"AHHHHH!" Creek screamed out in terror, flying up into a black void of nothingness. "AHHHHH! Heeeeeeellllllllp!"

     Suddenly, colorful lights began to flash around him, forming pictures from his past.

     A young purple troll with blue hair that faded into a green at the tip, ran around the troll tree, laughing and having fun.

     Creek watched in confusion, remembering this moment from when he was just a young child.

     "Tag! You're it!" the child yelled out, pushing his hand through the air as if tagging another child... except... no one else was there...

     "You can't get me!" young Creek laughed, running away from the imaginary person.

     Suddenly, a larger troll stepped in front of the laughing child, Creek freezing in place before looking up at him with wide eyes.

     In front of him was a teenager with light blue skin, and dark purple hair. His arms were crossed, as he smirked down at the young troll he towered over.

     "Hello, Creep..." this older troll taunted. "Playing with your imaginary friend again?"

     "Umm... well..." Creek stuttered, backing away slightly. "My... my name is Creek... and... and Rainbowsparkles isn't imaginary... she... she's real..."

     "Oohhh! She!" the older boy taunted. "So not only do you have an imaginary friend... you have an imaginary girlfriend." He laughed, shoving the young boy to the ground.

     "St... stop it..." Creek stuttered, tears forming in his eyes, as he slowly rose back up to his feet.

     "What's the matter!?" the teenager taunted. "Little baby gonna cry? Gonna go cry to mommy? Oh wait..." He smirked, looking down at the much younger child. "You don't have a mom!"

     He shoved Creek back down to the ground, causing the little boy to scrape is elbow.

     "Hey!" a shout suddenly rang out from somewhere in the distance. "Leave him alone!"

     Both trolls turned, seeing a young blue troll with dark blue hair. He wore brown overalls, and a light blue hug watch.

     "Oh yeah..." the teenager said. "And who's gonna make me?"
"Me..." the young blue troll said with a firm glare.

     The teenager laughed, slowly abandoning Creek to head over to this new troll, but the young blue troll didn't flinch... didn't back down... he just stood there, glaring at the approaching threat.

     Quickly, the teenager grabbed onto the blue troll's overalls, lifting him off of the ground.

     "So..." the teenager said, smirking at the helpless child in his grasp. "Still wanna challenge me?"
"I think it's you... who should rethink challenging me," the young blue troll said bravely.

     "This is gonna be fun..." the teenager said, raising his fist.

     "Stamp the bow!" the young troll suddenly shouted out, whipping his hair forwards, and  slapping the teenager in the face.

     "Ow!" the teenager yelped in pain, stumbling back, as he dropped the kid to the ground.

     Creek watched on, still sitting on the ground, as the young blue troll stood, glaring at his attacker.

     The teenager felt his lip, pulling his hand away to see blood on his finger.

     "Why you little..." he grumbled softly, looking back up at the young blue troll.
"You better stay back..." the kid warned. "Or I'll do something we'll both regret..."

     Not taking the little child's warning seriously, the teenager rose to his feet, charging at the young boy, as he screamed out in anger.

     "Ruuuuuuuuugh!"

     Slowly, the little blue troll reached up to his head, rubbing his royal blue hair, until a massive glowing hairball formed in his tiny hands.

     "Hairballdukan!" he shouted, flinging the glowing orb at the approaching teenager.

     The teenager's eyes widened in fear, as the hairball approached, slamming into his stomach and pushing him far away.

     "AHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!"

Creek watched the bully fly out of sight, his screams getting softer and softer until they where completely gone, unable to be heard any longer.

"You ok?" the little blue troll asked, holding out a hand to help Creek up.

Creek looked up at the troll who had saved him, nodding slowly.

"Ye... yes..." he said in a soft, trembling voice. "I'm fine..."

He excepted the troll's help, standing up to his feet.

"Thank you," Creek thanked.
"No problem. I just didn't like the way he was treating you. No one should be treated that way."

Creek smiled, holding out a hand for the blue troll to shake.

