35 Assembling Tension

After getting Cravic carried onto the cruiser, Barret and Myde sat him down to one of the seats. All the others had also gotten back on board, and seated. Myde glanced over to Barret. "I need to bandage up Cravic's eye. With how long he's been bleeding for, he's bound to have lost a lot of blood." She said, insistently.

Barret nods, in response to Myde's comment, "That would be a good idea, it is too late to save his eye. At least we can stop the bleeding." Barret says, grabbing to some supplies. He then walks to the front, setting the ship to auto pilot.

The cruiser rose up into the air, and began flying back to Base.

Barret turns around, and walks back over to Myde, setting the supplies next to her."Here you go, maybe I should help you a bit." Barret suggested.

Myde took the supplies, cleaning the wound. "It's quiet alright, I think I can manage. You go ahead and rest."

Barret rubs the back of his head. "Well alright. If you need anything, just let me know." Barret says, smiling to Myde, walking to his seat. "(Myde sure has come a long ways since I've met her, she's even becoming somewhat of a medic.)" Barret laughs to himself, thinking about the time Myde first helped him.

Dylan sat across the hull, sitting with his legs criss-crossed, propping his chin up with his hand, as he looked over to Myde. "Myyyyyyde... Why are you doing myyyy job?... I'm the one with the healing dama..." Dylan pouted.

"That may be so, but your dama is specialized to Ferline. Using it to heal someone else, might have different effects. Anatomy, and genetics are competently different with human, and Elementar." Myde explained, taking the bandages.

Dylan puffed out his cheek, looking off. "Bleh... No fair."

Shockz nods to Myde's words, "She's got a point, dude."

Dylan looked to Shockz. He stared a bit, with a odd face expression, that was a tad creepy. "Hmm."

Shockz quirks a brow, "What is it?"

Dylan pointed at Shockz, giggling. "You look like a fox Barkine."

Shockz gawks to Dylan's comment, "Eh? What are you on about? They're headphones, idiot." Shockz retorted, folding his arms.

Dylan held his ears, pulling them down a bit. "But they look like fox ears. I think I'm gonna call you Foxy!" Dylan stuck out his tongue.

Shockz shuts his eyes, starting to grind his teeth. "You call me that while I'm sitting here again, and I'll shock your ass." Shockz says, becoming agitated.

"Shockz." Denki looked to his boy, with a quirked brow.

Away from the bantering of child antics, Bit sat in the corner. He seemed rather mopey, looking over to Cravic. "(Why am I scared?... He's my best friend...I'm seriously shovel ware to act like this... How is she not scared of that?)"

Barret looks over to Bit from his seat. "Bit? Are you doing alright? I forgot to check up on you due to all the tension going around." He inquired sitting up straight.

Bit glanced over to Barret. "My programming went from casual to hardcore mode..."

Barret sighs to himself and holds a hand to his head. "I can understand, all of this so fast can't be easy to handle. I'm just happy we got to Cravic in time before he got worse. Things will be okay, alright?" Barret says turning his attention to Myde.

Bit looked off, "(Even though I already knew Cravic was half Necroden... I never had a cutscene with him going this dark before... I feel like my level was nerfed...)" Bit thought.

Katinka wasn't paying attention to Bit, she was trying to fix her Limiter, with Shockz glancing to her slightly. Shockz then looked over to Bit, "(Katinka's ignoring him now. This is weird.) Dude, thing's will be alright, kay?"

Bit glanced over to Shockz, but sighed. "..."

Myde had finished bandaging up Cravic's face, glancing over to Barret, as she noticed him looking her way.

Barret quickly looks away nervously. "(Oh! Jeez she's fast, I... guess she's finished... I should go check how well bandaged Cravic is.)" Barret thought, getting up to check on Myde's work with Cravic.

Stevonne had caught Barret's reaction to Myde, forming puffy cheeks. "(Really now? That flat chested dyke? I'm not stupid, THAT isn't getting in the way of us.)"

Katinka looked over to Barret, from beside Shockz ,who was annoyed with Dylan, but trying to talk to Bit. Dylan seemed to be making faces over, but Katinka was ignoring their childish conflict. She was focused on Barret. "(Barret, is Myde why you acted distant before? Does your heart belong to her?...)" She sighed, looking off.

