Chapter Text
Despite how typically bright the night in Tokyo is, it has never been more alive as countless caravans of casinos and bars appear at an unusual density surrounding the area, almost like a village. Thousands walked up and down the concrete jungle, which could almost make millions of dreams come true as if there was nothing they couldn't do. However, there is one attraction that rivals all the rest, its imposing walls piercing the blinding lights of heaven: The Grand Restaurant of Deceit.
The abnormally large restaurant loomed in the night, blooming lights shined from its large stained windows, orchestra music echoing the halls within. The insides resembled almost a Michelin-recommended restaurant that presented ‘exotic and unique’ cuisines that were almost out of the world, which translates to awfully disgusting.
Inside were people wearing high-class to noble-status formal outfits as waiters and waitresses served their ‘exquisite’ food. The sound of utensils meeting plates as they cave into the delicious pleasure of food was ringing out of the room, evident that the guests were really enjoying the dishes.
Suddenly, a frightened gasp stopped the flow of time, “Ahh! Thieves!” The rest of the guests began to look up, only to feel a dangerous and ominous aura coming from one of the ceiling’s chandeliers.
Nine individuals stood on the ornament, staring at the crowd with a faceless aura. Their faces were unclear and unable to recognize the shadow that covered their frame. Whoever they were, they had business here, and they were satisfied. A flurry of footsteps echoed on the pavement and a door slammed open that revealed some men in suits. As they saw the Thieves, they immediately pulled up their guns and began to shoot at them, prompting the innocent guests to scream and get out of the scene.
One of the shadow figures raised a hand and seemingly ordered the rest of the group to attack the guards. One of them effortlessly slashed them with their golden stiletto knives, another punched them aided with her tonfa, another blasted them with lasers from their gauntlets – the list goes on and on. A black-clad figure removed what seemed a mask from his face and a ghastly entity revealed itself, immediately eliminating them with something reminiscent of black energy.
Just before another guard attacked, he pulled out his revolver and shot him down effortlessly. He pridefully swiped off the supposed ‘dust’ on his shoulder. He looked at the hallway that was opened for him and grinned – finally, an exit for Christ’s sake. A throat cleared behind him and as he turned around, he saw his teammates staring at him with a mix of exasperation, impression and a couple of rolling eyes as well.
“What?”, the man asked with a raised eyebrow as he eyed his comrades.
“You know you're that age now…", the one in a butler outfit scolded the man as she placed her hands on her hips, “Keep it up and maybe you’ll sprain a knee or two! Don’t come to me to help you with it!”
The one suited as some space girl chuckled lightly, “Let him have some fun,” she told her, “It’s not every day we feel this feeling of anticipation.”
Before they even tried to give themselves a break, more of the men were beginning to approach them. The one in iron with silver hair immediately took notice and turned to her comrades, “We have no time to stand around!”, she yelled as she pointed to the exit, “We need to get out of here, now!”
“The lady’s right,” the man in the scaled coat agreed as he placed down his bat, “We ain’t dying like idiots around here.”
The one in black – which is apparent that is their leader – immediately yelled out to his comrades and they were sprinting away out of the building. They ran on the red carpet and through different chefs and waiters, with wails and threats coming their way. They pushed away any cart or serving they met head first and even shot any guard that was going in their way, tableware and food flying from left to right and grunts of annoyance and shock echoed through the walls.
As they approached the exit, a trio of men in black suits blocked the door as their bodies began to morph into creatures that are akin to things from myths. Before the leader pulled off his mask, a blur of black and red rushed towards the three monsters and he pulled out his rapier, slicing them with ease, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. As the man turned back again to the group, he smiled at them and bowed at them – as if giving thanks – before exiting from the premises.
The Leader couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath and rushed forward to the door, breaking it open. However to his shock, their ‘exit’ was nothing more than almost suicide. He immediately stopped in his tracks and raised his arms to prevent his teammates from seeing their misfortune below them. They were hanging off one of the higher floors of the restaurants and all they could see was the evacuating civilians like small ants. The black one turned around to see the army of suited men marching towards them and then looked at the spy in desperation, “Check below for security.”
“Oh! You got it Leader-”, she stopped her sentence and looked at him with fear, “Wait! Are you going to make us JUMP?!”
“Are you fucking crazy?!” The one dressed in white glared at him, “Sure we are Thieves, but please have at least some sense in your old head! Are you even aware of how risky it would be?!”
“I know it is risky,” he relented as he huffed determinedly, “But do you want these guys to kill our asses or jump off?” Before he could finish his sentence though, it was suddenly cut off by a ringing of a gunshot from behind. Almost an army of men were rushing towards them, yelling curses as they were holding guns and frantically firing in their direction. Sweat began to drip down from the black-cladded man’s forehead as he looked down once more, adrenaline rushing into his veins as if he felt alive again. He turned to his comrades and saw their faces with worry and the same determination he was having as well and he looked at the last remaining one who was holding a halberd.
“I think we don’t have any other choice”, the scorched avenger noted, “Shall we do it, Leader? It is your call.”
A chuckle emitted from the cloaked man, giving his comrades a grimace minus the golden one. Without warning, their leader jumped off the building with some sort of grace, catching all of them off guard. With a frustrated murmur, the metal one followed suit, and the rest did so too. The guards behind them stopped in their tracks as the Thieves leapt away from them. But before they could do something about it, the restaurant began to shake all of a sudden and the rubble covered them in the process.
