The safe unlocked with a click, Joker's gloved hand pulling the handle to open the door and reveal the treasure inside.

"We will need to have a talk about your aptitude for actual thievery one of these days, Joker," Ace warned, only partially joking.

"You know, a friend once asked me what I'd do after finishing with school," he answered as he stepped aside, letting Ann approach the safe. "I said I'd still be a phantom thief as a joke. She took it seriously and said I'd better be careful or she'd have to bring me down."

"It was Queen, wasn't it?" Oracle asked flatly.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

It's amazing you can be so observant and so blind at the same time," the redhead evaded the question with a roll of her eyes. "How did you not realise she was into you if she said stuff like that?"

"He did."

Both Joker and Oracle looked to Ann, now in full Panther outfit and staring at him. "He knew all along and played dumb to not hurt her feelings. Right?"

He could tell they weren't talking about Queen anymore. "Yeah. That's right."

Oracle ran up and gave her a quick hug. "Glad to have you back!" she said, giving her alternate sister-figure a squeeze before letting go. "But we need to leave."

"Oh! Shoot! We need to get out of here fast!" Panther squawked as the realisation hit. "Should we try the window?!"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Crow opined. "This is still the Sky Tower, remember? It may not look it but we're still on the equivalent of the observation deck of one of the tallest buildings in the world." He smiled in what looked like an attempt to be reassuring. "Not to worry though. The first time we went through this the structure didn't collapse until we had already left. Perhaps something to do with the different cognitive structure as compared to a legitimate palace."

"So it's safe?" Panther asked.

"There's no need to wait and find out," Joker interjected. "Safe or not there's no reason to stay. Let's get out of here."

The group made a hasty retreat back to the foyer, then down the stairs and back they way they came to the elevator. Oracle monitored things as they went, making sure the building wasn't falling to pieces around them somehow outside their notice. During the mildly nerve-wracking elevator ride she surmised that the building wouldn't last long but easily long enough for them to get out.

As they moved down through the bottom floors Joker kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Sachiko. There was nothing. Unlike with Oracle's vault, the goddess had not hung around to see them out. She had taken the rejection and telling off badly then. But that also removed a possibility for why the structure of the vaults were staying in one piece for long enough that they could escape. If it weren't her doing, maybe it really was as Crow said. A symptom of how different they were from palaces.

He looked at Ann. This place, this cognitive representation of her, it was built by her memories. During the previous year the thieves had been stealing treasure. A cognitive cornerstone of the owner's distorted view of reality. They had torn out the heart of it and so it died swiftly. What they were doing here, taking the source of the leaking memories, it was similar but not the same. The structure wasn't built by the memories. It was a side-effect of it residing here. As opposed to taking the heart, perhaps it was more akin to taking the mind. The logic of the structure.

Or, maybe it stayed intact because they hadn't left with the memories yet. Sure, Ann had reclaimed them but she was still there.

He could theorise but he had no clear answers. The logic of the Metaverse was difficult to navigate at the best of times. The best authority they had on the subject it turned out was sort of cheating and even he wasn't there to be questioned on the subject. The best Joker could do for now was take it as a blessing that they didn't have to deal with death-defying escapades to escape collapsing pyramids or jump off of flying banks.

"Haa..." Ace sighed as the group emerged out of the front doors onto the plaza outside. "That was... Draining, as always."

"In a lot of ways, I agree," Violet nodded along, her thighs rubbing together.

"We... Should return to reality," Crow suggested,, looking and pointing up at the top of the building where the structure was starting to come apart. "It may not be collapsing with us inside, but debris falling on one of us at near terminal velocity may end badly."

"Right." Once again, Joker's phone came out, the navigation app returning them to reality.

'You have returned to the real world. Welcome back!'

"Still strange that it talks like customer service or something," Ann murmured.

Akechi shrugged. "The ones who made it had a sense of humour I suppose."

Remembering his time with the various occupants of the Velvet Room, Joker granted him that. "Something like that."

"Well," Naoto spoke up, "I suppose all of us have some personal matters to attend to?"

"Right," Futaba nodded with a severe expression. "Everyone's horny and needs to masturbate."

"I– Ah," the bluenette slumped slightly, almost immediately losing any interest in fighting or denying the assertion. "I admit, one of the most inconvenient facets of these excursions is losing the entire rest of my day to 'personal time'."

