12/10 Tuesday
Days Until Ballot Count: 9
All preparations were complete.
They were ready.
This time, nothing would stop them from storming the entirety of Shido's Palace.
And yet…
"It'll be fine, don't worry." Morgana insisted. "There's no way what happened last time is going to happen now."
"I know that you're right, but after last time, I can't help but worry." Makoto admitted. "This has already been our toughest challenge yet."
"We've prepared as much as we possibly can." Morgana pointed out. "And we're running out of time."
"... Yeah. You're right." Makoto sighed. "Let's go.
In the end, Morgana's logic won out over her worries, so they gathered the team together once again, entering Shido's palace.
"There's no sign of that SIU bastard anywhere." Ryuji frowned.
"Suppose we didn't really draw a lot of attention to ourselves yet." Ren noted. "But that'll probably change soon."
They had made their way back to where they had been right before they were forced to leave.
Since they already knew the route, it was very simple getting back, but they did notice increased security along the way.
"I spoke to a few people on the deck." Haru told them. "They said that the entertainment hall should be up ahead."
"I think I remember hearing that one of our targets is there." Morgana recalled.
"Then let's pay them a visit." Makoto said.
They went through the doors, finding themselves in a room filled with pinball, pachinko, and slot machines.
The place certainly fit the description of an entertainment hall.
They made their way through the room, trying to ignore the blaring sounds of Shido's voice coming from numerous televisions in the room.
"This place isn't too big, so it should take too long to find- ah!" Futaba gasped, seeing a few people sitting at some of the slots. "Found him!"
"He's the president of a TV station, isn't he?" Ann asked.
"From what I understand, he gives letters of introduction to executives to the executives of other companies who are willing to sponsor his programs." Makoto stated. "That… Might be a difficult condition to fulfill."
"Well, we could just beat it outta him." Ryuji shrugged.
"That's your solution to everything!" Morgana snapped.
"Well it ain't like we've been successful with other methods!" Ryuji fired back.
"Let me handle this." Haru declared.
"For real?" Ryuji asked.
"I figured that you might be our best bet, but I wasn't sure." Makoto stated. "If you're confident though, I won't stop you."
"You've got this, Noir!" Ryuji cheered.
Haru walked right up to the company president, boldly asking him for a letter of introduction.
"A letter of introduction? But… You're quite clearly a child." the president frowned.
"My name is Haru Okumura, daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I do believe that we sponsored you as well." Haru confidently spoke.
"Oh, you're President Okumura's daughter?" the man realized, his demeanor instantly turning friendlier. "It's true that I am quite indebted to your father. He funded us extremely well, as you said."
The man frowned again, although this time it seemed to be a slightly sympathetic one.
"Although, it is unfortunate that he is no longer with us. My condolences." the man expressed.
"Thank you…" Haru replied, barely above a whisper.
"Regarding all of the controversies… Shido-san really did value his partnership. He requested that I defend him as best as I could." the man told her. "I even tried throwing some extra security his way, but there was only so much that I could do for him."
Haru said nothing, mulling over his words.
"But people were beginning to take note of the connection between President Okumura and Shido-san. So he had to be cut off." the man continued.
"Cut off…?" Haru muttered.
"Yes, it seems like he was cast off this ship and used him to bait the Phantom Thieves, like worms to a hungry fish." the TV president noted. "I must say, it was a masterful maneuver by Shido-san."
"... Won't you please grant me that letter of recommendation?" Haru requested, repressing her building rage. "Once our company recovers, I will arrange for us to cooperate with you in a sponsorship role."
"You're still just his daughter of the late president, aren't you?" the man asked. "Do you really have authority to do that?"
"Well…" Haru trailed off.
"Things must be rather chaotic at Okumura Foods right now." the man noted. "... But I suppose that doesn't matter. I'm in your father's debt, after all. I can repay some kindness to his daughter."
The man happily wrote the letter of introduction, handing it over to Haru.
"Thank you… very much." Haru muttered.
"Ah, but before you go, I have a word of advice for you." the man said. "Try not to repeat the same mistakes as your father, yes?"
"What?" Haru questioned.
"He could've lived a life of luxury if only he'd done what he was told." the man sighed. "Well, at least our ratings shot up after we aired his mental shutdown. Another thing I owe him for, hahaha!"
"... Stop it." Haru said, her tone turning cold.
"Hmm?"
"How could you talk about my father's death like that?" Haru questioned.
"It's nothing personal. It's just business." the man shrugged. "Oh, but if you'd like, we could get you your very own documentary. 'Overcoming Death to Rebuild a Family Company.' I think you'd get some great ratings, myself!"
