Rebel Redux: The Royal Flush

4/19/16

Bringing Mishima when they were already so far in with infiltration was going to be a risky bet, but they needed all the manpower they can get. Now that they had a dragon to contend with along with Kamoshida, it seems taking even further risks would be the only way they could achieve their goal of making Kamoshida pay for what he has done.

They immediately shifted to Kamoshida’s Palace as soon as they welcomed Mishima into the fold. 

Suffice it to say, Mishima was flabbergasted at what he saw. The medieval castle, the drawbridge…

Mishima sputters, “J-J-Just what the hell is this!? First, we were on the roof, and now we’re in front of a castle. Amamiya-kun, explain to me what all of this is!”

Yuki sighs. “Nicknames, please, Mishima. I’ll cut you some slack though since it’s your first time here; essentially, we use nicknames in this place to avoid getting recognized in this place. The castle is full of guards, and Kamoshida pretty much knows our faces, so to avoid that, we assign nicknames to people who have awakened the potential. Speaking of which, I’m Adler and he’s Blackjack,” nodding to Mona. As to the two of them,...”

Yuki and Mona were sort of in a rush to escape the castle the last time around that they didn’t have time to come up with new nicknames or to admire their costumes. They had immediately headed home, Yuki and Mona too tired from fighting to even have a short debriefing session.

Yuki looks at Ryuji’s costume. The fencer-mask-visor mask of rebellion appeared on his face, thankfully not obscuring his vision by using marked slits for eyeholes. It was the rest of his costume that got a whistle out of Yuki. As much as she liked Ryuji’s Skull costume, this was infinitely cooler and even stylish. He wore a thin plate of armor over a white shirt, with bracers and metallic shoulder pads tinted blackish-gray. He adorned black trousers, a belt, and wore slightly plated leather boots. At his belt, a greatsword hung at his right hip.

Yuki looks at Mona and the rest. “Any ideas?”

Mona shrugs. “Something literal? Like Knight?”

Ryuji sighs. “Seriously? I expected something cooler. Let me pick… hmm... what about Yoshitsune?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “You’d name yourself after a Japanese swordsman, a famous one at that? What if you don’t live up to the legend? Additionally, didn’t Yoshitsune only use a dual katana and wakizashi sword?”

Yuki ponders. Suddenly something came to her. “Kingsglaive.”

Ryuji protested. “I don’t wield a glaive and what king!? I do have to admit… it’s a cool codename. You’ve been playing too much Final Fantasy. 15, was it?” Ryuji sighs. “I think that my codename will be… Siegfried.”

Yuki nods. “Also doable. I do hope we don’t find out there’s a Persona named Siegfried considering all the Shadows here are mythologically and historically based.”

She then takes a look at Ann’s costume. Her previous costume as Panther was one that reminded her of full-skin latex. Here, it seems that she got a significantly less revealing costume. Her costume was designed to be still feminine but not exposing, with a black camisole tucked beneath a green lace blouse. For pants, she wore leather tights intermixed with knee-high boots. It seems her idea of rebellion this time around is more of a woman’s maturity and elegance rather than sexual. She, as before, utilized a whip, but one shorter, and with barbs at the very end. She also had an Uzi at her side.

Yuki asks, “Isn’t your Persona Morgaine? As in Morgan Le Fay?”

Ann nods. “Yeah.”

Mona adds. “Morgaine is just one of many ways to refer to the enchantress in Arthurian legend, one of equal renown as the Lady of the Lake who is also in the same mythos. Your nickname; I know. Le Fey; it might be literal, but I have a sense you’re one for having a very elegant nickname.”

Ann nods. “I like that. So elegant and French-sounding!”

Yuki sighs, continuing with her explanation. “Anyways, back to the explanation. Long story short, this is how Kamoshida views the castle. We’ve been busting our asses trying to reach the innermost sanctum of his castle to steal his treasure. Of course, we’ve recently run into a big issue. Blackjack, give him the detailed version.”

