"Vic, take Stanley and wait for me outside," Dusk ordered, not taking her gaze off the enemy. "No, I'm helping you beat this bitch up!" Victoria protested. Dahlia lowly chuckled, popping her knuckles as her eyes turned ice blue. "Let's end this, shall we?"

Dusk's eyes turned blood red, and the corners of her eyes ignited into flames while Victoria pulled out her black bo staff, twirling it in her hands for a brief second. The three of them rushed towards one another, and Dahlia raised her fists, attempting to punch the raven, but she was too quick as Dusk grabbed her arm, twisting it enough for it to hurt but not enough to break it. It seemed like she and Victoria were winning so far. But suddenly, Dahlia wrapped her hand around the raven's forearm, a handprint of ice burning at her skin.

Victoria was quick to shove and kick at Dahlia. A roundhouse kick to the stomach was the one that caused her grip to loosen, making her slide across the floor. "You alright?" Victoria asked Dusk, not taking her gaze off the enemy. "I'm fine. Now I'm really pissed!" Dusk growled. She ran towards the Icy Sparrow as she regained her stance. Before Dahlia could react, Dusk tackled her like an NFL football player, pushing her up against the makeup shelf, some of the products falling next to them.

 Though they hadn't broken their focus, an audience had gathered in one of the other aisles, watching as the women brawled. Some speculated an angry woman was attacking her boyfriend's mistress or that they were merely doing this attention by playing around. Dahlia attempted free herself, but the burning anger inside of Dusk quickly melted the ice that touched her skin. 

At that moment, Dusk had only one goal, to take her down once and for all. A sinister smirk formed on the Sparrow's face, making the raven only more irritated. "What are you smirking about?" she growled, the tone of her voice low enough to become demonic. Before she knew it, Dusk flew back, crashing into a few of the soda-containing refrigerators.

The blow was enough to make her vision blurry, she could hardly make out anything in front of her. A loud ringing noise filled her ear, along with the pain of sharp cuts and bleeding from the shattered glass. Dahlia slowly approached her, her hands turning an icy blue. If she hadn't succeeded in freezing her back at the Academy, she was certain that this time she would. "Say goodnight, Dragon Lady." As she thrust her hands out, the blonde felt a sharp yank at the back of her head. "Nobody hurts my friend, ice shit!" Victoria growled before throwing her onto the ground, smashing her face into the dirty floor.

The redhead threw the Sparrow onto her back, unleashing a combined flurry of slaps and punches to her face, giving Dusk the time to regain her stamina. Though she had been severely injured, she remained undefeated. She spat out some blood and broken glass, feeling her inner demon return to her as she brushed herself off. "Are you done, Icy?" she crossed her arms in front of her. Dahlia arched her back to get a better look, eyes squinting as she snarled, "NEVER!"

She pried herself from Victoria's grasp, ready to end the girl once and for all. In the presence of all who continued to watch, the battle of ice and fire had reached its climax. Dahlia thrust out her hands, throwing everything she had in Dusk's direction. At the same time, Dusk unleashed her fire, igniting the phoenix within her.

It was a sight to behold, two supernatural's with opposing powers, wanting to make the other suffer for reasons unknown to most, including Victoria.  "Holy shit, this is awesome!" Stanley chuckled beside her, having grabbed a Slim Jim and slushie during the scuffle. Dahlia was quickly beginning to lose her strength, feeling the power of fire eat away every icicle, shrapnel, and snowflake inside her. She was on the verge of losing.

Dusk couldn't relish in her victory for long. Using the last bit of strength and energy she had, the Icy Sparrow fought back. And before she knew it, Dahlia's ice was eating at the fire. "Not... yet..." Dusk strained. Just then, the fire and ice were level with one another. They tried to fight harder, but it eventually died out, making the two enemies fall to the ground.

