Chapter 18…
Asher frowned behind his helmet as he ducked out of the way of a rubber bullet. He spun low to the ground and swept the Jackhammer MKII from his back. The helmeted boy dropped to one knee and opened fire, releasing a long burst of rounds in the direction of Mauve.
The lynx girl reacted with half of the speed she normally did, her aura flaring to absorb the impact of several bullets as she darted out of the way. Mauve transformed her blades into two knives again and sprang forwards, taking two more bullets to her weakened aura before getting within range.
Asher kept the barrel of the Jackhammer MKII low as he began dodging several of Mauve's lightning-fast strikes. She was smart to press up against him, denying him the distance required to effectively aim his rifle. Asher could have used his shotgun to retaliate, but feared hurting her when her aura was already low…
The boy growled and thumbed the button near the trigger, causing the hidden bayonet to spring free and unfold. He thrust the bladed end of his rifle down at Mauve's leg; she hissed when the blade glanced off her aura and she jumped away to gain some distance. Asher crouched lower and began firing off bursts from the Jackhammer MKII again, forcing Mauve into a forward roll to dodge the bullets.
As she rolled forwards Mauve transformed Static back into a pistol, intending to fire it into Asher's gut and then finish him with the blade of Nimbus. She rolled back onto her feet and adopted a crouch, holding the pistol up to enact her plan.
Mauve felt a spike of panic when Asher dropped his rifle and sprang his hand forwards to grip the pistol slide, holding it in such a way that when Mauve fired it resulted in a stovepipe jam.
The leader of Team MARS groaned when her partner roughly grabbed her wrist and used his impressive strength to flip her over his shoulder. She landed in a heap on her back, feeling the barrel of a pistol press into the top of her head.
Mauve turned her tired amber eyes up to stare into the red visor of her partner's helmet. She made a show of tapping her gloved hand on the ground, the universal sign of a forfeit. The lynx girl sighed in disappointment as the pistol was removed from her head, her world spun when Asher lifted her back to her feet.
"You were a little rough there…" Mauve muttered, rolling her shoulder to undo the throbbing tightness that was beginning to flare up.
"Sorry," Asher apologized in a gentle tone, he removed his hands to twist off his helmet, setting it gently onto the floor. "But you were sloppy…"
"Was I?"
"Unusually so… you normally dodge my attacks without a problem."
"Maybe it's an off day for me," Mauve answered.
"Maybe…" Asher muttered back
Asher narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his girlfriend, who had been unnaturally quiet for most of the day. Mauve wasn't an attention seeker, but she always carried herself with confidence and natural-born authority; she had been the near opposite of that since yesterday, when he and Rust had returned to the dorm after a few games of pool. Mauve didn't even react when he joined her in their makeshift blanket nest, keeping her eyes locked on the book she was reading.
Well… trying to read… he didn't see her turn the page even once…
"What's going on with you?" Asher questioned, seeing Mauve's eyes snap up from her feet in an uncharacteristically meek way.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been very 'un-Mauve' like today… and yesterday…" Asher clarified. "Is there something going on? Anything I can help with?"
Mauve sighed and looked down again, Asher knew that he had struck a nerve.
"I don't really feel like talking about it…" Mauve answered, solemnly picking her weapons off the ground.
"Are you sure? I can keep a secret… you know that?"
Asher saw Mauve stiffen.
"I just- I just don't want to talk, alright?" Mauve responded, her tone slightly more heated than before. Asher wasn't a fool, he knew not to twist the knife when it wasn't required.
"I'll respect your privacy then," Asher spoke quietly. "But if you ever need me…"
"I know!" Mauve smiled lightly, walking up to press a kiss against his cheek. "It's nothing to do with you…"
"Alright then," Asher smiled, a fresh thought churned inside of his head. "How about you and I go to dinner tonight?"
"Just the two of us?"
