Chapter 10: The Fire Within

It was amazing how fast the bleachers were filled with rock trolls. The news about two racing queens made every hard rocker stop their singing, their books and their chilling to go watch the thrilling competition that was about to start.

Branch found malfunctioning communicators and spent half an hour fixing them. He was Poppy's support team… the whole team… so he needed things to work properly. He made sure his girlfriend had a helmet, as well as elbow and knee pads. He completely ignored Riff saying that he was exaggerating, that it wasn't that dangerous. Well, Branch didn't care. He had promised to protect her, so he was doing his job.

The crowd cheered loudly and Branch looked up to the entrance of the circuit where Barb entered, wearing her usual white shirt and black shorts, waving at everybody in her cheerful way. Poppy came right behind her holding her hands up in the typical 'rock on' gesture. The crowd screamed even louder and Branch felt the green feeling of jealousy washing over him. Was she supposed to be wearing a ripped shirt, small shorts and fishnets? Was that really necessary?

The girls high fived and positioned themselves on their beetles, but Branch wasn't allowing the race to start just yet.

"Hold on a second!" he yelled, stopping the countdown.

"What the heck, man?" Barb looked at him in annoyance, but he ignored her, hopping on Poppy's bug with the safety equipment he had got for her.

"Here," he plugged the communicator in her ear and covered her face with the helmet, making sure it was fastened securely.

"Thank you, Branch." Her voice sounded smooth and cheerful- grateful that he was showing such care for her safety and wellbeing. He kept adjusting the pads and only muttered a 'no prob' quickly. He was really anxious about the race and it was making him feel so tense that he barely could speak.

Just before he jumped from the beetle, Branch felt Poppy's hand on his arm, stopping him. He looked up to see what was wrong, when she pulled him up for a quick and sweet kiss. He was VERY aware of the crowd screaming at that.

"Oh… I'm going to puke." They heard Barb complaining and awkwardly broke apart.

Branch was vaguely conscious of getting back to his place at the pit stop, feeling lightheaded. That kiss was everything he needed to be reassured that it was going to be a fun event and not a dangerous one. They were there for charity, after all.

A shooting sound initiated the race. Both Barb and Poppy took off at the same time. The circuit was short and the race was only twenty laps, meaning it shouldn't take any longer than half an hour to complete.

Barb, being used to racing her whole life, quickly took the lead, distancing herself from Poppy by a good stretch. Of course, the Pop Queen didn't like that and on the first turn, instead of slowing down, she sped up, shorting the distance between them. It caused Branch to jump from his chair at her bold - and dangerous - display of competitiveness.

The bugs buzzed loudly, raising the dust from the ground as they flew by. The second turn had a more acute angle, so it was impossible not to slow down. The shiny metallic armor of Poppy's beetle got slightly out of place, but no one except from Branch noticed it.

"Do you copy, Poppy?" he called urgently.

"Yes, what is it?" she yelled, having a hard time speaking while the wind was hitting her face so hard.

"Your beetle's armor is falling on the side. Watch out for the right turns. At the tenth lap I need you to come to the pit stop to get it fixed," he explained.

She didn't like what he said. Going to the pit stop meant to fall behind. She wasn't going to be beaten. To lose by a few seconds was okay, but she wasn't ready to accept the humiliation. So Poppy threw caution to the air and sped up once again.

The distance between Barb and her was shortening, and the Rock Queen was too busy waving to everyone to notice. Poppy saw her chance. At the next turn to the left, Poppy flew past Barb, gaining speed as the track straightened out.

Poppy entered the third lap with much more confidence. The turns were familiar already and she knew exactly when to speed up and when to hold the beetle tighter. The buzzing from Barb's beetle was getting louder behind her and Poppy's stomped her beetle for more speed to avoid losing the lead position. Branch saw the Rock Queen's expression growing angry at the distance Poppy was pulling. Well… it wouldn't look good if she lost at her own game…

Two more laps and Poppy noticed the distance between them was growing and she cheered inside. It was going to be safe to stop to get her beetle fixed for a few seconds. There was something different about her bug, that was for certain. It seemed to be able to gain speed easier than Barb's. She had a feeling Branch had something to do with it.

"It is the best race I've ever seen!" Riff said with his eyes fixed on the monitor above their heads back at the pitstop shed. "You were right, man. Poppy's beetle is lighter that way."

While the speed performance was perfect, Branch couldn't say the same about the safety. Shocked, Branch saw as the armor on the beetle fell open, flapping heavily with the wind and turning upwards, dangerously threatening to come apart and hit Poppy straight in the head. He had made sure he had welded it right, how come the thing just got detached out of nowhere?

"Poppy, stop now. Come straight to the pit stop."

"I need to get more distance between us."

"GET. HERE. NOW."

