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SIREN AND HER BROTHERHOOD ran to the base where their logo would appear next. Everyone was already trying to finish the task, while the members of PHD, Jokers, and Cigarettes were assisting them.

     "Siren, what's the plan?" Spike asks as they get close to the base.

     "Based on what Felix explained to us earlier, it's safe to assume that Cigarettes, Jokers, and PHD's bases won't appear on that island for at least twelve more buzzers. That's why I'm planning that we all run to our base and destroy the bridges," Siren explains, surprising her team.

     "W-Wait, so we'll all put our flag down at the same time?" John Ford Keaton then asks.

     "Yes."

     "But if we destroy the bridges, and someone ends up throwing a bomb at us, there's a possibility that we'll fall, and climbing would be hella difficult," Alfred says this time.

     "That's why we'll have to rely on Cj and the others," Siren replies. "The number of brotherhoods in the battle grounds is getting smaller, and most of them are concentrating on putting their flags down. We'll have a shot with it now."

     "Have you explained this to the others then?" Felix asks.

     "Of course I have."

     "Then there's no time to lose. Doubting we'll get us nowhere," Felix tells everyone, and the members of Crazy 8 nod their heads and continue running to their base.

     With the trust Crazy 8 has given the other brotherhoods, the members did not stop running despite the attacks that were thrown at them. PHD especially has been a great help as their shooting accuracy was out of this world. Even Joon, who was badly injured, was holding a few brotherhoods off despite being in his worse condition.

     When Crazy 8 finally arrived at their base, the members started shooting at the bridges, breaking the cable. The other brotherhoods instantly noticed them and started shooting at them too.

     "What the hell?! They're destroying the bridges!" A member of Red Tigers shouted in complete anger as their base would be appearing there next. If Crazy 8 destroys the bridges, they'll have to waste two minutes and wait for the buzzer instead since they won't be able to cross it anymore.

     "Ah, shit!" Spike shouted as his arm got shot. But after sucking the pain in, he continues shooting at the bridge until it finally breaks the cable, instantly making the bridges fall.

     As the members predicted, someone from Scarlet Letter got ready to throw a bomb at them, but before he could even do so, Ren Adachi of PHD spots him and instantly shoots the bomber with little to no effort despite the distance they had from each other.

    Ren smirks and blows on his gun before turning around to find Anthony Rockefeller of Cigarettes standing right behind him. Like the others, Anthony was also covered in bruises, and he was soaking wet, too, after being pushed off the bridge earlier in the battle.

    "Get your brotherhood ready. Crazy 8 will finish their task soon," Ren instructs as Anthony wipes the blood off the side of his mouth with the back of his hand.

     "You can handle this on your own?" Anthony asks, making Ren chuckle.

     "You're not the type to be worrying about people Tony," Ren says, reaching out to touch the wound on Anthony's face, but Anthony immediately grabbed Ren's hand to stop him.

     "Just because Akihiko isn't letting you seduce him, you'll do the same to me," Anthony says, making Ren grin. "Anyway, I'm heading out. Make sure you watch over our backs."

    "My assistance requires a huge sum," Ren manages to joke as Anthony starts running off to join Cj and the rest of Cigarettes.

    "We can make a deal later!" Anthony shouts until he finally disappears.

    Ren chuckles at the reply, but right after, the smile on his face turns into a much more serious expression as he turns to their leader, Kim Hee-Joon, who is barely walking straight. "Your love for that king is almost sickening," Ren says before turning back to assist the others. "I hope this was all worth it, Joon. I really do hope this was all worth it."

     Meanwhile...

     The bridges connecting the island that Crazy 8 was on finally got destroyed, making it impossible for the others to reach them. But because of this plan, it also meant that they trapped themselves there. They were easy targets now, and if it weren't for the other brotherhoods, this plan wouldn't have worked at all.

