Chapter 10: An Artist's Fall from Grace

"How long has Joker been in the Velvet Room?" Spring asks, sitting on one of the cars in the packing space.

"About five minutes. Not terribly long. The longest he's ever been in was about an hour." Oracle replies, going through her screens. Just then, Joker moves from his spot, holding a katana in his hands. "Welcome back, Joker! What's that you've got?" The team look at him as he approaches, eyes the blade in his hands.

"AH! Senryou Yakusha. I remember it quite well." Fox complements as Joker hands it to him, only to pause as he looks it over. "But this… Looks to be of higher quality than last. The decals more fluid. The scuba more defined…" He draws it from the sheath, eyeing the blade. "Even the edge seems sharper."

"That's because it's a different blade Fox. The Senryou Yakusha R." Joker reveals. "Basically, an upgraded version of the old one."

"Seriously? You can upgrade the weapons you can make in the Velvet Room? Couldn't do that before…" Oracle comments with a huff. Joker takes a quick look at the door, thankfully seeing Justine had not yet returned.

"Yeah. I'll explain more about it when we leave."

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel exhausted." Panther comments, stretching her arms. "We're meeting in Leblanc tomorrow after school, right?"

"That's right. Get some rest, team, you've done good today." Joker complements as Skull activates the Nav, returning them back to reality.

May 17th, 2016

Madarame looks around his exhibit with proud eyes. The ignorant masses clamour at his work like children, heaping praise upon him like morning rain. Such fools, ignorant of the truth. Not that he cared. He was untouchable in the art world! And with Shido's backing, it would forever remain so!

"Pardon me, sir. There's a matter we need to notify you about…" One of his aides whispers to him. Madarame silently huffs at this, thinking it to be nothing but another immature nuisance.

"Please excuse me for a bit." He tells the avid fans around him before slowly walking away. Not noticing Yusuke silently watching him from afar. "What is it?" He asks, hiding his irritation. The aide trembles slightly before holding out a red and black card with a blazing emblem on the front.

"This was found outside…" He says softly. Madarame takes it, glancing at the card before his eyes widen in realisation.

This…This is the same card that Kamoshida received! He flips the card over, eyes widening even more as he silently reads the message on the back with growing dread.

Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been extinguished. You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal the ideas of his pupils. We have thus decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail.

From, the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

No! How did they find out about me!? Madarame internally screams as he crushes the card in his hands. "Hose doing is this!?" He whispers to the aide, noting the paling skin on the man.

"We—we don't know. The same cards are everywhere. And no one showed up at all on the cameras. One minute, they were blank. The next, they appeared out of thin air."

They hacked the cameras to show a looped video to hide themselves? Impossible! "Remove these at once! We can't have anyone whispering about them!"

"But sir, people are already talking about it…"

"I don't care! Get rid of them!" The aide nods timidly before scampering away, leaving behind a fuming Madarame. As Yusuke watches on, he sees the world turning dark as Madarame is replaced with his Shadow, glaring daggers into the dark.

I don't know who is doing this, but I do not care. It means nothing. Once the exhibit is over, I will bring down my full authority on these miscreates. No one can hide from me! They will rule the day they ever insulted Lord Madarame!

With a flash, the world returns to normal as Yusuke turns around and leaves the exhibit. Turning round a corner, he finds the rest of the team idling around, waiting for the card to take hold. They notice his approach as they stand to greet him.

"It is done. Madarame has read the card." Yusuke informs them, rolling his wrist. "His other self is quite flustered that he has no knowledge of us."

"He'll be even more so once we steal his treasure." Morgana replies from Ren's bag. "As we know, he's mostly likely already swapped the Treasure for a fake. Just gotta play along until then."

"The Phan site is already abuzz about the card. No surprise there, though." Mishima reports, holding his phone up.

"No one has tried hacking into it either. If they did, my alarms would have tripped." Futaba says, looking up from her laptop. "Then again, it was only after Kaneshiro that happened."

"We still have time. Once Kaneshiro goes down, we'll all have to be on our toes. But until then…" Ren picks up his bag, flashing his smirk. "It's Showtime."

Just like with Kamoshida, the atmosphere of the palace roared in anger. Security guards rushed all over, inspecting halls and corridors with utmost persistence.

Not once did any of them realise that the Thieves were already in the tower, preparing for their heist. In the control room on the ground floor, Oracle was quickly hacking into the system to shut off the lights permanently, with Skull and Panther keeping watch.

Up above, Fox and Noir finished tying Mona to the hook while Joker waited at the winch controls with Queen. Spring and Outlaw standing beside them.

"Alright, the moment the lights go out, Madarame will know we're here. Once Mona grabs the painting, we leave through a window connected to the rafting. After which, we descend from the outside and exit via the central garden."

"Where we ambush Madarame, right?" Spring asks eagerly. Joker couldn't really blame her or Outlaw. This was the first time they did something truly heist-like in the original timeline, after all.

"That's right."

"I must say, out of all the heists we've done, this one feels the most traditional." Queen comments with a smile. "Wish all our heists were like this." Joker copies her smile just as a voice crackles to life in the comms over their left ears.

"This is Oracle, I've hacked into the system. Ready to cut the power."

"This is Fox, Mona is secured to the hook."

"This is Joker, I'm all ready to lower the hook."

"Okay, guys! We're going dark in three…two…one!"

Within seconds, darkness fills the tower. Shadow Madarame's voice could be heard from below, yelling at his men to fix the lights. Flicking the switch, Joker lowers the hook towards the Treasure, Mona ready to grab it. The second he does, he is dragged silently back up to the rafters, Shadow Madarame blissfully unaware as the team regroup with Fox and Noir.

"Phase one, complete." Mona happily announces as Fox and Noir free him from the hook. "Now for phase two."

"I've set it so the lights will turn on in about three minutes. We better get moving."

"Right. Follow me." The team leap across the rafters in the dark, completely hidden from Madarame, before they leave through a lone window. Just as the lights turn back on, leave Madarame gapping at the empty spot behind him.

"Ngh…how did they!? Scramble all guards! Do not let them escape! Corner them like the rats they are!"

"He did manage to swap it for a fake. Just like we thought." Panther comments as the team gazes at the revealed artwork. A childish drawing of a face in black on a grey background. Then, security devices activate, creating a barrier of electricity blocking any and all way out.

In a small square space holding only the false Treasure.

"And just like that. Madarame should be comin' out right now." Skull says, rolling his shoulder. True to his word, Madarame walks out of the tower with two of his guards. One of them holding the real Treasure under its arm.

"It would seem I underestimated you, meddlesome vermin. I thought for sure you would fall for my trick, yet it seems you are not so easily fooled."

"It was not so hard to imagine, after all, you pawn false artwork in the real world after all." Queen replies, hands gripping around her brass knuckles.

"Counterfeits are easily welcomed in the world of Japanese art. Especially the painting from Yusuke's mother. She never lost her passion for art, even after her husband died. She's the only reason I took that boy in." He raises his arms to the sky. "Oh, but her skills and talents…they were astonishing. And to see her son inherit her skills, I could not be any happier. Oh, the wealth I will receive once he comes into his own. She, Yusuke, and the artworks that they created. They are MY works of art."

Fox clenches his hands, fighting back the growing rage he feels within him. Noir gently grasps his hands, offering her own silent support with a small squeeze.

"But I suppose I can grant you a gift for coming this far. Sneaking under my nose until appearing from out of the blue like ghosts, I admit you have my respect. So here, glimpse upon true art before you die—a glimpse at the true 'Sayuri'!"

At his word, the Shadow holding the Treasure raises it above its head. Showing the team the artwork of Yusuke's mother holding him as a baby. The real Sayuri.

"As you can see, it is a self-portrait of herself, along with her infant son, Yusuke." Madarame begins to ramble as Joker, Outlaw and Spring ready their grappling hooks. They were entering Phase Three. "A woman who knew death was coming for her painted her last—"

"NOW!" Joker cries, firing his grapple shot at the painting. Spring and Outlaw quickly follow as all three connect with the golden frame of the painting before it is quickly dragged out of the Shadow's hands. And into the loving embrace of the Thieves.

"You—!"

