The Wheel of Fortune's Story

A few seconds later, he averted his sapphire blue eyes. Staring at his own reflection seemed to be unproductive, even when he was in such a bored state. Plus, since his entire figure was tinged copper and his appearance was impeccable like always, there really wasn’t anything to look at. Well, while he was still here at the library, there were only a few things that he could actually do.

One. Go home, explain the current unfortunate circumstances to his father, dig one of the spare jackets up from the closets, and well, tell him to come back tomorrow and look for it himself. That’d be fine - except his father wasn’t the type to do any work that he could escape from.

Two. Try to find a way in. Maybe there was a few unlocked windows somewhere - no, that strayed too far from disobeying the law, and he already had enough cops on his tail. Didn’t need a couple hundred tailing him, itching to finally get the ‘highschooler with the bandages’ for breaking and entering? So what did that leave him with -

His train of thought was broken off when he caught sight of a young male, with an umbrella, walking down the street. With his brown hair and very boring appearance, Aki would usually have never noticed him. Other than the fact that he was traveling in the middle of Throme’s less busy districts, really - he had to emphasize the point that this person was probably the most boring person in the entire city. But why would anyone be here on a Friday afternoon? Well, obviously, Aki himself was an exception to that rule, but there really wasn’t anything to do in Throme around these parts anyways. Other than visit the unfortunately closed library, of course.

His interest piqued, he stared at the guy until he disappeared and turned the corner. Aki breathed out once, trying to persuade himself that whatever the guy was doing - it wasn’t going to be interesting. He failed, of course, and found himself quickly climbing down the stairs, before following Guy stealthily. Just in time to see him hide behind a bush as though he was trying not to be seen.

Now that was interesting. No matter how Aki ever tried to rationalize it, there could be nothing normal about a guy who was trying to escape notice. Guy was doing something hidden there, and even as Aki tried to get closer without being too noticeable, Guy stepped out from his cover. “Ohho, mission me, mission my. Where else do we go to die? Hahaha.” Except for the fact that he wasn’t the same Guy. This Guy, with his eyeshattering blond hair, and flamboyant clothing, looked nothing like the mousy brown-haired one from before. He didn’t act the same either, walking down the side path as though he was the king of the world.

There was only one thing that could explain this. A simple, magical explanation. A mask. Either that or the ability to unfurl his skin and exchange it for another appearance.

Aki sighed, before he backed away from the dogging of Guy’s steps. While normally he wouldn’t have gone through such a hassle - really, Fortune was as bad as they came - but it was the one tool that he had at his disposal to get to the bottom of the mess. He knew enough to know that whoever these people were, they wouldn’t take kindly to an eavesdropper, and he’d probably have to do away with his relatively uninjured state.

Stepping to the side of the street, he chose one of the larger pruned trees from the library gardens and hunched behind it. Checking to be sure that the coast was clear, he held one hand in front of him. “When you’re bored,” he watched as the mask faded into his hand, its silver metal eyeholes staring into his. Flipping it over, he placed it firmly on his face, feeling a familiar chill down his spine, before he finally enunciated that stupid-sounding phrase. “Gamble on my luck.”




Black hair turned sandy, blue eyes transformed into a gleaming gold, and a white scarf twisted its way over messy clothing. The Wheel of Fortune was in the house, and it was time for some fun! Looking around, he exaggeratedly contemplated his surroundings. Really? A stubby little tree? Bouncing up on the balls of his feet, he poked his head over the poor-looking plant, and saw something interesting.

A manboy with pfft clothing.

Maybe he thought that he was good enough to attract the attention of the Wheel of Fortune himself. He could barely stop himself from sticking out his tongue and blowing Pfftboy a raspberry, but some thought stopped him. Perhaps it would be more fun to just follow him for a bit, watch the show for a few hours, and then pop up out of nowhere. Well, Mr.Pfft was certainly having the time of his life walking down that street. Maybe he got the thrills from being watched. From the way he dressed, that certainly was a possibility.

