Blaire was in her element, elbow propped on the bar while she kept up a conversation with the bartender she was clearly familiar with.

Once her drink was in hand, she turned, to see that strangely clad fellow from earlier. What was up with that anyways? One of those regency romance fantasy balls that were popular about now? Renaissance faire perhaps? She did recall there being one held this weekend. Maybe he came straight from the venue.

Regardless of whatever his deal was, he was clearly looking uncomfortable while doing his best to appear otherwise. It wouldn’t hurt to try and help him break the ice.

Though, her idea of being helpful kind of just, spilled out and came off more pointed than anything.

“You just come from the renn faire?”

+++

At least she didn’t make them wait. The timing was almost perfect, actually.

Aon scowled at the swish of her tail paired with her smirk. Again they found themselves nearly reeling at the dark aura just diffusing off of her. They were really regretting their choice of atmosphere now.

The corner of their lip curled slightly. Of course they knew what this was about, but the confirmation of it being about that stupid vault was bait they couldn’t refuse.

“Haha oh I see. That coward couldn’t reach out to me again himself? That’s cute.”

Pushing themselves off of the wall they stood at a cocky little slant, one hand on hip.

“Well, I’ll tell you just as I’ve told him. I don’t have it anymore. You’re wasting everyone’s time.”

“I’m glad you’re starting to branch out, broadening your horizons. I’ve been hoping you would.” Blaire expressed while putting herself together in the mirror of her sun visor.

“Is that so?”

She was a wholly different person away from work. Aon wasn’t unfamiliar, they had gone home with her before. They were in awe of how easily she could swap to a more extroverted personality like flipping a switch. Maybe they were a little envious as well.

Blaire could be whoever the hell she wanted to be off the clock. No public image to uphold away from her little cubicle at the lab.

“I think everyone wants to see something they’ve made go above and beyond you know? And they gave me some tight guidelines with you.” She scoffed a bit, licking stray lipstick off of her teeth before snapping the sun visor shut. “You don’t really have a lot of room to grow yourself the way they have you set up. I wish I had more say in that.”

“I’m fine. Really.” Aon lied through their teeth. At least…they had been before the chatroom…before the Starliner. Half-truths were starting to become their specialty.

“Though you’re right. My coworkers can be a bit stifling.”

“I think it’s nice that you want to spend time together outside of work, but I think it’s more beneficial for you to be able to meet new people and socialize on your own.”

With Blaire finished up, they made their way into the venue. She waved off the bouncer she was well acquainted with, as he struggled with carding an altogether strangely dressed individual, but that was none of her concern.

Once they were in, they came to an agreement that they would go their separate ways, with Blaire checking in if they needed to leave by the appointed time. She plugged Aon into the club's network before bagging her PET and hitting the floor.

Aon skipped right over the public network and into the private one, positioning themselves against a wall to keep their surroundings about themselves.

The visuals of this compspace weren’t much different than they could assume the main club space looked like, dim with the occasional flash of neon colours. Distant music thrummed at a low level as if they were in an adjacent room physically.

It made them regret this choice even more. The last thing they needed while suffering withdrawals and anticipating some bullshit was the droning in the background. Low and rhythmic and familiar.

“You’re so–”

To them they simply refused to listen or learn. Lan moreso. Telling them they thought her side of their connection was the problem wouldn’t make anything better or change anything as it stood now.

Aon was done arguing. They could only offer a disappointed click of their tongue.

They acknowledged Rock’s defense with a glance, but said nothing. They almost felt sympathetic. As much that could be had when every instinct was still wired to purge the problem. They had to push that down if they were to be a team player and follow Meiru’s advice. Like it or not.

They let out a scoff. “What could I possibly want from you? Besides compliance if we have to be a team.”

Catching themselves trying to argue it again, they backed off. Aon knew they didn’t have the skills or foothold to de-escalate or sort out this kid’s problems. God knew if anyone did. How such an unwieldly child came into a power like this was beyond their capacity to consider. It was little wonder anyone else would want to contain it.

For good reason, they rationalized.

“Fine. I said my piece and I’m keeping my promise. I don’t like it, but I have a better sense of what to expect from the two of you now. ”

There was no use trying to burn a hole in the back of Lan’s head, so they took their leave and logged out after giving a curt nod to Rock. As if this had put them on any kind of even ground at all.

It wasn’t something they would normally go for, but it wasn’t nearly as gaudy as the other drink Roll had, so it would certainly suffice. As soon as it was in their hands they immediately went about pushing the straw around to sate their fidgeting.

