Rebel Arc Part 1/2 (Chapter 60-71)
Bizure walked ahead, unhurried, letting the growing crowd of early-morning onlookers find their best angles. He paused at intervals, making sure the photographers had clear shots — Moto in cuffs, Snake being dragged, the exhausted faces of people who had been awake for two days.
"Smile, boys," he said. "You're famous now."
He spared Tanaka the cuffs.
He steered her into a side alley instead, away from the cameras, and leaned close.
"Flora military uniform. An apartment in the noble district. Two of your sisters are already there." His voice was almost pleasant. "If Chandler comes asking, we'll say you enlisted willingly."
He exhaled smoke.
"Tell your father the truth, and your friends disappear into a hole nobody finds."
Tanaka met his gaze without moving.
"Good," she said. "I never planned to tell him anyway."
The Morning After
[Sango — The Newsroom]
Later that morning, Bizure sat across from Thando, a slender young man whose robes bled colour at the edges like wet ink. Living birds of fiery orange and teal and indigo perched along the rafters of his office, shedding drifting droplets of colour that never quite reached the floor.
Bizure put both hands on the desk. "Write it exactly how I say. I stopped a massacre. They're degenerates who attacked a grieving father."
Thando smiled thinly and flicked two fingers. The ink birds dove onto a master scroll and dissolved into words and illustrations.
"Hero sells better than truth anyway," Thando said. "Consider it done."
By dawn, the papers scattered across every nation the trade winds touched. Gehen and Denga, as always, heard nothing.
The headlines were brutal.
Black Mist Moto — a pyromaniac mastermind behind a cheerful face. Evil Wizard Aemon — a disturbed youth wielding forbidden clones. Serpent Chumani — a poisoner who manipulated Lady Hawk. The Fallen Heir Najo — charged with murdering his own father for power.
Jeffrey: a patriarch and patriot. Bizure: the hero who arrived in time.
Tanaka's name appeared nowhere.
[Nyika — Common District]
The paper reached Tinashe first. She stood on Naomi's porch, squinting at Moto's photograph in cuffs, and swatted it against her palm.
"That boy." Her voice was tight. "I did not raise him like this. Getting caught? Attempted murder? I will smack some sense into him myself."
Amber held her copy up toward the light, delighted. "He's famous! Everyone knows Big Brother's name now!"
Tinashe looked at her. "That is not a good thing, Amber."
Amber lowered the paper slightly. Kept hold of it.
Next door, Naomi read in silence. When she reached the accusation against Najo, her hands began to shake. The paper tore down the middle.
"They're tough boys," Tinashe said, the steadiness in her voice a choice she was making in real time. "The press lies."
[Nyika — Royal Palace]
The paper landed on Douglas's desk. His jaw tightened. He looked at Moto's photograph for a moment, then looked away.
"Summon Gwen," he said.
The Master of Fire stood before him moments later.
"Neutralise them," Douglas said. "They're liabilities now."
Gwen bowed. Embers trailed from his heels as he left.
The doors burst open before they had finished closing. Sukai came through them at speed, Mukai half a step behind.
"Did you read it?" Sukai said. "We have to help them—"
Douglas smiled. Slow, precise, the smile he used when everything was where he expected it.
"Do not worry," he said. "I've already sent aid. Everything is under control."
[Nirvana]
Sheu held the paper with both hands, the knuckles going white.
"Moto is in prison." She pushed it across to Asher. "We're going."
Asher glanced at the headline without picking it up. "He'll be fine."
"You left him in a foreign country."
"I left him in a foreign country," Asher agreed pleasantly. "And he's still alive, apparently. Character-building."
Sheu stared at him. The silence was the response.
Asher sighed. "Maybe this is exactly where we find out what he's really capable of."
[Tadex Bunker — Unknown Location]
Alicia read it with the mild amusement of someone watching a story go in an interesting direction.
"What have you gotten yourself into now."
Beside her, Cicada — a Sango officer, a live cicada resting on her shoulder — waited without being asked.
"Would you like to speak with him?"
"No." Alicia set the paper down. "This would be a poetic ending to his story. Stopped by a fellow peace seeker." She glanced at Cicada. "Go back to your surface work. I'll be in touch."
[Zen]