Okay, for those wondering why I'm pumping these chapters out like a rapid-fire shotgun (don't ask), then do I have a tale for you!

i basically have everything typed out, so i just have to add things, go over certain stuff, and change a bit of the continuity... Also, up until now, it was mainly adding some things, changing some details, and so on, but now there will be additional stuff previously not in the old fic starting with the next chapter.

enough of that though, let us begin!

Friday, April 15th

Rainy

Shujin Academy

Afternoon

After several more boring classes, Arata's suggestion to explore the school grounds while he was in class, and nearly getting hit by a chalk stick (thank god he still had those reflexes from back then) Akira and his merry entourage of two walked down the hallway to their last period class. noticing familiar whispers coming from around the corner, Arata floated ahead to the source, finding both Mishima and Shiho talking to each other.

~yo Kira. I need both Morgana and your phone.~ Arata stated, getting confused reactions from the two.

"...why?" Akira asked, pulling out said device in question.

~I have a bad feeling… and I might need backup just in case. I saw Mishima and Shiho talking earlier.~

"And that's bad...why?"

~what are they mostly connected to?~

"... fine, here." Akira relented, giving Arata his phone and releasing Morgana when the coast was clear.

~cool, and just in time too. They stopped walking. Come on Morgana.~ floating away from Akira, both cat and godling advanced towards the two volleyball players. Hiding easily, both eavesdropped at the current conversation going on between the two teenagers.

"Suzui…" Mishima whispered, gaining her attention as he made his way to the retreating girl.

"Hmm?" Shiho looks up turning to the blunette with a well hidden grimace, a feeling of dread itching its way up her spine. "Is there something else you wish to speak to me about, Mishima?"

"Y-Yeah... I almost forgot..." Mishima stammered. "Damnit, why did I STOP her!?" he thought to himself. "...Are you leaving?"

"...what is it?" Shiho asked, trying to push down the growing instinct to run.

"...Mr. Kamoshida's asking for you…" "SHUT THE HELL UP! WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT!?" "he's in the PE faculty office…"

Shooting a look of surprise, Shiho shook lightly with a suddenly skyrocketing sense of unease. "What did he say?"

"...I... i don't know..." "Lies!" "it just came out of nowhere..." "You know DAMN well what it could be!" Mishima answered, looking downtrodden, "well… I have to go…" "DON'T LEAVE!" and with those parting words, Mishima sped off, leaving the girl, cat and spirit into thought.

"..." the bruised ravenette whimpered at the impending doom she would soon face. contemplating on just leaving now, she shook her head and walked forwards. "This is for Ann..." she repeated under her breath, slow but steadily walking to the cursed room.

~I knew my bad feeling was going somewhere…~ Arata whispered from his corner, floating out to the open with Morgana on his shoulders. ~it's not going away either… Mishima looks ready to puke his guts out... or have a breakdown...probably both.~

"We should follow her." Morgana whispered. Nodding together, they waited a few seconds before following the scared girl. After a few moments of trailing, the three were near the office in question, and with a heavy sigh and a deep breath, Shiho went inside.

~so, this is the faculty office?~ Arata whistled. ~It's a lot smaller than I thought.~

"Seems like it." Morgana nodded, jumping off of Arata and bounded near the door.

~and you got the same feeling too?~

"Yeah…" Morgana nodded grimly "This can't be anything good..."

~good. I'm not the only one then-~ just then, a sudden scream echoed behind the door in front of them before promptly going silent with a small muffled sound.

*FWAP*

"AAAH!" another muffled scream as well as the sound of something hitting the wall caused both non humans to jump, scurrying over to the door.

~was that...!?~ Arata shouts out. ~Did that guy Just-~

"Quick, open the door!" Morgana hissed, jumping up onto the door and opening it.

~get the camera!~ tapping a few buttons on the phone and opening the camcorder app, Arata pushed open the ajar door to see the rather horrifying scene before them.

There on the wall right near the door, much to their immediate fury and worry, was a crying Shiho, hands clutching her face with blood dripping down her palms, with Kamoshida huddled over her, striking her repeatedly while he attempted to pull some of her clothes off.

~hit record, HIT RECORD!~ Arata whispered to Morgana, glowing a dark gold as he slid through the door

"but- "

~I've got this, just get footage before I do!~ Arata said, floating up to Kamoshida's back before rubbing his hands. ~Shocking Grasp!~ sparks jolted around his palms as he gave the back of the teacher's neck a hearty clap!

*SLAP!*

"AGH!" said teacher winced in sudden pain, unintentionally backhanding the girl out of his hands and onto the floor in the process.

~SHIT! Morgana, switch out!~ Arata shouts, flying to the cat and snatching up the camera, recording as the cat predates towards the teacher, who soon recovered and resumed his undressing as he snatched Shiho up off the ground.

"Your friend has denied me for the last time, so you're gonna help me calm down RIGHT NOW!." Kamoshida growled, tearing off a sleeve from the cowering girl's arm.

