Chapter 38: Osaka's Jail of Pride, Part 2
"So, why are we going to Shinsekai this way and not the way we came from?" Ace asks as they rush past the two deactivated turrets.
"Simple Ace. They both lead to the same area, but this way takes us closer to our goal." Oracle tells her as they rush through the city. EMMA announcements echoing above them with common frequency.
"And what exactly are we taking to get there?" Wolf asks as they enter the alleyway. The turrets around them all deactivated before glancing over at what looked to be an elevator.
"We're taking that. This lift will get us close to Konoe's castle." Oracle replies, a map hovering before he before she lets out a slight groan. "But we still have a ways to get there…"
"It looks like we can all fit, but it'll be tight." Athena warns as the team enter the lift. True to her word, they could all fit inside, but there wasn't exactly any wiggle room left as they all felt like they had become sardines. Thankfully, the lift journey did not last long as they arrived at the next floor, where they suddenly found themselves in a peculiar area.
"This is certainly a change of scenery. It looks like some sort of storage warehouse…" Fox comments as they look around the area. Seeing nothing but shipping containers stacked all around them with passageways racing between the stacks.
"A warehouse for what, though?" Spring asks, glancing around them. So far, there were no shadow cops nearby, but that didn't mean they could drop their guards anytime soon.
"Dunno, but it means we're nowhere near to his castle." Wolf remarks, shaking his head. "This is going to take a lot of patience…"
"But that only makes the ending all the more worth it, right?" Ace asks the Thieves. "It was the same for what you did last year, right?"
"You betcha it was." Skull replies with a grin. Before he suddenly pauses and looks upwards. "Da hell's that noise?"
"It sounds like a plane." Panther replies as all eyes look up. Yet, there was nothing about them that was making the noise. Oracle checks her maps, wondering if it came from somewhere near them before snapping her fingers.
"That's right! There is a train station nearby here in real life! Maybe that's what we are hearing." Oracle tells them team before smiling mischievously. "Maybe it will help us get around."
"Well, we need to find a path forward first." Doc reminds, pointing his staff down the path to an active laser grid. "We won't be moving forward unless we find a way around that barrier.
"There's a way over this stack of containers." Joker calls out, leaping onto a Shadow point. "There should be a way around this way." It wasn't ideal, but beggars couldn't be choosers as the Thieves made their way through the shipping area. AT one point, coming to another ledge they had to shimmy across, much to Wolf's discomfort as he and Doc were the last ones to cross over. Ace, well, aced it with style while Athena didn't even bat an eye at the crossing.
Eventually, they made it through the containers only to find another barrier of infrared lasers blocking their way to the elevator, much to the team's annoyance.
"Of course it wouldn't be easy…" Athena remarks as she folds her arms. "Oracle, can you detect a Prison Keep nearby? If the guns from before were connected to one, it would stand to reason these barriers are also connected."
"Nah… I've got nothing. It must be out of my range." Oracle replies, shaking her head. "That, or all these shipping containers are blocking my scans."
"I suppose we better start searching then…" Crow comments, shaking his head as the team leap up onto some more containers. But not before Sophie manages to activate a Checkpoint. But as they moved on, they couldn't help but wonder about all of the containers around them.
"What do you think are in all of these?" Ace decided to ask as they leaped on top of another large pile. "There are so many of these containers they have to have something in them."
"Judging by everything else we've seen, I'm thinking they could be either weapons or machines. It fits with the theme." Outlaw suggests, tapping his rifle on one of the boxes.
"Why not food? That's also transported in shipping containers." Spring suggests, before going thoughtful. "I wonder what people in the future would eat…"
"Probably like those energy bars you see in some TV flicks." Edelweiss remarks with a shrug. "Makes you wonder if they actually taste of anything though."
"A question you'll never have the answer to!" A voice echoes out as a giant Valkyrie leaps onto the stack of containers with them. "This is the end of you villains!" Without a break, the Valkyrie attacks with a Deathbound, sending the team scattering before quickly following it up with a Brain Buster. Forcing the team onto the defensive just as reinforcements arrive to assist. Forcing the team to divide while Joker, Panther and Teach focused on the Valkyrie.
