Hi, Hope here...I'm not in the mood to be enthusiastic, but...I'll try my best to tell you what happened last chapter.

Janna, Brittney and I fought Star, Marco, Sabrina, and some guy with wings. We lost, no surprise there...then, we went to the cabin, which was fine, and they...they told me I had been useless so far...and, I-I think they're right...I'm sorry...I can't finish this.

Episode 5: Hope

(Shore of the lake)

Hope sat on a rock, weeping deeply as he tears streamed down her face and hit the lake. As she cried, Jackie surfaced from far away and gave the girl a sympathetic look, sighing before slowly walking to Hope, who was too busy crying her heart out to notice her presence.

Then, once she got to her, Jackie put her hand on Hope's shoulder and got her attention. "What's wrong, little Hope?" Jackie sympathetically remarked.

Hope stopped crying and looked up to see Jackie with a smile. She tried to speak as Jackie went to her side and sat down, "I...I've been...useless...and-"

"Now, hold it there, calm down a bit, and then speak your mind." Jackie uttered.

Hope stopped, took a few deep breaths, and spoke more coherently. "Ever since Janna and I joined forces with Brittney, and even before then, I haven't been of much help." as she continued, Jackie gave her a kiss in the cheek and scratched Hope's hair. "Not only did I got restrained during our fight with you, but I lost my wand and don't even know where to start looking for it."

Then, a water arm rose from the lake and handed Jackie a grey wand with a spider web-styled star. "Well, look what I got here." Jackie uttered as she showed Hope the wand. "Is this your wand?"

"I...think it is." Hope said as she grabbed the wand, inspecting it before turning to Jackie and asking. "How did you get it?"

"That doesn't matter." Jackie hastily replied. "Anyway, you were saying that you're feeling useless? Then how about I help you show Janna and Brittney that you're more than capable of being useful?"

"Well...we could try something like that." Hope remarked. "What do you suggest?"

"I tell Star and Marco to go to a specific location, you use your wand to fight them, and then capture them, and once you do that I'll tell Janna and Brittney to go to your location so they can see you have done something useful for them." Jackie explained before extending her hand to Hope. "What do you say?"

Hope thought about it for a moment, and smiled as she sealed the deal. Then, a water arm surfaced and handed Hope a couple of notes before disappearing back into the water. "Here are some notes for when you meet with the duo, they'll make Star and Marco think you're serious about this." Jackie said.

"Why do you have these notes, and how did they survive being in the water?"

"I expected this to come up somehow, so I decided to try to get things long before I had a reason to make them." Jackie explained as she and Hope got up. "Now for the second one, I don't know the answer to that question."

Jackie accompanied Hope and the duo went to the forest, in an area surrounded by trees with a peculiar shape. "Okay, this place seems good enough." Jackie remarked. "Wait right here and study your lines while I tell Star and Marco to come here."

With that said, Jackie waved goodbye as she left Hope alone, and the girl shivered a little and swallowed her fear before reading the notes.

(Meanwhile, at the Diaz Household)

Marco read a book as Star continued to gorge herself with the fruit in Hope's fruit basket. As Marco started to become annoyed by the girl's loud eating noises, Jackie peeked from the window and smiled. "Are you seriously still eating the fruit basket Hope brought?" Marco asked with a bit of worry.

"Yep! And I'm not stopping until I devour all of them!" Star proudly answered, right before turning around and spotting Jackie. "Oh look, Jackie's outside the window! Hi Jackie!"

Star wildly waved hello as Jackie opened the window and went inside. Then, she slid past some traps that activated within a few steps, successfully stopping close to Star and Marco. "I give you an F!" Star stated as she grabbed and bit an apple.

"What brings you here, Jackie?" Marco asked.

"Hope has sent me to deliver you a message." Jackie answered as she got up. "She wants to show you that she can be a threat of her own. So follow me and I'll show you where Hope will fight you."

Jackie only managed to take a single step before Marco got up and asked, "Wait, how did you learn that Hope wanted to fight us?" which made Jackie briefly frown. "Come to think of it, are you in cahoots with her or something?"

Jackie soon smiled again and shook her head before walking to Marco. "Little silly Marco, I'm just trying to help a fellow player get, but since she's going up against you, she's more than likely going to get her butt kicked by you." Jackie responded. "So hey, either she beats you, which is unlikely, or you beat her, which let's be honest, is the only possible outcome. Will you come with me already?"

