It was them.
The one responsible for the deaths of so many people.
The people on the train…
Futaba's mother…
And also…
Her father.
The mass murderer that had caused so much pain and misery to people across Tokyo and beyond…
Was standing right in front of her.
"You… YOOOOU!" Makoto screamed.
She immediately charged the masked man, a primal rage taking over her.
"I'LL DESTROY YOU!" Makoto roared, charging the masked man.
The masked man said nothing, simply grinning as he dodged Makoto's blows.
Makoto narrowly missed, denting the walls and floors around them with her fists.
The masked man's smile grew wider as they continued to dodge, turning into a wicked smirk.
It was as if they were enjoying seeing her angry.
It only served to make her even angrier at them.
"Freila!" Makoto cried, attempting to blast the masked man with nuclear energy.
The masked man easily dodged the attack, striking back with blinding speed.
Makoto hissed as the blade cut into her shoulder.
She jumped back, trying to create some distance between herself and the masked man so that she could heal her wounds.
Instead of pursuing, though, the masked man instead opted to stay put…
And summon a persona.
She grit her teeth. It made sense for the masked man to be a persona user, but…
When she took the time to analyze the persona, she found that it was significantly stronger than anything in her arsenal.
A persona was a tall, red, hunched over creature holding a pitchfork. It looked like some kind of devil.
Even without the power of the psychotic breakdown, the masked man's persona seemed significantly stronger than the last one they had fought.
Was the masked man… just toying with them before?!
The masked man shot out a gargantuan fireball, larger than any that she had seen before.
Makoto ran from the fireball, narrowly avoiding it. However, the fireball caused a massive explosion as soon as it hit a fall, creating clouds of smoke and shockwaves that knocked her off her feet.
"W-Where…." Makoto trailed off, using her third eye to attempt to locate the masked man.
She spotted them using the smoke as cover, and allowed him to approach.
Pretending to have no idea where he was, Makoto allowed them to approach, and right when they were about to strike… she fired off a Freila in their direction.
The masked man's body tensed up in surprise, but they had no chance to dodge.
The Freila struck them head on, blowing them back.
Makoto quickly got to her feet, hoping to press her advantage.
But the masked man was quick to recover, charging at her with their sword ready.
Makoto was once again forced onto the defensive due to the masked man's sheer speed, her Freila attack having done barely any damage at all.
If she hadn't seen it score a direct hit, she would have thought that it didn't do any damage at all.
She did everything she could to dodge, but his speed was just too great, easily outpacing her and slashing her again and again.
Makoto clenched her teeth, not wanting to give her opponent the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain, even as her blood dripped onto the floor.
She knew that if this continued, however, she would lose too much blood…
She still had one last ace up her sleeve, however.
She had picked one last persona, one that she had strengthened in the Velvet Room to bring up to par with the rest of her arsenal.
She silently switched to Shiki-Ouji…
The masked man swung his blade…
…and she caught it with her hand.
The masked man seemed momentarily surprised by her bold action, as well as the fact that his sword hadn't cut her at all this time.
Their shock gave her enough time to rear her fist back and slam it into their face.
The masked man skidded several feet away, clutching at their mask as they collided with the wall.
Wasting no time, Makoto grabbed several Megido bombs from her pouch and flung them at where the masked man had landed.
Finally, she switched back to Anat.
"Freila!" she cried, firing off the strongest attack she could manage.
The masked man was engulfed in a brilliant explosion of nuclear and almighty energy.
Makoto took several seconds to catch her breath. Between fighting Okumura and now the masked man, she was almost completely spent.
"At least… it's finally ove-"
*BANG*
Her eyes widened as the sound of a gunshot rang out, immediately ducking down.
A bullet whizzed by above her, and she let out a shaky breath realizing that if she was just a second slower…
"H-How…?" Makoto gasped.
She watched the masked man slowly walk towards her.
A small part of their mask had broken, revealing a bloodshot red eye staring right at her.
It was clear that her attack had dealt a decent amount of damage, but despite managing to land a heavy hit, Makoto couldn't help but frown. The masked man had seemed surprised that she had the ability to use multiple personas, but he wouldn't be tricked by that again.
With great effort, Makoto quickly fired off another Freila spell, her repeated usage of magic beginning to take a heavy toll on her.
The masked man made no effort to dodge. Instead…
"Impossible…" Makoto muttered to herself.
The red demonic looking persona suddenly began to change. It was replaced by a blue skinned persona with blonde hair, a sword, and angel wings.
"What?!" Makoto gasped. "You can use multiple personas?!"
