Just a heads up. This chapter was a little hard to establish. I tried my best to make the events make sense, and I hope the story ended up being something that flowed naturally while also being enjoyable.
Location - ?
It was pitch black, but sounds can be heard as if a group of men were discussing about not getting detected and they also seemed to be discussing about how a frizzy-haired boy with glasses was brave enough to face them and save his friend from getting dragged along. This was everything that Ren can perceive with his current senses. He fell unconscious after he got injected with a sleeping drug by the men, which was their means of taking revenge for making things much harder for them. It was already getting late at night, at around 8:00 PM. Ren was already regaining consciousness after getting drugged. He opened his eyes in a snap, and he can see that he was inside a room filled with several tables at almost each side. He noticed that he was also tied up tightly in a rope, and he can hardly move his arms and feet. He turned his head from left to right to check on his surroundings even further. There seemed to be preserved human bodies on top of the tables and he can also see that a group of men were sitting by his side and around the corners of the room, as if they were waiting for him to wake up. One of the men stood up and greeted him.
"I see that you have finally awoken," he said, "You impress me kid. None of our targets were ever that brave to resist getting taken away, especially seeing how you really went out of your way to help that friend of yours escape."
Ren looked up to the man and gave him a stern look. Despite finally awakening, the effects of the drug haven't completely subsided yet and his body was feeling slightly weak from it. It seems that the drug can also make his body feel numb for a while.
"W-who... are you guys?" Ren asked, trying to sound bold, "A-and... w-where... am I?"
"You're somewhere far away from the city for sure," another man spoke of, who was sitting by the chair at Ren's left, "Normally, we'd already be on the process of taking away your insides, but it seems that our boss has gained a personal interest in you."
Ren was taken aback upon hearing what was told of him. What exactly did they mean by 'taking away his insides'?
"A-am I..." he asked slowly, "N-n-not the first one among your victims?"
"That's some keen intuition coming from you," the first man speaking to him said, "Though it should be obvious, given that you can see how there are already dead bodies on the tables."
Seeing that he will likely be the next victim, Ren felt afraid that these men will surely do something harmful towards him. At the same time, he was also furious at them given that they do not hesitate to take the lives of others. He is still unsure of what these men did to their victims, but whatever awaits him is surely not something that he will find pleasant.
"W-what did you do to them?!" he asked, mustering up all his remaining strength to express his disgust for their actions.
"You're asking way too many questions," a man standing in front of the door told him, "I think it's about time that we introduce you to our boss so that he can answer all your remaining questions."
After having said all of that, the man opened the door in front of Ren and a tall figure appeared in front of him. He was facing the opposite direction, but Ren can see that the man had an outfit that was different from the men that abducted him. He can see that the man was wearing a black leather jacket with black jeans and black boots. He also noticed that his hair was dyed blue and had a fauxhawk style, and the man came facing him afterwards.
"You may speak with him now boss," the man opening the door said.
The blue-haired individual approached the raven-haired boy while wearing a smug grin. The boss wasn't one to be interested in any of their victims, but Ren seemed to be an exception among them. What did this thug ever want with this young man?
"Hello there," the guy said as he approached Ren while taking hold of the back of his head and staring at him intently, "Your face sure wears a thousand feelings of disgust. Haha... I like it."
The man eventually let go of his head and stood up from facing the young boy. Ren has no idea as to what was going on, but he was sure that these men were up to no good, and it seemed like he had no hope to escape. Knowing that these people made the conscious decision to cause harm to innocent lives, he's very sure that they are also armed well and won't hesitate to take him down if he tries to run away. He's recovering a bit of strength, but only enough to express his anger towards the men.
"These people," he said, taking a deep breath and letting himself build up courage to face all these, "What have you done to them?"
"Getting a little impatient are we?" their leader said, "We'll get there soon. But for now, why don't we introduce ourselves first?"
Ren was already getting tired from waiting for them to answer what was really going on. However, it seemed as if they liked to trigger him by constantly testing his patience.
"My name is Saikawa Hiroshima," the blue-haired leader said, "I am the leader of this organization called the Seize, Slash, and Sell gang, otherwise known as SSS. As the name suggests, our criminal organization aims to 'seize' as many people as we can, which would explain why people have disappeared if you've already heard of it in the news. You're probably wondering what we did to them? Well, that's where the 'slash' and 'sell' comes in."
Ren wasn't liking everything that he's hearing. He already has a gist as to what the other two terms meant as far as the context of the organization goes and disgusted him to the point of almost vomiting.
"After we have gathered our victims," Saikawa continued, "We ensure that they get put into deep sleep by administering them with several doses of the drug that the men injected in you prior to putting you inside the van. This is where the interesting part begins."
Saikawa walked towards one of the tables and pointed out one of the preserved human bodies on top of it.
"See this body?" asked Saikawa, "I want you to look at its insides."
From the looks of it, it appears as if the body has a straight line cut through its abdomen horizontally and vertically, forming a cross-mark and the leader was able to open through it easily. Ren was already shaking with fear and disgust from the sight in front of his eyes. When Saikawa had opened the body to show off its insides, it was empty. It was practically a clean carcass and the internal organs have disappeared. Where could they have gone?
"Do you see how clean it is?" Saikawa said with a dastard smile, "This is exactly what happens to the victims that we have abducted from everywhere within our reach."
Ren crossed his eyebrow. He was absolutely pissed off at how disgusted he feels towards this organization. Is this what they meant by 'taking his insides'?
"These people," he said in a soft, angry tone, "What have you done to them? What did you do to their internal organs?"
"That's where the 'sell' comes in," Saikawa answered, "After we have administered enough drugs to ensure that our victims pass away painlessly upon taking their organs, we have their parts sold to the black market. It's a genius plan, isn't it? It actually allowed us to earn enough for the gang to expand after we have striked a deal with them."
"WHAT?!"
Ren's eyes widened upon the realization of what this organization really does. They were responsible for the disappearances that happened from all around Tokyo. What's even more disturbing is the fact that he knew what happens to the victims' whereabouts, and how they would never get to return to their loved ones. Knowing how everything is played out within the organization, he's definitely sure that he would be the next victim, and that he will never be able to see his friends ever again after all of these.
"Why?!" he asked the blue-haired leader, "Why are you doing all of these?"
Saikawa grumped at his question, as if he had his actual motives for doing these things.
"I personally don't want to answer that question," he said, "But if you must know, human organs are very valuable and can be sold at a high price of at least 5 million yen if the black market deems it to be worthy. A lot of people are in dire need of transplants and our actions are actually able to help out individuals who don't have the opportunity to receive organ transplants due to their lack of connections and finances. Don't you think that we did those things for a noble cause?"
"THE HELL!" Ren snapped, trying to move his body but with no hope of breaking free, "You actually think that taking these people's lives and giving out their organs to the black market is actually justified since it will also help out others who would benefit from the transplant?! You actually think that the end would justify the means of your actions? How awful can you ge-"
Before Ren got to punctuate his sentence, Saikawa slapped him on the face, causing him to flinch and his glasses to get loose.
"Enough!" Saikawa reprimanded, "I don't want to hear any more of your thoughts regarding this matter. I'm doing this for the common good and no one can question my methods on what I do."
"You say all that," Ren said as he repositioned himself properly, "But I'm sure you're only doing this for the money-"
Ren received another slap from Saikawa as he spoke, and now his glasses fell off.
"Don't you dare argue with me regarding this," said Saikawa, "I've already explained enough about what we do in this organization. You're actually really lucky, all things considered."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ren, deeply confused and worried of what else is happening.
"Do you notice that you're still alive and talking despite being here?" one of the henchmen asked and he was sitting by the corner at Ren's left, "That's because our leader here actually has a special interest in you."
"That's right," Saikawa affirmed, "If you were no different from our other victims, you would've already been dead a long while ago."
From their demeanor, Ren knew that they were gonna make him do something that he doesn't want to do. He's not sure as to why they didn't simply take his internal organs away immediately after they abducted him, and what they meant by special interest. Still, given that he cannot escape from their clutches, Ren got curious to know exactly what they wanted from him.
"W-what do want me to do?" he asked, "And what exactly makes me so different from your other victims?"
"Good thing you asked about this," Saikawa answered, "After careful research about you, we have discovered something special about your identity."
"WHAT?!"