Silence followed with an excruciating pause. Branch felt his heart beating wildly with the uncertainty about yelling at her. His command was clear… and loud. Very. Very loud. He pondered his attitude and how she would react to it. She was always in control, as Queen she wasn't ordered around and she was stubborn and thick headed to boot. Oh Hair, was yelling the right approach? Was she going to disobey him just to prove he couldn't make her do anything she didn't want to?

Finally, she spoke. "Fine, I'm coming down." Her squeaky voice almost went unnoticed as he drowned in his own anxious thoughts. Exhaling hard in relief, he moved to meet her at the entrance. Riff got ready to help him. After all, even if he was Team Barb, they didn't want any accidents.

Branch couldn't help but feel guilty seeing her downtrodden expression as she pulled in to stop. He stepped up and handed her a bottle of water, which she accepted silently. He quickly hopped back down to help Riff weld the armor back in place, trying to wave off the obvious tension. Poppy watched the track with itching irritation as Barb zoomed passed the pitstop, gaining the lead once again.

As soon as Riff gave the thumb's up, Branch pulled himself up next to Poppy again.

"Listen," he said, getting closer to whisper in her ear. "When you're ready, press here." He showed her a clasp in the middle of the beetle's back. "use it on the last lap; the armor will come off and you'll fly like the wind." It was a special little mechanism he thought would come in handy. Poppy gave a small smile at his ingenuity and nodded.

Wasting no more time, Branch jumped down as Poppy took off again. He had to admit, races were fun, especially if he was the one working with the crew, inventing gadgets to help. His knowledge could be useful for games as well, not just for protection.

Barb sped up, noticing that Poppy was getting closer again as they entered the final lap. It was incredibly fun, the Pop Queen had it in her to pull a good game and Barb could already see the amount of funds that were pouring in. Her mind was already scanning her agenda to schedule another one.

The finish line was just a few meters away and Poppy knew she wouldn't be able to catch up with Barb in time, so she looked down and pressed the clasp like Branch had said. It worked perfectly. The armor came off to the sides, safely avoiding where she was standing. She heard the buzz getting louder and the beetle gained speed instantly.

Barb didn't see her coming. She was already air guitar-ing her victory when Poppy passed by her side in a very unexpected and thrilling crowd fell quiet as soon as both girls crossed the final line. They stared at each other filled with uncertainty. Even the queens paused paused, unsure of the final result.

A monitor on the side of the pit stop areas replayed the moment and the girls rushed over to see it. Branch and Riff were already curled down there with their hands on their knees to watch in slow motion what had occurred.

Barb's beetle's head had crossed the finish line, but, at exactly the same point, Poppy's bug had stretched its antennas and got there at the same time. Oh Hair… it was a tie.

The rock trolls screamed like their Queen had never heard before. Barb was so happy that she got Poppy in a playful headlock.

"You race like a pro, Popsqueak!"

"Argh, you too...!" Poppy spluttered, trying not to choke. Barb only let go when she saw Branch approaching and Poppy could breathe freely again.

"You got some cool tricks up your sleeve, boy-toy!" She chuckled, hitting him on the arm. "I wouldn't mind if you were part of my racing team."

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A couple of hours later, at the race after-party, Branch was enthusiastically explaining to a group of rock trolls how the air got into the bug's wings, and how the metal armor would weigh it down, making the poor thing need to make an extra effort to speed up. There were better materials to protect it from crashes…

It was unbelievable how the teal troll was getting attention from dozens of trolls as he sat at a large bar table inside the hotel Barb had booked for the party. He was even drinking beer to celebrate. At that point he had scratched all the reservations he had against racing. If done properly, it could be a blast!

Poppy watched him from the bar as she sat next to Barb and Carol, sipping on her third fruit and sake mix, starting to get a little lightheaded. She was so proud of Branch and her mind was struggling to think of anything else at that girls' chat fell to undistinguished noise while Branch seemed to raise in volume to make a point about how the exits were too small for the amount of trolls inside the bar; that they should think about enlarging them in case there was fire and they all needed to escape quickly. At the size they were now, only one troll per second would pass through that small door,the rest of them would be burned alive while waiting to get out. It was dramatic, but he was right. And the rock trolls actually started taking notes!

"Your boyfriend seems to be in a better mood." Barb said, looking at Branch and getting Poppy's attention back to the conversation they were having.

"Well... he's not on duty." Poppy chewed on some peanuts that were placed in front of them. "Back in Pop Village, he's alert at all times."

"It's no wonder why he had never drank before." Barb chuckled, remembering him getting ridiculously drunk on tequila. "Let's hope you won't have to take care of him tonight."

