That day was Wednesday, so they decided that Friday would be the perfect day for the duel.

Since they couldn't go back to Heartslabyul without apologizing to Riddle, Yuu offered Deuce and Ace to spend the night at Ramschackle until then. Together they bought more food and necessities at Sam's store for the group of four they were now.

They also bought cleaning products and took the opportunity to clean two other rooms for Ace and Deuce, since Yuu was not willing to make them sleep on the floor or on the sofa for more than a day. At first Ace and Grim protested having to work, but quickly changed their minds.

Deuce and Yuu caught them dusting the furniture.

"It's not like I really wanted to help," Ace excused as he cleaned the mirror, "but Deuce keeps insisting on being a model student who wants to do his best and I don't want to just sit and watch while he gets ahead of me! And if I'm not here, it's very likely for him to make a mistake and destroy this place even more!"

"How did you say?" Deuce asked him without hiding his annoyance as he placed some cleans sheets fresh from the dryer on the bed.

"And I also have the responsibility to take care of my henchman!" Grim insisted. "I have to make sure you keep everything clean."

"And since I've started cleaning here, I'll take this room!" Ace insisted.

"Don't decide on your own!" Deuce protested.

Yuu sighed at the comical stubbornness of his friends and shook his head. "You guys are the best," he chuckled. "Come on, this is not too much. And when we're done I'll make dinner to make it up to you. I'll go back to Sam's store to buy what I need. I had thought of chicken or hamburgers, but what do you prefer today?"

"Oh? Do you really know how to cook that?" Ace asked him.

"I only know how to prepare some basic dishes. But yes, my sister and I usually cook at home, especially when mom is busy with work. And in my previous school I was in the cooking club, so I was able to improve a bit."

"Not only do you know how to cook cakes, but do you also know other dishes?" Grim asked in wonder. "You are an amazing henchman! What more secrets do you hide from us? Tell me, tell me!"

Yuu picked up the pillowcase and arched an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Whatever! Something of your life!"

"Hey, that sounds interesting!" Ace said. "Come on, tell us!"

"Guys, you shouldn't ask people about their personal lives," Deuce snapped.

"It's okay, I don't mind talking a bit about myself," Yuu assured. "This way we get to know each other better. But in return you must say something about yourselves. Deal?"

"Ok, deal!" Ace exclaimed enthusiastically. "In fact, I'll start 'cause I have something good: during the Night Raven College entrance ceremony, I was getting so bored that I decided to run away and convinced another boy to go with me in case I had to make up the excuse to accompany him to the infirmary!"

"You did that!?" Deuce asked, horrified. "So you were the student the dorm leader went to look for! Do you know what would have happened if he had caught you!? You could have gotten the other student in trouble too!"

"Yes, yes... He would have beheaded me..." Ace said, touching the collar on his neck. "But we were able to get back without getting caught, and I could see Grim causing all the fuss," he laughed as he remembered the moment.

"You're not in a position to laugh!" Grim exclaimed angrily while trying to be in a comfortable position to handle his collar better.

"What happened to the other boy?" Yuu asked as he took the broom to sweep the floor.

Ace shrugged. "Well, I haven't spoken to him again. But I saw him at the cafeteria when Trey and Cater told us about the dorms. In fact, he's the same boy from Pomefiore that you mistook for a girl."

"Seriously?" Grim asked.

"Yes. I admit that I also thought he was a girl when I first saw him. I asked him if he was one to be sure and he got a bit offended."

"Why would you ask something like that in the first place...?" Yuu sighed.

"He wasn't very talkative, but he seemed like a nice guy," Ace recalled. "Anyway, it's your turn, Deuce!"

"Why me? Fine, okay... Let's see, something interesting about me... Oh, I know!" He finally exclaimed. "I'm good at fixing machines."

"Boring," Grim replied without enthusiasm.

"What else do you want me to tell you?" Deuce asked indignantly.

"I don't know... How about something about your bad boy stage?" Ace suggested.

"Guys, I don't think Deuce likes to talk about it!" Yuu interrupted before Deuce said anything. "It's alright, Deuce. It sounds interesting to me. What can you fix?"

He was relieved to hear that. "I usually deal with small machines like clocks and those someone can find at home," he replied. "My mother always asks me for help because she is not good at those kind of things. At first I did it reluctantly, but I ended up finding it entertaining."

"That sounds useful," Yuu commented.

"Okay, Yuu. Now it's your turn," Grim insisted. "And say something very interesting!"

He thought about it for a bit. He considered talking to them about the print on his shoulder, but he settled for something much simpler: "My mother works in a daycare center. My sister and I usually help her there."

"Oh. Does that mean you have experience babysitting?" Deuce asked him.

"Yes, sort of. We usually deal with babies, toddlers and young children. I normally get along very well with them."

"I'm not suprised," Deuce chuckled. "You're so kind that a child surely would trust you easily."

Ace couldn't suppress a laugh. "That must have been useful to you. Since Grim acts like a little kid, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to take care of him."

"What did you say, Ace?!" Grim asked, offended. "I ain't a little kid, yanno? And Yuu, that's not an interesting secret, it's boring! Tell me something juicy!"

Yuu pretended to feel indignant. "Well, since everything seems to be SO boring to you... I don't think it will interest you to know that so far I have had three partners."

"Eh!?" The three asked at the same time.

"What? Why are you that surprised?"

"Three partners at 16?! How popular are you at home?" Deuce asked in amazement.

"Three!? How can someone as ordinary and average-looking as you succeed with girls?!" Grim asked.

Yuu frowned in response. "It's not all about physical appearance, you know?" He asked him. "But as I said, since I see that you aren't going to be interested and think it's boring, let's continue cleaning," he said as he gathered up the rest of the clean sheets. "There is still Deuce's room left and I have dinner to make."

"Wait! I AM interested! Tell me!" Grim insisted. "I promise I won't complain this time!"

"Too late, I'm busy now!" Yuu said with a mischievous smile as he left the room.

"Fgnaaa..." Whined Grim. He sat up in the bed with a great feeling of defeat.

After this scene, Deuce and Ace exchanged a look and tried to hold back their laughter. Yuu and Grim's relationship seemed like that of a mother with her tumultuous son... Or that of a brother with his little brother.

"Ok, ok, we are going." Ace said. "But someday you'll have to tell us about your love conquests," he joked.

"What we have to talk about right now these days is about the duel against Riddle!" Yuu replied from the other room.

The night before the duel, Yuu dreamed of Alice and the Queen of Hearts again.

"Another weird dream?" He said aloud when he saw himself dressed again with the blue, cute dress.

The place he was in was not the labyrinth of roses from the previous two dreams, but what appeared to be courtroom. In fact, the Queen of Hearts was sitting at the top of a high judge's table while Alice was below her. There were numerous card-soldiers.

The queen was smeared with what appeared to be jam and Alice quickly ate something.

"OFF WITH HER-!"

The Queen of Hearts' scream was interrupted as Alice began to grow in a hurry until she hit the ceiling with her head.

Yuu didn't understand the situation at all, but just when Alice was finally able to scare the soldiers approaching her, he saw some blue glow not far from him, in his left side...

He took a few steps toward it and made out what appeared to be a dark, person-shaped shadow. It was a pitch-black silhouette, but in it he could perfectly distinguish the shape of a female person.

Yuu could distinguish in her a long, straight hair, in addition to the same dress with an apron that he was wearing. The glow was coming from her right shoulder and was shaped exactly to his print on his left shoulder.

"Alice?" He called her, thinking she could be the young, blonde girl.

But he noticed that the shadow girl was somewhat taller and slimmer than Alice, she also had much straighter hair. She did not seem to have noticed him as she was watching cautiously and attentively at the giant Alice arguing with the king.

Yuu got a hunch and lifted the left sleeve of his dress, revealing that the blue print on his shoulder was glowing the same way.

Had the print always shone like that in his dreams? Why was that?

His thoughts were interrupted by the following scene: the giant Alice bowed to the queen before getting angry. Seeing her confront her like that reminded him of Ace confronting Riddle for her tyranny.

"Your Royal Majesty? You are not even a queen!" She exclaimed not realizing that she was shrinking into her normal size as she spoke. "You are just a tyrant who does what you want! Selfish, evil and rude-!"

She stopped short when she realized she had lost her size advantage.

The queen rubbed her hands maliciously at the sight of her in that state. "Could you repeat what you said?" She asked with suppressed fury.

A big, purple-striped cat, which Yuu recognized as the Cheshire Cat, had appeared sitting on the queen's head. "She just said that you are a fat, selfish, evil and very rude tyrant!" He exclaimed quickly in a high-pitched voice, as if he didn't care about Alice's life.

The girl paled and tried to make him shut up with hand gestures, but it was too late...

"OOOOOOOOFF WITH HER HEEEEAD!!!!!" The Queen of Hearts screamed at the top of her lungs.

A great amount of card-soldiers pounced on Alice.

"Off with her head!" The king exclaimed, using his crown as a megaphone. "Off with her head by orders of my queen!"

Yuu could see how Alice started to run before the soldiers tried to caught her...

... And how in the middle of the chaos the shadow girl was staring at him... As if she had finally realized he was there the whole time.

Before the situation got worse, all the images of the dream disappeared. The shadow girl didn't seem to be there either, as her blue glow was nowhere to be seen.

"Someone should have stopped the queen before she went like that..." Yuu said aloud, thinking about what he had just seen. "Just like with Riddle..."

He remembered again Ace being angry at Trey for not doing anything to stop Riddle and his tyrannical command.

Even though the situation was about the queen, he wasn't able to forget about the girl-shaped shadow staring at him for a moment.

Despite looking strange, intriguing and creepy, Yuu didn't feel her as dangerous, but couldn't tell whether it was because she had the same print as him or because of the sense of calm he felt with her for a second, before the purple cat wreaked havoc.

Yuu woke up with a start after feeling a shake in his shoulders and rubbed his eyes to see that it was Grim and Ace.

"Oh, you're finally awake, Yuu!" Grim said, sitting on the bed.

Ace was standing next to the bed, already dressed in his dorm uniform. "Today is the day!" He said seriously as he pulled the blanket off him. "Come on, let's go!"

"Fine, fine! I'm coming..." Yuu exclaimed as he got up, still with his head full of fatigue and turbulence caused by his disturbing dream.

As he put on his school uniform, he became dizzy again and heard the sinister dripping sound once more...

"I just hope nothing bad happens..." He murmured to himself.

That afternoon after class, they gathered at the entrance of Heartslabyul's rose maze.

The Heartslabyul students kept talking and muttering among themselves about the duel against the dorm leader. Some showed curiosity, others intrigue. Many already expected the result with Riddle as the winner and others commented on the audacity of the two first-year students to face the leader.

"Acey and Deucey have challenged Riddle to a duel to take away the title of leader?!" Cater asked in fear and amazement. "Are they serious!?"

"I tried to stop them..." Trey said, defeated. "Yeah, they are so reckless... I hope this does not end worse than it seems."

"Me too."

"Hi," Yuu greeted them.

"Yuu! Did you know about this?" Cater asked him.

He nodded. "I was even there when the headmaster suggested the duel."

"And you think this is okay!?"

Yuu sighed. "No, but it would have been impossible trying to avoid it. And trying to remove the collars the good way didn't work at all, so now it's time to do it the hard way. We can't think of a better idea..."

Cater was about to say something else when Grim, yanked Yuu from the ground by the pants. "Come on, Yuu. It's going to start."

"I have to go, we'll talk later."

Yuu and Grim moved to the side of the headmaster, who placed his staff firmly on the ground.

"Okay, everyone pay attention!" He announced. "Today we will witness a duel for the title of Heartslabyul's dorm leader." Ace and Deuce stepped forward. "The challengers are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade," the headmaster pointed to Riddle, standing at the other side. "And the person who accepted the challenge is Riddle Rosehearts, current dorm leader. The rules say there should be no handicaps, so remove the magic seal from them, please."

Riddle obeyed and with a movement of his arm removed the shackles from Ace and Deuce's necks. They both massaged their necks in relief.

"Ah! I'm finally free from that collar!" Ace exclaimed.

Riddle gave them a cynical smile. "Don't be so relieved, I'll put it back on you shortly. Enjoy this short freedom while you can. I almost didn't believe it when I was told you had challenged me to a duel." He frowned. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," Ace replied.

"We'd never challenge you to a duel as a joke," Deuce added.

Riddle sighed and took his magical pen to turn it into the golden scepter. "Well, it doesn't matter. We should start as soon as possible."

Cater approached him. "Riddle, what should we do about tea time this afternoon?"

"What an unnecessary question," Riddle replied. "The rules state that my tea time is set daily at 4 PM."

Cater took out his mobile phone to check the time. "But it's already past 3:30 PM..."

"Do you really think I'm going to be late? I'll get this over with quickly." He turned to Ace and Deuce again. "As you can see, I don't have much time left. Facing you one on one will take a long time, so come both at once."

Most of the Heartslabyul students began cheering and cheering for Riddle.

"Come on, dorm leader!"

"Give them a lesson!"

Riddle's two opponents , Grim, Yuu and even Trey looked at them with annoyance.

"They only dare to speak at times like this!" Deuce muttered under his breath.

"Agh! That pisses me off a lot!" Grim exclaimed in frustration.

"We didn't come here without a strategy, you know!" Ace reported.

"Guys, do your best! I'm sure you're going to win!" Yuu yelled loudly to try to make himself heard amid the uproar.

He watched Riddle approach Crowley. "Headmaster, when you're ready," he told him.

Crowley took a hand mirror and held it up in the air. "The duel begins when the mirror falls to the ground and breaks. Are you ready? Set...?" He threw it to the ground with force and it broke easily. "Fight!"

It seemed that Ace and Deuce would have the advantage in numbers to defeat Riddle, much more with the strategy of throwing a cauldron at him and finishing him off with fire and wind magic.

But to their surprise, Riddle was faster and with a gesture of his magical scepter made a thick line of fire that made them back down and lose their balance.

Watching them fall to the ground, Riddle wasted no time in waving his free arm and staring at them with furiously contracted pupils. "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!"

The two cried out in pain and frustration as they felt the collars tighten their necks once again...

"Dammit! We couldn't even use our magic...!" Ace exclaimed.

"To think we didn't even have the chance!" Deuce added.

"Oh my! He was so quick I could hardly see it!" Yuu exclaimed.

"A person's magical strength comes from the strength of their imagination," Crowley explained. "The more force you use to figure out what you want to do with your magic, the more powerful it will come out." Yuu remembered learning that in class. "Young Rosehearts has proven to have greatly enhanced his magical power," he said proudly.

That was a source of pride for him as the headmaster and professional educator he was, but for Yuu it was something worrying, since his friends were still in trouble.

The sentiment was shared by Grim, who winced at Riddle's unexpected fierceness. "Ah... The magic level difference is too big," he muttered.

"We didn't think of that for our strategy at all," Yuu added, feeling equally frustrated.

"Well done, dorm leader!" shouted many of the students who witnessed his swift victory.

