[PRE-NOTES] Trying out some new formatting. Let me know if it works out. [/PRE-NOTES] “Is this the place?” Naser asks the moment the four friends step out of the Nas-Car and into the uncharacteristically chilly night. “You sure we didn’t take a wrong turn somewhere else?” He points to the seemingly abandoned and decrepit facade of Pizza Time’s storefront. “Yeah, the place looks pretty shitty, I know,” Anon answers before glancing around the street. As he does, he can’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. The streets of Skin Row just aren’t the place you want to be so late at night. The sense of impending danger lurking around the next corner does wonders to keep one nice and sharp, however. Stella steps forward and approaches the bold, albeit slightly faded lettering by the pizzeria’s window. “I don’t know. It looks rather homey. Reminds me Freedy Fazzbear’s or Bun’s Burgers!” Rosa perks an eyebrow in response to her friend’s comment. “¿Estás loca? ¡Parece que podrian robar este lugar en cualquier momento!” she exclaims in unfiltered Spanish. Somehow, everyone seems to understand what the feisty Latina says in her native tongue, as everyone but Anon nods in agreement with her words. While Anon was inclined to agree, he had already been inside the restaurant, so he knew the place’s exterior didn’t entirely paint the complete picture of the establishment. “It looks much better on the inside, at least,” the human adds with a shrug. “That doesn’t put me any more at ease, Anon,” Naser counters. Anon’s only reply to the ptero’s concerns is to take a step towards the restaurant’s door. “Oh, Anon! You’ve been here before. Do they have an arcade in there?” Stella inquires gleefully. Anon’s brain brings back the memory of the maddening din of the pizzeria’s arcade the last time he was there. He lets out a grumble and snaps a scowl towards Stella. “Yes, but I don’t recommend getting anywhere near it if you value your sanity.” Stella’s eyes go wide on hearing Anon’s words. “Think they have a DDR machine?” she asks in a bubbly tone that makes Anon yearn for the days when he could be more carefree about life. Considering the current situation, none of the group could afford to be carefree. Especially since they were standing in the middle of a Skin Row street late enough at night that not even the vagrants loitered around. “Focus, chica!” Rosa shouts at Stella, all the while giving the stego a light slap on the back of her head. “We’re here for Fang’s sake, not to play on maquinitas!” Stella rubs the spot where her friend and boss struck her, but rather than looking mad, she nods twice in acknowledgment, all the while letting out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. Fang comes first!” Naser glances between Stella and Rosa before turning to face Anon with an expectant look in his eyes. “So... what’s the plan?” The human stops to ponder just what his plan should be next. He knows what needs to happen. The big question was if it was even possible to carry it out? How will Lucy react to his sudden appearance? Will she be happy to see him again, or will she be furious? Would she even give him the time of day? For all he knows, she could very well not even remember him at all, just like two weeks earlier, treating him with cold indifference. At that thought, an internal debate begins within the former sailor. He tries to think which reaction would be worse to experience. ‘I mean, with rage, it at least implies that she remembers enough for it to elicit an emotional response. Indifference would mean she either forgot or forced herself to forget all about me…’ Anon rubs his temple before letting out a sigh and settling on an all-or-nothing plan. “I go in, speak to Lucy, get her attention, and let her vent all her rage on me. I’m sure she’s going to have plenty of that in need of venting. Meanwhile, you three wait outside for my signal to come inside. After that…” the human glances between Stella, Naser, and Rosa, not sure about what was to happen next. “I… I don’t know... but this is the best I have right now, as shitty as it sounds...” Naser walks up to Anon and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure that going alone is a good idea? Knowing Lucy, she’s probably going to be REALLY pissed off. It won’t surprise me if she punches you in the face.” Anon gives his friend a determined grin. “Yeah, I’m well aware she might punch me. I’d deserve it too.” “Yeah, you do,” Naser quips as he removes his hand from the human’s shoulder. “Still, as satisfying as it would be to see that, it doesn’t help you reconcile with her.” “Actually... it might just work...” Anon says as he rubs his chin. Naser raises an eyebrow. “Anon, I don’t think violence is the answer in this situation.” “On the contrary, I think violence is EXACTLY the answer!” the human retorts with perhaps a bit more cheer than expected. “You can’t beat the catharsis of a punch. Especially if that punch’s aimed at someone or something you’re angry at.” Naser gives his human companion a mate, almost pitiful look. “Maybe I should have had your head checked more thoroughly before I gave you your discharge. Something definitely broke in that brain of yours.” It’s now Anon’s turn to give his ptero ally a flat look. “Says the guy who almost strangled me two days ago.” Naser swallows hard and points an accusatory finger at Anon. “That was a moment of weakness, and you know it!” “Can you deny how cathartic strangling me felt?” Naser opens his mouth as if to snap back with a retort. Quickly, though, the young doctor shuts his mouth and slowly lowers his finger before glancing sideways. As he does, his mouth twists into a frown. Anon smugly smiled as he nodded his head twice. “My point exactly.” Naser closes his eyes and lets out a drawn-out sigh. “Lucy hasn’t seen you in four years. Do you really think she’s just going to let you walk up to her for a chat? If she’s as broken as you’ve described, she’s going to be very unhappy to see you. VIOLENTLY unhappy, if she’s still anywhere near what I remember her being.” “I think it’s a great idea!” Stella chimes in, turning around to meet the gazes of Anon and Naser. “What better way to show Fang that Anon’s sorry than by opening himself up to her judgment!” “Stella, this isn’t some romance manga where the two leads embrace each other out of the love they once held for each other after years apart!” Rosa interjects, all the while waving her arms around as if trying to draw all attention to herself. “We have to abide by real-life rules!” “Such as?” Stella asks, all the while tilting her head and placing her hands behind her back. “W-well…” Rosa stutters, clearly flustered by getting called out for her words. “Uh… f-for one thing…” she glances towards Naser and smiles, rushing to stand by his side. “Naser made a good point! Fang va a estar MUY enojada con Anon. If I was in her shoes and I was dealing with a no-good, no caring, apathetic ex-boyfriend that broke my heart and sent me down a path of self-destruction...” She brings her hands up and forms a first. “I would slap him across the room before doing one of the pile drives my Tio Juan showed me the last time he got some time off from his wrestling world tour!” The ankylosaur ends her words by flexing her right arm, which bulges with muscles that couldn’t just result from a career as a florist. “When you put it like that, I guess I can understand Fang’s anger,” Stella remarks as she taps a finger on her chin. “Anon insulted her and left her basically in her lowest possible moment before walking out of her life like he’d never loved her in the first place….” Anon put a hand over his face. “Rosa… Stella… you’re not HELPING...” “No, I think we’re making an excellent point!” Rosa says as she walks up to Anon, putting both her hands on his shoulder. “You have to approach Fang with some tact. The last thing we want is to overwhelm the poor chica, especially if this is the lowest point in her life!” Anon grimaces as he shifts his gaze between all three of his friends. “Do any of you have better ideas then?” He asks as he steps out of Rosa’s grasp and back to the center of his friends. Stella again taps her chin before smiling and raising her hand. “Oh! Why don’t you go in there holding a big boombox playing ‘Out of my league?’ That’s sure to get her attention AND cheer her up!” Anon facepalms. “No Stella, I will NOT walk in there with a boombox over my head while playing some cheesy love song. Where would I even get a boombox?” Stella crosses her arms and puffs her cheek in reply to Anon’s rebuttal of her idea. Anon sighs and looks at Rosa and Naser. “What about you guys? Any ideas?” Rosa shakes her head in reply, for the first time looking as if she doesn’t know how to handle the situation currently unfolding before her. Naser, meanwhile, opens his eyes wide and grins just as widely. “Take an offering to Lucy, something that will get her on your side no matter what.” “An offering?” “Yes! And I have just the thing. Give me a sec...” Naser says before he rushes back to the Nas-Car. Anon shoots a look towards Rosa and Stella, both of whom look at each other before shrugging. Anon’s mind wanders a bit. Just what could Naser have in store for him? The human gets his answer not one minute later when the young doctor returns holding two items in his hands: an orange box with an image of cartoon dinosaurs printed in the front and a ziplock bag full of what looks to be… “...Are those chicken nuggets?” Anon asks, not quite able to fully process what he sees in Naser’s hand. “Dinno nuggies,” Naser corrects his friend, all the while grinning ear to ear. Anon blinks again and looks Naser square in the eyes. “...Why do you have a box of dino nuggets in your car?” “I bought it earlier while you were getting some sleep in that… apartment of yours,” Naser answers as he hands Anon the ziplock bag of dino nuggets. Anon narrows his eyes. “Yeah, I know my place sucks as a home, but it’s the best I can afford with my pension right now,” Anon says as he stuffs the bag of nuggets in his pant’s back pocket. “Better a shitty apartment in Skin Row than sleeping in the streets.” “You can sleepover at my place!” Stella exclaims, all the while smiling as cheerfully as a kid in a candy store. “My home’s ALWAYS open to you, Anon!” “Stella, the only way I’m sleeping over at your place is if I lose my apartment,” Anon protests, all the while shooting the lime-yellow stego with an annoyed glare. “You’d probably keep me up all night watching Gurren Lagann reruns or, god forbid, all the Naruto filler!” the human visibly shudders at that last thought. “ninety-one episodes of pure non-canonical horror...” “If we were to have an anime night, I thought we should watch Space Runaway Ideon!” Stella chirps innocently. The human blinks a few times as he absorbs his anime-loving friend’s words. “I mean… it’s a magnificent series, but damn if it’s not…” He stops himself and quickly realizes that he’s getting off-topic. “That’s beside the point!” he shouts as he points an accusatory finger at Stella. “No anime nights anytime soon!” He then turns back to face Naser. “And I still want to know WHY you’re carrying around a box of dino nuggets in your car!” “I like them,” Naser says matter-of-factly. “They also remind me of Lucy, which is the important part here. If my sister is still in there somewhere, she should still LOVE dino nuggies!” “You do know that chicken nuggets aren’t a high-class food—more junk food than anything. You’re a doctor. You should know that.” “Don’t overthink it, Anon!” Naser says as he gives the human a pat on the back. “What’s important is if you give the nuggies to Lucy, she should be far more receptive to whatever you tell her.” Anon lets out a sigh before shaking his head once. “This has got to be the most insane plan I’ve ever been a part of…” The human takes a step towards the pizzeria, only stopping for a second to glance back at his three friends, all of whom look at him with determined expressions on their faces. Somehow, their expressions of hope do little to instill the young sailor with confidence. At the same time, he feels a burning drive in him, one borne out of all the tribulations endured up to that point. He knows there’s no avoiding what he needs to do next. Too long he’s avoided it when he should have faced it head-on four years earlier. Without another word, he pushes on the front door to the pizzeria and steps inside, ready and willing to face whatever destiny has in store for him. -A Few Minutes Later- “Anon,” Fang seethes with every bit of hatred that she can put into her voice. Fang’s already clenched hands tighten further. Her claws dig into the flesh of her palms, drawing blood as her knuckles turn white. Whatever pain she might feel is utterly overwritten by the inferno raging uncontrollably in her soul. At that moment, she wants nothing more than to rip Anon’s chest open with her bare hands, showing him his still beating black heart as the life slowly leaves his eyes. The ptero takes one step towards the human. Without wasting a single second, she raises an arm and snaps her shoulder back. With all the strength she can muster, she throws a punch directed right at Anon’s face. A blow the human does nothing to avoid, parry, or even counter. As the sound of a scaled fist meeting soft human flesh echoes through the abandoned restaurant, Fang can’t help but feel some level of catharsis. It’s several years too late and far too little to make any real difference, but as she feels her first bury itself into Anon’s cheek, she feels a certain level of rapture. Fang can’t help but smile ever so faintly... To Fang’s surprise, Anon takes her punch without so much as flinching. At first, the ptero wonders if she’s that weak, but as Anon’s cheek turns a dark shade of red and rises a few millimeters in inflammation, her doubts evaporate. If anything, it’s Anon who has gotten physically more robust. Anon turns his head to once again gaze right into Fang’s eyes. Fang puts away her surprise at Anon’s resistance—or numbness—to glare daggers at him again. However, as Fang’s eyes meet Anon’s, she feels overwhelmed by the deep sorrow she finds in them. The ptero’s previous hostility deflates as the sadness in Anon’s eyes overwhelms her. Little by little, the fire and acid in her soul vanishes as a realization hits; that the human now staring deep into her soul is just as damaged—if not more so—than she is. The sorrow she can see in his gaze is but a fraction of the emotion she could feel in his soul. There is so much more just hidden away under the surface... “Lucy…” Anon whispers as he takes another step towards the girl he once loved, yet the one girl he had ruined everything with because of his selfishness and apathy. “What happened to you?” Despite wanting nothing more than to kick Anon in the testicles and run away to hide from the feelings in her heart, Fang can only shake her head in denial. Goosebumps course through her body as for just one moment, she lets herself remember what Anon had been to her... and what she had been to him. How they had both ended it so unceremoniously, almost as if all those hours spent together, all those laughs shared, all that happiness that bounced between the two of them had meant nothing. Fang steps even closer to Anon without another word and wraps her arms around the human’s chest. Anon returns the embrace, doing his best to cradle the woman he had loved and so carelessly hurt four years ago. As the night outside grew colder, Anon and Fang—broken and beaten by a cruel and uncaring world—found a small semblance of comfort in each other’s embrace. It wasn’t enough to heal the wounds or to undo all the mistakes the two had committed in their lives up to that point, but for just one second, it didn’t matter... Just for one second, it was a good place for the two of them to start again… … Fang is the first of the two of them to break their embrace as she takes a step back and clears her throat. “So…” she starts, all the while wiping the blood from her hands on her pants, adding to the grime accumulated over a day of work. “H-how long were you watching me play?” Anon rubs the back of his head and