Neela stepped outside, the familiar feel of Patch greeting her as she took a deep breath in and headed towards her training grounds that she'd laid out long ago back in the woods. The area had adapted to her the older she had gotten when she was small and had just been given her bow and arrow she'd kill the occasional squirrel, and fire at crude wooden targets that she'd painted and hung up herself off of the small saplings that had sprouted up after a nasty storm a few years prior had taken out a large knoll of trees that needed to be replanted. They were larger now, tall and sturdy, a testament to withstanding the odds and weathering nature to become something even bigger than seemed possible, her targets much less crude now, she bought most of them from market vendors or had taken them out of the school's dumpster when they were planning on throwing the old ones away. She looked at her wrist selector, still unsure of how to program another tip into it as she'd been wanting to do so for some time so she could get rid of the pouch. For all she knew, it might be impossible, one of the teachers at Patch had helped her program it and it was already full with all of the other tips she normally used. She peered into her pouch to count her specialty tips and to ensure they were secure before stepping into the woods.

Shadow had been a big 'help' that morning, as Neela had to keep a watchful eye to make sure that she didn't play with the Dusts while she was mixing them, and ensure that Shadow didn't detonate any on accident. She failed at the latter, watching her sister cry out in surprise as she set off the first by mistake before realizing what she did and activating two more on purpose with a giggle. Neela rubbed Shadow's head and gathered her gear before heading for the door, Shadow giving her one last hug before opting to stay inside and watch TV with Blake and Yang. Neela reached her usual spot and took a deep breath in, raising her arms and noting that the majority of the pain in her chest was gone. Her aura had gone above and beyond, she could already tell that she'd be good as new for the ceremony.

"Hey," Yang said as she stepped through some of the brush on her way to Neela, the branches snapping under her feet and drawing Neela's eyes in that direction. "Going to try out 'Shadow's' arrows?"

"You know me," Neela laughed. "A little injury can't keep me from training."

"I think you're ignoring the fact that you need to go talk to Eliana," Yang told her with a concerned look on her face.

"Not yet," Neela confessed. "I'll go see her tomorrow once the graduation is over. I need a day to sort this out."

"Isn't that what yesterday was for?" Yang asked. Neela paused.

"When I was there…" Neela began. "When I was in that bunker I saw a room that gave me this horrible chill. I think Adam was doing to the humans what he believed was happening to the Faunus. There was this operation room and…"

"Don't think about it," Yang remarked.

"How do I not?" Neela asked. "If you and Blake hadn't saved me, I'd be one of them, wouldn't I?" Yang wasn't sure what to tell her right away, thinking it over before smiling and rubbing Neela's shoulders.

"Knowing you for as long as I have now, I'd like to think that you would have made it out on your own just like Blake did," Yang explained. "It's easy to play the what-if game, there are plenty of defining moments that could have ended differently if I ask myself those sort of things, but the important thing to realize is that they didn't. You're not with the Fang. You ended up with us. Here. Right where you were meant to be." Neela nodded.

"Yeah," Neela agreed with a laugh.

"So, how about it," Yang asked her.

"What?" Neela inquired.

"I didn't come all the way out here with Ember Celica just to watch you," Yang pointed out, drawing attention to her weapons.

"Oh," Neela replied. She felt a rush of adrenaline. "Yeah, you're on!" Yang smirked.

"Good," Yang said. "You know, for being such an amazing mind on the battlefield, I thought you would have noticed Ember Celica earlier." Neela chuckled as she took a few steps back.

"And I thought you would have just attacked me," her daughter retorted.

"Nice one," Yang offered. "Hopefully your fighting is better!" Neela reached back for her weapon.

"After you," Neela suggested. Yang shrugged, charging in hard, her fists crashing against Neela's blade. They glanced off of each other, Neela matching her blow for blow before grappling her and tossing her away as she released the hook. Yang stopped herself from going too far with a blast from her gauntlets, twisting around and meeting Neela's new arrow. She used her semblance to follow her mother's movements, blade striking hard against the metal arm, noting that in the chaos Yang had put on the Fang mask Eliana had worn. Neela stumbled back in shock and terror, landing on her ass. Yang stood over her, extending her hand to help Neela up.

