Chapter Text
8/17 Thursday
Mementos depths
"Thank you for coming here on such short notice, gentlemen-" "Kaveh, you literally dragged us to the palace from police custody."
"It's either this or getting put in a real proper jail. Choose your poison. We are so lucky miss Nijima could answer the call quickly." The deity snapped back. Tighnari crossed his arms with a frown as Zenkichi sat down on a divan, absolutely devastated at the situation they were in.
How could none of the 2 be devastated, when they were run down through the whole thing right out of the bat?
"Akane as a monarch? And her friend too? What does it even mean?" Hasegawa muttered. "It means it's a trap. During my wedding ceremony, it seems like the CEO of Maddice announced that Emma was out of service and accusing the phantom thieves to be responsible for what happened in Okinawa. That monarchless jail... They hoped it would be forgotten and swiped under the rug..." The blonde noted, taking in a deep breath.
"I really am not cut out right now to get through the jail... And time is of essence-" "Kaveh you don't have to spill it, we are going whether you want to or not." Zenkichi declared. "You can't tell me my daughter is a monarch, my husband is trapped there and not expect for me to not do something. Come on now!" Tighnari nagged him.
"They are so dead meat." Oracle mumbled. "Let's not say that... When they can hear you." The deity awkwardly replied.
The plan was set very poorly, but it was their best shot out there: Avoid any and all shadows, make their way towards the cage and quickly get the others out, then escape back to the garden of sin.
Except, a new problem arose very quickly.
Upon entering the jail, only Oracle and Tighnari got changed into thief suits. Kaveh was still in his wedding costume, just how he was when he retreated to the metaverse today, while Zenkichi didn't even have a persona to begin with.
"Teach..." Oracle approached the latter. "I need to conserve whatever energy I have left... Which means I will have to use the classic way." He mumbled, grabbing from under his costume upper part his SEES gun, clicking off the safety. "Sir will so freak out again." The ginger girl mused. "Why would Alhaitham, of all people, freak out about a gun?" Tighnari raised a brow, nonetheless, with the blonde marching forward from roof to roof, the others had to follow suit.
Vines bloomed, making somewhat flimsy bridges for everyone, trying to keep themselves away from search lights and guards roaming through the palace.
Eventually, they had to get off the roofs if they wanted to access the pathway leading to the trapped thieves.
"Come on, Zenkichi!" Oracle cheered for the man that tried so poorly to get off the roof. At least he fell on his legs, unlike Tighnari whol plummeted ass first into the concrete. Kaveh was the last one, taking Oracle in his arms as he gracefully landed down, setting the girl by his side. "You didn't move for 10 secs... Are you alright?" The blonde worriedly asked.
"I think my funny bone got dislocated-" "We'll heal you quick and move on! Come on!" Oracle insisted. Kaveh helped back up Tighnari as well, all 4 of them making their way onto the stairway.
Finally reaching the said place, already the 2 monarchs were contemplating on whose heart they should change first.
"Should we even let them choose?" Collei mumbled. "It would be fair. They will all get their hearts changed, might as well let them have the order." Akane mused.
"Alright! Play time is over."
Everyone turned to see the group of 4, Kaveh as the frontman of the operation. Oracle slithered from behind, approaching the cage. "Heya, guys! We made it." She spoke, a bit out of breath. "And you brought Hasegawa with you." Alhaitham noted, flicking his tongue. "And why does Nari have a weird costume too-" "The real question is why teach doesn't have his costume." Noir cut off Cyno, the thieves all gathered by the bars of the cage.
"Dad?" Collei was the first one to falter. "Collei, come here right this instant! This is dangerous!" Tighnari demanded, bow drawn still, wary at the shadow soldiers. "But... But they got you in jail! They got Akane's dad in jail too!" The monarch protested.
"I am here, Collei, and I am real." Tighnari insisted. "Sweetheart, you know that cops can go fuck themselves-" "Hey!" Cyno quietly protested, yet he was promptly ignored. Collei looked like she faltered more and more under the latter's words.
