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No Honor Among Assassins
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She hates fountains.
Flipping little coins.
Paying for wishes that won't come true.
All they do is shine.
Shimmering little things.
It gobbles them up and doesn't care.
Grave of shiny things.
Graves of dead wishes.
.
.
"Do it, Em!"
Shut up.
"Tell me this team meant nothing! Say you conned me!"
Shut up.
"You saved me and I trusted you! I never wanted for any of this!"
I didn't want this either.
"I care about all of you."
SHUT UP!
"Do it, then! PULL THE TRIGGER!"
Yang twisted and turned in her sleep. Her dreams were a jumble of confused and angry words. Something trapped her, beckoned her. Unable to sleep, but also unable to wake.
…
The girl found herself walking down a busy street she didn't recognize.
It was broad daylight.
She looked down at her short legs. Her feet wrapped in tiny, cartoon-brand sandals. She was wearing boyish clothes, easy to run in. They were dirty and rough.
Yang realized she had the stature of a child's. Small enough that her parents held each hand, as they made their way to the city square.
She looked up at them, but they weren't Taiyang or Summer. Their faces were distorted by black X's scribbled in pencil. The more she tried to make out their appearances, the more intense the cover became.
Still, somehow, she knew they were her parents.
The small family made their way to a fountain at the center. It was so wide the thing could have passed for a swimming pool. Its watery surface reflected rippling light on her face. And at its bottom, she could see all the shimmering coins people threw in.
"Honey," came her mother's voice. "Why don't you go ahead and make some wishes?"
She felt her mother let go and a pouch of coins placed in her hand. They never let her do this before. They said it was a stupid waste of money.
She knew why they were letting her do it today.
"…Okay," she answered.
Her father let go of her other hand.
"You have to close your eyes and concentrate. You also can't say the wish, or it won't come true."
"I know, daddy."
Yang dug into the pouch and pulled out a coin. Her eyes closed. Her lips trembled.
…
It's fine.
…
Just go already.
*Plop*
She flipped the first coin into the fountain.
Go away.
She heard her parents' footsteps start to scatter.
…
I won't cry about it.
You never wanted me.
SO, JUST GO AWAY!
The footsteps grew fainter, disappearing into the mess of noise.
I DON'T NEED YOU!
*Plop*
WHO WOULD WANT SUCH SHITTY PARENTS, ANYWAY?!
…
*Plop*
All you do is slow me down!
You're the slow ones! Not me!
…
*Plop*
The footsteps were gone.
I got enough this week! I know I did!
*Plop*
…
Please…
*Plop*
Please, come back.
I'm sorry.
…
*Plop*
I'M SORRY! MOMMY, DADDY! PLEASE!
JUST COME BACK!
A heavy splash sent water everywhere, as the whole pouch was thrown with all her might.
…
She was screaming.
She was crying.
Please… come back…
I'll be good.
I'll be better.
Just give me one more chance…
She kneeled on the fountain's cusp. Her hands bracing her face fiercely. Tears pouring between each choking hiccup.
She was broken and unwanted.
There was some flaw in her she couldn't see, but was obvious to everyone else.
I just want someone…
Anyone…
…
…
"—Come with me, and I'll make you whole."
Yang lowered her hands and saw the elegant fingers extend to her. Nails painted dark-red, like coals smoldering in a fire pit. The person's voice captured her, so alluring—irresistible to the ear and soul.
When she found the courage to look up, the most beautiful person she'd ever seen was there. Confident and strong, the very nature of defiance personified. Almost like they were a world onto themselves.
Yang wondered how someone could have such a presence to them.
She stood, and saw the figure was not alone.
A smug, young man could be seen nearby. He looked as fragile and broken as she was. So very much incomplete. Needy, but too stubborn to act on it. A painful similarity.
There was also a small, quiet soul. Vicious and prone to hurting people where it hurt most. But knew the pain that dwelled within more than anyone. This one liked to hide her words and her heart.
