"What the hell happened to your face?!" Was the first thing Ryuji greeted her with.

Shiina sighed. The bruise on her face seemed to grow worse when she woke up this morning. Shouto had tried icing it down again, but she reassured him that she would get it healed later. Rather than eating breakfast with the rest of her family, she opted to eat out instead. She also didn't bother putting any makeup on her face—the bruise was huge and a deep blue and purple; she was pretty sure no amount of foundation could cover that up. She got a lot of stares in the cafe she ate at, but she was used to being stared at so it didn't bother her that much.

"Endeavor got back from the hospital," was all she could really say.

"That looks bad..." Yusuke winced.

"How can you even talk?" Ann exclaimed.

"Doped myself up on painkillers." She answered bluntly.

"I'll heal you once we're inside the Palace." Morgana promised.

She tried smiling at him, but it felt weird so all she said was: "Thanks."

Akira quietly tapped on the Meta Nav app and transported themselves into Shido's Palace. Right away, Morgana called forth Mercurius to heal Shiina's bruise and after a few seconds, she looked as good as new.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Shiina thanked her graciously.

"Anytime, Shiina," Morgana smiled back. "Though it really infuriates me to hear what your father did to you..."

Ryuji placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. "That bastard's gonna pay for it soon, okay?"

Shiina nodded. "I know."

"Alright everyone," Makoto spoke up, business-like as usual. "We'll head to the central corridor first. That's where the doors to the main assembly hall were."

Ann nodded. "Got it, let's get going!"

Their first task was to hunt down the VIPs. The first one being in a restaurant, but when they went there, the waiter told them they needed a membership card to even step in. So they ended up having to kill a couple of Shadows and trick some random bartender into giving up a membership card that didn't belong to any of them.

All in a day's work!

"That was actually pretty easy. Should it have been that simple?" Makoto questioned.

Ryuji snorted. "Who cares? It's all thanks to that dick Shido thinkin' everyone around him is incompetent."

"So he doesn't believe in anyone... That must be why there are so many membership cards around." Haru theorized.

"Well, it's not bad that it went by quick. Let's head to the restaurant and grab a letter of introduction." Futaba suggested.

"I feel like that's the hard part..." Shiina mumbled. Nobody argued with her there.

When they returned to the restaurant, the same waiter was there to greet them.

"Welcome, sir. May I see your membership card?" He said.

Akira flashed it at him.

"Thank you for displaying your proof of membership, sir. Please head on inside. Seats marked with a blue flower are reserved for special guests. Please refrain from sitting there."

"Special guests...? Eh, who cares." Ryuji. Blunt as always.

"A reserved seat is special information. That may lead us to the politician we're looking for." Makoto concluded.

"For real?!"

She frowned. "That possibility didn't even cross your mind?! Ugh. Anyways, let's head in and find a seat."

The restaurant was actually rather smaller than Shiina expected. It was still spacious, but that was mostly because there were only a handful of tables in the room.

"Man, things're pretty damn luxurious in here. Even the food looks super good!" Ryuji grinned, gazing at the meals hungrily.

Makoto looked at him disdainfully. "Try not to get too excited okay? You're embarrassing us..."

They first spotted a table with a blue plant placed at the center of it. No doubt that was where the VIP would sit.

"That must be the table." Yusuke stated.

Futaba nodded. "Right. That influential politician comes here."

Makoto pointed at the vacancy right next to it. "...Why don't we have a seat at the table next to it and wait for him? I'll go. He may become guarded if we go in a big group."

"Wouldn't it be odd with just one girl sitting there though?" Haru pointed out.

"Does someone want to come with me?" Makoto asked.

Ryuji perked up instantly. "I'll go!"

"Ohhhh lord." Shiina commented.

Makoto just sighed. "Alright. Guess it's us two then. Everyone else stay nearby. I'll give the signal when the time is right."

"Man, what should I eat?" Ryuji grinned, looking like he was about to drool.

"You can't get full off of food in a Palace." Futaba informed.

"Yeah, we talked about this, remember?" Shiina pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He's dumb as ever..." Morgana shook his head.

Makoto and Ryuji walked off to their table while the rest of the Phantom Thieves found a place nearby enough for them to see the pair, but not hear them. It was as close as they could get though, so they took it.

"Fancy menu," Shiina commented, picking up the laminated piece.

"Even fancier meals." Futaba added.

"I never even heard of such names...!" Yusuke marveled, flipping through the pages. "It's unfortunate we cannot eat in a Palace."

"How did they fold the napkins like this?" Akira wondered, staring at the white piece of intricately folded fabric. "I wish I could take a picture."

"Can we take pictures here?" Haru turned to Morgana.

"Uh..." He blinked. "I have no clue."

"Let's try." Shiina whipped out her phone and took a quick selfie. She gasped. "It worked! Wait... Oh shit!" While admiring the photo, she finally noticed the scene going on in the background. There were two suited men confronting Ryuji and Makoto.

She whirled around just in time to hear Ryuji stand up and shout: "What was that, you shithead?!"

"They're fucked." Ann sighed.

"It's okay, Queen's with him." Akira assured, but if the mask wasn't covering half of his face, they would've seen how anxious he looked.

Makoto stood up and somehow managed to get Ryuji to calm down. She was currently exchanging words with the two men—polite ones, the group hoped.

"Perhaps one of them is Ooe?" Yusuke whispered, which was kind of unnecessary since nobody would be able to hear them anyways.

"Let's try to listen in." Shiina suggested, and strained her ears to hear the conversation.

"The letter of introduction, please." Makoto said tightly.

"Don't get cocky, brats! I'll never give you one!" One of the men snapped.

"Looks like you have one though! Welp, guess it's time to use brute force!" Ryuji exclaimed all too happily.

Makoto turned to face them. "Guys!" She shouted.

"That's the signal." Akira said as they all rose to their feet.

By the time they reached them, Ooe and his buddies had already turned into a single, combined Shadow. A gigantic serpentine creature with multiple heads—a Hydra, if her Percy Jackson senses were correct.

"This thing's huge!" Ann shrieked, diving out of the way to dodge an ice attack.

"Even worse, it's an ice type. I won't be much use here." Yusuke grunted as he and Kamu Susano-o slashed away at it's body.

"Shiina, watch out!" Ryuji suddenly yelled.

Stupidly, Shiina stopping slicing at the Shadow's neck and turned to Ryuji to scold him about using her real name in the Palace, but then she was suddenly slammed on the side and the room turned into a violent swirl of red.

"HOOOOOOLY SHIIIIIT!" She screeched, gripping onto the scales as hard as she could as the hydra head she was dangling on moved to higher ground. She was now about twenty feet in the air and was holding on for dear life.

"Diablo! Hold on!" Akira called out to her.

