Secret Little Assassin

The Reveal

"Where did you get that cap, Blaze?" AJ asked as he and the red truck drove through the park for the night.

"At the house," Blaze replied, glancing down at the black cap in his tire. "It's too small to be mine's, Mom's or Dad's. And I know for a fact that Sparkle doesn't wear anything black without a reason,"

"And it doesn't belong to me," AJ added with a nod. "So, do you think...?"

"That it belongs to the one who kidnapped Dad? Yes," Blaze nodded firmly. "We just... need to take a closer look at it..."

They both huddled together as they observed the cap.

Unbeknownst to them, a mysterious figure spied on them from nearby, moving through the shadows as if he was one with them. Slowly, he moved closer and closer until he was only a bush away from them.

"Hmm... this cap looks like it's covered by some kind of cloth," AJ observed, fingers twiddling with the cap.

"Hey, you're right, AJ," Blaze's eyes widened as he grabbed onto the cloth to reveal a second skin. "Hmm, I wonder what happens if we remove it...?"

A pair of eyes form the bush narrowed towards them as they slowly removed the black cloth. They gasped as they now held an orange cap with a pickle symbol on it.

"Wait, this is..."

"It's from Pickle's cousin Ken!" AJ cried out. "But that would mean..."

"Pickle's Family DOES have something to do with our family's disappearance!" Blaze exclaimed. "And that means that whatever Lily was saying... they were all fibs!"

The figure sighed and held out his wand to use his magic to move the jack-in-the-box discreetly below the red truck and between the duo. The box's handle began to turn quietly as the two began to freak out.

"You're right!" AJ's eyes widened. "But, wait, does that mean...?"

"That means..." Blaze gasped. "THE KIDNAPPERS ARE NONE OTHER THAN—"

SLAM!

Before he could finish his sentence, a large hand slammed out of the jack-in-the-box and knocked the red truck out cold in a second. AJ backed up in horror.

"BLAZE—!"

Before he could run, however, mystic magic surrounded him, and he fell unconscious and floating in the air.

From the bush, Pickle appeared in his assassin uniform, wand out as he kept AJ afloat. He sighed and took out a black sack.

"Sorry, guys, but this is necessary,"

With that, he stuffed them both in the sack and fled away into the night.

X

Crusher yawned as he got up. He glanced at the clock and sighed.

11:47 PM.

"Great, 50 minutes since the last time I woke up..."

He headed out of his room and headed through the halls of the house. When he made it to the kitchen, however, he found Sparkle, Phoenix and Flame there, with Phoenix warming up some milk for them to drink.

"Uh... why are you three awake?"

"Couldn't sleep," Sparkle admitted as she took a mug of milk into her tires.

"Yeah," Flame nodded, sipping his mug of milk. "We were too worried about Blaze and AJ to sleep. How about you? What are you doing up this late?"

"Insomnia," Crusher shrugged with a yawn before heading to the fridge. "I'm just gonna get a glass of milk to try to fall asleep again..."