Hi! Sorry for my absence. School has been so crazy lately. It's like the teachers all decide to give a lot of work to you all on the same day. It sucks, seriously. Anyway, I know that many of you are confused by Dexter's behavior in the last chapter, but there is a reason for it. I swear he didn't just become a jerk over night. So...I noticed that I write a lot of angst, but, at times, I don't like reading it. Weird, huh?

akira45: I know! I'm so mean to my characters... The problem with Dexter will be addressed this chapter, though!

TheRestIsRustAndStardust: I'm glad someone was happy with the update, even if the chapter was sad. I'm also glad you found it suspenseful. I was aiming for that, but I don't think everyone appreciated being left on a cliffhanger...

Alienatia: What, indeed. Don't worry, you'll find out in this chapter.

Nathalorial: O_o *hides* Don't hurt me! Everything will turn out fine! Do you really think I'd go out of my way to make such a long fanfic if it didn't have a happy ending?

haccat: I smiled when I saw your review. And yes, Charlotte did start out as a good kid, even if she did beat up other kids (Only when they picked on Dexter). I don't really get the hotdog meat part, but I understand what you're getting at. I guess I kind of made that part a little obvious, huh?

Warning: As usual, violence and foul language.

Disclaimer: If I owned Freakazoid, it probably would have been a much weirder show.

.:Line Break:.

"Sister?"

My eyes snapped open and I instantly shot to my feet, sprinting for the school's exit.

"Sister, wait!"

I didn't stop, I couldn't let William see me the way I was. I ran instead, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran straight home, not stopping once along the way. I wouldn't let anyone see me the way I was, I couldn't.

I don't remember anything that happened after I set foot in the house. The moment I closed the door, everything went black.

.:Line Break:.

I woke up later to William shaking me, this time fear accompanied his worry. Once he noticed that I was awake, he regarded me carefully.

"Charlotte, is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" I returned, mildly irritated by my black outs. "I went on a rampage again, didn't I?" It was more a statement than a question. "What did I destroy now?"

"Take a look around."

I did and I noticed that the incident took place in the living room this time. The coffee table was on the floor with its legs in the air. Photos that once hung on the walls were now on the floor, shattered. The bookcase had been knocked over, the books haphazardly scattered all around the room. The floor lamp had been knocked over too, bulb fragments on the floor and in the lamp shade. The TV, luckily, was untouched, but the glass ornaments on the stand it sat on did not fare so well. The thing the threw me for a loop was the fact that the couch now stood on its side, looking as though it would fall at any minute.

"...The hell?!" I gaped at the damage. "If this happened when I was around people..." I shuddered at the thought.

"I'm afraid there's more bad news, sister." my brother informed me.

I was about to ask how things could get any worse, but my words died in my throat when I saw what my brother was holding. It was my guitar. While I lost control, it had been utterly destroyed. I took what was left of my beloved instrument from him and silently mourned for my loss.

"This guitar..." I croaked, "The girls and you bought it for me."

William knelt next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders, "It's alright, sister. We can buy a new guitar."

I held on tightly to my broken instrument. "You don't get it, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sure, we can replace the guitar, but we can't replace the sentimental value it held. And another thing, I may just be destroying objects now, but what happens when I cross that line, when I go beyond the point of no return?"

William looked a bit frightened. "I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, Charlotte."

I glared at him through my tear misted eyes, shrugging his arm off me, "What happens when I start attacking people, William? What happens when I revert back to the way I was?"

"That won't happen! You've changed, you're not like that any more!" he reasoned, "You said it yourself, people can change!"

"Yeah? Well, maybe I was wrong. Maybe people don't change. Maybe everyone else can change except me!"

William appeared to be frantic by this point. "Sister, why are you acting like this? I don't understand."

/"Sister, please, why are you doing this? I don't understand."/

"You wouldn't understand, would you?"

/"I'm doing this, William, because I'm a monster. I may as well act like one."/

"You couldn't understand."

/"Look at me! I'm a goddamn freak! Other people may be able to change, but I can't. You should just accept that. I already have."/

"You'd never understand!" I shouted, shooting to my feet, effectively scaring my brother, "You'd never understand the pain I feel! You'd never understand what I have to deal with day in and day out! You'd never understand the things I have to put up with! You just don't understand!" I was panting, both from my anger and my outburst.

"He'd never understand me." I thought to myself, "He's the one who's mostly normal. He's the one who's sane. He's the one who isn't burdened by his past. He's lucky."

"You're right." he admitted, whispering as though any loud noise would set me off, "I don't understand, but that's why I need you to tell me. I need you to talk to me so I can understand. I'm always here for you, sister, to help you."

"I don't need any help from someone who doesn't understand anything!" I yelled, "Just leave me alone, William!" I stomped off to my room, leaving a hurt and confused William in my wake.

.:Line Break:.

That night, for patrol, I decided to take my motorcycle, the one that was specifically designed for patrol. It looked like my other one, except the flames on it were neon green.

Honestly, I was just speeding through town, no real direction or destination in mind. It reminded me of my gang days in a way. I'd get on my bike and ride through the streets at night to think and clear my head.

"It's amazing how, in such a short time a person's world can be turned upside down and inside out." I thought, gazing at the blurs of lights, buildings, and people as I sped by.

"Help!"

The scream caused me to stop my bile and turn towards the noise.

"Great." I said sarcastically with a roll of my eyes, "Whatever bad guy this is now is going to get hurt. Badly."

The scream had come from a tech store nearby. Inside the clerk was tied up by two large men. Going through the shelves was a short man with an abnormally large head.

I kicked open the door and marched inside. "Alright, drop your shit! You're all going to jail!"

The man I had seen earlier with what I thought was an abnormally large skull, actually had a brain for a head.

"...Ew."

The man moved away from the shelves with a glare. "Ah, you're Darkness."

I was surprised for a moment by the fact that he knew my name, but I made sure that it didn't show. "How do you know my name?"

"It's all over the news. That, and word has been going around among villains of new super heroes, one of which is a young girl." he said.

"Okay... And who the hell are you?"

He took a bow, a conniving grin on his face. "I am the Lobe. More importantly, where is Freakazoid?"

I looked off to the side. Normally, I would be offended that he thought Freakazoid was worth fighting more than I was, if I wasn't wondering the same thing myself. "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me the answer to that question."

The grin on his face was replaced with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He went missing sometime Saturday evening. No one's seen him since."

"Is this because his girlfriend broke up with him?" Lobe asked, strangely seeming to be mildly concerned.

"Does everyone know about that?"

"Of course. Steff was the perfect bait to lure Freakazoid. Now I'll have to find someone else."

Somehow, I wasn't surprised. "So, you don't know where he is?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not."

I sighed, then took my pole in hand. "Well, as nice as this chat has been, I have send you to jail now."

Lobe grinned again, "To send me to jail you'll have to defeat me first. You may be good, Darkness, but you're no Freakazoid."

I smirked. After the day I had, I needed a good fight. "Good thing I'm not. Washington needs at least one super hero with a brain."

"Get here!" Lobe shouted before turning back to the shelves.

His two henchmen abandoned the clerk and charged at me.

The first henchmen got hit square in the face with the end of my pole, followed by a hit to the back of his head. He fell to the floor, knocked out cold. The other attempted to punch me, only for me to deliver a swift kick to the face. A sickening snap was heard and when I removed my foot, I saw his nose bleeding. Not even giving him time to recover, I struck him in the back of the head, allowing him to fall to the floor like his friend.

The Lobe stared at me in horror, obviously not expecting me to be so violent. I grinned menacingly as I drew closer to him.

"Now do you understand?" I asked, taunting him, "I'm nothing like Freakazoid." As I towered over him, the only response I received was a scream of terror.

After knocking out the three idiots, I left them in the street for the police.

.:Line Break:.

The rest of the week I skipped school and patrolled the streets at night. Each night a different villain suffering my wrath.

Friday night was different, though. I walked along the sidewalk, spinning my pole as I went.

"Darkness."

I stopped in front of an ally way where I heard the voice. "Who's there?" I asked, still bitter about Monday. I was in no mood to deal with criminals, especially since all week Freakazoid was missing and hadn't shown up at all.

Walking out of the darkness of the ally way were Cobra Queen and Caveguy.

"If you're planning on doing something illegal tonight, I'd recommend against it. I'm in a bad mood and Freakazoid is-"

"Missing." Cobra Queen finished for me, "We know. Word has it that you've been asking criminals all week for his whereabouts."

I narrowed my eyes at them, "Yeah, so?"

