The Trickster

On the rooftop of their school, two old friends bickered back and forth between each other. Ryuji, who was a sixteen year old ex track athlete, had his female friend Ann backed up against the wall as he refused to let her leave until she answered his questions.

"Just give it to me straight Ann… What are you doing with a scumbag like Kamoshida? Don't you see how terrible of a person he is?! Your friend Chiho, don't you find it suspicious how she's always covered in bruises? It's clearly Kamoshida doing that to her!" Ryuji said as he berated her. 

He couldn't even begin to understand why someone as sweet as Ann would be in the company of a jackass like Kamoshida, who was their school's PE teacher and volleyball coach.

There were a lot of rumors spreading around about that guy and how he abused his students, but there was no proof to back it up. Every person either adored him and were blinded to the truth, or were too scared to speak up against the injustice that they had been put through.

Ann glared at him before pushing him away from her. 

"It's none of your business Ryuji! I have my reasons for dealing with his bull crap too, and I'm not obligated to tell you anything! My problems don't concern you!" She said as she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Her being with Kamoshida was a bigger problem than just herself. She had someone she was trying to protect, which is why she subjugated herself to his torment every day. If she didn't put up with him and just grit her teeth, who knows what a psychopath like him would do next.

"What could be more important than containing your dignity? Kamoshida is just some pompous asshole who can't let go of his former glory. He think's that Shujin Academy is his castle and views himself as a king! But he couldn't be farther away from the truth." Ryuji declared as he angrily punched the wall by her head.

"Destination found. Beginning navigation!" Chimed his phone in his pocket.

Before they even knew what was happening, the world around them started to distort in colorful swirls of red black and white. When their vision returned to normal, they were no longer in the place that they once were. As they glanced around at their surroundings, the cityscape itself looked the same. But the ground that they stood on now was different.

"Ryuji? Did you feel that just now? It was like… I don't even know how to explain it. But somehow I feel like we're not in Shujin anymore." Ann said as she worriedly stroked her hair.

Ryuji ran over and grabbed the railing and looked down at the building below him. What he saw made him stumble backwards as he fell on his butt with his mouth hanging agape.

"I think you might be right about that! Just look for yourself man! We're standing in a freaking castle!" He shouted loudly.

Ann walked over to see what he was talking about, but when she looked over like he did, she knew exactly what he meant now. Instead of being at Shujin Academy, they were standing on a high spire of what appeared to be a large castle looming within the city right where their school should be!

"Ryuji! Just what the heck did you do?!" Said Ann as she began to look as equally confused and terrified as her male companion. 

The bleached blonde stood back up on his feet and placed his hands on his hips with an offended look on his face. "What makes you think that this is all my fault?! I'm just as clueless as you are you know!" 

But they didn't have time to point the blame at each other, first and foremost, they had to figure out just what the hell happened and where they were now. It looked like they were still in Tokyo, but then what was up with the random castle? They needed to investigate more if they wanted to understand anything. 

"Let's not just stand around here. I think we should explore this place and maybe then we'll find some answers." Ryuji said as he took off walking towards the door that would take them into the inner workings of the castle. 

"H-hey! Don't leave me behind you jerk! Wait for me!" Ann shouted reluctantly before following close behind him.

But unbeknownst to the both of them, a mysterious messy black haired teenager accompanied by a curious cat like creature was watching them the whole time from afar. "Did you see that Joker? It looked like two humans! How do you think they got here?" Said the cat monster.

The boy known as Joker smirked while his red gleaming eyes glistened with playful curiosity behind his mask. "I'm not sure. But now, I want to play with them a little, don't you?" He said before hopping down from the roof he was standing on.

The cat sighed and shook his head. "Oh boy, here we go again. Once something peaks his interest, there's no stopping him at that point." The cat monster then jumped after his much taller friend as they both infultrated the palace together in pursuit of the two humans they just saw.

It had been about an hour now since both Ryuji and Ann had been wandering aimlessly within the large corridors of the castle. Any answer they thought they would find was still far out of sight.

"I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this. It feels like we've been walking forever and we still don't have a clue about what's going on!" Said Ann all flustered. 

Ryuji gritted his teeth and shouted while ruffling his hands through his hair. "Don't you think I know that too?! So stop your belly aching, it's not going to do us any good." He said annoyed. 

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE?!" Abruptly sounded the voice of a person clad in armor who was holding a spear and a shield. The both of them had made so much noise that they had attracted some unwanted attention by the inhabitants of the castle.

They were then surrounded when six more guards came out from all directions and had them trapped. "I'm not going to ask again, tell me why you are here?!" Shouted the guard again.

Ryuji held both hands up when a spear was pointed dangerously close to his throat, and Ann was hiding fearfully behind his back. "W-we're just as confused as you are man! We should be asking you questions, not the other way around!" 

The guards exchanged acknowledging glances between each other.

"Fine. You don't want to give us a straight answer? Then we'll just let the King decide what to do with you. Round them up and take them to the dungeon!" Demanded the leading guard. 

They quickly began to apprehend the two friends with two of the guards restraining Ryuji who was trying to fight back, and one guard who easily was able to hold Ann's arms behind her back. "Hey! Let us go! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Shouted Ann as defiance started to overtake her.

While they were hauled off away towards the dungeon, Joker was keeping a watchful eye from a safe distance down the hall.

"Joker! What are we just standing around for?! They're in danger! Wasn't the whole point of us following them was so that we could rescue them?!" Argued the cat monster.

But the teenager just chuckled to himself as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "Relax Morgana. Everything is going according to plan. I still need to figure out how they got here. If they managed to make it into the palace, then that might mean they have a connection to it's ruler somehow." He said with no sense of urgency.

"That kind of intel would be really beneficial for our heist, don't you think? And since they're about to get an audience with the King, well, that's a show I'm willing to sit back and watch!"

He took off running down the hall where the guards were leading the two humans down with Morgana chasing after him. Geez, the creature thought. His master could be more curious than he was! And as the saying goes, curiousity killed the cat!

Back with Ann and Ryuji, the two of them were roughly thrown into a cell where the guards quickly locked the door behind them. 

"Hey! Let us out of here you bunch of creeps!" Ryuji shouted angrily as he gripped at the bars of their cell. 

"No can do prisoner. The only one who can give us permission to release you is our King, and I'm telling you right now, he doesn't take kindly to intruders." Said the lead guard before they started to laugh mockingly. 

As if on que, their King showed up, and it was the last person that neither of them expected to see. 

Standing in front of them was the one and only Kamoshida, but he was different than the version they were used to. He wore basically nothing, except for a crown on his head, a pink spedo, and a red cape that hung around his shoulders. Not to mention his eyes that were an eerie shade of gold. 

"Ah! Sakamoto-kun! They told me they found a troublemaker running amock, and yet it never crossed my mind that it would be you they were talking about. And your pretty friend back there… She looks like my Ann, but she is obviously a cheap imitation to her." Shadow Kamoshida said with a creepy smile.

Fake? A fake?! Just what the hell was he talking about?! Let alone, HIS Ann? She didn't belong to anyone, especially not to a nasty fucker like him! 

"You shut your filthy mouth! I never liked you, and you know that!" She yelled out with her face turning a pretty shade of cherry red.

Kamoshida laughed before his version of Ann, who was wearing a pink leopard spotted bikini with cat ears on her head, came and joined him by his side. After seeing her double, the real Ann's fighting spirit seemed to disappear and all she was left with was astonishment.

"What's the matter daddy? I thought I heard you yelling and I came to check on you because I was just sooo concerned!" The fake said in a cutesy tone that made Ann feel sick in the pit of her stomach. It was said in her voice with her face, but she knew she would never say something like that.

"Don't worry about it my little kitten. I'm just dealing with some… inconveniences. I'll meet you in our bed chamber once I'm done with these fools." He said with a smirk before smacking fake Ann on the butt, which made her giggle with delight as she walked away.

"Now then! Back to you two… What am I going to do with you? Ah, yes! I think the most appropriate punishment for the both of you would be to sentence you to death!" He said mischeviously before the leading guard proceeded to open the cell and let themselves inside.

Upon entering the cell, two of the guards pinned Ryuji to the wall while Shadow Kamoshida held Ann back so that she could witness the fate of her misfit friend. 

"You can't be serious?! You're really going to kill us?! I know you never liked me, but this is taking things way too far!" Said a pale faced Ryuji who had a sword held up to his neck.

Kamoshida walked up to the now fearful student and violently slapped him across the face, leaving a dark purple bruise on his cheek.

"Did I give you permission to speak, you insulent swine? Now take your punishment like a man, the same way you did when I got that leg of yours broken and ended your track and field career." Shadow Kamoshida said with a disgustingly pleased smile.

Ryuji felt his breath get caught in his throat when he heard the sudden confession. So it really wasn't an accident what happened to him? He always had his suspicions, but to hear it come from that motherfucker's mouth really started to fuel his rage.

"YOU BASTARD! I KNEW IT WAS YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!" Ryuji shouted as he struggled against the guards restraining him.

Kamoshida boasted out a gut wrenching laugh from the bellows of his stomach.

"Kill me? You… Kill me?! Don't make me laugh! I'd love to see you try, but alas, I don't think you'll ever have the opportunity to." He said as he swished his cape and turned his back to him with Ann still held against his body.

"Guards, put an end to this pathetic display. And before we finish off this girl here, I want to have my fun with her. She might not be my perfect Ann, but her face and body will still suit me just fine… A double Ann play date! What more could a King want?!"

The guard with the sword raised it into the air in response to his King's order, and Ryuji braced himself for the worst. Was this really going to be the end of him?

"RYUJI!" Ann said as she struggled to break free. 

Tears were now streaming down her face as she waited for what was to come. They may not have been as close as they used to be, but that didn't mean that she wanted to watch him die!

"Say goodbye, intruder." Said the guard as he was about to send his sword down upon Ryuji's chest and slice him open.

"JOKER! NOW!" Shouted Morgana from outside the cell. They had approached without being noticed, and after sitting back and waiting to hear what was said, they couldn't sit idley by any longer and had to take action.

Joker smirked before he ripped his mask off to reveal his boyishly handsome face underneath. When his mask was removed, blue fire sprouted from behind him in a heated fury where a demonic looking monster emerged from within. 

It wore a sharp tailored suit adorned with a top hat on top of its head with large, black gnarly wings sprouting from its back. 

"ARSENE!" He shouted confidently in an echoey voice.

The creature known as Arsene violently flapped its wings, and the gust was so strong that the cell doors were forced open and the inhabitors inside had to brace as they tried to keep themselves from being blown away.

Shadow Kamoshida had no choice but to let Ann go, who fell to the floor while shielding her face from the wind storm. "Who the hell is that?! Another intruder?!" He said with his eyes shut tightly.

Once the cell doors were forced open, Morgana wasted no time and withdrew his trusty sling shot and used it to temporarily incapacitate the guards that were restraining Ryuji. They dropped him, and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Joker infultrated the cell and also took out a dagger from his waste band. With inhuman reflexes, he sliced into the guards vitals, causing them to disperse into a black inky goo which sunk into the floor and disappeared.

"Our window of opportunity is slim. You don't know me, and I don't know you. But I'm your best chance of escaping here with your lives. Are you in?" Joker said as he put his mask back on.

Ryuji was now more confused now than he ever was before. First there was this castle, then that weird Kamoshida and the duplicate of Ann. And now there was a stranger with mysterious powers coming to their rescue? Just what the hell was going on here?!

"I'd hurry up if I were you. It won't be long before reinforcements show up. So what's it going to be? You have till the count of three to make a decision. 1…" Joker said as he held three fingers up and placed one down.

"H-hold on a second! You can't just ask us to follow you without explaining anything! Just who the hell are you?!" Ryuji said as he forced himself back onto his feet.

"2…" Joker said as he placed another finger down, continuing with his count down.

Ryuji gritted his teeth before he finally came to a decision. This guy seemed just as dangerous as Kamoshida was, but at least he seemed like he was on their side. "Fuck it! Fine! Ann, let's go!" He said as he ran over to his fallen friend and helped her to stand up.

Joker smirked before he placed his hands in his pockets. "Wise choice. You humans better keep up, because it's not my responsibility if you get captured again." He said in a cocky tone.

Without saying another word, Joker took off running with Morgana following behind him. The two students didn't know what exactly they were getting themselves into, but they had no choice but to follow him and hope that they weren't leading themselves into another trap.

They ran following close behind the mysterious masked man, with Joker and Morgana easily being able to dispatch of any threats that were coming there way.

This castle might as well have been a labrynth, because each hallway they transversed down looked almost as similar as the last, so it was hard to tell if they were actually making any progress in their escape. 

But one thing Ryuji did notice was that instead of heading towards the exit which he summized would have been on the ground floor, they kept going higher up in the levels. Something about this was fishy, because any normal person would have tried to find an exit by now, not continue going up higher.

At this point, he and Ann were going to go back from where they started at in the spire!

