Volume CRBN!

by Dancesnapple

Four individuals. Four different people of different walks of life resulting in an adventure. Hopefully, a bond that can last. Team CRBN (carbon). Features: OC Main character, main team has two OCs alongside a lovable crime duo, and some family drama on all sides. Features a 'soundtrack' element for the fic. ENJOY! Story begins on third listed chapter. Very slow start.

7. 5 Alpha Male

Chapter Five: Alpha Male

The small town had, perhaps, a dozen buildings with crude barriers all around. More than half the structures were simple farm houses. A small supply shop with maybe two shelves of items. A few guard houses. However, the largest structure is raised from the ground on columns, a railway overhead leading out of the town.

Inside the down, beside the single dirt road, a dark car opens its door. Jared steps out, checking his scroll. 4:45 pm. Well, he's as prepared as he can be, rested, and only waiting. One last check of his holstered revolver, and he walks over to the station check in at ground level.

Half the townsfolk farmed for resources, while most the rest guarded the place, leaving only a select few to deal with him and any other travelers. Friendly bunch, but not exactly the most informed. Their happy go lucky life style might also attract less Grimm, making it more viable.

Jared nods to the man at the entry way, moving to the stairs. The metal stair way leads up to a platform atop the columns connected to the above train transit system.

He casts his gaze to the sign, a rather strange man giving a thumbs up with his slogan beside him. "Ladies, Gentlemen on Rollbikes and Rail Cars! Welcome to Rata Railways!"

Jared chuckles. Dorky and cheery is a way to to. Creative? Not at all. However, he stops half way up. He'd been casing the place for half an hour, prior. Not a soul had come or gone from the rail way.

At first, he'd expected a trap. Now, he's questioning whether this was gonna be a pointless. The hunter frowns as he reaches the top of the platform. Divided between two sides, the actual train rails split the platform down the middle.

He leans against a guard rail of the platform, looking around at the view. "Come on, Ozpin. You said you had someone..." The man muttered quietly.

A tap sounds. Material clicking against metal. Footsteps follow. Someone is walking up the platform. . .

Jared keeps his gaze ahead, keeping loose. The tapping sounds on the platform itself, a person walking nearby. The cop raises a brow, but remains quiet. Soon enough, the taps end right beside him. Jared's eye side glances.

Not a clear look. They're younger, given the youthful posture, yet... "Next train goes to Vale... supposed to get here any minute." Jared plastered a smile on with a jovial tone. He turns to see the man. Kid, he should say. A teenager.

The orange haired teen sighs. "Can't wait. Get out of hick country and back into the damned city." The hunter is surprised by the kid's smarmy grin. "Cities are so much more fun. And clean." the latter sentence comes out in a grumble.

As the teen grumbles, looking down at his sleeve and brushing off dirt, Jared drops the pretenses, snapping his hand to his weapon. In less than half a second, the barrel of his revolver aims square at the young man. "Yeah, I've already had my fill of fun."

Roman lifts his head, his wide eyes focusing on the loaded gun barrel aimed at his face. He huffs with a chuckle. "Benny, I expected you to be better company." He gives a smarmy grin with a raised brow.

The use of the fake name from the phone call clenched it. THIS was the turncoat. Jared's eyes narrow at him. "Where. Is. My. Son?" All joy gone, his finger rests on the trigger.

The grin turns to a pout. "Jeez, just as hostile minus the fun!" One hand raises in surrender, but waggles mockingly.

Jared's aura shins around his weapon, semblance creating kinetic shots in each chamber that shine. "Answer!"

Roman sighs. His raised hand reaches out, open. "Five miles North West from here. If you got a map, which you'd need to find this rickety town, I'll mark the spot for ya'."

The hunter doesn't move an inch, gun still aimed. Roman's hand slowly raises back to a surremder posture, his brow raised again. "... problem, Copper?" Jared pushes his gun forward, tip just an inch from Roman's forehead. The teen's eyes widen, then scowl.

"You'll tell me Killian's entire plan, but not before tell me exactly why I should trust a damn word out of your mouth. Why are you ratting the guy out?"

"I suppose the answer, 'he's an insane bastard,' isn't specific enough?" He sees the instant fury blaze to life in Jared's eyes. The teen waves his hand frantically. "Fine! Jeez. Mr Sensitive-"

The hunter cuts him off. "My wife is dead, and my son in the hands of a psychopath." His voice drops, cold. "Test me one more time, and you will be dead on your feet."

Roman meets the look, swallowing a touch of nerves. Dial back the snark, Roman. "K, so... Killa found out about Silver Streak from some low level mugging business- I didn't really care about that part."

Jared's cold stare morphs with confusion. "Silver Str- what?"

The orange haired teen clears his throat. "Nicknames are easier to remember, alright!" He huffs, indignant. "Can I continue?" Jared's confusion wiped to irritation, but kept quiet. "Good."

He goes on. "So, the dumbass who went to Killa with the information of all people used some blood from the scene, ran it through a corrupt contact in Vale's medical facilities since Silver showed signs os a semblance, and boom!" Roman points showman style at Jared. "You are NOT the father."

Jared's gaze trailed off. "Someone with access to hunter medical records... Problems for another day. Get on with it." He withdraws his gun. The information checks out with his assumptions thus far...

"Favors get called in, gathers a crew to deal with certain pesky huntsman and huntress parents, and I get picked to go because the faunus he wanted wasn't available."

"Spare me the sob story."

Roman nods, pointing at him. "Right, right. So, he and his closely held cohorts plan out when to attack the homestead while yours truly goes off to-"

"Start several fires. We got that part." Jared finishes for him. "So, what about the Grimm horde hoax that drew me away from town?"

"Oh! Apparently a hobby of the gorilla. Pretty clever."

"And an escape by a yacht that recently took down an Atlas transport." Jared ends, taking a step back and crossing his arms.

The teenager looks shocked. "Ah, so you heard of that already!" The shock gives way to a frown. "That was more annoying than anything." He sees the sharpness double in Jared's eyes. The teen's voice suddenly overacts. "I mean, 'oh no, those poor ivory tower soldiers from the land of superiority complexes!'"

Jared growls, taking a step, making Roman take one back. He speaks quickly. "Hey! Almost all my shots were non lethal, and I only did enough to not get killed, okay!" Roman yells defensively.

Jared grabs the shorter teen, hoisting him aggressively. Get to the part where you're here now and why? What are you wanting to get out of helping me!"

Roman grimaces, looking angry himself as he meets the hunter's eyes. "Ship was damaged, needed fixed. Stuck at the rundown ship yard until tonight at least!"

Jared pushes Roman back, the teen stumbling and catching himself using his cane. The kid takes a huff a breath. "Man, take it easy! Had to kill two Beowolves on the way here hiking through the damned woods."

The older man scoffs. "And what are you wanting in exchange for this information. I know how you bastards think."

Roman's huffing breath turns to a laugh. "Oh, wow, I'm starting to like you. A good head on your shoulders, but no. No, this information comes from one simple thing." Roman's smirk turns to a sneer. "I hate owing favors."

The hunter pauses, brows furrowed. "What?"

