[Outside of the exhitbit]

Seeing how Madarame just snapped and that brief appearance of his shadow, Ren couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction. After seeing how much he exploited his pupils and treated them only to be a tool for his own wealth, it felt great to see him in panic for the first time.

As Yusuke walked back to them, it was clear that even he was relieved that Madarame did get their calling loud and clear.. However, this was only the first part of this job, there's still the actual heist of his treasure to deal with.

"The end product and reaction is much better than I thought it would be, Yusuke," Morgana said, as he poked his head out from the shoulder bag and rested on Ren's shoulder.

"I gotta admit, the card looked ten times cooler than the one for Kamoshida," Ryuji said with a small smile. "These kinds of stuff is better to be handled by an artist, after all."

"Huh, Ryuji admitting his defeat, huh?" Ren jokingly said, nudging his shoulder.

"Of course not, mine was great, y'know?"

"Nope, it never was," Ann replied without any hesitation, as her eyes were focused on her phone. "But guys look! It's trending on Twitter right now!"

"Really?" The delinquent asked, just as he and Morgana both tilted their head in unison.

"Yeah, look!" With a nod, she showed her phone's screen to them.

And she was right. Within an hour, the news about the calling card was already on the top of the trending tab, and the number of tweets and reactions only grew by the second. And that was only the tip of the iceberg, with other places like forums or even the news site… calling it 'spreading like a wildfire' was a giant understatement.

"Damn bro, that's awesome!" Ryuji exclaimed in excitement, only to have his mouth covered by Ren's hand. "Hmph! W-wha-"

"You have to learn how to control your volume, Ryuji," Ren said with a deadpan, and his gaze turned toward Ann. "But now that's it's all over on the internet, I bet Jester and Swan definitely saw that as well."

"Jester and Swan?" Yusuke asked, blinking in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Realizing that they hadn't talked about them to her in the first place, the leader of The Phantom laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh right, we've never talked about them…"

"OH right, they might… Nah, they definitely would show up," Ryuji added, facepalming at their forgetfulness. "We need to tell Yusuke 'bout them."

"We should just tell him days ago, guys…" Ann deadpanned, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess it's just because that we haven't seen them for this entire palace."

"Yeah, they've been weirdly silent for the last few days by now…" Shaking his head, Ren turned back to the young artist himself. "So… we're actually not the only group of Persona-Users here. There's also another group… or a duo. And they're Jester and Swan."

"We met back in Kamoshida's palace, but we haven't seen them since," He continued. "But they might appear this time, that's all."

"Oh, so we also have another duo of Persona users?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant," The delinquent nodded. "But they helped us during the fight with Kamoshida… so they'd probably still help us… I hope."

"But we can do it without their help," Ryuji suddenly said, crossing his arms. "We're the Phantom Thieves, after all."

"…Yeah, I agree with Ryuji here," Ann agreed.

"I know, just that… we made it big here, they definitely would notice it," Ren said, pushing his glasses. "But remember, we only have one shot with this heist, we can't fail."

[Madarame's Palace, entrance]

Just like how Kamoshida's castle reacted to their calling card, a sense of pressure and danger filled the entire space from the second they stepped in. And the red-tinted sky did nothing in favor to lessen any of those feelings.

But at least this time… they came in much more prepared than their heist in the castle.

Switching his phone's display into the screen with all of their safe room spots, Joker turned around and faced his team. "Ready for some classic movie action, team?" He asked, with a small, but clear smirk on his face.

"Just remember your part and we'll be fine," Mona said, crossing his arms once he jumped and stood on the steel fences next to them. "They'll never see it coming."

"Well, we kinda warned him beforehand," Panther deadpanned, but shrugged afterward. "Just… let's not waste any more time on it."

"Yeah, let's go."

With that said, the leader pressed his phone's screen, and they teleported into the safe room located in the Upper Main Hall. The closest safe room they had to the actual treasure, which from what they've seen… looked like a painting. It made sense.

And without another word, the thieves started their plans. Joker immediately did a mad dash and arrived at the control room, ready to lower the hook. Meanwhile, Fox and Mona arrived right next to the hook and started working, as Skull arrived on the outside of the security room, the one that looked directly at the spot Fox was.

Tightening the knot that was holding Mona in place, Fox crossed his arms and admired his handiwork for a brief moment. "It should be secure, Mona."

"Yeah, I can totally feel it," The feline thief nodded, giving the rope a confirming tug. "Now we feel like Phantom thieves!"

Meanwhile, after Skull lured the guard in the control room away, Panther quickly entered and found the switch to lower the hook. Which… was conveniently obvious on the control panel.

