We're back. I ended up taking a break this week, I've been writing so much that I almost burned myself out. But I'm back after a short break of drawing, video games, planning, etc. This story is an interesting one for sure, it's really been making me think and plan with my mind working overtime.
Beta: CrowSkull
Destiny Fated Black
Chapter 5
Cinder was happy with us for a decent while. But nothing lasts forever...
"You have secured this Juniors loyalty already?" Cinder asked Marcus and Emerald, impressed and bemused with how quickly they were actually able to cross off a name on their list already. Since she just gave the task yesterday, she expected for them to complete it in a few days time, and the whole list to potentially take months. However, at this rate, she was certain that they would be able to cross down the names of everyone else on their list in a few weeks time.
"More or less, I wouldn't rely on his 'loyalty' if I were you." Marcus said with a shrug. "Guy and his men were easy to scare, all I had to do was flash my knife a little and tell him my name and he and his men were too busy pissing themselves to stand against us, even those two twins that I sensed aura from didn't want anything to do with me. As long as the fear of me giving them a visit late at night stays in their heads, you can count on the support of the stupidly named 'Red Axe Gang'. At least for a few months, anyway."
"Most impressive," Cinder said with a smirk. Emerald preened at the praise directed to the both of them. Marcus simply nodded his head once and took it with ease. It was easy work, he didn't know why Cinder felt like she needed to praise him at all. "I expected this to be done in a few days time, but now I see that I was wrong to expect so little of you two."
"I see how it is," Marcus scoffed. "I am an assassin after all, I have experience in this kind of stuff. Sometimes I didn't even have to kill my target, just had to scare 'em into doing whatever my contractor wanted them to do, or worse." He shrugged. "Dirty work, but it put food on the table."
"Well, I would hope that you won't have to worry about such paltry concerns any longer, I did have my associate send you the money for the Fall Maiden contract, did he not follow through?" Cinder asked, her expression said that she would make her associate pay if they didn't pay him sufficiently, that level of what could easily be mistaken for camaraderie was enough for Marcus to snicker.
"Yeah, I got it. I'm filthy rich now, so now I can eat at all the expensive restaurants." Marcus laughed, and draped an arm over Emerald. She was so smiley for Cinder praising her that she didn't even realize that he was practically embracing her at first, but once he squeezed her shoulder she hissed and scratched at him like some kind of cat who didn't like to be touched. "Even took Grass here for her first dinner date, don't tell her but she's a little inexperienced." He whispered loudly, making it obvious that he wanted Emerald to hear him. The red eyed girl gagged exaggeratedly and thrust her elbow into his side, which only made him laugh a little harder.
"Did you now," Cinder chuckled, amused with their antics and bickering. "You didn't offer to bring me along? I should be hurt."
"Don't be." Emerald snapped as she put a good five feet distance between herself and Marcus. "I was hardly willing to go, I only did so because I never really ate at a restaurant before. That, and he wouldn't stop bitching about being hungry once we woke up this evening."
"Next time I'll give you a ring," Marcus winked at Cinder. "Maybe we can go to one of those really expensive joints where the waiters treat you like royalty. I'm pretty sure I can pose as a Schnee and get you in with me as a date, make a day out of it perhaps."
Cinder chuckled. "I am sure they would be frothing at the mouth at the sight of us all dressed, I may just hold you to that darling, so don't you dare forget." She replied. Emerald seethed in her anger, the obvious flirtations couldn't be more so. Marcus didn't expect anything to come out of it of course, if anything a one night stand might happen, and if she liked him enough she might try to wrap him around her finger and keep him around. He wasn't that stupid though, and he knew Cinder was smart enough to not even try to spring an obvious trap like that. Which was why he tested the waters out like this in the first place, it was part of his plan once he and Emerald woke up earlier that night. He wondered what Cinders game was, because he knew it couldn't be something as simple as attraction. That didn't sound like the woman sitting in front of him at all.
Their verbal battle of wit ended after Cinder took a sip out of her wine glass, looking to both of them over the rim with those exotic orange eyes of hers. When she set the glass down, Emerald and he stopped their bickering and paid attention to her. "Since you two seem to work so well together, you two will keep doing so until there is a task that requires special attention. Junior was an easy catch, and while I am surprised that you will able to secure him in such a short time, not everyone on that list will be as willing as he. However, I don't think that will be a problem for you two, will it?"
