The Chronicles Of The Finalists

Who Did You Use To Be?

Upon getting home, the first thing KreekCraft does is go to the kitchen. The next thing they hear is the shattering of a plate. Ashley runs over to the kitchen after him. Kreek's face-down on the kitchen counter, trembling. Ceramic shards litter the floor. Some even got stuck in the wall.

"Kreek..?" Ashley asks quietly, concerned.

"What." His voice is muffled by the table but still loud enough for Ashley to hear. "What do you want?"

"Are you okay?" She hears the other two following them into where they're standing, watching from behind.

"Yeah, no, I just watched Sketch die, do you really think I'm alright?!" Kreek looks up at her, seemingly with a glint of water in his eye. "They- they don't care about any of us, do they?! They only care about their so-called paradise for magical girls. But it's not a damn paradise if we're dying for their cause!" Kreek raises his voice a little at the end, leading Ashley to step back.

"..We're all upset about it, Kreek. But..please don't destroy plates."

Ashley's eyes flick over to a photo on the counter. It used to be Denis's. A photo of him, giggling, while standing beside a pouting Sketch. He'd asked Hyper to take it. They still have a lot of his possessions.

~~~

"So uh- this is my little brother!" Denis laughs, pointing to the pouting Sketch beside him. "And he recently became a Magical Girl like us, so be kind."

"Aren't you..mad about that?" Tanqr asks, confused.

"Of course not! Well, I was at first, but you know, ya gotta accept it." He admits, before ruffling Sketch's hair. "Plus, it's been a while since I could spend some quality time with my little brother, so I want to help him with his fight, you know?"

"Denis, I'm not twelve! You're embarrassing me!" Sketch whined, but he chuckles a little himself.

"Hey, Hyper, can you take a photo for me? I wanna cherish this."

~~~

"..Might I ask you a question, Ashley?" Kreek says, still looking down.

"Yeah." She responds. She thinks she knows what's coming. And it's only fair of him to ask.

"What in the hell were you doing in that fight?! Why weren't you paying attention! You could've stopped Sketch from stepping in and saved him!" Kreek yells. Upon the yell, Tanqr immediately steps in.

"Woah, hang on, she was clearly disorientated." He clarifies, giving Kreek a look. "I don't think she could've prevented it if she tried."
"Of course you're defending her, you're willing to go on the contrary to anything I say." Kreek retorts. "I want an answer from Ashley."
"You're in luck, because I have one." Ashley admits, but she misses the aggression in her voice. "This is going to sound really stupid, but bare with me. It's like a weird possession. I suddenly started hearing this screaming noise. I say noise and not just screaming because it didn't feel real. But it completely clouded out my thoughts, somehow. It was giving me vertigo, or something."
"Hm, yeah, the vertigo screaming, sounds like a real thing." Kreek mocks, before staring her down. His eyes flash crimson for a moment. They all know what that means. So after he does it, Kreek's angry face falls as he hits a realisation. "Oh- oh, you're telling the truth."
"Would I lie to the person who can immediately expose me on will?" Ashley teases nervously.

"Wait, screaming, right?" Hyper suddenly asks, mildly scaring Ashley and Kreek, who'd forgotten he was there.

"Yeah, why?"

"...Oh. I think I know what happened there, actually." Hyper looks at Tanqr for a moment, who raises an eyebrow. It takes a second for Tanqr to get what he means.