Chapter Text
"The targets are inbound, weak to Wind. Angel, Mona, on my mark," Queen said.
"Roger," they replied.
Nanako waited. The sound of Skull running down the corridor grew louder. She knew that Queen would e giving the "go" but Nanako felt ants crawling in her veings. What if Queen got it wrong? What if she misjudged-
"Go!"
Nanako and Mona dropped from the ceiling.
"Kusi Mitama!"
"Zorro!"
In a tornado of green wind energy, the shadows were shredded into tiny droplets of inkiness. The shadows were eliminated.
Queen skid to a stop on Johanna's back.
"Nice work. That eliminates the last of the guards on this level. We should-...Fox! Joker!"
Nanako watched, frozen in confusion. Joker whipped out his arm and snapped out his grappling hook. It wrapped around Fox's waist, pulling forward. He crashed into Joker, who bent down and scooped him up in a princess-carry.
Nanako looked up and saw the security camera in the corner of the ceiling, the tiny servos whirring in the silence.
"How'd she even see that...?" Panther whispered.
"There was a safe room 20 meters back. Let's take a break," Joker said.
The backtracked their steps and pushed the doors open, leaving the soulless precision of the vault behind and retreated into the tranquil marble of the safe room. Joker set the bag of snacks and drinks in the center of the table. Everyone dove in to recharge. Skull, Mona, and Panther ate, drank, reclined, and sighed dramatically. Joker shut his eyes and focused on his drink. Fox pulled out his sketchbook.
Queen took out her map.
Nanako watched as Queen chugged an energy drink without seeming to acknowledge its existence. she was a machine, making new boxes and scribbling notes down, marking location of guards and cameras.
Did she ever stop?
"Are you holding up?" Nanako found herself asking Queen.
"Hm?" Yes, fine...though I wonder why this room is different."
"Hu?"
"The safe room doesn't match the rest of the palace. Why?"
"Oh. Uh. Well, we did notice that at one point, but we've never figured it out. I suppose it might be a reflection of the cognition of...resting in general?"
"Mm. It just bothers me to not know. I feel like it's important."
"Ah. Well. How do you suggest we gather more information...? "
"Not sure. Something to put in long term goals," Queen said, writing a note on the corner of her map.
"Hey, you know, you should really rest too, you don't want to-"
"Do you think Kaneshiro is going to rest?" Queen snapped, looking up from her map, her red-brown eyes burning from behind the iron mask.
"Fine," Nanako said, stepping away.