A/N: For my next one shot of July 2021, we have something that might become my next major focus once I finish Superb Song of the Fate-defying Valkyrie.

Without further ado, enjoy!

Symphogear R

11/19/20XX
Saturday: Evening
Shadow ?'s Palace

In a fancy casino, burglar alarms were going off, which made the crowd below panic, it especially didn't help that the sound of footsteps could be heard on the decorations above them.

Eventually, one of the civilians looked up and noticed a girl in a pure black trench coat with a white mask and purple gloves holding a briefcase and standing on one of the light fixtures. "Up there!" A civilian called out.

"She's here. Move in immediately!" A nearby agent said into his earpiece. Upon seeing that she caught the attention of the agents, the mysterious girl leapt to another hanging platform and started running.

"Good. Now get outta there dess!" Imp called out over the girl's earpiece.

"We only have one shot at this. Do not fail!" Alchemist shouted.

"I will say though, that was a really good idea getting the crowd's attention like you did." Seer complimented. "Now then, there should be an area you can escape through on the other end of the room you're in. Hurry Echo!"

"I'm on it. Thank you Seer." The woman named Echo replies, running across the tethered platforms to where Seer told her to go.

As she reached the other side, several agents blocked her path, but suddenly, their appearances altered and became slightly bulkier with strange masks over their faces. "You've got this Echo!" Maiden said.

With a grin on her face, Echo jumped into the air and landed on one of the distorted agents, ripping his mask off as she did. Once the mask was gone, the agent transformed into a giant monster that would terrify any normal human, but Echo wasn't even fazed. "Persona!" She shouts as she rips off her own mask to reveal a giant woman wearing black robe holding a massive reflective shield and a staff.

Echo simply pointed at the shadow and the woman charged an attack in her staff and fired a laser that erased the monster in seconds. With the job done, the mysterious woman disappeared and Echo's mask reappeared on her face. "Nice work Echo!" Warrior applauded over the earpiece.

"Huh? I'm detecting more shadows approaching your area. Get out of there!" Seer reported, and soon after multiple "Shadows" appeared, forcing Echo to jump to higher ground. "There's a door behind you Echo, go through it!" Without another word, Echo runs for the door Seer mentioned and ended up in the maintenance hallways away from the civilians of the casino.

"She can still hear us right, Seer?" Samurai asked.

"I'm still picking up everyone's comms, so it should be good." Seer answered. "Hang on. I'm picking up a strange reading heading towards you Echo. Get out of there!"

"I'll keep an eye out if I see anyone suspicious." Echo says.

With Seer's warning, Echo hurries through the maintenance hallways, doing her best to not be detected by anyone in any way she can, until a sudden shadow ambush halts her progress. "Even this many is too much for you to handle alone..." Seer said with fear in her voice, before an alert caught her attention. "Echo! That strange reading is closing in on you too!"

"Looks like you're in quite the bind, eh?" A tomboyish-sounding voice called out from the shadows. Echo looked around for the source of the voice and eventually saw a woman with wild brown hair and a similar black outfit to her own, only a bit shorter and looser than hers, with a black mask that covered most of her face except her eyes and her cheeky grin.

"Echo! It's her!" Seer reported. "She's the strange reading it was picking up!"

"Now how about we even the playing field?" Suddenly, the woman throws a large spear at one of the shadows which destroys it instantly. With her target destroyed, the woman taunted the other shadows. "Who's next?"

The shadows charge at the woman, but she was ready for them, taking out shadow after shadow with her fists and a gun that looked like a .357 Magnum she kept on her person. When she was done, only three shadows remained which all transformed into various monsters. "There. That's more like it!" She said as she dusted off her hands and blew the smoke off her gun.

"Thank you, Kanade-san." Echo says to the woman.

"C'mon, what kind of Senpai would I be if I just left you in a situation like that?" Kanade jokingly remarked. "Now let's deal with the rest of these freaks together!"

Echo nodded as both herself and Kanade grabbed their masks and shouted "Persona!" summoning the woman from before as well as red demon with many arms and scimitars. Together, the Personas let out blasts of red and white light that knocked down the monsters.

"Time to end this!" Kanade shouted as they both jumped into the air, let out a flurry of blows with their spear and dagger, and landed behind the monsters, striking poses as they did.

"The Show is over!/And stay dead!"

"Heh. That went well." Kanade said, satisfied with the fight.

"I don't know what happened, but I guess you're okay?" Seer asked, before another reading showed up. "Bad news! Enemy reinforcements are on their way to your location! Get out of there, right now!"

"I'm gonna distract them as much as I can, so you get outta here and reunite with your friends." Kanade said. "You've still got some Phantom Thief stuff to do, yeah?"

"Yes." Echo replies.

"Then I'm not gonna stop you. To be fair, I can't really stop you since I'm not a member of the Phantom Thieves anyway." Kanade replied.

"Spot's still open if you reconsider." Echo said.

