[June 23rd, evening, Leblanc]
Accompanied by the soft lighting from the tungsten light above, the scent of coffee filled every inch of Leblanc. With his brow furrowed out of focus, Ren carefully and slowly poured the hot water into the crushed coffee bean below. As his hand twirled circularly, coffee slowly slipped through the paper filter to the pot below.
"Hmm… it smells great, Ren," Sitting on one of the stools before the counter, Morgana smiled. "You're planning to bring them to the palace tomorrow?"
"Yeah, we do need some drink in the Metaverse, after all," Ren nodded, pouring a cup of coffee. "Coffee seems like a good choice, it lifts your spirit."
"More like it keeps you from having a healthy sleeping schedule."
"Well, don't blame me for having a bad sleeping schedule," Ren shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. "Living a double life is not easy, after all."
In response, all Morgana gave him was nothing but a deadpan stare, baffled by his answer. However, before the not-cat could say much more, the chime of Leblanc's doorbell caught their attention.
It was Tae, now without her usual white doctor's robe, replaced by a black leather jacket over her dark green dress. The ripped black stocking stayed though.
"Takemi-san? What brought you here?"
"I just closed for the day and happened to see you here," Tae chuckled, taking a seat on the stool next to Morgana. "Besides, I'm in a mood for coffee."
"Totally not because you're seeing me brewing coffee, right?" Ren said with a small smirk, pouring another cup of coffee. "Well, I need someone to judge my coffee, so you're here at the right time."
"Wouldn't boss be mad at you about this?"
"He's not here so… just don't tell him."
Sharing a giggle (while Ren continued to ignore the deadpan stare from Morgana), Tae took a small sip of the coffee. And as much as Ren tried his best to appear calm and normal, the nervousness inside his gaze was still visible. Not as clear as day, but still visible to everyone else.
Thankfully, when Tae put down the half-drank coffee cup, a small smile was clear on her face. "Hmm… I'm not a coffee expert, but it's pretty good."
"That's good to know," The not-delinquent said, pumping his fist behind the counter. "I can bring some over in my next visit, if you want."
"I was going to ask about that," Tae chuckled, taking another sip of the coffee. "I've been having all-nighters, and a cup of coffee would be great."
"I'll make sure to remember that then," Ren nodded, pouring another cup of coffee, for himself this time. "But what happened? Some breakthrough for the medicine?"
"It is," Tae answered. "Thanks to you and Trial Rabbit, the progress is moving pretty quickly."
"That's good news, for Miwa-chan and for you."
"I stopped caring about my reputation a long time ago, Miwa-chan's more important here," Putting down the empty cup, Tae reached into her pocket and pulled out a small paper bag. "Here, it's a couple of new formulas I've made, consider them as a payment for the coffee… and both you and Trail Rabbit's help."
"The coffee is on the house, Takemi-san. You don't have to pay back anything."
"But I want to, just… maybe consider them as a gift instead," Shaking her head, Tae put down the paper bag on the counter. "Besides, tell Trial Rabbit that I appreciate his help too."
"Trial- Oh right, Akira went to her too," Ren thought, nodding with a small smile. "I'll remember to tell him that, Takemi-san."
"Thanks," With a small nod, the punk doctor picked up her shoulder bag and stood back up. "Anyway, I gotta go now. It's getting late, so… see you soon?"
"Yeah, see you soon, Takemi-san."
The doorbell hung above Leblanc's door and rung again, signaling her leave. And now left alone once again, Ren turned his curious gaze at the paper bag. Of course, it did reminded him of how he got into working for Iwai-san, but new formula from Takemi…
"Well, let's see what she got in store for us…"
[June 24th, Izumo Household]
To be honest, Ise was anticipated to wake up early and check on Shinji and Makoto, which would lead to a good day's worth of teasing from her end. However, she definitely didn't intend to wake up, went down the stairs, and came to the sight of a full breakfast.
"...Shin-chan, Mako-chan," Sitting by the dining table as she stared at the full breakfast before her, Ise found herself stunned. "You don't have to do it for me, I was going to make breakfast for you two anyway."
"But we want to," Shinji smiled, putting down a bowl of satay beef noodles before her. "Think of it as us making up for everything."
"It was Shin-chan's idea, by the way," Makoto added with a smile, putting down a plate of scrambled eggs, sausages and a crispy toast with jam before Ise. "I just offered to help."
"I know, but… still, it's surprising…"
Trailing off, Ise took a deep breath to fight the tears from leaking. To be honest, she never asked for anything back from Shinji, she never wanted to either. How many times had she questioned whether she did a good job being a mother or not? At one point, she had stopped counting.
"That's… the point of a surprise," Shinji said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But oh right, I chose to make this because-"
Before Shinji could even finish his sentence, Ise's arms had already wrapped around him. Feeling the tight hold around him, Shinji looked over and saw Makoto, showing a small smile.
"...Mako-chan, come here," Ise suddenly said, also looking over at her. "I want to hug you too."
"Ise-san, it should be a moment between you and Shin-chan-"
"Well, you're practically my daughter-in-law, so you're also my family too," Cutting her off with a brighter smile, the oldest Izumo gestured for Makoto to come. "Just come on."
"I…" Trailing off, Makoto pondered and nodded. And she walked around the table to their side, accepting the unfamiliar embrace from Ise.
The three stayed silent for a few long minutes, just feeling the warmth between each other. Until something pretty important surfaced in Shinji's mind, as his head perked up in surprise and slight panic.
"Oh right, the noddle!" He exclaimed, surprising both Makoto and Ise. "I know it's just instant noddle, but it might get a bit soggy!"
"I'm not sure that's true…" Makoto muttered.
"Well, either way, I'm starving for breakfast," Ise giggled, letting go of the young couple. After all, crying in the morning would only ruin her appearance for the entire day, even if it was happy tears.
But for once, Ise felt a bit… reassured for Shinji. But that's beside the point.
