~Joker's POV~

I was sitting in a tree watching the cars roll up. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Great...Now I don't get to have any fun. I thought. Then a familiar car rolled up. One that I had memorized a while ago. Karma Akabane stepped out and started talking to a tall man with black and spiky hair. I think his name was Karasuma. I leaned a little closer trying to hear what they were talking about. "...sure they're here?" Karma questioned. "...Sighting...Joker...." I couldn't hear anything else since he was farther away than my red headed detective. "Has anyone else seen anything?" Karma questioned. From the bits and pieces I heard apparently someone saw me and reported me. Well d*mn I need to be more careful next time. My eyes never left the detective. He ran a hand through his crimson red hair before sighing. Then he froze mid sigh. This caused me to tense up. He slowly lowered his hand towards his pocket. "....wrong?" Karasuma questioned. Karma didn't say anything. He looked from the corner of his eye at the tree I was in. Wait...no...he's looking at me. He whipped around pulling his gun out of his pocket and shot right at me. I ducked quickly the bullet going right over my head. The loud noise rung in my ears and silenced everything else. I held my breath not daring to move or even breath. His fierce glare never left the spot I was in as if he knew I was there. He then lowered his gun and smiled nervously at everyone else. "Sorry thought I saw something." He said scratching the back of his neck. I couldn't help but laugh. Not evilly, not insanely, normally. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. I ended up falling out of the tree but kept laughing even when I hit the ground. I heard guns cocking and people surrounding me. I opened my eyes to see them all glaring at me guns pointed at my chest and head.

This only caused me to laugh even more. "Oh my-oh my god." I said trying to breath but finding it hard because I kept laughing. "You were all so cute just a minute ago and now your f*cking terrifying." I said still laughing. Karma just stared at me his golden gaze full of confusion. "This...is the insane murderer that you people couldn't catch for what? Ten years?" He questioned. This caused me to laugh even more if that was possible. "I-forgive me for saying this but I find that hard to believe. Isn't their laugh suppose to be bone-chilling? That's-that's what I read in the reports anyway. I was not expecting a giggling girl." He said. I held up my hand staring to tear up from laughing. "P-please stop speaking! You're making it incredibly hard to breathe right now." I said while laughing. They all shut up while I rolled on the ground laughing. I eventually forced myself to stop laughing and breath. "Breath you idiot breath!" I shouted at myself. I sat up and slapped myself twice to snap out of it. I blinked a few times and slapped myself a third time. All three times my mask stayed on. I took in a few breaths and calmed down. I giggled and snickered every once in a while and whenever I did I would slap myself again. My cheek was red at this point from how many times I slapped myself. Once I had finally stopped laughing, chuckling, giggling, etc., I looked at everyone and smiled. "Sorry about that. I laugh randomly and can't stop because everything around me seems funny after I start laughing. I can't even count how many times I've nearly killed myself just because I forget I need air to live. It creeps the f*ck out of everyone around me." I said rolling my eyes. (Am I the only one with this problem?????)

They all sweat-dropped. "Are we sure this is Joker?" Karma questioned looking at Karasuma. "I...don't even know anymore." Karasuma admitted. I looked around me and took note of all the detectives here. Some I recognized. Others I had no idea. "I had a feeling we might be dealing with Grell when I read the reports. For some reason that seemed more likely than this." Karma said. I started to laugh again. "Well I wouldn't want to give a reaper a run for their money but I'm pretty sure I could do the job more officially than him...her?" I said that last bit in a questioning tone. "Hold up...You get the reference?" He questioned. I shrugged. "I get most references." I said honestly. Karasuma gave Karma a look. "Quit talking to the criminal..." He trailed off since he was unsure of himself. I giggled evilly. "Let's see how many detectives I recognize~." I said in a sing song tone. I pointed to a blue haired girly looking one. "Nagisa Shiota. Age: 25. Favorite color: Blue. Ability: Can tell when someone is lying instantly." I recited. I pointed to an orange haired male. "Gakushuu Asano. Age: 26. Favorite color: Orange. Ability: Can intimidate almost anyone he comes across. Very intelligent, and knows his was around martial arts." I pointed to Karma. "Karma Akabane. Age: 26. Favorite color: Red. Ability: Not only is he the best fighter but is highly intelligent. Known for his amazing feat of solving ten cases in only one week he is by far the most officiant in the detective agency." I recited while smirking. I also recited the files for Okada, Terasaka, and everything I knew about Karasuma.

