Wednesday - June 29th

With the sun barely cresting the horizon, Shibuya was bathed in a warm glow.

The city never truly slept, but it did slow down to a muted hum. It was barely past five in the morning, however, V was wide awake. As was the rest of her team. They had jobs to do and not a lot of time to do them. Now that the kids had found the Treasure, the next phase of their plan had begun. V's eyes narrowed as she glared at the staff entrance of a regular old convenience store. One of their marks for the morning.

A single figure stood leaning against the wall. Cigarette in hand, the man was completely unaware of V's presence. He may have been unassuming to most, just another employee on a smoke break. That wasn't the case.

Launching forward, spurred on by the Sandevistan, V was on him in mere seconds.

She grabbed his arm and before he even knew what was happening, his face and chest were pinned against the wall. He yelped in pain and the cigarette fell to the ground.

"What the hell!? Agh!"

His voice cracked when V twisted his arm in a painful angle. Without engaging him any further, she slammed her elbow into the back of his head. The blow knocked him out cold. She let his body fall to the ground in a heap. She stepped back, looked around for any witnesses, then disappeared into the building through the staff entrance.

Clicking and tapping filled the cool air atop a tall building. Judy was hard at work fixing a device to the roof's edge. As she worked, she could hear Kerry hum softly a few feet away.

As frustrating as this sort of work was, she had to give the kids credit. They knew how to get someone's attention.

She finished sealing the device against the concrete and got to work attaching the rest of the mechanism. Despite only having a day to get all this hardware ready, Judy couldn't stop grinning. The thought of the plan filled her with so much excitement, it was a miracle she had gotten anything done at all. A few more pieces of her contraption snapped into place, eliciting a small giggle.

"This one's done. Five left."

She stashed her tools and made a few last minute checks. The power supply looked good, the explosives were set and the mechanisms were in place.

Everything checked out.

"You could carry some, you know. They're heavy!" Kerry complained, before huffing and lifting up a stack of boxes. "I'm an old man!"

Judy smirked. She thought better than to make any snide remarks. After all, Kerry was her lookout.

"I'll buy you a drink tonight. Come on, we need to get the rest done quickly."

With no more complaints, the two left the rooftop and the device behind. Its timer was set for exactly the right time. When that time came, the streets below would run red.

As they made their way down the fire escape, Judy couldn't contain the cackle.

Run red indeed.

The morning light and shadow cut River's features in half. He stood in the entryway to Crossroads, leaning against the wall with a slight scowl on his jaw. Shinjuku was pretty barren this time of day. The only signs of life were civil servants and shop owners preparing for the day ahead.

Thankfully, no one really paid him any mind.

To his side was a staircase that led up to the apartment units standing above the bar. Every so often, he cast a glance upward. Each time his frustrated frown grew.

"We said five… fucking Media…" he mumbled to himself.

He looked at the time in his cyberoptic display. It was almost 5:45. Had she flaked? Did something happen? As frustrating as standing around was, he would be lying if he said he wasn't at least slightly worried.

"You said five." A woman's voice gave him a start. Trudging down the staircase, Ohya looked like she was about to collapse. "Why so early, River? What's the rush?" Her yawn was louder than her voice. River had to at least give her some wiggle room. As good of a Media as she was, she still had her issues. Specifically with liquor. From what River had experienced of Ohya, she spent most of her time drunk or getting drunk. It hit a little too close to home for his liking.

But he wasn't here to judge her life choices.

"I got a tip off for you. Anonymously, of course." Without entertaining Ohya's half asleep complaining, River spoke with intention.

"Oh?" That caught her attention well enough. "What the hell's going on? Is this about Ka-"

"It looks like it's going to be cloudy today. Huh… at least it ain't raining. It's perfect for a walk around Shibuya. Lots of people, pretty public. You know how it is." He cut the woman off, keeping his voice level. "This humidity is torture sometimes, though."

For a moment, Ohya looked completely baffled.

She then appeared to shake the last of her sleep off. She caught on and let out a long sigh. Leaning on the railing of the stairs, she groaned. "Maybe if you didn't wear those leather gloves all the time, you'd feel better. I really don't get you, River. You dress so weirdly!"

Absentmindedly, River looked down at his leather clad hands. Specifically, his right hand.

Maybe he should bite the bullet and get chipped with some RealSkinn like V. It would have been a lot easier to hide his chrome that way. Not that he could afford it on his salary and he would be damned if he accepted handouts. Stubbornness and pride was probably going to be his downfall. "I like my threads. They're comfortable. It beats the stuffy suits I was forced to wear when on the force."

"Whatever, weirdo." With that, Ohya gave him a flippant salute and began the arduous task of heading back up the stairs. "You owe me a drink for waking me up this early… but… thanks for the tip. Go get 'em tiger." She called down from the upper landing with a smirk.

Taking his leave, River returned the smirk with a grin of his own. "Better get going or you'll miss the show."

Not too far south of Shibuya Station, a warehouse district stood unassuming among its surroundings. Several large buildings were each branded differently with different businesses and corporation logos hung on their walls. From the outside, it just looked like an average industrial complex. A large portion of it was precisely that.

Panam shifted her weight as she crouched low behind a stack of crates. She peered at one warehouse in particular. The general workers had yet to arrive this early in the morning, so all Panam had to worry about was the on-site security.

Occasionally, she would spot the odd lazy patrol consisting of tired looking guards counting the clock down until the end of their shifts.

They were just doing their jobs and probably had no idea what the hell was going on. Even if they did, they likely had no choice in the matter. So, Panam really didn't want to get caught in a fight if she could avoid it. She slinked through the shadows and headed toward her target. One specific warehouse branded as a Logistics storage facility. Getting into the building was easy. The external security was lax. Inside, however, there was bound to be more than just industrial storage crates and metal shelves.

She glanced into a side alley and looked upward. A drainage pipe offered a straight shot toward a second floor window.

However, there was also a camera slowly panning from side to side.

The plan had already accounted for surveillance, so she produced a small device Judy had thrown together a few days ago. Aiming one end of it toward the camera, she pressed a button. The device buzzed and whirred, causing the small red light on the camera to flicker slightly. After about a second, there was a quiet ring and the camera had stopped moving. It was stuck at such an angle that it allowed Panam to shuffle up the drainage pipe without being seen.

To the person watching the feed, it would have appeared that the camera had simply gotten stuck for a few moments.

Once she was through the window, she clicked the device once more and broke the connection.

She had slipped into an overhanging office that looked out over the rest of the warehouse. She didn't have time to take everything in, however. Under the cover of darkness in the unlit room she scoured the place for a specific item. As quietly as possible, she opened draws, looked on desks and ran fingers along the walls. Eventually, she found her mark.

The warehouse's current inventory.

"Where are you…" she whispered, scanning the various entries. Her eyes narrowed at the Kanji text. Her Kiroshis translated each word and eventually, her eyes landed on one particular entry. "Bay 02. Bay 10 and Bay 15. Of course it's all over the damn place…"

Frustration aside, at least the intel was good.

With that, she placed the inventory back on the desk and shifted through the darkness. As bombastic as some of the other parts of this plan was, Panam's contribution was a little more subtle.

V moved with single minded purpose.

The staff area of the convenience store was a maze of tight spaces and overstacked shelving. It was one hell of a health and safety violation, but that really wasn't V's concern. She ducked through a doorway and headed toward a certain staircase leading down into the depths of the store's basement.

At the bottom of the stairwell, a closed door barred her way. Light trickled out from under it and muffled voices could be just made out. Closer, she crept downward. The voices grew clear enough to understand. For a few moments, V listened. It sounded like a group of at least five. "Call." One voice grunted, followed by a quiet tapping. "Natsumi's takin' his sweet ass time. Is he chain smoking a full pack?" The others sniggered.

"Knowing that guy, it's probably more like three packs. Call." Another voice replied.

"Hey, don't act like you're clean as a whistle. I'm all in." The sound of a mound of plastic toppling over accompanied a chorus of grunts and exasperated sighs. After that, everyone else folded instantly, eliciting a mischievous chuckle. "And to the victor go the spoils! Bluffing never gets you anywhere. No bullshit here. Royal Flush, baby!"

"This guy's got to be cheating…"

"You're one to talk, asshole." The banter between the card players continued for another few seconds before something else caught V's attention. The hints of a whimper and a feminine voice. It was too far away to clearly make out, but it was definitely a desperate tone rife with fear. "Shut the hell up, bitch! I'm pretty sure we made it clear what'd happen if you made any noise! Your friend certainly knows the consequences!" A grumbling sigh. "The shipment this time is a fuckin' handful. I give them a week before they end up beaten to death by the pervert who bought them."