"Inferno!" Joker shouts, channelling Mada as he blasts the Valkyrie with fire.
"Agidyne!" Panther and Teach follow up, cooking the Valkyrie even more and almost shattering its shield before it counters with another Brain Buster. Sending the three flying as Shadow glances over with anger in her eyes.
"We don't have time to mess with this. Mona! Let's finish this up!" She calls over to Mona, just as the star in Joker's pocket glows once more.
"I'm ready if you are, Shadow!" Mona replies, leaping to her side as the two glare at the Valkyrie. Before they both leap up into the air as one.
"It's Showtime!"
With the dropping of the red curtain, the arena was transformed into an armoury with Shadow and Mona walking through it. Before they find their weapons lying on a table. But instead of going for their own, they take the other's weapon instead.
"Time for a test run!" Mona shouts before sprinting out a door towards the Valkyrie. He throws the kunai towards the Valkyrie, enveloping it with wind, wrapping it around its chest before using it to slingshot his way into the sky. The wind from the kunai wraps around the Valkyrie, causing the chain to snap at it like a snake.
Just as Shadow comes in from behind and slashes in a triangle formation at the Valkyrie, entrapping it in a pyramid of psionic energy before jumping back.
The moment she does, Mona comes back down and slams on top of the pyramid, grabbing the chain and using it to tie up the legs of the Valkyrie's horse and sending it falling to the ground. Falling on top of Shadow's sword as he held in in place with psionic energy, piecing its head and killing it as Mona and Shadow stand side by side.
"Kunai is nice, but I think I'll stick with the sword." Mona comments as the two return back to the armoury. Passing back her Kunai as she returns his sword.
"Never stop learning." Shadow replies, closing the door as the red curtains return. With the giant Valkyrie defeated, the remaining shadow cops fled in terror as the Thieves took a moment to heal up before pressing on. Leaping over more containers and zipping across more lines before arriving at the only way out that was not blocked by barriers.
"Okay… where does this path lead?" Panther asks as the team move forward.
"If this was real life, we would be at Albeno R's Mall." Doc comments, earning looks from the others. "Rumi and I visited it a lot during our stay here in Osaka. It's a nice place to visit."
"We should visit it ourselves once we're done here." Violet suggests with a smile, before said smile drops at seeing yet ANOTHER infrared sensor blocking their path forward. "Great… more beams."
"But we're not out of options." Joker comments, looking at a stack of poxes to their left. "There is always a way forward, no matter what." With no other way to go, the team follow after Joker as they move along behind a large warehouse like building. Ambushing several shadow cops along the way, before arriving at a sealed yellow door.
"ANOTHER locked door!? Just how many are there!?" Wolf shouts in exasperation, before noticing Sophie walking over to a part of the wall next to the door. "What's up?"
"There's a way in here." Sophie comments, taking off the vent cover and showing the opening.
"When in doubt, use the vent." Queen remarks as the team walk over to it, while Wolf just blinks behind his mask before facepalming himself. Of COURSE they would use vents to get around, it made complete sense! The only question he had now was how did Panther, Queen, Fox, and Spring get around with getting their scarves and tails caught when crawling through. And how did they expect HIM to get through with his giant hat!?
"C'mon dad!" Ace calls out to him before entering the vent herself, resining Wolf to a long sigh as he reluctantly followed after them. Which was easier said than done, as his hat proved to be a great hindrance in trying to make it through the vent. So much so he didn't realise there was a turn coming up until he banged his head against it.
"Ack… that smarts…" Wolf remarks, rubbing his head before making the turn, exiting the vent on the inside where the team was waiting for him. Alongside an open red door. "How did you kids get through that without getting your clothes caught?"
"Skill." Panther comments cheekily, flicking some hair over her shoulder.
"Actually, Panther, I remember that the both of us once had our tails get caught in the doors of Kaneshiro and Shido's Palaces." Fox comments, causing Panther to look at him in annoyance. "And did not Spring also have the same issue when we were in Oracle's Palace?"
"Don't remind me…" Spring replies, grabbing her scarf and rubbing it, before looking at Queen. "What about you?"
