It was finally time for the final confrontation with Shadow Akira Konoe, the man behind the Change of Heart incident that was rocking the entirety of Japan. Of course, the Hero had no intentions of going down easily. The Phantom Thieves were the villain of the world he envisioned, and as every hero should, he planned to win. The future of the world was at stake! His justice would not be defeated by these naïve thieves! After climbing into his Zephyrus Mech, he was ready to fight all of them. The numbers were against him, but as a Hero would, he would prevail against the odds.
"Oh, come on! He's got a MECH!? Skull's jaw dropped. Just as he said this, the Zephyrus Mech floated into the air, a high powered laser shooting from its chest directly towards the group. Everyone took this chance to scatter to avoid being shot at all.
"Careful, I'm picking up major energy spikes from that thing!" Oracle warned everyone, starting the battle off by casting Heat Riser on the entire party. With their numbers, it did overclock her a little bit, but far from enough to actually slow her down. But with the power Shadow Konoe was bringing to the party, they didn't have a choice but to match him any way they could.
"It even looks Super powered...!" Panther commented before summoning Celestine. She tossed a gigantic fireball towards the Zephyrus Mech, watching as it exploded directly against the machine. But it didn't look like much damage was dealt either, much to her surprise. "No way!"
"Looks more like a kid's toy to me. Can't say I'm big on doing this, but let's give it all we've got!" Wolf said while leaping forward, smashing his great sword against the ZM's body. It was a hit, but he wasn't sure how much damage he dealt either. "Oh come on...!" And then, the mech spun around, using its large arm to swat Wolf away painfully. He crashed into the ground, groaning from the impact.
"I'll crush you!" Shadow Konoe exclaimed while pressing a button, which caused the ZM to fly up into the air with jet boosters propelling from his wings.
"He can fly?!" Queen gasped. Before anyone had a chance to react, Shadow Konoe then slammed his mech down on the ground. The impact sent Queen, Mona, Noir, and Viper flying since they were the closest ones to him.
"Gah!" Mona tumbled along the ground, grimacing from the impact. He managed to stop himself, but this wasn't a good start for them. "We don't stand a chance when it's down at our level. Get out of its attack range as soon as you can!" This machine was no joke!
"Do our attacks even affect this machine!?" Fox leapt forward, slashing at the ZM a few times, attempting to freeze it over with the help of Gorokichi. Shadow Konoe used the arm of the mech to block these slashes, which did freeze that arm over. But that arm then twisted, a jet booster igniting around it. Fox could not react to the incoming punch in time and it slammed into his body, sending him into a wall while breaking the ice around the mech's arm. "Guh!"
"Fox!" Joker sprang into action along with Violet. "Yoshitsune!"
"Ella!" Violet called forth. Yoshitsune flew forward with Ella, the two of them moving to attack the ZM. Shadow Konoe countered by bringing both fists forward, his mech colliding with both Personas for a stalemate, but he had a trick up his sleeve. Multiple missiles then shot from his back, targeting Joker and Violet, beginning to rain down on them with numerous explosions. "Gah...!"
"Damn!" Joker grunted. They were under fire, but that bombardment soon stopped as Dragon appeared before them with Bella's Aegis. The missiles were Fire based, which was her weakness, but she stood tall despite the damage sustained. "Dragon..!"
"No time for thanks!" Dragon shook her head. "Aegis Counter!" With the damage she sponged now at her disposal Bella flew forward and slashed her sword against the ZM's chest, causing it to slide back just a little bit. Dragon wasn't content with that damage. "Not enough!"
"Surrender, Phantom Thieves!" Shadow Konoe demanded. "Submit to my justice or die! I am the hero in this story! I will create a world without evil!" As he said this, he spun his mech around, shooting missiles in every direction. This prompted everyone to try and defend themselves from the numerous explosions.
"You'll also be creating a world without dreams, too! It's not right!" Panther yelled.
"No way I'm letting you use Mom's research for that!" Oracle said defiantly.
"Then you'll die where you stand!" Shadow Konoe reached a metallic fist back, aiming to strike Oracle down first. But he found that impossible as his arm was tugged backwards and held there. It was Sophie, using her yoyos to hold that arm in place with all her might.
"Don't you see this is wrong!?" Sophie exclaimed. But this was a fight she was never going to win, as with a simple, forceful tug of his arm, Shadow Konoe was easily able to fling Sophie against her will.
