2025-07-25: Goodfellas

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<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

The Phantom Thieves -- with Makoto Niijima in tow -- have been investigating Shibuya. They found a Palace, but it's inaccessible -- up in the sky, on a floating saucer. They need something from the Palace Ruler to enter. The fact that Shujin students are being lured into unknowing criminal activity, then blackmailed into more, is something that shouldn't go overlooked. Maybe this makes it easier.

Maybe it doesn't.

But here they are. They've spent an hour or so today looking for evidence of criminal activity. And now, with Ren Amamiya and Makoto present, they might have found it. They trailed two shady-looking types -- suit coats left open, no ties, and colorful button-up shirts -- into one of the nearby alleys. One has black hair and sunglasses; one has brown hair and a scar.

"...eh?" the scarred one asks. "You... wanna go to the boss. All right."

A car pulls up.

    * * * A LITTLE LATER * * *

...and this is how Makoto has found herself entering what -- she might be realizing, with dawning horror -- a Yakuza hideout. It looks a little like a club, with a decor that includes plush purple furniture, tables with drinks and cigarettes on them, and a carpeted floor.

The sunglasses-wearing and scar-sporting Yakuza are walking side by side. The whole place smells of cigarette smoke.

And she is being led, perhaps prodded, to a table.

Fortunately, as it happens, she won't be alone -- because Ren was able to rally at least some of the Phantoms and hurry. As Makoto is led to a certain table, they come in. But the man at the table doesn't even look at the commotion of some kids running into his hideout.

Junya Kaneshiro isn't impressive to look at. Short, with stringy brown hair, and overweight, he has become dangerous despite how he looks. He looks Makoto up and down with a dismissive look...

...but an appraising one, wondering how she might be worthwhile to him.

"So," he says. "You gotta be pretty smart to run in here and make a scene. Now, here's what I want to know." He leans over the table, nudging a drink aside. "Time is money. You're costing me time. How are you going to make it up?"

And this is when the Phantoms arrive, in time to hear that demand of Makoto.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    It's been an intense few days for all of the Phantom Thieves (and their guest, Makoto Niijima). Between questioning their fellow students at school, catfishing goons in Shibuya Central Street, making contact with various reporters and getting names off the street, they've managed to figure out both the name of the mafia boss, his distortion, and his location--all of Shibuya. And with that, they were able to enter Junya Kaneshiro's Palace...
    
    ...sort of. There's still the issue of the fact that while the area may have changed, the Palace itself is floating in the air, and they have no way to access it.
    
    But Makoto had an idea--one she didn't quite let Ren in on when the two of them run into another of Kaneshiro's subordinates. Ren looked at Makoto in alarm as she "bargained" her way into the car, but she insisted this was their chance, and she might well be right.
    
    He's texting the others in an instant as he hails a cab to follow the car that took Makoto away. Ryuji and Morgana are too far away to make it in time to join them, the group having split into pairs to cover more ground, but with Ann and Yusuke, they'll be after them in an instant. At least they'll have backup if things go horribly wrong.
    
    Now, the three of them charge into the club where Makoto was taken, too harried to think through if this is actually a sensible course of action. They are, of course, immediately caught. Kaneshiro's subordinate drags them in to see the boss just as Kaneshiro's asking Makoto's going to make up the money her time is costing him...
    
    Ren grits his teeth, hands clenching, when he sees the scene in front of him. He bites back the urge to call out her name, but he sincerely has no clue how the hell they're going to get out of this one. Even so, he can't just stand around staring like an idiot, so he stares down Kaneshiro despite the pounding in his chest and the shaking of his hands.
    
    "We're here for our friend," he says coldly. That Makoto is not really a friend per se is besides the point. The point is to assert solidarity. 

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

"Palaces radiate a passionate madness", Yusuke had said during their investigation, as they struggled to decipher the keywords that would unbar the gates of the Meta-Nav and allow them to gain purchase.

A gigantic super-bank floating over the city, vacuuming the money out of ATM-people, would definitely qualify.

In fact, it's such a dramatic image that Yusuke is almost insulted that, after being hauled in front of the man whose mind they've recently breached, the man in question appears so... ordinary.

Stone-faced, he glances to Ann, then Ren. He's tense... but he's not planning on running. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

Palaces exude a passionate madness.

Ann Takamaki had giving Yusuke such a -look- when he made that observation. And yet, upon later reflection...

It's absolutely true, isn't it?

In the most frustrating ways of all, a Palace is never straightforward. Ann had thought she had seen the strangest of it all when it came to the gold-plated audacity of Madarame's 'museum.' But then came Junya Kaneshiro, an actual mobster, with a Palace that encompassed all of Shibuya, and a headquarters that was a literal money-sucking bank.

That -flies-.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat? That's no fair! Get down here!" had been Ann's summarized thoughts.

They were at an impasse. If only they had a way to make Kaneshiro just accept them as part of the bank. But how--?

Ann was stewing over that very dilemma by the time she gets that fateful text from their leader. Blue eyes fly wide; she snaps a look Yusuke's way.

"We gotta go, -now-."

And without even thinking, Ann's hailing the first cab she can find to get them to where they need to be, teeth gritting as she goes.

"Niijima-san -- what the heck are you thinking...?!"

                                   ~<3~

What Makoto was thinking was apparently getting right up in a gang boss' face.

A part of Ann deep down has to respect the hustle there. But, like. On the other hand...

"... This is totally insane...!"

Yeah, that.

This is whispered under Ann's breath to her fellow Thieves by the time she arrives and gets a chance to actually take stock of the situation. She's nervous -- scared, even. This is a very -different- kind of danger, even from Kamoshida, and it's a world to which Ann is completely unaccustomed.

All the same, the blonde squares up and puts her bravest face forward as she steps up beside Ren. "Yeah, so get away from her! ... uh, please!"

She mostly gets it. 

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    An intense few days, in an intense week. That's possibly what prompted Makoto to run off on her own and then do something so... rash and stupid.

    For the car ride here, she kept up her steely front. Even as she walked into the den- a Yakuza den, or Mafia den as Kaneshiro's gang insisted on calling itself- she kept that steely front-

    Only to end up fenced in by Kaneshiro's men, at a table across from the man himself. That's fine. That was the goal- make sure she could get face to face so the Phantom Thieves could do what the needed to do.

