Bad Blood

Part 6: Sticks and Stones

Rippen shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he almost seemed offended that she hadn't told him. He was her fiancé after all. Shouldn't he know things this big and important the moment they happen?
"Because I knew you wouldn't let me come on today's mission, dummy!" she crossed her arms.

"Well, you were right! I don't want my future wife who's carrying my child to get harmed!" Rippen stood up, and walked over to Jane and pulled her off of the zap platform.

"Listen, Rippen, I need to come on today's mission!" Jane put her hands on her hips and glared at him. She got back on the zap platform.

"We're not going to-"

"Time for zap" said Phil, as he zapped Rippen, Larry, and Jane into the day's mission.

~u~

Meanwhile, Penn and Corona walked into The Odyssey hand in hand, giggling. Penn managed to cheer up Corona right in time for the mission, and she was smiling for the first time in quite a while.

"Time for another, very successful mission." Penn said, with a smirk. "Not a thing to worry about." He said as they got zapped in.

"Yeah nothing to worry-!" Corona began to say, until she got tackled by Jane who started smacking Corona around.

Rippen walked over and sighed. "The mission, Jane. We're supposed to stick to the mission. We're not supposed to literally beat on the heroes unless that's part of the mission, Jane." He seemed impatient.

Penn pried Jane off of Corona and practically threw her towards Rippen.

Corona sat up. "What. The. Fuck?" she cursed. She rarely cursed, but she was too confused to care.

Rippen seemed to be restraining Jane from trying to attack Corona again.

"C'mon." Penn helped Corona stand up, and they went with Boone and Sashi to do their mission.

Sashi made the hologram containing the information about their mission appear from her specs. "We're a team of-"

"Why would Jane just randomly try to attack you?" Boone asked, seeming confused about the whole thing.

"Because she's merciless. She just wants me dead, I guess." Corona didn't fully know either.

"Ahem?" Sashi looked annoyed at the sudden interruption.

"Oh, sorry, continue." Corona apologized.

"As I was saying. We're a team of kids who just discovered ancient enchanted rocks. We have to transport them to an ancient temple before they get in the wrong hands, or it's the end of the world." Sashi finished.

"So…wait…which of us has the rocks?" Boone asked

Sashi squinted, and then answered. "Corona….I think they're in your pocket."

Corona reached into her pocket. And then gasped.

"They're not in there?"

"No, worse…I think when Jane attacked me, they got broken…." Corona pulled out a bunch of broken shards of quartz, both standard and rose quartz. "We're gonna need a lot of glue…"

Sashi seemed to sigh in annoyance. "Great. Just wonderful. I'll go find glue."

Corona felt guilty, and it showed on her face. She put the shards back in her pocket.

"Corona, it's not your fault. Jane literally attacked you." Penn put his hand on Corona's shoulder to reassure her.

She sighed. "I just feel like I can't do anything right! I should have defended myself! But no! I just sit there defenseless while my sister slaps the crap out of me!"

"Corona…" Penn cringed. He took Corona's hand. "Don't beat yourself up like this." He hugged her tight.

Corona sighed. "I still feel like I screwed up somehow."

Sashi walked back over. "I'm surprised I found glue. Hand me the shards."

Corona pulled them out of her pocket, and handed them to Sashi, who glued them back together.

"Hopefully the temple won't know the difference." Sashi sighed

"I don't feel safe keeping them in my pocket now." Corona crossed her arms. "What if I break them again…"

"I'll keep them." Penn took the, now glued back together, stones and put them in his pockets. Or rather, he was going to, until he noticed he had no pockets.

None of them had pockets except for Corona.

"Great." Corona said in a deadpan tone, and took the rocks and put them in her pocket. "Why am I the only one who has pockets? I'm the one in the most danger as it is!"

Penn cringed again. "Well, I'll protect you." He put his arm around her. "If Jane tries to come near us again…Well, I won't let it happen."

The four of them reached the temple.

"Wow, we made it." Penn smiled.

~u~

"Jane, you realize you may have jeopardized the entire mission now, right?" Rippen crossed his arms. He couldn't find the heroes anywhere.

How was he to defeat the heroes if he couldn't find them?

"Well, I'm sorry, but you don't even understand how badly I want my sister gone! She's been a thorn in my side since…Forever!"

"You don't think I know what it's like to have a sister that outshines you in every way possible?" Rippen looked at Jane almost a little angry.

Jane sighed loudly. "Listen, I already heard that story." She sighed again. "But in my individual case, I actually have a chance at getting back at my sister!"

"Jane," Rippen sighed, and rubbed his forehead. A headache was already starting to form. "I love you. But you don't understand how badly I need to become a full-time villain. I realize you want to get back at Corona, but it's ruining my career!"

"Your career this, your career that! It's all you ever talk about! Rippen, I only became a villain in the first place TO GET BACK AT MY SISTER! And you're the one who suggested it in the first place!"

Rippen had a moment of realization, she was right about that. But then he frowned. "Well, I didn't think it would be getting in the way of me becoming a full-time villain." He said, turning away from her.

Jane frowned. "Rippen, I didn't-"

The three of them got zapped back.

"Due to arguing, you fail mission. Heroes return stones while you argue." Phil seemed disappointed in Rippen and Jane.

Jane looked at Rippen and frowned. "I'm sorry." She apologized. She actually felt remorse for once.

Rippen sighed. "I forgive you, Jane." He had a hard time staying mad at her. It was because she was as beautiful as her mother was, before the accident ten years before. He slightly smiled at her.

~u~

"We did it!" Penn picked up Corona and spun her around. He gently set her down and kissed her. "We did it." He said quietly, and gently. "I knew this mission would go good, Corona. See? Things are back to their normal state." He smiled.

"Yeah…maybe they are…" she smiled back. "Maybe they really are…"

To Be Continued in The Calm Before The Storm…