"Of course not, mam." Emerald said right away. "Everyone on this list will be secured, or dealt with accordingly if they refuse. I swear to you of that."
"I am pleased to hear you say that Emerald," Cinder nodded toward the green haired girl, who sat a little straighter as a result of the positive attention. "How about you Marcus?"
"Hm?" Marcus hummed, paying attention again.
"I asked you a question." Cinder said.
"Yeah, I heard." Marcus said. "And no, as long as I'm around, nothing bad should happen." And if he was on the other side, he would be. The insinuation was clear. Marcus was working with Cinder, but he didn't have that unyielding loyalty that Emerald had for her. There was a small degree of loyalty there since she helped him deal with the assassins that lived where he used to live a few months ago, but nothing that would make him lay his life down for her. He kept her alive at that moment for his paycheck, and he was originally going to ditch them until he heard about this Grimm Queen named Salem. That was enough to scare him a little, and keep him around until they got to Vale, and now that he was here and Ozpin caught wind of him, Marcus just decided to stick around because he had nowhere else to go.
"I shall hold you up to that as well." Cinder said with the same seductive smirk she always wore when she spoke to him. "I have meetings to arrange, and Mister Taurus is not a man to be patient for a human such as myself."
"Why don't you have Marcus kill him and replace him with someone more willing?" Emerald asked. She hated this Adam Taurus guy, since he was always such an annoyance with his divided loyalties and hostility toward Cinder and humans in general. Which meant pretty much everyone else that they worked with.
"Because my sweet, such a thing would be so incredibly obvious to the White Fang that they would rather throw themselves against us until they were all wiped out." Cinder explained.
"Right. Of course mam." Emerald flushed, embarrassed of her own question. Marcus yawned and rubbed his stomach, then snickered when Emerald glared at him again.
"Well Grass, you heard the lady." He said as he stood up, stretching his arms up over his head as he straightened himself up. "Time to get to work again, and see what…" Marcus paused to reach into his pocket and take out a sheet of paper that Cinder gave him. "'Rox' has to say about the offer Cinder is so generously making him. Wait, what does it say here? He's the leader of the… 'Rock hard Gunners'? Seriously?" He rolled his eyes and stuck the paper back into his pocket. "What the hell is with these Vale gangs, always giving themselves such stupid names."
"I am not one who knows the answer to that question. Now go, impress me again, and I might just reward you two for it."
"Sure, let's go Grass. We got an idiot to go convert to the Cinder religion." Marcus quipped. Emerald rolled her eyes as she followed him after loading her weapons, just in case anything went wrong.
"Not my religion, Mister Black." Cinder called out to him before he could leave. "But our Queen's."
Marcus' face went stone cold at the mention of that woman, this Queen of the Grimm. He didn't reply as he left the room and pulled Emerald along with him. He didn't know who this woman was other than what Cinder told him about her, and even that was precious little. This 'Salem' person was shrouded in mystery, and he didn't like it one bit. He would have called bullshit on her existence if the Grimm after they recruited Adam didn't just stroll right past him. But even then, he needed to see it for himself to believe it. He'll make it a point to demand an audience with this Queen in the near or distant future. He didn't like not knowing who his contractors were after all.
Glynda Goodwitch waited patiently until the elevator doors opened with a familiar ding, and stepped into the headmasters office with an armful of paperwork. Ozpin sighed at the sight of it, but wasn't focused too much on it at the moment, opting to pay more attention to the voice on the other side of the scroll that he was operating at that moment. His deputy headmistress noticed, and stayed silent other than a bleak nod of her head to greet him.
"Qrow, I will be putting you on speaker for the moment." The headmaster said as he pushed a button provided for him next to Qrow's head. The grizzled and rough looking man with red eyes smirked at Glynda, and even made the effort to wave at him through the camera, Glynda rolled her eyes and waved back.
"Now that you two have had your greetings, tell Glynda hear the same thing you told me." Ozpin said with an amused grin, which quickly turned into a grim frown as Qrow sighed and retold his tale.
"Lionheart here is having some more troubles with an increase in Grimm activity around here. I noticed that the Hunters over here were declining pretty quickly, so I am here investigating that at the moment. So I won't be returning for another few days time." Qrow explained.
"I see. So you're actually going through with this Ozpin?" Glynda asked the headmaster.
