Operation: Wedding Crashers! was underway. The Phantom Thieves in the Rebel Corps swiftly moved through the streets, making their way to the Plaza where the wedding was taking place. While they were able to slip through, there was so many Legionnaires roaming the streets. Dragon's plan involved sneaking around the roofs and alleyways of the city to avoid as much conflict as possible. With her sniper rifle, and Oracle's navigation, there was little that could get the jump on them.
"Nothing to report!" A Legionnaire exclaimed.
"Good!" Another one saluted. "Keep patrolling."
They weren't able to notice the nearby Phantom Thieves, however. "Man, is security tight here or what?" Panther said while carefully glancing around. Stealth was a Phantom Thief specialty, so sneaking around the soldiers was easy for them. But the sheer number of soldiers was still a sight to behold. "Marie must be on high alert."
"She knows that we are lingering within the city somewhere." Dragon said. "It must be quite a pain that she isn't aware of our hideout."
"Yeah, you can say that again." Erina nodded. "Once we pass through here, it's just a bit further to the plaza. If we play our cards right, we can get there quickly."
"We should take the longest route." Toshiro chimed in, unwarranted. "Haste makes waste, as they say."
"Did you forget the part that we're in a hurry?" Viper resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"That's not an option anyway." Erina replied, which made Toshiro grunt in disappointment. "We don't know when their friends will show up at the plaza."
"So it's more like, 'make haste, then make waste;?" Skull laughed. "Then, count me in!"
"Let's kick it into high gear!" Noir exclaimed. She and Skull had a lot of energy to work out, and Marie's soldiers were going to be the perfect fodder!
All Toshiro could do was sigh. Just when it felt like his suggestions were actually being taken seriously, they were once again thrown to the wayside. But, they couldn't take away the fact he planned out an escape route! Something he knew would be necessary!
"The plaza isn't much further!" Erina reported to the others. They were getting closer...
"Everyone, follow Erina!" Mona said. This was precisely what everyone planned to do. Toshiro was bringing up the rear, once again surprised at everyone springing into action. But for a different reason this time. "W-Wait, you're seriously rushing in? Taking off like that can make your calves cramp up! If we don't stretch properly before exerting that much effort, you run the risk of hurting your back!"
"Are you even paying attention right now?" Ichinose was already running ahead with the others. In fact, Toshiro was the only person NOT running forward.
"H-Hang on, you're actually ditching me!?" Toshiro gasped, having no choice but to carefully run behind the others.
"Try to keep your focus on problems we're actually having...!" Wolf groaned.
"And I always stretch before moving!" Violet commented. The gymnast was the last person that needed to hear Toshiro's sage advice.
The Phantom Thieves scurried their way through the alleyways, swiftly evading detection by Marie's forces. Dragon was looking around, before giving an all clear signal. "We've come far enough, I believe."
"Yeah." Erina nodded. "The plaza is just up ahead."
"We haven't had any problems so far...but I'm not going to hold my breath there." Crow said, and though blunt, the others agreed.
Meanwhile, in the background...Toshiro was hunched over, his face blue, as he desperately attempted to catch his breath. "W-Wait...N-Need to...catch breath...oh, my sides..."
"Graaaaandpa, keep it down!" Oracle rolled her eyes. Toshiro's gasping for air was just a little too loud for comfort. Even though she was the last person to be physically active, this running around was nothing here. "Oh, wait...Gramps is Gramps, I can't call you Grandpa. Too close..."
"My name is a great place to start." Wolf commented with a dry tone. But it was merely a jab; if he was gonna keep calling them kids, they may as well call him Gramps.
"Even I'm not that winded." Ichinose was taking a few heavier breaths, but she was nowhere near as exhausted as Toshiro was.
"Great. Now we have to wait for him to catch his breath." Viper placed her hands on her hips.
"It's alright. There are no enemies around at present. We can use this chance to regroup." Sophia saw the positives, and nobody was going to argue with her.
"You good there?" Joker looked at Toshiro with obvious concern.
