“Boom chikachika…boom ch boom…”

“You ready, guys?”

“Yeah, just a second!” Julia called out, glancing back at Harley shoving her face into the closet. “You found them yet?”

“Hold on…” Harley muttered, before leaping back out with her Buster Knuckles in hand. “There we go! I put ‘em away for two seconds after the play, but no, they go and disappear on me.”

“Maybe they got sick of you?” Julia joked, as Harley stuck her tongue out.

“Maybe they didn’t like your attitude. Did you think of that?”

“No, cause everyone likes me.” Julia added, grinning after, as Harley sighed out.

“…at least you’re feeling better. I can usually tell once you get all sassy.” Harley noted, as Julia tilted her head.

“Really?”

“Uhuh. You can be a real troll sometimes.” Harley pointed out, as Julia hid her face.

“I have no idea what yo-“

“We were meant to leave ten minutes ago! Hurry it up already!”

Julia panicked briefly, before heading out of her room. “S-Sorry!”

Harley followed behind, as they met up with the rest of the team in the lounge room, waiting patiently with their weapons.

“Took you long enough.” Sola insisted. “Didn’t you remember our plans?”

“Yeah, Julia was busy teasing me.” Harley explained, before showing her Knuckles off. “And I had to find these.”

“Are you feeling better already?” Wess asked, as Julia looked a bit embarrassed.

“I-Is that my tell?” Julia pondered, before looking to Essex. “I don’t tease that much, do I?”

Essex looked to the side. “…should I answer honestly?”

“…you don’t need to.” Julia confessed, visibly deflated, as Wess went to join her side. “Alright, we should be good to go.”

Julia turned to Percy, still finishing breakfast at the kitchen table. “You sure you don’t want to come to the academy with us?”

Percy put her bowl down, before shaking her head.

“…n-no…thanks…” She managed, rubbing her neck, before signing. [I don’t really wanna go back yet.]

“Alright. Well, have a fun day home! Dad’ll be back soon!” Julia called out, as they headed out the door, with the sun impressively shining down on them.

“Wow, look at that.” Harley let out, whistling at the good weather. “I know Faller gave us that pass to bring our weapons on the Flash-Rail, but this weather’s too nice to waste.”

“Oh! Let’s walk there instead! It’s not that far anyway!” Sola suggested, as Julia nodded happily.

“Why not? It’s the perfect day for it.” Julia beamed, turning to Wess and Essex. “You up for it?”

“This…sounds fun.” Essex agreed, smiling. “Real fun.”

“…sure.” Wess added, as they started their walk back to the academy, with Julia keeping a close eye on Wess.

“While we could have continued training at home, changing the environment to something more familiar will be to our benefit.” Essex noted.

“And I think this’ll do us some good. I’ve been missing campus.” Julia reasoned, jumping ahead and turning back around to everyone. “We haven’t gotten to hang out with our friends for a while.”

“But we hung out with Team Vanguard last week for the play.” Sola pointed out.

“They were cheering me up. I wanna be on equal terms this time.” Julia clarified. “When’s the last time you hung out with Cyrus, Wess?”

“…a while.” She admitted, massaging her face. “It certainly sounds like a…return to form.”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it!” Julia agreed, as she let Harley, Sola and Essex pull ahead for a little bit, leaving her and Wess alone. “…hey, how’re you holding up?”

“…somewhat better?” Wess answered honestly, waving her hand over her scar. “I don’t love the notion of training in public while my depth perception’s still betraying me.”

“Don’t worry. If anyone teases you, we’ll beat ‘em up and take their lunch money.” Julia joked, getting a chuckle from Wess.

“If only all of life’s problems were that simple.” Wess remarked, before locking hands with Julia. “I’m fine, dear. I was just hoping I would keep up with everyone in terms of recovery.”

They looked ahead to the trio, as Sola had clearly just finished a bad joke, which Harley was losing it over, only for Essex to follow up with a worse one, before Harley fell into her, struggling to breathe. Sola jumped into Essex as well, before all three of them fell over, and they all collectively lost it.

“As a team, we’re all in good spirits, but I’m still getting used to it all…” Wess confessed, sighing out. “Oh well. I’ve come back from worse. As long as I’ve got good people in my life, recovery shouldn’t be a burden for much longer.”

———

“That’s it…next step.”

“…c-come on…come on…”

“Don’t force it. You’re doing good.”

“…Am I?” Wicker replied, looking over at Marcus holding him up. “The bullet only grazed my spine, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t be walking.”

Marcus clicked his tongue. “As someone with a degree, I disagree profusely. You know the spine’s more than just the bone, right?”

Wicker pushed him away, still barely holding himself up on the walking rails.

“I don’t need you looking over me…” Wicker let out, as Marcus smacked his arm.

“You need somebody, so I’m your best bet.” Marcus said. “You already scared the doctor out. We’re going again.”

Wicker groaned, as Marcus helped him up again, right as Florey caught a glance of this outside of the infirmary off-room they were in.

He’s making progress, at least. Florey acknowledged. Even if it doesn’t feel like it…

He nearly locked glaring eyes with Marcus, before expertly ducking away and quickly heading to his makeshift lab in the Wailing storage room.

Unlike me. Florey admitted, thinking back to his recent stint of dead ends. Still no closer to that autopsy…hopefully Cecil’s recovery keep’s them busy long enough for me to have a breakthrough and keep up with my work…

He made his way inside, with the Wailing staring at him through its glass cell, the sound of water pouring into the cell’s drain being all too familiar to Florey at this point.

It watched as he sat down, looking over the spot in front of the cell reserved for Rosalind, which was currently unoccupied.

“Hope Rosalind’s alright after that surgery…” Florey muttered. “She’d probably dropkick me for worrying about her…feels weird talking to myself now…”

Florey shook his head, before focusing back on his work.

It was all but a few minutes until he threw his hands up and slammed them on the table.

“DAMMIT!” He yelled, running her head through his hands. “Nothing works! I can’t make a solid-liquid-autopsy fucking…god dammit!”

He threw some material across the table into the glass holding the Wailing back, as it flinched a little, before staring at Florey having his small tantrum.

“…Cecil’s counting on me…” Florey assured. “I made a promise and I’m gonna stick to it. If I get this right, this could be the key to ending the Conflict…I have to do it…”

Florey stuck his head down, his nerves still wracking his body as he scribbled down notes in an attempt to force a breakthrough, as the Wailing watched him work, noticing just how in his own head he was.

As the room started to quiet down, the Wailing’s attention was drawn to the only sound emanating from the room, being the small drain in the corner of its cell that allowed the constant water leaking from its back to not flood the room.

With eyes finally off of it, the Wailing slid itself over, prodding quietly at the entrance, making sure not to draw Florey’s attention over. Curiously, it looked inside the pipe, before breaking open the cover and pushing itself through just a little, seeing how much it could manage to get inside. To its surprise, there was a good amount of room within the pipes.

