lets commit arson baby, let's add fire to the flame

TW: DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE, BLOOD, GORE.
VIEWERS' DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

THE SELECTION OF SUSPENSEFUL SOUNDTRACK begins to play as the black and white film becomes increasingly scarier as the night becomes darker. Some soldiers can be seen hiding from the bullets shot in their direction, the safety of the night shadowing their figures.

"JJ?" Pope whispers, leaning over to gain the couple's attention. JJ is seated nicely in the lawn chair Martha carried, and his girl is leaning back on his legs from the ground.

"What?" JJ whispers back, his voice short as he tries not to disturb Marty, or Kie, or anyone from watching the movie.

"Gotta take a piss," Pope says as if he was a four-year-old child talking to his father.

"Hold it," JJ says, a little louder to emphasize his words. His deep voice triggers something dirty in Marty's brain, her memory retracing that wonderful night and all its glory. She giggles softly, shaking her head upon herself, and tries to pay attention to the movie. But it's nearly impossible, especially with the comedic interaction happening just behind her ears.

"I can't hold it. I drank too much soda," Pope pleads, his legs bouncing up and down as if he was a dog swaying his tail.

"It's too exposed. They'll totally see us," JJ says, trying to convince Pope that he should train his bladder.

"I gotta go," Pope says, turning back around to see that the so-called Deathsquad is distracted by the movie. "They're blocking the bathrooms."

"Hey," Marty joins, turning away from the movie to give the boys some insight. "You are surrounded by trees, go tinkle in the forest." She says, waving her fingers in a "good-bye" motion.

"Thanks, babe," JJ grins, leaning down and kissing her on the lips. He pulls away, tapping on Pope's shoulder, telling him to follow.

"Hey, where y'all going?" Kiara asks, trying not to cause a scene.

"We gotta wring it out," JJ simply states, giving an awkward thumbs up and scattering out of there as quietly as they can.

"You gonna hold it for each other?" Kiara asks, confused about why they're going to the bathroom together.

Marty giggles at her remark, "it's not that weird, Kie. Us girls go to the bathroom all the time, why can't they?"

"I don't know, it's just that Pope's kinda a germaphobe," she whispers back. The girls' heads turning back towards the big screen.

➵ ➵ ➵

THE BOYS SIGH AS they 'tinkle in the forest' as Martha would put it.

"This feels better than a blowjob," Pope suddenly gushes, his mind relaxing finally as the strawberry-flavored gummies are finally kicking in.

"Like you know how that feels," JJ mentions, side-eying his friend.

"This feels better than what I imagine a blowjob would feel like," Pope corrects himself, feeling honest at the moment.

JJ zips up and turns around, waiting for Pope to finish. Which is seeming to take a while.

"You bring the peacemaker?" Pope questions, still peeing.

"Ah, shit, well I kinda forgot it now that you mention it," JJ says, biting his lip.

"You forgot it? Dude, you had one job. That's all I asked you to do, man." Pope whispers, finishing his pee.

"I'm sorry, alright? Just come on!" JJ whispers back. The pair turns around, only to be greeted by three pairs of dangerously glowing eyes.

"Sup, pogues?" Rafe whistles in astonishment, his body emerging out of the darkness.

"What's up, Rafe?" JJ says, gritting through his teeth. He backs up, Pope running away to try to escape from the other side but he's met with Kelce and Topper.

"How you guys doin' tonight?" Rafe asks again, tilting the scales of friendly fire with his quick and long strides.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" JJ jokes, his voice, and his mind having two different agendas. Seething anger building inside his bones, his fists clenching in anticipation. Rafe's too much of a narcissist to not say anything about Marty, and JJ's gotta prepare for the worst.

"I wanna talk," Rafe shrugs, his eyes darting to the interaction behind them—

"Hey, hey," Topper says, wiping some excess alcohol off the corners of his mouth, his smug smile growing as Pope cowardly backs away from them.

"Just chill out, Topper," Pope says, putting his hands up in a defensive position.

"Yeah, that was some nice work you did on my boat," Topper says, pointing over-yonder to the water.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Pope denies, backing away from the growing tension.

"Sure, of course, you don't," Topper scoffs, shaking his head at the bullshit answer. Pope's gotta work on his lying skills.

—Not so burly without a gun now, are you?" Rafe grills into JJ as his friends begin to surround the pair of pogues.

"Take one more step," JJ warns, his chest puffing out as he sizes up with Rafe in front of him. "I'll rip that prepubescent face off."

"Hey, Pope, do you feel good about yourself, stealing shit?" Topper taunts, stepping in closer and closer as Kelce follows him. "Is your mom proud of you? Is your dad proud"—

All of a sudden Pope headbutts Topper, the sound of his nose crunching as it breaks. The rare outburst of emotion from the usually defenseless and quiet kid startles everyone involved, except for JJ —who cheers him on, "Atta boy! That's what I'm talking about!"

