V2E6: Mob Mentality
Downtown Vale, or BadTown as it was colloquially called, wasn't what Hope had expected. It was filthy and dilapidated, sure, but it certainly wasn't as bad as the nickname entailed. Although that may be because of his own experience, having been in one of the worst metropolises in the entirety of the Americas. Maybe it's because of that that this objectively terrible place doesn't seem too bad in comparison.
Hope parked the bike in an alleyway and waited for everyone to get off the vehicle to do the same. He removed his helmet and took a big whiff of the stagnant but not rancid air.
"Ahhhhh, Reminds me of home." He commented. "Could use a few more hustlers and prostitutes though... And the Grandchildren of Cain..."
He shivered.
"At least all I have to deal with here are Grimms and the occasional gangster instead of those assholes."
Yang and Neptune gave him a confused side-glance.
"The heck is he talking about?" Neptune whispered, leaning into Yang's ear.
"I have no idea." He whispered back. "But it sounds weirder than that time he said he was an alien."
"Wait, what?"
Anon stared with disdain at the big neon sign, a gaudy piece of work depicting a dragon holding mahjong pieces that bore its name shamelessly: The Mah-Xiong.
"Did this son of a bitch name his nightclub after himself and made a fucking pun out of it?!"
Yang snorted.
"I think he did a good job."
He rolled his eyes.
"Time and place, Yang."
"Night and Club, Anon." Yang grinned
Anon blinked and swallowed down his urge to strangle her blue.
"I'm going to make you pay for that one someday."
"Someday." She put her hands on the door. "Now come on, my 'friend' is right this way."
Neptune was about to walk behind her but Anon kept him out of the way.
"Hold it for a sec, this is gonna get warm."
"Uh, ok?"
Yang tried to open the door but it was obviously held shut. She smiled.
"Well, I guess my exiting strategy could work in reverse!"
She wound back her arm before delivering a fiery strike that blew the door off its hinges and sent a few henchmen flying back. Yang posed with her hands to the side nonchalantly.
"Sup, boys! Guess who's back?"
A dozen of guns were levelled at her as the Dj took cover under his booth. The music turned into a distorted mess for the sudden retreat of the bear-headed DeadMau5 rip-off. Yang glared at the booth long enough for the DJ to get the message and take the needle off the record.
Neptune popped his head out with a worried glance while Anon just strolled by Yang.
"When you said you wanted to bring me clubbing, this wasn't what I had in mind," Anon commented.
Hei "Junior" Xiong stomped over into view in a huff. He cut through the small crowd of goons to see who's messed up his doors. Again.
"Stop, stop! Nobody shoots!" He ordered, grinding his teeth at the sight of Yang. "Blondie, you're here! Why?"
Anon took centre stage, pushing Yang behind him.
"I'll deal with this."
"You sure?" She asked, trying to not appear worried.
"Certain."
He felt one of the goons trail his gun on him. Hope was unfazed, raising an annoyed eyebrow.
"You gonna keep that gun on me or do I need to do something about it?"
Junior grabbed his thug's arm and lowered it bruskly. The goon in question lifted his head slightly in recognition.
"Wait... I know you!" He declared. "You're that bastard from Dust till Dawn!"
Anon squinted at the henchman but came up with nothing.
"I wouldn't know. I mean, all you assholes look the same." He blithered. "And I don't mean that in like a racist way, you literally all look the goddamn same, down to the outfit!"
He looked at Junior.
"I mean, do you have a fucking cloning facility in your basement?"
"No, they're all related." he gruffed out.
Anon's face scrunched in disbelief.
"Jesus, someone's genes are strong..."
Junior narrowed his eyes at Hope.
"Who are you?" He demanded to know rudely. "I've neither heard nor read anything about you. And I know everyone in Vale."
Hope took a cigar out and lit it, a halo of smoke slowly forming around him.
"Unlike miss Xiao-Long over there, I'm a businessman. I am here to do business with you, mister Hei Xiong."
Hei Xiong lifted his chin, pointing at Yang.
"And she's here because?"
"Consider her muscle." Yang flexed her biceps at Anon's epithet. "Same applies to the nerd with the neon hair.
"Intelectual!" Neptune interjected, only to be ignored.
"I'm not going anywhere in this shady fucking place without some backup. And unlike some people, I don't need to pay her to stick around."
The Malachite twins glared at the three from the DJ booth.
"Whatever." The sisters said in unison as they turned their noses up.
