Persona 5: Pain and Palace (For Skullz612)

[KathyKane]

Ann groaned as Akira and Ryuji helped her up, Morganna's spell already mending Ann's wounds and clearing her head. They were in Kamoshida's palace, the strange, bright neon drenched fortress made from the sick man's desires. They had been battling their way to the treasure, the core of his mental desires, and the one weakness this strange realm afforded him, for days now, and Ann was growing impatient.

Brushing her fluffy blonde pigtails away from her face, she shrugged off the post-battle haze and winked to her companions in what she hoped was a confidant manner. "Man! Those shadows were tough! Sorry about that, lets keep going!"

Both Akira and Ryuji looked like they wanted to say something but Ann rushed on ahead of them, mounting a spiral staicase that led up into a tower. The Palace conjured by Kamoshida's desires looked right out of a fairy tale, if you ignored the shadowy knights who patrolled the halls with red eyes and fetishsitic statues of high-school girls that decorated every chamber, evidence of kamoshida's real life victims and desires.

Ann knew she wasn't helping. They were going to need to stick together and function as a team, and she was begin too hasty, too stubborn, not following orders, and not being a team player. But she was angry, and she NEEDED to get to the treasure, to avenge her friend Shiho, and to take vengeance on Kamoshida herself.

[Skull612]

(My goodness, it's one thing after another. So sorry it's taken me this long to get to this.)

Joker sighed as he adjusted his gloves, looking to his teammates around him. The shadows were definitely getting tougher now...or maybe they were all just getting worn out. Mona was already tending to Panther...again. This might have been avoided altogether, if the girl hadn't rushed out at the wrong time of the shadows patrol. Though the same could be said for the last seven or eight battles. He understood their newest members motivation and desire to make Kamoshida pay for what he'd done, but she was even more impatient than Skull. It was taking it's toll on their mission for sure, Mona didn't look like he had that many heals left in him.

Ann raised from her humiliating, albeit entirely attractive, pose on the floor as Mona's persona worked it's magic. She swiftly winked and attempted to reassure the team she was ready. Before they could say a word, she'd already continued ahead. Joker started to follow, only to be blocked by his other teammate's outstretched arm. Skull growled as he watched Panther run off, pulling up his namesake mask as he turned to Joker. "Dammit, this is such bullshit isn't it? There she goes again, she's just going to be seen again and get us into another rumble right away. I want that bastard Kamoshida as bad as anyone, but even I know this ain't the way to go about it. Morgana's gonna keel over if he has to heal her dumbass anymore!"

Morgana shook off a bit at the mention of his name, turning to Ryuji with a fierce expression. "H-hey that's not true at all! If it's for Lady Ann...I can-I can keep this up all day! Oh Lady Ann, you're so beautiful, even when you've been defeated. And it's Mona you idiot, remember the codenames already!" The feline tried to stand tall, though he couldn't keep his legs from wobbling a bit. It was clear he was just acting tough, he definitely couldn't keep this up much longer, not if Panther kept getting them into fights they could avoid.

Skull growled again, glaring down at Mona. "Whatever! Dumb pervy cat aside, we gotta do something. I swear if I have to see that sexy ass of hers raised up like that again, i'm just going to slap it as hard as I can! Who even falls over to land in that exact position? Every time too!?" Joker glanced up at Ryuji as he spoke, a thoughtful expression showing beneath his mask.

Mona leapt up on a nearby crate, to better see eye-to-eye with Ryuji. "I already told you, i'm not a cat! Clearly it's an elegant way to fall, not that you would understand anything about elegance. Hey...you also called her sexy just now, didn't you? I think you've been watching her more than you'd like to admit, haven't you?" Despite himself, Ryuji felt his face grow hot, as he tried to stammer out an answer to Morgana. However the cat thief leapt for his mask, grabbing a hold of it's edge to forcefully bring it down. "And put your mask back on already, you idiot!"

Skull brought his hands up to his face in a pained manner. "Ow! That was my nose, dammit Mona! Why you-" Ryuji recovered and raised his arms, preparing to strike back at the feline until Joker stepped forward between them.

"I think Skull has the right idea." Both thieves stopped, looking towards their appointed leader with confused expressions. It was rare for the guy to actually speak up, so when he did they took notice. "Mona, you have to be disciplined if you're going to be a Phantom Thief, wouldn't you say? Acting reckless will jeopardize the plan, and endanger the whole team. If Panther is going to stay with us, she needs to learn that."

"W-well, I guess Lady Ann is being a little reckless. And...that's true, if we keep getting caught these guys will ramp up security so much getting to the treasure will be nearly impossible. But what do you mean? What are you going to do?"

Joker shrugged off his companions question, turning the direction Ann had run off to. "You'll see, follow me. We need to catch her before she gets herself in any more trouble." He answered, leaving the two to look on in confusion as he dashed off after Ann. Skull still couldn't really get a read on what Joker was thinking. He just shrugged and looked down at Mona. "You heard 'em. Lets go get her." The two quickly followed suit, running after Joker to find Ann.