Fight Squad or Flight Squad

You can leave, go home and be with your loved ones, safe and sound.

Or you can stay at the school, fight with honor, and die with your peers.

This announcement from the headmaster had been weighing on everyone’s minds, and soon enough, Kiki, "who seemed to be unofficially appointed in the group to gather the squad for get-togethers, "had gathered everyone through text to discuss this. They all ended up meeting in Alyce’s room to talk, some fidgeting and nervous, some somber, some distant.

“Okay!” Kiki started everyone off with some determination in her voice, raising her arm up, “So...we all got the memo. ...What...what are we going to do?” Her voice faded a bit, and her arm slowly returned to her side. An awkward silence filled the air as everyone looked towards their feet and hesitated. It’s not like anyone was about to yell ‘Die, of course!’ but it seemed as if they were all waiting for a response from one another. They all had someone who would mourn for them, so...what do they do?

Well, except for one who didn’t consider having a family, “...I don’t care.” Li finally spoke up after messing with her spike piercings for a moment, “I can stay here and die. I’ve got nothing else to do anyways. Might as well fight for the only thing important to me.” She said, cold-by-standard red eyes glancing over at everyone, who met her gaze with shock. She shrugged at them in return, her mind made up.

Faina was the second to speak up, “...I will stay as well. My family will carry on without me.” She took a deep breath, “I will stay and fight for whom I have already promised my life to. I will not leave my comrades.” Li side-eyed this comment, Faina returning the gesture briefly before looking back at the group. She was Li’s closest friend, so she probably made her decision accordingly, and the silver-haired girl knew this. She wouldn’t oppose the decision though; it was her own choice after all.

Another silence filled the air. The girls all glanced at one another, awaiting for another decision to be made.

Fight and die, or leave and live.

“I…” Lorelei finally squeaked out, trembling slightly and on the verge of tears, “I...want to stay and fight for everyone! Alyce jumped up to comfort her, hugging the smaller girl with one arm while she moved her glasses slightly to wipe her eyes dry, “I...I can’t just leave everyone! If I can fight then I’ll fight! Until the end!”

“You don’t have to, if you would rather be with your family.” Alyce said very softly, and very gently. She had been doing a lot of mom friend™ things lately, so she’s gotten better at how to properly handle people. “No one here would be upset with you.”

The pink-haired girl shook her head vigorously, “No! I…” She started trying to wipe her eyes before tears slid out, which prompted her roommate to hug her a bit tighter, “I...I love dad and maman, and my brothers and my sister,” she said through a shaky voice, “but...I love all my friends too! And I want to be here with you! So…” She sniffled, then shot a determined look, as much as she could possible muster, at the others, “I’m staying! And, I’ll make sure I fight as hard as I can so they can be proud of me!”

Her senior smiled, hugging her closer, and Lorelei finally hugged her back. “What about you?” She asked, peering up at the red-haired girl.

“Me? Hm…” Her face fell flat, and a sort of sadness crossed her blue eyes, “...I’m...not sure, honestly.” She sighed, hesitating for a moment. “...I do have a family back in England waiting for me to come home. They’ll be so sad if they knew I transferred here only to die before I graduate…” Her eyes trailed off for a moment, lost in thought. The other girls watched until she spoke again, “...I’m going to train. Very, very hard. There has to be even a small chance we can make it out of this.” She faced towards them all, “I will stay, and help the fight.” She held a strong and tenacious gaze that was unusual to see from her, and she was set on staying. “I will not leave you all behind. You are my family too.”

Deep down though, it still hurt. She had a family she loved and she wanted to see Francesca again when she graduated. She didn’t mean to swap daughters with her own family. But..she didn’t want to leave what she’s been here for either. And maybe if they work together hard enough...maybe a miracle can happen? Her family was safe in another country over the ocean, but the girls here weren’t. It was a shot in the dark, but she can still try. She would have to write to them and indirectly bid her farewells though, as would most of the girls staying would have to do with their families of course. And that part...was probably going to hurt the most.

Another silence settled over the room, the girls now glancing at those who haven’t answered yet.

Finally, Dawn spoke up, “...Guess I gotta stay too then. Can’t leave my family behind!” She sounded prepared, but she honestly wasn’t. She just wanted to sound hopeful, as she always did. She smiled, “I’ve been fighting here for so long...what’s the use in turning tail now?” She nodded, her floofy hair bouncing a bit as she placed her hands on her hips, “Yup...I’m going down with my comrades. Mom and mama would understand my decision. I’ll make sure to say goodbye as properly as I can.” They would understand, that was no lie. This was a war after all, and her parents would accept their daughter’s decision to fight, but still…it’s never been that easy to part with someone for war.

Her roommate spoke up shortly after, speaking up loud enough so they could all hear past her mask, “I...wanna fight too.” It was still a bit muffled, but they could understand well enough, “I wanna stay…” Her eyes trailed downward, and Alyce moved to her next. She didn’t move as an arm was placed around her, moving her sandy bangs out of her eyes a bit. “You all...have done so much for me. It’s the least I can do…” Dawn placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her as brightly as she could muster. Evie met the girl’s eyes momentarily before looking away again. They couldn’t exactly fight the decision. She had nowhere to return to and she was too scared to go back to the facility again. She could write to whoever needed to hear from her then stay with the people that gave her strength.

Across the room, Misaki closed her eye, “...I will stay as well.” She said somberly, “I stayed here to fight for this school, to fight to save everyone, and that’s what I’ll do until the end.” She didn’t lose her eye just to leave in the end, right? She felt horrible inside for leaving her parents though…. They had wanted a child for so long, and now the one they came to love so much is going off to be killed. They don’t even know about the eye thing yet. The blue-haired handmaiden didn’t have the heart to tell them. And now she’ll just be vanishing on them…. But her honor couldn’t allow her to leave, and so she will stay, and she will fight until her last breath.

