The Beginning Of The End
———————
~Man Cave~

Arabella Manchester sat on the couch, staring tirelessly at her laptop and her head resting on the palm of her hand. The eighteen-year-old was graduating next week along with Charlotte, Jasper, and Piper, but not Henry. She was absolutely devastated that Henry wasn't graduating, not only because he isn't able to graduate, but because she's leaving him to go to Juilliard. After weeks of procrastination, Bella decided to give the school an answer and she told them yes. Arabella will be headed off to Juilliard barely a week after she graduates high school.

She spent every day thinking about the decision and realized that this is her life and it's about her. She doesn't need Henry's approval or anyone's approval, she's doing this for her future. Her dream of becoming a star on Broadway is coming true.

Arabella realized that Henry will be so busy with protecting Swellview and his academics that she won't need to worry about anything. Yes, she'll miss being with him every day, but they have their own lives and need to focus on their own things. Bella has her life and Henry has his, then when Henry graduates and Bella is on her summer break they will come together and have the life they want as one.

Just at this very moment, they need to focus on themselves and figure things out. Bella's just hoping nothing goes wrong, but she knows that will never happen. Something is bound to happen soon.

Bella's brown eyes blinked a few times when the laptop closed and she spotted Mary's face on the other side of her with Violet in Mary's arms.

"Hey," she greeted and Bella gave her a weary smile. "When was the last time you slept?"

Bella rubbed her eyes, "who needs sleep when Juilliard wants you?"

"Have you gotten shorter?" Piper jokingly asked Bella, who turned to her with a shocked look.

"Huh?!"

"I'm kidding!"

"You buttrag!" Bella tiredly groaned and Piper grinned, continuing her hat decorating.

"You need sleep, you're crankier than usual," Mary told her daughter and Bella shook her head, sitting up.

"I'm fine," Bella grumbled in response. "After this week, everything will be okay. I'll be off to Juilliard for summer classes, Henry will be doing his Kid Danger stuff and by next year we'll be together working on our wedding, which Jasper has planned already."

"Does Henry know this?" Mary asked her.

"Nope!"

"Great plan!"

"Thanks, mom!"

Mary rolled her eyes and turned around in her spot only to see Schwoz working on the Omega Weapon. Bella noticed this too and furrowed her eyebrows at the device, followed by Piper doing the same thing.

"Schwoz, what is that thing?" Piper asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing, it's just the Omega Weapon," Schwoz informed us and Bella stood up, along with Mary and Charlotte, who was hiding behind the couch.

"The one from the blueprints Ray and Henry got from all those bad guys in No Mans Land?" Charlotte questioned him.

"Longest Friends title ever," Bella chuckled.

"Yes!" Schwoz beamed.

"The one that can take away Ray's superpower?" Mary asked him, slowly getting closer to him.

"That would be an interesting episode," Bella pointed out.

"The same!" Schwoz smiled, removing his helmet.

"Why would you build that?" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Because, Ray told me I couldn't and I hate it when people tell me I can't do something," Schwoz explained.

"Hope that doesn't come back to bite us," Bella sighed, sitting back down.

"I thought he said you shouldn't build it," Piper remarked.

"Yeah, well, he shouldn't pinch my cheeks and steal my cereal every morning, but I guess we all do things we shouldn't do," Schwoz sarcastically explained, lifting a bunch of cereal boxes that were chained together.

Mary stood up with Violet when the tube alarms blared and Henry and Ray got shot down wearing Togas from Ancient Rome.

Bella smiled at the sight of seeing her fiancé's arms without any covering.

"Love this outfit choice," Bella called to him and Mary chuckled, agreeing with her.

"See eating turkey legs just makes me feel more manly," Ray mentioned, eating the turkey leg he had.

"See, that's how I feel about grilled cheese," Henry remarked to him.

"Oh, hey, Schwoz, give me some of that cereal," Ray ordered Schwoz.

"No!" Schwoz snapped, backing away as Bella approached the duo, hugging Henry.

"Hi, Princess," he softly greeted her and Bella smiled happily.

"Hey, handsome," she giggled back as Mary greeted Ray with a kiss.

"Wait," Ray paused when he noticed the Omega Weapon. "Are you building the Omega Weapon again?"

"Yes," Schwoz nodded.

"The one that could take away Ray's superpower," Henry questioned.

"As mentioned before, a great Friends title," Bella mentioned.

