"YOU LOST?!" Porky shouted as the Masked Man admitted his failure. "You're the best soldier I have, how do you lose to four people and a dog?! Especially when the fourth one didn't even fight you! She healed you!"
Porky scoffed, before continuing his rant.
"You've gone soft, boy! All that time spent with your little girlfriend has made you weak!"
"She's not my girlfriend," the Masked Man protested angrily, his face red.
"She's not?" Porky smiled sadistically. "I was going to set you two up on a little concert date tomorrow night, but if she's not your girlfriend, then~"
The Masked Man's expression turned dark. He knew Porky was just fucking with him at this point.
"I'll still go to that dumb concert with her," the Masked Man growled.
"Oh no you're not," Porky retorted. "I am not rewarding failure! Your next mission is to look for the last needle! Now!"
The Masked Man wanted to argue, but he held his tongue.
"Very well, sir..."
He went back to his quarters to prepare for his upcoming mission but stopped himself.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go to the concert with her before my mission," he said, blushing as he thought about Rosella again.
Later that night, Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, Boney, and Rosella spent the night at the Lockwood residence.
After a nice shower, Rosella was all snug and comfy in Claus's old bed. Her hair was no longer curly since it was naturally straight.
Boney hopped up onto the bed and snuggled into Rosella.
Rosella giggled and let him stay there for the night.
"Aww, goodnight, Boney."
Boney and Rosella happily fell asleep.
Flint came into the twins's room to check on everyone. He smiled as he saw Rosella and Boney sleeping peacefully in Claus's old bed.
"Pierre asked me to go to New Pork City with him for something. You guys should make your way over there tomorrow, Kay?"
Lucas nodded. "Got it."
Flint closed the door as the five of them went to sleep.
"I hope Pierre knows what he's doing," he mumbled as he left for New Pork City. "It takes a great deal of courage, after all."
The next morning, Rosella was up bright and early. She conjured up another outfit. This time it was a pair of blue jean shorts, an oversized DCMC tee shirt, and a pair of pink Crocs. (Specifically the ones with the fuzzy insides)
After changing into the outfit, she noticed Lucas sleeping in as usual.
"Some things never change, do they?" Rosella giggled as she gently shook Lucas awake. "Lucas, wake up. It's morning."
Lucas slowly got up and stretched.
"Morning Rose," he hummed.
Duster was the next one to wake up.
"I think we're supposed to go to New Pork City today," he said.
Kumatora also started to wake up and noticed a giant limo waiting for the five of them.
"Is that our ride?" She asked.
"Probably," Duster answered.
Lucas fed Boney as Rosella went outside to converse with the limo driver.
"Got it. The rest of them should be ready soon," she said to him.
When the other four were done getting dressed and ready for the day, they joined Rosella in the limousine.
"I'm a bit hungry," Lucas said.
"Yeah, me too," Kumatora added.
"Can we stop for breakfast on the way?" Duster asked.
The limo driver obliged as he drove them to a nearby fast food joint.
Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Rosella got simple breakfast sandwiches. Rosella wasn't that hungry so she gave half of hers to Boney.
Once the limousine made it to New Pork City, the five looked out the windows in shock.
"This place is massive," Lucas shouted.
"You think that pig is compensating for something?" Kumatora joked.
"Wait, what would he be compensating for?" Duster asked.
"His pork sausage probably," Kumatora chuckled as Lucas put his hands over Rosella's ears.
Boney barked when he saw Flint, Pierre, and Bianca outside.
The limousine parked right beside them.
Rosella immediately rushed out and hugged her parents.
"Mama, Papa!"
Bianca gasped.
"My baby," she cried as she hugged her daughter. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a date with Claus."
"You knew about that?" Rosella asked, blushing.
"Yep," Bianca giggled. "Even got some pictures."
"Moooooooom!" Rosella whined, blushing redder.
Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney exited the limousine.
