There is not much of the original story in this chapter because I couldn't think of anything with the girls stuck in the house. So I hope you guys will like this chapter too.
Sin-weather
It's morning and the girls are at Emma's enjoying the self made yoghurt from Emma's mom.
"Your mom is a kitchen goddess."
"How does she makes this yoghurt?"
"Who knows, but we got to get going. Biology exam today remember?"
"There is plenty of time for that."
"I don't want to miss it, I studied whole weekend."
Emma leaves the kitchen, but Cleo and Rikki stay foot.
"So what's the flavour? Blueberry or…"
"You two haven't studied, have you?"
"No. Does it show?"
"I only managed twenty minutes and every minute was agony."
"You're hopeless." She puts their bags on the kitchen sink. "So can we go?"
"Alright, alright. Such a stress head."
They leave the house, but they immediately notice the dark sky. "Nothing to worry about, I checked the weather report and it is meant to clear op." But as soon as Cleo finishes her sentence, the water starts falling from the sky, heavily. They all take a step back.
"We wouldn't even make it to the streets without growing tales." They go back inside and collapse on the couches. "So turning into a mermaid is not an option, we have to stay here."
"We can't just sit here, I studied all Saturday and Sunday for this exam."
"Relax there will be others."
"It's not funny."
Emma's mom comes around the corner.
"Why are you girls still here?"
"There is a typhoon outside."
"It's raining buckets, we're stuck."
"Well, I'll drive you. Car is just at front." She takes her keys. "C'mon." The girls follow, but stop right outside. Emma's mom notices they are not following. "It's just rain, a bit of water won't hurt you. C'mon." She tries to take Cleo's hand.
"I really don't think we should Mss. Gilbert."
Cleo motions the others to come back inside.
"It's just a quick dash Cleo, what's the matter with you?"
Suddenly Cleo faints.
In the meanwhile Lewis has arrived at school. He joins Byron to go inside but just then they hear a scream coming from behind the school. When they arrive at the place, they only see a dumpster.
"Do you think there is something in it?"
"Only one way to find out." They quietly go over. "Alright, on the count of three. One, two..." Lewis quickly opens the lid. There is nothing there. They turn back around but then hear voices coming from an alley. "Seek and you shall find." They go over and see two men arguing. One man is holding a small crystal box.
"Please, just one more."
"I told you!" The man that's holding the box pushes the other man. "What you want is no longer in this box."
"I need more! Won't you understand? I've gotta have more!"
"You can never get enough greed, can you?"
The guy with the box throws a fireball at him and the other flies against a dumpster. Lewis and Byron run over to them. "Hey!" Lewis takes a plank from the side and knocks the demon on his head. He drops the box from the shock. Byron tries to wake the other man and succeeds.
"The box."
The two men both dive for the box. Lewis kicks the box across the ground. The demon tries to get up but Lewis once again knocks him with the plank.
"That box belongs to Lucas."
"Who's that?"
Byron turns around and doesn't see the demon disappearing. "Where did that guy go? And what kind of weapon can do that?" Byron points to the dumpster that was hit by the fireball.
"It doesn't matter." They go back over to the other man and help him up. "Hey, it's okay, it's over."
"No, gotta have more. Don't you understand? I've gotta have more!"
He pushes Lewis out of the way and runs onto the road. He didn't even see the bus coming.
The police quickly arrives at the scene. Lewis manages to eavesdrop in on a conversation.
"Did you find out anything?"
"Nothing unusual. Unfortunately we get the kind of suicides all the time. What I did found: his name is Robert Pike. He was married, with two kids. Worked for Brickson investments at a stock broker. Very successful. It also seems that Mr. Pike wasn't your typical stockbroker. From all accounts was more of a philanthropist. He even hosted a fundraiser for the American cancer society just last night."
Lewis turns back around when he decided he heard enough. Byron catches up with him, he is carrying the box.
