Blake was forced to release Torchwick as she dodged a knife thrown through the shattering window. She activated Gambol Shroud's pistol function as she stabilized her footing, quickly shifting to shoot back at the hooded thug diving in through the window. After a quick salvo, that particular attacker fell in an unconscious heap beneath the window through which he'd entered, and Blake was free to shift her focus in time to block a sword stroke from behind and counter with the honed sheath of her weapon.

Dammit! How many of them came?

Taking a quick survey of the interior of the warehouse in a brief moment of reprieve, Blake noted that Cardin and Russell were holding their own for the moment, but very much in danger of being surrounded. Three White Fang regulars had moved on Mina, a further three were headed Blake's way, and then there was Roman… For his part, the smug crime lord was leisurely swaggering over to retrieve his cane. Unfortunately, Blake was not in a position to stop him at the present.

You'll have to worry about him later… She told herself, But first, you've got to deal with these three…

Blake used her semblance to get behind the nearest opponent and knocked him to the floor with three successive strikes before rounding on the next assailant, slamming him in the stomach with the follow-through from the last strike she'd used on the first man. As the third attacker raised his rifle to take aim at her though, Blake used her semblance again to position herself behind him, causing the volley he'd meant for her to knock his comrade to the floor, leaving the shooter himself wide open.

Mina took a knee to avoid a sword thrust, and swept the swordsman's feet from under him before rounding on him as she returned to a standing position, knocking him out with a stake to his temple, his life spared only by his aura, You will have to do better than that…

She pivoted about as another faceless enemy tried to level a pistol at her, and from there she drew out two strands of the Sanguine Heart's wire to garrote him, taking care to ensure that her victim was always between her and the next threat. After the few moments it took for oxygen deprivation to render the man unconscious, Mina lunged forward into a diving roll at the hesitating third attacker, and slamming her elbow into his solar-plexus and her free palm under his chin, sent him reeling. From there it was child's play to pluck the weapon from his slackened grip and finish him with a blow to the back of the head.

Mina broadened the reach of her Semblance to take stock of the situation, Dearest has things in hand… Mr. Winchester and Mr. Thrush can hold out… More White Fang imminent… but Mr. Torchwick poses the greatest threat…

Unfortunately though, the White Fang reinforcements arrived as Mina was about to move against Torchwick. Perhaps it was a natural prejudice for them to move against Cardin and Russell first, but either way Mr. Winchester and Mr. Thrush swiftly found themselves increasingly beset by the majority of the White Fang troops, and Mina had to call off her attack on Torchwick before she'd had the chance to begin it in order to help.

Using a stake at the end of her wires as a weight, Mina slung a lined about the nearest attacker's sword arm and yanked him off balance. Then, dashing forward, she swiftly disarmed him and knocked him on his back by slamming the pommel of his own weapon into his stomach, and proceeded to throw the sword at the next target. Mina could feel her mood progressively souring though, as all that shouting and clattering in a relatively confined space was nothing short of an assault on her ears, but it couldn't be helped; she would just have to suffer through the headache later, and take it out on the enemy now.

Who is to be next?

Noting that one of the thugs was charging, sword in hand, at Mr. Thrush, Mina promptly arrived at her decision and teased out an appropriate length of wire. Next, quickly positioning herself behind him, Mina looped the wire over his head and clotheslined him, causing him to choke, stumble, and fall backwards in such a manner that Mina could knock him out with a quick blow under the chin as he fell. Mina was starting to draw attention away from Russell and Cardin now and a few of their attacker's headed Mina's way, figuring their comrades could handle the humans. Mina counted two Katana, a rifle, and a pistol wielder among them. As they closed in on her, Mina reached into the pouch at her waist, quickly drawing out and then throwing a smoke bomb.

A faintly sweet smell permeated as the artificial smoke erupted from the device, shrouding the immediate area in a dense haze through which neither human nor Faunus could see, or smell, for that matter. For her part, Mina relied on neither of these senses, and so rather than leveling the playing field, so to speak, the resultant disarray was wholly in her favor, and she intended to take advantage.

Her first move was against the disoriented pistol wielder, grabbing the wrist in which he held his weapon, she forcefully twisted until he dropped it. Catching the weapon with her other hand, she whirled to slam the butt of the gun into his temple before casting it away. Her foe now off balance, Mina pivoted, reaching back over her shoulder to grab him by the back of his collar before stepping forward and heaving him into a throw. The now disarmed opponent collided hard with the nearby rifleman, still struggling for a target in the dense smoke, and both collapsed, falling hard to the floor, neither getting back up.

Thank you Miss Nikos…

The two remaining swordsmen were swinging madly, any and all discipline forgotten, as they frantically tried to strike a blow in the wrong direction, and Mina had to stifle a laugh. She inserted a stake into one of the loops at the end of a spool of her wire, and using the metal driving spike as a weight, she flung the line in an arc, catching about the necks of first one, then the other hapless attackers before swinging back for her to catch it. Between aura and the light body armor that her targets wore, the line was not about to slit their throats, and that was good; Dearest preferred to fight clean, and Mina wasn't looking to kill them anyway. Instead, she crossed the two ends of the wire and pulled, hard. Both targets toppled backward, knocking skulls together before crumpling in an unconscious pile as Mina withdrew the line and extend her semblance to take stock of the situation once more.