"I am." Ozpin confirmed, setting his scroll down at the edge of his desk so that Qrow had a sort of false presence there within his office.
"You are sending a Huntsman after a man who specializes in killing Huntsman, you do realize that, correct?"
"Is that concern I hear in your voice Goodwitch?" Qrow asked with obviously forced laughter. "I'm touched, truly, I am."
"As irritating as you may be, I would rather not hear of your downfall by the hands of that monster." Glynda said as she crossed her arms indignantly.
"He wasn't always this way, you know this Glynda." Ozpin pointed out. "He used to be quite the honorable man. He looked after his peers and took care of his team, and can you fully blame him for turning into the man he is now after what happened?"
"No, anyone could have snapped like he did after that, but do you believe that he is a man capable of redeeming himself after all of the atrocities, even after all this time?" Glynda countered.
Ozpin frowned. "No, I do not think so. Not after..." His voice trailed off as a dark memory of sorrow invaded his thoughts.
"I used to believe he could," Qrow spoke up, his face looked dark as he spoke, and his eyes even darker. The man before them didn't feel like the man he was before as he continued. "Marcus and I used to be pals, after what happened I thought that he was just angry, had to make some space to cool his head. I trusted him, my whole team did, we thought he was coming back. But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, until eventually the months turned into over twenty years, the only thing that Marcus Black has in common with his past self is the name, and maybe a bit of his cockiness. Now that he's saddled up with Salem of all people, I have no idea what she has him doing. But it most likely involves Beacon, Vale, or my family, then I am one of the only people who can make sure he doesn't hurt anybody anymore."
"Which is why I hand picked you for such a task." Ozpin said grimly. "You know him best, and while I know Mister Xiao Long would love a chance to go after him himself, we both know that he isn't as strong as he was when he was in his prime. Miss Goodwitch and I are needed here at the school, and I don't want to risk any Huntsman on my public roster on what might be a suicide mission. Your sister is off limits for obvious reasons, and with his ability to lock away semblances indefinitely, that would ironically work in your favour."
"Do you believe that Marcus is the one in charge of the operation that we know is running within the city itself?" Glynda asked them both.
"Marcus ain't one to answer to anyone but himself or a contractor." Qrow pointed out.
"Is that something you are assuming?" Glynda questioned.
"Glynda, come on, from knowing Marcus yourself back in the day before you became a teacher, do you really think he'd just go belly up and eat out of some bitch's hand?"
Glynda wracked her mind for those distant memories that she knew she had deep within her thoughts. Back to a time where she had a team, and friends that are still her friends even to this day. Her own team split apart some years after Beacon, simply drifting apart due to a lack of communication, but still spoke and met with each other every once in a while. She didn't know Marcus well, she could hardly have considered him a friend even that long ago. What she did remember was that Marcus was an outstanding combatant with an extroverted personality. He always spoke about something, and when he wasn't interested in something he'd move on to the next best thing. He trained for many hours every day, too much in her opinion, and he was the leader of his team, Team MRBE if she remembered correctly, also known as Team Mobster. Though that name now has a much deeper meaning than it did before, he did indeed care about his team. Speaking against authorities and even Ozpin and some points. To think that man turned into the man she knew now, it was disappointing to say the least.
"He could have done so much good in the world." She said with a soft sigh.
"Yeah, preaching to the choir here." Qrow snorted.
"In any case, we shall discuss more of this issue when you eventually appear in the coming days. When is the soonest you can arrive?" Ozpin asked him.
"By the end of the week, I'll probably land in your office on Friday."
"Good, then I shall see you then."
"See ya'." Qrow said as he gave the headmaster a two finger wave off of his forehead.
The call ended with the push of a button, and as soon as the screen went black Ozpin leaned into the back of his chair. "Whatever shall I do, Glynda?" He asked. "The man has returned to Vale, and reunited with what's left of his team. A shame that it ended up being Roman Torchwick, who is another matter entirely. Now they are both working together again, and against us. We also know that Marcus is working with Salem because of what he and that woman did to Amber, so even if he wasn't working with Roman we know that he is working with at least one other person. I fear that this turn of events may be my fault, I should have pushed for a search after-" He cut himself off with a shake of his head. "Apologies, I am sorry you had to hear me sound so irrational.."
