The school twists into the castle. Akira's clothes burst into blue flames and resolve themselves into his Thief's outfit. Morgana rises on his hind legs, his head bulbous and wide eyed. Ryuji pats down his leather jacket and chrome mask, a big grin on his face.

"Okay, guys," Morgana says. "We need to discuss something important."

Ryuji lets out a groan. "Come on. There's something else we need to know?"

"You'll like this one."

"Doubt it."

"Code names."

Ryuji blinks. "Never mind. We get code names?"

Morgana nods. "I think it'd be a good idea. We don't know what the result of us shouting our real names inside the Palace will be. So, we should settle on what to call one another." Morgana glances at Akira, a glint in his eyes. "Don't you agree, Joker?"

"Hmm?"

Ryuji's jaw drops. "Dude, that's awesome! Okay, Akira's Joker from now on!"

"Why 'Joker?'" Joker asks.

"Because you're our 'ace,'" Morgana replies.

"So why isn't my codename 'Ace?'"

Morgana sighs. "Do you want to be called Ace?"

"No, no," Joker says, straightening his jacket, a small smile on his face. "Joker will be just fine."

"Me next! Me next!" Ryuji shouts, his hand in the air. "How about 'Badass?'"

"How about not," Morgana replies.

Joker nods. "That's terrible. We're not going to keep referring to you as 'Badass' as we're running around the Palace."

Ryuji's face falls, but only for a moment. "Fine. How about 'Troublemaker?'"

"Too long."

"Slaughter-house?"

"That's even longer!"

"Biker? Cause I look like one?"

"But you don't have a bike."

Ryuji throws his hands up in the air. "Well, what else is there?"

"Your mask is pretty cool," Joker says.

Ryuji frowns, and feels the outside of his mask. He grins. "Skull."

"That's good," Joker says. "Really good."

Ryuji straightens and folds his arms across his chest. "I'm Skull."

"Alright, so what about me?" Morgana asks.

"Do you even need one?" Skull asks.

"I-I can't be the only one without a codename? That's so lame!"

Joker frowns. "You probably wouldn't like, 'Cat,' would you?"

Morgana's eyes narrow. "No. Way."

"How about Mona?" Skull asks, with a shrug. "Nice and short. Kind of sounds like his real name."

"Hmmm," Morgana says, and tries it out. "Mona. I like it. A lot. Okay, I'm Mona."

"Skull, Mona, and Joker," Skull recites. "We sound awesome!"

Joker turns to the castle. "Then, I suppose it's time."

"Right!" Mona strides forth, and glares up at the castle's balustrades, its jagged towers, its black banners beating in the stale wind. "Time for us to steal the Treasure! Let's begin our infil-"

"OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS PLACE WHAT IS HAPPENING?" The voice is a screech, and all three thieves jump.

They turn and see Ann Takamaki standing on the drawbridge, face pale, eyes wide, knees quaking, arms wrapped around herself.

"The hell?" Skull asks. "Takamaki?"

"Ryuji?" Ann approaches the trio with a few slow steps. "Is that you? What the hell are you wearing?"

"Never mind that! What're you doing here?"

"I don't even know where here is!" She stares past them and takes in the Palace. "A castle," she mutters, then looks at Akira. "You were telling the truth?"

"Uh," Joker manages, then feels a small paw slap the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You told her about the castle?" Mona shouts, waving his arms.

"No! I told her I was late to school because I was trapped in a castle."

"How is that 'not' telling her about the castle?"

"I didn't explain it!"

"Would someone tell me what's going on?"

The three thieves look at Ann, then wordlessly huddle up. "This is bad," Mona says. "If she keeps making a racket, the shadows will hear her."

"Yeah," Skull replies. "This place is way too dangerous for her."

"Don't ignore me!"

"What'd you want to do, Joker?" Mona asks.

"I agree with Skull," Joker says. "She can't stay here, we should send her back."

"Agreed."

"Got it."

"I said, 'Don't ignore me!'"