Junior groaned loudly.
"What do you want, new guy?"
"Info, obviously. But first, how about a drink? To loosen the nerves."
Junior shook his head before walking towards the bar. Anon nudged Yang with his elbow.
"Go ahead, I got something to take care of. I won't be long."
He glanced to the sisters. Yang frowned.
"You sure that's a good idea?"
"No, but if I have to use Plan B then I'll stack the deck in my favour."
Yang hesitated but ended up nodding.
"Alright."
"Don't press him yet, let him take a shot or two to loosen him up."
"Right."
Yang and Neptune walked after Junior and ordered themselves a drink.
He watched as the sisters walked down the balcony, probably to join Junior in case of funny business. Anon intercepted them, holding a hand in front of them. Before they had to chance to sneer at him, he pulled out two fifty thousand lien wads. They glanced from him to the wad.
"We aren't prostitutes." Melanie frowned angrily.
"I'm aware." He pointed to the door. "This is for you two to fuck off."
"Excuse you-"
Miltia hushed her sister. She frowned at him, occasionally eyeing the wads greedily.
"If I may, why should we?" The calmer twin asked politely despite her expression.
Anon glanced at Yang, who held her drink up and waved at the sisters with a menacing smile. The twins glanced with apprehension at her, then to Hope.
"Because I have business with Junior." He waved the wads around. "Do you honestly get paid enough to fight that overpowered bimbo again plus back up if trouble starts?"
The girls glanced at Junior, who was clearly stressed at being near Yang again, then to Yang herself and finally to Hope and the wads of cash. The sisters exchanged a look before nodding to each other.
"Will do." They said, extending their arms.
Anon smiled honestly.
"Pleasure doing business with you." He handed the wads over. "I suggest you go do some shopping or go eat at a nice place."
"Sure, whatever."
The twins left the building, shuffling away. Melanie turned around for a moment.
"Junior's an ass but he's still our boss. Please try not to kill him."
His smile disappeared.
"Unless he gives me cause to do so, he'll just end up with a few bruises at the very worst."
Melanie nodded thoughtfully before leaving to join her sister.
Anon inhaled then exhaled, psyching himself up.
"Ok, keep it cool. If I could make a werewolf cry, then I can make him talk."
He strode to the bar with his eyes on Junior, a dark spark burning in his eyes.
Time to fight fire with napalm.
Hope chewed on his cigar, the end smouldering furiously. He slowly made his way towards the nightclub's massive bar, the shelves alone held a dizzying amount of liquor from the basic well liquor to the exotic and high quality imported stuff.
Anon took this moment to look around the place. The club was a pretty typical high-class nightclub, even despite the dilapidated surrounding. It had the whole monochrome and red colour-theming going on. The flashing floor tiles were under repair and covered with tarps. Large luminescent pillars rose to the ceiling, mingling with the ceiling's show lights. The DJ booth was on a balcony that hung in front of the stairs that led to the entrance. There were stairs that led to what Anon assumed was a VIP-only floor, probably with its own extravagantly furnished bar.
"Well, this place is fucking overdone."
As he looked around, he noticed a splash of colour from the VIP lounge, specifically pink. The candy-coloured character disappeared as quickly as it came and Hope couldn't help but feel that someone was watching him. He narrowed his eyes at where the colour was before joining his friends.
The guards were strewn around the bar area but they've surrounded the group. They eyed Hope apprehensively, though it didn't surprise him. If he was friends with Yang, then he might be just as much bad news. Junior took a shot of hard liquor to take his mind off of the bitch that destroyed his bar being back on her bullshit. Luckily, Anon was there to help with that.
"Before we get down to business, I'll have a drink."
Junior wore a more neutral expression than when he last saw him, though it may be a simple courtesy.
"Your poison of choice?"
"Coffee liqueur, dairy, vodka and sweetener if the coffee liqueur is unsweetened."
Hei nodded.
"One Atlan Whiteout coming right up."
Curious, Anon eyed his companion for their order. Neptune nursed a quality-looking beer bottle while Yang sipped on her colourful and most certainly sweet beverage. Neptune eyed the bottle cautiously.
"Uh, who's the dedicated driver?"
"Chill, Nep. It's one drink each, we'll be fine."
"I've been to parties before and it's never just one drink."
Anon and Junior deadpanned him.
"Does this look like a fucking party to you?" They said in unison.
Junior snapped his fingers.
"Jinxed! Damnit!"
