6-18 2
Joker lifts himself up, slowly, and peers over the sandbags. The Shadow, hands tight around its rifle, spins an about-face some twenty or so meters away. It marches back between the two single-story buildings. Joker dips back down and rolls over, setting his back against the bags. The others lie prone, practically on top of one another. They stare at him, eyes a mix of apprehension and excitement. He smiles. "Alright, you know the plan. Keep your heads down. Move quickly and quietly." From overhead, a searchlight beam sweeps out past the perimeter, combing the swirling black mass beyond the fence. The fortress continues to rumble on. Joker can feel the vibration in his legs. "We don't fight unless it's absolutely necessary."
The Thieves, dressed in dark clothing, had crawled along the ground towards Sugimura's car. Getting close had been simple, and Joker had managed to get them into the Palace without any issue.
"Fox," he says. "You've got the supplies?"
His friend pats the pouch he has slung over his shoulder. Joker knows their Thief outfits allow for near limitless items to be held, but they didn't have access to those in the real world. "All the energy drinks and protein bars we could hope for," Fox replies. "Though, I must protest the inclusion of the latter. I reviewed the sugar alcohol content and-"
Panther punches him in the arm. "Deal with it."
Joker catches Mona staring at the ground, a strange look on his face. "You've got a fix on the Treasure, yeah?" Joker asks.
Mona blinks and jerks his head up. "Oh, uh, yeah. No sweat."
Joker frowns. "Problem?"
Mona shakes his head. "No, no problem. I think. It's just..." He trails off.
Skull lets out a low groan. "It's just what?"
"Well," Mona replies, and stabs the ground with his paw. "I was just thinking. Iwai was supposed to knock Sugimura unconscious after he read the Calling Card, right?"
"That's right," Joker says.
"So, what if Iwai moved too fast? Even if he caught Sugimura after he read the Card, his mind might not have had time to register what had happened. In that case, it's possible the Treasure didn't manifest."
No one says anything.
Joker's mind rages. Are you fucking kidding me? Instead, he clears his throat and asks, "Is there a chance that could happen?"
"I don't know. I only just thought about it."
"Dude," Skull says, but Rose speaks up.
"Um, but there's no way to know that, right?"
Joker considers this. "She's right. We don't know if the Treasure will have manifested until after we've found it." He tries to will his nerves to calm.
"Then there's no choice," Panther says. She crawls up alongside Joker and peers over the sandbags. "We've got to get going."
The spotlight slices over their heads, and everyone watches it until it's far enough away.
Then they rise and move towards the closest building.
#
Alright, Iwai tells himself. Think. He reads the text message again. Then, he shoves the burner into his pocket. He stares the length of the old warehouse and grimaces.
Shit.
He squats down next to Sugimura and hooks his arms beneath the punk's own. With a grunt, he hefts him up, and begins to haul him back towards the stairs. He's forgotten how heavy deadweight is. Muttering, he drags Sugimura up one flight of stairs, and then another. Beads of sweat sting his eyes. He yanks Sugimura out onto the third floor landing, which once housed – what looks like – administrative offices once upon a time.
He lowers Sugimura to the ground and crouches down next to him. He brings his breathing under control, and forces himself to think.
There were only two options here. Either Akira Kurusu was working for the Phantom Thieves, or Akira Kurusu was a Phantom Thief.
No, wait. There's a third option. The third option could be that Akira Kurusu was just fucking with Rin Sugimura. But this was an oddly specific way to fuck with someone.
Iwai hasn't paid much attention to the rumors of the Phantom Thieves, but he knows the basics. They took down some rapist gym teacher first, then targeted that plagiarizing painter. Madarame, or something. He hasn't heard anything since.
He looks down at Sugimura. Is this their next target? He had to be, based on the message.
But why do it this way? The Phantom Thieves made their pronouncements public. This was as far from public as you could be.
None of it made sense. Why did they need his help? Why had they wanted Sugimura chloroformed? Why lure him out here in the first place?
Iwai frowns. No point in asking these questions. I won't trip over the answer just by thinking it.
Instead, he turns his mind to something else. He begins to go back over Akira's behavior. Had he done anything deliberately shady?
Well...
Yeah. A lot.
The burners. The constant need for model guns. The sale of those weird little trinkets and-
Iwai stops.
Son of a bitch, he thinks. The medal. He remembers that Olympic medal Akira and the dumb blonde had sold him. Hadn't that gym teacher been an Olympian?
