A/N: End of semester… brain is melted… sleep schedule is all over the place and the passing of time is… weird. But regardless, here we have a chapter. I started it a bit late, but managed to finish it in an… okayish time period.
Eh, rambling. Let's focus back on reading. Hope you enjoy it.
Beta: Genatools
Chapter 19: An Assassin's Poison.
The Outlaws had made the news, cross kingdoms news at that. They hadn't been identified, but anyone that had met them knew it had to be them, they were hard to confuse with any other group of people. Even then, the number that did know them was quite low in fact, even less the number of people that knew how to contact them. Two of those people however were important in Mistral, and they were… surprised to say the least.
"I did not expect something like… like this! How?! Why?! Do you have any idea the damage that your chase did to the city!?" Councilwoman Cinzent said through the scroll, she was upset, but more than that she was perplexed and surprised. Even if the chaos that had ensued had been… out of proportion she now understood what the four of them were truly capable of, and that worried her.
"... We made some mistakes. We cornered Santolin and thought we would be able to get something out of him. But he surprised us." Morgan said. There was no way around the fact that the entire ordeal could have been avoided if only they had been more careful, perhaps even kidnapped Santolin instead of talking to him first.
"When you said personal matters I didn't think that you were doing your own… What was it? Personal? Related at all with families and the chaos in Mistral?" Cinzent asked.
"You could call it both," Cole said.
"... You'll have to go in detail. Because otherwise…" Cinzent thought for a second and then sighed.
"If you must… What would you have to do against us?" Aiden asked. It was a genuine question, as the four of them knew Cinzent's position.
"If the chaos escalates… if you cause a tremendous amount of losses. It would be safe to say that our deal would be off, and I would be forced to take measures against you. One way or the other you are acting with part of my authority, meaning any damage you do is my responsibility… regardless of how much good you may have done, regardless of how many lives you've saved-"
"It doesn't really add up. Can't really justify loss of life like that. Even if no one innocent dies… well… doesn't make some things count." Jack said with both hands clutched together and with his elbows on his knees. The four of them were having this call on their rented apartment, and in fact, waiting for another caller as well.
"I see you understand…" Cinzent sighed. "I'll admit, part of me is glad, but another is troubled. It would be so much easier if you were reckless idiots that didn't care, it would give me an excuse."
"You would take that chance without knowing more?" Morgan asked her.
"Wouldn't you act to catch someone if you could? Would you hesitate to end a partnership if that person was a danger to others close to you?" She asked them.
"Hmm… Touche." Cole said.
"Hmm?"
"Ah, that's… never mind. We get it."
"Hmm… I cannot commend you, even with the effort you put to save civilians, and how you made sure everyone that wasn't a gang member survived."
"Are you…? It sounds like you almost did." Jack noticed.
"Please… as much as it has set the tone of the tale by the news, and the public. I cannot ignore the damage and the potential loss. You saved many, and any killings that happened stay out of the range of public executions."
"We only kill when we have to. If someone can be taken by the police… well, they can have them." Cole said.
"I'm glad to hear that, but it still doesn't change the fact that much destruction could be avoided… negativity hasn't sparked. In fact, the people are in awe. But collateral damage could have been avoided. The gondola will take more than a couple million Lien to repair…"
"We are aware of what could have happened. We don't actually want it to happen, shouldn't have happened. We won't let that happen again if we can help it." Aiden said.
"If you can help it…" Cinzent sighed once again. "I realize that you four are far more than I thought, you are ready to go to war. It is war after all… and maybe perhaps I don't even know how far it will go. Even this violence doesn't compare to what some groups are willing to do, and they won't care for who gets hurt. Maybe I underestimated the families and gangs… the Taupes kept throwing people at you just to make sure you didn't succeed… and for what? So that a smuggler wouldn't speak?"
"When someone can share even some of your secrets… you do your best to make sure they don't. As for the Taupes… they are ruthless, the same as many other organized criminal groups. They don't forgive or forget, and they would stop at nothing. I don't know if it makes sense, but they won't hesitate to get back or fight whoever crosses them." Aiden said.
"I should know that, I do know it, and yet… it kinda baffles me how many goons and people they can throw, whether it be the police, huntsmen, or other gangs. And there's always more."
"They are like vermin, one is squashed, another takes their place," Aiden said, for him, it was always the case back in Chicago. There was always someone willing to commit a crime, and always there was a group willing to go the extra mile in being outright despicable.
"Just… tell me the only thing I'll have to worry about are repair costs. If a disaster happens…"
"We don't intend for anything of the sort. We don't want it to happen. If it comes down to it, our priority is saving people." Morgan reassured.
"I… I believe I will be able to sleep knowing that. Hmm, it seems like Lionheart is finally ready." Cinzent said as someone attempted to join the scroll call. Lionheart soon appeared, face to face with the team and Cinzent via scroll.
"Well… it seems you are still one piece. I must say, I'm genuinely impressed by your performance. I don't know many huntsmen teams that could tackle a situation like that, or think on the fly to save the people in that gondola." Lionheart said.
"Feels like that's the best compliment we are gonna get." Cole mused.
"That's because I cannot say much more. I'll commend you for keeping people safe… but those people had to be saved because you… pursued the Taupes." Lionheart said.
"They have already told me, and they understand the situation, far more than I thought they would… Other huntsmen have been more aggressive while defending themselves." Cinzent said, getting a sigh from Lionheart as a response.
"Matters of the force used by huntsmen and other aura users inside the cities have always been complicated. We are lucky this one of the few where no civilian was… I don't believe even injured. Negativity didn't spark or rise either. As far as the public goes… there are mixed views. Many are scared and wonder if it's safe to even go out if the safest parts of the city could become a warzone. But on the other hand, others are in awe at your capabilities, and it's the first time in a couple of years that one of the families has been so utterly defeated. They've been humiliated, and if they can be defeated… people are reassured."
"It shows they aren't immortal, people become less afraid of them if there's someone out there that can take care of them, they have more confidence," Morgan said.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's not pretend you'll be able to take care of every single Taupe that's out there. And what you did could have perfectly ended in a tragedy, perhaps you amongst the casualties." Cinzent said.
"Hey, we get it, could've gone much worse. And I don't know how other huntsmen deal with this kind of thing. But the fact is that we can fight them, we are able. We have a chance to do some actual damage to them, and we did. And don't tell me that it hasn't reassured people in a way." Jack argued.
"You think it's that simple!?" Cinzet raised her voice.
"I know it's not! It was just… shitty, terrible. But we pulled through, and I think we've heard enough about what could've gone wrong. Because we know, we were there. But at least-... Eh." Jack felt like arguing, he wanted to point out that no one else seemed to be fighting the families, but he didn't know that. From what they knew, control over Mistral was a far more covert operation from the family's side, there was a reason why the government was able to maintain control in the capital after all, and the more he thought about it, arguing about fighting the families… it was because not many could do it. Hell, he himself alone wouldn't have been able, only as a team did the four of them stand a chance, others would've failed to catch Santolin, and even less could have saved the gondola.
"Even if you damage the Taupes, that's just the Taupes… the other families remain. All of them operate behind the curtains in some manner… I don't even know how you manage to pinpoint the smuggler." Cinzent said.
"We have our ways," Cole said.
"Seems like you do." Lionheart granted. "But what Cinzent is trying to say is that going in an outright reckless war against all of the families is not a good idea. You could say we are always fighting them, but their first instinct will always be to hide, elude… and then probably attempt to influence politicians, ht members of the council, or threaten them, or even assassinate."
"The fact the Taupes fought that hard means that you managed to force them. You surprised them and made them react. It would be a good thing if they didn't respond with such excessive force… though the Taupes have been acting odd, reckless even… six years ago they would have laid low like the rest of the families. But now, something changed, and it seems almost like they believe they can take on all the other families." Cinzent said.
"When did this start to happen?" Morgan asked.
"The Taupes began to… "expand" four years ago. We don't have much information on the house leaders, but we have an idea that there was a power grab. From there, aggressive extortion and hijacking of the operations of other smugglers and even from other families, they quickly gathered resources and people they could use before the other families or even us could notice."
"Lightning warfare, just go in and take them by surprise, rules of engagement be damned," Aiden said.
"Precisely. The other families didn't appreciate it, but soon enough the Taupes had enough strength that it didn't matter. It could've been much worse, but then we sent huntsmen and huntresses to the far reaches, the places where the families, bandits, and gangs are most influential. The families themselves reach a sort of stalemate… we also had troubles in nearby settlements, we couldn't answer when places farther away were much worse, but it seems both Grimm and bandits also met a roadblock. Their activity dropped about a couple months ago as one of the major routes became safer." Cinzent explained, the group deciding to remain silent about the hand they had in those events.
"Even so it has hardly calmed down. Across nearby settlements, negativity seems to have dropped, and Grimm and bandit attacks decreased, but the families are just itching to find a weakness in each other, something they can use." Lionheart added.
"This is not a normal conflict, it is a shadow war. There will be a breaking point, our best bet is that that time will come when one side gathers enough support from other crime guilds or groups, and moves in to take down the other side." Cinzent explained.
"So this war will end when one side assassinates the other?" Cole asked.
"Makes sense, they all keep secrets from each other, in each city they have different territories. Mistral is a game of influence. They don't know who's who, or where their bases are. It's a race to see who gets the right amount of people on their team, get someone that can spill where the enemy is… and then end it right there." Aiden said.
"Well… that does mean that… an entire family could be out of the picture just suddenly, forever." Jack realized.
"And the power dynamic shifts completely, usually in favor of who wins," Cinzent added.
"Winner takes all…" Morgan mused.
"Indeed. Now… I've answered your question, now I feel you need to answer one of my questions." Cinzent said and the group perked up. "Your adventure with the Taupes and the smuggler was a personal matter for you. You clearly have a personal stake in this, with the Taupes in particular. I need to know… why are you chasing after the Taupes?"
The group looked at each other, looking for any sign that someone agreed to tell the story or if they owed Cinzent that information. They had already told Lionheart though, there was little business in hiding it from Cinzent, and looking back at her, they knew that keeping secrets from her wasn't the way to keep her from considering them threats. Or to get her to trust them for that matter.
"We probably should…" Cole commented.
"Yep." Jack agreed.
"Hmm…" Aiden wasn't sure, but he knew that burning bridges was probably a bad idea.
"..." Morgan was also torn, she knew that it would make sense realistically. But she also knew that no matter what Cinzent's point of view was, they wouldn't stop. They would get to Okro one way or another… and that was the problem, there was a very good chance something like that chase could happen again. If Cinzent was expecting a promise, she didn't know if they could keep it… For a second she wondered when had her life taken this turn. She knew the reasons, but it surprised her how willing she was to stick to her guns, and the goal that she and her companions had set out.
"Cinzent, you must know… we came to Mistral because we have our own enemies. And they happen to be people that work for the Taupes. If it helps, we know the situation… and I can say that neither I nor any of them would go out of our way to cause chaos or for negativity to spread, we were guards in a village, we know how much negativity can attract the Grimm." Morgan pointed to herself and the others.
"But we gotta take care of them, we couldn't stay in the village because of them, and we've gone too far to let it end here. Someone has to do something about them." Cole added.
"... I'm listening." Cinzen simply said.
"We already told Lionheart here," Jack said.
"To some extent," Lionheart confirmed.
"To try and keep it short, we are after a Taupe enforcer that put a bounty on our heads." Aiden began. "Like Morgan said we were guards, but we also patrolled the nearby roads and took care of Grimm nests, and of course of bandits."
"We eventually got someone mad at us. Okro, leader of The Golden Blades, bandits that took over some roads and even took control of one town. He put prices on our heads and assassins came after us. We chased him away and dismantled his operation and kept trying to chase him to put an end to him… but the bastard always escaped and always gave us a headache. Now he's run back all the way to the people that employed his gang in the first place, The Taupes. He's acting as one of their little enforcers now… somewhere." Cole finished the tale.
"It's in line with what you have told me, yes," Leonardo confirmed.
"I see… so they were in control of the bandits, and you drove them out…" Cinzent began to realize how truly invested the group was. "Hmm… and what did you manage to get out of the smuggler? He's in custody, but he has told the police nothing."
"He gave us a name and a location," Morgan said looking at the others before giving Cinzent and Lionheart information, they shrugged and she went ahead. "An assassin called Wolfsbane, and a palace-like building in the Yumen District, Tao street."
"Wolfsbane! I know the name… he has crossed some mission reports from time to time. He has had a hand on a couple of disappearing huntsmen, yet we never had a hint of his identity or location." Lionheart said.
"Yumen District is in the lower levels… this palace…" Cinzent wondered.
"Seems to be a stronghold of some sort," Aiden said.
"If that's the case…" Cinzent pondered for a second. "We need to be careful, the Taupes will be on alert, finding them on the streets will be difficult for perhaps a couple weeks. This stronghold is a base that could be stormed… but we would need more support from the police to pull it off. What about you, Lionheart?"
"Eh… me? I… most of the huntsmen are in your service, but personally, I don't have many that I can divert for this, not when many are going back and forth in missions to the fringes." Lionheart told her.
"With the council, it is the same. Other Grimm and more violent bandit groups take priority, to stabilize supply routes and trade." Cinzent sighed.
"Wait… am I hearing right? Are you considering this? You are going to help us?" Cole asked Cinzent.
"As reckless as your stunt might've been… I must admit you are uniquely skilled, even compared to other huntsmen teams. I cannot argue or discredit your capabilities, you've shown that by taking care of bandits, criminals, and Grimm."
"You've also managed to take down the Howler. That thing has been a thorn on our side for years." Lionheart added.
"They did? Huh, well it shows you are resourceful. You are in the perfect position to aid us and I cannot discard that, even less when you seem to know and care for what's at stake."
"The entire future of Mistral's underground." Jack quipped.
"Correct. And for Mistral to win no side of this war must win over the other, whatever the families lose they must not recover. They must not win any more control over Mistral itself." Cinzent said.
"For that to be the case Mistral needs to remain stable if you continue to help us then criminal and Grimm activity will continue to decline, and if done right give no chance for any family to swoop in. Stabilize the city and its surroundings, and not only will more assistance come to you, but I'll do well on my promise and deliver any information on this Okro." Lionheart said to them.
"My deal extends as well. We are trusting you to help us and Mistral safe and the chaos low, you do that. And I'll assist you as well." Cinzent said.
"This seems rather opposite to what you were saying before. About making sure something like that chase doesn't happen again." Jack pointed out.
"That is exactly why I'm doing it. Even if you four are able to take a stronghold on your own, the chaos and collateral damage would be too large for that to be done smoothly. In order for it to go right, you'll need assistance… ease the police and the huntsmen of their work and they'll be able to help. That way not only will it be done smoothly, but it will also be done right."
"No offense but you might be hoping for too much with it going smoothly," Aiden commented.
"He's right, there's always complications in some manner, not to say that move a force of that size and for them to not notice it's far-fetched," Lionheart said.
"It will at the very least remove the Taupes from that stronghold, and it has a better chance of working than if any of us tried to tackle the issue alone."
"What do we do about the stronghold then? Wait until you are ready?" Cole asked.
"I believe we would be able to put up a decent force in secret in a couple of days… a couple of weeks for this operation to be green-lighted." Cinzent admitted.
"That's not good enough." Morgan went ahead and said what the others were thinking.
"I know, but as we said, you help us and we should be able to help you. If you rid the police department of some cases or the activities of other families, then I can pull some favors and skip the need to pass this through the others in the council." Cinzent said.
"Isn't that… against the rules?" Morgan asked raising an eyebrow.
"I won't pretend I don't know that some of them are in line with the families. If I can convince the police force rather than them it will be better." Cinzent huffed. "Regardless I will hold you to that you do your work professionally. More snitching and pinpointing like what you did with the gun runners, and in that same discreet fashion, would go a long way to make sure violence doesn't escalate, that the public feels safe, and for them to see proper action against criminals."
"On top of making your life easier." Cole chuckled.
"Goes without saying. Until we are ready, you may scout the fortress intel would be useful as well… but please do not try to enter that palace or handle it yourself. Please." Cinzent begged.
"For you… I can say we'll wait. We still have more to figure out ourselves regardless." Jack said while crossing his arms.
"Thank you. I expect to hear more from you in the following days." Cinzent smiled, some of her worries being placated, but not all.
"Well, I guess there goes our previous deal… I don't think you'll pay anymore right?" Cole asked, and was then suddenly smacked by Jack and Morgan. "Ow! Hey!"
"Heh… if you do good work, you'll be compensated like we agreed." Cinzent let out a small chuckle.
"... Truly?" Aiden spoke first, all of them surprised they would still be paid.
"Please. I know that both dust and ammunition do not come cheap. I'll be expecting good results. For now, though, I'll have to leave you."
"Cinzent, thanks," Morgan said.
"I hope my trust is in the right place," Cinzent said as she ended the call.
"Ehem." Lionheart then brought their attention. "I must thank you for reassuring Cinzent, but I do hope you mean it, the situation is already complicated to begin with. Nobody in Mistral knows exactly who can be trusted and who is with the families. Taking a chance to loosen their grip on the Kingdom is nothing short of extremely ambitious for someone like Cinzent."
"If it helps, we have our own score to settle, we can at least be trusted to go against the families." Morgan told Leonardo.
"Perhaps that's why she's deciding to trust you. I hope you can do some good work, as Mistral would be grateful. My deal and compensation still stand as well. If you can please take care of any mission I can give, the situation with Grimm in the Kingdom with one of the largest territories is a constant matter… and if you can ease our work, maybe I can aid your cause with some huntsmen." Lionheart offered.
"Don't worry, we will… I say taking care of problems is almost natural to us." Cole affirmed.
"It's good to hear that. Now… let's hope that if anything happens inside the city… that it might be in a less spectacular fashion. Eh…" Lionheart shivered. "I hope this is for the better. I also hope that we all come out of this with a better Mistral. Now… I do have work to do."
"Goodbye, Lionheart." Morgan said.
"Yes, yes, goodbye. Whenever you wish to help, I'll give you four a huntsman mission you can take care of." Lionheart said before ending the call. The living room of the apartment until most of The Outlaws let out an explosive sigh.
"Fucking hell." Jack leaned back on the sofa.
"That whole deal could have gone better," Morgan said with her hand on her forehead.
"No shit," Aiden responded.
"Hey… could have gone worse right?" Cole tried to look at the bright side. "We did save the civilians in the end, and managed to not hurt anyone other than the thugs and goons."
"Yeah… but now they are gonna be keeping an eye on us. And they are worried... if we do something stupid or act on our own without good reason, we might end with police chasing us." Morgan told him.
"Also means that if we want to stay on their good side, we are gonna have our hands somewhat tied up… well not much really, but still. No half-assing anymore, we need to end fights quickly before they try to run away, or call their friends." Jack told the others.
"Well… cannot say that wouldn't be better regardless," Cole admitted.
"Yeah… true." Jack sighed.
"If we really think about it, maybe it's a good thing," Aiden said, and surprised the others. They did know about his previous life, and that Aiden was the one amongst them that would take matters into his own hands in a heartbeat if he deemed it necessary. But then again all of them were the same to some extent…
"You are saying we should follow what they say? I mean we will, makes sense, and they are right more or less… but we are not here to clean the streets for them. We can't go through everyone just to get to Okro. Or wait for them if he's right there." Jack said to him.
"Yeah, true. But this isn't about only Okro anymore, it's an entire war. Cinzent might be ambitious, and might don't know all the work and the things she'll have to do to stomp out the families, but she's right. We can't fuck up. Eventually, the gangs, smugglers, and families will recover to some extent, crime always comes back. But I'd rather that when this is over, that we make a difference, and that we don't hand over Mistral to another family on a silver platter." Aiden explained.
"... You and me both." Cole agreed.
"You are right… Okro is just one man. If that happens, heh... It would be an empty victory." Morgan also agreed.
"It wouldn't be a victory at all." Jack voiced out. "Okay, you guys are right, so… we are working with them." Jack guessed.
"As much as we can," Morgan confirmed.
"Eh… it's probably for the better… or until we are forced to do something crazy again, or fight them like we did in Fairwind." Jack mused.
"That can also happen, yeah." Cole ran a hand through his face. No matter how you looked at it, Fairwind had been a massacre. Against bandits in the end, but there were multiple reasons why something like that couldn't work inside a city, fear and panic being one of them.
"For now let's do as they say. Let's try." Aiden said.
"And if we have to do something crazy, let's try and make sure it's with good reason," Morgan added.
"No yeah, I agree with that," Jack said.
"Mhm… but hey, we'll be doing what we do best regardless. One way or another we are gonna get to those bastards. I say it'll be fun." Cole said with confidence, it wasn't the first time he worked with police, and it hardly stopped him before, it would work out somehow.
"Hmm, probably." Aiden chuckled.
"Gotta say, more fun than I was expecting." Cole quipped as he jumped off a cliff and into a flying Nevermore with a Thunderdrop. Making it collide with the side of a mountain.
The four of them had asked Lionheart for a mission they could do, and he had something indeed. A month ago a huntsman was sent to investigate a bandit gang that seemed to be operating near the mountains, the theory being that they had a hideout inside of it. The huntsman had gone dark and had been out of contact long enough that others began to worry, a month was a fairly long time for what was at worst three days of travel, scaling the mountain not included. This kind of mission was right up their alley, going into Grimm-infested territory, with the potential to find some bandits in search of a missing person.
They had paid a bus driver and reached the mountain they were to search in a day. As they were scaling up the mountain they used whatever methods they could to track down the huntsman. They searched for the actual bandits the huntsman had been tasked to find, they took note of distant Grimm and figured out what path would be best to take. Aiden also figured out a way to track his last known location… calling him. Aiden had developed a trick with what he had available at his disposal in his scroll and his virtual machine to use caller and responder ID as a signal they could follow as long as the scroll was ringing and the other side had some sort of official ID.
He did need access to the mission boards and huntsman license software, but after a bit of convincing and stammering from Lionheart, he got limited access to just the ID of the huntsman they were looking for. It was enough for them to get a flickering signal. They followed the signal, traversing the mountain for nearly half a day until they found the point where it led them, all the while Jack and Cole using their powers to see if they could find a residue of energy, or a past echo that could hint at the huntsman location. What they found gave them a very clear idea of what had happened.
The huntsman had gotten into a serious fight, but not one against Grimm, as the bullet holes in multiple directions indicated firearms on both sides. It hadn't been against bandits either. Jack used his powers and looked into the past. How far? He wasn't able to pinpoint, but he saw a scene and retold the events. The huntsman fought another aura user, a very good one at that. The assailant had a scorpion tail and practically danced circles around the huntsman before seemingly landing a serious blow with his arm blades and then with his tail. The fight slowed down as the scorpion faunus pushed the huntsman around, up until the huntsman got back up, used dust to create a fire wave, and then retreated while firing his gun, the faunus seemingly letting the huntsman go.
The huntsman's scroll had been knocked out of his pocket during the fight, and as the huntsman ran, the scorpion faunus stomped on the ground while laughing. Leavin the scroll useless, but by sheer luck, it seemed to have remained functional enough to receive signals from calls, allowing Aiden's trick to work. With that knowledge, they knew they had to speed up as they had a potentially fatally wounded person that probably needed assistance or medical attention… if he was still alive. Jack and Cole were able to get a much clearer view of the path the huntsman had taken, going deeper into the mountains to escape his assailant, they found time echoes, faint static signatures, and even an old blood splatter. Morgan aided them, and with their powers combined they were able to find traces of the injured huntsman as he seemed to stumble and try to patch himself as he traversed different paths of the mountains.
They followed the signals for four hours until they were able to pinpoint the most recent time echos and static echos. They followed those traces to the far reaches of the mountain, however, the huntsman was not the first thing they found, what they found was not only Grimm, but also the bandits that the huntsman had been hunting.
"Hyaa!" A bandit tried to swing an improvised club at Jack, but Jack merely sidestepped, then avoided a second swing with a Time Dodge, and then Time Rushed as he imbedded his axe into the bandit's thigh, dragging him along and then using the momentum to throw him to another bandit that was shooting at Morgan. Sending both of them over the edge and down the cliff screaming.
"Okay, where the hell did you all come from?! Mind telling?" Jack yelled as he used his Time Stop to freeze to bandits in time, same time as he shot backwards with the D12 to a bandit that tried to sneak up on him.
"Fuck you!" A bandit yelled back just before being blasted and shredded by Kinetic Blast combined with ice dust from Morgan. "Eaarg-!"
"I don't think they'll answer!" Morgan called as she Phantom Shifted to avoid gunfire from three bandits and then used a normal Kinetic Blast to throw them over the edge. She also quickly turned around and immolated two Beowolves with her Superthermal. One died in the explosion while the other she finished off with her sword as it tried to put out the flames on his dark fur.
"As long as they are dealt with…" Aiden called as he used his baton to break the leg of a Beowolf, hit it on the chin, used an axe kick to knock it prone, and finally crushed its skull to kill it. He quickly spun around and struck another Beowolf, hitting it two times with his baton before killing it with a green firebolt produced with his semblance, the green fire passing through and leaving behind a sizable hole before the Grimm dissipated.
Another Beowolf approached Aiden, ready to pounce or maul at him, however, Aiden attacked first. He vanished in a dash of dark smoke and appeared next to the Beowolf in a small flash of green flames, grabbing the Beowolf by the jaw, flipping it over his shoulder, and then killing it with a single bullet to an exposed side of its head. He quickly turned around and threw a dust grenade to a group of bandits that were distracted by Grimm, killing the ones without aura and knocking the rest away in an explosion of fire. Aiden turned around and saw another bandit being mauled on the ground by two Beowolves, he killed one by shooting it in the eye and then used an enhanced aura kick to kick the other into an upper ledge. The bandit himself… not much he could even if he was still alive with most of his innards missing.
The Beowolf landed in the upper ledge and soon found itself staring at the end of a shotgun barrel, Jack's shotgun. The Beowolf had its head blown off and Jack then turned to a couple of Boarbatusks who tried to roll towards him as spiked balls, he used a Time Blast to destroy them and send them sprawling in different directions off the cliff.
"So, think this is all of them?" Jack asked as he put three bandits and a Creep in one Time Stop bubble as they were fighting each other. He then proceeded to time dropkick bandit off the cliff.
"Four… seven… More than twenty at least." Aiden counted as he fired his dual handguns at the Time Stop and killed the bandits and Beowolf. He then used his semblance and imbued his baton with green flames as he moved back and forth between strikes, hitting two bandits with multiple strikes and knocking them down, sending a pouncing Beowolf off the edge with a flying spinning roundhouse kick, striking another bandit green fiery palm explosion, and finally struck down a Creep with his baton before kicking it like a ball towards Morgan.
"If it's not all of them… it wouldn't matter, they would be forced to disband or flee by losing so many people." Morgan said between breaths as she shot the Creep and blasted it away with her shotgun, turning to the right and combining her Lift Field with rock dust to create four giant spikes of stone, using them to kill a bandit, a Beowolf, a Creep, and a Boarbatusk. She then turned to the left and combined her shotgun shells with combustion dust to create explosive ammunition, hitting and killing two Creeps and a bandit that was desperately running for his life.
She then turned towards her back and cut a Beowolf arm with a quick draw of her sword and then thrusting it through the Beowolf's neck. "What about the Grimm?" She called out as she used her Electrostatic Burst to paralyze four Grimm that were rushing Jack.
"Can't be that many. This ain't a nest." Jack said before entering Time Rush and decimating the Grimm with two shotgun blasts, and repeated strikes and hacking of his axe and punches as he moved like a blur.
"Cole should have killed the Nevermore with his drop… any idea where he is?" Morgan asked as she burst two Grimms heads with a Psychoshock and Phantom Shifted towards a third one, bisecting it with her sword.
"He's probably climbing back up," Aiden said as he fired towards his left and right with powered-up fiery shots, killing two Grimm instantly, and then shooting a charging Barbatus right in the eye, and finishing it with a fire-enhanced strike of his baton. "Speaking of coming back… the other one's turning around." Aiden nodded towards a Nevermore that was circling the mountain and coming right for them.
"Well… I was wondering where he went." Jack commented as he reloaded the D12. The Nevermore shrieked as it hovered in mid-air and sent two barrages of projectile feathers towards them. Morgan, Aiden, and Jack sidestepped the feathers without much issue and returned fire. Aiden with his dual handguns and with dark smoke fiery blasts, Morgan with a concentrated application of her Kinetic Blast, Electrostatic Burst, and Superthermal, and Jack with a Time Blast and a few Time Stops.
The Nevermore tried to cover itself with its wings, but the assault left it struggling to remain in the air. It quickly flapped its wing and flew back to try and stay out of range from the three of them, as it tried to fly away, however, it got struck down on the head by a lightning bolt that came from the sky, sending it plummeting to the ground.
"Okay, I'm back," Cole said as he used his thrusters to jump over the last ledge he had to climb and met the others.
"That's them!" Some of the last bandits yelled as they seemingly rallied to try and take The Outlaws out. Announcing their presence was their mistake as Cole threw two lightning grenades at once, Aiden fired six quick fire enhanced shots, Jack placed them on a Time Stop, and Morgan hit them with a Superthermal and a Kinetic Blast. The time bubble that Jack had placed exploded in an orange, blue, and faintly green distorted mess as distorted cries ringed out, most of the bandits dead as time seemed to break around them.
"What did I miss?" Cole asked as he rolled his shoulders.
"Bandits and Grimm, the usual. Had fun down there?" Jack asked him.
"Hey, stuck the landing," Cole smirked. As they were catching up, three balls of fire descended upon them, Cole acted first and threw a shockwave that sent the fireballs out of course. Hovering above them was a group of Grimm they hadn't faced before. Manticores.
"Those are new," Aiden commented as he reloaded his guns.
"They seem like the leaders of the pack to me," Morgan said as she took the chance to exchange energies with Cole.
"What happened to the rest of the bandits? Any left?" Cole asked them.
"Uh…" Jack looked around, there was indeed a small group of bandits running towards the scene, charging in. Only they were quickly swarmed by three Manticores, either shot down and killed by fireballs, eaten alive, mauled by sharp paws, or mangled as chew toys. The rest of Manticores continued stalking and growling at the group of four that didn't seem intimidated by them. "Well, not anymore. I think those might I've been the last… reasonable guess you could say."
"Ish. Poor idiots. So I take these ones might be somewhat tougher than other Grimm?" Cole wondered.
"Well they can fly, shoot fireballs, pounce on you, some of them seem large… pretty complete package." Aiden quipped.
"Oh boy, well let's get them quick. They seem like an annoying bunch." Cole said as he brandished his spear.
"No kidding… Do you want me to pull them down?" Morgan offered.
"I mean, since you are offering, please," Jack responded and Morgan smirked. The Manticores seemed content for the moment by just praying on them. As the four of them took a step forward, however, the Manticores jumped into action and decided to attack first. They moved fast, faster than any Grimm of their size they had fought, but they had become faster as well. All of them stepped out of the line of the charge of the Manticores, all while Morgan used her Lift Field with gravity dust, placed it in the air, and forcing it to face downwards.
The Manticores were slammed into the ground, six of them rolling on the ground and scrambling due to the force and giving The Outlaws the perfect chance to go in and take care of them. Cole dashed in first with a thrust of his spear and a slash of a gigawatt blade to the first Manticore he saw, running electricity through it and then using his strength to throw it to the side, right towards Jack. Jack was time rushing to shoot one Manticore twice in the face, and then took the chance to uppercut the Manticore flying towards him with his axe sending into the air and then continued to move forwards with both Time Rush and Time Dodges. Aiden threw one of his grenades at another Manticore and then used his semblance to dash as a dark trail smoke into the air, he reached the Manticore that Jack had hit into the air and then brought it down with a powerful mid-air strike of his baton. The Manticore was slammed down and Aiden landed on his feet, wielding both his guns and shooting their entire magazines at the rest of the Manticores, shooting at the same time and alternating between different directions, whether in front, to the side, or behind him. The Manticore that the three of them had manhandled tried to get up but in its weakened state, it wasn't able to resist Morgan as she used her Psychoshock and blew off its head before using her shotgun to shoot another Grimm.
Jack placed one Manticore in a Time Stop and then dodged to punch and hack at another Aiden and Cole shot lightning and bullets at the Manticore frozen in time, effectively killing it, before Cole threw a lightning rocket then hit another Manticore with an electrified swing of his spear that made an explosion on impact, and sent it backwards. Cole spun around and flipped over a Manticore as it tried to hit him with its stinger and retaliated by cutting the stinger with a gigawatt blade, hitting the Grimm with a thunderbolt, and then using a lightning palm and shockwave to send it towards Morgan. Morgan received the Manticore with a Kinetic Blast that forced it to kneel on the ground, she shot it three times on the head with her shotgun and then set it alight with a Superthermal. As the Manticore tried to screech, Morgan extended her hand and used her Psychoshock and fired dust to control the flames she had created, on top of affecting the Grimm. She began to make not only the head of Grimm shake and swell, but its entire body, the flames extending the reach of her Psychoshock. Once she was done, she made the entire Manticore explode in flaming dark chunks that soon evaporated.
Jack and Aiden moved through the remaining Manticores and dealt with them. Aiden slid under Manticore and hit it with a powerful fire blast while Jack hacked at the legs of another with his axe in Time Rush. Jack shot the Manticore on the side of the head with the D12 and Aiden dashed left and right hitting his Manticore with his baton from multiple angles before both decided to exchange targets. The Manticores tried to attack both of them with claws and fireballs, but were staggered as Aiden rushed one with a flying kick and Jack did the same to the other with a time-enhanced flying punch. In the end, Jack killed the Manticore with a Time blast and Aiden killed his with an upwards flaming strike of his baton, a backflip kick to its chin, and toe very powerful dark fiery green shots from his handguns that went through the Manticore's eyes.
Only one Manticore remained, and it was weakened. It tried to get up to fight, but it was surprised as Cole jumped on top of it and landed on it by inserting his spear on its spine, just as Morgan rushed and pierced its skull with her sword. The Manticore was still alive, however… well, until both of them channeled lightning through it left as a smoking corpse that soon faded into dark mist. With all of the Manticores that attacked them dealt with, only the ones that had attacked the bandits remained and they seemed rather interested in the group as they had killed all the other Manticores.
"I think they are angry," Jack mentioned.
"Really? What gave it away?" Cole asked.
"I mean look at them… so there's only three do we do the same or does anyone have a different idea?" Jack asked the others. Then, however, more Grimm appeared, more Beowolfs and Creeps.
"I would much rather get it over with," Aiden said.
"So all at once? A big one then. Okay… so we stand back and create another massive explosion?" Cole suggested.
"Actually…" Morgan tapped Aiden and pointed to a stack of loose rocks that was going up the cliffs.
"... Could work." Aiden granted.
"Aright. Can you two hold them back, make them stay right about there…" Morgan pointed to a spot as the Grimm began to approach them.
"I think we can." Jack nodded and together with Cole they stepped forward. As the Grimm began to charge at them, Jack placed multiple Time Stops in the way between them and the Grimm catching the Manticores and the other Grimm. Cole then used his powers and sent streams of lightning from both his hands, shocking all the Time Stops and shocking the Grimm and paralyzing them, even if the Time Stops ended, they would still be stunned and paralyzed. That was when Morgan and Aiden made their play.
Morgan used combustion dust, and combined it with her Kinetic Blast, but instead of sending it forward, she used it with hard light dust to expand it as a screen that objects could pass through. Aiden then gathered all the energy he had in his semblance and powered up his guns, shooting two empowered shots from them and making them cross through the screen and into the loose rocks at the side of the mountain. Once the shots impacted, they exploded. Not a massive explosion, but they had enough Kinetic force to shatter the rocks in several small explosions and make them fall, creating a small avalanche that would hit the Grimm. As the Time Stops ended, the Grimm were pelted and pummeled by massive falling rocks, some being completely squashed as they could run away from the small avalanche. Once the dust settled, all the Grimm were crushed and dead under a massive pile of rocks.
"... You know, we could have just shot through that screen and just sent forward bullets and other stuff we had. Would have killed them all the same." Jack pointed out.
"Well, with this we only used two, it's less effort, less waste, works all the same," Morgan replied.
"Hmm… I guess."
"Well… I think that's all of them. Yeah, I don't sense any more Grimm or anything else." Cole told them.
"Do we still know where the huntsman went?" Aiden asked as he reloaded his guns.
"He should have gone down the other path… what are the chances he's still alive?" Morgan wondered.
"... In a sense, dim. But I guess we'll see," Aiden responded, and the four of them picked up the pace and continued tracking the echoes of the huntsman.
It took them another three hours to find the most recent trail, and finally, in the fourth hour, they found a small cave. It was secluded and hard to find, but as they entered they seemed to find the remains of an abandoned camp. A small fireplace that had been out for more than a couple days and some supplies, there seemed to be a medical kit that had been used to its fullest as well with some blood-soaked bandages, but more than that, there were some with a purple substance.
"Any idea what this is?" Jack asked as he looked at the purple stains, what he could tell was that they had a very foul smell.
"It does turn red… or rather, seems more like red is turning purple," Morgan noted, she used her Typhoon Anchor and made it stick to both bandages, the one with blood first, and the one with purple stain right after. "Ugh, it is blood. Infected, poisoned blood." Morgan shuddered from sensation before making the anchor disappear.
"Poisoned. Crap… Doesn't look good for him." Cole said as he looked at all the scattered bandages.
"Poisoned… you mean… when that faunus stung him?" Jack wondered.
"Unless something else got to him, it would make sense," Aiden commented.
"Isn't there a rule out there about the bigger the scorpion, the less the venom?" Cole asked.
"Purple blood does not seem like less venom!" Jack said.
"If he was poisoned… where could he go?" Morgan wondered.
"He tried to patch himself, he's either out there… or went out to find a place to die," Aiden said.
"Well, shit. Where could he have gone…" Cole said as he tried to search for another echo and found something near. "Guys…" Cole pointed towards a dark corner they hadn't spotted, there they could barely see two limp legs atop a bedroll, the rest of the body covered by some rocks. They approached the body and once near saw a very pale man with discolored patches of skin, very dark bags under his eyes, and overall, a very sickly body covered in a cold sweat.
Aiden approached the body first and tried to feel for a pulse, even though he found it unlikely. But much to his surprise, he was able to sense one. That was when the huntsman let out a shaky breath.
"He's alive?!" Morgan, and pretty much everyone else was truly surprised.
"He's barely there," Cole said and moved closer. Morgan, Cole, and Aiden moved quickly and removed the huntsman top while Jack went and retrieved what was left of the medical kit.
"Shit…" Aiden muttered as they were able to see the wound caused by the stinger, an entire side of the huntsman had turned a sickly pale and purple color. "Laurence! Wake up!" Aiden tried to shake the huntsman awake.
"Uaagh… uuuh…" Laurence seemed barrel hanging on to life.
"Alright, stand back. Not sure what I can do but I'll try." Cole said as lightning crackled between his hands, he touched Laurence and lightning and sparks seemed to run through him as Cole's powers seemed to do their best to heal them.
"Aaaah!" Laurence took a giant gasp of air, but they wouldn't call him conscious.
"There's not much here. I think he used practically everything!" Jack called at them.
"Bring it anyway!" Aiden yelled.
"Yeah, yeah I know," Jack said as he appeared in a sudden dash. "Okay, this is all of it… holy shit," Jack said as he brought all of the medical it.
"It's doing something, but not enough, the poison is still there," Cole told the other as he gathered electricity to try and pulse heal Laurence again.
"I don't think we can remove it on our own… he needs actual professionals," Aiden said.
"We still need to make sure he survives until then," Morgan said as she examined the stinger wound.
"Think there's anything you can do?" Aiden asked.
"Poison and venom usually needs-" Morgan began.
"Antidotes or sedatives? I don't think we have any here." Aiden said.
"No… And I don't think we can remove it either. But maybe we can suppress it." Morgan began to form a plan.
"What are you thinking?" Cole asked.
"Okay, the poison it's in his blood, there's nothing we can do there. But… if we can remove some of the poisoned blood, start his aura, and keep him stable. Then maybe he has a chance." Morgan said.
"Alright, then we'll have to open the wound… but he already lost a lot of blood. He must have tried to remove the poison himself." Cole noted.
"He can't lose much more," Aiden said.
"Fuck…" Morgan tried to think of a different solution.
"Hey, Jack. Can't you reverse time for him?" Cole asked as he pulsed heal Laurence again. This time getting some steady faint breathing, but not much more.
"No. Not unless time is breaking up all around us. I can only repair myself really… sorry." Jack sighed.
"Maybe if it was you, you could do it… wait, that's it!" Morgan thought or something. "If I… extend you, as if you were part of him, would you be able to reverse it?" Morgan asked Jack.
"I can try… how though?" Jack asked, and Morgan produced her Typhoon Anchor once again. "Okay, what?"
"I connect to you, and then I connect to him," Morgan said as the anchor, the little glob of Typhoon matter, sprouted tin les and began to crawl on Morgan's hand.
"... I'll do it, but I get the feeling this will be weird." Jack stared at the anchor.
"Let's do it then. Cole, keep him stable." Morgan told Cole.
"It's what I'm doing," Cole said as he pulsed healed Laurence a third time.
"Ah… ah… Lina… I…" Laurence began to mutter.
"Okay, let's do this. Jack said as he imbued the anchor with Chronon particles as to Morgan's instructions, the anchor then crawled to Laurence and tried to connect to him… only it wasn't working.
"Damn it… I can't…" Morgan and Jack continued to focus on the anchor, but it wasn't able to connect in any way to Laurence. "I cannot forcefully connect to him," Morgan said.
"I… don't know what this is, but I can tell I'm not connected to him yet," Jack added.
"What would you need to connect to him?" Aiden asked them.
"I… I don't know. I could try connecting to his cells, but that would hardly work from the outside." Morgan told him.
"... And from the inside?" Aiden asked and the others stared at him.
"Seriously?" Jack asked.
"Any better ideas?"
"I… might be able to fuse with his blood…" Morgan said after thinking for a couple of seconds.
"... Okay, we are doing this then? Uh… then maybe I can work with that, I think I can reverse his blood… maybe," Jack added.
"... How's he doing?" Aiden asked Cole.
"I can keep him alive, but he's barely there, might not survive being moved," Cole responded.
"Let's do this then. I'll open the wound, you two focus in… reversing his blood, Cole will keep him from dying on us." Aiden said and the four of them got to work.
Aiden removed the bandages from the stinger wound and they saw the deep purple wound that had already been closed. The infection seemed to be working on the inside. Aiden used what was left of the medical kit to re-open the wound, Cole kept healing Laurence as Aiden made a big enough hole for the anchor to… crawl in.
"You know, that little thing would be nightmare fuel if we weren't helping him," Cole said.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Morgan admitted.
"That should do, I'll keep it open, the rest is up to you two," Aiden said as he helped the anchor get inside of Laurence, once inside the Anchor began to meld with Laurence's blood, and that was when the sickness kicked in.
"Ugh, God… what the- Okay, didn't know I would feel the poison. Shit." Jack said as he strained to concentrate on the anchor. A cold sweat quickly formed on his forehead.
"Please… just… Do your work. You are not the only one." Morgan strained as he placed a hand on her head, feeling dizzy.
"Yeah… yeah…" Jack began to apply his power to Laurence. Cole healed Laurence once again to keep him together. Soon Laurence's skin tone began to regain some of its former color and the purple stains began to disappear ever so slightly.
"It's… it's actually working." Morgan let out a sigh of relief as she herself lost the feeling of the poison.
"Will that cure him?" Aiden asked.
"I… I don't think so. It's complicated… but the moment we stop the venom will slowly return, and I can only go so far back and he's been like this for… days. He still needs a hospital." Jack said.
"I also don't know how long I can keep the connection, but I can last," Morgan assured them.
"It's fine. We wake him up, and I think we might be able to keep him up well enough for a time." Cole said as he got ready to pulse heal Laurence one more time, this time it kickstarted Laurence's aura and woke him.
"Aaagh!" Laurence took a massive breath of air and stared at the four of them. "Wha- What's happening?" Laurence asked in confusion.
"You are alive, that's what's happening." Jack smirked. Laurence stared down at his body and noticed that his skin seemed to be somewhat recovering, but he also felt incredibly winded and unable to move. But not only that, sick. Sick enough to puke. And he did just that as he threw his head to the side and vomited. "Let it out but… no near us… you are not the only one feeling that." Jack said as he did his best to keep his stomach together, as he was still feeling what Laurence was feeling.
"Do you remember what happened?" Cole asked Laurence.
"I… I do." Laurence said as soon as he stopped puking. "I was looking for bandits. I'm a huntsman… but then one day I realized I was being followed, I confronted the guy… and he was just out there to kill me. He was faunus and he had to… sick grin. He beat me and I had to run. I ran for a week and a half and it was almost like he was playing with me, then he found me again and he, we fought… and he stung me. After that he let me go… but he poisoned me, I took shelter for another week trying to recover… and to try and heal the poison, but it only got worse, nothing I did work. How did you find me?" Laurence asked them.
"We have our ways," Morgan said to him.
"Are you huntsmen? Thank you so much… for this. Ugh, I feel… hungry. I must have overslept -I…"
"You were barely alive," Jack said to him.
"... Right…"
"When did you lose consciousness? What day?" Aiden asked.
"Eh… Tuesday?" He said and noticed their expression shift. "What day is it?"
"I… I think you must have been going in and out of consciousness for five days. It's Sunday." Morgan told him.
"... Five days. I… I was… I was going to die in this cave." The cold sweat returned to Laurence's forehead.
"Try and keep it cool, okay? You are alive, that's what matters. And try not to puke again, I don't think it will help you if you lose more stuff from inside you." Cole told him.
"Yeah… yeah…" Laurence nodded.
"I'll go call for a bullhead," Aiden said as he pulled out his scroll and walked out of the cave.
"Did… who sent you?" Laurence asked.
"It was a mission from Lionheart, people were worried about you," Jack told him.
"Huh, thank goodness." Laurence let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know what you are doing, but I feel somewhat better now, I think I'll be fine."
"Trust me. You won't be." Cole said.
"We are keeping the venom from acting, but it's still there, you need to get to a hospital quickly, we are only suppressing it, we stop… you'll go back to being almost dead in a relatively short time," Morgan explained.
"Oh…"
"So for now we need to focus on that little thing inside you until you are safe," Jack said.
"Thing… inside of me?" Laurence panicked for a second.
"Uh… it's weird, but don't worry, it's saving you. Don't think too much about it." Jack tried to reassure him. Meanwhile, Aiden was already talking to Lionheart and asking for a bullhead to arrive at their location.
"He was attacked? And he's still alive?" Lionheart said with a strange surprised tone.
"I don't know how much faith you have in him, but he won't survive if we don't get him to a hospital. We can keep him stable for a while, but it's best if we don't carry him." Aiden said.
