Origins: Joker (Part 2)

Joker immediately became overwhelmed by the sights and sounds around him as the domed room faded from view, and was replaced unending darkness only by a glossy, modern computer matrix font in the distance.

Rules: 3 Stock, Items: Smash Ball, low Bob-ombs, low . No Time Limit

Stage: Momentos

Music: "Get Up, Get Out There"

Loading…

As the word "loading' hung in the air, Joker glanced over at Lucario. The blue fox humanoid was standing in a meditative pose, his eyes closed as his wrist burned with blue flame

Suddenly, the world of Momentos snapped into view. Lucario was standing across the polygonal platform, his chest now forward, arms spread, letting out a quick growl

"I'm ready for ya!" Joker shouted

3

Lucario frowned

2

Joker tightened his grip around his holstered gun

1

Both competitors stiffened, as to break into a sprint

GO!

Lucario sprinted forward. Joker unholstered his gun, firing the weapon at Lucario. Seemingly, the bullets did nothing as the Pokemon advanced forward. Joker leaped into the air, allowing his body to spiral downward, firing the gun onto Lucario as he fell.

Joker: 0%, 3 stocks

Lucario: %10, 3 stocks

Joker shook his head as he briefly looked at his wrist device.

Can't afford to be distracted,

Joker ran at Lucario, who had stepped away, and continued to step away. Similarly, on instinct, Joker found himself darting backward when Lucario attempted to close the gap.

Joker snapped his fingers, and a pebble-sized burst of dark energy appeared, colliding with Lucario. Lucario's eyes went wide as Joker closed the gap with two lunging kicks in rapid succession. Again, Joker snapped his fingers but found that Lucario struck a wild karate-esque stance, disappearing, and sliding into his shins with a sliding sweep. Joker felt himself flying backward as if he were on the moon. Lucario leaped into the air, thrusting his palm into his chest. A blast rocketed from his palm. Everything seemed to slow down around Joker as he felt the impact as if he'd been punched directly in the heart. Joker fell to a 3-point stance on the ground. With a carnal roar, Lucario leaped into the air. Joker unsheathed his knife now, and threw the blade into the air, catching Lucario off guard. Next, Joker leaped into the air, catching his knife and twisting his body to hit Lucario multiple times with a kick. Again, Joker fell to the ground in a three-point stance. Unlike last time, however, a blue aura trailed behind, seemingly propelling the creature like a rocket. Acting on instinct, Joker pulled out his grappling hook, shooting to catch the Pokemon out of the air. He succeeded, but Lucario was expecting it, as again, he struck his kata as Joker reeled back to land an elbow strike as his opponent was pulled in.

And then Joker felt it. His pain threshold was at maximum, and that can only mean one thing

"PERSONA!" Joker bellowed

In a brief flash of blue flame, a bat-winged demon wearing a tophat appeared. Lucario's eyes widened, as he noticed that Joker's masquerade mask had also disappeared, leaving Lucario to stare directly into firey, passion-filled eyes that hadn't been present in Joker's demeanor before.

"I see your flames have grown stronger Lucario" shouted Joker, "I'd assume that's what you meant by Aura? Well? Come then! Do something!"

Lucario roared, using Extreme Speed. But, the top hat-wearing demon spread its wings, flying in the opposite direction away. As his Extreme Speed came to a stop, he darted back to where he was, charging up an Aura Sphere, maxing out its power, and firing the ball. Joker pressed his finger to his temple, and the blue flames rose up again this time bouncing the Aura Sphere back at Lucario. He didn't have much time to react as the ball made of pure energy collided with him, blasting him out of the blast zone.

Joker: 3 Stocks

Lucario: 2 stocks

Meanwhile, in the control room, an 80-seat auditorium above the domed room, all the veterans were watching the movie theater screen which displayed the fight. In front, hunched over a computer monitor were Mario and Shulk.

"What was that-a? Is that what a Persona is?" asked a shocked Mario

"As I understand, that's the one they call Arsene, Ren's first Persona."

Mario put his hand to his chin in thought,

"And how are the other Phantom Thieves?"

Shulk wordlessly patched the camera feed on his computer through to one of the luxury viewing boxes, where the rest of the Phantom Thieves sat, in silence

"Other than the one calling Ryuji saying some things I wouldn't let Isabelle hear in surprise, and the cat shushing him, they've had their eyes glued to the screen."

Mario smiled, "Attentive a-young people, I like it. The cat is a-money, he should be out there with Joker in a taunt capacity. What do you think?"

"Wouldn't be the worst idea in the world sir," Shulk said with a grin, "Also, the orange-haired girl has a laptop out."

Mario frowned, brushing his mustache in thought, "Can she hack any of our systems?"

"I mean….perhaps? Not everyone with a laptop is a-"

"If she does, let it play out."

"What?" Shulk gasped.

"If she tries to hack the battlefield system, stop it obviously, but beyond that, see what she does."

