Stressed, Betrayed, and Secrets

~~~T~~~

"And today's weather will be a record-breaking low as the blizzard that formed yesterday at noon continues to push out low temperatures throughout the City of New Providence. Now back to the news-"

With an exhausted expression, Tony closed his holographic console that played the news. It was a day after the police raid at the laboratory. As a strange blizzard engulfed the area around the laboratory, Tony, Maverick, Renne, Evangela, Maria, and Isabelle took refuge at the NaviCafe as they waited out the storm. Jason, who was with them when escaping, disappeared shortly after the group safely made it out of the chilling winds. During the first two hours of being snowed in, Isabelle took the girls into the changing room to check for any injuries while Tony was swamped with panicked calls from officers all over the city. Knowing that Tony wouldn't be able to complete an urgent task of his, Maverick scraped up a report on his behalf just before helping the Cafe's owner as the two waitresses' were nowhere to be seen. Through all the calls Tony had made and received, he was never able to get in contact with any of the four police chiefs throughout the city.

"Damn it!!!" Tony chugged a glass of beer and slammed his fist into the counter. It was clear as day that things had turned south on the police side of things.

"Whoa there, those casualties were not your fault. Nobody could have predicted the possibility that killing a corrupted wielder would cause a disaster afterward." Maverick said, trying to calm the tipsy, pissed-off Tony.

"I wished we had more intel beforehand." Tony said, staring at his empty glass, "Everyone that came with us died. Let me mourn them, please. It was my failure as a leader that led them to their deaths." Tony got up and moved to the darkest corner of the Cafe, pulled out a pen and a few pieces of paper, and began to write formal notices to the families who had just lost a member.

"So, what is he doing? If you don't mind me asking." The cafe owner said while walking out of the kitchen with a bunch of food on a large rolling cart.

"Oh, he's just writing letters, probably," Maverick said. The owner tilted his head. "I guess that needs further explanation in this current landscape." Maverick gave an awkward smile as he scratched the back of his head. "To put it simply, like you, we also prefer to do things the traditional way rather than digitally. So he's taking the time to write letters."

"I see...."

"But enough of the gloomy stuff; I'll go get the girls for you, Shin."

Shin then rolled a cart of sandwiches and fresh fruits to a nearby long table and carefully placed the dishes. While his usual demeanor was prideful and comforting, he bore a distant look today. While preparing the meals, he broke down, silently weeping as Maverick tried to cheer him up. Hearing the news about Alan and the sudden disappearance of his two employees brought heavy grief to his heart. After a few minutes, Maverick returned with the girls, and they ate their lunch in an awkward atmosphere. Maverick tried multiple times to start a conversion but failed because they only gave him vague and boring responses.

"Man...now I know how Tony feels," Maverick muttered.

"Ummm...Shin?" Evangela called out to the owner of the restaurant, who was standing behind the counter cleaning the glass cup Tony used. "Where are Linda and Maddie?" After they had returned, the girls stayed separate from the group.

Shin forced a smile and answered Evangela, "Unfortunately, I have no clue. After those four left yesterday to rescue you, Linda packed her things and ran out. Maddie then chased after her, trying to get her to stop. I was kinda hoping you guys knew, as I thought she was going after y'all."

"Well, we did not see her during our endeavors, but I am not surprised, honestly. She probably knew that we would return here and fled the area." Maverick said with a stern look as he put his fork down.

Shin turned to look Maverick in the eye and raised his brow, "Just what are you implying?" Shin said in an aggressive tone.

Failing to be intimidated, Maverick continues. "Simple. According to the data we collected, your head waitress was once the chief scientist working for the now-deceased Professor Omega." He then opened his air console and sent the data he received from Isabelle to Shin. "Linda Norn helped lead the experiment that leveled the City of Old Providence and went off the grid shortly afterward. Records also state that her family was inside the facility during that fateful day. They found her husband, one of her two daughters, and many others dead at the feet of Arthur. In his arms was a small girl with purple hair covered in blood. That man then took the girl and raised her to become a terrorist." Maverick closed his holographic console. "While weak evidence, we believe Linda knows much more about this entire situation than what she lets on about."

"So that woman who gave us a place to say was actually my mother…." Renne gave an empty look as she stared down at the table.

"Renne…" Evangela gave her a concerned look.

"Anyway, Renne, I have a question for you. How did you get that scar between your breasts?" Maverick said, trying to sound as normal as possible, despite being slightly embarrassed for saying it out loud.

"Perverted pedo," Renne replied sharply. She bore a disgusted expression as she hid her body behind Evangela. "But to answer your question, a large steel rod came crashing down in front of me during the quake. It gave me a deep cut and crushed my ribcage, damaging my internal organs. Like the scientists who experimented on me afterward, I was confused about how I survived."

