The whole room fell into a tense silence for what might've been the one hundredth time today. The storm sounded like it only got worse, so much so and so suddenly I couldn't tell if it was natural or Rainbow's reaction to the sudden bomb I dropped. All of the Council looked at me in shock, none of them daring to say a word as me and Thanos kept our eyes locked together.

His face was twisted into a look I couldn't decipher, a clouded mass of varying emotions behind his eyes, as if he didn't know how to truly react. It seemed like he wanted to let me go, throw me to the ground, crush my head and scream, and leave me alone without a word all at once. So instead, he snarled and forced me closer.

"What do you mean by 'your brother'?" The Mad Titan asked angrily.

"My brother taught me to stand you against monsters like you", I spat back. "He told me to hold my ground even when cornered."

"A brave but foolish lesson", Thanos growled. "Because all it did was prove to me you left someone behind."

"I didn't!" I screamed, making the Mad Titan's eye twitch. "I would never run away from him!"

"Then explain to me why you were alone! If you had a brother, why weren't you with him? It could've saved all of us here the headache."

"It's because…" My resolve was slipping as memories of a broken past played on repeat in my head.

"Why did you feel the need to trample over our homes like they were nothing if your brother taught you to be better?"

"It's because…" I was shaking now, and I heard Rainbow and Virus stand up behind me.

"Just tell me. If you have a brother, THAN WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"BECAUSE FREDRICK IS GONE!"

Thanos' face fell as the rest of the Council all looked at me in sad shock.

Still in the Mad Titan's grasp, I let the tears flow. "I;m here because Fredrick is gone! I had a brother, but not anymore. I can't remember what happened to him. I can't, but I loved him with all my heart. After he was gone, I left. I had no place where I was. And now that I'm here, I can make him proud!"

I was slowly devolving into nothing but pathetic sobs. "He was always there for me. You think I want to be labelled a villain all my life by everyone around me? He was that shining light I needed, always there to tell me that I was fine just the way I was.

"I didn't want him to go…"

At that point, I was a mess. My tears flowed down my face, my glasses were crooked, and I had curled up into myself. "Fredrick… I'm sorry…"

"You…" Thanos said in a hollow tone. Fear clutched my heart, and I looked up to see the Mad Titan giving me a dark look. "You, child… You are impossible. After everything you've done… Do you think this sob story can excuse that? We have order in this world. And you ruined that."

"I-I-I-I…" I stammered amongst the tears. "Please, I-I-I-I…. I didn't do anything wrong…"

I cried out when Thanos suddenly brought me up into the air, his gauntlet wearing hand choking me. "We have a system in place to take care of this. You aren't going to like it, but that doesn't matter to me." The stones on his glove began to glow.

He gave me the faintest hints of a smirk. "Goodbye, child-"

Everything stopped when a tendril from behind me cut Thanos' arm right off his body. He cried out in surprise and pain as I fell to the ground. I took a deep breath, trying to regain some sense of what was happening. But the war of emotions, the sadness in my heart made that impossible.

I kicked the severed arm away from me and scrambled back, unable to stand with how weak my legs felt. Looking behind me, I saw Rainbow. And the sight of her made me freeze.

Her whole body was featureless except for the epileptic swirl of colours that danced over her whole body. She threw the table to the side, with her brothers and husband moving away as her body became just like them.

With her reflective rainbow eyes, she glanced at me. I stared up at her in a mix of shock, horror and relief, tears still flowing down my face. With a tendril from behind her, she gently wrapped it around me and carried me over off to the side. I watched in awe as my adoptive mother gave me one last look, then looked at Thanos.

For once, he actually flinched in fear. The rest of the Council were in similar states of shock and horror.

"THANOS", Rainbow said, her voice sounding like a million hers were speaking at once. "YOU CROSSED A FUCKING LINE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE ACTION LIKE THAT, AND NOW YOU'VE FORCED MY HAND."

"You can't keep him from his punishment, Rainbow!" Thanos argued as he clutched the spot where his arm once was. "He broke the fundamental rules you told us we had to follow. You giving him a pass just shows your bias!"

"SILENCE!!!" She roared, making all of us in the room cover our ears. "YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO TAKE OVER THIS COUNCIL EVER SINCE WE INCLUDED YOU. YOU'VE BELITTLED ME, IGNORED MY ORDERS, INSULTED MY BROTHERS, IGNORED MY HUSBAND, AND NOW TRIED TO KILL MY CHILD. NO MORE, THANOS. NO MORE!!!"

