Oh, hey, posting a new chapter before a month is done this time! It's a goddamn Christmas miracle.
Hello everyone. This is the longest chapter yet at a little over 7,000 words, and I'm super excited to post it, because we're now getting right into the delicious meat of this story. I've had a lot of the elements coming up planned for a very long time, so I'm hella glad to be getting into them.
When you're done, please leave a review! Even if you tell me you hated it! I thrive off of that stuff.
If you want to follow me on the tumblrs, my personal is aflirtingaccident and my writing is philwritesstuff.
Due to the onset of the holiday season and everything, you can expect the next chapter to be up sometime in the new year. Have a happy holiday season, whatever your festive celebration is, and a happy new year! See you in the future!
Eight figures walk down a catwalk that stretches the length and width of the long hallway ahead of them. Safety rails line the sides, and large pipes and metal grates decorate the walls, the monotonous gray and brown broken by the occasional strip of black and yellow caution tape. Dismal green lights illuminate their path, reflecting off of small puddles of an unknown liquid. The air itself is stale, but sterile, smelling of used oil and strong bleach.
No two of them are feeling the same way. One, nonchalant. One, guarded. One, eager. One, scared. One, curious. One, alert. One, intrigued. One, serene. They are silent as they walk through a pair of thick, iron double doors that part with the sound of cranking machinery and hissing pneumatics.
Together, they emerge into a large, open room. In the middle of the room is an operating table, with a single person sitting atop it, relaxed, waiting. This person is Naoto Shirogane, dressed in her gray suit and wearing a pair of blue-framed glasses. When she sees the eight figures, she smiles gently and beckons them closer
"Hello, Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Thank you for coming to see me. I apologize for the theatrics, but I needed to get your attention - you see, we have much to discuss."
Two Weeks Earlier
Kunikazu Okumura was dead.
He had died on live television, his final moments broadcast live to several million people in Japan and around the world.
Naoto Shirogane was watching the aftermath, stone-faced as they cut the transmission. She hadn't exactly been expecting it, but Okumura's death did not surprise her. The dog had turned on its master, it seemed, and Okumura was perhaps more useful to the killer dead than alive. Now, the Phantom Thieves would take the blame. Now, the government had to act. Causing a scandal and murdering a prominent businessman on live TV?
The Phantom Thieves could no longer be casually ignored, and so, it was time to begin. She had too much to do, and she didn't know how long she had to do it. The SIU would not sleep on this - not now Okumura's death had been broadcast to all of Japan.
She turned off the TV, opened up her laptop, and began to type.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, Okumura-san."
Naoto was seated alone with Haru Okumura, Kunikazu's only child, in one of the sunlit sitting rooms of the Okumura residence. She had volunteered to speak to the orphaned girl while Sae and some police investigators searched the house because she was didn't feel like wasting her own time searching for evidence that didn't exist - the only evidence they were sure to find would be a calling card of some kind. She also wanted to follow up on the basic police questioning that had taken place the night before, as Haru herself attended Shujin Academy, putting her on Naoto's list of potential Phantom Thieves suspects.
Haru, of course, didn't need to know that.
"It's no trouble," Haru said, as demure as expected from the heiress to such a wealthy company. She was gentle and appeared sunnier than she presumably actually felt - the death of her father had hit her hard, from what police had put in their notes from the previous night.
"If a question makes you uncomfortable, or you need a moment, please tell me," Naoto said in a gentle tone. "You are more than welcome to refuse to answer anything I ask you here, but understand that such an act may hurt our investigation. I should clarify that you are not a suspect in the murder, so this all for my own personal notes. Do you understand?"
Naoto pulled out a notepad as Haru nodded. "Let's begin, then. Your alibi for the murder was that you were at Destinyland, correct?" Another nod. "The security tapes we have corroborate that, and that you were there with a few other teenagers. Can you tell me more about who you were with?"
"Um...I was with some friends from school," Haru said, stammering slightly. "I attend Shujin Academy."
"Yes, you mentioned so last night. Can I get their names? They're not suspects, but if we need to contact them for further details, we'd like to know who they are."
"Yes, of course."
And then she proceeded to name every member of Naoto's suspected Phantom Thieves, plus one - Futaba Sakura. Naoto remembered the name from the details on Sojiro's files - Futaba must be his adopted daughter. It could have been a coincidence that Haru was with the Phantom Thieves the night her father was killed, but it likely wasn't one. At this point, there weren't any coincidences.