Barret was now speaking with Myde about her work on Cravic. "It looks good, I wonder now if you may have had background in medical training." Barret says, amazed at the patch work from Myde.

Myde glanced to Barret, "I was trained in the art of combat, usually male Ferline were trained to be healers. I've only picked it up since I began aiding you, and the others."

"That's amazing! (Man, Myde never ceases to amaze me at times.) I can now see why you are one of the high rankings of your squad. Luke made a good choice, picking you out from the others to be second in command." Barret says, smiling to her.

Myde smiled back, "I appreciate the comp-"

"He only picked her, cause he wants to plow her field!" Dylan interrupted obnoxiously.

"..." Myde gawked, uneasily.

Barret blushed, and turns from Myde. "...Dylan? We're going to have to talk about proper language when-"

"What, I can say 'Fuck' if you prefer?" Dylan jested, interrupting yet again.

"DYLAN!" Barret shouted in anger.

"Neener neener neener, you are a wiener!" Dylan singsonged, making his doll dance.

Shockz pumps up the music in his headphones, putting them on. "(My gosh can we just get to the base already? I can't stand this guy....Have to admit though, that was hilarious. Poor Bit though, he's so uneasy right now. It's so unlike him.)"

"(Of all the- Urgh! I can't believe he just placed that out like that. Even Barret's reaction to it!? Oh, something is going to happen to little miss feline.)" Stevonne thought to herself, becoming frustrated.

Katinka glanced to Barret's situation, "(Why'd I let myself get attached to him? Who was I kidding, he'd never go for a girl like me... He already likes Myde.)"

Stevonne looks to Katinka, her thoughts were strong and seeping into her mind."(Interesting, it seems we both have the same feelings....I wonder...If by chance I could place this wall down between us...We could work together to achieve my goal..I admit, perhaps I can give Katinka a little time with him. Before I move in, and finish the plan. She's earned that much, by not dying.)" Stevonne thought to herself, deviously.

Soon the cruiser arrives back at base, Myde and Dylan took Cravic to the med bay, Denki who was needing to relax, headed for his room. Bit had roamed off on his own from there. Shockz too, had wandered off. Leaving Barret, Katinka and Stevonne to go their way.

"Okay, so first things first, we need to inform Xiao on the details. After we should be able to settle in a little." Barret says, approaching Xiao's door with the girls.

Stevonne was looking around the halls. "(Seems secure enough...)" She thought to herself. She looks over to Katinka, then back ahead to Barret.

They enter Xiao's office to find her talking with Medatros. "This job is placing a lot of stress on you Xiao. I still think you should allow me to take charge, then you can worry about your condition..." Medatros states to Xiao, with concern.

Xiao took off her glasses, setting them to the table between them. "Why must you be so persistent, Medatros?... You know how I feel about this already." She said, softly.

Medatros reaches his hand to Xiao's, holding it gently, "I know, but even so. I'm worried about you. You even see how this ails you at times, with work." He states, looking into her eyes with furrowed brows.

Xiao glanced to him, but looked off slightly. "Once more, you say one thing, but it gives the impression you mean something completely different...." Her eyes looked back over, meeting Medatros'. "Medatros, I need to be part of this, it's important to me. It all honesty, it doesn't matter if I have Consumption or not, I can't stray from my goals... Even if I die, I know this is what I need to do."

Medatros sighs, nodding his head, "I understand. No matter how many times you knock me over the head with it. I suppose that promise keeps speaking for me. I will do as you wish, however, I had hoped that the dream tear supply had arrived by now. It's already been half a year since I placed the request." Medatros pondered to himself. "Perhaps things are worse out there, than they seem to be. I'll have to contact the forces back home about it..." He says, holding to Xiao's hand still.

Xiao peered over to her bottle of alcohol on her desk. She looked to it solemnly. "There are always reasons to why things don't go to plan. Perhaps, Joan has something else in mind for me, than to recover from my illness. I said it before, I've lived a good life. I just hope I can live to see the day when we stop Kaos, and the Zodiac."

Medatros grunts to Xiao's comment, knowing that she's accepted her fate. He hugs her closely. "Then we'll make that our mission. If anything happens, and you're not able to meet that desire, then I shall take your place, and make it a reality...From this point on, I want to make sure what remains in your life, keeps you happy." He says letting off, and looking into Xiao's eyes.