Ren's eyes widened again. No one but his friends and confidants knows about how he's the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Did these people really know the whole time about whom he really is? If so, how did they find out about him?
"You heard me right," Saikawa said as he walked towards one of his men at the other corner, "After these men dragged your unconscious body to our nice hideout right here, they told me the news about how you handled them and went to great lengths to help your sister escape."
"She's not my sister," Ren told Saikawa, and then he faced down and reflected on how Futaba was doing, "B-but... she is my teammate."
"Teammate? Friend? Sister? Whatever! The point here is that after hearing the news on what you did to the men we assigned around Akihabara, I've decided to have my men assigned here in the main hideout research about you. We couldn't help but notice that you looked really familiar."
After having said that, the boss had his lackey give him what appears to be a picture of someone. He walked back towards Ren and showed him the image. To Ren's surprise, it was exactly a photo of him. How and where did they get that?
"I remember back then that the Phantom Thieves made headlines and was the talk of the entire nation," said Saikawa, "There has been an influx of Phantom Thief merchandise and there had already been rumors on how their leader looks like. Coincidentally, the figure of how their leader looks like happens to look exactly like you. After you have bombarded us with so many questions, I believe that it's our turn to ask you our questions."
"Huh?" Ren asked, even though he can already predict what they want to know from him. Ren prepared himself mentally and thought hard on how he should respond to them.
"First and foremost," Saikawa said, "Are you the 'leader' of the Phantom Thieves?"
Ren stuttered to answer the question. He doesn't want anyone else to know of his identity, but it seems that he has no way around to avoid this question. He tried his best to lie about it.
"No," he said, looking and sounding serious.
"Really?" Saikawa asked, "You're telling the truth about all these?"
Ren nodded as to say 'yes'.
"Okay," said Saikawa, "It seems that I'll believe you on this one- PSYCHE!"
Saikawa came prepared for this scenario. He had some of his henchmen enter the room. They brought along with them a polygraph, which is a device that's able to measure if the individual being tested is telling the truth or not. Ren became afraid and worried at the sight in front of him, and felt that he had no choice but to tell the truth after all.
"Are you still going to deny about your identity?" Saikawa asked with a threatening tone, "You can just come out with the truth, unless you want us to handle things the hard way."
Ren felt hopeless to avoid their questions and gave in given the situation.
"Alright," said Ren, giving out a sigh, "I'll admit it. I am the leader of the Phantom Thieves."
"I see," Saikawa said, again with a dastard smile, "Looks like things are about to get interesting from here on out. It seems that we won't be needing this polygraph anymore."
Saikawa had his henchment leave the room with the polygraph with them. He approached Ren again to ask even more questions to him.
"I can't believe it," said Saikawa, "I actually got to meet the leader of the renowned Phantom Thieves. I have a proposal for you and it would actually be of great benefit to you and the organization."
"What are you talking about?" asked Ren, still angry about the organization and their actions.
"After careful analysis about your profile, and your brave demeanor with dealing with our men, it seems that you can be a great asset to this organization, don't you think? Why don't you join this organization and help us with abducting our victims? You'll also get paid like my men here if you choose to agree."
Ren's infuriation was at its peak. After they found out that he was indeed the leader of the Phantom Thieves, they want to take him in and be part of the Seize, Slash, and Sell Gang.
"What makes you think that I'll join you with the abductions?" he asked rhetorically, trying to sound bravely. and fearless, "I never became the Phantom Thieves' leader just to cooperate with an organization that abducts people for money."
"Oh you'll definitely cooperate with us," Saikawa said with a death glare, "Otherwise, you will not like what we'll do to you."
"Why?"
Saikawa laughed at Ren's question.
"Oh you fool," he said as he continued laughing, "Did you actually think that we won't hesitate to take your insides just because we decided to make you a special case among our victims? It's very convenient for us to administer you with our drugs again and take your organs like we did with the others. If I were you, I'd just take the easy way out and cooperate with us. With your thieving skills, you'll definitely be a great asset for us here in the SSS gang."
Ren was speechless. He couldn't think of what to say. He was only given a choice of cooperating with them, or they make him their next victim. Saikawa noticed that Ren was already in a panicked state. He started feeling indecisive and the blue-haired leader decided to leave Ren to let him think for himself, but not before threatening him if he chooses to refuse.