"You know how long humans last working with Killa and his group of hooligans?" Jared nodded in answer slowly. Roman gave a shrug. "Well, let's leave it at your brat saved my life, stupid as he was, and I hate owing anyone anything."

Jared recoils at that, his lip quirking. "That... sounds like him."

Roman gives him a side glance while straightening his collar. "Yeah, yeah. So, you got til dawn to stop him, or it's off to the child slave trades of Vacuo."

That drew Jared back, gaze piercing now. "What?"

Roman shook his head, reaching his hand out. "Just give me your map and get it done, Super Cop. I'm tired of being here!"

In the distance, the sounds of a train ring. It takes a few seconds before Jared sees the smoke of the rig blooming over the tree line. He sighs, reaching into his pocket. He pulls a physical map, handing it to Roman.

It takes a few minutes, the steam engine train roaring into the station platform. The train enters the platform, coming to a screeching stop. The bells ring as the two cabin rail cars open. Only one man gets off, and the windows show about half a dozen people across two of the cabins.

Roman folds the map up, handing it off. "There we are. You're all set to go be a hero, ya grumpy bastard." He tips his hat to Jared, but Jared coughs for his attention. "What now?"

Jared holds his hand out. "Thank you, but I'd like my wife's scroll back."

The teen scoffs, removing the mentioned scroll from his pocket and slapping it into the inspector's hand. Roman briskly walks to the entrance of the train cabin. He enters, turning and giving a mocking salute. The cabin doors close, the train gearing up to leave.

Jared watches as the train takes off, carrying the conman away. He pockets his wife's scroll and the map. He nods to the retreating transport, turning and marching off the platform.

. . .

The train hadn't departed thirty minutes before the man began pacing the woodline at the edge of the village. He was many things, but antsy wasn't one of them, so being high strung for close to a week wasn't doing any favors.

"Where are they?!" The hunter threw his hands into the air in exclamation. He contains another outburst, sighing long before breathing deep. He resumed pacing, muttering under his breath. "Ozpin said they would be here by now..."

They had til dawn. A five mile hike wasn't anything too problematic. Hell, most hunters can run a mile in a minute if they're worth a damn. However, with all the Grimm in the forest, dense forest and growth, it'll be a miracle if he and whatever backup Ozpin called get close unnoticed.

He looks to the sky, seeing the angle of the Sun. Sunlight would last perhaps two more hours. A fight during night time wouldn't be ideal, though he can manage. But, what about this mystery helper?

The man's pacing halted as he eyed the tree line. A trouble brow as he scanned the area. He caught a glimpse, the shadow moved.

"hmph." Jared unholsters Heulin' Noon, aiming out into the woods. Slowly, he makes out red eyes. "There you are. Come out and play catch." He mutters, cocking the top hammer of the gun.

Slowly, the beast emerged, a large beast with wolf like facial and limb features, a white mask with red eyes. A Beowolf.

Jared spares a glance over his shoulder at the town walls. A couple of the guards were already looking his way, getting guns out. Good.

The Beowolf snarls as it lurches forwa-

BOOM!

The beast's head bursts, nothing left. Two more more shots sound as it's chest bursts, as does the front most leg. The Grimm falls forward, body limp. Jared blinks twice at it.

He looks over his shoulder again, finding the guards at the wall just as confused. He vaguely hears one chanting something like "He made it explode with his mind!"

Well, it didn't come from them, so that left the one option. Jared smirks, holstering his gun and facing the woods. "If Ozpin sent you, you took your sweet time."

He recoils slightly from a burst of debris in front of him. He shields his eyes and notices that it isn't debris flowing around him. It's flower petals. Red on one sode, white on the other.

The petals all wash away with the wind, revealing a woman, dark brown hair with red tips, wearing a white cloak. The interior of the cloak was crimson red, fittingly. The cloak wrapped her whole body as she was doubled over. She was wincing. "Ow..."

She began hopping to the side, showing a rock in the grass she'd appeared on. She wagged her left foot with her winces.

"Uh... you okay?" He offers.

She finally looks up at him with an apologetic smile. Probably the most kind face he'd ever seen, youthful still despite maturity. "Yeah! Just landed wrong." She angled her left foot out. "Stubbed my toe."

Jared's mouth was pressed in a line. "You-... you're joking."

She pouts, giving a good look at her eyes. "Hey, I didn't know the rock was there, okay!"

His head tilts, brow risen. "huh... Interesting eyes." Silver stared right back at him. He'd read that legend once. Gosh, the legends and tales you read about when you finally leave Beacon...

"I get that." She responds, though with less energy than previously.

"You're the one Ozpin contacted?" She gave him her full attention as he reached a hand out. "Jared Uhlric."

She nods to him, taking his hand. She smiles bright. "Summer Rose. I'm here to help get your son back!" The look of complete confidence mixed with her smile. It was almost uplifting, despite the circumstances.

The older hunter lets out a huff of a laugh. He brings a hand to his chin. "Summer Rose, huh? Well, we got a while of jungle to get through. Brief me on your skills on the way."

"Got it." She pauses looking off into the woods. He notices her staring off, her eyes going a touch distant. She shakes it off, focusing and speaking low. "Sooner the better."

. . .

"Oh, Errand Boy? Can you get me a drink for less than five Lien?" Roman shouts across the train car cabin. Not even half an hour on the train, but when you hike five miles of Grimm infested forest to nearly get assaulted by Not The Father, you get parched.

A rather surly looking man in a button up and gloves marches down the aisle of seats. He reaches Roman at the back, the cabin having only a few sparse passengers. The man frowns at the teen. "Uh, hello? I'm the attendant-"

Roman waves him off, leaving back against the window. "Yeah, yeah. Anything to drink that's cold."

The man scowls. "That'll be ten Lien."

Roman scowls back. "What kind of daft price is that?"

"Call it a manners charge." The man's anger grows, though the response gets a genuine laugh out of the teen.

He shakes his head, but fishes out some Lien and slaps it into the man's hand. "Courtesy of a man named Cal." The larger man saunters off, leaving a satisfied smirk on Roman's face. "Not like it's on my change."

The boy shifts in his seat, glancing out the window at the passing trees. For as much forest covers the continent, Grimm somehow didn't frequent going into the sweet spot where the train rails were. Too high for ground based Grimm. Just covered by the top most branches from the air based Grimm. Fat lot of good it does when larger giant Grimm sway through, but hey, it works enough of the time.

He pulls out his scroll, his actual scroll, noticing a great big yellow exclamation point. The smirk wipes away. "Ah, damn it." A message appears on the screen, 'Damn brat, call me!'. A sigh escapes his lips while rolling his eyes. "Here we go." He taps the call button.

Hostility was instant, Roman recoiling from the phone and wincing. The mutterings of the call loud enough to draw the eye of passengers.

However, the teen simply snickers and fires back. "Ah, lovely to hear from you. I knew you'd miss me." The shrieking of the call gives a quick response. Roman blinks a few times, coming to a realization. "Well, maybe I have missed a few updates for you, but I'm on my way back to glorious Vale now."