"Just us," Asher nodded. "I assume Atlas has a restaurant that caters to the not-so-rich…"
"Can you find a place that serves fish?" Mauve asked, a sparkle returning to her amber eyes.
Asher's face tightened into a grimace… he hated fish, both the smell and the flavor. "I guess we can find a place that does..."
Mauve noticed his look and raised an eyebrow, a small smile still tugging at her lips. "I will never understand your hate for fish…"
"And I'll never understand your love of fish," Asher joked. "I think it's gross, it tastes fishy…"
Mauve laughed at his bad joke, a simple action that made Asher feel happier.
"I'll get dressed up nice then… now, don't you have to talk to Doctor Fern about something?"
Asher chewed his lower lip. "There's no rush to make an appointment… want to fight for another round… rematch?"
Mauve shook her head. "I think I'm done for the time being…"
"You sure?"
"Yeah," Mauve nodded, she pressed a kiss against his lips. "See you later?"
"Of course…" Asher answered as Mauve walked away. "Dress up nice!"
Mauve waved over her shoulder as she left the training room. Asher watched her leave, eyes locked on the perfect curves of her gently swaying hips...
Asher blinked and flicked his own nose as a punishment… this wasn't the time for thoughts like that… not when she was clearly upset about something.
Later...
After storing his gear in the nearby storage lockers, Asher began the walk to the medical bay. He had agreed with Doctor Fern to return whenever he had another one of the strange "dreams."
Asher walked around the corner and approached the secretary, who was still seated at the desk.
The older woman smiled at him in greeting.
"Have you come to speak with Doctor Fern again?"
"That's correct," Asher answered.
Rose reached across the desk space to the call button, pressing the indicator then relaxing into her seat to re-focus on her paperwork. Asher took this as the sign that the doctor was on his way, walking away from the desk to take a seat in the guest chairs.
Doctor Fern appeared moments later, instantly recognizable by his shock of green hair and eyeglasses.
"I take it this is about the… issue?" Fern asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's correct," Asher nodded.
Fern beckoned Asher to follow him with his hand and led him to a private room. Asher took a seat in the chair again, with Fern sitting across from him with a notebook.
"When did this dream occur?" Fern asked.
"Last night," Asher answered.
"Did you sleep alright?"
"Mostly," Asher muttered. "I woke up thrashing like I normally do…"
"You felt like you were choking?"
"Yep."
Fern scribbled the information in the notebook before turning his eyes back up. "So, what was this one about?"
"It was another memory-" Asher began to recount the dream...
Asher found himself watching his first proper fight at Signal Academy, which occurred perhaps a week after unlocking his semblance.
Asher watched as a younger version of himself stalked onto the fighting stage, an early prototype of the Jackhammer held in his hands. This was long before the rifle had dust capabilities, it was only a gun then...
His opponent was a shorter girl of the same age with a long bob of bright yellowy hair. The hair around her ears and the back of her neck was dotted with feathers, an indication of her faunus heritage.
"You ready?" Canary asked, giving Asher a bright smile.
"Hope so!" Asher joked back, flicking off the safety of his rifle.
"Begin!" Taiyang called from the bleachers.
Asher unleashed a hail of bullets immediately, stepping back carefully to maintain proper distance. Canary moved with great speed, unsheathing twin sai and whirling the blades to block the shots. Her technique was strong but imperfect and Canary hissed when several bullets snuck past her blades to strike her aura.
Canary sprang forwards in a forward tumble to duck under the bullets and slice at Asher. But the grey eyed boy activated his new power, which threw him five feet to the left.
Asher winced when he saw the younger version of himself stumble around to regain his footing. He remembered how difficult it was to use his semblance when he first unlocked it.
"Stay still!" Canary half-laughed and half-shrieked, springing forwards again to close the distance. Young Asher used his semblance to gain distance again, righting himself quickly enough to reload his rifle and send off another burst.
Canary's semblance was nearly orange by the time the rifle clicked and Young Asher yelped in fear when the girl's twin sai swung inches from his face.
