AN: You won't be able to see on AO3, but on FF I changed the story image from my profile image to my (crude) attempt at drawing a blue rabbit with a Phantom Thieves mask. It felt fitting.

FF – Thanks NightmareKnight1.

AO3 – Thank you Super_Big_Mac, Kumo_kuma.

Casino of Envy – Part 1

July 19 – Tuesday

Morgana's PoV

"We're home," announced Morgana as he and Urano entered Futaba's room.

"…" the hacker was silent, her attention solely on her computer.

"Futaba?" asked the not-cat.

"…"

"…She can't hear a word I'm saying, can she?"

Morgana wasn't tech savvy enough to know what Futaba was doing on her computer beyond the fact that she was hacking something. Nonetheless, he could guess from her laser focus that whatever she was doing was important and shouldn't be interrupted.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until she's done," stated Urano. Without waiting for Morgana to respond, the bookworm pulled a novel out of her bag, sat on Futaba's bed, and started reading.

"…And now she can't hear a word I'm saying," grumbled the not-cat.

Fortunately, it took less than ten minutes for the hacker to finish her work.

"I'm dooooone!" declared Futaba, startling Morgana. The noise he made caused the hacker to turn around. "Huh? When'd you two get here?"

The not-cat simply sighed and turned toward the bookworm.

"Urano!" shouted Morgana. "Futaba's done!"

"Bwuh!?" cried his older sister, snapped out of her reading.

With everyone finally paying attention, the siblings' conversation could begin in earnest.

"Thanks to the tutoring, everyone was able to pass," said Urano, referring to the end-of-semester exams. "It was close for Ryuji and Ann, but they were able to scrape by without being condemned to remedial class hell."

Being her usual self, the bookworm didn't even think to mention that she'd been ranked first among Shujin's second year students, grade-wise. Morgana didn't know if it was humility or apathy, but Urano had a serious habit of not talking about her achievements – unless they were book-related, of course.

"More importantly," continued the not-cat, taking over from his older sister. "Makoto called a Phantom Thieves meeting tomorrow. Apparently, she found a new target."

"Palace or Mementos?" asked Futaba.

"No clue," answered Morgana. "Makoto didn't tell us anything about the target other than the fact that he or she exists."

"But she did promise to explain everything at the meeting," added Urano. "Like usual, it'll be held at the Leblanc hideout after school."

"Got it," replied the hacker, pulling out her phone. "I'll set a reminder."

That left only one matter of importance.

"So, what were you doing when we showed up?" questioned Morgana.

"Eh, just handling that fake Medjed from the news," replied Futaba disinterestedly.

After yesterday's fireworks festival was cancelled due to rain, the trio had returned home to find Sojiro watching a news report about Medjed declaring war on the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

"'Fake'?" repeated Urano. "How do you know that they're fake?"

"Because I'm the founder of the real Medjed."

…What?

"What?" said Urano in a deadpan voice, unknowingly echoing the not-cat's thoughts.

"What!?" yelled Morgana, hitting his limit for his sisters' shenanigans. "Why didn't you say something before now!? And how did you create an international hacking organization in the first place!?"

Futaba's response was to cock her head.

"Huh, did I really not mention that before?" wondered the hacker. "I guess it must've slipped my mind." She knocked on her head and make a goofy grin. "Oopsie?"

Suddenly feeling tired, Morgana slid his legs apart until he was splayed out on top of her bed.

"Forget it. I give up. Don't wake me up until it's dinnertime."

And with that, the not-cat went to sleep.

.

After dinner, Urano gave him a run-down on the history of the Medjed name.

July 20 – Wednesday

Makoto Niijima's PoV

After school, the Phantom Thieves assembled in the attic of Leblanc.

"We're all here now, Makoto," stated Morgana. "Even if it took some of us a while."

Ryuji winced under the not-cat's pointed stare, having split off from the rest of the group on their way to the meeting in order to satisfy a craving for ramen.

"Well, we're all here now," said Ryuji, obviously attempting to change the subject. "So, Makoto, who is this mystery target of yours?"

Luckily for the former athlete, the others were more interested in getting answers from Makoto than chastising him for his actions.

"Yeah, and why all of the secrecy?" added Ann. "Did you really need to hide whether this target has a Palace or is in Mementos?"

Makoto was deeply thankful for everyone's patience up until now. She owed them answers, and she was fully prepared to explain everything.

"The reason I didn't say whether this target is in a Palace or Mementos…" began Makoto as she pulled out her phone and turned on the MetaNav. "…Is because I don't know. I haven't put her name into the MetaNav yet, even though I've been certain that her desires are distorted since before final exams."