"Queen and Joker are lucky. They've never had problems with theirs." Skull remarks, shaking his head. "Hell, even Violet got her coattails stuck one time, and hers is the same lengths as Jokers!" Violet nods, remembering how when they were going down the escalators one time her coat got stuck in the stairs. The only way she could get free was by taking the jacket off and letting it reform. And since Mementos was naturally a cold place back then, it took its sweet time returning.
"Anyway, we managed to figure out these doors are connected by same coloured switches." Joker tells Wolf, pointing a hand at the red switch next to the red door. "Think it's safe to say what we have to do here."
"Colour coded doors, huh? Nice and simple." Wolf remarks as the team move on, finding a purple switch not far from them as well as another Checkpoint. But when they got past the next too doors, they found something that not only shocked them, but sent the geeks in the party into a frenzy.
"Is this thing for real?!" Ace shouts, rushing over to the futuristic canon as Oracle joins her.
"Omigosh! It's a rail gun! That's THE weapon of the future!" Oracle shouts with stars in her eyes while Edelweiss folds her arms.
"My arm cannons are also rail guns…" She says in a pouty tone as the others chuckle at her. Before a swarm of shadows and several Fortunas appear behind them, ready to attack. Ace glances between the rail gun and the approaching shadows before jumping onto the controls and aiming it at the arm.
"Say hello to my littler friend!" Ace shouts, pulling the trigger and blasting the foes with the rail gun. The round, charged by electricity, tearing through the shadows and fortunes before leaving a sizable dent in the building behind them. Leaving the team blinking in awe at the power of the rail gun, while Ace leaps off as it cools down from being used.
"Dang… that was… dang…" Skull remarks, unable to form words as they look at the empty area around them.
"How about we use any other rail guns we see as we move forward?" Spring asks as they move forward. "If they can clear out shadows that quickly, we can save strength for later fights."
"Good idea." Noir comments as they enter an open space. With a very familiar cage overlooking them from the other side of a wall. "It would see we've found the Prison Keep."
"And it's locked by a white coloured door." Fox remarks, stroking his chin before looking at the purple door to his right. "And if my hunch is correct, the switch we need to find is somewhere inside this building."
"Talk about tedious…" Wolf remarks, shaking his head as Violet and Crow open up the door. "Alright, let's get searching…"
Turns out it was more of a nuisance than they imagined. Even though they found a Checkpoint that they used to take a small break in reality, moving through the storage area was more of a pain than anything else. Running back and retracing steps between switches, ambushing shadow cops and jumping over storage crates…
Not helped that they had to find switches for both green and yellow doors in order to proceed. The green switch guarded by several shadows was annoying by itself, yet the yellow one was hidden behind several stacked boxes. If it wasn't for Joker's Third Eye, they would have lost a lot of time searching for that switch. But during their search, it did cause Wolf to let out a groan as he took his mask off to rub his eyes.
"Man…. Why does everything have to be so bright? My eyes are hurting…" He remarks, putting his mask back on.
"You said that before in Ace's Jail that you could see out of that mask no problem, but I presumed it would have worked like sunglasses." Crow remarks, tilting his head. "Like the helmet that Show wore in his Black Mask outfit."
"Black Mask?" Ace asks earning everyone's gaze.
"Shido's assassin." Skull replies grumpily. "And the less we say about him, the better." Oracle silently fumed at hearing the man's name once more, even as Edel tried to calm her down. Ace, seeing Oracle's fuming head, wisely decided not to ask any more as the team head outside. Moving past another Spider Tank as they continued their hunt for the white switch. Until they reached another door that needed Oracle to hack in.
Although this time, there was an added benefit as Oracle started her hack. Something that Ace gleefully took advantage of as shadow cops alongside Fortunas and Ganeshas.
"Rail gun time!" Ace shouts, activating the gun and sending a blast through the shadows as they approached. Taking out a large portion of them, yet the remainder continued to approach unfazed by the attack. Ace pulls the trigger again, firing another blast before aiming for a third shot, only for a warning to appear on the screen. Indicating that the gun had overheated. "Gun's overheated!"
