A walk was supposed to clear his mind.

He used to do it all the time when he lived alone, and sometimes still did. Brooding for a bit usually helped him refocus, helped to calm him down.

This time around, however, it was incredibly difficult.

Things in his head seemed to be moving at a hundred or so miles per hour, wracking his brain with everything that had made him who he was today, much of it having to do with the four Trolls who had returned in his life. Trolls who, like it or not, were his siblings.

He didn't know how to feel about them anymore. And the confusion was making him want to scream. Were they a family? Biologically, yes. But were they really a family? Because, behavior-wise, he suspected that answer was no.

The best thing to do, the way he saw it, was to just go back home as he'd desired. Home, where he could slip into his bunker, know that he was safe, and forget that anything had ever happened. He had been just fine without them for over twenty years.

But... was he really?

He really, really despised those weaker moments growing up where he did long for his brothers again. Wondered what they were up to. Wondered if they were wondering what he was up to. Wondered if they really were happier, or if they were in the same state that he had been. Wondered if he'd ever see John Dory, Spruce, Clay, and Floyd ever again.

Floyd.

If there had been any Troll that he would have perhaps considered wanting to see again, it was him. Why did he have to be the one captured? Somehow, though, he didn't think he would've been okay with any of the others having been captured.

He clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. How tempting it was to just walk away and not have to experience the inner turmoil that was urging him to somehow work it out. The Branch from only a couple years back would have, and quite easily at that.

But the Branch from now was not like that.

He was a better Troll. One who would take action and strive to do the right thing rather than hermit himself away.

One who was not going to let his brothers, nor his girlfriend Poppy, down.

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Branch did not try and hide himself. Not like he and the others had tried to do last time. He simply walked right in. And sure enough, he was spotted right away. The two large, looming shadows of the Bergen siblings stomped over, sneers on their faces.

"Well, well..." Veneer said. "Back for more, are ya?"

"Seems you didn't quite learn your lesson the first time," Velvet said, her hands on her hips and a smirk tugging the corner of her lip.

"I'm not here to try and fight," Branch said plainly.

"Good, we're not either," Velvet said. "It's exhausting, don'tcha think? Especially for folks your size."

Branch did not agree nor disagree to the statement. He simply pressed forth with what he intended to say. "I've come here to ask that you release my brother, Floyd."

Velvet looked down at Branch, her eyes narrowing. Then she laughed. "Oh, sure. Fighting fire with fire didn't work, shorty, and neither is begging."

Branch expected this. He put up no fight. He simply nodded. "Right. So we're done here then, huh?"

Velvet nodded. "Yep."

Branch shrugged. "Okay then. Fine."

Velvet and Veneer both turned their back on the Troll, walking off.

But little had they known that Branch was in fact not done yet.

The teal Troll cleared his throat, and then began to sing.

"Ohhh, Ooooo...

When the visions around you

Bring tears to your eyes

And all that surrounds you

Are secrets and lies..."

Branch saw the two Bergens immediately slow down. He almost felt like grinning. They were listening. That's just what he wanted. He continued.

"I'll be your strength

I'll give you hope

Keeping your faith when it's gone...

The one you should call

Was standing here all along..."

Velvet and Veneer had come to a full stop. Their bodies were tilted ever so slightly in Branch's general direction as the Troll continued to sing.

"And I will take you in my arms

And hold you right where you belong

'Til the day my life is through

This I promise you

This I promise you..."

As Branch held on to the last note, the Bergen siblings' full attention had gone to him. They faced him, a look of astonishment clear on their faces. Clearly, they hadn't expected Branch to break out singing at random. Nor did they expect him to sound that... good.

Velvet looked at Veneer. Veneer looked at Velvet.

Branch glanced at the two of them.

"Once again, I've come here to ask that you release my brother, Floyd."

The Bergen twins grew a malicious smile on each of their faces. "Well," Veneer said.

"Perhaps we can work out a compromise," Velvet said, finishing the thought.

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In the meantime, Poppy had made her way back to the brothers, having explained with much distress of what had occurred when she'd spoken to Branch.

"I tried," she said, nearly on the verge of tears. "I really did try. And I know he can change his mind. But it doesn't look like it's going to happen right now..."

The brothers hung their heads. They figured Branch would not be easily convinced to come back, but they could not be mad about it. It was understood why.

"I guess we'll just have to wait," Spruce said, a bit defeated.