gives Fang his most sincere smile. “Been here since before you sang that last song…” Anon’s smile faltered somewhat as he recalled the bleak lyrics to it. “It was… pretty good...” Fang rolls her eyes and scoffs. “You weren’t supposed to like it,” she says as she crosses her arms. “I wrote that almost four years ago, after…” she trails off and shuts her eyes before shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. What I wanna know is—” Fang cut herself off as her nose began twitching. Less than a second later, she actively began sniffing the air around the human, much like how a dog would sniff around when searching for something that had caught their attention. Realizing that his little ‘secret’ was out, Anon reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the zip bag of nuggets Naser had given him earlier. “I know this isn’t exactly an ideal ‘I’m sorry’ present, but—” Before Anon can finish his words, Fang snatches the bag from his hands and inspects it closer, her eyes gradually widening as she confirms the contents were processed chickeny goodness. “I, uh… heard you liked dino nuggies…” Fang brings the bag of nuggets closer to her chest and shoots anon a glare. “Mine!” she utters in an uncharacteristically childish tone. “Yeah, I figured. H-hope you like them!” Anon stammers, all the while rubbing the back of his head for a second time. Fang blins about five times before clearing her throat. “W-wait here for just a sec…” she whispers, all the while backing away from the human without breaking eye contact with him. Only when she reaches the backstage area does she look away, disappearing behind the small stage. Anon stands where Fang told him to, fidgeting in discomfort as he hears what sounds like the rummaging of plates and other metallic objects. Then the sound of beeps and the unmistakable hum of a microwave follow. Anon almost asks himself for a second why there would be a microwave behind a music stage until he realizes that bands who have to play for hours on end don’t have the time in between sets to get themselves a full meal. Some might not even be able to eat what’s on offer in the pizzeria’s menu on account of being herbivores. The human only snaps from his idle thoughts when the loud alarm of the microwave catches his ears. That’s followed by Fang walking out from behind the backstage area, holding a plate of freshly heated dino nuggets. She walks up to Anon and takes one of the dino-shaped pieces of chicken in her fingers—the T-rex-shaped one—and greedily chomps down on the tiny piece of food, sending it down to meet its nuggety maker. Anon can’t help but snicker softly at the sight. When Naser had told him that Lucy loved dino nuggets, he hadn’t expected her love for the pieces of processed chicken to be so… raw. If the young sailor hadn’t known any better, he would have said that the ptero’s love bordered on the obsessive. Then again, there could also be a darker implication. Maybe it wasn’t that Lucy loved chicken nuggets so much as she was just that hungry. She looked pretty thin, to where Anon wondered if his ex was getting enough food. A bit of an ironic thought to have, considering she played music for a pizzeria. Fang chews her food before swallowing, grabbing another nugget before pointing a finger at Anon. “So, I gotta know. How the fuck did you find me?” she asks, all the while narrowing her eyes and glaring at Anon. “I went pretty far out of my way to make sure I disappeared from everyone’s life.” “Why disappear?” Anon asks before he stops his thoughts and sighs. “Actually, I think I may already know why…” Fang only nods in reply to Anon’s self-answered question. Neither human nor dino needed to explain further how they had come to their shared conclusion. Their very life choices leading up to their current reunion spoke far louder than any words they could exchange with one another. Still, there was one question that buzzed in Anon’s mind. “How did you manage to disappear?” This time, it was Fang’s turn to sigh. “That… might take a while to explain. Why don’t we sit down… over there,” she points to one of the nearest open tables. Anon nods in acknowledgment. Fang walks past him and heads towards the table at a steady yet sluggish pace. Before he follows his ex to the table, Anon pulls out his phone and quickly taps a text message to Naser. [Anon] Convo is going well with Lucy. Come inside but stay out of sight. [Naser] Sounds good. When should we come out? [Anon] I’ll find a way to mention you. That’s your cue. [Naser] Okay. Soon after Naser sends out his last reply, the human put his cellphone away and falls right behind Lucy as she leads him to a suitable table, one that doesn’t turn out to be pretty far from the stage. Before she takes her seat, Lucy puts her plate of nuggets gingerly down. As soon as she’s sure her precious food isn’t going anywhere except her stomach, she allows herself to plop down on the chair and let out a sigh of relief. “Oh fuck, feels good to sit after hours of playing!” the ptero exclaims, all the while letting her body go numb, and her wings flare out in relaxation. She then remembers where she is and who she’s talking to before again clearing her throat and adjusting her position so that she’s sitting upright again. “Alright, Anon. First things first, you still haven’t answered my original question,” Lucy starts, her eyes once more narrowing as she glares at Anon. Whatever threatening aura she may have wanted to give off dulls, however, when she reaches for another piece of nugget and greedily munches on it. “How the fuck did you find me?” she asks the second she swallows her food. “Well… I didn’t find you per se. More like I ran into you two weeks ago…” Anon answers as he shifts his eyes away from Lucy and glances down at the table. “Seeing you again after four years… that wasn’t something I ever considered a possibility…” Lucy’s eyes widen as she puts on a bitter smile. “So… what you’re saying is that you accidentally ran into me two weeks ago… recognized me despite my current appearance and didn’t even say anything to me at the time?” Anon feels himself shrink at his ex’s question. When she puts it like that, it made him out to be a bigger coward than he already was. Still, she was right about everything. “Yes,” he answers bluntly. Not like he had any other answer to his ex’s question. Lucy takes another nugget from her plate and munches on it before crossing her arms. “I’d ask why you hesitated to talk to me for two weeks… but you and I both know just what kind of shit we screamed at each other on that beach four years ago.” She shuts her eyes and lets out a long exhale before slumping back on her chair. “I’m… I’m sorry I ever said that to you…” Anon’s eyes widened at Lucy’s words. “W-what?” he asks in an incredulous tone. ‘Why is she apologizing! I’m the one who’s supposed to be apologizing!’ Anon thinks in a panic. Lucy lets out a groan and sits back up again. “What? Surprised to hear that your ex is apologizing for the shit she said to you?” she asks before bitterly laughing. “You’re not the only one who’s had FOUR FUCKING YEARS to think about what they did and regret every wrong decision they’ve made!” The ptero gives Anon a harsh glare as she slams her fist on the table. “I’m old enough to admit that I was a fucked-up schizo just like you said! Old enough to realize that I let myself get strung along by Trish without realizing that she was shaping me into something I didn’t want to be! Old enough to see that my whole ‘enbie’ bullshit was just me screaming for attention when I could have done a hundred more productive things to get it, like being better at my music or even joining the fucking gardening club! I could have put real effort into my schoolwork instead of going around shoving my non-binary bullshit down everyone’s throats!” Lucy reaches a hand to the plate of nuggies and grabs a handful of them, stuffing them all into her mouth before harshly chewing and swallowing. “Yeah, I’m done with the gender politics bullshit that Trish shoved into my head. It never did me or anyone any fucking good. Does