Had it been three weeks or had it been four weeks since they had locked Orion up in this cell? He had lost count after a few days, and there was really no way of telling how many days had passed and how long they intended to keep him for. They didn't have a set schedule for him, he felt more like he had been taken as a prisoner of war. They came in whenever they pleased, interrogating him and doing their best to try and get some information out of him. They had failed every time so far. Then they would give him some rations and they'd leave, telling him that they would be back soon. He sighed as he sat against the wall on his cot.
Mercury had to have noticed by now that he was missing, right? If Sirius and the twins didn't find him soon, he wasn't sure if he could keep himself from telling them where Mercury was holed up. It would be a minor setback at best, but it was hard to say that Orion or the rest of his crew even needed Mercury to act as a front anymore. They had acted under him with the promise that when he took the city of Vale under his control, they would be delegated part of that power. That was their deal with him. Whether or not he was acting for someone else or of his own accord was none of their concern. They were just some thugs looking for work and pay, right?
It wasn't entirely true, Orion had bigger and better plans to run Vale himself, with the help of his own entourage that he had assembled under himself and then had convinced Mercury to hire. He had first found Astra and Asteria Gemini when they had fled Mistral for an easier life of crime in Vale. Vale always meant well, but their police force was nothing compared to the military forces of the kingdoms that constantly patrolled the other capitals. Regardless, he had found himself robbing the same shop that they were one night and decided to ask them to join the cause, there was something about their quirkiness that he appreciated. Both of the girls wielded two short swords, each of the four swords were laced with a different kind of Dust. Their semblance was something different entirely…
Rounding out their group was Sirius Canis, an individual who knew his way around the streets of Vale just as well as Orion did, living just outside of the city and frequently committing robberies on different ends of town so that no one ever associated him with his other crimes. He wielded a sword that he claimed was made out of Grimm bone, but Orion had his doubts. Sirius always found him when he was captured due to his semblance of local clairvoyance, however, Orion was sure that this was outside of Sirius' range. Perhaps it was in Orion's best interest to cooperate, if the rest of his team came and tried to save him there was the chance that they would run into members of Team RWBY, and that was an absolute worst case scenario.
"So here's the question that I've been thinking over for quite some time," a voice came as it approached the cell with other footsteps. "Mercury's Gang has been around now for quite some time, right? So then why had RWBY taken an extremely sudden interest in the matter?" Orion spotted the taller man with short and messy silver hair, his light blue eyes searching the cell over as he looked back down the hall beside him. He wore a long red robe that was open, revealing his exposed torso and black pants, his silver wolf tail protruding from the back of the trench coat. Sirius looked down at the sword in his hand before slamming it against the cell with no effect. "Interesting."
"Did you bring the girls with you?" Orion asked. Sirius nodded and they came into view, both of them taking a good look at the cell as well. The girls had hair that was slightly longer than shoulder length and permed. Both of the sisters wore black skin-tight short shorts that had garter belts holding up their black knee-high stockings. Each twin had black laced high heels as well. Lastly, the girls matched each other with black leather cropped boleros. The only discernible difference between the two was their belts, strapless bras, hair, and eyes. All of Asteria's listed features were a neon blue color that seemed to glow, as though they were glowsticks. Astra's were orange. Astra tilted her head.
"Orion, is this the fifth time in the last three months?" Astra asked as she took a look at the lock. Asteria stepped up and smiled at Orion, her seductive eyes watching him for a long moment as she bent over beside her sister to help look the lock over.
"This is the sixth time Astra," Asteria reminded her. "Don't forget that he was captured after he robbed the Dust shop in the northern district." Astra smiled thoughtfully and glanced at her sister who was directly beside her.
"You're right Asteria, this would be the sixth time," Astra agreed. Orion leapt up off of the bed and walked to the bars, letting the ladies work as he talked to Sirius.
"You agree though, don't you?" Sirius asked. "It's a bit odd that RWBY is involved with us now. What would Mercury be doing that would merit such a high level of risk and containment." Orion shrugged.
"I would hardly call this high level. They've thrown me in here, and I didn't hear you struggling with anyone on your way in. They must have assumed that this place was hidden well enough that I wouldn't be found," Orion told him. "How did you know where to find me anyway?"
"A tracking device installed by Mercury in your gauntlet," Asteria told him as she removed a lockpick from her cleavage and handed it to Astra.
"No Asteria, I believe the tracking device was installed on his shield," Astra said as she worked the lock. Asteria tilted her head in thought for a moment before nodding.
"You're right Astra, it was the shield," Asteria agreed. Astra shifted the pick and the cell door swung open, allowing Orion to leave.
"Thank you, ladies! Wonderful work as always!" He told them. They both stepped back as he left the cell and stretched for a moment. "Anyone know where my gauntlet and shield are?"
"Why would we know," Astra asked. "Sirius is the one with clairvoyance."
"I think I saw it in the first room that we came in through," Asteria told him. "It was a locker room I believe." Astra shook her head.
"The first room was a small kitchen Asteria," Astra reminded her. Asteria looked hard at her sister for a moment and nodded.
"You're right Astra, it was a kitchen," Asteria agreed. Sirius shook his head.
"I will never understand what possessed you to take these two in," Sirius told Orion as he sniffed the air.
"I think they're kind of cute," Orion told Sirius. Sirius shook his head again.
"I think that you and I have two very different ideas on the definition of the word cute, but they do say that beauty is in the beholder, so I guess I can't say much on the matter since it is purely opinion driven," Sirius explained. He sniffed the air again for a second and pointed.
"Is that where my weapons are?" Orion asked. Sirius looked at him.
"No, the twins were right, your weapons are in the first room. Someone's coming," Sirius told them. The girls removed their swords and gripped them lightly. "Actually it's more than one person coming."
"Stop! Prepare to be recaptured, Orion…" Sun exclaimed as he spun his staff above his head. "… and the rest of you." Sun stopped and looked over at Neptune. "Dude, who are the rest of these people?" Neptune shrugged as Yatsuhashi also entered the room with them. "Yatsu?"
"Coco said that there was only one prisoner. These others must be trying to break him out," Yatsu explained. Sun spun his staff above his head again before posing.
"Is that so?!" Sun exclaimed. "Prepare to meet your match evildoers, in the form of Sun, Neptune, and Yatsuhashi!" Orion looked at Sirius and shrugged as he took off down the hall for his gear, Yatsuhashi chasing after him. Sirius rushed forward and struck out at Sun who blocked the blow, spinning his staff around and attempting a series of quick attacks which were blocked flawlessly by Sirius who smirked. The twins waited for Neptune to make his move as Sirius drove Sun further away from the cell and into the opposing hallway.
"Ladies," Neptune said giving them a smile and winking. "I think we can work something out if you just show yourselves into the cell, okay?"
"Should I take care of him first Asteria?" Astra asked.
"I will follow your lead Astra," Asteria replied. Astra moved quickly towards Neptune, her swords glancing off of his trident until she found an opening and landed a hit with her earth Dust blade. It stopped him effectively and she slid out of the way as Asteria charged in and smashed through the rock with her gravity blade, sending him across the room and planting him into the wall. "Astra, we didn't even get to use our semblance against him." Astra nodded thoughtfully.
"I know Asteria. Such a shame. Perhaps we should help Sirius next? Orion can handle himself," Astra told her sister. Asteria nodded.
"Yes, let's help Sirius next."
Orion set off a concussive blast behind him, hoping to slow down Yatsu, but Yatsu was quicker than expected and used his sword to block the blast as Orion slid into the kitchen and snatched both of his weapons off of the counter.
"I'm actually a little insulted!" Orion grunted as Yatsu's sword crashed off of his shield. "What were they doing with my glove and shield here? I mean, they could have locked it up in some sort of weapons locker. Instead, it was just sitting in here… Is this a mustard stain?" Yatsu's sword crashed off of the shield again and Orion grabbed it quickly, sending a wave of gravity through the sword and tossing Yatsu back, he slid to a stop using his blade by planting it into the floor. He lunged forward and Orion absorbed an orb of light into his gauntlet, blasting it back out and watching it fly for Yatsu. He quickly planted his feet and deflected the energy with his sword, they both watched as it slammed into the cabinets and blasted the doors off, the aftershock wave throwing dishes about the room.
"You won't escape. We've sounded the alarm, Yang and Pyrrha will be here shortly," Yatsu told his opponent. Orion chuckled and blasted Yatsu with another wave of gravity Dust, but it left him unfazed. Orion drew in another orb behind his back and let it power his glove as he watched Yatsuhashi, waiting for the giant to attack.
"How long do you have to stall me for?" Orion asked. He charged forward and slammed into Yatsu's sword, transferring all of the energy to his shield quickly and letting it out in a blast. It caught him off guard and jerked him back, allowing Orion to slam his fist into Yatsuhashi's chest and forcing him to the wall. Orion spun away and took off back towards the cell, using his gauntlet to collapse the hallway behind him, knowing it would slow them down. He ran past Neptune and into the next hallway where he found Sirius fighting Sun with the twins.
"We don't need your help, Orion," Asteria told him.
"He could watch the hallway for the one with the spear to wake up Asteria," Astra offered.
"You're right Astra. Watch for the one with the blue hair," Asteria replied. Orion groaned and returned to the end of the hallway, keeping watch.
"Sirius, we're going to have problems here in a moment if we don't get a move on," Orion explained. Sun met every slash and swipe from the bone blade with his gun chucks, Sirius deflecting them to each side as he glanced over at the ladies as they watched him.
"I think it might be time to plan an escape," Sirius told them as he tried to divide his attention. Sun drove him back, but he maintained his footing and blocked him effortlessly once again. The girls nodded and headed down the hallway as Orion stopped close to Sun and Sirius, lifting his hand and collapsing the end of the hallway off. "Orion, go with them, they're going to need your help."
"Naturally," Orion said as he ran past them as well. Sirius knocked back Sun and took off running towards Orion, diving forward as Orion blinded Sun and then collapsed the hallway between them and him. Sirius looked up at Orion as he was helped up and they joined the twins in a large cavernous area.
"It would have been far easier to head back out the way we came in," Sirius scolded Orion. Orion walked away, chasing after the sisters.
"I'm sorry, if we hadn't come back this way, Yang Xiao Long and Pyrrha Arc were going to make quick work of us, not to mention I needed to get away from the tall guy," Orion explained hoping to justify himself. Orion looked around at the city in amazement, slowly making a large and sweeping circle to view everything. "Hard to believe that people tried to live down here to get away from the Grimm. Why is this all blocked off again?"
"Before the Fall of Beacon, they tried using these tunnels to give the Grimm a direct route to the City of Vale," Sirius explained. "There is a chance that we might need to make our own exit, but let's not act too hastily, I'm afraid that you might bring the entire cave down on top of us. There may be another way out yet." Orion nodded and watched as the girls headed towards the far end of the buildings, where a wall had appeared to have been sealed off for some reason or another. He followed them and Sirius followed suit, having nothing else to go off of and hoping to keep them together on the off chance that the Huntsmen and Huntresses managed to get through the multiple cave-ins that Orion had caused in his impatience to get out.
"Well if it isn't the Stardust Gang," called out a voice. "Or at least that's what you're all calling yourselves, right?" The man chuckled as Sirius and the Gemini Twins turned to face him.
"Mercury, you're just in time and not a moment too soon I might add," Sirius said bowing his head. The twins sauntered over to him and hung on each shoulder.
"He's so strong Astra, what a man," Asteria said smiling at her sister and then up at Mercury who was pleased with the attention.
"He's so handsome Asteria," Astra replied running her hand down his chest. He wrapped his arms around their waists as Sirius joined them, standing to their left.
"I was hoping that maybe they had killed you," Mercury told Orion. "I would have had one less problem to look after if they had. You can't deny the fact that you are always being caught Orion, and when I have to send the three of them to retrieve you, it's a waste of my manpower. The four of you are my A-Team so to speak, everyone else is petty thieves compared to you guys. However, if you're going to keep getting caught or keep allowing yourself to be caught, maybe I need to find someone to replace you, perhaps that little girl over at Miltia and Melanie's club?" Orion gritted his teeth still facing away from Mercury.
"You hoped that they'd killed me? Am I that expendable to you?" Orion asked clenching his fists, the shield trembling in his clutch. Mercury laughed.
"Yes, you are. You haven't done anything in a long time to prove yourself to me Orion, that's why Sirius is my right-hand man. His semblance and fighting skills are exactly what I need out of everyone who works for me," Mercury told him.
"You want me to prove myself?" Orion asked as his face darkened and he turned back to Mercury giving them a wicked sneer. Mercury's grin was wiped off of his face and he slipped his arms off of the twins, lightly pushing them away as he took a step forward.
"Orion, don't do this. This won't end well for you," Sirius called out.
"Shut up! Et tu, Sirius?" Orion's eyes stared intensely at Mercury and they both stood unmoving for a long couple of moments, a sound thundering at the far end of the cave, as though Yatsu had made it through the rubble and was coming for them. Was he really strong enough to do such a thing, or was it Yang? Had the backup that he spoke of arrived already? Did they really believe that Orion had information that was that important to them?
"Mercury, I have to recommend that we…" Sirius began.
Orion disappeared into a streak of light that shot towards Mercury and reformed as a human as he reached his target, reaching out to grab Mercury who had already leapt. Merc kicked Orion's armored hand away and pulled in his other leg as he spun completely around, he planned to bring down both legs and smash them through Orion's legs, effectively breaking them. Orion threw up his shield at the last moment, stumbling back as Mercury leapt off of it. He backflipped twice as Orion drew in his light energy, preparing to blast it at his opponent. Sirius' attention turned from the battle as he heard the thundering sound and ran towards it, the twins followed close behind.
Orion blasted energy towards Mercury, which he deflected with a solid kick, planting his left foot beneath him and kicking several more times, sending his own attack back, the blasts of air Dust slamming off of Orion's shield as he slid back slightly. He used a wave of gravity Dust from his glove to disperse of the remaining projectiles, bringing his shield back as he prepared to attack, but Mercury was nowhere to be spotted. Orion quickly formed a light orb, which reflected off of the side of Mercury's boots, revealing that he was coming at him from above. Orion threw his shield up but it was kicked out of his hand this time and he blocked the follow through kick with his gauntlet.
Mercury chuckled as he was suspended for a moment, the gauntlet sliding across the bottom of his boot. He fired a shot, knocking Orion's arm down and planting a kick on his shoulder, driving him to the ground. Orion threw a wave of gravity Dust out away from his body as he rolled onto his back, watching as Mercury leapt over it and ran towards him. Orion quickly teleported away and reformed as he grabbed up his shield, transferring his light energy into the shield and bracing for Merc. Mercury planted another kick against it but was thrown back by the energy's resistance and he slid across the ground. Mercury smirked and charged in.
Orion was surprised by the sudden direct approach but had decided how to dispatch the arrogant fool. He reached up quickly, reaching over Mercury's kick and grabbing him by the throat with his gauntlet, smiling with pleasure as Mercury clutched hard at the hand and gasped. Orion had done it, he finally proved himself and now he would finish it. They didn't need Mercury, and soon the entire city… No, the entire kingdom… Would know of Orion Nova and the Stardust Gang! Orion's glove charged up as he relished the moment. As his eyes caught Merc's, the satisfaction escaped him, Mercury's eyes weren't filled with horror, but amusement. What was Orion missing?