As expected, this confession was met with a chorus of 'whats' and 'whys' from the others. But Makoto needed to get it off of her chest before going any further.

"I told myself that I was holding off on telling you all because I didn't want to pile more bad news onto everyone or interrupt preparations for exams…" continued Makoto. "…but those were just excuses. I was procrastinating… because I didn't want to face the truth. But I'm ready to admit it now. Sae Niijima."

[Candidate found. Please input the location and nature of the distortion.]

A Palace. Makoto would be lying if she said that it was a surprise.

(Well, a surprise for her, anyway. The others were pretty shocked and needed a minute to calm down before the student council president could continue.)

From there, Makoto explained how her sister's behavior had changed as she continued to investigate the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown incidents. How Sae had become harsher toward her, even implying that Makoto should cut ties with Haru following Okumura's change of heart and confession.

"Is that really enough to change your sister's heart, though?" questioned Urano. "I mean, even if she's become a total jerk, she hasn't done anything illegal or immoral… has she?"

Makoto truly wished that she could confidently answer 'no' to the bookworm's question. However, Makoto understood her sister less and less with each passing day.

Ultimately, it was decided that Futaba would do some digging electronically while the others began guessing the remaining keywords. If the hacker couldn't find anything, then Sae's Palace and Shadow Self would reveal if Makoto's sister had done anything worthy of having her Treasure stolen by the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

July 21 – Thursday

Urano Motosu's PoV

"Hey, Morgana," I started as we waited for the morning train. "Did we try 'hell' yet?"

Despite our best efforts yesterday, we were unable to figure out the nature of Sae's distortion. The location (Kasumigaseki) courthouse had been easy, given that, according to Makoto, the change in Sae's demeanor had to do with her work as a prosecutor.

"Yes," responded the not-cat from my bag. "And 'underworld.' And 'netherworld.' And 'Satan's buttcrack,' courtesy of Ryuji."

Guessing the final keyword would probably be easier if we knew why Sae had become distorted. All we knew was that it had to do with her investigation into Black Mask's crimes. Hopefully, Futaba or Makoto would be able to find out more.

"Not reading a book while waiting for the train to arrive?" spoke a familiar voice. I turned to face Akechi. "How unusual for you. Is something on your mind?"

While the Phantom Thieves' popularity skyrocketed following Okumura's, Akechi's stock had plummeted. It was a total role reversal.

"Just thinking about Sae," I answered absently. Then I realized that he probably didn't know who she was. "I mean, Makoto's sister. Wait, um… Makoto is–"

"It's okay… I know who you're talking about," he said, cutting me off. "I work with Sae Niijima fairly often. I've even met Makoto in passing a few times."

Oh. Right, I guess that teen detectives and prosecutors ran in the same circles.

"So, why was Sae on your mind?"

…I might have made a mistake.

"You see… um…" I started, trying to think of something non-incriminating. Luckily, something came to mind. "Well, a few days ago, after the fireworks festival was cancelled…"

"Ah yes, I remember hearing about that," commented Akechi. "What a shame. I'm sure you look enchanting in a yukata."

In my bag, Morgana snorted at the detective prince's cheesy platitude.

"…Futaba and I returned home to find Sae grilling Dad," I continued, scowling as I remembered the incident. "I don't know what she wanted to know about, but Dad was furious. She even made an ominous comment about having ways to make him talk, like she was the villain in a novel."

"Right… I'd forgotten that your adoptive sister was that mental shutdown victim's daughter," said Akechi.

…What? How did he know that!?

Noticing my surprise, the detective prince explained.

"It's only natural for me to know all about Wakaba Isshiki, the former leading expert in the field of cognitive psience. Sae and I believe that cognitive psience may hold the key to the mental shutdown incidents. In fact, Sae was likely seeing if your father knew anything about the subject. I should apologize for the both of us, though, for bringing up such a sensitive subject."

I curled my hands tightly, struggling to contain my emotions.

"Stay calm!" whispered Morgana forcefully. "We can't do anything that'll make this prick suspicious of us!"

"…Why are you telling me this?" I demanded coldly, forcing myself to heed my brother's advice. "This is top secret information about an ongoing investigation. You wouldn't share it with me without a reason, and I'm not in any mood to wait while you dance around the subject for a bit. So, what do you want?"

Akechi looked surprised, and Morgana let out a shocked meow.

(Later, I learned that the not-cat's astonishment was actually directed at me for doing something so conspicuous instead of playing dumb. He lectured me for it.)

"I really need to stop underestimating you," commented the detective prince. He glanced around, then lowered his voice. "However, this is neither the time nor place to talk about that. Are you free to meet me at the Jazz Jin once your classes are over?"