"And we still have a lot of them coming." Doc comments, seeing several spiders like crawlers, the size of the dog cops, walking forward with canons armed on top.
"I would deal with them, but I'm just so hungry right now!" Skull shouts, slamming his mace down as Fox leaps to his side. Just as the Wishing Star glows once more.
"In that case, allow me to prepare a meal!"
"It's Showtime!"
Once more as the two leap into the sky, the red curtains fall on the field, changing it before sliding away to reveal Fox standing at a bar designed around the Phantom Thieves with glowing neon signs, showing their emblem and initial Personas, looking over what he has in stock. While Skull walks up to the counter with a hand on his stomach.
"I'll have…the usual." Skull says in a deep voice, sitting himself down heavily at the bar.
"Of course." Fox replies before eloquently and quickly filling a ramen bowl with sauce, meat, and topping. While Skull cheers him on. "My heart…my soul…into this bowl!"
Skull happily takes the bowl of ramen, grabbing some of the meat with his chopsticks. He readies to eat it while Fox's finger frames him. "Now that's what I'm talking about—!"
Suddenly, the door is barged open, with a group of Shadow Guards and Fortunas looking inside. The shock from the doors slamming on the wall causes the meat to fall off Skull's chopsticks as he, after a moment of him looking at the empty utensils, slowly places the bowl on the counter. Fox stands, shocked, glancing between the open door and a very angry Skull who slowly glares at the door.
"I'M TRYING TO EAT HERE!" Skull shouts as he whips out his shotgun while Fox grabs his assault rifle. What followed was a hail of bullets, shotgun pelts, and even a few tables, chairs, and kitchenware all infused with Elec and Ice magic, as the guards were pelted constantly. Before Skull finally takes out a grenade and arms it. "And chew on this!" He shouts, throwing it outside as Fox zeros in on the grenade. He hits it twice, causing it to explode in a blast of Ice and Elect right in the middle of the guards, taking the whole group out.
The two share a fist bump before Skull starts devouring the ramen while Fox looks on, happy as a clam. Right as the area returns to normal, just as Oracle finishes the hack on the door.
"Thanks for the backup guys!" Oracle calls as the barrier deactivates. "Now, let's see what lies beyond it." Not wasting any time, the Thieves move through the opening, keeping watch for any ambushes before arriving at a large area. Where another giant shadow cop stood, blocking their way forward.
"You are the intruders tearing apart our security! This will not stand! Prepare to face the hammer of justice!" With that, the shadow breaks apart, turning itself into a Thorn as it towered over the Thieves. Immediately starting the fight as it throws it's hammer at the Thieves, sending out a blast of lightning before it returns to his hands, before the Thor stomps forward with furiously glowing eyes.
"Aim for Wind and Psi attacks! Those deal the best damage to it!" Oracle shouts to the team before heading into Al Azif. "But don't bother with Phys and Curse, the Thor resists those! And it goes without saying but DON'T use Elect on him!"
"Wouldn't have guessed!" Wolf shouts, slashing his sword at the Thor before ripping his mask off. "One-Shot Kill!" Like a speeding train, Wolf's attack slams into the Thor, just as its shield activates to protect itself, but it was still powerful enough to send it stumbling to the side. Right before it countered, blasting Wolf with a Ziodyne before swinging his hammer with a Lunge. The mass of solid steel spinning through the aim and almost squishing Sophie who ducks under the hammer.
"Revolution!" Ace shouts, sending out a wave that boosted the team's critical rate as Doc and Mona stand side by side.
"Garudyne!" They both cry out, blasting the Thorn with a joint wind attack that swarms over its shield. Sending large cracks all over its surface as it fights back with a Wage War. Managing to send half of the team into a rage filled frenzy as they launch themselves at the Thor.
"Taste the justice of my hammer, knaves!" The Thorn screams, slamming his hammer to the ground and unleashing a Maziodyne around him. Shocking those who charged in before a rocket from Teach slams into his face.
"Noir! Joker! Shadow!" Teach calls out, leaping away just as the Thorn sends a sphere of lighting towards her. But while he was focused on her, the Thorn was ignorant of the trio behind him.
