AN: In this chapter, we begin with explaining how Bubblegum and Mecha are tsunderes. :3


Chapter 12 – Shattered Glass

Bubblegum's POV, Australia (two years ago)

You know of how people can have their own berserk buttons.

When someone is triggered, that is because they probably have remembered something traumatic and become extremely anxious about it which can lead to violent behavior. It depends on how someone describes this trigger thing unwittingly.

Bullies can even have them. Whatever that may trigger their selfish behaviors or violent actions.

Violent actions are the worst.

And when Mecha is triggered, he can be a thousand times worse.

I'll tell you all the first time I saw Mecha differently.

It was when Jade and I were at school, waiting in the canteen line to get our food. Jade was happily telling me about her marks on her tests while I was just fiddling with my purple jacket. When we got near the food checkout, I saw Mecha, Ryan and Ian who were in front of us.

I felt nervous seeing them. I was behind Jade by I placed my hood over my head to try to hide myself.

However, Mecha was busy looking over a magazine that was on a table for display. He was holding it up, looking through the pages. He came across a page that showed many artistic and impressive paintings that looked like they came from the 1700s.

To my surprise, his brown eyes became starry and he seemed to admiring it like a little child…only to immediately close the book, wearing a disgusted frown.

"So dumb," he said, looking away. "So stupidly dumb."

To my dismay, Jade saw this.

"Aw!" she said. "Are you denying that you don't like that magazine?"

I nudged her to shut up, but Mecha already saw us. He frowned.

"It's nothing," he said. "It's just lame and boring. Something that shouldn't be in this school."

Ryan and Ian laughed, but I could tell that they were faking it.

Jade smirked. "No need to be all tsundere."

Mecha opened his eyes. "Hmm?"

"What the heck is a 'tsundere'?" asked Ryan.

I clenched my teeth and shook my head, trying to tell them not to ask that question. But I was too late.

"That doesn't really mean much sense," said Ian.

"For your own information," said Jade matter-of-factly. "It is a Japanese term that refers to a person who acts cold and harsh, but they have a soft and vulnerable side over time. These kind of people have trouble explaining their true feelings by covering them up by very bad behaviors…mostly anime female characters."

Ryan and Ian nearly laughed at this.

Mecha gritted his teeth.

"And Mecha just then acted like this," said Jade. "Bubblegum is a tsundere at times, so both of them act like tiny school girls!"

"Jade…" I whined.

WHAM!

In response, Mecha slammed the magazine over Jade's head. Even though it was just a light bump, she fell onto the floor as if her legs were made from jelly. Stars started circling around her.

I looked at Jade and Mecha back and forth. I was still afraid, thinking that Mecha would do something to me, but he just rudely shoved the magazine into my hands.

"Do me a favor and burn this, soft kitty," he grumbled before turning his back.

I just stood there, dumbfounded, as Mecha walked away from the line. As my eyes turned to Ryan and Ian, the twins just shrugged in confusion before following their leader.

My attention was turned to Jade who slowly got up.

"Do you really think Mecha is a tsundere?" I asked flatly.

"Not on your level!" slurred Jade.

I sighed and slowly looked back at Mecha who was walking across the room with Ryan and Ian.

"Well…" I said. "I guess that he tries to act tough al-"

I stopped when a loud crash echoed through the room. I looked back at Mecha who was standing in front of a dropped tray of food and a meat-and-chocolate-covered Zach.

The brown dingo looked ticked off.

"HEY!" he snarled. "You dare bump into me?!"

A shocked Mecha looked down at his dark purple shirt to see a brain stain on where he was accidentally hit. He quickly got over his shock.

"M-My bad," he said nervously. "I wasn't really looking where I was going."

"You should be looking at where you are going, punk!" snarled Zach.

Many people looked at the scene. Jade called me to ignore them, but I wanted to watch too. I never saw Mecha and Zach talk to each other before, so I was curious. I thought that would get along since they were both bullies, but Zach…

"OK!" said Mecha, putting his hands up in defense. "OK. Geez, my apologies for ruining your junky lunch."

A vien could be seen popping out from Zach's forehead. "Did you call my lunch JUNKY?"

"Oh my bad," sneered Mecha apathetically. "I mean YOU are junky. Like a fat plushie toy."

I was a little off guard by Mecha's behavior. When Zach first yelled in his face, he SEEMED to try to apologize…but since Zach was being unreasonable, it appeared that Mecha would try to trash talk back.

Zach gritted his teeth. "You think that's funny, do you, mate?"

Mecha – with a gritty glare – nodded.

"Yeah!" said Ryan, failing to notice the serious look on Mecha's face. "You're trash alright!"

"Go off and kiss some ugly girls already," added Ian.

But the damage was already done; Zach was TICKED off.

"You know what's funny?" snarled Zach. "Why are YOU here?"

He pointed a finger into Mecha's chest.

"It should be so obvious why you don't fit in."

"What are you talking about, brah?" said Ryan.

"Our captain is already here, isn't he?" said Ian.

Zach couldn't stop. "Oh. But is he your captain? If he is your so-called, loyal captain, then why did he injured his own twin sister?"

Mecha's eyes widened in horror.

My mouth dropped.

Did Zach said that…Mecha hurt his own sister?

Was Nicki bullied as well?

It didn't seem to be the case judging by how Mecha looked. He appeared…wounded.

"I just heard about it after peeking in her class this morning," said Zach with a nasty smirk. "That is probably why you live far away from her now."

Ryan and Ian were trying to find a way to respond back, but they were shocked about what they heard.

"If she can't live in the same house as you do, then should you still be around in town? Here's a suggestion; have you considered jumping into the same ravine where you KILLED Beth's father? It would nicely end your pathetic life."

I inhaled sharply. I heard Zach saying these kind of things before, but that would be something you don't want to say to Mecha.

Mecha stared at Zach with a face of disbelief. His eye began to twitch. He looked like he was about to blow.

"AHEM!" called a voice. "I heard that there is a…fight going on in here."

All eyes peered at a teacher who was standing at the door. She was accompanied by Yumi and Taffy. Typical…those two girls. I know that they would call the teacher whenever something was going on at school and if it was anyone to call an adult, it would be them.

"Zach…Mecha…" said the teacher as she walked towards the two boys. "What's going on here?"

"He started it!" shouted Zach, pointing at Mecha.

"Hey!" snapped Ryan. "He didn't do anything!"

"Yeah!" said Ian. "You started it."

"Exactly what I heard," muttered the teacher sarcastically. "Zach…do we need to talk about this again? How people bump into you unintentionally?"

For some reason, I was the only one to notice that Mecha seemed to be…breaking down. He was trembling…he had his hands over his eyes as if about to cry…nobody took in the fact of how VULNERABLE he looked.

This was the first time I saw Mecha THAT upset.

And it was the first time I saw Mecha lashed out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHH!"

He let out an unearthy, bloodcurdling screech and he went wild. He pounced onto Zach and pinned him to the ground. The dingo let out a cry as Mecha started to punch him in the face.

"Bubblegum," said Jade, trying to pull me away. "Let's go. Just ignore them."

But I couldn't move. My feet were stuck to the ground. I never seen Mecha THIS livid before.

The turquoise bird was suddenly grabbed by Ryan and Ian who held him back from doing any more harm.

"CAPTAIN!" yelled Ryan. "Stop it! Calm down!"

"LET ME GO!" screamed Mecha as he struggled to break free, his eyes were surrounded by wrath. "LET ME GO! I'LL BEAT THE HECK OUT OF HIM!"

"This isn't the time to do so!" said Ian.

But the twins' efforts to calm down Mecha were fruitless.

A stunned Zach slowly got to his feet and looked at the out-of-control Mecha. He gritted his teeth and turned to the teacher.

"See?" he said. "He's the one who started it."

"Go to the principal's office," said the teacher.

"What?"

