Warning: this one has a disturbing interrogation scene.

Quick name reference: Zima=Sonya, Istina=Anna, Gummy=Lada, Leto=Rosalind, Rosa=Natalya, Absinthe=Zoya, Carrion=Mikhail (the OC)


A bully's worst

Salvager and Squire tugged Cannon's sleeves and bombarded her ears with questions, as if their teammate knew the answers to them. After entering the ghastly village, Absinthe took Click with Istina in order to treat the scratches and other injuries she sustained while fighting the beasts in the cave. Just having an open wound could be dangerous in certain areas, but getting cuts from possibly infected creatures was very risky. For that reason, when the squad rescued Click from the cave, they travelled in a straight line towards the town in order to seek medical assistance.

But there was nobody.

Fortunately, they met another Rhodes Island team of operators, but the deadly silence between the leaders during their return to the town gave the trainees enough reasons to worry. What was going on?

Since Zima didn't feel like talking to that bastard, Rosa informed Carrion of their recent activities and objectives. "The information we were given was fake. Our prisoner gained enough time to free himself from the bindings and overpowered Gummy with a surprise attack."

"Is she safe?"

"Dazed, but she's a strong girl."

"It's still sickening." Carrion groaned.

"Indeed… Not only has he led a group of kidnappers and hired extra muscle to hunt us. He also deceived us and even hit Gummy in the head."

"Ah… I'm getting mad. I'm surprised Zima hasn't put him in his place yet."

The brunette bear had been resting her back onto the barn with her eyes closed, but hearing her name in that person's voice always disgusted her. However, since Rosa had taken the role of nexus between them, someone actively tried to keep the communications flowing.

"We cannot dispose of him and call it a day, I'm afraid. "Rosa continued. "We still have to find the missing children and return them to their families. We've risked so much to get this far… Zima even got a bad gnash along the way."

Carrion lowered his eyes, fixing them onto the aristocrat's shoes. He wanted to ask, to look and maybe inspect her injuries himself… but there was a wall between them.

"I… understand." He didn't deserve to address Zima, so he instead glared at the thug that his students were currently sitting on, wrapped in so many ropes he resembled a worm. "I hope you will allow me to assist during the interrogation. I feel like being a monster today."

"Normally, I would ask you to keep things civilized… but the villain lost that right the moment he abused our mercy. Will that be okay with you?"

Zima scoffed and switched her glaring target from Carrion to their unnamed enemy. The girl grunted again and got closer, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "Under my supervision. So? Why the heck are you here? Stalking us?"

The redhead chuckled, but quickly regained his composure. People should generally be careful when saying things around Zima, which applied ten-fold in his case. He shook his head and straightened his back.

"We were moving around the nearby forest to conduct some basic survival training for my students: Salvager, Cannon and Squire. The original purpose of our trip was to assist Click during the making of a nature documentary, but she was generous enough to allow this extra exercise." He surmised while glancing at the barn, worry betraying his eyes. "There was an accident and she got red."

"Red?" Rosa asked by bringing a finger to her face.

"…a defense mechanism that replaces her entire persona while under severe emotional stress… According to what she told us, she fell into a cavern and was surrounded by beasts. The next thing she remembered was our arrival and her reaction. We were forced to go deeper into the cavern to search for her and… we found this."

Carrion offered the aristocrat the recording device while Zima rested onto her shoulder to have a look.

"What did you find?"

"An underground facility of unknown purpose. It was relatively old, but there were some signs of recent activity."

Zima grabbed the screen to take a better look. "Is that a table with restrains? Can't you turn up the brightness?"

After Rosa boosted up the setting, they continued to watch the recording up to the point where they found Click. Carrion crossed his arms, relieved that he found someone else he could ask for help with their disturbing finding. The three agreed that they had to share the evidence with Rhodes Island.

"You wouldn't happen to have a transmitter strong enough to send this data back to the landship, would you?" He asked.

"We do, but the batteries didn't survive to the skirmishes." Zima answered.

The instructor kneeled, undid his belt and took off the long split skirt he had over the trousers. On the inner side of the clothing piece that had earned him many odd looks, there were all sorts of tools stored in pockets and straps. From knives to sniper bolts, from bandages to suppressants, from wires and ropes to… radio batteries.

Rosa grinned. "My, you certainly came well prepared from some 'basic survival training', Mikhail."

"You wouldn't believe how many times my skirt has saved my ass in past operations."

"Come on, that's obviously overkill."

Carrion expected Rosa's comment, but not Zima's. He had to clear his voice to regain the ability to speak. "Some of these tools, I have yet to give them any use. The batteries are such a case. Let's hope they didn't drain completely after all this time…"

The aristocrat found their communications device from their bags and tested the new energy source. The machine's interface lit up. Since they ignored how much time they had, Zima grabbed the mic and started yapping the news back to Rhodes Island. Meanwhile, Carrion connected the camera to the transmitter, encrypted the files as per the protocol and sent the evidence to HQ. A light lit up, informing the group that they were receiving a signal back.

"That was quick. Let's hear it."

"Zima? This is Amiya. Status report confirmed. For the time being, I want you to pair up with Carrion's squad and investigate the kidnappings further. I'm worried about the abandoned village… Find out what happened to them and report back as soon as possible. If new problems arise, contact us again and we'll dispatch more reinforcements your way."

"Copy that, Amiya. Anything to say about the video?"

"Not yet. Our technicians are working on it at the moment. Are Click and Gummy alright? Should we send a medic operator?"

"Only minor injuries and scratches. We can handle."

"Zima, please be safe. I can't shake the feeling that something more sinister might be the responsible for the deserted town. I want you to- - so that- - -and the Doct-"

"Amiya! The signal is crap! We don't receive you!"

The device beeped its last before turning off. The batteries had done their best, but it wasn't enough. The three ursus remained silent when Squire approached. Even though the kuranta's armor made him the bulkiest out of everyone, he felt nervous in the presence of the other operators.

"Is everything fine, Teach?"

"Of course. We received new directives, even though we are now uncommunicated with HQ. Rejoice: this training trip just became your first official operation."

"W-What? For real?"

"Yup. Return with the squad. I'll give you the debriefing soon. Make sure the prisoner doesn't feel like escaping anymore."

"You can count on me, Teach!" Which usually meant that Squire was planning to bore his squad and the prisoner to death with more Kazimierz knightly tales of bravery.

Ever since the connection cut off, Zima wore a frown on her brows, but the brief interjection of her nemesis' student worsened it.

"You will only slow us down."

Carrion mimicked her frown and forgot about the wall. "They might be rookies, but they are better prepared than us when we became operators."

"Talk is cheap. With an unreliable sucker like you as their instructor, they won't accomplish crap."

"Insult me all you want, Zima, but don't disregard them because of me. As little as it may mean, I give you my word. They will prove themselves useful." And he crossed his arms again. "In fact, they might be too eager to be useful…"

Zima glanced at the trio of students, her hostility being replaced with worry. "…whatever. Amiya said to pair up with you, but we'll keep things as they are. I'm not here to babysit anyone. I lead my team. You lead yours."

The redhead felt like protesting again, but Rosa's gesture told him that he wouldn't get anything out of doing so. "Fine. However, considering that you are still my superior, I will follow your orders during this operation. I hope I won't have to exaggerate how important it is to keep regular communications between our teams."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

"As much as you hate me, don't give me the cold shoulder. We are Rhodes Island operators now."

"I told you, I get it!"

"Do you?"

Her patience now completely consumed, Zima stood up and faced the redhead, only a short gap separating them. Rosa felt like intervening, but doing so was dangerous as it was. Zima grabbed Carrion by the collar of his skin-tight shirt and pulled him so that her hatred-filled eyes could strike him at point-blank.

"Don't mess with me, Mikhail."

Pushing him aside, Zima then approached the nervous group of rookies who felt intimidated by their teacher's boss. They moved aside to let her grab the worm-like prisoner and she dragged him towards the closest empty house she could find.

"…I won't." Rosa heard Carrion say before he picked his skirt up and approached his students. He owed them some explanations. The tactical ones… and the more delicate ones as well…

"Dear me… If the bounty hunters don't do it, they will kill each other by the end of this, I'm sure." Muttering her fears to herself, the noble lady returned to the barn to check up on the others and inform them of the latest news.


