Cliffhanger over. Adjourn!
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /mY2QfzMjGt
Soldiers began to mobilize and head to their stations, thinking the base was under attack. Harriet actually put down the PDA she was using to investigate that connection and raced outside.
Medical attention was immediately on Marrow- while his aura was able to withstand most of the blast, he still had some burns and bruises all over his body. Ben and the others were quick to help put out the fire.
Big Chill and the frosty tendrils of Numb put the raging inferno inside of Marrow's corners out within a few seconds. Ruby, Blake, Cammie and Ciel helped Marrow onto a stretcher for the examiners.
Surprisingly, Harriet was actually slower than the others. Mentally, she cursed herself out for not putting it all together. The avalanche was still an outlier, but that didn't matter right now!
"Is he stable?" Harriet asked the medics.
"For now, he's as stable as he can be for tanking a bomb at close range," one of the medics said, "now, with all due respect, Specialist, move back so we can do our jobs."
He was hauled away by medics. Harriet clenched her teeth and cocked her head in the direction of the group.
"Now go back to your dorms." Harriet explained. "Any refusal to cooperate will result in heavy punishment—as would any effort to sneak out."
"But we can help," Ruby insisted.
"Not in THIS case. Go." Harriet ordered.
Harriet didn't even wait for them to actually respond to that, turning to some of the other soldiers that arrived on scene and began ordering them around.
"...that's not it, is it?" Cammie whispered to Ruby.
"Not by a long shot."
"It was still a targeted attack." Ben explained, as the group walked back to their dorms. "Towards Marrow. We need to convince Harriet to let us help, especially with using Clockwork-"
BOOM.
"A third?!" Kevin yelled, "Doesn't this guy know what overkill is?"
"No, that wasn't from Marrow's room." Blake said, returning her gaze to Marrow's destroyed quarters.
Ruby's pupils filled with dread.
"That's from OURS!"
"Oh you've gotta be fucking..." Harriet sighed, "You two, with me. Rest of you, search Marrow's quarters! Find anything left of the bomb!"
"Yes, specialist!" the remaining soldiers said, two of whom followed Harriet back to the trainee's quarters.
"That...that was just like the avalanche...I didn't see that one..." Ciel muttered.
"Worry about it later," Ben said, walking towards the dorm. "We have our window. Come on."
"...got an idea, actually," Cammie said, bringing out a compact Nugget from her pocket. She pressed a button and the small robotic companion sprung to life.
"Hey buddy," Cammie beamed, petting the little bot's head, "Need you to do us a favor. Help these nice soldiers find any bomb fragments, ok? But...make sure to take more than one scan."
"Nugget can do that?" Ruby asked.
"Nugget can do a lot." Cammie said.
"Huh...good to know," Ben said, "Alright. Let's go!"
With that, the group rushed back to the dorm...save for Ciel. She went with them up to a point, before her Semblance went off again.
Ciel's vision was limited, but she saw someone entering Clover's room. She couldn't see their face though. But that hadn't occurred yet. Ciel's visions could only see so far into the future...
Ciel didn't yell for the others. She just ran.
One of her hand's drifted down to her weapon, clipped to her belt and ready to draw it.
"Please be on time, please be on time..." Ciel muttered to herself. She was too late to stop one tragedy, she needed to stop this one.
Ben and the others took a peek around Marrow's destroyed room. "Okay, take a step back. I don't want any of you to be caught in Clockwork's 'flashback.'"
"You'd better do what he says. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in a temporal loop." Ruby warned Cammie.
Cammie trembled. "Taken into consideration."
Ben turned on the Omnitrix and scrolled to the Clockwork symbol. He smacked the Watch- his organs, bones, and muscle changed into cogs and gears as his golden armor encased his body.
"...didn't think the name would be so literal," Cammie said.
"And now..." Ben reached up and turned the "key" at the top of Clockwork's head as green energy emerged outwards, covering the whole destroyed quarters. Constructs of objects that were shattered reassembled themselves or righted their positions after being shaken from the blast.
"Alright, look for where the bombs were hidden." Ben said, as his gear stopped turning. His green surroundings gained a slight bit of color.
"That's new." Ruby noted.
"Y-yeah, it gives me a headache to hold though. If I can focus on that bomb...we can see who planted it." Ben went on.
A few moments of nothing quickly passed, before the group heard the door to Marrow's quarters open.
"And here comes our bomb-" Cammie began, before she saw the perpetrator's face, "-er? Seriously?"
The bomber wasn't some raving mad lunatic, or an unhinged asshole.
