Chapter 8: Feel Nothing
"We want our soul to burn…"
I was sitting at the bar drinking my morning coffee, Ryuko was sleeping upstairs, Morgana too. I used my knowledge of coffee and curry to form a bond with Sojiro, although it wasn't anywhere close to what we had before the time shennanigannery happened. Hell, I hadn't really talked all that much to my other confidants either. I checked up on everyone when I had the time to. Ohya was still hanging around that drag bar, Hifumi was still moping around the church, I had struck up a cordial acquaintance with Iwai at the airsoft shop from selling him all my Palace loot, and the good doctor was still doing her thing across the alley from LeBlanc. Nothing much had changed.
I don't know why I was hesitating so much in reintroducing myself to these people who I'd called friends before. It's the same dilemma as I had with the Thieves before I got them all back, but at least I could get them back. We had decided to not go around and mass-restore the memories of people who weren't previously a Phantom Thief or trusted associates of Ryuko. We didn't need to handle the threat from Ragyo, going through the past Palaces, and handling people we didn't know who may be freaked out by remembering two timelines. There simply wasn't the manpower present to do all that.
I was thinking about all this when Futaba walked into the café, laptop in hand. I was sipping my coffee and Sojiro was reading a paper when I caught her in the corner of my eye. I set down my cup on the bar and Sojiro saw her too. Just like last time he was astonished at the seemingly random 'coming out' of his surrogate daughter. "Futaba?" he said in amazement. Luckily the café was empty, so there were no regulars around to watch Sojiro stammer.
"Why… why did you come out now?" he asked. I was looking back at my coffee. We probably should have arranged a story beforehand, but after my encounter with Ann last night I wasn't in the wisest headspace. I hadn't told anyone what happened yet. But just as I was going to start improvising, Futaba had me beat to the punch.
"Well, I like playing online games." she said, "And I've been friends online with this guy for a while, and it turns out that friend is him." Futaba said, pointing at me. I nodded at Sojiro, "Yeah, when I mentioned my move to Tokyo, she asked me where I was staying, and that's how we found out." I said, hopefully the excuse was smooth enough for Sojiro.
The man narrowed his eyes and investigated my face, I smiled at him earnestly, Futaba moving closer to the bar. After a moment he relented, probably gladder that Futaba was getting out more despite the company she decided to keep. My coffee and curry-powered schmoozing was paying off.
"Well, okay then." he said. Futaba took a seat beside me at the bar and Sojiro poured her a cup of coffee. I was going to make some small talk, but the door opened, and some morning regulars came in. Sojiro looked towards them, and I had to think on my feet. "Hey, why don't I introduce you to Ryuko?" I said, standing up. Sojiro nodded and went to talk to the customers. I made sure to grab an extra coffee for Ryuko and Futaba led the way upstairs as more customers came in.
The dividers separating Ryuko's bed were still shut, and I assumed she was fast asleep. Morgana wasn't anywhere to be found oddly enough, but I stopped questioning his behavior long ago. Futaba sat down on the futon, and I grabbed the workbench chair. "So, what all happened?" Futaba asked. I did my best to fill her in on the worlds merging, the life fibers, and all the rest of it. I was starting to talk about the people we saw in Mementos when she interrupted, "About that." she said.
"After I woke up, my diagnostic tools started picking up absurd amounts of data." she said while unfolding her laptop. "What's it say?" I asked, moving to sit next to her, looking at lines of code and a rough rendering of Memntos's structure on the screen. "The best I can make out is that whoever these people are, they are working their way through Mementos floor by floor and are taking great care to occupy the floors that they clear to keep Shadows from respawning as quickly as they usually do." she said.
"Why would they do that?" I pondered. "I'm not sure." Futaba said, "I would need to gather more data, but if I had to make a guess, I think they are trying to harness the whole of Mementos for some reason or another. I can also tell you that they are close to reaching the bottom." she said. I nodded and thought for a moment. "But what about the Reaper?" I asked. "Not sure what they do about that, we'd have to observe them dealing with it I think." she said.