"Pyscho Force!"
"Psiodyne!"
"Pyscho Blast"
The three psionic attacks lash out at the Thorn. Earning a cry of anger from the free Persona as he turns around and blasts them with Ziodyne. Lightning licking at their heels as they leap away, the hammer chasing after them as Athena ducks under the boomeranging hammer. Watching it return to the Thorn with a glare in her eyes.
"This has gone on for long enough. Queen, with me!" Athena shouts, rushing forward as Queen follows her. Catching a glimpse of the glowing star in Joker's pocket.
"Right!"
"It's Showtime!"
The two sisters leap into the air as the red curtain falls on the battlefield. Changing the area into a dojo. With the Thor standing in the centre while Queen and Athena stand on either end. The two bow to each other before falling into their combo stances. Queen infuses her hands and feet with Nuke energy, while Athena does the same, charging her hands with Bless magic, while her feet are engulfed in Curse magic. Then, the two rush towards the centre to engage in an Aikido training exercise. Meanwhile, the Thorn was stuck right in the middle of the two, becoming the unofficial punching bag of the session.
As the two continued to land punches and kicks on the Thor, Athena suddenly backflipped while kicking the Thor in the face. Sending it flying upwards, right through the roof of the dojo. The two sisters glance at each other before they leap upwards, following after the Thor before they are both above it. Charging energy in their fists, a combination of Nuke and Almighty.
"Fists!"
"Of!
"JUSTICE!" The two scream in unison, sending the Thor hurtling to the ground in a combined Nuke and Almighty fused beam. Destroying the dojo in a massive explosion while the two land on a nearby roof. Staring at the explosion with grins, just as the area changes back to normal.
"Nice one! That takes care of that!" Oracle chimes in as the Thieves take a moment to recover, Doc healing the team up with a Salvation.
"I'm surprised no reinforcements came to help." Noir remarks, looking around the empty room. "They usually show up the moment we start fighting."
"Perhaps that Thor was that overconfident?" Shadow offers, before shaking her head. "Either way, we have made it past him now. The white button should be nearby."
"And I've found it!" Edelweiss calls out, grabbing their attention as she stands next to said button. Right next to a white door as well that was already opening. "I've already pressed it. We should have a straight shot to the Prison Keep now! Let's mosey!"
"Mosey? Really?" Spring asks, shaking her head as the team retrace their steps. Having taken out all the shadow cops in the area, the way back to the Prison Keep was largely uneventful. Even when they entered, they encountered no resistance waiting for them. Perhaps that Thor really was confident it could beat all of them by itself…
Either way, it was a win for the Thieves as they scaled the stairs to the top. Finding the second core waiting for them as they approached. But the core that was waiting for them was not what they expected it to be.
"A family photo?" Ace asks, seeing the picture frame in Outlaw's hands. "Why would that be a core?"
"Not all of the cores are symbols of power." Fox remarks, looking at the picture. "At least one of them is rather personal to the Monarch. And it would seem this is that core…"
"Why? What's on it?" Wolf asks, moving to get a better look. Only for his eyes to widen slightly under his mask. "Oh… That's why." The picture in question had Konoe in it, no surprise there, but on either side of him, only just reaching up to the top of his waist, were Ren and Akira as kids. Ace catches a glance at it, her eyes widening as she looks at Joker, a feeling of understanding washing over her as a fifth star appears over her head. Once that Joker spotted out the corner of his eye, but didn't focus on it at the moment.
"Somehow… this doesn't surprise me." Joker says, gently taking the picture and placing it into his coat. He would put both it and the one from his brother's Jail in his room once this is all done.
"I wonder if the lasers are gone…" Spring asks, turning to look at Sophie who nods her head.
"Yep. They're gone." Sophie replies, turning to look at everyone. "Somehow, I can tell."
"Can confirm. Whatever energy was coming from here has stopped." Oracle confirms, closing a screen. "Now we can press on to the castle!"
"Hopefully without any more barriers blocking our way." Fox remarks flexing his neck before Panther catches sight of a peculiar contraption.
"I think I've found a way to get us there faster." She calls out, grabbing the teams' attention. The team follows her gaze, all of them landing on a cable zip line holding containers leading directly to the station.
