Wings of Rebellion
Written by Aiyumi
Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.
Chapter 10: The Phantom Thieves' Way
Thursday, September 29
After school, Akira and the other Phantom Thieves discussed the plan at the attic, then headed to Mementos.
They were in the Monamobile looking for their targets, and found who they weren't looking for. Crow had just finished a battle. But when the Phantom Thieves were about to approach him, wheels appeared on his boots and he skated away.
"For real?!" Skull exclaimed.
"Crow! Wait up!" Mona called after him as Joker hastily tried to guide the vehicle towards Crow.
"He's fast! Ah!" Joker yelped when she lost control of the car.
The others also yelped as the Monamobile crashed into a wall and fell on its side, and caused everyone to fall on top of each other.
The noise made Crow finally stop and come see what was going on. "It's you all... what happened here?"
"Isn't it obvious? We crashed, duh." Skull responded. "And It's your fault, 'cause you don't stop moving!"
"Huh?" Crow was clueless.
"We saw you in the distance and were trying to get to you." Noir explained.
"Is everyone alright?"
The Monamobile stood back upright.
"Yes, thank you for the concern." Fox answered.
"Dude, skates, seriously?" Skull was incredulous. "They're weird on your armor-like outfit."
"Says the one whose Persona rides a ship." Crow responded, but this time he didn't seem about to lose his patience with Skull. "It would be impossible to explore this place by simply walking."
"So, what makes you want to explore this place today?" Joker asked.
"Just trying to get items and new Personas."
"We're here to cause some smaller changes of heart." Joker informed him. "Wanna come with? You'll get your share of items and Personas along the way."
Crow seemed thorn between coming with them or not. Even though he had refused to join them last time, maybe, deep down, he actually wanted to come with them.
"Guys, we should get a move on. We've been hanging in this area for quite a while." Mona urged, and Joker tensed.
Skull, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all. "Mona, are you sure there's really a super strong monster that can appear if we stay in one area for too long?"
"I'm sure! And I'm also sure we can't handle it on our current level."
"That's right. I've run into it once." Crow revealed. "It's really strong, has all kinds of elemental attacks and resists everything. Nothing I threw at it caused much damage, and I was forced to retreat. Sounds of chains clanking and dragging on the ground are the sign that it's approaching. If you hear chain noises, you should run for dear life."
All the girls, including Joker, were scared.
"Ugh... it sounds even worse than what I imagined!" Joker closed her eyes in fright.
"Chain noises? That's creepy!" Panther said.
"Crow, we need you around to protect us if that thing appears..."
Joker had been half-kidding, but her comment seemed to have had a greater effect on Crow than their offers of a place in the group.
"I don't want to run the risk of having that thing randomly appear and ruin our plans." Crow sighed resignedly and gave in. "Fine. I'll come with you."
"Great! Then, hop on!" Mona opened the door.
Crow jumped aboard and took the passenger seat, beside Joker.
As the car zig-zagged on the train tracks, Crow realized that being inside was a good thing, because he would rather not risk being outside and in Joker's way. To be frank, she was a terrible driver.
"Phew. We're safe." Joker let out a relieved sigh once they had reached a platform.
Mona opened the doors and ejected everyone in just a couple of seconds. It was a wonder how all the Phantom Thieves flew out of the car without colliding into each other. However, the sudden ejection caught Crow by surprise and he nearly fell to a sitting position on the ground. He somehow managed to fall to a crouching position, then stood up.
Joker noticed it. "Crow, you okay there?"
Crow was still trying to regain his composure. "At least a warning would've been nice..."
"Sorry." Joker apologized. "This is so normal to us now, and warning you about it didn't even cross my mind. Yeah, it was surprising to all of us the first time, though. "
Mona returned to his normal form, and everyone descended the stairs to the next area.
"One more thing that worries me. Doesn't Mona have safety belts? I didn't see any." Crow pointed out.
"No, I don't." Mona answered. "Wearing belts would be too restrictive for us."
"Restrictive? It's a safety measure!"
"As you should know, our Persona powers make us much more resilient in the Metaverse than in the real world. You saw how we crashed earlier, and everyone's perfectly fine. Safety belts wouldn't mean much to us. Also, if we run into battles, we must be ready to fight at a moment's notice. This is the reason for the ejection, too. Isn't it cool? We ambush Shadows, eject, and bam. In a blink, we're surrounding them and ready for action!"
"You have a point..." Crow had to admit.
"Correction! Points, plural!" Mona said in a condescending manner. "I have quite a few points, and all of them are valid!"
"Man, isn't Mona annoying?" Skull said.
"He's the most unique car I've ever seen."
The playful comment took Skull by surprise. "Huh? Yeah, I guess..."
"I... I'm not a car!"
"Course you are." Joker smirked, then stepped closer to Crow and whispered. "Throw him onto the tracks."
"... What?" Crow was hesitant.
"Just a little prank to make him pay back for having thrown you without warning." Joker disapproved Crow's hesitation. "Come on, stop being so serious and just do it."