Another figure appeared, large and bright. A prideful spirit that challenged at any given chance. But as tough as they acted, they carried countless scars. Having been discarded and left alone, this one feared being abandoned again. Another misfit.
Blistering star one moment, and shivering candle the next.
But she made her feel warm.
They all did.
…
Yang returned to the city square again surrounded by bustling people. Her form was her own now, still not a clue to what was going on.
That is, until she spotted a familiar figure sitting to her left, on the edge of the fountain.
Emerald had her legs crossed. Mouth cupped in her hand, facing away from Yang. The very picture of evasive body language.
"Em?" Yang tried to get her attention.
"…"
"Hey—"
"Don't come over here. I'll kill you."
"Hah. Okay…"
Yang kept her distance, patiently giving the other time to speak when they chose. The crowd passed in a sort of hypnotic way. She wasn't sure how many hours she waited. The dream made time pass vaguely.
I'd probably crawl into an embarrass ball too, if I was her.
"You saw all that?" Emerald finally spoke.
"Uh, yeah," Yang worded carefully. "Was that… you?"
The girl made a sound of disgust. She squeezed the back of her neck, trying to build herself up to the explanation.
"My Semblance used to do this sometimes, before I got a better handle on it," Emerald answered, still refusing to make eye contact. "The hallucinations come at random—usually something from memory."
"Oh. Then, that…"
"Yeah. I don't want to talk about it. Just," Emerald groaned like it was her death throes," why did it have to leak to you of all people?!"
"Maybe, it was subconscious."
"Don't get therapist-y with me! It was an accident! A super fucking embarrassing one, but that's it."
Yang scooched beside the brooding Emerald, and leaned in. The other scrunched her shoulders uncomfortably.
"What? You pitying me now, southpaw?"
"Maybe," Yang chuckled.
"Well, knock it off. I don't want your pity."
"Yeah. People with abandonment issues usually don't."
"Bite me."
"Hey, you got to see me at my most embarrassing. Only fair I get to see one of yours."
"So we can bond over our tragedies? Don't kid me. This doesn't mean anything."
"I don't know about that." Yang stretched and leaned her back against Emerald. "On the contrary, I think we're finally starting to understand each other."
Emerald pondered it a moment, before adjusting herself to sit back to back.
"I still hate you, you know…"
"Sure, you do."
"We're not friends."
"Sure, we're not."
Yang and Emerald thought back to the messy fight they had only earlier. The words they exchanged were still raw. But in this moment, Yang acted as if to say, to hell with it.
The hallucination communicated how Emerald truly felt, and how she viewed Yang. Yang felt similarly. She thought maybe this was one of the reasons Team ENMY meshed together—because they saw a piece of themselves in each other and understood it.
That was enough for her to move on.
"—Do you trust me?"
"Yeah." Yang paused. "Do you trust me?"
Emerald wrinkled her face and made the "it's iffy" motion with her hand.
"Come. ON! Em, seriously?"
"If I didn't, I probably wouldn't suggest what I'm about to right now."
"Oh, yeah?"
"I need you to follow my lead on this. And I need your complete trust."
"I already said you have it."
"Your implicit and absolute trust," Emerald emphasized. "I'm talking, blood pact, secrets die with you, under extreme torture, kind of deal."
Yang gave it some thought. Her gaze traveled to the spot where Emerald's parents left her.
And then, with a serious tone, she gave her most heartfelt words.
"I won't abandon you, Em. I swear. Not ever."
Yang didn't know how Emerald would take it, but she seemed to listen to the words for what they meant.
"Alright. Guess, we're in business."
.
X
.
The night before Yang left for her Semblance Trial, Emerald visited her dreams again. Both of them having a walk through a memory of Patch.
"Do we have to talk here every single time?" Yang complained. "It's kind of creepy to carry conversations in my head."
"Well, it's creepy being in your head, but do you hear me complaining about it?" Emerald replied. "The school's walls have eyes, and ears, and bullshit detectors. This is the only guaranteed safe way to communicate."
"Sure we shouldn't tell the others?"