Beside her, Kiki laughed nervously, “...I guess, I’d rather stay here too.” She smiled sadly, “Besides...it’d be nice to see Mahiru again. And…” Marin. Her voice trailed off before the name could leave her mouth. “We’re...all here because we wanted to fight parasites, right? So, I’m going to stay and fight parasites!” She didn’t think much about home, since she didn’t really like being with her parents too much anyways. But Misao...well, Misao would probably move on pretty quickly, the blonde thought. The girl was always traveling around anyways, and she was all about being honorable and righteous, so she’d understand wouldn't she?

Kiki chuckled again, though her face still brimmed with uncertainty, “So, I’m staying.” She traded glances with Misaki, “It would only be right if I did.” Misaki looked as if she was about to fight it, to tell the younger girl to go find safety, but she said nothing. She simply closed her eye, and nodded in confirmation. Kiki had changed so much, they all have really, and they all deserved to live happily in Misaki’s mind. She couldn’t bring herself to tell everyone to leave while acting a martyr though.

“Aww, Sugar!” Avalon spoke up across from her, “You’re all so sweet!” She smiled cheerfully, despite the gloomy atmosphere, “Well, you’ve got me all fired up now! I’ll have to say goodbye to mom and pop, but...I think they’ll be understandin’ about the situation. They know I can make my own decisions.” She twirled a few strands of her green hair in her fingers; she had been pondering her decision so much that day that she didn’t have time to curl it like she normally does, so it was laying flat over her shoulders. “What about you, hun?” Her eyes met her roommate’s, “Stayin’ or leavin’?”

Kris shrugged in reply, “It hurts to just straight-up decide to leave my dads, but...I can’t leave my friends either. Tough choice.” She sighed, brown eyes meeting Xanthe’s violet, “I’ll do whatever you’re doing, I guess. Can’t leave my one and only behind!” She grinned, and Li rolled her eyes in response. Faina patted her on the arm to keep a fight from breaking out. (Apparently Xanthe didn’t tell Li that she and Kris have been getting along a bit better recently.) “So, wherever you go, I go. What’re you doing?”

Xanthe’s eyes were nearly completely vacant. It seems that out of everyone in their little squad, she was the one that was having the hardest time making the decision.

“...Xanthe?” Kris’s confidence dropped, watching and waiting for Xanthe to move, to respond somehow. But she didn’t urge her on, she waited patiently, as she has learned that is what’s best to do for the waifu.

In the black-haired handmaiden’s mind, the decision wasn’t quite so simple. She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t want to simply accept the end. She felt compelled to stay with the friends she’s made, to fight alongside them as she has trained for, but at the same time, leaving was the smartest option. She would be safe and not fight in a battle she would have to prepare to lose for, and she could be with her family. And what about her family? What about her father and little Tina? If they were in Hill Valley, would they be in danger? She’d have to get rid of them if she stayed...but she knew they wouldn’t leave. They didn’t accompany her to Canada to leave without a good reason. And this would not be a good enough reason for Mihail to leave. He already lost his wife, he can’t so easily give up his daughter as well. And Xanthe knew this. So what should she do?

“...I don’t know.” She finally said, her eyes lighting back up a bit more as she returned from deep thought, “I don’t know yet. If I stay with you all, that will put my father and sister in danger. But if I go…” She hesitated, “...I don’t want to leave. I would rather fight with the slightest chance we have remaining. I have already promised my time to this school, and they should receive my assistance accordingly.”

Kris nodded, “I understand.”

Xanthe looked up at her, then back to the group, “I...will talk to them. I’ll see what I can do. My father knows I make the right choices for myself, so perhaps he can be persuaded.” It was going to be much harder than it sounds, though. What father would just readily accept their daughter walking through the front door with ‘Hi dad, I’m leaving to die in a couple days!’? Not Mihail especially.

Sighing to herself, Xanthe’s eyes fell straight to her feet again, and Kris reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it a bit for reassurance. They exchanged glances once again, a crestfallen perplexity in the smaller girl’s face that was extremely rare to see.

Dawn was the one to speak back up again, “So...all of us?”

The girls all met each others eyes, as if confirming that their decisions were their final ones (save for Xanthe, who was more or less pending). “Yeah...I guess...that’s all of us.” Alyce continued. “We’ve all decided...to stay and fight alongside each other.”

A few of the girls smiled a bit sadly, some of them looked away, fully aware of what that meant for them. They couldn’t exactly rejoice over something like this. This wasn’t a “yay, teamwork!!” moment. But they all at the very least knew they weren’t alone. They had each other. Now just to wait and see what word got around, what everyone else on campus decides.

Leave…or fight.

The Fight Squad will live up to their name. They have chosen to fight.

Fight for the school, for Vesta, for their friends, for the world.

Author's Note

Helloo

Another quick writing that I had made for one of my old RP groups (totally not rushed at all, ahahahahaha;;;;)

This one was for the finale, right before the final battle commenced. Whilst the majority of the other students left to find safety, the Fight Squad (and other main characters ofc) decided to stay and try to take down the Parasite Queen and her army, despite the consequences that may follow.

Luckily for them though, they made it! And Misaki got to use a super cool ability at the last minute, which she really deserves because she's gone through a lot to get to this point. (Alyce did too, but Misaki's was more significant and cooler tbh, lol)

[Also side note...I don't know how the fuck Lorelai suddenly got glasses because she did not have them at all ever but now she does so....idk?? Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this besides "get all my thoughts down before I forget them", lol.]