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I am making no money from this.
Chapter 32: Riot
The sun was slowly beginning to set over Port Alistair, painting its' skyline in pink and gold to render it beautiful in a way that the sprawling metropolis of Neo Vale, with its' monstrous web of interconnected hive towers and aerial platforms looming above it simply could never be, at least in the opinion of Astra Mars who found themselves slowly realising that in just a few short months they had come to consider the island Kingdom home more than the city in which they had been raised and where their parents still lived.
Menagerie simply had everything that Astra had wanted from life on offer, though at that very moment what they wanted was just out of reach and time was of the essence.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it we're gonna miss it" the Deer Faunus muttered between sporadic licks at an ice-cream cone that was steadily dripping onto their hand, the juxtaposition between their words and actions giving them an unintentionally comical appearance as they power walked; sea green eyes focused as they gave an inordinate amount of thought to simply tossing the ice cream aside so that they could break into a sprint without worrying about dropping it.
"We won't, we've still got a few minutes and we're almost there….You're just still charged up over nothing" Wolfram noted, a faint sense of amusement creeping into his voice which as usual lacked the gruffness that was reserved for everyone else when talking to Astra.
The Deer Faunus made a wordless, groaning noise in response to their boyfriends' assessment of the situation yet they could not honestly refute it. After sending the captioned pictures that they had taken of themselves with Wolfram, the pair unmistakeably an item to their parents Astra had fidgeted nervously as they had waited for a reply for some time until finally a response came from their mother, kind, loving and perpetually undertsanding reptilian Faunus Myrtle Mars had been preparing for a late shift at the diner she had worked at for well over a decade, halting those preparations so that she could make a video call and not only properly check on her youngest child, insuring that all was well in their life whilst also giving them some well-meaning and light-hearted yet unmissable chastisement about their lack of contact but also to properly introduce herself and become acquainted with the young man currently on Astra's arm.
Wolfram for his part had shed his usual boastful cockiness and bravado in an instant, becoming an almost absurd caricature of the parts of himself that his own mother wished he would show more often and whilst it was clear that Myrtle had seen through the obvious attempt to impress her in an instant she had still laughed in bemused approval of the effort nonetheless; an approval that only increased upon Astra explaining that the two of them were currently on the outskirts of the Faunus Pride festival and planning on returning to the centre of the city shortly. Upon being left to their own devices Astra saw that a message from their father had gone unanswered during the video call and upon checking its' contents the younger Deer Faunus had allowed themselves a tentative sigh of relief, explaining to Wolfram as they did so that the message could be summarised as Redwood being happy for his child but being distracted with time sensitive work at that moment and wanting to wait until they could give the conversation his full attention to call and speak with Astra's boyfriend.
From there it had been a simple decision to stop for ice cream in a childish but much appreciated effort to calm Astra's still rampant nerves and as such the Faunus could not quite bring themselves to simply discard the cone, instead maintaining their power walk with Wolfram easily keeping pace beside them.
"There's getting there just in time and then there's actually being able to see Professor Scarlatina when she gives the speech….I'm not just going for the fireworks"
"I get that" Wolfram assured them, expression showing the briefest traces of rare uncertainty as he added "But aren't you and AJ friends of the family to….Well, everybody. Surely Professor Scarlatina is gonna have the speech recorded; hell your brother is probably gonna have a good enough spot-"
"It won't be the same" Astra sighed "Maybe I've gotten too used to being near the front after Miss Xiao Long got all of us Signal kids front row seats but I really wanna be able to see this first hand; it just feels special every time….Besides, I don't wanna ask Fluffy for anything right now, not after how he was talking to you-"
"Don't fall out with him over me, I've got thick enough skin" Wolfram shook their head, the words feeling strange in the mouth of a young man so unaccustomed to letting disrespect of any kind go unanswered, yet at the same time leaving less of a bitter taste than he might have expected when he reasoned that it was for a good cause.
"I know, but it's the principal of the-"
"HELP! SOMEBODY FUCKING HELP ME!" Astra and Wolfram found their conversation, suddenly meaningful as it had become forced to a halt by terrified screams that came from somewhere out of sight and from an individual who seemed to be in extreme pain as well as distress. The two young Hunters deployed their weapons and as Buckshot Ares unfurled and Berserker was drawn from its' place on Wolfram's back the pair scanned their surroundings intently; they were currently on the outskirts of the city centre, a part of Port Alistair that would normally be brimming with activity at this time on a Saturday evening yet currently stood almost empty as the rapidly darkening skies marked the true beginning of festivities that would begin at nightfall and had drawn much of the usual crowd deeper into the cosmopolitan heart of the Capital.
Eventually the source of the yells and screaming made themselves known.
They were a feline Faunus, either in their late teens or early twenties and if either of the student Hunters had to make an educated guess a member of one of the gangs that operated within the city, the usual fashion choices of such groups being present in the form of a baseball cap pulled low over their face, grey sweatpants worn loose enough to conceal a weapon and trinkets and accessories that vaguely aped those used by Hunters were in this instance accompanied by a lightweight and hooded jacket in the same vivid pink colour as the bandanna worn around their neck; that this jacket was currently torn to ribbons around the chest and left flank to reveal clothes soaked with blood pouring from several grievous stab wounds added a sense of urgency to the alarm that Astra and Wolfram were already feeling, yet before they could speak the situation worsened drastically.
"Don't run Shells!" a mocking voice bellowed, the demand being accompanied by a trio of shotgun blasts that ripped into the ground at the young man's feet and sent the hurling face down to the ground, whimpering and crying as their own blood pooled around them.
"Tortoiseshell you little prick don't get up!" the mocking voice continued "I just wanna know where you're boss is hiding!"
"We've gotta do something!" Astra exclaimed to Wolfram, already in motion before he could answer and sprinting to the side of the injured gang-member.
"Come on get up" they urged as they pulled the bloodied feline to their feet "Eight more lives, you need to run! Get the fuck out of here, there's a store a few streets away, hide in their and get the owner to call an ambulance. We'll hold 'em off"
"Who's chasing you?" Wolfram demanded "Another gang?" he received no verbal response as the panicked, likely to the point of incoherent shock gang member bolted in the direction they had been instructed to, a car window exploding mere feet away from them as another shotgun blast ripped through it with a booming report echoed through the street; the owner of the weapon finally striding into view.
"Wait….Don't I know one of you?"
"Who the fuck are you?" Astra demanded, bristling and instinctively deploying the hard-light Dust shields of Buckshot Ares along with its' blades and Gatling guns in twin, concave panes of pale rose whilst beside them Wolfram's grip on Berserker tightened to something white-knuckled and his expression was one of unfathomable rage as he took in the sight of the broad-shouldered woman with scarlet hair before him, she was no longer wearing the casual attire that she had sported when she had almost causally overwhelmed Team WULF in a bar, thwarting their efforts to find information on the smuggling operation that she no doubt worked for; instead she wore a black boiler-suit that she reputably wore more often if other people's encounters with her were any indication and in her hand she carried a red and gold cowled shotgun that, with a condescendingly effortless twirl transformed to become a stylised naginata whose blade was already stained crimson.
"That's the woman from the docks" Wolfram exclaimed through clenched teeth "The one that Regalia chased after, the one that I ran into in the city"
"That's right" Rowan sneered as she twirled Insolence in her hand, yet her eyes remained narrowed and focused the entire time she spoke "You're friends with the bug and the clan-rat….And you've got another friend, lovely"
"So" Astra breathed the word out with trembling force, a red mist descending over their vision that went far beyond their usual attempts to buy into their own hype and bravado, this fury was one that promised retribution through blood "You're the one that tried to hurt my partner? Oh I've been waiting to finally meet you….You should have stuck to poaching Grimm, it would have been safer"
With that Astra launched themselves at Rowan Oralie, guns blazing and Wolfram close behind.
