Short Story Collection

MC:SM- Grief

NOTE: This takes place after "Above and Beyond"

She gazed at what remained of her town. Her perfect city. Champion City.

It was all gone. Destroyed to bits. And he did it with just a simple clap from his hands.

But despite how she missed seeing the city in its former state, she missed something, or rather someone, more.

Romeo.

Stella walked through the burnt streets of her once glorious city. Lluna trotted by her side. It was a lot to take in, but she was glad that Lluna was with her. A part of her was happy Jesse declined to take the llama as her own pet.

Because without Lluna, Stella wouldn't have a friend to talk to about how much she missed Romeo. A friend she trusted that is.

Stella knew very well that Romeo was the one who destroyed her city, but she missed him more than Champion City. She was hurt, horrified by what he did, and she couldn't help but feel betrayed when she saw Romeo destroy her city.

That is, until the last time they talked:

It was after Romeo destroyed the city, after Axel and Olivia disappeared somehow. When the citizens of Beacontown scattered and hid, Romeo took Stella aside and teleported her up to his floating structure so that they could talk in privacy.

"Romeo... you... you destroyed Champion City..." Stella whispered. Her eyes were watery with tears, but it was the best she could do to hold back her anger.

"I'm sorry..." Romeo whispered.

Stella couldn't take him seriously while he was disguised as Jesse, so to her relief, he changed back to his true form.

"I thought you'd listen to me! I told you you have to stop this before it goes too far! Now you really can't go back! And what's worse is that you're making everyone think that this is all Jesse's doing!" Stella shouted.

She couldn't hold it anymore. She had kept her lips shut as best as she could, trying to hold back the rage, but after seeing how far this had gone and the destruction of her precious city, that was it for Stella.

"I thought we were friends, Romeo! I know that's all you wanted! And you do this to my town! Is this why you don't have friends?! You hurt them because you don't get your way!? You really are a monster!" Stella screamed at him.

The whole time she shouted at him, Romeo was quiet. He had a guilty look on his face, and the more Stella yelled at him, the worse he felt. He started to cry, and he finally broke down.

"You don't understand! I had to!" he cried.

"You had to what?! Hurt the only person who cares about you!? Well guess what, I don't care anymore! I don't care about you anymore!" cried Stella.

"And you shouldn't care! I've hurt you so much, that I'm worried that you'll end up like Fred!" cried Romeo.

Stella softened a little bit. She still had tears in her eyes, but she was confused now instead of angry. She couldn't ask him what he was talking about.

"Fred was my friend, and I let power get to me! I-I killed him! And I hurt my friend Xara to! I've hurt people Stella! I had to hurt you to, because what if I hurt you even more! You care about me, so you shouldn't care about me!" Romeo cried.

Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"I know you care about me, Stella, and honestly, you've become the most important person in my life! I care about you to, but there's some sort of feeling that's different when I see you. I don't understand what this feeling is..." he said.

He paused for a second, as his sobs returned.

"Whatever it is, I shouldn't find out. I may hurt you even more, or worse... kill you..." he said.

"R-Romeo?" asked Stella.

She was calm now. She was confused, but also concerned about him.

"Wh-what do you mean? I-I don't understand..." she said.

"I feel something for you Stella. I don't know what it is, but... I think I like it. And I enjoy your company. You're the only true friend I've had in a long time... but I can't be around you. I shouldn't search my feelings for you... I'll hurt you more..." he said, trying not to sob more.

"And... you're the last person I'd want to hurt..." he said, almost in a whisper.

"Romeo, you don't have to be afraid of hurting me. I want to help you. I'm sorry about what I said! I didn't think you'd go this far to push yourself away from even me! Please, talk to me!" said Stella.

"You can't help me..." said Romeo.

"I have to try! Romeo, I'm sorry with what I said! Please talk to me! Please!" cried Stella.

She now had tears in her eyes. The anger faded from her face completely. She was worried about him.

Romeo started to levitate himself again. He was ready to teleport Stella back down to the ground of Beacontown so that he could have some space to himself, but he had to do one quick thing.

He levitated over to her and suddenly hugged her.

Stella was taken back by the hug, but she returned it, hoping to comfort him. She heard him sniffle, so it was her last chance to try to talk sense into him.

"Thank you for trying, Stella.... Thank you... but I have to push you away... I can't hurt you... m-my... my champion..." he whispered.

He let go and levitated himself away from Stella so that she couldn't try to grab him and stop him from moving away from her.

"W-wait!" said Stella.

"I'm sorry Stella... I'm sorry for hurting you, but you have to stay away from me..." he whispered.

With the wave of his hand, he teleported her back to the ground. Stella tried to call out his name to him one more time, but she vanished before she could.

Stella teared up as she remembered her last encounter with Romeo. Lluna looked up at her owner with a concerned look.

"He did this, because he didn't want me to care about him... he wanted to push me away, to protect me from him..." she whispered to Lluna.

Lluna made a noise, probably saying, "I know..."

Stella sniffled a bit. She was starting to cry.

"I know he was a monster, but I miss him Lluna. Jesse told me how confused he was. H-he sacrificed himself to make sure she, Petra, and Jack could escape Temporal Space..." she whispered.

Lluna didn't even make a noise. She gave Stella a concerned look.

"I wish he escaped Lluna... I know what feeling he had for me, and... I share the same feeling... I-I miss him!"

Stella suddenly got down on her knees, ignoring how the rubble was scrapping her knees and legs. Lluna made a shocked look on her face. She had never seen her owner break down like this before.

"I-I miss him, Lluna! He called me his c-champion! All he wanted was a f-friend! He was my friend! H-he was what I was looking for in life! S-something or someone to e-excite me!" she sobbed

Stella sniffled a bit more to pause in her response to Lluna.

"I-I wish he made it back Lluna... I m-miss him... I... I think I... I love him..." she whispered.

Lluna couldn't take this anymore. She walked over to her owner and nuzzled Stella in the head. Stella looked up at the llama. She threw her arms around her pet, needing comfort. Lluna didn't mind. She just wanted to comfort Stella.

Stella continued to sob as Lluna let her hug her. She needed the comfort.

Romeo was gone, and although he redeemed himself, there was one person who saw this as a loss and would probably take a long, long time to recover from it.

Stella.

'I wish I could see you one last time, Romeo... so I can tell you how much you mean to me...' she thought.