"I'm gonna leave you for now so that you will have time to reflect on all of these," Saikawa told Ren just before he glared at him again, "But remember, your life is at stake here. Think carefully, cooperate and we'll pay you, or refuse and you're toast. I'm coming back for you, Ren Amamiya."
Having said all of that, Saikawa stood up straight and walked with his men about to exit the room. Two of them were gonna stay to guard Ren in case he plans to escape. Ren didn't care anymore about how Saikawa found out about his name. All that he feels now is that he's completely hopeless. He was going to be taken in by an organization that abducts people and steals their internal organs to be sold at the black market, and he seemed to have no way outside of this predicament apart from getting killed like their other victims. He looked down and thought hard, and he noticed that there was a rectangular mark by his right hip. It seemed as if these men didn't take away his cellphone. He eventually remembered about Futaba and what she did to his phone way back then. Due to his hands being tied up and they also made sure that they placed it at his back in order for him to not be able to use them easily, he couldn't bring himself to grab it to even check if Futaba was able to detect where he is. However, given what he knows of, and due to Futaba being there to witness him getting abducted, he placed all his hope that his friends are trying to find a way to save him. Just as Saikawa and his men were about to leave the room, Ren called for the blue-haired leader's attention.
"Hey wait!" he shouted, breathing hard and trying to calm down from the situation.
"What?" Saikawa asked as he turned back at Ren and crossed his arms, "Have you made your decision already?"
"Nope, but I've got a better proposal for you."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Saikawa was interested as to what Ren meant by proposal. He walked back towards Ren with his men right behind him.
"I'm willing to make a bet with you," Ren said, trying to smile cockily and sound bravely.
"What's with the sudden confidence you brat?" Saikawa asked, looking rather annoyed, "This better be interesting."
"Oh, it is."
Ren tried his best to keep his composure, despite swallowing hard and feeling worried about how this blue-haired thug would feel about what he was going to say. He thought of a way that he can escape from being persuaded to join the organization while also not falling victim into their hands.
"I'm willing to bet you that 12 hours from now," he said, "Someone is going to come here and rescue me and kick all of your asses. If help doesn't come within that timeframe, I won't hesitate to let you take away my internal organs."
Saikawa laughed hysterically at Ren's proposal. It sounded so absurd that this young man was feeling confident that help will arrive even though he couldn't bring himself to communicate with others outside the organization given his current position.
"You really think that help will come to you?" Saikawa asked while trying not to laugh further, "The police hardly even caught a number of us apart from a few vans. You can't even reach for your phone with your hand tied up behind you. What makes you so sure that someone's actually coming for you here?"
"Oh, they'll come," Ren answered with an even bigger smile, despite the lack of guarantee that someone will indeed come for him, "And when they do, you'll end up regretting that you even let me live to tell the tale, and that I'll be receiving the last laugh in the end."
Saikawa grumped with annoyance with how cocky this frizzy-haired boy is sounding. He has no idea where he has been hiding all this confidence. After thinking about all of these, he decided to give Ren the benefit of the doubt and accept his deal.
"Okay," he said, still trying to keep his threatening demeanor, "Maybe I will accept your proposal. That is, if they will actually come to save you. Or even better, if they can even get past the entrance. This place is heavily guarded with cctv cameras and I also made sure that I have bodyguards waiting outside so that no trespasser will be able to enter just that easily. You might want to think twice before pushing through with this bet."
"I already did," Ren answered back, "I have full faith in my friends that they will come to rescue me. It doesn't matter if you have good security in this area. We didn't become Phantom Thieves just so that we can become hereos and be recognized for it. We genuinely want to save people along with it."
Saikawa was amused with Ren's resilience and his trust for his friends. Despite how absurd Ren was sounding, Saikawa kind of felt like Ren might really be telling the truth.
"Interesting," he said while trying to put on a smile, "If your 'so-called' friends will really come here to rescue you and you also said that they can take down my men, then I'll also add a condition for your bet."
"What?" Ren asked, glaring at Saikawa with contempt.
