure gate." The voice of what the group realized was EMMA said as the intercoms switched off and Panther spoke up with wide eyes.

"Did you hear that? It said airship." Panther said as Noir frowned and spoke up.

"An audience with 'Lord Akira', eh? If we believe what EMMA just said, it sounds like boarding this airship will take us straight to the castle." Noir said as Wolf frowned and spoke up.

"Maybe you're right, Noir. Still, Konoe controls every inch of this place. I doubt we can just hop on." Wolf said as Mona nodded firmly and spoke up in a resolved tone.

"Wolf's right. It won't be easy to get on that blimp, but we have to get on it if we want to get to the castle. That being said, let's stay on guard as we make our way to the departure gate." Mona said as the group kept moving. While fighting off Shadows, Wolf hit level 61 and Skull, Panther, Queen, Pendragon, Seraphim, and Auburn all hit level 60, the level-ups giving Panther access to the Ailment move 'Brain Jack' and giving Skull access to the heavy-tier Elec move 'Maziodyne', prompting Skull to grin as he spoke up.

"Hell yeah! A new move!" Skull said with a grin as Queen spoke up with a proud smile.

"Not bad, sweetie. About time you got another move, since it's been a bit since you got one." Queen said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Truth, babe!" Skull said as he pulled Queen gently into a kiss, which she returned amid playful catcalls from Oracle, Seraphim, and Auburn while William acquired 'Maziodyne'. At that point Panther smirked as she spoke up.

"Oh! I've got a new power!" Panther said happily as Flare smirked and spoke up.

"Yeah, now you can do an even better job of mind controlling people." Flare joked as Panther pouted and spoke up.

"HEY! That's mean! And this is coming from the one who has a Physical skill that can also inflict Brainwash. Besides, I didn't need mind control to make you my girlfriend, did I Flare?" Panther pointed out as Flare blushed and spoke up.

"No, you didn't. I was only teasing, though. Besides, you can already make people do your bidding just by showing off a little bit. You've got the looks for it, if nothing else." Flare said teasingly as Panther blushed and spoke up.

"Shuddup!" Panther said as she kissed Flare, making Seeker, Auburn, and Seraphim all giggle with Oracle as Celestine acquired 'Brain Jack'. After reaching the end of the hall, the intercom came on once more as they heard EMMA's voice speak up.

"Through here lies the airship departure gate. Those who have not surrendered their Desires will not be allowed entry. Airport staff, please present your worker's pass." EMMA's voice said over the intercom as Oracle spoke up.

"You guys hear that? The departure gate's just up ahead." Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"We heard. But did you hear the other part that EMMA just said?" Draconis asked as Fox spoke up.

"Yeah, that part is much more worrying. We have to present a worker's pass if we want to pass ourselves off as staff. And if not, we have to surrender our Desires if we wish to enter without a pass of some sort." Fox said as Crow gritted his teeth and spoke up.

"And that's about as likely to happen as Pendragon giving up his coffee shop. In other words, not happening." Crow said as Mona spoke up.

"I see. So you can't pass unless your heart's been changed, huh? Doesn't sound like we'll be getting in." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"Guess we don't have a choice. We'll have to find another way." Queen said as Seraphim smirked and spoke up.

"Never say never, Mona. After all, giving up here would be like if you were to give up on getting Seeker to return your feelings-foolish and impractical." Seraphim said as Seeker and Mona both blushed at Seraphim using them as an example. But before either could light into Seraphim, Noir spoke up.

"Huh? Hey, look! Couldn't we use that vent to find another way around our current predicament?" Noir said, pointing to a nearby vent as she spoke. Joker, Draconis, and Crow exchanged uncertain looks as Crow spoke up.

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't expect it to be that easy, though." Crow said as Oracle spoke up.

"Maybe you're right, Crow. But let's not rule anything out yet. But that being said, your girlfriend might be onto something here. Nice goin', Noir!" Oracle said as Draconis looked at Joker and spoke up.

"No shot in hell that Konoe's gonna make it that easy to bypass his security, am I right?" Draconis said as Joker spoke up.

"I dunno. Only one way to find out." Joker said as the group kept moving. After taking the vent, sure enough, they came out on the other side, leaving Draconis and Crow to exchange wide-eyed looks of shock as the former spoke up.

"Are you serious!? Good thing I didn't bet money here, or I would have actually lost that bet." Draconis said as Crow snapped his fingers in disappointment and spoke up.

"Damn. Missed a chance to win a bet against Draconis. Oh well, maybe next time." Crow said as Noir giggled at Crow's remark as the group proceeded forward, until their path was blocked by a tough-looking Shadow who spoke up.

"Hey! You haven't surrendered your Desires yet, have you!?" The tough Shadow said before shifting forms into what Joker recognized from past fusions as a 'Raja Naga'. who summoned a horde of smaller Shadows to assist. Skull swore at this turn of events and spoke up.

"Damn, they found us! Guess we'll just have to take 'em out!" Skull said as Crow spoke up:

"Huh, I guess I would've lost after all then. Seeing that its only been a minute since we left that vent." Crow as Draconis spoke up.

"I told you so, Crow. Just be glad that there was no yen on the line this time." Draconis said as a fight started! After a very short yet uneventful fight, Noir frowned as she noticed an item on the ground near where the 'Raja Naga' had been defeated by Joker before she spoke up.

"Hmm? It looks like that enemy dropped something." Noir said as Wolf looked the object over after picking it up, before grinning as he spoke up.

"A 'Worker's Pass', huh? Nice. Looks like we can say goodbye to that vent." Wolf said as the group kept moving. After a bit, Mona, Seeker, and Fox all hit level 61 while fighting Shadows. After a bit, the group stopped in front of another area as Wolf spoke up again.

"So this is the departure gate, huh?" Wolf said as Joker tried to flash the 'Worker's Pass' at the door, a sound was heard before the intercoms came on again.

"Entry denied. Insufficient access privileges. Please surrender your Desires, or present your 'VIP Pass'." The voice of EMMA said over the intercom as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"A 'VIP Pass', huh? The hell's that?" Skull asked as Pendragon spoke up.

"Unless they changed the acronym recently, VIP usually stands for 'Very Important Person'. So I'm guessing it's the equivalent of a high-level security clearance." Pendragon said as Crow spoke up.

"No, that's still the definition of 'VIP', Pendragon." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Interesting that EMMA would just up and tell us that, though. I wonder why she'd do that?" Draconis said as Panther spoke up with wide eyes.

"No clue, Draconis. So if we get our hands on a 'VIP Pass', then even we'll be allowed inside?" Panther asked as Violet spoke up with a nod.

"That would be the theory I'd go with, Panther." Violet said as Queen spoke up with slightly widened eyes.

"If so, that simplifies things a bit for us. Let's go find a pass, then." Queen said as Auburn spoke up.

"I expect that to be a lot easier said than done, though. So let's be wary while hunting this pass." Auburn said as Seeker nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Auburn. But at the same time, who would be carrying a VIP pass? I doubt we could tell just by looking." Seeker said as Crow spoke up;

"If we were looking with normal eyes, sure. But if we use Joker's 'Third Eye'? Maybe he can figure it out." Crow said as Joker spoke up.

"Possibly. But that usually is only helpful for spotting what would otherwise be undetectable, not so much sussing out an enemy's rank." Joker pointed out as Fox spoke up.

"So we'll just have to hunt around and hope for the best. Now, if only we knew of a place where such individuals might gather at." Fox said as Noir blinked and spoke up.

"A gathering place, you say? I might be being naive since I had something of a semi-sheltered upbringing, but I think I have an idea." Noir said as Flare spoke up.

"Yeah? What's up, Noir?" Flare asked as Noir spoke up.

"Well, if they're important enough to be called 'VIP's by Konoe and even EMMA, maybe they'd be in the first-class lounge?" Noir suggested as Violet, Joker, Crow, and Draconis exchanged stunned looks at Noir apparently figuring it out. Oracle smirked and spoke up.

"That's it, Noir! I had a feeling you'd know something about the VIP life!" Oracle said as Pendragon spoke up with a smirk.

"Did you? Or were you just guessing that she'd have the answer because she's filthy stinkin' rich?" Pendragon asked Oracle, who stuck her tongue out childishly at Pendragon in response before she kept speaking, managing to cut off Draconis, who was probably going to reprimand her for being rude to Pendragon.

"Ooh, I've already got a reading from that way! Let's check it out!" Oracle said as the camera panned to a door on the far side of the room. Joker nodded as the group kept moving. After walking down the hall and attempting to inspect the nearby door, the intercom came on once more.

"Hello. This is the First Class Lounge. Please present your 'Lounge Pass'." The group heard EMMA say over the intercom as Wolf groaned and spoke up.

"Son of a-! We need a pass for here, too!? You're kidding." Wolf said as Crow spoke up.

"I wish I could say that was the case, but I don't think EMMA kids around, Wolf." Crow said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Crow. Hmm, so we can't go through from the front, eh? We'll just have to find some kind of back entrance." Mona said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Oh? Lucky for us, Joker's good at finding that sort of thing, so I'm sure he can figure something out." Violet said as Joker spoke up.