"And you were at Destinyland to celebrate something?" Naoto asked, turning the page over in her notebook.
"Yes, we were. Exams are coming up, and I suggested a trip there to unwind before we all began studying in earnest. My father's company had booked it for the night, but ended up cancelled it due to all the recent scandals. It was too late to get the deposit back, so I figured, why not make use of it?"
Naoto nodded. It made sense. "Good enough for me, Okumura-san," she said with a gentle smile. "Regarding Kamoshida, did you hear anything about his abuse of the volleyball and track teams? Rumors or the like? Again, this isn't to place guilt or anything, and you don't have to answer."
"It's okay," Haru said with a sigh. "I'd rather talk about that, to be honest. I heard nothing more than rumors. I don't play either sport, and I'm not very involved with the other student organizations, so I didn't hear much."
Another nod as she took down some notes. Or, pretended to. She'd already gotten everything she needed. "Last one. Can you think of anyone that your father worked with who might have wanted him dead?"
That one gave Haru pause. After a moment, she shook her head, looking up at Naoto. "No, not right now. I'm sorry, Detective. If I think of anyone, I'll be sure to let you know."
Naoto stood up, scribbling something onto a page in her notebook, and then tearing the page out. "Thank you, Okumura-san. I'm very sorry for your loss, and I know this can be a hard time. I felt the same way when my father passed away." She handed the page to Haru. "Here's my cell number. If you need anything - or you just want to talk - give me a call, okay?"
Haru took the paper and looked at it, then back up at Naoto. "I will. Thank you, Detective."
With a small, sympathetic look, Naoto turned and walked out to rejoin Sae and the investigators. Sae looked up as Naoto entered, fixing her with a curious look. "Did you find out anything new?"
Haru Okumura is likely a Phantom Thief.
Naoto shook her head, folding her arms. "No, nothing. Anything new on your end?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," Sae said, handing Naoto the calling card. "We found this in Okumura's office, but I was also informed by an investigator that they found a calling card in Principal Kobayakawa's office."
That got a reaction from Naoto, who raised her eyebrows at the news. She didn't know that Sae had ordered the principal's office to be searched again.
No...why would they leave one for him? Unless it, like Okumura, was all part of a false flag operation, there to frame the thieves...Sae must be trying to gather evidence. Maybe she did listen to me.
There's little time to waste.
"Another Shujin connection. And it means it wasn't a suicide - it was a murder. I was right to suspect them," Sae said, a note of triumph in her voice. Haru emerged from the side room, and Sae turned to her. "We're just about done here. I'm sorry to ask again, but your father hadn't said anything about the Phantom Thieves, correct?"
"That's right," Haru said as she moved to the couch and sat down on it, a heavier motion that Naoto was expecting. She must be exhausted.
"If something catches your attention, no matter how trivial, please contact me." Then, as if realizing how dispassionate that sounded, Sae added, "Don't force yourself, though. Just if anything comes to mind." Haru nodded in reply, then leaned back onto the couch and closed her eyes, sighing.
Naoto and Sae traded glances, then both of them walked out of the room and into the reception hall. They were silent as they left the residence, following the path through the front back to their cars.
Naoto was hoping Sae would say something, anything to her, but they split apart in silence. The card for the principal would be more than enough to connect any Phantom Thieves Sae got to his murder as well as Okumura's. Whoever they caught, by whatever means, would likely be put to death - Okumura and Kobayakawa were the keys to associate them with every mental shutdown.
This find had renewed Sae's vigor, but she was still limited by her power as a prosecutor. The actual investigation was still the police's territory, and Sae couldn't step on their toes without running into a whole host of jurisdictional and bureaucratic problems.
Naoto hoped that would be enough to stop her.
Sae's bed was empty more often than not as of late.
Makoto was okay with the occasional night alone, but the empty apartment was becoming increasingly unsettling. On more than one night this past week, she'd invited Ann over to break the otherwise ambient silence of her home.
And because she just liked spending time with Ann.
One night, about a week after Haru's father died, Sae arrived home in while Makoto was halfway through eating her dinner. Surprise, Makoto rose from seat, readying herself to fix her sister a plate if she was hungry. "Hi, sis! Should I warm up dinner for you?"
"No, it's okay." When Sae walked into the living room, though, Makoto tried to hide her dismay - Sae looked awful . She had bags under her eyes and had let her normally-straight stance go, her exhaustion showing in her slumped shoulders as she stood in the doorway. She seemed unfocused and tired, a lack of energy in every motion, every step.