Ise sat back down on the chair, Ise finally took a good look at the breakfast before her. It wasn't a Japanese-style breakfast at all, but it was a familiar sight for her. Something that took her back, years ago.
"Shinji… it's…"
"A Cha Chaan Tang-style breakfast," With a soft smile, Shinji sat back down on the seat opposite of her. "Me and Makoto actually thought of it last night."
"That's right," Makoto nodded. "Shin-chan mentioned that you studied college in Hong Kong for a while, so we thought it'd be a good idea to make something in that style."
"That's… wow," Eyes widened, Ise had to try her best to keep any more tears from leaking. "It was like over twenty years ago, I think I just mentioned it once or twice…"
"You're my mom, of course I'm gonna remember it," The younger Izumo answered, gesturing over to the breakfast. "But well, shall we?"
"Sure."
[Later, Kaneshiro's palace, Underground Vault]
Even though they had witnessed the sheer scale of the entire vault on the way down, but as the thieves returned and came face-to-face with it. They still couldn't help but feel in awe, and pretty intimidated.
"And I really don't want to check every single one of these vaults," Jester sighed, staring at the wall of… vaults. "Actually, can't we just use our grappling hook and jump over the entire wall?"
"We can't," Raven answered without a beat, as he examined the steel wall of vaults before them. "The steel here is too hard to crack, our grappling hooks won't get a grip on them at all."
"So it's this keypad or nothing then," Letting out a disappointed sigh, the leader of The Fools walked up to the said keypad. Right in the middle of the entire wall of vaults, standing out with it's blue paint, contrasting with the dull silver that surrounded it.
"The lock is currently engaged. Please enter the requisite PIN."
"A PIN…?" Skull muttered, looking back up toward the wall of vaults ahead. "So this gonna open one of the vaults?"
"There's something written above the keypad here," Fox said, noticing the green letters written above. "RICH?"
"'Rich', huh?" Queen scowled. "How obsessed can one man be with his money?"
"Technically, it's everyone else's money," King added. "He's just taking it and claimed it's his."
"Either way, it's gotta have some importance to be written here," Swan said, her eyes suddenly widening in realization. "Hey Jester, you still have that journal?"
"Yeah, I do," Pulling the said journal, Jester flipped through empty and ripped pages. And ended on the only page with anything written on it. "It said 'R=C=0 I=1, H=2'... Wait."
"It's the classic number cipher," Joker answered for him, smirking as he turned to the keypad. "We just have to correspond the letters to the numbers here. And in this case…"
Trailing off, the Wildcard pressed the virtual buttons of the keypad without hesitation, as the number '0102' appeared in the small visor above the letters. And with a message of 'correct' popped up at where the number was, the ground suddenly started to rumble.
"Wha-" Surprised by the rumble, Panther pointed at the glass floor next to them. "Wait, look!"
All of a sudden, a key-like rod emerged from the elevator's end, inserted into the other end, and twisted. Just like the lock and key to a postbox, followed by sparks from the rod itself. But in response, the wall of vaults moved, stopping at a gap in the vault. A gap that was intentionally made to pass.
"The whole vault moved…" Fox said, just as a wide smile emerged on Queen's face.
"I knew it," Queen said. "This whole place is modeled after a combination lock, so we just have to keep doing this and it'd clear a way to the middle!"
"A combination lock?" Majesty asked, but not long before realization hit. "Oh, you meant those dials like locks in heist movies?"
"Exactly," She nodded. "And from what I remembered last time we were in the palace, there's only three more walls like this ahead."
"So if Kaneshiro doesn't mess with us, it's three more codes and we have our route," Joker said, stretching his arm as his smirk widened. "That's reassuring."
"But… this is the only page with anything written on it," Jester said, showing the torn pages in the journal. "Unless we got a way to find those pages, it might take longer than we'd like to."
"For something this important, Kaneshiro definitely kept them safe somewhere," Mona said, shifting his gaze toward the gap in the wall of vaults. "Let's move on then, there's got to be some clue on our way ahead."
With a nod from everyone, the thieves moved on and into the next ring. Only to be greeted by two sets of circular vault doors located on either end. And without the existence of the keypad like the last ring, the solution was pretty clear to them.
"I guess we're splitting up?" Jester asked out loud, turning to see a nod from Joker.
"Seems like it, if the keypads are not here, then it's gotta be in the vaults."
"In this case… here," Jester looked down and took off the small watch on his wrist, tossing it to Joker. "It acts as a walkie-talkie too, I think."
"Before you ask, they're specially made to work in Shadow Realm like this," Raven added, pressing a button on his watch and raising his mouth. "Testing, 1, 2, 3."
Hearing the voice coming from the watch in Joker's hand, the look of surprise was shared between everyone.
"...I'm so going to ask you how the hell did you get this, Raven," Joker said, quickly putting on the watch on his wrist. "Either way, let's go."
[Underground Vault 1F. The Phantom's side]
The room… actually, more specifically, the floor below was filled with nothing but reinforced walls. With enhanced steel panels lining up in a strict pattern on the wall, and multiple cameras for each hallway.
Hopping between cover to cover, and to avoid as many guards as they possibly could. The Phantoms found themselves in a familiar rhythm. Strike when they needed to, sabotage any Joker suspected that it might be because of their last fight against the group of shadows, this whole floor just felt… a lot easier.
"Arsene! Dream Needle!" As the crimson Persona spread its wings, black feathers flew and rained on the Take-Minakata before the thieves.
The armless Oni lost its balance and stumbled back, only to notice Fox had already dashed behind him. Using the momentum, it twirled around and attempted to kick him. Only to be blocked by his Katana.
"Goemon!" With azure flame emerging from his Kitsune mask, the blue Kabuki actor changed his grip on his windpipe and swung. Multiple slashes immediately struck and created marks on the shadow, sending it flying back.
And before its feet could touch the ground, Panther's whip suddenly wrapped around its waist and slammed it to the ground. "Dance! Carmen!" With the crimson dominatrix materialized behind her, another barrage of flame struck.
