SZ:...not...gonna...quote...the song…

Z0: It's too...tempting...the...temptation…

SZ: Must...resist urge...to sing…

Monokuma: *grins mischievously, bring out a boombox as he was about to hit play*

Z0: Curse...you…*pulls out a wand and points at myself before suddenly a giant shadow forms over Monokuma making him to look at a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex*

Monokuma:...oh g-*gets head bitten off*

SZ: Oh thank god…*looks at the readers*Yeah...you knew this was coming the moment we mentioned that song..which more or less debut in this stage in p5 as a instrumental

T-Rex Z0: music in Persona is just...always amazing.

SZ: VERY...amazing...ahem. Anyways...we own jack aside from original content, so...begin!

T-Rex Z0 *steps on the screen*

"Mmm...can't believe someone found us out that easily…" Ryuji groaned as the group was meeting within Kairi's room.

"Doesn't help they seem to be a hacker, so it'll be hard to track them down," Kairi sighed.

"...wait...if they hacked us…" Ryuji began..before pulling his phone out and deleting some stuff, "Delete! Delete!"

"...Don't wanna know…" Kairi muttered.

"Same…" Ann sweatdropped.

"Still this news is disturbing," Yusuke added, putting down a sketchbook as he looked on at the group, "Could it be this Alibaba is part of Medjed?"

"Med what?" Ryuji blinked, stopping in deleting stuff in his phone.

"Medjed, it's a really dangerous hacker group," Makoto explained, "Nobody knows who they are...but I've heard that once they target someone, they can leak out any and all information that can and will get them into trouble, all while leaving them with little to no chance to refute it."

"Speaking of said hacker group, got another message from Alibaba," Kairi spoke up, picking his phone up from his bed as he looked at the text. "'I know you're planning something...hypocrites is what you are. Your decree to cleanse Japan of corrupt people is the biggest hypocritical thing I've heard. If anyone has the skills to change Japan...it's me. -Alibaba.'"

"..." everyone looked to Kairi for a response.

"Oh...you want me to...okay." he walked off for a moment. They blinked as he walked back in, "Alright…"

"Wha…" Ryuji began.

"Dick pic." Kairi replied honestly.

"Eh?!" Ann and Makoto exclaimed at that.

"What? They wanna bring it, so I'm bringing it back."

"Oh I get it...they were being a dick...so...That is some clever shit." Ryuji laughed.

"...may I see?" Yusuke asked.

"..." Kairi tossed him his phone.

"I swear…" Morgana sweatdropped.

"Anywho, let's deal with this. How the heck do we find the Palace of someone we don't even know." Kairi began, "We need some info on this nonsense…"

"But where…" Makoto pondered as she held her chin in thought, "Medjed is well known for keeping themselves hidden from sight, so we may need to question some people that were targeted by them."

"Good point...but something about Alibaba-kun feels off...these probably scary other guys, seem more about messing with folks who could turn a profit. This person feels like they want us to do this for them now. Doing anything to entice us to work faster, by jabbing at pride." Kairi spoke, "If there's one thing I understand...it's assholes and jerks. I...am both."

"It's true…" Morgana spoke, "He really is a mix of both…"

"Yes but outside that..I am a ladies man," Kairi smirked.

"Debatable."

"I'd believe it…" Yusuke spoke up.

"See? This is why I like you, man. You understand me," Kairi grinned at him, "Much like our…"

"Please don't bring up that greeting you guys did," Ann groaned.

"You mean this?" Yusuke began as he shot up, raising his knee up as he stood in a crane-style stance, "Kairi, greetings my comrade!"

"Yusuke! It is good to see you, comrade!" Kairi shouted as he copied his pose.

"You influence each other too much." Ann sighed.

"Agreed," Makoto added.

"And it gets...weird…" Ryuji cringed.

"To that I say, screw you it's funny." Kairi smirked, "Also weird. No response...they must have never seen a dick before...or are really into it. Which makes me regret my life choices...but no more than usual." he muttered, "Right let's find the mystical magic butler and ask him for clues."

"Good idea…" the others sighed in agreement.

"Wait...but how are we gonna find him?" Ryuji asked.

"We'll have to go through the mazy part of Mementos for a bit of a shortcut."

"Hmm?" Yusuke blinked at that.

"Heads up you two…" Kairi began as he looked at Yusuke and Makoto, "This is gonna be a bit crazy."

"...crazy how?" Makoto asked.

"Ahh...it's all so exquisite!" Yusuke gasped from his seat within a small black bus with a yellow stripe going down the middle, a pair of cat ears on the top, and a pair of blue headlights acting as eyes, the team currently in their Phantom Thief attire as Yusuke looked out the window while drawing on a notepad, "Just seeing this place...the bizarre architecture is spurring my pen to create!"

"Yeah getting here is kinda freaky." Kairi spoke up as he was driving through an area field with mostly red and black, a few paths having some train tracks leading down to something.

=It's not that bad…= Morgana argued from the bus' radio.

"We use an App to get here...an App," Kairi pointed out.

"Oddly not the weirdest of things we've ever done." Ann spoke up.

"I give some slack to magic...but this...this is just nonsense!" Kairi added, "Magic be damned!"

"Says the Persona user," Makoto countered.

"Woman, don't ruin my rant…"

"Uh-oh...Mom and Dad are fighting." Ryuji laughed.

"I will turn this cat car around." Kairi played along.

"Oh please don't scold the 'children' like that…" Makoto sighed.

"Ha!"

"Instead threaten to cut them from a meal...to be precise, that new restaurant with their attempt at Inaba's Mega Beef Bowl."

"What?!" Ryuji gawked.

"The parents have spoken!" Kairi declared dramatically earning a few chuckles from his team.

"Heh heh...yeh...real chuckle," Ryuji chuckled a bit, "...Seriously though Makoto, is there really such a place?"

"Perhapes, but…" Makoto began before she heard the faint sounds of chains, "...chains?"

=?!= Morgana tensed at that, screeching to a halt for a moment =Ch….chains…?=

"What the hell is that?" Kairi sighed.

"It sounds like it's getting closer," Ann noted, making Morgana sweat nervously.

=Not again...we need to run now!= Morgana freaked as he rushed off.

"Okay...what is with you and chains, cat?" Ryuji asked.

=The sounds of chains means one thing...the Reaper is coming!= Morgana exclaimed in fright.

"The Reaper?" the group repeated, Yusuke pausing in his drawing upon hearing that.

"Like the Grim Reaper?" Yusuke asked.

=Almost...the Reaper is a very...VERY Dangerous Shadow!= Morgana exclaimed =They say it's bullets can kill someone...with just one shot!=

"Why is something like that in here?!" Kairi exclaimed, pushing on the gas pedal to pick up more speed.

=I don't know! Back before I met you guys, I ran into one and barely got out of there alive!= Morgana screamed as he turned a corner.

"You could've warned us when it was just me, Ann and Kairi!" Ryuji snapped.

"We can yell his ears off later! I'm cocky not stupid!" Kairi shouted.

"You're being ridiculous. The chains could be something Mona ran over or…" Makoto began as she opened the window and looked behind them...before immediately pulling her head back and closed the window, "Step on the gas."

"Wh-?"

"NOW!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Kairi panicked, pushing harder as he also shifted gears.

=It's behind us! It's behind us!= Morgana freaked as they quickly turned a corner, the chains sounding louder as a rather tall and large figure was starting to chase after them, a blood-red eye being seen within the darkness as it hunted the group down.

"Please tell me we're close to where Kogure is, man!" Ryuji begged Kairi.

"We should!" he replied, "Screw it! I'm gonna Fast and Furious this!"

"What's that mean?"

"I'm driving through stuff…" he blurted.

"Do it." everyone spoke.

=I'll allow it!=

With that Kairi took a sharp left...and drove through a wall.

Kogure hummed a bit as he was busy dusting some stuff off in the front hall, stopping to look at the Collection Piece he was cleaning. He then blinked a bit when a red and black portal formed near him, the group screaming as they flew out of it with Morgana turned back into a cat while the portal quickly closed behind them.

"That….was close…" Morgana panted, resting on top of the dogpile that consisted of the group.

"That...was unnerving," Yusuke muttered from in the middle of the pile.

"Ryuji...that better not be your hand," Ann growled from within the pile.

"I feel something soft and round…" he chuckled.

"No that is my buttocks…" Yusuke spoke up.

"Ah ew!"

"Then who's hand is that?" Ann asked.

"Trust me...it isn't intentional…" Makoto sighed.

"Everyone get their ass off my back…" Kairi coughed.

"Good to see you all in such high spirits. Given the young lady is with you now...you will not be needing that memory altering item."

"No…" Kairi groaned.

"Ah good...cause I wasn't sure if it caused...debilitating levels of...brain damage." he muttered whimsically.

"...you were willing to damage my brain?" Makoto frowned at Kairi a bit as the group managed to undo the dogpile.

"To be fair...you were blackmailing me…" Kairi argued, "I mean...I kinda have stressed I am a little...Neutral."

"Chaotic Good at best." Yusuke muttered.

"Are we gonna ignore the fact we were practically on Death's door?!" Ryuji complained.

"Hmm?" Kogure raised a brow.

"That reminds me...that shortcut of yours through Mementos Kogure?" Kairi paused as he looked over at the butler, "No offense it's a good spot...but you could have warned me about the Shadow with the possible INSTANT DEATH BULLETS!"

"It makes this location safer from enemies." Kogure replied.

"Gah!" he complained.

"Besides...why didn't you have Jack show you the shortcut?" Kogure asked.

"They never asked~" Jackpot Striker laughed as he floated up.

"Ugh...nevermind," Kairi facepalmed, "Just...just help us out here….have you heard of Medjed?"

"If this is internet related...let me stop you right there." he spoke up, "I am a magical man...in a magical manor, who deals with magical items. The last time a scam caller called me, I found his house, and used that same memory wiping item to leave them a babbling mess." he explained, "So no Kairi-kun, I don't know." he then stopped him from talking, "But, if this is about something Lupinranger related, then I do have a few things that will help. Come, and bring the others, but tell Ryuji not to touch...lest he let out that demonic soul sucking Djinn from the lamp."

"The what?" Ryuji blinked as the others began to follow Kogure, "...hey uh...he's joking right?...right?" he nervously asked as he ran after the others.

Koruge led them down a hall lined with some reclaimed Items, but many -MANY- more empty slots. He then walked over to a large book and began flipping through it, he leaned close and began to read the text. Which was all written in French.

"Ah yes, here's something useful." he tapped the picture of an old brass compass, and suddenly...the item began to lift out of the page and materialize before them, "This is an item Master Lupin himself used to find things of interest, primarily the Collection pieces and other magical items or locations." he explained, "Allow me," he held a hand out as Kairi blinked and pulled out his Dial Fighter, "Give me but a moment and I shall merge this item with the Red Dial Fighter. Now next time you need to find something...just follow this."

"Uh...okay," Kairi nodded as he handed Kogure his Dial Fighter.

"Wait...you can upgrade our stuff?" Ryuji asked.

"Only a little...Master Lupin only taught this art to one other. His son." he explained, "He is a true craftsmen, it is he who made your VS changers."

"Wait...someone made them?" Kairi asked.

"He makes all the items used by you. Modified all the Dial Fighters, and is currently working on more. But he is not here, he has taken all the more powerful items and useful things to the manor back home in France. There he is crafting new and stronger tools, he shall send them via another servant of the family soon."

"Another servant?" the group repeated.

"Yes...and they more or less deal with things involving Personas."

"Wait...so our Personas can get stronger too?" Kairi blinked.

"Yes...and they can explain it better once ya meet them," Kogure answered, "Just don't be surprised if you see him in your sleep."

"What does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"Best left to...magic." Kogure replied.

"Oh...fair I guess," Kairi shrugged, "Well...guess we'll head out then."

"Not through Mementos!" the others freaked.

"Babies…" Jack spoke up, they then snapped their heads to him, "Oh fine fine, I'll take you the safe way."

"Phew…" they sighed in relief.

Kairi yawned a bit as he sat in class with Ryuji and Ann, opting to ignore their teacher as he looked at his phone. A few days...a few days they've been hounded by Alibaba...even if they were taken by surprise by Kairi's pic. But by this point it was just getting tiresome. Even annoyance had given way to exhaustion with all their messages.

"Oi...Oi! Yano!" the teacher snapped, earning Kairi's attention slightly, "Are you even paying attention?!"

"Do you want me to lie or…?" Kairi asked honestly.

"So you weren't paying attention...you no good punk!" he snapped as he threw a piece of chalk at him, only for Kairi to raise his middle and pointer finger as he caught it just as it was about to hit him on the forehead, "?!"

"Ah...sorry I'm a little out of it, I forgot to let that hit me." Kairi muttered as he flicked it back, letting it land on his desk, "Do...you wanna try again? I won't catch it this time." he offered in a very patronising tone.

"You…"

"He caught Mr. Ushimaru's chalk," one of the students whispered in amazement.

"And did he say he let him hit him before?" another asked.

"Seriously Yano's badass…"

"I mean really if it makes you feel better." Kairi muttered, "I really am sorry, I just got a lot going on...I didn't react like I normally do." he sighed, "It's just...internet trolls...ugh…" he groaned face planting on his desk, "No matter what cool stuff I do...I can't beat internet anonymity."

"Hey man..at least you're not being attacked on Twitter," Ryuji pointed out.

"That is a dumpster fire I am NOT touching…" Kairi deadpanned.

"Can we get back to the lesson!?" the teacher snapped.

"Oh shit right we're still in school…" Kairi spoke.

"Yes we are...and right now I'm trying to catch up on some work here," Ann stated, pausing from writing something for school.

"Not my fault Sensei got sucked into the conversation, we don't want to talk to him!" Kairi argued.

"Yeah!" Ryuji agreed.

"Besides I'm having real problems here! He's not the one with this annoying little internet troll bothering him every second of every day!" Kairi ranted before his phone went off, "Nope!" he grabbed it...and chucked it out the window with all he had...before realization kicked in, "Ah crap...regret…"

"Y…" Ushimaru began before the school bell went off, "...ugh. Class dismissed."

"Hang on baby!" Kairi cheered as he ran out.

"He really needs to get some sleep…" Ann whispered.

"No kidding…" Ryuji added.

"Where is it? Where is it?!" Kairi exclaimed as he looked through the grass and bushes around the school, "Oh I didn't chuck it far did I?"

"You're thankful you have me…" Kairi looked up to see Morgana, his phone in his mouth as he put it down.

"Oh thank god!" he cheered, taking his phone before turning it off, "I...I need to get some rest…" he groaned.

"Yes you do...but you may want to answer that text first," Morgana stated, "It's Alibaba again."

"Of course it is...ugh...let's see what that troll wants," he muttered as he turned his phone back on.

'Finally...good day,' Alibaba greeted.

"'What do you want you little troll?!'" Kairi snapped through his text.

'Not much...are you in school right now?'

"You…" Kairi began with a growl before an idea popped into his brain, a smirk growing as he texted, "'Who are you again?'"

'I...wait. A...are you..ahem. I'll answer this as many times as necessary. I am Alibaba, and I have prepared the calling card for you. When are you going to steal it?' Alibaba asked.

"'Who are you again?'"

'...I'll keep answering if you keep insisting...I am Alibaba. Aren't you able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?'

"'Yes...but we need a name whoever you are.'"

'A name? Is your heart thievery truly impossible t...wait...did..did you just ask me who I am again?!'

"'Well person I don't know, you tell me.'"

'...ugh. If it's a name you want...the target you are looking for is named Futaba Sakura. If you fail in changing her heart, I will expose your identity to the world and report you to not just the police...but SPD as well,' Alibaba stated, 'I'll be counting on you...we shall speak again after the change of heart.'

"...'Who are you?'" Kairi smirked through his text before the words 'account not found' popped up.

"...You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Morgana asked with a deadpanned look.

"I did." he nodded.

"...and you realize they're threatening to call SPD on us...right?"

"Yes….but I did get a name somewhat. Futaba Sakura," Kairi grinned before blinking, "Wait….Sakura….that's the old man's last name."

"Could be a coincidence." Morgana spoke.

"I don't think so Mona...in fact...that might just help us learn who's doing this."

"Think we should talk about this with the others?"

"Yup."

"Wait...they're threatening to call SPD on us?!" Ryuji gawked as he and the others met up with Kairi at their usual hangout spot.

"Ann…" Kairi sighed.

"Lower your damn voice!" Ann snapped, slapping him upside the head.

"Ow...thanks...I guess I needed that," Ryuji muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Considering who SPD is, the mental freakout is plausible...until you exclaim it out," Makoto stated.

"We're just thankful no one is paying attention," Morgana pointed out.

"Yes…" Yusuke noted, looking around a bit, "I guess we beat out the public crowd."

"But...via the power of annoyance, I finally got this Alibaba to give me a name." Kairi added.

"Only you would count being annoying as a superpower." Makoto sighed.

"Worked on you didn't it?" Kairi smirked, making her blush, "I had total control of the situation, 'nough said."

"Fair I suppose...Ahem. So what is this name they told you?" Makoto asked.

"Futaba Sakura."