"Aha, there it is," With a small smile, she approached the button and saw Fox's waving, the signal they discussed before. "Okay, I'm counting on you, team!" With that said, she turned off the light of the entire room.

And Joker immediately followed, pulling the lever and lowering the hook with Mona. It was a success, with Mona taking the painting without alerting the security guards.

At least until the light turned back on, then the alarm blasted through the entire museum. Now, it's the time to get away, as quick as they could.

[Meanwhile, Station Square]

When Keigo reported that Madarame's calling card was posted, everything just turned into a frenzy on The Fools' side. Within minutes, Akira called everyone to meet up in the station square, readying for the next big fight to help The Phantoms.

"Wow, it is spreading like a wildfire," Watching the amount of post posting, and the speed of them doing so, Akira couldn't help but say in wonder. "I guess that's one way to ensure that Madarame had seen this."

"After all, they couldn't do it like how I did for mom," Hifumi said, but a look of doubt was clear on her face. "But… we just had our fight with mom two days ago…"

"Speaking of which, how does Madarame's palace look like?" She asked. "After all, the only experience I had with palaces was mom's."

"With one word, extra. With one sentence, extra on the outside, but empty and cold on the inside," The leader of The Fools replied, earning a nod of agreement from Keigo and Shiho. "And we're not even getting into the whole 'gallery' part with all his pupils."

"Don't worry, we'll be alright," Keigo reassured her, pushing his glasses. "This time it isn't just the four of us, but with… how many of them now?"

"Four, like us… unless they recruit someone as well along the way," The amateur writer shrugged, putting his phone into his pocket. "But I guess it might be just our bad timing… having two giant battles and heists placing almost back-to-back…"

"It's fine, Akira," Shiho reassured him, crossing her arms. "First, we already sent the card over to Mitsuyo as soon as we could. And second, we never knew how far they were into the palace…"

"But…I'm more concerned about the whole 'secret identity' thing," Giving out a long breath, the volleyball player's shoulder slumped. "Akira, you know we can't just do it like last time, right? They're gonna recognize us."

"I know…" Nodding, Akira rubbed the back of his neck. "Then… let them know, I'll take full responsibility here. After all, it's me who insisted to keep our identity hidden during that castle."

"Akira, but-"

"Don't worry, Ann wouldn't kill me for that, I guess."

"…But Akira, we're partners," Shaking her head, Shiho took a step closer to the amateur writer before her, grabbing his hand and holding it tightly. "We're facing it together, alright? If Ann, even if she probably won't, really wanted to do anything on you… I'll be by your side."

And he was surprised, to say the least. And nope, it wasn't about the speech that was close to being a confession (in retrospect, he didn't even notice it), just that she was holding his hand. "O-okay… uh… thanks Shiho. That's reassuring-"

"…Why are we subjected to you two being a married couple for no reason again?"

Thankfully, Keigo's dry comment snapped the two out of their moment, and their gazes were met by two deadpanned ones from Hifumi and Keigo. "Get. A. Room," They said in unison, looking like they were trying their best to resist their urge to facepalm. "At least after we dealt with Madarame."

"And please, can we steer back to our topic?" The Shogi player asked, and her gaze turned toward the station itself. "Now then, where is the location of Madarame's palace?"

Exchanging an awkward look with each other, the… not-yet-couple quickly separated their hands. "Y-yeah, we totally should…" Trailing off, an aura of awkward silence filled the space around them. At least it helped set the mood back to being serious.

"His shack, which is... not that far from here," Akira said after a short while, looking around and trying to remember the route they took to get to Madarame's shack. "Well, at least it's closer than your house."

"Duh, we need to take a few more train stops, remember?" Shiho deadpanned, before turning to Hifumi with a softened look. "Anyway, ready to meet the other team?"

"Y-yeah, it's just a few more Persona users like us, after all," Nodding again, Hifumi took a deep breath and readied herself. "But how long has the calling cards been sent? "

"Around half an hour ago," Keigo said, glancing up from his phone's screen. "So if they're in the exhibition when it was sent… they should be in the palace and stealing the treasure as we speak."

"Then that means we should get there ASAP," Akira said, exchanging a nod between everyone. "Now then, let's help The Phantoms with their operation, shall we?"

[Back to Madarame's palace]

They should've thought of the possibility, but they were still fooled. Fooled by the most obvious trick in the whole world, a fake prop. And the fact that shadow Madarame was right before them did nothing to help either.