"What? Are you turning towards them? These fakes that pretend to be the phantom thieves of justice?" Akane accused her fellow monarch. "But... It's dad! Please! Let's change everyone's hearts, except dad's!" The other girl protested.
"He's a thief! Look at him! He's just as responsible as the others." Akane accused, as the shadow guards seemed to inch towards Oracle and the group.
"Not on my watch." Kaveh cussed, spinning the evoker into his hand, then shooting himself in the head just as quick, summoning his persona to keep the guards away from both them and Oracle.
"Oh my fucking god, he just shot himself-" "Get used to it, dad." Joker mumbled as Wriothesley and Cyno looked flabbergasted. "Still almost gives me a heart attack." Alhaitham held onto his chest with a relieved breath, Fox awkwardly patting his shoulders.
And yet, the best both Kaveh and Tighnari could do is to protect the cage and oracle from the incoming shadows. The blonde's lack of energy, paired with the little experience of the florist wasn't the greatest combo known to man.
And yet, Zenkichi still tried to reach out to his daughter.
"Let's not be drastic, Akane! They did nothing wrong. We can talk this out peacefully." The pubsec worker insisted.
"Talk it out? With you of all people?" The monarch snarled at him. "You can just go to hell! No matter how many times I told you what happened, you never did a single thing! So don't try acting like a father to me now!" She yelled at him.
"Akane, please! Just hear me out this one time..." The man insisted. "I couldn't catch the one who took your mother's life... I know... I understand why you wouldn't want anything to do with a father that kept his head down and just took it. But if you don't snap out of it, they will get you too!" He spoke.
"You say you couldn't catch him... But you knew who killed mom! You knew it was Owada all this time! But you said nothing! You did nothing!"
Zenkichi bit his cheek for a second. "It's not as simple as you think." He pleaded.
"They took me off the case. Said that a family member cannot judge this accordingly... And then... They framed a secretary who killed themselves and left a note confessing of the crime. It was enough for the police... They closed the case with that 'solid proof' they had." He muttered.
"I tried, Akane... Since you told me about what happened... I tried to find proof, through my own personal investigation... But it was all getting wiped out before I could even bring it up within the police, let alone to public light."
"So you just gave up, right? Seems like your sense of justice didn't get you too far." The monarch concluded. "How could you do this?" Collei piped in.
"Akane... I made a promise to Aoi... That I'd protect you, no matter what's happening. You were my only reason to live, to keep going to that god-forsaken job to begin with!" Zenkichi declared.
"When they figured out that I was onto them... They turned their attention towards you. One day... I got a threat letter. They told me to stop my investigation, or my daughter will die."
There was a heavy pause.
"What?" Akane herself looked flabbergasted. "They kept a close eye on both of us. I knew I couldn't go against Owada alone... If it weren't for my boss taking pity on my wallowing, I wouldn't be here. I promised I'd help her reach the top, and then reopen the case of your mother's death on her own accords..." The man paused again, clenching his fists.
"I thought it was the only way I could protect my daughter and honour my wife's memory... Even if it meant using all of you... Even if it meant going against a god's inevitable wrath." He spoke. Kaveh paused for a second, hand absently stabbing through a Shadow's neck and letting it dissolve before it could reach Oracle.
And yet, the monarch laughed at his face. "You really are nothing but a scheming manipulator! Didn't you think once about that secretary who killed themselves? Now their family has mother's death over their necks as well! You don't care whoever you sacrifice as long as you have it your way! You're just like Owada! And it looks like I have to take matters into my own hands! Police keeps letting these villains roam free! So I will beat them up and change every one of them's hearts!" She accused.
"I'm... Like Owada? I... Was I wrong this whole time?" Zenkichi looked stumped. "All this... Was because of me..." He concluded, a sudden epiphany coming over him, making a few steps back and holding onto his head.
"Zenkichi!" Panther called in worry, yet the man ignored everyone. "It's true... I used whoever I could to protect my daughter... To protect what little family I had... It didn't matter who got hurt in the aftermath... I'm truly... Just as scummy as that damn Owada." He cussed. "It was what anyone would've done to protect their family! Anyone!" He insisted.