Young Asher growled and dropped his rifle, ducking low and activating his semblance again. Canary felt the air leave her lungs when Asher barged into her at high speed, sending the two sprawling across the floor and knocking Canary's aura into the red.
They both lay still on the floor for a moment, tangled up in a heap of limbs. Young Asher groaned as he untangled himself and shakily stood to his feet, holding out a hand to help Canary up, which the girl accepted.
"You looked ridiculous out there!" Canary chuckled.
"But I won!" Asher grinned, his vision was then drawn to his arm, where several wisps of smoke were beginning to curl off his skin…
"And that was it?" Fern questioned, his pen flying as he took down all the information.
"That was my memory… yeah," Asher nodded. "In all honesty, the dreams are even more accurate to my memory than I'm capable of well… remembering."
"Such a strange situation!" Fern exclaimed. "What about the figure who speaks with you? Did they make an appearance?"
"Always do…" Asher sighed…
Asher frowned as the world dissolved into smoke again. He spun around and was unsurprised to find the ghostly visage of the stranger.
"We were cut off last time…" Asher muttered.
"That we were…" The stranger nodded. "I believe you had questions for me?"
"I did… who the hell are you?"
"The million-lien question," the stranger chuckled. "In all honesty… I have no clue."
"What?"
"I was like you once… I had the ability to jump back and forth."
"Then why are you here?" Asher narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"I- I stayed too long," the stranger answered in a low tone. "I can't really explain it… one day I came… and I lost the ability to leave."
"Leave where?" Asher spoke heatedly, he held up his arms and spun around in place. "What is this place anyways?"
"I don't know it's true name…" The stranger shook their head. "It can exist on the same plane as Remnant… but it's not Remnant… not really."
"Then I woke up thrashing!" Asher exclaimed. "It's always when I'm about to learn more!"
"I believe the stranger once said it was done to 'protect you' is that correct?" Fern questioned.
"He said it was my brain trying to protect me…"
Fern chewed the trigger of the pen he was holding, clearly deep in thought. "With your permission… I'd like to run an experiment on you."
"What type of experiment are we talking about?"
"I'd like to give you an electroencephalogram on you!"
"Gesundheit," Asher deadpanned. "In layman's terms...?"
"Right," Fern chuckled. "I want to put electrodes on your scalp to monitor your brain activity while you're sleeping."
"You think that will help?" Asher questioned.
Fern sighed and leaned back into his chair.
"There are three possibilities that can explain what is going on," Fern muttered, holding up three fingers as he narrated. "One, this is all an elaborate lie and you're seeking attention. Two, you might be suffering from some form of mental instability. Three… well…"
"What's number three?"
Fern adjusted his glasses. "I have a friend who works in Vale General Hospital… I pulled some strings and he sent me your records. You mentioned that during the Battle of Vale you experienced a… mysterious evolution of your semblance?"
"It was like I was a… poltergeist or something…" Asher muttered, his eyes becoming glassy. "I walked right through people… no one could see me."
"Yes," Fern nodded. "There was also an observation of smoke manifesting around your wounds…"
"Smoke is normal… it's an aftereffect of my semblance."
"But it never bound your wounds together before…"
"No… it hasn't."
"To answer your question…" Fern muttered. "Possibility number three is an evolution of your semblance… perhaps it is deeper than you think."
"An evolution?"
"It happens with many huntsmen and huntresses as they grow older," Fern explained. "Now… on the topic of electrodes…"
"I have plans for dinner tonight… but I'm willing to do the tests… is it alright if we wait a few days? There's no guarantee I'll have a dream anyways..."
"Sounds fair to me!" Fern smiled. "I'll get the appropriate forms..."
Several hours later, down on the streets of Mantle…
A tall and wiry man walked quietly through the wet streets of Mantle. His fine dress shoes squeaked against the water splattered pavement, the rich brown leather impeccably clean and polished.