Mercury swung up his legs and planted them hard in Orion's shoulder before he could block them with his shield and Mercury fired. His shoulder was jerked back and pain flared down his arm as he tried to keep holding on, unable to think well enough to knock Mercury off of his with the shield in his other hand. If he took another hit direct hit like that, his aura might suffer and it would either break or allow his arm to be broken, another blast would surely shatter his shoulder. Mercury grinned as he grunted, slowly planting his feet again and pulling back against the gauntlet, Orion's hand trembled. He only needed to squeeze a bit harder, and Mercury would be dead…
Another shot rang out and Orion's grip released in panic, setting Mercury free, who pulled off the glove as he flew from Orion. Mercury looked at the gauntlet before looking back up at his underling who was filled with shock. That's what Mercury had planned on. He knew that Orion would get cocky and Mercury played on that. Mercury tossed the weapon as far as he could before rolling up his sleeves, cracking his neck as he bounced on his feet. Orion was defeated, but know he had to defend his pride and hope that Mercury wouldn't kill him for the stunt that he had just pulled and failed with.
"Is that it?" Mercury asked fanning the flames of rage in Orion. "Is that all you can do? I thought that you were going to show me that you could prove yourself to me so that I'd take you seriously?" Orion could see the marks on Mercury's neck and scowled. He demanded respect, and perhaps he would have to die in order to get it, but Orion refused to let them think of him as less than the rest of them. "You didn't even get any information in return while you were kept here, did you?"
"Nothing more than the fact that the Council is very much convinced that you are working for someone else and not on your own," Orion told him. Mercury grinned thoughtfully.
"Interesting." Mercury charged in and leapt, his boots thundering off of the shield several times before he backflipped away. "What will you do now Orion? I'm the one who gave you that gauntlet, I know that it channels all of your power and is made of a hybrid metal that's been formed together with gravity Dust. You're weak without it. If you admit that I've defeated you, perhaps I'll let you live." Orion clinched his jaw, he couldn't admit that so easily. As long as he was standing, he couldn't give up, he needed to demand the respect that he deserved.
"I will prove myself!" Orion yelled. Sirius and the sisters were returning, all three seemed to be out of breath.
"What is it?" Mercury asked, his eyes watching Orion the entire time.
"Yang and Pyrrha are here, I would highly suggest that we leave," Sirius advised. Mercury smiled at Orion.
"The twins and I will leave. Sirius, take care of Pyrrha. Orion, if you want to prove yourself, defeat Xiao Long," Mercury instructed. Orion growled and Sirius bowed his head again.
"As you wish Mercury," Sirius said as he unsheathed his sword. Mercury left in the opposite direction with the Astra and Asteria. Orion took a deep breath as Sirius joined him and looked him over, noting how he was carrying his shoulder. "I tried to warn you." Orion shook his head, rotating his shoulder and seething as the pain shot through him in a certain position. "What are you gaining from putting on that act?" Orion gave him a blank expression and raised his eyebrow.
"Who said that I'm only putting on an act?" Orion asked. He formed a light orb and moved to where Mercury had discarded his gauntlet. "Can you let me know when they get here?" There was no response and as Orion turned around, he blocked Yang's fist at the last moment with his shield. It glanced off and she swung back around as he adjusted, diverting her fist away. He hadn't found his glove yet and without it, Yang would surely crush him in more way than one. "I'll take that as a no."
"Well, if it isn't Orion. If I remember correctly, you said something perverted about my daughter," Yang said. She slammed her fists off of his shield several times, driving him backward with every hit. "You didn't give us any information and we were pretty much done with you anyways, so if I hurt you, no one's going to care now."
"I meant it as more of a compliment if you really think about it," Orion told her. "I don't say that about every underage girl I meet." He pushed back with his shield and ran from her for a moment before she quickly caught up to him by launching herself towards him, throwing her arm up and clotheslining him. He landed on his back, groaning as he pulled his shield up over his body to block her barrage.
