Fool's World: The Fool (ch. 1) (Patreon)

The first thing I ever felt was a fist smacking into my face, snapping my head to the side and rattling every tooth in my skull. My heart immediately started thundering in my ears, making every other sound around me distant and muted. The taste of copper was heavy on my tongue, to the point it was all I could taste. Every muscle in my body ached and burned, and it felt like my blood had been replaced by liquid fire.

I think it said a lot about me that my first instinct was to throw a punch back.

My hand clenched into a fist, my knuckles pale and bloodless as I turned my gaze to the guy that punched me in the face. He looked like an absolute asshole -- dyed blonde hair, buzz cut, too many piercings to the point that his face might as well be a pincushion. Said face was twisted into a snarl, a roar of aggression escaping him that I silenced, lashing out even as I took the next blow to my jaw.

In return, I flattened his nose. It crunched under my knuckles, a jet of blood gushing out from his nostrils as the skin at the bridge of his nose split. His entire head snapped back hard enough to give him whiplash, making him falter and open himself up to a body shot. I didn’t know who he was. I had no clue why we were fighting. I didn’t even know if I deserved that punch to the face or not. But, pesky questions like that really didn’t matter.

A fight had been started, and a fight had finished. That’s what mattered.

The guy hit the ground, cradling his face. “Fuck you, man! Piece of shit -- who the fuck do you think you are?!” He howled at me, blood seeping between his fingers.

That was actually a pretty good question, because I was pulling a blank on an answer. My gaze darted around, looking away from the fallen man and leaving his question unanswered. I was in a club, I saw. The thunderous beat in my ears wasn’t just my heart rate, but an actual beat. A table was upturned, three other people were thrown about, moaning and groaning on the floor. A crowd of people watched on, but they didn’t interfere.

“Do you even fucking know who we are?” The guy spat at me, his teeth colored by blood. And, with that sentence alone, I knew he deserved that busted nose. Anyone who said that sentence deserves one and a kick in the balls.

“Nope,” I said, striding over to him. He went to get up, but he came crashing down when I kicked him in the balls hard enough that, judging by the sound he made, they ended up lodged in his throat. There. That ought to teach him not to be a pretentious prick. And prevent him from having kids. A win-win. Well, he didn’t win, but me and the world won. The guy heaved, going on his hands and knees, the hood to his puffy jacket flipping up, which I used to yank him back to get his attention. “Did you already tell me? I can’t remember.”

He looked green, “We’re… the fucking… Nishkiyama family, you dumbass. You’re dead for this. You get that? You. Are. Dead.”

I’m sure I would be very intimidated if I knew what any of that meant, and if it came from a guy whose balls I hadn’t crushed.

“Maybe. But it won’t be you that kills me,” I told him, delivering a powerful punch to his temple. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, going limp in my grip, so I let him drop into a heap. I turned around, the crowd flinching back at my gaze. From what I saw, there were a lot of girls dressed up here. Two or three for every guy, whose ages ranged from young to way too old to be trying to flirt with girls around three times younger than them. There was fear in their eyes, but…

One of them stepped forward, “Thank you,” she said, a hand going to her wrist. Bruises looked to be forming. Huh. So, I was fighting on behalf of a cute girl? That’s something I could get behind. “But, who are you?” She asked me, all I could do was offer a helpless shrug as I headed for the door.

“If I had a name, then I don’t recall it anymore,” I told her, tucking my hands in my jacket and striding out of the building. The door swung closed behind me, and I took in a bracing breath of chilly air, the music still thumping through me. My knuckles stung a bit, and my face felt more warm than anything. Other than that, though, I was completely fine.

I started walking, taking in my surroundings -- a street filled with people, no cars in sight. It seemed to almost be a back alley of sorts, but the size of a normal street. That street was filled to the brim with drunk people stumbling into and out of bars, with restaurants almost masking the stench of piss and vomit with cooked foods, and there was the general clamor of people talking over each other.

“Wonder what that was about,” I muttered to myself before I realized that there was something in my coat pockets. Pulling it out, I saw a few keys on a ring. None of them were particularly identifiable, but if I had to guess, one was a key to a house and the other for a vehicle of some kind. But that was just a blind guess. Pressing a button on the clicker, I didn’t hear the sound of a responding beep, so I must be out of range.

