The Roundtable Forum

Challenge: My character Richard has multiple traumas from the ambush in Syria that ended his Ranger career and which internally influence him throughout the first A.T.X.D. book. One of those is the fact that he was starting to form a relationship with fellow Ranger Isabelle Kaci Gomez, but she is killed in the ambush. I am not sure if I should be keeping her name hidden to avoid dumping the romantic conflict of interest onto the reader's lap. Here are samples of how it's written. Scene 1 - Richard writes a journal entry-style letter to his fallen teammates, including Kaci. Kaci is mentioned by name, but I'm thinking about backing off from that. Picking up the three-piece frame and looking at each of the photos, Richard got up from his bed and went to the study. Opening a small journal he’d picked up from the local pharmacy, Richard flipped through a few pages before finding a blank page to work from.  “Hey guys.” Richard whispered his short diary entry with a heavy-hearted calm. “Hope all is going well up there. I’m sure Matchbox is giving you both a good technical run down of…something interesting. Last time I spoke to Jack, which was a year ago, he’d made it clear that Tony still left his mark on him. Jack’s still waiting on Tony to pay him back for that bet he won regarding the Rocky Mountain Vibes game. Tony, you’re probably still thinking you don’t owe him anything. Man, I would've loved to see one more of those hilarious arguments you used to have with him….” Richard paused, looking at the third photo. His stomach began to throb, but it wasn’t out of hunger. It was a gut clench, independent of the bowel pains he used to have from one of his injuries. A clench that blew a frosty wind into his diaphragm as he looked at this third picture.  “Hey, Kaci. I haven’t forgotten about you, either. I’m sorry I didn’t keep my promise. Grandpa Kevin would’ve loved to meet you. At least he…he met your family. And he…he….” Richard clutched his nose and emitted a barely visible hiss of an exhale. “He said you have one great…family. The kind any American should be proud to have. I….”  Richard couldn’t continue this entry. He shut the pad and gently slid it back into the shelf he’d retrieved it from. “Why is it so hard to write to her, Richard? Three years, and you still can’t bring a full entry together.” He cradled his clean-shaven lip. “Well, if I’m being honest…her loss hit me the most. Am I the only one who cares, still?” Scene 2 - Richard thinking about working with women again after hearing that the A.T.X.D. is co-ed: “No, they don’t want you physically prepped. They want you mentally prepped. You will be facing all kinds of nightmarish situations you never thought you could experience.” Jack then grinned slightly. “Oh and, just a side note, you’ll be training with women and some offworlders.” “Really?” Richard said, outwardly interested. He also, however, felt a monarch beat itself against his sternum as a strangely familiar heartache began to build up inside at the mention of training with women again. A trauma from back overseas that Richard had been trying to suppress for the last three years. The clench up caused his curious smile to twist a bit with some stress, but he tried to hide his anxiety the best he could. “I would certainly appreciate being in a co-ed crowd again.” “Yeah, if Tiger saw what we had here in this covert unit, wow, he would faint with a foolish smile. And if you make the cut, Rich, you’ll find some sweet teammates to hang out with.” Sounds great. Although…A certain traumatic memory—one of those he’d felt two days ago while writing his letter to the fallen—began to throb in Richard’s chest again. Without Jack noticing, Richard puckered his lips, rolled his eyes at the ceiling, and then hung his head towards the window as the desert continued to roll by. Jesus, you idiot. Three years ago, four months of talk group sessions, and you still can’t get over it ... .Oh, who am I kidding? How can I ever get over a loss like that? Scene 3 - Richard sets eyes on Ashley for the first time, and has a hidden romantic panic attack: A new round of louder, rock hard footfalls approaching from the right abruptly stopped Dave’s harsh voice, and Richard turned his head to see a female officer enter the room. The woman was a little taller than Richard, looked to be in her early thirties just like him, had brown hair done back in a ponytail, light pinkish-white skin, and hazel-brown eyes.  