"How about a bath?" Makoto offered, a light tone to her voice. Something to get you some energy.
"No need," Sae said with a gentle wave of her hand. "I just came home to get a change of clothes."
Makoto's dismay was obvious as she sat back down and stared at her food for a second. Alone again. I hope it's not too late for Ann to come over… "Are you going to stay at work then?"
Sae nodded, setting her bag down on the floor and stretching, rolling her shoulders. "I've been entrusted with a very important task."
She's been at her wit's end for weeks, and they do this to her? Why? Makoto frowned, then looked up Sae with pity-filled eyes. "You look awful, though...aren't you tired?"
Sae sighed. "As an adult, there will be times when you will accept an assignment where failure is not tolerated," she said with a resigned acceptance. "It's all over for me if I can't win this."
What on earth are they making her do? Are they going to fire her? "Still, if you were to collapse from exhaustion…"
"This is my one chance to get a promotion!" Sae spat back, only to realize her mistake as the words left her lips. Makoto couldn't keep the shock from her face, and withdrew into herself from the sudden outburst. "I'm sorry, Makoto. It's been a long day."
"It's all right, sis," Makoto said with a small smile, shoving down the sting of the dismissal. "I'm just worried about you."
"Please don't worry, it won't be this way for long." She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, straightening up a bit. "I'm going to catch the Phantom Thieves myself."
There was a slight glint in Sae's eyes that Makoto didn't really like. Sis is coming after us? This is bad. But is it just her? "Alone? Are Akechi-san and Shirogane-san not helping you anymore?"
Sae hesitated for a moment, as if suddenly caught in a lie. "They are…no longer assisting me. They are busy with other things. Other people. We had a professional disagreement, and I can no longer rely on her. Them." She paused for a second. "It's...complicated."
So she chased her, or them, away. I'm not surprised, given how she's been recently. "I'm sorry to hear that. I met Shirogane-san once at Leblanc. She was very generous."
"She is." Sae's expression softened for a moment, but she shook her head and steeled up. "Regardless, catching the Phantom Thieves now falls to me." Another bout of hesitation from Sae. "And...me alone." The words seemed to slide from her lips, unwilling and difficult.
Makoto eyed Sae, weighing her options. Nudging her sister to get help from Japan's greatest detective seemed like a bad idea for the Thieves, but Makoto was far more concerned with helping her sister. She'd seen the effects that Naoto had had on Sae, and for a while, it seemed like Sae was back to her old self - serious, yes, but caring, smiling, laughing. She and Makoto had even gone out on a motorcycle ride back in August, something they hadn't done since April.
Then, sometime while Makoto was away in Hawaii, something had changed, and Sae had gotten worse. Makoto had guessed there'd been a fallout, but she hadn't known the details. Now, she know enough - Sae had likely said or done something and chased Naoto away.
Her sister's well-being versus the continued existence of the Phantom Thieves.
It wasn't even a choice.
"She can't help you at all? She was with you so long, I'm sure there's something she can do, however minor. I'm sure she would do it if you asked. She spoke very highly of you, you know."
"She did?" Makoto nodded, satisfied that the idea was now planted in Sae's head, going past the barriers her own pride kept up. There was a moment as Sae seemed to mull the idea over. Then, "Maybe there is."
Nine days after seeing Sae at the Okumura residence, Naoto spoke to her for the first time in a long time.
Sae had been appointed as the head of a SIU unit to catch the Phantom Thieves, giving her exactly the kind of power she needed to do whatever she thought was necessary. Naoto learned this upon entering the courthouse that morning.
Her initial reaction was small shiver of dread. This would only be more pressure on the already put-upon Sae - Naoto had heard her snap out at a clerk of court for a minor mistake last week, and everybody could tell that she was getting worse and worse as time went on and the Phantom Thieves remained uncaught.
Naoto had been doing her own research since their visit to Okumura's house, and she was well into formulating her own plan for how to end this. This news presented a unique opportunity - one that could both help her and Sae, while dealing with the errant Thieves at the same time. It was too good to pass up, if it worked.
She needed to strike a deal with Sae. She immediately pulled out her phone and sent off a text.
LUNCH? HEARD U GOT REASSIGNED.
The reply came far sooner than Naoto had been expecting.
Noon, Hibiya.