"I won't let you just dismiss that as 'business'!" Haru snapped. "You had better apologize to my father!"
The man's previously humored expression shifted to an angrier one, as he and his associates rose from their seats to surround Haru.
"This doesn't look good…" Makoto frowned.
"Heh… Told you we've have to bust some heads!" Ryuji grinned.
They all rushed forward, and suddenly the TV president found himself surrounded.
"Are you Thieves?!" the TV president gasped.
"Back off." Makoto warned.
The TV station president didn't respond, simply dissolving into ooze before reforming into a bearded, sword-wielding monkey.
His associates followed suit, transforming into two gigantic birds.
"Shoot those birds down, everyone!" Makoto ordered.
A hailstorm of bullets fired at the birds, but their wings were powerful enough to blow them all back by flapping them.
The Thieves scattered from the resulting Magarudyne, allowing the TV President to try and cut them down one by one.
Yusuke tried to stop him with a chunk of ice, but the president's shadow dodged, getting several strikes on Yusuke before he was able to clash with his own blade.
The birds had the same strategy, scrapping their talons across the ground in an attempt to grab anyone they could.
"There's no way I can run from them on these stubby legs!" Morgana groaned.
The not-cat had taken shelter behind a pillar with Ren, the two hiding out of sight.
"Aren't cats supposed to prey on birds?" Ren pointed out.
"Those things are like 20 times my size, you scruffy- H-Hey, I'm not a-"
"Sure, now they are, buuuut…" Ren trailed off.
Morgana's eyes widened to comical levels. "Oh no. Oh no, we are not doing this aga-
"Good luck, Mona!" Ren cried, tossing Morgana as hard as he could.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Morgana screamed as he flew through the air, eventually finding himself right above the giant bird.
The bird opened its beak, trying to swallow Morgana whole.
"Oh no you don't, birdbrain!" Morgana shouted. "Eat van!"
Morgana transformed, crushing the shocked bird underneath several thousand pounds of metal before driving away.
Seeing its companion get crushed, the other bird paused its own assault, seemingly giving into fear.
"What are you doing!" the TV President roared. "I'm… 90% sure that the rest of them can't do that! Attack them already!
The TV President performed some sort of technique, inflicting the remaining bird with rage.
The bird charged forth with renewed vigor.
"How the hell do we stop this thing?!" Ryuji cried, narrowly avoiding the bird's large talons.
"I just need one good shot." Haru whispered, waiting for the right moment.
The bird quickly turned to face her, eyes filled with hate as it charged.
"Psiodyne!" Haru cried, assaulting the foe with waves of psychic energy.
The bird let out a deafening scream, the psychic energy causing immense mental and physical damage due to its intense rage.
"Now, Skull!" Haru shouted.
"You got it!" Ryuji shouted back, blasting the bird with a fearsome Ziodyne, sending its smoldering body heading towards the ground.
"Worthless!" the TV president shouted, before chasing after Haru.
Haru met him head on, clashing against his sword with her axe.
"Are you so eager to see your father again so soon?" the TV President taunted.
Haru didn't reply, instead pushing back against his sword.
The TV President backed off, trying to swiftly attack her from another angle.
TOOOOOOOT*
The President covered his ears in pain.
"What the hell was that noise?!"
"Trumpeter!" Makoto shouted. "Debilitate!"
The TV President suddenly found his body feeling weaker and more sluggish.
"W-What's going on?" he cried.
"Noir!" Makoto yelled.
"I've got it!" Haru yelled back, once again clashing with the shadow.
… Only to shatter the shadow's sword with her axe.
"Are you sorry now?" Haru asked, her voice emotionless.
"T-To hell with this!" the TV president yelled. "You people are crazy! I'm out of here!"
The shadow tried to run off as fast as he could, realizing that he couldn't win.
Wordlessly, Haru pulled out her grenade launcher and fired, scoring a direct hit.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, they saw the TV president lying on the ground, groaning in his regular form.
"... Was the grenade necessary?" Makoto asked.
"He deserved it." Haru sweetly said. "Anyway, we have the letter, so we should be able to go now, right?"
"Let's see if we can get some information out of him first." Makoto suggested.
Haru nodded, walking over to the TV President alongside the rest of the Thieves.
"You knew about my father's mental shutdown in advance, right?" Haru asked.
"I-I did." the man confessed.
"So you probably have access to a lot of other information that Shido doesn't want getting leaked to the public, right?" Haru asked.
"I-I… Yes, that's true." the man nodded.