The shadow staggered back up to its feet, embers and flames still burning on its body. Not leaving a moment for a breather, Mona and Queen rushed toward it.
"Zorro!"
"Johanna!"
Followed by a burst of razor-sharp winds and a nuclear-infused explosion, the armless stone giant felt its body being blasted away. However, as the thieves continued to close in, its eyes sparked. All of a sudden, multiple lightning bolts from above.
Eyes widened at the sudden retaliation, and the thieves immediately dashed and dodged. However, a couple of those lightning bolts still chased after them, especially Mona.
"Shit, it's catching up to me-" Seeing three distinct lightning bolts rushing to him, the feline thief clutched his eyes shut. Readying himself for the strike to him.
However, it never came.
"Not on my watch!" Rushing between the lightning bolts and Mona, Skull used his arms and endured the lightning bolts. Falling back slightly with gritting teeth, a familiar aura of iridescence emerged and healed him.
"You just have to be reckless, Skull," Mona sighed, but a hint of a smile still emerged. "I guess I owe you one then."
"Yeah," Skull said, as his mask faded away in azure flame and summoned Captain Kidd behind him. And he also readied his bat, just as an unstable ball of lightning formed before the shadow again.
"Tarukaja!" Feeling his grip on the bat tightened along with the red glow around him, Skull dashed forward and leaped. The ball of lightning burst open and sent out multiple lightning bolts, spread and reached toward him.
Skull endured all of them again, every single one of them. However, he still moved forward, not stopped or even knocked back by those lightnings. With his eyes full of determination, he struck the bat right on the shadow's head.
"Headbutt! Now!"
Obeying his other self's order, Captain Kidd dashed forward. Ramming the miniature boat under his feet to the shadow and sent it flying back, crashed into a wall with a crater formed.
The armless stone giant struggled to move itself from the crater, but as it looked up, the sight of Joker was all it could see.
"Matador, give us a good show."
In an instant, a multi-colored psychic energy rushed and impacted it. And once the smoke and rubble faded away, the sight of the down shadow was all they could see. Or in other words…
"All-Out Attack! Now!"
In an instant, all six thieves dashed forward and struck, leaving no room to breath for it. And under the world covered in bright red, Joker landed with a smooth motion. Standing up, he adjusted his gloves with a smirk, just as the shadow exploded.
"The Show's Over!"
Now with said room cleared of any shadow, the thieves found themselves inside what seemed to be a security office. Aside from having two different vault doors on the same wall, but with a long computer monitoring a roller door. And weirdly, a giant golden pig statue.
"A golden piggy bank…" Taking a closer look at the said golden pig statue, Joker rubbed his chin. "Huh, weird."
"It's prolly just him being a narcissistic prick," Skull said.
"Well, either way, this computer…" Trailing off, Queen examined the computer itself. And realized the uses of it. "Oh, it's a control of the roller door."
With a few quick taps on the control panel, the monitor showed that the roller door had opened. However, the thieves weren't expected to hear the voice of Kaneshiro blasting through the security system. In a volume that's definitely way too big as well.
"ATTENTION ALL GUARDS! ATTENTION ALL GUARDS! THE RATS HAVE MADE THEIR WAY TO EVERY FLOOR! TIGHTEN SECURITY AT ALL LEVELS!" Aside from the rage in Kaneshiro's voice, the thieves could also hear a hint of… fear in it. "THEY MUST NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER! PROTECT THE GOLDEN PIG AT ALL COSTS!"
"Man, he seems really worked up…" Mona commented, crossing his arms.
"Then that means we're doing a good job," Joker replied, an evil smirk emerged. "Or you can say, a phan-tastic job-"
"C'mon, not the pun, Joker," Panther graoned, just as Skull mirrored her reaction.
However, in Fox's case, he was closely examining the golden pig. With his stern gaze across every single inch of said statue, he seemed to notice something.
"There is a small line between the face and the rest of the statue," He said, switching his gaze at the nose of the pig. "And if my intuition is right, then…"
With that said, Fox pressed on the nose of the pig, which caved in as if it was supposed to be a button. The pig's face slid upward, revealing a single piece of paper inside the empty interior of the pig. However, before they could react, a… sound that's way too similar to a fart rang out from it.
"...That's a choice," Skull said, blinking in nothing but confusion.
"Y-yeah," Panther nodded, sniffing the air and gave out a breath of relief. "But at least it's just sound, and nothing more."
"I guess it's supposed to notify the guard?" Mona suggested, looking into the pig itself. "But huh, a piece of paper."
"Considering Kaneshiro calls for the highest security for this piece of paper, it must be something important," Fox said, taking the paper and examining it. There's a clear ripped edge on one side of the paper, and aside from what was written on it, it looked painfully ordinary.
However, there were three lines written on the page.
"P equals to I, three times A equals to E, and E minus K equals to A plus H…" Reading the code out loud as she stood next to Fox, Queen nodded to herself. "It's more of those codes, but it's not all solvable with the previous codes Jester had."
"Then… the rest of the codes must be on the other side then," Joker said, glancing at the monitor, showing the opened roller door. "Well, we also unlocked a new block, then let's see if there's anything more, then we can call them for answers."
With a nod from everyone, the thieves moved out again.
Meanwhile, inside the other vaults. The Fools were also trying their best to avoid as many guards as they could, only to a… lesser result.
Especially as they found themselves in a huge fight against the guards, which were defending a special door. One that looked more like a futuristic vault door than the one they've encountered.
Swinging his scythe and slashed the shadow into two, Jester narrowly dodged another strike from the shadow with a sidestep. Swan jumped in before he could react, stabbing the heart of the shadow with her whipsword, watching it dissolving into a pile of darkness.
"And… we're safe now," Majesty said, eyes closed as she focused. "I can't sense any shadow nearby, it's safe to assume we've got them all."
"That's great, then…" Stretching his arms, King turned his sight to the two things in the room. A keypad identical to the earlier one, and a golden pig statue next to it. "another keypad?"
