God's Garden

Buttercup slurped her shake down. She had an annoyed look on her face.

"I'm just saying it sucks. I'm a side character with barely any mention and zero screen time, so maybe you can understand why I'm a little miffed."

"She's got a point," Rainbow said.

"Well, what are we supposed to do," Blossom huffed, "overhaul the entire script and film everything all over again?"

"Actually, that won't be necessary."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you notice the ending?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Doesn't it seem like something's missing?"

Blossom scratched her head in confusion.

"I don't follow."

"It's incomplete."

"It is?"

"If you added just a little more to it, there'd practically be unlimited potential for a direct sequel."

Blossom spat out her drink like a fountain.

"Yo," Brick shouted, "Watch it, will ya'!?"

"A sequel!? I hadn't even thought about that!"

"Write her into the story after the fight," Rainbow suggested, "From there, you're free to take the story in whatever direction you want."

"I'm surprised you noticed that."

"I've learned a little about story editing here and there. Our school has a mandatory reading program, so I've kind of figured out how to make stuff more fleshed out and interesting."

"Since you brought it up, do you wanna' help write the next script?"

"I'm down."

"Between us, we've already got a small indie crew. One more movie after this should be a piece of cake."

"Let's do it."

Rainbow and Blossom clinked their glasses together.

The party made a conscious decision to resume filming during a cold, rainy day in October. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup redecorated their room to match the somber tone of the film. Boomer sat across from Blossom on the sisters' bed while Rainbow and Bubbles stood close by.

"What can you tell us about Raphael," Matilda inquired.

"He was kind of like a big kid in a way. He liked stuffed animals, and he was friendly to people, but I think he also dealt with a lot of anxiety."

Matilda raised a brow.

"Why do you say that?"

"Aside from me, he pretty much never talked to anyone unless he had to, and he was always writing stuff down. It stands to reason he preferred to be left alone unless he was around people he trusted."

"We can relate."

"Really?"

"The world's changed a lot since you were put in stasis. Global diplomacy is in shambles, humanitarian efforts are declining, natural disasters have been wreaking havoc for over a decade, and world governments only recently lifted a quarantine they had to put in place to reduce a viral death toll."

"Sounds like I would've been better off staying asleep."

"If people took the time to look around, they'd realize there aren't many reasons to stick around anymore..."

"What about you? Why are you still here?"

"I've asked myself that same question more than once...Maybe I'm just too afraid to die..."

"Yet you're not afraid of fighting an army of pissed off spirits. Makes perfect sense."

"Me and the reaper have a complicated relationship."

"Sounds like it."

"Anyway, we have one advantage we didn't before."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"It's pretty clear you possess abilities far beyond those of normal humans. That leaves one of two possibilities: either Raphael genetically modified you after you were born, or you're not actually his son."

"Hey, we may not share a blood relation, but he's still my old man."

"Do you really love him?"

"Absolutely; without question."

"Then help us finish his work. He wanted these unsolved disappearances put to rest. We want the same thing."

"On one condition: help me find my dad."

"We'll try, but I can't make any promises."

"Fair enough."

Blossom lit up another cigarette behind the house. The door creaked open next to her. Rainbow emerged from the building's recesses.

"You okay?"

"No. Not really."

"That was some pretty heavy stuff earlier."

"Just had to get it out, ya' know?"

"No arguments here."

"I'm not sure how we never noticed, but when we found him hiding out in the North Pole, he showed us real quick how much of a dumpster fire the world really is. It's full of brain-dead morons locked in power struggles for control, meanwhile we have shit like domestic abuse, child molestation, and drug addiction going on right under our noses, and all that barely scratches the surface of the world's problems."

"I'll tell you a secret that's slipped under the radar of the most renowned scientists and philosophers. We've been conditioned to fear death by people who don't understand how the world works at all."

"We have?"

"Let's think logically about this for a minute. The ideals of a truly civilized society revolve around peace, freedom, justice, and equality, right?"

"I guess so."

"How can any of those things be achieved through subjugation or unprovoked violence? It doesn't really add up, does it?"

"No. It doesn't."

"And yet those are the exact methods we continue to employ. To use an extreme example, we've been fed this unproven claim that gay and transgender people are child abusers by default. We could attempt to rely on statistics, but recent years have more or less proven those aren't always credible. Instead, we need to turn to real-world examples. Pedophiles tend not to discriminate between male and female victims as frequently as people believe. From what I witnessed growing up, it seems like they're more inclined to go after the most vulnerable targets. Sexual preference might play more of a role if they have a wider selection of victims to choose from, but once their impulses reach a certain point, they behave in a predatory manner more akin to serial killers."

"I'm confused. How does all this tie in?"

"When propaganda is used to falsify information, it creates and reinforces prejudice. It can range from race and sexual orientation to international disputes between countries. Instead of trying to find real solutions, everything descends into hate-fueled chaos. That's how we ended up with the scorched earth mess we're in now."

"What does that have to do with the fear of death?"

"You still haven't figured it out?"

Blossom shrugged.

"The threat of death is constantly being held over our heads, but what exactly is death? If human nature is hatred, prejudice, subjugation, jealousy, and suffering..."

"...Then death is equality, peace, freedom, and justice."

"Now do you understand why death is nothing to be afraid of? It doesn't cause pain out of spite; only necessity, and the pain itself is temporary. For all intents and purposes, death is the bringer of eternal tranquility. Those who threaten death are really threatening temporary pain which it will relieve. They'd recognize this if they weren't so blinded by self-assured ignorance."

"What should I do?"

"Well, I wouldn't recommend seeking death out since it's comin' one way or the other. Ya' still gotta' enjoy what good you can find while you're here, but when your number's up, don't fight it. While it might seem like you're losing the little good you do have, think about the trade-off. You're gettin' rid of all the bad too."

Blossom sighed in relief. Her breath crystallized into mist particles from the frigid air.

"...Thanks for talking me down. I feel better now."

"Anytime. Shit'll only kill ya' faster if you try to hold it in."

"Want a smoke?"

"Sure."