"It'd probably go faster with help," Futaba offered with an eyebrow waggle.

"She's correct," Akechi unexpectedly supported the suggestion with his phone against his ear. "Hello, Saya? Yes, it's Goro. I was wondering if you were free this evening? You can be? Ah, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." He began to back away from the group, the best farewell they would get from him in those circumstances. "Ah, you were with Mayu? Then perhaps the three of us–" His voice became garbled, lost in the conversations of dozens of tourists and other pedestrians.

"You know, I wondered why he was so mellow," Ren mused aloud, staring at his once rival. "You know, compared to the last I saw him in the old world."

"Let's not pretend the only thing he needed was to get laid," Ann begged, looking mildly ill.

"Not the only thing but it sure was on the list." Futaba grinned, her attention returning to the other detective. "Speaking of needing to get laid, Naoto? Wanna have some fun? Or you could borrow Ren. He's good."

"I, that is, thank you for the offer," the tomboyish detective stammered, "But I would rather deal with such matters on my own for the time being."

Ren quickly understood. She was trying to get her old lover back after all. "Thanks for your help, Naoto."

"Of course." She tipped her cap. "I shall be on my way then. It was pleasant meeting you, Miss Takamaki. Or Ann, if you will permit me."

"Sure! It was nice meeting you too, Naoto!" the blonde smiled. The detective nodded, turned and walked away, leaving the group of varying levels of intimacy left to sort themselves out. "So..." Ann tried to start.

"Umm, Ren?" Sumire spoke as the silence began to drag on. "I'm sorry for interrupting but, I could really use some help right now?"

Looking at her, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. At least until Ren's eyes took in the full picture. More specifically, at the liquid rivulets of feminine juices running down the inside of the redhead's thighs. "Right. You got hit harder than anyone."

Futaba, never one to miss an opportunity, agreed. Began groaning softly. "Oh, yes. I'm so very horny. Those evil Pixies teased me so horribly and now I need release. Please Ren. Please. They wound me up so tight I can't stand it."

Ren was around ninety-nine percent sure Futaba had been entirely safe from the Pixie assault inside her persona, but calling her out on it would only see her dig her heels in and moan louder. He shrugged helplessly at Ann. "We should get somewhere private anyway. Come on, we'll find a place we can go to the Den."

-(-)-

The Thieves' Den was a blessing and would hopefully remain one for a long time to come. Metaverse or not it was a place to relax, unwind, decompress and talk through difficult subjects without interruption. Of course, that was only true if distractions weren't brought in.

Futaba stared up at Ren with her best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. Hands clasped in front of her in a begging pose. The thief sighed. "You know this is going to wipe me out for the rest of the day, right?"

"Umm, we could... I could try giving you a massage later?" Futaba suggested but quickly backtracked at his doubting look. "Or-or we could call Kawakami over to do it?"

Ren didn't know whether his teacher would still be willing to do that kind of thing, though it wasn't out of the question. He could probably talk her around. But that was neither here nor there. With a thought, his clothes shifted to his thief garb. Gripping his mask he pulled it off and tossed it onto one of the floating platforms, a familiar phallic, green monstrosity forming there.

"Yay!" Futaba squealed, kissing him on the cheek. "Best boyfriend! Woah!" Without warning, tendrils snaked out and snagged her, dragged her up into the air. "Wheeee! Sumire! Come play!"

The other redhead looked at the intimidating creature, at Ren who was somewhat controlling it. It was clear her compelled arousal was colouring her decision making, but resolving that had been the reason she came here in the first place. "W-Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try?" It was all the permission Mara needed to send tentacles to grab her by the legs and hoist her into the air to join Futaba.

"Ooh! Sumire!" Futaba called out as the tentacled penis monster carefully peeled away her clothing like it was unwrapping a Christmas present. Removing each article of clothing and neatly folding them to leave them off to one side. "Sumire! Spider-Man kiss!"

"I don't know what that is!" the uncertain gymnast said as her legs were pulled apart, two tentacles slithering against her covered mound making her shudder.

Instead of explaining, Futaba encouraged the persona to bring her closer to her partner in consentacle loving by making swimming motions through the air. Once close enough she grabbed the upside-down Sumire by the face and kissed her softly. So eager to try it, she didn't even notice that she was already stripped bare below the waist. "Heh! Kind of weird compared to normal–Mmph!" Whether Sumire agreed or not, she was too excited to care, latched on to Futaba's lips, pushed her tongue between them to take control.

