The countless eyes piercing through his kneeling figure, the wave of emotions curdling in everyone's head, the intense gaze Talulah had as she looks towards Vortex, and finally, the immense pressure he was feeling. The situation can neither be called glorious nor detrimental, heck even no one could describe what they were feeling.
Reunion's hero has returned, and everyone was ecstatic. Each one of them had an assortment of expressions as they see him now standing before them. The leaders were bearing elated faces from seeing their comrade... well... most of them were.
Vortex's squad was no different from the rest of them, they were the ones who felt the most emotional. The itch to run and tackle him to the ground with a hug was rupturing. But before any of them could make a run for him.
"Vortex..."
Talulah's cold voice ran deep. She uttered his name with the intention of knowing.
"So you have returned with little to no notice."
"Indeed I have Leader, it's been so long." He replied solemnly with hints of impetuousness.
"Your return was quite unprecedented I'll give you that... very cynical like you always were."
Talulah's eyes held no mercy as he glared on to Vortex's unexpected arrival. It was as expected since his return was just out of nowhere and that it was during the time where the curtain of Reunion's glory was at its peak.
Why would he come back during this particular time? It was way too suspicious in her eyes.
Of course, she still had certain amounts of respect for him. But she can never be too careful. For everything was going according to her plan. Well, their plan.
"I must ask, why have you-"
"PAPA!!!"
Cutting Talulah's words, a small voice resounded as a small Draco girl ran towards a surprised Vortex. Hina, from the sight of her papa who was just a few meters away from her, triggered her pent-up emotions.
She couldn't stop the tears, her legs wouldn't stop moving forward before it finally lost control to a full sprint. There was only one objective that made her act this way, and that was to leap into the embrace of the one she missed so dearly.
Hina then leaped into Vortex's stomach causing him to stumble and drop to the ground. He shook his head and looked over to his stomach and saw Hina hugging him with all her strength. The warmth, the softness, the size, it all comes back to her. She missed the feeling of his embrace, it felt like the world to her.
"Hina..." His voice was soft, maybe even longing.
"...liar."
"Huh?"
"Papa is a big liar!" She looked at his face and shook him. "You left me! You left me! You left me! You... left me... y-you.... left... me..." As she bashed her hands on his chest, again and again, the sadness in her heart was ever daunting her arms. "I.. Papa... I-I hate you!"
Hina stopped her attack as she wept. She couldn't handle it anymore and broke down on top of him. No one can blame her anger on him, Vortex left her behind when she was just six years old. It was during the time when she thought that she had finally found her home within him before he ruined her hopes and disappeared. The sadness and anger on her face were evident and the tears weren't lying.
Luckily, Vortex wasn't blind to her sorrow.
*pat*
"There there." He put his arms around her and whispers. "I'm sorry..."
With those two words, Hina had lost it all and full-out cried onto his shoulder. She hugged him once again and refused to let him go thinking that he might disappear again. Even though she hated him for leaving her without any notice, she had already forgiven him with just his simple apology.
"You grew up well, I'm glad." He rubbed her head and back as he smiled beneath his gas mask.
"Mhm..." Hina shakily hummed.
Vortex is her supposed father and her savior, and that's the only thing that matters. No matter how much she suffered without him for the past years, Vortex was the only one whom she cared about along with everyone else in his squad.
And speaking of his squad.
"Vortex-sama..."
He looked forward and saw the rest of his squad gazing onto him and Hina. Each of them was either crying, smirking, and or running to him. In fact, by the time he could say some words to them, Ami had enveloped him with a hug, followed by an arm over his shoulder courtesy of Garu, Lireo crying his eyes out while kneeling and bowing on the ground, Nino at his side with tears on her eyes not knowing how to express her merriment, and Lana standing in front of him staring longingly as tears drip from her eyes.
"I miss youuuu! Vortex-sama!"
"Welcome back kid!"
"VORTEX-SAMAAAAA!!!!"
"F-Finally you came b-back!"
"Vortex-sama..."
