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𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝘄𝗼: 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮

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"Guess we found Groff, huh?"

The Pogues look toward JJ, seeing the exasperated look on his face as he shook his head. Cassie looked between her boyfriend and Groff stuck down in the well, her nostrils flaring as she pursed her lips together in a thin line.

Seeing the man again just made her angry again as she wanted nothing more for him to pay for what he had done. And being stuck in a well wasn't the worst that could happen.

"Just...let me handle this." The others stepped back from the well and made their way back over to the truck to let JJ take charge as he marched over to peer down the well. "Who's down there?"

"Help! Help! I'm trapped!" Groff shouted and Cassie rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

JJ shut his eyes. "Dad?"

"JJ. Is that you?" Groff realized. JJ didn't answer as he kept his eyes closed, running his tongue along his top teeth. "Oh, my God. Divine vision!"

JJ let out a gruff exhale. "What happened?"

"I'm trapped down here because of that...Rafe!" Groff told him, making the Pogues raise some brows.

"Maybe I like Rafe now," Cassie muttered to herself so one could hear. She didn't think she could hate anyone more than Rafe Cameron — aside from some special people — but Groff really took the cake. At least Rafe never came too close to killing her.

"But now, my boy, my beautiful boy, is here to rescue me."

JJ released a frustrated breath. "What happened to the scroll?"

"Rafe!" Groff answered again and JJ began to nod to himself. "He took it and tried to kill me, but I know where it is. I know how to get it back. We'll go! We'll go together. J-J-Just throw-throw me the rope!" JJ kept nodding to himself as he turned back around to face the Pogues. "JJ?"

JJ made his way over to them, unsure of what to do as he seemed at a loss for words. "I don't think we should trust him, but that kinda goes without saying, huh?" Pope piped up and John B shook his head in agreement.

"Yeah, we don't need to say anything when we have this as evidence," Cassie spoke, pointing to her patched up wound on her abdomen and they all frowned.

"JJ, it's your call," Kiara said, seeing as though it was his father after all.

JJ breathed in deeply before he turned back around, walking back over to the well. "JJ! JJ! J— Ah, did you get the rope? I-It's just— It's attached to a bucket by the well. Just throw it down to me!" Groff instructed and JJ picked up the rope next to him, playing with it in his hands instead of throwing it just yet. "JJ, I need you to throw me the rope!"

"Why? Why should I do that when you tried to kill me and my girlfriend?" JJ questioned.

"I snapped. Sorry," Groff apologized after a moment and Cassie let out a quiet scoff at his audacity. "But I knew you'd both...get to shore. And I'm so glad you both did. I-I was having a moment, I didn't trust her, but-but now I realize I was wrong."

"Yeah, sure," Cassie commented sarcastically, resisting the urge to walk over to the well, grab JJ's gun he stole, and put a bullet straight through Groff's skull. Again, Groff was lucky she was no killer.

"Just get me out of here, JJ, and we will get the crown. Together! Just like we planned."

"You gave me away. You gave me away because you don't want me. You don't want a son. Then you come back into my life acting like you had to do that," JJ expressed, smiling ironically.

"No, of course not. You're my boy. I love you," Groff professed quickly.

"No, don't-don't say that. You don't know what that word means. You don't even know me," JJ told him. "You never were my father. You never even tried."

"I'm a weak man, JJ," Groff admitted. "You wouldn't kill me for that, would you? That's not you. You're better than me."

JJ pursed his lips before he went over to grab the half-full water jug. "Being better than you isn't really that hard," he said before he dropped the jug down to Groff for him to catch. "Bye, Dad."

"JJ! JJ, come back here! JJ! JJ, come back here!" Groff  begged as JJ walked back over to the Pogues. "It's me. It's your father!"

"You deserve better family," Kiara told him sadly as she shook his head.

"Yeah, we all do," JJ replied, trying not to let what just happened get to him.

"We're your real family, JJ," Cassie said, stepping forward to gently grab his hand.

JJ sucked in a breath as he nodded, tilting his head to the side as a nervous tick. "All right," he said as he fully took Cassie's hand, guiding her back over to the truck as Groff kept screaming for JJ to come back. "Let's go get this crown."

