"Who did it?!" A girl yelled, as she stormed out of a room.
"What?" A man said, with an annoyed voice.
"My candle! Who blew it out?! You know it's special to me... That flame..." The girl said, her eyes as red as blood.
"Relax, Kujo." A different man said, walking up to her. "See that poster? That's the man who did it, I saw it with my own two eyes." The man continued, as he pointed at a wanted poster for pepper.
"pepper...?" Kujo said, quietly to herself.
"Ugh! The sun is so bright!" Niku shouted, as she sat up in her bed.
"Good morning." pepper said, to Niku with a smile.
"Whatever..." Niku said, as she crawled over Peki to get out of bed.
"You gonna make breakfast?" pepper asked, feeling hungry.
"We just had dinner, like, a few hours ago, but sure, in a minute." Niku said, walking to the balcony's glass door.
"What are you doing?" pepper said, watching her get to the balcony door.
"I'm getting some fresh air, I keep forgetting we have a balcony now, thought I should, like, use it." Niku said opening the door to the balcony.
"Oh, I'll come too." pepper said, getting out of bed, crawling over Kumo, Leia, and Kure. 'Sorry girls...' pepper thought, hoping he didn't disturb them.
pepper walked onto the balcony, closed the door behind him, and sat quietly next to Niku. Niku sat her head on pepper's arm. "Oh? Someone's affectionate today." pepper said, smiling.
"Shut up... I'm just tired because you had to come home late." Niku said, making an excuse.
"I see, that makes sense." pepper said, staring at the clouds with Niku.
"I like your world's sky... It's much prettier than mine." Niku said, smiling a little.
"Yeah? I'm glad you're happy here." pepper said, smiling at Niku.
"I'm sorry that I tried to, like... kill you a little over a week ago..." Niku said, still feeling bad for what she did.
"Don't worry about it, it isn't like I was ever mad, you have nothing to apologize for." pepper said, brushing off what she did.
Niku smiled a little bigger than before. "Jeez... Is there anything we can do to make you mad?" Niku said, still looking at the sky.
"Nope, I might get annoyed, but I could never be mad at any of you." pepper said, looking at the sky again. Niku got up and walked to the balcony door. "Where are you going?" pepper asked, confused about why she got up.
"You wanted breakfast, right?" Niku said, looking back at pepper.
"Yeah." pepper said, letting her go.
"Are you staying out here?" Niku asked, as she opened the door.
"Only for a little longer." pepper said, looking at the sky.
"Okay." Niku said, closing the door behind her.
'I don't want this to end, they mean everything to me, I'll do whatever it takes to protect them.' pepper thought, as he looked at the passing clouds. pepper saw the black planes again. 'Again? Holy shit... There's twenty five of them now... What the hell?' pepper thought, with an uneasy feeling. 'It probably doesn't mean anything, I'm clearly over thinking...' pepper said, as he walked into the hotel room and out of the balcony.
pepper sat with everyone and told them how he met Kutsuyo, and in the middle of his story, there was a knock on the door. pepper got up with no hesitation and opened it.
"Are you pepper?" A police officer asked.
'Here we go again...' pepper thought. "I am." pepper responded.
"We sent a couple of officers here yesterday, they were supposed to take you for questioning, they never ahowed up and you're still here, have you seen them?" The police officer said, suspicious of pepper.
"Well-" pepper said, but was cut off by an explosion.
"What the hell was that?!" The officer yelled. "I'll deal with you later!" The officer shouted, as he went to investigate.
'That's a good question... What the hell was that?' pepper thought, not having an answer.
"Daddy, what's happening?" Kumo said, as all the girls walked up to pepper.
"I have no clue..." pepper said, trying to figure out what the explosion was. pepper walked past the girls and into the balcony, and when he looked over the edge he saw a bomb drop onto the building across the street. "What the hell?!" pepper shouted, as he looked up to see the black planes fly past. "They aren't planes! They're bomber jets!" pepper shouted, as he worried fir the safety of his girls.
Another bomb hit The Platinum Star. "Aaahh!" Kumo shouted, in surprise. pepper rushed back into the hotel room from the balcony, he looked at his girls, he saw Utsu trembling and holding onto Niku, Kutsuyo looked scared and confused, Kumo looked like she was going to cry, Peki was scared but wouldn't show it, Niku looked like she was ready to fight and just as worried as pepper, Muma had her wings out as instinct to fly away, Leia wasn't very scared since she heard Poseidon's earthquakes often, she assumed it was something like that, Polly and Mae had serious looks on their faces, they knew the situation was bad, and Kure summoned her knife incase they need to fight.
"We need to get out if here! Group up and stay close! pepper shouted, as he walked closer to them. "Niku, you take Utsu and Kutsuyo, and get out of here, go!" pepper said, looking at Niku intensely.
Niku stood still in disbelief, but quickly snapped out of it. "Y-Yeah, come on!" Niku said, as she grabbed Utsu and Kutsuyo's hand and ran out of the room.
