Persona 5 Royal

Futaba's Pyramid

       The next morning came; Ren and Grace woke up got change and had they breakfast then texted the gang to meet up in the hideout. They all when upstairs and sat down "I'm honestly surprised at the Palace this time.... Everywhere we looked was just desert." said Morgana "Oh yeah, all the other ones until now have just been normal cities outside of the distortion itself." said Ann "Thanks to that, we didn't even know we were in a Palace our first time goin' into Kamoshida's and Mr. Williams'." said Ryuji "That's still part of the Palace though. The city may not have been distorted, but it was cognition. The Palace rulers may have been criminals, but they were social enough to know the city layout. But Futaba probably doesn't..... In fact, I'd bet she's isn't even interested in the outside world." said Morgana "Hence why the whole thing is a land of desert.... Understandable, considering her lifestyle." said Daisy "I doubt many famous criminals are shut-ins like her though. Hopefully that means we won't have to go through all this desert business in the future." said Ann "That might not necessarily be the case. Many upper-class citizens travel by planes, so they don't know or care about city life...." said Makoto "A plane....!? Damn, that sounds pretty good! I mean, wouldn't you guys wanna go to a Palace wayyy up above the clouds if you guys could?" asked Ryuji "No thanks!" said Grace as she shocked her head so fast "I think a flying bank is quite enough." said Daisy "I have to say though, the topic of the area outside the distortion is fascinating. Depending on the criminal, there may be an exact replica of Tokyo within their Palace." said Yusuke "Huh, you don't get a damn thing." said Ryuji "But it's true that an observant criminal could have a true to realty city in their Palace......Although even if such a place did exist, it's not like we'd have any use for it." said Morgana as they all entered to the Metaverse to Futaba's Palace. They arrived to the front entrance of the pyramid, "Hey, we've changed into our phantom thief costumes." said Grace "That proves she sees us as a threat now. Let's be careful!" said Morgana "Let's begin our beautiful work." said Yusuke "Yes! For us to be graceful and stylish too!" said Daisy as they both smiled as they all ran to the door and enter inside crossed the sands then reached to the locked door that is blocking the path to the Great Corridor staircase the to Treasure, "So it still won't open. We might just have to give up on it." said Morgana "No point sittin' around though." said Ryuji "No, we're not giving up that easily." said Ren "Why don't we look for another entrance?" asked Grace "Not a bad idea, Violet. Considering how humongous this building is, there have to be other ways in." said Daisy "We will have to investigate every suspicious place we see, both inside the pyramid and out." said Yusuke "Ugh, outside!? You mean we gotta deal with that heat again!?" complained Ryuji "Hey, no complaining. Let's begin our investigation right away." said Makoto as they left the door be, crossed the sand bridge and walked to the entrance door but as they were about to leave the pyramid they heard a voice calling to them and it was familiar too, "Are you leaving?" asked the familiar they turned around to see Shadow Futaba there, "Come back here. Let's talk for a moment." said Shadow Futaba as they did as they were told and walked to Shadow Futaba, "Welcome back. I had thought I would never see you again." said Shadow Futaba "Yeah. I wonder why—I can't believe you tried to crush us with an effin' boulder! You want us to steal your goddamn Treasure or not?!" asked Ryuji as he huffed at her, "Hm, why don't we make a deal? You wish to proceed further, yes?" asked Shadow Futaba "A deal, you say?" asked Ren "There is a town nearby. I would like you to take back that which the bandit there stole from me." said Shadow Futaba "Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing a town on the way here." said Grace "If you bring what was stolen back to me, I will give you a reward. I'll even tell you how to proceed." said Shadow Futaba "Can't you tell us any more details? Anything about this bandit, or what was stolen?" asked Makoto "You'll learn all the information you need to know once you arrived." said Shadow Futaba "We'll need to head outside to get to the town." said Daisy as they all when outside of the pyramid "So, how're we supposed to get to this town?" asked Ryuji "She said it's nearby.... We could probably see it from here." said Daisy "Good point. Let us observe the surroundings and search for any towns that may lay about here." said Yusuke as the gang