Firewall

Chapter 19

"Are you physically capable to go out there?"

"I thought you grounded me."

"I'm not in the mode for your sass, Vanoss" Felix said with an edge to his voice "and for fucks sake, take off that mask when I'm talking to you."

"But it's my ground gear" Vanoss protested childishly, reaching up to protectively grasp the sides of the full head mask he was current wearing. It was in the shape of a yellow owl, its golden eyes unmoving as they were solid parts of the mask. It eerily resembled Vanoss's pet, Hoodini, who was currently perched on the backrest of the chair Vanoss was sitting in.

Another odd thing to note was Vanoss's outfit. It was mostly made of black latex and normal cotton clothing, matching gloves and boots on his appendages. There was a yellow insignia of an owl branded across his chest, and the weirdest part had to be that he was also wearing a parachute with yellow straps that acted as a utility belt of sorts.

"Just take it off, consider that an order." Felix crossed his arms "I'm waiting."

"Might as well give in, Vanoss! He got the daddy stance on!"

Felix rolled his eyes as a third voice suddenly boomed out from somewhere else in the room, and he turned to see another AI standing nearby. They wore a hockey mask, a blue hoodie loosely zipped up to his midsection "you're just waiting for a whooping, ain't yeah!?"

"This isn't-"

"Talk to us when you learn to enunciate, Delirious!" Vanoss suddenly butted in, causing a spurt of laughter from everyone else that was in the room.

"You starting shit, Vanoss!?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, get over here you owl bitch!" The AI named Delirious suddenly pulled out a knife, which Felix intercepted before an actual fight could occur.

"Stop it, both of you!" Felix took the knife and drove it into a nearby table, reminding everyone just how strong their leader actually was. Delirious glared at him from behind his mask before rolling his eyes and walking away with a huff.

"What a rowdy, uncontrolled bunch..." Felix frowned as he scanned the rest of their audience. Nearly all of them wore masks like Vanoss and Delirious, the designs ranging from pigs to monkeys as they were all animal themed. Those without a mask ether wore facial art and/or odd fashion choices. Only a few looked 'normal' and even then they had their owl little quirks "then again, it's the chaos that makes them a force to be reckoned with..."

Felix turned back to Vanoss, who had begun to pet Hoodini with the back of his hand "okay, Batman rip-off, take off that mask already."

Felix could practically hear Vanoss's eyes rolling before he stubbornly pulled off the head mask. If Felix hadn't known it was Vanoss beforehand, he would have been blindsided at this reveal. Vanoss had two distinct sides to his personality. There was the supportive, serious side that he showed when in the presence of the other Experts and where his work determined the safety of the city...

...then there was his sassy, chaotic, sarcastic side that he reserved for when he was hanging out with his little group of friends. Whenever they got together, Vanoss would jump into this weird outfit and unleash his uncontrolled side. They tended to unleash their chaotic humor out on the Viruses, hence why they took so many patrols in the first place. They all crowded up in a green and yellow bus named the 'Banana Bus' and tore off into the distance whenever they could.

Felix realized that he had made a mistake grounding Vanoss, considering that his friends hated to leave him behind, so now everyone was packed into Vanoss's private quarters, shouting jokes and picking fights with each other inside a closed space instead of out on the Viruses.