〘Date: 2/13 - Wednesday〙
〘Time: 8:00 PM〙
〘Location: Texas, Royal Creek - Royal Creek Arena〙
Tomi stared at me for a moment, looking me up and down and hummed softly. "So, this is The Fool...where did that other mask guy go?"
"Forget all that, Boss! The Swords got away! All there's left is The Fool and that baddie next to him," A Royal Heart said, his attention focused on me and Desiree.
Desiree gave the Royal Heart a cheeky finger wave, giggling softly with a sly grin. "Hiii~ So glad you still notice me..~"
Silas glanced around as well, noticing Wendy had disappeared as well within the chaos. He looked ahead, noticing I was gone and looked around quickly. "Keep your eyes peeled! He could be anywhere!"
The Royal Hearts began searching around at Silas's warning, each of them moving around to cover more ground. As they looked for me, a black blur began rushing around them, each blunt blow dropping each Royal Heart onto the ground.
One Royal Heart noticed her allies falling, panicking slightly and turned around to be faced with a high knee strike to her face, breaking her nose upon impact. I landed on the ground, grabbing her by her jacket and used her as a shield when Silas fired a dark energy blast.
I have a cold smirk, dropping the woman's body on the ground with a chuckle. "Friendly fire? That's not how the game is played...however, I doubt you know anything about being Friendly. Now, Anastasia is being very friendly to a certain Rising King you hate."
Silas growled lowly, moments of the Golden Crystals Gauntlet flashing in his head. He shook his head, wiping away any guilt he felt for walking out on Anastasia. "So what? I could care less about what that rotting gem is doing!"
"Ahh, what's his name? Ryder Moji Dawn? Ahh, a name that sounds grand, but it won't be bigger than my name...when the weasel finally...pops," I said cryptically, chuckling lowly before swiping my arm to create a screen of black smoke via Fire Energy.
Tomi grunted softly as he covered his mouth and nose, protecting himself from the smoke screen. 'This guy is absolutely unhinged. He beats the shit out of The Spades for Valerie, he's wrecking The Hearts for Matt...does this guy have no true alliance?'
I rushed toward Tomi, pressing my hand on his back to leave behind my Essence. Tomi turned around quickly in response, but I had already disappeared back into the cover of the smokescreen.
'It's not that I don't have true alliance, it's because...I am The Fool who plays all sides. I can be The Joker of Spades, or The Joker of Hearts...maybe I'll even go to the Diamond District and ruin them as well!' I replied to Tomi mentally, using Synco to synchronize with him mentally and spiritually.
Tomi grunted softly as he heard my voice in his head, his heart skipping a beat from pure shock and uncertainty. He watched as the smokescreen cleared, noticing the ethereal green energy flowing around my energetic, angry crimson black energy.
'Telepathy..? Only The Empath should be capable of that! How do you know it?!' Tomi asked mentally, staring at me with a bead of sweat riding down his forehead.
I stood silent, a smirk resting on my face as I looked between Tomi, Silas, and Tony. "So are we just gonna sit in silence? Not so tough now when The Fool is in front of you.."
Tony and Silas glanced at each other, the two of them slightly hesitant on how to act after seeing me dispose of The Royal Hearts. Tomi glared at me as he knew I didn't answer him on purpose, his eyes flashing with dominance.
'So you're gonna act like—'
'I heard you...' I said coldly mentally, my gaze shifting to Tomi's immediately.
Tomi's body shuddered heavily with an uncomfortable feeling, his arms and legs growing goosebumps for the first time in forever. He knew in this situation, he couldn't think of anything because I would hear it. He had to shut off the inner voice within him, the voice that made him so charming.
Tomi looked over at Silas and Tony with a regal eye, pointing at me with a steady finger. "What are you waiting on?! Go take him down!"
Silas grunted softly, shaking off his hesitation and charged toward me at high speeds with a dark energy strike. I slipped around his strike, elbowing his back, causing him to stumble forward. Silas caught his footing and turned around quickly, noticing I wasn't there.