Fueled by his triumph and the ovations directed at him, Riddle smiled serenely. "Hmph. That didn't even take five seconds," he said satisfied before looking at his opponents with disdain. "I'm surprised that you have challenged me to a duel with such low skills. Aren't you embarrassed?" He frowned again. "I knew it. Anyone who breaks the rules will always amount to nothing... Just like mother said."

Yuu grimfaced, both from personally seeing the confirmation of Trey's story, and from the fact that Riddle said something like that just because Ace brought a type of tart without knowing it was not allowed, and then disagreeing with an inadequate way of ruling.

As if he had read his mind, Deuce got up and looked at Riddle steadily. "It's true that rules must be followed, but the way you enforce each absurd rule to the letter makes you a tyrant! That's oppression!" He exclaimed to try again to reason with him.

However, Riddle hardly reacted to his words. "Mm? Breaking the rules has consequences." He pointed to himself with one hand. "And in this dorm, I am the rules! Therefore, anyone who dares to disobey me has no right to complain when I cut off their head!" He said in an authoritative voice.

Yuu couldn't take it anymore. He could barely do anything to help his sister's boyfriend, he wasn't going to sit idly by and watch him repeat those words every time as if he was trying to convince himself.

Under the surprised gazes of Crowley, Ace, Grim, Deuce, and a few other people, he moved closer to Riddle until he was only a few steps away from him. Yuu was barely five centimetres taller than him, but the heels of Riddle's long boots made up for that slight difference, so the eye contact was direct.

"That's not true! What you're doing is wrong!" Yuu exclaimed. "You can't keep using rules as an excuse to get whatever you want! Don't you think how others must feel?"

It was the first time Yuu spoke directly to him since the Unbirthday party. But far from being taken aback, Riddle slammed his scepter against the ground in response. "I am the one who decides what is wrong!! And no one would follow lenient rules!" He exclaimed sternly before looking at him with a cynical, mocking smile. "What kind of rules and education did you have back home so that you can't understand something as simple as that?"

Yuu frowned and shook his head, confused by the question. "What?" 

Riddle gave him a quick look from head to toe and bragged: "You were most likely born from parents who can't use any magic. I'm sure that is why you did not get a good schooling before entering this school. You are utterly inadequate here, truly pathetic."

The young boy was horrified by the insult. It was already hard for him to be away from his mother, who worked so hard for him and his sister even after their father's death... In a completely different world he still barely knew, and where he was at disadvantage since the first day...

Yuu looked away so as not to show that his words were a hard emotional hit for him, but the action was thwarted by the clench on his fists and his jaw. "Mom..." He muttered under his breath as he fought back the tears.

Grim gasped at the sight of him in that state. Trey couldn't help but do the same. Despite the things he saw Riddle do, he never thought he would say something like that to a person, magic-less or not.

"I can't believe he said that!" Cater exclaimed incredulously.

Ace and Deuce were not indifferent to the scene and their friend's painful reaction either, especially being aware of the weight those words had for him.

"You little...!" Deuce snarled furiously.

"I'M SICK OF YOU!!!!!!!!" Ace yelled angrily as he ran towards Riddle to punch him with strength in the face.

Riddle didn't even have time to react, when he wanted to realize it he felt the painful impact and the scepter slipped from his hands.

"Riddle?!" Trey and Cater yelled worried before instinctively approaching him to help him.

"Rosehearts!?" Crowley exclaimed in turn.

A loud murmur arose from the crowd full of students.

"That was a clean hook to the face!" Grim exclaimed proudly.

"Ace!?" Deuce and Yuu exclaimed at the same time.

Ace continued looking at Riddle.
"Ah, I'm fed up," he mumbled. "I don't care about your position as leader or this duel anymore."

Riddle reached his hand to the hit part and looked at Ace as if he didn't believe what had just happened. "It hurts... Huh? Did you just hit me?"

But Ace didn't hear him and pointed at Yuu and Deuce for a second. "Children are not their parents' trophies and parents are not valued by what their children do," he told Riddle angrily.