    To show them she's not useless. Not a burden. Not a pushover.

    She glares straight at Kaneshiro as she makes eye contact, trying to keep up that defiance. "I already know you're blackmailing Shujin students." She says, maintaining that boldness, that ferocity, that anger. Her phone, still recording from the second she started the confrontation with Kaneshiro's men, is secreted in her hand. "You're going to release them from your schemes, or I'll go to the police with everything I have."

    An ultimatum, then. To the man with all the power in the room-

    Just as Ren, Yusuke and Ann make their way in. She turns, taking her eyes off Kaneshiro only for a second-

    Which is likely a second too much. 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

Kaneshiro's expression is passive, as Makoto glares at him. He looks at her with a certaieserved coolness -- the coolness of a mob boss who needs to remain in control, at all times, in front of his men.

And he stays quiet, as he witnesses that bold ferocity. The scar-bearing man, next to her, gets wide eyes. He steps to the side -- away from Makoto, for thaa split second. "Boss..."

But then Makoto looks back at Ren, Ann, and Yusuke as they enter. That is all the time that he needs. Kaneshiro lifts his own phone -- and there is a cloud CLICK. That might be more damning than anything he could say.

He is lowering it, when Makoto looks back at him. Kaneshiro doesn't look Makoto yet, though. First, he gives Ren a dismissive glower. The same dismissive glower is turned onto Yusuke, then to Ann. "At least one of you can mind her manners."

He laughs, then he looks at Ren. "I don't care what you're here for," he says, and it's colder than before. Then he looks at Makoto.

"You," he says, "think to threaten ME?" His voice stresses the last word there. "I'm the one with the money. I'm the one with the power. Don't think, fo a second, that you've got what it takes to scare me."

He holds his phone up -- the screen, this time. It has a photograph of Makoto, looking back at Ren -- with Yusuke and Ann behind him. "Don't think you're in control. I've got the money. I've got the power," Kaneshiro says, coldly. "So pipe down, kids, and let me explain how this works."

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    Leave it to Yusuke to describe Palaces with such eloquence. Still, it's only fitting that the Palace Ruler is so plain in real life. Part of that passionate madness is the canyon between the Ruler's outer image and their inner distortions.
    
    That doesn't make it any less insane, as Ann succinctly puts it. The same goes for Makoto's daring plan. Ren can't help but be impressed, but that doesn't make the situation any less terrifying. This is an actual mob boss they're squaring off against. If things go badly, who knows what'll happen to them?
    
    What happens, as it turns out, is very simple: Kaneshiro just takes a photo of all of them. Here, in a club, with booze and cigarettes.
    
    It's exactly the kind of thing a petty high schooler would do, and that's what makes it so infuriating. Ren's glare intensifies--but he does shut up, if with a look shot Makoto's way. 

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Yusuke hasn't said a single word, and that isn't about to change just yet. He's following Ren's lead.

He does look a little concerned for Makoto, however. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

"I-it wasn't a polite please!"

Ann declares, as firm as she possibly can in the situation, which is shockingly so for a statement that does not, necessarily, make much sense.

Still, as much as the situation is hammering on Ann's panic buttons, the fact that she is still -standing- here in front of -organized criminals- (organized!!) says a lot. It may say a lot for her sense of solidarity -- and her inability to abide people like Kaneshiro just running roughshod over others who can't defend themselves.

It also, in part, says quite a deal about the sense of guilt niggling at her.

Still -- Ann can't help the way she winces as Makoto threatens the man. She wants to say something -- but she's still so busy catching up with everything going on that words fail her, at the moment. At least--

*snap*

Not until that beady-eyed gang boss takes a -photo- of them.

Sadly, the only words that find her -now- are ones of surprise and confusion: "H-hey, what're you doing--?!" 

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    "Why are you...?" This wasn't- she wasn't supposed to get anyone else caught up in this. Ren wasn't supposed to follow her, let alone bring anyone else in and now-

    Well now Kaneshiro has them all dead to rights. And it's her fault. What the hell was she thinking? She's not just dragging herself down- Amamiya, Takamaki, Kitagawa are going to lose everything to her rashness. Not to mention this impact this will have on her sister...

    Ren shoots Makoto a look- and Makoto can give the Phantom Thieves nothing back but a look of despair- a look that must be plain to Kaneshiro.

    She's lost, and she's dragged everyone else down with her, and she knows it. For someone like Kaneshiro, it must be one of the most satisfying expressions in the world. 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

"It wasn't a polite picture," Kaneshiro answers Ann, flatly.

He looks back at Makoto. And he does enjoy that defeated, despairing expression. He is absolutely the sort of adult who would enjoy feeling he defeated a child, and he revels in it. It's with a satisfied smirk, rather than a gloat.

But, still. He takes a moment, to let that moment be his. The silence hangs in the air, though it's different than Yusuke's silence.

"Here's a free lesson," Kaneshiro finally says. He stands up -- as if to say, 'maybe I'm not as tall as you, but I can still tower over you.' "Once you have money, you have everything." He motions around the club.

At the drugs, sitting open on the table. At the expensive sake and the best American brandy. At the expensive decorations on the walls.

At the rough, well-dressed armed men that do whatever Kaneshiro asks.

At the quiet women, in make-up and dresses, sitting with those men.

"It doesn't matter if you're clean or dirty!" he snaps, as he starts working himself into a rant. "The strong and the smart? We devour the weak and stupid. And you--" He jabs a finger at Makoto. "A damn brat like you, who reads about this shit online and thinks she knows how it works, makes for the perfect prey. Same as your poor little students. Fools pay for their foolishness -- and they learn, or they stay fools."

He folds his arms. "So you're gonna pay, Miss Student Council President," he says. "Three million yen, in three weeks. Or--" He holds up his phone, with the photo of them on it. "This goes to your schools. You get expelled and something I don't give a shit about happens. And you still pay after that."

He cuts Makoto a look. "If you can't use your head to pay it off, then you can use your body. Or your sister can. You understand me?"

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    "You really thought we were going to let you face this on your own?" Ren asks Makoto, voice low, when she looks shocked to see them.
    