"We heard a rumor that we think you'd be interested in." Caveguy said, "Some people are saying that they've been seeing a blue teen by the dock warehouses."

"And you think it may be Freakazoid?" I asked hopefully.

"That's correct."

I was happy at the thought that he may have been found. Then, remembering where the information came from, I became suspicious. "Wait a minute. Why are you-"

I turned back to the ally, only to find that the two criminals were no where to be found.

I stood there for a minute, thinking about what they said. I then left the ally and made my way to the warehouses by the docks.

.:Line Break:.

I had only been searching the docks for five minutes before hearing noises coming from one of the warehouses, warehouse 13. Walking up to it, I was surprised to find the door unlocked. I went inside the dimly lit warehouse, only to discover strange machines and a large screen on one of the walls.

"No, nothing odd going on here." I muttered to myself.

All of a sudden, the door slammed shut. I ran over to it and frantically tried opening it, but it was no use. The door was locked tight.

It was then that the giant screen turned on, revealing a man with an eye patch, laughing. I turned and glared at him.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" I growled.

"Ah, my apologies, Darkness. My name is Armando Guitierrez."

"Freakazoid's arch enemy." I thought aloud.

"So, you know of me then? Good, so you know what it is that I want."

"No, actually, I don't. Enlighten me." I snarled.

He laughed again, "The only thing I want is to make Freakazoid and everyone around him miserable. It won't be too difficult to make Freakazoid suffer since his girlfriend tossed him aside. Then I'll work on Dexter Douglas."

My eyes widened and fiery rage seared through my body, my irises burning red. "Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"I'll make them suffer until they wish to die. And the best way to break the two of them, is killing you. After all, they just care about you so much, don't they, Miss Charlotte Hightopp?"

"How the hell do you know my name?!"

I received no answer, he only laughed. "Come, laugh with me." was all he said before the screen went black.

It infuriated me that he would do that to Dexter and Freakazoid. They were my friends and I felt very protective of them. I felt like killing that man for what he said.

And that's when it hit me. The blushing, the strange feelings in my stomach, my protectiveness, the need to make them happy. I was in love. I was in love with him. And not just Dexter, but Freakazoid, too. I was in love with two guys. Two guys who were my best friends.

I blinked in shock, too stunned to do much else. "Well..." I said to no one in particular, "Fuck me, then."

The sound of a crate falling and breaking brought me out of my stupor, forcing me to push my crisis aside. Cautiously, I ventured in the direction of the sound and instantly I was met with another surprise.

There, standing before me was Freakazoid. I almost ran up and hugged him because I was so relieved to see him alive and well, But I noticed something rather disturbing.

Freakazoid was grinning, but it wasn't his usual idiotic, happy-go-lucky grin. No, it was dark and full of malice. His eyes weren't the normal onyx filled with kindness and joy. They were crimson and were brimming with madness and blood lust.

Startled, I stepped back. This wasn't Freakazoid. This wasn't my Freakazoid. Freakazoid always smiled kindly at me. Freakazoid never gazed at anyone with malice in his eyes. Freakazoid never made me feel...terrified.

I could feel my eyes turn pink as I took another step back. Growling, Freakazoid moved towards me. "Freakazoid...snap out of it. Come on. It's me, Darkness, your partner, your friend, remember?"

Reasoning didn't seem to work as he continued to advance.

"Freakazoid, I don't know what Guitierrez did to you, but I'm your friend! I don't want to hurt you."

Apparently, that set him off because the next thing I knew Freakazoid lunged at me, punching me in the ribs. Having the wind knocked out of me, I collapsed, clutching my right side where I had been hit.

Unbelievable and excruciating pain seared through me and I felt several bones sticking out in ways I knew they shouldn't. It was then that I realized just how strong Freakazoid really was.

"All this time he's been holding back. No wonder, with that kind of strength he'd probably kill a normal person. He's more aware of what he can do than I thought." I thought to myself as I struggled to get up. Rising to my feet, I winced, clutching my side still. "I think he might have broken some ribs."

"Freakazoid," I tried again, "Stop this. I won't fight you, I refuse to."

