a/n: this chapter is pretty much the same as canon except for outfit descriptions and the section at the end, so feel free to skim it. the canon divergence becomes more obvious later on in the story.

"Amazing!"

"They're on the roof!"

"They say it's burglars…"

"You won't escape this time!" The call echoes across the roof, bringing the fleeing pair of thieves to a skittering halt. They turn around simultaneously, one lifting a strange object and pointing it at the feet of his pursuers. A beam of blood-red light refracts off the glass below and spreads towards the herd of officers, causing them to backtrack wildly out of its path. However, as the harmless glow illuminates their chests, they realize their error and turn back to the duo.

"As we announced we would," chirps the pink-haired girl on the right, "we'll be taking the Golden Elephant, Inspector Oniyama!" She waves the statue in her hand towards him, grinning.

"Like hell you will! After them!" The inspector commands his subordinates forward, once more, in pursuit. The boy exchanges glances with his partner and they split off in opposite directions, smoothly dancing out of the grasp of the officers in their path and letting them crash to the ground. The inspector himself catches the girl's skirt and she stops to face him.

"Inspector! That's no way to treat a lady," she cries indignantly, tugging her dress out of his grasp. "What would your wife think?" Freed, she skips backwards to rejoin her companion.

"Don't mock me!" Oniyama yells. He tugs something out of his pocket and throws it, trapping an arm of each thief in handcuffs. They look at each other, seemingly shocked, before turning to face the inspector. Oniyama grins and holds up the ropes in his hand, tied to the handcuffs like improvised leashes. "What will you do now? You're completely trapped." He grins.

"Huh, guess we are," the boy says, shrugging. "Guess we'll have to return the elephant." The girl tosses it to the inspector and he moves to catch it, but it explodes and envelops him in smoke before he can. "Or maybe not."

"Now, everyone watch closely," the girl calls, swiping the top hat off her companion with her free hand. He cries, "Rose!" in protest but she ignores him, instead saying, "Your roots are showing, brother," while patting his head with the top hat to emphasize the hints of black mingling with his light blue hair. She grins back at the frozen officers, waving the hat in front of her handcuffs as Oniyama flaps his hand to clear the smoke and curses her.

"Tada!" She spreads her arms wide and waves her freed left one in the air as she holds the hat in front of her brother's arms. He plucks it out of her hand, both arms freed just as quickly.

"The real elephant was right here," he says, pulling the statue out of the hat and replacing it firmly on his head. He waves it and the officers start, running towards the thieves. Oniyama goes to follow, but trips over the handcuffs suddenly wrapped around his arms and legs. He is trampled by the stampede of officers as the boy raises his weapon (an umbrella) again. He grins sharply and flicks it on. "Lightning Flash!" A bright light shines out from the point and blinds the officers.

The light shuts off abruptly and the policeman blink quickly, vision slowly returning. "Shadow and Rose…vanished!"

Another yells, "Hey, the inspector disappeared too!"

"Idiots," Oniyama mutters from behind them, splayed out on the ground. The officers hurry to help him. As he slowly stands, Rose giggles from behind him. She and her brother are standing beyond the safety guard of the roof, barely a millimeter from the edge of the skyscraper. "Be careful," the inspector cries, rushing towards them. "If you stand there, you'll fall!" He continues to try to coax them away from the edge but they ignore him completely.

Shadow takes off his hat and digs around inside. He pulls his arm out and throws glitter into the air, letting it blow in the wind. The glitter begins to form letters that spell out the names of the two thieves. Rose grins, holding her brother's arm. "What a nice wind tonight!" Then she seems to slip, tipping precariously over the edge as Shadow cries out. She safely stands back up on the edge, singing, "Just kidding!"

She wraps her arms around Shadow. "Well, take care," they say simultaneously, before jumping off the edge of the building. The crowd below screams, drowning out the cries of the inspector.

"Whoa! The burglars jumped off!"

