6/31 Sunday
Days Until Pics Leaked: 8
It was finally time to take down Kaneshiro. To finish the cause that she had inherited from father.
She had secretly placed several calling cards all over the allies and streets of Shibuya when no one was looking.
And since they didn't have school today, she could go meet with the others nice and early to steal Kaneshiro's treasure.
As she moved along the streets of Shibuya to get to the meeting spot, however, she suddenly felt someone grab her and pull her into an alleyway.
"What the?!" Makoto cried. "Who are… it's you!"
In front of her stood the Cleaner, an angry scowl on his face.
"What do you want?!" Makoto snapped. "I still have time to pay, don't I?!"
"The boss is going crazy right now!" the Cleaner snapped. "Those Phantom Thieves sent him a calling card, and now he's yelling at everyone to give him some of their profits."
"And why should I care?" Makoto replied. "It sounds like you're all getting what you deserve."
"Well, I don't like having to give away more of my profits, sooo… I was hoping to make some of it back." the Cleaner grinned.
The Cleaner looked her over, grinning as his eyes landed on her necklace.
"Huh… wonder if that's worth something?" the Cleaner muttered.
"Don't touch that!" Makoto snapped.
"Oh? It must be worth somethin' if you're reacting like that." the Cleaner smirked.
She tried to struggle, but the Cleaner's grip tightened as he snatched the necklace and pushed her to the ground.
As much as she wanted to hit him back, she knew that she would risk jeopardizing the plan if he injured her.
So she waited for him to leave, cursing her weakness as he did so.
After he had left, she ran to meet with the others.
"Yo, Makoto!" Ryuji greeted. "What took ya so long? The rest of us are already here."
"I got hung up by some of Kaneshiro's underlings." Makoto muttered.
"What?!" Ann gasped. "Are you ok, Makoto?! They didn't hurt you, did they?!"
"I'm fine." Makoto told them. "But… they took my necklace, though."
She glanced towards Ren with an apologetic look on her face.
"It's alright, Makoto." Ren assured her. "All of you returning safe is more important."
Makoto nodded. "It's important that we're all safe in the end. So please, don't take any unnecessary risks, anyone."
"You got it!" Morgana nodded. "But do you know if Kaneshiro's even seen the calling card?"
Makoto nodded. "His underlings mentioned that he saw the calling card and that he was freaking out about it."
"Hah! I'd like to see his face right now!" Ryuji smirked. "Bet he's totally afraid right now!"
"Guess we'll have to settle for beating the shadow then." Ren smirked. "Once we change his heart, the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns will finally stop."
"I've mapped out the shortest path to the treasure." Yusuke informed the others. "Shall we get going?"
"Yes. It's time." Makoto replied. "Let's go."
They entered Kaneshiro's palace for the last time, quickly making their way back to the treasure room.
Much to their surprise, however, they found that the treasure room had changed from before.
"What the hell?!" Ryuji snapped. "What's this safe door doing here?!"
"This wasn't here last time!" Morgana gasped. "I can't believe that he changed his cognition so quickly!"
"Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be upset about a safe room in a Palace." Ren muttered.
"Guess I'd make sense that he would know how to do something like this, if he really is the mastermind." Ann noted.
"Having fun probing my mind?"
They all turned around, seeing Kaneshiro grinning at them.
"Kaneshiro…" Makoto muttered.
"I'm surprised you even made it here alive. Impressed, even." Kaneshiro admitted. "I think that you all deserve a reward."
Kaneshiro clapped his hands, and two of his underlings walked out of the shadows, holding a body on each side.
"O-Oh my God…" Ann gasped.
The body they were carrying was mangled and broken, their limbs bent at unnatural angles and a portion of their forehead blooded and torn.
"Why are you showing us this!" Yusuke yelled. "Are you trying to intimidate us?!"
"Not at all. I said it was a reward." Kaneshiro said, giving a wicked grin. "What daughter wouldn't want to be reunited with her long-lost father?"
"Y-You mean…" Ren trailed off.
"Father…" Makoto whispered.
Kaneshiro grabbed the body from his underlings, tossing it to the ground.
"Take a good look!" Kaneshiro snapped. "This is what happens to anyone who defies me!"
