Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (Part 1)

(54) TRotW: Bare-Fisted Discussion!

The fight had been going for minutes now and none of the boys were backing down just yet. Ace, Jonah, and Grim, unlike Deuce, were tired from standing, so they decided to watch them from under the shades of a tree. They were on the verge of sleeping from all the chase, and Ace was worried about his two friends. He didn't know how well Jonah was right now. There was no way you could heal that fast after falling from the sky, even with magic. And Deuce, well...

"OOOORRAAAAAAAA!" Deuce ran toward Jack, fist raised, and was aiming for the head. But Jack managed to duck in the last few seconds.

"Take this!" Jack elbowed Deuce straight in the nose, sending him back a few steps. The hit was too hard, whether it was intentional or not, which caused Deuce's nose to bleed. But the blunette didn't give up. He ran toward Jack with a scream. He threw his fist again, but Jack blocked it with both his fists in an 'x'. Not wasting any second, Jack raised his knee, slamming it to Deuce's face.

But Deuce quickly regained his balance to Jack's surprise. Deuce grabbed Jack's arms, holding him still and he headbutted the wolf-boy straight to the nose, causing Jack's nose to bleed as well. Jack's eyes widened, and taking the few second advantages, Deuce threw punches to Jack's face repeatedly, not giving Jack a chance to strike back.

"EAT THIS!" Deuce screamed, throwing the last uppercut punch, sending Jack backward and to the ground.

"ALRIGHT!" Ace stood up, fist raised in excitement. "You did it, Mama Boy!"

Deuce's feral face quickly turned normal, and now, he was blushing in embarrassment. "Don't call me that!" he shouted, turning toward Ace.

Jack groaned as he slowly stood up. "You..." he panted, hands on his knees. "You put up a pretty decent fight..."

Deuce grinned. "You, too..." He grinned, wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeves. "Not bad at all..."

Jonah just sighed. But he was smiling, happy that they had somewhat calmed down. He got up, dusting his pants, letting Grim climbed to his shoulder, and walked toward the boys along with Ace. He looked at Jack. "So, what's your decision now?"

Jack sighed. "Yes... Now that we've settled this, I'll tell you everything that I know."

Ace looked at him strangely "What exactly did we settle, man...?"

Jack looked down. "The conflict that's been raging in my heart. Since I'm practically betraying my own dorm. But I can't bear it anymore!" His fists trembled as he lifted his head, looking straight at them. "The real essence of a fight is winning by pure effort no matter how tough it gets! I tried to test how far I could go in our fight, too. Choosing to win by lowly methods makes me want to puke! That defeats the purpose of a competition! I wanted to reach the top by winning using my own power!"

"Ah, this guy's the totally annoying type," Ace groaned.

Deuce eyes were twinkling and he raised his fists. "I get it! I totally understand that feeling!"

Grim patted Jonah in the head, making the eye-patch boy turned to him. "He looks like a completely different person. Like you."

"What do you mean like me?" Jonah whispered back with an eyebrow raised at him.

"You changed when you're in your 'captain mode'. Less pathetic."

"You called me pathetic..." Jonah sighed. "But, still. Can't imagine that Deuce is a violent type of guy. Though..." He tapped his chin. "I think I've seen the sign way back at the Dwarfs' Mine."

"Uh-huh. He was pretty scary when he shouted at Ace." Grim nodded in agreement and Jonah was surprised the cat actually remember that. The can then sighed. "Now we have two totally annoying guys..." To which Jonah just chuckled.

He walked toward Jack, smiling at him and he offered his hand. "I hope you can cooperate with us."

Jack blinked at him before frowning. "Wait. But I have no plans on joining you."

Grim squeaked. "Fugyaa! How can you say that after that long speech?"

Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'll handle my own dorm's problems by myself."

"On the contrary, Jack Howl," Jonah said without dropping his hand. "You haven't fulfilled the end of our bargain."

"Huh?"

The corner of his lips curled up as his eye shone a foreign twinkle. "Technically, you haven't told us anything. Only I and Prefect Riddle Rosehearts who can decide whether your pieces of information are useful or not. So, I suggest you don't walk away just yet. Things might come in our favor if you join us. The lone wolf will only be hunted by the crowd, after all."

All of them were silent, staring at the captain in disbelieve. For Ace, Deuce, and Grim, they had seen this side of Jonah before, but only for a glimpse, just like Deuce's bad-boy side, back when he led them out from Riddle's Unbirthday Party. But given the different circumstances, it still came out as a surprise.

"Okay. Now you're a completely different person," Grim mumbled, but it didn't bother Jonah who kept staring at Jack with that twinkle in his eye.

Deuce folded his arm in front of his chest. "Your chances of winning against a whole dorm are indeed very slim," he added and Ace nodded in agreements.

Jonah's smile became wider. "So, what do you say?"

In the end, after a brief silence, Jack sighed. "...Very well," he said, stepping forward toward Jonah. "I'll tell you what you need and listen to what you have to say. But, if I don't like it, I'll do something about it on my own."

Age groaned once again. "This guy's really annoying..."

Jonah let out a chuckle. "Fair enough."

Jack nodded and grasped Jonah's stretched-out hand, giving it a firm shake. "Glad to have you onboard, Mister Howl," the captain said.

"I'm really pleased to hear that, but unfortunately we have to cut this short."

Jonah and Jack dropped their hands as all of them turned toward the voice and the approaching footsteps. "Prefect Rosehearts. Senior Diamond," Deuce greeted them.

Riddle nodded at him as a greeting and turned to look at each of his juniors one by one. "The first-period bell is about to ring and I hope none of you have any plans to skip class."

"Man..." Ace sighed. "Do we have to do that? I'm tired already..."

Riddle didn't even bother to glare at him. He focused on the blunette and wolf-boy. "Deuce, Jack. Go to the infirmary first. The teacher wouldn't appreciate teaching students with a bloody nose." Deuce and Jack nodded, then Riddle turned to the eye-patch boy. "Jonah, do you need a check-up?"

Jonah patted himself in various spots on his body, just to make sure. In the end, he shook his head. "I don't think so. I think I'm fine."

"Good." He said, sighing in relief. "Oh, and another thing. I will overlook your petty fight even though it goes against the school's 'personal agenda' rule because it gave us valuable information, but..." His bangs formed a shadow over his eyes as a dangerous glint twinkled in those grey orbs. "The next time you do it, it's off with your heads. Am I understood?"

The Heartslabyul and Ramshackle's first years shivered. "Yes, we're so sorry..." they said in unison.

Jack rubbed behind his neck in embarrassment "...Yes, Sir..."

Riddle nodded in satisfaction once again. "Very good. Then, go to class. Don't be late."

Riddle turned around and walked back toward the building. Cater grinned at them. "Let's meet again later, okay?" He then turned to follow Riddle.

Jack glanced toward the Heartslabyul first years. "I thought he was a weakling, but your dorm's Prefect is pretty scary..."

Ace groaned. "He is! He looks like a helpless little hedgehog, but he's a super-strong porcupine...! It's better to listen to what he says."