"I'll be there," I promised.

But first, I had a lot I needed to talk about with Morgana and the others.

Goro Akechi's PoV

The day flew by, and Goro soon found himself at a table in Jazz Jin, receiving a 'pep talk' over the phone as he waited for Urano to arrive.

"…and deal with those nuisances immediately!" snapped Shido before hanging up.

The politician was pissed about the fake Medjed being crushed in less than 24 hours. The Phantom Thieves won before the general public could become truly afraid of the supposed cyber-menace, which meant that not as many people were listening to Shido's speeches about the country's deplorable condition.

(Never mind the fact that the Phantom Thieves getting attention instead of that egotistical asswipe played directly into their plans.)

Nonetheless, Goro's job remained the same. Bring the Phantom Thieves to Sae Niijima's Palace, pretend to be their ally until they attempt to steal her Treasure, and then kill Shadow Sae right in front of them. The Phantom Thieves would either die in the Palace's collapse or return to reality and find themselves surrounded by police officers, caught in the act of murder.

"Sorry I'm late," apologized Urano when she arrived. Her anger had faded, but she still had a guarded demeanor. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'll cut to the chase, so don't feign ignorance," began Goro in his 'business' tone. "You can go to that other world too, yes? You and the rest of the Phantom Thieves of Heart?"

"…So Mona and Queen's suspicions were correct," said Urano, unshaken by the detective's accusatory questions. "You discovered the Metaverse. Did you also awaken a Persona?"

Goro smirked slightly. Perhaps this would be more fun than he expected.

"Indeed, though I believe that I should start at the beginning."

From there, the detective spun a yarn about being accidentally dragged into the Metaverse while visiting the Kasumigaseki courthouse. The party responsible for his experience was an unknown male Persona user with a black mask…

"Black Mask," said Urano, her voice tinged with loathing.

…who tried to kill Goro immediately after noticing his presence. Black Mask made an offhand comment about his intention to kill the Palace Ruler – Sae Niijima, though Urano wasn't surprised to hear this either – which caused Goro to awaken his Persona, Robin Hood, out of his sense of justice.

Goro and Black Mask fought, but the latter swiftly gained the upper hand due to his greater power and experience. Yet, unexpectedly, Black Mask withdrew without killing the detective. However, Goro soon found out why when Shadow Sae appeared, accompanied by a contingent of bodyguards.

Goro was surprised to see Sae in the… Metaverse, though her markedly different appearance and familiarity with the world made it rather simple for him to deduce that she was not the Sae he knew. Given the real Sae's research into cognitive psience, it did not take long for Goro to realize that he was in a cognitive world.

From there, it was easy to figure out that Black Mask was the culprit behind the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown incidents, that the Phantom Thieves used the Metaverse to trigger changes of heart, and that the most likely cause of the mental shutdowns was killing a person's Shadow Self.

As for the Phantom Thieves, Goro already knew that their identities were Urano Motosu, Futaba Sakura, Makoto Niijima, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Haru Okumura, and 'possibly one or two more' (i.e. that goblin cat).

The detective had only refrained from sharing their names with the police because he had no proof of their guilt and didn't know the method that they used to change hearts. And neither of those was true anymore, which meant that he was free to inform the police.

"However, circumstances have changed," continued Goro. "It's clear that Black Mask intends to cause irreparable harm to Sae, most likely because of her investigation into his crimes. But I have no idea who he is, and unless you do…" Urano shook her head. "…then our only way to protect Sae is to erase her Palace by changing her heart."

"And you'll expose our identities to the police if we don't, right?" responded the bookworm, sighing when Goro nodded. "Well, at least that gives us a reason to steal her Treasure. I don't suppose you know the last keyword to enter her Palace, because we're stumped."

July 22 – Friday

Ryuji Sakamoto's PoV

Today's Phantom Thieves meeting at Leblanc sucked – a lot!

"From now on, I will be cooperating with you to investigate the truth. In return, I'll turn a blind eye to what you've done. And after this, I ask that you disband the Phantom Thieves. Those are my conditions."

Akechi knew. Fucking Akechi knew that they were the Phantom Thieves of Heart! It pissed Ryuji off so much that the detective 'prince' knew their identities and was holding it over their heads! This was fucking blackmail!

"This cat… I swear it just talked…!"

Not even watching Akechi freak out over Morgana speaking was enough to cheer Ryuji up… well, not completely, anyway. Unfortunately, as Urano and the not-cat had told Ryuji beforehand, he'd just have to suck it up until the mission was over.

"This is total bullshit," muttered the former athlete.

"No arguments here," whispered Morgana. "But you can't deny that the information he's giving us is extreme valuable."