"Peki, you take Leia, and Muma, and follow them." pepper said, trying become calmer. Peki nodded and grabbed the hands of Leia and Muma and ran out of the room. "Kure, you take Polly and Mae." pepper said, hoping she'll listen. "...Fine! But you owe me!" Kure said, as she put her knife handle in her mouth and grabbed Polly and Mae's hands and followed the other two groups.
"Okay, let's go Kumo." pepper said, as he held her hand and they rushed to the door, only to be blocked as people began to flood the hallway infront if them.
"Daddy... What do we do?" Kumo asked, sounding worried.
pepper felt it hard to say, but was able to cough up the words. "...We wait." pepper said, watching people flood through the hallway. 'This is gonna take too long...' pepper thought, worried about everyone. A bomb hit the balcony of their room, and the floor started to crack, and the wall crumbled and the glass shattered, Kumo lost her balance and let go of pepper's hand while she fell backwards as the floor began to tilt as it cracked, pepper immediately caught her but the floor was extremely unstable and he wasn't sure if he could stand on it, so he spun a web that attached to the roof to hold him and Kumo. The floor caved in and fell into the room below them, it caused the wall in that room to be destroyed and it fell outside the hotel, pepper and Kumo had a good view of the street below them, pepper saw Niku, Utsu, and Kutsuyo next to the rubble of the building on the opposite side of the street.
Kumo shook as pepper held onto her tightly. "I won't let go, Kumo, I've got you." pepper said, as he felt her tremble in fear.
"Daddy's... in t-trouble..." Utsu said, still shaking and feeling extremely nervous.
"He'll be okay! He has to!" Niku shouted, feeling worried about pepper.
"It's Peki... Leia, and Muma..." Kutsuyo said, but no one heard her over the sounds of people yelling.
"You three, what happened?" Niku said, pointing at pepper.
"It looks like a bomb his our hotel room." Peki said, her eyes wide with worry, but her voice didn't match.
"We weren't there when that happened..." Leia said, scared for pepper.
"Ugh! Damn it!" Niku shouted, in frustration.
"Daddy... I'm scared..." Kumo said, holding onto pepper as tightly as she can.
"We'll be okay, Kumo, I promise." pepper said, as he slowly lowered them to the room below them. "Come on." pepper said, as he rushed to the edge of the destroyed wall. "Hold onto me." pepper said, thinking he knows how to escape. Kumo grabbed onto pepper's shoulders, and pepper used his spider legs to hold her tightly, and then he used his hands to crawl backwards down the building. A bomb hit the building again, pepper almost didn't stick but caught himself, and continued crawling. Eventually reaching the bottom. "Is everyone here?" pepper said, as he realized he didn't see Kure. "Where's Kure's group?!" pepper shouted, in anger.
"We're right here, sorry the crowd was crazy." Kure said, putting her knife in her boot.
pepper rushed over and hugged Kure, Polly, and Mae. "Don't scare me like that!" pepper shouted, as he almost began to cry.
"Hey, we need to, like, go." Niku shouted, trying to get pepper to realize that now is not the time for hugs.
"Right!" pepper said, as he started to run towards the park that he met Kumo in. Suddenly, a girl appeared from an alley and looked at them for a moment. "Hey, you're a female pepper, right? Stay with us, you'll be safe!" pepper yelled, as he noticed her. The girl ran to the group, pepper could see her much better now that she's closer, her hair was completely blue, exactly like Kumo's, her eyes were blood red, and her face screamed of anger, her skin color was gray, exactly like Niku's, she wore a red tank top, and red sport shorts with flip flops.
As she ran towards him, pepper felt like he should duck. "Duck!" pepper yelled, hoping the girls could react in time. Everyone ducked as soon as he said to, Utsu actually fell because it surprised her, and as they all met the ground, a ball or blood red flame went directly over top if pepper. "Fire?" pepper thought, as he watched the fire fade away. pepper turned to the girl with blood red eyes, he noticed that he hand was holding fire that was blood red, pepper put two and two together and realized that this girl was attacking him. "What'd I do? If you can't tell, this city is being bombed, evacuate with us and you and I can figure out what's wrong after we survive!" pepper said, trying to reason with the girl.
"My name is Kujo..." Kujo said, walking to the group, as she ignored pepper. "Though, you probably already know that, since you blew out my candle!" Kujo shouted, as she shot more fire at pepper.
pepper dodged all of the flames. "What candle?!" pepper shouted, becoming frustrated. Kure pulled her knife out, and rushed past pepper, she tried to stab Kujo, but Kujo caught Kure's arm.
"You aren't the one I want." Kujo said, as she looked at Kure. Kure tried to kick Kujo, but Kujo caught that as well, then Kujo picked Kure up and threw her at pepper.
"Kure!" pepper shouted, as he jumped to catch her.
"Sorry..." Kure said, feeling useless. pepper smiled, it's okay, I'm just glad that you're not hurt.
"Ugh, can you, like, piss off?!" Niku shouted, as she hold Utsu close to her.
"My heart... burns with fire... Don't play with fire... or you'll get burned, little boy." Kujo said, looking at the group, her eyes still blood red but a tear fell from her right eye.
'Little boy?' pepper thought, thinking that was an odd choice of words. "Kujo, I didn't put out any candle, I swear!" pepper shouted, trying to get her to believe him.
