"Hunting is not a 'Blood Sport.' It is a sport that is in my blood."
Anonymous
Chapter 23: Yeager und Beute
"Ten seconds until we're live."
"Okay, away from the screens, people!"
"Ready on the lights."
"Five, four, three, two... go!"
"Cue Becky."
Two sets of lights slowly dawned on a blonde woman wearing a gray suit jacket over a blue blouse. When she looked directly in front of the desk she was sitting at, the woman smiled into a large camera pointed at her face and spoke.
"Good afternoon, Mistral," the woman said with a smile. "Our top story today involves a drastic rise in Dust mining with the Mistral Trading Company. Over twenty repositories of Dust were found after a drastic Grimm horde was finally exterminated. But first, local Huntsmen report that their search for Eren Yeager, the main perpetrator in an attack on Haven Academy, has still yielded no results. Authorities are urging citizens to consider the man armed and extremely dangerous, and to call our toll-free hotline should you see anything." The woman turned to a man sitting three feet away from her after finishing her report. "Peter?"
"Thanks, Becky," the man said with a smile as he turned to his own camera. "In lighter news, and I use the term loosely, we'll be getting some much needed rain this weekend. Our storm team says to expect rain and thunderstorms tomorrow after-" The man stopped talking when a piece of paper was placed next to his arm by a woman in a light blue dress. "This just in," he said as he turned the paper over to read it.
After ten seconds of silence and a puzzled look on his face, one of the technicians behind the camera was about to ask what was wrong. However, Peter quickly looked back to the camera and delivered the report.
"Moments ago, the Mistral Police Force arrested Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart," Peter said with a now calm demeanor. "We now go live to Haven Academy, where Dillon Andrews has the full story. Dillon?"
The main technician looked to his left and gave the operators an order. "Cue to Dillon," he said calmly. The screens in front of him that once showed the two news anchors quickly changed to a young man in a jacket, who was holding a microphone and staring into a camera of his own. He was also standing in front of the a large crowd of people.
"Peter, I'm standing outside Haven Academy, where a shocking discovery was just announced," the man began. "The police behind me had just come outside with Headmaster Lionheart in handcuffs. If eyewitnesses are to be believed, the charge is accessory to murder and the evidence was provided by an anonymous source. The police have yet to release any official information, but a press conference appears imminent with many people demanding answers. Back to you, Peter."
The citizens who were watching the local news on their TVs were definitely not expecting to hear the surprise report. The students and staff of Haven Academy, some of who were witnesses to the arrests, were shocked and appalled by this betrayal. People outside the academy were mildly surprised, as well as curious about the nature of the crime.
There was one particular group, however, that rejoiced at the news.
"WE DID IT!"
Nora jumped off the ground with a wide smile as she watched the TV. The report was music to her ears, as well as all of her friends. Ren, Midori, and Emerald smiled and sighed in relief as Mercury and Nora shared a high-five and enthusiastic shouting. Cinder, despite her silence, felt that a huge weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. She was more than happy to see that the story had been set straight and that they didn't have to hide any more.
And better yet, she could finally see Eren again.
The door to the room everyone was sitting in finally opened to reveal a dark-haired woman wearing a dress shirt and blue pants. This was Detective Montoya of the Mistral Police Department, who was currently swinging a ring of keys on her finger.
"Okay, kids," she said. "Let's get your friend back."
Cinder and everyone else followed the detective as she led them through the police station. This was the first place they went to with Eren after they left the woods. They had decided to go with Ren's idea and share their story with the authorities, which was what everyone agreed they should have done in the first place.
And like the first time they met her, Detective Montoya listened to their story with her full attention and skepticism. But this skepticism disappeared when Emerald shared the recording she got of Lionheart's crimes. After the recording was in her possession, Montoya promised to issue an arrest warrant for the Headmaster.
Despite the good news, there was a catch; Eren was still a wanted man. And Montoya was only willing to listen to his story as long as he was placed in her custody. Fortunately, she promised to release him if, and only if, the evidence against the Headmaster was true. And now she was ready to keep that promise, which led the detective to unlocking a room where Eren was waiting.
Before anyone had a chance to share the good news, Cinder rushed into the room and hugged Eren. She had been worried sick about him, given that fact that she wasn't allowed to see him past a glass screen in a different room. Eren was no stranger to being locked away, whether it was in a cell or an interrogation room. But that didn't change the fact he never liked being separated from his friends for an extended amount of time, which was why he happily accepted and returned the hug.
When everyone else walked into the room and greeted Eren, Detective Montoya took a couple of steps inside as well. "Well, Mr. Yeager, it looks like I owe you an apology," she said.
"Thank you," Eren said sincerely with a slight bow. "So you got the Headmaster?"
"Got him?" Montoya chuckled. "After me and the boys played that recording, Lionheart broke down and confessed to everything."
"Told ya his name was bullshit," said Mercury.
Montoya chuckled again. "Yep. We had to give him the silent treatment when he gave a couple of excuses, but we got a full confession."
"So what happens now?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, is he going to jail?" Nora asked.
"Oh, he's going, alright," the officer replied. "We'll be keeping him until his trial. Haven't heard anything about bail being set, though. That'll probably take a couple of days."
"How long until this goes to trial?" Cinder asked.
"Hard to say. That other Councilman you told me about didn't get his trial until three months after we arrested him." Montoya let out a heavy sigh. "Lawyers, I swear to God."
"Wait, there's a chance he'll get outta of this?" Eren asked.
"Oh, he's going to face trial," said Montoya. "Don't worry; we'll keep an eye on him if someone pays his bail. Besides, I doubt the public would leave him alone if he gets out."
Eren began to relax when he saw the logic of Montoya's thinking. "So that's it," he said. Even though he didn't get any more information about Salem, he was willing to accept the fact that she had lost a major ally. "Looks like we're done here."
"Not so fast." Montoya closed the door behind her and moved towards the other side of the table Eren was sitting at. "We still haven't talked about Haven Academy."
"What about it?"
"Um, you broke into private property, attacked licensed Huntsmen, and caused extensive damage to said property. And I don't think I saw any license to carry... whatever kind of weapon you had. Did you ever go to any combat school?"
"No."
"Well, that explains it." Montoya sat down. "I don't wanna sound ungrateful for what you did, but all this can't go away with Lionheart's arrest."
The look on everyone's faces showed that their hearts had dropped to their stomachs. Of course, they had to share the whole story about their night at Haven, but they were hoping everything could be pardoned when Lionheart was arrested. Now they could see how stupid that wish was.
"So what happens now?" Eren asked. "Am I still under arrest?" Despite this idea, Eren wasn't willing to stay confined for any longer than he had to be. Haven be damned, Eren knew going after Lionheart was still the right thing to do.
"I talked with my captain and the commissioner," Montoya began. "They're willing to be lenient, since you gave us one hell of a bust. And saved more Huntsmen and Huntresses on top of that. Worst case scenario, you'll have to pay a fine to Haven and the Huntsmen."
"A fine?!" Cinder yelled. "We're not paying money to people who think we're second-class citizens!"
The detective leaned closer to Cinder on the desk. "Ma'am, I was patient with you when you went on your rant about Huntsmen and Huntresses," she began. "But that doesn't change the fact that Haven and the people they work for are all legitimate in Mistral's eyes. No one's above the law here, even if you kids did what you thought was right."
"You're right, nobody's above the law. So why do you still let Huntsmen and Huntresses believe that they are?"
"We don't."
"That's what you think. But you know that-"
Ren put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. "Cinder, please calm down," he said. "Arguing isn't going to get us out of this."
"Ren's right," Eren agreed before turning back to Montoya. "Detective, are you sure that a fine is all that will happen?"
"It's the worst case scenario," Montoya repeated. "You won't be arrested, as long as you don't resist whatever's offered-"
*TAP*
*TAP*
*TAP*
Montoya's attention shifted away from the people in the room and towards a knocking at the door. "Come in," she said.
The door opened to reveal a uniformed officer holding a Scroll. "Sorry to interrupt," he said as he held the Scroll out towards the detective. "Phone's for you."
Montoya took the Scroll. "Thanks, Merkel," she said as she began to walk out of the room. "This'll just take a sec." The detective closed the door behind her and left Eren to talk amongst his friends.
"Eren, I'm glad you're alright," said Ren, who moved away from the crowd to get more arm space. "But you didn't have to take all the responsibility on your own. I was the one who got us in this mess."
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I made a hole in a guy's hand," said Mercury. "And I've dealt with cops before when I was in lower Mistral, I could've helped."
"Thanks, guys, but having one of us take the fall was for the best," said Eren. "We couldn't do anything else if we were all locked up. Besides, it's not as bad as it sounds."
"Not really, no," Emerald agreed. "We got off really lucky. You would think being in a police station for so long would only mean trouble."
"Yeah," said Midori. "But it probably would have been smart to come here in the first place." Everyone around her, save for a quiet Cinder, nodded and spoke in agreement. "And if we're still... doing what we're doing..." she whispered. "We might wanna play it safe by working with the police."
"What?" Cinder asked in disbelief. "We can't do that!" She began to quiet down as she followed Midori's example. "They wouldn't understand what we're trying to fight."
"Not all of it, you're right," Midori agreed. "But they can understand a corrupt Huntsman. And a crazy Faunus that likes to kill people. I just think we'd get off easier by working with the people who are supposed to stop them."
"I don't know, Midori," Eren whispered. "I mean, you're making a good point. But we need to beat them on their terms. I know you didn't see it back there, but their terms include fighting without rules."
"Eren's right," said Mercury. "We can't be at our best if we're turned into super-cops or whatever."
"You mean Huntsmen," said Cinder. "And there's no way I'm doing that."
Midori could see where her friends were coming from, even though Cinder was listening to her heart instead of her head. Despite this, she relented. "Okay, okay, not all of it," she said. "But we need to do something in case something like this happens again. I mean, what if we got arrested that night? What would we have done?"
"..."
Even though the idea left a bad taste in his mouth, Eren knew that Midori was still making a point. If they were arrested the night they attacked Lionheart, things could have been a lot worse. Montoya, or anyone, may not have been willing to listen to them. But Cinder was also right; there was no way he would want to be a Huntsman of all things.
"Look, let's talk about this when we get out of here," said Eren. "We'll work something out, just not here."
*CLICK*
The door opened again to reveal Detective Montoya, who stepped in the room with a slightly surprised look on her face. Nobody had seen her look like this in the short time they met her, so they knew something was going on.
"Is everything okay?" Nora asked, breaking the brief silence.
"...Yeah," Montoya answered. "Yeah, uh... I guess you can forget what I said about a fine." She stood out of the doorway. "You kids are free to go."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Really?"
Confusion and surprise spread through the room like wildfire, given that this was the last thing anyone expected to hear. Ren was the first to get a handle on the situation, and he knew that this news was somehow related to the phone call Detective Montoya got.
"Who was on the Scroll?" he asked casually.
"Councilwoman Redwood," said the detective. "She just finished talking with the commissioner and wanted to talk to me too. She thanked and congratulated us for uncovering Lionheart's crimes. When I told her the rest of the story, she told me to let you go."
"Wait, seriously?" Eren asked.
"Seriously. Think of it as a one time thank you from the Mistral Council."
"I don't believe it," Mercury whispered.
"You and me both," said Emerald.
Montoya shifted her head towards the door again, giving her permission for everyone to leave. Cinder was the first to leave, where she was followed by Emerald, Mercury, Midori, Ren, and Nora. Eren was about to leave too, but Montoya stepped in front of him.
"Just a minute, Yeager," she said. "First off, you kids pulled off something really ballsy. I can see why the Councilwoman gave you a free pass."
"Uh, thanks," Eren awkwardly replied.
"I'm happy to let this slide, too. But do me a favor and try to work with the rules here. First off, that weapon you have? Get it licensed."
"Sure, sure. I can just pick it up out front?"
"The pardon included giving back your property. So, yeah." Montoya stepped out of the way and let Eren go. As he walked out of the door, Montoya had one last thing to say. "Oh, by the way." Eren turned around. "We'll be holding a press conference this evening, you all should join us. I think that long-haired friend of yours has a lot to say."
"You mean we get to talk?" Eren asked.
"The Councilwoman said she'd be there. And she'd like everyone to know your side of the story."
"We'll think about it. Thanks."
With that, Eren finally made his way towards the front of the station. When he was in the process of getting his property back, the young man felt relief and joy being out of that small room. The dungeon cells he had to stay in a few times in Paradis were bigger than the interrogation room, which was very tempting to use his Titan to break out of. Of course, this was a back up plan in case things went wrong with Lionheart. But Eren was glad that he didn't have to expose himself and could taste freedom again.
When he finally stepped outside, Eren welcomed the sun shining on him and the cool breeze blowing on his face. Despite being in the station for a short time, Eren welcomed the feeling of being free with open arms. And now he was more than ready to resume his quest of freeing the world from Salem; and from the look on their faces, so we're all of his friends.
Except for one.
"Hey, where's Cinder?" Eren asked. He noticed that her face was missing from the small group, which was the complete opposite of how she greeted him earlier.
"She just took off," Mercury said as he pointed behind them. "Didn't even say where she was going."
Eren looked behind Mercury to see a large town square that was beginning to crowd with people. It wasn't an uncommon sight in Mistral, but everyone knew that it would be hard to traverse through this many people. Cinder didn't care, apparently, and Eren was lucky to briefly see her through the crowd.
"Hey, Cinder!" Eren called out as he quickly followed her. "Wait up!"
"..."
Eren didn't know if she could hear him or if she was ignoring him, but Cinder continued to move deeper into the crowd. Eren persisted while ignoring the people he was pushing past to get to Cinder. Some people even pushed back, but Eren didn't care about that.
His search seemingly ended when he saw a head of long black hair facing away from him. Without thinking, he grabbed the woman's shoulder and moved her to face him. "Cinder, what's going-?"
"Hey, get off me!"
Eren let go of the woman's shoulder when he quickly realized that it wasn't Cinder. "Oh, sorry," he said to the stranger. Eren quickly looked around the square again, having trouble seeing through the big crowd.
"Are you okay?" the stranger asked Eren, still confused about why he pulled her shoulder.
Eren talked to the woman while simultaneously looking around the square. "Sorry, I thought you were someone-Wait, Cinder!"
Eren quickly took off when he saw Cinder's face in the crowd. When she saw him, however, Cinder moved deeper into the crowd. Eren became relentless again as he pushed past more people. Cinder heard the commotion and knew that he wasn't going to leave her alone. It was a stupid thing to think of, since she knew Eren for so long. So she moved into an alleyway and waited for Eren to come to her.
"What do you want, Eren?" she rudely asked as he finally joined her.
"What do I want?" Eren repeated in disbelief. "Well, since you're asking, what the hell's wrong with you? Why did you just-?"
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?! Did you even hear what you were all saying back there?!"
Eren easily remembered everything they were talking about in the police station. And yet he was still seeing nothing wrong with the brainstorming they did. "That's what this is about?" he asked. "What's wrong with what we were saying?"
"Us working with Huntsmen and Huntresses, that's what's wrong!" Cinder replied. "You agreed with everything Midori was saying, that we should play by their rules!"
"Cinder, I didn't-!"
"And the police practically ignored everything I said about Huntsmen and Huntresses! They're just falling in line, and letting them walk over them! I thought you agreed with me!"
"You can't just-!"
"Mercury was right, Eren! We can't just become like them to fight Salem! We're supposed to be better than-!"
"Cinder, shut up for two seconds!"
"..."
The look on her face as she fell silent showed how surprised she was at Eren talking to her like this. The two rarely had arguments, so hearing something that hurt each other always came unexpectedly and usually took time for the feeling to die down. Which was why Cinder did nothing else as she listened to Eren.
"You think I don't support you?" Eren began. "After everything we've done so far? Cinder, I don't think I'll ever change my stance with Huntsmen and Huntresses. At least not until they change too. It's good you want to see that change too, but you can't just force people to see what you see. Remember what you showed Winter before we got here? You need more than words, you need to make people want to believe you. And you can't do that by just screaming and shouting."
"..."
Cinder's lost voice didn't come back to her as Eren continued to explain himself. She instead looked to the ground and hit the wall to her left in frustration.
"Cinder, I get why you're mad," he said. "I was just like you before I left Paradis. Any time someone said the slightest thing bad about the Survey Corps fighting Titans or how stupid it was to go outside the walls, I tried to do what you did. I just screamed and shouted to make people see what I saw, but they just ignored me. Either that, or they beat me when I attacked them. It wasn't until later on that I learned it takes more than that. I had to find people who believed in me, I had to inspire them in ways I thought were impossible. I had to show them what happens when we fight back against the world. Not everyone agreed, obviously. But that didn't stop me. And you shouldn't let that stop you too." Eren moved closer and hugged Cinder. "You just have to do more, Cinder. You have to inspire them like you inspire me."
"..."
Eren's hug hid the red on Cinder's cheeks as she calmed down. The last part stuck to her like glue, given that she had no idea she inspired Eren to do more. After all, he was the one who inspired her as well. When the blush died down, Cinder replayed Eren's words in her head.
"I... Maybe," she relented with a sigh. When Eren let her go, Cinder still had more to say. "But it's still weird you wanna follow along with what Midori and Detective Montoya said. I heard a little bit about... getting a license for your weapon?"
Eren briefly thought about that. "Yeah, that confused me too," he confessed. "But you know, only people in the military were allowed to own maneuvering equipment. Anybody outside the military with was against the law. So, I guess it's more or less the same."
"...I guess. So, I guess we just gotta play nice every now and then?"
"For now." Eren led Cinder out of the alleyway and into the sun. "But not when we're fighting Salem. And who knows? Maybe we'll have a chance to bend the rules every now and then. So long as we're not playing by Atlas' rules, right?"
"Oh, God no," Cinder quickly replied. The two shared a heartfelt laugh from this quick reaction as they made their way back to their friends. "So it takes more than acting like a bratty kid, huh?"
"Take it from a bratty kid himself, Cinder." Eren chuckled at this notion. "You just need to find a way to inspire the people around you rather than just lay out the facts."
"Yeah, I see what you mean." Cinder kicked a pile of dirt on the ground. "Guess I blew my chance with the police, huh?"
"Actually, you might get another chance tonight. I'll explain when we get back."
When Eren and Cinder returned to the others, they all made their way towards the Dark Wing. Eren told everyone about how they were invited to a press conference so they could set things straight. Cinder, although a bit hesitant, wanted to go along with it. After thinking about what Eren said, she decided to see if she could inspire people after all. Nora, Emerald, and Mercury saw the chance for one last hurrah in Mistral before leaving.
With a lot of time before the conference, everyone found various ways to pass the time. Cinder, at her own insistence, spent some time to herself so she could prepare for what she wanted to say. She spent all of her time writing and planning carefully. Ren and Eren decided they were overdue for some meditation, so they did so together. Ren focused on regaining his sense of peace, but it wasn't without bumps in the road.
Emerald and Mercury were by themselves too, since Emerald asked him to look at her weapons. Nora surprisingly decided to spend time on her own, not far from the Dark Wing. She had a feeling Ren would understand if he knew; even though it had only been one day, Nora was still questioning herself and her actions. Each time she thought of something good about her part in the quest, everything she did to help everyone, it always came back as being strong and hitting just about everything she saw.
The idea of being a destructive force was not very pleasant to Nora, not in the slightest. The argument of this destruction being aimed towards Salem and anyone else who wanted to hurt people could be made. Yet that didn't change the fact that Nora was quite capable of killing those people herself.
"Under the jokes and hammer swings, you have a heart of gold, Nora."
More than anything, Nora wished her actions showed what Ren described. The hearts on her rockets and weapon could possibly show this, but they were merely a front for more destruction. And her Titan would only reinforce this fact.
That didn't stop Nora from having an idea.
When she thought of all the times she destroyed things, she was always doing it recklessly and without thinking of potential consequences. She could still keep her weapon, maybe even change it up a bit. But the one thing she needed was discipline, just like Ren said last night.
And if he could do that through meditation, Nora believed she could do it too. So she immediately ran to find Eren and Ren, who she accidentally scared when she screamed "I wanna meditate too!"
Now that everyone was doing their own thing, Midori decided to spend time to herself as well. Instead of work or self-reflection, she was currently exploring the city of Mistral. She had only been in the city once, when she ran away from Argus. During that time, she was more focused on getting out of the first place her mother would find her rather than taking in the sights of the city.
She adored every part of Mistral from what she could see, from the smallest street-market to the largest mountains. The sights were truly breathtaking, and Midori didn't think she could get enough of it.
The only thing that seemed better than the sights were the people. Midori had met plenty of people in Anima, and they were usually nice to her. But in Mistral, everything about the people seemed different here. They were always on the go, with many different things going on.
One of these things was someone dropping a carton of eggs close to her foot.
"Aw, for crying out loud!" a man to Midori's left cried as he kneeled down. The young girl looked over to see that a man in a hooded brown jacket was having trouble picking up his groceries. "I am so sorry!"
"That's okay," Midori said as she kneeled down. "Here, let me help you." She began to pick up the broken eggs and the other items that fell out of a paper bag the man dropped.
"Oh, thank you," the man replied while looking down. "I'm sorry, I'm just out of sorts today."
"It happens to all of us," Midori replied. "I used to be kinda of clumsy myself."
"I think that'll be me for a while. I just had surgery, you see."
Midori looked away from the groceries and back to her present company. "Oh, that's terrible. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." The man stood up and showed a rather obvious hunch on his back and a noticeable limp. He began to move into an alley where he had dropped another bag of his. "It's my back, you see. Had a rather nasty incident with someone about your age."
"I see." Midori followed the man. "Are you in any pain?"
"Nothing I can't ignore. Only when I try to stand properly."
Feeling immense pity for the man trying so hard to move properly, Midori had an idea. "I might be able to help, sir," she said. "Not just with your groceries."
The man slightly turned to Midori, unable to show his face. "Oh, I doubt that," he said. "My doctor has me on a prescription already."
"I think I have something better." Midori began to make her hands glow. "A Semblance, actually. One that can heal any kind of wound. If you tell me where it hurts the most, I can heal it."
"You... You can?"
"Of course. It'll only take a second."
The man moved his back closer to Midori. "If you're serious... the middle of my back is where it hurts. If it's no trouble, I mean."
"No, not at all." Midori moved her hands closer to the man's back. "This shouldn't take long." Placing her hands on the noticeable hump, Midori closed her eyes and concentrated. However, she couldn't feel her Semblance healing anything. And the hump was rather cold for flesh. "I'm sorry, sir, but is this... metal?"
*BAM*
The hump on the man's back revealed itself to indeed be metal, and it had just launched itself at Midori's face. When it made contact, the girl was knocked out instantly, and still inside the alleyway. The man she was trying to help began to giggle as he stood upright and turned around. The metal on his back moved lower to reveal itself to be a tail, and the man revealed himself to be Tyrian Callows, one of Salem's deadliest enforcers.
"Ah-ha!" the insane Faunus laughed as he kneeled down to the injured girl. "I knew that was you, little Maiden!" Tyrian began to feel the girl's legs, specifically her pockets. He then pulled out her Scroll as he used his new tail to pull Midori deeper into the alley. "Now then... where are those friends of yours?"
When evening fell on the city of Mistral, the police station was filled to the brim with people. Instead of having the conference outside due to an incoming rainstorm, the conference was held inside a large auditorium. Many police officers, including Detective Montoya and her superiors, were preparing to answer any questions that were going to be asked. They were also preparing for the arrival of Councilwoman Redwood, who wanted to hear the whole story in person rather than on the news.
Eren and everyone else arrived thirty minutes early, and they too were preparing themselves. Mainly, they were preparing for the late arrival of their missing friend.
"I think we're gonna start soon," Eren said to Cinder. "Have you seen Midori yet?"
"No, not yet," Cinder replied. "I mean, she texted us she would meet us later. She just didn't say how much later."
"You might wanna text her we're already at the station."
"I think Nora did that. I would, but I just wanna look over what I wrote."
Eren looked over Cinder's shoulder at the notes she had on her Scroll. She had spent all afternoon writing and deleting things she wanted to say tonight. Despite the fact that she had done her research and practiced to herself, it was clear that Cinder was nervous.
"Hey," Eren said to get Cinder's attention. Once her near-golden eyes were looking at him, Eren smiled. "You're gonna do great."
Cinder smiled as she slowly turned back to her Scroll. "Thanks, Eren," she said. "So you're gonna introduce me after you talk for a little bit?"
"Only when you're ready. Just give me a nod and the floor is yours."
"Thanks. I think I'm gonna need a few minutes, anyway."
Cinder moved away from Eren and kept her eyes glued on her Scroll once again. This left the young man to gather the rest of his friends. Fortunately for him, they were all in one spot. More specifically, they were hovering over a sitting Ren.
"Come on, dude," Mercury said with crossed arms. "Don't let those assholes get you down."
"Yeah," Nora said in support. "They were probably just blowing off steam."
"I know, I know," Ren sadly said. "Don't worry, I'm okay."
Eren moved a little closer towards Emerald. "Everything okay?" he asked calmly.
"Yeah, we're good," Emerald replied. "We just overheard some cops talking about us."
"About us?" Eren's eyes widened. "What? What were they saying?"
"Nothing serious," Ren said as he stood up. "Mostly how they were wasting their time looking for you when Lionheart was right in front of them. More specifically, the boy who went 'total-Karen' on him and got them in this mess."
Eren's mild surprise turned into mild confusion. "Total what now?" he asked.
"No, it's nothing," Nora replied. "They said some other things, but they weren't true." The red-haired girl turned to her friend. "Right, Ren?"
"Right, right," Ren said as he looked over to Eren. "We gonna be starting soon?"
"We should be. I just wanted to let you know, and ask if any of you saw Midori come in."
"No, not yet," Nora said as she took out her Scroll. "I texted her we were here, but she hasn't said anything. She might be a no-show tonight."
"She never really liked crowds," Ren noted. "Guess she and I have that in common."
"Hey, kids."
Everyone turned to see Detective Montoya standing five feet away from them. "We're ready to start, follow me," she politely ordered.
Everyone approached the room where multiple reporters and photographers were undoubtedly waiting for them. As they did, a mixture of anxiety and pride swelled through them as they reveled in the fact that their brief nightmare was finally over and they had a chance to set things straight.
The only one who was unhappy was Ren, who stopped walking with everyone.
"Hey, guys?" he called out to his friends. "I, uh, think I'm gonna sit this one out."
Everyone stopped walking and quickly turned around. "Wait, what?" Cinder asked.
Eren was the first to realize what seemed to be holding Ren back. "Is it because of what those jerk cops said?" he asked. "Ren, you're not gonna screw things up for us."
"Yeah, fuck those guys!" Mercury said in support.
Nora moved closer to Ren with a smile on her face. "I get it, you're nervous," she said. "But all that's in the past. I think Mistral wants to see the new Lie Ren!"
Ren briefly rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, guys," he said sincerely. "But you go on ahead."
Mercury could see that Ren wanted to be left alone, so he decided to leave him be. "Oh, I am all ears, man!" he said as he once again followed Detective Montoya. Everyone soon began to follow Mercury, the last person being Nora. Before she joined them, she waved to Ren as he moved towards the rest of the audience. She only moved when he waved back with a smile.
Eren and his friends soon found themselves near a podium where dozens of bright lights and lots of cameras where pointed at the center of the stage. And sure enough, the auditorium was filled to the brim with tons of people. All of them were patiently waiting with notepads, Scrolls, and photography cameras for anyone to start speaking.
"Wow, look at all these people," said Emerald. "I guess an arrested Councilman draws a lotta attention."
"No shit," said Mercury. "They'll be talking about this for a long time."
"You think anyone back home is gonna be watching?" Nora asked.
Cinder quickly looked up from her Scroll. The color on her face quickly vanished without a trace as she pondered the idea. "Oh, Gods," she said. "What if Mom's watching? What if the whole town's watching?" As she considered running towards the exit of the room, a hand gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.
"Then they'll be proud of what you're going to say," Eren said. "Don't worry."
Cinder looked at how calm Eren was, which came as a surprise to her. "Wow, Eren. Aren't you at least a little nervous?"
"Me? Nervous?" Eren stood proudly and smiled. "What makes you think that?"
"Your legs are shaking."
Eren stopped smiling and looked down to see that his legs were indeed shaking, which earned a laugh from everyone around him. After she stopped laughing, Nora walked in front of Eren and firmly stepped on his feet. The brief pain made his legs stop shaking, even when Nora got off.
"Thanks..." Eren said in embarrassment. This once again earned a laugh from everyone.
"Hey, they're starting!" Emerald whispered as she pointed towards the podium.
Everyone looked in the direction Emerald was pointing in to see Detective Montoya standing next to the podium. At the center of the podium was a uniformed police officer with a white hat that had golden decorations on it. Multiple pictures were being taken of the man while the video cameras were recording him.
"Good evening, everyone," the man said with a deep voice and an indifferent face. "We're here to update our fellow Mistralians on an arrest we made earlier today. About three hours ago, the Mistral Police Force was given evidence of a major conspiracy that all points to the murders of Mistral's Huntsmen and Huntresses. While the leader of this heinous plot is still unknown, it has been proven that Headmaster and Councilman Leonardo Lionheart is an accessory to the murders of fifteen Huntsmen and Huntresses. I want to thank Detective Montoya for conducting this arrest, and I'd like to give her the opportunity to share more details."
Detective Montoya walked over to the podium, where the police officer had stepped aside and shook her hand. "Thank you, Commissioner," she said before looking at the crowd. "As you have just been informed, I received alarming evidence that Leonardo Lionheart has been providing an unknown source the names, Semblances, and locations of multiple Huntsman and Huntresses. The names provided to me were soon matched with cases of unsolved homicides and disappearances. Soon after, I led other officers to Haven Academy where we received a full confession from Lionheart. He was then promptly arrested."
Multiple people in the crowd quickly stood up and began calling out Montoya's name. The police detective was no stranger to the press acting like wild animals all of a sudden, so she remained calm as she pointed to a woman with a Scroll pointed towards the podium.
The voices died down when the woman stood up and introduced herself. "Bailey Smith, with the Mistral Chronicle," she said. "How long has Lionheart been involved in this series of murders?"
"The earliest homicide was reported on February 1st, nearly seven months ago," Montoya answered. "Given our confession, it is fair to say that Lionheart created this list not long before said murder." The crowd erupted in Montoya's name once again, which led her to pointing to a gray-haired man in a suit.
"Floyd Ferrel, with the Argus Ledger," he promptly said. "Will this evidence and confession be made public? Along with the names of those Huntsmen and Huntresses?"
"All of this is planned to be released at Lionheart's trial, no earlier," Montoya quickly responded. Growing impatient with the sound of her name and the flashes, Montoya called on the first person she saw raise their hand.
"Spencer Read, Sina Street Journal," a young man introduced himself. "How did the police receive the incriminating evidence?"
Montoya looked over to the left, directly where Eren was standing. He slowly nodded, showing that he was ready to speak. Montoya nodded back and spoke to the audience. "Earlier this week, Haven Academy and the Mistral Police Force issued a man-hunt for one Eren Yeager," she began. "We were made to believe that he had attacked Haven Academy out of nothing but malice and terrorism. However, Mr. Yeager delivered himself to me and presented his side of the story. When he first learned what the former Headmaster had done, he planned to confront Lionheart personally. Unfortunately, Lionheart activated an alarm and spun his story to make the young man appear as a criminal."
The reporter didn't sit down when he heard the truth. "So in other words, Lionheart was the guilty one in that matter?" he asked. "And Eren Yeager is innocent?"
"While the Mistral Police Force doesn't agree with his method of discovering the truth, that is indeed the case," Montoya replied. "We're actually joined tonight by Eren Yeager, who wishes to to share his side of the story."
With that, and some nods from his friends, Eren walked out to the podium. He was immediately greeted by flashing lights and a handshake from Montoya. As he stared at the audience, Eren knew that he was going to have a hard time with this. Not that the crowd intimidated him, but that public speaking was never a strong suit of his. This trait instead rested with Erwin Smith and Floch Forster, people who inspired others through their powerful words and watched as their audience carried out what they said. Tonight, Cinder had that opportunity, and all Eren had to do was give her that chance.
"I'll... keep this brief," he began slowly. "My name is Eren Yeager, a lifelong resident of the city Kuroyuri. Not too long ago, my closest friends and I learned of the conspiracy involving Headmaster Lionheart after a recent Grimm invasion. My plan was to confront him privately, instead of going to the police. I wanted to know if he was involved with luring the Grimm to Kuroyuri, to ultimately kill two of the Huntsmen that were sent there. When he escaped, I was labeled a threat that had to be stopped. I believe my only crime was discovering the truth about him, and his plans."
Eren's pause to catch his breath resulted in more flashes and a reporter quickly standing up. "And how did you exactly find out about this, Mr. Yeager?" he asked.
Eren was expecting a question like this, and he knew how to answer it how Emerald suggested; by exaggerating.
"I think the best way to describe it was being at the wrong place at the wrong time," he began. "More specifically, being at Kuroyuri when two people on the list were murdered."
Another reporter quickly asked another question. "Why did you go directly to Lionheart?" she asked. "That was very brave, but it doesn't sound very clever in hindsight."
Eren did his best to keep Lionheart's involvement with Salem a secret, which wasn't very hard. "That's not the first time I heard that today, you're right," he replied. "But at the time, I needed to know the truth at the source. What happened in Kuroyuri wasn't enough."
The reporter didn't sit down. "But couldn't you have gone to the police right away? You say these Huntsmen were murdered. It seems proper cause to inform the police."
"..."
Eren decided not to answer this question. It was true that he didn't have a good answer to the question. If he further explained himself now, if he revealed the truth about what he was fighting, there was no possible way anybody would believe a word of it. However, he was prepared to change the situation in his favor.
And a continuous nod from Cinder was telling him that she was also prepared.
Eren nodded back and looked to the audience again. "That's actually a good point," he said to the reporter. "And I have a good reason for doing what I did. But I'd like to hand it off to someone who can explain it better than I can."
Eren stepped aside and let Cinder take the stage. The cameras stopped flashing and everyone looked at each other in confusion as she walked to where Eren was standing. The silence clearly made the young girl nervous, but a reassuring smile and thumbs-up from Eren helped her calm down. After Eren stepped to her side and she took a deep breath, Cinder began to speak.
"Um... Hi," she began with a smile and an awkward chuckle. When she saw that she had the crowd's attention, Cinder stopped smiling and spoke clearly. "My name is Cinder Fritz. I'm a friend of Eren's. And I'm also one of the few who found out about Lionheart's crimes."
"..."
Cameras began to flash in Cinder's face and caught her off guard. But she continued to stand proudly and stay exactly where she was. "I'm also the one who convinced Eren and the rest of my friends to do what he did two nights ago," she said. "And now you should know why."
"..."
Cinder took another breath and moved her Scroll onto the podium before speaking again. "Ever since the four Huntsmen Academies were created, Huntsmen and Huntresses were expected to carry themselves with honor and mercy. I don't think I'm mistaken when I say that everyone in the city of Mistral have seen these qualities." Cinder looked into the video cameras as she continued to talk. "The people of this city handed over their trust, their safety, and their children to their guardians. And they were rewarded with Mistral being one of the safest and most prosperous cities in all of Anima." Murmurs could be heard in the audience, and it was clear people were agreeing with Cinder. "All of you should be proud of what you created here. And if you think that the same happened to the rest of the continent, to the cities outside Mistral... I'm sorry to say that you're wrong."
"..."
The soft whispering in the audience quickly became silent when Cinder said the last phrase. It came so suddenly and without warning, which was enough to make her begin to sweat out of nervousness. But in the crowd, she could see Ren gesturing for her to continue; he wanted to hear what else she had to say.
And Eren holding her hand behind the podium also gave the hint that she could continue.
"Kuroyuri may be an advanced city in the outskirts, one that's grown larger in size and population," Cinder continued while looking at her Scroll. "But it's a city in the outskirts nonetheless. Our situation with the Grimm isn't as safe as Mistral. We too had times where we needed to hand everything to Huntsmen and Huntresses, all with the promise of safety. But we weren't rewarded with fulfilled promises. Like other villages in the outskirts, the people of Kuroyuri had to suffer from scarce Huntsmen, ignorance in favor of the peace that Mistral thrives in."
"..."
Instead of pausing, Cinder filled the brief silence with more of her point of view. "And when Huntsmen and Huntresses came to our aid, things only got worse. The 'help' we got ranged from prices that we couldn't afford, unfair time-gaps from what should be regular check-ins, and less Huntsmen than we needed. The argument of settlements like Kuroyuri being independent could be made, but not when our graveyards are becoming larger than they should be."
"..."
"And the ones who showed up and claimed to help proved themselves to be nothing more than men out for themselves. My own mother was kidnapped and nearly sold off to a sex-traffic ring by someone who acquired a valid Huntsman license. And by another corrupt Councilman, one that the Mistral Police Force arrested years ago."
Gasps and whispers filled the crowd once again, and the police commissioner turned over to Detective Montoya. Not wanting to interrupt Cinder's speech, Montoya silently nodded to show that Cinder was telling the truth. Montoya also had to admit that Cinder was beginning to prove her point better than she was when they were talking before. Which was why she didn't stop the young girl from continuing her speech.
"After everything we saw, everything we lost, I was the one who convinced Eren to take matters into his own hands," Cinder continued. "It's because I find myself unable to trust Huntsmen and Huntresses. Many of Mistral's guardians choose to stay in the city, and involve themselves in multiple police cases, just like how they were involved in trying to find and hurt Eren. Their powerful presence doesn't make Mistral stronger, it just saves them from what lies beyond. And Lionheart used his power as a Headmaster to keep his secret from us, the citizens of this Kingdom."
"..."
Cinder decided to take a risk and deviate away from her speech. "And many years ago, Councilman Charles used the power of many Huntsmen, including Marcus Black, to do his dirty work. So I ask you, the people of Mistral, do you believe this power is being used fairly? Is this the kind of reputation our Kingdom should have?"
A majority of the audience was silent, most of them being the reporters. A small group of citizens, who decided to attend the press conference in person, found themselves touched by Cinder's words. They were also feeing shy, so they simply spoke in a whisper.
"No," they said separately and calmly, not drawing too much attention to themselves. Some of the reporters who heard this immediately turned around and started taking notes on the matter.
Cinder heard the voices and looked towards the source. She once again saw Ren shaking his head with the group, but quickly stopped and gave his friend a thumbs-up. While she was proud to have convinced a few people, Cinder realized her risk didn't offer a result she hoped for. So she decided to stick with her script once again.
"Like the rest of you, I'm just a citizen," she continued. "I'm nobody special. I'm not like Eren, or the Council, or the police who protect this city. I'm just someone who's tired of being treated as a second-class citizen. I'm tired of every city outside Mistral being treated as second-rate by Huntsmen and Huntresses. While I don't have the privilege of knowing places in other Kingdoms too well, I have confidence that there are cities outside the capitals that have been treated like Kuroyuri."
Cinder couldn't see it, but her speech was being heard in places beyond Mistral. The people of Kuroyuri, who were overjoyed to hear that the record had been set straight, decided to watch the press conference together at Dina's house. Their joy was intensified when Cinder began her speech, especially after what she just said.
"Yes, finally!" a young Faunus cried in joy.
"You tell them, Cinder!" said August Cedar.
The only one who was silent throughout the speech was Dina Fritz, who was proudly watching her daughter take a proper stand against the injustices that she described. And she was even more proud when Cinder began to describe other Kingdoms to the best of her ability.
