Year 1: October 1st, 6:00am
Grand Cathedral, Catacomb Ruins

It's been 5 days since the destruction of the Grand Cathedral, and Marie's withdrawal from the public eye. Although New Meridian was seeing better days the damage was already done, the general area surrounding the Grand Cathedral was blocked off from civilians until repairs could be made to the establishment, the Grand Cathedral was a sacred place in the kingdom's culture after all, despite its legacy the secrets behind the foundation were never made public, no one ever knew the cathedral housed the Skullgirl, or at least the current Skullgirl, even to this day. The only ones exposed to this secret were Double, Valentine, the Player, Filia, Squigly, Nadia and, to a lesser extent, Cerebella, all of which had previously encountered Marie there.

Below the church lies the hidden catacombs, and below THAT was a vast labyrinth that reached far below the known surface, otherwise known as the Skullgirls domain, the Final Atrium…though considering the cathedral's history there were more hidden truths, waiting to emerge. That, however, was a story best saved for another time.

Along the path leading to the Grand Cathedral Valentine traverses the long road by her lonesome. After a lengthy walk she comes face-to-face with the remains of the building, looking on as she what she had predicted during her fight with Parasoul came to pass, the events leading the Player to the church resulted in the church's destruction, and with no word from the Skullgirl, or Double for that matter, perhaps it meant their death as well, but Valentine was no optimist, as much joy as it would bring her to know Canopy could enjoy 7 years of peace, she knew this moment of calm was only temporary.

She proceeds, walking among the rubble and debris with careful footing, eventually she began tossing it aside, working as though she was searching for something. After a few hours of digging she soon came across the hidden passage way that lead to the catacombs. She walks down the elaborate stairway until she arrived at the subterranean cavern, she was greeted to ankle deep water.

"…They really did a number on this place." She speaks aloud to herself, her eye scanning the area only to see rubble and ruin. "Marie hasn't shown herself since the explosion. Not to mention Theonic readings have quickly died out around the area, so there's no way for me to track the Skull Heart, assuming it's even out of her grasp."

Valentine takes one final look around the cavern, she looks up to the ceiling above and closed her eye, thinking back to the only friends she's ever had, the Last Hope, and how she misses them.

'For once in your LIFE, Val, listen to my orders! She's undefended...this could be our only chance! You're the ONLY ONE among us powerful enough to finish our mission!'

"That was the last thing you said to me." Valentine said to herself after reminiscing on Christmas' last words. "You died having faith in me. Trusting our mission to me, the stubborn one. The overachiever. I was so stupid, and…none of my failures amount to how much pain I feel for not being able to tell you that I'm sorry."

Survivor's guilt was finally catching up with the vulnerable woman, she wistfully opens her eyes, clearly showing sadness in them as she tried her best to fight back her emotions, for the first time in a long time reminding herself that she was human and suffering, regretting even, her actions lead to ruining the life of a young girl, turning her into a weapon that she doesn't even know the whereabouts anymore.

If there was one wish she could make on the Skull Heart at this very moment it would to correct the last mistake she had made, a means of redemption, she wanted nothing more than to be the Skullgirl herself to allow Painwheel to end her life.

After having some time to herself Valentine draws her bonesaw and plunges it into the water, having the saw pierce the ground below. "…I quit." She mutters to herself, referring to her role as Marie's enforcer.

Once the bonesaw was placed Valentine released the tool from her hands and turns to the stairway leading out of the catacombs. Without a word she walks onward, leaving the hideout and the last memory of her allies as a means of deeming herself unworthy of carrying out their legacy.

Year 1: October 3rd, 9:24pm
Lab 8, Infirmary

Painwheel laid asleep in a white hospital bed while assuming the fetal position, this was the only comfortable pose she could assume thanks to Buer Drive's massive size, the aforementioned synthetic Parasite was slouched over the side, sitting on the floor.

While in the middle of her sleep Painwheel faintly grunts in her sleep, occasional flinches following shortly after each grunt.

A hazy flash reveals Maplecrest, where Painwheel stands in wait at one of the doors.

The house door opens and the home owners, husband and wife, are shocked to find the girl waiting, their initial response was silence, their facial expressions gestured disgust at her deformed body, but nevertheless Painwheel stands before them, smiling behind her mask, the mouth section even curled a bit to show that she meant no ill-will and was happy.

