The next few days passed more normally for the Rowdies. Amanda had been shocked that she hadn't had a nightmare since her talk with Martin and was relieved to be leaning back into some normalcy. She'd also noticed that anytime she started feeling conflicted again he would appear behind her draping his arm nonchalantly around her shoulders or nuzzle her briefly like a cat seeking attention. It had clicked a few days before that he was trying to remind her that this was real, that they were safe, and that she could trust it. It floored her really, the Rowdy 3 were like a whole different thing and to think that they were this tuned to her was.. a lot. She didn't quite know what to do with it actually.

The van was rumbling and revving. The stereo turned up to full blast and the boys were drinking and laughing and dancing. Martin was sitting in the drivers seat smoking casually turning back ever so often to offer a laugh or rev the boys up even more. Amanda sat cross legged in the passengers seat closing her eyes and letting the wind and the warm sun wash over her. She was content, safe, and happy. She didn't know it at the time but Martin's attention was focused solely on her. He loved it when she was like this. It was rare. Her energy filled the air like homemade cookies or the scent of gasoline seconds from exploding. He often wondered what it would taste like if he fed on her like this, but he buried the thought as quickly as it came. He would only ever take the bad shit.

"Boss! Gripps stole my Twislers!" Vogel yelled from the back swatting at Gripps who held up his prize grinning holding him back easily with one hand on his head. Like that the moment was gone. Martin almost sighed as the air changed and Amanda turned back to playfully glare at Gripps.

"Gripps give him back his Twislers" she chided as Gripps pouted and Vogel looked smugly and expectantly back at him. Gripps grunted shoving the Red candy back at Vogel and looked disgruntled. Vogel merely went back to merrily shoving as many in his mouth as he could humming to himself as he did so.

"Mama's boy" Gripps teased sending a scowl Vogel's way, who just stuck his tongue out at him. Cross smirked and punched him lightly in the shoulder and snickered..

"What you need Mommy's attention?" He mocked playfully giving a sly smirk in his direction. Martin raised an eyebrow but kept his eyes on the road.

Amanda sighed exasperated "I keep telling you guys, you're older than me." Gripps, Cross, and Vogel just stared blankly at her like she'd said something ridiculous.

"But I'm, I'm still the favorite though right?" Cross exaggeratedly pointed at himself beaming with pride.

"That is not what she said" Gripps retorted earning another playful smack from cross.

"Guys, I like all of you the best, obviously "she replied as Martin scratched his beard and raised an eyebrow.

"Nuh uh! It's obvious who boss likes best" Vogel interrupted innocently earning a few glances his way. All of them half expecting him to say himself.

"She likes Daddy the best" he said obviously and pointed at Martin. The boys erupted in laughter. Amanda held in a breath of panic. She glanced at Martin who had she'd expected to have one or both eye brows raised but was surprised to find a smug smirk there instead. She blushed, rubbed her temples, somehow feeling a bit pissed off.

"Vogel, you can't call Martin daddy, first of all it's wrong, on like a few levels. Plus, he's way too young for that. He's like maybe 4 years older than you" she corrected. Gripps, Vogel, and Cross shared a look and laughed outright causing Amanda to look confused at them.

"What?" Amanda asked feeling like she wasn't in on the joke.

"Now Boys," Martin interrupted warningly changing the subject. As they passed a large exit sign for something called Rock on the Range. " How would you like to let off a little steam?"

The boys immediately took their cue from Martin and hollered in approval while Amanda turned to look where they were going.

"Rock on the range?" She repeated looking at another sign as they passed by. "Wait isn't that where..." she trailed off pulling out her phone and after a few seconds gasping with delight. Everyone's attention was on her in an instant.

"That mean something to you?" Martin asked eyeing her warily.

"Wendi Syth" she exclaimed excitedly and was surprised when they all stared blankly at her. "The lead singer and drummer of Corgi. Only the most bad ass punk rocker of all time! She's going to be playing there. Oh my god, this is the universe telling us we should meet her" she began to fidget in her seat in anticipation. The boys were getting riled too responding to the drummer's palpable excitement.

Martin thought to himself. He really needed to sit her down sometime and explain that wasn't really how this how universe connection worked, but not wanting to disappoint he banged the top of the car three times yelling excitedly "Let's go meet us a drummer!"

The boys cheered in agreement as Martin stepped on the gas and revved the engine speeding down the highway.

The concert was a complete mess even before they arrived which was a little surprising. The boys were even more revved up feeling the excitement of the crowds and the utter drunken drug infused recklessness that was ensuing.

Cross was loving it. Swiping an empty bottle of beer he proceeded to crack it over his head joyously letting out an impassioned,

"lets get creative!" before running off to the nearest mosh with Gripps and Vogel only two steps behind.

Amanda laughed took it all in. It'd been years since she'd had the courage to leave the house let alone go to a concert and she couldn't help beaming with affection at the boys who made that possible for her. She smiled up at Martin who was casually surveying the crowd and lighting a cigarette.

"So where's this drummer your wanting to see?" He asked leaning back against the van and taking a long drag.

"Um" Amanda started then seeing a crumpled map lying on the ground next to her she bent down and picked it up. After studying it a moment she continued. "It looks like the main stage, but she's not on until 9"

"Perfect" Martin replied shutting the van door. "We'll have plenty of time to get you backstage."

Amanda actually giggled in excitement earning a raised eyebrow from Martin as he casually began walking toward the crowds. Amanda followed grinning with anticipation. If anyone could finagle themselves backstage at a punk show it was the Rowdy 3. She just knew that Martin would make it happen for her. However her excitement was interrupted by sudden wave of hesitation. She stopped confused a moment and feeling something strongly suggesting she look behind. Martin had stopped too and was eyeing her with a strange expression.

"What's shakin?" He asked coming to stand closer.

"I don't know" she replied honestly. "I just kind of feel like we should go over there." She pointed in the direction of an empty field. Martin followed her hand tasting the air a bit assessing the risk. He didn't sense any direct danger but knew enough about hunches that they'd likely find themselves in some anyway. He glanced briefly toward where the boys had run off before deciding to let them have their fun and proceed alone.

"You're the boss, lead the way" he replied gesturing her to walk ahead of him. It didn't take them long to get far enough from the crowds for the Music and the cheering to start to muffle in the distance. Martin stopped, smelling something he didn't fully like in the air. Someone had made a dangerous decision.

BOOM

There were a lot of things happening at once. Startled by the sudden explosion and smoke rising from a few feet away Amanda fell to the ground, Martin standing in front of her ready to fight. She could see through the pink smoke two figures moving toward them and even through the smoke she could recognize that yellow jacket anywhere.

"Dirk?" She mumbled standing as Martin lifted his arm just high enough to catch him by the throat. He fell to the ground with a thud as Martin chuckled to himself sending a menacing glance at Todd as he appeared though the smoke. Amanda immediately went to Dirk's side checking if he was alright. While Martin scoffed and rolled his eyes in their direction.

"Amanda?" Todd exclaimed in shock a moment before returning to panic "We can't stay here!" He was yelling trying to get their attention and pointing to the other figures that were rapidly approaching them.

"Are those… Clowns?" Amanda yelled in horror and feeling that this situation seemed vaguely familiar. She pushed that thought aside scrambling to her feet and getting ready to fight.

From the left she suddenly felt something in the air whip by then landing in Martin's hand. He gripped his bat and leaned back to howl in delight as the rest of the boys appeared from the tall grass hollering behind him.

"Sorry we're late boss!" Yelled Vogel as he passed her to join Martin.

"Nobody makes me hate clowns!" Screamed Gripps.

Cross was just howling with mirth and an evil glint in his eye that Amanda had never seen before. She raised two eyebrows at him as that boys went to work. She was always impressed by how in sync they were in the chaos. Todd and Dirk were just trying to stay out of the way holding onto each other and dodging the boys attacks equally with the clowns.

Amanda was getting revved up. She was no longer afraid of being out of control. She knew her boys had her back no matter the situation and that let her become reckless. She let out a shriek of joy and joined in on the fight grabbing one of Gripp's hammers and landing a hard blow to the gut of the nearest clown. A few minutes later and it was all over.

The smoke had died down and the group took a moment to survey the damage. No less than 10 clowns lay unconscious in the field the boys were wandering around taking closer looks before coming to stand over Dirk and indulging in his panicked energy.

Amanda looked at Todd "What the hell was that?"

Todd looked back at her in shock "We're on a case, we should get out of here" he panicked scrambling to get on his feet and helping Dirk up.

"What do we do about all of these guys?" Cross said glancing at the field.

"I don't think they're done with us yet" Drik said in horror as the clowns began to disappear like black smoke only to re-appear in a line looking more menacing than before.

"Oh damn" whispered Martin under his breath as Amanda sought out his hand. He had his flares up ready to fight but still took a moment to squeeze her hand reassuring her and himself, if he was honest, that this was in fact real.

"We've got to get to Wendi! Amanda" Todd yelled pulling at Dirk's shoulder and proceeding to run and gesturing for Amanda to follow. Amanda hesitated looking up at Martin not wanting to be separated. He looked down to look at her sternly leaving no room for negotiation.

"Drummer, go with your brother." When she didn't move he yelled more forcefully "now!" and turned back toward the fight.

She looked as if she were going to protest as Todd came behind to grab her roughly forcing her to run with him in the confusion. This was sparking too many memories of Blackwing, being separated, priest… Amanda wasn't doing this again, she wrestled out of Todd's grip running back to where her boys were holding the line.

Vaguely she could hear Todd screaming after her to come back but she didn't care. They were not going to be separated again. She felt her energy rise and the feeling of static behind her eyes as her vision began to blur. And then it happened, she exploded with blue electric light. Everyone stopped for a breath. she recognized this feeling from Wendimor. Then screaming she threw the light at the clowns who after a brief moment evaporated leaving behind piles of black dust. The boys were by her side in an instant sucking up her energy as she crumbled to the ground in pain.

A moment later found her staring up at her boys' concerned faces. She centered on Martin who was eying her with a look she didn't recognize. She didn't know what to say either. Then her brother was hugging her and bringing her back to reality.

"Oh my God Amanda are you ok?" He yelled shaking her a bit.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good" Amanda replied attempting to stand and feeling a little shaken.

"Amanda, not that we're not grateful for your daring all be it improbable rescue. Might I ask, how did you do that?" Dirk was giving her an odd expression as well. One between concerned interest and something almost threatening. She felt Martin and Cross come up protectively behind her obviously picking up on the same.

"I don't know, I figured out I could do it in Wendimor I didn't think I could do it here." She answered stepping back a hair closer to her boys and glancing toward the field to see if it was really over.

"Wait," Amanda paused looking at the piles of dust on the field in horror as she realized what she'd done. "did I… just kill those guys"

She stared a moment feeling as though they would simply regenerate like they had earlier. She was almost willing it to happen but with each passing second the truth became harder to ignore. She turned to Dirk for an answer.

He was looking at her warily as if he wasn't sure how to answer then seemed to make a decision.

"Oh them? They weren't guys, or at least I don't think they were guys so… maybe?" Dirk finished looking at Amanda who had a look of pure panic on her face. It was the wrong decision.

"No, they were obviously not real people like you and I are people. I mean real people can't turn into smoke and anyway Right now we need to get to Wendi" he quickly corrected realizing how unhelpful he was being in the situation. He glanced at Todd who was giving him that shocked angry look he had started to give him a lot lately. He sighed and began walking toward the venue deciding it was much better to just remove himself from the situation.

Amanda was spinning out. She reached back to gently grab Martin's hand desperately needing to be grounded. He responded by softly lacing his calloused hands with hers and simultaneously pushing her forward to follow after Dirk. The rest of the boys followed silently unsure if they should feed off of her panic or let her alone a minute. They shared looks but took their cues from Martin who merely kept his hand entwined with hers moving her forward.

They walked out of the field, through the crowds, and towards a group of massive tour buses, stopping at a large black and red bus with CORGI painted in bright neon green letters on the side. Todd and Dirk were bantering back and forth but Amanda could only hear a dull muffled noise around her as she tried not to think about what just happened. In Wendimor her powers merely stunned the knights it had almost seemed like a game. Even with Wakti, learning how to use her powers, she had begun to feel like a hero and she wasn't afraid. Amanda was terrified now. It never occurred to her that her powers, if she still had them would work differently in the real world. She'd just killed 10 people in less than 5 minutes. Yeah they were bad guys, but the power that she had, she knew she wasn't in control. She was dangerous. She was a murderer.

Amanda was eerily quiet and the boys were eying her with extreme apprehension. she hadn't let go of Martin's hand and now had a look of vacant shock on her face. She hadn't even noticed that they were standing in front of her punk rock idol's tour bus. Or that her brother had been trying to get her attention.

Martin squeezed her hand bringing it up closer to his chest. This got her attention and she turned to look at Martin. He attempted to give her a look of comfort but she was far way.

"Amanda" Todd yelled for the fourth time moving quickly to shake her shoulders. Martin growled and immediately stepped between them. This seemed to get her attention.

"Are you ok?" He continued. He was looking at her with his protective big blue eyes and suddenly Amanda realized how closely everyone was watching her. She'd let herself become a burden again. She took a breath and swallowed the lump that remained in her throat. She'd been through torture and heartbreak and separation. She could bury this too.

"I'm sorry what were you saying?" Amanda replied weakly from behind Martin. He did not move, his flares up on edge from feeling her panic.

"Are you ok?" He asked again "That was fucked up back there, but those were bad guys very bad guys"

Amanda paused and thought at moment realizing how easily her brother was able to normalize the murder of 10 people. She gave him a quizzical look that asked 'what have you been doing?'.

"Yeah, asshole. What are we doing here? Breaking and entering?" She replied a little to sternly pulling her hand out of Martin's and strolling past his concerned face. Then into the bus where Dirk had disappeared a few moments before.

The Rowdy 3 shared a brief look before slowly cornering Todd against the side of the van menacingly.

"Alright, what nerdy bullshit have you gotten into this time?" Martin almost growled leaning close to Todd's face for added effect.

"Yeah, Talk." Gripps said sternly holding his hammer to his chest in anticipation. Cross put his arm casually to the side of Todd's head and Vogel looked towards the bus where their drummer had just left them.