The whole room shook, windows cracked, and most of the Council ducked fearfully under their desks as pure power emanated from Rainbow's body. Thanos stumbled back, hissing in pain as he bumped his injury on the desk behind himself.

"YOU ON PROBATION FROM THE REST OF THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, THANOS. YOU WILL HAVE YOUR MIND WIPED, AND WON'T BE ALLOWED BACK UNTIL WE DEEM FIT."

"You… You can't do this to me!" Thanos screamed. "I have a right to be here!"

Rainbow stared at him. "YOU NEVER DID. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO LET YOU JOIN."

"That boy has corrupted you!"

"HE'S EVERYTHING TO ME."

"He lies! How can we know his brother is real?!"

"Leave Fredrick out of this!" I screamed, shooting into a standing position. "Don't you ever talk bad about him!"

"You made him up!" Thanos screamed back. "You haven't been honest to any of us at all, and that gives me all the reason to question whether this brother of yours is real! And even if he was, maybe he had a reason to abandon you!" I locked up. "Maybe it's because you were nothing but a stain of his perfect world!"

I stared straight at Thanos with a look of shock, my brain crashing completely. Then, I crumpled onto the floor, staring at the carpet, silently weeping.

Rainbow, who had watched the whole confrontation, reached her limit. With an unfamiliar, almost animalistic roar, she opened her mouth impossibly wide and fired a beam out. Just out. She basically exploded with light as Thanos screamed in agony, his flesh melting off his body.

The blast then spread out and consumed the whole front of the room. Most of they council members that were smart and fast enough dodged, making their way behind her.

Most of those who agreed with Thanos and sided with him were met with a similar, but less excruciating fate.

Those still in the rows cried out in pain as Rainbow unleashed a blast that utterly decimated the Council room. Flags hanging from the ceiling were reduced to ash, the windows shattered completely, the seating was ripped to pieces, and the entire wall was blown apart as the blast shot out into the sky.

It almost broke the sky in two, and stopped the storm instantly as it sliced the clouds apart.

I stared on with a blank expression as Rainbow finally stopped, transforming back into her old self. With the light gone, I could fully witness the destruction for myself.

The seating was caved in as smouldering wreckage, a massive gap where the main chunk of the blast hit in the middle. The Council members that didn't escape rose from the burnt wood, groaning in pain. They all looked as though they were caught in a wildfire that pummelling them into the dirt, bruises, cuts and burns littering their bodies.

Outside, the storm had stopped, the blanket of clouds cut in half and a visible mark in the sky above.

Rainbow, her hair frazzled and clothes a mess, shot a glare that made everyone part of the Council freeze. "Listen up! After today, there will be no more meetings from all of you for a year! And that includes emergency meetings! After this massive shitshow, I've realised I hate seeing you all! Well…" She looked over her shoulder at the few council members that hadn't sided with Thanos. "Most of you, at least."

She faced the injured Council members again. "All of you are hereby banned from ever stepping foot into the Capital until further notice, and you will only be allowed back for meetings and that's it after the hiatus. Those that didn't side with the Mad Titan are more than allowed to come back whenever they want.

"Let this be the start of massive changes hitting this place. I won't let any of you walk over me, my husband or my brothers ever again. GOT IT?!"

The room shook with her ending shout, and all the Council members still in the wreckage all nodded in pure terror. They clearly never saw Rainbow like this, and it terrified them.

And me. Because I could only remember her as I stared at my adoptive mother. That rage… all the questions… the screaming… the yelling… and the visible mark of ash that was plastered on the floor where Thanos once was…

It was all too much.

My mind had finally broke, and I had to leave.

Before anyone could react, I shot up and ran out of the room, tears streaming down my face. I burst out of the room and ran passed all my friends, who looked frantic and horrified.

"Kid!" Ralph called. Or at least I think he did. My ears were simply ringing as I ran down the hall, sharply turning any corner I came across till I reach my hallway.

I ran up to my bedroom door and slammed it open, scrambled in and slammed the door shut.

Now that I was in my space…

I screamed.

I screamed so loud my throat hurt as I stormed around, throwing anything that wasn't bolted down around like it was nothing. I kicked and screamed, tears streaming down my face as all these painful memories played repeatedly in my head.

It was so intense, that when I found one of my bed posts next to me, I started slamming my forehead against it again and again.

With one headbutt that was a bit too forceful, I stumbled back, once again standing in the middle of the disaster that was my room.

And with all my rage dealt with, I collapsed. My legs buckled and I collapsed, burying my face in the cushions of my small couch. And with my face covered by the cushions and my arms…

I cried.

I cried silently, all that inner turmoil I've been keeping buried coming out full force.

