Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

82 | Getting An Invite

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MAX ENTERS THE RED room where he's welcomed with another sofa and a center table that's filled with cigarette buds, a large bottle of alcohol, and the cigarette holder and lighter that Max was familiar with. This room was like those creepy basements that you'd see in movies, and this was honestly what Max expected that Cigarette's base would look like.

     Max thought that no one was there, but then he suddenly hears someone grunt in pain. He immediately looks at where the sound is coming from, and to his surprise, he sees a white uniform strapped against the wall, his face almost unrecognizable as blood oozed out of his nose and mouth.

     Max couldn't help but cover his mouth and take a step back. He wanted to run out, but his body wouldn't let him. But before Max could even process the whole situation, he suddenly hears someone chuckle behind him.

    "Surprised? I thought you like these things," the voice says, and Max looks back and sees Cj walking toward him with a sadistic grin.

     Cj was holding a bat that was covered in blood. His gloves were covered in blood too, and you could see some of it splattered on his face. 

     "I...who...what did you do?" Max could barely even ask, making Cj laugh at him.

     Cj then walks towards the sofa and takes a seat. As he stares at Max, he bites on his leather glove and pulls it off using his teeth so he can remove the other one with his clean hand. He then pulls out a black silky handkerchief from the pocket of his uniform and uses it to clean the baseball bat this time.

     "Don't act so disgusted. You did that to me too, remember?" Cj asks, instantly making Max feel guilty. It was at that moment where Max was once again reminded that they're now back in J.S High, and Cj is now a completely different person from when they talked outside.

     "You know, I thought you planned the battle with Jokers and BND too because you knew that I'd end up making a deal with you, but then I realized that you didn't plan it at all. You're good at making plans, and one mistake made me realize that the battle with your protectors was decided on a whim," Cj says as he continues to clean his blood-covered bat. 

      "You know what the mistake was?" Cj asks next, and before Max could even think of an answer, Cj suddenly covers his face, making Max furrow his brows in confusion.

     When it was obvious that Max wasn't catching on - especially since he wasn't even there to watch the battle - Cj grins at him and finally says, "Masks...Jokers never battle without their clown masks. If I realized it sooner, I shouldn't have accepted that battle. You made a fool out of me, and I don't like it when people do that."

    "It's not my fault you got tricked by them," Max tells him, instantly making Cj laugh.

     "I apologize, it's not you're fault at all. Just like how I was hospitalized after what my brotherhood did to me at the Great Hall. How you asked them to break my bones. It's actually a miracle that I can move around now," Cj says with a sarcastic tone.

     "It was a mistake. I told you, didn't I?" Max suddenly insists, and Cj laughs again.

     "Oh yes, of course. I'm such a klutz. It was all just a big misunderstanding. I must have remembered it all wrong since I passed out afterward," Cj tells him with a mocking tone before putting down the bat so he could rest his arm on the back pillows.

     Max clenches his fist in anger, not at Cj but at himself. He wanted to apologize, but words just couldn't come out of his mouth. He couldn't believe that he was able to do all that to someone, and now he's not even taking responsibility for it, unlike Cj who's the complete opposite.