Japan's Diet Building stood atop a cruise ship, about to raise anchor and leave the adjacent docks of a sunken Tokyo. However, rather than the staff and guests celebrating their departure, they were gathered sharing hushed whispers and rumors. Although it was difficult to tell fact from fiction, it was believed the infamous Phantom Thieves had infiltrated the vessel. They had sent their calling card to the captain just the day before, so security was on high alert.

Despite all precautions, the intruders managed to circumvent the guards and were making their rounds through the ship. Every deck had to be swept thoroughly for even the slightest trace of them. The passengers of the ship were gathered into the halls and upper decks-any wide open area where security could keep a few eyes on them. Anyone resistant to these orders were apprehended as a suspected accomplice.

Everyone on the ship, both staff and guests, wore a mask. There were various styles, but they always covered at least the eyes. With no way to gauge the thoughts and emotions of their fellow man, a stagnant air of distrust settled on the ship. They all looked sideways at each other with contempt. Only the guards had descriptions of the Thieves' appearances, so everyone else was left second-guessing any stranger they set their eyes on.

Such as a shadow skirting along the roof of the Diet Building.

Those on the pool deck could see them move in the darkness of the setting sun. Masked security guards in suits caught sight of the figure and converged on their position, holding their police batons at the ready. One armed with special assault armor and a gun fired at the figure, startling the passengers around him. The figure jumped down from the roof to the upper deck and landed unharmed. The black brim of their blue hat obscured their face before they looked up at the ship's security.

The short figure was definitely a Phantom Thief, but they didn't look like most would expect. They appeared to be a platinum-blond young girl dressed like a prison-guard. She wore a blue collared shirt with a black tie. She had black shorts, and a black brassard was wrapped around her left arm. When not blocked by her hat, her face was covered by a mask of her own; a black butterfly with golden decorations, such as a gold "V" between the eyeholes. Also in gold letters was an English word on her hat: "OXYMORON."

It was clear whatever she was after, she had already found it. She had a large bag over her shoulder, likely carrying goods stolen during her excursion. In her hands she held the tools she used to do it: an extendable electric baton as her weapon in one and a clipboard as her shield in the other. The clipboard had "Le Grimoire" faintly written on its outward facing side with a "V" symbol similar in design to that on her mask just below. On its inward facing side, there was a handle which reached from one end to the other, covering its pages of indiscernible shapes.

She gave the guards a brief bow, her right arm brought in front of her. "Looking for me?"

"It's a Phantom Thief!" shouted one of the guards.

The elite guard fired again, and the girl blocked with her clipboard. "What are you waiting for? Get her!"

The girl ran to her right, swatting any guards who approached her. More bullets were fired her way, but the elite guard's aim proved subpar. She stopped at the railing and looked over the edge of the boat nearest the docks. The wooden walkways seemed to sprawl infinitely into the horizon, fading into the faint shade. Some buildings seemed to rest on the docks, rather than drown within the submerged city.

"Where are you going to go?" asked one of the guards. "All you can do is jump."

"I would thank you for your suggestion..." began the girl, a neutral expression on her face, "...had that not already been my plan."

In one swift motion, the Phantom Thief threw herself overboard. The guards were left astonished as they rushed to see where she landed; it wasn't her they were worried about, but whatever she held in her bag. When they looked over the edge, they saw a broken window two decks below, and a little girl waved at them with a gloved hand.

The elite guard pulled out his radio. "A Phantom Thief spotted on upper-deck 5: it's the little girl. No sign of her teammates. We can confirm she is indeed armed; use lethal force if necessary."

"That spectacle aside, Warden, you had best be wary. There are many foes in the area," a boy's voice warned the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

Another voice came through her earpiece. A girl agreed. "Fox is right. Though, I guess that was the plan, wasn't it, drawing their attention like that."

Warden stood atop broken glass. To her side was the wreckage of a table and its two chairs. She was in a bronze hallway on the fifth upper-deck of the ship. Like all the others, it was accented extravagantly with gold, or as Warden preferred to think of it, pyrite. There were a few other tables and chairs in the corridor, but fortunately no people. Two doors enclosed both ends of the hall.

Through the doors on her left, Warden heard the playing of a piano. It was clearly an improvised song, but it wasn't bad. There was a feel to it Warden appreciated, that she appreciated about all piano music. It also wasn't the first time Warden heard it, but unlike then, she didn't have time to stop and take it in. Right now, there was something else she needed to take.

She checked the bag she carried with her, its weight far less than one would expect based on its supposed contents. The plan was to act as a decoy for her teammates. Once they were safe, she would stop wasting time and go straight to the rendezvous. She just needed to not get caught.

