Ryuji poked his garishly-yellow head out from the alleyway. Leblanc remained silent, still, and uninhabited by neither cutomers nor part-time employees. Sojiro sat in one of the booths, but he was facing away from the window with his head buried in a newspaper. 'Skull' kept his dark brown eyes fixed on the stairs to the attic. Akira should have freaking left by now. If this weren't a 'sensitive mission,' he would have already stormed in and told the boss all about what was going down with Futaba. Doing something in secret really made him feel like a Phantom Thief, though, and Ryuji couldn't help but crack a smile when he thought about how badass a stakeout made him. Sure, he could be loud, and may have been responsible for Makoto nearly leaking their identities, but hell if he didn't enjoy acting like an honest-to-god thief.

"Ryuji, can we stake out somewhere- I dunno, somewhere else? Like, not in front of the bathhouse?" Ann slumped against the laundromat wall, her hood up and lips pursed in boredom. Why did he have to spend his morning with her, of all people?

Ryuji grimaced. He knew the answer to that, but there was no reason to worry about it now.

"You got Makoto's phone, right?" he asked, eyes still fixed on the old coffee shop.

Ann flipped it on of her pocket and held it up by the corner. "Wish we didn't need it turned off, though. Then I could listen to actual music instead of old men singing in the bath."

"For real, though…" Ryuji wasn't exactly having a great time either; public baths were never really his thing. Like, it was pretty nice to be able to spread out and all, and hell if he wouldn't go for a glance of the other side, but the whole public part just made him shudder. He didn't even feel completely clean after a private bath, how was he supposed to feel after a bath with five or six other men? Greasy, that's what. He needed to go home after that time he went with Yusuke and Akira and wash his hair separately so it didn't turn green or something. His training meant that when he took baths, they were to get clean, not relax. He glanced over at Ann's platinum hair, but she perked up before he could ask her how she maintained it.

"Yo, Skull, Joker's moving."

"Yeah, yeah, I see him!"

"What, you see his reflection in my eyes? I know they're pretty but that's not important!"

"Yeah, whatever!"

She wasn't wrong; Ann Takamaki had some pretty stunning ocean-blue eyes, but he didn't want to feed her ego. If she could stuff he face with cake and not get fat, her ego would probably swell up with any sort of compliment. She needed a metaphorical metabolism to match her real one. Ryuji scowled, but snapped around as the Leblanc bell rang. Akira stepped out in workout clothes, Mona-bag in tow. Akira was off to the Protein Lovers Gym, where he would (not) meet Ryuji for an early-morning workout. He hated lying, but if what Makoto had said about Futaba were true, they needed to keep this on the down-low for a bit.

"Is he gone yet?" Ann poked her head out. She was obviously running low on patience. Ryuji didn't have much left himself, but it was his fault they had to wait so long in the first place, so he didn't want to mention anything in case his partner in crime pieced things together. He scheduled the workout meeting, after all. He just underestimated the time it would take them to get from his home to the hideout.

"Wait a sec… How far did the Prez say he had to be so we don't drag him into this?"

Ann shrugged.

If he had his own phone, Ryuji could've checked, but the Queen had given them very specific instructions to leave their personal phones on and at their homes. Well, Ryuji's home. Where Ann happened to be at the time he received the text. She was just chilling at his apartment at 4 a.m., no big deal.

Ryuji felt his face flush with heat. "Turn her phone on, we're going in."

Ann nodded, trading her aloofness for determination. "Futaba-chan doesn't deserve to go through this again…"

The 'delinquent' nodded. "The poor kid went through so much shit already…"

Ann was right. Futaba didn't deserve this. Not another Palace, not after she had already torn herself to shreds about her mother. If anyone deserved some happiness, she did.

"Alright… the MetaNav is loading up. Going in five."

"Let's kick some Shadow ass!"

The world warped black and red around him. Within the blink of an eye, the distortion cleared.

"Huh."

"This… wasn't what I was expecting."

"No kiddin'."

The cognitive world before them stood in stark contrast to Futaba's tomb. If anything, the environment was the most inviting the two thieves had ever been in; rather than the glaring sun and endless desert, this Palace was surrounded by lush green planes, dotted with a variety of flowers. A light breeze danced its way over the flora, mixing the flowers and grass together into a rainbow lawn. Even Ryuji, who would be the first to admit that he didn't really see the beauty of nature, was awestruck by the pure artistry of the landscape.

The Palace itself seemed small in the presence of such vast freedom. Far off in the distance (yet, Ryuji gratefully noticed, not nearly as far as the pyramids from their last Sakura-contained heist), a homely pink building stood atop a rolling hill. From what he could tell without Futaba or Morgana to give him directions, Ryuji had found their goal.

"Should we get walkin', then?"

Ann snapped her gaze back to their objective, but still let her eyes wander over the natural beauty every now and then. "We should finish scouting as soon as possible so we can start the actual infiltration. For Futaba's sake."

Ryuji nodded. "Right."

His partner-in-crime nodded back, then gave him a quick once-over. "I'm glad she doesn't see us as threats, at least. I don't mean to be a bitch, but at this point… that would hurt a little bit. If she did, I mean."

Ryuji looked down. Yep. He was wearing the same hoodie and athletic sweatpants he put on this morning. "Damn… I was looking forward to letting some steam out."

"Maybe if you told Akira to meet you a little earlier, we wouldn't have had to wait so long, then you wouldn't have all that pent-up male aggression," she said mockingly, then added, "Just a thought." With that final jab, she started leisurely walking towards the distant cottage.

"Yeah, ever try to get him up before ten on a Sunday? I've only seen him mad a couple a times, and that was one of the worst," Ryuji shot back, following her casual pace. If Ann's health kick had lasted more than a week, he would have suggested that they run, but sometimes training had to be put on hold. Besides, Ann was the closest thing to a healer between the two of them, and if she got tired, they were both screwed as soon as this place turned on them.


Futaba could tell from a glance that Makoto hadn't slept well. The breakfast was absolutely delicious; the Prez really knew how to work with eggs, and even though it wasn't curry, Futaba decided that she would accept this alternative maybe two or three times a week if she had to. But other than the quality of her eggs, Makoto seemed to be running on fumes. She was much less responsive to any of Futaba's social advances, a clear flag that something was wrong, especially since the third-year was usually the most accommodating of her antics.

Futaba's powers of anxiety-ridden deduction took over. One, last night happened. Two, because of last night, Makoto had been lost in her own stress and worry and could not get a wink of sleep.

'Because she thought you might try to off yourself again.'

"I never actually…" Futaba mumbled, then slammed her mouth shut. Luckily, Makoto had situated herself in a lone black chair of modern design across the living space from Futaba, leaving the girl to murmur to herself while nose-deep in a handheld game. Hopefully she just thought of it as the rage-filled slandering gamers were known for. Futaba wouldn't lie and say she wasn't prone to it, herself, but she knew she liked to think that she had the self-control required to be somewhat respectable when other people were involved.

Unless that person was Akira. He was a cheating son-of-a-bitch and she was comfortable enough around him to call him out for abusing the hell out of glitches.

But that didn't matter now. If he found out she had a Palace again… he'd probably just let her win all the time so he didn't hurt her feelings or something. They'd start treating her like Sojiro did, back then… The world would be cushioned like she was some fragile glass doll.

'Why wouldn't they? I haven't done anything to prove otherwise.'

Over her screen, Futaba could watch Makoto in a vain attempt to piece together what was happening. She just seemed tired. The Queen was exhausted, obviously; she had dark circles under her eyes, and hadn't even bothered applying the ever-present light layer of makeup (which made sense, since it was just her and Futaba and she probably wasn't going out). Makoto's book, something about linear algebra, had been on the same page for twenty-odd minutes. Her head bobbed up and down every once in awhile as drowsiness clawed at her. Guilt clawed at Futaba; she didn't want to cause any of this. Obviously, it was an accident, but if everyone had just stopped worrying about her yesterday she could have just retreated to her room and ignored it.