Not only had Akechi told them about how Sae's superiors were putting her under a ton of pressure to both resolve the incidents caused by Black Mask and identify the Phantom Thieves – which is probably what caused her to develop a Palace – the detective had also given them the final keyword.

(Apparently, Akechi had even tested it out and briefly returned to Sae's Palace to study the place from a safe distance.)

"That's the worst part," replied Ryuji. The fact that Akechi was such a useful ally meant that the former athlete had to bottle up his frustration instead of voicing it, which was hell.

"Agreed," said the not-cat.

On the bright side, their shared dislike of Akechi meant that Ryuji and Morgana were on the same page, which was rare.

Ann Takamaki's PoV

Once the meeting ended, the Phantom Thieves and Akechi traveled to the street next to the courthouse to enter Sae's Palace. And, after Futaba swiped the detective's phone for a bit, their leader spoke the final keyword and triggered the MetaNav.

"Casino," stated Urano.

Around Ann, the surrounding area blurred as she and the others entered the Metaverse. When the distortion faded, the world around them had become… exactly the same as before? Even their clothes were the same.

"Huh?" went Panther, and she wasn't the only one who was confused.

"What gives?"

"How peculiar."

"Did the MetaNav crash?"

Everyone was confused. Everyone other than Akechi, that is.

"I can assure you that we are indeed in Sae's Palace," spoke the detective. He began walking toward the courthouse. "And if you doubt me, then just look and see for yourselves."

The Phantom Thieves exchanged glances, nodded, and followed him. As they got closer, they saw that Akechi was right.

"The courthouse is a casino…" said Panther, awed.

Her words didn't do the transformation justice. Where there had once been a dull and ordinary government building now sat a skyscraper, decorated with giant words like 'CASINO and 'WINNER' spelled in neon lights. In front was an equally enormous Lady Justice statue, albeit with a skimpy dress, a cowboy hat and matching boots, and a very unbalanced scale weighing in favor of the word 'WIN,' also in neon lights.

The whole place looked like something that belonged in Las Vegas. Seeing it made Panther understand why Akechi had such an easy time figuring out the keyword that had stumped the Phantom Thieves. It really wasn't subtle.

Once the Phantom Thieves got over their shock – and gave Akechi the codename 'Crow' – they approached the Palace. The group found a side door and used it to sneak into the building, at which point their clothes transformed into their Phantom Thief outfits.

"So, this means we're acknowledged as a threat, correct?" questioned Crow. The detective prince was dressed like an actual prince, wearing a fancy white suit. His mask clashed with the look, though, resembling a pointy-nosed tengu.

"Dude, you planning on stealing stuff in that getup?" asked Skull, amused by Crow's somewhat silly look.

"It just means that's what he thinks a rebel looks like," explained Mona.

"No, this is my mental image of a person who sticks to their justice," disagreed Crow.

"Well, I think your mask is more apt for piercing rather than sticking…" commented Noir. She glanced at the casino floor. "That aside, the people here look completely normal."

"But we're in a flashy casino," pointed out Oracle. "There's no doubt this is a Palace." The navigator smirked. "And you all know what that means."

Other than a confused Crow and a grinning Mona, everyone acted in unison.

"Harlequin/Oracle/Skull/Queen/Panther/Fox/Noir Mode Change to… Casino Mode!"

AN: Urano is dressed as 'Heroic Spirit Formal Dress: Jeanne d'Arc.' The others are in their outfits from something called 'Persona 5 the Animation Masquerade Party' (I coincidentally found the image while looking through the wiki). Just look up the images and imagine they have their Phantom Thief masks on.

"…Huh?" went Crow, baffled by their impromptu change of costume. "What did you just… how did you…?"

(Panther also noticed the detective's eyes linger on the high leg slit of Harlequin's dress. She couldn't blame him, though. Not without being a hypocrite.)

"That's nothing," said Mona smugly. "Check this out! Mona Mode Change to… Casino Mode!"

Unlike the others, the not-cat didn't just change his clothes. No, his whole body transformed. Mona became…

"Aha!" shouted Harlequin, pointing at the not-cat. "I knew it! You are a grade schooler!"

…a human, just like he always wanted. He was a cute kid with short black hair and blue eyes.

"Damnit, this is your fault, sis!" yelled Mona, huffing adorably. "You kept calling me a little kid, so everyone saw me as one and it ended up distorting my transformation." Then, more quietly. "…I was supposed to be handsome teenager."

"Can somebody explain what is going on?" asked Crow, a touch impatient-sounding. "How did Mona turn into a human?"

