Howdy everyone, hope you're feeling well and taking care!
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.
People have brought to my attention that I have mistakenly typed Thomas as "David." Please ignore these typos, David is another character for another story of mine that will be started soon, hopefully not too long away.
Thanks a lot.
"My name is Kana Scott," Kana declared, "And I'm your biological older sister."
Thomas stared up to Kana.
"No you're not." Thomas deadpanned.
Kana looked down at Thomas awkwardly.
"But I am..."
"No. I have no biological sibling."
"Really?! Dad never told you?"
"No...Because I don't have one."
Kana looked hurt.
"B-But..."
Thomas had lost any trace of fear...Now he just thought Kana was simply nuts more than threatening."
"Hmph!" Kana pouted, "Fine! Be that way!"
Kana stomped out of the cell and shut the door, upset and most likely going to throw a tantrum.
Thomas sighed, and laid back down on the cot.
He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy Kana's company for a time. Kana was the first person who wasn't Squall that actually entered the cell and spoke to him, it was reassuring to hear that someone cared, even if it was just a lie to get his trust.
What time was it? What day was it?
Thomas had to keep in mind of when he slept.
If his body was still attuned to the same sleeping patterns as normal...He'd been locked up for 2 to 3 days.
He didn't know what to do.
There wasn't any sort of plan if he just ran and hoped for the best.
If he tried running away, he probably wouldn't get very far. He'd might not even make it out of...Wherever he was. Besides, he had no idea how far away from the IS Academy he was, he would probably be on the other side of the planet.
But there was also a danger in him letting the situation go on.
There was still no telling why Phantom Task wanted Thomas, and perhaps they'd already gotten what they wanted. Thomas was in serious danger, as the longer he stayed, the higher risk of him no longer being of use to Phantom Task grew.
And it went without saying what that would end with.
Still...Thomas had to do something, he'd go crazy if he just sat around for too much longer!
Home...Thomas wanted to go home...
Thomas yawned, and went back to sleep.
Whatever fate awaited him when he woke up...
...He chose not to fear it.
Some time later...
Thomas was awoken to the sound of the cell being unlocked.
Squall walked in, a blindfold in her hand.
"Normally I would've had to use chloroform and more drastic measures," She said, "But you're smart enough to behave yourself, so I'll just make certain you can't run."
Thomas was silent.
"We're moving you outside the cell for a little bit," Said Squall, "You're not permitted to go anywhere beyond your set path, so I'll be keeping a hand on you to guide you while you're moving."
Squall held up the blindfold.
"If you behave yourself, you won't be harmed too much."
Squall motioned for Thomas to stand.
Thomas stood up, knowing he had to bide for time.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Squall continued as she wrapped the blindfold over Thomas's eyes, "We're going to be taking a medical examination of you, so you probably should be ready if you're scared of needles."
Thomas felt a hint of nervousness.
They had to have been trying to see how he could pilot an IS...It was clear as day now.
"No need to feel scared," Squall whispered into Thomas ear as she tied the blindfold, "I'll be right by your side the entire way through. You don't need to worry about getting hurt unless you try being unruly."
Thomas looked down in shame, thankfully it was masked by the blindfold.
"Now," Squall instructed, "I'll be guiding you, walk towards the direction I'm pulling you."
Squall ushered Thomas out of the cell.
Thomas took timid steps forward, Squall had her arms on his shoulders, and was unexpectedly gentle with Thomas. If Thomas ever once stepped in the wrong direction, she'd carefully turn him in the right one.
Perhaps it was Thomas losing his mind, but it felt like Squall was showing a sign of care for Thomas.
Yeah...It had to be his imagination.
After what felt like a rather short minute of walking, Squall guided Thomas into a new room.
"We've arrived," Said Squall, "Unfortunately, the blindfold isn't coming off until you're secured."
Thomas then felt Squall usher him to a seat, and felt as someone began strapping down his arms and legs.
Soon after, Squall removed the blindfold.
Thomas squinted as an extremely bright light was right in his eyes.
"Just relax." Squall stood over Thomas, "This'll be over a lot quicker...Though I think you're a bit too grown-up for a lollipop after the examination."
Squall then stepped aside as a masked doctor stepped over him.
"Try not to struggle," The doctor reminded, "You're about to receive a penicillin injection before we begin."
Thomas felt the needle sting his shoulder as the doctor injected the antibiotic.
He winced...Injections always stung.
The doctor disposed the syringe, and took another one.
