I said I'd have a new story alongside the current arc for Danganronpa: Anything OOO, and here it is. However, I should mention something. My basic idea is that every two chapters of OOO current arc, I write a chapter for this story. But this first chapter is an exception, since it is the prologue. Disclaimer: I don't own Persona, Akiba's Trip, or Danganronpa.

Prologue: The Phantom Thieves

A brilliant cityscape could be seen as the stars framed a rather opulent casino. Inside, several people were enjoying the various games, though the ones that lost looked particularly grim. Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the casino, causing confusion among the crowd. Just above them, a few people spotted a young man wearing a black trench coat, grey collared shirt, black trousers, dark brown heeled boots, and a pair of red gloves. His face was partially obscured by a white domino mask that was vaguely bird-shaped and had black designs around the eyes. Tucked under one arm was a metal briefcase. He looked for all the world like some sort of master thief.

As the man made his way across the chandeliers and other ceiling decorations, someone spoke to him through an unseen method. 'Okay Joker. This is your chance to escape. Just get to the rendezvous point and we'll retrieve the briefcase on our end.' For a second there was some other kind of voice, coming in rather garbled, but it faded quickly. The thief, now identified as Joker, continued across the skyways until he reached a large balcony on the second floor of the casino. A few guards were quick to intercept him. However, instead of simply grabbing him, they somehow morphed, becoming slightly taller, their bodies and arms thickening while their legs thinned. Their faces gained strange masks that almost looked melted.

Joker grinned and leapt onto the nearest guard, ripping off his mask. The guard collapsed into a puddle of red and black liquid, but not blood. The liquid then erupted into a strange creature. It had a serpentine body that stood upright on two mechanical legs. The tail seemed rather mechanical as well. It's upper body resembled a minotaur, the hands grasping two handles on the hips, as if using them for support. Around its neck was a cravat and a rather high collar. A Sacrificial Pyrekeeper. Joker grinned. "You won't be hard to deal with." He pulled out a semi-auto pistol and fired off a few shots to distract the monster before effortlessly slashing its torso with a combat knife.

The creature went down quick, and Joker took the opening he created to leap to a higher balcony, evading more guards as he did. Running down a hallway that had a different look to it, Joker spotted a guard near a staircase. The guard's back was turned to him, so Joker took the chance to hide in the shadows, blending in perfectly. "Are you sure the intruder came this way?," the guard asked into his service radio, "I can't see anything. All right, I'll keep looking." The guard moved away, and Joker took the chance to move up the stairs. Several guards spotted him and tried to follow as Joker reached the top floor of the casino.

'You're almost there,' said Joker's contact, 'Your exit is right ahead of you.' Joker looked and spotted the stained glass window that was the drawing point of the casino. "I see it." Just then, several guards appeared behind him. "Don't move! You have nowhere left to run!" Joker grinned. "If you think that, then you clearly have no imagination." To the guards' shock, Joker leapt onto the banister and ran across it until he reached the window. Smiling at the dumbfounded guards, he quipped, "See ya." And with that, he dove out the window.

However, a big surprise awaited him as he landed safely on the ground. An entire squad of police was there, making the usual commands as Joker surveyed the situation. Spotting a nearby emergency ladder, Joker ran for it, easily leaping to grab it. To his luck, the police had not thought to station anyone there. However, once he reached the roof, he heard someone call out, "JOKER!" Another young man appeared, looking angry at Joker. He was dressed in a body-suit with black and purple stripes, several belts covering his arms and legs, a black lower helmet covered his neck, topped with a deep crimson mask resembling a beak.

Joker grinned. "Somehow I knew if we pulled this job you'd show yourself. Church sends her regards. She really missed you." "No she didn't," the mysterious man said, fingering a scar on his cheek, "She got me good." Joker shrugged. "As much as I'd love to tangle with you, one of us has a date with the police down there. And since I have a job to finish..." And with that, Joker tackled the masked man, sending him plummeting to the ground where the police were able to apprehend him. The captain in charge sighed in resignation as Joker disappeared from the roof.

"Well," he said, "There goes what may be our one chance to apprehend the Phantoms." He knelt down to see the masked man. "But true to their MO, they left us a bigger fish to fry. You might be interested to know they were on to you for a while now. The Director's not their only target here." The masked man growled as he was cuffed and led into a squad car. Once the police cleared out, Joker emerged from the alley. "Crow's been nested. Time to finish this job." He smiled as he headed off to meet with his team. As was usual, the whole scheme had gone according to plan.

Prosecutor Sae Niijima walked through the hallways of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, a diary in one hand and a briefcase in the other. As she reached a room where several plain-clothes officers were standing, one of them noticed her. "Ah Niijima-san. You're just in time. The Director's last order before he was retired and arrested, was that you were to be given as much time as needed to question the prisoner." Sae nodded. "Yes, I must admit it was a surprise to learn who was behind the mental shutdowns, but it does fit in with Kyoko Kirigiri's investigations."

The officer nodded. "The only sour note in this is that the Phantoms escaped. Another successful heist from them, and the public is cheering in anticipation of their next big heist." Sae chuckled. "The only reason the department is still investigating them is because they're an embarrassment to the police, having caught criminals we didn't even know about. Or perhaps, it's boredom from having little else to do in the wake of the peace their actions bring?" The officer coughed uncomfortably as he rubbed the back of his head. "I... Can't really deny either of those."

He then noticed the diary. "Is that the diary sent to us by the Phantoms' leader?" "Yes it is," Sae noted, "It's meant to tie up any remaining loose ends, as well as detail how our Black Mask Killer pulled off his crimes. Don't go getting any ideas. I have Joker's confidence that only I will get to read it." "Understood," the officer said, "The suspect's ready when you are." Sae nodded and entered the room. When she saw the young man, his outfit now replaced by one she recognized, she sighed. "Looks like Kyoko had you pegged from the start. Just a spoiled child who only uses his talents to get attention. So, let's go over just how you were royally screwed by the Phantoms, shall we... Goro Akechi?"

To be continued...

Shyamalan moment. We'll understand what it means soon enough. As I said, this is just the prologue. Read and review.