"You're not helping your case!" Yang shouted. Orion took a risky decision and created a concussive orb between the two of them, setting it off as he turned his face away and blocked most of it with his shield. His ears rang and he grunted as the blast caused him slight pain, but succeeded in throwing Yang back and distorting her vision. He was starting to agree with Sirius, if he hadn't fought Mercury, he'd be in better shape, but with how he was now if he pissed off the dragon, he was going to lose his aura and possibly his life. He found his knees and spotted the gauntlet. He enjoyed the idea of the challenge, but the odds were not in his favor by any means. He forced himself to his feet and stumbled over to the glove and slipped it on.
Of course, if he could make her angry enough, perhaps she would slip up. He assumed that was what happened with her arm, and wondered if he should wait to bait her or jump right into the fray. He weighed the options as her vision began clearing up and she gave him an evil grin.
"Think you're pretty clever?" Yang asked. "I'm part of Team RWBY. We destroyed Salem, Cinder, Taurus, and the Dragon. Do you really think that it's in your best interest to try and pick a fight with me? Just come back to the cell and tell us what you know and who knows, we can let you go if you behave." When she worded it that way, he had second thoughts as to whether or not he should try to run, but Mercury had instructed him before that he needed to defeat her. He swallowed hard. Here went nothing.
"That sounds great and all, but I think I need to pay your daughter and her friend a visit before too long. Wouldn't want them getting lonely and with them being off at school and whatnot, they're probably trying all sorts of new things and let's face it, they need a real man to teach them how it's supposed to be," he told her with a smug grin. Yang's jaw dropped almost unnoticeably and her eyes became intense, flickering from a purple towards a red.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but your friend over there is going to be more than welcome to carve it on your gravestone!" Yang screamed out as she moved faster than before. She was at him before he had realized what was happening and her first blow connected, cracking a rib and breaking his aura, the exact opposite effect than he had hoped for. Perhaps this was going to be it. Perhaps this was the end for him. Maybe Mercury had been right when he said that he was nothing but talk. Her second blow was deflected with his hand as he grabbed her fist and redirected the energy as his armor absorbed it. He launched her back using his gravity and quickly pulled in light energy, blasting her away from him further. It danced down her mechanical arm and it locked up for a moment.
There was his silver lining. His light energy acted a lot like electricity, and where Mercury had modified his legs to defend against such a thing, Yang had never had a reason to. He drew in more as she charged again and quickly transferred it to the shield, watching as her fist met the metal, just to have her arm shut down once more. He chuckled and she looked up at him, glaring at him with her deadly red eyes and slamming him back repeatedly with one arm. The murderous intent in her eyes caused him to shudder as he slowly moved back towards one of the old building. He had an idea, but it wasn't a good one and it was exactly what Sirius had told him not to do before.
"Mrs. Arc is it, or is it still Nikos? Listen, I don't desire to fight you and my quarrel is neither with you or Mrs. Xiao Long. We simply wanted to free our acquaintance so that he could return to work with us. I realize that we've stolen a rather large sum of lien and Dust, but rest assured that petty crimes as such are normally taken care of by the police," Sirius explained as he blocked several blows from her spear, not yet taking the offensive.
"We were informed by Team RWBY that this is a matter of security in regards to Remnant as a whole," she told him as she batted his sword to one side with a mighty and swift blow, before knocking his feet out from under him. He rolled as he hit the ground, narrowly missing her shield as it planted into the earth and she pulled it back with her polarity.
"I'm not sure what it is that you're referring to ma'am, we are simply a group of thugs that are trying to get by and make ends meet. I'm guessing you can understand that," he told her as he blocked her shield as she threw it at him again. He grabbed the end of the sword and pulled on it, manipulating it into a whip which appeared to be made from a Grimm's spine. He whipped her shield off course as it came in a third time and it gripped her spear, pulling her in. "What do you mean by a matter of security to all of Remnant, we are but a small crime organization in Vale." She pushed off of him and retrieved her shield, directing it towards him first and letting it slam off of the back of his head. He reached up quickly and grabbed the back of his head, giving her enough slack in his weapon to allow her to pull the spear away with her semblance. She stood ready to attack again.