The loud buzzing responses made Roman recoil once more. The teen began to ignore the call, looking up as the attendant returns with his drink. Roman snatches the drink, nodding to him.

He puts the scroll back to his ear. "Yes, yes, yes, but- If you'd be so kind as to let ME speak, you'd know that the job went off without a hitch." A pause before the low response came, the boy now smiling once more. "Yes, well, technically it's still going, but, per Head Psycho in charge, my part of the job was done, and he'll be contacting Senior with payment in about a week."

The smile wipes into a frown, the teen deflating. "Yes, but-"

More screaming. "I get that, but given my lovely company, you'll forgive me for-"

The volume doubles. A second ticks by before Roman snaps back, angry. "How about YOU spend two days with the psychopaths? How bout that?" He groans, head cocking back and resting on the head of the seat.

"I'll be at the central station by midnight. I'll debrief the boss then myself. Now, can I sit in peace for god's sake?" The screaming came back, prompting Roman to roll his eyes before hanging up the call. "Pompous ass." He mutters.

He takes a moment to settle in, refreshing himself with his wonderful beverage. He groans, eyes trailing back out the windows. "Well, can't get any worse, can it?"

His eyes trail on, finding movement. His brow quirks, seeing something white snapping through the sea of greens and browns. That's when he saw... bits of black peaking out the tree line.

Roman was to his feet before he'd finished the connection. Two massive white tusks ripping through the trees followed by a large mask with tribal marking. He braces himself as he shouts out. "GOLIATHS!"

Everyone screams, ducking down. The image of the oncoming elephant Grimm passes by as the train travels forward. Despite being out of sight, the entire cabin rocks. The violent shudder calms, Roman standing up and opening the window, carefully keeping his hat on.

He peeks out the window, looking behind the train. The image slowly shrinks of multiple gigantic elephant Grimm, Goliaths, marching through the now broken rail ways. Not a care in the world.

Things settle down as Roman looks around with wide eyes. "Huh... so things can get worse, still." He glances at the terrified passengers and the frantic attendant moving about the cabin giving orders. The train continued moving. He shrugs, leaning back onto his seat, ignoring the close call. "But for now, it's not worse for me!"

. . .

Jared marches through the forest overgrowth. His form weaves through smoothly, eyes subtly glancing about. "Ya know, when the town supplier offered us some supplies, I expected someone trusted by Ozpin to want something more... useful."

The branches shielded them from the beaming sun. It had gotten hotter, though the sunlight was beginning to give way dusk. Maybe it was the humidity. Summer's voice was clear, though a good 10 yards behind Jared. "With how hot it is today, it's important to stay hydrated and well fed before a fight."

Jared's eyes droop half lidded, left eye twitching. "Well, I guess I don't know the battlefield nutritional value of chocolate milk."

He halts, glancing over his shoulder as Summer weaves around a tree behind him. Cupped in her hand is a big gulp cup, complete with a lid and straw. The side of the container was labeled 'Choco Moo!'

She sucks down on the straw, an audible gulp sounding as she releases. A satisfied sigh escapes as she looks slightly bashful. "You might have a point. It's typically how I motivate my girls to be active, so... habit?"

Jared's brow raises as he continues along. "Active Huntress with kids? That's bold."

Shes already laughing, waving him off. "No, no. I've been retired for four years now."

He pauses at that, eyes widening. "Wait- why did you come here if you have your own kids to protect?"

She gives a blank look, blinking slowly. "How could I not help a parent when I know exactly how I'd feel in their shoes?" She ignores the gobsmacked look on his face, marching along in step with him. "Besides,.. Tai should have made it back to them by now, and I'm certain my eldest won't let a thing happen to my young one."

Despite her confident smile, Jared still looks concerned. Guilt, he'd realized. "Four years though. But then your oldest is barely three-"

"My youngest. My oldest is five, actually." She gives a comforting smile. "I'm here by choice, so let's focus. I promise, we'll get Carmine back for you."

She moves around Jared, taking the lead. The two walk in silence for a few minutes, coming to a stop at the sounds of snarling in the distance.

Jared's eyes narrow as recognition comes. "Boarbatusk." He mutters at the sound of an impact "Two."

Summer nods, crouching and moving through a thicket to the side. "Fighting for dominance, an alpha position, so there must be more around."

Jared brings his weapon up, but twirls it to hold the gun barrel. "We're getting closer to the destination, so no gunfire." His voice is low as he walks crouched. Another impact sounds, closer this time. He raises his hand, signaling Summer to stop behind him.

Summer watches as he grips his gun barrel tighter, like the weapon was a simple club. His off hand reaches into his pocket. She mutters low. "We don't have to fight them. We can move around."

Jared keeps his eyes ahead. The rustling and breaking of brush crashing ahead. Snarls growl out, the sound of dirt ripping from the ground. "Not looking like an option."

A loud squeal sounds, a sickly crunch as the two Boarbatusks crash again. Through the brush, one of the Grimm rams the other through, overpowering and throwing the smaller directly at Jared.

The Huntsman readies himself until Summer grabs him from behind, a burst of flower petals enshrouding them.

The Alpha Boar Grimm rams the smaller through the pair, a burst of petals, one side white one red The Grimm continue on, the Alpha smashing the smaller Grimm into the trunk of a tree with a gutter crunch. The Alpha shrieks at the smaller one as it begins to walk away.

It takes a moment, but the smaller Grimm stands back up. One of its tusks is snapped off, the injured beast marching along after the larger.

From up above, petals began to fall. They flipped and hovered down from the branches above, white and red. On the branches, Jared stands, eyes wide. Beside him, Summer releases him from behind. The two watch as the Grimm march off below.

Jared turns wide eyed at the woman, who simply smiles nervously back to him. He lets out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. He whispers. "Let's walk the branches above for now."

"Right." She nods, as the two of them begin walking and hopping along the branches from tree to tree. After moving on, she gasps. "Aw, I dropped my drink..."

. . .

"Oh, cool! So your semblance is like an... infinite ammo cheat in a game!" Summer clarifies, satisfied with her answer. She lands on a large branch, a genuine smile on. She leaps to the next one, cloak flapping behind her. "Sounds like cheating."

Jared leaps ahead of her, giving a chuckle as he lands on the ground below. He looks around, satisfied with nothing moving around them. "You know, my boy said the same exact thing." He waits just a second before Summer lands beside him, a whole head shorter than him. "Though, I can do something with the ammo without the gun too."

Large silver eyes locked on him with anticipation. "Can't wait to see it in action."

"Kinda a last resort." Jared scratches the back of his head, then gazes back. "What about you? What's with the flower petals?"

She lights up, smiles growing. "Oh, I rarely get to use it anymore, living at home. My semblance is a variation of teleportation. Where I am, I burst into rose petals. The petals are burn off from my Aura. Those same petals will form at another location within my line of sight, and whoosh!" She makes a visual pop with her hand. "I pop from the second burst of petals."

Jared raises a brow, smirking. "Impressive. Not very subtle though."

This makes her deflate as she mutters. "Yeah, the petals are a dead giveaway. Darn Qrow and Raven, being so good at sneaking." She heats up, flustered. "I'm lucky if I find a feather after they sneak around..."