"Judging by your face, I assume you don't want to talk about the events during the quake, huh?"

Renne quietly nodded.

"Fine, I won't pry." Maverick gave up and resumed eating his lunch.

A few minutes went by, with everyone eating their lunch in silence. That silence ended after strange sounds were emitted from Apollo's and Renne's implants. All of them, excluding Tony, who was still in the corner, stared at Renne as she opened her air console and opened a strange message sent by the director of the terrorist group.

"What the heck?" Maverick said with a surprised look.

Renne and the others read through it, and, to everyone's surprise, Renne had a bounty on her head from the terrorist group.

"But why…?" Seeing that the only family she had left had basically disowned her shocked her to her core.

"!?" Tony looked at the group sitting at the large table in his dark, lonely corner as he watched a dark-colored mist form behind them. "EVERYONE ON GUARD!!!" He shouted as he pulled out his gun.

The black mist centered on an empty chair across from Renne and beside Isabelle and Maria. As the two tried to get up, two arms appeared from the mist and wrapped around the two girls trying to flee, forcing them to sit back down.

"Hey there, little princess, it's been a while." A calm, tall man dressed in completely dark attire appeared from the mist, causing everyone to tense up and Renne to instinctively pull out her weapon, which was currently just a metal rod, thanks to Alan. The man stared at the Renne with his eyes the color of midnight purple. He had a scar over his left eye about the size of a pencil. "Pfff!" The man busted out laughing, unfrightened by the metal twig Renne brought to his face. "How the hell did you break that scythe of yours?"

"Shut up, Onyx!" Renne said, slightly embarrassed as she put away her weapon.

"Anyway," the man stood up, "My name is Onyx, a member of the intel collection branch of Ouroboros." He flashed his emblem that was embedded into the back of his hand. The emblem shows a depiction of two snakes revolving around a human brain. "I'm not here for the bounty. I'm just here to warn you, Renne."

"I don't believe you. Everything you do is for money, which makes me wonder why you are not a collector." Renne distrusted the words that came out of Onyx's mouth.

"Whether or not you believe me is up to you. I just want to help you start in the right direction so that you don't die to the others so quickly. So here's the rundown of information I am willing to give. You better listen because I will not repeat myself. The only reason you were even allowed to stay in Ouroboros is that we could use your ability to use our mist to faze through walls and travel. We artificial wielders can only do so much on our own. Now that two high-ranking members are dead, you have no one else to back you. Therefore, 'she' wants you dead. Some less heavy information is that yours and Apollo's implant have lost connection to the Ouroboros network, and one of your love interests is still alive. That's all."

"Wait, what?" Onyx confused Renne. "Love inter-"

"Yep!" Onyx gave her a smile while cutting her off. "I've been watching you from the shadows thanks to a deal I made with Arthur, but now that he's dead, I can go back to becoming the most spectacular recorder player in the city." He then made his way towards the exit of the Cafe and stopped and spoke in a more serious tone. The sunlight beamed off the snow and illuminated his face, revealing a dark glare. "Also, one last thing, Renne, your fear will get him killed." He opened the door, letting a surge of chilly air inside, then walked into the snow-covered city and vanished.

"..." Everyone stared at the door in silence.

"I think I lost a few brain cells while hearing him talk," Maverick said. "also, why a recorder? Why not a better-sounding wind instrument?"

Renne gave a deep sigh as she sat back down. "That's Onyx for you. The most random person whose only purpose is to confuse you."

"Despite that awkward excuse for a human, at least we know Alan is alive." Tony said, walking up to the dumbfounded group.

"Huh?" Isabelle said, "How did you reach that conclusion?" She and the other girls looked at him with puzzled expressions. While Tony was trying to be funny, his audience was not within that group.

"Simple." He cleared his throat. "He said one of the love interests died, and we watched Arthur die and cause a blizzard. However, we never saw something similar with fire or heat; therefore, Alan is still alive."

"Heh, I guess that makes sense, but wasn't he impaled right after nearly killing Renne?" Isabelle recalled the events that happened the day before.

"Maybe he got lucky." Maverick chimed in.

"Lucky…" Renne muttered to herself.

Tony took a glance at the gloomy Renne before opening his air console. He searched the area where the fight took place. "Hmmm…" Tony found the spot where the boy was impaled and noticed that he was no longer there.

Maverick looked over Tony's shoulder. "Whoa, not only did the blizzard stop, that boy is no longer there." Everyone looked at the two officers.

"Too bad the blizzard snowed us in at the moment. Let's wait a few hours for the work bots to clean up the snow." Tony suggested. After saying that, he turned towards the door. "Where did that man even go to? He can't even access anything building at ground level."