Gummy had a bandage tied around her head, her blond twirl of hair resting over it. The cook looked exhausted while the detective checked on her older injuries. They sat on a wooden bench, their school jackets resting on their laps. Istina kept inspecting her friend up and down, maybe squeezing in some tickles to check her capacity to giggle. Everything seemed alright, which put a smile in all of them.

Except, perhaps, on Click. The streamer was still too hung up on her recent actions. Absinthe helped the mouse changing into a clean set of clothes, but since she only packed one jacket and it was rather cold, the cop removed her over-sized sweater and gave it to Click, revealing the elegant black shirt she wore underneath. The difference in size was so dramatic that it looked like the sweater had turned into a long coat.

"This is not like you, Click. I hate it when you cry." Absinthe gently murmured to her friend, caressing her head.

"What happened?" Gummy asked after inching closer to them. Absinthe offered them a brief explanation. "Oh, no! That must have been horrible! Wait just a minute. I'll wipe something up for you girls. Are you hungry?"

Istina sighed. "I'll help." Even though her friend should rest for some more time before moving so energetically again, she decide that her efforts would be better spent assisting Gummy rather than stopping her.

The streamer covered her eyes again and sniffled. "I went too far this time, Zoya… I said something horrible to you and Mik…"

"Don't be silly. We know that you didn't mean it. Not like that, anyway. After you went radio silent, Mikhail got really anxious about it and wanted to search for you at once, but I… I wanted to be alone with him. Forgive me. I was selfish. I should have-"

"Hold on." Click interrupted with eyes wide open. "You wanting to flirt with him, I understand; but the ship sailing without my presence?! My ship?! Unforgiveable! I demand a re-do! Tell me everything!"

As the other ursus grew curious of their conversation, Absinthe was already blushing as hard as her cheeks allowed. Gummy asked about the kind of nautical vessels they were talking about, but the uncultured little cub didn't understand half the terms the zalak used. Istina ended up sighing from exasperation and stepped in.

"A ship: a term often used to refer to the romantic pairing of two characters." The detective's monocle shone when she glanced at the cornered cop. "Are we safe to assume Click refers to you and Mikhail?"

"Wait, wait-" She tried fighting back, but it was a lost cause.

"Are you two together?" Gummy beamed. "So cute! You suit each other! I'm happy for you!"

Click caressed her chin, pride inflating her chest. "I know, right? I've watered this plant for a really looooong time now, but I feel like we're about to enter the endgame. Aaah! I can't wait to see the flowers! Spring is here!"

Istina opened her mystery novel and buried her face into it. "This is why I don't like romance."

"You're blushing!" Gummy called out. "But I guess so am I, hahaha!"

"W-Wait, everyone. Mikhail and I are not like that…" The looks Absinthe received from the other girls made her crumble down in defeat. "…yet."

The chef felt rejuvenated as she chopped some veggies, Istina hid her red colors again behind her book and Click tackled Absinthe's side and teased her some more. The embarrassment the cop felt was a small price to pay in order to lift her friend's spirits.

Just as the smell of a warm broth started filling the barn, an ursus of white hair with some blue and red strands joined the group, woke Leto up from her nap over a pile of hay and gathered them to share the news.

"A joint operation with Carrion…" Istina mumbled with a serious tone of voice.

"My thoughts exactly." Rosa agreed, while Gummy shared their worries by darkening her expression and growing silent.

Absinthe frowned, instinctively pressing Click against herself. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Yeah, I don't get it either." Leto joined, receiving dumbfounded faces from her fellow Chernobog survivors, with whom she had battled against Mikhail for survival once or twice. "Really, I don't. Chernobog is water under the bridge for all of us. Besides, I've used him as a punching bag many times and I can attest to his sturdiness. Ten outta ten, would punch again. Dude won't slow us down."

"It's not so simple, Leto…"

"Out of us, you were the only one who tried stopping Zima when she gave him a beating right after their reunion." The aristocrat muttered, still upset at herself for not doing the same. "We all know and love Zima, but we were shocked about her actions that day."

Istina nodded. "Even when there were people who questioned her leadership when the USSG didn't even have a name, Zima held back for as long as she could before recurring to violence."