"Whew...! I admit...you're all very skilled at your maneuvering." Toshiro said between labored breaths. "But...if you'd think of the less athletically gifted I would appreciate it."
"Oh, brother..." Both Panther and Viper groaned at the same time. They were very rarely on the same page, but their patience with Toshiro was enough to bring them together.
"I will accompany you and offer any aid as needed!" Panther said, giving her best Toshiro impression by deepening her voice a bit. "Those were your exact words, right?"
"You did say that." Dragon chimed in.
He knew he said that! He didn't need the sass from these teenage girls! "What of it!? Athletics aren't my area of expertise. My strong suits are, let's see...arranging cease-fire deals, petitioning for reduced sentences, other negotiation demands..."
"So, nothing that's going to help us here at all." Crow said bluntly.
"Untrue! Don't forget, he's really good at running away. And he's quite proud of it." Ichinose said with a smile. Was she mocking him, or trying to boost him? It might've been a little bit of both, honestly. It was hard to tell with her.
"Hey, enough with the resume now!" Mona said with a harsh whisper, trying to get everyone to focus. "They're about to start working on the cake!"
"Now that you say that, why make a cake out here?" Panther tapped her chin. Of course, the mention of cake was getting her a bit peckish. Sure, they did eat earlier. But there was nothing that satisfied her sweet tooth! "If Marie wanted to make a wedding cake, I'm sure she has a kitchen around somewhere. They must be planning to..." With her curiosity high, she took a peek around the corner. But there was absolutely nothing that could have prepared her for what she saw next. "W-WH...!?"
.
.
There was nothing in the world that could prepare anyone for the sight before them. There were large soldiers adding the cream onto the cake, but within it? There were members of the Rebel Corp! "I beg you...let us go..." A rebel said weakly.
"Silence! You earned this when you defied Lady Marie!" A soldier snapped back. "Be grateful that you get to contribute to the ceremony at all! Give us those tears of joy!"
As the Phantom Thieves slowly rounded the corner, remaining out of sight, none of them could fathom the situation ahead of them. "This is way too much..." Oracle said with a horrified gasp.
"That's awful." Sophia shook her head. She could feel the anger rising within her as the Rebel Corp members were put on display.
"Why even go through the effort of something so horrible?" Panther was disgusted. This was beyond inhumane. It was just disgusting!
Skull sighed as he looked on. "Wouldn't do us any good to figure out why they're sick bastards."
"Skull's right." Wolf looked on, gritting his teeth in anger. "Remember what I told you guys about what real evil is? This is another instance of it right here." Despite not having laid eyes on Marie in this world yet, Wolf could truly see the kind of demon she was. If there was a heart to change here, he really wanted it to be hers.
"Treating people like that...it's inexcusable!" Erina clenched her hand into a fist. She was about to dark forward, but Joker grabbed her arm.
"Don't rush out there...! I know you hate seeing your allies in danger like this, but we're not doing them any favors like that." Joker said firmly, but calmly. Erina knew he was right, but her sudden surge of emotion briefly got the better of her. Before she could open her mouth to respond, though...
"Well now, it sounds like you think I consider them people." That familiar voice caused everyone to whip around. Standing atop the scaffolding surrounding the cake, were Fox and Queen, the last two Phantom Thieves under Marie's control. The one that spoke was Queen. "Seeing the looks on your faces, I suppose you aren't too surprised, are you?"
"Truthfully, I intended to lure you here one way or another. I had considered naming you all the guests of honor for my ceremony..." Fox spoke, a wicked grin appearing on his face. As one expected, they were. "But instead, I think I'll make you the entertainment!"
"Soon, you'll experience the celebration up close and personally - after I've taken back my groom, that is!" Queen said with an annoying smile.
"Take back...?" Violet questioned. This implied that...
"What gives? You weren't abducting our friend to marry him!?" Panther asked.