Crow didn't want to hurt Mona. But again, since they were in the Metaverse, Mona was much more resilient than when he was in little cat form. Well, it was just a little prank, and shouldn't hurt.
"What are you two whispering there, huh?" Mona was still in condescending mode.
Crow quickly grabbed Mona and threw him at the train tracks they were supposed to walk on next. Crow went easy to make sure he wouldn't hurt the peculiar creature. Still, the move was sudden and caught Mona by surprise.
"Aaah! What are you-meoooow!" When Mona hit the ground, he transformed into his car form.
"Don't think you can throw us around and be spared from the feeling," Crow said, while Joker burst laughing.
"Hah! Dude, nice one!" Skull cheered. "Take that, Mona!"
"And now you're a car." Joker added.
"Uh, y-yeah, but this wasn't my point! I meant that I'm not really a car! I just can transform into a car!" Mona kept talking while everyone got inside. "Ugh... Crow, I'll only forgive what you did now because you handled me more gently than, say, Oracle. I wasn't expecting that! "
"Then, I believe we are even."
"Anyway, I don't sense our targets in this area. Moving on!" Said navigator interrupted their conversation.
"Hey! That's my line!" Mona protested again as Joker started the engines.
Crow sighed in exasperation and whispered to Joker. "Is it always like this?"
"More or less. I think we're pumped today! May be because we have company!" She turned her head in Crow's direction, held the steering wheel with one hand, and took the liberty of placing her other hand on Crow's shoulder. Akira, as carefree as ever...
Crow's exasperation only intensified. "Would you please pay attention to the way ahead and drive properly?"
"Hey, don't worry so mu-"
Crow cut her off. "The fact that everyone gets more resilient in the Metaverse isn't an excuse. What if we run into Shadows? We may get ambushed if you don't pay attention."
"Whoa. He's strict..." Panther observed.
"Joker, he... is right." Queen agreed with Crow for once.
Joker gulped. "Uh, yeah, that's true..." She admitted, removed her hand from Crow's shoulder, and focused on the steering wheel and the way ahead.
Despite this, Joker's driving didn't improve at all. The car zig-zagged a lot, and kept shaking and bumping into walls. Crow wondered whether driving Mona was really difficult, or whether it was Joker that was really terrible at driving.
They ran over a group of Shadows, Mona ejected everyone again and untransformed. This time, Crow managed to land on his feet with no problem, and everyone was ready to battle. A few swift motions and Persona-summonings later, the battle was over. Everything happened so quickly that the Shadows didn't even see what had hit them.
The Phantom Thieves jumped back into the car and continued on their way.
"I have a few questions, to whoever can answer," Crow said.
"Shoot 'em." Joker prompted him.
"You said we are here after smaller targets. Is the process for smaller targets different from the one at Palaces? Do you also send calling cards to smaller targets?"
Mona was the one who answered. "The process is simpler for smaller targets because their views aren't as distorted as the bigger ones'. And we don't even need to send a full-fledged calling card. Usually, just having our intentions of targeting them posted to the Phansite and commented about by the public is enough."
"The Phansite... hmm." Crow chuckled, impressed. "I see. This group never ceases to amaze me."
"Why do you say that?" Fox asked.
"What about the Phansite?" Panther added a question of her own.
"I've realized that the forum is actually much more than what it seems to be. It's not a mere place where readers can post target requests, but actually an integral part of your Phantom Thievery. A place that influences both the general public's cognition of the Phantom Thieves, and the targets' cognition of their own distorted desires... quite interesting. It seems you all are more resourceful than it looks."
"Nah, it isn't that amazing," Skull said.
"Yes, it is." Mona disagreed. "Even more so because we hadn't planned any of this in the beginning. One acquaintance of ours built the website to offer us support, and we just rolled with it. At first, we had thought it'd be just a place to collect information and target requests, but in practice, it happens exactly as you described, Crow. And it's this influence on people's cognition that allows us to access deeper into Mementos. The Phansite turned out to be an indispensable resource!"
"Y-yeah. Crow, props for figuring all that out so quickly." It was rare for Oracle to talk directly to Crow when not navigating, for obvious reasons. So, when this compliment left her mouth, it touched Crow's heart.
"You should feel glad. It is rare for a compliment to leave her mouth outside of battle." Fox remarked.
"Shut up, Inari!"
Crow chuckled. "Yes, I feel glad. Thank you, Oracle."
And Oracle froze up again.
They got to the next platform and disembarked. There was one thing that had been bothering Crow greatly, and he couldn't take it anymore.
"Joker... can't you do anything about all this shaking and bumping!"
"Uh, sorry. I don't know how to drive..." She admitted.
"I can see that! But are you even trying!?"
"I get nervous thinking that the super strong monster may appear, and I try to get to the platform as fast as I can. But all the bumping's no problem. Mona's tough in the Metaverse."
"You sure use this excuse for anything, don't you?" Crow sighed. "Mona, don't tell me you are fine with this level of torture."
"Well, it isn't exactly nice, but what can we do? No one here knows how to drive. We gotta take what we can get."