John B drove the truck to Agapenta, which hadn't been too far from the well. The sand and dirt kicked up as the truck sped down the trail, making them put their goggles on, that Cleo managed to steal before as well, to make sure it didn't get into their eyes.

"Look at that," JJ said, pointing to the orange houses in the distance with a large statue at the very top of the city.

"Is this where we need to be?" Emery queried to no one in particular.

"What does that sign say?" John B asked as he pulled over toward the sign he saw, making the truck stop. They slowly pulled their goggles off, reading that sign that said, AGAPENTA.

"There it is. Agapenta," Pope breathed out.

"Well, I'll be damned," John B spoke.

Cassie and JJ shared a determined look with one another as they grabbed each other's hands in the backseat reassuringly. They were so close. They just needed to find Rafe and somehow get the scroll from him.

"It's that way. Keep going."

John B drove the truck down to where Agapenta was. They didn't see any sign of life there as of yet, but that didn't mean that Rafe or any Corsairs weren't there yet. They just needed to keep an eye out.

"All right, it's just up ahead. We gotta do the rest on foot," John B directed once they reached the entrance of Agapenta before he parked the truck. "Careful, we don't know what we're walking into."

The Pogues got out of the truck as they made their way closer to Agapenta, nerves building up in their stomachs. Although they had gone through something like this many times before, they couldn't help but feel that this time was different.

Well, it was different.

They all shared something to lose this time around: Poguelandia.

Suddenly, they heard a gunshot in the near distance. They froze in fear once they heard the loud bang before John B urged them forward since it probably meant they were in the right place.

The Pogues made their way over to the sound of where the bullet came from, partly crouched, before they stopped behind some large bushes.

"Is that Rafe?" Emery whispered as she spotted a taller man holding his hands up in the air.

"And the Corsairs," Cassie added in disdain as she spotted Dalia and Lightner pointing their guns right at at the Cameron boy.

"Okay, just take it easy, okay?!" Rafe shouted at the seven Lupine Corsairs, who were all pointing their guns at him.

"Damn it, damn it," John B cursed.

"I know, I know, I know," JJ repeated under his breath.

"You keep your hands where we can see them, and we won't have to blast them off, yeah?" Dalia warned.

"Yeah," Rafe complied.

"You want to put it down?" She suggested.

"I'll put it down slow. Slow," Rafe said as he steadily put the scroll down on the ground next to his feet.

"Shit," Cleo seethed.

Rafe put his hands back up, the lens they needed in order to read the scroll properly still hanging off of his wrist. "Okay!"

"They're gonna kill him," Cleo voiced.

"Do we care?" Pope replied.

"Yeah, that's a good question, Pope," JJ thought aloud.

"Yeah, but then they'd take the scroll," Cleo pointed out.

"So we should definitely care," Emery concluded.

"You're trigger-happy, yeah?" Rafe partially teased the Corsairs, although his tone had been serious.

"Just a little practice shot," Lightner responded as they continued to aim their guns at him whilst slowly making their way towards the Cameron boy.

"Well, of course, we need that little lens as well," Dalia reminded Rafe.

"There's seven of them. They all have rifles," John B slowly observed.

"I know. That's why we're gonna need to think outside the box," JJ replied as he pulled the gun out of his belt, checking how many bullets it had left.

"What are you doing?" John B questioned.

"Diversion," JJ explained briefly before he placed the gun back behind him.

"Dude, you can't be serious. This isn't Call of Duty," Pope scolded.

"Yes, I'm serious. We got four rounds, all right? Seven of them."

"Four rounds?" Kiara squeaked.

"Yes. We're gonna hit them heavy, and then we take their vehicle."

"JJ, you promised," Cassie reminded him sternly, not sure that this was a good plan when it was clear they were outnumbered by the larger weapons the Corsairs had.

"I know I did, but we got no cho—" All of a sudden, Sarah took the gun out of JJ's belt and turned the safety off. "Hey, whoa."

Sarah brought the gun up, shutting one eye as she aimed it out toward the Corsairs. "That's my brother," she stated before she pulled the trigger and the bullet released. One of the Corsairs' vehicles had blown up from where the bullet hit, making the Corsairs fall to the ground harshly. "Huh!"

"Nice shootin', Tex," John B complimented with wide eyes as the Pogues watched the vehicle go up in flames as the Corsairs tried grabbing their weapons they had dropped from the impact.

Rafe quickly put the lens around his neck and grabbed the scroll, running away as the Corsairs seized their guns and shot at him. "Kill him!" Dalia directed.

"Run. Run," Kiara urged.

"Let's alert them to our location. That's a great idea," Pope spoke sarcastically as they all started running into Agapenta.

They pushed their legs with all of their might, knowing the Corsairs would be right behind them. Cassie pushed through the pain in her abdomen, trying not to look back so she didn't slow down. She would rather her wound hurt than have a bullet in her head any day of the week.

"We've gotta get to the high ground. Get to the high ground!" JJ yelled before Cassie accidentally tripped over a mound of sand, making her fall to the ground with a loud grunt as it felt like her abdomen had just been stabbed again. "Cass!" JJ slid to a stop as he helped the girl up, the Corsairs only a yards away.

He pushed her forward as she tried running again, going slower than before because of the wind being knocked out of her from the fall and the way her abdomen was now aching in more pain. JJ urged her along, looking over his shoulder to see the Corsairs close by.

"JJ! Cassie! Come on! Hurry come on!" They heard Pope shout ahead of them as they raced up the stairs.

"We're coming! We're coming!" JJ panted as he placed the gun back in the front of his belt. "Oh, shit!" JJ quickly slammed the door once he saw the Corsairs were right there.

The Corsairs shot their guns just as he closed the door, some of the bullets making their way through the thin door. One whizzed right by them and grazed Kiara's arm, making her yell out in pain as she clutched where she had been hit.

"Kiki!" Cassie screamed in worry.

"I'm-I'm fine! We just gotta move!" Kiara impelled and they all continued running to escape the onslaught of Corsairs.

They barged into a room that stored a crowd of goats, causing them to bleat at the sudden sight of the humans. "Barricade the door!" Pope instructed as he, Emery, and John B began to barricade the door. "Let's go, let's go! Come on, wedge them in there tight!"

Once they were done barricading the door, they all continued running with no destination in mind. "Guys, come on!" JJ said before Cassie groaned in more pain, holding her side as she slowed down. "Cass!" He said as he stopped in front of her.

"I'm fine!" She told him before she grimaced, not being able to hide the fact that she clearly wasn't that fine.

The pain in her abdomen had been way worse than it was when they were running through Essaouira, probably because she just fell like a stupid idiot and probably reopened the wound. She didn't want to tell that to JJ though.

"Just keep going!" JJ told the others before he looked back at Cassie in concern. "Cass, what do you need me to do?"

Cleo stopped running once she noticed the couple had stopped in the middle of the hallway, and looked at the frantic JJ. "Give me the gun!" She demanded.

"What?" JJ replied once he turned around to face the girl.

"Give me the gun!" Cleo repeated more forcefully.

"No, no! There's only three shots left!"

"JJ, Cassie's hurt and you need to be with her. Come on!"

"No, no. We should stick together!" JJ argued.

"Hey, go! She shouldn't be here!" Cleo yelled to the others up ahead since Sarah had slowed down. Emery and Kiara grabbed Sarah's arm, urging her forward with John B and Rafe.

"No, you're not doing it. No, no, no, no," JJ kept denying.

"Hey!" Pope placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We got it. We'll hold them off. Let me protect you and Cassie for once." JJ exhaled sharply, gazing past Pope since he didn't want his friend to do this for him, but at the same time, he wanted to protect his girlfriend. "Hey, you're not the only one who shot teddy bears," the Heyward boy reminded him once he noticed the boy's dilemma.

JJ looked between Cassie and Pope before he pulled the gun out of his belt and handed the gun to Pope, patting him on the arm. "Safety off. Believe in it," he told him before he grabbed Cassie's arm, helping her toward the door.