Aon couldn’t even pretend to know the kind of feelings that came with such a reunion personally, though it was easy enough to feign; at least they thought.

“Despite whatever there may have been prior– that is a good memory overall, is it not?”

When the conversation came back around to their memory though, it hung them up– though of course, they should have been prepared for that.

They couldn’t help but let their thoughts escape them for a moment, furrowing their brows under the visor. How Serpentine could have picked anything as mundane as their boss being overbearing with them, over emphasizing how new they were.

That was the point of them after all wasn’t it?…The control (specimen?).

“What it means to me? Well…It’s more what it means to Ms. Blaire, but I suppose it’s why I’ve stuck around in the chatroom as long as I have.” It came out on the fly. It was true but bullshit at the same time, a convenient answer to take away from that crippling reminder of their lack of significant experiences CometMan was so quick to clock.

“I’m sure it’s obvious, you and Ellen being familiar with her. Access to the chatroom falling into my lap made things a lot easier. It was only a matter of time before my suspicions were proven correct.”

The right thing to do.

Aon scoffed as the beast let itself out. They would have liked to have made more of a show of it if she was going to leave the logs in such a state. They would need to edit them themselves.

The reality that it was it was going to be harder and harder to keep these chatroom affairs under wraps was crushing. They pushed down Meiru and Roll’s advice– the idea that they should just expose it all and get help from their coworkers. That would only put them more directly under the lens of the magnifying glass as well.

They could handle this.

Placing their hand on the firewall, restoring the damage and withdrawing the alarm, Aon couldn’t help but feel a set of eyes on their back.

They would just have to delete the logs and–

“Aon? What was all of that?”

Quickly swiping the console they were working on away, they turned to meet Thorn.

“A chancy little upstart.” They lied. “Empty threats, practically no damage. Working alone. Clearly only figured out a way in and had no idea what to do once they did.”

There was clearly something going on here that Thorn was only catching the barest corners of. As soon as she found the right words to argue, they died on her tongue once she opened her mouth. Blinking aback at what imperious aura radiated from their coworker (more than usual) with just a sharp cock of their head.

“Ah…ok…”

+++

Their coworkers knew something was up with them now. The best course of action would be to minimize any more suspicious activity– by being signed out. It wasn’t hard at all to secure an enthusiastic yes from Blaire either.

Once that had been arranged, they went about making the arrangements with their wannabe blackmailer.

[MSG:] I have no idea what you think we have to discuss, but if you insist on compromising my place of work then I’ll just have to pull you up from the root, won’t I?
[MSG:] You can have your dog meet me here on the private server. I’m sure you’ll have no issue getting in. If you make this a public affair I simply will not comply.

Aon had spent a good amount of the rest of their day labouring over where to set this up– and as much as they loathed the idea, if they were going to be signed out the best bet would be a place they knew they might end up. A place where their chaperone would well be distracted.

The coordinates that Rei would receive would belong to a warehouse bar on the fringes of town.

Meeting kids behind a store lot to fight at night and now this. Surely things could only be uphill from here. They had to convince themselves that somehow plucking this one weed would alleviate the bigger problem.

“It was important.” Aon iterated. They opened their mouth and closed it again, watching Lan bluster before meditating a moment on her contention. They had fumbled their own plot somewhat embarrassingly, influences beyond their control that turned things personal; but they did come out with an answer regardless.

They turned their attention back to Rock with a slight shrug. “I should re-iterate. you proved you were in control for the most part, even if this new power is somewhat unnerving. I don’t think whatever is in you is…done with you though.

“It’s your connection…synchro or whatever it is that is the current concern.” Pulling one arm from their cross, they rolled their wrist in Lan’s direction again. A part of them felt bad. The part that accompanied the sad girl without her navi. Their rationale however, couldn’t allow for that to slide. For anyone.

It was her in the back of their mind with all the things she had to say about the two of them and what they were starting to perceive in the real. They continued to fester with the acrid residual darkness, that felt like a Sisyphean task to push aside in favour of Roll and Meiru’s advice. At the very least they could tell themselves they made an attempt.

“I think I would get some peace of mind to know why you so vehemently want to use awful chips like that–” The pulse in their ears quickened at the thought of the chip that got away. A burn under their frame could pass for the SoulCleanser at work– or guilt– or both.

“Or choose not to listen when someone warns you about them if you don’t want to be evil.”