She vaguely recalled Igor mentioning something like that, but seeing it firsthand was something else entirely.
She had seemingly made the same mistake that the masked man did, believing herself to be the only one capable of using multiple personas.
Her Freila spell hit the masked man, only to be reflected right back at her.
Thanks to Anat, the reflected Freila did no damage, but she had little time to react as she saw the masked man charging straight for her.
Before she could even think of dodging, the masked man slammed his sword into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing into a wall.
"How are their persona so strong?!" Makoto exclaimed.
She had spent some long assembling a strong and varied team of persona, but the masked man's seemed to be on an entirely different level.
They had an answer for every possible move that she made, and would hit back with an attack twice as hard.
It was clear that the years of experience that he had gained over the years of a hitman had made him incredibly strong.
As she tried to pick herself off the ground, she saw the masked man once again charging at her.
Right before they were about to strike, however, they jumped back, narrowly avoiding a Psio spell.
"QUEEN!" Haru shouted.
Both the masked man and herself turned towards Haru.
"What are you doing here?!" Makoto snapped. "I told you to escape with the others!"
"I know, but… I just had to make sure you and father were all right!" Haru explained. "But… something's happening with my father! He's vanishing!"
Hearing that, the masked man immediately tried to rush past her.
She grit her teeth, desperately trying to hold the masked man back.
"That's fine!" Makoto shouted. "That's what's supposed to happen! Just make sure to not let the enemy through!"
Despite being on the defensive, the masked man easily overpowered her and rushed ahead.
Haru tried to stop them by swinging her ax, but the masked man easily dodged, slashing her in response.
Haru cried out in pain, falling to her knees as the masked man rushed past her.
Makoto quickly ran over to heal her.
"Come on, we have to-"
*RUMBLE RUMBLE*
Her eyes widened as she heard the sound of the palace collapsing, the room they were in beginning to fall apart.
Let's go!" Makoto commanded.
"Right!" Haru replied.
The two girls rushed forward, only to find Okumura fading away right before the masked man could reach them.
The masked man clenched their fist, glaring at them when he saw that Okumura dissolved.
"Looks like you're too late." Makoto smirked. "You're not going to be killing anyone today!"
The masked man shook with rage before slashing at them in a wild frenzy.
Thankfully, their rage seemed to be clouding their judgment, as their movements became more predictable, and thus, easier to dodge.
Still, at this rate, she would still run out of stamina before he did, for fall from the crumbling palace, so there was only one option left.
"We need to retreat, now!"
"Queen, are you sure?" Haru asked.
"I don't have a lot of energy left, and the palace is collapsing as we speak." Makoto explained. "We don't have a choice!"
"O-Ok!" Haru stammered. "Then let's go!"
Makoto quickly had Anat morph back into a motorcycle, Haru getting on behind her as the two of them drove off as fast as possible.
They made their way through the crumbling palace as the masked man chased them in hot pursuit, catching a ride on one of their own Persona.
"T-They're gaining on us!" Haru cried.
"Seriously?!" Makoto cried.
Glancing behind her, she saw the masked man chasing them at an incredible speed, the palace breaking apart behind them.
"Can you think of a way to slow them down?!" Makoto asked.
"Y-Yes, I have an idea!" Haru replied.
Haru pulled out a small explosive, dropping it right behind them.
The bomb exploded, dropping tons of debris right in the masked man's path.
It didn't stop them for long, however.
The masked man slashed through the debris as if it was made of paper, their distraction having only bought them a few seconds.
Unable to think of another plan, Makoto could only watch as the masked man closed in…
Just as he was about to catch up to them, however…
"-eep. -oop."
"Queen, do you hear that?" Haru asked.
"Yeah, it sounds like…"
"Beep boop! Beep boop! Beep boop!"
Suddenly, several of the robots that she had brainwashed before fighting Okumura came rushing forwards.
"Protect! Protect! Protect!" The robots chanted. "One of us! One of us!"
The robots rushed past the two of them and surrounded the masked man.
The masked man slashed the robots, hacking them to bits in a primal rage.
It didn't take them long to dispatch all of the robots, but it was still enough time for them to get away.
Makoto snuck a glance over her shoulder, seeing the masked man staring right back at them.
The masked man scoffed as he saw them manage to get away.
"So, their name was Queen, then." the masked man muttered. "Interesting…"
They managed to escape the palace right before minutes before it collapsed, seeing the others waiting for them the moment they arrived back in the real world.
"Are you two alright?!" Ren cried.
