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MAX TAKES A DEEP BREATH before heading out of the car. He adjusts his peak cap, and then his black armband, indicating that he's a serf. Not like the first day, people weren't staring at him anymore. In fact, they didn't care about him at all.

     "Enjoy your day master Leigh," Étienne says with his head down and his hand on his chest.

     Max nods his head to acknowledge it. Without saying anything, he walks up the steps towards the Keep. But while he was walking, someone suddenly grabs his shoulder, almost making Max push him away,

     "Felix!" Max shouts in surprise, his chest beating fast because he almost pushed him off the steps. Felix was surprised too, but he immediately apologized when he remembered what happened to them yesterday with that mean gaffer who kicked him in the stomach twice.

     "I shouldn't have surprised you. It would have been pretty obvious that you'll be very alert now. Sorry," Felix says, making Max smile and path his head like a kid.

     "Good morning," Max says instead, and that automatically made Felix smile.

     "Last week's ball was fun wasn't it? The red carpet was also broadcast live and was even shown in the news. My mother was upset that I was only shown once, but you were literally everywhere. It made me realize that I'm actually friends with someone as great as you," Felix says with a proud smile, making Max chuckle.

     "I haven't even done anything to be recognized like that, but if it makes you this happy then who am I to complain?" Max answers as he and Felix continue to walk down the hallway, heading to their classroom at the Hall of Caelus.

     "But the press doesn't matter anymore. Did you see the news published on our school's website? It was all about the Royals. Everyone talked about how they'll be taking underlings this year. It's crazy," Felix explains, making Max remember about it too.

     "Viktor must be planning something. Especially when he's about to graduate, and the public will soon have to find out about his return," Max says back.

     Felix nods his head in agreement. "If it was me then I'd plan something too. Especially with that rumor going on around him." He then says, making Max look at him with his brows furrowed.

     "Rumors? What rumors?" Max asks, surprising Felix that Max didn't know about it. So Felix grabs Max's arm, and both of them stop in the middle of the hallway. Felix then pulls Max towards him and whispers, "That Viktor's parents were the ones who planted the bombs that killed their entire clan."

     Max was surprised by what he heard that he immediately pushed Felix off him. "H-How could you...Felix, don't say that so openly," Max warns, immediately walking away from the scene because he was afraid someone might hear them.

     Felix catches up with Max and walks beside him again. "No, but I'm serious. Isn't it strange that Viktor was the only one who wasn't there during the time the explosion happened? It's said that Viktor was supposed to be the next head of the Stepanov clan, but the elders of their family were planning to change it, so his parents sacrificed themselves so that wouldn't happen. Doesn't it make sense?"

     "It doesn't so let's stop talking about this. Those are serious claims, Felix. As much as I despise Viktor, his parents do not deserve to be accused of such things," Max says, and Felix finally zips his mouth about the matter.

     Max takes a deep breath and tries to forget what he just heard, but he couldn't. The Stepanov clan was always known for their barbaric ways, while Max's family, the Lemieux's, was all about class and elegance.

     The Lemieux's always did their dirty work in silence, while the Stepanov's did theirs for everyone to see. That's how both families gained respect and fear from the other families. But due to the Stepanov's ways, they had more enemies, which is why their deaths weren't much of a shock.

     A lot of people would always compare the two families; some were even choosing sides. But even with the public feud, The Lemieux's and the Stepanov' were never against each other. There was mutual respect on both sides, which is why Max couldn't believe that they'd be killed in such a brutal way.

     "Felix, do you know how the Stepanov's died?" Max suddenly asks.

     Felix looks at Max and answers, "Bombs were placed all over the Stepanov's mansion while they were celebrating their annual reunion."

     Max, who wasn't even looking at Felix, shakes his head and says, "Bombs were only placed on some areas of their mansion, but all the doors and windows were suddenly locked and covered from the outside." Max pauses and looks at Felix so he can continue, "A handful of them died from the bombs. But most of them were burned alive inside their own home. Including the elders and the children."

