A gentle stream of smoke lifted from Grape's mask, a subtle hint of pain and sadness rising with it. Pauline walked towards the witch, checking to see if she was still alright.
Grape started to chuckle, which turned to a laugh. The laughter morphed to a forced, insane giggle as she leaned forwards with the sound of breaking bones coming from every movement.
"You really thought that would do something? That's my own magic. Ahahahaha..." She grabbed her face, the nose of her mask digging into the cut on her hand. "How did you know that would work? How did you know that the only thing that could damage me was Darkle?"
Purple mist drifted from the wound on her hand as the cut spread blood to her face. Pauline backed away from her, still gripping the scepter like it was her lifeline.
Without another word, Grape engulfed the curtains and tablecloths in a bright orange flame. A table knocked over, glass shattering and people screaming.
Grape chuckled again. "I love the sounds of people's screams. You might call me crazy, but there's really something about it that makes me so...happy." She picked up a champagne bottle.
"Grape," Pauline said, trying to hide her fear, "this needs to stop. You're just hurting the people you care about more than the people you're aiming to hurt. Yourself included."
"Myself? Myself?! Pauline, you disappoint me! I haven't been able to feel anything for ten years! How could I hurt myself if there's nothing left to hurt?"
She laughed again and tossed the bottle to the wall. They screamed and hurried to a corner of the room.
Robbie hid behind Pauline.
"Oh...I should have known. Robbie was the one who told you to fight me, hm? I shouldn't have kicked you, I should have killed you."
"Madame Grape-"
"Shut it, Dalilah! I'll have a 'talk' with you after I'm finished with Pauline!"
Dalilah flinched back.
Grape's hair was a mess, the same mist coming from her hand also appearing in her hair. "I've played with my dolls too much. I should have ended Peach when I had the chance. I should have ended you when I had the chance."
She held up her hand, which started shaking. It was bleeding again, and it seemed as if Grape couldn't ignore the pain anymore.
"Madame grape, you need to listen to Pauline!"
Grape snatched the scepter from Pauline. "This ends now."
"You've gone sour!"
Grape stiffened. "What did you just say to me?"
"You've gone sour, and you know it!"
The Sour Bunch gasped.
Grape slowly turned her head to glare at Dalilah over her shoulder. "You know nothing."
"Once you're sour, you can't go back!"
"Dalilah, stop it. You know you're wrong. Make it easier on everyone and stop lying to yourself."
"You know nobody likes a sour grape, Madame Grape."
She grabbed her mask. "Stop it!"
"That's why Robbie left. He knew. We all knew, from back in Sparkle Theater, we knew. You snapped, and it was all because of Rex. You thought killing him would magically make everything better, but you didn't think to make it better yourself!"
"Fate doesn't want things to get 'better!' She wants me to-"
"Fate doesn't exist!"
"You think I don't know that?!"
Dalilah fell silent.
"I know fate isn't real! I knew it the whole time! And yet the stupid belief in her managed to bring me some comfort for how I've been feeling. I thought that if I convinced myself that this was all for a reason, that I wouldn't feel so terrible about it."
"Madame Grape, I-"
"Don't. J-just don't. We're having a serious talk when we get home. Now, back to business."
Grape grabbed the side of her head and snapped it to the side. Pauline shuddered. Grape spun her scepter once, then aimed it at the mayor. Pauline stood there, silent.
"Aren't you going to fight? Isn't that what you wanted?"
"You obviously have the upper hand," Pauline said. "So there's nothing I can do. You won, Grape. There's no point in killing me unless you're really that heartless."
Grape stammered quietly, then scoffed at her. "So be it then."
She stood directly in front of Pauline, scepter to Pauline's nose. Pauline looked into the witch's eyes.
"You're hurting."
"What are you talking about? Are you trying to stall to spare your feeble little life?"
"I can tell. You're trying not to cry right now. I can see it."
"You're lying. I don't cry. I can't. I haven't felt anything in a long time, so why now?"
"I think you're lying to yourself to make yourself feel better. If you think you can't feel, then you won't, and then you wouldn't feel bad about the abuse you've been feeding to your Sour Bunch."
"Abuse?! Are you insane? I'm not hurting them! I'm only hard on them because they need discipline! And if I'm not hard on them, they wouldn't respect me! You know what I'm talking about, right? From one leader to another?"
"Grape...Hurting them, or...teaching them discipline, is not right. You want to be a good leader, right? Then you'll put the scepter down and listen to me."
"Don't treat me like a fragile little child! I won't put my scepter down, and I definitely won't listen to you!" The top of the scepter sparked.
"Grape-"
"I told you to be quiet! So listen to me for once unless you want to-"
"You're a terrible leader!"
Grape lowered her scepter. "...What? You don't think that, so you?"
"I've been trying to tell you this the whole time! If you keep going the way you are, you'll just be alone again. Rex, whoever he was, poisoned your mind. He taught all these bad lessons to you and you took them in because you thought they were right. But they're not. To be a good and respected leader, you need to be kind to them."
"Y-you're trying to trick me."
"Why would I? You didn't do anything. You did threaten to kill me, but that's not important. You just wanted to be a good leader but was too clouded by wrong teachings to see clearly. And I'll bet that's what your Sour Bunch has been trying to tell you too. Isn't that right? Wasn't Grape being a bad leader?"
They all nodded awkwardly, worried Grape would attack them if they fully disagreed.
"But...I was trying so hard...and it was for nothing?"
"I wouldn't call it nothing. You did take over New York, but it wasn't that...much. No matter how many achievements you earn, or hearts you make fear you, eventually your Sour Bunch would have turned against you. They'd already asked me to help stop you. I don't think they meant anything bad by it, of course, they were just worried for you. I know deep down that you can be a good person, Grape. I have a feeling you were, once. But this Rex might have stomped that out, which is why you think you can't feel anything anymore. But I'm sure that once you get in touch with that side of you again, you Sour Bunch will appreciate you in a new light."
Grape dropped her scepter and fell to her knees. "What have I done? I ruined myself. I ruined everything, all because I thought I was helping. But I was just making everything worse...I deserved to be punished for what I've done to my family..."
"Hey, that's not what I was saying! You don't need to be punished for anything I just-"
Grape started crying into her hands, making her Sour Bunch run over. Pauline smiled a bit, seeing that despite how she treated them, they still cared for her.
"Give Mario's family back. This place isn't worth it." Grape got off the floor. "We're going back home. I need some rest to get rid of this killing headache."
"Are you sure, Madame Grape?" Rodger asked.
She nodded once, opened a portal, and left without a word.
