Chapter 64
[88]
“Sojiro please! I need Futaba’s help!” Ren pleaded to the cafe owner. “There’s a big threat coming and I may not be able to stop it without Futaba!”
“Ren, I thought I made myself very clear. I don’t want anyone in this household getting involved in crime. If it’s so important, then take it to the police.” Sojiro stood behind the counter with his arms folded.
While the old cafe owner was (secretly) glad to see Ren again, he didn’t want his daughter getting involved in any more vigilante business. He’d made Wakaba a promise to keep her daughter safe and even if that meant she hated him, he would keep that promise.
“This isn’t safe with the police! The last time they got their hands on Mysterio’s stuff, he managed to get in and torch the place!”
Sojiro’s eyes widened. “Wha-And you decided to bring it here!? Get out! Leave before I make you leave!”
“Sojiro-”
“NO!” Sojiro slammed his hands on the counter. “I don’t want to hear it! Find someone else to help you! I won’t have you putting my daughter in harm’s way!”
Realizing that the situation was hopeless, Ren’s shoulders slumped and he walked out of the cafe in defeat. He pulled out his phone and checked the group chat. Ann had asked if he’d had any luck.
“None.” He typed back to her.
Mysterio would be attacking any day now, and all they had to go off of was a beat up drone that might not even lead them anywhere. Without Futaba’s help, Ren wasn’t sure that he knew anyone else who could hack this thing to find Mysterio.
Suddenly, Ren’s phone buzzed once more, this time with a call from the student council president.
“What’s up?” Ren asked her.
“We may not actually need the drone.” Makoto said her voice was notably tired, the sound of typing made clear in the background. “I’ve been doing some background research into the attacks. I’m in the student council room right now, come over and I’ll show you what I’ve found.”
“Why are you at school? It’s Saturday.” Ren pointed out.
“I...Look it’s not important! Just get over here! I’ll text the others.”
“Got it.” Ren replied as he approached the subway. Now that he had money, he could afford to use the train like everyone else and save himself some web fluid.
He arrived at Shujin quickly, running up the stairs to the third floor and straight to the student council room. Much to his surprise, he was the last one there.
“Good you’re here.” Makoto said, getting up and walking over to the board. “Now we can start.” She flipped the board over, revealing a classic cork board covered in photos and notes connected by red string.
“Jesus Makoto!” Ryuji said in surprise. “Conspiracy theory much?”
“It’s evidence Ryuji. This is just an efficient way to organize it.” Makoto defended.
“Uh, how long were you working on this Mako? You couldn’t have just put this together today.” Ren asked.
“Can I just show you guys what I found!?” Makoto said, flushed with embarrassment before turning back towards the board.
“Alright,” She said as she pointed towards an image of Mysterio. “Let’s start with the first attack. We know that Mysterio intended to blow up an office building with his explosive gargoyle things. But why would he do that? How does that further his agenda of ridding Tokyo of technology?”
Morgana raised his hand only to be stopped by Makoto.
“It was rhetorical. What’s important to focus on is who owned the office building.” She pointed towards a logo on the board. “Shido Sciences, the number one tech company in Japan. As far as targets go, it makes sense if one wants to target tech. But why go after an office building rather than one of the labs? This one you can answer.”
Morgana was stumped, shrugging at the question. Ren stepped in, answering in his place. “Aren’t the labs like super reinforced? They’ve got guards everywhere and who knows what else.”
Makoto pointed to Ren with a smile. “Exactly! He wants to hurt Shido Sciences’ bottom line, but doesn’t have the power to go after their labs, so he’s targeting their weaknesses. We know he’s using drones and robots to stage his attacks, but those can’t compete against the heavy weapons that the labs are equipped with.” She pointed to another photo, this one of large Mysterio. “So what about the second attack? If he’s after Shido Sciences, why attack Akihabara?”
“Well, it’s like the place to buy tech.” Ann pointed out. “He said he was angry that people were still going there after what he’d said. Wait, wasn’t that attack just meant to distract the police so he could destroy the evidence the police had?”
“That may be what he wants us to think. You never know what might be a trick with this guy. Here, take a look at these.” Makoto set out a number of forms across the table.
“Ugh! It’s Saturday man, I don’t wanna do homework! Can’tcha just tell us?” Ryuji complained, leaning back in his chair. It was pretty clear he wasn’t following.
“These are missing item reports.” Ren said, examining a form. “From the stores across Akihabara.”
“Soooo what? Mysterio wanted a PS5?” Ryuji asked.
“No.” Makoto chimed in. “The missing items included things such as processors and other computer parts, top of the line drones, and high voltage lithium ion batteries.”
“Uh, are we even sure it was Mysterio? Looting is pretty common during catastrophes.” Morgana pointed out.
