Mercury extended the leg outwards and then brought it back in, coiling the synthetic wiring that substituted as muscles as his heel met the back of what actual muscle was left at the height of his thigh. The forcibly retired killer hummed in recognition of the legs characteristics and whirled on the little girl in red waiting with bated breath over his analysis.
"It works well, fits my height and it seems fairly durable with appropriate upkeep" he confirmed, keeping up his stoic façade even as a smirk threatened to erupt onto his features at the sight of the reaper visibly restraining the act of jumping in joy. "However..." let it never be said that Mercury was not an honest man when it came to the perfection that was his legs and most useful weapons "Whilst they seem efficient in the ways that I said. That applies for general prosthetics used in far more casual manners than i'd like" he saw the girl begin to deflate and felt his back gaining some new heated holes in it "B-but these are perfect for the time being!" he reassured quickly, managing to salvage the situation if the now breathable air was any implication, having been suffocating from the murderous intent but a second ago.
"You know Rubes is doing this out of the kindness of her heart" the silver-haired renegade sent Yang Xiao Long a glance over his shoulder.
The girl was gorgeous by anybody's definition. Sleek and curvy body in all the right places, well-endowed even now after having just about turned 17. Didn't help that she had a gorgeously fiery blonde mane of hair (that he had learnt took hours upon hours to maintain) and a perfectly unblemished face much like her younger sister.
And those lilac eyes man...
It was for the best that Mercury; whilst one who may seem like a playboy pretty-boy from first glance (since with a bit of clean up he was nothing to scoff at) was nothing like that unless his 'work' required it of him. He was an actor and had all of his emotions held under lock and key. Shame that he had only recently recalled that fact. He could've done with it back when he nigh broke down in front of Tai and Qrow.
"I feel like you don't have much room to argue under these circumstances" and now he was brought back to the real world where the blonde bombshell had slowly approached him with hands on hips and eyes set in a slight frown. "Maybe you should be a bit more grateful at having the ability to walk on level footing again?" she moved her arms behind her head and interlocked her fingers, looking almost indifferent to his existence.
He scoffed inwardly at that. First time she'd seen him had been the day after he'd arrived since she'd stayed out at a friends place. That was back when he was a leg down and still grimy and unkempt, messy stubble and greasy hair aplenty. Naturally a girl who spent so much time perfecting her appearance was disgusted by him at first sight and had quickly turned her nose up at him.
That wasn't to say she was a bad person though. She was clearly as kind as her father and sister.
Well... maybe not to Ruby's level since that girl was a saint with the weapon of a demon.
Yang's second reaction to him was vastly different to the first. After Tai had got him showered and cleaned he had him sent to the local barber and the guy did what he did best and did wonders for his looks he found. Shorter and spikier than he was used to but he still liked it; preferred it even. Returning home and shaving off the rest of the unwanted facial hair with the razor he had managed to get with Taiyang's money (bless that man because Mercury couldn't see himself doing it) and he had looked far better than he had remembered.
And 'Yang likey' in her own words. Shame that put a little strain between him and Tai, something he would never admit bugged him since that guy had been Merc's favourite for a while now if not just because he was still afraid of Qrow recognising him at any moment. It's just that the lad forgot all about those worries when he was with either of the Hunters just because they made such good company, both going above and beyond in their own ways to keep him comfortable.
If Merc didn't know any better then he'd have assumed both saw a son in him, having been surrounded by their daughters/nieces for as long back as they can recall.
He could appreciate that it must've been nice to have a 'son' to relate with.
Speaking of Qrow, it had been that same dusty old drunkard who had pointed out that despite Mercury's concealing his abilities and the fact that they had naturally rusted a little over time from lack of action and mobility, it was still apparent that the speeding kick boxer had some combat knowledge ingrained in him even now.
That had brought questions from all parties about whether he had been training to be a hunter or anything like that. He diverted all accusations and managed to convince them all that his dad had just been a martial artist and he had naturally picked some stuff up from instilled discipline. Convince all except Qrow anyway. That look was unimpressed at best and piercing at honest.
Mercury was just glad that he'd been careful enough for his aura not to be discovered by any of them now that he'd had enough R&R for it to have recovered to functional capacity.
