Take your time
(cue: Life Will Change)
A helicopter flew over the sea, and pass a big casino with win. Inside an alarm was going off everyone inside was confused, scared, and alert. One figure was jumping from edge to edge, and landing on top of the chandler, men in black was searching the area and one of them spotted what appears to be a girl. She wore a black dress shirt, trench-coat, red gloves, and black dress pants with black heeled boots, her face was covered with a white mask, and holing a small metal briefcase.
"Hey there she is" yelled Security
"Target's been sighted moving in"
As soon they began to advance, she bolted the opposite direction and moving towards her escape. She leap off the chandelier and into the dark recesses of the casino. As she move, she left behind the briefcase for her allies to take, and continued to move. She continued to dash around, leaping across obstacles in her way like a phantom, which she indeed was, before she found herself atop a glass catwalk. Below, the masses were in a stir.
"Good" a boyish voice said, resonating in her head "Now get running!"
"This is our only chance!" a boy's voice followed.
"Stay calm," a girl's voice said with enthusiasm. "You can get away now!"
"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end," another's girls voice called out. However, static and garbled words also came across, causing confusion. "Hm? What was that?"
"Don't concentrate on us," the boyish voice continued. "Just concentrate on getting away!" The masked thief nodded, and began to move, jumping across the catwalk and chandeliers. As she did, the boyish voice began to praise her. "But i have to say...showing yourself to the crowd in such a bold manner was an excellent move!"
A third female voice, this one with a more light-hearted feel, giggled. "I bet Skull couldn't have done that easily."
"That because he has a lack for the aesthetics," a refined male voice said with an exasperated sigh.
Another male voice, this one more casual and boisterous, growled"Nobody ask you Inari!"
The masked thief rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a grin before she stopped, about to head up towards one of the exit routes before she stopped, finding several guards where she was supposed to be. She immediately changed direction, and moved away, jumping across another catwalk before she reach an archway. Swiftly, she made her way across before jumping up on the railing, getting up on the second floor. She broke into a run, but was stopped when two guards blocked her path. A rumbled shivered through their bodies before they broke, bodies convulsing as their form turned dark, skin becoming pitch black, and steel masks covering as their faces, bearing only bright yellow eyes, cold and dark with a sense of stone cold melancholy. He heard the sound of foots slamming into the ground, and turned to find another such masked individual in front of him.
"Enemy readings determined," the cheery female voice called. "Beat 'em up Joker!"
The masked thief, now known as Joker, smirked. 'It's Showtime,' she thought before she jumped up. She landed squared on the shoulder of the masked man behind her, and then grabbed it by the chin of the mask, then proceeding to rid it off with fearsome force. The guard was knocked back after Joker leaped away from him, revealing a blank, black face with red eyes. Then, the body began to darken, red veins flushing out over the black skin. Suddenly, the guard's hulking frames began to spasm wildly. Then, the body exploded. Emerging from the black and red mess was an inhuman creature. It looked like a bipedal beast with the head of a bull, bearing a demented form of a noble with a large tail and a cravat at the neck. The creature let out a snarl, and slammed its feet into the ground. Joker, sensing danger from below, performed a back-flip, evading a pillar of fire from engulfing her. She landed back on her feet before she whipped out her knife, smirking devilishly.
"Ravage them."
Suddenly, her mask became engulfed in blue flames as she placed a hand over her face. The flames grew above her face, forming into a figure from behind. The flames solidified, forming into a solid shape, easily twice the size of Joker. Wearing a red coat, the length of the clothing only made it up to the mid-back of the thing. A black mask with red designs made it seem like it had horns. Two gigantic black wings spread themselves out in a flourish and showy motion. Massive red boots with bladed heels were worn at the bottom to create a rather dignified yet dangerous look. Then, there was a white scarf and a tall top hat as two articles of clothing a gentleman would wear along with a massive vest with red strings. Black-clawed fingers sprouted out from red finger-less gloves, ready to slice all those that stood in its path. Chains rattled and surrounded its body, as if the metal links were being bent to the will of the massive entity. Flames burned on the mask, resembling sharp teeth curled into a wicked grin, and eyes narrowed into a taunting glare.