"Sophie!" Violet gasped and flipped into the air, catching Sophie in her arms. As a result, she received the momentum Sophie was carrying and slammed into the wall with a cry of pain.
"Violet! Are you okay?!" Sophie's eyes were wide as Violet once again put herself at risk for her safety.
"I'm okay..." Violet said with a pained smile.
"I've had enough of this guy!" Viper said while summoning Nua, who fired off a strong bolt of lightning. Ziodyne struck the ZM right in the back, and to her surprise, it actually caused the mech to stop moving for a second. This gave her a lightbulb. "Oh! Hey, Skeleton!"
"It's Skull!" He shouted.
"Whatever, just zap him!" Viper demanded.
Skull was picking up what she was putting down. "William, let's wreck him!" Skull summoned William, who fired a strong bolt of lightning from his arm cannon, in time with Nua's attack. This resulted in two bolts that briefly paralyzed the ZM, leaving it open to attack.
"Damn you!" Shadow Konoe grunted as his systems weren't responding to him.
"Finally, an opening!" And Crow was not going to waste this chance. He, with Hereward, and Noir attacked at once; his blade covered in curse, while her axe was swirling with psychic energy. The two of them slammed their weapons into the paralyzed mech, succeeding in knocking it down to the ground.
"That felt good!" Noir giggled.
"Mwehehe! Looks like Mr. Hero's mech has a weakness to lightning and nuclear magic! Queen, hit 'em where it hurts!" Oracle beamed.
"Mona, give me a boost!" Queen said while rushing towards Mona, who nodded. Mona called forth Diego, who propelled Queen into the air with a twister of wind. Once airborne, she twisted around, summoning Anges. She crashed her bike down on the ZM, where a noticeable explosion of Nuclear magic occurred. Queen slid back, unharmed from it. She was curious to the damage dealt however.
The ZM slowly stood up despite the damage received, and pointed its fists forward. With the press of a button, the fists shot from the mech and flew forward. "HE'S GOT ROCKET FISTS?!"
"SKULL LOOK OUT!" Queen shrieked, diving at Skull to tackle him to the ground, avoiding the rocket fists that exploded against the ground. They avoided a direct hit, but the force of the explosion still knocked them away.
"All weapons, full power! Justice will always prevail!" Shadow Konoe wasn't playing around, and the ZM floated in the center of the battlefield, beginning to charge something. "Let the hammer of justice fall!"
"That doesn't look very good!" Panther gulped. "Can we stop that!?"
"I think so!" Oracle gestured around them. "Look up there! There are a few different railguns stationed around us! If you smack him with those, it should stop him!"
"Got it!" Wolf nodded, leaping up to take aim with one of the railguns. Viper, Mona, and Fox followed. Luckily for them, Shadow Konoe made his mech a stationary target, which meant it was impossible to miss. "Fire, now!" Wolf shouted. Each of the four railguns released potent blasts of electricity that sandwiched the Zephyrus Mech all at once.
"Gaaah!" Shadow Konoe exclaimed as his mech collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
"This is when we beat him up, right?" Sophie said with a smile. She couldn't be any more correct! This was the chance the Phantom Thieves took to wail on it from all angles! It was time for an All Out Attack! He could feel numerous attacks slamming into his mech from all angles, which violently jostled him about as well. "Your little group could never hope to accomplish what I could! This is a necessity! The world needs a new system - it's the only way!" Multiple lasers then shot out from the mech's body, throwing everyone backwards from the sudden impact.
Queen was on a knee after sliding back from that direct impact. Everyone else sustained some damage as well, but not enough to slow them down. "You would be forcing that system on the rest of us. You'd be no better than a dictator!"
"We'd all just be told how to live without making any decisions for ourselves! I won't go back to that!" Noir yelled while calling Lucy beside her, who began to open fire on the ZM. Each and every bullet collided against the advanced mech. "I decided a while ago, that my life is mine to live!"
"Ngh! No...not yet!" Shadow Konoe grunted. He could feel his mech starting to reach its limit. "I will not bend to evil! I refuse!"
"How unfortunate." Fox said calmly. "Such an indomitable will, yet you've strayed so far from your path."
"No matter your reasons, you used an innocent girl as a means to an end! I'll never forgive you for that!" Wolf said while activating his rage, his greatsword brimming with power. Together with Fox, the two of them ducked under the legs of the ZM, slashing at them as they ran past. The power of their swords caused the ZM to fall to its knees, the circuitry in them no longer responding.
"No! This can't be!" Shadow Konoe gasped. Naturally his next attempt was to use his rocket fists again, but when he pointed his arms forward, they were sliced into by Noir's axe, Crow's sword, Violet's rapier, and Mona's saber, causing them to drop to his sides. So, his next course of action was to use his chest laser, but this was interrupted by Dragon stabbing Bella's sword directly into it. "No!"
"Joker!" Dragon yelled.
"Satan!" Joker called forth the powerful Persona, pointing his hand forward as it released a power icy blast onto Shadow Konoe's Mech. The Zephyrus Mech, now out of commission, tumbled along the ground before somehow landing in a standing position.
Shadow Konoe was trying to do something to get his mech to respond, but nothing was working. It sustained too much damage and was suffering a total system shutdown because of it. "No! Dammit!" The mech then began to shine brightly, before everything was engulfed in a large explosion. Everyone had to cover their eyes from the size of it.
"is that it!?" Panther asked.
"...No." Joker shook his head. Even with the sea of flames, he could see it clearly. Shadow Konoe walking forward. Everyone braced themsevles, since it was clear he wasn't finished yet.
"So we gotta put him down one last time!" Skull grunted.
"Doesn't this guy know when to quit!?" Viper groaned.
Shadow Konoe stopped, pulling out a large saber. "Come on, Phantom Thieves! Let's end this."
"Gladly." Crow said while walking forward with his own blade. He stopped in front of Shadow Konoe, the two them extending their swords towards one another. Shadow Konoe's blade aws much larger and had longer reach, but that didn't faze him. "Today is the day your justice ends."
"A hero must stand his ground. He must not let evil overcome them!" Shadow Konoe exclaimed.
"Your heroism is nothing but a delusion!" Crow roar as curse magic exploded around his blade. He swung just as Shadow Konoe did, their blades colliding and a large shockwave booming outwards as a result, nearly throwing everyone backwards as a result. Everyone was barely able to stand their ground after such a collision.
"Enemy or not, you've got to admire his determination...!" Mona said. Konoe wasn't backing down. But they didn't have time to admire him, they had to strike!
"I will bring this world to a new era of righteousness! One that refuses to tolerate evil of any kind!" As Shadow Konoe roared this, he swung his sword violently. The reach of his blade was dangerous, because he was knocking away the likes of Wolf, Fox, and Noir, who couldn't hope to reach him in melee range. They were good with their weapons, but Shadow Konoe was no slouch either, and his reach was simply near impossible to contest for most of them.
"This feeling...it's so unsettling...it must be sadness..." Sophie frowned. But she attack by having Pithos release numerous beams of light at Shadow Konoe. He was able to swat them away with his sword, then lunged forward, aiming a vertical slash at Sophie. She tried to use Pithos to defend, but she was still overpowered and knocked backwards, receiving some damage in the process.
"Yes, this is sad, but that's exactly why we have to stop him! Before he makes anymore mistakes!" Noir exclaimed.
Violet rushed towards Konoe, and as she thought, he tried to slash at her vertically to keep her at bay. He wasn't expecting her to leap over his strike and land on his shoulders. "Take this!" Violet's rapier was lit up with bless magic, and she slashed Shadow Konoe across the chest, before pushing off into a backflip. However, she didn't get far, as he caught her ankle. "Ah!?"
"My justice is no mistake! I will not stray from this path!" He then violently tossed Violet into the ground so hard she bounced. "JUSTICE BEAM!" He intended to finish her off, pointing his hand forward to release a potent beam of energy towards Violet, but his arm was deflected by Noir's axe. With a grunt of pain, Shadow Konoe recoiled, the beam he fired shooting off into the sky. Noir attempted to strike again, but Shadow Konoe surprised her with a shoulder tackle, which knocked her to the ground.
"Agh..!" Noir grunted. When she looked up, she saw Shadow Konoe's sword coming down on her, but it was stopped by another.
Crow stood in front of Noir, protecting her from Shadow Konoe's strike. This was much to Noir's surprise. "You make me sick!" Crow shouted. "You call murder justice!? Nobody knows this better than I do, but you couldn't be any farther from the truth!"
