Chapter 2: Preparation Part 2
Zander's Beats…Sarah's POV
I walked in the store to find Clair organizing CDs.
"Hey, Clair!" I got her attention. "I have a squad and we've been training for the tournament. We need the perfect music to train to."
"Well, some Wet Floor never hurts." Clair said. "Chirpy Chips got back together fairly recently. Bottom Feeders is also good."
"You always know what I want." I complimented.
I grabbed that CD and headed over to checkout. Claire headed over to scan me out.
"So who's on your team?" She asked.
"There's Tim, Sylvia, and my boyfriend Guyver." I told her.
"Wait, was that the guy you were crushing on?" She looked at me.
"Oh yeah," I haven't told her yet. "We're going out now."
"Congrats." She said. "Surprised you didn't invite that brother of yours."
"He already has a team." I explained. "Sibling rivalries have to start sometime, right?"
"…Yeah…" Her face reminded me of when Gramps would have a war flashback. "A-anyway, cash or card?"
"I finally got a card." I handed it to her. "So you have siblings?"
"Uh-yeah…" She replied.
"Where are they?" I asked. "I only see you here."
"One moved to the countryside…we had a falling out…" She explained. "I don't know where the rest are…"
The look on her face worried me.
"Do you wanna watch us train?" I asked. "Give ya somethin' to do."
"…Eh, why not?" She shrugged. "My shift ends soon anyway…"
A few minutes later, Clair walked with me to the training grounds. I went in first while she got some snacks first. By the time she got in, we already started training to some Chirpy Chips in the background. I occasionally looked over to make sure some of our ink wasn't heading her way. It did sometimes, but she must have great reflexes to dodge while still looking relaxed. I wish I could be so chill sometimes.
Guyver's POV
"Alright Sarah!" I called out. "So we circle around opposite sides and distract enemies while Octim and Sylvia cover ground in the middle. Then, any still there we've already flanked on both sides!"
"Some call that a Ligo Maneuver!" Sylvia brought up some war trivia. "Naming it after Gerald Ligo, who popularized some brush strategies during the war!"
"Gerald Ligo?" Sarah recognized the name. "That's my grandpa!"
"I love this team!" Sylvia cheered.
After we finished, I took a sip of my drink to find an Octoling watching us.
"Uh…hello." I walked over. "Who are you?"
"Oh…hi" She noticed me. "I'm Clair. I work at Zander's Beats. Sarah asked if I could watch. You guys seem pretty good."
"Clair?" I noticed the name. "Do you know a Chloe?"
"That's my sister's name." She told me. "We had a falling out and she moved to the countryside…why?"
"…Then you're all accounted for…" I noted.
"What do you mean…?" Her eyes widened. "You know where the rest are?!"
"You may want to sit down for this…" I told her.
"I'm tougher than I look." She assured me. "You can tell me."
I took a deep breath.
"Catherine, Carly, Carla, Casey, and Cynthia are dead...in a way." I explained. "They were blended into paste and used as obstacles in an underground testing facility. There are a few people I know who are working part-time to see if what happened to them can be reversed, but they currently function as mindless drones."
"…I need to sit down…" She slumped down.
"Told ya." I said. "Since you were here, I just thought you'd like to know."
"…Thanks…" She said. "At least I have some closure now…"
"…One more thing…" I said a bit hesitantly.
"What?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Since your disappearance, Cassandra has become the Captain to a Sector Commander's personal squad." I explained further.
"What…?" Her eyes widened.
"Cass became an Elite." I told her. "…I-I just thought you'd like to know…"
I walked out the door. She may not like it, but she needed to know.
Sarah's POV
"Hey, where'd Guyver go?" I looked around.
I turned to see Clair next to the door.
"Hey Clair," I walked over. "Have you seen…Clair?"
She seemed to be crying.
"Clair?" I put a hand on her shoulder.
"She became an Elite…" She mumbled. "She always said she would…"
"What?" I was confused.
She looked up at me. She was smiling, but still crying.
"O-one w-way of another…" She sniffled. "My little Cassie became an Elite…"
I hugged her as her tears started to flow freely. What was she talking about? She knows Cass?
Crust Bucket…Shortly After
I got Clair a drink. Guyver found us and sat down. I slapped him for making Clair cry, but Clair told me to apologize as she started to explain.
"I was the big sister of a Tube-grown batch called C-Group." Clair explained. "We all came out at the same time, but there's one sibling that's always treated as the eldest. Cass however...came out later than the rest of us did, so she became the little sister."
"Wow..." I had to sit for this. "Cass is your sister..."
"Yeah…" Clair said. "But our history is less than happy."
"With how Cass is, I can tell." I said. "You know why?"
"It's a mixture of her stubbornness, things out of her control, and our treatment of her." She explained. "I wasn't the best person back in the day…"
"She often talked about how much you guys sucked." Guyver remarked. "Right before she'd beat me to the ground and tell me I'd never amount to anything."
"Yeah, that's basically our fault…" She lamented. "It took her so long to make any significant progress that some of us started telling her to just give up. She never did though…"
"Wait…" I stopped her. "Let me guess…every time she told people they were pathetic, useless, or runts, it had something to do with you guys."
"Most likely." She said. "We got tired of her behavior and she downright hated us. After one incident, I actually tried setting her on a different path, but at that point, she hated us so much and was so set on proving that we were wrong about her that she took it as an insult. Since then she stopped calling me sister, preferring 'bitch.' She called all of us that from then on."
"Don't be so hard on yourself." I told her. "You've probably changed a lot since then."
"I have…" She took a sip of her drink. "But I hope someday I can fix my mistakes…and she was my biggest one."
"What about Chloe?" Guyver asked. "What was your falling out about?"
"After the…concert… I told one my squadmates to find my other sisters while I left with Cloe and a few others." She explained. "We never saw them again and feared the worst. Chloe blamed me, saying I 'left them behind,' and she left for the countryside, saying she never wanted to see me again."
"Well, maybe that can change in the future." I said. "She can't stay mad forever."
"Maybe…" She took another sip. "Well Sarah, I'd ask you how you know all this, but I think I've had enough heavy subjects for one day."
She started to get up.
"Alright." I agreed. "I guess we should go too then…"
Right when we were leaving, she stopped Guyver. I could hear the conversation they had.
"You told me the news, so I'll ask you…" She told him. "I-if you see Cass again...could you tell her that her sister loves her and wants her back?"
"…I will." He assured her.
That would require us seeing Cass again, which…wouldn't go well…but if it makes Clair happy, then I'll support his decision.
For now though, we have spies and a tournament to deal with.