"...wait. Isn't that Boss' last name?" Ann asked.

"Is it possible he has any family?" Yusuke questioned.

"I never asked nor did I try to pry into his personal life. Same courtesy he extends to me." Kairi sighed, "But I'll talk to him about it, I really think I got them to goof up, and this could help us find out what's going on."

"True...still we should be careful," Makoto advised, "Even if they gave us a name, they didn't say which Futaba Sakura we should target."

"So...they might be pranking us?" Ryuji asked.

"Possibly. I mean look at his demands," Makoto answered, "Things like 'Pay me if you don't want me to leak who you really are,' that I'd understand, but they're basically telling us to steal someone's heart without explaining why."

"...is it possible we're being tested?" Yusuke suggested.

"Hey remember the time we did take human hearts, their personality did a huge 180?" Kairi spoke up, "What if they noticed that?"

"Possibly, but they don't know our method," Makoto stated. "So it could be a bluff...or they are testing us….regardless Kairi, I think you should ask Boss about this Futaba Sakura once."

"Probably for the best," Morgana sighed, "There's nothing we can do at the moment."

"I'll check the school's roster just in case," Makoto added.

"And make sure Boss doesn't figure out who we are," Yusuke added, "We'll have to approach this cautiously."

"I trust my boss, and he trusts me. He's one of those few good adults in life I know." Kairi spoke, "I'm not gonna bullshit him, I'm gonna ask him if he knows this person...and find some way to talk this out if he does. If not...then no problem." he sighed.

"And if he does know this person?" Ann asked.

"Like I said, I can't do that to the guy, so...if I have to tell him...I trust him enough." Kairi admitted.

"Hai…" Morgana nodded as the group began to walk their separate ways back to their homes.

"...Mmm…." Soujiro sighed a bit, looking at his cup of coffee as he held a lit cigarette in hand. He was about to take a puff before the door opened, letting him turn to see Kairi walk in, "Oh hey kiddo...what's up?"

"Question...who's Futaba Sakura?" Kairi asked.

"...how do you know that name?" Soujiro questioned with a dangerous glare.

"Ah…" Kairi sighed, "I had really hoped that name was just coincidental…" he groaned, "This...is...probably gonna be a heck of a story. But let's just say, someone who's been bothering me dropped that name when I tricked them for information. I had hoped it wasn't someone in relation to you, cause the last thing I want is to suck you or family of yours into my problems."

"...Soka…" Soujiro noted, looking at Kairi in slight suspicion before sighing, "Regardless, that name...it's got nothing to do with you."

"Ano sa…" he sighed trying to make himself sound like his normal self, "Have you heard of those Phantom Thieves, the Lupinrangers, the ones who claim to steal hearts to change people, and stop monsters?" He asked, getting a slight nod in response, " ...This was on a site about them. The person bugging me brought up if they can change people's hearts by stealing them...why not use that power to help people...and then...that name was dropped…" he explained, "I...brought this up cause...I think they want them to change this person's heart."

"...Change their heart…" Soujiro repeated before sighing as he put his coffee cup down, "I'm sorry Kairi...this is something not even they can change...much less heal."

"I see…" Kairi noted, "Look...I'm really not trying to...pry or...cause trouble for you. But...heh...it's rare I find an adult who I actually respect…" he chuckled in a forced manner, "I just didn't want any trouble to come to your family…"

"It's fine, kiddo...I know you're just trying…" Soujiro nodded as he began to walk past him, "Be sure to lock up...I'll see you in the morning….heh. Might end up making us some breakfast curry for us."

"Right." Kairi nodded, "I'll try and clear this up," he added, "Ah…" he let out a long sigh once Soujiro was out.

"We got some bit of info at least…" Morgana spoke as he hopped out of Kairi's bag, "But...I never seen him so mad before...and heal...what could he mean?"

"It means this...is very complicated…" Kairi sighed before blinking as he realized something, "I think I get it now...Alibaba...is Futaba Sakura…"

'Wait...so they want us to target….them?' Ryuji asked as Kairi was texting him and the others through a group chat.

'Yeah, I think Futaba-san thinks we can use the power to Steal Hearts and change people to heal her. Boss didn't say much, but I think something bad happened and she's trying to heal. He's really defensive about the subject so I didn't pry, but it's clear he really cares and this is important', Kairi added what he figured out.

'Soka...hmm..' Makoto pondered.

'Got something?' Ann asked.

'Yes...if we find her Palace….we might be able to try and help her…' Makoto answered.

'Will that work?' Yusuke asked.

'Possibly,' Makoto responded.

'It's more of a gamble then anything else. We've only seen it's effect on assholes.' Kairi added, he took a moment to think and began typing, making the others wait for a second, 'But...I want to try also. I don't know if it will really help but...but we are Phantom Thieves. We can't just ignore a challenge to our pride.'

'Heh...that's our leader. Never knows when to back down from a challenge,' Ryuji grinned.

'If he is all for it, we can't really say no, can we?' Ann giggled.

'No we cannot,' Yusuke added.

'Then it's settled. We'll meet up tomorrow…' Makoto stated.

'Good idea...I can finally get a good night's sleep,' Kairi added, he plugged his phone in, disabled internet functions and set it to silent and for good measure put it a little further away from his bed. He then came back and made sure to turn it on vibrate...and moved Morgana's bed over top of it, the blinking Morgana included, "Wake me when the alarm goes off." he ordered.

"Fine...but you owe some fish…"

"Let me guess...tuna?"

"Nope. Yellowtail."

"Tell you what; let me get at least 8 hours...and I will literally foot the bill for the real expensive shit." he sighed.

"Deal," Morgana beamed quietly.

"Good...now good night," Kairi saluted as he plopped onto his bed and instantly fell asleep, "Zzzzzzzzz…"

"I would have agreed for salmon…" Morgana chuckled, "Eh might as well leave him be. He's no good to us half asleep." he shrugged as he curled up into a ball and started to fall asleep.

Kairi yawned as he began to wake up, his eyes slowly opening to look at his surroundings...which was blue….lots and lots of blue.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Kairi Yano."

Kairi blinked as he sat up, looking ahead to see a rather odd looking man in a black butler's suit..and a very long and pointy nose.

"What the...who...who are you?" Kairi asked, far too shocked to even be offensive.

"I've waited to meet you, it's so rare to find one who is born to this one of a kind Arcana…" he chuckled slightly to himself, "I know only two others who are alive. And 1 before who was even superior."

"...superior?" Kairi blinked before shaking it off, "N-nevermind. Who are you...and what exactly is this 'Velvet room' you mentioned?"

"It is a very special room that appears before those that are worthy, bound between the realms of dreams and reality, mind and matter," the man explained, "As for who I am, I am Igor...servant of the Velvet Room and friend of Kogure and his master."

"...Wait. You're the other servant he talked about?" Kairi blinked.

"Well that's one way to think of me." Igor replied, "There are many ways to see me, and process how this works. It's all...about imagination."

"Imagination?"

"Yes...the power of the mind," Igor answered, snapping his fingers as some cards began to float around him, "Tell me, what do you know of the arcana?"

"I...know they're involved in tarot cards," Kairi admitted.

"Oh it is so much more than that," Igor explained as a few cards floated down before him, "Each is intertwined with one's destiny...one's fate if you will. You and all people you have met within your life are each connected to the Arcana…" one card flipped to show the arcana of Chariot, "This one is your friend Ryuji," another flipped to show the Lovers Arcana, "This one lady Ann," the third and fourth flipped to show the Magician and Emperor Arcanas, "These are for Morgana and Yusuke respectively…" The fifth flipped to show High Priestess, "This one is young Nijima's…" the final one flipped to show the Arcana for Hierophant, "And this one is for your current Guardian, Soujiro Sakura."

"...and...what's mine?" Kairi asked out of curiosity.

"Ahh yours? Oh yours is by far one of the most unique ones…" Igor explained as another card floated before him, slowly flipping to show Kairi what Arcana it was, "The Fool."

"Ah come on…" Kairi replied with a sigh.

"Oh don't take it as an insult. In the Arcana, the Fool does not mean the idiot. It means potential, and journey." Igor chuckled, clearly having explained this many times before, "Where shall you go, what will you become on your path, will you become a real Fool...or...could you become the Hero of The World...or maybe...something darker...like the Demon King?" he chuckled.

"...Okay. Now you're starting to catch my interest," Kairi admitted.

"Good...because I've yet to tell you the best part of the Fool's power for you," Igor explained as the cards vanished, a few copies of Kairi's Phantom Thief Mask floating down before him, "You also have the power of the Wildcard, allowing you to strengthen and empower your bonds with those you've connected."

"...And the masks?"

"Oh these? This is the best part…" Igor began as he leaned forward a bit, his grin growing, "You...can control multiple different Personas."

"I can...do that?" Kairi asked in a shocked manner.

"Indeed." he nodded, "However...you can only have one out at a time, so it's best to switch between each one to further optimize your battles against the Ganglar."

"What else can I do?" Kairi asked.

Igor swung his finger side to side as he made a ticking sound by clicking his tongue, "Now now, too soon for...that little game."

"Eh?"

"Just know this...over time you will gain the ability to control more powerful Persona," Igor continued, "And in order to obtain new ones...well...heh. You are a thief after all...young master Yano."

"How do I come back here?"

"Oh that is simple...my door is always open." Igor smiled, "All you need to do...is open it." he chuckled, in a slightly sinister way.

"Wh-" Kairi began.

"Snrk!" Kairi snorted as he shot up, the sound of thunder going off outside as it was raining hard, "...Ok….that was odd…"

"Mrrr…" he looked down to see Morgana's bed turned over on the floor, a very annoyed Morgana glaring up at him.

"...did I do that?" Kairi asked, confused as he dragged a hand down his face to try and force his eyes into focusing better, "Man...that was a freaky dream...did you know the other guy Kogure talked about can talk to you in dreams?"

"Hmm? What other guy?" Morgana blinked, anger slowly being replaced with confusion.

"Butler outfit, big pointy nose, has a constant smile on his face...any of that ringing a bell?"

"Nope," Morgana shook his head, "...Though...maybe he might hold a key to my missing memories...if I really was human or not…" he whispered as his ears drooped.

"..." Kairi sighed and picked him up, "We'll find out. We got a lot more collection pieces to get," he spoke as he picked up the bed and put it back before putting Morgana down, "We both got wishes we want answered, if we keep working as a team. We'll get them."

"...yeah. Yeah we will," Morgana nodded, "Now then...let's meet up with the others."

"For the last time, I have no intention of talking about Wakaba," Soujiro's voice spoke from downstairs, getting the two's attention.

"...that doesn't sound good," Kairi muttered, quickly grabbing his jacket from nearby as he and Morgana ran downstairs, stopping to poke out and see Soujiro arguing with Sae, '...it's that woman again.'

"Do you realize how stubborn you're being?" Sae sighed.

"Do you?" Soujiro countered, "I have no intention of saying anything at all about her."

"...fine then. Your parental authority will have to be suspended," Sae stated, making Soujiro tense up, "I take it you're ok with that outcome?"

"...tch…"

"Considering the state of your daughter and your family overall, there are no points in your favor," Sae continued, "Would you like to take this to the Domestic Court? Our chances of victory are roughly 99.9% though. With these suspicions of abuse, there's no way you could avoid having your custody revoked."

"Grr...you're going that far…?!" Soujiro growled out, "I told you I don't know a damn thing about it!"

"We're extremely serious about this," Sae countered, "As long as there's a possibility that Cognitive Psience can be linked to the Psychotic Breakdowns…"

"...tch...fine…" Soujiro sighed as he lowered his head a bit, "I yield…"

"Thank you. I will contact you at a later date," Sae stated as she put down a business card on the counter.

"I doubt you'll find anything you'll want to hear," Soujiro frowned.

"That's fine. It will be up to us to decide whether the information you give us is useful or not," Sae stated as she began to walk out, "Next time I come here, it will just be for a nice cup of coffee."

Kairi quickly took a silent picture, the click getting their attention only for them to just see Morgana sitting there staring at them. Kairi himself was currently clinging to the ceiling in a show of amazing ninja-like skill.

"...hm. Cute cat," Sae noted as she walked out.

"...ugh. I know you're there, Kairi," Soujiro sighed once the door was closed. After a moment a grunt was heard, a slam...and Kairi crawled down the steps some.

"Nailed it…" he coughed in pain.

"How much did you hear…?" Soujiro asked with a sigh.

"Mostly the end bit...with almost no context...so I know about as much as I probably could figure out…" he grunted, pushing himself up, "I got up early and wanted to get some stuff done...but...didn't want to walk into all of that either...the cat betrayed me." Morgana shrugged his head as if to agree with it.

"...look. I know you're concerned, but this...this is something that doesn't concern you," Soujiro stated.

"It does if it means someone's family being torn apart," Kairi stated before Soujiro slammed a hand on the counter, "?!"

"That's enough!" Soujiro snapped before sighing, "Damn it...that woman really knows how to piss people off."

"I understand it…" Kairi spoke, "In my case however...it's the only family who ever tried...honestly tried with me. Is gone." he sighed, "My brother was more of a parent to me then even the real deals...hell he did raise me. He always took the time to make sure I didn't screw up...I just complained he was always on my ass...but now...he's gone...and I wake up everyday missing the sound of him nagging me to get to school…"

"...I see…" Soujiro noted, a somber and sad look growing on his face, "For me and Futaba in a way...it was Wakaba..." he sighed, taking his apron off as he began to walk out from behind the counter, "Listen...I need to go buy some things. When I get back...we'll talk more."

"...hai," Kairi nodded as Soujiro grabbed his keys and an umbrella before walking out, "…"

"...you okay?" Morgana asked in concern.

"I said it's rare for me to meet adults I actually respect and like...with Boss...it just feels like he gets me." Kairi sighed, "And right now...I need to save both him and Futaba…"

"...it's very admirable," Morgana noted with a small smile, "But first...let's try and figure out how to find Futaba's Palace."

"Once the others arrive, agreed," Kairi nodded before his phone went off, "Hmm?" he blinked as he took it out and checked the text.

'Please tell me you're free,' Makoto sighed.

"...'what happened?'" Kairi texted.

'We were bringing some sushi for you and Mona to share when Ryuji came up with an idea…' Makoto explained.

'And we need you to help stop said idea before he gets us in trouble with Boss,' Ann added.

"...'Where are you guys right now?'" Kairi asked, already seeing where this was heading.

'In front of Soujiro-san's place,' Yusuke answered.

"WHAT?!" Kairi called out.

"What did Ryuji do now?" Morgana asked in a deadpanned tone.

"About to get the back of his head smacked is what!" Kairi snapped, grabbing an nearby umbrella as he rushed off, Morgana quickly hopping onto his shoulder as Kairi hurried out.

"Mmm...must not be home," Ryuji muttered, pausing in ringing the doorbell of a small two-story house located not too far from Le Blanc.

"The light's are on though…" Yusuke muttered as he looked at the second floor, "Perhaps they are busy?"

"This is still so wrong…" Makoto sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You do realize what'll happen if Boss or Kairi see you trying this right?" Ann asked Ryuji with a sigh.

"Not if w-" Ryuji began before he was suddenly caught into a chokehold, "ACK!".

"What are you doing?!" Kairi shouted.

"He wanted to see if we could speak with Boss or Futaba," Makoto sighed.

"You...thought of it too…!" Ryuji gagged out.

"But not sneaking in…" Makoto argued.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Kairi called out, now chasing Ryuji while waving around his VS Changer.

"Ah dude! Easy easy!" Ryuji yelped before a flash of lightning went off, turning the lights in the Sakura residence off as a scream could be heard from inside, "!?"

"That doesn't prove anything…" Kairi spoke up.

"Though...perhaps we should go inside to see if she is okay," Yusuke offered.

"...S...sneaking in...into the currently dark house?" Makoto asked, a bit of a nervous tone in her voice, "...let's think of another idea."

"Such a quick 180!" Ryuji gawked.

"...Makoto, are you...afraid of the dark?" Ann asked.

"...n-no..." Makoto denied as she looked away, ignoring the embarrassed blush on her face.

"Okay...we'll try knocking on the door." Kairi sighed, "But that's it! Then it's back to my place...and we don't look like freaks invading the personal life of my boss!" he hissed, "Speaking of...we are encroaching on some really personal stuff here. Some lady was here not too long ago talking about taking a case to trial...and losing custody...and frankly...I don't want us to screw up his family dynamics more than they could be!" he then pulled out his phone, "Even took a pic of her...so we can keep an eye out for her incase stuff gets dicy."

"Lady?" Makoto repeated as she turned to look at the picture, "!?...Th-that's my sister."

"What the shit?" Kairi asked in a rather calm tone, "You're sister...is that mega-bitch that's trying to take Futaba away from Boss?"

"It...I...she's just...dealing with a lot of stress from her job," Makoto explained, "She's been assigned to the case involving the Phantom Thieves after the previous three cases...especially the one with Kaneshiro."

"Okay I understand you love her...but what part of my speech that you need to call your sister on her bitch moods...didn't sink in?" he flicked her head, "I'm sure when she's not stressed to hell she's nice and all that, but the situation is the situation!" he flicked her head a few more times for emphasis.

