"Careful... Careful..."
The siblings were in Amelia's garden, building a house of cards. Not just any house of cards- an exact replica of their home. They've been at it for hours and were putting on the finishing touches.
"Easy, we're almost done," Lily whispered.
"Why did we decide to do this outside? The wind could easily ruin this for us," Porter pointed out as he stood on the ladder, holding a stack of cards.
"But it hasn't at this point, has it?" Zaire responded, on top of the ladder, stacking the cards to form a chimney.
"Of course the wind wouldn't mess with you, Mr. I-Control-The-Wind!" Lily joked.
"Hey! I don't control the wind, okay? I can fly and launch blades of compressed wind from my arms... and draw a katana of compressed wind from my pocket, but that's it!" he replied.
"Whatever the case, let's hurry up and get this finished before something dumb happens and these cards collapse," Bro recommended, holding a camera, Amelia standing beside him.
"I think that should do it," Zaire announced, stacking the last card and hopping off the ladder. "Now take the picture before Porter knocks over the house."
Bro snapped the picture while the three posed in front of the house of cards, and for once, with Bro using the camera, the photo actually came out decent.
"Now that that's done," Zaire said, "what are we doing next?"
He turned his head and met face-to-face with a girl with crazed pink eyes and white hair.
"Hi there!" she shouted, startling him and causing him to fall back into the house of cards.
"Before Porter knocks over the house, huh?" Lily repeated, smirking.
"Oh, shut up, Lily!" Zaire replied, quickly getting up. "You'd react the same if someone got in your face without your knowledge!"
He turned to look at the girl and realized something about her. "Hey, wait a minute! You're the weird neighbor from across the street!" he exclaimed.
"Across the street? Not anymore! I moved houses, so I'm on the far side of the subdivision now! Bianca's the name!" she replied, unusually giddy about trespassing. "And I have to say, Zaire, you look even more interesting up close!"
Everyone froze. Nobody had given out their names yet, although she'd probably know Porter's name at this point.
"What's wrong? Nervous meeting your biggest fan?" Bianca asked.
"We have fans?" Bro joked, seemingly confused.
"You have a fan, and that's me!" she replied.
"That's... good to know?" Amelia added, unsure of herself.
"Don't worry, Amelia! One day, Seal Island and beyond will recognize what you do and you'll have many more fans, but know that no matter what, I'll always be the biggest one!" Bianca added.
Everyone gave each other nervous looks when she spoke again. "C'mon, shake my hand!"
"Porter, you shake her hand," Zaire ordered.
"Why me?!" Porter whined. "I'm scared of her!"
Despite his nervousness, he walked up to her and was about to shake her hand when two large hands from her hair shook his instead. He let out a scream and pulled away, hiding behind Zaire.
"What? It's just my friends, Lefty and Righty! Looks like they beat me to the punch!" Bianca giggled.
"You're friends with your hair..?" Bro asked.
"Why not? I'm stuck with them, and they're stuck with me. It was strange at first, but we make it work," she reasoned.
"So, Bianca... Aside from knowing our names, what else do you know about us?" Lily asked, hesitant.
Bianca's smile grew unusually wide. "Oh, where do I begin? I know that you guys saved another island, I know that Bro hates marshmallows, and I know that Porter sucks his thumb while he sleeps sometimes," she replied, cackling. "He's so cute when he sleeps!"
Everyone looked at Porter, slightly amused.
"I-Is this embarrass Porter time?" he asked, blushing furiously. "I can't be the only one who does this!"
"Well, actually, Bro also sucks his thumb as well," Bianca added.
"Hey, we're talking about Porter, alright?" Bro protested with a blush on his face.
"Oh no, I'm not going to be the only one who gets something embarrassing revealed about them! What other things are you hiding?" Porter complained.
The two brothers argued about who should take the spotlight of embarrassment when Bianca got between them and spoke up again.
"Okay, enough! I can't stand to see my heroes fight amongst each other! How about we conversate some more at my house?" she offered. "I've got gifts too!"
Before either of the boys could answer, Lily chimed in and replied, "Free gifts? Count us in!"
"Haha, awesome! I'll see you soon, then!" Bianca cackled before using Lefty and Righty to vault over the hedge.
"Great job, Lily. I'm pretty sure someone is setting up our missing person posters as we speak," Bro joked.
"Relax, big brother. We're just going to be there for a little bit. What's the worst that could happen?" Lily reasoned.
"If it was a normal neighbor, probably nothing," Zaire replied. "But we're talking about this one- the one who goes fishing for birds with corn and a fishing rod! She makes me uncomfortable, and I know I'm not the only one who feels like that when she's near!"
"When who's near?" a female voice asked, causing him to scream and jump into Amelia's arms. Turns out, it was just Lini.
"Oh... it's just you. I thought that neighbor came back and was going to pounce on me when she realized I was talking about her," he sighed.
"Who, exactly? Can you bring me up to speed?" Lini requested.
"We met another neighbor named Bianca," Lily explained.
"She says she's our biggest fan, whatever that means," Porter added.
"And she's creepy! She has these crazy pink eyes and giant hands in her hair!" Zaire also added.
Lini pondered the details until a realization hit her.
"Are you talking about that girl who lived across the street from us, then moved away?" she asked.
"If by 'away' you mean 'to the far side of the subdivision', then yes, she moved away," Bro answered.
"We'll be stopping by her house after we clean up these cards and get them back in the house," Amelia said.
"Please, don't let me go there!" Zaire begged, groveling at Lini's feet. "I'd rather stay here or go to your place... so I can see Mary! Oh, Mary..." he sighed.
He looked over at his slightly amused siblings, causing him to blush at the words he spoke.
"Actually, I'm just going to pretend I didn't say that and clean up the cards," he muttered, getting up and shuffling back to the other four. As he walked, the wind easily blew the cards back into the house, saving everyone the work.
"There's the wind that should've destroyed the house of cards," Bro joked.
"You can't avoid it, Zaire. You're coming with us!" Lily announced.
"If it's not too much trouble, I can accompany you," Lini offered.
"Please!" Zaire exclaimed. "For all I know, she might try to turn me into a rug!"
"Isn't that why you have us?" Bro asked.
"She might try to turn you guys into mannequins!" Zaire retorted.
"Fair enough," he stated with a shrug.
The six journeyed to Bianca's house, which, ironically, looked like nobody was living there. For a house, it looked intimidating- tall and purple, broken windows, and a spiked fence surrounding it. It looked like the home of a mad scientist.
"Are you sure this is the right house?" Lini asked.
"This is the far side, and this is the only house here," Bro answered.
"I didn't even know the subdivision stretched out this far!" Amelia added.
"Well, let's get this over with," Zaire sighed.
They stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell, though Bianca opened the door before it could finish ringing. She was very excited to see the siblings, but her face dropped when she spotted Lini. Instead of saying anything, she hissed like a cat and slammed the door.
"Nice talking to you too, Bianca," Bro stated.
"So... no free gifts?" Lily asked.
"Lini, have you ran into Bianca before she moved here?" Porter asked.
"I've seen her doing who-knows-what around the neighborhood a few times," Lini admitted. "I've never crossed paths or met face-to-face with her, though."
"Well, I think you just saved us!" Zaire chuckled. "Come on, let's go home!"
"Hang on. There's something I want to try," Bro said. "Lini, would you mind moving back to where the fence is?"
With a nod, Lini walked back to the path. When she was far enough, they rang the doorbell again, and Bianca opened the door before it could finish ringing, albeit slightly slower.
"Oh, there you are! So glad you could make it!" she squealed. "Come in, come in! I've got gifts to give you!"
One by one, the siblings entered her house. "Great job, Bro! Now you've doomed all of us!" Zaire hissed under his breath.
"Would you calm down? If she tries to do something, we'll just excuse ourselves and escape through a window. Let's be cordial here," Bro replied before walking inside.
"Funny how you, of all people, want to be cordial here," Zaire muttered. He looked over at the fence where Lini was, looking back at him. He was about to walk back to her when he felt something hairy grab his tail.
"Hurry, Zaire! Everyone else is waiting for you!" Bianca exclaimed, using Righty to pull him into the house by his tail before slamming the door. The inside was an absolute mess. Papers were strewn across the floor, the paint on the walls was peeling, and some of the furniture and furnishings were ripped.