"What do we do with this?"
"Give it to me. I'll make sure the cops get it."
But while Byron turns away, Lewis puts it into his bag.
The demon appears again in a greasy place, but is directly pulled up in the air by his neck by another demon.
"Do you have any idea how important that box is?"
"I thought you were working on controlling your anger."
"I am controlling my anger!"
He drops the man. The demon holds up a crystal.
"At least we got the business man sold, Lucas."
"Yes, but I need to deliver seven souls for seven sins."
"Can't you just locate the box?"
"Yes, but I have to figure out a way to get around the mermaids first. Thanks to you."
"Mermaids?"
"That guy that knocked you twice is good friends with them. You know, my own self destruction was supposed to bring me peace from sin. Instead, I am damned to spend eternity inflicting others."
"You gotta know the product to move it."
"I know the product. I know how sin works human desire. Which might be exactly the way to get to the mermaids. Yeah, sure, why not? They are stuck with this weather and mermaids have human desires too, right?" He laughs. "You know, there's only one thing that I can't quite figure out. Why do I need you?" A bright light shoots out of his hands and flies into the demon. He disappears in a ball of flames.
Rikki, Emma and Cleo are all lying in Emma's bed as they all feinted disease. Now everybody thinks they have a tropical disease and the house has been put in quarantine. Suddenly there is a knock on the door. Lewis comes in carrying a box.
"Lewis how did you get in?"
"The back door. What is going on, is everything alright?"
"Well it started to rain, so I fainted."
"Now you are in quarantine. You guys do things the easy way, don't you? Never mind. Look at what I found this morning." He shows them the box. "No, don't open it, the last one who had, died this morning, he was hit by a bus. It's suppose to belong to a demon named Lucas."
"Well then there is only one way to find out more. Opening the box."
Emma tries to open it bur Rikki takes it from her.
"What if you unleash some huge abomination?"
"Whatever it is, I'm sure that we can handle it."
"Yeah I did some research on it. Apparently it's bottled at the source by the source."
"Again with the source, what is it with this guy."
"I don't know, but first the box."
"So what is it? A box of sin?"
"Good thing you didn't open it. It would have been Pandora all over again."
"Not quite. But this may be how the myth got started. Only it's much more specific type of attack. According to this, the box contains seven balls of sin used to corrupt paragon's good."
"If you're a paragon of good, how do you get corrupted?"
"Because no one is immune to sin. Whether it be pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed or sloth. Whichever one you're predisposed to, is the one that attacks you. The guy that was run over by the bus, must have been attacked by greed, that's why he kept on wanting more. Only his greed was magnified a thousand times."
"Okay, so what do we do now?"
"Well, the infector appears to be the link. Destroy Lucas and the sins lose their power."
"Do we know anything about these infectors?"
"Only that they were humans consumed by sundering life and in death."
"So what we need to do now is find a way to remove the sin from the infected human in case Lucas strikes again, right?"
"You can't remove sin magically or otherwise. It's apart of all of us."
Rikki looks mockingly at Emma.
"Even you?"
"Yes, even me. Just a teeny little bit. Nothing that anyone would notice but me."
Suddenly Lucas appears and picks up the box. They see him.
"Hey."
"It's okay. I think you're gonna like this one."
A sin ball hits Rikki. Three other sin balls hit the others. Lucas disappears.
"What was that? What just happened?"
"Oh, no, don't tell me we got infected with the sin thingy."
"Okay, nobody panic. Does anybody feel different?"
"No."
"Me neither."
"Nuh-uh."
"Alright, so maybe we're immune because we're magical."
"I don't know, I'm not magical and I also don't feel different."
"Lewis go and try to find something else. Go, and get back as soon as possible." Emma pushes Lewis out the door. Lewis tries to protest. "No, I'm sure, go!"
Not much later the rain stops. The girls get out of the bed.
"Let's get out of here, you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
They enter the living room where everybody else is sitting.