"The same!" Schwoz said and Henry laughed as Ray was angry with him.

"Why you keep building that?!" Ray exclaimed to him.

"Well, why do you keep pinching my cheeks and stealing my cereal every morning?!" Schwoz protested.

"Because you're so cute when you get mad," Ray grinned and Schwoz rolled his eyes. "Now, give me some of that Sweet Booty Crunch!"

"Nooo!" Schwoz cried out as Ray reached for him, but Henry, Mary, and Bella held him back as Charlotte and Piper protected Schwoz.

Eventually, after some yelling and arguing, Schwoz threatened Ray with the Omega Weapon and Mary whistled loudly.

"Stop! Stop!" She yelled and everyone slowly became quiet. "Don't wake the baby please."

"Look at him, he's so cute, look at his face," Ray laughed, pointing to Schwoz, who was giving him a glare.

"I'm not cute! You're cute!" Schwoz shot back.

"Violet's the cutest actually," Bella shrugged.

"We're all cute, okay?!" Henry exclaimed. "We're all cute!"

"Very true."

"Good looking group!"

"I'm adorable!"

"Cutest group of people I've ever seen."

The group agreed that everyone was cute and Piper noticed Ray and Henry's attire.

"Wait, why are you and Henry both dressed like half a ghost?" Piper asked the superhero duo.

"Oh, these are togas," Henry informed her. "We were fighting the Time Jerker."

"Yeah, chased him all the way to Ancient Rome," Ray continued, taking Violet into his arms. "Had some pretty good food there."

"Nice."

"We watched a bear fight a flock of turkeys," Ray added on.

"Yes, we did. The turkeys actually won," Henry told us and Bella clapped.

"Turkey supremacy," she said.

"Stumbled across some pretty good statues," Ray added and the whole group groaned loudly.

"All right, you can all roll your eyes and groan now, but when the city of Swellview finally builds me my own statue of Captain Man-"

"We will roll our eyes and groan harder," Piper interrupted and the rest of the group agreed with her.

"Considering everything I've done for this city, it's the least they can do for me," Ray protested.

"You already have your own holiday, they just opened Captain Man stadium, there are twelve streets named after you," Mary explained to her husband.

"Which makes driving very confusing," Schwoz pointed out and Bella nodded.

"Exactly!"

"Right?!"

After the bickering, Henry sighed, "anyway, captured the Time Jerker and took his new Time Ray he built."

Henry activated the Time Ray, which made it light up with a blue color.

"How does that work?" Schwoz asked.

"Same way any dark matter fluctuator does," Ray told Schwoz.

"Just point and shoot!" Henry said and blasted the Time Ray at Ray's turkey leg before he could protest about it. The turkey vanished into thin air and Mary laughed.

"Can we use that on my mom?" Mary asked Henry as the four girls and Schwoz clapped and Violet giggled.

"Okay, where'd you send it?" Ray asked his sidekick with a glare.

"Uh, too, uh, right about now," Henry said, and right then the turkey leg appeared, landing right on top of a sleeping Jasper.

"What the heck?!" Jasper groaned, sitting up and removing his headphones. "I'm trying to study! Quit throwing stuff at me."

Jasper tossed the turkey leg, which landed in Schwoz's mouth and he ran off.

"Hey! Hey! Schwoz!" Ray called out as he handed Bella, Violet and chased after Schwoz. "Give me that! Come back!"

Mary sighed and followed the two into the back.

"Hey, guys! Keep it down! I'm sleep learning!" Jasper called, removing his sleep mask. "Slearning."

Henry removed his toga crown and placed it on Bella's head, who smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked Jasper, who tossed her his phone and he walked across the couch to get to them.

"Learn to fight while you sleep and also Spanish," Charlotte read off his phone.

"Mmhm, it's a one hundred-hour audiobook that teaches you to fight while you sleep," Jasper explained, putting his phone away.

"Those books don't work," Henry scoffed walking forward toward the monitor.

"Yeah, they do," Jasper objected. "And I wanna learn to fight, so I can go on a mission with you and Ray before I head off to college."

Henry chuckled, "well, I think you have plenty of time Jasper because we don't graduate high school for another year, right guys?"

Bella slowly moved behind Jasper, who took her hand and she cleared her throat.

The other three didn't respond and just stood there awkwardly. Henry looks back at them and noticed Bella was hiding.

"Right? Guys!?" Henry repeated.