It was Chiffon.
The group watched as Chiffon planted the bombs around the room. "Take this, you filthy animal..." He hissed, before walking out.
"This guy really doesn't help break Atlesian stereotypes does he?" Kevin muttered.
"There was far more hatred there than just racism," Blake corrected, "We can ask him after we've found him."
"Uh, I might be a bit late on this, but everyone? I have a question," Doppler cut in.
"Can it wait?" Kevin asked.
"Nope. It's actually very important. Where's Ciel?"
"...Shit." Ben said as he reverted to human form. The group dashed outside and took a glance around. Ciel was nowhere around.
"Split up! Find Chiffon, and find Ciel! We need to tell her!" Ben said.
Ciel, however, was just about to reach Clover's quarters.
Right on time.
As she rounded the corner, she saw Chiffon about to open the door to the Ace-Op's room.
"CHIFFON!" Ciel called out, drawing her weapon.
Chiffon turned around. "Oh. Only you." Chiffon rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"I foresee what you'll do." Ciel grabbed her weapon. "I have no context for why you're doing this, but you put lives in DANGER-"
"Of course you have no context! And I doubt you'll ask! After all, to you what I did is a crime-" Chiffon scoffed.
"BECAUSE IT IS!"
"And there it is! Cutting me off before I could ever explain why I'd try to remove that dog playing soldier!"
Ciel cocked her gun. "Pardon me?"
"You heard me correctly! That filthy beast is a contributor to the problem!" Chiffon growled as his own weapon, two hard light wings, emerged from his back. The pattern resembled the wings of a swan.
"So it's just because he's a Faunus? That's it?"
"HA! If that was 'it,' I would've stopped after the first failed attempt!" the Atlesian scoffed, "Of course there's more to it! Not like you'll ever learn it, though..."
Ciel fired her shots, but Chiffon's wings shielded him. After the gunfire ricocheted off, Chiffon spread his wings to knock Ciel back. Chiffon dug into his pocket and took a tiny charge out.
"I was going to use one of these to blow up my quarters, but...I think it'll do just well here." Chiffon explained.
Ciel's chakram struck Chiffon's hand unexpectedly. As the bomb bounced on the ground, the chakram flew back into Ciel's palm. The bomb started to beep...
"No...no, no, no..." Ciel muttered.
"Well then...I guess you need to choose. Me or the bomb, right?" Chiffon asked, like he'd already won.
"She doesn't need to, dude."
Imagine Chiffon's shock when he saw Ben running over. Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, and transformed into an unexpected pick- Upchuck. Upchuck's tongues flung him forward like a slingshot- his body flew past Chiffon and Ciel, and right near the bomb.
"Ooooh...M&M." He joked, as one of his tongues picked it up. The tongue swallowed the bomb easily.
"What the hell..." Chiffon asked, utterly confused.
"You really need to read up on the aliens I use," Ben smirked.
"Every. Single. Time! This is why I put one of the charges in YOUR room as well!"
Ben reverted back to human, and walked back over to Ciel. "Now- this is the part where you explain why you're blowing up the place, right?"
"He's a bigot." Ciel said. "What other reason does he need?"
"Well, to me, just seems like that bigotry is just one facet of his plan- so, be a gentleman and tell us the 'why of Chiffon'." Ben said.
"Simply put? That dog has no right to be an Ace-Operative. Not when there was another, far more fitting recruit!" Chiffon yelled, holding his wings out towards the group and opening fire. Hardlight "feathers" were launched out at the duo. Ciel's Semblance went off seconds earlier, letting her easily dodge between the projectiles. Ben slammed down on the Omnitrix and turned into the unstoppable wrecking ball that was Cannonbolt. The cyan Dust projectiles either shattered or bounced off of the Arburian Pelerota's shell.
"It's time to kill this bird with a Cannonbolt." Ben curled into a ball. Cannonbolt smashed onto Chiffon, but his wings stopped the strike, much to his surprise.
"W-what the?"
"These wings are stronger than they look." Chiffon scoffed, as they turned red, the color of fire dust. The elite slashed his opponent upward with his wings, sending them to the air.
Ciel narrowed her eyes and tossed out one of her chakrams. Chiffon was about about to blast Cannonbolt with a stream of fire from his wings, but the circular blade sliced into the traitor's hand, knocking him off balance. With the opening, the future-seeing trainee rushed in and began to slash at Chiffon, her first chakram circling back for her to catch it.
"All this...because you...weren't...chosen?!" Ciel yelled between slashes.