"No, he's been there for hours and his beer cup is still only half full. He's paying attention to keep himself together." How adorable… She felt like sighing like a sappy, love-sick princess, completely enamoured with him, only, she had to make a small metal note to scold him for yelling at her earlier. She didn't appreciate getting yelled at, no matter how bossy he could get at his position as her General.

"So, it means YOU can get drunk." Barb whistled at the bar troll who quickly gave her another beer bottle and another fruity drink for Poppy.

"Actually, we must go the first thing in the morning, so I can't drink much," she explained, but took the glass anyway.

The problem was that by the end of her fourth cup she was a gonner. Branch was so engrossed in a rant about fire hydrants and sprinklers that he only noticed that his girlfriend was standing on top of the bar when she raised her voice to start singing, following Barb's furious guitaring:

"Oh, make me over

I'm all I want to be

A walking study

In demonology"

Uh oh… That was his cue to leave. The party was awesome, there was no denying it, and rock trolls were incredibly friendly once he got to know them, but he wouldn't allow the Queen to humiliate herself. His job as her protector included keeping her image unscratched.

"Hey, so glad you could make it

Yeah, now you really made it

Hey, so glad you could make it now"

"Poppy, get down," he said in a serious tone and Barb pouted at him, but stopped the song anyway.

"Thank you!" He sighed, "Now c'mon, Poppy." The Pop Queen giggled and jumped down, falling dramatically into his open arms.

"My knight came to rescue me, how heroic of you!" She planted a sweet kiss on his cheek, but didn't get down on her own feet.

"We better go and set camp up somewhere…" Branch said to her. Poppy wouldn't go without one last sip of her drink and reached for it. Branch pushed the glass away. "I think you've had enough."

"Hey, Branch!" Barb called. She seemed completely fine, Branch noticed, but the amount of empty beer bottles in front of her made him wonder if she had a liver at all. "You can use one of the rooms upstairs. One bed, shower. Everything you'll need."

"One bed…?" He looked at the staircase, knowing what she was implying. Oh well… he had his sleeping bag. Who cared about what they would think?

"Just try not to scream too loud, we'll be partying down here." He ignored Barb's comments, Poppy was distractingly drawing patterns on his arm and, Branch gulped when he realised the situation was fast approaching a very probable outcome. He wrapped his arms around Poppy's waist protectively and made way to the upstairs floor.

Despite his previous remarks about the safety of the bar, the hotel upstairs seemed to have better ventilation and escape exits, which made him relax in the thought that he might actually get some sleep that night. That is… if Poppy would allow him.

She captivated all his senses at once. He set her down on her feet to close the door behind them and she immediately reached for her hair to untie it from the spiky band. She continued humming the song she was singing before and next she reached for her shirt to take it off…

"Okay, wait, I'm still here," he warned, grabbing the door handle once more to go out and give her some privacy.

"Oh, precisely," she said breathlessly, removing the shirt and revealing a cute blue bra. "I'll grab a quick shower, care to join me?"

"Hm… no." He desperately concentrated on everything but her. He didn't know where that seductive voice was coming from, but that wasn't his Poppy. The alcohol was speaking for her and he wouldn't fall for that. So he distracted himself by looking over at the lightbulb that was hanging from a wire, concluding it was the kind of trashy decoration the hotel was going for. He heard her unzipping her shorts and buried his head inside his backpack, looking for clean clothes so he could change... after the long shower he was going to need.

He heard the water running and cursed under his breath. She had left the door open, meaning he would have to keep his back turned for as long as she was in there. He knew a detour to Volcano Rock City was a bad idea.

The noise downstairs was a good distraction, but it was slowly dying down, meaning most trolls were leaving and the bar was about to close. It was a good thing, after all some privacy and silence during the night would be more than welcomed.

The water stopped running and Branch braced himself to wait for her to get dressed so he could take his turn. Spending the last hours in a jumpsuit didn't favour his smell. The night before, she had made sure he knew she paid close attention to that kind of detail.

"Hello, boyfriend." He almost jumped out of his skin when her voice appeared closely by his side, right into his ear with a hot and deliciously warm breath. "I really want to kiss you."

She turned around, sitting in front of him wearing nothing but a towel. It was a test to his nerves, surely, but there was no way he would do anything to her while she was drunk.

"Maybe in the morning." He stood up, taking a step towards the bathroom. "You're really drunk… it wouldn't be right."

"I'm not as bad as you were the other day." She stood, holding the towel in place, but Branch noticed how it was falling open on the sides.

"Yeah, I see that. Your tongue is as sharp as ever," he growled before closing the door behind him.

He took all the time he could in that shower. He cleaned places he had never cleaned before. How often did he remember to wash between his toes, anyway? Perhaps he took almost an hour showering, he didn't take his Hug Watch with him to make sure, but he was certain that Poppy had most likely fallen asleep already. He hoped.