"Ite…"

"In fact...Mona, back me up on this," Kairi added as he crossed his arms...only to get silence in response, "...Mona….oi cat. Back me up…"

"He went into the house," Yusuke spoke, pointing at an opened window on the second floor.

"..." Kairi took a moment as he grabbed Ryuji's jacket, yanked it off him...and screamed into it. Several times in fact.

"Guess we got no choice now…" Ann sighed.

"Ugh...damn it," Kairi groaned as he gave Ryuji his jacket back, "I am giving that furball a bath...in a tub filled with ice water."

"...wait," Makoto spoke, earning the group's attention as she noticed the front door was slightly ajar, "The front door's opened...I wonder why." She pondered before another flash of lightning went off, "?!"

"...Yusuke, please tell me you're uncomfortably close behind me?" Kairi asked.

"Hmm?" Yusuke blinked at that.

"Mmm…." Makoto whimpered, shaking right behind Kairi as she gripped his shirt.

"I guess...we have to go in...to get my cat...so I can stuff him in a sack...and toss him into the bay." Kairi spoke trying to stay calm.

"I'm sure he has his reason…" Ann sighed as the group began to approach the front door.

"Oh he does...most likely to piss me off," Kaira groaned as the group walked inside, talking their shoes off as they began to look around.

"...man. Boss sure has a nice place," Ryuji whispered as he and Yusuke looked around.

"Keep it down. We're basically breaking and entering to look for Mona," Ann hissed.

"Mona...Mona!" Kairi called out, trying not to enter more than needed be, "You come out here right now or so help me no fish for a month!"

"M-mona...Mona where a-" Makoto began before tripping a bit when a flash of lightning went off outside, "Eek!"

"You okay?" Kairi asked.

"Hai. Just...t-tripped."

"...matte," Yusuke spoke, a serious look on his face as he stood ready, "I can sense someone's presence."

"...wh-who is it?" Makoto nervously asked as she looked around, "Wh-who's there…?" a few moments passed as she began to whimper, "I can't take this anymore! I'm lea-" she paused as she dropped down to her knees, still holding onto Kairi's shirt, "M-my legs...they won't move…" she whispered before tensing up, feeling someone's hand on her shoulder, "...Kairi….tell me that's your hand…"

"Woman...you're behind me…"

"..." Makoto said nothing as she and Kairi slowly turned, seeing a figure staring at the two with a pair of soulless 'eyes', a flash of lightning going off outside to emphasize the spookiness of the scene, "...KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!-!-!-!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!-!-!-!-!" the figure screamed as they ran off.

"Gah my effing ears!" Kairi cried in pain.

"What happened?!" Ryuji asked.

"What was that?!" Ann asked.

"What?!" Kairi asked.

"Was that...Futaba?" Yusuke blinked.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryoneechantatsukete~!" Makoto panicked as she held onto Kairi's leg tight.

"WHAT!?" Kairi shouted, hitting the side of his head to get the ringing sound out of his ears.

"Futaba, are you okay?!" Soujiro's called out from outside

"Crap he's home!" Ryuji hissed as he, Yusuke, and Ann ran off to hide.

"Wait! Where are you going?! D-" Kairi quietly began before Soujiro opened the door in a rushed manner.

"Who the hell are you?! Don't move!" Soujiro snapped, seeing two figures in the darkness as he reached out for a flashlight, "I might be old...but I'm not afraid to whip someone's ass!" he threatened as he turned the flashlight on...and saw it was Kairi and Makoto, "..."

"...heh...h-hey boss…" Kairi sheepishly and nervously greeted.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msosorryonee-chan…" Makoto whispered, her eyes closed the entire time as she was unaware of what was happening, "Somebodypleasesaveme…"

"...ugh. What are you doing in my house?" Soujiro sighed.

"My cat climbed in the window…" Kairi sighed, "My friends who are idiots talked me into going in to get him. But she's afraid of the dark...and the others are being dumbasses and ditched us!" he sighed, reaching down and pulled Makoto to her feet, "Open your eyes."

"Hmm?" Makoto slowly opened her eyes..to see Soujiro staring at them, "...oh...eh heh...h-hello Sakura-san…"

"...ugh," Soujiro sighed as he looked at a nearby closet, "Out...all three of you."

"...how'd he know…?" Ryuji asked as he, Ann, and Yusuke poked their heads out of the closet.

"Get out of there!" Kairi spoke, grabbing Ryuji by the ear and dragging him out.

"Eh heh...sorry, sir…" Ann sheepishly chuckled as she stepped out.

"You too, chowderhead…" Kairi sighed, grabbing Yusuke by the nose and pulling him out next, "Sorry Boss...didn't mean to break in...but the front door was open."

"It was?" Soujiro blinked before groaning, "Ugh...I do that sometimes...guess I'm getting up there in my age."

"We'll leave," Kairi sighed, "Uh could you look for Mona? I haven't a clue where he hid in here…" he motioned around.

"...I'll be sure to look when I can," Soujiro nodded before looking at the others, "...let me guess, you wanted to ask about Futaba too, correct?"

"...uh…" Ryuji began.

"Yes," Yusuke bluntly answered, "Makoto and Kairi most likely bumped into her in the dark."

"...whatever you heard, don't get the wrong idea. Just...ugh. I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you, Kairi," Soujiro sighed, "Come...I'll explain at Le Blanc."

"Alright." Kairi nodded as he looked to Ryuji and Yusuke before he suddenly jammed his hands up with two fingers extended, shoving each pair of fingers into their nostrils...and dragging them forward painfully against their will, "Come on you two schmucks…"

"Ow ow...not so hard…" Ryuji winced.

"Wait what about…" Ann began before Makoto was now clinging to her, "Yeah okay I guess it's my turn…" she sighed.

"Gomen…"

"Now...where do I start?" Soujiro sighed as he sat down on one of the seats, the group looking on at him, "Futaba's mother, Wakaba and I knew each other long before Futaba was born. Her mother was a bit of a weird one, but we got along well for some reason...she was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree…" he explained before he forced a small chuckle out of himself, "Heh...She truly was a great woman."

"Soka," Makoto noted.

"I guess...it's fair to assume where this story might lead?" Kairi asked gently.

"Correct," Soujiro sighed as he continued on, "When something piqued Wakaba's interest, that'd be all she focused on. She always worked deep into the night. Honestly I thought that'd change after Futaba was born, but having her didn't do much. Even with that, she always took good care of her...even if she was alone."

"Alone?" Yusuke repeated.

"She...never said a word about Futaba's father," Soujiro stated, "She was single when she gave birth to Futaba, and single when she raised her. Despite that, they were an ordinary, loving family. You could really tell how much Wakaba cared for Futaba...then…" he paused as he gave a sad sigh, "Came the day she left her behind…by committing suicide."

"?!" the group tensed up at that.

"Suicide?!" Ann gasped.

"Threw herself into the street, right in front of Futaba's eyes…" Soujiro added, a somber look on his face.

"Shocking doesn't even begin to describe that…" Makoto whispered.

"...and you took her in?" Kairi asked, trying his best to remain calm.

"After a lot of circumstances after her mother died, yes," Soujiro nodded, "I took custody of her but...she was so depressed, she wouldn't even talk to me."

"Was that...because she couldn't get over her mother's suicide?" Ann asked in concern.

"I kept talking to her though, and she started opening up to me little by little," Soujiro answered before looking down, taking his glasses off as he began to rub his eyes, "That's when I found out...that she blames herself for her mother's death. I wanted to know why...but I didn't want to rub salt in the wound...then..." he paused as he put his glasses back on, "A few months ago, she started getting really scared, even when nothing was happening. She'd say things like 'I hear voices…' and, 'Mom is looking at me…' ...and…" he paused as he gave a shaky breath, "'I should've died instead…'"

"Visual and auditory hallucinations…" Yusuke whispered, "...Have you taken her to a doctor, Sakura-san?"

"I wanted to, but she refused," Soujiro shook his head, "Even when I had a doctor come, she locked herself away in her room. Since then...she's become what you'd call a shut-in. She won't take a single step outside the house, or even try to see other people...she doesn't even let me come into her room."

"That's pretty harsh," Ryuji noted.

"True, but Futaba is a...unique girl," Soujiro stated, "She's so quick-minded that conversations with her tend to jump from one topic to the next...it seems like she's always coming to conclusions in her head. There's a lot I don't get about her…"

"Conclusions in her head…" Kairi muttered, taking note of that detail, "Well...I can't say I know how to help. But I mean...all of us...are kinda messed up too…" he motioned to his friends.

"Big time!" Ryuji added.

"Totally," Ann nodded.

"Indeed," Yusuke agreed.

"A fair bit…" Makoto muttered.

"Once she does talk...it feels a little easier. Mainly once you do...you just keep wanting to talk." Kairi added as he gave his friends a smile.

"Soka..I wish I could Kairi, but...I don't wanna do anything she doesn't want," Soujiro sighed as he stood up, "I don't make her do anything she's unwilling either...I just try and do things to make her happy," he stated as he began to walk off, "I'll close up early...you kids be careful now if you decide to head home."

"...kay, Boss," Kairi nodded as Soujiro walked out, closing the door right behind him.

"...I feel awful for prying into his personal life…" Makoto sighed.

"Ah that's alright...Karma bit you in the ass with the whole fear of darkness moment." Kairi added, "Ryuji it's probably building up a charge for…"

"Wha...ah no...that's fair." Ryuji nodded.

"So...what now?" Ann asked.

"Find her Palace...see if what we do...can actually help." Kairi spoke up before his phone went off, making him pull it out and check the text, "...It's her."

'Whatever your doing, stop wasting time a-'

"'We know it's you, Futaba…'" Kairi texted.

'0-0...:('

"We believe in you, Kairi…" Makoto whispered as she and the others stayed silent, "See if you can get anything out of her...for an idea on what she sees as her 'Palace.'"

"Alright...since we have no reason to hide it anymore…" he began typing, "'Alright. You want us to do a job for you? Then you need to help us know where to go at least. This is an experiment on both our parts, and before we go on...I would like to apologize...for the picture of my dick.'"

'...It is fine. I was….taken by...a huge surprise is all,' Alibaba...or rather Futaba admitted, 'Be lucky Soujiro didn't see it...then ag...n-nevermind. Let's just move onto this experiment of yours…'

"'Gotta resist the urge to make a saucy joke during all this. Okay! You want us to steal your heart...we can do that. Warning: We've only ever done this to assholes, psychopaths and total scum of the earth. So...effects may vary. All we know is that on the regular there is a positive change most of the time, best guess...we're taking away the sin in your heart. Now...in order to do this mystical mumbo jumbo...we need to find the magical hint that will lead to something called a Palace. Don't worry with the details, I'll explain all that stuff...eh...later.'"

'...fair…'

"'Good. Now...how is living in Soujiro's house?'" Kairi asked.

'...It's painful…' Futaba answered.

"'Why?'"

'I don't know...it's painful.'

"'Why don't you try going out?'"

'I can't leave this place...I'm going to die here….this house will be my Tomb.'

=Input accepted. VS Changers searching for route to destination= a voice came from Kairi and the others' phones.

"We got it," Ryuji silently beamed.

"'Well...we got the keys to the safe, so we're either gonna die or this is going to turn into a very emotional trainwreck...either way...thank you for using the word huge when talking about my dick! HA!'"

'...do you want me to make a deal or not?'

"'Hmm?'"

'Listen. If...if you can change my heart...I'll help you take down Medjed before they do their 'great cleansing' of Japan.'

'"Alright, enough dick jokes then. Fine, if this works the way we want, you know who we are...you're gonna kinda have to help. Them's the rules as set up by the magic butler with the scary magical items...so welcome aboard to the Lupinranger team. New members need to attend group meetings regularly for group therapy and new members need to provide snacks. Now...I'm gonna go do something stupid and potentiually deadly...so you better appreciate how much this team leader gives a damn!'"

'...fair...s-Ahh! Neko!'

"Neko?" Kairi repeated as the text chat ended.

"Must've been Mona," Ann guessed.

"Yup, and not too bad," the group looked to see Morgana coming down the stairs, "Also..found myself a new spot to sneak in and out of."

"..."

"Before you get mad, I was keeping an eye on Futaba," Morgana explained before Kairi could snap, "Also, she looks pretty young...about a year or two younger than you guys."

"I'm not apologizing…" Kairi replied simply.

"Oi…"

"Regardless, we have the means to find her Palace," Ryuji grinned as he stood up, pulling his VS Changer out and Dial Fighter, "So let's head on out!"

"Ah wait! Not I h-" Morgana began just as the group vanished.

Hot...scalding...heat. That's what you normally feel in a dry and hot desert….and that's where the group had ended up in. A dry hot desert with the sun glaring down at them...while they had no shoes on.

"...You guys...feel that too…?" Ryuji wheezed out, "Why's it so...HOT?!"

"Hot hot hot!" Ann yelped as the group began to constantly move their legs to keep their feet cool.

"This is Futaba's Palace?!" Makoto exclaimed.

"This is some sort of sick dance!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"I hate everything about this!" Kairi shouted.

"Yare yare...we're not even near the core of this place…" Morgana sighed.

"Mona please transform!" Ann begged.

"OH MY GOD!" Ryuji freaked out in english, "My feet are on fire~!"

"Fine...I'll do it," Morgana sighed as he jumped into the air, "Henshin!" he declared before he was engulfed in a puff of smoke, dissipating as he landed in his vehicle form =Get in=

"Go!" Kairi ordered as they all rushed in.

"Oh...so good…." Ann sighed as she and Makoto took the front seats, "Cold air…"

"Hey~! Why do you get the front?!" Ryuji complained from the back.

"You don't get to complain!" Kairi snapped as he bonked him hard on the head.

"I'm just glad to be out of that...heat…" Yusuke sighed.

"Agreed…" Makoto nodded, stepping on the gas as she began to drive Morgana through the desert, "Now let's find the actual Palace."

"Hai…" Ann sighed as she leaned back in her seat.

"...I just realized something," Yusuke spoke up, "Why are we not in our Phantom Thief attire?"

"Yeah...normally once we poof in we change. We have to make an effort to change into 'em back in the normal world…" Kairi noted.

"...Maybe perhaps Futaba doesn't see us as threats here," Makoto guessed.

"If that's the case...things are gonna be harder than I thought," Kairi sighed.

=I think I see Futaba's Palace up ahead= Morgana spoke up, making the group look ahead to see they were approaching a very large pyramid.

"A pyramid…" Ann noted, "..That explains why we're out in the desert."

"Hey...a pyramid is a tomb right?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes. A Pharaoh's tomb to be precise," Yusuke answered.

"That's how it's mostly known," Makoto chimed in, "There are a variety of theories on it. For instance, it's even said to be a device for reviving the dead."

"And if your stupid and belive American trash TV...talking to aliens!" Kairi laughed.

"Really?" Ryuji asked, interested in that topic.

"Reviving the dead and talking to aliens…" Yusuke repeated as Morgana stopped in front of some steps, the young artists stepping out as he used his hands to picture the pyramid before them, "Yes...it's beautiful nonetheless. It's perfectly confirmed to be the golden ratio…"

"I rest my case…" Kairi sighed to the girls.

=Hmm…= Morgana muttered as he changed back to normal, "...we're in the clear. I don't detect any Ganglars or Podermen here…but we better be careful of the Shadows in this place."

"So most likely we'll face Shadows based on egyptian gods or something," Kairi guessed as they began to climb the steps leading to inside the pyramid.

"We're not gonna play some ancient version of Duel Monsters in here are we?" Ryuji asked.

"That depends...you have any cards...and by that I mean a decent deck?" Kairi asked.

"No…"

"Then let's hope we don't play a game to the death with the spirit of a pharaoh." Kairi smirked.

"You actually play that game?" Ann blinked as they stopped before a pair of large stone doors.

"Eh. Me and the boys were bored one day and decided to try it out," Kairi shrugged, "...Yusuke is ruthless with his Six Samurai and Cardian decks."

"It was hard to choose which one to use…" Yusuke admitted, "The artwork of the Cardians is exquisite while Six Samurai tells a tale of samurai and ninja."

"You're unbelievable," Ann sighed as she shook her head.

"Actually Duel Monsters is a fun game that provides excellent strategies and helps exercise your brain," Makoto pointed out, making Ann look at her in surprise, "...I...recently picked up the game online after talking to one of the students in the computer room."

"We're nerdy delinquents." Kairi smirked, "Join us Ann, it's fun on the nerdy side."

"I'll...think about it…" Ann muttered with a sweatdrop.

"Can we just go in? I'm boiling out here…" Ryuji sighed.

"Right." Kairi spoke as he and Yusuke pushed the doors opened, the group entering as a blast of cool air hit them.

"Woah...it's so nice in here!" Ryuji beamed as they walked in, "Is this place air conditioned or something?"

"No. Most likely it's because of the Air conditioner Futaba has in her room," Morgana answered as the group began to look around, seeing the walls covered in barcodes, and sections of zeroes and ones.

"And these?" Kairi asked, motioning to the walls.

