Veneer's Secret || Floyneer

16) Encounter

It was the day of the Rage Dome show. The gentle yet endless ticks of the clock were the only company the little green haired troll had. He felt weak as the crystal was continuously consuming his body faster than normal, for his sister was constantly using him the past hours as "punishment".

He was tired of crying for the past few hours, regret, pain, and anger being the emotions he felt. He felt pathetic because he couldn't stop her, he could've done something but he couldn't bring himself to do anything because...he loved his sister.

Veneer sighed as he looked at the clock, it was past 7 and the show was starting at 8. He continued to listen to the company of soft ticking, but those minutes of comfort didn't last long. He perked up as he heard something else, footsteps?

They were different, they weren't clunky and heavy like the heels of his sister's, but they weren't as loud as the assistant's either, including the paper rustles. They were rather faint and somewhat small, as if they were coming from the vents.

Wait, the vents?!

Veneer looked to the ceiling, and as if on cue, two trolls and a baby dropped from it using, sticky hands??

"Oh glitters!" The pink female troll exclaimed, worriedly rushing towards the troll in the diamond prison, the other gray-scaled one following soon after. "Are you alright?!" The girl was concerned for the trapped troll's condition.

"Who are you guys?!" Veneer attempted to stand up, but ended up falling back down after losing his balance from the numbness of his legs. He was surprised at their sudden appearance, it was like they came out of nowhere.

"Oh, sorry, my name is Poppy, and beside me is my boyfriend Branch, and this is Tiny!" She introduced each of theirselves, pointing to the trolls she was talking about. But at the mention of 'Branch', Veneer felt like he heard that name somewhere. Nonetheless, the little guy with glasses said a 'hi' before Poppy continued, "We're gonna get you out of here don't worry!!-" she was about to do something when Veneer interrupted her.

"W-wait!! No! This is a trap that Velvet made to lure you all here- It's you guys who need to get out of here! Hurry before my sister or her assistant catches you guys!-" he exclaimed, his words laced with worry for them, "No! We can't leave yet! We still have to rescue my brother!" Branch butted in, "He's dying and we have to-" he stopped and they realized what the green haired troll said, "Wait, what? Your sister?! You are Veneer?!" Poppy continued what Branch was thinking.

Said troll hesitated before nodding, confirming the assumption. "Whaaat- but I thought Veneer was a Mount Rageon!" Tiny confusingly said.

"Well...haha...that's a long story-" Veneer awkwardly chuckled before remembering what the other said,"Wait, Branch, right? You said you have to save your brother? Are you talking about Floyd??" He asked curiously, now that he was looking closer, he thought that Branch kinda looked like Bitty B. Maybe he really WAS the Branch that Floyd was telling him about.

"Yes, Floyd is my brother, do you know where he is??" And what did he just thought about? Well seems like the answer was correct. Unfortunately though, Veneer sadly shook his head, "I'm sorry, I honestly don't even know what's happening to him either...-"

Heavy footsteps started to approach the room, each step getting louder and louder. "Guys you really gotta go! Hurry!" Veneer panicked, the other trolls nodded and headed back up just in time when the door swung open and the lights in the room clicked on.

"Hah! Seems like my genius plan did work out after all! My efforts aren't wasted!~" The green haired Mount Rageon who was already in her show outfit walked in with Crimp following close behind her. She had another one of those perfume bottles in her hand except this one had three trolls in it who were constantly yelling stuff at the girl one after another. But one thing caught Veneer's attention, Floyd, he was in one of the slots in her shoulder pads.

"Gosh, these guys sure are so hard to tame!" Velvet groaned, chucking the bottle into the closet. "Hey! Let us out of here!" The lime haired one shouted, "Yeah! Come on!" The purple one yelled. "Shut up! All of you guys really are the same huh? Well stop being whiney! It's not like I'm gonna hurt you guys, yet." She scoffed before closing the closet shut. "No Velvet! Please don't hurt my brothers please!" Floyd begged, watching everything that was happening before his very eyes, he was hurt that the first time he would see his brothers again would be in such a disaster. Velvet ignored the troll's pleas, walking over to the vanity that Veneer was on."Watch over those animals Crimp, make sure they don't get away." "Yes Miss Velvet..."

The girl picked him up, pulling him closer to her shoulder pads. "Veneer!" Floyd got a chance to see his boyfriend closer, and he was shocked when he saw the crystal already taking place on him too. "Floyd! Are you alright?!-" he was interrupted by his sister's hushes, clearly she was annoyed by their conversation. "Damn bro, you sure do look so rough already," she realized while examining her brother's poor condition, not expecting that he would be drained out faster. "Oh well, I just hope you guys last through the show" she said as she put Veneer into her left shoulder pad, walking out the room after doing so.