"Meddlesome vermin," With both of his hands crossed and sleeves connected, shadow Madarame walked up to them with a smirk. "Is this what you're looking for?"

With his eyes narrowed into an angry gaze, Mona was the first one to respond. "How dare you try to trap us like some kind of mouse!"

And Skull followed. "So you had a fake prepped, huh?!"

Meanwhile, Joker's attention moved to the different paintings held by one of the guards on Madarame's side. It was odd… maybe that's the true treasure he was protecting.

"Counterfeits are accepted in the world of Japanese art," Keeping the smirk on his face, the shadow tilted his hand as if he was looking down on them. "After all, money is the driving force behind everything, even art!"

Even though he had known who Madarame really was, and how… how much a wicked person he was. Fox's eyes still widened at this declaration, a massive insult to them, those pupils who got their dream stepped on by this man. "If I was more naive, I might think your face changed you…"

"Can't you understand how much it pains me to force all the crime of my foster father on myself?"

However, even after seeing how tight Fox clutched his fist, the fraudulent painter didn't move an inch. Nor a single sign of any kind of guilt. "…Now that I think back, the only reason why I took you in was just due to my ties with your mother."

"That woman never lost her passion for painting even after her husband died," He continued. "Her skills and talents were quite astonishing… that's why I decided to look after her."

"Your skill… it's astonishing, Kitagawa."

"T-thank you, Madarame-sensei! I… after my husband's death, art… art is my only drive to move forward. And Yusuke too, I want him to be born into this world… to be special."

"Your mother, and the artwork she created… They're all MY works of art!" The shadow exclaimed, with an ugly grin on his face.

"What's the meaning of this, Sensei?!"

"I mean, I've been stuck in an artist's block for a while… I just… you wouldn't refuse to help your sensei, right?"

"Jesus," Panther muttered, shaking her head in disgust. "How low of a human being can you sink into!"

However, Madarame only laughed in response. "I suppose I can grant you a gift before you die… a glimpse of the genuine 'Sayuri'!"

As he said that, one of the guards who held a painting in his arms came forward, raising the same painting into the air. And… unlike the Sayuri they saw before with the ugly grey mist over the bottom, it was a baby.

A baby with unmistakable blue hair.

"That's… the real 'Sayuri'?" Eyes widened, Fox's gaze was locked onto the painting, as the dots connected. "It's… mom?"

"Mom?!" Surprised, Skull turned back to him with a shocked look. "What?!"

"Yes, it is. This was originally a self-portrait of your mother," Madarame said calmly. "A woman who knew her time in this world was short, and wanted to leave something behind for her son."

"This is the true nature of 'Sayuri'! The truth of its mystery!"

"Ayaka, what's this? It looked…"

"It's… my gift to Yusuke," With a smile, Kitagawa Ayaka's weak gaze shifted from her work to the baby in her lap, sleeping peacefully. "I… the hospital called back and… I don't have long to live. I just wanted to leave something for Yusuke."

"In reality, I wanted to leave something for everyone I knew too, especially Sagi. But… this is all I can leave."

"You've gotta be effin' kidding me…" Boiling in anger, Skull couldn't keep his voice down anymore. "You stole something THAT personal?!"

"And you're no artist, not at all!" Panther added, her anger was boiling through the roof. "You didn't think twice while replicating the paint for profit, the stashes in the shack proved it! You don't love art at all!"

"Just another scum who uses someone else's passion for their own gain…" Joker murmured, his hand tightened into a fist.

"Now I get it, you're 'skill' is just scribbles on that fakes, just a few amateur brushes, and call the work your own!" Mona added.

However, just before Madarame could respond, Fox took over first. "…Following the pattern and victim I saw… you tossed all them away once they ran out of use. Even Shuichi, a kid with a fragile but kind heart…"

"It's safe to assume that you did the same to mom as well, isn't it, Madarame?"

Horrified at the implication, the rest of The Phantoms widened their eyes as they saw the grin on Madarame again. Confirming the hunch deep inside everyone right now.

"She just happened to have a seizure in front of me…"

"S-sensei… h-help…" Feeling as the strength slowly faded away from her body, Kitagawa Ayaka tried to stand up but failed. Her cellphone wasn't with her, and she needed to get her medicines.

Just at that moment, the door opened and revealed Madarame, standing there and shocked. "A-Ayaka! What's wrong!"

"I-I need those…" Losing the strength to continue on her words, the mother just hoped that she could get the point across. "…Please…"

"That's when a thought crossed my mind."

Noticing the painting sitting by the wall in the room, Madarame fell silent. But quickly snapped out of it, as a different idea popped up. "D-don't worry, I'll get help."

