ᴄʜᴀᴘɪᴛʀᴇ ᴄɪɴq - ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ
Chapter Five - Revenge

Side note: this part picks up from the following events shown in the previous chapter.

Note: I do not own the following characters
Rey Lopez/Snow Drift, Lucky Touch, her lasso as a weapon and her own family [Iris Lopez/mentioned, Amy Lopez/mentioned, Shawn Lopez and Reina Hunter-Lopez] - Sci-Briana14

Bernadette "Betty" Fontaine aka the masked girl, Celestia Lesbianne/Ice Queen (essentially, the idea of the akuma's powers staying inside her), Max finding his cousin [Bernadette] all covered in blood and Professor (Poppy) Bourgeois - GeekyCookie1

Language checkpoint
"Mija." - "Daughter."

Trigger Warnings
Intense levels of violence (moderate to severe)
Explicit display of physical and verbal abuse (low to medium)

This chapter contains very graphic depictions of death and murder, so if you're uncomfortable with this topic, please reconsider before reading.

Thank you so much in advance.

~~~~

"Hello, Clementine."

As Sharpshooter stared at his stepdaughter, he began to smile — not out of love, but out of the pleasure he would soon feel when the girl was dead.

"Do you like my new form? Hawkmoth gave me my name and my look. All I have to do is grab some miraculouses and I can stay like this."

"Sir..."

"It's funny. People usually hate the idea of getting akumatized but I find the feeling to be very liberating," Sharpshooter continued as he gave a low chuckle. "You know, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known how much I like the empowerment," he added, smirking at the sight of the girl's face falling.

"Come on, rose. Don't act surprised. You led me to my breaking point and now, I get to return the favor."

"Sir, this is just Hawkmoth manipulating you. You can fight him," she persisted, but he only laughed. "You don't get it yet, do you? Hawkmoth gave me this power, but he's not manipulating me. I'm choosing to act like this," Sharpshooter bluntly stated as his grin grew brighter while her eyes widen.

As Sharpshooter grabbed a laser dart gun from his back, his grin turned into a smirk as Cleo nervously chuckled. "You told me best, little rose. You reap what you sow," he told her, his smirk never changing as he felt in control (for once). "Now, let's see what I can do," the akumatized villain continued, aiming his laser dart at her.

Paralyzed by fear, Cleo found she was unable to move and given her inability to scream or attempt to call for help [as she grew up being punished if she screamed or brought unwanted attention to her and her parents], the girl could only hope for the best as she closed her eyes.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that."

As Cleo slowly opened her eyes, she saw a dark-skinned girl with a dark shade of blue eyes standing in front of her, wearing a soft, light blue, ice crystallized dress with her crystallized ice skates.

"Ice Queen."

"Ice to meet you too, Sharpshooter," Ice Queen cheekily but almost mockingly greeted him with a smirk, before the former akumatized villain briefly froze Sharpshooter in his place. As the ice crystallized around his body, she turned her attention to Cleo, who was trying to recover from the fact she was going to get shot.

"Celly, H... How are you doing thi..." Cleo slowly stammered to the girl, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest as she tried to calm herself down. "Well, I got scared of losing you that I think the fear might have actually ended up triggering my powers," Celestia quickly explained as she began checking on her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fin—" Cleo started, only to cut herself off. "I'm better now that you are here," she softly corrected, before she quickly pulled Ice Queen into a hug, ignoring how she was already freezing from the girl's cold touch as the girl was literally cold to the core, but still.... Cleo could care less.

"Thanks," she sincerely whispered to her as Ice Queen happily hugged her sister back. "Of course," Ice Queen sincerely said upon pulling away. "You're my sister, Cleo. Even if we're not related by blood, I will always be here for you," she softly continued, to which Cleo nearly tear up at her words.

However, the sight of Sharpshooter's face and the (now) melting ice forced Cleo to focus as she grabbed Celestia's hand. "That's great, but we got to go. Now," she firmly stated, gesturing to the akumatized villain as the girls ran just as Sharpshooter managed to free himself from the ice as his anger was able to radiate enough heat to break through the ice walls established by Ice Queen.

"Come back here!"

Sharpshooter would have charged at the two, but instead, he found his arm caught in the crossfire of a lasso. As he looked up to see the snow leopard heroine keeping her grip on him, the akumatized villain began to growl.

