At the next landing, the teens find a door into a room absolutely teeming with shadows. Any individual patrol can be snuck past, but doing so would leave them in view of a different guard.

Well that's not good. Next landing up?

A few less. Still a lot, but less. This room also has some irregularities to its shape, breaking sight lines up and possibly turning one big fight into multiple slightly smaller ones.

Defeat them in detail. 

This room it is. She doesn't want to go backtrack heavily and maybe run into something on the way.

"This is going to be tougher," Noir murmurs to her teammates. "Stick together and use your personas if you have to."

She picks her moment as best she can, with the same silent countdown.

The shadows don't seem to notice other fights going on around the corner from them, so the teens can keep ambushing the guards as they go. Some of the fights get pretty big, though. This one, for example, features six shadows.

Skull blasts two guards in center mass, then grabs for his mask even as he holsters his shotgun, tearing it free to call forth Captain Kidd.

Mona has already called Zorro, using blasts of wind to batter guards and keep them back.

Noir thinks she has infinite ammo in here. 

She doesn't. Eight shots into the fight she's out of bullets. It seems her ammo only refreshes between fights. 

She ends up falling back from the group of shadows as they advance on her. She's not even sure how to reload her gun in here on purpose. 

Clover's similarly out of shots after spending her whole mag. 

"Skull!" she calls, a little desperately. 

He pumps his last two shells into the guards, dropping two of them, and then hits one of the remaining two with an electric blast from Captain Kidd, dropping that one too.

Mona slashes the remaining one harshly before gusting it into a pipe swing from Skull. It falls as well.

These guards dropped a few swords, along with ¥4,200.

Noir takes slow breaths and tries to still her racing heart. Once they've hidden again and it seems they're safe from the remaining shadows she'll speak quietly. 

"We should've brought melee weapons for me and Clover too. At least a baseball bat or something. That was dicey." She reaches out of cover to snag the fallen swords and keeps one and passes the other to Clover. The money can go in her pack.

She cracks a smile. "We won, though. So we're okay. Just gotta focus. Skull, Mona, you feeling tired yet?"

He shakes his head. "I'm good."

"Awakenings are the most exhausting time, because it's such a big burst of power. You tire out more slowly in future fights."

"Alright. A- Clover, you have those granola bars for later?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"Then let's rock."

Noir readies and goes for the next group of shadows.

In fours and fives and sixes they gradually clear the room. By the end of it, they're panting, but triumphant.

Akira leans againat a wall and takes a kneeling position so she's less easily spotted.

"Alright, Clover, break out the granola?"

Ann fishes in her pack, takes out a big box of granola bars, and passes out two to everyone.

Noir accepts hers with a nod, then munches away and keeps watch.

"Thanks, Clover."

By the time they've finished eating, everyone's feeling a bit peppier, especially Skull and Mona.