It was clear that they weren’t getting through to each other no matter how disingenuous, it was one thing they seemed to be able to come to an agreement on. Their next venture wasn’t exactly something they could look forward to but they needed to put this excursion behind them as quickly as possible. The sooner they could part ways the better.

“I’m not the only one who’s concerned, so at least give that thought some grace.”

It was exactly as they feared Dealing with the chatroom had left them open to be tracked. There was nothing that could conceivably be done to prevent someone from coming through without contacting someone with the technology. How long were they going to be able to keep things straight?

They weren’t about to let themselves get caught out having this kind of conversation openly with the enemy though, so Aon continued their advance, attempting to cut off Celestra’s circling and ignoring her threats.

She released the warning shot and they side-stepped the crackling dark energy easily– and evidently they were meant to.

That chip. The one that had called to them. DarkThunder. They didn’t need to be hit by the attack for it to affect them in one way or another.

She was keeping her distance, only loading an AreaSteal was enough for Aon to close the gap. They needed to get in close, to hiss under their breath so that only she could hear. “You’ve got some fucking nerve. I have an image to maintain here. What makes you think I’m going to converse or agree to anything openly?”

Just the proximity to this beast, freshly coated in dark aura was enough to get their Cleanser running hot and their mind to start swimming.

Pressing a hoof to her middle, they kicked away from her to put enough space between them for them to lash out with their blade.

“So, you’ll let yourself out and cover your tracks like a good dog, won’t you?”

Aon took a few good moments to get their own bearings, shake their thoughts of what just happened (Impossible) and come to terms with the fact that they were no longer under fire. In the following disorientation they backed off a few paces– just in case.

The fact that these two didn’t seem to understand what a surrender was was alarming on it’s own. Maybe they had given them that impression of themselves through the coliseum…either way they could use this to their advantage. To prop themselves up and convince them, and themselves, that they still had a grasp on any straw. The kids were the ones that were out of touch.

“I’m sorry were you expecting a fight to the death or something? This was just a test.”

Their reactions fueled exactly what they needed.

“You sound like I took something from you. Do you really not settle for less that total destruction even in a low-stakes fight? Even when you have an obvious win?” Still, their own goading had an effect, and Aon couldn’t help but scowl deeper at the assertion that they were ‘saving themselves the pain.’ when they had been handed such a glaring overkill.

“–or were you hoping for a jack-out finish so you wouldn’t have to hear the results?”

Crossing their arms in a mirror to Rock they carried on, though their address was more to her operator. Any disappointment they may have had with this outcome was easily overshadowed by their own moment of weakness. Any genuine attempt at peace of mind they may have had coming into this they had completely ruined on their own.

They were hardly one to talk at this point, and yet,

“Don’t think you’ve passed. There’s simply nothing that can be done about it. There’s no doubt in my mind that the two of you are impossibly dangerous.” It was just like Ellen had said. The kid was more of a problem than initially realized. “What’s going to happen is you’re going to get to keep acting as you are and see what happens. Far be it from me to stop you, I don’t have the words or ability.”

The thought of waiting something like that out…not acting until the damage was done like all the others wanted…not having the power to stop it when it did happen…What good were they?

The low thrumming returned to their ears, or maybe it hadn’t really left and it was just starting to melt into the background. Meanwhile their SoulCleanser had been flaring and threatening to deflagrate them from the inside out as badly as if they had actually taken that chip.

They needed to get stronger.

“As for me you’ll have to suffer my presence in these investigations a bit longer. Despite it all I’d still like to be proven wrong.”

Aon didn’t answer right away. How dare this beast come here and declare terms. The fact that their worst assumption had been correct, along with her putrid aura made them nauseous…as close a feeling as they could in any case.

“You picked a poor way to go about it. I don’t talk to reprobates who need to scratch at the door to be let in for attention.”

This one was from the chatroom too. There were a few self-proclaimed Darkloids in there, regardless, her appearance ruled out all but one option. Still, they weren’t about to act as if they knew, or cared about who this was and what they had to say here…where they could be caught out.

“You’ll just have to send me fan mail like everyone else!”

They snapped forward at a run, loading in a sword to swipe a wave of energy to send ahead at the intruder in an attempt to hold her at bay before they could close the distance.

Of course they had a wall up they had something to hide now. But did they always come off that way? Was it not just the detached professionalism?

“I…” There really wasn’t anything else Aon could think to say other than to acquiesce.

“Yes…And you’ve been very patient with me so far so I’ve just got to keep…trusting that.”

Their gaze fell to Roll fidgeting with the gaudy imitation beverage before she could even mention it.