To that, Fox scoffed. "What? Why would you think I'd eversettle for some inconsequential, dirt-poor brat? There is but one fitting suitor here..." Fox and Queen then pointed to Toshiro in unison. "Toshiro Kasukabe, you are destined to be mine!"
Toshiro gasped and pointed at himself. So she really WAS after him!? "You - You're marrying me!?"
"Why are you surprised, you're engaged to her!" Viper exclaimed. But the confirmation from the horse's mouth was still something to consider.
"How curious." Queen tapped her chin. "Have you forgotten our arrangement. Or, perhaps, you're not remembering on purpose...? These brats seem to know. Whatever the case, you have no choice but to stand at my side - forever!"
"If I had to marry someone like you, I'd try to forget it too!" Skull shouted.
"No kidding; this is every groom's worst nightmare." Wolf was getting into a fighting stance. He knew there was no way they'd get out of this without a fight.
"Ngh..." Toshiro clenched his head once again. This happened once before with Erina, and it was happening again with Marie. Something in his head was screaming at him, but for some reason, he just couldn't remember what it was!
"What's wrong? Keep it together, Toshiro!" Joker shouted. This was no time for Toshiro to lose his grip.
"S-Sorry about that...for a moment, I felt..." Toshiro wasn't sure how to explain it.
"Okay, Grandpa. let's get you out of here." Ichinose was going to be the one to pull Toshiro off to the side. "We have to keep an eye out for reinforcements and the like!"
"R-Right..." Toshiro nodded.
Skull had no idea what the hell any of that was. "Uh...what's happening here?"
"We can worry about that later." Wolf said while looking up towards the scaffolding, where Queen and Fox waited for them side by side. The two of them obviously weren't alone either. There were a number of Marie's soldiers scattered about the Plaza in preparation for battle. They would not allow this wedding ceremony to "We got some more pressing issues to deal with right now."
"Right!" Noir nodded. "We have to get Mako-chan and Yusuke back!"
"And save the other Rebels!" Sophie chimed in.
"HAH!" Fox let out a haughty laugh. "I'll take your heads..."
"And make them toppings for my cake! Ahahahahaha!" Queen finished. The two of them then jumped down, preparing to engage the Phantom Thieves in combat.
"We knew it'd be coming down to this." Joker said while getting his knife ready. "Oracle, where's the flag?"
"Behind the cake!" Oracle reported. "Everyone, speed up!" She cast Masukukaja. It wasn't going to last as long as it normally did so long as their powers in this world were suppressed, but Oracle knew it would last long enough for them to get the job done.
"Remember our formation!" Dragon exclaimed, making a beeline towards Fox along with Sophie, Viper, and Violet. This left Noir, Wolf, Skull, and Mona in charge of dealing with Queen. Joker, Crow, Erina, and Panther were going to deal with the flag, while Oracle acted as support as always. Toshiro and Ichinose were on standby. Toshiro wasn't going to be much help in combat, but Ichinose was finally itching for some action and planned to do something while here!
"I...Is that how we were acting when we were brainwashed!?" Skull could not envision himself acting like this, even if he was the first one who got caught.
"I wonder if you did the laugh too..." Noir couldn't help but snicker slightly at the thought. But she quickly got serious. They had a plan! Noir sprinted towards Queen, who threw her fist forward. Her brass knuckle collided against Noir's acts, sparks flying from the contact. Noir held her ground, narrowing her eyes as she stared into Queen's eyes. "Mako-chan! Wake up!"
"Do you brats never learn!?" Queen scoffed. "Your words may reach them, but you will never break them free of my control!" Queen pushed back before aiming a roundhouse kick at Noir's side. Noir was able to lean to the side to evade this, scowling at Marie's harsh words coming from such a dear friend's mouth.
"I promise you, you will regret ever hurting our friends!" But until then, she'd hope Queen would forgive her for what came next. Noir lifted her axe up high and brought it down, only for Queen to evade it. Noir's brute strength left a sizable crack within the plaza grounds. Just as she expected, as she then summoned Lucy. "Lucy, fire!" Lucy began to open fire upon Queen, who had little defense at first. Not until she summoned Agnes, and used that to drive around Noir's high power weaponry.