"We fought many people in Peterheim, but the only time where Gummy saw Sonya so disturbed was whenever Mikhail was her opponent. Gummy was still hiding behind everyone back then, so she noticed it."

"Something's up between them. Something we don't know about." Rosa concluded.

Absinthe tensed up as the survivor students talked about the past. Click made a silent question and the cop answered it. Those girls didn't know what Mikhail meant to Zima… or what he did to her. When Mikhail confessed his messed-up past, he asked them to respect his victims' privacy. The bully's confidants imagined the other faction of students knew the truth as well, but it seemed that topic had been something Zima allowed to collect dust for the longest time.

Click waltzed between the group of ursus girls. "So we're teammates now! Great! Let's get along, okay? I'll make sure to take great shots of your valiant efforts with my… my… Gyaaah! My drone! Zoya! What happened to my beauty?!"

The attempt to make peace was short-lived, but Absinthe didn't feel like insisting. As a justice defender, she wasn't going to make up any excuses for the bully, but as someone who followed his growth from before he became an operator, Zoya felt frustrated about the prolonged dead-lock.


No matter how he wriggled, the ropes tying his body didn't get loose. The rude leader who dragged him to that room had been waiting by the door without uttering a single word, but that changed when someone else entered the building.

Zima grabbed another chair and put it in front of their prisoner's.

"You think you can outsmart us. Maybe." The ursus unleashed a punch onto his face so hard that she sent him flying against the room's corner. "I have yet to meet someone who can outsmart my fist, you piece of shit. How dare you backstab us, huuuuh?! We gave you food and you gave us shit! We're the morons for thinking we could trust you!"

After shaking the bounty hunter up and down, Zima readied her arm to throw another punch, but someone stopped her. "If you keep hitting him, you'll disjoint his jaw. When that happens, interrogatories don't flow as easily."

The girl pulled her arm to release herself from that bastard's grasp and stood up. Carrion sighed, grabbed the nose-bleeding kidnapper and returned him to his chair. The thug spat at his face.

"Wow. You must not value your life if you're this defiant so early in the session."

"Eat my balls, you fucking piece of gay shit!"

The redhead had been trying to play nice, but the prisoner wanted more problems than he already had. A dangerous grin tried grew on his lips, but he retaining control of himself. He hadn't forgotten that Zima was still present. The girl hit the back of the prisoner's head and ordered him to cut the crap and start talk.

But he refused, laughing at his captors.

If only he wasn't the only one who knew where the children were hidden, Zima would have already split his skull open. Injuring her friends was something she could hardly forgive. Spitting at their mercy? The old delinquent student would have lost her patience already, but the vanguard was a professional operator. The Doctor promoted her again and again and she hated the idea of doing something underserving of her rank.

The interrogation team exited the room momentarily to discuss their action plan. When they returned, Carrion sat in front of the prisoner while Zima watched from the door.

"Let's try this again. You don't want to talk and you show defiance. You either feel suicidal or you're protecting someone…"

"…you gay bastard."

"Could you… stop assuming my sexuality, dude? You won't get me riled up like that. Each insult you say will only worsen the image I have of you. The worse it gets, the less likely I am to ask things nicely. Or what? Are you one of those masochists Rosa told me about?"

The prisoner had gathered enough saliva to spit at him again. Carrion chuckled. He didn't mind someone putting up a fight, but he could hear Zima's teeth grinding already.

"I respect you. You're ready to die in order to keep your little secrets. Loyalty like that is hard to find."

"What? The runt back there didn't get shit out of thrashing me and now you're sucking it up? Good cop, bad cop? Hahaha, you're fucking pathetic!"

"And you're desperate to break us. Unfortunately for you, I am not really as nice a person as the girl behind me. She punched you, yeah. You gave her reasons to, but that doesn't mean she enjoyed it. Me? I'm a jerk."

Carrion pulled his shirt up and got top naked, revealing the crystallized shoulder.

"I am told you are a fellow infected."

"Here we go again…" The thug mumbled.

"We are… No. You already know who we are. You don't like Rhodes Island, do you? Don't bother lying. Your surprise just now betrayed you. For some reason, you dissent with Rhodes Island. Fascinating. No other organization has gone as far to help the Infected improving their living conditions."

"Hah, as if that was enough."

