Later that night.
The Alexandria Hotel was situated in a prime position.
At the end of the Main Street, near the waterfront, did that glorious hotel sit.
The outside was set up like the entrance to a movie theater.
A red carpet, an illuminated sign stating
[THE HUGH ANTONIO CIRCUS]
Keeping true to the movie theater theme, the entrance to the Alexandria was done via a single booth.
It was as if you were going up to a ticket booth to see the movies.
Jinzo, Grit, and Raito were standing in line, waiting for their turn to present their tickets.
"This is… something." Grit said. His hair was slicked back.
He was wearing his black cloak. Underneath was a black suit. As always, the Demon Slayer was equipped on his back.
Ever since he was betrayed by Gurifis, Grit did not feel comfortable unless he was dressed for battle at all times.
No matter the occasion, Grit was always going to have his cloak and Demon Slayer.
"It sure is. I'm quite excited. After watching Joka earlier today, I have high expectations for this." Jinzo said.
He was in a clean burgundy suit, with his signature black suit jacket worn over his shoulders in true One Piece fashion.
"Do you think that Tara is going to appear? I hope Swiss isn't being shot out of a cannon or something.." Raito scratched his stomach.
He was in a navy blue suit.
We discussed how Grit had his safety net of having to wear his cloak and Demon Slayer.
In that same sense, Raito needed to wear his ninja headband at all times.
There was something about the comfort of wearing that headband that made Raito feel at ease.
Part of him felt like he had to represent where he came from. He proudly wore the headband that displayed the wave carving.
The wave would crash in a spiral.
The symbol of Namigakure.
Whenever Swiss looked at the symbol of Raito's home village, the way the wave was drawn reminded him of Sanji's eyebrows, or the spirals Eiichiro Oda drew on devil fruits.
For that reason, Swiss always thought there was more to the history of Namigakure than meets the eye.
There was something about the spiral that was important.
Swiss knew all too well.
His old life, his old world, was no different than the world he found himself in today.
The world of One Piece… the world Swiss came from… what was the difference?
As far as Swiss was concerned, both worlds were governed by a story.
Now, Swiss found himself in a world where he knew it was governed by certain themes, certain principles.
Where was Swiss, anyhow?
Swiss was sweeping a broom backstage.
Hugh Antonio was giving his troupe one last speech before their big performance.
"Remember! We nail this, and we perform at the Royal Jam!" He cried.
"Yosh!" The troupe all replied in a rally.
Kimagure Joka was at a mirror, painting a black 'x' on one cheek and a black 'o' on the other.
His green hair was spiked back and he wore a loose-fitting jester outfit without sleeves, exposing his ripped muscular arms.
It's not that Kimagure Joka was built or necessarily sturdy. From a distance, he looked tall and lanky. But up close, you realize he has hardly any body fat.
Every part of his body is toned, eight-pack abs and all.
"You ready?" Furio came and asked Kimagure Joka, "You better not fuck this up."
Kimagure Joka glanced at Furio with his predator-like golden eyes, "Let's break a leg, Furio-san. +"
The show began once everybody was seated.
The Alexandria Hotel's theater was exactly like how Swiss imagined a theater that the queen of England would attend. It had a true renaissance meets modern feel to it.
An exquisite room with fine quality curtains and balconies where royals and VIPs could sit and flaunt their status to the peasants.
"Wow, this is nice," Jinzo said as he lead the gang to their seats. They had cheap seats up on the back balcony.
"Tell me about it. This is my first time going to something like this." Raito said.
"…" Grit remained silent and sat down.
He had to take his Demon Slayer off his back to sit comfortably and also to avoid the people behind him complaining.
His Demon Slayer leaned against his chair, with one of his hands holding the hilt.
The lights went dim and the curtains opened.
Standing on stage was Hugh Antonio, wearing his spectacles and top hat.
He carried a cane and wore an outfit that made him look like a charlatan that would sell fake healing tonics in the wild west.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to the most magical night of your lives!"
Hugh Antonio gave a pompous introduction.
As he did so, he would get the crowd going by using some of the generic magic tricks.
He would snap his fingers and a bouquet of flowers appeared in his hands. He would comically say 'excuse me a moment' and sneeze into a white handkerchief, only to reveal a white dove from under it.
