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"WE HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT you head home for the day. I can recommend you a psychologist if you are willing to talk to someone," the school's psychiatrist tells Max right after Max drank the medicine that she gave him.

     Max finishes his glass of water before gently placing it down on the side table. Thanks to Gavriil, Max was able to calm down after what happened to him. The psychiatrist tells him that Max must have experienced an episode due to the emotional stress he's been experiencing for the past weeks, so talking to a psychologist can greatly help him.

     "Thank you, doctor. I'll definitely consider it," Max answers. "But I'm fine. I think it would be best if I busy myself here than head home."

     "Are you sure?"

     "Yes," Max firmly answers.

     "Alright, but if something happens again, I'll have to forcefully call your guardian to take you home. Is that a deal?" the doctor asks, and Max nods his head as an answer.

     "Rest for now. You can head out as soon as you feel better," the doctor says before leaving the room.

     Max takes a deep breath and lies down before massaging his temple. He couldn't believe that he actually just lost his composure in front of everyone at the Keep. But he actually wasn't expecting that to happen to him either so it was more of a shock to him than those who actually witnessed it.

     "I seriously am like my mother now," Max whispers to himself before remembering the words that Gavriil just told him earlier when he carried him all the way here. He remembered the advice he gave him, and how he shouldn't be afraid to turn into a monster for the right reasons. The advice helped him in a way, but what bothered him more was the fact that Gavriil met his mother.

     Max wondered about it, but someone suddenly knocks on the door, and before Max could even answer, the door opens, revealing the man that Max was just thinking of a second ago.

     "Hey," he casually says before closing the door behind him. "It seems like the clinic is slowly turning into our secret meeting place," he then jokes, but Max completely ignores him, looking away and turning his body to the side like a stubborn kid.

     Gavriil sighs and walks closer to Max. "Are you heading home now? Did the doctor call for your butler?" He asks.

     "No," Max finally answers.

     "I expected much," Gavriil says back before walking towards the door and standing right in front of it like he was guarding it.

     Max sees what he's doing and finally sits up to directly look at him with furrowed brows. "What the hell are you doing?"

     "Preventing you from leaving," Gavriil answers.

     "Leaving? Why on earth would I even-" before Max could even finish his sentence, siren sounds were suddenly heard throughout the campus, making Max's eyes widen from shock.

     "What's going on?" Max asks, and Gavriil removes his peak cap and brushes his hair back with his fingers before looking back at Max with a serious expression. "I know that you have your own duties to fulfill, same goes to your protectors, but I have to fulfill my own duties too, and that's to make sure you don't leave this room so the Dukes and the Barons can fulfill theirs," Gavriil answers, surprising Max even more.

     "Jokers and BND pulled their banners? But why? I haven't told them to..." Max instantly pauses like he realized something. "No...they pulled Cigarettes' banner because of the article, didn't they? They're doing it for me. They think Cj has something to do with that article."

     Like what Gavriil predicted, Max immediately stands from the bed that he's in so he can leave the room and stop his protectors.

     "They're making a huge mistake. There is no way that Cj would publish that article. There's no reason for him to do so," Max says as he walks towards the door that Gavriil was guarding. "Move. I have to do something."

     "No," Gavriil firmly answers, making Max look at him with an annoyed expression.

     Max knew that Gavriil wasn't going to move, so he immediately pushes him away to grab the doorknob and escape, but to his surprise, Gavriil was faster. He grabs Max's arm, forcefully turns him around, and pushes him by the back, almost making Max stumble back to his bed. He wasn't expecting the vice president to be that good.

     "Are you fucking crazy?" Max asks, immediately turning around to look at Gavriil.

     "I think I've been too lenient with you," Gavriil says with a completely different aura that no one has ever seen before. "You might not remember, but you were very troublesome when we were kids, and I had to go through a lot of shit because of that."

     "W-What?" Max asks from shock.

     "I have direct orders from the king, and you will not leave this room until the battle is over," Gavriil seriously tells me.

     "Direct orders from the king? What the hell is going on?! Do you even know what would happen if I don't do anything? BND and Jokers are making a huge mistake, Cj didn't-"

     "They know."

     As soon as Gavriil said those words, Max finally stops. He looks back at the vice president with a confused expression on his face and asks, "What do you mean they know?"

...

"The brotherhoods who challenged the counts are...Boys Next Door and Jokers!" the voice announces, and the entire stadium practically falls silent.

     "W-Wait...is that even allowed?" Ari asks, looking at the brotherhoods to see their reaction.

     Apparently, the other brotherhoods were unsure about all this too, so before they could even proceed, the Alpha Society walks in the middle of the stadium with their club advisor, Ms. Alisa Armstrong. They discuss among themselves, and after a minute, a white uniform runs towards Alisa to hand her a microphone.

    "Good morning J.S High," she greets first. "After careful deliberation, Alpha Society has granted the two brotherhoods permission to battle against the Counts."