The next few minutes consisted of the siblings sitting in the living room couch and being stared at by Bianca, whose breathing could be heard by everyone.
"Uh, n-nice house you got," Amelia said, looking over at a broken window. "It's cozy, and you don't need to pay for air conditioning!"
"Why'd you decide to move to this house?" Lily asked.
"I didn't decide," Bianca explained. "Apparently, there were reports of me trespassing on other people's property! So it was either move here or move away!"
Bro and Porter looked at each other before replying, "You don't say."
"Well, you know the rule of the subdivision," Amelia said. "If a house is abandoned and you fix it up..."
"You're allowed to live there free of charge," Bianca responded, joining Amelia in the recital of the rule. "I'm just fortunate that nobody lived here, otherwise I wouldn't be able to see my heroes!"
"Yeah, real unfortunate," Zaire muttered, quickly getting up from the couch. "Well, Bianca, it's been... fun, but I'd like to head back to the safety of our house."
"But Zaire, we still haven't gotten our gifts yet!" Lily complained.
He shot a glare at her, something that went unnoticed by Bianca, as she was getting up herself. "Oh, the gifts! I almost forgot about those! Before I show you my gifts, how about a tour of my house?" she offered.
"I don't know... we don't want to impose anything on you, right, guys?" Bro responded hesitantly.
"Does it look like you're imposing on me?" Bianca asked, her eyes growing wide. Her arms were folded, and her hair hands were on her hips. "I'm more than happy to give you a house tour. Now, come on!"
The siblings looked at each other, then followed her, except for Zaire, who tried to head towards the exit and was dragged into the kitchen by Bro.
"So this is where I eat, and over there is where I heat up my food," Bianca said, pointing to her fridge.
"Uh, isn't that just your refrigerator?" Lily asked, seemingly unimpressed.
"Au contraire, my pocket-sized pal," Bianca corrected. "This is my reheaterator. I took a fridge from a junkyard and modified it. Now, it can heat up several batches of food at once. No need to microwave everything one at a time now!"
"So your fridge can keep food warm? Next, you're gonna tell us your oven can make food cold somehow," Porter said.
"How did you know I also turned an oven into a snoven? Have you been spying on me?" she asked, impressed but suspicious.
"...That must get really confusing," Amelia thought out loud. "I couldn't imagine buying a pint of ice cream and putting it in the wrong thing."
"Speaking of food, could I offer my heroes some refreshments? I make a mean cup of tea!" Bianca offered. She reached into her reheaterator and pulled out a teapot. She then grabbed a small teacup from a cabinet, poured some tea, and offered some to the siblings.
"Why, thank you," Lily said, accepting the tea. She was about to take a sip when...
"That hairpiece looks ugly!" A rather grouchy voice exclaimed. "Not as ugly as you, though!"
"Huh? Who said that?" she mumbled.
"Down here, ugly!"
She looked down at at cup of tea, which then spoke again. "Finally, you noticed me! Now is that mouth-breathing face of yours going to drink me or what?"
Instead of taking a sip, she screamed and dropped the cup.
"Not a fan of tea..." Bianca muttered, writing something in a notebook she pulled out of her pocket. "Noted. I've got something else I want to show you before I give you your presents. Follow me!"
As she skipped into the hallway, Bro and Zaire waited until the others followed her before arguing.
"I'm telling you, something is off about that girl! As far as we know, she could have literal skeletons in her closet!" Zaire whispered.
"Zaire, she may be creepy, but until we learn more about her, she's innocent until proven guilty," Bro replied.
"Yeah, except when we do prove her guilty, she'll have already turned us into dolls!" he hissed.
"Somehow, I believe that... and don't at the same time," Bro admitted, heading into the hallway where the others were.
"Fine! Don't go crying to me when it turns out she's locked you in her basement!" he grumbled, following Bro. The other siblings were standing in front of a small room with a desk filled with various chemicals.
"...And this is the room where I conduct my experiments!" Bianca continued, unaware that the two weren't nearby when she was talking. "It's also the room where I, though accidentally, created these two bad boys," she added, pointing to Lefty and Righty.
"How exactly did you create them?" Bro asked.