"We'll let you live, so long as you admit to any crimes you may have committed, as well as any such information you have." Haru told him.
"I-I will, I promise! J-Just please, don't kill me!" the man begged.
"… If my father is any indication, the person you should really be worrying about is Shido." Haru pointed out.
"What's some information that you can share with us right now?" Ren asked.
"I assume that you've already deduced that all the money that Kaneshiro was gathering was going to Shido-san?" the TV president asked. "And, by extension, anyone who was indebted to his group, such as Madarame-san."
"Madarame-san as well…" Yusuke frowned.
"We assumed that Kaneshiro was involved." Makoto nodded.
"Yes, Shido-san was aided quite a bit financially by his counterfeit business." the TV president continued.
"Another crime to add to the pile." Morgana frowned.
"Ugh, and I bet this guy made sure the news was Shido and Akechi the entire freakin' time!" Ryuji snapped.
"There's no time to waste. We have to stop Shido!" Haru declared.
"Right. We've got 3 letters, so let's keep moving." Makoto ordered.
"All that's left is the IT guy and the SIU director." Futaba told them. "Not sure where to find them, though."
The SIU director wasn't where he was the last time they had been here, so they had little information on either of them.
"We've already gone through a ton of areas on this ship." Ann pointed out. "There's only so many other places they could be, you know?"
"That's true. For now, let's just cover more ground, everyone." Makoto commanded.
It still felt a little odd to leave the other shadows to themselves.
Since their shadows had merged with Shido's palace, it was possible that they might not suffer the full effects of the change of heart until Shido had been dealt with as well.
That might be for the best, honestly. She wouldn't want Shido being tipped off in any way that they were invading his palace.
They continued searching, finding their way to the lower port hallways.
"Wait, guys, hold on!" Morgana called.
"What is it? One of those two nearby?" Makoto asked.
"No, not quite, but I think I sense another Will Seed." Morgana told her.
"Next best thing, I suppose." Ren shrugged. "Let's keep an eye out."
They made their way around the lower port, thankfully finding the door to the next Will Seed without too much effort.
In truth, there wasn't really anything about Shido, past or present, that she really cared about seeing. Nothing about the man could convince her he wasn't worth targeting. He had ruined far too many lives for that to be possible.
Something that the current Will Seed would make ever clearer…
"The dead is done, Shido-san. Wakaba Isshiki has been dealt with."
Two figures sat in an office which she assumed belonged to Shido. One of them was Shido himself. And the other… Was Goro Akechi.
He looked slightly younger than he did now, but she was certain that it was him.
"Good. I'll make arrangements to have her research seized." Shido said. "We can't have anyone else learn of the cognitive world."
"From what I understand, she was a very gifted individual." Akechi noted. "It's possible there might be information in those notes that even we don't know."
"I am aware. I plan to pour over it extensively." Shido told him. "Incidentally, there's been another incident that came to my attention.
"Oh?" Akechi questioned.
"At a local university, I heard about research being conducted on cognitive psience." Shido told him.
"Another target for me?" Akechi asked.
"No, I've already nipped it into the bud. I've ensured that the research has been seized, and that the university will swiftly reject the research and withdraw funding." Shido explained. "That one woman had already done much of her research, so she had to be dealt with, but there's no need to leave a trail of bodies that will get people talking…"
"Fair enough." Akechi nodded. "I'll be available in case there are any more problems…"
Right as Akechi began to leave, however…
"One more thing." Shido said. "How exactly did you 'deal with' that woman?"
"Suicide." Akechi answered. "She jumped into the path of an oncoming car."
"Hmm… Was she the type to do such a thing?" Shido asked.
"She did lead a stressful life." Akechi pointed out. "She was a single mother raising a young girl, the father long having abandoned them."
"I see…" Shido nodded.
"It's rather tragic, isn't it?" Akechi asked. "Abandoned by the father, a young mother is forced to raise a child by herself. Unable to handle the stress, shame, and rejection of society, she eventually takes her own life, leaving that child all alone…"
"Why would I care about any of that?" Shido scoffed. "Just as long as people believe it, it's good enough."
"... No, I suppose you wouldn't care about that, would you?" Akechi muttered. "Well, it could be possible to forge a suicide note blaming her child, and having to raise them herself."
"Yes, that could work." Shido noted. "Although I wonder if the child will pose a problem."
"They shouldn't be. Nobody really cares what orphans have to say…" Akechi stated.
"Then I'll make the necessary arrangements." Shido stated. "Just be aware that I may require your services again soon."