As she thought, when Naoto showed up at the stated nearby restaurant at noon sharp, there Sae was. She was looking down at her phone, typing out some kind of message, having not noticed Naoto's arrival yet. Even from where she was, halfway across the room, Naoto could tell that Sae was holding in some tension. She was sitting up straight, her eyes were narrowed, and she seemed jumpy - every scrape of a chair or clink of a plate got a brief but noticeable glance from her. This field promotion had made Sae jumpy, not confident. It seemed that getting what she wanted was not really what she wanted.
It so rarely is .
Naoto walked up to the table and took a seat across from Sae, who set down her phone. Neither of them said anything for a few moments as they looked over the menu, and she decided to see if Sae would start them off and set the tone for this. In between reading the menu, she stole looks at Sae, gauging her thoughts about all of this.
Aside from tension, Sae seemed frustrated - she was avoiding eye contact, pursing her lips, and making quick, jerky movements when she moved at all. This new assignment seemed to have tightened her strings even more. You couldn't have music without tension, but too much and you risk ruining the instrument.
Naoto was not going to let Sae snap if it was the last thing she did.
As the silence stretched on, Naoto grew tired of it, so she changed her mind and spoke up. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Sae replied, her words clipped and tight. She sounded like she would rather not talk about it.
"Your own unit, correct?" Naoto continued on, undaunted. "Special jurisdiction, the police under your command...it's everything you need."
"It is."
A pause stretched on. A waiter came by, got their orders, and left. The other patrons quietly eating lunch and having their own conversations filled the air. Sae seemed to waver between wanting to talk, and not wanting to talk. Nervousness, perhaps, or pride.
"What's the first move, then?"
Sae looked up, a little surprised that Naoto even asked. Perhaps she wasn't expecting Naoto to want to help, or even ask about it. "I...are you…" She didn't finish the sentence, instead just shaking her head and moving on. "Shujin is the obvious connection. We're going to start there by interviewing the students. I already have a few suspects in particular."
Kurusu, Sakamoto, and Takamaki, no doubt.
Still, it was a good way to begin to catch them. "Smart. You may flush them in the open by simply appearing. What if you don't find anyone conclusive?"
"We will." Simple, dismissive.
Naoto was unsatisfied. She narrowed her eyes and pressed. "But what if you don't?"
"We will ," Sae said, an edge to her tone. She was sure they would, it seemed.
Naoto was having none of it. "Sae, yo-"
"Naoto-san!" Sae pounded a balled fist on the table, stopping Naoto's words in their tracks. She looked up to meet Naoto's eyes, and in her expression, Naoto saw several things. Desperation. Determination. A desire for justice.
Most surprising, however, was the fear. It wasn't much, but it was there - an odd tremble to Sae's lips, a tiny wavering tone in her words, a miniscule tensing of her eyelids. Sae was scared, and she didn't want to show it. What on earth could scare Sae Niijima?
"We have to."
And then Naoto got it.
Sae's idea to break the rules to find the Thieves was apparently just a power fantasy brought on by both her experience as a prosecutor and a desire to end this case - the kind of thinking anyone has when frustrated and dreaming. Now, it was an order from her superiors. Getting this assignment meant that whatever Sae had been planning now had to become a reality, no matter what that meant for justice and honor.
There would be no evidence they could find, Naoto knew that much. Not even she knew exactly how the Phantom Thieves were changing hearts, and she had more insight than most. Whoever had given Sae this assignment had given her a fool's errand, and they didn't care what happened as long as somebody was going to hang.
The government was up against the wall, and they were going to make Sae take the blame if anyone found out. It was the perfect scenario for them, because no matter what, they got off with no black marks. Sae was in no such position; if the conviction in court held up against future scrutiny - and Naoto had little doubt that it would hold up - Sae would likely be hailed a hero, given a promotion, and make all the papers as the person who caught the Phantom Thieves. If it didn't, she would be forever branded as the woman who helped send innocent people to their deaths in her desire to end the Phantom Thieves
The trace of fear Naoto saw in Sae told her everything she needed to know. Sae wanted to do this before now, but it was always just an impossible dream, borne of frustration. Now that it was a reality, it was much scarier. How much of this fear had come from the opposition she'd gotten from Akechi and Naoto when she'd voiced the idea? Had Naoto's proddings and pleadings all those weeks ago turned Sae's heart away from wanting to genuinely pursue this course of action?