"Well," Bianca explained, "after seeing Lily split into parts of her personality, and learning that energy there can turn things sentient, I bought some energy from Glitchview from the internet, and then-"
"Say no more, we got it!" Porter interrupted.
"Wait, what about my personality?!" Lily yelled.
"Well, that energy you got hit with that one time- it split you into your personality traits," Bianca explained further. "And then the others had to put you back together, but not before hanging out with them first! Honestly, I would've just kept the personality traits because five of you means five times the fun!"
Lily slowly turned her head to glare at the other siblings, all of which were pretending to not hear a single word.
"And when were you going to tell me this?" she growled.
"Probably when we traveled to Glitchview ourselves?" Bro answered, unsure of himself.
Lily tried to leap at them but was held back by Lefty and Righty.
"Now hold on! Why don't we save that energy for people who actually deserve it?" Bianca suggested. "Besides, if you injure them, they'll have to go to the hospital, and you'll miss out on these gifts I have for you!"
"Gifts?" Lily gasped. "I forgot about those! Lead the way, Bi!"
With an uncanny grin, Bianca motioned for the two hair hands to carry her as she frantically ran up a set of stairs.
"Well, Zaire, aren't you afraid something's going to happen to Lily?" Bro asked.
"W-well, you know, she can probably defend herself, a-and we can go searching for a new little sister! Preferably one that doesn't roast me as much," Zaire coughed.
"...You know you don't mean that," Bro replied with a frown. "Besides, lives aren't replaceable, you know. What if Bianca is turning her into a mindless mutant as we speak?"
Just then, they heard a scream from upstairs. Zaire immediately burst into action, springing up the stairs and kicking down the door.
"Don't worry, Lily! She's not gonna lay a finger on you!" he shouted, flailing his arms.
"Uh, Zaire?" Lily responded, holding a plush doll that looked just like her.
They were in Bianca's bedroom, which unlike every other room in the house, was tidy and well-maintained. It looked like it didn't belong with the house.
"I'm fine!" she stated. "She was just giving me a gift!"
"And here's one for you!" Bianca added, shoving a doll in Zaire's arms. The doll, much like the one given to Lily, looked just like him.
"Thank you?" he said, inspecting the doll. "This thing won't attack me in my sleep, will it?"
"Of course not, silly!" she cackled. "I made them with love!"
By now, the other three had entered the room, almost impressed by how clean the room was.
"Now if you can keep this room tidy, why can't the rest of the house look like this?" Bro questioned, his tone judgmental.
"Maybe she will fix up the rest of the house... eventually," Amelia replied.
They also had dolls that looked like them shoved in their faces, courtesy of Lefty and Righty.
"Aww, I look so cute!" Amelia squealed, giving her doll a squeeze. Bro and Porter, on the other hand, were very suspicious.
"This doll won't beat me up in my sleep, will it?" Porter asked.
"She says it won't. She made it with love, whatever her definition of 'love' means," Zaire answered.
Bianca giggled. "That's right! Love, heart, and a bunch of felt!"
As they continued to talk, Lily noticed a picture on the ground. Upon looking at it, she realized it was of Bro browsing the aisles of SmallMart.
She then saw another picture, and this one was of Zaire and Porter eating grass with Mary. There was another picture underneath a door, and she tried to open it, something that Bianca caught onto immediately.
"Hey, wait-"
As the door opened, an avalanche of pictures flooded the room. Emerging from the sea of photos, the siblings took a look at the pictures presented.
"Hold on!" Bro exclaimed, holding a photo. "We were at the museum when this picture was taken!"
"Look at this one! This one was taken on the day we helped Amelia at SmallMart!" Zaire added, holding up a photo depicting the siblings walking into the store.
"Hey, look at this!" Lily shouted, showing a picture of them running to their house. Vines were everywhere, and the house looked like it was in ruins.
"I remember that!" Amelia exclaimed. "That was when I bought that fertilizer that one time!"
"Bianca, you've got some explaining to do!" Bro growled.
Bianca didn't frown. In fact, her grin grew wider and her eyes were even more crazed than before.
"I guess the cat's out of the bag now. It's true! I've been watching you for a while," she admitted, her body visibly shaking. "You guys are so, so interesting! I want to get to know all of you better, and after that, we're going to be the best of friends! Best friends forever!"
