"Go!" Jaune yelled. Ilia charged in at him, both of her blades meeting his shield at the same time and he forced her back, swinging his sword and slicing across her aura at stomach level.
"What am I doing wrong?" Ilia asked.
"You shouldn't use both blades as one unless you are landing a blow that absolutely cannot miss," Jaune explained. "When you're fighting anyone who has dual weapons such as myself, if the attack fails, you might be left in a compromising position. Sure if you use one blade, it might not have as much force behind it, but then you aren't left as defenseless. You're fast and agile, you should use that to your advantage, not power. Let that be Titus's thing, your thing should be occupying, distracting, and obviously infiltrating."
"Can we go once more?" Ilia asked breathing heavily.
"Sure you've got another round in you?" Jaune asked.
"I can outlast you old man," Ilia replied. He laughed and prepared his stance.
"Okay," he told her. She took off, sprinting full speed and firing at him. He deflected, swinging his sword around with enough force to throw a shockwave of displaced power at her but she leapt out of the way, rolling to her feet and still firing. She came in close, this time bringing down one blade and letting it glance off of the shield. He moved in quickly to strike at her but she met it, clashing as their blades slid against each others'. Ilia fired at his feet, forcing him to slide back and she matched his advance, swinging and meeting his shield. "Good."
"I can do better," she reassured him. She unleashed a flurry in sequence, their weapons crashing off of each other as they danced around the arena, neither gaining the upper hand as continued. Ilia gave herself a moment by allowing him to use his shield to throw her back, she was aware enough of her balance to load Dust clips before regaining a footing. Jaune's shield crashed into her chest again, causing her to leave the ground and as she did she unloaded on him, the explosion of the fire Dust wasn't enough to damage his aura, but it was enough to throw him backward. She landed on her back, flipping backward the rest of the way and using her hands to bounce to her feet.
"You're right, it's better, but is it enough?" Jaune asked. More bullets rained down on Jaune and he used his shield to conceal his body but she arrived more quickly than he thought she would, front-flipping off of the top of his shield and landing behind him, quickly reaching back and grabbing his neck. She took his body and tossed his shield and sword away.
"I would say so," she uttered through his mouth. She let go of his body and as she left he stepped forward swiftly. He grabbed her wrist and blocked her other arm with his elbow, quickly sliding his hand up and unfastening her gun. She tried to deal a blow with her opposite arm again but he refused to let his arm be moved, wrenching off her first gun and throwing it away. He wrapped his free hand around her neck, bringing her head down to meet his knee as she made a last-ditch effort at attack with her weapon, but still his blocking technique held up. Her head rang and nose was in pain, he maneuvered her to remove her other gun and held the blade at her throat.
"Was it?" He asked. She stood in stunned silence, gripping her nose as she shook her head and he handed back the gun in his hand.
"How did you do that?" She asked.
"Does it matter?" Jaune replied. "You can't rely on your semblance. The worst thing that a huntsman or huntress can do is become a one trick pony. Unless that one trick is using silver eyes in which case then you can. But since you lack those… You know what? It sounded better in my head when I started, but I think you get the point."
"But normally it works!" Ilia told him.
"Against classmates and second-rate goons maybe," Jaune informed her. "When you face off against someone as skilled as me or even more so, they'll be able to see right through that sort of thing. Not all semblances are strictly offensive, that could be said about your entire team. You all have a general concept of the basis for how each of your semblances work, but the overall goal is to hone them and determine their best usage. Yours is probably better for a surprise attack during an infiltration or listening in on conversations. It can be used in a pinch from time to time, but you can't rely on that as a last ditch effort or even as a finishing move. Just because someone is disarmed doesn't mean that they can't defeat you."
"I think you got lucky," Ilia said defending her pride. Jaune chuckled.
"That so?" He asked. "Would you like to give it another go then?" She laughed and shook her head.
"Nah, I think getting beat by you once a day is more than enough for me," Ilia said. They headed back to the campus and Ilia's scroll went off. She checked it and put it back away, smiling to herself.
"Still seeing Vincent?" Jaune asked. She nodded.
"Things are going well," Ilia told him. "I've started opening up to them." Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder.
"That's a big step for you, isn't it?" He asked her.
She's got curves to be sure, and I can only imagine what her breasts look like without that top on…
"Strakh!" She shouted out. She was chained to a large metal support beam in the middle of an old warehouse, her eyes on his the entire time as his men grabbed at her clothes for a peek. She thrashed against them. "Let me down you son of a bitch! We'll see how tough you and your men really are!" His eyes never left her, a fire burning deep within them as he smirked.