"I don't want you to fear this anymore," Yang told her. "It's just me. You know it. This mask is no more than the person behind it." Neela nodded slowly and swallowed hard.

"Okay," she stammered.

"Let's go again," Yang encouraged her. Yang laid into her, two glancing blows that Neela narrowly escaped with the assistance of her weapon laid the groundwork for Yang's third as she was manipulating her daughter into position, a solid blow to the opposite ribs that Neela had injured sent Neela sprawling, using her grapple to quickly take to the trees as her mother used her weapons to blast herself after her. Neela landed, instantly placed on the defensive as Yang wasted no time, her fists meeting the flat of Neela's sword once again. Neela leapt, grabbing the branch above her and kicking Yang in the chest to give them distance.

"I won't let you beat me that easily," Neela assured her, hating the sight of the mask but working through it. She worked quickly as Yang recovered, removing an arrow before tossing it away and leaping back off of the branch. Yang chased after, using Ember Celica once again to reach Neela quickly to land a massive hit. She made contact with Neela's blade but this time it was coated in fire Dust from the tip of the arrow Neela had discarded, throwing both of them back. Neela landed on her feet, sliding a bit before stopping herself and charging Yang who had slammed into the base of a tree. Neela swung her sword down as her mother caught it and she realized she'd messed up.

"Forget who you were fighting?" Yang asked. Her free hand smashed into the hilt, freeing it from Neela's grip as she wielded it and kept her daughter at the tip. "Seems like we have a winner."

"And you underestimated me," Neela said. Yang looked at her with a puzzled grin, convinced she was bluffing before the sword and its handle were covered instantaneously in ice, climbing down her arm and freezing her servos.

"Delayed Dust tips are like child's play at this point, though I do have to thank Shadow for suggesting it," Neela noted. She ejected her arm from the joint, swinging around her fist as Neela caught it and slammed her own into Yang's gut. Yang was pleasantly surprised but didn't want Neela to get her hopes up, using her leg to sweep Neela feet out, blasting her arm to free it from the ice and reaching down to grab it. Neela grappled it, letting the arm fly past her and into the woods as she flipped out her bow and knocked an arrow. She fired an arrow which Yang caught, throwing it back at Neela who didn't have enough time to dodge and was shocked by it. She hit her knees.

"Is that what you used on Eliana?" Yang asked out of breath. Neela nodded. "Those seem potent."

"O… O… Only if th… they hit their t… t… target," Neela stuttered hitting the ground.

"You're getting better, I'll give you that, little bird," Yang assured her. "You're much faster than even the beginning of the school year. You're thinking more quickly too. The biggest thing to remember is if you're going to use something like that lightning arrow, you need to make absolutely certain that they don't see it coming and if they do, it can't be directed back at you."

"Right," Neela groaned lying in a heap.

"You going to train some more?" Yang asked, helping her sit.

"As soon as I can feel my arms again, probably," Neela told her. A bird squawked overhead, rounding the two of them before landing and transforming into Qrow, stumbling to the side and landing in the taller grass beside Yang's arm.

"Hey kiddo, you lose something?" Qrow asked, holding it up for her to see.

"What are you doing here?" Yang inquired as she made her way over to him.

"Can't stay long," he informed her as he stood and gave her the limb back. "Wanted to make sure that Shadow was okay, heard about what happened the other night from Raven, she more or less filled me in when I stopped in on her and Tai, and what a mistake that was." Yang laughed. "It was like traveling back in time. They're hanging all over each other again and Raven is still a bitch and Tai is still clueless and I still don't understand it any more than the last time."

"Hey, Uncle Qrow," Neela called as she managed to stand.