"Dusk!" Victoria rushed to her friend's aid, helping her stand up, though her legs were very wobbly and unstable. "You guys okay?" The raven groaned, clutching her bleeding arm. "I should be asking you that, not the other way around," Victoria replied. "I'm fine... Let's just get out of here," As they made their way to the exit, Victoria glared at Dahlia as a few bystanders helped her up. Though the battle between ice and fire had ended that day, Victoria officially declared war on her.

~~~~~~~

"Reports of missing persons keep climbing with no sign of slowing down. There has yet to be a body found, and there are still no suspects at this time. As we reported earlier, police have been scrambling to make se--" Reginald clicked off the news channel, flipping through to find anything else to watch, anything that would feel somewhat nostalgic. Klaus sat next to him, having finally taken off the smelly latex dive suit, wrapped in one of Reginald's old bathrobes as he stared blankly at the screen.

As a black and white film appeared, showing the actors randomly running and jumping all over the place, Klaus smiled as he remembered the film from his childhood. "Never turn your back, my boy. Especially not to your children. You try your best, give them your all, but it's too much. Then it's pills in the porridge and something extra in the tea. Next thing you know, you've signed your life away. All your dreams have been squashed and the worst of it? No one comes to visit anymore," the old man vented.

He then looked over to the junkie, claiming that he probably wouldn't understand. But Klaus understood every word, and although it was shocking to hear his dad open up for the first time, Number Four felt his dad deserved to know he wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Oh Reggie, you got no idea," Klaus shook his head. "Have you ever been to a Baskin-Robbins?"

Reginald slightly shifted in his seat. "Can't say I have," He responded. "They're like... half a Dunkin Donuts, and they're open all night, and it's 3:00 am, and nobody's switching out those giant barrels of fudge ripple. That's me. I feel like scoop after scoop's been taken out of me. My brother... my male lover... a whole world... and now, my mom. There's only one person in my life that's left," Klaus explained, exhaling as the thought of Dusk briefly crossed his mind.

"Girlfriend?" Reginald inquired. Klaus nodded as he glanced down at the ground beneath him. "Yeah. She's my light at the end of the tunnel, my moonlit rose... my phoenix," The room was filled with silence for a moment or two before Klaus started talking again, wishing he could find out who was responsible for his mother's death. "Do you want some ice cream? Would that shut you up?" Reginald piped up.

The thought of the sweet treat made Klaus's eyes like up like a little boy on Christmas. "Yeah, yeah I do," He chuckled. With a tight-lipped smile, Reginald stood up from his seat, heading to the cupboard to grab two ice cream bowls. But just as he pulled them out, one of them slipped from his hands, shattering into pieces. "Damn pills," the old man groaned. "Here, I can help you with that," Klaus offered, getting on his knees and picking up the broken pieces.

"With what, the ice cream?" Reginald raised an eyebrow. "No, the pills. If you don't want to take them-" Before Klaus could finish his sentence, Reginald shook his head no, claiming that he had to take them every day and that it was against the rules not to. "All you have to do is pop to the side such as this," the junkie opened his mouth, gesturing to the outside of his teeth. "Old necessary rehab trick,"

Reginald looked at Klaus with astonishment, he never thought he'd be getting along with Klaus, especially after the rather unsettling meeting back in 1963. "I didn't care for you when last we met, but I must admit you're growing on me," he admitted. Reginald stood up to throw away the pieces, while Klaus sat back on the couch. The old man soon returned with two bowls full of ice cream and they went back to watching old movies. Later on in the afternoon, Klaus heard the sounds of snoring, looking over to his father fell asleep.

"Oblivion..." Reginald murmured, the remote he was barely gripping falling to the floor. The word alone made the junkie's eyes widen and wonder why his father was dreaming about that. He set down the now empty ice cream bowl slowly inching towards Reginald's sleeping figure. "See? You're not so terrible when you're asleep," he whispered. Far off in the distance, the sound of a woman singing filled the air, making Klaus's ears perk up. He couldn't tell if the woman was coming towards the office or was coming from somewhere else in the Academy.

He carefully crept down the hallway, checking every corner to make sure none of the Sparrows were there to catch him. The sounds of singing led to the basement, growing louder and louder the more Klaus carried on. "Oh, wow!" Klaus gasped, noticing a bright orange ball floating above the ground. It was almost mesmerizing, floating above the ground. The shadow of Grace walked towards the orange ball, continuing to sing the angelic chant, getting on her knees and praying to it.

What the hell is going on with her? Klaus wondered. As the caretaker began speaking in tongues, Klaus was thoroughly freaked out and quietly slipped away, feeling like he walked in on something he shouldn't have seen.