Jared blinks, not entirely understanding, but he plows ahead. He looks to the sky, seeing a deep orange giving way to darker shades. Sunset was happening now. A quick glance around. They were relatively well hidden. "Okay, before we go further, we need to be fully familiar with the other's fighting style. You know mine, and I know your semblance. You long range or close?"

Summer nods, reaching behind her back, under the cloak. From it, she retrieves a folded hunk of metal, half white, half black. Her hand slips into a groove between the white and black metal. "I'm actually both long and close range with this..."

The woman spins, the metal unfolding rapidly. The white end opens like a switch blade, a curved single edge blade snapping out in front of the locking white. The black portions unfold into a shaft that extends. White grips line the shaft, with a white dust ammo cartridge locked at a thicker section in the middle.

She twirls the weapon to end her spin, the black shaft close to as long as she is tall, the white and the blade extending further. A single edged spear? She activates the weapon, the switch blade style white at the end folding and sliding down black, revealing a gun barrel. The white locks the blade on as a bayonet.

The end of the black shaft folds into a stock, one of the white grooves opening into a sight. Another white groove slides down as the gun handle. She holds the weapon up like a rifle. "My Ivor Hallow is a naginata up close, and an assault rifle for distance." She ends with a grand smile.

Jared lets out a low whistle. "Impressive." He brings a hand to his chin, thinking.

She folds the weapon back, getting back to the large hunk before putting it away. She breathes out a laugh. "Yeah, so what's the strategy here?"

Seconds tick by before Jared nods. "I got some ideas."

Glancing up, he leaps up over her. Landing on the thick branches above, he looks through the limb branches and leaves. Far off, he sees a glint of gray. The rest of the gray is obscured, but... He withdraws his scroll, checking the map.

Sure enough, his current location read just beside the spot marked by that kid. "It's just up ahead..." He drops. Landing by Summer, he nods, focused. "We scout to make sure they're there. Once we have confirmation, look for the highest vantage points." He twirls his gun up. "You cover from long range, I'll cover from mid. We swap places at the front line."

"Just what I was thinking." She nods before disappearing in a burst of petals.

Jared watches the petals disperse, nodding. He turns towards the compound, a scowl forming before the man marches onward.

. . .

"Hmm..." Killian stood, staring ahead, gaze angled up. A few chin strokes in thought. His hazel eyes remain wide, unblinking... unsettling.

Behind him, Cal walks by, carrying sheet metal and a box strapped to his back. He walks over to the side, the base of a crane. He grumbles, putting everything in place before walking back, stopping to stare at Killa.

He follows the gaze, seeing the yacht hanging over the water by two cranes. Several large patches of damage on the white hull had been patched. Sheet metal with sealant around, to other spots patched both from the outside and inside. But... it's the same thing they'd been looking at for over a day, god damn it!

Killa's intense glare remained, left eye starting to twitch. "Hmmm!"

Cal deflated. "Yo, what's up? W-w-what's happening?" He twitches, stuttering his speech as he rubs his left arm.

No response, Killa's death stare on the yacht continuing. A hand waves in front of him. The hand waves in Killa's gaze again. Cal retracts his hand, twitching slightly before rapidly wagging his hand in front of his boss...

Cal was getting annoyed now. He looks around hastily, then whistles directly beside Killa, who hadn't flinched at all at the ear piercing sound. However, Killa's expression finally calmed, as he shook his head slowly. "Yeah, I just don't know. What do you think?"

The raccoon faunus recoiled, blinking in confusion. "About what? Ya twit! You been stone still for ten minutes!"

Killa gestures to the hull of the yacht, adopting a look of thought. "After the patchwork, should I just paint over the patches, or should I repaint the whole thing and use the patches like tribal marking?" He then looks downward, scowling. "Or would that look TOO White Fang? Maybe reverse the colors? Nah, not even I'm that Grimm looking."

The thinner lanky man's jaw drops, rapidly looking between the yacht and its owner. "I've been hauling healing pieces of metal, and you're just thinking of paint jobs?!" He hysterically grabs his boss, giving him a shake. "Maybe you should think 'what happens if I decide to gash ya!'"

The boss laughs, sliding a hand around Cal's shoulders and pulling him close. "Let me learn ya a thing or two about the world. Always think ahead, and presentation is always important when accepting jobs."

"You could also finish the job you already have, but whatever. You're the boss." Cal mutters.

Killa releases him with a laugh. "Ah, relax. Only think that needs real attention is the engine. Alternator somehow messed up through the exchanges with the Atlas ship." He moves to the tool box Cal brought. "It'll take a bit to fix, but then we won't have to worry about power going out while at sea." He glances at the annoyed raccoon. For the first time in a while, Killa's smile wiped away as he scowled. "Now, come on and help here!"

The unenthusiastic man twitches, scratching his arm before moving to search the tools with his boss. The interaction is observed by a pair of deep blue eyes. On the water side of the dock, on a wooden deck, Carmine sides, arms bound to his sides.

His hands poke out of the chains, unable to move his arms, but his hands themselves hold a bucket. Inside the bucket are two large red fish, one flapping its tail helplessly. The movement shakes the bucket, but the boy continues staring off at the two criminals working on the ship, a scowl forming.

A large hand grips his head from above, twisting his gaze forward forcefully. His neck pops from the enforced movement, getting a pained wince. Earl sits beside the standing chained boy, a fishing rod in his free hand. "Eyes ahead before you get any ideas." He releases the boy's head, focusing ahead himself.

Carmine's nose wrinkles with disgust mixing with the scowl. He keeps his gaze forward, a sudden pull on the criminal's line catching his eye. Earl begins leisurely reeling in a struggling catch. "Alright. Now actually hold the bucket steady this time."

The child's scowl narrows, grip tightening on the bucket. His azure eyes darken, watching the dark waters shift. There barely orange horizon hardly gave light enough to make out the waves under them.

He heard Earl pull the fish from the water, a dark purple-gray cod. The gorilla faunus huffs, taking it off the hook and dropping it into the bucket. "We'll be eating tonight! Might even catch you something if you take orders."

The hulking man turns back to his rod, prepping another cast. The tiniest of growls escapes his throat, the boy taking a step towards the edge. He spares a glance at the faunus, seeing the broad back larger than the boy's whole body.

Carmine releases his grip. A echoed splash sounds, the bucket sinks just enough. The three fish jerk back and forth, tipping the bucket and freeing them into open waters.

Earl jerks around, seeing Carmine glaring back at him. Realization gives way to a dark look coming the kid's way. He drops the rod and fishing line, standing up and over the boy. "Ah, you just forfeited dinner."

The red haired child huffs. "You wouldn't give me any. I only got food from the other guy."

Earl tenses, turning and cracking his head. "You pay attention to the wrong things, child." He points to the bucket slowly sinking into the water. "Go get it."

Carmine's glare widened to surprise, glancing at the waters. "I, uh, can't swim without my arm-"

The boy's speech is cut off by a furry back hand striking him in the temple. The boy reels sideways off the deck, into the water.