    Yusuke stays stonily silent while Ann tries and fails to mouth off. But once again, they're caught dead to rights, and Ren knows Kaneshiro will want to stomp all over them. Men in his position always do. And, sure enough--he makes his demands clear. They've got to pay him three million (three million?!) or he leaks that photo to their schools. They'll get expelled...
    
    Ren doesn't have anywhere to go if he gets expelled again. If that happens, it's all over. He keeps his breathing in check, but his pulse rises again. It's not just out of fear, though.
    
    It's out of anger. This piece of crap really thinks he can just do this for no reason.
    
    He reaches out to offer a hand to Makoto. "Let's get out of here," he murmurs, not letting Kaneshiro out of his sight. If he wants them to pay, then they'll probably be able to get out of here in one piece, but he doesn't want to risk it any more than they already have.
    
    Of course, this doesn't at all address the fact that Kaneshiro apparently knows who Makoto is--but Makoto is sure not to let that slide. 

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Three million yen.

Yusuke can't even conceive of how much money that is. Madarame's affectation of poverty gives him no context to operate from, and his own financial statement is grim enough on its own.

The only things that prevents him from having a breakdown in that moment are Ren's own stoicism and apparent acceptance of the terms... and the fact that the group knows something Kaneshiro doesn't.

When Ren says they need to get out of here, he nods in agreement. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

"We're not just gonna leave you!"

Despite everything, despite how frightening this situation is, Ann is unabashedly firm with -this- answer to Makoto's trailing question.

And, frankly -- now annoyance and -anger- are starting to win out over fear. Eyes narrowing, hands balling into fists, teeth gritting; Ann is a tightly coiled spring as Kaneshiro offers his sleazy lesson in the glories of money. That urge to lash out, like against Kamoshida, and Madarame after, bubbles to a magma-hot boil inside of her -- but in this situation, there's very little Ann can do except stare congealed death at that grease-stain of a man as he so brazenly threatens and extorts Makoto -- threatens and extorts -all- of them. To a tidy song of--

"Th-three million??" Ann -is- savvy with finances. Enough to know how ridiculous that much money is to make in three weeks -- no, how -impossible- it is for -high schoolers- of all people. She throws an arm out, twintails bouncing with the force of her frustration. "That's ridiculous! She can't make that much--"

But she cuts herself off as Ren speaks up. They need to go. Pale as a sheet but twice as livid, Ann knows she'll only do more harm than good, at this point.

An awful, awful man like this can only be dealt with one way.

"... Fine," she murmurs, taking a step back.

"Come on, Nijima-san." 

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    Another moment of shame hits Makoto's face as Ren says that, and she can't meet Ann's eyes when she echoes it, staring down at her feet. Why wouldn't they let her go it alone? This was her mess that she dragged them all into, all out of her own stupidity. Why wouldn't they leave her to face this alone? Everyone else has...

    She watches Kaneshiro as he gives his rant, stumbling backward a little when he jabs at her. Each insult a reminder of her inadequacy, her incompetence, her uselessness, her worthlessness...

    The robotic hardass student council president is gone, replaced with a meek, defeated woman. She shrinks down a bit as Kaneshiro 'towers' at her. Ann tries to defend her- to say it's unreasonable, and Makoto shakes her head at her, only briefly. Makoto doesn't need defending against something she brought on herself.

    She doesn't speak back to Kaneshiro when he makes clear the terms, remaining perfectly silent and only giving a clear nod of understanding in response.

    Ren says it's time to leave, and Makoto turns to him- turning her back to Kaneshiro the way he doesn't. She sees the hand offered, and starts to raise hers to take it-

    And stops. She doesn't deserve it. Not after all she's done- or failed to do. When Ann tells her to go with them, she simply follows her fellow students outside, head hanging low.

    ----

    The dark of night and the glow of streetlamps await them when they're all out on the street again, outside Kaneshiro's club. Makoto walks silently with the group for a minute, just to put a little distance between them and the club. Just enough, before she stops.

    "I'm so sorry." Her voice is quiet, and that exhaustion Morgana got to see on the roof creeps in, even as she stands with her arms at her sides, waiting to be shouted at. "I didn't mean to drag you in like this. I was stupid..."

    "...I'm withdrawing my request of you. I'll delete the recordings, this isn't..."

    'As you are, you're nothing but a burden to me!' 'That's disappointing... I would have expected more of Sae-san's sister than the pushover good girl type.' 'At this rate, you and I will both lose our roles at this school. Do you understand?'

    Makoto shakes her head, before she bows deeply to her fellow students in apology. "I'll come up with the money somehow. This happened because of my foolishness. I'll... bear the responsibility." 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

"Better figure it out then," Kaneshiro tells Ann. "You've got three weeks."

This is, as Ryuji would say, bullshit.

Ren ushers them out -- and Kaneshiro watches as they leave. With a satisfied smile, he sits back at his chair, and takes a long sip from his drink.

Makoto is his, now, he thinks.

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Once they're a safe distance from Kaneshiro's lair, Yusuke looks back towards it, and clicks his tongue. "One would think that with such exorbitant wealth he'd be able to hire interior decorators with a better sense of aesthetics."

Is that really the most important thing right now, Yusuke?

Makoto speaks up - she'll withdraw the request, come up with the money somehow, everyone else should just step away and leave her to bear the responsibility...

... And Yusuke clicks his tongue again.

"Quite. How did you not expect this outcome?"

This sharpness, however, is followed by Yusuke folding his arms, sternly. "Even so, asking us to walk away now is even more ridiculous. I may have only known these people for a short while, but I know that leaving someone to suffer alone is not their 'Justice'."

From there, he looks over to Ren. "Right, Ren-san?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

'Quite. How did you not expect this outcome?'

Ann's thoughts are still swimming with everything that just happened by the time they leave the club. Arms folded under her chest, sneakered toes tapping with frenetic frustration against the pavement beneath her, it's only when Yusuke says those blunt words that Ann is stirred from her reverie with a blink.

"Hey, Yusuke--" she starts to chide -despite- who he's directing that at. Is it strange, to try to defend a girl you - until just recently - were slinging such bald-faced vitriol at?

Maybe; but Ann can't help the ways she feels. Nor would she want to.

As Yusuke continues on, though, resolve settles into Ann's expression. She's quiet for a second. And then, she turns to face Makoto, left hand tilting Yusuke's way.