"Not because I wasn't chosen- because of my failure, I've been ostracized by my own family!" Chiffon yelled. He beat his wings, launching a swarm of light red energy saws at his adversary. Ben jumped in front of Ciel to take the attack.
"This is some...insane ploy to restore your personal honor?!" Ciel yelled, before tossing both of her chakrams at the traitor. He swiped with his wings and swatted the two weapons away, but they still managed to return to Ciel's hands.
"My family is primarily military- One of the biggest funders of the Atlesian military, in fact. Since I failed them, they look at me with nothing but disdain!" Chiffon yelled before he flew at Ciel. She hadn't realized it, but he also had weapons on his feet. Chiffon flew into the air after catching his opponent with his suit's talons. He whirled them around a few dozen times before slamming them to the ground.
"You still haven't said what you failed at yet, buddy!" Ben yelled, slamming into Chiffon as a wrecking ball.
"I FAILED!" Chiffon yelled, aiming to stab through Cannonbolt's shell. "I failed, and I failed, and I failed! Countless times! I tried my hardest, I did the work of six men, but each time, it wasn't enough for that...idiot!"
"And by that...you mean Clover, don't you?" Ciel growled after running up and kicking Chiffon away from Cannonbolt.
"No...I'm talking about the one who let herself get killed." Chiffon laughed. "She pushed me to my limits, and the one time she tried to go beyond hers..." Chiffon snapped his fingers. "Dead. Not even a body at the funeral. I laughed when I heard the news."
"So not just petty and racist. Insane as well..."
"If anyone was insane, it was her! Her standards were impossible for ANYONE to meet! If she had been around when 'Marrow' had been selected, she would have kicked him out after the first day!"
Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, and shrank down- Echo Echo took his place. Ciel's eyes lit up, and she immediately covered her ears.
Ben inhaled, as Chiffon guarded up. Ben yelled- and it shook the hallway they were standing in.
Chiffon tried to stand his ground against the sonic assault. His ears started ringing before he was flung down the hall. The traitor tried to stop himself from being thrown too far away, stabbing the floor with the hardlight wings and tearing massive swathes in the floor.
Chiffon made a decision: he would run. Ben sealed his mouth as Chiffon started to fly down the corridor. Ciel's eyes glowed.
"He's heading to the docks, looks like." Ciel noted. "Trying to make a break for it."
"He'll try." Ben said, as he started to clone himself.
"Actually...I don't think you need to chase him," Ciel said, her eyes glowing once more.
"...really? Who's gonna beat me to the punch?" Ben said.
Chiffon smirked, looking behind him and seeing no sign of Ben or Ciel.
"All that 'holier than thou' rhetoric and they can't even catch me...how fitting of low-borns and non-Atlesians," the traitor said. In a matter of minutes, he saw the entrance to the hangar.
"All bark, no bi-" Chiffon began, before someone knocked him out of the way with a swift kick.
Chiffon landed on the ground, clutching his nose in pain. If he hadn't had any aura, that would've broken his nose.
"Damn it!" Chiffon yelled. "How the fuck did you-" Chiffon opened his eyes to see Harriet, cracking her knuckles.
"You."
"Thought I wouldn't figure it out? Or did you think I was deaf?" Harriet sneered, getting ready to fight again.
"Didn't think you were deaf...thought you were incompetent."
"I'm more than able to kick your ass." Harriet said.
Chiffon wiped some blood from his nose. "Try it."
Harriet got into a fighting stance and looked at Chiffon, analyzing his weapon: a Versatile Mechanical Wing and Talon Rig. The rig was good when it came to variety, able to take in multiple forms of Dust to alter the wings' abilities, though the talons remained the same. Of note, however, was that weapon wasn't actually his per se, but one of a manufactured set. The Cygnus family had something of a reputation to uphold when it came to weapons and sticking with their traditions. Each child of the family that chose the path of the Hunter was gifted a rig and trained in its use, a tradition that was considered antiquated after the Great War.
Harriet's Fast Knuckles covered her arms. She needed to make the first move-
Harriet was quick to use her semblance, but she underestimated Chiffon's reaction time when focused. He caught her hand in between his wings and grinned. He slashed at her with his talons.
The talons slashed against her Aura, making the pink energy flare up. The speedster Ace-Op growled before managing to free herself from Chiffon's wings and began attacking with a flurry of mixed punches and kicks. He wanted to protect himself? Fine. Harriet was going to make sure that's all he could do.