I hummed a little looking around the circle of detectives. "I don't know the rest of you. That's odd. I thought I had Kitsune steal all the files. Oh wait, you're probably government agents or something like that." I said. "So let's see." I said pointing at Karasuma. "We've got the stuff shirt. A sadist. The living embodiment of gender neutral. Chemistry Demon. Mr. Perfect. And the puppet." I said continuing down the circle. Karma snickered to himself. "SHUT IT AKABANE!" Terasaka yelled. "At least I'm not denying the truth." He said with a shrug. "Yeah...she totally nailed you guys." Asano said. The started arguing among themselves. I just slowly got up to not alert them and starting backing away to the fence. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Karasuma yelled. All the guns were on me again. "Well dang I thought that might work." I said with slight disappointment. They all surrounded me but my back was to the fence. "Alright now. Let's calm down with the guns. You're scary I get it." I said rolling my eyes. "How do you know so much about us?" Asano questioned. I smirked. "Come now. Surely you all know? It's the first rule of mental combat after all." I said. They all gave me looks. My smirk grew. "Know your opponents. Know who's in charge. Learn everything about them. Hobbies, relationships, past occupations." Once I said that Karma tensed up. "I know everything about you people. About your pasts. Your skills. Even down to blood type." I said. I started to laugh insanely. "After all...If I don't know my opponents....How can the game be any fun?" I questioned. Then I heard it. The chime of midnight. *Ding, dong, bing, bong. Bing, bong, ding, dong.* I quickly looked behind me. "S*it." I muttered. I felt what little hold I had on my sanity slip away. Red slowly creeped into my typically (E/C) eyes and I felt my pupils dilating into slits.

"Oh my. It appears I'm out of time." I said with a sigh. "What you got a date or something?" Terasaka questioned. "Of course not. You must've misunderstood the meaning to the phrase 'I'm out of time'." I said slowly, reaching for my knife that was sheathed on my side. "Because when I said 'I'm out of time' I'm not referring to 'I have someplace to be' no." I said slowly grabbing my knife. "I was talking about what little control on my sanity that I have. Because I lose all control I have at midnight." I said. I pulled out my knife and held it to my own neck right over a vital area. They all flinched back when they saw the knife but tensed up now that I held it to my own neck. "You know that old saying 'you'll never take me alive'? Well it applies to me very well. Take one step forward and I slit my throat." I growled threateningly. They all slowly lowered their weapons. I started laughing insanely again. "No one ever expects the criminal to take themselves hostage! That's my best trick! Because I'm not scared of death the way others are. Other criminals are scared to die. So they go quietly. But not me, no. Even with a broken mind my body refuses to let me get taken away." I said more or less to myself. "She's bluffing." Terasaka growled still having his gun pointed at me. I titled my head to the side and pushed my knife against my neck drawing blood. "Am I?" I questioned. It stung but I ignored the pain. Asano pushed Terasaka's gun down and shook his head. "Have you ever wondered why the most insane criminals are the best at mind games?" I questioned drawing their attention back to me. They all stared at me in confusion.

"It's because you can't trick a broken mind." I said with a smirk. "And when you have a broken mind, you don't fear death. Take a step forward I die by my own hands. You could shoot me but you need me alive don't you?" I questioned. "That's the beauty of insanity. You can be faced with death but you're not afraid of it. In fact it excites you to no end." I said with a small smirk. Then my eyes widened in realization and I burst out laughing insanely again causing them all to be on edge. "Oh my-oh my god now I understand what Emerald meant when she said she couldn't tell if I was a sadist or a masochist!" I said while laughing. I stopped laughing, calmed down by another round of me slapping myself. "Sorry about that. But speaking of Emerald I have a party to get back to hosting. I'm sure Silver and Rose are wondering where I ran off to. Sorry I have to cut this short but duty calls am I right?" I questioned. With that I backed up to the fence and used my free hand to climb up it. I stood on top of the fence with my knife still on my neck and my back to the detectives. I stuck my hand in my pocket and took the knife off my neck and rested it on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder at them instead of at the full moon in front of me and my blood red and slitted eyes locked with the golden gaze of the red headed detective. A cold wind blew through stirring my tail coat and hair. I smiled slightly. "Oh one more thing. Don't follow me. I won't hesitate to stab someone." And with that I jumped off of the fence and fled into the forest that was behind the museum. (Somebody f*cking draw this for the love of Blaze!)