"Just go there. I'll be reporting about you two about this incident."

Zach growled and stomped off. "Fine."

I watched as Zach exit the canteen and the teacher approached the screaming Mecha. He was still screeching and trying to break free from Ryan's and Ian's grips.

"MECHA!" exclaimed the teacher sternly. "Stop this behavior right now."

At that point, Mecha finally broke free. I feared that he would start attacking again, but he just glared at the teacher.

"What about Zach?!" shouted Mecha. "Huh? Do you think I would let him get away like that?! To mock me?! Huh?! To say that I should kill myself?!"

"We already got him to go to the principal's office. We will deal with him. You need to calm down, right now. You're acting unacceptable here in the school."

Mecha opened his mouth to yell, but that was when he saw Finn.

He was behind the teacher.

Apparently, he sneaked in to see what was going on. The teal wolf looked…concerned…scared…and horrified.

"M-Mecha…" whispered Finn. "You're scaring me a little."

To my surprise, a look of regret appeared on Mecha's face. He looked around at all the students in the canteen; almost every one of them stared back at him in fear as if he was a threat. After looking back and forth at the crowd, he slowly looked back at Finn.

Silence rang through the atmosphere.

And then, Mecha shook his head and ran away. The teacher called him, but he wasn't listening. He ran through the door that led to the school yard.

Ryan and Ian looked at the teacher.

"We will get him," they both said, running off.

As the entire room gradually calm down, Jade called me to hurry up. I wasn't listening. I was just staring at the direction of where Mecha went.

I never knew that Mecha can be easily triggered. I thought that he was always calm and cool, bullying others for his own selfish need. However, this was the first time Mecha displayed his anger when assaulting a person, yet alone another bully. Besides, he looked…saddened when Zach insulted him.

"No," I thought to myself. "Mecha is just him. He is always confident, laugh in the face of danger and he NEVER shows signs of weakness.

"But is he hiding something?" said a voice in my mind. "Do you think that he doesn't have REAL emotions like everyone else?"

I looked down at my own feet, feeling a little worried about Mecha's anger.

I couldn't stop thinking about that and it dragged on for the rest of the day. I had been spacing out of classes and I wasn't listening to the teachers, so my classmates had to snap me out from my daydream. Eventually, one teacher noticed that I looked a little concerned, but I reassured them that I was fine.

When school was over, I grabbed my school bag and was about to leave the school when one of my classmates came over to me.

"Hey Bubblegum," asked David. "Have you seen my water bottle?"

I thought and remembered seeing a little orange bottle at the school playground. "I remember seeing it next to the swings. May I get it for you?"

"Why thank you. You don't have to."

And so, I made my way to the playground that was at the back of the school. It was kind of long to get there. I was walking by myself through the now-empty hallways. You see, when school's over, that is when everyone decided to run out to enjoy their freedom; get to rest for the day.

To distract myself, I started to hum to a tune. I was thinking of the song my father would sing to me before, but I heard about this new song and I wanted to try it out.

Forgetting about my surroundings, I started singing 'I Choose'; a song that pictures the love for others and only needing them to be a family. I have a sweet voice and I was singing the song to myself in perfect tune.

When I arrived at the playground, I found the water bottle. Still singing, I picked it up and I turned on my heel to go…that was when I heard a new voice singing along to the song I was singing.

I stopped singing, but the voice kept singing. I looked around to find the source of the voice…and saw Mecha on a tree.

Immediately, I quickly hid behind a brick wall. I slowly leaned in to peek around the corner.

Mecha was sitting on the branches of a tree, under the large branches of green leaves, covering his face in shadows. He was sitting against the tall stump of the tree, his knees closed to his chest. The leaning branches nearly hid his entire body. He was staring at nothing with a melancholy look, his hazel brown eyes looked sad. The weeping bird looked clearly exhausted.

He looked like he was about to cry, but he was holding his tears in.

He was singing the same song that I was singing to. I decided to listen, my ears twitching upwards.

I noted how good he sound. I never heard him sing before and I have to admit that…he had a sweet voice. His sweet voice was unusual for a bully like him. Due to his deep and raspy voice, he has a husky voice when singing, making him nearly sound like a country singer; his voice still fits the song though; as if a boy is struggling to choose who he wants to be with.

Even though I dislike him, he sounded…very good. Of course, he is good in ANYTHING, but singing was a rare thing someone would heard from him.

Without warning, the door slammed opened. Mecha stopped singing and looked around. Coming into view was Finn. He looked like he just ran the whole way to get here.

Embarrassed, Mecha coughed and looked away. But Finn already saw him.

I watched Finn slowly walked towards the tree before climbing up, grabbing onto every branch to help him climb up. He got to the branch where Mecha was sitting on.

The turquoise bird looked away.

The teal wolf slowly grabbed Mecha's hand.

Mecha barely made eye contact, clearly ashamed for his outburst at lunch.

Finn slowly inched towards him and whispered, "I forgive you for what happened."

Mecha just shook his head…and tears spilled from his eyes.

I gasped. This was the first time I saw Mecha cry.

With a look of sympathy, Finn placed his fingers below Mecha's eyes and slowly wiped off the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

Seeing this, Mecha slowly turned to Finn who just smiled. The bird made a small smile, but frown. He wrapped his fingers around Finn's hand as a gesture for needing comfort.

I sighed. I felt that I shouldn't be around. I left Finn to comfort Mecha.

That day, I learnt that Mecha can be nearly as hot-tempered as many people are.

People have tempers and it just takes certain words or actions to trigger them.

And that was what happened to Clay…Mecha…and me.


Clay's POV, Resistance HQ (somewhere during the evening)

We got back to the Resistance HQ. The leaders and the squads congratulated us for our successful mission. I felt pretty happy for doing a good job; rescuing those civilians without screwing up. To think that after spending 14 years in the wild and six months all by myself, I was just a simple wolf, but…I became a hero. I started to feel confident as my abilities and powers would help me find my brother. There were still more questions, but I decided sort them out later.

Anyway, after escorting the civilians to the bunkers, I decided to hit the training room where many soldiers started praising me and slapping me on the back. To me, it was…uncomfortable. I will admit that it was nice of them, but I was still shy and I just quickly walked away. Eventually, one girl nearly KISSED ME on the cheek and it was when I had enough.

I hid behind many wooden crates and took my breath. I guessed that must be how it would be like to be a celebrity; you get all the fans, but you can't get a break.

I sighed and sat down on one of the crates. I guessed that I was going to hide there until everyone went back to the bunk rooms for the night. I was quite alone at that moment.

"Eep!"

Not really.

I quickly jumped up to see that my Cyan Wisp was sleeping on my tail. Laughing a bit, I wagged it, shaking her off. She quickly woke up and flew around me, chirping.

"Oh, hey there!" said Emerald as she appeared out from nowhere and pulled my pants down AGAIN.

I gave her a death glare.

She just smiled innocently.

Feeling annoyed, I slapped her on the face, even though she didn't seem respond to this.

My Wisp began pulling on my right ear.

"Hey!" I said. "Emerald pulled down my pants. That's more offensive."

"You really need to wear out of this joke," said Bubblegum, coming towards us.

"Sorry…" said Emerald sheepishly, rubbing her face. "Can't help myself."

I rolled my eyes and pulled up my pants. I watched as Emerald's Blue Wisp flew behind her and brushed her bruised cheek. Bubblegum came towards me, her Pink Wisp sitting on her head.

"Hey…" she said, looking somewhat unsure.

"Yes?" I said.

"I want to say…I'm sorry."

I was taken aback by what Bubblegum said. There was a regretful look on her face.

"Sorry for insulting you many times," she said sincerely.

I looked down. I remembered how she snapped at me every time I messed up. Thinking about it made me only feel bad.

"It's…it's OK," I said quietly. "Maybe…maybe I deserved to be called that…it fits me."