Mona obliges. “The castle is a distortion. It’s Kamoshida’s perceived reality of how he views the castle. It’s not real, but it does reflect his twisted heart. We are attempting to steal the treasure here. If we try to do so, then it will no doubt affect the real Kamoshida into atoning for his crimes.” He then crosses his arms. “We’ve only gone in once for real only to get ambushed, and then me and Adler here tried to scout the castle for any further traps. What we hoped was for no surprises to pop out of nowhere, but we soon found out Kamoshida had a dragon. A dragon we didn’t even know existed until Adler made the right choice to go back to scout the place further. With four people, we’d be hardpressed to contend with both a dragon and Shadow Kamoshida. However...” He looks at Mishima. “With five, we may just stand a chance at creating a diversion. What kind of diversion… I don’t know… but it’d be better than fighting that thing head-on. Of course… we’ll have to prepare for anything and everything. The Metaverse can throw curveballs at you, things you could never even suspect.”

Yuki claps her hands softly. “We killed a bit of time here. Mishima, stick close to us. If you wander off during our investigation of our place, we can’t guarantee your safety or even get you back intact. If all goes well… you may even awaken to your potential.”

Mishima whispers, “Potential. So you’re saying that I could be just like you guys?”

Yuki smiles. “You’ll understand soon what I mean. Now… let’s get a move on, guys. I want to reach the treasure room by the time we’re done for today.”

The castle didn’t seem relatively that different than when Yuki and Mona scouted out the dining hall.

In the first battle, Mishima had to stay close but not too close as Yuki and the gang tangled with some Kelpies.

After the battle, Yuki noticed Mishima has stars in his eyes, gushing about how cool they all were and how their Personas looked.

Yuki just simply gave him a look that said “And maybe we’ll get to see what your inner spirit of rebellion is.”

They reached the dining hall, and pushed onwards, opening the door. It seemed to be a flight of stairs circling around a tower, only dilapidated and a huge portion of the staircase caved in.

Yuki groans. “Well, that’s something. We can’t ascend the stairs and get further in.”

Mona chuckles. “Well, it looks like it’s my turn to shine!”

Yuki looks at him. “You know a way we can get up there?”

Mona rummaged in his bag. “A Thief must always be prepared. I’ve been tinkering with this for a while now. I honestly didn’t see any purpose to it until now. You see that hook up there? He gestures to a golden hook.”

Yuki squints to look at it. “Yeah?”

Mona finally pulls out a wound-up coil with a hook at the end. “With this grappling hook, you can latch onto it and soar up there! Attach it to your sleeve! It has a built-in winding mechanism.”

Yuki is dubious about the whole thing, but given her expertise with Mona’s gadgets in the previous timeline, she reluctantly strapped it on.

Mona smiles. “Now try to aim for the hook.”

Yuki gave a twirl and aimed the grapple at the hook; the grapple latched onto the hook and rapidly lifted her. Mona just barely managed to grab on to her before she ascended.

Mishima seems fascinated. “I can’t believe you had the skill to pull that off.”

Yuki jumped down from a safe height. “The Metaverse enhances your physical conditions and your body strength, not to mention your agility. My parkour skills, for example, are enhanced here that I could easily pull them off here. In reality, I couldn’t dream of pulling off anything without a hitch.” Yuki jerked her head upwards. “I need you guys to get up there. I don’t know if I can carry all of you or if we’d have to do this one-by-one, but let’s try it out.”

Yuki again unwinds the grapple hook and aims for the indent. Ryuji, Ann, and Mishima grab on tight as Yuki ascends, though not as rapidly as the first time around with just Mona. 

Yuki gets up on top. She flexes her arm. “Mona, nice job with the grappling hook. It’ll seem as if it’ll hold up with a couple of people. Mind if you can make a couple more? I can’t imagine carrying everyone every time something like this happens.”

Mona nods. “It should be fairly simple enough. I’ll get cracking on it tonight. I should be able to make more over the next couple of days.”

Yuki remembers that this area reminds her of the library area in Kamoshida’s castle once upon a time. She walks down and immediately sees a guard standing firm at a locked door. Similar here, though there might be something different. 