The strike stung hard, his eyes being closed when he entered the water. The sudden intake of water instead of air made an immediate convulsion. Arms bound, hands clenching and releasing, all he's left with are legs to kick with. He struggles to right himself, but suddenly, he realizes how heavy the chains around him truly are.

Earl observes the waters wash around, the boy's thrashing his only entertainment. The gorilla faunus snickers, taking away the anger. He huffs, lowering himself to sit on the edge of the wooden platform. "Gotta know, kid. You're only important cause of your daddy. Otherwise, you're no different from those fish. A resource for others."

The splashing intensifies as bubbles begin to rise to the surface. Earl continues to watch, removing a cigarette from his pocket and a push button lighter.

Carmine kicks and kicks, but no better. The weight of the metal chains slowly drifts him downward. A burst of air exhales in bubbles. Water begins entering his lungs, suffocation setting in.

Earl takes the cigarette in his mouth, lighter igniting, but he stops. He glances down at the bubbles, pausing a moment. A quick look over his shoulder towards the yacht, he sees Killa and Cal griping at one another.

The faunus grumbles, putting the cigarette and lighter down on the deck. "Fine, guess your swim is over, kid." He pushes off his seat, dropping into the water after the child.

Carmine's eyes fly open wide. The sting of the murky waters makes them shut immediately. His small glimpse sees the massive man entering the water with him. A sudden tug jerks at the boy, panic setting in.

Within the water, the last of his air leaves. The last bubbles scream out as a teal-green aura pulses around him... leaving a vacuumed pocket. Earl's hand's grip finds nothing, the boy gone.

Upon the deck, a dull flash sparks as Carmine lands on the wood. His mouth agape, eyes wide, he takes one deep breath. Going from suffocation to nothing wrong at all... disorientating.

The boy looks down, seeing the shadowed form in the water. Blue eyes wander about, finding the yacht a good fifty yards off. Killa and Cal both continue working on the motor at the stern. His gaze turns to the lighter and cigarette at his feet.

Adrenaline pumping, he ducks down to sit Indian style. His bound hand at his side grips the lighter before he shuffles to his feet. No thinking, only acting now, he takes off in a sprint from the deck at the waters.

As he makes it off the platform to the concrete grounds of the outpost. He cuts left, towards the first in a line of disheveled shacks and buildings.

At the yacht, Cal grumbles as he returns a socket wrench to a tool box. He sits on the stern, shaking his head as he catches movement... Carmine entering the closest building to the waters. Cal scoffs, shaking his head... then double takes.

In an snap, he drops from the yacht, twitching as he cries out. "Damn it! The kid is on the run!"

From the yacht motor, Killa's hand waves nonchalant. "Don't be silly. Earl's on it." His lazy call gets a twitch from Cal.

The raccoon double takes towards his boss, then turns towards the wooden deck platform in the distance. Water splashes as Earl climbs his way onto dry ground. "Earl's in the water!"

"Earl's not incompetent enough to lose track of the brat." Another dismissive wave.

"GET THE BRAT! HE'S RUNNING!" Earl screams, seething angry.

That finally gets the boss's attention, the chameleon dropping down by Cal in a heartbeat. The boss scowls. "Me thinks my hired muscle is a little incompetent. GO!"

. . .

Running. With all the power in his legs. The child sprints down a hallway, torso wagging awkwardly with his arms bound. He comes to an end, one turn going right, one left.

The child's wide eyes are set with panic as he looks each way. "Chains." He pants. "Chains." Another pant. He finally breaks off the left hallway. Quickly, the boy bursts through a door, moving down stairs to a basement. The clutter of decrepit supplies, rusted metal shelves, dirty tile floors. Every corner holds cobwebs.

Carmine wheezes, getting his breathing under control. "Gotta... get them off." He looks over, focusing on a workbench on the far wall. One corner lines up with the corner of the room, but the other end of the bench sticks out from the wall.

A locking tool sticks up from the corner of the bench. Two clamps to keep whatever the bench is for still, no doubt. However, the clamp closest to the corner catches Carmine's eye.

He runs to the bench, the top a few inches taller than the boy himself. "Come on!" He exclaims before groaning. A metal chair nearby! The boy rushes over, using his feet to tug the chair by its legs.

He kicks it to the corner of the bench, shimmying up to stand on the chair.

Tall enough! Carmine turns his head, hearing a faint echo from the halls above. Turning his back to the corner, he presses back, angling and arching his back over the corner.

Waiting for a tug when he pulls away, he feels it. The top wrap of chains tightens when he pulls from the corner. The top wrap is caught around the clamp closest to the bench corner. The boy closes his eyes, wincing in pain from the tightening of the chain.

Okay. Just... drop, let gravity pull the chains up, over the shoulders... Once the first loop is over his head, the rest will loosen, and he can slip out. Just...

Jump... He drops, kicking the chair aside and lets gravity do the rest.

"CKAAAA!" The chains jerk tight, squeezing into his biceps as the metal rips up his arms. The loop rips over his shoulders, letting the boy land on the floor, cutting his scream off.

He winces and glances at his shoulders, seeing his shirt ripped on both arms. The numb sting elicited a silent cry, but the chains loosened enough to fall off him.

His eyes widened as an echo sounds from the stairs. Very faint. "I heard him this way!" The raccoon...

Carmine looks around, frantic. Only on one wall of the room, at the top, a small thin horizontal window, JUST above ground level. Just above the top of a metal shelf, too. Without hesitation, be gets to his feet and rushes to the shelf, climbing up it for the window.

. . .

Cal sprints down the hall, finding a door cracked open. He bursts through the door, bounding down the stairs to the basement. The first thing he sees are the chains loose and hanging on the bench. Earl stomps down the steps as Cal looks up to see the open window.

. . .

"SHIT!"

The raccoon faunus's scream muffles out the window as Carmine sprints away from it outside. His eyes widen just a bit, hearing the criminal's exclamation. He pushes on down the outer wall of the building.

Behind him, at the window, the ground around the window explodes upward. Earl smashes through the dirt and lower wall, rising up with his hammer raised. The gorilla man glances around, finding the small boy retreating away.

Cal leaps up out of the basement hole, following Earl's gaze and sprinting after the kid. "Get your ass back you, you literal bastard!"

Carmine glances over his shoulder, doubling his pace as Cal is quickly closing the distance. He yelps in fear before closing his eyes while running. The raccoon catches up, leaping at him with a snarl...

The boy's aura flares, rewinding himself 10 yards back behind the criminal! Cal's leap finds no purchase as he lands face first in the concrete. "DA! Motherfr-"

Carmine stops his sprint, cutting left away from the building into small paths between the smaller shacks. He fires away, turning right around one shack, then left. No idea where he was heading, just away from those monsters chasing him.

He twists around a corner, sparing a glance around his shoulder to see both faunus chasing him now. His eyes go forward, only to be horrified. He sees the cranes holding the yacht from the water. Right back where he started. He groans, frustrated and flustered, as he cuts left towards the jungle entrance of the outpost.

