September 16th

Townsville, Arizona

Five years ago…

"Welcome to detention. For the next two hours, you will be expected to sit in absolute silence. There will be no usage of cellphones, gaming devices, or computers. You are expected to work on your school work or sit quietly. There is also no sleeping allowed. Do I make myself clear?" Ms. Froust, one of the administers at North Townsville High, said to the three female students who occupied the detention room for the day. Not one of them addressed her, staring off into various directions with uninterested expressions. Ms. Froust snorted to herself, heading for the door. "Very well then."

With the door shutting behind the administer, Brute sighed deeply. She was frustrated for getting herself in this mess. If she had arrived to school on time instead of coming an hour late due to the heavy maintenance of her hair, Brute would not have been giving detention for her repeated tardiness.

She would not have to waste an entire afternoon for a ridiculous mistake.

Getting into trouble, was not a regular occurrence for her. She was more about blending in, leaving less of a mark. The only thing that she would ever want to stand out about herself, was her hair.

She glanced around the room to her follow "troublemakers", surprised to see it was two girls she recognized from her Algebra two class.

One of them was a brunette Brute found to be particularly attractive. She was the type of girl who should be on the covers of magazines or walking runways in New York and Paris fashion week. With her facial structure, plump lips, and memorizing hot pink eyes, the girl was too gorgeous for her own good.

If Brute was courageous enough, she would have attempted to ask her out by now but she already knew she did not stand a chance. This was because Brute was sure the girl was hella straight based on rumors she had heard swirling around a week ago. Vicious words used behind her back, painting her out to be a boyfriend stealer and the easiest girl in their grade.

That and the fact Brute was not bold enough to confess her interest, were the reasons why she would quietly admire the girl's beauty instead of saying anything.

The other girl was a blonde. Brute also thought she was pretty, but she was not captivating in appearance like the brunette. The blonde was more like the girl next door. The typical northern European or southern belle standard of beauty. A more approachable face compared to the other girl.

They both seemed incredibly bored. The blonde was filing her nails. A pink bubble of chewing gum would escape from her lips from time to time, only to be bursted back into her mouth. Her jaw smacked loudly, echoing against the thin walls of the silent classroom. A pair of dusty cowboy boots were perched up on the desk in front of her.

The brunette was searching through her bag. Her hand pulling out a long cord in which revealed itself to be a pair of headphones. She connected them with her phone, sticking the earbuds into her ears. She had an obvious disregard to the rules laid out for them.

Brute wished she had her headphones. Or something to keep her mind off of the numbing boredom she felt. Anything sounded pleasant at the moment.

She folded her arms against the wooden surface of her desk, laying her head down. Perhaps she would take nap. If the brunette was breaking the rules, Brute figured she might as well do so too.

As she forced her eyes to close despite the bright fluorescent lights burning against her eyelids, telling her to open them again, Brute's ear perked up from a distinctive, familiar sound.

She peered across the room, finding the brunette bobbing her head to her music. The volume must have been turned to the highest level as Brute was able to hear it pretty clearly from across the room.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she recognized the song to be one of her personal favorites.

Under her breath, she sang along to the lyrics, beating her fingers lightly against her desk to match the drumbeat of the song.

On the opposite side of the room, Brute heard another voice singing along, finding the blonde enjoying the music too. She cocked an eyebrow at this, catching the eye of the other girl.

"You like Alice Bag?" Brute asked.

"Duh," the blonde replied. "That's like asking if I like chewing gum, which," She blew another bright pink bubble, smacking it back into her mouth. There was a precedent twang to her words. Brute assumed she must come from a different state other than Arizona. "I obviously love."

Brute nodded with a friendly smile, "I think you are the first person I have ever met that shared the same opinion as me about them."

The blonde rolled her gorgeous ocean blue eyes, "Let me guess, your parents absolutely hate them? Because my mom throws a fit every time she hears any of their songs."

"Nah. My pops encourages any of my interests. My friends though, they don't necessary get femme punk."

The blonde laughed lightly. "Yeah. I moved here a few years ago from Texas." Brute grinned to herself at the confirmation of her assumption being correct. "And while most would say we're pretty set in our ways there, I can't believe how dense some of y'all here are about music. It's like, if it isn't country or corny pop songs, y'all find it to be garbage."

"Right?" Brute exasperated, excited to find someone who understood how she felt.

"It shouldn't be a surprise." Hazel and blue eyes went to the brunette who sat in front of them. She leaned her chair back, dipping her head slightly to look at the two. Her dark hair dangling out of her face. The cord of her headphones were wrapped around her neck like a loose scarf. Brute was too consumed conversing with the blonde to notice the music had stopped playing. "The people in this town are simple-minded and uninspired."

Brute picked up on the heavy accent she had as she spoke. The origin of it, however, Brute was unable to determine.

"Tell me about it. I wish I could move back to Texas already," the blonde whined, her shoulders slumping at the thought.

"I would love to move back home too," the brunette mumbled under her breath before deciding to sit up straight. She turned her chair around, facing the two others. "I'm Berserk, by the way."

"Berserk?" The blonde repeated, her eyebrow raised. "Aren't you the girl who terrorized Mikayla Gilliam today at lunch?"

"I wouldn't say terrorized," Berserk replied evenly, showing no remorse. "I simply told her about some observations I had made about her character. It's not my fault she can't handle the truth," she shrugged.

"Is that the upperclassman girl who thinks she holier than thou despite her boyfriend being the biggest dog on campus?" Brute questioned.

"Yup."

Brute pursed her lips, impressed by Berserk's ballsiness. She may not know much about the Mikayla girl but from the groups she floated to and from, all had the same unequivocal fear of her. Something about her ability to ruin reputations in an instant, but Brute was not entirely sure.

"So that's why you're here tonight?"

"Unfortunately," she answered without a single ounce of emotion. Not one slight indication of frustration or annoyance like Brute would expect from someone in Berserk's type of situation. It was a little off putting. How much she lacked in caring about the trouble she was in.

Or how her words seemed to be withdrawn from any sense of emotion.

"Well that's a better reason than me," the blonde stated. "I somewhat threw a fit in the hallway when finding out I had been switched into a P.E. class."

Berserk blinked at her in response. Her elbow propped on the desk that sat behind her original, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "Seriously? P.E. isn't that bad."

"But I would get all sweaty!" The blonde cried. "I do not look cute when I'm all sweaty."

"No one does," Brute pointed out, gaining a dry chuckle from Berserk.

"Look—um, what's your name?" Berserk asked.

"Brat."

Berserk furrowed her eyebrows, seeming to not truly believe Brat's name was Brat. Brute did not understand her bafflement when her name was Berserk. It was not any better, in Brute's opinion.

"Okay, Brat. If you really don't want to be in P.E., talk to Mr. Stephens in guidance. As gross as it is, he has a weakness when pretty girls ask him to do anything. As long as you flirt with him lightly, you will be out of the class by the end of the day."

"How do you know?"

The brunette grinned mischievously, displaying the first true amount of emotion Brute has witnessed from her. "It's how I got out of Culinary Art. I wasn't going to spend an entire year eating burnt sugar cookies and poorly-made pasta salad. Not to mention, all of the calories the teacher was going to force us to consume," she explained, gagging slightly at the thought. "I heard he doesn't even teach the class either. Some tall sophomore guy who works at the local bakery does for volunteer hours."

"But I heard that sophomore is particularly cute," Brat pointed out, sighing with a boy-crazed daze in her eyes.

"And Culinary Art is one of the most sought after classes on campus," Brute acknowledged, taken back by Berserk's decision.

She shrugged her shoulders in response. "Oh well."

"I think I'm going to talk to Mr. Stephens tomorrow," Brat decided after a beat. "Thanks." Berserk did not reply to her gratitude, seeming to have ignored it all together. Brat did not mind, however. Instead her blue eyes focused on the other girl in the room. "So what is your name?"

"Brute."

The blonde nodded slowly, making a certain face allowing Brute to know that she was not quite fond of her name.

"Why are you here, Brute?"

Brute tugged on the loose coiled curl of her Afro as she spoke, "I may have spent too much time on my hair in the morning and came to school late everyday since we started."

Berserk let out a small laugh, "That's probably the most ridiculous reason for getting detention I've ever heard."

"I know, I know," Brute grinned. "I just can't let myself have a bad hair day. It's like one of my biggest fears."

"I understand. Although I don't need it because I'm obviously blessed in the looks department." Brute chuckled at the brunette's blatant vanity. "I always have to make sure my makeup is absolutely perfect in the morning. Sometimes I skip school all together because my eyeliner didn't come out right," the brunette revealed.

"I have to have my nails done or I'll have a meltdown," Brat followed, wanting to join in on their weird quirks about their appearance.

"I would not want to be around you when you break a nail," Berserk quipped. The other two laughed in response. A small smile tugged at the corner of brunette's lips as a result.

For the next hour they had left of detention, the three spent the time getting acquainted with each other. The conversation had diverted back to their music taste, discovering they all shared the same love for various punk acts. They also talked about their classes and lack of enthusiasm towards them. The teachers they were not fond of and the classmates they could already tell were going to get on their nerves.

Before any of them realized it, to lost in the ease of comfortability and openness between them, they had served their time. On the way out, Brute had thought the bonding moment between them was simply a one time deal. A memory she would carry over her high school years. Perhaps she would catch their eye in the hallway in the next three years, and they would share an acknowledging nod before going on with their lives.

But as they waited for their rides outside, Berserk had asked them if they wanted to attend a concert with her in Citiesville on the following Saturday. It was in a seedy bar with a lot of shady clientele, she explained, but the brunette swore they booked pretty good acts.

Without hesitation, Brute and Brat agreed, entertaining her further for more details to the plan.

It was not until Brute went home, taking up the comfort of her room, did she realize getting detention was not as bad as she thought.

For once, Brute felt she could have a pair of real friends. Not just people she spoke to for the time being but individuals she saw herself creating a deep connection with.

Yeah. Getting detention was not a mistake at all, she concluded.


October 25th

Townsville, Arizona

Present Day…

"So by ten, you should be at the lake," Brute checked. Her green eyes scanned the detailed plans Blossom had written down on a notebook.

The two were sitting at Brick's dining table while the others were outside training. Since Blossom was unable to control her powers and Brute has forbid herself from using her own, they decided it was best to make themselves useful by going over final details for Halloween instead of watching the others.

The redhead nodded. "And you and Princess should have Berserk and Brat cornered in the game room upstairs."

Brute sighed, sinking into her chair. "I just hope they fall for the bait," she mumbled, unable to meet Blossom's eyes.

In order to get Berserk and Brat's attention, Princess was going to inform them of Brute wanting to have a chat to make peace amongst the trio. She was not comfortable with the idea yet, since it was built on false pretenses. Sure, Brute missed her friendship with the girls but she was still hurt by their decision to stay loyal to Him.

From their choice to turn their back on humanity as a whole.

Although, she was not nearly as upset with Brat as she was with Berserk, since she knew the blonde was simply following whatever Berserk ordered, Brute did question why Brat could not make up her own mind in regards to this very situation. The plot to destroy the world was not something an individual should blindly obey yet the blonde was doing such.

Then Berserk…

Berserk was a whole different story, in Brute's opinion. The thought of the orange-haired girl made Brute's blood boil. However, when it all would calm down, when the anger began to fade away, Brute was left with the shallow feelings of abandonment. The realization of a great friendship between the three was no longer the same nor could ever be again.

Brute would get on herself sometimes. The echo of regret from the decision of letting the two into her life. If she would have floated to different groups throughout high school, not making the mistake of becoming a trio with them, she would have never gotten close to them. She would have been safe from the heartbreak they have all caused to each other.

"Hey," Blossom said softly. Brute glanced up at her, "I know it's been hard dealing with what Berserk did, and I agree it was a horrible way to handle the situation, but I have a strong feeling she only did it to protect you."

The dark-haired girl furrowed her eyebrows. Berserk was protecting her? Well, if it was the truth, she had a funny way of showing it.

"Why would you think that?"

"I had a conversation with her one day about Butch. It was… it was a few days before he ended things with Buttercup," the redhead said lowly. Brute picked up on a sense of remorse in the air. Whatever was discussed between Blossom and Berserk, certainly gave the pink-eyed girl a guilty conscious. "And during that particularly conversation, I asked, if she loves him so much and he felt the same way, why didn't she want to be with him. Her answer was, it was better to keep Butch at a distance due to where her loyalties were. If she was willingly to do that for him, I wouldn't doubt it if she was doing the same for you, Brute. I can tell your friendship carries the same amount of weight for her… and for you."

Brute blinked at Blossom. Her mind whirled from the revelation. Berserk did have trouble outright saying how much someone meant to her. She was more about actions. Whether they were her own or the other person, actions were how she computed affections.

The idea of her protecting Brute, did not seem so far-fetch anymore. The great amount of distance put between them since the fracture in their friendship, made it even more clear to her of what was truly going on.

Despite this, Brute was still leary of Berserk. If the orange-haired girl was caring enough to make such a heavy-hearted decision, all for the promise Him made to her, then Berserk was too far gone in her opinion. The darkness has held her captive for too long.

She was not to be trusted. Not unless Berserk switched sides or helped defeat Him, would Brute be able to trust her again.

"Thank you, um… for telling me that," Brute muttered.