Mr. Thrush and Mr. Winchester are doing surprisingly well…

The two members of Team CRDL indeed worked surprisingly well together. As cumbersome as Cardin's mace seemed, it hit hard, and if it didn't knock a target out with the first hit, Russell was there to make sure that no one got in the way while Cardin finished the job. Though perhaps not as fast as Blake, Russell was quick nonetheless, and good enough to at least keep the various attackers at bay whilst Cardin put them down one by one and occasionally in pairs. In any event, though still outnumbered, the ratio looked more favorable by the minute.

Blake on the other hand, was gaining no ground against Mr. Torchwick. For all the man's arrogance and reputed preference for the finer things in life, no matter who he had to steal them from, Roman Torchwick was a surprisingly capable fighter. It was ironic, really, all these white fang called to secure the place and yet Roman himself was still the biggest threat in the room, keeping Blake at bay with relative ease, even if he seldom got a blow of his own in edgewise either.

Very well then…

Mina slid another stake home into the loops of the Sanguine Heart, hurling first one, then the other of the two stakes in her hands Torchwick's way in quick succession. He stumbled with the impact of the first weapon, but managed to react quickly enough to bat the second aside with his cane, and then stepped back to fire at Blake, forcing her to evade rather than attempt the exploit the opening. Mina moved in to press the attack though, reeling in the wire as she went until little over a yard was left of each, whereupon she swung her arms in an arc and bludgeoned Torchwick with the stakes at the end of the lines like a pair of light flails, and Torchwick staggered.

"Thanks Mina," Blake acknowledged the aid gratefully as she came up beside Mina, "That was kind of a tight spot-,"

Before Blake could finish though, another shrieking blast issued from Torchwick's cane, forcing them both to dodge in either direction, "Sorry ladies, but threesomes really aren't my thing," he said with dry smugness, "I don't much like sharing,"

"Shut up you bastard!"

But he ignored Blake, instead shooting Mina a menacing look, "You know, Blue Eyes, they tell me that you have very sharp ears…" he fished a small device out of his pocket, "Let's find out…"

A small cylindrical object clattered to the floor at Mina's feet as Roman turned around and blocked his ears, "Mina! Look out!"

An explosive?

Before Mina could react though, the device detonated, and everything was gone.

Blake couldn't decide what had been worse, the blinding white flash or the earsplitting noise, and was in no state of mind to decide as her vision slowly returned. Dimly she could still hear Cardin and Russell shouting somewhere behind her, and she thought she heard their footsteps heading her way, but she wasn't sure. Then she was struck heavily in the ribs, sending her to the ground. She heard a dull echo of Torchwick' voice saying something cocky no doubt, but it presently remained unintelligible. When she saw that cane aimed down at her again though, there was no time for thought.

She instinctively used her semblance to generate an illusory copy of herself to distract the crime lord, buying herself the precious seconds she needed to roll away and get back to her feet. Her ribs were sore where Torchwick had hit her, but that would have to wait, She had other priorities at the moment…

Where's… Oh God no…

Mina was on her knees, doubled over, hands desperately trying to cover her ears as her agonized tears pooled on the concrete floor. Loud noise was the one thing Mina couldn't handle; her ears were too sensitive, and she'd not had the chance to block her ears. Blake could already feel the onset of a headache from the detonation of the flash-bang, but she couldn't even imagine what Mina must be going though.

"Damn…" Roman chuckled wickedly, "I didn't think it would be that easy," He spared a scornful glance for Mina's whimpering form before turning back to Blake, "Now… where were we, Kitty-Cat?"

Blake shouted incoherently as she lunged at him again, but she wasn't quite fully recovered from the effects of Roman's little surprise, and thus she was repulsed with ease and sent reeling again. After staggering backward a few feet though, she found herself bracing against one of the Schnee shipping containers that filled the unlit portion of the warehouse.

Have to hide… draw him away from Mina… just get him into the dark where you have the advantage…

Sparing only a moment's glance to ensure that Roman was in fact pursuing her, albeit at a swaggering pace, Blake leapt and pulled herself on top of the container before collapsing Gambol Shroud into its pistol form to take a few hasty shots at Roman, all of them misses.

"What's the matter, Kitty-Cat?" Roman laughed, "I know you can do better than that…"

Don't let him get a rise out of you. Keep calm. Keep him away from Mina. Roman fired at her again, but Blake dropped down the other side of the container to avoid the shot, Now if he's smart, he won't fire again… If he's stupid… we're all dead…

She was counting on the assumption that Torchwick valued either his life or his contraband enough to refrain from using his incendiary rounds in cramped quarters surrounded by containers of volatile Dust. Whether or not reality would bear that assumption out remained to be seen…

"You know, Kitty-Cat," came Torchwick's smug voice from around a corner; it was time to move, "The best way to spoil your pleasures is to make them routine; haven't we already done this song and dance on the wharf?"

