Warning: This chapter mentions child abuse.

Under a beautiful star-filled sky, Callisto stared at the full Moon.

“Hello again, my dear father," she said. “I just wanted to let you know you and the Sun... have failed! When the eclipse comes, the Light my darling Sol once carried will finally be destroyed by the Black Rock's power, which I shall return to myself, and I will once again rule this world. As for their two current hosts... To ensure that the Trolls' kindness and warmth doesn't interfere, I have set a plan into motion that will seal all their fates."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Ari," Baby Bun said, “you chose the perfect place to have our picnic."

“Thanks, I'm glad you think so!" she replied, blushing. “Tell you one thing, it wasn't easy finding this place. I found a much nicer place, but it was too close to this abandoned orphanage."

“Abandoned orphanage?" Gomdori asked curiously.

“Yeah, just talking about it gives me the creeps," Ari said. “It looked like no one had been there in years."

“That does sound creepy," Wani admitted. “Let's go check it out!"

“What?! Why?!" Kim-Petit exclaimed.

“Come on, girls! It'll be an adventure!" Wani insisted. After some persuasion, all five K-Pop Trolls agreed to go to the abandoned building.

“How do you know it's an orphanage?" Gomdori asked Ari.

“Up there," she answered, pointing to a sign above the gate that said “Miss Genevieve's Home For Orphaned Girls" in faded letters. The gate itself was already opened partway.

“Let's go in," Wani said, heading inside.

“Wani, wait!" Baby Bun pleaded as everyone went inside. “Wani, are you not the least bit concerned that this place might be haunted?"

“Your friend has a point," a voice agreed.

“Who said that?!" Ari asked nervously.

“IT WAS... me," a cloud answered, emerging from a chimney. “Hey, guys. How's it going?"

“Hi," Gomdori greeted as Kim-Petit waved. “Is this place really haunted?"

“I don't know for certain," Cloud Guy answered, “but I have heard stories. The old caretaker of this place got married, and her husband convinced her to leave the poor orphans all alone. No one knows what happened to them after that, but it's been said you can still hear their cries."

“Okay, we're leaving now!" Baby Bun decided. “Wani, let's g– Wani?"

“She must've got scared," Gomdori figured.

“Doubt it, she doesn't get scared easily," Ari pointed out. “But where did she go?"

After hearing Cloud Guy's ghost story, Wani became more curious than before. Holding a picnic basket, she ran inside the building and began her search.

“Hello? Little orphan girls?" she called out. She accidentally stepped on something, and felt a slight pain in her foot. She noticed she had stepped on a broken music box and her heel was bleeding a little. Wani pulled out a band-aid from her hair and stuck it on her wound. She stepped over the music box and continued her search.

Wani was so focused on exploring the orphanage, she didn't notice someone following her, who stopped to pull out the box's cylinder.

“Hello?" Wani called out again, going downstairs to the basement. “Any ghosts of orphans here? Any ghosts of anyone here? Is anyone at all here, living or dead?"

“I'm here," a familiar voice answered. Wani turned around to find Pow right behind her.

“What are you doing here?" Wani asked angrily. Despite knowing what happened, this was the first time she had seen the former Party Crasher since she took the Black Rock.

“A friend of mine told me there were suspicious things going on," she replied.

“Friend? Actually, Pow, I've heard a rumor that your friend is actually–"

“You don't belong here!" Pow shouted, her teeth clenched as she held the sun blade up to Wani's throat. Wani just grabbed Pow's wrist with her hair and pulled her close, causing her to drop the sword.

“I'm curious," said Wani, “are you fighting me, or are you fighting yourself?"

“Pretty sure it's you!" Pow growled, using a dagger to cut Wani's blue hair. She grabbed the sun blade and prepared to rip the Troll apart. Wani slid down on the floor, tripped Pow, causing her to drop the sun blade, and grabbed it herself.

“Please, can't we just talk about this?" Wani asked. Pow thought about this for a second, but decided against it and attacked Wani with a giant dagger. Suddenly, the ground beneath them crumbled and they found themselves falling into a mine cart deep underground.

“Why, you little..." Pow snarled. But before she could do anything, the cart began rolling down a track and deeper into some sort of underground cave. “What is this place?!"