"Of course," she replied. Her hand reached out to comfort Brute. The simple brush against her dark skin, Blossom was under a trance, lost within her own mind.


Unknown Date

Townsville Arizona

Unknown Time…

Her eyes were hot with tears. There was a permit scratch stuck in the back of her throat, making it harder for her to speak. Her hands were shaking vigorously from the rapid emotions she was experiencing.

Grief and guilt were the most predominant feelings for her.

That and the endless amount of loathing she held towards Berserk.

"You killed her!" Brute accused through her tears. "You killed her! You killed her! You killed her!" She kept repeating as Berserk sat on the sidewalk in front of her home. Her arms hugged her knees, curling herself into a ball as she wept through Brute's screaming.

"I know… I know… I know…" she would say quietly in between Brute's repetition.

"Are you happy, Berserk? Are you happy that you let this happen?"

Berserk wiped her right eye. A trail of black smudge from her mascara darkened her mocha skin.

"I'm fucking heartbroken, Brute," Berserk whispered. "I caused this and… there's nothing I can do to change it…"

"You're damn right," Brute grumbled. Her finger sharply pointing at her, "Brat is dead because of you, and you have to live with it. You killed our best friend, Berserk. You're a monster. An absolute monster."

Brute stared at her venomously, waiting for a disagreement. A chance for the orange-haired girl to explain herself.

Instead, she quietly murmured the same two words.

"...I know."


October 25th

Townsville, Arizona

Present Day…

Blossom gasped quietly, coming back to the moment between her and Brute.

"That's twice now…" She mumbled under her breath. Her hands dived into the thick strands of her orange hair, clutching at their roots. Rose-colored eyes appeared to be frightful.

"Blossom, what's wrong?"

"My vision… I keep seeing that—"

Before she could finish, the back door to Brick's home opened, allowing Butch into the space. His forehead was moist from sweat; a few strands of his dark curls were sticking onto his skin. It was the same for the white tee-shirt he wore, clinging to his firm figure.

"Fuck, it's hot as balls out there," he claimed, going straight for the fridge in the kitchen. The upper half of his body was unable to be seen from the dining table as the fridge's door blocked the sight. "You two are lucky to be inside all day." The door to the fridge shut as Butch had a crisp bottle of water in hand. He twisted off the cap, making eye contact with Blossom. "By the way, your boyfriend wanted to talk to you about the Battle of Waterloo… Or was it Saratoga?" He thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders in disregard. "Anyways, he needs you."

Brute furrowed her eyes in confusion, which Blossom caught on to as she rose from the table.

"He's studying for his GED at the moment. Whenever he has a break with training, he is studying."

"Or when he is not at work," Butch added, taking a large swig of the water, chugging down half of the bottle's content and wiping his lips afterward. "Or being all cute and cuddly with you."

"I suppose," Blossom smiled shyly. A hint of pink tinted her cheeks as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. She eyed the door. "I'm going to go help him."

An awkward tension filled the air as Blossom left. Brute studied Butch, seeing he was doing the same from the corner of his eye.

Things between them were odd because of: one, his relationship with Berserk; two, their mutual accusations of mistrust from a few weeks ago; and three, a lack of relation prior to being hurled into this situation with each other. During their high school years, Brute had heard about how much of a good person Butch was. One of the few males who were not entirely a dick. Reliable and fiercely loyal, a bit dense and stubborn, but mostly, an overall grand guy. The golden boy, she heard various times from her former classmates. That or a few scoffs from envious males who remarked he was a golden retriever. Despite their jealousy, it was commonly known that Butch was one of the rare people that everyone could not dislike.

This was prevalent in his abilities to make Berserk be outright caring about another person. Something Brute should have caught onto when confronting Berserk about her secret boyfriend a long time ago. Her use of the word golden was a subtle hint to him. One Brute did not connect to until a day after seeing Butch and Berserk together as a couple.

He was like a myth to her in high school. A bunch of hearsay and expectations.

However, as she has gotten to somewhat know him, Brute felt as if she was the only one who did not like him. He was too loud. Unobservant and annoyingly made too many references to pop culture for her taste. His personality would take over the room, robbing others of the chance to stand out. Furthermore, he was dumb to be in a relationship with Berserk, the girl they were plotting against.

From the way his friendly spirit fled the second Blossom left the room, it indicated for her to assume the feeling of dislike was mutual.

Brute narrowed her eyes at him, propping her elbow against the wooden surface of the dining table. Her chin was placed on the palm of her hand.

"So Butch…" she said hesitantly. He turned his head to her direction but his body was facing away from her as he leaned against the cabinets in the kitchen. His body language screamed out how much he did not want to join her in a conversation. How much he wanted to keep himself closed off from her. "I just want to know… were you the guy Berserk was with awhile back?"

"How long is awhile back?" He countered nonchalantly.

"Me and her were seniors."

"Oh." Butch stayed quiet for a beat before answering. "Yup. That was me."

"Mmmm…"

His eyebrow shot up, "Is that all?"

Brute pursed her lips. Her eyebrows lined together, eyes narrowed at him. A hand picked at a coiled curl by her ear. The bottom of one of her Doc Martens tapped against the wood floors of Brick's home.

She let out a tight breath.

Her mind flashed back to the brief time she spent working with Him. Even though she did not like him, Brute did care about Butch's well-being.

"You should be careful," Brute advised.

A corner of Butch's mouth turned upward in a challenging grin. "And why should I do that?"

"When I worked for Him, I remember Berserk was ordered to harm you—or break you. It was one of those things," she confessed. "She may be with you, simply to carry out Him's task for her."

Butch blinked at her in response. A smile formulated on his face, but there was something off putting about it. The way the smile did not meet his eyes. Or how he seemed to mirror Him's sinister smile.

"Thanks, Brute," he said. His deep voice was chilling yet enthralling. The type to send shivers down one's spine but also kept them intrigued, hanging onto the edge to find out what else he had to say. "But I'm sure there is nothing for me to worry about."

"Butch, I know she is your girlfriend but I wouldn't take this lightly."

"Oh. I'm not," he replied, taking a large sip of the rest of his water. His hand crushed the empty plastic bottle within his fist before throwing it way. He gave her a two finger salute as he left the kitchen, heading back outside, leaving Brute utterly perplexed by their interaction.


August 30th

Townsville, Arizona

Two months ago…

Her hazel eyes fluttered open. Smoke surrounded her, wrapping her body tightly like a blanket. Her throat itched furiously from the thick haze, suffocating her airways.

Brute attempted to raise her head but her forehead throbbed too much from a terrible pain for her to move any of the limbs of her body. Water brimmed her eyes, her mind racing with fears of death.

In the distance, she was made aware of a wicked cackle. The grey smoke ceased to exist in a matter of seconds. A thin figure revealed themselves amongst the toxic cloud.

Their skin was a deep crimson. Their hands were replaced with claws. A menacing grin plastered onto their face.

They pinched at her shirt, lifting her up from the ground. Her body ached terribly from the motion.

Brute shut her eyes tightly, attempting to convince herself it was all a dream.

Well, more like a nightmare.

Her wish seemed to be heard as she opened her eyes. The figure was no longer visible. The world around her faded into a blackness as she jumped herself out of a heavy slumber.

She clutched her bedding as she rose. Her chest sunk in and out in a rapid manner. Green eyes scanned around her room, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

It was just a nightmare. Must be all the nerves she was experiencing after the weird incident at the lake. One where she and everyone who was there, should be dead.

Instead, Brat seemed to have otherworldly abilities and Berserk was starting to believe she did too.

It was all too strange for her.

A breath of relief escaped her lips as she snuggled back into her bed. She shut her eyes, trying to drift off into sleep again.

Her ears perked up at the sound of her closet doors slowly creaking open. Brute quickly sat up, finding the same figure at the foot of her bed. The same villainous grin painted on their face as they stared into every corner of her soul.

"This can't be real…" she murmured in fear. The crimson being leaned closer to her.

The fight-or-flight instinct within her, triggered her to slap the mysterious person in an act of defense. Her hand ran their body, weaving through them in a hazy transparent air. Brute arched her eyebrow, waving her hand back and forward through the figure.

It was as if their body was fog and she was simply playing with it. Her hand pushed away the colored air into different directions.

What was going on?

She closed her eyes again, wishing silently for the bizarre individual to disappear again. Through one eye, she peeked, finding the figure gone again.

However, Brute still felt their presence lingering around. Somewhere stuck in the back of her mind.

She shut her eyes again, thinking of the being. Her eyelids fluttered open, finding the same grin in front of her.

"Shit," she gasped.

She was causing this, Brute realized. Her nightmare conjured up some type of… illusion?

Brute was not sure.

However, she knew if this was true, Brute must have acquired this ability from being at the lake.

Her hazel eyes focused on the soul-eating eyes of the unfamiliar figure. Despite knowing they were not real, Brute still felt a pit of fear taking root within her.

If this was what her abilities were capable of doing, Brute was sure she did not want to share it with the world. Fear was not a emotion she wanted to command and from what she could tell, terror was what her power fed off of.

Before she spent the rest of night tossing and turning, unable to fall back to sleep, Brute promised to herself to never use her powers on anyone else. She may not be able to control them when she slept, but in any other instance, she would not tap into them willingly.

She would have to silently suffer through the twisted nightmares in her mind but at least Brute could live with the thought of not allowing anyone else to experience what she saw.

What else she could create with a single thought.


October 28th

Townsville, Arizona

Present Day…

"Purple or black tablecloth?" Princess questioned. She and Brure were in one of the lounge areas of the redhead's home. Boxes of decorations and tables scattered around the room. In Princess' hands, she held up the two different fabrics in question.

Brute looked up from the box she was digging through, her eyes squinting in response.

"Purple," she answered.

Princess craned her neck, eyeing the tableclothes herself. "Are you sure? I was kind of into the black one."

Brute cocked her eyebrow in amusement, placing a hand on her hip. "Sounds to me like you already made up your mind, hun."

"Well, yeah, maybe," Princess remarked sheepishly. Her creamy skin was tinted a light pink, camouflaging the sprinkles of freckles on the bridge of her nose. "But I did want your opinion."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Your opinion is ridiculous important to me," she confessed with a soft smile. Her eyes trailed up and down the dark-haired girl bashfully. "Everything about you, is."

Brute made a subtle step to become closer to the redhead. Her hand took up the space in the croak of Princess' neck. She leaned forward, inches away from her girlfriend's lips.

"Miss Princess?"

Brute felt a gently push to her shoulder, making her take a step back, removing her hand from Princess. Her eyes questioned Princess as to why when one of her maids came into the room.

Princess ignored the lingering stare Brute was giving to her as she discussed her thoughts on how to clean up after the party was finished with the maid. Once the service staff was gone, Princess let out a tight breath.

"I'm sorry about that," she mumbled, running a hand through her thick curls. Her line of sight went anywhere but Brute. "I can't let anyone see me with you like that—at least, not right now."

"Oh." Brute eased on her offense, immediately picking up as to why Princess did not allow them to kiss. "No one knows, huh?"

The redhead shook her head, "Only Buttercup and you know for sure about my sexuality. And I can't let anyone else know because of Daddy. He…" She paused for moment, swallowing the hard lump of truth in her throat. "He would not be pleased to find out about the truth. Neither will be his board and backers. So none of the staff can see us doing stuff like that or they'll tell Daddy."

Brute took a moment to herself to process what Princess was saying. A flopping sensation intensified in her stomach.

"Are you sure I am what you want?" She asked quietly.

Princess snapped her eyes to Brute, petrified by the thought she was implying. "I like you, Brute. So, so, so much. Of course, I want to be with you."

Brute nodded solemnly, hugging herself. "I know but… I don't want you to risk everything because of me. I can understand dating a girl isn't exactly what a conservative man like your father would want, but adding on the fact I'm black and come from a working class background? I can't see that having any positive outcomes. He would disown you in a heartbeat."

"You're right," the redhead confessed after a beat. "And maybe getting disowned by him doesn't sound so bad to me. I just," she took in a deep breath before continuing. "I don't want to say anything at the moment. Not when our lives are a chaotic mess with all this Him stuff."

"I understand," Brute replied genuinely.

Princess rested her hand on Brute's shoulder. Her dark eyes captivated by the hazel ones her girlfriend possessed. "I promise. After all of this is over, you will not be a secret. Even if it means Daddy no longer wants anything to do with me. I rather be with you."

Brute could not help the smile spreading across her lips despite the heavy amount of doubt she held within herself. Did she truly believe Princess would be able to cut herself off from her dad? She was not sure. The redhead has grown tremendously over the past year or so. Growth in which had made Brute easily fall even more for Princess than she originally planned for.

It was hard for her trust to anyone after what transpired between her and the punks. However, Brute knew she could not keep a doubtful mind if she was to continue her relationship with Princess. Allowing fears to take control of her, would only create distrust and unnecessary complications.

"Me too."


October 31st

Townsville, Arizona

Present Day…

Today was the day.

The day in which would change the course of the conflict with Him.

Brute's stomach has been in knots all day despite knowing she would not be apart of the major aspects of the night. In a way, she has grown fond of the little group formed during the circumstances they were under—all except for Butch. Since she has, Brute was fearful for their safety. Brute still believed going through with plan was ill advised but it was too late to rise anymore concerns.

Instead, Brute had to put on a brave face and simply hoped they would complete their task without any problems arising.

Before they did go to the lake, each individual in the plan was given a position at Princess' Halloween party to be in until given their cue to leave. While Princess was busy with her hosting duties, Brute was in charge of making sure everyone was in their place to give the redhead the go ahead on moving into the next phase of their plan.

Her eyes scanned throughout the crowd of the party, deciding on who she should check up on first.

Princess luckily did not have much difficulty with finding decorations on such a short notice like she had originally thought. Her home appeared to be a haunted forest, with dark, naked trees standing throughout her home. The strobe lighting flickered shades of orange, white, and purple; cascading images of pumpkins, ghosts, and witches. The dance floor was checkered with orange and black, as Princess played a more Halloween-based playlist for the year—Monster Mash currently played over the speakers in her home. The snack table was dressed with cupcakes decorated to resemble pumpkins, cookies shaped like black cats and ghosts, and a punch bowl dyed a bright orange. Outside, fog machines were on full blast to add a level of spookiness as orange and black lanterns were strung overhead.

She grinned to herself, noticing the variety of costumes for the party. Brute surely knew Princess would happy to see the diversity of creativity.

For Brute, she had decided to go as a magician. She wore an ivory, sweetheart neckline corset paired with a black tailcoat, an emerald bow tie, short ivory gloves, black shorts and fishnets, and heels matching the hue of her bow tie. Brute had pinned down her Afro into a low bun as a top hat sat on the crown of her head—the black hat had a satin emerald band around it. In her hand, she held onto a plastic magician's stick. Her eyelids were sparkling with a heavy amount of emerald eyeshadow as her lips were coated with a shiny, nude lip gloss.

In her decision, Brute went with Blossom and Brick as they were the closest to her at the moment, standing by the snack table—their checkpoint.

"How are you guys?"

"We're good," Blossom answered for them, keeping her response short in case Him was watching over them.

Or those around them, as Brute caught a glimpse of Robin, who stood on the opposite end of the table. Her light blue eyes attempted to look off in the distance, but Brute took note to the small peeks she took in their direction.

The brunette wore a long black dress with a white collared shirt underneath. A crisp pilgrim hat adorned her head instead of her long hair being stylized. A large scarlet A was stitched in the middle of her chest, sticking out like a sore thumb in the dreary fabric of her dress.

Brute believed Robin's costume originated from a piece of literature they read in the tenth grade. One, in which, Brute neglected to read due to a lack of interest.

The dark-haired girl focused her attention back to the couple in front of her, pushing away Robin's subtle stares out of her mind.

For the six who were going to the lake later in the night, it was agreed upon for them to stick to a generally black attire for covert reasons. Sticking with this plan, Blossom's costume consisted of a three-quarter sleeve turtleneck, a pair of cropped trousers, and ballet flats. Her orange hair, which Brute found to be Blossom's best physical feature, was held tightly at the crown of her head into a twisted bun. The fringed bangs Brute had cut for her a few weeks ago, had grown out and were swept to the side. She did not do much with makeup, simply making her eyebrows appear thicker than usual.

Brute did have to say there was something incredibly classic about her look, even if she could not figure out who Blossom was suppose to be.

"What about the others?" Brick asked under his breath before taking a sip from the cup in his hand.

Brute glanced around the area, "I haven't seen them but I'm going to check in on them now."

Brick nodded. Brute was not sure as to who he was suppose to be either. His costume was awfully simple too. The sleeves of his plain white tee-shirt were rolled in a lacking manner; which was paired with tight black jeans rolled at the ankles and white Converses. His hair was not covered by his usual red hat, making it the first time Brute has seen him without his favorite accessory. Scarlet locks were tousled with a good amount of pomade, from what Brute could tell, styling his hair into a quintessential pompadour.

"Um. I know this is not urgent. But who are you suppose to be?"

His eyes glanced over to Blossom for second before answering, "James Dean."

"He's not one for dressing up," Blossom inputted with a soft smile, taking up the small space that separated them. Her head leaned over to rest against the end of his shoulder. Brute took notice to Brick subtly entwining his hand with Blossom's. A crooked grin on his face as he stared down at her in awe. Brute had picked up on how he often would give her that look, seemingly captivated by every little thing the redhead girl could do or say. "So I tried finding one that did not require much effort. He also just so happens to be as handsome of a rebel as James was," she remarked fondly, her cheeks brushed with a rosy shade of color.

"Golden age of Hollywood, I see," Brute noted. Her eyes ran across Blossom's costume again. "And I'm sure you wanted to match a bit, so in that sense, you must be…" Her eyes halted at Blossom's eyebrows, noting how they seemed familiar in a iconic way. "Audrey Hepburn?"

Blossom nodded happily, "I was going to do Breakfast at Tiffany's, but wearing a dress didn't sound particularly ideal for the night."

With the mention of the night, Brute reminded herself that she needed to check in with the others. She quickly excused herself from the couple, making her way towards the swimming pool where Boomer and Butch should be.

The grass was covered with fog, concealing her skin from below her ankles. In the trees, cotton spider webs were wrapped around the branches. The snack table in the yard was covered in a similar spread to the one inside but this one had more bottles of alcohol instead of treats. Three kegs of beer rested next to the table with a line of individuals waiting to fill their cups. In the pool, there were lanterns similar to those overhead illuminating the water into a warm amber hue.

To her surprise, Brute found Princess and Boomer engaged in a conversation by the deep end of the pool.

"Princess?"

The redhead turned around from her name being called. Brute took in the frustrated face she had, which dropped for a second at the sight of the dark-haired girl as a brief, genuine smile appeared for a moment.

Brute felt her cheeks warm up from Princess' appearance despite having seen the costume multiple times already. Princess had decided to dress in the most notable outfit from her favorite film, Clueless, wearing a yellow plaid suit. Her red curls were straighten for the night; the length of her hair ended right at her tailbone. The mini skirt she wore extenuated her thick thighs, making Brute become a puddle from one single glance.

All Brute wanted to truly say was, her girlfriend was pretty damn hot. However, she held her tongue as she could tell from Princess' and Boomer's face, there must be a potential problem.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"We can't find Butch," Princess confessed hushly. "I've checked everywhere I could but I can't continue to do so since I am hosting."

"And I can't leave," Boomer added to the dilemma.

He was dressed as a robber. All black in a tee-shirt, pants, and sneakers; the only thing in which made him appear to be in a costume was an eye mask he wore and a burlap sack printed with a large cash sign in hand. The dark hue of the mask contrasted against his ocean blue eyes, making them more striking than usual. His long blond hair was also tied back into a low bun to complete the costume.

Brute grinded her teeth together, her eyes narrowing. It was just another reason to not like Butch.

"I'll go find him," she determined.

"Make sure to tell him that he's a dick for abandoning me," Boomer remarked bitterly.

"Oh trust me. That will be the nicest thing I will say to him," Brute promised, heading back into the mansion to find the green-eyed male.

In consideration to his side effect, Brute was ninety-nine percent sure he was in the kitchen. She stomped her way in the direction, avoiding the fellow party guests around her, only to be stopped by a certain blonde

"Brute!"

The dark-haired girl was frozen. Her eyes closed for a moment, taking in a deep breath. She could do this, Brute told herself.

She could handle a brief conversation with Brat.

"Brat," Brute said hesitantly. "It's…" She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "It's nice to see you."

The blonde across from her was dressed in a black-and-white deep v-neck bodysuit and stiletto heels. A pair of white cat-eye sunglasses sat on her head, while her golden hair was held back into a tight side ponytail. The ends of her hair were styled into loose curls. Her lips were painted a vibrant red as her eyes were lined with a flawless cat-eye that Brute knew was done by Berserk, not Brat. Snowy white skin was exemplified with a dewy foundation and high amount of highlighter, making her skin appear to be like plastic.

Brat had chosen to be one of Barbie's most iconic looks. Brute was able to recognize it quickly since she was pretty sure a celebrity did the exact same look a few years ago. Her costume was another example of the blonde simply following instead of being something independently herself.

"Oh my god! I'm so glad that I ran into you," Brat began, invading Brute's personal space to pull her into a tight hug. She was surprised the blonde was able to string together a sentence without appearing to be in pain. In the days before she quit working for Him and at the salon, Brat had been fighting a severe case of a sore throat. It must have passed, Brute assumed. "I really need to talk to you. But first, I want to say that you have no idea how much I missed you."

"It sure didn't seem that way," Brute mumbled, which she meant to say in her head but accidents do happen.

Brat pulled back. Her cerulean eyes were wet with regret.

"I tried," Brat whimpered. "I really tried reasoning with her, but Berserk… she's relentless sometimes. I'm sorry, Brute. I'm sorry for abandoning you when you needed me the most."

Brute wanted to believe her. She wanted to accept her apology. But it was not like Brat has chosen to walk away from Him. The blonde was guilty about the wrong ordeal. She did not have her heart in the correct place.

Despite the fact Brute did feel abandoned by her two friends, Brat should not be apologetic about not being there for Brute but for being an ignorant pawn to Him's grand scheme. She should be sorry for helping the impending destruction of the world.

They may have problems but Brute's anger could not be about herself. The world and the people living in it, were way bigger than her. She had to prioritize them over hurt feelings.

"Brat. I can't forgive you," she admitted quietly, unable to meet the blonde in the eye. It would be even more painful to do so. Brute shook her head, "Not like this. Not when you're…"

"You can come back to us," Brat immediately pleaded, gripping at Brute's shoulders. The dark-haired girl attempted to take a step back to break free but Brat did not accept her action, keeping a firm hold on her. "Please. I can't do this alone. And I can assure it would be in your best interest and safety if you did."

"You have Berserk," Brute deflected bitterly, ignoring the blonde's reasoning for her to join Him again.

Brat rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Right." Her tone oozed with sarcasm. "Because Berserk wants anything to do with me now that she has Butch."

Brute arched an eyebrow, "She's become flaky again?"

"Yes!" The blonde whined, stomping her foot against the marble tiling of Princess' foyer. "The only time I see her, is at work or…" Cerulean eyes stared at her sheepishly, "Well, I can't tell you the other place. But even then, she's detached. All she does is have these secretive conversations with Butch all the time and it's driving me insane, Brute. More than usual. Like, what they want to do, I actually feel sorry for..."

Brute waited for Brat to finish her sentence but she did not seem to want to. The green-eyed girl let out a sigh. "Brat, I can't do anything about it."

"If you came back—"

"I'm not coming back, Brat," she said firmly. Green daggers sent in the blonde's direction.

Brat let out a heavy sigh, releasing Brute from her hold. "I should have figured. I just…" She dabbed at her eyes. Her voice cracking as she spoke, "I just want my best friends back, you know? I miss the both of y'all and it sucks that I didn't just lose one of you, but the both of y'all it seems." Brat hugged herself in comfort. "Then again, who cares? No one seems to care if I'm around or not unless it's to one up the other."

"Brat…" Brute whispered but it was too late.

Brat had turned away from her, taking steps away. Her eyes glanced Brute over one last time in sorrow.

"I'll see you around, I guess," Brat mumbled, diverging into the crowd.

Brute fought the strong urge to chase after her. To smooth over the rough paths in their relationship.

But she had to remember tonight was not about herself. Tonight was about taking the first real step in saving humanity.

Brute made her way to the other side of the foyer, finding Bubbles and Buttercup standing by the door.

Buttercup arched her eyebrow when Brute came into view.

She was dressed as a ninja for the night. The dark-haired girl wore a sleeveless, high neck bodysuit tucked into tight pants that seemed to be like a second skin on her and sneakers. Her mouth and nose were covered by a thin black mask as her short hair was styled into a messy top knot, allowing a few strands to get in her face. Light green eyes was surrounded by a heavy smokey eye and a gold eyeliner. In her slash wrapped around her waist, a plastic pair of sai were concealed.

The blonde next to her was dressed as a mime. Bubbles wore a black-and-white tee-shirt, black jeans, suspenders, white gloves, a beret, and ballet flats. Her face was covered in a white paint, with only her lips colored in a black lipstick and small circles on her cheeks to appear as blush.

"What's up?"

"Butch isn't at the pool."

Buttercup rolled her eyes, lowering her mask to her neck and huffing out hot air. "Of fucking course, he's not there. He's probably off making out with Berserk."

"Buttercup," the blonde warned.

Ever since the frequent outbursts between the former couple, everyone outside of the duo has grown tiresome of their unresolved tension but knew they had to police them to remain tame.

"What?" She exasperated. "I'm not doing anything wrong."

"You're sounding pretty bitter to me."

Buttercup folded her arms stubbornly, scoffing at her remark. "You know, for a mime, you sure do talk a lot."

"I'm going to check the kitchen," Brute stated after a beat, making the conscious decision to stay out of Buttercup and Butch's drama for the night.

"I'll go with you," Buttercup replied, practically jumping at the opportunity. Brute and Bubbles both exchanged unamused looks, speaking simultaneously.

"Buttercup, I don't think—"

"You shouldn't leave me—"

"I'm going," she said through her teeth. Daggers were sent in both directions of her friends. "Okay?"

Her question was more like a dare than permission. A dare for one of them to challenge and face the brewing wrath of Buttercup.

"Fine," Brute answered in a short manner, making her way to the kitchen without checking to see if Buttercup was following her.

She was seriously not in the mood to deal with their drama. Drama, in which, should not be the focus of the night. Buttercup should be worried about undermining Him, not seeing what her ex-boyfriend was up to.

The state of humanity was more important. Buttercup was simply being selfish in Brute's mind. A characteristic she recalled Berserk using against Buttercup on the rare occasion she was brought up in their conversation.

Perhaps, Berserk was more spot on than Brute had cared to notice.

The kitchen was not crowded at all. In fact, only two people were in the space and it was clear as to why.

Berserk sat on the granite countertop, her arms tightly wrapped around Butch's neck, her hands twisted up in his dark curls. He stood in between her legs, his one hand pressed flatly against the solid surface to keep his balance and the other gripping the outside of her thigh. His tall frame bended greatly as they kissed each other with such intensity and vigor.

Brute felt her cheeks warm from the sight. She should have expected to see them in such a nature but having to actually witness their public display of affection, threw her off, forgetting any harsh words she had for Butch.

"How surprising," Buttercup fumed.

Her hands coiled tightly into fists. A crackling sound of live electricity came from the palm of her hands as did a light stream of smoke.

Buttercup must be releasing a powerful quantity of electricity to cause the smoke.

Her body and tone conveyed nothing but fury; however, her eyes illustrated a different sight. A reflection of pure hurt casted off of her stare. The crushing reality of Butch's ability to carry on with Berserk in such ease. His lack of regard to the chance of Buttercup seeing them in this manner, created a deeper anguish within the girl than Brute could ever understand.

Brute heard Butch groan, reluctant to turn around to face them, but when he did, his emerald eyes stared at them boredly.

He was dressed in all white. An obvious indication of him not caring about the rule of wearing mostly black for the night. In a form-fitting white tee-shirt and jeans, he wore a small pair of angel wings on his back.

Brute knew he was supposed to be an angel, but she found it odd how he did not incorporate a halo into his costume. A lacking of purity and holiness was portrayed from him despite being dressed as the single entity in which was known for conveying those aspects.

"Can I help you?"

Buttercup folded her arms, furrowing her eyebrows, "Yeah. Boomer needs you. He's by the pool."

"Oh, does he now?" A chilling voice pitched in.

Brute felt shivers run down her spine. Peeking around Butch's strong shoulders, Berserk glanced at them, unimpressed by their interruption. Her hot pink eyes settled onto Buttercup as she withdrew herself from the countertop, landing onto the tile flooring of the kitchen.

Brute arched an eyebrow, taking note of Berserk and Butch's decision to do a couple's costume.

She wore an incredibly small scarlet halter top in which stopped before her belly button and a tight mini-skirt. They were paired with six inch stilettos and fishnets that matched the same hue as her clothing. Her skin was doused in shimmer, reflecting off a red-tinted whenever the light struck it. She styled her hair into loose waves with a devil's horns headband. Her eyeshadow was similar to Brute's, using an extravagant amount of scarlet glitter. Her lips were painted a usual shade of red for her. On the counter, Brute noticed a tiny plastic devil's fork.

Despite how Brute felt about her, it was hard for her not to recognize how Berserk was still the most eye-catching person in any room.

Brute could feel the heat of aggression radiating off of Buttercup. She decided it was best if she replied to Berserk than the dark-haired girl beside her.

"Yeah, he does. And it's kind of important, so…"

Berserk blinked at her in response. Her chin tilted a little to the side. Brute braced herself for whatever brutal words were going to be uttered by the orange-haired girl.

"Well I wouldn't want to keep Butch away from something that is important," she replied, her hand lightly touching his shoulder. Her eyes went to his, "You should go to your friend."

"You sure?"

Berserk took a second to subtle grin, nodding. "He needs you. You shouldn't abandoned him."

"Right," Butch exhaled. He leaned in, giving Berserk a quick peck before leaving.

Brute heard Buttercup gag, chuckling quietly to herself. However, she no longer found humor in it anymore when Berserk watched them with her signature stare.

With a look, she had the ability to make an individual feel utterly insignificant. As if they were the scum of the world.

The worst part of it, she did not have to move any of her facial muscles. Her blank stare just so happened to be her most terrifying one.

Brute expected her to say something. To belittle her or, more likely, Buttercup.

However, Berserk grabbed the tiny devil's fork and left the space without a single word spoken. The sound of her heels clipping against the flooring, echoed the silence more in Brute's ears.

"That was… Odd." Brute said, coming out more like a question.

Buttercup snorted, "No kidding. Usually she spends at least ten minutes making me feel like shit."

"Yeah…" Brute noted. In her heart, she felt something was off but could not explain why.

Perhaps she was too accustomed to the Berserk she used to know. Since getting back with Butch, Brute was aware of how much the orange-haired girl behaved differently. It could be, Brute did not know her anymore like she used to.

Even if it had only been a month since the seemingly demise of their friendship. A lot could change over the course of a month, she had realized.

"I should get back to Bubbles."

Brute nodded, stating departing words to the fellow green-eyed girl. She texted Princess to inform her of everyone being in their place before wondering around the party aimless for awhile, waiting for the cue for the others to leave. When it happened, Brute knew she had to find Princess to execute their part of the plan.

It took about twenty minutes, but when the opening notes of Thriller played, Brute rushed over to the dance floor as it was her meeting place with Princess. As the song played, the group of six were supposed to sneak out during the excitement of, what Brute believed to be, the most iconic Halloween song. It was a tradition at Morbucks' Halloween parties for everyone to gather on the dance floor during this particular song, with all guests heading to the dance floor in a muddled mess; in which would help them lose Him's attention if he was watching over. It was the perfect cover for the group as Blossom determined in the earlier stages of planning.

As Brute made eye contact with Princess from across the dance floor, she took a deep breath, hoping everything would go according to plan.


The lake was eerily calm. There was a lack of silver lighting for the night since it was a new moon, making the scenery darker than usual. The heat of the air seemed to stifle as one grew closer to the lake, the atmosphere becoming unbearably dry.

When the six arrived to the lake, they quickly rushed over to the shore. It took Boomer less than a minute to form a bubble around them. His arms moved freely in opposite circular motions over his head. The other five surrounded him in a loose circle—Buttercup and Bubbles were behind the blond, Butch and Blossom took the sides, and Brick was at the head—making their way underneath the lake water. Their steps were taking with caution as they traveled with a gradual slope downward.

"Hey. So I just want to say that I love all you guys," Boomer said nervously. His eye mask removed as was his burlap sack, which were left in his car. "You are truly the greatest friends I've ever had and—"

"Boomer, quit talking like we're all going to die," Buttercup interjected, rolling her eyes. Her mask and plastic sai no longer with her either.

"Well, I'm still not sold on the idea that we will survive this, so I wanted to make sure you all knew how I felt."

"Eh," Butch shrugged, his angel wings no longer on his back. "If we did die, we'll all just be reborn again with the new time loop."

"Not if Him wins. The reason the time loop exists is for Him to better his chances each time. If we all die at once like this, I'm pretty sure Him will not restart time again," Bubbles added. Her face bare from the white makeup she wore at the party as she wiped it away on the drive to the lake.

"At least we would die before Him suffocates the world into a hellish inferno," Boomer pointed out. There was a tangible sense of relief in his low, tired tone. "We would also die together… that sounds like a nice way to go out…"

"Boomer, does everything you have to say have to be full of gloom and despair?"

"Ah, yeah?" His dark blues shifted back to Buttercup in offense. "This entire situation is driving me up the walls with anxiety. I'm so sorry if I can't help my irrational thoughts that seem to actually be correct whenever we go into anything blindly," he replied sarcastically.

Buttercup furrowed her eyebrows with agitation, "Well why don't—"

"Leave him alone, Buttercup," Butch said calmly.

"Oh don't even get me started with you, Butch."

He rolled his eyes dramatically, "No. Please. Tell me what I did this time."

"First of all, you abandoned Boomer at the party," Buttercup began, pointing her finger at him accusingly. His emerald eyes stared at her from the corner, watching her aggressive nature boredly. "Then you don't even bother to follow our rule to wear black to add stealth on our side. Plus, you seemed like you would rather make out with Berserk," Buttercup spat out her name as if it was venom, gaining a harsh glare from Butch for a second. "Than help us out. It's like you wanted to sabotage our plans."

"Right," he scoffed. "Because I would do such a thing."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

Butch let out a heavy breath, his fists tightening in grip. "Buttercup, move the fuck on. I swear—"

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" Brick snapped, turning his neck around to them, no longer wearing a white tee-shirt as he changed into a black one on the way to the lake. His ruby-colored eyes glanced between them furiously. The two green-eyed individuals could not help but cower a little with fright as they have never seen Brick display such an intensity of emotions before. Pairs of hands tugged on his scarlet locks, ruining the pompadour he had for the night. "I am so fucking sick and tired of your fighting. So you had a terrible ass break up. That doesn't mean you have to drag out your bullshit in front of us all the time. Why don't you have an actual conversation with each other instead of being at each other's throats? It would be the first fucking decent thing you both have done in the past month."

"Well… That…" The both fumbled simultaneously before folding their arms in defeat. Their gaze going down to the hard surface underneath the lake.

They were still walking on an incline despite having been under for a good five minutes. The depth of the lake not seeming to let up. Boomer was beginning to break a sweat as the increase of water pressure was expanding the more deeper they went. The water around them appearing to be like a thick ink; dark and unrelenting.

"You know…" Bubbles said quietly after a good stretch of silence was experienced by all of them following Brick's outburst. Her light blue eyes went to her fingers as she rubbed together the growing ice crystals under her fingertips. "I wonder what it is going to be like after all of this is over. Like... Are we still going to be friends? Or... are we even friends right now? Are we just forcing our relationships because of the need to stop something way bigger than us?" She questioned dejectingly. "If we weren't thrown into this crappy situation, would we even talk to each other anymore? Because... I'm not even sure anymore..."

No one answered the blonde's questions, unable to find a truthfully answer within themselves. All except for Blossom, who spoke up for the first time since going under the lake.

"Of course we will," she replied sincerely. Her rose-colored eyes flickered around the bubble, taking a moment to meet everyone's gaze. "I know things seem rough right now and we're getting on each other's nerves, I admit, but I have faith that we will all grow from this. Not just individually but also our friendships with each other."

Buttercup groaned loudly, gaining harsh stares from the boys. "Blossom, you're so blind with optimism sometimes, it's unbearable. You can't always try to see the good in everything. That's always been your problem. You try to believe in this ridiculous idea that good things happen in life, but newsflash sweetheart, everything and everyone is shitty. I thought after Henry, you would realize—"

"Shut the fuck up, Buttercup," Brick hissed.

"Someone is a bit touchy," the dark-haired girl said under her breath, returning the daggers he was sending her.

"It's okay, Brick," Blossom said gently, meeting Brick's eyes, calming him down with a single glance before narrowing her own eyes at Buttercup. "That was completely uncalled for and you know it."

"Like I care," she puffed, rolling her eyes.

"You should," Bubbles added disappointingly. "If we can't be friends after all of this, it's all because of you, Buttercup. You're driving all of us away. And I don't want that to happen. I know you need us and we need you too."

"...I don't need any of you," the green-eyed girl muttered to herself.

Butch snorted, shaking his head, "God. You're so full of shit."

"Butch," Boomer warned, taking a split second to wipe away the rising amount of sweat on his forehead. The layer of water in which formulated the bubble began to wobble a little, making Boomer's eyes grow wide. He quickly moved his hands in a circular motion again as if he never stopped in order to keep the bubble stable.

"No, Boom. We all know the true reason why she's been an absolute terror to be around lately." His stare fell back on her from the corner of his eyes, briefly displaying sympathy despite his better judgement. "Ever since your dad passed, you're afraid of losing the people you love," he said softly. It was the gentlest he has spoken to her since their break up. "So instead of letting them leave you, Buttercup, you want it to be on your own terms. Push them away, make them think you hate them. It's all so you don't feel like it was their decision to leave you. It's what happened to Blossom. It's what been happening to me. And it's what you're doing to all of us right now."

"He's right," Blossom inputted calmly to Buttercup.

The dark-haired girl had her head turned away from the group, staring out at the dark abyss of the lake water surrounding them instead, unwilling to agree to truth they were stating. They had finally met a plateau with the ground, no longer having to walk cautiously from the slope.

"I know our break up has been hard for you," he continued tenderly.

His thoughts continuous informed him to abort. Whatever Butch had to say, it would all appear to be a ploy. Even if he meant every single word he could utter.

However, he remained persistent due to his unconditional love for Buttercup. Love, in which, Butch has not gotten to display of lately and would not get to in the future. But for this very moment, Butch let it show on the sleeve he has kept covered in the past few weeks. For this moment, he would let go of any of the outside influence and schemes they were in on.

In this moment, he was solely speaking from the heart.

"I feel like it's not about you wanting me but more about, wanting my affections. It's always been that way, somehow." Butch took a sobering breath. "I don't think you fell in love with me originally, for me, but because I was easy. You knew I already loved you and I was hooked on to you for a good amount of years. I made it safe for you to invest your love into me. You didn't believe there would be a chance for me to take away my love. That you'll always have the upper hand in our relationship."

Buttercup attempted to ignore the aching in her heart as he spoke. The thought of him believing her love for him was not true at first, cut her deeply. She did not know what hurt more. The fact he knew and still loved her regardless or that he was correct. Hearing Butch stating her actions out loud, made her realize what she subconsciously did. How she unintentional took advantage of Butch.

Berserk was right. Buttercup had been selfish with Butch's love. It sort of made a little sense to her as to why he chose Berserk over her.

"After some time, I do believe, you truly did fall in love with me. Maybe more than I did for you…" He paused, loosening the tension in which had taking home in him ever since their break up. "And what I'm getting at here, is that you're not mainly hurt about the break up and losing me as your boyfriend, but more because I left before you had the chance to do it to me. Because you feel like I took away the one constant stream of love in your life, and now, you don't know how to replace it. So instead of finding a new way to feel love, you're rejecting any type given to you. After your dad and me, you don't want to go through losing someone else again..."

The bubble remained silent for a good minute. The other four felt invasive for witnessing such an intimate moment in which should have solely been between the two dark-haired individuals.

Buttercup glanced down at her feet and then to the back of Butch's head.

"Maybe you're right," she whispered. Her voice cracking from the vortex of emotions she was experiencing. From the overwhelming need inside of her that pressed for forgiveness between them. However, Buttercup held back from accepting the need due to the ever-growing hurt he has caused her recently. "But that doesn't explain your own awful behavior, Butch."

"Fine," he exhaled, all eyes on him except for Boomer who was focused on what was ahead of them. Even though he should not, Butch opened his mouth to speak. "If you want to know, I—"

"Guys! What the hell is that?" The blond questioned, interrupting Butch. Whatever his revelation was going to be, was quickly forgotten by the others.

In the murky darkness in the water, a rectangular shape stood out. Solid concrete walls protruded out from the bottom of the lake. A long narrow line seemed to be connected to the shape, made out of the same structure as the walls.

Brick narrowed his eyes before gasping quietly. "I think it's a bunker."

"All the way down here?" Bubbles asked. "Why?"

"I've never heard anything about a bunker underneath the lake," Boomer stated with perplexity.

"And how far down are we anyways?"

"According to my phone, Bubs. We've walked about…" Blossom glanced down at the app she was using. "One point five miles. Which means—"

"We're at the center of the lake," Buttercup finished. Her green eyes grew wide as did the others. "Guys. This is getting way more strange than I expected."

"Same," Brick agreed.

Butch's eyes snapped over to the side of him, taking notice to a faint, bright flashing light. The illuminating object made impact with the side of the bubble, bursting weakly in the darkness of the water. A pinhole was cut into the wall of the bubble, growing in size with each second. His feet moved closer to Boomer.

"Um, Boomer. There's a hole in the bubble."

"What?" Boomer exclaimed, followed by the others doing the same.

All focus went to the rip in the bubble. A leak of water infiltrated the dry space, soaking the ground where Butch originally stood. The blond moved his hands in a more furious pace, attempting to fix the hole. The water continued to flow in, increasing the rip in the thin veil of water. The pouring liquid was at their knees as they all moved to the center of the bubble, speaking under their breath of their worries to each other but they went unheard by the blond. Despite any of their personal beliefs, they prayed silently for Boomer to fix it.

In a blink of an eye, the bubble burst completely. A rapid rush of water capsized them in an instant. The force of the liquid hitting them like a truck, knocking the wind out of them as they were separated into different directions from the wave's current.

Struggling against the density of the water, Boomer pushed through, trying to swim to the surface. His arms burned from the large amount of effort needed. The swim seemed endless in his mind.

For a moment, he believed this was it. He was going to die. A watery grave was the way he was going to go out.

And then his hand broke through to the surface. His head popped out, greeted by the mass amount of stars above him. He gasped furiously for air, his lungs coursing like wildfire. There was a lack of water dripping off of him due to his hydrophobic skin, making it seem like he did not swim through an impossible length of submersion.

With all the strength in him, he turned around in desperate circles, looking for the others.

"Guys?" He called out in a distraught manner. "Guys? Guys?" He dug his hands into his scalp, speaking to himself. Panic setting in with mass effect. "Oh god, Boomer. They're all dead and it's your fault. You shouldn't have let this happen. Why couldn't you—"

The blond paused, hearing two loud gulps for air to his right. He quickly swam over in the direction, finding Bubbles and Buttercup. The dark makeup on Buttercup's face seemingly melted down her cheeks and into the lake water. Both of their hair clinging to their skin.

"Fuck," Buttercup breathed.

"Are you okay?" Boomer asked, flickering his eyes between the two.

Bubbles coughed heavily. "Yeah," she croaked. "Just swallowed a little too much water."

"My muscles are fucking on fire," the green-eyed girl stated as a splash was heard in the distance. They glanced at each other, silently agreeing to head in the direction, finding Blossom and Butch trying to catch their breath.

"You're alive!" Boomer exclaimed with great relief.

Blossom nodded slowly, a small grin on her lips. Her hair was no longer in a bun, having been freed from the force of the wave. "Yeah… we're alive."

"Are you sure? Because my body feels like it died three times down there," Butch exasperated. His dark curls were matted down to his forehead. Droplets of water falling from his eyelashes.

Bubbles smiled at the four before her eyes widened, glancing around with urgency. "Um guys…" The four gave her their attention. "Where's Brick?"

With the mention of his name, Blossom gasped. Her rose-colored eyes glazed over with utter fear.

"He can't swim," she whispered to herself before diving back down into the lake without any hesitation.

Going down was much more difficult than predicted. The water seemed to not want to part, pushing her upward. It felt as if she was at a stand still. Her arms and legs pushed forward with little reward. She released the air in her cheeks, tiny bubbles directing upward around her. Her lungs shrinking tightly in her chest, screaming for her to fill them with oxygen.

She ignored her body's calling for the surface. Her adrenaline pumped in her veins rapidly, giving her enough of a boost of energy to continue swimming further down.

As she approached the bottom of the lake, Blossom glanced around hasty; desperate to find Brick. In the darkness of the water, it seemed impossible to find him. Especially with the dark clothing he wore as he would blend in more into the gloomy surrounding.

Blossom swam in each direction. Her body aching for her to quit and replenish herself with oxygen. She closed her eyes for a moment, accepting what seemed to be Brick's fate. Her heart growing heavy from not only the lack of oxygen but from the sense of failure.

She attempted to tap into her powers to reverse time. To stop them from leaving Princess' party or even step foot in the bubble. But she could not get the results she wanted. Her rose-colored eyes fluttered open slowly, devastated by the turn of events.

As she took in the underwater scenery again, something caught her eye. She narrowed them, finding a small amount of red swaying with the current of water on the ground. Blossom quickly swam towards it. Her eyes widening as she found Brick laying unconsciously on the solid surface. His hair was the only thing moving, swirling with the water combing through it; in which was what helped her find him.

She wrapped his limp arm around her shoulders, pushing against the ground and swimming up towards the surface with one arm to use. His body mass was slowing her down greatly, and with her own self already exhausted from swimming up and then back down beforehand, Blossom was not sure if they could make it back to the surface.

However, Blossom had to try. She pushed through the pain she felt. Her limbs becoming almost useless. She looked over to Brick. His lips were parted slightly, indicating he must have ingested a good amount of the lake water. Blossom blinked back, feeling tears in her eyes but they were lost in the murky water of the lake.

As she was beginning to lose hope, Blossom felt the other side of Brick's body lift up. She glanced over to find Boomer wrapping Brick's other arm around his shoulder. The blond gave her a single nod, kicking his feet to help propel them upward. Blossom sent him a grateful smile, copying the same action as him.

They surfaced a few moments later, making their way to the other three. Each looked at Brick solemnly, fearing for the worst. Boomer pushed Brick's arm away gently. His eyes closed for a second before opening again as he conjured up a rapid jet stream in the water to get them all to the shore in the matter of seconds.

Once on the solid ground, Blossom laid Brick's body flat against the pebbles of the beach. She sat next to him, her two fingers held against his neck.

He had a pulse, thankfully.

Her ear hovered over his mouth, not picking up on any signs of breathing from him. His chest rigid, producing grieve and panicked thoughts among the group.

"He's not breathing," she informed with a tight breath as the others surrounded around them, watching over the two with agony.

Blossom tilted his head back, letting his chin lift up, preparing to perform CPR on him. She placed one hand on top of the other, settling them on the middle of his chest. Using her body weight, she pushed hard and fast, keeping up the recommended pace by counting under her breath to keep track.

She pinched his nose, covering his mouth to blow two breaths before continuing to push against his chest.

Blossom repeated her actions for what seemed a lifetime to her but was only four minutes. She took notice to the small rise and fall in his chest when she administered another round of breaths into his mouth, giving her the sign to not give up hope.

With one more breath, Blossom watched as Brick took in a deep, gasping breath of his own. His head turned to side. A great amount of water spilling out of his mouth as he choked himself awake. His eyes fluttered open cautiously. A light groan escaped his lips. He wiped his mouth, lifting his head up but found there to be a heavy concentration of tension in his brain.

"Brick," Blossom whispered, wrapping her arms around him. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke in his ear. "I will never let anything happen to you like that again."

Brick weakly arched an eyebrow, confused. "What… what happened?"

"You almost drowned, man," Butch said gently.

"Oh." He blinked, becoming aware of why Blossom was so distressed. His frail arms returned the hug. "Thank you for, uh, saving me," he muttered to her. A sight swig of disappointment in his tone went undetected by her.

Blossom lifted her head, nodding. Her rose-colored eyes finding a home in his. "Brick, I—"

"Well, isn't this heartwarming?"

Buttercup, Bubbles, and Blossom glanced at each other quickly.

"It can't be..."

"How could…"

"No, no, no…"

The girls turned to the pine forest behind them, finding a trail of thick fog coming from the area. In the darkness, a thin figure moved forward, revealing themselves to be the one person they had believed was taken care of.

"Ace," Buttercup hissed.

The green-skinned man grinned wickedly, clapping his hands slowly. The sound echoing profoundly on the bare beach. "Kudos to you, ladies. For a moment, you almost had me." He ceased in his applause, lowering his shades to meet their eyes. "But thankfully, Him found me to be incredibly useful."

Boomer glanced down at the redheads, speaking quietly to them. "Blossom, you need to take Brick and get out of here."

"But—"

"You're too weak to fight right now, Brick. You need to go and gather up some strength before anything happens."

Blossom nodded for the both them, using the small amount of energy she had left to help Brick up. Putting his arm around her shoulder, most of his weight shifted onto her, Blossom slowly carried them over to the large rock on the beach, in which was a good distance away from the others.

Bubbles narrowed her eyes at the male opposed from them. "How did you know we were here?"

"Oh," he sang. "A little birdie told me about your plans." The four exchanged perplexed looks, each wondering who betrayed them. "But enough with the small talk. Why don't you show me what you're all capable of?"

"Fine," Buttercup said evenly, sending a lightning bolt in his direction without any hesitations. Ace took a step to the side, allowing the jolt of electricity to flow right by him.

He grinned at them, folding his arms behind his back. "Hold on. Aren't you supposed to be the heroes of all of this?"

"Um… sure?" Bubbles answered skeptically.

"Then how is four against one fair?"

"Life's just not fair, Ace," Buttercup grumbled, impulsively sending another bolt of lightning at him.

Before it hit him, a blur in motion came and moved him three steps away in the blink of an eye. Dust from the beach picked up in the air. As it settled, Ace was no longer alone.

Berserk and Brat had joined his side. Both were still in their clothing from the party but no longer wore the accessories with it.

"Oh look, your girlfriend is here to kill us," Buttercup remarked bitterly to Butch.

Butch narrowed his eyes at her. After their moment in the bubble, he surely believed she would not behave this way anymore.

Or at least, during this moment.

Ace watched the four with great amusement, cracking his neck in preparation. "Shall we begin now?"

As he finished speak, Brat opened her mouth, omitting a loud sonic scream on the four. They each drove to the ground, covering their ears in desperation.

Boomer struggled to get control on the water behind him due to the sonic waves disrupting him from getting a good grip on the liquid material. With all of his concentration, he was able send a hard stream of water in Brat's direction, knocking her down to the ground and momentarily ending her screaming ability.

Buttercup quickly stood, letting pulses of electricity crackle in her hands. She focused her attention on Berserk, making the motion to attack. As a jolt left her fingertips, a wall of earth blocked her act of offense, crumbling from the power of the electricity that struck it.

The dark-haired girl turned to the male beside her, her eyes full of bewilderment.

"What the fuck, Butch? You can't protect her when she's against us."

His eyes seemed to darken at comment. A sly grin formed at the corners of his lips.

"You're right," Butch remarked wickedly. He shifted his footing, making the ground beneath him move like a conveyor belt, heading straight towards the space beside Berserk. His watched them from the opposing side of the lake as they blinked back in shock. "Which is why I'm not working against her."

"Butch, no…" Bubbles mumbled sorrowfully, unwilling to accept the transpiring events.

Boomer was unable to look in Butch's direction, mentally berating himself for not seeing the green-eyed male's betrayal beforehand. There were so many signs he had ignored simply for the sake of their friendship. The blond could not believe how he allowed himself to be so ignorant.

Then there was Buttercup who could not stop from staring at her former boyfriend. Her mouth hung low in astonishment. She had thrown some accusations his way about working for the other side, but Buttercup mainly did it to get under his skin. To create seeds of doubt in his relationship with Berserk. Never in a million years did she truly believe Butch would deceive them to willingly work with Him.

His double-cross proved to her that anyone was able to break her trust. Her need to push others way seemed to become more validated as she stared him down.

Her light green eyes narrowed him. His treachery hitting her to it's fullest effect.

In the bubble, she had a small amount of hope towards mending their shattered relationship. The slightest chance of becoming friends, perhaps. However, now, she saw it was simply a ruse to get on her good side. To blind her from further suspecting his impending betrayal.

She wanted nothing to ever do with him and his disloyal ways.

Buttercup threw a glance at the blondes next to her. "Butch's ass is mine," Buttercup declared, running a full on sprint towards him, casting a continuous stream of lightning in his direction.

Butch block each attack with a thick wall of rock, grinning at the reaction he got out of her.

Boomer and Bubbles separated, taking on their own battles.

Boomer went to Brat. Her sonic screams piercing his eardrums, weakening him to the ground. Whenever he could, Boomer would do the same attack he did beforehand, sending Brat to the ground for a moment until she got up and began screaming at the top of her lungs again.

In between the other two fights, Ace was dodging the sharp icicles sent his way. His slim body giving him the advantage of agility against Bubbles. The blonde could not help wondering why Ace was not conjuring up his toxic gas to use against her. There was something off, she determined. He was toying with her, but Bubbles could not be sure of how and why he was. Since she could not figure it, the blonde believed it was better for her to try tiring him out with dodging her attacks to prevent whenever he had up his sleeve.

In the distance, Blossom and Brick watched from behind the rock with great dismay.

The pink-eyed girl was troubled by the turn of events, feeling guilty for leading them all into the trap. Boomer was right; they should have waited, thought everything through, and planned better.

Not to mention, she should not have invested so much trust in Butch and Berserk. Blossom should have saw the negatives of their rekindled relations instead of having somewhat encouraged it to happen.

There was not a single aspect of the night so far that was not her fault.

Brick, however, was not surprised by how everything played out. He knew there would be a great amount of trouble if they attempted any plan in such a early and illy thought out manner. His inability of vocalizing his concerns were caused by Blossom's over eager attitude to stop Him. Her steamrolling—but well-meaning—nature prevented Brick from having the slightest bit of want to formulate any ideas of halting them. He knew there would be no subduing Blossom when her mind was settled. Instead of wasting his breath, Brick decided it was better if he went along with her plan in order to protect her.

Turns out, he was also correct in assuming the need to keep Blossom safe.

Butch being a traitor was not something he could have predicted, but it did make a lot of sense. It would explain why the green-eyed male's powers seemed to be more advanced the one day in the desert with Robin despite showing no improvements when training. Him must have taught Butch how to master his powers secretly, similar to how the demon did for Brick and those who worked for him.

Instead, the redhead male was more bothered by not being able to help the others. Out of all them, he had the most experience with his abilities, which would give them the advantage in battle. Furthermore, it would give them an equal playing field as Him's side had four against three now.

Wait…

"Where's Berserk?" Brick questioned urgently.

"I don't—"

Before Blossom could reply, a force grabbed her arm with great velocity. The world around her become a blur until her back was struck against a tree on the opposite end of the lake in a harsh manner.

She inhaled sharply, not surprised to find Berserk in front of her. The orange-haired girl withdrew her grip. Her head was tilted to a degree, a half-turned grin painted across her lips.

"Blossom."

"What do you want, Berserk?"

"I want to know what you know." Her hand lifted Blossom's chin. Her scarlet nail dug into the redhead's creamy skin. "What secrets have you figured out?" she sang.

Blossom blinked at her in response. "I don't… I don't know what you want."

"I believe you do, sweetie."

"I don't." Blossom shook her head. "I'm sure you already know the same amount as I do."

Berserk leaned closer to her. She was close enough that the tip of Blossom's nose could touch her's. "Your visions haven't given you anymore information? I find that to be unlikely."

"No. Nothing I found relevant." Blossom's mind immediately flashed to one particular revelation she has kept to herself as her words left her lips. One that would be beneficial to Berserk despite their opposing sides. Blossom may not like Berserk anymore but it did not mean she was going to behave cruelly towards the girl. Not with what she has seen from the past timelines. "Well, there was this one thing. I saw it twice and I don't know how but Brat—"

Out of the corner of her eyes, Berserk spotted a illuminating light hurling her way. She clutched onto Blossom's shoulder, moving her and Blossom out of the way in a nanosecond, letting a fireball hit the tree. The flames crackled against the bark of the plant, soon to be engulfed by the viscous fire.

Berserk removed her hold on Blossom, meeting Brick's eyes.

"Leave her alone."

Berserk rolled her eyes. It was much easier carrying out her plan when Brick was in his weakened state, but it seemed he regained his energy rather quickly. The redhead male was surely going to be a pain to do away with.

"I liked you better when you drowned."

His fists was consumed by flames from her comment. He waited for Berserk to make the first move before doing anything.

The orange-haired girl chuckled at his passive nature. She would have believed someone with pyrokinesis would be more aggressive and ruthless in battle but Brick was not willing to risk losing control. It was one of his most obvious weaknesses she spotted.

The other being his relentless need to protect Blossom and incapability to swim.

Berserk glanced back at the redhead next to her. A mischievous grin spread across her lips as she grabbed her again, using her speed to run across the lake water. Halfway through her sprint, Berserk let go of Blossom, dropping the girl back into the water without a warning. A loud and sizable splash followed afterward.

The redhead popped her head up to the surface, spitting out the water she swallowed, irritated by the need to swim again.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She fumed, slapping the topical layer of water before beginning to swim to shore again.

On the land, the three separate battles continued on simultaneously.

While Boomer was slowly gaining an upper hand on Brat as the blonde girl was losing steam quickly, Bubbles was struggling not to exhaust all of her energy on Ace. The green-tinted male was able to dodge all of her attacks, not breaking a single sweat it seemed. Meanwhile, Bubbles could tell her icicle spears were progressively becoming weaker as the fight went on.

Then there was Butch and Buttercup, who were evenly matched at the moment. Her lightning bolts broke through his earth defense but Butch was too quick with the constant need to protect himself. Neither of them taking any damage from each other.

"I'm sure you're getting tired," Butch taunted from behind his wall of rock. "You're always the first one to waste all of your energy. Too irresponsible with all the power you have within."

"Shut the fuck up," she growled. Her lightning strikes grew in more intensity to match her fury.

Butch grinned, mentally creating a new wall as her attack broke through the previous one. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I'm tired of hearing your traitor ass talking to me."

"You seem a lot more outraged for someone who kept accusing me of betrayal," Butch pressed, his eyebrow arching. "You, of all people, should have saw this coming."

"That's because I trusted you!" She raged. The lightning from her fingernails cracked more wildly. Some loose strands struck the pebbles of the ground instead of hitting Butch's wall.

"Heh," he chuckled darkly. An untold secret hidden behind his emerald eyes. "Then I'm guess I'm a better actor than I thought."

Buttercup grunted to herself, taking the initiative to make a true attack against him, running full force towards Butch. "How could you?" She screamed at the top of her lungs. No longer was her voice full of aggression. Instead, it cracked from the strain of desolation she felt as she punched the rock wall he had formed. Her fist was unable to break it like her lightning could but Buttercup did not care. Nor did she pay any mind to pain signals from her hand and the many scrapes finding a home on her knuckles. Her mind was blinded by the impulsive need to express the hurt Butch has inflicted onto her. "How you betray us? How could you…" She stopped punching the wall, staring at the surface with devastation. "How could you betray me?"

The wall keeping them separated slid back into the ground, seeming as if it was never pulled out to use. Butch's emerald eyes met Buttercup's, taking in the undeniable sorrow behind them.

"Like you said," he said calmly. Butch leaned forward, reaching out to Buttercup, tucking a strand of her loose hair. His mouth hovered over her ear. "Life just isn't fair."

In a flash, Butch took a step back, kicking up a rock the size of his head, sending it straight into Buttercup's stomach. The dark-haired girl fell into the pebbles of the beach. Her back ached from the rough landing.

She rose, glaring at Butch, wishing for him to be dead. If not, wishing to be the one to have him meet his end.

A swirling intensity began in her body. Her muscles were jittering from an uncontrollable amount of electrical power. A verdant tint of energy illuminated her body as shock waves surrounded her like barbwire. She was about to lose control, Buttercup realized. Her emotions were taking over, driving her powers to its maximum peak. She could kill everyone on the beach if she allowed it to happen. Buttercup knew she needed to calm down.

But as she looked at Butch and his deceitful face, Buttercup felt her emotions become a hurricane within her.

She prepared herself to unleash her abilities at its fullest force against him. Her two fingers pointed straight at his heart. She was physically able to watch the electricity course down her arm, reaching the tips of her fingers. As she shot at him, a blur got in the way, moving him out of range.

Her strike left a crater in the ground as Berserk had pushed Butch out of harm's way.

"Thanks," he acknowledged. The orange-haired girl nodded before running off.

Butch clutched onto the ground. His hands generating seismic activity underneath them. However, instead of letting the unstable movement affect the entire beach, Butch was able to isolate it in one area. Particularity, the ground Buttercup stood above.

The micro earthquake shook her violently. More powerful than the one Butch had caused a few days ago. Her feet were unable to keep balance as she lost the chance to tap into the raging emotions in which helped channel her unruly abilities.

The green-eyed male grinned in delight, continuing his attack, not letting up for a good amount of time.

But suddenly, he stopped. Buttercup glanced up at him, puzzled by his decision. However, she saw the opportunity to make a move offensively, lifting up her fingers to point at Butch. As she was about to release another shot, a strong gust of wind was felt from her right side.

With all the might she had and an unmeasurable amount of kinetic energy on her side, Berserk came out of nowhere, punching Buttercup square in the jaw at seventy miles per hour, knocking the dark-haired girl out cold.

Berserk shook out her fist as she stood over Buttercup's unconscious body.

"I've been wanting to do that since high school," she stated proudly while Butch expressed a brief sense of concern for Buttercup.

He knew they had to take her out but Butch wished it was not done in such a rough manner. However, he could not express his thoughts nor show them.

"Good job," he remarked faintly from across the way.

Berserk grinned at him, letting her guard down for the moment, failing to notice the redhead—who ran the exterior distance of the lake's beach to reach her in particular—approaching her from behind.

A cast of flames danced across her feet, containing her in a vortex of heat. There was enough distance to prevent any burning done to her.

"What the—?"

In retaliation for Buttercup, Brick ceased the flames around her, drawing back his fist and punching Berserk in a similar manner. The orange-haired girl fell to the ground, receiving a similar end as Buttercup did, knocking out on the pebbles of the beach.

"Viviana!" Butch called out before turning his focus to Brick. His emerald eyes consumed by a complete darkness. "Did you seriously just hit my girlfriend?" He questioned venomously.

Brick shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. The flame he had struck against a tree on the opposite side of the lake had become more consuming. A wildfire had broken out, illuminating behind him, highlighting his silhouette and extending his shadow. "She had it coming."

"Oh, it is so on," the dark-haired male threatened, kicking up head-sized rocks to send in Brick's direction, beginning a new battle for himself.

As the two males went at each other, Boomer was making more progress against Brat. Her breathing was becoming uneven. Her sonic screams were weakening with time.

Boomer knew he was close to winning. One final blow, and he would not have to worry about her anymore. Despite the diluted power of her abilities, Brat's screams were still getting him off balance. If only he could shut her up…

Boomer's eyes went to the blonde's mouth, considering the risky option. After debating for a moment, Boomer exhaled to calm himself. He put all his focus in conjuring up a wave behind him. The water rose higher into the night sky, reaching about twenty feet in height.

With a deep inhale to hold his breath, Boomer sent the tidal wave in Brat's direction. The wave parting around his body as it struck her with no time to prepare. The water suffocating the blonde female as she had her mouth open when the rush of water hit her.

Boomer went over to her quickly. Her eyes were shut and body was absolutely soaked. He hovered his ear over her mouth. She was still breathing. More than Brick was earlier, which was a good sign. Boomer lifted her up, placing her body to sit up against a tree trunk.

He was reluctant to leave her. An heavy sense of responsibility washed over him.

What if he was wrong? What if Brat was not breathing correctly? What if he accidentally killed her?

His lungs felt burdensome in his chest, contracting in an uneven pace. Questions and doubts zoomed through his mind. His hands were beginning to shake uneasily, his knees feeling as if they were going to give out.

Panic swarming around him like a shark circling its prey, waiting for the perfect moment to truly strike.

Boomer had to calm down before losing himself. He tried taking deep breaths, letting the anxious feeling in him expel out of his system.

"Boomer!"

The blond snapped out of his berating thoughts, finding the one voice in which could calm him down calling out for him in need. He turned his neck around, finding Bubbles in a struggle against Ace. Boomer, without any hesitations, pushed his buzzing disquietude about Brat out of his frame of mind, summoning a stream of water and shot it in Ace's direction.

As the thin male evaded his attack, Boomer quickly joined Bubbles' side.

"Two against one?" Ace toyed, backing more into the forest. His chin lowered, his shades falling to the tip of his nose, revealing his pitch black eyes. "Oh what will I do?"

"Stop playing games and just fight already," Bubbles retorted, gritting her teeth together. Her cheeks were flushed from the amount of energy she has burned. Since getting her powers, Bubbles finally felt the dry heat surrounding them, feeling like a popsicle melting under the hot summer sun.

The burning blaze behind her furthered the engrossing warmth, carrying over embers in the air.

"And waste my efforts on the two of you?" Ace shook his head. "I have bigger plans than harming the weakest links of your little group."

"Weakest links?" Boomer questioned, furrowing his eyebrows, taking offense to Ace's words. "I think you've underestimated us."

Boomer and Bubbles made an attack on Ace simultaneously. Water spiraled around the ice spear Bubbles created, aiming straight for Ace's chest. As it was a foot away from the male, a wall of earth rose, getting stabbed by the ice crystal. The water splashed against the hard surface with a thump.

The blondes turned to the individual responsible, finding Butch in a difficult battle amongst Brick before they tried to take down Ace again.

Butch's effort to protect Ace was not one on purpose, as the green-eyed male was trying to create a divide between him and the redhead.

Brick was able to propel himself over the wall by using the fire in his palms as jets. The dark-haired male took a step back but could not go further as Brick trapped him in a ring of fire.

The heat grew with more intensity as Brick got closer to him. The light of the flame illuminated his ruby-colored eyes into a menacing shade. Butch wiped away the sweat he had on his forehead from the ongoing heat. Despite the part of him in which was terrified of what Brick could do, Butch knew he had to stay calm. His senses focused on the acute seismic vibrations underneath them to figure out Brick's next move in order to beat him to it.

Brick was swiftly made aware of what Butch was attempting to do. It was one of the techniques he had tried to teach Butch over the past few weeks without any avail.

"What is Him's endgame tonight, Butch?"

Butch raised an eyebrow, surprised by Brick's decision not to attack. The amber flames in the redhead's hands dimmed down to signal a spare moment of a truce.

"Him simply encouraged Berserk's idea," he confessed. "She wanted to drive you away from the lake."

"Then why grab Blossom?"

"Find out any information she knew."

"But you already knew what Blossom has seen," Brick pointed out. His eyes narrowed at the green-eyed male, not understanding the logic behind their attacks. "And why play your cards all at once? You could have stayed undercover much longer to get more information. Then Ace showing up now… It all seems like a wasted opportunity. Him is too crafty to throw out his secrets all at once like this."

Butch sunk his shoulders, realizing Brick was right. There was something off. "I don't..." He murmured, becoming vulnerable for a moment. "Ace wasn't suppose to be here—"

Brick lowered himself down, sideswiping Butch's legs, knocking the tall male down into the hard pebbles of the beach unexpectedly. A groan escaped Butch's lips as Brick created a cage of fire around him, trapping him for the time being as Butch recovered from his hard fall.

The redhead glanced over to the blondes, preparing to help them but something else caught his eye. He rushed over to the shore of the lake, lending out this hand to Blossom, who was crawling up the shore after swimming a mile and a half to reach land.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly as she took his hand, lifting her up from the ground.

Water dripped back into the lake from her drenched body. Her hair was matted down to her dark clothing and milky skin. Rose-colored eyes looked at him with irritation.

"Please tell me Berserk got what she deserved."

Brick nodded, "And Butch."

Blossom ran her hand through his messy hair, a proud smile painted across her lips. "Brick Jojo, you never cease to amaze me."

He returned a similar expression to her, "All there's left is Ace but—"

Before he could finish, Brick's eyes snapped over to the three others remaining, taking a step forward, creating a firewall to divide Ace from Boomer and Bubbles. The green-tinted male was finally deciding to use his powers. The toxic smoke he was attempting to use, was lost in the smoke of the flames Brick had conjured up.

Brick gave Blossom a single nod before rushing over to the blondes' side as she went back to hiding behind the large rock.

Ruby-colored eyes darted between two shades of blue. "I'm going to let the wall down. When I do, Boomer, you hit Ace first. Then Bubbles, you'll freeze him in place."

"He wouldn't stay," Bubbles warned, remembering the close call with death she almost had with girls when dealing with Ace the last time.

"I know," the redhead answered. The two blondes exchanged looks and then agreed to Brick's plan.

Brick took a deep breath, motioning to cease the flames. Ace's thin frame becoming visible to them through the lingering embers in the air. Boomer quickly shot a stream of water at him, sending Ace back into a tree. Bubbles followed afterward, freezing the male to the bark of the pine tree. Brick then threw a fireball at the top of the tree, letting it begin to burn above Ace's head.

Ace cackled loudly, his wicked laughter howling against the crackling flames. "Are you trying to kill me, Brick? I thought Strawberry Shortcake changed you." His chin lowered more, the shades on his face falling to his feet, exposing his narrow facial structure to them. "Or is this a secret scheme created by Him for you to follow?"

Brick winced at the mention of Him. An action Boomer took notice of immediately. The blond jabbed Brick's shoulder accusingly, paranoia making a home inside his mind.

"What is he talking about?" Boomer demanded.

"I don't know," Brick mumbled, unable to meet Boomer or Bubbles' stares.

"Are you still working for Him?"

"No! God no!" The redhead answered brashly. "I swear I'm not."

"Bullshit!"

"Boomer, calm down," Bubbles pleaded.

The blond male ignored her, pressing the matter further. "There's a reason why Ace is saying this, Brick."

"Yeah, to toy with us," Brick deflected. "Boomer, I promise. I'm not with Him anymore."

"I don't believe you."

The blonde girl placed her hand on Boomer's shoulder, alerting him to back off. He took a step back reluctantly, not relenting the accusing stare he had for the redhead.

"Brick, please. Just be honest with us," Bubbles whispered.

"I am. Look I—"

Brick paused, tossing his eyes over to Ace. He threw his head back, clutching at his scarlet hair at the sight of Ace's mischievous smirk. Half of the ice containing him already a puddle by his feet. Brick gestured over to the area, reminding the two of the nonexistent cease fire among them.

"He's trying to escape!"

Bubbles reacted quickly, refreezing Ace to the tree. The three closed in on him, forming a semi-circle around the green-tinted male. Boomer sent a apologetic glance Brick's way, muttering a "Sorry" under his breath. The redhead gave him a nod, taking up a fighter stance in front of Ace.

"What is the goal of tonight?" He questioned.

The former Gangreen Gang leader simply grinned at the question. "To summon the worst in all of us."

In the distance, the three heard a muffled scream, finding Blossom in the grasp of shadow spirits similar to the ones from Labor Day. Brick turned his back to Ace, throwing fire jabs at the shadows around her. The dark entities vanished into thin air immediately as fire was their ultimate weakness.

However, like before, when they were defeated, more were created.

Brick tried to fight them off but was thrown into the ground. Boomer and Bubbles' bodies landed on top of his' as a bubble formed around them.

"What the…" he grunted, glancing up to see a heavy green gas was over them, blocking their sight.

Boomer pushed the walls of the water outward, distributing the toxic air away from them, only to find the tree holding Ace to be empty.

"Where did he—"

A low whistle alerted them, flicking their eyes to the right of them. Ace had his arms wrapped around Brat's unconscious body. The palm of his hand covered her mouth. A taunting smile plastered across his lips.

"Him wanted at least one casualty tonight," Ace revealed, a little mist of toxins escaping his hand and into Brat's mouth. "He would prefer one of your pathetic lives more." His dark eyes focused on Brick more than the other two. "But a life is a life, and Brat here, just so happened to be at the right place at the right time for me—Not so much for her." He tilted his head to a degree. His eyes watched them like a snake waiting to strike. "Unless, someone would like to take her place."

As the three stood paralyzed by Ace's bargain, Blossom narrowed her eyes from across the beach. Her arms and legs restrained by the shadows hold on her. Oddly enough, they simply wanted to keep her in place instead of dragging her into the lake like they did with Boomer.

They seemed to not want to kill her…

The redhead's eyes widened when she gathered enough detail to realize what was happening. Ace was going to kill Brat.

Brat was going to die tonight, just as her visions has shown her.

"Guys, he's going to—"

She was unable to finish as a transparent hand covered her mouth, muffling her words of warning. Blossom tried fighting back against the shadows but their hold was too strong. A tear rolled down her cheek, her conscious taking full responsibility for what was about to happen.

If she did not plan out this failed attempt to take out Him, Brat would not be on the way to death.

If she had listened to Boomer, no one would be losing their life tonight.

If she had taken in regard her visions, Blossom could have predict all of this.

The betrayal. The death. The failure. It was all painted for her in a jagged line.

She was too blinded by the hope of outsmarting Him and the ability to make right in the world. Her optimism got the best of her. The want to take on the responsibility to save everyone, was her fatal mistake.

It was all her fault. She had failed miserably and at a horrifying cost.

"So what will it be?" Ace questioned casually. He lifted up Brat's chin more, showing the trail of smoke from his hand to them. Her body was reacting negatively from the poison, choking on vomit she was unable to spit out. Ace looked down at her with a pathetic stare, "You better hurry up. She doesn't seem to have much time left."

The three exchanged glances, obviously distraught by the decision given to them. If they attacked Ace, he would unleash his poisonous gas on all of them. There was a chance he could use Brat's already weak body as a shield, making them accidentally kill her in the process.

While they could go three against one, Boomer and Bubbles were incredibly feeble from the lost of energy used from their prolonged fighting beforehand. Not to mention, they have to do away with the shadows surrounding Blossom as they were afraid of the chance of the spirits harming her.

There was no simple solution for them. Nothing that would not result in someone not losing their life tonight.

Brick took a shaky breath. Between the three of them, he was the less worthy to live, in his mind. Boomer and Bubbles, they had more to provide to the world. They had people who loved and counted on them. Brick…

He only had Blossom.

She would understand, he told himself. She could find someone so much better than him, anyways. Someone who would not ruin her life like he feared he may.

If he was gone, it would be for the greater good. To protect those who could truly make a difference in the world. Those whose lives would actually have meaning, unlike his.

He took a step forward. His eyes closing for the moment, accepting his fate. For once, his mind grew quiet. No more harmful thoughts flowed through him. He was at peace for the first time in his entire life.

A solemnly breath escaped his lips as he opened his eyes to see Ace's pleased smirk.

Brick was who he exactly wanted to be his victim. The redhead was easily and expectingly following into his role.

He slowly removed his hand from Brat's mouth, when a mass of kinetic energy came rushing towards him, punching his narrow jaw.

Ace grunted loudly against the pebbles of the beach, his arms still wrapped around Brat's limp body. He looked up to find a conscious Berserk standing over him. Her face twisted up in absolute pure rage.

For the first time, Ace found her to be unattractive.

"This was not apart of the plan," she roared.

"I have other plans, Dollface," Ace countered with a smug grin. In Berserk's blind anger, she was unable to calculate the situation well enough as she usual may.

She failed to realize Ace still had a hold on Brat. His smoke infiltrate the blonde's airways again but this time, he did not contain it in a single stream. Instead, he summoned a cloud of toxic gas. The air swirled around Berserk's feet and was making it's way towards the others.

The three began to cough, covering their mouths with the collars of their shirts to help filter out the air.

Boomer arched an eyebrow at the increase of power Ace was using, predicting the green-tinted male was willingly to end all of them tonight, turning to Bubbles and Boomer. "Brick, free Blossom," Boomer choked out desperately, taking steps away from the toxic air. "Bubbles, get Buttercup. I'm going to create a bubble for us by the shore."

"But I can stop this," Brick murmured, trying to resist the scratching in the back of his throat, staying right in place despite the blondes moving away from him and the smog.

Boomer shook his head, water forming in the corners of his eyes from the gas, casting a look at Ace and Berserk. "I don't think that deal is on the table anymore."

"But what about them?" Bubbles asked. "We can't let them kill each other."

"We shouldn't, but maybe we have to," the blond answered somberly. The smoke inched closer to them the longer they waited to make a move.

The three nodded at each other sorrowfully, dividing in separate directions; failing to realize the fire cage Brick had create for Butch, was now empty. A deep hole carved underneath it.

"I am going to kill you," Berserk threatened. She attempted to tap into her powers but could not. Her throat was beginning to grow itchy. A furious coughing tantrum became of her. She sank to her knees, the thick smog Ace was producing seeping into her lungs. "Ace," she choked out. "I... Will... Kill... You..."

Ace was not fazed by her words, furthering the power of his ability. In a minute, he would have completed Him's task while also taking out a nasty thorn in his side. He was given the unexpected delight of carrying out an act of revenge against the orange-haired girl for not returning his affections due to the likes of buffoonery that was Butch Lumpkins.

He reached out to Berserk, wanting to make sure the last thing she saw before her bitter death, was his face, but the ground beneath her began to move, jerking her backwards into an enclosed triangular rock formation. A wall quickly completed the paneling, keeping her within. The solid surface created a tent from the earth around her body, freeing her from the toxic gas. She traced her hand against the grainy texture, turning behind her to find Butch in the dark space with her.

"Let me out," she breathed, the rash in her throat subduing with the clean air in the tight area.

Butch shook his head. "I'm not letting Ace kill you."

"Butch… Please let me go," her voice trembled. "He's going to kill her. I can't… I can't let that happen. He wouldn't actually kill me. I'm too valuable to Him, and he knows it."

She felt Butch reach out for her hand, gathering his two palms over her's, bring them to his chest. Her body was pulled to his chest because of this action, finding comfort and safety when drawing close to him.

