"We should forget this whole business!"
"Forget that! We NEED to start cracking heads open. No one screws with Afterburn!"
"We lost one Sk8ter! Why are you all so worked up about this?"
Hotshot sat and rubbed his temples as the chaos unfolded around him. In the days since Rotor's death, the cell had turned up barely any leads. On top of all that, the supposed Geonet hack had left many of the older members of the cell on edge. A fear had begun to creep through Afterburn that something was wrong down on the streets. That usually meant things were going to get much worse on the rooftops. The growing divide between those who wanted to cut the cell's losses and those who wanted answers was growing by the day.
A total of seven senior Burners sat in a circle around Hotshot: Hawk, Burnout, Ember, Kelvin, Fyrus, Ikaros, and Phoenix. Hotshot had called the group up to the roof of the Metro Transit Hub in the hopes of reaching an agreement on how to proceed, but he could tell nothing would be resolved. As his right habd, Phoenix was already on Hotshot's side; along with Burnout, Ember, and Kelvin. The remaining three however, were all advocating for Afterburn to forget about Rotor and move on with business.
"Dammit, Hotshot!" Hawk's face had begun turning red from shouting. "I don't care if Firebird handpicked you to run the cell. You need to put your little trauma episode behind and lead! Rotor was a whiny little shit from the streets! Who cares if he's dead?" Hawk was met by an ice cold stare from Phoenix. The blonde looked about ready to strangle Hawk with her cybernetic arm.
"You forget, Hawk..." Her voice practically dripped with venom as she stared the older man down. "Our cell boss just so happened to come from those streets as well. More than half the cell is former street dwellers. If I recall, it was Firebird himself who declared that 'If you mess with one burner, you mess with us all'. Afterburn isn't just a cell. We're a family."
"Oh cut the showy crap, Phoenix," said Ikaros from the wall. The heavily tattooed Sk8ter pushed himself to his feet and got right in the blonde's face. "Your daddy is dead, and his codes died with him. Honestly, if your boyfriend wasn't so hung up on Firebird's death we would actually still be a cell that could back up that threat! Face it. Our turf has shrunk over the last year, and Hotshot over there isn't doing much to claim it back. He even lets those orphan kids run through us like a playground! Fuck that." Phoenix stiffened for a moment before Hotshot raised a hand to wave her off.
"If you're going to fight my choices at every turn, Ikaros, then I really have no choice but to leave you to it." Hotshot's gaze swept across the skyline. "You're right that I'm traumatized. I've lost a lot in my life. My parents, my old life, and I lost the man who gave me a new home. That's why I'm not tolerating more members of MY family dying. If you and your cronies..." Disapproving looks flew from the Hawk and Fyrus. "... are adamant in refusing to take up the fight, then by all means resign yourselves and everyone else who wishes to remain out of it. Meanwhile, I'm going to show this city that Afterburn is still the best for a reason. Someone killed Rotor and that someone is going to pay. Now if you don't mind, I've got a killer to hunt down and put a bullet in their head."
Without waiting for a reply, Hotshot stood and began waling towards the edge of the transit hub. He prepared to leap off as Ikaros shouted that he was just setting himself up to get killed. Right before launching his grapple, Hotshot turned and flashed a smirk. "Just so we’re clear. If this little escaped does kill me… Then Rotor's killer can rest easy knowing I'll be out of this fight."