Dust Implantment
There are a variety of ways to use Dust. From imbuing them with one's blades, to using them for simple homes. On the battlefield, Dust can aid in Huntsmen in many ways. However, there is one method that is considered unorthodoxx, strong, yet illegal due to it's deadly nature. In which case, the ability of fusing Dust into one's body.
What little studies have shown is that by implanting Dust in one's body, causes a drastic increase in power and combat ability. Depending on the type of Dust used, one can gain enhanced strength, speed, the ability to use Dust's power like a semblance, command the elements, and so on. However, despite such grand abilities, implanting Dust directly into one's body causes detrimental harm.
For all its power, many using this method would enter a state of literal shock and die. Illegal studies by [REDACTED] had been done in secret, where [REDACTED] captured many innocents and used them as a way to study the effect of Dust merged in one's body. The victims would gain power, but the agony of the Dust in them ruined any concentration. Their nerves set alight while if they had no aura, would burn out, freeze, or even implode depending on the Dust used. Those that had aura did survive...for a bit longer before entering a catonic state as their brains are unable to handle the pain and ultimately make them brain dead, and if not, break their mental state into nothing.
Ultimately, it was warned to all to never implant Dust in one's body with raw Dust crystals. Even known criminals Boris and Grappulator, who do utilize Dust in their bodies, do not inject them raw as instead use them in a formula or break them down.
Though in recent events in Denver, one man had been noted to do this method and somehow survive. He is considered wanted and very dangerous.
If things were normal, Ironwood would ask questions, and see what was going on. To ask where they were, and if he and his team were on private property.
"Beat it human scum!" Instead, this strange man and his group of hostels began attacking them without even revealing the reason why. Ironwood skidding backward as the person calling himself Mermaid Man punched him in the chest. It didn't hurt much though, as a clang was heard and Mermaid Man instantly looked at his fist and shaked it. "Huh. That hurt?"
'Hitting an alloy stronger than steel would do that.' Ironwood thought as he then grabbed the white variant of Due process and aimed it at the man. Though for a dude in a strange outfit, he moved quickly as Ironwood shot at him. Dodging the bullet until he was in front of him again. Throwing a punch which Ironwood avoided and tried countering with his own which Mermaid Man side-stepped and twisted and slammed his elbow in Ironwood's stomach.
Ironwood quickly retaliates by headbutting the man and then kicking him away. Mermaid Man grinning as he held his fists.
"So we got a fighter ey. Then it's time to show you what I got!"
Mermaid Man wasn't the only one who decided to act. The faunus and mobians decided to let Mermaid Man have his prey and aimed for the others instead. All of them moved rather quick for sea-based creatures. While they didn't like the surface, they could still walk or fight in it.
A crab faunus shouting as he jumped and raised a hand that was in truth, a crab arm. "Die trash! For my bonus!"
"Stay!" Marrow then shouted. Suddenly, the crab faunus stopped falling as his eyes darted in confusion.
"I got him!" Then terror as Elm jumped up, and with her high-tech hammer, slammed it on the crab and sending him back to the sea.
"Gra!" Not that it stopped the others as they instead used their comrades pathetic defeat to fuel their rage.
Clover dodging a bunch of tentacles.
Vine avoids one faunus from stabbing him with her horn.
Harriet outpacing some female shark faunus.
Not to mention Marrow using his weapon to swat away the crowd that tried to bite into him. Literally. Marrow yelping as he used his weapon to block a gator mobian from biting his hand off.
"What the heck are you things?" Marrow yells as he kicks it away. Not even sure what the mobians were, as he's never seen their race at all.
"Looks like we got a pet." One mobian laughs cruelly.
"What. Human masters train you like a good doggy?" Another snickers.
Getting a tick mark, Marrow runs up to them and quickly trips them down. Though he's then punched in the shoulder by a female faunus with clawed flippers. Yelping as she opened her mouth big and wide and actually tried to bite his head off.
"I got you!" Only for that ever beautiful fishing line to actually hook onto her mouth and pull her back as Clover reeled her in with his smirk. "Boy. She's a big one." He then saw a massive faunus with dolphin features running at him. "But I suppose I need to release her." He then twisted and painfully pulled on the faunus who yelled at being dragged until he had her thrown at the dolphin faunus tripping them both up.