"Yusuke's right," she says, slowly. Firmly. "And it's -not- your fault. But even if you might've dragged us into this, what's done is done. We're in this together. And we're going to fix this together. Do you really want a bastard like that Kaneshiro guy just get away with all this?"

Pink lips thin; blue eyes narrow.

"I know I don't." 

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    Three weeks. Compared to Makoto's deadline, that's almost generous.
    
    Ren doesn't say so. There's a time and place for sarcasm, and this is NOT it. He doesn't push Makoto to take his hand when she ultimately refuses it. What's important is that they all leave. Ren shares a look with Ann and Yusuke, and then they're hurrying on their way out.
    
    ~ * ~
    
    The four of them are on the street soon, darkness overhead cut by the street lights. Ren looks up and over his shoulder at the skyline and the looming club at their backs as they move a safer distance away; then he tucks his hands into his pockets and looks back at Makoto, small and exhausted like a child waiting to be punished. He listens to her in silence for a moment. That dark gaze flicks to Yusuke as he tells her off--not unreasonably. (And also criticizes Kaneshiro's aesthetics--extremely not unreasonably, even if now isn't the time.)
    
    "Exactly," he tells Yusuke. Makoto may have been a thorn in their sides recently, but there's no way he'd leave her to the tender mercies of a man who outright told her he was going to force her and her sister into prostitution. Ann weighs in too, spelling out the rest of what Yusuke was implying. They're both exactly right: they aren't going to leave Makoto to the wolves, and they sure as hell won't let Kaneshiro get away with doing this--either to them, or to any of the other teenagers he's been victimizing just like this.
    
    "So lift your head. We're going to settle this," Ren tells Makoto, expression deadpan serious. His gaze turns to encompass Ann and Yusuke. "Let's go back to Shibuya. I've got a hunch about something."
    
    ~ * ~
    
    "Dude, what the hell happened?! We were worried sick!!" Ryuji yells at the quartet when they get out of a taxi back to Central Street.
    
    "Yeah! I had to lie here listening to Ryuji's monkey howling this whole time!" Morgana adds atop his perch on Ryuji's shoulder.
    
    Ryuji is of course about to start a fight about it, but Ren raises a hand palm out. He looks over his shoulder to make sure the others have left the taxi safely, then pulls out his phone. "We'll explain in a second. Right now, there's something I want to check."
    
    Tap. "Now navigating..." a cool female voice sounds as reality begins to distort around them all...
    
    And as Shibuya becomes those lands of living ATMs and everyone's cognitive costumes form around them, Ren--or rather, Joker--explains to Skull and Mona what happened.
    
    "...and so if I'm right..." Joker is concluding.
    
    "Dude, this is insane!!" Skull blurts out. "Three million yen?! How're you guys gonna pay that off?!"
    
    "I see! Very clever, Joker!" Mona says, paws folded. "Don't worry, Skull; we won't have to. If Kaneshiro sees his victims as sources of money for his bank, and you're all now his victims..."
    
    A shadow looms over head: the floating bank. It's sinking down, and pompous stairs are emerging from it to make contact with the ground right in front of them. Mona looks up at it with a grim but smug kitty-smile. "...Bingo!"
    
    Joker nods once, then looks over his shoulder at the others--before settling a slight smile on Makoto. "Looks like your 'foolishness' was exactly what we needed," he tells her. "Come on. You're going to take responsibility, right?"
    
    However she answers, he starts the trek up the stairs to the bank proper. 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

The way inside the bank is through, ironically enough, the front door. The bank may have sank down for Kaneshiro's newest customers, but it's still -- paradoxically -- a place of business. But as Yusuke said, Palaces radiate a passionate madness.

And there is something passionate here, but something very wrong. The large double doors are open, and people are going inside.

But they look wrong.

Their bodies are large ATM machines. Machines meant to dispense cash endlessly, with arms and legs to carry them forward. And the inside of the bank is a classic lobby: benches for sitting, pillars scattered about, and then wooden counters with cages that have Shadows behind them. The Shadows act as tellers.

Other Shadows are security guards, in blue uniforms, who are pacing about to-and-fro, to keep guard. They don't stop the Phantom Thieves...

But one does approach them. He grunts, before rumbling out: "Are you here for your appointment with Kaneshiro-san?"

They're his customers. They are, of course, here to give him money. Such is the working of Junya Kaneshiro's distorted cognition.

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    When Yusuke berates her, Makoto flinches back a little- but doesn't disagree. She doesn't look up, even as Ann turns to defend her- again. This is exactly the sort of scam her father spent his evenings warning her and Sae about when he was still alive. She doesn't even give a moment to Yusuke's discussion of aesthetics, she looks on the verge of shutting down as is.

    She doesn't expect what comes out of Yusuke's mouth next, though. *That* makes her look up at him, confusion writ clear on her face. Ann's confirmation gets a look of... it looks like almost awe mixed with her bafflement.

    "Of course I don't, but..." Her voice remains weak, frail. Ren was right to think of her as a child expecting punishment in this moment. "I've already caused you enough problems..." She crumples in a bit again, as another thought finally reaches her. "I'm causing problems for Sis, too..."

    But even after that, Ren insists she lift her head, and Makoto blinks again. "Settle this...?"

    ----

    Ultimately, Makoto finds herself coming along in the taxi. What else is she going to do? It's just easier to follow the stronger voices right now. Another flinch at Ryuji's yelling, staying at the back of the group-

    Only for her to stare at the absurdity of the young man having... "Is that a cat...?" She asks, her mind latching onto the most bewildering factor, not noticing what Ren pull out her phone and-

    The world shifts, and Makoto is not ready for what she sees. It's Shibuya as though it were in some kind of sci-fi moving. The skies dark, the streets filled with walking ATMs, shops papered over with cold hard cash-

    A voice calls her attention back. Joker!? They don't mean-

    Makoto is suddenly surrounded by strangers, and she stumbles back in shock before training takes over, dropping into an Aikido stance. "Who are you?" She asks, looking at the costume clad figures and-

    Makoto's eyes widen in shock. "A-a bakemono!?" Makoto looks around, panicked- even as the one called Joker tells her that her 'foolishness' was what she needed. "...Are you... Amamiya-kun?" She asks, quietly, no confidence in her guess despite the situation. His voice sounds similar, and that's... where he was standing, wasn't he?

