Editor got to it a little late yesterday, but here it is! Enjoy!
Sterling sat with his fingers steepled as he looked out over the city and wondered where it could be that Mercury was possibly hiding. If he was being completely honest, it had been more than a year since the last time he'd actually had to fight someone, but he felt up to the task as he met several times every week with a personal trainer that kept him on top of his game. He glanced at Siobhan who clung to a two-handed war hammer that was taller than either of them and shook his head with a smirk. She furrowed her brows at him.
"What?" She questioned.
"Sometimes I forget that you have that thing. You hardly ever use it compared to…" He began.
"I know where Mercury is," Emerald stated off hand. Sterling and Siobhan shared a look before he turned to Emerald.
"Really?" He questioned.
"Call it a hunch, but he was waxing nostalgic back at the school," Emerald told them as she directed the pilot towards the piers. The old warehouse where Roman had kept his Dust back in the day, but why there? The place had been empty for quite some time, and Emerald would be lying if she said that she hadn't dropped by once or twice for old time's sake since she'd gotten back to town. Did Mercury want to be caught? Did he know that prison would be the safest place after all? Of course, this was all still based on a hunch, but if he did turn out to be there, did that mean she was right about what he was feeling or was he simply lulling her into a trap? The Dust in the legs activated as expected and Sterling nodded as he stood and stretched.
"You ready for this old man?" Siobhan chuckled.
"Hope you're ready for a show," he winked at her.
"Someone seems confident," Siobhan jested.
"Hey, any day that I get to protect Remnant is a good day," he chuckled. He turned to Emerald. "We'll have you scout the perimeter for any possible escape plans that they might have prepared ahead of time." Emerald nodded, the legs wrenching themselves free from her arms suddenly as they neared a droppable range on the warehouse. They all leapt out, Emerald taking off immediately as Stratford and Siobhan nodded knowingly at each other and smashed the overhead window, raining shards of glass onto an unimpressed Mercury and Aurora below. "Hand it over, Mercury!" They leapt down into the room, Mercury finishing fastening his legs which left a hole in the wall, but he didn't seem to care about it too terribly much.
"Playing the pronoun game, are we?" Mercury questioned. "I have to admit, I'm not completely sure what you're talking about. You also look a little unprepared, without a weapon that is."
"All I need is my fists, and funny enough, they don't detach," Sterling noted. Mercury smirked and nodded.
"You want me to take them on, master?" Aurora questioned, her body bobbing back and forth as she kept a loose grip on her meteor hammer. Mercury held up a hand and she looked at him confused. "But I still have the Dread in my system, I could make quick work of them."
"You underestimate their power if you think it would be that easy," Mercury told her. "This is the strongest man in Mistral after all, maybe in all of Remnant!" Sterling smiled.
"I'm flattered," Sterling stated with a bow.
"And I'm sick of this banter!" Siobhan shouted. She raced forward and swung her hammer through the two of them, they reappeared on the far side of the room. They were already under Aurora's control?
"Are you sure, master?" Aurora questioned.
"I'm sure," Mercury chuckled.
"Stop screwing with us!" Siobhan yelled.
"Calm down," Sterling instructed. He shook his head before chuckling and clapping his hands. "Very good, but how long are you going to keep this up?"
"I guess I've wasted enough of the council's time for one night," Mercury noted, glancing around in the dark. "Hope they get the power fixed soon, you're going to have a real Grimm problem if they don't."
"That still doesn't answer my question," Sterling grumbled.
"Oh, that bullet you insisted on bringing to the show despite being warned that you shouldn't? Thanks for that, by the way," Mercury laughed. "It's already gone though. Handed it off to Paris, who should be back in a moment to get us out of here. Apparently, our boss has plans with that 'miracle of modern science' as it were."
"You're lying," Siobhan seethed.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Mercury shrugged as a portal opened along the wall, allowing Mercury and Aurora to slip in, a figure emerging as Siobhan rushed towards it.
"Siobhan!" Sterling shouted.
"New directive," the figure stated.
"Damu? Stand down!" Stratford demanded.
"Negative," Damu replied. He caught the hammer as it came down on him and the portal closed, throwing away Siobhan. "I have been reprogrammed to fight the two of you."
"Someone cracked our code?" Siobhan asked as she slid to a stop beside Sterling. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing Gravity Dust cufflinks.
"Considering it was originally Atlas code, I've got a pretty good guess who cracked it for them," Sterling noted. "Alright then, let's see what you've got."
"With pleasure," Damu replied. It flew towards them with uncanny speed, excess amounts of Gravity Dust left in its wake, and almost overloading the android as it screamed towards them. With blinding speed Sterling ripped the hammer from Siobhan's grip and blocked the blow with the weapon, the resulting reverb shaking the building. They glared at each other for a long moment as they struggled, Siobhan slamming her fist into the machine's ribs which didn't seem to faze it.