And again my words were met with violence. He hit me in the stomach twice, using super speed, causing me to fall. For a minute, I couldn't breathe. Coughing, I fought to get back on my feet. However, before I could manage to do that, he swept my feet out from under me. Pain shot through my left ankle where he hit me as I once again met the floor. It felt like my body was on fire, pulsing with pain. My ribs hurt, my insides hurt, and my left ankle hurt. I had never been in so much physical agony in all my life, but I forced myself to get back up. I knew that if I didn't I'd probably get messed up even worse.

I gripped my pole in both hands now, getting into a fighting stance. I coughed again and felt something wet trickle from the corner of my mouth. I wiped my mouth on my arm and was not surprised when I saw red on my paper whit skin.

"Internal bleeding." I thought, "That bastard is hell bent on making Freakazoid kill me. When I get my hands on him, I'll make him rue the day he ever messed with Charlotte Hightopp!"

Freakazoid stood still, probably waiting for me to speak again.

"If I don't at least defend myself, I'll get killed."

Swallowing the coppery taste of blood, I began to speak again. "Freakazoid, snap out of it already! Stop this before you do something you'll regret!"

Still, he didn't listen. Freakazoid charged at me and this time I raised my pole to defend myself. I swung as soon as he got close, but with a flash of light, he moved to my right side. A second later, he had my arm in his grasp, tightening his grip until a loud, sickening crack was heard. I cried out in pain, dropping my pole. Gritting my teeth, I swung my left fist at him, but it was useless. He disappeared to my left in a flash of light. Grabbing my left arm, he swung me around before throwing me into a pile of crates, destroying them in the process.

"I can't feel my arm." I thought through the haze of pain, "Did he dislocate it?"

I was left no time to ponder this, as Freakazoid came over and pinned my body to the ground.

"Freakazoid," I coughed out, "Stop this. Don't let him control you."

He growled at me, pulling back his fist to strike. To be honest, I was scared for my life.

That's when I decided to take a gamble. "If I don't I'll die anyway." I made my white skin recede from the roots of my hair down the rest of my body, changing it back to normal.

"Freakazoid, stop! It's me, Charlotte!"

My vision started getting blurry, but I was able to see Freakazoid stop his punch, a confused look on his face.

"C-Charlotte?" he asked timidly.

I allowed myself to give a weak smile, coughing more. "Finally, I got through to him..." I reached up with my broken arm, wincing at the pain, and cupped the side of his face. I was in so much pain, but I was so happy that he was himself again.

"Yeah, Freakazoid. It's me, it's always been me. I'm sorry for not telling you."

His eyes faded back to onyx and he finally seemed aware of himself again. Through my blurry vision, I saw his expression change from confused to panicked to horrified.

"W-what- I-! Charlotte! I-I... I'm so sorry! I didn't... I wouldn't... I'm so sorry!"

He began rambling and I couldn't help but laugh, he looked like he was about to cry. I realized that I really had no reason to be laughing, seeing that I was in the condition I was in. I didn't know if it was because I was happy I found him, relieved that he was back to normal, or just plain mad. I was betting on a combination of the three.

"Charlotte, why are you laughing?! Don't tell me I hit you in the head! I'm so sorry!"

I laughed harder, coughing up some more blood. He was still on top of me. He hadn't noticed yet and was still frantic. Yes, I was heavily injured and have a twisted sense of humor. Sue me.

"Number one," I began, my voice hoarse, "If you hit me in the head, I think my brain would be splattered on the ground. Number two, you're still sitting on top of me. Not to be rude, but get off."

Finally noticing our position, Freakazoid jumped away from me, almost as if he had been burned. He reached out a hand to pull me up. I shook my head. "My one arm is broken and I can't feel the other."

His eyes went wide, filled with guilt.

"It's not your fault." I coughed.

He didn't respond, but he picked me up like he always did, and for once I didn't complain. I was tired. I didn't think I had gotten any sleep since Monday. He carried me outside and we were both surprised to see Cosgrove and Roddy standing in front of a cop car. They both seemed shocked to see us (Can't imagine why). They rushed over to us, concern in their eyes.

They began speaking, but things were getting blurrier and my hearing started to go.

"Lad...missing...where?"

"Kid...what...?"

"Cosgrove, Roddy...how...?"

"Cobra... Cave..."

I couldn't make out the conversation and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I heard the three call out to me as my eyes slid closed.

"Charlotte!"

That was all I heard before everything went black.

.:Line Break:.

...I hope you don't hate me for this. Anyway, review please!