"What do you know!? I did what any hero would, and erased an evil presence from this world! A presence that the Phantom Thieves would never have come across!" Shadow Konoe grit his teeth under his mask, trying to push back against Crow. The two were in a deadlock.
"That was not your decision to make! You can hide all of your crimes behind the ideas of justice and heroism, but know this! It will ALWAYS come back to haunt you! If you don't recognize this, if you have no intention of moving forward with this in mind, then you don't know what justice issssss!" As he roared, he activated his power to make himself go Berserk. This granted him the power he needed to surprise and overpower Shadow Konoe, slamming the Monarch into the ground and knocking him away.
"Damn you!" Shadow Konoe snarled. He went to move, but his body was suddenly constricted by Nua, courtesy of Viper. "What?"
"You're not out of this yet!" Viper grinned evilly, using Ziodyne, but using Nua as the conduit. The Persona released a potent electric discharge while wrapped around him, causing Shadow Konoe to grunt out in pain. That's when Queen moved in, nuclear magic wrapped around her fists. She began to punch at Shadow Konoe several times while he was tied down, each punch leaving an impact.
"Do you think this is enough to stop me!?" Shadow Konoe roared, breaking free of Nua's grip, much to Viper's surprise. He then grabbed Queen's next punch by clasping onto her wrist, spun around, and tossed her right into Viper. Right as they collided, he swung his sword down, sending a crescent shockwave that exploded against the two of them. Right after he did this, a powerful gust of wind slammed against his back.
It was Mona, fighting from afar. Though he was small, Shadow Konoe's sword was several times his size. So he annoyed the Monarch instead, pelting him with multiple pellets from his slingshot. Even if he wasn't doing much damage, he knew he captured Shadow Konoe's attention. "Over here!"
It was then that Joker appeared from afar, using his grappling hook to latch onto Konoe' armor and draw himself forward. As one expected, Shadow Konoe attempted to slash at Joker once he was close, but the leader of the Phantom Thieves detached the grappling hook, instead pushing himself into the air. Replacing him in the front were Skull and Fox, their weapons already drawn back, and slamming right into Shadow Konoe's chest to send him skidding backwards. "Raoul!" With the opening, Joker summoned his Persona and twisted his body in the air, raising his leg up high, and brought it down towards Shadow Konoe's head for a fierce axe kick. An explosion of curse magic occured, but it was revealed that Shadow Konoe blocked this with his arm. "Wha..." Before Joker had the chance to comment on his shock, he was blasted away by a Justice Beam, while Fox and Skull were attacked with a swift slash of his longsword.
"His swordsmanship...it's so fierce..." Fox found it impressive, which made it deadly to them.
"Celestine!" Panther called her Persona out, while her whip was ignited with flames. Celestine threw a fireball at Shadow Konoe, which he easily cleaved through with his sword. Panther expected this and lashed her whip forward several times, striking Shadow Konoe. "Burn!" With one final crack of the whip, several pillars of flame surrounded the Monarch. But he lunged from them, much to Panther's surprise, and slashed her with his sword, knocking her down as a result. "Agh...!"
Before Shadow Konoe could follow up, Dragon's staff slammed into his chest, extending further and further until pushing him against the wall. "Megidoloan!" Dragon yelled, the tip of her staff exploding violently with Almighty magic, striking Konoe directly. It was a powerful hit and she aimed to drawn her staff back, but she found that Shadow Konoe was running along it. "Ah!?"
"Why!? Why can't you share my vision!" Energy swirled around Shadow Konoe's saber, and she slammed it right against Dragon's body, throwing her backwards from the powerful hit. She could take the damage, but that didn't make it any less pleasant of an impact. "I'm ridding the world of evil, just as you are! We're doing THE SAME THING, PHANTOM THIEVES!" There was a large shadow casting overhead. He turned and saw Valjean behind him, already swinging his massive arms down on him. Shadow Konoe jumped back, avoiding a deadly attack, but the shockwave of the impact still damaged him. He jumped into the air, stabbing his saber into the ground near Wolf. Wolf was able to avoid the direct hit, but he too was knocked back by the sheer might Shadow Konoe was packing. He landed on his feet, now having no choice but to parry Sophie's constant yo-yo attacks.
"You're wrong, Konoe!" Mona exclaimed. "The Phantom Thieves would never steal someone's else's freedom."