     "Twenty seconds left!" Felix shouted as the five of them stood close to each other. They were being shot, some were even bleeding now too, but they didn't back down.

    "Ten seconds!" Felix shouts this time, and all the members of Crazy 8 start getting their flags ready. "Just a little more, everyone! Endure it just a little more."

     The students cheered as they watched the members of Crazy 8 stand on the island where The Clan's base logo is. But after a couple more seconds, the buzzer sound was finally heard, and to everyone's surprise, the Clan's logo changed to Crazy 8's logo.

     "Now!"

     The members placed down their flags at the same time, instantly making the stadium go wild. But before Siren can put down her flag, she turns to look at Joon, who's staring back at them. Siren doesn't say anything, but then she bows to the prince deeply, almost making Joon smile.

     "Thank you for assisting my brotherhood," Siren whispers. Felix then touches her shoulder, so without wasting any more time, Siren puts her flag down, and soon after, siren sounds start playing in the stadium, making everyone stand on their feet to celebrate.

     "Third winner...rank 3, Crazy 8."

     "Thank you!" Felix shouted as he immediately went down on his knees, almost bursting into tears from the overwhelming feeling of finishing their task. "We did it," Felix says before turning to the white uniforms, hoping that his friends were looking back at him proudly. "I did it, guys," he then whispers.

    But as Felix is trying to search for his friends in the crowd, Spike immediately grabs him and carries him up. "You did it, Felix! You were the real MVP!" He shouts, and the other members of Crazy 8 can't help but agree.

     Felix shyly laughs at the unexpected praise, but then he turns to the bleachers where the non-participating brotherhood members are found. And to his surprise, they were standing on their feet and cheering his name.

     "I hate Payton, but I'm definitely glad she gave you that kiss mark," Alfred then says, reaching out to ruffle Felix's hair.

     "For the five members of Crazy 8, an exit has now been opened for you. Please step out of the grounds immediately," a voice announces, immediately making Spike put Felix down.

     "Let's celebrate later," Siren says to her members. "We should head out first and get treated," she then adds, but then the members looked at each other before grabbing Siren to hug her as well. Siren laughs and hugs her team back, but right after, they move away from each other and finally exit the grounds.

     "Looks like the brotherhoods of J.S High are on a roll!" Alisa Armstrong, the commentator, states as she watches the battle in amazement. "We all knew what these brotherhoods are capable of, but we never really predicted that they would be working together, and this is what destroyed the other brotherhood's strategy. Now let's see the scoreboard."

     While the members of Crazy 8 exit the grounds, the screen starts showing the current scores of each brotherhood.

     "Three brotherhoods have now completed their tasks, and these are Busters, BND, and Crazy 8. Red Tigers, Archers, and Checkmates have two flags left, while Revels, Scarlet Letter, and the Gallants still have three flags to go. PHD, Cigarettes, Jokers, and the Clan, on the other hand, have still yet to put a flag down on any of their bases. Will they be able to put their flag in time and enter the top 6? Well, let's continue watching and find out."

     As the battle starts nearing its end, the remaining members on the grounds are now running to their base without wasting any more time. Most of them are also badly injured, and some were even seen squatting down and taking a break after falling off the bridge a couple of times. This is definitely the hardest challenge when it comes to Day 04s battles. Endurance is definitely what's gonna make you win since there's no time limit.

     But while everyone was starting to look tired, there was one particular brotherhood who seemed like they could still run a marathon. And that was the members of the previously ranked 5 brotherhood, Cigarettes.

     "Where the fuck is Cj?!" Anthony angrily asks while he's now running with members Pablo Blanco and Orson Bloom.

     "He was with Hans earlier, but now I can't see him," Pablo answers as the three of them look around the grounds.

     While they were running, they finally spotted their other member, Kevin Carter, who was busy shooting at the brotherhoods who were trying to approach them. They couldn't really tell why he was shooting at them like that, but when they got closer, Anthony realized that he was actually protecting someone.