"When I get you back as my puppets, you'll regret having ever stood up to me!" Queen yelled as multiple orbs of nuclear magic appeared above her. These orbs launched towards Noir, who crossed her arms to defend herself. This magic did hurt a lot and she slid back after receiving some damage, wincing as a result. Spotting weakness. Queen began to drive forward on Agnes, intending to slam into Noir. However, she wouldn't get this chance, as Wolf and Skull appeared in her direct path. "I'll turn you into roadkill!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Skull said as lightning charged along his pipe.
Meanwhile, Wolf made use of his Fury, bolstering his power as his sword began to glow. "Sorry about this, Niijima, but you need to wake up! You still owe Akane a visit!" Wolf exclaimed. He and Skull swung their weapons in unison. This created a gigantic electrical shockwave that flew towards Queen. Realizing what was happening, Queen quickly propelled herself off of Agnes, clearing the destructive shockwave easily. However, her escape was intercepted by a Lucky Punch from Diego, which sent her rocketing towards the ground. She flipped and landed, tilting her head at Mona. It was a pretty powerful hit, but Queen would never know in her current state.
"Heh, you didn't think it'd be that easy, would you!?" Mona crossed his arms with his usual arrogant grin. "Now let out friend go!"
"Hah..." Queen's lips curled into a smirk.
"Huh...?" Noir narrowed her eyes, and then ducked behind cover. "Watch out!" She warned the others, who instinctively got behind cover as well. They were being fired upon by a few soldiers.
"Did you think it would be so easy this time!?" Queen laughed. "Ahahahahaha! I don't care how prepared you imagined yourselves this time! You're in my territory, and I will make you kneel!"
"She doesn't scare me nearly as much as the real Queen." Skull told the others, narrowing his eyes at Queen. "So if we gotta knock some sense into her, let's keep it up! Besides, her sister is gonna be pissed if we can't bring her home." He really didn't want to deal with that.
"Ngh..." Queen winced for a moment. The mentions of Akane and her sister were starting to get to her.
"That's right, Niijima. You know this isn't right." Wolf held his blade forward. "You are the last person who'd stand for this kind of injustice."
"Injustice...what's..." Queen shook her head. For a brief moment, it looked as if she almost regained her wits. But Marie's control quickly put a stop to that. Queen pounded her fists together, nuclear magic swirling around them. Not only that, but a number of soldiers were by her side as well. Marie was going to make certain that the Phantom Thieves did not slip away from her so easily this time. "I'll make sure you grovel before we're done here."
.
"There's a straight path to the flag!" Erina exclaimed to the others following her. All they had to do was make it there and they'd win! Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy, with the number of Legionnaires standing in their way. Erina had her spear at the ready, spinning around and striking down any that got to close. But just as she was about to make a leap for the flag, a tall wall of ice shot up before her. "Huh!?"
It was Fox with his blade extended. "You think I'll fall for that a third time!?" Fox huffed.
"We are your opponents!" Dragon exclaimed while leaping from the scaffolding above aiming to slam her staff down on Fox. As expected, he dodged it with his speed, leaving her staff to hit nothing but the ground. "Tch..as expected."
Fox moved in quickly, aiming to slash Dragon while she was pulling her staff back. The moment he swung his sword, Violet's rapier clashed against it. "My former puppet returns! Did you miss being in my company?" Fox asked while slashing at Violet repeatedly. She was on the backfoot, due to the furious nature of Fox's attacks, but she wasn't backing down. "If you wish to be in my company once again, you need only BEG!"
"Never!" Violet leapt back, grimacing as Fox's sword did cut along her side. But she could endure it. "Fox! Don't let this woman control you!"
"After all that stuff about art, you're going to let you creative process be controlled by someone like THAT!?" Viper shouted from the scaffolding. A Legionnaire attempted to sneak up on her, but she evaded it and swung her leg, kicking it off the scaffolding. Sophie saw this as an opening and pointed her hand forward, releasing a few bullets while it was airborne. The Legionnaire crashed down to the ground, defeated. "Oh, that was pretty good."
