Blake had no time to gather her thoughts when she walked into her home, the sun setting in a magnificent blaze to the west, as her ears immediately filled with incoherent chatter and shouting gibberish coming from the living room. Her aunt's feminist sessions, no doubt. She backed right outside once more, turning as Sun called, "See, I told you she was reliable."
"Hey, Blake, how's it goin'? Mercury inquired, both he and Sun extending their hands out for a high-five.
"Yeah, it's going." Blake replied, acknowledging only Sun's extended hand with a slap.
"Oh, whoa, come on, show some respect, pussy. The man they couldn't hold down is back, now show me some love." Mercury said, slapping the back of his free hand into his still-extended hand.
"Damn, now I've got to spend the rest of my day with another young pup trying to recapture the days it was the big dog?"
"What'd this fool just say?"
"I missed you, okay?"
"Oh, oh, you missed me, huh?"
"No, I didn't, you could have gotten locked away for good for all I care."
"Oh, so this pussy got jokes now, huh? You seem to be doing well for yourself." Mercury said, spreading his arms out to the house as if to embrace it.
"Alright, enough, what do you want?"
"Wow, as soon as it gets rough, you back down like the little pup you are. I know guys back in the lock-up with bigger balls than you."
"Oh, so you were looking at those sweet boy balls, huh? It's good to have confirmation."
"This funny fuck...Why are you still with her, Sun? If she hasn't put out yet, slip it in her drink and bail when she starts to move, then move on!"
"We from the same stretch, Mercury! Shit, why can't y'all just get along? You two been goin' back and forth for years at this shit." Sun demanded.
"You know what, it's good to have you back." Blake said, extending her hand out to shake Mercury's.
Mercury took the exchange, bringing Blake in for a quick hug as she continued. "Glad you're here, missed you, and...man...you definitely got smacked around on the inside."
"What?" Mercury roared, shoving Blake back, "I know little strays like you that get put down at the pound I was daily. Talkin' about hit up, what the fuck, someone needs to teach this pussy some manners."
"Oh, I've got respect, respect for reality."
"Reality, is that right? Reality? Alright, you keep thinkin' that way. But some day, you're gonna shit on the wrong person and then you're goin' to get yours!"
"Fuck you."
"I swear, this pussy gets on my goddamn nerves!"
"This pussy get on my damn nerves, too. But, it's just part of that pussy's charm! Come on, B, let's bust a move, girl." Sun cut in, trying to defuse the tension.
"What?"
"Are you driving or not?" the two said in unison to her.
Blake groaned with displeasure, but she had no way to turn them down. "Fine, let's get this over with."
"Good, now get in my car, we're taking it."
The trio got into Mercury's aging maroon Albany, the paint peeling away all over the panels to reveal rusted metal. "Alright, you know how to get their, you got that sword, pistol, whip...whatever?"
"My Gambol Shroud, yeah?"
"Good, we just gonna need it in case things get hairier than yo momma."
"Ha ha ha, very funny, at least I lived with my mother."
"What was that?"
"Hey, chill you two, let's just keep level heads until we get there, a'ight?"
"Fine, can I just ask a question?"
"Fine, go ahead." Mercury said.
"What are we doing, that's all I want to know."
"It's just a straight drug deal, no tricks or politics involved."
"Why do I get a feeling this is going to be one of these "drug-deals-gone-bad" situations?"
"See, that's that negative attitude Sun was telling me about. You're not gettin' anywhere with that type of mind."
"The power of positive bullshit at work. You should have stayed back at my house and clenched your vagina muscles with my aunt."
"After this, you'll probably need a tightening session..." Sun interjected.
"What the fuck is this?! You can't talk to someone like me the way you are. You give what you get, so where the fuck is this coming from?"
"You're a piece of shit I can't stand, Mercury. You've basically turned a civil rights group into a notorious street gang that everyone fears."
"Listen to this pussy, gettin' all into her studies like she knows how the world is."
"That's how it is, you ignorant fuck!"
"Alright, if you two don't stop fightin', I'ma come up there and..." Sun began.
"Shut up, Sun!" Blake and Mercury screamed in unison.
"Shit, don't look like you guys hate each other no more. Besides, we're here."
The crew parked before the back entrance to a decrepit warehouse, the lights and electricity miraculously working and left on. "Good, they're here already." Mercury said.
"Who?"
"Just follow me." Mercury stated, heading through the swinging doors.
Blake and Sun followed behind him, ascending three tedious flights of stairs before reaching the top level. Mercury entered the top meeting floor, a brunette man clad in purple standing before them, a simple mustache on his puffed face, his stomach bulging the fabric of his clothing outward. Sun, Mercury, and the aging white man all laughed in unison, exchanging bro hugs and continuing their laughter, Blake protesting, "Wait, what the fuck is this? Do you know who he is?! That's Jeff Gacy! You know, the guy advocating for the destruction of all faunus?"