"I'm Creek," he introduced.

The blue troll smiled, shaking Creek's outstretched hand.

"Branch," he introduced.

"Well, Branch..." Creek said. "I think we're gonna be good friends."

     Creek watched the lights flash through his memories, as he flew up higher and higher into the black void.

More lights flashed showing Creek and Branch becoming best friends, laughing and playing together, until another familiar memory came into the lights.

Young Creek walked through the forest, singing softly, as he headed towards Branch's pod, where he lived with his Grandma.

"And I need you now, tonight... and I need you more than ever," he heard in an angelic voice, the song coming from the direction of Branch's pod. "And if you only hold me tight... we'll be holding on forever."

     Creek pushed through some bushes, smiling up at his best friend, who stood up on a tree branch, singing his little heart out.

     He was about to walk over to greet his friend, when the ground suddenly began to quake.

     "Wha... what..."

     Slowly, he turned, his eyes widening, as he saw a giant purple hand coming down towards him.

     "AHHHHH! No!" he screamed out in terror, trying to run away, but the hand quickly grabbed him, lifting him off the ground. "No! Help! Bergen! Help!"

     The Bergen chef sneered down at Creek with a crooked smile.

     "You will be a nice little snack for the King..." she said in a menacing tone.
"No, wait! Don't take me!" he yelled in terror, trying to squirm away from the Bergen's grasp. "Take... take..."

     "And we'll only be making it right..."

     He looked over at Branch, who was still singing in the tree, unaware of the Bergen's presence.

     "Him! Take him!" Creek yelled.

     Chef looked up, spotting Branch. That troll looked a lot more appetizing. The young thing was overflowing with joy.

     The Bergen sneered, dropping Creek to the ground, as she headed for Branch instead.

     His heart racing quickly after his near death experience, the young purple troll ran, not looking back, though he could clearly hear the screams coming from behind him.

     "GRANDMA!"

     Creek's ears drooped at the memory. Branch was his friend... why did he sell him out like that? Just to save himself...

     Lights flashed around him, showing Creek growing up, bullying Branch because he was grey, until finally, it reached the point in his life, where he was exiled from Troll village, Branch taking his place. His friends... his happiness... his girlfriend... Branch took everything from him...

     Creek growled softly, glaring at the lights depicting Branch. It didn't matter how bad Creek had treated him! He had no right to steal his life!

     The lights changed, showing Creek and Branch fighting on top of the cliff, Branch pulling him over the cliff to his death.

     Darkness surrounded the purple troll once more, until he was suddenly thrown into the clouds, landing flat on his stomach.

     "Oof..." he groaned.
"Welcome, Creek," he suddenly heard in a friendly voice.

     He looked up, seeing a troll with angel wings, wearing a white gown, and halo, standing over him.

     " You... you know my name?" Creek asked confused, as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Of course. I know all," she replied. "Follow me, please."

     "N.. No," Creek said, backing away. "I... I need to get back to Branch. I need to get my revenge!"

     She turned back to him, seeming sad.

     "You can't go back, Creek. No one goes back. It's against the rules."
"R... rules?"
"Follow me."

     She started to walk again, Creek looking around nervously before finally following.

—————

Creek followed the mystery troll to a large golden gate, where he stopped to look up at it in shock.

"W... where am I?" he asked confused. "What's happening?"
"Judgment," the troll replied, opening a book on a pedistool.

"Judgment?" Creek questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. Although you have nothing to worry about. All trolls go to heaven."

His eyes widened at her words.

"Heaven? Are... are you saying... I'm..."
"Dead?" she finished. "I'm afraid so."

Creek backed away, almost falling to the ground in shock.

"N... no. I... I can't be... dead... Branch is the one who's supposed to be dead! I'm gonna get that little runt..."

He started to run back the direction he had come from, but was suddenly lifted up off his feet, and into the air.

"AHHH! Put me down, gravity!" he yelled, struggling to control his movements in the air.