Seeing each one of their faces, he couldn't help but reminisce the times when they would surround him with their antics. Their eccentricity paired with their loyalty to him, those vivid days within his hellish times were one he kept close to his heart. Despite his horrible past in Reunion, he met some wonderful people he could call his family within that period.
And seeing them once more made him feel elated and overjoyed.
"H-Hey..." He said. "It's good to see you all alive and kicking. Despite the situation right now with Reunion, you guys are holding up pretty well, I'm proud. Oh, and I told you that I'd come back."
Hearing his words, all of them couldn't help but feel that everything from now on was going to be just like what it was before. With their leader back in Reunion, their glory days will shine once again. Maybe they could finally know what their master meant by 'a place they truly deserved.
"Ahh, this sight brings me back! We were younger back then, Faust. Oh how much we envied Vortex's men before. Having a leader like him would be nice!" Mephisto stated with melancholy and Faust only hummed back as he lets out a small smile at Vortex.
"Vortex..." Patriot stared. "You..."
In the midst of all this, the snow Cautus looks on to the livid sight of the so-called 'strongest' squadron in Reunion.
"..." She was silent, and a little... pleased. Pleased to see that her impression of him was different in a good way from how he acts around his squad.
It's as if the way he treats his squad was familiar to her. A distant feeling, emanating from his actions to them
"V-Vortex-sama! I must ask!" Lireo got their attention as he now stood up. "With your return back here to Reunion on a sudden note, plus the current situation we have with Chernobog and possibly Lungmen as well, do you have any intentions of sta-"
As Vortex listened to Lireo, he couldn't help but sense the ominous heat coming from behind the fanatical Kuranta. Sensing the increasing danger, it wasn't long until Lireo and the rest of the squad noticed the heat. But before they can react, Vortex had rushed to Lireo's back in a split second as he confronted the source of the danger.
"What the hell are you doing..."
Numerous gasps coming from everyone around them fill the complex as they look on to the one who tried to assault Lireo. Vortex could only glare at the person who would do such a thing.
"What's the meaning of this... Leader..." He growled at her.
On her podium, Talulah had her hand pointed at Vortex who just swapped places with Lireo. The dark and irritated face she was displaying shocked everyone. Why was she doing that? Why did she point her hand at Vortex's men?
"Don't test my patience Vortex. There are more important matters that need to be discussed." She replied before dropping her hand down.
"Then why... were you about to use your arts on Lireo...?" He spat at her, staring daggers onto the Reunion mastermind.
"I was merely just trying to gain your attention, I would never hurt any of my comrades."
"...right." He was doubtful.
"There are some questions I have for you Vortex." She then talked. "From where we are right now, Reunion has never been this progressive since the times of your gallantry. We've established control over the nomadic city of Chernobog as well as driven out oppression from those who have persecuted us infected. Many of our comrades have sacrificed their lives for Reunion, and I will not let anything that will stand in our way of redeeming their wishes. But with your unexpected arrival, I have some... suspicions..."
Everyone in the complex murmured from her statement.
"Regardless of the achievements that you have accomplished during your days, I cannot simply let you join our ranks without telling us of your reasons for coming back as well as what you did these past six years. For those reasons, you have to answer my questions with utmost honesty... and, I might need you to do something for me before I fully trust you."
It made sense to Vortex that Talulah would ask him questions about what he had done these past years. He would happily tell her the things he did with Rhodes Island, he was sure that she'd be proud of his exploits!.... oh who is he kidding, of course, he can't. He has to bluff it off, although it is not that simple.
He is dealing with Talulah of all people, Reunion's mastermind. She can see through bluffs and lies to a big extent since she was their leader for so long. And he can't simply tell her everything for obvious reasons, so he has to be careful with his words and keep his nerves and emotions in check. Otherwise, he'd be so dead.
"Why?! Vortex-sama's done so much for us already! And you're saying he can't be trusted?!" Lana roared at Talulah, with the rest of the squad looking at Talulah in disbelief and irritation. "He's-"
"Not now!" Vortex reprimanded her. "It's fine. Reunion deserves an explanation."
Lana flinches as he looks back at Talulah.
"Ask away."
"Good to see you cooperating with me. First, what did you do these past six years?" Everyone stared at him for his answer.