"That's what I'm doing!" She shouted back. She pulled herself up so she wouldn't be dangling. Now she was riding the hydra head.

"On your left!" Makoto alerted her and Shiina turned her head and saw another head coming towards her with it's mouth wide opened.

In a flash, she retracted her claws and summoned her gun, pelting the gaping mouth with bullets. It hissed, recoiling away as she continued to shoot at it until she was nearly out of bullets. The snake head fell limp on the floor (nearly crushing Akira, but he got out of the way in time).

"One head down eight more to go!" Ryuji grinned maniacally before giving the nearest snake a painful blast of electricity. It fell to the floor a second later, twitching erratically before stopping entirely.

Haru had Astarte launch a powerful Psiodyne attack on the body where the hydra heads were all connected, and two snakes went down, defeated.

"They're weak to Psychokinesis!" Futaba exclaimed. "Keep at it, Haru!"

Hary nodded affirmatively before turning her attention to the next head.

Meanwhile, Shiina was having trouble staying on the hydra. It was bucking around like one of those mechanical bulls you'd see in country bars. It was determined to throw her off, preferably with enough force to kill. Her grip was slipping, and slipping, and slipping...

Yusuke, who was shooting at the hydra head beside hers, finally realized what was going on. With a gasp, he dematerialized his gun and sprinted for her when the head finally managed to throw her off. The distance between them was too large, so he leaped forward and caught her in his arms, twisting their bodies around so he'd take the brunt of the landing.

He grunted. "Ow."

"Thanks!" She breathed out, crawling off of him.

"It was no problem," he said, getting back up to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, you?" She asked worryingly. It sounded like a painful landing.

"I'm fine," he assured. "Let us head back. There's still five more heads to destroy."

"Right," they jogged back to the battle scene just in time to see Ann finish off the hydra head Yusuke was shooting at before he caught Shiina.

Four more heads left.

Morgana and Akira were working together to defeat one and finally succeeded with a combined wind attack. Three more heads now.

The Shadow did Bufudyne against Makoto, which left her and her Persona frozen and vulnerable. Futaba came to her aid, but the snake head lunged to Makoto. Shiina managed to get Tullia out in time and strike the head away with some of Curse magic and once Makoto was healed, she delivered a deadly punch against the head, killing it instantly.

Two more heads.

Haru used Psiodyne on it twice until the last two remaining heads fell limp at her feet. The Shadow exploded in black, and politican Ooe seeped out of the darkness, looking weak and defeated.

"T-take it..." He croaked, tossing away the letter of introduction. Haru gently plucked it up from the ground and handed it to Akira, who pocketed it.

"Alright!" Ryuji whooped. "We got a letter of introduction!"

"Please keep the truth of that subway accident a secret..." He begged with them, looking absolutely pitiful.

Ryuji looked like he wanted to spit at his face, but scowled instead. "Fine," he said. The man flinched under his glare and promptly scurried away.

"In any case," Makoto spoke up. "It turns out Principal Kobayakawa was connected to Shido after all..."

Ann frowned. "Still, I can't believe Shido just killed him so nonchalantly..."

"The entire nation is underwater in his Palace. He must feel nothing towards one measly educator." Yusuke stated.

Shiina scoffed under her breath. "Wasn't much of an educator."

"In any case," Ann said. "Even though that politician was cognitive, he turned into a monster. Up until Kaneshiro's Palace, cognitive beings were nothing more than weak presences..."

"No..." Morgana disagreed. "That Ooe fellow just now wasn't a cognition."

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Huh?" Makoto said. "But he had the memories and appearance of an actual person."

"He was probably a Shadow fused with a cognition..." Futaba explained. "It's like making the Shadow wear human skin."

"I've never seen anything like that before... Such power is normally impossible." Morgana said.

"Hold on," Yusuke interrupted. "Wasn't Shido the one who destroyed the research done by Oracle's mother on cognition?"

"Oh! Do you think that when he did, he took the results for his own purposes...?" Haru wondered.

"Shido...!" Futaba growled.

Morgana looked troubled by Haru's suggestion. "For all we know, Shido could have some hidden trick that allows him to tamper with his own Palace. We need to be especially careful from here on out...!"

"Who should we target next? We still need four more letters." Haru asked as they looked around the restaurant. Nobody seemed to care that they had just defeated a twenty foot tall, blood-thirtsy, nine headed snake.

"According to the map, the elevator ahead will take us to the pool deck." Futaba replied.

"Hm... If our intel is correct, there should be a womanizing 'former noble' there." Yusuke murmured.

"Womanizing huh...?" Ann grimaced. "I am so not up for this..."

Ryuji saw the look on Shiina's face and snapped quickly, "Don't even think about it!"

"You didn't even know what I was going to say!" She huffed.

Their argument was cut short as they filed in the golden elevator and headed off to the next floor. They dashed down some hallways and just when they passed through an opened doorway, Futaba called out to them:

"Hold on a sec, guys!"

It was too late.

In a poof of smoke, they were turned into mice. At least their masks were still on so it was easier to know who was who.

"Wait, what the shit?! W-we're... mice?!" Ryuji squeaked. Much to his horror, he sounded adorable.

"Oh my god," Shiina said. "We sound like we've been breathing in helium!"

"This is prepawsterous! Or something like that..." Yusuke trailed off.

"Now's not the time for puns, Fox!" Ryuji snapped.

Futaba dipped her head back and groaned. "Can you guys just come back here?" She was the only one who wasn't a mouse.

They walked—or crawled, really—back into the hallway and instantly transformed back into humans.

Akira looked down at himself and sighed in relief. "Oh thank god, we're clothed."

"What was that?!" Makoto asked, shaken.

"Looks like we turn back when we leave the affected range. It's really not a big deal." Futaba said.

"It most certainly is a big deal!" Ann fumed. "Explain what just happened to us!"

With a sigh, Futaba pointed to a nearby Shido statue and explained, "It seems like people who Shido views as 'intruders' turn into mice near those Shido statues."

Morgana scowled. "So we're nothing but rodents to him, huh? That's irritating."

Futaba nodded. "I agree, but we need to be extra careful when we're in mouse form. We won't be able to open doors and any enemy we try to fight in that state'll beat us to a pulp."

"So all we can do is hide?" Makoto asked. "I guess we'll have to change to a completely defensive strategy... I hope we can find a secret passage to get through there..."

With no other choice, they stepped through the doorway and became mice. They scoured around the place and found an air duct a few inches above the ground. Akira managed to pry away the metal vent cover and led them to the other side.

They continued roaming the halls, absolutely clueless as to where to go and becoming increasingly frustrated whenever they were forced back into mice form and back to being human and so forth. Luckily, they found a weird device in an empty room that had the ability to turn the statues off, so once that was activated they were able to fight Shadows with leisure.

