♞

MAX SLOWLY OPENS HIS eyes, his head aching like someone just hit him. He processes the situation and realizes that he's in a dark room, and the only light that was there was coming from the spotlight on top of his head.

    The situation felt familiar since both his hands and feet were tied to a chair, but at least this time, unlike the time Jokers strapped him on a toilet, there weren't any weird writings on his body.

     "Max! You're awake!" Someone suddenly shouts, surprising Max.

     Max squints his eyes to see clearer, and to his surprise, Felix, Ari, and Ervin were in front of him, also strapped on a chair like he was.

     "What's going on? Where are we?" Max asks.

     "We don't know," Ari answers.

     "I can't believe you just returned and now we're kidnapped. I'm starting to think if befriending you was a good idea or not," Ervin manages to joke despite their current situation.

     Before Max could even say anything after Ervin's sarcastic remark, the door suddenly opens, revealing the four Ashes who they encountered earlier.

     "You bastards! What do you think you guys are doing?! Do you even know who I am?!" Ari starts shouting, making Felix look at him, practically begging him to just shut up.

     One of the Ashes approaches Ari and looks at him with a serious expression. "We know better than to get involved with a gaffer, let alone an underling of the Dukes, so you're only here as a spectator."

     Ari didn't quite understand where he was going, and he wanted to ask why they were there in the first place, but then the door opens again, revealing a white uniform that Ari, Felix, and Ervin were very much familiar with.

     "You fucking son of a bitch," Ervin says as he watches the white uniform walk towards them with a wide grin.

     The four Ashes walked out of the room as the white uniform made his entrance. 

     The white uniform was the white uniform that got into a feud with Master Joker before. After that, he got kicked and shamed at the Great Hall by Viktor himself. He was also supposed to be a gaffer, but based on his blue armband, Gavriil did suspend him and took a thousand points from him, making him a dweller instead.

(If you don't remember, he's in Chapter 49: A Painful Reminder)

     "I should have known that only a coward would do such a stunt," Ervin says, but then the White Uniform chuckles before approaching Ervin and suddenly punching him in the gut, surprising everyone.

    "Ervin!" Max shouts before looking at them with an angry expression. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? I don't even know who you are!" Max says, which was true since Max wasn't there when that incident happened.

     When the white uniform heard what Max said, he approached him next and suddenly grabbed him by the cheek. "Let me introduce myself then. My name is Arthur McKay, an underling of the counts. I was a Jack too before, but because of what you did, I had to leave that brotherhood you call Jokers. And because of you, I had to be humiliated by Master Joker, and my gaffer title was stripped away from me!" The guy named Arthur angrily explains, finally making Max realize who this man was.

     "You're an idiot to be blaming all that on me," Max says, and Arthur lets go of Max's cheeks. He laughs at Max's comment, and without any warning, he punches Max's face, causing the side of Max's lip to bleed.

     "Max!" His friends shout in panic.

    Max's jaw instantly ached as well, and he could barely even process what happened to him because Arthur suddenly kicked him on the stomach this time, almost making Max vomit.

     "Stop! What are you doing?!" Felix shouts, trying to break free but the rope was tied on him too tightly.

     Arthur ignores their plea as he continues to kick Max until saliva starts oozing out of his mouth. Only then did the three realize that he was actually mimicking what Viktor did to him before at the Great Hall.

     "I was waiting for you to return. You shouldn't have come back Sinclaire," Arthur says before kicking Max again.

     "Stop this! BND and Jokers will not let this slide! If you think you'll get away with this then you're out of your goddamn mind!" Ari shouts, and Arthur finally stops kicking Max.

     He looks at the three friends who have worried expressions on their faces. Arthur laughs at their reaction, and then he approaches the three and says, "Those who submit to Sinclaire are the real fools. If you think we're afraid of Jokers and BND then you're wrong. What are they going to do? Lecture me? BND doesn't even have any customs, which means they can't touch me."

     Ari and the others couldn't believe what they heard, especially when it came from someone who had already got beaten by Viktor himself. Now they realized that if their king can't even discipline him, then this student really is a lost cause.

     "I'll make Sinclaire feel what I felt before. I'll make him realize the true power of the Cigarettes," Arthur says.

     No one said a word, but then they suddenly heard someone laugh. And to their surprise, it was actually Max.

    Max could feel the pain in his entire body, especially his stomach. He could barely even move, but he still had the strength to laugh. He then looks straight at Arthur and asks him, "Y-Your boss, Cj...he doesn't even know that you're doing this, does he?"

