For a while, there was only the sound of heavy panting as each of the Trolls attempted to gather their bearings.

John Dory and Spruce were clinging on to each other, out of breath. Clay glanced distastefully at a rip in his shirt that had been caused by one of the Bergen's scratching claws. Poppy and Branch were bent over, hands on knees, staring blankly at the ground and trying to process everything that had occurred. One thing was for certain. They had failed their mission, and nearly lost their lives in doing so. They were still one brother down. But Branch, for one, didn't care about that anymore. However, the same could not be said for other Trolls.

"All right," JD said when he was finally able to speak again. "So that didn't work. But, there's no harm in trying again, right? This time what we'll do is – "

"No harm?" John Dory was cut off by Branch's hard voice. "We nearly got crushed and eaten – and you call that no harm?" he growled.

"Okay..." JD paused, cringing, realizing he should reword himself. "Right, so not exactly 'no harm,' but we still could try again, but with a different strategy."

"How about this strategy: we leave," Branch said firmly. "I'm not going to risk my life or my girlfriend's life just to make some stupid dream of yours come true! If you really wanted to have the band all together, you should've thought about that years ago. All of you should have." He glanced at Spruce and Clay, who winced.

"But Branch, what about Floyd?" Poppy asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Branch sighed. "He can manage on his own, I'm sure. They all managed on their own, didn't they?" He gestured at the three brothers that were behind them. "He'll find a way out. He's a smart Troll. Well, except for that one dumb decision he made."

Having had enough, John Dory stepped forward, a little annoyed. "Dude, will you stop mentioning that so many times? I'm trying to fix this. We're trying to fix this!" he said, referring to himself, Spruce, and Clay.

"Oh yeah? Why? Did your solo career not go as planned? You need your backup again to make yourself look good?" Branch challenged.

John Dory ignored the stabs and pressed on. "Look, Branch, we're almost there. We just need one more bro. Then we'll be complete!"

"Ah, ah, ah, wrong," Branch cut in, putting a finger up. "You need two more bros. Floyd, and myself. And you're not going to get me. I refuse to be a part of this band in any way, shape, or form. So goodbye!" Huffing, he turned around and began to storm away.

"You're really going to just walk away like that?" Spruce suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I am," Branch said. "It wasn't hard for you to do, was it?"

The purple Troll fell silent.

"Bro," Clay spoke up, "don't do this. Floyd's your family. We're your family!"

Branch whirled on the formerly yellow Troll. "No, you're not. You lost the ability to call me your 'brother' when you guys left. A family doesn't abandon each other."

"But you're doing that right now!" John Dory pointed out.

"I'm not. Because I just said that you're not my family," Branch clarified. He headed off again, without another word.

Poppy in the meantime had stood off to the side, watching them argue, speechless. The brothers look at her, silently pleading. She nodded. "I'll talk to him." She dashed off to catch up with him, the Troll already having made some distance.

"Branch, you can't do this," she said when she reached him.

"I just did," he stated matter-of-factly.

"And you shouldn't have!" Poppy insisted. "Just because they did something you didn't like a long time ago doesn't mean you should do the same exact thing!"

Branch pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Poppy... The only reason I agreed to go on this trip was because of you. Not John Dory. Not Spruce, or Clay, or really even Floyd. But... I can't take it anymore. I'm done with this mission. I'm tired, and I want to go home."

"But I don't!" she said stubbornly.

"Really?" Branch said, his voice showing a hint of irritation in it. "Why's that? So you can make your dream come true about meeting every member of your favorite boy band? So you can get all their autographs?"

Poppy opened her mouth to rebuke his suggestion, but found that she couldn't. Her silence told him what he needed to know. "You can't tell me that wasn't your reason," he said plainly.

"It... it wasn't my entire reason," she admitted. "What I really wanted was for you to see your family again. I wanted you guys to make up. To be friends and brothers again." She gently took his hand in hers, holding it in what she hoped was a soothing gesture as she gazed into his eyes. "Please?"

Branch felt himself hesitating. It was incredibly difficult to want to say no to her, not with the way she was looking at him now, so sad, and yet hopeful too, as if she expected him to actually change his mind.

Branch swallowed hard, feeling his resolve beginning to weaken. Should he? No. Branch couldn't. The scar ran too deep and the hurt was still too great. He let out a deep breath and looked away, disentangling his fingers from hers and silently walking off, leaving the Pop Queen torn on what in the world to do next.

                              _________________________________________

A/N: I'll be honest, I had Toy Story 4's argument scene in mind when I wrote this after they failed to save Forky from being kept hostage... but I guess we'll have to see what happens in the movie to spark a sad and/or argument scene!