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THE ENTIRE STADIUM WAS in complete silence as everyone's eyes were on the screen that showed the logo of the brotherhood, Revels. Even the students in the lower houses couldn't utter a single word. It was almost like the entire world was put on mute.
"For the remaining members of Revels, an exit has now been open for you. Please leave the grounds immediately," the female voice announces, but the white uniforms still didn't say a thing. It felt like they were all in a dream, and they hadn't realized it yet. Even Checkmates, the Gallants, and the other brotherhoods in the stadium were left speechless.
"N-No way," Ruby Rose, the leader of the Scarlet Letter, says in shock while staring at Revel's logo. She then turns to Hee-joon, and despite knowing that at the end of the day, this is a competition, Ruby still couldn't help but feel some sort of pain inside her chest. After all, just like Checkmate, Scarlet Letter was once a brotherhood in the House of Kings, and like them, they once served PHD as their princes.
"Rose, we have to go," one of Ruby's members then says as they hold onto her arm.
Ruby turns to the members of Revels this time, who are happily walking towards the exit after successfully securing a spot inside J.S High. Ruby can only take a deep breath and clench her fist. As she said earlier, this is still a competition. "Alright, let's go. There's at least one last rank left."
As Ruby and her team ran back to their base, Master Joker and the rest of the jesters were frozen in place after finding out that the fifth spot had now been taken. For others, this won't be much of a problem as they still have a chance to enter the House of Kings, but for Jokers, this meant a totally different thing.
The fifth spot was now taken, and there were still two brotherhoods left from J.S High.
"Mj!" Brave suddenly shouts, making Krist blink and realize that Brave has actually been calling out for him since the announcement was made. "Snap out of it! Tell us what we have to do. Whatever it is that you decide, we will follow you no matter what."
Krist looks at his right-hand man and then back at his members. He knew what Brave meant with those words. He knew that they were prepared for the path that their leader would take if it were for the betterment of their house.
"I...I..." Krist couldn't even think straight as he looked around the battle ground. They were so close to their base, and if they ran there now while everyone was in a state of shock, they'd have a higher chance to take the last spot. But when Krist looked at the white uniforms, who were all still silently watching in their seats, Krist knew exactly what he was supposed to do.
"We'll have to grab Joon," Krist finally decides. "Brave and I will grab his useless ass and take him to their base; I'll fucking carry him if I have to. The rest of you inform the other members of PHD and make sure the others don't finish first."
"Yes, Master Joker," the jesters answered with no hesitation.
Krist was about to make a run for it too, but then Brave stopped him first. "Mj, I know I said we'll follow you no matter what, but are you sure about this? Are you a hundred percent sure about this? Do you even know what this would mean, especially to us?"
"Brave, I've never been so sure as I am now, so let's not waste any more time thinking of consequences. We'll worry about that when we're in the House of Bishops," Krist replies, and Brave can only nod his head, trusting the hard decision their leader had to make.
While the rest of the members of Jokers started attacking the other brotherhoods again, Brave and Krist finally got to where Joon was. Joon was lying on a bridge, already bleeding all over, while his eyesight was starting to get even worse to the point where the only thing he could see was light. He was so weak that the other brotherhoods weren't even attacking him anymore.
"Let's do it," Krist mouths so Joon wouldn't be able to know who they were. And when Brave nodded his head back, the two of them finally grabbed Joon without any warning.
"H-Hey! Who are you?! What are you doing?! Let go of me!" Joon starts shouting, but Krist ignores him as he and Brave drape Joon's arms around their shoulders to support him.
"I said, who the hell are you?!"
As the two jesters continue carrying PHD's leader, Krist looks at Brave and mouths the words, "Where the hell will their base appear?" But Brave could only shrug his shoulder, unsure as to what the pattern for PHD is. But while the two of them were looking around in panic, two figures behind them suddenly pointed a gun in their direction.
"Where the hell are you taking our leader, Master Joker?" the voice asks, almost making Krist sigh in frustration.
"Krist?!" Joon shouts in realization. "Are you fucking crazy?! Let go!"
Krist and Brave turn around to find Pretty Duo's Akihiko Sakuraii and Ren Adachi pointing their guns at them.
"Let go of him, now," Ren demands.
"We can't, and you fucking know why," Krist answers.
"That's not for you to decide, Master Joker," Aki then says back, making Krist curse and clench his fist in anger.
"Please, allow us to do this. We all know that PHD is much needed in J.S High. Ever since Jokers was created, I always believed that we didn't deserve to be in the House of Kings, so please, let us assist our princes for one last time before we officially leave," Krist says with tears in his eyes that left both Aki and Ren in shock.
