There's more to being Queen than fighting.

No one had an idea, but Panther had an emotional plea. She stepped forward on behalf of her pitiable ally. "Mekanee, this battle doesn't prove anything! Sure, you may have gotten one over on Queen by... exploiting her weaknesses..." she pointed out, a funny way of phrasing it when Makoto had allowed her own strengths to be turned into weaknesses. "But forget it! Queen isn't a Phantom Thief because of what she can do in a fight. She's a Phantom Thief because of what she's been through, what she's overcome, and because of her ideals!"

"That's right!" Haru chimed in as well. "Queen may be having a bit of an off day strategically speaking, but a strategic mind isn't her only strength. There are so many other qualities that make her our valued teammate!"

"She might be a little out of it, but she's reliable when it counts!"

"She might be making some odd calls, but she's committed to justice!"

Makoto smiled. "Ann... Haru..." Her smile twitched a bit at the corner. "I appreciate you defending me, but it kind of sounds like you're blaming me for falling for Mekanee's trickery just now."

Ann looked back at her with an uneasy smile in return. "Uh, nope! Not like that at all, is it, Haru?"

"Not at all," Haru nodded in agreement. "Rather than 'falling for Mekanee's trickery,' it's like you're fighting in a way that completely plays to her strengths while forgetting basic fundamentals-"

Ann cleared her throat loudly. "Anyway! Yes, Haru and I stand behind our Queen, and beating her in a fight won't change that."

Mekanee had been listening with unusual attention. When they finished, she struck a performatively thoughtful pose, pacing the floor and rubbing her chin. "Hmmm... So, what you're saying is there's other qualities more important to Queen than her fighting ability. I understand, I understand..." The demon confidently faced them again, raising a finger dramatically. "So! All I need to do is prove I possess those other qualities in even greater proportion than your pathetic friend, and I can earn my title."

Ann and Haru glanced at each other, and the former spoke up. "Uh... No, you're not hearing what we're saying. Queen is who she is, so-"

Makoto interrupted, finishing her friend's sentence. "So there's no way you can surpass me in my strengths. I'd like to see you try, but since there's no way of testing that-"

"Bzzzzt!" Mekanee made an annoying buzzer noise and cackled. "Wrong again, my miserable opponent! Anticipating I might have to prove myself in such a way, I have, in fact, prepared a series of scientific methods for every quality that can be tested in a mortal soul! Ah, I can hardly wait to prove my worth in every statute across every chart! I'll teleport us there now."

Before anyone could object or reflexively correct Mekanee's vocabulary, the demon drew another arc in the air with her hand. Suddenly, the world stretched and distorted all around the four of them, and when it coalesced into a solid form again, they were standing in a round chamber. It was similar in construction to the previous corridor, with torchlit stonework like one would expect in a dungeon, but with unidentifiable carvings like something from an ancient civilization. Most notably, there was a sealed door behind them, and a large door in front of them with a shimmering surface like glass and a series of unidentifiable glyphs above it.

Pleased at their surprise, Mekanee put her hands on her hips. "This is my Testing Chamber, built to fairly test every quality that can be tested in a mortal soul... As I said! Any questions?"

Everyone, understandably, was full of questions. There was one thing that had to come first. The teleportation process had, unexpectedly, put everyone back in the lowkey outfits they'd entered the metaverse in: for Makoto, a black turtleneck, a teal coat, well-fit black pants, and tan boots; for Ann, a long-sleeved blue button-up, white skirt, black leggings, and heels; for Haru, a white dress shirt, a puffy green coat, a dark skirt, white tights, and smart brown shoes.

While Makoto and Haru debated whether to take off their coats in the hot environment, Ann tried the first thing that came to her mind. "Carmen!" she shouted, raising her hand in the air. When nothing happened, it hit her that she didn't have her whip, either. "Our Personas don't work here... Our masks are gone, too! Is this even in the Metaverse?"

Mekanee was quick to reply. "Of course!" She looked at the others expectantly, then quickly appended her statement when she realized nobody was agreeing. "... Not! Of course not. I think we all know this obviously isn't the Metaverse, and we all know what the Metaverse is, or, at the very least, I do. Next question."

Makoto was up next. She'd decided to lose the jacket, but still looked stuffy, probably on account of the fact that the costume change hadn't included anything to towel off the sweat from her workout. "How'd you teleport us?"