John Dory gave a shrug of agreement, unable to think of anything else, and hoping that the wait for their brother to come back around wouldn't be too long.

"Or maybe you don't have to," Clay said, suddenly perking up and pointing behind them. "Look!"

The Trolls turned to look in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, running towards them was the figure of a Troll.

Poppy gasped. "Branch!" She began to run towards him, trying to meet him halfway, when she started to slow her pace after getting a better look. Wait a second. This Troll was not her boyfriend. This nearly-out-of-breath Troll who was sprinting towards them did share some slight similarities to him, though instead of a crop of rich blue hair on his head, it was a vibrant magenta, styled to where part of the bangs obscured his left eye. A single black earring was embedded into his right ear. She reared back in surprise, recognizing him. "Floyd?"

Floyd panted, trying to catch his breath. "Yes, yes, it's me." He gave a small wave when the other brothers instantly flanked Poppy's sides, also as surprised to see Floyd before them now.

"Yo bro, it's good to see you're okay!" John Dory exclaimed. "You are okay, right?"

Floyd quickly checked himself, ensuring that he was uninjured. "Um, yeah, I think so." Though he said it, the Trolls could still see that something still wasn't quite right. He looked very shaken... and extremely worried.

"Dude, how did you escape?" Spruce asked.

"Yeah, those Bergens were something fierce and nasty!" Clay added.

Floyd said nothing at first, looking as though he was recalling something painful. He averted his gaze and looked down at the ground, looking almost ashamed. Poppy felt worry start to prick at her now. Something's not right here... but I need to find out WHAT. She moved closer to Floyd, putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the unexpected touch, but welcomed it. He really needed the comfort right now.

"Floyd," Poppy said gently, her voice lowered. "Can you tell us what happened? Please?"

The magenta Troll was silent, but he nodded his head, able to find the voice to finally explain. "It was Branch."

Poppy stiffened at the mention of her boyfriend. But she needed to hear this. "Branch?" she asked.

Floyd nodded. "He came, not too long ago. He asked them to let me go and when they didn't... h-he sang." He stopped, recalling the moment. He shook his head. "I never got a chance to hear Branch really sing when we were kids. But now, it... it sounds like... like..."

"Like an angel's," Poppy finished, familiar with how beautiful his voice could sound.

"Exactly," Floyd agreed. "And they seemed to think so, too. So now I'm out here, and he's..." The Troll trailed off, unable to bear finishing his sentence.

Poppy went rigid, her eyes wide. "They took him."

Floyd nodded, looking terribly guilty. "He didn't have to do it. I wasn't worth it. I left him!" he cried, wishing more than ever that he could change what happened in the past.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, taking in this new information with grim understanding. Then John Dory spoke up.

"Yeah, well, you know what? We left him, too." He gestured to himself, Spruce and Clay. "And you know what else? You were worth it. Because you're his brother. And Branch is our brother. And those days of walking-out-on-each-other are over. You know why?"

Spruce did, seeing where JD was going with this, and he piped up. "Because we're a family."

"And families are there for each other!" Clay added.

Moved by their determined words, Poppy was able to pull herself out of the initial state of shock and regain her composure. "You're right," she said. "So if we're gonna make this work, we all have to band together so we can save Branch!" She thrust her hand out. "Who's with me?"

The hands of John Dory, Spruce, and Clay shot out to join hers. Floyd, still feeling bad for what had occurred, hesitated a second. He didn't know what she or his brothers had in mind, but what he did know was that he wasn't going to let his baby brother down. Not again. So he, too, placed his hand on time of theirs and threw it up in the air when they all did.

"IT'S BRO-TIME!" came the collective shout.

John Dory quickly huddled them together, all the Trolls' heads nearly touching each other as the group formed a tight circle.

"All right, we need a new game plan," the BroZone leader said, more determined than ever. "And I think I got just the one. It's going to take all of us, though, so listen in..."

So Poppy, Spruce, Clay, and Floyd did listen in, adding their own input when sought necessary and tweaking what was needed to be tweaked. Soon enough, their plan did indeed start to come together, and soon enough they set themselves into executing the ambitious task.

Dangerous? Maybe. Worth it? One-hundred percent.

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A/N: What if, in the climax, Branch offered to trade places with Floyd? :0 Just a little idea I had :3

Song Branch sings is "This I Promise You" by NSYNC ;)