     The crowd instantly goes wild, especially the Lighters who were shouting about how the battle would be unfair on Cigarette's side.

     "Of course there will be conditions," Alisa then adds, finally making the noise die down, while BND, Jokers, and Cigarettes listen attentively.

     "Since this situation is more of a disadvantage for the Counts, the Counts will choose their Battle Grounds," Alisa announces, and Cigarettes instantly starts cheering in excitement.

     "And even though there are two challengers, you will only act as one team, which means BND and Jokers will only have one flag. As for those who will battle, the Dukes are only allowed to choose three members, while the Barons are only allowed to choose four. That will be all. The three brotherhoods may now proceed to the armory," Alisa finishes, making the crowd start cheering again as BND, Jokers, and Cigarettes left the stadium to prepare their items and weapons.

    Alisa Armstrong left as well to head to the highest area of the stadium so she could commentate the whole battle, while the Alpha Society cleared the middle of the stadium to make way for the grounds that will appear later on.

     The leader of the Alpha Society then touches the earpiece that he's wearing and nods his head, signaling the other Alphas that Cigarettes have already chosen their battle grounds.

    "Beta Society has inspected the grounds," Alpha's leader says, immediately making the other members run away from the middle of the stadium.

     The floor then opens as another floor gets lifted up to the surface. The crowd goes wild as the ground finally reveals itself. Because in today's battle, the Cigarettes chose their tilted grounds, or better known as the seesaw.

     "The Elites will now collect your bets," the voice announces next, and the LED screen showed Cigarette's name, while BND and Jokers' names were shown together. "As the rules for this battle are a bit different, points will differ as well. Please look at the screen for reference."

     The other LED screen flashes, showing the equivalent MP they'll receive depending on their bets. If BND and Jokers' team win, you will receive 200 MP. If Cigarettes win, you will receive 300 MP. These were also set by the Alpha Society.

     The Elites start going around with their tablets to collect the bets.

     The probability of whoever wins in this battle will be hard to tell. At first glance it might look like BND and Jokers' team will make a sure win, but they won't have the overall group dynamic that Cigarettes will have since the two brotherhoods will be battling together for the first time. Another thing is that the grounds that they'll be battling on is Cigarettes'. Jokers and BND already have their own strategy when it comes to battling with Cigarettes, but making them fight together can lead to problems.

     "Who are you guys betting on? For some reason, I wanna bet on Cigarettes," Felix says, almost making Ari smack him.

     "Are you serious? You're going to betray our friends like that?" Ari says back, and Felix just shrugs his shoulders as an answer.

     Before the two could even start arguing again, the Elites' secretary approaches them with a polite bow. "Your bets, gentleman," Richard tells them, showing the tablet to Ervin first.

     While Ervin places his bet, Ari leans close to Richard and asks him, "Hey, did you know about this? Does this have to do with that article about Max?"

     "I don't know either," Richard honestly answers, making Ari sigh even though he already expected it himself.

     "But I do think it's more than that," Richard adds as Felix places his bet next.

     "What do you mean?" Ari asks him, but his fellow rose doesn't explain any further anymore, showing him the tablet instead, indicating that it's his turn to bet.

     Ari sighs, not forcing Richard to answer his question since he knew that Richard wasn't going to entertain it anymore. So Ari clicks on BND and Jokers' logos before betting ten thousand dollars on them.

     "Good morning House of King! Once again, I am Alisa Armstrong, your brotherhood battle commentator." Alisa now introduces, making the students cheer once more.

     "As we keep the bets rolling, let's talk about the mechanics of the battle," Alisa explains as the LED screen showed a list of weapons that the brotherhoods are not allowed to use, while the other screen showed body parts that cannot be targeted.

     "The rules are simple. The first brotherhood to place their flag on the enemy base within 12 minutes wins. If the twelve-minute mark ends without anyone putting their flags down, the battle is forced to a draw, meaning there is no winner or loser. Good luck, and let the best brotherhood win."

    As the betting system is still being commenced, Cigarettes' underlings - the Lighters - were all talking with each other like they were making their own strategies. Everyone was actually fired up because today's battle can be considered as a Battle Reranking. Since Jokers is challenging a brotherhood who is only one rank higher than them, winning against them will mean that Jokers will become the counts while the Cigarettes will automatically become the barons. But the rule does not apply to BND. Their rank will not change since they challenged a lower rank.

     But if Cigarettes win, no one's rank will change, but what this means for Cigarettes is that they will only have to win against BND one more time in order for them to switch places since BND is rank 3 while Cigarettes is rank 5. The win must also be consecutive, so if Cigarettes lose, they have to battle BND two times again.

     This battle will mean a lot more to Cigarettes than the rest of them.

     "Look at that battle ground. Cigarettes are really in it to win it," Felix says as he analyzes the seesaw-like ground that's almost  the same material as polycarbonate sheetings. Like how a seesaw works, the grounds will tilt based on how heavy the other side is. This battle will definitely make the brotherhoods - and even the audience - dizzy.

     "Bets are now closed," Alisa announces, and the screen shows the winner that will receive the 10-second advantage. And as expected, it was Jokers' and BND's team.

     "Looks like everyone is ready! To start our battle, let us now welcome the challengers: rank 3, the dukes, Boys Next Door!" The commentator finally announces, and the students start cheering for the most loved brotherhood.

     Everyone was curious about who will be battling for BND since they're only allowed to choose three members. But to no surprise, the Dukes chose their strongest, which were Marcus, Arjun, and their leader, Hans.

     The three representatives of BND all had serious expressions on their faces. It was quite new to everyone since BND always had this charming image, so their seriousness surprised them.

     Marcus, on the other hand, looked more angry than serious. It was obvious that he wasn't here to play around and look cool anymore. This battle meant more to him than anything.

     "Now for the second challenger that will be accompanying BND. Let's all give it up for rank 6, the pranksters, the jesters, the Jokers!" Alisa introduces next, and four representatives for Jokers emerge. They were Master Joker himself, his right-hand man Brave, and their 3rd-year members, Toni and Dhanin.

     The crowd cheers as the two brotherhoods merge together to form their team. It was an amazing sight, especially since brotherhoods never fought together before.

     "Alright, let us now welcome the challenged: Rank 5, the fearsome counts, Cigarettes!"

     The crowd cheers even louder as Cigarettes excitedly head out of the armory. Everyone was cheering for them since Cigarettes is also surprisingly a crowd favorite. They might rank low, but they're popular even with their bad reputation.

     "Let's go Team Protectors!" Brave suddenly shouts, making Hans and the others look at him with weird looks.

     "What? You guys have other suggestions?" Brave sarcastically asks, and no one dared say anything anymore as they walk towards their base.

     As soon as they stood on their respective base, the battle ground lifts itself higher, making the crowd cheer even more. Since the ground is designed as a seesaw, it has to be above ground. This also means that falling off the grounds would be easier compared to last time's battle in the glass maze where there were borders. Falling out of the grounds means you are automatically eliminated. And if your brotherhood leader falls off, the opponent team will automatically be declared the winner.

     Brave looks down and gulps as the grounds start swaying a little. There was only a stopper in the middle that stopped it from tilting, but as soon as they removed it, the grounds will tilt.

     Everyone gets ready as a member of Beta Society walks toward the stage with a case. Inside the case was a ivory-gold gun. The Beta then stands beside the king, Tanis Hendrix, and opens the case for him.

     Tanis, with his bored expression, stands from his throne and takes the gun.

     "Now the battle will begin in 5...4...3...2..."

     Tanis finally shoots the blank gun, and BND and Jokers' team - AKA Team Protectors - move first while Cigarettes stood still. For the 10-second advantage, everyone was surprised when they saw Hans wearing a pair of rollerblades. As the 10-second countdown is shown on the LED screen, Krist grins and looks at Hans before saying, "Those who cannot stand the thorns..."

     "Do not deserve to pick the roses."

     As soon as Hans answered Krist, Krist pushes the duke as hard as he could, making Hans zoom towards Cigarettes base, instantly making the grounds tilt.

     Cj watches the timer and glances back at Hans who was heading towards them at full speed. It would be such a shame if Hans reaches their base before the battle even begun.

     "Come on now..." Cj mumbles to himself. And just when Hans got to their territory, the ten-second advantage comes to an end, and Cigarettes immediately made their move to stop Hans. But instead of stopping him, Cigarettes pulled out a hose and fired in Hans's direction. The hose actually released slime, making the grounds extra slippery. If Hans goes straight out of the grounds, he'll instantly be eliminated. And since he's the leader, they'll automatically lose.

    Thankfully, Hans was prepared. He slowly kneels down and touches the ground with his spiked gloves that made an awful sound. His speed slows down until finally, Hans made a full stop.

    Cj looks straight at Hans, and Hans smirks directly at him and suddenly throws three bombs in their direction.

     Cigarette immediately takes cover as the bombs blow up in front of them. Though the bombs weren't explosive, they actually released a type of smoke that made their bodies feely slippery.

     "What the fuck is this? Lotion?" a member of Cigarettes complained as he tries to wipe it off, only to make it spread in his skin even more.

     "This is definitely BND's equipment. Jokers is way too poor to own something like this," Cj answers before looking back at his members who were trying to keep their ground since they were sliding downward as well.

     Thankfully Cigarettes were also equipped with weapons that helped them stay in place, especially since this is their Battle Ground. They had rubber-like materials on their hands, elbows, knees, and feet that helped them from sliding off.

     With a confident grin on his face, Cj looks back at their opponent and says, "My turn."

- END -