"Nah. Not really my thing, y'know?" Kanade answered, before walking way. "By the way, I haven't forgotten about that promise you made me a while ago, so don't go gettin' yourself killed."

"I won't." Echo said.

With Kanade gone, Echo continues down the path Seer guided her in, narrowly avoiding guards every step of the way.

"Okay, the exit should be right in front of you." Seer reported.

Echo looked all over the room, looking for any form of exit she could, only to see a giant stained-glass window. "Through there?"

"That's just how it is I'm afraid." Seer replied.

"The ground floor is completely closed off." Ace added.

"You'll be okay, right?" Warrior asked.

"Freeze!" A voice called out from behind Echo, belonging to one of three armed agents. "There's nowhere left to run!"

Echo stayed silent for a moment, before smirking. "I'm afraid you're wrong about that." Before the agent could ask what she meant, Echo leapt onto the railing and ran across it over to the stained-glass window. "See ya!"

Without warning, Echo dove right into the stained glass window and stylishly landed on the ground outside. "Heh. Showoff." Gunslinger scoffed.

"That's our leader for you." Warrior said.

"I'll regroup with you all outside of the pala-" Echo was cut off by several lights flashing in her face, revealing several armed and heavily armored riot squad officers.

"What's going on?" Ace asked.

"An ambush?!" Seer realized. "Get out of there Echo!"

Echo ran as fast as she could away from the officers, but more were waiting around every corner. Out of options, she spotted a ladder above her and quickly jumped for it, successfully grabbing it and climbing to safety, or so she thought.

Unfortunately for her, more officers were waiting above her, one of which knocked her off the ladder with the stock of their gun and into the swarm of officers below. "Echo!" Warrior screamed in fear for her teammate.

"Everyone get out of here while you still can!" Echo orders while she tries to fight off the officers to no avail and is eventually restrained.

"Suspect secure!" The officer holding Echo on the ground with her arms pinned to her back reported.

"To think all of this was done by some kid." A man in a suit said as he approached the restrained Phantom Thief. "You have your teammate to thank for all of this, you know." The man grabbed Echo by the hair to look her in the eyes. "You were sold out." The man let go of Echo and nodded to the soldiers to arrest her.

11/20/20XX
Sunday: Daytime
?

A woman with long pink hair in a black suit walked down a very secure corridor where several men in suits were standing outside of a guarded room. "Hold it ma'am. I'm afraid I cannot allow anyone else to go in that room." One of the men said.

"I am Maria from the Public Prosecutor's office." The woman says. "I'm here on urgent business. Let me speak with the suspect."

"Maria-san?" The other man in the corridor said. "You have a call from the director." Maria took the phone the man handed her.

"I thought I ordered you to stand by, Maria." The director said.

"I was put in charge of this case, yet I'm not allowed an interrogation?!" Maria retorts. "I'm not leaving until I can confirm it for myself."

"I figured as much, so I already cleared it for you." The director said with a sigh. "Good luck. I'm not expecting much though..." The call ends and Maria returns the phone to the man before heading towards the door.

"One last thing prosecutor." The man with the phone said. "Your time with the suspect will be cut short for your own safety. Her methods are unknown and we're unsure that speaking with her is even safe."

"Thank you, officer." Maria says before being lead into the room by the guard, and is surprised by who she saw at the table. "So it really was you, Miku Kohinata."

Compared to how she looked before being arrested, Miku was covered in bruises and her eyes were a faded gray color. "The others... Are they safe...?" Miku asked.

"To my knowledge, you were the only one arrested. Your friends are safe." Maria answers.

"Good..." Miku let out a sigh of relief.

Maria sat down at the interrogation table and noticed various used syringes scattered across the floor. "Bastards... On a woman no less... Listen to me very carefully. Anything can happen to you here and I can't stop it. If you want to get out of here safely, you must answer me honestly." Maria said, to which Miku faintly nodded.

"What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident? Where did you find out about the existence of that 'world'? How is it even possible to steal another person's heart?" Maria asked in quick succession.

"I... I-I can't..." Miku grabbed her head in pain, struggling to remember the events that lead to her being here, which started to stress her out.

"Easy now. I'm sure what they used on you is affecting your memories temporarily" Maria says in a calmer tone. "Let's start from the beginning, back when you first arrived in Shibuya in April, and go from there. Tell me everything you can remember."

Miku took a moment to breathe before she answered. "I'll tell you... Everything..."

A/N: With that, we end the beginning of something I hope will be as enjoyed as my other fic.

Although, before I leave, I might as well clear up any confusion on who's who.

Miku=Echo, Hibiki=Warrior, Kirika=Imp, Shirabe=Maiden, Tsubasa=Samurai, Serena=Ace, Elfnein=Seer, Chris=Gunslinger, Carol=Alchemist, and Kanade is herself...

Anyways, thank you for reading this "one shot" and I shall see you all in the next one!