Immediately, Joker acted. Swiftly, she pulled out a black gun from her sleeve, and proceeded to unload her bullets into it. One, two, three, four, five, six. Seven shots blasted into the monstrous creature, leaving holes with fluid leaking out of them. The bull-like being snarled in rage, snapping its head up and glaring at him with red eyes. "You're gonna pay for that!" it bellowed before it slammed its feet into the ground. Unlike before, Joker couldn't evade it. The winged being behind her, however, shielded her from the flames, its wings wrapping around her to form a shield. The pillar of the inferno engulfed its being. Pain erupted through Joker's body as the intense heat seared into the being, almost as if they were connected on some level. The flames faded shortly after. The being vanished, and the white avian mask reformed on her face. Joker scowled, and promptly charged at the bull-like being. It snorted, and swung its tail at her. She dodged it with ease and retaliated. She swung her knife, three times in succession, creating additional cuts that cut into its chest before she deftly rolled back, avoiding a stomp of anger, and took aim once more. She fired off her gun once again, though this time, she had a clear target.
She pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced straight through its head. the creature gave a dying, weak yelp before it fell back, and became black and red goo, splattering to the ground with a sicking squelch.
Joker huffed, dusting her coat, which was partially singed before she slipped her gun and knife back into her sleeves. With security fast approaching, she couldn't afford to stay here for long. She took a quick look around, and immediately found her escape route. Just in time, too. Behind her , she heard the approaching footsteps of more enemies, though these were without mas, only bearing faceless faces and red eyes. The closest one jumped up in the air, shock baton raised. She smirked, and leaped away to avoid it. she pushed herself off her hand before she landed on the railing, and took another lap, this time onto a chandelier. Using it as a platform, she jumped up to the next level of the casino, with an open door ahead, as if greeting her.
She wasted no time. Swiftly, she moved into the door, and into the massive complex that also laid within the casino, patrolled only by security. As she moved, she heard voices of her comrades chatter.
"Alright, Joker is on the move! Security's is in a dizzy, trying to locate her! Everyone, get moving!"
"W-wait, is she going to be okay in there? Can she even hear us?"
"I'm reading everyone, and there's no interference, so yeah!"
She gave a small quip, letting them know she was aware. She pushed through a pair of double doors, and stepped into another corridor. She moved left, only to stop and retreated back into the space closes to the door, seeing several guards moving about. The only thing keeping them separated, and what would have allowed them to find her, was the fence in between their locations. "We can't find the intruders," the guard reported. To Joker's curiosity, this one didn't have black skin or a featureless face. Rather, this one had actual features, such as a nose, mouth, and a set of narrowed eyes. "Understood, we'll keep looking."
'A cognition, Maybe?' Joker wondered, but shrugged. As soon as the security guards turned their attention else where, she moved away from her hiding spot, and ran to the right, where another set of doors waited for her. In her sprint, she caught sight of another guard, also barred from her by a fence, though she was quick sight of the thief.
"You're quick!" the commented from shock as he barreled through the doors, and then reported in. She wasn't about to waste time wondering about what, and instead got moving quickly as possible. She came into another corridor, this one bending to the right. She was about to round the corner, but stopped, noticing the presence of a man standing at what was the only way up. She cursed, and quickly took refuge behind a crate.
Joker couldn't afford to waste time. She had to act quickly, lest she be caught. With that in mind, she took out a small pellet from her pocket, a gift from a confidant of her, and quickly moved into position. If one might have seen her move, it would be a fluid motion of black and red as she moved from crate to crate, eventually coming right next to the man, just hidden by the faint, dark shadows of the corner. She looked back at where she came in, and tossed the pellet. It smacked against the wall, creating an audible, loud banging sound. It was a firecracker going off, but the sound was made to distinctly resemble gunfire. It worked, as the guard's attention quickly shifted to where the firecracker was set off, and moved away. With the guard gone, Joker then moved into the staircase. Her feet pounded against the pavement, shooting up the stairs before she reached the next level of the casino. When she entered a new corridor, she saw a window leading into another room, this one with several people inside, all at computers. Carefully, she made her way without being seen.
"She's not alone!" she heard someone in the room shout into a communicator, no doubt the leader of what was going on. "Find them, and Kill them all!"