"Mom…"
She saw Ren place his hand on the younger girl's shoulder in order to comfort her.
"Oracle, are you…"
"I'm fine." Futaba mumbled. "We're going to take Shido down together, right?"
Makoto nodded, smiling. "Right."
"We suspected it before, but Futaba's mom really was killed for her research." Ren noted. "That would partially explain why Shido seems so knowledgeable about the Metaverse."
"He must have found some way to pass that knowledge onto others." Haru replied. "And that was how Sugimura-san's shadow merged into my father's palace."
"It seems he didn't want anyone else to know anything about the cognitive world." Yusuke mentioned.
Come to think of it, Shido had mentioned someone else getting involved with cognitive psience at a local university.
Could it be…?
She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. They would be able to sort out everything once they changed Shido's heart.
"I can't believe that he could pull the strings of a university too." Ann frowned. "Ugh! Just how much power does this guy already have?!"
"Don't worry. All we have to do is change Shido's heart. Then all of his crimes will come to light." Makoto told her.
"Yeah, and then he can kiss his chances of becomin' the Prime Minister goodbye!" Ryuji grinned. There's no way anyone would vote for a criminal!"
Morgana: We've still got two more Will Seeds to get, though, so let's get moving!" Makoto ordered.
After a little more exploring, they eventually found themselves on the side deck of the ship.
"Hmm… Doesn't look like there's much here, but-"
"There you are, you pesky little brats."
Makoto whipped around, seeing the SIU director approaching them from behind.
"You again." Makoto glared. "Finally come to face us yourself?"
"Not quite. As much of a nuisance as you all are, you're still beneath my notice." the SIU director smirked.
"Try and say that again, I dare you!" Ryuji snarled.
"Just hand over a letter of recommendation." Makoto told him. "That's all we want.
"*Sigh* The youth of today are oh so vulgar." the SIU director sighed. "Although, come to think of it, aren't you missing a member of your group here?"
The SIU director's smirk returned, even bigger than before.
"Oh dear, my associates didn't rough her up too badly now, did they?"
"... I won't ask again." Makoto glared. "The letter of introduction. Now."
"Mmm, I think not." the SIU director denied.
With a simple snap of his fingers, several guards appeared before them.
They were the same shadows that he had summoned against them before, so she was prepared to deal with them.
"Black Rider!" Makoto shouted. "Megidola!"
She started the assault against the shadows, easily managing to defeat them with the help of her team.
"Ugh, he's so annoying!" Ann groaned. "Just how many guards does he have?"
"And it looks like he's just run away again." Ryuji grumbled.
"Let's just ignore him for now." Ren said. "We can save him for last. Go find that IT president first."
"But we've almost looped our way around the entire ship, and there's been no sign of him." Haru frowned.
"I did hear from some of the guests that the guy almost never comes out of his room." Futaba pointed out.
"So he's like some kinda hermit or somethin'? How are we supposed to get a letter from him, then?" Ryuji asked.
"What do you think, Oracle?" Yusuke asked.
"W-Wha- Hold on, Inari, why are you asking me?!" Futaba exclaimed.
"Well, do you have any ideas?" Yusuke asked.
"... I mean, he's gotta go to the bathroom at some point, right?" Futaba figured.
"Well, these luxury cruise liners usually have bathrooms in guest quarters. Considering he's a VIP, there must certainly be one for him too." Haru reasoned.
"Food, then!" Futaba realized. "Guy's gotta eat, right?"
"Good point." Makoto nodded. "I suppose we could pretend to be delivering him food, and ask for directions, or we could wait for an actual employee to deliver the food."
"Ah, so we'll have to steakout the restaurant." Yusuke said, an amused look on his face.
"... Right, let's get moving." Makoto nodded.
"Ah, Leader, did you not hear me?" Yusuke questioned. "I said we'll have to steakout the restaurant."
"Can we throw him overboard?" Futaba asked.
"No."
"Awww…"
After they had gained the necessary information, they doubled back over to the Side Deck.
"From the instructions we got, it seems like his room should be somewhere directly above us." Morgana noted. "But how are we going to get up there?"
Makoto glanced around for a bit, her eyes landing on some platforms along the side of the boat.
"Looks like we're climbing." Makoto stated, pointing to her discovery.
"For real?!" Ryuji gasped.
Dangerous as it was, it was their only way to their next destination, so climb they did.
Carefully, they managed to sneak their way onto an upper part of the ship that they had not accessed before.
"They've gotta be close now." Ryuji muttered.
"Not just them." Morgana pointed out. "But there's another Will Seed nearby too."