Yuki motioned for the team to follow her into one of the rooms. In there, she activated her Third Eye, noticing a book. The King book. She smiled. Something recognizable, although it stirs up bad memories. 

Yuki traversed around the area, picking up the Queen book. She also noticed a book labeled The Beefcake, one she wasn’t aware of previously. She reluctantly picked it up and headed straight for the library, only pausing to clear the area of any remaining guards. 

Once inside the library, she notices the Slave book. However, everyone hears a voice.

The voice weakly spoke, “Help… Help me…”

Yuki stopped and held up a hand. “You hear that?” The funny thing too was that she swore she recognized the voice.

Ann mutters, “Yeah. It sounded like a student is trapped somewhere nearby.”

Yuki pales. Could it be… No…

She slowly, reluctantly, slots the books into their proper positions.

As she suspected, the library still contained a hidden room. However, when they looked inside, it was so much worse than that. It was a makeshift torture chamber. 

The voice they heard… was none other than a cognitive Mishima Yuuki, beaten and bruised up, hanging from chains in the ceiling.

Mishima was in shock. “That’s me. But I’m me.”

Mona nods. “He’s what we refer to as a cognition. Essentially, a byproduct of Kamoshida’s perception of people. I guess in his mind, he sees you as some sort of prisoner.”

The cognitive Mishima groans. “Help me… I was chained up here for trying to start a rebellion down in the dungeons with the others. He tortured me so… so… much…”

Mishima, just mind blown, steps forward. And then he heard a clunk. 

Yuki shouts, “Trap!”

The floor underneath Ann, Ryuji, Mona, Yuki, and Mishima gave way to a large trap door that slid wide open. As they fell, the only person Yuki was closest to was Mishima. Seeing no other way to get to the others in time before the trap door slid shut once again, she grabbed onto Mishima and unfurled her grappling hook, managing to sink it into a hook by the trapdoor. 

She ascended… ascended… ascended… it looked as if they weren’t going to make it.

By the skin of their teeth, they barely managed to squeeze through before it slid close. 

Mishima was in shock. 

He believed that he might have condemned Ryuji, Ann, and Mona, to a fate worse than death.

Yuki shook Mishima. “Mishima… Mishima... we had no idea that there was even one. Don’t worry… we’ll find a way to rescue them.”

Mishima despondently responded, “I did that. I activated a trap that made my friends disappear before my very eyes. I could have killed them.”

Yuki shook Mishima. “It wasn’t your fault. There’s still a chance we can save them!” Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Mishima took her words at value. He covered his face with his hands, shell-shocked.

Yuki looked up at the cognitive Mishima. “You must know where they went. If you hate Kamoshida as much as we do, please. Tell us.”

The cognitive Mishima groans. “They might have fallen into the dungeon. Unfortunately, I don’t know where the entrance might be; they had me blindfolded the entire time. Only the king and the guards know of the entrance. Anyway, I’ve… given up. There’s no way we can win against them.”

Guards rushed into the library and surrounded the two. “Intruders! You have dared to besmirch the name of our king and lord, King Kamoshida. Additionally, you have seen fit to defy and disparage his very name.”

Yuki got up and readied a battle stance. “Mishima, if people like you give up, it means Kamoshida wins. Don’t be like the cognitive figment of yourself. I know you’re stronger than this, better than this. If Kamoshida wins, he will get away with everything. Frankly, I intend not to let him escape what justice he deserves for everything.”

Mishima looks down. “I know that, and I hate him too, but the odds…”

Yuki shut him down as she grabbed his shirt. Mishima was terrified by her fury as she shouted, “I don’t frankly care about the odds, Mishima! He raped Shiho and she almost committed suicide if I hadn’t been there to stop her. I know I won’t forgive him. If you are going to be like this, it means you're letting him do whatever he wants. If you truly cared like when you tried to give Ryuji that recording, then please, do the right thing. Stand up and believe in yourself. Believe in us. We won’t go down that easily.” She let go of him as she drew her sword to ward off the guards, who were warily approaching them. "... Sorry."

