Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 119: The Professor of Greed

Box 15 Will Change - Everything Fantasy

When the Phantom Thieves got into the Palace, they didn't even need Sandbox's signals to know that the security levels were through the roof.

With the calling card sent, and whether or not it was due to the massive scale of it, the whole place was on high alert. The Shadow soldiers were patrolling the perimeter with even more vigor, and the number of security drones in the air was almost triple what it usually was.

They also noticed, however, that the barrier and energy supply surrounding the large tower in the middle, where Ashikawa's Condensed Metacognition Reactor was located, were seemingly inactive, and the energy barrier that had surrounded the structure previously had been switched off thanks to their prior efforts shutting down the four generators around it.

Right now, the plan was to get to the top of the tower, grab whatever the Treasure had manifested as, and get out with it before all hell broke loose. But considering how rarely those plans seemed to work out, they all knew they were likely going to have a fight on their hands.

Which meant that, just in case, they had to make sure they preserved as much energy as possible and snuck around the enemies so they'd have enough fuel for a subsequent fight. A fight that could very well be their most intense yet.

Leprechaun took the lead, with Razor, Highwayman, Sleuth, Mozart, Lab-Rat, and Sandbox all following closely behind.

Using their grappling hooks in perfect synchronicity, the Phantom Thieves zipped upward along the spine of the mechanical tower, swinging from jutting girders and cracked catwalks like birds in flight. The air around the tower hummed with faint static energy, the telltale warning of a distorted cognition pushed to its limits.

Leprechaun was the first to reach the top, landing softly on the cracked metallic surface of the upper platform. The rest of the team followed moments later, crouching low as they surveyed the chamber.

The interior of the tower was just as they remembered. A massive, circular control room surrounded by machinery and strange coils of glass tubing that snaked through the walls like veins. Screens flickered with nonsensical data, lines of code spilling over into glitches.

At the center stood the Condensed Metacognition Reactor, now pulsing with a sickly golden light that shimmered with barely contained chaos.

The Treasure, its shape still indistinct, hovered above the reactor, suspended in a gravity field that rippled like disturbed water. The air around it was warmer than the rest of the chamber, almost alive. Due to it's brightness, they were worried that it hadn't manifested at first. But that same brightness was proof enough that SOMETHING was there.

"That's it," Sleuth muttered, taking a step forward. "The core of Ashikawa's delusion."

"Alright, let's do this quickly," Leprechaun scurried forward. "Grab it and go! No delays, no distractions."

The Phantom Thieves nodded and approached the glowing device. They moved cautiously, spreading into formation as they neared the reactor.

X

But halfway there, every thief stopped. The hair on the backs of their necks bristled, as if their very beings were sensing danger.

"Is it just me..." Mozart asked. "Or did that weird feeling of dread just spike all of a sudden?"

Razor's eyes darted toward the shadows in the rafters. Lab-Rat let out a sharp breath.

"Incoming, guys...!" he whispered. "They know we're here...!"