"Then would you be happy if I called you an idiot for looking down on yourself now?" questioned Bubblegum.

That question shocked me.

"It's just that…" explained Bubblegum. "I…I'm a police cop and it isn't easy at 14 years old. My father…he was a great cop…he always said 'make the world a better place' and I want to make that dream come true. I just…I just can't stand the world being a place where crime can happen and then comes the war…I hadn't been that much help ever since the police chief was killed in the confusion of the attack. I really want to help the Resistance and I thought…if one mistake was made…then no one could be saved. I…I never had a good life back home, so…I just want to help others…I want to be special…to feel happy."

I looked at her surprised. It was like I encountered two sides of Bubblegum; one side that showed a frustrated and agitated feline and the other a soft and heartfelt person.

"Well…" I said awkwardly. "I guess I should be thanking you…for pushing me a bit…I wouldn't have save those civilians just now if it wasn't for you…n…never mind. Enough with this mushy thing."

A question came in my mind. "Is there another reason why you don't like making mistakes?"

Emerald giggled at this and gave me a nudge. "One of the reason is because she's a bit like her mother."

Bubblegum blushed. "OK. I will admit I'm a bit like her."

"Why's that?" I said, tilting my head.

"Well…you see…my mum is kind of a…uh…it's a bit complicated what the term is…but…let's just say that she was a harsh, no-nonsense, serious, jerk-like, bossy woman. She had a hidden soft side which she tried to hide by just making annoyed insults. That was how she became a childhood friend and the wife of my father; the opposite as he was pretty innocent, carefree, clumsy and he would feel bad whenever he messed up."

She looked away, embarrassed.

"To put it simple; she have both their personalities," explained Emerald. "She can be pretty mean and take things seriously, but she is nice, Rookie! She is really sweet…and cute!"

Bubblegum's face turned red and anger took over her face. "E-Emerald! Don't call me that!"

"Aw! C'mon. You got to admit that you look pretty. Even that Wisp you have is cute since she looks like you! You two are ABSOLUTELY cute!"

Hearing this, the Pink Wisp shook in disgust. Both Bubblegum and her Wisp closed their eyes and screamed.

"I'M NOT CUTE!" exclaimed Bubblegum, her voice suddenly becoming high-pitched.

It appeared that her Wisp was trying to say the same thing as Bubblegum did, but since she couldn't speak English, she just babbled in nearly the same way Bubblegum did.

I chuckled a bit.

I got to admit, Bubblegum DOES look cute.

WHACK!

Ow! OK…OK…sheesh.

Bubblegum took the time to calm down and took a deep breath.

"Y-yeah," she said, trying to look serious. "Except for that 'cute' part…anyway, I guess it's just that I sometimes lose my temper. Especially ever since my mum told me that 'we are not allowed to make mistakes'. I am trying to brush that off, but I can't forget it."

I nodded understanding what she said. Genetics. That was why she could be a bit too hard on me.

"OK then," I said. "I understand."

"I'm also a bit risky at times," said Bubblegum. "Wondered why I wanted to use my grappling to get rid of those giant robots?"

"So you could fly in the air with no parachute?" I said sarcastically.

Bubblegum chuckled. "You can say that. Also, nice howl by the way back there. It was pretty loud and cool."

To my surprise, I smiled. "Well…thank you…it's been long since I've howled…"

To my embarrassment, I let out a soft howl but it wasn't too loud.

"Awooooooo…"

My smile turned back to a frown.

All of a sudden, I heard something on the other side. My ears flicked.

"Huh?" said Bubblegum, noticing that I heard something. "What's wrong?"

"Hold on!" said Emerald. "Shhh!"

We heard on the other side of the crates were Blizzard and Jayden.

"Do you know where Rookie and Bubblegum are?" said Blizzard as if he took too much coffee. "I want them to teach me how to do that so AWESOME COOL TRICK IN TAKING DOWN THOSE ROBOTS!"

"Geez," said Jayden. "You know that Mic is still working on those grappling guns and you don't even know how to aim well!"

"That's because you've never seen me use a gun before. You don't need to worry about me using a grappling gun, you angsty little helmet. Besides, I was thinking of awarding the Black Squad for their good efforts on that mission. It's just their first week here and they barely had enough training to take on the big world."

"That's pretty nice of them," I muttered. "But then again, they are completely different people we don't know."

"Awarding them?" said Jayden. "Maybe, but I don't want to honour that stupid blue bird jay. That bully can kiss my butt all he wants."

"Don't BE the bully, Jayden. Remember what Emerald told us before? After hearing what she said, I kind of feel sorry for that poor guy."

Bubblegum's eyes widened open hearing this. She looked at Emerald.

"What did you told them?!" she hissed.

"What?" whispered Emerald confused.

"I thought we made it clear not to share Mecha's story around!"

Emerald looked upset. "It wasn't my fault! I just told the Yellow Squad that Mecha was a bully and they got suspicious. Eventually, I had to tell them about it! I'm so sorry!"

She wasn't being dramatic. She was just upset.

Bubblegum sighed. "Did you tell them to keep it a secret?"

"Yes!" said Emerald, a little too loud.

"…good grief…I'm hoping that Mecha isn't around to hear this."

"What is this about?" I said.

"Not now…"

My Cyan Wisp and Bubblegum's Pink Wisp squeaked in curiosity.

"Not now," said Bubblegum, pointing at my Wisp and then at hers. "I thought I made it clear."

On the other side, Jayden started to lose his cool. "'Poor guy'? 'POOR GUY'?! Did you forgotten what he did? Were you born yesterday?"

"I was with you for the past few years," said Blizzard flatly. "You are such a hypocrite."

"We saw that bird tripped Rookie over. And it was on dirty purpose! Almost nobody does that to anyone unless it is just a joke. That wolf cried when the bird continued to mock him. That's the signs of a bully and I hate bullies so much like the time back in high school! How dare you call him some 'poor guy', Bl-!"

He was cut off when loud thumping noises could be heard.

"OW!" Jayden howled. "Blizzard! Stop biting me right now!"

"Make me!" said Blizzard in a muffled voice.

Looking through a crack from the crates, we saw on the other side were blurs of white and black. Random gibberish could be heard from the two. It looked like a fight.

"I guess you two each have a male counterpart," I said to Bubblegum and Emerald.

Bubblegum gave me a glare, so I shut my mouth.

Both Jayden and Blizzard seemed to be fighting for a while.

"Should we stop them?" said Emerald.

Bubblegum shrugged and pulled out a pink stick of bubblegum and started to chew it.

"Well, well, well," said a young female voice.

We looked up to see a squad dressed in tough leather, representing a fancy wealthy group. They looked like they were around our age. In the front was a female bird with dark pink feathers, red-pink eyes and had her hair tied in a ponytail with a slight curl. She was wearing a white Special Forces beret with black accents, a white leather jacket with pink badges, black leather finger-less gloves, a pink dress with a short skirt, black leather leggings and white leather boots with pink laces and pink roses on it.

"So…" said the bird slyly, slowly tracing her finger towards my muzzle. "You're the one they call 'Rookie'?"

"Y…Yeah…?" I said nervously.

"Well, you're LIKE the hero-looking type after what you did out there. I got to say that you were LIKE so awesome out there, deciding to be LIKE so cool during that moment or whatever."

That was a lot of 'likes'.

"What do you want?" asked Bubblegum through chewing her gum.

"Aww," said the girl smirking. "I just want to LIKE congratulate you two or whatever. Did I interrupt your little date?"

I rolled my eyes. "Bubblegum and I are…NOT…A…COUPLE."

"Who are you?" asked Emerald.

"Who am I? Well my name is Angelica!" said the bird, making a pose. "The foxy leader of the Pink Squad! Like the best Resistance squad in the world!"

Crickets.

Well almost. I could still hear fighting on the other side.

Bubblegum, Emerald and I just stared at Angelica.