"We cannot drive. We are minors," Fox said. "Though I recall Queen mentioning she has a motorcycle license."
"That reminds me, Queen was the one driving during our escape from Okumura's Palace." Crow argued. "Why doesn't she always drive?"
"That'd be even crazier!" Panther shot the suggestion down. "She usually gets way more destructive when she drives!"
"I feel as though I am unstoppable! The sensation of blazing through the way is exhilarating!" Queen herself said. "The Metaverse is the only place I can do it without breaking the law." So much for someone aiming to become a law-enforcing police commissioner...
"Seriously...?" Crow muttered under his breath.
"Since I'm good at high speeds, we agreed that I will drive when we need to escape Palaces while Joker will drive in Mementos." Queen added.
"Mona, can't you move on your own?" That was Crow's last hope.
"Well, I can if I put my mind to it... it's hard, and I don't have much control, though."
Crow heaved a sigh. Their driving situation was hopeless.
Joker looked at Crow. "Why don't you try, then?"
"... Me?" Crow startled.
"Yes. You're the only one complaining." Mona was back into condescending mode. "If you can't do better, then you have no right to complain!"
Crow was also a minor, and didn't know how to drive, either. But that was the Metaverse, where they were capable of more than they were normally. There was the possibility that driving Mona might be different - and hopefully easier - from driving a real-world car. Whether knowledge from actual driving would apply to Mona-driving was anyone's guess, but Crow was determined to learn, even if just to have more comfortable trips.
"Fine. I accept the challenge." Crow decided.
As they descended to the next area, Mona pipped up. "I can sense our targets somewhere in this area!"
Oracle seemed nervous for some reason.
Skull, on the other hand, was excited. "Finally! We've been looking for them for a while. Let's go and kick those Shadows asses already!"
"We need to reach them first, though." Joker smirked. "Crow, I'll leave the driving to you. Let's see what you can do!"
Crow nodded without a word.
The Phantom Thieves entered Mona's vehicle form again. Crow switched places with Joker and took control of the steering wheel. He struggled a bit for a while, and just when he thought he was starting to get the hang of it, Mona spoke up.
"They should be there in that smoky area!"
Crow directed the vehicle to said area. The Phantom Thieves disembarked, and Mona returned to his normal form.
Inside the special room, they could see the Shadows of a couple. The Phantom Thieves were discussing the plan while they observed the Shadows from a distance.
"So, those are Oracle's childhood friend's parents?" Noir was the first person to speak.
Panther was angry. "They're selling inappropriate pictures of their own daughter. So disgusting!"
Crow had to keep himself from gaping. Did Futaba ask him to look into them because the Phantom Thieves were intent on targeting them?
Now the reason why Oracle was nervous became apparent.
"Oracle, are you okay?" Queen asked gently.
"Y-yeah, I... I'm okay." Oracle shook her nervousness aside and nodded with determination. "Let's put a stop to this. Let's save Kana-chan!"
They approached the two Shadows.
"Ah! Could you be... thieves?" The female Shadow jumped. "Please, let us go! We have nothing of value to hand you. We have no money. This is why we need Kana..." That reasoning sounded totally twisted already, and caused a small wave of anger in Crow's heart.
"Her cuteness, her innocence. It's all we have that we can sell." The male Shadow added.
"Can't you see that your daughter is suffering?!" Panther yelled.
"What about her feelings? What about her happiness?!" Noir asked angrily.
"All of us are suffering," the male Shadow said. "If Kana doesn't work to earn us money, we can't survive. Unless our financial situation stabilizes, we can't think about happiness."
Queen glared at them. "You're forcing your daughter to take pornographic pictures to earn you money? That can't even be called 'work!' It's child exploitation!"
"You subject your daughter to such a disgusting activity while you just stand there complaining and doing nothing?" Crow couldn't contain himself. "Cut the crap!" The volume of his voice exploded and startled most of those present. "Quit whining and get a real job yourselves! Aren't parents supposed to be the ones supporting their children? You should be the ones working to support her, not the other way around!" His voice began shaking in anger.
"It's no use trying to reason with them! They're far gone!" Mona warned.
But Crow paid no mind to Mona and continued yelling. "You aren't thinking about anything other than yourselves. I'm sick of this kind of selfish people! ... So..." He balled his fists threateningly.
Queen gasped in alarm. "Crow, stop!"
"Get a hold of yourself!" Fox shouted.
"I-I get how you feel, but you have to calm down!" Joker placed a shaky hand on Crow's arm. "Let's calm down, a-alright?"
Crow balked as he noticed the fear in Joker's eyes. He didn't like the fear overtaking her usually bright and positive gaze, and having it directed at him felt even worse.
"C-Crow..." Oracle spoke to him shyly. "Remember, we're here to... just to..."
Yes. They were there to take those Shadow's hearts. As much as Crow felt like punching the Shadows into oblivion, it would be bad if his reckless action ended up killing them. His insides were burning with guilt for what he had done to Oracle's mother as it was, and he wouldn't want to risk hurting her childhood friend's parents as well.