"Since you trust them so much like they're already your family, they should be the only ones to arrive. That means that if any police nor any other security personnel arrives with them, then the bet is off and your insides will be taken automatically."
Ren couldn't help but give a furious look at Saikawa. He was playing dirty. He tried to put all his remaining hope on Futaba so that they'll have a clue as to where he is, but it also involved him having to rely on his friends' strength even though they don't have superpowers in the real world. It didn't surprise him all that much though, given that he's in a criminal organization. But it was still very frustrating for him.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled at the blue-haired leader, "I already gave you the conditions, but you want to make things harder? That's completely unfair!"
"Life ain't fair kid," said Saikawa, "If anything, you should be thanking me that I even considered going along with your bet. If these 'friends' of yours are really that dedicated to saving you, they should rely solely on their strength."
Having said his conditions, Saikawa turned around to look at his men.
"What time is it right now?" he asked.
"Around 2200 hours sir," the lackey in front of him answered.
"I see. That means it's already 10:00 PM."
Saikawa turned around and faced Ren again.
"Since you said that the condition is that they arrive within 12 hours," he said, "That means at exactly 10:00 AM tomorrow morning, they should already be here, If they're late for even just 1 minute, you're dead meat, literally."
Saikawa immediately walked out the door along with his men. Two of the lackeys remained to guard Ren should he ever try to escape. Ren looked down and he was genuinely worried that he will not make it out of this place alive. He only had his friends to trust on and they musn't have any security personnel arrive with them, or the bet was off and they'll inevitably take away his internal organs. He's not sure if they're strong enough to save him from this mess. They couldn't fight the same way they did when they were still able to traverse the metaverse. He looked at the mark of his phone inside his pocket again, hoping that his friends were tracking on him and listening keenly on the whole conversation.
"I hope that at the end of all these," he thought to himself, "Everything will turn out right."
Location - Cafe Leblanc
The gang has overheard the entire conversation through Futaba's phone. Sure enough, their reactions were completely unpleasant. They overheard what kind of organization abducted Ren and they only had 12 hours to save him from getting his insides taken away from him. They also couldn't contact the police or they will push through with their plan. It was good enough that Futaba's hacking skills helped them detect where Ren is, but there's no knowing what awaits them if they try to save their leader relying only with their real world strength.
"DAMMIT!" Ryuji yelled, punching his good leg, "This is complete bullshit! Are they really that ruthless to do all of these to him?"
"You heard their conversations right?" said Morgana, "They were successful in dispatching their previous victims. It's also rather impressive that they knew of Ren's identity upon researching about him. Not that I'm happy about it."
"R-Ren..." Makoto spoke softly, yet gloomily, "We can't let you get taken away from us like this. We still have so much planned together. I can't let it all end like this."
Makoto looked up and tried her best to be determined as she said her last sentence.
"To think that this organization is the reason behind all the mysterious disappearances," said Yusuke, and he turned his head around to mask his anger, "This is unforgivable."
"Organ theft huh?" said Haru, "This is just awful. These victims will never get to return to their families ever again after falling into their hands. They even tried to persuade our leader to join them after knowing about him. Despite the risks, I'm willing to do my best to fight in whatever way I can.
"Still," said Ann, "No matter how determined we try to make ourselves be, there's no knowing how tough our enemies are. To top it off, they only gave us 12 hours and just getting there would probably take at least an hour. Even though I don't want to be pessimistic, I don't think we'll be able to save Ren in our current state."
Futaba started tearing down again after finding out about all that has happened. The thieves were no longer mad at her, but it couldn't stop the guilt she's feeling from overflowing throughout her psyche.
"T-this..." she mumbled before the tears flowed down, "This is all my fault! If I didn't insist Sojiro to let me go out, Ren... H-he wouldn't have get dragged into this. I should've been in his place for being so irresponsible!"
"Futaba?!" said Ann, "Stop!"
"You've already apologized enough for your actions," said Makoto, "Wallowing in guilt isn't going to help anything."
And and Makoto walked up to Futaba to try and comfort her as she got overwhelmed with guilt. However, Futaba didn't stop crying.
"Still," Futaba said, "I-I didn't expect that his situation would be that bad. If only I didn't insist Sojiro to let me buy that video game. It should be me who got abduted; not him."