…enough to just barely fit inside.

The realisation spooked the Wailing, as it stood back up and tried to look innocent, going over whether this might be a deliberate trap placed here to trick it.

Then again, the people holding it seemed to be flying by the seat of their pants.

And it didn’t have any other options.

So…

“…come on…why doesn’t the…why’s the math so fucking…” Florey grumbled, scrunching up some paper. “ARGH! I can’t work like this!”

He pushed his chair out, closing his eyes and spinning around a few times to try and destress, as he rubbed his face and let the spinning slow down.

By the time he did, the chair stopped right in front of the cell, just as the Wailing was squeezing itself right into the pipe, contorting all of its body to fit.

As the visual finally sunk in for Florey, he stood up in shock, watching as the Wailing slowly disappeared with each passing second, before it was completely gone, a massive hole in the floor being the only thing it left behind.

“…oh dear god no…”

“…oh dear god no…”

Rosalind groaned in pain, as her infirmary bed creaked at her constant turning.

“…relax…relax my ass. I don’t relax. Stupid doctor should know that…” Rosalind muttered, trying to roll over without touching her new connector, still aching from the work that’d been done on her. “…at least with Wicker outta commission, I’m not getting bossed aro-“

“Rosalind! Rosalind, it’s bad!”

Florey came bursting into the infirmary, as Rosalind groaned loudly at the irony.

He ran right up to her bed, with her taking her sweet time to roll over to face him.

“I-I know we didn’t establish a code system or anything, but this is code red. Code…the worst. The worst cod-“

“Florey, Florey, Flor-“

“This is so my fault. I really screwed up, Ros-“

“FLOREY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Rosalind yelled, as Florey finally obliged. “…Florey, these pain killers are only so effective…you whining in my fucking ear is helping no one…”

Taking a second to collect herself, Rosalind sighed out and pinched her nose. “…what happened with the Wailing?”

“It got out.”

Rosalind nodded, before double-taking and blinking. “…it got out?”

“Just now. It slipped into the drain in its holding cell and managed to pull itself through the plumbing.” Florey explained, panic still running over his face. “It’s gonna pop out right into the middle of Detu City.”

Rosalind’s eyes widened, as she slowly got to her feet, stroking her chin, before turning to slap Florey in the face.

“What the fuck, man?!” Rosalind yelled out, grabbing her face. “You’re the smart one! There wasn’t a backup security thing in place?!”

Florey rubbed his cheek, as his voice started to shrink.

“I-I…didn’t check…and I didn’t think we n-needed it. The room was already built to house it, I though-“

“Well, think harder next time, brainiac! And don’t come yelling to me with every little problem you have!” Rosalind complained, before grabbing her sword and heading out.

“W-Where are you going…?”

Rosalind looked pissed. “I’m getting the fucking Wailing! You want Marcus to come in here and lynch us for letting a Wailing out in the middle of a city?!”

The sound of loud crashing rang out from above them, as Rosalind bit her lip and kept walking, right as Florey started following behind.

Rosalind noticed and held her tongue, as Florey tried to hold back his frustration from getting slapped.

“If you’re following, you’re not weighing me down.”

“…I don’t plan to.” Florey stated, before running ahead of her, only frustrating her further.

“It’s like a fucking daycare…”

———

“Training, is so much fun!”

“With my cannons, and Julia’s gun!”

Harley and Sola turned to Essex excitedly, staring wide-eyed in expectation, as Essex legitimately froze for a second.

“…one…two three…three two one…” Essex followed up, as Harley and Sola took a second, before nodding to each other.

“That works. That’s pretty good.” Harley assured, as Essex let out a relieved breath as they rounded the corner to the academy, before her ears perked up suddenly.

“Countdown’s complete, now here comes the sun! We’re almost there, guys!” Julia happily followed up, jumping ahead, only to notice Essex getting distracted. “Hey, what’s up?”

Before Essex could explain, screaming and smashing started emanating in the direction of Detu Central, with people running in the opposite direction.

“Is that what I think it is?” Harley asked, stepping forward, as Essex turned to face them.

“There’s a Wailing in the middle of the city.” She announced, with Wess already scrolling on Activ for any new alerts.

Once she found one, she handed off her tablet to Julia.

“It says it just…showed up about twenty minutes ago? Like, that’s it. It just appeared. Evacuation notice…looks like the Central Government just put out a hunt on the Wailing.” Julia explained, before stopping for a second. “Actually, wait…it’s a Bounty Hunt.”

Sola adverted her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she didn’t actually remember what the difference was, as Essex noticed her embarrassment and went to raise her hand.

“Julia, remind me what a Bounty Hunt is again. I’ve forgotten.” Essex asked, as Sola shared a sweet glance with her.

“Oh, right. Well, it’s just like a normal hunt, expect instead of one team taking it on, any team can participate in the hunt.” Julia explained, showing off her tablet. “And whoever gets the kill at the end gets the pay.”

She clicked her tongue. “Man, I wish we could take this one on. Just a few months away from graduating and we’d finally have our degrees…”

“Uhh, Julia?” Harley asked, before showing her tablet off too. “I think you missed something. This hunt’s open to everyone.”

Julia looked a bit confused, before scrolling through the listing again and gasping. “No way…‘because Detu City’s Venator presence is very limited compared to most cities, this hunt is open to any Venators, including students from the nearby Venator Academy.’ Holy shit…”

“We can do the hunt?” Sola asked, as Julia slowly nodded.

“Seems like it. They really want this thing taken care of.” Julia clarified, looking back to Wess. “That’s some good news, right?”

“…guess we can forgo our training for now.” Wess remarked, before looking over Julia’s shoulder at the listing. “And fortunately, we already have our weapons on us.”

“A classic Wailing hunt to get back into the swing of things!” Harley cheered, pounding her fists together. “And we’ve got the homefield advantage!”

“This is an excellent idea.” Essex agreed, scanning the streets around them. “We should start tracking the Wailing if we want a chance at defeating it first.”

“WOO!!! Let’s save Detu City!” Sola cheered, jumping on Harley’s back, as the three of them started running off, leaving Julia behind with Wess.

“Ready?” Julia asked, as Wess let out a resigned sigh.

“I should be.” Wess agreed, as they started running to catch up, before an idea crossed Wess’ mind. “…the listing mentioned any students could participate, right?”

“Yeah?” Julia agreed, failing to see the point, before stopping dead in the street and turning around, as the rest of Team Valiant followed suite, realising the point at the same time.

“Let’s do it, guys! We gotta keep Detu City safe!” Joleicia cheered out, running through the street, with the rest of Team Vanguard in tow, before passing right by Valiant. “Hi guys! Did you see the listing?”

“U-Uhh…” Julia managed, waving back, before more hooping and hollering echoed down the street.

