Chapter 1: The Agents of Joker Trap
The agents of Joker Trap were gathered in a small conference room on the top floor of Saotome Tower. Perfect Diamond sat with his legs crossed and was carefully reading through the files of previous missions on the tablet he was holding. Tricky Heart was throwing darts in the corner of the room with a smirk on his face as the dart hit the bullseye. Spiky Club was sitting to the right of Perfect Diamond, drumming his fingers loudly against the table. Majestic Spade looked up from mixing the sugar cubes in his tea to glare at Spiky Club adjacent to himself at the table. Spiky Club looked back at the other. "Why did Shiny call us here?" Tricky Heart pushed a stray orange lock back into place before removing the darts from their place on the target. "Isn't it obvious?" Perfect Diamond, also known as Toki, sent the file he was looking at to the main screen on the left side wall. "Silence the information broker – failed," he said as he flicked the file away to reveal another. Everyone turned to glare at Spiky Club, his real name being Ran. "I blame Princess." He returned the glare to Majestic Spade, real name Camus. "Ignorant fool! You did not follow the plan accordingly!" Perfect Diamond coughed loudly to interrupt the argument between the two, while Tricky Heart just grinned. "Track down the person in charge of the big gambling scam before the start of the countrywide tournament – failed." Now everyone's eyes shifted to Tricky Heart, or Ren, who put his arms up in defense. "Not my fault Mr. Perfect's equipment malfunctioned." Toki's eyes narrowed as he scoffed at the other. "My equipment did not fail. You just used it incorrectly." Now it was Ren's turn to scoff. "How was I supposed to know there wasn't a delay on the knockout gas bomb? You never told me." He threw a dart towards the blunet, who tilted his head slightly to the side, easily avoiding it, the dart stuck in the wall, barely missing the screen the files were being shown on. With a click of his tongue, Tricky Heart returned to his game of darts, and Perfect Diamond rolled his eyes and set them back to his tablet. "Infiltrate a notorious gang's hideout and find their boss – failed." All eyes rested on Camus. "I don't see why you peasants are looking at me. I wasn't it charge of infiltration." Ran growled at the count. "And I wasn't in charge of supplying firearms." The two became locked in an intense glaring contest, neither one refusing to let up. Perfect Diamond flicked the files away and turned towards the other three in the room. 'I think we all know why the President called us here. If it wasn't obvious, please allow me to explain. There's no communication between us, resulting in failed missions. We're all to blame for this. Not just one in particular." The others nodded their heads in agreement. "Toki isn't completely wrong," Ran spoke. Tricky Heart mumbled, "When isn't he wrong…" a little too loudly. "Heard that." Toki shot him a look that, and he sometimes wished, could kill. Before anymore words could be exchanged, the door opened with a slam, revealing the President and coordinator of Joker Trap, Shining Saotome. "Ahh, Shiny. We were just wondering when you would show up." Ren abandoned his game of darts, sat at the table everyone else was at between Toki and Ran, and put his feet up on the table. Toki rolled his eyes at his horrendous manners, and Camus scoffed. Locking the door behind him, Shining stood before all of them with arms crossed. Ren, being the smartass he was, decided to speak. "I bet you're here to congratulate us, right?" The other three in the room all groaned, and Perfect Diamond elbowed him in the stomach. Ren lurched forward in his seat with an "Oof!" but continued to chuckle at himself. Shining ignored Ren's smart comment and began to speak. "You may have noticed, or at least Perfect Diamond has noticed, that you have failed the past three missions." A murmur of acknowledgment and a nod from Toki was his answer. "Although you don't deserve it, you will all be given the chance to turn this around. If you fail again, I will disband Joker Trap permanently." No one said anything. They all knew this would happen eventually, but they didn't expect to be given a last chance. "I have what could be the last mission you ever get. I assume you got it?" The question was directed to the only one Shining really trusted and liked. "Yes, sir. I did." Perfect Diamond stood up and walked over to stand in front of the screen. "This isn't anything like our previous missions. This time, we are taking direct measures, instead of our enemies making the first move." This news received questioning looks from Ren, Camus, and Ran. "What exactly makes this mission any different than the others? Who elected you the leader?" This time, it was Ran with the snarky comment. "If you would let me finish, instead of interrupting me…," a sigh passed Toki's lips, "The mission is the following: Take out our enemies before the end of the night." That was Ren's cue to laugh like a maniac. "Oh, man! You really had me going there, Toki! Is the difference that we're taking them out for dinner? If not, then that sounds exactly like every other mission. That was great, Toki!" Ren began to clap obnoxiously. The aura around Toki became scary as he glared at Ren for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. Ran shifted in his seat and smacked Ren over the head. "Listen, idiot." Tricky Heart's laughed ceased as he rubbed the back of his head where he was hit. "Thank you, Spiky Club. As I was saying, of course that almost always is our mission, but this time it's going to be a lot trickier. The three of we have to take measures against are unlike anyone else." Pictures of three men appeared on the screen behind Toki. Moving to the side, Perfect Diamond pointed at the first photo of a man with brown hair and eyes with a smirk on his lips. "This is Lazy. He's the oldest of the group, which is the surprising part. Compared to the other two, he's the most immature. Like someone we know…," looks were sent to Ren, "he likes to go out with a bang." Ren ignored the stares from everyone. "We're going up against someone called Lazy?" Ren raised an eyebrow before snickering. "Well this job should be easy." He leaned back in his seat. Ran looked over at Ren and kicked his chair, sending Ren flying out of his seat. Toki groaned, seeing that he may never get to finish, and Camus paid no mind at all, other than mumbling something, "the fool deserved it," under his breath. Through gritted teeth, Toki spoke, "Can I please continue?" Ren got off the floor, rubbing his right hip, picked his seat up, and sat back down. Toki moved closer to the one in the middle with blond hair and bright green eyes. "His name is Sino, also known as the most lethal of the three. He will not hesitate to kill you if he has the chance. His strength is incomparable to anyone or anything. We have to be the most careful around him." He then moved to the third and final photo. The person in the photo had cyan hair that was pulled back on one side and eyes of the same color. "Finally, this is Einsatz. He's the strategist of their group, since he's the smartest." Ren leaned forward on the table, squinting at the photo. "I don't believe you." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. Perfect Diamond crossed his arms as well and huffed, sending a strand of navy hair atop his head. "And why is that?" Disdain colored his voice. "Well… are you sure that's a 'he'?" Ren's comment caused Ran and Camus to look up from whatever they were doing and look at the photo of Einsatz. "He does have very feminine features…" Ran then shrugged it off and laid back in his seat, closing his eyes. Toki brought a hand to his face, and Camus smacked Ren again. "It was interesting getting to know you, agents of Joker Trap." With that, Shining left the conference room. While pinching the bridge of his nose, Toki mumbled something along the lines of "we're done for," under his breath. Snapping back to the situation at hand, he looked up and took a deep breath. "Yes, Einsatz is a 'he'. He is also the most calculative and observant of the group." Camus went back to stirring his tea with a smirk. "He's the complete opposite of someone we know." Looking up from his tea, his smirk grew as he gazed at Ran. Said male opened one eye before closing it again. "Do you want me to kill you?" Majestic Spade scoffed and took a sip of his tea. Setting it down, he spoke, "You couldn't kill me even if you tried." Perfect Diamond coughed before continuing. "Einsatz is also cold and cannot be tricked easily. We won't be able to go unseen for as long as I'd like. Now, I'll begin to describe what we need to do." Toki began to describe the preparations needed, the location, and the jobs everyone had. Once he was sure everyone understood what they were supposed to do, the blunet adjourned the meeting. "We will convene here tomorrow at 1800 hours." Tricky Heart and Spiky Club looked at him in confusion. Toki face palmed himself. "How did you two ever become agents? I said we'll meet here at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow." Ran made a face and got up to leave, with Camus following suit. Ren stayed back and watched Toki shut down the screen and his tablet before putting the tablet away with the other files into his briefcase. "Hey, Toki?" Said male looked away from snapping his briefcase shut to look at the other. "Hm?" Ren seemed to contemplate something before speaking. "Do you really think we'll be able to stop them?" To Toki's surprise, Ren actually sounded serious. For once, Toki let his calm façade falter. "I don't know, but failure isn't an option. Otherwise…" He didn't need to finish his sentence, since the other understood well. "Right… I promise to try harder this time." The blunet gave him a scornful look. "You should've already been trying as hard as you can." This time it was Ren's turn to roll his eyes. "I said 'harder'. Meaning, I've been trying hard already." Toki picked up his briefcase and walked towards the door, stopping at the door frame. "Don't just tell me. Show me." With that, he left the conference room with a smirking Ren still seated.
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A noble with brown hair and matching eyes was strolling around the ballroom to his mansion, checking to make sure it was getting decorated the way he wanted it to. While he was directing someone as to what color he wanted for the tapestry and where to put it, a cheerful blond with bright green eyes and glasses skipped to where he was. "Rei-chan!" The brunet turned around upon hearing his nickname and gave his best friend a goofy smile. "Hiya, Natsu!" The blond laughed and wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug. The one known as Rei-chan turned his back to the man he was talking to once Natsu released him. He apologized to the man before turning back to Natsu. The two walked away from everyone else, and once they did, Rei-chan pulled the other's glasses off. Then, Natsu's whole aura changed, making him seem more menacing. "Why the hell do you want me now?" Rei-chan kept his grin in place not at all deterred by the other's harsh words. "Awwe, c'mon Sino! Don't be like that." The brunet's grin turned into a playful pout. Sino just rolled his eyes at him. "Don't use that name in public, bastard." Sino growled at him. The brunet saluted Sino with a grin n place. "Aye aye captain!" This gained him another eye roll from the blond. "Everything better be set up for tonight. I'll have your head if it isn't, Reiji." Reiji waved him off as if to tell him he had it all ready. "Do we know for sure they'll come?" Reiji snorted at the blond. "Duhh they'll come! They wouldn't want to miss all the fun we'll be having." The grin on his face took a sinister turn.
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The next day, the agents of Joker Trap were getting ready for their mission. Instead of their usual black silk tuxedoes and ties, they adorned cravats, velvet tuxedoes, and masks with the color that represented them: Camus-light blue, Ran-dark red, Toki-dark purple, and Ren-orange. Ran was adjusting his mask with irritation. "I don't see why I have to go. We only need two of us in there." He grumbled out loud. "We need them to notice us. That's why we're all going in." Toki was checking to make sure he looked decent before turning to face the others. "As discussed yesterday, I will walk in with Ren, while Camus and Ran walk in on their own. Although you're walking in alone, I need you two to ride with each other. Everyone remembers what they're supposed to do, correct?" The other three nodded in agreement, and with a nervous sigh, Toki dismissed them. "Mission start." With those final words hanging in the air, the four agents embarked on their mission.