"Listen well, Madarame." Fox begins, walking slowly forward. "I heard that you destroy your 'art' the moment it stops being useful to you. A horrific act that extends the very students who leave you to forge their own paths. I, and my found family, will bring vindication to all those you have wronged." He removed his mask, glaring directly into the eyes of Madarame. "Including my mother, who you left to die!"

"Y-Yusuke!?" Shadow Madarame stutters, shocked at seeing him standing against him with anger and fire in his eyes. A sight that enraged him beyond belief. "This is how you repay the man who raised you!? Who took you in like his own son!?" Dark shadows warp around Madarame and the guards before exploding in a blast of darkness. "Learn your place, you ignorant brat! I am the supreme being! I am the god of the art world!" The darkness vanishes, leaving behind four floating paintings in Madarame's place. Each holding a different piece of his face.

"Let's begin, you vermin!" Portrait Madarame gloats as the four pieces of art float in mid-air before blasting the team with black ink. They dodge the blast while Oracle beams up to Prometheus and gets work scanning.

"Alright! Here's the stats! Both eyes drain fire, ice, elec and wind! The nose drains psy, nuke, bless and curse. The mouth drains phys and gun!"

"Thanks, Oracle! Thieves, team up on what doesn't drain you!" Joker commands, launching a powerful Eiga towards the mouth right beside Queen's Frelia. Outlaw sends a dream needle towards the left eye alongside Springs Kouha while Noir blasts the right with Psio as Fox slashes with Rising Slice. Leaving Skull, Panther and Mona to strike the nose with Zionga, Agliao and Garula.

Unprepared for the strong attacks, the Madarame Portraits recoil in pain before launching a counterattack. The mouth launches to bite at Outlaw but, unfortunately, has its attack countered right back at it, sending it sprawling to the ground.

The eyes buff the nose with Tarukaja and Rakunda before it unleashes a Flame Dance on Fox, only for Panther to jump in front and block the attack.

"Impudent brats! Do you know who I am!?"

"Yeah, we do, and we don't give a shit!" Skull shouts back, slamming his weapons into the nose painting as Fox and Outlaw attack the eyes. The three paintings join their fellow on the ground, knocked unconscious before all four merge together back into Madarame.

The fallen artist grimaces as he stands before finding himself surrounded on all sides by the Thieves. "Dammit... I'm the great Madarame... The Madarame who gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit! I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy...!"

"Enough of your egotistical ranting! Taste the wrath of all those you've preyed upon! Joker!"

"All-out attack!" The Thieves follow Joker's lead, launching the deadly barrage from all angles, tearing into Madarame's golden clothes with wanton abandon. Leaving him with many cuts, bleeding with black goop, as he glares with hatred at the Thieves.

"Damn it! I'm the great artist, Madarame! If you brats can't fathom that, then witness for yourself! Behold my master craft!" He flicks his hand out as four orbs of colour materialise before the Thieves. Forming into four more versions of Madarame, each with a different element floating around their feet.

"What the!?" Mona yelps, taken aback by the new trick. He wasn't the only one, as neither Joker, Skull, Panther or Fox remembered this happening. In fact, he was supposed to turn back into the four paintings!

"He split himself into four?!" Springs asks aloud as the four Madarames march forward.

"My brilliance strikes like a flash of lightning - and now you'll taste it for yourselves!" The yellow one shouts before sending a bolt of lightning towards the team, growling as Skull takes the blow.

"Damn clueless brats... My fiery rage shall reduce you all to mere ashes!" The red one follows up, sending a plume of fire to them, only for Panther to absorb the flames harmlessly.

"You dare defy an esteemed elder? May you all be frozen in fear!" The blue follows up, sending a storm of ice towards them, only for Fox to block the attack once again. Madarame growled in anger at seeing his attacks being repelled by the Thieves.

"Disappear from my sight without a trace, like dust scattered in the wind!" The green rages, sending a twister towards them but, just like the last three, was blocked by Mona holding out a simple paw to block the wind.

"How are you doing this!? Why can't you just die!?" Madarame screams in anger as the Thieves unleash their counterattack. The copies slammed with their elemental weaknesses while Mona hits Madarame with a Lucky Punch. Sent to the ground with a crit, he was open to one more All-out attack by the team, demolishing his copies and leaving him a shivering wreck on the ground. Ichiryusai "Azazel" Madarame, was no more.