"Y-yes sir."

After Lucario felt a sensation of complete darkness, he found himself on the recovery platform, glaring down at Joker, who stood confident on the leftmost edge of the field. He closed his eyes. He felt the demon, likely what he had unknowingly sensed in the young man's Aura before, growing weaker. He let himself grin as it disappeared.

"Return" he heard Joker say.

This intrigued Lucario.

Such a young man, with such control of his power. No matter.

Lucario leaped to Joker's position, reaching out for another Force Palm. As it had before, energy pulsed up Lucario's arm, and into Joker's chest. Unlike last time, a flash of blue light right at the point of impact. And then nothing.
"What?" growled Lucario, grabbing the already weakened Joker.

Lucario growled once again, slugging Joker a few times in the stomach for good measure and throwing him across the arena into the blast zone.

Lucario: 2 stocks

Joker; 2 stocks

The second the knockout was confirmed, Lucario began to charge and Aura Sphere. As he had predicted, Joker came to his next stock guns blazing. Lucario sidestepped the blows by hopping backward, continuing to charge the Aura Sphere. As he finished, Joker ran forward, hitting him with his running two kick combo. Lucario let the first kick hit him and struck his parry pose just as the second kick connected. Joker's eyes widened briefly, which gave Lucario the opportunity to grab him, this time, slamming Joker into the ground. Joker bounced into the air. In synch with this, Lucario leaped into the air, letting off a series of aura infused stretching kicks, knocking Joker farther and farther to one side of the stage. Wordlessly, Arsene appeared again, spreading his wings, flying Joker towards Lucario, which Lucario could only sidestep. Lucario bolted to center stage where Joker was, only to be hit with a much more explosive version of a Joker's finger-snapping move earlier. It felt as though the pain had enveloped his entire body. Now it was Joker's turn to grab and pummel Lucario, throwing him up into the air, and hitting him with a raised fist. As Joker flew further into the air, Lucario once again flew into the air with Extreme Speed. Now, as Joker hit the floor and scrambled to his feet, Lucario grabbed Joker, hammering him a few times in the gut, and bicycle kicking him in the jaw, sending him up into the air. Lucario followed suit, jumping himself As he flew, he felt the air around him rumble, as if he were on the ground. That's when a ceiling, similar in hue to the general area's red and black, came into view. Lucario body checked Joker with Extreme Speed, sending him flying into the wall, and down again. Lucario had it perfectly timed, launching his Aura Sphere. A flash of blue light surrounded his opponent, and his Aura Sphere came flying right back at him. Lucario felt his burning Aura connect, pushing him towards the left most corner of the new ceiling. Lucario had "teched" a maneuver like this before, but not on this new stage, not when the wall wasn't something he had prepared for. Lucario felt the shock of hitting the corner of the wall, as he flew into the lower abyss of the blast zone.

Joker: 2 stocks

Lucario: 1 Stock

Meanwhile, The Smashers were watching intently, as Shulk and Mario manned the computer, "Hm," Shulk grunted, his eyes flashing with intrigue, " Joker's adapting better than I thought he would. Then, I suppose you don't go from high school kid to subconscious altering thief without learning how to adapt,"

"Touche my friend. Now, let's see what happens when we introduce items," Mario said, a mischievous smirk overtaking his lips.

Lucario appeared on the recovery platform again, middle stage. Joker was to his rightmost point, where a Bob-omb had just appeared at the stage's left most point. Joker's Persona had disappeared, and he had taken notice of the Bob-omb but seemed confused. Lucario let the platform de-materialize underneath him, casually stepping to where the Bob-omb was. He ran at Joker, Joker ran at him. Lucario through the bomb. As the explosive sailed through the air, Lucario saw Joker activate his countering shield, but half a second too late, as the arcane energy dissipated just as the bomb connected with the young man. Joker flew first horizontally and then ambled down. Suddenly, he removed another device from his pocket. The device fired a grappling hook, which connected onto the ledge of the stage, and hoisted Joker up. Lucario bolted, jumping above Joker, and shooting as much aura energy as he could down, knocking a surprised Joker to the blast zone.

Joker: 1 stock

Lucario: 1 stock

Meanwhile, in the luxury box which contained the rest of the Phantom Thieves, a thick silence hung in the air

"God, I hate items," Ryuji groaned.

Makoto angrily shushed him, "Don't be surprised if we see items in the next round."

"Hm?" Yusuke asked.

"This is a test. A test that's being created live as it happens. Whoever's controlling the playing field no doubt noticed items are the one thing Ren didn't plan for."

"Makoto-san, you're right. Look!" piped the voice of Haru.

Onscreen, Bob-ombs had littered the playing field, almost as often as either competitor could throw them. Damage percentage was already in the high sixties for both Lucario and Joker. The room again fell silent, broken as soon as it began by an extra-mischievous, "heh heh heh" from Futaba, who was tinkering with her laptop.