“Worry about that later!" Wani shouted. “Right now, let's just... Duck!"

Wani and Pow ducked just before they could get hit by a giant stalactite. They held on until the track ended, and they were thrown out once the cart came to a stop. Wani grabbed her picnic basket and approached the tunnel they came in from. It all looked rather unstable, but as long as nothing else happened, everything would be fine.

But that was not the case.

“No, wait!" Wani pleaded as Pow approached her and raised giant daggers to drive her away, but that just caused their only exit to cave in. “And now, we're stuck. Underground. And no one knows where we are."

“Perfect," Pow said sarcastically. “Locked in here, alone with some Troll."

“My name is Wani," she pointed out. Suddenly, they heard a growl coming from a massive pit. They looked down to see what was inside. “And maybe not that alone..."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“This is not good!" Gomdori said nervously. They had just watched the old orphanage collapse, and all that remained was rubble and a giant dagger.

“What happened?!" Ari wondered nervously as Kim-Petit sobbed. “Is she dead?! Did she die?!"

“I don't know," Baby Bun replied. “but we're not gonna find out just standing here. There's got to be another way down there."

“But how are we going to find one?" Gomdori asked.

“First, we'll need some help," Baby Bun decided. “Gomdori, go see if Branch can help. We could use his tracking skills. Kim-Petit, Ari, you go look for the Reggaeton Trolls. The more eyes, the better. I'll stay here in case something happens."

“I wanna go see if Branch can help!" Ari whined.

“Forget it," Gomdori replied. “You'll be so focused on him, you'll forget what to say."

“Well, you got me there."

❤️☀️🧡🌙💛☀️💚🌙💙☀️💜🌙

Deep underground, Wani and Pow were trying to move the rocks blocking the way out, but to no avail. They were stuck, and the only light available was some bioluminescent mushrooms.

“Look, Pow," Wani said, “I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but maybe we'll have a better chance of getting out of here if we work together. So... Truce? Temporary truce? Teeny weeny, itsy bitsy, temporary truce?"

Pow wasn't interested. “I don't need your help," she said, using the daggers to try to push the rocks out of the way.

“Pow, stop!" Wani pleaded. “You could cause a cave in! And your daggers made rifts in the floor, which are apparently leaking toxic gas. Fantastic."

“Nothing good comes out of a rift, huh?" Pow said. Wani shook her head, and the two of them searched for a way out. Pow found some bugs flying up a tunnel. Whatever was up there couldn't be worse than what was going on down there. Wani found her climbing up the tunnel and ran up to her.

“Pow, don't you think we'll improve our odds if we stick together?" Wani suggested, but Pow just pointed the sun blade towards her.

“I don't care," she said. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going in this direction, and you're going to go... anywhere else."

As Pow continued her climb, Wani looked around the cavern, and saw all the mushrooms dead and shriveled because of the gas.

“Yeah... ‘Anywhere else' isn't really working for me," she said to herself, and followed Pow.

At the top, Pow found more cave, and a giant pit right in the middle. Suddenly, she heard loud snoring, and turned around to find a giant, pink mole sleeping nearby. She backed away nervously, but accidentally slipped and fell into the pit. But then, she stopped halfway. Pow noticed cyan hair wrapped around her waist, and looked up to find Wani holding onto her.

“Pow," she said, pulling her up, “you gotta watch where you st–"

“Shh!" Pow shushed her, pointing up. Wani noticed the bats sleeping on the ceiling.

Suddenly, they felt a rumble. The mole was waking up! Wani held out her hand and, although hesitant, Pow grabbed it. Unfortunately, as Wani pulled her up, Pow accidentally dropped the music box cylinder, causing it to play a gentle tune, but loud enough for the mole to hear. The mole roared angrily at the trespassers, waking up the bats, who flew down and swarmed them.

“They're drawn to the sound!" Wani shouted, trying to hit the bats with her hair. “Shut that music box off!"

“I am otherwise engaged!" Pow pointed out, slashing at the bats with the sun blade. Wani tried to grab the cylinder, but a bat knocked it out of her reach.

“You know," said Pow, “for being blind, these guys are pretty good at finding us!"

“Well, technically, bats aren't actually blind," Wani corrected. She grabbed the cylinder with her hair and put it in her basket.

“Hey, handsome! Over here!" Pow shouted at the mole, luring him towards the pit. Once he was close enough, she grabbed a bat's feet, it carried her above the hole, and the overconfident mole jumped up to her, and ended up falling into the pit. Pow let go and fell next to Wani. “If these guys can see, can you light your hair up?"

Wani nodded and made her hair glow. The bats couldn't stand the bright light, and flew away.

“We should get out of here before their eyes adjust," she said.

“I think they already have," Pow replied, looking up to find them coming back. She looked around and found a small door. “Come on, in here!"

Pow kicked the door open and Wani closed it behind her once they were inside. One bat's wing got jammed in, but Wani pushed it out for him.

“Phew! Glad that's over!" she sighed in relief. “Smart move on that mole, by the way."

Pow groaned. “Okay, fine!"

“Fine, what?"

“Temporary truce," she said, holding her hand out. “Just until we get out of here."

“I have one more condition," Wani replied.

“Let me guess, I have to be nice to you."

“That's not what I was going to say," Wani argued. “Okay, that is what I was going to say. But please, don't be mean to me."

Despite being annoyed by this Troll, Pow shook her hand and they looked around the room together, Wani lighting a torch with two stones. Hopefully, they'll find a way out soon and they won't have to speak to each other again.

“What is all this?" Pow wondered. There were potions and elixers on a cabinet, and on the walls were black mirrors, big and small. Whoever lived here must've been really vain. It looked like one was missing, though.

“Pow, look!" Wani whispered. She tapped on the glass and it showed something strange.

“Ssssssssson, what have you done? You've murdered all of your ssssssssssubjects!"

“Who caresssssssss?! I've never felt more powerful in all my life! And ssssssssoon, I will have your power, and Mother'sssssssss, too!"

“No! Darling! Pleasssssssse!"

Both girls could still hear the Queen Rattlecobra screaming as the image faded. Wani backed away nervously and knocked over a vial, which began oozing a green liquid.

“What was that?" Wani asked, terrified. Curious, Pow did it again to another mirror.

“Morpho, he's so cute!"

“Yeah, it's not like you're baby brother is more loved than you are because he's now next in line for your throne."

“What did you say?"

“You'll see..."

“Magic mirrors," Pow realized as they played some more.

“Looks like these can trap images and play them back," Wani replied. “Kind of like a video camera. This must be how Callisto looks at everyone who has been under her curse."

While Wani threw the torch in a fireplace, Pow played another mirror. This time, she saw a young Pop Troll, about six or seven years old. She had black streaks in her purple hair, and giant purple eyes.

“WILLOW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

“I'm just shaking my snow globes, Mommy."

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO MAKE US DINNER!"

“You did, but–"

“THEN DO IT, OR IT'S THE PEPPER AGAIN!"

“Yes, Mommy."

Pow felt a tear fall as the image faded.

“Poor Willow," Wani said. “What kind of mother treats her daughter like that?"

“I wouldn't know, I don't have a mother," Pow admitted. “Or, at least, I did, until she dumped me at that orphanage."

“That must've been hard," Wani said. “But, you know, you don't have to suffer alone. Willow felt unloved herself, but she ended up finding friends who care about her, and a girlfriend who loves her. I'm sure you have people who care about you, too. And Bash does love you, he just doesn't know how to say it out loud."

Pow looked down in thought. Neither of them noticed Callisto stuffing a handheld mirror into Wani's picnic basket before hiding in the shadows.

“Pow, these guys all gave in to their own inner demons, and let Darkness consume their souls, Wani explained. “Do you really want that to continue happening to you? You and Willow have something in common. Something that no one, not even I, can ever truly understand."

“Wani!" Pow exclaimed. Suddenly, the green liquid oozed its way to the fire, and created a trail of green flames to the cabinet. The other potions began boiling. “Watch out!"

With quick thinking, Pow used the daggers to push her away as the cabinet exploded! Suddenly, the floor cracked and more gas seeped out.

“The gas!" Wani gasped.