"Ace..." Yuu muttered admiringly.

To think that the first person who cruelly mocked him on his first day would happen to be the first to defend him from the same thing...

"I finally understand that you being a disgusting person is not your parents' fault at all!" Ace continued as he placed his arms around his waist. "You have been at this school for a year and you still have not made any friends who tell you that what you do is not right!" Trey looked away. "That's just your fault!"

"What are you saying?" Riddle said as he felt the impact of Ace's words assimilate to the punch's.

"I understand that you were raised by an obsessive, crazy mother, but you keep saying 'Mom this! Mom that!' Can't you think for yourself?! To hell with the 'Crimson Ruler'! You're just a baby with a talent for magic!"

There sounded a general, loud gasp.

"Did you just called me a baby...? Me?!" Riddle tried to hold back his fury when he saw someone reprimand him for his personal life, but it was futile, and turned away from Trey and Cater. "You know nothing... You don't know anything about me!" He mumbled under his breath.

"You're right, I don't know. I don't know anything at all," Ace replied wearily. "Do you really think I would know something about you with that attitude? Don't be stupid!"

That was the last straw for Riddle. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! BE QUIET!!" He yelled with all his might as he kicked the ground. "Mother is right! That is why I am also always right!!"

Trey took a step forward when he saw that Riddle was about to grab the scepter again. "Riddle, calm down," he said insistently. "The duel is over!"

"Young Clover is right," Crowley said with no less seriousness. "Any attack made outside of the duel will nullify your victory! If you keep fighting like this, you will be breaking the rules!"

To everyone's surprise, one of the students in the audience stepped forward.

"Those first-year boys are right!" He yelled angrily. "I can't take this anymore!"

Then he threw something at Riddle's face that drenched him in a transparent yellow goo. The leader closed his eyes with the new impact.

"Eh!?" Trey exclaimed. "What's that? An egg? Did anyone throw it?"

Riddle cleaned himself the best he could. "Who was it!? Who threw this egg at me!?" He demanded to know.

Inspired by Ace's strong and fearless speech, the students had finally decided to put their fears aside and revolutionize against the tyrant leader. The culprit did not want to confess, nor did the dorm mates located near him have the intention of betraying him, so they all fell silent and did not respond to Riddle's question.

Understanding the situation, Riddle laughed maniacally to quickly re-express his anger.

"You can't take it anymore? I'm the one who should be fed up! No matter how many times I cut your heads off or how strict I am with you, you keep breaking the rules! You are all absolutely, selfish idiots! Well then, if no one is going to confess, everyone will bear the consequences!" He returned to pick up his scepter. "I'll behead all of you! OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!"

With his magic he put a collar to all the students located in the area from which the egg was thrown. Watching them squirm in discomfort and trying to free themselves, Riddle laughed arrogantly.

"How about this? Now no one can raise a hand against me! I knew it, I'm always right because I always follow the rules."

Crowley lost his patience even more. "Stop it, Rosehearts!" He demanded. "Breaking the rules like this is very unlikely to you!"

"Trey, this is bad!" Cater exclaimed. "If he keeps using his magic like this, he..."

Trey came up behind Riddle to grab him by the shoulders. "Riddle, that's enough!" He snapped.

"Hey, you! Not everything will go the way you want, you know!?" Ace exclaimed at his new action. "This tantrum you're throwing gives me more reason for calling you a baby!"

Riddle shoved Trey away, his face turned completely red with anger and his eyes shot with blood. "RETIRE WHAT YOU SAID RIGHT NOW!!!!" He yelled. "Do you want me to tear you apart!?"

"No way, I refuse."

Riddle squealed in fury and began to gather a lot of magic with his scepter.

"This doesn't look good! Guys, get out of there!" Cater yelled.

But in a few seconds the beautiful garden environment became dark and hostile, the blue sky turned red and a thin, abundant gray mist rose.

