Chapter 25: Too Close For Comfort

Justice. The word echoed in Goro's ears. Justice? Not much good if you're dead.

He estimated that he had enough power in him to heal himself and perhaps one other person before they all bled out and died.

His eyes cast around for anything that could help him, anything at all. He patted his Metaverse suit absently, not expecting to find anything, but then —

The medicine!

Takemi's "special medicine" was still in his pocket. He fumbled the bottle out, but he was back to the same dilemma: who to give it to? There was only one dose.

Save Ren? Let Sae die? What about Suzui?

No. He refused to make a choice like that.

His eyes went back to the desk, now burning merrily.

Take it himself, let everybody else die, and go after Myojo for retribution?

That would be a hell no.

His mind flashed through the possibilities. Maybe if he…a Hail Mary pass if ever there was one…. He pressed his hand over the wound in his middle and cast a healing spell, doing his best to stanch the bleeding so that he could go on.

Then he dragged himself over to Maruki and squirted Takemi's medicine into his mouth. The wound in Maruki's stomach closed itself with a wet slurping sound. Goro shook him by the shoulders until his eyes opened.

"Maruki! Fix us!" Goro ordered.

"I can't…can't…." Maruki's eyes were glassy. Goro pulled him upright and shook his shoulders again, harder.

"You can! I can't do it fast enough, I don't have enough power — you have to!"

Goro turned Maruki's head so he could see the others lying bleeding on the floor.

Maruki shook his head. "P…persona…." He managed.

Of course. Maruki didn't have a Persona anymore.

"Maruki. Listen. Takuto." Goro tried his first name, hoping that would connect better. "I'm going to draw out your Persona. I've done it before. Just take control of it and do what you do best. Fix them."

"I can't do anything…." Maruki murmured.

Goro put his hands on Maruki's chest and concentrated, sending a jolt of power into the doctor. Maruki's eyes went wide as he tried to keep control, but the power was too much, like sending a lightning bolt through a phone charger. Goro had given the others nothing more than a spark, but fear had made him misjudge it this time. If I mess this up, then Ren will — we ALL will — ! he thought, causing the fear to spiral into panic.

Then he caught sight of the friendship bracelet Suzui made him on his wrist. He'd forgotten that he had it on. If Suzui could talk, she would encourage him. She wouldn't panic. She'd trust him to the very end.

She'll die because she trusted you, said Goro's cold inner voice. They'll all die because of you!

He shook his head, as if to shake the voice loose, but it was as pointless as trying to shake off his skin. The voice would always be there — of course it would, it came from within. That didn't mean he had to listen to it. That didn't mean he had to let it win.

No. I can control this power. I'm in charge. It's not the master of me. It was more of a command than something he believed, but it did calm him down. He concentrated and drew the power back into himself, something he had never tried to do before.

A Persona appeared in front of Maruki, a bearded, sagely man wearing the voluminous gown-like garments of the Italian Renaissance period.

"I am thou. Thou art I," intoned the Persona, but then a sly smile crept across his face. "And if thou art I, you know very well what I am about to ask you."

Maruki blinked in awe for a moment, but then nodded. "You want to know if I will devote myself to the truth, without fear or compromise. Isn't that right, Galileo?"

The Persona smiled benevolently. "I couldn't have said it better myself, my boy."

Galileo vanished and Maruki seemed to be suffused with his power. With a clinical detachment, he glanced around the room and sized up the situation. Bowing his head, he brought his palms together in a prayer-like gesture, then spread them apart again.

As Maruki spread his hands apart, a bright white light seemed to emanate from him, flooding the room so brightly that Goro had to cover his eyes. When the light dimmed and he could see again, his teammates started to stir.

Sae rubbed the torn spot in her costume. Underneath, her body was intact again. Maruki immediately scooped her up in a hug, but Goro barely noticed. He checked on Ren first, then each member of the team in turn. They all seemed healthy enough, if a little shell-shocked from almost dying.

Circling back to Ren, Goro poked a finger gingerly at the spot where the sword had pierced him just moments ago. Ren grinned and swatted at his hand.

Goro couldn't help smiling. "You're ticklish, huh? A secret weakness I can exploit."

"Just you try it. You'll never get close enough."

"Maybe if I use subterfuge…." Goro leaned in and kissed him again. Then, while his eyes were still closed, he tickled Ren again. "Sucker," he said fondly, as Ren laughed.

They were distracted by a loud groan from Suzui. "I forgot about the phone thing. Not even the camera works here? No fair!" she complained.

Ren looked alarmed, but Goro smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. We were already outed by that leather-daddy version of you. He wanted a fight. Didn't get one."

"You mean my dad's version of me. Definitely the worst one," said Ren sadly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say worst. He had his moments."

Ren didn't answer, but a moment later he sniffed Goro's collar and said, "Have you been…smoking?"

"Long story. I can tell it in the car."

They all got to their feet and headed out. Immediately, it was obvious that things had changed. The hallway was now lined with radios, all blaring. They had to move some aside to get out. Ren looked for his mother, but she was nowhere to be found. The garage where his father had been just a few minutes ago was now completely blocked by TV screens.

"We have to get out of here. The best thing we can do is find the cause of all this," said Goro, noticing that Ren was hesitant to leave with his house in this state.

Ren nodded unhappily and shoved a radio off the garden gate. "Now you see what I meant. This isn't even as bad as it was before. Everything was constantly shifting. At least there's a road now."

"Do you think that thing we saw in your room is the cause of it all?"

"Myojo? I'm sure of it. The more TVs there are, the more you'll see him. Just wait."

"But what was Myojo? He can't be human, can he?" asked Togo.

"I don't think so," said Ren. "More like…something wearing a human suit."

"Eww," said Takamaki, summing up the feelings of the group.

Out on the street, the town was transforming. The orderly, pleasant street they had taken to get here was now crowded with TVs and radios, piled high in teetering stacks. There were no people anymore, nobody walking dogs or chatting across their fences. All the doors and windows appeared to be shut and locked tight.

"Where's the van?" asked Goro, looked the area over. "It couldn't have been stolen, could it?"

"It was over here," said Sae doubtfully, pointing at a huge pile of TVs.

"Is it…it can't be…under there?" said Maruki.

"Worst case, we have to walk back to the train station," said Goro.

"Oh no," Suzui groaned, and went over to sit down on the curb.

Ren just shook his head tiredly.

Goro looked over the group. After walking around all morning, fighting with Ren, and nearly dying, they were all worn out. He still had some energy left in the tank, but the rest?

Maruki had started picking up the TVs and setting them aside. Goro joined him, picking up a TV and tossing it into the street.

"Hey, whoa! Is that OK?" said Maruki.

"This is no time to be delicate, Doc. At best, these things are in our way. At worst, they're also spying on us," Goro pointed out.

"Oh. I suppose you're right," Maruki agreed, and started flinging them energetically out into the street.

"Feeling good? It's probably that medicine I gave you," said Goro, hurling a TV away with grunt.

"I feel great! I might regret it tomorrow, though. This can't be good for my back."

"The medicine should work on that too," said Goro.

"Really?" said Maruki, brightening.

"As far as I know."

Sae and Togo joined them, but the TVs were old-style CRT screens and the larger ones were too heavy for the women to lift. Ren and Takamaki, meanwhile, had joined Suzui at the curb, resting.

After a few minutes of work, Goro stepped back to evaluate their progress. They had cleared a lot of them but there was still no sign of the van.

For a second, Goro wondered if the van was really under there. He pushed away the thought immediately. The van had to be under the TVs. It had to. He'd just underestimated the size of the pile of TVs, that was all. At the rate they were going, it was going to take them hours to clear enough to drive away. Meanwhile, more TVs and radios had appeared, mushroom-like, all around them. If things kept going like that, the street could end up completely blocked by the time they got the van clear.

Frustrated, he stepped away and paced a bit on the deserted street. What other options did they have? Could they split up, maybe come back for Suzui and Ren? Try walking anyway, and take as many breaks as needed? Carry Suzui somehow? But then what about Ren?

What a pain in the ass, he thought. At least when he worked alone, he was only responsible for one person.

As he paced, mulling the situation, Suzui got up and tapped him on the arm. "I'm sorry about all this," she said quietly.