"Probably from the large computer set in her room," Morganan answered as he sniffed the air a bit, his tail sticking straight up as stars appeared in his eyes, "Ooh~! I can sense the Treasure near us!"

"I don't think we'll need any Lupinranger power here. But we've been surprised by puzzles and traps before." Kairi spoke, "This is also an experiment of sorts. We need to see if this stealing hearts trick can be used for a different sort of change for the good of others."

"Agreed," Makoto nodded, "So where do you sense it, Mona?"

"Over there. Beyond that pit and beyond...those…" Morgana trailed off as the group looked ahead, stopping before a medium-sized pit as they stared at a LONG flight of stairs, "...Stairs."

"Oh what the shit…?" Kairi groaned, "So...we can either go back into the desert...or the stairway to heaven…"

"...as much as I'd like to examine the pyramid more outside, I'll take the stairs over the heat," Yusuke admitted.

"Same!" Ann and Ryuji exclaimed.

"If there are wide enough spaces, we can rest before continuing," Makoto offered her suggestion.

"...welp. Climbing the stairway to heaven then," Kairi sighed as the group began to run up the stairs, jumping over some pillars that were poking out of the pit as they began to climb up the stairs.

"Let's pace ourselves!" Morgana spoke rushing after them, "Also careful! We don't know what traps are waiting for us ahead!"

"What traps?! This is just too easy!" Ryuji laughed.

"...yeah...too easy," Kairi repeated.

"...ahh crap baskets," Ryuji groaned as he realized he jinxed it.

"Ryuji I swear….!" Ann growled in annoyance.

"Those who plunder my tomb, why have you come?" a voice spoke, making the group stop and looked ahead, seeing a young girl with pale skin standing not too fair from them.

Her hair was long and a bright-orange color with a small ahoge poking up from atop her head while she wore a pair of large, dark-rimmed glasses over her eyes. She wore an attire one would see in egyptian loyalty as she wore a pale-white skirt that went to her feet, a pair of gold band on her wrists and upper arms, a sleeveless top with a gold, multi-colored egyptian necklace hung over it, and a golden egyptian crown with a horned snake protruding from the front.

"...hey. Is that…" Ryuji began.

"Yeah. That's Futaba," Morgana answered as he stood ready, "Or rather...it's her Shadow."

"...oh yeah. You're the only one who's seen her face," Ryuji recalled before taking a better look at Shadow Futaba, "Huh...she's kinda dressed like a queen."

"Looks more like a princess," Ann added.

'Again starting to sense a theme here…' Kairi thought, 'First a king with Kamoshida, a shogun with Madarame, some type of bigwig CEO or bank owner for Kaneshiro...and now an Egyptian princess for Futaba…I get these are called Palaces….but there has to be something more to that,'

"I ask you once more...why have you come?" Shadow Futaba asked.

"You invited us to steal and change your heart!" Kairi declared.

"If you can steal it...then try as you might," Shadow Futaba challenged.

"That's rather defiant sounding," Morgana noted

"Is this that' Tsundere' thing where someone is harsh or sweet depending on the mood?" Yusuke pondered.

"Ah…" Kairi sighed, "If you're gonna help tell us where at least...or put an elevator in this thing!" he waved his arms around.

"There is one up ahead, but considering the state my Palace is in...it is impossible for you to even get there," Futaba stated before wincing as voices began to echo throughout the area.

"Creepy child!"

"You killed her!"

"You're a plague!"

"What were those voices?" Yusuke asked as Shadow Futaba got on her knees, covering her ears to try and drown out the voices.

"Murderer!"

"Why don't you say something?!"

"Devil child!"

"You should've died instead!"

"That's why you never leave…" Kairi realized, "Before Boss took you in...all you ever heard were these horrible things."

"Yes...because it's all true…" Shadow Futaba whispered, getting back up as an empty look appeared in her eyes, "I did it...I'm the one who killed my mother…" she stated before a loud roar was heard, the area rumbling for a moment as the group stood ready.

"What was that?" Ann asked.

"A guardian of this place perhaps?" Makoto guessed.

"My mother exists here…" Shadow Futaba spoke before she began to fade away, "I will exist here...until I die…"

"This...is new…" Kairi spoke as he walked over to Shadow Futaba, "Okay come on, enough of this. Lets go!"

"...no...allow me to die…" Shadow Futaba argued as she vanished from view.

"Damn it…" Kairi muttered before within a flash of blue flames, his and the others' Phantom Thief attires appeared, "?"

"She must see us as threats now," Makoto figured.

"Alright...so this...is complicated." Kairi sighed, "Good news…" he pulled out his grappling hook and shot it upwards along the stairs, "Shortcut!"

*RUMBLE!*

"...what was that?"

"Maybe that!" Morgana screamed as he pointed ahead, making the group look to see a large stone boulder rolling right towards them.

"I am not doing Indiana Jones!" Kairi shouted as he fired with his VS changer and began pelting the boulder, only for them to be deflected upon impact, "...ahh crap!"

"RUN!" Ryuji freaked as the group began to run away from the boulder.

"Is there any way for us to escape?!" Yusuke shouted.

"Mmm…" Makoto muttered as she looked around, stopping to see an opening with a golden door in it, "There! We can escape through there!"

"This girl has way too much imagination!" Kairi complained as he ran for the door.

"Hurry!" Ann screamed as they caught up with him.

"It won't budge!" Kairi grunted as he struggled to open the door, "Grr...enough of this. ARSENE!"

"Zzz….Hee ho…" a child-sized snowman with a jester's cap snoozed as he slept on the ground, scratching himself a bit before an explosion of darkness suddenly sent him flying, "What the hee?!"

"GAH!" Kairi and the group screamed as they jumped into the room.

"We barely survived that…" Morgana wheezed out.

"Okay...when this is all over...I wanna take a little vacation from this Super Phantom thief thing!" Kairi complained.

"Same!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Summer vacation is coming up, so we can head to the beach after this…" Ann spoke as the group began to get up.

"Good idea...w-" Makoto began before the group looked ahead, seeing the snowman staring right at them, "..."

"...HEE HO!" the snowman freaked/laughed as he began to run from the group, only for Kairi's grappling hook to grab his cap, "Gah! I've been caught, hee!"

"Alrighty Frosty…" Kairi began as he dragged him over, "Where are we?"

"Your in Lady Futaba's Palace a-HEE HO~!"

"I meant this room damn it!" Kairi snapped as he shook him.

"One of the three puzzle rooms~!" the snowman freaked.

"Puzzle rooms?" Yusuke repeated.

"Hii ho! If you're attempting to steal Lady Futaba's Treasure, you need to solve all three rooms and activate the device to open each door, Hee ho!" the snowman answered, "Now please let me go, Ho!"

"Wait...what is he?" Ryuji asked, the first to realize the oddity, "He...doesn't look like any of the normal bad guys we fight in here…"

"Mona?" Kairi looked at his cat companion.

"Hmm…" Morgana frowned as he sniffed the snowman, "...He's a Shadow...and a weak one at that."

"Weak?!" the snowman snapped, "I am not weak! I am a mascot character, Hee ho! I am...I..." he blinked before tapping the side of his head, "Who am I again?"

"Wait...you don't remember who you are?" Makoto blinked.

"Nope, hee. Most of us Shadows tend to forget who we were before, hence why so many of us go wild and rogue, hee ho," the snowman answered.

"But...your not. You seem kinda normal…" Kairi countered.

"I am...ahh! I remembered!" the snowman freaked as he jumped out of Kairi's arms, "I was supposed to find that golden bird for Lady Futaba!"

"A Golden bird?" Yusuke repeated.

"The master of this room!" The snowman answered, "I lost track of him and there's a particularly nasty Shadow in here, Hee ho!"

"What does it look like?" Ann asked.

"A coffin, Ho."

"..but…" Ann began as she noticed there were various coffins in the wall, "There are tones of coffins in here.."

"Technically those are sarcophagus, which were used to bury people in ancient egypt," Makoto corrected.

"But this one is big..and has an arm that pokes out of it, hee!" the snowman shouted before blinking, "...hey. Why are you guys going after Lady Futaba's Treasure?...You're not bandits are you?"

"No. We're more Phantom Thieves, we have style, we don't take things that the world needs. We take things that have been taken, kept from the world." Kairi went on, "We steal things for a greater good. And cause it's freakin' fun!"

"...so cool…." the snowman whispered in awe.

"And right now...we're here to steal her Treasure in hopes of healing her heart," Kairi added.

"...can you?" the snowman asked, "Lady Futaba...she really is heart broken after what happened to her mom, hee ho…"

"Yeah...we figured." Kairi sighed, "Honestly...not sure. We've done this to bad guys, make them turn over and admit to what they did. But...we never tried it on someone who hasn't really done anything bad. But...its worth a shot. What good are these cool suits and powers if we don't do crazy stuff time and again?"

"...If that's the case…" the snowman began as he started glowing a bit, "Find the golden bird, and you'll reach the device to open the first door."

"What...is happening to you?" Yusuke blinked.

"I am lending my power, Hee ho...I will be a mask to help him…" the snowman began as he pointed at Kairi, "And assist him in helping heal Lady Futaba...oh! I just remembered who I am...I am Jack Frost, hee ho!" he laughed as he transformed into a copy of Kairi's mask, glowing for a moment as it became a light that went into his mask.

"...what...what just happened?" Ryuji blinked, "Did...did you just..tame that Shadow, Joker?"

"I think...something." Kairi admitted, "It feels...like a Persona…" he went on, "A new Persona I can use."

"Wait...so you can use multiple Personas now?" Ann asked.

"I think so…" Kairi answered, 'So this is what that Igor guy meant...I can tame Shadows and use them as new Personas…'

"That's a very useful power…" Morgana noted, "It might come in handy while we search for that golden bird he mentioned."

"Your right." he nodded, "Well...let's get to puzzle solving…" he sighed.

"Right," Morgana nodded as the group began to look around, "Keep an eye out for any coffins that look out of place…"

"...like that?" Yusuke spoke as the group stopped by an opened room, seeing a fairly large coffin with what looked like an image on it

"Well...it's something...before we go on...anyone good at puzzles?" he turned to his team, "No judging...we need the smart ones help…" the boys turned to the girls at that.

"...Hmm…" Makoto began to ponder, holding her cheek in thought, "That Shadow...er...Jack Frost said the golden bird rules over this room...and to look out for a Shadow that looks like a coffin with an arm sticking out…"

"...Could it be that the golden bird is in the coffin and we have to free it?" Ann offered.

"Possibly…" Makoto guessed before tensing, seeing the coffin open as a clawed, grey scaled hand began to seep out, "?! Watch out!"

"Nope!" Kairi called out as he began shooting without reservation with his VS Changer and his pistol.

"So much nope!" Ryuji added, firing with his VS Changer and shotgun while Yusuke was firing from a machine gun rifle.

"That's just too freaky!" Ann shouted, about to pull her VS Changer out before the arm pointed at her, causing her to be engulfed in smoke as a mouse with her mask fell out, "Ahh! Wh-what the?!"

"Panther just turned into a mouse!" Morgana gawked.

"God damn magic nonsense…" Kairi groaned, "Arsene!" he called out as his Persona appeared and fired bolts of darkness...only for them to be absorbed by the coffin, "...uh…"

"It's immune to darkness!" Morgana exclaimed.

"Oh now you tell me!" Kairi snapped before the arm slashed at Arsene, causing him and Kairi to jump back, "Damn it...I need to think of something else…" he blinked, "Maybe…" he swung his hand, dismissing Arsene as his mask returned, "Okay new guy...lets see if you can help." he grabbed and pulled his mask off once more, "Koi, Jack Frost!"

"Hee ho!" Jack Frost shouted as he appeared in a mist of ice, "Let's freeze them u-HII!" he panicked the moment he saw the arm coming right towards him, "DANGER!" he freaked as he blew a literal blizzard at the coffin, causing it to slowly freeze up until it was a complete ice statue.

"Dude...he froze him!" Ryuji gawked.

"Now's our chance!" Yusuke shouted as he rushed out, pulling his Katana out as he headed towards the frozen coffin, "Let us strike while it cannot attack!"

"You're strong for such a small little dude," Kairi smirked as he swung out his knife.

"Thanks boss!" Jack Frost beamed as Kairi and Ryuji ran past him, "Got get 'em!"

"Ha!" they all shouted, swinging their weapons and striking the ice, chipping and cracking it till it began cracking more...until it fell apart.

"Ahh!" Ann yelped as she changed back to normal, "Oh thank god I'm normal again...was starting to crave cheese for some reason."

"So killing it fixes it." Kairi noted, "Honestly afraid we'd need to keep her in a pocket till it wore off...which is potentially a problem."

"I'm just glad I'm no longer a mouse…" Ann whispered.

"...wait. What's that light?" Makoto asked, seeing a light starting to glow from within the frozen pile of ice, "...Wait. So the bird really was…"

An eagles cry could be heard before a ball of light rose from the ice, swooping down as it grabbed the group and flew across the room and into another, dropping the group off before a large electronic screen with a statue of an egyptian eagle carrying a reflective panel in front of it.

"Woah! What was that?!" Ryuji gawked as he looked around.

"Perhaps the guardian of that room we were just in," Yusuke figured.

"Correct…" the group looked up to see the ball of light dimming a little, showing a majestic golden eagle with feathers as golden and bright as the sun, "I thank you for freeing me from the clutches of that Mot."

"...hold. Desert...pyramid…puzzles…" Makoto whispered before it dawned on her, "...Wait. Are you…"

"As your fox friend stated, yes...I am one of the guardians that was set by Lady Futaba…" the eagle replied, hsi voice echoing through their minds, "And unlike most of my Shadow brethren..I recall my true name...the Sun God Horus."

"I swear I just need the hat and Ann's whip and I'm Indiana Jones…" Kairi muttered to himself, "Okay...so what's this room?"

"A puzzle to activate the first door," Horus answered as he moved his wing to the screen, causing it to come to life as it showed a jumbled up image, "Restore this picture to its original form and you may proceed."

"It looks like one of those sliding picture puzzles," Ann noted as they looked at it, "...and I see Futaba."

"She's crying…" Makoto whispered, a look of concern on her face as she noticed the picture of Futaba-wearing her Shadow's attire- crying as she sat on a throne.

"Fix the picture and you'll find out why…" Horus stated.

"How? Don't we need a control panel or something?" Ryuji asked.

"Oh no. It's a touchscreen so you can just slide it into place," Horus assured.

"Okay then…" Kairi muttered, "Anybody good with puzzles...or do I gotta do this and hope I'm lucky enough?"

"It seems rather simple enough…" Yusuke muttered, stepping forward as he began to move the pieces, "Perhaps here...no no. That seems out of palace...hmm...mayhapes...ahh perfect," he smiled as he stepped back, seeing the full picture of futaba sitting before a group of men with bird heads, the lead one holding a piece of paper, "Soka...the adults here seem to be telling something to Futaba. The emotions of the artist are often predicted by the art they produce..." he stated before a solemn look appeared on his face, "And after looking at this...I can sense...serious pain harbored in Futaba's heart."

='I should've never had Futaba'= a voice spoke up, making the group look on at the picture as it seemed to be moving somewhat, the lead birdman reading off the paper ='She was always such a bother…' Hmm...well it seems you caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan. She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis…=

"That...that sounded a lot like a suicide note," Makoto whispered with wide eyes.

"Could that be what Futaba remembers of her mother's suicide?" Yusuke pondered.

"But...that's just fuckin' sick," Ryuji scowled, "You can't do that to a kid after everything that went down."

"It can't be real…" Kairi spoke up, earning their attention, "The Boss said enough...I don't believe for a minute that's true...and I find that 'note' real fishy..."

"...are you trying to say the suicide note was fake?" Ann asked.

"If that's true...then it means Futaba's mother was murdered and the blame was pinned on her," Morgana frowned.

"That is one piece of the truth she has forgotten, yes…" Horus spoke, the statue turning as a green light began to shine down, going through the screen as the wall began to open up, showing the main room the group was in as the light hit a large blue door on the stairs. A moment passed before the door lifted up, "You must travel further down and search deeper into her memories…" he stated before flying over to Kair's shoulder, "In fact...allow me to accompany you…" he offered as he frowned a bit, "I do not forgive those who purposefully harm children like that…"

"Well...I'm one for getting back at assholes whenever the opportunity presents itself...refer to the filling my teacher's gas tank with sand incident of last week," Kairi stated.

"That was you?!" Makoto asked, slightly shocked.

"Call it payback for constantly throwing chalk at my forehead."

"You realize they had to remove the entire tank and repair it…"

"Did you want me to do worse?" Kairi asked with an arched eyebrow, "'Cause...that was nice compared to the things I can do…"

"...Nevermind," Makoto sighed.

"Hmm hmm….what an interesting thief you are…" Horus chuckled before he became a copy of Kairi's mask just like Jack Frost did, becoming a ball of light as it went into his mask, "I cannot wait to see how you shine the light of justice down on your enemies…"

"I could get used to this trick." Kairi smiled, "Well...I have to say I'm a lot more invested now. Let's go save an awkward girl from some messed up nonsense." he turned to his friends/team.