'Or you woulda just drowned in your own thoughts, as usual…"

The younger girl shook her head. She needed to stay on track. Why couldn't she focus?

'Because you can't stop feeling sorry for yourself.'

She shook her head again, harder this time. This was apparently enough to drag Makoto back to wakefulness, and the Niijima's eyes shot fully open. "Futaba? What's up? Sorry, I think I dozed off for a little bit there. I also apologize for studying when you're still here. Final exams are closing in and I like to spread out my workload."

"O-oh, what's up?" she repeated (lamely). "The ceiling! Ahaha… ha…"

'Oh my fuck, those words just came into existence. Who the hell still fucking says that?'

Makoto quirked an eyebrow, genuinely bemused, then went back to her book. Her smile was free, untouched by stress, and Futaba racked her brain to try to figure out why not. Makoto's exhaustion made sense, but not the lack of anxiety. Did she just get it all out last night? That kind of confidence would usually make her think that her Palace was being infiltrated, but every phone was accounted for, sans Makoto's, but that didn't matter since she was sitting barely a meter away from Futaba. Makoto had a habit of turning her phone off when studying, anyways, so it wasn't exactly abnormal.

Sae Niijima stepped into the main room, all dressed up in her black suit, briefcase in hand and ready to face the world. She gave the two girls a stiff nod and began collecting papers and chargers and other miscellaneous prosecutor-things from the dining table. For some reason, when both Niijima's were in the same room, Futaba couldn't help but mentally refer to Sae as 'Queen.' Even more than her younger sister, she exuded power and grace. And, from her Palace, Futaba knew the prosecutor had the cutthroat personality needed for the political minefield.

Did prosecutors count as politicians? Futaba wasn't that interested in the field, and didn't even really look into until the debacle with Shido. The judiciary side of things did technically work within the realm of 'government,' but was that 'politics?' Was there a difference? Did she care?

Futaba decided that she could just look it up later. Sae didn't seem to be the victory-obsessed harpy she had been previously, and even though Futaba still held some negativity towards her, she was instrumental in breaking Akira out of jail. Not as instrumental as Futaba herself, but still important. Either way, Akira seemed to trust her, so that was what mattered.

'Gettin' cozy with the in-laws? Smart plan, Kurusu.'

Sae passed by Futaba to grab her coat, unaware of the green monster consuming the girl close enough to touch.

'FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK STOP STOP STOP STOP THESE ARE TEAMMATES YOU CAN'T-'

"I don't believe that I will be home tonight. The bastard who took over SIU is placing me on more cases than any normal person could handle, but I'm gonna show him that I'm not the kind of woman he wants to mess with."

"So… see you in three days?"

The sisters exchanged sad, small smiles. "Probably. I'll try to come home for dinner, at least."

"I'll save you a plate. Be well, Sis."

"Look in a mirror and tell yourself that. Go take a nap while you still can."

Makoto chuckled lightly. "Alright, fine."

"See you later, Makoto." With that, Sae shut the door, leaving the two alone again.

Futaba managed to pull herself out of her fit of jealousy long enough to note that Makoto's home life really lent itself well to the RPG genre. She had no parents and her primary caretaker was practically never home; all she needed now was some grand quest to complete or encyclopedia to fill out and she would be the female protagonist of female protagonists. Why fight over Best Girl when you could just play as her?

Futaba let her lips crack upwards at the thought. For someone she was supposed to be jealous of, Makoto was a hard person to dislike. It wasn't even like she wanted to dislike her, but the second she imagined her with Akira, Futaba's stomach starting tying itself in knots. But at the same time, she couldn't blame Akira for choosing her. She was practically perfect.

Said 'perfect' girl stood up, leaned close to the dormant television screen, and scanned her face. "Sis is right. I really do not look like I got enough sleep last night."

"Was that- I mean, did I…" Futaba trailed off, pointing at herself to finish the question.

But she got no accusatory glances, no eyes affirming her suspicions, and, weirdest of all, no worry. Just… warmth. "Futaba-chan, no! Of course not! I just have not slept well at all this week, so it's all catching up to me at once. Please, do not worry yourself over me."