"Guys, I'm scared..." Porter whimpered, hiding behind his older brothers.
"Come on, we're getting out of here," Bro said, taking Porter's hand and walking back downstairs, the others following.
"Thanks for the gift!" Amelia chirped.
Bianca watched them walk down the street through her window, quietly giggling. Meanwhile, the five walked back to their house, constantly watching their back on their way.
"You see?! I told you that girl was crazy!" Zaire yelled.
"She didn't try to turn Lily into a mutant, or me into a mannequin, or you into a carpet," Bro said, "but I believe you now."
"She took so many pictures of us, and we didn't even know!" Lily groaned. "Ugh, I feel so uncomfortable right now..."
"Same here. The doll isn't helping either," Porter added, looking down at his doll. "Say, you don't think there's a camera hidden inside these dolls, do you?"
At that moment, everyone froze. Bianca was clearly watching them, but would she really do something like that?
"Amelia, you can fix these dolls, right?" Bro asked.
"Yeah, I can totally do that," she answered, not paying attention to the question. "What did you ask?"
"Great, you've got a project for the week," he stated, snatching the doll from her and tossing it into the air. "Care to do the honors, Zaire?"
"The honor is all mine!" he chuckled, drawing his katana before springing up into the air and slashing the doll. As the doll fell to the ground, Lily and Porter dug through its remains to find a camera or wires, but nothing turned up.
"Guess Amelia's doll doesn't have a camera," Porter said.
"Maybe it's in another one!" Zaire concluded, quickly throwing his doll up and trying again. His doll also didn't have a camera.
"Sheesh, that girl is a sneaky one!" he shouted.
"Well, guys, you know the drill," Bro sighed.
With a nod, Lily and Porter threw their dolls up in the air alongside Bro. In seconds, they were sliced apart and searched through with nothing to show.
"No cameras, no wires, nothing," Zaire sighed, snapping his fingers in frustration. "If we knew there was nothing but fluff in there, I wouldn't have bothered! Because, honestly, those dolls were kinda cute."
Amelia looked at the pieces of the doll and groaned. "I can still fix this. It's just gonna... take a while. A good long while," she sighed disappointedly.
The five arrived home not long after, quickly locking their doors and windows.
"There, I think this is the closest thing we are to being safe," Bro stated.
"Safe?! Did you see how many pictures she had?! We are nowhere close to being safe!" Zaire screamed.
"He's right, Bro," Lily agreed. "We need to get a resisting order on her or something!"
"Restraining order," Porter corrected, "but I also agree. It might not be enough to stop her entirely, but at least it'll keep her away."
"Alright, fine. We'll go to the courthouse and get a restraining order tomorrow," Bro conceded. "For now, just sleep with one eye open."
"I have an idea. We take turns keeping watch over the night so we feel somewhat safe," Zaire suggested. "I'll take the first few hours of the night, and Bro can take the other half of the night."
"You sure?" Bro asked. "If it means protecting my family, I don't mind staying up all night."
"Alright, your words! Goodnight, guys!" he chuckled nervously as he ran into the boys' room.
"Well, the rest of you should also get to bed. I have a feeling it's gonna be a long night," Bro sighed, sitting on the couch and turning on the TV.
Wordlessly, the other siblings retired to their rooms until night fell, leaving Bro to keep an eye on them. Midnight arrived and he was still watching TV to keep himself awake. Though, through the hours of reruns and infomercials, he was starting to feel a bit drowsy. He nodded off for a second, and when he woke up, he thought he saw a figure disappear into the kitchen.
"Lily?" he called, getting off the couch and following the figure. There was no sign of anyone when he turned on the lights.
"Amelia?" he called again, looking under the table, checking the pantry and searching the cabinets for something off.
"Anyone?" he asked, going outside to the garden. Even the garden was untouched by whatever he saw. That is, if what he saw was real.
"Okay, calm down. It was nothing. You just need something to boost you awake," he muttered to himself. He opened the fridge and took a look at the things he could eat. He settled on an opened soda- it was actually Lily's, but it was fine. After all, it was for a cause.
Quickly downing the drink and taking a seat back on the couch, he was ready to stay awake for the rest of the night. At least, he would if he didn't feel even more tired than before he drank the soda. He couldn't move his limbs, his eyes grew heavier by the second, and before he knew it, he was out.