Kaneshiro slammed his foot into the body's face, grinding his heel a bit before the body disappeared from his cognition entirely.
"NOOOO!" Makoto screamed.
Makoto fell to her knees, Ann quickly placing her arms on her shoulders to comfort her.
"Q-Queen, calm down." Ann pleaded. "It's ok, we're here for you.
"You're gone too far this time, Kaneshiro!" Morgana spat.
"You truly are despicable beyond words…" Yusuke muttered, his scowl and tight grip on his sword betraying his calm tone.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ann exclaimed. "Don't you feel any amount of empathy at all?!"
"You're one slimy bastard, that's for sure…" Ren scowled. "We'll make sure… you never hurt Queen or anyone else ever again!"
"You son of a bitch! Do you know how much shit Queen's gone through because of you?!" Ryuji snapped. "And you're still gonna show the man you murdered to her like that?! What's effin' wrong with you?!"
"Why should I feel sorry?" Kaneshiro scoffed. "The strong trample over the weak. That's how the world works! No one gave a shit about me when I was poor and homeless?! Why should I care about anyone else?!"
"So that's it?! Because you suffered, other people need to suffer too?!" Ann snapped.
"I told you, this is how the world works!" Kaneshiro yelled. "What makes a couple of brats like you think you can change it?! No one can!"
"The police may be struggling to catch you, but that won't stop us from trying!" Ryuji claimed.
"Right… the police. And who do the police serve?" Kaneshiro asked. "Surely not the public, but politicians and the upper class instead. But politicians don't serve the public either. They serve their donors. Rich donors like me. So of course they're 'struggling' to catch me. I don't want to be caught, so politicians don't want me caught, so the police won't catch me. That's… how the system works."
He turned to Makoto, a mocking grin on his face.
"And trying to fight against that system is what got dear old dad killed!"
"...Enough!"
Makoto suddenly stood, rage taking over once again.
"I've been listening to you go on and on, and I'm sick of it!" Makoto snapped. "Even if… everything that you've just said is true, none of it matters right now! You're still a murdering criminal, and I will bring you to justice!"
Makoto charged towards Kaneshiro, but she quickly jumped back when she noticed the large shadow above her.
A large, mechanical beast fell from above, Kaneshiro and his underlings quickly getting inside.
"Ah… it's like a mechanical Cerberus." Yusuke noted.
"Not another dog…" Morgana groaned.
"Don't worry, you'll be seeing your father again soon!" Kaneshiro laughed from inside the machine. "I'll send you to meet him in Hell!"
The mechanical Cerberus swiped at them, the Thieves narrowly avoiding it.
She attempted to fire a few bullets at the machine, but it had little effect.
"Ghahaha! Is that all?!" Kaneshiro boasted. "You'll have to try harder than that!"
The Cerberus opened its mouth, firing a barrage of missiles at them.
"Everyone, scatter!" Makoto cried.
They all ran in different directions as the ground became littered with smoke and explosions.
"How the hell do we take this thing down?!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"Try magic!" Makoto shouted.
The group unleashed their strongest spells, assaulting the mechanical beast with roaring flames, freezing blizzards, and crackling thunder.
Makoto could tell that the spells were proving to be more effective, but it still wasn't doing much damage.
"Just give it up!" Kaneshiro exclaimed. "This is my personal guard dog from Hell!"
The Cerberus swiped at her again, which she narrowly managed to avoid. As she did, however, she suddenly felt very hot, noting that the Cerberus' limb was still hot from Ann's fire.
She continued to dodge the Cerberus' attacks, trying to think of a plan.
"Panther! Concentrate your fire on one spot!" Makoto commanded.
"You got it!" Ann nodded.
Ann fired a powerful Agilao spell at the Cerberus' side, giving the metal a red-hot glow.
"Fox, freeze that same area!" Makoto ordered.
By now, Kaneshiro was beginning to catch onto her plan, and turned towards Yusuke.
"Freila!" Makoto called out, blasting the Cerberus' head.
Ren quickly followed up with a Sukunda, slowing it down enough for Yusuke to cast Bufula.
Parts of the Cerberus' body became frozen and brittle.
"Skull, hit it hard!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Thought you'd never ask!" Skull replied, grinning.
Skull jumped up and slammed his weapon into the cold, brittle metal, causing it to crack.
"Hey! Watch it!" Kaneshiro snapped.
"Let's see how strong that machine is after this!" Makoto cried. "Jikokuten!"
She summoned her latest and strongest persona, weakening the Cerberus with a Rakunda spell.
Ann and Yusuke continued pelting the beast with fire and ice, the beast unable to keep up with Ren keeping its speed down.
Ryuji slammed his weapon into the beast over and over, the beast struggling to get up after the battering.
"That's it!" Kaneshiro roared. "It's time for VIP mode!"
The Cerberus' head began to glow a bright red before it blew a large stream of fire at them.
"Everyone, move!" Makoto called.
They tried to get away from the flames, but Ryuji was too slow to get away.
"AHHHHH!" Ryuji screamed in pain.
"Skull!" Ann cried out.
"I'll take care of him, just focus on the battle." Morgana promised.
"Queen, I have a plan!" Joker called. "Just trust me!"
She nodded, giving him a signal to continue.
Ren reached into their pack, pulling out a shiny bead chain, and lighting tossed it to the ground.
The bead chain's glimmer immediately caught Kaneshiro's attention.
"Oh? What's this?" Kaneshiro muttered, wide-eyed.
Makoto was quick to take advantage of Kaneshiro's distracted state, striking him with Jikokuten's strongest attack.
"Assault Dive!" Makoto shouted, slamming into the beast's head with full force.
The Cerberus slammed into the ground, it's body cracking and breaking apart.
"Hey! What the hell!" Kaneshiro snapped. "You seriously scrapped my guard dog! I guess… I'll deal with you myself!"
She heard a strange buzzing sound coming from the machine.
Suddenly, Kaneshiro and his two underlings emerged, now sporting eyes and wings like a mosquito.
"Eww… what the hell happened to them?!" Ann shouted.
They watched as Kaneshiro and his underlings started buzzing around the broken machine.
"Looks like this dog has fleas." Ren dryly commented.
"Hah! This is nothing!" Kaneshiro grinned.
Kaneshiro's body continued to transform, becoming less and less human-like. Finally, he became a giant fly with eyes made of countless tiny rubies. He held an Ivory Bone Staff and had a solid gold necklace of skulls.
"Hahahaha! Bet you've never seen a transformation like this, have you?" Kaneshiro boasted.
"Actually… the principal of Shujin also transformed." Ren pointed out.
"So what was he, a giant pig?" Kaneshiro asked.
"...Yes, actually." Joker admitted.
"Hah. That's fitting. He was my own personal piggy bank!" Kaneshiro laughed.
Makoto attempted to charge Kaneshiro, but one of his underlings blocked the hit, while the other one smacked her with a stun baton.
"These are the greatest guards that money can buy!" Kaneshiro claimed.
They tried to strike Kaneshiro from multiple angles, but his guards blocked every attack.
"I'll suck away every last cent from all of you!" Kaneshiro shouted.
Kaneshiro waved his staff, causing money to fall from above and swirl around Kaneshiro before swarming towards them like a pack of locusts.
The paper locusts were unusually sharp, leaving slices on their bodies wherever they hit.
"I can't strike them fast enough!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"It feels like every time I shoot one down, two more take its place!" Ren added.
Several of the money locusts slipped around Ren, slicing into his back.
"Joker!" Makoto cried.
Makoto rushed to his location, helping him take out the locusts that had swarmed him, but suffered a few cuts in the process.
"Ugh...Panther, can you burn them?" Makoto asked.
"I barely have any magic left!" Ann replied.
"Alright, then just avoid the money and let me handle it!" Makoto advised.
Makoto quickly switched to a Persona she thought would work better at the moment.
"Orthus!" Makoto called. "Maragi!"
Makoto scattered fire all around the room, burning away all of the locusts.
"All right, Queen!" Ann cheered. "You got the-AHH!"
Kaneshiro slammed his staff into Ann, knocking her all the way into a wall, knocking her out.
"That's two down!" Kaneshiro grinned. "You're next, Niijima!"
Before he could strike her, however, Yusuke blocked Kaneshiro's staff with his sword.
"Hey! Watch the staff!" Kaneshiro. "That's made of pure ivory! That's worth more than your life!"