Seriously. The 'best Resistance squad in the world'? OK, really?

"Never heard of you before," said Bubblegum flatly after she blew a bubble and it popped.

Angelica responded this with shock. "WHAT?!"

"Sorry," said Emerald. "Like she said; never heard of you before."

"Oh c'mon!" snapped Angelica. "We are so LIKE famous around the world."

"Well," said Bubblegum. "You sound like you're from America due to your accent and we are from Australia, so probably you are well-known in America, but not at our home."

Angelica rolled her eyes and groaned. "Never mind, but like…do you really don't know everything?"

"You can't always expect people to be who you want them to be."

"Well, you were pretty bossy around Rookie before," pointed Emerald.

Bubblegum gave her an offhand backhand nudge to shut her up.

"You know what," said Angelica, her hands on her hips. "Whatever, hypocrite. Do you know where I can find this guy named 'Mecha Nism' or whatever he's called? I have an offer to make with him."

Bubblegum raised one of her eyes in suspicion. "What is it?"

"Well…just an offer for him to JOIN MY SQUAD."

"What?" I said.

"But he is already on our team," pointed out Emerald.

"But two-goody sneakers seems to be like better than you CHUMPS," snickered Angelica, her squad laughing as well. "I think he will be a perfect match with us than with you wannabes."

Hearing this, I was offended. "Excuse you?!"

Bubblegum just laughed dryly. "Thanks for the nice compliments, idiot."

"Whatever," said Angelica.

"Just to point out, you will never get Mecha. I'm not saying that I'm fond of him because…he's quite a jerk…"

"Yeah, but he pretty fit out team."

"…BUT I think he will step down the offer. Even though he already have a tournament team, he doesn't like working with others. There's this…thing that he doesn't trust others."

As if on que, we heard Mecha on the other side.

"Oh mon dieu," he said, causing both Blizzard and Jayden to stop fighting. "Care to explain what's going on?"

('Oh mon dieu' means 'oh my gosh' in French)

"Juuuuuuust a friendly fight," said Blizzard sheepishly. "We do that all the time."

Mecha tutted. "For some so-called friends like you, you seem to be in a mess."

Jayden grunted as Mecha snickered.

"What is YOUR problem, bird?" snarled Jayden.

Mecha stopped snickering. "Hmm?"

"Do you have to be mean to EVERYONE?"

There was a slight pause for a while. "Since when?"

"Don't play dumb. I saw you push Rookie over, you BULLY."

Mecha just scoffed in disgust. "Pfft. So what? As if anyone cares about him."

My fur bristled as I heard that. Jayden wasn't done yet.

"W-what? 'As if anyone cares about him'?!" barked Jayden. "What right do you have to put someone down? What are trying to get out of it? Is it because you want to join Eggman?"

Mecha was dumbfounded. He spoke, but his tone was a bit sour. "Just look, I'm a bully; get over it. I don't care about anyone and nobody cares about me."

"…then why do you enjoy it too much?" questioned Jayden quietly.

"I…I…" Mecha hesitated. "…I won't tell you why, but I just want to feel proud. I just want to feel proud and happy for being superior. Happy now, baka?"

('Baka' means 'fool' in Japanese)

"So that's the only reason why? To feel satisfied and powerful? You're so stupid."

"Looks like this is the right time to make the offer," said Angelica as she and her squad passed us. She stopped and looked Bubblegum. "I will talk to you later, swine."

The bubble Bubblegum blew popped. "ExCUSE me? What did you call me?!"

But Angelica already made her way to the other side. Bubblegum, Emerald and I watched and peeked our heads behind the crates to see the conservation.

Meanwhile, Mecha's hands were curled into fists. "Well, deal with it. Just-"

"Well hey there, pretty boy…" said Angelica, flirting at him.

Mecha turned around. Both Blizzard and Jayden groaned seeing her.

"Who are you?" asked Mecha. "I had never seen you around here before."

"Well my name is Angelica!" said Angelica, making that same pose again. "The foxy leader of the Pink Squad! Like the best Resistance squad in the-!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Blizzard. "We all know you because NOBODY CARES! Nobody! Nobody cares about you and your dumb squad!"

Angelica sighed. "You and that Yellow Squad should pull out of the Resistance. There's no point for your bespectacled leader to join the fight. He's too blind to see."

Her group laughed.

I swear I saw Mecha's face turned pale.

Jayden looked TRIGGERED.

"How dare you insult my leader AND my friend?!" growled Jayden, marching up to the pink bird and shoving a finger near her beak.

"Whatever," said Angelica, pushing Jayden aside. "All I want is YOU."

She was referring to Mecha.

"What is it?" said Mecha suspiciously.

"Do you like taunting people?" said Angelica. "Getting the riches?"

"Um…" said Mecha surprised. "Well…I do…and I like gold…but-"

"I'll get to the point or whatever. Why don't you join my squad?"

Mecha looked shocked. "Wait?! What?! Why?"

Angelica rolled her eyes. "Oh c'mon. It's like SO beneficial. From what I heard from Knuckles, you are like SO RICH and have a very INTELLIGENT mind. I would have called you a worthless nerd, but I admire how fight on the battlefield like TOTALLY. You are like a PERFECT guy for our squad."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, pretty girl," said Mecha disgusted. "But, no thanks."

"What?!"

"I'm not interested, OK? It's not like I like it or anything. I don't think I will get anything good out from your team!"

Angelica pulled Mecha close, making their beaks nearly touch each other. "Maybe you will. You see, your own teammates are like NOTHING, but tools to you ever since you joined the Resistance. But hey, it's not your fault. It's that stupid knucklehead that made you to do so. They work along with you, but you never care for them, do you? If you join us, you will be more powerful and have better teammates who are far superior to those worthless brats. They are just idiots, dirty tomboys, cowards and wannabes. You don't NEED their assistance. The real reason why I want you to join me because not only you look like us – except the fact you don't wear a leather jacket and you have that stupid scar on your face – but you DO act like us. Trust me, if you keep following those mindless empty-heads, you will look like the weakest and ugliest of all the Resistance soldiers. Do you think the Resistance would want that? No. Again, if you join us, you will get respect and power. Not only you will get fame, you will be able to have MORE BRAGGING RIGHTS and EXPENSIVE GIFTS. Clothing…shoes…jewelry…watches…handbags…you can brag about how you can get everything…you…WANT."


Mecha's POV

Who knew how some girl tried to bride me into joining her squad?

For me, that was RIDICULOUS.

From what I saw from the group, they…don't really look like my type. I mean I don't wear white or leather or…anything TOO fancy. Sure I wore leather gloves, but I prefer denim.

I stared at Angelica for a while. The temptation was…well captivating.

I looked at Blizzard and Jayden who looked worried.

I didn't know what to say.

"C'mon," said Angelica. "You are like SO wasting my time. What do you have to say?"

I was thinking of saying 'yes', but I held it back. I decided to act as cold as ice. "No."

"Excuse me?" said Angelica.

"OK…I will admit that I am a bit mean to others, but…I'm already stuck on the same team…and honestly, I rather go on my own without some sucky teamwork. But…I want to make sure that my teammates are safe…those things you offer me…I would have asked for gold, but…but nobody will…forget it. I'm sorry to say this, but I have to turn down the offer."

Angelica just stared at me for a long time, before laughing out loudly. Her squad joined in. I was getting annoyed.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"YOU are!" laughed Angelica. "Ugh…did I really like ask the wrong guy to join us? Don't play dumb here, boy. Any boy with a hard-core attitude like yours knows how to take advantage of it and knows what the right thing to do! You are like one of us. You just don't want to admit it."

"Correction. I just don't want people to be in my…"

I coughed. "…'bully squad'…well…unless they pleaded me to…"

"Well, I bet you enjoy having all the attention around. If you want more, you should join my squad!"

