Joker in Twisted Wonderland

Prelude: Carriage of Ebony

"Welcome home, Ren." He says to himself as he steps off the train into his home town. It had now been a year since he was sent away for his probation. By now he has been cleared of those charges, but the memory of his record does stand.

"Hey, something wrong? You don't seem very happy for someone who just got back home." A boyish voice says. The raven-haired boy turns to see the head of a tuxedo cat pop out from his bag on his shoulder.

"It's just, I don't think anyone's happy I'm back." Ren admits. "Truth is, I wasn't very popular, even before Shido. Even my own parents hardly ever noticed me. They were always too busy fighting. I don't even know if they'll be home..." He explains, a downtrodden look in his eyes.

"What?" The cat said surprised. "I guess that explains why they didn't seem to check on you while you were in Tokyo... But they might be happy to see you. Got to give them a chance right." He says optimistically. Ren sighs.

"Yeah, I guess you got a point." The bespectacled boy relents and the two make their way to the boy's house, soon coming to a typical suburban styled two-story house. The boy stops and takes a deep inhale of breath, then heads inside.

Inside, it appeared to be abandoned, like it has not been lived in for months, or maybe a year. Ren stood in the doorway for a couple of seconds, just starring into the empty house. Morgana climbs out of his bag, then hops down onto the floor and heads into the house. Ren finally moving to follow.

Looking around it was crystal clear that no one has even stepped foot in the place for some time. Ren soon heads into the kitchen, checking the fridge to see it was empty, then notices a note on the counter. He picks it up and then reads it.

"Heh! Haha... So, you finally did it, and decided to leave... Hahaha..." Ren laughed humorlessly and started to break down into tears.

"Ren? Are you okay?" Morgana asked worriedly as he hops up onto the counter, then notices the note in the boy's hand. He couldn't make out much, but what he could see, it looks like Ren's parents had gotten divorced not long after the boy had moved to Tokyo and said he was on his own now.

The boy then crumples the paper in his hand before throwing it across the room. He then punches the wall and runs straight out of the house, tears streaking down his face as he runs through the quiet town streets.

"Ren! Ren! Come back!" Morgana calls as he chases after his human companion. The boy didn't stop, he just running, heading straight back for the train station. He couldn't stay here, he needed to get away. Back to where he belonged.

"Ren! Slow down! Where are you going?!" Morgana calls again and Ren does slow down and starts to turn around to look back at his feline companion. But while he does, they both hear a loud neigh and turn to see a large carriage pulled by two black horses come at them.

"My dear beloved. A lovely and noble flower of evil."
"Truly, you are the most beautiful of all."
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the..."

Ren slowly felt his consciousness return to him. He opens his eyes to find himself in what appears to be the carriage that appeared before him. He looks outside to see where the horse drawn vehicle was taking him, gasping as he sees a castle-like structure in the distance/direction the carriage was heading.

Looking at more of the surrounding landscape, Ren found the horses were pulling him through a dark forest with dark trees, the only source of light being the large full moon hanging in the sky above the castle place. As Ren watched the scenery go by, he found himself closing his eyes once again as everything fades to black.

"Those who are guided by the dark mirror..."
"As long as your heart desires,"
"take the hand that appears in the mirror."

Upon opening his eyes again, he found himself in what looked like ruins, with crumbling stones and ash everywhere he looked. The scenery reminded him of something you find in Mementos, though not quite.

Confused, he starts wandering around, looking for anything to explain where he was or what was going on. As he walks around, he began feeling like something, or someone, was watching him. Almost like a predator was stalking him, like he was prey. He stops as he hears a low growling noise and turns around to see a monster!

It had to be the size of a bus, with several tentacle-like appendages from its neck, large black wings, a cobra shaped tail, large claws, fire burning from inside its ears, bright blue eyes and razor sharp fangs. The beast snarled as it looked down at him like he was its next meal. So he started running and the beast chases after him.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell is that thing?! Where am I?! What's going on?!" He thought in panic as he continuously tries to outrun the beast, barely staying a few feet away from it before he came to a dead. "Crap!" He cursed and turned to see the beast slow down and stalk up to him.

"Shit! What do I do?! What do I do?!" He thought in panic, then a thought occurs to him. "Wait... I'm not just Ren Amamiya, I'm not just some helpless kid..." He thought, remembering the past year and all the adventures with his close friends.

"I am Joker, the Phantom Thief and rebel. I can survive anything I put my mind to. I've fought shadows and the worst of humanity itself... And I am not going down, not now or ever!" He declares and readies to fight back against the beast, even if he didn't know how to win, he knew he couldn't, wouldn't, give up.

"So it appears you haven't fully forgotten," Ren gasps at the all-too familiar voice and pain explodes in his head. "That will to stand against it all. That will to fight for freedom. That will of rebellion!" The voice in his mind says as he withers from the pain and buzzing in his head, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"If that is the case then let us renew our contract. I am thou, thou art I... Thou willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own Justine! Once again, call out my name and release our rage upon the world! Show our strength and unchain thyself!" As the voice quiets, Ren looks up at the creature with his now yellow eyes.

"Yes, come back to me, let us finish what we started..." He said as he rose back up while looking at the flaming monster. A burst of azure fire appeared over his face, forming a white avian domino mask with black around the eyes, accompanied by the familiar feeling of needing to rip it off.

"ARSENE!!!" The black haired boy calls out and with a single tug, pulls the mask clean off his face, blood spurting with it.

He is then engulfed by azure flames and his t-shirt and pants change. He was now dressed in a black ankle-length tailcoat, a greyish high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, cinched black pants, brown-black winklepicker ankle boots with tall heels and a pair of red gloves.

Floating above him, was a male humanoid figure, with a very tall top hat, a long-horned mask for his face, a cropped red eighteenth century-esque open suit with popped collar, stitched heart designs on the shoulders, white ruffle tie, a black tail corset running down his torso. Large, black, feathery wings starting at the small of his back, claws, red coverings on his legs resembling pants and boots with blade-like heels.

"I am the Pillager of Twilight, Arsene! Let us once again run wild to our hearts' content!" The being above him, his persona, says. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"I remember this feeling, freedom, myself... Alright, Arsene... Let's do this!" Joker says and the two charge at the creature, which roars ready to fight as well.

"For me. For them. For you. We all are running out of time." 
"No matter what... Never let go of my hand."
"Purge the corruption that is swallowing the world."