"..." the beaten girl whimpered as she pulled her arm away harshly, only to get another slap in the face.

"RIGHT!? You've got nothing left to do except obey, that's the only thing you're good for anyways."

"...no, it's no-" Shiho yelled back, shoving back the looming coach as she attempted to gain ground-

*SLAP!*

"AAGh!" the very words she were about to say fell flat as another slap shut her mouth nigh instantly, sending her back to the floor, but now near the opened door in the process

"Quiet bitch!" he shouts, another slap for emphasis silenced the girl. "I call the shots here so you better-AAAAAAGGH!" His tirade was cut short as Morgana pounced, clawing the back of his head in a flurry of scratches, bites, and kicks in many directions.

"A-a cat!?" She yelps, just then Arata hovered over the girl, his echoed whispers in her ear startling her even further.

~go... now. Meet up with the ones known as Ryuji and Akira.~

"W-wha-"

~hurry, child! You have no time to waste on this chance, RUN!~

Blindly heeding the Arata's voice, Shiho staggered and scrambled up from her prone predicament, running out the room whilst crying all the way.

"The hell did this cat come from!?" Kamoshida screamed, succeeding in throwing the cat off of him near the door. Satisfied with their intervention, both Arata and Morgana fled the scene, a scratched and bleeding Kamoshida yelling in rage behind them. "DAMMIT!"

Reuniting with Akira and Ryuji, Arata and Morgana gave back the phone with grim and enraged looks on their faces.

"Whoa… what happened?" Ryuji asked, unsettled at the flowing murderous intent from the two. "you two look ready to commit homicide..."

~If we don't get the hell out of here and calm ourselves, that's EXACTLY what's going to happen...~ Arata growled, his voice echoed and slightly deeper, pulses of magic flowing through each syllable, like a chanted aria to a ritual.

"That monster… he called Shiho to the faculty office." Morgana started, his body still shaking from the adrenaline through his system.

~That Dick physically beat her! AND he was trying to rape her too!~

"WHAT!?" both students exclaimed.

~we've got it recorded, and we got her out, but she's bleeding from the face and a few cuts and wounds opened up from his beatdown! Kira, ya gotta get to her NOW!~

"That Bastard!" Ryuji yelled, slamming his fist on a nearby vending machine. a sizeable dent formed from the impact, but none of the current occupants notice such destruction.

"And that's not all..." Morgana continued. "He was going on about how she denied him for the last time… I think this was because of Lady Ann refusing to meet up with him yesterday." Akira's eyes widen at this, his hands clenched to the point where droplets of red begins forming, only to disappear moments later as a silver light flashed around his fists.

"Dammit, He's gonna pay for this!" before they could talk some more, some people screamed out, startling the four man band out of their fury.

"EEEEK! Someone's on the roof!" a person yelled.

~... She didn't...~

"Two people!" another screamed out, a chorus of voices flooded behind them.

"She did..." Morgana repeated.

"I think they're gonna jump!" a third followed suit. The group of four looked at each other before sprinting (and flying) as fast as they could to the rooftop

A few minutes of running people over, clotheslining a few of them along the way, and Ryuji practically kicking down the door to the rooftop, all four ran out to the opening, Startling the three close by. Looking ahead, the group of four wheezed as they looked to Haru and Mishima desperately trying to pull back a damaged and sobbing Shiho, who is trying her damnedest to lean forwards over the side.

~I TOLD HER TO GO TO YOU GUYS!~ Arata screeched, pulling his hair in panic. ~IS SHE REALLY THAT SUICIDAL!?~

"Shiho! Haru! Mishima!" Ryuji shouts, gaining their attention was all he needed to cover the distance . "What Da ever-loving SHIT going on here!?"

"Help us pull her back! Please!" Haru pleaded, desperately pulling on the broken girl's torn sleeved shoulder. "She almost ran off the building when I saw her."

"It's no use… why won't you let me go!?" Shiho wailed back through her sobs, struggling wildly as the two held firm, "I'm not worth it, I'm not worth ANYTHING! so just let me go!"

"Never! If anyone's not worth anything, it's me!" Mishima shouts back, holding onto her other shoulder like a lifeline. "I shouldn't have told you to go to him! I could've lied or something! If I had just done something sooner… anything, then this wouldn't be happening, so PLEASE!" he yanks her back even more, nearly tipping the three way tug of war backwards to the roof.

"Crap! Come on Kira!" Ryuji ordered, running to the group and grabbing ahold of Shiho by her torso, pulling her back with Akira following suit gripping a wayward leg before it could kick him.

"Shiho, this isn't the way to go!" Akira yelled pulling with all his might at the squirming girl in his grasp. "What about Ann!? How would she react if her best friend was dead!?"

"I'm doing this FOR Ann!" she screamed back. "Without me, she could live on with a happy life without a waste of space like me weighing her down!"

~That bullshit makes no sense and you know it woman!~ Arata yelled, casting a glyph circle with a slowly ticking clock in front of Shiho, her struggles becoming slower and weak as the four humans start to slowly but surely drag her away from the edge.