"I suppose we deserve a rest. And I'm sure Konoe won't mind us hitching a ride." Crow remarks as the team nod in agreement. But as they reach the bottom and turn towards the alley leading to the containers, they spot a worrying sight not far from them.
A group of heavily armed SWAT members on patrol alongside several Shadow Cops. And the SWAT members were not only normal humans, but none of them had glowing yellow eyes.
"SWAT members inside a Jail? Did Owada send them here?" Athena asks with narrow eyes as the team sticks to the shadows.
"Are they trying the same tactic that the SIU tried last year? Sending in SWAT to capture us?" Noir asks, shaking her head.
"Didn't they end up as a failure?" Skull asks, shaking his head. "They tried to shoot Outlaw, only for the rounds to be deflected and then Panther and Joker send them to dream land!"
"While reliving that memory might be fun, I am more concerned that the Shadows are working with the SWAT members." Crow remarks, narrowing his eyes. "We might have to assume they are preparing a trap for us at the castle."
"I recognise these guys…" Wolf says suddenly, drawing their eyes. "These guys… They are part of a team loyal only to Owada. And I've heard some very nasty rumours about them as well." The Thieves glance at each other as they continue to make their way to the containers, keeping an eye on the SWAT team as they continue to miss them.
"Wolf… in your opinion, are these men doing so willingly, or have they had their Desires stolen?" Joker asks, eyes narrow on the team as he recognises the insignia on their shoulders.
It was the same team who captured him in the original timeline.
"Willingly." Wolf replies, arms folded. "They have been by his side since they were formed."
"I see… Then, you wouldn't mind if, and this is an if, we come to blows, you wouldn't mind if we did more than send them to sleep?" The team glance at Joker in surprise, seeing the anger on his face until the core seven realise what Joker had remembered. And suddenly, they were just as angry as he was.
"So long as you don't kill them." Wolf replies, turning his back. "I heard that they also take part in interrogations as well. Disguised as integrators." Joker silently nods as the team head for the containers, while Outlaw, Spring, Violet, Crow, Shadow, Teach, and Athena all glance at each other with concerned looks. Ace glanced to Edelweiss and Sophie, who shrugged their shoulders at her while Doc watched the core eight with a knowing expression.
"So… it was them, Joker?" He says quietly before shaking his head. "I thought that emblem looked familiar…" With silent steps, Doc follows after them as one of the SWAT members glances at where they were, only to see noting. Turning around, he follows after his patrol, the emblem on his shoulder glistening in the light. The emblem styled as a silver leopard, biting down on an injured fox.
The journey back to the Railway area was thankfully uneventful. Provided that the way they took to reach it was unorthodox in the first place. Finding the barrier down, the Thieves wasted no time in entering the lift that led into Juoji Station. Although, it looked less of a train station lobby and more of a lobby for those going onto spaceships, with how the area was stylised.
Something that was exemplified when they saw a giant airship outside the pale blue windows. Waiting to take off.
"Dang… is this what airports look like in the future?" Outlaw asks, glancing around the lobby.
"More like a spaceport." Teach replies, shaking her head. Just then, an announcement ringed over their heads, drawing all eyes upwards.
"The flight from Juoji bound for Abeno Haretas will be departing shortly. Those who seek an audience with Lord Konoe, please make your way to the airship departure gate."
"Well, that tells us where we need to go." Wolf remarks, tilting his hat. "But something tells me it won't be that easy."
"Either way, let's head for the departure gate and see what we need to do. Without dropping our guard. There might be SWAT members here as well." Joker tells the team as they head through the lounge doors. Finding them in an area one would commonly see in an airport, with ails for placing baggage on to be placed on planes or for recovering said baggage. Shopping trolleys, for some strange reason, were also present while a seating area was located to the right. But before they could do anything, a horde of Nagas appeared in the hallway to stop them.
"Aww come on! We don't have time for this!" Violet shouts in annoyance, while Teach glanced at the shopping carts, and feels her kid side come out to play.