“Yeah…Yeah I think I would appreciate that. One of those…” It certainly wasn’t something they would normally be caught dead with, but they would be remiss to pass on the olive branch at this point. That, and it was something to keep them from running as much of a risk of getting ready to pry their own fingers off

“And you’re right. I don’t know much about any of you at all.” They thought back to the vision bursts, how they could do nothing but quietly observe with no context or personal connections to what they were witnessing.

“What we saw at the end back there, at the arena…I couldn’t connect to any of it. Ellen’s memory was the only one that was obvious by lack of presence alone.”

@cinnamononions

There was a lot for Aon to be thinking about, a lot of which they really didn’t want to be.

So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and not just a matter of their short activation period, or even the Alpha incidents, even just since…since escaping the lab.

Dealing with Ellen and CometMan, crashing out at the cafe, whatever the hell happened when confronting Lan and Rock…the dark chip that had eluded them. All the while the scraping beneath their frame, behind their eye, had yet to subside; almost as badly as if they had used the thing.

But they were here. Back at work pouring over a stack of papers at their little desk that one couldn’t tell had been at one point cleft in twain. Needing to pretend to be fine just a little longer– just until the withdrawals finally died down and then maybe…maybe they could try to salvage things.

They were back at it, the ‘unconventional romance fiction’ lie was coming true (How many more would?). Anything to keep their putrefying mind off their latest blunders. Something– anything to help convince themselves that what they were feeling had any shred of normalcy. To keep them from unraveling at the seams.

They had been so engrossed in their reading that they hadn’t noticed the intrusion–

“I think it’s funny that you format your files that way.” The generic reddish navi mused from her place across the desk. Her head rested in the crook of her crossed arms.

Thorn. Thorn in their side was more like.

“Seems novel for a lot of people.” Their reply came dry. “Can I help you?”

“I can’t check in with my favourite coworker?”

The corner of Aon’s lip pulled into a grimace behind the pages. It was too bad. She was never really their type from square one, let alone whatever was becoming of them now.

“It’s more that I’m evidently preoccupied.”

“Well sure, but what other chance am I going to get? We’re seeing less and less of you.” Thorn sat up straight, and gesticulated with a roll of her wrist. “I’m not the only one who can tell something’s off you know. You’re kind of a bad actor when you can’t see the camera.”

They folded a corner of the papers back with one finger to peer at their interrogator. Not that the mask revealed any more than what the papers were hiding. There it was again. ‘Bad actor.’

“Is that so?”

“So what have you been doing? Dr. Kidd taking you around?”

“Sometimes.”

“Right.” She wasn’t really having that. “…but she would be requesting that personally if that were the case. Rampant’s not complaining about her though…”

The lie hung in stilted silence before Thorn continued; with an offer instead of an ultimatum.

“Do you…think I could come with next time?”

As soon as Aon opened their mouth to object a loud blaring alarm echoed through the network instead. Thorn practically jumped in her seat.

FIRST LEVEL SECURITY ALERT: BREACH IN SECURITY FIREWALL

Opening a small console off to the side Aon worked on pinpointing the breach. Something like this had never happened since they had been made, which lead them to one conclusion. A pit formed in their core.

It could be nothing… some jackass trying to prove themselves like they’ve heard happening to other institutions. When that Darkloid version of MegaMan came through he hadn’t tripped the firewall at all, so surely if someone were here after them they wouldn’t be so clumsy?

Or it was to purposely draw their attention.

“I’ll get Thistle-” Thorn announced, scrambling to get herself together. It was evident this was a first for her as well.

“Don’t.” Aon practically growled at her. Catching themselves, they unwound their demeanor just enough to try and win her back over with their bad acting and stupid grin. “I’ve got this.”

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

The facade dropped flat as soon as Aon jacked into the affected comp space. Thankfully they were the first on the scene and if there was any remaining shreds of competence in them it would stay that way.

Immediately they were met with the familiar, cloying pressure of a Dark Aura, confirming their suspicions. They loaded their sword and stepped out into the open to survey their surroundings.

"Alright, show yourself."

Bad at acting. They scoffed under their breath before dropping their expression flat.

“I know what you meant.” Aon retorted. Their finger tapped against the table with decided impatience considering the nature of the conversation, but they were quick to start slipping. “I know you didn’t mean literally. I’m-I mean I should also do it literally- I mean-”

It really shouldn’t have annoyed them so much but…they really had underestimated these two, hadn’t they? Not to the level that Serpentine had and yet. Why did sitting need to feel like an interrogation? Why was this all so unnecessarily harder it needed to be?