"Cards close to the vest, Yang. Mercury can't act for shit, and who knows how Neo will take the whole thing. She's too unpredictable. This stays between you and me."
"Alright," Yang consented. "So, I set a meet with my mom. I should have a good idea about my Semblance before the big fight."
"Better hurry. Merc's family's keeping us on a tight leash. If we don't get ahead of this thing, we'll be the ones pushing daisies. Maybe we should get Raven's help after all."
"From what you told me, we need to handle this ourselves. We bring my mom in, and maybe they back off, but it'll be the same thing that happened with Cinder," Yang refuted. "They'll just come again when she's not around. The only thing we can do is jump them, and leave a scar to remember us by. It's the Team ENMY way, right?"
"True that. I didn't really want to rely on anyone outside the four of us, anyway. See you when you get back."
"Not gonna wish me luck?"
"Luck is for the dumb and the too dumb to cheat."
"Thanks for the support, Em."
"Whatever, lion queen. Just make sure our fight keeps looking authentic."
.
X
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Yang had just returned to Haven Academy and parted ways with her mother, when she received a call from Emerald.
"Yang. Some stuff's come up. We won't be back for a couple nights. Caught a lead on Cinder and we're following it."
Alright… So, it's on.
Yang cleared her throat and tried to reply as naturally as she could.
"I can come along. You know, I'd do anything to help—"
"No. We don't need you. Just stay home, like a good little girl."
"Em, I know things have been rough between us, but—"
"You really wanna help?" Emerald voiced angrily. "Stay out of our way."
The line went dead, and Yang sighed.
Later on, she would sneak aboard the airship her team flew to the Tower, taking care to hide near the Dust Reactor to mask any sort of energy signature she might emit. Though, her diminished energy levels following her failed Semblance Trial already made her near undetectable.
Along the way, she filled Emerald in on the details of her new Semblance and together, outlined a plan.
.
X
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While her teammates engaged Qrow and Team RNJR in the Tower of Tamonten, Yang was secretly surveying the landscape from above. An ear kept to their comms, she tracked the progression of the fight.
From her perspective, the battle was proceeding as planned, despite a few hiccups. But the situation took a drastic turn once Qrow displayed a number of Ozpin's abilities.
"—I hate Plan Bs," she heard Emerald voice over the radio.
It may have sounded like an offhand comment, but it was actually a signal to Yang.
Things are going that bad, we need to use Blindside?
In the wake of her inner thoughts, Yang's scroll rang. She saw the caller was Raven.
"Mom?"
"Yang. Remember when I told you to be ready for my call because it would be important? I'm sending you my location. Get here as soon as you can. It's important."
"…Actually, I'm a little busy—Okay. She hung up. Sorry, mom. One crisis at a time."
At that point, Yang no longer needed to remain hidden. Emerald blowing the whistle meant the team wouldn't be able to manage without her.
So, Yang steered the vessel. A direct collision course was set for the suspended pagoda.
Once the autopilot was engaged, she ran below deck to brace for impact.
A few moments later, the airship smashed into the top of the Tower. The bow cracked open, allowing her to exit the front seamlessly.
Upon her arrival, she searched for the highest priority target. A find that was made easy, when the person in question, limped from the rubble himself.
"Hey, old man."
Yang measured how heavily wounded he was. She needed to put a quick exclamation point to this while she had the chance. Before her Uncle made use of some newfound ability or Jaune had a chance to heal him.
She activated her Semblance and dove inside his guard. Her elbow struck Qrow's chest, like a spear. Then, comboed the attack by grabbing him, and transitioning into a vicious suplex.
The wrestling move crushed the Huntsman through a desk and into the ground. Yang could sense consciousness fading from him. No sign of defense whatsoever.
She could see the light in Qrow fluctuate with a clear gleam. It traced every weak point in his body. And the house for all his Aura, the jewel of his being—his heart pulsed with the mortal cracks of Life.
Yang cocked her fist back and held it aloft. Aura fed into the prosthetic so quickly, a numbing sensation spread her limb.
