Skull follows behind Ann. 

And Mona follows last.

The guards are keyed up, when they get inside. Almost anticipatory. They're a little sloppy in their patrols. The team can mostly sneak by them.

Noir does her best to backtrack to where the secret passage up was last time. A few patrols need to be killed on the way there, but it's nothing the four of them can't handle with a whole third persona user on their team now.

She's more graceful than before even in these ridiculous heels, which is a blessing in a fight.

Wrecking these shadows is a very cathartic vent for Skull's worries right now.

Here's the hidden passage. And there's the busted stair. Good thing Akira's got a grappling hook, and a rope she can lower for the others once she's at the top.

The grappling hook is a joy to use. With how springy it is and her enchanced agility, it's just natural to flip - and she nails it easily, once again despite her heels and the jagged terrain of the stair. 

She lets the rope down behind her, and then they're off into the upper levels.

The shadows fight harder here. A group of seven they can't sneak past, and when they fall there's a group of six not long after. But they're making progress.

At the end of one fight, the last guard standing rips off its own mask and falls to its knees, becoming a slender female figure with insect wings sprouting from its back.

"Wait, can't we talk about this?"

Noir keeps her dagger ready, but doesn't strike. "Go on?"

"I'm Pixie! I come from the sea of souls, and I realized I don't want to keep working for Kamoshida! Can I surrender, or maybe join you instead?"

Noir lowers her dagger fractionally. "Any enemy of Kamoshida's is a friend of mine."

"Great!" She dissolves into a swirl of blue-white light and melts into Noir's mask, which glows for a moment. Noir is left with the frankly bizarre sensation of Pixie entering her heart and nestling inside next to Julie.

Noir blinks. "What was that?"

Morgana's jaw drops. "Whoa! Are you...? You are! You're a Wild Card! That's the rarest Persona user ability I've ever even heard of!"

"A wild card, huh?" 

Noir considers for a long moment, then grins. "Change of codename, then. I'll be Joker from now on."

"Okay then, Joker!" Morgana grins.

"Wait wait wait, what's goin' on here? That shadow just flew into your mask."

Joker gets a smug grin. "I think I can use her powers now too." 

A persona of multiple personas has got to be powerful.

"Holy shit, Joker. That's awesome!"

"Seconded," Ann says. "You're definitely going to be a powerhouse for us."

Joker grins. "Yeah. Let's stick to the plan, though. We've got a whole next floor to explore."

The team soon find a rectangular loop of a corridor, with narrow rooms off either side. Shadows guard inside the side rooms in ones and twos, and groups of three or four patrol around the corridor.

This shouldn't be too hard. Just rush the side rooms while ducking the larger patrol. Wouldn't work on human guards, but shadows seem to be... less smart.

"Try tearing off one's mask," Mona suggests. "You might be able to convince it to join you."