Then Riddle made an upward motion with the scepter and many of the rose bushes were ripped out of the ground to float over his head. He was staring at Ace with a dangerous look.

"That's a lot of magic! Is he going to hurt Ace!?" Deuce exclaimed.

"Rose bushes, listen to me! Tear his body to shreds!" Riddle commanded before pointing at Ace.

Ace realized Riddle's intention and got scared.

"This is bad! Get out of there!" Crowley yelled at him.

"Run away, Ace! Run!" Yuu yelled.

But it was late, the rose bushes were closing in on Ace at breakneck speed, and he wouldn't have the time to get out of there unscathed.

However, just when the rose bushes went to pierce Ace with their numerous thorns, they suddenly dissolved into numerous trump cards before they could even reach him. Colorful lights appeared out of the fog in the shape of French deck symbols.

"Eh!? I'm still alive!? What's this!? Trump cards!?" Ace asked aloud.

"Ace, come here!" Yuu urged, and grabbed his wrist to pull him away from Riddle.

"All the rose trees turned into cards!" Deuce said with intrigue and amazement. "What is this?"

Trey stepped in front of them protectively and looked at Riddle as if he'd finally lost all his patience with him. "Riddle, that's enough!" He exclaimed sternly.

Cater recognized the kind of magic that nullified Riddle's. "Trey, is this your Doodle Suit!?" He asked. "What's going on!?"

"Look! The collar that sealed my magic is gone!" Grim exclaimed after realizing he didn't feel it on his neck.

"Guys, yours too!" Yuu exclaimed upon seeing Ace and Deuce. The collars in the other students did also disappear.

"Remember what I told you? My Doodle Suit can change anything for a short period of time. That's why I've replaced Riddle's magic with mine," Trey explained.

"What...?! Can you do something like that!? That's cheating!" Cater exclaimed, astonished.

Trey was able to save Ace at the last moment.

Seeing that he wasn't accomplishing anything, Riddle looked around him confusedly and waved his scepter again.

"Off with your head!" He yelled, but his magic only created cards. "I said off with your head!" More came out. "What...!? Why do I only get cards!?"

Trey approached him with a determined stride. "Riddle, stop!" He exclaimed. "You are just causing destruction! Look around you, at the others!"

The terrified students tried to keep a distance from Riddle and muttered among themselves.

"Did you see that? He was really going to hurt him!"

"That's going too far!"

"He's... He's a monster!"

But Riddle's pride was too hurt to realize the terrifying scene he had caused. "What? My magic was replaced by yours, Trey? Are you telling me that your magic is stronger than mine...?" He asked desperately.

"That is not true!" Trey insisted fearfully. "Riddle, calm down and listen to us, please!"

But Riddle refused to listen, and threw his scepter into the ground with anger. "Are you also telling me I'm wrong!?" He yelled. "Even though I did my best to protect those strict rules!?" He closed his eyes with sadness and despair. "Even though I endured many... so many things!" He returned to express his fury. "No, I don't believe it! I will never believe it!!!!!"

Crowley looked at Riddle's magical pen and saw the red gem stained with black drops. "Stop, Rosehearts!" He insisted. "If you continue like this, your magical gem will end up accumulating blot!"

But Riddle wanted no longer to listen to anyone, he put his hands to his head as if he had lost his sanity and his eyes reflected an anger out of a nightmare. "I am...! I AM THE ONLY ONE...! I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!"

The dark fog around him thickened and began to engulf him in a horrible whirlwind that warned Trey that he should get away.

"RIDDLEEEE!!" Trey yelled, fearing the worst.

In addition to a burning in his left shoulder, Yuu felt a buzzing sensation over his thoughts as he heard the sound of a thick rain of ink.

Even with his eyes closed, he could visualize the image of Riddle's magical pen and his gem, red like the roses in the garden, turn pitch black like coal...

[Published in 30/9/2021]