A situation that lasted only as long as Futaba's surprise before the eager and lascivious girl immediately turned the tables. Futaba was the more experienced of the two, knew what she wanted, and Sumire tended to be more submissive in intimate moments. As the tentacles continued to slither over her utterly soaked panties she melted into Futaba's kiss. So invested in the other girl's tongue wrestling her own, she barely had thought for the sodden fabric being peeled off and pulled up her legs. She gasped. She mewled. The stimulation so much greater against her bare pussy. What was left of her resolve holding back her lust was washed away. All of a sudden she was right back in that room with that shadow. That same inescapable lust demanded to be sated. And so she spoke for her body. "Please! Put it in! I need it!" Her hips moved what little they could, as though her movements could force the sinuous tendrils to penetrate her.

Without warning, she found her body righted. A strong, thick tentacle coiled itself around her belly to hold her in place. Smaller ones tightened around her wrists, forcing them behind her back. Looking down she saw the two tendrils that had been stroking her folds still slick with her juices, poised and ready to strike. "Yes!"

"Sumire!" Futaba was above her in a similar position. Her glasses had fallen off or been removed at some point, her clothes all gone. Just her bare, sweat soaked skin and a flush of extreme arousal. "Sumire!"

The gymnast leaned up as her friend was lowered toward her, once again stealing a kiss. The moment their lips touched, the two girls groaned as they felt their cunts stuffed with two slim tentacles each. The slithering shafts had no intention of being gentle. Sumire needed to sate her aching lusts and Futaba wanted a tentacle gangbang. They knew what they were in for. Sumire marvelled at the strange but intoxicating sensations of the two wriggling organs twirling about inside her. They moved in coiling motions, moving around each other, occasionally forcibly separating to really stretch her pussy and make her feel it. And on top of all of that they moved together to thrust inside her like one large and flexible cock fit to ravage her insides.

She found her body pressed up against Futaba, not that she minded. The smaller girl was a great kisser and another body against hers lessened the unnatural feeling the encounter had. She wasn't a fan of that part but Futaba seemed to very much enjoy it. Her eyes expressing almost complete delirium.

"Nnnnngh, yes yes YES!" Futaba suddenly cried out, her back arching. "Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck my aaaagh! Yes!"

Sumire stared in astonishment. Futaba was cumming her brains out but Sumire had no idea what had caused it to happen so suddenly.

She soon got her answer as she felt a third tentacle prodding her ass. "Wait, are you going to– Nnnnnnngh!" She groaned through gritted teeth as she suddenly felt uncomfortably full, the thicker tentacle slowly stretching out her guts as it delved into her tightest hole. The twin tendrils never relented, still continuing to fuck and drill her cunt even as her asshole received its first ever plundering.

She didn't know when her arms had been let free. Only that she was using them to hold onto Futaba for dear life as they were both triple penetrated by a tentacle monster.

On another of the floating platforms, Ren was laid flat on his back, half his attention on his girlfriend and Sumire getting not-quite-violently ravaged by his persona. The other half was on the buxom blonde riding his dick. He hadn't thought through giving Futaba what she wanted. He was pent up from Ann's vault the same as the rest of them. Giving himself such a debauched show right after meant it was utterly impossible to focus on anything but his arousal. Thankfully Ann had been understanding. She had reached into his pants without a second thought and began stroking him, which led to him wanting to return the favour. One thing led to another and... Well, he at least got something of an answer as to what she thought of their relationship.

"Fuck, I missed this!" the model moaned as she rode him, her camisole and bra pulled up purely so he could see her breasts bounce. Ann was a competitive girl. Even with an impossible sight for the real world hanging over them she wanted his attention on her. And in fairness, large bouncing breasts were not something he would see up there.

"I did too," he answered, his hips pushing up to meet hers on every bounce. "You were right there but it wasn't the same."

"We're going to do this more!" she stated as fact, resting her hands on his chest for leverage to fuck herself on his cock even faster. "I know you and Futaba fuck like rabbits. Well I'm a greedy girl too! You better have enough for me!"

"Always!" he promised.

