Cycle of the Chosen

9

Three weeks after Isabella told Quackity  about her being taken, they were ready. All of Nevadas and Isabella were in Quackity 's office.

"We need to get Isabella out of the control of Morpheus and the other villains." Quackity  told the group.

"We can't interfere, we're neutral ground, if we do so we make everyone think we are on the heroes side." Foolish informed.

"Screw that. Isabella is our friend. We have to help her." Charlie protested.

"Isabella should lure the villains to district three. That's where her friends are. They can see the news of the new villain betraying them." Purpled suggested, pacing around the table.

"I can't exactly just attack them. I think all of them know that I told Quackity  except for Cronos." Isabella explained.

"You can distract them. Take them somewhere from your old life that you enjoyed." Sam suggested.

"I could take them to the bakery I used to work at." Isabella said, shrugging slightly.

"Give us the location and text Quackity  a time. We can have Charlie monitor what happens in the bakery and then you can lead them somewhere, maybe the town square." Foolish said, running a hand through his brown hair. He was a little stressed out since Dream was his brother. Isabella really didn't blame him for his stress.

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Quackity , can you have the square cleared?” Isabella asked, her arms crossed.

“We can clear it. We do this Saturday. Give us time to have things prepared.” Quackity  informed the group.

“Niki has a panic button under the counter of the bakery. The moment we enter in villain outfits, she is going to call the heroes to the bakery.” Isabella warned.

“Then you get out as soon as possible. If the heroes chase you, get to the square. We will be there waiting for you.” Sam told her.

“See you all Saturday?” Isabella asked.

“You’re going home Saturday. Or coming here. You are always welcome here.” Quackity  told her, placing her hands on her arms, squeezing gently.

“We got this.” Isabella said though it was unclear if she was trying to convince them or herself.

They all said their goodbyes to Isabella and she left, headed back to the house the villains were having her stay in. It was clear that the villains no longer trusted her as much as they did. Which was more upsetting than she thought it would be. She grew to care about George, Sapnap, and Karl. Dream was always off in her opinion. He was always lurking around, keeping an eye on not only her, but the other villains as well.

Throughout the week, she only had conversations with Karl. The others were avoiding her. She didn’t mind. Karl was lovely company. Wednesday was when she finally asked Karl why he was a villain.

“Sapnap mainly. I found him sneaking out one night and found out what he was doing. He wasn’t going to quit being a villain for me. His alliance to Dream was much more important than our relationship. So I joined him. Sapnap is the best person in my life. I wasn’t letting that go easily.” Karl explained as he put another coat of nail polish on the girls nails.

“Do you like being a villain?” Isabella asked, blowing on her nails to dry them.

“Yes and no. No one really expects someone as nice as me to be a villain. The others let me deal with people like muggers and robbers instead of innocent people.”

“And the no part?”

“I don’t like hurting people or seeing them be hurt. I’m only here because I’m staying with Sapnap. Otherwise I would still be working at the library in the third district.”

“You like books?”

“Love them! I like reading a story and being sucked in by the plot and the characters. I wanted to be an author at one point.”

“That sounds really nice.”

“Yeah. Maybe someday. What about you? I know you don’t like being a villain so what did you do before that?” Karl asked, taking a sip of his white monster drink.

“Worked in the bakery in the third district.” Isabella smiled fondly at the thought of the bakery.

“Puffy Pastries? I love that place! I used to always go in and get something before work.”

“We probably crossed paths at one point. I’ve been working there for five years. Since I was 18.”

“That’s so cool! We should go sometime!”

“Maybe this Saturday? I don’t think we have anything going on.”

“We could all go! Though we probably have to use our villain outfits so they don’t recognize you.”

“We could visit the town square too. Eat our pastries there.”

“Sounds like a plan! I’ll let the others know!” Karl cheered, getting up and walking out immediately to go talk to the others.

Karl was by far her favorite out of the villains. She understood his reasoning for being a villain. The next day she approached Sapnap. He was in the living room watching random videos on YouTube. Isabella sat next to him.

“Why did you become a villain?” She asked after a couple minutes of silence between the two of them.

“To make sure Dream doesn’t get himself killed.” He answered with no interest in the conversation.

“Do you like being a villain?”

“Sure. I get to light things on fire.”

“What about the people who get hurt?”

“People get hurt all the time, whether we are hurting them or someone else.”

“You don’t care that you hurt people?”

“Of course I care. It sucks, but it doesn’t matter in the end. Dream isn’t entirely wrong about heroes. They have a lot of power they don’t use to protect people. We are just helping the public see that.”

“There are better ways though, aren’t there? Peaceful protest. Writing news articles, informing people in a way that isn’t harmful.”

“Dream is my best friend. I’m not leaving him just because people are getting hurt. The people in this house, are all I have. My parents kicked me out once they found out about Karl. George, Dream, Karl, and Jay were all I had. Jay is gone. I’m not letting that list get shorter.”

“Sapnap, you could do anything else. You could make a difference in another way. You could find people that agree with you about the heroes.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I entertained your questions. Leave me alone.” Sapnap said bluntly, now ignoring her completely.

Isabella sat for a moment before she left. Friday she asked George the same question. His answer was the same as Sapnap’s. These people were all he had. They only had each other left and she was about to take that away from them.

She got into her room and pulled her phone out, texting Quackity . She told him that she didn’t want Hypnos, Cronos, or Heptaesus arrested but instead somewhere where they can be together and find others to care for them. Quackity  told her that he would figure it out.