Iwai shakes his head. He can't figure it out. I need to talk to him.
Still, if Akira was a Phantom Thief, there was a bright side to this. Knowing Akira was involved with them would be something the kid wouldn't want leaked. Akira had promised to help Iwai with whatever he needed - which had been a stupid thing to do, all things considered- but if he tried to back out of the deal, Iwai could hold this over his head.
What's more, if Akira really was a Phantom Thief, maybe Iwai could use him in another way. Iwai doesn't smile, but his lips curl upwards just a bit. There's no humor in it, but a faint trace of hope.
There might be a way out of this after all.
#
Joker presses the barrel of the gun against the Shadow's head. "Anything else?" He asks.
The Inugami sniffs and sucks some slime back up its snout. "N-no," it mutters. "I've told you everything." It jerks its long neck towards the tall building in the distance. "The General's Vault Room is in there. Five floors down!"
Joker glances at Mona, who nods. "Sounds right. I can tell the Treasure's in there, at least."
"Please," the Shadow begs. "Let me go."
Joker regards the thing. He's already taken another Inugami as a mask and he can't risk it telling anyone about them. He holsters his pistol, and the Shadow heaves a sigh of relief. Joker plunges his knife into its neck. It twitches, once, then bursts.
He wipes the blade clean on his sleeve and turns to his friends. "You heard it. How is everyone?"
Skull grins and flashes a thumbs up. Panther and Rose nod. Fox arches his back and rolls his shoulders. "I believe we're all still fit to fight, Joker," he says.
He nods. "Good. Very good." They've manages to avoid fighting so far, but there have been a few close calls. "Let's keep moving."
The quickest path to the building is past what Joker assumes is an anti-aircraft emplacement. There are sandbags piled around a hefty piece of equipment with several cannons angled upwards. They approach, keeping to the shadows, and Joker can't help but think there's something off about the machine.
The Thieves crouch amid a small collection of pallets. A watchtower sits just behind the emplacement, and a Shadow slowly rotates a searchlight out and over the base.
To the right of the emplacement is a small, one story, concrete building. "We'll head over there," Joker says, and points to it. He watches as the sentinel in the tower turns the spotlight away. "I'll go first. Make sure it's clear. Then, you guys follow in small groups. Got it?"
"Right," Skull replies.
Joker takes a breath, then dashes forward. It takes him all of a few seconds to reach the building, but it feels much longer. He presses his back against the wall, and shimmies to the corner, peering around it. Above, the guard tower continues its revolution, but the light is far enough away for now. He turns and waves to the others.
Skull and Panther dart across and come to a stop alongside him. They wait, as the spotlight swings across them again.
Once it's turned, Joker waves. Then, he peers around the corner.
"Shit," he spits. Three Shadows have stepped out from behind the building and are quickly approaching their hiding spot. He looks back across the clearing, and sees Mona, Fox and Rose halfway to them. He holds up a hand and waves them back. The three hesitate and stare at him, confused. "Go back," he mouths, and gestures more violently.
The spotlight swings onto the three of them, just as they begin to turn.
"Crap!" Skull groans.
An alarm rises from the guard tower. Joker peers around the corner and the three Shadows begin to charge.
"Come on," he says to the other two, and charges around the corner. The three Shadows hesitate, surprised by Joker's sudden appearance and he uses it to hurl himself at the one in the center. He sticks his knife into its chest, and his momentum carries both of them to the ground. He feels the Shadow erupt beneath him, but he keeps rolling.
Skull and Panther are too slow. The remaining two Shadows shudder and burst and the black slime coalesces into two gargantuan purple monsters, each bearing a snarl and a large sword. Skull swings his pipe, but one of the Shadows counters it with his blade, then kicks out with a leg and sends Skull flying with an, "Oof!"
Panther flings out her whip, and it cracks against the face of the second, but the thing just blinks and growls.
Joker runs, leaping over the backs of the two Shadows and lands alongside Panther. "Hold them back," he tells her, and rushes to the other three.
Fox helps Skull to his feet, but the searchlight still sticks to them as they run for cover. "We need to knock that thing out," Joker says, as he reaches them. "Otherwise the whole base will know where we are."
Rose frowns, then nods. "Allow me." She steps forward, and the searchlight seems to focus solely on her. She lifts her weapon up.
Joker hadn't given much thought to Haru when she'd said she needed something from her house. It had been too dangerous to send her on her own, but she's insisted one of her household assistants would be more up to the task of delivering what she required.