I cried and cried and cried…

~X~

After what felt like hours, I lifted my head and slowly turned it so I could look at my bedside clock. I was only crying for a few minutes, unless I spent an entire day locked up in here crying.

With a groan, I leaned back so I was simply on my knees.

Only to stagger forward when I heard a knock at my door that went to the hallway.

"What?" I growled, voice still worn from all my screaming.

"It's us, Caleb", I heard Maria say. "Rainbow told us what happened after you ran off, and we came to check up on you."

Looked back down at the couch. "Just go away."

"Caleb, c'mon we're-"

I grabbed a fallen vase and threw it at the door, shattering against the wood on contact. "JUST GO AWAY!!! I DON'T NEED YOU GUYS! IF RAINBOW TOLD YOU, JUST KEEP FUCKING ASKING HER!" I immediately crumpled. "Just leave me alone…" I let my head hang limply for a moment before resting it on the couch again.

I could hear worried muttering on the other side of the door. Then the sound of the doorknob turning, and a group of many footsteps walking in. Clearly my friends didn't seem to like how much of a mess my room was, based on the noise of them cleaning up a bit.

I felt movement as two people sat on either side of me, with a delicate hand stroking my hair. Immediately, I could tell it was Maria, and subconsciously I leaned my head so I could just barely look up at her.

She was giving me a worried look, her eyes trying and failing to hide the sadness in them.

"Caleb…" she whispered softly. "Please. You need to tell us what happened, because Rainbow didn't tell us everything."

I whimpered, and buried my face in rage cushions again. "No. It's better I just bury it all again."

"Bury what?" Flowey asked from my vanity. "If anything, you shouldn't bury it. All of us know that, after everything we've been through."

"Surprisingly, he's right", Dry Bowser said, earning a glare from the flower. "I mean, look at me."

My fingers curled, as if in a vain attempt to come off as threatening.

"You guys are kicking the hornet's nest…" I growled.

Maria sighed. "I know it's hard, Caleb. It's… we've…"

"Don't say that", I suddenly said in a hard tone, quickly leaning back so I could look her in the eye. Everyone jumped at the sudden movement. "You don't know. You can't know." I stood up and spun around, shooting all my friends with an accusing look. "All of you were made up, none of you have actually been through this. You all just think you have because… because… because these false memories were placed in your heads."

I huffed and walked off towards my bed, leaving my friends in shock.

"What the- dude, where did that come from?" Marco asked in shock.

"Where did this come from?" I repeated back with a dangerous edge. "THIS IS WHAT MY WORLD MADE!" I whirled around at the scream, raged filled tears coursing down my face. "I'M LIKE THIS BECAUSE I WASN'T WHAT MY PIECE OF SHIT PARENTS WANTED! WHAT THEY DIDN'T SEE AS WORTH LOVING! I ONLY HAD MY BROTHER, AND WITHOUT HIM I'M… I'm… I'm…"

I trailed off and fell silent when Katania suddenly rushed forward and hugged me. Feeling her arms around me, her face buried in the crook of my neck, and the tears that were building up in her eyes, my resolve crumbled.

All my anger melted away. "I want to bury this because I hate when I act like this. They hurt me so much, and after my brother left… I became what he didn't want me to…"

"Just… tell us about him", Kat said carefully, looking up at me sadly.

I looked into her eyes, then looked over at the others. They all were giving me encouraging looks, and I looked off to the side. I freed myself from Katania's hug and walked over to the only suitcase I had on me when I first showed up in this place.

I clicked it open, and began to rummage through it, looking for one thing. Something I always had on me so I could keep moving forward. Something that meant the world to me.

After a bit of searching, I finally found it.

I stood up, and faced the others.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you guys about him."

I carefully spun it around so they could all see it.

It was a picture.

A picture of two boys, one around 7 and the other 16, spending one of the greatest days of their lives at a sunny lake.

Two brothers.

Me and Fredrick.

~X~

Hoooooo… this was a pretty emotionally charged chapter for me to write. All the shouting, anger, tears, and long repressed memories flooding back were a long time coming. This was one of the original ideas I had for this fic all the way back when I started writing chapters ahead of posting around January 2022.

Also, I want to say that this story is in the endgame now. Five more chapters, and then the grand finale. Two more arcs. It's almost over. I'm not ready, gang. This is gonna be a bittersweet goodbye…

But that's a future Caleb problem. For now, I hope you enjoyed…

Up next: Caleb, with all his friends as an audience, finally tells them the story of his life, from his toxic parents, crummy school life…

…And the older brother that changed his life.

~Caleb~