"I told you what would happen if you tried to leave girl!" Strakh shouted out. "You killed several of my men and you threatened to go to the police! You must be taught a lesson, and there are only one of two ways that we can do that. Either you let my men have their fun with you, or you go back into solitary. I know how much you love it in that cold, dark, soundless pit. Screaming for someone, anyone to come save you, but they never come. You had nowhere left to turn. You came to me for safety and promised me that you'd help further my empire. After everything I've done for you, you will pay me back somehow."
"I've robbed more Dust cargo than anyone in this room! You wanted us to kill innocent SDC employees!" She shouted back at him.
"They are far from innocent!" He yelled back. "And yes, you have done more than all of the men in this room combined because let's face it, they're expendable and weak… but not you. I need your gift. Your gift is what will thrust me to power, it will push me to the top of Remnant and as I look down from above, I will remember what you did to help me and I will show you mercy."
"Like you are now?" She asked. He gritted his teeth.
"No! Now you are rebellious and need to be punished!" He shouted. He left and slammed the door to the office behind him as the men swarmed in again.
"This'll be over soon," one said.
"You're going to enjoy it, don't act like you won't," said another.
"I'm surprised the boss didn't want you to himself," offered a third.
"Relax," said a fourth as he moved in and kissed her neck. She reluctantly accepted his mistake and disappeared as he stumbled back, the men staring around in confusion. "Where the hell did she go?"
"Keep your eyes peeled!" The second declared. Ilia leapt out of his body from his backside, grabbing her weapon from off of the crate behind him and slicing clean through his neck. He collapsed as the men looked on in horror.
"Anyone else here suicidal?" She asked staring wildly at them. "Hmm?!" Something hard hit her in the back of the head and she collapsed to the ground.
Throw her in the pit, it'll give her some time to cool down.
"That might be an understatement," Ilia replied.
"Good," Jaune said. "IVRY seems like a pretty sturdy and clean team."
"Well, that depends on how you define clean," Ilia said. She chuckled. "Typical teenage stuff, nothing to worry about." Jaune nodded.
"Right." Ilia left Jaune and grouped up with her teammates. "Did we meet up with Coco yet?"
"Yeah," Neela said. "It's a good thing you showed up now, we're leaving on the last airship in a few minutes. She talked to the police and told them to redistribute the patrols to force the drop off to happen at a specific pier. They reluctant at first because we wouldn't tell them why, but a phone call from my Aunt Ruby quickly changed their minds."
"The worst part of these is the wait!" Eliana groaned as she sat inside of the warehouse with Neela, perched in one of the second level windows with the lights killed behind them so that only someone looking for them would see them. At a passing glance, they looked like no more than part of the shadow inside of the building and Neela kept her bow trained on the men as they unloaded the coffee to the vendors. The anticipation fed into Neela's ego, she loved the feeling of watching and waiting, hunting her target. Baiting the Stardust gang and luring them into the attack. This time they were prepared and knew what the enemy presented.
"Anything from the road?" Neela asked. Titus stood on the corner of the road opposite of the alleyway and looked up at the street lamp before checking his watch.
"Nothing yet, though at this rate I think that Ilia and I might need to take a trip around the park just to avoid suspicion," Titus told her. He pulled out his scroll, glancing up through it and taking a picture of the alleyway before walking down the street away from it. "Actually, Ilia can stay put, she's pretty concealed in the building there. I'm going to sit in the park for a few minutes and then I'll return to the corner here."
"Okay," Neela agreed as she watched the last vendor finish up and transfer the funds digitally like the last several had done.
"I have movement," Ilia said. She pulled the door shut and peered out the peephole.
"What did they arrive in?" Neela asked.
"They didn't, they just kind of appeared from a tear in space or something crazy like that. One of them I recognize from our initiation, the other guy here has silver hair, maybe gray?" Ilia offered.
"Sounds like Mercury came out for his own dirty work today," Eliana said. "I've read his profile many times, that's him. Who else?"
"Orion and Sirius," Titus replied as he followed them from half a block back and stepped into the building with Ilia. They slowly made their way through to the opposite end, awaiting orders.
"Damn. You kids were right," Coco replied. "Keep your eyes peeled, good work so far. I'm going to see if I can dig anything up on these soldiers from Mistral, hopefully, they know what they're doing. Neela, don't let them transfer the funds, even if it means giving yourself up early."
"Right," Neela replied. She drew back her bow and trained it on Mercury, following him the whole time. "Mercury has mechanical legs, right?"
