Chapter 1: Unbeating Heart
11/20
"I've played along so far, might as well go the full way" Sae smiled, "So just show this to him, is that it?"
Akira just nodded.
Knock, Knock
"My time is up" Sae frowned, "Goodbye." With that, Sae left with the phone and the plan was set in motion.
Akira relaxed in his chair, taking a forced breath. All he had to do was wait for Sae to come back and return him to where he belonged.
More importantly, Akira felt extremely exhausted and could barely remain conscious. It wouldn't hurt to get a cat nap, would it?
Laying down on the table, Akira allowed his body to rest.
One final time
The sound of glass shattering was heard at a cafe, causing the owner to stir.
Back at the Police Station
"What was that all about in regards to this phone?" Sae sighed as the phone rang in her hand, "The Phantom Thief Alibaba? Who is this?"
"I am Alibaba, a member of the Phantom Thieves. I inquire as to your justice, Sae Niijima" a raspy voice said.
"How do they know I have this phone?" Sae gasped.
"Goro Akechi is evil" the voice continued, "He didn't come to interrogate the captured Phantom Thief, he came to kill him."
"What?" Sae blinked in horror.
We could say he stole the guard's gun and committed suicide during his imprisonment, how about that? Yes the guard will be one of ours, though we will need to dispose of him to destroy the evidence.
Sae was horrified about what she heard and decided to head back towards the interrogation room. Then the phone rang again.
"Don't trust the guard, he's an accomplice as well" the voice said, "I will tell you what you need to do next. You must save Akira Kurusu."
"You want me to save him?" Sae blinked. Where was this leading?
Well, a crime scene as it would turn out. After convincing the guard to leave his post, Sae walked inside to discover Akira lying on the table.
And as she quickly noted, an Akira who was no longer breathing.
"Am I too late?" was Sae's first thought. On quick examination, there was no fatal wound from a gun bullet. Did he just...expire?
He was drugged up and nearly lost consciousness during her interrogation, perhaps that did him in?
Anger boiled in her gut, recalling one of his last words to her.
Is this justice?
No, it was not justice at all. People who swore to protect this country had failed their duty and murdered a teenage boy.
She shook her head, calling the front desk while containing her anger.
"This is Sae Niijima" Sae said firmly, "We have an issue here in the interrogation room holding the phantom thief suspect. He has expired."
Niijima Residence, Evening
Makoto tapped her pen, trying to focus on her studies.
An impossible task, given the circumstances. The news had reported on his suicide, which stung even though she believed in the success in their plan. However, Futaba hadn't messaged them that Akira was safe and sound.
"I'm home" Sae said in a neutral tone.
"Oh, you're back early" Makoto looked up.
"I was told to leave for the day, something serious came up" Sae replied as she sat down across from her sister, "You look lost."
"Oh, I was just thinking about something" Makoto answered.
"We need to talk" Sae said gently, "Who was Akira Kurusu to you, really?"
"Akira Kurusu?" Makoto pondered before a thought came to her head, "He's my friend and...a phantom thief. Did you not take him home?"
"So you're going to be honest with me" Sae sighed, "I know about your involvement in the Phantom Thieves case, so what I will say won't be easy to digest. Akira Kurusu died this morning. Whatever was planned has failed."
Makoto dropped her pen in shock, she rested her hands in her lap and looked directly into her sister's eye.
"You're not lying" Makoto fumbled, "Akira is really-really d-dead?"
"I'm sorry for your loss" Sae said.
"No…." Makoto said as a tear rolled down her face, "So A-kechi actually was successful in his assassination?"
"Not quite" Sae shook her head, "When I discovered the body, it looked like the concussion and/or administered drugs shut down his heart. Yet, it was ruled a suicide any way."
Makoto leaned back in her chair and grabbed her left arm as tears poured down. They were so close to success but it wasn't enough.
"We have a lot to discuss but I will give you time to grieve first" Sae said as moved to hug her sister from behind.
"I know" Makoto lowered her head, "I...need to contact the others first and arrange a meeting for tomorrow."
"Shall I wait a few days then?" Sae asked.
"No, this needs to be addressed immediately" Makoto said as she wiped a tear away, "We need to figure out what we're going to do now w-without him."
"Very well" Sae said as she let go of her sister, "I'm going to take a bath." Once Sae was out of the room, Makoto covered her eyes as she let grief take over. Few minutes in, a butterfly flew onto the table.
"H-huh?" Makoto sniffed as she saw the butterfly.
"Seek him" a voice said.
"Seek him?" Makoto blinked in confusion. Seek who out?
"Though the embers of his life are snuffed out, his will burns on" the voice said, "If your will of rebellion holds true, then seek him so you may carry the torch." The butterfly vanished before her eyes, leaving Makoto to her thoughts.
"Akira's will burns on?" Makoto thought, "But where?"
Perhaps she will get a better idea after meeting with the rest of the Phantom Thieves.
11/21 Leblanc
"You've got to be shittin me" Ryuji denied, "I refuse to believe our leader is dead."
"It's the truth, Ryuji" Makoto frowned, "Akira Kurusu is no longer with us."
"He may be a Joker but even he would never joke about death" Yusuke replied.
"*Sniff* Th-th-is is n-no time for puns, Inari'' Futaba cried. That was the first thing she said in the last few minutes.
"They say humor is a great method to cope with loss" Haru admitted, "I'm sure he would prefer to hear jokes right now."
"He did try to crack jokes when we were under a lot of stress" Ann recalled while blowing her nose, "Perhaps humor helped him keep going?"
"I could imagine it" Morgana said.
"This is fucking bullshit" Ryuji screamed as he slammed his fist on the table, "To think the cops would assault and drug him up, it pisses me off."