His breath was warm against her forehead. "At this point," Butch mumbled soberly. "We're all expandable to Him."

"She's going to die..." Berserk cried, unwilling to accept the truth in his statement. Ace's previous warning of how disposable Brat and Brute were to Him, replayed in her mind in a taunting manner. She was a fool for going through with tonight. An absolute fool.

She clinged onto Butch's chest, breaking down to her emotional core, forcing herself to accept Brat's fate. The memory of how she was the one to drag the blonde into this mess, was flashed in the forefront of her thoughts.

Brat's death was not just on Ace's hands. It was on her's.

Perhaps, she was the one who truly caused Brat's death.

Outside of the rock tent, Bubbles carried Buttercup's unconscious body to the bubble Boomer was preparing. The gas from Ace grew closer as he continued to poison Brat.

Brick was able to fight off the shadows long enough for Blossom to escape. His hand wrapped around her wrist immediately, leading them over to the others. Once everyone was accounted for, Boomer closed the bubble, submerging them into the water.

With no longer being able to take a look of the surface, they did not get to witness the glowing turquoise light in which sprouted from Brat's chest. Nor did they witness the light floating into the air and zipping over them into the center of the lake.

They, instead, waited in the inky water for five minutes.

It was the longest five minutes in all of their lives. A thick wave of failure and sorrow encased them. The knowledge of letting someone die on their watch, eating away at each one of them in different effects.

Boomer took a heavy breath, leading them out of the lake again. They found the shore to be empty.

The rock tent was left in crumbles. The shadows had all disappeared. Smog was no longer found in the air. The blazing fire from across the lake had ceased to exist. The trees did not even appear to have ever made contact with the inferno. Neither did the tree Ace stood under. No blackened char was left in their place. The crater Buttercup made was gone too, smoothed over with pebbles. It was as if no one had been there. As if a battle between the forces of good and evil had not occurred, leaving the lake in a pristine and untouched condition.

The only thing in which remained was Brat's lifeless body. Her body laid stiff against the pebbles of the beach.

The four remained in silence when they approached her body.

Bubbles, who held onto Buttercup's body the entire time, placed her on the ground behind them. She was unable to stand back up, remaining on her knees when staring at Brat. Bubbles could not stop herself from sobbing, covering her eyes. The paralyzing shock of the night hitting her all at once. Grief submerged her entire being.

Boomer, consumed by the anxious pit in his stomach, threw up, unable to control his body any longer. A flood of remorse washed over him, realizing if he had not placed Brat by the trees, she may have not died tonight. She would not have been an easy target for Ace if he had not done so, Boomer criticized to himself. His throat tinged again as he upchucked more of his demons.

Brick kept a blank face as he looked over Brat's body. His mind full of regret for not taking Ace's deal much sooner. The fleeting thoughts of peace he had settled within himself after deciding on the decision to sacrifice himself, haunted in the back of his mind. A small longing ached in his chest from the wanted to take Brat's place...

Silent tears fell down Blossom's cheeks. Her mind berated herself for not preventing any of this. For believing she could ever stop Him. For allowing Brat to be the victim of the night, when out of everyone, it should have been her.

On the ground behind them, a groan was expelled. Light green eyes fluttered open, scanning the beach, noticing the lack of a dark-haired male and his girlfriend. Her blurry vision, instead, found her four friends', who had their backs to her. A pool of golden blonde hair laid in front of them. The stench of vomit in the air and echoing sound of sniffling.

"Guys," Buttercup spoke, her voice hoarse from just regaining her consciousness.

She grunted a bit, rubbing her jaw where Berserk punched her. She was definitely going to have a huge bruise in a few hours. Not to mention her whole body ached from the fight.

Four pairs of eyes found themselves looking back at her. Two reddened from crying, the other two engrossed with guilt.

"What the hell happened?"


November 1st

Townsville, Arizona

Present Day...

Brute's fist pounded against the door frame furiously. Her vision hazy from the endless crying she has done since Brick delivered the news to her.

Princess and her had tried luring Berserk and Brat into their "trap" but the two were a step ahead—which she, now, understood was because of Butch's influence—and locked the two into a bathroom upstairs. It was not until the party ended and the five came looking for them, were they freed.

During this time, Brute took immediate notice to the mutual desolated stares and lacking of another member of the group. Their plan had obviously not worked, she predicted, but then Brick, who was the only one who was able to speak after what happened, explained what had occurred at the lake.

Secret underwater bunker…

The bubble burst…

Blossom saved his life…

Butch betrayed them…

Ace had a secret plan…

Brat was murdered…

Brat was murdered…

Brute could not describe the effect those three words had on her. Something within her, had simply turned off. The world became black. Her mind unable to process anymore.

She had screamed. Cried. Begged for Brick to say he was lying.

None of it changed the fact.

Brat was dead.

And she did not nothing to prevent it.

Princess tried comforting her, but Brute rejected her attempts, needing to get away from everyone. When she left the manor, the others were getting ready to call the police and informing them of a murder caused by a missing member of the Gangreen Gang.

Brute had told Princess that she was simply going to take a walk. She needed to clear her mind. Cry in privacy.

However, as Brute walked down the single road in the "Rich Pines" area of town, she passed by Berserk's home. Her blood boiled, connecting the orange-haired girl's involvement with Him to the very reason why Brat was currently going to be placed into a body bag.

The remembrance of Brat's final words to her flooded her mind. All the blonde truly wanted, was her best friends back. Yet, that could not happen for her, because in Brute's eyes, it was Berserk and her poorly made decisions' fault.

The same ill choices in which resulted in Brat's death.

Brute went into autopilot, forgetting her vow to remain unaffected by her personal hurt feelings inflicted by Berserk, heading over to the French doors leading into Berserk's bedroom, in which had led her to the furious knocking.

She waited a good two minutes, which was added by more pounding against the door, until one of the doors opened. Brute furrowed her eyebrows, not surprised but unpleased to find Butch greeting her instead.

His hair was an absolute mess. His eyes shot and a large wet stained was found on the shoulder of his white tee-shirt. He lacked his white pants from his costume, wearing a dingy pair of sweatpants instead.

He looked emotionally-drained and exhausted.

Not that Brute cared about what state he was in. He did not deserve to feel any remorse for the actions he committed to his friends.

"Where is she?" Brute demanded lowly.

"This isn't the time, Brute," he exhaled.

"I don't give a shit. I want to talk to your girlfriend," she countered venomously.

Butch narrowed his eyes at her, displaying his protective nature towards Berserk. "Leave now before I—"

"Butch…" Brute heard a series of hyperventilation from inside the room before words were strung together coherently again. "It's fine."

"Viv," he murmured with concern as Berserk's hand gently pushed him back, taking a step outside to face Brute.

Her face was bare, removed from any makeup; it was also puffy from crying. Tan cheeks were wet from tears. A fresh bruise was sported on her left cheek; along with a few scattered down her legs combined with scrapes. Her hair was held up in a messy bun. An over-sized grey tee-shirt—which Brute guessed belonged to Butch—covered her body like a dress. The whites of her eyes almost matched the hue of her iris. A little bit of clear snot covered the skin above her upper lip.

It was the most messy Berserk has ever looked.

"Brute," she said quietly. Her voice could no longer holding any strength. There was nothing to be intimidated by. Brute could stare at her and not find a single ounce of fear. In fact, Brute found her to more pathetic than anything. Pathetic for believing she had the right to grieve Brat's death when she played right into Him's trap. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want your apology. It's not going to bring her back," Brute seethed. Her eyes grew warm again with a new batch of tears. "You are responsible for all of this."

"I know," Berserk breathed uneasily. She shook her head, her eyes lingering on the ground beneath them. "I didn't know Ace was going to… He took advantage of the situation. If I could go back, I would have let it be me instead."

"The world would be a better place if that would have happened."

Berserk nodded slowly, hugging herself. Her shoulders moving slightly as she covered her mouth. A quiet sob becoming of her.

Behind her, Butch placed his hands of her arms from behind to help comfort her. His emerald eyes wallowed over the sight of her tears before shifting to Brute. A hard glare was sent in her direction.

"Are you done here?" He snapped.

Brute's brow furrowed, outraged by his reaction. "Excuse me? My best friend just died because of your girlfriend and you're going to speak to me like that?"

"She didn't know what Ace was planning," Butch defended, removing his hands from Berserk and taking a step forward, shielding the orange-haired girl behind his tall frame. "And if you don't think Viv feels broken up about this as much as you do, then you're just being ignorant."

"I'm being ignorant?" Brute repeated, baffled by his word choice.

He nodded. "Viv loved you both. She would do anything to protect you and Brat. That's the reason why she pushed you away. She wanted to keep you from sharing Brat's fate." Hazel eyes blinked back in a mild shock from Butch's revelation, confirming Blossom's theory was correct in her head as Butch continued. "Fuck, she almost died tonight trying to save Brat. So quit trying to make this about you and the butthurt feelings you have towards Viv," Butch ranted. His voice growing serious, "Not a single person was innocent tonight. Not Viv, not me, not Blossom. Not the gang, not you, not Brat. We all played a hand in what happened and there's nothing we can change. Brat is dead and all we could do now is mourn. So just let Viv grieve without having to feel like an absolute monster like you're trying to make her out to be."

"Butch," Berserk whispered, gently gripping his arm. "You're just making it worse."

Butch opened his mouth to reply but slowly accepted her perspective.

Brute crunched her nose in disgust by what he had to say. She jabbed her finger in the couple's direction. Tears streaming down her face as she spoke, "I don't need to hear about how I need to be mindfully to her feelings from the man who betrayed his friends since elementary school for a good fuck—"

"You have absolutely no clue about anything that is going on, Brute," Butch remarked tiredly.

Brute rolled her eyes, "Right. Like I'm not aware you attacked your friends tonight and allowed Ace to kill Brat because you were too busy protecting your girlfriend. Out of everyone, you had the most capability to stop Ace with your powers but you made the most selfish decision."

"You weren't even there! And if you were, you're too much of a coward to have done anything. So you couldn't have stopped him, and we couldn't do anything because any sudden attack from anyone and Brat would have died from instant contact. Not to mention, Ace was pretty set of murdering everyone if we intervened. No one was going to stop Ace—The others didn't even try! In fact, they were okay with Viv dying at the hands of Ace too," Butch argued abruptly and loudly to make a point. "They hid underwater until it was over. We all had to let Brat die. It just…" he sighed, running a hand through his matted curls. "It's awful it had to happen that way. Or that it even happened. But we can't change it."

Brute shook her head in disbelief, "I don't believe you."

"Of course," he said under his breath, his eyes fluttering with an eye roll, unwilling to see any sense in attempting to change her mind.

Brute settled her eyes on the orange-haired girl beside him. In her mind, she no longer saw the beauty in her. Brute had always known there was an ugliness within Berserk but somehow, that ugliness had oozed out, finding a way to consume her former friend from the inside out.

"How did you not see this coming?" Brute sneered.

Berserk shook her head slowly, "I don't…"

"You played right into their hand. You were too caught up in your ego to even suspect a thing." Her eyes darted over to Butch again. "Or maybe, they saw your weakness. You got too distracted by a boy who will only leave you again when he gets bored. He'll probably run back to Buttercup too."

Butch took a step forward but Berserk blocked him, pushing his chest back with her hand. Hot pink eyes gave Brute a momentary warning glance, becoming territorial.

"This is no longer about Butch anymore."

"He will continue to be apart of this since you corrupted him," Brute accused. "You succeeded in Him's plan for you. You broke him into this psychopath like you are."

Berserk let out a small gasp, clearly affected by Brute's words.

"No…" she murmured, unwilling to believe Brute's words. The hazel-eyed girl wanted to laugh at how feeble she was.

"Berserk, quit with the pity party. You may be acting all depressed and remorseful about what happened, but it's not going to change anything when Him wants both of you to carry out a new order, now is it? Not even when you have to work with Ace again. Or when he is going to make you murder millions. You wouldn't even bat an eyelash, I suspect."

The two remained silent. Brute nodded, seeing them for who they really were. She took a few steps back, repulsed by the very sight of them. The ugliness within them becoming a true reflection for all to see.

"Ace may be the worst humanity has to offer, but at least he doesn't pretend to be something he's not. But you two? You're both full of lies and wicked schemes. You, frankly, are the real villains in my eyes." She gave them one last glance, her voice low and tired. "You truly do deserve one another."


In a pair of shadowy hands, a turquoise light shined through. A sinister grin watched over the glowing entity, delighted to have acquired it's power.

The first key of chaos was in his grasp.

Soon enough, he would have attained all of them. He would be able to free himself after a century trapped in separation.

His time of reckoning was growing closer. Humanity would perished along with it. Earth would be a relic in the past.

And Him could not wait.


Author's Notes:

Well, I am certainly glad to have this over with. My mini trilogy in this story took a lot out of me; but this chapter in particular, was one of the most challenging for me. I hope I executed as well as I believed I did. There was a lot of build up from the previous chapters in which I needed in order to get to this point in the story and I am truly grateful for everyone who remained patient with me. I was starting to believe I was not providing enough solid momentum to move along with, but now I truly feel like things will be picking in speed as each characters (except for Ace) have definitely hit their lowest point in this chapter.

Until next time, thank you for taking the time to read my story and please review!