"Yeah, I assume you have a plan," Eliana asked Neela. Neela smirked and selected lightning for her next tip on her armband. She drew back the arrow once more and waited, breathing slowly.
"Titus and Ilia, you two are up!" Neela told them.
"Got it," Ilia replied for the two of them. Titus knocked over a large rack in the warehouse, the crash drawing the attention from the gang and soldiers, all of them looking on in hesitation.
"Mercury," Orion asked.
"Paris can go check it out," Mercury said.
"Did he say Paris?" Coco asked.
"That's what it sounded like," Neela replied as she watched him break off and head for the second warehouse.
"That slimy little creep," Coco said. A moment of silence as Paris slipped around the corner and returned to Mercury with a puzzled look.
"Nothing," he replied. "A rat or something must have caused a shelf to fall."
"Bad news," Coco said over the radio. "These men don't show up in the system, or more accurately, they're all AWOL."
"Meaning?" Asked Eliana.
"They aren't with the Mistral military," Coco replied. "They're mercenaries. Sterling would never agree to this, someone else must be on the inside at Mistral pulling the strings, but it's hard to say who. Could be a lower level, ex-military, ex-government, anybody. If Cobalt could hack the Council with 'ease', it could be another hacker who's playing around in the system. Either way, the council needs to know. I'll contact them once we're done here."
"You must be Mercury," called out one of the Mistralis.
"And you must be the General I'm here to meet," Mercury replied. "It's a pleasure to do business with you."
"The pleasure is all mine, and please, call me Saturn," the man replied.
"These men think they're tricky," Coco said.
"What do you mean?" Eliana asked.
"Saturn was a plant from the Council in the Mistral Military to make sure they weren't planning for a global attack. Once his mission was fulfilled he was to return to the Council and report his findings, which he did. This man is not Saturn. He's trying to frame the Council for these robberies," Coco said. "I'm sure of it, his face doesn't match that of Saturn's in the database."
"In short, he can't escape?" Neela asked.
"Right, but he also can't give the money up either," Coco said. Neela watched as Mercury brought his scroll up.
"You kids ready to get this party started?" Neela asked.
"On your word Neela," Titus replied.
"Stardust round two," Neela said. She released the arrow and it crashed clean through Merc's scroll, ripping it from his hand and pinning it to the ground as it shattered on the concrete. Merc spun, kicking his leg and sending a shot towards Neela's direction but Eliana's force field deflected it and they moved back to their next mark. "I was supposed to get two off right away."
"Would you have preferred that shot hit you?" Eliana asked.
"No," Neela replied.
"Then you're welcome," Eliana told her. Titus smashed both of his kopides into the ground as he kicked open the door, a wave of fire separating Paris and Orion from Sirius and Mercury, both the pairs stepped back from the unexpected attack and Titus charged out, taking cover behind a shipping container.
"You said that there wasn't going to be any heat!" Saturn shouted as he opened fire at Titus who was hiding. Mercury pointed for Sirius to take the long way around the container.
"There wasn't supposed to be," Mercury replied. "Can you do it with my routing number?" Saturn nodded but as he removed his scroll it was shot out of his hand, it splashed into the water and the two men glanced up at Eliana who smiled as she blew on the end of her gun.
"Hey boys," she called out. "Things not going as planned?" Orion turned to aim but was struck by Paris, one of the kunais jamming into his arm.
"I feel as though that might be a design flaw," Paris said.
"What the hell are you doing?" Orion asked. "Mercury!"
"We're leaving!" Saturn said as he attempted to gather his men.
"You haven't transferred the funds yet!" Mercury shouted at him. Saturn sneered and turned away.
"We'll be in touch," he replied. "Men! Now!" An arrow struck Mercury in the back on the left leg, shorting it out and sending him to the ground.
"Sirius!" Mercury shouted. As Sirius reached the other side of the container he found Titus who was pushing against it, unable to make it move. He laughed nervously.
"I don't suppose you'd like to help?" Titus asked. Sirius formed the bone into a sword and swung down, only to be greeted by a forcefield. He pulled back and Titus burst through, driving him all the way back to the warehouse that he and Ilia were originally hiding in. Neela regrouped with Eliana and grabbed her, swinging down to the ground as Ilia left Paris's body, Eliana pistol-whipping him in the back of the head and dazing him. She trained her other gun on Orion.
"You have any of that experimental ammo on you?" Neela asked Eliana. She shook her head.
"No. Besides, I haven't had time to test it yet anyway," Eliana replied. Orion turned into an orb of light and floated to Mercury to regroup.