Ren takes a deep breath and puts his gun down, so Aki does the same.
"Our logo will appear next on the third base just east of the central island. If you run now, you'll make it," Ren suddenly reveals, instantly making Joon's eyes widen in shock because he wasn't expecting his members to decide such a thing without his permission.
"We'll assist you, so go now!" Aki shouts next, and Brave and Krist look at each other before finally running with Joon.
"W-What are you guys doing?!" Joon continued to ask, trying to push Krist and Brave away, but the two weren't budging at all. They continued running to PHD's base with the support of the other members of Jokers and PHD. The white uniforms were still completely silent as they watched in anticipation. Even the commentator, Alisa Armstrong, couldn't utter a single word as her chest was beating loudly in her ears because of how anxious she felt.
"We're getting close!" Brave shouts as gunshots were heard behind them.
Krist continues to run towards PHD's base, ignoring Joon's displeasure at the sudden plan that Jokers and his members decided on doing. After crossing one last bridge, the three of them finally arrived at the base where PHD's logo would appear next. Brave removes Joon's arm away from him and then grabs the flag that was tucked underneath Joon's coat. Brave then forces the leader to hold the flag so they can help him put it inside the basket as soon as the buzzer sound is heard.
"Why are you doing this?" Joon asks, no longer fighting back. He tries pushing their flag away, but Brave is still forcing him to hold it.
"It is because the House of Kings will need you now more than ever. You have a better chance of getting your revenge against the Revels if you're in the same house," Krist explains, looking around to make sure no one was going to ambush them.
"The moment I got shot with that bullet, my fate was already sealed," Joon replies.
"Well, if I remember correctly, you're not the type to believe in something like fate," Krist then replies back, and soon after, the buzzer is heard, and PHD's logo instantly appears in front of them, making both Brave and Krist sigh in relief.
"It was a pleasure to serve you, Prince Kim Hee-Joon," Krist says as he grabs Joon's hand so they can put the flag inside the basket. But just as Krist was inches away from successfully getting Joon out of the battle grounds, Joon used the last strength he had left stab Krist with the flag he was holding.
"Fuck!" Krist shouts, accidentally letting go of the agitated leader.
Brave gets ready to grab Joon, but to his surprise, the prince takes a deep breath and uses his other senses to grab Brave first. When he finally got a hold of him, he reached out for Brave's pocket and pulled out a gun that he had on him. Joon felt it when they were carrying him earlier.
"J-Joon, what are you doing?" Krist asks as he tries to snatch the gun from Joon's hand, but Joon isn't letting them get close.
"Enough," he tells them. "You think you don't deserve to be in J.S High? Don't fuck with me, Krist. Why do you think we never talked to each other again after we became kings? You didn't talk to us anymore because, deep down, you knew that President Grey was right. I never deserved to be in the House of Kings. I only stayed because of Viktor, and that reason will never be enough," he then reveals, instantly making a tear fall from Krist's eyes.
"Joon..."
The two jesters thought that Joon was going to shoot them, but to their surprise, Joon started shooting at the ceiling instead, immediately alerting the other brotherhoods. And then, from the top of his lungs, he shouted, "PHD! Clear the table!"
Joon's desperate voice echoes around the stadium, instantly making the hair on the student's skin stand. Some were even teary as they watched the prince's one final plea.
"Give those Revels hell for me," Joon tells Krist and Brave for one last time. Soon after, he leans back, and before Brave nor Krist can even catch him, Joon lets himself fall to the waters, making everyone cover their mouths in shock.
The other brotherhoods stopped fighting because of what happened, but despite the confusion, the members of Pretty, Hot, and Dangerous knew exactly what their leader meant. So with his eyes filled with tears, Blade swallowed the lump in his throat before shouting, "Clear the table!"
No one knew exactly what that meant, especially the members of Jokers. But before they could even understand the meaning behind such a phrase, the four members of PHD suddenly started running towards them at full speed.
"W-What are you guys doing?!" Rome asks in shock as Ren grabs him and starts carrying him like a sack. Everyone was surprised as they watched the battle getting closer to its end. But what really surprised the others was the fact that none of the other members were shooting or attacking them anymore.
"H-Hey! Let go! PHD has to take the last slot! Do you even hear me?!" Rome struggles to say. But before he can even do anything, he and Ren arrive at their base, and soon after, Ren forces him to put his flag down, successfully making Jokers earn a point.
"Rome Onruang of Jokers, an exit has now been opened. Please step out of the battle grounds immediately," the voice announces as Ren finally lets go of Rome.