Clover smiling even as a puffer fish mobian tried to attack him from behind.
Bonk!
Only for a coconut to for have some reason hit him in the head.
"How lucky of me."
As for Winter, she battled her own opponents with grace and ease. Jabbing at them and even using her glyphs to either create gravity glyphs to confuse them or summon Grimm. Her foes unable to catch up with her except one.
"Die!" A female mobian with a piranha themed body forcing Winter to dodge. While doing so, she had a question to ask.
"Why are you attacking us?" She avoided a claw. Then jumped over the woman and raised her blade at her. "What have we done to cause such an attack?"
"Because you're human!" The woman yelled and jumped at Winter. At the same time, another faunus tried to attack by bashing Winter's head with a big rock. Sighing, Winter used a Time Dilation Glyph and sped away, making the one with the rock accidentally slam it against the mobian knocking her out.
"Oh. Whoops-" Winter then knocked them out with a well placed kick to the back of the head.
"I must say, you are all quite violent." Vine says as he bends the back of his knees to dodge a strike. A small yet savage looking Mobian then tried to rush at his side with knives. "Yet despite your strength," Vine then shot his hand and from it, his own Aura Vines came out and took the form of a hand and grabbed the mobians body, and threw him at another while he stood straight. "You don't even know how to use it."
"Oh shut up pansy!" A hermit crab based faunus growls as he jumps at Vine's blindspot. Instead of bashing Vine's body though, he himself was bashed as Elm had shot a missile at the man blowing him sky high.
"Thanks Elm." Vine says his gratitude.
"No problem." Elm chuckles as she swings her hammer and slams it against a female Mobian. "Still, what are they even fighting us for?"
"No clue." Vine said as he ducked from a spear. "Though they seem to have a grudge because we're human."
"Ironic." Elm mutters while taking a punch to the chest from a decently strong faunus, with her aura protecting her as she then kneed the dude between the legs. "They get mad when humans discriminate them, yet are quick to judge us because we're human."
"Cycle of hate." Vine sighs as he then slaps away any oncoming foe at him.
As for Harriet, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Mainly due to the fact that at last things were no longer boring. "Finally! Some action!" She yells as she easily moves past anybody trying to attack her. Punching them in the face, then yawning as she twisted out of the way of a woman mobian's sword strike, then elbowed her in the face and sending some teeth flying.
"Come on." She smirks as she then zips past one male and touches a big faunus on the shoulder. "That all you got?"
The faunus roared and tried to grab her. He grabbed only air and then felt a blow to his abdomen, knocking him down. "Guess not." Harriet grins as she then continues punching the bad guys. Eyes glowing in excitement.
These faunus and...whatever the others are, are no weaklings. While the Ace-Ops might have made their fights look easy, in truth, these enemies were actually pretty tough. It took extra strength to knock them back, and any punches they made actually lowered their aura quite a bit.
However, they lacked any form of strategy, only attacked and had little to no defense, and certainly didn't act as a team. So while they didn't fall so easily, compared to the Ace-Ops who've faced numerous dangerous foes and worked together, they weren't much of a threat.
As for Mermaid Man though…
"Guh!" He was proving more tougher than the faunus and mobians who only used brute force for attacks. Having given a good uppercut on Ironwood and then punched him into a tree. The general groaning as he got back up and tilted his head just in time as the first fist slammed where his head was a making a fist-print on it. The second fist though slammed into his chest and caused Ironwood pain as his aura flashed.
"Had enough." Mermaid Man grinned.
Click.
"Ah shi-" Ironwood then shot him point blank in the chest and sent him back. Mermaid Man's aura flashing for a bit as the bullet, while not doing any real harm, did hurt like hell. Ironwood used this time to get up and run at him while shooting at him.
"Oh no you don't!" Mermaid Man then focused his aura in his arms and used them to defend against the bullets. While they stung, they did no damage and he then rushed at ironwood. "Time for humans like you to meet the fist of justice!"
"You do realize you're human too!?" Ironwood also rushed at him with his own fists out.
"But I'm no jerk, am I?" The two then began trading blows fist to fist. Both blocking, countering, or punching one another whenever they could. Well trained muscles slamming into Ironwood's body. In comparison, a metal fist meeting tough yet still soft flesh.