"You kids shouldn't be out here at night!" Paris yelled. He opened his rift and grabbed Eliana quickly by the arm, dragging her in and closing it behind.
"Eliana!" Neela shouted.
"Neela, don't lose focus. Saturn. Stop him. I'm on my way now, I'll be there in a few, at least keep him there for now," Coco told her.
"I'll go after Mercury and Saturn. You've got my back?" Neela asked. Ilia nodded.
"Of course," Ilia replied. They moved in quickly, Neela subduing two of the soldiers as they attempted to flee onto the boat. Ilia opened fire at Orion who used his shield to block, protecting both him and Mercury as they strafed behind another shipping container. Neela loaded a gravity arrow, preparing a second and firing them in succession, rupturing the side of the ship and its contents as it took on water.
"Who is this girl?!" Saturn asked.
"About to be dead!" Mercury groaned. He charged out with Orion, directing him at Ilia and going after Neela who took a few steps back. His left leg reactivated, snapping the arrow stuck within as it extended and he leapt into the air, coming down at Neela for a kick and she used her bow to block him. He leapt off of it into the air, she slid backloading an arrow and quickly firing, but he blasted it away. He knew what he was doing. Neela fired where he was going to land but he used another blast beneath him to propel himself into the air, landing on the container and watching the arrow explode. "You must be Neela."
"You must be Mercury," she replied. "It's an honor to take on one of the greatest criminals of Vale's last decade." He rolled his eyes.
"I'm flattered," he told her.
"I can tell," she responded. He ran at her once again, she formed her sword this time and swung at him but he leapt over her and she activated her semblance, sliding forward with one foot as he landed behind her and made an attempt to kick her. She batted his foot away with her blade and he landed on it, kicking up the other and blasting her in the chest, forcing her to stumble back. He's agile Neela, his feet are his greatest asset, you can do this. She found her balance and he was approaching her in a sprint, leaping up and preparing to land a critical blow. His feet met her bow again and he leapt off, offering a volley of shots that she rolled out of the way of.
Neela released an arrow that he attempted to blast away again, but it exploded and threw him off balance. He used the momentum to spring off of his hands and he landed as Neela had reduced the gap. He raised his left leg, firing off two shots that Neela batted with the bow still formed, firing another arrow. He scoffed unimpressed, shooting the arrow down, but not before she managed to grapple his foot. She pulled him in and fired an ice arrow into his chest. He fired from his trapped foot, freeing his ensnared leg but slowed from the ice as Neela fired two more, each one nailing him in the chest. A look of horror overcame his face as she approached him, his body moving slow enough that she could easily kill him.
"I recommend you give up your work here," Neela told him. She removed a device and set it inside of his boot, revealing a remote detonator. "My friend gave this to me. If you jostle that around too much, it's more than enough earth Dust to turn you to stone until someone can come find you and free you. If you manage to keep still for long enough and I'll set it off on my way out to make sure that the police can come pick you up. Thanks." Neela took off.
"Why so serious?" Titus asked as he grappled with Sirius and headbutted him.
"I hate puns," Sirius told him shoving him back.
"Really?" Titus asked. He removed his swords and they sparked as he clashed them together. "Shocking."
"I'm starting to hate you," Sirius replied as their weapons clashed, he opted for a long katana that was light and allowed him to repel the dual blades. "And here I thought that you were the serious one out of the bunch."
"I am most of the time, but I guess Eliana rubbed off on me more than I care to admit," Titus told him. Titus changed his blades to earth and planted them into the floor beneath him, separating him and Sirius for a moment as Ilia burst through the door out of breath. "Ilia."
"That Orion is stronger than his profile gives him credit for," Ilia said. A wave of gravity crashed into the building, collapsing the front wall and taking part of the ceiling before threatening the rest of the building. Titus loomed over Ilia quickly protecting her from debris.
"You're going to hate me, but we don't have another option!" Titus yelled. He pulled Ilia to the floor and slammed his blades hard into the ground, covering them in a rock shell, much like the one he had trapped her in when he first met her.
"Titus!" She yelled. Her breathing became extremely rapid as she clung tight to him, he could hear the building crashing down around them, support beams and other equipment crashing off of their dome. He wrapped his arms tight around her and held her securely as she frantically tried to bury herself in his torso. "Let me out! Let me out, Titus! Let me out! I need out!"
"I can't," he spoke softly. Her breathing labored and frequent as she collapsed in his arms from lack of oxygen. He pulled her into his chest and held her gingerly. "Neela, we need to bail. Come get me when you can."