"Don't do anything stupid," Pope warned them before they could leave.

The blondes turned to look at Pope meaningfully before they gave him a determined nod, and left him and Cleo behind.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The Pogues and Rafe kept running until they entered a random building. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Rafe, stop! Rafe! Rafe, stop!" John B yelled at Rafe since he had been ahead of them with the scroll.

He grabbed the Cameron boy to stop him before Rafe pushed off of him aggressively with a a crazed expression. "Just relax for one second! We don't know where we're going, all right? Give me the scroll." Rafe looked all around, only to see that every path had been blocked by the Pogues. "Just give me the scroll."

"You want this?" Rafe seethed as he suddenly placed a knife up to John B's throat.

"Wait!" JJ shouted.

"Rafe!" Cassie barked.

"Give me the scroll," John B repeated softly without fear, holding his hands up.

"It's ours," Sarah spoke up.

Rafe turned around, placing the knife up to her. "It was. I took the shit. I bought it for four hundred K, actually. Okay?" He panted.

"Rafe, I just saved your life!" Sarah exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You did it so you could steal it from me. There was something in it for you. All right? Not to actually help me. I know that," Rafe argued.

"Rafe, she's pregnant," Emery murmured for only herself to hear, scared that she might trigger the boy further.

"Rafe, we don't have time."

"We can read that. You can't."

"Why would I help you? Huh? I don't trust you. I don't trust any of you. Do you understand?" Rafe said. "Dad trusted you. You remember what happened to HIM?! DO YOU REMEMBER?!" He bellowed as he held the knife up to Sarah once again.

"Dad died saving my life!" Sarah shoved his armed hand away, getting closer to him. "And you're so eager to blame me for everything, you won't even listen to what happened. Singh's men had me at gunpoint. I was gonna die." Sarah's chin wobbled as she recalled the terrible memory. "Dad took those bullets for me. And if he was still around, he'd want us to work together. I know you know that."

Rafe started to shake his head. "No, you're just going to screw me like everyone else in my life. No, I know you will," he denied as tears started to well in his eyes.

"No, no, because I'm all you've got. And you're the only family I have left," Sarah pointed out as she began to cry. Cassie and JJ shared a look, not knowing what to do as Rafe remained silent for a moment.

"She's telling the truth," John B whispered.

Rafe searched Sarah's face, the tears in his eyes not falling just yet. He then let out an exhale since it was clear he was holding his breath. "All right. If we, uh..." He licked his lips, his eyes darting around, "...if we work together, I...I still get my cut? So..."

"Yeah."

"I get my cut?" He reiterated.

"Yeah."

Rafe handed Sarah the scroll. Instead of Sarah taking it, she wrapped her arms around her brother and gave him a firm hug. Rafe's eyes widened at the action, freezing up since he hadn't hugged his sister in years.

Cassie sucked in a breath, unsure of how to feel. She hated Rafe, she did, but maybe he had finally come to realize that he was a bad person who had done bad things. That he needed to change. Maybe this would be the start of that change.

Every swallowed thickly at the sight in front of her, almost crying herself since it was clear Sarah had been waiting for this moment. She looked over at Kiara, who had been clutching her arm with a pained look on her face as she watched the siblings embrace.

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of the Corsairs shouting outside. "Um, guys?" Kiara spoke up as she shared a concerned look with the Zhu-Blake girl.

"Hey, this is great and all, but we seriously gotta go," JJ said as the siblings broke apart from their much needed hug.

"Y'all keep going. Try to find the crown. Okay, we'll stay back and hold them off," Cassie advised as she looked at JJ.

"No, Cassie, you're hurt. It's not safe," John B argued and JJ nodded rapidly.

"Kie's more hurt than me right now," Cassie gestured over to Kiara, who was still holding her bloody arm. "JJ and I can do it. Go."

"Fuck, fine, come on. Come on, this way, come on!" JJ urged as the two of them raced outside. They quickly made their way through Agapenta to try to figure out where the Corsairs were. "Cass, just tell me if something is wrong, okay? If we need to slow down."

"I know, I know. I will," she assured the boy as they kept weaving through different walls and huts.