"All it was supposed to do was collect Dust," Sterling grunted.
"I am stronger now," Damu insisted. Sterling pivoted the hammer hard, nailing it in the jaw hard enough to send it stumbling away, tossing the weapon at the android to force it to catch it, using his cufflinks to charge a punch, cracking off pieces of its face as it careened away.
"And I haven't let loose in a while," Sterling noted. "You good?"
"Getting warmed up," Siobhan claimed.
"I picked you because you could keep up," Sterling grinned. "I know you won't let me down." Sterling tossed her hammer back to her, racing at Damu who froze him with Ice Dust, turning to freeze Siobhan as well. She dodged, slamming her hammer into Sterling who broke free with her help, grabbing the head of the weapon and swinging Siobhan into Damu. On impact she was hit with Lightning Dust, fighting through it as she reached into a crevice of his body, feeling for one of the wires to shut him down.
"I was physically modified as well," Damu claimed, adding Water Dust to force her out as the Lightning grew stronger.
"I enjoy a good challenge," Sterling stated. He swung around, crashing against Damu who planted himself using Gravity and Earth Dust, the reverb shook the building once again. "They might have moved your wires, but steeling yourself like that will make it easier to find them!" The cufflinks lit up once more and Sterling twisted his body back, putting his full strength into the hammer and taking off the breastplate of the machine, the debris screamed through the air and stuck into the wall. "If you give up now, there might be parts left to rebuild you!"
"Surrender is not permitted," Damu explained.
"A damn shame," Sterling noted.
You find Mercury?
"Yes, Coco, but now's not a good time," Sterling grunted. Fire Dust. Explosion. Back to square one. Siobhan took the brunt of it. No exposed wiring. Logically makes no sense. Priority one, taking the target down. Think.
What's going on?
"Not now, Coco," Sterling grumbled. Not acquiring Dust. Topped off? Power would suggest so. Fire. Gravity. Earth. Water. Lightning. Ice. Overloading him would do the trick, but… was he still topped off for any of them?
"No signs of…" Emerald began as she entered and noted the scene before her.
"Wind Dust! Toss me whatever you've got!" Sterling demanded.
"Sterling!" Siobhan shouted. Outloud? Damu would know what he was planning! And just like that, a blast of Wind Dust blew the three of them away. Damu floated through the air to them, Dust swirling about him as he lowered to lift Sterling.
"It seems that you have made a fatal mistake, Sterling," Damu claimed as he lifted the man slowly. Sterling cracked a smile.
"And I could say the same to you," Sterling noted. He reached into his tux, producing Hard Light Dust that he crammed into its open chest, forcing Damu to drop him as a chilling energy filled the air.
"Impossible," Damu stammered before shards of Hard Light burst from his body, rendering him immobile and looking like a modern art installation.
"You've got to love Atlas' commitment to showing off their advancements in Hard Light," Sterling chuckled as he brushed himself off and helped Siobhan up.
"Did you steal that?" Emerald asked as she found her feet. He snickered.
"Free samples," Sterling noted.
"Where are we even running right now?" Orion asked as he punched out one of the guards and stayed close to Sirius, Astra, and Asteria. Through another set of doors, the corridor was only lit by a small fire that one of the inmates must have started in the chaos, several more prisoners nearly bowling them over as they entered the new hallway.
"You'd think after breaking Mercury out of here a couple of times you'd recognize the path to the weapons lock up," Sirius informed him.
"You have clairvoyance, I'm not believing you have this route memorized," Orion grumbled.
"Is now the time for fighting?" Astra inquired.
"I don't think it is, Astra," Asteria answered. Sirius ignored the three of them and kept pushing forward. Who knew that the micro EMP that they delivered during the White Fang attack would also be their escape from prison? It worked out well, since it felt like Mercury didn't have any intention of coming for them, and the next step of their plan needed to move forward soon. Sirius waved for Orion to join him at the front, the door to the cage seemed to have had a fail-safe mechanism and was in no mood to open without the use of brute force. With help from the girls, they finally managed to coerce it apart, revealing that someone had beaten them to the room.
"I'm completely harmless," the man stated with his back to them, hands in the air, unwilling to look at them over his shoulder.
"We're not guards," Orion stated. "Probably just came here for the same reason that you did." He chuckled to himself before looking over his shoulder at them. His skin was pale and his eyes matched Salem's, sending a chill down Orion's spine. He turned completely to face them, the black faux hawk almost looked out of place but tied in well with his outfit which must have also been kept in this room. Black slacks with dress shoes, a blue suit vest with a tie and a trench coat, that were both slightly darker than maroon.