"Futaba?" nervously asked Ann, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Let's just say if this ends how I think it's going to end, the Smashers are in for one hell of a surprise."

"That laugh of yours is equal parts mystifying and terrifying," Yusuke said, a worried tone lingering in his usually smooth voice.

"Yeah, but cool shit usually happens! I can't wait!" Ryuji declared.

"Only if Ren wins," warned Futaba.

Back on the artificially created Momentos, Bob-ombs had begun to appear on the battlefield, and, to put it frankly, it had been a war. Arsene had appeared relatively early, and several times. By the same token, Lucario's recovery and use of Extreme Speed had only been aided by the high damage. A bright, rainbow-colored orb had appeared. Lucario had immediately taken notice of it, charging an Aura Sphere. When it appeared to be full power, Lucario launched the sphere.

He's trying to break it

Joker's fingers drummed on his gun.

The sphere connected with the multi-colored orb, cracking it.

"NOW!"

Joker leaped into the air, pointing his body down, and spinning in the air firing a barrage of shots down at the ball. The ball broke, its multi-colored energy latching itself onto Joker.

"Woah. I've never felt power like this."

As Joker fell to the ground, he looked at his wrist device.

Joker: %120, 1 stock

Lucario: %120, 1 stock

"NO! NO!" Lucario bellowed, sprinting towards Joker.

Joker closed his eyes, letting the power overtake him, as he would when allowing a Persona to use their most feared attack. As if carried by a supernatural force, Joker dashed towards Lucario, slashing him It was then that he felt the presence of Ann and Yusuke beside him.

"Time for an all-out attack!" he heard Futaba shout.

The three attacked Lucario with as much speed and power as they could muster, with Joker delivering one slash, adjusting his glove to watch the demonic ooze pour as he had so many times before.

"THE SHOW'S OVER!"

"GAME!"

Mario couldn't help but chuckle as Shulk fidgeted with the computer controls, "What what what? They went to the Victory courtyard, but it's stuck on the screen."

"Can you still pull up stats and purses?"

"Y-yeah but I can't see J-"

"Stow yourself Shulk, this is what the girl called Futaba was doing!"

"WOAH! THAT LOOKS SO COOL!" Ness bellowed, his eyes fixated on the screen, which hard a red and grey hued Joker with a shit-eating grin on his face, while Lucario seemed to pour sparkles from a wound

"And that," Mario concluded, looking over his shoulder at a slackjawed Ness, "Is all I need to see that The Phantom Thieves and their-a tricks are gonna be money with the 18-30 demo. Shut down the simulation Shulk."

Shulk laughed, "You're starting to sound more like Master Hand every day sir."

Joker found himself standing the middle of the domed room, what the room had been before it became Momentos. He found himself face to face with short, red-clad, man with a mustache.

"Joker," he said, extending his hand, "Allow me to be the first to welcome you and your team to the Smash a-Brotherhood!"

Joker shook the hand in turn, "We're happy to be here."

Suddenly, a door opened. Ann was the first through, followed by Futaba and the others. Ann first leaped to hug Joker, as did the others. The group hug jumped up and down in celebration as Joker laughed.

"I knew you could do it dude!" shouted Ryuji.

"And if he knows something, everyone can figure it out' quipped Morgana.

Ryuji shot him a playful look as Mario cleared his throat, "So, a few things you should know before we begin here. For the tournament you'll be staying in a suite, you'll all be getting your own bedrooms within the suite. Also, this place exists outside of what's traditionally a-known as time-space, so you'll lose no summer vacation time. Also, Morgana, would you be comfortable accompanying Joker and taunting opponents occasionally"

"I'd follow this kid to the ends of the earth Mister Mario!" agreed Morgana.

"Woah! For real? We won't lose vacation? " shouted Ryuji.

Mario chuckled, "For real indeed. Now, let's go meet the group,"

Mario snapped his fingers, and another door opened on the opposite wall. The Phantom Thieves followed Mario through and found that a small flight of stairs lead to the observation deck, where all the other Smashers sat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please a-welcome Joker, and new auxiliary members, The Phantom Thieves of Heart!'

With that, the occupants of the auditorium filtered towards the front, everyone eager to chat with their new allies. Ren and Ann caught a glimpse of each other in the forming crowd, nodding to one another. Suddenly, Lucario stepped to the front of the crowd, "I kept the match basic to test your mettle. A battle in the arena of Smash is much more similar to a real fight than you might believe, and you must be clever to win."

"Down here, salt is a way of life," Futaba mocked, using her best narrator voice.

Ryuji and Yusuke both avoided eye contact to hide their snickering, but the rest of the Phantom Thieves and Lucario were glaring at her displeasedly,

"Thank you for the information Lucario-san." Joker said with a bow.

Lucario tersely nodded before he melted back into the crowd. As Joker went back to pleasentries with the other Smashers, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be a wild summer, for better or for worse.