"…If I don't call for help, or get her the medicine… Just leave her be, and I can have the painting. No string attached."

With that said, Madarame left the room and looked for the medicine.

However, he never came back.

And a sight of an empty hallway was what Kitagawa Ayaka saw before her life was taken away. Scared, worried, horrified.

Alone.

Back to reality, Panther's rage only piled on further, as if it wasn't at the tipping before. "You… you let her die?!"

"Look, Yusuke. Did you think I only took you in because I saw your artist talent alone?" Widening his grin, he leaned forward and toward Yusuke. "This is why I keep you in my grasp and never told you about Sayuri!"

"And thank you for your ideas, Yusuke. You have my gratitude."

"What a shitbag…" Narrowing his eyes in rage, Joker looked over and only saw Fox standing there. Deep in thought, and stayed silent. "Fox? You're alright?"

Fox didn't answer, and a cold chuckle was all he responded with.

"…I gotta say, thank you, Madarame," With a cold smile on his face, the young artist stared right into his former mentor's eyes. "Thank you, for crushing my last bit of doubt and chance to forgive you."

"In some naive part of my mind, I hoped that you still are an artist at heart…" Trailing off, he took a step forward, and his rage only got fuelled further with the sight of Sayuri. "I was wrong. You're no artist, just a money despicable wearing a skin of one."

"All those crushed dreams probably meant nothing for you… even life doesn't matter to you," He continued with the coldness in his voice, feeling his grip on his katana tighten. "You let my mother die because of some stupid potential in profit, and drove Shuichi to take his life for the same…"

"I am not going to forgive you, and you will pay for what you've done."

Irritated by Fox's words, shadow Madarame retorted. "All you good-for-nothing…! Barging into my museum and doing whatever there hell you want…"

Immediately, the aura around the entire courtyard changed, as the feeling of danger intensified around Madarame himself. "Those who have connections make the rules; those who don't, follow them."

"Not to mention, the value of art is all subjective! I make the rules in the art scene!"

"I am the supreme being! I AM THE GOD OF THE ART WORLD!"

As Madarame laughed manically, his body started to morph, especially his face with morphed unnaturally. As the thieves got away from the shadow itself, they watched in horror as the shadow changed. Unlike the giant monster Kamoshida once changed into. The… 'thing' before them…

It was inhuman, both literally and fugitively.

It was four floating paintings, with two of them depicting the eyes, one of them with the nose, and one of them for the mouth.

"I'll paint all over you!"

With the shadow's distorted shout, the thieves tightened their hold on their weapons. Pissed, and determined to end this once and for all. And Joker narrowed his glare at the monster, readied to be lead.

"Let's get this scum of the earth down, team. Once and for all."

[Meanwhile, outside of the palace]

When The Fools arrived at the palace, the same sense of tension and weight fell upon them once more. The crimson-tinted sky, the appearance of searchlight around the museum… It was just like how it was with Kamoshida or Mitsuyo's palace.

"I hope we're not too late…" Trailing off, Jester pulled out his grappling hook and turned to his teammates. "Majesty, can you sense where the other team is?"

Quickly closing her eyes and focusing her mind, the navigator stayed silent for a moment. "They're at the courtyard right now, with… a shadow that felt like the source of the entire palace."

"Or in other words, Madarame's shadow," Raven concluded, also taking out his grappling hook. "…We might be a bit later to the fight, let's not waste any more time, agree?"

"I was going to say that, but yeah," Swan said, exchanging a resolved gaze with Jester before pulling out her grappling hook. "Let's go"

Majesty nodded, taking out her grappling hook as well. "I'll be the guide then."

Without a second word, the members of The Fools sprung to their feet and grappled themselves to the rooftop of the museum. And they ran as quick as they could, following Majesty's guidance.

Meanwhile, back to The Phantom's side, the paintings were proven to be… more annoying and harder to deal with.

Seeing as another part of the painting was revived by the other parts, Joker couldn't help but groan in annoyance. "They're just not going to stop respawning, huh?"

"That means we gotta deal all of them at once before they got any chance to respawn," Mona said, sending another burst of wind to the mouth painting.

"Yeah, that sounds easy, but it doesn't work that way in practice!" Skull exclaimed, firing his shotgun again and seeing how the mouth piece absorbed the gunshot.

"Then we target each of them individually," Sending a ball of flame to the nose piece, Panther avoided another burst of cold air. "I'll deal with the nose!"

"That sounds like a plan," Fox agreed, slashing one of the eyes and watching as it fell down lifelessly, only to be quickly revived by the other eye. "I'll deal with the eyes."