They came here for help so why?

Why? WHY!?

“Where am I meant to start? Huh? Not with myself? Not trying to be so wound up doing something as simple as chatting at a cafe? I’m trying.” The last word barely escaped as a hiss as they caught themselves a little too short of escalating further.

They chanced a glance around at the other cafe-goers, half–concerned they were starting to garner attention to themselves, before slumping back in their seat and crossing their arms a little too tightly over their chest.

“What’s ’wrong’ is that apparently I’m too out of touch and nobody thought it was a problem until now.”

Either they were made that way, something was wrong with them, or in the fashion that everything else going wrong in their tenebrous little life was: both.

Aon growled through the grip on their neck as their own grasp loosened on Rock, the sludge receding. “I can feel you rejecting it.” They hissed, ignoring the damage they themselves were taking from their own element. “Why do that if there’s nothing to worry about?”

The next thing they knew they were on the ground, roller blades pendulating over them ominously while Lan and Rock verbally lambasted them.

Maybe some of what they were saying had some truth. There couldn’t be an argument that they preferred to be the one in control, and maybe they had come here today under less than decorable circumstances, but in their mind the intention never wavered. Gauge how much of a threat they were and have the proof they needed to trust them again.

“That’s not–” They started to argue, before cutting themselves short. “It doesn’t matter, I’ve already explained myself and you two won’t listen.” Of course, they elected to omit their own little crashout.

“You’re always justified.” Just like She said.

These two were dangerous. There was nothing they could do about it, and they had to somehow relax through it all for the sake of the rest of the team while they battled their own demons. They had to sit by and let them do whatever with this power no child should have until the next inevitable casualty.

‘All the power in the world’ What a thing to say.

Aon had barely made a move to try and get away from the descending blades, only to realize they were completely surrounded, all ways and up. Out of preloaded options, all there was left was to squeeze their eyes shut through the barrage of arrows.

A layer of white static clouded the back of their eyelids. Each arrowhead felt like they were being held further under while their Undershirt program desperately attempted to keep them afloat.

How were these kids all so strong for no good reason while they were a government funded project? Clearly they weren't funded enough, otherwise they'd be better...

‘All the power in the world’

Otherwise they wouldn’t have been the only one who lost in the last fight.

Otherwise they wouldn’t already be hitting their ceiling while everyone else grew taller around them.

Otherwise they wouldn’t be so broken.

’You will never reach your full potential’

An ear twitched, picking up a low, familiar thrumming. Louder and louder until it drowned out every other noise, the threat of the blades dropping and dealing the final blow. The world slowed with the pace of the dark, droning pulse.

A new chip loaded in their peripherals floating just off to the side of Rock’s dark figure. It would look right at home there if they didn’t know any better. It was meant for them.

DarkThunder

Aon made a desperate grasp for it, if they couldn’t win they could at least afford themselves the dignity of losing on their feet. Garner back some semblance of control.

The little ball of thunder would barely scratch a form like Shadow Trance, hell, she was practically made of darkness would it even matter? But the stun would be all they needed to avoid the blades and get back to their feet. Get some distance. Try to shake off the gnawing at every fiber of their being until they could get the hell out of there. Convince themselves they still had a handle on their own reigns while they frothed around the bit only to wedge it deeper.

They reached for it– and it dissolved from their vision before they could fully grasp it. A sick joke, a twisted hallucination, or maybe their heart just wasn’t in it. It would have looked really bad on them if they had taken it after all, and they had already done a fine job of doing that without making things the worst they possibly could have been.

“Enough!” They rasped through their teeth, glaring back up at Rock. “I yield.”

“Well, naturally I should think so.” Aon conceded, cocking their head slightly while they rehashed that answer.

Of course that read on paper, If they were any more self aware maybe it would have clicked into place a little easier. That they came off far colder than intended eighty percent of the time…especially more recently, but…

Instead they couldn’t help but feel like they were being talked around in circles…even if this was kind of what they asked for. Patience had been in high demand and low supply lately.

“Right…I’ll…try to be more relaxed.”

Relaxing at all, let alone around them– the others, was easier said than done. It did have to be done though, no matter the discomfort.

As if to emphasize their willingness, they laxed their posture slightly in their seat and crossed one leg over the other. Meanwhile the most disjointed little sneer cracked over their features.

“That’s an excellent way of putting it, yes.” Aon nodded along, eager to keep this conversation back on the rails.