It was now time to bluff it out, maybe add some truth to the mix to help calm his nerves in a way.
"To answer that question, it correlates as to why I left in the first place." He answered. "There were some... realizations that questioned my decisions from being in Reunion. I joined Reunion in the first place because I had nowhere to go and because I thought that it was a good way to achieve my personal goals. But as I thought, I was nowhere near reaching them when I joined."
Everyone was confused as to what he meant by personal goals.
"So I had to leave and find the right path for me. For six years I traveled from place to place, met different kinds of people, established friendly and personal relationships, helped the infected from different countries, and then I finally felt like I was actually getting to my goal."
"And? What is your exact goal?" Talulah inquired.
"That I cannot answer." He instantly replied.
Talulah stared at him as he stared back into her abyssal eyes. She wasn't sensing any disruptions in his mind, so she sighed and moved on.
"Second, why did you return to Reunion? Was it because we were finally close to achieving the highest glory? Was it self-interest? Or was it something else?"
"Hmph, I thought you already know why." He smirked. "It's because I promised to come back. Simple as that."
"So he. Came back. Cause he. Promised..." The budding interest inside Patriot spurred even more. "Very. Virtuous."
"If that's so, then third. Are you here to permanently stay?"
With the third question, everyone was now intently expecting an answer from him. And Vortex...
"No."
He gave it to them straight.
It was evident that most of Reunion was disappointed and saddened, but none were the most impacted than his squad.
"I'll leave in a few days after I helped with some endeavors. As I said, I promised that I would come back. But I didn't mention that it would be indefinite. I still have other goals to reach which is more important than the interest I have with Reunion. So sorry to break it to you, but I will be leaving."
"Y-You're going to leave us again?!" Nino probed him for an answer. "No! I won't accept that answer!"
"M-Master Vortex! Y-You can do this to us-"
"Quiet!" He roared back at them as they flinched. "We'll discuss my decision further once we're done here. There are some... things that I have to ask of you after all... So shut it."
Vortex's squad, although downed, obliged and shut their mouths.
"A shame, but since you have your goals, I won't stop you from leaving." Talulah assured him. "I'll only need your help for five days total. Until the day that you will leave, you must be under my complete command within those five days. After the contract is complete, you will no longer have ties with Reunion, is that fine with you?"
"Yes, I will wholly devote myself to Reunion's cause for a limited time." He lied as he breathed.
'So far everything's been going smoothly.' He thought.
Or so he thought.
"Lastly, I have one more question... Who are you really?"
"...huh?" The question baffled him.
"What is your real identity?" Talulah edged him on. "Despite all the valiant acts, the mythical feats, the pure loyalty, and devotion, just who are you Vortex? Who is the man beneath the hood and mask? What is his name? What is his race? Where is he from? Why does he go so far for Reunion? Who is... Vortex?"
He was stunned by the question, for it couldn't be bluffed.
"That I won't an-"
"Answer me." Talulah let out a heavy aura.
Vortex could feel that the last question was the most important one. And to his demise, it was one he never expected to be asked with and one he doesn't know how to answer. It was like it was naive of him for now expecting her task that kind of question.
"I must know who you really are before I can trust you once again. Your identity cannot be shrouded in the dark shadows any longer. It's as if you're hiding something from all of us. If you really are our comrade, then it should be no problem for the hero to reveal his name... maybe you're hiding it because you are not what you seem to be? Maybe..." She then pointed her sword at him. "...you are one of our enemies all along."
The shock was real, Reunion was in disbelief. They want to know who their hero really is. But if he's so hesitant about showing it, does that mean, to them, that he's hiding something that is threatening to Reunion?
"Oh my, what are you going to do in this predicament?" W smirked as she carefully watches the frozen Vortex. "Are you gonna show your true colors? Will, you finally reveal that Reunion's hero is actually Reunion's nightmare? I wonder what you'll do~"
"Take off your hood and your mask. Show us your entirety, Vortex. If not, then I'll consider you a threat to Reunion." Talulah warned him, her sword still pointed at him, but now her arts were also igniting as well.