"There is, actually, one other city I could describe tonight," Cinder continued on the TV. She had deviated from her script once again, but had a good reason for doing so. "I once visited the city and Kingdom of Vale, where I learned of an extraordinary tragedy: Mountain Glenn."
Beyond Anima, Cinder's voice could be heard in Vale. The news of a corrupt Councilman had reached many ears and broadcast stations across Remnant, and Vale was no exception. Everyone who had a Scroll or TV listened to Cinder's words carefully.
"I learned how it was an attempted expansion of Vale, how it was meant to give numerous people, Human and Faunus, the opportunity to live somewhere grand," everyone heard on their screens. "Sadly, the defenses failed with an increased presence of Grimm. Now it sits in the mountains as a reminder to be careful of expanding too far." Cinder's attitude changed from mourning to form resolve. "But it wasn't a separation from Vale, it should have had the same rights and protection as any city should have. So why was it that any historian or citizen can hardly find any involvement between Mountain Glenn and Vale's Huntsmen and Huntresses? Were their mission boards not working that day? Or did they just choose what was easier?"
Cinder couldn't see it, but people across the city of Vale were listening very carefully to her speech. Some turned up the volume as they began to believe that she brought up an excellent point. Others, mainly at Beacon Academy, quickly felt insulted by what they were seeing and stopped listening.
Everyone except a man in a high tower at the academy.
"My point is that these Academies and their Headmasters wield more power than I believe is necessary," Cinder fearlessly continued from Mistral while looking at her Scroll. "And we even have one Kingdom that controls both Huntsmen and a powerful military. They cling to this power in the name of peace, but that peace is very limited. More than it should be."
"..."
This was where Cinder's speech was originally meant to end. She had run out of things to say when she wrote it, mainly because she felt that her point had been reached. But the silence from the audience was telling her to finish stronger. Not just stronger, but with more humility in order to wash away any arrogance that may have been unintentionally delivered.
And so, Cinder decided to finish stronger.
"Like I said, I'm nobody special," Cinder said. "I'm just someone who's tired of being treated unfairly by Huntsmen and Huntresses. But also... I'm scared. I'm scared that things will get even worse for Kuroyuri, for my friends and family, and everyone else that I love." Cinder squeezed Eren's hand a little tighter while saying this. "I don't want to see any more ruined homes beyond the capitals. I don't want to see another Mountain Glenn, a destroyed Kuroyuri, and I don't want to see any people killed or left on the streets because of it. So, I beg you, everyone, if you don't want any of this to happen either... please help me change what I see."
"..."
With those final words, Cinder decided to leave her speech there. She felt proud about everything she wrote, said, and improvised while standing at the podium. While she was glad to have made her point, Cinder was even more glad that she didn't have to deliver it alone. That Eren was standing by her side throughout the whole thing.
Despite spending hours preparing a short speech, knowing exactly what she wanted to say and when she wanted to say it, Cinder wasn't entirely sure what to expect when she finished. The silence from the audience was definitely unexpected, but it was also intimidating. There was no way to see if anyone listed to her, ignored her, or were just indifferent to the speech. The silence was also discouraging, despite Eren's support through his actions. So when she heard nothing else from the audience, Cinder let go of Eren's hand and began to walk offstage.
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*
Cinder quickly turned back to the reporters and citizens, where she saw and heard nothing but applause. The reporters had put down their Scrolls and notepads to clap their hands together. The group of people who softly answered Cinder's question earlier were now louder than ever. And Ren was the first person to stand and clap in order to support his friend and emphasize her point.
All of Cinder's doubts and fears were washed away by the applause. Now all she felt was a sense of pride and slight unease with the large spotlight now on her. She did her best to hide the red heat on her cheeks, but looking at the police officers and Eren made her forget this idea and simply smile.
Before she could go back to the podium and thank everyone for listening, the police commissioner took the stand while looking at her. "Thank you, Ms. Fritz," he said calmly. "Well spoken."
Cinder silently nodded as Eren began to lead her off the stage and back towards the rest of her friends. Nora, Mercury, and Emerald quickly crowded her and congratulated her for a job well done.
"Way to go, Cinder!" Nora whispered.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," said Emerald.
"Man, you touched my soul, I'm telling you!" Mercury said with a playfully slap to her back.
After Cinder thanked everyone, she turned back to Eren, who also congratulated her. "Cinder, that... that was amazing!" he said. "I mean, you! You were amazing up there!"
Before Cinder could say anything, she heard the police commissioner speak again. "I'm, uh... not quite sure how to follow that," he said into the microphone. A short laughter from the audience proved this point even further. "But I'll do my best. This may actually be the best time for us to..."
Eren and his friends heard the commissioner continue his thoughts, but they didn't pay attention to what he was saying. They instead focused on how Cinder had done something amazing, and with more passion than Eren had ever seen in anyone. He felt that listening to every word she said wasn't a right, but a rare privilege; one that he would remember for the rest of his life.
Ren too, failed to listen to the commissioner while he was in the audience, but he wasn't feeling proud of Cinder. He was instead getting the feeling that something was wrong.
As the young man watched Cinder move off the stand, Ren's eyes caught something else. In front of him was a man in a large brown cloak, in the mixture of the audience. The sight of a cloaked man wasn't uncommon in Mistral, but a moving piece of metal at the end of the cloak was indeed uncommon.
As the man disappeared into the crowd, Ren quickly followed while gently shoving people aside. He ignored their protests as his eyes scanned the area for the brown cloak. When he found it, Ren found the man underneath it pressing his hands and one of his legs against the wall.
And his face was showing two yellow eyes and a sadistic grin. A very familiar one to Ren.
"Watch out!"
*THOOM*
Ren's warning fell onto deaf ears when the lights suddenly went out. Nobody could see it, but everyone's eyes turned to the ceiling as they wondered what could have caused the surprise blackout. Ren would have wondered the same thing if his attention wasn't on finding Tyrian.
*SLAM*
*SWISH*
"AAAAUGH!"
The room quickly fell into chaos when the sounds of metal ripping into flesh, blood covering the ground, and screaming filled the air. Eren and everyone else on stage also fell into panic when they tried to figure out what was going on.
"What is that?!"
"What's going on?!"
"Something's in the room!"
"Where's Ren?! Does anyone see Ren?!"
"I can't see shit!"
"Everyone come to me!"
Eren felt multiple bodies crowding around him, which ended up doing more harm than good. Especially when Cinder was hit by something and caused everyone to fall over.
Montoya and the other officers were also having a hard time getting a handle on the situation.
"Montoya, sound off!" one officer yelled as he looked around the darkness.
"Here!" Montoya replied. "Why isn't the emergency power kicking in?!"
"I dunno, but there's someone or something-!"
*SWISH*
The officer was cut off when something clawed through his ribs and didn't stop until a large section of his torso was missing. He then fell to the ground without anyone knowing what happened, all while hearing a soft laughter beside him.
Montoya reached for her pocket and grabbed a radio. "This is Montoya, we have a situation at the station!" she cried to the device. "All officers get here now!"
While Montoya was calling for help, Ren was trying to find it himself. Through the screams and bodies he tripped on, Ren kept calling out for his friends.
"Nora! Eren! Where are you?!"
Screams were the only response to his vain search. But when he heard laughter, Ren quickly followed it and pushed through the invisible crowd in an effort to find Tyrian.
But when he felt something strike his back and pin him to the ground, Ren realized that Tyrian had found him first.
"He, he, he!" the mad Faunus giggled. "Two down, five to go! Ha, ha!"
The pain in Ren's torso began to disappear as his Titan powers began to heal him. But Ren wasn't worried about that; he was instead worried about Tyrian reaching the rest of his friends. So through the screaming, Ren yelled a warning.
"Eren! He's coming for you!"
Eren couldn't hear anything besides screaming in the large room, and neither could the rest of his friends. They didn't have their weapons, but their Auras were engaged in case someone tried to attack or someone pushed them hard enough to hurt them. They didn't know it, but the "someone" was currently looking down on them from the ceiling.