This time, the doctor didn't inject Thomas, but began to withdraw blood from him.
"Fascinating..." The doctor whispered as she stared at the blood sample.
The doctor quickly took a few more samples, and left the room.
It was clear to Thomas what came next.
Soon after, Thomas had been scanned and examined by various means of devices to analyze his body and mind. They took all manner of tests, from DNA samples, to brain scans, even bio-metric.
They wanted to see how exactly Thomas could interact with an IS.
However, they weren't the only ones.
Thomas himself wanted to understand.
Elsewhere, the IS Academy...
"I can't take it anymore!" Ichika threw his hands up.
"Oh no you don't!" Tyrone quickly set Ichika back down in his seat.
"Ichika, please..." Pleaded Elias, "You know we all feel the same way, but we can't afford to be getting up in arms and wasting our time with an otherwise-pointless search. We have to wait for the word-"
"And when's that gonna be?! Thomas could be dead or dying right now and all we're doing is sitting on our hands!"
"You really think we don't know that?!" Tyrone snapped, "You think I like sitting on my ass right now?! We all would like nothing more than to get Thomas and bring him home, but we can't. Waste. Time! We have to wait for the opportunity."
Ichika sat back down, grumbling.
"Just...So done with this..."
"I know man," Tyrone pat Ichika's shoulder, "I know."
"I feel like we should try calming down a little," Suggested Elias, "It won't do for us to be running about in a confined space agitating everyone along with us. We've been cooping ourselves up too much, we need to unwind."
"Yeah..." Ichika groaned.
"We aren't allowed to leave the island after that whole shit-show...Anything we got to do here?"
"There's always video games..."
"Perhaps, would it be wise to get invested?"
"Feels more like a distraction, not a real way to unwind..."
"Yeah, but still, better'n nothing."
"Wanna try some...Smash Bros...?"
"Yeah, I'm down."
"I concur."
The three boys set up a series of Super Smash Bros sessions to try and think of other things.
However, the only time where the intended purpose of playing worked was while they kept playing the game. The boys could tell all they were doing was delaying the inevitable dialogues between them regarding the situation.
They needed a coping mechanism, and all the restrictions they had weren't helping.
Chifuyu watched them from the door to the next room.
She sighed, and went about her way.
How long could the IS Academy coop the boys up?
Things were becoming as tense as a highly-strung bow...
...Sooner or later, they'd snap.
"Damn..." Ichika grumbled, "So close to the convention too..."
"Convention?" Said Tyrone.
"Yeah...Me n' Thomas were working on cosplay to wear at an upcoming convention last summer...But now we might not even get to go to it because of Phantom Task just up and kidnapping Thomas out of nowhere."
"Ah..."
"Completely slipped my mind until now." Ichika groaned, "I'd ask if you guys would wanna join us, but..."
"We'll wait and see." Said Tyrone, "This ain't over yet."
"I just hope it is soon..." Ichika mumbled.
"Anyone got anything they wanna do now?" Inquired Tyrone.
"We could-oh...Never mind..."
"What?"
"I thought we could've went to the mall center to find something to do, but..."
"Ah yeah, no dice."
"There's nothing we can do that we've already done to pass time."
"We could sneak out..." Ichika suggested.
"There's no way we're gonna be able to sneak past security." Tyrone piped up, "We're not exactly forgettable either, the staff'll figure out sooner or later, they'll round us up and bring us right back...I dunno about you, but I personally don't wanna get firsthand experience in Miss Orimura's wrath."
"Yup." Ichika quickly concurred.
"Motion passes." Elias agreed as well.
"Ergh..." Ichika grumbled, "...Can't do anything anymore..."
"We hafta suffer too," Said Tyrone, "Try to chill."
"I know..."
"Perhaps we could use this time to...Connect with a few other students?" Elias suggested.
"Clarify that?"
"We can make a few friends to talk to...It's essentially all we've got."
"That could work," Said Tyrone, "But...You ever notice how the girls aren't so...Calm and collected?"
"Oh...Right."
"We'd probably just get mobbed the moment we're in the presence of more than three girls. I can kinda get why you'd say it, but if what you're saying is true...Honestly thought you'd be the last one to agree to that."
"I can see why you'd say that...But after I was victimized, I wanted to try not letting it define me."
"Here here."
"Well, uh..." Ichika said, "I'd say we could try playing more video games, but..."
"We could watch some anime to kill time." Tyrone suggested.