~~~L~~~

A few hours before:

"Ngn…this blizzard is strong." A woman in a tattered purple waitress outfit said while slowly trying to navigate through the raging winds.

"Why are you even doing this, Linda?" A voice came from behind, slightly muffled by the winds.

"Because... I have to atone for my own sin-AH!" Linda slipped on some ice and began sliding down toward the center of the blizzard.

After almost a day after the showdown between three factions, police, government, and a corrupted terrorist, two waitresses made their way to the center of the raging storm, hoping to stop it. As Linda slid down, she eventually stopped in front of a large pillar of ice that appeared to have something encased in it. Maddie wasn't far behind as she eventually caught up to Linda, who was staring intensely at the large pillar.

"What the hell?" Maddie said out loud, unable to contain her shock, "The reports say that he was fatally injured during the fight. But he looks to be in mint condition." The two of them stared at the boy, who was currently frozen in ice. The person inside was no other than Alan. However, thanks to the curse, his body had reset itself to the way it was before the loop had begun.

"What do you mean by reports?" Linda deadpanned towards Maddie.

"Err…" Maddie's voice trailed off.

*Crack*

"Huh?" Linda stepped back as a soft sound of cracking ice was heard from behind the pillar. Linda and Maddie looked at each other, then nodded as they walked behind the pillar. As they walked behind the large pillar of ice, the pillar completely shattered, leaving Alan to freefall before eventually being caught by Linda.

"That was close, huh?" Maddie said while watching Linda handle Alan.

"Yeah, no kidding. Now let's see how we can stop this storm-"

"There's no need." Maddie shot a quick response as if she was expecting the outcome.

The two women looked up into the sky and noticed that the large blankets of snow and wind no longer stopped the sun from shining down.

"I guess he was the key to stopping the storm," Maddie said.

"Yeah... A father's dying wish." Linda's eyes were emotionless as she said that. She slowly got up, placed Alan onto her back, and walked back in the direction they came from. But this time, they can see where they are going.

"This place... It's completely in ruins." Maddie said while investigating the area for survivors.

"I doubt you'll find anyone who survived. After all, that was a terrible blizzard that lasted almost 24 hours. But I have one question. Just who are you?"

"..." Maddie grew silent as she gave Linda a confused look. "Whatever do you mean? I'm just a waitress at the NaviCafe." She said in a playful tone.

"Cut the bullshit," Linda snapped, "you tipped them off, didn't you?"

Maddie stared quietly at Linda before changing her playful tone into something more serious.

"You're not the only one with skeletons in her closet." Her words were as cold as the surrounding air. Linda diverted her gaze. "But, unlike you, I never intended to hurt Alan." She turned her head and began walking quickly in front of Linda. "Whether you can trust me is up to you, Linda. Just remember this: all of this happened because of you, so don't try to pin the blame on others. We each have our own ways of cleaning up the mess made by your group."

"I know…"

"Good." Maddie's tone shifted to a more cheerful one. "Let's return to the NaviCafe. I'm sure the others are dying to hear an explanation about what the hell the government is planning."

"Ha, that's rich coming from a double agent." Linda mockingly said.

The two walked towards the snow-covered main road, towards the train station.