№6|Tainted Brownies
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It’s been a wonderful couple of months since the Ruby Rebels meeting, not only have things grown tense between the Rebels and the Dragons, but Cruella and Hex grew closer every single day.

“You got this Cruella, just knock on the door, come on stop being a wimp!” She stood outside the mechanics door, holding a plate of brownies. She closed her eyes, knocking on the door.

The door opened to reveal Ector, “hey Cruella, what brings you by? It's half past noon, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I’m on break, is your brother here?” Cruella asked.

“Yeah,” Ector smirked, “come on in.”

Cruella walked inside, watching as Hex worked on a car. “Hex~ special delivery!” Ector cooed, taking a brownie. Hex came out from under the car to see Cruella holding the brownies.

“Marshmallow!” Hex cheered, hugging her, “what are you doing here?”

“I-I had some brownie mix and baked you and your family some, Christopher thought I liked truffles and bought me a truffle making kit-”

“You hate truffles,” Hex interrupted.

“Ye-Yeah, you remember, I told you like 3 months ago,” Cruella muttered.

“I remember, why wouldn't I?” Hex tilted his head.

“Most guys never remember the minor details.” Cruella looked down.

“Well Christopher may not, but I do.” Hex tilted up her head, smiling at her.

Cruella blushed and looked away “an-anyway! I returned the kit and got a lot of brownie mixes instead.”

Hex bit into one browny, “tasty!” he muttered through his food ridden mouth.

“You think so? I’ve always been terrible at cooking.” Cruella chuckled nervously.

“Totally! It’s amazing.” Hex smiled.

Cruella and he sat in the break room, munching on brownies. “Hex,” her hand was on his, “we’ve been friends for what, almost half a half a year now?”

“Yes... is there something wrong?” Hex asked.

“I’ve been hiding this secret from you for a while now, worried you would resent me for it.” Cruella intertwined her fingers with his.

“You know I would never. Plus, I’ve been hiding something from you too…” Hex sighed, knowing this might ruin their friendship.

“On 3?”

“Yeah,” Hex nodded.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

“I’m animalistic!”

“I’m a gang leader.”

Both their faces grew shocked, “you’re what?!”

“That explains why you had the dragon mark on your skin, I thought it was just some tattoo or family tribal tattoo…” Cruella sighed, smacking her forehead.

“You’re animalistic? Like those people that transform into animals?!” Hex backed up, Cruella nodded sadly.

“I get it if you want to leave…” Cruella muttered.

Hex kissed her forehead, “come with me.”

He leads Cruella down a hallway, grabbing a picture. “This is my Tia Julia.” Hex passed her a picture. “She wasn’t my Tía by blood, but she was the first animalistic to join our gang, she would transform into this giant bird and give us a ride around town.”

“Woah…” Cruella gasped.

“Look, Cruella, I don't want you to hide stuff from me,” Hex held her hands, “I don't like keeping secrets.”

“Okay, Hex,” Cruella smiled, “no more secrets.”

“But, I will not be in a gang,” Cruella told him.

“You don't have to.” Hex chuckled.

“Okay good, cause, I don't feel comfortable doing that.” she sighed.

Hex was about to say something else but Edgar, Ector, Gabriella, and Diane came in. “Oh! Brownies!” Ector and Gabriella gushed, racing for the brownies.

“These aren’t bad Cruella-san.” Diane nodded.

“Yeah,” Edgar bit into the brownies, “hey! Emma! Come here, you got to taste these brownies!”

Mama walked into the break room, taking a bite out of the brownies, “wow, you’re a great cook hun.”

Cruella smiled, passing Hex a brownie which he gladly accepted. “Christopher always says I should start making doughnuts, but I told him countless times I hate powdered doughnuts.”

“Who's Christopher?” Gabriella asked.

“Her boyfriend,” Diane replied.

“Sadly,” Cruella sighed, “we’re only dating because I don't want to get my boss mad.”

“Is this the same boss who fired Diane for spilling tea?” Ector asked.

“Yep.” Hex nodded.

“My gods, let me get at your boss and believe me, I’ll deal with her.” Emma rolled her sleeves up.

“Chill Mama,” Hex chuckled, “we don't need the cops on our asses more than they already are.”

“What do you mean?” Cruella looked up at Hex questionably.

“Ever since the meeting with the Ruby Rebels, our rivals, things have been tense between us.” Ector sighed, holding Saree’s hand.

“Tense how?”

“To where cops have been watching our every move so we won't cause trouble.” Gabriella scowled, “like the other night, me and Diane were trying to go out for a peaceful night, but these two cops wouldn't stop looking at me and Diane.”

“They even asked me if I was in an abusive relationship with her because of a scratch on my face I got from work.” Diane rolled her eyes, “I had to explain to them I wasn’t before Gabriella threw the steak knife at the cops.”

“And not to mention my job filled with Rebels…” Saree muttered. “I swear, every day I go to my job I get groped or asked out by someone. Thankfully, my boss understands the situation so I get to punch the living snot out of those idiots.”

Cruella noticed Saree’s toothy smile, mostly the fact of her fangs. “Are you a vampire, Saree?”

“Yep,” Saree went into the mini-fridge, pulling out a bottle of blood. She drank it, bringing a satisfying smile to her face, “ah, so good…”

“What’s it like, dating a vampire and all, Ector?”

“Amazing, well there was this one time I came home to her eating a jackrabbit she hunted.” Ector sweat dropped.

“Leave me be, jackrabbit blood is tasty when I have cravings.” Saree drooled, “in fact,” before she could hit the door, Mama pulled her down to a chair, “not till night Saree.”

“I hunted her chickens one time and I’m labeled for life…” Saree muttered under her breath.

Cruella laughed along with the group but soon stopped when she got a headache, whimpering as she looked down. “Everything okay, Marshmallow?” Hex’s voice filled with concern.

Cruella smiled, normally it would take hours for Christopher to notice something was up with her, heck even days. “Just a headache…”

Hex lifted her chin, “no more secrets, you promised me that.”

“I might have undercooked the brownies…” Cruella felt dizzy. “Hexy,” she rested her head in his lap, “I don't feel so good…”

Hex sniffed the brownies, noticing the white specks on them, “spit out the brownies!”

His family stood still, “why?”

“It’s sleep…” Hex’s vision became blurry before he could reply. As soon as Hex went down, so did everyone else in the break room.

Black heels echoed through the empty workplace, hands covered by leather black clovers opened the door to the break room. 

“Well, that took less work than I thought,” the mysterious person dressed in black leather jeans, a pitch-black Pancho covered their upper body. A black bandana covered their facial features and red sunglasses, and to top it all off, a black sun hat covered their hair.

“6 dragons, a vampire, and an animalistic,” they stalked around the group of sleeping people, “what would have the most impact?”

“I could take the mother,” their hands lifted Emma’s head, “but she’s too feisty.”

“How about the kids?” they asked themselves, “Nah, just like the mother, too feisty and too much impact.”

Her eyes landed on Edgar, “well,” their lips formed into a smirk, “you’ll do perfectly!”

With a swift movement of their wrist, she placed Edgar into a pink bubble, walking out of the mechanics, reaching the door.

She looked back at the sleeping mechanics, “let the real war begin.”

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

“How was today, my love?” Emmanuel’s girlfriend asked, her strong but smooth hands filling up a shot of whiskey.

“I’m still at work, it’s been kinda boring, except, Dizzy’s been kinda weirdly happy today.” Emmanuel shrugged, “she’s been talking all about how the world is bright, how beautiful love is.”

“Sounds like your little sister has a crush.” she giggled, taking a sip of her drink.

“She’s too young for a crush!” Emmanuel rose from his seat.

“She’s 27, she’s two years younger than you.” she reminded him.

“But that’s my little sister…” Emmanuel muttered.

“She’s old enough to have a crush, she’s old enough to have sex-”

“LALALA! I can't hear you!” Emmanuel covered his ears.

She rolled her eyes, “what are you, 7?”

“I don't want to hear about my sister having sex!” Emmanuel groaned.

“Never mind that, I have a surprise for you,” she cooed, her cheeks flushing slightly.

“Is it like my surprise on Valentine’s day with the ribbons?” Emmanuel smirked.

“No, this is way better! I’m coming to visit! My plane’s about to take off!” she cheered, an enormous smile forming on her face.

“Amazing! Baby! I’ll make sure the base is beautiful when we arrive, I can't believe you’re coming to visit! I’ve been dying for your touch again…” Emmanuel sighed in relief.

“Don't worry, just a little over 3 hours and I’ll be in your arms.” She hung up the phone, smiling at the thought of being with the man she love soon.

Emmanuel ran out of the office, grabbing his members’ attention. “My girlfriend will be here in 3 hours, I want this place spotless by the time she’s here. Dizzy,” his eyes locked with his sister who was dancing with a daisy flower crown on her head.

“Dizzy, come to my office.” Emmanuel was getting worried about her strange behavior. Dizzy skipped up to his office practically beaming.

“Something wrong big brother?” Dizzy tilted her head.

“What’s got you all happy today?” Emmanuel smirked.

“It’s this guy! All this week, this guy and I have been flirting back and forth, oh big brother he’s amazing!” Dizzy sighed in delight, plopping down on the fur rug.