"Well if it isn't my favorite bird Faunus," Qrow joked as he accompanied Yang towards the house as she removed the mask and Neela joined them.

"I'm probably the only bird Faunus you know," Neela replied, shoving him.

"Hey! That doesn't make it any less true," Qrow snickered.

"You haven't been by in a while," Neela pointed out.

"Been busy with the Fang, but apparently not busy enough," Qrow said, staring out at the clouds that rolled by. "Sorry about what happened, Neela."

"It's not your fault," Neela told him.

"You still feel the same about her?" Qrow asked. Neela looked away and nodded.

"Yeah," Neela admitted.

"Good!" Qrow noted. "Nothing can break that bond between the two of you, and I'd be afraid to see what would happen if you met the person who tried."

"You and me both," Yang added. Neela groaned.

"Mom!" She scolded.

"You have it bad for her," Yang said. "Why be embarrassed by it now?"

"Uncle Qrow!" Shadow yelled as the door slammed open and she sprinted out towards him. She used a clone as a stepping stool and leaped at him as it disappeared. Qrow laughed as he tickled her and spun her around.

"You're getting good at that," he told her.

"I have to so that I can protect Neela someday!" Shadow told him.

"You'll never beat me," Neela teased. Shadow stuck out her tongue.

"She's just scared that I will," Shadow defended drawing a round of laughter.

"Qrow!" Blake exclaimed. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hey, Blake," he greeted her, pulling her in for a hug. "Are you all doing okay?"

"Aside from the other night," Yang grunted.

"Hm?" Shadow perked up.

"Nothing," Blake interjected. "We're fine. Any news about the Fang? Have you been working closely with the police?" Qrow rolled his eyes and handed Shadow to Yang.

"Worse, the council," Qrow griped. "He might have been secretive, but there was far less red tape with Oz."

"What does that mean?" Shadow inquired.

"It means that he can't just go after the bad guys, he has to ask someone if it's okay first," Yang explained.

"Sounds dumb," Shadow sighed.

"It is," Qrow said.

"So?" Blake asked.

"Hearing that the Fang tried to kidnap a girl was alarming, and Ruby and I got the brunt of it for not finding them sooner, despite the fact that Atlas has been helping us this entire time and hasn't had any luck either. Then Raven mentioned to me this morning that Athena was on the move again with her closest followers and that she and Neela had left the place clean with no hint to speak of as to where they went," Qrow informed them. "We asked Coco what she got from Violet and she said that Athena bragged openly about having plans to do something big tomorrow, but never spoke of the specifics out loud. We have the police on high alert for tomorrow but it's already too late to call back any of the Huntresses or Huntsmen that are on vacation from teaching."

"What do you think will happen?" Yang pried.

"Best case scenario, they're only planning another rally or protest," Qrow noted.

"Worst case?" Neela added. Qrow sighed.

"An attack," Qrow offered. "Human and Faunus relations are rocky once again despite being the best that they've ever been, but the public opinion has grown worse this year due to the reappearance of the Fang. An attack would not help that and I would never want to suggest that things might turn into a…" Qrow looked at Shadow and shook his head. "You know."

"Anything new on Stardust?" Neela prodded. Qrow smirked.

"I can't tell you anything else or I'll be in deep water with the council," Qrow replied with a wink. "Plus I should probably be asking you, you and your team should know that gang like the back of your hands by now."

"I don't know if I'd say that," Neela waved him off.

"Would you like to come in?" Blake asked as they made their way towards the house.

"I don't know…" Qrow began.

"Please come in!" Shadow demanded. "I have to show you the drawing that I made Sissy for her birthday!" Qrow glanced at Yang who shrugged and Blake who covered her mouth, trying not to let Shadow see her smirk.

"Guess I at least have to see that, don't I?" Qrow asked. Shadow leapt out of Yang's arms using a clone and ran ahead of them, opening the door again.