    ...That's right. She was going to take responsibility. "...Right." She says, still baffled by the situation, but she follows the man in black she hopes is the transfer student anyway. If this is the Phantom Thieves, she owes it to them.

    And if this is the Joker Killer, well. She'd probably be dead by now, wouldn't she? Besides... wasn't that who Amamiya and friends were targeting? 

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

The world goes grey, then ripples in black and red...

Tinges of blue flame flicker up Yusuke's body, his casual clothes replaced in a blink by an extremely theatrical jumpsuit with a white fox tail clipped to the striped sash around his waist. A white kitsune half-mask is now shrouding the upper half of his face.

"Well then," Fox says, looking around the overcast-in-green Shibuya. His attention, too, is caught by the ridiculous largesse of Kaneshiro's bank... descending to the ground and offering them a way in.

"Your hunch seems to have borne fruit, Joker," he says coolly, falling in step behind their leader. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

'Sis,' Makoto says, and Ann offers up a questioning look in response. But it's something to table for now, when there's more pressing problems afoot. It's like the wise man once said:

The only way out is through.

                                   ~<3~

With a few simple words cast against its surface, reality ripples like a lake struck by a stone.

By this point, it's all become almost comfortingly familiar. A burst of blue flame. A mask to solve all your problems.

The problems, laid out bald-faced right in front of them.

It gives her the surge of vengeful confidence she yearns for.

"Ryuji, you -really- need to chill out for a second," says Ann Takamaki who was definitely not freaking out earlier. Emerging from behind the pack in her red leather catsuit, she places a hand on her bundled whip as she looks up towards the skies.

"It's a bad situation, okay? But we've got a plan..."

Morgana puts it all together swiftly, of course. And in doing so--

A-a bakemono!?

Triggers the natural reaction to a talking not-a-cat-thing.

"... We've really gotta work on how you introduce yourself to people, Mona," Panther says with a great grimace.

Ann steps forward. She offers a small smile for Makoto, one almost apologetic as she nods Ren's way.

"Call him Joker while we're here," she says. "Err. But not -that- Joker. It's just a coincidence, I swear."

She tips her head Yusuke's way. "That's Fox," and then Ryuji, "and Skull," and then Morgana, "... and that's Mona. He's the cat you saw."

She'll apologize to Morgana later probably; look, she needs a digestible shorthand, here.

"And this..." Ann begins, as that massive flying fortress of a bank descends and offers its brand new patrons an on-ramp. "... is how we're going to get back at Kaneshiro."

The flash of a grin, and off Ann walks with the others, into the bank proper. "Being in a bank with costumes like these is so obvious. We're totally robbers."

But for some reason, Ann sounds very pleased about that. It's a very cool, very confident declaration.

"--Oh! And I'm Panther!!"

Which is why it can only last so long. 

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    Makoto might be causing problems--but she's also inadvertently providing solutions, too. It wasn't what any of them had planned on, but as long as they've ended up in this disaster, they may as well turn it to their advantage. As Mona implied, if they can change Kaneshiro's heart, then they won't have to pay that absurd amount of money back. It's a gamble, but it's one they've got to give it their all to win
    
    "I'm not a monster, I'm a cat!!" Mona snaps at Makoto. He shakes his head rapidly and adds, "Wait, I'm not a cat either!!!" Or so he insists, until Panther says he was the cat Makoto saw and that he needs to work on his introductions. Mona is visibly devastated ("gaaahhh!"), and may never recover. Skull just shakes his head.
    
    Joker pauses as he half-turns to look back at Makoto. Are you... Amamiya-kun? she asks. That intense stare is just like his, too... until he gives her a faint smile and nods towards Panther as she explains. "Think of that one as an evil clown--" He turns back, his coat flapping dramatically in his wake. "--and me as a wild card." He stretches out a hand and pulls his red glove taut. "We're the Phantom Thieves of Hearts you so daringly decided to call on."
    
    To Fox, he adds, "Looks that way. Now let's see this through." Panther might be covering the explanations, but there's more to it than that. Getting in is just the first step. Now they have to actually infiltrate.
    
    ...Which is harder than expected when they can only enter directly from the front, and get immediately approached by a guard asking if they're here for their appointment. Panther says they're totally here to rob the place, but Joker looks thoughtful.
    
    "That's right," Joker replies, cool as a cucumber in shades. "Where is he?"
    
    If they're going to come in through the front, they may as well fast-track the confrontation, too. Knowing the form Kaneshiro's Shadow takes has got to net them some valuable information. 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

"I'll let him know you're here," the Shadow says to Joker. And, in the way of Palace Shadows, he turns -- and emits a static, hard-to-hear noise into a somewhat oversized walkie talkie. Sometimes, Palaces are more cinematic than logical.

It takes a short time for Kaneshiro to approach. He is the man they saw earlier today -- but different. Here, he wears a fine white suit, instead, and with gold adorning it. His hair is neatly combed, but a haircut more like a respectful businessman's.

He also has a pencil mustache and violet skin. His eyes, too, have the pale yellow of a Shadow.

"So," he says. He looks at the Phantoms -- and then his eyes settle on Makoto. "My customer has come to pay up. Good! Welcome to my bank--" He throws his arms out wide. "Where all the world's money, all the world's power, all of its happiness is MINE! Mine to take and take, and eat it all up!"

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    It's the strangest way to have her theory confirmed. These were the Phantom Thieves of Heart, self admitted. And the way they operate is something she never could have imagined. Her eyes turn to the woman in red, blinking at the smile. "Takamaki-san...?" She says, her eyes on the woman in red. It's a powerful look, and a lot. Still, she takes note. Joker, Fox, Skull and Mona. "...What?" She is staring now at the floating fortress. This is how they change hearts...?

    An evil clown and a wild card- there's something different about all of them. The way they move and carry themselves, that smile that comes from Am- from Joker. The confidence that Panther carries herself with. She drops her stance, and... doesn't relax, exactly, but at least, she trusts them to do what they said right now. So she follows them- or is kept in the middle of the group, most likely. She's the only 'normal' person here, the most vulnerable to the threats, even if she doesn't understand them yet. She lingers a little closer to Ann than the rest of them, as she's been giving the rundown. "...So... you literally steal his heart from a vault?" She asks, trying to understand, even if Takamaki is a little too eager. "...Panther, got it." Anything suspect about the name seems to go right over Makoto's head, accepting it as just another code name. Why wouldn't she?

