Several months passed, during which Lucas and Serenity solidified the plan to defeat Abrianna. Meanwhile, Deacon continued his training with Serenity. The time that they were going to face Abrianna was fast approaching and Serenity needed to know that Deacon was ready, so she decided that she was going to test him. "Alright. You've come a long way, so today isn't going to be a lesson - it's gonna be a test. You're gonna face off against me. All out on both sides." She says, stretching. "Are you sure I'm ready for that? Can't you hold back? Just a little?" He asks, his shoulders raising slightly. "Abrianna's not going to go easy on you, Deacon, so I can't either." She says. "Now... Are you ready?" He takes a deep breath before bringing his fists up. "Yeah." He says. "Alright, let's begin." She says, swinging at him. He barely dodges her fist and manages to block a couple of her other swings. He then sees an opening and swings at her. He manages to strike her cheek. She swings back at him. He tries to block it, but she manages to hit him. This causes him to grunt. They continued to spar for a while. Eventually, he notices a flaw in her stance and manages to trip her. She falls to the ground with a slight groan. "I... I did it? I actually did it! Yay!" He jumps in excitement. "Haha, wow. Didn't think you'd be able to catch me off guard. Must be having an off day." She says, sitting up. "Excuses, excuses!" He teases. "Just admit I beat you!" She laughs. "Alright, alright." She jumps up onto her feet. "Good job, kid." She puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a smile. He smiles back at her, but after a moment his expression turns a little more serious. "Do you think I'm ready now?" He asks. "Well, we still need to work on your target practice. Can't just rely on hand-to-hand combat." She says. "Got it! Don't worry, Serenity. I'll keep at it!" He says with a determined nod. She gives him a small smile. "Good. I'm rooting for ya, kid." She says, ruffling his hair. He lets out a laugh. "Thank you, Serenity. That really helps." "Of course, and I know I'm not the only one. You got loads of people rooting for ya. One of 'em's gotta be waiting for you right now." She says, patting him on the back, as she walks past him. He turns back to her. "Go on. You've earned a break." She says, gesturing for him to move. "Oh, okay!" He starts to back away. "Thank you so much, Serenity! I won't let you down!" He says, before turning around and running off. She smirks at him as he runs off. "I'll hold you to that, kid." She says, more as a statement than anything.
Serenity walked through the streets and noticed that Dawn was in her usual spot. "Hey Dawn. You ready for this coming battle?" She asks as she sits down. "Yes. I can't wait to see the life drain from Abrianna's eyes." She says, her tone cold and vengeful. "Don't let thoughts of revenge cloud your judgement. Rage can fuel you, but it can also lead to mistakes." Serenity says, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Oh... That makes sense. I apologize. Emotions are still something I don't fully understand." Dawn says. Serenity chuckles, retracting her hand from her shoulder. "I don't think any of us do, Dawn." She says. Dawn is silent for a moment. "How do you handle your rage, Serenity?" Dawn asks, tilting her head. She shrugs. "I usually just punch something and imagine it's the person I hate." She says. "Hm. I suppose I should try that. My anger has been overwhelming me lately." Dawn says. "I set up a training dummy for Deacon. You can go punch that for a bit if you want." Serenity says. "Okay. Thank you, Serenity. Though I am unsure how effective it would be, considering I can't feel the impact." She says. "'Fraid I can't answer that one." Serenity responds. She then gets up and stretches. "Well, I'm gonna head back to my house. I'll see you later, Dawn." She says. "Okay, Serenity. Goodbye for now." Dawn says with a wave as Serenity walks away.
Serenity was sitting on the couch when she heard a knock at the door. She gets up to open it and sees Lucas. He was holding a mug with wine in it. "Hey Serenity. I brought you a drink." "Didn't bring one for yourself?" She questions. He shakes his head. "No. I haven't drunk anything in a long time. My cybernetics may be waterproof on the outside, but the internal components are a different story." She shrugs slightly. "Fair enough." She says, taking the mug and taking a long drink from it. "I'm sure you didn't come here only to give me a drink. Come on in." He laughs slightly. "You can read me like a book, can't you?" He says. They both sit down on a couch. "I just wanted to ask... Do you think we'll succeed?" He asks. Serenity is silent for a moment. She lets out a sigh. "Honestly, I don't know... but we gotta try. If we don't, who will?" She responds. "Right. You're right. Sorry, I just... I don't want to be alone again." He says, his fingers gripping his pants slightly. Serenity puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna die on you, Lucas." She says, shaking her head slightly. "You can't be sure of that, but I appreciate the sentiment." He sighs, leaning his head back. He then chuckles. "It's times like these that I wish I could still drink my cares away." Serenity thinks for a moment. She then gets up and goes to the kitchen. She comes back with an empty glass in her hand. "What's that for?" He asks. She shrugs. "Just because you can't drink doesn't mean we can't toast." She hands him the glass. He gives her a smirk. "Alright." He says, taking it from her hand. "To Abrianna's defeat." She raises her mug slightly. "To Abrianna's defeat." He raises his glass as well and clinks it against the mug.