Crow slowly unballed his hands and took a deep breath. Then, he looked at the Shadows again. "So, this is why I came here with the Phantom Thieves. We will take your distorted hearts and clear your senses! You should be grateful!"
The Phantom Thieves sighed in relief.
"No! This is our way of surviving! We won't let you take it away from us!" The female Shadow transformed into Succubus, while her partner transformed into Incubus.
They battled. A bit calmer, Crow made sure to hold back to not risk killing the Shadows. Soon, the fight was over, and the Shadows returned to their human forms.
"Oh no... what we are doing is really that wrong?" The male Shadow asked.
"Yes. You are not only abusing your daughter and making her suffer, but your activities are also illegal," said the future police commissioner.
The female Shadow gasped in horror.
Her husband spoke. "We got a huge debt, and no way to pay it. So, we concluded the only way to earn enough money was to hit the jackpot. We spent all the money we had on gambling, and instead of hitting the jackpot, we became even more poor. That was when we met a man who told us there was an easy way to earn money, and that all we needed to do was give him pictures of our daughter in suggestive poses. We were so desperate that we agreed to it. But instead of using that money to try to lessen the debt, we kept spending it on more gambling, thinking that maybe the next time we'd hit the jackpot and be able to pay the debt in full at once. And maybe next time, and maybe next time... but the jackpot never came, and this has been going on for years..."
All the Phantom Thieves had exasperated expressions.
"As the time passed, the man came to demand greater and greater number of pictures from us." The male Shadow continued. "And Kana, poor Kana... we forced her into taking those pictures, and she even lost a full school year because of this... she suffered so much, cried so much... but we were so out of it, and all we did was tell her that this was necessary, that there was no other way. To think all I wanted before was to have my daughter eat delicious things and make her happy..."
"So, what we did was a crime?" The woman's Shadow still looked horrified. "Then, should we turn ourselves in to the police?!"
"But if we do that, Kana won't have anyone to take care of her!" The man's Shadow argued.
"How about this, then? Don't turn yourselves in to the police." Joker suggested. "Just stay by your daughter's side and care for her the way good parents do. She needs support, and the best way to atone for what you did is to make up to her."
"Yes, this should be best." The future police commissioner agreed.
The female Shadow seemed a bit relieved. "Alright. We'll strive to become better parents, and make up to Kana. And we'll get a job to pay the debt ourselves. Our debt is our responsibility, not hers."
Crow nodded in approval. "Also, I believe you should find a way to report the person that got you into the illegal activity. There might be more victims to his scheme besides your family."
"Yes, you are right." The woman's Shadow agreed. "We'll do that. Thank you for the advice."
"Ah, just one more thing before you disappear." Crow turned to the Phantom Thieves' navigator. "Oracle, the last word is yours."
"Wa!" Oracle jumped. "Wh-why me?"
"Isn't this about your childhood friend? You still haven't said a single word to them."
"Wh-what a-am I supposed to say?! This is so out of the blue... h-how come you throw a bomb on my hands like this?! Crow, you devil. I won't forgive you!"
"I'm sure you have much worse reasons not to forgive me. But they're your childhood friend's parents, aren't they?! Just say something!"
Oracle froze up.
"Childhood friend?" The female Shadow interrupted their banter. "We hadn't paid too much attention to Kana and her school life, but I remember now. She had talked about the only friend she made in elementary school. So, it was you!"
Oracle's eyes widened, and she nodded.
The Shadow kept talking. "We had to move right after you two had a fight, and you didn't make up. Kana was so sad when we moved. She had wanted to talk to you, but she didn't have your phone number..."
Oracle was stunned. "She doesn't... ... hate me?"
"Of course she doesn't. I'm sure she'll be very happy to talk to you again... oh, this is it! I'll give you our new phone number!"
"I... I a-already have the number!"
The female Shadow smiled. "Really? Then, call her! She'll love the surprise!"
Oracle nodded, with watery eyes. "I... I will!"
"It's a wonder you have managed to find us after all these years, though," The male Shadow said.
The female one added, "To think our Kana's childhood friend'd turn out to become one of the Phantom Thieves, the ones that'd save us and make us come to our senses... this must be fate..."
The two Shadows smiled and faded away together. They left a Growth 3 skill card behind, which Joker retrieved.
Fate... Crow thought. He didn't think positively of fate, since it had been too cruel to him. But Akira had said she believed fate could change. Perhaps this was the Phantom Thieves stealing fates and changing it.
"Hey, Crow!" Skull spoke up. "I know I have trouble to control my temper, but what's with you? Earlier, we thought you may end up killing the Shadows!"
"This was not the first time, either." Queen noted. "You nearly lost it during the confrontation with Mr. Okumura's Shadow as well."
"I'm sorry." Crow apologized honestly. "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a Phantom Thief, after all. It won't be good if I keep losing my grip at each and every target."
