a few days ago
Radioactive POV
Radioactive glared at the Iceberg. He stared- no, glared- back at her, expression blank.
"Alright, explain this." She growled lowly.
"Uh, this-" He gestured to the files and several bones that spilled from the bag. "It's the remains of a high level information seller that I killed three years ago. She looks like you, if your hair is short. And if you remove your contacts."
Iceberg picked up a black cape, faded red on the inside, with a hood. "This has some Undergrounds entry chip in it, so you'll be able to make it in there at least."
"Hold it, you say I have to cut my hair short and remove my contact lenses?"
"Exactly." He replied, not missing a beat. "You're going to cut all your connections anyway, so it shouldn't be a big problem."
Radioactive narrowed her eyes. "You know I'm farsighted."
"Yes, your highness. If you cover an eye with a one-way eye patch, it might work."
She could almost hear Solus's voice. 'Emo!'
"Oh, did that hit you personally?" Iceberg had the nerve to ask.
Radioactive glared at him. "Wasn't that the entire fucking point of that sentence? I might be hot headed, but I'm not dumb."
"I see you've improved."
Radioactive held her tongue this time. She looked away angrily, grabbing the bag and the cape. She started to walk out of the warehouse.
"You sure there isn't anyone else I can disguise as?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it.
"Even if I had another one, I wouldn't give it to you." Iceberg tilted his head down, a mock smile stretching his face. He began to walk behind her towards the exit.
She groaned, irritated. "Why the hell do you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate you. You're just easy to manipulate." He laughed.
"Fuck you very much." Radioactive hated him. She wished she could just chop his head off or something. She could, very easily too, but Iceberg had resources. He may not be a fighter, but he can use people like puppets. Iceberg hoards a lot of useful items, unlabeled and random so that only he knows what's what. Five syringes in a box, any of them could be a lethal injection.
Trainers had to be on a certain level of strength. Iceberg wasn't strong. Hell, a pre-graduate could beat his ass. But he had a different kind of strength. Iceberg was strong in the head.
He was a rouge. A deserter. Iceberg left the clan many years ago for who knows why. Rumors say he's smarter than even Cyanide.
That wasn't just a rumor. Radioactive had seen that fight firsthand. Cyanide's mastery at the scythe roughed him up, he had multiple heavy injuries -he was literally holding his guts to avoid having them slide out- but he knew how to tear people apart psychologically. That's a skill that -in Shinigami's words- 'you have to think to obtain'.
"Ice head." Radioactive said. "Who would you lose against? Tell the truth."
Radioactive and Iceberg made a small pact, where once a day they can ask a question and the other has to tell the truth. She was surprised that Iceberg suggested it, because he can tell whenever she's lying and she can't.
She remembered Shinigami's lesson on deception. If the person you are talking to can lie to you undetected, then don't believe anything they say.
"Who I would lose against? Hmmm, lets see." He pondered.
Iceberg sighed. "Solus."
"For fucking reals?!" That was not the answer she was expecting.
"I have basically no combat skills. The only things I do in a fight is predict, and take advantage of my opponents emotions." He explained. "If you look at a person, you can almost instantly get a basic idea of what they live for."
"Well, I can't." Radioactive scoffed. She paid attention during the class, but she just couldn't get it. Reading people is like a foreign language to her.
Iceberg rolled his eyes. "My point is, almost everyone has something I can take advantage of. Cyanide? She has pyrophobia." -Radioactive raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"So why Solus?"
"Solus..." He narrowed his eyes. "She doesn't seem to be living for anything. Once she is ordered to do something, she follows the order down to the letter. There's no stopping her. There's no leverage I can use."
"Huh." Radioactive replied. She never thought of that. But now that Iceberg brought it up like that, it was impossible not to think of it. Solus did always seem cold.
If Iceberg figured this out then it was no secret to Shinigami. A wave of anger rushed over her. As far as she knew, the Shinigami never addressed it. Who would? Every boss wants a proficient employee.
The alternative to this was that Shinigami hadn't figured it out. Which means Iceberg thought of it before the Shinigami noticed, and that is both highly unrealistic and disturbing. If Iceberg could outsmart the Shinigami then they were doomed.
Radioactive stopped. If that was the case, then why did Shinigami allow me to have the seraph? Did she anticipate this?
She thought back to her time in the Clan. She always did think that the Shinigami knew best. As though a bucket of ice water was dumped over her head, she realized that this was what Solus must have thought as well. And she never questioned it. What reason does she have to question it? Solus has nowhere else to go. Nowhere to go if she got banished from Ivyclan.
The same was true for Radioactive. But for her, it was different. She had nothing to lose.
Radioactive looked up and caught the hint of a smile disappear from his face. He had been fucking smiling.
If the person you are talking to can lie to you undetected, then don't believe anything they say.
Fuuuck. She messed up. Iceberg had done that on purpose.
Or did he let her see his fading smile just to throw her mind into chaos?
"You really suck at this." Iceberg laughed dryly.
That bastard. Radioactive looked forward to ripping his head off after his use is finished.
(D̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶?̶)
This is turning physological real quick
Meme: