Frenda
[ACMI: The Thing You Lost]
Joule was awoken by someone tapping on her face.
"GV...?" she groaned as her eye cracked open.
She saw Saten smiling down at her "Nope, but the danger's over."
"The danger?" Joule asked, sitting up "Oh yeah, I got kidnapped, again."
Saten nodded, wincing "I have heard it happens a lot to you. Anyway, it wasn't GV who saved us."
Her friend nodded to the open door of the car where someone was standing. She really felt like she should recognise the young blond girl standing there but nothing came to mind.
"Thank you, I guess?"
The girl nodded and looked away. As Joule went to get out though, she found her hands were handcuffed.
"Sorry about that." Saten looked abashed "They were behind you and I needed to wake you so they could be taken off safely."
"What do you mean, 'safely'?" Joule asked, worried.
The blond girl held up a pair of... tools? A bag of some kind of powder and some sort of twisted metal stick with a grip to prevent it from slipping when being held. She then explained "I'm going to burn it off, roll onto your back and keep your arms steady."
Joule did so, worried about what was going to happen. She heard movement from behind her but she couldn't twist her head to see what the girl was doing.
Then she heard a crackling noise, and her wrists grew warm quickly. Then there was a forceful pull as the girl ripped the melting cuffs off of her before they did any damage.
Joule turned around again, she was now properly awake and looked at the blond girl properly and she remembered something that GV and Lumen had told her about once.
"Wait, are you...?"
Saten was climbing out of the car and grinned "This is Frenda, the girl I told you about."
Frenda, it was a name that GV had once mentioned in an off-hand way. She remembered her more from the mention of her specialty. She wasn't an esper, just a pyrotechnics expert that worked in the Dark Side. Lumen had seen her once and it was that memory that had finally allowed Joule to make the connection between Saten's new friend and the bomber she had been told about.
...Probably best not to bring that up while she was saving them though.
"Let's go." Frenda noted as she looked around, "we should get going before reinforcements show up."
Saten nodded and helped Joule out of the car. The area around them was wrecked. Rubble had fallen to block off the road ahead and behind the car. Frenda helped them over some of the rubble though and they broke for an area away from these low roads. Somewhere with more people around at least.
As they walked, Joule checked for her phone only to find it gone. When she mentioned it, Saten checked for her own but got the same result.
"Lumen?"
There was a delay in her friend's response. Joule couldn't see but the butterfly took a moment to land back in place on her hairtie.
"Yeah?"
"Did you see where they threw our phones?"
Lumen paused again, before giving an affirmation.
The three of them quickly ran to where the phones had been tossed out the window of the car. They were both damaged but they were able to use the phones to get in contact with their friends.
There was also the second benefit that Joule was able to use the talk to set up a mental link with GV to tell him who she thought she was with.
"Sorry." GV noted "I wish I'd been keeping an eye on you. I'm a bit busy right now though. Do you mind if I send a friend to help you? I'll get there as soon as I'm not-"
Over the mental link, she heard a gunshot and GV cursed.
"I don't mind." Joule said out loud into the phone, GV had probably dropped his but it was the thought that counted, literally, as she had also sent it as a mental message. She then ended the call and looked up at the others.
They continued into the city proper.
"You're lucky the phone damage was the worst that happened." Frenda noted "I mean, those guys weren't just a couple of punks pulling a prank. Do you have any idea why they might have been after you two?"
Saten and Joule glanced at each other. Saten looked back first "No. I've got nothing going on worth all that."
But Joule... "I have been kidnapped before, but that doesn't explain why they'd take Saten too."
"You have?" Frenda looked at her and paused. Then finally she gave a quiet little "Oh."
Did she recognise Joule now?
"Either way," Saten noted "shouldn't we contact Anti-skill?"
"Umm-" Frenda searched for an excuse "I've already taken care of that."
Joule could guess it's more that she risked being recognised if they did call.
"Really, you did?" Saten asked and Frenda doubled down on the lie.
Saten checked for something else and groaned "I must have lost that card I just bought too."
"That might be harder to get back." Frenda noted "We're a bit far from the car now to check if it was there."
Saten's head fell in mock sorrow. Frenda took the chance to jump in though.
"Anyway, I did kind of save your lives, so if you wanted to thank me somehow, i'd understand."
"Uh, okay?" Saten agreed and glanced at Joule "What about you?"
Sticking with Frenda might actually be a way to keep Saten safe. With that in mind...
"Sure, but I want to meet up with someone else first. GV was offering to send someone over to keep an eye on us."
"Who?" Saten said and Frenda paled slightly.
Joule paused, reopening that closed link with GV. It took a moment but then her... friend? Sure. Friend. Brother would be creepy with what she... you know what? She'd stop this train of thought now.
"Who were you actually sending over?"
"Iruka's free right now, I've been working with her for a bit and you know each other at least. I was thinking of sending her."
Oh yeah. GV was on a job of some sort right now for the person behind the first set of cursed cards. It seems Iruka must be working with them too then?
"I don't mind." Joule noted mentally before looking at the others "Yumiya Iruka, Where should we meet up with her?"
Frenda sighed softly, it seems she wasn't as scared now that she knew who it was.
"The supermarket?" Frenda suggested "You can buy me a whole lot of canned mackerel as thanks!"
That sounded... okay?
End of chapter.
So, you can all see where I'm going with this, right?