Curious, my hands went to my other pockets. I found a money clip that had some money in it, so that was nice. In my back pocket was a wallet -- flipping it open, I saw a picture of a middle-aged man, large glasses and wearing what I’m guessing was a suit. My gaze drifted over to a reflection in the window of a nearby bar to confirm my appearance.

“I don’t think this is my wallet,” I decided, noting that my reflection didn't match. The man looking back at me had a short, messy mane of red hair that had been swept back, a young and handsome face, and amber-colored eyes. Another glance at the ID in the wallet confirmed that it was definitely not me. So, the question was what was I doing with the wallet in my pocket?

I had my suspicions.

But, I shrugged them off, “Might as well return it,” I decided, tucking it back into my back pocket as I began to wander the streets aimlessly. I occasionally pressed down on the clicker, hoping to hear a beep from a car. Hopefully, the vehicle was mine. Maybe then I could find some registration papers, find out my name and where I lived. It was as good of a lead as any.

For the most part, I just drank in the city. Maybe it was because I was the equivalent to a newborn infant, but everything was so bright. The flashing lights, the colors, the people -- I had no clue where this place was, but it seemed to be the embodiment of chaos. Loud music vibrating the street itself, the people coming and going -- I think I saw a fight breaking out in an alleyway as I walked by. It was my first taste of life, and it was awesome. I didn’t know what this was, but I don’t think I ever wanted it to end.

That thought echoed in my head as I stumbled across what seemed to be a park tucked between a few buildings at the edge of the road. It was small, little more than a swing, a jungle gym, and a bench. And it definitely wasn’t the kind of place that you wanted to bring your kids. For a lot of reasons, but the current best example was the group of guys crowding around a girl.

She was a few inches shorter than me, with dark skin and hair, but she had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. She wore a sleeveless vest with a high collar that hugged her neck, colored light blue with white trimming. On one arm she had an armband around her bicep colored the same way as her vest with alternating blue and white triangles, then dark blue sleeves that covered her forearms. The dark blue puffy pants that she was wearing were tucked into a pair of brown boots that resembled uggs, with a similar colored furred lined half skirt around her waist.

She also looked very unimpressed by the three guys hustling around her. Well, less not impressed, and more ‘I’m going to eviscerate you then burn the bodies to the point there won’t even be ash left.’ Her face twisted into a scowl and she lashed out with one of her hands , grabbing one of the guys by the collar and shouting something in his face. My interest piqued, I crossed the street to see what was going on.

“Where am I?” I heard her demand as I got closer, pushing the guy back and narrowing her eyes when the other two closed in on her. She shoved one of them when he got too close, a hand slamming into his chest, and he had about the same reaction as the guy I punched earlier did. He was knocked back, falling on his ass.

“Calm down -- Like I was saying, come with us and we’ll tell you everything you want to know,” he said, and… you know, I was starting to think that I was in the bad part of town. Because he couldn’t even be bothered to put even a smidgen of effort in to cover up his true intentions. An eyebrow on the girl cocked, similarly unimpressed.

Her gaze slid to me as I approached, prompting the guy she had by the collar to follow her gaze and look over at me. To my surprise, his eyes widened in amazement. “It’s you!” He shouted, sounding almost shocked to see me.

“It’s me?” I questioned, entering the park. I cast a look at the guy that was dusting himself off, then the guy that was not so subtly trying to circle around the woman. All three of them seemed to recognize me. That, I wasn’t sure I liked. Likewise, the woman also eyed me with suspicion.

“Yeah, it’s you,” Now he sounded distinctly unhappy to see me. “Who do you think you are, stepping on our turf like this?”

That was the second time I’ve been asked that question, and I had to admit, I was getting rather curious about the answer myself. I strode forward, unconcerned, with my hands still in my pockets. “I dunno. How about you tell me?” I said, meeting their gazes. That seemed to piss off all three of them, and none of them answered my question.