"You're lucky you're the one asking, beautiful. For the most part, anyone else would've gotten glared at for what you just did. However, you're my girlfriend, so I'll allow it." Joker said as Auburn smirked and spoke up.

"Get a room, you two! No corrupting Seeker!" Auburn teased Joker and Violet, who blushed as the latter spoke up.

"You say that as if you and Seraphim don't already do a good enough job of that, not to mention Skull and Draconis with their potty mouths." Violet said bluntly, making Skull and Draconis both wince at the pointed glare she gave them before the group kept moving. After the group avoided some spotlights while coming through a corridor, Fox spoke up.

"Such garish scenery. I must say that this won't win any praise from me. This is hardly something I'd expect from 'first class'." Fox said as Seraphim spoke up.

"I think this would've been better if there were actual people here." Seraphim said as Queen spoke up.

"That's true, Seraphim. Also Fox, this isn't the time! Focus on the enemy!" Queen said as the group proceeded onwards. While fighting enemies after getting into the back entrance of the VIP lounge, Joker, Oracle, and Violet hit level 66 while Noir hit level 61. After busting through some windows, another sentry stopped the group and spoke up.

"Halt! Who goes there!? Also, what happened to the guards!?" The sentry said before shifting forms into a 'Raja Naga' and summoning a ton of small Shadows as a fight started! The ensuing fight was tough, but the group ultimately pulled through in the end. Afterwards, the defeated enemies dropped an object on the ground. Skull picked up and looked at it as he spoke up.

"Ooh! What's this? Ooh, is it a VIP pass, by any chance!? Ehh, nope." Skull said as Noir spoke up.

"I see. Perhaps the enemy we fought just now wasn't a VIP. Still, this does say 'Lounge Pass' on it, so it's at least something." Noir said as Draconis spoke up.

"Good point. We should be able to open up that lounge now to try for the VIP Pass, so this is a key step in the right direction." Draconis said as Noir spoke up.

"Hmm, I see. Maybe you're actually on to something with that line of thinking, Draconis. Then again, when aren't you usually on the right track with those instincts of yours? Granted, Crow's instincts are just as good, and he's also sexier." Noir said as Oracle spoke up, pointedly ignoring the back-handed compliment that Noir gave Draconis for the sake of not starting a fight as she spoke, despite how much she disagreed with Noir about Crow being sexier than Draconis.

"Perhaps you're right about Draconis' instincts, Noir. But there's a problem. Namely, the fact that there are a couple other first class lounges in this area as well! Let's go check 'em out!" Oracle said as the group kept moving. After finding and opening the correct lounge, the group found a tough Shadow in the back of the lounge, who frowned at them and spoke up.

"Whoa, who the hell are you? This area's VIP only!" The tough Shadow said as he shifted forms into what Joker recognized from his fusings as a 'Legion', only for Skull to grin as he spoke up.

"Yo, you think this guy's a VIP? Bet he's got a pass." Skull said as Draconis winced and spoke up.

"Yeah, a pass to get put out of his misery since he got the short end of the ugly stick." Draconis deadpanned as Violet shuddered and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Draconis. You're not wrong." Violet said as Oracle spoke up.

"Mwehehe, does it matter? Oh, I'm sure we can get him to 'part ways' with it!" Oracle said with a chuckle as Wolf frowned and spoke up.

"Hey, take it easy. This is less 'Phantom Thieves' and more just, well, 'Thieves'." Wolf said as Auburn spoke up.

"Is it really thievery if we're doing it to catch Konoe? Besides, it's not like we're doing it to a real person. So lighten up, Dad." Auburn said as Wolf sighed and spoke up.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." Wolf said as the group charged in to start a fight! In the ensuing fight, Wolf found himself fighting back-to-back with Draconis as the group was pushed towards the corners of the room, eventually fighting their way back towards the center as they slowly thinned the numbers of the backups little by little until the last of the down gauge for the 'Fused Ghost', as Oracle's scan identified it, broke. After that, Joker turned to Wolf and spoke up.

"We've seen your Showtime, Wolf. But I don't know that we've seen your All-Out Attack yet. Care to do the honors?" Joker said as Wolf nodded and spoke up.

"Got it, Joker. Everyone, form up on me! We're ending this! ALL-OUT ATTACK!" Wolf said as the group formed up on Wolf and charged the 'Fused Ghost' and the remaining Shadows, slashing rapidly at them until the screen panned to a shot of a smirking Wolf as he took aim, unloaded several rounds from his machine pistols, and crossed his arms before doing a two-fingered salute to the 'Fused Ghost' at the same time that an explosion of Almighty power went off nearby, eradicating the backups and destroying the 'Fused Ghost', ending both the All-Out Attack and the fight. Afterwards, the group saw a pass laying where the 'Fused Ghost' had previously been. Fox walked over and scooped it up, smiling as he inspected it.

"Ah, excellent. we have our VIP pass." Fox said as Panther spoke up with a closed-eye smile on her face.

"Great, now we can ride that airship. Let's get back to that departure gate!" Panther said as Flare spoke up.

"Assuming that there's not ANOTHER trap waiting for us when we get there. After all, we still have one Prison Keep left to find, assuming my running count of the area thus far is accurate. Not to mention, I fully expect to run into another ambush before getting on that airship." Flare said as Crow nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. We should be cautious moving forward." Crow said as the group kept moving. After making their way back to the door they were stopped at previously, Joker flashed the 'VIP Pass' the group had obtained at the door, at which point the intercom came on again.

"VIP Pass accepted. You are cleared to board." EMMA said over the intercoms as Mona grinned and spoke up.

"All right, it's open! Let's make our way to the castle!" Mona said as Seeker spoke up.

"Assuming it's a straight shot there." Seeker said as Draconis spoke up.

"Good point, Seeker. I feel like it's not going to be so simple. And not only that, I have a feeling I might know what's beyond this door." Draconis said as Joker opened the door, and as if to prove Draconis right, the door revealed the third Prison Keep behind it as the group proceeded onwards. Once inside, everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the tower leading up to a Birdcage as Panther spoke up in shock.

"Wait a sec, you guys! This isn't a departure area! This is a Prison Keep!" Panther said as Wolf smirked and spoke up.

"Ahh, I get it now. This must be an air-traffic control tower for the airships." Wolf said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"Wolf's probably right. And if he is, then it might be a good idea to get this place under control if we want a safe flight." Mona said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. if we can stop the other airships, it might reduce enemy reinforcements later on." Queen said as Crow spoke up.

"Hey, as long as it makes our job easier, that's all I need to hear." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Right? We've had a hard enough slog getting this far into the Osaka Jail. I don't think we want to have non-stop reinforcements tossed at us." Draconis said as Auburn spoke up with a nod.

"Exactly. The less we have to deal with going forward, the better off we'll all be." Auburn said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"All right then, if that's the plan, then let's make shit happen!" Skull said as Seeker tilted her head to the side as she spoke up.

"Doesn't it always happen, though? I saw online in a bumper that someone once said 'shit happens'. So isn't it a bit redundant for us to make shit happen when it already does happen?" Seeker asked as Mona and Draconis groaned, the latter speaking up.

"It's a figure of speech, Seeker. Also, quit repeating everything you hear before you give poor Violet either an aneurysm or a heart attack, whichever comes first. I think we've worried her enough with mine and Skull's poor performance as role models thus far." Draconis said sagely as Violet nodded approvingly before the group kept moving. After scaling the steps, the group found the final core of the Osaka Jail, which Joker seized to get a 'Madicce Badge' key item. He then showed that the core was a badge with a giant blue M with silver lining mounted on a silver circular pin. Panther spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"We got the core!" Panther said as Fox spoke up.

"Interesting. So this core is a Madicce company badge, eh? Its symmetrical design is rather appealing." Fox said as Pendragon frowned and spoke up.

"Fair. Not to be a pessimist, but I have to agree with Crow and Draconis' earlier sentiment. This particular Prison Keep's gone way too smoothly thus far." Pendragon said as Queen spoke up.

"Maybe Konoe decided to be lax on the security for this one? Or maybe the fact that we had to fight three different strong Shadows to get the passes counted as the obstacle for this Keep? Whatever the case, we've cleared all of the Prison Keeps. Let's go ahead and board the airship." Queen said as the others nodded and the group kept moving. As soon as the group reached the bottom of the steps and made to exit the back way, they were stopped by a strong Shadow, making Crow groan and speak up.

"And there's the resistance I was expecting." Crow said as Draconis frowned and spoke up.

"Rather odd that it waited until AFTER we took the core to try and stop us, but I suppose it's fine. At least we can get this obstacle out of the way and have a clear path to the airship from there with any luck." Draconis said as the strong Shadow frowned at the group and spoke up in a feminine-sounding voice.

"Return what you've stolen from the tower immediately. This is your only warning." The 'Supplicant of Justice', as Oracle had identified the strong Shadow, said as Mona spoke up with a scoff.

"Hmph, like a Phantom Thief would ever return what they stole?" Mona said as Seraphim spoke up.

"Plus, we have places to be, so sorry, but we're not giving this back. You can take your warning and shove it where the sun doesn't shine!" Seraphim said, ignoring the shocked looks that Violet, Wolf, Queen, and Noir gave her for her rather explicit response. For its part, the 'Supplicant of Justice' scoffed at Seraphim's response.