“Please tell me that gas isn't also flammable," Pow muttered, right before the entire room was set on fire.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Listen up, maggots!" Baby Bun announced, dressed as a drill sergeant. Branch, the Reggaeton Trolls, and the remaining K-Pop Gang stood in front of her. “Your mission: Search for Wani. Blue hair, dark eyes, purple nose. This building collapsed while she was inside, but may very well be still alive underground. We just need to find another way in."

“Well," said Branch, “the good news right underneath us is an old mine with multiple entrance tunnels. The bad news is they were all sealed up years ago because of bats, giant moles, and underneath were air pockets full of deadly neurotoxins. Many people died on the job. And since the implosion was caused by daggers, Pow's down there, too. So we should keep an eye out for her. Each of you will take a copy of the map, and we'll split up into different directions."

“How could anyone split from you?" Ari said flirtatiously.

“He has a girlfriend," Tresillo pointed out.

“I know!"

“Okay," Baby Bun continued. “Reggaeton girls, you'll check out the North entrances. Ari, Gomdori, go South. Kim-Petit, Tresillo, you'll check the East. Branch and I will search in the West. We'll each carry walkie talkies so one of us can tell the rest we found our friend. Hopefully, we'll find her before something terrible happens to her."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I don't believe this," Wani groaned as the cave began burning up. “Moles, bats, gas... And now, fire?!"

“Maybe if you stop complaining, we can find a way out of here," Pow figured.

“Looks like the bats already found one," Wani said, looking through the now damaged door to find all of the bats flying through the mole hole. “They must know a way out of the cave down there."

“Maybe," Pow said, “but the problem with the mole hole is that there is a whole mole in it! Remember?!"

“I know, but it may be our best chance," Wani replied. She spotted another mine cart and helped Pow in. “All ashore that's going ashore!"

“How do you expect this thing to go anywhere?" Pow asked.

“Maybe someone could shoot a dagger out of the floor and push it?" Wani suggested. “That someone would be–"

“Me! I get it!" Pow spat. “I thought you said more daggers would cause a cave in!"

“Could cause a cave in," Wani corrected. “I said ‘could.'"

Pow groaned. “This is a bad idea."

Suddenly, the roof began to collapse. They had to get out of there, fast!

“Pow, now!"

Without hesitation, Pow shot a dagger out from the floor, pushing the cart out of the room, bursting through the door and into the hole. They found themselves going down another tunnel, and Pow knocked away any bats that blocked their path with the sun blade, without killing them.

“Uh-oh," Pow muttered as the mole dug his way in, blocking most of their path. Wani leaned the cart over, forcing it to go past the mole, but he just ran after them. “He's gaining on us!"

“I think that's your department!" Wani pointed out. Pow created a wall of daggers to block him. With nowhere else to go, he just turned around and went the other way. “Nice move!"

“Thanks!" Pow replied. Suddenly, they noticed they were reaching a dead end, but the cart wasn't stopping! With quick thinking, Pow sprouted a dagger from the ceiling and Wani grabbed it with her hair, holding hands with Pow as she pulled them out of the cart, which then slammed into a rock. Wani's basket was launched into the air, and landed with the cylinder and the mirror falling out.

“That was insane!" Wani said as they both laughed. “But just a few more daggers, and we can break free from this cave once and for all. Gotta say, though, we make a pretty good team. Keep this up, and we just might make you an honorary member of the K-Pop Gang."

Pow stopped listening once she noticed the mirror on the ground. It was missing a piece, but the exact same shape as the silhouette of...

“The missing mirror," she gasped. “You took it?"

“What?! No, I didn't!" Wani insisted. “I have no idea how that got in my basket!"

Curious about who it was for, Pow tapped on the glass and it played an image.

“So, the girl with the gap in her teeth, is that your girlfriend?" Wani asked Bash curiously.

“What, Pow?!" he exclaimed. “Where would you get such a crazy idea?!"

“Well, I assumed, since you say a lot of nice things to her–"

“Yeah, because we're close."

Wani smirked. “How close?"

“Look, we are just friends," Bash insisted, growling at the K-Pop Troll. “Don't try to convince me otherwise!"

“Bash, what are we gonna do about all of these other Trolls?" Pow wondered, gesturing to the bounty hunters.

“We can't risk anyone finding out what happened here," Bash declared. “They're all coming with us."

