~Karma's POV The Next Day~

I was chatting with Asano and Nagisa the next day. "By the way Karma. I didn't find any finger prints on the card." Nagisa said. "D*mn. Well did you find any invisible ink?" I questioned. "Okada's looking into it now." Nagisa responded. I sighed. "Well if there's any invisible ink of any kind I'm sure Okada will find it. The question is how it's activated." I said. "That's true. For all we know it could be activated by heat or by a black-light." Asano said. "He's right." Nagisa said nodding. I agreed. Karasuma walked up. "Morning everyone." Karasuma said. Should I tell him about Joker stalking me? I thought. No it's only a theory...Not worth wasting his time.

"Anyways. I've called in an old retired detective to help with the Joker case." Karasuma said. "Really?" Asano and Nagisa questioned. "Who?" I asked, eye twitching subtly. "You remember the Kira case?" He questioned. "Yeah. That was the case that got shut down halfway through. But ever since then Kira's killings have gone down tremendously." Nagisa said. Karasuma nodded. "You all know about the detective who was in charge of that case right?" He questioned. "The famous detective L right?" I asked. "Right. He retired early after the case was shut down for unknown reasons correct?" Asano questioned. Karasuma nodded. "Right. Well because I want as much professional help as I can get on this case I pulled a few strings and managed to get him on the case as well." Karasuma announced. I don't know why, but I feel offended for some reason. I thought to myself, but I didn't let it show. Asano and Nagisa both looked shocked. "But...How?" Asano questioned. "Yeah. I thought he said he wasn't going to take anymore cases." Nagisa said. "I don't know either. I told him it was the Joker case and he said he'd do it." Karasuma said. The front doors swung open drawing everyone's attention to them. A guy walked in. He had messy raven black hair and equally black eyes. He wore a white baggy T-shirt and baggy blue genes. He didn't wear any shoes and was slouched slightly. He looked tired.

"Which one of you is Karma Akabane?" He questioned in a monotone voice. His expression was void of emotion just like his voice. Everyone except Karasuma pointed at me. I sweat-dropped. "Alright what did I do this time?" I questioned with a sigh. Karasuma hit me in the head. "Ow!" I shouted rubbing my head. "Sorry about him. He's an idiot." Karasuma said glaring at me. "An idiot that determined that we have a traitor in our midst." I mumbled to myself while standing up normally. "But yes. I'm Karma. Is there something you need?" I questioned. Wait a minute...Don't tell me....It is isn't it? I thought. "Judging from your reaction you've probably already figured out who I am. Anyways back to the topic at hand." He said walking over to where I'm standing. "I want to know everything you've uncovered about the Joker case. That includes theories as well." He said. "Right." I said nodding. "Can I get you anything?" Karasuma asked politely. "Oh that must have hurt. I had no idea you were capable of being polite." I said with a smirk. Karasuma shot me a glare. If glares could kill Karasuma would be under arrest for murder right now. "Yes. Someone get me some cake and tea. Make it snappy if you will." He said in that same monotone voice before asking me to take him to my office. I nodded and led him off. I sat down in my chair and pulled out the updated case file. He sat in one of the guest chairs...oddly. I wasn't going to question it. "So I'm just going to assume you're L am I right?" I questioned. "It's rude to assume stuff but you're correct. I'm the detective known as L. Can we continue please?" He questioned. I smirked slightly. "Impatient are we? But very well." I said with slight amusement. I opened up the case file.