“You pissant brat,” the leader of the three said, ripping himself free of the woman’s hands, who looked uncertain about the developing situation. “Your type is the absolute worst. You come barging in, swinging around your cock like it’s the biggest there is, and you’re too stupid to even realized how dumb you are.” He snarled, striding up to me. A hand dipped into his pocket, taking out a flip knife that he flicked open.

“I’m going to give you a chance to take a hint -- fuck off,” he said, stopping to get in my face. I had to admit, that was the kind of restraint that I didn’t think a guy like him had. He looked to be in his mid-twenties to late thirties, wearing a black and purple floral shirt underneath a black blazer.

Maybe it was the lack of context to everything he was saying, but I found that odd. To be blunt, the guy looked like an asshole. A real smarmy piece of shit. He looked like had absolutely no clue what restraint was, much less how to exercise it. My bet was that there was something holding him in check. Maybe a fear of swallowing his teeth?

“Would if I could, but I’m looking for someone. Have you seen a… Shouta Sousuke?” I asked, my hand dipping to my back pocket, making him tense. I pretended not to notice and fished out the wallet. “I found his wallet. I was hoping to return it-”

I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence before that fragile sense of self-restraint broke. He lashed out with the knife -- that was something I expected, and it told me what I needed to know about him… and me. Or past me, rather. However, what I didn’t expect was to hear the sound of flowing water and the crack of a whip.

Beyond the guy in front of me, the girl moved. Water gushed out of the water fountain by the park's public bathroom, pulled by some unseen force. The water lashed out, cracking like a whip to smack the knife out of the guy’s hand when he took a swipe at me.

"What the f -" one of them shouted, flinching back at the sight as he openly gaped. For a brief moment, the sight made the other one hesitate, looking at the woman in disbelief, but I simply seized the opportunity.

I didn’t know much. My entire life was one great big blank. But, I was getting some pieces, a glimpse at who I was every day of my life up until about fifteen minutes ago. One of those glimpses was my body -- just like riding a bike, my body subconsciously recalled how to perform some actions. And given that I was able to walk, talk, and read, my amnesia didn’t stretch all the way down to my subconscious.

The point being, I think I got into a lot of fights, because it felt like putting on an old hat when I kicked the guy in the balls hard enough that he caught air. My hands lashed out, boxing around his ears, destroying his sense of balance before I brought my head back and slammed it against his. A headbutt hurt more than I thought it would, but it hurt the guy that wasn’t prepared for it more. He dropped to the ground, torn between holding his balls and his head, and he was out of the fight.

The knife had been sent skidding across the ground, making one of the other two eye it for a second. That second sealed his fate, just not by me. The unnamed woman swept his legs from underneath him, leaving him falling in the air, before she grabbed him by his coat and flung him into the other guy hard enough that both of them were knocked to the ground. The woman moved fluidly, the water responding to her will and dousing both men before it turned to ice.

“Cool,” I summarized my thoughts, blinking in surprise as the two men groaned, and then panicked as they were forced to stay on the ground when a layer of ice formed over their limbs. The woman dropped the water that she was holding up in the air, letting it soak into the ground as she approached them. Could I do that? I really wanted to be able to do that.

"What are you? What was that?!" They protested as she approached, and I was curious about the answer as well.

“You have to answer my questions before I even think about answering yours!” The woman barked, planting one foot onto the ice she had made, looking down at her defeated foes. “Where am I?”

Given that question was on my list of questions to find out the answer to too, I walked over to listen in. The woman eyed me warily, but she didn’t turn me into an icicle. I looked down at the two, while they looked like they weren’t sure who they should fear more. The answer was pretty obvious -- I wasn't the one that trapped them in ice.

“Mifune City! We’re in Mifune City!” One of them answered, the younger of the two. There was panic in his dark brown eyes.

The woman frowned, “How far away is that from Republic City?” She demanded, an edge in her tone that promised violence if she didn’t like the answer.

Which made the guy look to me as if I was going to save him. I shrugged, uncaring of his plight. It would be better if he just answered the question. Not sure why he was hesitating.

“I don’t know? I’ve never heard of Republic City! Look, we just thought you were cute -- we didn’t mean any harm!” He protested, earning a deep frown from the woman. Given how she had wiped the floor with them, it probably wasn’t that last bit that worried her so much. She looked to me, to verify the information.