Ryuji couldn't help but feel really sorry seeing how overwhelming all of these things are for Futaba. He felt that getting angry at her earlier might've contributed to her current state. He stood up from his seat and walked towards Futaba to pat her head.
"Alright Futaba," he said calmly, "Enough is enough. You don't have to shoulder all of these by yourself."
"Huh?" Futaba asked as she turned around to face Ryuji with tears in her eyes.
"I know that I got quick to get angry at you earlier, and I'm sorry for that. It was simply brought upon by sheer frustration. But I never wanted you to actually get stuck up on blaming yourself to the point of feeling depressed. Ren is my best friend. It was only natural for me to get really upset. However, I'm not the only one here who has a close relationship with him. The fact that you helped us track down where he is and the hideout of this criminal organization is already more than enough to redeem yourself. I know the situation looks grim right now, and I don't even know if my mom or Sojiro will be okay with us entering the enemy territory, but if there's even a glimmer of hope that we can save him from getting killed, I'll hang on to that and do whatever I can to make it happen."
Everyone at the attic was shocked to hear these words come out of Ryuji's mouth.
"Wow Ryuji!" said Makoto, "That was surprisingly wise of you."
"Hehe," Ryuji giggled slightly while placing his left hand behind his head, "Thanks. But even having said all of that, I'm personally really worried that we won't make it in time, let alone if we'd be able to face this organization without our powers as the Phantom Thieves.
"True," said Morgana, "I'm also sure boss wouldn't just easily give you the 'go' signal out of short notice, especially with something like this."
"Still," said Haru, "If we're able to explain the situation properly to him, I'm sure we'll be able to go through him and he'll allow us to go there and try to save him."
"Do you really think we can win this?" asked Ann, who also didn't look as hopeful as she usually is, "Even if boss allows us to go, we're not really strong enough to fight, and 12 hours isn't much time for us to prepare how we'll go about this."
"We never know unless we try Ann," Ryuji reassured while patting her shoulder, and then he turned to face everyone and expressed his thoughts on the matter, "This also goes same for everyone. I've already made up my mind. I'm not gonna let anyone do anything harmful to my best friend without putting up a fight. We didn't become the Phantom Thieves just to let our leader be placed in the brink of death. Even though the odds of us winning are low, I'd be more than happy enough that I died fighting to save someone close and dear to me. Is everyone with me on this one?"
Everyone nodded as if to say 'yes'. Though Makoto approached Ryuji as well due to another problem which involved Ryuji's mother.
"What about your mom though?" she asked, "Given that you told us how strict she is with regards to your safety, it'll probably be even harder for you to go through her than with Sojiro. How will you convince her to let you do all of these?"
"I'll do my best to convince her myself," he said, despite his own doubts that he'll actually be allowed, "She knows about Ren very well since I told her about how we constantly bonded together back when we were treated as outcasts in Shujin. I'm sure she'll make an exception if it's about him."
"I hope you're right."
"Let's all huddle before we tell the situation to boss."
Everyone responded at Ryuji's signal by standing up and they gathered in a circle. Morgana also took part by climbing up the seat that Futaba was sitting on in order to let his paws reach his friends' hands. After everyone placed their hands at the center of the circle, Makoto, being the acting leader of the Phantom Thieves while Ren wasn't around, signaled the start of their cry.
"Okay," she said, "At the count of three, we all yell 'Phantom Thieves'. One, two, three-"
After she said three, everyone raised their hands (in Morgana's case, his paw) and yelled, "PHANTOM THIEVES!"
Having finished their huddle, the gang decided that they must let Sojiro know of the situation. They cannot act unless the adults in charge of them would allow them to do what they were planning. It's only a matter of time until the SSS will push through with their plan to take away Ren's internal organs. Even though the odds were against their favor, they cannot give up knowing that their leader is counting on them. Will they succeed? Or will the Seize, Slash, and Sell gang triumph with their plan?
Phew. This chapter was really difficult to write. It's currently my longest one and I did my best to bring life to it. I don't really know what people's thoughts are right now with regards to this story, but I hope it's turning out to be something that many will enjoy. There's still a couple of chapters waiting to be published, so please read this story until the end. Revived Hero - SIGNING OUT!