Mishima looked down. “Shiho… everyone… they got hurt because of Kamoshida. It’s not my fault. I...I...I… need to fight. I need… to make sure… that Kamoshida pays for what he did to Shiho!”

A voice suddenly emerges. That’s right. You were never one to be a bystander.

Mishima clutches his head as his head ruptures in intense agony. You seek power; that I can give you. You seek it to make a difference, yes? Make a pact with me. I can give you what you need, what you desire; you can use my power to smite all those who have wronged you and your friends. I can tell… the ‘other you’ has been waiting for quite some time… I am thou… Thou art I… come… awaken to your true sense of justice!” Blood seeped from his fingers as he clutched his forehead. Suddenly a mask appeared. It resembled that of a bucket hat extending to his nose with wings adorning the sides. He gripped it and tore it straight off, erupting in a column of blue flames and momentarily throwing the guards into disarray.

Yuki readied her sword and slashed through two guards in the midst of their disarray, disintegrating them. Two guards remained. 

The column of fire disintegrated as Mishima stepped through, clad in a simplistic black, tight-fitting onesie, but not the cringy variety. The Persona behind him though…

That persona was the definition of breathtaking. Chiseled arms, chiseled face, chiseled figure... that Persona looked as if it got plastic surgery but everything about its looks was too natural to think it was. Yuki then slaps herself. Now's not the time to be admiring a Persona's figure. I need to rein in my feelings and attraction.

The Persona shouted, “I am Mercury, the god of thieves, travelers, and medicine! Let me steer your path to victory!” Mishima then promptly vanishes; she was confused; was he trying to run from battle?”

The guards cried, “To arms!” They disintegrated into red puddles as they became a Bicorn and a pair of Kelpies. However, the Bicorn looked off, judging by the flickering purple aura it exuded.

Yuki readies her sword and grasps her mask. A voice calls out to her. “Watch out, that thing looks like he’s tougher than the standard lot.” A voice? She looks around. 

The voice said again. “It’s me, Mishima. Looks like invisibility is one of my powers. Not exactly the top of my fervent wishes for superpowers, but up there and it’ll have to do. And why don’t I have a weapon!?”

Yuki was flabbergasted. Mishima had a support Persona. Futaba had been Yuki and the alternate Phantom Thieves’ navigator, but they only managed to recruit her once they had infiltrated her Palace (Long story; she wanted them to change her heart, but it wasn’t proven to be that easy seeing she was relatively guarded around everyone, even the Sojiro she once knew. Futaba managed to get into her Palace and also awakened her Persona, Necronomicon, in the process. However, that was still three months off, assuming Yuki could rely upon her knowledge as being accurate). This changed everything. “Mishima, determine the guards’ weaknesses.”

Mishima is confused. “I beg your pardon? How do I do—?”

Yuki snapped, “Just do it! If I fall down, then they’ll be after you, not that they’ll find you.” She lowers her voice. “Sorry. It’s just that the others kinda just grasped it in the heat of the moment, and you’re just… a little slow on the uptake. In battle, that can mean the difference between victory or defeat.”

Mishima concentrates. He manifests Mercury to analyze the guards. “Seems like all of them have a weakness to electricity. I remember you fought those same Personas and they were all weak to electricity. The only difference is that the horse looks stronger and sturdier than similar ones, based on its aura.” Mishima also added, “What’s this? Here’s a buff, it looks like.” 

Yuki feels a Tarukaja buff cast upon her. Yuki calls upon Agathion. “Zio!”

The Zio strikes the Bicorn, stunning it. 

Mishima calls it out. “Stun! Do it again, Amamiya-kun!”

As the Kelpies look on in confusion, she utilized the chance to land another Zio on a Kelpie, also stunning it. She then uses the Kelpies’ fear to use another Zio, finally stunning all the enemies. Mishima kept commenting all through, noting their enemies’ status conditions.

Yuki feels she isn’t out of the woods yet. 

Mishima adds, “It seems the Bicorn can still take damage from electricity attacks. However, you can also try a physical one.”

Yuki nods and removes her mask. “Irene! Giant Slice!”