"What do you mean?" Zima asked, pulling the fishing rod.

"You operators are just dogs doing the biding of your masters. And for what? You will only get yourselves killed and nothing will change in the end. Nothing ever does."

The mauled man lowered his eyes to the floor, getting lost in his own thoughts. The girl crossed her arms again and scoffed. "What a loser. Giving up without even trying."

"Oh, I tried. You don't even know how hard I tried. And not just me. The guys you killed. My brothers and sisters in arms. You don't know what you did."

"Hah! Wrong! We know what we did. We beat the shit out of some good-for-nothings that kidnapped innocent children!"

The prisoner returned to his silence. That line of questioning was over. After her taunts failed to get a new answer out of him, the vanguard returned to her spot near the door and clicked her tongue again.

"Tell us." Carrion requested. "You said it yourself. We don't know what we did. Then tell us. Don't you want to put us in our place?"

"…"

"But doing so would put your other friends in danger, I see… Then you must be aware."

"What are you talking about this time?"

"If you can't tell us what your deal is, that means you know how bad it is. In that case, I ask you this. If it's so bad that you can't say it, is it really worth giving up your life to protect it?"

"…yeah."

"Pardon?"

The prisoner gained strength, his voice roaring louder. "You will never make me talk, no matter what! Do you worst, 'Rhodes Island operators'!"

It couldn't be said either louder or clearer. The kidnapper was not talking and there was no other way about it. Zima pulled her sleeves to prepare herself for another beating, but Carrion rose an arm to stop her.

"This is a veteran fighter we're talking about. Pain won't be enough."

"Tsk… Such a pain in the ass… So what do you propose we do?"

The redhead glanced at the girl with apologetic eyes. "You should leave us alone… You know I can make him talk, but I won't do it with you watching."

Zima stood next to him with an intimidating glare. "The hell are you gonna do?" But the long-haired boy didn't hesitate in his reply.

"What's necessary."

The kidnapper had no idea what was up between them, but he could feel the pressure just from watching their stare contest. The male ursus was the one who broke down first.

"It's your call. We might not make it in time to rescue the children if we don't get him to talk, but that doesn't mean there's no chance at all. Now that our teams are in this together, we can scan through the town much quicker."

The commander of the operation briefly considered her options and then closed her eyes. Without a word, she left the room in a sour mood. The two men now stared at each other.

"You will be wondering what I am going to do to you now."

"See if I care! You talk big for a kid, but you won't get shit from me. Torture me, rape me, it's whatever. Do your worst."

Carrion sighed. "You should reconsider your views on life, dude. I'm not torturing you, much less raping you. Why would you even consider that? My hair? My skirt? Really?"

"…you started undressing."

"Oh. I guess that was misleading. I just wanted to show you that I am also Infected."

"To gain my sympathy? Tough luck."

"Yeah… Well, since you don't feel like talking, how about I do it instead? There's this girl that I'm friends with. Zoya is… the coolest, cutest and gentlest girl I have ever met. When she's next to me, everything feels like melted honey… warm and sweet. Lately, even the food I eat… But that's not all. She's also insanely brave and surprisingly bold. When I fight with her by my side, I feel invincible… which is something really dumb in a battlefield. I'm so in love that I fear I will become a complete idiot."

"Are you done?"

"No, hehe. I can keep going."

"Ugh…"

"Zoya is usually quiet and aloof, but she cares about others more than she seems. For her, I would die a million times over and revive again just to be by her side."

"…so what? Are you going to ask me for love advice?" The man grinned, entertaining the idea to use the new information to rile him up some more.

"No. I'm just giving you some context. As much as I love her… I simply cannot bring myself to tell her my feelings. Can you guess why?"

The thug glanced at the redhead's ugly shoulder.

"Ding-ding-ding! I have a couple of years left in me at best. Oripathy is a bitch."

"Heh. That must be the first thing we agree on."

A chill ran down the prisoner's spine when he saw the ursus' smirk. "Exactly."

"Wait. What are you doing with that knife?"

"Oripathy is a poison that burns slowly. It's a flame that consumes you bit… ghnn… by bit…"

Carrion chiseled one of the many crystals growing on his shoulder. He had been subjected to multiple surgeries already to put the crystals under control, but they always grew back. The medics told him not to cut them himself, but that didn't stop him.