"Come on!" She yelled. They laughed and followed her in with the exception of Neela who stayed outside. Neela stared up at the sky and sighed. What an overwhelming year it had been. They'd faced Stardust so many times, she'd been kidnapped in Mistral and had almost died. She confessed… Her stomach turned. What an awful confession. It had all just come out of her and once she started, she couldn't stop it. She didn't mean for it to happen then, or the way that it did, but it was too late now to take it back. Neela picked up the mask that Yang had dropped before going inside.

She'll betray you…

Neela shook it off. The Fang did this, not Eliana. Eliana would not willingly betray you. She's your best friend if nothing else.

We can fix this, Elli. Just hold out until tomorrow night.

"They got the cops on high alert this afternoon," the man exclaimed over the radio as he placed it back on the holster hanging from his pocket and leaned back in his seat.

"Why?" Came a response back and he groaned as he removed it once again and held the button down.

"According to what I heard over the scanner last night, those Faunus might be trying something today," he followed up, looking out his booth at the sun which was slowly nearing the horizon, the view from the power plant was one of the better views in town, overlooking a good portion of the city as well as the bay from the opposite end, and the glass booth did little to obstruct the guard's view.

"Like what?" The other man asked. The guard sighed.

"Hell if I know, they didn't say!" He shouted back over the channel. "It sounded more like speculation than anything." There was a knock on the door of his booth that startled him and he set the radio down on the small fold-out table that sat beside him, turning in his chair to find a set of twins that appeared to be in their early twenties, smiling at him as one waved and the other tried to push him out of the way. "You ladies lost?"

"Do you think he can help us, Astra?" Asked one of the sisters.

"Only one way to find out, Asteria," the other answered. "We needed to pay a bill, is this the right place?"

"I don't think this is the place, Astra," Asteria stated.

"Let the man answer, Asteria," Astra silenced her. They smiled at him in unison. He chuckled, standing up and adjusting his slacks as he approached the two of them.

"This isn't quite the right place," he informed them.

"No?" Astra whimpered.

"That's no good," Asteria sighed.

"Are they closed?" Astra asked.

"They are for the weekend, you'll have to pay them a visit Monday. I can give you the address," he insisted.

"But they're going to shut off our power tonight, Astra," Asteria reminded her.

"Is there anything we can do to keep you from doing that?" Astra asked leaning forward to give him a view of her cleavage.

"Anything at all?" Asteria added resting her bosom on the top of the door's bottom half next to her sister. He swallowed hard and shook his head.

"Afraid not," He gulped. "Can't be helped."

"That's too bad," Astra noted.

"Plan B, Astra?" Asteria questioned.

"Plan B, Asteria," Astra confirmed. Something smacked the guard in the back of the head and Orion watched as he hit the ground. He smiled at the girls.

"Great work," Orion complimented them. They folded their arms.

"You stole our kill," they whined in unison.

"Oh come on," he ushered them as he unlocked the gate to let several Atlas military vehicles roll in. "We've got more pressing work to take care of."

"What's going on at the gate?!" Came a shout over the walkie talkie before Orion picked it up and addressed them.

"The White Fang are attacking!" Orion yelled like a crazed maniac. "There's tons of them!"

"You don't want to take credit for this one?" Mercury asked, dragging him out of the booth. Orion followed him, mouth agape.

"I didn't think we were claiming this one," Orion noted. "Wasn't that the whole reason we brought the Fang with us?"

"Athena gave us some throwaways," Mercury explained. "She knew that they couldn't keep up and so she enlisted them to be our meat shields essentially."

"What's the plan, sir?" Asked a few of the Fang as they approached, pouring out of the Atlas hummers as gunfire started up around them and a hard light shield was thrown up between them and the reactors.

"A few focused explosions to send a message," Mercury told them.

"But this close to the reactor?" One of the grunts objected.

"Do as he says," Sirius instructed as he passed by in a White Fang mask. They nodded and followed after the wolf Faunus.

"They have a point," Orion noted. "One wrong move and this whole deal is going to wipe Vale off of the map along with us." Mercury smirked.