"Can't say I didn't expect to see another one though," Jester said, taking a closer look at the keypad. More specifically, the word engraved below the screen. "And… "TAKE"?"
"It's the same trick as the keypad from outside," Raven said, frowning. "But none of the letters here correspond to what we have right now."
"In other words, we have to find more pages," Swan said, walking toward the golden pig. "Actually, maybe there's something with this pig?"
"Probably," King said, also walking up to the golden pig. "It's here so… actually…"
Trailing off, he raised his hand and pressed the pig's nose, and it opened up. Accompanied by the same fart-like noise that riverbed throughout the entire room, revealing the single notebook page inside.
Eyes widened. King slowly turned his head back at everyone. "...Are we just gonna ignore that?"
"Yes," Everyone answered in unison, without a single hint of hesitation.
"L-let's just move on and get done with this," Swan said, taking the page and read it. "...P plus H equals to A, and A times H equals to T…"
"It's nothing that we can solve with the code we have," Raven sighed, but not remembering the watch on his wrist. "But maybe Joker can give us any help."
With a few quick taps on the watch, a small 'beep' came out from the watch itself. And with a faint smile under his mask, Raven spoke into the watch like a walkie-talkie.
"Hello, anyone copy?"
"Loud and clear, Raven," With Joker's voice coming from the other end, the thieves immediately closed up, right next to Raven. "I guess you're also at the keypad too?"
"Yeah, I assume you also got the pages too?"
"That's right…"
With Raven and Joker (through the line) started working on their code-breaking business, the rest of The Fools found themselves… standing awkwardly at the back. Maybe it was through the mannerism that Raven gave out, or the fact it really didn't need more than two people for a simple passcode puzzle like this.
"Hey, so… I'm a bit curious," King spoke up, rubbing his neck. "Are all palaces like this?"
"Not exactly," Jester answered. "Well, back in Togo-san's palace, Raven also went into a film lab to develop something alone… So, it's half-and-half?"
"Really?" Majesty said with a raised eye. "What's that for?"
"To find a different roll of film that shows another snippet of Togo-san's memory," Swan said, her arms crossed. "It's pretty random, I'd say."
"Hmm… mom is pretty into movies, so maybe that's why?"
"That could be the reason," Jester nodded.
"But wait, that means we're gonna face even more weird puzzles and stuff?!" King exclaimed, grabbing everyone else's attention back to him. "I mean, it wouldn't be a heist without some bullshit puzzles, but… it's annoying to sit and wait, man."
"I…" Trailing off, Jester found himself couldn't refute King's words here. "Yeah, it is a bit annoying."
"Well, there's more of them."
"I know, but-" Suddenly, Jester caught his own words and glanced around him.
"...Jester?" Swan asked worriedly. "Something's wrong?"
"Um… did you hear someone said something about there's more of them?"
"...No?" Majesty said, her arms crossed. "You just suddenly answering to no one, then just… asking us whether we heard something or not."
"It's a bit creepy, Jester," King commented, rubbing his arms. "You just said someone's talking to you and… Urgh."
"Wait, then who's talking?" Jester said, turning around and tried to look for the source of that mysterious voice. There was no mistaking it, he definitely heard someone else talking. Come to think of it, it was a female voice. One that was… strangely familiar, even though he had never heard it.
And it was definitely not Kimiko's voice either.
"I'm not going crazy, am I?" Jester muttered, feeling the worried gaze from everyone else.
But just as he turned to the vault door, he could see it.
Someone was standing by the door, watching them.
"Crap, I shouldn't have said anything."
However, before he could make out of her face, she disappeared in thin air. As if she was never supposed to be here in the first place, the only trace of her 'existence' was a slight glitching in the reality.
All he could register was a girl in black open coat with white collar and sleeve, revealing the royal-like high collar shirt that was left open. And a long sword behind in her back.
"Wha-" Eyes widened, Jester rubbed his eyes and only see nothing. "What the hell?"
"Jester? There's no one there," With worry starting to show, Swan followed his gaze at the empty door. "...Akira? You're alright?"
"I… I don't know, it's probably my imagination or something like that," Jester sighed. "It should be nothing."
"...I hope so," She said, taking his hand in hers. "Maybe we'd get something to eat after the infiltration?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Choosing to set aside the mysterious girl for now, he nodded with a faint smile. "Beef bowl?"
"Beef bowl."
"Please just focus on the infiltration for now," Catching the two by surprise, they turned to see Raven looking at them with deadpan gaze. "Anyway, I think I got the code now."
"Same here," Joker's voice stemmed from the watch again. And even though they could only hear the voice, it was very clear that he was having a smug smirk. "Now, let's get this done and continue on. It's 0931 for us, and 6349 for you, right?"
"Yeah," With that said, Raven quickly inputted the code as said.
Unsurprisingly, a green light flashed on the screen after the code as inputted. Showing the word "Access Granted" on it.
However, just before the thieves could move on. A certain voice suddenly rang out in the room, Kaneshiro's voice.
"Money, I got to have them all… I can't go back to those times," For a split second, the thieves immediately readied their weapons, only to slowly relaxed as the voice merely continued. "I can't let myself be nothing but a mere lackey, just following boss's words…"
"I'll have to find a way to get rid of him," It said, much to the thieves' surprise. "Actually, I might have the best person for the job…"
However, just as abruptly as it started, it ended the same way. In an instant. And amidst the silence, everyone only felt a sense of shock and disgust. It was very clear of what was Kaneshiro talking about here. Without a single shred of subtlety in his voice, just clear obsession with money… and how far he'd go.
"Everything for money, huh?" Raven said, furrowing his brow.
"There's no 'bottom line' for people like him," Joker said, twirling the dagger in his hand. "I guess we're gonna hear more about this with the stuff ahead of us."
"As if threatening the Naoko and her parents isn't good enough proof, he just have to spell it out for us," King murmured, his fist tightened. "Let's go then, there's still two more of this."
With a faint nod from everyone else, the thieves continued on.