Standing still, he didn't know what to do. If he shows them what's under the hood and mask, they'll know that he's Tempest. If he refuses, then his bluffing will all be for naught. One way or another, he's doomed. No way out. On the edge of collapse.
"To hell with that!"
Vortex breaks free of his trance and looks around to see his squad protectively covering him.
"Y-You guys?!"
"If you don't want to show them who you really are, then it's up to us to protect you from the harm that comes with your decision." Garu explained.
"It's fine if you don't tell us who you are Vortex-sama! All we know is that you're the one who saved us and that we devote our lives to you!" Ami announced.
"N-No one hurts Papa!" Hina then, out of protection, ignited her black flame arts.
It was at this point that Reunion was now cautious of Vortex and his squad. The possibility of them going rogue wasn't to be ignored anymore. The leaders were also waiting for Vortex to move. Despite him being an inspiration to them, they have to be cautious if ever he will do something drastic.
'C'mon Y/N, think! Hina and the rest's lives are at stake here! I have to think of something!' He wracked up his head trying to find the ideal path out of his situation.
Was there a way to show his identity and avoid any people from knowing that he is Tempest? The horns and halo would clearly give away his identity as Tempest. His face could also be a factor in it as well, but his red eyes were covered with black contacts so there's a possibility that they won't jump to conclusions. And his real name, well, only a few would realize it.
As every millisecond passes, he thought of every possible plan of action. The risks, the outcomes, he skimmed through everything. A few seconds pass, and he hasn't found the best action to take.
But then.
'...wait, that will work...'
He finally thought of what he should do. Although.
'But heck it's going to be painful... just like before...'
He finally knows what to do, but he's not gonna like it one bit. But since there was no other way, he would have to face the consequences that would come after.
"Fine then." He looks on to Talulah. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO I REALLY AM?!"
He shouted out loud, startling his squad, Talulah, and the rest of Reunion.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO I REALLY AM!!!"
After his declaration, he unsheathes one of his short swords and places it inside his hood. To the shock of everyone around him, he swipes his sword around and proceeds to cut off his horns and corrode his halo with his arts.
"AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"
His hood flies back and his mask falls off. The gushing blood from his horns oozes down his face in a gruesome and disgusting fashion as the dust of his halo flows away. With the sight of his bloodied face now seen by everyone, multitudes of shocks and gasps fill the entire complex.
"W-What did he just do?!"
"Did he cut off his horns?!
"W-What the *profanity*?!"
"His face... so that's what he looks like..."
"But, his face looks familiar... but his eyes are clearly just like always... black."
Everyone was in extreme shock over what Vortex just did, including Talulah herself. The other Reunion leaders were also stunned over the gruesome reveal of his appearance.
But that wasn't the pinnacle of it all.
"I AM Y/N L/N!!! I AM THE ONE WHOM YOU CALL VORTEX!!! I GAVE MY EVERYTHING TO REUNION BEFORE, AND I SHALL DO IT ONCE MORE!!!"
The declaration was momentous as they all hear his real name and see his true face. No one in the complex knew what to do next after his breathtaking reveal. So they were only frozen in their places. Minds blank and unresponsive from the happening.
But because he finally said his name, two certain individuals were more shocked than the rest.
"Y/N?!" Patriot exclaimed in a stupor. 'So it really is you!'
And then.
"Y-Y/N?!" Frostnova's world seemed to stop as the name enters her brain, a million thoughts and emotions run through her body as the realization hits her like a truck.
It was him, the one she sought so dearly.
But.
With the adrenaline subsiding plus the pain all coming back to him, his body couldn't handle it anymore as his mind blacks out and his body falls to the ground with a loud and bloody thump.
"Vortex!!!"
"Vortex-sama!!!"
"Y-Y/N!!!"
It was now time for him to face the consequences of his reveal. For once he wakes up, encounters, questions, and incidents are bound to occur.
So much more since a certain Cautus is dead-set on confronting him when he wakes up.
▌│█║▌║▌║ To be continued... ║▌║▌║█│▌
A/N: Next chapter will be the one you guys wanted so badly. It's about Tempest and Frostnova.