"That's it!" barked Jayden, stomping towards us. He pushed both of us apart and grabbed the collar of Angelica's jacket. "Listen there, you little chip. The real reason why you want to get Mecha on your team is because you want to have an ENTIRE ARMY to be powerful than the rest of us. You are only interested in pride and that is SO INSECURE. Oh yeah, giving him all the jewelry and shoes…yeah, that will get his love. Just why are you so adamant on trying to get attention?"

"How stupid of you!" said Angelica with a hostile look. "You're supposed to rally more people up! Isn't that what the world is about?"

Jayden's only reply was to punch Angelica in the face. The Pink Squad gasped as the pink bird stumbled. Before I could walk away, Jayden grabbed a fistful of my shirt.

"And YOU," growled Jayden in a low voice. "Don't even think of joining those rich witches. Don't you EVEN think of being a scourge to everyone."

"I can though if you don't let go off me," I said agitated.

"Ugh! That would be the kind of thing Infinite would say. I'm not sure what's actually in your head, but you seemed to be on Eggman's side! Again, what right do you have to target on some poor person and mock them for no reason? Do you EVER feel guilty, mister? They are not puppets of your own! THEY ARE NOT SLAVES OF YOUR CONTROL! Look what you done to them! Maybe you don't…deserve…anyone's…RESPECT."

"Yeah!" said Blizzard, spicing up Jayden's point. "Maybe you deserve for having your parents to have a DIVORCE, your father to ABANDON you and your mother BEATING you up!"

A heartstring of mine just snapped.

What…did…he…just said?

No…no…NO…

No…

My eye twitched.

Before I could think clearly, my anger kicked in. I threw Jayden to the ground and immediately slammed Blizzard to the crates with a loud bang, pinning him there by the neck.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" I yelled.

Blizzard realized his mistake. "I-I-I didn't say anything!"

"WHAT. DID. YOU SAY?! WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU STUPID, FURRY, SACK OF FUR?!"

"I swear that I didn't say anything!"

I would have stop, but I was too plucking mad.

How dare he knew about my past.

I was getting madder and strangled the white tiger. "Give me one reason why I SHOULDN'T TAKE YOUR LUNGS OUT!"

"OK!" cried Blizzard. "EMERALD TOLD ME THAT YOUR PARENTS GOT A DIVORCE!"

Emerald…

…that girl…

Why did she?

I gritted my teeth. I opened my beak only to hear Angelica starting laughing.

"Pfft…HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

The Pink Squad joined along. The only people who weren't laughing was a shocked Jayden, a crying Blizzard and me. I dropped Blizzard and stared at Angelica. To my dismay, a small crowd started to surround us to see what was going on…including Bubblegum, Emerald, Rookie, Amy, Sonic, Richard, Tails and Sebastian.

I just hoped they didn't hear what Blizzard said.

Being looked at by a thousand of eyes made me feel uncomfortable. My heart was racing and I felt like I was about to lose my mind.

"Is THAT what this is all about?!" mocked Angelica. "Your father left you and your mother beat you up? How did you even get money?"

"I-I-I…" I stuttered, trying to form words. "I-I-I make my own money, so I can separate myself from my own family!"

"How foolish! That's a laugh! You're supposed to be milking money out from your parents, but I bet you enjoy making all that money up so that you can live all by yourself in some like dainty shed. So your parents NEVER LOVED YOU?! You're PATHETIC and your parents are such losers! Of course, your parents are the ones who are supposed to take care of you, so if your mother thinks that it's right to not give you attention, you deserve whatever happens to you! Keep trying to gain power, though! Like maybe one day, you'll have enough money to buy some SELF-RESPECT, MISTAKE!"

The entire crowd reacted to this.

Emerald gasped.

Bubblegum inhaled deeply.

Sonic – in a state of confusion – was trying to figure out what was going on.

"That's…not good," Rookie said.

Whispers and stares were all I knew.

I couldn't hold on for any longer.

There was fire building up in my stomach and I wanted it to go out.

I hate this.

Something snapped inside me.

My eye twitched.

"Shut…" I said. "…up…"

Angelica's smirk turned to a frown. "What did you say?"

"He said 'shut up'!" said Sebastian, stepping in. "Do you need to hear more?"

The pink bird was taken aback. "I…I don't know…no…MAYBE?!"

I had to admit that it was nice for Sebastian to step up for me. I would have let him finish the job, but I was too mad.

"Take…what…you…said…BACK!" I snapped.

"Can't. Already said it, MISTAKE."

My eye twitched again.

"Call me what you want…" I said in a dangerous voice as I slowly walked towards Angelica. "But to let you know…I'm…not…a…mistake. Do you hear me? I'm not a mistake. I'm not a mistake! I'M NOT A MISTAKE! I'M NOT A MISTAKE, YOU FATSO!"

I said a curse word in Russian and got close, but Angelica dodged the punch and banged me down onto the floor with her fists. I hit the floor hardly and cried out in pain.

"And I thought that you were tougher than that," said Angelica. "You almost scared me. I was like so scared. Boo hoo!"

That did it.

I was trembling badly, my hands were balled into fists and my eye was twitching dangerously. My breathing and heart rates increased. From another person's perspective, I would almost look like a psychopath.

"Aw…" teased Angelica. "Do you need a milk bottle, baby? Because every baby needs a bottle like TOTALLY!"

Those bullies continued to laugh.

And then, there came the breaking point.

I don't know when I was THIS mad before, but my insanity reached to the highest of all insanity ranks in the entire universe. Of course, I didn't laugh out loud a maniac, but I TOTALLY lost myself. I let out a bloodcurdling screech as I shot up and punched Angelica upwards below her beak, causing her to fall down unconscious.

I felt like my lungs had cracked, but I didn't care.

The Pink Squad backed away. I raised my fist over Angelica, only for Amy to pull me away.

"STOP!" she cried. "This won't lead to anywhere!"

I just shoved her aside…before I saw Blizzard. I had no control in my actions, but I saw him as a PREY. HE was the one who said about my past. I wasn't going to let him get away with it. I tackled the white tiger to the ground and placed a foot on his chest.

"AHHH!" screamed Blizzard.

Without taking my eyes off, I grabbed a nearby White Wispon and pointed it towards Blizzard's head.

Just before I could go any further, I felt somebody pulling me away.

It was Emerald.

"NO!" screamed Emerald. "Stop it! It was my fault! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL THEM ABOUT THIS?!" I yelled, punching Emerald in the face. "HOW THE HECK DID YOU KNOW?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" roared Bubblegum, grabbing my arm. "This is going WAY TOO far!"

"SHUT UP, YOU PIECE OF CRAP!"

I roundhouse kicked her to the curb. Bubblegum yelped in pain. I didn't care about how badly hurt she was or how the other people felt. I was about to attack when Rookie came in front of me.

"Stop this!" Rookie cried. "Please just stop!"

"Get out of my way, you disgusting mutt!" I snapped enraged.

"I won't! Unless you calm down and we sort things out-"

"YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE BETTER THAN ME? YOU THINK I'M JUST A MISTAKE?! NO! YOU ARE NOTHING! NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING! I'M NOT A MISTAKE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M NOT A MISTAKE! YOU ARE AS BLIND AS A GLASSES-WEARING RED WOLF!"

Rookie flinched.

"W-what?" he said.

"A glasses-wearing red wolf!" I screamed. "Are you both blind AND deaf as well? You must be as stupid as he is-!"

I never really get to finish what I said. It was when my Yellow Wisp quickly flew to my face and slapped me.

Before I could get the chance to talk, he started to screech at me.

LOUDLY.

His eye was narrowed and his voice was nearly gruff. I never saw him this angry.

I just stood there, my teeth gritting. My eyes drifted away from the ranting Yellow Wisp to Rookie.

He just stood there, shocked.

Suddenly, he…trembled.