"I think it was worse the first time, though." Joker, always looking from the bright side of things. "And we managed to keep you in check both times, too. Don't worry. You'll get better at controlling your temper. It'll be okay."
"It's strange, though," Crow said to no one in particular. "I hadn't expected I'd get so angry at those Shadows. I usually couldn't care less about other people's problems. But the moment I reminded myself that the issue with those Shadows was related to one of you, I couldn't contain myself..."
"It's the same to me, actually." Mona had a distant gaze. "In the beginning, all I cared about was having these guys change hearts and open the way further into Mementos, and the involved targets meant nothing to me. But as I realized those targets had hurt some of these guys as well, I couldn't help but get angry. I don't know exactly who or what I am and where I'm from, but this bunch of misfits gave me a place to belong. Now, their place is my place, their friends are my friends, and their enemies are my enemies. This is how I feel. And looks like you feel the same way, huh?"
Crow felt a kinship with Mona, and the Magician confidant ranked up.
His tarot card vision was interrupted by a wail from their navigator, who got unable to hold her tears and was crying her eyes out.
"Aaaaaah! Crow, it's your fault!" Oracle spoke between sobs. "You threw me that bomb about Kana-chan's parents, a-and now I'm crying in front of e-everyone! It's... embarrassing! And I can't stop!"
"It seems to have made you happy, so whatever." To Crow, it was only fair, after she had him cry so much with that sibling talk yesterday. What she said next wasn't fair, though.
"B-but I'm having trouble to speak... and to concentrate, And... I can't na-vigate! You'll ha-have to do it in my place."
"What?! You aren't being serious... are you?"
Oracle smirked, still with tears escaping from under her goggles.
"This is too sudden! How come you throw a bomb on my hands like this?!"
"... Y-you stole my line!" Oracle made a mock hurt face.
"The dynamics between those two wasn't like this before... was it?" Queen muttered.
"I don't think so. But having him navigate sounds like a nice idea, doesn't it?" Noir gave her opinion. "I'd trust him with that."
"Navigation from a different perspective. Sounds interesting," Fox said.
"Yeah, now I want to see that, too," Joker agreed.
"Wait. But I don't have a support type Persona!" Crow protested.
"Neither do I, but I had been the one navigating during battles before Oracle joined." Mona informed him. "You know a lot about the Metaverse, too. I think you'd do fine."
"You have two years experience or whatever, yeah? I think you'd do better than Mona." Skull mocked them both.
Mona didn't take well to that. "Skull, shut up!"
And Crow was defeated by the unanimous decision rule. He heaved a sigh. Now he not only would have to drive, but to navigate, too.
They left the special area where the Magarios' Shadows had been, and engaged a Girimehkala in battle.
Despite his earlier protests, Crow made sure to take the navigation task seriously. "One enemy. It's weak to bless skills, repels physical and gun attacks. Just remember that, and it shouldn't be a problem."
The battle ended quickly.
"Not bad!" Mona complimented him, already moving in vehicle form.
"You even pointed out what the enemy repels. I was the one supposed to say that!" Queen was impressed. "You may be even better than me at Shadow factorization..."
"This was more from memory than anything else. That enemy is still fresh in my memory thanks to Okumura's Palace. But now that you mention it, even though I don't have a support-oriented Persona, I should be able to do a bit of analysis and identify some of the lesser Shadows' characteristics if needed." Crow realized that Oracle wasn't crying anymore. "Oracle, you're okay now, right? You can return to your post."
"Nah. I wanna watch you do the analysis and stuff!"
"Yeah, go on!" Joker encouraged him.
And once again, Crow found himself doing as they wanted. He didn't remember the next group of enemies' specifics, and had to analyze it. He did a reasonable job at identifying what the enemies nulled or repelled, and the Phantom Thieves seemed satisfied.
They moved on the tracks again, and Oracle proved her ability to speak was back to 100% as she began talking about real life. "I bought the Feathermen Memories DVD collection! I'm dying to watch them!"
"Featherman. It is the show the figurines in your room are based on, yes?" Fox spoke.
"Yep!"
"Oh, now I wonder, if we were the Featherman characters, who would we be?" Noir asked.
Oracle replied excitedly. "Let's see... I guess Joker'd be Red Hawk, Skull'd be Yellow Owl, Panther'd be Pink Argus, Queen could be Blue Swan, and... Crow'd be Black Condor! Black Condor even has a friendly rivalry thing going on with Red Hawk, just like both Crow and Joker can use lots of Personas!"
Crow was impressed at how much thought Oracle had put into that comparison, though he wouldn't admit it aloud. There was even his envy thing going on with Joker...
"What about me?" Mona asked.
Oracle smirked. "Sorry, no cats in the show."
"I'm not a cat!"
"Then, a car?" Joker teased.
Mona was about to retort, but Fox spoke first. "Wait a moment. Isn't Red Hawk supposed to be male? And as crow is already a bird, I believe Crow should be 'Black Crow,' rather than 'Black Condor...'"