Only making it a few dozen yards, a gray form rises out of the concrete. Carmine comes to a skidding stop, yelping in fear.

The form is a completely grayed out Killian, looking down his nose at the boy. His snickering smile a sinister addition to his slightly too wide, furious eyes. His semblance cuts out, his racial skin tone returning to tan skin, blonde hair, hazel eyes, and gray clothes.

His hands are together in front of him as he speaks in a posh, fake upper class accent. "El~loo, what's all this then?"

Carmine steps back, breath choppy. Too late. Killa's arm snaps out, grabbing the child by the collar, wrenching him up.

Killa turns towards a crate by the cranes, slamming the child's back against the crate. Carmine coughs and cries out in pain, legs falling limp and hanging a foot off the ground. Killian looks him in the eyes and loses all amusement. "Do you have any idea how much of a pain you are? Have you considered MY feelings?"

He releases the boy, letting him drop down the crate on the ground. Carmine winces while gasping for air, eyes shut in pain. Killa merely raises a brow as he glances around at Earl and Cal.

The chameleon faunus scoffs, shaking his head and waving them over. "Alright... damaged goods is still goods." He walks to the side, Carmine opening his eyes wide to look at him. His hired muscle follows him with their eyes as well. "Snap his legs. It'll heal."

He froze. The boy couldn't move, the words replaying in his head. Nearby, Cal snickers. "'Bout god damn time."

The boy's head snaps up to watch Earl begin walking over. The gorilla faunus towers over the boy, shadowing over him from the outpost light above. The boy's head shakes, subtle, a quiver of the mouth.

Cal snickers, moving to the front of the nearest shack and sitting on a chair. He leans back, leisurely. "Oh, front row seat for me. Oh! Bend them like a pretzel."

"No... nonono- AH!" Earl jerks the boy's leg, cutting off his protests.

He's dragged below the faunus, a large boot stepping on the boy's chest to keep him still. Earl raises his maul over his head, and he swings down...

Dual shots fire, a large explosive burst striking the faunus in the side.

The hulking man is propelled off his feet, over the concrete edge, over the water. The man ricochets off the hull of the raised yacht, denting it, as he drops into the water.

"What the-WHOA!" Cal dives out of the chair, the seat exploding from another blast. He rolls out, getting to his feet by Killa. The chameleon faunus whips around, eyes blinking wide. He ducks as a shot zips by his head, hitting the base of the crane holding the stern of the yacht up.

Killa and Cal stand together, a good twenty yards from Carmine. Another distance to the boy's other side is the smoking barrels of a double revolver.

"CARMINE!" Jared shouts, marching slowly forward. The gun remains steady, aimed at the two criminals.

Mouth agape and quivering. The boy's choppy breath quaked with his body. Pure disbelief, hope, relief... fear. All mixed as tears began to form. Carmine rolls on his front, wincing and wheezing as he gets up into a sprint. The tears flow freely. "DADDY!"

The boy closed the distance, clinging to the Huntsman's side in a vice. Like a lifeline that could disappear at any moment. And he cried, face buried into the fabric of Jared's clothes. The crying began to stutter into incomprehensible hiccups.

Life in the man's face returned. Jared lowers himself, gun still raised towards the two faunus. His free arm wraps around the boy, squeezing tightly. He whispers softly to him. "Sh... sh... It's going to be okay."

Across the distance, Killa's eyes are wide, face tight with restrained anger. A forced calm...

And a single blink of the eyes, and toothy grin with wide unhinged eyes replaces it. "Well, well, well. Who doesn't love a happy reunion? Ah-HA!" His arms go wide before he mimics a hug to himself. "Ooo gets me all warm and fuzzy with my cold blood."

Not even a micro second, and Jared's expression turns off. A pure focused scowl, locked on the faunus. "Yeah... private moment. Maybe you could leave."

The faunus clicks his tongue, holding up one finger. "Ah! See, that's not happening." He cheekily steps forward, flippantly gesturing his arms with his speech. "Now, Daddy Dearest, it would be much, MUCH easier for you to just... hand the brat back over and piss off. Deal?"

Jared stands up, Carmine shifting behind his father's side. The boy sniffs and wipes the last of his tears away. The Huntsman narrows his eyes, zeroing his gun on Killa. "You have exactly one minute to leave before this turns into a bloodbath." He cocks the top hammer of Heulin' Noon.

"Pft-haha!" Killian shakes his head, chuckling. The laugh gets a tightening of Jared's grip on his weapon. Killa sees this, instantly sobering up and frowning. "Oh, you were serious?" His frown morphs to a grin as he holds a finger up. "Allow me to laugh harder. HAHAHA!" His hands clench at his gut as he billows his laugh.

The laughing fit calms down, Killa continuing. "Oh, wow. You ARE serious. You can't possibly believe you can fight all three of us alone, can you?"

"Good point." Jared replies casually, not moving an inch. "Counter point." His trigger finger inches forward and cocks the lower firing arm of the revolver's second barrel. "You can't possibly believe I came here alone, can you?"

Immediately, a rifle shot sounds from the woods around the outpost. The shot strikes Cal in the chest, knocking the raccoon faunus onto his back. "Ka- Shit!"

Killa ducks as a second shot missing him. His tail whips back, wrapping around Cal's leg. Jared fires his double shot at the murderer.

Killa ducks right behind a concrete barrier and crates beside the concrete edge where Earl dropped, dragging Cal with him. Rifle fire and Jared's own shots pin the two faunus down.

Jared starts backing away, keeping up the fire. His arm nudges Carmine back as well. "Come on. Let's get out of here!" The father and son walk back until the concrete explodes out a distance behind them.

Earl rises from the ground, still wet after digging through the concrete. "You're bot going anywhere. And..." He loads a yellow dust capsule into the haft of his maul. The head of the weapon opens an inch, the opening sparking with power.

The gorilla's maul charges with electricity. "Payback to both of ya for the swim!" He charges at the two, twirling the maul over his head.

Jared scowls, twisting around Carmine. "Hold on!" The boy latches on to his back leg. Jared aims his weapon, his off hand behind his back as his semblance gathers a concussive ball of blue aura, the size if a marble.

He fires Heulin' Noon, the faunus leaping up into the air to dodge. He fires into the air at Earl, who blocks with his maul. The gorilla then brings the maul up to swing down with his fall.

Jared drops the aura marble behind his back. With Carmine clinging to his leg, he jumps a foot back, stepping in the aura ball. It bursts, the concussive blast propelling Jared, with the boy, back to dodge the maul.

The hammer head sparks with electricity as it craters the concrete on impact. Jared raises his gun, firing a single shot. The blow hits Earl's shoulder, jolting the man off balance. He fires his second barrel shot at Earl's back leg, dropping the faunus onto his knee.

"Let go!" Carmine releases his leg, Jared sprinting forward. He kicks off the sparking hammer head with a flying knee to Earl's jaw.

Earl reels with the hit, spinning with the hit to swing his maul around. However, Jared fires at the faunus mid spin, knocking him back to his knee. The Huntsman kicks Earl in the back, collapsing the man.