In fact he'd be lying if he didn't admit that it had felt stronger than usual lately, what that could imply he didn't know since it required further investigation.
"I'm not ungrateful" he countered easily, having learnt that whilst the girl appreciated his looks, she didn't at all appreciate his aloof personality, nor how honest he was with his opinion on the things that mattered like his god damn legs. "I'm just giving my honest opinion, it is what I was asked for after all" Yang didn't seem to like that answer but he felt that he couldn't have given a reply that she would appreciate.
As she was about to make a scathing retort no doubt (and perhaps another proposition for him to be her punching bag) he was fortunately saved by little miss Red jumping in to play peacekeeper as always "He isn't wrong Yang. I need to know the pros and cons otherwise I won't know how to improve them any further" the blonde boxer went to say something but Ruby continued regardless "It isn't like a weapon sis, I can't test them out myself since he's the only person who knows what it means to have properly functioning prosthetics" and Yang realised that despite her desire to argue further if not just to mouth off at pretty-boy some more, it was simply useless since Ruby had in fact hit the nail right on the head.
Ruby smiled as she tilted her head "Besides, I won't stop until they're the best they could be, my pride as a smithy rides on this" she put her hands at her hips and stood confidently "It's not like Crescent Rose was a one-hit wonder Yang!" she declared with faux arrogance.
Both Yang and Mercury smiled at that and it bugged the both of them once they realised, the blonde huffing and looking in the opposite direction stubbornly whilst he simply rolled his eyes in response.
"Though I am curious" they both perked up at that "Why is it that you want them to be more and more durable?" she awkwardly waved her hands around at the focus she was now receiving "I mean I understand that they're your legs and you'd want the best you can get for them but you said you didn't want to go near combat training again right?"
Ah, he had said something like that to divert the focus on that. Was tired of it through some reason or another, wanted to take it easy and thus the trust was gained. Ruby and the Xiao-Long's believed him but he knew Qrow would eventually confront him on that.
His eyes were too telling on what he knew.
Or maybe he did that intentionally. Mercury still didn't see any recognition in them but he still couldn't shake the feeling that it was there.
"I like to keep fit so it'd be preferable for them to be able to sustain through running and sprinting without wearing too quick" it was a part-truth, he was a speed fighter with immense power so he'd need the best legs to follow through on that. He just had to hope the girl had ego enough to make something that could go above and beyond simple running.
Maybe enough torque to kick through a Deathstalker's shell. Yeah, that'd be nice.
Ruby hummed in thought and went back to working on some blueprints at that tidbit, more than likely implementing different alloys and augmentations to the design. She was good like that; a busy bee with incredible ability and work ethic.
He could respect that.
"I'd like to talk about that actually" came from the blonder of the two sisters, her face scrutinising once more.
He had an idea what was coming and it turned out he was spot on "For somebody who just seems to stick to cardio training you're quite well built" she tapped her knuckles against his bicep and made a whistling noise "For somebody who's been working on busted legs for nearly three months, you're still quite toned."
She was good at connecting the dots, this one. Hell, he suspected Ruby was too but Yang was just intrusive enough to question it aloud unlike the young introvert. So different they were.
He'd say that she was the Yang to Ruby's Yin but he knew the blonde would enjoy that too much.
And for what she was implying she had no idea. Mercury was muscular even now, skinny and a little malnourished but high on the road to recovery with how generous Tai was being with his portions, seemingly creating every meal to provide what the boy was most requiring.
Honestly, Oum bless that man.
But still, he was a skeleton compared to what he had been before. He had a body he was proud of before but now it was just skinny to the point that he still seemed muscular simply because his muscles protruded against so little flesh. He was easily a couple dozen pounds down now and he needed to work that back in.
Though Yang had still impressed him, knowing that even during his intermission months of inactivity he had still managed to retain bits and pieces of his former physique, a kind of body that very few could boast outside of the sisters preferred profession.
"I try to work all around. My father was a strict man and even now his teachings stick with me; a healthy body is the key to a healthy life". She still seemed wary but she at least bought it for the timebeing, her retorts dying on her tongue just to avoid further confrontation in front of her sister.