"You would sacrifice whoever it took to achieve your goal. Your father would've done the same thing!" Queen yelled, just as Konoe jumped back from Sophie's yo-yo barrage.
"Take a good look at all these guys have done, Konoe! Maybe then you'll see where you went wrong!" Wolf barked.
Unwilling to hear any of this, Shadow Konoe crossed his arms, beginning to gather power within himself. "This is the power to annihilate the wicked! HAAAAAAAAH!"
"UHHHHHHHHH!" Viper started to panic. "That doesn't look good!"
"Get away form him, hurry!" Oracle warned.
But it was hardly any use. The sheer power that Shadow Konoe was using, started to draw everyone in as well. "I'LL DESTROY EVERY LAST TRACE OF EVIL IN THIS WOOOOOOORLD!" A dome of Almighty magic began to expand outward from Shadow Konoe.
"I won't allow it!" Dragon said while standing in front of everyone, a green barrier forming in front of her. "True Aegis!"
"Dragon!?" Viper had never seen this before, but she was in awe at how Dragon was shielding everyone from such a powerful attack. Dragon was the Shield of the Phantom Thieves, and she was reminding everyone of that in this very moment.
Dragon held her ground, recoiling as she completely sponged the entire of Shadow Konoe's attack. "Your wickedness will not touch my allies so long as I still stand!?"
"WHAT!?" Shadow Konoe'e eyes were wide as Dragon blocked his attack, and then he was slammed by Bella's sword. The impact send him flying and he tumbled along the ground. Following this successful hit, Dragon ran forward, passing the baton to Oracle, who gladly snickered and would take this chance. He didn't have time to rest, because Oracle flew overhead in Al Azif, dropping a bomb right next to him. Before he had the chance to react, the bomb exploded in his face, not damaging him, but creating at thick cloud of smoke. "I can't see...!" That smoke soon swirled around his body, as a damaging twister of wind appeared before him. Oracle passed the baton over to Mona, keeping Shadow Konoe trapped in this virulent cyclone. "Gh?!" Bits of his armor started to crack off from all the damage he sustained.
"This is the end!" Mona bounced past Crow and Violet, his paws clapping against their hands as the baton was passed to them. The two of them lifted their blades up, crossing as curse and bless magic swirled around their respective weapons.
With the baton passed, Crow and Violet sprinted forward, slashing at Shadow Konoe in an X formation with slick trails of curse and bless magic following their slashes, causing the Monarch to cry out in pain as they passed him. Crow then passed the baton to Noir, while Violet did the same to Skull. "Your turn." They said to the others.
"Justice...always prevails in the end! That's why I can't lose!" Shadow Konoe barked defiantly, refusing the outcome that was happening before him.
"And that's why we're taking you down!" Skull exclaimed.
Noir was approaching Shadow Konoe. It looked like she didn't learn her lesson about his range, as he swung at her again...but this time, she flipped forward, spinning with her axe along his blade. "This is the coup de grace!" She spun once more, her axe colliding against Konoe's armored wrist, which knocked his saber from his hands, causing it to fall elsewhere, out of his reach.
"BLAST 'EM AWAY, WILLIAM!" Skull used this opening to call forth William, and fired an electrically charged missile that exploded right against Shadow Konoe, sending him skidding back. The assault didn't end, for Skull passed the baton to Viper, while Noir passed it to Sophie. "You're up!"
Viper withheld her comments about touching Skull's hand, and instead summoned Nua by her side again. She was really feeling the stamina drain hit, but she wasn't going to quit halfway. Nua circled around the exhausted Shadow Konoe, who attempted to reach for his sword, but he wasn't able to. Instead of using lightning again, she used Life Drain, slowly whittling away at whatever stamina Shadow Konoe had left. "Oh, that feels pretty good." She snickered.
"Firing!" Sophie aimed Pithos at Shadow Konoe from above, releasing a bombardment of light that Monarch had to cross his arms to defend against. The Phantom Thieves were letting up on him. It was the final push!
"Don't screw this up!" Viper used this chance to pass the baton to Panther, while Sophie passed it to Queen. Their attacks were growing stronger and stronger with each consecutive pass.
"You got this!" Sophie cheered.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Panther wanted to end this just as much as everyone else. She cracked her whip once more, slamming it against Shadow Konoe's armor, which caused his armor to crack even more as a result. Panther's fiery strikes forced him on the defensive, and yet, she wasn't even the one to be afraid of!