"Maybe..." Ichika said.
"I'd say that's potentially the best suggestion we have." Elias added.
"Dang..." Awed Tyrone, "It must be really bad if you guys are going to my level of entertainment..."
"Not quite, we're just getting desperate to do something." Admitted Ichika, "It feels like I'm gonna go crazy at this point unless we do something!"
The boys all groaned.
"Buncha angst in the room..." Tyrone grumbled.
"I hate this so much..." Ichika whined, "I mean, what do they expect of us? We're just teenagers! We're not trained soldiers! We didn't do anything wrong, and we're not allowed to go anywhere..."
"Remain inside one long enough..." Elias recited, "And an ivory tower becomes a prison."
"Exactly!"
The boys all sat in silence for a moment.
"So..." Elias turned to Tyrone, "What anime should we watch?"
"We're gonna binge-watch?"
"I can't think of anything short of...What's the term? 'Binge-buddies?' Yes...I can't think of any better time to start trying."
"Gotta admit," Tyrone chuckled, "Didn't think you'd guys wanna binge with me...I like to go all-in."
"You're the guide here," Ichika concurred, "So lead the way."
"Roger that."
Sometime later...
"Has anyone seen the boys?"
"I heard the staff has been isolating them after Scott-San was abducted."
"I guess they don't wanna take any chances..."
The girls were all uneasy as they listened to the gossip in the cafeteria.
"Has anyone seen any of the three boys?"
"Nein," Answered Laura, "Mentor has ordered that zhe boys are to remain isolated until further notice, she ish personally delivering assignments to zheir dorm rooms each day to give zhem at least somezhing to do."
Lingyin groaned, and put her head on the table.
"We screwed up so badly..."
"Even so..." Charlotte tried to encourage, "It isn't about what we failed to do, but what we can still do, no?"
"Agreed," Houki looked focused, "I have to increase my training further to keep this from happening again!"
Nana yawned.
"How might you be holding up?" Cecilia turned her head, "You were certainly worse for wear not too long ago..."
"M'fine," Nana yawned again, "Sleepy..."
"Have you been staying up too late? It's improper for a lady to be so reckless, even if in times of crisis."
"Yeah yeah, okay mom."
"Please, don't be so rude, you can talk about your feelings." Kanzashi spoke up.
"I know...It's just...How long do we have to wait? It was devastating at first but this is just getting irritating."
"I see..."
"Thomas can handle himself, I have faith in him for that. But...I'm still obviously worried...Like, what if he doesn't come back? What if we never see him again? I'm getting annoyed 'cuz we don't have any answers!"
"Ve have to put our faith into our superiors. Zhis isn't a situation zhat we can approach so carelessly."
"Uggggh..." Nana groaned, completely burned out and exhausted.
Lingyin was silent, she didn't know what to say.
"Hey, don't fret." Charlotte patted Nana's shoulder, "We'll get through this."
Nana took a deep breath.
"This is so stupid...We're not even allowed to go to town on the weekends."
"But that also means we're able to talk things out with each other."
"I guess..."
"If you ever need focus," Offered Houki "you can join me in the Kendo Club-"
"Absolutely not, you'll beat my ass in a not-so-enjoyable way."
"H-Hey! That's rude!"
"And I'm politely explaining why I don't want to join the Kendo Club."
"Th-That's not true! You could have potential!"
Nana began to stretch as she yawned once again.
"Eh, doesn't line up with my interests."
"Perchance," Cecilia offered, "You'd enjoy a spot of tea-"
"Egh, I'm not a die-hard fan of tea."
"Guys, let's try to lay off a little," Suggested Kanzashi, "We're beginning to overwhelm her with stuff she probably doesn't wanna do...Let's try doing something that she wants to do that's still possible to do."
"I concur, my apologies." Said Cecilia.
"I'm sorry." Said Houki.
"S'fine...So booooooored..." Nana groaned.
"Let's try thinking of ways to do activities we'll all enjoy." Kanzashi suggested.
"Oh! Game tournament?" Lingyin suggested.
"Too much salt...Besides, I doubt everyone here knows how to play the games I have." Nana groaned "Ugh...What else is there? There has to be something! Talking about boys isn't so hot right now..."
The girls all groaned in awkwardness.
"Oh!" Nana sat up, "We can watch movies!"
"Genius!" Said Lingyin, "How many movies do you have?"
"Enough to last like...A week, tops."
"Bettern' nothing! Let's marathon!"
