Charlotte got straight to the point. "You left me to die," she spit in Victoria's face.

The young woman spread out her hands to the accusation. The knife drooped idly from her fingers. "Yeah, I did. So what?"

"So… I trusted you! When we were kids, you were the coolest girl in the whole orphanage. You beat up the boys who stole my secret computer!"

"And I fried the damn thing and stole a brand new one—a whole lot better than that heap of junk you assembled outta the dumpster." A cocky grin snuck onto Victoria's face at the memory.

Charlotte had to banish her tiny smile with a shake of her head. Her anger redoubled as she said, "You were like a sister to me! I looked up to you." Tears started rolling down her face like a leaking dam. "That's not so hard for you to understand, is it? You'd do anything to save your little brother. And I'd do anything to help my big sister!"

For the first time, Lottie had incited a reaction out of Victoria. The rock was abandoned beneath her where she had left the knife on its surface. Victoria towered over Lottie and made her stumble back on her crutches. The woman leaned forward and got in the teenage girl's face. "How many times did I ask even after you said yes? I warned you that you could die—we could both die. I put a gun to your forehead and asked again!"

Victoria leveled a finger between her eyes. Given that an electric zap could fry Lottie's brain in an instant, the finger gun was just as terrifying as a real one.

This was looking bad for Charlotte. Even if she had the foresight to bring Ibnoxe and Holoxe along, he did not see what he was supposed to do about it. The mana rushed through his ley lines beneath his skin, just like how his racing heart pumped blood through his veins. Ice could insulate against electricity, so Ibnoxe prepared to freeze Lottie's head in a protective block of ice. That was about all he could do.

Victoria was practically growling as she reminded Lottie of their prior exchange. "You looked down the barrel of that gun and still said yes. I shot it off right next to your ear and asked again. 'You sure?' Guess who's answer never changed?"

"Mine," Charlotte squeaked like a mouse.

A pause held between the young women which allowed them to reflect on what had been said up to this point.

Greater clarity seemed to wash over Victoria's eyes. With a big sigh, she tried to say, "Lottie…."

"Don't call me that, Vickie," Charlotte said in a harsh, mocking tone.

"Charlotte, you might've thought I was some superhero when we were kids. I'm not. Some things are out of my control…. But you have to accept that there were some things in your control." The obvious frustration mounted in Victoria's voice as she snapped, "If you had just jumped with me when I told you too, none of this would've happened! We would've had a smooth journey back to this hick, little town on our own without GPC personnel tailing us."

"They're not GPC anymore. They were the only ones willing to save me. You left me to die."

"I did," Victoria agreed as adamantly as this conversation had started. "You know who was more important to me? My real, flesh and blood brother."

Steamy tears were streaming down Charlotte's face. Her livid eyes never parted from the Disco Menace, even though Ibnoxe doubted that she could hardly distinguish between the blurry colors in her vision. "You're a bitch," Lottie said plain and simple.

To drill her point home, Victoria said, "Sure. I'll give you that. But I can't save someone who doesn't even try to save herself. I may be a bitch, but you're still a coward."

Those words hung in the air.

A sea of emotions must be brewing inside Charlotte, threatening to boil over, but she did nothing. The forward-minded girl seemed to think long and hard before acting out of anger. Most people only resorted to violence in the heat of the moment. Lottie, on the other hand, was cool and collected when she raised up her hand and slapped Victoria across the face.

Why Lottie? Ibnoxe could hardly believe what he just saw. He jumped to full attention, ready to dash between them.

Beside him, his brother was similarly tense. They both knew which lady they would apprehend. Ibnoxe would grab Lottie and make a run for it while Holoxe would stall the Disco Menace. This was the real reason that Lottie had wanted the dragon brothers here: to break up the cat fight that she had chosen to instigate.

"Call me a coward again!" Charlotte shrieked.

Victoria had not even flinched the first time, so she said, "No. You hit me again."

A greater degree of anger washed over Charlotte. She drew back her arm, and the flat of her palm flew for Victoria's other cheek.

Though the slap was loud and darkened her skin, Victoria scarcely even flinched. Her body lunged forward like a serpent's strike. The long fingers snatched either side of Lottie's face and craned her head up.

Both Ibnoxe and Holoxe moved to end this now, but Victoria looked straight at them. "Relax, lizard boys."

Though Ibnoxe still wanted to rush to Lottie's aid, Holoxe grabbed his elbow and held him back. A single shake of his brother's head, eyes closed, was enough to hold him back. I still don't like the look of this….

Victoria returned her attention to Charlotte and snapped, "I told you to hit me. Don't insult me with a weak, little slap like that.I was the one who taught you to throw a proper punch!" When she stepped back, Victoria wagged her fingers forward, inviting yet another blow.

Lottie took one step back, her fingers folding in a fist. Her fighting stance was lopsided, still leaning on the crutch. She popped Victoria square in the face the best she could.

The perplexed dragon brothers bore witness to the entire scene. Ibnoxe and Holoxe passed a darting glance between them. Victoria was certifiably insane in their eyes. Why would she egg Lottie on to attack her? Whatever reasoning went on in her head was beyond them.

This time, the force made Victoria's head bob back a bit. Her busted lip bled red, but she was all smiles. "That's better. You should've just done that from the get-go if you had a problem with me. Here." As Victoria walked past, she took the crown jewel of the beheflea queen out of her pocket and shoved it into her hands.

"Wah…?" Almost at a loss for words, Lottie struggled to ask, "What's this for?" She held out the glowing, emerald-like gem as if it did not belong to her and she would easily return it.

"Standing up for yourself. I always tried to tell you when we were kids, don't be such a pushover." Her voice changed from the sweetened tone of a mentor, back into the crisp orders. "Liz." Her fingers snapped near Ibnoxe's head which made him draw back in disgust.

In dragon form, he would have growled, but human form did not allow for such instant communication of displeasure.

"With me," she said and kept walking. Victoria did not even realize that she had gestured to Ibnoxe instead of Holoxe, unable to tell the identical brothers apart.

Holoxe watched her retreat inside the house. Looking between Ibnoxe and Charlotte for instructions, he asked, "Should I follow her? Is everything okay here?"

Lottie had not budged an inch since Victoria had thrust the crown jewel into her hands. Arms still extended, she held the treasure like an alm received. The flow of tears had started dripping from her eyes again for some reason.

Since Charlotte seemed stunned into a despondent state, Ibnoxe replied, "Go if you want to. I think I want to stay here with Lottie for a moment…."

An understanding of the situation came to Holoxe a bit late. "Oh! I see." That was probably why Victoria had called him back inside. Lottie and Ibnoxe had grown closer from the night of their escape, so he had a better idea of how to cheer her up. Holoxe would gladly give them some space, especially because he did not want to linger around the crying girl anyway.

In the end, she had successfully stood up for all of them and gotten the crown jewel of the beheflea queen back.