Bent Fate (An Arknights Fanfiction)

Chapter 87

Ch'en opens her eyes to the sound of two voices talking. As the blur in her vision clears up, she quietly looks forward to the doorway.

- "You... is there any one of you people who isn't with some catastrophic ability?" Franka tilts her head with a frown.

Tidelock shrugs his shoulders.

The vulpo looks away, sighing. She gives it all a shrug, eyebrows matching the rise of her shoulders, "Just... couldn't believe that stuff actually happened."

"You're not thinking I made that up either?"

Franka pursed her lips as she looked somewhere. "You don't look like the type who would make up stories just to impress people."

"But you only knew us for like an hour."

"I didn't claim to know you, though."

Franka turns around, her eyes widening for a split second as she saw Ch'en staring at them.

"Hey." she greeted, then jerking her head back in Tidelock's direction. "Okay, now that sedative should have lasted longer like you said."

"I don't really have a clear idea of what drug is it that he injected."

Ch'en rises on her feet, but the top of the chair pokes at her nape, immediately pushing her back down as the rest of its body lifted up with her too and sprung back.

She rubs her arms against the ropes that bound her to the chair. All the way from her torso and to her thighs, she had been secured well.

She grasps her sword, but her hand doesn't get a hold of anything.

Franka walks over to the counter, picking up two sheathed swords placed on the marble top. "Here it is."

Ch'en gasps, frowning at her. "Why am I tied up?! What are you doing?!"

Realization hits the lung, taking away her frown, "The others"-

"Yeah," Franka cuts her off, "We bet they are having hell on earth there."

Ch'en turns her head, seeing Greythroat and Jessica sitting on chairs beside Faust who's left on the floor in between them.

She looks back at Tidelock, quietly standing by the entrance, and Franka, the serious-looking vulpo, but given how she normally is, she might be playing on her, or Ch'en wants to believe that is the case, still easier to deal with without escalation.

"Don't look at me like that..." Franka pleads. "... Everyone's got a job to do."

"And this is yours...?" Ch'en asks with a deep, calm tone.

"Fortunately and unfortunately, yes."

A pause ensues inside the diner. Tidelock sighs.

While Jessica might be growing more and more anxious, Greythroat and Faust shot glaring looks at the Doctor's assistants.

"... I'll need you to behave for now." Franka added.

She turns around, setting the sheathed swords back down to the countertop.

"Franka, are you strong?" Ch'en asked.

The vulpo's brows rose, "Huh?"

"I might not actually need those." Ch'en said with a confident voice. "There are a lot of weapons outside, too."

Franka pushes herself up from leaning against the counter, "Let's see."

Jessica gasped. "F-Franka?"

"Just giving her one attempt." Franka assures the feline and smiles at the glaring lung. "But before you do this, I doubt you could do a flip past that man."