“I think I’m in very capable hands then.” They clasped their hands together and leaned back a bit in their chair.

If there was one thing they were good at, it was laying it on thick. And they had kept them on the line so far despite the outbursts. Their fingers pressed tighter together at the notion of having their concerns heard, as if theirs weren’t drowned out from the start in their mind. They kept that to themselves.

“I…think I see where you’re going.”

Of course it was something a police mascot could do. They just had to try a little harder at the kindness part. This would all come a bit easier once they were able to get their current state of being under control.

“I’ll take anything you can give me, if we’ve got the time.”

please edit me

edit: yay

edit 2: noo

edit (hub) why the fuck can i edit your post

“Ah..” A weak noise creaked and died in the back of Aon’s throat while they tried to process their misstep. The hand cupping their chin moved upwards and under their visor to cradle their forehead.

“I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have assumed you would think that. My PR has been horrendous lately, so I…”

They could still turn this around! This kind of answer was what they wanted out of this after all, regardless of how unearned.

“Thank you for um. For that.”

Their hand retracted from their face and joined the other back on the table.

“I don’t think that’s entirely true. I think I get on just fine with my coworkers…” Very rarely did they take actual cases with them that weren’t more than small time operations or data collection. And then there was the marketing. It was peaceful times. They hadn’t really considered if maybe their standing within the system had gotten in the way of being approachable to their own coworkers. They never really cared either.

“Though I guess it’s not really the same as the kind of work we have been dealing with in the chatroom. I can’t say I’ve pulled off the type of coordination I have with you in battle with anyone else. So for the sake of this exercise let’s say that’s correct.”

“Mutating over time…”

Aon took a moment to consider what that could possibly mean for theirs…and a mental note to keep a closer eye on her in the chatroom.

They were caught off guard by how nicely they had put what they could only assume they were really trying to say. The whole intent of the meeting was to solidify trust with the two, now it was backfiring in their face.

“What? N-no I meant dealing with the whole of the chatroom and having to deal with the government backend breathing down my neck if I were to disclose it not-”

Their control was slipping away. Bitter malaise rose in their throat that they had to fight to keep down, clenching their jaw. They propped their elbow up onto the table and put their chin in their hand in an attempt to ease it up.

“Are you saying you think I’m incompetent?”

Aon opened their mouth to deny but quickly shut it again. They hadn’t thought about it so deeply…but surely this had to be true, otherwise they could have felt safe enough to have asked for help.

“Ah…well I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case but…”

Accepting that, or a fault of their own ego were equally undesirable options. So they chose to let that topic die in awkward silence.

They blinked through all of the names listed off and just nodded along, recognizing none of them except ‘Netto’; knowing there were least a few of that guy in the chatroom and theirs wasn’t one they had met yet.

“Right, do we know if there’s any update on them?”

They glanced down past their visor at their restless hands while they debated sharing their own information. There really wouldn’t be any harm in telling a half truth…That that SoulNet Yuichiro reached out to them in direct messages inquiring about the Tower. But that could potentially lead to–

No, they couldn’t. Not yet.

“You don’t need to tell me. Just curious.”

“I stated what I wanted to see from the start! Why are you surprised?! Is it because I’m not coddling you like everyone else?! Letting you think it’s all fine?!”

Aon struggled to keep their hold while they argued, bracing their arm with their other hand attempting to pump more of their vaccine toward Rock.

“You’re arguing what I’m doing isn’t fair? After using illegal chips on me, and now this?” They knew they were going to be dealing with whatever this Shadow Trance was, and in all truth they hadn’t made any kind of plan for it, not even this.

But now here they were, unable to take it back. They could only attempt to excuse their way out of it.

“What’s with the double standard? First it’s ‘no one told me so it’s fine’ but it’s not fine when it’s used against you. Is it? I haven’t said one thing I didn’t mean!”

Their gaze meandered to the screen to glare at Lan, taking note of her reactions. It left them off guard for the sudden transformation and the swiftness of Rock breaking free, appearing directly in front of them and the shadow from behind,

They struggled briefly, slacking when it became evident they were far outmatched. They could barely keep up with these two as it was, this new form was as Ellen put it ‘Frightening’ but not fun by any means.

They couldn’t do anything about this, no matter how badly they wanted to.

“I’ll take the hate. I’ll take it all! If you brats would. Just. Get it!!” They hissed through their teeth, tilting their head up and to the right against the blade to shoot a direct glare at Rock with their good eye from under their visor.