He sighed before giving Hope his drink. A double rocks glass, filled with a dark syrupy liquid. The dark liquid was broken un by a creamy white cloud and a large ice cube. The cream spidered down into the liqueur hypnotically. Anon stuck his finger inside the drink and stirred it. Junior snorted.
"Ha, usually people just drink it like that."
"So they get a mouthful of cream right out the bat?"
"Yup."
Anon snorted along with the tall, muscular owner.
"Idiots."
"Most people who come here are in it for the thrill of being in the crapsack part of town and partying with criminals. Of course, they aren't smart."
"Fair enough," He said before taking a puff from his cigar.
Anon took a long gulp of his Whiteout, it tasted like a melted sweetened coffee milkshake. Anon smirked pleasantly.
"Been a while since I had a White Russian," he muttered to himself before raising the glass. "Pretty good, mister Xiong."
Junior smiled proudly.
"I've always prided myself as being multi-talented."
"I can tell." Anon stroked Hei's ego. "A successful business owner, a mixologist, a bartender..."
Junior's smile widened with every label.
"A borderline criminal."
His smile dropped.
"Which, unfortunately, brings me to why we're here."
He took one last puff from his cigar before balancing it on the edge of the bar. He stood up and started walking around the bar to get in.
"You see, mister Xiong. You are connected with someone that wronged me."
Junior sneered.
"So what, you came to beat me up as revenge or something."
"Oh, nonononono. I'm not the kind who goes against the family and friends of those who piss me off. But then again, I seriously doubt that you and Roman are friends."
Junior sighed in aggravation.
"What did he do this time?!"
"He got involved with some... Complete and utter fucking lunatics."
Anon entered the bar and now faced Junior. Despite their height difference, Hope stood tall in comparison to Hei's hunch.
"I need all the info you have on him."
Junior sighed tiredly.
"Sorry pal, I ain't got anything for you."
Hope frowned.
"Do elaborate."
"I haven't talked, let alone even seen, him since the night this bit-" Yang cracked her knuckles. "Ahem, This... fine lady here came in."
"Yeah, I know that already. He paid upfront, took your goons and fucked off never to be seen again."
Junior looked quite worried.
"Were you there?"
Anon smiled mysteriously.
"Kinda, sorta."
He dropped his smile.
"Look, I'm not dumb enough to believe that THE guy who knows everything doesn't know jack squat about something that happened in Vale."
Anon stepped forward, pushing into Hei's personal space.
"You know that he's working with the White Fang, you know he's been helping train their recruits by making them do jobs for him, you know that he's been stockpiling Dust and smuggling shit out of Vale."
Hope grabbed Junior by the tie and brought him to his level.
"And I know you've been keeping tabs on him ever since he's screwed you out of your goons, no matter how incompetent they actually are."
Hope let go of him with a light shove.
"If you know all this stuff, then why don't you do something about it then, mister know-it-all!?" Hei retorted.
Anon laughed a humourless laugh.
"Because I need evidence! Something I don't have." He put a hand in his pocket. "But I know you have it, or something that can lead me to it."
He produced from his pocket a large wad of lien and held it up.
"One million liens." He revealed. "Give me your data on Torchwick, and it's all yours."
Yang spat out her drink at the amount while Neptune dropped his bottle, balking at the price.
"ONE MILLION LIENS?!" Yang exclaimed as she staggered to her feet.
"Where did you get that?!" Neptune asked to know, just as baffled.
Anon gave them a wooden stare.
"Pimping and hustling with a side of gambling."
Yang and Neptune blinked.
"Wait really?" Neptune asked.
Anon smiled innocently.
"Maybe..."
"You haven't actually been doing anything illegal, right?" Ruby's big sister asked worriedly.
Hope waved his hands around.
"Look, don't fucking worry about it! Anyways..."
He turned back to Junior.
"You want it or what?"
Junior crossed his arms.
"I'm sorry to say but you brought a lot of dough for nothing."
Hope narrowed his eyes. This time, Junior was the one to invade Anon's personal space.
"In my business, trust is everything." He explained indignantly. "Do you have any idea how much this would cost me in the long run if I gave you the info you want?"
Hope stayed silent. His silence made Junior scoff.
"Of course you don't. If I do that, My patrons' trust will go down the sink. My reputation will tank and I will get in a lot of trouble I don't want."
Junior uncrossed his arms and poked into Anon's chest.
"Torchwick may be a pain in my ass, but getting back at him is not worth the hassle."