"I… you can? Then... I'll see what I can do, will you four stay at the location?"
"Of course. If you need a bullhead, you might as well ask Cinzent for one, I'm sure she can help you."
"I… of course it's just. Are there any Grimm that can pose a threat?" Lionheart asked.
"We already took care of that. Of the bandits as well." Aiden responded.
"You did?... Umm hmmm…" Lionheart seemed to be in deep thought.
"Leonardo?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, ah, I'm sorry I was simply trying to figure out who could be an enemy of Laurence. I… simply didn't expect it. I'm sorry, I'll… Yes, I'll send a bullhead right away." Lionheart said, soon Aiden could see a tracker that showed a bullhead on route. "There, make sure he reaches the hospital." Lionheart seemingly regained his composure.
"Right…" Aiden said as he ended the call. "Hmm… odd reactions, even for him," Aiden noted before going back inside the cave.
Laurence had made it to the hospital in one piece, and luckily his more or less recovered state was enough for him to survive the ordeal, even if his body would deteriorate slowly without Morgan's and Jack's intervention, his recovery had already begun and his body began to heal. He would have awful days where his body would come back to the state where he was at the cave, but he would survive and make a full recovery.
The team however had another mission now though, a short scouting mission. They rested for a day and then went straight to the palace Santolin had mentioned late in the afternoon. Cinzent had given permission to scout the place, and they would do just that. They went to the Yumen District on the lower levels and found the "palace" they were supposed to look for. An oriental building that was embedded on the side of the mountain.
"That's the place eh?" Morgan stared at the building, there wasn't even a hint of activity inside, but they knew better.
"Should be, yeah." Aiden responded. "Notice an easy way in?"
"Well, the walls are rather low… but I feel they'll watch them somehow… wait. Yep, there are cameras." Jack noted.
"No nearby buildings you can jump from. And the top of the building is covered by that side of the mountain, acts like a roof and you have no easy way in." Cole pointed out. The "palace" itself was below a rock protrusion that blocked any access from above. "Seems rather… defensible."
"You think they have sewers?" Morgan asked.
"They must have, the question is if they have a manhole, and if they guard it," Aiden said.
"I don't see anything that can get us inside. Not from here, or without being spotted. No one has gone in so far either." Jack said.
"So the moment we get close, they'll most likely know we are there, at least in some way." Morgan surmised.
"Hmm, nobody gets close to the place either, any person getting close will stick out," Aiden noted.
"Hey, actually, I got one way," Cole said and pointed towards the mountain that the building was embedded in. There was a sizable ledge that seemed to go across the side of the mountain and that could be accessed if they climbed the mountain from another part of the city. It led right to the roof of the building.
"Want to try it out?" Cole asked the others. Thirty minutes later they were sticking to the wall of the ledge and walking across towards the roof of the building.
"You know… I think we kinda stick out like a sore thumb." Jack said.
"It is dark, let's make the best of it," Aiden said.
"Mmhm." Morgan nodded as they got closer to the palace.
"Okay, that's the roof. I don't see anything." Cole said once they were practically on top of the palace.
"There's more cameras. Some windows… there's that lower roof that has some windows, we could descend there." Aiden spotted.
"Is there a camera or something there, could we get spotted?" Jack wondered.
"Not from this angle at least… no," Morgan said.
"Should we get closer and spy a little then?" Cole asked the others. "I don't sense anything near."
"We probably shouldn't," Aiden said. "We told Cinzent we wouldn't cause problems… and if we spotted.
"Hmm… true." Cole nodded.
"There's lights there." Morgan suddenly said, however. She pointed to what seemed to be a secluded, very small window frame with wooden bars that were very close to the face of the mountain, giving no real view to the outside.
"Weird spot for a window," Jack said.
"Hmm…" Aiden nodded.
"Mabe there we can take a peek and not get spotted," Morgan suggested. The place seemed out of view, and the four of them were curious about the light that seemed to be flickering.
"Is it bad I kinda wanna do it?" Cole asked.
"Probably," Aiden responded.
"Well, since we are all thinking about it, let's do it and get out quick before someone takes notice." Jack said as he jumped towards the roof and the window frame.
"... If something's gonna happen, might as well stick together," Morgan said and the other two sighed. Soon the four of them were staring through the window frame, and to their surprise, they managed to spy on quite a scene, an execution.
"Please… I didn't betray you… the- the Hemlocks… I don't know how they got the warehouses on Hakata. It wasn't from me. I swear!" A beaten and bruised man pleaded on his knees in the barely lit room towards a shadowy figure.
"You were still the one responsible. Tempu." The figure responded.
"I'll… I'll do anything! I'll…"
"I've heard that before from you. And from many others. You could have lived, Tempu but we know that even if you didn't betray us to the Hemlocks, you did betray us to the Iris."
"No… no, I… I… I can-"
"That ship has sailed. You see, you have caused the death of some very loyal people of ours, and spitted on us with your negligence. If it had been a simple mistake, then the worst that could have happened would be a slap on your wrist, but what you did… you are a traitor and failure. I think it's only fair to our boys to make an example of a traitor that caused us harm."
"Please… please… don't give me to them. They'll… they'll…"
"Don't worry, it will be quick and… well it will be quick. Can't say it will be painless. Wolfsbane!" The figure snapped his fingers and a man walked into the light of the room.
"Wait no! Please no! I… I can do something! I can tell you where some of the Iris are, I know something you could use!" Tempu begged.
"Shut him up." The figure ordered.
"Please! I-" Tempu didn't get to say anything else as Wolfsbane let out a massive purple cloud from his mouth, breathing it out towards Tempu. "Aargh! Aaah… aargh!" Tempu began to choke and convulse on the ground as he held onto his throat, suffocating and coughing saliva. Soon the saliva turned to blood, and soon Tempu stopped choking and moving altogether.
"Make sure he's disposed of." The figure said and two men went ahead to pick up Tempu's body. The Outlaws had seen enough and stepped away from the window frame before they were spotted.
"Poison... More poison. Great." Jack sighed.
"Seems like Wolfsbane is kind of a literal name in a way," Cole commented.
"His poison… or his toxins seemed to act really fast as well," Morgan noted.
"Do we have a way to deal with poison ourselves? Like, something we can do?" Jack wondered.
"We are gonna have to figure something out. For now, we should get out of here." Aiden said and the other nodded. They left the area before they could be spotted, and immediately began to make plans on how to deal with Wolfsbane's semblance.
A/N: And that's the chapter, maybe not as active or exciting as the last one… but I feel I got more than I thought out of the scenes I planned, it's more relaxed and may be filler in some way, but at least some important stuff is out of the way for next chapter. And the next chapter will be more active and less talking. Yay! And truth be told, I ended up with more action than I had originally planned… but I guess that's always the case with me.
Review if you so desire, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Have a good day!