"Boyd Holter," he stated giving a slight bow. "The pleasure is all mine." Astra's eyes caught on the walking cane he held, topped with some kind of clear crystal that swirled with a black, viscous liquid.
"You've swam in the pools," Sirius stated. Boyd's smile cracked, becoming borderline unnerving as he shuddered.
"Most people can't survive the pits of Salem's realm," Boyd informed them. "But she saw potential in me that none of the others held. I didn't hesitate to dive in at her request." He tapped his cane on the ground as he laughed and threw his head back. "The pain was unbearable at first and I believed I might die… but then it was replaced with the comfort of the darkness and a hunger for destruction. I am the only person who has truly ever understood Salem."
"We're also followers of the queen," Sirius informed him. "If you'd just let us grab our weapons and clothes…" Boyd's laughing stopped and his eyes narrowed, staring at them for a long moment.
"You jest," he stated blandly.
"What?" Orion questioned. Boyd gritted his teeth, gripping the top of the cane tightly.
"Such weakness," Boyd mumbled. "What is he doing?"
"We were handpicked by Mercury who was chosen by Abigor," Astra informed him.
"We've received Salem's gift," Asteria added. Boyd looked at the four of them for a long time before breaking out into a manic fit of laughter.
"Lying!" He shouted. "You have to be lying!"
"Listen…" Sirius began. Orion gripped his arm.
"We should just grab our stuff and get out of here," Orion stated.
"No one has truly received Salem's gift except for me!" Boyd yelled at them. His eyes darkened completely and his body stopped moving for a long moment.
"This guy's bad news!" Orion insisted as Sirius approached him. "We get our weapons and leave before he comes to! Girls!" They nodded to Orion and grabbed their things, Orion collecting his own and Sirius's as the Faunus stood in confusion at the sight of the unmoving Boyd. The red returned to Boyd's eyes and he inhaled sharply.
"She speaks to me," Boyd claimed. "I know not what Abigor is planning, but I am to trust him." His head twitched as he lowered his view to Sirius. "She made no mention about the four of you, however."
"You're outnumbered four to one. You can't honestly think that you'll win this fight," Sirius snarled as he took his weapon from Orion.
"Sirius," Orion scolded.
"Yes…" Boyd hissed. "It's been so long since I've tasted destruction. Remind me of what I've been missing!"
"You asked for it!" Sirius yelled charging. Boyd tapped his cane four times, letting it bounce slightly on the last hit and snatching it up, blocking blows effortlessly from Sirius before he was knocked away and pinned to the wall. "What is this?!"
"You really thought you stood a chance?" Boyd demanded. Orion shook his head and made an effort to charge, Grimm arms reaching up from the floor and binding him in place as Sirius hit the floor. "This is the best you have to offer?"
"Astra!" Asteria shouted, the two girls attacking from different sides. He blocked Astra from the right with his cane, striking her away hard enough that she toppled into Sirius, the hands threw Orion backward out of the room with excessive force before disappearing, something gripped Asteria from behind and tossed her into the wall. She was pinned, much like Sirius had been, and the force revealed itself, a large Black Panther Grimm that seemingly had the ability to become invisible. Bones protruded from its torso, its right eye covered by a bone plate, and two large bone pikes protruded outward to the sides from each of its front shoulders.
"Akukonta," Boyd spoke, petting the animal on the head. "It's been too long." It seemed to purr and brush itself against the touch before growling at Asteria who attempted to move, slamming her into the wall again, cracking her aura.
"Asteria!" Astra called as she raced for her sister. Akukonta bounced quickly, knocking the sister away again, taking a hit from Sirius bone whip as Boyd cracked Asteria against the jaw with the top of his cane to make sure her aura was broken. The panther disappeared giving Sirius a window before he was bowled over by a Manticore.
"And that's four," Boyd stated, smiling with a shake of his head. Asteria knelt against the wall in a heap and Boyd knelt, lifting her chin with his cane. "If you really are a follower of Salem, may she greet you into the afterlife with open arms." A dagger-length blade coated in the liquid that filled his transparent gem extended from the bottom of the cane, entering her body and poisoning her. Her eyes blackened and her skin turned white as she writhed, unable to scream as she couldn't find breath to. Red veins raced across her body like Salem's, her body still convulsing before stopping completely. "And for a moment…" Her body turned to ash and drifted away. "I was afraid it might take."
"Asteria!" Astra screamed in horror. Boyd gave a slight nod to Sirius as he stood, stopping above Orion who was frozen with shock.
"Don't follow me," he stated.
Looks like this Boyd guy might be a real threat. Next week, Chapter 42: Infiltration!
A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!