This isn't how I normally do this, but I'm going put the author's note up here this time.

After this chapter, things won't be quite as eventful right away, but there will be problems in need of fixing until the next big thing comes around.

And I just remembered in TTBGO, there was a landmark in Pop Village called the Black Rock. So I probably should've called the gem something else...

Enjoy!

That evening, the ten Trolls gathered around to enjoy the one night they would get to spend at Callisto's Sanctuary.

"Marshmallows remind me of going camping with my dad. I could eat 'em all night long!" Willow said as they roasted them over a fire. Unfortunately, hers immediately caught fire and she stared at it sadly. "Of course, he did make me cough 'em back up again for breakfast."

Eating Willow's burnt marshmallow, Barb decided to share her own memory. "When Ash and I were little, Dad would take us to this cool cavern underneath Volcano Rock City, and these crystals would pop out of the ground."

"Yeah, we liked to see who could catch the most in two minutes," Ash added. "I don't like to brag, but having ears this big does have its advantages."

"I remember taking Gary on his first supply run," Branch shared. Everyone just raised their eyebrows at him. "What? It was important to me!"

"Who's Gary?" Prince D whispered to Cooper.

"He's the remote Branch has a weird relationship with!" Cooper answered out loud. Branch just grumbled.

"I almost feel sorry for him," Midnight muttered to Brawl.

"What do you think will happen after I destroy the Black Rock?" Willow asked her friends. "Just out of curiosity."

"Well, these daggers would probably go away," Poppy figured.

"Of course," Midnight replied. "Everything tainted by Callisto's curse will vanish so the Earth will be able to heal. Everyone will be able to live freely."

"For an Emo, you're awfully optimistic," Barb pointed out. "Even with all those scary visions."

"Eh, I do what I want," he said, shrugging. "Besides, I'll probably lose my power once the curse is broken."

"Too bad," Poppy said. "It'd be nice to have a Troll who can sense upcoming events around."

"I can only see what happens with the Black Rock," Midnight pointed out. "I heard of some Trolls called Stargazers, they have visions in their dreams, which usually have very little to do with the Sun and Moon. But that gift is very rare."

"I don't think we should worry about what happens in the future," Branch said. "No matter what we do, something will always go wrong. We just need to find a way to make it right when it happens."

"What makes you think something's gonna go wrong?" Cooper wondered.

"I'm just saying, something always goes wrong," Branch replied. "If we know about it and try to keep it from happening, we sometimes end up causing it to happen. Right, Poppy?"

"Did you have to bring that up?" Poppy muttered. Branch just smirked and tapped her on the nose.

"Well, I'm gonna crash," Barb yawned. "If that gateway opens when the Moon's high and bright, I'm gonna wake up, watch Willow destroy it, and go back to sleep. Or, at least, that's what I did during that meteor shower."

"I'll stay up a little longer with Willow," Ash decided, only to find her girlfriend gone. "Wait, where's Willow?"

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Branch found the young Pop Troll sitting on the edge of a cliff, staring at her hands as they let out a few snowflakes. He knew something was up with her, so he sat down next to Willow and opened two bottles.

"Crazy, isn't it?" he said casually. Willow turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "This Gigglefruit juice. Ever had it?"

"Of course, it's my fourth favorite juice," she replied, taking a sip from one of the bottles. "Behind stoutberry, fluffleberry, and mango. But Gigglefruit's always the best choice for washing away your anxiety."

"Really?" Branch said curiously. "And what could you be anxious about?"

Willow sighed in defeat. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I don't know, I don't like keeping things from Poppy," Branch answered. "Besides, what about Ash?"

"She knows."

Branch was confused. "Knows what?"

Willow took a deep breath. "When Midnight told me about the prophecy, he said this Light in me will destroy itself once I destroy the Black Rock. I don't know for sure, but it's possible that..."

Branch nodded in understanding. "I can see how that makes you anxious. All your dreams could be lost forever, and you'll be forced to leave the Trolls you love."

"Yeah, but I have to take that risk," Willow said. "If I don't, we'll all end up suffering. I can't imagine that happening to anyone. I won't let it."

Suddenly, they heard ear-piercing screeching sounds. Forgetting all about her anxiety, Willow opened up her wings and flew towards the desperate cries. Branch ran as fast as he could to follow her, and they found most of the Hippogriff colony lying on the ground in pain.

"What happened to them?" Willow wondered, in shock over what she was seeing. One of Starclaw's beautiful, pink and purple wings was now orange and crippled.

"Let's see," Branch said quietly. "No fatalities, but some of them have broken bones, and they're all covered in some sort of paint. If I had to guess, I'd say they were shot at by a paint ball gun. Will, why don't you get some water, and we can- Willow?"

Branch couldn't believe it. Willow ran off again! He felt something under his foot and found a piece of paper on the ground. Curious, Branch bent down to grab the sheet and read it.

Dear Willow,

Be at the highest room in the tallest tower before midnight.

Come alone, and don't think about using magic.

Otherwise, you will never see your princess again.

Love, your cousin-in-law, Bash💥

"Branchifer?" Poppy called out. "What happened to the Hippogriffs?"

Branch didn't answer, he just felt his blood boil as he clenched his fists.

The strange silence worried Poppy. "Honey, you okay?"

As she grabbed his arm, Poppy noticed something glowing underneath her hand. She pulled away to find a strange, but rather familiar mark on Branch's skin, and more began appearing.

"Stay here, don't move," he ordered, ripping up the note as the wind took the pieces away.

"Hey, you're not the boss of-" Before Poppy could finish her sentence, Branch had already began running off to the castle. Poppy tried to keep up, but he was way faster than normal. She couldn't understand it.

"Someone's got relationship issues!" Cooper shouted. Poppy turned around to find the rest of the group watching her.

"Not cool, man," Riff muttered, taking a look at Starclaw.

❤️☀️🧡🌙💛☀️💚🌙💙☀️💜🌙

"Bash, what did you do with Flower?!" Willow spat. The Party Crashers had her taped to the wall with her hands above her head. "Oh, put that paint gun down, Slamm-Oh. That doesn't scare me!"

Before she could say anything else, the bulking Party Crasher fired a paint ball on the wall next to her torso.

"That does."

"I gotta say, you look good, cuz," Bash admitted. "Last I saw you, your hair was black and purple. Now, look at you. You're a walking rainbow snowcone."

"How did you guys even get across the ravine?!"

"After one of our scouts sent us flying, we decided to learn from our experiences," Bash explained. "So, Crackle and Rocket built us a catapult and we used it to 'fly' across. Starting with your little spies."

With a snap of his fingers, Bash had Pow, Slink, Chomp, Smack, and Bam bring over eleven Trolls tied up in ribbons with gift bags over their heads, and pulled the bags off, revealing all of the bounty hunters. And Chaz looked the worst, his nose was covered in bandages!

"Jeez, what happened to you?" Willow asked. Chaz didn't answer, he just gave her a rotten look.

"Same thing that'll happen to you, if you don't help me get what I want," Bash answered.

"I don't even know where the gateway is!" Willow insisted. Slamm-Oh fired another paint ball next to her head. "But maybe I can find it."

"Well," Pow said, "then you better start finding it, or you're gonna get it! Hehe."

What are you doing?! Willow's brain shouted. These guys have no control over you! You didn't come this far just to chicken out!

"What is happening?" Dickory whispered. Hickory just shrugged.

Pow was stuped by the sudden silence. She waved her hand over Willow's face and said, "Hello-o! Anyone home?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," Willow answered. "And you can forget it. I don't care if you do drown me in paint, I'm not taking you to the gateway!"

Slamm-Oh prepared the gun again, but Bash waved him off.

"Hold your fire," he said, and approached Willow. "Oh, you don't have to worry. Even if you don't take me, I won't give you a paint job."

"You won't?!" said a few of them in unison. Bash, then let out a slight smug grin. They all knew that meant a twist was coming.

"Her, on the other hand..." he said coyly. Bash held up one last gift bag, and pulled out little Flower by the hair. She tried punching him, but his face was out of reach for her tiny arms. "Slamm-Oh?"

Willow gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Are you still willing to risk it?" Bash asked as the paint gun was held at the back of Flower's neck.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Branch! Willow!" the rest of the group shouted. They had to find their friends before the moon reached its apex.

"Maybe Willow already went to look for the gateway," Barb assumed.

"Without saying goodbye to us?" Ash wondered. "She'd never do that. Besides, she didn't take the sun blade with her. And where did Branch run off to?"

"I saw him climbing up the tallest tower," Prince D answered. "A little light shone through the windows of the highest room. He must be looking for Willow."

"But why would she go look for the gateway without us?" Poppy asked.

"Only one way to find out," Midnight said. "We follow the Light's glow."

"Hey, Barb?" Riff called out. Everyone turned to find him covered in colorful paint. "I got most of the paint off the Hippogriffs, even though it stained their feathers."

"They can molt, it's you I'm worried about," Barb laughed.

"Yeah, I should've brought a change of clothes," he admitted. "A lot of them are hurt really bad, and are in desperate need of treatment."

"Head to Pop Village and find a Troll named Milton Moss, he'll know what to do," Poppy said. Riff nodded and headed for his motorbug, only to find the wings clipped. Starclaw noticed and called out for an uninjured Hippogriff.

"Oh, hey," Riff said to the Hippogriff, who bowed so he could climb onto her back. "Thanks, dude. I mean, lady. Or ma'am. I'm bad at this."

Once Riff was on her back, the yellow and blue creature flew off into the night.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Willow looked up at the night sky. The Moon was reaching its apex, and she still couldn't find the gateway. But she had to, or Flower would pay the price.

"I saw the Black Rock through a wall in the main hall," Willow explained. "Maybe we should check it out down there."

"With all your friends crawling around?" Bash said. "I think not."

"What part of the castle was it in?" Pow asked curiously.

"Well, let's see," Willow muttered, scanning around the tower. "If that is that... and that is here... Right below us, I think."

Suddenly, they all felt the roof open up beneath their feet and backed up to the rim. Wani nervously grabbed Tresillo's hand as daggers sprouted from the walls, creating a staircase. Everyone glanced downward to find the Black Rock in its resting place.

"Is that a ring?" Slamm-Oh wondered.

"At least it's not The Ring," Willow joked. The Party Crashers just stared at her in confusion. "You know, The Ring. Creepy girl crawling out of the TV? It was a horror movie. Everyone knows about it!"

Bash glared at her and pointed towards the staircase.

"Ugh, you damn gremlins with your music," she muttered, headed down.

"Pow, Slamm-Oh, bring the kid," Bash ordered as he followed Willow down the stairs. "The rest of you, keep an eye on the prisoners."

"Sure thing, Bash," Smack agreed as the three Party Crashers followed Willow down the stairwell. Pow held Flower and Slamm-Oh held his paint ball gun.

"Wiwwow, I'm afwaid," Flower whimpered.

"Yeah, me too," Willow admitted. "It'll be okay, though. When we're done with this, we'll get back to your mom and daaaaa..."

Willow trailed off at the sight of the glittering stone ahead. The staircase ended at the invisible wall, but the Black Rock rested on a crystal pedestal in the middle of a pit filled with daggers. The Party Crashers gaped at what they were witnessing.

"Well done, cuz," Bash praised, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You finally made it."

With Bash's hand on her sleeveless arm, Willow turned on her empathic abilities and sensed his emotions. Only a heart burning with hate could survive holding the Black Rock, and to Willow's surprise, she couldn't even feel a simmer.

"Why do you even want the Black Rock?" she asked curiously. "Do you even know what it is?"

"No, but I've heard it's pretty powerful," Bash answered. "And with it, we'd be unstoppable."

"Undefeated, suckers!" Slamm-Oh laughed, firing his paint gun into the sky. Only for the paint to fall back down to earth and land on the bounty hunters and the rest of the Party Crashers.

"Not cool, dude!" Slink groaned.

"¡Ay, dios mio!" Tresillo exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Slamm-Oh shouted. Bash just smacked his own face.

Wani laughed as Tresillo tried to wipe away the turquoise paint in his hair. "You-You look just like me!"

"Yeah, very funny," Tresillo said sarcastically. "At least I'm not purple."

Kim-Petit felt a tear fall from her eye. The tear shouted, "Oh, no, he didn't!"

"Hey, Chomp, what do you think will happen when we get this Black Rock thingy?" Crackle asked.

"I don't know, but it'll be awesome!" she replied. "We'll crash every party in the world! Slam all our enemies into the ground!"

"Starting with these guys!" Smack said, hitting the señoritas in the head, causing them to cry out in pain. "Smack! Smack! And smack!"

When he slammed his giant hand down to the third Troll, Smack found that he didn't even flinch. The Troll grabbed his wrist with both of his own hands, each decorated with glowing tattoos, and flipped over the large Party Crasher! Smack tried to get back up, but the Troll pushed him off the tower!

"Is that Branch?" Baby Bun whispered to Ari as he fought against the rest of the Party Crashers. Branch was wild-haired, tattooed fighting machine!

"Let's get out of here!" Bam suggested, and they all jumped off the tower and ran as far away as they could. As Branch glared at the bounty hunters with his eyes glowing red, Wani held onto Tresillo in horror. In response, he just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Where's my daughter?!" Branch growled. Chaz pointed to the stairway and Branch stormed down.

"This cannot be good," Hickory said nervously.

"How were you even able to find the Sanctuary in the first place?" Willow asked Bash again.

"Let's just say I have an inside source," Bash hinted, winking at Pow as she blushed. "I hope that's all your questions, hun."

"I have a question too, Bash," said Slamm-Oh. "How are we supposed to get over there without falling to our deaths?"

