Narrator's POV
Bridget made it back to her room and jumped onto her bed as the Trolls retracted their hair and laid on the bed too, including Ruby. "I think the king really likes us" Cooper said to Biggie with a grin and then Biggie says "I know, right?" and then Bridget exclaims "That was the greatest day of my life!" before she turns to look at the Trolls and says to Poppy and Ruby "Thanks, girls" and they smiled back at her before Bridget says to everyone "Thanks to all of you! Even you, I guess" and said the last part to Branch, whose smile got replaced with a frown and Ruby saw this and held back a snicker.
"I just never thought something like that could happen to me. And it just did! I'm so excited I could just scream" Bridget says before letting out a really quiet scream and this made Ruby giggle and then Poppy got up and exclaims "I could scream too! Creek is alive!" and then she and the Trolls started cheering while Ruby didn't cheer as she already knew why Creek was still alive and didn't understand how her friends didn't realized this and Branch as she frowned. 'How am I gonna tell them that I know why Creek is still alive? Will I... Will I lose my friends and they won't trust me anymore?' Ruby thought to herself before her thoughts were cut off when she and others heard Branch screaming a little too hard as he noticed that everyone was staring at him and Ruby was trying her hardest to not laugh at Branch's 'happy shout' as Poppy asked in concern "Branch, what's wrong?".
"Nothing. I thought we were celebrating" Branch said with a smile and then Cooper asked "That's your happy shout?" and this earned a deadpanned look from Branch as he said "It's been a while".
"Well, you're gonna have plenty of practice, because we're gonna save Creek and life will be all cupcakes and rainbows again" Poppy said to Branch and then he says "Up top!" and Poppy goes in for the high five when Branch moves away and adds "Too slow" and the Snack Pack cheered while Poppy looked surprised before smiling at him while Ruby smiled softly at the two lovebirds and thought to herself 'They're perfect for each other'.
"Okay, everybody... Let's go save Creek" Poppy said and then everyone jumped off the bed as they headed towards the exit with Ruby reluctantly followed after them until Bridget quickly closed the door shut as she says "No! No! You can't leave. Lady Glittersparkles is gonna be the king's plus one at dinner" and Branch says "The dinner where they're serving Troll? Yeah, I think we're gonna have to skip that one" and was about to walk away when Bridget spoke up "No! No, you have to help me be Lady Glittersparkles. I need you" and got down to their level. "You don't wanna pretend to be someone you're not forever!" Poppy said as she tried to reason with Bridget, who suggested "Then how about just for tomorrow?" and Ruby walks up to her and says in the most reasonable and calming tone "Bridget, you don't need us anymore. You and the king can make each other happy! You just have to go up to him, tell him who you are and how you feel".
"That's impossible! Only eating a Troll can make you happy. Everyone knows that! I wish I'd never gone on this stupid date!" Bridget exclaimed as she ran towards her dream wall of King Gristle's pictures and rigged them down until she fell on her knees and began crying as she buried her face into her hands. "Bridget..." Poppy starts to say when Bridget yelled/wailed "Just go! Get out of my room. Leave me alone" and Ruby started to say "Please, listen" until they heard Chef's voice screeched from the hole "Bridget!" and Branch says to the girls while Ruby slowly walks backwards as she gently pulls Poppy back "We've gotta go".
"Bridg.." Poppy says as she and Ruby stopped when Chef yelled "What's going on down there?! Bridget, scrub that dish!" and then drops one more dirty plate as it hits Bridget's head and lands on the ground while adding "The king's bringing a plus one!".
"Yes, Chef" Bridget muttered before she continued sobbing as Poppy and Ruby watches in worry and concern before they looked at each other and hesitatly followed after the others as they went to save Creek. Ruby couldn't stop thinking about the event that was gonna happen next and she didn't know what to do as she didn't realize that she stopped walking as all of these thoughts were in her mind 'What if they find out I've been keeping a secret from them? How will they react if they find out that I have seen the future? What if they don't trust me anymore? Will they hate me? What about Branch? And... What about Poppy? What will she think or how to even react?! W-Will I... Will I lose all of my friends' trusts?'.