"Snow Drift," Sharpshooter angrily spoke as the heroine ignored his personal vendetta against her. "Tell me, leopard, why can't you hide?" he asked, which had caught her off-guard.

"It's because you're always spotted," Sharpshooter finished, aiming his laser dart at the heroine as he now had her locked as the target. "Got any last words before I shoot and take your miraculous?" he followed up as Snow Drift's eyes widened.

"You want her? You got to go through me," Chat Noir protectively told him, standing in front of Snow Drift as his claws came out, ready to pounce onto him if necessary. At the same time, Ladybug stood beside the feline, spinning her yo-yo. "If you pull that trigger on her, you got another thing coming," she firmly said as Sharpshooter smirked at the sight of their stupidity.

"Fine. I'll go through all of you then."

As Sharpshooter started firing darts in their direction, Ladybug and Chat Noir used their respective weapons to act as a shield against his darts. As such, Sharpshooter quickly stopped and began engaging with the heroes in combat.

As Chat Noir swung his baton towards Sharpshooter and Snow Drift wrapped her lasso around him, Sharpshooter pulled the heroine to him with the dart gun aimed directly onto her head.

"Give up your miraculouses or the leopard gets it," Sharpshooter sharply threatened as he held the trigger steady in his hand. "Snowflake!" Chat Noir exclaimed in panic as he dropped his baton. "Fine, you win. Just don't hurt her..." he said, preparing to take off his ring as Sharpshooter smirked.

"Atta boy."

"Kitty, no!" Snow Drift and Ladybug defensively exclaimed in an effort to stop him. In that moment, Ladybug knew what she had to do.

"Lucky Charm!"

As the heroine raised up her yo-yo and called out her special power, Ladybug received a net. "A net? What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, before she turned to Chat Noir, who was now halfway into taking off his ring as Ladybug tried to get her partner to stop.

"Could you go any slower?" Sharpshooter angrily mocked, to which Snow Drift stepped onto his foot. "Ow! Okay, that's it! I've had just enough of you, leopard!" he snapped at last, now pushed over the edge as he aimed his weapon at her.

"Snowflake!"

As the thought of potentially losing Snow Drift crossed his mind, Chat Noir quickly let go of his ring and quickly pushed the heroine out of the way just in time for the dart to hit him (rather than Snow Drift).

As Chat Noir removed the dart, he tried to stand, only for a wave of dizziness to come over him as Snow Drift quickly caught him from falling. "Cataclysm!" Chat Noir had called out, only to look back at his hand in shock when his power failed to activate on his command.

"I call 'em Draining Darts," Sharpshooter cheekily said as the dart came back to his possession. Chat Noir tried to approach him, but the hero had quickly sunk to the ground, much to the horror and dismay of his teammates.

"Your miraculous is as good as mine, cat," Sharpshooter confidently stated, smirking at the sight of Chat Noir. "Touch him and you'll regret it," Snow Drift firmly stated as she punched the akumatized villain in his face.

As Sharpshooter staggered back, Snow Drift turned her attention toward her partner. "Hey, it's going to be okay," she assured the now unconscious feline hero. "You'll see," she told him, leaning his head against hers.

"Lucky Touch," she whispered, a ball of white, pure energy now forming in the palm of her hand. "Please work," she said, placing her hand on Chat Noir's neck, where the dart mark stood. As she did, Snow Drift saw a white glow surround Chat Noir and moments later, he awoke with a jolt as he began to cough.

As her eyes widened from sheer joy, Snow Drift happily embraced the feline in a tight but tender hug of her own.

"You're okay!"

"So are you," Chat Noir softly said, returning the hug as the two quietly held each other before looking at each other, a loving and mutual respect for one another. However, this moment was interrupted as Ladybug briefly cleared her throat.

"We have a mission, remember? You two can be affectionate to each other later, just not right now."

"Oh — we — we weren't —" Snow Drift and Chat Noir insisted, now shyly looking away from each other as Ladybug playfully rolled her eyes. However when their miraculouses beeped, Ladybug stared at the two.

"Go home."

"No. We're not leaving. We're going to stay and see this through," Snow Drift and Chat Noir stubbornly insisted as Ladybug sighed. "Fine, you have until the third beep to stay. Afterwards, you both need to go home and that's a order. Do I make myself clear?" she followed up, to which Snow Drift and Chat Noir nodded.