"Hai," the others nodded as they began to leave.

"Mmm…" Futaba...the real one mummered as she focused heavily on a computer screen, "Where are they...are...are they inside the Palace like they promised? If so...then that means mom's…" she winced as she began to hear voices in her head, the girl visibly shaking as a faint image of an older woman with short black hair and glasses appeared behind her, "Mom…"

"...Okay. It seems way too simple in here…" Ann whispered as the group arrived in another room, seeing a narrow hallway with a pit leading down the ramp.

"Given the layout...it must be another boulder trap," Morgana noted.

"Let's not try and guess...assuming you know what's coming only to be wrong...always makes it worse." Kairi sighed, "I mean...the boulder could be on fire...or made of zombies...or...mummies…"

"Ooh~! Not bad ideas!" a voice cackled, making the group tensed up, "So you got past Horus' stupid coffin puzzle...not bad…"

"Okay...who are you, or do you not remember your own name?" Kairi cautiously asked.

"I remember my own name!" the voice snapped before adapting a calm emotion, "I am Anubis...god of the dead, keeper of the scales...and master of this room."

"Oh I know that one...you're the Dog faced one." Kairi smiled.

"Correct...and to pass this room…" Anubis began before his voice went back to the brash one, "You'll have to find me and solve my puzzle, or else risk getting squished like packets of chunky mustard!"

"That is some major bipolarity…." Ryuji muttered.

"Why mustard...wouldn't ketchup be more fitting?" Yusuke asked.

"Well yeah...but I think that's also a little on the nose." Ann muttered.

"I'm partial to hot sauce…" Kairi replied.

"Better…" they all nodded amongst themselves.

"Hmm…" Makoto pondered as she looked around, stopping to see a small opening behind a sarcophagus, "...there. I think we can reach the next room if we can move that sarcophagus out of the way."

"Wait...let me guess...it's too heavy...and/or trapped?" Kairi asked.

"The former…" Anubis answered in the calm voice.

"Oh...then I got this." he smiled, "Jack Frost!" he summoned his new Persona again, "Freeze the ground so it's all slippery under the big Sarcophagus thing."

"Got it boss!" Jack Frost laughed as he blew some cool air onto the ground underneath the sarcophagus, "There ya go...shall I make it a ice rink as well for ya, hee ho?"

"You know what...yes." Kairi smirked as he leaned his leg against the Sarcophagus to push it..

"Hee ho!" Jack Frost beamed as he flew cold air onto the ground once more, freezing more of it until it stopped at the pit, "Good to go, boss!"

"And push." Kairi smiled, pushing the Sarcophagus and sending it sliding away into the pit, and himself as well as he leaned back, "Hey this is fun~" he cheered sliding around his friends before jumping and spinning around in the air for a moment.

"Ah cool! Let me get in on that!" Ryuji laughed as he ran onto the ice...and immediately slipped up, "Oof!"

"Oh Skull…" Morgana and Ann facepalmed.

"Whoo~" Kairi cheered doing a triple axel before landing, "Nailed it."

"Will you take this seriously?!" Anubis snapped before the clam voice returned, "Regardless...a rather interesting solution, young thief...come and enter where I am."

"Ladies first," Ann spoke as she and Makoto began to approach the hole in the wall, getting down on all fours as they began to climb into it, "..Don't think about staring, Skull!"

"Wait wh-" Ryuji began as he got up.

"In retrospect of these situations...doesn't it seem smarter to let guys go first?" Kairi talked to himself mostly, "I mean all you'd get with me is a face first of cool coat tails."

"...darn it. He made a good point," Ann's voice pouted from the otherside of the hole.

"It's already too late to take it back…" Makoto sighed as the boys began to crawl through the hole.

"It's fine. Was just teasin'," Kairi smirked as he and the boys stood up, seeing they were in a large room filled with coffins, "...oh not again…"

"I assure they are not alive," Anubis spoke as he floated down, revealing he was indeed his namesake as he had the body of a man and the head of a dog, floating while sitting in a meditative pose while holding a scale on one hand, "They are part of the puzzle for this room…" he stated before smirking, a crazed look in his eyes as he snapped his fingers, causing spheres with datalines on them to appear over each coffins, the ones on one side of the room being colored blue while the half on the other side of the room were red, "All you losers need to do is find the right sequence read on the stone slabs! Do it correctly and you can disable my boulder trap! Do it wrong...and this room fills up with Shadows!" he cackled before gaining a calm expression once more while motioning to a pair of gold doors, "You may find the slabs in the two rooms ahead….good luck."

"This is gonna be just a fantastic day…" Kairi sighed.

"Probably easier if we split up and take notes," Makoto suggested.

"Alright, Me and Panther will take one, Queen, you and Fox take the other. Skull, follow whichever team, but try not to touch anything." Kairi ordered.

"Probably better if I stay and watch him," Morgana deadpanned.

"Wh-?! Hey!" Ryuji snapped at that

"Okay good you two hold down this spot. Once again...no touching." Kairi ordered as the two away teams walked off, "Feel free to waste the time trying to kill each other though…" he laughed from a distance.

"D'oh…!" Ryuji fumed at that.

"You know how accident prone you are…" Morgana deadpanned.

"Look who's talkin' cat!" Ryuji snapped.

"Neko janai!" Morgana snapped as the two glared at one another, "You want a fight, punk?!"

"I put twenty on the cat!" Anubis spoke up.

"Feel like those two are already fighting," Kairi muttered as he and Ann walked down a hall.

"When aren't they fighting...?" Ann sighed, "It feels like they've been getting into more fights than you and Mona do…"

"Yeah but me and Mona are a duo, we've been together since...well since this started," Kairi added, "I like to think we have this weird bond of boy and his magic talking cat." he chuckled.

"Only you could make that sound so sweet yet so weird," Ann giggled.

"Mona is an acquired taste to say it lightly." Kairi chuckled, "I know he's got my back when it matters most. And we argue, but I see it no different from when friends of siblings argue. I can curse him out and things will be fine. But I won't let any rando get away with it."

"...I wish I was that way for Shiho before…" ann paused, a sad look in her eyes as she looked down before shaking her head, "No...I need to be strong for her...and for myself…"

"Hey, you got the bastard," Kairi offered some assurance, "Now...you just gotta let her heal. She's got you, so she's got someone supporting her all the way. You'll be there for healing from the physical stuff...and for the mental stuff. Just be happy you took care of that creep for her."

"Hai…" Ann nodded, taking a deep breath as she patted her cheeks a bit, "Okay...let's move on ahead."

"Heh...hai," Kairi chuckled as they turned a corner, looking ahead to see a stone slab with red glowing writing on it, "There it is…" he noted as the two began to approach it.

"Hmm...R01100…" Ann read off the slab, "...eh?"

"The 0 and 1's must be that code stuff." Kairi muttered.

"Maybe Queen and Fox figured it out," Ann offered as Kairi took some paper out and a pen as he started to write the sequence down.

"Possibly...we'll have to check on them," Kairi said as he put the paper and pen away, "Hopefully Skull and Mona haven't touched anything…"

"...what did we just walk in on?" Makoto deadpanned as she and Yusuke saw a fight cloud consisting of Morgana and Ryuji.

"Stupid cat!" Ryuji snapped.

"NEKO JANAI!" Morgana snapped.

"Another argument between those two it seems…" Yusuke muttered.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Anubis laughed as he watched the fight, "This is better than theater!"

"Okay that has to be a sign…" Makoto sighed.

"Okay we're back a-" Kairi began as he and Ann walked in...and saw the ensuing fight cloud and laughing death god, "..." he reaches into his coat and somehow pulls out a spray bottle as he walked over and began spritzing them with water, "Bad, bad...bad."

"Gh/hisss~!" Ryuji grunted while Morgana hissed at that.

"So did you two find anything out?" Ann asked Makoto and Yusuke.

"We did," Makoto nodded as Yusuke pulled out a piece of paper, "On the stone slab it read 'B10011.' What about you?"

"Ours read 'R01100,'" Ann answered.

"...wait….B10011….R01100…" Makoto whispered as she began to piece together, "...Joker, I think I figured it out!"

"Hmm?" Kairi blinked as he, Ryuji and Morgana looked at her.

"The spheres above the coffins...the slabs were telling us which ones to turn off and keep on," Makoto stated as she motioned to the side with the blue spheres, "This side should have the first and last two on…" she then motioned to the side with the red spheres, "While this one should only have the second and third ones on."

"See? This is why I'm so happy that you are on the team now." Kairi smiled, "But enough of that...let's solve this puzzle and move on."

Anubis said nothing as Kairi and Ryuji began to approach each side of the room, pressing something on the stone stand before the coffins until the blue side only had three while the red side only had two.

"Alright…" Kairi began as he approached a large stone button, pressing it as a rumbling went off, "And puzzle s-"

"Fool!" Anubis laughed as he pointed up, making the group look up to see a trail of stone boulders going down a path, "You only accelerated the trap, so now you're trapped!"

"..."

"...why aren't you panicking?" Anubis blinked before Kairi pressed the button again, causing the boulders to go faster, "GAH! STOP! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK IT!"

"..." Kairi said nothing as he merely smirked at him.

"He has that smirk again…" Yusuke noted.

"I'm gonna press it."

"Don't you do it!"

"I'mma do it."

"DON'T YOU DO IT!" Anubis panicked.

"Button go boop~" Kairi replied, pushing the button again as more and more boulders began to pour into the other room until the sound of something breaking was heard, "Oop...it broke."

"No ho~! My baby!" Anubis cried out as he fell onto the ground.

"Why would you do that?!" Morgana snapped at Kairi, "Now we can't get to the next room!"

"Yes we can."

"How?! W-" Morgana began before Kairi pointed to a nearby platform, leading into the previous room, "...oh~ We go across the boulders...excellent idea, Joker."

"It took me a second to figure it out." Kairi chuckled, "The fatal flaw is the fact it just keeps producing boulders."

"And with the pit in the other room, it most likely filled up from the excessive amount of boulders pouring in," Makoto noted, "Meaning we can get to the next room safely."

"Mmm….I have been bested by my own petard…" Anubis whispered, the calm side taking control, "Well done...you may proceed into the next room, young thief…"

"Wanna come with? I bet it gets boring in here," Kairi offered.

"LIKE HELL!" Anubis snapped.

"Alright. Suit yourself," Kairi shrugged before he and the others ran off.

"Wait...wait! I was only joking! Please come back!" Anubis panicked as Kairi and his team jumped onto the platform and then onto the boulders, using them as stepping stones to get to the next room, "Please...I don't wanna be alone again…"

"Alright come on."

"Hmm?" Anubis blinked as he looked up, seeing Kairi offering a hand to him, "...You're not tricking me are you?"

"Nah," Kairi replied, "You seem like a decent guy, and if you're willing to help this little nerd out, that's enough for me to see you as reliable."

"...you better be serious about this," Anubis frowned, taking a more serious expression as he became a mask before becoming a light that went into Kairi's, "That girl has suffered enough as is…"

"I can only imagine what awaits in the next room," Kairi whispered as he ran off to catch up with the others.

"No no. That piece there…" Yusuke instructed as Ryuji and Ann were moving the pieces of another picture, this time some of the parts turned upside down, "No no. Turn that piece rightside up…"

"Can't you yell one order at a time!?" Ann complained.

"It's getting confusing!" Ryuji added.

"Apologies, but we need to make sure the picture is fixed and perfectly aligned," Yusuke stated, using his hands to focus on the picture, "Wait stop! It is done!"

"Oh phew…." Ann sighed as she and Ryuji stepped back, the group seeing the picture showing a woman jumping before a car with a crying Futaba sitting on her knees nearby, "...oh my god…"

"This is…" Makoto whispered with wide eyes, "This must be when Futaba's mother died…"

"We would've ruled it out as suicide, but given Kairi's ealrier theory…" Morgana began just as Kairai walked in, the screens flickering for a moment as it began to show a point of view shot, showing the woman standing in the middle of the road.

=F...Futaaaabaa…= the woman gasped out as she slowly turned, her eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head as black blood began to spill from her eyes and mouth =You...are….my...=

*HONK HONK! CRASH!*

"OH MY GOD!" Ryuji gasped as the screen shut off.

"How horrible…" Makoto whispered, holding her hands over her mouth.

"Her desire to forget these memories must've caused her to repress them," Yusuke guessed, "Though...why did she have black blood?"

"...Black blood…" Morgana whispered as it dawned on him, "...She had a mental shutdown…"

"Wait what?" Ann asked.

"I went to go talk to Kogure last night about the Mental Shutdowns, and he shared with me some info on what happens…" Morgana stated as he frowned, "Someone made Futaba's mother have a mental shutdown…"

"Someone...with powers like ours…" Kairi spoke, "Someone who can enter this world and a Palace…"

"...like that person with the black mask Kaneshiro mentioned," Ryuji realized, "Shit...just how deep does this go?"

"We won't know until we search deeper…" Kairi stated as the bird statue turned, shining the light as the wall opened up into the main hall, "The next room should be open for us…"

"Good thing. We're getting closer to the Treasure," Morgana stated.

"This is gonna be really hard," Kairi sighed, "Even after we help Futaba...we're walking into some...mystery of related events. Well...whoever is behind this, I'm gonna kick their ass...steal their heart...and laugh as they are forced to admit to their shit...and trust me when I say this. I am expressing a LOT of anger right now for what this black-masked asshole put Futaba through, so I'm trying to joke to keep calm."

"He's not joking about that part..." Makoto whispered, seeing Kairi grip his hand so hard he was bleeding a bit through his glove.

"Ah...we'll kick his ass." Ryuji agreed.

"Hai...now come on. Let's hurry and save this poor girl."

"Futaba? Hey...you okay kiddo?" Soujiro's voice called out from behind the door leading to Futaba's room.

"S...Soujiro…" Futaba whispered, shaking a bit as she tried to stay calm, "No...I..I need to be alone…"

"...okay…" Soujiro sighed as the sound of something being placed on the floor was heard, "I made you some curry...the kind you and your mother loved so much...hopefully this will provide some comfort for you…"

"...hai…" Futaba whispered, hugging her knees as the light from her computer glared onto her glasses, hiding the tears in her eyes, "It's my fault mom died...I...I deserve to die…"

"Okay...large room...no visible traps…" Kairi whispered as he and the group entered a large room with a pair of statues in it, "...Seems okay so far."

"Yes...and what wonderful form," Yusuke noted, looking up at the two statues, "Seeing such divine sculptures in person is exceedingly rare."

"Yeah I guess you prolly wouldn't be seein' anything like this shit if we weren't in a Palace," Ryuji muttered.

"Seriously this almost feels like a trip abroad," Ann added.

"I wanted to go to Monte Carlo…" Kairi muttered.

"Monte Carlo?" Makoto raised a brow.

"What? I'm not allowed to relax and have fun?" Kairi countered.

"Mmm…"

"?" the group blinked as they looked ahead, seeing a baboon in snow-white fur and egyptian attire reading a book.

"...okay. What Egyptian god are we dealing with now?" Kairi asked.

"Given the book...I think it's Thoth," Makoto guessed, Kairi resisting the urge to twist that into a joke.

"Mmm…" the babook noddedbefore turning his book, showing images of a few items.

"...Regent...Queen's Necklace...Stone of Scone…" Morgana read, squinting his eyes to get a better look, "...wait. Those are the names of Treasure Demons!"

"Treasure what?" Ryuji blinked.

"Really rare Shadows!" Morganan beamed, stars in his eyes as his tail wagged happily, "We can get some valuable items from them if we catch them!"

"Okay…" Kairi nodded simply, "...and I take this is the puzzle for this room?"

"Mmm…" the baboon grunted with a nod before snapping its fingers, causing a large pink diamond, a necklace decorated in sapphires and diamonds, and a small stone coffin appear, watch with a ghost flying out of them as they were tethered by them, "Catch...get into next room…"

"Oh...well this seems e-" Ryuji began before the three Treasure Demons ran off at high speed, "Me and my big mouth!"

"After those Treasure Demons!" Morgana shouted as he rushed off.

"Ah crap…" Kairi sighed. He then stopped and took a moment to think as he put his hand to his mask, "New Guys, what can you do?" he asked of his new Persona's.

"I can cast light or dark powered death spells," Anubis answered.

"I provide powerful light magic and know one of the powerful Megido spells," Horus answered.

"I can freeze stuff, Hii Ho!" Jack Frost answered.

"...hmm…" Kairi began to ponder as he saw Morgana, Ryuji, and surprisingly Ann and Yusuke chasing after the Treasure Demons, "...How powerful are the Megido spells?"

"They can pierce any defense, even that of a Treasure Demon's," Horus answered.

"Alright Jack, we're swapping for Horus." Kairi spoke, "But be on standby, I can still use your ice if need be." he grabbed his mask.

"Got it boss, Hii ho!" Jack laughed as he disappeared.

"Oh geez!" Anubis panicked as he followed suit.

"HORUS!"

Horus cried out as he flew up into the air, spreading his wings as bright spheres of blue light began to form around him.

"Ugh! Stand still you little…!" Ann began before she noticed the light, looking up to see Horus preparing the spell, "OH GEEZ!" she yelped as she ran for some cover.