"You were being irrational." Glynda agreed. "But it is understandable why you would feel this way. Think on it no longer, as you said before, we are needed here at the school. We have students to teach, and your little project being the young Ruby Rose has been showing vast improvement in every category in these past few weeks. We shall direct our focus on our students first, and when Qrow arrives is when we can focus on other matters."
"You are correct, of course." Ozpin said with a small smile. "Now that you mention it, you must tell me, how is little Miss Rose doing?"
Glynda sighed.
"She is improving, but that may just be because of her partner…"
The next day, the two walking in the packed streets of Vale were the white haired assassin, Marcus Black, and his follow up being the green haired red eyed Emerald Sustrai, also known as Grass. After a days rest and some planning on Marcus' end, they went out to do what Cinder ordered them to do prior. He had to make a few calls in so he knows fully what he is dealing with, and Junior was more than willing to share with him some information on Rox and his stupidly named gang that he happens to lead. Despite the shitty name, there is a reason why Cinder wants him under her thumb, so Marcus didn't want to head in there blind.
Unfortunately for Emerald, he wasn't entirely focused on that at the moment.
"Look at this shit Grass." He complained as he got up in the face of someone who walked past him, they looked scared for a moment and quickened their pace, some broke into a run. "They know who I am, I was on every news channel for a few weeks. I am a wanted man here, and yet when they see me walking in broad daylight," He paused and looked up to the sky. "Moonlight," He amended. "They just look at me, think about what they are seeing, and then get all pansies on my ass and keep walking. You'd think for a city as big as Vale, there'd be at least a few tough guys around." No, instead all he got was narrowed eyes, dirty looks, and muttered was all he received. Some concerned mothers even went as far as to draw their children away from him. All the while Emerald simply kept up but kept a distance of about four feet just in case she is assumed to be aligned with him.
"You should be thankful of the fear they feel, if it weren't for that we wouldn't be able to walk out like this without some issues." Emerald said with a soft sigh. "And can you start paying attention again? We aren't making any forward progress."
"Grass, come on, you gotta agree with me here when you see all these… sheep walking around with quite the literal wolf among them. It just bothers me, you know?" Emerald didn't reply, but was forced to listen as Marcus went off on his rant once again with no signs of stopping anytime soon. "This is one of the reasons I never came back to Beacon, these people that I was meant and expected to protect with my life wouldn't even bat an eye at a criminal running around right in front of them. I don't expect them to try and do something about it, since they're so goddamn weak, but you'd think they'd at least tell someone, or call the police, useless as they are, to come and try to deal with us. Man, it's no wonder how Roman was able to stake a claim so easily and become the mastermind criminal of the whole place."
"Please stop bitching about something that will never be fixed, I will literally pay you to stop." Emerald proved her point by taking out her wallet, and waving about a hundred Lien in his face. Marcus snatched it and stuck it in his pocket before she could think to reconsider her choice.
"Too slow Grass, too slow. I guess it's true what they say about plants, so slow to grow and adapt." Emerald groaned her frustrations as he continued to tease her.
"Do you get off on angering me old man?" Emerald snapped on him.
"Eh, a little bit. You lose your cuteness when you simmer down, so I'd rather keep you heated. Just to make sure your guard is being held up, you should thank me in all honesty. I've been keeping you on your toes. I might just save your life with my words one day." Marcus laughed at the thought of it. Emerald bickering with him, and someone attacks them, the girl would be ready for it and take care of them and afterwards he would laugh in her face and tell her 'I told you so!' He really wished one of his assassin pals would try and kill them now, just so that he could prove his made up point.
"Ugh, the day that happens is the day that Cinder decides that she wants to create an orphanage for orphaned puppies." Emerald said.
"Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke grass? Damn, I'm impressed!"
"Shut it, if you found that funny than you're even more insufferable than I thought before." Emerald hissed at him.
"Ooo, insufferable, that's a new one. High class rich type eh? That old couple bitching about the food at the one restaurant getting on your nerves again?"
"Do you ever shut up?"
"Me? Nah, if my son were still alive he'd be chewing your ear off too just to get a reaction out of you. He was a bored kid like that, he was around your age too, I wonder if you two would have hit it off." Marcus suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.