She then grabbed Star's hand and dragged her to the exit...or would have, if Marco hadn't grabbed Star's other hand and held them back. "Then how do I know we can trust you?" Marco questioned. "I mean, first you tell us to go to Oskar, who almost impregnated Star, and then the wand you gave us was revealed to be Brittney's. How can you prove that this time, what you're saying is legit?"

"Marco, the last two things were sabotaged. I honestly thought the wand I gave you was mine, and I explicitly told Oskar not to seduce Star."

Then, as she continued, Jackie grabbed her wand-a dark blue one with a surfboard for the tip-and waved it. "Now, will you two go with me to the woods?"

Star and Marco's eyes turned dark blue and glittery as Jackie's wand glowed, and they both replied "yes, we'll do that" in unison with robot-like voices. So, with the teens under her control, Jackie smiled and got rid of the traps before walking to the door.

(Back at the woods)

Hope walked back and forth as she read the notes, trying to memorize their contents. "Star and Marco... Today will be... The day... You finally take me serious-"

"Hi Hope." Jackie greeted as she arrived from the bushes, scaring the girl. "Have you memorized the notes yet?"

Hope quickly grabbed the notes and took a few deep breaths before answering, "I'm trying the best I can, this is the first time I'm fighting Star and Marco alone." and the instant she said, she realized something. "Did you bring them here?"

"No, but they're coming." Jackie quickly replied before taking Hope's notes and fleeing. "What you memorized should be enough, good luck Hope!"

Hope could only shout, "But I-!" before Jackie waved goodbye and Star and Marco, still under Jackie's spell, arrived. Hope's mouth shut itself once the girl felt the duo, and she turned around just as the sell wore off and they looked around, smiling once they spotted Hope. "Hi Hope!" Star enthusiastically greeted.

"S'up, Hope?"

Hope blinked once in confusion before shaking it off and remembering what she learned from the notes. "Uh...Star and Marco, this is the day you take me seriously!" Hope stated before grabbing her wand and aiming it at the duo.

Star and Marco, however, were more impressed than terrified of the wand. "Wow, that's a cool wand you got there, Hope!" Star sincerely stated. "Is it yours?"

Hope, surprised and flattered by the comment, blushed and turned off her wand before answering, "Well, yeah, at least that's what I think. Jackie handed it to me as she suggested to do this whole "defeat you and capture you to prove my worth" thing."

Hearing Jackie's name made Star and Marco exchange looks and walk to the girl. "Well, I would be a bit more wary of Jackie if I were you." Marco said.

"Why? I thought you loved her." Hope obliviously asked as she tilted her head to her right.

Marco blushed and Star gave him a goofy smile before clarifying, "Just because I love her doesn't mean that I'm willing to let her faults go over my head!"

Hope frowned and started to doubt Jackie's words as Marco explained. "Look, Jackie has been kind of a mixed bag; while she saved us from you and Janna, and was nice enough to take care of Oskar, she still told you, Janna and Brittney about our location and gave us Brittney's wand instead of her own."

With even evidence that Jackie could be an ally or an enemy, Hope pondered about it, looked at her wand and frowned in anger before Marco extended his hand towards her. "Look, if you want, we can join forces." Star told Hope, getting her attention. "Leave Janna and Brittney to play their own game, and join our team, where you don't need to act like a bad guy, or do horrible things to get what you want."

Hope glanced between Marco's hand and his and Star's welcoming smiles. After a while, Hope closed her eyes, shook her head and turned down Marco's offer, much Team Starco's surprise.

"No, I don't want to change sides just yet." Hope stated with a serious tone. "First, Jackie has some answers to give me."

With that said, Hope put her wand on her pockets and went to look for Jackie...right before stopping, remembering something and turning to Star and Marco. "Do you need help going back home?"

"No, don't worry, we know the way." Star reassured.

Star and Marco left the and waved goodbye as they did. Hope returned the wave with a smile before sliding her hand down her face, changing it from a happy smile to a serious frown before resuming her search. Then, as they walked back home, Star scratched her chin and wondered about Hope.

"Marco, if Hope's such a nice girl, why is she siding with jerks like Brittney and Janna?" Star asked, getting Marco's attention.

"Well, this game functions in mysterious ways, Star." Marco answered, earning an unimpressed look from the girl in response. "But I'm willing to bet it was by mistake. And besides, we can always try to get her to defect."