'Right back at you.'

"A-alright. If you say so."

Makoto nodded. "I do. You're alright to take the Subway back to Yongen, right? I must apologize, I won't be able to accompany you. I don't want to fall asleep on my feet!"

She was getting kicked out. "O-oh, yeah, lemme grab my stuff-"

"Oh, no! You don't have to leave right this very moment!" she amended. "I'm going to go back to bed for a little bit, though, so I didn't know if you would feel comfortable on your own."

Futaba raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean!"

She did. "I just love teasing you, Mako-chan. You're cute when you're only functioning at half capacity."

Makoto blushed. "Thank you…? I'm sorry, I just need sleep."

"You've been saying that for the past ten minutes, just go get some already! I'll see myself out!"

"Bu-"

"Shh!"

Makoto froze up for a moment, unable to process the fact that she had just been 'shh'd.' "Wai-"

"No talking. Go sleep." Futaba returned to her game, discussion over. Well, it wasn't really a game, per say, she just had a video playing, but she returned to pretending that she was engrossed in a game so Makoto would go get some freaking rest already.

"Fine. I'd say text me when you get home, but I forgot to plug my phone in last night, so it's out of power. Sorry!"

With that, Makoto took her leave. Futaba watched her go, admiring the Queen's grace, but at the same time having an old suspicion relit. As soon as the younger Niijima's door closed, Futaba whipped out her own phone and brought up her tracking app. Sure enough, Makoto's phone still wasn't on it, but that didn't mean Futaba couldn't check her theory. She started making a habit of not perusing through the team's texts after she joined, but she decided this was an exception. Makoto's general demeanor was off, far more than what could be explained by tiredness. As Futaba replayed the morning in her mind, over and over again, all of it seemed forced. Makoto was trying to play up her exhaustion. It had to be a distraction. In the back of her head, she knew that, no matter what she had made the Queen promise, there was no way she wouldn't try to protect Futaba. Even if Futaba didn't want her protection.

Futaba cracked open her laptop and connected her phone to it, then used it to trace Makoto's cellular trail. Numbers popped up, phone numbers filled the screen, and after syncing them with her contacts in order to identify each of them, the hacker spotted the first glaring issues: The last person Makoto Niijima texted was Ryuji Sakamoto. The transcript…

"I see. Could you tell if there was anything bothering her?"

"I mean, there was definitely SOMETHING up. But she's just weird like that sometimes, ya know? She did mention something about- Nah, never mind, it's not important."

Futaba's brow furrowed. 'Weird like that?' But she couldn't let that bother her,

"What is it?"

They went back and forth a couple times, and Futaba would be lying is she said she hadn't smirked at Ryuji invoked the 'Fourth,' even though she knew she probably would probably do the same thing. Or she would look it up before saying something stupid. She skimmed past this section quickly, looking for the important parts.

"Fine, damn it! She asked me if you and Akira were, like, thinging, okay?"

"Ryuji, you weak-willed snitching bastard…" she grumbled. Makoto's response confirmed… nothing? Nothing past that point suggested whether or not she liked Akira, too. It was just her normal investigator dialect, the 'I-got-the-information-I-needed' attitude that she shared with her sister. But, Futaba thought, it also didn't deny anything. Maybe she and Akira were dating in secret, and had to keep the team in the dark? She could go through Makoto and Akira's texts…

'No. That's going to far. You shouldn't do that.'

Futaba managed to keep her curiosity at bay and returned to the task at hand. She didn't say anything about the Palace, not in her texts…

Wait. Right after this exchange, Makoto turned her phone off. It didn't shut down due to battery, she went through the steps to shut it down herself. Something kept nagging at Futaba… That didn't add up. When she tracked their phones as Alibaba, she learned everyone's habits inside and out. Makoto didn't turn her phone off to sleep. She kept it on, because she used its alarm to wake up in the morning. There was a chance, and it was a slim one, that Makoto shut her phone down to keep Futaba from being able to track her movements. Specifically movement, since she couldn't send texts with her phone off. Duh.

'I'm just being anxious, right?' Futaba asked herself as she pulled up the camera mainframe for the apartment building. The Niijima's lived in a rather well-off home, which meant that, naturally, they would have good security, and good security meant even more freedom for Futaba.

'I shouldn't be hacking my friends,' a voice of reason called out, but even as she fought with herself Futaba's fingers kept darting around to find the- there.

3:34 a.m., Makoto Niijima left her apartment.

"Fuck…"

It would take her awhile to trace her movements, but Futaba would be able to piece together exactly what happened. She stole a glance towards the hallway. The darkened passage stared back at her, accusing. Suddenly, guilt overwhelmed the teen. She couldn't do this here, not in Makoto's own home. They were friends, weren't they?

'A friend wouldn't go behind your back. She would listen to you, and not try to baby you after you told her not to.'

'But aren't you doing the same thing?'

'If she went behind mine, isn't it just tip for tap? One-for-one?'

'But-'

Futaba grit her teeth. She was not going to argue with herself over this. Makoto may just be doing this out of worry, but she had also said that she would not act for a week. Makoto told her that she would give her the chance to solve this herself. If she went back on that, didn't Futaba have the right to challenge her? If they insisted on treating her like a kid, someone who couldn't fix their own problems, if they had the audacity to patronize her like this, she would give them hell.

She needed her full rig. She slammed her laptop shut and began packing up. The redhead did not know who else knew, but for now she would have to assume all Phantom Thieves were in on it. If that were the case… she had a plan.


The pink structure was much grander than either Ann or Ryuji initially estimated. From far-off, it just seemed to be a cube of some kind, but as they got closer the details began to emerge. It still came off as homely, but homely in the way that it looked as if multiple rosey mansions had been smashed into each other into one large residence. As Ryuji scanned it for an infiltration route, something about the architecture caused his memories of goofing off in class to surface. Something about Victorious style? He didn't really care; there was a reason he didn't pay attention in class. The design of the 'day-care,' as a sign by the door so helpfully identified, held no real interest to him anyways.

"Huh. The front door's open."

Ann stopped analyzing the Palace and followed his eyes. "Is that… someone in the doorway?"

A familiar figure stepped out of the shadows. "Hello Ann, Ryuji. How was the journey over? I do hope the scenery allowed you to relax, even if just slightly. I understand that this is a Palace, but I work hard on keeping up the grounds."

Ryuji couldn't believe his eyes. "... Haru?"

A yellow-eyed Haru, in her musketeer-style Thief outfit, curtsied in greeting. "Yes, at your service."

Ann gave herself a once over. "We're still in our clothes from the real world. Are we really not a threat?"

The cognitive clone of Haru gave a disturbingly replicated smile. "Oh no, of course not. You are Futaba-chan's friends. We would do nothing to harm you."

"That's… good," Ann responded, still doubtful.

Ryuji, however, was less tactful. "We're here to change her heart, so we're probably going to have to fight you at some point."

Haru's smile did not change. "We will lay down our lives to protect Futaba-chan. She was entrusted into our care, after all. It is our duty to keep her safe. But, as of right now, there is no way you could threaten her." Shadow Haru turned and walked back into the day-care. "Please, come in and have some tea. We have a lovely reception prepared."

"... Reception?" Ann muttered. This was too simple.

"... Tea? Why is it always tea or coffee? No one can just take a simple soft drink anymore…" Ryuji complained, but he still followed.

The reception room did not betray expectations. The wall on the side with the door and the wall to the left were lined with chairs much too small for either of the teens, obviously meant for toddlers. There was a small table in the middle of the room, split into two distinct parts. One had some old, well-read magazines, and the other had a small race track built into it, with toy cars to boot. The wall opposite of them had a window built into it. Shadow Haru grabbed a clipboard off of the ledge and turned to hand it to the two of them.

"For safety purposes, I'll have to ask you two to sign in."

Ann grabbed the sign-in sheet and pen, glancing at it cautiously. It was empty, so she picked the top slot and signed it. She passed it to Ryuji, who did the same thing. The peace put both of them on edge, but the fake Haru showed no sign of noticing anything.