Xiao grew a bit red in her cheeks. "There you go again, letting me misinterpret what you are saying." She blinked a few times, nervously.

"Then let me help you understand what I said better." Medatros says, gripping Xiao into a kiss.

Xiao stared to him in surprise, as his lips were locked with hers. "..."

Medatros breaks lips with her, looking to her with caring, seductive eyes. "As I said, you can leave things to me when the time comes. For now, we'll focus on keeping you safe, and your future bright."

Barret and the others had entered unknown to Medatros and Xiao at the time. "Uh.... Lady Xiao? Sir Medatros?" Barret states, his mouth dropping. Stevonne begins to giggle as Katinka's eyes widened in surprise.

Xiao scrambled anxiously with her face flush red. "B-Barret!? Y-You're supposed to knock!" She nearly knocked her seat over, in the process.

Medatros quickly scrambled to get himself together as well. He clears his throat , "As she said, that was quite rude." He states, helping Xiao to her feet.

Barret rubs the back of his head, "I do apologize, Well...We did knock, but there are more pressing matters. During our last missions, Cravic was injured..." Barret states seriously.

Xiao panicked, "WHAT!?"

Stevonne spoke up, "He lost his eye in battle, it was terrible bu-" Barret quickly was about to place a hand over Stevonne's mouth. He then glares at her, but she pulls back before he can tough her.

Xiao looks between the two, frantically. "Who are you? Wait, no, Lost his eye in battle?! Barret,you were on separate teams! What exactly happened?! WHERE'S MY SON!?" She was freaking out.

"Myde's looking after him, I-In the medical bay-" Barret stated, but was cut off due to Xiao blazing passed them, to the hallway with urgency.

Medatros steps forward to them all crossing his arms. "Alright, I need explanations, now." He stated, looking seriously to them all. "Especially on that one there...." He says, pointing to Stevonne.

"I'm sorry sir, we were wrong barging in like this...Cravic went crazy with Dark Dama, and so Myde contacted us to meet up to help contain him...Before that, Cravic had lost his eye to a Zodiac member. Myde has more information about that. The girl here, was captured by a different Zodiac member, my team encountered in the Savannah." Barret explained.

"I see, and you say Myde has more details on the matter of Cravic?" Medatros states, turning his attention to Barret.

"That I do." Spoke up Myde's voice, as she stepped into the office. "Apologizes on my lateness, I had to get Cravic to the medical bay. Xiao is with him now."

Medatros nods in response to Myde, "Very well." He then turns to Katinka. "Katinka? Please take...'Our guest' on a tour around the base for now. I will get more information on after were done here."

Katinka looks to him in surprise, but lowers her head. "Right." She said, turning her back, as she glanced a bit to Barret, then to Stevonne. "Come on."

Stevonne nods, then turns to Medatros, bowing. "My apologizes for earlier.." She says, as she turns, walking after Katinka.

Medatros turns his attention back to Myde. "Alright then, so what intel do you have regarding your mission?" He asked to her, keeping his arms crossed.

"Upon arrival, I deduced the probability of the maze's whereabouts being underground. However, as we arrived inside the mentioned Labyrinth, we were met with a Zodiac member, Aquarius. He detained Shockz and myself, leaving Cravic and Bit to roam the grounds to rescue us. As the two of us were held hostage, this Barkine Zodiac, had plans to forward us to Kaos. Luckily, the two of them arrived before things escalated to that degree. Bit working on freeing us with his hacking abilities, while Cravic fought the foe. However during the battle, Cravic became enveloped with Dark dama. He lost his eye, due to the zodiac trying to fight him off. However, after the Zodiac member has fallen, Cravic fled ,and we were forced to pursue him... I had only just learned that he was part Necroden, and had no idea how to handle the situation. So I radioed Barret, who had previously encountered Denki, who then gave us a solid strategy." Myde gave her long winded report.

Medatros sighs, shaking his head, "I had a feeling it might come to that. Even being half Necroden. With Dark Dama it's only a matter of time, before it takes over due to pressure." He states solemnly.

"You mean to say you knew Cravic was like this?" Barret asked to Medatros.

Medatros nods, looking to the portrait of Xiao's family, "Since this entire idea was started, I held my thoughts down about Xiao's life, and family. I'm thankful you all acted when you did, it could have been one huge disaster if Cravic lost himself to the dama. One Necroden alone, even one whose half, could level cities, and cause mass outbreak of the dama." He states, shutting his eyes.

