Later that night, Rosella was in her room curling her hair. Said hair was in pigtails and she had changed into a dress with a leather jacket over it and a pair of high tops.
"Rosie? Are you ready, sweetie?" Bianca called.
Rosella had just finished her hair. "Yup! I'm coming."
When she made it downstairs, Lucas, Flint, Pierre, and Bianca all stared at her. Lucas's face went red.
"Wow! You look so gorgeous, sweetie," Bianca said encouragingly.
"I think she got that from YOUR side of the family," Pierre said, chuckling.
"Oh, you handsome devil you!" Bianca giggled.
Rosella smiled and stood next to Lucas, who was wearing a pair of pants and a sweater.
"You look nice," She told him, smiling.
Lucas smiled back at her. "Thanks, you too. Love what you did with the hair, it brings me back."
Rosella smiled a bit wider and blushed a bit. "Oh yeah...I used to wear my hair in pigtails all the time..."
Lucas extended his hand out to her. "Shall we?"
Rosella smiled and hugged his arm. "Let's go!"
The parents all chuckled among themselves.
When the five left the Thornson residence, Boney snuck into the back of Pierre and Bianca's car.
Lucas was the first to notice him, and he sighed. Rosella was the second to notice and she giggled, putting a red hat and green shirt on him.
The parents soon caught on as well and laughed.
"Oh, Boney," Flint said, sighing.
When the six of them made it to Club Titiboo, the security stopped them the moment they saw Boney.
"Nice try, kid. No Dogs Allowed—"
"These six are with me," A voice suddenly said. "That dog is a licensed ESA for—Rose?"
Lucas and Rosella were shocked to see none other than Kumatora standing there.
Rosella's eyes widened. But before she could respond, Kumatora dragged them and Boney inside.
Kumatora put a finger to her mouth and shushed them. "I'm here undercover. Until I'm off the clock, I'm Violet. Got it?"
Lucas and Rosella nodded.
Kumatora then hugged Rosella. "Good to see you."
Rosella smiled and hugged her back. She looked up to Kumatora like an older sister.
When Flint, Pierre, and Bianca finally came in, Kumatora put the Violet act back on and led the six of them to a booth.
"And what can I get for you?" She asked them.
"I'll start with a strawberry lemonade," Rosella told her.
"Oh, uh—me too," Lucas piped up.
Kumatora smirked and wrote down everyone's orders.
Bianca noticed that her favorite band in the world, DCMC, was setting up to provide some music for the night.
"Oh my gosh!" Her eyes fell on Baccio, the drummer for DCMC, and her cousin.
Baccio smirked and waved her over. "Good to see you in town, cuz."
Pierre walked up to the two of them. "You too, Baccio."
Kumatora watched the whole exchange and saw her in. Lucas and Rosella looked at her in confusion.
"You okay, Ku—Violet?" Rosella asked her.
Kumatora nodded. "I need access backstage. See the new guy? In the afro?"
Lucas looked over to who she was talking about. "Yeah?"
"That's Duster. He's been suffering from amnesia for a bit and Wes wanted me to uh...snap him out of it. But in all reality, I just wanna make sure the dolt is okay."
Rosella looked at Duster and smiled. "Well, at least he seems happy."
Kumatora nodded.
As the group played their first song, a group of Pig Masks walked in, seemingly off duty.
The entire place froze. Pierre's face went pale. His eyes fell on their commander, who seemed to be about Lucas's height. Pierre knew exactly who this was, more so than he let on.
Bianca looked at her husband. "Pierre, is that?"
"The Masked Man," Pierre said in a whisper. "A ruthless cold-hearted killing machine..."
The Masked Man snapped his fingers at DCMC, who started playing the song again. This time, out of fear.
Lucas and Rosella tried to get a closer look at the situation, but the army of Pig Masks blocked their view.
The Masked Man went over to the bar area to order a drink.
"One hard strawberry lemonade," He said, his voice void of any emotion.
Flint took a closer look at the Masked Man and noticed a strand of ginger hair.
"Can it be...?"
The bartender, meanwhile, raised a brow at the young boy, who was not 21. He wasn't even 18. He looked 13-14 at most. "Aren't you a little too young to drink?" He asked him.
And that was when the Masked Man aimed his gun arm at the bartender. "Aren't you a little too old to be asking stupid questions?"
Kumatora immediately sprang into action to protect the bartender.
Lucas and Boney followed suit, but the Masked Man was able to subdue all three of them.