it surprise you to hear that?” The ptero lets out another scoff as she again sits back on her chair and looks to the ceiling. Anon has no answer. Frankly, the human’s stunned by what he hears out of Lucy’s lips. This apology was so far going in a way that he couldn’t have ever predicted. It wasn’t so much an apology he was making towards Lucy, as it was Lucy venting about the mistakes she’d made in her life. “Lucy, I—” The ptero once again slams her fist on the table, causing anon to flinch. “Don’t you ‘Lucy’ me!” she snarls, her face twisting into a visage of rage. “I’m not looking for any sympathy! I did what I thought was right at the time… and I’ve lived with the consequences ever since!” “And what exactly did you do?” Anon asks with equal parts curiosity and dread. Lucy cringes as she wraps her arms around herself, claws digging into her plumage. “I… I...” she stammers as her digits dig deeper and deeper into the skin under her feathers. “When I… I ran away, I wanted to leave everything about the old me behind. I wasn’t Lucy anymore… and I certainly couldn’t be Fang either… so I abandoned it… Abandoned everything...” She shuts her eyes as her claws draw blood from where they had pierced her arms. “To finally answer your question about how I disappeared… I… I got in contact with some people. Bad people. M-mobsters…” Anon’s eyes once again widen, this time to the size of tea plates. “Oh no. Lucy, you didn’t actually…” The human couldn’t bring himself to finish his words. Almost as if to answer him, Lucy nodded as her eyes grew dull and tired as if she had run the memory through her head a thousand times, and each time the recollection etched away another piece of her soul. “They gave me the fresh start I wanted. Made me disappear real good. Goodbye Lucy and goodbye Fang. Hello Gilda!” She, at last, released the hold on her arms, the blood on her fingers a deep contrast to her almost white plumage, making the injuries appear even more gruesome. “I got what I wanted, but I lost all I had. Worse, the cost was high. So high that I’m still paying it off to this day…” Lucy grimaces, and for just a second, Anon prepared himself to see Lucy—or Gilda, rather—slam her fist on the table again. Only, that doesn’t happen. Instead, she smiles sourly as she shakes her head in defeat. “That’s the reason why I’m stuck playing shitty gigs like this one and why I live in a single-room apartment barely big enough to move around in.” The ptero subconsciously reaches for the last few dino nuggets on her plate. She grabs the four with a bloody hand, smearing the nuggets with blood and tossing them into her mouth without a care. She then chews and swallows, either unaware or just too numb to catch the taste of her blood. “I guess that answers your question about how I disappeared,” Lucy exclaims in a haggard tone as she stands from the table. As she does, the dam finally breaks and tears streak down her face. She does her best to wipe them with the back of her hands, but that only serves to smear what remains of her dull black eyeshadow. She grits her teeth and prepares to use her still blood-stained hands before Anon himself stands and grabs his ex’s palms, uncaring of the blood that will stain his hands. Lucy scowls at first, but her expression gradually gives way to one of indifference. As Anon looks down at his now red-stained extremities, he can’t help but feel that there’s a specific symbolism to be taken from the sight: two former lovers, both having made equally terrible mistakes, leading them both to equally awful futures. Both now standing before each other, with blood in their hands—literally and metaphorically—trying to find some comfort with each other despite knowing full well that things can never go back to the way they used to be... “Anon,” Lucy whispers as she slowly removes her hands from Anon’s. “What happens now? Between us?” she asks, her voice weak. “I… I know we can’t go back to what we once had. We both fucked that up real good. But... I don’t want us to go back to being strangers who hate each other…” she sniffs once, a single tear rolling down her eyes. “I… I don’t want to go back to being so very alone…” Anon brings Lucy in for another embrace. As he does, his vision swims as he feels tears forming in his eyes. “Yeah,” he whispers into his ex’s ear. Slowly, gently, Anon breaks the embrace, and he wipes his own eyes, unaware or uncaring that by doing so, he’s also smearing some of Lucy’s blood on his face. “C-can we… start over?” he asks his ex. Lucy wipes away the last of her tears with her shirt before smiling and raising an eyebrow in response. “That’s... sooo cheesy, you god-damned dweeb…” she lets out another sigh and gives the human a tired smile. “But... I think I’m okay with that idea…” The ptero takes a step back and stretches out her right hand. “Hi, my name’s Gilda. Formerly Fang, who was also formerly Lucy Aaran. I’m a down-on-her-luck musician, high-school dropout, and… well, that last part doesn’t matter anymore. And you are?” Anon chuckles as he takes a step forward, grabs hold of Lucy’s still bloody hand as tightly yet also as gently as he can. “My name’s Anon Y Mous. Also a high-school dropout, former navy seaman, and… a wayward soul. Nice to meet you too.” Anon and Lucy look into each other’s eyes for about five seconds before the two shake hands. The shaking itself lasts for a full thirty seconds, almost as if neither human nor ptero wants the physical contact to end. Lucy raises an eyebrow at Anon. “You’re supposed to let go now,” she says, the corners of her mouth slowly rising as she speaks her words. Anon lets out a single chuckle in reply. “Ladies first,” he says, all the while slowly forming a grin on his lips. The two look down at their still grasping hands. Soon as they do, the two burst into hearty laughs over their somewhat childish re-introductions. Still, neither of the two former lovers can deny the level of catharsis that comes with finally reaching some level of reconciliation after so many years apart. Still, as happy as Anon feels at that moment, he knows that the work’s far from over. Just like with Naser, reconciling with him is only the first step. Lucy still needs to reconcile with everyone else in her life. Otherwise, Lucy would always be incomplete. Hollow. Anon and Lucy at least let go of each other’s hands. Lucy is the first to sit back down on the table and let out a satisfied sigh. “So, navy, huh?” Lucy asks as her eyes scan the human’s body. “I guess that explains the extra bulk on your formerly scrawny ass.” Anon smiles and also sits back down on the table. “It was the military or homelessness.” “What was it like? Being a sailor boy?” “Hell,” Anon flatly answers as he leans back on his chair. “Stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with nothing but water for thousands of miles around, living on a rigid schedule of drills, menial ship tasks, inspections, crappy food, and even crappier sleeping arrangements…” He shakes his head. “And don’t even get me started on the whole ‘shipful guys who are also super horny’ bull, or the god-damned gay chicken competitions...” “Wow… that sounds… fucking terrible,” Lucy says as she also lets her body relax on the chair. “But hey, I’d take that over fuc—” she stops herself and lets out a whimper. Anon instinctively perked and looked into his ex’s eyes. “You’d take it over what?” Lucy winces and looks to the side. “D-don’t worry about it. It’s… it’s in the past…” she grabs her right arm as her eyes again shimmer. Anon leans forward with a grimace on his face. He wants so badly to ask her what’s causing her to act so dourly. ‘It almost feels as if she was trying to hide something about her past from me… something fucking painful…’ he thinks to himself. “Yes,” Lucy whispers as she grabs on to Anon’s hand. “I am trying to hide something from you,” she says in a soft, tired, and mournful voice. “Fucking mumbling, god-dammit,” Anon berates himself. Lucy can’t help but giggle at Anon’s outburst. She holds on to the human’s hand tighter as she slowly ends the giggles, the smile it brings to