Oracle rejected the suggestion. "Nah. We have to stick to the existing characters, not make others up!" And when Crow thought that conversation couldn't become any more absurd, Oracle declared, "With our characters established, now we only need Featherman poses when entering battle!"
"P-poses?" Panther uttered shakily. "That'd be embarrassing..."
Crow didn't like where this was going. First, the Phantom Thieves had forced him to drive, then to navigate, and now, if they were to agree with that ridiculous idea, they would want him to do Featherman poses too?! Crow couldn't take it anymore. "No way!" He blurted out angrily, and caught everyone by surprise.
"You had been listening?" Joker said.
"Of course I had. With the proximity and how loud you guys are talking, who wouldn't?!" Crow was quick to reiterate. "And I'll say it once more. I refuse to do ridiculous poses!"
"Did you just call the Featherman poses ridiculous!?" Oracle exploded. "They're super cool!"
"If you like the poses so much, then perform them yourself!" Crow dared.
Oracle gasped and recoiled in embarrassment.
"Hey." Skull joined in. "It's been a while since I've watched Featherman, and I don't remember much of the poses. But doesn't the idea of doing poses sounds cool? We could come up with our own poses for us Phantom Thieves!"
"Umm... I actually wanted to do something like that..." Noir said shyly. "Entering battle and announcing the arrival of the Phantom Thieves of justice! Wouldn't it be cool?"
"Stop! That'd be so awkward and embarrassing!" Panther whined.
"I wouldn't mind," Joker said nonchalantly from Crow's side.
Crow growled, and shouted as assertively as he could manage. "Do whatever you want, but just count me out!"
"Guys, a Shadow's spotted us!" Mona warned. "Crow, step on that gas!"
Everyone became alert and focused on the problem at hand. Crow had the vehicle accelerate and tried to escape from the Shadow. In the end, the Shadow got to the Phantom Thieves, but they at least didn't get ambushed.
After the battle, the Phantom Thieves were talking among themselves while on the tracks again. The panic while running from the last Shadow seemed to have made them forget about the poses, and Crow was glad for that.
"Even though the surface is irregular, we are moving rather smoothly now." Noir observed.
"Oh, yeah! We aren't shaking as much. I didn't think this was possible!" Panther chuckled. "Since it had always been like that, I had taken the bumping and shaking for granted..."
"I had thought Mona was a bad car," Skull said.
"What did you say!?"
"I'm saying you're an okay car."
"Then, we found the problem. Joker sucks at driving," Oracle said with no tact at all.
Joker didn't seem offended in the slightest, though. "But we found the solution, too! Looks like we've got ourselves a new driver!"
Crow felt good. Apparently, he had finally found something he was better than Joker at... but then, he felt sad. As nice as it was to have the Phantom Thieves counting on him, his days were practically numbered. Just a couple of months, give or take. He couldn't continue helping them for long.
When they arrived at a rest area, Joker called out to him. "Crow, you're amazing! You've done a great job today. Battling, driving, and even navigating! You deserve a reward!"
"Huh?" Crow deadpanned. Joker was exaggerating. And he didn't think what he did was worthy of a prize.
"Yeah, this is it! The Magarios' treasure. You should have it. It's a Growth 3 skill card. Since you don't have many options to improve your Personas, this should be a nice item for you to have, right?" Joker reached the card out to him, and gave him that cute expectant look of hers.
"... Thanks." Crow accepted the card, as he could tell Joker wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Is it not almost scary how talented he is?" Fox spoke.
"Yes." Queen really seemed scared. "Strategizing, solving the Palaces' puzzles, battling, driving, and even Shadow analysis... he is good at everything! What kind of genius is he, anyway?"
Those compliments and the group's awe were starting to make Crow uncomfortable.
"Crow, we really need you here," Joker said. "You have to protect us from that super strong thing."
"And to drive, too." Mona added. "I'm glad for not having bumped on the walls so much today."
Crow felt that the Phantom Thieves were depending on him. The Fool Confidant ranked up.
But when Crow snapped back from his Tarot card vision, Mona was suddenly in condescending mode. "And you'll be coming to the bottom of Mementos with us, got it!"
"H-hold on!" Crow regained his composure and raised his voice. "You can't just decide all this stuff!"
"But you're the other wild card. You must be there with us. It's my duty to... to..." Mona spaced out for a few seconds. "Err, never mind. Anyway, You'll be coming, whether you want to or not!"
"How about you set your pride aside for a moment and settle into our group at once?" Panther asked.
"This is not the problem!" Crow justified himself. "It's not that I don't want to help. While I'm glad to know I'm being useful, you guys'd better not depend on me too much."
"Why?" Noir asked innocently.
"Once we take the mastermind's heart, we must... part ways."
"What are you going to do?" Joker asked shakily.
"Isn't it obvious? There'll be nothing else to be done. It'll be the end of the line for me, Joker."
"You intend to... turn yourself in?"
Crow nodded. "It's the right thing to do."
A hurt look appeared in Oracle's eyes, for obvious reasons. Crow was the one who had killed her mother, and she must hate him. But this conversation should assure Oracle that she would finally get the justice she deserved.
