“Hahaha! Well, isn’t this an interesting development?” a deep voice chimed nearby.

Atlas approached the pair, seemingly finished with his search of the perimeter. On the ground, Rhea slowly sat up and looked at him with a piercing glare. At least, it appeared that way. It was as much as anyone could tell since her eyes were still covered with the blindfold made of bandages.

“Long time no see, huh?” Atlas said to her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ve never met,” Rhea retorted coldly.

“Oh? Don’t tell me you forgot about me already. You’re breaking my heart!” Atlas mocked.

The others present looked around, confused. Did the two of them know each other? It was difficult to tell what their relationship was like with the tension and hostility sparking between them. The atmosphere in the warehouse felt suffocating once more, the relief from the end of the previous battle dissipating into thin air. It was as if a new one would begin at any moment.

“You must have me mistaken for someone else,” Rhea stubbornly insisted.

“Rhea Green… not a very common name, even if it is a fake one. But you kept your first name the same. Why is that I wonder?” Atlas said, unperturbed by the other’s reluctance.

“...”

“Still, you just changed your last name from one color to another! Are you lazy or stupid?” he taunted.

“...It’s easier to remember that way,” Rhea finally relented with a sigh.

She stood up off the ground, fully facing Atlas now. Her brows were furrowed, hinting at her frustration. But, she had acknowledged their acquaintance with one another. Atlas seemed to take that as a victory, his smile growing.

“What do you want from me, Atlas? I suppose that’s the name you go by these days. I never expected that the one hunting me down was you,” she surmised.

“You two really do know each other?” Avida couldn’t help but ask, taking a seat next to her partner on the warehouse floor. The exhaustion was finally hitting her.

“Unfortunately,” Rhea confirmed.

“Ouch! And to think, we used to be such good friends,” Atlas commented.

“Is that why you asked us to find her?” Avida asked the man angrily.

If he wanted to save the awful researcher just because they were friends, Avida was going to be pissed. Even if they had a history, Rhea had committed terrible deeds in the name of the people Atlas was supposed to be fighting. No amount of camaraderie in the past should make up for that.

“I will admit, when I realized her true identity, I knew I had to find her no matter what,” Atlas confessed.

“That better not be the only reason,” Avida warned.

“Of course not,” the man reassured. “The knowledge she possesses is incredibly valuable.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Phoebe suddenly interjected, “But are we all just going to ignore the fact that she’s infected and neglected to tell anyone?”

“Why should I have to tell you anything?” Rhea protested.

“Maybe because we’re on the same side right now, whether you like it or not,” Bellicosa told her.

“Well, I disagree! I’m on my own side,” the researcher said bitterly. “Don’t count me in with you people.”

“You’re still as dramatic as ever,” Atlas sighed.

“I don’t care. I have plans of my own. I won’t let you ruin them,” Rhea claimed.

“If you don’t wanna help us, I guess we can just kill you now, right?” Avida snapped. Her exhaustion was making her mood especially bitter, and her tolerance for bullshit was hitting a new low.

Rhea froze at the threat, her hidden cowardly persona surfacing once more. She wobbled on her feet while looking incredulously in Avida’s direction, all her previous bravado gone.

“Y-you can’t!” she weakly declared.

“Oh? And why not? If you're not gonna be of any use, then you might as well just die,” the mercenary told her.

“Y-you need me alive! I’m... t-the only one who can... r-reinforce the seals in that girl’s body!.. Otherwise.. s-she’ll just become a full demon!” Rhea argued.

“Is that a threat!?” Avida asked coldly, getting back to her feet. Exhaustion be damned.

“It’s just the truth!”

“You little-!”

Avida took a step towards the woman, but Atlas quickly stood in between them, blocking Rhea from her.

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“Calm down!” he ordered Avida before turning to Rhea. “I won’t let anyone kill you, relax.”

Avida was about to protest but, surprisingly, Rhea beat her to it.

“Why are you protecting me? Don’t start trying to act like you care!” the researcher spat.

“What are you talking about? When did I ever not care?” Atlas asked, affronted.

“Oh really? You claim I was so bad at hiding myself, so why did you never find me? It’s because you never even looked for me in the first place! All this time, not even once!” she shouted, sounding uncharacteristically emotional.

“That’s because I thought you were dead, Rhea,” Atlas explained, but the other wasn’t having it.

“Yeah, right. Who told you that? My father? And you actually believed him!?” she yelled, lunging at him.

Atlas was shocked, but he managed to dodge. He had put his weapon away already. It was collapsible, and safely tucked into a holster at his waist. But even though she missed, Rhea did not relent, attacking him with increasing fury. He lightly blocked and parried with his own hands, but otherwise didn’t fight back.

“What was I supposed to believe!? We were kids! Your father said you died, so I thought you died. But even then, I never trusted him or the Church ever again!” Atlas argued back, growing irritated.

“Could have fooled me, the way you work so closely with your father! Who’s he again? Oh yeah, the archbishop in charge of the Church’s defense!” Rhea retorted.

Avida had just been a bystander while the two argued, watching it play out like a soap opera along with everyone else. But at those words, she froze. Her world seemed to tilt on its axis, and she felt unsteady on her feet for a moment. She rushed in between the two, shoving Rhea back with force.

“What did you say?” she asked her, urgency in her voice.

“That’s right! I’m not the only one with secrets! Don’t forget I know who you really are, Atlas!” Rhea taunted.

“Rhea!” Atlas snapped angrily.

The researcher looked unremorseful as she smirked at him. His identity was a safely-guarded secret. While he knew Rhea was going to be a little unhinged, he hadn’t expected her to expose him just like that.