Thankfully, the next level of the vault didn't have anything that forced them to separate. Maybe it was because Kaneshiro thought no one would be knowledgeable enough to crack the first level's code, or just something else. Either way, it's just overall good news for the Phantom Thieves.
The fact that there weren't many guards around only made it even easier, both in clearing out the entire floor. And finding the golden pigs for the next code.
However, throughout the entire way, Jester couldn't help but have his mind returned to that mysterious girl. To think someone just appeared and disappeared right before his eyes, and for some reason, only he could see and hear.
To be honest, weird things had been happening since his awakening to Moriarty, but to this extent was… odd.
"Maybe I'm really going crazy…" Shaking his head, he chose to keep this thought in the back of his mind. Maybe for now, or longer. He couldn't be sure.
And before he realized, the thieves had found themselves before another keypads. One that was located deep inside the vaults, standing alone in the room.
"Found it," Joker smirked, walking up and took a closer look at the keypad. "And this time it's… 'HUGE'. So about the pages we got earlier…"
"Right here," Fox said, taking out the two pages with scribbles on them. "So this time, it's G equals to I, and U equals to A."
"So no equation to crack this time," Raven commented with a shrug. "Weird, but I'll take it."
"Oh definitely, I can't ask for more than this either," Joker said, and his hand hovered on the keypad. "So in this way… it'd be '2319' then."
With that said, he quickly inputted the code into the machine. Just as they thought, the green light of confirmation illuminated on the keypad's monitor. Followed by a low hum and the entire vault rumbling, signalling the changes outside.
And of course, Kaneshiro's voice rang throughout the entire vault.
"I got it… I've finally got it all!" With his laugh rang through the vault, the thieves had to cover their ears at the sheer volume of it. "Turns out it's just a call, and he's gone! Gotta say this guy did his job quick."
"But whatever, what's important is that I own Shibuya now! It's all MINE to take!"
Feeling a sense of disgust at the booming voice, King felt his fist tightened. It was already hard to keep his anger in check at what he said before, but hearing this… made that a much harder ask.
"Well, everything, if not for that damn detective," In all of a sudden, Kaneshiro's voice changed into nothing but venom. "He just loves to barge into things and be a general pain in my fucking ass, huh?"
"Maybe I should do something about it."
And with that, the recording ended, leaving the thieves in silence again. Actually no, it wasn't just silence, but a shared sense of disgust and anger.
"I guess that's another reason to change his heart then," Joker said, adjusting his gloves. "There's only one more keypad and we'll secure our route. Let's… continue then."
There wasn't a vocal response from everyone else, but just a short nod as they moved out again. It wasn't said out loud, but one consensus was clear between them all. The sooner they secured the route and changed Kaneshiro's heart, the better.
The last layer of the vault wasn't too different from the one they've dealt with either. Just more shadows that they could finish in a hurry, ones that were slowly becoming an annoyance than a genuine obstacle.
However, throughout the entire way to the third keypad (which they presumed to be that), there was a sinking feeling. That what they were about to hear or even witness, would be something bad, really, really bad.
Something that'd be much worse, or on par with what they've seen already.
Finding themselves inside the same vault room as before, the thieves found themselves facing another vault room. The walls were nothing but row after row of golden vault, with two golden pig statues distinctly and heavily guarded. Both with guards and electric fences.
Which the thieves quickly dealt with, without too much of any setback or difficulty.
Before long, they had already found the final) keypad in the vault. The one that should open the last layer of the vault and led straight to the treasure. And just like last time, once they figured out the code and felt the rumble of the vault unlocking, Kaneshiro's voice rang again.
"That guy really works quick, huh? Another call, a couple hundred thousand yen and another job done! Disguising it as an accident and wala, a perfect crime!" The Kaneshiro in the recording laughed, filled with a twisted sense of satisfaction. "Now that annoying detective is no more, what should I do next?"
"Hmm… What's next then? Maybe I should look into those kids then, that should be some easy money."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
With Kaneshiro's laugh being cut off by the recording's end. And even though they had expected something worse, to hear all these things from him…
However, the wall of vault next to them suddenly lowered, revealing another golden pig statue and a dial.
Specifically, a dial that belongs to an old-school safe.
Feeling the sinking feeling in her stomach growing by the seconds, Queen walked up to the golden pig and pressed on the nose. Instead of the ripped pages like the one they found before, it was an opened letter.
Reaching into the vault, Queen took out the letter and had a closer look. There was only one line on the letter itself. Actually, only two words and a name.
"Job's Done."
-ヒソカ
"Hi… so… ka?" Reading the signed name on the letter with a furrowed brow, Queen passed the letter to King.
"That's weird," Raven commented. "It's not a foreign name, but written in Katakana for some reason..."
"Maybe it's an alias or something," Jester said, his gaze stayed on the two words written on top of that name. "But… it must be the guy Kaneshiro hired to get rid of people."
"To think that he can get people killed purely because they were in his way…" Fox trailed off, feeling his grip on his katana tightened.
"What about the vault dial there then?" Panther said, walking over to it with Swan by her side. "It must be holding something important if it's here."
"Weird, it only have 46 marks on it," Swan said, reaching out but stopped before touching the dial itself. "Usually, it's should be like fifty or a hundred marks on it, right?"
"That is an odd number to have the dial in," Majesty said, focusing her mind as Odani-dono appeared behind her. "And aside from opening the vault itself, it's also connected to somewhere outside."
"Outside… then it's probably the last lock to get to the treasure," Mona said, crossing his arms. "I can firmly smell the treasure, so it must be close."
"One more dial and we're done with this crap," Letting out a sigh of relief, Skull rubbed the back of his neck. "But… there's nothin' for us to figure it out."
"I'm pretty sure there's not more room and stuff that we haven't explored too," Majesty added, her Persona dematerialized and returned to be her mask. "So all the clues would be the keypads we solved before…"
"Or this letter," Joker finished the sentence for her, glancing over at the letter in Raven's hand now.