"Ah, Duster! Just the person I wanted to see," Bianca said, rushing over to him. "My cousin Baccio wanted to know if you'd like to play bass for DCMC tonight?"
Duster's eyes widened.
"More than anything," he answered, smiling.
Pierre and Bianca took Duster inside while Lucas, Kumatora, Boney, and Rosella stayed outside with Flint.
"So how was that date?" Flint asked Rosella.
Rosella blushed even redder. "It...It was...It was wonderful."
Flint smiled in approval. Much like Bianca, he was also on the Clausella train.
Boney barked at Lucas when he saw Nana trying to get into the concert.
"Whaaaat? You need to get tickets in advance for this?" She asked, frowning. "It doesn't start until tonight, I was hoping I could buy a ticket now..."
Rosella and Lucas looked at each other and then at Nana.
"She's with us," Lucas said as he and Rosella walked over there.
Nana's eyes widened when she saw Rosella for the first time in three years.
"Rose," she shouted, glomping her and sobbing. "Oh my gosh, I was worried sick about you! I'm sooooo glad you're alive!"
Rosella giggled and hugged Nana.
"I missed you too," she smiled.
Nana let go of her.
"You look good," she said.
"YOU look good," Rosella responded.
Lucas blushed as he saw his two crushes laugh and talk it out.
Flint hands Lucas three backstage passes. One for him, one for Nana, and one for Rosella.
"Thanks, Dad," Lucas said before turning back to the girls. "We should probably go inside, girls."
"Right," Rosella said as she and Nana followed him inside.
"What is this place, anyway?" Nana asked, taking a backstage pass from Lucas. "It's humongous!"
"It's the Empire Porky Building," Rosella answered, grabbing the other backstage pass from Lucas. "This is where Papa works...and where I was held captive."
"You sure you're okay being back here?" Lucas asked her.
"I'm fine," Rosella answered, smiling. "I wanted to come back to see—"
The three of them suddenly saw the Masked Man standing there.
"Claus—"
"I told you not to call me that in front of others," he barked.
"I'm sorry," Rosella said, frowning.
"Woah, chill," Lucas said, frowning.
Nana looked at the Masked Man, then at Rosella, then back at the Masked Man.
"Wait, what?! That's Claus?!" She asked in shock.
"I'm not Claus," The Masked Man answered.
"Well, not Claus, you wanna see the concert with us?"
The Masked Man looked at Rosella, seemingly waiting for her input.
"Pleeease?" Rosella asked him.
"I suppose so," the Masked Man answered, blushing. "But don't get the wrong idea! I was already planning on going anyway!"
Nana giggled.
"For someone who swears up and down they aren't Claus, you DO seem to act a lot like him~" she teased.
The Masked Man was about to protest when Rosella interfered.
"Come on, guys. Let's just hang out backstage, okay?"
"Fine," The Masked Man answered begrudgingly.
And so the four of them went backstage to chill for the time being. When the four of them arrived, they saw Pierre, Bianca, Duster, and Flint chatting with the other DCMC members, Boney snuggled up on the couch, and Kumatora chillin' with a joint in her hand.
Rosella coughed when she smelled the weed. The Masked Man put his arms on her shoulders protectively and glared at Kumatora.
"You can't smoke in here," he said matter of factly. "Take that shit outside!"
Kumatora scoffed and went outside to smoke.
Bianca got Rosella's inhaler out of her purse and handed it to her.
"Here, sweetie."
"Thanks, Mama," Rosella said as she started to breathe in and out of it.
"Your little Masked friend here is so protective of you, isn't he?" Bianca smirked knowingly.
Rosella and the Masked Man both blushed at the same time when Bianca said that.
Pierre gave the Masked Man a look.
The Masked Man scoffed and let go of Rosella. Maybe he was getting soft, he thought. But at the same time...it felt so right to him. Part of him longed to understand why that was, but there was still that part of him that was loyal to Porky. He looked away, frowning. He knew he had no choice but to complete Porky's mission.
The war inside of his mind and memories waged on...