"Mercury could you come look at this please?" he bought little Red's ticket out and booked it over there, enjoying the ability to walk like a human being once again. "What do you think of these?" and honestly he was once more amazed by the details the girl fit onto one page in so little time. The legs were lightweight, lighter than he was used to with his combat legs but still had a more durable frame to them; a mix of different alloys just to keep the frame sturdy.
But Mercury had something in mind so he'd have to convince her to implement his preferred changes without letting her know the true reasoning behind them.
"Do you mind?" he asked, taking her pencil and pressing it to the paper, only beginning to sketch over it once Ruby gave the affirmative.
He began to draw further shelling around the legs; a more durable alloy similar to the one he was used to just with further added weight, barely but still there. "With this kind of shell frame around your design it could add to the authenticity of them appearing like actual legs when they're covered" because he didn't exactly want to broadcast the fact he was crippled with the thin design these had, having indents and hollow sections where clothing would dip to make them seem unnatural. She would buy that this was because he wanted to conceal his debilitations just to spare him having people pointing and talking about the most unusual thing in the vicinity, naturally being his inability to walk without prosthetics.
She wanted to spare him the awkwardness of those kinds of confrontations but that was all secondary to him. Primarily, he wanted more weight to the legs to add more power to his kicks. He just needed to use these as inbuilt weights and eventually he could best even his old strength.
It was ambitious but he was a determined man now that he had a sort of vengeance to fulfil.
"Alright, i'll begin to implement these now" she chirped, scurrying away quickly to get to work on them.
Now he just had to come up with a way to build in his combat greaves. He already missed the power behind those special dust rounds.
"So you're having a frame made out of an alloy more durable than the actual skeleton of the prosthetics?" and he had almost forgotten that the yellow dragon was there, a poor mistake on his part.
He just needed to come up with further excuse for that.
"I'd prefer to keep the inner workings protect-"
"Ember Celica are primarily made with that same alloy" she accused, more confident now that her sister had left them to their bickering. "That's top combat class stuff. It's made to survive impact after impact without even denting, there's a reason I used it for my gauntlets. You know, those gauntlets I use to beat the tar out of the Grimm; Grimm with their impossibly solid bone armour?" she was burying him in a hole here and it wouldn't help that she didn't at all trust him like the others did. She was more difficult to sway even if she didn't act on them usually.
He could otherwise convince Ruby and Taiyang. He could only push off the inevitable with Yang.
Qrow was an unknown factor from the start, he knew more than he let on but Mercury had yet to learn just how much more that was exactly.
"You're planning to use these legs for something more than running aren't you?" and there it was, the accusation she'd been leading up to all this time.
"My old legs were weaker than the ones i'm having made now; powerful, very much so" he gave her a look "But they wore off when I couldn't afford to maintain them. How often do you have to maintain Ember Celica?" Yang was thrown by that one. She rarely performed maintenance at all, that being more of Ruby's thing to do with Crescent Rose. Ember Celica rarely needed it after all, it was comprised of alloys that aged and reacted at minimal levels.
And like that she realised what he was implying "So you're just trying to avoid the complications of upkeep if you're ever put in such a situation like that again?" she asked to which he chuckled.
"Looks like your head is good for more than just that mane of yours" and like that her expression of understanding went right back to glaring "Are you this aggressive with everybody? Tai implied that you were a bit of a social butterfly"
She scoffed and roughly brushed her shoulder against his "I liked you way more before you ever opened your mouth" and like that Mercury felt comfortable with the girl again.
It just pained him to know that the reason for that was because he interacted with her just like he used to with Emerald, the closest thing to a 'friend' he could remember having in literally forever "I could tell, you were too busy ogling me" and he got a fierce glare back at that, something that helped him distract himself from his prior discomfort "'Yang likey' huh?" he smirked, quickly swerving as a stray round peppered the wall behind him before she could even stop herself.
Her eyes widened and then narrowed "Good reflexes" and like that the seed of doubt grew even further.
He grit his teeth "Shit..." because how often did a cripple who had just gotten his legs back dodge a round moving at a speed most people couldn't even visibly comprehend without filming and playing it back in slow motion?
Though to be fair, she had taken a pretty risky gamble there even if unintended. For all she knew he was a civilian with no aura and subpar skills in combat - martial arts at that and never having even seen a gun before.
