Chapter Zero

11/20/20XX

At a Casino, the gambling floor was bustling. People went from machine to machine, looking to gamble and win big. However, everything ground to a halt as the sound of an alarm cut through the room. Everyone started looking around, talking among themselves.

"What's going on?"

"Is this a show or something?"

Meanwhile, in the rafters above, a dark figure moved around, jumping around and swinging on some kind of string. As the casino's security entered the room, a person in the crowd noticed the figure standing on a light fixture. "Look, over there!" He shouted, which gathered the attention of every in the room.

The figure was a woman, about 170 cm tall with an athletic build. She wore a black trench coat with a green star on each shoulder over a gray collared shirt with a black design resembling a spider web over it, with black trousers that carried the same design. The woman's black hair was done up into two buns with a small plait at the bottom, with the front of her hair died a light green. She wore a white domino mask over her face, with black markings around the eyes, and a pointed nose. She carried what appeared to be a briefcase tucked under her arm.

"She's here! Moving in." The security guard spoke into his radio, and the woman smirked and gave a small salute, before jumping off the fixture into the rafters. Landing on a ceiling decoration, the woman took the case and threw it into an air vent, before tapping the communication device in her ear.

"Good job Joker. Now get running!" A boyish voice said into the woman's ear.

"This is our only chance!" This time a boy's voice that carried an elegant tone.

"Stay calm! You can get away now!" A voice belonging to a young girl entered Joker's ear.

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end." This voice belonged to another girl, only this one held a professional tone. Joker gave a small nod, knowing her teammates would carry out their part, and began to run, jumping to another fixture.

"Gotta say, that part where you showed yourself to the ground? Excellent move! Great work as always, Joker!" Boyish Voice commented as Joker leapt to a fixture toed around a column.

"I bet Skull wouldn't have been able to pull that off!" Another girl's voice joked, and Joker was about to respond, when she was greeted with the sight of two guards emerging from a maintenance door.

"There she is! Get her!" One yelled out, forcing Joker to alter her course. She began jumping across a series of arches, each one lighting up as her feet touched it.

"Alright, now's our chance! Let's slip away while the attention's on her!" Boyish Voice said as Joker landed on a sign hanging over a door, before pulling herself up to a circular floor in front of a small door. Joker grinned, only to be greeted with two more security guards appearing in front of her.

"There she is! Grab her!" One shouted, and hats when things got weird. The two guards began to convulse and contort, before they changed into two humanoid blobs dressed in suits wearing a mask over their black, blob heads, each carrying a Night stick. A third blob dropped behind her, and Joker merely grinned as it began to raise its nightstick. As it swung from behind, Joker leapt up, landing on the blob's back. One red gloved hand grabbed its mask, while another reared back into a fist. Joker brought down her fist, the force tearing the mask off the blob's face, and leapt off as it began stumbling forward. Red cracks appeared over it as it lost its cohesion, before exploding into its true form: a large creature with a bull head that appeared to be two bodies smashed on top of one another, that was easily twice Joker's height. Joker simply smirked at the sight.

"Hey Oracle, what am I dealing with?" The young woman asked into her headset.

"Comparing power levels…this guy's no threat! You can beat him in your sleep, Joker." The first Girl's Voice said, and Joker's smirk was replaced with a scowl.

"A weakling? Good grief…here I was hoping for a challenge." Joker lamented, and the monster simply roared. Joker placed her hand over her mask. "Persona!" She declared, and her mask disappeared in a flash of blue flame, and a shadowy, humanoid figure began forming behind her, with no clear detail present aside from glowing red eyes and what appeared to be wings at the hips. The being raised his hands, with black and red energy beginning to gather, before launching it at the bull creature. The monster roared, before it was blasted away into nothingness. The shadowy figure dispersed into flame, Joker's hand coming away from her face as he Mask reappeared.

"See? I told you it was a piece of-uh oh!" Oracle narrated, as two more guards materialized in front of her. "More of them?! Be careful Joker!" The guards lunged at Joker, nightsticks crackling with electricity. Joker leapt backwards to avoid the sticks, and jumped onto a display platform, before jumping onto the level above, in front of a small open door. The mysterious woman simply flipped the guards off, before turning and going through the door.

Joker began running through what must have been the Casino's inner workings, narrowly avoiding security guards with the assistance of Oracle. As she passed the main security room, she over heard the casino staff talking.

"She's not alone! Find and kill them all!" The security head ordered, and Joker had to keep from laughing. If all had gone according to plan, her friends were all long gone by now. Joker heard footsteps approaching, and so began to climb the nearby stairs just as the guards, in human form once again, rounded the corner. Joker stayed ahead of them the entire time, eventually reaching an exit door. The masked woman pushed the door open, being greeted with the sight of the casino lobby.

"You're almost there, Joker! You just need to get through there!" Oracle's voice chimed in her ear, as Joker looked over the lobby.

"Yeah, no problem. See you guys at the hideout." Joker replied, just as the guards had view of her again. She leapt off the edge and threw her hand at the roof, a line made out of strings firing from her hand and attaching to the ceiling. She swung off just as the guards grabbed for her, the thief crashing through the ornate plate glass window and into to the crisp, cool night air.

"Tch. What a show off." Oracle lamented as Joker soared gracefully through the night air, before she landed on the ground. Joker brushed herself off, about to congratulate her team…when multiple bright lights suddenly turned on, illuminating her. Once her vision adjusted, Joker could see multiple police officers armed in riot gear, all eyes trained on her. "Enemies here?! But that's impossible! Unless-"

"It's an ambush!" A sophisticated female voice chipped in.