    "...What do you need me to do?" She asks the others- but just asking she shrinks in again a little. She's expecting a certain response here, after all. She's not a phantom thief, she's the one with the least information of all.

    As they're asked why they're here, however, Makoto gains some of that steel and confidence back. "...Right. I'm Kaneshiro's source of revenue, after all." No wonder they could enter, why they're approached by these... monstrous figures. "I'd like to speak with the bank president. Immediately." She says, glaring at the creature in anger.

    As the Shadow leaves to fetch his boss, Makoto's voice falls quiet again, just enough for the Phantom Thieves of Heart to hear. "...I'll make myself useful to you. I promise."

    She looks straight at the man who approaches- his voice is Kaneshiro's appearance, but his voice is not. The Yakuza like appearance of Kaneshiro replaced with this respectable businessman, in a suit and tie, for a moment giving all the image of a reputable banker- until he speaks more.

    She's on the back foot again- what does she do now? 

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

As Ann introduces him, 'Fox' lifts his mask just a little bit, and Yusuke offers Makoto a sharp smile from underneath it. There is... an eager limberness to the way he walks forward, left hand held at his hip as though it should be holding something.

As they pass by the endless stream of the ATM-shaped cognitive-individuals travelling in to be fleeced, a coldness returns to his expression. Evidently, Fox has little sympathy for those who would exploit others so ruthlessly. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

"Wow, this place is so huge...!"

It feels like every palace is just on a grander scale than the next. Ann really doesn't get it. Are the hearts of their targets becoming more and more twisted--?

Still, she thinks.

"This -has- to be the biggest one."

Heading in from the front. It's not exactly a comfy prospect for Ann, but, it makes a certain kind of sense: they're customers now, after all. Maybe this is just going to require a bit of acting -- like a real infiltration! As such, she takes things casually - if in a guarded way - as she enters, gloved hands clasping behind her back as she sweeps the lobby and beyond. So many ATM-people. She thinks back to the ones they saw, shutting down or on the fritz.

The lives Kaneshiro has used up...

Ann's jaw sets. She finds some solace, at least, in distraction. Namely:

"Ah, it's -- kinda like that, yeah! See, this place, it's called a Palace, it represents Kaneshiro's distorted desires -- or... something like that. And inside is this thing called a Treasure..."

E X P O S I T I O N !

Said exposition will continue until they reach Kamoshida; if nothing else, Ann hopes a somewhat truncated and slightly inexpert rundown will better arm Makoto for what's coming. To note, she emphasizes one thing in particular:

"... And watch out. The Shadows here - Kaneshiro's security - they'll probably attack us. It can be dangerous here, so just be careful, okay?"

But for now? For now, there's no physical violence to be found. Just fiscal violence.

And fashion violence, if the way Panther grimaces at the sight of Shadow Kaneshiro's unfortunate banker-mustache and hairstyle is any indication.

"Ugh. He's practically dripping grease," she mutters to herself. Well. Mostly to herself.

For now, though, she falls silent, and settles for just staring daggers at the crime boss' Shadow. 

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    Makoto does indeed stay in the middle of the group--Joker, Panther, and Fox in the front, and Skull and Mona in the back. It's not something they need to discuss. It's just an order they naturally (and conveniently) fall into. Makoto at least seem to regain some fire when she demands to speak with the bank president--right. That's the logical form the Shadow Ruler of a bank would take, wouldn't it? And sure enough, the man that comes out is clearly Kaneshiro, and clearly not. Joker glances at Makoto and gives her a little nod. She's already proving herself useful in a variety of ways. People are more than just whether they're "useful" or not, but it seems to be important to her, so he may as well acknowledge it, even if only privately for now.
    
    What do they need Makoto to do, though? That's a good question. In the previous Palaces, they only brought normal people in by accident--though those people would later awaken to Personas, admittedly--while here, they're bringing her in on purpose to lock in Kaneshiro's cognition. Shadow Kaneshiro himself is a scumbag, but they already knew that one. Joker can all but feel the chill disgust that emanates from Fox over the ATM people, even without looking at him. Something about him is just like that, but it's especially appropriate here.
    
    "I know how you feel," he murmurs to Fox sotto voce. "We'll have our chance."
    
    The explanations, he'll continue to leave to Panther; she's taken it on herself without being asked, so it works out.
    
    "Uh huh," Joker replies blandly to Shadow Kaneshiro, refusing to give him an inch. "Three weeks, right? That's the deadline. Until that time's up, she can come and go here as she needs to. Right?" He nods towards Makoto. "And since she's your precious customer--we'll be her escorts."
    
    Cut and dry. At least, that's how he's trying to make it. "Well then, if you'll excuse us..." He gestures forward at the others, then attempts to coolly walk right past the Shadow and deeper into the bank so they can start searching for the Treasure. Refuge in audacity--but will he let them get away with it? 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

"This," Kaneshiro tells Ann, "is the sort of style that only money can buy. Your tastes just aren't expensive enough, girl!"

He heard that.

Then he looks at Joker. He seems to consider for a moment. "A good businessman sticks to his deals," he says. "And she is some very valuable product. So she requires an escort. Now--hold on."

He holds a hand up. Kaneshiro looks at Makoto, then, and he frowns -- because she isn't talking. "What? Cat got your tongue? You'll fetch better prices if you're a little talkative."

Then, he sighs, and he holds a hand out. One of the teller Shadows runs up. They put a large calculator in his hand. "Well, you'll need to learn to use it. I expect you to bring in steady income. A pretty thing like you--"

He looks her up and down. It's familiar, like Kamoshida, in a way. But it's different; he doesn't see her as an object, but as property. Lucrative property, in a digusting way. "If you're working for me, using your body to bring in yen, I can get--" He taps at the calculator. "Yes, yes. You're worth quite a sum per hour. Quite a sum! And we can enhance it with a good marketing plan for selling you off. Oh, but, a businessman can't forget--"

And there's a cruel gleam in his eye. He holds the calculator. Then he hits the 'X' button and the '2.'