“But why would they only steal these things instead of the items in higher demand? Not to mention, Mysterio’s lightning strikes just happened to have knocked out the security cameras in all of the stores that were robbed. I think he needed the extra firepower, I think it’s because his final act is going to be on a scale much larger than any of his other attacks combined.”
“My God.” Yusuke said in awe. “He must be planning quite a spectacle.”
“But how can we stop it before it happens?” Ren asked. “You said you might’ve found that out?”
“Well, it’s just speculation for now, but I did some digging. Remember that warehouse where you fought all the mannequins?” She asked Ren.
“How could I forget?” He responded. “Those things are gonna haunt my nightmares. That place was supposed to be Mysterio’s base of operations, but it turned out to be a trap.”
“Well, I looked into it. The warehouse was owned by a defunct clothing company, but that company was owned by another company that was owned by none other than…” She pointed to another logo on the board. “Okumura Enterprises!”
“...”
“You think Okumura Enterprises is behind Mysterio? The eco-friendly, ‘peace not war’ company?” Ann asked.
Even though they were number two in terms of tech industries in Japan, Okumura Enterprises had a much better public reputation than their rival’s. While Shido Sciences took on military contracts and kept their doors closed to the public, Okumura Enterprises prided themselves on their openness and had a grand goal to reduce carbon emissions to zero.
“What did I tell you guys? Corporate! Sabotage!” Morgana said smugly.
“It doesn’t surprise me too much.” Ren said. “They were the people responsible for Molten Man nearly burning down the Skytree.”
“Uh guys, is there somethin’ I’m not getting? It’s a billion dollar tech company! Why the hell would they have to rob some stores to build an arsenal?” Ryuji pointed out.
“Perhaps they didn’t want to leave a paper trail?” Yusuke suggested.
“Or somebody from the company is acting alone and can’t use company resources without drawing unwanted attention. Which brings me to our number one suspect.” Makoto pulled a picture of a question mark off the board to reveal a photo behind it. “Kunikazu Okumura, head and CEO of Okumura Enterprises.”
“What makes you think it’s him?” Ren asked.
“I searched around online and according to dozens of rumors and testimonies from former employees, Okumura is a monster behind closed doors. He’s incredibly bitter about being number two and has done some questionable acts in the past in an attempt to claim the top spot, such as the Molten Man fiasco.”
“So that’s it then!” Ann said. “We take what we found to the police and they arrest him before he can have his third act!”
“Not necessarily.” Makoto said, looking down. “The evidence I gathered, while it may be enough for us, wouldn’t stand up in a court of law. Too much hearsay and speculation to be considered admissible evidence.”
“...”
“Maybe we can use the drone afterall.” Ren said, standing up. “If we can manage to find someone to hack this thing,” He held up the damaged drone. “When he begins the next attack, it should send out a signal to all of his drones. We could trace the signal back to Okumura and catch him in the act!”
“But you said you couldn’t convince Sojiro to let Futaba help! Who else could possibly-”
There was a sudden crashing noise outside the window. The group went over to check out what happened and if anyone was hurt. Out on the campus lawn, a familiar, clumsy woman picked herself off the ground and looked at the mess of computer parts strewn across the grass.
“Aww darn it! Not again!”
[89]
“Um, Father? Are you feeling alright?” Haru asked as she watched her father walk through the living room, noticeably pale and sweating. This was particularly odd as Sundays were typically her father’s day off.
“What? Oh, Haru.” Kunikazu Okumura seemed to just notice his daughter was present with him in the room. “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll...be in my study.”
“But Father, weren’t we going to the unveiling for the new Shibuya today?”
Later that day, there was planned to be a grand re-opening of Shibuya to the public. After months of hard work, the section of the city that had been destroyed in the terrorist attack back in June was finally going to be opened up to the public. The reconstruction had been funded by Shido Sciences who wanted to completely renovate the sector with new devices to make it a ‘Smart City.’
“Just...Just go without me.” He reached into his pocket and brought out his phone. “Here, I’ll have Sugimura go with you. I’m sure that the two of you could use the time together.”
“Father you don’t have to-” But she was cut off by the sound of his office door shutting. “Oh…”
“Is everything alright, Miss Haru?” The voice of Haru’s maid, Kirumi, asked.
“Oh, yes Kirumi. Everything’s fine, I just need to get showered and dressed for the day.”
“Yes, right away. I’ll prepare your outfit for the day.” She hurried off to Haru’s room.
As Haru stood in the shower, letting the hot water pour over her back, she thought about everything that had been going on lately. Maruki’s formula hitting another roadblock, Father acting increasingly distressed, one might even say paranoid, having to deal with the horrible people in high society, and worst of all, her engagement to that awful man, Sugimura. That pervert only had two things he wanted out of her, her father’s money and...Haru shuddered at the thought of it.
“Agh!” She yelped in pain, realizing that she’d unknowingly turned up the shower’s heat. She turned the knob to off before stepping out. Wrapping a towel around her body, she stepped into her room and saw her clothes for the day laid out for her. She hadn’t seen this outfit before, it certainly...showed a lot.
“What do you think?” Kirumi’s voice came from her side.
“Oh!” Haru nearly fell back in surprise. “It’s, um...new. Where did this come from?”
“I got it for you! Just thought it might help impress that young man Sugimura.” Kirumi said, her eyes closed with a wide smile. “Why don’t you try it on?”
That was weird as well. Since when was Kirumi concerned with what Sugimura thought? She’d been the only one Haru confided her disgust towards that man in.
“I heard it was going to be cold today. Maybe I should wear something with more layers.” She began to walk to her closet.
“At least try it on, so I know it fits.” Kirumi insisted, her smile not fading.
“Oh, um alright.” Haru said, looking down at the outfit. She looked up and saw the maid making no attempt to leave. “Kirumi, I don’t mean to be rude, but...a little privacy?”
“Oh there’s no need to worry. It’s just us girls here after all.”
“Still, if you could.” Haru was getting progressively more uncomfortable.
For a moment, Kirumi’s smile faltered and for the briefest of moments, she almost seemed to...flicker? Haru rubbed her eyes and saw the maid leaving.
“Very well, I’ll go take care of the rest of my duties.” The maid said, leaving without looking back.
Haru put away the outfit that had been laid out for her and instead selected her favorite pink sweater and a long skirt. As she got dressed, she wondered why everyone was acting so weird today. Was she seeing things now too?
She entered the living room and saw none other than Sugimura sitting on her couch.
“Ah, Haru.” He stood up from his seat. “I got your father’s message and came over as quickly as I could. We can’t have you going out alone, the streets are dangerous these days, what with all of those villains running about.”
“Who...Who let you in? I didn’t hear the doorbell ring.” Haru asked.
“Your maid let me in. What was her name? Hirumi?”
“Kirumi. Where is she now?” Haru looked around, not seeing her in the living room.
“I...think she said something about assisting your father.” Sugimura walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her’s. “We have more important things to do, don’t we? Shall we go?”
Before Haru could respond, Sugimura was already leading her out the door.
“So you think the attack’s really going to happen here?” Ann spoke into her phone, standing amongst the crowd for the unveiling. She was dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans with sunglasses covering her eyes. (Ann had insisted on wearing a disguise even though Makoto assured her it wasn’t necessary.)
“That’s what Miss Prez said.” Ryuji responded, standing on the opposite side of the crowd. He was dressed as his usual self but had sunglasses and a fake blonde mustache. (Ryuji had insisted that if Ann got to wear a disguise, he should too.) “If we spot anything suspicious, we’ve gotta tell Ren asap.”
Ren, meanwhile, was perched on top of the roof of a nearby building, watching the event from a bird’s eye view. He paced the rooftop nervously, if he messed this up, a lot of people could get hurt, or worse.
“Any news yet Makoto?” Ren asked his phone nervously.
“No luck yet. It looks like Mysterio hasn’t started yet. But I’m positive he’s going to try something.” Makoto assured him, whispering into her phone. “He said the monument to our technological reliance would fall, I can’t think of any way to send a bigger message than attacking here and now.”
“Hey, Makoto?” A voice called from behind the girl.
“Just a second!” She called back. “Look, it’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ll do great. I gotta go, love you.”
“Ye-wait what?” Ren’s voice asked.
Makoto hung up, her eyes wide, mouth agape.
“Hey, Makoto?” The voice called again.
“Yeah, I’m coming now.” She walked back over to the computer, wading through the mess of parts on the floor as she did so. She reached the source of the voice who was currently typing away at her computer. Plugged into the side of the tower, was the drone Ren had caught.
“So you said a student was planning on using this for a prank?” Ms. Yamagishi asked. “Must’ve been one hell of a prank. This thing is dangerous! Flamethrowers, holographic projectors, and what I can only describe as a ‘sound cannon.’”
“Yeah...That’s why it’s so important that we find out who was going to use this. They could really hurt the school.” Makoto lied to the professor, as much as it pained her.
Back in Shibuya, Haru and Sugimura had just arrived and were stepping out of their limousine. From the look of it, the event was just about to begin. They stood at the back of the crowd while none other than the head of Shido Sciences, Masayoshi Shido, stepped onto the stage.
“Welcome all, to the unveiling of the first of what will undoubtedly be the future of living. We at Shido Sciences are so proud to-”
“People of Tokyo!”
From behind the stage, a large, winged creature covered in green scales rose above the streets. A dragon, one that seemed to be pulled straight from myth, was flying over the crowd. And atop the winged beast, was Mysterio.
“None of you heeded my warning, so the time has come. TO PAY!”