"Is everything alright, I hope so 'cause we're feeling fine."
"It was those hot towels, Mss. Sertori."
"Yep, miraculously recovery."
"So we'll be heading off now, see ya."
"You can't leave. Walk out that door and I'll have to quarantine the whole street. You have to follow this trough. We need a lot more tests, tissue biopsies, blood analysis."
"Leave some specimen jars and we will send them to you later."
"Bye."
They open the door, only to find men in white suits.
"Please remain calm."
"Who are you?"
"Professor Goldman, We're here to escort everyone to a specialized facility."
He shows them white suits that they have to wear.
"You are not putting me in one of those hoods, I'm claustrophobic."
"And I'm completely recovered now, I don't need to go to an hospital."
"Girls I'm sorry, will you please just do what they say."
"Relax this will be all over soon."
"Stop, there's something I want to say. I should have known we would have gotten in trouble by lying. It doesn't solves problems, it only causes them."
"Emma!"
"No, Rikki. I'm coming clean. I'm telling them everything."
"Everything?"
"You should know we were never really sick. We just faked it to get out of an exam. We never meant it to go this far. I'm sorry."
"Nice try, zip them up."
A woman walks in the house.
"Dr. Holt. She is right. All the tests are negative to viruses. There is nothing wrong with them."
Cleo is sitting on her bed talking on the phone, and flipping through a magazine.
"Ah, no, that'll be it. Just the two Ralph Lauren dresses size 34, the Donna Karan dress, the three pairs of Stuart Weitzman shoes, the Wong Gucci jacket and the Prada bag. What's the total?"
Emma walks in.
"Alright, we don't have much time..."
"Shh! I'm on the phone with Bloomingdales." (on the phone) "Oh, okay, um, well, then I'm gonna have to split that on two credit cards. You can put $5000 on the card that's on file, and the re…" Emma hangs up the phone. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, saving your life or at least your credit rating, which is your life."
"Excuse me, I need new clothes."
"You don't wear designer clothes."
"Yet."
Emma picks up a wine glass and has a sip.
"Are you drinking in the middle of the day?"
"I was a little bummed about this sin thing, so I thought I deserved a little indulgence. Would you like a bit of bubbly?"
"No, I would like a little bit of help. We are supposed to be tracking down Lucas."
"Sorry. Catch me up."
Emma sits down.
"Alright, so it turns out that those sin balls work a lot faster than we thought. Once infected, the victim only has a few hours before it drives them to a total self destruction."
"Well, good thing we weren't infected then, huh?"
Cleo picks up a chocolate and takes a bite.
"Right. But now that Lucas has the box, the question is who will be."
Rikki runs in.
"Guess what? I was kicked out the marine park."
"What? Why, what happened?"
"I don't know, I don't know. One minute I was talking to this cute trainer, the next thing I knew was... unzipping his pants with my teeth."
"Oh, Rikki, you do know that charming the pants off someone is just a figure of speech, don't you?"
"I don't know what came over me, Emma. I'm just glad that I realised what was happening before I..."
"Alright, unfortunately, what got into you is lust. As in the sin of."
"Wait a minute, now you think we were infected?"
"Hello? Gluttony, table for one."
Cleo gets her phone out.
"Who are you calling?"
"Lewis."
"Lewis in the living room watching TV."
Emma, Cleo and Rikki walk into the living room to see Lewis laying on the couch watching TV.
"What are you doing?"
"Just kicking back."
"Something is wrong with this picture. You need chips. I'll go get some."
Cleo heads for the kitchen.
"Oh, turn on MTV, I wanna see Justin Timberlake, he is so hot."
Rikki sits on the couch beside Lewis.
"Okay, uh, excuse me, sins in a box. Demon hunt, real life. Can we please focus here? Now, what did you find out about Lucas' sneak attack?"