“BEEFCAKE NOW AND BEEFCAKE PROUD!!! BEEFCAKE NOW AND BEEFCAKE PROUD!!!” Team Beefcake cheered, charging ahead as well, only lagging behind slightly to keep up with Efrem.

“Alright, first mission as the new Team Exemplary! We’re here to impress, so no getting distra…” Leandra declared, running down the street, before catching a glance of Wess as she passed and feeling her anger boil over, only for the rest of Exemplary to drag her along.

“We’re heading straight for the Wailing! Nothing too fancy guys!” Baron announced, as an excited Edward, dejected Duke, and happy to be there Henry and George followed behind in hot pursuit.

“This is it! Team Rose and Liddy!” Rose declared, running directly past Team Valiant, as Liddy looked a bit caught up.

“Dear, we’re on separate teams!”

“Not after we graduate! We gotta get the name out there now!” Rose insisted, holding her hands to her hips. “Never fear, Rose and Liddy are here!”

“…this is on us.” Julia confessed, visibly exacerbated. “We should have seen this coming…”

“Hey, Alpine.” Donovan greeted, as Julia turned to find Team Instinct lagging behind the rest. “You going after that Wailing?”

“You guys are here too?” Harley asked, as Donovan shrugged.

“We missed out on the last Wailing attacking Detu City. Seems like a smart way to get our names out there since this year’s tournament was delayed after the attack.” Donovan pointed out, before turning to their team. “We wait till it’s weakened, then go in for the kill! We don’t have as much experience with Wailing like the other teams, so we’ve gotta be smart!”

“Then why’re you leading us?” Ruddy joked, as the rest of the team cracked up, with Donovan simply rolling their eyes, before smiling a little too.

“Alright, Ruddy’s bait today. Any objections?” Donovan asked, as the team shook their heads.

“Wha-“ Ruddy let out, before sighing. “…tyrant.”

“With an iron fist. Move it already!!!” Donovan yelled, as the team kicked themselves into high gear and started heading out, with Donovan not too far behind. “Forgive me, but if we need to, we’re gonna steal the kill from you.”

“…you can try?” Julia clapped back, as Harley stood behind her and hyped her up.

“…okay then.” Donovan remarked, smiling and smacking Julia’s arm. “Someone’s lit a fire under your ass. May the better team win.”

Donovan sprinted off, as Harley waited for Julia to respond, before calling out herself.

“We will!!!” Harley replied, before turning to Julia. “Why didn’t you say it? It was right there.”

“Ow…” Julia let out, rubbing her arm. “They really laid into me with that slap.”

“Everyone! I apologise for yelling, but we must hurry now to beat the other teams!” Essex declared, rearing to go, as the rest of the team quickly started to pick up the pace.

“Right, sorry Essex!” Julia apologised, before pumping her fists. “Let’s do this!”

—-—BOUNTY HUNT—-—

—-—HUNT DOWN THE WAILING DESTROYING DETU CITY—-—

———

“ONE TWO! ONE TWO! KEEP UP THE PACE!” Donovan demanded, with the rest of Team Instinct following their command. “WE WON’T CATCH UP IF WE AREN’T TRYING HARD ENOUGH!”

“Donovan, hold up!” Jordan called from the back, as the team stopped where they were, all taking the chance to catch their breath.

“Jordan, have we reached the Wailing yet?” Donovan asked.

Jordan shook his head. “No.”

“Then why’re you holding the team up?”

“Cause they released more information on the Wailing.” He clarified, showing off his tablet. “It’s a gelatinous one. Completely gelatinous. We can’t touch it.”

Donovan took a second, looking back over the team and recalling they were the only member with a Whil, and a fairly tame one at that.

“…shit.” Donovan let out, shaking their head. “…alright, back to the academy, everyone.”

The team let out a collective disappointed sigh, as they slowly wandered back to campus, feeling pretty deflated.

“We got so hyped and everything…” Judy let out.

“It just had to be a gelatinous one. And not just a little, all of it.” Rayjon added, as Donovan whistled out.

“HEY!”

The team all turned back to them.

“ONE TWO, ONE TWO! KEEP UP THE PACE!”

The team snapped into action, as they started running back to campus, apologising profusely to Donovan as they ran, while they sighed to themself in the back.

“…it feels like I’m the only one with my eye on the ball…”

—-—BOUNTY HUNT UPDATE—-—

—-—HUNT DOWN THE GELATINOUS WAILING DESTROYING DETU CITY—-—

———

Where to go?

What to do?

How to do it?

Priorities…

Leaving…leaving now.

Leaving…

…food.

Starving…trapped for so long…

Food now…leave later…

Venators…threat?

…can’t…think…food now…

…have…to leave…

The Wailing, having burst out directly from EHM’s pipes, tore right through Detu City’s streets. The urban environment and mass of people felt so alien, so…dense, for lack of a better term. Denser than home, at least…

…food. Something sweet. Something it wanted.

Crowds of people fled as it smashed its head into a nearby café, pushing chairs and tables away with its amorphous body, before pushing into the pastries on display and absorbing them, feeling the slightest relief to its hunger.

It headed for the bags of sugar next to the coffee machine next, only to be hit with a flying bottle from behind, which simply travelled through its body and landed harmlessly on the ground.

“Yeah! That’s what you get, you freak!” A passerby yelled, grabbing up another one, before the Wailing turned to him and simply looked him in the eye, causing him to freak out. “U-Uhh…shit, nevermind! Team Swift, help!!!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The Wailing simply ignored him and went back to digging around, as chaos unfolded in the ruined streets it had already passed through.

Out of one of the apartments it had previously smashed its head into, Rosalind and Florey hid behind the now massive hole in the building, watching as the Wailing moved on further down the street.

“It’s already this far…” Rosalind realised, before facing Florey again. “It’s hanging around the city, so it’s probably looking for something to eat since we weren’t feeding it much. Once it’s full, there’s a good chance it’s out of here.”

“Okay.” Florey acknowledged, nodding along. “So we’ve only got so much time to grab it.”

“Let’s not forget the…” Rosalind started, only to notice Team Valiant in the reflection of a window a few streets down, clearly searching for the Wailing. “…of fucking course…”

Feeling her anger seethe, her Whil started to flare up on its own, before she breathed in through her teeth and violently punched the wall next to her.

Unflinching, she pulled her fist away, as Florey backed up at the sudden action.

“…there’s Venators out there too, and they’re hungry for blood.” Rosalind noted, shaking her arm and distracting herself with the pain ringing through it. “If we get spotted, there’s gonna be questions about why we’re getting involved.”

“…so don’t get caught.” Florey muttered, trying not to upset her in case the punch was because of him.

Rosalind propped her foot up on a ruined bit of wall. “I’m gonna run ahead and steer it back to EHM. I can handle myself around Venators better than you can.”

“…should I prepare myself…” Florey asked quietly, as Rosalind turned to him. “…in case we end up having to kill it?”

“NO.” Rosalind insisted, leaning down and poking Florey’s chest. “We’re not killing it, okay? We’re dragging it back and watching those Venators shit themselves in anger cause they missed their chance. Any less is a failure.”

Rosalind went to jump out again, as Florey raised his voice this time.

“W-Wait! Just, before you go…when you caught it last time, you mentioned it was drawn to something.” Florey stated, as Rosalind scratched her nose.

“It liked some of my lollipops. Shoved its head in my glove compartment.” Rosalind explained, before properly leaving. “If you’re getting any bright ideas, stay outta my business with them.”

Rosalind jumped into the street in the direction of the Wailing, as Florey thought on what she said and started to formulate a plan, piecing a few things together.

Quickly, he reached into his pocket, before pulling out his car keys and his company card.

“…I can do this.” He muttered to himself, as he headed back in the direction of EHM, swinging his keys on his finger. “I can make this right…”

———

“Where’d everyone go?! We can’t have lost it already!”

“WAILING?! WHERE’RE YOU AT?!” Roman yelled out, as Leandra slapped his arm.

“Don’t yell for it! What if it hears us?”

“But it’ll come running, right?” Roman posited. “Don’t we want that?”

Leandra blinked a few times, before cupping her hands and joining in.

“OH, WE’RE JUST SO TASTY!!! PERFECTLY EDIBLE AND SNACKSIZE!!!” Leandra added, only for Acadia to whistle loudly and grab their attention.

“Guys, stop, stop! I know where it is!” Acadia suggested, standing in the middle of the street. “I bet…it’s ducked away now that a bunch of Venators showed up.”

“Ducked where?” Claudius asked, folding his arms, as Leandra and Roman joined them.

“Well it’s made of slime, right?” Acadia said. “So it’s probably hiding itself in the sewers to blend in!”

Everyone stared at Acadia in befuddlement, as she indicated to a manhole cover right next to her, clearly eager to dive in.

“…yeah, but it’s still the sewers.” Roman pointed out. “Even a Wailing would find it too disgusting. It’s gross as literal shit down there.”

“Yeah, and I don’t wanna go into the sewers.” Claudius reasoned. “I would happily sit here, just waiting for it to come back out more than going down there.”

“…Acadia, I’m just gonna veto the sewer plan.” Leandra stated, deflating Acadia’s energy. “We’ll keep it as a…very last minute backup, but fo…”

Leandra’s attention drifted as, among other things, Team Valiant ran down a parallel street, with Wess visibly lagging behind the others.

“I can’t believe it…” Leandra muttered, showing her hands. “What, too good to run fast like the rest of us?”

“Okay, you gotta cut this out.” Roman insisted, grabbing her arms, before spinning her around. “Are you gonna do this every time we see them?”

“No.” Leandra assured, before pointing back at them. “Just with Wess.”

“…wait, I just saw it!” Roman lied, pointing in the opposite direction of Team Valiant. “The Wailing slinked right past!”

“Really?!” Leandra let out, before stopping suddenly. “Then why were they runni-“

“Idiots didn’t even notice it was right behind them.” Acadia backed up, bumping Roman’s arm, before running ahead. “Let’s go already!”

Leandra shook her head. “No complaints from me, let’s catch this thing!”

The only one left standing there was Claudius, who rubbed his forehead quietly.

“…okay, I guess we’re not getting this one…”

———

“I can hear it!” Essex exclaimed, brandishing her scythe. “We are getting close!”

Team Valiant charged ahead, passing onto a new street, before spotting the Wailing with its head inside of a nearby servo, downing bottles of soft drink.

“Gottem! Sola!” Julia yelled out.

“On it!” Sola cheered, jumping ahead and firing her cannons, as the Wailing quickly took notice and curved its body out of the way of her laser blasts. A few beams of light hit the windows of the store and reflected off, smashing a few more holes into the sides of nearby buildings.

“Oh no!” Sola let out, right as Harley charged ahead of her, clearing the way for Essex to come in after.

The Wailing swiped at Harley, who blocked most of the hit with her Buster Knuckles, as Essex used the distraction to jump ahead, climb over the rubble, and change her hand to steel with her Whil, aiming to get a solid punch on the Wailing.

Only once Essex was close to it did the Wailing even register her presence, before getting smacked across the servo with her fist, sending it flying into the refrigerated section.

As Essex was just about to land, her foot slightly caught on one of the empty bottles, before she tripped over and landed hard onto the ground, taking a moment to get back up, right as Julia made her way inside toward the dazed Wailing, still visibly disoriented from the sudden fighting.

Julia knew it was about to come back up and slip away, and knew that she could keep it…

…keep it in place…

…

…Julia stared down at her gloves, still right there, as she went to pull one of them off, shaking as she did so. The rubber was loose in her hand, struggling to follow her grip, as she prepared herself to use her Whil again…

To just…hold it…

…

…Julia started shaking her head and closing her eyes, as she let go of the glove and felt her breathing pick up.

“No…no, I-I…not yet…” Julia assured to herself, trying to calm down as the Wailing got back up. “…Wess? You alright back there?”

“I’m doing what I can.” Wess stated, hanging in the back to make sure no other teams interrupted them. “Is the Wailing dealt with?”

Before Julia could answer, the two of them were blindsided as it slipped right past them, almost becoming formless and snaking around, as Wess tried desperately to slash at it, even once, only to completely miss it while it passed by.

Harley tried jumping on it to hold it down, which obviously didn’t work very well, as it slipped back further down the street.

“Shit. Those things are so hard to catch.” Harley remarked, turning to the others. “Did Essex get the hit in?”

“…dal.” Essex replied, stumbling out of the servo and holding her head. “But my footing was not perfect.”

“And I did more damage to this place!” Sola worried. “I’m as bad as the Wailing!”

“Sola, we’re still a bit rusty.” Julia assured, taking a solid breath. “Don’t worry, we’ll get the hang of it again.”

“I hope so. I couldn’t even hit the thing…” Wess grumbled, before the team’s attention was drawn to the Wailing further down the street, now climbing up the side of a couple buildings to avoid any further fighting.

As it clung to the side of an apartment complex, getting ready to jump to the buildings across the street, a streak of white light passed over a couple roofs, shooting right for the Wailing, before slashing across it and leaving a decently sized gash in its body.

The Wailing struggled to reform its shape, as the light careened through the air in a beautiful arc, before landing on the buildings across the street. The light climbed down their length, clinging to the side, before eventually hitting the ground and stopping in front of Team Valiant, all with shocked expressions on their faces.

“Hey, look who’s here!” Renee exclaimed, taking off her goggles. “Long time no see, Team Valiant! How’re your studies?”

“U-Uhh, good?” Julia let out, as Sola jumped forward.

“Team Swift are here!!! No way!!! Where’s the rest of you?” Sola asked, scanning around, before noises started to ring out near the now reformed Wailing.