If he had been that he'd have been over that wall behind him right now.
She was lucky, oh so lucky.
"She doesn't realise what she just managed to avoid" and there was the 'Dusty old Qrow' again, always there at the worst times without alerting even his innate sense of presence.
"She nearly killed me" and then the man chuckles, bringing a chuckle from Mercury's lips too.
"Not what I meant" the laughter stopped there and the room becamely silent.
"Then what did you mean?"
"You know what I mean" that Mercury could give the girl the best fight she'd ever gotten even in his current state; the wrong legs, without his real weapons and a month or so out of practice.
"You'll have to be more specific" He felt the mans hand find his shoulder, not even having heard him touch the floor once on his way over here even when straining his ears whilst still facing in the opposite direction to the man.
"You know how to fight" he said simply "You've got a fighters body and stance, no matter how much time passes by with you acting otherwise. You slouch, you laze and you act ignorant to it all but I can still see it there kid" Mercury gulped quietly at that, inaudible but he currently felt so vulnerable that he just knew that Qrow picked up on even that.
"I told you that my da-"
"Is more than you let on" he concluded for him "You're out of practice and I still think you could take the girls on head to head if you were just given the legs to withstand the punishment" he admitted honestly to which Mercury drew a blank. Just where was he going with this?
He heard the man unscrew his hip flask and take a hearty swig "You want some?"
"I'm underage" he countered instantly, another deep chuckle emerging from the other at that
"Only just" and Mercury just clenched and unclenched his hands at that, any excuse to work out some of this nervousness, stacking uncontrollably with every added word.
"I'm 17"
"You're at least 19" Mercury now twisted and sent a fierce glare back, raging infernos in those pools of steely grey. The jig was up and the charade was over "And what brought you to that conclusion?"
The man chuckled "A background check with some good connections" he idly leant against the table next to them both, the tension so thick in the air but only affecting the younger of the two if Qrow's playful demeanour was anything to go by "You're Marcus' kid" and Mercury didn't even try to dispute the facts at this point, the situation was too far gone "Found dead about half a year or so back with blood traces nearby that were unrecognised anywhere" he prodded further "Though there were remnants of the man himself with a smaller, younger clone of himself who didn't belong on any records, just a diary with some excerpts dating back to said child's inception" Qrow's eyes steeled "Marcus was a killer; damn good at what he did. And yet you of his kin, hardly half his age managed to best and then kill the guy" was this leading up to that reveal Mercury had predicted would come? Whatever contacts this guy had, nobody knew who he was other than his father and prior associates, neither of which could give him up at this point.
"So what if I did?" he was ready to fight now, even knowing that he was up against somebody who remained a titan amongst the world of man. Qrow was beyond anything he had come up against before; maybe even worse than Cinder since he'd been enough to have her retreat even with the advantage of numbers whilst he had the liability of a casualty in the form of the Fall Maiden.
"I'd suggest you continue to trek onwards" and like that the tension broke, Mercury almost having a heart attack as he grasped his chest at his lack of breath from holding it unknowingly. "You're the best I've ever seen at your age and I think you'll only improve" his eyes were colder than they should've been saying this "An old friend of mine would ask for your favourite Fairy Tale and tell you that anything is possible before having you imagine your truest potential under his guidance" he sighed "I'm not him but I can at least help you get there"
Wait, what was Mercury hearing right now exactly?
"Mercury, how would you like to become my apprentice?"
Alrighty! A little lack of action this chapter but it's leading up to it.
Mercury is still in his weakened state but even in canon it's hinted that Mercury is stronger than he lets on, plus I feel he's older than the rest of the students are if not just because I feel it'd be more interesting for him to be. But I honestly can't shake the feeling that him and Emerald are actually their elders even if just barely.
Last chapter will be more interesting action and development-wise so I hope you'll look forward to that.
Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think through reviews if you have the time and favourite/follow if you want to stick around for more! Thanks to all of those who already have, it's a lot of the reason i'm already throwing another chapter out so just know that they do get the gears turning which is understandable since it's nice to know your work is appreciated.
Look forward to more soon-ish!
Au Revoir for now Readers ^^