     It was none other than their fearsome leader, Charles Justin Mills.

     "There they are!" Anthony shouted as they ran towards the two.

     When they got close, Anthony and the rest of Cigarettes instantly dropped their jaws in shock when they saw Cj's condition. Compared to his members, Cj was in bad shape. He's been protecting and assisting Busters and BND since the beginning of the battle and has even tried knocking others down when Crazy 8 was running toward their base.

     "Holy shit, man! Did Joon get shot with that bullet, or was it you?" Anthony manages to say as they finally get to where Cj and Kevin are.

     "The boss injured his ankle. He was fighting someone earlier, and he sprained it. We won't be able to run unless we carry him," Kevin explains while still shooting the other brotherhoods who were trying to approach them.

     "I'd rather you leave me here than be carried like a bitch," Cj replies, making his members sigh in frustration.

    "Then I'm gonna fucking drag your sorry ass, you piece of shit!" Anthony tells him in irritation. Cj was about to grab him to start a fight, but Pablo immediately went in between them.

     "Are you two fucking serious right now?! You're gonna fight in this situation?" Pablo asks before quickly turning to shoot another student in black who was approaching them. "Look, if we stall any longer, we're not gonna be able to finish the task in time."

     "What do we do then?" Orson asks, and right after that, the buzzer sound is heard, and all the bases change again.

     "Alright, let's think of a plan," Anthony says as he looks around the bases. "Felix explained the pattern earlier, but I still don't fucking get it. Where will our base appear next? How many times was the buzzer heard? Where the hell even are we?! Ah shit! We're fucked."

     "That was the t-thirteenth buzzer, three more, and the pattern will change again," Cj suddenly explains while holding onto his aching ankle, immediately making everyone turn to look at him. "Based on what that little guy explained earlier, on the sixteenth buzzer, our logo will appear...there, on the base near the central island."

     "Looks like you're still not useless after all," Anthony comments, and then the members of Cigarettes turn to the base where Cj mentioned and instantly groan in frustration.

     "We still have six minutes before the sixteenth buzzer, but we'll take forever to get there with Cj's injury," Pablo says.

     Anthony takes a deep breath and looks at the hanging bridges, trying to find the fastest route. But then, when he looked down at the waters beneath them, he instantly had an idea.

     "If we can't run, we'll swim," Anthony says, surprising everyone. "And as the leader, you go first," he then adds as he looks at Cj with a sadistic grin.

    "D-Don't you fucking dare, you asshole. I will fucking kill you if you touch me," Cj threatens, but Anthony ignores him and suddenly carries him up. "I swear to god I will kill you, Anthony!"

     "Then make sure you don't drown so you can actually kill me," Anthony says before finally throwing Cj down the waters.

     As Cj's scream could be heard, Anthony laughs and finally jumps off the bridge too, joining their angry leader.

     "Why did I join this brotherhood?" Pablo then asks himself, but he jumps off as well. Soon after, Kevin and Orson follow.

    The other brotherhoods started shooting at the waters while the members of Cigarettes dived deeper so the bullets wouldn't reach them. And despite Cj's displeasure with the suggested plan, Cj swam with ease, secretly glad that his right-hand man was able to think of doing this.

     When they finally got to the central island, where the only ladder could be found, Anthony started climbing first. Kevin and the others tried assisting Cj, but Cj told them to climb before him so he wouldn't slow them down. When his members finally got to the ladder, Cj took a deep breath and started climbing it now too. With his injured ankle, this was almost impossible, but he had to bite his lip down and suck it up.

     "The second buzzer already played! We have to hurry!" Anthony shouted when he was nearing the top. But as the five members climbed the ladder, others started to shoot at them as expected.

     "Hold on tight!"

     Joon, who was holding onto the bridge's railing for support, saw Cigarettes and tried helping them out. His other eye was actually getting worse, but he tried brushing it off as he still wanted to be useful to the others. But as he was about to lift his gun up, he didn't notice that someone was running towards him at full speed. And as Joon is about to shoot, the unknown figure tackles him and puts him down before stabbing his thigh with a knife.