"That would be a better fate than dealing with Salem," Mercury informed him. "Come on." Orion followed him closely.

"Someone get the council on the phone!" A man shouted as Mercury launched Orion over the barrier by kicking his shield and firing his greaves. He followed a moment later, leaping the barrier using his legs to blast him over before kicking the scroll out of a guard's hand and kicking a second man in the chest, blood spewing from his mouth.

"How about we just keep this between us for now," Mercury requested as he riddled another man with bullets from repeated kicks, Orion staying close.

"Shut off this wall, would you?" Sirius shouted.

"Someone's impatient today," Mercury noted. "Just think Orion, beneath us, thousands of pounds of pure and unprocessed Dust is being stored to be used for power. We could be billionaires."

"I doubt we'd make it out alive with much," Orion offered as Mercury kicked the door in on one of the offices.

"Probably right," he grunted as he leapt back out of the way of gunfire.

"We need to get the Vale police here, now!" One of the workers shouted into his phone.

"Damn," Mercury muttered as he followed Orion into the room who covered them with his shield. "Here I thought we had more time to be alone."

"Officers are on their way, with two being close by," the dispatcher replied before Mercury snatched the phone away.

"Don't bother," he spat as he hung it up. The man threw his arms up before Orion swatted him away with the shield. "Alright! I know everybody here is going to want to be a hero, but you're all going to end up martyrs if someone doesn't tell me how to lower the hard light barrier that has my men and the Fang trapped out of the plant."

"We're all ready to give our lives if it means keeping the White Fang away from this Dust," one man spoke up. Mercury shook his head as he marched over and gripped him tightly, smashing his foot through the man's knee and sending him writhing to the floor in pain.

"Is that right?" Mercury asked as they stared at him filled with doubt.

"We need to hurry!" Sirius called over their earpieces.

"This is why we should have brought Aurora," Mercury growled.

"We do not need that girl here," Orion groaned. "She hasn't actually done anything to help us, I don't understand why you've taken such a liking to her."

"She is the one that made sure that I made it out of prison, I can't actually be sure that the rest of you even tried to get me out!" Mercury shouted.

"Can we do this at a different time?!" Sirius requested. Orion gritted his teeth. This would have been the perfect chance if they hadn't stolen his gauntlet.

"I… I can do it," one of the women stuttered as she scrambled to the other side of the room and entered the shutdown code.

"You see that?" Mercury asked them. "You do value living." Something crashed into the ground outside of the building, shaking the ground and forcing Mercury to stumble. "What was that?"

"Their backup is here," Sirius informed them. Mercury nodded to the woman.

"Thanks for the help," he said before stepping out the door. He was greeted with a broad sword at chest level and was launched through the small room, Orion narrowly missing his leader slamming into him. Mercury planted into the wall of the far side, coughing hard and removing himself from the brick as Yatsu stepped into the room and assessed the situation. "Yatsu. Long time no see. Vytal Festival?"

"This ends today," Yatsu said. "Coco has authorized lethal force if necessary."

"Can't imagine Ruby will be too happy if she finds that out," Mercury gasped as he banged on his kneecap with his fist. Yatsu shrugged as he held his sword out in front of him.

"Accidents happen," Yatsu noted. Mercury nodded and cracked his neck.

"That's what I like to hear," Mercury cackled. "Orion, finish our work. Yatsu and I are going to dance." Orion nodded as he sprinted for the nearest window, shattering it and rolling onto his shield before making his way to the door that led down to the reactors. That blueprint had come in handy after all.

"We don't need to do this," Mercury jested. "It'll just end like last time."

"You don't have Emerald to protect you this time," Yatsu noted.