Crow averted his gaze, unable to keep staring at Oracle. It made his heart compress. "This is it. Just use the app to teleport to the entrance or something. I'm leaving."
"Hey! Who said our exploration's over?!" Skull shouted, but Crow used the app and disappeared.
"Crow!" Joker called out, but it was already too late. She sighed. "Why does he always have to leave us hanging?"
"Why?!" Oracle stomped on the ground in frustration. "Why did I have to freeze up again?! It's him who insisted I talk to the Shadows of Kana-chan's parents, and now I know that Kana-chan doesn't hate me. I wanted to thank him, but... my voice failed again..."
"Oracle..." Joker approached her and wrapped an arm comfortingly around her shoulders.
Oracle began crying again. Joker hugged her and they waited for a while, but Oracle's crying didn't stop. With their navigator not in condition to navigate once more, the Phantom Thieves were forced to do as Crow had suggested and leave Mementos for the day.
Akechi had 0 away from Mementos and boarded the first train home. He wanted to cry. Until recently, he didn't mind dying. It had been part of his revenge plan since the beginning. He had planned to take his own life after ruining Shido's. No, actually, he had entertained that thought several times throughout his childhood as well, while he suffered in the foster families' hands. He had even tried putting the thought into practice once, when he was a child, but fate had always been cruel to him, and he didn't succeed. Now, Akechi had people that were precious to him. Akira, Futaba even though she should hate him, Morgana, Niijima-san, and the other Phantom Thieves. They were counting on him the way he had always wished people would rely on him. All of this made Akechi want to live, to walk alongside the Phantom Thieves and see their future successes through. But ironically, now that he had regained the will to live on, he was sure he would die...
Inside the train, Akechi couldn't stop thinking about the Phantom Thieves.
"This is why I want us to be unofficial siblings." He recalled Futaba's words from yesterday. "I just want you to experience what it feels like to have a nice family around."
Akechi had ruined Futaba's family life. He didn't want to cause her any more suffering. But they were getting attached. The truth would make her hurt so much...
Out of the station and near his building, Akechi ran into another of his neighbors.
"Akechi-kun, I'm glad I ran into you here," the man said. "Mrs. Takano told me you did some detective work for her. Um, I'm not sure if this qualifies as detective work, but my panic doesn't let me think properly. Could you help me reason?" The man didn't wait for a response. "I went to three meetings today. I forgot my cellphone at one of them, and now I don't know which one it was! I tried calling my cellphone's number, but no one picked up. Maybe the battery ran out. What should I do? Akechi-kun, please help me think and locate my phone!"
It was a simple problem, and Akechi said the man didn't need his help, but the man insisted, and Akechi ended up agreeing to help. At least it would change Akechi's focus from his biggest problem for the moment.
The Phantom Thieves arrived back at the attic.
"Um... Akira." Futaba had finally recovered her speech. "Yesterday, Akechi actually offered to look into my mom's case, and said the people responsible must be punished. I tried to convince him to leave it alone, but he refused to give up... and now Crow said he'll turn himself in." Futaba had a conflicted expression. "I know he's done horrible things, and that my mom wasn't the only person he's killed. Criminals get arrested so that they won't run away and do more bad stuff, right? But Crow's trying to start over! If he doesn't do more bad stuff, is there a need to arrest him? I... I don't want him to get caught." It seemed to have been very hard for Futaba to admit that.
"Futaba..." Ann muttered.
"To tell the truth, me neither." Akira flashed a kind smile. "You have a nice point, though. If his heart's really changed, which I'm sure it has, and he's working hard to do good, then I think it'd be more productive to have him out and about doing good stuff than to have him arrested. Something like rehabilitation."
"I agree," Yusuke said. "It would be a huge waste of talent to keep him in prison. If only he were placed under probation, like Akira is currently, he would be free to live his life normally and continue doing good actions."
"Makoto, you understand some of this law stuff, right?" Morgana asked. "If Crow gets caught, what do you think will happen to him?"
"I'm not sure." Makoto hesitated. "... To be honest, I can't think of any good possibility. I don't think he would even have the right to be put on probation. What he has done is too severe. Killing one person is already considered 'extreme.' Killing three people is reason for a death sentence. We don't even know how many people he has killed. If his crimes come to light, it... it will definitely be the end of the line for him..."
"You're saying he might die?!" Ann was shocked.
Makoto nodded hesitantly.
"That makes no sense!" Ryuji shouted. "Killing him won't bring back any of the people he's killed. And he's a good guy now, right? Then it's like Futaba said. He won't hurt anyone anymore, and there's no point in arresting him! Much less in killing him! It won't solve anything! Hey Makoto! Isn't there a way out?"
Everyone looked expectantly at Makoto as though she had the answer to all law questions.
Makoto fidgeted at the pressure. "I... I don't know. I'm not familiar enough with the details. I'll try to look them up in my sister's books. There is one thing I have been wondering, though. Crow is so talented, so smart... he must have the potential to achieve amazing things in life. But what could have caused his heart to distort so much and led him to have gone this far? It's really a huge waste of talent! He said he wanted to get revenge on that mastermind man. What did the mastermind do to Crow, anyway?!"
