A black cat van screeched up to the police station, the Thieves inside already in thief gear. Joker sprang from the passengers' seat as the car came to a halt, Queen leaping out not two seconds later from the drivers' seat. The rest of the Thieves wanted nothing more than to accompany their leaders inside, but they kept their seats and grit their teeth in rage and anticipation at the news they'd just received.

Joker and Queen were almost running full-tilt as they broke past the station's doors, startling the people inside as they barged in. They skid to a halt as a panting Zenkichi stumbled into the waiting room, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"You doing okay, old man?" Joker asked.

"I'm fine," Zenkichi coughed out. His back was a little hunched, but his eyes burned scarlet with rage, even more so than the rest of the Thieves'. "What took you all so long!? My daughter's in danger here!" he barked.

Zenkichi strode ahead, his own Phantom Thief attire materializing around him in a flash of blue fire. The three of them burst out the doors of the police station, marching back towards the car. Zenkichi tried to get in the drivers' seat, but Queen laid a hand on his to stop him. "You're not thinking straight. Get in the back with the others and calm yourself. I'm driving."

Zenkichi took a deep breath. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Zenkichi climbed in the back as Queen took the wheel. Once they'd rolled onto the highway, the old officer finally spoke.

"I'm going to need you guys' help. Some goons called me a few minutes ago, saying that if I wanted my daughter back, I had to help them get Owada out of prison. Sent me a picture and all."

The other Thieves' eyes blazed as he gave the news. "Any clues as to where the picture was taken?" Joker demanded.

Zenkichi held up his phone. In the picture, Akane was sitting on a small metal chair, unconscious and tied around her torso and with her hands behind her back. The background behind her was nothing but gray concrete, no recognizable features of any kind. Oracle snatched the phone from his hand and immediately started tapping. Zenkichi opened his mouth to protest, but Oracle cut him off. "Just gimme a few minutes and I'll try to trace the message!"

Joker added, "And once we get to your house, I'll use Third Eye to try and figure out where the kidnappers went."

Zenkichi let out a breath. "Thank you, all of you, for having my back like this."

"Don't sweat it, Gramps," Skull replied.

"You're a part of this team," Violet piped up. "And we don't leave anyone behind."

"You might as well get settled in," Queen said from the drivers' seat. "It's going to be around five hours before we reach Kyoto."

"In the meantime," Noir said cheerily, "does anyone wish to discuss the best ways to get items from Shadows?"

Oracle squeaked at Noir's query. "Please no!" she whined. "I don't think my heart can take any more graphic descriptions of Shadow torture…"

The entryway and living room of Zenkichi's house had been thoroughly trashed. Furniture had been knocked over, cushions strewn across the house, and one of the curtains had been all but torn clean off the windows. Zenkichi didn't know if he could feel more empty after he'd lost his wife, but now that someone had invaded his home and made off with his daughter, that emotion magnified tenfold.

The trio of police officers who were currently at the scene stood back as the Phantom Thieves entered, led by their black-clad leader. "Do your thing, Joker," Zenkichi bade him in a low, tense voice.

"Focus," Joker hissed under his breath. His eyes flared, not with scarlet, but rather a bright electric blue hue. He frowned in concentration as his eyes darted across the house, searching for clues that only he could see. Stepping with hardly a sound, he began to move around the room, inspecting each piece of furniture for any sort of mark before reaching under one of the only unturned pieces of furniture, the sofa, pulling out a small object, and tossing it to one of the officers behind him. Snapping back around, he darted back to the front door and followed the trail outside. He stopped by the sidewalk and gazed off down the road. A blink later, and his eyes were once again a normal steel gray.

"What've you got, Joker?" Panther spoke up first.

Joker began to explain, "Judging by the number of shoeprints I saw, Akane was accosted by three individuals. She met them at the door, but then turned and tried to run back into the house, but the attackers moved to try and catch her. She put up a pretty good fight, but they caught her trying to get upstairs and dragged her outside to a car and left."

"What was that thing you found under the couch, Senpai?" Violet asked.

"It's a taser," Zenkichi replied, joining them outside. He held up the electric stun gun. "A standard issue model to the police force in Kyoto. Whoever used this was either a cop or got it from the cops."

"Oracle, were you able to find anything?" Noir asked the navigator.