~Karma's POV~

Once she had disappeared into the treeline everyone released a breath they were holding. My cheeks were tinted pink but I dismissed it as being cold out. "She left. I think we can go now." Okada said. I shook my head. "No. There's still a chance she could come back." Karasuma said. Their conversation continued on but my thoughts kept coming back to Joker. She laughed normally at first, got an anime reference, and her eyes were (E/C). She seemed normal somewhat. But then after midnight... I stuck my hand in my pocket and my other hand grabbed my own chin. My gaze was downcast. This was the look I made when I was thinking. I can say that was Joker with 100% confidence so Joker is female. And it seemed that after midnight is when that crazy starts showing. The case file did say her victims time of death was estimated to be around or after midnight. So that all matches up. But what I don't understand is why her eyes turned red and then turned into slits. I could see it through her mask but it still seemed impossible. But those eyes... My thoughts trailed off as I shook my head to clear it. My hand moved from my chin and I bit my thumb. I sign that I was deep in thought. She also mentioned people. So does that mean she has partners. She mentioned a Kitsune collecting files on the detectives in the agency soooo. But there's no way someone from the outside could get into those files. And the only detectives with high enough clearance to get into those files... I stopped biting my thumb and put my hand over my mouth as I looked up at the other detectives around me. ...Is someone here. I finished. But who? I started to bite my thumb again. I know I didn't give her the files...and I feel like Karasuma wouldn't be working for her...So who?

"One of us is a traitor." I said aloud. The others looked at me in shock. "Joker mentioned 'Kitsune' is the one who stole the files for her. Our files are high security and can only be obtained by someone with equally high level clearance. That means me, Karasuma, Nagisa, Terasaka, Okada, and Asano. I know I didn't give her the files, hell I didn't even know about this case until this morning." I said shooting a glare at Karasuma. "And I know Mr. K wouldn't do it for reasons obvious." I said. I put my thinking face on. "Terasaka isn't smart enough." I said. "HEY!" He yelled. "And I can't narrow it down any further without me doubting myself. Sorry guys I don't want to suspect you but evidence points to there being a traitor. And said traitor has to have high level clearance. Nagisa seems to innocent to be working for someone like her but anyone can be holding up a mask. Okada's to shy but once again anyone can be faking. And I honestly can't see it being Asano. He's been with this agency for so long but he has some of the highest clearance possible." I continued muttering after that not paying attention to the others around me. I silenced myself as a few more pieces slid into place.

"She mentioned people...I was checking online and there are rumors of her working with someone." I said suddenly making them all focus on me again. "And she seemed officiant. I can see a few other things that would make her seem like a good leader. Things like posture. The ability to go from kind to scary in one second flat. Also that look in her eyes tells me that she could lead an army if it came down to it. She looks like she was raised to lead." I said mostly to myself. I pulled out the case file that Karasuma gave me. I flipped it open and hit the page with the back of my hand. "Ya'll think that she has two to three people working for her tops. But that's wrong." I looked up with a smirk. "I propose that she has an entire organization. That explains why she's remained elusive for so long. She has..." I trailed off putting the case file under my arm and getting out my notebook and pencil. "Hang on let me give you a solid figure." I said starting to do the math. After a few calculations my eyes lit up. "I'd say, and keep in mind this is a rough estimate, about fifteenth to twenty-five people working for her." I said looking up from my notebook with a small smile. "At least that's my guess taking into account that she'd need a few tech specialists. Weapons specialists. Maybe some followers and supporters. And she's got an undercover agent as well. I'd say second in command and a third in command incase something happened to her. And a senior murderer or murderers guiding her perhaps? There's a lot of factors to consider but this is the best I came up with. Now that I think about it she might have different divisions with one person in charge of each. Like a security division, a tech division, so on so forth." I continued mumbling to myself about different possibilities until I felt someone pat my shoulder. I stopped mumbling and looked up. It was Karasuma with a smile on his face? WTF!? "Nice going Karma!" He praised. I was in shock. "Did you just...praise me? With my first name no less?" I questioned still in shock. He returned to his normal stoic expression and fixed his tie. "Yes, but don't expect it to often."