looked around then Daisy saw this other platform that had this town in the distance, "Over here, you guys!" yelled Daisy as she waved her hands in the air and then they all ran to her, "Hey, isn't that a town off in the distance?" asked Grace "Yup! And by the looks of it, it's not too far from the Palace too." said Daisy "Yes, I can see what appear to be buildings over there." said Yusuke "It's not pretty far away, so this is my chance to shine!" said Morgana "And, then let's go." said Ren as Morgana jump up transformed into the Mona Bus they all hop in and drove to the town. They arrive to the town as they gang got out they looked around the quietness of the town "We arrived. This has to be the city Futaba's Shadow mentioned." said Morgana "It looks quite desolate..... She said only bandits reside here, but still." said Yusuke as they explored the desert town unlit they walked into this square area to see a bandit waving his sword around, "I have to say, the mood of this town is definitely strange. I can't sense anywhere around." said Morgana "Hey, guys. You lookin' for something?" asked the bandit "Hey, is that the bandit that Shadow Futaba mentioned?" asked Grace "Yeah, I think so." said Daisy "Heh, I thought I heard someone rustlin' around out here..... and here y'all are. Welcome to the desert, fellow trader." said the bandit "Hm? What does he mean by 'trader'?" asked Yusuke "I don't know?" asked Daisy "We don't care about your welcomes. You're a bandit, right? Just cough up the thing you stole." said Ryuji "Ha! Well ain't this interestin'. A group of criminals comin' after a fellow trader.....Well, you're gonna have to catch me if you want it." said the bandit as it ran away "Wait! Ughhh, you juts had to scare him off, Skull!" said Daisy "Me!?" asked Ryuji "We'll have to talk about later. Let's get after him." said Grace as they nodded and ran after the bandit "Hey, I said wait! We're...." said Ryuji but the bandit cut him off "You're too slow, morons. You'll never catch me at this rate." said the bandit as he ran away "He ran off again! Hurry up and catch him, fast!" said Morgana as they ran after the bandit "Hahaha, you guys tired already? What a bunch of losers.... Grave-robbing is a game of stamina, y'know?" said the bandit as he ran away again "Urghhh, he got away again! This is really pissing me off!" yelled Ann "We'll never catch him if we do nothing but follow his path.... We should corner him somewhere." said Makoto "Corner him? But how?" asked Grace "Let's use that square from earlier. We sneak around him and trap him in there!" said Daisy as they all split up and when to each corner then Ren ran to the bandit, then Grace and Daisy got off to their corner that made the bandit to go the other way, then Ann and Makoto stopped the bandit on his end making him to go the other direction and final Yusuke and Ryuji pop out of the corner that made the bandit to the square area then the gang ran to the square area together trapping the bandit there, "there he goes...! We finally chased him into the square!" said Ann "Perfect. He has nowhere else to run now.... Let's do this, you guys!" said Daisy the bandit looked at the gang, "Yo, bandit! What's the matter? Not runnin' anymore?" asked Ryuji "Tech.... Don't even think about comin' one step closer." said the bandit "Give us what you stole." said Ren "Heh, don't be ridiculous. I mean you guys came to raid that tomb too, right? Why don't we work together and share the plunder?" asked the bandit "Don't talk to us like we're the same as you! We came here to save Futaba-chan. Now give us back what you stole!" said Grace "So you wanna do this no matter what, huh? Well, in that case.... I guess I don't got a choice!" yelled the bandit as he transformed in a winged creature. The gang fought long and hard, "Yo, Fox! Are you ready!?" said Ryuji Yusuke looked at Ryuji confused then Ryuji and Yusuke did they Showtime; A very hungry Ryuji sits at a table in the "Fox's Beef Bowl" restaurant. Yusuke then makes Ryuji the ultimate beef bowl, but before Ryuji can take a bite of it, the bandit bursts open the doors to the shop. Angry at the bandit for interrupting his meal, Ryuji and Yusuke begin shooting at the bandit with their guns. Ryuji then throws a grenade outside, which Yusuke shoots to detonate it and blow up the bandit. Once the bandit is down, Ryuji goes back to his beef bowl. "I don't come up with that idea at the end though." said Yusuke as Ryuji was proud at the touch of their Showtime, the bandit disappeared and dropped something "We won! Oh, he dropped something." said Ryuji as Daisy picked up the stolen item; it was a papyrus parchment, "Is this..... some kind of papyrus parchment? It