her lips remaining present even after the sorrow returns to her eyes. “It’s… nice to know that even after four years, you’re still that same dweeb that I…” Lucy hesitates for just a second before she speaks again. “...That I remember...” she finishes her words, finally bringing her eyes back to meet Anon’s. “I… I think you’re the one thing that’s stayed mostly the same…” Anon breaks his eyes away from looking at Lucy and gazes to the side. He knows his ex’s words are meant to comfort both herself and him, but she doesn't know just how painful hearing them was. It almost felt like an encapsulation of all his failures in the last four years... Lucy reaches into her pocket and pulls out something that Anon can’t initially recognize. It only takes a second and a loud click for him to realize that it’s her phone. The same phone Lucy owned back in high school. Pretty worse for wear, the device’s screen has a few cracks, and its casing’s scratched and faded. It almost looks like a reflection of the girl holding on to it. “G-give me your number, dweeb…” Anon hesitates for a second, not sure what to make of Lucy’s request. As if to answer his mental question, she rolls her eyes and lets out a snort. “I just reconnected with my idiot ex-boyfriend after four years. How the fuck am I going to keep in contact with him after tonight? Are you going to come to see me every night that I do a gig? Pizza Time’s not the only place I play gigs at, you know.” Anon ponders his ex’s words for a moment. He hadn’t given the idea of keeping in contact with Lucy that much more thought aside from that night. What did he expect, for the two of them to make up, kiss, and start living together like nothing ever happened between them? Such a thing only happened in fairy tales and lousy romance stories. Of course, life wasn’t that simple, nor should it be. Anon quickly gives Lucy his number, which she taps on her phone with shocking speed. A second later, his phone buzzes. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, the bright screen displaying Lucy’s text message: [Lucy] God, u can b so dense <:V The human swiftly unlocks his phone and saves Lucy’s new information, leaving nothing to chance. He tightens his grip on Lucy’s hand and lets out a sigh. ‘No better time to bring up the Aarans and Naser than now,’ he thinks as she fills his lungs with air. “Gilda… Have you… Have you given any thought to reconciling with your family?” Lucy’s expression darkens at the mention of the word ‘family.’ “No,” Lucy says bluntly as she snatches her hand back. “B-but… why not?” Lucy’s face furrows. “Because they’re the reason I ran away...” Anon wishes he could say he was surprised by what he hears Lucy confess. Still, after having listened to what Naser went through with Mr. and Mrs. Aaran and how they themselves admitted they had some share of the blame for Lucy’s flight, that surprise rang pretty hollowly. Regardless of that, he had to try to get to her. He’d already come this far... “What about your brother?” Anon asks, careful not to say Naser’s name out loud prematurely. “I’m pretty sure he’d love to see you again.” Lucy glances down at the table. What anger she had at the mention of her family fades as a deep sorrow supplants it. “Naser… didn’t deserve the shit he went through…” she whispers. “When I was younger, I couldn’t hope even to comprehend all the sacrifices he made for my well-being. When my parents all but gave up on me, he was the only one who stuck by and tried to support me. When I went through my nonbinary bullshit phase, he stuck around and humored my insanity. And how did I thank my little brother? By insulting him, making his life hellish, and doing everything that I could to act out and get myself in trouble!” Lucy grits her teeth and looks Anon in the eye, her eyes once again shimmering with fresh tears. “Like, I know now that he always meant well, always had my wellbeing in his mind first and foremost. Yes, shit blew up in his face a lot, but he always found some way to make it seem like everything would still be alright! And all that despite me causing his accident!” She slams both hands on the table, a few tears shaking loose from her eyes as she looks deep into her ex's eyes. “The reason he became a cripple? Me! The reason he missed an entire school year? Me!” she practically screeched that last part as she put her hands on her face. “Naser would have been better off if I’d never been born...” she softly laments. “That’s not true!” A fresh voice suddenly interrupts Lucy’s heart-wrenching reminiscence, causing the already emotionally compromised woman to flinch in surprise. “N-never EVER think that I w-would be better off without you!” he shouts with all his heart, his force of will just enough to keep his stuttering voice from breaking any further. Naser, who had up to that point kept himself in the shadows, steps into the light. His eyes shimmered in the faint light of the pizzeria, and his body trembling with emotion. “Si!” Another voice—that of Volcano High’s feisty former head of the gardening club—shouts as Rosa also steps from the shadows to stand right beside Naser. “L-Lucy… Gilda… F-Fang… It doesn’t matter who you are. ¡Eres preciosa para nosotros!” The ankylosaur places her hands together as if in prayer and gives a warm, reassuring smile. “Don’t you ever dare think otherwise!” “Rosa’s right!” Stella shouts next, also stepping out from the shadows, only instead of standing next to Naser, she somehow materializes right beside Anon, her eyes locking on to Lucy’s. “It doesn’t matter what name you decide to use, you’re still you, and you are precious to us!” “N-Naser? Rosa! S-Stella!?” Lucy shouts as she practically jumps up from her chair and takes several steps away from the table, all the while scanning the bodies of her brother and two former classmates before her as if trying to figure out if she saw a very elaborate hallucination. “W-what are you three doing here!?” Stella gives Lucy her biggest, happiest smile. “We came here to save you!” Rosa clears her throat and reaches out to Stella, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her back slightly. “What Stella means to say is, we’re here to support and help you out, Gilda.” Lucy’s expression sours at hearing Rosa’s words. Despite the visible anger, she says nothing as she snaps a glare towards her younger brother. Naser seems to be paralyzed by his emotions. Fear, confusion, pain, regret, relief; all mixed, forcing the young doctor to remain rooted in place. Anon stands from the table and gazes at every person in the room. In his mind, he’s trying to figure out if the situation unfolding before him is beneficial or not. He hadn’t expected Naser to jump in and reveal himself as he had. Then again, he also couldn’t blame him, especially considering the kinds of emotional bombs that his ex had just finished dropping. Even so, this wasn’t at all what they had planned. Lucy shifted her glare towards Anon and puffed her cheeks. “Anon… did you… did you set this up!?” “I-I mean…” Anon started but found himself almost lost for words. Almost as if in reply, Lucy marched up to the human and punched him in the gut. The blow itself was not that painful, but its suddenness still knocked some air out of his lungs. “So this whole thing we just had… our reconnection and… and everything we told each other… it was all some kind of ploy!?” Lucy screams, all the while her face turns a shade of red. “N-no!” Anon replies in between gasps for air. “G-Gilda… everything that we’ve said to each other… I’ve meant... every word!” “LIAR!” Lucy shouts as she grabs Anon by the neck in an attempt to choke him, albeit fruitlessly considering how tired the ptero already was from a long day of work. “F-Fang!” Stella shouts as she moves to stop Lucy from hurting Anon. “MY NAME IS GILDA!” Lucy shouts as she pushes Anon right into Stella’s arms. The Stego catches the human in a protective embrace, but his added weight, combined with her poor footing, causes the two to tumble right into the floor. Stella still hit the ground first, all the while keeping anon from