Hugh Antonio averted his gaze and held true with a neutral expression, "Richard Roe? And what about him?"
"It's elusive, but if you look closely, you can see a cut on your cheek beneath the makeup. +" Kimagure Joka said.
"And?"
"And, as we told you, we encountered Richard Roe when we were out celebrating the other night. In that encounter, I managed to slash Richard Roe on his cheek. That very cheek on the same side as yours. ~"
"This is a scar I have had since childhood. I guess in my old age, my insecurity about it has diminished. My makeup each morning has become less thorough." Hugh Antonio calmly replied.
"Mmm. And I was willing to give you that benefit of the doubt. That is until I saw your magic trick; the revived man. +"
Hugh Antonio felt a chill, to the point he almost lost his poker face, "The revived man? And what of it?"
"That's when it hit me. I watched closely, you brought the beefcake on stage, and clearly shot him in the head. Then the curtains fell, and what emerged was nothing but the alive beefcake. You, Antonio-kun, are nowhere to be found. Only to emerge from backstage after the beefcake exited.~"
Hugh Antonio could not help but feel the excitement that magicians feel when people try to figure out their magic tricks, "Incredible, wasn't it! So how does that relate to me being Richard Roe?"
"It's simple. The beefcake actually died when you shot him.
When the curtain fell, you transported the body through a porthole that opened on the ground of the stage. Once the body was gone, you assumed your new identity- *"
Hugh Antonio interrupted, "Are you saying I dressed myself up as that beefcake? You saw it yourself, he was alive. His smell, his height, his clothes.. How could that have been me?"
"I don't know. But what I do know, is that the beefcake that took that applause was you.
This is why it took you so long to unveil your magic trick.
If you literally killed a person each time you did your 'The Revived Man', eventually, people would start asking where their missing friends who 'died' during a show went off to.
Only during an important show, where there are hundreds of thousands in attendance, did you think it was safe. 3"
Hugh Antonio was rendered speechless for a moment, before he finally gasped, "What a theory!"
"Kukuku, so what do you say, Antonio-san. Do you deny it? 3"
Hugh Antonio gazed up to the moon and sighed, "I suppose not. I admit it, I am Richard Roe."
He looked longingly into the distance that was that great sky, "I remember my first magic trick.
I was 5 years old. It was a simple card trick that I showed to my mother and sister."
Hugh Antonio took in a deep breath and flared his nostrils. The exhale was that of ex-exfoliating a lifetime's worth of history.
"The surprised look on their faces.. I'll never forget it. At that very moment, I decided to become a magician. Between you and me, it was then that I got my first erection."
"… *" Kimagure's Joka silence told Hugh Antonio that he may have shared too much information.
"Well," Hugh Antonio continued, "Nothing ever came close to that look I saw from my mother and sister that day. No matter what kind of trick I performed, it was like I was always chasing something out of my grasp.
That was until I killed my mother and sister.
The look of shock on their faces as I strangled them to death far surpassed the look of shock they gave me after my first magic trick.
Well, years passed since then, and I got into show business. After each show, when it's quiet like this, I sit in the theater for a while before hitting the night…"
"And then you murder someone. *" Kimagure Joka interjected.
"..Yes. And then I murder someone." Hugh Antonio awkwardly confirmed, "I tried recapturing my humanity. But after each show, that urge to kill never went away. I have been a slave to my urges."
"… ~" Kimagure Joka listened to Hugh Antonio with no judgment, silently contemplating his point of view.
"So that's it, I'm Richard Roe." Hugh Antonio gave Kimagure Joka a sly glance, "What do you plan on doing about it?"
"Kukuku. *"
Kimagure Joka sat elegantly next to him, shuffling his deck of cards.
When he drew a card and checked what it was, that card was the joker.
"I don't care if you're a mass murderer, a conman, you name it.. Lately, I have been drawing the same card over and over. Fate is calling me.
I have no reason to stay with the troupe. 3"
"Ah, I see.." Hugh Antonio tried his best to hide his relief at the fact that Kimagure Joka did not care about him being Richard Roe.
"The question still remains. How did you manage to copy the beefcake's appearance? ~" Kimagure Joka asked.
"Ho! If I answered that, I would reveal the trick behind my Revived Man!"
"Do tell. 3"
Hugh Antonio chuckled, "Haha, alright. I suppose you'd find out eventually anyway."
Hugh Antonio then placed his right hand on his cheek.
When he did this, a sound was heard, and Hugh Antonio's appearance changed.
Into that of Kimagure Joka.
"?!+"
"Kukuku, what do you think?" Hugh Antonio said, his voice and appearance completely the same as Kimagure Joka's.
The only thing separating them is their difference in clothing.
Hugh Antonio placed his right hand on his cheek again, his appearance then changing into Vivienne Tara's.
"I ate the Mane-Mane-No-Mi. I can change my appearance into anyone that I have touched!" Hugh Antonio explained.
"Look, I can even copy this!"
Hugh Antonio then unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the breasts of Vivienne Tara.