Barret looks to the floor shaking a little, "(That's scary, I'm really happy we're starting to make relations with Elementar. Kind of makes me remember that incident at the train.)" He thought to himself.

Medatros looks back to Barret, "So, what of things on your side with the Zodiac in the Savannah?"

Myde also turned her attention to Barret.

"Oh yes, well Katinka, Dylan, Cynder, and I had come across the girl from earlier, Stevonne. She was under captive by a Zodiac named Catzaka, with the alias 'Cancer'. We had gotten into combat, but during the incident I was damaged badly. I woke to Denki helping us, and he healed me using a dream tear. He had gotten pretty beat up, as for the Zodiac, some pirates appeared and took her away from what I was told... Denki has more clear details. I can tell you this, when we got back, Cynder had taken our cruiser, and that was after Myde contacted us about Cravic." Barret says, shrugging.

"Wait, you were damaged, and lost count of what occurred? Then Cynder left without notice? Urgh...(I'm not normally this way, but I expected much more from this human.) I'm ashamed, I expected more from you Barret. However, things were out of your hands. I suppose I will consult Denki about more information." Medatros states, turning from Barret. "So, where is Cynder at the moment? I suppose her punishment is at hand...We can't have people leaving members in situations like this. I will have to speak to Luklen on the matter." He says, his demeanor becoming fierce.

Myde crossed her arms, "Cynder is proving to be a handful. I have a sneaking suspicion, that she came back for Issac."

"Issac or not, that was reckless, and we cannot tolerate that kind of abuse around objectives. If she ran into a Kaos worker, it might have been too late for her." Medatros states, placing his hands behind his back. "But I digress, I will find Luklen, and we shall speak over these matters. For now, you are dismissed."

Barret nods, in response to Medatros. "Right." Barret says, turning with Myde walking out of the office. Once the two are in the hall, Barret turns to Myde, "Hey, I'm going to go find Issac, maybe you should track down Cynder? I also think a good talking with Luke, could possibly stop her from being so uncontrollable." He states, letting out a sigh.

Myde crossed her arms. "There's no guarantee I'll be able to locate her. I've grown tired of trying to control her, it's near impossible now."

Barret nods, and pats Myde on her shoulder. "Well, at least I can agree with you there. I guess we should just let fate play it's cards with her." He says, walking ahead of Myde. "I'll see you around then, don't over work yourself, Myde. If you need any help, you know where to find me, okay?" Barret says, walking off to find Issac.

Myde watched himself walk off from her. "(It's always work with you, isn't it Barret?)" She turned off, walking down the corridor.

Barret was nearing his room, and hears shuffling coming from inside. He hits the open button, to notice it was jammed. He ponders to himself, "(Huh? Locked?)" Barret then places his hands on the door trying to pry it open. It opens slightly, and catches one of his fingers. "OUCH!" Barret yelped, the door then flies open. "Urgh, son of a..." Barret muttered walking into the room, holding his hand.

"Issac?" Barret called out, looking around the room. He comes to a bed where he spots Issac. "I-Issac!?"

He had noticed Issac tired to his bed, with nothing on, but a pillow covering his genital region. Issac was sweating nervously. "H-Help..." He whimpered with stifled breath.

Barret ran to Issac's side, quickly. "Issac...She did this didn't she?" Barret asked, nervously.

Issac appeared frantic, his eyes trailing to something behind Barret. Cynder wrapped one arm around Barret's torso, with her gauntlet angled toward him, with one hand covering his mouth. "You take away my sex toy-" Her gauntlet engaged a laser sword to Barret's throat. "-Then you're asking for trouble."

Barret nods slowly, while trying not to agitate the situation any further. "(This is outrageous!)"

Cynder smirks slyly. "You're going to be a good boy, and let me have my fun with my toy. No one gets hurt." She moves her hand from his mouth, but keeps the power glove in place.

"Sure...Whatever you want..." Barret says, still cautioning Cynder. "(I can't do anything now, dammit...)" He thought to himself, shaking.

"I bet you want to watch, don't you?" Cynder walked forward, from the side where she kept the power glove to his neck. As she moved into his line of sight, he realized she was completely naked, aside from her power glove. Scars were on her body in places, and Barret could see it all.