Not in fear

He was shaking uncontrollably. His hands were clenched into fists. His sharp teeth was gritted. Coming out from his right hand were his claws.

And his eyes turned yellow.

My Yellow Wisp turned around…and became pale.

To my surprise, my anger faded.


Bubblegum's POV

Clay let out an angry roar as he swung his right hand upwards to Mecha.

SLASH!

Because Clay had his claws out, he accidentally scratched Mecha's right eye…where the scar was. It left a long red scratch on his face, resembling the scar he sported before.

I couldn't help but scream in fear.

The bird stumbled backwards and Rookie tackled him to the ground. Just before the wolf could bite Mecha's head off, Emerald pulled him away.

"NO!" cried Emerald. "Stop it! Stop this once and for all!"

Rookie's only response was to punch Emerald in the face. I was scared. This wasn't how Rookie was before. I never seen him so…angry. I looked at his eyes.

Instead of the golden normal eyes, his eyes were…yellow again. The sclera part of the eyes seemed to darken a bit making the white part look like light grey.

"What the-?" I thought, sweating. "What's going on with Rookie? I've-I've never seen him like this before!"

The crowd started to shrink in horror. Sonic was about to take a step towards Rookie when I stood up.

"R…Rookie?" I said, finding my voice. "A-are you OK? It's me, Bubblegum. Can you hear me?"

Rookie made no reply, but snarl in anger. I started to talk more quietly, but it appeared that Rookie was far from hearing me.

Letting out another roar, Rookie tackled me and started to strangle me by the throat. The crowd went nuts seeing that. I tried to push the turquoise wolf off, but he wouldn't budge. Surprisingly, he was stronger than I was. I knew for a fact that I was about to be kill by one feral wolf.

Great. An awesome death to live by.

"R-Rookie?!" I choked, trying to reach out onto Rookie's hands. "W-what a-are y….you doing?"

The wolf didn't answer, but only growl in anger. His grip was becoming harder. To my horror, the sclera of his eyes started to flash…black.

"ROOKIE?!" I gasped out.

Just when I could hardly breathe a moment longer, Sebastian quickly pushed Rookie off and grabbed him by the shoulders.

The turquoise wolf growled.

Sebastian calmly closed his eyes…and opened them. The yellow eye glowing.

"Grrrrrr…" growled Sebastian.

He slowly placed his hand onto Rookie's forehead. To everyone's surprise, Rookie started to calm down as if being hypnotized.

"Shh…" whispered Sebastian in a calm voice. "Calm down now. Don't feel tense. Take a deep breath and let it go."


Clay's POV

I didn't know what happened, but I saw that everything was dark.

Mecha…Emerald…Bubblegum…

I hurt them.

For some reason, I…I couldn't control myself. I only felt…rage. In this state, I felt like…I DIDN'T want to stop. My anger somehow took control of my mind and made me think that killing others would solve everything. This wasn't normal for a person and I felt the same darkness I experienced on my hand. I gladly accepted the darkness for once and felt the lust to shed blood. I didn't know what was REALLY happening to me.

All of a sudden, I felt ease.

I saw Sebastian in front of me saying, "Calm down now. Don't feel tense. Take a deep breath and let it go."

I started to listen to him and calm down. I…I recognized that technique. That was what Belt did to me when I was angry or frustrated.

Breathing in and out, I finally calmed down.

Everything started to became a little more brighter.

I took the chance to see what was going on.

Bubblegum and Emerald were lying on the ground.

In pain.

All of a sudden, I felt something on my right hand. I growled in pain and held onto it.

I felt darkness.

Sadness.

Anger.

Pain.

Stress.

I felt the darkness on my right hand. I realized what that meant.

"No!" I thought. "Again, it can't be true! It can't!"

I looked to see Mecha. He looked up at me and I gasped.

The scar he had on his face…it was replaced with a new fresh red scratch that was the same size and shape as the old scar. There was a bit of blood, but he looked alright. However, he touched where the scar was before wincing in pain.

I could smell the blood. It was…so strong.

What did I just done?

It didn't take long for him to realize who scratched him.

"THAT'S IT!" he snapped, getting up. "I'LL TAME YOU WITH MY FIST!"

He ran towards me, only to be stopped by both Amy and Sebastian who grabbed him by his arms. This time, he couldn't break free. He started swearing and talking in foreign languages.

I looked at Emerald who backed away.

There were fear in her eyes.

"R-Rookie?" gasped Bubblegum as she slowly stood up.

When she saw me, she saw the worried and regretful look on my face.

"Rookie…" she said. "I'm not…are you OK?"

I tried to speak, but my mind was overwhelmed by a terrible mixture of guilt, regret, anger and stress.

I felt darkness again.

I grabbed onto my right hand and started to back away. I looked around to see that the people who had gathered around looked at me with fearful eyes and glares.

Eyes were upon me.

Like…I was…some monster.

"I'm…I'm so sorry…" was all I could say before I broke into a run.

"WAIT!" called Sonic. "Rookie!"

I ignored their calls to stop and ran out from the training room.

"I'm a monster…" I thought trying to hold back tears. "I shouldn't exist."


Bubblegum's POV

Everyone was silent as we all watched Rookie ran out. Mecha cried out curses as he struggled to break free. For me…I just watched in despair; feeling really uncomfortable.

No words could describe how unpleasant this was.

Tears started to come out from my eyes…then my teeth gritted.

There was only one person to blame for making this mess.

"MECHA!" I snarled, turning towards the bird. "What the heck were you EVEN doing?!"

"As if anyone cares!" snapped Mecha, breaking free from Sebastian's and Amy's grip. "Who cares about HIM?! NOBODY DOES!"

The crowd gasped hearing that. I was REALLY fed up with Mecha's narcissistic personality after all those years of being bullied. I hated it when he said that nobody cared about Rookie. That wasn't true. No one doesn't deserves to be not cared. It isn't right. I felt fire coming through my body and I spat the words out.

"I HAVE HAD IT!" I yelled. "Your attitude! You're always bullying me around like you are some kind of boss and you don't give a crap about anyone else, especially when we are working to stop the war! What did I and Rookie get for being bullied?! What did I have to deserve something so APPALLING and HORRENDOUS? Let me tell you; having BOTH MY PARENTS taken away because of you! Don't you know what you are doing to not only me, but to ALL OF US?!"

"Bubblegum," said Sebastian, stepping in front of me. "I think that's enough."

I shot him a look. "NO. He NEEDS to know."

I turned back to Mecha. "You know what; I never ASKED to be bullied like a NOBODY like YOU! Maybe Angelica is right; you DON'T deserve respect or anyone's kindness! You don't deserve that gold you made, you don't deserve to be in the resistance, you don't deserve to have a family, you don't deserve to have your own team and you don't deserve to EXIST! I thought that you would learnt your lesson why Finn died in your arms! ISN'T THAT SO OR DO YOU FIND IT PATHETIC TO CHANGE FOR O-?!"

Just before I could say anything worse, I felt a huge whack on my head.

SLAM!

I looked up to see who did it.

It was Emerald…holding a Blue Wispon.

She had tears in her eyes.

Something that never happened before.

"Just…stop…" she whispered.

My anger slowly disappeared.

I let out a small gasp, realizing what I said. Through my ranting, I said a lot of pretty bad things, but it was as if I wanted to make Mecha suffer a lot. Even worse, I accused him of being the one who was responsible for Finn's death.

I wish I could take it back.

Mecha just stared at me, speechless and shocked.

"S-so…y…you're saying that I…I don't deserve to be here…and…Finn deserved to die because…of…me…" stuttered Mecha, trembling.

I tried to say something, but my throat was sore from yelling too loudly.

"You're saying that I don't deserve to wear these goggles!" snapped Mecha, his voice cracking so badly. "Finn bought these goggles to me! And they mean a lot to me!"

I was about to say something, but Mecha was enraged.