"Warden!" Fox yelled through her earpiece. "An enemy draws from your right."

She jumped below a table-one with all its legs and no tears in its cloth-and hid from the guard. She stilled her breathing as his footsteps marched by. She could hear him speak into a radio. "She came this way... I'll check the restaurant, we would've seen her if she went through the central hall... Understood."

His footsteps quickened just as he passed her table. She heard him go through the doorway to the piano music. It slammed behind him.

As she got up from the table, Fox gave her instructions. "The restaurant would be an ill-advised route; there are many enemies there. There are just as many in the central hall, but they will be spread thin."

"Yo, when are you gonna navigate for us, man?" asked another boy's voice.

"Patience, Panther. I am merely advising Warden so she can avoid unnecessary conflict."

A girl's voice spoke next, a different one than that from earlier. "Ugh, there's so many of them. Seriously, do these guys ever give up?"

"We always could have fought our way through..." a third boy said.

"No we couldn't," corrected the first girl. "Remember, we need to be undetected."

From the end on her right, muffled propaganda came through the door to central hall. It spread false hope. It gave unreliable promises. It spoke of a bright future in which Japan would serve as the powerful country all others would look up to. Nevermind it drowning in its own ruin while the wealthy lived unharmed on the Arc of Elite.

As much as the lies irritated her, this was the direction Warden went. On the other side of the door was a multistory room with a tangled web of stairs connecting the various floors through a large opening in the center. Electric lights resembling the cosmos danced up the walls. Indigo carpet reached from one wall to the other and encircled the countless golden pillars spread across the room. Many pillars were part of purple archway-like platforms bespeckled with similar lights as the walls. Lastly, dotted across the room were the very speakers the captain used to spread his lies.

The room held many passengers. Their reactions ranged from apathetic to suspicious, but none of them took any action against her.

This wasn't the case of the security. A guard dog with a visor over its eyes had noticed her as soon as she entered. It charged toward her unleashing a series of barks. It stood only a few feet away from her when it melted into the floor. From the puddle emerged the creature's true form: the Guard Dog of Hades. It had a massive white mane and a rat's tale. It growled at Warden, readying itself to pounce. All of this would have been a horrifying sight to most people, especially one as little as Warden, but this was far from the first time she had seen something like this.

If everything went to plan, neither would it be her last.

Warden's mask vanished, and before her appeared a well-dressed demon of black and red. He hovered in the air, but his wings were stationary. The monster spoke to her in a deep echo. "You shall soon walk the same path as my other self, little warden. While your future shall be painful, so long as you do not neglect our contract, I will stand by your side. Now, use my power, let us destroy all those who stand before us!"

The monster turned toward the Guard Dog of Hades. He awaited the command of the Phantom Thief. She glanced at the monster, then at the enemy. She swung her baton and pointed it at the Guard Dog of Hades. She pressed a button, and electricity crackled between its handle and tip. She commanded "Arsene! Megidolaon!"

The monster, Arsene, grinned. With a flurry of his wings and an outstretched hand, he summoned a massive blue explosion which enveloped and obliterated the enemy in front of them. Arsene laughed at the beast's demise, ignoring the horror of the passengers around them. "Just as I had lent you my power, you had given me a slimmer of your own. Until I am reunited with my other self, we shall be an unstoppable force together!"

The Phantom Thief nodded. Then, the demon vanished. Her mask reappeared, and she ran up the nearest staircase. A security guard in a suit waited at the top. One moment, he stood there holding his baton. The next, his body contorted.

His skin turned into a murky void leaking a shadowy mist. He stood hunched over yet taller than before. Behind her, blocking the bottom of the stairs, was a nearly identical guard. One look over the rail revealed, on the bottommost floor of central hall, dozens of security guards and dogs waiting for Warden.

"You have no where to run," a guard said. "And we'll be ready if you jump again."

Warden took a quick glance at the other floors of central hall. "It is strange how often you and your kind try to gloat, yet you have consistently failed to truly capture me."

She vaulted over the stair railing and landed on a propaganda-spitting speaker. Its chatter only momentarily faded after the impact, revitalized just after. From there, Warden jumped to a purple platform then to another staircase and used the railing as a slide. Once on the next floor down, she ran for the nearest exit out of central hall.

This hall differed from the first in that, rather than a series of tables by each window, it had only a singular statue. Warden dived behind it, the march of pursuers only just drawing near. Multiple guards ran by, each assuring one another she wouldn't get away. One even boasted to know exactly where she was. Although, he could only have lied because he lead his companions into the next room.

"Warden," Fox said, "we've managed to reach the rendezvous. We will await your arrival."

