To the side, Akira and Ryuji walked towards them with wide smiles on their faces as Akira said, "Axel, we found a way to op-"

Once he was close enough, all the words he wanted to say became scarce as he stared at Axel in shock. A violent aura surrounded Axel as he made hole after hole in the cage, tearing the bars apart with his hands.

Next to him was a frozen Morgana that did his best to become one with the air.

Sweat dripped down Ryuji's head as he looked towards Morgana and whispered, "Yo, Morgana. What pissed Axel off?"

Morgana visibly shuddered as he shakily pointed towards the torn papers on the ground. Akira sneakily walked over and scanned the papers before coming to a stop.

He picked up a picture off the ground and showed it to Ryuji. A gasp escaped Ryuji's lips as he yelled, "Shiho!?!"

Axel's hands suddenly stopped, causing everyone in the room to flinch subconsciously. He slowly turned towards Ryuji as he hoarsely said, "That's right. Kamoshida is planning to legally 'own' Shiho. Apparently, he's already talked to her parents about 'taking her to the championships' and they aren't that against the idea."

Walking over to the frozen trio, Axel took a deep breath as he calmed down, "After we get what we need, I'll be heading over to Ann's house. I'll inform her of what's going on and we'll try and get Shiho out of there."

Everyone's expression was grave but none more so than Axel's. Shiho was a very good friend to both Ann and himself.

If he let anything happen to her when he could have done something, he knows that he would regret not helping her.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he turned towards Morgana and said, "Now that we have a map, what's our next plan of attack?"

Morgana's eyes widened as he stuttered, "A-Are you talking to me?"

"Obviously. You seem to know about these palaces more than anyone so it makes sense to ask you for our next step." Said Axel, staring at Morgana with a weird look.

Taking a breath, Morgana met Axel's gaze as he said, "I meant, your the leader. Your supposed to tell us what to do."

"Morgana, get rid of that type of thinking. There's one thing you need to remember. A leader is only as good as his team. We each specialize in different things and together, we make a force to be reckoned with. So, when I need some help, I'll be sure to ask you guys. That also goes for all of you. If you need help, be sure to ask me as well as the team."

Axel's little speech seemed to ignite something inside everyone as they stared at him with a fiery look.

Morgana grinned as he lay the map on the ground, "So, while I was… waiting for you guys, I noticed something odd. There's a room with three different symbols on it, a king, a queen and a slave."

Ryuji gave Morgana a confused look as he said, "And the symbols are important because?.."

"That I don't know. However, look at this."

Taking a book out from god knows where, Morgana opened it and on the first page was the symbol for Slave.

"My guess is that whatever is in that room needs the books that represent 'King' and 'Queen'."

Axel and Akira both agreed with Morgana's guess while Ryuji was still a little confused.

After spending a few minutes resting in the room and discussing their next plan of attack, the group quickly left the room and continued forward. They had a map now so navigating the dungeon was a breeze.

Obviously, they did run into the occasionally shadow but Axel and Gemini took care of them quickly.

As the group moved through the dungeon, Axel suddenly stopped as he said, "Akira, what time is it?"

Akira took out his phone, only to turn pale as he yelled, "Guys! I need to go home quick!"

A surprised expression appeared on Ryuji's and Morgana's face as the stared at Axel. The young man in question only shrugged. His internal clock was forced by Olivia to be on time.

He shivered when he rembered the punishment she gave him when he was late to wake up.

Looking over the tired faces of his friends, Axel smiled gently as he said, "Alright men, it's time to go home. Actually, let's go to Le Blanc. I feel like having some curry."

"Oh hell yeah! I could definitely go for some food."

"Sorry Axel. Let's come back later."

"Wait! I can't eat curry! Can't we go for sushi?"

Axel and the boys all laughed before stealthily moving towards the safe room. Luckily, they had a map now so it made navigating the dungeon even easier.

However, just as they reached the safe room…

"HELP!!! PLEASE!!!"

Axel froze as he heard the scream of someone very dear to him. Then, he cursed as he realised what was happening. This is the part where Ann joins the Phantom theives.

Instead of running on ahead, Axel turned to his group as he said, "Guys! We're moving to the entrance!"

Akira and Ryuji quickly nodded as they heard the scream as well. Morgana grinned as he said, "I guess it's time we save a damsel in distress."

As Axel lead he way, Akira tapped Morgana's shoulder as he whispered, "Morgana, I wouldn't try anything with the girl we're about to meet. She's Axel's girlfriend."

Morgana went wide eyed before bursting into tears in a cartoonish way.

"Why is life so unfair…"

Akira and Ryuji shed a single tear as they clasped Morgana's shoulder in understanding. Axel, being only a couple feet ahead of them, sighed as he wondered when they were gonna drop this joke. I mean, it's technically not even a joke.

---

Sneaking into the entrance room, Axel almost fainted as he saw Ann, crucified on a metal spire. Her clothes were torn, tears fell from her eyes and worst of all, that bastard Shadow Kamoshida was groping around her chest.

With a righteous fury, Axel broke into a sprint and ran at him full force. Luckily, this was a part of the plan that Akira came up with.

Kamoshida turned and glared at Axel, ordering the nearby shadows to attack. As he focused on Axel, he missed the stealthy black cat that snuck closer to Ann.

Morgana quickly untied the bindings holding Ann as he gently said, "It's fine now, you're alright."

She stared at Morgana in both sadness and shock as she slowly muttered, "What... who are you guys?"

An awkward smile appeared on Morgana's face as he said, "Well, I'm Morgana. They one in a skull mask is skull but you know him as Ryuji. The one with the red gloves is Joker, real name: Akira. And finally, the one currently beating the shit out of the shadows bare handed is your boyfriend, codename: King."

She turned her shocked gaze towards Axel as she exclaimed, "What!?!"

Watching her boyfriend beat the literally shit out of monsters… to be honest, kinda turned her on. However, she knew that now wasn't the time to be getting hot and heated.

Straightening the remnants of her clothes, she turned towards Morgana as she said, "Okay then… Morgana. What should I do now? Do I hide or something?"

An awkward look appeared on Morgana's face as he scratched his head, "Uh… well… that's..."

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"What?"

"We… didn't plan that far. We basically only got to 'distract Kamoshida, save Ann'."

Ann had to fight the urge to roll her eyes as she sighed, "Boys…"

Suddenly, Axel, Akira and Ryuji were sent flying towards Ann and Morgana. Without caring about herself, Ann unconsciously moved into Axel's path as she tried to catch him.

As he crashed into her arms, she cried in pain as the force sent her flying into a wall. However, she didn't drop him as she smiled, "You alright Axel?"

Axel opened his mouth yet no words came out. Seeing the care in her eyes, Axel felt he was truly lucky as he passionately kissed her.

After a few minutes of sucking face, Axel turned towards Kamoshida with a wide smirk on his face as he roared, "Prepare to get your shit kicked in!"