Irene apparates out of thin air, drawing her sword and slicing the Bicorn in half, dissolving it in half. Strangely, however, it blows up, destroying the Kelpies as well in the process.

Yuki feels her mask reappear and sheathes her sword. She looks for any sign of reinforcements but hears none. 

Just then Mishima appears. “Whew! I thought we were done for.”

Yuki stops him at that. “Agreed. Nice job, Mishima. First, we save the others. We’ll decide later if we want to continue forward.”

Mishima nods. “Since I’ve awakened, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten some seriously wicked powers. That trapdoor we found? That chute that leads to the dungeon, there’s apparently a small lift hidden somewhere in the library that leads down to it.”

Yuki nods. “Perfect.” She activates Third Eye, to see that one of the torches seemed out of place in the secret makeshift torture chamber. She pulls on it, and the bookcase slides open to reveal a small lift, perfect to fit four people inside, maybe even five people. Before they leave though… she unsheathes her sword and slices open the cognitive Mishima's chains. 

Cognitive Mishima falls to the ground in a heap. He looks up at Yuki. “Why? I know I’m not the real Mishima… and I’d had already given up hope...”

Yuki smiles. “If the real Mishima can persevere, then so can you. After all, from everything you’ve said, you’re just like him.”

Cognitive Mishima rubs his hands and his feet. “Thank you. I’ll make sure your kindness doesn’t go to waste.” He rushes out of the library.

Mishima turns to her. “Should we have let that me just walk out like that, with no way to defend himself?”

Yuki turns to Mishima. “I’m sure that after watching you, he won’t leave himself defenseless. Enough chitchat, though. We have to save the others. Let’s go.”

Ryuji, Ann, and Mona plummeted down to a landing. 

Ryuji shouted, “Just how deep is this pit?”

Ann screamed, “We’re going to die! We’re going to die!”

The three of them then noticed that they fell through an additional hole, as the ground closed in.

Mona yells, “Le Fay! Siegfried! Brace yourselves! Garu!”

At Mona’s command, a gust of wind manipulated into a tornado appeared and softened their landing as they got whipped into the tornado and then landed softly on the ground.

Ryuji nods. “Blackjack, nice assist. We just barely survived being pancakes upon impact!” He looks around; thankfully, the area was lit by torches. “Where the hell are we?”

Mona squints. “Judging by the bars, we’re in Kamoshida’s dungeon. More specifically, a jail cell.”

Ryuji shouts, “Oh hell no! Let’s bust out of here!” He then notices Yuki and Mishima not amongst them. “Where did they go?”

Ann offers, “I saw Adler right next to Mishima. I think she managed to use her grappling hook to get out of the pit trap.”

Ryuji cracks his knuckles. “All the more reason for us to get out of here and meet up back with them. Unless Mishima awakens to a Persona… they’re lacking in firepower to rescue us. We’ll just have to rescue ourselves.”

Ryuji grasps his mask. “Galahad, Cleave!”

Galahad appears and swings his shield in an arc, but it clangs off of the metal bars. Ryuji is flummoxed. “The hell!? What is this? I thought we could have smashed or sliced through those bars like butter.”

Mona sighs. “I’ll go look for a vent or something we can use to crawl out of here.” He begins to peruse the walls.”

Ryuji motions to Ann. “Think your Persona could melt the bars off for us to make our escape?”

Ann shrugs. “Worth a try.” She grabs her mask. “Morgaine, Agi!”

Morgaine appears and blasts the metallic cell bars with a fiery blaze. It appears to have slightly melted the bars but not enough to create an opening.

Ann sighs. “It worked, but not by much.” She shouts, “Blackjack! Did you find anything!?”

Mona shouts back, “No! Not yet!”

Ryuji turns to Ann. “I’m not waiting for Yu… er, I mean Adler, to come to rescue us. How many of those fireballs do you think you can muster?”

Ann shakes her head. “Not much, I’m afraid. I think I still have enough to do around 10 more of those fireballs.”

Mona rejoins them. “The walls are flush. No vents or even a little tunnel for us to crawl out of here. You have a plan, Siegfried?”

Ryuji gestures at the slightly mushy bars. “We’re going to use Le Fay’s fire and your wind to stoke a blaze hot enough to melt the cell bars enough for an opening, which we’ll use to escape.” He sighs. “It’s a shame Adler held onto all of the useful items we have; we could have used those… SP items, whatever she called it. I just know them as Arginades and Water of Rebirths.”

Mona shook his head. “Not really, she more specifically handed me most everything, only keeping a decent portion for herself. She didn’t trust herself to keep a hold of all the stuff while we’re in here. She must have figured that there’d be situations like these where we’d be split up.” He rummaged in his bags. “As I remember… magic requires a energy drink or similar, while regaining health requires food, for the most part. Ah… here we go… I have just about around 10 Arginades and Water of Rebirths combined. Unfortunately, it looks like Adler kept ahold of most of the loot from the Treasure chest we had in here, including the Soul Drops, Snuff Souls, and Chewing Souls. Those restore more of your ability to churn out spells, but they'll have to do.”

Ryuji steps back. “Well, you know what they say. Wind makes fire hotter and spreads it around. Mona will cast wind first, and then Ann will follow it up with a fireball. If we’re lucky, we’ll melt the bars off this cell before we run out of drinks, maybe even before we use any of them.” He looks around. “It’s silent… a bit too silent. I say we bust out of here before any guards show up.”

The lift descended, descended, descended, so far below Yuki could have sworn they were in the bowels of the castle.

Yuki impatiently taps her feet as she waits.

Mishima, still invisible, speaks. “You think the others are alright?”

Yuki nods. “Mona’s with them. They’ll be fine. Siegfried’s also there; he’s smarter than you think.”

Mishima is rather incredulous. “To think that he used to be so far removed from academics as track team captain; I mean he’s still not like top 10 in the semester system in the school, but being in the Student Council… it surely has changed him and his attitude towards studying. I’m still amazed to this day; he used to be near the very bottom in the rankings.”

The lift slowly grinds to a halt in front of a hallway lit only with dim torches. Yuki slowly takes position at a wall in the shadows, crouching as she looks deeper in.

A couple of guards patrolled the hallways ahead, but there was plenty of cover for Yuki to jump in between. However, with only herself, Yuki would find it difficult to tangle with so many guards and not run out of steam. She’d have to pace herself and play it smart.

That leaves… Mishima. Yuki whispers, “Mishima, think you can scout ahead and see where the others are? I’d do so, but I’d fear I’d run out of hiding spots before finding them. You’re invisible.”

Mishima would have done a salute if she could actually see him. “Leave it to me!” 

Mishima carefully tip-toes ahead, careful not to bump into any guards. Because the hallways were so narrow, he had to hide behind things like sofas and drawers as guards paced back and forth.

As he got deeper into the hallway, there still was no sign of them. Mishima was beginning to fear they were somewhere else when he heard a loud ‘KABOOM!’ sound out of nowhere. It sounded as if the sound came from deeper inside.

The guards turned around so quickly that Mishima had to duck beneath the cover of a sofa in order to not get stampeded by them.

It seems Yuki also heard it too as she came rushing in a while after the guards all went to investigate the explosion. “You heard that!?”

Mishima nods. “Yeah, it sounded like a big explosion. Could it be…?”

Yuki laughs. “I don’t think Kamoshida has some sort of demolition crew or something. Let’s go and see.”

They rush in, only to hear another ‘KABOOM!’ as soon as they got deeper into the dungeon. They followed the sound and saw guards lying on the ground, disintegrating. 

A thick cloud of smoke hung in the air, forcing Yuki to pinch her nose and mouth shut.

Then she heard Ryuji. “Urggh! This smoke is awful. And why do I smell something singed!?”

She then heard Ann comment, “Same! I don’t want to get secondhand smoke in here. Mona, do something!”

She then hears Mona. “...All right. Garu!”

A gust of wind suddenly collects all the smoke and transports up the same vent Ryuji, Ann, and Mona fell through.

Ryuji sighs. “Better, much better… hey, it’s Adler!”

Ann shouts, “Really!?” She then notices Yuki. “It’s you!” She ran up and hugged her. 

Yuki got taken aback, as Ann collided with her. More apparent was her… assets colliding with that of Ann’s. If she was still Ren Amamiya, she’d swear she’d have... something perking up right now. Even still, Yuki thought: Is this what women mean by skinship? I mean we’re still fully clothed, but I feel funny. Not to mention her… boobs are touching my… own; this is just too weird for me to process.

Yuki shakes these thoughts out of her mind. “Need… room… to… breathe…”

Ann heard her and released her grip. “Oops! I guess I got a bit too excited!”

Yuki flexed her head. “It’s all good… what happened to you guys?”

Ryuji points at the hole in the bars. “We landed in a jail cell. What you see here is how we managed to escape. Mona used wind, Ann used fire, and well, we weren’t expecting an explosion. Did take a while though; I almost thought we would die of smoke inhalation before we got out of there.” Ryuji looks around. “Where’s Mishima?”

A voice spoke out of thin air. “Here, Sakamoto. Or rather it’s where I am if you can see me.”

Yuki explains. “He awoke to his Persona while I was fending off a cadre of guards back in the library. Apparently, his Persona gave him the power of invisibility.”

Ann groans. “Invisibility? That’d be something I need. I mean look at my costume!”

Mona nudges Yuki on her right shoulder. “Guys… I think we have company. Look.” He points towards the lift.

A golden-armored guard appeared from the end of the hallway, rushing in. It appeared to be the same one they saw earlier. He must have also taken the lift when he heard the rumblings of the explosion. “It’s you! Causing havoc in King Kamoshida’s castle, have you! Well, you will now perish!” He dissolved into a red puddle, as a Berith emerged. 

Yuki shouts, “Battle Formation, everyone! Also, Mishima awoke to his Persona and he seems to have support utilities for us to use.”

Mona shouts, “Awesome. Tell us how to beat this guy!”

Mishima seemed to have cringed at the harshness. “Not omniscient, man! All I can tell you to do is spam attacks until one happens to stun him.”

Yuki squints. “I guess everyone spams their element, and I’ll spam Bufu with Silkie! Someone’s got to have this guy’s weakness pat down!”

Mona went first, being the quickest. Garu did damage, yes, but no toppling down Berith.

Ann went next. Agi did very little damage, it seems like, with Berith not even fazed in the slightest.

If Fire is not effective, that means… Yuki grasps her mask. “Silkie! Bufu!”

Silkie appears and sends a cluster of ice at Berith, who collapses to the ground, dazed.

Mishima shouts, “Surround him!”

They surround Berith, guns at the ready. Berith groaned. “You thieves… won’t get away with this…”

Yuki smiles. “Tell Kamoshida we’re coming for him soon. And he’d better shake in fear because we’ll deal with him and his dragon. Or... you would if you wouldn't die.” She turns to the others. “Prepare for an All-Out Attack!”

They jump back, leap in the air, and pummel Berith senselessly, but he was still hanging on. Yuki could see though that Berith was very tired.

Yuki shouts, “Siegfried! Give him everything you’ve got!”

Ryuji shouts back, “With pleasure! Galahad, Zio!”

A bolt of electricity erupts from Galahad’s spear, disintegrating Berith into a crisp.

Yuki breathes a sigh of relief as she checks for guards. “Looks like we dealt with all of them. Now, we should retreat back to a safe room. From there we can decide if we had enough for today. I think I saw a safe room near the library. There’s a lift down the hallway that emerges in the library.”

Ryuji jabs a finger at blank space. “We're forgetting something. What about Mishima’s nickname?”

Yuki sighs. “Right. Let’s evacuate back to that safe room I mentioned.”

They made their way to the lift and Yuki cranks the lever; the lift goes up.

Mona nods. “So while we’re waiting to get back up there… you guys have any idea about Mishima’s nickname?”

Ann shrugs. “Ghost because he’s invisible?”

Yuki looks at where Mishima’s supposed to be. “Your take?”