"A marathon? Of films?" Cecilia inquired, "I've never really had the time for such lackadaisical activities-!"
"Okay okay Shakespeare we don't need to big words, c'mon!" Nana began ushering Cecilia and the rest of the girls out of the booth.
"Alright, alright..." Cecilia said, "If you insist, I suppose I have nothing better to spend my time with..."
"Well, I can't argue either," Said Houki, "If it helps, then I suppose I can spend a little time not training..."
"Then let's go! We can all vote on a movie when we get to my room!" Said Nana.
Charlotte and Lingyin hopped up and rushed to join Nana, Laura shrugged and simply followed Charlotte. It was rather intriguing to watch, as this was the most motivated that Nana had ever been in days.
This sudden change in attitude was more than welcome.
Elsewhere...
"You're certain the subject's ready for the experiment?" Squall talked to an unknown caller.
After a few moments of pausing, presumably to hear the answer, she smiled.
"Good...Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the IS-Unit. While I do say that securing the target's IS would've been ideal, circumstances ended up forcing my hand and resulting in half a job. Although, seeing as it's an IS supposedly modified by Dr. Tabane Shinonono, I have my doubts that we would've been able to reverse-engineer it without disastrous consequences. However, the mass-production model in development should prove adequate enough for testing."
After a few moments, Squall replied once more.
"I understand, we'll try to use him as necessary to complete this phase of the mission."
Squall paused once again.
"Understood, I have a plan on how to acquire samples from the other targets. Don't worry, we will succeed."
Squall ended the call and put away her phone.
"Good news, Thomas." Squall went over to Thomas, who was still strapped to the examination table.
Thomas didn't respond.
Squall sighed.
"You'll be pleased to know you just might be allowed to go home."
Thomas cocked an eyebrow and looked at Squall.
"If you behave, you might get to even start walking around outside of your cell." Said Squall, "While I would like to keep you, there's still some use to giving you back to the IS Academy...Don't worry, you're not going to be our worm, you're just our bargaining chip."
Thomas looked...Oddly unamused.
He wasn't afraid, or suspicious. He looked weary, as though someone just told him a bad joke.
"Being a young boy I'd have expected you to be nervous..." Said Squall.
Thomas took a deep breath, and sighed.
"Not gonna lie," He finally spoke, "I legitimately stopped caring a while ago."
Squall cocked an eyebrow.
Instead of being afraid or desperate to find an escape route, Thomas seemed more calm and collected. Either he'd gone through this sort of thing before, or he was so full of teenage angst he could not be bothered to care.
"Well," Chuckled Squall, "I finally got you to talk to me."
Thomas realized she indeed had.
"Sh-Shut up..." Thomas grumbled.
"Now now," Said Squall, "Is that any way to talk to me, being someone in your position?"
"You didn't seem to mind before..."
"You may be correct, but what if it wasn't me you just said that to? You'd probably be dead or in waterboarding."
Thomas sighed.
"Whatever." He groaned.
Squall made a small sly grin and left the room.
"Mama!" Kana pounced, "Can I play with him now? Can I?"
"Patience, Kana," Instructed Squall, "He's still in his examination, so he can't play right now. But, to make it up to you, you'll be the first to know when the examination is over, how's that sound?"
Kana pouted upon hearing Thomas was unavailable, but happy she'd get first dibs on him when he was.
"Okay!" Kana cheered, running off to play with Madoka instead.
Squall chuckled as she went to make preparations.
Elsewhere...
Alex had spent several days at home to take care of Yin during her shock.
If it were to be summed up, Alex would compare Yin to a child unable to take care of themselves. She'd been so rocked by Thomas's abduction she couldn't focus on her day to day lifestyle, resulting in her being mostly bedridden by her own depression. She was in her pajamas day in and day out, both Alex and Yin approached the situation as though Yin had a fever that refused to cool down.
However, Alex didn't mind, it'd been too long since he was allowed to take care of his wife.
"Here comes the airplane~!" Alex joked as he began to spoon-feed Yin a bowl of porridge.
Yin ate off the spoon, but said nothing, not certain on whether she should be lamenting or if she should let Alex flirt with her. She was simply too far out-of-touch with being so stay-at-home after spending so much time wandering around the world in her crusade against Phantom Task.
Yet...Being in bed, being taken care of, it all felt nice.
Even with her son missing, was it so wrong to indulge herself a little?