"The thought of being even remotely related to your family is enough to make me vomit, so please never suggest something like that again. It's enough that I had to listen to you and Cinder flirt earlier." Emerald put on a disgusted expression on her face. She was still sore about that short back and forth banter that he and Cinder had earlier where he suggested that he take her out to eat at one of those fancy restaurants to make up for not inviting her when he took Emerald out to one after he forcefully recruited Junior. He half meant what he said to her at that time. One of the small amount of things dear old dad taught him was that telling a lie mixed with a lot of truth was the best way to manipulate someone. He was attracted to Cinder, and if she wasn't the woman that she was now he might just make an attempt at her, but he wasn't willing to get into a relationship with her. He might be down for a one time thing, but little else. Though, Cinder seemed to hold her men up to incredibly high standards, which meant that she wasn't going to just be down for even a one time thing unless he earned it. That sounded like a lot of work, and so he wasn't going to even try it. It still irked him that Cinder fought with him a bit in that battle of words, he didn't know what her goal was for it, and not knowing something about Cinder was enough to worry him. For all he knew, she was planning to do something to him that involved whatever it was she put inside him when they first met.
"Oh please," Marcus continued on, not wanting to reveal any of his conflicting inner thoughts and hid behind a cocky smile exclusive to the Black family. "You're twenty right? One day you'll know what it means when a man and a woman are attracted to each other-"
"I am not a child Black. Ugh!"
Marcus snickered as she stomped off past him, making sure to bang her shoulder into his back as she did so. "Too easy, way too easy." One of the reasons he taunted her like that until she stomps off was so that she would leave him alone for a bit. Not so far that they wouldn't at least be in hearing distance, but far enough that he didn't have to worry about her getting suspicious of him. Well, more suspicious than she already was, anyway.
As if right on cue, his scroll started to vibrate in his pocket, signalling him that someone was calling him. He assumed that is was Roman following up on that request that Marcus made of him once he was done speaking with Cinder yesterday, and assumed correctly once the ginger haired man's voice started becoming audible through the scroll.
"Y'ello, I have information on a kid named 'Rox' for Mister Black." Roman said in a happy tone so obviously forced that it made Marcus rolled his eyes as he looked at his old teammate through the screen.
"That's me," Marcus played along, just so that this could get over with faster. "What do you got for me Torchy?"
"Ah, back to the old nickname you know I hate, nice, real nice." Roman snickered. "I had a run in with Rox a while back, kid is in his mid twenties, thinks he's invincible. You know the type."
Marcus thought about Mercury for a moment, he just turned twenty a few weeks ago before he tried to kill him. "Yeah, I know." He replied flatly.
"Yup. So you know what to look out for, arrogance, cockiness, maybe he'll even try to lord what power he has over you. No, scratch that, he will definitely try to do that. I had Neo teach him a lesson once or twice, but he always comes back. Little shit isn't afraid of anything." Roman sneered. "Damn kids, why is it that kids have been the ones annoying me recently? First with Little Red, then with Grass, and this Rox kid becomes a thorn too. Do me a favour and make sure he stays as loyal as a pet dog this time will ya?"
"If you can tell me what compelled this kid into naming his gang the 'Rock Hard Gunners' then sure." Marcus groaned. "Seriously, I can't believe you people, first the Red Axe Gang, then your shitty gang name 'The Roman Empire'. What's next? 'The Guys with the long schlongs?'"
"Cute, but if you think about it mine is a little creative. Still better than most out there."
Marcus conceded his point, and moved on from that annoying topic. "Fair enough. What do you got for me about this guy then?"
"Well, other than what I already told you, Rox and his Rock Hard-"
"Say it and I assassinate you next."
Roman sighed. "Rox and his gang are revolved around power, weapons, and drugs. Get control of them, and Cindy gets a lot of manpower and motivation for some of the guys to keep working with her."
"Hm, we'll see if he's really not afraid of anything then. Do me a solid again and tell him that Grass and I are going to pay him a visit sometime soon. Give him a fair amount of time to prepare for us at least." Marcus said, and reached into his pocket with his other hand to slide out a long cigarette. He lit it with a fire dust crystal and proceeded to puff it a few times, watching as the smoke was taken up by the wind and blown across the city. "Thanks for the help Roman, you'll get to live a little longer, tell Neo I said hi too."
"Sure thing bud, I am glad I get to live as a pet dog to Cinder for another few weeks, it really makes me happy." The master thief hung up his scroll a second later, and after a soft chuckle Marcus returned his to his pocket. Emerald popped up a second later next to him, he looked to her to show her that he knew that she was there for a while, and she made no effort to try and do anything silly.