"Excellent team work, Viper!" Sophie flashed Viper a grin.
"You have more important things to worry about!" Fox said while Gorokichi appeared, slashing the air in front of him. This prompted a powerful frost to quickly spread outwards in an effort to freeze everyone present. There were Slammers following along this to ensure nobody got out of this so easily!
"I should..." Panther was about to act, but she then remembered to trust Dragon's plan. They needed to keep Fox occupied at all costs; his speed would be a detriment to them. "No, they got this!" And Panther was right, because it was Viper's turn to use a Sub-Persona, calling upon the power of Inugami to release a potent Agi. This was a wave of flame that countered the ice, leaving the two elements at a stalemate. Like this, Sophie and Violet could strike Fox and keep him busy. Dragon and Viper handled the Slammers by pulling their attention away to deal with them.
"Yeah, we can trust them!" Joker said while summoning Raoul. "Panther, we need you to break this down instead!"
"On it!" Celestine!" Panther's mask burned off and Celestine hurled a fireball at the wall of ice, causing it to topple. But right as it did, there were a number of Legionnaires waiting behind it, all with their guns pointed at them. "Ack!" And so, they were forced behind cover to avoid being bombarded. "They're trying to pin us down!?"
"It won't work!" Crow spat as Hereward appeared, firing a volley of curse arrows into the sky. These arrows rained down on the Legionnaires, causing their actions to stop as the Curse magic made them despair. With this opening, Joker and Erina lunged forward. Joker used Raoul to clear out part of the group, while Erina's spear cleared out the others. "This is why people prefer quality to quantity." But Marie's forces still had quantity, even if they were dealt with. Joker sidestepped a Slammer, while Panther cracked at it with her blazing whip. It reacted much faster than she expected and she got slammed for it; the large brute crashing down near her in response.
"Ow!" Panther tumbled a bit, but she caught herself, before taking aim with her gun and firing. The bullets were enough to keep this Slammer down, but then she found herself evading another round of fire. This bullet grazed her shoulder. "Ack...!"
"There are a lot of them...but that doesn't matter!" Erina exclaimed. The flag was in sight, all they had to do was knock it down!
"I won't-!" Fox was about to act, but he had to defend himself from Sophie and Violet.
"Fox! Remember the things you fight for! This woman is sullying your beautiful and creative heart!" Sophie shouted.
"You can fight her! I know you can!" Violet added. "Remember what you felt with Guernica-san! You can't let someone so evil control you!"
"Ngh..." Fox's blade wavered for just a moment. This allowed Violet and Sophie to overpower Fox and knock him down, briefly. Before he had the chance to get up, Dragon's staff slammed the ground next to his head.
"Fox...I know you. You wouldn't stand for this. You didn't stand for this. You are likely the most stubborn artist I know! So you won't allow this woman to defeat you, will you!?" Dragon yelled, her voice carrying over. Since they were schoolmates, they did have a close bond. As such, she was certain her voice would carry to him.
"You brats just don't learn...!" Fox growled, pushing away from the ground. "How many times do I have to repeat myself!"
"You will never get your friends back!" Fox and Queen yelled at once.
"Are you sure about that!?" Joker said while his grappling hook extended to Marie's flag. With a forceful yank, he tugged the flag out of the pole, effectively getting rid of it. "How do you like that!?"
"The flag!" A soldier gasped.
"You meddling little shits!" Fox cursed. Just how long did the Phantom Thieves plan to get in Marie's way!?
"They got the flag!" Toshiro pumped his fist from the sidelines. Things were looking rough, but still going smoothly.
"Yeah, but..." Ichinose realized a very huge problem...
That was half of the work. By this point, Marie knew that. As such, Queen smirked. "Although, how much longer can you hold out? I still have no shortage of pawns to throw at you." And this was something she was going to make good on. More and more Legionnaires appeared between the Phantom Thieves and the flag.