     Felix's eyes widen from shock, and the hair on his skin even stood up. The news never disclosed that.

     "That's why don't believe the rumors. Viktor's parents were also inside that mansion, along with his two younger siblings. Do you understand why we shouldn't discuss this?" Max says, and Felix gulps and immediately nods his head.

      The atmosphere around them suddenly became dark, so Max takes a deep breath and changes the subject for Felix's sake. "By the way, what are we going to be doing today?"

     Felix, who looked down for a second, changes back to his bright expression in an instant. "Well, it looks like our regular classes will begin now," Felix says before taking out an index card that Felix used to neatly write their schedule on. "Our first class is Speech with Mr. Coleman. It can't get any better than that," Felix says with a frown since public speaking isn't exactly his forte.

     "You'll be fine," Max tells him. And just when Felix was about to answer, someone suddenly snatches the index card from Felix's hands, surprising them.

     Max and Felix look behind them and see Ervin Walker and his friends. The two don't say anything as they watch Ervin look at the schedule. "Oh, so this is our schedule. Thanks, Campbell."

     Ervin smiles and hands the schedule back. But just when Felix was about to reach it, Ervin drops the index card on the floor and purposely steps on it, making Ervin and the rest of his friends laugh.

     "Sorry, it slipped," he says before finally walking away, bumping into Max's shoulder as he did so.

     When they were gone, Max immediately picks the index card on the floor. He sighs when he sees the footmark on it, reminding him of the footmarks on his peak cap before too.

     "Well, I can always rewrite it, and maybe laminate it next time," Felix says as Max hands the index card back to him.

     The two got ready to take their leave as well when Ari suddenly arrives. He was panting heavily, which only means he ran all the way to where Felix and Max were.

     "Oh, look who's here. Why do you always come AFTER we get harassed," Max says with a sarcastic tone, but Ari ignores it as he says, "We have a problem, Max. A fucking huge problem."

      The panic in Ari's face instantly made Max look back at him with a serious expression. It was obvious that this wasn't like the last time when his uncle Janus called for them.

     "What problem?" Max finally asks, and Ari doesn't say anything and runs away instead, telling them that they should follow him, which they did.

     The three arrive in their overly crowded classroom. As soon as Ari appears with Max and Felix, the crowd becomes quiet.

     "What the hell is going on?" Max asks confusingly.

     Ari heads in first, followed by Max who was still confused with the entire situation. But as soon as he got inside their classroom, Max's jaw instantly drops.

     "N-No way..." Felix says with disbelief.

     Max gulp as he stares down at the jack-in-the-box that was found on top of his table. The crowd closes in on them as Max moves closer. He stares at it for a second, trying to understand why he had that box on his desk. But as soon as he touches it, the familiar melody plays, instantly making the hair on Max's skin stand.

     The melody echoes inside the quiet room as beads of sweat stream down from Max's forehead. And as soon as the music stops, Jack pops out of the box with a small note attached to their hand. Max looks around, trying to see if a member of Jokers was there. When he couldn't spot anyone, Max looks back at the box and slowly reaches out for the letter.

Little Toy,

Welcome to J.S High! As our thank you for betting on us during the battles, we are leaving you with our Jacks for an entire day. I hope you treat them well.

Happy pranking!

- MJ

     Max stares at the note for a couple more seconds. After a while, the people in the room suddenly start stumping their feet. Right on cue, Ervin, one of the few Jacks in their year, appears in front of Max and taunts him, "Looks like you got into our master joker's bad side. As their jacks, it is our duty to act as their puppets. So Sinclaire, you better get ready."

     Ervin got ready to grab Max, but Ari was faster. He grabs Max by the arm and pulls him away from the underling. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Just stick with me and—" Ari suddenly pauses when he hears Max chuckle. Soon after, the soft chuckle turns into a full-blown laugh, making everyone around them look at Max as if he's gone mad.

