Chapitre 15: A Deadly Dance
I managed to get us a car from Whimsical City and we began driving to the next city which was called Bizarrevilla. As we were driving, I noticed shadow creatures emerging from the ground. I stopped the car and looked at them. Alice and the others also looked at the creatures then looked at me.
They had rose pink skin, yellow eyes, wore black cloaks. A dark portal opened then a man walked out of the portal wearing a white coat. He had a tall, elegant figure with shoulder length light brown hair, light green eyes, and pale pink lips. He summoned a scythe and rested the handle of his weapon against his shoulder.
I got out of the car and walked forward. "Who are you?"
The man looked at me and smiled. "The Joker and the Aces of Hearts. When the Goddess warned us about you and your progress, she sent us here to stop you. You've defeated the King of Hearts forces except for his Ace."
"Leo, don't get too close to him! He's apart of an Organization called The Lost. His code name is The Blossoming Reaper...That man is named Fiorello." Snow White warned.
"Fiorello..?" I asked and looked at Snow White.
"He works closely with my Mother, The Red Queen of Hearts, and the Goddess of Wonderland. His heart was Corrupted with Lust, the Lust for Eternal Beauty." Snow White said.
"And I shall destroy EVERYTHING that isn't beautiful. A perfect world requires Perfect Beauty." Fiorello said then twirled his lance and got into his stance.
[Challenge: Defeat The Blossoming Reaper]
Fiorello disappeared then black flower buds formed around us then bloomed into a flowery arena around us. We looked around at the arena then noticed Fiorello and his pawns in front of us.
"Let us dance.." Fiorello chuckled then walked forward.
Snow White got into her stance then dashed toward Fiorello. She slashed, launching a wave of ice at him. Fiorello slashed upwards, cutting the wave in half. His movements were graceful and his eyes showed that he too had Regulated Emotions. I noticed it and went in to help Snow White.
"My little Rose Reapers, stop him." Fiorello said and snapped his fingers.
The Rose Reapers dashed toward me and fired black vines at me. Alice appeared in front of me and slashed with her scissors, cutting the vines and her eyes shined. After yesterday, her confidence was increased tenfold. I smiled and nodded then created clones of myself then vanished.
"Fire..."
"Burn..."
"You must incinerate him..."
Kaguya looked up at the sun and wanted to use its solar energy, but she couldn't as she was only able to use the power of the moon. She was vastly weaker when the sun was out so she couldn't help as much.
"Briar, can you do something to help me?" Kaguya asked.
Suimin fired a bullet at a Rose Reaper, but noticed the Reaper teleport out of the way of the bullet. She holstered her pistol then black energy formed around her hand, allowing her to form a black shotgun with her energy.
"I can't...I don't have that form of power..." Suimin said and fired more bullets at the Rose Reaper but it kept teleporting out of range.
The Rose Reaper dashed toward Suimin then phased through her. It turned around, ready to kill Suimin, but Alice kicked it away then summoned an arsenal of guns then rapidly fired fire augmented bullets at the Rose Reapers. They screeched in pain and disappeared.
I watched her and smiled then noticed more Rose Reapers forming around us. I watched as my clones grew tired and disappeared. "They just keep coming.."
"Fiorello is the key to stopping them, but we can't defeat them as long as his army of Rose Buds keep spawning. We are no longer dealing with the King's Units, but the Goddess's Units." Alice said and walked backwards to become back to back with me. "What's your plan..?"
I summoned my mask and closed my eyes. "We just strike them harder...We just need to support Snow White while she's fighting him one on one, but she's not going to win. He's vastly faster than her, but based on his stats...He's a Knight and a Jack."
"A Knight and a Jack...What is your plan then?" Alice asked.
"Leave it to me..." I said and Joker chuckled as he looked at the Rose Reapers.
"Yes...Those cards Usagi gave you aren't for hiding your Rank. They are used to summon me, at the cost of Life Force. The Joker's ability is called The Fool's Wild." Joker explained.
I put on my mask and my dark energy began to form around my body. I closed my eyes then my energy surged powerfully around me. "Let's begin the real game..."
The Rose Reapers let out their monstrous roar then their dark energy surged around their bodies. I walked forward then summoned a katana. I smirked then vanished and delayed slashes struck the Rose Reapers, defeating them instantly. Alice smirked and nodded.
"The Jack costs 3000, The Queen Costs 6000, The King costs 9000, and the Ace costs 12,000. You can only summon me when the Joker Gauge is fully charged." Joker informed.
'It's finally nice that we are actually working together now. Your Madness and my Logic.' I thought to myself.
"Hmph... right." Joker laughed.
I slashed my way through multiple Rose Reapers then slashed in a circle then summoned a gun before stopping and aimed it at the last Rose Reaper's head firing a bullet through its head.
Fiorello knocked Snow White away then looked at me. He chuckled and walked forward. "Wow~ The Goddess told me about your combat abilities, but she never told me you were that good..."
"Face it, Flower Boy, it's Checkmate..." I said.
[Promotion Possible!]
[Joker Gauge MAX!]
Fiorello snapped his fingers then six giant Rose Buds appeared around us. They opened and emitted white smoke. "You're not fighting against the King's Units anymore...You're now fighting me, The Blossoming Reaper!"
Fiorello disappeared into the smoke then illusions of himself formed around me. "Where am I..? Try and find out!"
He began rushing me, but I used my Preflex to dodge each attack then summoned Joker.