"What about that section that opened up when Dr. Maruki took over?" I asked. "I didn't pick up that area at all, it seems to have collapsed along with the alternate reality that he created." she said. "But the wires and everything are still there." I said. "That's true, but I don't think they are moving the same energy that Dr. Maruki was using." Futaba said, "I was getting data from some of the wires in the entrance, and they were giving off a weird reading. They might be modified by whoever is down there to conduct energy from these life fibers you were talking about. I'd have to go back in the confirm that though." Futaba said.
I nodded, "Okay, well myself Ryuko, Akechi, and Morgana are going to Mementos today to track down some targets, you should come along." I said. Futaba agreed and she closed her laptop. I was wondering to myself if we needed anyone else to go along, I had otherwise told the others to get started in infiltrating the other Palaces.
"If you don't mind me asking." Futaba said, "What happened between you and Ann?" I sighed and ruminated on last night's events. "We had a bit of a falling out." I said. "Duh! I knew you two broke up, but what happened since then?" Futaba said. "She happened." I said, pointing to the dividers. "Ryuko? What's she like?" Futaba asked. "She's uh," I said, trying to think of the right words, "I don't know, it's best you find out for yourself. She's been through her own struggle in her own world." I said. Futaba nodded and looked into her now empty cup of coffee. "I'll go grab a refill." she said, walking downstairs back into the café.
It wasn't long after when the dividers opened and Ryuko wandered out, stretching, and yawning in her sweatpants and t-shirt. I was lying on my bed looking at my phone, she came down and sat next to me. "Good morning." I said, grabbing one of her hands. She smiled down at me and she moved a stray lock of hair from my face. "Good morning to you." she said. "You might want to change. We got a visitor." I said.
"Really?" Ryuko asked coyly, leaning in closer, "They might need to wait for a little while." she said, leaning in to kiss me. I let her for a little bit before gently pushing her off and sitting up. "Futaba came over." I said, standing up and handing Ryuko the coffee I had brought for her. She smiled and sipped it, "Okay, anything I should know about her?" Ryuko asked. "Yeah, she's a hardcore introvert, but the Thieves and I have made a lot of progress in opening her up some. So just be nice." I said.
"Oh, so am I not nice enough?" Ryuko asked candidly. "No, I-" I began. "I think I'm perfectly nice to everyone!" she scoffed. I looked disheartened, and a silence fell between us. "I'm just screwing with you" Ryuko said, punching my arm lightly. I smirked and shook my head a bit.
"Say, did anything happen between you and Ann last night?" Ryuko asked between sips of coffee. "Why'd you ask?" I said. "I don't know, you came back last night looking like something happened." she said, looking me in the eyes. I held steady, "Don't worry about it." I said, hoping that would be the end of it. She was going to say something, but Futaba came back into the room.
"Hello!" she said, Ryuko stood up, "You must be Ryuko Matoi." Futaba said. "You'd be Futaba?" Ryuko said, offering her hand. The two made their introductions and I glanced at my phone. "Hey." I said, interrupting the other two, "We need to get going soon." "But it's only ten, we have like two hours." Ryuko said. "True, but I wanted to take you somewhere first." I said.
The green neon 'Untouchable' sign was above us. Ryuko looked at the storefront quizzically, "So, this place sells what exactly?" she asked. "It sells model guns, melee weapons, and it buys all the stuff we pick up from the Metaverse which isn't cash." I explained as we walked towards it. Futaba had taken Morgana off to the bookstore down the street while we did our business here.
"Why did you bring me here then?" Ryuko asked. "Well, everyone else has some sort of ranged weapon, and I thought it might do you good to have one too." I said, hoping that she would be receptive to the idea. "But I have my scissor blade. Isn't that enough?" she countered. "You're really good with it, but having another option is always nice." I said. "Fine." she sighed.