"The final one, huh?" Makoto realized. "Alright, let's go grab it then."
They took a slight detour, going through the hallways until they ended up in a large room.
… With a single guard.
"This one looks strong." Morgana cautioned. "Be careful everyone."
The shadow immediately took notice of them, quickly calling in two additional shadows into the room before they all transformed.
The three shadows had all transformed into 3 sword wielding women, the one in charge having 4 more arms, and thus, 4 more swords, then its companions.
A look of rage adorned the shadow's pure red face as she immediately charged forwards.
The Thieves quickly shot at her as started her assault, but quickly found their bullets to just reflect off of the shadow's body.
Ryuji and Yusuke immediately tried to intercept the shadow, but were forced to retreat, unable to keep up with the shadow's 6 swords.
"Try this, then!" Ann shouted, unleashing fearsome pillars of flame.
The leader was unphased, the fire not even scratching it, while the two other shadows accompanying it took minimal damage.
"Seriously?!" Ann exclaimed. "Does anything hurt this thing?!"
Makoto tried to charge forward towards the leader, but the two other shadows got in her way.
The leader began charging energy, ensuring that its next attack would hit devastatingly hard.
"Marakukaja!" Makoto shouted, boosting everyone's defenses.
"Tetrakarn!" Haru shouted, shielding herself.
"Yurlungur, Tetrakarn as well!" Makoto called in turn.
She saw Morgana pulling out some medicine from their supplies, applying the same effect to him.
Before they could protect anyone else, however, the shadow let out a scream, and several enchanted, dangerous beams began to strike them all at once.
Most of the Thieves were blown back by the attack, suffering serious injuries even after she had raised their defenses.
The shadow's power was strong indeed. So strong, in fact, that even they had taken considerable damage from the attack being reflected off herself, Haru, and Morgana.
The leader of the shadows fell to their knees, grimacing. One of its minions had taken too much damage, dissolving into ooze, the other one barely holding on.
The shadow let out another scream of rage before charging up energy again.
Mona and Haru were still healing the others, so she quickly put up another Tetrakarn around herself to dissuade the shadow.
And yet, it didn't seem dissuaded at all. If anything, it looked like it had expected her to do that.
Before she could react, the remaining minion threw itself at her, slashing with their sword as hard as they could.
Their attack was reflected, the shadow dissolving into ooze, but her barrier had been destroyed.
The shadow finished charging, ready to strike them all at once.
"Oh no! I'm not letting you do that again!" Makoto shouted. "Anat!"
The shadow let out another fearsome scream… but nothing happened.
Confused, the shadow swung its swords, but again, nothing happened.
Makoto let out a breath she had been holding in. The last second Makajam had been a gamble, but a successful one.
"Titania!" Makoto called. "Ziodyne!"
She called forth a bolt of lightning, striking the shadow dead on, knocking it to the ground.
"Hah, guess that jolted their memory!" Ren laughed.
"Alright everyone, strike them now!" Makoto shouted.
They all focused their attacks on the shadow, finishing it off with an All-Out Attack.
The final shadow dissolved into ooze, allowing them to freely access the final Will Seed.
Carefully, they approached the seed, then grabbed it, completing their set before their surroundings changed once again.
"Those Phantom Thieves are quite the nuisance, aren't they?"
Shido sat in his office, an annoyed frown on his face, Akechi standing right across from him.
"I was impressed that they managed to take down Kaneshiro." Akechi pointed out. "It seems the police have been catching quite a lot of heat for their lack of action regarding him, too."
"As I said, a nuisance." Shido scoffed. "Still, it's not as if the man was replaceable. The funds he provided should be proficient until the election."
"Their powers seem to be quite similar to my own." Akechi noted. "They should prove to be an interesting opponent. Although, I assume you've already come up with some sort of plan."
"I have, in fact." Shido stated. "If we can manipulate them into targeting someone of our choosing, then we should be able to pin any resulting 'incident' on them."
"I see. And I trust that I'll be assisting in this as well?" Akechi asked.
"Naturally." Shido nodded. "I thought that things were going a little too easy."
"You do seem quite prepared. I suppose that's to be expected." Akechi replied.
"... At any time, someone could be plotting against me. Someone in our inner circle could be leaking information. The people could see right through me at any moment." Shido continued.
"You're being too paranoid." Akechi cautioned. "No one is plotting against you."
"I'm exercising caution." Shido insisted. "And make sure that you do the same. We can't afford to have any mistakes at such a critical stage."
"You don't need to worry about that. I'm a professional." Akechi grinned.
"Very well then." Shido nodded. "I'll call upon you when the time is right."
"Of course." Akechi nodded.
As Akechi left the room, Shido looked out the window of his office, glancing down below.
"This country is a sinking ship… And I am the only one who can steer it back on course." Shido declared. "I was chosen by God to rule this country. And no one will get in my way."
"Chosen by God?" Makoto scoffed.
"Guess we shouldn't be surprised, but the guy's really full of himself." Ren frowned.
"Damn it!" Ryuji yelled. "All this effin' guy cares about is getting power. We ain't even got some excuse for all of this!"
"Some people are just like that, I guess…" Futaba whispered.
"That plan they mentioned must have been when we targeted my father." Haru frowned.
"They may have managed to fool us then, but we've turned the tables on them this time!" Morgana grinned.
"That's right." Makoto nodded. "And with all the Will Seeds found, I'm sure that we've explored most of the palace. It's only a matter of time before we're able to find Shido's treasure!"
Refreshed and reinvigorated, they continued to make their way across the upper floors.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before they located their next target, landing on a balcony outside their room.
"There's our guy." Futaba muttered. "Alright, let me handle this!"
"By yourself?" Haru questioned.
"Well, you guys went by yourselves too." Futaba shrugged.
"It's likely that he'd be on guard if we all went in together." Makoto considered. "Do you have a plan?"
"Course I do! This is IT stuff! It's my time to shine!" Futaba grinned.
"Well… Alright, but just be careful." Makoto warned.
"Let us know if anything happens." Ren told her. "We'll be right behind you."
"I got it, I got it!" Futaba exclaimed, boldly entering the room.
"What the- Who're you?!" the IT President gasped.
"P-P-P-Pardon my entrance sudden!" Futaba stammered, clearly nervous.
"Those clothes…" the IT President muttered. "W-Wait a second, did you just come in from the window?!"
"W-Well, I mean, the door was locked, and you weren't answering! How else was I supposed to get in here?" Futaba pointed out. "I get it though. There's totally nothing better than just relaxing in your room."
The man just seemed even more perplexed than before.
"You're an IT guy, right?" Futaba asked. "I can tell we speak the same language."
Futaba sat down, typing away on her laptop as if the room belonged to her.
"Ok, but what exactly are you doing… Wait, is that your laptop?" the IT president answered.
"Caught your eye, huh?" Futaba grinned. "I made this myself!"
"Incredible…" the man commented. "To think all this is possible on a mobile device."
"Wanna see the benchmarks?" Futaba offered. "This baby can pump out some awesome numbers. Although normally I just use this as a sub processor when I'm hacking into a tough system."
"Hacking? You mean like cyber attacks?" the IT president asked.
"Hehehe… Ever hear of Medjed?" Futaba grinned.
"Of course I have." the IT president nodded. "Why?"
"Hehe… Because I'm the real Medjed! And I'm the one who took out that fake Medjed a while back!" Futaba boasted.
"H-Huh?!" the man gasped.
"Here, take a look." Futaba said.
"T-That's the project server!" the man cried. "You identified all of them?!"
"You know, I'd be willing to offer my skills, in exchange for a letter of introduction." Futaba stated.
"Man… I can't believe that the website we prepared got crushed so easily by a child." the IT president sighed.
"W-Wait, you're the ones who prepared it?!" Futaba gasped.
"That's right. Why did you have to go and destroy our work?" the man questioned.
"O-Oh, well… I just hated the idea of someone using the Medjed name without my permission. T-That's the only reason." Futaba muttered. "Anyway, you'd pretend to be Medjed specifically to provoke the Phantom Thieves?"
"Well, any popular hacker group would have done. We just happened to pick Medjed." the man explained. "We had already reasoned that the Phantom Thieves wouldn't be able to target an anonymous group."
"I see…" Futaba nodded. "But what would have happened if I didn't take them down?"
"Well, we were just going to act like the Phantom Thieves did it anyway." the man continued. "We would have shut it down ourselves, so… I guess it didn't really matter in the end. Gotta say, it was interesting using the internet in innovative ways to circumvent any sort of legal restriction."
"Hmm…"
"Hahaha, you must be pretty interested, huh? The internet is a powerful tool, so if we can control that, we have a lot of power over the people who'll believe anything you tell them, right?" the man laughed.
"Hrmp, what a third-rate fool." Futaba scoffed. "Both you and your skills. Don't treat me like a fool. I don't target regular people. I target corruption, and the people exuding it."
"... Seriously?" the IT president asked, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me you took down the site because you actually consider some ethical hacker or something."