"Well, there's really nothing on this letter other than what written on it," King said, taking the letter to examine the back of the letter. Which unfortunately, there was nothing on it. "So it's just what it said and the name."
"The name which is written in Katakana for some reason…" Trailing off, as if an imaginary lightbulb lit up above his head, Raven widened his gaze. "Wait, the dial have 46 marks on it, and the same for…"
"...Katakana characters," Finishing the sentence, Joker turned back at the dial. "Just like how the A1Z26 cipher works in English."
"Then in this case, the name would be…" Rubbing his chin, he started turning the dial. "27 for "Hi", 15 for "So", and 6 for "Ka"."
Thankfully, just as they thought, the vault opened with a high pitch 'beep'. Followed by another, even more severe rumbling throughout the entire floor. Followed by an artificial voice ringing out.
"ATTENTION, THE VAULT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED. REPEAT, THE VAULT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED."
"I guess it means that it worked then," Joker said, shifting back at the opened vault. "But… a newspaper clipping?"
Reaching into the vault, he took out an old newspaper clipping. One that appeared slightly yellowed due to its age. And with a furrowed brow, he started reading the headline on the clipping.
"Breaking news, Truck crashed into central street, claiming five lives…"
Feeling his voice died down at the headline, Joker only stared at the clipping with widened gaze. And he turned back toward the rest of the team, seeing that everyone shared the same feeling of horror.
Other than King and Queen, who had a look of recognition instead.
"...That's…" Queen took the clipping from Joker and read it, face paled. "N-no, that's not possible…"
"Queen?" Seeing the difference in her reaction, Panther reached out her hand on her shoulder. "You're okay?"
"You're telling me he's the reason…" Murmuring under his breath, King walked up to her side to comfort her.
"Five lives lost for just to kill a detective…" Raven trailed off, feeling his fist tightened. "What a piece of shit-"
"...It's… not just any detective," Queen cut him off, voice barely cracking from her emotion. "It's dad. This is the accident… that took his life."
In a sudden, a heavy silence fell upon everyone, and all eyes were on Queen herself. And right now, they all felt like there's a pit in their stomach, growing by the second as her words sank in.
"...Holy shit," Skull said, in a total loss of words.
"No way…" Swan murmured, swallowing a lump in her throat.
"I thought he's already the lowest of the low, but it's somehow worse," Fox said, his gaze lowered at the ground.
"That's… oh god," Majesty said, covering her mouth in shock.
Jester said nothing, but the widened gaze under his one-eyed mask said enough.
"...There's no use staying here," Joker said reluctantly, his fist in a cycle of open and close. "Let's just… get back outside, okay?"
There wasn't any answer from everyone else, but the response was clear among them. And without any more words said, the thieves moved back out of the vault in total silence.
Thankfully, once they were out of the vault, the way to the elevator at the center was cleared. Or in other words, their route to the treasure was secured. However, they felt nothing but the pit in their stomach.
[Evening, the Crossway (Current Phantom Thief hideout)]
The trip back to the real world was nothing but a silent trip, and this silence… prolonged. Even now, as they returned to the real world, the air just felt heavy. Very, very heavy. Unaware by the pedestrians walking by, the thieves remained at the same spots.
Neither choosing to disband and all it a day, or to acknowledge the things they saw, heard in the palace.
But amidst them all, Makoto just stared blankly at the ground. If not for the tightened fists and the subtle shaking, it would definitely be mistaken that she was just shocked.
Opening his mouth but with nothing came out, Shinji chose to break the ice and reached to her. And he pulled her into an embrace, with her head laying on his chest, face buried.
"You don't have to say anything," He said, stroking her hair.
Even though there wasn't a verbal response from her, Shinji could feel her nod. It wasn't one that signified her being calmed down, but one that said she'd keep herself together for now.
"...There's still some time before the deadline, and we got the route secured" Akira said, his brow furrowed. "We don't have to send the calling card as soon as possible."
"Akira's right," Keigo said, adjusting his glasses. "If you need a bit of time to deal with this… mess, there is time."
"I'll be fine tomorrow," Makoto said, lifting her head a slight way from the warmth of her boyfriend's chest. "...I can't just let my personal feeling get in the way-"
"That'd only make things worse, Makoto," Cutting her off, Ann reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're just keeping it all in."
"Well, it's not like we're going to send out the calling card tonight," Ren said, rubbing his neck. "Let's just call it a day and talk about it tomorrow instead?"
"That'd be for the best here," Shinji nodded, and Makoto echoed his opinion with a nod of her own.
"Yeah, we all needs a night off after everything," Akira said. "Set aside from what Kaneshiro said, getting through the entire vault in one go drains a lot out of us."
"And a beef bowl sounds really delicious now too," Shiho added, rubbing her stomach. "Next time I'm definitely bringing snacks with me."
"Care to bring extra too?" Yusuke suddenly spoke up with a raised hand. "I've been low on my fund lately, and food is becoming a luxury for me."
"That's because you just use all the money for canvas and paint colors," Hifumi responded, giving him a deadpan stare. "Can't you just learn to use your money wisely instead?"
"But-"
"There's no 'but' here, you have to endure the consequences of your own action," Shaking her head, Hifumi let out another sigh. "Either way, it's getting late. There's no point standing around either."
"Yeah, we'll continue this tomorrow then," Ren said, followed by everyone's nod.
One by one, the thieves went on their own separate way for the night.
However, for Shinji, he couldn't bring his mind off of what happened in the palace. Especially not when Makoto stayed completely silent for the entire way back home, and her gaze with nothing but a mixture of rage and sadness.
Now back in his room, he found himself in a scene that was way too familiar. With him standing by the room's door, watching her sitting on the bed with a worried gaze.
"Makoto, I…" Trailing off, Shinji contemplated before sitting by her side, taking her hand in his. "Ann was right, holding it in wouldn't do you good."
With her mind broken from her stare at the ground, Makoto looked directly at him. He could see the anger still in her gaze.