"--I can double the investment by getting that stupid sister of yours to do the same," Kaneshiro says, with a cold laugh. "A much more... profitable activity than investigating me. Wouldn't you say, my future number two merchandise?"

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    As Ann explains, it's a distraction Makoto can latch on to as well. "Is that like the application of optical illusions in social cognitive psychology?" She asks, as she tries to delve for more information- and possibly going a few levels higher than Ann expected. At least Ann's explanation makes sense to Makoto!

    "I'm trained in Aikido, I can at least hold my own." Makoto responds, a little strongly- but after how thoroughly outmatched she was, she may just be trying to cling to some sort of strength. She acknowledges Panther's warning all the same.

    The icy rage coming off Yusuke is hard to miss, and she can hear Joker whisper something to him, before the leader of the Phantom Thieves starts to speak on her behalf.

    Something Kaneshiro is quick to pick up on, even as he eyes her up. "...that was your plan all along, wasn't it?" She says, suddenly understanding. Even if she had earned the money, he was never going to let her go, was she? Her skin crawls under his gaze, disgusting. She's not human in his eyes, she's something both more valuable and less worthwhile. She feels him evaluating her, pricing her.

    Of course. She's worth something to someone after all- in the most foul, disgusting way she can imagine. As something to be sold, to be trafficked, to be used up by customers. Is that...

    Her eyes widen as the 'x' and the '2' are hit.

    "My sister has nothing to do with this!" She yells, stepping forward for once, sweeping her arm outward toward Kaneshiro.

    But he doesn't stop. He keeps talking.

    Makoto can feel her blood rushing to her ears. She had endured it all so far. Done what she was told. And what had that got her?

    Her hands fall to her sides again, and one might think it's a sign of defeat again- if it weren't for the fact that her fists are clenched so tightly that her nails would draw blood if they were even a little longer.

    Teacher's pet. Good girl. Obedient. Compliant. What has that gotten her?

    "I've been listening to you go on and on... Ranting about all you have..." Her voice is hot, angry, sharp and vicious. Her whole body shakes now, with a rage that has been boiling, left suppressed for far, far too long. Longer than even Makoto could know.

    And then she lets out a defiant shout, the anger boiling over. "How about you shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!" 

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.


OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzQXrUXuHk8

                Have you decided to tread the path of strife?

    Makoto, still shaking, raises her head, the red tint of her eyes burning a hole into Kaneshiro. "Yes. Come to me!"



             Very well. Let us proceed with our contract at once.

    And suddenly, a pain surges through Makoto's head, her left hand rising to her temple, as her pupils and irises shrink, that angry red replaced with a violent yellow, tinting her sclera with that unnatural glow. Her eyes close, and she grabs her head with both hands, grunts and whimpers of pain escaping her as she stumbles left and right, her mind wracked with pain.

                         I am thou, and thou art I...

    It takes all she has to keep standing, to not let the pain crush her. But she stands, a few moments longer.

You have finally found your own justice. Please, never lose sight of it again.

    Makoto lets out what starts as a shriek that turns into a roar, and the tiles under her feet crack and shatter. Her eyes open, Makoto leans forward, panting with exhaustion and rage, willing her body to move. She steps forward again, and another tile shatters- more explosively this time, the cracks spreading around.

        This memorable day marks your graduation from your false self.

    And it's there for all to see. A sharp steel mask, stuck to Makoto's face as though it were fused to her flesh. She grabs it with her left hand, her bright yellow iris glaring out of it at Kaneshiro's- with a rage that screams that she will kill him. That she will tear down everything he has, ever had, and ever will have. An out of control nuclear inferno of pure, righteous fury. She grabs the mask with both hands, then-

    And with a scream, she tears it off, a brief spurt of blood replaced with Makoto Niijima engulfed in a pillar of blue green nuclear flame, consuming her whole body, the heat and wind flying off it enough to push back towards Kaneshiro and his people.

    And when the flame abates, sat atop what looks to be a motorcycle with a human face, clad in elaborate black biker leathers, with spiked pauldrons and a long black scarf, is Makoto Niijima. She looks up again, and revs the motorcycle, it's roaring engine echoed with the clattering of chains. "I can feel it... My self... Me...!" Her face wrought in anger, she yells- "Gun it!"

    And suddenly, the motorcycle she rides surges towards Kaneshiro's guards, steered by Makoto as she launches it into a sideswipe at them, jets of flame surrounding her persona.

    "I will not lose heart again, ever. I will go full speed, non-stop! Right, Johanna!?"

AS: Makoto Niijima has readied for combat as Johanna! She is now fully healed!

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Until the deadline, Makoto - and the Phantom Thieves, as her escorts - can come and go freely. But Kaneshiro has more to say... more calculations that add up to a far more pleasing sum - to him, at least.

To Fox, it is disgusting. He steps forward. "You vile - !"

Makoto's voice rings out, and he stops, glancing over to her.

        'How about you shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!'

... So this is what it looked like to the others.

No - he fell to his knees. Shujin's Student Council President holds her ground - and the floor beneath her is what buckles at the sheer force of her rage. He can't hear the voice in her head, but he can imagine it challenging her, just as he was challenged.

She bellows out that defiant roar, tears her mask off with a spray of blood, and is engulfed in that pillar of flame - and what emerges...

"A Persona," Fox breathes. Skull, next to him, is quick to correct: "No, dude, that's a bike!"

Whatever it is, what is before him is a vision. Sleek curves, a powerful body, a beautiful face, with massive, rugged tires and gleaming exhausts.

... What, of course he meant the bike. Just look at it!

Makoto and Johanna surge forward, sending Kaneshiro's flunkies flying.

Straight ahead, Makoto declares, and Fox agrees. Scarlet saya appearing in his left hand, he draws his blade and straightens his stance.

Let us begin. 

<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.

"Like the application of... optical... err. I have... -no- idea what that is."

Ann Takamaki - honest about her limits.

"But, um. It sounds right! Wow, you really catch on quick!"

Which doesn't stop her from being encouraging in the -slightest-.

Nor does it stop her from channeling her fiery rage at Kaneshiro's Shadow. And, like a proper muse, the purple-skinned money-grubbing monster provides much and more in the way of inspiration to fuel her: from that smug way he tells her off -- the way he calls her girl, in the most sickly, condescending way imaginable--

-- but most of all --

-- from the way he treats Makoto like a commodity to be used up and spit out at his whim?