"We aren't burglars," Shadow yells, raising the umbrella once more. It opens and starts to spin in his hands, lifting him and his sister out of free-fall. "We're Phantom Thieves Shadow…"

"…and Rose!" she finishes. They are carried off by the wind, laughing all the way, as the police and the crowd below stare in awe. Finally, they vanish into the night sky.

Somewhere on the ground, a young boy gets a very bad idea.

"Phantom Thieves Shadow and Rose…?"

Oniyama nods, although the man is not looking at him. "Yes. They're terrible tricksters who let nothing stand in their way, fearsome criminals wrapped in mystery."

The man turns and smirks, petting the pink teddy bear in his arms, but remains quiet.

"Mister Kaneari," Oniyama continues, "this advance notice was received by the police station."

Kaneari frowns and takes the proffered card. The notice is short and to the point:

"Tonight, we'll be taking the Dragon Gem owned by Mister Kaneari. –Phantom Thieves Shadow and Rose"

He murmurs, "The Dragon Gem…?" However, before he can say anything more, the door slams open.

"Lord Kaneari!" A frazzled-looking secretary stops in the doorway, eyes locking onto Oniyama and his assistants. "Ah! Guests!" She bows. "Please pardon the intrusion!"

Kaneari smiles. "This is indeed my secretary, Kaneko." He walks towards her and she quickly skitters across the room.

"Lord Kaneari, we received this card earlier." He takes it from her hands, and compares it to the one he is holding.

"Ah, it is indeed the same notice."

"B-but don't you worry!" Kaneari and his secretary look up at Oniyama's outburst. "Now that I, Dokusaburo Oniyama, am here, we will catch those wretched thieves and…" He and the girls on either side launch into a pantomime of beating criminals over the head, while their audience watches, unimpressed.

"That won't be necessary!" The policemen freeze and look up. Kaneari laughs and throws the notices into the air. "Just who do you think I am, indeed?" He begins to discuss the security, showing off the cameras and armed guards posted across the mansion, before chasing the police out. Kaneko walks them to the door, and offers them cookies as consolation before shutting the door in their faces.

A shadow slips down from the ceiling and into the showroom noiselessly, covering the camera in the corner with gum to hide his face. He lets out a breath and takes off towards the gem, only to set off another trap. He lets out an involuntary yelp as he grips the edge of the new hole beneath him, staring wide-eyed at the spikes pointed at him. "H-help!"

The door opens and closes, and he finds himself looking up the skirt of Kaneari's secretary. She looks around the room and mutters, "He wasn't kidding. This place is loaded!" The boy, looking up at her, notices something. Could this person be…?

She squats to the ground in front of him. "Hey, what are you doing down there?"

"Help," he pleads. "I'm gonna fall…"

"Hmm…are you after the Dragon Gem?"

"I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna die!"

"Jeez, my opponent falling into such a crappy trap, I dunno about you…I mean, this is really basic, almost comedic…" She ponders the relative novelty of his situation as he continues to grip the tile for dear life. Suddenly, she notices something, and yanks him out of the hole with one hand, whispering, "Hide!"

Guards burst into the showroom, having noticed the blinded camera. They point their guns at the person inside before realizing…

"Fools! You are late, indeed!"

"Lord Kaneari," one of the guards stutters. "W-what are you doing here?"

Kaneari chastises them for their lax security and chases them out of the room. He pulls a card out of nowhere and holds it up to the showroom, pressing the corner. He then throws it backwards with precision accuracy. It slides into the place where the boy's glue was, showing a seemingly empty showroom to the camera. "You can come out now…"

The boy drops the camouflage he had been holding. "Are you…Phantom Thief Rose?" The resemblance to the secretary was unmistakable, although she had disguised as Kaneari too…

The thief snorts. "No, but close." He pulls the disguise off with a flourish, revealing his trademark outfit. "I'm the mysterious shadow cast by the full moon, Phantom Thief Shadow!" He sweeps his cape elegantly behind him to punctuate the declaration.

"Really? That's so cool! But…where's the other one?"

Shadow seems to wilt a bit before straightening again. "She's at home with a cold, but we couldn't just cancel because of that."