Chiffon struggled to get a hit in. Harriet's fists were too fast, and having them boosted by her speed made it hard to find an opening.
Fortunately, he had his own Semblance to boost his attacks.
He just needed an opening. Considering how unpredictable her flurry of strikes was though, he couldn't find one. It was never clear what angle Harriet would attack from next. For lack of a better word, her attacks were wild.
Chiffon decided that if Harriet would not give him an opening, maybe the his surroundings could. Chiffon raised his foot, and used his semblance to make it stronger than usual. He slammed it on the ground.
The metal flooring crumpled when he slammed down. He took one step back, letting Harriet step forward onto the damaged panel and losing her balance for the briefest second.
"There it is," Chiffon grinned, rearing his wings back as the hardlight cyan turned to dark orange, stony protrusions covering the wingtips. He thrust both wings forward and slammed them into Harriet's chest, pushing her back.
Harriet stumbled backwards, and grit her teeth. "Lucky shot."
"I'll say." Chiffon's wings flapped, sending rocks flying towards the Ace Op.
Harriet simply dodged through each stony projectile, leaving a trail of lightning behind her. Dodging the last one, she raced up to Chiffon and landed one hell of a punch to the traitor's gut. His Aura flickered several times, just from the force behind the one punch.
Chiffon had to take a pause. His gaze pierced her with knives before his wings changed to light blue. He fluttered his wings again, shooting chilling winds at Harriet. Her body became encased in frost.
"C-can't move..." Harriet said.
"Increased the potency of my Ice Dust with my semblance...it's a fun boost, isn't it?" Chiffon sighed. "It's a shame...I wish I could be fighting her right now."
"F-fighting...who?" Harriet asked. She wanted to hear him say it, give her justification.
"Marion. After all...she's the reason I'm like this." Chiffon said, circling Harriet. "When you push someone to their breaking point, they may collapse. It's possible they'll never be the same again. Breaking something does not reveal what it is; rather, breaking something transforms what it is. I was happy once. I was like any other member of my family...but Marion."
Chiffon put a hand on her shoulder. "Pushing someone to their breaking point is the devil's work. Because the truth is that when pushed to our limits, we are all ugly."
"...thank you," Harriet growled, her eyes sparking with the energy of her Semblance.
"Ex...cuse me?" Chiffon asked, caught off guard by that, "For what?"
"For giving," the frost around Harriet began to crack and weaken, "Me. A REASON!"
With that last word, the frost around the speedster Ace-Op shattered entirely, rushing at Chiffon and just began landing punch after punch on the traitor.
Chiffon boosted the dust on his wings once more. Each punch encased Harriet's fists in ice, coating them in multiple layers of frost.
"You waste your time, Harriet! You will get nowhere by doing this!" Chiffon scoffed.
His words didn't even register to Harriet. She just kept punching and punching, putting more force behind each successive hit.
The hits started to scare Chiffon- her body was getting covered in electricity her semblance typically produced. It was sparking twice as hard- no, three times as hard!
Much to the traitor's surprise, the energy of his wings started to crack like glass.
"That...that's not..." Chiffon sputtered, before Harriet reared back her fist one last time. With an echoing yell, the Ace-Op punched and shattered the energy of the wings, going right to Chiffon's chest and punching him hard enough to completely shatter his Aura.
Chiffon was sent flying through the air, and slammed into a wall. Chiffon dropped to the ground, howling in pain. His wings were destroyed, and his back...the wall must have broken something. He was on the verge of tears when Harriet stormed towards him.
"You're an idiot if you saw her training as some sort of breaking point." Harriet frowned. "You weren't tortured or broken- you just had no motivation. You thought the world would be your oyster, just because your brothers got in. They worked hard, put in the time...She attempted to discipline you by subjecting you to training that corrected, molded, or perfected your mental faculties or moral character...looks like you couldn't handle that shit."
Chiffon wanted to say something, anything, but the pain was too overwhelming. Harriet didn't even register it, only rearing her fist back one more time. Her eyes sparked with fury and her Aura's energy. She was about to bring her fist slamming down on Chiffon.
"HARRIET!" a familiar voice called out. The Ace-Op turned to see Ciel there, Ben soon joining her.
"...holy shit..." Ben gasped at the sight.
Chiffon was scurrying backwards, as if trying to flee. "G-get her away from me! She's crazy!"
Harriet stepped forward. "What was that!?"
"Harriet, he's done! His Aura's down!" Ciel cried out, almost afraid to throw her chakrams at the Ace-Op.
