"Wait, what?!"

I looked at Vain in horror.

"What do you mean, I'll be taken away by the Shrink Program?"

Despite his expression never changing, I sensed a sudden nervousness coming from my giant friend.

"Why am I not surprised you didn't listen to the details of your court sentence?"

"I heard the important part!"

The shrinking me part.

"You are on probation at the moment." He explained after a grudging pause. "So long as you behave, you get to stay at home with your family."

"And?!"

"Getting expelled from school counts as misbehaviour Maddison." He sent me a side-eyed glance. "If that happens, you'll be sent away to the Shrink Program's Rehabilitation Facility until you finish the Program."

"They can do that?!" I gasped.

I had only been there once... During my initial shrinkage.

.... It wasn't exactly a place I was in a hurry to return to.

"Once the court hands you over to them, the Shrink Program both evaluates and dictates your rehabilitation." Apollo drawled in a bored tone. "That's why I had you sent to them in the first place. I get an easy to control hostage... who can be taken out of the picture without any repercussions... if necessary. "

There was motivation... Beyond turning me into a pip-squeak?

Diabolical.

"It seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me," Vain commented sceptically. "Hardly worth the effort and risks."

Apollo shrugged. " If possible, I would like to defeat the members of the Hill using as little violence as possible. Rather than threatening to physically hurt Maddison as my hostage, I thought the threat of expulsion would be far more effective."

My eyes narrowed in dislike.

A pacifist, eh? Well, you can take your morals and self-respect and shove them right up your...

"After all, it's unlikely that Maddison would be afraid of physical pain. But being sent away from her family and friends..."

Did I say morals and self-respect?

"Okay, we get it! You're an evil mastermind." I threw my arms up. "Get to the point already!"

Apollo just smiled, pulling a lollipop out of his pocket. "At this point, you only have two options, really.

Here we go.

"You can stick with your friends on your hill, risking the possibility that we will win and take your card." He unwrapped the lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.

"Or you can choose to give up now, In which case, I promise to wait until Maddison's program is over before I take her card. Of course, she'll still be expelled, but this way, you'll still get to be neighbours, right?"

He smiled mockingly at Vain, but his eyes were deadly serious. Vain remained unnervingly silent, not immediately turning down Apollo's offer like he was supposed to.

"Vain?" I questioned worriedly, but he didn't say a word.

My opinion on this was clear. Even if Vain disagreed with me... He wouldn't actually force me to go along with Apollo's plan.

He wouldn't.

"Vain?" I asked again more urgently, and this seemed to wake him out of his thoughts.

His expression was pained as he began to speak.

"Maddison..."

"Are you finished yet?" Devin snapped, causing everyone to jump.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" I cried in alarm, having completely forgotten his existence.

"I've been here since the beginning." He answered impatiently.

"...yea..." I cleared my throat nervously. "Carry on then."

Devin turned to Apollo, glaring at him in annoyance.

"I don't really know who you are or what this is about, but I do know that there is no way Maddison or Vain are going to go along with your schemes."

Apollo raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? What makes you think so?"

Devin looked over at Vain and I.

"Because Maddison isn't a coward. She would rather be expelled before she lets you use her against her friends. As long as there is a way to fight, she'll take it."

"Devin..." I began to whisper.

"Which pretty much just makes her a stubborn idiot. "

"Yep." Devin nodded.

"....you little brat," I concluded, fuming.

"And that's the reason why Vain won't give in to you either. He is just as much of a stubborn idiot as she is. And won't betray her for anything, even for her own good. If Maddison refuses to go along with you, Vain will help her. Because they're both idiots."

Devin fell quiet, and we all stood there, staring at the blond boy. I wasn't sure if I should feel proud.... or insulted.

Then Apollo burst into laughter. Not the nice sort of laugher, but more of frustrated disbelief.

I bit my lip, trying not to think too hard about how Devin's words about Vain was making butterflies do acrobatics in my chest.

"He's right," Vain said quietly. "So please leave."

I glanced at Vain's profile, and if it wasn't so dark, I might have been able to believe that slight tinge to his pale cheeks was a blush.

Apollo covered his face with a hand, forcing himself to stop laughing, as abruptly as he had started.

When he pulled his hand away, Apollo gave Devin a bored look.

"You're unexpectedly naive Devin. Let me tell you this." He walked over to the boy placing a hand on his shoulder. "It might seem noble to sacrifice yourself to protect the people you care about."

He sent a cold look over to us.

"But that, in truth, is just selfishness. If they cared about the people they are trying to protect, if they trusted them, they would know that throwing themselves away only causes pain for the ones left behind. "

His hand slid off of Devin's shoulder. "It will only be when you lose your sister for good that you will bitterly wish that she had chosen to protect herself instead of them."

He began to walk off, leaving the park. "My offer is still open, but remember, I'll need an answer before Nigel returns and the meeting under the Hill commences. Clever as I may be, I'm not going to take my chances against the King."

With that, he left us alone in the small park.