Duster, who watched as his friends went down, took off his afro jumped off the stage, and tackled the Masked Man.
Rosella got her PSI ready just in case she needed to play healer.
"Rosella Mikayla Thornson, don't you dare get involved," Her father told her.
"But, papa, I—" Rosella protested.
Flint put a hand on Pierre's shoulder. "Rose, go help my son. He needs you," He said to her.
Rosella nodded and rushed to Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney. "PK Lifeup!"
As the four of them got up, Rosella's eyes locked with the Masked Man's. The Masked Man's eyes widened as he kept looking into hers. He then got a memory...of him and her...playing?! And Lucas was there, too!
Rosella froze. She felt her heart beating out of her chest, and her face went a bit red. As Lucas and the others defeated the Pig Mask, the Masked Man was forced to retreat. He walked past Rosella but stopped when he picked up her scent.
"You smell of roses..." He mumbled as he left with his men.
Rosella's face only turned a darker shade of red.
The entire crowd stood there in shock.
"Check please," Bianca said awkwardly.
The bartender shook his head. "It's on the house..."
Pierre got up. "We're going home."
Lucas went up to the flustered Rosella. "Are you alright?" He asked her.
Rosella snapped out of her thoughts. "O-Oh! Yes! I'm fine, Lucas."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks by the way. We would have been toast if it weren't for your PSI."
Kumatora looked at the time. "Welp, I'm off the clock." She went into the girls' restroom to change back into her hoodie.
Duster looked at Rosella. "Oh hey, Rose, when did you get back?"
"Earlier today," Rosella told him.
Duster grinned. "Good to see ya."
Kumatora came out and hugged Rosella again. "We missed the crap out of you!"
"Hey Kumi," Rosella chirped, hugging her back. Kumi is her nickname for Kumatora.
"Rosie, we're leaving," Bianca called out to her.
Rosella soon parted ways with the two of them, and she, Lucas, Boney, Flint, Pierre, and Bianca all went home.
Meanwhile, the Pig Masks had flopped onto the ground at a nearby hideout.
One of them looked up at the Masked Man, who was seemingly distracted by his thoughts of Rosella.
"Sir, wasn't that girl the one we were ordered to capture?"
The Masked Man didn't respond.
"Sir?"
"Her father was there. If we had kidnapped her, he would have figured out King P's plan to betray him," The Masked Man informed them all. He then made a call.
Porky didn't answer, instead, he was met with Fassad.
"King P is busy at the moment. Can I help you sir?"
"I'm going to need backup for my current mission," The Masked Man told him.
"Is that so?" Fassad said, smirking. "And here I thought you could handle this. Perhaps you don't deserve to be his second in command~"
The Masked Man glared at Fassad. "Cut the bullshit and do as I say! You work under ME! If you have any problems with the way King P runs things, you can bring it up with him. If you don't fear for your pathetic excuse of a life, that is."
Fassad wasn't going to let him know that he was scared, so he gave him a fake smile. "Very well. Your permission for backup has been approved, boss~"
The Masked Man hung up the phone when noticed a giant blimp with Porky's logo approaching them all.
When the blimp landed, about 20 Pig Masks came out and saluted the Masked Man.
"Pick up these five and get them all patched up," he ordered. "I want them all battle-ready by tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
As the Pig Masks carried the injured soldiers into the ship, the Masked Man stayed outside and thought about Rosella a bit more. That's when another memory came to him.
Rosella was getting ready for bed one night when she suddenly heard a knock at her window. She opened it to find Claus there.
"Claus?"
"Shh." He put a finger to her lips.
"How did you get up here?" Rosella whispered to him.
"I climbed the tree," Claus whispered back as Rosella helped him into her room.
"Where's Lucas?" Rosella asked him.
"He went to bed," Claus answered. "I wanted some time alone with you."
"You did?" Rosella blushed.
Claus blushed, realizing what he was implying. "Look, I just—Don't get the wrong idea, got it?"
Rosella raised a brow. "Okay...?"
"So whattaya say?" Claus said, his tsundere demeanor being replaced with a cheeky smile. "Wanna sneak out?"
Rosella looked at her bedroom door before looking back at Claus. She was about to take his hand when Pierre caught both of them.
"Rosella, go to bed," Pierre said sternly, trying not to smile too much. But he couldn't help it. He secretly shipped the two. "Claus, go home. Both of you have school tomorrow."
The Masked Man put a hand to his face, feeling it heat up. But he soon shook it off and entered the ship. He had a mission to complete.
