World Go Boom: A Hysteria Short

Hetar
 Base L
T.L.

Yin Song’s eyes flew open to the sound of bickering.

In the base, Charlotte was ruffling Lena’s feathers once more. Lena had her gun out and was aiming it at Charlotte’s head. Charlotte just smiled, weilding her own weapon in her other hand. “Do you really want to shoot me, friend?”

“Friend or foe? If I remember right, all of us were just grouped together,” Lena shot back. Her grip on the weapon tightened. “You’ve been annoying me since day one, Charlotte.”

“I’m happy that the feeling is mutual,” Charlotte agreed. Before any of them could do anything more, Yin burst into the room with her revolver. Both women turned to stare. Yin’s mouth set to a displeased frown.

“Are we really doing this now?”

“Of course not.” Charlotte yawned and tuked her weapon away. The lady then proceeded to tie her hair up, “Lena couldn’t control her temper.”

“Charlotte couldn’t control her tongue.”

“And both of you couldn’t control yourselves,” Yin snapped. “Do you really want me to report this to Victoria – that both of you have been behaving wrongly again? Remember that we’re not the only ones here. Time has passed and Amy is still apprehensive around us. She trusts only Victoria.”

“And what a fine choice the new recruit has made,” Charlotte deadpanned. Yin gave her a scolding look yet Charlotte didn’t falter. “Because we are the most trustworthy group of people that exist, yes?” With that, Lena rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, leaving only Charlotte and Yin. The blonde turned her head to the other and sighed. “Lena’s been on edge since yesterday. That’s the only way I can try to get it out of her.”

“Get it out – what, do you think she’s hiding something from us?”

“Who knows?” Charlotte ran a hand through her hair and made a face, “Given what our group has been through? I won’t be surprised if even Victoria’s hiding some things she doesn’t want us to know.”

Yin’s expression fell. “She wouldn’t–”

Charlotte’s eyes met Yin’s steadily. “Are you really sure, Song? Maybe you want to put some of that observational skills to work.”

With that, Charlotte went for her room, leaving Yin alone in the middle of the base’s so-called ‘living room’. She found Victoria and Nova much later, the two conversing as Victoria set a steaming cup in front of her. All of a sudden, Yin realized why Lena was on edge.

“Is this what we’ve resorted to?” both Nova and Victoria looked at her (Victoria’s eyes carrying her usual apathetic look), Yin taking a steadying breath before continuing. “Being domestic and bickering like married couples?”

“Who said Nova and I were bickering?” Victoria asked. Nova looked confused.

“Both of you are the domestic. Lena and Charlotte are the married couple on the way to divorce,” Yin responded with a touch of tiredness. She moved to make herself a cup of something strong. Neither of the two stopped her.

Nova tilted her head to the side. “Did Lena and Charlotte have another argument?” Victoria’s eyes then hardened.

“When will the two get their act together…”

“Yes, they were arguing and no, I don’t think they will.” Yin joined them at the table with her own drink. “They had their weapons out. Lena looked ready to shoot and Charlotte looked like she was ready to shoot back. Charlotte then told me that she was trying to pry information out of Lena.”

“…information?”

“Yeah.” Nova was blinking now, looking terribly confused. Victoria sighed.

“Charlotte should know that her information-taking skills should be focused on the opposing team and not on her team mate.”

“She does. But she thinks Lena’s hiding something.” Yin took a sip from her drink and Nova tapped her chin, thinking lightly. “Nova?”

“What if she is, though?”

Victoria shook her head. “If Lena is hididng something, then we would know by now. Trust me. Out of the five of us, she’s the easiest to read. Even Wyatt is harder to read than Lena.”

Nova’s attention was piqued. “Wyatt? As in the Eyes?” both Yin and Victoria nodded. Yin put her hair up in a tight bun, soon taking another drink.

“Yes. I had the unfortunate encounter with him,” Team L’s leader stated. Nova tried not to smile.

“Is it true what they say about him – that he’s got more charming looks than any other male in Hetar?” Victoria made a disgusted face.

“Charming? I’d say repulsive.” This made Nova giggle and Yin raised a brow at their team leader. Victoria merely shrugged in response. “I don’t know why Team X made the foolish decision of taking him in. Now they have two unstable nuclear bombs on their team.”

“I wouldn’t call Wyatt unstable,” Yin interrupted. Victoria shrugged again. “In fact, the only unstable one there is–”

A large boom made them jump. Immediately on her feet, Victoria barked orders and the remaining two had their weapons out. From the outside, Lena was screaming and yelling curses even dirtier than Charlotte’s jokes.

“They bombed it – they attacked our other base!” Lena was screaming. While the four scrambled to assess the damage, Charlotte was merely watching from the topmost of their current base.

Her eyes caught a familiar head of silver hair.

“Resorting to what you really are, Wagner?” she called lazily. Said person paused to turn, scarlet eyes immediately spotting Charlotte. The latter waved her fingers lazily and leaned against the wall. “I can’t help but admit; I like the road you’ve taken. Can’t say the rest of them will be pleased, especially Lena.”

“Good.” Zelda Wagner smirked and cracked her knuckles, “I was hoping it would set off little miss pipsqueak. Especially when I know that her beloved bombs are kept in there.” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed.

“Her what?”

“Oh. Didn’t know that?” Zelda then flashed a cocky grin, “Yeah. Lena’s been keeping bombs in your place. Wyatt was able to detect them when he and Sakura went on a reconnaissance a month ago.” Charlotte cursed under her breath and Zelda chuckled. The sound of sirens filled the air, and Zelda was the one who waved this time. “It was nice seeing you again, Charlotte. Send my regards to the rest of them, will you?”

“I will,” Charlotte responded. Through gritted teeth.

With a brief touch on her wrist, Zelda disappeared, leaving nothing more but dust in her trail.