"Cum for me, Ren!" Ann pleaded. "I want it inside me! I missed feeling you soaking my pussy! I want it marked by you again!"

"I can't hold back if you talk like that!"

"Then don't! Cum! Cum with me!"

"Ann!" he grunted, pulling her down by her thighs to bring her ass down, driving her balls deep onto his cock as hot cum pulsed out of him and sprayed inside her womb, the gooey liquid flowing back out. Their mixed fluids staining them both.

"Haa... Haa..." Ann panted, grinning down at the man who was once again her lover. "I needed that," she said as she let her body relax and lay atop him, her soft breasts pressed against his chest.

"So did I. On a bunch of levels," he smiled over her shoulder. Going right back to watching the show going on above them. In the afterglow it was just a fun watch to see Futaba lose her mind for a bit. "I really did miss you, you know?"

"I know." She said it with certainty. She knew exactly what he had been feeling. They had been so close and yet they were so distant.

"So..." His mind wasn't in full working order. Blood was still being redirected upward from where it had previously been needed. Still, "How are you doing seems like a lame thing to ask. But are you okay? After getting your memories back?"

The blonde sighed, resting her cheek against his collarbone. "I don't even know. It's like I'm feeling a dozen things at once. Just, everything is everything, you know?" Her eyes turned upward, looked to where two redheads were sucking face while getting their holes cored out. "I mean, that? A part of me thinks it's weird now."

"I mean it is kind of weird."

"No, I mean, just casually watching my friends have sex. Having sex twenty feet away from them. Part of me says that isn't right. But... I don't want to think it's weird, right? They're having fun and they aren't hurting anyone." She shook her head. "So... Sumire, huh? I... Didn't know you started seeing another girl."

"I haven't," he told her honestly. "At least I don't think so? I think it was more having fun than anything serious. And what's going on up there is because she needed something to take the edge off. I guess I should talk to her about it though. Find out for sure what's going on between us." He looked down at Ann, began combing his fingers through her hair. "Does it bother you?"

She nodded slightly, guiltily. "It does. It bothers that new part of me. And I hate it because it shouldn't bother me. It's like that bitch said. Part of me thinks you're using her, that you're betraying Futaba, even though I know that isn't it. That part of me says it's wrong but it doesn't have a good reason why." Her voice grew increasingly agitated as she spoke. "And then the rest of me asks how it can be wrong when it makes all of us–" She stopped suddenly. Realised the slip. Then realised how pointless denying it would be when his cum was trickling down between her thighs. "When it makes all of us happy."

"I'm sorry," he told her with genuine regret. "I didn't mean to force you to untangle how you feel about us when you're still sorting through everything else."

"Well us is one of the things I need to sort through so tough luck," she said, accompanied by a playful swat to his chest. "You knew. In that other world you knew I had feelings for you. It happened slower there. I guess all relationships happened slower there. Before anything could happen between us, I saw how you looked at Futaba. I let my feelings for you go." She shook her head in disbelief. "Even with all the memories right here I can't figure out how I did that."

"It's because you're strong."

She let out a mirthless laugh. "Great. Strong enough I can give up on the things I want. Look at Futaba." Once again her eyes went skyward, the petite redhead being attended by six tentacles, two in her pussy, one in her mouth, one in her ass and two more teasing her nipples. She noticed Ren and Ann were looking at her and waved, looking as happy as she had ever been. "She wouldn't have cared. I lost out on what I wanted because I wasn't even willing to try." She sat up, rested her hands on his shoulders, her loose blonde hair cascading over her own shoulders. "I stand by what I said before. Old world or this world, I don't want to give up what makes me happy without a damn good reason."

"I was terrified she was going to convince you, you know," Ren admitted. "There was no way I could tell you that Shiho leaving was better. I feel awful that I never really thought of how things would be for her for staying."

She laughed at him. "And you called me strong. Shiho was always the strong one."

There it was. She was doing that thing again. Crediting Shiho for everything. He imagined if Shiho were present she would be saying she could only be strong because Ann was there for her.

"Besides," Ann continued, "The picture she tried to paint of this world being better... In a lot of ways it is." She gestured between them. "This, this is what I wanted. Something I never thought I could have. But in some ways this world is worse. What you and Sumire did? In that 'shoot'?" she prompted with a wince. "That's... Common. I mean it happened in the old world too but in a way like, word going around not to work with some photographers because they're sleazeballs. I got my share of offers to give me a leg up if I spread mine. But it was always kept quiet. When I compare that to the time one of the most acclaimed photographers I ever worked with told me in front of a dozen people that he couldn't wait until I was legal..." She shuddered.