"So, uh, which one of us is going to make her go back?" Skull asks.

Mona and Joker glance at each other. "Not it," both say together.

Skull's jaw drops. "Son of a... are you kidding me?"

Joker straightens and begins to fiddle with his gloves. "It has been decided."

"Fine." Skull turns to Ann. "Listen, Takamaki. We'll explain everything, I promise. But you've got to leave right now."

"Like hell! I'm not going anywhere until one of you jerks tells me what's going on. Also," and she points at Morgana. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Thing?" Mona repeats, eyes downcast.

Skull puts his hands on Ann's shoulders and starts to gently push her backwards. "I promise I'll tell you everything," he says. "But I can't right now. It's way too dangerous here."

Ann tries to swat his hands away. "Hey! Don't think you can use this time to cop a feel!"

"I-I'm not!" Skull turns back to the other two. "Could you guys help me out here?"

Joker frowns and nods. Together, the two of them are able to push Ann to the boundary of the drawbridge. One moment, they are pushing her, and the next, she stumbles backwards and vanishes.

"Uh, did that do it?" Skull asks. "We didn't just kill her, did we?"

"No, it's fine," Mona replies. "That's how people normally look when they leave. They just kind of pop out of the air."

Skull shakes his head. "Man, we are going to have some serious explainin' to do when we wrap this up." He points a finger in Joker's face. "And don't think you're going to leave it all to me! You know I'll just screw that part up."

Mona shakes his head. "I don't think anyone expects you do to the explaining, Skull."

"Can it, cat."

"Alright, alright," Joker says, patting the air democratically. "Crisis averted, right? Shall we go?"

"Right!" Mona spins around, strides forth, and glares up at the castle's balustrades, its jagged towers, its black banners beating in the stale wind. "It's time to steal the Treasure! Let's begin out infil-"

"Yeah, the moment's gone, Mona," Skull puts in.

"Skull's right," Joker says. "Let's just go in."

Mona's head droops. "Fine! But sooner or later you two are going to let me say something cool!"

#

"Ow!" Ann shouts as she lands on her butt. "You jerks, I'm gonna..." She trails off. She's back. The school is the school. She is in the small alley just across from the front gate. Students linger and converse amongst themselves. "What the heck?"

She picks herself up and pats herself down. A faint beep comes from her pocket.

She takes out her phone and sees a malignant eye icon staring back at her. What's this? Wait a second! Didn't Kurusu do something with his cellphone before everything got all weird? Was this it? Could she get back to the castle this way? Should she go back? Ryuji had said it was dangerous.

Her grip tightens a fraction around her phone. No. She has to go. That castle has something to do with Kamoshida, she's sure of it. Those guys hadn't been subtle about planning something against him. If she goes back, she can help. She can get revenge for Shiho.

Ann steels herself and clicks the icon.

#

"So, this is a safe room?" Joker asks, and drops into an uneven bench.

"Yep," Mona replies, hopping up onto the wooden table in the center of the room. "This is a place where the distortion is at a minimum. We'll be safe from shadows in here, and we can regroup and discuss our infiltration."

"Sweet," Skull says, and pokes one of the manacles hanging from the ceiling with his finger. "It's still kind of creepy in here, though."

Their infiltration has, so far, been smooth. Mona's guidance led them around a number of shadows, and their encounters with the guards amounted to nothing more than quick skirmishes.

"Now," Mona says. "the Treasure should-"

From beyond the safe room's door comes a muffled cry. "Get off me!"

The three freeze and look at each other. "Was that...?" Mona asks.

"Takamaki!" Skull says. "What's she doing back here?"

No one has an answer. They return to the hall and find it empty save for echoes. Stealth is abandoned in favor of pursuit. The three rush through the halls, led by the high-pitched protestations of Ann Takamaki.

They find her in the Pleasure Hall. She is shackled by the wrists - upright - to a marble column alongside Kamoshida's tacky heart-shaped bed. The King stands before her, hands on his hips, the cognitive Ann at his side, with one arm draped across his broad shoulders.

