Trigger warnings- Blackmail, several un-named character deaths and swearing 

Finley had been through more than the others would think.

As he'd thought, the dictator had tortured him until he answered all of his questions. Who went with him to Phia? How did Kaiden get those uniforms? Whose idea was it? Where were the others hiding? Endless questions, and just one that Finley couldn't answer.

"What has happened to Eloise Parrish?" The dictator asked. "I am not going to ask you again, Finley. What has happened to her?"

"I don't know who she is!" Finley shouted, as the dictator shocked him again.

"She is your boyfriend's sister!"

"Kaiden doesn't have a sister!"

"Answer the question!"

"I don't know!"

The dictator had been torturing him for hours. No food, no water, and no breaks. By this point, he had been going for sixteen hours straight. Finley still hadn't told him where the others were. He didn't care how long this went on for, he wasn't giving up their location.

"You're a liar!" The dictator shouted, shocking him yet again. "You must know! I fail to believe that you don't know!"

"I don't. Honestly sir, I don't know who Eloise is or where the others are. Please believe me. I promise I'm telling you the truth."

"Fine," the dictator snapped. He turned to the two guards who'd been helping him. "Take him to the cellar until daybreak. Nothing is to be taken to him. He will be brought to the equipment room at seven, where I will give him further instructions."

"Yes sir," the guards replied. They untied Finley and began dragging him to the cellar, leaving his hands tied behind his back.

—-----

Finley cried for hours. He wanted to see Kaiden and the others desperately. Even the thought of fighting against them was unbearable.

What if he was forced to kill one of them? He thought. He would never kill one of the others. If one of them managed to corner him and threatened to kill him, he'd have to either reveal himself or let them kill him.

—-----

Kaiden had luckily thought to book the hotel for a whole week. This meant that they could go back there.

This was where the Champions were in the late evening the day before the rebellion was due to start. They were watching the TV as it had been said that the dictator was going to make a speech.

The dictator began, "it has been brought to my attention that one of my personal guards was attacked two days ago by one of the Champions of the Ceremony, Kaiden Lynch. I have been informed that the Champions stole uniforms so they could pretend to be guards and spread the news about the rebellion." A short pause. "Well, I have some advice for the Champions, give up. You are never going to win this. When you are caught, and believe me, you will be, you will be punished for what you have done. As for you, Kaiden, you won't be alive a week from today. I intend to make certain of that. So, if you really are stupid enough to go ahead and try with this rebellion anyway, good luck."

Adrielle turned off the TV.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," Cadence said.

"What? Why not?" Kaiden asked.

"The dictator wants you dead! As soon as he gets his hands on you, you're gone!"

"If we give up, the dictator wins. Even if we do, what? You think he'll just let Finley go? He's not going to give up on capturing us just 'cause we give up the rebellion. He's still going to want me to be killed, no matter what we do."

"Kaiden's right," Raven added. "We've come this far. We can't give up now."

"Raven, he's your brother. You really want to see him get killed?" Cadence asked.

"Of course not, but he's probably not going to let the rest of us live either. I don't care about dying if it means the country doesn't have to suffer the Ceremony every five years. I want to see change. We're so close to making that possible. We never had the common sense to give up before, why start now?"

"You're right," Adri said. "Cade, I know you're scared, but we can do this. If we stand together and fight against the dictator, we can change the fate of this country forever. We'll become heroes."

"Alright," Cadence replied, "let's do this."

—-----

The next morning, at 10am, the rebels stood facing off against the dictator's guards. Each one of the guards sat on a pristine white horse.

Finley signalled for his horse to move forwards. Having only ridden a horse once before, he wasn't confident and the horse jolted as it moved forward, towards Kaiden, who of course was leading the rebels.

"Can't control your horse?" Kaiden teased.

"You have some nerve, Lynch," Finley snapped, disguising his voice. "Besides, maybe you should learn to control your temper."

"I will if the dictator gives us what we want. If he scraps the Ceremony, lets everyone be treated as equals and most importantly, releases Finley."

Finley cringed a little at Kaiden's words. Little did Kaiden know that the person he was currently teasing was his boyfriend.

Finley composed himself, "the dictator is never going to let that happen."

"Then we'll just have to make it happen!" Kaiden shouted, charging forward.

The rebels began attacking the guards one by one. They spooked the horses and waited for the guards to fall off, then they killed the riders. Finley had ordered them to ride on horseback, clearly it was a terrible idea.

The guards were getting killed left, right and centre.

Kaiden charged for Finley's horse who threw him off in shock. Finley was thrown against the wall of the dictator's mansion.

He landed on his left arm, which caused him agony when he tried to get back up.

"What's the matter?" Kaiden called. "Don't they teach you how to fall off a horse without hurting yourself? Or were you just too stupid to listen?"

"You're not going to win," Finley muttered. He wasn't sure anymore if the rebels would win or lose.

"I like my chances," Kaiden snapped, turning to the side and stabbing a guard in the chest.

