The deepening afternoon was warm and drowsy. The trio ended up on the couch, lazily sprawled together and sharing gentle, fleeting affections, which eventually slowed as everyone nodded off.
Leon awoke later to Naomi fast asleep, and Brad absent.
He stood, careful not to disturb Naomi, and pulled a nearby throw over her. Then he went looking for Brad.
Leon's first guess was correct: Brad was out on the apartment's small back porch, smoking and gazing out over the heat-hazed city. Leon approached, leaning onto the rail beside Brad and into his view.
Brad glanced, and acknowledged the man with a nod.
Leon nodded back, and they were silent for a moment.
Then: "Brad. Where are you two's Zoids?"
"...not here."
"Yes, I noticed that when I put my Blade Liger up. Is this not... a problem? Why aren't you two's Zoids-"
"Mackaray. Long story."
"Well." Leon shifted to lean more of his weight on the rail. "I've got nothing but time."
The moment was glorious.
A careful visualization became reality. Every perfect aspect of One's strike - how it teleported and simultaneously confounded the ability of the other to do so. How it slammed the full force of both its body and mind into the hapless beast. How it stunned its foe for the few critical moments in which escape would've been easy.
One had been calculating not only how to strike but precisely where: the slender Organoid's wide neck and throat, an uninterrupted span of synthflesh with no hassle of armor.
Jet-black fangs plunged deep, and the combination of One's dense weight and momentum tore the other down. The blue Organoid shrieked with surprise, whipping its head and hooking a mandible into One's neck in retaliation.
But the mandible simply skipped off of the black Organoid's thick armor. One viciously began to whip its head back and forth.
Vega stood transfixed by the sight.
There were no judgments here. No one's disapprovals or rage.
He simply didn't want to rein One in. He wanted an excuse for it to do whatever it felt like, wanted to watch it indulge while he surfed the wake of its delight. Not to worry on the ramifications, not to be concerned with what anyone else thought.
The corner of Vega's mouth twitched a grin.
That was for lesser beings.
Another Organoid appeared in an unexpected flash of light, diving straight at One and body-slamming it off of the blue Organoid.
This second Organoid had wings - small in comparison to One's, whose own broad wings immediately unsheathed and flared to stop its movement.
Vega's awed reverie dropped dead, as he found himself confronted with the reality of two raging beasts at close range.
The second Organoid hesitated after a moment. In a low, deep voice it said something - no, asked, the intonation rose. It spoke in Zoidian. Vega simultaneously registered that he didn't know the language, but understood it through One.
The stranger knew One's name.
One didn't relent, flaring its wings wider. ~Yes, it is I. Submit, whelp.~
The other Organoid sneered, baring its fangs. ~I bow to no one.~
~You will when I tear your legs from beneath you.~
Brad didn't take the invitation to talk, just set his jaw and looked back into the distance.
The two men stood in silence for several minutes, desert breezes tousling their hair.
At length, Leon spoke. "Being part of a Team isn't just about taking care of yourself."
Brad snorted. "Says a guy who's been on a total of two of them."
"You know what I mean." Leon sighed. "Please don't drag Naomi into the stupid things you do."
"She came with me. Not my place to tell a grown-ass woman what she can and can't do."
Leon couldn't really argue that. But: "Then maybe don't do the stupid things to begin with."
Brad cut his eyes at the other man. "Maybe don't turn into your dad."
"Brad-"
"Get off my back, alright? Everything's fine now." Brad demonstrated the porch and surroundings with a sweep of his arm. "Let's enjoy it."
Several seconds of silence, as Leon quietly reined in his frustration.
"Things aren't fine." He said through his teeth. "Not for me."
"I'm all ears, as always."
"You won't share with me, but expect me to with you?"
Brad took a long, ponderous drag. Then nodded. "Yes."
Leon looked skyward with sharp exasperation. "Fuck you, man."
A shrug. "We've already established I'm the shittier person here. So... what bug did Steve get up his ass this time?"