"Illegally purchased, I assume?" Makoto replied.
"Like I give a shit!" Kaneshiro roared, slamming the staff down, narrowly missing Yusuke.
"Agilao!" Makoto shouted.
Makoto blasted Kaneshiro with fire before he could continue trying to strike Yusuke.
"GRAH! Where the hell are my guards?!" Kaneshiro roared.
Kaneshiro glanced around, only to find his guards missing.
"Where did they go?!" Kaneshiro roared. "Those bastards just left me alone!"
"Probably because their loyalty was to money, not you." Makoto pointed out. "And you just ran out."
"Ah… I guess so." Kaneshiro muttered. "In the end, that's all that mattress, isn't it?"
"You're wrong!" Makoto argued. "There are things more important than having so much money or so much success! You have a palace because you let those things distort your entire life!"
"And what would a naive little punk like you know about life?!" Kaneshiro snapped. "It's money that gives me my power! I'll show you!"
Kaneshiro pointed his staff at Yusuke, and suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck him.
Yusuke cried out in pain as the lightning coursed through his body, dropping to his knees.
"Fox!" Makoto shouted in concern.
Yusuke tried to defend himself from Kaneshiro, but only got a few strikes in before Kaneshiro swatted him away with his staff.
"And that's three!" Kaneshiro grinned.
"S-Stop!" Makoto weakly pleaded. "I'm the one you want, right? Leave them out of this!"
"They were the ones who decided to get involved!" Kaneshiro argued. "All because their friend was stupid enough to stick her nose where it doesn't belong! I'll make you watch as I kill all of your friends one by one, and when you're finally broken, I'll make you into my personal slave!"
Rage beginning to grip her, Makoto charged right towards Kaneshiro."
"I won't! Let you! Hurt them!" Makoto raged, attempting to blast him with Agilao over and over again.
"Grah! Freakin' punk!" Kaneshiro snapped.
His body was partially scorched, but he still wasn't down. Kaneshiro charged through the flames, knocking Makoto over with his staff.
"You'll pay for that!" Kaneshiro roared.
Kaneshiro raised his staff above his head, hoping to beat Makoto with it.
"I'll beat you until you stop resis-AHH!" Kaneshiro yelled.
Morgana had leaped onto Kaneshiro's shoulder, jamming his blade into it.
"Get off of me you little pest!" Kaneshiro exclaimed.
"Queen! Joker! Now!" Morgana shouted. "We can finish him off right here!"
"Eiha!" Ren cried, striking Kaneshiro's back with dark magic.
"Enough of this!" Kaneshiro spat. "Get off of me you pest!"
Kaneshiro grabbed Morgana and threw him off, pointing his staff at him and blasting him with lightning.
"Now to finish off the rest of y-"
"Freila!"
Makoto blasted Kaneshiro with a large sphere of nuclear energy.
Kaneshiro yelled in agony, falling to his knees.
"Let's finish him off, Queen!" Ren exclaimed.
Makoto nodded, the two of them unloading every last bullet they had into Kaneshiro before unleashing their strongest spells on him.
"GRAAAAHHHHH!"
The mixture of dark and nuclear magic exploded on Kaneshiro.
When the smoke cleared, they saw Kaneshiro's fly form on the ground, unmoving.
A few moments later, Kaneshiro's body reverted back to retain his regular shadow form.
"We… we did it." Ren muttered. "We… actually beat him."
"Thank goodness." Makoto sighed. "I used up the last bit of my magic to finish him off."
"We need to check up on the others first." Ren suggested.
"Right." Makoto nodded. "Let's make sure that they're all ok."
The two thieves rushed over to their friends, who were thankfully only unconscious, and moved them somewhere safe.
"Alright, now let's check out that safe." Ren said.
They looked at the large safe behind Kaneshiro, trying to find a way to open it.
"Do you think that there's a puzzle to opening it?" Ren asked.
"It would make sense." Makoto responded. "Kaneshiro had a lot of security measures in place that we had disable, so it would make se-"
"Look out!" Ren cried.
Ren pushed Makoto out of the way, knocking her to the ground.
"Joker, what are you...NO!" Makoto gasped.
In front of her, Joker was clutching his chest, blood dripping onto the floor.