“I’ve also never heard of Republic City, but that doesn’t really mean much coming from me,” I told her, earning a slow blink in response. “I’ve decided that helping people is kinda my thing -- so, I’ll help you find Republic City if you help me find the owner of the wallet,” I offered, and I saw the frustration and confusion slowly bleed away from her expression.

She took a moment to think about it before she nodded, “Alright, I can get behind something like that.” She decided, and I was glad to hear it. I spared one last look at the two men and the other guy that looked like he was still struggling to decide what hurt more, his head or his balls.

“Follow me then,” I said, walking away from them. The girl hesitated a moment before she followed me. I think I had a lead -- book stores. Books had atlases, and atlases would have an answer on how far away Republic City was.

“I’m Korra, by the way,” Korra introduced herself with an easy confidence she wore well. It was hard to put in words, but she had an air about her that said that she knew that no matter what the world threw at her, she’d be able to make things go her way . I’m sure some would call that arrogance, and for all I knew, it was. But, she had water powers and as far as I was aware, I didn’t.

“Nice to meet ya’. Nice trick with the water,” I said, glancing at her before resuming my search for a book store. That got a smile out of her as she threw her arms back behind her head, uncaring of how much room she was taking on the sidewalk.

“It was, wasn’t it? That was a first for me, honestly -- I mean, I’ve been waterbending since I was a kid, but it was always with trainers and sparring partners. Those guys…” She made a noise of disgust.

Waterbending, huh? The name was fitting. “So, what was their problem with you?” she asked.

To that, I shrugged, “I have no clue. I probably did something to piss them off, but I forgot about it,” I answered.

“That’s a pretty carefree attitude for someone that needed saving,” she pointed out, sounding unsure if she should be impressed or concerned. I tilted my head at that -- did I need saving? I don’t know. Maybe. Both fights that I’ve been in ended in two hits -- me hitting them, and them hitting the ground. Also, I’m about fifteen minutes old, and I liked that winning streak.

End the end, I shrugged, “I appreciate you helping me out.” I’m not sure if I needed saving from a guy with a knife, but it couldn’t be denied that she had helped me.

I got a lopsided smile in return, “Eh, it’s what I do. I also have a thing about helping people,” Korra responded, “So, what’s this about a wallet?”

I spotted a used bookstore down the street, I led us to it as I answered, “I found a guy’s wallet in my pocket, so I’m trying to find the guy that it belongs to. No luck so far, but I’m not going to give up after only a couple of minutes.” I told her, earning a sidelong glance as she mulled over that sentence.

“A wallet… so… you… stole it?” Korra questioned, trying to see the logic behind the decision. And that was fair. I’m guessing from an outside perspective, this made absolutely no sense.

“Maybe,” I agreed, not sure myself. For all I knew, the owner of the wallet had given it to me. So far, I was getting some conflicting signals from myself. I gained awareness in the middle of a fight that was started to protect some girl. Yet, my pockets were filled with money that wasn’t mine. Or maybe it was mine. Maybe it was a reward for services rendered. I didn’t know. Which is why I wanted to find the owner of the wallet and get an answer -- did I steal it? Did he just drop it and I happened to find it?

I had no clue. And after a rather short lifetime of not knowing things, I could honestly say I didn’t like being left in the dark. Not knowing things bothered me.

Korra paused, searching for a response, “O...kay?” She hedged, her attention momentarily stolen when I came to a stop in front of the bookstore. Opening up the door, we stepped inside and were greeted by the smell of old books. An odd scent that struck me as familiar… I guess… if my first instinct was to go to a bookstore, then I guess I was fond of books. The internet was a thing, wasn't it? Could I use it on my flip phone?

Eh, too late. We were here.

"What exactly are we looking for? How is this going to help me find Republic City?" Korra questioned me, picking up a book and frowning at it. Then… then she set it down on another shelf. Okay, that was annoying -- so, I returned it to its rightful place and ignored the expectant look I got from Korra. "Well?"

"World encyclopedias," was my answer as I searched the shelves. "A set gets put out like every decade or so about events in the world, but they're mostly just shelf pieces." I wasn't sure where exactly I was pulling the information from, but I guess it was the same place where I pulled how to fight. "They get donated pretty frequently, so we should- there," I said, spotting a short row of books, an incomplete set.