"Does he not know?" Piper whispered to us, "Bella didn't tell him?"

"Not know what? Bella didn't tell me what?" Henry asked and Bella rested her head on Jasper's back.

"Bella needs to tell him," Charlotte said and Bella peeked her head out from behind Jasper.

"Why me?"

"Tell me what?! Bella!!" Henry repeated, staring at his fiancé.

"Why do I need to tell him? Someone else do it!" Bella whined and hit Jasper's arm. "You do it!"

"I can't! I'm slearning!" Jasper quickly put his headphones back on and leaped onto the couch.

"Bella," Henry said and Bella sighed, looking at him. "What's going on?"

She took his hands and he gave her a worried look.

"Henry... we're graduating this week," Bella hesitantly informed him.

Henry smiled with shock, "what?! Haha! We did it, guys! Seniors!"

"Okay, this is just sad," Piper said and Bella sighed, taking his hands again.

"Henry!" Bella repeated and he looked at her, "we are graduating from high school, but you aren't."

"Hm?"

"But you aren't."

"Hm?!"

"I'm not saying it again," Bella said, moving away from him.

"I know you can hear her," Charlotte told Henry.

"Hm?!"

"You're just using our 'hm' thing as a defense mechanism," Charlotte remarked.

"Hm?!!"

——

"What do you mean I'm not graduating? How could I not be graduating?" Henry questioned, slowly getting irritated by the minute. Piper was eating cereal on the couch as Bella and Charlotte were trying to calm Henry down.

"You've missed too much class fighting crime over the years you don't have enough credits to graduate," Charlotte explained to him.

"I mean, honestly, when was the last time you were at school?" Piper asked her brother.

"The other day when we had that Spring Sing thing?" Henry told them and Bella rubbed her face, not believing it's been a year since Henry was at school.

"That was a year ago!" Bella told him.

"What?!" Henry gasped, "why didn't anyone tell me I'm not graduating?"

"Schools been sending you warning letters every week for a year," Piper informed him. "Did you open any?"

"No, I just tossed them aside cuz I assume they were bad news," Henry remarked, walking by the girls and a sleeping Jasper.

Bella rubbed her neck and sighed, "well good news!"

She paused when he turned to her and thought for a moment, "you still look good?"

"Yes, thank you, Airy, I know I look good, but also are you about to move away and go to college?!" Henry asked his girlfriend, worried he won't see her for a year.

Bella nodded, "yeah, I'm going to Juilliard next week to take summer classes."

"Next week? You mean I won't see you until next year?" Henry expressed with sorrow and Bella felt guilt fill her chest.

"You said you were okay with it," Bella objected. "You wanted me to go!"

"I thought you meant next year, not next week!" He exclaimed and Bella averted her eyes as Charlotte took her shoulders.

"Henry, calm down," Charlotte told Henry.

"I-" Henry sighed and turned his attention to Charlotte. "Are you going to college too?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving for Dystopia the day after we graduate," Charlotte informed him.

"You're going to college in Dystopia?" Henry asked her with disbelief.

"I'm gonna go sit down," Bella mumbled as she sat down on the couch and planted her face on the table.

"No-"

"That place is a crime-written toilet and it's on the other side of the world," Henry continued his panicked rant, not allowing Charlotte to speak. "Do you even speak Dystopian? When did you learn this?! How much have I missed?!"

"I'm taking a gap year to run a charity in Dystopia," Charlotte finally explained to him. "After that, I'm going to Harvard."

"What about Jasper? Is he going to Dystopia too?!" Henry asked

"Uh, no, he got into Harberd, which sounds like Harvard, but is a very different school," Charlotte explained to him and Henry was still very irritated and in disbelief.

Bella lifted her face and rubbed it, feeling the tiredness finally hit her.

"Henry," she said and she motioned Charlotte to leave them alone, who walked over to Piper. "Listen, you said you wanted me to go to Juilliard-"

"I thought you meant next year," he objected and Bella sighed. "Not next week."

"Henry, just listen-"

"You're leaving me?"

Bella froze when she heard those words, "what? No-"

"You're leaving?"

"If you just let me explain-"

"You don't need to explain anything, Arabella. You're leaving me."

Bella didn't get to say anything as Henry moved away from her and she was left in sorrow.

"Hey, we gotta roll!" Piper called to Charlotte and Bella, "are we all packed up for one night in the desert?"