"Over here," I said to his left, striking him with a clean sucker punch to his jaw.
Silas staggered lightly, shrugging off the blow then went for a roundhouse kick, but I performed Matrix Dodge into a front boosting double kick to his chest. Silas groaned as he crashed onto the ground, the wind knocked out of his body.
I rolled forward, mounting a top of Silas and surrounded my hand in Earth Energy, gray stones generating around my hand. Silas tried fighting me off, but I trapped us both in place by manipulating the ground beneath us to turn our bottom half into concrete temporarily.
"You wanted order..? Well here's a nice serving of it!" I yelled, landing a crushing blow to Silas's face, whipping his head into the ground and creating a small indent.
Leona slightly flinched at the brutal knock out on Silas, gulping lightly and slowly lowered her phone. 'They have nearly the same kit, but...that was too brutal even for a guy like Ryder. Oh gosh...'
I released my hold on our bodies, standing up and stomping on Silas's chest, caving him into the ground and leaving him in a critical state. I walked away from him, chuckling coldly and exhaled softly. "One down...two left. And I want him..."
Tony's heart skipped a beat as he noticed I was pointing at him, gulping heavily and taking a step back. "Hell nah, I'm not fighting this lunatic!"
"Too bad, you don't have a choice!" I called down, stomping on the ground and liquefying the concrete to make a muddy wave to drag Tony toward me.
I didn't give him a chance, charging toward him with a step up knee strike then spun around him to land on my feet. I gripped his hair tightly, running forward and planting him down face first with a Running Bulldog. Tony groaned in excruciating pain, holding his face as he felt his nose and teeth breaking.
I picked Tony back up, his fight or flight activating and causing him to push me away into a left hook. I endured his strike, chuckling lightly in his face and desynchronized from Tomi and used Synco on Tony.
Tony began backing away, his legs quivering in slight fear, his eyes fixated on me from pure petrification. I used Visions on Tony, projections of his next moves playing for a second before disappearing.
"You're going to try to sneak around me and hit the back of the knees right? That's what your fight or flight is telling you right?" I asked, a knowing smirk stretching across my face.
Tony froze for a moment, his entire body hesitating and now recalculating his next steps. His breathing began to grow more shallow, more concerned for his own safety. 'How did he know..? What the hell..?'
"I personally don't see the hype around your rule. You're all bark, no bite...just like a small Chihuahua. You are nothing, but your brother's shadow. A being merely meant to be forgotten," I scorned, my tone laced with dark venom.
Tony's heart skipped a beat with a mix of rage and a fragile ego, his eyes and nostrils flaring up with emotion. With a yell, he charged toward me and threw a wild punch, but I evaded it quickly with a demeaning chuckle as I slipped behind him.
"C'mon, you wanna prove you're not a foot soldier? Show me something worth believing in," I taunted coldly, nudging Tony forward with a disrespectful push.
Tony stumbled forward, turning around quickly and rushing toward me with more sloppy punches at the air. I dodged and parried each of his strikes, weaving under his left hook and sidestepped his right cross then shrugged my shoulders with a smug grin.
Tony yelled out and charged at me with a random clothesline, striking me across the throat and took me to the ground. He turned around quickly, noticing I had quickly recovered into a sweep kick, knocking him off his feet.
Tony grunted as he landed on his side, picking himself up off the ground. 'I can't let him get the upperhand! I—'
Before he could finish his sentence, I struck the side of his head with a heavy, dark energy roundhouse kick, the tip of my shoe striking against his temple. Tony's vision immediately became blurry, his body growing weaker as he fell onto the ground.
I stood over Tony's body, turning him over onto his back with my foot then crouched down, gripping his shirt and shrouding the two of us in darkness. Tomi's eyes slightly widened as he noticed the darkness shifting into a barrier where no one could see in or out. A barrier no one could enter or leave.
"What the— What is he doing?" Tomi asked, taking a step closer toward the barrier.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..~ That barrier will release a dangerous pulse of esoteric energy if you dare to near it," Desiree warned, glancing at Tomi with a cool gaze and a soft giggle.
Tomi grunted softly, balling his hands into fists and grit his teeth. 'What the hell is going on..? What is he doing to Tony..?!'
Tony grunted softly as he slowly opened his eyes, sitting up slowly and pausing as he noticed a golden stairwell before him. He glanced up, seeing Alina sitting atop of the stairway on her throne, glancing down at him with a judgemental gaze.
He noticed another person standing beside Alina, hearing the sounds of conversation, though he was too distant to hear what they were saying. Squinting his eyes a bit, he began to focus on the second person, his eyes widening with recognition.
"As much as I know you want to kill him... To do so will be injustice. You simply do not have enough evidence to justify Essence Execution upon Tony. The Royal Okami Jumonji Yari is prohibited..."
I nodded at Alina's guidance, turning my gaze toward Tony and began to walk down the stairwell. Golden esoteric energy began to gather around my hand, a golden gauntlet forming from the magic particles. "You're awake...it didn't take as long as I thought..."
Tony quickly stood up onto his feet, backing away from me and looked around, seeing darkness everywhere except along the stairwell to the throne. "What the hell is this?! Ryder, where am I?!"
I stopped in front of Tony, adjusting my gauntlet and meeting his gaze with a serious expression. "You are in the Domain of The Ace: The Throne Room. This is where you shall be judged and tried, however...tonight is your lucky night as you've escaped Death.."
Tony shuddered at my cold words, his eyes narrowing away from mine as he couldn't keep eye contact for longer than a second. 'The Ace...? No way...no way this failure is The Ace!'
"You seem to have knowledge about The Ace and masks. Care to share with your jury?" I asked, staring at him with cold, calculated eyes.
Tony froze once more, his eyes darting to me as I read his thoughts. His entire body shuddered, the invasion of privacy nulling his thoughts nearly instantly.
Moments of silence passed, Tony remaining quiet from exposing any information he held within. I awakened Sixth Sense, scanning Tony's clothing and noticed golden essence upon his clothes. I used Synco upon the Essence, closing my eyes and listening closely.
The voice was silent, as if it their spirit was currently inactive. Knowing this fact, I decided to use Retro, listening in on their past voices and distant echoes.
"...The Ace is in Royal Creek huh..? Huh? Do you even know about the Masked Users?"
"Heh...I guess Fredrick hasn't filled you in on anything."
'That voice sounds exactly like Benedict...yet,' I thought to myself, opening my eyes and meeting Tony's hesitant gaze.
"Hmph...so you don't know much about us Mask Users. However, your brother does and when I find out he is associated with the Lost Syndicates, I will have him dead immediately," I vowed, stepping closer to Tony and gripping his shirt.
"But you aren't safe either...My beef with you is still personal and now that you're out, I will do everything to make sure your life is hell every time I see you. I will make sure you have nothing to hide behind after I erase Fredrick and burn down his false image," I continued, my eyes glowing with a primal wrath.
Tony slightly shivered in my grasp, his gaze attempting to hold what little confidence he had left. "So what if you're The Ace, or some Tribal Prince from an overrated tribe? You will never amount to anything that my family is! You have no stable support, all of your current allies are fickle and will drown in the pressure just as they did four years ago!"
"And you will be known as the biggest failure of them all! I will have your heritage's name smeared through the mud—" Tony continued, his words cutting out as my fist crashed against his face.
I took Tony to the ground and unholstered my handgun, stepping on his chest and aiming at his head. I cocked back the hammer of the gun, loading the bullet into the chamber, my finger held against the trigger. "Don't fuck with me, Tony. I will end you and your entire bloodline without a second thought."
"Your threats are nothing but empty words. Pathetic, just like your meaningless existence. Your only purpose is to leech off others like a cheap trick," I insulted, staring down at Tony with a heartless gaze. "Your brother attempted to make me an example earlier...he thought he had me beaten. He had the King in checkmate..."