"YOU DIRTY, WANNABE TOMBOY!" yelled Mecha, grabbing my vest and pulled me close. "You're saying that it was MY FAULT that I let Finn died?! You think that HE doesn't deserve to exist?!"

He took off his goggles and furiously slammed them around my neck.

"HERE! You want to take this as a trophy of your own! Well congrats; you have one right now! Are you happy now, you ugly brat?! FRAME IT! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH IT! I don't care about any of you sick people!"

I tried to say at least something, but a soft cough escaped through my lips.

"Besides, if it was ANYONE'S FAULT for getting Finn killed during the war, IT'S YOUR FAULT! You didn't even showed up to save him before he was SLAMMED TO THE GROUND!"

I let out a gasp.

"DARN IT YOU ALL!" screamed Mecha, running away from the crowd. "BAIN DÍOT FÉIN A MHARÚ! ALL OF YOU!"

('Bain díot féin a mharú' means 'go kill yourselves' in Irish)

"Wait!" said Sebastian, running after him. "Captain!"

Mecha's Yellow Wisp followed along.

The entire room remained silent. I just stared in the distance.

Nobody said a word.

"So much for a great ending to a great mission," said Richard sarcastically.

"Everyone," said Amy to the rest of the soldiers. "Go back to what you are doing. We will sort out the problem."

All the people did what she said. They all went back to whatever they were doing, but I could tell that there was still tense.

Ash tapped Jayden and Blizzard on their shoulders.

"We need to talk," he said with a glare.

The trio turned around.

"OK," said Sonic, turning to Emerald. "What was that all about?"

"Eh…" said Emerald. "Let's just say that I told Blizzard about Mecha's secret and it spilled out of control."

"What is it about?" asked Tails.

"Let's not go there…I don't think Mecha will feel better if you guys know."

I heard Angelica groaned. The pink bird slowly got up trying to figure out what happened, only to notice Amy right in front of her.

"You say nothing about this to anyone else," warned Amy, her hammer in her hand.

"Pfft…" snorted Angelica while her squad helped her up. "Oh please, at least everyone gets to know why that loser doesn't deserve to be here in the Resistance."

"I'm not afraid to get Knuckles to suspend you and the Pink Squad…forever. And you know what I mean."

The Pink Squad cowered in fear. Angelica – the only one who wasn't scared – just groaned in annoyance.

"Ugh! Fine!" she snapped, disgusted that her lackeys backed down. She got up and brushed her shoulder, her eyes filled with nothing but frustration. "I won't."

She left with the Pink Squad, but not before stopping next to me and pointed a finger at my face.

"This isn't over, Beth Lehem," she hissed. "You get me?"

I couldn't speak. I nodded timidly.

Angelica stomped off.

Emerald turned to me. "Bubblegum? Are you alright?"

I started to tremble.

Was it out of fear?

Anger?

Stress?

Sadness?

No.

It's…nearly more than that…


6 Months Ago (1 Week After Eggman's Attack), Forest Tournament Town Bunker

My hand closed my mouth as I walked around in circles.

Why couldn't I forget it? Why couldn't I just wipe away that stupid email?

It was because it was already sent out to nearly EVERYONE.

Nearly all the students I knew at the town's school.

Including me.

Why couldn't it be anything else?

I should have known that the second the attack was over, those jerks would spread rumors of me. I won't explain what they said on that email, but they blamed me for getting Addison, Jade, Yumi, Taffy AND Finn killed.

As I thought about that sickening email, I felt like a knife stabbing me in the chest, twisting and turning my flesh.

I was close to tears.

I felt like giving up.

Since I was near this…room, I walked in it.

It was a large room, filled with closed caskets of bodies. Mayor Wills and his team made sure that they find the dead bodies, so that they wouldn't perish in the midst of war. They managed to put them all in those boxes, but we didn't have time to give the deceased ones a proper burial.

I made my way through the room. It felt kind of creepy. When I was young, I used to believe that when someone died, they became ghosts who haunted their close ones. I know that sounded stupid. I already ignored that belief, but I couldn't help feel like I was stalked.

I came across one row of caskets. I saw two names on two different colored caskets; one white and one grey.

The white for Addison.

The grey for Finn.

I bowed down in respect and started talking…more like talking to myself.

"Finn…Addison…" I said sadly. "I'm so sorry. Really. If…if I was much quicker…or stronger…I would have saved you. You guys…Jade…Yumi…Taffy…I miss you all. I wish you would still be alive…"

A single tear dropped from my left eye.

Sniffing, I stood up and walked outside the room.

As soon as I walked back into the hallways, I felt many eyes on me. Most of them looked like they never saw me before. Others gave me looks of concerns or loathing. I knew that I had to face the music as many people like to bully me. If they knew that I let my friends down, then they would have a stronger excuse to assault me.

Suddenly, a door from faraway opened…then Zach stepped inside, followed by his group of lackeys.

I might as well explain who he is. He is a brown dingo with blue eyes and wore black wrist bands, a black belt and blue sneakers. He was another bully who also bullied me for my whole life. Unlike Mecha, he sees himself as a God. He always target people, including me. He always had a group of lackeys following him around.

I saw Zach with his phone in his hand. Even from far away, I saw that he was on the EMAIL APP.

I tried to look like I didn't care.

"Boom!" said Zach. "This is so good, mate. With the new reception, the email just went flying towards everyone here!"

"Do you think she will know about this?" asked one of the bullies.

"Of course she will! I sent her the email."

"Can't wait her to see her break down again!" said another bully.

"Yeah! And it will be so easy when she becomes vulnerable. She's weak."

Zach smirked and shrugged. "But truth to be told, it isn't really her fault that her friends died. Those girls are so naïve and so dense that they don't have the simplest instinct to survive. And Finn? Well, Mecha's loss! Nobody needs Finn anymore since his parents abandoned him!"

What…did…they…said?

No…no…no…

No…

How dare they insulted my friends? They died because of Infinite! They didn't die because they did on purpose! Why do those bullies have to insult people who were already killed? Addison, Finn and the rest of my friends were the kindest people I know; always there to help others, polite to everyone and they accepted me. Those jerks saw their deaths as a sign of mockery.

I will not let their deaths be in vain and mockery. I WILL avenge them.

My blood boiled and suddenly, I was filled with energy.

Fuming, I stomped over to the group of bullies. It was only Zach I had my eyes on.

He noticed me and smirked.

"Hello there, kitty," he said. "Miss your pathetic friends?"

That did it.

I'm not going to listen any longer.

My fist met his face.


Back in the present…

Hearing Mecha telling me that I should be the one responsible for getting Finn killed reminded me of what happened AFTER the attack.

As soon as that stupid email rumor spread across the bunker, it turned ugly. Even when I got Zack in a critical condition, almost everyone the same age as I was were giving me looks. Dirty ones. Some of them were whispering about me. Some of them were more opened and blamed me getting my friends killed. Addison's family reassured me that it wasn't my fault, but I failed to listen to them.

I still remembered my friends' deaths. They replayed in my mind, over and over.

Worse, Mecha calling me out made me pretty TICKED OFF. It was coming from a hypocrite. HE was involved in my father's death. HE was involved in Finn's death.

Not me.

Emotions filled my head and I started to shake.

"Beth?" said Emerald.

"I'm not…" I said.

"What?"

"I'm not…"

I did my best to prevent myself from yelling, but my dark side told to do so.

"I need time for myself," I managed to say. "Just leave me alone."

I trudged away from Emerald and hid behind some wooden crates.

I sat on one of the boxes. I crossed my arms and started to shake. It would be like I was cold, but I wasn't. I was in a bad mood.

"If it was ANYONE'S FAULT for getting Finn killed during the war, IT'S YOUR FAULT! You didn't even showed up to save him before he was SLAMMED TO THE GROUND!"

I kept reminding myself that it wasn't true. However, that memory played in my mind. Seeing Mecha lashed out and Rookie suddenly becoming livid was all I could think of.