so much as even touching the floor. She even went so far as to use her tail as an impromptu shield in case the angry ptero started stomping on him. On seeing Stella’s care towards Anon, Lucy’s scowl deepens as she stands over the two. Before she can say or do anything, she’s interrupted by Rosa, who also steps forward. “G-Gilda!” Rosa shouts, drawing the ptero’s attention to her. “Why are you doing this? Somos tus amigos. ¡Tu familia!” “You’re not my family!” Lucy screams as she grabs the empty plate on the table and tosses it at Rosa, who deftly catches it, an act that only causes the already angry ptero to grow angrier. “You’re all just a bunch of painful memories I thought I got rid of!” At last, Naser snaps from his stupor and rushes forward, grabbing his older sister by the shoulders. “Lucy!” he shouts, struggling to maintain his grip as the ptero desperately tries to free herself from his grasp. “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry for everything that happened! I never meant to make you feel you were responsible for my accident! I never meant to make you feel like you were hurting me! I’m… I’m…” he lets out an uneven sob as he looks as profoundly into his sibling’s eyes as he can. “I should’ve been there for you when you gave up everything to be someone else… when you got embroiled in that debt to the mob…” “No!” Lucy shouts as she shoves her brother away from her. “That fuck up’s mine and mine alone...” “Lucy!” Naser cries out, reaching out for his sister. “You’re not alone anymore. I-I’m here now! Mom and Dad are waiting at home for you to come back! Everyone misses you so much!” Lucy’s face blanches. She takes several steps back, all the while shaking her head and fighting back the tears. “You’re wrong, Naser…” the ptero whispers as she grabs her bass case from the floor. “I can never face mom and dad again… not after what I did…” “And what have you done!” Naser asks in frustration. “Please, Lucy, t-tell me!” Lucy puts a hand on her mouth and chokes back a sob. “I… I…” The ptero shuts her eyes and lets out a sigh to calm herself before giving her younger sibling a bitter, tired smile. “I’m taking that fuck-up to the grave, Naser...” “Wh-what do you mean?” Naser asks, his voice cracking, barely holding together as tears roll down his cheeks. “Please, whatever it is, we forgive you! Mom and dad forgive you! I forgive you!” Lucy once more scowls and shakes her head. “No. No, you don’t forgive me. Mom and Dad don’t forgive me. Trish doesn’t forgive me. Reed Doesn’t forgive me. Rosa and Stella and… and…” she looks to Anon, who with Stella’s help is just barely getting back to his feet, and shuts her eyes before gritting her teeth. “You’re all wrong… about me…” she whispers weakly before taking off in a sprint past her friends and family and out of the pizzeria, right into the cold streets of Skid Row… Naser stands there silently for what feels like an eternity, staring at the door leading to the outside of the restaurant. At first, he appears to be completely braindead, his eyes quivering as the rest of his body seems to be shut down. That changes over the next ten seconds as his expression rapidly transitions from anger to confusion to frustration, and finally to all-consuming sadness as he falls on his knees. The moment he does, he allows all his pent-up sorrow to burst out his eyes explode with tears. So many tears that they stain his clothes. Anon considers walking up to Naser and placing a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support, but he ultimately reconsiders. It wouldn’t do anything to ease his friend’s anguish… nor his own. The human reaches for his phone and brings up Lucy’s text message. ‘Not all lost at least,’ he thinks to himself. As long as he still has Lucy’s contact information, there’s a slight hope to reach her still. ‘And a small hope is better than nothing…’ “That’s right,” Stella chimes in next to Anon, albeit softly. Anon only exhales in defeat at his inability to stop mumbling, even in the most inappropriate situations. “I know this… didn’t go as planned… but it wasn’t a complete loss,” Stella remarks perhaps in too cheerful a tone. “Not a complete loss? Stella, this was a total disaster!” Anon replies, just loud enough for Stella to hear but soft enough to spare Naser something he didn’t need to hear in that second. “You got Lucy’s number, didn’t you?” Stella asks, Anon swearing he heard a voice of a forced tone near the end. “We also found out that Fang—er, I mean Gilda—did something she feels is horrible enough to make her think she’s above forgiveness. The question now is… what?” Anon rubs his chin in agreement with Stella. “She also mentioned Trish and Reed and how they wouldn’t ever forgive her.” Anon’s surprised by the level of introspection that Stella was showing. He hadn’t even considered the importance of Lucy mentioning her oldest friends. Had it been a spur-of-the-moment thing to add weight to her words, or was there more to it than that? “I… I think that if we are to get to Lucy—or Gilda, I guess—we’re going to need the help of Trish and Reed.” Stella lets out a sigh and puts on as warm a smile as she can. “They deserve a reconciliation with Gilda as well.” Anon thinks about Stella’s words for a second. Despite his best efforts to find fault in them, he can’t help but agree with his friend one-hundred percent. Maybe the tiny purple terror and the stoner-extraordinaire could be just what they’d need to finally break past whatever insecurities still held Lucy back from embracing forgiveness. “Uh… Do you know what became of Trish and Reed?” Anon asks Stella, unsure where to even search for those two. Stella sighs and gives Anon a sad expression, shaking her head in reply. Anon drops his head in defeat. Less than a second later, he grips his hands into fists and grits his teeth. He fights the urge to grab the nearest chair within his reach to toss. “God fucking dammit…” he whispers. Stella puts a hand on his shoulder and sighs as well. Things had just become so much more complicated... *** Lucy practically kicks her apartment door open. The ptero doesn’t even care that the door slams against the wall leaving a small dent on the plaster wall. Not that the landlord even cared what went on in her shitty space. Once she was inside, she slammed the door shut and let out a loud primal scream of rage. “That fucking Naser, even after doing everything in my power to disappear, he still somehow found me!” She considers tossing the bass case in her hand against the nearest wall. Still, She ultimately reconsiders, instead placing it gingerly against the nearest wall before opting to kick the nearest wall. With her anger spent on the kick, Lucy sits on her bed and buries her face in her hands. At once, all the pain and anguish from minutes earlier kick her in full force, and she weeps openly. Had it been a mistake to explode on Naser as she had? Did any of his old friends deserve her ire when most of them hadn’t even contributed to it in the first place? What she found most odd of all was that the one person she should’ve been raging at—who unquestionably bore the entire weight of the shittiness of her current existence—was the one person she couldn’t bring herself to be that angry at anymore. On the contrary, she now felt extreme regret over not only exploding on him but even trying to strangle him. “But why though,” fang asks herself as she plops on her bed. “Is it because we technically started over? Is it because he too’s suffered as much crap as I have? Or is it because some part of me still loves that fucking asshole?” She grabs her off-white pillow and lets out a scream into it. She then considers for just a second ripping it apart to cope with the anger. That thought dies pretty fast as she tosses the thing back to the side and instead thinks about what to do next. It was apparent that Anon was friends with Naser now. A part of Lucy was interested to know how her ex befriended a brother that she was pretty sure wanted to kill him the instant she told him what he did to her on prom night. He was also friends with Rosa