“You know what he’s done, right?” Avida roared angrily, directed at the resistance leader.

Now she was the one attacking Atlas with her bare fists. She was harder to dodge than Rhea, so Atlas was forced to fight back a bit. The two scuffled as they argued, Rhea laughing to the side.

“Avida, please allow me to explain. Don’t let Rhea get to you!” he pleaded with her.

“At least she told the truth! Your father is the one responsible for everything that happened with the orphanage! For all the human experiments! How long have you known that!?” she demanded.

“...”

Atlas didn’t answer her, which only made her angry. The two were fighting for real now, exchanging blows with equal force as they vented their frustrations. Bellicosa watched from her place on the floor, too exhausted and light-headed to get up and help. Phoebe, however, rushed over to restrain Avida from behind.

“Atlas is the head of the resistance! Of course, he doesn’t agree with his father’s actions!” Phoebe explained.

“And what has he done about it!?” Avida yelled back. “He’s probably no better! He even brought Bambi here and had her fight after he told us all he would never do that! He’s a liar! Get off me!”

“I was watching over her when I got the call, and she insisted! She was going to throw a fit if I didn’t let her come, and I couldn’t waste any more time!” Atlas defended.

“Bastard! You’re just like your father!” she shouted.

“It’s more complicated than that!” Phoebe told her.

Avida wriggled in Phoebe’s hold. The other woman was strong, successfully holding her back for a while. But the redhead was still beaten up from being interrogated, and Avida managed to escape her grasp soon after. Then the two of them began to fight as well. Bellicosa sighed. What a mess everything was turning into.

During the chaos, Rhea tried sneaking away, but she suddenly felt someone tightly grab a hold of her wrist. She turned sharply in their direction, Atlas grinning at her though she could not see it.

“Not so fast!” he said playfully as he spun her back around until she collided with his chest.

“Just let me go already!” Rhea complained, struggling in his hold.

“I see you enjoy wreaking havoc these days. But it won’t be enough for you to get away from me again,” he whispered to her teasingly.

“Ugh, shut up!” Rhea said, pushing away from him. “What do you even want with me?”

“I told you,” Atlas laughed as the two began their scuffle once more, “You’re useful to me as the leader of the resistance. But also, I want my friend back.”

“I’m not the same person, can’t you tell?” Rhea told him, aiming a high kick at his head.

Atlas grabbed her leg and pulled her closer so that she crashed into him again. Rhea angrily yanked herself back and continued to attack. Was he not taking her seriously!?

“Ah, yes. You’re evil now, how silly of me,” Atlas lamented sarcastically. Rhea frowned.

“Are you making fun of me, asshole?” she asked through clenched teeth. When did he get so annoying?

She began to attack more fiercely, and he responded in kind, even knocking her backward a few times. But she remained unrelenting in her anger, and he was unrelenting in his patience. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, which only served to frustrate Rhea more. To the side, Avida and Phoebe were still fighting as well, but Rhea could only focus on the obnoxious guy in front of her.

In actuality, the fight between Avida and Phoebe barely lasted long at all. Bambi had nervously come over to try and break it up, terrified of all the hostility. Seeing the panic on the girl’s face, Avida instantly calmed down. However, just because the physical fighting stopped, didn’t mean the arguing did. They continued to bicker in the background.

“You know, Rhea… You were mad that I never came looking for you, but you never came looking for me, either,” Atlas suddenly reminded her.

Rhea faltered in her movements for just a moment, but it was enough for Atlas to land a firm blow to her side. While he was pulling his punches a little, it still hurt, and Rhea let out a small oof before she regained her senses and continued fighting.

“... I didn’t want to think about you,” she finally said after a while.

“Why not?” he asked her sincerely.

“It would be too much of a distraction.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, idiot,” she scolded him, kicking him in the shin. “You were the only good thing I had back then. If I held onto that… I wouldn’t have been able to do what I needed to do.”

“Rhea, can’t you just talk to me? What happened all those years ago? How did you end up working for the Church?”

“It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is I’ve changed, so you should just give up already,” she grunted, aiming an especially aggressive punch at his head.

However, Atlas caught her hand easily, refusing to let go even when she tried to yank it away again.

“Is that so?” he taunted, mischief seeping back into his tone. “You’re really different? You’ve really changed?”

“Yes.”

“Then you won’t mind if I do this?”

As he spoke, he reached with his other hand behind her head and undid the blindfold. The white bandage fell from her face, revealing wide, reddish-brown eyes painted with shock. Her pupils darted around the warehouse, adjusting to the light before landing on the image of a mangled corpse. She screamed so loudly that the other two stopped arguing as well, looking over at the scene.

Rhea had squeezed her eyes shut, crouching on the ground and sobbing into her hands. Her whole body was shaking and she was as white as a sheet, looking like she might pass out at any given moment. Atlas was crouched in front of her with a small smirk, looking unapologetic.

“So you’re still terrifyingly afraid of death, then? I guess not that much has changed,” he remarked.

“How could you!?” Rhea accused weakly between sobs. “T-that’s just wrong!”

“You’ve done a lot of bad things, Rhea,” Atlas tutted. “I told you I wanted my friend back, and that’s the truth. But you still need to take responsibility for your actions. You have a lot to answer for.”

With that, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. Rhea dangled, still crying into his back as the rest looked on in shock. Atlas bent down and picked up the silver jar the other had dropped, tucking it away.

“Let’s go back to HQ and discuss this further, shall we?” he suggested casually, turning to the group.

They could all only nod dumbly, Avida helping Bellicosa up off the floor. All the anger had faded from her body. What the fuck was even going on anymore? That was not how she expected the day to go at all. She had way more questions now than when she woke up this morning.