"This is getting tiresome," Shiina sighed, wiping some sweat off her brow. "I could really use a dip in the pool right about now. How far away?"

"Not too far," Futaba assured. "There's a Shadow ahead of us though."

"Ugh..."

Akira headed in first and confronted the Shadow, and it burst apart and revealed it's true form as the Monarch of Snow.

Shiina gasped and tugged on Akira's arm. "Joker, you have to get it. Look at how cute he is!"

Ryuji gaped at her. "Dude, it's literally, like, ten feet tall!"

"Guys!" Makoto snapped. "Now. Is. Not. The. Time!"

"Right, right," Ryuji rolled his eyes before summoning his Persona and attacking.

Akira turned to Shiina and smiled. "I'll see if I can negotiate with it."

"Oooh, you're the best!" She squealed. She hugged him quickly before joining in on the action, her and Tullia beating the Shadow ferociously.

It took at least ten or so minutes for the Monarch of Snow to give up. Once Yusuke delivered a painful stab in the back of its head that left it squealing, he began to plead with them.

"Hee-ho... Ahhh, please let me live! Have mercy, ho!"

"Who're you callin' a hoe?!" Ryuji barked.

"I don't think he meant it that way..." Haru trailed off.

Akira strode forward, looking very much like the confident leader he truly was. "Lend me your power," he requested smoothly. "You'll be spared if you stay with me."

"Hee? Then let's talk, ho! If we're on the same wavelength, I'll think about it, ho!" It exclaimed, it's large body rumbling. "...You know, I haven't seen you around here before. You new? Did you just hee-hired, ho?"

Akira frowned, not satisfied with the slow direction the negotiation was turning. His gun was in his hand in a millisecond and he shot a warning shot at the Monarch's body.

It squealed in pain. "Hee-hooooo! You're quick to pick a fight, ho. People say that about me too..." It trailed off. "Wait, I remember now! I'm not a Shadow here, ho! I live in the sea of the hee-human heart! I'm King Frost, ho! I'm you, and you're me!"

And with that, it disappeared in a burst of blue light and transferred itself into Akira's mask, lending him it's power.

"YES!" Shiina cheered, jumping up and down. "He got him!"

Makoto gave Akira an amused look. "Don't tell me you did that just for Shiina."

Akira tried not to blush. "I thought he'd be useful to have in the team."

She snorted. "Okay, leader."

— ❤ —

When they stepped onto the pool deck, everyone was amazed.

"Whoaaaa, this pool's gigantic! It's hard to believe this is even on the ship!" Futaba marveled.

"Our target's here, right? Some sort of former noble guy?" Ann asked, looking around. There weren't a lot of people around, and most of them were in the pool anyways. That was a problem for them since their suits weren't exactly water-proof.

"Yeah." Morgana answered. "Let's find him and get a hold of his letter of introduction!"

They decided to leave the people in the pool alone and went towards the nearest person. He had an air of self-importance (plus a butler waiting at his beck and call) so they were certain he was the former nobleman they were looking for.

Ryuji strode forward and said bluntly, "Hey dude, you got a sec?"

"..." He said nothing.

Ryuji was beginning to feel awkward. "Uhhh... Nice day today, huh?"

"..."

"...Actually, maybe not." He sighed. "I, uhhh... I wanna go swimming in the pool! Yeah!"

"..."

Defeated, he turned to Ann. "...It's your turn, Panther."

"What?!" She stared at him, bewildered. "I'm not gonna—"

"—Just do it!" He hissed.

She grumbled profanity under her breath and took a tentative step forward. She plastered on a friendly smile. "U-um, h-hello there. We really would like to speak with you..."

"..." Nothing.

"We won't take much of your time. Will you listen?" Makoto asked politely.

"..."

"Please, sir." Haru added.

He finally spoke up. "Sorry, but please leave me be. I don't have time for you rowdy children."

Ryuji's eye twitched. "Hey, you little—!"

"—No, we apologize for our lack of manners." Makoto said quickly. "Come on, Skull. We should leave."

They walked away until they were far away from him.

"The hell's up with that guy?!" Ryuji spat. "Did he really have to be actin' all high and mighty like that?!"

"To be fair, you walked up to him and said, 'Hey dude'." Makoto pointed out dryly. "You need to approach this with more tact. Starting the conversation with a quarrel won't get us anywhere."

"Our approach doesn't matter if he won't listen to us. What are we supposed to do...?" Morgana frowned to himself.

"Um, guys?" Haru said, looking around with a worried look on her face. "Where's Diablo?"

"What?" They said in unison.

"Oh shit," Ryuji cursed under his breath. "She's gone! Where did we lose her?"

"She was with us when we entered!" Ann exclaimed, biting her lip. "I don't know where she could—Oh my god." Her eyes widened in horror.

"What?" Yusuke asked, then followed her gaze. His throat went dry. "O-oh my..."

"What's wrong?" Akira asked. Then he saw it. His face went red and his pants tightened.

"Is that...?" Haru's cheeks flushed.

"I can't believe it...!" Morgana didn't know whether to face palm or shake his head.

"Somehow this doesn't surprise me." Futaba grinned.

"Who cares about that, where's Shiina?!" Ryuji growled. He didn't bother to check what they were staring at.

"We found her." Makoto said, unable to pry her eyes away from the scene.

"Where?!" He demanded.

"...There..." Yusuke croaked, pointing back at where the nobleman was.

Ryuji looked at the direction where he was pointing and his jaw promptly dropped to the floor. Shiina was with the former noble, situated all nice and comfy on his lap.

And she was wearing nothing but a skimpy string bikini.

"What..." A dying noise escaped Ryuji's mouth, and he was unsure of what emotion was the most strongest for him: anger or arousal? "The fuck is she doing...?!"

"Getting us our letter," Futaba replied, her eyes lighting up in amusement. She looked at the boys' faces and felt like cracking up. Yusuke looked as if the greatest piece of artwork was being destroyed right before his eyes, Akira looked uncomfortably turned on and jealous at the same time, and Ryuji looked ready to commit a violent murder.

"We," Akira struggled to clear his throat. "We have to stop this." He stepped forward, followed by Ryuji and Yusuke, but was quickly stopped by Morgana and the girls.

"What are you doin'?!" Ryuji hissed at them. He had to be restrained by Makoto and Morgana.

"Shiina's helping us out. You're going to ruin her plan!" Ann grunted, struggling to keep Akira at bay.

"She looks she needs the help more than us!" He argued.

"Yes," Yusuke agreed. "L-look at where that vile man is putting his hands!"

"We know," Haru said, hand gripping Yusuke's arm to keep him still. "But you have to trust her. She has this under control."

And she really did. While the other Phantom Thieves were watching at the sidelines, Shiina was getting closer and closer to gaining the man's favor.

"Dearest Shiina," he purred, his fingers running through her vibrant red locks. "Your hair is a very lovely shade of red... It reminds me a lot of the hero Endeavor. He saved my wife, you know?"

"Oh, you're married?" She frowned in disappointment and began to pull away from him. She tried not to show her irritation at the mention of that man.

"No, wait!" He cried out, yanking her back to him. "It's not what you think. She's a raggedy old hag... Always spending my money on plastic surgery and clothes... Even after over twenty procedures she's not even half as gorgeous as you."

She scoffed, and looked around the pool snidely. "Nobody in here is. Have you seen the women walking around the place? They look like hags."

He nodded in agreement, stroking her hips and getting dangerously close to wear the ties of her bikini bottoms were. "You're absolutely right. The women here—you can't believe how daft and boring they are! And my dumb wife's even worse. You truly outshine them all... With your scarlet hair, that delicious body of yours, and your beautiful, young face. You said you were fifteen, correct?"

"Mmhmm." She hummed, smiling up at him.

"So young," he moaned. "But so very irresistable. It's hard to believe you're really fifteen. Did you come aboard alone?"

"Oh of course not," she giggled. "I came here with my siblings and my dad..."

"Your father," he began. "I trust he is an important man as well?"

"Oh, yes, he is," she nodded up and down. "But not as important as you, though. My daddy's very upset about that. He wishes to climb higher on the ladder, you see... If only he had a letter of introduction..." She sighed miserably, snuggling closer to him for 'comfort'.

"A letter of introduction?" He perked up. "I-I have those! I can give it to your father right now if you want!"

"Ohayashi-sama," she crooned, pressing her breasts even closer to him. Judging from his never relenting gaze, he was very much interested in her chest. "You really will?" She asked ever-so-sweetly.

"Of course," he said, nodding enthusiastically. "I couldn't bear to see you so sad... It doesn't suit your beautiful face."

Hah! This sucker seriously has the hots for me! She inwardly cackled.

"You're so generous, Ohayashi-sama!" She squealed with joy, moving around so she was now straddling his lap. She tried not to gag when she felt his boner poking her and kept on the happy expression. "Daddy would be so happy with me!"

"I have them right now," he told her, glancing over at his bag that laid on the table.

"Will you please give them to me?" She begged, moving forward a bit.

"Nngh, y-yes of course!" He said, breathing heavily, his face hot. He turned to the butler and snapped at him. "Get me a letter of introduction from my bag! And make it quick!"

"Yes, sir!" Hastily, he rummaged through the bag and handed him a familiar white envelope. Ohayashi snatched it from him and turned back to Shiina with a much more gentler expression.

"For you, dear." He said.

"Thank you, Ohayashi-sama," she purred, taking the letter. "If you don't mind, I'll give this to my daddy right now. Don't worry though, I'll be back... when there's less people around." She slid off his lap and with a flirtatious wink, walked away.

She met up with the rest of the Phantom Thieves at the entrance and raised the envelope. "I got it~" She sang. "And guess what? No Shadow battles."

"That's great," Ryuji snarled. "Now take that shit off."

"Gosh, you're so forward, Ryu." She snickered, handing the letter to Akira, who smirked upon receiving.

"You said you were going to give this to your 'daddy'... So I'm your daddy, huh?" He asked knowingly.

She froze, her face turning red. "Y-you heard that?" She squeaked.

His smirk was widening into an amused grin. "Yep," he said, relishing in the way she blushed. "Anyways, you should put your suit on. Or don't. I don't really have any complaints with the outfit—"

"—I'm getting changed!" She cried out, speeding for the changing room.

After getting dressed, they headed off to find their next target.

"So what did you learn from him?" Makoto asked her as they slinked through the hallways.

"Well, his name's Ohayashi and apparently he was having trouble getting money despite his famous lineage." Shiina began to explain. "He begged to be allowed into the ship and in return of introducing Shido to wealthy nobles, Ohayashi had him enact some mental shutdowns."

"I see... So this system of introductions is taking place in reality as well." Yusuke murmured.

Shiina nodded in confirmation. "Shido's cautious about who he allows onto the ship."

"So he's screening potential associates to find wealthy people who won't betray him..." Makoto mused.

"And that's why the passengers are wearing masks. He isn't deceived by people's outward appearances." Morgana concluded.

"That was good work, Diablo," Futaba complimented, patting the taller girl's shoulder. "You should probably do the same thing when we go after our next target."

"Oh hell no!" Ryuji disagreed vehemently. He rounded on Shiina, who was smiling cheekily at him. "You are NEVER doing that again! I'll tell your sister! No wait—I'll tell your brothers too!"

She paled. "You wouldn't."

"I will." He crossed his arms.

"You jerk, they'll never let me out of the house! Don't you dare!"

Haru chuckled at the scene. "Skull's jealous tendencies aside, let's go after our third target."

"I was NOT jealous!"

Morgana ignored him. "We have two letters now. Just the TV station and IT president left, and then the cleaner after them."

"Let's see..." Ann said thoughtfully. "One of them is apparently at the slots, and the other doesn't leave his room? Well, the map says there's entertainment hall up ahead. Maybe the slots are there?"

"Seeing for ourselves will likely be the quickest way to find out. Let us proceed onward." Yusuke stated.

— ❤ —

They made it to the back deck where they nearly ran into a Shadow.

"Quick, hide!" Morgana hissed. They dove behind a wall just in time.

"What the..." Ryuji said as he peeked out to inspect the Shadow. It wasn't like the other Shadows they had met so far. This one was armed with a machine gun and was decked out in dark protective gear.

"That seems to be a Shadow too. Be careful guys," Futaba warned.

"He looks way tougher than the other ones... You think they're tightenin' the security?" Ryuji asked.

"It wouldn't be surprising. We've taken down a target after all. Let's proceed forward cautiously."

They managed to evade the Shadow and sneaked downstairs where they saw a set of doubledoors. Right before they could push it open, a deep voice called out to them.

"Yo, stop right there."

They turned around and saw a suited man. He didn't look at all like the other passengers on board. While they pranced around with an air of self-importance, this guy looked like he couldn't care less about his status. His posture was terrible and his hands were shoved into his pockets. The way he stood also seemed kinda sloppy and lazy.

"I'm talkin' to you guys. Come over here for a sec." He said in a bored voice.

"He looks super dangerous!" Futaba said in a tiny voice. "I don't wanna get involved, even if he's just some old cognitive thing!"

Ann backed away until she was standing next to Shiina. "You think you can seduce your way out of this one?" She whispered.

"I don't wanna try." She whispered back fearfully.