"Thank you very much!" she said, taking it back from them.

"Now what? Do we getta see Futaba? You gonna tell us where the Treasure is?"

Haru's gentle demeanor didn't falter for a moment, even under Ryuji's crass interrogation. "Unfortunately, you only have level two clearance, which will not allow you to enter precious Futaba's chamber. I do hope you'll forgive me."

"How do we get a higher level of clearance, then?" Ann asked, hand going to her hip.

"I do not know, I apologize," Haru responded, curtseying again. "I only have level one clearance myself, you see. That's why I am posted as the groundskeeper and receptionist."

Ryuji felt his eyebrow twitch. He wanted to just bust his way through, but he could barely feel his connection to Captain Kidd. Something in the back of his head told him that, even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to summon his Persona. There was something wrong with this place, and whatever it was took away his first choice for solving problems in Palaces. The Shadow Haru rubbed him the wrong way, too. They were way too similar to the real one. This entire cognitive world just drove his anxiety through the roof.

Ann, however, seemed to keep something resembling a cool head. "How is clearance level determined, Haru-chan?"

Ryuji almost winced at that. It felt wrong to call the fake Haru 'Haru-chan.' The Shadow Haru blinked her bright yellow eyes, but didn't seem to think anything was amiss, and for some reason that pissed Ryuji off even more.

"Clearance level is assigned based on Futaba-chan's bond with you. I guard the outer area in hopes that, one day, she will trust me enough to allow me to act as one of her inner guard."

Ryuji's jaw almost dropped; the Shadow seemed genuinely depressed. Futaba had created a version of one of her teammates that would sacrifice itself for her well-being… She wasn't wrong, anyone on the team had her back till the end, but this… was Futaba really self-centered enough to think that they thought of nothing but protecting her? He knew they were here to change her distortion, but seeing this just pissed him off.

"This is wrong…" he muttered. Ann responded with a microscopic nod, but Shadow Haru ignored their interaction.

"Please, allow me to take you further inside. I'll leave you with the level two caretakers." Haru opened a door by the reception window and ushered them inside. Silently, the group of three made their way through the cozy hallway. Fancy, small chandeliers lit the maroon walls, and Ryuji gave the detailed tan carpet beneath him a couple of curious looks. For a day-care, it was surprisingly posh. The fluffy-haired shadow led then down the hall to an oaken door on the left. She opened it, and gave them a low, sweeping bow after they entered.

"Regrettably, I cannot follow you past this point." Haru replaced her hat and smiled. "It was a pleasure talking to you, however brief our interaction was. I pray that you find the same positivity with the two caretakers of this area."

Ann faked a smile back. "Thank you, Haru-chan." As the door shut, the practiced grin disappeared, and her face wrinkled with stress. "Does Futaba really see us like this? As… sacrificial protectors? I don't… I don't know what to think…"

"Makoto didn't tell me much, but I'm guessin' there's more to it. There has to be, right?"

With that, the two of them turned to the great room they had just entered. Toys stacked against the walls in high piles, stuffed animals littered the floor, and structures made of blocks stood tall or had already fallen into disarray. It was a child's playroom, but on a huge scale.

"Fuck, man. Even rich kids don't get this kinda shit…"

Ryuji was right. The toys went on and on. Ryuji guessed that running around the perimeter would be about the same as a 400-meter track, and every square meter of the floor had some kind of doll or block on it. They would have to somehow make their way through this tumultuous terrain in order to make any progress in heart-stealing, so the runner steeled himself and began awkwardly stepping through the disaster area. Ann, after a whining sigh, followed in his steps.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, wincing as a she lost her balance on a block and pulled her ankle. She soon shook it off and was moving again, close behind Ryuji. A few arduous minutes later, both blondes were breathing heavily, but were closing in on the wall opposite of their entrance. A door much like the one the came in stood in front of them, but before he could attempt to open the door Ann called out to him.

"Yo, there's another door in the corner over there. Wanna check that out first? It seems a little outta the way, so there could be a treasure chest or something!"