The former Ranger was initially enticed, but then….God dammit, stop, stop thinking about it….that pulse in his chest began beating again. It caused a minor dull throb to swell up in his lower left side this time, but Richard chose to calmly shut his eyes in a prolonged blink as he gently suppressed both the mental and physical pains. Gotta stay focused, Richard. Don’t dwell on the loss. And the wound scarred over long ago, so it’s not like you’re going to suffer a bowel injury during training. To outweigh the health scare he had just given himself, Richard allowed his eyes to track the movement and details of the officer who had just entered. The woman walked into the corridor with a wide-leg stride, her hands clasped behind her back. Her own thick-soled tactical boots flashed with short reflections of the corridor lighting as they swung forward and silently flicked their laces out before firmly striking their heels into the metal floor and rolling forward. Shifting back and forth on this woman’s left shoulder was a single-bar, “Lieutenant” insignia patch: this explained the Sergeant Major’s respectfully abrupt silence upon her entry. Up to a point next to Dave, the woman stopped, spun on her toe, and stood firmly to face the recruits. Dave instantly held up his hand in salute, but the woman dismissed the gesture with a gentle, “At ease, Sergeant Major.” Scene 4 - Richard introduced to Cameron, another female operative who reminds Richard of Kaci and triggers some anxiety: Richard and Dave walked through a part of the training center that was currently full of operatives training with each other, working out rigorously, and beating the punching bags to a pulp. But the person whom Dave requested was not that shapeshifter officer Janeiro as Richard was expecting. “Corporal Cameron Phillips!” Dave called out, and most of the operatives paused with silence. “Ms. Phillips! Where are you!?” Dave called out again, adding some more force to his voice this time.  Momentarily, a young woman of exactly Richard’s height approached the duo and gave a firm salute. Cameron was about as lean as Richard and had somewhat curly, light brown hair that was tied back in a neat, Army-style cluster. But compared to the modern gym clothing worn by a few other operatives nearby, Cameron stood out with a very classic 80s or 90s vibe. This was expressed through both the curls in her hair and her current athletic attire: a blank white t-shirt, light gray sweatpants, and faded white, vintage Reebok Pyro trainers that appeared to be thrifted given their faded color. Oh, for Pete’s sake. That worried throb was beating at Richard’s heart again, accompanied once more by the dull surge that felt like a bubble was forming under his left lung. She’s just an ally and a supporter, Richard. Nothing like…like Kaci. “What do you request of me, sir?” Cameron inquired with a cheerful smile. “My friend PFC Richard Johnson here has been challenged by a friend of yours,” Dave rather civilly introduced. Richard smiled uneasily and lifted a few fingers in a slightly nervous wave. “He thinks he needs someone to prep him before he goes and fights her tomorrow.” “Shucks, Ashley’s up to her flirting again?” Cameron inquired with a smirk, her hands on her hips. “No, she just doesn’t think I’m qualified,” Richard replied with some sarcastic humor. “Well, we’ll show her then,” Cameron replied, gently slapping Richard on the shoulder.  “Corporal Phillips here serves in the same team as Ashley and I,” Dave informed Richard. “She and the Lieutenant have practiced hand-to-hand a lot, so she’s got enough of an understanding of our Team Leader’s skill set to make sure you get up to speed with your combat reflexes.” “Can’t wait to get started, sir,” Richard replied confidently. To his relief, the trauma-based anxiety seemed to mellow down at this point.  “Very well then. I leave you in the Corporal’s company. Carry on.” Scene 5 - Cameron is KIA towards the end of the book, and Richard feels it's deja vu: Ashley had just finished descending the stairs when a brief tremor and a rumble above sent small trails of plaster and dirt raining down from the ceiling and almost knocking her off balance. Knowing one of her closest friends had just died, Ashley paused and held a hand to her mouth. Looking up at the corridor ceiling, the thick ball in her throat came back up, constricting the Lieutenant’s diaphragm as her eyes began to water.  “Ashley.” Dave approached their crestfallen TL and put a hand around her. “I’m sorry.” Ashley gritted her teeth and briefly sealed her eyes. Small, remorseful inhalations seeped through her mouth and nose as she tried to prevent herself from crying in front of her team. The rest of the operatives as well as their U.S. Military allies looked at Ashley briefly, all expressing varying degrees of sympathy for her and remorse for Cameron “Mockingbird” Philips: the Corporal who would not be rejoining them.  I don’t believe it, Richard thought. She’s gone…and I only knew her for a week? His heart seemed to thicken with a painful weight. It finally fell into place: the nervous butterfly feelings in the chest, the throb in his gut, and the clenching on his heart every time he got near both Cameron and Ashley. Now he remembered what exactly triggered these sensations, because once more, it happened. The loss of someone special to him. One of his comrades, who had died in that hellish surprise attack in Syria on his last tour.  However, he would have to wait to reflect on the memory of that one individual among the casualties. With a slow inhale, Richard’s Lieutenant First Class retrieved her weapon and ordered somberly, “Come on, Bravo. Let’s finish this mission. It was Mockingbird’s parting wish.” “Oo’rah, ma’am,” some of the operatives responded in a calmly reassuring manner, arming themselves and preparing to move to the next phase of the op.

Upon dividing their squads out, the initial team split and headed off on their respective routes.  As William and Sophia hurried along with their two new comrades, Grizzly turned to Tiger. “Considering the circumstances, and that we are operating in a remote location, I’m allowing you to reveal your identity to our comrades here. They’ll want to know that we’re not those freaky fucking black ops guys that the conspiracy theorists accuse of controlling operations here.” “I was about to ask actually,” William added as they rounded the next corner. “Who are you guys? I don’t recognize that uniform.” With a nod from Grizzly, Tiger informed as they ducked down behind a cubicle, “We’re with the A.T.X.D.: a classified SWAT team that deals with extraterrestrial threats. We’ve been tracking these guys for a couple of weeks now.”  To confirm that he was human, Richard deactivated the gold-tint in his goggles with a tap of the finger on the right, clearly revealing his ocean-blue eyes. The black mask covering his mouth and nose—which William had initially assumed was classic fabric—abruptly fizzled down in a series of micro-hexagonal patterns to reveal a clean-shaven face. “I’m Lance Corporal Richard “Tiger” Johnson, and that’s Sergeant Major Dave “Grizzly” Connor, our second-in-command.” He gestured to Dave as the latter deactivated both the tint in his goggles and the apparently holographic, black face mask.  “William. William Roberts, SEAL Team 4.” “Private Sophia Danes, 36th Army Company - Special Tactics.” “Now who the hell are these beings who have attacked us, and what have they done to those soldiers that have turned them into zombies?” William struck a humanoid Marine in the helmet with his sidearm, apparently killing the formerly-human creature as it roared and did not get back up. “The enemy: they’re called Kronosians. They appear to be using some new biological, mind-control weapon on human soldier subjects.” Dave cut down two more Kronosians firing at them from behind an office wall with a couple of shotgun blasts. “We’re not sure of all the details yet, but they may have been using Groom Lake as a Forward Operating Base for these experiments.” “But we’re here to put an end to this and get your remaining brothers and sisters to safety,” Richard checked his Tracker. “Grizzly, there appears to be a clear path to the right, on an upper stairwell area.” “Roberts, Danes, make sure you take note of where this route is being laid out so your comrades don’t get lost,” Dave advised. “I’m mapping it out in my head as we move, sir.” Sophia tapped her Army cap confidently, but grimaced internally as she wished that she’d picked up a proper helmet beforehand. William, however, wasn’t wearing anything on his head, so for the moment, she couldn’t complain. Through the next doorway, the room was dimmer than the previous as some of the lighting had gone out. The walkway they stood on had a railing and stairs that led down to a lower floor and offices that were walled off from the immediate area. But as they headed across, the team heard a fearsome, clustered growling sound coming from below. Looking over the edge, Richard saw maybe half a company of humanoids swaying and snarling angrily at the team above. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Richard mused with horror. “This is straight out of a TV show I saw,” Sophia added with her own shaky fear. “Let’s avoid any unnecessary trouble.” Dave took one quick glance and immediately returned focus to the path in front. “Try to stay clear of them.” One of the nearby 2nd-floor office doors  in front of them was blown off, banging into and flipping over the railing into the apparent pit of death below. Three Kronosians charged in from this new opening on the left and took up firing positions.  “Damn! They found us!” William shouted as the team opened fire ahead of the Kronosians.  Cutting their adversaries down, the squad made it to the other side of the two-story room’s upper level. Sophia’s sharp hearing then picked up, among the voluminous growl below, the sound of thick rubber slowly and heavily striking the stone floor behind them. Whipping around, Sophia widened her eyes worriedly when she saw some of the humanoids trudging and crawling up the stairs behind them from the mass downstairs. Despite the horrific and threatening scene, Sophia kept her cool.  “Guys,” Sophia warned with a wary swing to her voice.  In line with Sophia’s carefully-placed shots, Richard responded with a few laser shotgun blasts from his rifle that sent these approaching humanoids tumbling back down the stairs.  “Connor—I mean, Grizzly—where do we go from here?” William wasn’t sure if he should have been using Dave’s last name or his callsign given the fact that he was reportedly in command.  “Ugh, it’s no good. This way’s blocked,” Dave informed with a calm but frustrated grunt, trying to shove open the door ahead but finding it unable to budge.  “There’s a side route to the left,” Sophia remembered. “If we go that way, there’s a back corridor that will take us downstairs and to the rear of the building, where there should be an emergency exit.” “I thought you were against going downstairs, Danes,” William looked at his Army friend with a look of curious intrigue.  “That was when it was just the two of us. But now that we actually have some new allies, I feel safer taking that risk; so long as they don’t get infected themselves.” “I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Richard advised as they began to make their way downstairs. “From what we know, these infections are caused by an injection issued by the Kronosians themselves. These humanoids can only kill you. You won’t be zombified on contact if that’s any comfort.” Just as they exited into the back corridor Sophia had directed them to, the team realized they’d walked right into another potential death trap.  “Oh my God,” William and Dave uttered almost simultaneously as they gazed at the spectacle ahead of them. “This can’t be happening,” Sophia whispered with terror.  A long, multi-panel, glass wall served as a divider for a seemingly cleared out, white office space that contrasted with the darker corridor they stood in. Immediately behind this window was a group of maybe ten or fifteen humanoids, mostly women officers. The monsters were furiously slapping and banging at the window, baring their teeth angrily and emitting deep vocal growls. Richard also felt his stomach tie itself and his lungs in a suffocating knot as he saw a grotesque and vaguely familiar sight inside: some dried, bloody handprints and some brownish-orange boot prints on the white linoleum floor. It was just like the small room Richard had seen in the basement level of Wright-Patterson AFB, where the Kronosian POW’s interrogation team had supposedly been devolved into the mindless killers he and Cameron had killed. The Kronosians must have sealed a whole group of soldiers inside this space, with one or two of them already infected but not yet showing signs. As they morphed, they must have begun killing their brothers and sisters in close quarters; or worse, the soldiers became so paranoid they killed each other. And when the slaughter is over, the Kronosians come back in and inject them all. Richard’s stomach pulsed with an urge to throw up: not only at the spectacle he saw before him, but also because the apparent systematic brutality made him think of the murderous devils he and his grandfather had fought in their respective wars beforehand.  But Richard soon noticed a more immediate problem: the glass was beginning to vibrate violently from the consistent pounding, shoving, and kicking on the other side. Thankfully, the emergency exit stood right at the end of their corridor to his left.  “Roberts, is that glass bulletproof?” “I’m not sure, Tiger. Maybe. Maybe not,” William replied with unease.  “Back up,” Dave ordered with worry but a reinforcement of calm in his tone. “It looks like that window is gonna give any second.” The team did exactly that and made their way towards the exit. But just then, one of the large glass panels collapsed with a crash and several humanoids stumbled out into the corridor.  “They’re loose!” Sophia screamed.  “Quick! Shoot ‘em down!” Richard called out, firing his rifle with careful aim and trying not to spray the area.  The first several humanoids who came at them were not armed, but that didn’t seem to stop them from advancing; their foggy white eyes seemingly glowing with apparently murderous intentions. Some of them were quickly gunned down, but others managed to duck and evade the rifle fire, getting into close quarters with the operatives.  One humanoid who wore an Army patrol cap, black bundled-up hair, and torn-up leggings just above her boots advanced on Sophia, grabbing her by the shoulders.  “Agh, get your hands off me!” Sophia delivered a knee to the humanoid’s stomach and forced her attacker back. She quickly put the humanoid out of her misery with a shot, but another humanoid who looked almost identical to her fallen brethren besides a bruised check took her place. This humanoid reared back and delivered a hard slap to Sophia’s cheek, causing her to stumble against the wall.  William quickly gunned this humanoid down before the latter could advance on the young Private. “Nobody slaps a soldier like that!” He would have offered a hand to bring Sophia back up. But aside from William getting confronted by another humanoid, his friend was luckily able to shake her head and jump back in the fight without hesitation.  Richard was confronted by a humanoid Marine with a green T-shirt, camouflage leggings, and shortcut inky hair. This humanoid bore a dried bloody lip, a scratch near her right eye, and what appeared to be a dark, stained area to the lower left of her upper uniform. Dear God, what happened to you? Richard thought he could see the outline of his opponent’s ribs in the stained portion of her uniform and hoped it wasn’t an exposed wound. Not that it would matter. She’s beyond saving.  The humanoid threw a punch, which Richard caught, but then he had to sidestep to avoid being kicked as the humanoid’s boot swung upward. Still holding her fist, Richard shoved the humanoid back, and she and a few of the other remote-controlled hostiles struggled back but doubled on him. Richard quickly shot at the humanoid as she and two other more muscular Marine women advanced, striking the shoulders. If I could just disable them, maybe there might be some hope. I don’t want to keep killing them like this. Like those two Rangers back at Wright-Patterson. Surely there’s got to be a way to reverse this infection.  The humanoid snarled in response to the pain but kept advancing towards him. She then restrained him by the shoulders as one of the muscle humanoids reared back her fist, apparently planning on caving his face in.  “Remember our orders, Tiger,” Dave reminded Richard as the latter broke free again. “Use of deadly force is authorized.” In saying this, the Sergeant Major disabled a rather muscular male officer humanoid with an x-block swing to the shoulder before gunning him down.  I am going to fucking regret this. Richard shut his eyes with tragic anger, but took the XT-5 back up to his shoulder, firing careful bursts aimed at more vital points on his assailants.  A smoky burst around the chest area indicated where the lasers hit the humanoid with the tomboy hair, who stumbled back and fell forward with an agonized, snarling roar. One of her muscle girl sidekicks took some shots to the middle and was thrown backwards onto the floor in another burst of sparks and smoke. The last one was struck in the side of the neck, and a few fiery sparks from the impact point spun her around onto her back with the same snarling roars as her previously undead sisters. The last few humanoids then stumbled out through the broken glass, these three armed with M4 rifles. But the team’s weapons were already up and blazing, so these few didn’t get a chance to fire theirs as they let out their snarling, painful roars or snarls and collapsed to the ground in the existing heap.  “I guess that’s the last of them,” Sophia commented, obviously shaken by the experience but again returned to a calm state. She picked up one of the dropped M4s and a few spare clips from some of the recently fallen humanoids. “I presume I’ll make it further if I have better firepower like this.” With the utmost care and respect to the body, she also gently unclipped and removed one of the humanoid marine’s helmets, replacing her cap with it and found it to be a perfect fit. Trying not to step on the bodies, Richard leaned against a wall and supported his forehead with a clutched hand. Fuck me. Not again….Not again. He then looked over at Dave as his Second Officer gave a status update to Ashley.  “This is Grizzly to Bravo Leader, route secured,” Dave informed over the radio. “How’s your squad holding up?” “We’ve encountered a good deal of resistance, but we’ve finally made it to the prisoners,” Ashley informed.  “All kids present and accounted for, Grizzly.” James’ young and slightly high pitched, reassuring voice reported. Richard’s currently heavy heart jabbed him in the ribs in an effort to briefly raise his spirits. He remembered when his Ranger buddy would use that phrase to inform the team that any and all hostages were safe from enemy forces. “It seems that those other ten soldiers our friends mentioned are still here. No one seems to be seriously hurt or sick, just reasonably scared. We’ll get them down to you as soon as we free them of their restraints.” Oh, thank God. Richard shut his eyes, looked up at the ceiling, and gently turned around to regroup with the squad. At least we managed to save ten…the Lance Corporal looked at William and Sophia as the latter two scanned the humanoid soldiers’ bodies…Make that twelve souls. Hopefully we find more, though. Maybe…he cringed with the thought that he would be tempted to kill as many Kronosians to make up for the losses of all the humanoid soldiers killed thus far. Luckily, the ex-Ranger’s more dominant, reasonable side quickly gave that thought a good door kick out of his brain and offered a better suggestion. See how many people you can save, Richard. That’ll more justly compensate you for the loss incurred. “Tiger…Tiger, you good?” Dave checked with his Lance Corporal, standing a couple feet in front of him.  “Mm? Sorry, sir. Yes. Just needed a moment.” Richard then gritted his teeth with worry. That wasn’t usually a response the old-timers accepted from younger soldiers like him. “No problem, son. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Do you need more time?” Dave could see that the recent firefight had shaken up his trainee. The fact that Richard had initially tried to disable one of the humanoids instead of kill her was a reassuring sign to Dave that the Lance Corporal had an intention to minimize the body count as much as possible.  Under ordinary mission circumstances, that was exactly what Dave had trained him to do. It caused Dave’s own heart to compress with tragic frustration to think, however, that those lessons were unfortunately invalid against these ex-human monsters the Kronosians had created out of American soldiers.  Still, as Second Officer commanding a detachment of a tactical team, it is as much my responsibility as it is the Team Leader’s to ensure that every member and ally is both mentally and physically able to continue the mission. Dave’s concerns were luckily put to the wayside when Richard confidently but cautiously got on the comm with Ashley to add to the status update the Sergeant Major had just given.  “Be advised, ma’am, there may still be a number of humanoids around the area. We’ve already had to fend off a couple of swarms on the way down here, so I’d assume other groups are moving about within the building too.” “Understood, Tiger. We’ll proceed with caution and look for any other hostages on the way down.”