"Yeah, join the good guys and fight for survival in the wand games!" Star victoriously declared as she put her hand on Marco's shoulder and pulled him closer to her.

The team high-fived each other before laughing as they continued to walk back home.

(Jackie's lake)

Back with Hope, she stopped at the shore of the lake and waited for Jackie to surface, narrowing her eyes as she waited. Once Jackie finally surfaced and looked at Hope, she was met with a hostile scowl, making her briefly flinch before calming down and walking to Hope.

"So, I presume the little fight between Star and Marco didn't go so well?" Jackie asked.

Hope didn't respond.

"That's fine, we can always try another tactic." Jackie uttered with a dismissing wave. "Like, let's say, how about I watch them until they fall asleep, and then you steal their wands?"

Hope remained silent. This time, the silence irritated Jackie.

"Look, Hope, if you want to succeed in showing Janna and Brittney that you're worth their time, you need to cooperate with me. Help me help you, get it?"

"Are you a friend or a foe?" Hope suddenly blurted.

Taken aback by the answer, Jackie frowned, crossed her arms and turned away before replying, "Why do you wish to know?"

"You've been acting like a trickster lately, Jackie, Star and Marco told me about it." Hope snarled. "There's an equal chance that you could be my friend or my foe, and I need to know the truth before I follow your plans any further."

"Why do you need to know such a thing?" Jackie retorted. "Aren't we all here to defeat each other and win the game?"

"We're all here because some unknown being forced us to fight each other against our will, and you're wasting your time playing everybody like fools." Hope chided, though Jackie barely paid attention and just rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to survive this game?"

"I can survive the game on my own." Jackie arrogantly stated with a laugh. "After all, my powers are equal to a god's-"

And then Hope punched Jackie's face. Hard. So hard, in fact, that she was sent flying far away and only stopped once she hit a waterfall. After that, Jackie grabbed her face and looked at Hope, only to see the girl giving Jackie a smug smile, much to her frustration.

"Yeah, sure, you have powers equal to a god." Hope sarcastically taunted. "I totally buy it. No, I'm serious, no sarcasm whatsoever."

Jackie narrowed her eyes, and slid back to Hope, who gave her an angry look in response. "You know, I'm going to take that punch as a mistake on your part." Jackie sternly told to the girl. "After all, you must be an absolute idiot to try attack a god, and one that is on your side for that matter."

"Attack a god, or attack an idiot who thinks of herself a god, to be precise." Hope taunted.

Jackie gave Hope an enraged look and a twitchy eye in response to the comment, and she waited for a few seconds before trying to kick Hope's face. However, she simply blocked the attack with one hand, much to Jackie's surprise and annoyance. "And with anger issues, too."

Jackie then did some more kicks, all of which were blocked by Hope except for the last one, which she grabbed instead. Then, she lifted Jackie and threw her to the lake, though she managed to recover relatively quickly and stood her ground on the water. She took a few deep breaths, smiled, and summoned tentacles that went after Hope, who jumped and watched them go towards her.

Then, when they got close enough, Hope used her wand to summon a double-bladed axe, which she used to slice the incoming tentacles into tiny pieces. This made Jackie back away in shock and disgust before summoning some more tentacles and sending them after Hope.

Forty times tentacles were summoned, and forty times Hope sliced them in half, making Jackie flinch and twitch forty times in disgust.

However, once she eventually realized their environment, Jackie ceased summoning tentacles and smirked as Hope fell and hit the water. However, just as Jackie laughed, she saw Hope hadn't submerged in the water, rather she stood in it just like Jackie herself.

Getting pissed off, Jackie summoned more tentacles and some water waves to try and hit the girl, only for Hope to dash straight for them. While this at first pleased Jackie, since it made it looked like Hope was a complete moron, she gasped in shock and fright as Hope effortlessly dodged them and immediately formed her hand into a punch.

Then, once they were meeting face-to-face, Jackie questioned, "Who the heck are you?"

"Someone who scares you, apparently." Hope smugly stated.

Without warning, Hope punched Jackie's face so hard that she was sent flying to the waterfall, causing a huge crater and the place to shake upon collision. And just as Hope smiled victoriously, Jackie slowly came out of the waterfall to reveal a bleeding head along with a furious glare.

(Meanwhile, near the battle)

Janna and Brittney walked the forest, looking around for their teammate, much to Brittney's annoyance. "Why are we bothering to find that useless idiot Hope, anyway?" Brittney asked.