Pope stumbles back, holding his aching forehead. He still cannot believe he just did that. JJ congratulates him for a moment, patting him on the shoulder to show how proud he is. "That was good, just you gotta do it with your fist. Like this, okay?"

JJ turns around eyeing the first person he would like to torment with every inch of his soul: Rafe Cameron.

"You're dead," he nods to him, swinging his clenched fist into Rafe's cheek.

"Whoo!" Rafe yells, his adrenaline rushing throughout every inch of his veins. He cringes at the soreness in his face, turning his head quickly to crack the bones in his neck, and begins to taunt JJ to hit him again. "Come on, your bitch can punch harder than that."

JJ, seething through his teeth, grabs him by the collar of his shirt and smashes his fist again. He reels back his hand just to go back in, slamming his metal rings into Rafe's face. Harder. Tearing the broken skin around his knucklebones.

Suddenly, JJ is dragged away from Rafe, Kelce's arms wrapping around his torso and underneath his arms. He tries to writhe away but it's no use, Kelce's got him trapped. "Come on. Let's go, Pogue."

"Block him. Hold him still," Rafe commands, jabbing his fist into the exposed area of his ribcage and gut. He does it again, harder, knocking the wind out of JJ. He groans into the air as Rafe pants above him.

"I hope I didn't loosen up Martha too much for you," Rafe remarks, reaching out and yanking JJ's head back by his hair. His lips tugging in a crooked smile, "I mean, I can still take her back for anotha' round. You probably couldn't even make her cum"—

JJ spits in his face. Rafe reacts in disgust, backing away and blinding him momentarily. JJ twists his hips to one side and strikes backward into Kelce's groin, weakening his hold. JJ slips out of his grasp and smacks him right in the nose with the heel of his palm. He knees him in the groin again, causing Kelce to drop to the ground in heavy pants. "Stay down Kelce! This isn't your fight."

JJ quickly turns back, slamming his metalloid knuckles in Rafe's cheekbone. Dizziness ransacking Rafe's mind, he jeers in anger, shaking his head and returning another hit.

Topper stumbles forward, bending over and holding his nose as it begins to bleed into his hand. He leans back up, his eyes darting to his bloody hand and back to a fearful but brave Pope.

"Come on, Pogue!" He yells, taunting Pope to hit him again, which he does. Pope hurls an upper jab at him, slamming into Topper's chin.

Topper stumbles back, rallying himself up for a returning punch. He swings. Pope dodges easily, swiftly ducking and tackling him to the ground. Topper catches his footing, standing up swiftly and pounding his fist into Pope's already bruised back. Over and over again. Pope's knees start to buckle.

"Yeah! Kick his ass, Top!" Rafe laughs, encouraging his friend to beat the living shit outta the poor kid. He swings his hand, landing a hard blow to JJ's left cheek, tearing his upper lip. The impact sends JJ to the ground, giving Rafe the perfect opportunity to kick him in the ribs.

"JJ!" Marty yells as she and Kiara join in on the fight. The boys were gone for such a long time, they knew something was wrong.

"Let go of him, Topper!" Kiara yells, hitting him in the stomach with JJ's bag in her hand. "You, fascist asshole!" She slams the bag again, knocking the wind out of Topper but not enough to loosen his stronghold on Pope.

She swings again. Topper doges it, grabbing the bag instead. He laughs as he throws it to the ground. "Hey, listen, Pope. All you gotta do..." he begins, grabbing a hold of Pope's flailing arms and pinning them behind his back... "is accept personal responsibility."

"Topper, stop!" Kiara pleads, grabbing the kook's arms to try to pry him off but it's no use. SO she hops on his back. "Stop it!" She hits his back, neck, face, anything where she knows it will hurt.

"Screw you, Kook!" Pope argues back, twisting and turning his body to break free.

Martha runs over to where Rafe is, bravely pushing him away from her wounded boyfriend. "Get off of him dickhead!" She claws at his face, her nails scratching in bloody red lines.

JJ winces as he squints up in the darkness, his body aching and telling him to stop but he has to protect her. He leans over, spitting out some blood, and pushes himself off the ground just in time to push Martha out of the way of Rafe's returning punch. He grabs his fist, twisting the arm behind his back and pushing him, inadvertently, towards Kiara.

Marty reaches out to caress JJ, her eyes watering as her touch makes him wince. "I'm fine baby, really, I"—

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Kelce's arms wrapping around his neck like a tornado seizing control over a small farm. Holding him in a chokehold. JJ claws at Kelce's arms, his fingers slipping as they fall off the sweaty skin.

"Kelce?! What the fuck! Let go!" Marty yells at the boy. She tries to tear him off but she's merely pushed away.

Rafe races over. He grabs Kie off Topper's back, hoisting her into the air.

"Ergh! Let go of me, Rafe!" She yells, her hands flying to where he is gripping her, pulling his dirty clasp off one by one.

"Stay out of this, Kiara!" Rafe yells, throwing her into the ground. He makes his way back over to where the others were, sending a harsh upper jab into JJ's rib cage for the billionth time. JJ urges forward, gasping for air. He blinks as he helplessly watches Rafe stride over to where Martha is.

"McFly! Watch out!" JJ yells before his voice chokes out. Kelce increased the pressure on his throat. His eyelids begin to close out of survival instinct. He tries to keep them open but Kelce is making him fall into an unconscious state. He needs to make sure she's safe. He needs to see her.

Martha watches as Rafe's dangerously looming figure walks towards her. His villainous eyes glinted a certain way from the reflection of the movie reel. Like a predator finally closing in on its prey. She scrambles to her feet, her knees and elbows bruising and scratched up from her fall. She backs away, slipping slightly on some wet marshland grass, but runs back out and into the safety of the crowd.

Kiara groans as her side ache in pain, her arm sending a hurting ping throughout her body. Pope shouts in concern.

Topper uses this distraction to hold Pope in a headlock. His forearm squeezing Pope's neck. "Come on, man. Just admit it!" The pressure clasped down on Pope's esophagus, his air pipes closing in on themselves. "Admit you did it, bitch!"

Pope struggles to say anything, his pleas becoming barely a whisper as he tries to stop Topper. Nothing is working. His arm drops. His eyes rolling into the back of his head. His vision becoming blurry; closing himself in semi-permanent darkness. "Ow!" His voice croaks, spit regurgitating in his mouth.

"Come on! Just spit it out!" Topper yells, his actions growing angrier and angrier. JJ and Pope groan in pain, that's all they could do. "You don't mess with me, Pogue! You hear me?! I'm gonna give you one chance."

Kiara crawls over to the bag. Her arm shakes as she searches through its content. Pulling out the gun, her face drops to disappointment. She dissociates for a second because this is the first time she's been lied to by her friends... including Martha.

Speaking of Martha's loyalty, she finally returned. She isn't the one who abandons her friends in a time of need. Yes, maybe she needed some time to recoup (considering she had to literally fight off her rapist). But, her friends are more important to her than reliving her trauma.

Marty squats down, her fingers dirty and red from someone else's blood (she's not entirely sure of whose) as she rummages through the bag and picks out JJ's lighter.

"Marty, what are you gonna"— Kiara puzzles the brunette, watching as the girl strides over to the screening tapestry and flicks the spark wheel.

"Hey, Rafe!" Marty calls out, startling the Deathsquad from behind. She smirks as she watches the flint wheel sparking in front of her. "Here's your sneak peek of Hell."

Flames burst out of the eyelet, the flammable sheet igniting in a roar of the fire. The guests of the park begin to scream and cry in fear, gasps and clamoring as the flame rises higher and higher. Families worrying about their children. Fans worrying about finishing the movie.

"Guys! Fire!" Rafe calls out, licking the blood dripping down his face. "Come on, let's go!"

"Kelce! Let go of JJ!" Kiara yells, her eyes bulging at what she sees in front of her: Marty hardly backing away from the flames, her eyes bloodshed but lustful. A future pyromaniac in the making.

Kelce and Topper pull away, releasing the boys. Pope drops to his knees, coughing and wheezing to get air. JJ trips over his feet but Marty's there to catch him in her arms.

"Let's get outta here," Rafe commands, walking over to a disassociating Topper Thornton and patting him on the back. "Holy shit, you almost killed him, man!" Laughing, he pulls his friends away. Unharmed and unscathed.

Kiara pulls up Pope from the ground. "You good?" She asks, her eyes searching his, "we're good. Come on."

"Are you okay?" JJ questions, wincing as he squints to look up at Martha above him. Holding his stomach, he leans on her shoulder to hold himself upright.

"J, you're the one who took a beating. I should be asking you that," she shakes her head at him. She wraps her right arm around his back, helping him follow Pope and Kiara. "But yes, I'm okay," she smiles up at him. He's so considerate.

"Good, good," JJ sighs, limping as he walks back towards the parking lot where Kiara's car is. "I was just scared that Rafe got to you."

"Well, he didn't, so don't worry. Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she reassures him, rubbing his back.

He smiles at her caring affection, before laughing to himself.

"What's so funny?" Marty quizzes, finally making it to the curlyhead's car.

"That was a hell of a line back there," he teases her.

"Oh, shaddup."