Ryuji nodded and followed her. Luckily, the floor in that corner of the room was more heavily covered in soft and fluffy toys, rather than the edgy and pointy blocks and action figures near the entrance. The only thing keeping him from throwing some of the more annoying figures against the wall was the fear of triggering the threat response when they were already pretty far inside the building. The lack of shadows other than Haru did nothing to help that fear.

He did manage to get a good laugh out when Ann slipped on a teddy bear and landed flat on her ass, but that did nothing to make the closet door seem any less intimidating. He and Ann stood side by side, the brass knob taunting them.

"You were the one who wanted to check it out, go ahead and open it."

"But what if it's a trap? Like, they knew we would see a door off the beaten path and immediately think treasure, so instead they put some monstrous penis-shadow behind it."

Ryuji quirked and eyebrow. "That dickhead in Kamoshida's castle really did a number on you, didn't it?"

"It only attacked me!" Ann shouted, indignant. Suddenly, there was shuffling behind the door.

Both teens stared, waiting for movement, but nothing changed. Slowly, Ryuji reached forward. He grasped the knob, turned it, and, after sharing a nod with Ann, ripped the door open.

There are things people expect in life. Ryuji, admittedly, would have been much more comfortable if some Shadow much stronger than him and Ann emerged from the darkness. Instead, he came face-to-face with Shadow copies of himself and Ann in the middle of an intense makeout session. The two pairs of Thieves stared at each other, frozen.

Ann was the first to speak. She took one look at the two half-naked Shadows and her face flushed a shade of red that would match her Phantom Thief costume, and, in a moment of pure emotion, just asked, "What the fuck?"

Ryuji shook himself out of his stupor. On one hand, he had to give Futaba props; she definitely managed to do Ann's perfect body justice, and even gave his own Shadow some good toned muscles. On the other, Ann had the right idea. "I'd take the penis-shadow over this any day. This is surreal."

Shadow Ryuji pulled his lips away from Shadow Ann's. "Sup. Listen, we're gonna put our clothes on. Be right with ya."

With that, Shadow Ann reached out and pulled the door shut. The real Thieves just kept staring, awestruck. From behind the closet door, they could here the two shadows moving, presumably putting on their clothes. Neither Ann nor Ryuji could look the other in the eye, and opted instead to fix their eyes on opposite walls. Ann broke the silence before it could fester even more.

"So…"

"Yep."

"I'm guessing that means Futaba-chan thinks…"

"Probably…"

"Should we, like, talk about-"

Suddenly, Futaba's voice reverberated throughout the Palace. "3:34 a.m…"

Just that time. No other words, no context. "What the hell does that-"

In a burst of red and black flames, both Thieves took on their Phantom Thief guise. They were a threat now.

Ann's eyes widened in fear behind her Panther mask. "Something must have happened in the real world…"

Ryuji twirled his crowbar. "Well, at least now we know where we stand."

A low rumbling shook the closet door. Whatever monstrous forms their cognitive forms took, both blondes could feel the power seep through the atmosphere.

Ryuji flashed a crooked smile. This was the kinda stuff he expected from Palaces. "Let's fuck these imposters up, yeah?"

Ann mirrored his grin and cracked her whip. "Oh, absolutely."


A/N: HERE WE GO. Now we can get to the actual PALACE. I did meet the deadline I set for myself, but this chapter was weird to write. It just didn't wanna flow, you know? But I put on some opera music, realized I didn't really like the opera and that, even if I did like it, I can't write while listening to music, so then I turned the music off and just WROTE.

But yeah. I tried another different viewpoint for this chapter. In my own self-critique, I don't think I did that well at writing as Ryuji/Ann, so I will work more on that to make it smoother in the future. Hopefully that's just me, though. They're not supposed to be as in-their-head as Futaba, but I may have overshot that a bit.

ANYWAYS. I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be out 3/19 or before. After that, I'll hit a really busy spot and may not be able to get something out until after 4/1, but I will try my best to make it so the business does not affect my update schedule. Just giving ample warning.

Thanks for the support, as always. Your reviews, follows, and favorites have been really helpful.

Speaking of reviews... what're your thoughts?

ND