"Hah! Got ya y-what's that light?" Ryuji blinked as he caught the Regent Treasure Demon.

"Light? What l-" Morgana began, pausing in rubbing his face against the Regent before Yusuke grabbed him and ran off, "NYA!"

"Seriously, why's everyone…?!" Ryuji began before looking up...and saw the spheres were now huge, "...oh….that's why."

*BOOM!*

"...why...always me~?" Ryuji wheezed out as he fell over, smoking and covered in soot as the Treasure demons faded away, leaving the items they were based on...or rather copies of the items they were based on.

Thoth wheezed out some smoke as he just sat there, his book burnt up as he fell over.

"Ah...I love this." Kairi laughed happily.

"Skull, are you okay?" Yusuke asked.

"FINLAND!"

"He seems to be fine…" Ann muttered as she and Makoto helped him up.

"Test one...finish…" Thoth wheezed out, pointing a shaky finger to the now open doorway, "Isis...in puzzle room...for question test…"

"Oi come on you. Get in the mask." Kairi spoke, "I got two of ya, so come on."

"...read book in peace?" Thoth asked.

"Unless I specifically need your power, yeah." Kairi replied.

"...Then Thoth come along," Thoth answered as he became a mask like the other two guardians before becoming a light that went into Kairi's mask.

"I'm still amazed you're able to tame Shadows and turn them into Personas," Ann blinked, carrying the Queen's necklace and Regent diamond while Yusuke held the Stone of Scone.

"Who knows...might go four for four once we get to this Isis," Kairi shrugged as they began to walk to the next room.

"We shall see, young Phantom thief," a voice spoke, making the others tense as they shielded their eyes from the resulting light. After a moment, they opened their eyes to see a tall, tanned-skin woman in regal Egyptian attire, a pair pair of golden-feathered bird wings acting as sleeves for her arms, "I am Isis...or to be precise a version of Isis."

"Wait...a version?" Makoto repeated.

"We Shadows and Personas take many different forms…" Isis explained, "But not important right now...I shall ask you three questions. If you can answer them correctly, you may unlock the picture that hides young Futaba's Memories. If you answer incorrectly...you will be trapped in here…"

"...no pressure…" Kairi muttered.

"Now...first question; What type of love is shared between a mother and her child?" Isis asked.

"Ah crap I should not have agreed to be the one to do this." Kairi whispered to himself, "Uh...Familial love?"

"Correct!" Isis beamed as she held up a sign with a circle on it, "Second question; What is the most rewarding thing a parent sees in their child?"

"...seeing them grow up."

"Correct!" Isis smiled as she held up the sign again...before taking a more solemn expression, "Third question...how would you feel if you lost someone in your family that was close to you?"

"Hoo boy...hitting right at home," Ryuji whispered with a wince.

"Be strong, Kairi," Makoto whispered in both worry and concern.

"..." Kairi took a moment, "I know that feeling well, I can't talk for everyone," he took a moment, "But for me...it was pain, fear, shame...I felt like my world shattered. I lost more than just someone, I lost part of myself."

"...correct," Isis whispered, a sad tone in her voice as the screen turned on, showing a picture of Futaba pulling at her mother's skirt.

=Mom...I'm tired of eating dinner alone all the time…= Futaba's voice said as the picture began to move =It's always convenience store bentos...I wanna go somewhere. Take me on a trip!=

=Don't be so selfish!= Wakaba snapped =You know how hard I'm working to support you right?! Ugh!=

"...this is sadly what she believes…" Isis sighed as the wall opened up just as the statue turned, shining a light into the main hall once more, "Young Futaba believes her actions were selfish and what drove her mother to her death…"

"...die…" Shadow Futaba whispered as she appeared before the group, a distant and empty look in her eyes, "I must die...I killed her...that's why I'm here in this tomb...this will be where I die…"

"..." Isis said nothing as she turned away, trying to force the tears back.

"I can't let that happen…" Kairi spoke up as he leaned his head down, "...No one knows how hard it feels…more then me." he took a deep breath, "So...you challenged me right?" he raised his head, "I'm Joker of the Phantom Thieves, LupinRed of the Lupinrangers...there is nothing I can't steal! I work in the name of the true Lupin! So just stand back and watch me work, 'cause I'm going to steal this Treasure, change your heart, and then you're gonna deal with your demons...like I did! So just sit back and wait till we are done!" he smiled.

"...if that is the case...you will need my permission to open the door," Shadow Futaba stated.

"So open it for us," Ryuji spoke.

"I cannot...you must have her...the real Futaba invite you in."

"..." Kairi walked forward at that, walking past Shadow Futaba as he put a hand on her head, "Phantom Thieves don't ask permission...they warn you they're coming." he smiled

"We're not considering sneaking into her room are we?" Makoto asked as the group began to walk out with him.

"Know any better way to send her a Calling Card?"

"Better question...What'll Boss think if he learned you snuck into Futaba's room?"

"..."

"Mmm...I should get to bed...tired…" Futaba muttered, grabbing her phone from nearby as she turned it on..seeing an App with a red eye on it appear, "Eh? An eyeball...what is this? I don't' remember installing this app." she muttered, tapping the app for a moment before she saw her Shadow within an instant, "?! Wh-what was…" a knocking sound could be heard from her window, making her tense up as she slowly turned. She hopped out of her seat before slowly opening the shades...and saw LupinRed standing in the window.

"Hi."

"GH!" Futaba tensed as she bolted for her opened closet and closed it shut, "S-sentai da!"

"Told you she'd freak out," Morgana deadpanned from on top of Red's shoulder.

"Better as this than…" Red began before he got a good look at Futaba's room, "..Good lord her room is filthy…and dark..."

"She was practically plastered to her computer when I snuck into her room," Morgana stated.

"My oh my…" LupinRed chuckled, "So Alibaba...ready to fix your issues?"

"...m...my issues?" Futaba cautiously repeated.

"Yup…" Red nodded, opening the window as he silently slipped in, making sure not to step on anything as he walked over to the closet, "I'm here for what I promised I'd steal…"

"..." Futaba said nothing as she suddenly jumped out with her arms spread apart, "Th-there! Now steal it! Steal my heart!"

"..."

"...c-come on...hurry up!" Futaba shouted, practically shaking like a leaf as she kept her eyes shut.

"Well that has several meanings for me." He sighed walking over and picking her up in his arms suddenly, "But I'll do the one you want me to do. But…" he paused as she opened her eyes, "I'm going to need you to finish the job. See, the best way I can explain this is, in order to help you, I need to save you."

"...h-how?" Futaba asked.

"Simple...I use my VS Changer or an App to enter this world called Mementos, and then me and my team sneaks into the Palace of someone to steal their Treasure, thus making them have a change of heart."

"An...app?" Futaba blinked before pulling her phone out and showed him the app, "You mean...this?"

"Wait...you have it too? How…?"

"I don't know. It just...popped up on my phone," Futaba answered before blinking, "Wait...you said this can help take you to my Palace right?"

"Yup."

"...Then take me with you."

"Ah good...we're on the same page here." Red chuckled, "Be warned, this is going to get trippy~" he chuckled holding up his changer, "No take backs!" he laughed jumping out the window as a red flash went off...and they vanished.

"Wonder what's taking him?" Ryuji asked as he and the others were sitting near an elevator with police tape covering the door.

"Probably trying to talk to Futaba…" Makoto guessed before a flash of red went off, "Ahh...welcome b-" she began as she and the others turned….to see Red holding Futaba in his arms as Morgana hopped off his shoulder, "HAH?!"

"You took her out of her room?!" Ann gawked.

"Large group of people!" Futaba freaked as she shot behind Red, "Protect me Feather Re-I mean Red sentai-San!"

"Dude, you kidnapped her?!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"No...she volunteered." Red argued, "I whisked her away."

"Whisked away huh...interesting," Yusuke noted, "...oh. And did you give her the Calling Card?"

"...oh yeah. Can't make the Treasure appear if it's a normal Shadow and not a Ganglar," Red recalled, bringing out the LupinRangers calling card as he held it out of Futaba, "Here. Read this…"

"...'Futaba Sakura, you have committed a great sin of drowning in sloth and inducing wrath upon yourself wrongfully...thus, we will rob every last bit of your distorted desires…'" Futaba read, giving a small grunt as she gripped Red's cape.

"No...I'm going to die…" Shadow Futaba's voice whispered as the police tape disappeared from the elevator.

"Devil child!"

"You're a plague!"

"Murderer!"

"You should've died instead!"

"You should've never been born!"

"Gh...not again…." Futaba whimpered, covering her ears as she tried to drown out the voices.

"Oi…" Red spoke, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Fuck those guys," he chuckled, "Your smart right? So you should be smart enough to ignore stupid nonsense from people who don't even know as much as your pinky finger."

"But...It's true...I really did kill her…"

"...did you really?" Red asked, making her blink, "Sure your memory isn't hazy?"

"Joker...are you sure this is good idea?" Morgana asked as the group began to step into the elevator, "We don't know what happens when a Palace's owner appears in it."

"I know…" he spoke, "But...after all that, I can't turn my back on her. She's like me...like us." he explained, "She's...a little damaged and broken...but she's still good. There's something worth trying to save there. So...it took someone giving me a hand to get back on my feet after my brother died...I'll be that hand waiting for her."

"...your...hand…" Futaba whispered as she and Red walked into the elevator, the young girl holding onto him the entire time as she hid under his cape.

"I also know...what's it's like to lose someone you love." he admitted, earning her attention, "He...was better than anyone I've ever known. He never gave up on me, he always got involved in my business. He looked out for me, nagged me, and he wasn't perfect, he was a little stuck up...kind of a killjoy...but...he was the one true family I had. And then...he was taken from me," he sighed, "Futaba...life sucks sometimes, but you can't change it unless you get up and do something about it. And sometimes it takes someone giving you something new to focus on...so...how about instead of hiding up in your room...you follow me and my friends? We got a lot of assholes to track down. To take their treasures, to collect some magical items, and at the end of a long battle...you can get one wish."

"Wish?" Futaba repeated.

"We'll explain once we're done here," Yusuke explained as the elevator started going down.

"But for a quick summary, we collect these things called Collection Pieces for the real Lupin," Ryuji stated, "We get them all back, we can get a wish from the guy."

"...A wish…." Futaba whispered as the elevator stopped, the doors opening to show a large room that looked more akin to cyberspace really...with bits of the pyramid floating around...almost like a MC Esher painting, "...So this...is inside my heart…"

"It's more symbolic than literal." Red replied, "So...ready to change your heart?"

"...I'll try…"

"Good girl…" Red smiled softly behind his helmet as the group began to proceed.

"..." Futaba said nothing as she looked around, tensing up a bit when she saw a picture of those men reading hte suicide note to her, "Th...that's…"

"Do you remember?" Shadow Futaba asked, appearing right next to the real one, "The suicide note those men claimed your mother wrote…"

"...hai…" Futaba whispered before looking to the side, seeing the picture of her mom jumping in front of the car, "And that's...when mom…."

"Yes...and this one…" Shadow Futaba began as she motioned to the picture of Futaba pulling at her mother's skirt.

"No…"

"Don't run...I thought you made your mind up after making a deal with the Phantom Thieves…" Shadow Futaba frowned a bit.

"But...that's me complaining...and mom scolding me harshly for bothering her…I was a bad daughter and she hated me..."

"..Are you sure?" Shadow Futaba asked, earning her attention, "Open your eyes...do not avert your gaze…when did this moment happen?"

"Hmm?" Red blinked as he and Morgana were paying attention to the conversation

"...It was...just a little before mom died…" Futaba whispered, holding her arm as her other hand was still holding onto Red's cape, "I whined about wanting to go on a family trip...but she scolded me and said no…"

"Was that all she said?"

"...no. She said 'I'm too busy right now. I need to finish my Cognitive Research as soon as possible," Futaba answered before holding her head down, "I threw a tantrum...told her she thought her research was more important than I was…that's when she scolded me..."

"But what did she say before hand? Remember…"

"...d-did she say…'my research is almost over. Once it's finished, we can go wherever you like….I'm sorry I've left you alone for so long, Futaba. Please try to understand though,' ...?" Futaba asked, her eyes widening slightly as she started remembering stuff, "'This research is really important. I need to complete it, even if it costs me my life.'" she whispered before she noticed the third pic changing, now showing Wakaba smiling rather than glaring at her, "What? Sh...she smiled…"

"Joker, you heard that right?" Morgana whispered to Red, "About the research?"

"I did…" he replied, "We'll talk these details out after." he nodded simply.

"Right," Morgana nodded as the group began to approach a door, "The Treasure is in here…"

"Good…" Red nodded as he turned around, kneeling down a bit to face Futaba, "Listen...me and my team are gonna go in there and...most likely a big battle will ensue. We'll come get you after we're done here and…" he paused as he looked at her Shadow, "After you talk things out with your other you…"

"...you promise?" Futaba asked.

"I promise…" Red nodded as he and the others walked into the room.

"...the hell? This ain't what I was imagining…" Ryuji muttered, the group walking through a dark room with green lights coming from the floor.

"Were you expecting a mountain of treasure or something of that sort?" Yusuke asked.

"...there is that over there," Ann spoke, pointing to a lone coffin with gold light coming from the openings surrounding it.

"...that's it?" Ryuji gawked a bit.

"The Treasure must be inside," Makoto guessed.

"Well...that's a thing." Red muttered.

"...wait…" Yusuke spoke, getting into position as he pulled his katana out, "There's something here…"

"Wh-?" Ryuji began before a roar was heard from outside, "Oh geez!"

A rumble went off within the area before the roof suddenly caved in, debris falling as it exposed the sunlight into the room. The group stood silent for a moment before a large eye looked in, filled with pure rage as it glared at the group.

"What the…?!"

"FUUUUUUUTAAAAAABAAAAAAAAA!-!-!-!" a distorted version of Wakaba's voice roared out as more of the roof was knocked away, letting the group see a massive Sphinx flying before them, her face that of Futaba's mother.

"This is insane!" Ann gawked before the group was nearly blown away from a burst of wind caused by the sphinx' wings flapping

"Is that a Shadow?!" Ryuji exclaimed as the group held onto the ground.

"No...that's a Cognition of Futaba's mother…" Morgana grunted, "A monster that she created!"

"How can that be?!" Makoto gasped.

"Hey look out!"

"Wh-?" Makoto began before Red tackled her out of the way of some flying debris, "Th-thanks…"

"DO NOT APPROACH THE PHARAOH'S TOMB!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she raised her lion paw up, "A DEADLY CURSE SHALL FALL UPON YOU!-!-!"

"Murder is not a curse lady!" Red shouted as he and Makoto rolled out of the way of the slam.

Cognitive Wakaba roared out as she flew away from them, flying around the pyramid as she glared at the group.

"She's too far for us to attack with our weapons…" Morgana grunted as he and the others got up, "Or best bet is to use our Personas and guns to attack her."

"That's one idea," a voice spoke, making the group look at Red as Jack flew out of his cape, "I have a much...much cooler one."

"Whatever it is…" Red began as Cognitive Wakaba began to fly right towards them, "You better do it fast!"

"You asked for fast." Jack smiled as he forced himself onto his VS Changer and twisted it around, on his own twice.

=Get Set! Ready? Tobe, Tobe, Tobe! Go! J-J-J-JACKPOT=

Suddenly a giant Jackpot Striker shot out and crashed into Cognitive Wakaba, knocking her back and making an even larger hole in the structure around them.

"He can grow big too?!" Ryuji shouted.

"Don't you stop there!" Jack called out as he flew around, "Join me in the air Lupinrangers!"

"Ah! Right! Panther, Skull!" Red called out.

"Hai!" the two nodded as they pulled their Vs Changers and Dial Fighters out, "Kaitoh Change!"

=Lupinranger~!=

"Now what?!" Blue called out.

"Call out your Dial Fighters!" Jack shouted as he knocked Cognitive Wakaba back once more, only for her to crash into him as she tried to knock him out of the air, "Hurry!"

"Do this," Red ordered twisting his Changer as they followed his lead.

=R-R-R-RED! B-B-B-BLUE! Y-Y-Y-YELLOW=

With that, their Dial Fighters shot off and quickly grew to massive size. Red swung his arm out as Morgana landed on his shoulder, he reached and picked up both Futaba and her Shadow self before leaping and landing in the cockpit of his Fighter Jet. Blue grabbed Yusuke as they jumped into the propeller air racer plane. Yellow helped Makoto jump into the Future copter Dial Fighter. All three air vehicles took off into the sky as their pilots landed in the bike-like control seats, plugging the VS Changers into the control module and piloting up and out of range of Cognitive Wakaba.

"Dude this is so cool!" Blue beamed as he piloted his Dial Fighter.

"Woah! Easy now!" Yellow yelped, nearly losing control of her copter.

"I'm in a sentai mech! I'm in a sentai mech!" Futaba gasped in a bit of excitement, rapidly looking around Red's Dial Fighter.

"Feeling better are we?" Red asked with a chuckle.

"..." Futaba said nothing as she slowly crept down her seat to hide in embarrassed blush.