"Wolf, I bet I can knock down more Nagas in a trolley than you." She challenges him, Shadow stepping onto one as Wolf looks at her. Now, the more rational side of him would have told her not to do something so childish. But he couldn't hear that part of his mind over the louder, more rebellious side that told him not to back down from a challenge.
And if there was one thing he didn't back down from, it was a challenge.
"You challenging me, Teach? I hope you are ready to lose then!" He shouts, surprising Ace and the rest of the Thieves as he too leaps onto a trolley. And before anyone knew it, both of them were charging down the aisle on top of trolley. Smashing into the Naga's and sending them flying while Ace blinks in surprise. Before turning to the Thieves with a burning question on her lips.
"Is this what they call flirting these days?" She asks, watching as her dad and Teach celebrate their charge. While Teach gloated that she took down more than him in a joking fashion, while Wolf tried to counter that he took down more.
"You'd be surprised, Ace." Shadow tells her, glancing at the other couples in the group. "I have to put up with the other resident couples around us who do the same things." She lets out a chuckle alongside Athena and Edelweiss as the couples of the Thieves all look away in embarrassment. Sophie tilts her upper body to one side, looking between them before shrugging her shoulders in response.
"If you love birds are done, we have a Jail to take down." Mona calls out to them, sending Wolf and Teach into a blushing match as the Thieves press on. Only to find another obstacle blocking their path. A door with a personality.
"Through here lies the airship departure gate. Those who have not surrendered their Desires will not be allowed entry. Airport staff or VIPs, please present your pass."
"Well, that's a kick in the teeth." Edel remarks, shaking her head. "We can only pass if we surrender our Desires or have a Pass? No way are we giving up our Desires!"
"We could go hunting for a Pass, but how long will that take us to find?" Queen asks, racking her brain. "We might miss the Airship if we take too long…"
"This it's a good thing we have another way to go, huh?" Skull asks, kicking open a vent next to them. "Gotta love vents."
"Are you sure it's only so we can move around and not for another reason, Skull?" Panther asks with a smirk, walking up to him before gently pushing him aside and crawling in, with Skull going in right after. The team shake their heads at the interaction before following the blonds into the vents. Coming out right on the other side of the gate, leaving them with a clear path forward.
Where they find a lone Raja Naga by itself, holding what looked to be a pass in its hands. Smirking to himself, Joker quietly approaches the Raja Naga from behind, mentally switching Alice to the front before coming to a stop behind it.
"Alice… Die for Me!" The Raja Naga spins around, shocked by the sudden appearance of Joker before Alice appears before it. Casting her unique skill on the Raja Naga, which instantly disintegrated into black goop the moment, Alice pointed her finger at it. Leaving behind only the worker's pass. "Thank Alice." Joker tells her, earning a childish giggle from the Persona before she returns to his mask.
"Did Joker just…" Wolf starts, turning to look at Queen, who nods at her.
"Yeah. Alice is his go-to choice for when we want to save time. That, and I admit I know why he keeps her around." Queen remarks before walking up to join him while Wolf blinks for a moment before following Queen alongside the rest of the Thieves.
"What do you have there, Joker?" Noir asks, seeing the card in his hands.
"It looks like a Worker's Permit. We should be able to get past that door without needing to use the vent. But, we may need to find another one if we want to get onto the Airship." Joker replies, spinning the card around his fingers before tossing it over to Oracle who catches it between her fingers.
"Let's hope that's not the case." Doc comments as the team presses on. Ambushing shadow cops between panes of glass that blocked their route at several points. Before they arrived at a rather large waiting lounge. With several rooms leading to V.I.P areas and one door leading to the departure gate.
Yet when they approached it, they ran into another problem.
"Entry denied. Insufficient access privileges. Please surrender your Desires, or present your V.I.P Pass."
"Looks like you called it, Joker." Mona remarks as the team lets out a groan of annoyance. "Now, where the hell do we get a V.I.P Pass?"
"If this place is like an airport, then wouldn't that mean there would be a V.I.P or First Class lounge?" Noir asks, grabbing the team's attention. "I've been into such spots when travelling with my father. So it would stand to reason that a similar place should be here."