Heartbroken by Bash's words, Pow looked up at Wani in shock.

“Pow," Wani said, “I have never seen that."

“Really?" Pow replied in disbelief. “The mirror that showed Bash telling you how he really feels about me, and it just happens to wind up in your basket?!"

Wani didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure how to explain it. But for Pow, her silence was enough.

“Out of my way," she snarled, pushing Wani aside.

“Pow..."

Using the daggers to open up the cave, Pow stepped outside and took one last look at the K-Pop Troll.

“Goodbye, Wani."

“What?! No!" Wani shouted, but it was too late. Pow lowered the daggers and sealed the exit back up. “Please! No! Pow!"

It pained Pow to leave her in there, but she felt so betrayed, she ignored Wani's cries for help.

In the cave, Wani fell to her knees and sobbed. Suddenly, she noticed more poisonous gas. Desperate to survive, she held her breath and attempted to push the rocks out of the way, but Wani got too tired and collapsed.

“Guys, we found her! Repeat, we have found her! Coordinates, 32°N, -16°W! Over!"

“Wani! Wani!" a familiar voice called out from outside. It was Baby Bun! She and Branch were moving some rocks aside as an attempt to get in. But many of them were either stuck or too big. With the little strength she had left, Wani pointed to the music box cylinder, which was too far for her to reach herself, before fully passing out.

“What now?" Branch asked. Baby Bun grabbed the cylinder with her hair, turned the key, and threw it back in. She had a feeling that's what Wani wanted her to do. Suddenly, they felt the ground shake and noticed the giant mole headed straight towards the cave exit!

“Grab her!" Baby Bun shouted. Branch used his hair to hold Wani up to where the mole couldn't reach as he knocked down all the rocks. Unable to stand the sunlight, the mole retreated back into the mine and dug deeper underground. The rest of the group ran up to them.

“Baby Bun! Branch! You're alright!" Marimba said in relief.

“But what about Wani?" Gomdori asked nervously. “Is she okay?!"

“I'm not sure," Branch replied. “She took in a lot of neurotoxin."

Everyone circled around Wani's lifeless body, waiting for any movement. When nothing happened, they just began to walk away, feeling sad.

But then, they heard a cough.

“Did I... miss anything?" Wani asked.

“Wani!" shouted the rest of the K-Pop Gang in delight, hugging her.

“Don't you scare us like that again!" Ari said, a little angry, but mostly relieved.

“I know, I'm sorry," Wani apologized. “I shouldn't have gone inside."

“Well, what matters is you're safe now," Tresillo pointed out, helping her up. Despite their differences, he was happy to see her okay.

“Did Pow hurt you?" Branch asked with concern.

“Actually, uh, I think I hurt her," Wani admitted. “I don't know how, but I did. But I think it has something to do with Callisto."

“Wani, Callisto returning to Earth is just a rumor," Baby Bun pointed out. “It can't be true."

“After what we heard from Barb, it may be," Branch replied. “She's most likely manipulating Pow into doing her dirty work by messing with her brain. That's why Willow thinks she can be saved."

“Do you think she can be?" Tambora asked.

“I, uh– I don't know," Branch admitted. “But I will do whatever it takes to protect the world, and my family, from Callisto."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

At Pow's Fortress, Callisto held onto the missing piece of the mirror with a satisfied smirk. She turned around to notice Pow entering the room.

“You were right," she admitted. “Bash never loved me, and the Trolls tried to trick me into thinking he did."

“You poor thing," Callisto said with false sympathy. “But now, you know. And that knowledge will only make you stronger."

As Pow broke down in tears while looking out the tower balcony, Callisto tossed the mirror shard out a window, just as it played one last image before landing in the snow.

“Bash, what were you talking about with the blue-haired one?" Pow asked.

“Nothing!" Bash lied. “There are rules to war, Pow. The number one rule: don't get along with the enemy."

“Wise words from a wise leader," Pow praised.

“Everyone, follow the rocks!" Bash ordered, but stayed in place while everyone else set off. “When this is over, I'll tell her how much I love her."

Well, it may take a while for me to figure out what to do about the next chapter. But I'll tell you this much: Barb cannot keep a secret.

Until next time. 🌈