I started smirking. "KARMA NO!" Nagisa shouted at me. "Karma yes." I responded. "Woooooow. Thanks Mr. K! I had no idea you were capable of praise but it's nice to know I'm appreciated." I said in the snarkiest tone I could muster. "Karasuma, Karma's ego is big enough as is. You're not helping." Asano said. "Thanks for reminding me why we never praise you. Goodnight everyone. You all deserve some rest." Karasuma said walking to his car. The government agents he brought for this went to their cars as well. Me and my former rival and former classmates all stood in a circle. "So one of us is a traitor?" Nagisa questioned in a fearful tone. "Don't f*cking look at me." Terasaka growled when everyone's gaze flew to him. "Apparently I'm too dumb." He growled eyeing me. I held up my hands in mock surrender. "Don't look at me either. I didn't have a f*cking clue about this case until it was brought to my attention." I said with a smirk. "Look you can keep bickering about this but I'm going home. It's been a long day and I'm tired." Asano said walking to his car. One by one we all started leaving until I stood alone. I sat in my car with the heater on my thoughts revolving on how Joker kept her eyes on me whenever she was talking. Minus the times she was addressing the others. I chuckled remembering she called Nagisa the 'living embodiment of gender neutral'. But my thoughts reverted back to her gaze. It felt familiar. Wait a minute....

"THAT F*CKING B*TCH HAS BEEN STALKING MY A*S WHAT THE F*CK!!!!" I shouted. I gripped my steering wheel and banged my head onto it causing the horn to honk loudly. "WHAT THE F*CKING F*CK F*CK! HOW DID I NOT F*CKING NOTICE THAT UNTIL NOW!? THAT DAUGHTER OF A B*STERED!" I shouted. I started cursing so much it'd make a sailor blush. Something hit the roof of my car snapping me out of my rage. I heard laughing. I knew that laugh because I had just heard it a lot about thirty minutes ago. Joker slid down from the roof of my car onto the hood still laughing. I just stared at her having her laughing fit. Oh this f*cking b*tch thinks it's funny. I thought. "And just for the record. I'm laughing at your reaction. Nothing else." She said as if she read my mind. She opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes were still red but no longer slitted. Her gaze locked with mine. Why is it so easy to make eye contact with her? I thought. She sat up looking like she was in pain and slid off of my car. She looked back at me. "Sorry about that." She said dusting herself off. That's when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A pin on her outfit. Right above where her heart is. It was a circle with nine colors on it. Orange, black, blue, green, red, yellow, pink, brown, and right in the center was purple.

"Anyways." She said. "Just...forget that happened. That was really embarrassing for me." She said facepalming. She then ran off quickly. I stepped out of my car and looked around. "What the hell did she fall out of?" I questioned. I looked up and saw one of those street lamps. "Was she balancing on that?" I questioned. (And that's all you're worried about? Geez some detective you are.)

~Joker's POV~

After running all the way back to the hideout I sat down in the council room. I pressed the intercom button that was on my arm rest. "The leaders of each division report to the council room. I repeat. Report to the council room leaders of the divisions." I said. I released the button and waited. Pretty soon all the leaders filed in and sat at their respective seats. There are technically eight divisions in my organization each with their own respective color. Spy Division, Security Division, War Division, Tech Division, Heath Division, Service Division, Cooking Division, and the Follower Division. I was very serious when it came to seating arrangements. I sat at the head of the table and on my right was Dragonheart, Kira, Kitsune, and Silver. On my left was Demon, Midnight, and Shadow. I removed my mask and the others did the same. Now it was Flame Leader of the War Division, Light Leader of the Follower Division, Asano Leader of the Spy Division, and Itona Leader of the Tech Division on my right. And Breeze Leader of the Security Division, Midnight Leader of the Service Division, and Shadow Leader of both Health and Cooking Divisions on my left. I called up Isogi to be the dealer for a poker game. He walked in with a smile. "Evening everyone. I'll be your dealer tonight." He said in a cheerful tone. Isogi loved to help so he didn't mind being in the Service Division. Midnight nodded to him and he started dealing out the cards and giving us our poker chips. "Alright Joker. Explain why we're out here." Light demanded. "First things first. Ryuk, he hasn't been overusing the notebook right?" I questioned the god of death behind the brown haired male. "Nope. Now can I have my apple now?" He questioned. I tossed him the apple so he'd shut up. "Asano. Has Mastermind gotten his assignment?" I questioned the strawberry blond male. "Yes. Mastermind is on the move." He said. I nodded. "Before I move on into business is there anything else anyone wants to say?" I questioned. Itona nodded. "We need more members. We're incredibly short handed." He said. Breeze nodded. "Yeah. I agree." She said her blue eyes digging into her sister on the other side of the table. Breeze is my left hand so to speak and she's got the sharpest senses of anyone around. Besides her sister Flame. I put her in charge of the Security Division for reasons obvious. (Hey sister I put you in the story hope you don't mind!) "Don't give me that look Breeze. I have a feeling Joker will pull through." The black haired female said eyeing me. I sweat-dropped. "You have to much faith in me Flame. But I'll try my best." I said nodding to the older female. Flame was one of my top warriors, and a senior murderer. Just like her sister she's got top notch senses and intuition. She's my right hand so to speak. She's what I like to call knife smart. (YO IT'S ME!)