“This morning, he dropped me off and he opened the door of the car to let me out before I could leave he told me he’ll miss me and every hour we’re apart is hell.” Dizzy felt her heart flutter.

“Then he sent me daisies not even 2 hours ago! We’re going for lunch, d-do your mind?”

“It’s lunch, why would I care?” Emmanuel turned his chair away from her.

“You mad...I’m sorry.” Dizzy walked towards him, giving him those cute puppy dog eyes.

“Dammit...you know I can't be mad at you.” Emmanuel sighed, Dizzy smiled. “I’ll get to meet him, yes?”

“Of course, Big brother, you’re gonna love him!” Dizzy cheered, her phone rang. She squealed and answered.

“Hello, my gang girl.” Shawn leaned back in his car chair.

“Hi! Are you here yet? I can't wait for lunch.” Dizzy smiled widely.

“I’m outside, my lovely gang girl.” Shawn cooed.

Dizzy hung up and raced outside, “Hi Shawn!” Dizzy tackled him into an enormous hug.

“Hello to you too, Dizzy.” Shawn kissed her forehead. “Ready for lunch? I’m taking you to a fondue place.” he smiled as he watched as her eyes lit up in glee.

“I love fondue!” Dizzy held his hand as he led her to the car. As they drove to the fondue restaurant, he never let go of her hand.

Dizzy smiled. This one, he's definitely different.

“Welcome passengers, we've reached our destination of New York City. Please enjoy your stay and thank you for flying with Miami Air!” the flight attendant thanked her as she shook Emmanuel’s girlfriend awake.

“Miss Marmalade,” the flight attendant woke her up, “we’ve arrived at New York.”

Marmalade yawned and woke up, looking into the reflection on her phone. She had beautiful russet brown skin with bright red hair with yellow and orange layers. She rubbed her amber eyes and got up from her seat, dusting off the red summer dress she wore.

Marmalade turned on her phone, smiling at her home screen to see a picture of Emmanuel kissing her cheek. She dialed his number, “I just got off the plane, Manny.”

“Thank gods,” Manny waited into her terminal, “baby, you don't know how much I missed you over the months.” 

“I’m guessing it’s a lot.” Marmalade chuckled. She walked past a woman selling cakes. She looked at the woman selling them, she had blonde hair and wore dark sunglasses and a white shirt and jeans.

“Wanna buy a cake?” she blew up a bubblegum bubble.

“Sure, why not. Why are you selling?” Marmalade paid for the strawberry cake.

“Ran out of girl scout cookies,” the woman chewed her gum loudly, “no, I need the money. So unless your gonna buy another cake, please go.”

Marmalade rolled her eyes, “rude,” she walked off, the lady watching her every move.

She smirked, walking into the bathroom stall and hurried out to reveal the woman in all black, “too easy.”

Marmalade waited in the luggage claim when she felt arms wrapped around her, “I missed you.” Emmanuel whispered tenderly.

Marmalade smiled and turned around, hugging him tightly. “It’s so nice not to hear your voice on a phone.”

Emmanuel sniffed her hair and held her close, “I forgot how amazing you smell.” 

Marmalade laughed, “so, are you gonna show me the wonders of New York?” she grabbed her luggage as she walked to Emmanuel’s car, holding his hand.

“Yep, starting with my base.” Emmanuel started up the car but didn't drive.

“Come on, silly, how’s the car gonna drive if you don't start the car.” Marmalade giggled at her boyfriend’s stupidity.

She noticed Emmanuel staring at her. “What?” she touched her face, “is there something on my face?”

Emmanuel sighed, kissing her lips, “You're beautiful.”

~B~

“Welcome to Fondu Palace. I'm Alice, I'll be your server today.” Alice smiled brightly.

“What do you want today Dizzy? Order anything you want, I feel like spoiling you today.” Shawn smiled, stroking her hand.

“Shut up. I'll have the uh…” she looked at the menu “everything so expensive…”

She looked to the table next to her to see an assortment of sweet treats and tasty fruits they dipped in chocolate.

Dizzy licked her lips “Woah…”

“What's that?” Shawn asked the waitress.

“Sweet Lovers Dream Plater,” Alice replied, “best palter here, me and my boyfriend had it the other day,” she leaned in to whisper “the star mango has special effects on lovers.”

Alice winked slyly, “so that's one Sweet Lover Dream?”

Shawn held her hand “we'll take it.”

“Shawn that’s 100 bucks,” Dizzy warned him.

“I got paid a lot.” Shawn kissed her hand, Dizzy blushed, “so imma spoil you.”

Alice chuckled and walked off, leaving the couple is.

Meanwhile, Marmalade and Emmanuel finally arrived at the base. The members all loved Marmalade and respected her.

“My crew seems to like you.” Emmanuel noticed.

“They're really nice.” Marmalade held his hand, walking into his office.

Emmanuel watched from his chair as Marmalade gazed out the window with amazement.

“It's beautiful.” Marmalade gasped in awe.

“I know, you are beautiful.” Emmanuel grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his lap, “gods, just tasting you again is enough to get me off.”

Marmalade chuckled, blushing when she felt what he meant. “I’ve only been gone for 4 months, did you really miss me that much?”

“Yes~” Emmanuel purred, his hands running under her shirt, “tonight, I’m gonna soak you all in, every curve, every scar, every dimple, I’m gonna remember it all...just in case you leave all of a sudden.”

Marmalade smiled and turned around, wrapping her legs around his waist, “well that won't be a problem if I live here.”

“Live here? Wait...seriously?! You’re moving here! Marmalade that’s amazing!” Emmanuel cheered.

Marmalade kissed his lips, “I wanna always wake up next to you, Manny, I never want to do long-distance ever again.”

Emmanuel sighed, “neither do I! I hate seeing your beautiful body only through my phone screen, I want to touch you IRL, baby…”

“I know, and you will, as soon as I move in we can touch each other all night long,” Marmalade leaned in, “but why wait till then?”

Marmalade unbuttoned Emmanuel’s shirt, running her fingers down his chest, grinding her waist against his, “for four months, all I thought about was your hands on me.”

Emmanuel kissed along her neck, hungrily taking in her smell and taste, “oh gods, Marmalade. How could I forget you taste so good~”

He ripped the buttons off her shirt, making her gasp, “Manny~!”

Emmanuel growled, “gods your hot when you say my name.”

An interrupting knock makes Emmanuel shoot the door. “Manny!” Marmalade squeaked.

“Go away or the next one hits your head!!” Emmanuel warned, loading the gun.

“Manny! You can't shoot your members!” Marmalade hit his chest playfully, “come on in darling.”

The girl timidly opened the door, “u-uh...miss Mar-Marm-Marmalade...Mister Emma-Emmanuel! Yo-Your sis-sister is ba-back!”

“That’s nice, now leave before I shoot you!” Emmanuel threatened. Marmalade sighed, walking towards the timid girl.

“Thank you,” Marmalade looked at the girl in question, “Summer, right?”

Summer nodded. Marmalade kissed her forehead, “you’re doing good.”

“You’re too nice Miss Marmalade.” Summer blushed slightly, Marmalade smiled and walked out of the office. “Miss Marmalade is perfect for you sir,” she muttered, cleaning the desk.

“What makes you say that?” Emmanuel looked at her suspiciously.

“She balances you out,” she replied.

“Huh?” Emmanuel raised his eyebrow.

“Her sweet personality balances out your tough one.” she smiled, walking out, “I see you and her being together for a long time.”

Emmanuel and the girl walked downstairs to see the crew eating cake with Marmalade and Dizzy. “I’m so glad you found someone you love, Dizzy! Shawn really likes spoiling you, he got you all of these beautiful clothes, took you to lunch, he even kissed you!”

“Excuse me?! He kissed you?!” Emmanuel marched down the stairs.

Dizzy rolled her eyes, “big brother, not again!”

“Yes again, Dizzy, I know those types of guys. Shawn is just trying to butter you up and then dump you,” Emmanuel turned her chair to face him, “don't trust him, Little Sis.”

“But he said-”

“It doesn't matter what he said, honey,” Emmanuel sighed, “trust me, Shawn is just playing you, but I have 3 other guys set up for you.”

“But I don't want other guys,” Dizzy stood up proudly, “I want Shawn! He made me feel happier than I’ve ever been today!”

Emmanuel shook her head, sitting next to Marmalade, eating a piece of cake “Dizzy, please, just be safe, alright?”

“I will, big brother, all we did was kiss today,” Dizzy blushed hard, it was more like making out in the back of the movie theater, he wanted to go further but she told him only over the shirt. Dizzy was surprised when she actually respected her wishes.

Though she was kinda concerned when she kept hearing him mumble something she thought was the word “mine”

She shook her off the thought, getting the sudden urge to sleep. She yawned, slumping in her chair, “big brother...are you sleepy?”

“Yeah…” Emmanuel rested his head on Marmalade’s shoulder, “good night…”

Marmalade was already sound asleep, as well as the rest of the crew. The sunroof window opened up, letting the lady dressed in all black drop in gracefully like a cat.

She walked up to Marmalade, locking her in a pink bubble, “awe, you just got to New York too, I hope this doesn't ruin your experience.”

She smirked, “now, let the real fun begin.”