"Brittney, we told her some pretty mean things back at the cabin, and let's be honest, just because she's useless now doesn't mean she'll be useless forever." Janna answered.

"Since when do you think Hope's worth the trouble?" Brittney questioned with crossed arms.

"Look, I can't figure it out, but for some reason I couldn't sleep." Janna answered. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Hope, so I want to apologize to her for the things I said."

"Uh huh, I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"You just wanna apologize to Hope so you can sleep peacefully, you don't give a shit about her!"

Hearing the girl suggest that somehow made Janna angry, so she turned her fingernails into claws and threatened Brittney with them as she said, "That's not why we're looking for Hope! Just help me find her so we can apologize and go back to sleep, with the bonus that you'll get to do so with your head still attached to your neck!"

Brittney growled and the duo exchanged angry glares before the ground started to shake and a huge tidal wave almost appeared. They quickly dodged the wave and, hearing the rumble happening nearby, decided to check it out. They hid behind the bushes and peeked out to see Hope playfully strolling through the lake while dodging Jackie's attacks.

"Hope's fighting Jackie, and isn't getting her ass handed to her?" Janna and Brittney thought in unison.

At the fight, Jackie formed water balls in her hands and threw them at Hope before summoning a pair of giant water hands, which she sent for the girl immediately afterwards. Hope simply dodged the water balls, except for one, which she held with her hand as the giant water hands reached he and tried to attack her, only for the girl to quickly dodge and climb them up before jumping and throwing the water ball.

Once it hit Jackie, steam came out of her ears as Hope destroyed the giant water hands. Then, once she got an idea upon seeing Hope hit the water, Jackie lifted he arms as highly as possible while smiling like a madman.

This summoned a water wall behind Hope, which pushed her to Jackie and turned her around so Jackie could catch her in a hug. However, Hope smirked, grabbed Jackie's arm, and then ripped it clean off as Jackie felt the pain and screamed in agony. Now free, Hope walked away after throwing Jackie's severed arm into the water, much to the girl's annoyance.

"Oh, so you think you can just walk away like this was nothing, do you!?" Jackie mentally complained. "Fine then, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice!"

Jackie got up, formed his remaining hand into a punch and ran after Hope, touching her shoulder and getting her attention before punching her so hard, that a couple of her teeth flew off and she was sent flying to the tree, with the ground shaking upon impact. "Huh, I wonder why didn't bother to do that before."

After the shock wore off, Janna and Brittney got out of the bush and went to check on Hope as Jackie submerged and looked for her arm. Once the duo found her, they saw Hope was unconscious and in the middle of what looked more like a meteor's crater than a crater the size of Hope.

"I can't believe it, Hope was about to kick Jackie's ass." Janna uttered.

"But she didn't...why?" Brittney asked.

And then a water hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped them to the ground. Janna and Brittney turned around and saw Jackie, furious and barely containing her rage, growling and breathing close to them while holding her severed arm.

Then, once she stopped breathing, she adjusted her arm's fingers to point, and then she used it to point the girls as she snarled, "If you know what's good for you, you won't tell anybody about this, understood?"

"Y-you're threatening us with your severed arm?" Brittney asked.

"Oh right! That's a thing that's happening!" Jackie snarled in response.

"Huh, this sounds familiar-"

"Shut up!"

Brittney and Janna closed their mouths shut at the girl's request. "So, how much of the fight did you see?"

"We didn't saw it all!" Brittney suddenly shouted. "We just saw the part where you threw water balls, Hope ripped off your arm and that's about it!"

Jackie stared at the girls with a cold scowl, before smiling and uttering, "Good," before releasing them from the water hands. Then, as they grabbed Hope and got ready to leave, Jackie stopped them on their tracks.

"So, little yakdungs, how about we make a deal that will benefit both of us?"

Janna exchanged looks with Brittney, before Brittney sighed, closed her eyes and massage her forehead in frustration, so Janna turned back to Jackie and replied, "...What are your terms?"

"In exchange for letting you live and becoming your informant, you will convince Hope that you never wanted to get rid of her, thus she never had a reason to come to me and beat me up like she did." Jackie explained. "Capiche? Do we have a deal?"

Janna and Brittney exchanged looks, turned them from worried to determined, got ready to seal the deal...and immediately ran away as fast as they could. Jackie, instead of pursuing them, simply laughed as she reattached her arm back to the rest of it.

"Smart little brats." Jackie remarked. "They will agree to the deal eventually. I Just need to wait."