Off to the side, a few glowing orbs arced their way into the Wailing, taking space inside its body, before detonating and causing massive explosions inside the Wailing’s body. The Wailing ballooned and inflated with each one, misshaping it more and more, before it couldn’t cling to the building anymore, falling right back to the street with a crash.

Despite how brutal the explosives looked, the Wailing seemed virtually unharmed by them, as it slithered away right after landing, finally making some distance between it and its adversaries.

“RENEE! DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

“Sure did!” Renee yelled back up the roof, giving a thumbs up, before disappearing into light again, trailing back up the building, then down again, as she reappeared with another person, excitedly shaking her grenade launcher around.

“I wrecked that thing! It looked like one of those stress toys with the bulgy eyes!” She cheered, dancing around. “Shasha for the win!”

“We’ll have to give her a bit.” Renee assured Team Valiant, as she slipped her dagger away. “To answer your question, it’s only Shasha and me in the city. The rest of Team Swift are on their way.”

“I don’t have a Whil, and Renee’s isn’t combative, so we’re just gonna capture it and wait for our team to finish it off!” Shasha explained, jumping onto Renee. “If we even need them! Also, who are you guys?”

Julia went to introduce the team, before Renee stepped in.

“They shadowed me and Gates a couple years back.” Renee explained, giving Shasha enough information, before turning to Julia again. “Nice getup.”

Julia forced herself not to look down at her gloves, as Harley and Essex were trying to keep an eye on where the Wailing was heading. “So you guys are hunting this thing too?”

Renee nodded. “We’re part of the Energia Agency, so we’re some of the only professional Venators even close to Detu City.”

“This thing’s practically ours! Team Swift! Team Swift!” Shasha cheered, before running off toward the Wailing again, surprising Harley and Essex with her brazenness.

“That’s my cue. Feel free to sit this one out! It’s a lovely day, after all!” Renee insisted, running after Shasha, leaving Team Valiant as suddenly as they arrived.

“…huh.” Julia let out. “Well then…”

Another moment passed, as she looked to the rest of the team.

“…well, the professional Venators are here.” Julia posited, shrugging her shoulders. “And…they look to have it handled a lot more than we do. We could ju-”

“Absolutely not!”

Wess stepped forward, right in front of Julia, as the team stepped back at her sudden burst in energy.

“How dare you. We’re not rolling over because they told us to. In case you forgot, we’re only a few months off graduating.” Wess declared. “We may not be in top form, but if they want to be glory hogs, they can earn it like the rest of us. We’re getting that bounty and that’s that.”

Harley found herself cracking a smile. “Hell yeah, we are.”

“No rolling over!” Sola cheered, before facing Julia. “No rolling over!”

“No rolling over.” Essex added, pumping her fists slightly, as Julia felt put on the spot.

“N-No, sorry, you’re right…we have just as much of a right to this…” Julia decided, before getting stares from the others. “…no rolling over!”

“Woof woof, mother fuckers!” Harley exclaimed, picking up Sola, before charging forward. “Back to it!”

———

Percy and Milo shovelled more popcorn into their mouths, watching the news coverage as it skirted around Detu City, doing its best to keep up with the out-of-nowhere Wailing attack.

Percy had already emptied a few bowls watching a movie before Milo got back, but once she flipped to the news, they were both hooked.

“We’ve just received word that Team Swift are now on the scene, having arrived from the Energia Agency. The Wailing is still tearing up the streets of Detu City as we speak. What’s the story there, Dana?”

“Very hopeful, Tim. While most of the population have evacuated to a safe distance, there’s a lot of vocal support for the Venators from citizens insisting they stay in the city.” Dana explained, panning to a shot of a massive crowd holding up signs and cheering behind barricades, before stepping closer. “Excuse me sir, aren’t you worried about staying in the city?”

“Not with Team Swift on the scene!” He exclaimed, grabbing the mic. “Central Point represent! They fucking rule!”

“Cut that. Cut it.” Dana quickly said, before moving over to some other supports. “What about you two? Most of the Venators fighting are only students, after all.”

“Only students?” One of them said, as the other jumped in.

“That’s Team Valiant over there! They’re the ones that dealt those blows to the Behemoth Wailing!” They said, as Percy’s eyes lit up in excitement hearing them mentioned, before the first supporter popped in again.

“We’ve been fans since the tournament. You go, girls! Keep Detu City safe!” They cheered, holding up their homemade sign, as Dana addressed the camera again.

“Looks like there’s not much else to say from out here. Back to you, Tim.”

“Thank you, Dana, for the covera-“

“There you go! They’re getting’ their name out there!” Milo cheered, muting the TV. “Hold on, I’m recording this.”

Percy pulled out her new tablet and excitedly sent a text to the others about their new fans, only to realise they wouldn’t see it since they were in the middle of a hunt, before just sending it anyway.

They’re actually getting attention. Percy realised, smiling to herself. This is so cool…

Once she sent it off, she noticed Team Valiant flashed onto the TV while Milo was fiddling with the remote. She jumped for it to unmute it, with the broadcast cutting to live footage of them in the middle of fighting the Wailing, as Sola fired at it and Essex trying to slash into it while Harley and Wess corralled it in place.

“Oh shit, this is the real deal!” Milo insisted, as Julia appeared briefly on screen. “YOU MESS THAT THING UP, HONEY!”

Percy started cheering them on with him, jumping up and down on the couch and miming their actions, as she fully got caught up in the excitement and nearly knocked over her popcorn.

“…g-go!...g-g-go!” She let out, feeling the strain on her voice coming quickly, before the broadcast cut away again, giving her an excuse to jump back down and calm herself.

“Man…do they do this all the time?” Milo asked Percy, as she silently snickered beside him, before she sent off another text.

I can’t wait to hear all about it…

———

Florey.

Tearing down the street, he pulled up in front of another grocery store, one of the few still open, and jumped out of his car, before heading straight to the sweets aisle.

He grabbed as much as he could and stumbled over to the self-checkout, paying as quickly as he could for the items, and dragging them back to his car.

“…okay…that…should be enough…” He panted, stretching his back out, before slapping himself conscious. “You got this! Just a bit more.”

He hurried back into the driver’s seat and tore off down the street again, now ready to put his plan into motion.

“Body, we’ve got a deal. You agree with me. Take your fucking medicine and stay awake long enough to clean up this shitshow…”

Rosalind fell against another wall, running her hand over her forehead, as sweat ran down her face. She downed a few more painkillers from her stash, before catching the Wailing passing by the alleyway she was hiding in.

Behind it were Team Beefcake chasing after and taking pot shots at it, with Brad attempting to lift it into the sky, as the Wailing managed to slip from the team’s grasp, only to fall right in front of Team Ferocity, with Baron walling it off with his flaming whip sword.

“You’re staying here, got that?” Baron declared, as Edward readied an attack with his Whil, before the Wailing saw an opportunity and charged right through Edward, knocking him flat onto the ground.

As it ran through the streets, trying to avoid the constant hounding of the Venators hunting it, the Wailing found itself running into Team Valiant again, clearly not expecting it to come this way.

“There!” Julia yelled out, before noticing Wess was the only one even close to it, and that it looked to be charging at her like it had Edward. “Wess! Watch out!”

Wess took notice and caught the Wailing heading her way, seeing it refusing to move out of the way, before she forced herself to do the same.

Taking a moment to breath, instead of stepping out of the way, she held her sword out, bracing for when it hit, as it charged right into her, before getting sliced in half as it passed, narrowly avoiding her.

It reformed after clearing her, with the sword slash having done nothing to it damage wise, before it carried on, still trying to make distance. Wess, however, found herself pleasantly surprised, as she held Belvedere out proudly.

“…I did it…” She remarked, before distant explosions rang out behind her, with Shasha cackling happily as she hemmed the Wailing into another locked intersection.

Rubble was blocking it on every end, with Renee now skirting around it, encircling it to get in a few clean hits to wear it down.

Before she could though, the Wailing pushed itself into one of the rubble piles, squeezing its body through, even as it was clear this was a last resort from its immense exhaustion.

It cleared some distance again, though it felt no safer in this labyrinth of assailants. One of its earlier ideas of climbing into the sewers to hide came up again, as it stared down at a nearby manhole.

Just as the Wailing was about to hide away, it caught it.

The scent.

A waft across the wind, drowning in sweetness.

Finally. Enough…

Enough to fill…

Enough to leave…

Enough to be rid of this.

There it was.

Further down the street was a mountain of sweets, all piled into the back of Florey’s car, with his foot on the accelerator, waiting for the Wailing to catch the bait.

Florey’s hands were sweating, as his eyes were glued to the rearview mirror.

“Come on…please notice it…”

The Wailing took another glance, feeling the presence of the people chasing it getting closer, before its vast hunger made the decision for it and it leaped for the car, slithering down the street right towards the massive food horde.

Florey floored it, driving as fast as he could down the street, far away from any of the Venator action, with the Wailing in hot pursuit.

The Wailing started to catch up and clipped the back of the car a few times, nearly tripping Florey up, until he started turning a few corners, throwing the Wailing off.

It scrambled to follow Florey with each turn, keeping its attention on the small bits of food falling out the back, before Florey pulled himself onto a nearby bridge hanging over a stretch of road, parking with the front of his car facing the edge.

He quickly got out and started dumping the sweets onto the road behind the car, piling as much as he could before the Wailing caught up. Eventually, it found its way back to him, as he jumped back into the car and ducked himself down, waiting patiently for the Wailing to arrive.

Spotting the mass of sweets laid out for it, it ignored the seemingly abandoned car entirely and started gorging itself, consuming as much of it as it could.

This was it.

This was enough to get its fill.

And with it, it could finally…

…could finally…

…huh?

With its attention entirely on the food, the fact the car was revving its engine hadn’t even registered, as Florey very quickly and suddenly reversed the car back, right into the Wailing.

The Wailing, thrown off guard, was pushed back, falling right off the edge of the bridge, as Florey jumped out of the driver’s seat, having lost control of the car at this point.

As the Wailing fell, it predicted it would land without much harm and make a break for the wild, only to realise as it fell that there was something waiting for it below the bridge.

The containment unit.

It started to panic, flailing to no avail as it fell, before landing right into the tank, as the force of its landing shuddered the lid closed on top of it, trapping it back inside.

Just a second later, Florey’s car followed suite and crashed into the road nearby, exploding into a large fireball. Once he felt it was safe, Florey popped his head over the edge, saddened by the smouldering remains of his car, but ecstatic by what he’d done.

He caught the Wailing again.

“…I…”

And it was all by himself.

“…I did this…”

Florey pumped his fists, a massive smile plastered over his face.

“I DID IT!!!”

Florey started dancing in the street, hyping himself up excitedly, as the Wailing aimlessly and weakly tried breaking out again.

He quickly hurried down to the street below, texting Rosalind on the way.

Florey [I caught the Wailing! Come to Finish Street with your car!]

Rosalind [r u fukin prankin me?]

Instead of replying, Florey just sent her a photo of the captured Wailing, before getting a quick response.

Rosalind [oh shit nvm]

Florey’s grin only grew, as he caught up to the containment unit and the seething Wailing inside, staring daggers at Florey.

“This…is…AAHHH!!! I didn’t think I could do it! I mean, I didn’t plan on my car getting totalled, but it was worth it!” Florey exclaimed, pointing right in the Wailing’s face. “Who’s laughing now, bigshot?! That’s right, Florey is!””

“HEY!”

Florey quickly spun his head around, as he started to notice the Venators tracking the Wailing coming down the street, only now registering what Florey had done.

In the back, he spotted Team Valiant and Julia, as she spotted him too with genuine surprise.

Once he’d taken this in, he only now noticed the ones yelling at him getting closer, being Renee and Shasha from Team Swift.

“Are you a Venator?”

Florey looked around awkwardly. “Uhh…no, but, look at this! I caught i-“

“That wasn’t my question. What’re you doing getting involved with a Wailing as a non-Venator?” Renee insisted, getting in his face, with Shasha nodding beside her. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed trying to fight that thing!”

“…but I didn-“

“Don’t backchat me! You don’t know what you’re doing!” Renee insisted, pointing to the flaming remains of Florey’s car. “Look at that! What if that hit a bystander? You wanna be responsible for something like that?!”

“…th-the…the city evacuated, I…” Florey tried, before he felt the gears in his head turning, with Renee only getting angrier.

“I can’t believe this! Civilians always think they know what they’re doing and start throwing punches without a care in the world!”

Florey started to piece things together, recalling Renee’s face and voice from somewhere before.

“If you’re not qualified, then do everyone a favour and get out of our way, you got it?!”

“U-Uhh, Renee?” Julia started, raising her hand a little. “I-It doesn’t look like he tried to fight i-“

“Julia, not now! This behaviour’s dangerous and needs to be discouraged!” Renee called back, quieting Julia, as she stepped forward again. “How do you even know this thing works?! It could break out and any se…”

…wait…

As Florey disassociated, the distinct memory of carnival music and the taste of churro stuck in his mind, as he finally remembered where she was from.

…this was them…

Florey looked back at Renee.

After that Wailing attacked me as a kid…Team Swift were the team that yelled in my face for fighting back…

Renee kept calling out his behaviour, as he just sat there.

…and nothing’s changed.

Amidst the yelling, the only thing to draw Florey back out was the appearance of another person appearing behind the Venators. Not Rosalind, but rather…

“Well, that’s where it went.”

A majority of the Venators turned to the new presence, as Marcus started pushing past people and some of the rubble. He kept his gaze fixed on the Wailing and Florey, who was only now sweating bullets.