"So far we know very little about Joker but we have confirmed a few things. We've confirmed that Joker is female, she prefers the use of knives, and that she's insane. But that was a given. All of her victims estimated times of death have been around or after midnight with a wound to the neck as the cause of death. So far we've found no relation to her victims. The success rate for her killings is a very high 99%. Of the 1% that survived her attacks none of them saw her face. Even so we know she has (E/C) eyes and (H/C) hair." I explained. I opened my computer and pulled up a list of females with that description. It was a long list. "We've made it very clear that she's insane. So I narrowed it down a little to those with mental illness of some kind." I said pulling up the list I made. "There are only ten on this list. But I can't narrow it down any more than that. Apologies. But I do have a few theories after our encounter with her the other night. I did some research last night and I have a little more ground for said theories." I explained. "Hmm, I see. Are you sure there are no relation to her victims?" L questioned. "I've only seen what's in the file I didn't get that much time to work the other night. And Karasuma would put it in the file.....Wouldn't he?" I questioned mostly to myself. Being honest it wouldn't be the first time Karasuma has withhold information from me. From most of us. But...Now that I'm thinking about it, it did take a long time for him to bring this case to my attention...He isn't hiding something is he? Wait is it possible that he's the traitor!? No. No that's impossible. He's been a government official for far too long. Maybe I'm just worrying over nothing. I thought shaking my head to clear it. "Sorry about that. I zoned out. What were you saying?" I questioned. "There is a relation between her victims. Karasuma shared this information with me before I was put on this case." He said. I was shocked. What the hell? I'm confused here. Why did Karasuma tell him but not me? Why did he.....No. My thoughts trailed off as a feeling of betrayal and dread set in. I got up silently just as Nagisa walked in. "I brought the...Karma are you alright?" Nagisa asked a trey of tea and cake. I smiled slightly. "No, no. I'm fine. I just need to walk around for a bit don't worry. Call me if you find out anything new alright?" I questioned. Nagisa nodded with a knowing look in his eyes. I pat his head on the way out. I ran into Asano. "Hey Asano. Bring L in there up to speed with what we've discovered so far. I need to walk around for a bit." I said to him.

I left, leaving no room for argument. I walked out the front door and made my way down to the park. It was empty at this time of day. I sat down on one of the benches. Karasuma...He doesn't trust me does he? I thought to myself. I ran a hand through my hair with a pained look in my eyes. That cuts deep. After everything that's happened he still can't trust me? What's in the past is in the past, he can't judge me for it anymore! I'm-I'm not the person I used to be! I thought shaking my head. Are you sure about that? A smooth male voice questioned. My head started pounding. I clutched my head. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I repeated mentally over and over. The longer you deny your true self the longer you will suffer. It reasoned. LEAVE ME ALONE! I shouted in my head as loud as I could. The voice left, leaving silence in it's wake. "I-I'm not...I'm not the monster I used to be." I told myself sternly. I just took a few breaths to calm myself down. Don't let it show. Don't let others know that things bother you. Stay calm. Stay strong. I repeated to myself mentally. "I'm okay. I'm alright." I said aloud. The pounding in my head stopped and I was able to think clearly again. I decided to avoid thinking about Karasuma for now and decided to focus on Joker. She mentioned knowing her opponents and displayed massive amounts of knowledge about me and everyone else. How much does she know about me? That thought alone made me shiver. When she said 'past occupations' she looked directly at me. Does she know? Or was she guessing? Oh please for the love of God let her have been guessing. I thought.

Then I heard a phone ring. It wasn't mine. I looked around and noticed the noise was coming from a tree. "Hello?" Someone questioned. The voice was female. But it was smooth and had the commanding tone of a leader, while at the same time sounding annoyed and tired. "Really? Mhm. Mhm. Alright got it but next time don't call when I'm sleeping. Yeah I know you can't know when I'm sleeping but still! Anyways I'll head there right away. Thanks for the heads up. Yeah. Later." She said. I saw a figure leap out of the tree to another one and eventually disappear. "What the hell was that?" I questioned. My phone rung, the Dragon force theme ringing out loud and clear. I picked it up. "What is it Nagi?" I questioned. "Good news and bad news." Nagisa said. "Good news is, we've found the invisible ink and found out how to activate it." He said. My eyes lit up. "Bad news, it's in code." He said. I nodded slightly. "I'll be there soon." I said hanging up the phone. I sprinted back to the office and ran downstairs to the lab. Everyone cleared a path for me as I put on a glove and snatched the card. Asano gave me a match. "Hold it close to the card. The ink is activated be heat." He explained. I nodded slightly holding the match over the card.