"While we're on the topic of staff. Hara and Yada want to be moved to the Security Division." Light said looking at Breeze. The Follower Division is more or less a trial division to see what you're good at. After that you can request to be placed in the division you want. Either that or the leaders decide. "Hara and Yada? Well I mean Yada I can understand but Hara? I thought she'd want to be placed in the Cooking Division." Midnight said. Shadow sweat-dropped. "I'm pretty sure she'd just eat all the food instead of prepare it." She said. We started up the game of poker and continued talking about it. "They both understand that Breeze is short handed and they want to help the best they can. Besides you'd be surprised how fast Hara is when food is on the line." Light said. "I can work with that." Breeze confirmed nodding. "Then are we in agreement?" I questioned. "Aye." Everyone chorused. "Then request approved. Hara and Yada will be in the Security Division starting tomorrow." I said. Isogi smiled knowing that his old classmates got their request approved. "Back to the topic of staff. Joker, is the plan in motion yet?" Midnight questioned. I smirked. "They finally put Karma on the case. And all the pieces are in place. That's what I called all of you here for." I said. A lot of them smirked and others looked interested. Midnight smirked. "Someone's got a crush." She teased looking at me. I shook my head. "You're crazy. I don't have a crush on him." I denied. "She's in denial." Flame teased. "Shut it the lot of ya." I barked. "Back to the topic at hand. Asano I'm expecting you to help him out with the first few clues. Subtly of course." I said looking at him. He nodded. "I'll have to be careful though. You sure picked one hell of a detective. He's already guessed there's a traitor and narrowed it down to me, Nagisa, and Okada." Asano said. I froze right there as did the others. We all looked at him. He started sweating a little. "Oh right I forgot to mention that."

Flame shot him a glare. "Anything else you forgot to tell us?" She questioned pulling out her knife. "I was getting to that." He said quickly. Itona shot him a look. "Spit it out already." He growled. "He also guessed a few things correctly. He guessed that we might have divisions and he managed to get the exact number of members too." Asano explained. I thought for a minute then chuckled. "Wooooow. I really did pick one hell of a detective didn't I?" I questioned. "Tread lightly Joker. Picking a strong rival can lead to your downfall." Light reminded. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we get it Mr. 'God of the new world'." I said. He looked away in embarrassment. "Place your bets." Isogi said. "All in." I said. The others repeated my words pushing their chips forward. "You're taking a huge gamble with Karma. You know that right?" Shadow questioned. "And SHOWDOWN!" Isogi announced. Everyone showed their hands all except me. And for some reason Flame was playing with...UNO cards? We all sweat-dropped at her weirdness. "Where did you even get those?" We questioned. She just shrugged. "Magic." She said. "That's your answer to everything." Asano said sweat-dropping. I smirked. "Well to answer your question Shadow." I said my smirk growing wider with a crazy look in my eyes. "It's because I hold all the cards." I said revealing a hand full of jokers. They all stared at me in shock. "WHAT THE HELL JOKER!!!!" They all shouted. I sweat-dropped. "HOW DID YOU GET THOSE!" Flame yelled. "YOU CAN'T GET THAT KIND OF HAND IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Asano screamed. "LIES, HACKS, CHEATING, I CALL HACKS, SHE IS A F*CKING LIAR AND A CHEATER!" Itona shouted. "But when I said I hold all the cards." I said silencing them all. "I wasn't joking." I said with a smile. "Because those detectives have no clue what they're getting into. And they have no idea about what's about to happen." I said my red eyes slitting. "Life is a game, Karma. Do you play with luck or skill I wonder." I said. The others said nothing. But the same thought ran through their heads. 'I wonder how this will play out in the end.'