"Shut up! You're a liar!" Kujo yelled, and stomped her feet.
"I too thought this man was a liar, but I've learned he speaks nothing but the truth." Peki said, walking up to Kure.
"What do you know?" Kujo said, about to send fire at Peki.
"Much more than everyone here." Peki said, as she shot out a missile from her right kneecap.
"The hell?" Kujo said, as she jumped to dodge the missile. The missile exploaded on impact with the ground.
"I see, my missile wasn't fast enough." Peki said, as she walks away.
"That's it?" Niku shouted, expecting Peki to do more.
"This is Daddy's problem, and he didn't request my assistance, I simply tried and failed, unless Daddy wants me to continue, I will not." Peki explained, as she walked next to Niku and Utsu.
"Ugh... Whatever." Niku said, getting annoyed by Peki.
"What does the candle even mean? It must be pretty important if you're killing someone over it." pepper asked, trying to understand Kujo's feelings.
"It was his flame... He might not have been the nicest... but he protected me! That was his dieing flame, and you just put it out! That was all I had of him!" Kujo screamed, as she rapidly shot fire at pepper. pepper dodged them all again, and then Kujo swiped her hand and sent a huge line of flames, pepper got caught in surprise by this, but he teleported past it as it came to him.
'If she sends anything longer than a meter, I might not be able to teleport past it, unless I can perfectly imagine it within a second!' pepper thought, worried that he might have to hurt her.
"You took away the last I had of the only person who cared!" Kujo yelled, trying to make pepper feel guilty. pepper looked at some of the rubble near him, he saw what looked to be the remains of a coffee table set, pepper noticed a candle and a lighter, the candle was a little cracked, but pepper got an idea.
"Muma, can you fly me up a little?" pepper asked, as he picked up the candle.
"Sure." Muma said, not understanding how this'll help the fight.
'What's that? Is it floating?' Kujo thought, as she looked at a candle that seemed to be floating.
"Hey, Kujo." pepper said, as Muma held him as she flew. "I don't exactly know what that candle meant to you, but if it was a sort of bond, and I guess that bond is broken now, then we can start a new bond." pepper continued, as he held the lit candle up with two webs.
"This candle... it signifies our bond... Kujo..." A man said, sounding weak.
"What do you...?" Kujo asked, feeling worried for his next sentence.
"They don't know you're here, take the candle and go." The weak man said, asking Kujo to leave him.
"But..." Kujo muttered, too scared to speak, her eyes were green and her face riddled with fear.
"Heh... I've made a lot of enemies... But I'm glad I met someone as special as you, stupid bitch." The man said, smiling. "I wish I didn't always feel like insulting you, I'm sorry for that." The man said, as his chest stopped moving.
"He crawled this way! That's where the blood leads, come on!" A different man yelled.
'They're coming... He lit this flame with the last of his strength... and his dieing wish was for me to leave...' Kujo thought, as she got up and ran as she cried.
Kujo remembered things that the man she had a bond with said to her, as she ran.
"Don't look at me with those red eyes, they don't suit you like your orange eyes do, you don't ever think rationally when your eyes are red anyway, dumbass." Kujo remembered the man saying.
Kujo's eyes turned orange, and her breaths seemed to calm. "Kujo?" pepper asked, wondering if she's okay.
"We don't need a candle." Kujo said, picking up the candle and throwing it away.
"Oh?" pepper said, not sure if he upset her. Muma flew down to the ground with pepper.
"You never learn... You shouldn't play with fire..." Kujo said, putting her head down as she walked towards pepper.
"I didn't mean to upset you..." pepper said, as Kujo walked up to pepper with her head down.
"A hug is fine." Kujo said, as she hugged pepper. "I'm sorry... Sometimes I don't really think when my eyes are red, I only feel anger and want my anger satisfied..." Kujo said, her eyes turned dark blue in guilt.
"Hey, it's alright, someone destroyed something precious to you and you jumped to a conclusion or something, it's completely fine." pepper said, easily forgiving Kujo.
"You aren't mean, are you?" Kujo asked, expecting to be hit or yelled at.
"That's an odd question... No, I don't believe I'm mean." pepper said, not expecting that question.
"It's just... all the other male peppers usually yell at me, or they just like to hurt people, so I thought you'd be the same..." Kujo said, her eyes still dark blue.
"Your eye color, it's different than it just was, why's that?" pepper asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, people say that my eyes are orange when I'm happy, calm, or excited, and if I'm sad they'll be light blue, so I guess my eyes change color when my emotion changes, my fire will change color too, see?" Kujo explained, as she held dark blue fire in her hand, instead of the previous blood red fire.
"I'm sorry to interrupt another touching moment." Niku said, putting her hands on her hips. "But there's still bombs falling out of the jets!" Niku yelled, trying to get pepper to start thinking.
"Bombs?" Kujo asked, just realizing what her surroundings look like. A bomb could be heard in the distance, and Kujo's eyes flashed green.
"What does green mean?" pepper asked, trying to remember every eye color.
"Fear..." Kujo said, as she looked tense.
"We have to get out of this city." pepper said, as he grouped back up with the girls, and added Kujo to the group.