Earl lands on all fours, snarling as he whips around at Jared, who dodges ans weaves swing after swing while shooting and kicking out the man's footing each time.

Behind their cover, Cal and Killa see less fire on their position. Killa nods to their side, the edge of the concrete to the water. Cal nods, flicking his wrist as his katars lock around his fists.

Killa's sleeves slide up, his forearm machine guns clicking ready. He snaps around the crate, firing off into the outer ends of the outpost, where the rifle fire comes from. He lays suppressing fire while Cal ducks over the edge of the concrete.

The raccoon jabs his katars into the concrete latching himself on the concrete wall just over the water. With the water to his right, the edge to the top ground at his left, he crawls along the wall out of sight from the rifle fire.

Cal crawls for a distance, then leaps back up the wall, onto flat land, close by Jared and Earl. His katars open up and fire at the Huntsman. "Gotcha bi-"

Jared reacts at the first syllable out the chucklehead's mouth, dodge rolling back from the shots. He slides to his feet by Carmine, firing two shots.

"-tch!" The first shot hits the ground between Cal's feet, the burst blowing both feet out. The second shot hits him before he hits the ground, propelling him back over the edge, over the water.

He catches himself, climbing back up and leaping towards Earl. The gorilla faunus twirls his maul around, aiming the shotgun end of the pole and fires.

Jared's eyes widen, spinning and sliding in front of Carmine as the shotgun blast spreads. The hit spreads over his whole back, knocking him to a by the boy. The two henchmen charge, weapons locking to melee mode.

On the other side, Killa sprints out from cover, whole body leaned forward as he runs like a hunched reptile. He stops his suppressing fire, the spines of his tail and back splitting his duster jacket. Both halves of the jacket fall off mid sprint as all three faunus close in on Jared and Carmine.

The Huntsman pushes up to face Killa. Like a cowboy, he rapid fires using his off hand to cock the weapon hammer.

Killa's eyes widen as he leaps up, twisting his body through the spray of bullets. His body spins to land on his legs, but Jared is already step kicking. He strikes the criminal's ribs, sending him back.

The other two criminals hone in on Carmine, but Jared shouts out. "ROSE SWITCH!"

A storm of petals bursts directly between the boy and the faunus. From the flash of white and red, a bladed pole arm jabs into the concrete, pushing down as two legs kicks out. One catches Earl's face with the heel, the other kicks Cal across the throat.

Both criminals stagger back, shaking off, as Summer lands between them and Carmine. The boy looks up, eyes wide as the woman's hooded cape waves beside him. "Whoa..."

Killa's eyes narrow on the woman, confusion setting in... "That's..?" His confusion turns to a scowl, entire body morphing light gray as he fazes into the ground.

His form erupts from the concrete directly beside Carmine. Jared and Summer each turn, the man aiming his gun, and the woman reaching for the child.

Killian grins while moving in a spin, the spiky spines on his tail sticking out. His tail whips around to lash at both the woman and child... only for both to disappear in a burst of petals.

The chameleon's shock doesn't stay as he raises his forearms, blocking Jared's double shot with his arm mounted guns. The force of the shot pushes him back, skidding to a halt.

All four men glance up, stray petals floating lightly down. Atop the peek of the nearest crane holding the yacht, Summer stands, Carmine at her side clinging on. The wind up so high blows her cowl about... the boy's wide eyes show his thoughts. It's like a superhero...

The silver eyed maiden looks down at him with a gentle smile. Genuine and beautiful.. No hidden ill will or nature... just kindness. "Stay with me, okay?" He doesn't even, simply nodding his head and holding on to her. "My name is Summer Rose, by the way! I'm a friend of your father!"

A deep chuckle echoes through the outpost, pulling the two's attention to the four men below.

Killian's eyes are locked on her, grin madly wide. "Oh, my! Haha..." He giggles as his body shakes. "Hot diggity daffodil! Boy's, we got ourselves a STRQ bitch! Silver eyes and all!" He billowed into a full on laugh, cackling. "Man, I love this job. This almost makes up for the brat's whining."

Jared aims at the leader. "Glad to be the highlight of your day. I'm sure if you'd let me, I could make it end in a bang if you want."

The chameleon's gaze remains on the ex Huntress atop the crane. "Yeah?" He giggles, sparing a glance at the other two faunus. "Well, Sounds like a party to me." The raccoon and gorilla each snicker and nod. "Boys... take Super Cop."

"No, you don't!"

The faunus ducks back, dodging the first shot, sliding back as his whole body shifts to a rusted yellow color. He turns and runs towards the base of the crane of the same color.

Jared moves to cut him off, but both of the hired muscle shift their weapons, opening fire at the inspector. He's forced back, tucking and rolling around the corner of the closest shack. The two faunus chase the human into the rows of shacks and concrete buildings.

Killa dives into the thick rusted yellow railing of the crane base, fazing into it. Summer puts Carmine behind her, near the edge of the crane arm. In front of her, Killa rises on all fours, his tail twitching and flicking behind him. "Hello there! Fancy meeting you here."

Summer sands wide, pointing her blade forward and raising the shaft of the weapon over her head in a stance. She scowls, eyes narrow.

The faunus grins mad as he charges. Two if his spines spike out further as he reaches over his shoulders, ripping them from his back. He twirls the spikes into reverse grips. Before closing in, he fires a burst of shots from his arm guns.

Summer twirls her weapon, deflecting the shots in a spin, before meeting the charge with a down strike.

The Huntsman turns right, then left. He checks over his shoulder, the raccoon faunus chasing behind. Eyes back forward, the wall of the left shack blows out, Earl cutting him off in a roar. The faunus swings his maul, Jared ducking into a power slide under the swing.

He passes the faunus, kicking back up to a sprint. Jared moves to the next building corner, his left hand gathers three kinetic balls of aura from his semblance. He palm thrusts them into the wall as he turns the corner.

Cal stops, Earl ramming through the debris and smoke. The gorilla breaks through to the other side, head swinging around. "He's gone!"

Cal exits the smoke, seeing several broken shattered buildings. The far end of the outpost. "Fine, lets go help Killa murder that hooded girl."

They turn, stopping at a flicker of movement. A blur of red just like the Huntsman's red leather. Both faunus open fire, riddling the red with shots... stopping when Jared's shredded jacket hits the ground.

They share a confused glance, then shock as a chain wraps around Earl's legs like a whip. Each chain link, inside the open air of the link, sits one of Jared's semblance explosives. The two follow the chain to Jared, who snickers, jacket gone and down to his tight green-gray shirt.

The Huntsman jerks the chain, setting off the explosives under Earl. The entire line of explosions pop! One at a time in rapid succession. Each burst blasting Earl higher off the ground as he screams in pain. "Ah-Ah-ah-ah-AAAOWWWW!"

The chain destroyed, Jared discards the remainder, bringing up Heulin Noon. He opens fire at Cal.

The faunus ducks back, the shot going over his head and missing. He comes up and dodges the next shot. He moves into an acrobatic flip, dodging the next two shots while closing the distance.