"You took a while getting back." Yusuke pointed out.
"There were… complications." Makoto explained.
"What do you mean?" Ann asked.
"… The masked man was there." Makoto answered.
Immediately, the other Thieves began shouting at her.
"FOR REAL?!" Ryuji shouted.
"Did you find out who they were?!" Ann exclaimed.
"The masked man…" Futaba trailed off. "The one who killed Mom…"
"Everyone, quiet down!" Makoto commanded. "We should get going. We wouldn't want to be seen loitering around here."
"Yeah, let's go somewhere more private." Morgana suggested.
The group left the area, heading back towards Leblanc.
Despite their mission being successful, the atmosphere was incredibly tense, due to the mention of the masked man.
Attempting to break the silence, Futaba spoke up.
"You know, Haru, no offense, but your dad's kinda a dork." Futaba muttered. "I mean, he was quoting and referencing things in the middle of battle. Like, who does that?"
Everyone turned to Futaba, giving her a disbelieving look.
"What?" Futaba questioned. "What?!"
"Speaking of Okumura… the masked man attempted to kill him." Makoto stated.
"What?!" Yusuke gasped. "But are they not on the same side?"
"Maybe they were trying to silence him, like the principal." Ren theorized.
"That might be it." Makoto nodded. "He would likely reveal information the conspiracy doesn't want getting leaked."
"Thankfully, we were able to protect Father from the masked man." Haru added.
"But what about the masked man themselves?!" Futaba cried. "Did you find out their identity?!"
"I'm afraid not." Makoto frowned. "I saw that they had red eyes, but that's all…"
"Oh… I see…" Futaba mumbled, hanging her head.
"I'm sorry, Futaba." Makoto frowned.
"It's ok… it's not your fault." Futaba replied.
Ren places his hand on the younger girl's shoulder, comforting her. "It's ok. We'll get him another time."
"If the masked man was there… then is it possible that the powerful shadow we fought could have been his doing?" Morgana asked.
"The one with the trumpet? Yeah, I think you're right." Makoto nodded. "However, compared to his other personas, that one was a cakewalk."
"WHAT?!" Morgana gasped. "Did you just say other personas?! As in, more than one?!"
"I thought that you were the only one who could summon multiple personas." Futaba frowned.
"Apparently not." Makoto replied. "Not only did they have multiple personas at their disposal, but they were far stronger than anything else we've ever fought… and a lot stronger than any persona that I can summon."
"That would make sense, considering that they've had years of experience entering the Metaverse." Yusuke noted.
"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to beat them then?!" Ryuji snapped.
"We have the number advantage." Ren pointed out. "If we keep up with our training, I'm sure that we'll be able to overwhelm them when we meet again."
"And I'm sure that we will meet again." Makoto replied. "We may have been forced to retreat, but we still managed to save Okumura. I doubt that they'll take that lying down."
"Then next time, we'll be ready!" Ann exclaimed.
Makoto nodded. "For now, though, we should all get some rest. We've all had a long day."
Everyone agreed, and after discussing their future plans for a little while, they all went home for the day.
Try as she might, however, Makoto found herself unable to fall asleep, her mind plagued with thoughts of the masked man…
9/29 Monday
Even with their current mission completed, Makoto wasted no time drafting plans on future heists.
As well as any future encounters with the masked man…
"We're a little low on funds at the moment." Makoto noted. "And we burned through most of our supplies…"
"Maybe you could work at one of your part time jobs to get some extra cash." Morgana suggested.
"That's not a bad idea." Makoto agreed. "I'll ask Lala-chan if I can help out at Crossroads."
She texted Lala-chan, who happily accepted her help.
She spent most of the day drafting more plans, and when night fell, she made her way to Crossroads.
"Hello there, dear." Lala greeted. "How have you been?"
"I've been well, Lala-chan." Makoto replied. "Is Chiaki here?
"She's on her break." Lala answered. "Come on, let's get you started."
She quickly began her shift at Crossroads, washing dishes and serving water to customers.
At the end of her shift, right when she had just left, she saw some familiar faces right outside of the bar…
"I told you, Mitsuhide, it was just an unfortunate accident. What happened to Masako-chan was-"
"I-I can't accept that, Kanetake!" Mitsuhide muttered. "There… has to be something more to it than that!"
"... Are you sure that you're not drunk, Mitsuhide?" Kanetake sighed. "Why don't you just get some rest."
"I'm fine!" Mitsuhide insisted. "But even you have to admit what happened to Masako was strange, right?!"