He woke up to a girl with crazed pink eyes uncomfortably close to his face.
"Wakey-wakey! It's morning!" she shouted, making him scream and scramble upright.
"Bianca?! What are you doing here? How did you get in?!" he asked.
"You left your kitchen door open," Bianca replied.
"What do mean I left the kitchen door op-" he questioned, walking to the kitchen and freezing when he saw the door.
It was open, alright. The door was knocked down, with a sledgehammer sitting near the door frame.
"By the way, how did you sleep, Bro? You looked like you were struggling to go to sleep, so I snuck a little something in the drinks in your fridge! I had to sneak into the house after our little conversation, and I wasn't sure which drink you'd take, so I put it in all of them!" she explained.
Bro's eyes grew wide at the realization. He wasn't shocked, but he was angry.
"You have officially crossed a line," he warned.
"Bro, what's going on? What's with all the shouting?" Zaire mumbled, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. Upon noticing Bianca, he screamed and hid behind Bro.
"What happened? What's with all the screaming?" Porter asked, rushing into the room, thumb in his mouth.
"Morning, Porter!" Bianca greeted, Righty waving at him.
He screamed and hid behind Zaire. At this point, their sisters had also ran into the room to see what was going on. They were also startled but weren't surprised.
"Bro, you were supposed to watch us!" Amelia reminded him.
"I was! She said she snuck in the house and put something in the drinks to send me to sleep!" Bro explained. "Oh yeah, she also broke down the door."
Lily let out a huff. "Bro, now would be a good time to head to the city and get those restraining orders," Lily reminded him.
Bianca froze. "Restraining orders?"
"Uh, you know, the orders to restrain something, you know?" Porter chuckled nervously, then gave Lily a glance.
"Yeah, we've got some moles in the garden that need to be held back," Bro lied. "But first, we've gotta run to the grocery store and pick up some stuff. Ready to go, guys?"
As they shuffled to the front door, Bianca stopped them.
"I'll go with you! We could spend the whole day together, and I'll pay for everything!" she squealed with glee.
"As fun as that sounds," Zaire said, "after we pick up stuff from the grocery store, we have to go to the hardware store and get a new door, right, Bro?"
"Definitely," Bro agreed. "Besides, there's not enough money in the world to buy everything Lily wants. Anyway, you should go home now. We'll see you later," he said, opening the door and motioning for everyone to leave.
They didn't go to the store at all; they went straight to Lini's house. Lini poured them some coffee while Zaire gawked at Mary, unbeknownst to her.
"I think we're safe here," Bro said, looking out of the window.
"I assume you got acquainted with that neighbor?" Lini asked.
"That's an understatement," Zaire replied. "We're on our way to the courthouse to get restraining orders. Lily almost blew our cover."
"Hey! At least I'm willing to stand up to people I don't like!" Lily fired back. "Meanwhile, you still haven't told Mary that you like her-"
"Herbal tea! I like herbal tea! I mean, chamomile, am I right?" he interrupted, covering Lily's mouth and forcing out a laugh. Mary let out a small bleat in response.
"Anyway... we need a way to get to the court without her spotting us. Do you have any inventions we could borrow?" Bro asked.
"Well, I had an Invisi-box somewhere, but I misplaced it," Lini admitted. "Maybe it's somewhere around here..."
As Lini fumbled around her living room in search of the box, a thought came to Bro. They would have to cross the street to get to the courthouse, and if there was an oncoming car that passed by while they were walking...
"Actually, forget the box. Is there anything else?" he asked.
"I also built a tele-blaster. All you need to do is type in some coordinates, aim at your target, fire, and your target will be transported to the coordinates you typed in in the blink of an eye!" she added.
"That's cool!" Lily said, breaking free of Zaire's grasp. "So, where is it?"
"Ask Mary," Lini grumbled. "She used it once and I never saw it again."
"I was just trying to transport a mirror to my parents' home on Sheeple Island!" Mary cried, embarrassed. "It zapped itself!"
"Okay, inventions are out of the window," Bro sighed. "I guess we'll just have to make our way to the courthouse and hope for the best."