Finley watched as Kaiden ruthlessly took down the guards one by one. The others weren't being kind either. Each of them fought off the guards as if they were flies.

Finally, Kaiden came back over to Finley.

"Some head guard you were," Kaiden teased. "Who are you meant to be, Roberts' replacement?"

"I'm better than Roberts will ever be," Finley snapped.

"Oh you fancy yourself a fighter, do you? Well, maybe you should take a small lesson from me, sir." The way he said it in his usual mocking tone, made Finley almost break down and cry. Hearing Kaiden talking to him like this, it was almost more than he could take. Kaiden went on, "fighting a huge crowd of rebels on horseback is a fucking stupid idea."

"I know," Finley mumbled, not loud enough for Kaiden to hear. Then louder, he said, "you really are asking for it, Lynch."

"What is a useless, good for nothing, piece of shit like you, going to do about it?"

Finley shuddered at the words of his dad coming from Kaiden. Again, he had to try hard to stay strong.

"You really should give up, Kaiden," he said.

"Oh, we're on a first name basis now, are we? Well, what's your name, sir?" Kaiden gave a mock bow as he asked.

"You don't need to know my name," Finley replied. "I'm the dictator's head guard and when he gets his hands on you, he'll..."

"Oh shut up!" Kaiden interrupted. "You know what, I've already had enough of you. I'll just get rid of you and put you out of your misery. Now, how do you want to be remembered? You pinned me against the wall and I stabbed you in the back? Or, maybe that you were killed after being stupid enough to ride into a battle on horseback, fall off your horse and get killed by a seventeen year old traitor."

Kaiden lifted his sword.

"Wait!" Finley shouted. "Please, don't!"

Suddenly, Raven ran over to them. "Kaiden, there's too many of them. We're fighting a losing battle."

Kaiden turned and looked around. Finley did the same. Everywhere they looked, the rebels were retreating. There were hundreds of guards. They were outnumbered. Raven was right, there was no way that the rebels were going to win this.

"Alright," Kaiden said. He turned and shouted, "retreat!!!"

The rebels didn't need to be told twice. They began to flee.

Kaiden turned back to Raven. He pointed at Finley, "allow me to introduce the dictator's useless head guard. Grab him and let's get out of here."

"Why are we taking him? Why don't we just kill him?" Raven asked.

"We could use him as leverage. He seems to think that he's very important. Let's see if the dictator agrees. He might be more willing to listen to us if we kidnap his head guard."

Kaiden began to follow the others. Raven grabbed Finley and pulled both of his hands behind his back, causing Finley to cry out in pain.

"Shut up, or I'll break your other arm too," Raven snapped.

—-----

"Now then," Kaiden said, "tell us what the dictator is planning."

"I don't know!" Finley shouted.

"You're the dictator's head guard, you must know," Kaiden replied. "What's he done with Finley?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you know anything?" Cadence asked.

"He's useless," Kaiden explained. "He probably hasn't even got a family. Do you have anyone waiting anywhere for you?"

"Yeah, I have a boyfriend," Finley replied.

"He's more effort than he's worth," Adri said, "just kill him."

"I'm not killing him until the dictator knows that we've got him," Kaiden snapped.

Kaiden walked over to the phone. He searched in the drawers until he found a phone book. He scanned it, looking for the dictator's number.

When he found it, he dialled it and put the phone on speaker.

Secretary: This is the dictator's office, how can I help you?

Kaiden: I'm looking to speak to the dictator. I have a proposition for him.

Secretary: Kaiden Lynch?

Kaiden: The one and only.

Secretary: You have some guts, Mr Lynch.

Kaiden: What I have is a brain. Now can I speak to him.

Secretary: Very well. I'll pass you over.

A minute later.

Dictator: Good afternoon, who is speaking please?

Kaiden: Hello, sir.

Dictator: Kaiden Lynch, you've got some nerve.

Kaiden: What I do have is your head guard. If you want to see him alive again, you'll give in to our demands.

Dictator: What are they?

Kaiden: First, you scrap the Ceremony altogether.

Dictator: Not going to happen.

Kaiden: Second, you allow everyone to live equally and fairly. Third, you give my dad his company back. Fourth, you give us all the rewards we earned for winning the Ceremony. And fifth, most importantly, you let Finley go.

Dictator: Finley's already gone. I said I'd let him go if he agreed not to rejoin the rebels. He agreed and he left on the first train for Kyrah this morning.

Raven: That's a load of shit, he'd never abandon us!

Dictator: Language, Mr Lynch.

Adrielle: He would never leave us that easily.

Cadence: What did you do to him to make him give in?

Dictator: I tortured him for sixteen hours straight.

All four Champions: You did what!

Kaiden: You'll never get away with this! Agree to what we've said, or your head guard is dead!

Dictator: Go ahead, kill him.

Kaiden: Don't you care about your own guards?

Dictator: I don't care for him one bit, but you did, once.