"Hmm..." the mystery troll said, as she looked in the book, flipping the pages. "Having a tough time finding any good things you've done in here... mostly just selling people out... and bullying those who are different from you..."

Creek looked at her, as she flipped the page.

     "Hmm... no matter," she said closing the book. "Like I said... all trolls go to heaven. You'll have an eternity to make up for your wrong doings through these gates."

Creek was floating upside down, trying, but failing to straighten himself out.

"Listen, lady!" he yelled angrily. "There's been a mistake here!"

He grabbed onto the pedistool, holding himself steady, as he glared at her.

"I can't be dead. I need to get back to troll village! I need to get my revenge on that little runt who sent me here!"

She shook her head, holding out a pen.

"Sign here, please," she said.
"No!" Creek yelled, taking the pen, and throwing it as far away as he could. "This is a mistake! I'm not dead!"

"No mistake. We don't make mistakes up here."

She started floating up into the sky, Creek being pulled up by the air with her.

He flew up through more clouds, suddenly seeing a bunch of clocks, and watches. Some ticking, and others silent.

"This is the hall of time," the mystery troll informed. "See... this watch is yours."

She grabbed onto a small pocket watch, showing it to him.

"It stopped," she informed.

Creek looked at the watch sadly, seeing the hands stuck in place.

"Couldn't you just... wind it back up?" he asked with a slight shrug.

"Oh, no, no, no. That would be cheating death. Your time is up, Creek. The evidence is clear."

She pulled the book out of thin air, along with a pen. "Sign here," she said, handing Creek the pen.

"No!" Creek yelled, throwing the pen away again, but as soon as he did, it magically poofed back into his hand.

"Ah!" he yelled in anger, throwing the pen again. "I... I have to go back! You don't understand!"
"Oh, I understand," she said. "I understand that you are dead..."
"No I'm not! Branch... wait a second..." He smirked, looking up at the mystery troll. "Branch fell off the same cliff I did. That means he's dead too! Where is he!?" he looked around for Branch, wanting to rub it in his face that he had won.

     "Branch is back in the land of the living..." the mystery troll informed.
"What?" Creek said, gritting his teeth, as he looked back at her.

     "My job is to make my angels happy," she said. "Branch is only happy, when he's with Poppy. So I gave him a second chance at life. Well... more like a third chance... but whatever."

     "Wait, wait, wait," Creek said. "You said no one goes back! Why does he get to go back, but I can't!?"

     "Branch has proven to be a good troll. You... you are the opposite of a good troll," she sneered, not liking the purple troll's attitude.

     Creek grumbled quietly to himself, turning away.

     "Not a good troll... what does she know..." he muttered.

     Just then, his watch hovered past his face. He looked at it and smiled with a fiendish idea.

Quickly, he grabbed for his watch, but the mystery troll, snatched it before he could get his hands on it.

"No, Creek. You can't cheat death. Otherwise, you can never come back," she warned.

"I don't care!" he yelled, trying desperately to grab the watch. "As long as Branch suffers, I don't care what happens to me!"

"You'll be happy here, Creek. Trust me," she said, tossing the watch away.

     Creek growled, crossing his arms again. He had to get that watch.

     "Now follow me," the mystery troll said. "I will give you the grand tour."

     As she turned her back to him, Creek smiled, quickly grabbing his watch out of the air, and winding it up.

The mystery troll heard the sound, turning back to see what he was doing.

"Creek? What are you..." She gasped, realizing he had his watch. "No! Don't!" But it was too late...

He smiled, as he got his watch ticking again, suddenly falling back down, out of the clouds.

"You can never come back!" the mystery troll yelled after him, as he fell back to earth.

—————

     Creek swam up, bursting to the surface of the pond, gasping for air, as he coughed.

     He crawled up onto the shore, laying on his back, as he struggled to breath.

     Slowly, he began to catch his breath, sitting up, as he grabbed his watch, holding it in his hand to look at it.

     It was ticking...

     He smiled evilly watching the hands slowly turn.

"Watch out, Branch..." he said quietly. "I'm back..."