"Me too," Skull added, summoning Captain Kidd and blasting the other eyes with its cannon arm.

"Mona, you handle the healing part," Joker said, taking off his mask and summoning a different Persona instead. "High Pixie! Frei!"

With their combined effort, even though there was still a few failed attempts to beat all of the paintings at once, but each time, the timing became a bit more precise. A bit more… perfect, just right to stop anyone of those paintings to revive one another.

Before long, the group successfully beat all of the paintings at once. And they recombined and turned into shadow Madarame, angry and hurt from the barrage of attacks earlier on.

And without a second thought, the thieves rushed forward and surrounded him with their firearms. "Dammit… I'm the great Madarame…"

Even though he was at a disadvantage, but his ego was still very clear within each word he spoke. "The Madarame who gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit!" He exclaimed, staring right into the barrel of Fox's assault rifle. "I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy!"

"…There's really no hope left in you, Madarame," Yusuke said, as calm as he could, but with a clear hint of coldness within. "But that means… we don't need to hold back either, Joker!"

"Got it!" With a smooth backflip to create a bit more space, Joker holstered his pistol and took out his dagger. "Everyone! All-Out Attack!"

Within an instant, everyone in The Phantoms dashed and leaped, striking the shadow with all they'd got. And knocked it back quite far, much closer to the void of darkness behind him. However, it wasn't enough.

"…I'm the great artist, Madarame!" The fraud artist yelled, panting as he tried his best to recover. "If you brats can't fathom that… Then you'll witness it for yourselves!"

With him suddenly raising his hand, four copies of Madarame suddenly emerged from the ground, with each of them being the four primary colors. If not for the serious situation the thieves were facing right now, they might call it out for copying a certain Tokusatsu show.

"Behold, my master craft!"

"Wha- He made copies of himself?!" Dumbfounded, Mona quickly regained his composure with a small smirk. "Huh, I guess making duplicates IS his specialty."

"Not that it matters too much," Without a second thought, Joker took off his mask again, and summoned Silky. "Mabufu!"

Meanwhile, back to The Fools… their way to get to the Courtyard, originally seemed to be just a mad-dash through the rooftops and arrived. However, the palace just ad to give them a few curveballs in the mid-way.

"Holy shit!" Dodging another Snap from the Shiki-Ouji before them, Jester groaned in annoyance. "Dammit, it's these guys again, huh?"

"Raven, use Nuclear attacks on it!" Majesty exclaimed as the weakness and status of the paper giant were shown before her eyes. "Try to freeze it and instantly shatter them!"

"Roger," Without another word, Raven's mask engulfed itself with azure flame, and the mechanical man stood tall behind him. "Atomic Shard!"

Just as Majesty predicted, the skill worked wonders on the giant, stopping its attack with the nuclear energy hitting its weakness, and quickly froze it with the ice growing all across his body.

And with a single bullet from Jester's hand cannon, the shadow shattered and turned into a million pieces.

"So that's how to deal with them huh…" Nodding to himself, Raven locked his focus back onto the way before them. "Let's continue on."

With that said, The Fools returned to their original goal and reached the courtyard not long after. And when they arrived, it wasn't the sight they wanted to see.

"That's just straight-up ass-pull," Panting as they tried to recover from the sudden hit from the Shiki-Ouji standing between them and Madarame, Skull grunted in annoyance. "These assholes always just have to be here and mess with us."

"He just doesn't like playing fair," Joker said, as the pain subsided with Mona's healing. But turning back, he only saw an army of Shiki-Ouji and Nue closing in on them. "But… Dammit, he really isn't."

"That's the price you'll pay for defying me! The great Madarame-"

Before he could enjoy the sight before him, a barrage of ice suddenly rained from above and froze the paper giant. And suddenly, a loud gunshot rang out, as a bullet hit and shattered it into pieces.

And immediately followed, four new individuals dropped from nowhere and landed before them. And it didn't take long for The Phantoms to recognize the Persona-users before them. Just like that one time in Kamoshida's castle.

"Thank god we're not too late," Giving out a breath of relief, Jester set his gaze on Joker. "Hello there. You're alright?"

"Of course we are, it wasn't as bad as it seems," Wiping off the small snippets of blood on the corner of his lips, Joker looked back as his teammates got up as well. "We're The Phantoms, after all."

"…Whatever," Shaking his head, the amateur writer turned to the group of Shiki-Ouji approaching them. And turned to the copies of Madarame before them. "It's worse than I thought it'd be."

"More despicable thieves barging into my museum… HOW DARE YOU!" As the shadows uncharismatically roared in rage, the army of Shiki-Ouji and Nues also picked up their pace.

"…Raven, Majesty, you guys can keep those paper giants away, right?" Without a second thought, a nod came from both of them before they sprung to their feet. "Swan, you're with me."

"As always," Swan said, with a small smile, just hidden by the edge of her mask.

"Skull, Mona, go and help them with other shadows," Joker commanded, in addition. "Panther, you're going too."

Even with clear hesitation, Panther nodded. "Okay, but…" Trailing off, her gaze turned to Swan. "I can't deny it now… Shiho, it's you, right?"

Feeling her entire body stiffened slightly, Swan turned her head and glanced at her. "Just… later, after we dealt with Madarame, okay?"

"…Yeah."

With that said, Panther turned back and sprinted toward the army of shadows, following others. And now, the attention was back to the shadow himself, alongside his copies. Just like when he first summoned them, it was a group of every color and every element by extension.

"So… what's the weakness?" Swan asked, putting her focus back onto the fight itself.

"The red and yellow one repel Fire and Lightning, and the green and blue one repel Ice and Wind," Joker smirked, twirling his knife in a slightly playful manner. "Other than that, go all out on them."

"Perfect for us then," Jester said.

The four thieves immediately broke into a dash, their Personas materialized behind them. And within seconds, the entire arena turned into a battle of magic and elements. As elemental attacks came back and forth between both parties.

Avoiding another fireball from the red copy, Jester quickly aimed his hand cannon and fired. "Maeiha!" Obeying his command, Moriarty also sent a burst of darkness in addition, blasting the copy into oblivion. Damaging the shadow itself in the process.

And before Madarame could do anything else, a fury of slashes from Fox suddenly hit himself and the copies, killing all of the copies instantly. And the young artist watched his former master stumble back.

However, Swan's whipsword struck him even more, with sparks of lightning running through the whip. And Joker's bullet followed immediately.

Knocked down into one of his knees, the fraud artist glared at the sight before him. Of all people, these brats had the audacity to oppose him, and… with Yusuke joining their rank and not showing respect to his master…

"Stop this, is this how you show gratitude to the man who RAISED you?!"

"You let my mother die, and tainted her last work for mere profit…" In response, Fox narrowed his eyes with anger but spoke with just coldness within his voice. "And you still have the audacity to demand my respect and stop?"

"Brat…" Seething, Madarame raised his hand and summoned another set of copies, with two red copies, a green one, and a yellow one. And a barrage of fire, wind, and lightning attacks approached them.

"You'll pay for your disrespect!"

BANG!

Blasting another frozen Shiki-Ouji into pieces, Skull turned to Raven with a huge grin on his face. After all those times of annoyance dealing with these giants, they could finally feel the force of his gun and strength.

"Hey, how did you ice-stuff bein' this good with those shadows?"

Freezing another Shiki-Ouji with Fou Roux, Raven turned back with a serious face. "Those shadows are weak to Nuclear," He explained. "And my ice shards are infused with nuclear energy, that's how."

"Wait, what?"

"It's a duo-elemental skill," With a shrug, he fired his LMG and shattered the frozen giant into pieces. "That's why."

"Cool…" Slowly nodding, Skull turned back and let out a few strikes of lightning to an approaching paper giant. "But I'm gonna need your help to keep them at bay, they just counter everything from me!"

"I know, Jester said the same thing before."

With that said, Raven quickly focused his mind. And the bullets immediately started to spark in cyan, alongside the hint of ice growing on the surface. "…This will work," Muttering to himself, he quickly pulled the trigger and fired at the Shiki-Ouji Skull was dealing with.

Just as he expected, the bullet exploded and caused the giant to twitch from its nuclear energy, and ice quickly grew from the points of impact. Within seconds, ice engulfed the entirety of it and quickly shattered by Skull with one strike.

"Damn, we make a good combo here," Seeing another frozen giant by Raven, the ex-runner wasted no time and shattered it with Captain Kidd's cannon arm. "You freeze them, I deal the final blow."

"Yeah, I'm counting on you then…" Trailing off, the half-French glanced over to his partner. "Wait, I never got your codename."

"It's Skull!"

"Fitting, the mask and your pirate Persona," With a shrug, he quickly changed his target and continued firing. "Mine's Raven, by the way."

And Skull grinned again in response. "Okay, good working with you, Raven!"

"Me too."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle with Madarame's shadow army, a wave of fire knocked down a few Nue at once. And Majesty's Naginata found its target on them, slashing them in half with its flame-covered blade.