Kaiden: What are you on about? I don't care about your useless head guard who's so stupid that he leads guards into battle on horseback.

Dictator: I know he's stupid. He's stupid, useless and he's better off dead. So go hang up the call, rip his mask off and kill him.

Kaiden: Alright, I will!

Kaiden hangs up the call.

"The dictator doesn't even care about you," Kaiden said, crouching down to Finley's level.

"Did the dictator really torture Finley for sixteen hours straight?" Cadence asked.

"I wouldn't put anything past him," Raven muttered.

"He might not even be alive. I don't know if anyone could survive that," Adri explained.

"He's alive," Kaiden interrupted. "The dictator said so himself. He's abandoned us and gone home."

They were all quiet for a few moments.

It was Cadence who spoke first, "what did Finley tell the dictator?"

"Not much," Finley replied, honestly. "He kept asking about some girl named Eloise."

"She's our half sister," Kaiden said.

Finley was surprised. He didn't know that Kaiden and Raven had any other siblings, or that they'd kidnapped her.

Kaiden continued, "what else?"

"He knows that you were pretending to be Roberts two days ago, and that it was you who stole the uniforms."

"Finley basically told him his whole fucking life story," Kaiden said, angrily. "He tells him all that and then abandons us too. Why did I ever fall in love with him?"

This was the last straw. Finley was so close to breaking character. He wanted to tell them everything, but they hated him now. He'd gone against them, fought against them.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks. He sniffed.

"What are you crying for?" Kaiden snapped.

"Please don't kill me. I'll do anything you want."

"I don't need anything from you."

"Just let me go then. Please don't hurt me."

"Who even are you anyway? Why doesn't the dictator give a shit about you?"

"Take my mask off and find out. You might as well know the truth."

"What's that supposed to...whatever! Raven, take it off him."

Raven stepped forward and pulled the mask off his head.

They all gasped.

"Finley?" Cadence exclaimed.

"I don't get it," Adri said. "The dictator said that you...."

"This means you fought against us," Kaiden interrupted. "You didn't even try to fight me when I was seconds away from killing you!"

"I suffered for sixteen hours for all of you. I never told the dictator where you were or what the plan was. I did everything to keep all of you safe." Finley explained. "Kaiden, the dictator was going to kill you."

"He wants me dead anyway!"

"So you went against us and led the dictator's guards into battle?" Raven questioned.

"I was trying to help you win!" Finley replied. "Why do you think I told the guards we'd go on horseback? To give all of you a better chance of winning. I tried to let you win!"

"What did he say he'd do if you didn't agree?" Raven asked.

"He was going to torture all of us until we were literally begging for death before he killed us."

"He can't do that until he catches us," Kaiden replied.

"He was going to force you to watch, Kaiden. He was going to kill us in front of you. I didn't want you to have to go through that."

"So what's he going to do now?"

"He's only going to kill you. The rest of us would live if I agreed to fight against you."

"So you went into that battle knowing that I'd be killed either way?"

"Kaiden, I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen. The dictator said that if I agreed to his plan, everyone else would stay alive. I thought that was the best we were going to get. I'm sorry."

"Then the next step is simple," Kaiden muttered.

"What's the next step?" Cadence asked.

"I'll give myself up."

"What?!" The other five all shouted together.

"Kaiden, you'll be killed," Raven said.

"You all stay alive. It's worth it to me."

"Kaiden, we can't let you do that," Finley added.

"You don't have to. It's my choice. We were never going to win this fight. We're screwed. It's better if I die rather than all of us."

"Kaiden, none of us are going to let you do that," Adrielle stated.

"Yeah," Cadence replied, "we've been through so much. We're not giving up now. We can find a way to win this."

"I can't!" Kaiden screamed. He stormed towards the door. Raven moved to follow him, as Kaiden continued, "I can't do this! I don't know what else we can do. Every plan I come up with fails or gets one of us hurt. I was seconds away from killing my boyfriend! No. This stops here before anyone else gets hurt."

"I don't want to live without you, Kaiden!" Finley shouted.

"Me neither," Raven added.

The girls nodded.

"Kaiden, we are never going to give up," Finley explained. "If you go and give yourself up to the dictator, we're all going to give ourselves up too. So help us beat him."

"Didn't you hear me? I don't know how. Songbird, I love you, but I don't want to put any of you in danger anymore. To win against the dictator we'd need some stupid reckless idea."

Kaiden was quiet for a second. "That's it! A stupid, reckless idea! Raven, we need you! Every careful thought through idea has failed. We need one of yours. One that's so crazy, the dictator will never see it coming."

Raven was quiet for a moment. "I've got it! Kaiden, help Finley, and bandage his arm. Then, I'll explain everything."

Well, that's that then. Chapter 33 was quite eventful. Hopefully you guys are still enjoying the story. Also, I hope you're enjoying the character development. These guys have changed a lot since we first met them. But, will our Champions succeed? And will Raven's plan really lead them to victory?

Find out in Chapter 34!