Anon blinked emotionlessly, eyeing the bottle of vodka Junior's been using to pour himself shots.
"No deal then." He clicked his tongue. "Unfortunately, I couldn't give any less of a rat's ass about your reputation, mister Xiong."
His tone turned dark.
"Give. Me. Torchwick."
"Or what?!" Junior snapped back.
In the blink of an eye, Anon grabbed the bottle and shattered it against Junior's jaw. Junior collapsed to the floor, clenching his face as a bruise formed rapidly. His goons raised their weapons, but an empty glare from Anon stopped them from outright shooting. Neptune reeled back in shock while Yang blinked multiple times, stunned at Anon's sudden burst of violence.
"Yang?" His tone was dead.
She snapped to attention when her name was called.
"Y-yeah?"
He took his cigar and tapped off the ash before taking a puff.
"If any of these cocksuckers try and act the hero," He breathed out the smoke in his mouth. "You have my express permission to cripple them."
The thugs began sweating profusely, remembering all too well the first time Yang came here. Some even looked around for the twins, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Junior was on his knees, still reeling from the stunning strike to his face. Anon grabbed him by the collar with one hand, the other still holding the broken bottle. Junior tried to fight back but Anon reversed his grip on the bottle and drove the sharp glass bottle into his shoulder. Junior screamed in pain despite his Aura protecting his flesh from being pierced. Hope ground the glass against his Aura
"Ready to talk yet, mister Xiong?" His emotionless voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
One of Junior's clenched eyes struggled to open.
"Go... Fuck yourself!" He struggled to say through the pain.
Hope smiled mirthlessly.
"I gave you your chance."
He swung his armed hand back and stabbed at Junior's face with the bottle, deep scratches forming in his Aura. The bottle shattered from the hit but this didn't change anything. Anon then started wailing on Junior savagely, punching, kicking and stomping on him. Junior's feeble attempt to fight back was met with more aggression and violence.
Anon let go of Junior, who hacked and coughed in pain. His Aura stood firm but he was clearly at the end of his rope if the bruises he accumulated despite his Aura are any indication. Anon took his drink and slammed the rest of it, mostly to hide the shaking of his hands. He took a drag from his cigar.
"I gave you your shot, you know." He mocked emptily. "Yet here you are, spitting on my kindness."
"You're a fucking nutcase!" Junior insulted weakly.
Anon grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the display shelves, shattering a dozen bottles and drenching Junior in alcohol. Anon exhaled before adjusting his collar.
"You religious, Junior?" He asked. "You read the bible?"
Junior struggled to look up at him.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" He whined in pain. "The heck's a bible?!"
"A holy book." He pulled out his phone. "As for me, It wasn't my faith. Though, we shared a patriarch."
He swiped his thumb against the screen, his face hardening at the spare time he was currently wasting.
"His name was Abraham, he was a prophet and the patriarch of the Abrahamic traditions." He explained. "From his children, was born three faiths: Christianism, Judaism and Islamism. From his son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob, came Judaism. From his other son, Ishmael, came Islamism. And from the son of his God, came Christianism."
"Why are you telling me this?!"
Hope smiled a terrifying smile.
"Because from Abraham's creed came another prophet, named Ezekiel."
He approached Junior, who looked up in fear of him.
"From him, a verse from the eponymous book of Ezekiel." He crouched down to Junior's level. "A certain someone embellished the quote and it is oh so fitting for my endeavour."
He took a puff from his cigar, making it smoulder. The sight of it and the realization of his position utterly terrified Junior.
"I'm gonna riff a bit, it's been a long time since I read it."
Hope exhaled the smoke and took the cigar out of his mouth.
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities and the tyranny of selfish and evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, guides the weak and weary through the valley of darkness. For he is truly the guardian of the defenceless and a paragon of all that is good in the world."
Junior then tried to flee but Anon stomped down on his leg, making him trip. Bottles fell from the shelves and shattered onto the floor and Junior. Anon shook his head.
"And onto those same evil men who would see the righteous and the faithful trampled and despoiled, know that I shall execute onto thee great vengeance and furious rancour. That the darkness you bring will be crushed under the Lord's almighty light."
Anon took one last puff, loosely holding the cigar between two fingers.
"And they shall know that I am the Lord's hand of just retribution when I lay his holy vengeance upon the wicked and the monstrous who would see the Lord's light fade forevermore."
He walked away from the puddle of flammable liquor and held the cigar to the side, his grip loosening slowly.