"Why!? Why are you targeting me?! No one cares for true art…all they want are easily recognisable brands! I'm a victim in this, too! Wouldn't you agree!?" He pleads as Fox calmly walks up to him. "The art world revolves around money after all… You can't rise up without money… Yusuke, you understand, don't you!? Being a poor artist is truly miserable!"

"And that is where you fail." Fox slaps Madarame across the cheek. "For true art does not reside in monetary gains or fame. It is the inner beauty that reaches out and touches the hearts of others that can be called 'true art'." Fox's eyes bare into Madarame. "You were once like that, too. Pure and with traits of merit. And that is the Madarame I remember. The Madarame who cared for me when I was ill. Not this shell of a man who prides himself on the backs of his own students." He turns around, leaving the Shadow behind.

"You're not going to kill me?" Shadow Madarame asks, puzzled.

"No. You will return to your other self and confess your crimes. We do not kill."

"But what about the other one?! The one in the Black Mask with twin katanas on his back hip!?" That gave Fox pause, along with the other Thieves, as the words bounced around their heads.

"Did you say twin katanas?" Fox asks calmly.

"YES! With ring fingers and serrated edges near the hilt! Aren't you with him!?" Shadow Madarame asks, terrified. Fox continues to stare at Madarame in the eyes, seeing nothing but genuine fear in them.

He was telling the truth.

"No. We are not." Fox replies before he rushes to join the team just as Madarame's Palace begins to crumble around them. All the while ignoring Madarame's pleas for him to stay.

The team were silent on the way back to Leblanc, Madarame's words ringing in their ears. Like before, Black Mask was active and still acting as Shido's assassin. Checking in on his underlings Shadow's, to keep them in line. But that one last detail made the future thieves pause in thought. Something that they had to tell Mishima and Shiho.

"What's wrong, guys? You've been silent all the way back here." Shiho asks, concerned at how quiet the team where being. Even Sojiro, as he put the real Sayuri back in its spot near the entrance, was concerned at how the team looked.

"Is this about what Madarame's Shadow said at the end?" Mishima asks, getting to the root of the problem.

"Yes. It is." Makoto replies after a sigh. "In our timeline, Akechi fought with a laser pistol and serrated beam sword in his left hand. He never dual-wielded katanas." Mishima and Shiho caught on to Makoto's words, seeing where the uneasiness was coming from.

"But this Black Mask is Akechi, right? Is it possible that he could be using different weapons this time?" Shiho questions, although she was unsure about that.

"It's possible… Akechi CAN use both hands as his dominant hand. It wouldn't surprise me if he COULD dual wield." Ren replies, with a hand on his chin. "Either way, we'll find out more about Akechi on the 10th of June. That's when we first met him during the field trip to the TV station."

"Urgh, seriously? That place was mind-numbing the first time…" Ryujin moans alongside Ann.

"Seriously… Those geezers tried to recruit me the first time, and I can already tell it'll happen again."

"Not like we have any choice." Mishima replies with a sigh. The team go silent as the day's events catch up to them before plates of steaming curry are placed in front of them.

"Come now, no more stressful thinking. Eat up. You deserve it after a job well done." Sojiro tells them with a smile. The team graciously thanked Sojiro as they dug into their meal. But as Ren inhaled his spoonful of curry, he couldn't help but think back to Madarame's words as a thought grew in his mind.

Is Akechi really the Black Mask this time?

Another wandered soul returns to his fold. Far quicker than he had anticipated. Yaldabaoth could not help but worry at the speed his pawn was progressing. Three of the Palaces he created for this game were torn down in less than two months.

It did not bold well, especially since now there was a gap between the mob boss and the CEO. He couldn't allow that. Searching through his veins, he looks for a target to replace the former hacker but frowns at what he finds.

A principal and the director. It puzzled him that the prosecutor had not yet formed a bud to make into a palace. He was sure that it would have started to form by now, for she would have been perfect after the CEO.

But now, he had to change his plans. He had hoped to use one of those two to frame his pawn. A simple idea he had planted into the politician's head now had to be scrapped.

No matter. He was still in control of this game. And he would win in the end.

No matter what.

May 22nd, 2016.