"I don't know. I didn't make it to the library. I was half way and I got tired, so I decided to crash at Cleo's."
"What?"
"Hey, after months of constant vigilance, I think I deserve a little down time."
Cleo walks in carrying a bowl of chips.
"Here you go, honey."
"Oh, thanks, honey. I'm gonna probably be thirsty soon."
"Oh, I'm gonna be ill soon."
The doorbell rings. Cleo opens the door and a flower delivery guy brings in bunches of flowers.
"Oh, how gorgeous."
"Hi. Boy, these are a lot of flowers."
Rikki goes off the couch.
"I'll say. I love a man in a uniform."
Emma takes the flowers of Cleo.
"Hey, who sent the flowers?"
"I did, for myself."
"Oh, this is just too much."
"I bet you're too much."
Rikki places her hands on the delivery boy's chest. "Alright, that's it. That's enough." Emma pushes the delivery guy outside. "Nothing to see here, nothing to respond to, get out. You! What are you smiling at, buddy?" He leaves.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because unless you guys want those flowers at your funeral, you had better get a grip, okay? You've been infected. Gluttony, lust, and that in there..." They walk back in the living room. Lewis burps. "is sloth."
"How did I get gluttony? I don't over eat."
"No, but you over do. The sins are drawn to our predispositions and lately yours has been excess."
"What sin did you get hit with?"
"Well, I didn't get hit."
"Oh, I saw you get hit."
"Well, I must be strong enough to fight it off, I'm not showing any symptoms, am I? And thank goodness, alright, one of us has to keep our wits about us." She sees the news on the TV. "Hey, turn that up, lazy."
Lewis turns up the TV.
"The SWAT team just arrived at Bay City Motor Cars. A further signal that police are taking seriously. pastor Roger Tremble threatens to shoot and kill his hostage if his demands are not met."
"Do you have any idea what exactly the pastor's demands are?"
"Well, actually, yeah, they're a little bazaar but he claims he wants a Jag. Specifically a XK convertible in British racing green."
"That's a new one."
"That news caster's kinda cute."
"Alright, what do you wanna bet that the demon infected the pastor with envy."
"Emma, out of all the people in San Francisco..."
"Still, he does fit the profile. Paragon of good, driven to an act of self destruction."
"Yeah, especially with a SWAT team outside. Alright, we can not let this demon steal anymore of our innocent souls." Emma drags Rikki away from the TV. "Cleo, are you coming?"
"Uh, I was gonna stay here with Lewis and hold down the fort."
"More like hold down the couch."
"I'll come if you want me to."
"No, it's fine, I'll just do all of it myself if I have to. Come on, Rikki."
Emma and Rikki leave.
"You think she's mad?"
"Probably."
Lewis moves over and Cleo sits down beside him. An infomercial comes up on the TV. Lewis changes channels. "Wait, turn that back." Lewis groans and changes back to the infomercial. "Hand me the phone." He hands her the phone and she dials the number on the TV.
Emma and Rikki are at the Bay City Motor Cars. The SWAT team have surrounded the building.
"Look, Rikki, just let me handle this."
"I have something to say. I see a lot of cute guys."
She gets all excited when she discovers Zane. "Hey, stay on point, we still have an innocent to save. There's only one thing to do." Emma walks towards the building. Rikki is already gone.
The pastor has a gun up to the salesman's throat. Emma walks in the building. "Pastor Tremble?" The pastor turns around and points the gun at Emma.
"Who are you?"
"Whoa, okay, hold on, I'm here to help, but I can not do that until you put the gun down."
"Get outta here."
"I just wanna talk."
"I just want my Jag. Do you want me to shoot you too? I swear I will."
"Okay, no, no, no, wait. I know what's happened to you, okay? You've been infected with sin."
"I warned you."
"No." Emma tries to freeze his hand, but nothing happens. He shoots at Emma.