"Yes."

"Now, let's go bag ourselves a—" Ladybug confidently continued, only for her eyes to widen as she saw Sharpshooter was missing. "Never, we got ourselves a runner," she mumbled as the three heroes began to look for him.

But when the trio made their way back inside city hall and Ladybug spotted Cleo and the Bourgeois hotel in the distance, she stared at her net, an idea coming to fruition as she gasped.

"I have an idea on how to drag Sharpshooter out, but I need you two to take this net and get everyone to the Bourgeois hotel," Ladybug whispered to the two heroes, who firmly nodded. "I'll meet you there. Just leave the rest to me," she continued as Snow Drift and Chat Noir nodded once more.

Afterwards, the plan was set into motion as the two heroes began assisting Roger in evacuating everyone outside of the area.

"I need to have a word with her," Ladybug told Roger, gesturing to Cleo, who was with Jolene [Celestia, Bernadette and Poppy tried to get the girl away from her mother, but the woman was extremely stubborn]. Overhearing this, Jolene kept a tight grip on her daughter as she stared at the polka-dotted heroine.

"She will bring you no help," Jolene sharply told the heroine, who rolled her eyes. "I think she will, actually," Ladybug sharply stated, now crossing her arms. "Officer Raincomprix, can you...?" she followed up as the officer nodded and proceeded to release Jolene's grip on Cleo.

"W... What do you think you're doing?"

"Relax, it's only temporary," Roger assured Jolene, who kept glaring at Cleo as she was being dragged by Roger. "Good. I need your help but this will require you to be directly in front of Sharpshooter's laser dart gun. Can you do it?" Ladybug asked the moment the girl's mother was out of sight.

"I... I..."

"Hey, he'll only be on your radar for a little bit. I'll be watching to keep an eye on you. If he tries anything, I'll jump in. Okay?"

As Ladybug gently held onto the girl's shoulders, Cleo took a deep breath and nodded, deciding to place her trust in the heroine.

"Alright. What do you need me to do?"

————————

As Ladybug whispered her plan to Cleo, the girl's eyes widened. "You really are crazy, but okay. I'll do my best," she said just as the two heard the sound of glass shattering.

"Looks like that's my cue," Ladybug mumbled, before looking at Cleo, who was trying her hardest to stop her shaking. "Hey, you got this. Just stick to what we talked about and you'll be fine," the heroine said before Ladybug left.

"We meet again."

As Cleo turned around to face Sharpshooter, she felt her heart rapidly pounding in her chest. "Any chance you saw where those pesky heroes went?" he asked, to which Cleo forced herself to swallow her fears. "No. I didn't see them anywhere," Cleo casually said before she looked at him.

"Wait, don't tell me you lost the heroes already," she said, now laughing. "Wow, you have the slowest track record yet!" she exclaimed, making a mental note of her exit points when Cleo saw Sharpshooter's blood boiling.

"You know, I wonder how Hawkmoth must feel, knowing he has chosen yet another incompetent person to akumatize. I mean, I feel sorry for him," Cleo continued as Sharpshooter gripped onto his weapon.

"I will deliver."

"Will you though?" Cleo lightly mocked as she chuckled. "I mean, you already lost them and you don't even know where they are. Face it. Even with Hawkmoth's generosity, you still wind up being a joke," she continued.

"I am not a joke!" Sharpshooter furiously snapped, now having his target locked on his stepdaughter. "You're hiding the heroes somewhere and I will make you show me!" he exclaimed, aiming the dart at Cleo, who took the hit.

As Cleo pulled up the dart out of her neck, she blinked. "That was it? That was your big plan?" she asked, lightly mocking him before glancing over to see the dart glowing. A few seconds later, she heard a distinctive ringing in her ears.

"Wait, did you..."

"I did. You are now my personal tracker, pet," Sharpshooter cockily told her as Cleo felt a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. "Try anything and I'll know. This time, you have no one to help you," he taunted as she chuckled.