"Do you know what I fear the most? Running out of time. I don't want to die…!" His voice broke down in earnest angst. "There's so many things I have left to do… so many things to confess… so many things to apologize for… … …haahg … …but oripathy won't wait, will it?"

"Put that thing away from me… Don't! STOP!"

"What I fear the most is that my infection suddenly worsens and I run out of time."

"Please, no! You don't have to do this!"

"You don't have to keep quiet, either. Death alone won't make you talk, so I will share with you my greatest fears. That's what bullies do. Open up… or I will make you. Open. Up."

If words didn't exit that man's mouth, something else would go in instead. No, nothing sexual. It was a little stone that would burn his stomach and eat away at the little time the infected bounty hunter had left. Carrion didn't enjoy forcing his mouth open, nor did he enjoy watching his tears accumulate.

But there were some things only monsters could achieve.

Before he could put the originium rock into the victim, Carrion noticed something glimmering outside the window. It was Click's drone. The redhead sighed, released the thug, approached the window and stared at the drone before pulling the curtain.

"I'll talk… please… don't do it… oh, god, I'll talk…"

As the broken man behind him coughed from his own distressed tears, Mikhail covered his face, squeezing it as hard as he could. Monsters weren't meant to cry, either.


Outside the barn, Click and Carrion's students rested their backs against the building. Salvager found for her some new pieces for her drone, while Squire lent his expertise in making those little guys fly up. Just one of the many talents someone from Kazimierz had to know in order to keep the sports going and the public happy.

"Aaah… my beauty! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The streamer sang while rotating over her heels and holding her repaired drone.

"Heh. 'tis nothing!" Squire boasted.

"This is the least we could do for Carrion's pal!" Salvager added. "So? How do you fly that thing?"

Cannon wasn't too interested in playing with drones. While her younger teammates kept dancing around the recuperated streamer, the forte mulled things over. Their new task was simple in nature, but the abandoned village gave the situation a whole new meaning.

"Fly! Fly high, my friend!"

Where were the townspeople?

"Heeeheee! Miss Click, bring it over here!"

Depending on the answer, the future ahead would be that much harsher.

"Behold! This is Click's special spinning technique!"

"Wooooow!"

And it fascinated the white-haired sniper that her immature teammates didn't even stop to consider such things themselves.

"Oh! We can see Carrion and Zima from here." Click noticed. Her control staff had an holoprojection engine that allowed it to show the things her drone was seeing. Salvager and Squire rushed to her side to look, but Cannon was the first to make it next to the mouse.

Their instructor was the one leading the interrogatory. Even though those events were meant to be hostile and dark, not once did he show his malice. Not even he got spat in the face.

"Doesn't this thing have audio?"

"It does, but it makes a loud beep when I enable it. We would disturb them." Click explained.

A few minutes later, Zima came outside and found the busybody's group. The ursus leader quickly understood the situation and found herself a spot between them. Click attempted to call things off, but Zima commanded her to keep going. Her pressure was nothing to scoff at. The streamer had always tried to stay clear of her resentment towards Mikhail, but there was no escape possible at that moment.

Then, the redhead in the projection pulled a knife and cut a piece of the crystals in his shoulder. Zima clenched her fists so hard she almost bled herself. Insulting him under her breath, she rushed back to the building. Then Carrion noticed the drone and approached the window to close the curtain. Click waved her staff to retrieve the drone and fell silent.

"What was Teach going to do?"

"Miss Click?"

"…"

The students demanded an answer, but the mouse was not capable of giving it. Instead, she scratched her head and sighed. "I'm not doing so well lately, huh? I should have known how bad an idea that was, but…"

Things just didn't seem to be working out for Click. First she fell into a scary cave and got red; then she harmed her best friends; and now she got caught while spying on her friend's darkest moments.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm going to go make myself useful, for a change." She muttered while sending her drone higher into the sky to survey the abandoned town.

Salvager elbowed Squire to make him go with her, a gesture he returned in kind. Cannon dragged both of them after the sad mouse. They had just learnt how dangerous it could be to allow a team member to wander around on their own in unexplored territory. Besides, if their instructor were watching them, they knew what he would order.

"Let's go together."