I smiled, "Okay, so what kind of gun do you want? I'll buy it for you." She thought for a second. "I don't know, something quick that I don't need to think about aiming." she said. I nodded, "Okay, I think I know what might work." I had become somewhat knowledgeable on weapons since I started working with Iwai previously. So hopefully I could bust out some knowledge that would open his store a bit more.
We walked into the store and Iwai looked up at me. "Hey." he said, "Got more stuff to sell?" he asked, setting down the magazine he was reading. "No actually, I wanted to ask you about machine pistols." I said, Ryuko had busied herself looking at the ration vending machine. Iwai nodded, "Any specific model in mind?" he asked gruffly. I think he expected me to say something dumb, but I thought of three models. "I was thinking either a Glock 18C, a Beretta 93R, or a MAC-11."
He nodded, "You know the names, but what exactly do you need from a pistol like that?" he asked, which was totally fair. "Something extremely mobile and easily controllable." I said. Iwai nodded again. "The G18C might be the better option for you then. I'll go fetch a model from the back." he said. I was really surprised at how open he was about all of this, and soon enough he came back with the model. It looked perfect. I held it in my hands and looked down at the sights, this was the one. "I'll take it." I said. Iwai smirked, "Alright, it's pricey though, but I'll throw in a holster too." he said. I winced at the bill, but I paid it all the same.
The four of us were kicking around Mementos, waiting for the wunderkind detective to come by. I took the time to give Ryuko a crash-course in firearm safety. "So, how does this work exactly?" Ryuko asked, the holster I bought for her in her hands. "Well, the holster fits around your chest. You can put it on almost like a jacket." I said as I helped her with the rig. "Okay?" she said once it was on. "Now, the pistol goes into the holster at your side, and you can easily cross-draw whenever you want." I said as I put the pistol into the holster on her left side. She reached over with her right hand and drew it.
"Now what?" she asked. "Just shoot it over there." I said, pointing to a section of wall where no one was standing. "But isn't this a fake?" she asked, turning it over in her hands. "Yes, but since Mementos is based on cognition. So, if something looks real enough it becomes so. However, you only get one magazine, the enemy expects you to come at them locked and loaded." I said. She then turned the gun upwards and looked down into the barrel. I quickly batted it down again. "What's your problem?" she huffed, my hand keeping the gun down.
"Three rules. Don't point that at anything you don't want to destroy. Keep your finger off the trigger unless you're ready to use it. And finally, assume that gun is always loaded and ready to go." I said forcefully, hoping the message would get across. Her expression lightened, "I know." she said, leaning in closer, "I think it's cute when you worry." she whispered. I was a little stunned at the comment, and my cheeks were burning. I only regained my composure when Ryuko leveled her weapon and fired at the wall.
I wasn't sure how many bullets were in there, but the pistol spat them out before I could even realize what was happening. Ryuko and I looked at the wall where she shot, and her grouping was remarkably stable for such a rapid rate of fire. I counted about twenty bullet holes all within a foot radius of each other. Ryuko smirked, "Huh, I think this will do just fine." she said as she holstered the gun. It wasn't long after when our missing partner, Akechi, finally showed up.
"Took you long enough." I said, meeting Akechi a few paces from Ryuko, who was eyeing up the newcomer from her seat atop a turnstile. "My interviews went long." he answered simply. He looked around and saw Futaba as she was examining a life fiber she was pulling from its place in the wall. "I see you've regained everyone. Let's get started." he said, making for the entrance.
"Wait." I said, "There are other people down here." Akechi looked back at me. His mask obscured his face, but his body language was questioning. Ryuko, Morgana, and I told him about the Goku patrols as Futaba finished up her analysis. "So, with these people here." I said, "We need to avoid fights where we can. And under no circumstances are we going to be killing anyone or severing their life fiber connection." I said. Akechi scoffed, "If they are going to attack me, I will defend myself." he said, turning towards the stairs. "I won't deny you that right." I said, "But we don't have the manpower to deal with people we don't know regaining their memory and having several Shujin students mentally shut down would hamper our efforts." I said, appealing to his practicality. He paused in his tracks, "Fine." he said as we went into the depths.