As Ember Celica's engines fired on all cylinders, Yang dealt the finishing blow to Qrow. A punch delivered straight to the heart, where the veins of Life gathered like a lightning rod. The resting place of his soul.
…
It was by far, the most ruthless act Yang ever committed.
But it came easily enough.
She was resolved.
Her nerves were cooler than she thought.
The rest of Team ENMY joined her from the bottom floor. Mercury and Neo gawked as though they were seeing a ghost, but Emerald paid them no mind.
Her confidant walked briskly to her side.
"Did you spot any sign of them?" Emerald whispered.
"No. Nothing," Yang subtly shook her head.
"Shit. Guess, we'll have to roll the dice on that part. How are you holding up?"
"Are you talking about my condition, or about me having to put my uncle down?"
"The former, obviously."
"You have my reading on your scroll, don't you? Like I said, using solely Aura for everything, without any Dust or Bane, is killing me."
"Yeah." Emerald checked her status. "Your levels took a nose dive."
"Just that one punch and I'm already not doing so hot. Don't know how many of those I have left."
"Alright, go energy efficient," Emerald ordered. "Save your haymaker for the bottom ninth. Make use of Merc and Neo when you can."
"Got it."
"—Yang…?"
They turned around to see the members of Team RNJR surfacing from the ruin. Ruby, looking on at what her sister had done with a pale expression. Qrow lying deathly still at their feet.
"Hey, Ruby!" Yang waved.
"This is another hallucination…You can't have…!"
"Still love your big sister? " she smirked with a mad light playing in her eyes.
"You can't…be…" Ruby strained to find signs of Emerald or Neo's Semblance. But she could only whimper, "It's not true. It can't be true!"
"…See for yourself."
Yang dug a foot under Qrow's lifeless body and kicked it over to them.
Ruby and Jaune caught him, immediately starting to checking him over. The glow of Jaune's healing engulfed the Huntsman and closed his wounds. Every bit of the boy's Dust and Aura went into the treatment, but no matter how much was restored, there was no denying the emptiness that rooted itself in Qrow.
They checked his pulse and breathing. They tried to shake him awake—but there was no response.
Nothing but deathly silence.
…
"—She really did it," Jaune's voice quivered. "She really killed him…"
He looked to Yang in disbelief, tears trailing his eyes. The girl that met his gaze was unrecognizable. A cold, crimson stare, lacking of any mercy.
This was not the Yang Jaune once knew. She was changed. For how or why, he couldn't possibly understand—but it chilled him to his core.
Just then, a rush of power sent shockwaves through the chamber.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ruby cried with endless grief in her heart.
The world began to bend and blind by silver light. It was an event similar to when Pyrrha was lost, but on a grander scale.
Everyone in the room was bound by the overwhelming pressure. If things continued as they were, the Tower would likely be frozen like its counterpart in Beacon. Fortunately, one person was able to break into action.
Yang zeroed in on where the cracks of light gathered, and pitched her fist with dead-eye accuracy.
Ruby's ability cut out as she clutched her chest in anguish. Falling to her side, she coughed violently, struggling to breathe. Yang's strike to her solar plexus completely shut her body down.
"Neo. Mercury. On your toes," Emerald reminded them. "Conserve your strength and back Yang up. Run the point, southpaw."
Yang pretended not to see a floating scar, making its way towards her flank.
With a quick motion, she bent down to grab a rock, and flung it.
"Merc," Yang alerted.
The rock bounced off the invisible person's chest, landing at their feet. With their position marked, Mercury sent a flying kick at the figure's exact location.
Ren reappeared and summoned a barrier to defend himself. The kick was stopped before inflicting any harm, but while he was distracted, Yang circled to his back.
He switched the position of his barrier to block the new enemy. Unfortunately, he was already caught in the middle of a familiar bully tactic favorited by Team ENMY's signature hard-hitters.
Mercury launched a flurry of kicks from one side. Yang peppered jabs from the other. And before Ren could mount any more resistance, he was repeatedly being knocked back and forth between the combo—eventually, being pummeled into unconsciousness.