*SSSSSSSSSPT!*
A spurt of blood erupted from the nose of Kimagure Joka before he managed to compose himself.
"That explains why each wanted poster of Richard Roe has a different face. ~"
"Ho! Impressive, don't you think? I'm glad I am able to share this with someone." Hugh Antonio said as he buttoned his shirt.
"Say, Antonio-san. +"
"Hmm?"
Kimagure Joka threw the joker card into the wind, in what he thought to be a symbolic gesture that said farewell to his days spent in Jam Land.
"You mentioned you like that look people make when they're surprised. *"
It was then that Kimagure Joka's aura turned sour.
"!"
Hugh Antonio caught his breath. His senses heightened, allowing his sight to perceive a menacing spectacle.
Kimagure Joka sat next to him, a dark purple shroud permeating around his skin, a stench mixed with sugary death.
"Why don't you try to surprise me?" 3"
Hugh Antonio salivated, "Alright. But only if I can use any means necessary.."
That's when Hugh Antonio's sentence was cut short by Kimagure Joka throwing the pack of cards.
The cards dispersed, completely covering Hugh Antonio's vision.
"?!"
At the sudden sense of danger, Hugh Antonio cocked his head back, narrowly dodging the throwing knife that would have pierced his throat.
'Ho!'
Hugh Antonio had seen enough. His instincts had received all the information needed in order to kick into survival mode.
Hugh Antonio acrobatically leaped up from his seat and attacked Kimagure Joka.
Kimagure Joka dodged, bobbing and weaving between the stands of the Main Stage, with Hugh Antonio in hot pursuit.
Hugh Antonio displayed movements that were befitting of a lifetime member of the circus. He flexibly chased Kimagure Joka down wherever he ran.
Only each time Hugh Antonio would almost land a killing blow, Kimagure Joka would manage to dodge.
Kimagure Joka flipped, rolled, cartwheeled, and dived.., he did every movement he learned from his time in the circus in perfect coordination for applied combat.
"You're a genius, Joka-kun! Why don't you reconsider and stay with the troupe! HO!"
Hugh Antonio got more and more excited as he and Kimagure Joka increased the pace and intensity of their fight.
But something was strange. Kimagure Joka was only dodging.
After a while, this thought occurred to Hugh Antonio.
*SKKKRRRT!*
Hugh Antonio halted his momentum.
"Hmm? *"
Kimagure Joka and Hugh Antonio faced each other in a clearing at the top of the arena.
"What's wrong, Richard Roe? +"
"… Something doesn't feel quite right. All you have been doing is dodge."
"Kukuku. Has the thought not occurred to you that you're strong and I need to keep avoiding until I find an opening? *"
"Yes. But then I realized that this was Joka-kun I was talking about."
It was then that Hugh Antonio tried to assume a fighting stance. But alas-
"… Eh?"
Hugh Antonio felt a stickiness down at his feet.
A stickiness so thick that it rendered him unable to move.
"!"
Hugh Antonio then worriedly looked back to Kimagure Joka.
And what he saw confirmed his suspicions.
"Kukuku. ~"
Kimagure Joka posed, one arm placed on his hip, the other hand free
When Hugh Antonio focused his gaze, a focus more than usual-
When he did this, he could spot a see-through, luminescent substance, oozing itself out of Kimagure Joka's hand.
"What the?!"
"Ah, so you finally realize? +"
It was then that Kimagure Joka thickened the density of the oozing substance, revealing its color to be a bright pink.
Its texture that of goo.
That was all Hugh Antonio needed to infer what was happening, "That fruit you ate!"
"Yes, I think I understand the power that Devil Fruit gave me. *"
["Bungee Gum!"]
Kimagure Joka oozed the gooey substance between the webbing of his fingers.
"My power has the properties of both rubber and gum. 3"
Kimagure Joka then altered the composition of his Bungee Gum, making it thick, more easily visible to the naked eye, and creating an extremely elastic substance.
Kimagure Joka then chuckled, before placing a throwing knife between his fingers and pulling it back, the Bungee Gum tightening, acting like a slingshot.
"Elastic love! *"
"!"
Hugh Antonio stared down at the barrel that was Kimagure Joka's Bungee Gum slingshot and gulped with fear, "W-.. Wait! Joka! You win!"
Looking at Hugh Antonio's horrified expression, Kimagure Joka felt a tingle in his loins, "Ohhh! Yes, Antonio-san! I think I understand what you mean! That expression, it's lovely!"
Those were the last words Hugh Antonio ever heard.
The last thing he saw was Kimagure Joka releasing his grip.
A throwing knife pierced his skull.
The end of Richard Roe.
[ssyffis: yo!]
[ssyffix: yes, I had to do it.]
[ssyffix: there was no way I was going to write this fic and not have '_ has the properties of both rubber and gum' included!]
[ssyffix: *cracks knuckles* ahhh, yes indeed. Damn it feels good to be a gangster]
[ssyffix: three chapters in the span of 6 hours, just to flex to yall after a 10 day silent period that I can still bang out this content!]
[ssyffix: alright, now to bang out an essay..]
[ssyffix: thx for reading!]