A young, female maid had arrived outside Shujin the day before, and handed off a bag containing a large box, bowed, and left without so much as a word. "Rich people are weird," Ryuji had said. Then Haru had showed them what was in the box, and they'd all shut up.
Rose aims down the sights of her RG-6 Grenade Launcher, and pulls the trigger. There's a soft, whump, and Joker watches a smoke trail sail through the air.
He hears a distinctly satisfying, "What the-" from the watchtower, and then a faint, clink which is swallowed up by the resulting explosion. The top half of the watchtower splinters apart as a compact fireball belches into the air. A moment later, legs of the tower shake and collapse back and away from the emplacement.
Joker basks in it for a moment, then turns back to the two Shadows. Panther grunts in pain and lands in a pile next to him.
The Thieves join up alongside them, as Joker helps Panther up. "Fire doesn't work," Panther grumbles, rubbing her side.
The two purple Shadows screech at them, and swing their swords through the air, challenging.
We don't have time for this, he thinks.
Over the sound of the burning watchtower, he hears a small beating noise.
Joker steps forward. "Sandman," he calls. The small Persona appears before him in a burst of blue flame, reaches into his bag, and hurls a puff of dust at the two Shadows. The majority hits the first Shadow in the face, and it takes one step forward before blinking a few times, then collapsing to the ground. The second one charges forward, blade raised.
Joker crouches into a guard stance, but then two shapes dash past him. Mona and Fox leap into the air, blades at the ready, and slash the thing across the midsection. It breaks its stride and drops to one knee.
Then, Rose is running forward, her battle-axe gripped in both hands. She jumps into the air and with a loud cry, brings the axe down into the center of the thing's head. It shudders for a moment, then breaks apart.
Rose lands in a crouch and gingerly steps away from the massing pool of black that was the Shadow.
"Okay," Joker says. "We need to get out of here before-"
"Dude," Skull says. "What is that?"
Joker realizes the beating sound has resolved into a steady whupwhupwhupwhup, and that it comes from above them. He turns his eyes skyward in time to see a black shape cut across the sky.
"Oh, come on," he yells as the helicopter tilts its nose forward. Two missiles hiss from its rack and someone yells, "Scatter," but Joker cannot tell who, because he's running and then there's a great push coming from behind, followed by a deafening explosion and Joker finds himself hurled off the ground. He lands in a heap a few feet away, and with a groan rolls onto his back and looks.
The helicopter pivots through the air, moving to the side. He sees Panther and Fox retreat towards the nearest building, ducking behind it. Rose struggles to her feet, and hefts up her grenade launcher once more. The helicopter spins towards her and just as Joker is about to shout, Mona leaps, slams into Rose's midsection and pushes her out of the way. Machinegun fire clatters around the place where she'd been standing.
Joker feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to find Skull pulling him to his feet. "Bro," he shouts, and points.
Joker follows his finger to the anti-aircraft emplacement. "You know how that works?" Joker asks.
"How hard could it be?" Skull replies.
Joker nods. "Go," he says. "I'll distract it."
Skull begins to sprint and Joker staggers towards the helicopter, and shouts, "White Rider!"
The Persona manifests and lifts its golden bow. The helicopter whirls around, just as the grim reaper releases his arrow. The helicopter shifts and the arrow goes sailing through the sky. The helicopter's mini-guns begin to spin and Joker starts to run. He hears the concrete exploding up into the air behind as the bullets shatter into it.
He leaps and rolls as the bullets die, but one glance upwards tells him that the helicopter still has him in its sights. A faint shift in the missiles on the rack tells him they're about to fire, and then something slams into the side of the helicopter. The missile hisses into the air, but at the angle it goes wide and explodes into a building somewhere further inside the base. Joker turns and finds Skull behind the anti-aircraft gun, pressing buttons and pulling levers and laughing as he does it. Another projectile launches from the emplacement and hits the rear of the helicopter. Black smoke pores from it, and it begins to tilt in the air. It starts a long, and lazy spin through the air and Joker watches with fascination. Until, of course, he realizes its heading directly for him. He turns and bolts and from behind he hears a tremendous crash as the machine punches into the ground. The earth groans and then there's silence, save for the crackling of flames. Joker turns and looks. The helicopter is a wreck behind him. Skull leaves the gun and jogs over to him. Together, they regard the crash.
"So much for staying quiet," Skull mutters.
