Chapter 14: An Afternoon at the Museum.

(A/N: Oh, boy! Here we go!)

(Marinette's pov)

So, there I was, outside Madarame's house, talking to my friends about what we just found out.

"Those two... seem like nice guys, don't they?" Ryuji said.

"Maybe the Madarame in mementos was a different person?" Ann suggested.

"Maybe... But we also have to take into account that what we just saw could have been an act." I responded. I had another flashback to Paris, how Lila acted. How she twisted my friends.

"That might be true... let's check the Meta-nav!" Morgana said. As Akira pulled out his phone, Plagg popped his head out of Akira's bag.

"So, gonna change some hearts?" He asked.

"Plagg, don't show yourself in public!" Tiki scolded, poking out of my purse.

I just sighed, and Akira exhaled through his nose. Then, Pollen and Xuppu popped their heads out of Ann's and Ryuji's bags.

"Are we doing this now?" Xuppu asked with a mischievous giggle.

"What is going on?" Pollen asked.

"Guys, we are trying to go into a palace. Please go back into your bags." I told the Kwamis.

"Alright, good luck, kid!" Plagg told Akira before disappearing into the bag.

"Do your best, Marinette!" Tiki encouraged, before going back into my purse.

"Have fun, Ryuji!" Xuppu cheered, then hiding in his bag.

"I wish you good fortune, my Queen." Pollen said, retreating into Ann's bag. I smiled all the Kwamis looked happy with my friends.

After some trial and error, we figured out that Madarame had a palace. It was also a museum, for some reason.

"It's so extravagant... to the point where it's gaudy," Panther commented.

"I have to agree... how does he see that shack as... this?" I said, gesturing at the building in front of us.

"Well... a palace is a world formed by a mind twisted with desires-remember Kamoshida's castle?" Mona said.

"How can we forget?" I said. The things I've seen in that castle will scar me for years.

"But, Madarame's work is already in museums. His art exhibit was popular, and people already respect him. Why would he fantasize about a museum?" Panther asked.

"You gotta point... It ain't really related to plagiarism or abuse, either." Skull agreed.

"I have this nagging feeling that the abuse or plagiarism isn't the source of Madarame's distortions, judging from the look of his palace anyway. Maybe... no, I need more evidence." I thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" Joker asked.

"It's nothing, let's just do this!" I told him. We climbed over the wall and into a garden, why, is there a garden? We then climbed up some handy stairs, jumped onto some convenient pillars, then onto the roof. After some searching, we found an open skylight.

"This is... weirdly convenient for us..." I commented.

"It's a way in, let's jump in!" Skull said.

"That's a pretty long fall... will we be able to get out?" Panther asked.

"I have a rope, should we head in?" Mona asked Joker.

"Let's do it," Joker said. We then descended into the museum.

We landed onto the ground and looked around. What we saw... I didn't really know what to expect. We landed in a room full of paintings, but something was odd.

"Is it just me, or are the paintings... moving?" I asked.

"It's not just you," Panther responded.

"C'mon, we're in a palace. Moving pictures is nothing to freak out over." Skull said.

"Your right, sorry!" I said.

"Whatever! Let's just explore this palace." Morgana said. We explored the room we landed in, examining the paintings on the walls. After a few minutes of searching, I found something.

"Hey, guys, I've got something!" I said, looking at the painting. The others soon joined me in front of the portrait of...

"Isn't that the guy that was s*** talking Madarame in mementos?" Skull asked.

"Yeah... I think his name was Natsuhiko Nakanohara." I responded.

"Right, his name is written on the plaque next to it," Mona said, pointing to it.

"Why is a painting of him here?" Skull asked.

"He probably was a former pupil of Madarame's. Maybe this is how Madarame views his pupils." I thought aloud.

"That's highly likely, Princess. You're good at this." Mona said.

"I'm only making assumptions based on what you told me," I replied, blushing a little. We kept on searching, but only for another minute. We found the portrait of Yusuke Kitagawa. That proved my theory on how he viewed his pupils and former pupils.

We continued to explore the museum, picking up a map too. We found it on a stand at the front desk, convenient! We then made our way to the room behind the front desk. The statue in that room took my breath away. A golden vortex with people being caught up in it.

"Look at this!" Mona said, pointing to the statue.

"What a beautiful statue!" I said.

"Princess, I hate to burst your bubble, but read the plaque," Skull said. I looked at the sign he was pointing at started to read.

"The Infinite Spring, A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created using his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those who can not do so have no worth living?!" I read.

"Hey, this might have something to do with the plagiarism, right?" Panther asked.

"Damn it! What a phony geezer!" Skull said.

"In other words, his pupils are his property. He doesn't even qualify to be an artist if this is true." Mona said. I just stood there, looking at the statue.

"He treats them like tools... keeping them around until they're not useful anymore. He thinks that taking their ideas and art is okay..." I muttered.

"Why's Yusuke keepin' quiet about this? He's got no reason to cover this up!" Skull raged.

"He did say he owes Madarame his life for taking him in..." Panther said.

"But still..." Skull said.

"Skull, I agree with you. But, I don't think Yusuke is in the right state of mind. He was raised by Madarame. He probably thinks that what Madarame is doing is okay." I said.

"What's the call? Isn't this enough to go after Madarame?" Skull asked Joker.

"What do you think?" Joker asked Mona.

"We should confirm these facts with Yusuke first," Mona said.

"Yeah!" Panther agreed.

"Confirm what, though!?" Skull asked incredulously.

"It means we should get solid evidence that such crimes took place," Mona explained. Skull looked like arguing with Mona (I'm getting sick of this), but I stepped in.

"What Mona means is that we can't fully trust what the palaces show. Remember what we saw in Kamoshida's Palace? They were highly exaggerated cognition, not the real thing. We need confirmation that this is how he truly treats his pupils or his cognition exaggerating it." I explained.

"I guess that makes sense... Still, what a pain in the a**." Skull muttered.

"Adding to what Princess was saying, we still don't know much about Madarame," Mona said.

"I might be able to get something out of Yusuke if I accept his modeling offer." Panther suggested.

"Wait, you're gonna do that?!" Mona asked.

"You better come with me, okay? I'm too scared to go alone..." Panther said.

"Don't worry, we've got your back!" I reassured her. After that, we all agreed to prepare for confronting Yusuke. I hope he is willing... but with our track record so far, I have a feeling something will go wrong.

(A/N: Madarame's palace! Whoo! Here comes the creative juice!)