"That's right! And not just that, but I'm also a Phantom Thief!" Futaba proudly said.
"You are?"
"Manipulating and exploiting the weak. Guess I should've expected that from one of Shido's cronies." Futaba frowned. "Guess that's just another reason to take him down… So hand over that letter of introduction!"
"... Why would I do that now?" the IT president deadpanned.
"Oh. Right." Futaba realized. "W-Well, what about a computer competition for it?!"
"Yeah, I don't think so. I think I'd rather just get rid of you."
"Hold it!"
The IT president turned, seeing the rest of the Thieves having already entered the room.
"At this point, I think it'd just be easier to just beat these guys up from the start." Ren sighed.
"Told ya!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"The letter of recommendation. Now!" Makoto ordered.
The IT president didn't respond, instead dissolving and reforming into a regal-looking fairy with a crown atop his head. The secretaries beside him transformed into fairies as well.
"Take out those secretaries first!" Makoto ordered.
The IT president quickly tried to zap them all with Maziodyne, but they all managed to
Haru used her psychokinesis to fling several chairs across the room, stunning one of the secretaries before blowing them up with a grenade.
The other secretary attempted to fire a sphere of nuclear energy, but Makoto easily managed to intercept it, while Ren gunned down the shadow from behind her.
The IT President wasn't bothered, however. With a snap of his fingers, he had summoned more shadows to assist him.
"He'll just keep summoning more if we let him!" Makoto warned. "Keep that one distracted and boost my speed!"
Yusuke nodded, boosting her speed before rushing with the others to keep the other shadows distracted.
"Queen, I'll give you the boost you need to take him down, but make sure you hit him, alright." Futaba told her.
"Got it!"
Futaba gave her a boost, and she rushed ahead, dodging out of the way of the IT President's lighting.
"Lilith, Freidyne!" Makoto shouted.
The attack struck true, and she wasted no time capitalizing on it!
"Everyone, now!" Makoto shouted.
With an All-Out Attack, the IT president had been defeated, the shadow reforming to its human self.
"And there's our 4th letter!" Futaba grinned. "Say… Making that fake Medjed wasn't the only bad thing you did, was it? Spill it!"
"T-The cognitive psience research… I made sure I deleted every last scrap of data after extracting it." the IT president admitted. "Then I encrypted it and put it on a domain inaccessible to everyone but us."
"Is that all?" Makoto asked.
"Y-Yeah, I promise!" the man insisted. "I don't know anything about any of this mental shutdown or psychotic breakdown business."
She sighed. In the grand scheme of things, his wrongdoings weren't really that serious compared to the other letter holders. But there probably were tons of people just like him. Even if they weren't horrible criminals, they still were doing morally dubious actions on Shido's behalf, or they still supported him despite having an idea of Shido's corruption.
It was beginning to feel like an entire empire of crime…
"I'm willing to believe you." Makoto stated. "But it's clear that even if you don't exactly know how it works or have ordered one yourself, you know that Shido is benefiting from the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns, right? And from the cognitive research that you're hiding as well."
He didn't reply.
"Tell everyone about the fake Medjed plan and anything else you did for Shido. Also, release that research you hide from the public. Understood.
"Y-Yes, of course…" the man muttered.
They exited the man's room, contemplating their next move.
"It feels like we've been all over the ship. Do you think that the SIU director is just hiding?" Yusuke asked.
"Did your sister ever say anything about him? Some kinda clue where he might be hiding?" Ann asked.
"Now that you mention it…" Makoto trailed off.
She glanced upwards, thinking for a moment.
"The wheelhouse." Makoto answered.
"The what? But boats don't have wheels." Ryuji said.
"The captain's quarters, she means." Ren explained.
"Oh, I getcha." Ryuji nodded. "But where is it, then?"
"If I had to guess… I think we're doing a bit more climbing." Makoto stated.
"Ugh, for real?!" Ann groaned.
Thankfully, there were enough platforms for them to carefully make their way up to the very top of the ship.
And sure enough, when they reached the top, they saw a very small room.
Makoto kicked the door open, the team all entering the room.
"... How rude. Didn't anyone teach you how to knock?"
The SIU director didn't even bother to face them. Instead, he continued to glance out at the sunken city of Tokyo, while handling the steering wheel of the boat.
And yet, even as he spun the wheel and pressed various buttons, the ship's course didn't seem to change at all.
His place in the captain's quarters was completely meaningless, it seemed.
But it seemed like he hadn't even noticed.
"The letter of introduction." Makoto requested. "You're completely surrounded and outnumbered."
"Come now, no need to resort to threats." the man said. "Why don't you do me a little favor. Then, I'll give you the letter without any fuss."
"... We're listening." Ren answered.
"As wonderful as it is to steer this ship to new horizons, there's a part of me that misses my old office. I loved gazing down at the city from there, but now the city is no more."
"Yes. Because of Shido." Makoto spat.
"... All good things in life require sacrifice. As unfortunate as it is for everyone who was left behind, our nation, and our nation's elite, being able to prosper makes it all worth it in the end."
Resisting the urge to just punch him and be done with it, Makoto responded. "So what exactly can we help you?"
"I would like a painting. A painting showing off the city of Tokyo from a bird's eye view." the SIU director answered. "I would love to hang that painting in here, so that I could gaze at it any day. So if you could find an artist around who could-"
"Actually, I am an artist myself." Yusuke answered.
"Is that so? Wonderful! Let's get to it, then!" the SIU director stated.
"You've got this, Fox?" Ren asked.
Yusuke nodded. "If it is for the good of the team, I shall paint it with no trouble."
And so, Yusuke began to paint, the SIU director offering occasional feedback as the rest of them waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited…
"Ok, so like, fire and ice, lighting and wind, dark and light, I get all that." Ann said. "But like, what's with nuclear and psychic attacks? Like, why are Anat and Milady weak to those?"
"Well, most things would be weak to being nuked, I think." Haru stated.
"I never really thought about why Anat was weak to that." Makoto shrugged.
"It's cause Makoto's a fighting type, and everyone knows psychic is super effective against fighting." Futaba answered.
"Enough speaking! I must concentrate!" Yusuke demanded.
"Come on, man, this is taking forever! How are we gunna pass the time?" Ryuji asked.
"I am almost finished. Just a little longer…" Yusuke promised.
About ten minutes later, Yusuke had finally finished his painting, and the SIU director seemed quite pleased.
"Marvelous, I'll hand it up at once!" he declared.
"Get started on that letter as well, if you would." Yusuke stated.
"Man, every one of you guys are gettin' to show off your skills but me." Ryuji groaned. "Well, I'll probably get my chance eventually."
She saw the SIU director writing a letter after hanging up the painting.
"Now that that's out of the way…" The SIU director trailed off.
Suddenly, he dissolved into ooze, repairing right behind Makoto, spear raised to strike.
"... It's time for you to face judgement for your crimes!"
He thrust his spear forwards… only for Makoto to effortlessly catch it.
"... You're even weaker than I thought you'd be." Makoto coldly stated.
"P-Please-" the SIU director stammered.
BOOM*
Makoto blasted him with Freidyne, sending him flying out of the room, instantly changing back into his human form in a single blow.
Wordlessly, she walked up to him as he groaned in pain on the floor.
"P-Please, stay away!" the man pleaded.
"I think it's time you answered for all of the crimes you've committed." Makoto stated.
"I forged plenty of evidence in order to secure my position, that's true!" the SIU director admitted. "B-But… Shido found out somehow, and blackmailed me about it! He forced me to help him!"
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Makoto asked.
"P-P-Please, I'll give you whatever you want!" the SIU director cried. "T-The letter of introduction, right? H-Here!"
She snatched it from him, making sure it was legitimate before storing it away.
"Every time you've covered for Shido or anyone else, manipulated the legal system to your benefit, and every other crime you've committed… you've going to admit to each and every last one of them."
Unable to find his voice, the SIU director simply nodded his head.
"That's all five." Ren said. "Now it's time to head to the assembly hall."
"Heh, I knew that guy'd be a total chump!" Ryuji grinned.
Thankfully, it was easier to climb down the ship than it was to climb up.
It wasn't long before they had reached the assembly hall. With 5 letters in hand, they were finally able to enter.
"It's… Completely empty." Haru realized.
"It sounded like there are all sorts of people inside before." Ren said.
"We sure this is the right place?" Ryuji asked.
"Gotta be. I can sense the treasure." Morgana said.
"In that case, our route is secured." Makoto declared. "Everyone, make sure you all prepare as best you can. The next time we come here… We're taking Shido down!"
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 10 MAX
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 9
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 9
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 9
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 8 BROKEN
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 9
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 10 MAX
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 9
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 10 MAX
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 9
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 10 MAX
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 7
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 9
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 7
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 10 MAX
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 9
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 10 MAX
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 9
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 9
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 8
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa?: Rank 6
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 8
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 7
THE COUNCILLOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 9