Sae was now between a rock and a hard place, and the more Naoto thought about it, the more furious she was at Sae's superiors for this. Sae was not the enemy - the ones who gave this to her were. Naoto had seen too many good people get destroyed by their higher-ups for her to let this go without a fight.
"Okay," Naoto mused, leaning back in her chair, mind racing. The SIU must be turning up the gas on this. Is this malicious, or are they just covering their asses? "I understand. I mean, I fully, completely understand."
Sae relaxed in her chair - not much, but enough that Nato noticed - and fixed Naoto with one of her usual piercing gazes, expectant. Naoto knew that the woman was too full of pride to simply ask for help. They had to figure this out together.
First, how long do I have? "What can I do to help? How long until the investigation likely concludes?"
"No more than a month." Sae sat back up in her chair, taking a sip from her water glass. "It will take at least that long to find the necessary…evidence." That she was originally going to say something else was not lost on Naoto.
"The director himself impressed upon me how important this assignment was," Sae continued. "He gave it to me because I asked them to search Kobayakawa's office again on a hunch, and that found new evidence."
She's probably wishing she hadn't. "And what's the price of failure?"
Another one of Sae's steely looks, but she said nothing, eventually looking away. Failure isn't possible, then. Tall order, but I have the time I need. If I start now.
With a nod, Naoto rose, straightening her jacket. She had much to do. "You said a month, correct? That should be fine, but I need you to stall as much as possible. Sorry to cut this short, but..."
"It's fine. I'll do what I can." She opened her mouth to say something else, but nothing came out. Naoto patiently waited.
And waited.
And waited.
It became clear that Sae couldn't quite phrase it right, so Naoto decided to prompt her with something. "Sae, when this is over…"
Sae just nodded, relief gracing her features. "Yes, of...of course. What are you going to do?"
Naoto smiled slightly, then shook her head. "It's better if you don't know. Do you trust me?" It took a few seconds, but Sae gave her a quick nod. "Then keep at what you're doing. You'll hear from me soon, I promise."
She turned to go, but stopped, and looked back. "...we'll get through this."
With that, she faced the door and walked out. She was a block away before she realized she'd forgotten to stay, and pay, for her meal.
The next two days were a flurry of writing, filming, and editing. Her plan would require more than a few new discoveries as to the nature of the cognitive worlds, and a small bit of luck. She wouldn't know if her theory was correct until it was almost too late, but she had few other options - the Phantom Thieves needed to be found as soon as possible.
Calls to Marie, Teddie, and the rest of the Investigation Team went well enough - they deserved a heads-up. She sent an email to Mitsuru that would take some time to reply to, but it wasn't necessary to get an immediate reply for what was coming up next - she'd handle all of that later. As it was, she had more than enough to do - and based on Marie's assertion that there was something weird going on in the Midnight Channel, she was about to have even more on her plate.
On the eve of the second day after her meeting with Sae, she placed a single call to a contact who worked at one of Tokyo's largest news organizations. It lasted only a minute or two, and when it was done, she set her phone down and slumped in her chair, sighing deeply. That was it - everything was in place. Now, all she had to do was wait.
With luck, she would be meeting the Phantom Thieves in just a few days. She was, after all, putting herself squarely into their crosshairs.
About time.
She stood up with a grunt, walked over to the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of some whisky Rise had sent her. She swirled it gently around the glass as she walked over to a nearby window and looked out at the busy metropolis below her.
So many people, so many lives, and all of them had been touched by the Phantom Thieves in some way. They had leapt from a minor case of interest to an international cultural phenomenon in just a few months, capturing the hearts of victims and fans alike. Naoto believed them to be on the side of true justice - she knew that the law could not always be there when it needed to be.
Still, whether they were truly just and righteous or not, Naoto would find out soon. She took a sip from her glass, enjoying the slight burn of the alcohol as it went down her throat. The moment was calm, and she savored it. Coming up, there might not be many like it.
Let's see what you've got, Kurusu.
Ryuji: holy shit dudes
Makoto: Ryuji, pay attention in class.
Ryuji: shirogane called us out
Makoto: Wait, she what?!
The broadcast showed several times over the course of the day. Clips were up on Youtube within minutes and it hit every major news outlet before noon. By that night, everyone in Tokyo, and likely most of Japan, knew that Naoto Shirogane had issued a challenge to the Phantom Thieves.
The video was simple. It showed Naoto standing at a podium in the court house, the statue of justice behind her. She was wearing her usual gray suit, and she was looking straight at the camera, serious and focused.