"Joker, what do we do?" A slightly monotone male voice asked.

"This doesn't change anything. Just get away from here. I'll see you all back at the hideout." Joker commanded, staring down the army of police in front of her.

"Get her!" The captain ordered, and the police descended on her. The spotlight's followed her as she ran, jumping up to grab a nearby fire escape ladder. She began climbing it, and was about to reach the top and escape…when she was greeted with the sight of more police waiting for her, guns trained. Strings began unraveling from her body, beginning to convalesce.

"Stone-" before she could finish her declaration, a police man slammed the butt of his rifle into her head, causing her to let go and the strings to disperse. "Shiiiii-Oof!" She grunted as she hit the ground. The police descended on her immediately, restraining her and holding her gloved hands behind her back.

"Suspect secured! Repeat, suspect secured!" An officer yelled, and Joker saw a man approaching her.

"So, this is the leader of the Phantom Thieves, eh? Didn't expect some kid." The man stated, kneeling down. "You can thank your teammate for this. You were sold out, kid."

"What-?" Joker started to ask, but was stopped by the police roughly shoving her face into the pavement and cuffing her.

Sometime later

In an underground hallway a woman with gray heard parted to one side and reddish-brown eyes wearing a gray business suit, black turtle neck, and heels walked towards two men, one of which was a detective in a suit, the other a guard in uniform. "Excuse me, ma'am. This area's off-"

"I'm Sae Niijima, from the Public Prosecutor's office." The woman, now identified as Sae, stated, and the detective crossed his arms.

"Public Prosecutor's office, huh? What do you people want here?"

"I need to speak to the suspect. There are things I need to confirm with her."

"All due respect, Niijima-San, but this case is no longer in your jurisdiction. Besides-" the detective began to say, when an older detective approached them.

"Inspector Niijima? Phone call for you." The older man said, handing her a phone. "Can you hurry it up please? Frankly, you're being an inconvenience." Sae glared at him as she took the phone.

"I thought I told you to stand down." A gruff, old voice on the other end said wearily.

"Sir, this case has been my responsibility from the start, yet I'm not even being allowed an interrogation now that we have our suspect?"

"I called ahead because I knew you'd bring this up."

"I won't rest until I can confirm it for myself. This is MY case. I need to see this through to the end." Niijima pleaded, and her superior sighed.

"Good luck to you then. I'm now expecting much though." With that the director hung up, and the inspector handed the man back his phone.

"Your time will be cut short. We can't permit you to speak with her for long." The Man said, and Sae let out a sigh. "It's for your own sake. Her methods are unorthodox, and frankly, unknown. We can't be sure she won't try to pull something."

"Very well, I understand." Sae responded, and soon, she was sitting next to Joker herself. Frankly, Sae was surprised. When she pictured the leader of the notorious Phantom Thieves, she figured it would be someone who she could pass on the street and not even notice. Someone who would be an expert st blending into the background, completely unremarkable in just about every way.

Instead, the woman in front of her was anything but. With her pigtails and dyed green hair, as well as her unique ethnicity, this young woman, around 17 or 18, would easily stand out in a crowd, especially with her vibrant hair and eyes. The girl wore an open blazer from Shujin academy, which exposed a turquoise halter top with a spider web design that connected to her pants in a fashion similar to Shujin. "It's been a while, hasn't it? If you don't mind, I'll ask the questions this time." Niijima stated, and the girl was silent. Not surprising, given how she had likely been drugged upon arrest. Sae pulled out a file opening it and beginning to read it. "Jolyne Cujoh, age 16. Three quarters American, One quarter Japanese on your father's side. Lived with your mother, Rita Jean, in the United States until she passed away when you were 13, upon which you were sent to live with your father, distinguished Marine biologist Jotaro Kujo, and his family here in Japan." Sae noticed the girl tending up upon the mention of her father. "He's quite the interesting man, your father. He's been on and off our radar for about…30 years now." Jolyne looked at Niijima, her light green eyes burning with intensity.

"And that concerns me how?" Jolene finally spoke up, her voice filled with irritation, and Sae slightly smiled.

"So you can talk. Excellent. And here I was thinking I'd just be talking to myself." Sae' smile faded, replaced with grim determination. "I'm trying to put together a puzzle, Cujoh-San. Trying to see how the daughter of a distinguished marine biologist, that has ties to an American organization like the Speedwagon Foundation, ends up the leader of an organization dedicated to forcing the complete restructuring of our society?." At this, Jolyne chuckled. "Something funny?"

"Is that what you think we are? Spooky terrorists here to tear down the Japanese way?" Jolyne taunted. "Lady, you may be smart, but you are WAY off target."

"Then why don't you help me get on target? There are quite a few things we haven't been able to figure this out." Sae explained, and Jolyne folded her arms in front of her.. "When all this started, everyone believed it was just a prank, but I thought the timing was too convenient. However, my evidence was speculation at best, and so I couldn't assemble a case. It was because I couldn't figure out the method."

"Of course you couldn't." Jolyne said, and Niijima glared at her.

"I need to know how you did it. Tell me…when did you discover that world?" Jolyne chuckled once more.

"You really want to know? Because once I tell you, the way you view the world will be shattered." Jolyne stated, rubbing a spot on her shoulder. "We're both involved in something that's been brewing since before either of us were born. Not too late to walk away and forget you ever met me."

"Trying to scare me away? It won't work."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Noted. Now, tell me everything. About stands, this…other world. About how it's possible to change another person's heart?" Sae asked, and Jolyne sighed. "Tell me everything. Start from the very beginning."

"Alright, but strap in. This Bizarre Adventure of mine started right after I moved here to Tokyo…"