With some effort, Goro wrenched his thoughts away from the situation and focused on her. "What? What are you talking about?"

"If it wasn't for me, we could just walk back to the train station," she said, looking down at the ground.

"No…that isn't what I was thinking," he said. It wasn't true anyway; Ren was also too exhausted to make the walk.

"Then what is it?" She sounded skeptical.

He gritted his teeth, knowing that he wasn't going to get out of this without telling her something. He intended to keep it short and simple, but once he started talking, the words poured out of him.

"Suzui, it's not your fault that the van is covered in TVs. Obviously nobody could've predicted that. But that aside…I knew a trip like this would be a problem for you. I knew there was a chance Ren might be incapacitated, too. I should have planned for that. I should have rented a car myself. I should have brought food and water. I should have asked all the Phantom Thieves if they had the address before we left Le Blanc! What kind of a leader am I? I suck at this!"

As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. He'd built his whole life around convincing people he was worthwhile, and that didn't involve admitting any kind of weakness. Why did I say that? What's the matter with me? he groaned inwardly.

But Suzui just blinked in surprise. "Oh! But Dr. Maruki brought a car. Sae brought food and water, and Ann asked all the Phantom Thieves about the address. None of them had it, so nobody could have told you even if you had asked."

"Nice of you to say," he grumbled.

She tilted her head. "What were you doing last night instead of trip logistics?"

"Going over battle strategies with Togo."

"There you go. If you'd been hung up on snacks, who would have done that?"

She looked into the distance and bit her lip pensively.

"Suzui…?" he prodded.

"Sorry. I was just thinking…back at Shujin, Mr. Kamoshida ranked every player by how good he thought they were. He kept the ranking on a whiteboard, so everybody could see where they stood, updated daily."

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"There are twelve players on an Olympic team, Goro-kun. It's not a solo sport. That's what we'd say if someone was getting a big head."

"Was that person sometimes you?" Goro asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Maybe, but that's not the point."

"Then what are you getting at?"

"Well, even if one player really was as good as twelve others, you still can't get into the Olympics without a full team. Every person matters. Think of it from our perspective — if you, Goro Akechi, could do it all, we wouldn't have anything useful to contribute. Nobody wants to be dead weight. Let us help!"

"I never thought about it that way," he admitted. "Well…I'll take your advice if you do too."

She smiled. "Maybe this can be my part. I can suggest ways to delegate."

"I'll be counting on you. Don't think you're getting out of battle duty that easily, though," he said. A thought occurred to him, something from a few weeks back. "Hey, when you were considering getting back into volleyball, did you ever think about coaching?"

"Coaching?" she repeated blankly. "No, of course not, we have…."

"A former Olympian? Nope, not at our school. I can't think of anybody who'd make a better coach than you, Suzui. Consider it. But, uh…after we get out of this stupid town."

She laughed. "You got it."

Goro returned to the van to find the others standing around looking defeated. The van still wasn't visible under the stack of TVs. From their expressions, Goro could tell the awful idea that the van was gone had occurred to them, too.

"What should we do?" asked Togo anxiously.

"Maybe we should split up. Send a team out to get a car and come back," suggested Sae.

Ren nodded heavily. "I can stay behind. I've gotten through worse."

"No. We're not leaving anyone behind in this Hieronymus Bosch hellscape. We'll find another way," said Goro.

"Love the can-do attitude, but what other way?" said Ren softly.

"We could ask for help from a neighbor," suggested Togo. "Do you know any of them, Ren-kun?"

Ren nodded. "Sure…but…."

He gestured helplessly at the neighboring houses. The doors, windows, gates, and even mailboxes were all blocked by TVs. The street was completely deserted, and there were no human or even animal sounds anymore — nothing but tinny chatter from the TVs and radios. In less than an afternoon, the street had transformed from homey to inhuman.

"Where did everyone go?" Suzui murmured, shivering.

"Inside," said Ren grimly. "Why go out, if everything you need is in there?"

Takamaki added, "Even the depths of Mementos weren't this creepy. We could still see people there, even if they were trapped. We could talk to them."

