Sorry this took so long.

Just outside the village, John Dory had his own busy schedule: spending every second of his life holding on to Hope. Not hope, the feeling, I'm talking about Hope Willow, his adorable little baby girl.

And John Dory was exhausted.

“Hope, honey, please stop crying," he groaned as she bawled. “I tried feeding you, I changed you, gave you a bath... What more could you need?"

Don't get me wrong, John Dory loved Hope more than anything, especially since he lost four babies before he finally had her, but having a baby of his own wasn't quite the same thing as four little brothers. Parenting is really, really, really hard (As mom to a little Pop princess, I speak from a lot of experience).

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“If it's the children's fund, I already got my own kid to look out for!" John Dory hollered to whoever was knocking on Rhonda's door.

“I can tell," the knocker responded. John Dory opened the door, and Bruce was standing right outside with a look of concern on his face.

“What do you want?"

“I came to check up on you," Bruce answered. “Actually, Brandy was the one who suggested I did."

“Tell her I'm great," John Dory said, but the bags under his eyes and frizzy hair were a dead giveaway.

“I'm not just gonna lie to my wife," Bruce pointed out as he let himself inside. “You look like you haven't slept in three days."

John Dory laughed. “Not true. I only haven't slept in two days! So... suck on that!"

With Hope's cries growing louder, John Dory's laughter gradually turned into depressing sobs.

“Here, let me see her," Bruce said, taking the baby from his hesitant brother's arms. “Hi there, little Hope. Are you sleepy?"

As her uncle rocked her and shushed her, Hope slowly fell silent and was asleep within moments. Bruce looked up and noticed John Dory glaring at her.

“What?"

“Show-off," John Dory grumbled.

“It wasn't easy for me, either," Bruce admitted, remembering when his first three boys were brought into the world. “Just remember you're not alone in this. You need anything? Just let me know."

“Thanks, but I can figure this out," John Dory insisted, carefully taking Hope back. “I'm her father, I should be the one to do this."

“Is this because of Mom and Dad?"

John Dory raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. “What are you talking about?"

“Never mind," Bruce replied, realizing he crossed a line. “Forget I said anything."

“No, no, no, no," John Dory argued. “You're saying something. I wanna know what."

Bruce sighed in frustration. “Look, John. We both know our own parents weren't really around, though Mom was more emotionally absent. And it all led to you being the one to look after us. You seem to have developed the impulsive need to take care of everything yourself. Kinda like how even after I quit the band, I still felt like I had to maintain this perfect body that y– Well, I had for half my adolescence."

“You can say it," John Dory grumbled. “I forced you to look like that."

“The point is, you don't need to do all this yourself anymore," Bruce said. “Plus, you still saved me from that eating disorder almost thirty years ago. Let me help you this time."

“I'm Hope's father, Bruce," John Dory said. “I want her to know I love her and I'll protect her and... make sure she doesn't end up the way I did."

It pained Bruce to see his big brother this way. Before he could say anything else, however, in the corner of his eye, he noticed a flicker of silver light speeding across the evening sky.

“What is that...?"

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“Wow, the ‘L' word," Trollex said to Synth. “Pretty big step, dude. Sure you're ready for that?"

“I-I think so," Synth replied. “I am a little nervous, though. Last girl I wanted to say ‘I love you' to, she... I, um..."

“It didn't work out?" Trollex finished for him. Synth nodded with a pained look in his eyes. “I'm sorry. But... that doesn't mean it won't work now. This time could be different."

“Yeah, you're most likely right," Synth agreed. “As of right now, things are way different. Viva's tough, brave, spunky, and really came out of her shell since we saved Floyd. She could be the one."

“Yeah, you just need to let her know that!" Trollex encouraged him. “March right up to Viva, and say, ‘Baby, I dig you!"

“Yeah! I'm gonna do it!" Synth shouted as he swam outside. “Look out, Vivita! Here comes–"

Suddenly, something huge, bright and silver dove into the water, and in a flash and a cloud of sand, Trollex noticed a massive figure swimming up to the surface with Synth trapped in his clenched fist!

“SYNTH!" Trollex exclaimed, and swam after them as fast as his fins could take him.

Synth screamed in horror as his abductor flew out of the water and headed towards the sky. Just before he could make it past the trees, the rest of the Trolls noticed and Willow unleashed a blast of electricity at him. The abductor wasn't fazed, but Willow distracted him long enough for him to crash into a tree and drop Synth.

“What the huh?!" Clay shouted as Synth's attacker recollected himself. He strongly resembled a Mount Rageon, but his skin was a shiny silver and he had golden eyes and matching swept back hair. Instead of an oversized jumpsuit, he wore gold and steel armor with a strange symbol on the chest, almost resembling a star-shaped flower.

“Where did you go, herring?!" the abductor yelled. Synth, meanwhile, fell from one tree branch to another before Viva finally caught him. With no further explanation, she pulled him away to find a safe place to hide him. The Rageon noticed Willow hovering up to his altitude, her eyes, hands, and wings glowing a bright white light.

“On the ground!" she warned with a growl. The abductor just yelled at her, so Willow let out a powerful blast of hot energy and struck him in the face. The stranger fell from the tree and landed on his back.

“Is he dead?" John Dory wondered as he and Bruce ran up to the scene of the attack. Willow flew down to get a good look for herself and the first thing she noticed was his face, minus some dirt, completely unharmed.

What the...

Suddenly, the Rageon had his eyes wide open, extended his hand towards Willow, and attempted to blast her with the same energy. Willow quickly conjured a force field to shield it, but was still shoved through the dirt and into some toadstools.

Bruce gulped in worry as Hope began crying again. “I think we're in trouble."

I felt the urge to have JD sing to Hope, but I couldn't think of a song that matched this scenario.

I'll try to update as soon as I can.