Jaune and Nora took action, but at that point, the swings of their weapons were a hollow threat. Their edge and fighting spirits were absent in every motion.
Yang almost felt sorry for them…
Almost.
She performed an uncharacteristic take-down, tackling Nora by the midsection. A feat performed in midmotion of her opponent's wind up. Yang postured on Nora's torso and pinned her limbs.
"—Five Finger Fillet," Emerald gave the callous order.
Neo appeared above the grounded pair, rapidly stabbing millimeters close of Yang's body, but directly skewering Nora's. Unable to fight back, Nora was the next to be neutralized.
Mercury confronted the last opponent standing.
He vaulted over Jaune's shield and delivered a downward axe kick. The steel of his heel knocked the boy's head into the stone. And then, a foot stomp came after for good measure, sinking his opponent's skull deeper into the floor.
Silence descended.
Team ENMY took in the room, and found no one else to fight. They finally attained victory in their match against Qrow and Team RNJR.
It was one gotten by dirty and cruel means, and there was nothing proud to take from it.
But Team ENMY was never one to let something so menial bother them before.
A win was a win.
Results over means, any day.
…
Suddenly, something spiked Yang's senses from the outside. Her Semblance showed her a burst of Life like a lightning bolt going off in the distance.
"HIT THE FLOOR!" she bellowed.
Emerald, Mercury, and Neo immediately dropped prone.
Yang's Ember Celica hummed with power and she felt it gulp her Aura like a thirsty beast. But it was a necessary price.
Something was inbound. Something fast.
Her feet dug into the fractured stone. The balls of her front foot pivoted so hard, it sent new cracks through the floor.
"HAAAHHHH!"
Just then, the blur of some mysterious projectile burst through the wall like a battering ram.
Yang rotated her hips, and her knuckles met the point of what appeared to be a silver, carbon fiber arrow. Its length almost matching her full height.
She grit her teeth and put more strength into her fist. Yang's hair blazed, and the arrow splintered down the middle. Sediment dust kicked up from the resulting contest.
Just when they thought it was over, a second arrow came streaming their way. This one with gold and black flames.
Yang tracked its trajectory and dove for cover.
The arrow singed her shoulder and pierced a burning hole right through the building. Contrary to the projectile's width, it caused damage equal to that of a mortar shell.
"Bastards!" Emerald cursed, brushing the gravel from her head.
"I know this Semblance," Mercury muttered.
"Yeah, no shit. Your relatives are real assholes!" She began shouting to their teammate at another cover," Neo! Get an eye on those pricks!"
Neo conjured mirrors in the distance, past the swirling storm wall. Her sight extended towards the source of the attacks.
"But why would…" Mercury muttered in confusion, before the answer donned him. "Those mother—! They want to take credit for dusting Qrow! This was their plan all along!"
"Tone it, Merc. But I know what you mean," Emerald sympathized. "Killing us is one thing, but stealing our credit? That's worse."
"—How the hell is that worse?!" Yang shouted from her cover.
"I get they have to tie up loose-ends. That's just business. But claiming ownership over my handiwork? That's offensive."
"No honor among assassins, huh? Well, I'll be sure to give them your complaints, before I shove my fists down their throats. 'From Emerald. With love!'"
"Aw. You read my mind. Neo? Tell me, you've got eyes."
Neo gave a confirming nod.
"Okay, Merc. NOW, you can blow your load!"
Mercury stared at his partner.
"Is this why you blue-balled me before?"
"Yeah. Still mad?"
"I get to spend my last burn on my asshole cousins? Nah, we're square."
Another two arrows flew past and left titanic craters. The pagoda's infrastructure would not last under much more.
"Hey, give me a lift?" Yang held out an arm to Mercury.
The young man grasped it with a debonair smile.
"—Neo!" Emerald called. "Send them down!"
Neo pushed her Semblance to its breaking point. Only the bare minimum of her energies would be left.
A mirror summoned from the shattered pieces of glass everywhere, formed before Mercury and Yang like a crystal gate.
