Trigger Warning/Content Warning:

•Brief Mentions Of Explosions
•Character Death

Grian glanced around as he and Jimmy continued walking onwards in search of Lizzie. "Do you think the others have found everyone else yet?" He asked quietly, and Jimmy shrugged.

"Nobody's said anything yet." Jimmy said with a somewhat anxious expression, glancing at his phone again before looking around. "Maybe she's at the bakery?"

"Well, it's only down the road from here, so I guess it's a possibility." Grian said thoughtfully, and Jimmy rushed ahead without another word, disappearing around a corner. Oh come on- The dirty blonde ran after him quickly, turning the corner just in time to see the dark blonde nearly run into Lizzie, who was about to open the door to the bakery.

"Oh thank- Lizzie!" Grian called as he caught up to them. "We need you to head back to headquarters right now. Ren's going on like- a rampage, and we need everyone to help stop him." He shot Jimmy an odd look as the dark blonde stared down at his phone with a mortified expression. Is he okay?

"Well, I just need to get something, and then I'll-" Lizzie broke off as Jimmy grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the door. "What are you-"

Jimmy gestured silently to a series of messages on his phone. "It might not be safe." Grian squinted at the messages.

-

BDubs-

GUYS DO NOT GO IN ANY BUILDINGS

BDubs-

PEARL'S WORK LITERALLY GOT BLOWN UP

Etho-

We managed to get Pearl and BigB out, and they're fine, just a little dazed, but I wouldn't risk it

Etho-

I wouldn't put it past Ren to track down every hero's identity, and where they work, or where they enjoy spending time, etc.

Etho-

Plus they have Martyn, so he can just listen to us and figure out where we're going

-

Lizzie frowned. "I highly doubt Ren knows where my bakery is, look-" She opened the door with a skeptical expression, and Grian froze slightly as he heard a quiet ticking sound. He pulled the other two out of the way of the door as the shop quite literally blew up.

Lizzie stared, and although her mouth was moving, no words were coming out. She finally let out a startled shriek. "WHAT?!"

Grian glanced at his own phone as Jimmy let out a muttered, "I told you so."

-

Timmy-

Yyyyeah he definitely knows, Lizzie's bakery just blew up

Timmy-

Thankfully Grian has a singular brain cell so he moved us out of the way when he (presumably) heard something

FlowerLover-

...yeah the arcade is gone. Does anyone have healing powers? Or anything remotely close to them? Pretty sure Joel's having a panic attack right now, but that's unrelated

Scar :D-

Why? Is everyone okay? I haven't chosen my spell for the week, I'll go choose a healing spell real quick-

MumboJumbo-

Tango got caught in the explosion and he's not doing too well

Scar :D-

HWAT

Scar :D-

I'LL BE THERE IN FIVE

-

Grian looked back up at Lizzie, who was reading the messages over his shoulder with a horrified expression. "I- we need to-"

"Find Ren and stop him before anyone else gets hurt, I agree." Jimmy interrupted quietly, cutting off Lizzie's protests. "Scar has this covered."

——

They discovered upon returning to the heroes' headquarters that Scar indeed did not have this covered.

Grian skidded to a halt as his gaze landed on Joel, who was sat against a wall with his head buried in his hands. He glanced around the room- BDubs was talking quietly to Etho, Pearl was leaning against BigB, and Scar was sat next to Tango (who was lying unmoving on the ground), desperately trying to activate his healing powers. Mumbo was watching with a concerned expression, muttering something under his breath.

Lizzie immediately pushed past him to sit next to Joel and pull him into a hug, and Jimmy rushed over to Scott with about a million whispered questions.

Grian didn't pay any attention until he heard Scar's anguished shriek. "No! Let me- it's not working, but if I can-" He glanced over to see Mumbo quietly move Scar away from Tango, and he could also see Joel look up suddenly.

Joel shot a desperate glance in Scott's direction, letting out a sound that was a mix between a sob and a wail as the man with brightly coloured man shook his head sadly.

No no no- what? That- is he- Looking from the hero's unmoving body on the floor, his face stained with ash and blood, to Scar's tear-stained face, Grian quickly came to a conclusion.

Tango was dead.

——

Grian blinked as Joel got to his feet. The hero had been curled up on the floor crying for about an hour and a half now. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly, and Lizzie shot him a concerned glance, getting to her feet as well. Grian and Lizzie were the only ones that had stayed- everyone else had disappeared into other rooms.

Joel paused, reaching up and wiping his eyes, and when he spoke, his voice was slightly hoarse. "No. Not at all." He let out a hollow laugh, although there was no joy behind the sound. "Ren's going to pay for this, I'll tell you that much." The brunette picked up his sword, quietly staring at his own reflection for a second before speaking again in a much lower tone of voice.

"The Red King dies tonight."

Okayyyy I didn't plan for Tango to die it kind of just h a p p e n e d but there's still another person who's gonna die but-

Anyway Third Life line at the end

Ha

Ha.

This book still has plenty more angst to throw at you, so don't think this is the end of it ;) hope you enjoyedddd

Also yes Ren used Martyn to spy on everyone so they could figure out like- their identities and where they were going. Blame Ren and Martyn for Joel's sadness and Tango's death, not me.

Also yeah Joel is really sad because he and Tango are like- a duo in this (it's mentioned at the start of Book 1 but never really brought up again, so I thought I'd clarify :>)