The man got irritated with their lack of movement and barked at them, "What're you punks mumblin' on about? I hear you've been makin' quite a mess in here."

"Eep...! W-we're totally not making a mess, we swear! Who are you anyway?!" Morgana squeaked.

"Hmph! I'm the one askin' questions around here. Now, drink some salt water and reflect on what you did. I'm leavin' this to you, guys. I don't got the time to waste on little punks like these."

"Salt water?" Ryuji echoed. "Does that mean..."

"What? What does that mean?" Shiina asked.

Before he could answer, the man snapped his fingers and an armed Shadow appeared at his side, his gun pointed at them. Akira didn't waste a second. He slashed down at the Shadow and it turned into a pair of Heretic Goats.

Shiina and Ann were unable to fight as well against them. They were completely resistant to Curse attacks and it absorbed Ann's Fire attacks as well. Akira, who summoned Parvati, managed to kill them off with several Hamaon attacks.

"He's gone," Futaba noted once the two Heretic Goats were defeated.

"That dude was totally tryin' to kill us!" Ryuji frowned.

"Maybe because we caused a scene at the restaurant," Haru said. "Somebody has to clean up the mess." Then she paused. "Wait a second... 'clean up the mess'?"

"Ohhh, that's why they call him the 'cleaner'! It's 'cause he mops up any trouble that shows its face!" Futaba realized. "That should make him pretty easy to find though. We just gotta disturb the peace somehow."

"But doing so would have an adverse effect on us finding the other letters of introduction." Makoto sighed heavily. "Let's leave him for last and hurry over to the other two first."

"In that case, our next target should be the TV station president in the entertainment hall ahead." Yusuke stated.

Now that the cleaner was (temporarily) out of their way, they were able to enter through the doubledoors. They were finally in the entertainment hall, which was more like a huge section rather than a hall. It consisted of at least three or so floors and were full of familiar slot machines like the ones back in Sae's Palace. It was packed to the brim with people so it took them forever to find the TV station president.

Of course, he just had to be at the very bottom of the hall...

"Isn't that man sitting over there one of them?" Haru asked, pointing at the only person they had yet to inspect.

"He's the president of a TV station, isn't he?" Ann said.

Makoto nodded in confirmation. "He gives letters of introduction to executives of companies who are willing to sponsor his programs. That's a difficult condition to meet..."

Ryuji grinned deviously. "Wanna just beat it out of him?"

"Let me handle this." Haru suddenly said.

"Wait, what?" He said as everyone stared at her in shock.

"I'll allow it," Morgana smiled encouragingly. "You've got this, Noir."

Beaming, she walked over to the president as everyone else stationed themselves nearby to eavesdrop.

"A letter of introduction?" They heard him say. "But you're so obviously a child."

"I am Okumura Haru, daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I believe we sponsored you as well." She said regally, sounding a lot like an heiress.

"Oh, you're her?" He said, sounding mildly surprised. "It's true that I'm quite indebted to President Okumura. He funded us extremely well, after all. However, it looks like he got a little carried away. My condolences."

"My condolences, my ass. He sounds so smug about it too!" Ann growled under her breath.

Haru couldn't speak, so he continued on. "Regarding his exploiting management... Mr. Shido asked me to defend him as much as I could. I even threw some extra security his way, but there were limits to what I could do. The damage almost reached up to Mr. Shido himself. President Okumura had to be cut off."

"Cut off..." She repeated, sounding faraway.

"It seems he didn't just cast him off his ship, but also used him to trap the Phantom Thieves." He smiled, clapping his hands together. "Bravo, Mr. Shido. Truly a nasty maneuver."

Haru pushed back all the angry words she wanted to spew at him and forced herself to stay calm. "Won't you please give me a letter of recommendation?" She requested, her voice sounding slightly strained. "Once our company recovers, I will arrange for us to cooperate with you in a sponsorship role."

He rose a skeptical brow. "You're the daughter of the late president. Do you really have the authority to do that? Your employees probably resent you... Well, that's not important. I'm in your father's debt, after all. I can repay some kindness to his daughter."

He took something out from his pocket. The letter. He gave it to her and she stared down at it numbly. "Thank you... very much..." She said, voice dull.

Unfortunately, he didn't stop there. "But my, your father truly was a fool. He could've lived a life of luxury if only he'd done what he was told. You know, I'm the one who broadcast the moment of his mental shutdown. Our rating's shot up 'cause of that!"

Shiina's jaw dropped. "He didn't just say that."

"Haru... She needs to get out of there...!" Futaba whispered furiously.

The man was laughing, as if he was recalling the dreadful moment of Haru's father dying on live television.

"...Stop it." She said in a shaky voice. "How could you talk about my father's death like that...?"

"Hm? That's just business." He said uncaringly. "If you like, we could get you in a documentary. 'Overcoming death to rebuild a family company'... You're so cute you might just get good ratings."

"We're stepping in, now." Ann ordered, and they hurried towards them.

"I will not forgive you for that! You had better apologize to my father!" She demanded angrily.

The men stopped laughing and began to surround her. They turned into Shadows. The TV president was a Hanuman and had two Raging Bird Gods as backup.

"The two birds are weak to electricity and the TV President's weak to ice!" Futaba announced, floating around to buff up everyone's attacks.

"Really can't wait to get this Palace over with," Akira said tiresomely as he summoned the jolly old King Frost to shower the Hanuman in sharp icicles.

"Tell me about it," Shiina huffed, digging her claws into one of the Bird's wings. It cawed in pain and fell to it's side. She backed away and let Ryuji finish it off with a bolt of lightning.

"MORGANA, YOU MISSED!" Futaba shrieked from the air.

"I'M SORRY!" He shrieked back, narrowly dodging Hanuman's Miracle Punch. He summoned Mercurius and launched a heavy Magarudyne attack that effected the remaining two enemies. "Hah! How's that, Oracle?"

"A lot better! Now keep at it! The other Bird's near dead at this point!"

"On it!" Ann huffed, lasing at the last Raging Bird God's wings with her whip. Then, she had Hecate blast it to smithereens with Agidyne.

Akira attacked the Hanuman with Bufudyne and as it stumbled back, a large icicle pierced through it's stomach courtesy of Yusuke, killing it instantly.

Defeated, the Shadows reverted back to it's more human form. Haru gave the letter of introduction to Akira and glared down at the fallen TV president.

"I assume as part of the media, you have knowledge about quite a few important topics. We will not take your life, as long as you share the knowledge that you've kept from the public."

He gulped, and began to spill his secrets. "R-remember that Kaneshiro guy? The one from the mafia who ended up on the news a while back? Well, the money he was gathering all went to Shido-san."

"Shido and Kaneshiro were connected?" Makoto asked.