Outside, everyone crouches down when they hear the gunshot. Screams are heard. An inspector grabs a megaphone and talks into it. "Is everyone alright? Talk to me." Emma finally comes out with the salesman.
"Everything's under control, don't worry a thing. I've got it all under control. Hi, he needs medical attention. The Pastor's inside, I kicked his ass. He needs attention too, he's knocked out."
Everyone applauds and news reporters rush up to Emma.
"Hi, can I just ask a few questions?"
"The name's Gilbert, Emma Gilbert."
"What made you run in there?"
"Well, my job is to protect the innocent."
"Do you work for the police?"
"No, actually, I don't."
An inspector pulls Emma away.
"No, she's a good Samaritan, very good Samaritan. No further questions."
"Why did you do that? I was just getting started."
"You shouldn't be talking to the press."
"Why not?"
"Because this is a private case. Ms. Gilbert, you're bleeding."
Emma looks at her arm.
"Whoa, I am, oh my. That bullet must have grazed me."
"And you didn't even feel it?"
"No, no, you know, the adrenaline, it's no big deal."
"No big deal? You almost got yourself killed. What, have you got a death wish or something?"
"It does sound kind of self destructive, doesn't it? Oh, oh, that means I've been infected. That must be why I can't control my powers."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Can you get pastor Tremble to a safe place? Some place where he won't hurt himself, like a psychiatric hospital."
"Yeah, sure, shouldn't be a problem in his case."
"Okay, good, but nobody can know that he's there, okay? Okay. Now where is my friend? Rikki!"
Inside a SWAT truck. Rikki is making out with Zane. She starts undressing him when suddenly Emma opens the door.
"Rikki! Zane?"
"Wait, I can explain."
"The hell you can. Get outta there!" Emma pulls Rikki out of the truck. She grabs her coat. "Here, put it on. Are you out of your mind?"
"Um, yeah, I think so. But if you're gonna go crazy..."
"Yeah, well, my sin's not nearly as much fun as yours."
"Wait, you're sin? I thought you didn't get hit."
"Well, that was the pride talking and it almost got me killed already."
"Pride? You don't seem all that different."
"Really? Well, back atcha. We need to get to Cleo and try and track down this demon, okay?"
"No, I don't think so, I'm having too much fun, so I'll just see you later."
"If I don't get you home, there won't be a later."
Emma and Rikki enter Cleo's home. "You know what? If you and Cleo do not get your sins under control..." They walk inside and all of Cleo's purchases fill the foyer and living room. Cleo walks in.
"Good, you're here. The pashminas have arrived and they're to die for. Come see." A delivery man walks past carrying long metal strip things. "Whoa, hey, hi, almost decapitated." They walk into another room filled with stuff. Cleo pulls a pashmina out of a box. "Wow, Cleo, you really put the glutt in gluttony." Rikki leaves the room.
"Okay, Cleo, this isn't you. You're being consumed by your consumption and it will only lead to your total misuse of magic."
Cleo turns on a water fountain with her powers.
"Soothing, isn't it?"
Lewis is still laying on the couch watching a big screen TV. Rikki moves over to him.
"Hey, Lewis."
"Shh, watching TV."
She sits down next to him. "I know something more exciting that television." She unties her top. "Me." She turns off the TV.
"What the hell are you doing? Come on, give it back."
He reaches for the remote but falls on Rikki. Cleo walks in.
"Rikki!
"What? Emma won't let me leave the house, so I have to make do with what I have."
She strokes his chest.
"Get your slutty hands off of my boyfriend!"
Rikki stands up.
"Make me."
"Gladly."
Cleo picks up a statue of a head and gets ready to throw it.
"Watch the remote!"
Emma runs in. "No, no, no." She takes the statue off of Cleo. "Alright, you guys, the last I checked we still had a demon to vanquish and an innocent to save."
"I thought you said the inspector hid the pastor some place safe."
"Yes, he did, but envy is only the sixth sin. Which means there's still an innocent out there infected with anger."