"WAIT!"
His grip tightened slightly.
"Wait, Wait, Wait!" Junior heaved with panic and terror. "I-I-I... I may have something!"
Hope glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
"I... I have a gray book!" The club owner explained. "It's a business ledger, it contains all the info you could possibly want!"
Hope turned around and frowned angrily.
"I don't have time to sift through an entire book for the info I want, Mister Xiong."
"I colour code for each client! It should be a sinch to find Torchwick's entries!"
Anon held his chin thoughtfully. For Junior, every second that passed with the cigar still smouldering felt like an eternity. Anon nodded to himself before putting out the cigar safely and putting it back in its case. Junior sighed in relief, only to find himself with a gun pointed at him. Anon put himself behind Junior and shot him in the back. Everyone in the club flinched, Yang and Neptune especially. Junior's Aura shattered and he stumbled to the floor. Junior let out a pained gasp as he tried to get off the floor.
"You son of a bitch!" Junior cried out.
"Consider this a deterrent." Hope threatened. "Without your Aura, you have no recourse to fight back. Any funny business and you end up with a hole in your head."
He bruskly helped Junior to his feet before shoving him in the back lightly with the end of his gun.
"Lead the way," Hope ordered. "And make it quick, we're on the clock."
He momentarily looked to the henchmen.
"You try anything and you'll spend the rest of your life in an iron lung." He menaced.
The thugs finally lowered their guns, their faces dripping with sweat.
The club owner and the displaced farseer disappeared into a back room, leaving Yang and Neptune alone with the henchmen. Speaking of, the Little Sun Dragon and the Sea God stared where Anon last disappeared, slackjawed and gobsmacked by what unfolded. Neptune was the first to finally speak.
"Is... Is this something he does often?"
Yang kept blinking in disbelief.
"I... I think..." Yang couldn't finish her answer.
The silence that was left was deafening as not one person dared to even move. Yang was still processing what Hope had just done. She looked at the ruined bar then to the floor where Junior had spent most of the interaction. The spilt booze reeked all the way from there from where she was standing, the many broken bottles lay ruined on the now tarnished floor.
The backdoor finally swung open again with Anon rapidly walking out, Junior slowly limping behind him with a defeated expression. Anon was sifting through the book's many colourful marking tabs. He stopped at an orange section. His neutral expression turned to a humorful smirk.
"Orange for Roman the carrot top. Heh."
He walked towards his friends and tossed the book at Neptune.
"Could you take photos of every orange tabbed page?"
Neptune held the little grey book then looked at Hope with uncertainty.
"Uh... Sure thing, dude."
"Thank you."
Anon looked at the ruined bar and blew raspberries.
"What a mess..." He turned to Junior. "I am terribly sorry that things turned out the way they did."
Junior sneered as one of his thugs patched him up with a first aid kit.
"Oh, I can totally believe that!"
Anon sucked on his teeth with a cringe.
"Yeah... Guess I haven't shown you the prettiest of sight..." Anon sighed. "Look, call it necessary if you will but I need all the info I can on what Torchwick's been doing."
"For what?" Junior asked rudely.
"He's gotten himself into the pocket of some very bad people." Anon bit his thumb's nail. "They plan on doing something really fucking awful that I cannot allow to happen, no matter what."
Junior let his brow raise with curiosity.
"How bad?"
Anon's stare felt as if he pierced through Junior's very soul.
"Kingdom shattering bad."
The room became deafeningly silent. Junior blinked but kept his eyes on Hope.
"You... You're joking, right?"
Anon looked at the ruined bar then at the roughed-up Junior.
"Is this what a man who's joking does to people for any fucking scrap of info?" He asked back sarcastically.
Junior looked down at the floor deep in thought. Just then, Neptune closed the book.
"Done." He announced, sliding the book forward on the bar.
"Good work." Anon praised.
He checked the time and hummed in pleasant surprise.
"Ahead of schedule."
He put his scroll away and took back out the wad of a million lien. Hope tossed it for Junior to catch.
"Consider this my apology for today's unfortunate affair. That and for the drinks you've so generously provided us."
Junior held the wad in front of his eyes, dumbstruck.
"Seriously?"
Hope shrugged.
"I'm not callous, Mister Xiong." He turned around and walked towards the entrance. "You run a business, one that two of us have interfered with in a rather destructive manner."
He stopped and gave him a lidded smile.
"This is just me paying for those services, the drinks and reparation for the damages."
He waved at his companions.
"C'mon, we got what we wanted."
Neptune and Yang looked at each other in uncertainty before joining Hope.
"Goodbye, Mister Xiong. May fortune favour your future endeavours."
Junior blinked in his direction before looking down at the million liens payday he just got. He looked at one of his henchmen.
"Remind me to never mess with this lunatic if we ever meet again."
The thug grimaced.
"I don't think I need to, boss. But sure, whatever you say."
There was a short silence around the bar.
"Also..." The henchman eyed the million lien wad. "Think we can get a bonus?"
"For what?!" Junior snapped back furiously. "You idiots didn't even try to step in! You're lucky that I not firing your useless asses!"
Junior groaned angrily. He threw his arms up.
"What are you dumbasses waiting for?! GET BACK TO WORK!"
Anon let himself rest his back against the wall of the alleyway. He slid down with a heavy sigh.
"I'm shocked that everything went about as well as I expected."
Yang gave him the side-eyes while prepping her bike.
"I have a lot of questions."
"You get three," He said curtly.
"Ok, then... What did you expect?"
"For him to take the cash. But other than that, things went to how they did. Too bad I had to beat the tar out of him." He groaned to himself. "He could have made a great asset in the future..."
"Where did you learn this stuff?"
"A mix of stuff I've done in the past and cues from Tarrantino."
"Who?"
"A movie director known for foul language, over-the-top violence and a foot fetish."
Yang blinked.
"Wha-" She cut herself. "Nevermind, What did you do in your past?"
"Pimping, hustling with a side of gambling," He said woodenly. "Also hooliganism, but that's just because my buds were soccer fans and I was just there for the booze and the snacks."
Yang glared at him. Hope let out a dry chuckle at her reaction.
"I used to do some Shadowrunning back during high school and college."
"What's that?"
Anon shook his head in amusement.
"It's a tabletop roleplaying game that's a cyberpunk setting with a fantasy twist." He explained. "What I'm talking about is something that's localized mostly in Sin City, we just kinda nicked the name cause it was fitting. It's basically drug-running except it's with weird, occult shit like charms, talismans and old artifacts."
Before Yang could ask even more than the allotted amount of questions, all of their scrolls began blaring. Anon shot to his feet.
"It's time! On the bike now!"
Anon let Yang take the wheel while Neptune sat in the sidecar with his gun case. Hope put the scroll on the loudspeaker. Blake's voice came through, breathing frantically in a panic.
"Everyone! If you can hear me, we need help!"
"What's wrong?" Yang asked worriedly.
"We're at the meeting, we got caught!"
Gunshots and yells came from her end.
"We need back up!" Sun yelled distantly.
"Get to the highway, we'll intercept you there," Anon ordered confidently.
"Understood!" Blake seemingly hesitated. "Guys, be careful..."
"Of what?" Ruby asked through the group call.
"Torchwick's got an Atlan paladin mech," Anon explained quickly.
"HE HAS WHAT?!" Weiss yelled into the speaker.
"It's not just that!" Blake's panic returned in full force. "Anon, Adam's here!"
Anon's eyes shot wide open with shock.
"What?!"
A new voice came from the speaker.
"BLAKE!"
Adam Taurus was that voice.
"Oh crap!" Blake cussed.
The line disconnected, leaving him and the other without Blake. Anon felt a wave of panic coming in at the memories of what Adam did in the Fall.
"Fuck... Fuck!" He cursed progressively louder. "FUCK!"
"Anon, what's wrong?!" Ruby asked through the line.
"Whatever any of you do, DO NOT engage Adam Taurus!"
"Wait, that Adam?!" Weiss asked in bewildered fear.
"Yes! No matter what, do not engage, run! He is stronger than all of you and his semblance can end you in a flash!"
"Understood!" Ruby acknowledged. "We swoop in, we get Blake and Sun and maybe we kick Torchwick's butt!"
"All while avoiding the racist homicidal maniac..." Weiss drolled dreadfully. "This... is gonna be rough."
The call ended and Anon was gnashing his teeth with fear.
"Shit shit shit!"
"Anon, calm down!" Yang tried to soothe him to no avail.
"Shit! Just- just drive! I need to think!"
"The highway, right?" She worked the throttle before stepping on the gear shift. "Hang on! This is going to be a bumpy ride!"
Anon held on to her tightly.
It's going to be a lot more than just bumpy...
V2E6: END!
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