Complimenting these dress shoes was a finely woven suit, coloured in pleasing dark blues and yellows and adorned with brass buttons.
The man's bristly moustache shifted as he stared down at the glowing blue screen of an advanced scroll, his thumb carefully flicking against the screen. His whiskery lips curled into a grin as he manipulated a nearby traffic light, resulting in two cars colliding in a fender bender.
Truly… the coding that Mantle used was laughably outdated. He could cause as much chaos as he wanted…
...but chaos needed to serve a purpose… even if it was fun.
Doctor Arthur Watts slipped his scroll back into his coat pocket and raised his umbrella up to conceal his face, ascending a staircase to bring towards his destination. He hopped up onto the curb and approached the door of the Omega nightclub.
The burly looking bouncer at the door stopped him for a moment, pressing a finger against his earpiece for a confirmation before allowing Watts entry to the "fine" establishment.
The disgraced scientist carefully slipped his scroll out from his pocket again, accessing the many security cameras in the establishment within seconds and powering them down with the flick of a button.
He was back in Mantle after all… a dead man such as himself had to be careful.
Doctor Watts gained entry to the staff door and ascended the steps towards the office of the man who had summoned him.
"Doctor Watts!" Verdant Bulwark warmly greeted, rising from his leather desk chair to greet his visitor. "Thank you for coming!"
"It is always a pleasure Mr. Bulwark," Watts responded, holding out a gloved hand so that he could receive a strong shake. Verdant was a pawn… but so was he… and the crime lord possessed a certain amount of respect and subtly that Watts found lacking from his other associates, other than perhaps Hazel Rainhart.
The green haired man gently pushed a finely carved chess board to the side of the desk. When they had first met they played a friendly game, Verdant had been a frightfully intelligent opponent and had claimed victory despite Watt's best efforts.
"Must be cold out there," Verdant mused, his warm smile not matching up with his cold eyes. "Can I interest you in a coffee?"
"That sounds wonderful."
Verdant wordlessly stood up and walked towards an artisan coffee maker that had been pushed into a corner. He snapped his fingers loudly, signalling the guard in the room to leave and grant the two some privacy.
"Same way as last time?" Verdant asked as he began measuring the beans.
"Please."
"I will never understand your gaudy coffee habits," Verdant chuckled as he set the machine to run, allowing the coffee beans to rest in the air for precisely thirty seconds. "I've always preferred my coffee plain…"
"I will not resort to barbarism, not even with my coffee," Watts responded.
"You sure? A nice cup of sludge really gets the blood pumping."
"I am searching for relaxation I'm afraid… getting into Mantle while its borders are closed is such a hassle."
"You don't need to tell me," Verdant responded, taking the fresh cup and providing the appropriate amounts of sugar, hazelnut cream and milk; stirring the fine concoction with a small spoon to spin the mixture around in the cup. "Smuggling products has become much harder when all outgoing and incoming crates are inspected… quite frankly I'm thinking about having my men build tunnels under the walls."
Verdant gently placed the cup in front of Doctor Watts. The wiry man accepted the cup and took a long sip, humming in contentment as he drank the liquid.
"Why does an artisan such as yourself spoil your life drinking black coffee or that dreadful instant swill?"
"Like I said," Verdant chuckled, resting his hands on the desk. "A cup of sludge really gets the blood pumping… especially in the morning."
Watts set down the half-full cup and smiled.
"Pleasantries aside… may I ask why I was summoned to Mantle? I believe I suitably explained how to contact me through the creature…"
"I hate that thing," Verdant growled before allowing his face to soften. "I would have used it if I didn't need you here in person…"
"Oh? And what for?"
Verdant leered over the desk as Watts took another slow sip. "You used to work in the Atlas labs… correct?"
"For quite some time… before my unfortunate death," Watts answered. "Why?'
Verdant smiled. "I need all the information you have about its layout and security, anything you can give me. Also, in two days I am going to need an appraiser… so to speak…"