Hell, he even busted out the trick where he would pull out a long rope with flags from his sleeves.
Hugh Antonio was funny, charming, and articulate. He warmed up the crowd like a pro.
Then one by one, members of the troupe would go on stage and perform their act.
From beast tamers to trapeze acrobats did they perform. Each nailing the act they had spent their whole lives perfecting.
Finally, near the end of the show, out came Furio and Kimagure Joka for the knife-throwing and juggling.
"There he is!" Jinzo said. He was looking through a pair of Opera glasses.
"Check out the threads," Raito added.
He felt that Kimagure Joka's outfit was quite fitting (pun intended).
Their act began with Furio and Joka juggling many knives by themselves.
Then they faced each other and while still juggling, they threw knives at each other across the stage.
The crowd bustled with oohs and ahhs's, all the while Kimagure Joka has a sly smile as if he had been juggling knives his entire life.
'Bastard! Look at him! Effortlessly doing an act that took my entire life to master!'
Furio felt a sense of dread as he looked across the stage to see the young Kimagure Joka so casually be able to perform the culmination of his life's work.
'Tch! I'll show him!'
Furio then threw a knife at Kimagure Joka at an incredible speed.
Furio and his partner had been practicing a new trick in secret; a flashy knife catch.
'Let's see you catch that, you cocky bastard!'
The throwing knife curved through the air as it pierced its way toward Kimagure Joka's face.
"What is that guy doing?" Raito uttered as he observed the lethal intentions behind the throw.
The crowd gasped at the amazing moment that followed.
It happened in an instant.
Kimagure Joka's eyes widened as he quickly processed the visual information.
As if it was intended, Kimagure Joka somehow caught the knife between his fingers and continued juggling.
"!"
'Impossible! He even caught that too?!'
Furio could not believe his eyes. The young Kimagure Joka had made a complete fool of him.
Kimagure Joka kept that same sly smile.
But one look into his eyes and Furio could tell Kimagure Joka knew he did that on purpose.
A shiver went down Furio's spine, 'This kid is dangerous!'
Their act ended and the duo bowed to the audience, receiving the best applause of the night thus far.
"That was spectacular," Jinzo said after the applause.
"Yeah, but that finale was definitely not part of the script.." Grit intimated.
"I was expecting Swiss to streak on stage or something," Raito remarked, slightly disappointed.
The final two acts were Vivienne Tara's unicycle tight rope and Hugh Antonio's magic.
When the show ended, the entire troupe came out on stage to bow. Even the animals came out to bow with them.
"Haha, how cute." Jinzo giggled.
"Mmm. Now we can leave."
After Grit said this, the gang retired back to the Jalopy for the evening.
Backstage, the troupe waited with great tension for the news from Hugh Antonio.
When Hugh Antonio joined them, he had a somber expression on his face and his eyes were watery.
"… Oh no. We didn't get the invite?" Vivienne Tara asked her mentor.
"…"
Hugh Antonio kept them in suspense before finally bursting out and saying,
"HE LOVED IT! ROYAL JAM, HERE WE COME!"
"YOSH!"
All members of the troupe hugged and congratulated each other.
All except one.
"Hey, where's Furio?" asked Vivienne Tara, to which everyone shrugged with an 'I don't know'.
Furio left the troupe, never to return.
Kimagure Joka stood on the outskirts of the group with his arms crossed. A hard-to-read smile on his face.
"Nice job tonight, bro. You sure came in clutch." Swiss said as he came and stood next to him.
"Thank you. The sweeping tonight was top-notch also. *" Kimagure Joka said as he gave the 'okay' sign with his hand.
"You two!"
Vivienne Tara stormed over to Swiss and Kimagure Joka.
"Uh oh, looks like I'm in trouble again," Swiss whispered.
Kimagure Joka covered his mouth with his hand as he giggled.
When Vivienne Tara came closer, what she said gave Swiss a pleasant surprise.
"Let's celebrate!"
Swiss widened his eyes "Now you're talking! But this is strange, knowing you, I thought you'd practice tonight also."
Vivienne Tara rolled her eyes, "I'm not that much of a bore. The Royal Jam isn't until next week. Tonight, we drink!"
"Yosh!" Swiss rejoiced, "I'm gonna get you so fucked up, Joka!"
"Kukuku, we shall see about that. +"