"But think about this; will she really be happy!?" Ryuji continued. "Knowing that she let her best friend die, not being able to do anything!? She'd blame the whole damn thing on herself!"

"...what?" Shiho blinked through her tears, hiccupping at what Sakamoto's words.

"she's doing whatever she can do for your sake, Dammit!" Ryuji yelled back, grabbing her by the shoulders once they made sure she would be too far to make a run for the roof ledge. "Don't throw that all away! Don't throw HER away!"

"I...I…" Shiho stuttered, stopping her struggling completely as she broke down sobbing. "..I-I don't know what to do anymore..."

"Come on. Let's go see Ann, together." Akira reassured, patting and rubbing her back as the four huddled around her. "I'm sure that she'd be crying her soul out hoping you were okay..." Looking around, he spotted the familiar black tuft of Morgana dashing around the lot, seemingly distracting the masses, if the growing group of adults and student council members chasing behind him were of any indication.

"...O-Okay..." not stopping her weeping anytime soon, the extended group successfully lead her from the edge of the roof, walking back towards the building and going down to the bottom floors.

"Haru, do you know who Ann Takamaki is?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes, I've heard of her…" Haru nods, making their way downstairs. "She's the one with the yellow hair, like your, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one. If you could, go find her and tell her to help Shiho get home."

"Right. Come along Suzui…" Haru held her hands as the two girls left the boys alone.

"Now talk." Ryuji demanded, not even turning around to meet the blunette's gaze.

"Wh-wha-"

"TALK DAMMIT!" Ryuji screamed, a sudden shock pulsed from his body as he slammed his fist into the wall,cracking it slightly, but only Mishima seemed to flinch from the jolt. "Why the hell were you all up there!? Why was SHE up there!? And what was that bullshit you spouted out about being worthless earlier!?"

"B-Because I could've done something for her to prevent all this!" Mishima retorted. "I could've just said that she left already, or that she was helping another teacher, ANYTHING, but I didn't! i-I... I let her j-just... I sent her to the damn slaughter..."

"Shiho almost killed herself! Why haven't you tried anything before then!?"

"You wouldn't understand!"

"DON'T GIVE US THAT BULLSHIT!" Ryuji roared, stepping closer to Mishima, until they were face to face with each other, his eyes, glowing gold for a brief moment. "Help us understand! Why were you up there!? We know this is because of Kamoshida! What, did you come up there to take her back to him!?"

"NO!" Mishima Shouts suddenly, his despair giving way to rage at Ryuji's words, as he clenched his fists "Don't you DARE even think of me doing that!"

"Then why!? Why didn't you say anything earlier!? Do you just let people trample all over you without fuss!?"

"That's none of your business!"

"It IS if it's making people suffer!" Ryuji yelled, gripping Mishima by his shirt. "If you don't stop acting like a little bitch, then everybody will keep treating you like one, JUST LIKE THAT PERVERTED BASTARD!"

"WELL I'D RATHER BE A COWARD INSTEAD OF BEING BRANDED AS A MURDERER!" Mishima snapped, shocking the four near him, his voice hitched in pure rage as he continued, not bothering to hide his stutters. "You h-have NO idea what it's like to be feared, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. and I'm not talking a-about fake fear from shitty rumors!"

"Wha-" Ryuji said, letting go of Mishima's shirt at Mishima's sudden outburst. Too caught up in his anger, Mishima reaches up and grabs the blonde's shirt, reversing the roles from a few seconds prior

"SHUT UP! You couldn't possibly understand the pain of being alone, Ostracized from everyone else, knowing that it was your fault!" Akira wheezed at this, hand clutching his chest at Mishima's statement with wide yet blank eyes. "Don't even bother trying!"

~Oh no.. Akira, stay with me here... not now!~ Arata shouts, shaking Akira and hugging him tightly. ~Dammit, why now!?~

"Wait... what the hell do you mean by that-" Ryuji stammered, gripping Mishima's death grip with his own.

"Ever since that day… I was outcasted; feared by everyone because I crippled...almost killed someone... People would run in terror whenever I so much as look in their direction… I've fought for those people… SAVED them even, but I was treated like… like…"

"A demon... a freak... a Monster?" Akira whispered, the blunette flinching as he caught the ravenette's words before nodding.

"Do you have any idea what it's like, being alone with so few people to go to!? My family had to move away just to stop that nightmare! Just because I tried HELPING someone!"

"Y-Yes… Yes I do..." Akira whispers, thinking back to that damned night, the screams, the men shouting and waving their guns... the pool of RED on his…

~CALM!~ Arata hissed under his breath, a wave of soothing chimes echoed within Akira's mind immediately after.

shaking his head, Akira took a deep breath. "Not the time to be thinking about that…" he thought, "Worry now, breakdown later..."