"Oh…" There's a moment of pause before he tackles Shadow into a hug. "Thank you so much," he cries. "I nearly died!"

"Hey! Let go! You're gonna get snot on me!" He shoves the boy down. "I'm just gonna take the treasure as repayment."

The boy gasps, and runs to put himself in between Shadow and the gem. "No! I have to have this!"

"Then you should have taken it before I got here. Move." He slides the boy to the side and kneels to inspect the gem's case.

"But that gem is the treasure of my hometown!" He grips Shadow's vest.

"I don't really care."

"At least listen to me!" He tackles Shadow to hold him down. "I'm a rookie burglar, my name is Hachi!"

"I said I don't care," he mutters, but listens anyway as Hachi explains why he needs the jewel.

At the end of the long-winded explanation, he puts his hands on Hachi's shoulders and maneuvers him away. "Even so, being a burglar is bad."

"But you're a burglar too," he protests.

"Am not! I'm a phantom thief," Shadow replies, like it explains everything.

"Isn't it the same thing?" Hachi asks.

"Nope!" Shadow walks around the case, glancing between it and a holographic visor. "Phantom thieves aren't quiet about stealing. And you warn them first, so it's more of a challenge than anything."

"That's some logic…"

"There's a bomb in here," Shadow interrupts. The visor turns red and vanishes as Hachi looks up in surprise. "If we try to force the case, it'll explode." He huffs and turns away. "What a nasty rich guy."

"There's no way to open it?"

"Nope!"

"I can't accept that." Hachi rounds the side of the case. "There has to be a way to…"

"Hey, be careful." Shadow's voice dips into a teasing tone. "Wouldn't want to…" He glances at one of the paintings lining the walls. The glasses of the portrait lady(?) light up and fire a focused beam. Shadow tackles Hachi out of the way in time, and they roll to a stop past the display case. Hachi stands, but Shadow curls up, gripping his leg where it was hit. Alarms start to blare around them.

Shadow winces and hauls himself to a sitting position as Hachi apologizes profusely. He helps Shadow stand and moves to flee, but Shadow stops him.

"We aren't leaving yet. The treasure's still there," he says.

"What? But you said the case was impossible to open," Hachi contests.

Shadow grins maliciously. "Doesn't mean we can't steal it."

"You thieves!" Kaneari slams open the door to his showroom, guards in tow. The room is empty. He blinks and cautiously edges inside, wary of traps. However, the only visible difference is that there are two cases instead of one, holding two identical Dragon Gems. He runs up to the cases with his men, but there don't seem to be any visible differences. "What is this?"

"This is the twins' doing," Oniyama answers thoughtfully, approaching from behind them. "One of them must be disguised as a fake case."

"Inspector Oniyama, how…"

"I was doing a stakeout outside. This is how they normally operate. However, I can't tell which one is real."

One of the guards pipes up, "Should we shoot them both?"

"Idiot! What if you hit the one with the bomb inside?" He huffs and explains how the case is opened with his teddy bear, twisting its nose. The real case opens, while the fake one merely twitches.

"Incredible! So this one must be one of the twins," Oniyama says, reaching for the fake case.

"Not so fast, Inspector." Oniyama stops and turns to look at him, only to come face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. "You won't be getting anywhere with a leg like that. You're obviously not the real Inspector!"

Shadow sighs and pulls off the disguise. "Yeah, the real inspector is still asleep in his car, thanks to my sleeping powder cookies. Oh, so's your assistant."

Kaneari curses him and he rolls his eyes.

The guards point their guns at the case. "So, this is Rose?"

"Nope." The case expands into a sphere and pops, and Hachi rushes to Shadow's side. "Oh, cool. That Image Gum stuff actually works," he mutters, skillfully ignoring the incredulous stare Hachi gives him.

"Who's this brat?" Without waiting for an answer, Kaneari continues, "Well, I'll just stuff and mount two burglars at once!"

"I'm not a burglar," Shadow argues. "I'm a phantom thief."

