"Ugh...what...what happened?" Jack groaned as he awoke in the broken down ship he had hijacked. "Wait...that's right. The cop. I was trying to get away from him." he said looking around finding himself in some sort of forest. "Looks like I got away from him. Okay, no clue how long I was out but I gotta get back to the rest of the thieves." he said trying to get the ship started only for it to break down. "Oh….right. I crashed it. Ugh...if I'm gonna get outta here. I'm gonna need some parts." he said before seeing a strange structure before him. "Maybe something in there."
Jack swung a grappling hook onto the structure as he slowly started climbing up the rope before appearing at the wall and then jumping down. He saw a sort of forest stretching towards a large field. "Hmm...strange. It doesn't look as chaotic as the outside." he said wandering about curiously through the woods. "Hmm?" he pondered before seeing some kids running around the forest. "Kids? All the way out here?" he pondered. "Is this some sort of orphanage?"
Jack continued to watch the children as they played tag with each other. "Hmm, these kids are pretty good at this game." Jack said as he saw a young boy with bright white hair came running out as he tripped on a rock. "Whoa!" Jack said as a girl with orange hair jumped down.
"Norman!" she shouted.
"Nah, just kidding." he said getting the girl by surprise.
"Wah? You had me worried about you." she said.
"Emma, your weakness is that you're too nice." Norman said tagging her.
"Hmm. Kids as sharp as a tack. He purposely tripped to lure her out. Quite the little strategist." Jack said. "Wonder if I should adopt him? Nah, it wouldn't work. You gotta be over 18 to adopt a kid." Jack sighed. "Still...the more I think about it...the Phantom Thieves can't operate by us alone. Joker had lots of help on his homeworld. Confidants and Associates. We need more than just us. So...why not try to start recruiting? But...doing it now would be risky. I'll wait till its pitch black."
It was later at night when Jack decided to try and make his the forest as he approached a large house. "This has to be where those kids live. Now all I gotta do is…" Jack said before the door swung right open into his face as Emma and Norman ran out the door. "Ouch. Note to self….no hiding behind doors." he groaned as he silently followed the kids.
They arrived at a gate of sort. "Hmm. Must be the way in and out." Jack said as he stuck close to the shadows as he watched the kids approach a lone truck. "A truck? Ah I get it. Must be the way they send the kids that get adopted but...this doesn't make much sense. Why have an orphanage somewhere so secluded?" he pondered as the kids looked around.
Jack continued to look around the rear of the truck before Emma approached with a small stuffed rabbit. "Hey...are you here to take Conny to her new home?" she asked him.
"Damn it. I mean...no. I was just...looking around. Just a drifter." Jack said smelling the air a bit. "Huh? Wait...this scent." he thought as he heard Emma scream as soon as she peaked into the back of the truck. "Wait...don't...don't tell me…." he shuttered as he slowly pulled back the curtain. To his shock, he saw the body of a young girl in the bad, dead, with a flower sticking out of her chest having been what stole all her blood. "Oh god!" he shouted.
"Did you hear something? I think I heard something outside." a voice behind the doors said. Jack quickly acted as he jumped and hid in the piping above as the doors opened. His eyes were wide open as he saw these strange beings emerge from the door, wearing strange masks over their demonic faces and dark black bodies. "D-demons?" Jack pondered.
"I was hoping it was a stray cat. Could have caught it and brought it home for dinner." one of them said.
"Seriously, you eat those disgusting things?" the other one asked.
"These are definitely demons, meaning...this is the Demon Universe." Jack thought as he saw them move the body into a strange container.
"How goes preserving the meat?" a new demon asked.
"Almost finished." one of the lower demons said.
"Sigh. Another 6 year old. We've been getting nothing but average ones lately. But we are set to collect some high quality meat soon. Right, Isabelle?" the demon asked a black haired woman in a nanny outfit.
"Yes." she said.
"I would hope you do your best to prepare them." he said.
"Of course." she said.
"Oh god...she's their caretaker? No...more like their warden." Jack muttered.
"What? I thought I heard something." one of the demons said climbing up the pipes to take a look and saw nothing before looking under the car and saw nothing but a stuffed rabbit.
"Haaa...haaa...haaa!" Jack breathed as he saw on top of the gate. "This place isn't an orphanage, its a farm. The children are nothing but cattle. This is...this is goddamn awful. I need to get out of...no." Jack said getting up. "I can't just run away from this. Fixing my ship is a must but...I can't leave these kids here to die. I don't care how long it takes. I...will save them! I'll save these kids!" Jack shouted.