"No, I don't." Kanetake responded. "I've looked over the official report as many times as you have, but nothing about it seems strange or out of place to me."
"... You said the same thing about Masanori-san's death." Mitsuhide countered.
Kanetake sighed. "Listen… I like you, Mitsuhide, so I'll tell this to you straight. If you keep sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong, then it's possible that you could have something happen to you."
"W-What?" Mitsuhide gasped.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Kanetake muttered, walking off.
Kanetake walked off, leaving a stunned Mitsuhide behind.
Mitsuhide sighed, walking into the building.
"Mitsuhide-san." Makoto greeted.
"Oh. It's you again." Mitsuhide replied.
"What was that argument about?" Makoto asked.
"It's nothing." Mitsuhide muttered.
"It didn't sound like nothing." Makoto frowned. "Isn't that man your partner in the force?"
"He is. Things… have been pretty hectic around the station recently." Mitsuhide admitted. "The Phantom Thieves still have everyone on edge."
"I see… it seems like everyone's been talking about them recently." Makoto stated. "Lately, at school, there's also been a lot of talk about the Phantom Thieves. Even my sister has been talking about them recently. I was just curious about what if there was any consensus among the police."
"They hate them." Mitsuhide bluntly stated. "… Why do you ask?"
"I was… just curious." Makoto said. "I know that my sister isn't very fond of them, so I was wondering what you thought."
"Well… I suppose I can sympathize with them a bit." Mitsuhide admitted. "It must have been really tough for the victims of all the people they stopped. But it's only a matter of time before they get caught, so I never really put much thought into them."
"What makes you think that?" Makoto wondered. "They haven't been caught yet."
"But they will be." Mitsuhide shrugged. "It's only a matter of time. As much as I hate to admit it, my partner had a point when he said that people who go asking too many questions have… accidents happen to them…"
"Even so, we can't stop striving for justice!" Makoto argued.
"I keep telling you to not get involved with these things." Mitsuhide sighed. "I don't want you ending up like your father."
Makoto narrowed her eyes. "My father was a great man! He would stop at nothing to find out the truth!"
"I know." Mitsuhide sighed. "And that's why he was killed. Him and Masako…"
"Masako… who is that?" Makoto asked.
"My old partner… I told you about her, didn't I?" Mitsuhide said.
"Oh, I remember." Makoto nodded. "Then… she was…"
"I don't know for sure, but I always found the circumstances behind her death to be… strange.
Mitsuhide frowned. "My partner… was looking into corruption in the force."
"I… I see." Makoto murmured. "Then… Do you think that she was killed?
"I don't know, but… one day, she confided in me, saying that she felt like she was constantly being followed. That her every move was being monitored." Mitsuhide confessed.
"By… the police?" Makoto questioned.
"Most likely." Mitsuhide sighed. "I could tell how stressed the entire situation was to her, but I felt as if there was nothing that I could do. I… wanted to help her, but I didn't want to go against my fellow officers."
"What… happened to her, then?" Makoto asked. "You're partner, I mean."
"One day… I saw a bunch of police officers surrounding her apartment." Mitsuhide sighed. "They said that it was an emergency, so they wouldn't let anyone come in. Not even me."
"Was she…?" Makoto trailed off.
"They said that she died from a drug overdose. But… I know that that can't be true." Mitsuhide muttered.
"Why not?" Makoto asked.
"She's never done drugs in her life. I know this." Mitsuhide frowned. "The fact that they wouldn't let anyone see the body at first also struck me as odd."
"You think there was foul play involved?" Makoto wondered.
"I can't say for sure, but even if I could… what would it matter?" Mitsuhide sighed. "It's not like I'd be able to do anything about it. It's all hopeless."
"So that's it, then?" Makoto frowned. "You suspect that something horrible happened, but you're not going to do anything about it?!
"I told you, didn't I? A policeman's job isn't to catch criminals. It's to keep the peace. The status quo. So that's… all I can do." Mitsuhide sighed.
Despite saying that, I could tell that his expression was very conflicted.
"Then, I guess that's it, then." Makoto replied.
"Yeah." Mitsuhide said. "Guess it is."
At the very least, he seemed to trust her enough to tell her such a personal story…
DEVIL CONFIDANT: RANK 5
Right as she was about to go home, she saw Chiaki running up to her.
"Niijima!"
She saw Chiaki running up to her.
"Chiaki, hello." Makoto greeted. "How have you been?"
"You're not going to believe this, but those two loan sharks ended up turning themselves in." Chiaki explained.