     Joon shouts in complete pain, trying to figure out who is standing on top of him.

     "I've always wanted to do that to you," the voice says.

     Joon blinks, his vision getting worse by the second as the unknown figure stares at him. He tries reaching out for him, but then gunshots are suddenly heard, and the unknown student gets off him and runs off.

     "Joon! Are you okay?" Someone then asks, and Joon sighs in relief when he realizes that the voice came from a member of Jokers, Brave.

     "C-Cigarettes...they need help," Joon tries to say, surprising Brave because it was obvious that Joon needed help more with the current state that he's in.

     "Mj and the others are already on their way to help them. But you...you still have time. There's still the sixth rank," Brave says as he tries to help Joon up, but Joon only pushes him away.

     "N-No!" He shouts. "Cigarettes will finish their task soon, and you guys will be next. You'll only waste your time helping me."

     "Joon, look at you! Your brotherhood motto is 'the strong protect the weak,' right? Then let me help you," Brave says, but Joon doesn't say anything, which only angers Brave as he is reminded of their almost-forgotten past.

     "You were always like this, Joon. Even when Paradox—"

     "Enough, Brave," Joon quickly cuts off. "Do not remind me of a past that we all decided to forget. That does not matter anymore. The past does not matter anymore."

     "Really? It doesn't? Then why are you still holding onto Viktor, exactly like you did back then?" Brave asks next, and the question finally makes Joon's chest ache.

     While Brave stared at Joon with pity in his eyes, a siren sound was suddenly heard. Brave immediately looked up at the screen in panic, but he immediately sighed in relief when he saw Cigarettes' logo.

     "Fourth Winner...rank 4, Cigarettes."

     "You have to go," Joon says when he hears the announcement. He slowly stood back up but immediately stumbled because of the wound on his thigh. Brave tries to reach out to help him but stops himself as he knows that Joon will only push him away.

     "You know, Joon, if you didn't love Viktor as much as you do now, you could have easily been king," Brave says as he pulls his gun out of his pocket.

     "I never desired the crown," Joon answers.

     "I know. What you desired...was Viktor. And that became one of the reasons why President Grey is gone," Brave answers back before handing his gun to Joon and finally running off to join the rest of the Jokers.

     As soon as he was gone, Joon reached out to wipe his cheek, which actually had tears streaming down from his eyes. He clenches the gun that Brave gave him and tries his best not to show any more emotions. This wasn't him at all. Showing emotions was a sign of weakness, and Joon swore never to be weak in front of anyone.

     He made sure to never show his emotions again, especially after what happened in the past.

     "Mj! We need to hurry if we want PHD to get the sixth rank," Brave says when he gets to where Krist and the others are.

     "Yeah, I know. That's why we're heading to our next base now," Krist explains, and the five of them started running.

     "Should we do what Cigarettes did and jump off too?" Brave suggests.

     "We can't," Krist immediately answers.

     "Why not?"

     Krist sighs and points at their youngest member before saying, "Rome can't swim."

     "W-Wait...you can't swim?! What if you fell off the bridge earlier? You could have drowned!" Brave then scolds like a dad, and Rome just awkwardly laughs while scratching the back of his head.

     Jokers continued running to their base, thinking of different ways how they could successfully put their flags down without getting caught up by the other brotherhoods. But as they were running, they suddenly heard a sound that instantly made them stop.

     The cheers quiet down while the members of the Elites, and even President Janus, sigh and look away as the sound of sirens echoes in the stadium.

     "N-No..." Krist says as he slowly looks at the screen. When he finally sees the logo, his heart instantly drops. And at that moment, the entire campus of J.S High became completely silent.

     "Fifth winner," the female voice announces. "Rank 5...Revels."

- END -