"Well, I've already got a ping from a nearby room to the right. I am not sure if it's the lounge we are after, but I'm getting something from inside it." Oracle remarks, her screens showing a detailed map of the area. With one room flashing a bright green. "But if we only have a worker pass, we'll need to take the long way around through the worker's area. It should bring us to the back of the lounge."
"We don't have any other choice… Let's go." Joker relents as the team moves on. "This is giving me Shido flashbacks…" Joker grumbles under his breath as they head for the maintenance shaft.
This was the last thing they needed right now.
"Finally! We've got one!" Outlaw shouts as Spring plucks up a V.I.P Pass from the floor. They had just had to battle a Legion in order to get it, and before that, the place they thought was the V.I.P lounge was just a normal lounge. It was safe to say that the Thieves were not amused at all the run around they had to do in order to get the Pass.
"Let's get back to the departure gate and head to the castle." Violet remarks, stretching her arms. "The sooner we get there, the better. I'm starting to get tired of this place…"
"I think we all are, Violet." Shadow comments, stretching her arms as they jump through the broken glass windows. "I'm just glad none of us have glass stuck in us."
"We're almost there, guys. Once we have a path to the castle, we can take another break and then rush through to find the Trauma Cell." Joker tells the team as they approach the Departure Gate before he comes to a stop. "Just what is it that you are traumatised by, Uncle…" The team glances at him in sympathy as he approaches the door, Spring passing him the V.I.P Pass as he holds it up. The door scanned it seconds later.
"V.I.P Pass accepted. You are clear to board." And with little fanfare, the door opens for the Thieves. But it wasn't a normal gate as they were expecting. It was instead a Prison Keep, the wall reaching high above them as they were filled with countless people who had their Desires stolen. With the cage holding the core directly ahead of them.
"Wait a minute… have we been inside a Prison Keep this entire time?" Panther asks, looking around in shock as Wolf lets out a hum.
"Now I get it… this place is acting as an air-traffic control tower for the airships." Wolf remarks, stroking his beard.
"So, if we take the core from here, does that mean we can control the Airship?" Ace asks in response. "It might even stop reinforcements from attacking us or even stop those SWAT guys from finding us."
"We might… still, we need to take the core anyway. It might deactivate something that's ahead of us." Queen remarks as they rush up the stairs to the top. Finding the core waiting for them as it flies into Teach's hand. A Madicce badge.
"So the last one is his badge? Well, he IS the CEO, it would make sense he is proud of that. I know I am, being the president of Shujin." Teach comments, pocketing the badge as they return to the ground. Finding no security waiting for them, which was either a good sign or a bad sign as they went out to the launch bay. Finding the Airship waiting for them and proving to be much larger than any of them thought.
"Woah… that is HUGE!" Spring remarks as the team approaches it, seeing it easily dwarf them in size.
"It looks to be just as big as the Hindenburg…" Doc comments, drawing the eyes of everyone. "What? I like history." Hearing his response, the team allow him the jab as they board the ship. Although, Wolf decided now would be a good time to ask Doc a few questions. So, grabbing him and Ace, he took them to a part of the ship where the Thieves couldn't hear or see them and decided to ask.
"Okay, Doc, I have a few questions I want to ask you." Wolf begins, only for Doc to raise his hand.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask… So I'll explain everything." He glances at Ace, tilting his head before looking back at Wolf. "Are you sure you want here to hear about it as well?"
"Yes." Wolf replies, glancing at the team as the Airship takes off. "I would ask them, but I feel like I would be going around your back. That's why I want to ask you, yourself. And, well, now seems like a good enough time to ask."
"Well… that is fair." Doc replies, taking a seat as he looks out the window. Ace and Wolf are sitting next to him as he lets out a sigh. This would be a long flight, and would they even believe him in the end? The only thing he could do was tell them the truth. Everything.
"Well… I suppose my story begins the day that Rumi lost her parents…"
Confidant ranks.
Sophia: Hope (Rank 8)
Zenkichi Hasegawa: Apostle (Rank 9)
Akane Hasegawa: Life (Rank 5)
Investigation Team: The World (Rank 10/Max)
S.E.E.S: ? (?/?)