"They did?! That's incredible!" Makoto replied, feigning surprise.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it at first either, but they even returned all of the money they got from my family and their other victims." Chiaki explained. "I…. I'm so relieved."
"So am I." Makoto smiled. "I'm glad that you're ok, Chiaki."
Remembering what their shadows had said, she spoke up again.
"Um… say, Chiaki… those loan sharks didn't happen to mention anyone named Tsukasa, did they?"
"Tsukasa? No, they didn't. Why?" Chiaki asked.
"Well… when I asked around, his name came up a few times." Makoto replied.
"Well, the loan sharks didn't mention anything, but… I remember a customer coming in a few days ago and talking about how their sister was being taken advantage of by a guy called Tsukasa." Chiaki stated.
"Their sister?!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Y-Yeah… they said their younger sister was being used by some creep." Chiaki explained.
"Wait… younger sister?" Makoto questioned. "Are you sure?"
"Um, yeah, that's what they said." Chiaki replied. "Oh, but they went to a different high school than us, if that's what you're wondering."
"Hmm…"
"What's this about a Tsukasa?"
Makoto and Chiaki saw Mitsuhide approaching them.
"Do you know anything about them?" Makoto asked.
"A month or two ago, there was this girl at the bar. She was talking about how she was also taken advantage of." Mitsuhide stated. She was a college student, though, not high school."
"And… the man taking advantage of her was named Tsukasa?" Makoto asked.
"That's right." Mitsuhide nodded. "I heard her talk about how they would try and isolate them from their family and friends, pressure them into working at their host club, and would do this thing where they break an expensive sake bottle and get them to pay for it."
"I see… is there anything else?" Makoto asked.
Mitsuhide thought for a moment. "Well… she mentioned something about the guy calling her princess.
Makoto froze.
"Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I think the guy that came in a few days ago said that this Tsukasa guy was calling his sister Princess too." Chiaki mentioned.
If all that was true…
Then Eiko could be in danger…
"Can't you… do anything about this?" Makoto asked.
"That man… he has ties with Yakuza." Mitsuhide mentioned. "It's best not to get involved with them."
"Is that what your supervisors told you?" Makoto glared.
Mitsuhide looked away.
"Huh? What does that mean? Wouldn't being in the Yakuza give the police even more reason to go after them?" Chiaki asked.
"You would think so, yeah…" Makoto frowned.
"They… don't want us investigating them… because they have ties to people in high places." Mitsuhide muttered.
Chiaki narrowed her eyes. "And you're ok with that?"
"No, I'm not." Mitsuhide sighed. "When I first joined the force, I… really thought that I could make a difference. But… I feel like that's impossible now…"
"Then quit." Chiaki scoffed.
"Y-Yasui-san!" Makoto stammered.
"What? He said that he wasn't being fulfilled at his job, right?" Chiaki stated. "There are tons of other jobs out there that involve helping people. So he can just work one of those jobs."
"Still…" Makoto trailed off.
"Those Yakuza targeted our classmates. They might still be targeting them, actually. So… it's hard for me to feel sorry for the police when they're doing nothing." Chiaki bluntly stated.
A part of her did agree with what Chiaki was saying, but after what Mitsuhide had told her, she did feel a little sorry for him.
"I… I'm not sure why I'm still working for the police myself." Mitsuhide sighed. "Maybe… there's a small part of me that… no, nevermind."
She wondered what he was about to say…
"I know that it sounds bad coming from me, but… please try not to get involved with people like that." Mitsuhide insisted.
"Sometimes people don't have a choice. Sometimes they're forced to get involved." Chiaki muttered.
"Sorry…" Mitsuhide muttered.
Mitsuhide went back into the bar, likely to drink some more…
"I know that… he won't be able to help, but… he's been through a lot." Makoto said.
"Fine, but… if these criminals are targeting students at Shujin… then something has to be done." Chiaki frowned.
"I have a hunch… that one student might be involved." Makoto said. "I plan to talk to them."
"I see. I'll leave it in your hands, then." Chiaki nodded. "Let me know if you need anything."
"I will. Thank you." Makoto expressed.
The two of them went their separate ways, and as Makoto began to make her way home, it became increasingly clear how much danger Eiko was in…
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 9
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 8
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 8
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 7
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 6
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 7
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 8
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 7
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 6
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 6
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 6
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 5
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 4
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 5
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 6
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 5
THE LOVERS -Phantom Ann Takamaki: Rank 6
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 4
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 7
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 4
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa: Rank 4
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 6
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 5
THE COUNCILOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 7
Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 82.7%