That was all V needed to know.

Blood boiled and she rolled up each sleeve of her jacket. It was time to do her job.

Bursting into the room, she lashed out with one hand. Her Monowire snaked through the air and wrapped itself around the face of the nearest thug. A pulse of electricity coursed through the wire and zapped him, forcing him to let out a strained scream. He convulsed and fell onto the poker table, knocking it over and casting chips, cards and drinks all over the basement.

The wire loosened and recoiled.

In a flash, the remaining four men had their weapons drawn and trained on her. They opened fire, peppering the air with small calibre fire. Some were dodged outright. Others found their mark, striking against V's body. She grunted but her subdermal implants prevented any actual damage.

When the gunfire stopped and the tell tale clicking of empty magazines filled the basement, V grinned and glared at the remaining thugs.

Four in total.

The furthest away looked like the oldest of them. His sharp features ended in a slick patch of stubble. V marked him as the highest ranking. The next was a young man with a lot of jewelry hanging from his neck. Beside him was a short, stocky individual who wore a popped collar shirt under the convenience store uniform. Finally, the largest of the bunch was a brutish fellow who looked like he could crush the others with his pinky. Strikingly, he wore an off white suit and held the bearing of someone more competent than his station.

"What the hell! Who the fuck are you!?" The leader bellowed, stepping back in shock. He looked like he had just seen a ghost, wizened features crinkling in horror. "Who sent you? The Hashiba? Whatever… kill her!" He shook off the initial hesitation and made a show of pulling out another magazine. The other thugs abandoned their pistols and rushed forward. Mr. Bling pulled out a Tanto which was hidden inside his jacket. Popped Collar produced a collapsing baton. The big guy donned a silver knuckle duster.

Not answering, V sprang to action, avoiding the Tanto. She threw her head downward and smashed her forehead against the bridge of Mr. Bling's nose. A sickening crunch followed a grunt of agony. Blood leaked from his nose and splattered across the floor.

V put her whole weight into a shove, sending the man toppling against Popped Collar. The force toppled the two over, making them both fall to the ground.

Out of the corner of her eye, V saw the leader aim his weapon.

Monowire struck with lightning quick efficiency, opening a vicious wound across his chest.

He shrieked and staggered as blood quickly stained his clothes.

The big guy threw himself into a dangerous haymaker, pulling back immediately when he missed. He dashed backward and shifted on the balls of his feet. This one knew how to fight, it seemed. "I don't know who you are or how you found us, but after I'm done w- hurghk!" Before he could finish his taunt, V had clocked him square in the jaw with a blow strengthened by the sheer speed her Karenzikov gave her.

To his credit, the man took it like a champ. He rolled something around in his mouth before spitting out a tooth. He grinned, blood seeping through his teeth.

Rushing forward, he tackled V and charged toward the wall.

They slammed hard against it and V let out a struggling grunt. This one was big, sure. Strong, too. If V didn't have any chrome, that impact would definitely have broken something important. That said, she had suffered a hell of a lot worse. In fact, she was smiling. Speaking in Japanese, she stared the man dead in the eyes; "Look down."

In the heat of the moment and with adrenaline coursing through his body, the big guy completely failed to notice the slate gray knife sticking out of his abdomen. V was still holding the knife's handle. She twisted and pulled. Blood spilled from the wound and the man backed away.

The colour drained from his skin.

Begrudgingly, V was under strict orders not to kill anyone. As such, she made an effort for the knife to not hit anything vital. As long as he got medical attention within the next few hours, he would be fine.

Probably.

Maybe.

Stumbling backwards, he pressed a hand against the wound. His foot buckled and slipped on a small pool of blood. In a panic, he fell backwards causing him to slam his head on an upturned chair. There was definitely a crunch and a snap. After a few seconds, his body fell limp. V's Kiroshis flagged him as deceased from a broken neck. She sighed, massaged her forehead and shot a glare at the other men. Each one looked at their fallen comrade with horror and budding rage.

Lynn was going to be pissed.

Oh well, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Still, she had a job to do. She managed to subdue the remaining thugs without killing them, thankfully. Their unconscious bodies were dumped shamelessly across the floor. It gave her time to take stock of the rest of the basement. Despite the upstairs, it was fairly large. On one side were three bunk beds standing side by side. One of them was occupied by an unconscious girl. Slightly older than Lynn. She looked beaten within an inch of her life.