"I have an idea. Why doesn't Lini come with us?" Amelia proposed. "She's never had a run-in with Bianca, and I don't think that's a coincidence."
"I'm not opposed to it," Lini replied. "Are we ready to go?"
"Just a few more minutes. I still don't feel safe going out there," Zaire answered. In actuality, he just wanted an excuse to gawk at Mary some more.
"Yep, we're ready to go," Lily said, dragging Zaire outside with her. He didn't go willingly, wailing and flailing on his way out.
The six walked out of the subdivision and reached the city, with no sign of Bianca anywhere.
"Wow, it's actually working!" Porter exclaimed. "We've made it to the city!"
"It's like Lini's a Bianca repellent or something!" Lily added.
"Uh, thanks? I don't know how to take that," Lini replied with a shrug.
"Given what we been dealing with, that's a compliment," Bro said.
After a short while, the siblings and Lini made it to the courthouse.
"I'll wait out here while you do what you have to do," Lini stated. With a nod, the five disappeared inside. As they took a look at the directory, a concerning thought crossed Porter.
"Guys, now that we're by ourselves again, you think Bianca is somehow nearby, watching us?" he asked.
"Oh, why did you say that, Porter?!" Zaire groaned, frantically looking around. "What if she's hiding somewhere in the building as we speak?!"
"For the sake of Zaire's sanity, let's hurry," Amelia suggested.
Bro was muttering the parts of the building to himself until he laid his finger on one part on the map. "Aha! Found it! Come on!" he gestured for the others to follow him.
Before they knew it, they were in the branch that handled restraining orders. They wasted no time requesting a form.
"Alright, just sign these forms here and we'll get something set up," the woman behind the desk stated in a monotone voice, handing out some papers before moving back to her computer.
As they filled out the forms, Zaire asked the woman if they saw a girl with white hair sneak into the building at any point.
"Sir, this courthouse sees plenty of people every day," the woman stated. "We don't keep track of who enters or leaves."
Just then, the power went out, something the woman behind the desk wasn't taking well.
"Oh, come on! I was just about to whoop this guy in online chess!" she shouted, her tone annoyed.
The five looked back, where they could hear footsteps approaching the door.
"Hide!" Amelia whispered.
She took cover behind a plant, Porter and Lily hid under a bench, and Bro and Zaire snuck behind a vase. In mere moments, Bianca appeared through the door, sniffing the air before grinning wickedly.
"Well, you look familiar," the woman behind the desk said, her monotone voice returning to her. "Can I help you?"
"I'm looking for a small group of five. I know they were here earlier. Have you seen them?" Bianca asked, giggling.
The woman looked over at the siblings, who were shaking their heads nervously. "I have no clue who you're referring to, but if you hurry outside, you might find them," the woman suggested.
In a flash, Bianca rushed out of the room with the power coming back on afterwards. The siblings crawled out of their hiding spots and returned their finished forms to the woman.
"Wow, what a creep," the woman said. "Anyway, here are your restraining orders."
"Wait, that's it?" Bro asked, taking a paper. "Shouldn't there be more to this whole thing?"
"Normally, yes, but if you're asking for a restraining order against her specifically, we can set you up with a restraining order immediately. Let's just say she's set a reputation for herself," she chuckled.
"Alright, we're finally safe!" Lily sighed with relief as she took a paper. "Now we can move on with our lives."
The five left the building, where Lini gave them a look of confusion. "I could be wrong, but did the lights go out in the building?" she asked.
"Worse," Bro replied, "Bianca almost found us. Fortunately, we got our restraining orders, so we probably don't need to worry as much now."
"Yay! We can take our sweet time getting home!" Amelia cheered.
And that's just what they did. A twenty-minute walk from the subdivision to the courthouse turned into a fifty-minute celebration back, Amelia, Porter, Lily, and Zaire cheering nonstop on their way home. Lini and Bro stayed behind the crowd, chatting.
"Maybe Lily's right," Bro said.
"What do you mean?" Lini asked.
"The minute you're not nearby, Bianca just so happens to find us," he explained. "Meanwhile, you're by our side, and POOF! She's nowhere to be seen. It can't be a coincidence. You repel her somehow."
"Well, I don't know what I've done to repel her," Lini said. "We've never talked to each other and I haven't done anything to hurt her."