"We're lucky that they're weak to fire," Panther said, knocking a few more of those yellow beasts. "But your… 'fire on you blade' stuff is cool, how did you do that?"

"It's hard to explain," Stabbing her Naginata into a Nue's chest, Majesty said without looking away. "It's just like feeling a flow of energy within you, and you directed it to your weapon."

"Huh, even I have never heard of that either," Mona commented, summoning Zorro and sending out a wave of razor-sharp wind. "That's interesting."

"I know, just keep your head in the fight right now!" Dodging an attack from another Nue with a backflip, Majesty summoned Odani-dono and sent another fireball to it. "And… kitty, I'm borrowing your skill!"

"Eyes of Yahata: Lucky Punch!"

Before Mona and Panther could say another word, a red spring-powered boxing glove appeared above Odani-dono and struck. Knocking down another Nue, and it dissolved into nothing.

Turning back and seeing their shocked look, Majesty just shrugged in response. "I can temporarily copy some of your skills, that's all."

"And uh… we should get back to our fight, like right now."

"I know, but first… I'm not a cat, I'm Mona," The feline thief said, sending another burst of wind and knocking back some more Nue. "And second, your ability to copy a skill is something else!"

"Yeah, it is," Panther nodded. "I'm Panther, by the way."

"I'm Majesty."

With that said, the three turned to the shadows and returned to the fight.

It wasn't looking good for Madarame, not at all. Even with his copies, the brats before them just kept busting through them with ease and got to him immediately. And he couldn't do anything, the copies were all he had left.

They already broke his painting form, his trump card with just a bit of struggle. Somehow knowing what attack to deal with each part of himself, it was unfair, disingenuous!

"Dammit…" As the pain kept piling up with the damage they did to him, Madarame found himself panting, out of breath. "Dammit…"

"Stop it you brats, or else…!" Finding himself out of breath before he could finish the threat, Fox's word interrupted him once more.

"You think we'll be daunted by such threats?" He said, taking off his mask and summoned Goemon once again. "Giant Slice!"

Knocked back by another slash from the Persona, Madarame quickly raised his hand and summoned another set of copies, his eyes widened in fear. And this time, it was one blue with three yellow ones.

With a small smirk, Joker took off his mask and summoned an Orobas. "Agi!" He commanded, and the red half-horse immediately sent a fireball to the blue copy, knocking it down.

Quickly following Joker's attack, Jester summoned Moriarty again. As a small breeze slowly built up around him, and grew and turned into a gale. "…Reaping Squall."

(Reaping Squall(duo-elemental skill): Light Curse/Wind damage to all foes, rare chance of despair)

And a burst of darkness-infused wind struck the copies of Madarame and the shadow itself, knocking down the rest of the copies, and severely hurting Madarame once more. Moreover, he looked up to see Swan already in the air, and Le Pucelle behind her.

"Cleave!"

With her command, the armored woman flew forward, slashing Madarame with her blade, just as Swan followed with hers. And knocked down the shadow itself.

Swan leaped away and landed back with the group, and her gaze turned to Fox. "It's your call," She said, as both Joker and Jester nodded in agreement.

Tightening his grip on the katana, Fox closed his eyes and was deep in thought for a moment. But not for long before he gazed upon his former master, the resolve was clear behind those eyes. "Let's finish this."

Without another word, the four thieves sprung to action and leaped. And they barraged Madarame with countless strikes, slashes, and blasts of elements. And they jumped away once they're done, with Fox moving with a fluidness. As the Madarame and his copies exploded in defeat.

"It was fun while it lasted, Goodbye."

Turning back at the defeated shadow, Madarame clutched the original Sayuri in his arms, stumbling away in fear. As the rest of the thieves came back with the army of shadows self-destructed alongside his defeat.

But Fox didn't notice them, he just walked toward his former master, calm, but cold.

Losing his footing and falling to the ground, the fraud artist held up Sayuri like a shield, from Fox. "N-no one care for true art… All they want are easily recognizable brands!"

"I'm a victim in this too!" He practically screamed, desperation and the little ego he had was clear on his feature, amplified with the white makeup. "Wouldn't you agree?!"

"Excuses now?" Skull muttered, disgusted by the petty pleading before him.

Seeing as his former pupil stayed silent, and just stared right into his eyes, Madarame continued like a child, hoping to escape the wrath of someone else. "The art world revolved around money after all…" He said. "You can't rise up without money…"

"Yusuke, you understand, don't you?! Being a poor artist is truly miserable!" He exclaimed, pleading to Fox. "I just didn't want to return to that life!"