"It was brilliant," a third girl's voice said. "It is no wonder you Phantom Thieves have evaded capture for so long."

Panther spoke next. "Hey, give us a little credit!"

"Not this again..." a fourth girl groaned.

Arsene's voice spoke to Warden, echoing inside her mind. "You know what lies ahead."

"I am aware..." Warden answered. Despite her best efforts, she felt hesitant as to what would come next.

"If it must end, why not go out in style?" Warden knew full well what he had in mind. Arsene always advocated for the flashiest methods, even if they were unnecessary. Still, she should at least warn her teammates.

"I shall use the docks to reach the rendezvous. We will meet again once this is over." Warden stood from her hiding place and broke open the window with her weapon. She jumped through the opening.

"How do you intend to-:" began to third girl. "Wait, is that Warden falling off the side of the ship!"

"Where'd be the fun if we told you all our tricks?" Panther asked, unconcerned.

Once again, Warden landed from a great height unharmed. This time, she had landed at the docks beside the ship. The rendezvous was at the bow, but there should have been no issue getting there from here.

Lights shined on her from the docks. A line of police cars and officers surrounded her. There must have been dozens of guards lying in wait, each equipped with riot shields, batons, and/or guns.

Fox spoke yet again. "Enemies here? Wait, no, that's preposterous!"

The third girl. "What's happening?"

The first girl. "Is she okay?"

"An ambush! She's surrounded!" Fox informed the others.

"Warden!" the first girl yelled. "Get out of there!"

"Capture her!" ordered an officer as Warden looked for somewhere to run. She knew she couldn't use Arsene's powers against them. It could kill them, and they weren't like the guards in the ship. Her only choice was to run.

"Is there anything we can do to help!" the third girl asked.

"Unfortunately not, Noir," answered Fox. "But our leader has dealt with much worse. She will survive; that much is certain."

Wherever Warden tried to run, the police were already there. Eventually, she could delay them no longer. Wooden planks rose up to meet her as she was pinned to the ground. One of the higher ranking officers walked up to her and mocked "Didn't expect to find some kid. You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out."

Before she could process what he said, he had placed handcuffs around her wrists.

Warden was in police custody.

Her mind was fuzzy when she awoke in the interrogation room. Very fuzzy. Her thoughts were scattered. Her memory was struggling to...struggling to...she couldn't remember very much. As she forced her eyes open as wide as they could, which was little more than a squint, she noticed she no longer wore her Phantom Thief outfit. Instead, she wore her school uniform: a black blazer and a plaid skirt. She also saw a collection of empty syringes on the floor in front of her. What were they for...

"Guess the drug was too strong," a man's voice said.

"Wake her up!" another voice said before she was splashed with water.

Now, she was cold, too...

She looked around the room. It was a dark, stone room. There was a security camera in the corner, and three men in suits stood near her. She tried to move her hands, but she couldn't. They were handcuffed behind her, behind the chair she was sitting in. She only just realized she was sitting in a chair.

Her wrists hurt. Her hands hurt. Her everything hurt. What happened...?

"You still don't get it, do you? Give it up!" The man in the middle kicked her. She and the chair crashed to the floor. Then, something hard-a shoe, it seemed-pressed against her head. "Come on, cooperate. Or what, you want another shot?"

She glanced at the camera in the corner of the room. She didn't think much of it. If it was of any use to her, it wouldn't have been in there.

"Huh? What about the camera?" Of course, the man noticed where she was looking. He pulled her head up by the hair. "Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?"

"No..." was all she could manage to mumble. Even that took all her physical and mental effort.

"Good, you're not that stupid then..." Once again, the floor was quick to embrace her. But she preferred when it was wood, instead of cold cement.

The man walked over to his associate and took a clipboard from him. The man read from a list. "Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons... Manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works.

"To think that all those crimes were led by a little girl like this... For someone smart enough to skip a few years, these-" the man gestured to the list "-were some pretty dumb moves. You should know your place."

Skipped a few years... did he mean school?...she wondered. She wasn't sure if it was her injuries or their drugs-probably both-but she couldn't even remember what year she was in, or what year she was supposed to be in. Also, weren't there laws or something against skipping grades in Japan?

She was pulled up by the wrists as the other man unlocked her handcuffs. He then pushed her back into the ground. The first man shoved the clipboard into her hands. Did she always wear gloves? "Sign here. It's a confession under your name."

She held the clipboard, her eyes glazed as she tried and failed to read over the document. The man dropped a pen onto the clipboard. It clattered its way down until she caught it.

"Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece," the man continued. His voice was beginning to irritate her. Unlike him, his colleagues hadn't said much. Did he enjoy the sound of his own voice that much? What she wouldn't give to shut him up... "We're going to make you understand: one must take full responsibility for their actions."

She heard the man step away. Presumably, he was giving her a moment to sign the confession. She just had to write her name... Her name... Her name? Caroline? Justine? Warden? She struggled to remember even that much. Why were there so many names going through her head?

"Lavenza Amamiya..." a deep voice in her head seemed to say.

The given name seemed right, but the family name felt unfamiliar. Her mind too foggy to question it, she accepted the name the voice told her and attempted to transcribe it. All that came out was a jumble of scribbles. As she handed it back to the man, he mumbled that it was good enough.

Footsteps approached the interrogation room just as the police detective was leaving. His two associates remained outside the doorway, acting as its guards. The detective turned to the visitor. "Excuse me, this area is off- Shido-san!"

"Yes, I said I wanted to speak with the Phantom Thief when we caught him. We've caught him now, haven't we?" a bald man in a black suit and orange sunglasses asked, confidant in himself. He doubted they would decline his request to see the suspect, especially when considering his rank.

"You have said that..." the detective acknowledged. "But I doubt this is within your jurisdiction. This is a very sensitive case, and her methods are still unknown. We don't even know if it's safe to be in the same room with her, especially after-:"

"'Her,'" Shido interrupted. "So it's a woman, then. I haven't even been informed of that much." Shido looked at the man, an intense look in his eyes. He didn't care how dangerous the suspect was. He wasn't going to be defied. "Now, let me speak with 'her.' You know who I am. I will be treated with respect."

An older detective came behind Shido. "Prime Minister, we got a call from the Prosecutor. She's approved of you speaking with the suspect, but only if you make it quick. We still have more information we need to get out of her, and this case won't build itself. You got a few minutes."

Shido groaned. It figured he wouldn't get much time. Though he supposed he wouldn't need much either. Still, a few minutes... "That's all the time I need." If it wasn't, he'd fix that issue later. "There are just a few things I want her to explain to me."

The police detective smirked. "If it's responses you're expecting, then you may as well turn back now. She's not very forthcoming with information."

"I'll be the judge of that myself, if you wouldn't mind." Shido pushed passed the police detective and turned to the guards. "Now let me in!"

"Just do it," the older detective told them. "The quicker he's in, the quicker he's out."

A guard opened the door, but all Shido saw was a little girl in a school uniform. She sat at a table, beaten and bruised. Outraged, he shouted at the detectives "Where's the Phantom Thief!"

The police detective chuckled. "That is the phantom thief. Is it everything you hoped for?"

Shido narrowed his eyes at the detective. He didn't appreciate the man's disrespect. "Perfect," was all he said before he entered the room. The door shut behind him.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but a little girl with a blue headband and yellow eyes wasn't it. The bruises on her face made it obvious they tried to force the information out of her. He shook his head at the bluntness of their methods. As he did so, he saw a few empty syringes on the floor. He knew truth serum was used in many cases, although he would never publicly admit it.

But all of its side effects were still unknown. Not to mention, to use so much on such a young girl... Even his cold heart couldn't deny it seemed excessive. After all, smaller bodies only needed smaller doses; it was just a waste of resources.

He pulled out the chair in front of him and sat across the table from the girl. He was certain he'd seen her before, but he couldn't recall from where. Not that it mattered, he just needed to know her methods.

Whenever he was asked why he was so curious about the methods of the Phantom Thieves, why he needed to know how they were able to change hearts or cause mental shutdowns, he had a few stock answers ready. His son was curious, and he was finding out for him. It was a grave risk to the country, and the public needed to know. To his closest confidants, he would even say he hoped to use this power for his own gain. But all those answers were merely part of the truth. In all honesty, he was just as morbidly curious as his son. The power to compel someone to confess to their own crimes, the power to incite a mysterious illness within people... it sounded like some kind of fairy tale.

Well, if anyone was going to give him the answers he wanted, it would be this girl here.

"Hello. Can you hear me?" The Phantom Thief looked up at him. Her eyes were unfocused. "Can you understand what I'm saying?" She nodded. "Good."

He picked up an empty syringe off the floor. The girl shrinked back into her chair. There was concern in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to drug you like they did." He dropped it onto the table. "But if you don't answer my questions, I will return the interrogation to them, and there will be nothing to stop them from doing it again; they are at liberty to use any means they please.

"I just need to know about your methods. What is this other world mentioned in the reports? How have you been changing people's hearts?" The girl looked confused at his question. "Perhaps the drugs are clouding your memory. Very well. Tell me what you do remember. Go one step at a time, either chronological or sporadic. Whatever it takes to remember your methods.