For Athena-Jade Slate it suddenly felt as though she were watching history unfold before her eyes.
The young Bear Faunus had of course, by virtue of her family name and upbringing always felt some connection to the past yet at the same time it had always felt inexplicably distant and separate to her; something that if she were truly to sit and introspect Athena might declare as part of the reason for the streak of independence that had seen her travel to Menagerie in the first place, she spent so much of her life being tied to the achievements of others and being referred to almost as a footnote in the stories of the famous and influential figures that she was related to that it seemed only right that she should set out and become something noteworthy in her own right so that she might one day simply be 'Athena-Jade Slate' rather than an addendum. In that present moment the pale and snowy-haired young woman would, if asked have freely admitted that this was still far from the moment that she craved for herself and that in all honesty she was still no more than a footnote in the greater story, however watching it all unfold first hand made it special to her in a way that nothing else could compare to.
The fact that she was on stage alongside Velvet Scarlatina, who would soon give the opening speech of the Faunus Pride festival was an experience few could boast after all.
Her bright blue eyes had widened in a display of awe that had left her brother trying and failing to mask his laughter when the offer to be present on the stage had been made however that laughter had quickly been responded to with a rude hand gesture, focusing Athena's mind and allowing her to respond that she would be honoured, but only on the condition that Zirconia could join her. Currently Athena stood beside her partner, the Grasshopper Faunus struggling to keep her face a stoic mask as the pair gazed out at the sea of people before them which stretched out as far as the eye could see, Zirconia had lowered her scarf like cloak from its' customary place obscuring the lower half of her face after noting that it seemed inappropriate to wear it on the stage somehow.
Whilst Athena and Zirconia stood towards the rear of the stage and off to one side, a small group of technicians and other workers flitting in and out of view of the crowd around them Professor Velvet Scarlatina herself stood front and centre, taking several deep breaths as she prepared herself for the momentous occasion with her immediate family around her, Coco and Little Fox standing to her left and right whilst Yatsuhashi towered over them from behind. The other people on stage were naturally Team FADE in their, admittedly honorary role as bodyguards however even here it seemed that symbolism and imagery had been considered as with Arctus and Felix standing beside their respective partners they presented an image of Faunus and human unity.
The sound of screeching, hastily silenced microphone feedback grated against Athena's sensitive hearing but sharpened her senses and brought her fully into the moment.
"This is it, I can't believe we're actually watching this happen in person" she whispered to Zirconia even as the sharp noise made her jump slightly, the back of her hand brushing against her partners' armoured leather glove before the two shared a brief glance; Zirconia's expression was thoughtful though she said nothing, perhaps she planned to note that Faunus Pride was now an annual occurrence and that hopefully the two of them would see many more but ultimately decided against it, whatever the case may have been the insectoid Faunus simply gave a smile that made her delicate and high cheek-boned features seem almost radiant in their brightness before turning her focus back towards the crowd and the main event that would begin in a matter of seconds, the two of them still standing so close together that their hands touched with every movement.
And then Velvet cleared her throat and began to speak.
"PEOPLE OF MENAGERIE" her amplified voice echoed throughout the centre of Port Alistair "FAUNUS, HUMAN GUESTS AND ALLIES; I AM VELVET SCARLATINA, DEPUTY HEAD OF THE BREAKTIDE HUNTER ACADEMY OF MENAGERIE AND IT IS MY IMMENSE PLEASURE TO SAY THAT TODAY IS NOT THE DAY WE WAITED SO MANY YEARS FOR….THAT DAY, THE DAY WHEN DIFFERENCES WERE SET ASIDE AND FAUNUS AND HUMAN ALIKE COULD BEGIN TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE CAME FROM THE ASHES OF WAR AND WE STAND HERE TODAY, IN THE HEART OF A CITY THAT SHOWS WHAT REMNANT CAN BE AT ITS' BEST; AT FAUNUS PRIDE-"
Several gunshots split the air, followed by screams and the cacophony of stampeding footsteps as thousands of panicked individuals began to flee in every direction.
"What the hell was that!" Coco demanded, sunglasses ripped away to reveal murderous rage etched into her features "What's going on?"
"Coco!" Velvet yelled, clamping her hand on Coco's forearm with enough force to bring her to a halt "Your weapon isn't gonna help here, get Fox out" hearing those words the headmistress of Breaktide Academy froze, a single beat passing before she nodded and turned to scoop her teenage son off of the ground as if he weighed nothing at all and bolt for safety whilst Velvet and Yatsuhashi moved forwards, leaping from the stage and into the crowd so that they could find those responsible for the violent uproar that had gripped the crowd in mere moments.
Athena was numb, cold shock leaving her stood with her arms hanging at her sides and expression lost as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing until the sound of another gunshot ignited something within her, a white hot fury that saw her fists ball into a white-knuckled grip whilst her claws slowly slid from the tips of her fingers to leave her Aura wreathing her fists to stop their points from slicing into her palms; sapphire blue eyes were hot and blurry with tears and her hearing was rendered almost useless to her by the sound of her own hear thundering in her ears which gave everything around her a distant, muffled quality yet through it all she managed to hear the words of her sister in law as Diamond peered through the scope of Lex Talionis, using the sniper rifle to try and discern what exactly was happening.
"It's not an attack, they're just wearing masks" that statement, directed elsewhere did nothing to quell the rage washing over Athena "It's a gang fight, looks like some of the security are getting dragged into it as well; I think they're deliberately avoiding the crowd as a whole-"
Athena-Jade had heard enough and was in motion before the thought had fully formed in her mind.
Zirconia's yells for her to wait were joined by those of Team FADE yet none of them truly registered on the young woman's consciousness as she thundered towards the edge of the stage and leapt, a feral roar escaping her as she landed on the first glyph that she conjured in the space before herself and began to leap from one glowing surface to the next; still half crazed until she reached an area where the fighting was thick; though to call it fighting seemed unfair as one party was so vastly outmatched that the affair seemed more akin to a slaughter. Gang members in black overalls and boiler-suits had overwhelmed and laid waste to a group of teens and young adults sporting pink jackets amongst other identifiers, many of the ambushed gang were now laying dead or critically injured on the ground with those still capable of dragging themselves to safety being set upon mercilessly by their attackers who proceeded to stab, shoot or bludgeon them until they were still. One instance of unfettered cruelty caught Athena-Jade's eye as a struggling young man's Aura failed and vanished in a corona of light, allowing two the trio of thugs attacking him to hold him down whilst a third produced a bottle bearing several warning labels and unscrewed the lid; the way the beaten gang member screamed and thrashed indicating that what would follow could only be horrific. It was not the violence that drew Athena's ire however.
It was the fact that each of the black-clad thugs, many of whom were clearly human hid their identity behind masks designed to imitate the White Fang.
"HOW DARE YOU!" the demand came as a ragged and hoarse scream as Athena dropped into the midst of the fight and simply unleashed her fury on the criminals without restraint.
Her speed, strength and agility were beyond comparison and she kicked, punched, grappled and tackled with hateful intent, breaking bones and knocking foes unconscious with little regard for injuries they sustained as she slammed their heads into walls and through tables; a final scream of rage escaping as she picked up a human wearing neon cat ears along with their vile disguise and simply slammed them down onto the ground neck first with a worrying crack that saw Aura flickering before they slipped into unconsciousness.
At this point the fact that the initial danger had passed was of no use to Athena-Jade, the Bear Faunus had passed some unknown point of no return and her hands trembled too much for her to reach for her weapon whilst her breathing came in shallow, trembling gasps that provided no air at all. As she whirled around and scanned her surroundings in an adrenaline fuelled panic it soon became clear that she was as good as blind as she could no longer truly see the plaza or Port Alistair; instead the young woman felt herself crushed beneath the haunting sights and sounds of the last such incident she had endured, an attack on the Vytal Tournament in Atlas by the New White Fang when she was only a child in which she and her adoptive sister had been separated from their family and cornered by those who wished to harm them.
In the midst of her terrified frenzy Athena failed to spot the young black-clad Faunus positioning themselves behind her and levelling a handgun at the back of her head.
"What in tarnation?" Ursinia Red's voice rose far above its' usual relaxed drawl into a furious bellow as she brought the hilt of The Adventurer crashing down onto one of the dozens of armed thugs now pillaging the centre of Port Alistair, striking the bridge of a young man's nose with the expected sense of finality.
The towering and dark-skinned Scorpion Faunus, along with Laser, Diabla and Regalia been situated towards the furthest peripheries of the vast open square in which the main stage of the festival had been erected as the four of them had arrived with only a few minutes to spare and found the entire area already overrun with a densely packed and excitable crowd. Their position towards the outer edges of the plaza had afforded the quartet a small glimpse into what had happened and though the chaos that had rapidly taken hold would almost certainly render it impossible for them to identify any of the parties involved it did at least grant the teenagers enough information to make some educated guesses about what was happening; they had watched as the group of black-clad individuals with their faces hidden fanned out and positioned themselves amongst the crowd, recognising them as members of the same group of criminals that they had encountered at the docks too late to stop them as they pounced, attacking members of the security teams around the festival and groups of teenagers that had been chatting with those same guards from behind and with unspeakable brutality.
The moment gunshots had started ringing out the entire plaza had erupted into a panicked frenzy as bystanders attempted to flee and Ursinia quickly realised that a broadsword and a grenade launcher were impractical weapons for fighting in such close quarters.
Fortunately her friends were not so easily hampered.
"Swinging that around here might not be the most helpful thing you can do" Laser noted as he leapt onto the broad, golden blade of The Adventurer and promptly used it to vault into the midst of one of the clusters of gang fights now erupting across the steadily emptying square; the blonde scavenger drawing permadeath and setting about both the thugs in black overalls and their pink-clad enemies alike and as he did so Ursinia realised, in some detached way that this was exactly the kind of battle that life in the Vaccuan Overspill had prepared her friend for, his seemingly overblown, chaotic and random movements allowed him to slip around and between opponents and take each of them to the ground in turn whilst his weapons' twin forms of a katana and machine gun seemed to instil a more visceral and direct sense of fear in those he faced.
"Less talkin' and more whipping Varmint!" Ursinia yelled back, gesturing for a cowering group of civilians to run and get behind her, it seemed that the two gangs were content to maul and bloody one another yet she was not willing to risk anybody being caught in the cross fire and as she did this she quickly scanned her surroundings to find Diabla and Regalia; the former being spotted a moment later in the midst of a display of her usual effectiveness. Whilst the First Year students at Breaktide Academy had not been properly educated on using their abilities to control and disperse a crowd or contain what could soon amount to a riot it seemed that the Atlas Cadets from whence the gruff and reliable girl hailed had received some instruction on the matter and whilst Diabla clearly did not have any handcuffs in her possession the row of half a dozen gang members laying face down on the ground at her feet with their hands behind their backs showed just how capable she was.
Regalia came into view a moment later.
"GET OVER HERE!" Ursinia almost instinctively threw herself to the side yet still she felt the rush of displaced air as the harpoon component of Apex Scavenger ripped through a space mere inches away from where she had been and embedded itself into the shoulder of a young man that the Scorpion Faunus had not seen, an attacker wielding what seemed to be a kebab knife that was quickly dropped when the harpoon was retracted on its' cable and the thug was dragged towards Regalia who dispatched them extreme prejudice; the Racoon Faunus fighting with all of the tenacity and do or die determination that prevailed in the wasteland as she span and delivered a reverse elbow strike to her opponents' nose and in the same motion dropping herself backwards so that she landed atop her opponent when they collapsed, from there she drove the butt of her shotgun into their chest and belly before finally reaching out and seizing one of the gang members' legs with the unmistakeably intent to break it.
Before she could do so she was halted, which Ursinia could not bring herself to begrudge, by a shimmering glyph that formed between the Racoon Faunus and her downed opponent, forcing her away.
"REGALIA! THAT'S ENOUGH!" the voice that barked the order was not that of Athena-Jade and instead it was the towering and powerful form of her older brother Arctus Slate who marched into view, the rest of Team FADE appearing and closing ranks around him a moment later.
"Sorry" Regalia breathed out, hands shaking as she holstered Apex Scavenger in a display of sense that showed she still had a modicum of self control "He had a knife and, awww nuts where's AJ? Arctus we were coming to meet you guys and-"
"She jumped into the crowd when the fighting started, we had to split up-"
"Found her!" it was Laser's nasal yell which interrupted Arctus's answer yet the interruption was met with nothing but a sense of Relief as Regalia, along with the members of Team WULF and Team FADE that were present turned and rushed in the direction of the blonde boys' yell; confidant that violent minority of a few dozen criminals had been brought under control or had simply fled when the Hunters assisting the security detail of the event had began to regroup and attend to matters.
The sight that greeted them brought each of them to a stunned halt.
The first sight to leave them with plummeting stomachs and ice in their veins was that of Athena-Jade Slate curled in a ball on the ground, arms wrapped around herself to cover her face from view yet it was clear to those with keen Faunus hearing that she was sobbing uncontrollably and reduced to a trembling and incoherent mess that stood in utter contrast with everything that those who knew her understood her to be. The second sight to be utterly jarring in its' inconsistency was that of Zirconia Shadowmoon, the stoic and taciturn Faunus's face was uncovered and contorted into a mask of rage as she used one mechanical leg to pin a black-clad Faunus to the ground, the would be attackers' weapon laying some distance away as she used Sunriser Cain in its' melee configuration to devastating effect; the lightning crackling around its' cylindrical surface indicating that she had initially used it as a makeshift taser to disable the thug however now Zirconia simply clutched the weapon with both hands and an utter lack of her usual skill and finesse as she swung it as one might a golf club directly into the skull of her pinned adversary.
"Shit!" Felix spat "Eagle break it up before she kills that guy! Arctus, Diamond, help AJ!"
"She's having a panic attack" Diamond noted before she and her husband rushed to Athena's side "We've got this"
"Okay, okay, okay" the Lion Faunus ran his hands through his mane of dirty blonde curls and began pacing with his stress, navy blue eyes intent as the took in the sight of the now ruined pride festival "Fuck!….Okay, you kids are not qualified for this and I mean this as politely as possible but you're too heavy handed to help here, these aren't Grimm we're dealing with and-"
Regalia tuned the Lion Faunus's attempt to make sense of the situation out as she felt her scroll vibrate and ping in a rarely used but instantly identifiable pattern, one that signified an SOS and without waiting she unfurled the device, promptly interrupting Felix who was still talking the moment she saw the contents of the message.
"Felix, Astra needs help. They ran into these guys' boss; I've got their location" Felix's eyes first widened and then narrowed as a sense of surety that the more experienced Hunter had been struggling to implement in the chaos suddenly came to him in that moment.
"Arctus, Diamond! Get these kids out of here, hand them over to one of the Professors. Eagle! Contact Car, I want the two of you to coordinate the search for any of the attackers that ran, your Semblances should make it easier….I'm going to get Astra"
"I'm coming with you" Regalia planted herself firmly in front of Felix, barring his path and wearing an expression of unshakeable resolve that relented only faintly as the Lion Faunus locked eyes with her.
"Heh" she shrugged "My bike is parked nearer than your car"
"Then let's go" with no more to be said Felix and Regalia sprinted off in search of Astra.
Whilst officially untrained, the skills that she had learned from the Hunter had had bequeathed their weapon unto her, along with the experience of countless years of violence of the most unforgiving kind and a penchant for fighting dirty rendered any assessments of Rowan Oralie's ability as a fighter woefully inadequate.
As Astra and Wolfram were learning, much to their detriment.
With the absence of the usual crowds and traffic the open street that the pair of students and the criminal had encountered one another on served as an open and spacious place to do battle, with windows and walls having been broken and riddled with bullet holes whilst the road beneath them bore several freshly carved trenches and other blemishes after several exchanges of super-powered blows; with Wolfram Ironside currently hurtling towards Rowan for another such exchange.
"This is what they're teaching you kids?" the redhead sneered "Wow, I'm glad I never went to school" her words were punctuated by forceful blows from Wolfram that rippled the air but failed to land as Rowan dodged and weaved around him with only the most negligible of steps backwards; after several such failed attacks were either blocked and parried by the blade of Insolence or avoided entirely a cunning smirk came over the young man's face as he first blocked his opponents' retaliatory slash with the shield portion of Berserker which was fitted to his left arm before pivoting at the waist and lunging forward to drive his elbow into Rowan's nose.
Seeing his opponent finally stagger back a single pace Wolfram pressed his hard fought advantage and continued to advance, swinging his shield out in a backhanded blow which he quickly followed with a wild chop with his axe, only for Rowan to reveal that she was not so easily beaten as she first leapt backwards to avoid the incoming attacks and landed in a crouch with muscles coiled before springing forward in the next instant to catch Wolfram whilst he was still overextended and deliver a punishing heel kick to his kidneys that left the young man wheezing in pain with his legs threatening to give way beneath him. With her dominance reasserted Rowan pressed onwards by twirling Insolence, the lengthy shaft of the naginata allowing her to do so with both hands and aim her blow upwards at the would be Hunter's neck, Wolfram reacted instinctively and flung his shield upwards to protect himself yet with pain still coursing through his body from the previous blow his balance was compromised and he was sent reeling backwards, stance widening to keep himself upright which his adversary capitalised on with the next assault.
A kick to the groin that left Wolfram curled up on the floor, his senses and ability to breathe robbed by an overwhelming pain that left his eyes watering and bile rising in his throat.
"No tournament rules here kid" Rowan chuckled as she twirled her weapon in her hand lazily, deciding if it would be more expedient to stab or shoot her way through the last of the boys' Aura, she did still have a job to do after all.
Before she could make her decision the ground exploded around her as a plethora of explosive rounds tore into it, leaving her stunned and discombobulated for Astra to re-enter the fight.
"Bitch!" the Deer Faunus spat as they barrelled into her with meteoric force, forgoing their weapons and usually bombastic style in favour of making their first blow a flying headbutt which left Rowan's Aura rippling around her as she was forced away from Wolfram's still prone form. The criminal had thought that she had seen the last of the Mohawk-sporting teen after dropping their face onto her knee and casting their limp form aside to focus on Wolfram, Astra was as tenacious as herself it seemed and possessed of the beginnings of something that might one day grow to become a truly vicious side if their current conduct were any indication. After following up their headbutt with a jab at her flank with one of the blades of Buckshot Ares and a subsequent spinning left backhand that forced their opponent to evade Astra lashed and delivered a roundhouse kick to the knee of the leg Rowan's weight was currently placed on to send her toppling to the ground with a pained howl.
"Little fucker!" the words were torn from her as she shifted her weapon into its' shotgun form and aimed at almost point blank range, finding her retaliation denied to her as Astra first used their shields to protect themselves, the panes of rose tinted hard-light absorbing the blast easily and then struck back, using those same glowing constructs to bat their opponent aside, striking her across the face and sending her skidding across the ground with a tingling numbness spreading through where the hard-light had touched her that did nothing to stop the pain it caused.
"Now I'm pissed off, but I'm not unreasonable….Drop the weapon now and I'll only break enough bones to make sure you don't pick it up again" Astra's voice was low and menacing, an affectation that the Deer Faunus privately hoped worked as they made a show of slowly spinning up the barrels of their twin Gatling guns for another barrage, in reality however they were in pain and exhausted from a battle that went far beyond simple sparring with older students or even taking on the criminals of Neo Vale who now seemed laughable in comparison. Rowan for her part simply glowered at the ultimatum, features a savage snarl behind scarlet locks that fallen in front of her face yet did nothing to hamper her aim as she hefted Insolence and fired and forced Astra to block once again.
When they lowered their shields Rowan was gone.
"Wolfram where did she go?" they called out, hoping that their voice did not betray their nerves as they whipped around frantically, aiming their twin weapons in opposite directions to leave less blind spots open to attack.
"I don't know" Wolfram groaned out, still struggling to stand "The air rippled and she disappeared; I think it's a Semblance"
"Damn it" Astra hissed through clenched teeth, blue-green eyes hard yet filled with clearly mounting panic as they sought out any trace of the adversary that they were certain had not yet abandoned the fight; finding their prize a moment too late as the air rippled in the way that Wolfram had alluded to, a wave of distortion that passed around the two students in a ring that outlined the area of Rowan's influence with the feeling of a curtain being pulled back and some truth revealed the only difference to be found being that Rowan herself had become visible once again, mere feet away from Wolfram.
"WOLFIE-" the warning came too late and Astra watched in horror as Rowan delivered a kick to their boyfriends' face that connected with a resounding crack and robbed the last of his Aura as it knocked him unconscious; from there the red haired crime boss prevented Astra from gunning her down by dragging the limp form of her beaten opponent from the ground and holding Wolfram in front of herself as a shield once she charged. Closing the distance between them in an instant she cast the unconscious teen aside and promptly kicked Astra in the gut, forcing them back and onto one knee as she shifted Insolence into its' naginata form once again; the Deer Faunus blocked her initial slice at their cheek only for the redhead to show her versatility and agility as she carried her momentum into the sort of leaping and spinning athleticism that Astra might have expected from Athena-Jade before smashing the base of her weapon into their skull and leave them sprawled on the ground. From there Rowan seized the initiative with a display of unfeeling brutality that went beyond her previous examples, abandoning her weapon for a moment to place a booted foot between Astra's shoulder blades and seize the Deer Faunus by the antlers, arcing their spine as far back as she could with her boot still in place before smashing the teens' face into the hard ground with a jarring thud.
She managed to deliver four such thunderous blows before her luck took a cataclysmic turn for the worse.
"GET AWAY FROM 'EM!" the barked demand was Rowan's only warning before she was ripped from her feet and the air forced from her lungs as the light armour she wore beneath her overalls was crumpled. Spitting out a mouthful of coppery blood and forcing herself to her feet with a swaying motion whilst recovering her weapon in the process she quickly found the source of her misery. Wolfram Ironside had managed to regain consciousness and return to the fight despite the depleted Aura in a display of what Rowan could only describe as insanity and wilful self Destruction; shifting his weapon into its' own combined ranged form and aiming the hand-cannon so ludicrously overpowered that it required a robotic support brace around his wrist and firing without hesitation, clearly breaking his own wrist in the process yet still he aimed the smoking barrel of the weapon in the direction of the redhead.
"You're bluffing" Rowan snarled, blood still trickling from her lips "No way you'll fire that again"
"Let's find out" her eyes narrowed at the challenge and she charged with a wordless yell, Insolence trailing behind her and glinting in the final rays of sunlight before darkness truly fell in a display that even as it was happening the redhead cursed for its' needless inefficient drama and theatricality; being certain that she was being lured into a trap.
Only to be proven correct as the howl of a powerful Dust engine reached her ears.
"BEEP BEEP!" Rowan had only the briefest fraction of a second to turn and see a very familiar jetbike, being ridden by an equally familiar Racoon Faunus whom she had disparaged as a Clan-Rat during their last encounter hurtling towards her; a golden haired Lion Faunus who could only be the famed Felix Xiao Long leaping from the back of the jetbike which allowed Regalia to bring Clunker into a sharp pivot as she braked.
The rear of the bike swinging around and smashing into Rowan's chest and sending her flying backwards again before she crashed to the ground in a heap.
"Get back here!" Regalia yelled as she leapt from the bike, overcome by fury at the sight of her partner laying bloody and prone; Apex Scavenger finding its' way to her hand in an instant and as Rowan scrabbled away on her hands and knees a trio of shots were barked off, two of them blasting chunks from the ground beside her while the third bit into her Aura as it struck her back.
And then the redhead simply vanished.
"Regalia" Astra's voice pushed the haze of anger that had taken over her senses and she turned to see Felix helping both Astra and Wolfram to their feet, the former wiping blood away from their own mouth, nose and split eyebrow
"It's her Semblance" they continued, words coming with laboured breaths "She's some kind of illusionist"
"I hate fighting those" Felix growled, cybernetic hand twitching in the direction of the sword slung over his back.
"I can find her" Regalia tapped the goggles still lowered over her amethyst coloured eyes with a feral smile as she stepped back towards her jetbike "I'm going after her-"
"No you're not" Felix countered bluntly with a shake of his head "Let her go, we'll catch her another time-"
"Are you serious right now?" Wolfram demanded angrily, voice harsh despite the pain that still engulfed him "We need to-"
"Kid don't be fucking stupid!" Felix's voice rose to the cusp of a bellow before he took a deep breath and let out a long sigh, his sudden burst of patience being inspired by memories of his own hard-headedness as a teenager as much as the glare that Astra shot in his direction.
"We've got half of her crew and the people they were looking for in custody already, someone is gonna talk. We've got her face, a good look at hear weapon and her Semblance now so even if you didn't get her name we'll know who she is soon enough" Felix placed a hand on Wolfram's shoulder allowing the teen that he was still not exactly fond of to lean on him form support "You covered each other, kept each other safe….you did good but you're injured. It's time for you to sit this one out"
"Fine" Wolfram grumbled before turning his focus to more important matters "Astra, you okay?"
"Still got both Antlers and all of my teeth, could be worse" they responded with a grimace as they gingerly touched their bloodied and rapidly swelling face, their expression slowly morphing into a smirk as they turned to their brother "So, no complaints about us wandering off this time?"
"This wasn't a mission, you weren't on the job" Felix shrugged before matching the smirk with a toothy grin of his own that bared overlong canines "Not that you'd know that by looking at you….Do your dates usually end up like this?"
Astra let out a groan as they confirmed that this was in fact exactly how their dates with Wolfram tended to go.
Coco Adel had known Velvet Scarlatina since she was a shy and introverted seventeen year old being subjected to almost daily torment from bigots and cowards, watching her first be tempted by the White Fang and their lure of kinship, solidarity and change through violence to then taking down that same organisation and the monster of a man that led it as she grew to become a legend amongst Hunters; with Coco falling hopelessly in love with her along the way. There were few things could truly enrage the Rabbit Faunus, such all-consuming anger was simply not in her nature and Coco could remember the cause of each and every instance of Velvet's fury being unleashed.
Yet she could not recall ever seeing Velvet as angry as she was at that moment.
"I want them dead" she said matter of factly, the ear which had not been cut short in battle twitching sporadically whilst her knuckles audibly popped and the wood of the table she leaned against cracked in her grasp, her deep brown eyes both blazing and filling with tears as her emotions became too much to contain "I want every fucking one of them dead for what they did today"
"Woah, easy there Thumper" Coco murmured gently, reaching out and squeezing Velvet's hand gently even as she winced upon realising that using that particular nickname might have been inconsiderate; it might have been given to her by Gangrel Slate, a close friend of the family however it had been given to her at roughly the time she first joined the White Fang. The two of them were joined by Yatsuhashi, Ruby and Penny with the five of them gathered in the staff room of the academy; knowing that it would be empty on a Saturday night and simply refusing to bring matters as vile as this into the sanctity of their home at the uppermost reaches of the campus.
"They came dressed as the Fang Coco" Velvet's voice cracked and trembled with a sob that she refused to let come "Here, on Menagerie, after I told our students how much better things are now; after I told Weiss and Gangrel's daughter….I said those words to our son"
"I know" Coco inched closer, placing a hand gently on the small of Velvet's back whilst Yatsuhashi approached from the opposite side and looped an arm around her shoulders, the two of them embracing the embittered and heartbroken Faunus for a moment in a gesture that both Ruby and Penny understood not involve or include them and simply patiently waited to end.
"Little Fox is okay" Yatsuhashi murmured in Velvet's ear "He's a little shaken up, he'll probably still be awake when we get back. I can talk to him-"
"No" Velvet shook her head gently "You're a star Big Guy, both of you are and I love you….But this is a talk that has to come from me, nobody else"
"We understand" Coco promised her as she pressed her lips against Velvet's temple and hoped that the outburst of a few moments ago would be the worst of her ire "And we'll fix this, we'll make it right"
"What information do we have to work with in that regard?" Penny asked, her words missing some of their usual upbeat and chipper as her own anger at what had been allowed to befall the city she called home now made itself known.
"That it wasn't the White Fang" Coco began, expression darkening as she added "It's going to take a hell of a lot to convince the press of that, they love a good story too much but the White Fang are gone….From what we can tell this wasn't anti-Faunus extremists either"
"The people we've identified are gang members and other criminals" Yatsuhashi chimed in, the giant of a man being one of the Hunters to handle the affair in person "What's concerning to us is that many of them seem to be tied to the Grimm smuggling operation and the fight club in the wasteland-"
"So one gang attacked another and they dressed up as the White Fang to make it look like something other than what it was" Ruby surmised, her remaining silver eye narrowing "That's-"
"Disgusting" Velvet finished the sentence for her and Ruby nodded in agreement, allowing a moment of silence to pass before speaking again.
"So what's our next move?"
"Our first duty it always to protect the people of Port Alistair" Coco intoned seriously "I'm calling in all available Hunters, they'll be assisting police patrols to dissuade any more gang fights and additional Hunters are going to be stationed at the perimeter defences; we've been lucky so far but something like this will draw Grimm….It's a good thing we have Team FADE here, their ship will make a difference"
"Then perhaps we should delay the upcoming missions for first and fourth year students, offer them extra credit for assisting in patrols instead?" Penny noted, her fellow professors and members of what amounted to a secretive security council of sorts considering for a moment before Velvet finally shook her head.
"No….the final year students need their mission to go ahead. These bastards have already done enough damage, they can't be allowed to interfere with the training of Hunters"
"That could actually be a goal of there's that we hadn't anticipated….ruin our students careers so that they have a steady supply of candidates for another fight club" Coco murmured the words quietly, almost to herself before discarding the idea as fantasy until there was more evidence to support it.
"Regardless" Yatsuhashi gave a heavy sigh "I would advise deploying the Freshmen into the city, they're not ready….even the teams we had earmarked for additional training-"
"Team MARZ?" Ruby's expression became both curious and apprehensive "What happened?"
"Certain things I can't disclose without the students' permission" Yatsuhashi gave an apologetic expression which Ruby accepted "But Team MARZ and Team WULF, along with other students in the crowd who were caught up in the violence tried to break it up; the first years are capable fighters yet struggled to show restraint-"
"They were fighting people they way you'd fight Grimm" Coco interjected bluntly, the image her words conjured enough to make Ruby and Penny wince "I'll have to talk to Arslan and have her adjust her syllabus accordingly, maybe schedule some talks and seminars with some old Hunters who went into legal work after they retired; knowing how to use that much force is less important than knowing when to use it….As it I'm already preparing for the amount of claims that the people we arrested today are gonna file against the academy"
"But we're getting distracted here" Velvet said, her voice no longer filled with the same all-consuming fury but still hard despite its' quietness "The city, student missions, potential lawsuits….they're important but they're not why we're here"
"You're right" Coco nodded, before producing a digital tablet that was larger than a scroll and placing it on the table where it could be seen by all present "We have a name and a face now….And while you were taking care of business in the city, thank you for that by the way I did some digging"
"Who are we looking at here" Velvet asked, eyes narrowing almost instinctively at the sight of the scarlet haired and powerfully built woman clad in the same style of black boiler suit worn by the criminals who attacked Faunus Pride, the muscle and footsoldiers of the Grimm smugglers, whoever they may be.
"Her name is Rowan Oralie, she's the getaway driver carrying the Grimm containment unit we recovered, the woman who attacked Team WULF in a bar before being stopped by Carmesi Hueso and then escaping from him, she's also most likely the pilot of the mecha that Arctus and Diamond handled….She's the ringleader of our smugglers, maybe not the person in charge but the one running field operations. Astra Mars and Wolfram Ironside fought her today, she would have killed them both if Felix hadn't stepped in; that's how we know that she has an illusion Semblance"
"I've….never heard of her" Penny said slowly, more than a little disconcerted that as a former Atlas Specialist, Freelancer and the current Professor of an elective class that amounted to teaching the art of covert operations such an individual had managed to entirely escape her notice.
"From what I managed to find about her she's no mastermind, just a street kid who's managed to land some big jobs" Coco fought to keep a sneer out of her voice "It's debatable whether that's actually her real name….the first records of her that I can find are from a work camp for juvenile delinquents in Vaccuo's outer territories-"
"Barbaric places" Velvet muttered, being aware of and appalled by the conditions in such places.
"Agreed, but it seems that she's been trained….Off the books by a Hunter most likely and the timing of Rowan's earliest records do seem to line up with the censure and eventual death of a Vaccuan Hunter by the name of Oralie" Coco paused and considered "Likely that they're unrelated and that she just took the name….along with the weapon she was seen using today, that's not important what is important is that she's made a career out of being a hired gun, she gathers a crew of muscle and rents her services out to people who don't want to use real Hunters. Everything about her operations in Menagerie is an escalation, she's never had this many people, she's never been this well funded before or this brazen"
"So it's likely that whoever is pulling the strings here, the person that's really running the smuggling operation ordered the attack" Ruby mused, choosing her words carefully as pieces of the puzzle fell into place yet still failed to form the entire picture "Then the other gang, the one that managed to work their way onto the security teams were the real target; not the festival"
"In that case it could be possible that this Rowan Oralie is just taking out competition" Velvet countered, brow furrowing in open loathing for this new criminal element "But I think you're right….which means we need to find out what else that other gang make money from; if we know why they were targeted then we know that Oralie and therefore her employers are trying to control, then we can start to plan around them"
"It's likely that her employers are still trying to capture the escaped Alpha Geist from their fight club….or whatever it has mutated into now" Yatsuhashi noted, reminding them all of the truly horrific creature that now stalked the wasteland.
"Good luck" Ruby fought the urge to snort in derision.
"Either way, we'll know soon enough" Coco added firmly "Arrest warrants for Oralie and all of her known associates are being filed as we speak, her face will be plastered all over the news and there will be Hunters looking for her and her people in every major settlement on Menagerie and keeping watch for her at ports and airship terminals. She isn't going anywhere"
"Good" Velvet breathed out, finally allowing herself to relent.
"Well" Coco added with a quiet sigh as she contemplated the one safe haven for all organised crime that plagued the Kingdom she had helped to found "Unless she runs to Blackwater Cove"
Fleeing to Blackwater Cove had been the most obvious and natural choice in the world for Rowan Oralie yet that did not mean that it was one she was happy to make.
The city, which stood as a twisted mirror of everything Port Alistair prided itself on and aspired to be was a wretched hive of scum and villainy had taken several hours to reach, seeing Rowan arrive just as the night was beginning to lighten into a pre-dawn gloom that offered no solace or respite from her failures with her voyage across the wastelands of the island Kingdom, joined by her few remaining associates who had managed to escape the Capital being made more difficult by the constant pain that her injuries left her with adding to the misery which had threatened to draw the Creatures of Grimm.
Remarkably however she had made it to the relative albeit dubious safety of the bleak and lawless city where she and her associates and split up and gone the separate ways so that they could throw off any law enforcement who might be following them and at that current moment Rowan was trudging through the streets of Blackwater Cloves innermost recesses in search of any business amongst the bars and other such establishment whose neon signs still flickered and shone garishly that might be a front business for one of the handful of, likely disqualified doctors that Persian Green had kept in his employ; her reason for doing so being obvious with the pained wheezing that accompanied each of the laboured breaths that misted out in front of her, her Aura was yet to heal her bruised and broken ribs and the freezing temperatures that Menagerie was subjected to once the sun set made her aching bones intolerable.
Fortune was not in her favour however and before she could find aid it became apparent that someone had found her.
Her pursuer, whoever they might be made no effort to hide their presence until the last moment and then declare themselves with a sense of pomp in the way that the authorities might, had none of the overblown belligerence of simple street thugs responding to a perceived rival and yet the fact that Rowan had seen the attack coming precluded the idea that she was being apprehended by a professional assassin of any merit; instead what greeted her as she attempted to limp and shuffle her way across an empty street was a car of a make and model not quite old enough to be considered vintage, yet certainly too expensive to belong in such a neighbourhood that skidded to a halt in front of the injured redhead after avoiding a collision with her by mere inches. Rowan reached into her clothes, numb fingers fumbling on the grip of insolence and heart thundering in her battered chest as the window rolled down and she knew that she would be unable to return fire.
Yet the gunshot never came and her paranoia was washed away for the briefest moment, only to return in full force at the sight of a familiar face.
"Do get in the car Miss Oralie, it's jolly cold out and I would rather not leave the window open indefinitely" Major Grapeshot harrumphed indignantly, Rowan remained frozen and rooted to the spot for several seconds as she tried to predict what would happen in the next few moments until something both unexpected and yet entirely predictable happened.
Carmesi Hueso revealed himself by pressing Retribution against the base of her skull in its' shotgun form.
"It wasn't a request, scum" his low rumbling voice seemed to shake the ground beneath their feet
"How long have you been following me" Rowan asked conversationally, attempting to keep a facade of control out of habit.
"Long enough to know that you're alone, injured and somehow managed to struggle with even the most basic instructions" Carmesi's snarl had the ghost of a chuckle about it "Now get in the car, or you can go the same way Persian did" Rowan was struck with the urge to lash out or retaliate to that comment yet bit her tongue as instincts honed by years of experience fuelled her survival instinct, causing her to realise that in a city such as Blackwater Cove there was no reason that a street lined with business which operated at all hours should be as empty as it currently was, which meant that the area had likely been cleared intentionally by whichever band of backstabbing crooks had told the rogue Hunters that Rowan would be arriving in the city they had made their base.
Realising that her only other option was death Rowan climbed into the passenger seat of the car, with Carmesi sitting directly behind her with his weapon levelled at her back.
"Well Miss Oralie, you put on a smashing performances that will certainly be keeping the reporters busy for some time I daresay" Grapeshot's moustache twitched as he brought the car into motion, prowling through the gloomy streets "The masks were a rather poor show if I do say so but I convinced Carmesi to be a sport about it….Our shared benefactor has of course sent a communique"
"And I wasn't sent one" Rowan tensed, trying to fathom a way out of what now seemed certain "So let's get it over with"
"Oh do calm down, silly girl" the Major scoffed, clearly sensing her fears "If I planned on letting Carmesi kill you I would hardly have him do it where it would make a mess that I don't care to have cleaned"
"But it's still on the table" the Komodo Dragon Faunus assured her, a wave of menace seeming to radiate out from him as he spoke "We know you were still taking lien from the scum that funded Persian's little fight club"
"So what are we doing here?" Rowan demanded bluntly, still not certain that she would leave this conversation with her life.
"Following orders" Grapeshot answered simply, the huff that he let out making it abundantly clear how distasteful he found the situation "Your orders were to remove the group who had taken over dealings at the docks so that our benefactors' shipment of a containment unit for our target could be safely delivered. By all accounts your operation, crude and uncouth as it may have been in its' execution was a success….Acid attacks though I ask you, what on Remnant are things coming to-"
"Spare me" Rowan fixed the old soldier with a glower "We got the job done-"
"Half a job" Carmesi growled before adding matter of factly "You got rid of the opposition, your people don't have the docks"
"That won't take long to fix-"
"You're under the impression that we trust you that much" the reptilian rogue behind her spat, fingers twitching around the trigger of his weapon dangerously.
"Indeed" Grapeshot harrumphed imperiously once again "It's clear that your operations need more experienced oversight and as such you will be remaining in Blackwater Cove until such a time as your presence is needed elsewhere; at which point Carmesi and I will accompany you to Port Alistair to retrieve the containment unit in person, is that clear?"
"Perfectly" Rowan hissed, her attempt at vitriol being hampered by both her injuries and a sinking sense of hopelessness that came with the realisation that whilst she was not being executed she had effectively been pressed into service, a state of affairs that she could not imagine would be allowed to end in a way that benefited her. The Major for his part paid no mind to the internal plight of the redhead beside him and simply accelerated.
"Capital...Now, let's get you to a doctor"
Students milling about in dormitories, either their own or those of their classmates as the darkness began to show the first signs of fading on a Sunday morning was far from an uncommon one on the campus of Breaktide Academy, although it could usually be attributed to the regular antics of student life, both drunken and otherwise as students held small and impromptu after-parties upon returning from the city or being shooed away from common areas by an exasperated member of the faculty whilst in this instance the small gatherings were for a far less pleasant reason.
Team MARZ were one such team, with none of them currently able to sleep and instead loitering in their own dormitory.
Following their return from the travesty and chaos that the opening night of Faunus Pride had been reduced to there had been the expect calls to and from the families of the four teens, with Regalia going so far as to detach the two way radio from her beloved jetbike and carry it into the dorm so that she could be amongst friends whilst informing her mother of what had happened and that she, along with her friends was safe.
Those conversations had been some time ago and now Team MARZ's living space was filling with a tense, pregnant silence that Astra tried their best to ignore as they worked; the task that they had given themselves being hindered in no small amount by the bag of frozen peas that Laser had stolen from the kitchens being currently pressed against their bruised and swollen face obscuring their vision somewhat and also by the fact that their eyes itched and burned with a tiredness that they knew they would get no relief from just yet. The Deer Faunus had spoken with their parents, the promised introduction between Wolfram and Astra's father being delayed by the fact the their boyfriend had been released from the medical wing after Astra themselves and had promptly returned to Team WULF's dormitory; the particulars of the injures he had suffered wounding his pride as much as his body.
With such a welcome distraction denied to them Wolfram's mind had provided a less welcome yet still impossible to ignore alternative; namely an intense self loathing fuelled by their own fears of inadequacy.
It was to this end that the leader of Team MARZ had sequestered themselves away at the small writing desk tucked in a corner of the dormitory between the bunks and closets and unfurled not only the current blueprints for Buckshot Ares but also those of previous iterations of the many-times-remade weapon and scrapped, half-formed concepts; further to this Astra had also readied several biographies of notable Hunters whose weapons were similar to their own, whilst their styles and approaches were markedly different. The Deer Faunus had found themselves glowering with simmering anger at their own bruised and mauled reflection every time they caught sight of it following their beating at the hands of Rowan Oralie and was beginning to think that it might be time for a change, something of the scale that often led their parents to share bemused glances at their child's various phases.
It was however a strategy that had served Astra well thus far, make themselves as malleable as the strategies that they employed and live by a mantra of reinvention.
They were still unsure of what exactly needed to be changed however and the appearance of Regalia Russet, resting her chin on their shoulder as they leaned over to examine the blueprints with her eyes wide and bushy tail quivering in simple glee that stood at odds with the mood of the room made the choice even more difficult than it already would have been.
"Woah" she gasped out slowly "I've never seen all of these before when we're in the workshop….You're planning on modifying Buckshot Ares? Can I help? Please let me help, it'll be awesome I promise-"
"I'm not sure yet" Astra murmured quietly, not strictly annoyed by their partners' presence but not quite prepared for her almost relentless enthusiasm "Something needs to change, whatever went wrong out there today is a problem-"
"I don't think it was the weapons" Regalia mumbled with a shake of the head "I mean I'd love to work on Buckshot Ares with you sometime but I don't think it-"
"So it was me?" Astra snarled, rising to their feet and rounding on her "Either it was the weapon or the person using it and-"
"We could've beaten her as a team!" Regalia insisted "If we'd all been together she wouldn't have had a chance….that's why she ran off"
"I….Damn it you're right, I'm sorry" Astra grumbled, the apology sounding as though it were hard to give as the Deer Faunus adjusted the frozen peas currently numbing their face and took in a deep, wavering breath whose trembling notes made it clear just how close to their breaking point they currently were
"I thought I had it, I beat the thieves and gangsters in Neo Vale before I even came here….I should have had that" what could be seen of their expression was almost mournful "Thanks for being in my corner Regalia, it means a lot….I just wish I didn't need to be propped up"
"There's a reason Hunters are assigned teams….And today was hard for all of us" it was Zirconia's low, cultured rasp that interrupted the conversation and caused both Astra and Regalia to turn and face their most introverted team-mate; finding her sat, as close to cross-legged as her unique cybernetics would allow on Athena-Jade's bunk with the Bear Faunus herself leaning against her, though almost entirely obscured by the cocoon of blankets that she had buried herself in.
The sight of the brazen and fearless Athena so muted left Astra feeling even more wretched about their own conduct both on and off the battlefield, prompting them to try and push the feeling aside with a more light-hearted comment.
"Hey" the gave a weak smile "You alive in their AJ? Blink once for yes and two for no"
"You suck" Athena-Jade's voice was an almost inaudible mumble, muffled by blankets that rustled with some unseen movement.
"You uh….You wanna talk about what happened out there?" Astra asked cautiously, refusing to allow themselves to be as lacklustre of a leader as they apparently were as a fighter.
"Not really….Not yet" Athena mumbled, words becoming more clear as she pushed the blankets aside enough to become at least partially visible "But I know I should probably talk to Counsellor Daichi...I just, I saw red….I saw those masks and I was back at the Vytal Tournament when we were kids, all I could see was the people that hurt my family-"
"The people that cut Felix's tail off" Astra muttered "I get it"
"If your behaviour was questionable then mine was certainly no better" Zirconia noted, mismatched eyes downcast as she stared at her hands; almost losing herself in the memory of sickening thuds as her weapon cracked and shattered bones with each swing.
"That guy shot me in the back and I couldn't fight back….I just froze up, you probably saved my life today" Athena's voice dropped to a whisper as she clambered the rest of the way out of the blankets and wrapping her strong arms around her partners' more slender shoulders and pulling Zirconia into a hug; with the taller and yet less powerfully built of the young women stiffening for a fraction of a second, hesitant as always to be touched yet finally melting into the contact and going so far as to snake an arm around Athena's midsection in a move whose awkwardness spoke of how unfamiliar it was. The two of them rested their foreheads against one another, neither of them finding any words and simply enjoying the moment that could have lasted for any amount of time.
Until it was broken by Astra clearing their throat as they and Regalia looked pointedly anywhere else.
"So today was rough….We're all dealing with it in our own ways" Astra breathed out, willing to accept their earlier demeanour and compulsion to remake themselves into something more as a product of the same kind of trauma that Athena-Jade was suffering from. The Deer Faunus was after all a native of Neo Vale, as was Zirconia and so the two of them had both witnessed the horrors of the Creatures of Grimm far too early in their lives during Salem's attacks and Regalia, behind all of her curiosity, enthusiasm and love of life was a child of the Nomad Clans and had undoubtedly been left with private scars after facing the terrors that dwelt in the wasteland far more times than she openly discussed.
"But we will deal with it….We have to" they continued, gaze shifting between each of their friends "And Regalia's right, the next time we fight the smugglers, or the Grimm or whoever the hell else it is….We'll be together and we'll win; 'cos we're Team MARZ"
"Your speeches belong in an action movie dude" Athena-Jade snorted, consciously channelling the mannerisms of the sister-in-law she had always admired.
"Yeah that's why they're cool" Regalia beamed, happily accepting a high-five from her partner.
"See Regalia appreciates the coolness" Astra grinned and like that some semblance of normalcy fell into place and Team MARZ found a modicum of peace before the sound of birds chirping outside of their window forced them to at least try and sleep.
Author's Notes:
Okay so, next chapter is gonna be the start of the Vol.02 finale, I've mentioned upcoming missions a few times over the last few chapters so you should know that it's go time.
The end of Vol.02 will actually streamline some things a bit and move some things into place for the finale of first year as a whole.
On another note, this chapter and the previous one are something I'm actually really happy with; for the last few weeks/month or so I feel like I've been struggling to get pacing right and convey things I want to, even with stuff that I'd been looking forward to writing but this has been something I've enjoyed and been proud of….Turns out all I needed was a return to the gang violence that was so prevalent in the beginning of The Downward Spiral, a trip back to what started the Spiral-Verse back in 2016.
But anyway let's summarise, shall we?:
Astra definitely loves being away from Neo Vale, although given the final scene of the chapter you've gotta wonder how much of that is due to it being a place where they can reinvent themselves and believe their own hype.
The idea of Wolfram on an ice-cream date is so opposed to what you'd assume that it just works.
Okay so, Wolfram has met Astra' Mum, their Dad is aware of Wolfram and Wolfram was right, Astra overthought everything and got themselves worried about nothing.
Letting a disrespect slide is definitely part of Wolfram's love language.
Well, we found one of the 'Pink Soldiers' gang that Rowan and Co were looking for.
Shells, short for Tortoiseshell which makes sense for a cat Faunus and also because 'Shells' is one of those overused nicknames in gangs, I swear I know at least three guys called Shells.
Astra was, up until this point the only member of Team MARZ or WULF who hadn't met Rowan….And as soon as they realised who she was they went in with a bad-ass one liner and all guns blazing.
AJ is always gonna feel like she's got a lot to live up to regardless of what her parents tell her.
AJ and Zirconia's awkwardness continues, but let them have this moment.
Rowan wanted a distraction while she grabbed the leader of the other gang, this is definitely a distraction.
Just the image of Athena's claws fighting against her Aura while she struggles not to lose it completely seemed almost poetic.
I'm from the UK and we don't really do drive-by shootings too much, if a gang decides to lurk and roll up; it's usually gonna be Rambo knives, Zombie knives and machetes….the way we operate is visceral and I carried that over.
Yeah, we already knew that AJ still had trauma from the New White Fang attack during her childhood and this was close enough to it to set off a PTSD fuelled fight or flight response.
Ursinia isn't naive as such, but I don't think she considered the practicalities of fighting other people or fighting around civilians when she designed her weapon.
Laser on the other hand is absolutely fluent in the kind of violence that the gang members deal in.
Atlas at this point in this timeline is definitely not as bad as canon Atlas, however its' Cadets definitely learn how to 'pacify' a crowd if needs be.
The harpoon grab into a spinning elbow combo is definitely one of Regalia's signature moves at this point, also….She was heavy handed yes, but it's more because she was raised in the wasteland where every fight is potentially to the death.
Laser visor is absolutely on par with Faunus vision, probably better in some regards.
Well shit, there's another side to Hops that we haven't seen before...Add that to the many mysteries.
Felix's assessment here was absolutely correct.
A Regalia and Felix team-up to help Astra….In Regalia's head that was probably the most cinematic, action movie thing ever.
See we haven't really seen much of Rowan's actual fighting abilities yet and I felt it was important to show them before the Vol.02 finale.
Wolfram is good….For a First Year student, Rowan is just nasty with it.
If you have never been kicked in the bollocks before then I want you to know that you are one of the chosen few and you should endeavour to remain that way.
Astra has been shown to be heavy handed and vicious when needed since literally the first chapter, the flying headbutt is absolutely on brand, as was that kick.
And now we see why Rowan keeps getting away from people (Although Carmesi obviously let her go when he caught her) she has an illusion Semblance.
Any combo that starts with grabbing a human shield is gonna be nasty and that face-slam was just filth.
Wolfram just casually wrecking his own arm.
Wolfram did say that Regalia was probably gonna kill someone with her bike one day….Not quite, but definitely close enough.
Once again Felix's judgement was correct…..And hey, this interaction with Wolfram went better.
Can you blame Velvet for being that angry though?
Thumper is a deep cut from my early writing.
She's right, a talk about what happened at Faunus Pride should really come from a Faunus.
Team FADE and their ship….A little bit of casual foreshadowing.
The Professors concerns about their students heavy-handedness is absolutely legitimate regardless of how bad the criminals happen to be in this instance.
So now the heroes actually know who Rowan is and we get a little bit more of a look at her backstory.
The unless X happens/And then X happens cut is always fun to use.
The phrase wretched hive of scum and villainy was intentional.
Rowan got her ribs busted to shit and that is definitely fuelling her paranoia, although in a city like that it's probably for the best.
I haven't revealed Carmesi's Semblance, but it's been noted before that he's an amazing tracker and he can literally keep tabs on the illusionist when he wants to.
I mean Rowan did technically get the job done….Sorta.
But now she's being kept under a much stricter observation until she's needed.
The student parties at a Hunter Academy must be nuts.
Never underestimate the power of a bag of frozen peas.
We learned early on, back in initiation that Astra has actually redesigned their weapon a few times and considering the way they try to put on a bad-ass front has probably tried to reinvent themselves a few times to find what works.
Explosive temper, struggling to apologise when they're in the wrong and a case of main character syndrome….Someone is picking up Wolfram's worst habits.
Y'know, eventually either Athena-Jade or Zirconia is gonna have to have an OH moment.
It's worth pointing out, like Astra noted that basically the current batch of students were kids during Salem's second campaign; so most of them, especially ones from Vale or Atlas are traumatised to some degree.
Regalia really is Astra's biggest fan.
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Lurkweed for their review on the last chapter.
Yeah, Velvet really should've known better than to tempt fate….even if there has been at least a decade or so of nothing going wrong.
At this point the benefactor is just the one with the funding, to someone like Rowan they're a less direct threat than say….Carmesi, who will cut off more than your money.
I've seen what you Americans think qualifies as "Chanting and banter" abysmal….I'll send you a few links, British football chants are brutal.
That sibling prank actually reminds me of something that happened at work a few weeks back, we have a prankster on the team who likes to fuck with people; it was his 50th birthday so the whole team got him a birthday card and naturally glitter-bombed it.
Agreed, more people should watch Fern Gully….I already referenced Hexxus back in Downward Spiral, I wonder what else I can work in.
I was going to say that Vaccuo would be a great place to bring back the Taijitu but no...Cobra Grimm are more likely.
The points about Leo are valid on paper, the problem is that since we never saw it on the show it just feels kind of empty.
I love that people are still genuinely taken in by the way I write gang stuff...it's one of the few benefits of a misspent youth (The other benefit being the looks on my co-workers faces when me and a fellow former delinquent that I work with start explaining the how, why and probabilities of certain things).
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.