"I see you," Tyrian whispered in excitement as he watched the children trying to get a grip on the situation. Despite his child-like glee at the chaos he created, Tyrian knew exactly what he was doing; with his new tail, he was on a mission to kill Eren Yeager and everyone that was associated with him. This was assigned to him as soon as his metal tail was made. After Salem calmed down, she ordered Tyrian to bring Midori to her; this was to be done exactly after Eren was dead.
So Tyrian leapt down from the ceiling and rubbed his hand on Cinder's back. His Semblance allowed him to remember a part of the girl's Aura on her back, which was where he placed his stinger. Cinder screamed like a banshee in pain, and Emerald followed when Tyrian used his wrist weapons to injure her. Nora fell when Tyrian ripped pieces of her legs away and made it difficult to stand. As blood sprayed over the mad Faunus' body, he stood up straight and looked at Eren, who was starting to punch nothing but thin air.
Tyrian had his enemy in his sight. He could use his Semblance once again and strike Eren exactly where it hurt. He could poison the boy, break his neck, even rip pieces off of him until he bled to death.
But instead, Tyrian decided a little more sport would be better than a simple shot in the dark. Eren would find his friends bleeding to death once the lights came back on. All Tyrian had to do was give a sign as to where he was and let an entertaining chase begin. Tyrian kept telling himself that it would be better this way, to make a fool out of him like he made a fool out of his Goddess.
Eren deserved nothing less.
So Tyrian leapt up to the ceiling once again and watched. It appeared to be in the nick of time too, for the lights finally came back on. The survivors of the unexpected onslaught gasped and stared at the numerous bodies on the floor and the blood that was everywhere. Citizens and reporters either cried at the sight or tried to help anyone who was wounded instead of killed. The police too were helping the survivors by calling for paramedics.
Eren stood over his friends for what felt like an eternity. The amount of blood spilled on the floor from their bodies was frightening and would have caused him to panic. But when he saw hints of steam coming from their wounds, Eren began to calm down and help them off the ground.
"Guys, are you okay?" he asked as he pulled Cinder and Mercury off the ground.
"Yeah," Mercury said as he rubbed a disappearing wound on his arm. "Yeah, I'm good."
"Me too," Cinder said as she stood up. But just as she was on her feet, she fell down and onto her knees. Eren quickly kneeled down to her and tried to help her stand again, but much slower. "Just... light-headed. Sorry."
"Nora! Eren!"
The teenagers turned at the sound of their names to find Ren scrambling onto the stage. His wounds had healed and he was already on the move.
"Ren!" Nora cried as she pulled him into a hug. "Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ren said as he let go. "But listen! Tyrian's here! He did this!"
"What?!" Eren shouted.
"The crazy Faunus?" Mercury remembered. "No fucking way!"
"I saw him before the lights went out!" Ren explained. "He found us!"
Eren quickly scanned the area, seeing nothing but more police and bodies on the ground. "Where is he?!" he wondered.
*CRASH*
The sound of a window breaking and the sight of someone crawling on the ceiling answered Eren's question.
"He's going outside!" Mercury yelled as he immediately gave chase. Eren was about to follow him, but stopped when he saw the conditions Cinder and Emerald were in. He knew that he couldn't just abandon them here.
"I got them!" Ren said as he moved over to Emerald. "Just go!"
Eren's indecision disappeared and he firmly nodded to Ren. He then took off towards the exit of the station, where Mercury had just gone. Montoya saw the two teenagers run outside, and her gut was telling her to follow them.
When they were outside, Eren and Mercury scanned the area that was being covered by police and incoming paramedics. Some of the police got the impression that Eren and Mercury were trying to escape, so they immediately drew their weapons.
"Hold your fire!"
The teenagers and the police turned to Detective Montoya, who had her own pistol in her hand. "I don't know what the hell just happened, but I know you two are involved!" she screamed at the boys.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
Maniacal laughter drew everyone's attention away from the station and up at a nearby rooftop. There they saw a man standing above who did nothing but stare down at the crowd with a mischievous grin.
"That's him!" Eren shouted as he twisted his leg in a certain manner. After standing still like this for a second, Eren looked down and remembered that he didn't bring Soaring Freedom with him. "Shit!"
Seeing the disadvantage Eren had, as well as the frustration on his face, gave Tyrian a sense of delight and enthusiasm. His advantage of speed and his control of the high ground would make the chase even more entertaining. So he quickly moved across the rooftops and watched as Eren gave chase the old fashioned way.
Mercury followed behind his friend and left Montoya with the officers. "You heard him!" she said to the small army. "Half of you get inside, the rest of you with me!" She quickly moved towards one of the cars and began to drive it with the officer who was inside.
The sound of the cars behind him gave Mercury an idea. "Eren, stop!" he said. When his friend turned around, Mercury pulled a pair of keys out from his pocket. "We can chase him faster from the car!"
Eren quickly saw not one, but two opportunities that had been presented to him on a silver platter. His mind was made up when he followed Mercury to the Dark Wing. And Mercury also had a plan when the engine roared to life; the police had to have Tyrian in their sights by now, and the sirens would be mere breadcrumbs on the trail. So while Mercury drove after them, Eren got busy by finding exactly what he needed to get to Tyrian: Soaring Freedom.
"I got 'em!" Mercury shouted back towards Eren, referring to the multiple cars with flashing lights and blaring sirens.
Eren was about halfway ready with his equipment at this point. "Do you see Tyrian?!" he shouted back.
Mercury looked at the various rooftops above him. "No sign of him!" Just as he looked back to the road, Mercury was forced to veer left to avoid a wall close by. "Kinda hard to look for him and keep eyes on the road here!"
Eren had finished harnessing his weapon to his waist, so he moved up to Mercury and looked out the window. The flashing lights made it hard to see any sign of a man leaping on the roofs, but Eren concentrated hard.
And as luck would have it, Eren and Mercury were able to catch a brief glimpse of a man with a metal tail.
"There he is!" Eren said as he moved to open the door.
"The gates..." Mercury whispered. He quickly turned back to Eren. "He's going to lower Mistral!"
Eren opened the Dark Wing's door and prepared to jump out. "We'll never find him in there. I'm going after him!"
"Eren, wait! I didn't have time to-!"
*HISS*
Mercury looked out to where Eren had jumped. "Make more fuel..."
Tyrian, as always, found himself in a very cheerful mood. A night of fresh kills and outrunning the authorities was exactly what he needed after his recent surgery and his failure in Salem's domain. He was skeptical of his new tail at first, given that Watts was under time constraints to make it. But those doubts were set aside when Tyrian poisoned Eren's friends.
And speaking of which, he could hear and see the young man was approaching from behind him.
Glee and excitement filled the mad Faunus for all the wrong reasons. After such a short amount of time, Tyrian was more than ready to finish Eren off here and now. His original plan was to have less police in lower Mistral, but the rooftops near the gates of the city would do just as nicely.
So when Eren was just inches away from Tyrian, flying as fast as lightning... Tyrian unnaturally dodged and watched Eren crash into a tall building.
*CRASH*
Unfortunately, Eren was unable to use his gear to catch himself, given that he had run out of fuel from latching onto buildings and flying through the air. He was, however, quick on the draw to engage his Aura as he smashed through a wall. He found himself in a small apartment complex, where a mother and her daughter were screaming at the intruder.
"Now, that's just rude!" Tyrian said as he jumped into the same room. "Barging in without being invited?" The Faunus laughed at his own joke as his weapons on his wrists were activated and his tail was above his head. "I'll just have to teach you some manners!"
Eren quickly pulled out two swords from his gear to block Tyrian's tail and one of his pinchers. The mother and daughter ran out of the room quickly, and they soon found themselves out of their home.
*CRASH*
Eren and Tyrian found themselves crashing through another wall of the same apartment. Tyrian had used his other pincher to strike Eren in the gut, which only made the young man angry. And with his Semblance, this anger led to strength; strength to grab Tyrian's arms and throw him through the second wall. And he used a new pair of swords to try and stab him.
But Tyrian caught the blades and began to push back on them. His Aura was protecting his hands, but he had to rely on his own strength to stop the swords from moving closer.