After a few minutes of thinking. "Someone get me a chair, a pencil, and a piece of paper." I commanded. Nagisa and Asano rushed off and brought me my stuff. "Hold these." I told Asano handing him the card and the match. Once he took them I grabbed the notepad and pencil. I scribbled down numbers 1-26 with a letter of the alphabet under each number. "Card." I said holding out my hand. I looked at the card then looked at my paper while scribbling down letter by letter. I placed the card down and looked at the message I had written out.

Y O U W A N T A N S W E R S? C O M E A L O N E K A R M A. -J

Under that was an address that I had scribbled down. It took a while for my mind to process it but once it clicked I pocketed the card she had left and ran out the door with the paper in hand. This isn't a good idea. I told myself as I started running to the address Joker. I know it's her. I can get answers. But this isn't a good idea. I thought. "I'm so going to die." I said aloud but my feet kept moving. I stuffed the paper in my pocket and while running made sure my gun was on me. Why the hell did I take the card and the paper!? No one else saw the d*mn code! I could get myself killed! Why won't I stop!? I thought angry at myself. I'm confronting a criminal that kills people, without back up! What the hell is wrong with me!? I thought shaking my head. I patted myself down. AND OF COURSE MY PHONE IS MISSING! I shouted mentally. I stopped in front of the alley, my breath coming in short pants. I pulled out my gun and made sure it was loaded. I'M ACTUALLY DOING THIS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!? I started walking forward into the alley with a monotone expression. My thoughts all silenced as I looked around. The sun had set and the alley was almost pitch black. "Heheheh, I'm a f*cking moron." I said quietly with slight amusement in my eyes. "I'm so gonna die. Great. I'm defiantly the smartest person in the world. Coming to meet an insane criminal with no back up and without letting the others know where the hell I was going. Yep. Someone give me a f*cking Nobel prize." I said sarcastically. "This is a trap I just know it. Welp if I'm lucky my death will be swift." I said with a small sigh. I held my gun at the ready pointing it at anything that moved as I advanced further into the alley. "Well? Where are you Joker? I know you're here!" I called my voice bouncing on the walls. It was silent other than the background noise of the city. Then I heard the quiet tap of boots. The gun was ripped out of my hand and I was pinned against the wall in an instant. I gazed into the same (E/C) eyes that I had seen the night before. I felt my own gun on my temple. The pair of eyes in front of me were cold and threatening. I was frozen. I knew one wrong move and I was dead. I was all tensed up. Then I let out a small sigh while closing my eyes and relaxing. Well it's not like I'm scared of death anyways. I thought to myself. "Bang."

The gun was removed from my temple and my eyes snapped open. Joker backed off, releasing me from her hold with a sigh. "It's no fun scaring someone if they aren't scared. That defeats the purpose." She said with slight disappointment. So many thoughts ran through my head in that one moment. I slowly slid down the alley wall and just sat there half laughing half crying. "Umm..." Joker looked at me weirdly. "Are you alright?" She questioned. "Nope. Not in the slightest." I responded. She sat down in front of me. "Umm...I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do here. Did I break you?" She questioned in an awkward tone. "Umm. Nope. You didn't break me. You broke my mind." I answered honestly. "I thought it was already broken." She said. "SO YOU DO KNOW ABOUT THAT!" I shouted after processing what she had just said. "Of course I do I know everything. Welp you're back to normal...I think. Do I need clock you back to your senses?" She questioned. "Nope, nope. I'm good." I said quickly. She sighed slightly. "Sorry about that but I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon." She said rolling her eyes. "It was a simple code. Anyone with a brain could figure it out in no time at all." I said honestly. "Did anyone else figure it out before you did?" She questioned. I sat there in silence for a bit. I took a deep breath and facepalmed. "Oh my God I really am the only smart one aren't I?" I questioned to no one. "Of course. Why do you think I choose you to play with?" She questioned. I looked at her. "I forgot who I was talking too there for a minute." I said with a sigh and another facepalm. "How do you forget that you're talking to a criminal that held a gun to your head no less than three minutes ago?" She questioned sounding confused. "I don't know! You were talking like a normal person!" I said. "Would you prefer insane talk? Cause I can do that too." She said. "Nope. I'm good right now." I said. I was just buying time at this point. That's when I noticed she was wearing that same pin she was wearing during my first encounter with her. I was about to ask about it but...