"What did you say to me!? Filthy little rats! How dare you disrespect me in such a way!? So be it. I will take great pleasure in granting you your destruction!" The 'Supplicant of Justice' said before shifting forms into what Joker instantly recognized from his fusings, and from having one on hand, as a 'Norn'. Fox then spoke up.

"Be careful, everyone! Here it comes!" Fox said as a fight started! The fight that ensued was tough, since 'Norn' was a very strong Shadow. But in the end, the group pulled through. The ensuing EXP gains put Joker, Oracle, and Violet up to level 66, as well as put Skull, Panther, Queen, Crow, Draconis, Pendragon, Flare, Seraphim, and Auburn all up to level 61, giving Pendragon a new move in the form of the heavy-tier Psy move 'Mapsiodyne', making Pendragon smirk and spoke up.

"Hmph. About time I got a new move! It seems like it's been way too long since I got a new skill! In any case, behold the new and improved Kohryu!" Pendragon said as Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"Very nice. You're startin' to get the big guns, Pendragon. I'm impressed." Draconis said as Oracle giggled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe, about time you started hitting your peak, Pendragon. Good stuff." Oracle said as Pendragon smirked and nodded while Kohryu acquired 'Mapsiodyne'. After the fight, the group proceeded through the opened doors to find the airship waiting for them, at which point Panther's eyes widened at the size of the airship before she spoke up.

"What!? Whoa, the airship's HUGE, you guys!" Panther said as Joker and Crow both grinned and made to speak up, only for disapproving glares from Violet and Noir to stop them before they could crack the joke they were about to make as Violet spoke up.

"Just because Panther unintentionally gave you guys a setup for a joke, that doesn't mean you get to make that joke." Violet rebuked Joker as Noir nodded and spoke up.

"No kidding. There are some things that are better off left unsaid." Noir said as Seeker spoke up, shocking Violet and Noir with what she said next.

"Oh? Would this be an instance of what I read online about something called 'That's what she said'?" Seeker asked innocently, making half the group's eyes widen in shock at her question as Joker, Crow, Skull, Draconis, and Oracle all had to stifle laughter at Seeker, of all people, being the one to make a 'That's what she said!' remark. After getting over her shock, Violet spoke up with a sigh.

"That's correct, Seeker. But that's not something a young lady like yourself should be repeating. That's a very inappropriate sort of joke to make, just so you know." Violet said as Mona spoke up.

"Cut Lady Seeker a break, Violet. She didn't know any better. She was just quoting something she probably read online, no doubt using Oracle's Internet, since we all know that Oracle doesn't know the meaning of the words 'child lock'." Mona said in Seeker's defense, getting a smile from the shyly-smiling Phantom Thief in mention as she spoke up.

"Thank you, Mona. How brave of you to come to my defense like you're my knight in shining armor." Seeker said as she hugged Mona before Violet smiled and spoke up.

"I wasn't going to punish Seeker, Mona. But I appreciate you sticking up for her. That shows I can trust you with her if need be." Violet said as Noir spoke up.

"While that's adorable, let's stay on task, shall we? And yes, Panther, you're right. Seeing it up close, the airship's much larger than I imagined." Noir said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"All right, let's hop on and take this thing straight to the castle!" Skull said as the group hopped onto the airship and rode it to the next area, which was just outside of Konoe's castle. Once there, Fox spoke up.

"Hmm, so that was an airship. Quite the novel experience, to be sure. And the view from the sky was truly breathtaking." Fox said as Mona spoke up uneasily.

"And disorienting. My legs still feel all rubbery when I walk." Mona said as Seeker smiled and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly before briefly pulling him into a comforting hug while she spoke up.

"It's all right, Mona. You'll get used to it, I'm sure. That being said, I thought it was quite fun. In fact, I'd like to go again." Seeker said eagerly as Joker and Violet both groaned and shook their heads as Draconis smirked and spoke up.

"Yeah? Sounds to me like you might just be a bit of an adrenaline junkie then, Seeker. That, or a thrill-seeker. Are you taking notes, Mona? This could be useful to know if you and Seeker decide to get serious about one another, since this could help you plan out really good dates for her." Draconis said as Mona spoke up.

"Of course. I always take in any information I can get, especially when it could be useful for impre-err, I mean for being a better friend for Seeker." Mona said as Auburn smirked and spoke up.

"Don't deny it, Mona. You were totally about to say 'impressing Seeker', weren't you? Stop trying to act cool and just admit that you have a crush on her already. You're not fooling anyone, except maybe Seeker." Auburn said slyly as Joker spoke up, fixing Auburn with an unimpressed look before giving Mona a nod of respect as he spoke.

"I think he's waiting for Seeker to have a bit more of a grasp on things like 'love' and 'dating' before he makes a move on her. This is a major difference compared to how Draconis dragged his heels about asking Oracle out at first before they eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend on the same night that myself and Skull got together with Violet and Queen, respectively." Joker said as Violet smiled and spoke up.

"Yep. Best night of my life by far, to this day. Well, third-best, after Valentine's Day and White Day, actually." Violet said as Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"Ah yes, those would be the days when Joker rocked your-OOF!" Draconis said, the 'OOF!' being in response to both Oracle and Joker elbowing him in the stomach to shut him up mid-sentence, much to Violet's relief as she blushed in embarrassment and spoke up.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Draconis. But you are right to say that those were the days that Joker and I first became intimate with one another." Violet said as Wolf smirked and spoke up.

"Ah, young love. And Seeker? If you want to ride the airship again, knock yourself out. But maybe save it for after we take down Konoe, yeah?" Wolf suggested kindly as Seeker nodded and the group kept moving. After crossing the walkway and entering the building on the other side, the Thieves were shocked by the sight of a crowd gathered at the entrance of what the group surmised was likely Konoe's castle. As they got close enough, they could hear the crowds chanting 'A-KI-RA! A-KI-RA!', making Skull frown as he spoke up in confusion, his eyes wide behind his mask.

"Yo! What the hell's all this!?" Skull asked as Draconis crossed his arms and spoke up.

"I could be wrong, but I have a feeling we walked into the middle of either a rally, a parade, or a celebration in Konoe's honor, one of those three things." Draconis said before his eyes narrowed under his helmet at what he heard the nearby crowd saying.

"You can do it, Akira!" A woman in the crowd said as a man near her spoke up.

"Bring those villains to justice!" The man said as Queen spoke up in confusion.

"There are so many people gathered here. What's going on?" Queen asked as Crow spoke up.

"If I had to guess? I'd say that Draconis's initial assumption is correct. Considering what Konoe tried to frame us for, along with some of the things that Wolf said he heard him say about us, I would be shocked if this wasn't an anti-Phantom Thieves rally in Konoe's honor." Crow said as Mona spoke up.

"I see. So then, are these all the Shadows who've had their hearts changed?" Mona asked as a familiar voice spoke up to answer the question indirectly.

"The great Akira's hero show will begin momentarily. Please gather in front of the stage and show your support!" EMMA said as a shocked Oracle spoke up.

"Hero show? By Konoe?" Oracle asked as Seeker spoke up.

"Hmm? This sounds interesting. Let's go see!" Seeker said as Mona shook his head and spoke up.

"Let's not, Lady Seeker. If Draconis and Crow are right, all we'd see are lots of pro-Konoe sentiments and tons of brainwashed people denouncing us." Mona said as Pendragon frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, are you trying to say that Konoe might be trying to pull the same shit that creepy metal god-thing tried pulling a few years ago? Because that was some seriously creepy stuff that went down that day." Pendragon said as Violet spoke up with a shake of her head.

"No. I don't think this is quite the same as what Yaldabaoth tried to do to us close to four years ago. For one, Konoe's just trying to brand us as terrorists and villains in a similar manner to what Shido has done. Not only that, but I don't see Konoe trying to pit Joker and Crow against one another. Most importantly, Konoe's not trying to fuse the real world and the Metaverse." Violet said as Joker spoke up while looking down at Seeker regretfully.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I have to agree with Crow and Draconis on this one. Besides, it's too dangerous to charge in blindly without having all the facts. For all we know, this could be another trap set by Konoe." Joker said as Mona nodded approvingly and spoke up.

"Yeah, good call, Joker. And Lady Seeker? Take a closer look. I admire your curiosity, but the guards are on the lookout over there." Mona said as Wolf spoke up.

"Yeesh, good catch, Mona. Yeah, we're not checking this out. If they spot us, we get swarmed, and then it's game over. We got lucky enough to be bailed out of that once by Auburn awakening to her powers when she did. But I don't think we can count on that happening a second time." Wolf said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with Wolf. We should probably fall back for now." Mona said as Noir winced and spoke up.

"Good idea, Mona-chan. Although now that I think about it, something like this happened in Sapporo, didn't it?" Noir said as Violet shuddered and spoke up.

"Don't remind me of that, Noir-senpai. I still can't believe that happened." Violet said as Auburn spoke up in confusion:

"Uh, what happened in Sapporo? If you don't mind me asking?" Auburn asked as Seraphim spoke up.

"Yeah, I feel like we've missed out on something?" Seraphim said as Queen sighed as she spoke up.