"Right." He could see how that might be the case. Xochiquetzal's ideal world pushed sex as a beautiful and wonderful thing but also that it was entirely natural and thus mundane. And if it was mundane it could be transactional. That could apply to quid-pro-quo arrangements as easily as to prostitution. And for an industry so enamoured with the young and the beautiful, it was likely part of this world that danced right up to that line in the sand that had been drawn. "I guess he was disappointed, huh?"

"Yeah. He was."

Ren pulled her back down to rest against him. Cuddled her.

Ann had never been a good actor. But if she wanted to lie to him about that he would never hold it against her.

-(-)-

Another night. Another enforced visit with a goddess. Ren found himself once again waking up in her bed, though this time he wasn't naked. Instead he wore his pyjama pants, the same ones he wore to bed. If he hadn't known better he might have believed he had fallen asleep there and woken up here.

As he sat up he found the avatar of the goddess he had expected to see. Not only was he not naked, neither was she. Nor was she in bed with him trying to tempt him. Instead she sat on the couch in the room with a glass in her hand, staring at the liquid inside contemplatively. It wasn't her real form. It was an imitation of a human form. One she used to appear like a human. Did that mean her expression, her visible mood was an imitation too? Or was she really as deep in thought as she appeared.

She heard the rustling of the bedsheets, looked up at him. If it was all fake, all imitation, it would be difficult for Ren to believe it. The discomfort of seeing him there seemed far too real. She stared. Seconds passed. She looked back into her glass. "Ann Takamaki," she spoke, her voice subdued. "I underestimated her. I underestimated her greatly." Another brief silence that dragged on despite its brevity. Then her head came up. She fixed him with a look. "Cherish her. Cherish your bond with her, do you understand? Though she may not be first in your heart, her love for you, her loyalty to you is astonishing."

Did she still not understand? "You think she told you off out of loyalty to me?"

"Out of love for you, yes."

No. She didn't. Love and sex. Those were the things that defined Sachiko's mindset above all else. She understood enough about other concepts, she had said as much. But they were distantly lower priorities. To the point where if she could understand something by her own preconceptions, she would do so. "Not out of love for her friend?" Ren tried, hoping to put it into a context the goddess would understand. "A friend who it turns out struggled in both worlds?"

Sachiko stilled, even more so than she already was. As the idea filtered through her mind her eyes turned sad. "I see." She stood, left her glass behind on a table and walked toward the window. Stared out of it in that way she seemed to enjoy. "There are... Gaps," she spoke slowly, regretfully. "I am displeased that physical love can be used to cause suffering. But I couldn't do more to curb such behaviour without impinging free will."

She cared about free will? He had wondered why she was so careful with exerting her influence. "As inhuman anthropomorphic concepts given form go, you're definitely the most respectable I've met for not completely stripping away our freedom." Not that the competition was strong in that regard. Only one other and... Well... Yaldabaoth was Yaldabaoth.

Wait, there was another. Suddenly he remembered the girl from the Velvet Room. The one Naoto wanted him to speak to. He would need to do that sooner rather than later. If he was going to keep meeting a goddess like this, it would be good to have perspective on how they thought. How they operated. She could have useful insights.

"When I appeared, I spoke my message and people listened in hopes of making the world a more loving place. Of course I didn't take away free will." She looked over her shoulder at him. "How could love exist without choice?"

"Huh. Usually love is talked about like we don't have a choice. The heart wants what the heart wants and all that."

Sachiko nodded, "It does," then returned to looking back out of the window. "It is the choice of each person whether to let those feelings free. In that loveless world, Ann Takamaki chose not to do so. In my world, she made the superior choice. And in my world she is better for it. Shiho Suzui..." Her head dipped, once again showing regret. "She would have suffered had she left. Been all alone again, scarred by her experience. She suffered in Ann Takamaki's sight and so it appeared worse for her, but she still had love. The love of her friend."

With a firm nod, steeling her resolve, she turned to once again fully face Ren. "I miscalculated my approach. I will not make the same mistake again. My world is the correct one. You will see."