Ruby suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone calling her name and looked to see it was Poppy, who was looking at her in concern as she asked "Ruby, are you okay?" and Ruby quickly puts on a fake smile and says "Oh! I'm fine, Poppy. I just...had a lot on my mind" and Poppy thankfully buyed it and says "Okay. Let's catch up to the others" and goes ahead while Ruby looks at Poppy and mutters to herself sadly "I'm sorry Poppy.." and ran forward to catch up.
Meanwhile in King Gristle's room
Gristle tossed his cape on his bed along with placing down Bridget's other roller skate as he was wearing a workout outfit attire and says to his pet "We can do this, Barnabus. I just have to lose 30 pounds in the next eight hours" and puts a workout tape in his tape mixer, puts on a headband while having headphones on, pushes play and starts running on his treadmill. He didn't notice that the Trolls opened the door and began looking around with Ruby climbing on Cooper's back and lets Poppy stand on her shoulders as she looks around before Poppy spotted the green jeweled locket on the bed, making her gasp and says while pointing out "There it is!".
"Oh... I feel good, I feel good I feel good, I feel good I feel good" Gristle sang while the Trolls headed towards the locket with Ruby following behind as she was the lookout for Barnabus. Soon they made it to the locket as Branch attempted to get it off the cape with Poppy whispered/exclaimed "Creek, we'll have you out of there in a second".
"Hurry!" Biggie says and this made Branch say while struggling "It's stuck!" and then he, Poppy and Ruby all noticed the reflection on the gem before turning around to find Barnabus glaring and growling at them as he approaches and Ruby immediately summons her staff while shouting to her friends "RUN!" and the Trolls screamed while running off with Poppy and Branch carrying the locket while Ruby shot two magic blasts at Barnabus before quickly running off too.
( ↑Kinda like this↑ )
"I feel love" Gristle sang then took a swig of his drink not paying bad attention to what was going on behind him as the Trolls and Ruby ran around the room to avoid Barnabus and also messing the place up in the process. "Hey, guys! Over here!" Cooper shouts as he and some of the Trolls were in Bridget's other roller skate and the rest got on with Poppy and Branch being the last one and then Barnabus jumps and at the same time Ruby quickly makes her staff disappear as she propels herself into the air and begins to use air magic before blowing a blast of wind, making the roller skate go forward while Barnabus lands on the bed.
Everyone screams while both Branch and Ruby yelled "Everybody hold on!" and they started skating through the hallways as Biggie says "Hold it steady, guys" and then Poppy noticed a corner up ahead before looking at the fashion twins and shouts "Satin, Chenille, sharp right!" and then Chenille shouts "Let's do it!" before launching her sister to the torch stand, making the skate turn to the other hallway and Satin got back in. But despite their effort, Barnabus was still on their tail as Ruby saw this, narrowed her eyes before looking at Guy Diamond and shouted "Guy, glitter him!".
"Eat glitter!~" Guy Diamond sang as he leaps outs, grabs a shoe lace and lets his butt drag on it as this caused glitter to onto Barnabus's face until he crashed. Guy Diamond gets back on the roller skate as his butt cheeks were now silver and then Ruby noticed something up ahead, making her shout "Look!" and everyone turns and screams when they see that they are heading towards a mop sign and realizing that they would get launched towards the window Poppy shouts while she and Branch held the locket tightly "Hold on!".
And they hit the sign as it acts like a ramp and flew out of the window, but unfortunately Poppy and Branch let go of the locket when they hit the mop sign and it fell right into Barnabus's mouth, making him choke. "Creek!" Poppy shouts as everyone except Ruby gasped and Barnabus tried to stop himself but then he hits his chest on the frame, making him spit out the locket and Poppy gasped before narrowing her eyes with determination and without thinking, she jumped off the skate and grabbed the locket that was a few feet away in midair before shouting "Branch!" and stretches her hair to him as he did the same as their hair connected before Branch pulled her back into the skate as Biggie says "We got you!" before saying "Oh no!" and everyone saw that they were about to crash into a window, making Ruby scream out "BRACE YOURSELVES!!!".