Blake risked pausing to take a few shots before disappearing around the next corner; fortunately there were no containers immediately behind Roman.

'Son of a… That wasn't very nice, Kitty,"

Blake's heart was racing, but she had to keep her concentration, If I can just buy Mina some time to recover… Dammit Cardin, if you can't handle things over there…

No, she couldn't think about that right now, and besides, who was she kidding? Mina wouldn't be able to fight after what Torchwick had done to her. Blake had to assume that Mina was out of commission for the time being,. This wasn't about saving Russell anymore; she had to get Mina out of here.

"Hey Torchwick,"

"Ah, she speaks!"

"Why are you working with the White Fang?" Anything to buy a little time to fully straighten out her wits.

From the other side of the container that she had her back pressed to, Blake could hear him tap his cane against the floor a few times in consideration before he finally spoke, "I'd love to let you in on it Kitty-Cat; truly I would, but you see, I like unnecessary risks about as much as I like sharing. Can't have you escaping and blabbing to your little friends now, can I?"

Blake used her semblance again, this time to provide Roman a red herring off to the left and on ground level while she climbed on top of the container again and leapt back over to towards the lit section of the warehouse as silently as possible. As she dropped to the floor and into the light, leaving Torchwick behind in the maze of crates for the moment, Blake watched as Cardin dealt with the last White Fang rank-and-file and heave a few ragged breaths before she approached him.

"Alright Cardin, we've got Russell, and Mina's in no shape to fight anymore. We're getting out. Now."

"Yeah… yeah alright," Cardin agreed between breaths, "Russell, help Belladonna get Carfax to her feet, and we'll head out that back door over there…" Russell nodded, and he and Blake were pulling Mina to her feet one arm slung over each of their shoulders as they guided her towards the door and Cardin smashed it down, "Locked," he explained in answer to Blake's disapproving look, "Oh, judge me later, now move your ass!"

Blake heaved a sigh, but complied, and soon the four of them were in a back alley making all possible haste to escape.

"Ya think he knows we left yet?" Cardin asked.

"Probably," Blake replied tersely, "but once he's sure, I don't think he'll follow; he'll probably be too busy arranging to have all that Dust moved before anyone comes to investigate,"

When they'd finally managed to get out of the warehouse district unmolested, Blake called for a breather, not so much for herself as to check on Mina, "Hey, can you hear me Mina?" She whispered as she helped her to sit on the stoop of an apartment building, "Are you alright?" She shot Cardin a withering look, "I swear to God, Cardin, if her hearing is damaged because of this, I am holding you responsible!"

Cardin gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

She took Mina's hands in hers, her anger set aside, "Mina please… answer me.. tell me you're okay…"

Through gasps of breath and still more tears, Mina managed to nod, "Y-yes…" she gasped, "I... I hear you… but please… please quiet… it hurts…"

Blake nodded, "Yeah, okay,"

"I really wanna thank you for coming back for me…" Russell whispered, "I'm sorry that I got you into this…"

Blake shook her head before whispering in return, "It… it doesn't look like there was any permanent harm done… And thank Cardin; we wouldn't have known if he didn't ask for our help."

Russell shot Cardin a quizzical look, "Seriously?"

Cardin rolled his eyes, "I wasn't about to get us both killed over this,"

Ignoring their exchange, Blake stroked Mina's hair back and gently brushed Mina's ears as she sniveled and continued to cry, continuing to do so until her scroll rang. Blake was reluctant to take her eyes off of Mina, but she had a feeling that she knew who was calling, and they needed her help, so she answered, "Hey Weiss-,"

"Don't you 'hey Weiss' me, Blake! Where have you been? And What did Cardin want? Are you-?"

"Weiss, please just listen, I'll explain later-,"

"Are you guys okay?" the face of a concerned Ruby appeared on the screen, still partially out of shot, "It's past midnight!"

"Yeah," It was Yang now from somewhere out of view on the other end of the call, "If you wanted some more alone time-,"

"No," Blake said flatly, waiting for silence before she continued, "we're in Vale and Mina is… she's kind of hurt…"

"Hurt? Hurt how?" Weiss demanded, "What have you been up to?"

"I said I'll explain later," Blake repeated as patiently as she was able, "But we're kind of stranded here until morning-,"

"Nonsense; head to Vale airship station and I'll have a charter trip back to Beacon waiting," Weiss cut in, "then you can explain all of this,"

Blake nodded, flushed with relief, "Alright, we'll be back soon…"

Author's Note: Okay, so I had originally planned to release this Monday, but it's been a busy weekend what with yard work and Mother's day, so I haven't had much time to write until just today. Plus, malays like this are much harder to write than one on one duels, especially if they are to remain interesting, both to read and to write. Still, I hope that it came out alright, and do feel free to leave your thoughts. As always, enjoy the rest of your day.