"I see you. I'm on my way. Did Orion and Sirius get away again?" Neela asked.
"If they weren't crushed, then yes."
"Let's cut to the chase Eliana," Paris said as they paced in a circle away from each other. "I don't give a shit about you or your friends. All I care about is getting my hands on that Bái and teaching her a lesson. Let me go and I'll let you live. If we're going to have to fight here, I can't guarantee you that luxury."
"Bái is my friend, I'm not going to let you touch her," Eliana said. "I won't let you touch any of my friends, and I will prove myself to Neela."
"You were that annoying girl at the assembly, weren't you?" He asked. Eliana smiled.
"My reputation precedes me!" She exclaimed.
"I wouldn't take pride in that," Paris told her. His arm raised just enough to part his cloak and fired his Dust senbons at her but they were greeted with a forcefield, shattering off as she opened it momentarily to fire several bullets. He lifted his arm and seemed to take the shots with no effect, both of them still pacing in a circle. "Clearly this won't ever end for either of us and we'll be left to find out who succumbs to exhaustion first."
"I have homework due on Monday, so I can't really be trapped in here for that long," Eliana told him.
"Oum, how can you be so naive?" He asked. She fired again, this time aiming at the other side of his body but he turned quickly and blocked with the same arm. She withheld a smirk from her mouth. "Homework. Neela. School. Your precious father." His mocking struck a nerve as she froze.
"Elli, are you there?" Neela asked.
"What did you say?" Eliana asked.
"It's always the same with you," Paris said. "Home-"
"I never said anything about my father with you around," Eliana said. Her eyes burned with fire and she threw him back with a forcefield. "How do you know about my father?"
"You did speak of him!" Paris shouted. She fired several rounds at him, pinning his guarding arm back, every bullet taking a decent amount of aura from him.
"I was only with you once, the day of initiation and only briefly before it began. I didn't say anything about my father then!" She yelled. Her forcefield shoved him to the wall and pinned him there, he strained and groaned as he struggled against it.
"I don't know anything about him!" Paris shouted. Eliana's forcefield pushed harder, her body shaking.
"Eliana!" Neela called out. "Answer me!" Paris managed to open a rift at that moment and he stumbled out, gripping his favored arm as he collapsed on the ground and Eliana stepped out after him. Neela spotted her and Eliana pointed her gun at Paris's head. "Elli! Stop! What are you doing!?"
"He knows something!" Eliana exclaimed. "Something about my father! Were you watching him? What did he do that drew your attention? What do you know!?"
"You can't kill him, your father wouldn't want that!" Neela shouted at Eliana. Neela ran over. "Don't. This isn't the way to find out." Tears filled Eliana's eyes.
"Look at him!" Eliana yelled. Deep behind the fear and surprise in Paris's eyes, there was amusement, Neela could see that he was smug despite his position. "Grimm killed my father! But there must be more to it!" Paris cracked a smile.
"There is no more to it," Paris cackled. "He died to the Grimm like the weak man he was." Coco grabbed Eliana's hand and pried the gun away as Eliana had tried to pull the trigger.
"Eliana, that's not what you want. Trust me, I know," Coco told her. Paris laughed as he slid back.
"All of you are unbelievable! All of you! Can you all be so dense? Abigor knows everything! It's only a matter of time until…" A gunshot rang out and struck Paris in the knee and he cried out as his aura nearly broke, spotting the masked woman on the rooftop across from them.
"The woman from before!" Neela shouted as she took off running and grappled the roof. They watched her for a moment and turned back to Paris to find that he'd disappeared, slipping into his semblance. Coco looked around and shrugged.
"Well, this went better than last time at the very least," Coco said noting Mercury who had been turned to stone. "The police intercepted the men that were escaping including that phony Saturn, and they'll clean up here." Coco turned to Eliana as Titus and Ilia came over to join them. "We can talk later about what happened, okay?" Eliana nodded as she stood in shock and looked at her hands.
"Are you okay?" Titus asked. Eliana looked up at him and nodded, though she wasn't completely with herself and glanced back at where Neela had disappeared.
"I think so," Eliana replied. Neela came back to the edge of the roof and looked down at them. She swung down, noticing Ilia in Titus's arms.
"Is she alright?" Neela asked. Titus nodded. Neela threw her arm over Eliana who faked a smile. "We did it, right?"
"Right," Eliana agreed half-assed.
NITE claimed a win this time against Stardust! Next week, Cobalt must be dreaming again in Chapter 54 - Red Dead Delusion!
A big thank you to Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, 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!