Unbeknownst to the crowd below them, nine adults were falling from some godforsaken sky, as if almost coordinated like some circus act. The moonlight hit it so perfectly that any bystander who would look up would just see nine silhouettes jumping off from the sky in a dramatic manner. Time seemed to have stopped as their frame met the light, accentuating their forms like a hawk gliding through the night sky.
With a briefcase in hand, the Thieves vanished seemingly in midair, no trace of their presence left unannounced. All that remained was the screams of the poor civilians and the sound of the once-known restaurant smashing down into plain rubble.
A young man in grey walked through the dark hallways in an unknown place, seemingly almost a holding place for criminals to be interrogated. It felt like it was almost as if it was eating him alive, tempting him to fall towards the abyss. But he needed nothing of that, he needed one thing from it – to save them. Thankfully through his connections, he had convinced the consensus that he was going to get rid of some ‘trash’.
But as he walked, he could feel his heart begin to throb loudly from his chest. He felt his world spinning as he heard almost familiar voices, screaming in pain and almost begging for help. His stomach churned as he walked past the rooms, eventually hearing their pleas:
“What the hell! W-we didn’t do shit!”
“Why... why did it have to be…me..”
“Agh! Enough please- Agh!”
“Sis….help me sis.. please..”
“M-mom….Sojiro..”
“I can’t…Father, help…”
Even after a moment, he heard a set of slams and even more screams that filled their respective rooms. He could hear shards of glass and possibly syringes being used as well, it was horrible to hear it. The only thing that was dreading his mind was what they even looked like after it. He felt his body pause as he heard a familiar scream from the room farther away from him. But with a heavy heart, he pushed forward.
Ignoring the wallowing cries he had heard, he forced himself to push despite his inner gut begging him to stop, actively trying to push him away from what he was about to witness. He shoved back the pleading voice in his head, tuning it out fully as he continued his trip through this hall he wished to call hell.
Approaching the room, he saw a suited man who was in front of the room. Great, he thought as he growled internally, of course, they were prepared for this. With a huff, the young man approached the figure, his face immediately plastered with his go-lucky innocent smile, “Hello, sir,” he greeted, “I am here to visit a friend.”
He can feel the guard glaring at him as he turns to his direction and all he can do is to keep his facade up. A dread filled his mind as he realised the situation. They were framed by the real Thieves, and he hated them for it. He was beginning to be impatient now – hurry up you prick. Finally, the guard nodded and opened the door, still eyeing the detective.
“Who sent you?”, the man asked stoically.
“You know who exactly sent me,” the boy replied with almost a strain on his voice. Suddenly, the teen’s phone rang and it revealed to be the man he loathed. Gritting his teeth in hesitation, he answered the call.
“Brat! What are you doing in there?!”, the distorted voice yelled out from his phone, causing the boy to wince. “Are you going to do it?”
The boy gulped, but a smile immediately flashed in his eyes, “Do not worry, I’ll get it under control.” He hung up his phone and glared at the guard, who finally left the premises. Letting out a heavy sigh, he pitched the bridge of his nose. “Of course, he would send someone to guard this one.”
Opening the door, he almost hurled at the sight right in front of him. A black-haired boy bound on his chair as his head hung low, his body almost lifeless from the beating he endured. Bruises were seen on his face, blood dripping from his mouth and nose and a big black eye was plastered on him. His hands were tied behind his back until it bled. There were so many objects around him, most notably injections and his broken glasses.
The boy slowly looked up at the other, opening his mouth as he tried to croak out for help. The brown-haired boy sweat beads and immediately rushed in to free his friend. He stared at his face again with dread filling his body. He is losing him, no – he promised her to save all of them. Furthermore, he lifted the boy onto his shoulders and walked him out of the room.
He felt his breathing shallow, his body almost jelly from everything that happened to him. Even when the boy with the gloves picked him up, he began to scream out in pain. It seemed that everything, even his insides, was targeted too. The young man gritted his teeth as he saw his friend in this way, immediately giving space as he turned to look at him with a straight and worried face.
“Hey, can you talk?”, he tried to ask him, “I need to know what happened.”
A mumble came out of the beaten boy but was suddenly cut off by a gruesome coughing fit in which blood was beginning to come out from his phlegm. The suited boy was taken aback by the reaction, his hands beginning to shake at the sight of actual blood coming out from someone alive. He stared at him with a hint of desperation, his hands now clenching hard onto the latter’s shoulders as he shook his numb body. He yelled at him as he shook him unconsciously, “You have to tell me! Why in the world were you all targeted?!"
He paused for a bit and regained his composure as the boy in front of him began to regain his composure. His broken hands were gripping on his lap as he was panting frantically, begging for some air. “Thieves…” the beaten boy uttered as he began to cough up more of the blood that was convulsing out of his body, which in turn made the boy even more pissed and worried.
“What about them?!”, the brown-haired boy begged, “Tell me! What about the Thieves that did this to you?!”
“Nothing but trash”, the black-haired one finally spouted out, his voice filled with venom and remorse, “Nothing but pathetic no-goods that ruin the lives of people who want to live.” The boy stared with blank eyes, nothing can exhibit life from it any more.
The boy in grey stared in shock as he heard those words. The Phantom Thieves did this?! Despicable human beings they are, so they are the ones responsible for everything. From killing to torturing children, they’re all but scum of the earth.
“I hate the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.”