He nodded. "Indeed. As well as that old man Madarame. His counterfeit business along with Kaneshiro's mafia aided Shido-san quite a lot financially."

"What?!" Everyone said.

"I understand now..." Yusuke trailed off, looking down.

"Hey, you were forcin' the news to be about Akechi and Shido all the time, right? I'm sick of 'em!" Ryuji exploded before he realized something. "Wait, this guy's not a real person. Tellin' him ain't gonna do shit for us."

"Come on, we have to take down Shido himself." Haru said.

— ❤ —

"Wait, we're back at the main hall." Ryuji said as they walked through the doors and ended up in a familiar room.

"And without any particularly useful information about the IT company president..." Makoto added.

"He almost never leaves his room! Nobody's even seen him around!" Futaba exclaimed.

Yusuke hummed. "If he 'almost never' leaves, does that mean there are times that he does in fact leave?"

"Wouldn't he have to head out to go to the bathroom? That's how it was for me in my room!" Futaba said.

Haru shook her head. "But there are restrooms in the rooms here... What about meals?"

"Just one call and your food gets delivered to your room..." Futaba trailed off.

"That's our way in." Akira stated.

"Aw," Futaba pouted. "I was hoping we could have Shiina put on a skimpy maid costume and go in for 'room service'."

"That could also work." Said girl shrugged.

"No." Ryuji said immediately.

"I think Akira's idea is better." Makoto said. "Though this place is just a cognition, it has restaurants and bars as well. If the IT company president never leaves his room, somebody must be delivering the food to him."

"Ohhh, so you think we should get info at the restaurants too! Nice idea, Joker! Oh, and Queen!" Ann smiled.

They headed off to the restaurant where Makoto managed to trick a waiter into giving them information about the IT president's room (as well as some food to deliver to him). They made it to the side deck where his room was located directly above them. Akira had the brilliant idea to climb up from outside.

They climbed up the ship, using signs and railings to give them the support they needed until they finally reached the right floor.

Yusuke heaved himself up the platform and jutted his chin to where a bunch of windows were. "The target's room lies ahead. Let us hope he keeps his window open."

They hopped over dividing walls before landing at a balcony with an opened window.

"The cabin the target's in is right there!" Futaba whispered.

"Indeed, I can sense someone within its walls," Yusuke murmured.

"What should we do, Joker?" Morgana asked.

"Check inside," he ordered.

With their backs pressed against the walls, they peered their heads in and saw three people seated at a couch talking about something. The man in the middle was doing all the talking while the other two women nodded their heads dutifully.

"That must be the IT company president," Yusuke whispered, gesturing to the middle man.

"I'm gonna go!" Futaba announced.

Everyone whirled around to face her.

"By yourself?!" Haru asked incredulously.

She nodded. "He'll be on guard if we all go together... Plus, it's IT stuff! This is my time to shine!"

"Okay," Akira accepted. "Good luck out there."

"I got this. It's like that show where the kid goes shopping alone for the first time. Hehe, this is gonna be tough..." She said, and with a confident grin, she strode inside the room.

"What the?! Who're you?!" They heard him shout.

"P-p-pardon my entrance sudden!" Futaba stammered.

"Oh shit." Ryuji slapped his forehead.

"She'll be fine," Shiina assured him nervously.

"Those clothes... I-I mean, why did you come in from the window?!" The IT president exclaimed. It was a miracle he hadn't tried to call security by now.

"W-well, the door's locked and you weren't answering! How else am I supposed to get in here?" She asked. "Oh, but I get how you feel! There's totes nothing better than relaxing in your own room!"

"A-a girl...?"

Akira couldn't help but snort. "Is he just realizing that now?"

"Hush, you." Makoto nudged him.

"You're an IT guy, right? I can tell we talk the same language!" Futaba beamed. They heard the sound of a keyboard being tapped away.

"Th-that's not what matters here, just who are..." He suddenly stopped talking. "...Hmmm?! Is that your laptop?"

Futaba chuckled. "Hehehe... This little guy caught your attention, huh? I made it myself!"

"This is amazing... To think you could do this much on a mobile device..."

Ann grinned. "She's got him!"

"Wanna see the benchmarks? It can pump out some awesome numbers." Futaba offered. "Although normally I just use this one as a sub-processor when I'm hacking into a tough system.

"I have no idea what she's saying, but she's got him sold!" Shiina smiled widely.

"Hacking...?" He saked. "Do you mean like cyber attacks?"

They heard Futaba's familiar mischievous chuckle. "Hehehe... Ever heard of Medjed?"

"Well of course," he replied.

"Try not to be surprised by this. Actually, be surprised. I am Medjed! I'm the one who took down the fake!"

"Huh...?"

"Don't believe me, huh? Here, this is proof." They heard the rapid-fast typing pace that only Futaba could accomplish.

The president let out a sound of surprise. "This is the project server...! You identified all of them?!"

"If you want my skills, I'll need a letter of introduction." She said bluntly.

"Man... To think the website we prepared got crushed so easily by a mere child..."

"Huh? Y-you prepared it...?"

"Uh oh." Morgana muttered.

"That's right," his tone sounded angry now. "Why did you have to go and destroy our work?"

"Because I'm a Phant—" She cut herself off. "I-It was just because I couldn't forgive someone using the Medjed name without my permission. So, why'd you send Medjed after the Phantom Thieves?"

"There was no reason to choose Medjed per se. Their popularity was convenient for us though. We know the Phantom Thieves couldn't target an anonymous group, after all."

"That's why...?"

"Medjed's defeat was supposed to be an act, so their actual fail was quite a shock to me and Akechi-kun. We were planning on shutting it down anyway though, so it really didn't conflict with our plans." He explained casually. "The Phantom Thieves must've enjoyed their moment in the spotlight, not knowing it would be so short-lived. You see, you gotta abuse a tool like the internet. Well, the word abuse doesn't really describe it. The real charm comes in making use of the internet in innovative ways that circumvent legal restrictions."

They heard her growl. "You little..."

He chuckled. "I'm sure you understand. You're Medjed, after all. Isn't it wonderful manipulating all those information-illiterate idiots?!"

"...What a third rate fool." She spat.

"...Hm?"

"Not only are your skills third-rate, but you stink worse than a third-rate person. Don't treat me like we're equals. I'm gonna reform society!"

"...What a stupid idea. Don't tell me you destroyed my website for this so-called 'societal reform'?"

"That's right!" She blew up. "It's because I'm a member of the Phantom Thieves!"

"What?"

"Picking on the weak and calling that innovative?" She mocked. "Looks like I just gotta ban the guy at the root of all this... Shido! Now you're gonna give me that letter of introduction!"

"Why would I?" He sneered.

"H-how about a computer competition for it?!" She demanded.

"Huh? Don't be ridiculous! I'd rather just kill you!"

"G-guys!" She called out nervously.

The IT president turned into the Oberon while his two assistants were a pair of Scandalous Queens.

"Alright everyone, the dude's weak against Nuclear and nullifies all Psychokinesis attacks! The ladies are the opposite of that!" Futaba announced.

"Thanks," Makoto said, ordering Anat to hit the Oberon with Freidyne. It fell in a daze.

Akira stepped forward, ready to stab the fairy prince repeatedly until it died when it's two guards, the queens, stepped forward and countered against him with a blast of Nuclear magic. He was thrown back and smashed against an unsuspecting Ryuji.

"Dude, get off me!" He squirmed.

"Sorry," he grunted.

"Focus you two!" Futaba scolded.

"We're tired!" They complained in unison.

Haru and Ann busied themselves with the Scandalous Queens while the Oberon recovered from it's daze and went straight to Shiina, striking her arm with it's sword.

"Ow!" She hissed, then slashed at his face with his claws and kicked him in the chest. "Tullia, Dormina!"

Once Tullia forced the Oberon to sleep, Anat dove forward and blasted him with another heavy nuclear attack.

Ann defeated one of the Queens and had Hecate heal up the cut on Shiina's arm.

"Thanks," she said before jumping back in action. She had Tullia attack Oberon with a strong physical attack, finally killing the damn thing.

Akira summoned Parvati and had her use Psiodyne on the remaining Queen until it was finally down too.

The IT President melted out from the shadows, holding onto his ribs as he tried staggering away from them. He failed and fell to the floor, breathing heavily.

Futaba grinned. "Okiedokie! We got a letter of introduction! Making that fake Medjed wasn't the only bad thing you did, right? I want to hear your biggest secret."

"The cognitive pscience research..." He paused.

"What did you do?! Spill it!" She demanded angrily.

He gulped. "After extracting the results of the research, I deleted every last scrap of the original data. After that, I encrypted everything we had and put it on a domain inaccessible to normal people. Don't get me wrong though. I don't know anything about all the mental shutdowns."

Morgana frowned deeply. "Shido... What the hell was he researching?"

"No matter what it was, we won't let him abuse it!" Futaba shouted. She handed Akira the letter and said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

They walked passed the IT president, who flinched away from them and gathered at the balcony.

Futaba let out a squeal. "Aw yeah, we got the fourth letter! He might've been a third-rate guy, but he still had one somehow!"

"Just that cleaner dude left, then" Ryuji said. "Wanna go cause a scene somewhere and lure him out?"

Makoto winced. "As I've already said, we should avoid doing that if we can."

"But we've gone everywhere on the map," Haru pointed out. "Is there any place we haven't checked yet...?"

"The engine rooms..." Akira said after a while.

"Hm? I don't ever recall passing by such a place." Yusuke said.

"Wait," Makoto interrupted. "I found something... The engine room... I think I know where it is. Follow me."

— ❤ —

They made it back on the deck where they had to crawl through a smoke-filled duct. They dealt with it though and finally reached the engine rooms.

"There he is!" Ann whispered excitedly. The cleaner was standing in front of a bunch of controls with three men with him.

"This will be our final letter of introduction! We must get it!" Haru said urgently.

Akira smirked as he began undoing the duct covers. "Let's clean this mess." He tossed the cover aside and they all dropped down, nearly giving the men a heart attack.

"You punks... You snuck in again?!" The cleaner growled. "You guys just don't know when to stop. Is the hit on me really that big?"

To their surprise, he started stripping off his shirt. Even more surprising were the tattoos on his arms and shoulders. Tattoos that usually only the yakuza have...

"What clan are you from?" He demanded.

"...Clan?" Ryuji said dumbly. "Does he mean like, yakuza clan?"

"Well duh, what do you think the tattoos indicate?" Shiina replied.

"Wait, does he 'clean up' problems by making people disappear?" Futaba asked.

"Crap...!" Ann grimaced. "Is he really yakuza?"

"Well he's right in front of us," Akira said awkwardly. "I guess we should ask him."

"How are we supposed to get the letter of introduction from him?!" Makoto fretted. "Do we have to prove our worth?"

"Not another fight..." Shiina whined, which was a surprise because she was usually all for fights. "Fuyumi's gonna give me another hour long lecture if I'm late again...!"

"Damn, you kids are hopeless," the cleaner said. He shook his head. "Look, I'm a busy man. I gotta deal with cleanin' up problems and all them mental shutdowns, after all. If you got business with me, just spit it out already."

"Give me a letter." Akira blurted out.

"A letter of introduction? Why the hell would I give you one?" He scoffed.

"As I expected..." Makoto sweatdropped.

Ann looked at Yusuke and suddenly had an idea. "Ummm... Actually, we're here to suggest a tattoo design for you."

"A tattoo?" He echoed, sounding slightly interested.

She hastily motioned to Yusuke, who looked stunned at all the attention he was getting. "Th-this guy is great at drawing... H-he's an artist!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Yusuke said angrily. "I have no intention of designing a simple tattoo!"

Her face fell. "I thought you'd be able to do it, Yusuke...."

"What're you squabblin' about?" The cleaner frowned.

"Yusuke, draw something!" Ryuji hissed at him. "Art's art, ain't it?!"

"...Very well. May I at least decide on the design?" He finally relented.

The cleaner shook his head. "Uh uh, I won't accept anything 'cept a godly phoenix fitting for my godly personality."

Shiina inwardly snorted. Godly. Yeah right.

"A phoenix..." Yusuke mumbled. "I'd rather something else..."

The cleaner glared at him. "Makin' excuses now, mister 'artist'? You're all talk. People like you are a dime a dozen."

That definitely got Yusuke's determination flaring. "I am not all talk. I can draw anything you want. Bring me a brush and a piece of paper."

Two of the cleaner's cronies went and delivered the items and Yusuke went to work right away. Everyone stopped and stared as he made brilliant strokes with his brush, connecting lines and coloring spaces in to make a masterpiece. Even the cleaner was watching him with interest, head tilted and everything.

After fifteen minutes, Yusuke sat back and announced, "It's finished."

"Dude, this is totally not gonna work for a tattoo..." Ryuji said under his breath.

"...Is it a monster? It has some kinda crazy aura..." Ann trailed off.

"A truly... explosive piece." Haru stated.

Yusuke got back up to his feet and proclaimed, "This is my perception of a phoenix."

Morgana bit his lip. "There's no way this is gonna work..."

The Thieves turned to the cleaner, awaiting his reaction with bated breaths. The man simply stared at it, and then exclaimed, "I ain't seen nothing like this before! I like it!"

Yusuke smiled pleasantly. "Thank you. Well then, I request a letter of introduction."