".... (Come on dude... Get me outta here...)" Issac was shaking.

Barret turns quickly from Cynder, "N-No, I'm fine...urgh...(Come on Barret, think of something, you have to get Issac out of here, and you have to somehow put this cat down!)" He thought to himself.

"How do you not want front row seats for live smut? Don't tell me you want in on the action!?" Cynder gawked.

Barret suddenly gets an idea, "(I can't believe I'm going to do this....)" He turns to Cynder, "But of course....I was just gathering myself, that's all. The power gauntlet... Had umm turned me on a bit...heh heh..." Barret says, rubbing the back of his head.

Both Cynder and Issac were completely startled, and taken off guard. "..."

"Did I say something wrong?" Barret asked to Cynder, walking up to her. He begins to unbutton his top, and trips forward. His hand catches to Cynder's breast.

Cynder stared uneasily, growing red in the face. "Nya?" Her hand shifted, with the power glove disengaging the sword function.

Barret had an uneasy smile on his face. "Oh? D-Did you like that?" Barret says, now walking behind Cynder. He then places his arms around her waist, his hand nearly touching her under carriage. "How about this? Better?" Barret teased.

Issac was gawking with his jaw dropped. "(What the heck is he doing?)"

Cynder made a slight mewing sound, in response. Her ears went back, as she glanced a bit behind her, to him nervously. "Are you forcing me into a threesome?... You're so assertive..."

Barret snickers, "But of course. Though, not here...I have a better place, a little more secluded." He says, picking up Cynder. His hands accidentally touched her ass, with her bob tail showing. He takes her over to the door, and drops her on the outside. "I just recalled something though... I like a different girl... Oops." Barret shuts the door, locking it.

Cynder gawked on the outside, but growled looking back sharply to the door. "YOU BASTARD!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!" She banged on the door, but it suddenly stopped, as she realized she was in the hallways, covering herself. She gets red, and quickly dashes off.

Issac was staring dumbfounded to Barret, still restrained. "Uh... how did you?"

Barret turns to Issac smiling. "All it took was a little psychology...Beat her at her own game...Let's get you out of this." He says, going to help Issac.

After getting Issac out of the jumble caused by Cynder, Barret was sitting on his bed.

"I don't know man, that girl is nothing but trouble. I hope you learned a little at least when it comes to possibly getting around her antics." Barret states, rubbing his hair.

Issac was sitting on his bed, on the opposite side of the room to Barret's. He was now wearing his pants. He leaned forward a bit, resting his arms to his knees. "I don't know how you pulled that off Chief... I freeze in place when she gets like that." His scars on his wrists were fairly visible, and one seemed rather fresh.

"I act like you would Issac, just a new...Hm? Issac did she cut you?" Barret says, noticing the fresh wound on Issac.

Issac covered his arms fast, letting his bangs cover his face. "........... No...."

Barret look seriously to Issac, "How did that happen then?"

Issac turned looking off, his eyes concealed by his hair. "... Isn't it obvious?... I've told you enough things to figure it out..."

"This situation is making you depressed...I understand, but cutting yourself isn't going to help." Barret says, folding his arms.

"..." Issac sighed, "It's more than depression..."

"More than depression? Hmm..." Barret says, thinking to himself. "So you want to die?"

Issac clenched to his knees, gritting his teeth. "You don't understand ANYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" Issac snapped, with his voice cracking, his face was still facing the ground, with his eyes hidden. However, faint drops of tears hit the ground, below him.

"Since we've met Issac, you've told me many things. Maybe not everything, but I get your condition...You're like a brother to me. I know you're going through a lot of stuff right now. I also don't know everything, but I try to help you when I can..." Barret says, getting up from his bed. He walks over to Issac.

"You're always prying for answers, and putting your nose in my business. For once, JUST... just... I don't want to talk about things... Telling you isn't going to help you understand what pain I've endured, my inner sufferings.... The feelings that are ripping apart my very being... because of what went on in my head because I was..... raped.....and everything that was effected due to that.....I-I just..... I just want to be alone......" Issac looked to Barret, with angry eyes, some tears were trailing down his face.

Barret nods, turning away from Issac. "Alright..." He says walking to the door, he turns slightly to say something to Issac, but decides it's best to leave it at the moment. Barret exits the room leaving Issac on his bed.