"Those guys were smart," Oracle replied. "Whoever sent that message used a burner phone. I can't reach it even with Al Azif, so they probably destroyed it after they sent that picture."

"Dammit!" Skull spat, stamping his foot and cracking the sidewalk. "Do we not got any leads at all!?"

"Inspector Hasegawa?" One of the officers was standing at Zenkichi's elbow was speaking to him. "May I ask that you give me that taser? I'll add it to the rest of the evidence-"

Fast as a viper, Joker closed the distance and latched a hand around the officer's throat, slamming him against the outer wall of the house. His formerly blue eyes instantly switched to a furious crimson as he looked the man in the face.

"Joker!" Queen protested.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Zenkichi demanded.

"Let me go!" the officer Joker had grabbed tried to say.

Joker's grip tightened. "Don't play games with me! The markings on your boots perfectly match one of the sets of footprints I saw in the house, and don't think I missed that bandage on your hand or the taser missing from your holster either! Admit it, you were one of the men who took Akane!"

The officer's eyes widened in shock and fear as suddenly the eyes of all the other Thieves blazed the same crimson. "Wha-? I don't know what you-!"

Zenkichi strode forward. "Akane wouldn't have answered the door for a stranger, Officer Aoyama," he said flatly. "She knew you, since you and I had worked together on cases before. Did you take this mission just so you could destroy any evidence of your involvement!?"

Officer Aoyama choked, looking to the other two officers as if pleading for help, but their expressions were instead filled with shock and rage. The captain stepped forward. "Is this true, Officer Aoyama?" she asked coldly.

Aoyama grit his teeth. "Screw all of you!" he managed, but Joker slammed him against the wall again before dropping him.

"You are going to tell us where you took Akane," Joker uttered in a low snarl.

Aoyama grit his teeth and refused to look at the Phantom Thief. Joker laughed. "Trying to hide it won't work, little man. You forget, I'm the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I don't need to torture you to get information."

Aoyama's head shot up in terror as he realized what Joker meant. "You wouldn't!" he protested.

"You're nothing more than another corrupt police officer using the system for their own gain," Joker growled. "I haven't actually tried to steal someone's twisted desires since the Metaverse combined with the real world, but hey, it shouldn't be too hard. So choose. Are you going to tell us where you and your two partners took Akane, or…"

Joker stepped forward, and Aoyama scrambled back in terror.

"...are you going to have me make you confess all of your crimes with your own mouth?"

The Monabus screeched up to the police station, the Thieves bursting out as soon as the van came to a stop.

"Stay here," Joker whispered to the not-bus.

"I get it, I get it," Morgana's voice came from the speakers. "I won't reveal myself."

"Good." Joker shut the door and joined his gang. The officers who'd accompanied them dragged the handcuffed Aoyama with them. The former officer had admitted, without Joker having to steal his desires, that he and two other officers had been the ones to kidnap Akane, and with the help of another pair who'd been on a guard shift at the station at the time, had taken her to the police station and imprisoned her in one of the interrogation cells there without the knowledge of the other officers. They had even planned to destroy the station's camera footage of Akane being detained there.

The police captain spoke first, "I'll go in first and order Aoyama's accomplices to be arrested. You follow and find Hasegawa-chan."

"Got it," Joker replied. "Oracle," he barked, turning to the youngest of the Phantom Thieves. "Where is she?"

"Gimme a second, Joker," Oracle said in a strained voice, furiously tapping at the holographic glyphs and screens in front of her. "I'm looking at the security feed inside the station, but I can't see anything in the interrogation rooms. There's one camera that's shot, though, so wherever that one is, I'm betting Akane's there. Now if I can couple it with a wide-range scan-wait, what's-?"

At the side of the building, there was an explosion of blue.

Akane woke up groggy. She hurt all over, especially her wrists, stomach, and head. She groaned as she remembered being attacked in her own home, by officers she'd once trusted. No wonder her dad had been so scared for her safety when Owada was still roaming free.

She shook herself awake as she heard voices nearby. She was tied to a small metal chair in a dark concrete room. Nothing else in it except a small metal table and a camera that looked like it was either off or not working. No red light to show it was recording, and it was pointed away from her besides.

There was a sound of voices and footsteps, and the door burst open. Akane winced as the light outside pierced her still-darkened vision. "...hasn't reported in, dammit!" spat one of the men that burst into the room. His eyes fell on Akane. "Oh, hey. She's finally awake. Have a good nap, little girl?"

Akane grit her teeth. "Detective...Muraoka?"

A shit-eating grin was plastered over his face. "So you remember me? I'm surprised. I could have sworn you would've forgotten me by now. After all, it's been what, four years since your father last had me over for dinner and you said you hated me for being rude to your dad?"

Akane glared at the man. "You let Owada off after he ran over my mom. Accepted his dead secretary's fake suicide note without a second glance and closed the case. Dad told me."

"Tsk tsk tsk, surely you don't still hold a grudge against me for that? It was do that and get a promotion, or refuse and get my life destroyed. Owada certainly paid well, and he'll do more of that and better once he's back out of jail."

Akane spat at his feet. "My dad's a Phantom Thief now, Muraoka. He'll steal your heart before you can even touch me again."

Muraoka laughed. "Do you really think that he even knows where we are? Behave like a good little girl, and maybe you'll be able to see your father again."

Akane was infuriated by this speech, but at the same time, her heart sank in despair. She knew the Phantom Thieves had miraculous powers, but how would they be able to find her? And how long would it take them? Would they even be able to find her before this man did something horrible to her just because he could?

"Have you given up?"

A voice sounded in her head. Her eyes widened, but her body froze as she heard it.

"The vermin before you framed another for his master's crimes. He has done nothing but cause your family strife and pain."

That was true. Ever since her mom's death, he'd been openly fighting her father's efforts to see Owada brought to justice. She would never forgive him for that.

In the distance, she heard his accomplice say, "Sir, we have to get going. If Aoyama's been compromised, this entire plan could go to waste!"

Muraoka turned back to her. "You're coming with us, princess." He reached into a back pocket, pulling out a rag and a bottle of something. He quickly wet the rag with the fluid in the bottle and held it out, flat in the palm of his hand. "So go back to sleep like a good little girl."

Akane's glare intensified tenfold. The rag in Muraoka's hand was suddenly set alight. Muraoka yelped and dropped it as blue fire consumed it. A sapphire blaze spread across the floor, centered on Akane.

"Wh-what the hell?"

Akane began to chuckle. "My father is a Phantom Thief. Did you really think he would leave me alone without teaching me a few things?" The fire blazed behind her, reducing her bonds to ash. Muraoka's hand was burned, but the fire licked at her skin and clothing with no effect as she rose from her seat. "By the time I'm through with you, Muraoka, you're going to wish he'd found you first!"

"Finally, you make your voice heard."

A wave of fear spread through the watching officers as a skull-splitting headache stabbed through Akane's mind. Crying aloud, the police inspector's daughter grasped her head with both hands, though it did nothing to alleviate the pain. Her eyes had turned a bright golden color.

"Your father taught you well, did he not? Giving you all he had to give, regardless of how often he failed you. And now that you have been separated, you must stand on your own two feet and curse the men who disgraced your family's name."

"I am thou. Thou art I."

"Set yourself free from these men who curse your life with misery, and make them pay for their sins against your father!"

In a flash of blue, the top half of her face was covered by a mask. It was black, but lined with silvery white, and shaped akin to Joker's but with additional downward points, akin to her father's blindfold. Akane's hands wrapped around the edges and pulled, ignoring the new pulses of pain that stabbed through her skull as she tugged. After a few tense seconds, the mask ripped free of her skin, and the blue fire around her exploded with the force of a bomb as Akane let out a scream of pain and fury.

When the fire died down, the watching officers were on the ground, looking on in shock and terror. Akane stepped free of the flames, no longer wearing her school uniform. Her mid-thigh-length skirt and sleeveless crop top were crimson, paired with a pair of thin leather belts that crossed over her hips. A long black coat, almost like a cape, was draped across her shoulders, the narrow sleeves barely reaching her elbows before giving way to a pair of steel-plated black fingerless gloves that covered another pair of red gloves underneath. Her legs and feet were adorned with black tights and knee-high lace-up boots, and resting on her head was a tall hat with a forward crease and a pointed frontal brim. Her Persona stood behind her, an imposing figure in an old, western-style dress and bonnet, with a proud and cold expression despite her plain attire.

Akane's eyes faded from golden back to their natural gray-brown. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm like my father was when you made him stop pursuing the case of my mother's death. I will finally make sure my voice is heard! NOW, CURSE THEM, COSETTE!"