"Come on, your in a magical jet, this isn't even the fun way we get around." Red chuckled.

=No...just...please don't kidnap another girl to swing around the city with her= Yellow sighed.

=To be fair...it wasn't kidnapping…= Makoto muttered.

"Yup. It was more…"

"FUUUUTAAAABAAAA!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she flew right at Red's Dial Fighter.

"Oh that's cute...it thinks it can catch me?" Red laughed as he pushed the controls forward making the plane suddenly dip down and fly towards the ground at an ever growing speed, Futaba panicked before he suddenly turned up at the Last possible second, and took off letting Cognitive Wakaba slam into the sand, "HA! I did that with my eyes closed!"

"Grr...!"

"No time to joke around! Minna," Jack got their attention, "Fly up in formation, it's time to Gattai!"

=Gattai?= Yellow, Yusuke and Makoto blinked.

"Gattai?!= Blue and Futaba beamed.

"Yes gattai!" Jack declared.

"Yosh, Ikuze Jack!" Red declared.

"Kaitou Gat~time!" Jackpot striker declared as the trigger on the back of his form pulled itself, the crown, two wing foils on his side, and a sword on the bottom lifted off his form as he flew up.

Blue and Yellow Dial Fighters flew up and around Jackpot Striker's side, their wings folded down as the rear sections suddenly bent down, they twisted around as the main wings of Jackpot Striker folded up revealing connection hardpoints as Blue and Yellow docked into these points before twisting around so their tails aimed down, they twisted around as the rear stabilizer of yellow spun to reveal it was a circular saw, and the Blue dial fighter revealed a hand unit with a gatling gun connected under the new arm. The nose of Jackpot Striker extended and split open into two legs, as black sections unfolded into feet units. Red Dial Fighter flew up over Jackpot Striker as the trigger and dial section twisted back allowing Red to dock atop. The nose section linked as the rest opened and twisted back and docking into place to complete the torso and form a 'head' unit. The Cockpit seats sank into the floor before appearing in LupinRed's cockpit the Cockpit slid back into the head unit just under the dial section of the Dial Fighter, it began spinning around as a robotic face slid into place, the face had red armor like a domino mask, and a silver sculpted human face with yellow eyes. The crown floated down onto the dial atop the head unit. The wing foils linked to the bottom of the Blue and Yellow Dial fighter's noses which acted as shoulders and forming shoulder guards. The Golden sword fell down as the Blue arm grabbed it.

"Kasei!" Jackpot Striker's voice spoke as the newly formed robot flipped around, as the shoulder guards flashed as the sides began to glow as wings formed behind the robot, each wing made of five glowing red panels matching the sides of the guards, "LupinRex!"

"Mecha! I'm in a mecha!" Futaba gasped excitedly before shaking her head, "No...don't nerd out...don't nerd out right now…"

"This...is...AWESOME!" LupinBlue shouted.

"Amazing...so royal and extravagant…" Yusuke awed.

"It's made of jets...so now it has...wings…" LupinYellow awed as they floated down slowly.

"I can get used to this!" LupinRed grinned behind his helmet just as Cognitive Wakaba got back up, "But get excited later. We got a berserk Cognition to tame!"

"Disobedient children should not attack their mothers like that!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she flew back up into the sky, her wings kicking up sand as they produced a pair of tornados.

"I don't think you, a fake copy, has a right to talk about that!" Jackpot Striker's voice shouted as everyone looked as Red's cockpit unit opened in the front and this little puppet like-figure covered in red and yellow armor with wings, and a white face with a gold crown on his head.

"J-Jack?" Red asked, shocked.

"No time talk! Action! En guard!" At that LupinRex rushed forward swinging it's sword and cutting through the tornados to slash Cognitive Wakaba.

Cognitive Wakaba flew out of the way of the slash as she slashed at LupinRex, scratching its chest as she flew back up to avoid another slash. LupinRex swung it's blue arm and used the gatling gun to shoot from a distance knocking her out of the air.

"Grr...Futaba you spoiled child!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she got back up, "It's your fault I lost my life!"

"GH…?!" Futaba tensed as the voices began to return, the faint shadowed images of adults starting to surround her.

"You killed her!"

"No…" Futaba whispered as she hugged herself.

"Why don't you say something?!"

"You're a plague!"

"It's your fault!"

"Devil Child!"

"It's my fault…" Futaba said with a shaky breath.

"That's right! You killed me!" Cognitive Wakaba shouted.

"This is not good…" Morgana spoke in worry, "Futaba's desires and guilt distorted her cignition of her mother...the wish that her mother was alive again is mixed in as well, along with those eerie jeers."

"This is a really new situation for us!" Jack grunted as LupinRex thrust his sword to keep Cognitive Wakaba away.

"You are nothing but a demon who stood in my way…..you stole my life!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she took off high into the air, "I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"

"Oi…" Red turned to Futaba getting her attention, "For one minute...take a second, and think." he stated, making her blink in confusion, "Boss told me about your mom...I trust his word, he's the kinda old jerk who knows good people and doesn't fall for fake smiles. And the story he told me of her, this isn't your mom."

"But…" Futaba began as more ghostly images of adults appeared.

"'I should've never had Futaba...she was always such a bother.' It seems you've caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Futaba-chan. She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis."

"Ngh…" Futaba whimpered before ghostly images of her mother reaching out to her appeared.

"F...Futabaaa…." one gasped out out of pure rage, "You...are….!"

"You made your mother destroy all her research, Futaba-chan...she had worked so hard on it as well…" the adult man voice sighed, "She lsot her mind, and it's all because of you…"

"Mom...I…" Futaba whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to drown out the voices.

"Futaba Sakura, remember!" Shadow Futaba shouted, making the group tense up as they saw her glaring at the real one, "Listen to his words...this 'truth' you've come to realize...this false truth. Why did you think it was suicide?"

"...because of the note…" Futaba whispered.

"The men in black suits read her suicide not to you, and what was writting on it?"

"...all her complaints...about me…" Futaba sighed sadly as she lowered her head.

"Yes...the shock and the pain led you to avert your eyes," Shadow Futaba stated, "But they kept reading it aloud in front of your relatives. Think hard...was that suicide note real? Would the mother you loved so much truly have written that?"

"..."

"Did she ever say such horrible things to you? Answer me…" Shadow Futaba demanded Futaba.

"...no…." Futaba whispered, a frown growing on her face as she rose her head up, "No! She'd scold me whenever I had tantrums, but she cared about me!"

"And the suicide note?"

"A total lie!"

"You were used!" Shadow Futaba shouted to get her more riled up, "They forged the suicide note and laid the blame of her death upon you!"

'Wait...so that's it. I get it now….those men who read that 'note' blamed the death of Futaba's mother on her...just to get her research,' Red mentally realized, his hand gripping the controls tighter as it seemed like...energy was going from his hands into the controls making LupinRex's wings begin to glow brighter.

"They trampled all over your young heart!" Shadow Futaba shouted as Futaba began to shake in anger, "Get mad! Don't forgive those rotten adults! Never forgive those who took your mother away!"

"Hai...it's because I couldn't face myself, or mom's death…" Futaba whispered, visibly shaking as she began to grip her hands, "Even then...why did they have to yell at me like that?!"

"...most adults suck…" Red spoke up, "Life has kicked them so much they think it's fine to kick kids around. But there are a few who are good, who ignore that and care for them. We gotta find those adults, and stick with them."

"Hai…" Futaba nodded, looking at Red for a moment, "We will!"

"What denies you is an illusion…" a voice spoke within Futaba's head, making her wince as she felt a massive spike of pain in her head, "A curse put upon you by the heartless...you knew from the very beginning, and yet...you cowered in fear."

"Th...that's right...I knew...but I…"

"It's all your fault…! This time, you will be the one to die!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she crashed down hard, slashing LupinRex' chest as it was sent staggering back.

"Will you die as you are told?" the voice asked Futaba within her mind, "Who will you obey? Cursed words spat out by a seething illusion, or the truth within your own soul?"

"It's your fault! It's your fault I died!"

"...no...no it's not…" Futaba frowned, slowly opening one of her eyes as she fought the pain back, "I won't let these distorted lies deceive me anymore...and I won't be led astray by other's voices either...I'm going to trust me own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies..." she frowned as she stood up, glaring at the Cognitive version of her mother, "There's no way you're my mom! You're just a fake created by those horrid adults! I'll...I'll never...I'll never forgive them!"

"Heh...for such a little thing, you got some fire." Red chuckled.

Shadow Futaba smiled as she began to glow, floating up into the crown of LupinRex as she was engulfed in light. A moment passed before a dark-silver UFA with green datalines on it appeared, a gargoyle on the top of it while the bottom glowed a neon-green light. Before the others could say anything, black and neon-green tentacles grabbed Futaba and began to pulled her up, phasing her through the metal roof as she was dragged into the UFO.

=Contract set...I am thou, thou art I…= the voice spoke as some green screens began to pop up, causing the area Futaba was in tho brighten up to reveal her wearing a black and fluorescent neon-green jumpsuit, a pair of black jeans with armor around the kneecaps and a black belt with various parts being green holding the pants up, and a pair of gunmetal grey boots while her fingers were covered in black and glowing-green gloves =The forbidden wisdom has been revealed...no mysteries...no illusions shall deceive you any longer. Arcana designation...Hermit. Persona name...Necronomicon=

"Did...her Shadow just become a Persona?" Blue blinked behind his helmet.

"I feel something floating over my head. Should I be concerned?" Jack asked.

=Not at all= Futaba's voice spoke from inside the mech =Listen..I need your guys' help! That...thing your fighting is not my mom...I need you to help me take her down!=

"Okay!" Red gave the matching hand gesture, "Only if you promise that from here on, you're our team member, and help us take assholes like the guys who hurt you? Sound fair?"

=Sounds good to me!= Futaba answered =On one condition though...my Codename is Navi...and no. Not the annoying fairy from Ocarina of Time. As in a Navigator=

"Okay Navi!" Red cheered, "Let's end this fight!"

=Yosha!=

"Futaba you horrid child!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she took off into the air again.

"She's gonna try another divebomb!" Morgana exclaimed.

=No she's not. I got an idea= Futaba spoke as beeping sounds could be heard on her end =Since it's my heart's world, hacking into my distortion should be no problem! Plus since this is your mech's first debut, may as well give it a new powerup with it!=

"A new powerup?" Yellow repeated before a deep-blue and black card-scanner appeared before Jack.

=It took me a sec, but if you channel your Persona into a card, and have the Jackpot Striker scan it to give LupinRex a new weapon!= Futaba grinned =I call this little number the Arcana Channeler! Futaba original. Do not steal=

"Will it even work?" Yusuke asked out of curiosity.

"Won't know until we try…" Morgana spoke, closing his eyes as he held his paw out, the card for his Arcana appearing in his hand, "Joker?"

"Let's give it a try," Red replied as he pulled his VS Changer out of his controls, "I like more ways to blow stuff up anyway. I mean have you seen my illegal fireworks collection?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Makoto deadpanned.

"Aw...it's sweet, you're not even mad." Red chuckled, "Kay Navi what should I do now?"

=Like I said, take the Arcana card that's summoned, hand it to Jack so he can scan it through the card reader, and boom. Instant new weapon based on that Arcana= Futaba explained.

"Let's try it then," Red nodded as he took Morgana's card, handing it to Jack as he slotted it through the card reader.

=MAGICIAN~!= Futaba's voice came from the card reader as LupinRex held out its free hand, causing a deep azure blue and silver blaster with what looked like a copy of Jack Frost's hat at the back while the bottom of the barrel's front sported something similar to Zorro's moustache.

=Arcana Magicians set! Ladies and gents, I give you Magicians Blaster!= Futaba declared =Normally it should've been based on the Persona user that belongs to that Arcana, but you must have two of them=

"How do you know so much about Personas already?" Yellow asked.

=My Persona, Necronomicon lets me search up any info and scan the environment. Heck it even allows me to hack into anything that hides any good secrets and data. While you guys were talking and after I got over the initial shock, I searched up Personas and presto. My Arcana Channeler!=

"Well let's try this baby out then!" Blue beamed as LupinRex aimed the Magicians Blaster up, the barrel glowing as it fired up, sending a few energy shots covered in win and ice as they all locked onto Cognitive Wakaba.

The berserk Cognition saw the energy shots coming as she attempted to fly away from the shots, only to roar out as the shots hit her, sending her crashing into the sands below once more.

=Mwehehe...elemental homing shots! No matter how fast the target is, they will hit!= Futaba beamed =But it does have cool down depending on how long the charge is or the number of shots fired. Don't want it to be too OP ya know=

"Ano sa...this isn't a competitive game…" Red sighed at that, "Still useful though."

"Futaba...how dare you!" Cognitive Wakaba roared as she got back up, "Children who defy their mothers should die!"

=Shut up! Your not my mom!= Futaba snapped =You're just a monster born from my own weakness...and when a monster is set loose and hurting people, it's a Super Sentai's job to take it down!=

"That's right," Red spoke up, "And we've had our fill of this one. So since we've got the okay...Jack, you've been holding back haven't you?"

"Only a little, this is a process after all!" Jack cheered, "Sa...It's Showtime!"

"Showtime!" The Lupinrangers declared as LupinRex stepped forward.

"You will be cursed for all eternity!" Cognitive Wakaba shouted, taking off into the air once more as she flew right towards the mech.

At that LupinRex took off into the air with a sonic boom. Cognitive Wakaba looked up as the robot flipped around and dived down. It raised it's left arm and swung with the circular saw and slashed the Cognitive monster. LupinRex spun around, its feet gliding through the sand, the wings whipping up gusts of wind and sand blinding Cognitive Wakaba. LupinRex swung and with it's sword slashed Cognitive Wakaba sending her flying back.

"You kids are better at this then I figured. Keep attacking! We got this thing on the ropes!" Jack cheered.

LupinRex rushed forward before slashing Cognitive Wakaba, the mecha kept running before suddenly taking off into the air. It flew up before breaking the clouds above. It spun around as the wings began shining and each one produced a duplicate. They floated around before angling around and aiming forward. LupinRex slowly and gently swung it's sword out, before aiming down at Cognitive Wakaba, with a simple thrusting motion the wing funnels flew forward and began to attack the Cognitive monster, knocking her around rapidly.

"We have stuff like that?!" Blue asked in awe.

"Sugoi Jack…" Yellow agreed.

"A Rare item like me is only as strong as the team I choose to partner with!" Jack chuckled, "I am lucky to be with a one of a kind team of weird...but good kids." he turned to look at Red, "Ikuze Red! Its time we end this right?"

"Heh…" Red chuckled, "Ikuze Jack!"

With that LupinRex flew up again, this time even higher and higher, before it stopped and cut off the energy to its wings and the thrusters in it's legs. The robot began to fall, all the while tipping back so it now faced head first towards the ground. After a moment of falling the thrusters ignited with powerful blue jets of fire as it reached its maximum speed right down at Cognitive Wakaba. LupinRex held up it's sword, and then it's left arm, before grinding the circular saw on it's arm along the blade, sparks coming off the contact until the sword itself was now wreathed in ethereal sapphire flames. LupinRex burst through a cloud, dispersing it to the winds as its funnels pinned down Cognitive Wakaba in one spot.

"Kaitou!" Jack and Red spoke at the same time as LupinRex swung down with the sword, "Freedom Slash!" a large explosion of blue flames suddenly rocked the desert as sand and debris was sent flying in every direction. After a moment, LupinRex flew out of the smoke, its wings glowing and sword shining in the light.

=Yes! Monster beaten!= Futaba declared in victory.

"Whoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Blue beamed as he shot up out of his seat.

"Eien-ni...Adieu." Red and Jack spoke at the same time.

"Amazing…" Makoto whispered in awe while Yusuke...well he was busy drawing what the start of the finisher looked like.

"...Wait. Something's coming out," Morgana spoke, making the group tense up as a ball of light floated out of the dust cloud, moving right before LupinRex' face as it began ot fade a it, showing Cognitive Wakaba...only she was no longer a sphynx as she was barely visible to the group.

=?! M...mom?= Futaba whispered

"Now that the mess has been cleared, your mind's true image is free." Jack explained.

"Futaba…" Wakaba began with a small smile, "Thank you for choosing to remember the real me."

=...I'm sorry for being so selfish…= Futaba whispered =Mom…=

"No. Don't come over here," Wakaba shook her head, "This isn't where you're supposed to be, is it?"

=But…= Futaba paused, her voice cracking a bit as a small sob was heard =I finally got to see you again…=

"Are you being selfish again?" Wakaba asked with a small chuckle.

=Um...I….I...love you, mom…=

"...I love you too, Futaba…" Wakaba replied with a motherly smile as she faded away, "You should get going…"

=H...hai…= Futaba whispered, trying her best to remain calm =Good bye...mom…=

"Even in death...a bond between a mother and child is indeed strong," Yusuke whispered.

"Let's get out of here guys." Red spoke, "We got some down time to enjoy."

=...oh yeah...Medjed= Futaba recalled, having calmed down as her Persona floated out of LupinRex.

"Wait. Where are you…" Makoto began.