"To the Phantom Thieves of Hearts," she began, "I, Detective Naoto Shirogane, offer you a warning.
"Your flagrant ignorance of the laws and rules of justice has made you an enemy of the state. The murder of Kunikazu Okumura was yet another step on your path of crime, one that I will no longer permit you to walk unhindered. As of today, I have gathered enough evidence to find you, arrest you, and see you all imprisoned for the rest of your lives - and after over a dozen murders by way of mental shutdown, your lives are in serious jeopardy.
"But I have come today to offer you a deal, as well. It will be one you're familiar with, I'm sure - you've already changed the hearts of many people, so what is one more? If you can change my heart, I will drop my case against you. I will leave Tokyo, and I will never trouble you again.
"That is my deal, Phantom Thieves. I give you 72 hours to send me a calling card and change my heart. After that, I will come and find you with as many members of the SAT as I can manage - and have no doubt, I will find you.
"Good luck."
"So you got her number?"
The Phantom Thieves were gathered in Futaba's room, who had just finished her priority task. At the question, Futaba turned to Makoto and smiled, pointing to a phone number on the screen.
"Yep! Same way I got yours. We can contact her whenever we want." She clicked a few times and brought up a messaging protocol, entering Naoto's number as the recipient. "Should I send her a message?"
"Well, she doesn't have a Palace, and her Shadow doesn't seem to exist in Mementos," Akira said. "Do we have any other options we haven't tried?"
"I'm still confused about that," Ryuji said as he scratched his head. "Mona said everyone's got a Shadow in Mementos, right? Why can't we find hers, then?"
"I said everyone theoretically has a Shadow there, if it's not in a Palace," Morgana corrected Ryuji, shooting a glare at him. "Mementos is the Palace for everyone's hearts, so her Shadow should be in there."
"And yet, she doesn't seem to," Ann countered. "Futaba couldn't find a trace of her in Mementos, and she doesn't have a Palace, so the only option left is to be more thorough."
Ryuji shrugged. "Just seems like a waste of time, is all I'm sayin'. We could be searching more Mementos floors right now instead of hopin' she can lead us right to her."
Yusuke looked over at Ryuji. "I'm in favor of that, but this is worth a try. If it fails, we go to plan C."
"Which is to take her into Mementos and talk to her there." Haru glanced at the rest of them from her spot next to the desk. "Correct?"
Akira nodded. "Correct. Let's do this. Send her the message, Futaba."
Futaba typed out a message to send and waited for everyone to crowd around before sending it.
Detective Naoto Shirogane, this is the Phantom Thieves. We saw your message and have chosen to accept your offer.
What felt like the longest minute in the world passed before a reply came.
TOOK U LONG ENOUGH
The Thieves blinked, staring at the message. "Futaba, not to doubt your amazing hacker skills, but are you sure you got the right number?" Makoto asked, looking down at the girl. "There's no way she texts like that."
Futaba glared up at Makoto, irritated by the doubt. "I triple checked my process! That's her!"
"The world's greatest detective texts in all capital letters and with abbreviations," Yusuke mused, rubbing his chin. "What a strange mind we're dealing with." Futaba typed out another message.
To steal your heart we need something from you first. Humor us.
OH?
We need to know where we can find you. Somewhere important to you. Somewhere your heart may lie.
U CAN FIND ME IN THE MIDNIGHT CHANNEL
"The Midnight Channel?" Ryuji looked at Makoto. "The hell is that?"
"According to the internet, the Midnight Channel was an urban legend from about five years ago," Haru said, scrolling through a website on her phone. "It came on at midnight on rainy days, and if you watched it, it would show you your soulmate. Apparently it was localized to a small town named Inaba, west of here."
"Well, does it work?" Ann asked, nodding to Akira's phone. "Naoto Shirogane, Midnight Channel?"
To everyone's surprise, Akira's phone buzzed. The soothing female voice of the Metaverse Nav came from Akira's phone: now searching new region: the Midnight Channel. Please wait. Then, some kind of gentle song began to play, a piano accompanied by a single female vocalist.
"For real?!"
"What does that even mean?" Makoto wondered aloud. "Are there other parts of the Metaverse under different names? Morgana, any insights?"
Morgana shook his head, perched on Futaba's lap. "This is news to me too. I've never heard of this Midnight Channel."
The music stopped and Akira's phone spoke up, again surprising everyone: candidate found: Naoto Shirogane.