Grabbing one, I flipped through it, while Korra grabbed another.

"What's this?" She asked, an odd note in her tone that caught my attention. She started at the cover of the book, her brow furrowed as a frown tugged at her lips.

"It's a world encyclopedia," I answered, my gaze lingering on her as she continued to stare at the book like she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. I flipped through the pages, searching around for a map of some kind. When I found one of the world, I referenced the city names and found the numbered blip that represented Mifune city. "We are here, apparently," I told Korra, showing her the map as I pointed to the island of Kyushu.

Korra looked at it, simply dropping the book in her hands to take the one out of mine. I let her in favor of picking up the book and putting it back on the shelf. "This is wrong," Korra said, making me pause as I straightened out, looking at her twist and turn the book as if it would give her the answer she wanted if she looked at it from a different angle. "I should be in the Earth Kingdom. Where is it? I don't see it here anywhere!"

She looked to me for answers, a glimmer of panic in her eyes. I took the book from her, "Let me check the Index," I offered, flipping to the front, but Korra was shaking her head. A woman walked by, shooting us a dirty look as she walked by, but I paid her no mind.

"No, it's all wrong. The world map looks nothing like that! Where are the Fire Nation islands? The Earth Nation's continent looks totally different than that! The only thing that's right is the Poles for the Water Tribes," Korra told me, yanking the book back out of my hands, uncaring of the pages that she ripped by roughly flipping through it. "There are a bunch of Republics, but no Republic City. Ba Sing Se isn't here either. It's the biggest city in the world, how could it not be here? What's New York? Beijing? Tokyo? I don't know any of these places."

Again, the woman walked by, giving us a look that screamed 'be quiet', trying to make us pick up the hint that we were being too loud but there were more pressing concerns. Plus, if she cared that much, she would do more than give menacing looks.

First things first, I had to save the book. I wasn't willing to spend money until I knew what I had was mine. "Panicking isn't going to solve anything," I told her, gently extracting the book from her hands before she could damage it further. Closing it, I slid it back on the shelf. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Korra held a hand to her eyes, dragging it down her face, "I just got off the boat from the Southern Water Tribe and landed in the Earth Kingdom. I was about a day away from arriving at Republic City, so I stopped for the night. Then I woke up in that park with those creeps crowding around me."

Huh. "Okay, I'll admit -- I got nothing," I admitted with honesty. That sounded like an issue that was beyond my ability to solve. But, if the world maps were completely different… "It sounds like you're a far way from home. Would anyone be looking for you?"

Korra gave an almost absent-minded nod, "Probably? I kinda snuck out of the compound, but Katara knew that my destination was Republic City. When they realize that I never arrived, they'll start looking for me. Spirits, this is the worst -- those old bags of wind are so going to have a stick up their noses about this. They'll never let me leave the compound again."

I tilted my head, "You don't strike me as the type that lets other people decide what she can and can't do," I remarked. That seemed to reassure Korra a little bit, so I continued. "The offer of help still stands, but it's your call on what you want to do."

That made Korra pause, "In a blizzard, the best thing to do is hunker down and wait it out when you don't know how close you are to civilization," Korra started, sounding unhappy at the idea. I guess the part that upset her was the idea that she would have to wait around for someone to rescue her. I didn't know Korra particularly well, but she seemed to prefer action over inaction. "So, that's what I'll do."

Then she punched me in the shoulder. Kinda hard. "Thanks… I… just realized I never got your name," Korra realized.

I shrugged, "I'm still figuring that out myself." Korra let out a laugh at that -- not sure why, but she found it funny.

"Alright, mystery guy. Let's go find the owner of that wallet," Korra decided, and I could see what she was doing. She was distracting herself. And she was taking action in whatever way she could.

I nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me." Leaving the bookshop, the cashier shooting us a dirty look for not buying anything, we headed back out into the streets. I took out my keys and began clicking on the clicker again , hoping to hear a beep. The crowd of people made things difficult, but as I waded through them, I didn't see anyone that fit the bill.