"He did nothing, but awaken the Tribal Leader within. When you see your brother...talk with him. Tell him to kiss his fiance. Tell him to talk with your mother, to have nice conversations with her. Tell him to spend as much time with Piper as he can... because when I come back around after dealing with the Spades..."
"I will take away everything he ever loved. I will pray to Tengoku and Jigoku to forgive me for overstepping my boundaries... because Royal Creek will see The Son of Shiro Moji roaming the streets..."
Tony froze at my reveal of who I truly was, his chest tightening as it seemed as his heart stopped. The darkness around him began closing in around him, the memory of him burning Haku's posture replaying in his head in full.
"Pray to Gaia that I don't find your significant other either...Vaquer Diaz. Yeah, you didn't think I knew you were dating Royal Creek's Diamond Belleza? Foolish of you to underestimate me," I said coldly, staring into Tony's cautious, yet intimidated gaze.
Tony began breathing heavier as I lowered myself, flinching slightly as I pressed the barrel of my gun against his head. "Fuck you..."
"Very mature...but allow me to give you my plans. I won't be taking only your name, but your money, your status, your people, your women...and I won't do it by force. No...I will do it by exposing you all for the sleazy worms you all truly are," I promised with authority, standing up and holstering my gun.
Tony glared at me, his breathing still heavy yet his guard slightly dropped as he watched me holster my weapon. Before he got a chance to say anything else, I summoned a powerful burst of wind to blow Tony out of my domain, his body crashing through the barrier and rolling beside Tomi.
Tomi watched as the barrier slowly crumbled into dark energy particles, a rush of black winds howling with great might and blinding everyone around temporarily. Tomi guarded himself from the winds, sliding away slightly and looked ahead, catching a glimpse of me and Desiree escaping the area.
The winds ended, the area only filled with the defeated bodies of The Hearts and Tony. Tomi looked down at Tony, helping him up and noticed a red lock sigil glowing upon his neck. He looked ahead at where I once stood, his mind flooded with questions.
Leona stopped recording the scene, looking down at her phone with the recording and began replaying the video from the beginning. 'The Fool made easy work of The Hearts...made easy work of Silas and Tony...and didn't even have to fight Tomi to disarm him...'
Leona looked up from her screen, letting out a deep sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. "Shit...now we gotta deal with a vigilante with no moral compass other than fighting injustice. That's the whole damn city..."
With another deep grumble, she got off the roof of her car and got inside, starting the engine and driving off at high speeds. The sounds of sirens and chatter filled the air, medics and police forces alike helping to get Silas and Tony attention as soon as possible.
〘Time: 9:15 PM〙
〘Location: Texas, Royal Creek - Rich Residency〙
Valerie laid on her bed next to her sleeping daughter, gently stroking her hair as she stared down at her. She leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, letting out a deep, maternal sigh. She gently laid down on her back, grabbing her phone and unlocking the screen.
She began to scroll through her socials, her feed filled with moment of the match between me and Fredrick. She began watching through a few highlights, her lips curling into a smile as she listened to the cheers of the crowd and the commentary from Rick and Larry.
She scrolled onto another video, noticing it was a highlight of me when I used my Essence Web against Fredrick, her eyes lighting with a bit of wonder. 'Could he really be The Fool..? Ugh...why are you thinking about him, Val? You're engaged already...'
Valerie turned onto her side, setting down her phone and looked at Piper once again. 'He did save our lives though...and if it weren't for him...'
Suddenly, there was a knock upon the bedroom door, breaking Valerie's train of thought for a moment. She turned around, noticing Fredrick standing at the entrance of the room. "Hi, babe...you're done celebrating with your friends..? I can still hear their music playing.."
"They're still going at it downstairs, but I came to check up on you. How are you and the baby?" Fredrick asked, walking toward Valerie and sat on the edge of the bed.
"We're doing fine...she's sleeping sound and I'm doing better than earlier today," Valerie answered, looking at Fredrick with a warm smile.
"That's good..." Fredrick replied, his gaze shifting toward Piper with a soft exhale before standing up and grabbing Valerie's hand.
Valerie stood up from the bed, following Fredrick out of the bedroom and into the hallway. She stood by the wall, looking up at him with a mix of affection and curiosity. "Is something wrong..?"
"What you did today was plan Idiocracy. You put yourself and our child in danger, an hour away from where we live. Then on top of it all, you dare to praise some reckless vigilante for saving you," Fredrick scolded and crossed his arms, his eyes flaring with judgement and contempt.
Valerie lowered her gaze from Fredrick's, gently biting her lip and fidgeting with her lace negligee and grunted softly. "I just wanted to help fix your relationship with The Spades...they are our people as well."
"The Spades are nothing but a distant past meant to be forgotten. There's nothing for you over there and I don't know how many times I've told you this already. Forget about The Spades! That dream is dead...I killed it long ago. I don't want to have to tell you again, wife..." Fredrick scoffed lowly, turning away from Valerie and walking away.
Valerie watched as Fredrick walked away from her, her heart dropping from his visible disappointment in her. She sulked her way back into the bedroom, closing the door and sighing softly. She returned to the bed, laying next to her daughter and closed her eyes, a single, slow streaking tear rolling down her face.
〘Date: 2/14 - Thursday〙
〘Time: 7:00 AM〙
〘Location: Texas, Royal Creek - Hunt Residency〙
The next day arrived and I was already wide awake, standing outside in the backyard and looking up at the early morning sky, staring at the twinkling Golden Star in the sky. As I gazed at the star, I felt a hand pat my back and turned to see Amelia standing beside me.
"You're up early, Pretty Boy. I guess you couldn't sleep much after last night huh?" Amelia asked, looking at me with a smile mixed with concern and warmth.
I turned my gaze back up at the sky, feeling emotions swirling around inside that I hadn't felt since I was a child. "That dream is coming back to me. The dream that died years ago when I was attacked by the Lost Syndicates. For years, I've hid...I've ran...avoided my destiny. Now, I have something to work toward... something that gets me closer to my true goal."
"Which is?" Amelia asked, looking up at the sky as well and lit up a cigarette in her mouth.
"To unite the Mojis and Solas. That's the only way we can truly get rid of The Lost Syndicates. Their power is massively borrowed by my tribe's energy...the reason why they can even use The Masks. They understand our language...and our extended culture," I answered, turning to look at Amelia.
"However, as I am now, I can't do much until I learn how to balance myself. But, until then...my first goal is to take down Fredrick once and for all. Reduce him into something worse than a memory... nonexistence. He will have his very Essence executed," I finished, meeting Amelia's gaze with a serious, determined expression.
Amelia chuckled softly at me, blowing out her smoke and closed her eyes with a smile. "I love big dreamers... however before you can deal with Fredrick, you've gotta deal with his four districts starting with ours. You need to become the King of Spades and actually challenge Fredrick's rule."
"I'm aware, and I already know how I will go about it...it will just take a lot of planning and a lot of preparation," I nodded, looking down at my phone and noticed Phroa's supportive smile.
"As long as you know, but before that...you have a vacation to be on. Go clear your head before thinking of a conquest, Nobunaga Oda," Amelia teased, gently ruffling my hair before walking away toward the house.
I chuckled softly at her, watching as she retreated back inside. I turned back around and let out a soft exhale, thinking about Amelia's suggestion. Suddenly, I heard a familiar mewl, looking behind me and noticing Maika had found her way toward me again.
I chuckled lightly, crouching down and picking her up in my arms. "Ahh..~ There's Papa's fur baby..~ Two days this time, you're getting faster~"
Maika purred in my arms and nuzzled against me, wrapping her fluffy tail around my arm. I hummed softly at her, making my way back toward the house as well to get my day officially started.