Joker gave a low 'tch' of annoyance. She was risking herself for her friends, so she wasn't about to let them die. Without making a sound, she continued her way. She found another flight of stairs, and again made her way up. "Joker, you there?" the cheery girl's voice called. "You're close to the exit!" She gave a nod of acknowledgement. After two flights, she found no more staircases leading up, and only a corridor leading out to a single door. She dashed through the hallway, and rather then take a moment to open it let her spill on through, only to come to a stop at a railing. She grunted a bit, feeling the railing smack into her gut before she looked up and much to her confusion, founded herself staring back at the casino's bottom floor, with an area was in previously not far below. "What's the matter? The exit should be up in front."
The masked thief looked up, and found a stained glass window, easily the size of a clock on a tower, not too far from her. The distance was fairly short, so it wouldn't be hard to reach it, if she used the railing to run across. "Through there?" she asked, wondering if this was the only exit available to her.
"That's just how it is," the voice sighed. "After the commotion, the bottom floor's-"
"-completely closed off!" another voice, the one who made the remark about Skull, said in concern. "H-hey, can you make it?!"
Joker grinned. This was actually exciting to her. It would be like a grand exit. Nice and flashy, such to catch enough attention. "Don't move!" she heard someone shout from behind. She looked over her shoulder, and found three guards slowly walking towards her, guns aimed. "There's nowhere to run!" Nowhere to run? Who were they kidding? There was always a place to run. With a defiant smirk plastered across her face, she hopped atop the railing, and took off in a run, heading straight for the stained glass window. The guards immediately went to follow, pouring out into the balcony overlooking the casino and then began shooting at her. Screams of shock and horror came from below as she avoided them, some nearly grazing her. Once she was close enough, she hopped over to the railing facing the window. She landed in a crouch, easily maintaining her balance before she looked at the guards. Two were circling around her from oppositing sides while the third remained at the door, reloading his gun.
She gave them a cheeky grin, and waved. "See ya~"
Then, without hesitation, she leaped forward, crossing her arms over her face and threw herself through the window. It broke easily, the shard dancing arounding her was propelled forward, emerging out into the moonlight. "Hmph," the cherry voice snorted "What a showoff!"
"So reckless..." the other female voice sighed, though it was obvious she was impressed.
Joker landed straight on her feet, though to prevent any serious injury, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she tilted her body forward to some into a roll, thus placing herself into a crouch. She winced slightly from how harsh hitting the ground was. Her back, feet, and shoulders ached a bit as a result of the action, though she no doubt left an impression. She dusted off her jacket, and tugged at her gloves after she stood back up. All that was left now was to-
Suddenly, light filled into her vision. One, two, three giant spotlight shined on her, lighting up the area. She gave a slight gasp of shock, forced to raised her arm to block the light. Her eyes quickly adjusted, and lowered the arm, only to bite back a scowl.
'Shit.'
"These readings...it can't be!"
"Joker, what's wrong?!"
"H-hey, is she gonna be alright?!"
"Joker, can you make it out of there okay?!"
"What's happening down there?!"
"Joker?!"
"Joker!"
She heard the panicked cries of her crew echoing in the back of her head, the connection still present. Immediately, she cut it off. She didn't want to worry them any further. To be honest, she had to worry a bit about herself here, as she was staring back at what could only be considered a gigantic sea of police officers, armed with rifles, stun batons, riot shields, and padded armor plating. there must have been, at least, a thousand, maybe more. Well, they certainly how to flatter a girl. All of this, for them? Just to capture the Phantom Thieves? All in all, quite impressive...though now she was wondering how in the hell she was going to get out of this mess. Sadly, Joker didn't have much time to think, as the apparent commander of the large troop yelled through a loud speaker.
"ARREST HER!"
The shout barely echoed, but it was enough to spur the guards into action. They moved, or rather stomped towards her like a wave of angry mobs herding together. Cursing, she quickly moved, heading straight for the fire escape. The spotlights continued to hunt after her, keeping her in sight. She quickly reached for the ladder leading up, and hopped right on, away from the grasp of the officers. One had swung his shock baton just right underneath her feet. She smirked tauntingly, glancing back at them as she made her way up.
