Shugo-sha Shadows

Malkin's voice was pained as she asked, "Perca, that was weeks ago? Why have you been holding that in for so long?"

Eldrin groaned dramatically. "Why do you even bother asking him that? It's the same answer every time he pulls something like that."

Yoshi and Garrin recited in unison, their voices light with familiar teasing, "I didn't want to worry you guys. You have your own problems to deal with. You don't need mine on top of it."

Perca rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips despite the somber mood. "I know, I know. I need to get better at talking about my feelings and letting you guys help. I'm working on it, I swear. I told you guys when I broke my finger the other day, remember? I'm getting better!"

Isamui laughed, a deep rumble that vibrated through the room, a sound both comforting and enormous. He ruffled Perca's hair, gently and only for a second, a fleeting paternal gesture. "That's all we ask for, fearless leader."

"So, are we really doing this?" Signe Malheur asked, her usual drawl sharpening with genuine curiosity. She clarified, her gaze intense, purple eyes alight with a flicker of something beyond boredom. "Are we really going to ask the heroes for help?"

Perca's gaze swept over the assembled Qrew. Koldrune, with his shock of bright white hair and eyes that glowed with an inner, electric blue light. Isamui, his massive frame radiating quiet strength, black mane held back by a cowl, red armor-like skin gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Malkin, tall and fierce, her blonde hair pulled back, a domino mask emphasizing the sharp angles of her face.

Garrin, vibrant green skin a stark contrast to his purple and black suit, ears twitching with barely suppressed energy.

Yoshi, boyish face framed by electric blue, his open brown eyes sharp and intelligent.

Signe Malheur, pale as moonlight, her bubblegum pink hair a deliberate splash of color against her ashen skin, eyes burning with a sudden intensity.

Eldrin, her light burnt orange hair a halo of warmth, intelligent green eyes steady and resolute.

Each and every one of them offered a silent nod, a subtle affirmation, a trust placed in his leadership, a shared burden willingly carried. This was his family. These were the people he had escaped horror with, the souls forged in the same fires, bound by an unbreakable loyalty. These were the people he would die for.

Perca nodded back, a single, decisive movement, his tired, sad green eyes settling on Yoshi. "Let's send the message then."

***

Regurei watched as Ryo Imir drummed her fingers against her armrest again, the rhythmic tapping a staccato counterpoint to the hum of the bioship's engines. Torvi finally snapped, his usual sarcastic drawl edged with genuine exasperation, turning sharply towards her. "Will you stop that?"

Ryo Imir's cheeks flushed a delicate pink, a rare betraying of emotion, but her glare remained heated, defiant. "Maybe if we weren't waltzing right into a trap, I'd stop doing that! This whole plan is stupid!"

"Oh my God!" Torvi cried, throwing his hands up in the air in a gesture of theatrical exasperation. "We know! We get that you don't like this plan. Tough!"

Silas Strega interjected, his voice a calming, measured counterpoint to Torvi's outburst, a soothing balm of Atlantean diplomacy. "Torden is becoming too much for us to handle. Even with the skills we all possess, we are going up against… metahumans. The Qrew is skilled in fighting metahumans and have information regarding Torden. They reached out to us with information and a chance at an alliance. They allowed us to choose the location. We need this alliance, Ryo Imir."

Ryo Imir set her jaw, a stubborn line forming in her delicate features, her silence stretching, taut with unspoken objections. Regurei thought, for a fleeting moment, that she might actually concede, that Silas's calm logic had finally penetrated her rigid skepticism.

Then, she growled, the sound low and fierce, laced with barely suppressed fury. "This is definitely a trap."

"I am sure that they are not that mean, Ryo Imir. They are just trying to help!" Astral Mist asserted cheerfully, her voice a soft, musical reassurance, her white eyes wide with an almost childlike optimism. 

Raquel added, her voice serious, grounded, a voice of quiet, unflappable confidence. "Even if it is a trap, we're good. They've gotta do a lot to take us down."

"They're a terrorist organization. We're colluding with terrorists." Ryo Imir argued, her tone laced with disgust, a clear line drawn in the sand, a moral chasm separating her from any perceived compromise. She sought allies, seeking to sway their opinions, to solidify her stance against this ill-conceived alliance.

Anders Malkiel frowned slightly, his brow furrowed in thought, his voice calm and analytical as he offered a counterpoint. "They're doing the same thing we are. They're fighting people that normal people can't fight."

Ryo Imir pursed her lips, a gesture of tight-lipped disapproval, her gaze fixed out the viewport of the bioship, staring into the swirling clouds below, a storm brewing within her as fierce as any tempest in the sky.

