lepidope

Light of The Rebellion

Matias's glare weakened as time went on. By the time Scarlet finished, he was left staring dully at her. His hands had now fallen dead to his sides, and his once-rigid posture was more weighted on one leg.

"I get it," he sighed "just... you know... take it easy. Alright? We've got lots of firepower on our end of the game, and we're making progress. Those purists, or whoever the hell they are, they won't know what hit em."

He chuckled lightly.

"Think you should get going... Any longer here, and Iris's probably gonna send a search party after you."

Light of The Rebellion

Matias fell silent at Scarlet's initial question. His lips pursed for a moment as he looked to the side.

"Didn't really think it was that important," he muttered, "I guess someone leaving a note with coordinates on it leading to the warehouse is a little strange... But, like I said. That was months ago. Whoever that was clearly isn't a threat. Hopefully..."

He gained the courage to look back at her.

"I'm not mad about that," he huffed, "What, do you just let people randomly scan your backyard for things out of paranoia? Like I get being cautious, but come on."

His hands fell on his hips, their grip firm.

"Look, all that matters is that no one's here. Iris can take that as she will."

Light of The Rebellion

"Broke in? What? No, that was months ag–?"

Before Matias could finish his sentence, Scarlet was up and gone. He let out a long, deep snarl before stepping out of his car and looking off to where she went.

"Scarlet, no one's there. It's fine."

It seemed true for the most part. The back of the house was half clay and half grass, the yard blooming with tall grass and dandelions with some bushes dabbed on top for good measure. A worktable on the clay tiles housed a tool or two thrown haphazardly on top. A large cabinet and a ladder accompanied the mess. Nothing alive seemed to be back here save for the crickets and cicadas chirping away wherever they hid.

It took Matias a moment to unlock the back gate of his house and enter the vicinity. He still didn't look too happy.

"Well?" he puffed. "See anything?"

Light of The Rebellion

The gap between the question and the answer was enough for the latter to startle Matias a tad. No car crash though, not even close. He, again, responded with a "hmm". The question that followed made Matias blink a few times.

"How did I join? Uhh..."

He took a moment to ponder.

"I don't think anyone in the team brought me in, so how did I... Oh...!"

A tap on the steering wheel indicated his memory kicking in.

"It was the weirdest thing... I was at home when I found this note. I remember, it had kinda crappy handwriting, but it had some coordinates on it. Popped them on my phone, led me to the warehouse, actually. That's when I met, I think the boss? Yeah... They were all like, 'Oh, why are you here, did you know about the rebellion,' stuff like that... I just felt so weirded out by the whole thing."

He paused as the car made a left turn into what looked like a neighborhood.

"I wasn't going to join, but then I remembered the war from a while back, all the bigotry I saw in the news and even in my life, and how the government is just, like, tirándose fresca... Guess it's just in my nature as a punk."

The car stopped in front of a quaint-looking house. Matias directed it to park in the driveway.

"Well," he sighed, "we're here. Guess you can leave now if you want."

Light of The Rebellion

Keeping his eyes on the road, Matias let out a soft "hmm" and nodded. It didn't take long for them to be carried into the city. The streets still had a few cars in them, but it wasn't out of this world.

"That's nice," he continued, "Wonder where the boss lives..."

He let the silence kick in for a moment. He wasn't one to play the radio at this hour; the rumbling of the tires and metal walls were suitable white noise.

"How long have you two known each other?" he asked suddenly. "Feel like it's been a while, no?"

Light of The Rebellion

Matias couldn't hold back the small grin that grew on his face from Scarlet's comment. A soft chuckle escaped him at that moment.

"Thanks, I guess. She's old, but she works."

The key slipped into the ignition, and the car sputtered and rumbled to life. Its eyes glowed a brilliant yellow, illuminating the path in front of them. The car then pulled away, gliding along the asphalt with ease.

"I don't live anywhere fancy," he replied, "just your average suburb with average humans. What about you?"

Light of The Rebellion

Matias found himself outside once more as he stepped out of the warehouse. The view here wasn't remotely as interesting, just an empty road with some bushes and one or two streetlights in the distance past the iron gate. His faithful sedan sat right where he left it, gleaming in the moonlight as if beckoning him over.

"Yeah," he replied, pointing at his vehicle. Just keep in mind I live a little far from here."

He walked up to the car, pulling his keys out from his back pocket. With a click and a twist of the key, the driver's seat door opened for him, and he settled on his leather throne. One hand laid on the steering wheel while the other pressed a button on the side of the door to unlock the others.

"Alright. Get in."

Light of The Rebellion

"Alright... See you tomorrow."

Matias took one last glance at the boss, as if it would magically change their state somehow. He inched closer, then slowly leaned down so that his face was in close proximity to theirs.

"You better get better," he muttered, "or else."

As he straightened up, he flicked the lapel of his crummy leather jacket, the few studs that it had clinking together. The bag he received this morning sat in its own little corner, waiting for him to come over.

"I'm set," he said, scooping the bag into his arm. "Let's go."

Light of The Rebellion

Matias's hand swatted at the air, as if trying to catch a moth.

"Well, whatever, whoever the hell it is. I'm gonna need someone to go with me."

He started following Iris inside, the bird's eye view no longer of interest to him. That was when Scarlet spoke. He paused, remaining statue-like for what felt like an entire minute. Only his head peered back after that time.

"I mean... If you want. I was gonna leave in a few minutes."

He resumed his entrance in the warehouse. Shadows filled his entire vision, even with as dark as it was. From the gaps he caught sight of the boss, laying perfectly still.

"They'll be fine... I hope, anyway."

He approached Iris from the side, slowly so as to not make too much noise and come across as even more of a grump.

"Iris. Scarlet said she wants to take me home. Is that alright with you, or...?"

Light of The Rebellion

Matias blinked twice.

"Do the puritans know we have a base here or something? That's..."

He let out a harsh chuckle.

"... That's not right. They can't know we're here. Unless I'm misunderstanding."

Matias took another look down at the cityscape. He could see tiny silhouettes crawling in the concrete and neon maze.

"Do you think Bane's gonna get better by tomorrow? I still need to go to the capital... Not sure who else to go with."