Anyone, but a man of justice.
Zenkichi perked at the voice. "W-who's there?!" He called.
Are you sure you weren't at fault?
"Who's talking to me?!" He insisted.
You knew what it meant to give up the chase.
You fled from the truth, convinced yourself that it was right and just, with your daughter's name hollow upon your lips.
You are as guilty as those you hate! A foul villain, rotten to the core!
You traded away the justice you've built! You've bought your comfort, bribed your guilt!
As the voice echoed in the man's head with a maniacal laugh, Zenkichi crashed on his knees. "Zenkichi! What's wrong?! Snap out of it!" Mona yowled. "That's interesting..." Alhaitham narrowed his gaze with a curious hiss, crossing his arms as his tail tip rattled.
"He's right... It's all true..." The kneeled man groaned. "I left Aoi's murderer to roam free. And I used the phantom thieves solely for my benefit. I'm just as rotten as those criminals." He admitted pitifully. "I never had a right to lecture Akane. I never did to begin with..." He breathed out.
"And yet, you still put up a fight against those criminals!" Joker yelled at him. "You can't possibly give up now!" The rest of the thieves insisted. "If you give up now, you allow those rotten monsters to trample all over you, your family, everything you hold dear... Is this truly what you want? Dude! Man up already!" Wriothesley was the one who yelled last at the man.
Zenkichi rubbed his nose with a grunt. "You're right..." He admitted. "The real threat is still out there... Those monsters still do as they please..." He meekly got up on his own feet.
"My own daughter and some random kids start lecturing me, tell me how to do my damn job. I may not be a hero, I sure as hell don't any awards. But at least I know how evil looks like... Evil only cares about itself, no sign of remorse for whoever gets ruined in the process." His voice gained some more vitality.
"I will never let people like that go free. And I'll give everything to bring them down!" He declared.
Do you finally see the truth...
A sudden pain accaparated the man, Zenkichi screaming in pain and grabbing onto his head, collapsing onto the ground.
"Here we go again..." Alhaitham exhaled, covering Violet's eyes. "What's happening to him?!" Tighnari looked towards Kaveh, who shot another shadow. "Just let it happen..."
Do you know the true face of the guilty? They condemn the good to slavery. Pretend they do not see their agony... Just as you once did.
The man grasped at the ground pathetically, screaming more in pain.
But another story must begin. Now, show your gaolers that you will wear a different chain.
The voice grated at his head, his own shadow on the ground speaking to him, almost mocking, yet oddly encouraging.
I am thou, thou art I... If you yet seek true justice, we will see it done!
With a scream, the man punched the ground, wobbly getting up.
"Fine..." Zenkichi breathed out.
Fsh!
A mask appeared over his face. "Seal the contract." The man spoke, grabbing onto his face covering and trying to yank it off with an animalistic urge.
RIIIIIIP!
"VALJEAN!"
FWOSH!
The scream carried with it the bright light and explosion of flames, throwing all away by it's sheer force.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Wriothesley gasped, much like the flabbergasted Cyno. "Language." Judge corrected, looking forward once the flames ceased their excessive brightness.
"It seems someone finally woke up to the truth."
With a new attire and a new persona, Zenkichi let out a grunt. "I know what I have to do now." He spoke, his persona whipping their chains and knocking out even more shadows. "Condemn the evil... And hunt down every last bit of them!"
Kaveh was quick to step forward alongside Tighnari, this time successfully returning to his phantom thief costume. "What is the call?" He asked the newly awakened man, who took out his great-swords.
Seemingly snapped out of his cool moment, the man immediately deflated. "What the- what happened to my clothes?! Am I finally losing my mind?!" He looked towards the blonde thief. "Questions later. Now we fight or we are toasted." Tighnari cut him off as the 2 monarchs retreated, instead a horde of shadows left in their wake. "Keep it up a bit more and I'll be done!" Oracle demanded. "Roger that." Paradisea responded, getting out his own great-sword, which was clearly larger, with a tail end made out of red ribbon.
"Let's go over some basics of persona usage now!"