Four other women were standing in shock, looking on with sheer terror. They didn't look too badly beaten, but they were definitely shaken up.

There was also a young boy sitting on one of the top bunks. He was hugging his knees to his chest and was quietly sobbing to himself. V felt sick to her stomach, but she couldn't let her want for blood get in the way of her job. The Inoshishi was going to get what it deserved and that meant these thugs too. "I really don't suppose any of you speak English?"

"I do… a little." The oldest girl - a woman who at a guess was a few years younger than V - spoke up with a thick accent. "W-who are you…?"

"Not important. Your choom needs to get to a doctor." With a quick scan from her Kiroshis, she assessed the damages. It elicited a deep frown. "Cracked ribs. A broken wrist. Some fractures on the skull. Heavy internal bruising. These fuckers went to town on her…"

For now, all V could do was offer painkillers if the poor girl regained consciousness.

Turning her attention elsewhere, she made sure there were no other Inoshishi in the area.

Once that was done, it was time for phase two.

Out from her jacket, she pulled a thick wad of red and black cards. In a colourful cascade, she tossed them across the room. She did this two more times, making sure to completely coat the room in the cards. All to really get the message across. It would be the only thing left behind from her little visit.

"Alright, do you have anyone looking for you? Friends? Family?" V asked. No one answered. All six of them were terrified and apparently only one spoke English. Not only that, they had seen V kill one of the thugs. Of course they were hesitating. Mustering the most disarming smile she could, she raised her hands in the air. "I help. I take you to safe place." Despite the broken Japanese and poor enunciation, the young boy stopped shaking, giving V a wary glance. He then noticed the coloured cards scattered everywhere.

His eyes suddenly sparkled with wonder.

"The Phantom Thieves! Are you a Phantom Thief!?"

At that, V chuckled. "I am."

After that, the other captives slowly released their tension. It was a little strange to see just how much good will the mere name had already garnered from the public. Then again, it was just a testament to how much the kids had done to help out the little guy, so to speak.

"Are you Joker?"

For a moment, V's heart tried escaping her chest. Only, she remembered the recent article Ohya had published. Lynn had given the Media the name and thus, it had become common knowledge that the leader of the Phantom Thieves was a mysterious individual known as Joker. It made V smirk before she shook her head in response to the boy's question. He looked a little disheartened, but otherwise jumped off the bed.

Now all that remained was getting the injured girl to a doctor. One doctor in particular came to mind.

Just like any other day, Yuuki Mishima trudged through the streets of Shibuya on his way to school. He yawned and wiped sleep from his eyes. After another all-nighter modding the Phan Site, he was absolutely exhausted. Ever since Akechi's denouncement, most of the traffic the site got was naught but haters.

It disgusted Mishima. Did they not know how amazing the Phantom Thieves were?

They were heroes! Yet people were talking like they were nothing but a group of miscreants and criminals.

He grumbled under his breath, narrowly avoiding bumping into a passerby.

Hopefully, first period would be Kawakami. Maybe she would let him take a nap. Sometimes he caught her giving Amamiya a pass, so why not him? Granted, Amamiya was somewhat of a unique case. Mishima often caught himself thinking about her without even meaning to. She might have completely ignored every mention of her role as Joker - on that note, he really needed to talk to this Ichiko Ohya woman - but in his heart, he knew for a fact she was his hero.

He was getting distracted again. So much so, he walked headfirst into the back of a random adult.

The man quickly looked down at him with a mixture of concern and annoyance.

Mishima apologised profusely, but the man didn't seem all that bothered. Instead, he gestured up toward the sky.

Specifically, the tallest buildings in the mainstreet.

Mishima's jaw dropped to the ground as his eyes were met with two huge holographic images reaching up to the sky. On both, the logo of the Phantom Thieves blinked with pride surrounded by translucent red and black shapes. The images occasionally flickered, blinking a deep crimson across the streets below. The whole thing looked like something straight out of a Sci Fi movie, yet here it was, right in front of him.

It was breathtaking.

The crowd gawping at the display was massive. In fact, Mishima thought the entire city had gone into stunned silence just to look at the majesty of it all.

