Victor Stone had resigned himself to the fact that he was completely alone in the world. He had comrades, but they were completely organic. He had people he'd consider calling 'friend', but they were organic as well. They had secret identities. They...
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Victor opened a portal to their next destination without even needing to be told. He knew Harper much too well to think that this most recent failure would stop her. She was a stubborn woman, and one that never succumbed to defeat.
"What the hell's wrong with that Bastion guy?" Harper ranted as they stepped out of the boom tube, and into an ancient Japanese building. "How can he not care about what's happening?"
There was a flicker of sympathy that washed across Victor's face, although it only lasted a few seconds. "Well, if we were raised to be Germany's secret weapon in World War 2, I'm sure we wouldn't have much faith in humanity either."
This seemed like enough to prevent Harper from saying anything further on the subject, but it was clear that she still didn't agree with the idea of sharing empathy with someone unwilling to take a stand against injustice. Everyone had a sob story, but that mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. What truly mattered was how someone let that past affect the future. Well, that was how Harper saw it anyway.
"Okay, whatever you say." Harper finally huffed, watching as a few teenagers draped in plain robes shuffled passed them. "Where are we?"
"A monestary." Victor answered vaguely.
"Yeah, I can see that, then what are we doing here?" Harper rolled her eyes beneath the cover of her helmet, and yet another group of people wandered right by them. They were whispering amongst themselves about the strangers, but didn't dare stop for long enough to ask any questions.
"We're here to see Mineko." At the silence that followed, Victor finally realised that she hadn't met this particular League member in her own time yet. "She's Barry's ex. Raizo's mom."
"Yeah...okay...and who's Raizo again?"
"One of the only kids with any sense of responsibility." Victor answered as they started walking through the hallway. The walls were painstakingly plain, as was everything else inside of this structure. "He's a quiet kid, and could topple whole areas in seconds if he wanted, but he's the one that helps evacuate the cities when a fight's about to happen. He even sticks around to restrict the destruction."
"Maybe the others should take a note from their parenting book." The halls became narrower, and the Atlas mech could barely squeeze through the space.
"I don't know about that...he barely sees either of them. In some way, I think his attempts to help people are a subtle way of gaining Mineko and Barry's attention. He partook in a few of the first battles, but it only worsened his bond with his parents. More so, it spelt the complete deterioration of his parents' marriage. I think he hopes that this will somehow bring them back together."
"Is it working?" Harper, surprisingly, did feel a little twinge if sympathy for Raizo - but only because he was doing the best that he could under the circumstances.