The other girls continue their exertions on the floor and on the bed, with each other and with themselves.

A squad of soldiers turn an about face when the thieves enter. They are a wall between the knaves and their lord.

The King, for once, is not speaking. Instead, Ann speaks to Ann. "It's not like I can actually do anything," the scantily dressed version says. "All I can and should do is be a willing recipient of the King's desires."

Ann - the real Ann - is pale. She struggles against her bonds, but there's little energy behind it. Her eyes are wide and hollow. "Stop it," she whispers. "Whatever this is, just stop it."

"See?" Kamoshida asks, and cups the fake Ann's chin with one hand. He towers over her, tilts her head back, and sticks his tongue in her mouth. The fake Ann moans.

The real Ann winces, shuts her eyes and shakes her head. "Stop it!"

Kamoshida breaks the kiss. "This is how you really are, Takamaki. Complacent. Willing. Greedy for it. Flexible." He sweeps his arm in a wide arc around the room, indicating the other girls. "This is how you all are. You can fight it all you want, but deep down, all you really want is to be loved by me."

Skull steps forward, hands tightening around his pipe. "We gotta-"

"Kill them," Kamoshida commands. The guards convulse and burst into smirking goblins with sharp horns and tails. Their slobber drips to the floor, and they scatter forward on all fours towards the three intruders.

The thieves summon their Personas.

The battle is underway, but Ann does not watch. She sees Shiho. She understands on an intuitive level, as she takes in her best friend - dressed in a skimpy, sexualized school girl outfit, and rubbing herself - that this is not real. This cannot be real. This is some rotting place in Kamoshida's mind. This is how he views the world.

Cognitive Shiho sees her watching, and smiles. "I'm so worthless," she says. "I should have just obeyed. The only thing I want in this world is to be loved by King Kamoshida. I was confused, is all. Confused. That's why I cried during it."

"Shut up," Ann growls.

"If only I had-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Skull smashes his pipe into the face of one of the goblins, then ducks away as another swipes its claws at him. "This freakin' sucks!" He shouts.

Joker dives away from two of the things, swinging his blade as he does so. One of the monsters hisses as he cuts it, but it does not die. "Shit."

Mona's Zorro has little to do, as the creatures appear immune to any kind of wind attacks. He swings his falchion back and forth, a desperate look in his eyes as the creatures pursue him.

Kamoshida smiles as he watches the thieves' losing battle.

Then he hears the laughter.

He turns.

Ann's eyes bore into him. Her mouth is split wide and an awful, angry laugh pours from it. "This?" She asks in gasps. "This is how you see Shiho? Give me a break! If that's true, you're even more of an idiot than I thought, Kamoshida."

A few of the guards pause in their attacks, and sniff the air. They turn to regard the chained up girl.

"Shiho," Ann says. "Is strong, and smart and confident, and so cool and the best person in the whole world! And you..." Her face contorts into a snarl. "You broke that." Her words are a howl. "I'M GOING TO PAY YOU BACK FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID TO HER, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

#

Pain.

Someone strides across brain with sharp stilletos. A strangled scream rips from her throat as she pitches forward, and her arms twist in their sockets as the chains hold her.

Blue fire rises before her, and soft, warm fingers caress her just beneath her chin, and tilt her head up. Ann looks into yet another version of herself, this one with an angry smile and golden eyes. "It's taken far too long," it says. "I began to fear you would never feel this fire."

Ann's eyes are wild, and she shudders as the hurt scribbles itself through her.

This other her leans in and locks eyes with Ann. She whispers, "This pales to hers. The agony. The shame. The past cannot be changed, but it can be avenged."

Ann stares at herself for a moment, then grits her teeth and pulls.

The other Ann smiles. "That's it. Fight. Who will bring Shiho's violator to justice if not you?"