I snapped out of my thoughts when my Pink Wisp flew towards me, babbling.

"Go away," I said. "Leave."

She narrowed her eye and squeaked louder.

"I…said…LEAVE. It's very simple. Just go talk to some other Wisps."

At this, she flew and hit me in the head. It squeaked louder.

"I SAID LEAVE!" I said. "Can you REALLY understand what I am saying?"

My Pink Wisp glared at me before flying away. Good. As if I needed her at the moment.

"I'm out of options," said Emerald's voice. "I don't think I can break through her."

"But she is the closest to you!" said Sonic's voice. "You know what's best for her!"

"I know. But she always have an opposite side to mine. If you guys think so, maybe I can try one more ti-"

"Emerald, stop," said Richard's voice. "It will only make her feel badder."

"Then how am I help her when she couldn't help herself?"

"I don't think you have to act for this," said Amy's voice. "You told me that she sometimes insult you. You have been together for a long time, so you shouldn't get yourself hurt again."

"Whoa! It's not her fault! She is a bit mean, but I know her really well."

"I suggest asking her what is wrong then trying to push the bad things aside," said Tails' voice. "However, I don't think that will make a difference, huh?"

"Maybe try comforting her," said Emerald. "I should, but she would get annoyed by me. Since we are still new here, maybe you can cheer her up!"

"I guess I can try to," said Amy. "That way, we can see if it's more than the fight that got her wounded."

Before I could progress what they were saying, Amy appeared in my face.

I rolled my eyes. "What is it? I'm not in the mood to-"

I was interrupted when Amy pulled me into a tight hug.

"Does this feel better?" she said.

I closed my eyes.

…this reminded me…of when…Addison hugged me…she liked to do that every time we met with each other…she always like to give me warmth when I was having a difficult day…but since she is gone…and I couldn't stand being touch when in a sour mood…

My eyes snapped opened.

"I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!" I screamed, breaking out from Amy's grasp.

The pink hedgehog backed away, but stood near me.

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed, unable to control myself for any longer. "I HATE EVERYTHING! ALL OF YOU! I'M SICK OF EVERYTHING! Do any of you understand?! I told Emerald to leave me alone and that should be obvious to all of you by now! It's the simplest thing ever! I'm sorry if none of you know that, but that's not my problem. All of you are just idiots! EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THIS DAMN PLACE!"

Emerald was the first to pipe in. "Bubblegum! You're out of control! For once, calm down!"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, poking her in the chest. "You don't tell me things, idiot!"

Emerald sighed. "At least I'm not a know-it-all."

I clenched my fists. "I rather be a know-it-all than an idiot!"

"That was uncalled for, Miss!" said Amy. "Just calm down!"

I responded by shoving her to the ground.

Richard gasped.

Tails flinched.

Sonic reacted to this in a way I never seen him do before.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled angrily. "Do you have to act all gritty and tough like that?"

"Like you freaking know!" I snarled. "The only thing you know is to annoy people!"

"What do you want me to do? Make you suffer for the next 6 months like I did?!"

"Sonic!" exclaimed Tails.

The blue hedgehog quickly covered his mouth in realization of what he said.

My mouth twitched.

I wasn't thinking straight.

I tried to find the right words to say, but this only made me frustrated. I tried to say something, but stuttered.

Instead of fighting, I did something else.

This time, I just shook my head, dropped to my knees, held onto my head and screamed.

"Ḁ̶̦̙͑̃̊̌A̷̤͙̻̰̓͗̐͠Ą̸̱̯͉͕̲̍̌̒͝A̸̛̱̽̉̈́A̵͎̲̹̥̦̟͈̓̃̿Á̸̧͙͕̱͔̫̃̾̀̚͜Ȧ̴̡̛͈̤̬̞̐͐Ą̶̜̣̞̺͈̰͛̉Ä̸̮͔̭́A̷̢̬̱̰͆͐A̸͕̍̋̓͊̎̂͠A̶̩̗̾̐̏̐̔͠A̴͔͉̹̰̺̣̳͌̋̓͂͗͝A̴̡̨̧̻̟̠̞͋̽̚͝͠A̸̗̦̯͊À̵̛͙̱͕͇͕̪̾̔̋͘͝Á̵̦̤̒̈́̎̓̽͗A̴̢̠͇̠͈̫̓́̆̓̓A̸̧̢̰̱͌̌̋Ä̵̧̹̫̝́͛́͝Á̵̺̹͇͉̬̗͎̋Ã̵̘̪̎͜ͅȀ̸̢͍̊̄͠Ą̷̙̣͋̄͊͝À̶̬͖̘͚̼͝Ạ̸̌̍A̶̛͉͉̟͓̽̿̈́̏͝͝A̵̢̼̞̯̻̺͂̔͑͠Ą̶̣͈͚̺͆͛̉̕͝͝A̶̧̺͍͙̝̔͊̉́Â̵̛͚̻̝̗̭͈̈́A̶̛̼͙͐̋͌͌͗A̸̡͓̳̗̐̌͑͂̌̇̆͜A̸͕̬̍A̶͔͙̭̓̄̍̋͠͝͠A̵̝̣̬̱̝̩͋̊̀̆̎̓͂Ą̶̜̣̞̺͈̰͛̉Ä̸̮͔̭́A̷̢̬̱̰͆͐A̸͕̍̋̓͊̎̂͠A̶̩̗̾̐̏̐̔͠A̴͔͉̹̰̺̣̳͌̋̓͂͗͝A̴̡̨̧̻̟̠̞͋̽̚͝͠A̸̗̦̯͊À̵̛͙̱͕͇͕̪̾̔̋͘͝Á̵̦̤̒̈́̎̓̽͗A̴̢̠͇̠͈̫̓́̆̓̓A̸̧̢̰̱͌̌̋Ä̵̧̹̫̝́͛́͝Á̵̺̹͇͉̬̗͎̋Ã̵̘̪̎͜ͅȀ̸̢͍̊̄͠Ą̷̙̣͋̄͊͝À̶̬͖̘͚̼͝Ạ̸̌̍A̶̛͉͉̟͓̽̿̈́̏͝͝A̵̢̼̞̯̻̺͂̔͑͠Ą̶̣͈͚̺͆͛̉̕͝͝A̶̧̺͍͙̝̔͊̉́Â̵̛͚̻̝̗̭͈̈́A̶̛̼͙͐̋͌͌͗Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺͚̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓Ḣ̸̥̺̈́͐͝H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓H̸̡͎̫̆͊̒̕H̵̥͓̹̩͂̎͊̾̒͠H̵̡̗̦̄̌̔̋H̷̰̺͍̙̣̀͗̔͐̈́̓!̷̞̞̹͛̂̒̕͘͜!̴͚̩͙̝̫͛̈́͋̿̈͑!̴͓̪̝̗̆"

I didn't notice that I glitched for a moment as I screamed. It was noticeable. My body suddenly glitched red, but I was back to my normal self.

I didn't care though.

When I stopped screaming, I ran off and passed through the worried and angry soldiers; out of the training room.

"Beth!" said Emerald. "Wait!"

I didn't hear her. I just ran off, trying to get away from the people. I never felt this humiliated before.

"I'm such a failure," I thought.


AN: This is probably one of the most upsetting chapters of the story. I decided to have this idea to show how shattered the main trio's teamwork can be (mainly Clay and Bubblegum against Mecha).

The cause of the fight is inspired by one of the videos from YandereDev; it was an animated/slideshow video of 'Driving Your Rivals Murder in Yandere Simulator' and I loved how it was set out, even if it goes onto some Nightmare Fuel.

And of course, some stories need an alpha witch, so I added in Angelica; a total jerk who is more meaner than Mecha.

If you enjoy this chapter, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. I'm OK of hearing improvements from you (please no flames).

Until next time, keep on rocking!