However, everyone was more focused on Mona, who mood rapidly improved as he examined his new, tuxedo-clad body.

"…I'm finally human, even if it's just in here," said the kid, giggling softly. He hugged Harlequin and Oracle. "Thank you… so, so much."

"No problemo," replied Oracle, grinning from ear to ear.

"We'll make you human in the real world, too," promised Harlequin.

"Aww," cooed Panther, touched by the heartwarming scene.

"Way to go, Mona!" praised Skull.

"Your hard work paid off," complimented Queen.

"We knew you could do it!" cheered Noir.

"Truly a beautiful display of familial love," commented Fox.

"…Is everybody just going to ignore my questions?" asked Crow, exasperated.

The detective did eventually get an explanation about Mode Changes after the siblings' hug ended.

"Is the dab truly necessary?" asked Crow curiously.

"Yes," answered Mona. "But only because Harlequin did it the first time, establishing it as a necessary step."

"I was trying to do a Featherman-esque pose," defended the bookworm. "Besides, you did all sorts of posing when you first transformed into the Morgana-Mobile!"

"…the what-Mobile?" went Crow incredulously.

Another explanation – and Crow's own Mode Change – later, the Phantom Thieves (and company) finally began exploring Sae's Palace.

Sojiro Sakura's PoV

Sojiro returned home in a bad mood. He'd closed Leblanc a little early after another run in with Niijima. The prosecutor had threatened to get his custody of Futaba revoked unless he agreed to share his almost-nonexistent knowledge of cognitive psience with her.

That woman was really good at pissing people off. He could hardly believe that she was Makoto's older sister.

"I guess the girls are still out," Sojiro muttered, noticing that his daughters' shoes were absent from the entrance. His frustration faded, and a smile found its way onto his face. "Heh, hope they're having fun."

As he walked down the hallway, he noticed something slightly unusual.

"Hm?" went Sojiro. The door to Futaba's room, which was usually shut whenever it wasn't in use, was ajar. "She must've forgotten to close it."

Normally, Sojiro would respect his younger daughter's privacy and close the door without peeking into her room. However, his Niijima dredged up Futaba's past struggles, he… he needed to squash that tiny, irrational fear that Futaba might relapse.

(Irrational because Sojiro had seen how happy she was lately and knew how close she was to Urano and their friends and even him. Futaba had a support network now, and at least one of them would've noticed if there were any warning signs.)

"Huh… it's cleaner than I expected," mused Sojiro, glancing around. The floor wasn't perfectly clean, containing a few scattered pieces of junk, but it was much better than the dumpster that the room used to be. "I wonder what caused the change… in…"

His voice trailed off as he spotted a card on Futaba's desk, right next to her keyboard.

A calling card.

It wasn't signed like the ones from the news, but Sojiro knew right away that it was a legitimate calling card. One of his more eccentric regulars had an annoying habit of reciting the Phantom Thieves of Heart's calling cards in Leblanc, so he was familiar with the style. Moreover…

"Damnit, Urano," cursed Sojiro under his breath. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

…He could recognize his eldest daughter's handwriting, and seeing it caused a memory to resurface. A memory from shortly after Urano moved in, back before the Phantom Thieves' debut.

A memory of Urano saying that she was writing a calling card for Futaba, immediately before Futaba passed out for a few days and woke up reborn.

Like her heart had been changed.

"God… please, please let me be wrong."

Because it was easy to connect the dots and realize that both of his daughters were members of the Phantom Thieves of Heart that had (maybe intentionally) driven Okumura to suicide, and they might be doing the same to others at this very moment.

AN: Morgana has finally (temporarily) turned into a human. He is about Shinya's age, and he's right about it being Urano's fault.

Confidants: Morgana (Magician, Rank 10), Igor (Fool, Rank 5), Sojiro Sakura (Hierophant, Rank 10), Ryuji Sakamoto (Chariot, Rank 10), Tae Takemi (Death, Rank 3), Futaba Sakura (Hermit, Rank 10), Makoto Niijima (High Priestess, Rank 10), Shinya Oda (Tower, Rank 3), Caroline and Justine (Strength, Rank 3), Toranosuke Yoshida (Sun, Rank 3), Ann Takamaki (Lovers, Rank 10), Haru Okumura (Empress, Rank 10), Sadayo Kawakami (Temperance, Rank 1), Hifumi Togo (Star, Rank 2), Chihaya Mifune (Fortune, Rank 1), Yuuki Mishima (Moon, Rank 1), Munehisa Iwai (Hanged Man, Rank 2), Goro Akechi (Justice, Rank 1), Yusuke Kitagawa (Emperor, Rank 10), Ichiko Ohya (Devil, Rank 1).