"And guess what… NOBODY knew of the "Little Demon" of Kyoto here, only weak Yuuki Mishima; the guy with no backbone. Everyone thought I was a wimpy coward, not a berserk monster who'll kill them if they look at him funny, and I'd rather be that than feared as a would be murderer…" Mishima continued. "This was a chance to restart everything; this was my second chance to live on, past be damned! And NOW history's trying to repeat itself! Someone's life was in danger… a-and I... I-I just s-stood there….." tears flowed down his face with each word spoken. "I-I can't do it again...I wanted to h-help... b-but... It'd ruin everything again... I don't want to s-suffer alone because of it again…"

"..."

"...damn… I-I had no idea…" Ryuji said, calming himself as Mishima's grip loosened, the blunette sliding down the wall as he hugged his knees sobbing.

~...so, wait…~ Arata started. ~the story I told implied that Little Demon mauled the criminals… Mishima said that he saved people… everyone now feared that he'll do the same to them because of that incident... and this somehow caused him to develop some form of monophobia?~

"I think so..?" Akira answered mentally, confused as well whilst pushing down the feeling of Deja vu from where he stood.

~and because of this phobia, and to get away from being labeled as a monster, he doesn't want to try anything like before, lest the whole "fearing him" thing will repeat itself?~

"To be fair, what would you do if someone who can kill you in a hundred different ways was coming towards you…" Akira thought back. "I know ALL too well what that's like..."

~touché..~ Arata mumbled. ~man, this realm sucks ass, you don't get nearly this much backlash in the other side...~

"...look, sorry about yellin' at ya, I got riled up in the heat of the moment." Ryuji sighed kneeling down to Mishima. "Just… thanks… for not letting her fall off and all that…"

"..."

"Just... Why don't you head home…" Ryuji continued, pulling him up. "we won't tell anyone anything that happened here."

"...what? really?" Mishima hiccupped, looking at the blonde incredulously.

"Yeah… think of it as our apology for eggin' you on like this."

~you were the one eggin' him on, boy.~

"...thanks… I appreciate it….and sorry, for not helping much…"

"No problem, c'mon guys." as the group of three walked past the blunette, Mishima turned to them.

"W-wait…" he stammered. "Before you leave… it's true… the abuse, the sexual assault, everything… i-i'll testify if possible… just…"

"Don't worry, Mishima." Akira said. "We'll take him down, for everyone's sake."

As the group walked off, Mishima whimpered one last apology towards Akira before leaving as well.

A few minutes later after school ended early, Shiho, a livid Ann, and an awkwardly supporting Haru was walking out the school building, both girls holding close to the bruised girl's arms. Just when they reached the stairs, Mishima appears outside. "Wait!" he shouts, gaining the girls attention. "Let me help… it's the least I could do…"

"Mishima…" Shiho mumbled quietly, remembering the tearful gaze of his, the gentle yet tight grip he had as he tried to pull her back replayed in her mind. "...okay…"

"C'mon Yuuki." Ann ordered. "Let's get you home Shiho…"

"To think that Mr. Kamoshida would do such a thing…" Haru mumbled to herself.

"I'm sorry… I should've done something sooner… anything would've been better than… Shiho?" Mishima stated, stopping when he sees Shiho's attention was elsewhere.

"It's the cat." Shiho stated, pointing in front of her.

"Huh?" the other three echoed in unison.

"Cat?" Ann added. "what cat?"

"The cat... that helped me escape… it's running with… Sakamoto? Akira's with him too…" Shiho said, a voice in the back of her mind reminded of the mysterious whisper from before.

~Go to the ones known as Ryuji and Akira...~ the voice echoed over and over in her head.

"What?" True to her claim, the four students saw both Ryuji and Akira running from the school and stepping into a nearby alleyway, a black cat with a yellow collar close behind them.

"W-Where are they going?" Shiho asked.

"I don't know… we should- Sh-Shiho!?" Ann stammered, startled as the Raven haired girl struggled free from her grip and followed suit. "W-wait!" Ann shouts, following the fleeing female, with Haru and Mishima close behind.

Hiding behind the corner of the alleyway, the four Shujin students looked on stealthily at the two males and the cat talking to each other.

"That bastard's gone too far this time!" Ryuji snarled, his fist pummeling the wall of the building they were next to. "The sooner we can steal his shit, the better!"

"Stealing…" Haru whispered, gazing at them as Akira pulled out his phone.

"Suguru Kamoshida." Akira started, a ping seconds later startles the four eavesdroppers. "Shujin Academy…" another ping. "Perverted castle." a third ping rang off.

*Destination found, beginning navigation.*

A familiar wave of dizziness washed over the group, as well as the onlookers, as the world distorted entirely in a swirl of black and red. Seconds later, the whole group were now standing at the castle's entrance.

"Alright! Let's go steal that prick's treasure-" Ryuji yelled, but before he could take a single step-

"AAAAH!"

"o-Oh my!"

"What the hell!?"

"W-Where are we!?"

"Oh Shit!" Ryuji yelped in surprised, the four changed males looked back, their surprise increased tenfold when they caught sight of Ann, Haru, Mishima and Shiho in a small heap of limbs, looking around the place in shock.