Everyone screamed before they crashed through a window, broke a lamp and many other things as they kept going down until they finally crashed as everyone fell out of the roller skate with Poppy and Branch flying off while Ruby crashed into something, making her yelp in pain as she landed on her left arm and while the locket flew into the air, but was quickly caught by Branch and Poppy, who says "Gotcha!".
The two placed down the locket while the Snack Pack all gathered to see Creek and when Poppy opened it the locket was empty, much to their shock.
"Huh?"
"No! He can't be gone" Poppy says, not wanting to believe it. "I'm sorry, Poppy. We're too late" Branch says to her, but then they heard Ruby shouting "Guys, Run!!" and this made them look up just in time for Chef to say while she loomed over them "Actually, your timing is perfect" before trapping the Trolls in a cage, making Ruby exclaimed in horror "NO!!"
Timeskip
Chef carried the cage to a cutting stand and placed it down as Biggie was freaking out while Ruby was tied up to one of the cage's bar as she struggles to break free.
"Sorry, but I can't have you leaving before tomorrow's dinner. A dinner to which you are all invited. And when I say 'all'... I mean every Troll in Troll Village" Chef said to them before she starts walking off and then Ruby yelled out "You'll never find them! Not where they're hiding!" and this made Chef smirk while stopping and looked back at Ruby and said "I don't know what kind of creature you are, but it seems you are rather unique and will be a great value to me in the far future" and this made Ruby glare at Chef as she continued, "Oh and you're right. I couldn't find them. But I could with someone they know. Someone they trust. Someone..." before she unzips her fanny pack, making everyone look as Chef adds "Like this guy" and pulled out Creek himself.
Ruby immediately glares at him full of hatred while Poppy exclaims happily "Creek! You're alive!" and the others except Branch cheered, but then they were confused as to why Creek wasn't eaten before Branch finally put the pieces together as he angrily looked at Creek angrily and exclaimed "He's selling us out!" and starts choking him with his hair, shocking Poppy while Ruby cheers "Get him, Branch!".
"Branch! Wait! I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. Please give him a chance" Poppy says, making Branch stop and while Ruby looks at her in disbelief and asked "Why should we?" and Creek says while rubbing his throat "Thank you, Poppy" before he admitted bluntly "I'm selling you out".
Now it was Poppy's turn to choke him with her hair and the Snack Pack panicked as they tried to stop her while Branch stood there with a smirk and crossed his arms and Ruby grins at her best friend before glaring at Creek when Poppy stopped choking him. "You Better Explain Yourself, Creek!" Poppy demanded as she glares at him along with Branch and Ruby. Creek managed to catch his breath again before saying "As I was about to accept my fate, I had what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening" and starts explaining.
Flashback
Just as Creek was about to get eaten, he broke out of the taco and yelled "I don't wanna die!" as he grabbed into Gristle's uvula and this made Gristle spit out Creek as he caught him. "Don't eat me. Eat someone else. Anyone else. Everyone else. But not me!" Creek exclaimed as he begged for his life. "But the king wants to be happy now" Chef said to him and Creek says "Wait! Wait! There must be some other way. I'll do anything" and Chef thought for a moment before smirking as an idea came to her.
Flashback Ends
Poppy looked heartbroken as she pleaded "No... Creek, please don't do this" and Creek says to her "Believe me. I wish there was some other me-not-getting-eaten way" and this made Chef say while sharpening her knives "But there isn't" and this made Cooper gulped. "And now I have to live with this for the rest of my life" Creek said and this made Ruby scoff in disbelief before saying "How could you do this to your own friends? To your own kind and village?! After all, they risked their lives to save your sorry butt and how do you repay them? By throwing them under the bus, You Good-For-Nothing Backstabber!!" as she exclaimed the last part with hatred and venom in her voice.