However, after another thirty minutes, I did see a police officer. He stood at the street corner, looking incredibly bored as he wrote out a parking ticket. He wore the navy blue uniform and a reflective vest that simply read Police.

Walking up to him, I presented the wallet I had found in my coat pocket , "I found this but I couldn't find the owner," I told him, catching his attention. He paused, looking at me, then at the wallet, then at me again, then at Korra, then at me.

He honestly seemed at an absolute loss for words.

"You are under arrest," he told me, earning a slow blink from me.

"Oh… why?" I asked while Korra sputtered. The cop reached for a taser, but paused when I just raised my hands in surrender. He settled on grabbing his handcuffs instead. "Did I do something wrong?"

The cop found that funny, "You could say that, yeah. I got a call to keep a lookout for someone of your description -- over six feet, red hair, amber eyes. Seen assaulting several people -- Yakuza types -- so, I was just going to wash my hands of it. Yakuza types are always fighting around here. But I can't exactly turn a blind eye to you coming up to me." He said, gesturing for me to lower my hands. "I have to be seen doing my job. But, guys like you… bet you won't be in the tank more than five minutes before you get bailed out."

Huh.

Korra wasn't having it, though. "That's totally unfair! He was trying to help me out! And he returned the wallet, so doesn't that count for anything?"

"No good deed goes unpunished," the cop answered with a thoroughly uncaring shrug of his shoulders as he cuffed me. "That too tight?"

"It's fine," I said, "Do you need me to turn around?"

"Nah, no need for that. Unless you plan on escaping?" He asked, but based on his tone, he found that incredibly unlikely. Or, rather, that there wasn't a point. However, the friendly air he had quickly vanished when Korra reached out and grabbed his wrist, giving it a threatening squeeze. Slowly, he looked over at Korra, his eyes narrowing into a glare to meet her own.

She let out a breath, betraying her annoyance. "Look, I don't like playing this card… but I'm the Avatar, alright? And he's with me, so…" she gestured for him to undo the cuffs.

He did not do that.

…

"You could have gotten away," I pointed out, laying down on a bench in the 'tank' At the police station. Korra paced the cell that we were in -- unyielding walls, bars that served as a front gate with a door for entry and exit.

Korra scoffed, "I could break out now if I wanted!" She shouted, making sure whoever was listening heard her. "This is total crap! Why'd you let yourself get arrested like that?" She demanded, still pissed off about it an hour later.

"I'm curious to see who'll come," I answered, looking up at the ceiling as I used my hands as a pillow. Wasn't like I expected to get arrested, but I couldn't stop myself when he mentioned that someone would get me. Or, rather, he didn’t expect me to be in jail for long. He had been exaggerating a bit -- we had been here a lot longer than just five minutes, but I was holding out hope that someone would come soon.

Korra let out an explosive sigh, "So, you're trying to see who cares enough to bail you out?" She tried, her brow furrowing when I shook my head.

"No, I want to see who comes," I clarified, though Korra just looked more confused.

"What does that even mean? Shouldn't you know who's going to come? The cop made you sound like some hotshot. Are you someone important?" Korra asked, letting out a frustrated breath when I shrugged.

"I have no clue," I admitted. Doing things this way would let the answer to the mystery come to me. Who was I?

"What does that even mean, you have no clue?" Korra pressed, turning her frustration in my direction.

I looked at her, "It means that I don't know." I told her and she looked like she was about to start tearing out her hair if she got any more annoyed. So, I continued, "I don't know who I am."

Korra opened her mouth to snap at me, only to catch herself short. She recoiled, blinking as she processed that response. "You… as in, you actually don't know who you are? Not like 'I'm discovering myself for the first time' kind of not knowing who you are? " I nodded. "And when I asked you your name, you weren't trying to be mysterious? You just don't know your name?"

I sat up, leaning on my knees as I looked at an increasingly dumbfounded Korra, "Everything is a big blank for me. Can't remember anything about myself. My earliest memory was a couple of minutes before I met you," I told her.

A disbelieving laugh escaped Korra, "Talk about the blind leading the blind," she muttered as she took a seat, leaning against the wall as it sank in that I had amnesia this entire time. She shook her head, "Well… that explains it. I was doubting myself since you weren't reacting to it or my bending, but… I'm in a different world, aren't I?" The words were quiet, twinged with doubt and anxiety. Fear.