[Life Force -3000]
[Life Force: 45,300]
Joker appeared and laughed then chains wrapped around the real Fiorello. He swung him around then slammed him into the ground. I appeared above Fiorello and came down with a spinning slash, but Fiorello teleported away then appeared above me with his eyes shining brightly.
Alice tried to help, but she was in a euphoric state because of the mist around the arena. She shook her head and tried to escape the high, but she couldn't. She fell to her knees, giggling. "L-Leo.."
Snow White had on an ice mask to block the smoke. She noticed Suimin and Kaguya were also high. This prohibited their ability to fight against Fiorello, so she knew it would only be me and her fighting him.
"This is an amazing Dance, Joker! Let us see you dance more!" Fiorello dashed toward me and slashed at me, launching crescent waves of purple energy at me.
I blocked each wave then dashed toward him and looked around quickly. I noticed Snow White and nodded then promoted to a Bishop then Joker laughed.
I vanished and three magic circles appeared around Fiorello. He levitated backwards then grunted as he noticed I appeared in front of him then struck his stomach. I knocked him upwards then Snow White jumped up and slashed downward, striking Fiorello's back. She knocked him to the ground and I kicked him away.
"Go." I said then formed a sphere of dark energy in my hands.
Snow White dashed toward Fiorello and dragged her claymore along the ground then created sparks. "This is for what you did to me!"
Fiorello dodged her slash then smirked as he saw an opening. He struck the side of her body then kicked her stomach, causing her to lean down. He uppercut her then knocked her away. She rolled on the ground then recovered.
'Hurry Leo..!' Snow White thought to herself.
She rushed toward Fiorello again then dodged his slash and slid forward. She slashed upwards, but he blocked it then pushed downward. Snow White grunted as her blade was lodged into the ground. She noticed purple circles appear underneath her then quickly moved out of the way, dodging the large thorns that protruded from the ground.
I raised the sphere of dark energy in the air. "Calamity Discharge.."
The sphere of energy began to discharge powerful black electricity around the arena, striking the buds then causing a massive explosion. The white mist disappeared and Fiorello's boost had disappeared.
He looked at me and noticed my smirk. "Joker..."
"Checkmate..." I said and threw the sphere at Fiorello.
He dodged it then noticed a magic circle open above and below him. He groaned loudly as a powerful bolt of purple lightning struck him then an explosion happened.
The arena walls turned into black rose petals then disappeared. Fiorello had also vanished in the process.
[Challenge Completed: Defeated The Blossoming Reaper.]
Snow White sighed and her mask disappeared. She looked at me and smiled. "No Chaos Unit..?~ You sure are stepping your game up..~"
I took off my mask and exhaled. I looked at Snow White then smiled. "You weren't too bad yourself..~"
Snow White closed her eyes and walked toward Alice and the others to help them up. She picked Alice up and heard her giggling. "Yes, yes I know you're high... You'll be able to ride the high on the way to Bizarrevilla.."
"Everything is so trippy...Is this what people mean when they say their off in Wonderland..?~" Alice asked and giggled.
Snow White looked at Alice and smiled. "Yes, now come on to the car..."
I helped Suimin and Kaguya up. "You two can not handle the high. Both of you are fast asleep..."
"Leo..! I'm hungry..!" Alice whined.
"We can get some grub when we reach Bizarrevilla..." I said as I helped Suimin and Kaguya into the car.
"So what's your secret? Your mask doesn't cover your entire face. How did you resist the mist?" Snow White asked.
"I didn't." I chuckled and got into the passenger side and pointed to the driver's seat. "Today you're learning how to drive."
Snow White looked at me then smiled and sighed. "Better put on your seatbelt and hope to whatever god you believe in that I don't crash."
"Yeah I'm praying." I said and smiled.
...
...
...
As we drove down the road, Snow White noticed we were running low on gas so she stopped at a gas station named Juggernaut. She stopped the car in the front of the gas pump then turned the engine off.
"I didn't do too bad~" Snow White said and smiled.
"Nope, I applaud you..~" I said and stroked her chin before getting out.
Snow White rolled her eyes and got out as well. "Yeah okay..~"
We walked into the gas station building and walked toward the cashier. She looked at us and gave us a welcoming smile.
"Hello, Hello!~ What can I do for ya?" The woman asked and held her arms.
"Thirty on pump three." I said.
"Mmkay!~ May I ask where you're headed?" She asked as she typed on the register.
"Bizarrevilla." Snow White answered.
The woman stopped typing and looked at us. "B-Bizzarevilla?"
"Yeah why?" I asked.
"The city over there is in shambles. The county authorities told us to disallow people from going there. There is a big surge in numbers regarding The Lost. It's actually too dangerous.." The cashier said.
"We have to go there. We are trying to save this region from the King and all other nobles who threaten the livelihood of Wonderland." I said.
She looked at us then sighed softly. "To get to Bizarrevilla, you'd need to cross through a city called Serene City. My sister is the Mayor there, but to get into the city you'd need a pass."
"How do we get this pass?" Snow White asked.
"My brother has one. His workshop is down that field. You should see one with a large red roof. It's hard to miss. There's a campsite down there, free to use and there's a motel here a few blocks down." She said and smiled at us.
I nodded and walked off with my hands in my pockets. Snow White bowed toward the cashier then hurried after me.
"What's the plan now?" Snow White asked.
"We get that pass. That's our first task." I said and looked at Snow White.
"Okay. We can go there tomorrow morning." Snow White said and looked at me.
"Right..." I said.
"Beauty should be in the eye of the beholder. What is perfect isn't what makes beauty, but the imperfections and uniqueness is what defines beauty..."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone