Chapter 5: Deceiving

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Walking through the forest to the Reunion base, Talulah walked into W, who seemed to be waiting for her. Talulah frowned upon seeing her. Had she seen everything that she did? No matter. She fulfilled part of her plan already. She walked past W and  decided to ignore her, but W spoke up that instant.

"So, did it all go well?"

"......"

Talulah didn't turn to face her, but stopped walking. She looked ahead, thinking about whether to answer her or not. She considered not answering, but she wanted to know how much W knew about her "operation". 

"If you're asking me, then it means you already know. How much of it did you see?"

"If I was lying, I'd say I saw none of it."

".... Until further notice, do not tell anyone else about it."

"Wasn't planning to, but I hope you know what you're doing. Your "interest" may turn out to be more than just that."

"Enough. I know what I am doing."

"Very well. He IS an attractive young male anyway. I'd love to see how this turns out for you, Talulah."

".........."

Talulah chose to let those words go. Nothing could possibly go wrong with her plan. If she failed, nothing of it. But if her bet paid off, then she would have a clear path to victory. She walked past W, ignoring her comment as she felt a little hot on the cheeks. Unacceptable. Next time W spoke out like that, she was going to have to burn some rules into her mind. She then entered the Reunion base, ready to inform them all of their next plan.

After the meeting...

"This concludes our meeting. We will not be pushing any further, but we will see what they plan to do next. We already have some of our people looking at their every move. Any questions?"

Talulah clarified at the end of the meeting. This time, she was thoroughly focused on the meeting plans, secretly making sure no harm would come to the Doctor himself. Every Operator was free game, but not the Doctor. This raised some questions from the others, however. 

Mephisto: Why did we stop the pursuit? We could have ended them right there and then.

Crownslayer: Perhaps, but I suppose Talulah has her reasons.

Skullshatterer: That stop in pursuit made absolutely no sense. I don't see how pulling back could help-

W: I scouted ahead of all of you. It was smart to pull back then as they were retreating. They had traps up there that would have either wiped out most of the forces that made it up there or trapped them. That lady, Ch'en. She had already prepared something, assuming the worst would happen.

There was silence from the other members as W spoke. Talulah gave a look her direction, raising an eyebrow. Those were lies. There was nothing above the hill, but the other leaders didn't know that. What was W playing at? At any rate, it worked. The other leaders grew silent and quickly retracted their opinions.

Skullshatterer: Forgive me for my outburst, Talulah. I was not aware-

Mephisto: Ah yes. Me too. Of course you had everything carefully planned out, like a proper leader.

Crownslayer, but mumbling: What a bunch of suck ups...

W remained silent after that. Once the meeting has dispersed, W walked out but came back in half an hour later as Talulah was looking out the window, looking at the forest where she had the talk with the Doctor. Giving a sigh and turning to W, Talulah gave her permission to speak.

"Speak. Why did you lie to them?"

"I told you I was on your side, did I not? It is a subordinate's job to carry out their leader's wishes after all."

"That can't possibly be it for you. You've always had your own reasons for doing things."

"Perhaps, but this is quite entertaining. Especially coming from someone like you."

"........."

Talulah couldn't bring herself to trust W. She had definitely been helpful to the Reunion and her, but there wasn't anything sincere about it. She seemed to just do all of this for fun. However, she had a feeling as long as she was entertained, she would help out. 

"You talk too much, W. But however, do you still plan on "helping" me out?"

"Like I told you, it's a subordinate's job to carry out a leader's wishes. However, I didn't expect to see that side of you in the forest, even if you were just toying with the Doctor's mind."

"That was nothing but child's play. My true objective is to humiliate him and have him out of the way. A place where he wouldn't be trusted and a place where he would lose all honor and dignity."

"If you say so. However, you should watch your back. Mephisto was talking about you when he left."

"Tch.. what is that fool going on about this time?"

"He said something about you not following your own goals. And something else about proving it."

"I see. Keep an eye out on him for me. If anything goes astray, you tell me."

"As you command, Talulah. I'll go now."

"You do that. I'll be waiting for the next part of the plan to happen. He'll most likely come back to meet me in the forest again."

"How do you know that?"

"Because now his mind is clouded. Rhodes Island will tell him what he is and was, but they won't be any help to him."

"That's a far fetched plan. You should do more to lure him in."

"If I have any more careless actions,  Mephisto will have his guards keep an eye on me for suspicious activity. I'll play the waiting game now."

"I suppose. I'll get going now to get other things planned."

"Fine by me. I never liked talking to you in the first place."

"Aw, don't say that, Talulah. We're all friends here."

"Friends would be the last thing I want to call you. Now go."

With a smirk and light chuckle, W exited the room in a swift, graceful motion. Talulah sighed and sat down on her designated seat. Indeed, she would need to be careful and wait now. It all depended on the Doctor. And also about what W would do about Mephisto. 

"Let's see where your mind takes you, Doctor."

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Author's note

Warfarin: To clarify, Morgan is Sirius Nakamura. 
Morgan: Hey! Stop exposing my identity!
Warfarin: Why? The next chapter is about you anyway.
Morgan: ..... why did I agree to this again?
Warfarin: You had a braindead moment and you agreed.
Morgan: Meaning it was not consensual.
Ta-chan (Talulah): I know, right?
Warfarin: Now now, the readers like what they see. Soon, the whole discord server will be a fan base for the two of you."
Morgan and Ta-chan: .....

Yokai holds up a sign as a fight can be heard from the back. The words "You'll never get me alive!" can be heard from the background. 

On a more serious note, sorry for the slow updates! I've been caught up with a few things, but I promise I'll keep updating it daily!

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