When the two rock trolls opened the door to my cell, I tried to stand up and run past them in a desperate attempt to escape. Unfortunately, I was too weak and too slow and was caught immediately.

As they started to drag me out of the room, the other two rock trolls came in and grabbed Queen Poppy. Barb motioned for those trolls to follow her down a different hallway while Katheryn led the ones handling me down a flight of stairs to the basement.

"Where are you taking her?" I heard Poppy's voice echo from down the hall. "What are you going to do?!"

"Same thing we're gonna do to you, popsqueak," Barb chuckled.

I was surprised that my ankles didn't twist or break as I was dragged down the stairs. I couldn't even pick up my feet to stop my toes from smashing into the next step down, and it hurt like hell!

Once we got to the bottom of the stairs, we started heading in the direction of Volcano Rock stadium via underground tunnels. I looked to my left and saw a row of neatly placed smoke bombs on a rack near the wall. That's strange...those have never been their before, and I've explored these tunnels countless times when I was a child...they looked like the same smoke bombs that Katheryn used when she brought me back here from Techno Reef. They were covered in a thick layer of dust, too, so I don't think she's ever used them since that day either.

With what little strength I had left, I quickly rammed my body into the troll on my right, catapulting him and myself into the rack of smoke bombs. While everyone started sneezing violently as dust flew up our noses, I quickly grabbed one of the devilish contraptions and shoved it into my other back pocket. You know, just in case I needed it.

As she turned around to see what the commotion was about, Katheryn stormed over to us and glared at me.

"" she asked as she grabbed my ear and yanked me back up on my feet.

"They looked like...they needed...a quick dusting...father," I said sarcastically as I winced in pain.

"" she screamed in my face. ""

"Why don't...you make me?" I asked, giving her a taste of her own sass. She looked like she was about ready to punch me in the face.

"You heard what the former queen said! Keep walking, traitor." I looked to my left and was immediately filled with rage when I saw who was standing there. It was Slick! The same troll who locked me in a box and tore all of my music to shreds all those years ago. I guess I didn't notice that he was one of the trolls who had been dragging me around this whole time.

"YOU-" I tried tackling him to the ground so I could finally give him a piece of my mind, but again, I was too weak. I was only able to nudge him a few inches. He grabbed my left arm again and gave me a twisted grin.

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that to knock me down, sweetheart," he whispered in my ear. I could hear him lick his lips as the other rock troll got to his feet and grabbed my other arm. What a creep!

As we continued further down the tunnel, I could hear the thumping of feet above us. We were now directly underneath the stadium. My strength was slowly starting to come back, but it wasn't returning fast enough for me to try and make a run for it. There was no running from my fate.

Katheryn stopped us in front of a large metal door that led to the platforms right underneath the stage. After she had tied my hands behind my back and dismissed the other troll, leaving only Slick, she pushed the heavy door open and motioned for us to follow her inside.

"," Katheryn said as we followed her into the dimly lit room. ""

I heard a gasp coming from my right. From the corner of my eye, I could see the two funk troll leaders, and to my surprise, I recognized both of them. King Quincy had turned around to see who had entered the room and nudged his wife, Queen Essence, to look as well when he saw me. She was the one who had gasped. I gave them a weak smile. Who knew Quincy would chose the troll I had accidentally dragged into our conversation as his decoy girlfriend over thirty-five years ago to be his queen? I chuckled softly.

"Fancy meeting...you two here..." I said as we passed by them.

"Princess Roxy?" I heard a familiar voice ask me. It was Delta Dawn! She looked worried.

"Howdy...Delta..." I said as cheerfully as I could. "How are...you?"

"I-I'm fine, but..." she said slowly. "Are you alright, doll?...You don't look too good..."

I flashed her a smile before turning my head back in front of me. "I'll be-"

I froze in place. I blinked once, then twice. I could feel a lump beginning to form in my throat as tears pricked my eyes. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Was I dreaming? No...I would've woken up by now...

There he was...Trollex...my baby boy...my only son...alive and well. And might I just say...

He had grown up to be a FINE looking young man!

He looked exactly the way I remembered, except now he had pink, purple, and blue pixels all over his tail and had his green hair tied back into a ponytail with a purple and pink hair tie.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I was afraid if I looked away for even a moment, he'd disappear again.

"Keep moving, traitor. We ain't got all day for you to gawk at fish boy over there," I heard Slick say as he tried to pull me forward and onto an empty podium. I didn't budge. It was like my feet were super glued to the floor.

Trollex finally turned his head in my direction and locked eyes with me. I gave him a smile as tears rolled down my cheeks. He gave me a small smile back, but their was a look of confusion in his eyes. Before I could figure out why he was looking at me like that, I felt someone hit me from behind.