Literal fire burns for a few hellacious moments; Panther snaps one gloved hand to the side.

"You're scum! There's no way we're letting you do -any- of that to Nijima-senpai! Your 'business' is nothing but a sick joke! Nijima-senpai, let's--"

Ann's tirade begins -- and gutters out like a candle-flame caught in a gust as her gaze turns to find Makoto, taut and trembling. She blinks.

"--Nijima-senpai--?"

For a moment, Ann is worried the stress has gotten to the council president. She takes a step forward...

I've been listening to you go on and on... Ranting about all you have...

... and then halts.

No; this isn't fear or anxiety. She can see it now. It's too familiar to be that.

How about you shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!

... it's righteous rage.

As that telltale change begins, Panther stumbles back with a brief yelp. It's always strange to see the transition - that awakening - after having experienced it first hand. Knowing exactly what Makoto is going through in that moment, Ann's eyes widen.

But even knowing can't prepare her for everything. Like how, as that mask is bloodily torn free, and Makoto is consumed in blue flame that broils at Ann's skin--

what emerges is a figure wrapped in biker leathers and a long dramatic scarf, like some too-cool character straight out of a shonen series.

"Wh-whoa--"

Mounted on the -coolest motorcycle she's ever seen-.

"Whoa!"

Johanna charges forward. And as Makoto so skillfully sideswipes Kaneshiro's guards with calamitous impact, Panther--

"Woohoo! Awesome! Take that, you creepy pig!!"

--does what Panther does best.

Besides horrifying conflagration. 

<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.

    It's an effort of will to not get openly angry at Shadow Kaneshiro when he starts leering at Makoto and literally calculating the worth of her body. Makoto's the one who has to endure that kind of disgusting objectification; Joker can't let it go to waste by letting on that they're anything more than her "bodyguards." But his hands curl into fists--fists that aren't fit to stop Fox when he loses his temper and steps forward. Fists that certainly wouldn't stop Panther as she burns with righteous fury. Joker has turned too by the time Shadow Kaneshiro's done holding them all up to do this--not just to Makoto, but to her sister, whomever that might be.
    
    Whomever it is, it's someone who's "investigating" him--and it suddenly clicks to Joker how Kaneshiro knew who Makoto was. Makoto points it out too--and takes it another step, that this was his plan all along. Right... If he knew who Makoto is, and knew Shujin students were investigating him, then all of this was a set-up. And they fell for it.
    
    Too bad for Kaneshiro they aren't just ignorant kids.
    
    And too bad for Kaneshiro that Makoto has had fucking enough.
    
    Joker breaks into a grin when her rage explodes, first figuratively, then literally as she suddenly staggers, clutches her face, shatters the floor, and rips off a bloody mask as blue fire explodes around her. There was something more to her after all--something he's had a feeling on for a while now. And not only has she found her own justice... she's found it in possibly the coolest possible way: with spiky leathers and a motorcycle-shaped Persona that she uses to swipe at several Shadow guards with radioactive flame.
    
    "So much for tricking our way in," he says, and he doesn't sound the least bit cross about it. A large knife with a prismatic sheen to its blade materializes in his right hand while a handgun materializes in his left, and as Makoto guns it, he guns down those Shadow guards knocked down in her wake. "Cut through!" he barks to the others. "Let's leave this rotten bank in chaos!"
    
    Makoto's awakening euphoria will carry her far in these initial moments, but Joker knows from experience that once that initial surge of power wears off, she'll all but collapse. Best to seize this moment to throw the bank in array, then use it as a cover for their tactical retreat.
    
    Courtesy, of course, of a certain catbus to give them all a ride to match Makoto's. 

<Pose Tracker> Junya Kaneshiro has posed.

"You don't get to talk to me that--"

Kaneshiro snapos that at Makoto, Fox, Panther, and Joker. But he is cut off by Makoto's shout. It echoes off the walls of the bank's lobby. The Shadows around them step backward, away from her; those Shadows include Kaneshiro himself. His pale golden eyes widen in shock.

And the left one twitches as Makoto convulses, shakes, and then rips the mask off her face. But he is left remembering how her eyes stared at him. Flame erupts from around her, nuclear fire throwing back Kaneshiro and all of his companions.

This doesn't prepare them for Johanna's form. The motorcycle surges into their midst. Kaneshiro cries out with dismay as a dozen Shadow guards are sent flying, the sideswipe sending them flying.

"No, no, NO!" Kaneshiro screams. He gesticulates, pointing. "Get them! GET THEM!"

The ground ripples with darkness. More Shadows begin to emerge from it, starting to rush forward at the Palace Ruler's desperate cry. For his part, Shadow Kaneshiro backs up -- putting his guards between him and the Phantom Thieves.

"Stop them!" he cries again.

The rather large number of Shadows rushing at the Phantom Thieves may be more than they can handle head-on -- but head-on has never been their style, has it?

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.

    There's something absolutely gratifying about it. About the cheers and support from those behind her, about the awe in their voices- and most of all in the fear on Kaneshiro's face. Fear she put into him. Fear that the greasy sack of dung deserves. It's a high like she's never felt before-

    And she is going to ride it to it's violent conclusion. She sneers at Kaneshriro's shadows, even as they rush to protect him. "Don't get all cocky just because I normally behave myself!" She yells, a challenge to the gathered forces. "I am done playing nice!" To illustrate the point she raises a revolver, firing past the shadows at the fleeing Kaneshiro. Just to make a point. That he can't hide behind his guards from her. She gets ready to charge in again-

    But Joker calls for them to retreat, and Makoto realizes. The Shadows are trying to kettle them in. Of course. She's fallen for too many traps today. She's not falling for another one.

    "There's only one exit, right?" She calls back as Johanna skids to face the large doors of the bank. "I'll make a path through, so follow me!"

    She revs Johanna's engine once, thrice, twice and then follows through on her words, heading full throttle for the door as the flames burst from Johanna's exhaust vents, popping a wheelie as she smashes the doors of Kaneshiro's bank open.

    It's a good thing she's got a cool enough head to listen, even if her anger is burning hot- otherwise she'd still be riding that euphoria until she burns out, just as Joker anticipates.

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