"They are indeed the same thing!"

"They are not," he protests. He glances at Hachi, at the treasure, then back at Hachi. "Look, they're completely different. A phantom thief can make miracles happen!" He waves his arm and smoke fills the room. When it clears, Kaneari is surrounded by Shadows.

"Hey, what is this? I can't get it off!" The Shadows pull at their clothes, and Kaneari realizes that they must be his guards, all disguised as Shadow.

He yells, "That should wear off in five minutes! The last one to be Shadow is the real one! Until then, nobody leaves this room!" He races towards the door, shoving two "Shadows" out of the way. He bursts through the door and slams it shut.

The "Shadows" glance around at each other. "The last one to be Shadow, huh?"

The five minutes pass and, one by one, the "Shadows" begin to expand and pop, revealing the guards underneath. They cheer briefly for their own safety before looking around for the final Shadow. They find him sitting against the wall, breathing heavily. He looks up at them fearfully but doesn't say a word. They surround him, guns aimed. "Give it up! This is over!"

He twitches, then his own body begins to expand. The final "Shadow" pops to reveal Kaneari, bound and gagged. The soldiers glance at each other in shock. "T-that means…the Lord Kaneari that left before…"

Behind them, the Dragon Gem expands and pops into nothing.

They jump and run for the door to chase the escaped thief.

Meanwhile, Inspector Oniyama and his assistants awaken, although Oniyama denies having fallen asleep at all. Soon after, there is a pounding at the window of the police car. Oniyama yelps at the face pressed against the window.

As he rolls down the window, Kaneari asks, "D-did I run by here just now?"

The police stare at him. "What are you talking about?"

A motorcycle zooms by at top speed, and Hachi leans over from in front of Shadow to wave goodbye. Shadow yells, "Take care!" as he disappears down the road.

"Shadow!" Kaneari yells, punching his teddy bear in the face in anger. This sets off the bomb inside the mansion, to his horror. Everyone present stops and watches in open-mouthed shock for a moment.

"Ginko! After him!" The purple-haired girl in the front seat sits up straight and the police car takes off, leaving Kaneari behind.

"Mr. Shadow! You really are a miracle maker! I want to be just like you," Hachi cries once they're on the open highway.

"Is that right?" Shadow responds, grinning. Then, after a moment of pause, he says, "Hey, kid. Keep the gem."

Hachi blinks, glancing down at the gem he's holding on to. "Is that alright?"

"You're the one who stole it from the case. Treasure's what you take with your own hands."

"But…" Hachi protests.

"Don't make me change my mind," Shadow warns.

"O-okay!" Hachi looks down at the gem in contemplative silence for a moment before he bursts out, "Please make me your apprentice!"

"W-what?" The motorcycle swerves dangerously before Shadow regains control. "Where did that come from?"

"Please!"

"No way! Why would I-" A police car pulls up beside them, driving at the same speed. Shadow yelps.

Oniyama leans out the window and yells, "You aren't getting away, Shadow!"

Shadow mutters a string of curses under his breath before pushing the motorcycle to top speed. "As if anyone could keep up with my Black Speeder!"

"Don't underestimate my Devil Chaser!" Ginko screams as the police car accelerates.

Shadow weaves his bike through traffic with precision, but the police car stays right at his heels. He huffs and accelerates, nearing the guardrail at a sharp turn. "Hold on tight," he commands. Hachi grips the seat with all the force he can muster, tucking the Dragon Gem into his shirt. Shadow flicks a switch as they approach the guard rail and they launch up and over it, hitting the road below with less of a jolt than Hachi suspected. Shadow murmurs something about his shocks before taking off again. However, not a moment later, the police car lands behind them, and the chase continues.

"Five kilometers to destination," the bike's dashboard sings, screen lighting up. Shadow grins and turns the bike sharply to the left with only a slight decrease in speed. The police car follows suit and follows him all the way down the road.