     "This is too perfect," Max says as Ari slowly lets go of his arm. He then crumples Jokers' note and looks back at Ervin who was just as confused as everyone else. "The entire day huh? Go ahead then. Prank me all you want. I won't stop you."

     The students surrounding them look at Max like he totally lost it. Even Ari and Felix were looking at him the same way.

     "Just do me a favor, will you? Tell your Master Joker that he has to try harder than he's ever done before. Because if he expects me to break like a toy then he's making a huge mistake."

     Max pauses and walks back to his desk where the jack-in-the-box could be found. Everyone watches him closely. And with a smirk on his face, Max aggressively pulls the jack out of the box before throwing it on the floor, almost making the students gasp from shock.

     This was Max's declaration of war against Jokers. Last night he was having a hard time thinking of different ways on how he'll get involved with the Jokers since Cindy suggested that he starts with them first. Him receiving a box only made things easier for him.

     "Tell him to give it his best shot because I'll break his fragile little ego first," Max finishes, and everyone who was there was lost for words. Even Ervin who was excited about the news suddenly felt lost because of how this went down.

     "What's going on here?" Sir Barron suddenly asks when he arrived at the room with the vice president.

     The students who weren't even from Class II-A immediately runs out of the room just by the sight of their homeroom teacher. The rest of them went back to their seats except for Max who grabbed the box on top of his table so he could throw it away.

     Sir Barron spots the box and massages his temple. "Leave it for now Mr. Sinclaire so we can immediately start with our homeroom."

      Max nods his head and places the box on the floor before taking his seat. Sir Barron starts taking the attendance, while Ari moves close to Max and angrily tells him in a soft voice, "Have you lost your goddamn mind? You just received a jack-in-a-box and you decide to joke about it?"

     "That wasn't a joke. I'm being serious. You guys once said that brotherhoods have the ability to give points. Then all I have to do is conquer the Jokers and get points from them. Easy as that," Max answers, making Ari look at him with disbelief.

     "You're acting like conquering Jokers is as easy as scoring a deal with a company who's facing bankruptcy. This is Jokers we're talking about."

     "Which is why it's going to be easy. Jokers is the lowest rank in this house, and there has to be a reason why. I don't know why they gave me a box either, but I know for sure that I might be able to help them. Who wouldn't want that?" Max continues to say.

     "You trying to help them will only make my job harder," Ari says back, immediately making Max look at him with suspicious eyes.

      Ari panics for a second. He didn't mean to say anything that would make Max more cautious of him, especially since he already spilled the fact that he knows he's related to Marcus.

      But just when Ari was about to defend himself, sir Barron takes his things and walks to the middle of the class. "I'll be taking my leave for now since I have a special class with the brotherhoods. While waiting for the bell, I'm asking the class representative to watch over the class and make sure everyone's in order before your first-period teacher arrives. I'll see you later," Sir Barron says before leaving the room as fast as he got there.

      Ari curses under his breath, forgetting the fact that he was the class rep. thanks to Max. He then looks at Gavriil who was peacefully sitting in his seat and shouts, "Hey vice! Look after the class while I talk to my friend here."

     "Why on earth would I do that for you?" Gavriil immediately asks, making Ari grunt in frustration.

     "That fucking piece of shit," Ari says before finally standing from his seat. "We're not done talking Sinclaire. I still have to scold you for what you did," he finishes before walking to the front of the class with his hands inside his pockets.

     Thanks to Max's stunt earlier, Ari was pissed, so his anger was obvious in his face, which was enough for everyone in the class to not move a muscle.

     Max on the other hand ignores the death signals that Ari was sending and takes out his black leather notebook instead. He went to the page with Jokers' information and read through it again. He has been writing down every information that he can get about the school and the brotherhoods, but for the Jokers' section, the page was nearly empty.

     Other than their underlings and custom, Max doesn't know anything about Jokers. And the only way for him to get closer to them is to endure the pranks they'll be setting out for him.

     Because if he can come out of this alive, then he'll be the first white uniform to do so. And maybe that would be enough for them to give him the points that he desperately needs.

- END -