Unfortunately, she realized too late she should have looked at the fire escape more closely. As soon as she reached the catwalk that would led up to her escape route, she found several officers crowding it, all with their guns aimed. Her eyes widened, now realizing her blunder as one of the guard raised her rifle, and slammed the butt into her face, knocking her off the ladder and right into the sea of guards. She hit the ground, and immediately swarmed, several of them, all at once, restraining her. one bond her legs, another with her arms, others keeping their guns trained on her, not allowing her to escape.
Soon, however, the police began to part, allowing a man to walk forward. Joker couldn't see his face, because of the spotlight shining right back at his back, thus creating a shadow obscuring his figure. His feet stopped close to her face. "Huh," the man remarked with a slight surprise. "Didn't think we've been chasing a kid all this time." He band down, his hand grabbing a fistful of hair. She bit back a yell as the man rudely pulled her face up, bringing them face to face. Now she could see the man's face clearly. Gaunt, stone-faced with cold blue eyes, and neat black hair. A face of a man that, quite frankly, Joker didn't want to be near. It was a face of someone who, clearly, had otherwise more dark intentions.
Also, much to her great displeasure, the man was smirking.
"You have your teammate to thank for this. You..were sold out."
Take Your Time
On the floor, a syringe sat as three officers were talking about the situation. They looked over to the beaten up girl handcuffed to the chair. "Guess the drug was too strong," he said with a chuckle in his voice. "Wake her up," he replied. As cold water was thrown onto the girl. She was jolted awake as she tried to let sleep escape from her eyes. She looked around the lone cold room, and she spotted three men and a camera. Her mind tries to reel in everything happening till she stopped on the men. He was a tall brutish looking man smirking at her. "No dozing off, he said to her. She felt like her hand were bound and tried moving trying to release them looking behind she had handcuffs on, she panicked a bit inside.
"You still don't get it, do you?" he readied to kick the girl "Give it up!" he kicked her hard as she collapsed onto the ground with pain. Her head throb as her body tried to fight off the pain as put his shoe to her head twisting it as he kept talking. "Come on, cooperate. Or what, you want another?" Her eyes looked over to the syringe then up the camera. The man caught on and looked up to it as well. "Huh? What about the camera?" he said in a mocking tone. "Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?" he knelled down and picked up her head by her hair.
Her mind finally awake knew better not to piss off the cops even more so she complied with them.
"Of course not..." Replying with pain laced into her voice. "So you're not that dumb. Which is good, cause we get to take as much as we NEED!" he says before throwing her head to the ground hard. Before getting up and kicking her square in the stomach.
The Kick knocked out all air in her she wheezed and coughed as tried to grab the precious air around her all the while her body was pulsing in agony from the abuse to the her body. Her vision took a second to fade in and her mind stay concentrated as it passed. "Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons..." He paused for a second as she assumed these were the crimes she committed. After a short pause, he continued with a sickening grin "Manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works." He said holding up the clipboard with all the data of her crimes.
"To think that punk led all those crimes let alone a girl. You would believe it was a boy, but then again crime has no gender. And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it..." He stated in a matter of fact tone. The girl didn't believe it as a stray thought came into her head.
"I was...enjoying it...?" She tried to recall a few of her memories only to find it hard to remember anything at this point. "Everything's hazy...I can't remember..." she stated honestly in her head and for several seconds tried desperately to recall them it just ended up hurting her head.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the interrogator started talking again "...You should know your place." He stated to her before sending in the other man to undo her handcuffs. They immediately pulled her up against a wall facing the interrogating. She looked down and tried to relax her wrist the cuff must have held them tightly as the mark were on her wrist was sure they would be bruised afterward with how tight the handcuffs were. A clipboard was shoved into her face by the interrogator "Sign here. It's a confession under your name." she took a moment, not replying would make the situation worse than it is as she spoken up.
" I understand..." she said weakly.
She grabbed the clipboard as he took a pen out of his pocket for her to use. He pushed closer to the girl with the pen at her chest "Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece. We're going to make you understand...One must take full responsibilities for their actions..." He stated with a threatening tone. For a second she was hesitant to grab the pen not knowing what to think about her situation. She grabbed the pen as he backed up. Being scared at this moment wouldn't help much, for now, all she could do was comply. She looked down at the clipboard as the pen was about to hit the paper a name appeared in her thoughts:
Twilight Sparkle.
She could only assume that was her name and without hesitation put it down. It wasn't much but it would help her out a name could be vital as anything as name had power. Afterwards, she handed the clipboard and pen backed, and the men in the room got her up seated back to the interrogation table.
Take Your Time
Outside the interrogation room where Twilight was situated in, a woman strolled down the hallway leading to her room. The woman was 60 with long grey hair and brown piercing eyes. As she almost reached the room, she was stopped by the detective of the building. "Excuse me. But this area's off-" he started to tell her.
She quickly presented herself to the detective "I'm Nijima from the Public Prosecutors' office." She stated quickly and directly.
"The Prosecutors' office? What business do you have here?" he asked her.
"Just let me through; it's urgent. There's something I need to confirm with the suspect," answering the detective.
"Nijima-San, I believe this case is no longer in your jurisdiction. Besides..." he was about to continue as a senior detective interrupting him.
"Are you Prosecutor Sae Nijima?" She nods to him. "There's a call from your director. Hurry and get it over with. To be frank, you're inconvenience." he stated in annoyance. The moment he finished, she felt a small vibration in her pocket, knowing who it is she immediately picked up the phone.
An older man's voice could be heard confirming it was indeed her higher up. She could hear him sigh in frustration. "I thought I ordered you to stand by." The frustration is laced in his words.
"I'm responsible for this case, yet I'm not even allowed an interrogation?!" she asked with the same frustration yet calmly.
"I'm calling because I knew you'd bring it up, he answered her.
"I will not be convinced unless I confirm it for myself. This is MY case." She made her point.
The director gave in with a sigh "Good luck to you then. I won't expecting much though..." the director said before hanging up.
As she put the phone away, the senior detective approached her. "Ah, Prosecutor. I forgot to mention something important. Your time will be cut short. We can't allow you to talk with her for long." He stated with caution. She looked to the side collecting her thoughts about the situation with the girl. "It's for your own sake. Her methods are unknown. After all, we don't even know if it is safe to simply meet and speak with her." he said eyeing the room Twilight was in.
Sae just nodded "...I Understand." Nijima then walks to the door opening it braced herself for anything. She walked up to the table as she heard the door being closed. In front of her was the suspect it was a little hard to believe. "...I din't expect it'd be you," she said with some disbelief in her voice. That quickly went away as her eyes turn sharp.
"You'll be answering my questions this time" she stated before the glint of glass caught her attention. Instantly she recognized it as a truth serum. She looked at the thing with disgust "Those bastards..." She looks at Twilight up close noticing the wounds and bruises.
"Can you hear me? It seems you've been through a lot. Almost anything can happen here...and I can't stop them." She explains with concern and gentleness. Slouching back as she sees Twilight looking at her. "That's why I need you to answer me honestly. I don't have much time either." Twilight nods while looking at her, "What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident?" she looked at Twilight's face for answers.
"I didn't think it was a prank from the get-go, but I couldn't assemble a case for a prosecution. It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it." Looking at Twilight as she finishes she didn't exactly reply.
"Why do you want to know...?" Twilight asked weakly.
"This isn't an issue of whether or not it can be used in court. I need to know. This is my case, after all. It seems you're coherent." she pause to make sure Twilight is till conscious before continuing. "When and where did you find out about that world? How is it even possible to steal another's heart? Now, tell me your account of everything...Start at the beginning." Twilight was silent for a bit trying to gather her thoughts. She recall when she first moved here. As she focused on her thought a mysterious voice appeared.
Looking up to find the voice. When looking up a blue butterfly appeared carrying the mysterious voice from before. "...You are held captive. A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance." The voice said to her as it echoes around the room. "This is truly an unjust game...Your chance of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you..." Twilight continued to listen to the mysterious female voice "...I beg you. Please overcome this game... and save the world..." But how she thought she was already stuck here in this interrogation room, how was she supposed to save the world let alone herself. Her question was answered by the voice.
"The key to victory lies within the memories of your bonds- the truth that you and your friends grasped." The voice said with a plea.
"My bonds and my friends?" she silently said to herself trying to understand everything while recollecting her thoughts.
"It all began that day... when the game was started half a year ago... For the sake of your world's future... as well as your own... you must remember..." The voice said with one final plea before flying off. She was left for a brief moment before some of her memories opened up. That fateful day of moving to Tokyo it was all coming back.
Take Your Time