We drove down to the first door and got there without encountering many problems. When we reached the platform, we took our time going down the escalators in case any patrols were around. Thankfully though we didn't encounter any. I got the sense that one of our targets, Kenichi Anno, was getting close, maybe another floor or two, Morgana agreed. I took the roads, or rails rather, very slowly. I didn't want to tip off anyone from the sound of the car. Although there were a few times where I had to floor it to outrun a Shadow. We went down two more floors.
"Hey, I think we're close." Morgana said as I took a corner. I slammed on the brakes however and Morgana shifted into reverse, there was a patrol guarding the portal to where our target was. We all got out and Morgana transformed back to normal. I went back to the corner, and I tried to focus on the patrol.
"Can you hear them?" Akechi asked, looking around the corner below me. "No, I need to get closer." I said, the entrance and the guards were probably a good fifty meters away, there was no way I would be able to hear them. "Could you grapple above them?" Akechi suggested. I looked at the roof, which I normally didn't bother doing. There I saw an outcrop which was pretty close to the patrol that could fit me.
I pointed it out and Akechi nodded. "Alright." I said, turning to the others who were further lined up on the wall, "I'm going to grapple onto an outcrop and try to eavesdrop on them. They might have something useful to say. When I'm done, I'll throw a smoke bomb down and that will be our signal to go in. Remember, take them alive and keep their fibers intact." I said. Ryuko and Morgana nodded, Futaba was working on her data or something. I doubt she heard me.
I looked back around the corner, and I waited for the guards, four in total, to not look where I would be grappling, and after a while, the time was right. I swung my hook and zoomed up to the outcrop. I knelt and focused on the group, who were barely ten meters away now. I was thankful that the roof and upper parts of the walls here in Mementos were pitch black, allowing me to blend in. The four guards were split in pairs, the one pair farthest from me was inspecting a section of wire while the other two were closer, I decided to focus on their conversation.
"So, what do you think of this Reaper rumor?" one said. "What do you mean?" the other asked. "I've heard that deeper down there's this crazy strong Shadow that shows up, it already took out a few of our guys. No one died thankfully." he said. "Huh, the bosses say anything about it?" the other asked. "Yeah, we're supposed to call for the deputy on duty if we hear the sounds of chains or something coming through the tunnels." he said. The other nodded, "Who's on today?" "I think it's Nijima." the guard said.
I narrowed my eyes when I heard Makoto's name. I wondered if there was a way to find out more about her position while we were here if we induced a Reaper encounter somehow. I was lost in this thought when I snapped back to the task at hand. The guards were talking about girls now, not anything that I needed to hear.
I whipped a smoke bomb down between the pairs of guards and they were stunned by the bomb. They began coughing and I made my move. Leaping down from the outcrop I landed on the chest of one, knocking him to the ground. I stomped on his head, knocking him out. I quickly went to deal with his friend. Just as I wrapped my arm around him to choke him out, I heard Ryuko rocketing towards us, she transformed midair from her rocket from back to normal and landed a kick to one of the guards in the jaw, he was out cold with a hefty dental bill.
She then started to beat the crap out of the other as I subdued my guy. The smoke was wearing off and the guard was putting up a decent defense amidst his rampant coughing. Ryuko was relentless in her attacks, but the guard regained his composure soon enough. I came up beside Ryuko to try and take a flank, but just as I was about to make a move, Akechi appeared behind the guard. He drew his gun, spun it around his finger and pistol-whipped the guard, knocking them out in a single blow.
Ryuko straightened up and glared at the detective. "We all get our pound of flesh Matoi." he said as he walked towards the portal. "Forget it." I said, patting Ryuko on the shoulder as Morgana and Futaba joined us. The four of us went through the portal and into the pocket where a Shadow stood.
He wasn't anything special, with a name like Kenichi Anno I was expecting some sort of artist, but I was wrong, he was in his late thirties or early forties, he had the classic look of a salaryman about him. I decided to take the lead.
