Strolling down the hallways after detention I made my way across the school towards the press room. I had asked another student in detention for directions since I did not want to keep Blyke and Isen waiting too long. So, after two rights and a left off the main hallway, I was standing before the press office. Before my hand could turn the doorknob, I heard a short, distinct whistle. Turning my head towards the sound, I spotted John.

I made my way towards him and asked, "What's up, John?"

"Hey, I'm not going to join you. Sera caught up with me after math and said she wanted to talk with me alone. I'm going to head over to get some bobba tea with her."

I nodded, understanding that patching things up with Sera was more important.

"Okay. Let me know how it goes and if there is anything I can do."

"Thanks for understanding, Eloise."

With that short reply, he walked out the hallway exit and towards the school gates. I approached the press office again and entered after knocking. Across the room, Blyke was seated on a wooden table, with Isen standing on his right and Remi on his left.

"My, my what a picture of royalty you guys portray. Blyke, as King, Remi as your Queen, and Isen as your most loyal right-hand man."

My mention of Remi as his Queen drew a bright pink blush across his cheeks. Flustered, he was unable to reply to my comment. Instead, Remi stood up straighter and walked towards me.

"Eloise, is it? You have made quite the impression since you've arrived at Wellston."

"What can I say? I have my memorable moments."

We both smiled at each other. Remi's was a strained, overly friendly smile that she seemed to be putting on for show. Mine was a bit more believable but I was trying to be cautiously friendly, though their first impressions of me were not a good one. I would have to try hard to change that.

"So, I asked Blyke and Isen to meet me here because I thought it would be more comfortable for everyone. I am not sure about Blyke and Isen but being late to class earned me a detention, so I would hate to know what skipping a class results in? Suspension, expulsion, death?"

I laughed, trying to lighten the situation, albeit with a very dark joke. No one replied, though Remi seemed extremely uncomfortable at the mention of death. I walked forward and grabbed one of the many identical wooden chairs in the room and sat down.

"Alright, I'm here. You guys had some questions. I'm all ears."

Isen took the lead and given his background as a reporter I think the other two probably agreed that he would be best suited to lead this interrogation questioning.

"After Friday, I think we are all interested to know how you know John?"

Playing dumb I replied, "You mean the Joker? I believe that is what the rest of the students have been calling him."

"You did not seem surprised when I called him John. But let's say that you did not know that Joker was John with a mask, why did you intervene in the fight?"

"To be perfectly frank I guess I'm still not used to how things are done at Wellston. Is it common practice to have ten high-tiers attack another student?"

Now it was their turn to be embarrassed, after all under normal conditions no one would have thought that such a fight could be considered fair. That is when Remi spoke up.

"You have no idea what you interfered in. John was way out of control. He had been challenging students and pounding on them. Most ended up in the infirmary with Dr. Darren and some even got sent to the hospital. Plus, his masked persona has been taken on by lower tiers and now there is a complete breakdown in the school. Everyone is being attacked by Jokers."

I looked at her straight in the eyes so she could see how serious I was.

"John does not have an excuse for such actions, but the repercussions do not lie solely on his shoulders. He may have given them the means; however, the motivations are due to the oppressive hierarchy that you have here at Wellston."

Remi sadly replies, "I see that now. And its not like we have been ignoring the problem. Blyke, Isen and I have been trying to ease tensions and stop these fake Jokers without outing them."

"Yes, I saw that today. Blyke unmasked a fake Joker that I had helped stop."

Blyke, Isen and Remi simultaneously unzip their bags and I can see several more black masks.

Now Blyke stood up and confronted me.

"However, none of this is enough while John, the real Joker, runs around defeating all of the high tiers while refusing to take on the responsibility of King."

"Why would he? He does not want to be King. Did Arlo not tell you guys this? Is it not obvious from the fact that he pretended to be a cripple for TWO WHOLE YEARS that he does not want such a position."

My patience was getting tested and by the end of my statement I had begun to raise my voice. Blyke, the other hot-headed one in the room, also began shouting.

"THEN WHY IS HE DOING THIS? HE'S TERRORIZING THE SCHOOL!"

Not wanting to draw the attention of any stragglers who may have stayed after school, I lowered my voice again.

"He told me that this all started when Arlo began to target him. You are aware that Arlo pretended to be his friend while planning to take him outside and have his friends beat him up, right?"

Remi gasped, Isen looked embarrassed, and Blyke looked a bit sick.

"Isen, you knew, didn't you?"

Isen did not deny it. Remi looked betrayed and refused to look at Isen.

"Ask yourselves this? If you were being targeted by the King of Wellston, well former King, and you were being beaten up, would you not defend yourself with whatever means you had?"

Blyke angrily retorts, "Yes! You proved your point. But then why did he have to go after everyone else? What did they do to him? He attacked Remi and Remi had never bullied him. She even tried to be nice to him and he hurt her instead. I tried to befriend him, and he was hostile and rude."

I put my hand over Remi's hand.

"I'm sorry he hurt you and while I'm glad that you tried to offer him friendship, I think that his betrayal by Arlo was still a raw wound. As for why he continued fighting others, he told me that his inception as Joker began when Seraphina was taken and beaten by some mid-tiers."

Isen nodded, "Yeah, Arlo had us looking into her whereabouts. We were just going to get her when John attacked me. I told him that I would tell him where she was, and he continued to hurt me. I was in the infirmary overnight due to the beating."

"I think you, Blyke, can best understand where John was coming from. His friend, Seraphina, was missing and probably being hurt and he could not find her or any help. He had gone to Arlo and Arlo had told him to solve it himself. Had Arlo told him that he would help or what he was doing to find Seraphina I don't believe things would have escalated this way."

"Wait. Arlo had told John to solve it himself? I thought John just went crazy on the high-tiers because he hates the hierarchy," Isen asked.

"John hates the hierarchy, that part is true. However, I believe that John would have been perfectly fine leaving everything alone as long as Seraphina was not in danger. Once she lost her abilities, he tried to protect her and due to his "cripple" status he could not do much. That's why he developed the Joker persona."

"We care about Seraphina too. Arlo had us all look after her, he even stepped in to top some bullies when she first lost her powers," Remi said defensively.

"But it was not enough was it? John told me how she had ended up in the hospital after a girl began targeting her. Then she was taken and held hostage by a couple of mid-tiers. Tell me, do you see how bad the bullying is at Wellston? A high-tier becomes a cripple and mid-tiers and low-tiers go after her. John, pretending to be a cripple, spent most of his time in the infirmary after getting attacked in the school hallways."

Now on my feet, I walked to the window. Blyke, Isen and Remi sat in deep thought over my words.

"The system is broken; we see that now. What should we do to fix it?"