"Where are you taking us?! Shouldn't we be trying to find an exit?! How the hell are we supposed to get out of here when we're stuck in the sky?!" Ryuji said breathlessly as they walked up the seemingly never ending spiral staircase they were on.

Joker couldn't help but chuckle, which made both Ann and Ryuji become irritated. Was he mocking them?

"Sorry, sorry. I don't mean to laugh. Your innocence is just so refreshing. And don't worry, I'm taking us to an exit, all you have to do is trust me." But how could they? He still had yet to explain what his plans were and they had just been going along with his shenanigans. 

"If you're wondering why I didn't just head out the front door, then you guys really must be amateurs. Now that the King knows about our presence, the castle security will be on high alert." He said matter of factly.

"It should be common sense that they'd be expecting us near the closest exit. That would be both the immediate exits like the front door or any servant passageway. So the best way to make an escape, is to go right over their heads!" He said with a mischievous grin.

Morgana palmed his paw to his forehead before shaking his head dissaprovingly. He knew his partner wanted to mess around with them, but did he have to be so vague? They were scared enough as it was. 

They made it back to the balcony of the spire, and Joker took a good look around at the scenary. "Yup. This place will do quite nicely." He said as he hummed to himself. 

But before Ann could raise her voice and accuse Joker of just toying around with them, gaurds appeared shortly after with a very much enraged Shadow Kamoshida leading them. 

"I found you, you goddamn intruders! There's nowhere else to run!" He said as he made sure that his guards blocked off the only way out. 

Joker smiled playfully as he protectively guarded Ann and Ryuji behind him, and inched backwards so that their backs were right at the railing's edge. Morgana chuckled and then leaped to sit on top of his head. 

"Are you sure about that? Because I can think of one more way of getting out of here." He said smugly. Without hesitation, he turned around and lifted Ryuji over his shoulder while he effortlessly picked up Ann and cradled her underneath the crook of his arm.

He then stepped up onto the railing with one foot, before he turned his head over his shoulder to address the King one more time.

"See ya." Were his final words before he took a leap of faith and jumped straight off the railing which was a good six stories high above the ground. 

"AAAAAHHH!" Both Ann and Ryuji shouted in unison. They screamed louder the closer they saw the ground was approaching them. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Said Ryuji with fearful tears welling in the corner of his eyes.

Joker smirked when he heard the sorrowful sobs of the two humans he was holding. "Like I said, your innocence is very refreshing." 

Ryuji heard the sound of tearing fabric, and when he reopened his eyes, he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Large black bat wings had torn through the back of Joker's trench coat and sprawled out wide to cut through the air. 

Once his wings caught a good updraft, their downward spiral ceased and they started gliding high in the sky with Morgana happily cheering while perched atop of Joker's head. "Woohoo! I wouldn't have expected anything less from my partner!" 

Joker flapped his wings until he found a good pace, and instead of gliding, they were flying like a bird towards freedom. 

Back at the castle, Shadow Kamoshida watched with hatred filled eyes as his prey fleeted farther and farther away from his grasp. But he knew that this wasn't going to be the last the he saw of them. They were going to be back, he could feel it in the depths of his heart. And next time, he wasn't going to let them escape so easily.

Once they were a safe distance away, Joker landed and released the humans from his grasp who backed away cautiously.

Ann dropped to her knees as she tried to calm her rapidly beating chest, and Ryuji stood with his hands on his knees while he took in a deep sigh and wiped away the sweat that was dribbling across his forehead. 

Joker relaxed his wings that were now folded behind his back and Morgana jumped off his head before giving his partner a high five. "Now that's what I call a successful search and rescue mission!" The cat monster said with a flick of his black tail. 

After collecting his bearings, the shock left his system and Ryuji's frustration took center fold again. He stomped over to the mysterious teenager and grabbed him roughly by the collar of his trench coat with both hands.

"Okay, no more dodging our questions! Just what the hell are you?! You're clearly not human… And neither were those armored guys in the castle. No human would have strength the way you have… or wings like some kind of freak. So just give us a straight answer already!" He said with a piercing glare.

Joker chuckled before taking ahold of Ryuji's wrist and twisted it, causing the student to gasp in pain and let him go. 

"You are in the metaverse. A place where human desires, good or bad, roam rampently. And as to what I am, I can't really tell you since I don't have a clue myself. But what I can tell you is this… I am a Phantom Thief of Hearts!" He said with a cocky grin with his red eyes glowing brightly behind the holes of his mask.