"W-What are you guys doing here!?" Ryuji yelled. Startling the four stragglers further as the eavesdropping party scrambled to their feet.

"T-that voice… Sakamoto!?" Ann shouts. "And you... Akira!?"

~what am I, Chopped liver!?~ Arata sounded out, causing the four to turn to the voice... and promptly shriek at the sight of Arata floating in place.

"What is this place!?" Mishima said. "WHERE ARE WE!?"

"Why are you four here!?"

"How should we know!?" Ann yelled back. "What's going on? Isn't this the school!? Where are we, Ryuji!?"

"A really dangerous place, now you have to leave!"

"WHAT!?" the four chorused, each voicing various complaints about that decision.

"How da hell did you all follow us in here anyway!?" Ryuji yelled back, causing the four newcomers to stop in thought.

"Hmm… perhaps your app is responsible." Morgana suggested. causing the persona users and spirit to look back to the cat being.

"What do you mean?"

"If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, then it could be possible to pull others close by with them…" Morgana theorized. "why do I know more about this that you dolts!?"

"Foreal!?"

"Wait… is THIS related to Kamoshida!?" Mishima questioned, gesturing over to the scenery before them.

"Anyways, you gotta leave, like right now!" Ryuji said, pointing to the four newcomers, "It's too dangerous for you all to be running about in there!"

~hang on a second…OH That's right! I knew I placed them somewhere…~ Arata mumbled, rummaging through his pockets.

"Will you listen to what Arata has to say first?" Morgana hissed, "And KEEP IT DOWN, The shadows will find us if we make a scene!"

"Oh god!, a Talking Monster cat!?" Ann shrieked, just now noticing Morgana for the first time.

"M-Monster?!"

"Augh looks like we gotta force them. Hey Kira, help me get them to safety! " Ryuji sighed, getting a nod for an answer as the two dragged Mishima and Ann out the way they came, Shiho following suit.

"W-Wait, Sakamoto! come back!" Shiho shouts out, the five of them exiting the realm of the shadows

~there they are! Hey guys-~ Arata shouts, taking out a bundle of paper slips from his pockets, but only Haru and Morgana was there ~crap. They left didn't they?~ he sighed, floating over to the last unfamiliar person. ~you're Haru right?~

"Y-yes?" she squeaked taking a step back by reflex.

~here. take these.~ He said, handing a stack to her. Just as she took them, Ryuji and Akira came back.

"Alright, now we just gotta get Haru back and-" Ryuji said, nearly tripping as he bumped into Arata.

~Don't worry, Ryuji. I've got it covered.~ Arata said, causing the blonde to look on in confusion.

"Huh? What're you on about?"

"You do?" Akira asked as well.

~remember the paper slips I asked for? I used them to make these.~ Arata explained, showing them several card sized paper sheets with various drawings and symbols. ~they're called Spell cards… well slips in this case. They can be given to people so they can use the spell or skill listed in each sheet. They're one use only though, so we need to use them wisely.~

"So that's what you meant by insurance…" Akira said, taking a look at a few of them. noticing a few that stuck out, he raised his eyebrow at the spectral companion. "do you think they can actually work here?"

~yeah… I had a feeling something like this would happen, so I made these for the non persona users to defend themselves. Plus, we can use these if we run low on energy. At least it's worth a shot.~

"That's awesome!" Ryuji cheered... before stopping as he looked back to the entrance. "Wait… then did that mean…"

~yeah, you didn't really have to send them back at all.~

"Oh…well I feel like a dumbass.."

"You are a dumbass." Morgana deadpanned.

"SHUT!"

"The cat thing is talking…" Haru mumbled, even more confused than before.

"should we go back for them then-" Ryuji said, but Arata shakes his head.

~too late! We're on a tight schedule! And we have a treasure to steal!~

"We'll explain the situation to them later, right now, the shadows have noticed us, and we need to secure the route!" Morgana interrupted. "We're counting on you Joker!"

"Palace…" the sole female muttered under her breath, practically vibrating in place.

"What the hell? Joker?"

"A code-name. What idiot would use their real name in a heist!?" Morgana argued, palming his bulbous head. "I'm not down for that! And besides, there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have an effect on the palace… this is just a precaution."

~before we do that, though… maybe we should explain it to Haru…~ Arata interrupted, pointing at the fidgeting girl in question. ~before she fries her own brain-~

"Huh?"

*Thud*

as if on cue, the female of the group fainted, her mind cluttered with too much information to process.

~... too late.~

"... crap."

After a few minutes of entering from the air vent from earlier, finding a good hiding spot, and explaining everything to Haru after she regained consciousness, the group of five continued their conversation.

"As I've said before, we'll use code-names from now on whenever we're in a palace." Morgana stated

"So… why Joker?" Ryuji questioned.

"Simple; he's our trump card in terms of fighting strength."

"... not bad. I like it." Akira, now named Joker, nodded giving a thumbs up in confirmation.