"How about this?" Pow suggested, handing Flower to Bash. She pulled out a ribbon and used it as a lasso to catch the ring. "We just swing across, or use it as a tightrope?"

"That should work," Bash figured. "Slamm-Oh, you're the strongest. Hold this end."

"Of course, Bash," Slamm-Oh said obediently, grabbing the loose end of the ribbon.

"Don't even think about running," Bash warned Willow, and began walking across the ribbon carefully.

"Something doesn't feel right here," Willow said to herself.

Suddenly, Slamm-Oh noticed dark-colored hair wrapped around his wrist, and was pulled back, accidentally breaking the ribbon. With quick thinking, Pow pulled out another ribbon, caught Bash, and pulled him up before he could get stabbed by a dagger. Unfortunately, he landed on top of her and they stared at each other in shock.

"Hi, there," Pow said nervously. Bash got off her and saw Branch fighting Slamm-Oh.

And Branch was winning!

Feeling disoriented, Slamm-Oh accidentally dropped Flower, causing her to fall down into the pit.

"I got you, Flower!" Willow shouted, grabbing the princess with her hair and pulling her back up. She held Flower close to her chest.

Bash snatched the paint ball gun and fired it at Branch, who absorbed the blows, yanked the gun away, and threw it into the pit. The paint ball gun shattered on impact of a dagger. Branch grabbed Bash by the neck and began strangling him. Pow tried to help, but Branch pushed her away.

"Daddy, stop!" Flower shouted. The red glow in Branch's eyes faded away, along with his tattoos, as he returned to his senses.

"One party will be turned against," Midnight's voice whispered in Willow's mind. Could it really...?

"Wha- Where am I?" Branch stammered, getting back on his feet. He looked at the back of his hands and noticed the fading tattoos. "What in the name of-"

Before Branch could finish his sentence, Willow let out a magical blast that had him encased in a thick layer of frost. Flower looked up at her in shock.

"Sorry, princess," Willow said. "Can't risk it."

Once Bash caught his breath, he noticed Branch's frozen body and Willow holding Flower.

"I thought I told you to come alone and not use magic," Bash said. "What was that?!"

"Bash, I'm sorry, I just-"

Willow was cut off when her wings opened up and glowed white. The daggers then lowered themselves so they would lie down, creating a smooth surface all across the pit. Raising an eyebrow, Willow set Flower on the floor, and took a step towards the open space. A stone bridge began forming beneath her feet, and Willow continued towards the ring.

"Pow, Slamm-Oh, keep an eye on the kid," Bash ordered, and followed Willow across the bridge. Flower tried to keep up, but Slamm-Oh grabbed her. Once they reached the other side, Bash and Willow faced each other.

"Bash, I am warning you, this will kill you," Willow warned. "You have to trust me!"

"You'll say anything to keep me from getting what I want," Bash argued. "Well, guess what, cuz? It's not gonna happen. Lie to me one more time, and Slamm-Oh might have a different kind of present for the princess."

"Go get your destiny, dude!" Slamm-Oh shouted as Flower tried to squirm her way out his grasp.

Willow couldn't see any other way out of this, so she turned to Callisto's ring, raised her hand up as if she was lifting something, and the Black Rock freed itself from the ring, hovering in midair. Bash approached the stone with a sinister grin, and reached out for it, his whole body tingling in anticipation. It was just the right size to fit in his hand...

But ended up in another.

"Pow?!" Bash exclaimed after watching her snatch the Black Rock. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm fulfilling my destiny!" she growled as her hand began sparking.

As Willow retracted her wings, the Black Rock let out a powerful blast of energy, knocking away everyone surrounding Pow. Willow landed on her back on the other side of the bridge as Bash slid next to her. The frost around Branch's body broke apart, freeing him. In the shock of it all, Slamm-Oh dropped Flower and ran up the stairs. Branch noticed and grabbed his daughter before she could hit the ground. Bash and the three Trolls watched Pow slam the Black Rock to her chest as she screamed in pain. Daggers began sprouting up across the bridge, and Pow's body encased itself in stone. Once the stone shattered, her body glowed as tiny splinters poked out of her skin. They laid down across her body, turning into a black, armored jumpsuit. In a flash of bright light, everything turned dark.

"Burning hatred in the heart..." Willow muttered, looking up to find a lone figure standing under the moonlight. Pow was still alive! Her green face and purple frill were now different shades of grey, her lips turned dark blue and her lavender eyes were red as blood.

"I tried to warn you, Bash," Pow pointed out, daggers sprouting around her feet as she took a step forward. "You have to be careful who you trust."

END OF PART ONE