and Stella. Not that big a surprise to her on that one, since those two had always been friendly with Anon. Stella, in particular... Lucy thinks back to how Stella had not only tried to save Anon when she’d unsuccessfully tried to strangle her ex, but had even cradled him in her arms and tail as the two tumbled to the ground. In her eyes, it almost appeared as if the stego and human had something going on. A relationship, perhaps? The idea of Anon and Stella having more going on than just a friendship made her angrier than it should have. “But why?” she again asks herself. “Whatever shit Anon and I had going ended four years ago!” So then, why did the idea of Anon dating someone else piss her off so much? Lucy pulled out her phone and scrolled to Anon’s contact information. She was so very tempted to call him up that instant and scream at him some more. Ultimately, she decided against that as well. “I should delete his number,” she told herself. “Less chance of me deciding to call him up next time I get all drunk and sad…” Just as the ptero navigated towards the option to delete Anon’s number, her phone began ringing. She looked at the caller ID and realized it was none other than Tana, her bandmate. With a sigh, she answers the call. “What is it?” “Pizza Time’s owner just called me. Said you got all crazy again. Did you get fucking drunk again?” “No. Not this time, at least. I… I ran into some… old acquaintances of mine. Shouted at them for a bit before bolting.” “Did you break anything? You know we’re still paying off that table you snapped in half that one time you decided to get all sad-drunk.” “I didn’t break shit this time. I swear to fucking Raptor Jesus!” “Okay, okay. Just checking. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Lucy considers ending the call but something prompts her to continue the conversation. She doesn’t know if it’s loneliness, or the desire to take her mind off the mess that had been seeing her brother again. “Say… did you make it home alright?” “...That’s a weird question to ask me suddenly. Why’d you ask?” “I don’t know! Maybe It’s some kind of motherly instinct. You’re like eight years younger than I am!” “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” “Okay. Point taken. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night for yet another shitty evening of music.” “It’s only shitty because you refuse to play the guitar.” “I’ve already told you a hundred times. I’m NEVER playing the guitar again!” “Why not? That time you played, it was the best gig we ever had! It’s the reason why we have a permanent spot at Pizza Time and don’t have to stand in some street corner playing for tips!” “I… I have my reasons. Just… just respect them, okay?” “Fuck. Fine. Just hope you change that fucking mind of yours one day. Because the sooner you do, the sooner we’ll go places other than a Freedy Fazbear knock-off that can’t afford animatronics.” “Yeah, yeah. Good night, Tana.” “Later, Gilda.” The call ends, and it kicks Lucy back to the previous menu. The option to delete Anon’s number is still highlighted and waiting for her confirmation. Lucy sighs and exits the menu, shutting off her phone and allowing it to drop on the bed. “Doesn’t matter. He’s got my number, anyway. If he calls me then…” The ptero stops herself and thinks about her words. If Anon called her back after the shit she pulled that night, what would it mean? Would it be a good thing? Would it be a bad thing? Where would that put them now that they had started over? Lucy lets out another sigh. “Maybe... a quick apology and...” she whispers as she tosses off her boots and crawls into bed. For a second, she considers brushing her teeth, or at the very least gurgling some mouthwash, but she’s too exhausted, physically and emotionally, to move out of bed anymore. Instead, she brings up her phone and navigates towards Anon's number. Without thinking, she begins typing out a message. [Lucy] Sorr bout tonite. Shouldn't hav blown up like I did. I'll mak it up to you. Promise <:V Lucy bit her bottom lip, her fingers still hovering over the phone screen's digital keyboard. After a few seconds of pondering, Fang began typing her message. She didn't even bother re-reading it, sending it the moment she finished typing. A small smile subconsciously forms on the ptero's lips as she thinks back to her surprise reunion with Anon. Everything that came after might have been a disaster, but at least with her ex… Well… she felt like she had a second chance. All she had to do now was not fuck it up again as she did four years earlier... *** “Later, Gilda,” Tana says as she ends the call. As she does, she stands right at the front of her home. Well, not her home per se, but her sister’s. It had once belonged to their mother, but after a gang decided to go on a shooting spree three years earlier, it went to her elder sister, who had been only twenty-one. The two siblings had lived alone in the house ever since, making the best of a shitty situation. Of course, the two had found a way to not only cope with the pain of losing their mother but also their other siblings as well. Even Riley, for as big a pain as he could be, was missed a lot... Just as she was about to open her front door, Tana’s phone rang. She reached for it and inspected the caller ID. With a sigh, the triceratops answers the call. “What is it, Chadley?” “Yo. Sorry to call you so late, but I just heard from the boss that Gilda tossed another drunken fit! How much money do we have to pay this time?” “None. Yes, Gilda tossed a fit, but this one wasn’t because of the booze. Apparently, some old buddies of hers showed up, and she didn’t care much about them, so they got into an argument. Don’t know the deets, but it sounds like aside from the screaming and cursing, Gilda didn’t do shit this time. We’re scot-free as far as paying for shit goes.” “Oh. Radical then! Guess we don’t gotta worry about getting money deducted from the checks!” “Doesn’t seem to be the case this time. By the by, I hear a lot of shouting and grunting in the background? Are you calling me from the gym again!?” “Yeah! I keep telling you, my dudette, you gotta join me one of these days! You won’t believe how cathartic it is to let all your anger loose on a punching bag at the end of the day!” “Don’t worry about me and my anger. I have my ways to vent the rage too.” “Nice! Gotta show me ‘em one of these days then!” “Yeah. Maybe. At any rate, I gotta go. Sister’s waiting for me.” “Ah. Okay. See ya later, my dudette!” The call ends. Tana puts her phone away and turns her attention back to her house. With a smile creeping on her lips, she walks up the porch steps, unlocks the door, and walks right in. “Hey! I’m home!” she shouts as she kicks the door shut. “About time you got here!” another voice, that of a harsh-toned female, replies from somewhere deeper in the house. “We’ve got shit brewing again in Little Troodon. Bunch of fuckers associated with the Aurero syndicate have set up another racketeering gig.” Tana rolls her eyes and sets her stuff down by the door. “Fucking really? Didn’t we kick the asses of another bunch of assholes like that two weeks ago?” “Yeah, but it seems like these fuckers can’t take the hint!” “So, want me to call up the girls?” Tana asks as she walks down the hallway and to her room. “No need to tonight. I know where the head of that group’s gonna be, and he’s gonna be all alone. We’ll just pay him a little visit and ‘convince’ him to stop his shit. Sound good?” Tana cracked a wide grin on her lips. “Fucking nice!” she replies as she walked into her room, removed all of her clothes except for her undergarments, and opened up her closet, pulling a bunch of clothes away, revealing what looks to be some kind of white jumper outfit with the words “VVRUM FURIES’’ written in bold stylized green letters. “I’ll be waiting in the garage!” the other voice in the house shouts at Tana. Tana pickles up the suit, and in a matter of seconds, she’s slipped on the pants, put on her best black tank top, and slipped the white jacket into her pants, completing the outfit by