"Oh and he'll die from one more hit? Maybe he deserves it after his entitled ass disrespected Marion. After he disrespected someone I thought of as my SISTER!" the Ace-Op growled, not backing down.
Ben immediately transformed into Feedback. "Harriet!" Ben yelled, holding out his plugs and antennae- he tried to absorb the energy from Harriet's body.
"Get the hell OFF ME, TENNYSON!" Harriet yelled, grabbing hold of the antennae and trying to throw Ben off.
Ben quickly absorbed some of Harriet's energy, and felt the energy course through his body. "W-woah...never absorbed anything like this before...it's seriously unstable." Ben said, body shaking.
"Maybe...Maybe you can get her to expend it?" Ciel asked.
"'Maybe?!' Have you never seen this before?!" Ben shot back, definitely a little concerned at the uncertainty.
"No, never!"
Ben quickly realized what he was looking at.
"...Berserker. This is her Berserker Semblance." Ben said, looking down at his hands.
"A what?"
"A power up, when you get really, really mad." Ben said. "Clouds the brain, makes you irrational...I think Harriet might've been suppressing her anger and just unleashed it."
"Berserker..." Ciel repeated, looking at Harriet. The way Ben explained it lined up with what she saw, the usually stoic and strict Ace-Op now giving into just pure anger.
"How do we snap her out of it? Expend the energy, break her Aura?" the clairvoyant student asked.
"We need to get her back on the right path, snap her out of this frenzy..." Ben frowned. "...we need to knock her out."
Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, and morphed into Pesky Dust. "And I hope this works."
"...what," Ciel deadpanned.
"OH! SO YOU'RE TRYING TO SAVE ME IN THE MOST HUMILIATING WAY POSSIBLE?!" Chiffon yelled.
"...just for that, knocking you out too," Ben decided.
Ben fluttered over, and blew into his gloved hand- pink dust flew out of his hand, and was inhaled by both Harriet and Chiffon. Their eyes began to slowly blink, and their bodies began to droop.
"You...won't get away...with this..." Harriet mumbled, as she drifted off to sleep.
"I...hate you..." Chiffon grumbled, falling face first on the ground.
"That's...actually very useful." Ciel admitted, "Gonna guess Sandman?"
"Nope. Pesky Dust. Sandman would go to one more literal," Ben said.
Ben reverted back to human as everyone else regrouped with him and Ciel. Ben picked up Chiffon, and dragged him over to the security guards.
"Here's our culprit." Ben said.
"You're serious?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Got a confession and everything. You can ask Harriet when she wakes up."
"...that sounds ominous as hell," the other soldier admitted.
"Ok, bad word choice," Ben admitted.
Ruby looked over at Harriet. "I've never seen her so content," She noted.
"What happened?" Cammie asked.
"Harriet nearly used her Berserker Semblance to beat Chiffon to near death. Had no other choice than to knock her out before she killed him." Ben said.
"That's..." Ruby looked at Harriet again. All that anger building up over time, anger and...maybe guilt? Grief? It was never easy to tell with Harriet; she hid her emotions so well.
Ruby looked to Cammie and, while she didn't say any words, the hacker could tell she wanted to try and set a plan in motion for the speedster.
"Let's get her somewhere safe." Blake said, walking over to pick her up.
"Yeah, like somewhere where a bed is in tact and the room isn't totally destroyed..." Kevin said, lifting up one of her arms.
"Cammie, you think can...?" Ruby asked.
"On it. Be right back, guys!" Cammie said before taking off.
Ruby looked back to Chiffon, and frowned. "I dunno how someone so sinister can sleep so peacefully."
Ruby paused.
"Unless..." Ruby's eyes drifted over to Ben's. He averted her gaze. "You did something, didn't you?"
"Me? No." Ben said. "I would NEVER do that. I'm 18, responsible, and I'd NEVER misuse my powers."
Ruby raised an eyebrow and squinted. "Suuuuuuuuuuuure."
"Wait, so, is she not supposed to know abou-" Ciel began, "Uh, I mean. Completely accurate! Yep!"
"Ben, what did you do?" Ruby smirked.
"Eh, let's just say he's having a nice dream." Ben said, looking over at Chiffon...
"They both are," Ciel confirmed, referring to Harriet as well.
Chiffon was sprinting in his dream. Running, running, running, like the horrible torture he received at the outset of his training. He was dehydrated, fatigued, and on the verge of collapsing...he hated it.
"Please...can I stop?" He called out.
"NO!" The voice from above boomed. "RUN!"