=Home. I know how the Nav works= Futaba answered =I'll see you guys after my nap=

"Huh? Oh...r-right," Makoto whispered as Necronomicon flew off.

"She left…" Yellow muttered.

"That girl marches to the beat of her own drum, doesn't she?" Yusuke asked.

"Like you're one to talk," Blue deadpanned, "...oh wait! What about the Treasure?!"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Morgana spoke, "The coffin was empty when I caught a glimpse of it...I think Futaba herself was the Treasure."

"I'm just gonna leave it at that before I set off some kind of flag…" Red spoke.

"Smart boy." Jack agreed.

"Least we can finally relax," Yellow sighed.

"Agreed. Tomorrow we'll meet back up," Red stated, earning a unanimous nod from the others.

"Ahh...finally a good night's sleep," Kairi yawned as he was walking downstairs form his room, already dressed for the day as he rubbed his eyes.

"You should have, you slept like the dead." Morgana noted climbing onto his shoulder.

"I'm just glad that's all done. Now I can stop relying on internet troll tricks just to get a moment of peace."

"Yes...hopefully Futaba will keep her promise on helping us against Medjed."

"..okay this was bugging me honestly, but what did she mean by them 'purging Japan' or something like that?" Kairi asked.

"I looked on the Phan-Site and saw a post of theirs...they're planning on hacking into everything and reveal or delete everyone's information online," Morgana answered, "They're even planning on selling SPD's secrets to the highest bidder…"

"Pretty sure if they try, they'll be arrested on the spot," Kairi argued as the reached downstairs, seeing Soujiro pouring some coffee into a pair of cups, "Hey, Boss."

"Hmm?" Soujiro raised a brow before looking over, "Oh...hey."

"How's Futaba?" Kairi asked as he sat down.

"...same as always," Soujiro sighed as he put one of the cups on the counter, "Today...is the day Wakaba passed. I put out a cup of coffee every year since her passing...here," he said as he held up the other cup to Kairi, "I made you a cup too."

"Ariga-chu~" Kairi chuckled as he took his cup, he then tapped a spot, "Mona," he sighed as Morgana climbed down, "Come on as we learned yesterday, if I'm not there...Makoto can't stop the others from being stupid...stupider. Let's get something before we go." he talked to his cat which to most seemed odd, but they didn't know this was a talking cat.

"I can probably make you something real quick, but…" Soujiro paused before looking at the empty seat the other cup of coffee was in front of, "...heh. Futaba reminds me so much of her mother. She's a smart girl...doesn't go with the flow either."

"Eh I'm sure she'll get better with time," Kairi assured, "The way you talk about her mom, I'm sure she'll bounce back. They are mother and daughter aren't they?"

"...yeah. They are…" Soujiro nodded with a small, sad smile before he sighed, "Wakaba...your work and your kid were so fulfilling for you….Why'd you have to die so suddenly…?"

"..." Kairi said nothing, knowing in truth that Wakaba's death wasn't suicide.

"Listen. That woman in the suit from yesterday...be careful. She might come back," Soujiro stated, looking around a bit before whispering to him, "This is between us...but that woman was trying to get information on Wakaba's research out of me..." he stated before moving back from him, "You don't need to know what the research was about...just know there was some trouble around it. Obviously Wakaba got dragged into it as well."

"...do you believe it was a suicide?" Kairi asked.

"...no. I'm starting to have my doubts about that suicide note those men read to the family," Soujiro answered, "Supposedly, there were people who wanted to take her research and use it for their own benefit….don't get me wrong though. I don't have a lick of evidence...it's why I haven't told Futaba any of this. I don't wanna cause her any more trouble."

"Well...it's worth trying to figure out even on your own right?" Kairi offered, "My brother always believed that sometimes the truth, even if it hurt was better. Maybe trying to find the truth here would just be better than doing nothing." he offered, "But he was also the kind of guy who wore socks with sandals...he wasn't perfect." he joked.

"...hm. I suppose none of us are," Soujiro forced a small chuckle out of himself, "Honestly before Wakaba died...she told me 'I think I might die.' I brushed it off as a bad joke, but…" he paused as he looked down, taking his glasses off for a moment, "If I had just taken her seriously…" he sighed before putting his glasses back on, "That's another reason why I took Futaba in...redemption...she went through such horrible things...those heartless adults just yelled at the poor girl...I'm just thankful I stepped in and liberated her from her last 'home'..."

"Hey you did right by her." Kairi spoke, "You can't blame yourself for the fact her mom is gone. All you can do is try to set things right after you took her away from that place, you gave her a safe place. From there, she has to heal at her own pace. The fact your still trying and letting her heal, shows you're doing more than enough."

"...yeah. I suppose y-" Soujiro began before she heard the door open, making him turn to see who entered...and his eyes widened upon who he saw, "?!"

"Hmm?" Kairi raised a brow as Futaba walked past him, making him double take as he turned to see her taking the empty seat next to him and took a sip of the other coffee cup.

"...it's cold," Futaba pouted a bit, "Soujiro, you can't sell this."

"Fu-Futaba? Y-you're out of your room...out of the house," Soujiro sputtered in complete shock and surprise, "H-how'd you get here?!

"Uh...I walked?" Futaba answered in confusion, "Is...that bad?"

"Th-that's not it!" Soujiro exclaimed as he shook his head, "I'm just...so shocked to see you out of the house."

"...I'm sorry I worried you," Futaba whispered as she looked down sadly.

"...it…" Soujiro paused, lifting his glasses off to wipe away the forming tears, "It's alright kiddo…"

"Well...looks like a step in a good direction, huh Mona?" Kairi smiled, patting his feline partner's head.

"Aw come on…" Morgana muttered...but still purred from the rubbing.

"Now...one more test for today…" Futaba began as she hopped out of her seat, "Dealing with a small crowd…"

"S-so soon?" Soujiro blinked.

"Yeah…" Futaba nodded before pointing at Kairi, "Mostly him and his friends. I have something I need them for…"

"The cat says sorry for breaking into the house…" Kairi held up Morgana in front of him.

"It's fine," Futaba assured, taking Morgana from him as she held him close, "After we're done...quick nap, and then...Soujiro's curry," she smiled, drooling a bit as she walked out.

"I'm gonna go keep an eye on her...mostly because she has my cat." Kairi offered.

"Heh. You do that," Soujiro chuckled as he began to calm down a little, "I'll start fixing up some curry for her when she wakes up."

"Don't worry, I'm better at keeping an eye on people these days. I'll make sure she gets home." he assured with a very confident smirk, "Promise," he finished his coffee before turning and running after Futaba.

"...It's a miracle…" Soujiro thought, a sense of relief flowing through him as the tears returned.

"Alright…" Futaba whispered, cracking her fingers as she sat before her computer, "It's my turn to help out…" she whispered as she pulled up Medjed's page, just as Kairi walked into the room, "Hmph...Medjed...how do we cook them?"

"Hmm…" Kairi pondered for a moment, "Mona?"

"Surprise us," Morgana answered.

"Mweheehee….my favorite type o-" Futaba began before blinking, "...Did the kitty just talk?!" she gawked, making Kairi and Morgana do a faceplant on the floor, "Is this a dream? Am I still in the other world?...Okay back to sleep…"

"Ahh! Not a dream! Don't fall asleep!" Morgana panicked as Futaba pulled out a face pillow, "Kairi do something!"

"I am at a loss for this one." he admitted as he walked over a little closer, "Oi, no time, and ignore the fact I have a magical creature."

"..oh right…." Futaba recalled what she was gonna do before, "...eh. I guess it doesn't matter. Let's get cracking!" she grinned before her fingers were practically blurs on the keyboard.

"You're just tapping away over there. Are you sure this can w-" Morgana began, only to notice that Futaba was completely focused on the screens before her, "...I don't think she can hear me...talk about intense concentration."

"She's clearly got a crazy talent for this stuff." Kairi pointed out, "Let's just roll with the crazy."

"...Fair enough," Morgana muttered just as Yusuke and Makoto walked in.

"We got your text Kairi and…" Makoto began before she noticed how messy Futaba's room was, "...dear lord…"

"Not even my old room at Madarame's place was this messy, "Yusuke muttered, "And why do I smell Chinese food in here?"

"I'm honestly amazed she can work with all this mess," Makoto admitted, seeing Futaba typing away as the glare of the computer screens shone off her glasses, "...maybe we should help clean her room while she's busy working."

"I feel that is another dangerous flag…" Kairi admitted, Jack climbing out of his jacket.

"Once again, smart boy." Jack chuckled.

"Perhaps we should wait for her consent th-" Yusuke began as he accidently bumped into something, "..oops."

"And done!" Futaba beamed as she moved away from the keyboard, "Whoo...that was a workout...new firewalls, but nothing I could get past! So...what was that about cleaning my room?" she asked, "I don't understand it...but I think it's a fair deal in a way!"

"Well there you have it," Makoto said as she looked at Kairi, "You rest up Futaba. We'll handle it from here."

"Thanks," was all Futaba said as she pulled her head pillow back out...before she noticed what Yusuke was doing, "...what are you doing?"

"And...there. Good as new," Yusuke noted as he stepped back from a set of action figures...with their parts all mixed up.

"?! A...AHH!" Futaba freaked as she rushed over, knocking Yusuke onto her bed as she looked at the mangled up action figures, "My...my children...what have you done to my children!?"

"They seemed shoddily made…" Yusuke muttered as he got up.

"THEY'RE FROM FUSHICHOU SENTAI FEATHERMAN NEO!" Futaba snapped, "Ahh...Yellow and Pink's heads...and Red's been hacked to bits...I got the poses just right too...I even paid a lot for Pink because she had an autograph of Yukari Takeba on her! Onore, Inari!"

"...Inari?" Yusuke repeated.

"Your thief clothes were like a fox," Futaba explained as she glared at him, "According to Japanese folklore, foxes like Inaruzushi, thus...Inari!"

"His codename is Fox." Kairi spoke.

"Nope. I hereby dub him Inari," Futaba argued as she was focused on fixing her figures, "Ahh...stupid poses he put you in...Not that he knows aesthetics if it hit him in the face!"

"H-how dare you say that to me of all people!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"So we're just gonna clean." Kairi and the others spoke, choosing to let the two tire themselves out by arguing.

"Hey guys. Wh-" Ryuji began as he and Ann walked in...and saw Yusuke and Futaba bickering, "...what did we just walk in on?"

"Clean up duty so congrats…" Kairi began as he handed Ryuji a few large bags of trash, "You get trash duty."

"...HAH?!"

"You rather get in the middle of all that?" he pointed to the arguing duo who were borderline yelling gibberish.

"...I'll go get the trash out," Ryuji muttered as he began to walk off, making sure not to bump into anything along the way.

"Ann, mind helping me straighten her bed and her clothes?" Makoto asked, currently taking the sheet off Futaba's bed.

"Sure, Mako-chan," Ann smiled as she walked in.

"Kairi, mind handling the floor?"

"Sure," he nodded simply.

"I see...so their versatility allows you to recreate almost any dramatic scene you can imagine," Yusuke noted, his and Futaba's argument changing to a normal conversation.

"Mm hmm!" Futaba nodded as she finished fixing her figures, standing on her chair while crouching down, "Victory is great for action, and Neo's got the best transformation suit. So cool...I even often use them to recreate battles from Choujin Sentai Jetman, the Sentai they're based on."

"Fascinating," Yusuke noted in amazement, "Art depicts a flash of inspiration, but models offer a much different means of enjoyment."

"Huh...look at that. Futaba's having a normal conversation," Morgana noted, sitting on top of Futaba's strained and cleaned up bed.

"I was honestly afraid she wouldn't say anything if there was a large group," Makoto admitted as she and Ann closed Futaba's closet door, "I guess as long as the topic is something she's interested in, she'll talk just fine."

"That girl is full of surprises." Kairi chuckled.

"Last bags out…" Ryuji panted as he walked back in, "Man...now I'm craving for some Chinese…"

"Don't touch the Lo Mien in the mini-fridge. That's mine," Futaba stated as she pointed at Ryu, not once turning to look at him.

"Can...she see things going on outside of her field of vision?" Kairi asked, miming things while behind Futaba.

"I...don't think she can," Ann muttered, "Hey, Futaba...hello?"

"She was focused a lot on her computer," Morgana spoke, "Guess once she focuses on something, she won't give up on it until it's finished."

"Hmm?" Futaba blinked before noticing the condition of her room, "Wow...my room is sparkling clean...oh hey. You even restocked my mini-fridge for my drinks."

"We saw it was empty so we hopped on to the convenience store real quick to get you some," Kairi answered, "Not sure what you looked like so I got you some energy drinks, waters and some soda."

"Ahh...perfect. Been meaning to restock until my next streaming session," Futaba noted with a smile before blinking, "Oh right..Medjed."

"Medjed...oh shoot that's right!" Ryuji recalled, "Did you stop them?"

"Take a look," Futaba said with a grin, typing something into her computer as she pulled up a video on Youtube.

=In today's news, it seems the cyber terrorist group Medjed has been defeated by the Phantom Thieves= a news reporter stated as on the top left part of the screen showed some cars and trucks from SPD parked outside an apartment complex =Medjed attempted to purge Japan by releasing everyone's secrets and delete any important data, but the Phantom Thieves stepped them and used their own attack against them. Local police stations all over Japan are searching into current members of this group while the ringleader is being arrested by SPD for attempts to sell blueprints of their machines to the black market=

"...did...she just crush an international hacker organization that easily?" Makoto blinked as the group saw a man in a business suit being dragged off by some men and women from SPD.

"Pfft! Please...the one who taunted you guys was just some guy in Japan," Futaba snorted, "I might've been the one to send ya the challenge, but they took my challenge as a sign and perverted it just to get street cred. Besides, Japan's Medjed members weren't anything special, so I wasn't worried."

"..how do you know all that?" Ann asked, "Aren't you supposed to be a member?"

"Member? Pfft! Please...I'm the founder."

"...come again?" the group blinked at that.

"You. It was just me at first when I was referred to as a hacker of justice," Futaba added, "But...since I remained anonymous, a buncha guys from all over the world started using the name."

"And those were the ones committing cyber crimes," Ann noted.

"It was a hassle to expose them all, so I just let them be and left Medjed," Futaba sighed, "So now I'm just Alibaba...or in this case as a part of the Phantom Thieves; Navi."

"Wow...we need to keep an eye on you." Kairi noted.

"If you can...anyways...I'm tired," Futaba admitted as she hopped out of her seat, "My anxiety is starting to flare up from all of you in here at once, so I am going back to sleep...so night," she said before hopping right onto her bed, grabbing Morgana before he could jump away as she went to sleep, "Mmm…"

"Oi. That's my magic cat…" Kairi complained.

"She's already fast asleep," Morgana deadpanned, struggling a bit to get out of her grip, "Also's...she's got a powerful grip for a shut in…"

"Less talky more sleepy…" Futaba whispered as she unconsciously began to rub behind Morgana's ear, making him tense up as he began to relax and purr.

"Again she just goes along the beat of her own drum," Yusuke muttered.

"Hello pot, meet kettle…" Ryuji deadpanned, earning a confused blink form Yusuke, "...It's a saying, dude."

"Oh…"

"Ah...let's let her rest, I'll save Morgana later, I'm sure he won't mind a nap either," Kairi stated.

"Just cause it's true doesn't mean I like being abandoned!" Morgana complained.

"Oh relax. You're fine," Kairi assured as he and the others walked off, "So...I'm hungry. Who's up for some Chinese?"

"After smelling it for a while, I can honestly go for some," Ann admitted.

"I can go savage on some beef lo mein and some general Tso chicken," Ryuji grinned.

"I honestly have some money left over to get myself some rice," Yusuke stated.

"Ok...Chinese it is then," Makoto nodded before holding her chin in thought, "Hmm...maybe afterwards we can talk with Boss about taking Futaba with us to the beach."

"You think that's a wise move?" Kairi asked.

"Not if we help her ease into it...make sure we're nearby so she feels secured."

"I promised to keep an eye on her for him." Kairi sighed, "Ann, you and Makoto can help her with most stuff. Me and the guys will just punch anyone who upsets her."

"Crude...but effective." Ann smiled.

"I could write a book about my life and call it that…" Kairi smirked, "But enough about me...let's get some lunch, then meet up with Futaba later at Leblanc."

"Hai."

'Glad I was able to save Futaba at least…' Kairi thought as the group began to leave, 'Though...those memories we saw...what Boss said about Wakaba's research...the mental shut downs...they're all connected in a way….just how deep does this go? Well...I guess if I keep going this path I'll figure it out."

SZ: Hoo...this was a beast to finish!

Z0: Indeed it was, while inspiration is good, too much of a good thing, is a saying…

SZ: Yeah...we got burnt out...especially for the P5 side...hell..*looks at the burning film reel* I don't think we can show the preview for the next chapter…

Z0: Next chapter will be kinda fillery, but it will serve to let the plot breath a little.

SZ: Eeyup...and in turn we need a breather, so time for a different story. No worries though..we will get back to this story...just it won't be a LONG break like before.

Z0: We have other stuff to do! *falls over* and sleepy time….

SZ: Later..*plops down*Sleepy...