"Of course. You're completely useless that you need me more than you realized. Like I said, you're just a joke. Without me, you wouldn't be anything. I made you become Sharpshooter and I bet I could take it away from you too," Cleo taunted in turn as she held herself steady.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would," Cleo sharply continued as she chuckled. "You're nothing without that badge. All someone would have to do is break it," she added as Sharpshooter glared at her. "I will kill you before you touch my badge," he threatened, anger in his eyes as the girl merely smirked.

"You're going to have to catch me first, then," Cleo taunted as her smirk grew. "Let's see how effective this tracker dart of yours really is," she added, to which she finally caught the akumatized villain's attention. As Sharpshooter angrily attempted to shoot her, the girl dodged.

"You call yourself a sharpshooter but you miss? Ha!"

When Sharpshooter started to run after her, Cleo promptly knocked the villain down using one of the nearby chairs and ran. As she started her run, Cleo looked up to see Ladybug trailing behind her through the rooftops.

"Just two more blocks and my team got the rest from here," Ladybug encouraged her as Cleo nodded, leaning against the wall. "Great, because I don't think I can run or keep slowing him down for much longer," she said, to which Cleo felt a ringing in her ears.

"He's here."

As Ladybug quickly went above the rooftop, Sharpshooter appeared with a irritated look as he flicked a banana peel onto the ground. "You are one, annoying pest," he bluntly told her as Cleo crossed her arms.

"Aw, can't keep up? Guess that little tracker of yours was just a waste of your time. Such a shame too. You were so close to catching the heroes, but alas, you were never good at anything you did," she taunted, to which, Sharpshooter wiped the dumpster trash from his arms and glared at her.

"You think you're so smart, but I got tricks too."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Shoot me with another dart of yours? That's so original," Cleo bluntly stated, to which Sharpshooter merely chuckle. "I've been saving it just for you," he said as Ladybug's eyes widened.

Recognizing the distinctive green dart, Ladybug was prepared to jump down but Cleo made a quick signal, forcing her to stay down. "I took this one from the cat. Cataclysm, he called it. Let's see how effective it works on you," he said and as Sharpshooter shot the dart, Cleo retrieved the lid of a trash can, tossing the akumatized villain against the end of the city's dumpster.

"Nice try, but it looks like you need to try harder," she later said, winking as Cleo found herself outside of Sharpshooter's range. "That was close and you know it," Ladybug said as Cleo shrugged. "I should be fine for the last block. Go meet up with your teammates," she insisted as Ladybug shook her head.

"Too risky. I'll have to carry you from here to the hotel."

"Wait—"

As Ladybug carried Cleo and the two began making their way to the hotel, the girl found herself screaming the entire time. "I don't do heights!" Cleo exclaimed, just as the ring occurred in her ears. When the two had looked up, Sharpshooter was there on site with a dark, twisted smirk.

"Gotcha."

Looking at each other, Ladybug quickly swung but Sharpshooter was faster, so as the two fell just behind the hotel, the girls were cornered by him.

"You're at the end of your rope, ladies," Sharpshooter said, to which Cleo and Ladybug stood up. "Give up your miraculous," he ordered as Ladybug shook her head. "Then you leave me with no choice," he insisted, aiming at her.

"Now!"

Jumping from behind the villain, Cleo and Ladybug witnessed Sharpshooter getting ambushed by Celestia and Bernadette, who both tag-teamed him. When he had gotten the upper hand, Sharpshooter then ran toward the two.

However, Cleo had pushed Ladybug out of the way and felt the effects of the guy's strength when she was bulldozed into the heart of the hotel. Trapped in the midst of Sharpshooter's grip, she saw his dart gun from the corner of her eye.

"I've had enough of your games, girl," Sharpshooter angrily snapped, holding the girl forcibly as the two heard gasps. "Liar," he heard echoed, over and over as he stood up, trying to defend himself. But the echoes continued from the crowd and as the villain saw Poppy's smirk, Sharpshooter had reached for his dart gun... only to find that his stepdaughter beat him to it.

"My turn."

As Cleo shot the dart directly at him, Sharpshooter staggered and as he fell back, he was caught in a net held together by the members of the Bourgeois and Lopez family as he struggled to escape. In the process, he had lost possession of the badge which Cleo had retrieved.

"I think it's time we ended this," she said as Sharpshooter fell on his knees, the net no longer being needed as he was starting to weaken by his own dart. "No," he pleaded as she handed the badge to Ladybug. Upon retrieving the net, Ladybug stepped onto the badge, which broke under her foot.