"It's a long story, you two. Let's just say that before we met you two along with reuniting with Flare and having Wolf become an official member, we encountered something in an earlier Jail that was kind of hypnotizing." Queen said as Flare spoke up.

"So it's something in this other Jail that has caused Violet to be shaken so badly?" Flare said as Queen nodded what Oracle smirked and spoke up as she addressed Violet.

"Aww, don't be scared, Violet. It was just a hee-horde. Also, you meant the hee-horde, right Noir? If so, that was mirrored by the huge cleanup campaign in the real world, right? Or am I misremembering?" Oracle said as Noir spoke up.

"No, that's correct, Oracle-chan. And to be honest, this may be the same thing." Noir said as Panther spoke up.

"Hmm. Does that mean Konoe's doing some kinda show in the real world right now?" Panther asked as both Crow and Draconis simultaneously winced as they recalled when something similar had happened in Shido's Palace about four years ago, and what had happened afterwards. Draconis then spoke up.

"Probably. But for the sake of all of us, let's hope that his show doesn't play out the same way that the last show to interrupt our progression in the Metaverse played out." Draconis said as Crow frowned and spoke up.

"You mean the show where you all got framed for the death of Noir's dad, don't you?" Crow asked as Draconis spoke up.

"That too. But didn't you tell me that you were on a show around the same time as we got close to the end of Shido's Palace, Crow? And I think we both remember what happened after that." Draconis said gently but honestly as Crow's eyes widened in realization under his helmet as he spoke up.

"You're talking about the show that I was on where I pledged to destroy the Phantom Thieves, back when I'd betrayed you all, aren't you? Yeah, that was far from my proudest memory, that's for sure. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I did to you after that, Draconis." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"Nah, it's fine, Crow. I was the idiot who tried charging you solo after blacking out, so if anything, I brought it on myself." Draconis said as Seeker blinked and spoke up.

"What are you two talking about?" Seeker said as Draconis spoke up.

"Shortly before Crow confronted us in the engine room of the ship that represented Masayoshi Shido's Palace, Crow appeared on a show where everyone touted him as a hero since he'd seemingly brought about Joker's demise. Later on after that show, Crow confronted us all and revealed his true colors to us, and I might have blacked out and tried to kill him in response to that revelation.

So naturally, Crow's response to my reaction was to have Loki lift me up after shattering my weapon in a clash and toss me into the room behind Crow. If not for my quick thinking, I'd have been launched backwards out the window of said room and thrown over the side of Shido's Palace, never to be seen again. So that was a scary time for all of us. But in the end, the others rallied and defeated Crow after three consecutive fights.

And shortly after that, Crow tried to sacrifice himself to save the others, only for me to save him at the last moment. This led to us leaving Shido's Palace and fighting outside of what would eventually be the Palace of one Takuto Maruki, or the final Palace we took on in our initial tenure as Phantom Thieves. To sum up, we're hoping that Konoe doesn't spring any sort of deadly trap on us when he fights us himself." Draconis said sagely as Mona spoke up.

"Calm down, you two. We won't let Konoe take anyone away from us like Shido did." Mona said as Draconis nodded his understanding before Wolf spoke up.

"Getting back on topic, all of this discussion begs the following question. Will this crowd go away once he's finished?" Wolf said as Crow spoke up.

"In theory? Most likely? But it's hard to say for sure until after the 'show' ends." Crow said as Queen nodded and spoke up.

"Crow's right. We need more information. Maybe we should go back to the real world and see for ourselves." Queen said as Joker spoke up.

"I agree. Let's head back and see what we can find out for now. If nothing else, we can come back in a little while and try to check out the castle." Joker said as Mona nodded and spoke up.

"All right, Joker. If you think it'll help, we'll head back. Let's see just what Konoe's up to." Mona said as Seeker nodded and spoke up from her spot between Mona and Violet.

"Okay, it's time to pull out." Seeker said as the others nodded and returned to the real world for the time being...

(Around that same time, in the real world that evening, at a certain TV studio, with Konoe and a veteran newscaster)

While the Thieves were exiting the Osaka Jail, Konoe was at an interview in the real world, where a veteran newscaster spoke up to him.

"Mister Konoe, the EMMA app developed by your company, Madicce, has become immensely popular all around the world. With Japan's creative industries starting to reach their limits, it's wonderful to hear about such a remarkable breakthrough in AI technology. I hear that many have high expectations for you as a leading figure in this country, Mister Konoe." The veteran newscaster said as Konoe chuckled nervously and spoke up.

"Haha, well, I wouldn't say I'm all that. I do plan to do the best I can, though. The world is about to undergo a massive transformation, and I'm hoping to steer it in the right direction." Konoe said as he got an outbreak of raucous applause, making him chuckle and speak up with a closed-eye smile.

"Haha, thank you, you're too kind." Konoe said as the veteran newscaster spoke up.

"Well, it sounds like you've got their support. Oh, that reminds me. I've heard that EMMA's servers are kept at the Tokyo Radio Tower. And way back when, the Tokyo Radio Tower was used to usher Japan into a new era of communication. Perhaps this time around, EMMA will play a similar role and bring us into the age of AI." The veteran newscaster said as Konoe nodded and spoke up.

"Yes. That's certainly the idea. As of now, AI is still a fledgling technology, but I have no doubts that it's going to make all of our lives that much easier." Konoe said as the veteran newscaster nodded and spoke up.

"I agree with your sentiments, Mister Konoe. And as a testament to that, it's worth noting there were several areas that openly lamented the halt in EMMA's service the other day. Why do you think the Phantom Thieves would target EMMA, of all things?" The veteran newscaster asked as Konoe frowned and spoke up.

"Naturally, EMMA holds a vast amount of personal data. Perfect target for a gang of crooks, if you ask me. Or perhaps they're just opposed to my ideas of AI making this world a better place. All that talk about them being champions of the meek and downtrodden is likely no more real than those masks they hide behind. They threaten anyone they disagree with and rob them of their free will if they don't comply. Evil people performing evil deeds, nothing more. We won't be defeated by some ragtag group of petty criminals. I'm more than determined to battle their injustices to the very end." Konoe said as the veteran newscaster spoke up.

"Mister Konoe, you held a press conference the other day and mentioned your distinct hatred for the evils of this world. Might that stem from personal experience?" The veteran newscaster asked as Konoe made an unintelligible sound in response, which sounded vaguely like a cross of a grunt and a 'hmph'. Eventually, he spoke up.

"Hm? Oh, ahh, yes. I suppose you might say that. As a child, I was caught in a rather unfortunate incident in which I lost someone very close to me. I'd wager it was that incident that caused me to harbor such disdain for wrongdoing. However you look at it, I can't allow the Phantom Thieves to continue doing as they please." Konoe said as the veteran newscaster nodded and spoke up.

"I couldn't agree more. I think we'd all like to see this Phantom Thieves case resolved as soon as possible." The veteran newscaster said as Konoe nodded his agreement while the interview continued, with a certain pensive-looking young head of a powerful group and her two robotic female bodyguards watching Konoe from in the audience...

(At the same time, underneath Tenboto Tower, with Morgana, Ren, Zenkichi, Kusa, Futaba, Haru, Goro, Makoto, Sojiro, Yusuke, Shiho, Ann, Nanako, Ryuji, Akane, Sumire, and Sophia)

After the group finished watching Konoe's conference on their phones, most of the group winced at what Konoe had said about them as Futaba spoke up before either Ryuji, Kusa, or Goro could have a chance to react, which was probably for the best given the pissed-off looks on their faces.

"That explains the whole hero show thing, doesn't it?" Futaba said as both Kusa and Ryuji nodded, the latter speaking up first as his temper simmered.

"Bastard! Where does he get off sayin' all that shit!?" Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up after high-fiving Ryuji.

"Right!? How dare he try and slander us in such a way!? Not to mention all those absolute lies he was spewing about us! When the hell have we EVER threatened anyone, much less taken someone's free will? That's such a crock of horse shit, it's not funny. If not for the fact that I'm trying to set an example for Sophia, Akane, and Nanako, I'd be tempted to give Konoe a piece of my mind, since what he's doing right now is straight-up defamation of our character!" Kusa grumbled as Futaba patted Kusa on the shoulder comfortingly as she spoke up.

"Yeah, I know how you feel, Kusa. But at the same time, he's got a crap load of people behind him. He's trending like you wouldn't believe all over social media." Futaba said as Goro huffed and spoke up.

"Yeah? So what if Konoe's got a bunch of mindless, subservient peons brainwashed to hang on to his every damn word like a bunch of brain-dead sheep? That doesn't change the fact that what he's doing is a direct assault on not only our honor, but on our reputations! Not to mention the damage it could potentially do to most of us if it was ever to get out to the public who the Phantom Thieves really are." Goro said dryly as Ann spoke up.

"No kidding. I wonder, though. All those people that are following Konoe, have all those people had their hearts changed, too?" Ann asked as Futaba shook her head.

"No, unfortunately not, Ann. It's not like it was with Natsume. These are just regular old fans." Futaba said as Makoto spoke up with a frown.

"I see. So everyone's being won over by Konoe's charm without ever knowing what he's really like, then." Makoto said as Haru spoke up.

