Twisted Wonderland Book 2: The Usurper from the Wilds

Chapter 20: Truth Brought to Light

And with that, the fight begins: Deuce vs. Jack. The two have been throwing their fits at each other and punching each other.

Jack throws his fist, "Hyeeeaaarrrgh!

And Deuce swings his fist, "Grrraaaaah!"

Jack and Deuce continue to throw their fists at each other. Each of them trying to punch the other with their fists.

Jack pants as he says, "... Man, you just... You just don't give an inch..."

"Phew... You neither. You sure can fight," Deuce says.

"It's like every one of your punches rattled me to the core..." Grim says, frightened.

Sereia says, "Yeah. This is getting really scary."

"Yeeesh... Maybe we got a little carried away. Uuuugh. At this point, I don't even care about makin' the stupid team," Ace says.

"Wow, those two sure took a beating," Briar says.

"Yeah. Deuce and Jack are strong.

Soon, enough, both Deuce and Jack stop throwing their fists at each other. After some time, they both stop fighting with one another.

Then Jack says, "All right. The path ahead is clear. I'll tell you what I know."

"'The path'? The path to what?" Ace says, confused.

"The path my heart's telling me to walk, "Jack answers, "Remember, I'm betraying my own dorm here."

Then holds out his fist, "But I can't be quiet any longer! I don't care how strong the foe—I wanna face them with my own two fists! I've been training hard for this tournament. I was excited to see how far I could go. But these cowardly schemes are making me sick! A triumph won through treachery means nothing! I wanted to claim victory on the back of my own strength and skill, and fight to defend it!"

"I think I preferred talking to his fists," Ace says.

"I have to agree on that," Jasper says.

"So...this is all about you, then?" Sereia ask, "What about the innocent people being hurt?"

Then Deuce says with confidence, "I get it! I know exactly what he means!"

"That's not a good sign," Grim dumbfounded.

"Okay then," Briar replies.

Then turns to Jack, "Now that all of that is clear, you think you can tell us everything you know."

Jack nods his head in reply.

And Jack says, "Ruggie's signature spell—It makes its target copy Ruggie's movements. Since he's making the same movements as the person he's controlling, he's able to make it look like an accident on their part."

"Huh. So that's how he was able to get Grim to trade without getting caught. He just put out his hand, and Grim put out his," Ace says.

"Right. Grim put his hand out because Ruggie was using his magic to have Grim copy him," Sereia says.

Grim growls in anger, "That lousy, rotten...! Aaargh! Now I'm angry again! Food grudges never die!"

But Deuce realizes something, "Wait, hold on a minute. If he was mirroring the movements of someone about to fall down the stairs, surely someone would have noticed that?"

"You're right, it would be impossible for Ruggie to mirror somebody's movement without anyone noticing. That is... unless he has some help," Briar says.

This has everyone caught off guard.

Then Jack says, "She's right. Ruggie didn't cause these accidents by himself. Most of Savanaclaw was probably in on it too."