“I’ll do most of the talking,” Juuzou volunteered as they left the classroom and descended down the hallway.  “No, I want to say what I can to Izayoi,” Ayu insisted. “It’s gonna be really hard… And I’ll probably stutter a lot, but… I don’t want to just leave this to you, Juuzou.”  “Are you sure?” His brow furrowed and he frowned.  “Yeah! It’ll probably be scary, but I have to try, don’t I?”  “Ayu…” Juuzou observed Ayu’s beaming but nervous face and smiled. “Alright. Just be careful, alright? Izayoi is unpredictable.”  “I will. Um, but,” Ayu glanced about, “do you even know where to find Izayoi?”  “I have a few guesses.” Juuzou clicked his tongue. “Fucking hell, they showed this to us during initiation; where is the damn door to behind the school!?”  “You didn’t pay much attention during the tour, did you?” Ayu giggled as Juuzou glumly shook his head in embarrassment. He glared at her in playful mock irritation but his face broke into a goofy smile as Ayu only laughed harder. “Follow me; I think I remember.”   The heavy door was at the end of an abandoned hallway; try as she might, no matter how much strength Ayu pushed the door with, it wouldn’t budge. This time, it was Juuzou’s turn to giggle as he watched Ayu struggle. She puffed her cheeks out at him; a playful expression that quickly turned into a deep pout as Juuzou effortlessly shoved the door open with just one hand. He cackled and Ayu stuck her tongue out at him as she stepped outside.  “Don’t worry, Baby, you’re plenty good at a bunch of other things,” Juuzou reassured her, pecking her on the forehead as he closed the door behind him.  “Baby?” Ayu echoed. Juuzou grinned.  “`Cause you’re small and shrimpy.”  “Hey!”  “What? It’s a cute pet name, isn’t it?”  “I’m not that much shorter than you,” Ayu grumbled. Juuzou barked out a laugh and patted her head; if he wanted, he could use her as an elbow rest.  “Sure, Ayu, maybe if you drink a bit more milk. Anyway,” Juuzou’s gaze hardened, “no more jokes. If Izayoi’s really here, we gotta get serious.” “I’ve been here,” a voice called out; Ayu and Juuzou tensed, “listening to you two flirt. Sheesh, you really couldn’t take your snogging somewhere else? These are my stomping grounds at school, y’know. Though,” Izayoi Akira emerged from between the thick trees, a lazy but sinister smile playing on his lips, “you’re the first people to cross my turf twice. That’s a first… I’m intrigued.”   “Izayoi,” Juuzou acknowledged with a curt nod.  “Hey-o, Hanazoe! And little Hiiragi too.” Akira’s gaze turned to Ayu and she gulped. “Now, whatever could you want with little `ol me?”  “We need your help,” Juuzou replied. Akira’s eyes narrowed.  “With what, exactly?”  “T-To… To…” Ayu sucked in a deep breath; Juuzou glanced at her in concern. She squeezed her palms into fists. Her heart pounded beneath her chest but with Juuzou here, she could do this. Watercolors blurred the edges of Ayu’s vision but Akira’s face in front of her was clear. “We need your help stopping Naturae,” she declared.  “Ah…” Akira’s gaze darkened. “I should’ve guessed.” He slunk around them, circling Ayu and Juuzou like how a vulture swooped around a corpse. Juuzou shielded Ayu, pressing her closer to the heavy door. She shivered as goosebumps rose on her skin. “Going back on your big boy words from before, Hanazoe? Got too scared to face Naturae all by yourself, huh?”  “You know just as well as I do how unrealistic it’d be to face Naturae alone,” Juuzou quipped back. “Even handling just Pacifica and Arctic by myself would be a challenge. And if we’re not the only Agents of Thade, then they aren’t the only Agents of Naturae. There’s strength in numbers.”  “I guess you’d know a thing or two about that, being the former deputy of the Chasers and whatnot,” Akira scoffed. “But me?” He gazed at Juuzou with the eyes of a viper. “I’ve always been something of a lone wolf. It was fun pairing together as Death Frost and Storm, but now that I’m not tied to Thade anymore…” Akira grinned; he held up his hand and Ayu gasped as electricity crackled between his fingers. “I can use my powers for so much more interesting things than swatting around a couple girls in pretty outfits.”  “Izayoi…”  “I’m not interested in bullshit like the ‘greater good’ or the ‘fate of the universe.’ You can take that crap and stuff it. Honestly, I don't care who wins the proxy war,” Akira admitted. “But I like fighting… And I’ve been itching to use my powers since our last meeting, so… Fuck it! I’m feeling generous today. How `bout this: I’ll offer you a deal, Hanazoe.”  “What is it?”  “There’s one thing I hate more than anything and that’s being bored,” Akira revealed. “If you can entertain me for a solid hour, then I’ll play along with your little hero act and help you stop Naturae. What’ll it be?”  “You’re on!” Juuzou agreed.