They crashed through, and were instantly transported among the clouds.
A small-scale hovercraft tread the air below. Its girth about the same as a skiff. But where it lacked in size, the owners tried to make up for in gaudy ornate decorations.
The only reason Yang hadn't spotted it earlier, was due to how incredibly far they were from the actual Tower.
On its deck, positioned two individuals. One in fancy gold armor, and the other in blue. The similar designs gave off the impression they were a matching set. And along with their outfits, were youthful steel masks adorned by each of them.
"Only Apollo and Diana," Mercury sneered. "Figures king douchebag didn't have the stones to come himself."
"They look like pure range types," Yang observed the assassins armed with bows and arrows, but not much else.
"Yeah! I'm gonna enjoy beating the crap out of them up close! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! HAHAHA!"
With a vengeance, Mercury activated his Semblance.
The Talarion Strider unfurled its wings once more and gathered winds to its cause. The engines powered, and silver trails danced to its howl. For Mercury, there was no moment more perfect.
Yang fell through the sky alongside him, prepared to do her part, and deliver Team ENMY's personal message.
.
X
.
Blake tasted the bitter iron in her mouth.
She wiped her lips and tightened the straps binding the young teenager.
The study was a mess, littered with members of the Azure Household. Their leader, caught between the rug and Blake's shoe.
"He was stronger than the intel said," Blake commented to the other two standing in the room.
"For you… maybe," Raven flicked her sword to shed the blood from it. There was barely a scratch on her armor. "Take Azure back to Salem and get yourself bandaged up. Adam and I will take care of the rest."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Good work today, Blake."
"Thank you." Blake paused a moment. "It's… good to see you again, Raven."
"Hmph, likewise," the woman revealed the smallest of smiles beneath her helmet.
Blake bit a piece of Bane to enter her shadow form. And in the next moment, she whisked Azure and herself away to Spriggan. A tense silence followed her departure.
"Without Blake—" Adam started.
"We cannot capture the other targets. I am aware."
"So, why send her back?"
"Because we were never supposed to capture them. Azure is different. He doesn't deserve a death sentence…" Raven stared into the red reflection of her blade. "But the other two are fated for much worse."
"Those weren't Salem's orders."
"She's given me full authority regarding the matter. If you don't like it, then I'll complete the rest of the mission myself. It might be easier without having to babysit a whining pup."
"…"
"The choice is yours."
Raven cut open a portal and strode through it. Adam experienced some second thoughts before he followed.
The former master and apprentice arrived in a quiet meeting room. Only one figure was present, sitting at the head of the table. A woman wearing a lavish red gown and heavy gold bracelets that chimed with a pleasant ring.
"I knew this day would come," Vermillion spoke evenly. "The moment you returned, I knew you wouldn't be able to put yourself above revenge. Argent was such a fool for trusting you," she shook her head. "Branwens…"
The last word dripped with contempt.
"You're nothing but warmongering savages."
In the face of the woman's ire, Raven grinned.
"Words that come with a lot of credibility. Especially, from a child murderer."
"…I did what was best for our Kingdom," Vermillion answered. "Your family was a blight on everything and everyone you touched. Yes, I stained my hands with the blood of your cousins. But it doesn't compare to the corpses they would have made if they lived."
"Sound pretty sure of yourself, considering some never even learned to walk, much less hold a weapon."
"Oh, but I am sure. Or do you and your brother walk the path of pacifists? If so, I've been duly misinformed."
"You have a point there," Raven shrugged. "Congratulations. You had a legitimate excuse to slaughter unarmed children."
The blood-red samurai made her way to the head of the table, dragging her sword across the mahogany wood surface.
"Any last words? You self-righteous, shit-eating, cunt."
Vermillion pushed her chair back, and stood.
"I wish your daughter the best of luck."
"…"
Raven thought to answer, but held her words back. She instead, glanced at Adam.
"Go outside and make sure no one interferes."
"This bitch is mine, and mine alone."
.
X
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(Two Chapter Release today)