Leon looked back down. The longhaired man was painfully inscrutable when he wanted to be, and it infuriated Leon every time. Leon had dropped his guard around Brad at a young age and never really figured how to put it back up... and unlike Brad, he wore his heart - and his woes - on his sleeves.
Leon sighed.
"There's a woman from Backdraft. She's Vega's-"
"-mother, yeah." Brad completed, the sour intensity of his voice betraying distaste.
Leon stiffened. He wasn't stupid; it wasn't difficult to assume how Brad might know this.
"I'm guessing you've met her."
"Not sure that's the word I'd use."
Brad didn't elaborate, just crushed his spent cigarette on the rail, flicked it away and promptly went for another.
Leon frowned. On one hand, he was curious. On the other... that hadn't been getting him anywhere, and the shift in Brad's attitude said enough.
"She's still at the base. And dad thinks she means us all well. I don't agree."
"Because you're smart." Brad muttered. "Why's the hell's she at the base?"
"She's been there. Won't leave. Claims Backdraft is after her and that she's scared. So of course, dad wants to help. Vega was there too, but... the Organoids got into a fight. And he left."
Brad took that all in, then scowled. "Fuckin' kid." He already knew Vega had been there; One, too. He recalled that awkward morning a few... days, weeks prior? Ambient's now-permanent presence in his mind had done weird things to his sense of time. "Is everybody okay?"
"Bit got real roughed up. But I think he's fine."
Brad nodded, once.
But Leon frowned. "I really don't know what to do, Brad. I don't even know if these Organoids are safe. I'm worried about Bit. The ZBGF were already at the base because of the Fury. If they come back and find-"
"Don't give 'em the chance. Kick the bitch out. Feed her to the ZBGF. We know they were after her, and it'll take some heat off Bit. Win/win."
A small grin betrayed Leon's fondness for the idea, but it quickly dropped off his face. "It's... complicated."
"It's not complicated. Just-"
"I think dad's sleeping with her."
One lunged for the opposing Organoid, which immediately jumped skyward, twisting to easily avoid the attack. One leapt after it with a powerful downstroke, and both creatures teleported out of sight.
This left Vega standing alone near the blue Organoid. It remained tucked to the ground, optics dimmed shut, mandibles pulled close to its snout.
Vega approached and looked it over. Part of him felt a little bad that it seemed so terrified… but most of him found it amusing. He twinged with the delight of possessing such an outright dominance, squatting to inspect the Organoid closely.
The beast's tail whipped around, striking him hard across his back - and Vega found himself introduced to the deck. Facefirst.
The blue Organoid righted and leapt, vanishing in a flash of bright blue.
Vega pried himself up, his face throbbing, ears ringing, and shoulder on fire.
Mistakes. Mistakes had been made.
He glanced up peevishly, wanting One.
A black slash tangled with a dark-blue glow materialized, then slammed into the deck a few yards away. The tangle slid to a halt as it reformed into two shrieking Organoids. One's undersides were split just enough to allow a grotesque spill of its wiring: gloss-black cables webbed tightly across its opponent.
One turned its head toward Vega, and the child approached. Vega uncomfortably rubbed his arm as he bounced a wordless exchange of events. One pondered as it idly lashed another cable around the snout of the stranger struggling in its grasp.
~Unfortunate. But of no real concern. You are not hurt.~
In truth, Vega wanted to spend more time being reassured, but the finality of One's assessment ended the thought. He instead joined his partner in scowling down at the other Organoid.
Compared to One, it looked worn. Nowhere near as bad-off as Ambient looked - but still thoroughly marked by nicks, scratches, and other obvious patterns of wear.
~Where is your companion.~ One looked down and asked the other bluntly. ~I do not accept slights against Vega or myself.~
~Go to hell,~ The stranger replied, and spoke One's name in extremely pejorative Zoidian.
