"Are you kidding me?" Anton asked incredulously. "How can everyone trust us to make music and videos with you?! I was fucking rude to you! We all were!"
Jade, quiet between Frank and Zeth, agreed. How could they trust these bastards?! Well, it seemed that only Monster Mash had the answer.
"It's water under the bridge," Zeth said.
Jade wanted to scream that it wasn't!
"It was just a misunderstanding," Frank waved his hand and said dismissively.
No, Frank. It wasn't a misunderstanding, and Jade was already green with anger!
"No," Anton insisted, "It wasn't, and you know it! And now you expect us to... How can you trust someone like us?!?"
Jade nodded involuntarily… There was no way to trust someone so vile and narcissistic!
"Trust is a two-way agreement in our team," Alex said with his arms crossed. "But trust is earned and easily lost. Don't do what Kevin did."
"That fucking traitor!" Anton exclaimed and turned red, making all the Monster Mash boys cock their heads.
Jade was surprised to hear this, but she didn't say anything.
"Did Kevin betray you too?" Draco asked. "I thought he was on your side."
"In fact, there's something you should know," Paul said. "Kevin's in the band, but technically not in the band."
"What do you mean?" Alex half-shut his eyes.
"The son of a bitch sabotaged us," Anton replied. "The truth is that my singing voice... It's not mine."
"Kevin needed money to pay for his mum's cancer treatment, although at first he told us that the money was to buy a house for Mrs. Visbal," Mort said. "So when we found out he sang similarly to Simon Curtis, we asked him to dub Anton's voice. He would earn money for the vocals, and during live performances, he would make himself invisible to pretend that Anton was the one who sang. In exchange, Mr. O'Pry would give him the same salary as us."
"Kevin turned himself invisible and sang throughout tonight’s show and the rehearsal," said Paul.
"But that bastard betrayed us!" Alex yelled and stuck out his claws, snarling. "He told you everything that was discussed at the strip club!"
“There was a saying in Guardian Fort,” Zeth said with a sigh, “One that was passed down from generation to generation but it was first said by the missing Reefael Darktide... The only thing certain in this life is that you can't control other people's actions, only your own. Betrayal hurts, but it was my mistake telling you guys who to trust."
"Well, Kevin did not betray you, like, on purpose," Anton lowered his head. "I…I bugged him. I put a microphone without him noticing because I knew he was going to follow you guys. I heard the whole thing, the idea of the cheerleaders and stuff."
"You mean Kevin never betrayed us?" Finn asked. "And that he actually sabotaged you guys? You are saying that your voice on stage was Kevin's?!"
"That explains why Anton hit Frank's high note during the rehearsal but couldn't during the actual show!" Draco gasped. "Because Kevin made his voice sound bad on purpose!"
Jade smiled mischievously, thinking that these conceited guys deserved that and much more! Well done, Kevin!
"I was the one behind everything and I even mistreated Kevin and said horrible things to him." Anton shot back and put his hands up to his face. "And I'm so sorry! I didn't know that his mum was sick until I confronted him."
"And where is Kevin?" Zeth asked, getting up from his seat. "I have the amulet in my travel suitcase, we can go now to heal his mother with it right now."
"You brought the amulet despite what you thought Kevin did to you?" Paul looked incredulous.
"I was going to go to his house in the morning," Zeth replied, "A promise is a promise, and Mrs. Visbal wasn't going to pay for the mistakes I thought her son made, was she?"
"Do you know where Kevin is?" Alex asked a little too worried.
"I'm here," Kevin's voice said, and out of thin air, he materialized in the empty space between Anton and Paul, dressed in a fitted T-shirt and grey sweatpants. "I never left."
"We're going to help you, Kevin," Frank said, turning to look at the other guys.
"And there's room for one more Monster Mash member," Zeth said, walking over to Kevin and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You already have the body, face, and voice, so welcome to Monster Mash." Zeth then turned to the rest of Sixth Octave. "Everyone is welcome here."
Oh no. Jade was nervous again. Maybe she was being selfish, but... If she agreed to be the girlfriend of all the Monster Mash members... Did that include Kevin?!
"We're going to work together!" Draco cheered, raising his drink.
"I hope this goes well," Finn whispered.
"Yeah, let's make this happen," Frank raised a triumphant fist into the air.
"I don't mean to be stuffy but..." Clyde rubbed his thighs and bit his lip, "Don’t you happen to need more dancers? My sisters, Madilda and Trazy, are quite good at it."
"I guess we can make room," Frank said, turning to see Zeth, who was already nodding.
"But first, we must go back to your mother," Zeth told Kevin. "We're going to Hollow Woods right now. We have to save Mrs. Visbal!"
"I'll take Jade to our home," Frank said. "You know I get very emotional, and... I don't want to see that."
Jade looked up at Frank, and with a nod, she stood up at the same time as him, happy to spend time alone together.