"Yeah! You load Mary's car and Bella and I will wake up Jasper," Charlotte explained to Piper, who began to pack up our stuff.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Henry protested, "one night in the desert is an all-night party for graduating seniors."

"I'm graduating too," Piper informed, shocking Henry.

"Hm?!" He said with disbelief.

"Going to Florida State," she continued.

"Hm?!"

"Don't start!" Bella told him.

"You're my younger sister, how could you be graduating already?" Henry asked, walking past her.

"I did bad things, spent a lot of time in summer school," Piper explained. "Ended up earning enough extra credits to graduate early. Seniors!"

"Seniors!"

"Seniors!"

"Seniors!"

The four hoot and hollered as Henry shook his head, pacing around the room with stress. The back door opened and in walked Schwoz, who was playing tug a war with Mary and Ray with the turkey leg.

"Release! Release! Release!" Ray ordered Schwoz and when Violet saw her parents, she reached for them making a tiny noise with her mouth.

"Ahhh!"

Bella and Charlotte gasped at the sound Violet made and Piper covered her mouth.

"She almost said something!" Bella smiled and Mary let go of the turkey leg, gasping.

"Mary!" Ray groaned, struggling even more with Schwoz and the turkey leg.

"What?!" Mary gasped, going up to the baby girl with delight.

"Ray, I got a big problem here," Henry said, ignoring the girls.

"One thing at a time, Henry," Ray told his sidekick and picked up the Time Ray.

"Okay" Henry nodded as Ray used the Time Ray on Schwoz and he vanished.

Ray got the turkey leg back and smiled, "problem solved. Did Violet almost talk?"

"Yeah!" Bella beamed and Violet reached for her mom again, which made Mary take her into her arms again.

"She's growing up so fast," Ray smiled, tickling Violet's tummy and she giggled. Ray looked at Henry, "what's your deal?"

"My deal is everyone's graduating high school except me," Henry informed him.

"So, you don't need to graduate high school to be a sidekick," Ray shrugged, setting down his turkey leg and wiping his hands on a rag.

"I don't wanna be a sidekick for the rest of my life," Henry admitted.

"And you won't be," Ray assured him. "You can take over for me and be a full-on superhero when I retire in thirty years."

"Thirty years?!" Henry exclaimed.

"Okay, you got me, more like forty years, I'm in fantastic shape," Ray corrected, flexing his muscles.

"Dude, I don't wanna be stuck in Swellview being a sidekick for the rest of my life," Henry confessed and Bella and Mary shared a looked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were stuck in Swellview with me," Ray apologized with hurt in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't realize it either," Henry remarked. "I've been too busy down in the Man Cave for six years answering emergency calls."

Right there, an emergency call came in and Henry rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Emergency call," Charlotte said.

"See?" Henry said.

"I'll answer it," Bella offered, but Ray stopped her.

"Let it go to emergency voicemail," Ray told her, not taking his eyes off Henry. "Henry and I aren't done here yet."

"Emergency voicemail is full," Charlotte told Ray.

"Really?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, remember that girl, Mika, who saved you when Jack Frittleman trapped you inside that escape room?" Mary asked him.

"We saved her, but yes," Ray nodded.

"Well, she leaves about ten messages a day asking if she can help you guys fight crime," Charlotte explained as the group went up to the monitor and Charlotte played the voicemails Mika left.

"Hi, it's Mika, just want to let you guys know that I'm here if you need me to help fight crime!"

Charlotte played the second one.

"Hi, it's Mika again."

Third one.

"Here if you need me."

Fourth one.

"Here if you need me."

Fifth one.

"Hey, this Miles, can you call my sister back? She's losing her-"

Sixth one.

"Okay, I don't know what Miles told you."

"This is the Vice Mayor-"

Ray gasped, pointing, "oh, that's probably about my statue. Press play! Press play!"

Charlotte pressed play on the message and sat down.

"I need you and Kid Danger to come to my office right away."

Ray laughed, "ah! Haha! You hear that? He just said he's gonna give me my statue."

"He didn't say a single word about a statue," Bella told him and he scoffed.

"What else could it be about?"

"Literally anything," Charlotte stated.

Right then, Schwoz appeared back into the room and was now biting Ray's arm.

"Ahhh!" Ray cried out. "Release! Release! Release! Drop! Drop! Drop it!"

Bella's eyes wandered around until they landed on Henry and her breathing hitched.

"Henry," she quietly said. "Can we talk?"

