OC Stories

Chapter 3 - Conflict

By the time Simona had finished her reunion with her brother Mir, it was late in the evening. Simona could tell that Mir was tired, so she wasn't surprised when he asked her if he could come over to her house and stay for the night. She accepted - Mir was her brother, after all, but not only that - he was one of the only members of her family who supported her for not following in her family's footsteps of the military. During their stay at the cafe, she noticed how weird Mir began to act after she revealed more information about her new close friend, Altitude. That same behaviour was kept during their walk.

Mir was interested to see Simona's home - even though they knew each other very well and kept close contact, he had never seen nor been in her new home. After about 10 minutes of walking, they reached Simona's home - an apartment in a large complex. As he entered her sister's apartment, Mir took a look around: Simona was living in a decently-sized apartment with a single bedroom with a small balcony, a bathroom, a living room, a kitchen and a dining room. Mir quickly excused himself to the bathroom, while Simona turned to the living room and sat on her couch to watch TV. As Mir returned, he sat down next to Simona:

M - "I'm sorry sis, but can you turn off the TV for a second? I want to talk to you about something."

Si - "Oh? Sure thing."

M - "I know I was acting weird back at the cafe at the mention of your friend, but I thought it unwise to talk about it there. I wish to clear things up here in private."

Si - "I gotta be honest, big bro, you really were weirding me out back there. Please, I want to know what bothers you..."

M - "That friend of yours... Altitude, he was called, right?"

Simona nodded.

M - "You also mentioned one of his friends being a black hedgehog with white stripes, yes?"

Simona nodded once again, she was beginning to get a bit nervous

M - "That hedgehog is named Zark, and I have a bit of a conflict with him..."

Si - "Whaddya mean?"

M - "I am a general of the MNS, you know. It's my job to make sure there is peace in our continent, and that includes dealing with criminals and deluded vigilantes... like Zark-"

Si - "You mean to say he's a criminal? A bad guy?"

M - "Yes, sis. And I highly suspect that that Altitude friend of yours is a probable accomplice of his-"

Si - "But- But when I was talking to them when I was over with them, they seemed like such nice guys!"

M - "Ignorance is bliss, Simona. They may seem like good people at face value, but Zark is the reason I'm half-blind right now."

As Simona was thinking things over, Mir kept talking about Zark and how he's a dangerous person to him. Simona was noticing that Mir was avoiding one simple thing - the root of their conflict:

Si - "I get you big bro, but I'm missing a piece of the story here..."

M - "What is it, sis?"

Si - "You haven't told me about how it started"

M - "There really isn't much to it. I once captured one of his accomplices, who revealed information to me about him, so with their reluctant assistance, I tracked him down and fought him, however - I lost. I barely managed to escape after his former accomplice betrayed me in the last moment and left me alone. Zark saw an opportunity to kill me and took it, thankfully he missed by a small margin, only managing to get my eye."