"Oh, that's easy! I-"

"Tell me now so we can use it to get on our way, or else I'll beat it out of you!"

Mekanee paused after the interruption. Ann and Haru looked at Makoto pointedly, internally groaning that their addled leader hadn't let her quarry finish giving away her secret. Still, having been given a chance to rethink it and keep the secret close to her chest, Mekanee was practically dancing in place, looking excited to spill the beans. "Ooh, I want to brag about it so bad...! Tell you what. Attain victory in my competitions, and I'll teleport you wherever you want to go with my technological wizardry. How's that for an invective?"

Haru smiled along now, relieved that this detour had finally gained a purpose. "That sounds like a wonderful incentive," she automatically corrected their host. "But, about these competitions... what do you have in mind?"

"Hmhmhm..." The demon planted her hands on her slender hips and cackled. "You foolish invaders claim your so-called Queen has aspects which place her as my better? Rubbish! I shall now face your pretender to my throne in a series of competitions, best two out of three! I'll allow each of you to name a quality you think best embodies the Queen of your team. You're looking for this tower's secret treasure, are you not? If your Queen bests me, I'll teleport you straight to it. But, if she loses, all three of you will become my servants, knights and bishops for your Queen to sacrifice as I see fit as the leader of the Phantom Thieves!"

Makoto scoffed. "What kind of chess player sacrifices important pieces like knights and bishops? The basic strategy is to bait your opponent out with your king."

"Oho! I see I'm in the presence of a fellow Chessie! Please tell me Chess skill is a quality of being Queen, I want to beat you in a Chess match!"

Haru interrupted. "Ah, maybe another time. You're saying we get to pick the qualities, and there's a specific contest for each one? Out of... any quality, at all?"

Mekanee nodded. "Ohoho! Exactly right. Any quality you name is fair game for a fair competition."

"I see... How did you manage that?"

"Simple! I sat down with a human dictionary and went through every word in every language of the human tongue, then devised a fitting competition for each. Well, with some help of other vassals, here and there. It was not a trivial task, coming up with challenges for qualities such as 'the,' 'horse,' and 'parfait.'"

"... Those aren't qualities. That sounds like an enormous waste of your time and everyone else's..." Haru couldn't help but mutter. "However, if you invented these contests, I should think they would all be stacked in your favor, yes? How can we be sure they will be judged fairly?"

"Well, that's really quite simple, my bubbly-headed soon-to-be bodyguard. I'll allow you to choose the judges yourself, from anyone other than the people in this room."

"Oh! That's quite overconf- I mean, generous," Haru finished, catching herself. However, tripping up on her words reminded her of an imminent threat. As quickly as she could, she turned to Makoto. "Look, I think we should carefully think about it."

Makoto reassured her, nodding to indicate she fully understood. "There's no need for us to think, is there? If we're going to have people fairly judge the contest for Queen, I think it should be people who know Queen best. Mekanee, for the judges of our contest, I choose Ryuji Sakamoto, Yusuke Kitagawa, and Morgana, my fellow Phantom Thieves."

Mekanee nodded. "Fair enough. Just to be clear, I can't simply summon these people here, especially as this is a limited magical space... however, if one of you would be so kind as to share their phone numbers, I can put them on your human video chat on my own replication of your primitive communication device!"

Ann volunteered to help with that, doing her best to stay patient with Mekanee and explain that Morgana was basically a cat, so he wouldn't have a phone... Meanwhile, Makoto crossed her arms and smiled, praising herself. "I knew that moron's overconfidence would make her overreach. She easily accepted three judges that will stack this in our favor. No matter what happens next, we'll soon be putting this foolishness behind us."

Haru nodded along sheepishly. "Yes, I'm impressed that you were willing to do that to secure your victory."

"What, a little trick? I'm aware I'm a stickler for the rules, but even I can bend them when I need to."

"No, I mean... Getting the men to judge your contest. That is... I think I'd surely die of embarrassment if my close, male friends were witnessing me in the state you were just in."

"You've got no reason to worry. Trust me, Haru. Mekanee's overconfidence is going to be her downfall."

"You seem very confident of that," Haru commented, letting the conversation trail off as she watched Ann explain the calling functions of Mekanee's phone-like device to the demon herself.