"Intriguing," Yusuke said, pondering the results. "There are yet many mysteries for us to discover regarding the Metaverse, it seems."
Morgana pawed at Futaba's arm. "Keep going! Get the last keyword!"
Futaba nodded and typed out a text.
And what do you see this place as?
WHAT DO U MEAN?
When you think of this place, what is it to you?
MY SECRET LABORATORY.
"Her…'secret laboratory'?" Makoto read from the screen.
Location found. Akira's smartphone buzzed once more as the Nav confirmed their destination, prompting another wave of reactions and another "for real!?" from Ryuji. Akira, having mentally prepared himself to not be surprised, was nonplussed.
"This might be easier than we thought," Akira said, looking at the rest of them. "Is everyone ready to go?"
"Right now?" Ann asked, caught off guard.
"We can't really afford to wait," Makoto said. "This is a rush job, as much of one as we've ever had."
"I get that, but...where are we going to enter? Where is the Midnight Channel? We can't go to Inaba tonight," Ann protested. "It's too late to take a train there and not spend the night."
Futaba was already typing.
And where can we find this Midnight Channel?
FIND THE NEAREST TV AND PUT UR HAND IN IT
Futaba looked up at Akira. "She's joking, right?"
"She seems to have been dead serious thus far. I wonder if something got garbled during transmission. Still, it's worth a shot," he said with a shrug. "Boss has a TV in the living room, right?"
"Yeah, but...wait, you're seriously gonna try this?"
"I cannot believe you're seriously gonna try this."
A minute later, Akira was standing in the living room in front of the large TV set. It was more than large enough for his hand to fit in, if such a thing was even possible.
"Fortune favors the bold, Futaba," he said with a nod. "Okay, ready?"
"Why are you asking us?" Makoto arched an eyebrow.
"If something terrible happens, I may need you to help me pull my arm out."
"Hmm. He's right," Yusuke said, moving closer to him. "We don't really know what's back there. Be careful with the hand, Akira, I'd hate for you to lose it."
"They really are perfect for each other," Ann said with a sigh. "Okay, just...do it already!"
With a dramatic flourish of his hand, and a collective intake of breath from the group, Akira shoved his arm towards the TV, where it doinked against the screen and stayed resolutely put. Everyone let go of their collective breath as a chorus of sighs washed over the group.
"Okay, now what?" Ryuji asked, looking to Makoto. She put her hand to her chin and stroked it as she thought, going over the possibilities.
After a moment, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, of course. Akira, activate the Nav. It needs to be on for us to access the Metaverse."
Akira did so, tapping the START button. His phone chirped out " Beginning navigation " and there was the usual flash of purple as they moved into the cognitive world, and then...nothing.
Undeterred, Akira placed his hand on the TV screen and pushed, sinking his hand wrist deep into the screen, ripples moving out from his point of entry.
"Holy shit!"
"Ryuji!" Ann scolded. "Language!"
"She's right, Ryuji," Futaba said, eyes wide. "This at least deserves a what the fuck ."
After falling, almost literally, into Sojiro's TV set, the Phantom Thieves found themselves lying in heaps in an utterly unfamiliar environment.
They were standing on what looked like a soundstage in the middle of a grassy field at night. Spotlights were hanging overhead from various girders, providing plenty of light to see the immediate area. The floor itself was checkerboard patterned with red and blue squares, and the center of the soundstage was a weird collection of human silhouettes lying on what looked like a shooting target. Three CRT TVs stacked on top of one another were sitting in the center of the floor.
The first thing everyone noticed after all of that was the weird-looking mascot character standing in the corner and jumping up and down with joy. "Hooray! You made it!," they said. "I'm beary glad to meet you, Phantom Thieves!"
"Did that dude just make a bear pun?" Ryuji asked as he stood up, rubbing his rear end. "Ow, I think I broke my ass…"
"Looks fine to me," Yusuke said as he also got to his feet. Ryuji shot him a suspicious look before shrugging and taking the compliment.
"Bear-y?" Makoto glanced at the leaping newcomer, on guard but not obviously so. "We already have one animal mascot, I'm not sure we can handle two. Who are you?"
"Iiiiii'm Teddie!" He spun around and struck a celebratory pose. "And welcome to the Midnight Channel!"
With a hissing noise and a threatening meow, Morgana sprung to his feet and ran over, putting himself between Teddie and the others. "Careful, everyone! This is a Shadow!"