"Oooh, is this how you mourn?" Tyrian asked sadistically. "Six of your friends are dead, one is being brought back where she belongs, and you just want to get your hands dirty!" Just as he said that, Tyrian allowed a small amount of blood to spill from his hands to emphasize his point. "How exciting!"
As Eren pushed down on his swords, he talked down to Tyrian. "You call yourself a killer?" he asked sarcastically. "My friends are still alive, you moron!"
Tyrian briefly thought back on how he wounded everyone in the police station. He knew there would be survivors with injuries, but not with Eren's friends. He spared no mercy while ripping their flesh and poisoning them. In short, there was no way Eren's friends could have survived.
"You're a terrible liar," Tyrian said after a wild laugh. He then used his tail to push himself off the ground and pin Eren against a wall. "And you're even a worse warrior."
"Oh, yeah?" Eren asked.
*BANG*
Tyrian found himself flying backwards and crashing into another wall, which led to another apartment. Eren quickly reloaded the gun he used to shoot Tyrian and fired again. "At least when I'm trying to kill someone, I know when to shut up," he proudly thought to himself.
Tyrian jumped off the floor he was on and pointed his pinchers at his opponent. "Alright, tough guy... two can play this game!" he screamed.
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
Bullets rang out from Tyrian's weapon and flew towards Eren at an alarming speed. Eren moved behind the wall as fast as he could, but not before a couple of bullets grazed his arm. The rest missed their target completely, and left the Faunus unsatisfied.
Tyrian leapt back into the room and fired on the spot where he expected Eren to be. When he saw nothing and heard a door slam shut, the Faunus leapt once again and broke the door off its hinges.
He then felt an immense pain in his face when something heavy hit it.
Throughout his time with Soaring Freedom, mainly with Mercury and Cinder, Eren had found creative new ways to utilize vertical maneuvering equipment. And while he couldn't use it to fly, Eren could still use the empty fuel tanks as weapons. And he was fairly certain that he just used one to break Tyrian's nose.
Despite the obvious injury, Tyrian was still willing to fight. Not only that, but he had started to lose any enjoyment he was having in this fight. This was the first time, in a long time, that he wanted to stop prolonging the inevitable and finish with a quick, clean kill.
"Okay, brat," the angry Faunus said. "No more Mr. Nice Guy!" He charged towards Eren while the boy lifted the tank again. This time, he used his tail to stab and grab the tank out of Eren's hands and throw it aside. And as Eren watched it go, he felt a stinger pierce his abdomen and knock him to the ground.
Tyrian moved his tail to the wall, pining Eren in the process. A purple poison made its way out of the mechanical creation and into Eren's body, which made him squirm and groan in the process. Oddly enough, it was the sight of his prey being helpless and defeated that made the deranged Faunus happy once again. He had a good feeling that tonight's death and destruction would please Salem more than anything. The young man who insulted her just by living would soon be nothing more than a failed hero, just like everyone else Tyrian finished off. He also had a good feeling that a rich reward would be bestowed on him.
This feeling disappeared when Eren grabbed the stinger and painfully ripped it off his abdomen.
Tyrian watched the young boy fall to the ground as the stinger was removed, and he continued to watch the boy catch his breath. He could attack again with his pinchers instead of standing still, but the Faunus was too dumbfounded by the sight of Eren's apparent recovery.
"Impossible..." he whispered softly.
"..."
It took Tyrian a few more seconds to find his voice, which he used to shout at the boy. "Impossible!" He looked back at his metal stinger. "I just gave you enough poison to kill ten men stronger than you!" He backed away in shock as Eren seemingly ignored him and stood back up. "What... are you?"
"..."
When Eren's lightheadedness and pain subsided, he silently removed two more blades from his gear and pointed them both at Tyrian. Before he charged once again, he decided to answer the question.
"I... am... free."
He then ran forward to go in for the kill, but Tyrian had snapped back to his senses and blocked the strikes Eren was dealing. His Semblance, however, made Eren strong enough to break part of Tyrian's defenses and cut either his torso or his arms.
But Eren wasn't the only one who was angry. Tyrian had enough rage and Aura left in him to grab the swords with his pinchers and break them off their handles. With a quick kick to Eren's gut, Tyrian made the boy fly backwards into another wall. Confident that he could finish him off with his weapons, Tyrian moved closer to Eren and pointed his guns at his face.
"I... really... don't like you," he said as he prepared to fire.
"Then you're gonna hate me, asshole."
Tyrian turned around to see a quick flash of gray collide into his face and break his Aura. The Faunus made a spiral in the air before a foot made contact with his chest and knocked him to the ground.
Eren looked up to see Mercury triumphantly standing over Tyrian and offering a hand to his friend. Eren took it and felt himself come off the ground. "Thanks, Merc," he said sincerely.
"No problem, dude," Mercury said with a toothy grin.
Eren looked down at the unconscious Faunus in disgust. "Good thing you got here when you did. I was this close to killing him."
"Not from what I saw, you weren't."
Eren looked at Mercury with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "Kidding, kidding!" Mercury said in his defense. "I'm actually glad too. I wanted to get even with him for what happened earlier."
"Oh, yeah," Eren remembered vividly. He looked at the metal tail that was attached to Tyrian's back. "I thought Emerald said she cut off his tail."
Mercury gave the tail a kick. "Guess that explains the new one." He then looked back to Eren. "I'm gonna rip this one off too."
"Hold on." Eren looked back to Mercury. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, they're good. You know, Titan-healing and all."
"What about Emerald?"
"Oh, yeah. She'll be okay. Gonna be off her feet for a little while, though. And Midori's still MIA."
"I know." Eren looked back to Tyrian. "He knows too. Salem wants her back."
"No shit?" Mercury looked back to Tyrian in surprise and anger. "What did he say? Where is she?"
"No idea," Eren confessed. "We gotta find out."
"You think we should let the police help?" Mercury asked. "They were right behind me before I outran them."
Eren rubbed his head while he answered Mercury's question. "We might have to. I'm too tired to even think straight right now."
Mercury took a deep breath. "Yeah, me too."
Eren stopped rubbing his head and began to move closer to Tyrian. "Okay, I'll grab his arms," he said. "You get his legs, we'll carry him down."
"Fine," Mercury said as he prepared to lift. "Hey, do you think you can grab that tail while you're-?"
*BAM*
Mercury fell to the ground when a sharp kick collided with his jaw. Eren too fell when metal hit his face, but he was still conscious. As he tried to recover from the pain, he saw Tyrian lunge at Mercury and squat over him.
"Kill you!" Tyrian said as he grabbed Mercury's throat tightly. "Kill you! Kill you! Kill you!"
Mercury wasn't able to speak as he felt air being blocked from entering his throat. Tyrian's grip was as strong as iron, and his resolve to kill the boy beneath him was even stronger. But he ironically found himself in the same trap when Eren wrapped an arm around his neck and squeezed tightly.
The headlock Eren had caught the Faunus in was also trapping the metal tail. The stinger was above Tyrian's head and it was unable to move anywhere except left or right. Eren squeezed as tight as he could to not only trap the tail, but to finally do what he should have done earlier: kill Tyrian.
The Faunus knew that this was Eren's plan, but he also knew there was a way to escape. All he had to do was kept squeezing Mercury's throat and utter a simple fact.
"Kill... me... never find... Maiden!"
"..."
Eren knew that Tyrian was right; if he died now, there was no way he could find Midori. But if he let him go now, he wouldn't have enough time to stop Tyrian from choking or breaking Mercury's neck.
The hesitation made Eren slightly loosen his grip on Tyrian, which caused the tail to regain more movement. But when it hit Eren's head, the young man quickly squeezed harder again. But this caused Tyrian to squeeze just as hard on Mercury's neck. And the slightest movement could possibly kill his friend.
Eren knew that he had to make a choice. It didn't matter how people would view him afterwards, if they saw him as a monster or devil. This was life or death, and it was also trading one friend for another. All Eren had to do was choose which friend.
Would he take the best chance he could get to find Midori?
Or would he save Mercury here and now?
The choice belonged to Eren... so he chose.
*SNAP*