"Shit, it's all good, Mercury."
"Glad to see you two, J, I've done some time with your guys, crossed the lines."
"Yeah, well, you're saveable, but these two aren't." Gacy coldly stated, glaring at Blake and Sun.
"What the fuck is up with this trick-ass mark?" Mercury demanded.
A gunshot rang out in the building, Blake rushing to the windows to find dozens of purple cars, trucks, SUV's, and motorcycles parked on the side opposite of them, dozens more police cars surrounding them with officers and NOOSE members charging into the building. "You set us up!" Mercury cried, rushing Gacy and planting the sole of his boot into the man's face.
The kick instantly lit up in a white flash of light, Gacy collapsing back, a bullet hole in his head. "Fuck you!"
"Shit, now what?!" Blake cried.
"We do this my way, we're getting back to my car..."
An explosion rocked the building from outside, the windows of the top floor shattering and the crew hit the deck. Blake ventured towards the smoke billowing outside the window, Mercury's car charred and destroyed. "Alright, we got a plan B?" she asked.
"Fuck, was that my ride?"
"Look, we just have to skip along the rooftops and get under the overpass at the Vineyard River, they'll never look there."
"Well, where do we go first, smartass?"
Blake looked out the window to her right, a walkway atop an adjacent building catching her eye. "Follow my lead." she said, charging at the open area where glass once sat.
She leapt through the gap, tucking into a ball and somersaulting through the air, skidding to a stop on the metal walkway. Sun followed as seamlessly as her, but Mercury stood in the sill before lunging out, stretching out to catch the walkway, barely grabbing with his fingers. He hung precariously for a few moments, Sun and Blake quickly rushing to his aid and pulling him up with them. Just as they turned to make a break for it, a light from the sky blinded them, a voice over the intercom of the helicopter demanding, "Put down your weapons and lie down, now!"
Sun and Mercury immediately dashed over the walkway, dodging gunfire all around them as Blake brought her pistol back, throwing it up at the driver. The weapon shattered through the windshield, impaling the pilot's chest before he could even react. Another quick flick of the wrist brought her kusarigama flying back to her. The helicopter rose quickly in the air, spinning madly as two gunmen were thrown out, before spiralling down to earth in a blazing inferno. The trio made their way from one sheet metal shack of junk to the next, gunfire going off nonstop behind them in the factory. They jumped down from the last shack, ducking inside it as more sirens could be heard heading towards the factory, smoke soaring out of the windows of the building, as well as more helicopters. "Alright, they're more focused on them than us, let's get out of here." Blake whispered.
"Get out of here? Man, fuck that! I wanna kill the motherfucker who tricked my ride!"
"That thing was a piece of shit no matter how you polished it, let it go."
"Fuck you, pussy, I've had it with you two's bullshit! You know what? You're both done, you're out of The Herd!"
"Whoa, Mercury, take it easy, I didn't do nothing wrong." Sun objected.
"Except being faunus, is that it, Mercury?"
"Whoa, don't spin this on me! Alright, just get me out of here and we'll forget this ever happened, cool?"
"Fine. We just have to get to the road, run away and act scared by the whole thing. Once we get about a mile from here, I'll call a cab, head to my house, and you two can walk from there."
Mercury shook his head and groaned, the group sneaking out of the junkyard and back to the road, running along the streets illuminated by dying light posts, forming their path to freedom.
A yellow cab pulled up beside, Blake handing the driver a hundred and saying, "Look, thanks so much for stopping by. We heard those gunshots and we knew we had to get out, fast. Thanks so much and keep the change."
The car went screaming off down the street, Mercury quipping, "Alright, you go hang with your auntie while the men think this through."
"Shut the fuck up, Mercury."
"Hell, no! You sounding more like sni-i-itch every second you talk. Are you sure you didn't rat us out to the cops?" Sun said.
"Fuck that, I sound more like someone who's just trying to earn some money and not wind up killed."
"I told you she was a loose end." Mercury purposely whispered aloud.
"Go toss each others salad, fuckheads!"
"That's it, Blake, harness your inner woman and fight the tyranny of the testicles! Overhaul the corruption of the cock! Do away with the perversion of the penis!" Glynda called from the front step, her comrades chanting madly behind her.
"Oh, fuck."
"Don't be afraid of your femininity, Blake. Let it out, fight for the oppressed, free our kind from the shackles of the kitchen and the indignity of the bedroom! I'll call the police and tell them they raped you..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop, that's not true and I will testify it's not, Aunt Glynda. Fuck it, I'm sleeping in my car tonight if you are gonna act like a bunch of fuckin' morons. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll accidentally turn the engine on while I'm asleep in the garage."