"Ouch, low blow," Mercury replied, shaking his head and charging his opponent as the people scattered and evacuated. Yatsu caught him with his sword, the two of them struggling against each other before Mercury rocketed off, planting his legs against one of the far walls and firing back towards Yatsu. The man adjusted, moving to deflect but just missing, Mercury's foot crashing into his shoulder and throwing him off balance. "I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than this." Mercury leapt, kicking repeatedly at Yatsu who maneuvered his blade swiftly to avoid the attacks, swinging his weapon around once Mercury landed.

Mercury leaped over it, swinging his foot around to kick Yatsuhashi in the jaw but the large man caught his foot.

"It's over," Yatsu grunted, swinging Mercury by the foot and slamming him into the wall behind him.

"Not yet," Mercury insisted. Yatsu noted a blade similar to his own out of the corner of his eye and released Mercury, sliding away in time to avoid the blow. Sirius entered the room out of breath, glaring at Mercury. "Took you long enough."

"All hell has broken loose out there," Sirius explained, his bone weapon a two-handed blade that closely resembled Yatsu's. Yatsu charged them, dodging a vertical swipe from Sirius and tossing him back as his blade crashed into the floor and a kinetic wave threw the Faunus away. Mercury chuckled, roundhouse kicking which Yatsu deflected with his arm.

"Not this time," Yatsuhashi assured him.

"Orion!" Mercury shouted.

"I'm almost there!" He replied. Mercury frowned and grunted as he leapt back and let Sirius re-enter the fight, their blades crashing off of each other several times before Yatsu used his strength to overpower the villain, the force of the blows sending a shockwave through the air and cracking the walls.

"Explosives are in place!" One of the Fang members stated in Mercury's earpiece.

"Let's do it then," Mercury replied with a smirk. Yatsu and Sirius continued exchanging hits before it climaxed in another attempt to overpower Sirius, and another shockwave obliterated the building around them, throwing both of the Stardust members onto the pavement outside, Sirius landing on his back and Mercury on his side on opposite ends of the compound.

"You must be the ones causing trouble," said a figure standing over Mercury. He rolled out of the way as her rope dart nearly snagged his legs, leaping to his feet and skidding a bit before turning to face her.

"Why are all of you here? The odds seem pretty unlikely," he griped as Arslan Altan brushed the hair out of her face.

"I just happened to be in the area to speak with Headmistress Goodwitch," she told him. "Perhaps it's fate, you are one of the reasons that I decided to become the Headmistress of Haven."

"I'm flattered," he said with a bow.

"Don't be," she asserted. He glanced past her to see Sirius taking on Yatsuhashi. This was bad, Headmasters and Mistresses were nearly as powerful as council members, they needed to put an end to this fast.

"Orion, you better not be wasting any time down there," Mercury growled. He took a step back, Arslan already running at him for an attack. He leapt, expecting her to use her dart which he kicked away but she gathered her aura and landed a massive blow to his leg with enough power to temporarily disable it as he instantly hit the ground, landing hard on his chest.

"Really?" Orion muttered.

"Can you two please shut up for a while?" Sirius asked. Yatsu came closer, about to swing his sword down on Sirius when the twins showed up, catching the blade with their daggers.

"He was going to hurt Sirius, Astra," Asteria noted.

"We can't have that, Asteria," Astra replied.

"Someone call Coco!" Yatsu demanded as Sun showed up.

"Stardust Gang?!" He shouted.

"Great," Sirius groaned. His weapon became two long curved blades, each with a handle in the middle of the sword. He leapt to his feet as the girls forced Yatsu back, moving them out of the way.

"Hey!" Astra griped.

"Sirius!" Asteria protested.

"Take care of Sun," Sirius demanded as he deflected Yatsu once more and managed to slide past the man, attack him from behind before Arslan caught him by the ankle with her dart, and threw him across the facility.

"Plan B then," Mercury grunted as the dart came back around and wrapped around his arm. She threw him at Sirius, letting him go and watching as he rocketed back towards her. An explosion rocked the area, close enough that they felt the heat and the sudden distraction was enough for Mercury to get in. His foot planted in her chest, using the gravity Dust he'd loaded into his legs as he was lying on the ground he kept himself there, kicking her hard in the jaw with an extra boost from the same Dust in his other leg. Arslan stumbled away as Mercury landed in a kneel, about to take off when Yatsu's sword took his legs out from under him. Luckily his legs were artificial and blows to them didn't affect his Aura in any way, but at this rate, they were going to render him immobile.