"They didn't listen, though. Just like now." Ren shook his head. "It doesn't matter how much of this is voluntary and how much is brainwashing or whatever. We have to put a stop to it. Can you imagine if this spread to Tokyo?"

Maruki spoke up suddenly. "Look — there's a little girl over there."

Ren looked over and brightened. "That's Hina Saito, my next-door neighbor. Hina-chan!" He waved to get her attention.

Hina spotted Ren and looked relieved. "Ren-san!" she said, running over. "What's happening?"

"I don't know, but my friends and I are trying to get out of here. The trouble is, our car is…." He pointed at the pile of TVs where the van used to be. "Hina-chan, do you think your parents would let us borrow one of their cars? Maybe we could all get out of town together."

The girl nodded vigorously, her pigtails bouncing. "I'll ask them!"

She turned toward her house and started toward it. Oddly, the TVs and radios seemed to clear away as she moved toward the house. Goro could have sworn he saw one sink straight into the ground. In any case, her way wasn't obstructed.

When she reached the stoop, the front door opened by itself. The interior of the house was dark — nothing was visible inside but the flickering blue glow of a television screen.

Hina took a step toward the door and a hand shot out from inside the house and dragged her inside. She barely had time to let out a yelp before the door slammed shut behind her.

"Hina!" cried Ren, instinctively running toward her.

Instantly, his way was blocked by an avalanche of radios raining from the sky. He scrambled back to avoid getting hit.

When they stopped falling, there was an enormous pile completely blocking the front door of the house.

Goro realized he was gaping and snapped his mouth shut.

Ren turned back toward him, looking utterly shocked. The rest of the group didn't look any better.

Ren's eyes wandered for a second, then he seemed to snap out of it. "That's it! Lavenza!"

The group crowded closer to him, as much to be near each other as to hear his idea.

"When I was in the Metaverse a while ago, I called on Lavenza to help me. She brought me to the Velvet Room, but maybe she could help us get out of here. If we're operating on Metaverse rules right now, it could work," Ren explained excitedly.

"Then I could try Jose too," Goro suggested. "How did you do it?"

"I just concentrated on her name. Like…calling her with my mind."

Great, that won't look stupid at all, Goro thought, but it was no time to worry about his image. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate, imagining Jose's face and then his star-spangled clothes, and his little boots.

Several variations of "there's no way this will work" popped into his head, but he pushed the thought away decisively.

Someone took his left hand at some point, then his right. It didn't break his concentration, but encouraged him to keep trying. He tried imagining that Jose was far away and he was yelling at the top of his lungs.

Nothing happened.

Then, all at once, there was an engine revving and a horn honking. Goro opened his eyes and looked down the street to see Jose's little toy car speeding toward them at high speed. It screeched to a stop in front of them and Jose and Morgana hopped out.

"Morgana!" cried Ren. "Where have you been?"

"Long story," said Morgana, jumping out. "Let's get the heck out of here and we can talk."

"That's going to be a problem. Our van is under there. Or…we hope it's still under there," said Ren, gesturing at the TV pile.

"No problem for me!" Jose announced, bouncing up and down. He dug around in his car and pulled out a toy mallet about the same height and width as himself.

Jose swung the mallet against the pile of TVs and they all disappeared, leaving the van in their place. The van bounced a little on its suspension, but otherwise seemed undamaged.

"Thanks, Jose," said Goro. "In the van, Brats! We're getting the hell out of here."

"Is it really okay? I can't pay for body work," said Maruki anxiously, examining the van's paint job while the girls got inside.

"By the way," said Jose to Goro, "You didn't have to yell. I could hear you just fine."

Goro let out a dry laugh. "Sorry. I'll keep that in mind next time."

Jose nodded, his button nose wrinkled. "Good. It was…um….."

"Loud?" said Goro.

"Very."

Goro cocked his head to one side. "Wait a minute. Does that mean you can always hear my thoughts? Have you been listening this whole time?"

"Of course. I'm your attendant. I need to hear you."

Jose swung the hammer at his own car, shrinking it down to pocket size. He picked it up and stuck it inside his jacket, somehow pushed the hammer in after it, then followed the others into the van.

Goro was left to wonder, again, just what in the world Jose really was.