"I wasn't aware you called on Roman for assistance." Emerald remarked.
"I wasn't aware you cared on what I do or not." Marcus fired back.
Emerald shrugged her shoulders. "Touché. So we're not going after Rox just yet?"
"Not yet," Marcus nodded his head, then flicked his head to the side only immediately hide the gesture with an exaggerated stretch of his arms. Emerald caught the message, and followed his gaze until she saw what he was referring too. Her eyes narrowed as her red eyes came across a masked figure tailing them from on the other side of the road about thirty feet back.
"I can lose them with my semblance." Emerald said with a smile on her face, alluding the pursuer into thinking that she was having a conversation with Marcus about literally anything else.
"Don't bother, where one is, others follow. They won't just send one assassin after me." Marcus faked a laugh. "They know better than to be so stupid."
"What do we do then?" Emerald asked.
"Follow me, we'll go to one of our safehouses, and don't bitch about it. I'd rather lose one safehouse in exchange for keeping our lives tonight."
Emerald bit her lip and nodded her head, trusting him against her better judgement and hoping that he was right. From her experience with assassins, not even Huntsman could stop them, and if they were anything like Marcus then they would need everything they have.
Marcus ended up leading them all the way to one of their less secluded safehouses. It was in an alley with a blocked off wooden fence. All it took was hopping over it and entering through a door on the side and into a relatively small room about ten foot by ten foot wide with two beds with pillows and blankets to go with them, a cooler full of drinks, and a ceiling fan.
"Now what?" Emerald asked as she closed the door behind them and pulled across an old school lock to weakly keep it shut. One good kick though, and the door would be sent splintering into pieces everywhere, it would be especially easy if this assassin also had aura, which they should obviously have, since they are going after Marcus Black of all people.
"We wait, pretend to sleep for a few hours. I fight best in close quarters like this, so if they come in here they're going to be screwed, and they should know this." He cursed when the power to that room was suddenly cut off. "Or… they could be stupid."
"What is the reward for killing you anyway?" Emerald inquired as she took a seat on the bed closest to the corner of the room, she sat in a position that would make it easier for her to spring up into a standing position just in case they did simply barge in to attack them.
"Eh, probably a few million lien and a free ticket to get out of the organization without being hunted like I am." Emerald balked at the news. "What? They don't take people like me lightly, and it's not like any assassin actually wants to be an assassin unless their sick in the head or something."
"So, why did you become an assassin then?" Emerald raised an eyebrow at him when he froze in place. "Did you want to become as lethal as you are now?"
Marcus laughed bitterly, and went on to keep watch over their hideout but peeking out through the window he knew was made of ballistic glass. "Honey, most of us were forced into the job, I can count on one hand the amount of assassins I know or know of that actually like what their profession is, and let me tell ya, those people are the ones I would want to stay away from."
"Like Neo?" Emerald wondered out loud.
"Except her, I know I can take her if I have to. Don't get me wrong, she's dangerous, but she relies on her semblance most of the time, and against me that is not what you want to do." Marcus said.
After making sure that the coast was clear was when he finally let himself sit down on the other bed across the way. There was a window beside Emeralds but it was easily in sight of both of them, so the assassin that was following them most likely wouldn't attack them, not tonight anyway. However, just in case they decided to get a little stupidly brave, he would stay up for this night and sleep during the day, and only after becoming absolutely sure that they weren't followed. He might have to split up with Emerald just to be safe as well. Split their attention right down the middle. She would get to Cinder, and he would be able to handle anyone who got in his way.
Emerald no longer spoke as time went on, she simply curled up in herself with her weapons in her hands, keeping a tired eye out for the assassin that was following them earlier. Marcus himself sits back in his bed with his back against the wall, flipping a knife in his hand every few seconds as a way to pass the time. His thoughts somehow strayed to the red hooded girl that he had encountered a few weeks back during his long train of thought. He held his hand cannon in his other free hand, and looked at it as he remembered that scene.
Roman threw that fire dust crystal right in front of her face, or it would have if he hadn't shot it early. A reaction like that came automatically, and he wondered why he did that, and not for the first time. He has trained his mind and body up to the point where taking a human life is not something he is not used to doing on a regular basis. He's killed friends, potential friends, even one or two lovers, and countless strangers he'd never get to know. So how did a little silver eyed girl managed to get passed that skill of his? It bothered him, not knowing something about himself bothered him more than anything, even more than this mystery of a Grimm Queen Cinder keeps referring too.