"Regardless of his true nature, Konoe's track record with Madicce certainly is impressive, if nothing else." Haru said as Goro spoke up.

"Perhaps, but how much of that track record came before he started this smear campaign against us at what I'm surmising was Owada's behest?" Goro pointed out as Ryuji spoke up with a nod.

"For real, Goro!" Ryuji said approvingly as he turned to Haru and kept speaking.

"Impressive!? Look Haru, I understand that you have some level of respect for Konoe due to his success with Madicce, but you need to wise up and realize that the guy's full of shit!" Ryuji said as Haru spoke up.

"Calm down, Ryuji-kun. All of us in this group realize that, even if the public doesn't. And to be fair to the public, without knowing who Konoe is on the inside, he probably seems like he really cares about making the world a better place." Haru said as Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"As much as I hate to bring this up, this isn't much different from what happened with Shido all those years ago." Yusuke said as Kusa spoke up.

"True. Shido was also trying to paint us as scum and take advantage of the frenzy his actions caused in the public, all so he could build up his platform and make an ironclad case to be the next Prime Minister. Too bad for him, he ultimately made the mistake of crossing Ren. As Goro will attest, no one who crosses Ren gets off scot-free afterwards.

Shit, if we're being honest with ourselves right now? The beating Ren handed me in Mementos after I stormed off following a meltdown I had where I yelled at both him and Ryuji, and even knocked out the latter shortly afterward which was the last straw before my brother brought me to my senses, also serves as a testament to Ren's stance on such things. My point is that it also makes for solid evidence that Ren doesn't go lightly on those who cross him." Kusa said with a frown. Ren nodded and spoke up.

"While I don't like how much you're indirectly beating yourself up, you do have a point, Kusa. And unfortunately, there's nothing we can do for now except wait for the coast to be clear in the Osaka Jail and try to get to the Birdcage so we can open up his Trauma Cell. Once we do that, we face Konoe's Lock Keeper, and then send him his calling card so we can change his heart once and for all." Ren said. Zenkichi winced and spoke up.

"Well, to be fair, people do tend to pick the safer choices in life." Zenkichi said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone, which was in Sumire's hand, preceded Sophia speaking up in surprise.

"Really? Is that true?" Sophia asked as Zenkichi nodded and spoke up.

"Mmhm. In a life of nothing but decisions, there's almost always a fear of not knowing what comes next. Without knowing what lies in store, people often end up turning to the thing that gives 'em the best answer. So when it comes down to it, they're more inclined to latch onto whoever's gonna make things easier." Zenkichi said as Akane spoke up with a frown.

"Speaking from experience there, Dad?" Akane asked as Zenkichi sheepishly nodded while Morgana spoke up.

"Cut your dad some slack, Akane. At least he saw the error of his ways before it was too late and is trying to make amends for his failings as best he can." Morgana said as Akane nodded while Morgana kept speaking.

"That being said, it seems as if history is repeating itself to a point. First, it was Shido, and now it's Konoe who's trying to turn the public against us for his own purposes. Actually, this might be even worse than Shido's case, seeing as EMMA is a lot more up close and personal with people." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"See!? Morgana agrees with me! With apologies to Sophia, since she's an exception to this, AI are evil! I wouldn't be surprised one bit if EMMA somehow turns out to be the mastermind at this point, truth be told." Kusa said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded a smiling Sophia speaking up.

"That's all right, Kusa. I know you're not including me in your words." Sophia said as Sumire smiled and spoke up.

"Of course, he isn't sweetie. Kusa knows that you are much different from EMMA. I would say you are more human than EMMA ever was." Sumire said as Ren looked at Sophia on his girlfriend's phone and spoke up.

"It's true Sophia. You have done so much for this group throughout the summer and you were able to give us insight much better than EMMA. You really have grown from when we first met you back in the Shibuya Jail and I couldn't be more proud of you." Ren said as Sophia smiled and spoke up.

"Thank you, Mom and Dad. Praise accepted." Sophia said as Ren turned towards Kusa and spoke up.

"Going back to an earlier statement you said Kusa, are you seriously thinking that EMMA, of all things, could be the mastermind behind this?" Ren said as Shiho spoke up.

"I have to agree with Ren. I mean I get that both you and Goro had your suspicions regarding Ichinose being a possible mastermind, but EMMA is just an application. Sure, she played a part in making Akane a Monarch, but I don't think she has the capability of orchestrating all of this." Shiho said as Kusa spoke up.

"I'm just giving my thoughts on possible suspects for the mastermind other than Konoe. Even though I wasn't there for it, given what happened with Yaldabaoth all those years ago, the possibility of EMMA being the mastermind is something that should be taken into consideration. Although to be honest, I pray that it doesn't come to that outcome." Kusa said as both Ren and Shiho nodded in understanding all while Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"Yes, well, Kusa's irrational hatred of AI's and potential paranoia of an AI uprising aside, I think Konoe's a bigger threat than we're giving him credit for. But that said, is it really okay to live like that, leaving everything up to something else?" Makoto asked as Zenkichi spoke up.

"Well, the truth is not everyone believes in themselves enough to do otherwise, Makoto." Zenkichi said as Nanako coughed what sounded suspiciously like 'tellthattoAdachi' under her breath, getting an uneasy look from both Ann and Ryuji, who were standing on either side of her and had heard what she'd coughed under her breath. Akane spoke up before Ann or Ryuji could ask what Nanako meant.

"Yes, well, at least some of those people saw the error of their ways before it was too late." Akane said as Zenkichi winced and spoke up.

"Heh, good point, Akane. It's not like I'm one to talk about not believing in myself." Zenkichi said as Sojiro spoke up.

"Don't beat yourself up, Zenkichi. You wised up and decided to do the right thing, so you're all right as far as I'm concerned." Sojiro said as Zenkichi smiled and spoke up.

"Thanks, Sojiro. But that's why we're exposing the real villain here. So we can bring those people back to their senses." Zenkichi said as Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"Right, we can't let them change everyone's hearts for their own schemes anymore." Makoto said as Ryuji spoke up angrily.

"Truth, babe! Heh, I'm so pumped. We're gonna tear down that stupid Jail of Konoe's, and then I'm puttin' my foot straight up his-" Ryuji said as Makoto, Sumire, and Haru all spoke up simultaneously.

"RYUJI/RYUJI-SENPAI!/RYUJI-KUN! LANGUAGE AROUND THE YOUNGER MEMBERS OF THE GROUP!" Makoto, Sumire, and Haru rebuked Ryuji as Kusa spoke up.

"Now hold on, you three. While it is true that Ryuji needs to watch his mouth around the likes of Sophia, Akane, and Nanako, I happen to believe that Ryuji's on to somethin' here. I think the best way to bring Konoe to his senses is a bit of tough love, and maybe a couple of swift uppercuts to the face and maybe a left hook to the jaw for good measure.

But in all fairness, I think Zenkichi deserves to get the first shot at Konoe, considering what that asshole did to his daughter and all. And then I believe Akane should be the one to get the next shot at him since he did turn her into a Monarch after all. After that, I think that Goro, Ryuji, and I should get the next crack at him, as I believe we are all equally angry about the disrespectful things he said about us. And so on and so forth." Kusa said as Goro nodded and spoke up.

"I agree. Konoe needs to be taught a lesson before he ends up as bad as Shido-san was, if not worse." Goro said bluntly before a grumbling sound drew everyone's attention to Ryuji, who winced and spoke up.

"Ooh, urgh. My bad. Guess I'm hungry. I agree with our plan of teaching that shitbag Konoe a lesson, but maybe we should hold off until we get some grub, yeah?" Ryuji said as everyone else sweatdropped and Zenkichi spoke up.

"You gotta be kidding me, Ryuji. Of all the things to bring a halt to our momentum, I didn't think it'd be your stomach." Zenkichi said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone preceded a frowning Sophia speaking up.

"Well, that certainly cut the tension." Sophia said as Nanako spoke up.

"No kidding. But I can see why Kusa, Ryuji, and Goro are all so pissed off. The way Konoe's acting reminds me a bit of how Adachi-san acted before Big Bro and his friends took him down and brought him to justice. So I can understand how they feel." Nanako said as Haru giggled and spoke up.

"Hee hee, good point, Nanako-chan. And Ryuji-kun? Now that you mention it, I'm hungry too. We were running around in that Jail for quite some time." Haru said as Futaba pumped a fist and spoke up.

"Dinner tiiime! What'll it be? We are in Osaka, so it'd be crazy not to do takoyaki, right?" Futaba said as Ren spoke up.

"You do realize I can make that already, right Futaba?" Ren said as Makoto spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Honestly, I agree with Futaba-chan. Trying some Osakan takoyaki sounds nice. I've been wanting to walk around and try a little of everything, honestly." Makoto said as Ren spoke up.

"Fine. If we're gonna sample the local wares, and if we're getting takoyaki, then I want it with tempura bits." Ren said as a wide-eyed Yusuke spoke up in shock.

"Oh, do such flavors really exist around here? I suppose I should have expected as much from Japan's wondrous kitchen." Yusuke said as the group nodded and headed around to sample the local wares...

