Begin

~Normal POV

8/23 - Wednesday

Makoto was able to contact Sae and explain the situation to her. Her sister was understandably angry at being kept out of the loop all this time but she agreed to help them out. Hopefully she'd be able to find some way to get Zenkichi out of his imprisonment. Until then, all they could do was wait.

Everyone was so on edge from all the stress that even finding things to occupy their hands was a challenge. It was like they were afraid that if they weren't listening to the news or trying to hear if someone came to the door then they'd get caught. Nobody ever came by, if only by a miracle of convenience. It wasn't until a little bit into the early morning that a new development arose…

Akira received a text message from Akane's phone. (She had given them all her contact information previously.) And the message itself was very alarming.

Akane: [Phantom Thieves. We have Akane Hasegawa. If you want her back, come to Inari Taisha.]

"What the hell?!" Futaba screamed, looking at his screen, "Who has her!?"

"It doesn't say, but she's in trouble!" Makoto said, worriedly. "We should-"

"Hold it." Akira commanded firmly, getting their undivided attention. "It might be a trick from Konoe or Owada."

This helped everyone come to their senses a bit, though they were still visibly anxious. "That's definitely a possibility…" Morgana said.

"So they're using Akane-chan to lure us out!?" Haru asked, furiously.

"Given the timing, what else could it be?" Yusuke said, sharing her sentiment.

"Unforgivable…" Makoto growled.

"Extremely…" Akira agreed.

"But…" Ryuji interjected. "But what if they really do have her? We can't go to the cops…"

"What else is there to do?!" Makoto argued. "We go after her!"

"Calm down." Yusuke replied. "Akira is right, this has to be a trap."

"Yeah- they'll catch us the second we step out the door!" Ann reminded them.

Makoto appeared to not be having any of their reservations. "But we can't just leave her! If they even lay a finger on Akane-chan, I'll…" She couldn't finish her sentence but her fists clenched in anger. "...Anyway, with Zenkichi behind bars, we're the only ones who can save her. If we put our own safety above that of an innocent life, then we have no right to call ourselves phantom thieves! I'm well aware what this is, and I'm fine going out there alone. You guys stay here and hold down the fort."

She turned to leave, but was stopped by Akira gently grabbing her arm.

"Absolutely not, Makoto… We're in this together."

"But-" Makoto tried to argue.

"Ya losing it?" Ryuji interrupted. "We'd never let a friend risk their neck without giving backup!"

"Plus, Akane-chan is our fan!" Ann added, firmly. "She knows more than anyone that we don't abandon people in need!"

"Otherwise we couldn't live up to our name," Yusuke said.

"Even if it's a trap, let's turn the tables against them!" Haru said, fiercely.

"Darn right, Haru!" Futaba said, jumping up eagerly. "Let's show them how big a mistake they've made!"

Makoto smiled gratefully. Of course they were willing to come too. Though it most certainly was a trap, they would at least find a way out of it. They did have one advantage in their corner. The police might be brainwashed into hunting them, but they had no way to actually verify the Phantom Thieves' identities. Akira was the only one who'd ever been caught and profiled. And thanks to a certain testimony from a somewhat-reformed foe, everyone else had remained safely anonymous. Though, because of Akira being caught that did mean they were at risk by being seen in his presence.

"Thank you, everyone…" Makoto said, appreciatively.

"Sophia, you navigate us to Inari Taisha," Akira commanded. "Morgana, you lead the way past the patrols. Move fast, and stick together."

~...

Inari Taisha was a temple in Kyoto that was thankfully not too far from where they were hiding. Making it here was extremely nerve-wracking but they'd managed it. And by some miraculous stroke of luck, not a single cop was here. It was only a few civilians going about their lives around the temple.

"Well, we made it here somehow…" Ryuji said, shifting his gaze around nervously.

"Sophia, are you sure this is it?" Morgana asked.

"I am definitely sure." Sophia chimed, "We're outside Inari Taisha."

"I don't see anyone suspicious…" Haru said.

"If it's a trap then they should freaking come out already…" Ryuji added, anxiously.

"Shush, and stay on guard," Akira said.

"Right… they could be hiding anywhere…" Yusuke said. "Do you think we should head inside? Just standing around out here might make us look odd."

Before they could ponder whether that was a wise decision, Sophia spoke up once more. "I… I found a Jail!" That put everyone on alert even more. "This whole area smells like one! There wasn't one before, but there is now!"

"How is that possible," Makoto asked.

Akira's phone chimed again with a notification from his EMMA app. "You have a friend request from the Phantom Thieves. Please state the keyword."

He vaguely heard the others talk about this odd development but all he could think about was why on earth his EMMA app was working. Konoe said it would be suspended until they were caught, right?

"EMMA is supposed to still be inactive…" Akira said, aloud. "Why is she suddenly working?"

"Uh… maybe we missed the announcement about them rebooting it?" Ann suggested.

"I just want to know why it says it's from the Phantom Thieves!" Ryuji said, grumpily. "What gives? Makes it seem like we're the bad ones-"

"Keyword successfully entered. Beginning navigation."