"I know, but… blowing up on you wouldn't help either," She said, resting her head on his chest. "Dad died… because of that scum. Everything happened because of him…"
"And we're making him face the consequences," Shinji said, wrapping his arm around her. "I'd be lying if the thought of going back in didn't cross my mind. But that's just giving him the easy way out."
"...Then promise me," Makoto said after a long silence, returning the same hug he was giving. "If I let the anger get to me, you'll hold me back. Before I would do something I'd regret."
And the answer returned quickly, with no hint of any hesitation.
"Of course I will, I promise."
In response, she nodded. There wasn't a need for her to look in his eyes for reassurance, she knew what his tone meant. That aside, feeling his warmth did calm her mind a bit, just a faint moment to let her mind off of the rage.
She couldn't explain it, maybe it's just her own bias toward Shinji, or the possibility that his warmth did have some magical ability.
However, just as her mind was about to drop into the deep end (thanks to her current predicament), Shinji suddenly spoke up. And snapped the couple back into reality.
"Actually, where's mom?" He asked, glancing over at the room's door. "We didn't see her when we get back, and it's getting late too."
"...R-right! Where's Ise-san?" Hastily straightening from his embrace, Makoto felt like she couldn't suppress the blush on her face. "Maybe you should call her?"
"I'm considering-"
RING~~~
Suddenly, Shinji's phone rang out with the familiar ringtone, with the timing so precise that it felt like planned. And took over the couple's attention toward his phone, which was on the table next to their bed.
Exchanging an awkward glance at each other, Shinji broke off from the embrace and picked up the phone. Just as he thought, it was a phone call from Ise.
"That's some timing," He commented, accepting the call. "Um… mom? I was going to ask where have you been."
"Y-yeah, sorry for not telling you. It's… emergency."
"...Emergency?" Seeing how Makoto tensed at his words, Shinji furrowed his brow. His grip on his phone unconsciously tightened.
"Something happened with the Akashis, and… Naoko's in the hospital."
[Meanwhile, somewhere else]
Naoko found herself engulfed in darkness, as if she was in an ocean. It wasn't suffocating, but made her feel oddly… trapped. She's just floating, but couldn't move an inch of her muscle.
How did she get here?
The only thing Naoko remembered before realizing that she's in this 'sea' of darkness was… back in the bakery. A man, who was obviously with the guy threatening them before, came in to extort them.
"You know, you got a lovely gal, right? You can't just waste the potential!"
Even though she couldn't move her body, Naoko couldn't help but gagged in disgust at that man's words. She hated it, and she's pretty sure that she did the same thing back then. And after that, that man proceed to demand more money or he'll… take her.
"Wha- There's no way we can just give you Naoko!" She remembered her dad saying this, with a voice so stern that was totally unfamiliar with. "Get. Out."
"Oh, but aren't you just owing my boss money?"
"We didn't owe that prick a single dime," She found herself saying those words, walking up to face the man herself. "And certainly not you."
"That's not for you to decide, pretty gal," In return, that man just flashed a disgusting grin. As if he had already won, and merely collecting his prize. And it merely pissed her off more. "I'm just collecting boss' debt earlier-"
Before that man could finish his words, Naoko found her legs moving on their own. And kicked right between that man's own legs, followed by a shocked and pained yelp from the man.
For a split moment there, Naoko felt a bit relieved.
However, just as quick as she acted, the man before her recovered. Maybe she had something happened to her, or just the shock of what happened. Her memory of what happened next was a bit fuzzy. All she could remember was struggling against that man's grip, then suddenly a sharp pain spread through her head from the back.
And then it was the frantic screaming of her mom and dad, but for that man… there was another person. Coming in with a chockhold on his neck and quickly subdued him. However, darkness soon took over.
"...Oh right, I must've hit my head on the counter there."
Even in this sea of darkness that she was trapped in, Naoko still couldn't help but let out a sigh. In the end, she did the same thing as what Shinji did, she also couldn't just stand aside and watch.
After all, it would be lying if she said that she wasn't angry.
But now, where was she? Just being trapped in this darkness till eternity? Or was she…
"I-if I'm thinking about that possibility, then that means I'm not dead," Even if it wasn't the most convincing word right now, but that's all she got here. "That shouldn't be a bad wound, I should be-"
"...ld?"
"Huh?"
Surprised by the sudden intrusion of an unfamiliar voice, Naoko 'turned' her mind toward it. Even though she still felt like she's fixed in where she was, the mysterious voice did seem to react to her thought.
"Yo… Hea… ld?"
As she started to make out what the voice was saying, the more it felt unfamiliar to her. It wasn't from anyone she's familiar with, but the worry was still clear in… her voice.
"Joker… wak… up?"
As the voice was finally clear enough to form a single word, Naoko only felt more confused. Joker? Who was that?
"...Wait, she… stirring!"
With her brow furrowed, Naoko hesitated on whether to reach out or not On one hand, that voice seemed to be worried about her, for some reason. And it eased her mind a bit, if not for the fact that it's a stranger's voice.
"..ild?"
However, before she could make a decision, something 'pulled' her mind toward the voice. And in an instant, a white light illuminated the entire space. A blinding light also filled her vision.
"...Wild?"
"Wild!"
"...Naoko!"
Finally opened her eyes, the first thing Naoko saw was… an unfamiliar ceiling. With cold light coming from the light tubs installed directly in the ceiling. Actually, it reminded her of some kind of bank vault, mostly from movies she watched.
"Urgh…" Groaning out of a bit of pain from her body (weirdly), Naoko found herself laid on some kind of bench. "...Where-"
"Naoko, you're okay!"
Surprised by the same voice from beside her, she turned to her side and saw… a group of people in weird costume. If not for the current odd circumstances she's in right now, she'd totally thought she's in some kind of cosplay event.
And her gaze turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice. It was a girl with neck length dark hair, with a hint of blue shade in it. Aside from the odd black open coat and high collar shirt combo she had right now, or the… sword behind her back which scared her a bit. The most important feature was an one-eyed mask on her face.
