Twisted Love Story | Disney: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 13: Truth Brought to Light

All of a sudden, a student with an orange armband and loose clothes bolted it right past the two, shoving Deuce's shoulder out of the way. The navy-haired boy let out a, "Huh?" in confusion, which only grew when Regan suddenly had ran up to the two with Riddle, Cater, Yuu, and Grim on her tail.

"Oh--! Ace, Deuce! You boys are a sight for sore eyes! Grab Regan's hand!" Cater yelled, and Ace raised a brow in confusion. "Huh? What's going on? Why are you running?" Meanwhile, Deuce nodded sternly at his upperclassman and grabbed the purple-grey haired girl's hand before she could run past them. She froze in her spot, looking at Deuce in complete shock before--

"The culprit! He's getting away!!" Riddle aggressively shouted, his face red from anger. "You need to apprehend Ruggie Bucchi immediately! Housewarden's orders!"

"Whaaat?!" Deuce gasped while Ace freaked out, "What does this gotta do with us?!" 

"This is your chance to earn a spot on the roster!" Yuu, who had just caught up to his two pals, told the pair with a nervous grin. And just as the prefect expected, Ace and Deuce turned to each other and sternly nodded before turning around and bolting it after Ruggie.

Regan was about to continue running, this time alongside the freshmen, but Riddle had suddenly snatched her hand, causing her to fall into his body. "Regan, stay back-- Our card soldiers can catch them for us." he sternly told her, the red on his face slowly calming down.

"Fine..." she grumbled, crossing her arms with an over-the-top pout. She was really looking forward to catching that scoundrel. But much to her displeasement, she'd just have to leave it to Deuce, Ace, and the Ramshackle's.

~*~*~*~

Deuce, Ace, and the Ramshackle duo continued to chase Ruggie across the halls and eventually they reached the courtyard. The best friends could not believe how fast he was, but with how Ruggie grew up, this terrain was like a walk in the park. 

Ruggie then got into the boys' heads, suggesting that he may not even be the culprit. The boys, of course, refused this without a second thought to which Ruggie smirked, rhetorically asking if they have evidence. They didn't but were still pissed, accusing the Savanaclaw student of being a coward, but Ruggie insisted they get more evidence before accusing him of being such.

Ruggie, now deciding that he was fed up of this cat-and-dog chase, left their magic pens on the ground before scurrying off.  The freshmen, still utterly pissed off at their upperclassman, grabbed their pens off the ground, including Riddle's and Cater's.

They then ran into Jack Howl, who was surprised to find them still on the hunt for the schemer. After explaining to Jack why they were actually doing this, since the poor boy was confused why they were doing this to help complete strangers, Jack was astounded by their reasoning, which was mainly consumed on wanting a spot in the tournament.

So he demanded they all fight him. Four on one.

And when Ace asked why, Jack stated how he wanted them to prove to him that they're not all talk and that he can trust them. And if they do, he'll tell them everything they know.

... which is exactly what the four did NOT do.

Although it was a real struggle, considering how strong Jack is... yeah, they still lost.

But their will to fight, especially Deuce's, earned them the wolf boy's respect. 

And after observing their surroundings, nobody being around to overhear, he finally agreed to tell them what he knew, regardless if it meant betraying his dorm.

And his reason: he felt that his hard training for the tournament would be put to waste if these "cowardly schemes" were to continue because "A triumph won through treachery means nothing." He wanted to claim victory through strength and skill, not stupid tricks.