There was nothing that he liked more than an actor that could put on a show. “You’re boring me… see you later then!” he finally whispered in an uncharacteristically muted voice. His form turned into a streak of black, and before long, he found himself joined into Pfftboy’s shadow. Almost like Siamese twins but without the twinness. The manboy went straight into the garage, as the Wheel of Fortune bounded on his feet and made strange faces at his back.

Liesel Moringmer | Dullahan Library Underground Car Park

How long had she been waiting? An hour? Maybe two?

How many clicks had it been?

Well, then again, she was the one who came early.

One wouldn’t have thought the woman anxious if it weren’t for the lighter in her tight grip. Even now, the click, click, clicking of the empty lighter persisted, growing more frantic with each passing second. With her free hand, she braced herself against one of the columns in the lot. ‘Get a hold of yourself, Moringmer,’ the she told herself, but the crease wouldn’t leave her brow. Her lips were still pulled in that terribly agitated scowl. Damn it. She heaved a sigh tired sigh, letting her unlit cigarette fall to the ground – she was far too worked up over this, over one measly change. She had thought that he couldn’t surprise her anymore… and then he went and pulled this stunt.

“Just what the hell’re you thinking this time, Torrings?” she murmured. One would think that she’d be used to the man’s antics by now… ha. She’d like to see anyone who could read Arthur Torrings. After all, she’d known him for all of four years and she still didn’t have a clue. Just when she thought she had him all sorted, was finally dancing to his tune, he always went and changed up the rhythm and tripped her up. That man had a real knack for making her want to throttle him. Her gaze idly followed one of the last cars leaving the car park. About time. The library had been closed for quite some time now.

click, click, click

With another agitated sigh, she pulled up her left sleeve, glancing at the customized com-unit at her wrist.

Outbox: 12
Inbox: 0

click, click, click

“Fuck you too, Arthur,” she muttered, eyes narrowing just ever so slightly. Damn it. Why wouldn’t he answer? It was always like this with him – he says what he wants then just disappears for another week or two or if, she was lucky, even a month. He was never there when she needed him… well, no. That was obviously just a frustrated lie. He was always there at the right moments… but never anytime else. Like right now. His little present for a certain someone was weighing rather heavily on her mind (and lightly in the pocket of her coat). She was always the messenger, wasn’t she?...

The woman was snapped out of her thoughts and to attention at a sudden footstep. Hm? "What will it be? Joker? Ahahaha! What a joke-reporting for duty!" Ah, it was her. The first of the lot, finally. The lighter was tucked away into her pocket.

“Took y’long enough, eh, Karim?” Liesel called, an irritated smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “Where’s the rest of the deck?” As soon as the question left her mouth, the second arrival showed himself. And then there were two… there were only two. And here Liesel had thought that she was being a kind and considerate person by setting the meeting this far into the day, but hey, what did she know? This obviously wasn’t a good time, despite everyone agreeing to it, or whatever happened to suddenly pop up in their schedules was more important than the fate of the city itself. Obviously, otherwise everyone would have been on time like she had told them to over and over.

She gave the missing members ten seconds benefit before her patience snapped. “Damn it, is it just you two?!” Her voice echoed in the car park, making it seem even louder than it was. A glance at her wrist told her the time: too late. She couldn’t wait much longer. “Leave it to you idiots to throw a wrench into plans first thing. Damn it.” She had planned to send three to one location and two to the other, but that wasn’t going to work right now. Sinking deeper into her thoughts, the woman began to pace, eyes shut in concentration. “Damn it! And you,” she said, pointing blindly at the Jack, “you’re not even complete yet. I can’t send you off alone, can I? Don’t answer that, I know I can’t.” Not unless she wanted more blood on her hands.

She could… no… or maybe… … all of a sudden, Liesel stopped, just heaving a sigh.

“Okay, you know what? We don’t have time for this,” she said flatly. She looked up, eyes narrowed, and gave both the Joker and the Jack a firm look. “Bottom line, Itex is acting up – getting more active – and we’ve got word on certain hotspots.” She glanced at her wrist once more. “There’s no time for questions – we don’t know when they’ll hit,” she continued, “so for now I want you two to head on over to Lil’ Maybelle. Not the main district, but that shady little area behind that… that spot apart from the popular bit, behind that rental shop or whatever.” They’d know where she meant. Probably. And if not, they should be used to her directions by now, so not her problem.