"No!"

As she did, the akuma flew out, leaving Hawkmoth's latest victim defenseless as Ladybug she caught the butterfly in her yo-yo.

"Gotcha!"

As soon as Ladybug caught the akuma and purified the akuma, she grinned. "Bye, bye little butterfly," she softly said before tossing the net lucky charm directly into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

As the net dissolved into a energy of pure red and white light, any damage caused by Sharpshooter was reversed. With the damage now reversed and Paris back to normal, the heroes and the others watch as the Sharpshooter reverted back to Lance Abbott.

"Pound it!"

As Ladybug, Snow Drift and Chat Noir fist-bumped, their miraculouses all began to beep with Ladybug's own earrings following a minute after. "Well, this has been fun but..." as the three heroes trailed off, the trio chuckled.

"I gotta bounce!"

——————————————

"Mija, where have you been? Are you hurt?"

As Reina ran to check on her youngest daughter, Rey awkwardly smiled. "I'm alright. I guess I got lost," she said as her mother sighed in relief before frowning. "Lost? You got lost?" her mother snapped as Shawn held her hand.

"On the bright side, at least she's alive," Shawn chimed in as Reina quietly sighed. "Alive and still a disappointment," Rey heard her mother mumble, which led the girl to frown from what she heard. "Iris, Amy, we found your sister! Come on!" her parents called out as Rey followed in turn.

Once the Lopez's family left and the Bourgeois family were rejoicing, Celestia and Cleo hugged as Cleo looked around. "Hey, where did Max and Betty go?" she asked as the girl shook her head. "Oh, you know. The two had to go straight home, so they just left a few minutes ago," she said as Cleo briefly frowned.

"Oh."

As Lance held his head, Cleo briefly stepped away to help her stepfather, who had brush off her assistance. "You've done enough," he bitterly mumbled as she quietly sighed at his response.

"Sir—"

"Come on. We're leaving now."

"Actually, she's staying right here," Poppy and Celestia firmly stated as Lance glared at the two. "No, she's not," Lance firmly stated and as he forcibly pulled Cleo to his side, the older woman and her sister figure began to run after them.

"Let go!" Cleo insisted, trying to free herself from Lance's grip when he harshly pushed her onto the ground. "I should have done this when we first met," Lance sharply said, taking out a knife as he smirked.

"Sir...."

"It's time you reaped what you sown," Lance sharply continued, grabbing the girl as he slashed Cleo across her face before throwing her back onto the ground, grinning at the sight of her own fear. "What's wrong? Can't you handle a little blood?" he continued, now slashing her arms as she had used to try to defend herself.

"Please stop! I'm sorry for everything I did to you! I'll do whatever you want, just stop," Cleo desperately pleaded, now almost begging for her life but she began to panic when he grabbed her and pinned her behind the wall of a old building.

"No. You will get what you is coming to you. It's time that I finally got my revenge and end this now," Lance stubbornly persisted and as he aimed for her throat, Cleo kicked her stepfather, causing the knife to fall out of his hand.

As she retrieved the knife, she grazed his left arm before being pushed back onto the ground, dropping the weapon.

"You made me bleed."

"You had it coming," Cleo insisted, now wincing from the pain. "I'll show you," he said, trying to go straight for her throat when she rolled over. As such, he got her right arm as he fell while Cleo made herself stand up, only to trip on her foot brace.

"Stupid house arrest," she mumbled, tugging on the brace when she saw her stepfather start to stand up. In a moment of panic, she began to run. "Come back here, brat! I will find you!" she heard Lance's voice called out to her as Cleo ran. The girl kept on running until she was sure it would be impossible for Lance to track her steps.

"Cleo?"

As Cleo jumped, she started breathing uncontrollably until she saw it was just Celestia and Poppy. "H... Hey," she managed to say. "We were looking for you two everywhere and —" the two started, only to cut themselves off from finishing as soon as they saw she had several marks on her.

"You're bleeding. What did he do to you?"

Cleo tried to explain but as a wave of exhaustion and dizziness came over her, she held her head and as she nearly fell, Celestia ran to catch her. As she tried to thank her, Cleo found her vision blurring as everything began to spin. "Come on, we'll get you clean up and you are staying at the hotel for the rest of the night," Poppy insisted and for once, Cleo didn't bother protesting.

