Allura's hands shook as she held the note, seated on her bed. The responsible thing to do was to tell Pidge, but the poor girl had already suffered so much.

The town's clock tower rang, signaling it had reached two am. Placing the note on her desk, she pulled the blankets to her chin, and tried to sleep.

Before she knew it, she was in a dreamless sleep. At least, until someone threw a rock at her window. She groaned and peeked at her clock, realizing the time. She dashed to her window and saw Lance. He looked puzzled, and was about to throw another rock as she threw the window open.

Lance tripped and fell off of the branch he was sitting on. After laughing, Allura leaned out to view him.

"Are you okay?" She calls teasingly. He rubs his head and glares, kicking a rock, yet tripping again.

"Oh my stars! Does my hair still look good?" He suddenly squeaked, grabbing his phone.

"No, you look like total shit." Allura rolled her eyes. Lance gasped as he fixed the few askew hairs, and watched as the girl ran back into her room, returning dressed and with the satchel they would bring into the woods. Taking out the rope, she draped it over a hook and slowly let herself down, collecting the rope at the end.

"You could have just used the stairs and left through there—" Lance pointed out, gesturing towards a door a foot away.

"You could have came in and knocked." She shrugged, and Lance froze. He scratched the back of his head and nervously laughed,

"Oh, right—" he mumbled. "We should get to breakfast before that ends, Pidge has been drinking coffee for the past two hours, so.. watch out," he informed her, and she simply giggled. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid, draped over her shoulder.

"That'll be quite alright. I was hoping we could go to the mall— I'd like something sparkly," she suggests as the two walked towards the dining hall.

"That sounds like fun, we could totally do that if everyone else is up for it." Lance shrugs as he holds the door open. "Ladies first" he smiled, and Allura snorted.

"Like you aren't a lady yourself." She jokes, entering the building. She collected her food and sat down next to Pidge, who was drinking coffee as she would've guessed, while working on a computer.

"Morning, 'Llura." The girl mumbles, still exhausted. She sighs and pauses her typing, beginning to sip from her mug labeled 'Tears'.

"Paladins! How about we go to the mall, today! It's a Sunday, and we could take the bus to town." The tanned girl suggested. Pidge shut her laptop and chugged the remaining coffee, slapping the mug down to the table.

"Perfect, let's go." She suddenly bursts out, surprising most of the people at the table with her quick agreement, Lance even placing his hand to her forehead to verify she wasn't ill.

"Well, then! I suppose it couldn't hurt.." Hunk shrugged, looking at Keith. "Are you okay with it?" He asked. Keith shrugged, and Allura beamed.

"Away we go!" She cheers, grabbing Pidge's hand and leading her out of the dining hall, the rest of the group following close behind her.

They all boarded the bus and sat in the back, Pidge doing something on her phone as the bus moved along the highway.

"What're you going to do?" Lance asked Hunk, who simply shrugged in response to Lance's question.

"I'm probably heading off to the food court and getting free samples, y'know?" He added in more detail.

"Sounds fun." Keith mumbles, eyes focused on the window, staring out at the moving surroundings. They entered the city, and soon came to a stop.

"Mall stop!" The bus driver called from the front, awaiting the passengers to load off of the bus. The group scrambled to get off of the bus, standing on the sidewalk. The cool, autumn breeze floated in the air as they arrived at the mall.

"Wow— it's huge." Allura beamed, dashing inside. "We'll regroup at the giant clock in two vargas!" She smiled, running away to go find a clothes shop.

Keith trudged off in a random direction, fingering a blade in his pocket. It was wrapped, so he couldn't 'accidentally' stab someone, or himself.

"Don't you just hate it when you have to slice through rocks and then go to a picnic, but your knife is too dull? We all know how that feels like! Now, with Swamp Moon Limited Edition Blade, you can do all of the above, and still have a sharp knife!" A kiosk owner cheered. He took out a knife to begin his demonstration, slicing perfectly through a rock, and proceeded to cut a pineapple.

"Hey— Could you tell me where this came from?" Keith asked once his demonstration ended, placing his knife down on the counter. The man picked it up, and squinted before placing it down.

"This is a Luxite blade!" He gasped, eyes narrowing towards Keith. "How about ten thousand dollars for it?" He prods.

"It's not for sale." Keith mumbled rather sharply, reaching out for the knife. "Give it back—" be pleads, reaching farther towards the kiosk owner.

"Twenty thousand and I won't tell people you stole this." The man smirked, an Keith's eyes grew with anger.

"I didn't steal it! It was given to me!" He shouted, finally grabbing hold of the handle of the blade. Pulling back, he tumbled backwards. The kiosk guy pressed the thievery button, and Keith made a run for it.

. . .