     The mere mention of Cj made Arthur stiff. When Max saw his reaction, he continues, "I heard he walked away from you when he saw you piss your pants in the middle of the...g-great hall," Max struggles to say, obviously trying to provoke him.

     Thankfully, Arthur was provoked as he approaches Max and grabs a handful of his hair. "Do you even know what Cj did to me after I was treated at the clinic? As if what the king did wasn't enough, Cj dragged me out of the bed and beat the shit out of me too until I was sent to the hospital. After everything that I've done for him, this is what he does to me?!"

    When Max heard what Arthur had to say, Max couldn't help but smirk. He glances at his collar and saw that he didn't have Cigarettes' brooch anymore, indicating that he wasn't a Lighter anymore.

     "Looks like Cj took your underling title away from you too," Max reveals, surprising not only Arthur, but Ari, Felix, and Ervin as well.

     "The men outside aren't the real Ashes. This guy is pretending to still be associated with Cigarettes so we could take our revenge on them which is something that he wanted," Max reveals, and Arthur couldn't help but back away from shock.

     "He wanted to take his revenge on Cj and he's using us," Ari finally realizes too.

     "And now that I think about it, Lighters follow direct orders from Cigarettes. They aren't like Jacks; they're not allowed to do something without their brotherhood's permission," Ervin explains next, and Arthur couldn't help but curse under his breath. He was pissed by the fact that he blew his cover, but he was even more pissed by the fact that Max and his friends were actually able to realize it as well.

     "Cj may be an asshole, but he created the concept of underlings, and he will definitely not support an underling who couldn't even respect the system. You should have really stayed being a Jack," Max says, and Arthur couldn't help but clench his fist in anger.

     Arthur was about to throw another punch at Max, but then the door suddenly opens, making him stop midway. The supposed "Ashes" barged inside, but they weren't wearing their fake masks anymore.

     "Arthur, we have a problem. We have to go," one of the white uniforms says.

     Arthur was about to ask what was going on when someone suddenly went inside the room with a menacing aura, instantly making Arthur's eyes widen from shock that's mixed with fear.

     "B-Boss..." Arthur says, his hands now trembling.

     Cj - the leader of Cigarettes - went inside the room with the real Ashes behind him.

     Ari, Felix, and Ervin saw how terrified Arthur and his friends were. At first, they thought that they were overreacting, but when Cj got closer, they finally understood why they looked so scared.

     The Cigarettes' leader had a different aura. Compared to Master Joker and Hans, he definitely extracted fear more than respect. Just looking at Arthur made them wonder what Cj could have possibly done to him for Arthur to actually want to use them to get his revenge on the count.

     "So it was true," Cj says with a sadistic grin. "One of my lighters reported to me that there was a group of men who were pretending to be my Ashes. I thought it was some sort of prank, but seeing who the culprit is made sense now."

     "Boss...there has been a mistake," Arthur says, making Cj walk towards him.

     "Don't call me that, you're not my underling anymore, remember?" Cj says as he moves even closer to him, making Arthur flinch. Arthur thought that Cj was going to hurt him, but then Cj snaps his fingers, automatically making the Ashes grab hold of Arthur and the other white uniforms who pretended to be Ashes.

     Cj looks at them and then says, "Bring them to the smoking room. I'll handle them later."

     As soon as Arthur heard the words "smoking room," Arthur suddenly starts struggling. "N-No...not the smoking room! Anything but there! Please! Boss! Spare me!"

     The four friends were surprised because they never heard of something like the smoking room before, but based on Arthur's reaction, they could tell that smoking cigarette isn't what they do there.

     "Boss! Please!" Arthur continues to shout as he gets dragged out of the room.

     As soon as the Ashes dragged the white uniforms out, the four friends were left alone with the Cigarettes' leader, Cj.

     Unlike earlier, Ari couldn't say a thing anymore. He was shouting and acting all tough when Arthur was there, but now that it was Cj, Ari couldn't even move a muscle. He and the rest of his friends were too terrified by his presence.

     They couldn't really deny that even though Cigarettes is only ranked five, Cj's aura is almost similar to Viktor. He was that terrifying.

     While the four waited for what the leader was about to do, Cj takes a deep breath and adjusts his gloves. He then glances at Ari, Felix, and Ervin, instantly making the three flinch. Afterward, he glances at Max, and the moment he saw Max's current state, he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

     "I was a bit annoyed by the fact that I had to go all the way here for that fucker, but seeing you here made it all worth it," he says as he slowly walks towards the beaten-up Max.