“Your job is to intercept whatever Itex plans to do there. If y’need specifics or got any questions, you got the units,” she lifted her wrist, “that I passed out. Just shoot me a message on the go.” Well, with that, she was done. The red-haired woman simply folded her arms and leaned against one of the supporting pillars… oh no, wait. “And you know the drill – keep away from civilians. You aren’t superheroes. You aren’t vigilantes. You have a mission, so focus on that. And Ax, you in particular, be careful – believe it or not, you have a bigger disadvantage than you realize with that mask of yours.”

And now she was done… and while they were on their way, she would be spending God-knows-how-long waiting on the rest of them.

Chilly rain, small refrain, why didn't he bring an umbrella. Ax laughed as he half-mocked his human host internally. Well, it wasn't exactly correct, because James had taken an umbrella the entire way. He'd just left it in the greenery when he transformed into Axilious.

But what fun was it to be the star and forget a part of the play? Always others to blame it on. Always a person who deserved the guilt and who ought to be taught a lesson. Always someone else. After all, that was something the common human was good for. Taking blame, that is.

'Hum, hum, hummity hum.' The tune was bland at best, but it was the preoccupation that mattered the most to him. There would be a while before anything came of watching backstreets, and besides that, it'd just look like an obvious trap if there was a man unpreoccupied on a rainy streetcorner. Which is why he was now standing underneath an overhang, glancing casually over the shop's display.

"DAMN IT!" out of nowhere, the Wheel of Fortune stumbled back into view. "I forgot the time!" Then, almost as though he just realized that Axilious was there, he bounded up onto his toes with a smirk. "Just pretend that I was never here and go and do whatever. I wanna see a show!"

Shocked at the sudden appearance out of what seemed like thin air, he stepped back for one single moment before grinning fiercely. 'I am the star of the show.' The pronouncement shortly followed by an almost feral leap from the elegant prancer towards the new figure.

WoF stood there for a nanosecond, mouth agape, before he leapt backwards. "What are you doing, Lacey?!" he complained with a petulant frown on his face - more suitable for a child than anyone else. "You're not supposed to do that!"

'What, supposed to do my duty and catch an Itex agent? Hah!' Rolling forwards over the soaked road, and coming up smoothly, he stared down the other, soft blond locks plastered to his face by the driving rain. As the bladed staff materialised in hand, he flourished it, stepping closer. 'So, whelp, duel me and die honourably?'

That obviously wasn't WoF's idea of fun. Ignoring the completely incorrect statement, he continued stepping backwards, seemingly unworried of the extremely sharp object in Fluffy's hand. "But dueling is so ... boooooring. Why don't we do something else? You can duel with the," he glanced around then pointed at the shop display. "funny fake person in there. It even has clothes that are as pff as yours!"

Now, that did raise a grin, but it wasn't exactly 'haha I won't attack you anymore'. This was the 'What did you just imply? I think you need to be stabbed' grin. And sure enough, twirling the staff expertly, he stepped forwards measuredly, keeping pace with the retreating figure before lunging, staff directly out in front of him, attempting to skewer the other like a shishkebab.

He leapt backwards as quickly as he could, the staff not plunging into his chest - yet. After spending a few valuable seconds blowing a raspberry at the highly dangerous Lacey, he spun around and started running down the street as though his life depended on it. Which it probably did.

Growling as the blade missed, Axilious dismissed it and began haring after the vanishing figure. Trust Itex to turn tail and RUN. And this rain wasn't letting up either...

Trying to pump his legs as quickly as they could go, WoF alloted the vast majority of his brainpower to trying to remember one of his skills. Mainly because he wasn't really paying attention to where he was doing, his feet slid on a piece of slick sidewalk. A few seconds later, he was on the ground - bruised but not yet broken, completely wet, and a few meters farther away from his pursuer. And did he mention the pain?