"T... Thanks."

"You're welcome," Poppy said, turning as she saw Celestia's eyes widened. "Cleo?" the two asked, but when she didn't answer, panic gave way.

"Cleo!"

——————————

"Where are you at, brat! You can't keep running for long!"

"No, but then again, neither can you."

As Lance held a distinctive female voice, he held his knife steady as he looked around him. "Show yourself, coward!" he angrily snapped as he heard a low giggle. "Gladly," she said and seconds later, he felt a loud thump on his head. As he fell, Lance felt a strange liquid being injected into him.

He tried to reach for his knife, only to stop as Lance felt a pair of heels crush his entire right hand, bones breaking on impact.

"Funny thing. Your mistress said the same thing right before she died," he heard the girl say, just as she picked up his knife, staring at the distinctive L in the fading light. "Eh, I have more," she said, flinging the knife to the side before she saw Lance attempting to stand up.

"Stay down!"

As she smacked the man with her heel, Lance fell back down, now wincing from the pain as the girl rolled her eyes. "You are so dramatic just like that annoying wife of yours," she bluntly said before shaking her head as a thought came to her mind. "No matter, I can fix that," she later said, now smirking.

Before Lance had a chance to speak, he found himself defenseless against the masked girl, who began craving her knife directly onto his face to create a extended smile in between muffling Lance from screaming.

From there, the girl began inflicting several different slashes onto the man, her motions much more messy than usual as the girl had allowed her own anger to drive the attacks.

So when she had finished, the masked girl took a deep breath but still not satisfied, she proceeded to drive her knife against his face until he became nothing more than a mere shell of his former self.

"There. Now, you're perfect."

As Lance began to twitch and choke on his own blood, the girl smiled at her own work, the blood once again covering her. As she wrote a quick note, the girl used his head as the place for the note to be seen, adding a quick slab of tape. By the time she was done with the note, Lance went limb.

So as she went to check his pulse to confirm he was dead, the girl grinned when she felt no vital sign of life, just the way she liked it. "Two down, one to go. I'm coming for you, Jolene, just you wait," the girl told herself, grinning maliciously.

Satisfied at last, the girl left the scene with the distinctive L engraved sliver knife with thorn-like carvings now lingering behind the back of a dumpster...

——————————

Awoke by the sudden rustling in his cousin's room, Max quickly went to grab his glasses and as he made his way to the girl's room, he heard a thump. Upon turning on the light, Max glanced up but naturally, he could only see blurs.

Upon placing on his glasses, Max then yawned. "Betty? I heard rustling, so I came to check," he explained as he later stretched.

"Are you..." he began, only to trail off as Max stared at the sight of his cousin, who was in her regular clothes but now seemed to be strangely covered in some sort of red, wet liquid.

If the boy had looked just further, Max would have found her costume, which was also drenched in the same liquid. At first, Max thought he was just dreaming but when he cleaned his glasses and saw closer, his eyes widened as Betty silently cursed herself for making such a careless mistake.

"B... Betty... y... you're c... covered in b... b...." Max trailed off, unable to bring himself to say the rest.

"Hi, Max."

————————————

"Ow."

Upon waking up the next morning, Cleo immediately looked at her surroundings and saw she was in the Bourgeois hotel, which had confused her as she couldn't recall how she got there. Though, she supposed it didn't matter....

Glancing down, Cleo saw she was lying on a bed with various pillows and blankets. As she surveyed the mattress and felt its fluffy, weightless form, she quietly hummed to herself.

"You know, that explains why I felt something off. It's because I actually slept on a bed and not on the ground," the girl mumbled, now trying to adjust as Cleo started to sit upright, only to wince at the action. "Well, this is going to be fun," she later said to herself, before she saw her arms.

As she stared at her arms, which were now in some kind of medical wrapping material, her mind flashed to a knife slashing through her arms, the droplets of blood forming as a pair of strong hands threw her onto the rough pavement. She could recall the cold and cruel ocean-blue eyes staring back at her as a man — no, her stepfather, Lance — held the weapon so proudly.

"What's wrong? Can't you handle a little blood?"

"He's not here," she told herself, but that didn't stop her from gripping onto the sheets longer than she should have. "I'll still have to face him... and mom," she mumbled, now dreading the inevitable moment she had to drag herself back to the apartment, where the consequences of her actions were surely come to fruition.

Cleo knew she would have to leave the hotel and make her way back to the shambles of her life, that much she knew. The only problem? There was no way Poppy and Celestia were going to let her go back to the apartment... a issue she didn't want to deal with as she knew their protectiveness over her.

"Wait, why does my left foot feel lighter?" she asked herself, expecting to feel the heavy, black foot brace she earned from her self-imposed house arrest. Cleo knew she was just lucky that Markov dismantled the system's alarm, but it's not like she had expected to get the actual brace off of her. So when she lift her left leg up and saw the foot brace was no longer on her, she quietly gasped.

Before Cleo could think about the foot brace further, she heard a knock, which threw her off. "Hey, it's Celly! Can I come in?" she heard Celestia call out, which also threw her off as she couldn't even recall the last time her parents knocked or even asked for permission to enter her room.

Then again, the attic didn't exactly have a door, so there was no need to knock or the need for permission.

"Um... yes," Cleo awkwardly answered, mostly confused by the request. Regardless, the door opened and she saw Celestia with a tray of various breakfast items Cleo knew she wouldn't even afford to get and that was going off from what she made working at her part-time job as a mechanic.... if she even had the job at this point.

"Morning, Cece. Poppy made breakfast for everyone and thought you should eat," she softly said, adjusting the table as Celestia laid the tray down. "Oh. That's nice of her," Cleo said as Celestia went to turn on the TV screen, flipping mindlessly through the channels.

"Yeah. Mom was in the mood to cook and wanted to give the family's chef a break. Plus, you know her. Once her mind is set on something, she has to commit," Celestia said as Cleo realized the girl had no problem referring to their professor as her mother, because well, Poppy did view her and Celestia as her daughters just like as she had viewed Chloé the same way, even though Chloé was Poppy's niece.

Poppy was always encouraging her to call her "mom," but Cleo just felt so... awkward about the whole ordeal. She was so deep in her thoughts that Cleo barely caught the girl attempting to change the channel.

"I think the battery died. Oh, wait. Hang on. I think I—" Celestia began before she had succeeded in changing the channel. "Oh, it's just the news," she mumbled, unimpressed by the channel. "Hang on. Let me just—" Celestia began, only to get cut off by the TV itself.

"Breaking news!"

As Celestia placed the remote down, she stared at Cleo as she sat on the bed, the two looking at the news anchor.

"This just in, the prominent and bright police officer, Captain Lance Abbott, who was expected to take over his own department later this month before his affair with the late Audrey Bourgeois came to light has just been confirmed dead by the autopsy as the former ex-captain was found brutally beaten and stabbed to death several times outside of an alleyway."

"Good riddance! I'm glad someone had the sense to kill him," Celestia delightfully said as she grinned. It was about time someone got rid of the guy and she had instant respect to whoever did the deed.

"The former ex-captain, Lance Abbott, who would have had various criminal charges against him since the events of his corruption came to light during his speech, is now survived by his wife, Jolene Monroe-Abbott and his only stepdaughter, Clementine Monroe. More details are expected to be released as updates continue to be made. As always, this is Nadja Chamack reporting live from...."

"You know, it's about time someone did something about him, especially considering what he did to you. Ha! In the end, Lance finally got what was coming to him. Now, let's just hope whoever killed him plan on killing Jolene next. I would love to live knowing she's finally out of your life," Celestia promptly stated before she glanced over to Cleo, who rubbed her arms.

"Cece?"

As Celestia saw Cleo staring blankly at the TV, the girl lightly nudged her, bringing her little sister back to reality as she snapped out of her thoughts. "Hey... are you okay?" she softly asked as she heard her little sister sighing. "I... I don't even know at this point," Cleo admitted as Celestia moved closer to her.

"Hey, I know it's hard to believe but Lance can't hurt you anymore. That's one less toxic person in your life and you should be excited to know you have some degree of freedom again," Celestia softly said as Cleo merely sighed.

"I guess, but it's just so hard to believe that...." Cleo started, only to trail off as she rub her arms once more. "Hard to believe what?" Celestia gently inquired as she saw the girl sigh.

"It's hard to believe that my stepdad is... dead."