"It could even be a game. You win once all my questions are answered. Kids like you enjoy games, right?" She didn't do well hiding her annoyed expression. It seemed she could tell he was patronizing her, and she didn't like it. What did it matter? She was a criminal, about to be locked away for the rest of her life. She should savor this moment, the last time someone would treat her like a child. From then forth, she was nothing more than a dangerous terrorist. Another irritating bug crushed before it could become an infestation.

"I'll help you pick a starting place," he said. "According to the reports, you first moved to Tokyo just under a year ago. Can you remember why?"

The Phantom Thief looked Shido in the eye and finally said something. "I was framed."

It didn't really matter why Lavenza was crossing the road that day. She couldn't even remember. It's just where she happened to be during the incident. Beside her, also waiting for the light to change, were two random adults: a random man and a random woman. As each of them waited, cars zipped by at high speeds. Traffic was very dense that day, not as one would expect from such a small town.

"I believe you should withdraw your testimony," the woman told the man. Lavenza couldn't remember the man from the incident very well. He was just another victim of circumstance like she was. But she could remember the woman. The woman who ruined her life, she was burned into Lavenza's mind.

The woman had ashen brown hair-if the woman were older, Lavenza would have thought it was gray. The woman wore a business suit combined with a turtleneck, and she stood in a stiff manner that made it seem as though everyone and everything was wasting her time, like she had business she should be doing. Yet aside from that, she wore a constant poker face, as if she always needed to hide what she was thinking.

The woman was not done speaking to the man. "Other witnesses in this case have been getting caught in accidents, or falling mysteriously ill. The same could happen to you if you're not careful."

"Is that a threat!" The man looked at the woman incredulously.

"It's a warning!" the woman claimed. "Don't think I'm trying to stack the deck; I know I can win this case regardless of your testimony. I just don't think it's worth gambling your life away like this."

"You might have everyone else wrapped around your finger, but you need to see someone who's not willing to put up with your bullshit."

It seemed the man either didn't know or didn't care a child was listening. If Lavenza hadn't already skipped a few grades into high school, she would have just learned a new word. In all fairness, he may not have expected her to be listening. The only reason Lavenza was paying attention to their conversation at all was because there was nothing else going on.

"I will not withdraw my testimony. End of discussion."

Indeed, that was the end of the discussion. Although, perhaps not for the reasons the man was expecting.

The woman briefly glanced around the area, barely moving her head as she did. For a fraction of a second, her eyes lingered on Lavenza. She was calculating something. Lavenza only wished she knew what it was sooner.

The woman pushed the man into the road. Lavenza reached out to try to grab the man, to try to save him from a fate he did not deserve, but the woman grabbed her wrist and twisted her towards her. She could hear the screeching of tires, the frantic honking of a horn. She even heard the man's yelp. All before a loud thud from metal crashing into flesh. She may have imagined it, but she could have sworn she also heard the crunching of the man's bones.

"What did you just do!" the woman snapped at Lavenza. She was accusing her. Lavenza was only confused, and she couldn't bring herself to answer. She wanted to ask the same question of the woman, ask if she really just tried to kill a man. "Look at what you've done!"

All eyes were now on them. Would they have believed her if she said something? If it was her word against the woman's, who would they have believed killed the man? A small child, or a renowned prosecutor?

It probably wouldn't have mattered. There was evidence to Lavenza's side of the story. A nearby business' security camera caught the incident. The driver could have testified. The man could have testified. But the court dismissed all of it.

The security footage was at a bad angle. No one could tell what happened in it. The driver was too stressed to properly recall the events. His testimony, while in her favor, was unreliable. The man was in a coma. When he finally woke up, he had retrograde amnesia.

In the end, it truly was Lavenza's word against the woman's. And in the end, the court sided with the woman.

She didn't know if it was mercy or a taunt, but the woman herself talked down Lavenza's sentence. She convinced them to consider that she was still a young, stupid girl, and it was her first offense. Rather than years in juvenile detention, Lavenza was to spend one year on probation in the woman's home town: in Tokyo.

Lavenza's parents were furious. Not at the sentence; no, that relieved them, both that it was shortened and that it would be far away from them. No, they were furious at Lavenza. They believed her story-at least, so they said-but they were furious with her regardless. They blamed her for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After having already spent everything they had on the court case, they scoured their connections for anyone who would cheaply take care of Lavenza while she was in Tokyo. If they hadn't found someone when they did, some coffee shop owner an acquaintance of their's frequented, Lavenza wouldn't have doubted they'd have dropped her there without any support.

Lavenza couldn't help but think the entire matter was unjust.