Pidge's face remained stone cold as she gazed into the shop's windows, searching for something worth her time. Pausing, her eyes widened as she viewed Killbot Phantasm I sitting on a shelf.

"Oh my stars! Lance! I have to get this!" She gasped, clawing at the glass. "How much is this—?" She asked the shop clerk, hope wide in her amber eyes.

"That'll be hundred twenty dollars." He shrugged, and Pidge became pale.

"Lance! We don't have that much money!" She hissed, Panic evident in her tone.

"We'll find a way." He dorkily smiles, until something in the distance catches a glint in his eye. "You up for something possibly illegal?" He asked the small girl. Her eyes widened and she vigorously shook her head yes.

"We'll be right back!" She calls to the clerk, beginning to run towards the fountain. Pausing, she turned. "Don't sell that!" She yells as she continues to run towards the fountain.

She collected as many coins as she could into her pockets, Lance doing the same.

"We have enough—" Pidge smiled, until Lance suddenly turned.

"We need enough for tax, too." He shook is head, searching the fountain.

"Lance, look!" Pidge smiles as she points to a young boy aiming to throw a dollar coin into the fountain. Lance nodded and dashed to the falling coin, catching it in his mouth.

"Let's go!" He smirks, dashing back to the shop. The duo purchases the game, and share a mischievous look. They were in for a fun day.

. . .

Hunk wandered into the food court, picking up every sample he could find. Everything was so delicious, and he didn't know what to order. He grabbed a dumpling from a plate, only to be snarled at by the food court's owner.

"You must pay for your food." He grunts, extending a hand for Hunk yo place money into. The boy reached into his pocket, when he realized her had forgotten his money at home.

"Funny story; I actually forgot my wallet back at my dorm—" he awkwardly smiles, hoping the taller man would show mercy.

"Then you must work off your bill." He mused. Within seconds, Hunk found himself ankle chained to a pipe in a messy kitchen, being forced to clean dishes.

"How long you've been in for?" Hunk asked the elder woman next to him, who was also cleaning dishes.

"Sal put me in here when I was just a little girl..." she sighed, staring off into space. The chef's phone rang, and when he answered, his face had paled and he had dashed out of the kitchen, and Hunk stood.

"I will take the honor of cooking alongside you," he smiled broadly, and Sal let out a deflated sigh.

"Fine. Just don't give anybody food poisoning and kill them." He mumbled, allowing Hunk near the food. He squinted at the order and quickly prepared it, adding extra detail, as well as special herbs and spices

"Bon appetite!" He smiles as the girl walks off with her plate. Hunk watches with satisfaction as the girl's eyes widened with joy.

"What's wrong with her face?" Sal observed, glaring between her and Hunk.

"She's enjoying her food." He smiled in response.

. . .

Allura wandered into the fourth clothing shop she had been in. Shopping bags hung over her arms as she looked through the racks of dresses. She picks out a soft pink and blue one, then exits the store. Finding her reflection in the glass, she smiled with determination.

Allura entered the hair salon, and scheduled an appointment that would start in a bit. Once she had started, each snip of the scissors released a weight of the old broken girl. Soon, she was someone new, with a new beginning.

She payed for the appointment, and exited the salon, her fresh new bob cut bouncing alike her step.

She met up with the group at the clock, and they all stood to chat for a bit.

"What did everyone do?" Allura asked, joy rebounding in her voice. Lance and Pidge shared a glance as Pidge clutched a box tighter to her chest.

"We stole all the money from the fountain to buy a video game." They shrugged in unison, Hunk's jaw dropping.

"I started a knife fight in a mall." Keith pointed out, mot caring about the dangerous and illegal things this team was doing.

"I went to the kitchen and got my own Gordan Ramsey spin-off." Hunk smiled, and Allura gave him a pat on the back.

"I went shopping, and got a new haircut for a new start. Do you like it?" She smiles, giving a twirl to show off her new do.

"I love it!" Hunk cheers, clasping his hands together. Pidge shrugged, and checked her watch.

"We better get going to the bus stop, or we'll miss our ride back to campus." She stated. The group nodded. Hunk pushed open the glass doors, holding it open for the gang to walk out. He let go and walked slightly faster to catch up with everyone.

"I had a lot of fun today. Takes the stress off of a lot of the crap going down." Lance concludes, stepping onto the bus once it had arrived.

The gang had arrived back at campus with one hour to spare before dinner. They headed their separate ways, going back to their respective dorms to unpack their new stuff.

Allura opened the door to her room, her eyes widened at the sight. The pillows were ripped open, all of her belongings sprawled across the floor. Boxes layed in pieces. Romelle's jewelry box destroyed. The message on her desk was gone.

The bad guys had figured out what she knew about Matt. And they made her pay the price.

Her eyes widened as she dashed to her dresser, noticing Romelle's hair clip was gone.

What had she gotten herself into?