Creek looks at Ruby with a smirk still on his face and says "I can't believe it either, Ruby. Especially to you" and Ruby glared at him and says coldly "I came to save my friends. I could care less about what happens to you! I'd never even liked you to begin with anyways!" and then Creek simply said "That's a shame. I was hoping to become your friend... And maybe even more" and this confused the group, especially Ruby as she dared to ask "What does that mean?" and then Creek said something that Ruby will never forget for the rest of her life and regretted asking.
"As I was hoping that you returned some romantic feelings that I have for you since I'd first laid eyes on you~"
Ruby's face changed from confusion to total shock and disgust as she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Creek! The traitor to Troll Village... Likes her?!?
The Snack Pack and Branch couldn't believe what they were hearing too as they waited for Ruby to say something as they noticed that their human friend was shaking as Creek continued, "But I have a proposal. I'll have Chef free you and only you if you agree to become my girlfriend, what do you say?".
Ruby finally looks up as she growls in rage while her necklace starts glowing before she lets out a yell, breaking the rope that tied her against the cage pole as this shocked everyone, even Chef.
Ruby then tackled Creek down and started choking him while shaking him back and forth as she yelled in absolute rage, "How Can You Just Say Something Like That To Me Out Of The Blue And In Front Of Everyone?! What Makes You Think That I'll Even Agree To Be Your Girlfriend When You Just Betrayed Your Whole Kind?! I Knew This Would Happen And... I SHOULD'VE SAID THE TRUTH!!!!" but then she realized what she just said as Chef grabs her, making Ruby struggle to break free.
"My my, you play hard to get~" Creek says to Ruby, who was tied up again but Chef holds her up and Poppy shouts in worry "Ruby!!" and then Creek looks at Poppy and says "At least you get to die with a clear conscience. So, in a way... You could say... I'm doing this for you" and caressing Poppy's cheek before reaching his hand out and grabs Poppy's cowbell from her hair and then used the stick to poke her nose while saying "Boop!".
And then Chef lowered Ruby down to Creek's level as she was struggling to break free, but stopped when Creek was in front of her and Ruby glared at him.
"Have a nice time tomorrow, my love" Creek says and then he cupped Ruby's cheek and did something Ruby hoped/wished never happened...
Creek gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek as it was close to her lips, making Ruby's eyes widened before she immediately took action by throwing herself back and headbutted Creek while yelling "Get away from me, you creep!".
Creek simply chuckled before Chef drops Ruby, picks up Creek and leaves the kitchen. As soon as they were gone, everyone turned their attention to Ruby, who had her head down and then Poppy asked "Um, Ruby... What did you mean by that you should've told the truth?" and Ruby stays silent for a moment before she sighs and turns around as she had a guilty look and finally spoke "I. . . I knew this would happen Poppy. . . I. . . I'm so sorry...".
Poppy and the others stared at her before Branch, who looked furious and betrayed shot out his hair trying to hit Ruby, who quickly moved out of the way as she stares at Branch in shock by what he tried to do. Branch was so angry at her and yelled "YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS ALL ALONG! AND YOU HID THIS FROM ALL OF US! WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED YOU! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED YOU!! YOU WERE WORKING WITH THE BERGENS THIS WHOLE TIME, WEREN'T YOU?!" and Ruby looks at Branch, hurt by his words as tears started to come down.
She saw that in Branch's eyes were filled with hurt and betrayal before he looked away along with the others, except Poppy as she already understand why she didn't say anything. "I'm sorry everyone... Please forgive me" Ruby whispered while looking down and then suddenly another Bergen chef comes with another cage grabs Ruby, who didn't even move as he placed her in the cage and began walking off with her. "Ruby! Ruby!!" Poppy shouts as she held out her hand and tears began to form in her eyes as she watches her human best friend getting taken away.
"Ruby..." Branch whispered as he looked away and regretted everything he had done to Ruby as he finally realized why she didn't say anything and realized that she was only trying to protect them like a true friend would do and then he also realized that Ruby was not only someone who he finally let in his life...but he saw her as a sister he never had.
And that thought made Branch clenched his fist as he held back his tears when he realized that he pushed his only friend/sister figure away from him and regretted trying to hurt her as well.
"I'm sorry Ruby..."