"…Then how much does my mom's life worth in you eyes, Madarame?" Finally breaking his silence, the young artist kept his stare tight into the golden eyes of his master. "How much does every one of us worth to you? The dream you crushed, the heart you shattered, the future you stole…"

"The people you killed?" Grabbing ahold of Madarame's kimono, anger finally became visible within Fox's eyes. "Tell me Madarame, how much do they worth."

"T-they…"

"And now, a fiend like you have no say in the world of art!" Raising his voice for once, the young artist tightened his hold on the kimono. "You're done for, there's no place left for someone like you."

"P-please don't kill me!" With his eyes widened in horror, Madarame begged. Only to be met with a rage-filled gaze before him.

However, in the end, Fox yanked him away, releasing his grip. "Return to yourself in reality, and confess your crimes."

"All of them!"

"Y-you're not going to kill me-"

"Swear IT!" Before Madarame could finish his word, Fox's rage-filled words interrupted him. And he nodded, out of fear.

"A-all right, I'll do it!" He exclaimed before his gaze turned to the rest of the thieves behind Fox. "B-but what about the other one though? The one with the black mask?"

"Who?" Joker asked out loud, surprised by the sudden change of the subject.

"Wait what?" Jester added.

However, the cogs inside Raven's mind turned quickly and connected the dots. "So a Persona user IS working with them… Just as Kirijo-san suspected…"

Meanwhile, not hearing what the half-Frenchman just said, Mona was shocked. "No way, that means there's another intruder besides all of us?!"

But before any word could be said in addition, the ground they're standing on started to shake. With debris, big and small, dropping around them, one thing was clear.

"Dammit, we don't have time," Skull said, shifting his gaze to Mona. "Hurry!"

"I know!"

With that said, the feline thief leaped into the air, transforming into his car form, and landed. And met with a surprised look from The Fools, even Raven.

"What did I just witness?" Majesty said.

"It's no time to be shocked, just get on!" Panther exclaimed, as they grabbed ahold of every one of The Fools and pulled them to the car.

With the read Sayuri in his hands, Fox turned away from his former master and left. But not before being interrupted by Madarame's words. "Yusuke, what should I do?"

"…You know what to do, Madarame," He said coldly, not even bothering to face him anymore. "Put an end to all this, and use your own artwork for once."

"Yusuke! C'mon!" Hearing the panicked yell from Panther, Fox continued walking, not looking back.

And left behind, Madarame could only watch in despair as his last pupil left. As the museum, he once called his masterpiece crumbled. "NO, WAIT! PLEASE!"

"YUSUKE! YUSUKEEEE!"

[The real world, Outside of Madarame's shack]

"The destination has been deleted, thank you for your effort," As the robotic voice announced from Ren's phone, the five members of The Phantom gave out a breath of relief in unison. After all this time, they had done it.

"It would be bad if people started getting suspicious of us," Morgana said, climbing out from Ren's bag. "We should leave at once."

Nodding, Ryuji looked over and saw Yusuke staring at the painting he was holding. "Yusuke, c'mon."

"Right…" Trailing off with a small nod, the young artist stayed silent for a moment, his eyes still hadn't left the painting at all. "…Goodbye, Madarame."

However, something else immediately took over their attention. Actually, it wasn't something, but someone. Just standing behind them, members of The Fools were standing there.

"I know you guys have a lot to say about us," Akira said, shifting his position and a bit closer to Shiho in a protective manner. "…But Morgana- if that's your name, kitty- but Morgana's right, we can talk somewhere else, people would be suspicious of us suddenly being here."

With reluctance, The Phantoms nodded. And everyone left the shack.

And after all this time, there was no more way around it, the elephant in the room. Now, they had to come clean with everything.

(To be continued)

Preview:

Even the battle with the fraud artist ended with the thieves' victory, but the thieves couldn't enjoy the victory just yet.

Coming face-to-face in the real world, the two friends have to face the lie between them for months.

And preparing for the eventual change of heart.

Meanwhile, the day of the date closes, and The Fools' leader finally can face a teenager problem.

Next Chapter:

"Coming Clean"

Stay tuned!

Okay, so it's been uh... a week or two over a month since the last chapter. But either way, here it is, the Madarame fight!

Now The Phantoms are aware of the real identity of The Fools, how would they react to it? Not only from Ann with the whole business about Shiho, but everyone else as well.

Especially Hifumi with her semi-celebrity status.

However, now, we can finally go forth and starts the prelude of the next arc. Which I'm very excited about as well!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story so far, and reviews are definitely welcome!