"Mom. Dad…it's me." She says, revealing the couple to be her parents.

As she takes a hopeful step forward the husband quickly grabs a hold of his wife for protection as she screams in horror, fearing for her life that this abomination claimed to be her child. Painwheel's words didn't convince them, and it was obvious by her father's cold words, "M-MONSTER! GET OUT OF HERE, MONSTER!" he exclaimed.

Their reaction to her presence made the poor girl freeze and look on, distraught and hurt at their disownment of her.

Back in the infirmary Painwheel jumps out of her sleep, and sits up in bed, she was breathing heavily and sweating. Hearing her awake, Ileum, who was overseeing her rest, approaches and placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder in hopes of calming her.

"It's ok! It's ok, you're safe." The kind woman spoke to her in a soothing voice.

Realizing what she just witnessed was a dream Painwheel's breathing became less erratic now that she understood what was going on. "…Where am I?"

"You're in Lab 8's infirmary. You've been sleeping for quite some time."

"Wait. The Skullgirl! Where is the Skullgirl?!"

"We're not sure. The Skullgirl has disappeared, the last anyone has seen of her she lost consciousness after destroying Medici Tower. That was 7 days ago."

"7 days? Was I out that time?"

Ileum nods. "After fight with Ben you lost consciousness. Since then we've been looking for ways to help restore your body back to how it was."

Painwheel looks down to her palms and stares at them in sorrow. "…What's the point?" She asked in a broken voice. "It's not like I have a life to go back to. Even my own parents have turned me away." She clenches her hands into fists and only feel the sting of heartbreak knowing she had nothing left.

Ileum watches in silence as the young girl expressed her grief, and while she knew it wasn't in her place to comment on what she went through she wanted to stay supportive. "You're young." She says, now placing her hands over Painwheel's to get her attention. "If you feel you don't have an old life to go back to then why not create a new one?"

"What? What life could I possibly make for myself if I'm like this? I'm a monster."

"Who told you that?"

"My parents."

That comment pierced Ileum's tender heart to the point where she silently gasps in response, nobody deserved this, no child deserved to have this happen. While normally kind and forgiving Ileum was finding it difficult to stave off the urge to hate Brain Drain for his immoral experiments, to make children suffer as much as this was a new low.

"The girl I am. The people I've hurt. The horrifying things I've done. There's no coming back from any of it." Painwheel continued to explain, the more she spoke the deeper into depression she fell.

"I didn't know you before, but…you can still do good. It's never too late to change. If you start with us, then I promise you things will get better. Your parents still love you, you're their daughter. In fact I know they're worried sick about you, we just have to get them to see it. It may take a while, but we can fix this. All it takes is the first step. We can give you your life back."

As motivating as that would've been to hear if Painwheel wasn't so emotionally distressed, she just couldn't bring herself around to seeing any good in her future. Her response to Ileum's speech? She turns away and lays back down, curling up in another fetal position and remaining quiet.

Seeing this Ileum lowers her head, sad to see this was Painwheel's answer to keeping faith. She reaches out her hand with the intent of reassuring the troubled teen, but she stops halfway once the thought of the potential repercussions of showing pity to someone who is already broken. Even with the good intentions kindness carries, careless handouts would surely rub salt in the wound. She just needed time to cope and she retracts her hand.

"We're here for you." Ileum says without fault. "When you're ready - we'll be there."

And with that she walks away from the bed, leaving Painwheel to have some time alone after all that's happened. The sound of the room door closing made the teen twitch in bed, reminding her of having her house door slammed in her face by her parents.

'M-MONSTER! GET OUT OF HERE, MONSTER!'

Ever since she was abducted and transformed into a ASG weapon the only thing keeping her from losing her soul to her creators was the will to return home, to the life she once knew, she kept faith in her parents love, having been raised around the ideology that parents love their children unconditionally, but now that it was thrown in her face, and what was left of her hopes have been crushed by the coldness of reality, Painwheel finally accepts defeat.

"…It's too much." Her voice cracks while trying her hardest to keep herself from crying, only to fail once the weight of the situation hits her in full. She tightens the fetal position and held her knees close to her chest.

Year 1: October 7th-16th

After weeks of numerous tests and rehabilitation Painwheel has finally come to adjusting with life around Lab 8, when not undergoing surgery she spent her time pulling her weight around the lab and helping where she could, she kept busy considering the labs were still under reconstruction. In her spare time she would often find solace with the children of the ASG labs, the kids often acted as Painwheel's emotional crutch, often being the ones who helped put a smile on her face when she became vulnerable.