"C'mon, honey," Alex pat Yin's head, "I know you're upset, but you gotta look after yourself, no excuses."
"I just don't know...How did we get together? I stalked you...And you just opened the door and practically pulled me in..."
Alex chuckled.
"Sounds about right...Found you in bushes, behind lampposts, behind corners...Honestly, you looked so adorable, you were so shy back then. And yet you didn't gut me like a fish when I found you in the rain and brought you to may place."
Yin blushed.
"Th-That's because you were just open and inviting..."
"Time sure flies..." Alexander chuckled.
"But we can't-"
"You're not going anywhere." Alex stopped Yin, "I know you're still so pressed to try and locate Thomas, but you keep forgetting you're not alone anymore. You don't have to keep upping and leaving whenever something happens."
"I-I guess..."
"Honestly..." Alex sighed, "Call me selfish, but I'm not going to let you go off again for what could be another sixteen years! I just can't take it, knowing you're probably anywhere when I want you and need you..."
"I'm...Sorry..."
"I've been doing my best to raise Thomas, but I just don't know how much longer we can keep doing this..."
"I don't know what to do..." Said Yin, "I don't know the first thing about raising a kid..."
"And we made kids, you've got to stop running and be a mother."
"B-But-!"
"No buts! I'm not letting my wife and son staying away from each other forever! I am the man of the house and I'm finally putting my foot down! You don't get to play that card anymore! You're going to suck it up and bond with your kid!"
Yin was pouting for the first time in years.
Alex was treating her like a child!
"Are you upset? Good! That's nothing compared to the pain I feel when I think about all the time we spent apart!"
Yin was speechless hearing that.
"You probably thought we would've divorced by now...But I'm not giving up on you, not while there's still time to make things right. I'm tired of having to keep the cycle of lying to my son and waiting for my wife. So now that you're back, I'm not gonna let you go without a fight."
"A-Alex..."
"You've been ignoring other people's feelings this whole time, you know that? Sure, you say you know the pain we're all going through, but you're only saying that since you're too scared to try and come back to us!"
Alex sighed.
"I should've said this a long time ago, and I'm making up for this mistake by confronting you now. You're going to stop running, grow up, and learn to become a mother. I just can't keep this cycle going forever."
Yin could do little more than listen as Alex finally grew a spine and took charge of the situation.
"I...You've changed..." Yin marveled.
"I've got half a mind to move on, but I'm not going to leave you." Said Alex, "Just...Promise me you'll finally start to try?"
Yin was silent as she turned her thoughts inward to find her answer.
"I'll...Try." She said finally.
"About the only answer I'm gonna get..." Alex sighed, "Well, it's better'n nothing."
"I'm sorry..." Yin began to cry a little, "I've been a terrible wife! All I've done since our marriage is run around after giving birth, and I don't even know what the point of it was anymore! I...I just...I can't..."
Alex pt down the porridge and gave Yin a warm hug.
"I can't say I blame you for booking it after Thomas was born..." He consoled, "But this? Not telling Thomas a word about why or what's happening? It's been tearing him apart at times, and there's only so much longer we can keep going before it completely backfires if it didn't already..."
"I...I know...You're absolutely right. But...Can I really be the mom I should've been?"
"I've got no idea, but it's so much better than scrambling every time Thomas wanders within twenty feet of you."
"Well...I promise...I'll try. I'm probably going to bolt at first chance..."
"Just remember...You're not alone anymore."
Alex and Yin proceeded to cuddle, indulging bedroom acts they hadn't experienced in years.
They were finally husband and wife once again.
Sometime later...
Chifuyu was well and truly worn out for the first time she could remember.
She had to deal with the government, the school, the students, manage teaching classes and enforcing the current lockdown, and there was simply no way she could simply up and leave to go find Thomas herself.
What she hated more than anything was situations where one was powerless to follow their heart.
At the moment, she was slaving over a very thick stack of paperwork.
Maya watched Chifuyu work on paper after paper in a depressed rhythmic pattern.
Finally, Maya tried to intervene.
"O-Orimura-San," Maya walked in, "Would you like some help?"
"No." Chifuyu said monotonously.
"Ma'am..." Maya tried, "You've been working nonstop, you need to slow down and take a break."
"Don't wait for me," Said Chifuyu, "I've got nothing better to do."
"Ma'am, your little brother is here, even if your surrogate one is-!"
"Don't talk to me about it! I know Ichika's safe and sound, but Thomas is out there and he could be in a multitude of problems, and I'm stuck here in my office filing fucking reports like a goddamn secretary!"