"So anyways here's your gun." She said handing me the weapon. I checked and it was unloaded. "When the hell did you find the time to unload this?" I questioned putting it away. "I'm good with slight of hand. Besides you were having a mental break down so you weren't paying that much attention." She said rolling her eyes. "Fair enough." I said with a sigh. God what the hell am I doing? I thought to myself. "Never, in all my years, have I ever maintained a conversation with a criminal that I'm suppose to be chasing. This-this is going to get me fired." I said. She started chuckling and laughing to herself. "Any who I've got a question for you." I said. "Shoot." She said. "Why did you call me here?" I questioned. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I.....Forgot.....D*mn this is awkward." She said scratching the back of her neck. "H-hang on let me think umm." She trailed off looking deep in thought. I laughed a little. "Shut it!" She said while pouting. I laughed more at how childish she was being. Yep there goes my job. I thought. "I honestly can't remember. Eh. Doesn't matter anyways. So anything else you want to ask me or-." She was cut off by a phone ringing. She sighed. "Some people have to worst timing." She growled to herself. She pulled a phone out of her pocket and answered it. "Hello?" She questioned. Her eyes widened. "WAIT SHE DID WHAT!?" She shouted. She started laughing uncontrollably. "Joker! Don't laugh we need your help!" The person on the other end shouted. "I-I'm sorry. I just. I just can't." She said in between laughs. "JOKER THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER WE NEED YOU OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!" The person, who I identified as male, screamed. "Alright. Alright. I'll be there soon. But you have really bad timing you know that?" She questioned returning to normal. "Yeah. Yeah. See ya soon. Later." She said hanging up. "Oops. Sorry I have to cut this short but..." She started snickering. "I have to deal with a....situation. Yeah. Let's call it that." She proceeded to stand up and dust herself off. "Oh and...Don't try anything. I still have knives on me." She said with a sinister smirk. A shiver went up my spine at the look she gave me.

She started walking away. "H-hold on!" I stuttered. She kept her back to me. "What is it?" She questioned in a more serious tone with her hands stuffed in her pockets. "Who's the traitor? Is there a traitor?" I questioned in a slightly panicked tone. She hummed quietly to herself. "I'm not suppose to tell you anything...Buuuuut, I do like seeing you try to figure things out. It's funny watching you struggle with clues...Hmm." She trailed off. I'm not sure whether to be offended or to pray that she tells me. "Well. I will tell you this." She said. She looked back at me with a smirk. "Anyone can be a wolf in sheep's clothing." She said. Wait. Who even uses that term anymore? Hold on, wolf in sheep's clothing? Nagisa? No, no it can't be that would be to obvious...Wouldn't it? I thought. She jumped up on one of the dumpsters before using the momentum and back flipping onto a balcony's railings. All with perfect balance and form. I watched her with wide eyes. She smiled at me and gave me a two finger salute. "See ya' Crimson Dragon." She said. I completely froze up when I heard that name. Dread and guilt flooded my senses along with sadness and regret. She seemed to notice this. "Oh. Before I go. Piece of advice." She said dragging my eyes back to her instead of the ground. She smiled kindly with a hint of sadness in it. "You shouldn't let others label you because of things in your past. As long as you can be yourself and be happy don't let your past define you." She said before jumping from the rail to the wall on the opposite side of her. She used the momentum again and pushed off from that wall to the other. Repeating this process she got onto the roof above and fled the scene. I sat there in both shock and awe. Don't let...my past define me? Why is she giving my advice? WHY DIDN'T I TRY TO CATCH HER!? What the hell is she doing to me? What does she mean by wolf in sheep's clothing? Was that a hint? Or was it her way of telling me to not trust-I SHOULDN'T EVEN BE LISTENING TO HER SHE'S PROBABLY LYING ABOUT SOMETHING! My thoughts continued swirling as I ran a hand through my hair. "Karma? Kaaaarma? Is he alright? Karma can you hear me?"