Joker pats him on the shoulder. "Thanks for that," he says. "But now we've really got to move."
#
Akechi replaces his phone in his pocket and turns from Shibuya Station. There's a noodle place down the street he appreciates and he's worked up an appetite.
His phone vibrates, and with a small sigh, he draws it back out.
A message about a case. It's nothing he can't put off until later.
He figures he deserves something for a job well done.
The Rin Sugimura job ended up being more difficult than he'd anticipated. Akechi knew a great number of people with Palaces, but there were many more who had slipped beneath his radar. Discovering Rin Sugimura had a Palace had been interesting, but not surprising. Akechi hadn't the time to figure out everything about the young man, so he'd done the next best thing.
Very soon, Rin Sugimura would be dead.
#
Joker holds his breath as a patrol of Shadows rush past their hiding place, heading for the site of the helicopter crash. Once he can no longer hear their footsteps, he lets it out.
Fox holds out an energy drink. "Thanks," Joker mumbles, and takes a swig.
The one good thing about all the commotion out by the emplacement, had been that it summoned tons of guards. The downside was that the Thieves had used up a lot of energy escaping from that disaster. Between the explosions and Persona use, Joker was beginning to feel a little worn.
"We still good?" Skull asks.
Joker flashes him a grin "Of course." He nods towards the large building. "And we made it."
They'd had to take a longer way around, but it had been mostly devoid of Shadows.
Rose peers out from their hiding place towards the tanks lined up on the tarmac.
"You okay?" Joker asks.
Rose nods. "I was just thinking," she says. "Don't those tanks seem strange to you?"
Joker steals a glance but nothing more. "What about them?"
"They look funny," she says.
Joker doesn't ask her to elaborate, but decides to look, really look. He squints and says, "Now that you mention it, yeah, they do look funny."
Panther comes up alongside and looks as well. "They don't look like real tanks."
It's the wheels, Joker thinks. They look like plastic or something. What's more, every part of the vehicle appears painted in a monochromatic, forest green. He hadn't noticed before because he hadn't thought to pay attention, but the tanks resembled the small models kids usually played with.
It was the same with the anti-aircraft gun, Joker thinks. "They almost looks like toys."
The other Thieves all nod. "How tacky," Fox says.
"Right, well," Mona says, waving his stilted arms in the air. "Maybe we should get back to what we're actually doing?"
Joker nods. He motions for the others to follow, and they press their bodies up against the wall of the building. They approach a single door near the perimeter. Joker reaches out, grips the knob, and gives it a small shake. "Alright," he says, turning it and pushing the door slowly open. "Let's go."
The Thieves follow him inside.
#
Fumihiro sits in the car, tapping his finger on the wheel.
He's been gone too long.
He lets out a long sigh. Rin Sugimura may be blue-blooded, but he was also a moron.
This should've been a quick exchange. Whatever Sugimura was paying for should've been done by now.
The kid didn't know how to handle himself in difficult situations.
Fumihiro had sat by as he'd abducted that girl. He'd sat by as that gangster had beaten the shit out of him. He'd actually had a small bit of a smile at that last one, but if they'd come close to killing his charge, he would've had to intervene.
Fumihiro had seen a lot of shit in his time with the SDF, but some of the things Sugimura got into were twisted. The world would be a better place without him, but then Fumihiro would be out of a job.
"Okay, okay," he says, and opens the driver's door. He takes the keys and sneaks them into his pocket. As he stands, he pats his left leg, making sure the knife he always carries is still secure. He knows it is, but it's still an old habit that refuses to die.
He takes a deep breath as he straightens, eyeing up the dark warehouse. He feels a strange sensation beneath his nose, and lifts two fingers to dab at it. They come away dark.
A nosebleed? He hasn't had one of these since he was a kid. He squints at the liquid on his hand. It doesn't look like blood, for some reason. It looks darker than that.
Almost black.
He shakes his head and pulls a handkerchief from his pocket, and wipes his nose. He'll deal with that after he finds Sugimura.
I need to find Rin Sugimura and get him in the car.
He nods and heads towards the building.
I need to find Rin Sugimura and get him in the car.
He sidesteps through the door, eyes sliding over the interior, checking the corners for any dark shapes that seem out of place.
I need to find Rin Sugimura and get him in the car.
As he does these things, it never crosses his mind to wonder about the single thought that pings through his head like an order.
##
A/N: I didn't want to post the Sugimura Palace one chapter per week. That didn't seem fair. ;)
Thanks for reading!