Joker tightened his grip around the marotte, then with a flourish tossed it into the air, giving it a sharp, spinning throw.
The marotte flickered midair, scattering prismatic lights before dissolving into sparks. In its place, a flurry of cards appeared, fanning out in front of Joker like a shimmering wall.
He stood calmly behind them, the cards hovering in perfect formation, his grin wide and unbothered. "No worries, friends," he said lightly, his tone playful, as though this were nothing more than a street performance.
With a snap of his fingers, the marotte reappeared in his hand, materializing from a burst of colorful glitter. Without hesitation, he swung it sideways. The floating cards responded instantly, shooting forward in a sudden wave that streaked through the air toward the soldiers.
"Defend yourselves!" the commander barked, thrusting his polearm forward. His men followed, raising spears and halberds in unison. But as the weapons met the cards, their steel was sliced through effortlessly. The cards latched onto uniforms and armor instead, clinging like sharp-edged tics.
For a moment, nothing happened. Confusion rippled through the ranks. Then came the sound—beep. beep. beep. The soldiers froze, eyes widening as they realized too late what it meant.
"Explosives!" the commander shouted.
The corridor erupted. One after another, the cards detonated in a blinding chain of explosions, shockwaves blasting outward. Flames roared, sparks tore through stone, and the force sent soldiers scattering into the air. Outside, the blasts were visible from the city's streets—bright flashes lighting the sky, smoke curling upward like fireworks gone awry.
From balconies and alleys below, citizens looked up in terror as the sound carried across the kingdom, a booming reminder that the palace had become a battlefield.
Joker shielded his head with one arm as the blast's shockwave rippled past him, the glow in his cybernetic eyes flickering as he turned back toward the rising smoke. The haze cloaked the corridor, blinding most of the soldiers caught within it.
Then, with a sudden burst of motion, the commander broke through the smoke, sprinting at full force. Each step tore the haze apart beneath his boots, pressure building with his charge. His spear leveled forward, gleaming in the light.
"Your captain is bound for execution! There's no saving him!" the commander roared, hurling the weapon with all his strength. The spear ripped through the air, its speed multiplying as it tore toward Joker.
The gust from the throw brushed against Joker's coat, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he calmly adjusted the brim of his top hat before extending his palm. In a flash of dazzling colors, an enormous block-like hand materialized in front of him, its surface glimmering with prismatic light.
The construct mirrored Joker's movement perfectly, intercepting the spear midflight. Its massive fingers closed around the weapon with a metallic crunch before swinging wide, hurling it away. The spear spun violently as it was cast aside, clattering far down the grand staircase, useless.
Joker straightened, marotte in his other hand, the conjured hand still hovering at his side like a stage prop waiting for its cue. His eyes gleamed faintly, his voice smooth and taunting. "You'll have to try harder than that, my good man. The act has only just begun."
"Your captain's as good as dead!" the commander bellowed, slamming his boot into the marble. The impact cracked the floor beneath him with a thunderous thump, the sound echoing through the palace entrance like a war drum.
A violent surge of energy erupted around him, his body flaring with raw force. Dust blasted outward in a ring, rattling the lanterns along the walls as the marble tiles fractured under the pressure. His armor rattled against his frame as if straining to contain the power now coursing through him.
Then he moved.
The commander launched forward with such speed it blurred the air, his form becoming a streak of motion too fast for the eye to follow. The ground where he had stood split and buckled, leaving a shattered crater in his wake.
Joker's eyes widened ever so slightly—just enough to mark the danger—before he flicked his marotte and twisted his body aside. The commander tore past, missing him by barely an inch. The sheer force of the dash caught Joker's cloak, ripping it into the slipstream. Fabric whipped violently as the commander's surge of energy dragged the air with him.
The soldier shot down the staircase like a missile, boots barely grazing the steps as he descended. The wind shrieked in his wake, carrying him into open air as though he were weightless. For a moment, he hung suspended, the glow of his energy blazing like a comet against the palace backdrop.
Joker adjusted his hat coolly, the fabric of his coat still rippling from the near miss. A grin pulled at his face as the prism-colored sparks danced off his marotte. "Oh-ho… that was a proper entrance," he groaned, voice dripping with theatrical delight.
Joker flicked his marotte with a flourish, conjuring a massive, radiant cube that shimmered with swirling colors. With a casual swing, he hurled it through the air like a projectile, sending it streaking toward the airborne commander.
But the man's momentum didn't falter. Midflight, he twisted his body with practiced precision, vaulting cleanly over the glowing construct. The cube passed beneath him, bursting into sparks as he spun in the air.
Locking eyes on his target, the commander angled downward, his form cutting through the air like a spearhead. He descended with lethal intent, a blur of steel and energy aimed straight at Joker.
As the commander descended, energy trailing in his wake, his voice boomed over the roar of his momentum.
"We will protect this kingdom from pirate scum like you!" he roared, twisting his body midair as his spear ignited with a crackling aura. His boots hit the marble stairs with explosive force, stone fracturing beneath the impact, and in the same motion he leveled the weapon at Joker.
Power rippled outward from the spear's tip, the pressure alone enough to make the air tremble. Sparks of energy scattered like lightning off steel, his whole body coiled for the strike.
Joker stood at the foot of the staircase, coat and hat still fluttering from the aftershock of the commander's landing. His marotte shimmered with prismatic light in his hand, the glow painting his face in eerie colors. Yet he didn't flinch—he merely tilted his head, eyes glowing faintly as if awaiting the curtain to rise on the next act.
The commander's voice rang with conviction, each word carrying the weight of duty.
"This kingdom will not fall to pirates and criminals! Even if it costs me my life, I will defend it to my last breath!"
With a roar, he swung his spear downward in a devastating arc, the weapon blazing with energy that rippled like a storm. The air shrieked under the force of the strike as it came crashing toward Joker.
Joker raised his marotte with a flick, conjuring a glittering wall of cards in a sudden burst of color. The spectral deck spread out in layers before him, overlapping like an armored shield.
The spear struck.
The impact detonated against the card wall with a thunderous shockwave, sparks and colored motes bursting outward in every direction.
The commander's attack had enough power to cleave stone, but instead of tearing through, it rebounded violently. The shimmering cards held firm, absorbing the strike before exploding outward in a dazzling ripple of light.
The commander staggered back, boots skidding across the fractured marble as the backlash forced him to retreat a few paces. His arms shook from the reverberation, the sheer resistance of the conjured shield enough to jolt through his bones.
Joker, untouched behind the glowing remnants of his cards, tipped his hat with theatrical calm. "Bravo," he said, voice smooth and mocking. "A strike with conviction! But alas—conviction alone does not break the house of cards."
To be continued...