So he got dressed, thinking about the inevitable: she was thinking about it. He had thought about it. They were dating. They would get to that point and it wasn't going to take long. Only, he couldn't focus on that during this mission. He needed to understand about his foggy past. He had to accept and understand where he came from so he could think about his future.

When he opened the door, he found her asleep under the clean white sheets. She was curled on the side, giving him space to join her. The bed was right in the middle of the room and she had opened the window. It was a surprisingly starry night. He saw that the gray air from the volcano had completely cleared and the sky had opened up, revealing a phenomenally beautiful full moon;

Its light was beaming into the room, reaching Poppy slowly, brightening her up from her feet, up to her legs and working its way to her chest. It almost looked like magic, as if the light was moving intentionally to fully illuminate her.

And he remembered the scrapbook; how her mom would devote herself to the moon every night. He couldn't believe it, but he was suddenly jealous of the Moon. He walked up to the window and looked at the big round form shining in its prime in the sky. He wouldn't allow it to have her. It was stupid and completely irrational, but he closed the window, making sure the darkness welcomed them once more.

Branch forgot about the sleeping bag. He marched to her side, feeling his blood pumping wildly through his body. He lifted the sheet and crawled beside her, wrapping his arms around her sleeping form and making sure she would be protected the whole night.

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He blinked sleepy and moved his head up to shoo the pink hair out of his face. His nose tickled with the wild mass that was tangling around him. He felt something wet on his jaw, as he took in his surroundings. It was still night, the moon was still shining dangerously outside, Poppy was on top of him trailing sweet kisses all over his face.

Oh crap.

He felt sluggish. The whole idea was to raise his hand, place them on her shoulders and push her away. But with the amount of work he had done that day along with the couple of beers he had had, made his arms heavy and his hands only trailed up a little, resting against her thighs that were strategically placed on each side of him; she took it as an encouragement.

The soft coaxing of her lips against his made him temporarily insane, closing his eyes and responding to her kiss. Small tingles of excitement made his toes curl when she pressed herself against him. His mind screamed that it wasn't right, but his body yelled back telling him to shut up and enjoy it.

The alcohol was still cooking her brain, but Poppy was aware of what she was doing. She felt dizzy, with her emotions running wild in the form of a warm chill that licked its way down her spine. His touch on her knees made her weaker than she already was and she laid on her side, bringing him to half lay on top of her.

She really wanted this. The exhilarating feeling of his tongue battling hers was everything she had hoped it would be, awakening a new kind of desire that burned her in a way that she knew she would never be able to get enough. He was addictive. She was completely addicted to Branch.

Her hand went down to explore his body. She was dying to feel his chest muscles again, but it seemed that her touch wasn't as welcomed as she had thought, because he held her hand, bringing it down so he pinned her against the bed. She moaned and lifted her knees, since her arms were being held, she'd hold him with her legs instead.

Ha. Serves him right.

"Poppy… stop, this isn't right," he said in her ears, taking his time to plant a sweet kiss there, contradicting his words.

"Then, why does it feel right?" she asked, claiming his mouth once more.

He couldn't argue with her on that. It felt incredibly right. He took a moment to lift himself a little, looking down at her with the little light that entered the room. She looked like a goddess. Her hair seemed to be sprawled everywhere. Her lips were puffy and her cheeks were flushed. Only her heavy and excited breathing carried the faint smell of liquor, reminding him that he had to be the strong one.

"It feels right because we were made for each other." He remembered a song he sang not long ago. "But now we have to stop, okay?"

"No…" she whined, moving her hips against him.

He gasped involuntarily and moved away.

"Poppy, either we're stopping nicely or I'm moving to my sleeping bag outside the room," he said fiercely. That got her attention and she looked away, as if ashamed of her behaviour, but angry to have to do as he said.

He watched with a heavy heart as her eyes brimmed with embarrassed tears. She broke free from his grasp and turned, curling up in a ball, facing the opposite side. It took more guts than he had. It was pure torture, but he couldn't blame her. She had no idea about the consequences of her actions, and he knew she'd regret it when she was sober.

Exhaling his frustrations, he turned to the other side and hugged his pillow. He just had a couple of more hours to rest, so he did his best to silence his over-excited body and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning he had a pleasant wake up. The sound of Poppy tiptoeing around the room and opening the door made him shift and start getting alert of his surroundings. With his eyes still closed, he heard her moving a tray next to the window, where she sat down and watched the deserted streets outside.

She sipped her orange juice quietly. He opened his eyes to see her sitting there in a sleeping shirt, holding her cup and her incredibly messy hair softly blowing with the morning breeze.

Yep… they had almost done it.

Notes: And once again I'd like to thank thebroppytrain for proofing the chapter for me! Guys thank you for your lovely comments, reviews, messages etc. It's very inspiring to read each single one of them. THANK YOU.