One arched a brow. ~Mmh. There is no hell greater than the banality of a useless existence. Which is to say… what do you think this world is. Answer the question, and I will dispatch you swiftly.~
The stranger hissed and spat through fangs being held tightly shut. ~You are no god. You are just as I!~
~Perhaps. But does that matter,~ One wrenched its cabling tighter, twisting the other Organoid's head so its neck was in easy reach. ~to the dead?~
The stranger's body shook mightily against restraint, optics and innards blazing with its expenditure of effort. One didn't seem at all concerned, beckoning Vega closer as it let the other struggle.
Carefully - and instructively - One extended its pleasure with the situation to Vega.
Humanity offered no equivalent - no drug, no experience would ever compare with such pure, ruinous contact with the beast. Vega's mind seared with bliss, his eyes rolled back, and any notions of his mere mortal discomfort vanished in an instant.
One stopped him just short of being overwhelmed into a seizure; it was learning.
Vega gulped several huge breaths, having forgotten to breathe for those few seconds; he, too, was learning.
The child bristled with excitement as he recovered, gumline showing as he clasped his hands and cackled at the stranger. "Who do you think you are, messing with us!?"
~Fight me as for dominance, you coward and wretch!~ The second Organoid snarled, redoubling its efforts. ~I am not prey!~
~Rest assured: you are.~ One said calmly, as it leaned down and sank its fangs into the other Organoid's throat.
Brad choked mid-drag. "Steve... what?"
"You heard me. Dad's into her."
Brad pinched the bridge of his nose, an obvious effort to control his temper. "Why. Didn't you say. Anything earlier?"
"Because I didn't think he'd act like this!"
"You know the Team is fucked if the Commission or GF finds fucking Backdraft-"
"Yes, I know! But dad won't listen to me! Another asshole from Backdraft showed up too!"
"And you were cool with this?"
"No!" Leon's agitation began to grate through his voice and gestures. "I've been trying to get ahold of both of you for days, I wanted- "
"Hey." Brad took hold of Leon's shoulder gently. "You're ahold of us now and you have my undivided attention. So what do you want to do?"
One pulled its head back powerfully, ripping out a chunk of the stranger's throat and spilling the contents of its craw. Various Ziian sea life, much of it still alive - and the chewed remnants of a tiny terran Zoid. One regarded this idly and started to eat it.
Vega just watched, curious.
Until a sudden sear of pain stabbed through him. His shoulder, his arm, his side-
The blue Organoid had reappeared with frightening precision and seized Vega in its long, slender jaws. His neck and head were pinned with a painful precision between the blue Organoid's facial flange and mandible. Exact - and intentional.
~Release him or I will break the child's neck.~ The blue Organoid snarled.
It spoke in an oddly feminine tone, and thought in many layers - the latter being something Vega both hadn't experienced and wasn't expecting. He tried to pull away, but physically couldn't, his chest heaving with a very primal panic.
One stopped and lifted its head, regarding the blue Organoid idly.
~Or: you release Vega if you value life. Yours and others'.~
The blue Organoid hissed. Its thoughts were near-tangible, flowing like turgid water into and around Vega. Far, far too much for him to make sense of all at once, and almost suffocating with their intensity.
One's tongue flashed out and its optics blazed red, a terrifying sight.
~My dearest whelp. While I'm certain you can speak to life's vicissitudes… trying my patience will be, without question, the worst mistake you ever make.~ The red in its optics faded; its mind became inscrutable. ~I will not warn you again.~
~Nor will I!~
The pinned Organoid's tail suddenly lashed free of restraint, and the blade on its tailtip stabbed hard into the synthflesh of One's neck.
One shrieked, but was quick to prioritize Vega. As it lunged for the blue Organoid, Vega felt the stranger reach out to its companion - felt their minds sync up, felt a destination being realized.
One, with its attention split, couldn't effectively stop both - and with a bright snap of light, the two unknown Organoids vanished together.
Vega staggered forward as his restraint disappeared, staring at One in bewilderment.
One regarded him squarely, retracting its cables as it parsed Vega's quite functional grasp of coordinates.
To realize that One not only wanted to chase these strangers down, but could caused Vega to giggle with glee. One leapt from the deck and Vega did too; One's cabling snapped out to seize him before both disappeared in a slash of black.