     Max was still weak after what Arthur did to him so he couldn't really show any reaction as Cj approached him.

     The Count then leans towards him and grabs a hold of the brooches on his collar. Cj almost laughed as he touched Jokers and BND's crown brooch, but he doesn't. Instead, he grabs hold of the Sinclaire Brooch that belonged to president Janus. It was a brooch that protected Max from being physically targeted by the brotherhoods.

     One touch and Cj can get suspended, but lucky for him, no one was there to see them.

     "Serves you right you little bitch," Cj tells Max before suddenly kicking him so hard the chair tilted back, making Max fall to the ground, which caused his peak cap to fall off him.

     Ari and the rest wanted to say something, but all they could do was watch in horror as Max tries to catch his breath. Cj directly kicked him on the chest that literally kicked the air out of Max.

     Cj notoriously laughs and looks down on the struggling heir. "Can't breathe already? How weak." 

     Cj got closer to Max, stepping on his cap and causing it to have a shoe mark on it. And just when they thought that Cj wouldn't do anything anymore, he suddenly steps on Max's chest, making it even harder for Max to breathe to the point where saliva started to stream out of his mouth too.

     Ari was clenching on his fist as he helplessly looked at Max. He was trying to break free from the rope that tied him so he could do something, but it wouldn't budge. Even Ervin and Felix couldn't move.

     "P-Please...stop..." Felix manages to say as they continue to watch Max struggle.

     Without removing his feet on Max, Cj looks back at Felix and says, "What did you say?"

     Felix gulps and repeats himself. "Please stop," he says again, and Cj grins and steps on Max even harder, almost making Max look like he was about to faint.

     "Please! Stop! You're killing him!" Felix shouts this time, but Cj continues to act like he didn't hear a thing. Only then did Felix and the others realize that the more they tried to speak, the more Cj was going to troll them. So with a heavy heart, Felix finally closed his mouth so he wouldn't be able to say a single word anymore.

     "That's it? So much for being his loyal friends," Cj says with a mocking tone, making Ari clench his fist in anger.

     "P-Please...l-let...g-go..." a weak voice was then heard soon after.

     Ari and Ervin thought that Felix said it again, but to their surprise, it was Max himself.

    "P-Please..." he begs, and Cj grins and licks his lips before finally removing his feet on Max's chest, making Max cough and gasp for air like he was just drowning earlier.

     "I'm a nice guy. When people start begging, you gotta show compassion," Cj says before kneeling down so he could look at Max even closer. "Mj and Hans are wasting such a useful heir like you. If I was them I'd use you until you're broken and useless," he tells Max before grabbing his cheeks tightly with his gloved hand.

    Cj looks straight down at Max's eyes as he continues to clench his cheeks. "When are you going to conquer me next little Maxy? I'm so excited! We're going to have lots of fun together!" Cj says with a sadistically excited grin, making Ari, Felix, and Ervin have goosebumps.

    They couldn't really believe what they were seeing. Cj was one of the leaders who you'd barely encounter. You'd catch a glimpse of him at times, but you don't entirely know what he really does behind the scenes, which makes it even scarier when you do meet him like this.

     "Are you planning to be my homeboy? Oh please do, I have so many plans for you little Maxy!" Cj continues to say with an almost babyish tone. It was obvious that he was making fun of Max, and he was enjoying how vulnerable he looked below him.

     "This is so much fun, no wonder Mj and Hans adore you."

    While Max's friends continue to watch Cj with terror, Cj glances at his crown brooch and gently touches it before looking back at Max. "You're like a boy scout collecting badges after doing a job-well-done; it's almost admirable. Sadly, I don't like people who do well. I like people who'd go insane and would crawl on the floor, their elbows and knees bleeding, just to get what they want. That's the kind of people that I like. Are you that type of person Maxy?" 

     Of course, Max didn't say anything, making Cj laugh like a maniac. But like someone flipped a switch, Cj's expression instantly becomes serious as he leans close to Max's ear and whispers, "Play with fire...and I'll show you ashes."

     Without saying anything else, Cj finally lets go of Max's cheeks. He looks at him and his friends for the last time, and then he bows at them with a grin before walking away and slamming the door.

    Everyone was left dumbfounded inside the unknown room. They couldn't exactly comprehend what had happened, but one thing was for certain...

     You needed fire to light up a cigarette...

     But playing with fire can surely get you burned.

- END -