This was the one million yen question Akira also wanted the answer to. Her Confidant-esque empathy with Crow always made her heart tighten when she thought about his revenge plan, and how he was suffering of guilt now. It frustrated her to no end that, despite the strong connection she felt, there was no sign that a Confidant bond with him would form.
"I'm curious," Haru said. "Who is Crow, and what does he do outside the Metaverse?"
"He works for that organization." Yusuke stated the obvious. "This is all he has told us."
"Cold and mysterious." Ryuji grinned. "He really feels like a secret agent."
"Do you think he knows who we are?" Ann asked.
"He knows who I am, since I kept referring to President Okumura as my father, and the Shadow also addressed me by name," Haru said.
Yusuke jumped. "Wait... I might be remembering incorrectly, but I think I recall Crow once said he had decided to wait for us in Mementos because he had seen us entering."
"Entering?" Haru echoed. "You mean he implied he followed us from outside?"
Yusuke thought hard. "This is the impression I got... however, I am not sure. As I said before, I might be remembering incorrectly. Does any of you remember such an incident?"
Everyone drew a blank.
"I don't remember," Morgana said. "Yusuke, when do you think that was?"
"It should have been... after we changed Okumura's heart. We had never interacted with Crow in Mementos before that."
"True." Makoto agreed. "He might indeed know our identities. Or he just might have seen Haru entering Mementos with the rest of the group... assuming he knows what Haru looks like. Since the organization has connections to Mr. Okumura, chances are that Crow might have seen her picture somewhere. This does not apply to the rest of us, though. He might know our visual appearances, but not our names."
"There's Inari." Futaba added. "His picture came on the news while all that fuss about Madarame was going on. Besides Inari, I haven't seen pictures of you guys anywhere, though."
"Hmm... Crow's voice..." Akira muttered, and everyone turned in her direction. "Now that I think about it, sometimes I think there's something familiar about his voice."
"Whoa, hold on. You think you might've run into him somewhere?" Ryuji asked.
"I don't know. There's the fact that his helmet mask thing muffles his voice a bit. Even so, I have the impression I've heard his voice before, but I can't put a finger on it. Something about it feels off..."
The Phantom Thieves remained silent for a while and tried to reason. Suddenly, Ann's cellphone rang.
"Sorry, it's from the agency." Ann picked up the call. "Hello? Yeah. Huh? ... Me? Why me? ... Oh, o-okay... thanks." She finished the call, and nervously shut her eyes tight. "Oh... oh my god..."
"What's up?" Ryuji asked her.
"Uh, there's this ongoing series with interviews of talented young people on TV. The agency said they had been unsure whether to choose Mika or me to take part in it, but they recently found out Mika pulled a stunt and did unfair stuff, and... they decided I'll be the one going!"
"Wow, congrats!" Ryuji patted Ann on the shoulder. "That's awesome! Why are you so nervous, though?"
"I've never been on TV before! I've been interviewed for magazines, but on TV it's different! The interview will be live and everything! And it'll be... tomorrow! Aaaah... what should I do?"
"Do not worry, Ann." Yusuke tried to comfort her. "You can do it. Believe in your acting and performing skills."
Akira couldn't say the same, though. Ann's acting skills were... very far from being the best. Actually, they might be comparable to Akira's driving skills. Akira wouldn't say that, though. "Ann, you don't need acting skills for that. Just be yourself, and it'll be fine!"
Hearts appeared in Morgana's eyes. "No matter what you do, your beauty will stand out! Lady Ann, I will be watching and cheering you on."
Everyone deadpanned, except for Ann.
"St-stand out? You're making me even more nervo-" Ann's cellphone rang again, and she shuffled to pick the call. "Um, h-hello? Huh? Y-you forgot a detail? ..." Her eyes widened. "O-of course I've heard of... yeah. Thanks for the heads-up." And the call ended. "Whoa. This was sudden..."
"Hmm?" Ryuji threw her a questioning look.
"Turns out I won't be the only one interviewed. Um, Akechi-kun will be there too."
Makoto's expression darkened. "Ann, be careful. He still suspects us. Be sure to not make any slip."
Ann nodded stiffly at Makoto's scolding. "Uh, you guys keep saying how he's opening up and all, and I've been curious to talk to him again. But yeah, I'll be careful."
"Don't lower your guard." Makoto added.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"It's good that you won't be alone, or with a total stranger," Akira said. "I bet he'd even give you some advice about how to behave on TV if you were to ask!"
"... You think so?"
"Yeah!" Akira tried to reassure Ann. "Maybe you could use this to start talking to him. Anyway, I can't wait to see the two of you on TV tomorrow!"
A/n: in the Night Breakers audio drama, the Phantom Thieves discuss coming up with poses for when they enter battles :P . Not sure if it has anything to do with Featherman, though.
Next up for interacting with Akechi: Lady Ann! XD