Then, a loud, thumping boom made way for an eruption of black and red confetti. Bursting out from where the images were being projected from. Like a daylight fireworks display, several more thumps and booms rocked the street. People gasped and no small amount looked like they were about to panic.

The whole street was thrown into a deluge of confetti.

Not only that, but cards, too. Slowly drifting through the air, hundreds of calling cards fell on the gathered crowd.

"Holy shit, he wasn't kidding…" a woman's voice mumbled not too far away.

Mishima tore his eyes away from the spectacle to notice the woman pulling out a professional looking camera. She snapped a few pictures and a huge grin crossed her lips.

"Go get 'em, indeed! I'm rooting for you." She snatched a card fluttering her way and snorted as she read it.

One of the cards lightly hit Mishima's leg. As he picked it up, he noted that the gathered crowd was buzzing with chatter. Most of the cards had made their way into the crowd and quite a few people had begun to read its contents. There was a general feeling of excitement, but a few of the adults looked confused.

"Who's Junya Kaneshiro?"

"I don't know… but these accusations are scary…"

"Is this going to be the Phantom Thieves' next target? It's kind of exciting!"

"I'm keeping this card. My kid loves the Phantom Thieves."

"Wouldn't this be evidence? I'm going to turn mine into the police."

"Wait… Yakuza!? This guy is a Yakuza boss!?"

A lot of things flew through Mishima's mind. Excitement, anticipation and a rush of determination. The Phan Site was about to be flooded with activity. All the fatigue from the night before washed away. After all, he owed it to the Phantom Thieves to keep them in the limelight.

"Sir… uh…"

Cigar smoke curled through the dim light of Kaneshiro's office. The man himself was lounging on a leather sofa. He growled and let the embers of his cigar briefly highlight his piercing gaze. The lowly gang member shivered in terror, hesitating to continue. "You better have something important to say. You're interrupting my breakfast."

He gestured to the spread of food laid out on the coffee table in front of him.

"Well… it's… um…"

"Spit it out!"

"You need to look at this!" The man whimpered and held out a card. It quivered in his grip.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kaneshiro snatched it up, expecting nothing to worry about. Perhaps some limp wristed threat from the Hashiba clan. It wasn't unheard of.

He almost dropped his cigar when he began to read the message.

"Sir Junya Kaneshiro, the money-obsessed Sinner of Greed.

You are a cowardly Yakuza boss who indulges in scamming the innocent, partakes in human trafficking and operates a large scale drug operation. Thus, we have decided to force you to confess your crimes with your own mouth. We will steal your distorted desires without fail!

From The Phantom Thieves of Hearts"

The card folded and crumpled under Kaneshiro's grip. "Where did you find this?"

"They're all over Shibuya… it's… it's a storm of cards out there. But… that's not where we found that one." Fearing for his life, the man slowly stepped away. He made sure not to say the wrong thing and keep himself as clear as possible. Though, judging by Kaneshiro's growing rage, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Stop bullshitting me, where the hell did this come from!?"

"Storehouse B! We lost the shipment we were keeping there and… one of our guys… someone killed him."

Kaneshiro roared, shot to his feet and put a foot directly through the thick wooden coffee table. Wine and food was thrown everywhere and the wood splintered under the impact.

"There's… more… sir."

"What…?"

"More of these cards were left at our warehouse. Specifically only in the crates we use for smuggling."

The room fell into complete silence. A pin dropping would have been like a bomb going off.

The lowly lackey gulped.

"We're under attack." Kaneshiro spoke with an odd calm to his voice. A cold stillness. He strode toward the window overlooking the city and cracked open the blinds. A single ray of morning light burst into the room. "These Phantom Thieves are declaring war. I want to know who they are and how the hell they know my… name…" Something clicked in his mind. The calm remained as his eyes narrowed. It was so obvious he could laugh. "Those kids… they talked after all. What to do, what to do." A sickeningly wicked grin curled across his jaw. "If these Phantom Thieves think they can take me down, let them try. If anyone not with us tries approaching any of our holdings… kill them on sight."

"Yes sir…"

As the lackey cowered and left the room, the grin on Kaneshiro's face remained as if cemented in stone. Many had tried this exact stunt over the years. They had all failed, walking to their deaths. This would be no different.

No different at all.

He was in charge. He held all the power.

In his subconsciousness, his inner self scoffed at the thought.

[Come get it if you can, insignificant pests.]