Killer Contest (a trolls au)

Seventh Chapter

Branch and Poppy signaled to Rose that the Surveillance room was open. Rose picked the lock and let herself in.
For hours, she poured over old footage, trying to find something of the Chronos Cult.
Once a band finished their performance, they'd go straight back to the hotel. Rose would signal them that the coast was clear and they go over footage with her. Then the next band would come and they'd switch out.
So far they got a lot of nothing. And it was time for the Snack Pack to go on. Rose left Tresillo, Tamboura, and Marimba to do their thing. And ran to get dressed.

Meanwhile, Riff led Trollex and Darnell down the stairs to the basement. They planned to tell anyone who asked that they'd gotten lost and stumbled upon the room.
When the got to the door it was locked. Riff tried picking the lock when someone came up behind them.
"Hello." It was one of Chef's enterouge. A woman with dyed purple hair.  "You boys look lost." She smiled at them.
"Uh, yeah, lost." Riff removed his hands from the door. "And now we'll go back to the elevator..."
The woman blocked their way and pulled a Jack knife from her pocket.
Trollex slowly backed away. "Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit..." Darnell braced himself for a fight. "Bring it on bitch!"
Riff chuckled nervously. The woman cackled. 

🎶🎶🎶

Right after their song the Snack Pack made a beeline for the hotel. But in the lobby they were stopped by the Chief himself.
"Good evening." He eyed Rose's necklace, partly covered by her tank top. "I need to have a chat with you."
Branch kept a protective arm in front of Poppy. "Stay behind me..." he whispered.
Barb came down to the lobby. "Riff and the others aren't fucking back yet..." she froze when she saw the Chief.
"Follow me..." the Chief instructed. Barb hid from sight as he herded the band into the elevator. 🛗
When they reached the basement, Rose legged it. The police chief whipped out his taser, but Branch grabbed his arm before he could turn it on!
Rose ran right into the recon team fighting with two of the Baker's Dozen.

Barb ran down the stairs with Hickory, Dickory, and Chaz. She practically jumped down the stairs to reach the basement.
She kicked open the door and saw the hallways filled with chaos.
Branch held off the police chief while the other band members struggled to reach the stairwell.
"Run Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie yelled at his Pomeranian. "Save yourself!" The dog instead ran in panicked circles yapping.
Barb immediately ran to Riff's aid, blocking any blows that came their way. Cooper did the same for Trollex and Darnell.
The police chief was about to taze Branch, when Hickory toward Branch and Poppy, knocking them both out of the way.
In the midst of everything, Creek kept him self pressed against the wall, avoiding the fight as much as he could.

🎶🎶🎶

Chef Ludmilla got a text on her phone. <we found them>   She texted other Baker's Dozen members. They rushed to the basement.
Rose tried to get Chaz to help her protect her friends.
"Get out there and fight you mother fucker!"
"I'm not a fighter! I'm a lover!" Chaz insisted.
"Not a very good one!" Hickory yelled from across the room.
The other cult members swarmed the hallway.
Rose leapt up and did a midair splits, kicking two men in the crotch. They both doubled over in pain.
"What kind of crazy martial arts was that?" Chaz asked.
Rose grinned. "Cheerleading practice."

🎶🎶🎶

Most of the Snack Pack members made it up the stairs. Poppy and Branch stayed to help Rose.
Creek took Poppy's hand and tried to run. "Come on Love, let's get out of here!"
Poppy wouldn't budge.
"We can't leave! The other bands are still in danger!"
"So what? They're not our friends! You heard them! They're just petty rivals. Let's ditch them and start over somewhere else."
Poppy stiffened up. Branch was right about Creek. He was a poser. She slid her hands out of his grip and crossed her arms. "I'm not ditching anybody." She turned away from him. Creek stared at her dumbfounded. Then they heard heavy steps come down the stairs. Chef Ludmilla herself, holding a kitchen knife 🔪
Creek screamed and ran off. If Rose wasn't fighting three people at once, she'd have run after him.

Chef pinned Poppy down and held a kitchen knife to her throat.
"You're just like Aphrodite. Giving your love away to everyone... I think I'll eat your heart first..."  saying this she sliced through the shirt, revealing Poppys chest. "What's this?!" Chef balked at the stain marks between her breasts.
That second of hesitation was enough for Branch to tackle her off off Poppy.
Suddenly, amidst the confusion, there was the sound of police sirens. From the elevator came the sound of people yelling. The cult members, including Chef, all scattered, some of them carrying knocked-out people.

"Boys! Your manager called us and when we got here some reheating singers had called the police..."

"Pops! Are you okay?" Rose made Poppy look at her. They were still knelling on the ground.
"They wanted to... They were going to..."  Poppy broke down crying.