55 Twisted Palace (1/2)

After such a hectic morning, Axel actually enjoyed the his boring school life. Luckily, he wasn't mentally ill as school quickly got too boring as he easily finished his work.

It was after school when his problems began. Ann asked him if he wanted to watch a movie, something he was actually looking forward to. However, because of the stupid world trial, he was forced to reject her offer as he had to raid the palace with Akira and Ryuji.

To say she was sad was an understatement as Axel actually feared she was going to cry. If she did, Axel probably would have went with her, world trial be damned. It was only one time anyway.

Luckily, she didn't make things hard for him as she gave him a small nod before leaving. Exhaling a long sigh, Axel found himself in a bad mood as he made his way to the roof.

Once he arrived, he greeted Akira and Ryuji with a short nod. Akira seemed worried as he cautiously asked, ”You alright Axel?”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Axel said, ”Yeah, I'm fine. Ann just wanted to hang out but I had to turn her down.”

Ryuji's eyes widened as he yelled, ”Dude! Why'd you turn her down? You should have just went with her!”

”It's not that simple. Remember how I told you I'm not from this world? Now the world views me as a hostile element and has put a bunch of restrictions on me. My abilities are sealed and the only way to unlock them is to help you two take down Kamoshida's palace.”

Ryuji and Akira both looked shocked by Axel's revelation. And who wouldn't be? Basically, he just told them that the world is literally against him until he can prove himself.

Ryuji's face became serious, unlike anything Axel's ever seen before as he solemnly said, ”Don't worry Axel. Akira and I have your back. From now on, we take this seriously.”

Axel was surprised by Ryuji's seriousness as he felt a gentle warmth appeared in his chest. Akira's face was equally as serious as he said, ”Okay then, now that we're doing this seriously, we need to plan ahead.”

Akira softly put his bag infront of them and quickly unzipped it. Then, under the surprise of both Axel and Ryuji, a small black and white cat emerged.

”MORGANA!?!”

”MONSTER CAT!?! I MEAN, MORGANA!?!”

Morgana softly pawed at his ears as he said, ”Hey guys, good to see you again. And Ryuji! I'm not a cat, you blonde haired delinquent!”

Seeing the pair butt heads right off the bat, Axel sighed as he started feeling worried about the future. Akira shared his sentiment as he sighed as well.

It took a couple minutes for Ryuji and Morgana to stop. The pair turned towards Axel and Akira, only to be stunned as they were leaning against a wall, watching something on Axel's phone.

Curious on what they were watching, Ryuji slowly came closer as he asked, ”Whatcha guys watching? Can I have a look?”

Akira and Axel both looked at each other before silently passing him the phone. Taking the phone, Ryuji watched the video for a couple seconds and became stunned.

Axel had silently recorded his fight with Morgana. This should have been fine, if not for the fact that Morgana actually sounded like a cat in the video, making him look crazy.

Ryuji hastily tried to delete the video but Axel quickly snatched back his phone as he smirked, ”Nope, the video stays Ryuji.”

”Dude! What the hell!?! You know what? Fine, keep the video. But don't send it to anyone!”

Before Axel could reply, a small beep came from Akira's pocket as he pulled out his phone and grinned. A groan escaped Ryuji's lips as he looked towards Axel and muttered, ”Really?”

Axel shrugged his shoulders as their small group decided to finally focus on the matter at hand.

---

After a short briefing about their mission, the group of misfits made their way to the palace. However, when they arrived in the metaverse, everyone froze in place as they stared at the new appearance of the palace.

The school was partially destroyed with smoke and flames everywhere. Littering the ground outside were blacked out silhouettes that wore clothes way to similar to their school uniform.

Axel looked through a hole in the wall and saw even more silhouettes on the ground. Some of them weren't even silhouettes but we're shadows. Majority of them were rather weak shadows, like the pixie, but there were also some rather large and strong shadows as well.