looks like there's something written inside." said Morgana "Hey, no peeking at a girl's belongings without her permission!" said Ann "Y'know, just what the hell's happenin' in her heart? There's this bandit, those weird voices sayin' 'you killed her,' and who knows what else.... It's a total freakin' mess." said Ryuji "So does this mean that even though she's the Palace ruler, she can't control what happens in here?" asked Ann "I don't know..... I've never seen a case like this...." said Morgana as they drove back to the pyramid entrance, "Well, what now?" asked Ryuji "We've completed Futaba-chan's request. Let's go see her again." said Daisy "Sounds good. I'm curious about that reward too!" said Morgana as they all when back inside the Palace as they saw Shadow Futaba standing there "We're back. This is the thing you said they stole, right?" asked Ryuji as Daisy pulled it out and was about to give it back to Shadow Futaba but she gave it back to Daisy, "Well done. It is yours now." said Shadow Futaba "Wait, what? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" asked Ann as Daisy opened it to see a map of the Palace, "That is a map of tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place." said Shadow Futaba "Why are you letting them juts do whatever they want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" asked Daisy "All that matters is that the map is now yours. Just come further in and..... Oh." said Shadow Futaba as they the gang heard a rumble from the Palace "What in the...." said Yusuke but then Shadow Futaba floated away as she disappear "Huh? Futaba-chan disa..." said Ann then the floor that the gang stood opened on them and then they fell down to the Palace, "Goddammiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" yelled Ryuji as they continue on falling down. They kept on falling down, "Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!" yelled Ryuji as they landed down something soft they look down and it was quicksand, they swam and swam "Ngh, is this...." said Yusuke "Quicksand! Everyone, swim with all your might!" said Morgana as they all swam then they came up to the surface they all huffed and puffed with all of the swimming in the quicksand ".....Hey, you guys still alive?" asked Ryuji "Oww..... First a boulder, then this.... Did we piss her off somehow?" asked Ann "I don't think it has anything to do with us angering her.... I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her." said Morgana "A simple defense mechanism... considering what she's been through." said Daisy "Joker, let's save her! We've got to help Futaba-chan open the door to her heart!" said Grace "Of course, for my sister." said Ren "I have no objections, but we should worry about ourselves first and foremost. Come on, let's look for a way back above ground. Otherwise this place is going to end up our tomb too." said Morgana as they explore the pyramid underground cavern. They climbed through the the cavern they found an door open it and found stairs in the underground corridor they ran up and saw an exit, "Hey.... Ain't that light the exit!? I'm kinda surprised how close it ended up!" said Ryuji happily "Thank god we can finally get out of here. This was all around a horrible experience." sighed Morgana as they continue walking but then saw this Shadow just standing there "Hold on, there's something ahead." said Daisy as they looked at the Shadow "Look how tranquil it is. It appears to be different from the Shadows we've encountered prior." said Yusuke "Yes, it's probably not a good idea to go up against such an opponent without a clear escape route." said Daisy as they when up the stairs and unlocked the door and exit out the underground of the pyramid and found themselves outside the Palace "We made it out! Damn it's hot though. My ass is all sweaty...." said Ryuji everyone shaken their heads with the comment that Ryuji made, "At east we have secured our escape route. We can finally go about exploring this place now." said Yusuke "Let's use this as our entrance from here forward. It should be more stable than the front." said Daisy as they when back to the underground and back to that one Shadow that was standing there "Welp, we got our way out. Now can we kick that thing's ass!?" asked Ryuji "Here we go." said Ren "Brace yourselves. This is definitely no normal enemy!" Morgana as the Shadow saw the gang there, ".....FOOLISH GRAVE ROBBERS. YOU HAVE ENRAGED THE GUARDIAN OF THIS PLACE. HENCE, THERE SHALL BE NO PATH FORWARD FOR YOU, IT IS TIME YOU PERISH!" yelled the Shadow as it transformed into Mot and the battle was on. The gang looked at Mot, then Morgana summoned Zorro then Zorro casted Garu as it when