I looked up and saw Asano and Nagisa. "What the? What are you two doing here?" I questioned. "That's not important right now. Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost." Asano said. "Not a ghost." I said shaking my head. "A phantom." I corrected. They both gave me weird looks. "But seriously what are you two doing here?" I questioned. "We were walking around the area when we thought we saw a person running on top of the buildings. It looked like they were coming from this direction so we decided to investigate." Nagisa explained. I couldn't help but feel slight distrust for the blue haired male. "Karma why did you run off like that? Everyone was worried sick. Karasuma told everyone that they were dismissed for the rest of the day and told us not to worry about you." Asano said. My hands clenched when I heard Karasuma's name. "Karasuma..." I trailed off taking a deep breath. "He was right. I'm fine. Don't worry." I said with a fake smile. I stood up and dusted myself off. I was a good actor when I wanted to be. But I felt a growing hatred for the tall male deep in my heart. "So anyways I heard that there is a relation between Joker's victims. Do either of you know about that?" I questioned. I then smirked and gave them both a dark glare. "Or have you known from the start?" I questioned in a more threatening tone. Both of them paled slightly and looked away from my glare. I sighed slightly. "So you did know." I said. Asano sighed and looked at me. "Don't get us wrong. We all knew. Karasuma just made us swear to be silent. But I think since you're heading the investigation you should know." He said. "Then tell me." I demanded with a frown and firm glare. Asano sighed. Nagisa took out his phone and showed me a website. "The Dark Knights?" I questioned. "It's a fan site that we that we related to Joker after you said she might have an entire Organization. We were watching this site for the longest time, since it's got incredibly high security and when someone's name winds up here they end up dead. This site has two noticeable features. The poll. And the rankings." Nagisa explained. I was silent. "We found out about it's high security when he tried hacking the site to shut it down, but it's got layers and layers of fire walls and security. And the admin stays anonymous no matter what. We can confirm that this isn't some average fan that put together a site. If they've got this much security they're in direct protection of Joker. There's a lot of things we have to discus." Asano said. I nodded slightly. "My apartment isn't too far from here. Follow me." I said walking past them. I looked over my shoulder to check if they were following me and they were.

~Time Skip~

I gave Nagisa his tea and Asano his coffee before sitting down across from them. We were in the living room of my apartment. I sat in the master chair while they were on the couch. "Alright so tell me more about this site and how you traced it back to Joker." I said sipping on my own coffee. Nagisa pulled up the site again and showed me the poll. The question was 'Are the Dark Knights just?' with 78% saying yes. "This site has been around ever since Joker's first few victims. And after you deduced that Joker may be part of a large network, this site was the first thing we called into question. As you can see lots of people believe that what they do is just." Nagisa said, his face scrunched up in disgust. I looked at some of the comments under the question. 'Who do you think they'll go after next?' 'Lol! Come at me! Jk jk.' 'Dark Knights ftw!' I sipped on my coffee. "And what of the rankings you mentioned?" I questioned. Nagisa retracted the phone and swiped over. He held it out to me again only this time it showed an ever changing list. "This is where people vote for the next victim." Asano explained. I paled at that. "What is she a hitwomen?" I questioned. "You misunderstand." Asano said sipping his coffee. "She picks her targets with care. Not every name that pops up becomes her target." He explained. "So what is the relation between her victims?" I questioned. They both exchanged a look. "I don't think you get it." Nagisa said. "Every single one of her victims names have appeared on this site...And all of them were criminals." Asano explained.