slipping on a pair of thick black leather boots, its tips hardened by steel and its soles thick enough that even walking on nails wouldn’t come close to piercing them. With a nod, Tana grabs a wooden baseball bat leaning next to her door and sprints out of her room and down the hall towards the house’s garage. On entering the sparse garage, Tana’s greeted by another triceratops, one of purple scales just slightly taller than she is. She’s garbed in a similar white jumper suit, albeit with the jacket draped over the shoulders as if it was a cape. A purple closed motorcycle helmet obscures the other dino’s face. The visor is polarized with a gold finish, making it impossible to see the wearer’s eyes. “Let’s roll,” the older triceratops says as she walks up to a dark lilac-colored ninja bike. Tana follows her sibling and jumps right behind her as the garage door rises open. Just before the door reaches the end of its rise, the magenta triceratops slip on a black-toned closed helmet of her own and lowers the visor down. The bike’s driver looks back to Tana, who then gives the driver a thumbs up. Soon as the rider sees that, she turns on the ignition, the engine’s roar deafening for a few seconds before she twists on her bike’s throttle, causing the sports bike to shoot out of the garage at near maximum speed. Tana chances a glance back just to make sure the garage is fully closed before turning her attention back to the road ahead. A few minutes of riding through Volcaldera’s mostly empty night streets led the two to a shady part of town, one that very much looked like some kind of warehouse district near the port. A few more turns down the alleys between the mazes of warehouses and other storage locations eventually led the two to find their quarry: a single raptor in a fancy standing next to his car, smoking a cigarette with a carefree expression as he stood looking over the ocean. In his hand, he held a gun, and near his feet was a prominent spot where the mobster had shed someone’s blood just minutes earlier. The bike comes to a complete stop near the car, and the driver practically jumps off, all the while brandishing an aluminum bat that she always kept strapped near the back for ease of access. The raptor takes notice of the sudden movement, but he has less than two seconds to react as the purple triceratops slams the bat against the dino’s hand, cracking the bones on the wrist and knocking the firearm right into the water. The biker then grabs the dino by the collar of his suit and slams him right into the ground hard enough that it knocks all the air out of his lungs. The biker lets out a chuckle as she removes her helmet, tossing it towards her sister as she squats right over the mobster, her bat held over her shoulder as she fixes her purple lavender eyes on the raptor right underneath her, where he belonged. “W-who the fuck are you!” the raptor screamed the instant his lungs filled back up with oxygen. The triceratops grins, the scar running across her nose and past her broken front horn stretching somewhat. “Name’s Trish Royal, leader of the VVRUM FURIES…” her smile grows wider and crueler as she stands back to her full height. “And the last thing your murderer ass’s ever going to see…” she says ominously as she raises her bat. “No, wait NO—” the monster cries out in terror, but the sickening sounds of breaking bones and splattering blood overpower his words… *** “Ah. Okay. See ya later, my dudette!” Chadley says as he ends the call with his bandmate. The land shark turns his neck side to side, each time with a loud pop of his spine, before pocketing his phone and turning back toward his locker. He removes his casual blue muscle shirt and slips on a white muscle shirt, one that has a few permanent sweat stains and even some splotches of dry blood. Sure, he can wear a fresh shirt, but this one was his favorite for working out and sparring with. ‘And it’s not like any of the bros are going to care, anyway. Well, maybe except for Balboa. He’d tell me to keep it on and to cherish every stain on it.’ He lets out a chuckle at those thoughts. “That pink raptor dude sure is weird. Super chill dude, but also super loopy…’ Chadley closes his locker and walks out into the gym properly. As he does, he’s greeted by a couple of other gym-goers, most of them friends of his from when he first joined the gym when he was twelve. A few were his older brother’s friends, though, so they greeted him more out of respect for his older brother, one of the current local MMA champs. It was actually surreal to think about; that his older brother was up there with the best of the best in the ring. His rising ranks inspired him to step into the octagon. Sure, he was still too young to compete in the same class as his brother was, but with only a single year left of high school, he was getting closer and closer to standing beside his brother. And who knew, maybe one day, he’d ever surpassed his brother, though that would mean facing him in the ring, a prospect he didn’t feel that comfortable with. After all, no sibling in their right mind would want to punch a brother or sister… Chadley shakes his head and prepares himself for a night of weightlifting, punching the bag, and maybe a few sparring matches. “Hey Chadley!” a voice suddenly snaps the land shark from his concentration. “Check it out! Balboa is up to ring tonight!” Chadley leaves his post and immediately rushes towards all his other gym compatriots as they crowd around the large flat screen that they usually used for music videos and the occasional televised sporting event. Chadley found a spot among some of his larger peers and set his eyes on the screen. There, upon the octagon, surrounded by a crowd of cheering—albeit bloodthirsty—fans, was one of their gym’s pride and joy, Reed Balboa. He stood tall, hands raised to prepare for his bout, his stained white shirt tightly wrapped around a muscly frame that was neither too large to be off-putting, nor too low to be fearful of his physical prowess. He had eyes locked upon his opponent—an ankylosaur at least twice his height—all the while sporting a confident smirk that spoke to his belief in victory despite his disadvantage against such a titanic foe. The bell rings, and the two opponents dash forward. Reed, being the faster fighter because of his size, closes the distance first. Almost instantaneously, his opponent moves to strike down on him. The pink raptor slips through the attack, closing the gap in a matter of seconds and replying to his opponent’s aggression with a barrage of quick blows to the enormous ankylosaur’s head. The giant dino, of course, counters by trying to grapple Reed, who ducks out of the way and slips right underneath his foe’s legs before sweep-kicking the large dino, forcing him to hit the ground face first. Reed then pounces on top of his opponent and wraps an arm around his neck while holding on to his leg. He then pulled on both, causing the Ankylosaur to let out a scream of suffering loud enough even to cause the TV’s speakers to rumble from the bass. Within a minute, the dino was tapping on the ground, prompting the referee to step in and end the fight. Everyone in the gym explodes into cheers as the referee declares Reed the victor by submission. Chadley can only watch with wide-eyed awe as Reed accepts his victory with a broad, albeit tired, smirk. Chadley breaks away from the TV and walks back to his punching bag. He wonders for a second who of the two would win: his brother or Reed. As he punches the bag with renewed vigor, he puts those thoughts out of his mind to focus on his own growth. ‘One more year, and I won’t have to ponder such questions,’ Chadley thinks as he increases the speed and power behind his punches. As he punches the bag with renewed vigor. ‘One more year, and I’ll be able to put all my years of training to the ultimate test…’ END OF ACT 1 [POST-NOTES] This is it folks. The big end to Act 1. This leaves a lot of questions open, doesn't it? But don't worry folks, answers will come sooner rather than later. I'll be seeing ya'll for Act 2 real soon.