"Just...let me...take a break..." the dream version of Chiffon begged.
"No way in hell, Cygnus!" the voice growled.
Meanwhile, Harriet's dream was...surprisingly much more peaceful.
Harriet was resting...in a flower field. Looking to the sky. For the first time, the stress that hadn't left her mind was gone. She was at ease. Harriet could smell and feel everything around her. The smell of gazanias, marigolds, pansies, and petunias filled the air, and they were soft like pillows- better to rest on than that cold cot she had in her room.
"...this is too nice to be real." Harriet told herself. "...but it's still nice to have."
She had no idea how much time had passed since she had been put under, but Harriet slowly began to wake, even though she wanted to stay in that dream for a little while longer.
She found herself in one of the base's undamaged bunk rooms. She couldn't tell what time it was or if it was even the same day because the room was pitch black.
"Ugh..." Harriet groaned, getting back up. Her body felt heavy.
"How long..." the speedster muttered. Outside of the bitch blackness of the room, she was able to tell that the Fast Knuckles weren't on anymore.
"...greeeeeat," Harriet huffed.
Harriet staggered around the room before reaching the door. She struggled at first but eventually succeeded. Harriet took a peek around; she was on a lower level. They were never noisy.
"What happened..." She tried to recall. She was about to capture Chiffon, when...oh, God, it was all a blur from there.
The only thing she remembered with some clarity was landing a few hits in on the traitor. She didn't believe that Chiffon managed to beat her, no way in hell.
"Why was I knocked out then...?" Harriet wondered aloud.
"Because. You lost control." A voice said.
"What?" Harriet froze and looked around.
Vine approached her, looking concerned. "Did you sleep well?"
"I never do." Harriet said. "...but, yes. I was able to get a satisfactory rest."
"...Harriet. You don't remember much of what happened, do you?"
Harriet didn't respond for a few moments before sighing.
"No. Mostly a blur..." the speedster admitted.
"You have activated your Berserker Semblance." Vine said.
Harriet felt her surroundings blur. "What's that? No, I reasoned..."
"Whatever he said to you set you into berserker mode." Vine said. "And you were quite violent."
Harriet made a fist. "I swore...I'd never let that out. Not after I saw yours."
Vine closed his eyes. "I know- it seems his words hurt more than you thought they would."
"Did...anyone tell you what he said?" Harriet asked.
"Ciel mentions you referenced Marrion." Vine said. "So, I can only assume he went for some 'low blows'."
"Mari-" the speedster began, only for the memories to hit her at the mention of the name, "Ohhhh fuck."
"You remember then?"
"Yeah, I remember. He blamed it all on her. Said her training was hell, standards impossible. Said he laughed when the news of her death reached him. I...I just fucking lost it. God...DAMN IT!"
Harriet punched a wall. Vine didn't even flinch.
"I know you're still mad about what happened-" He began.
"So, what? You want me to just forget about that? Forget the wounds he reopened!?" Harriet yelled.
"...far from it," Vine said, "If you'd let me finish."
"...fine." Harriet said, calming down.
"I admire your drive to honor her." Vine said. "You're clearly the most serious about the job than any of us."
"Just stating the obvious there," the speedster scoffed.
"But...this isn't the first time your bottled anger has-"
"Don't. Even," Harriet glared daggers at Vine, "I fucking know. The fight with Xiao-Long, the Gauntlet, the convoy, now this. One fuck-up after the other..."
"No. It's just...telling." Vine said. "Like it or not, you are compartmentalizing your emotions. You need a support system, much like the ones those kids have."
"...is...is this your fancy way of telling me I need therapy? Is that really all you came here to say? Again, I know that!"
"Then why haven't you? It's taken this long for someone to suggest it, but if you knew-"
"Because I can't afford to go to therapy. Atlas needs it's best. I give even an inch..."
"And Atlas needs its best at its best. I don't like the idea of you firing all cylinders when you're clearly crying for help." Vine countered.
"Oh what and end up-!" Harriet yelled, stopping herself before going too far.
"End up...?" Vine repeated, inviting her to finish the sentence.
"...no. I'm not finishing that. I'm getting back out there. Where are the Knuckles?"
Vine frowned. "If that's the way you want to be...fine." Vine turned to walk away. "...but, I am always here if you-"
"Yeah, yeah. Where are they?" Harriet frowned.
"...Cammie has them." Vine frowned, as he walked off.
Harriet sighed, her shoulders drooping. Maybe….she was a bit fucked up.
…maybe she'd do something about it.