Emma puts the statue down.
"What would you like us to do about it?"
"Lewis, I would like for you to get your laptop and research a little, okay?"
"I'm too tired."
"Lewis," She hits him on the arm "get up there right now! You're our friend, that is your job."
"Why? You never listen to me anyway." He yawns. "I think I'm gonna go upstairs and take a nap." He gets up the stairs. Rikki picks up a magazine and starts to read it.
"Fine! Fine, who needs you anyway?" Cleo puts on a pair of boxing gloves. "We are still here." She looks at Cleo and Rikki. Emma quickly goes up the stairs to wake Lewis.
Suddenly Lucas appears. He grabs Rikki.
"Where's the Pastor?"
"I don't know, I swear."
"You're lying!"
Cleo comes down the stairs and Lucas makes a fireball to throw at her. But Rikki stands on his foot, letting Lucas cry out in pain. Cleo looks over and notices Lucas. He pushes Rikki into a box full of stuff. Cleo screams. "My stuff!" He looks at Cleo, she tries to make a bal of water from the fountain, but it doesn't work. He shoots a fireball at her. She ducks. "Why are my powers not working?"
"Where's the Pastor?"
"I don't know." Cleo throws a box at Lucas and he gets knocked down. Cleo falls down and knocks over all the stuff. A large wooden box falls on top of her. Cleo tries to climb out from under the box. She looks over at Rikki and sees her unconscious on the floor. "Rikki?" Lucas stands up. Emma comes down the stairs. He yells and points a fire ball at her. Emma uses her power and his hand freezes. She looks at the unconscious Rikki and Cleo. Lucas disappears and reappears behind Emma and grabs her.
"You can't save what's already lost."
Rikki is still unconscious on the floor. Cleo crawls over to her and feels her pulse. She crawls over to the stairs. "Lewis!" She starts to climb the steps. She pulls herself up to the top. "Lewis!" Lewis is asleep on the bed. Cleo limps into her room. "Lewis, please wake up. Lewis." She falls over and knocks some things off of her dresser. Lewis wakes up.
"Huh? What? Cleo!"
He runs over to her. He is struck with a bright light.
"You glowed."
"Doesn't matter. Where are you hurt?"
"No, you've gotta go downstairs and help Rikki first and then go find Emma because the demon took her."
Cleo is struck with a bright light.
"You glowed too."
"I did?"
"It's the sins. We must have gotten rid of them."
"Wait a minute, you said there's no magical way to do that."
"There isn't. Maybe there's a human way. Maybe by being selfless. By you caring more about your friends and me caring more about you, we over came it."
"Well, that means Rikki must have gotten rid of her sin too because she risked her life to save me."
They run downstairs to Rikki. "She's still breathing." Lewis gets the boxes of her and succeeds in waking her up.
"Hi. Lewis, what are you doing up?"
"Fixing you."
"Where's Emma?"
"Uh, we don't know, but we need to find her. She won't admit it but she's in big trouble."
At Lucas' place, Emma is tied up. She is struggling to get free.
"You think you can break free, but you can't. See, that's what makes pride the deadliest of all the sins. It makes you think you're invincible. Above it all..."
"My powers..."
"Are useless now. Corrupted. You have only a small window of opportunity to save your life before it's too late."
"No demon has defeated me. And you won't be the first."
"You see, but I don't have to defeat you, you're gonna defeat yourself. In mere minutes you'll be so far gone, you will self-destruct just like all the rest. However, I am willing to make you a deal."
"I don't make deals with demons."
"Do you listen to them? Look, we both know that you know where the pastor is hided, which means that I can't deliver his soul. But this late in the game I am willing to pay for it. Tell me where the pastor is and I'll remove your sin."
"Go to hell."
"This is my hell. Every rotten day of it. Listen, I am giving you a chance to save your life, Emma. To end your hell."
