Chapter 43: Meeting The Assassins
July 19th.
We were outside of a condemned office building.
"Is this the place ByteSmyte66 told you about last night?" Cattleya asked,
"Yeah." Willow replied, "They hacked my laptop again and gave me a notepad on I.M.P's location and then gave my computer control again."
"Well, guess we gotta do this shit then." Boris said, "I mean, where is the office anyway?"
"On the 7th floor."
"7th floor, huh? Will that counter worker know about us transiting?"
"It's worth a try." Cattleya replied as she crossed the street to the condemned office building,
"Hey, wait for us!"
Lars sighed.
"This is a bad idea, but our lives are at stake." He said to me, "Come on, let's get this over with."
Fast forwarding to many months later. I was still interrogated by Bernie.
"So a condemned office building at this location is where the assassins at I.M.P are held." Bernie said to me, "Those assassins… They are no joke, let me tell you."
I was curious, but still silent.
"I.M.P… Made up of, well, three skilled imps, and a Hellhound who's the leader's adopted daughter." He continued, "The leader used to be a circus performer, and that married couple… One's from Greed and raised in a Mafia and the other is from Wrath who was raised at a farm… That Hellhound has gone through the same pound as one of your friends, yeah?"
Still, I was silent.
"Tell me everything about that alliance that was set-up between The Phantom Thieves and I.M.P." He continued, "I want the full details, front and back."
Back to the present moment. We went inside the building. A lady working at the front desk looked at us. She was an Imp.
"Do you kids work here?" She asked us,
"Uhhhh, we came here to meet with a group of people." Lars replied,
"That's right." Cattleya replied, "It's an emergency."
"But do you kids work here?" The lady asked us again,
"...No ma'am."
"Well, can you at least tell me the name of the group you all wanted to see?"
"The Immediate Murder Professionals." I replied,
"Oh? I.M.P, huh? Who's the sinner here?"
"Me. The rest of my friends here are Hellborns."
"Alright, go ahead and take the elevator to the 7th floor. You'll find a door that leads to I.M.P."
"Appreciate it."
We went to the elevator. I pushed the button with the number 7 and the elevator starts going up.
"Good thing we have Ren." Cattleya said,
"So… Who exactly killed you?" Boris asked,
"I'll tell you all about it later." I replied, "For now, let's meet the assassins."
We stopped at the 7th floor. We left the elevator and came across the door leading to I.M.P.
"Alright, here we are." Cattleya said as she took a deep breath, "Let's get this over with… Ren? If you can kindly knock for them."
"I will." I said,
I knocked on the door. We waited for a bit when someone looked at us from inside and opened the door. He was a tall imp with long horns and wore some sort of suit.
"Ahh! You're those guys, yeah?" He said to us, "The name's Blitzø! The O is silent! Come in!"
We went inside and Blitzø closed the door and looked at us with hesitation.
"Ok, you six are The Phantom Thieves, correct?" He asked us,
"Uhh, sir? We can hear you." Another Masculine voice said,
We looked at three more of Blitzø's group. Two shorter Imps and a Hellhound. The Hellhound was on her phone while the two Imps were looking at us like we did something confusing.
"None of your fucking business, Moxxie!" Blitzø shouted,
Blitzø turned to us again.
"My office, quick!" He said to us,
"Come on, Blitz, ya know we can still hear ya!" The female imp said,
"Not now, Millie, I'm busy with something!"
Blitzø turned to us, yet again while we're walking to his office.
"Don't mind them, they're just working for me." He said to us, "Anyways, my office, yes."
We all went inside his office. Blitzø looked at us.
"Now, you guys are The Phantom Thieves that this ByteSmyte66 fucker told me about, yeah?" He asked us,
"You got hacked as well, yeah?" Cattleya asked,
"Oh yeah, and it wasn't good. They threatened to fucking expose us through our "illegal trades" or some bullshit on August 15th!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Willow shouted, "That's their way of exposing all of us while exposing us for who we really are as The Phantom Thieves?!"
"Precisely! Look, after much careful investigation, I know exactly who's doing all of this!"
"Really?" Cattleya said,
"An Imp born here in Pride. Her name is Astrid Kilobite."
Cattleya gasped.
"No way! HER?!" She shouted,
"You know her?" Blitzø asked,
"Uh, yeah?! She's been my best friend ever since I moved to Pride! What the fuck happened to her recently that caused her to hack us?!"
"I could be asking the same question! Go talk to her and see why or something, I don't know, you're The Phantom Thieves yeah? Go and change her heart or something!"
"We will." I said,
Blitzø looked at me and chuckled.
"I like you, kid, you know business around here." He said to me, "Hey, you're a sinner, yeah? Tell me who killed you."
I was surprised. I took a deep breath and told everyone who killed me.
"Goro Akechi." I replied, "Junior Ace Detective and fellow student at Shujin Academy. He killed me via gunshot to the head while I was interrogated over my crimes as the leader of The Phantom Thieves."
"Shujin Academy?" Blitzø wondered, "Are you from Japan?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, we'll get to business while you all get to your business."
"Deal."
Me and Blitzø have shook hands.
"Consider this a not so illegal trade, kid!" He said to me,
My surprising bond with Blitzø have started.
Fast forwarding to many months later. Bernie was still interrogating me.
"There must be someone not a member of The Phantom Thieves that helped you with something. Like changing the hearts of the not so major demons down here a little easier for example." He said to me, "Someone must have known the ins and outs of this ring around here."
I was silent.
"Answer me, please!" Bernie said to me,
Back to the present moment. A voice spoke to me.
"I am thou... Thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow...
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Devil Persona
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
I have formed a bond with Blitzø. I think I know where it will go…
"Now then, we'll get working right away!" He said to us, "Leave my office."
"Thanks." I said to them,
We left and headed out. The female Hellhound looked at Boris with a serious look. Boris gave her the finger and left. The female Hellhound smiled a bit.
"He gets me." She said,