"Ah, shit. Just what we needed." Wolf cursed. They had a decent pace, but Marie was really putting her foot down. She clearly wasn't going to let the past repeat itself a third time.
"Marie has greater numbers." Ichinose was digging into her coat pocket. She was slightly concerned that this was about to get ugly, so she was going to have to take action...
"Tch..." Dragon sucked her teeth. Her plan wasn't off the rails, but if they kept facing off against these superior numbers, they'd be too exhausted to do anything else. "We have to push through now, or all will be lost."
"We have to rescue Fox and Queen as quickly as possible!" Oracle said. They were the biggest problems.
"Then I'll finish this now!" Erina declared with a decisive tone. The only way to end this was to get her Flag of Freedom into that pole! So she started to run forward, while the rest of the Phantom Thieves dealt with the opposing Legionnaires.
"What is she doing!?" Suddenly, Toshiro's stress levels rose considerably.
Fox and Queen were obviously going to try and be the first ones to stop Erina. However, they were intercepted by Violet and Wolf respectively. The two of them weren't going to allow their brainwashed companions. "You're not going anywhere." Wolf said firmly.
"We're dragging you back kicking and screaming!" Violet narrowed her eyes. Unfortunately for Fox and Queen, they would not be able to shake Violet and Wolf so easily. If they tried to escape, they were right on top of them. And when it came to combat, they were stalemated. This effectively took them out of the battle, because the surrounding Legionnaires were dealt with by the other Phantom Thieves!
Skull ran forward, sliding under an incoming punch of a Slammer. The Slammer that whiffed him completely, was crushed into the ground by Dragon's staff. Skull pointed his shotgun forward as he slid by, shooting a solider in the chest, and using his momentum to slam a spin kick into another soldier. "Get outta the way!"
Panther and Viper were back to back, their machine guns pointed forward. "Here we go!"
"Don't blame me if you get nicked!" Viper shouted, as she and Panther spun around, gunning down a number of soldiers surrounding them.
""Yeah, light 'em all up!" Mona used his slingshot and nimble nature to land shot after shot upon the enemy. When a large brute appeared behind him, preparing to strike him down...
"Headshot!" Noir fired her rocket launcher, a missile slamming directly into the head of the Slammer and gunning it down instantly. She landed on the ground with a smile after. "How was that?" Joker and Sophie flipped around a few soldiers, striking them down with their weapons. Sophie's long range with her Yo-yos, and Joker's swiftness with his knife was a dangerous combination.
Erina was locked in combat with a single soldier. Its gun was attempting to parry her spear, but it was no use and she was eventually able to break its stance and knock it aside. Seeing how well everyone was doing, she could tell this battle would end soon! "Just a little more everyone! One last push!" She focused, her spear turning into her Flag of Freedom, and she ran over to the stand, and raised her flag...
What she didn't notice, however, was that the solider she knocked aside, wasn't dead, only severely wounded. With fading vision, the soldier spitefully lifted its gun up, taking aim at Erina. The leader of the Rebel Corp was in his sights...he had to take this chance. "For Lady Marie...!"
"THIS ENDS HERE!" Erina yelled with all her might, and...
BANG.
The sound of a gunshot rang out through the plaza. Everything stopped at that very moment.
Erina's visible eye went wide. She stopped mid motion. Her flag dropped to the ground, returning to its normal spear state. Erina stumbled around with a weak grunt of pain, placing a hand on her stomach. The pain was sharp, sudden, and she didn't even register it until after it happened. "Ngh..." There was a lot of blood. She could hardly register it before she fell to the ground, limp and unmoving.
Ichinose gasped at the sight. "Oh no..."
"Shit..." Skull cursed. There was no other word that fit their situation.
Foregoing the dangers of the battle, Toshiro instinctively sprinted towards Erina, kneeling down to check on her condition for herself. He had to see for himself if she was even still breathing! "Erina? Erina! ERINA!"
But just as he feared...there was no response...