Thanks to her time spent at the lab some of Painwheel's deformities were clearing up, most notably was the correction to her boney frame and hunched appearance thanks to a proper diet and physical therapy on top of her already busy schedule, though the Parasite extension, Buer Drive and Gae Bolga, remained intact and were subject of further study before they could be safely removed.

Friendships with Ileum, Leduc, Hive and other ASG members arose the longer she stayed, Painwheel's personality as Carol has earned her the playful alias 'Lab 8's favorite sweetheart'.

Year 1: October 17th, 12:24am

After a long day of tests and therapy Painwheel returned to her room for a nights rest. Despite the fact that she was seeing a development there was one thing that remained, her hatred for Valentine. No matter how much she tried letting it go she always found herself coming back to hating her for being so heartless and cruel.

"Come to the Grand Cathedral of the Divine Trinity. I'll be waiting and so will the Skullgirl." Valentine's voice plays back in the girl's head, reminding her of the unfinished business she had with her abductor. "See you there!"

Valentine purposely gave her the location for the Skullgirl and her group and Painwheel couldn't figure out why, she was actually losing sleep over it now that she finally had time to just sit down and think about it. Why would she be so willing to share the information? Especially when she knew it could've gotten her killed. Perhaps the nurse had some ulterior motives, which only made the curiosity within Painwheel grow. Now she had questions and was going to confront her foe about it before killing her. She made it her mission.

Early the next morning, Painwheel secretly leaves the labs before it came time for her morning psychiatric treatment to severe the connection from Brain Drain. She travels to the Grand Cathedral only to find it in ruins. Of course she wouldn't know about this because she was knocked out during the battle, but she treated the destruction as a minor obstacle and proceeded to investigate the debris.

After a bit of searching she discovered the passageway to the catacombs and cautiously made her way down the lengthy stairs. The investigation eventually brought her to the catacombs where she steps into the ankle deep water, the only source of light came from the sunlight gleaming down from the earthy ceiling above. Despite her search Valentine, nor the Skullgirl, was nowhere to be found, however her eye falls upon a familiar medical tool that was planted in the ground, just one look at it and she knew, this was the bonesaw that belonged to Valentine, there was no mistaking it. She was here.

Despite all her previous feelings there was no source of blinding rage or uncontrollable anger from the teen, she just stands there, looking with an unreadable gaze, perhaps due to the fact that she was still bind to her mask via the ingrained stitches.

Painwheel approaches the bonesaw, now taking it by the handle and pulling it from the ground. Realizing Valentine must've left it behind as a way symbolically leaving behind the Skullgirl she began to wonder about herself, wondering if it was time for her to truly move on…she had experienced nothing but pain and anguish since she met Valentine, but she had spent an even greater time knowing the love and care from lab 8, and thanks to them she was given an opportunity to fulfill a greater destiny.

With a long exhale Painwheel placed her left hand over her face, she uses all of her superhuman strength to grab a hold of her mask and pull with all her might, tackling the problem like ripping off a band-aid, however it was far more painful than the context lead on, resulting in a bloody finish, the mask was planted deep within her skin, suggesting that whoever's idea it was to put it on her in the first place didn't intend for it to come for whatever reason.

After forcibly removing the mask, Painwheel was left with a bloody face from a few of the areas, but she uses the water to clean her face until the bleeding stopped, surprisingly her injuries healed themselves within seconds, though she wouldn't have known that since she couldn't see it, the same couldn't be said for the marks left on her face, she was scarred with the outlines of the masks stitches, chances were that wouldn't get fixed since the mask was on for too long. The scars weren't the only thing that would stick with her, her muscular petite body was also here to stay.

With her face cleared Painwheel opened her eyes and revealed her eyes for the first time in months, they were red, similar to Filia and Squigly, with black sclera.

Now that her face was free she felt the air breeze past her, and the warm glow of the sunlight beams shined upon her face, showing that she wasn't a monster at all, in fact she was blossoming young woman. She dropped the remains of the mask into the water and looks up to the sunlight, quietly seizing the moment as the day she got her life back by starting a new, as a member of the next generation of ASG soldiers who fight to protect their nation from corruption.

Painwheel was gone, Carol was reborn.