Mishima comments, “Hmm… I like it, but it lacks that certain appeal like the rest of your codenames.”

Yuki offers, “Specter?”

Mishima casts doubt. “Hmm… it’s like most of your codenames derive from fiction and mythology; ooh, I want to be Shinigami!”

Ryuji squints, “You want to have your nickname be something inspired from that anime?”

Mishima took great offense. “Hey! Tite Kubo drew inspiration from Japanese folklore and mythology, not the other way around.” Ryuji backed off, putting his hands up in the air to concede.

Yuki nods. “Shinigami… it certainly rolls off the tongue. If you like it, Mishima, then you’re Shinigami.”

Mishima seems to be leaping up in joy. “All right!”

The lift suddenly stops at the library, as the shelf rolls open. 

Yuki exited the lift and motioned. “The safe room is just down the hallway and to the right.”

They warily walked over to the safe room, on the lookout for reinforcements of any sort. Once they got inside the safe room, they all breathed a sigh of relief as they collapsed on the couches and on chairs.

Mona shouts, “I think I have a plan on how we can deal with the dragon.”

Yuki smirks. “Oh, does it have something to do with what you guys did earlier? By the way, Mona… how good are you at making explosives?”

Mona looks at her. “You kidding me!? I’m just as good as… oh, that’s brilliant! We’ll lure the dragon and trap it with explosives! That way it’ll be trapped or dead and we won’t have to deal with it directly! Of course… how do we set up a trap?”

Yuki raises an eyebrow. “Meat, of course! We can bring food in here! I’m sure we can buy like a whole chicken or a turkey or something and use it as bait. We can put explosives and bait on top of one of the towers, and then while the dragon’s eating… boom! We collapse the floor and also make sure to lob explosives at the dragon to stun it. It’ll fall down, then we’ll demolish the tower with explosives to create a living tomb for it.”

Ann and Ryuji nod. “Sounds like the best plan we have available. I’ll take it over fighting a dragon head-on.”

Yuki smiles. Kamoshida, we’re coming after you with a vengeance. You better shake in fear; nothing will save you from us.

-  A short while later  -

-  Kamoshida’s Throne Room - 

Shadow Kamoshida asks his guards. “Where are the intruders currently?”

A golden-plated guard speaks. “They seemed to have already infiltrated the cathedral, my King.”

Shadow Kamoshida fidgets with his chin. “Make sure they can’t get farther! I don’t put up with you worthless cretins to see you fail to kill them!”

The guard salutes. “King Kamoshida, absolutely!”

Shadow Kamoshida nods. “One more thing. How’s the dragon?”

The guard kept saluting. “He’s sleeping… my King!”

Shadow Kamoshida groans. “And to think I wasted all my effort on acquiring a dragon to get rid of those pesky brats who are plain and simple buffoons. What the hell is it doing?”

Cognitive Ann appears and strokes Shadow Kamoshida’s arm, perching on the side of his throne. She spoke in a rather seductive yet monotone voice, “Aww… don’t be mad, my lord Kamoshida. It’s not good for you. I know… let me massage your shoulders. Maybe later we can get down to… business.”

Shadow Kamoshida sighs but sports a small grin. “You’re right… one of you, rouse that dragon! I need it to defend the throne room. More specifically, the treasure room from those pesky intruders! I don’t care if that person dies, just do it!”

The guards salute. “At once, King Kamoshida!”

They file out of the throne room, leaving Shadow Kamoshida alone with cognitive Ann.

Shadow Kamoshida then embraces cognitive Ann. “Let’s go to my… chambers.”

Shadow Kamoshida snaps his fingers. Cognitive Shiho appears out of nowhere. She is wearing a risque bunny cosplay, with a matching bikini. “You too.”

Shadow Shiho croons, “Yes, my lord. Anything to please you, my lord.”

Shadow Kamoshida grins. Excellent. This is the life I had envisioned for myself. Having two wonderful playthings… three, what with that new girl. I haven’t seen her much, but she’s as much of a treat as Takamaki and Suzui are... Now, if only my guards and that dragon can deal with those pesky intruders...