Shadow turns again into a construction site. He drives into the building and into the elevator, hitting a button to shut the doors. "Go!" he yells into the stairwell in front of him. There's no response but a clatter upstairs, but suddenly the floor shifts and begins to move up. Shadow dismounts and glances at Hachi. "You alright?"

Hachi sits in shock for a moment more before nodding and patting his chest to ensure the Dragon Gem is still in place.

"Come see this then." Shadow beckons him over to a window, grin still in place. Hachi runs over and looks out.

The room he is in is slowly rising above the site below, and he can barely make out the faces of the shocked police officers. Shadow waves cheerfully at them as a female voice echoes outside, "This is our final miracle tonight! Take care, Inspector!"

Oniyama yells something back at them, but he's too far away to hear. Shadow rolls his eyes and turns back to the stairwell. "Can you bring down the first-aid stuff? I'm kind of bleeding down here."

This time the girl's voice from before responds, "Coming!" and Shadow sits down on the ground heavily. Hachi looks around the room and realizes it must be a garage. Shadow's motorcycle is parked askew where he left it, beside a car decorated in a dark purple. There are tools and pieces of machinery scattered all over the place.

Shadow's eyes widen, as if he's just realized something, and he hurriedly calls, "By the way, we have…" He trails off as a girl comes running down the stairs, holding a blanket around her with both hands. Bandages, disinfectant, and a first-aid kit float around her, glowing a light pink. She locks eyes with Hachi and gasps, and everything clatters to the floor. "…company," Shadow finishes, resigned.

There's a brief moment of awkward silence before they both start arguing at the same time. The girl immediately breaks into a coughing fit, and Shadow falls silent as well. When she seems to have recovered, he starts yelling again.

"What are you thinking, using your powers like that?"

"You didn't tell me we had company in time," the girl responds simply, getting to her knees. "Move your pant leg up."

Shadow does as commanded before arguing, "You know that isn't the point, Rose. You shouldn't be using them at all, especially in this condition. You know what'll happen if you "

Rose cuts him off. "If I didn't, I'd know by how many times you remind me. I know my limits. Besides, I have much more right than you do to decide what I do with my own powers, brother." She punctuates the last statement by pulling the bandage around his leg tight, to the point where Shadow winces. She huffs and turns to Hachi, suddenly all smiles. "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm " she sneezes into her sleeve "I'm Rose."

"I-I'm Hachi!" He stands at attention, hoping to make a good impression.

"He has the Dragon Gem. He wants to be my apprentice," Shadow says dryly, leaning back.

"Is that right?" Rose leans forward earnestly. "So what are your talents?"

"U-um…! I'm a ninja, so I can be really quiet, and I'm good at hiding! A-and, my mom says I can cook really well "

"You're hired," Rose interrupts.

"W-what!?" Shadow and Hachi chorus.

"Well, brother and I are both really bad at cooking, so it'd be nice to have someone to help with that!" At her brother's glare, she coughs a bit more and adds, "Plus, it sounds like you have potential as a phantom thief too! If you're really sure this is what you want to do…"

"I'm sure!"

"Then I don't see why not!" Rose finishes brightly.

Hachi cheers. Rose stands and walks back towards the stairs, stoutly ignoring her brother's glare. "Come on, brother, Hachi. No point in staying in the garage all night." Shadow clambers to his feet, wary of his injured leg, and follows her, Hachi at his heels. Shadow and Rose walks side-by-side and whisper to each other, arguing over something, while Hachi just looks around.

The top of the stairs opens into a wide living area with a kitchen on the side. Rose takes Hachi by the hand before he can look around and marches him straight through and out a door the other side. Wind hits him in the face and he stumbles briefly, but joins the twins to look over the railing.

The sight below is nothing short of spectacular. The entire city is lit up below him, glowing buildings and cars illuminating the small balcony. "This is the world we phantom thieves live in," says Rose, leaning over the balcony. "It's a world that goes on forever."

"What do you think?" Shadow asks, from Hachi's other side. "Do you think you can keep up with us?"

Hachi smiles widely, thrilled. "Yes!"

"Well then," they sing, synchronized, "Welcome to our endless night!"