Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 42: Osaka or Bust

Begin!

~Normal POV

8/24 - Thursday

With the arrest warrant out of the way, and Akane being safe at home with her grandparents, the gang departed for Osaka last night and made it here early in the morning. Zenkichi took over the driving again. Despite Makoto insisting that she was feeling better now, he reasoned that he didn't mind doing it to keep the pressure off her anyway. (And he didn't ask why everyone was so nauseous at the mere idea of letting Haru drive again.) Upon arriving, they parked the car in a discreet location.

"Infiltration: success!" Futaba chirped, brightly. "Not a single cop in sight!"

"Konoe must think we're still in Kyoto," Yusuke said. "Since he hasn't barricaded himself with guards."

"Good enough for me..." Akira said. "By the way, Zenkichi? Everything's ok on your end, right? You won't get fired or anything?"

"Nope, I'm totally safe for now. But we gotta move fast before they turn more of my people against us. If they get their hands on Kaburagi we're all done for..."

"That's your boss, right," Makoto asked. "Isn't she the one who nearly found us at the hotel? How do you know she hasn't been turned yet?"

"Just trust me, I'd know." Zenkichi answered.

Before anyone could ask for further detail, Akira's phone rang with a call from Ichinose at last. He quickly answered and put it on speaker for them.

"Good morning, phantom thieves!" Ichinose greeted, brightly. "How's everyone been?"

"Upbeat as usual, I see..." Ryuji muttered.

"Did you find the keyword, doctor?" Akira asked.

"Of course I found it- though my office is now little more than a pile of junk, but I found it! Ahem, Konoe's keyword is Zephyrman."

That was unexpected. "Zephyr... What now?" Zenkichi asked.

"Zephyrman..." Futaba said, thoughtfully. "Is that what I think it is?"

"You've heard of it?" Ann asked.

"It's an old live action superhero series." Futaba explained. "Ya know, where they transform and fight evil and stuff. It's got a cult following nowadays, but it's pretty small time. Konoe must be a big superhero buff."

"But he's our mastermind behind all these vile acts," Makoto said, "Why would his keyword be something related to a superhero show?"

"Nostalgia?" Akira said, shrugging. "He might have watched it when it was still airing. Or he could have just picked the first thing he thought of."

"Thank you for your help, Ichinose-san," Haru said.

"Nonsense, it was easy." Ichinose replied, "Besides hearing you guys go about your business truly brightens my day. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have quite the mess to clean up..." She hung up.

"Well, it's a little unusual, but we have our keyword," Akira said, "We'll make a few last minute preparations then jump in. Sophia, where's our entry point?"

"Near Tenboto Tower!"

~...

After making those last minute preparations, they jumped right into the Jail. Akira had been very curious as to what this Jail would look like, and his expectations were shattered almost immediately. Konoe's Jail looked like they'd stepped into a science fiction manga. Sitting before them was a futuristic looking city. And the center of it all was Konoe's stronghold. Madicce's office in reality wasn't located in the same spot as Tenboto Tower, so it stood out with his logo being slapped onto it. They could make out the birdcage atop the building that held the stolen Desires.

"Ok, not what I was picturing in my head..." Akira muttered.

"Very... high tech." Yusuke commented.

"Figures it'd be another crazy one..." Ryuji said.

"Is that... Madicce's office?" Ann asked, pointing at the tower.

"Yep, I'd say we just found Konoe's castle." Zenkichi answered. "We're almost there. Only one job left, team, bring the villain to justice."

Akira looked around suspiciously. A thought was nagging at the back of his mind. At first, Konoe being a Monarch made total sense. He had to change those hearts himself, right? But actually seeing the Jail itself made him second guess himself. Konoe was a Monarch... which meant... He was trapped in a birdcage, as well? That was an odd decision...

"Joker? Is something wrong?" Ann asked, seeing his perplexed expression.

Akira shook his head. "Sorry, no- just... overthinking."

~...

One description could be attributed to Konoe after seeing so much of his Jail: He was arrogance itself. Sure, Shido may have been the biggest sinner of pride, but even Shido didn't hide the fact that he was a monster when looking at his own actions. Konoe's Jail seemed to represent him seeing himself exclusively as a hero. To be the savior of humanity by purging all the world's evils. And somehow this was to be done by robbing people's free will and making them solely dependent on Madicce and EMMA? It all felt so strange. They even saw proof that he was using the previous Monarchs as a means to an end. Without even considering how damaging it would be to them to have their pasts used against them in such a way. Konoe may have seen himself as a hero, but he sure didn't act like one.

Akira would have been the first to admit that the Phantom Thieves were by no means knights in shining armor, but they helped people. And they did it in a far more practical and humane way than simply robbing others of free will. Konoe must be out of his mind to think that what he's doing is helping anything. And the fact that he had a Jail at all was still puzzling... Hopefully, they'd find out more from his Trauma Cell. This Jail was likely to have one.

Only after making it up to the tower did they hit their roadblock. A group of people's Shadows were here, blocking them from proceeding further. The crowd was shouting and cheering excitedly to see something about "Konoe's hero show?"

"What the hell is this?" Ryuji asked.

"The great Akira's show will begin momentarily. Please gather in front of the stage and show your support!" They heard EMMA say over the intercoms. (She was the one making all the announcements down in the city too.)

"Hero show? By Konoe?" Futaba said, quizzically.

"That sounds interesting. Let's go see!" Sophia said, cheerfully.

"I don't think they're gonna let us in, Sophie." Akira said, bluntly.

"This happened before in Sapporo, didn't it?" Haru asked.

"You mean the hee-horde?" Futaba said. "That was mirrored by the huge cleanup campaign in the real world..."

"Yes, this might be the same thing," Haru replied.

"Then he's doing a show of some kind?" Ann said.

"If I had to guess, it's probably an interview." Akira answered. "It's the only thing that would get him out of his 'home base' right now. Let's come back tomorrow."

All the while everyone had the same curious thought in their heads. How on earth did Konoe become like this?

~End of Chapter