"REN!" Makoto cried, catching him as he fell to the ground.
"M-Makoto…" Ren coughed, blood starting to drip from his mouth. "F-Forget about me… you n-need to escape."
"Ren, no!" Makoto screamed. "I… I can't lose you! P-Please, get up!"
Despite her depleted magic reserves, she tried over and over again to heal him.
"Diarama! Diarama! Diarama!" Makoto repeated. "Why?! Why isn't it working?!"
"M-Makoto… I…"
"S-Stop it!" Makoto snapped. "E-Everything's going to be ok. Y-You, and everyone else is going to be ok!"
Joker's eyes began to close, and soon, he stopped moving…
"T-There's so much blood! No! No! No! Ren! Don't leave me!" Makoto cried, her tears falling onto his body.
"Hahahaha!"
Makoto turned around, seeing Kaneshiro laying on his stomach, holding a smoking gun in his shaking hands.
"I hid this in my suit, just in case. Never thought I'd be pushed this far." Kaneshiro muttered. "I've worked way too long and way too hard… to lose to a bunch of freakin' punks like you!"
She could only see red at this point.
The only thing that mattered… was making Kaneshiro pay!
She charged forward faster than she'd ever run before.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Makoto screamed.
Kaneshiro tried to get up as quickly as he could, but Makoto was able to knock the gun out of his hand before he could fire it again.
Makoto tried to press her advantage, but Kaneshiro quickly recovered, dodging her punch and slamming his fist into her stomach.
"Urk." Makoto groaned.
Kaneshiro grabbed hold of her and slammed her into the ground before throwing her at the safe door.
Her entire body was in pain, and she was unable to heal herself due to her depleted reserves.
"N-No…" Makoto muttered. "I…"
I can't let him get away.
She carefully got up on her knees.
He needs to pay for what he's done to my father! To Ren! To everyone!
She slowly got up, breathing heavily.
"Don't you ever give up?!" Kaneshiro yelled, annoyed.
Go! Give into your rage! Your inner rebellion!
"Johanna?" Makoto questioned.
Kaneshiro began rushing up to her, but right before he could hit her, a bright blue aura exploded out from her.
"KANASHIROOOOOOOO!" Makoto cried, her red eyes shining with rage as the blue flames dancing around her.
"The hell?!" Kaneshiro exclaimed. "You're not just some little girl… W-What the hell are you?!"
Blue flames danced around her, drying her tears and reminding her of the time that she had first awakened to Johanna.
Speaking of Johanna, the persona suddenly appeared in front of her, breaking apart into several different parts before reforming into a different persona altogether, that bore a bright red head and golden horns.
Because it was a part of her, she already knew its name.
"Anat…" Makoto whispered.
"H-Ha! What is this, your second wind?" Kaneshiro mocked, his arm shaking. "I'll keep knocking you down as many times as it takes!"
She raised her fists to fight, but was surprised when Kaneshiro walked a few steps away from her.
Kaneshiro turned his back to her and grabbed his suit, flinging it to the side in one fell swoop, revealing a filled in red Oni tattoo that stretched across his entire back and wrapped around his shoulders.
"Onis… in folklore, they would terrorize villages, kidnap their women and naughty children, and make sure that they're never seen again." Kaneshiro grinned. "And that's what I do too. Tokyo is my city! I take punks like you and make them my slaves! The police, the politicians… I own them all! And I own you too!"
"You're no Oni." Makoto countered. "You're just an insignificant money-grubbing fly!"
"I was insignificant once. Poor, homeless… ignored by society at large. But I crawled my way up from the depths of that Hell to earn my place in this world." Kaneshiro told her. "But it was all worth it, because now that I've climbed so high, I find myself sitting above everyone else! Above the law, even!
"Then I'll drag you back down… and bury you!" Makoto threatened. "I inherited this case from my father… and I will finish what he started!"
Both Kaneshiro and Makoto charged forward, foreheads and shoulders clashing as they reared back their fists for one final clash.
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 7
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 5
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 4
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 4
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 5
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 4
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 4
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 4
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 4
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 2
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 2
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 2
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 2
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 2
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 2
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 1
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 3
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 2
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 3
THE JUDGEMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 3
THE COUNCILLOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 4
Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 4.5%