There was a beat of silence before I broke it. "Wanna change the deal?" I asked her, making Korra look over at me. "I'll help you get back home if you help me get my memories," I offered with a lopsided smile, "Deal?"

Korra stared at me for a long moment before she hesitantly returned the smile. She took in a breath and let it out, "Alright. Deal." She said, and it was at that exact moment that the bars on the far wall suddenly banged as a person threw themselves against them. Korra leaped to her feet, looking shocked, but I calmly turned to look at the person who was resting their chin on one of the horizontal bars as he looked at both of us.

He was a middle-aged man. His hair was buzz cut short on the sides, leaving behind a long fringe that was parted near the middle. Over one eye he wore a black eye patch, leaving a lone brown eye to narrow at the sight of me. He was dressed in a snakeskin leather jacket, skintight black leather pants, and black dress shoes that were tipped with metal plates .

In all, he was a pretty wild-looking guy. Especially with his hands splayed out wide, his snakeskin jacket rising enough that it revealed a red and black tattoo that covered parts of his chest, since he didn't bother wearing a shirt under it. I hadn't been expecting anything in particular, but he still managed to surprise me. He was not who I imagined would show up to bail me out of jail.

"What are ya', stupid or somthin'?" He asked, sounding bored. "Ya' were supposed to pick some fights, not get yer self arrested, ya' idiot."

Huh. So, I was told to start that fight at the club? "Things just turned out that way. Are you here to bail us out?" I asked, standing up.

"Heh, suppose' I am. C'mon, yer a free man, Lil Majima," he said, holding out a hand to the police officer behind him, and the police officer handed over a set of keys for him to undo the lock.

"Lil Majima?" I questioned -- there was no way that was my name, right? If I was Lil Majima, then who was big Majima? Or just regular Majima?

The guy slid the key into the door and opened it with a flick of his wrist, "Don't like it? I could go back to callin' you Mikoto-chan?" He teased, and it sounded like it was something that he did often. However, I barely noticed. I had a name.

Mikoto Majima. Or Majima Mikoto. Not sure on the order yet, but it was better than just a blank.

"Who are you?" Korra blurted as we stepped out the jail cell, eying him much like one a coiled snake. Something that he seemed to delight in.

He gave a smile that could only be described as equally as wild as his appearance, "You really hangin' around this guy and you don't even know me? I'm the Mad Dog of Shimano, girly -- Goro Majima!" He introduced himself as if he expected applause. Korra looked incredibly weirded out, looking to me for an explanation.

I wish I could give one.

Majima threw his arms over our shoulders, leading us away from the jail cell. "Eh, don't worry about it. Let's get that stink of jail off ya' two. Shimano doesn't care for it. Then the real fireworks begin! Can't wait to kick the shit out of that punk Nishkiyama!" He said, practically skipping the entire way.

And with that, the last piece of the puzzle slid into place. The thugs recognizing me, the cop calling the fights between Yakuza types, those fights I was apparently ordered to start, and now this guy bailing me and Korra out? The pieces fitted together, leaving only one obvious answer.

I was Mikoto Majima… and I was a member of the Yakuza.

…

Here is Fool’s World! I’ve been waiting to post this story for months now. For those that missed the announcement in Power Corrupts, I’ll repost the relevant bits here.

Fool’s World takes place in Fate/Stay Night with some slight Yakuza elements tossed in. You don’t need to know anything about the Yakuza games to read the story -- I just borrowed some names and some conflict to spice things up a bit. Fate/Stay Night is a fandom that’s had its trail well walked at this point, so this is my attempt to do my own spin to the conflict.

I will be using the OP isekai CYOA as inspiration. Nerfing a CYOA might seem counterproductive, but it's to help the sense of progression. The MC will have three powers but at the start, he'll only have access to one. Improvements to those powers have to be gained over time. What those powers are will also reveal themselves over time.

I have a hard rule of one person joining the party per jump. Any more than that, then character bloat becomes a real issue.

I intend to have an image index of all the characters, but for now, here’s Mikoto Majima.