"No! No!" Rome starts to shout, crying now too.
Right after that, the rest of the members of PHD arrived with Dhanin and Toni, forcing them to put their flags down as well.
"Dhanin Jannu and Toni Ratanavadi of Jokers, an exit has now been opened. Please step out of the battle grounds immediately."
The white uniforms were in complete shock while others were found shedding tears as they watched the other brotherhoods give way to the members of PHD.
Blade and Killshot eventually arrived where Krist and Brave were standing. They were about to grab them as well, but Krist pushed Killshot's hand away. With one look, Killshot knew exactly what the master joker was planning. So without saying anything, he moves away from them.
The buzzer sound was heard once again, and Joker's logo appeared just meters away from where they were found. Krist takes a deep breath and pulls his flag out from his coat as he starts walking towards the base with Blade following right behind them.
The two then stopped in front of the basket. Krist looks at Brave and nods his head, so Brave walks closer and finally puts his flag down first.
"Thassapon Supachai of Jokers, an exit has now been opened. Please step out of the battle grounds immediately," the female voice announces next.
Krist swallows the hard lump in his throat and takes a step closer to the basket so he can put his flag down. But before doing so, he stops and turns to the other brotherhoods, who are staring back at them, no longer raising their weapons.
Krist lets his tears fall as he looks at the students in black one by one. Despite what others might say, despite how the battle unfolded, and despite the different houses that they are in...they were still...and still are, a brotherhood of the five strong houses.
"Skies will turn grey, and storms will create floods," Krist suddenly recites a sentence that was once uttered by a very powerful white uniform in the past. "But as we march forward and look straight ahead, honoring our virtue and strengthening our faith...no amount of flood will destroy our foundation, and we will definitely conquer all."
Tears fall from the leader of the Scarlet Letter, Ruby Rose, as she remembers the exact moment when a certain president said these words to them. "Esprit de corps," she then whispers as Krist finally turns around and puts his flag down on their base.
Siren sounds were heard in an instant as Jokers' logo appeared on the screen. But as the members of Jokers are comforting each other because of the sudden turn of events, Ruby Rose suddenly goes down on one knee and bows to Busters and the other brotherhoods of J.S High, who were able to complete their tasks before them.
Soon after, the other brotherhood members on the battle grounds and on the bleachers started bowing to them as well. Even the brotherhoods in the lower houses who were only watching on their screens were bowing too.
Before they knew it, the white uniforms touched their chests and bowed like the others, showing great respect and pride to the winners of Day 04's battle.
Revels, who just got treated by the medics, looked around at the students who were bowing. But despite their victory, they knew that this was not meant for them. And this was only a sign that their days in J.S High wouldn't be as prosperous as they hoped they would be.
"Sixth winner...rank 6, Jokers." The female voice finally announces. "To all the students of J.S High...we humbly present to you your new brotherhoods."
...
Kim Hee-joon falls deeper into the water after his unexpected jump. He no longer has any strength to move, let alone swim up to save himself. But as he was falling deeper into the darkness, someone suddenly jumped into the waters as well and grabbed him so he could pull him to the surface.
A couple of seconds later, they emerge from the waters. Joon coughs the water out as his unknown savior pats his back, helping him to breathe properly.
"You always have to be so dramatic," a voice says, and Joon instantly recognizes who he is.
"U-Uchdryd Rease?" Joon confusingly asks. "Why?"
Uchdryd, the leader of Brotherhood Checkmate, chuckles as he holds onto the ladder so they wouldn't end up sinking down the waters again.
"Well, for starters, I'm not gonna let someone with this many injuries just drown like that. And secondly, before I became the leader of Checkmates...I was once a proud brotherhood in the House of Kings. And I once served you as my prince, too," Uchdryd says with a smile as he drapes Joon's arm around his neck so he can carry him on his back.
"Now, hold on. You might not be in the top six anymore, but you can still rank high in the House of Bishops," Uchdryd says as he starts climbing the ladder with Joon.
Joon doesn't push him away and instead slowly rests his head on Uchdryd's back, sighing in relief after finding out that Jokers got into the top 6. When Joon is no longer worrying about anything, he closes his eyes and suddenly remembers a conversation he had with a certain white uniform before the battle even began.
[A few hours earlier: At the stadium]
"Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the House of Kings! Today is Day 04 of the Annual Brotherhood Reranking. To everyone in the stadium and to those who are watching this live, I am your host, Vincent Coleman."