~wasn't there some old rumor or some shit with that name, though?~

"eh, that was an old rumor." Akira thought back, shrugging. "and besides, if there really IS a supposed "Joker Curse" then I'm counting on you to get me out of it before it does anything..."

"It's settled then." Morgana nodded.

~if we're going by code-names, then I'll use my nickname. I'll be addressed as... Draco.~

"I thought your nickname was Sergeant Fuck-." Akira joked.

"Language!" Ryuji mumbled.

~That was then, this is now. That was more out of spite for that one prick back home and I'm using Draco as my codename, deal with it.~

"Aw man… there goes that idea." the blonde male moaned. "I was gonna call you something like Wiz, or Ace or something..."

"Well, next is Ryuji… let's see… "thug" could work." Morgana snarked cheekily.

"You wanna go, Cat!? I'll choose it my own damn self!" he yelled back "When it comes to me… it's gotta be this mask… so, I'll be "Skull". Yeah...That'll work."

~what about Haru?~

"... if I may…" Haru chimed in. "what about "Noir"? Will that work?"

~any particular reason why?~

"I don't know… it just feels right, plus, you're doing this for justice right?"

"Of course. Someone has to stop that man."

"And you're doing this stealing treasure business, correct?" they all nod. "Then you're bringing in a darker sense of justice… like some sort of..."

"Phantom thief?" Morgana finished.

"Yes… phantom thieves…" Haru repeated, a small grin forming on her face. "I rather like that."

"Well, I can't argue much with that, I like it."

"And as for your, code-name… "Mona". It's short and easy to remember." Ryuji added in.

"Mona… eh, that'll do nicely. So we're Joker, Reaper, Mona, Skull and Noir when we're in a Palace."

~cool, now lets-~ Arata stopped, hearing many noises from outside the room they're in. ~SHHH!~

Shifting towards the entrance, the group of five saw Kamoshida yelling at a platoon of guards a little ways away from them.

"You mean to tell me that you idiots can't catch a few morons in costumes!?" the shadow yelled.

~pot callin' the kettle black, Speedo-man.~

"I can't let trash like that run around my castle! Find them, dead or alive! I don't care how!"

"YES, LORD KAMOSHIDA!" the squadron shouted in unison, marching ahead to a different hallway.

"We should stick to hiding from here on out. It looks like he's updated the security quite a bit."

"Still say we should beat him up and call it a day…"

~Later Sakamoto, later.~

"He's right, Monkey brains."

"Hey!"

"Our focus is to find the treasure first. We'll deal with the shadow ruler later."

"Ugh… fine, where is the damn thing anyway?"

"It should be in the very depths of the whole Palace. Let's go while he's out here."

As the three bickered onward, Joker and Noir opens a nearby door, only for Noir to squeal for a second before Joker pulled her to the side, alarming the other three.

~Hey Joker, what are you doing over there?~

"There's a shadow in there." Joker answered, taking his hand off of Noir's face.

"A shadow you say?... is it alone?"

"Y-yeah…" Noir nodded, causing the cat creature to smirk.

"I may have an idea for that; let's ambush it first."

~on it.~ Arata peeked into the room the lone shadow was in, creeping towards it when it's back was turned, and lunged at the guard, ripping off the mask it bore to reveal it as yet another fairy.

"Remember the Hold-ups and All-out attacks I told you about before?" three nods was his answer. "I'll teach you their practical use now. There's another use for hold ups besides killing them all at once. Shadows are born from people's hearts, so they can naturally talk too. In other words, you can communicate with them, Got it?"

~I think i see where you're going with this…~

"First knock it down."

"Right." Joker pulled out his Handgun, pulling the trigger and downing the fairy like before. Now the four experienced thieves flanked it from all sides, with Noir, awkwardly joining in at one side.

"If you talk to them when they're cornered, then they might bribe you with money or items to stay alive. It's a lot more useful for getting loot compared to just offing them. Try it out, Joker."

"What!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about!" the downed fairy hissed. "What are you going to do with me, huh!?"

"I want money." Joker ordered.

"Oh? You'll let me live if I give you some cash!?"

"Eh, that'll work for now, but your smooth talking could use some work." Mona deadpanned. "Be it money or items, just cough it up and we won't end you."

"B-but this happened so fast… I don't have anything on me…"

"...such a shame…" he raised the gun at the frightened mythical shadow.

"W-w-wait I normally do though! Just let me go get some right quick-" a gunshot inches from her face silenced her.

"Whoa! Joker, hang on!" Mona yelped, jumping himself at the sudden action

"That one was a warning shot. The next one won't miss."

~aim for the eyes!~

"W-wait! Can't we work something out? I'll do anything, just please let me go!"

"...anything?"

"Yeah, anything, just name it!"

"Then answer me this; why are you serving King Kamoshida?"

"Huh?"

~if you can "huh", you can hear, now talk!~

"I-I don't know exactly… All I remember is this sweet smell and whispers of luxury… everything else is fuzzy."

"whispers... sweet smell? doesn't that mean you were lured in?"