"Bella, I don't think this is the right time," Henry sighed.

"Please," she pleaded and Henry looked at her, before sighing.

"Okay," he said and Bella leads Henry away from the group.

"I know you're stressed about this whole thing, I get it," Bella said. "But I'm not leaving you."

"Going off to college for a year seems like leaving to me," Henry remarked and Bella rolled her eyes.

"Henry, don't be ridiculous. Couples deal with this all the time," Bella told him and Henry wasn't really listening.

"And it usually ends with one of them cheating on the other."

Bella's mouth fell open and she chuckled, "are you being serious? We're literally engaged, not to mention I'm-"

Bella paused and sighed, which made Henry look at her.

"You're what?"

Bella shook her head at him, "it's nothing. I think you're overreacting about this. We'll both be focusing on different things and then by next year we'll be together again."

"Are we breaking up?!"

"No!"

Bella groaned, walking past him and the others.

"Arabella!"

Henry called out but she ignored him and the others' calls.

"I'm trying to protect you, okay?!"

Bella turned around to Henry and clenched her fists, "how many times do I have to say it? I don't need your protection?!"

"You're right! You're no damsel in distress, but you're still my girlfriend!"

Bella cried out with agony, before rushing up to her room and slamming the door shut.

Everyone turned to Henry, who was holding his head in anger and stress.

"What the heck did you say to my daughter?" Ray asked him, "you better not have broke-"

"No, no we didn't," Henry sighed as he walked by them and into the back.

"I'm gonna go check on her," Charlotte offered, but Mary stopped her.

"No, let her be alone," Mary said and Ray rubbed her shoulders. "She needs it."

Bella stood in her bedroom, holding her stomach with tears rolling down her cheeks. Her emotions have been out of wack for the last couple of days, she threw up a few times, she feels dizzy, tired, and just wants to understand why.

There was a knock on her door and Bella sniffled, wiping her tears away.

"Go away, Henry."

"It's not Henry."

Bella opened the door in a rush and saw Jasper there. Nothing was said between the two, but the tears in Bella's eyes spoke a million words. Jasper immediately embraced his best friend in his arms and allowed her to cry.

Jasper squeezed her tightly, feeling himself begin to cry as well. If Bella's hurting, then he's hurting.

"You'll be okay," Jasper assured him. "We love you. I love you."

——
~Later That Night; Desert~

Charlotte, Mary, Bella, Piper, and Jasper all went out to the desert for the one night in the desert trip. Bella was definitely not feeling up for the trip, but the girls and Jasper thought it would be good for her to get out of the environment that reminds her of Henry. She needs to get out and just have fun as a senior with her friends.

Mary was going because she worked with a few of the students from the school and was supervising as well. Violet was back in the Man Cave with the boys which worried Mary at first, but she trusts them. Mostly.

Charlotte and Piper went out to find a free cave, Jasper was slearning somewhere, and Mary and Bella were together. They were standing outside of the caves in an area where the sand storm wasn't attacking them. There was a bit of wind, but it was bearable for them.

"Don't be sad," Mary told her daughter, rubbing her back. "Henry's just stressed right now."

"So am I!" Bella exclaimed, leaning against the cave wall behind her, "I should've told him sooner. This all comes back to communication. The thing we've worked on for years, but we're both scared."

"You've done a pretty good job," Mary told her. "You're engaged, only broke up once, had like what two major fights? That's a win to me."

"It feels like I've lost though," Bella admitted and looked at her mom. "Mom, I messed up."

"It's okay."

"How do I fix it?"

"You'll figure it out, you've done it before."

Piper suddenly walked out and smiled at the two, "hey! The wind is picking up, better get inside."

Bella looked at her and Piper noticed her mood, "you need to stop worrying about my brother. He's stupid. Boys are stupid."

"They are," Mary agreed and Bella chuckled as Piper approached her.

"If there's one thing I know about my brother, is that he'll never leave you."

"Then why is he so upset about this?" Bella asked her.

"Because he's afraid of you leaving him," Piper admitted and Bella made a face.

"But, I told him, I can't leave him. I'll never leave him."

"He just thinks you are," Piper said. "When you love someone so much, it's not easy hearing that you're leaving for a year. He's just stressed right now, everything will be okay."

Mary and Piper hugged Bella, who smiled softly.

"I hope so."

——

Up Next: Captain Drex

Chapters Remaining: 3

See ya in the next chapter <3