"Ma'am-!"
"There's only so much of this office shit I can take before I go crazy! And there's nothing else I can do because it'd be a waste of time!"
"ORIMURA-SAN!" Maya boomed.
Chifuyu flinched, caught off-guard by Maya's sudden outburst.
"You're being such a handful! I get it, we all do! You're upset! And guess what? We all are too! This isn't something you need nor should take on yourself! You're crashing and burning and you're just seconds away from being crushed under all that weight!"
"Y-Yamada-San-?!"
"I'm tired of watching you just beat yourself up over this like a depressed teenager! Get yourself together, we need cool heads and determined people if we want to get through this in one piece!"
Chifuyu was simply stunned.
Maya, on the other hand, was tired of Chifuyu's frivolous behavior.
"So, you're going to pull yourself together, and you're going to grow up!" Maya continued, "We've got our heads in our asses and you're supposed to be on duty, so stop feeling sorry for yourself and get to work!"
Chifuyu blinked, and did her best to process Maya's attempt at a pep-talk.
"So, a-are you...Gonna do it or not?" Maya blushed, her ability to put her foot down was exhausted.
"Well," Chifuyu straightened her back, "I suppose you're correct. It's time I do my job instead of moping around all day...I apologize for making you upset, there's no excuse."
"I'm just glad you're finally trying to get back to normal..." Maya sighed, "That said, what do we do now?"
"We keep the students occupied and make certain that we remain informed of Scott's predicament. Until the government orders us to stand down, we're taking charge of the search and recovery effort."
"But where can we start?"
"I don't know..." Said Chifuyu, "But I'll be damned if we don't even try."
"R-Roger, Orimura-San!" Said Maya, internally jumping with joy her intervention was successful.
"That said," Continued Chifuyu, "We can't just up and act on our own. While we may be independent from nation affiliation, we still have people to answer to. On top of that, the public's demanding an answer for this fiasco...We've got work to do."
"Does that mean...?"
"It does, I'm doing what I should've done from the start, I'm taking control of the situation."
"It's great to have you back."
"Let's get to work, we can celebrate once it's all said and done."
"Right."
"I'll make a call to an old friend soon, see if she can get some answers."
"Ma'am, I've forgotten to ask, but...How's Thomas's father holding up?"
"He's been taking it well, all things considered. I'm impressed he hasn't had a mental breakdown already."
"That's very good news...I hope he'll be okay."
"He's been through worse."
"Like what?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"Well, let's get to work." Maya said cheerfully.
"Agreed." Concurred Chifuyu.
Chifuyu and Maya began to start organizing and resuming paperwork with renewed vigor. They planned to get right onto locating Thomas and recovering him once all their paperwork was finished, orders or not.
The only situation was where to start.
It would be most unlikely they could just ask around, and they weren't at liberty to search deeper.
Maya sighed as she carted off another stack of papers.
Chifuyu stretched her back as she prepared to receive another stack.
Her phone rang.
Chifuyu checked the ID, it was unknown. It was probably some telemarketer, but Chifuyu decided to accept the call to indulge a second to check for certain. She was quite casual about answering, but kept formalities.
"This is Chifuyu Orimura."
"Oh? It went through." A woman answered, "This is going smoothly."
"Who is this?"
"Well, Chifuyu Orimura, this is Phantom Task."
Chifuyu flinched.
"How did you get this number?"
"Relax," Said the woman, "Judging by your tone, you know the situation, good."
"If you even think about hurting him-"
"Calm down, we wouldn't dare hurt Thomas Scott, he's...Quite moody, all things considered."
"Where is he?"
"Don't worry, you'll see him soon."
"What have you done with him?"
The woman chuckled.
"You think this is funny?!"
"No no...I don't, but you being off your game was just a little amusing."
"What do you want? Make it plain!"
"I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse."
A/N: Chapter end! It's been FAR too long since I updated AI, I apologize greatly. I've been really busy lately, as I've started up "Infinite Stratos: Reignite Pulse" and have been under a great deal of stress.
This half of the arc is coming to a close, with the next half starting right after!
However, I promise to try and get my head together to move forward!
Big thanks to Xenowishes for his help, he's supported me a lot, and I can't help but feel unworthy of his generous support.
I'll do my best to get back to form, thank you for all your support.
Leave a review, they're much appreciated and show that you care!
Next time: Deal with the Devil