"I'm going to remove your legs and then you're coming with us," Yatsu informed him. Sirius crashed back into the fight with blinding speed, catching Arslan's rope dart and swinging her away from them as his free hand struggled with Yatsu's hilt. Another explosion which left the heroes unphased.

"Coco's already left town!" Sun called back as he kept the girls back with a flurry of gun attacks as he twirled them at the end of their chain. Mercury smirked.

"Sounds like it might be too late to stop us," Mercury chuckled, sliding back with a shot from his legs. He found his feet but not for long as Arslan tied him up around the arms this time. How is this thing so strong!?

"Yatsu," Arslan called out. She slipped past him, still struggling against Sirius. She gripped his sword, easily sending the blade crashing into Sirius' shoulder who cried out as it planted and his Aura crackled. Yatsu removed it, swinging back over his head to prepare for another blow as Sirius hit his knees.

"No… good…" Sirius groaned. The broadsword swung down, crashing against a shield before Yatsu was forced back from the gravity Dust infused within it. Orion smirked as he stood above Sirius.

"You owe me," Orion noted.

"So it seems," Sirius panted. A third and final explosion destroyed the front gate and the military vehicle which was parked a bit too close to the bomb. Arslan tried to help Yatsu up but noted that it would take too long and she'd lose her attack window, instead opting to take his sword and she sprinted for the men.

"Look alive!" Mercury yelled. Orion braced for the second blow, feet planted as he activated the gravity Dust once more. The blade met, the two pushing against each other for a lingering moment as a sort of negative energy surged through the area. The ground cracked beneath them, cratering as both refused to give up. Arslan focused her Aura, giving even more than she already had but the alloy proved strong.

"Arslan!" Sun shouted. "Let up!" It was too late, she pushed further, the ground giving again before giving way to the basement beneath. The energy released, throwing everyone with Aura away from the compound with alarming speed hundreds of yards from the epicenter, several White Fang members without Aura were torn apart with lacerations but still lived, and the resulting wave of energy leveled the cooling towers, activating the instantaneous shut down kill switch. Sirius grunted as he hit the debris below, his Aura shattering as he cried out in pain, a rock embedding itself deep in his back.

Orion and Arslan both landed on their feet, their Aura fizzling out as they breathed heavily.

"Overdid it," she grunted, shaking her head and taking a deep breath in. She looked at the sword in her hand which had been destroyed halfway down, also noting that her rope dart was no longer attached to her hand. "Dammit."

"We'll be leaving now," Orion told her as he picked Sirius up and began to throw the man over his shoulder.

"I don't think so," she informed him as she maneuvered through the rubble with precision, preparing to impale Orion. She reached the halfway point before something wrapped around her arm, turning her before a hard metal ball slammed into her temple and knocked her unconscious. A giggle came from the darkness as they gathered their weapon back up, the chain slipping across the rocks and loudly clanking.

"That was fun!" The voice exclaimed. It sounded like a child. A young girl. Orion knew that voice.

"Aurora?" He inquired. She giggled again without stepping into the light.

"The party was done before I got here, but it was exciting seeing all those explosions from the distance!" She noted. "I've got Master and we're leaving. Come up top when you're done, okay?!" Where she had been standing was filled with a waving and mystical light that resembled the northern lights, notifying them that she'd left.

"Of course she'd show up," Orion muttered.

"She just saved us," Sirius coughed. "Save your loathing for later."

If Athena wasn't at the power plant with the Stardust Gang... where is she? Next week, Chapter 136 - Pomp and Circumstance!

A big thank you to AG_Nonsuch, Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. The 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 safe, stay healthy, and stay classy!