"...i was?... I WAS!" the beguiling girl shouts, rising up. "It's coming back to me now! I'm not a servant of that perverted freak! I'm an existence drifting in the sea of humanity's souls… my real name… is Pixie! Thank you so much for helping me remember!"

~no… problem?~

"I know! I'll help you guys out however I can!" Pixie finished, glowing in a white light before changing into a white mask. Said mask then floated towards Joker and phased into the mask he was wearing.

"W-What was that just now!?" Mona asked, "what happened!?"

"H-how should we know!?" Skull yelled back. "The enemy just got sucked into Joker's mask!"

"Halt Intrude- OW!" a few guards said, but was promptly staggered...

*CRASH!*

...by Noir throwing a random chair at it.

"No time to worry about that now!" the five prepared themselves as the guards morphed into another set of two horned horses.

"someone do something!" Mona shouts out, rolling out of the way of stampeding hooves

~If I may interject.~ Arsene chimed in, materializing near his user. ~I do believe our new guest would like to have a spin this time.~

"Guest?" Joker asked, suddenly the voice of the Pixie from earlier echoed through his mind.

"Yeah, these guys are weak to lightning. I can take 'em on for ya!" Pixie said.

"Alright, let's see if this works… Change, Pixie!" Arsene disappeared back into Joker's mask as the new Pixie materialized in his stead, further shocking the group in awe. "Zio!" a fast bolt of Lightning shot out from her hands as one of the Bicorns was electrocuted, slouching down in pain.

"I-is that the shadow from earlier!? Wait… did you take in the shadow's appearance and powers as a persona!?"

"Guys, Use Lightning attacks, they're weak to it!"

"Lightning… lightning.. Oh, here we go!" Noir exclaims, shuffling her deck of slips in hand before settling on one. "chain lightning?" she shouts, the card fizzling out as several beams of electricity surged forth, killing both horse shadows in one shot.

"Hot Damn that's powerful!" Skull shouts out, slamming the door close before more shadows storm in on them.

"It sure is… wait, wasn't that the same pixie from before?" Noir yelped.

"… does that mean that Joker can carry multiple Personas!?" Mona asked.

"...I guess?" Joker shrugged, the fairy shadow faded back into the rogue's mask. walking up to the door, joker snapped his fingers as a glyph appeared on the door. "There, this should hold for now."

~that's some grade-A Pokemon shit right there!~

"... Pokey… Mohn?" Mona questioned. "What's a Pokerman?"

~you don't know Po- oooh right… nevermind it then.~

"Well if you say so…"

"This is good though… usually it's only one persona per person, since they only have one heart." Mona explained. "But with this ability, we'll have a huge advantage in battle."

"Hell Yeah! If that's the case, then let's hold up all that we can!" Skull exclaimed, several hands clapping his mouth shut seconds after. "Sorry... got excited."

"C'mon, let's keep going." Joker announced as the group kept forward.

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, not too long after the previous group went inside, the empty lot distorted again, revealing Ann, Shiho and Mishima once more.

"W-whoa!" Shiho yipped, nearly stumbling onto the ground. "d-did it really work?"

"I… think you did it Takamaki…" Mishima answered, helping her back to her feet. "what even is that app…?"

"Whoa, this is that place from earlier…" Ann said, looking up at the grandiose building in front of them... only to start panicking seconds later. "h-hey, wait a minute! where'd they go!?"

"They probably already went on ahead…"

"Without us!?"

"C-calm down." Mishima pleaded, trying (read FAILING) to calm the blonde down.

"I know for a fact that THIS-" she gestures to the aforementioned castle. "-is somehow related to that bastard of a teacher! How dare they leave me out of something like this!"

"Ann please, you know they were just trying to keep us safe…" Shiho replied, holding onto Ann's hand in a calming tone. this seemed to calm Ann down somewhat... until the sound of the front gate rising alerts the trio.

"Princess?" a new voice spoke, making the three students jump at the sight of a few guards rushing out the gate.

"Huh!?"

"G-Guards!?"

"Princess! The Beast and head mistress is also with her!" the guards yelled, rushing towards the three.

"Aaaaaah!" both girls screamed, Mishima instinctively moved in front of them as the guards surrounded the three.

Back to the Main group, the five thieves spent nearly half an hour exploring the Palace, with Joker gaining a Mandrake, A Bicorn and a Pyro Jack in addition to collecting various loot from chests and breaking objects. A bit of a ways ahead from their last location, the five were now resting up at a newly discovered Safe room.

"Why the heck are there more shadows than before!?" Skull moaned. "This is starting to get exhausting…"

~at least we're grinding a lot of Exp. out of this~

"E...Xp?" Noir asked, confusion overtook her once more.

"Like a videogame?" Skull added.

"What'd a Videa-gain?" Mona asked, spurring another shouting match between Cat and Boy in the background.

~Hey Joker, wanna see your Stats?~

"Sure thing, maybe we can see their stats as well…"

~No prob.~ a ping later, five black boxes appear around Joker, causing the others to gape in awe, including the two bickering boys as they look on at the sudden appearance of screens in front of the Ravenette.