JJ seemed to pinpoint where the mercenaries were. "They're over there. Go up there, come on." He placed his hand on the small of Cassie's back to gently push her ahead of him as they climbed the semi-steep hill. "Cass, keep going up and find cover. I've got an idea."

JJ explained his idea, where they would wait behind a wall that was obviously on its last legs. When the Corsair would come searching for them, they would push it over on top of him to knock him out.

"All right, they're coming. Let the first few go by," JJ instructed as he watched the mercenaries walk by with their guns pointed ahead of them.

"Okay."

Once the first few went by like JJ said, he held a finger up. "We got one. We'll pick him off." JJ moved away from the wall and whistled to get the mercenary's attention. "Right here!" He then quickly hid behind the same wall as Cassie as the lone Corsair rushed over to them. "Okay, okay, ready?"

"Three, two, one," they both counted down before they pushed the wall down, making it fall on top of the mercenary to knock him out.

"That's one!" JJ exclaimed as the couple high-fived before they did the Pogue handshake. They then both looked ahead, seeing an incoming sandstorm that looked like it would reach Agapenta shortly.

"Oh, fuck that," Cassie breathed out, her eyes widening. "We gotta go. Come on."

"We got a good one. We got one!" JJ cheered as he and Cassie raced to find the others. They climbed up the mountain, pumping their legs in order to reach the others quickly.

JJ helped Cassie along, making sure she didn't fall behind. She seemed to have been fine, it was just the pain that was slowing her down. But with the adrenaline coursing through her veins and JJ's help, she would be able to make it to the top.

"John B! Hey!" The Maybank boy called out once he spotted John B, Sarah, Kiara, Emery, and Rafe up ahead. "Do you see what's coming?" He pointed to the storm.

"It looks bad!" Cassie added.

"Do we have any idea where to look for the crown?" JJ questioned.

"It's up there!" Sarah pointed up at the large statue. "It's in that statue somewhere."

"We gotta climb up," John B told them.

"Okay. All right, let's go. Come on, we're running out of time!"

"Get down, get down!" John B yelled all of a sudden as wave of sand came in their direction. John B grabbed Sarah as JJ grabbed Cassie, shielding their bodies from the incoming sand.

Kiara hissed in pain as she felt the sand scrape by her wound, making Emery's eyes widen as the sand died down a bit for just a moment. She immediately took her headscarf off and wrapped it around Kiara's wound, making the Carrera girl groan a bit before she realized what Emery had been doing.

"But Em—"

"I have the goggles!" Emery interrupted before Kiara could finish her sentence, tapping the goggles that were on her face. Kiara searched the girl's face for a moment before she nodded, allowing the girl to tie the scarf around her wound to cover the bullet graze.

"Hey! I'm gonna go scope it out, all right?! I'll meet you all up there!" Rafe told them as he began to make his way up to the statue.

"I'm not leaving it up to him!" JJ announced.

"No! I'm with you!" Cassie agreed.

"Come on! Come on!" JJ said to the others before he noticed how both Sarah and Kiara had both been struggling.

"Are you okay?" John B asked Sarah and she shook her head. "Are you okay?"

"I think you need to sit, Kie!" Emery told the girl as Kiara felt her head dizzying from the slight loss of blood and all the running they had just done.

"Okay, guys. You four sit this one out, okay? We'll find the crown," JJ directed them all after a second as he gestured between himself and Cassie.

"Sarah, he's right. You can't stay out in this," John B told his wife.

"Yeah, Kie, come on!" Emery pulled the girl along, trying to help her down the mountain.

"Go!"

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Go!"

"Get them out of here!"

"Be careful!" Cassie called out to them as they walked off before she looked at JJ. "You ready?"

JJ nodded with a fixed expression. "Gotta be."

Cassie nodded back before the two marched their way up to the statue, getting ready to find the fabled Blue Crown once and for all.

authors note!
jj never should have gave groff that water
but he's just too good of a person ughhh.
we are so close to the end (two chapters
left guys...) and i...you know what, no
comment. still thinking about maybe
writing the other ending i had in mind
just for funsies but we shall see