The metal slices into her wrists. Her shoulders scream in protest. Nails hammer their way through her skull. Still, she pulls. "Know yourself. You can stomach their falsehoods. Swallow their jests." The fingers no longer lift gently. They curl and constrict around Ann's throat. "You can deal with their eyes upon you." She tightens her grip. "You can absorb all the blows. You can take everything. But?"

Ann's glare is pure hate. "They shouldn't have messed with my friend!" Her bonds shatter as the other her vanishes.

"Very good."

Crimson leather wraps itself around her face. She grips her mask and begins to tear.

"We shall proceed with the contract. I AM THOU. THOU ART I. Misplaced restraint will yield you nothing."

"Bastard..." Ann growls as the leather starts to pull free.

"NOW DANCE UPON THE ASHES OF THOSE WHO WOULD HARM THE ONES YOU LOVE!"

A scream. A final pull. The mask rips free. Blood runs from her eyes like tears.

Flames.

"Holy shit!" Skull shouts.

A figure strides forth from the blaze. Her hair is curled into twin, night-black ponytails. Upon her face, she wears a thin, pink mask. Her body is ornamented with a long skirted black and red gypsy dress. It is both a flower and an inferno. One slender, muscled leg ending in a ruby high-heeled boot, is propped upon the back of a sniveling little beast of a man, its head in the shape of a heart. Another of the wimpy creatures drifts in the air like a kite, bound by the neck with a thin cord.

Ann's clothes twist around her and cocoon her into a skin-tight, bright red cat suit. Pink gloves cover her hands, stilettoed boots adorn her legs. She stares at her hand as a whip materializes within it.

A goblin scrambles towards her, and with a flick, she brings the hard rope against its face. It screeches in pain and drops to the floor. Ann struts up to it, and brings her stiletto down across its throat. "You know something, Kamoshida?" She turns her gaze upon the King, who stands protected behind a wall of freshly spawned soldiers. With a twist of her heel, she shatters the goblin's neck. "I'm not some pin-up girl you can get yourself off to." She looks over at the convulsing girls across the room. "And neither are any of these girls. Time to burn, asshole!" She charges forward. "Let's go, CARMEN!"

"Stop her!" Kamoshida shouts, and the soldiers dart forward.

They are met with a wall of fire. A cacophony of shrieks rises from their blasted bodies, and they burst into ash as the flames consume them.

The goblins flail as they are incinerated, and the three thieves run forward.

"You okay?" Joker asks as they reach her side.

She spares them only a glance as they join her. "I don't really know what's going on, but you guys better be ready, because I'm going all out!"

Shadows spawn and huddle themselves around Kamoshida, escorting him from the room. "Kill them," he shouts as he retreats. "Kill all of them!"

"Yeah, you'd better run, you bastard!" Skull shouts after him.

The shadows swarm, and Ann steps forward and screams out her battle cry. "Dance, Carmen!"

#

The sun has set. The four of them sit on the ground outside Shujin's front gate.

Ann stares at the ground. "Crazy," she says. "This is all crazy."

Ryuji rubs the back of his head. "Ann, I'm sorry I told you off earlier. It's just-"

"It's okay," she says, cutting him off. Color has returned to her face, and she seems almost happy. "There was no way I'd believe any of this if you'd tried to explain it."

"But you got the gist of it?" Morgana asks, tail swishing from side to side.

Ann smirks, reaches out a hand and rubs Morgana's head. He mewls in reply. "I think so. The castle represents how Kamoshida views the school. If we steal his Treasure, he has a change of heart. Pretty straightforward."

"Straightforward, she says," Ryuji mumbles.

She turns to look at Akira, who is propped up against the wall. "So you do hide a cat in your bag, huh?"

Akira smiles back at her. "Morgana is a human," he replies.

Morgana flashes him what approximates a grin in response. "Right," Ann says. "Sorry." A resolute look sets itself on her face, and she stands up, fists clenched. "I'm joining you guys! I want to take down Kamoshida too! Don't even think about telling me no."

Akira and Ryuji glance at each other. "We thought you already joined," Akira says.

"Yeah, having a badass Persona pretty much means you're in."

Pink tints Ann's cheeks. "O-oh. Well, good. Glad to hear it." She looks up at the school. Her hands are still clenched. "So, when are we going back in?"

#

Short black hair. Leather jacket. Choker. Ripped black leggings. Dark blue dress with a spider web pattern.

Whoa.

The woman glances over at him as he enters, smiles at his obvious reaction, and turns back to Sojiro. "Thanks for the coffee, Boss." Her voice is smooth, with a touch of humor.

Sojiro stands further down the bar, towards the television. "Come again," he says, as she stands.

"Money's on the table."

Her nails are painted black, and she slides them into her pocket as she heads for the door. Akira slides to the side to let her pass. "Excuse me," she says, a small smile on her face. Then she's out the door.

"Don't go falling in love."

Akira looks over at Sojiro, who smirks at him from behind the bar.

"Huh?"

"Don't go falling in love. She's out of your league. Of all leagues. Hell, she's playing a whole other sport."

"No, I was just, uh, surprised to see someone in here this late." Or at all.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Her name is Takemi. She runs a clinic down the street."

"She's a doctor?"

"Beautiful women can't be doctors? You'll never pick up any ladies with that mentality."

Akira feels like an ant beneath a magnifying glass. Without another word, he speed walks the length of the bar and ascends the stairs.

Once back in his room, he sets his bag on the couch and unzips it. Morgana shimmies his way out, settles on the cheap leather, and looks around.

"This is where you live?"

It was decided that Morgana needed a place to stay. Ann and Ryuji had both cited numerous reasons why they couldn't take him in. Each had sounded hollower than the last. With no other recourse, Akira had agreed to sneak Morgana into his room. He did not think it was a good idea.

He still doesn't.

Morgana hops off the couch and stalks his way around the room. "This place is a mess!"

"Give me a break," Akira says, shrugging. "I only got here a few days ago."

"Still, to think that my hideout would be-"

"Is that a cat?"

Sojiro stands at the top of the stairs. Akira feels the blood drain from his face, as his caretaker marches over to him.

"Is. That. A. Cat?"

"Yes."

"And why is it in my cafe?" His voice is flat, neutral. It is his eyes that pierce.

"It's been abandoned. I found it in the road. I couldn't just leave it."

Sojiro walks over to Morgana. He stares down at the cat. The cat stares up at him. This goes on for some time. "He's..." Sojiro starts, then stops. Another moment of silence. "He's..." The man coughs into his hand. Just as Akira begins to wonder if Sojiro has had a stroke, his caretaker blurts out, "He's adorable."

"What."

Sojiro squats down next to Morgana and holds out a finger. Morgana looks over at Akira, who shrugs. He walks up to the outstretched finger and rubs his face against it.

"Awww," Sojiro says. "I thought I heard meowing from downstairs. Has it eaten anything yet?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

Sojiro clicks his tongue. "You've got to feed the little guy. What's wrong with you?" He scratches the underside of Morgana's chin. "I'll see what I have downstairs."

He stands up and heads for the stairs. Akira calls after him, "So, can I keep him?"

Sojiro halts, his hand on the banister. "This is a restaurant. He cannot be allowed downstairs. If my customers see an animal running around, they're liable to call the health inspectors. That will be your responsibility."

"Sure," Akira says.

"Also, there's one more condition." Sojiro still has not turned around.

"What's that?"

"I get to name him."

Morgana looks up at Akira, eyes wide. "Oh, well, you see, he already kind of has a name, and-"

"Prince," Sojiro says. He begins to descend the stairs. "His name shall be Prince." Then he is gone. Akira can hear the sound of him rattling around in the kitchen.

"So, that happened," Morgana says.

"Yeah," Akira replies. He smiles down at Morgana. "I guess your name is Prince now."

"I don't think so."

##

A/N: What a day, right? Thanks for reading. I took the name Prince from the Persona 5 Anthology comic. Check those out, if you've got the time.