"Joker"

Lv. 12

Class: Warlock/Rogue/Paladin

Hp: 402

Sp: 320

"Skull"

Lv.12

Class: ? (Chariot)

Hp: 419

Sp: 299

"Mona"

Lv. 12

Class: ? (Magician)

Hp: 385

Sp: 388

"Draco"

Lv. ?

Class: - (Redacted)

Hp:?

Sp: ?

"Noir"

Lv. N/A

Class: ? (?)

Hp: N/A

Sp: N/A

~huh… that's weird… I can't get Noir's stats for some reason…~

"Okay, hold up… skill slips, unlocking potential, Stats!? Just… what the hell even ARE you anyways?" Skull questioned, pointing at Draco, then at Mona . "It's obvious you're not human, and you're even more mysterious than the cat!"

"I'm NOT a cat!"

~well...~

"It's fine, Draco. You can tell them."

~but it's embarrassing…~ Draco moaned, a light tint of pink flushed on his face. ~hmm... how to explain... Simply put, I'm a godling; a higher being made from human cognition and beliefs.~

"A-a god!?" Noir gasped, the others not in the know also having a similar reaction.

"If that's the case then why the hell are you with us!?" Skull shouted back, gesturing even more so at the floating spirit. "You could've done everything in a snap with you "God powers" or something!"

~first off, I'm the godling of Potential; I'm supposed to manage the limits and full potential of the souls of the living, NOT throwing around my power to make things easier. And Second… mgh mgh…~ Draco said, mumbling the last part inaudibly.

"What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear…"

~I don't have my full power yet!~ Draco whined with a huff. ~There, ya happy?~

"W-why not!?"

Sighing, the god among them floated lazily, bumping his head amongst the walls of the safe room. ~due to some crazy shit in the past, the "Elder" gods implemented an age rule for the younger ones; we have to reach 1000 years old in order to receive out full power.~

"Wait…" Mona intervened. "Aren't you breaking the rules then? Aren't higher beings like yourself not supposed to directly-"

~imma stop you right there with a flat no.~ Draco paused, curling back over to meet their gaze. ~a major loophole to that age rule is that younger gods-like me- are not fully registered as a full on god in the high heavens. this means that Until we reach 1000, we can do whatever we want. I even went to some of the older gods because of this.~

"What did they say?"

~"we know of this little loophole you speak of, and we approve. Young ones like you should appreciate your freedom before bearing responsibility. Now be a good boy and play with your toys for now." was more or less their exact words.~

The silence that followed was more deafening than a parade of startled banshees. coughing into his shoulder, Joker clapped his hands to gain the floor once more.

"Let's change the subject before we look too deep into this." Joker said, the rest nodding at his proposal.

"Anyways, the reason there are more shadows is because Draco and I Might have provoked him earlier…"

~yeah, our bad… but hey, it was worth it.~

"Still, he seems to be awfully on guard…" Noir said, peeking out for a second before closing the door once more.

"So… how exactly are we gonna steal this treasure thing? Do we just take it and run?" Skull shrugged. "Cause I might need a sec to warm p before I have to make a mad dash..."

"Don't be hasty, first we need to secure an infiltration route." Mona sighed, shaking his head at the group.

"Ah, I see, a safe path to and from the treasure." Noir clarified.

"Oh… cool, so any idea where that might be?"

"To be honest though, I think we'll need a little more manpower for this…" three sets of eyes look back over to Draco, who looks like he got ousted for causing a sandal.

~why are you lookin' at me like that? I don't know!~

"Oh that's bull… you're a god and you can't do something like that? Don't you have some sort of Clare- toy-vent thing to see where it is?"

~Clairvoyance and no i don't. Not ALL gods are the same, especially us modern ones.~

Before they could argue further, the group silenced themselves as several voices sounded off on the other side of the room.

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place? With the Lapdog and Mistress too?" one guard asked.

"Princess?" Skull whispered.

"I could've sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…" another guard echoed.

"It doesn't matter now. We must take them back to King Kamoshida!" a third shouts, the sounds of footsteps echoed down the hallway, leaving the rest to ponder this.

"What were they talking about?"

~and why do I have a bad feeling about this….~

"I'll look into it. Just stay here." Mona proposed, sneaking out the room and leaving the four to themselves. It wasn't even a full minute when Mona rushed back in, panic on his face.

"This is bad!" he shouts.

"That was fast!" Noir yipped, nearly jumping off the desk she was sitting on.

"Your friends… Lady Ann, Shiho and Mishima…"

"Spill cat! What about them!?"

"...they were taken by shadows!"

And cutting it off here.

Part one done, part two is coming soon. As much as it pains me to say, I'm afraid that i'll have to go back on what I said earlier... it's taking a bit longer to make the art than I'd like, so when I finally got that in place, then I'll post them up on AO3 when I can.

Be sure to fave and review if you want.

TBC.