All eyes were turned to the screens above Shibuya as a special broadcast of Madarame was on air. Yet, for the people watching, they could see something was wrong. For the great Madarame had long strains of tears running down his face, his eyes dark and heavy while his lips quivered.

It was then, with an uncharacteristic shallow voice, that he began to speak.

"I…I have committed crimes that are unbecoming of an artist. Plainly put…I, um… plagiarized work…"

Shocked gasps ring out from the crowds and those at the conference.

"I-I… tainted this—this country's art world… by stealing the art of my students…and… even defiling the original 'Sayuri' into what it currently is!" He completely breaks down on the stage, tears running down like waterfalls, as he howls aloud in pain and grief. "H-how could I… I possibly… apologise to—to everyone for…for what I have done… Aaaah!" Madarame's voice echoes across Shibuya as the stunned audience stares in shock.

The newscast continues, stating how he turned himself into the police and was sent to a medical hospital for integration, along with reporting how a group calling themselves the Phanom Thieves of Heart had posted notes at the exhibit the day before he confessed.

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, remembering how such a similar fate fell the former Olympian Kamoshida. Those once sceptical of such a group began to believe their existence, while the nay-sayers continued to deny them.

Amongst the crowds, dressed in a blue cardigan, Goro Akechi looked up at the boards with interest in his eyes. "Phantom Thieves, huh? How interesting…" He whispers to himself before a small smile forms on his lips. He walks away, melting back into the crowds, unaware that he is being watched by Makoto and Ren. The two of them coming back from a date at the movies.

"There he is. He looked the same as ever." Makoto whispers to Ren.

"Yeah." He quietly replies, his eyes shifting over to his Third Vision to glance at him. He could see the Tarot Card above his head, but the number of stars it had both surprised and confirmed his suspicions.

It had no stars.

"No stars…" He whispers to Makoto. To anyone else, it would have sounded strange, but to her, she understood what he meant.

"Something to tell the others about." She whispers back as the two leave Shibuya Square.

May 23rd, 2016.

"Thank you for coming to see me again, but I didn't expect you to bring friends with you." Maruki says to Ren before nodding his head at Ann and Shiho. "Then again, you all seem very close to each other."

"Well, Ren is like a brother to me, just like how Shiho is like a sister." Ann replies, putting her arms around the two. "It's hard to keep all of us separated for long."

"I see." Maruki replies with a smile, sitting down on the sofa. "Please, take a seat." The three take the offer before they start chatting among themselves. Jokes were passed around the light banter as the minutes passed away. "I've been getting a lot of students coming in ever since I arrived here. To be honest, it's kinda a relief."

"Well, your opening speech did help remove a lot of tension." Shiho chimes in. "You just give off that aura of trust that we need."

"I'm flattered you think that, Shiho-chan. But still, the whole mess with Kamoshida is the reason I'm here after all. To hear from people like you what he did…it breaks my heart every time…" Maruki takes his glasses off to rub his eyes.

"Yeah. To be honest, I originally thought you were brought in for damage control. But you do really care about us." Ann replies, hands on her knee. "That's why we can open up to you about what happened without fear."

"It's the same with me." Ren chimes in. "You know about what happened to me, and yet you still offered to help. You even believe in my innocence. That goes a long way, you know."

"That makes me happy to hear…" Maruki replies, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "By the way, remember how, at our last meeting, I asked if you could help with my research? I may have made it sound way more intense than it is, but all it involves is me bouncing ideas off you and hearing your reply. And if you bring your friends with you, they are more than welcome to help."

"Sounds interesting. Could you tell us what it is from the beginning?" Ren asks, propping a leg up. Ann and Shiho share his interest as Maruki gets himself comfortable.

"Of course. What I'm studying now is pain felt in the mind. Or perhaps more fancifully, in the heart." That struck a chord with the trio as they leaned in to listen more. "Some specific examples include the pain of someone saying hurtful things to you, or being separated from those you love…" Maruki's eyes seemed to gain a faraway look as he mentioned that before refocusing on the trio.

"Maybe this would be clearer—pain defined by abstracts like trauma or stress."