“Who’s that guy?” Sola quietly asked the team, as Julia analysed Florey’s reaction.

“…a friend of Florey’s, I think.”

“Our containment device goes missing, and then there’s news of a Wailing tearing up Detu City.” Marcus posited, approaching the device. “Seems I missed out on the action.”

“This is your device, Marcus?” Renee asked, as Florey looked genuinely shocked.

“Y-You know him?”

“Team Swift are sponsored by EHM.” Marcus answered, turning to face Florey, before switching to Renee. “If it’s alright with you, we’ll take it from here. We weren’t meant to test the containment unit on live subjects yet, so it’d be better if we dispose of the Wailing ourselves to avoid any trouble with the technology.”

Renee’s body lost its tension, as she nodded back. “Of course, go right ahead. The rest of Swift won’t be arriving for a few more hours, so if you can take care of it-“

“Won’t even be a hassle.” Marcus offered, before looking down at Florey again. “Do you have a plan to return this to EHM?”

Just as he said that, Rosalind’s car pulled up nearby, as Florey solemnly nodded back to Marcus, trying not to dig his own grave any deeper.

“…okay.” Marcus replied. “Guess you’ve got some work when you return, huh?”

Marcus nodded to Team Swift and left soon after, as the scene took on a more casual tone now that the Wailing had been apprehended. A few teams cleared out or assessed damages, as Rosalind walked over to Florey, admiring the handiwork.

“Holy fucking shit, Florey. You actually did something.” Rosalind remarked, as Florey didn’t feel like arguing.

Her attention drifted to Team Valiant, now chatting with Team Vanguard a distance away, before they spotted her too and locked eyes, both sizing each other up.

Rosalind felt her hand resting on her sword handle, as Team Valiant started to square up, before both parties acknowledged how many people were still around them, both to witness and be bystanders, and just how pointless fighting at this point would have been.

Despite her anger telling her otherwise, Rosalind lifted her hand off her sword, before heading to lock the containment unit to the back of her car, as Team Valiant decided to let sleeping dogs lie for now and start to clear out.

As they were leaving, Julia turned back to Florey, wondering if it was right for her to head over to him and chat, as he was clearly still in his own head.

“Well.”

Florey looked back up at Renee, pulling out her tablet to check Activ.

“I hope this was a good reminder of what to do in a situation like this in the future.” Renee posited, with Shasha nodding beside her, as Florey felt genuine shock at the statement. “Just let us do our job, and there won’t be any problems, okay?”

Florey knew just how much he disagreed with what she said, as Rosalind popped her head up from her car to see him clenching his fist.

As Renee went to walk away, Florey finally spoke up.

“Fuck you.”

Renee’s eyes widened, as she and Shasha spun around, only to find Florey walking to Rosalind’s car, sharing another brief glare with Julia, before disappearing from eyeshot, as Julia found herself standing in profound shock, before taking a moment…

…and following the rest of Team Valiant away from the scene.

As Florey wordlessly joined Rosalind in the passenger seat, Rosalind turned back to face Team Swift, before flipping them off and driving in the direction of EHM, once again with the Wailing in tow.

“…good job sticking up for yourself.” Rosalind admitted, as Florey was clearly still pissed.

“…I’m gonna make it so we don’t need Venators in the future.” Florey declared, his arms folded. “I’ll make it so they’re obsolete.”

Rosalind found herself quietly proud of him, before spotting some of the destruction the Wailing had left behind in the buildings around them.

“Uhh, Florey?”

“Yeah?”

She pointed up at an apartment building off to the side, now with a huge chunk taken out of it after the Wailing had shoved itself inside, before Florey realised how familiar it was, and that the chunk was the part of the building that should’ve contained his own apartment.

Florey stared wordlessly at the damage, lifting himself out of his seat, before laughing nervously and falling back into his seat, lying down from the sheer stress of today.

“I guess life just likes dealing me a bad hand…”

—-—BOUNTY HUNT—-—

—-—HUNT DOWN THE GELATINOUS WAILING DESTROYING DETU CITY—-—

—-—COMPLETED BY: TEAM SWIFT—-—

———

“Hey, Liddy?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’d everyone go?”

Rose and Liddy stood there in the middle of an empty street, devoid of any people, other Venators, or the Wailing in question.

“Did we miss out on it?” Liddy asked, pulling out her tablet, as Rose threw her hands out.

“It’s been, like, an hour! That was so quick!” Rose complained, while Liddy held up her tablet.

“It says on Activ Team Swift took it out already and claimed the bounty. We didn’t even get a chance…” Liddy moped, as Rose saw her getting upset and cuddled her.

“Hey, it’s alright, babe. We won’t let this get us down. We’ll get the next one that comes along!”

Liddy looked up to her through pleading eyes. “But aren’t they putting up that barrier soon?”

The realisation hit Rose too, as her chipper attitude started to give way, before her emotions took over.

“…we didn’t even get a chance…” Rose moped, as Liddy saw her getting upset and cuddled her.

“…Team Swift were too swift…”

“…don’t try to make me laugh right now…”

———

“What a day…” Julia let out, rubbing her gloves over her face. “I don’t know whether that was a good idea anymore…”

“Kinda.” Harley replied, stretching out as they headed up to Julia’s front door. “It’s been a while since we hunted a Wailing proper.”

“Fun day?” Dulce asked, giving a quick salute to the team as Julia opened up the door to her house, before Percy and Milo excitedly jumped out.

“There’s the heroes of the day!” Milo exclaimed, sweeping Julia up in a big hug. “No surprise my girl kicked ass! The Wailing were left wailing, right?”

Julia tried to free herself of the hug, before Milo put her down. “…dad, it’s been a long day.”

“That’s why dinner’s covered.” Milo assured, giving a thumbs up and heading to the kitchen. “Get comfortable. You need a good meal after that.”

[How was it?] Percy asked, only for the team to trundle past her, half collapsing on the couch and the others heading straight for the kitchen.

“Mixed results.” Julia said, before tiredly showing off her tablet. “Thanks for the text, though. If I wasn’t half-asleep, I’d be over the moon.”

Percy let out a sweet smile, before heading to the kitchen with the others, as Sola caught Wess dropping onto the couch.

“Hey, uhh…Wess?”

Wess lifted her head to Sola. “Yes?”

“Not to…tell you your business…” Sola started, playing with her fingers, before waiting until the others were out of earshot. “…but I think I know why you’ve been having trouble recently.”

Wess blinked slowly. “Is this a conversation that needs to happen now?”

Sola nodded. “It probably should. I think…maybe the reason you’re lagging behind is cause you’ve got a lot of baggage right now.”

Wess sat up a bit more, before massaging her forehead. “You’ll have to be more specific. I usually have a lot of baggage.”

“I mean stuff you haven’t dealt with.” Sola explained, as Wess cocked her head. “And it’s all been piling up in the background. Your parents, getting kicked out of Mareau, then the tournament, and…then your eye.”

Wess sighed out. “You’re saying I need to destress?”

Sola nodded a ton. “Yeah, basically. When’s the last time you talked to Graham?”

Wess was caught off guard, as she scratched her neck awkwardly. “…the night we left Mareau. I knew my parents would be monitoring calls to him, so…”

“And they won’t let you go back either, even though you love that place.” Sola pointed out, as Wess was starting to see what she meant. “That’s so stressful! I’d be all jittery and stuff if that was weighing me down. No wonder training’s been a bust.”

Wess quietly nodded, taking in everything Sola had said, as Sola closed the distance a little.

“…do they know about your eye?”

“That would require us to have talked, so no.” Wess simply stated, facing her again. “…I’m not going to forgive them.”

“No duh. They suck.” Sola let out, getting a pleasant laugh from Wess. “But…it might be good to clear the air. Finally get all that stuff off your mind.”

Wess thought to herself, a few ideas now crossing her mind that she hadn’t considered yet, as she rested her fingers to her chin.

“…I think you’re right, Sola.” Wess agreed, smiling back to her with a surprising contentment. “It’s about time I set things straight. Clear the air and all that…”

Sola gave a happy thumbs up.

“Cool!” Sola beamed. “Let me know if you need some help. This is good for you, but you’re probably gonna be a stress volcano after it anyway.”

“I…don’t think I quite will be.” Wess replied with a smirk while standing up, as Sola looked a bit puzzled. “…where’s Julia?”

Wess sat inside her room, with Milo’s laptop opened up in front of her, waiting patiently.

“You feel ready?” Julia asked, standing beside her, with Wess quietly breathing.

“Yes. I texted mother about video calling and she seemed receptive to it. Whether they’ll be civil is another matter.” Wess remarked, as Julia leaned down to squeeze her hand.

“Alright. I’ll wait by the door so you have some privacy, but if they wanna try shit, grab me, and I’ll come onto that call and give them a piece of my mind.”

Wess found herself smiling. “God, you’re so wonderful.”

She leaned over and kissed Julia quickly, before the call icon came up on the laptop, with Julia quickly leaving with two thumbs up.

Wess did her best to stay calm, as she rested her hand on the trackpad, with a video coming up of Delta, staring blankly toward the screen.

Before Wess could get a word in, Delta sighed out.

“…as suspected. Your dream profession caught up to you.”

Wess ignored the comment about her missing eye to continue. “Will mother be joining?”

“She didn’t feel the need to.” Delta responded.

“What about Graham? Or Valerie?”

“…I was under the impression you wanted to talk with us.” Delta stated. “So, what? Are you apologising for your behaviour finally? Is it not the glitz and glamour you hoped it would be?”

Wess clicked her tongue, as she tried to keep her composure. “…no, I simply wished to clear the air. There’s been a lot on my mind, and I wanted to…relieve that, as it were.”

“…I see.” Delta replied, looking away. “I suppose you’re too good for apologies.”

“That wa…” Wess started, only to stop herself and remember her breathing. “…I apologise where necessary. I take back nothing I said that night. I stand by it completely.”

“As do I.” Delta answered, as Wess could spot a slight change in his demeanour, even over the call.

He clasped his hands together.

“Iota and I have decided.”

Wess couldn’t read his expression properly, as he opened his mouth.

“…We’re disowning you.”

Wess’ face sunk, as a wash of pain, betrayal and jealousy crawled across her face, all trying to take up room.

“…w-wha…” Wess managed to let out.

“As of this moment, you are no longer a part of the house of Delacroix, or anything that title might entail. You will be stripped of that title, as well as your room in the manor and any access to the manor’s waitstaff or family vehicles. Any attempt made to go against these wishes will be punished accordingly as theft or invasion of private propert-“

“N-No. N…No.” Wess forced out, gripping the table to stop her hands from shaking. “Y-You’re…you’re not doing this. You’re not the one who gets to p-pull this. I wa-“

“Wess, stop making this difficult.” Delta stated. “With this, you are not longer a part of Northern Nobility and no longer have any reason to return to Mareau. And you get exactly what you wanted.”

He shut the video feed off then and there, leaving Wess to blink painfully, before sitting back, staring at the ceiling in abject shock.

Julia waited patiently, worried about why it was taking so long, before the door opened up and Wess stepped out with an eery silence.

“Wess?” Julia asked, reaching for her arm. “What happened? How are you feeling?”

In a sudden burst of emotion, Wess stood up straight and faced Julia, as she gradually took her moment.

“You know w-what? I feel great! I’m amazing right now!” She yelled through gritted teeth. “This is everything I e-ever wanted! Honestly, it’s about time those monsters ripped the bandage off and let me live my life!”

“Wess, y-“

“What does it matter that they spent two decades neglecting me?! ‘Raising me’ according to their standards?!”

“Wess, it’s o-“

“And yet that entire time, not once did they ever care for me! Not once did they look at me as a person and think about my needs or w-why I was hurting so much!”

“Wess, just lis-“

“NO!!!” She yelled into Julia’s face. “I’m not listening anymore!!! I’m the one making noise!!!”

Wess started pacing around the lounge room, before stopping suddenly, then pacing again, before climbing onto the couch and running her fingers through her hair.

“You know, when they held me back from coming here, it wasn’t just for classes on ‘being a Venator.’ They’d try to convince me throughout that Venators were low-level scum, just guns for hire that the media praised for no reason. That my dream was to become the equivalent of the town drunk stepping on rats for praise, hoping onlookers would throw coins at my feet! Some…fucking parents they were!”

She climbed back off the couch and resumed her pacing, before facing a petrified Julia just trying not to push Wess any further.

“They did everything in their ever-present power to convince me I didn’t want something I knew I did! And only ever for me! I was surrounded by people who wanted everything and got it, and all I wanted was one thing, and I could never have it!!!” Wess yelled, a crack of emotion breaking up her voice midway. “One thing! M-My dream! All I ever wanted…was…”

Wess sunk to her knees out of weakness, now sobbing loudly into her palms, as Julia immediately crouched down to embrace her, hugging her with a warmth Wess hadn’t felt for a while.

“W-Why…why d-didn’t they love me?” Wess quavered between sobbing, as Julia cradled her head.

“I-It’s alright…it’s okay…” Julia whispered in a calming voice, doing her best to calm them both down. “I’m here for you…”

“…it’s n-not okay.” Wess bemoaned, pushing Julia away. “They…threw me away, like some…misbehaving dog they kicked out onto the street…! Was I…?”

Wess’ face broke down.

“…w-was I ever anything to them?”

Wess collapsed into tears again, as Julia held her gently, stroking her hair and whispering into her ear.

“You’re something, Wess…you’re something to everything who loves you…you’ll always be something to me…”