"On one condition, kid," Oh no, everyone thought. "I want you to be my personal tattoo artist."

"He wants to recruit you?!" Morgana squeaked.

"Damn, out of all of us, who'd have thought Yusuke would be yakuza material..." Shiina let out a low whistle.

Yusuke shook his head politely. "I decline."

The cleaner shrugged. "No letter for you then."

"I must decide my own path as an artist. I will not receive aid from others any longer. Now if you understand," Yusuke said stiffly. "Hand over the letter. Otherwise we'll just have to take it by force. By the way, you're more feral pigeon than phoenix."

Akira whipped his head to the bluenette, staring at him as if he was a whole other person.

"You cocky-ass bastard! I'm gonna destroy you! I'll rip you open and tear out your insides!" The cleaner barked, his three cronies bristling for action.

"We're still gonna fight after all that?!" Ryuji spluttered.

The cleaner and his three cronies melded together and out came an Ongyo-Ki from the shadows. It twirled it's bladed staff in the air before slamming it down, attacking everyone with a heavy Maeigaon. Ryuji and Makoto were flung through the air, and everyone but Shiina was harmed.

"God, I hate Curse attacks," Ryuji breathed, pushing himself up on his feet.

"Don't let Diablo hear you say that," Makoto grunted, holding her hip.

Tullia struck the Shadow down with Mudo—the same lovely move she had used to send her dad to the hospital—and it was trapped in a dome of darkness before it erupted from within. The Ongyo-Ki was staggering, and Akira took his chance and had Trumpeter use Brain Buster on it.

Haru raced forward and slashed at it from behind with her axe, but it whirled around and brought his own blade down. She tried to deflect it, but the force of his swing was too strong so she stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Oh no!" She gasped as it prepared to chop her in half. Futaba came just in time to give her a protective shield.

"Thank you!" She cried out, summoning Astarte to shoot the monster down.

"No problem!" Futaba called back.

"Anyone know—Whoa!" Shiina just barely managed to dodge a swing from it's blade before she jumped onto it's back and started slashing away at it's neck. "If this thing has any type weaknesses?"

"It doesn't!" Futaba announced. "So go crazy with him!"

"Don't mind if I do," Yusuke murmured, encasing the Ongyo-Ki in sharp blades of ice once Shiina jumped off.

Ann ordered Hecate to launch Agidyne, only to fall to her knees once the attack was finished.

"Panther, you okay?" Makoto tried to pull her back up.

"Sorry," the blonde panted. "I'm just so tired right now..."

"This isn't good," Morgana cried out as Futaba healed her. "We've been fighting for too long! We're draining ourselves here!"

"We'll leave once we get this final letter and find the Treasure. We're almost done anyways." Akira promised, summoning Seth to buff everyone's agility.

"I just hope we don't run into anymore Shadows after this," Ryuji said. Behind him, Seiten Taisei used Ziodyne on the Shadow, leaving it stiff with shock. "Oh hell yeah!"

"Nice work, Skull! Everyone, now's your chance! It's shocked right now so hurry!" Futaba alerted everyone.

They were in front of the Ongyo-Ki in a flash, guns drawn. The room exploded with the noise of bullets showering the air, piercing through the Shadow and killing it instantly.

The cleaner reemerged, looking dazed and shocked. He managed to get up on his feet and gave them an almost maddening grin. "Haha...!" He laughed. "You punks're tough! I like that! You've got some backbone. Alright, I'll give you my letter. Normally I'd have to 'clean' you guys up for messin' around on the ship, but... there's no point now."

"You're letting us go?" Yusuke asked suspiciously.

He nodded. "This place ain't gonna last much longer if powerful soldiers like you guys got in here. Time for me to jet. The captain was great n' all, but he's gonna have to go down with this ship alone. See ya later, kiddos."

He gave them all a half-hearted wave, shoved his hands back in his pockets, and strode out.

"That was... oddly nice of him?" Shiina said unsurely.

Yusuke nodded in agreement. "Quite an unexpected response from a cognitive creation..."

"Politicians never get too close to their shady connections. They must have only been linked monetarily." Haru theorized.

"That must be it," Morgana mused.

"Well, we finally have all five. We need to use these to get into the main assembly hall, right?" Ann asked.

"Yes, and I believe that will be where we find the Treasure. We've been to most other places to gather the letters—there's almost no doubt about it." Haru replied.

"We're getting that bastard's Treasure for damn sure!" Ryuji grinned.

"As I'm sure you all know, the importance of this particular card is unlike any that's come before." Makoto said seriously. "Once we send it, our opponents will know that Joker, who they presumed dead, is in fact still alive. We will be putting our backs to the wall."

Yusuke crossed his arms, frowning deeply. "If we lose, our lives will truly be over..."

Shiina gulped, imagining her family's reaction to finding out she was a Phantom Thief all along—and worse, finding out after she was declared dead to the public.

"We can't let that happen," Haru said firmly.

"It's time for a little payback," Akira smirked.

"Yes. This is not just a Phantom Thieves matter for you. It is also a personal matter." Yusuke remembered.

"Then it's decided," Morgana stated.

"The real question is, how and where do we send the calling card?" Makoto asked aloud.

Ann smiled widely and suggested, "How about we make it super flashy? Our whole big plan was all for this moment, you know!"

"Actually," Yusuke began. "It must be theatrically done. A minor leak will only be crushed by Shido's influence."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be in letter form this time." Haru said.

"Big and flashy... I'm thinking of electronic billboards." Shiina smirked. "Tokyo's full of 'em, and we know someone who can make it happen."

All heads turned to Futaba.

"Hehe... It's finally my turn to steal the spotlight." She chuckled maniacally.

"Well, there's no use in thinking about it here. Let's find the Treasure and head back for now." Yusuke said.

"Oh finally," Ann sighed in relief as they walked up the ramps. "My whole body's screaming for me to lay down."

"Same here," Haru said weakly. "I hope we don't run into any Shadows."

"I just hope Fuyumi doesn't give me another lecture when I get back home," Shiina sighed.

"Wait!" Akira froze. He whirled around. "There's something behind us—!"

Their heads shot up as a figure dressed in white jumped from the second floor. The figure landed gracefully, and all nine of them felt something drop to their stomachs once they saw the person's face.

"Long time no see." Akechi greeted.

— author's note —

Guys, I've got so many random ideas for this story but none of them really fit in with the plot so I was thinking of doing a separate book just full of random shit like for example:

- Shiina turning into a boy (Shiino, haha)

- Deaged!Shiina

- If Shiina's heart was never changed

- Smut (*wink wonk*)

- The Phantom Thieves scaring the shit outta Mineta

- Marin Karin/Brain Jack gone wrong

- etc, etc.

How about it???