Joon waited at the entrance while tightly holding onto an item in his pocket, an item that he holds dear to him, which he uses to hold onto whenever he feels anxious or unsure. After a few minutes, he finally spotted the white uniform that he was waiting for—Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire.
Joon took a deep breath and approached Max before grabbing his arm and pulling him inside an empty restroom without any warning. Max thought that a stranger had grabbed him, so he was honestly ready to throw punches. But when he finally faced Joon, a surprised expression appeared on Max's face instead.
"M-My prince." Max touched his chest and was about to bow to Joon, but Joon immediately stopped him.
"I am no longer a prince, but I am standing before you as a black uniform who is hoping to make a request," he stated, making Max look back at him again.
"Is it about the bullet? I already talked to my uncle. And like what Krist and the others planned, I—"
"It's not about that," Joon interrupted before pulling something out from his pocket and handing it over to Max. Max didn't entirely know what it was, but when he looked down at his palm, he was surprised to see that it was actually a brooch, but it wasn't a brooch that Max was familiar with.
"What is this?" Max asked as he stared at the small item.
"It's a brooch...when I was a member of C1A," Joon suddenly revealed, instantly making Max's eyes widen in shock.
"I'm sure the others have mentioned that to you already," Joon then stated as he walked towards the sink to stare at his reflection. "That was during the time we were all in one brotherhood. It's very important to me."
"Then why are you giving this to me?" Max then asked, suddenly feeling nervous about where this conversation was going.
Joon took a deep breath and stared into his own eyes before answering, "It's because I'm going to lose this battle, so I want you to hold onto it for now."
"H-Hold on, what are you talking about? What do you mean you're gonna lose? Krist and the others already told me that you guys have a plan. You can't just—"
"It's a plan that we all knew would fail but were just too afraid to admit," Joon quickly said with the usual cold expression on his face. "We all know that it's going to fail. We won't be able to find that bullet in time, and even if we did, they won't stop until Viktor loses, and I can't let Viktor fail."
"Wait...t-this is about...Viktor?" Max then asked, and Joon immediately looked away from him.
The two of them became quiet, especially since Max didn't know what to say with the bomb that Joon just dropped on him. But after a while, Joon broke the silence as he asked, "Do you remember the banquet? There was a large lobster in front of us at the table, but both of us are allergic to it, so we couldn't even eat it."
"I remember," Max answered. "It was a shame because it smelled delicious."
Joon chuckled and agreed to the claim before looking back at Max, "Isn't it annoying how something so delicious is already presented in front of you on a silver platter, yet you can't even grab a bite of it?"
"But annoyance is temporary. The effect of eating it may become permanent, so you don't always have to grab everything that's displayed in front of you just because it looks good," Max explained, and a satisfied smirk instantly appeared on Joon's face.
"Exactly," he mumbled to himself as he walked closer to Max.
"I have given you an invitation to my banquet, and you have finished all my tasks with no fail. I gave you the opportunity to ask any favor from me in exchange for your three gifts, but you declined it," Joon stated as he now looked back at Max with a much more serious expression.
"For one last time, Sinclaire of Class II-A...what is it that you desire?"
The question came as a shock that Max didn't even know what to say.
During the time Joon asked him the same question, Max said he wanted nothing. He knew that there would be a time when he'll have to ask for something much more important, and he knew now that this was the time that he was waiting for.
So after putting everything into consideration, he looked at Joon and finally answered, "Your points...give me all your merit points."
A grin immediately appeared on Joon's face, almost like he predicted that this was what Max had always wanted from him from the very beginning.
"But there's a problem, isn't there?" Max then asked. "Your title has now been stripped away from you, so you might not have any merit points to give. I guess I'll just—"
"It is done," Joon suddenly stated.
"What?"
"I found a loophole. Before the final rank of the examination was revealed during the second day of the reranking, I asked Keigo to transfer the points to you before the association closed our Brotherhood account. If you look at your student account now, the points have already been transferred," Joon revealed with a smirk. "All...4000...merit points."
"Did you just say...four thousand? That's enough to—"
"Make you the Elites' School Representative," Joon finished for him, and Max's eyes widened in shock when he finally realized something.
"You planned all this. From the moment you gave me the invitation to the banquet, you already knew something like this would happen."
Joon took a deep breath and reached out to touch Max's empty collar before looking back at Max's familiar ocean-blue eyes that almost left a chill down his spine.
"This is my humble request, so listen and obey," Joon seriously stated. "Become the Elites' School Representative...and meet me again in the House of Bishops. You wish to conquer us, correct? Then prove to me that the justice you have shown during my banquet was all worth it. I will wait for you there, Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire. Your last trial from me...begins now."
- END -