To be honest, he'd expected a longer and better chase. However, he wouldn't pass up this opportunity. Slowing to a walk, he sauntered over towards the now injured prey. His movements designed to bring hype to the audience that... that... Holy hells. There was a one man who was staring at him strangely. Well, that sure put a dampener on things. Pretending to be going to check on the prone figure, he desperately prayed to whatever god was out there that the man keep on walking.

It seemed as though seeing threatening people walk closer made WoF's mind move faster. Without even noticing the other man, WoF quickly shouted, "Haha! I bet you're surprised!" and with hardly a transition, there was suddenly a rapidly spinning roulette wheel looming over his head.

Right. Itex was cowardly AND had no sense of presence. Well, the wheel certainly wasn't something that could be explained away, and the man now peering closer to try and work out what he was seeing was starting to become an annoyance. Even moreso when his wristwatch suddenly vibrated against his wrist. 'Goddamn all you pretentious self-absorbed critters.' Hopefully the man hadn't seen either of them well in the driving rain, and Axilious preferred to retreat while the Itex lackey made a fool of himself and became easily recognisable for the future. So, he jumped to the side, rolled, and vanished around the streetcorner...

The wheel gradually slowed, but WoF paid that no mind. There was no opponent, who had suddenly vanished around the corner. So, of course, he decided that the best course of events would be to -- there was a man? Who dared look at him as though he was the show? With a pout, he slowly picked himself off of the cold, hard ground and decided to follow Fluffy. At least he didn't stare as much. So, taking a cue from the other strange man, he bounded in the same direction.

Safe and sound around the next corner, Ax allowed himself a few moments of closed eye imagined adoration at his excellent exit. Well, whatever. He may have lost that due to a bystander, but he still had that message. Ah, Karim. Frowning and trying to recall the location of the Orion Coffee Shop, or of Orion Street itself, he paused, stretching the consideration out for just long enough...

And then his thoughts were interrupted by the Itex Lackey. Seems he'd realised the scene he was making too. 'Well, well, see what the gutters brought up...'

Ignoring the comment, the Wheel of Fortune merely blew the weirdly-dressed man a loud raspberry. "Your clothes, right? I knew they were gutter style." He reached forward to try and grab the elaborate material and surprisingly held it fairly easily.

Ax, completely shocked by the sudden aggresive reaction, stared for a moment before he tried to swat the hands away. 'Hands off my personage, if you please.'

WoF seemed to be just as amazed by his ability to place one hand on his opponent. However, he didn't dwell on it for very long. Despite the swatting hands of his opponent, he continued to hold on to the fabric before rubbing it between his palms. "Heavy." Looking up into Lacey's blue eyes, he seemed to find the entire thing quite amusing. "Yep. Gutter style. You should pick something that doesn't make you look like a jellyfish with legs."

And he dared to comment on his choice of clothes? Axilious literally seethed with rage, pivoting forwards to try and heave his fist right into the other's face. 'Gutter?!?!'

Leaping backwards, he was forced to relinquish his hold on the ornate material. Instead of trying to punch him (it was somewhat of a lost cause), he allowed a huge black book with peeling golden letters to materialize in hand and awkwardly thrust it towards Fluffy.

'Oof' Caught by surprise, failing to realise this was a masked opponent and therefore armed with a weapon not visible, Ax founds himself biffed on the chest by a book, staggering back despite the awkwardness of the blow. 'You use a BOOK to fight?'

There was a brief pause as WoF bounded up (with a loud giggle) to look at the stumbling Fluffy's face. "It's the Art of Escaping Boredom," he chimed. "You should read it. You wouldn't be as bored as you are."

'And you can tell I'm bored?' Laughing once, Axilious recalled the twirling bladed staff, grinning still, message forgotten... With one shout of 'Hah!' he struck out, joining battle in both word and weapon. While there weren't any observers due to the nature of the streets, and the rain driving even the lurkers of the backstreets away, Axilious performed as if to an audience.

And then there was the Wheel of Fortune, book cut into as he blocked the deadly blade, quite disinterested in the battle, took his part in the play as well. Pouting for every mark on his 'weapon', and always looking for a reason to escape his pursuer.