(A little while later, in the RV, with Morgana, Nanako, Akane, Kusa, Futaba, Ann, Makoto, Haru, Yusuke, Ryuji, Ren, Goro, Sophia, Sojiro, Sumire, Shiho, and Zenkichi)

As the group sat around eating their meal together, Ann spoke up with a a smile on her face.

"Nom, nom, nom. Mmm, so gooooood!" Ann said as Ryuji smirked and spoke up.

"Oh, yeah! No trip to Osaka's complete without 'em!" Ryuji said as Kusa shrugged and spoke up.

"If you say so. I suppose they do lend a certain air of enjoyment to a meal." Kusa said off-handedly. Goro smirked and spoke up.

"Ahh, right. Silly me. I forgot you're not that big of a fan of seafood, Kusa." Goro said as Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"Shuddup! At least I eat it, Goro. Besides, it helps when I have a side of rice balls to make them go down easier." Kusa said with a smirk, indicating the small portion of rice balls that Ren had prepared for Kusa prior to the meal, knowing he enjoys them. Haru then spoke up.

"While you have a point Kusa-kun, I must say that I'm actually surprised. Each shop really does taste different." Haru said as Makoto smiled and spoke up.

"I'll say! Looks like trying a bunch of different places was a good call." Makoto said as Shiho as she spoke up while looking at Yusuke who was currently in awe of his food.

"Uh, Yusuke? Are you alright? You've been staring at your food for a while now." Shiho said as Yusuke spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"I'm more than alright Shiho. So this is the authentic Osaka flavor, then. And best of all, it's affordable!" Yusuke said happily, making Kusa and Sojiro exchange a wince as he spoke up.

"Ok, that tears it. When all this is over, if he agrees to it, I'm going to have you take budgeting lessons from Kusa so you don't have to keep looking for affordable food, Yusuke. Sojiro said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Sure thing, Sojiro. If Yusuke wants me to help him with his budgeting skills, that's no problem at all. I can certainly do that for him. Besides, I might have to give a few of us that lesson anyways, given how many new allies we've gotten since this road trip began." Kusa said as Sumire nodded and spoke up.

"Good point. Before this trip, I don't think any of us would've imagined having Goro, Sojiro, Shiho, Zenkichi, Nanako, and even Akane-chan all join, or rejoin in Goro's case, the Phantom Thieves." Sumire said as Nanako spoke up.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised that Kusa's the one with the financial mind in this group. Granted, I half-expected it to be Makoto or Haru, but it is what it is." Nanako said as Haru and Makoto both frowned at Nanako's remark, visibly looking offended. Fortunately for Nanako, Kusa spoke up to cut both girls off before they could refute Nanako's remark.

"Haru and Makoto do have great financial minds, Nanako. I just so happen to have been the one chosen to handle the group finances for the most part." Kusa said as Futaba looked up at Morgana and spoke up.

"Aren't you gonna have some, Morgana?" Futaba asked as Morgana smirked and spoke up.

"Heh, it's too hot for me right now. I'll just have some once it cools off." Morgana said as Sumire giggled and spoke up.

"Quit lying, Morgana! What you really mean is that you're waiting to eat until you can bring some to Sophia so she can partake in it with you. You don't have to hide the fact that you want to take her out for a meal, you know. I think it's really adorable that you have a crush on her, Morgana." Sumire said teasingly as Morgana blushed and spoke up.

"Wait, WHAT!? Who told you about that? And does it matter? Lady Sophia has already said more than once that she is still learning about the heart. So even if I do have a crush on her, I'm not trying to make her do anything she doesn't want to do, much less make her feel the same way I do!" Morgana said in embarrassment as Haru giggled at Sumire teasing Morgana about his feelings for Sophia before she spoke up to diffuse the tension.

"Ah, that's right. I forgot that Sophia is an AI and can't eat food unless we're in the Metaverse. Sorry, you can't join in on this meal with us, Sophia. We're not trying to exclude you or anything." Haru said as a 'BIP!' from Sumire's phone, which was on a stand on the table between Ann and Ren, preceded a frowning Sophia speaking up.

"It's okay, Haru. It is as you just said, I am an AI after all. I guess I'll just have to make do with the data." Sophia said as Morgana spoke up.

"Or I can try to bring some with me next time I go into the Metaverse for you to try. Would you like that, Lady Sophia?" Morgana said as Sophia blushed and spoke up.

"Oh? You'd do that for me, Morgana? That's so kind of you!" Sophia said happily, making Nanako and Akane both giggle at the sight of the red-faced AI as Futaba spoke up.

"Sure thing. We'll bring some to the Osaka Jail later, Sophia. Don't let your situation get you down." Futaba said as Sophia's expression brightened up as she spoke up.

"Really?" Sophia said as Ren spoke up with a kind smile and a nod, ignoring the amused smirks on the faces of Goro and Kusa to focus on Sophia while he spoke.

"Yep, sure thing. It's a promise, sweetie. Although, since he had the idea first, maybe we should let Morgana be the one to bring the food, since he did promise you a meal with him and all. Heh, isn't it funny how things work? Who'd have thought that Morgana would actually go from being a talking cat to being an honest-to-God human, manage to presumably fall in love with an AI, and manage to get punched in the face by a pissed-off Sumire in the process?" Ren said as Morgana and Sumire both spoke up.

"SHUT UP, REN! DON'T INSTIGATE!" Morgana and Sumire rebuked Ren, who ignored them to focus on the brilliant smile Sophia gave him as she spoke up.

"Thank you, Dad!" Sophia said happily as a grinning Ryuji spoke up.

"Man, travelin' around and chowin' down like this is the freakin' best. Woulda been nice if not for the small wrinkle that is us having to stop some messed-up shitbag from trying to drag all of us through the mud so he can take over the world or whatever he's plannin'." Ryuji said as Haru giggled and spoke up.

"Good point, Ryuji. If not for having to worry about the likes of Owada and Konoe, this would've been the perfect trip. Best of all, we even got to invite others to join in as well, such as Shiho-san, Nanako-chan, and even Akane-chan. And speaking of Akane, if we hadn't invited her, Zenkichi-san would've probably missed out on this since he would want to go home to see her." Haru said as Kusa spoke up.

"In addition, if it wasn't for us inviting Akane, we probably would've also been in a much different place thanks to that ambush that was caused by that cognitive Owada. Aside from that plus Konoe framing us for his crimes, this has been the best summer yet." Kusa said as Akane spoke up.

"This summer has been quite the eventful one thus far, so I agree with Kusa. Also, be nice to Dad, Haru. At least he's trying to be a better father to me." Akane said, coming to Zenkichi's defense and getting a grateful smirk from Zenkichi, who spoke up.

"Heh, thanks, Akane. I think it's worth my decision to stop being a coward, just to hear you standing up for me like this. I have a feeling I wouldn't be so fortunate if I hadn't decided to change my ways." Zenkichi said bluntly. Makoto smiled and spoke up.

"True, it is very wonderful to see you two reconciling with each other so much. Granted, it's a bit painful for some of us, such as myself, Goro, Kusa, and Haru, who aren't lucky enough to have our fathers around in our lives, or in general in my case, but we don't begrudge you two your happiness. Hopefully you two will be able to have even more time to bond and rebuild your relationship once this case is settled." Makoto said as Futaba smirked and spoke up.

"Yeah, and then Zenkichi can shower Akane in gifts and treat her like a princess and stuff." Futaba said as Akane blushed and spoke up.

"Hey! I'm not a child anymore Futaba, I'm a high schooler now." Akane said in embarrassment as Zenkichi smiled and spoke up.

"While that's true Akane. I still want to at least try to fix what was broken between us when your mother passed away. To that end, I want to do whatever I can to make you happy. Even if it means spoiling you a little bit." Zenkichi said as Sojiro smirked and spoke up.

"Oh? I thought that would eventually end up being Nanako-chan's job to spoil Akane-chan and treat her like a princess, considering the fact that they're dating now and all. Sure, it's also Zenkichi's job as her dad, but eventually the day's probably going to come where he has to walk Akane down the aisle. That is, assuming she and Nanako ever decide to tie the knot like Ann and Shiho have decided to do." Sojiro said as Nanako blushed and spoke up.

"Don't tease us like that, Sojiro! But you're not wrong that it is my job as Akane's girlfriend to make Akane feel loved and appreciated, just as much as it is Zenkichi-san's job as her dad." Nanako said wisely as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Lady Nanako. That being said, there's something I still don't understand. Why did Konoe bother to create the Jails in the first place?" Morgana asked as Ryuji spoke up.

"Wasn't it because that Owada dude told him to?" Ryuji asked as Makoto spoke up with a frown.

"I don't think that was the only reason, sweetie." Makoto said as Kusa spoke up.

"No shit it wasn't. If I had to guess, I'd say Konoe probably found out about the existence of Palaces somehow and wanted to make his own version of them, hence the existence of Jails. But because he didn't have a full grasp of the fundamental theory behind Palaces, he ended up with Jails instead, which is probably why Jails are so different from Palaces. Mind, that's all just a theory of mine, and not a proven fact for now." Kusa said wisely as Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"That makes sense, Kusa-kun. However, we heard in his Jail that he wants to save people, didn't we?" Makoto asked as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah. Take one look around his Jail, and it's clear that he totally believes in what he's doing. He thinks he's the perfect embodiment of justice." Morgana said as Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"Oh? So Konoe fancies himself as the next Goro, then?" Kusa joked as Goro frowned and spoke up.

"Shut up. That wasn't funny, Kusa. And besides, he could never hope to be me, and we all know it." Goro said dryly as Ren spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Goro. If nothing else, I doubt Konoe could ever match your overconfidence and ego." Ren teased as Ryuji and Kusa high-fived Ren while laughing. After sobering up, Kusa spoke up.

"No, but in all seriousness, Konoe's the perfect embodiment of justice, my ass! If he's the perfect embodiment of justice, then Taba's a supermodel. And last I checked, Taba is very happy and content being the quirky, if not lively weeb of a gamer girl that we all respect and appreciate, and that I count myself blessed to call my girlfriend each day we're together." Kusa said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Your praises of your girlfriend aside Kusa, you do have a point. At the same time, it's true that Konoe does see himself as a hero. Are you suggesting he isn't acting for his own gain, Makoto?" Yusuke asked as Morgana spoke up.

"Even if that is true? At the very least, he must have his own reasons for taking part in all of this." Morgana said as Makoto spoke up.

"True. Well, we'll know for sure once we meet the Monarch face to face. For now, let's just focus on the problem at hand." Makoto said as Morgana spoke up.

"Heh, good point, Makoto. Yeah, you're right. We'll eat up and get our strength back for tomorrow." Morgana said as Ann spoke up with a smirk.

"Welp, I'm taking the rest, then!" Ann said as at least four different voices spoke up at that point.

"EXCUSE YOU!?" Sumire, Nanako, Akane, and Yusuke all snapped in unison as Ryuji spoke up.

"Yeah, as if! Like you really need all that!" Ryuji said as Shiho spoke up.

"She very well might need the energy with how intensely she and I go at it at times." Shiho said with a giggle as Ann spoke up after getting her blush under control from Shiho both flirting with her and throwing both of them under the bus with her teasing remarks.

"SHUSH, SHIHO! And never mind if I really need all of that or not, Ryuji! It's first come, first served at this point! You guys better hurry before I swipe it all." Ann said as Haru frowned and spoke up.

"Is that right? Then I, Haru Okumura, accept your challenge!" Haru said as Goro and Kusa both groaned, the former muttering what sounded suspiciously like 'someone end me' under his breath. Makoto sputtered and spoke up.

"Hold on, what? W-Wait, I want some too!" Makoto said as Sumire frowned and spoke up through narrowed eyes.

"And I better get some as well. Ren knows how much of an appetite I have, so he's the one who'd likely have to put up with my tummy grumbling most of the night if I don't get enough to eat." Sumire said as Ren blushed and spoke up.

"You say that like your tummy doesn't make the most adorable sounds when it grumbles though, beautiful." Ren said with a smirk as Sumire blushed and spoke up.

"Not helping, Ren!" Sumire said, amid giggles from everyone else as the group enjoyed a lovely takoyaki meal together, including Kusa, who usually isn't a fan of seafood, before the group decided to pack it in for the night...

(The next morning, in the Okinawa Jail, with Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, Violet, Draconis, Seeker, Pendragon, Flare, Wolf, Seraphim, and Auburn)

While fighting their way through the Okinawa Jail for a request, a burst of EXP that had been gotten from fighting the Shadows brought Joker, Oracle, and Violet to level 67, as well as bringing Wolf, Seeker, and Mona to level 62, the level-ups giving Oracle a new skill for her 'Albus' Persona in the form of the heavy-tier Psy skill 'Psiodyne', making her smirk as she spoke up.

"BAM! Check out the new skill I just got!" Oracle said as Draconis spoke up.

"Not bad. A bit late to the party in terms of Psy users, but still a good skill to have. Well done." Draconis said as Oracle shyly nodded as Albus acquired 'Psiodyne'. While trying to clear out the Okinawa Jail of Shadows, Queen hit level 62 and got the high-tier healing skill 'Mediarahan', making her smirk as she spoke up.

"Ooh! I've awakened to a new power!" Queen said as Skull grinned and spoke up.

"Nice one, babe! You're becoming stronger and stronger with each skill. I'm proud of you." Skull said as Queen blushed and smiled while kissing Skull by way of thanking him as Agnes acquired 'Mediarahan'. While fighting Shadows in the Sapporo Jail, Panther hit level 62. A short time later, while clearing out Shadows in the Sapporo Jail, Skull, Fox, Noir, Crow, Draconis, Pendragon, Flare, Auburn, and Seraphim all hit level 62, leading to new skills for Crow, Seraphim, and Auburn. Crow gained the Colossal-tier Physical skill 'Laevateinn', Seraphim gained the Heavy-tier Physical move 'Brave Blade', and Auburn gained the Heavy-tier Fire move 'Agidyne'. At that point, Crow smirked and spoke up while crossing his arms in amusement.

"Well, well, would you look at that? Looks like Hereward's starting to unlock his true powers, and maybe even a hint of his inner Loki? I must say, I approve. And I think Loki would approve too if he were able to see this. Come to think of it, he's inside me, so I'm sure he can see it." Crow said, feeling a surge of elation in his heart at that moment that he figured was likely Loki expressing his approval of Hereward learning one of his signature moves. Noir smiled and spoke up.

"Nice one, Crow. Although, from what I remember correctly, I think that Loki also had Laevateinn in his arsenal when he became a part of you again. However, I think that you're still the first one to properly learn a Colossal-tier move in this group before Joker. So good job on beating him in something without it being on a technicality, as was the case with getting to Eigaon first." Noir said as Crow smirked and spoke up.

"Good point, Noir. I don't think Joker has acquired any Colossal-tier skills yet." Crow said as Draconis spoke up.

"I think Noir's right. I think what you just got was the first Colossal-tier move that any of us has gotten since we started this second run as Phantom Thieves. So good on you to be the first one to accomplish that brother." Draconis said as Crow nodded while Hereward acquired 'Laevateinn'. Next, Seraphim smiled and spoke up.

"Looks like Crow isn't the only one getting a powerful Physical skill. Check out Sraosha's new power!" Seraphim said as Auburn smiled and spoke up.

"Ooh, that's a strong move! Makes sense, given how much strength you likely have in you, Seraphim. You're such a strong, beautiful person." Auburn said as Seraphim blushed and spoke up.

"Auburn! Don't flirt with me like that when I least expect it! You're gonna make me blush!" Seraphim said in a whiny tone, making Oracle and Seeker giggle at her embarrassed face as Auburn cutely kissed Seraphim on the cheek by way of apology as Panther nudged Flare and spoke up.

"Look how well we taught them, Flare." Panther said as Flare spoke up.

"Indeed. We taught them well, Panther." Flare said as she kissed Panther, making Seeker giggle cutely even though she looked a bit jealous of all the couples around her, making Oracle smirk as she spoke up.

"Cheer up, Seeker. You'll find someone for you soon enough. Just be patient." Oracle said, giving Mona a pointed look as Seeker nodded while Sraosha acquired 'Brave Blade'. Finally, Auburn spoke up.

"Oh? An upgrade for Houdini's fire? Don't mind if I do!" Auburn said as Seraphim smiled and spoke up.

"Very appropriate. A hot skill for a hot woman." Seraphim said coyly as Auburn blushed and spoke up.

"Now who's the one being a flirt?" Auburn asked Seraphim, who smirked and spoke up.

"Oh, just be quiet and let me compliment you, Auburn. It won't kill you to let someone give you some praise, you know." Seraphim said, leaning in to press her lips to Auburn's and making her blush as Panther and Flare smiled at the chaste display between the two as Houdini acquired 'Agidyne'. Afterwards, Joker pulled everyone out of the Sapporo Jail to go back and recharge their energy...

(Back in the real world later that afternoon, near the hideout, with Ren, Sophia, and Morgana)

As Ren stretched outside of the hideout, Morgana grinned and spoke up.

"Hey, how's it going? Now that we're all rested up and ready to go for it, we can finally storm that castle. Let's all meet up at the hideout once preparations are complete." Morgana said as Ren nodded, before being distracted by his phone going off, signifying a private chat from Ryuji which he opened up.

"What's up, RenRen? Are we gonna head to the Jail? If you've got a minute, stop by and see me, yeah? I got something really cool! It's gonna blow your mind!" Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away, wondering if Ryujji was being serious, or if he was talking out of his ass. Ren then decided to look around the city a bit more before making any decisions about the Jail...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! I must say, I'm pretty satisfied with where I ended this chapter overall. Sure, I could've probably made it a tad longer, but ending it here should allow me to have a good-length chapter with which to end Arc 7.

So if all goes to plan, next chapter will be the Arc 7 finale, including the first look at the Osaka Birdcage, the next Lock Keeper, and Konoe's calling card along with the boss fight with Konoe's Shadow, which I'm honestly excited to get to, since this boss fight has easily some of the absolute best boss music in any Persona game in it (probably only beaten out by the final boss music of Persona 5 Royal and the music that plays when you fight the 'hidden' final boss of Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden that you can only get in the 'true' and 'Golden' endings).

And as you can probably guess, it will likely be at least slightly changed up from how it plays out in canon Strikers, if only because of all the extra characters added into this story that aren't in canon Strikers (Goro/Crow, Sumire/Violet, Kusa/Draconis, Sojiro/Pendragon, Shiho/Flare, Nanako/Seraphim, and Akane/Auburn), so that should be interesting to see. There's your bit of previewing for this chapter.

Also, now that we're coming up on the end of Arc 7, we're almost at the point of reaching Arc 8. And I'm kinda excited to get to Arc 8 in particular since I have a good bit of unique plot stuff planned out for that Arc.

However, before any of that can happen, there's still the Arc 7 interlude to get through, or the final Interlude of this story (mainly since there's not a big enough gap between Arcs 8 and 9 to justify an Interlude, and there's not a reason to have an Interlude after the final boss of Strikers, since Arc 10 is basically the ending and 'epilogue' Arc for this story), which will have quite a bit in it to allow for the fact that it's the final Interlude. But you'll see what I mean by that when the time comes.

That being said, let me take this chance to give a huge thank-you to everyone who's read this far, not just into the chapter, but into the story as a whole. All the support I've gotten so far, whether it be in the form of people following this story, favoriting this story, following and/or favoriting me as a writer, and even those people who leave reviews on the story, is both highly appreciated and welcomed. Anyone who wants to can leave a review below with their thoughts/constructive criticism/suggestions/opinions on this story so far, as I welcome the feedback and input from my readers.

I even accept PMs for those who would rather send such things outside of reviews. I accept both guest reviews and non-guest reviews. However, note that if someone were to leave a review as a guest, they will likely have their review copy-pasted into a later chapter to be replied to for the readers to see. So bear that in mind when deciding between a guest or non-guest review.

And for those interested, I even have a Discord that I use to discuss my stories with people. Anyone interested can either express said interest in a review below or PM me and I'll send out an invite link to my Discord. So feel free to hit me up, since I like interacting with my readers where applicable! And until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - A bit of an obscure reference to make, but an appropriate one. For anyone confused, the reference Skull makes here is less of a reference and more of him quoting yet another YouTuber I watch a lot of, in this case the inestimable NintendoCapriSun, who is truly a funny guy. Shout out to him for making such quality content, and for his work in helping the crew of the 'Thrown Controllers Colosseum' as it was recently rebranded raise money for Direct Relief, which in turn allows them to help charity! Truly good stuff.

And for anyone interested, it was recently announced that the Colosseum for this year is scheduled to be livestreamed from May 3rd to May 5th. However, I forgot the link for the Twitch channel it'll be happening on. Anyone that's interested can probably hit up either Proton Jon or NintendoCapriSun for the link on YouTube, though.

Alternatively, Proton Jon has a Twitch channel he streams on too, so he might stream it there on the days in mention, so maybe check that out. Just figured I'd take a chance to reference a great YouTuber and do my bit to spread awareness of this upcoming charity event. Feel free to check it out if it interests you. Also, despite the fact it's raising money for Direct Relief, no donations are actually required to watch the event. Figured I'd put that out there before anyone can get confused about that.

PHANTOM THIEF SKILL LISTINGS, ALLY LIST, AND LIST OF TRIAD SPECIALS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 35

JOKER (Ren) - Level: 67 Current Personas: Raoul (Level 47), Jack Frost (Level 45), Norn (Level 67), Seth (Level 61), Thor (Level 64), Fortuna (Level 65), Forneus (Level 67), Ganesha (Level 64), Mot (Level 65), Kali (Level 67) Equipped Persona: Seth Persona Moveset: One-Shot Kill (Gun), Eigaon (Curse), Resist Bless (Passive), Gun Boost (Passive), Knockdown Style (Passive), Concentrate (Support/Buff), Freidyne (Nuclear), Fortify Spirit (Passive)

SKULL (Ryuji) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: William Persona Moveset: Ziodyne (Elec), Megaton Raid (Physical), Matarukaja (Support/Buff), Elec Boost (Passive), Maziodyne (Elec), Rebel Soul (Passive), Deathbound (Physical), Shock Boost (Passive)

MONA (Morgana) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Diego Persona Moveset: Garudyne (Wind), Diarahan (Healing), Mediarahan (Healing), Magarudyne (Wind), Wind Boost (Passive), Samarecarm (Healing), Masukunda (Support/Debuff), Dodge Elec (Passive)

PANTHER (Ann) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Celestine Persona Moveset: Agidyne (Fire), Burn Boost (Passive), Fire Boost (Passive), Soul Thief (Passive), Maragidyne (Fire), Matarunda (Support/Debuff), Brain Jack (Ailment), Diarahan (Healing)

FOX (Yusuke) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Gorokichi Persona Moveset: Bufudyne (Ice), Speed Master (Passive), Masukukaja (Support/Buff), Knockdown Style (Passive), Myriad Slashes (Physical), Tempest Slash (Physical), Mabufula (Ice), Evade Fire (Passive)

QUEEN (Makoto) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Agnes Persona Moveset: Freidyne (Nuclear), Dekunda (Support/Buff), Marakukaja (Support/Buff), Mafreidyne (Nuclear), Diarahan (Healing), Flash Bomb (Physical), Mediarahan (Healing), Nuke Boost (Passive)

NOIR (Haru) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Lucy Persona Moveset: Psiodyne (Psy), Ailment Boost (Passive), Heat Riser (Support/Buff), One-Shot Kill (Gun), Evil Smile (Ailment), Amrita Shower (Healing), Mapsio (Psy), Gun Boost (Passive)

ORACLE (Futaba) - Level: 67 Current Personas: Al Azif and Albus Equipped Persona: Albus Persona Moveset: Ziodyne (Elec), Matarukaja (Support/Buff), Megido (Almighty), Marakukaja (Support/Buff), Psiodyne (Psy), Masukukaja (Support/Buff), Invigorate 2 (Passive), Spell Master (Passive)

SEEKER (Sophia) - Level: 62 Current/Partner 'Persona': Pithos Persona Moveset: Kougaon? (Bless), Bless Amp? (Passive), Diarahan? (Healing), Makouga? (Bless), Mediarama? (Healing), Marakunda? (Support/Debuff), Rebel Soul? (Passive), Samarecarm? (Healing)

WOLF (Zenkichi) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Valjean Persona Moveset: Megidola (Almighty), Gun Boost (Passive), Dekaja (Support/Debuff), Deathbound (Physical), Triple Down (Gun), Heat Riser (Support/Buff), Enduring Soul (Passive), Tetraja (Support/Barrier)

VIOLET (Sumire) - Level: 67 Current/Partner Persona: Ella Persona Moveset: Kougaon (Bless), Dodge Curse (Passive), Diarahan (Healing), Bless Amp (Passive), Vorpal Blade (Physical), Makouga (Bless), Tempest Slash (Physical), Samarecarm (Healing)

DRACONIS (Kusa) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Malefor Persona Moveset: Agilao (Fire), Garula (Wind), Mediarahan (Healing), Assault Dive (Physical), Debilitate (Support/Debuff), Vicious Strike (Physical), Megidola (Almighty), Almighty Boost (Passive)

CROW (Goro) - Level: 62 Current Personas: Robin Hood, Loki, and Hereward Equipped Persona: Hereward Persona Moveset: Eigaon (Curse), One-Shot Kill (Gun), Maeiga (Curse), Laevateinn (Physical), Debilitate (Support/Debuff), Mudoon (Curse/insta-kill), Megidola (Almighty), Curse Boost (Passive)

PENDRAGON (Sojiro) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Kohryu Persona Moveset: Psiodyne (Psy), One-Shot Kill (Gun), Concentrate (Support/Buff), Mediarahan (Healing), Mapsiodyne (Psy), Evade Nuke (Passive), Spell Master (Passive), Psy Boost (Passive)

FLARE (Shiho) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Hester Persona Moveset: Bufudyne (Ice), Brain Buster (Physical), Mediarahan (Healing), Soul Thief (Passive), Samarecarm (Healing), Freila (Nuclear), Ice Boost (Passive), Nuke Boost (Passive)

SERAPHIM (Nanako) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Sraosha Persona Moveset: Ziodyne (Elec), Brave Blade (Physical), Charge (Support/Buff), Mazionga (Elec), Samarecarm (Healing), Elec Boost (Passive), Hamaon (Bless/insta-kill), Dodge Curse (Passive)

AUBURN (Akane) - Level: 62 Current/Partner Persona: Houdini Persona Moveset: Agidyne (Fire), Diarama (Healing), One-Shot Kill (Gun), Maeiga (Curse), Regenerate 2 (Passive), Life Drain (Almighty), Evade Ice (Passive), Dodge Bless (Passive)

Allies: Ichinose, Taichi, Momoe, Sae, Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, Naoto, Mishima, Minako, Shinichi

LIST OF KNOWN TRIAD SPECIALS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 35

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)

HELLISH ELEMENTAL TRINITY (Skull, Panther, Flare)

MIRROR OF THE ORDAINED (Pendragon, Mona, Draconis)

KARMA STINGERS (Seraphim, Fox, Noir)

WRATH OF THE CHOSEN ONES (Draconis, Crow, Joker)

CHAOTIC PLASMA RAIN (Auburn, Seraphim, Oracle)