Cam found himself conditionally accepted into the Rogues now that Mare had returned and both Scorpio and she had vouched for him. Raptor and some others weren’t particularly happy with this but they had little choice other than to toe the line. Unified behind their leader and eager for revenge, the gang made preparations for a surprise attack at dawn the following morning.<br/><br/>The Rogues were a sight to see fully mounted up and swarming across the highway in their armored battle vehicles. Word reached the Silver Kingdom ahead of their coming which led to a general panic. The Lightning Princess was returning for revenge with her band of heavily armed supporters and her supernatural powers. Few chose to stand in their way, and those most loyal to her parents put up only sparse and one-sided resistance. Casualties were light, and by afternoon her parents had abdicated their realm to their daughter.<br/><br/>Now the Queen of the Silver Kingdom and the Boss of the Rogues, Mare now faced the difficult task of merging these two groups and territories into one. But first there needed to be a celebration. The spontaneous partying lasted all the way until dawn the following morning.<br/><br/>Bleary eyed but happy, Cam managed to get Mare alone on a balcony overlooking the capitol city just as the sun was coming up. They stared off into the distance just as its red disc began to peek above the horizon. Directly above the rising sun was the oversized moon which looked even larger than usual.<br/><br/>“It’s hard to say how much time we have before it all ends,” Cam said eventually, talking about the looming end of the world that was expected when the moon finally came crashing home to Earth.<br/><br/>“Of all the people who have ever lived – I’ll bet most pretended death would never come.” He squinted in the red light for a moment before continuing.<br/><br/>“At least our generation knows we only have so much time. Maybe that’s a gift. Maybe… because we see death as a painful<span style="font-style: italic">truth</span>– just maybe we can appreciate how beautiful a lie can be. If life is a lie… if love is a lie… then I’m OK with it. As long as you believe with me.”<br/><br/>With that he leaned in and took her in his arms as they kissed. The ground rumbled under their feet. Perhaps it was an earthquake – or perhaps it was the end. In that moment Cam didn’t care.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">T H E   <br/> E N D</span>