"Alright." I called out to the Shadow. I was going to make a wisecrack, but the Shadow beat me to it. "What! You gonna say we can do this the easy way? Don't make me laugh." it said. "Took my words." I said, unsheathing my knife and drawing my pistol, "We just want to know about Eriseds." I pointed my gun at the Shadow, but it just laughed. It then lurched and transformed into a Kali backed up by two Eligor.
Ryuko came up next to me, her grin wide as she slammed her scissor blade down in front of us dramatically. "Just like those Red Riders?" she asked, I could almost hear her teeth grinding in anticipation of the fight. I smirked, "Let's do this." I said. We rushed for the first Eligor head on. It took our challenge and charged at us, lowering its lance.
Just before the lance struck me, I jumped up and tackled the rider. Ryuko slid under the horse and drove her blade into the beast's heart, toppling the rider and myself. I acted quickly, thrusting my knife into a gap near the rider's head. The Shadow faded away into black mist. I stood back up quickly and saw Morgana and Akechi keeping the Kali busy. Futaba was doing her best to support by de-buffing the other Eligor, which was taking passes at the two Thieves to little effect.
Ryuko and I didn't even need to communicate verbally at this point. Like a well-oiled machine we charged the other Eligor and did the same move. I jumped, she killed the horse, I dispatched the rider. We landed the blows perfectly. I straightened up and met her eyes for a split second. They were narrowed and wired, ready for more action. I broke off and dashed to the Kali with Ryuko close behind.
The Shadow had done a good job at deflecting the melee attacks from Akechi and Morgana given its multiple arms all holding a saber. "Keep it busy!" I told Ryuko, she nodded and joined the other two in clashing iron with the Shadow. I darted behind the Kali and drew my gun. Crouching down, I held my breath and carefully put a bullet into each of the Shadow's knees. The being wailed and fell to the floor. Morgana caught two of its arms and pinned them to the ground, Ryuko got the rest pinned. Akechi pulled his silenced pistol and dramatically raised it to the Shadow's head, ending it with a final shot between the eyes. The Shadow slumped over and reformed into the salaryman as we sheathed our weapons.
He stuck out his hand to block the five of us who were standing over him, "I'm SORRY!" it yelled out. "Sorry for what?" Ryuko said while crouching down to the Shadow's level. The Shadow's face quivered, "I-I- know that she didn't want to, and I know that I shouldn't have come onto her I ju-" it stammered. Ryuko grabbed the Shadow's tie and hauled it right up to her face, her eyes wide and crazed, her lips curved into a high smile. Even I was getting frightened by her interrogation technique, if not impressed.
The Shadow was in full on tears at this point, "I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU STICK YOUR SHRIVELED DICK!" Ryuko roared. Futaba was taking cover behind me and even Morgana was taken aback. The Shadow was bawling at this point, and I decided to step in. I crouched down to the Shadow and turned its head towards me. "Listen, all we want to know is what you know about the company Eriseds." I said calmly.
The Shadow's mouth stammered, and it finally started talking, "Shido-san said th-that they would put me on the board of d-d-directors if I approved non-p-profit status for their advocacy firms. That's all I know!" it said. Ryuko shook the Shadow by the collar, "You know more. Talk to me about Rei Hoomaru." she said ominously.
The Shadow swallowed and regained some of its composure. "Hoomaru-chan is the liaison between Eriseds HQ and everyone involved with the nonprofit process." it said. If anything, having confirmation of Akechi's intelligence was worth it. "One last thing." I said, "What do you know about life fibers?" The Shadow's eyes widened even more at that. "How d-do you know about that!?" it stammered. "THAT DOSEN'T MATTER!" Ryuko yelled quickly, scaring the Shadow back into submission. "I-It's a new technology that Eriseds engineers are developing, it's supposed to enhance already existing textiles to be more durable. That's all I know, please let me go!" it pleaded.