"They're not doing the same thing we are," she stated, each word clipped, precise, laced with icy disdain.

"We don't kill. We don't dole out our own punishments. We leave that up to the justice system, like we're supposed to. These people broke out of the camps that are helping them get cured and started tearing up cities and killing people for their own wacked form of justice. They are not like us."

Regurei sighed, a soft rush of air, a silent plea for patience. "Just leave it, Ryo Imir. We're practically there anyways. It's not like we can back out now. It'll work out fine."

He offered a reassuring smile, a silent peace offering, hoping to diffuse the rising tension. She huffed, a small, defiant sound, but offered no further argument. Regurei considered that good enough. He understood her reasoning, truly he did, understood the rigid moral code that guided her actions, but they had agreed, as a team, that they would meet the Qrew.

That was what they were going to do. There was no turning back now.

The common room of the Qrew's base radiated a low hum of unspoken tension. Malkin leaned against the cold metal wall, arms crossed, a deep furrow etched between her brows. Her gaze, usually a beacon of warmth, remained fixed on Perca, a silent question mark hanging in the stale air. He stood by the viewport, back to the room, his red hair a muted flame against the weak light struggling through the grimy plasteel.

"Lynrask," Malkin began, her voice a low murmur, yet weighted with concern. "This… this whole situation with the camps. You knew, didn't you?"

Perca remained a statue. Silence descended, thick and heavy, broken only by the distant, mechanical sighs of the base's life support. He didn't turn, didn't flinch, a figure sculpted from quiet defiance, tinged with a regret he wouldn't voice.

Eldrin shifted, her burnt orange hair momentarily catching the dim light, flaring like embers. "Of course he knew," she drawled, sarcasm a razor's edge in her tone. "When does fearless leader not know everything?"

Yoshi, hunched over a datapad, fingers flying across the screen, and Garrin, perpetually kinetic, bouncing on the balls of his feet, spoke in unison, a well-rehearsed chorus, "He just didn't want to worry us. He was handling it."

Perca finally turned. His green eyes, usually sharp, laser-focused, appeared clouded, weary, underscored by a profound sadness. He met Malkin's steady gaze, then slowly, deliberately, let his eyes drift, meeting each of his team members in turn. "Yeah," he admitted, the word expelled on a near-breath. "Yeah, I knew."

Malkin sighed, the sound not accusatory, but heavy with weariness. "And you didn't think to tell us? We're your team, Perca."

He dragged a hand through his already chaotic red hair, the goggles perched on his forehead askew. "I know, Malkin. I messed up. Again." He gestured, a vague, uncharacteristic display of vulnerability, a crack in his carefully constructed stoicism. "I get in my head. Think I have to carry… everything." His voice trailed off, then returned, barely audible. "It's stupid. I know it's stupid. I'm… working on it, okay?"

Isamui chuckled, a low rumble that resonated through the room, a gentle tremor despite its depth. He moved forward, his massive hand descending on Perca's shoulder, the sheer weight of it enough to buckle most, but Perca stood firm, rooted.

"Hey, kid." Isamui's voice, a deep baritone, held a surprising softness. "We get it. You're a stubborn little lynrask." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"But you're *our* stubborn little lynrask." He squeezed Perca's shoulder, a reassuring pressure. "Just let us help carry the load, yeah?"

Perca offered a ghost of a smile, a fleeting, fragile upturn of his lips that failed to reach the deep sadness in his eyes. "Yeah," he repeated, the affirmation stronger this time, conviction lacing the syllable. "Yeah, I will."

Signe Malheur, who had observed the raw exchange with an atypical absence of sarcasm, pushed herself off the wall, bubblegum pink pigtails swaying like delicate antennae.

"Anyways," she interjected, her voice sharp, efficiently redirecting the conversation. "Heroes. Are we doing this or what?"

She fixed Perca with a direct stare, purple eyes glowing with a faint, internal light, an unspoken challenge.

The weight of the decision settled back onto Perca's slight frame, a palpable burden. He surveyed his team, his gaze lingering on each face – Malkin's unwavering concern, Isamui's gentle strength, Signe's brusque practicality, Eldrin's watchful intelligence, Yoshi's quiet focus, Garrin's eager, almost childlike hope.

This was his family. Chosen, not by blood, but by shared trauma, by mutual reliance, loyalty forged in the crucible of metahuman camps and whispered fears, a bond unbreakable. He saw their trust reflected back at him, a faith undimmed by his missteps, his ingrained secrecy.

He nodded, a slow, deliberate movement, a silent promise. "Yeah," he said, his voice gaining resonance, authority. "Yeah, we're doing this. Yoshi, send the message."