"That's all that I can say. I'm sorry," she told him. Sirius glanced over to where Orion had been but realized that his partner had relocated his battle somewhere else or had escaped and contemplating getting out as well.
"It has been an honor to fight the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, but I will have to bid you adieu. It would seem that my teammate has left and without him, it will be too far and dangerous for me to return to Vale alive. Farewell," Sirius told her. He broke the whip in half and the bones stiffened again, giving him a set of batons that he countered her spear with. He maneuvered her out of the way and his tail batted her shield away, allowing him to make a run for it. She fired at him as he hit all four and weaved between her shots as he headed for the exit, running on his hands and feet like a dog. He howled as he slid to a stop at the opening and peered back, smelling the air. "Dammit, Orion!" He turned back and headed towards the scent as the ground shifted.
"I'm going to kill you!" Yang screamed out through the silent underground and Sirius hit the ground like a dog again, it allowed him to move faster and made him more agile if he was attacked without warning. He spotted them before they noticed him and Orion had been backed against a larger building, his glove placed against it as he cowered behind his battered shield, Yang's blows were actually bending and twisting his defense. He planned on bringing the building down on them and was going to hope his gravity would be enough to keep the debris off of him, but Sirius could see how weak he was and knew that it wouldn't work.
"Orion!" Sirius yelled. "That is seriously a bad idea!" Orion chuckled as Yang looked back at him with crazed eyes. Sirius planted himself and leapt up to his feet as he formed his whip again.
"That's by far the best pun I've ever heard," Orion gasped. He drew his fist into the air and slammed it back, the gravity quickly spreading through the building and shattering most of the wall. Sirius whipped Orion, snaring his arm and pulling him past Yang as the building began to come down in a mighty rumble.
"That wasn't meant to be a pun," Sirius scolded him as he dragged him away quickly. He glanced back to watch the building meet the ground, the vibrations proving too much for the city and the ceiling of the massive cave began to come down as well, spelling out the permanent end of anything that remained of Mountain Glenn's civilization. "This is what I was afraid of!"
"I mean, it's not ideal…" Orion told him. Large sections earth dropped down from above and Sirius avoided them as he watched the falling debris and glanced periodically at the exit. He let go of Orion and the man collapsed to the ground as Sirius hit all fours and tore towards the opening.
"You want to prove yourself, Orion?!" Sirius called back. "Get out of here!" Orion's pain which had caused him to become dazed was instantly deafened by Sirius' words and he quickly formed himself into an orb of light, flying through the chaos and turning back as he fell through the hole in the wall, Sirius on top of him as the room behind them became dark, the other side of the entrance buried in stone. Sirius climbed off of Orion as he lay in the shallow water for a minute, letting what just happened set it.
"How did I do?" Orion asked. A boot slammed into his side stirring up pain again and he coughed up blood. Sirius glanced up at Mercury before looking back at Orion and shaking his head.
"Did you kill them?" Mercury asked. Orion continued to cough as he rolled onto his side and cradled his body for a moment in the mud. He was in more pain than he had ever been. One of his ribs was broken, his shoulder had been dislocated, but at least he had made it out with his life. Sirius stood.
"We were unable to. Orion brought the city down before we had a chance to finish the job," Sirius explained. Mercury scoffed and began to walk away, leaving them behind.
"Astra. Asteria. Come along," he told them. They looked at each other and then at Orion before smirking and following after Mercury.
"I really am pathetic, aren't I," Orion asked as he managed to sit.
"With the exception of bringing this group together, there isn't much you've done to help the cause. So by definition, I think it's safe to call you pathetic," Sirius agreed. Orion stared down at his hands and mangled shield.
"Thanks."
It seems that Mercury's gang is up to no good. Are Yang and Pyrrha okay? Will this directly affect the students? Next week, the students face off against the teachers for training in Chapter 19 - 1v1!
A big thank you to Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!