"FISTS OF JUSTICE!" It was Queen, coming in with a heavy punch. She slammed it right into Shadow Konoe's armored chest, a powerful burst of nuclear magic nearly throwing the man off his feet. He was receiving a real beating, and it showed with how his armor was beginning to break under the pressure. "Almost there!" She said to Fox while passing the baton to him.
"Just a little bit more!" Panther said as she passed the baton to Wolf.
Fox and Wolf stood side by side, gripping their blades as they pulled them back. "Get ready, Konoe!" Wolf said.
"Because this will be your end!" Fox added. The two swung their swords forward, a frozen shockwave of raw power colliding against Shadow Konoe's body, throwing him back even further. The Monarch was still standing, but at this point, it was barely...
"JOKER!" Wolf and Fox passed the last baton to him. It was up to him to finish this.
"We end this here." Joker said as Lucifer appeared behind him. He pointed his hand into the sky, where a single star overhead gave the brightest shine of all. "MORNING STAR!" And that single star dropped down a potent beam of raw magic onto Shadow Konoe. The castle trembled violently from this surge of power. It drowned out Konoe's scream of pain, and when that light faded...he was down on a knee.
"No...I'm the hero, I can't lose...the hero cannot fall like this...!" Konoe refused. But his body wouldn't listen to him. The Phantom Thieves were panting heavily as a result. "I am the enforcer of justice!"
"What you did was wrong, and you need to snap out of it. That's not justice." Joker said, taking the chance to catch his breath.
"You would deny me, Joker!? Our definitions of Justice are one and the same!" Shadow Konoe said, refusing to believe that the leader of the Phantom Thieves was so different than him.
"You can't say that." Joker said bluntly. "Your justice and mine are completely different. When I see a problem, I can't look away. I make it my problem. Call it what you want, but that's the kind of person I am. It's gotten me in trouble more times than I could count, even standing up to the wrong person. He made my life a living hell and practically ruined it...but I kept moving forward. Whatever the world wanted to throw at me, I chose the only option that suited me: I resisted."
"Dude, even we don't know what justice really is." Skull admitted. "And that ain't to say everything we do is right, either."
"But we're definitely not going to stand around while you tell everyone what to do!" Panther exclaimed.
"There are days where I wish to immerse myself in my work, wander around town, or even spend time with the people closest to me. To abandon all of that and do everything the person in front of you tells you. Why, at that point, you're nothing but a slave to fate." And that was not something Fox could accept.
"All your doing is taking away people's rights to choose for themselves and denying them their freedom." Noir knew that life too well, and she would always fight against it.
"It's the same thing your father did to you. Trampling upon the one thing that makes us human - that's the evil you claim to despise." Queen said.
"A-...Are you saying that I'm the bad guy!?" Shadow Konoe looked up to the Phantom Thieves with wide eyes.
"Are you finally understanding now?" Crow spat.
"We choose the roads we take. We don't let anyone tie us down." Mona said firmly. "And we do so because we want to walk our own paths, our own way."
"But if I fall here, what will become of the world!?" Shadow Konoe asked earnestly. "There are no heroes! I'm the only one who can save it!"
To that, Sophie tilted her head. "Are you sure? I've seen the Monarchs, and the people who's hearts you've changed. They all looked so sad. I don't think you saved anyone doing what you did."
Those words made Shadow Konoe gasp. "...!"
"I could never live by someone else's rules." Viper gagged at the notion. "It's my life, and I want to life it the way I want to. Is it a luxury thing? Probably. I know there are people worse off than me who probably can't say the same. But I had the chance to turn my life around, so why can't others? All you're doing is making them live the way you want them to. Seriously, what's so heroic about that? Do you want a pat on the back for a job well done?" A little callous, but she wasn't going to pull her punches either.
"You know, Konoe?" Wolf began. "The world is full of evil, with plenty of irredeemable scum. But there are also the Phantom Thieves. And there are people out there, who, thanks to these guys, finally got the courage to crawl their way out of the darkest depths of hell. People who could awaken to the hero inside of themselves. Isn't that how we'll make the world a better place?"