Both then punched one another in the face which caused both to step back as their cheeks ached.
"Puh." Ironwood spat some saliva. "You're good."
"Indeed I am." Mermaid Man didn't even bother complimenting Ironwood. "And I will stop you human scum from harming my home." Before Ironwood could even ask what the insane man meant, Mermaid Man kicked the sand so hard, dirt flung everywhere.
"Gah." Some of which entered Ironwood's eye as they stung and blinded him. He then felt numerous attacks attack him. Mermaid having used that chance to try and beat Ironwood up. Fists flying against him with Ironwood now on the defensive. Unable to even grab his guns as he could feel his body being pounded in. So instead, Ironwood adjusted his legs and then pushed forward. Even as he felt his face getting smacked he raised his knee to hit Mermaid Man's abdomen.
"Not happening!" Only for it to be blocked. "Did you think that'd work?"
"No." Ironwood said, before grinning. "But it did stop you from punching. Then quickly, Ironwood grabbed the black variant of Due Process and aimed it at Mermaid Man who's eyes widened but hardened as he prepared for defense.
Vm!
Only to be surprised when Ironwood not only aimed it at the ground instead, but then flew in the air when he fired a purplish bullet out. Ironwood then took out the white variant and shot at Mermaid Man who was forced to dodge. The sand exploded when the explosive bullets made contact with the sand now blinding Mermaid Man himself. However, he already had a clue what this human was about to do and moved rapidly to the right.
As predicted, he felt a loud thump as the human landed. What Mermaid Man didn't expect though was for the human to shoot between his legs and into the sand. Making the sand blind him further as it covered him, and didn't help that since he just got out of the water, it clung to him and even his face.
"Hra!" A punch that felt like metal then slammed between his eyes and sent him back to the beachy sands. The other faunus and mobians surprised by this as the toughest among them got hit hard. This distraction naturally cost them as the Ace-Ops attacked and put them further down the lines. Unlike Mermaid Man who was used to fighting in the surface and actually faced villains, the rest of Rock Bottom's residents couldn't as they mainly attacked boats and wrecked them, never actually facing appointments stronger than them in terms of technique.
Mermaid Man saw this and quickly got up to aid them, when suddenly from behind he saw a green glow and turned.
VSH!
A green laser hit him fast and hard as he screamed in pain as Penny had come in and attacked from behind. Then from the ship, Pietro quickly pushed some buttons and small drones came out and began firing tranquilizer darts as part of the equipment they brought. The darts hitting the faunus and mobians and quickly knocking them out.
"No!" Mermaid Man yelled, as he then tried to get back up. Looking none to bad from being lasered, but then gasped as Ironwood came in front of him and then punched him so hard, Mermaid Man could do nothing but see darkness as he was knocked out. The battle ending with his defeat.
"Huh. Huh." While leaving Ironwood tired as he stood up and aura flashing a bit. Panting at how tough this man was, while observing how while the Ace-Ops also looked a bit tired. Their enemy was certainly strong, and were numerous. But, technique and skill saved them while it felt like these guys didn't know how to properly fight. Helped they seemed to be unused to fighting on land, so that was a thing.
'Still,' Ironwood thought as he looked at Mermaid Man. 'Who are they, and why did they attack us?'
This time, this wasn't even something that can be blamed on Salem. Felt more like they attacked because they could. Some racism as well too. Yet Ironwood also wondered what those small humanoid animals were? Either way, Ironwood needed answers.
"Penny." Ironwood called out to the rebuilt living android girl. "Tell Pietro we're going back." Eyes then darted to Mermaid Man as he grabbed and picked him up. "We need some answers."
So with that, everybody quickly took pictures, took some blood from the strange humanoid animals, and securely put Mermaid Man in a cell and began flying back to Atlas. So much for relaxation.
Compared to the average person with no aura, the Rock Bottom residents are powerful and strong. Especially in the water. On the surface and against trained people who have aura, not so much. Plus, if you read their file they always drown the people, meaning the victims can't even fight back properly in the water. Meaning they've pretty much don't know how to fight properly aside from those who actually have trained, which this group didn't know how to.
So aside from Mermaid Man, these guys would naturally lose against Atlas forces here. Though if they had brought Atlas's ship in the water, things might have been different.