~...

It was nighttime inside the Jail. Everything around them was structured like an old village lined with traditional temples and shrines. The first thing Akira noticed about this place was that there was a string of lanterns nearby with a familiar looking logo on them… He narrowed his gaze suspiciously. What kind of cognition could those have come from? Sure, Konoe probably knew of their mark by now, but did he really think that stroking their egos would get them to lower their guard? In fact, this whole place seemed to be a monument to them. Calling cards lined nearby lamp posts and the coloring of the buildings were mostly red and black. As expected, they were already a threat here. But there were absolutely no Shadows around that they could see. This place didn't even appear to have a birdcage or Prison Keeps either. It must have been because it was new.

"So, this is the Jail…?" Makoto asked.

"My bad guys…" Ryuji said, apologetically. "I just had to go and blurt out the keyword…"

"Don't worry about it, Skull. We would have been found if we stayed out there too long anyway," Akira said, reassuringly. Sometimes it truly was safer in the Metaverse than reality, rare as it may be.

"And the kidnapper wanted us to be here." Morgana pointed out. "Why else would he set up a brand new Jail?"

From a distance, they heard a soft voice cry out. "Help me…" It sounded like Akane. "Help me, Phantom Thieves!"

"No way, is she actually in here?!" Ryuji asked.

"No, it'd only be her Shadow," Akira answered. "But even then, that's still a danger to her. We need to hurry."

As they started walking, Akira kept noticing all the little signs pointing to their apparent reverence…

~...

They rounded a corner and found Akane's Shadow. No enemies were around, but she was already subdued. She was unconscious and chained to a pole at the end of the path.

"Crap, that is her!"

"Come on. She needs help!" Makoto shouted, running ahead.

Everyone ran after her without thinking. Futaba usually walked at the back of the group. Her teammates had more stamina than her and, outside of the Necronomicon, she had some difficulty keeping up. She'd never been good with athleticism, even with her thief powers. As a result, pushing herself too hard to follow them, ended in her tripping over her own feet and falling behind; while the others were so occupied with going after Akane they didn't notice… But right as they approached her…

From the ground, a massive cage sprang up to trap them. Before they could jump out the top a crane hook snapped a lid onto it, sealing them in place securely as the crane then lifted the cage into the air.

Akane's Shadow opened her glowing yellow eyes and smiled evilly, easily removing her binds. Once she did, familiar red magic transformed her appearance. Her hair was a paler color with red highlights at the tips. She had a black masquerade style mask covering the upper half of her face, which had a red teardrop design under her right eye. Her outfit consisted of a red and black corset style shirt that showed her midriff, with a black and red pleated plaid skirt, and a black belt. She also had black thigh-high socks, and red boots with black laces. She had long finger-less red gloves, and a pitch black ankle-length tailcoat similar to Akira's, but with short sleeves. And to top the whole ensemble was a large black top hat with a red stripe and a black star pinned to it.

Akane laughed and said, "Welcome, Phantom Thieves… to my own Jail!"

Futaba, apparently having gone unnoticed by Akane as not being in the cage with her family, quickly got to her feet and ran away as fast as she could.

If she was going to save everyone, she needed help.

~...

Zenkichi was getting beaten by the interrogators again. "Spit it out, Hasegawa! The Phantom Thieves- where are they!?" He didn't answer.

The interrogator smacked him again. "Damn traitor. You cost us all the achievement of a lifetime!"

"You say that and you call me traitor?" Zenkichi said, quizzically.

"What was that?!"

"Heh, I can see it in your eyes-" Zenkichi said, smirking. "Every one of you. Your heart's been changed… Now you're just a zombie."

"Zombie, my ass!" The man shouted. "You'd better cut the crap and give me a straight answer! Unless you want your face run straight through this table!"

"Be my guest." Zenkichi replied, unfazed. "Need I remind you who you're dealing with? I'm PubSec, asshole. We don't bend to pissants like you."

"Why you-!"

"Hey, you can't just barge in here like this!" They heard a man say from the other side of the door.

But whoever he was talking to didn't listen as the door opened seconds later. (Thankfully, making the interrogator let go of him in surprise.) Zenkichi stared in shock at the woman who walked in. She was tall and imposing. Had grey-blonde hair and reddish brown eyes. She was dressed professionally and carrying a dark blue purse. She had very similar facial features to Makoto but she was far too young to be her mother, Zenkichi thought.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Niijima, but we're in the middle of questioning." A man behind her said, fearfully.

She approached him curiously with a hard, intimidating gaze. She appeared to be appraising him or something like that. After a moment, she smiled softly.

"Hm. I can see why they would trust you…" She said, her voice clear and authoritative but with a hint of warmth. "Nice to meet you, Zenkichi Hasegawa. I'm Sae Niijima, and I've been asked to get you out of here."

"They…?" Zenkichi wondered, internally. He then recalled that Makoto said she had a sister…

"I hear you've been looking after Makoto for me?"

Zenkichi couldn't help smiling. He'd never been more grateful to a bunch of kids.

~End of Chapter