"I said MOVE!" Slick yelled as he kicked me forward. With no way to catch myself, my face hit the floor with a loud bang. I could taste blood in my mouth as it gushed out of my nose. I didn't dare scream.

"Hey!" I heard Trollex yell. "You shouldn't push her around like that!"

"Quiet, fish boy! I didn't ask for your opinion!" Slick snapped back at him.

"" Katheryn yelled from behind us. ""

"I didn't know I was getting paid," he chuckled as he yanked me back onto my feet.

"," Katie grumbled under her breath.

After Slick had untied me, fastened the chains around my wrists and made sure I couldn't get out, Katie dismissed him. He gave me one last creepy look as he left the room. I shuddered. Thank goodness he was finally gone.

My nose was still gushing blood, creating a tiny pool near my feet. Katheryn quickly rushed in front of me with a towel in her hands and laid it in the puddle to soak it up. I was confused.

"What...are you-"

"," she interrupted me as she gently tilted my head down, pinched the bridge of my nose, and held a tissue up to it. That was the first time she had ever been gentle with me in years. ""

The room was dead silent aside from the muffled sounds of the roaring crowd above us. With my head still facing the floor, I glanced up at her. Her face was so relaxed, and for a split second, I thought I saw her eyes flash back to their natural red color before quickly turning black again.

"I know...you're still...in there...sister..." I mumbled quietly. "Please...stop this...you know it's wrong..."

"" Katheryn answered. Once the bleeding had stopped, she remove the tissue from my nose, picked up the towel, and walked past me to the back of the room where an ensemble of levers and buttons were arranged.

I giggled. "It's probably...too late to...ask to...go to the bathroom...right?" I said jokingly. Katie just ignored me.

"" She pulled four of the levers and I watched as the other troll leaders ascended to the stage without me.

"Why aren't...I going up?" I asked. Suddenly, I could feel the last bits of my strength slowly starting to leave me. I closed my eyes. It was like I could feel Barb place the pop string on her guitar, completing her set. I went numb. I didn't even have to look under my bandages to see if my pink arm bands were still lit, because I knew they weren't.

"" Katie said with a chuckle. "."

"I feel like...I'm about to be...publicly executed..." I said breathlessly as my knees began to shake. I felt so cold...

"" Katie started. "" She walked back over to me and bent down to my level. "." She patted me on the head, then turned around on her heels and slowly headed for the lever that would send me up to the stage. I could hear the song "Barracuda" start to play above me as the ground shook beneath my feet. The trolls up their needed me more than anything right now, and I was stuck here feeling like a sitting duck as I slowly became weaker and weaker.

"Please...sister..." I begged. "Let them go...they don't deserve to be treated...like this...do what you want...with me...just let the rest of them go..."

She laughed at my plea. "" It felt like she wasn't listening...why wasn't she listening to me? Think, Roxy! Think! The fate of Trollstopia is resting on your shoulders.

Even though my father's spirit was in full control of Katheryn's body, I knew my sister was still in there somewhere. If I could just lure her out somehow...

"We were raised together! We played together! We sang together! Do you remember none of that?"

I heard Katheryn's voice from twenty years ago echo in my brain. An idea popped into my head. If she wouldn't listen to me talk, then maybe all I really had to do was just sing to her. So, I lowered my head, closed my eyes, and I called out to her:

Once I called you sister

Once I thought the chance to make you laugh

Was all I ever wanted...

Katie stopped walking. Was she finally listening to me? I continued:

And even now I wish the ancestors chose another

Serving as your foe on their behalf

Is the last thing that I wanted...

Katheryn hung her head and started twitching. I think it's working!

This was my home

All this pain and devastation

How it tortures me inside

All the innocent who suffer

From your stubbornness and pride...

I saw Katie starting to curl her hands into fists as she turned her head a ways to glare at me. She continued:

I gasped. She was taking my words the wrong way! I begged her:

Let my people go...

Katie whipped her head around to face me. She snarled at me and slammed her fist onto the stage controls, causing it to spark a bit.

I shook my head, horrified that she would think that. She stomped up to me and started singing loudly only a few inches away from my face.

She turned back around and ran back over to the stage controls and placed one of her hands on the lever. I tried to beg to her one last time, but she kept interrupting me...I started crying again...please sister...hear my plea...

(let my)(people)

(GO)

I watched her throw the lever down as the floor opened above me and I slowly started to rise towards the stage.

"," Katheryn cackled as she ran out the door and slammed it shut behind her. I tugged at my chains as hard as I could, but it was no use. I was stuck there.

This was it...

This was the beginning of my end...