Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

✨Side Story 22: Respect✨

"Yo, what's up, Jack," Ruggie says behind him, making Jack look at him in attention.

"Ruggie, sir!" Jack attentively says, making Ruggie sigh.

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again, man. You don't have to be stiff," Ruggie states.

Jack only scratches his head in embarrassment. "Sorry Ruggie. You just startled me."

"Hm?" Ruggie hums, curious about the statement. "You must have been thinkin' something real hard for me to startle you."

Jack looks to Ruggie. "Actually..." he starts, getting Ruggie's attention. "I was kinda wondering...You guys helped us out with the Octavinelle contract, how did Angel manage to get both yours and Leona's cooperation?"

Ruggie's eyes widen at the question. "Wait, she didn't tell you?"

"I only know about the fact that she held up Leona's sleep. That's it," Jack states, making Ruggie sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you guys just got the gist of it," he says, making Jack confused. "The truth is she's scary than most of the women in Sunset Savanna."

"Huh?" Jack stammers. "She is?" He asks, looking at the girl pleading for Ace, Grim, and Deuce to stop throwing apples at each other.

"No doubt about it," Ruggie says as he puts his hands behind his head. "Lemme tell you how it really went down..."

Ruggie walks into Leona's room, a yawn escaping his mouth as he sees that Leona was sitting in his bed with Angel standing in front of him. "What's all the noise to keep me awake?" Ruggie groggily asks.

"Ruggie," Leona states, making Ruggie respond. "You should be quiet and listen." He turns to Angel. "You better have a good reason to wake me up, and it better be a good one too," he threatens, and Angel just smile at him.

"Oh, I'm sure after what me and Grim did, we do," she says. "I just want your help with breaking Azul's contract."

"Didn't we say we wouldn't help you?" Ruggie says as he leans on the wall, arms crossed. "Can't afford us to help you out, ya know."

"Oh yes we can!" Grim happily states, making Ruggie confused and Leona to sigh.

"These herbivores woke up me with this proposition," Leona says, making Ruggie shocked. "Sayin' they got a plan to cheat Azul out of his own game."

"What?!" Ruggie exclaims, looking at Angel. "You do?" Angel just nods at him.

"It's quite easy: just steal the contracts from the vault," Angel states, making Ruggie look at her in disbelief.

"You want me to go into Octavinelle and steal the contracts, with Azul and the Leech Brothers in tow? Yeah, no way that's happenin'," Ruggie says as he shrugs. "You would think that you came up with a good plan, but that's basically suicide."

"You didn't let me finish," she says. "Obviously, going in to steal the contracts with Azul there wouldn't be easy, but what's one thing Azul cares more aside from his contracts?"

Leona scoffs. "That lounge of his," he answers.

"That's right," Angel agrees. "For Azul, the lounge is a front for most of his business transactions. After all, he did get the headmage to allow him to have it in the first place to start these deals on campus."

"But what's that gotta do with stealing the contracts?" Ruggie asks, making Grim smirk at him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Grim says to him. "If Azul cares about the lounge, he would want to make sure it's properly taken care of. When I was workin', I heard a bunch of students sayin' that everythin' gotta be perfect for the lounge. No mistakes, no losses they say."