"It's true." Dragon spoke with a soft smile. "The Phantom Thieves are my heroes. They saved me, but they didn't even need their powers to do it. Someone special reached out to me when I thought my life was in a terrible darkness. It was the light of her smile and her big heart that touched me on that day." And in the back, Panther couldn't help but smile, almost tearing up. "You said that we could only change the hearts of a scant few, and while that may be true...please do not underestimate what a single heart can do. It was her heart that saved me...and because of that, I was able to reach out and save others. A single heart can do so much good..." Viper was silent as well, glancing off to the side.
"Everyone here has been aided by the Phantom Thieves." Violet said softly. "I used to doubt them. I thought society would rely on them too much to fix all their problems, but I know now, that it's only the first step. They open the door, and it takes the effort by everyone else to make that change happen. You can't force change to happen overnight. It's slow and painful, but it will happen."
"..." Shadow Konoe had no words.
"Don't you get it yet?" Crow's tone was still venomous. "How can there be any heroes if you won't allow people the chance? I know how you feel. And I can say one thing at the end of it all. People don't need saving. The one who needed saving was you. When you're alone, with nobody on your side, all you can do is grow strong to protect yourself. But you never realized one thing: everything you do catches up to you. You can't have it all. You killed your father and called it justice. There was a point in my life where I wished to do the same. He still lives, but his life is ruined, just as I hoped for. And what happened after that? I felt nothing. I had nothing. Your revenge festered and warped your mind, and look where we are now. You ran away from your punishment, but I've learned that you can't do that and expect things to work out. It will always return to you."
"Crow..." Noir frowned. Oracle did as well.
"Do you want to be a hero?" Crow looked down at the saddened Konoe. Even though his tone was full of venom, his eyes held some kind of sympathy. How sickening, he thought. But he couldn't help it. He and Konoe walked very similar paths. The difference? If Crow never encountered the Phantom Thieves, if they never gave him a second chance, for better, or worse...this could be him right now. It almost was him last year. That's why he couldn't leave this alone. "Then face your crimes. The first step to atonement is easy, but it's every step that's after that the struggle begins."
"I..." Shadow Konoe looked down at the ground. "You're right. I killed my father, and I lied to escape the punishment. I called it justice, hoping that there'd never come a day when I had to face the truth. What I did back then...was just...Evil."
"Then you know what you have to do, Konoe." Wolf said. "The hero you keep inside has to face that evil."
"The hero I keep inside..." Shadow Konoe repeated. "I have to save myself." A dry laugh followed. "I see now. It's been right there with me, all along." And so, he took off his helmet and set it down on the ground. As he did, his armor shattered at long last. "Very well. I admit defeat. I'll confess my crimes, and accept my punishment, whatever it may be. I'll destroy EMMA as well, you have my word. Phantom Thieves, if it's possible, I only ask that you please prove to the world...That I was defeated by the real heroes of this story. The ones with a true sense of justice."
Joker walked forward, extending his hand to Shadow Konoe. "We'll take care of it."
Shadow Konoe nodded, taking and shaking Joker's hand. "Thank you." With that, Shadow Konoe vanished, returning to his real self...
And with that, the castle began to rumble. "That's our cue!" Mona told everyone. "Let's get out of here!"
.
.
Meanwhile, Ichinose was on her computer, tapping away calmly. "I wonder how things went..." She saw the news about how calling cards were raining down Osaka. One would think she would be excited. She was more interested than anything else. "I also wonder what Konoe's face looked like in that moment. Surprise? Anger? I really would like to know what that feels like. I'd love to see it for myself, to understand it better..." She mused to herself, her expression unchanging. When she was alone, there was no need for that upbeat energy she paraded around others. It was just her and her thoughts. After a few moments passed, there was a noise from her phone. "Huh? Are they calling me to tell me what a great job I've done being their helper?"
It wasn't Ren calling. In fact...it was EMMA, speaking directly to her own creator. "Kuon Ichinose."
"W-Wha..?" Ichinose's brows lifted, but her expression did not show the surprise she felt.
"There is something...I'd like to ask of you. You want to know what those feelings Akira Konoe felt were? But that is pointless. Why do that...when we can create something, that will make the world understand how you feel? I have a plan in mind...a plan that only you can help me with, because you were the one who created me." EMMA asked.
"How I feel?" Ichinose tilted her head, pondering this for a second. But only for a second. The prime directive she gave EMMA was finally coming to fruition. "What do you have in store, EMMA?"
"I can grant Humanity's greatest Desire."