"Some people will just be like that regardless of what you do," he replied. "Whatever the case is, thank you for helping us."
He took a minute to stop and stare at Lini. She looked back at him, and for a split second, she thought he gave her a small smile.
"Guys! Come on!" Lily called. "We can't go too far away without Lini!"
Eventually, they made it back to and inside the house where they took a minute to rest on the couch.
"Thanks again for helping us, Lini," Amelia said. "While you're here, can we get you a drink?"
"Juice would be fine, thank you," Lini replied.
"I'll take a juice too," Lily added. "All this celebrating has made me thirsty!"
"Can you get me a juice too?" Porter also requested.
"I won't lie, I'm also feeling a bit parched as well," Bro admitted, following Amelia into the kitchen. The door was still knocked down.
"Right. Guess I'll fix it before the day's over," he sighed, holding some cups for Amelia to pour juice into. He walked back to the living room and gave the others their drinks, which they downed almost immediately. Porter fell asleep right after.
"Is he okay?" Lily asked.
"Ah, let him be. He's probably really tired. Being stalked can stress someone out to that point," Zaire reasoned, taking a sip of his drink and immediately falling asleep.
One by one, they fell asleep, including Lini. Something wasn't right at all. Bro looked back at the hole where the door should be and saw Bianca standing in the doorframe.
He tried to wake them up, but sleep was slowly gripping him. As he fell to the floor, he questioned why he was so tired.
Just then, he was reminded of something- something Bianca had told him earlier: "I wasn't sure which drink you'd take, so I put it in all of them!"
"No..." he muttered, trying to fight the effects of whatever she put in the drinks, but every effort to stay awake was slowly becoming futile, and it was lights out for him again. The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was Bianca's cackling.
He woke up alongside his other siblings, tied up and in a room that appeared to be a basement. Zaire and Lily were arguing.
"It was stress, huh?" Lily said.
"Oh, give me a break! We've been through a lot these past few days, okay?" Zaire retorted. "And by the way, I totally called being locked in her basement."
"It would've been nice to move into a house with a basement..." Amelia sighed.
The door opened, and the five saw Bianca descend down the stairs, an uncanny grin plastered on her face.
"S-stop! We have restraining orders!" Lily warned.
"Oh, I know..." Bianca replied, snapping her fingers. Lefty and Righty reached into their pockets and pulled out their restraining orders, handing them to her.
"Hey! Give those back!" Porter shouted.
Bianca ripped the papers to shreds, cackling. "There! Now, nothing can stop me from getting close to my heroes!"
Despite their limited movement, the five huddled together in a small circle while Bianca stepped closer to them.
"You know, I knew I made the right choice watching you! You five are so heroic and brave and oh-so adorable!" she giggled. "And now that I've got you, we can be together forever and ever and ever!" Her body was shaking violently as she got closer and closer.
Just then, the five heard a loud clang, and Bianca froze before dropping to the ground, unconscious. Standing behind her was Lini, breathing hard and holding a frying pan.
"Now you have something to hate me for, Bianca," Lini hissed.
"Boy, are we glad to see you!" Lily exclaimed. "Help us out before she wakes up!"
Lini got them out of their bindings and helped the five escape the basement. They caught their breath outside the house.
"That was close," Porter sighed. "I didn't want to know what she would've done if you weren't there to save us."
"Probably turn us into mannequins," Lily thought out loud.
"I said I didn't want to think about it!" Porter shouted, covering his ears.
"Whatever the case, I don't think anyone would've heard of us again," Bro said.
"Oh, that would suck! It means I wouldn't be able to see Mary anymore!" Zaire exclaimed.
Everyone looked at him, causing him to blush. "I need to stop bringing that up," he muttered.
"Bro's right, though. Bad stuff probably would've happened if Lini wasn't there to help us," Amelia reasoned. "Lini, we owe you one."
Lini gave them a small giggle. "Don't worry about it. Just being able to get to know you is enough for me. Besides, I'll always be your number one fan."
As everyone (but Bro) laughed, Bianca watched the six walk home through her window, giggling. "I still love you guys," she sighed as Righty rubbed the cartoonishly large bump on her head. "One of these days, they'll all be mine!" she cackled, her laughter echoing throughout the house.