"If you remove my sin, you'll still be one more soul short."
"That's true, but once it's sponged, I can use the sin again. You see, it'll just pop right back into my box."
"And let you infect another innocent? I don't think so. Screw you."
Lucas picks up a stick and taps it on the floor. A large hole in the floor opens up.
"Witness the bottomless pit of ever lasting torment. Pride goes with before the very long fall, Emma. So what's your decision? Remember, if I lose you lose."
"Alright, alright, untie me."
"Tell me where the pastor is first."
"Oh, untie me first. If I self-destruct, you will never get a soul."
Lucas unties her.
"Alright, where is he?"
"Ha, you lose I win, ha!"
Emma, Rikki and Lewis walk in. Emma jumps in the pit.
"No!"
"Emma!"
"No! Lewis, doe something.!"
Lewis takes a robe and jumps in the pit. The girls quickly secure the robe.
"Why did she have to have pride? Pride is the one sin you can't beat."
"Beat this."
Rikki starts heating him up.
"Oh, I see blonde hair."
Lewis is hanging on the edge. Emma is right after him. Cleo helps them out.
"Let go, I can handle this."
Emma elbows Lewis in the chest.
"Ow! I was saving you."
"Saving me? I had it under control, I didn't need your help."
"Right."
"Uh-oh, it looks like the only way to get the pride out of Emma is to vanquish him."
Cleo picks up the sin box.
"Oh, who ordered the sweet sin balls?"
"I think he did."
Cleo throws all the sin balls at Lucas.
"What did you...?"
He falls into the pit. The pride sin comes out of Emma and lands in the box.
"Okay, whoa, what just happened?"
"I think you just lost your pride." Two more sin balls float into the box. "And these must be envy and anger. Which must mean the pastor and someone else are okay now." Rikki throws the sin box in the pit. Emma taps the wand on the floor and the pit closes.
"Okay." Cleo picks up a crystal. "Oh, wait a minute, is this another?"
"I don't think so."
"Maybe it's the dead guy's soul."
"Oh, well, then you should release it some place nice."
She hands it to Lewis. "I know the perfect place." He gets out.
"Wow, we sure showed that demon." Emma sees the Cleo's and Rikki's faces. "Okay, you guys sure showed that demon."
"Thank you."
"So I guess I needed you guys a lot more than you needed me."
"No, we all needed each other. You got me back at the house, you saved the innocents..."
"Yeah, but..."
"Uh, stop it, I don't like this humble Emma, I want my real friend back."
"Me too."
"Well, I mean, I did save the priest and his victim and I was strong enough to tell him..."
She continues to ramble. Rikki and Cleo walk away.
The girls are at the juice net café. Emma gives Cleo her drink.
"Here you go."
"Oh, no, no, no."
"Cleo, it's okay to indulge, just don't over indulge."
"I guess we can thank Lucas for teaching us anything in moderation."
"Hey, there was nothing that Lucas could teach me."
"Oh, really?"
"I'm doing it again, aren't I? That whole pride thing. I swear, I'm working on it."
"It's a constant struggle."
"Here's one thing that I'm willing to admit I don't understand. You, Rikki and Lewis were able to get rid of your sins with a selfless act. I committed many selfless acts yet why did I have to wait for Lucas to be vanquished to get rid of my pride?"
"Well, Lucas said that pride was the one thing you can't beat. I think what he meant was there's no such thing as a selfless act to pride."
"I threw myself into a pit for the pastor."
"Yeah, but you did that to win. So any good you did during your prideful state was for the greater glory of Emma."
"Alright, fine, then here's to Lewis, for saving me from eternal torment."
They clink their glasses. Rikki pushes past some people. "Excuse me." She goes over to Emma and Cleo. "Hi."
"So, did he buy it?"
"Who?"
"Zane, the reason that you jumped him like an animal."
"Sure, sure."
She looks away to catch a wink from Zane across the room.