down, "Okay, now guys, let's do this!" said Morgana as they did an All-Attack Out and Mot disappeared. "Alright, we managed to scape through that somehow!" said Ann "Yes! Now, let's keep it up and head for the Treasure" said Grace "We should make sure we don't get reckless though, it's better to proceed one step at a time." said Makoto "Yes, now let us beginning." said Daisy as they continue on. They enter to this small room that had the door locked so they when to the other room to see this weird reflective panel that had a light that was coming but it was blocked by the wall so they ran back to the locked door and climbed to this small panel and saw this button, "What's this ting, some kinda button?" asked Ryuji "Think before you go touching that, okay? It might be a trap. Although, I'm curious about it myself..." said Morgana as Ren when up to the button and pressed "As they say, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' Very well." said Grace then suddenly the bazooka shot the arrow and then the wall was destroyed and the light when up to the locked door and then the locks on it when away "Holy crap, that scared the shit outta me! It totally WAS a trap!" yelled Ryuji "I'm not so sure about that..... it looks like pressing the button has unlocking the door." said Daisy "Yes, there is now light being cast on that door. Let us go and take a closer look." said Yusuke as they jumped off the cliff and when back to the door as they got close to the door, it opened "Oh, hey! It's open!" cheered Daisy "Indeed! So , shining light upon the door is what caused it to unlock...." said Yusuke "Wait, doesn't that mean we can open the door at the great stairs the same way!?" asked Grace "That's a definite possibility. In any case, we should push on." said Makoto as they open the door and then they entered the Chamber of Sarcophagi. Then the gang notices this stone tab that had words in green that was growing "Hey, there's something written here...." said Grace "Let me see.... 'The light shed by the god of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits.' What could this mean?" asked Makoto as they continue on the journey. As open doors the gang walked in to this room that had this statue that was holding this green gem, "It's holdin' something.... Wait, what is this statue anyways? Some kinda dog.... thing?" asked Ryuji "This is Anubis, the Egyptian god of the underworld. It seems to have some kind of shining orb...." said Daisy "That sounds kinda familiar. Something about light from the god of the underworld?" said Grace "Hm, this may come in handy somewhere." said Morgana as Ren took the gem "Very well. This may prove to be an object of great import." said Yusuke as Ren held the Abyss Gem with him and they ran out of the room and continued on the way then they when to another room that had the same statue, "Huh, this statue's the same weird dog thing as before. And look, it's got one of them gems too!" said Ryuji "The god's name is Anubis. It really isn't that hard to remember, Skull...." said Morgana as he shaken his head as Ren took the Abyss Gem and when to the other door, they saw the refection panel and two vest looking then they saw the door to the Great Stairs, "Hey, is that..." said Daisy as she was shocked and Yusuke finished the sentences, ".....The door to the Great Stairs! That means we are directly above where we ended up after coming through the front entrance." said Yusuke shocked too then Ren when to the stone pedestal, "There's a cavity here.... It looks like something might fit inside." said Makoto "Maybe we should put that thing from the Anubis Statue in there." said Ann as Ren took out the two Abyss Gems and place in the stone pedestal then they all felt a rumble happening, "It feels like something is moving...." said Grace as they turned around to see the walls moved to show platforms that goes down and the refection panel moved to the door's locked pad and then it disappeared "Alright, we got it!" said Ryuji "So shining light upon it is what causes it to open. That is the same as the door underground." said Yusuke "We can't rest on our laurels though. Let's stay cautious and proceed forward." said Daisy as they jumped off the platform and headed straight to the door then it opened "Yes, it's open!" cheered Grace "We seem to be pushing our way through the doors of her heart." said Daisy "Yes, let's keep going." said Makoto as they ran up the next locked door in the Great Stairs "Another door? Damn, this is takin' forever." said Ryuji "Thinking back to how it felt when we first climbed these, I believe we're not even halfway yet." said Makoto "This is for Futaba-chan! We need to keep at it!" said Grace.