He grit his teeth and groaned loudly and with plenty of frustration. Having such thoughts like this was bad for a man like him, he was a bad guy, sure, but even he had emotions that could spiral out of control and end up with him losing his mind. Being back in Vale was doing more than he thought, and everytime he spoke with Marcus it brought up memories he committed himself to forgetting years ago. Now with the assassins after his head again, he was just plain stressed out now.
His thoughts were cut off and his black eyes went wide as he saw a shadow move in the darkness toward the tired Emerald who couldn't even see it. In truth he barely was either, but the flash of a blade headed toward the back of her neck was enough for him to act off reflex, and throw the knife he had in his hand straight into the blade itself, sending it clanging down on the concrete floor. Emerald woke up from her stir and kicked the woman away with a screech. Marcus ran to the other side of the room and made to grab the person to deny them of their semblance, but his hand barely missed her as she phased through the wall. He instantly figured out who this was making a shot at them after seeing that semblance.
"Damn it, not you." Marcus complained as he crouched lower to the ground, a much more frantic Emerald pressing her back against his as she watched his six. "You and your annoying semblance, Cobe, you hear me?"
"The great and dangerous Marcus Black remembers my name?" The female assassin bellowed as she materialized through the wall before him, she drew her mouth to reveal a pair of razor sharp teeth, she wasn't even a faunus, she just had them filed to a point. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and her hair a similar color. She only showed him what she wanted him to see, the rest of her body hidden in a shroud of black clothing barely visibly in the darkness. "I feel honored, especially since the last time we met you stole my contract."
"Eh, you were being too slow. All I had to do was pull the trigger, you were too busy fucking around to complete it so they hired me." Marcus said with that cocky smirk of his. "Not my fault you're a psychopath."
"Ah, I have hoped for the day when you finally get marked for a hit." Cobe cackled darkly. "That sharp tongue of yours is something I've dreamed of ripping out with my teeth."
Marcus shivered at the thought. He liked his tongue where it was thank you very much. "Yeah, that's a kink I am not willing to try out."
"Who is this bitch?" Emerald asked him, rounding around his shoulder to get a look at her. Cobe stared into her eyes and smiled as she drew up her mask, and materialized back into the wall.
"High tier assassin like me, but only because of the results she gets. Her semblance is annoying, she can pretty much merge with the wall and come out at any angle from any wall, floor, or ceiling of that building. Considering we're in such a tight spot right now… she can come out from any of these 6 flat planes we have surrounding us."
"Oh, great. Can't you steal her semblance?" Emerald asked as she looked around for any sign of the assassin re-emerging.
"If I make skin to skin contact, yes. But she is wearing clothes all over her body, and if that's the same outfit I am thinking about then I won't be able to steal her semblance unless she decides she wants to strip tease us."
"Shit, so we're screwed fighting like this?" Emerald asked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Marcus spun on his heel and pushed Emerald to the side, and fired toward a part of the wall he heard Cobe coming out through. The powerful dust round was parried by a steel wristguard, and Marcus tilted his neck to the side for his own knife from earlier to barely graze against the aura on his cheek. Cobe cackled as she returned into the wall, her voice echoing throughout the tiny room. No help was coming, this was just them against her.
"What do we do!?" Emerald asked frantically.
Marcus lifted her up and stood her beside him. "Call out when you see her, use your semblance on her whenever you can to try and distract her… leave the rest to me."
"I can still hear you~!"
"Yeah, I know." Marcus groaned. "Stupid bitch, you're someone that I am more then willing to put down. Even assassin have standards you know."
"Yes, and you broke that honor when you stole my kill!" Cobe hissed at him. "Now… let me return the favour.
Marcus spotted a knife flying through the air headed right toward Emeralds eye. No amount of aura would protect someone from something like that. His hand reached out to catch it, and deflected it with his aura.
"So… you wanna play like that, huh?" Marcus said as he reversed the grip on the knife in his left hand, and aimed his gun over it with his right. "Fine. Play ball…"
And here we go, the first chapter of this big plan I have for this story now. I literally wrote about 3k words in plans and then proceeded to write another 7k for this chapter. It was honestly really enjoyable and a welcome experience, and I am glad I was able to come up with it.
Please review and let me know what you think so far.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slash) Genatools