The team was frozen. There was no discussion, no negotiation. The Shadow didn't even claim its true name like Silky did. Would Ren be different? The thought of a lustful, incubus-like Ren unnerved the girls deeply.
"Joker... are you... okay?" Shiho asked in concern.
"Yeah... I'm fine. The others are putting him in his place," Ren said with a pause. "It doesn't affect me. He seems to have calmed down a bit when he became a Persona. Not a dangerous pervert anymore. Just…"
"Your own perversions?" Morgana asked while struggling to maintain a straight face.
Ren immediately started to blush.
"Well, I don't like that one. It creeps me out," Ann whined. "But whatever. I trust you, Joker."
'Eh? You have a magnetic personality, huh, Trickster? They trust ya, huh?' Incubus commented. 'Hey, I think they're into ya. 'Specially the blonde.'
'Shut up or I'll fuse you away,' Ren growled in embarrassment.
'That's a good idea!' Pixie and Silky said together.
'Wait, wait, wait! I'll stop! Uh, I'll tell you about the king and some pathways that are hard to find!' Incubus defended himself. 'The king is a pervert, ya? Know thy enemy, right?'
'Hmph.' Pixie and Silky were not happy, but the perverted Persona had a point.
"Let's just move on. I'll deal with this later." Ren shook his head. "Apparently I can use Evil Touch now as well because of him."
"Ren, that skill was terrifying. You almost shot yourself…" Shiho choked out.
"Did I?" Ren hummed. "That's not good."
The team was silent. That was not a healthy reaction to such a thing.
'Thank god I had Me Patra. Thank you, Carmen.'
'The Trickster has his own struggles. As The Lovers, you should support him.'
'The Lovers? I don't love him! I, uh…' Ann replied in embarrassment.
'I am thou, little one,' Carmen giggled.
---
The trek through the Palace was uneventful.
Well, as uneventful as the Metaverse could be.
A few weak Shadows were handled quickly, mostly by Ann and Shiho, while Ryuji loudly declared himself "DPS support" despite mostly just hitting things with excessive enthusiasm. Stepping up to the door Ren had mentioned before, he tried to pull down the chain. But Nothing happened.
"Looks like this needs a key," Morgana suspected. "Maybe here?"
The not-cat pointed at a round impression directly under the chain.
"Don't tell me we need to go back," Ryuji sighed deeply. "Panther is definitely going to blow up that room again if we have to."
"Damn puzzles." Ryuji was starting to dislike the RPG nature of this place for the first time.
"No worries. I found this in that gross room. No need to head back," Ren said as he lifted a cheap-looking medal.
He pressed it into the round impression, resulting in a click. He then pulled the chain and the door opened.
"Thank god," Shiho whispered as she took a quick glance at Ann, who shot her a thumbs-up to assure her that she was fine.
---
Soon enough, the team made it to the gym. It was a chapel. Ignoring the implications, they leaped between the pews and found a small area they could climb up. They moved slowly across the rafters before jumping down onto an elevated platform that allowed one to observe the entire gym.
But Ren didn't notice. Shiho spitting on the ground in disgust when she looked down at the gym. Nor did Ryuji. No, their eyes were locked onto a chest nearby, glittering with excitement.
"Shiho, that isn't lady like at all!" Ann laughed
The boys were still silent.
"No way…"
"A TREASURE CHEST?!" Ryuji blurted out in excitement as he dashed over to it, Ren following close behind.
"OPEN IT! OPEN IT OPEN IT!" Morgana cheered as he caught up, Ryuji basically sliding on his knees to open the chest.
"IT'S LOCKKKKKEDDDD!" Ryuji cried in despair.
"Me Patra," Ann cast.
"Don't waste your mental energy on that idiot," Shiho giggled as they approached the excited boys.
"No worries!" Ren exclaimed dramatically, pulling his hands from his pockets with flair. "Morgana and I covered this yesterday!"
Holding out his fists, there was a lockpick between each of his fingers. Ryuji was able to recognize what they were from playing video games and gave a huge grin.
"You can praise me, ya know? I AM great," Morgana preened with smug pride.
"Yeah no, you'll get even more arrogant," Ryuji scoffed.
"Why you—"
CLICK.
While they were arguing, Ren managed to pick the lock on the chest. But not breaking three lockpicks first.
"NOOOO WE'RE GONNA MISS IT!!!!" Ryuji cried as he rushed to the chest.
"I don't understand what's going on," Ann whispered as the boys bounced in excitement.
"It's a TREASURE CHEST, DUDE!"
"Just open the damn box." Shiho raised her palm to her forehead in exasperation.
The three boys opened the chest slowly, their excitement building by the second…
"A dirty shirt?" Ren muttered.
"Ugh, it stinks," Morgana whined with tears in his eyes, backing away from the rancid smell.
"I don't want this in my bag," Ren suddenly muttered.
"Me either!"
"Not it!"
"Too smelly!"
"Looks like it's up to you, Skull." Ren saluted him for his sacrifice, backing up slowly, his eyesshowing deep respect... and a mischievous glint of taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.
"Screw you guys." Ryuji grit his teeth, stuffing the shirt in his bag. "Imma wash it, it's gonna be dope as hell and ya'll are gonna be jealous."
---