"Trauma, huh?" Ren says before closing his eyes, getting a side eye from Ann. While his body had not experienced it, his mind remembers. Remembers the horror he was put through on the 20th of November, the weeks he spent in pain recovering as his friends, his real family, worked to help him recover.

Even now, here in the past, those events stayed with him even in a subdued manner. He will NOT go through that again.

"Bodily, physical pain can be thought of as something necessary. An autonomic response to injury, illness, or whatever. But what about the pain felt in our hearts? That pain isn't born from any tangible problems in our bodies, right? It's something strange and immaterial."

"I suppose that shows that there are a lot of mysterious of the heart." Shiho chimes in, noting the look Ann was giving Ren.

"That's right. And I… I want to learn more about these internal psychological pains. Saying that, I have a question for you three. When do you truly feel pain?" The three look at each other, Maruki's words bouncing in their heads.

"When someone betrays me." Ren replies, holding his hands together.

"When someone close to me is almost killed." Ann states.

"When my future is stolen away from me." Shiho ends. Maruki looks between them, absorbing their answers while feeling the weight behind them.

"I see. Those are powerful reasons. I can certainly sympathise with each of you there… More than you could know…" He whispers the last part to himself. "But with that in mind, how do you heal a broken heart?"

"It wouldn't be easy." Ren instantly replies. "It would take support from those you trust to begin to heal, and even then, it could take weeks or months for it to happen. But it is possible."

"That's true. Even if those pains you mention are born from love, love is still essential in our lives, such as you have with Makoto-chan, don't you, Ren-kun?" The girls giggle at Ren as he looks away, embarrassed.

"True. Even Ann knows how important it is with Ryuji. Right, Ann?" Shiho smirks, giving her an elbow nudge in the ribs. Ann turns scarlet at the mention as Maruki chuckles in good nature.

"I agree. It is a fair assessment. Although…" He leans forward, hands entwined. "Personally speaking, if pain can be avoided, it should be. Maybe it shouldn't exist at all."

"It would be nice, but it's a part of who we are." Ren agrees.

"Yeah, that it is." Maruki acquests, leaning back into his chair. "Wounds of the heart are much harder to detect, and in a way, they are far more complex than physical injuries. That's why I'm doing this research. To save people who are suffering from internal pain that they keep holding on to." He looks at the three of them before nodding his head in gratitude. "You and the others helped me realise that purpose again. Thank you."

"Don't mention it, Doc. If your research does help people in the future, then we're happy to have helped." Ann replies joyfully as the three stand up while the end-of-day bell rings.

"I hope to speak to you again. Bouncing my ideas off you helps a lot." Maruki tells Ren as they shake hands, with Ren noting a third start added to his Tarot card.

"Not a problem, Doc. I'll see if I can bring one of the others next time. Helps to get a wide range, right?"

"Of course. Have a safe trip home, Ren-kun." Maruki bids him farewell before turning back to his computer. An unfinished Word doc is waiting for him. "I did promise that. Didn't I, Rumi?" He sits at the desk and begins to type.

Confidant Ranks:

Phantom Thieves of Heart: The Fool (Rank 10/Max)

Makoto Nijima: High Priestesses (Rank 10/Max)

Ryuji Sakamoto: Chariot (Rank 10/Max)

Ann Takamaki: Lovers (Rank 10/Max)

Yusuke Kitagawa: Emperor (Rank 10/Max)

Haru Okumura: Empress (Rank 10/Max)

Futaba Sakura: Hermit (Rank 10/Max)

Morgana: Magician (Rank 10/Max)

Mishima Yuuki: Moon (Rank 9/Locked)

Suzui Shiho: Charity (Rank 3)

Hifumi Togo: Star (Sealed)

Sojiro Sakura: Hierophant (Rank 10/Max)

Goro Akechi: Justice (Sealed)

Chihaya Mifune: Fortune (Sealed)

Munehisa Iwai: Hanged Man (Rank 10/Max)

Tae Takemi: Death (Rank 10/Max)

Sadayo Kawakami: Temperance (Rank 10/Max)

Ichiko Ohya: Devil (Sealed)

Shinya Oda: Tower (Sealed)

Toranosuke Yoshida: Sun (Sealed)

Takuto Maruki: Councillor (Rank 3)

Lavenza (Justine & Caroline): Strength (sealed)