A black mask that only revealed her bright red left eye, and her right eye's hole was covered with the mask itself. With a decal of an outline of a rose, drawn by white lines.
Seeing how Naoko's gaze widened, the girl returned with the same shocked look. But not before she hastily recomposed herself. Even with a cough to her own hand to clear her throat.
"O-oh um… you're alright, Naoko?" She asked, but not before she realized something. "Oh right, codename. Um… you're alright, Wild?"
Codename? Wild? Was she talking to her?
Feeling even more confused by that girl's words, Naoko looked over her to the other weird people (8 people to be exact, excluding the girl before her.). They were all around her age, and with odd masks on their faces. However, among them were some familiar faces.
There was Niijima with an iron-maiden-like mask, and Kitagawa in a fox-like mask. But other than those two, everyone else were total strangers… Wait, was that a monster cat? What the hell was going on?
However, as her gaze turned to herself, the question only pilled up. Because she was definitely not in her Kosei uniform, or her casual wear. Instead, it was a weird version of a cowboy's outfit.
She was wearing a black shirt with a light Grey vest over it, with a light gray poncho that was tugged away into a makeshift cape. A pair of jeans with two belts that included a holster for a pistol, and a pair of leather boots. Besides, her hand was in a pair of white leather gloves with spikes on it. Actually, it reminded her of some gloves that an old-school rock star would wear.
Eyes widened in shock, Naoko was about to yell in shock when a different voice rang out. A voice that was so similar to her own that it was practically the same, coming out from… within her.
So similar, yet so different.
"You don't belong here," The voice said, filled with a weird sense of curiosity and surprise. "You're not the Naoko that I sealed a contract with."
With even more question added to that pile, Naoko was about to open her mouth when the voice rang out again. Cutting her off.
"Don't, you'll only get Rose and everyone else more worried," It said. "Before you ask, only you can hear me."
"Either way, I have to get you back into where you come from."
Once again, before Naoko could even say anything, darkness started to crept into her vision. Eroding from the edge as her body started to lose strength, like she was tired beyond belief.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Finally feeling her voice again, Naoko shouted out loud. But instead of making any physical voice, it felt more akin to speaking underwater. She wasn't speaking, but her thought instead. "What the hell is going on?!"
"It's not my duty to tell you that, it's your other-self's," The voice said once again, as if it was… comforting her. "Still, you're similar to my Naoko, so close… yet so far."
"Maybe you'll meet a version of me somewhere down the line, sealing the same contract. But now is not the time."
"Hey! Don't just say some weird cryptic crap to me!" Naoko tried to shout back, but nothing came out. She just felt the same 'trapped' feeling like before, slowly dragging her back to somewhere. "Hey, what the hell is going on! Can someone just explain it to me!"
"HEY!"
And then, all of a sudden, she raised. Followed by another wave of sharp pain from her head, making her to clutch the head and winced.
"Ow ow ow…" Trailing off, Naoko felt the bandages on her head. And immediately, her mind shifted to the current circumstances she's in right now.
She was sitting on a hospital bed, and with how the view outside of the room's window. It would be pretty late into the night as well.
"I'm in a hospital…" Murmuring out loud, she caressed the bandages on her head again. "I guess that it was pretty bad then…"
For a split moment, Naoko was going to assume the reason of that weird… occurrence for her hitting her head. But it was way too real to be a dream, it felt more like she was in a… different place entirely or something.
"...What was that?" Laying back to the bed, she let her gaze remained on the ceiling above. The image of that… thing still carved itself into her mind, not letting go. "Maybe I am going crazy or something then…"
However, for some reason, she just couldn't fully buy into her own reasoning.
There must be something more to it.
(To be continued)
Preview:
Even though the route is secured, all there's left are preparation for the inevitable battle.
However, as the news of Naoko's current predicament spread, reaching the thieves.
And amidst it all, an decision is made.
Next Chapter
"The Night before"
Stay Tuned!
So uh... I certainly didn't expect this chapter would take over 4 months to release. But here we are, FINALLY.
Basically, it's because of assignments for my college work. Which was... actually worse than the one. But I wouldn't dive too much into that since it's quite personal. Still, now I'm in a long break, the next chapter would (hopefully) out quickly. After all, the Kaneshiro's fight is just a couple chapters away!
Anyway, for this chapter, it uh... It wasn't intentional, but it took quite a bit of a turn in it's mood in the latter half, right? I originally wanted this chapter to be a bit more lighthearted after the heavy first half of the entire arc, but the story just kinda took thier own turn and shifted the tone. At least it's not drowning itself in misery and heavy stuff, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them.
But of course, other than the fact Kaneshiro's threat with Makoto was a lot more personal than what she thought, the other thing was... Ise actually went college in Hong Kong as exchange student! Those Satay Beef instant noodle are quite good, I'd say XD.
Okay, to the actual other thing I'd like to talk about. The mysterious girl that Akira heard during the infiltration, and the... weird thing that Naoko saw. I'm trying to not say much to spoil things, I actually changed Akira's mask design from a typical black domino mask to a one-eyed mask. You can go back to Chapter 1 to read the new version. But for the girl's case, it'd get more and more important by story progress.
Also, for anyone who had read AristoMuse's "This World Is Ours", you might've recognize the name on the letter about a job's done. And yep, the plan for Airi's guest appearance in Mementos Mission is still happening. Actually, that mission has basically gone a lot more than just a small side arc, with Airi's role being a lot more than just a client in the real world as well. And originally, it was going to be the later ones, but I've pushed it forward, so it'd be the third Mementos Mission after Kaneshiro's battle.
Review Response:
Dat Guy: Actually, you got a point there. It was a bit stupid that they fought over a map. I might change it to something else that makes more sense. As for Akira/Jester, it did start out as a Joker-like character, but I'd think he starts to be more unique as the story went on. I guess it's part of being a slowburn.
But I might change the fight to be something else, like a small fight that have them together or something.
Either way, I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and reviews and favourites are welcomed! :D