Ryuko shot me a glance and I nodded. She shoved the Shadow back down, it looked at me for judgement. "Go back to your real self. Atone for your crimes, un-involve yourself with Eriseds and Mr. Shido." I said. The Shadow nervously nodded in agreement and vanished into white mist. "Well, that settles that!" Ryuko said, her whole demeanor turning from terrifying to cheerful like the flick of a switch. She strutted off towards the portal back to the tunnels, Futaba and Morgana following behind.
I walked alongside Akechi at a distance from the others. "Well Joker, I wasn't sure what to think of your new girlfriend." he said, I shot him an angry look, "Oh, I mean it as a compliment. It's nice to work with someone who has some balls for once." he said, a snarl creeping into his otherwise demure tone. "Thanks." I said plainly. I wasn't sure what to think about what I had just seen. We passed through the portal back into the tunnels and regrouped. "Okay then. I say we keep going if you're all up to it." I said to the group. The rest agreed and Morgana transformed.
This journey was extremely odd. The further we went down, the more Goku patrols we encountered. We had so far avoided them as best we could, but things inside the car were tense. Akechi had been trying to talk to Ryuko more after her display of interrogation competency, but she was having none of it, and an eerie silence had overcome the party. Another thing that bugged me was the lack of rest stops. We had entered and gone through a whole other section of Mementos, and those platforms where we used to stop and rest up weren't there anymore, and I had no clue why. We were walking down to the next floor and Morgana's ears cocked, I could sense it too. This was where our next target was, a foreigner named Elbridge Kirk.
We got going along the tunnels and I was taking it slow again. Luckily the portal was at the end of a long section of tunnel, so they couldn't see us immediately, but approaching the Goku patrol that was guarding the portal was going to be difficult. I guess our escapade with the other Shadow got picked up, they had double the manpower, and they had set up a makeshift watchtower near the portal to detect if anyone was coming. The group gathered to try and devise a strategy.
"What do we do?" Ryuko asked. "I say we charge them, try and draw them to the middle." Akechi said. "I don't know about that. They could see us coming and call for backup." I said. I had told the group what I had overheard from the guards, and we agreed that keeping it cool would be our best shot. Getting the higher-starred students involved wouldn't be wise.
We all thought to ourselves for a moment, but then I got an idea. "Futaba?" I said. "Yeah." she responded. "Do you have any way to, say, attract Shadows in any way?" I asked, it was a long shot, but it might be worth it. "I've been dabbling with electromagnetic signals a little bit." she began, "After Jose did that whole stamp game last time, I had been looking for ways to exploit the 'pressure points' that he used to use. But after we fought him I kinda dropped it. Anyways, have you heard of Havana Syndrome?" she asked.
"It's when you get nauseous from high-pitched sounds, right?" Ryuko said absentmindedly. "Not exactly. It's a very uncontested phenomenon, but I think, using the same principle, if we can find one of these pressure points, I could send out a signal that could potentially attract Shadows en masse." Futaba said. I nodded along and thought for a moment, I had an idea, and it was crazy enough to maybe work.
"Alright, Futaba, start looking for a pressure point. We will attract as many Shadows as we can, and then drive them straight into the patrol. If all goes well, the patrol will overreact and engage the Shadows, we slip past and mop up the remnants." I proposed. Akechi was thinking deeply, "What guarantees do we have that the patrol will be in any way weakened by Shadows? They seem to be doing just fine as they are now." he said. "True." Morgana said, "But Shadows here come one at a time, it's rare that they form a mob." he said. Akechi nodded. "In the absence of any other ideas, let's get started." Ryuko said as she cracked her knuckles.
"We want to tell the hurt."
X
Author's Note:
Hello and howdy! Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I had some work-related drama that was sapping a bunch of my energy, but that's all done and dusted now. I also started up another fic, it's a Harry Potter x Black Lagoon crossover. If that sounds interesting, go and check my profile. One last thing, if you've stuck with this story so far, please let me know how I'm doing and if there's anything I can improve upon, concrit is extrememly welcome here!
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day (or night) :)