"I feel the same" Makoto admitted, "It hurts to see injustice on full display."
"Today should've been a day of relief" Ann frowned, "But our plan failed in the worst possible way."
"This is my fault" Futaba cried, "I should never have relied on that phone, we should've brainstormed a different method."
"Futaba…" Ann whispered.
"What other choice did we have?" Yusuke countered, "That could've been any one of us, instead it was Joker who insisted that he be caught."
"But-" Futaba tried to counter only for Haru to interject.
"Yusuke is right" Haru said, "We didn't have a lot of options, even this plan wasn't guaranteed to be a success."
There was a moment of silence, with a few sobs in between.
"So….what do we do now?" Ann spoke up.
"I don't know" Makoto admitted. Akira was dead and their enemies stood strong.
"You can throw in the towel" Sojiro advised.
"Sorijo?" Futaba looked in shock.
"I told you to back down from a fight you couldn't win" Sojiro sternly said, "It already cost him his life, I couldn't stand to see you be next."
Futaba winced at his words, recalling that particular conversation.
"No, I won't accept" Ryuji fumed, "We need to avenge our leader, otherwise what good are we?"
"Ryuji!" Ann scolded.
"We don't know where to begin" Morgana interjected, "We can't just be rushing into things."
"I agree" Yusuke replied, "Still...it would be a travesty for Akira's legacy to die in vain."
"Yes" Makoto agreed, "Perhaps if we talk things out we can get a first draft going?"
"Where would we start?" Haru pondered.
"Well, I think we let sis know the details of our plan" Makoto said while looking at her sister who was quietly listening on.
"Hmm? You're ready to tell me what's going on?"
"No, but we can mourn later" Makoto admitted, "Sis, how much did Akira explain in terms of the metaverse and so forth?"
"He was very descriptive, although none of it made sense to me" Sae responded.
"That's to be expected" Makoto sighed as she pulled out her phone, "See this bizarre app? This is the MetaNav, a portal into a world of cognition. I would like to show you how this app works in full but we're not in a good spot to do that. However, it's a very easy app to use. Just need a name, a place, and a distortion to enter this supernatural universe."
"Supernatural huh? No wonder why none of this makes sense" Sae frowned.
"In any case, we use this app to enter people's palaces to force a change of heart. You were our most recent target, as your palace was ideal for our plan" Makoto replied.
"Wait, I was part of this plan?" Sae blinked.
"I'm sorry we're only telling you this now, but we didn't have an option" Haru apologized.
"We couldn't just say we're the Phantom Thieves and we need your help preventing a murder" Makoto explained, "Not only is the method unbelievable, but you weren't exactly yourself back then."
"What made your palace special was a couple of things. One, the way you see others is normal, and not something unflattering. Two, your cognition of the police station was normal, which was important for fooling Goro Akechi" Yusuke explained.
"What do you mean normal?" Sae asked.
"In the cognitive world, how you see people can be distorted. For example, Kaneshiro saw people as walking ATMs. As for us, we wear phantom thief attire once a palace ruler sees us as a threat. Because your palace only applied to the courthouse, our outfits were normal in the police station" Makoto continued to explain.
"So being thieves is a lot more literal, is that correct?" Sae sighed while rubbing a temple.
"In a way, yes" Haru confirmed.
"The plan was basically this: If Akira is actually in the interrogation room with you, then the cognitive world also reflects that fact. The next goal was to send Akechi to the cognitive interrogation room and kill the cognitive Akira, which was the purpose of the phone" Makoto explained.
"I remotely accessed the metaverse app once I knew you and Akechi were together, briefly sending you both into your cognition. It was the only way to prevent Akechi from catching on" Futaba finally spoke.
"So...I was briefly in my own world at that time?" Sae asked.
"Correct" Makoto sighed, "I was expecting you to bring Akira back to Leblanc and Futaba to verify the success of the mission, but-" Makoto swallowed a lump in her throat, unable to finish her sentence.
"They really set him up to die" Sae huffed, "The whole interrogation was a farce from the beginning."
"So...what now?" Ryuji asked, "Are we just going to give up? Surely we must avenge our leader."
"You mean go after Akechi?" Ann pondered.
"No" Makoto shook her head, "In order for such a deed to take place, someone extremely connected to law enforcement had to pull the strings. Akechi is merely a pawn, we need to discover who the mastermind is."
"But we don't know where to start" Yusuke pointed out.
"Actually, I think I do" Futaba sighed, "But...I need some time to investigate."
"This has been a hard day" Morgana said, "Perhaps we should meet back tomorrow?"
"We're all grieving right now" Makoto acknowledged, "Waiting until tomorrow will allow us to think a bit more clearly."
"I agree" Haru said, "But I will say this, I am not done fighting. We need to bring the person responsible for his death to justice."
Everyone nodded in agreement then unanimously adjourned the meeting. Once Makoto was home, she went to sleep...and then found herself in a giant, blue bird cage.
Startled, Makoto sat up in her chair and saw three figures in the center of the room.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room" a familiar voice said, "I'm glad you found your way here."
Makoto's eyes went wide in recognition. Though his eyes were yellow, hair fading to white at the tips, and his attire became a mix of blue and black, she would recognize Akira Kurusu anywhere.
"Joker?" Makoto gasped in shock.
"Clever as ever, Queen" Joker smiled, "It seems like your will of rebellion continues to burn, even after my death. There is much to be discussed."
Makoto relaxed in the chair, focused on the man that meant so much to her.
The torch burned on through the shadows of death
A/N: A velvet room attendant Akira story very much inspired by "Eye of the Storm", but with Akira dying from the police brutality and Makoto becoming the Wild Card. (And Joker becomes the Priest Arcana)