His announcement sent almost everyone into defensive fighting stances. Yusuke, however, tilted his head and framed Teddie with his fingers. "A Shadow? Intriguing. What manner of Shadow are you?"
Haru looked over at Yusuke. "Should we be talking to him?"
"Woah, hey, easy!" Teddie protested, trying to calm everyone down. "Yes, I'm a Shadow, but I'm a beary friendly one! I'm here on bearhalf of Naoto! We're good friends, you know!"
At the mention of Naoto, the Thieves relaxed - she did, after all, tell them how to get here. "So...we made it then?" Futaba asked, looking around herself at the soundstage. "This is it?"
Ryuji nodded in approval as he glanced around for the first time, admiring the landscape. "Cool lookin' place, bear. Weird part of the Metaverse, though."
"Indeed," Yusuke agreed. "Aesthetically confusing, too."
"The red and blue is a little tacky…" Haru looked up from the ground. "But I like the mural on the floor!"
"Everyone, focus please," Makoto ordered. The rest of the thieves, save Akira, snapped back to relative attention. Akira was looking at the CRTs "We're still in our normal clothes, so...you don't see us as enemies. You really are a Shadow, Teddie?"
Teddie nodded, turning to face her. "Uh huh! I was born here in the Midnight Channel, but Yu and Naoto and the others helped me become a real boy! I actually live in the human world! I worked out really hard and grew my own human body!"
The Thieves fell silent. How do you respond to that exactly?
"Good job," Akira said with a nod of approval. "I bet that wasn't easy."
Teddie flashed a wide smile. "It took me a while, but I got it eventually! Now who are all of you?"
"I'm Joker. With me are Skull, Panther, Queen, Fox, Oracle, and Noir." He pointed out each of them in turn. "The cat is Mona. You said this place was the Midnight Channel?"
"Uh huh!" He gestured around, pointing to the entire area. "The Midnight Channel is a land of human dreams and desires! You already know about Shadows, so I'll go ahead and skip that part. I'd love to tell you more, but Naoto asked that I bring you right to her, so let's get going!"
"Wait, hold on," Makoto said. "I'm still wondering how you can be a Shadow."
Teddie smiled and half turned away, making a 'let's go' motion with his arm. "That's a story that I'm really not prebeared to tell you right now! You need to go talk to Naoto right away! Follow me!"
With that, he started to walk off down one of the catwalks, every step accompanied by a strange cutesy noise. The Phantom Thieves looked at each other, gave a collective shrug, and clustered together to follow him.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Ann whispered to Haru.
"We've been in weirder places," Haru whispered back. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Discuss?"
Naoto stood up from the operation table and took a few steps towards them. "I imagine you're very confused on several things, so I'm going to explain everything I know to you. After that, I'll answer any questions you might have that I can answer. Afterthat ...well, I'm hoping what to do next will be obvious.
"First things first, I want you to know that I'm on your side. I did what I did yesterday to get your attention - it was the fastest possible way I had of finding you. Unless I'm completely wrong about you all, and you are a bunch of murderous high schoolers, I can assure you that I'm not going to arrest you and throw you in jail. In fact, I want to help you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are not responsible for the murders of Okumura and Kobayakawa, right?"
The Thieves nodded, their faces honest. Naoto saw enough of the truth - there was no way that all of them could be practiced at deception enough to fool her. "Then, as I suspected, you're being framed. For what reason, I don't know yet - but I'm going to help you figure it out, because if I'm right about this next part, I've been through something startlingly similar to what you're currently going through.
"I have a hunch that sometime over the past few months, all of you have awakened to a strange new power - a power borne from your own mind, from something that is part of you, and you are part of it."
She put her left arm out in front of her and held up palm-up, opening her fingers. From the palm of her hand, a glow blue tarot card appeared, floating in midair. Suffused in gentle light and shimmering with arcane energy, it slowly revolved in the palm of her hand, the glow sweeping over the stunned and surprised faces of the Phantom Thieves. On the face side, it bore a single X near the bottom and had a picture of a wheel with a sword running through it.
Then, with a single swift motion, she drew a revolver and shot the card, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces. With a rush of blue energy and a flash of light, Yamato Sumeragi materialized behind Naoto, sword held up and at the ready position. There it stayed for just a second before the Persona swung it down to the side and settled comfortably in the air behind Naoto, looking down at the Phantom Thieves.
A smile graced Naoto's lips as she holstered her revolved. "You have all awakened to the power of Persona, have you not?"