Jared releases hes weapon handle, twirling the pistol with a swing of his arm. Using the twirling gun as a makeshift club, he deflects Cal's slashes, countering with a roundhouse kick. The faunus ducks, the two entering a back and forth exchange of deflect, dodge, counter, double counter.

Cal mixes it up first, his right katar opening and catching the twirling gun like a pair of scissors. Cal uses his hold to go for a left jab, but Jared catches his jab at the wrist. He twists the revolver in the katar's grip, flicking it so its cylinder slides to the side, still on the gun with a pin.

While Cal struggles to push his katar into Jared's chest, all the aura spheres from the cylinder chambers drop to the ground. Right by Jared's foot, he raises his leg and stomps on all the aura shells, a kinetic burst firing his leg up, knee into Cal's jaw.

The speed of the high knee bashes the faunus back, freeing Jared's weapon. With a flick, the cylinder pops back in, chambers glowing teal with new aura shells appearing.

He brings the weapon up to fire on the downed raccoon, but the other faunus drops between them, already swinging his electric charged maul. "Awwww-" The mighty swing connects into Jared's chest, the electricity jolts around his body, dealing extra damage. "-YEAH!" The swing pushes on, launching Jared like a baseball through the next shack.

Earl turns around, offering a hand to the smaller man. Cal takes it, shaking himself off. "This guy is starting to piss me off!"

As the two begin to grumble and ramble out frustrations, Jared gets up inside the shack, hand clutching his gut while his back is to the wall for cover.

The human mutters to himself. "Either they got no semblances or they aren't useful... but that might make things harder. They aren't expending their aura on anything other than healing and defending against blows..."

He scowls, taking off into a sprint further into the shack. "I can't win a stamina contest against both and hope to help Summer. Need to regroup."

. . .

"Stay safe, Carmine!"

A drop kick lands on Killa's gut, launching him down the metal arm of the crane. He catches himself, leaping high and firing down at the woman. Summer disappears in a flush of white and red petals.

The bullet spray pings off the scaffold arm by Carmine. The boy jolts, slipping off the crane arm. Summer appears from a storm of petals behind him, grabbing him and disappearing again. She lands on the bow of the yacht, releasing the wide eyed, terrified boy.

Killa smirks, turning rusty yellow as he drops into the metal of the crane arm. He reappears out the side of the crane, shooting out and sliding onto the bow of the yacht near the two. The faunus's colors return to normal mid spin, swinging his tail and spikes out.

Summer deflects the tail with her weapon handle, counter slashing with the blade. He deflects the slash, throwing the spike from his left hand. The spike hits the woman's side, staggering her.

The faunus moves in, with his other spike raised to stab. Summer twists around and thrusts the pole arm, jabbing the blade into Killa's chest. He's knocked back while she smirks.

She advances, quick foot steps while keeping her weapon up and jabbing, stabbing and riposting. She forces the criminal back towards the tip of the bow as he dodges and blocks. She moves forward and feints, spinning and slashing Killa off the yacht.

He drops over the edge, down to the water, but his body shifts to a dark murky blue. His body hits the water, disappear without disturbing the water.

Simultaneously, he flies out of the water under the yacht, his semblance again. Mid air, his body shifts to off white, matching the hull of the yacht, as he fazes into the bottom metal.

Back on top of the boat, Killa rises on the bow behind Summer. Arm raise and fire a burst at the woman, striking her in the back. She drops to her knee, twisting and shifting her weapon to rifle mode.

Killa's already dodging the first shot, speeding towards Carmine. The boy stumbles back onto his back, wide eyed as the criminal reaches for-

A double shot blasts Killa from the side, propelling him off the bow once more. Unlike before, he's launched out over the concrete and lands hard.

He growls in anger, glaring across the water way at Jared, who sprints out from the line of abandoned shacks.

The Huntsman sprints to the concrete edge, forming and throwing two aura pellets down at the edge. He jumps and stomps on them, the pellets exploding and launching him across the water, under the yacht.

Without slowing down, he lands and continues his sprint towards Killa, opening fire at him. Killa twists and spins to his feet, dodging shots before Jared shoulder tackles him back. Both roll to their feet, squaring off.

Killa snarls, wiping his mouth. He snorts and smirks back. "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"

Jared glares back. His gun snaps up. "Gimme a minute."

He fires the top barrel, the faunus ducking his head aside. Jared's grip turns to gun sideways, firing the bottom barrel. Killa deflects with his forward arm.

The shot knocks his arm back as Jared clocks the open faunus across the jaw with his off hand. Killa spirals back, catching his footing as his tail lashes out with upright spines.

Jared twirls his weapon, deflecting the tail with the spinning butt of his gun. The two back away, bringing guns up and opening fire...

. . .

Summer scoops Carmine up, making to run for it. Only for a stream of bullets to rip into the bow of the yacht. She ducks the two down, shielding the screaming boy. "Sh.. it's alright."

She glances around, eyes darting back and forth. A sudden movement catches as Cal lands on the top of the vessel. "No! It's not alright! In fact, I'm unbelievably pissed."

Summer meets the raccoon's gaze, a gentle hand landing on the child's head. Her voice drops to barely a whisper. "Carmine, whatever happens, do. Not. Move."

Wide blue eyes look at her, his grip on her side tightening. It made her smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"AWE, YEAH!" The shout comes from above, Earl swinging his maul down.

And smile gone. She glares up before she and the boy disappear in a storm of rose petals. The electric hammer strikes the yacht, a burst puncturing a hole through the top bow to bottom hull.

The two faunus glance back and forth. Cal snarls. "Oh, where us she?! Huh?"

A stray petal flows by him, catching his attention. Before he can turn his hear, Summer appears, mid air, in front of the yacht.

Her weapon in gun mode, she unloads round after round over the two faunus... into the crane cables holding the yacht up.

The heavy steel wires snap, tension releasing and the vessel dropping. Cal and Earl stumble and collapse as the large boat hits the water below.

The yacht begins to sink, Cal and Earl getting up. With powerful leaps, they rise back onto the concrete, Summer landing in front of them.

The two grimace towards her, only to notice... are her eyes more white. Summer stands, gun raised, eyes dimly glowing, masking any emotion in her eyes.

The faint glow makes the two pause, glancing at one another a second. Earl scratches his head. "One scary woman to another?"

"Oh shut up! Just look for the-" The raccoon catches sight of another petal. He follows its trail back, looking up. The top of the nearest crane again... Other petals flow in the wind, seeming to have come from the location. "-kid..."

The snicker at one another, Summer's eyes widen. Well, petals aren't stealthy... but he's still safe.

The glow intensifies. "You. Will. Not. Hurt. Him!"

With the building voice, increasing in octave, the glow from her now pearly white orbs expands. The silver-off white shines out, blinding the entire area and lighting the night.

Far off, Jared and Killa each leap apart, shielding their eyes.

Atop the crane, Carmine flinches, eyes shutting in irritation as a bright light shines through the metal scaffolds. He shrinks back, hidden by a thicker beam of metal along the top of the crane.

The light snaps out, followed by screams. Earl's hammer cracks into the concrete, the hulking man supporting himself and grabbing at his face.

Cal collapses back, writhing and flailing in pain, light wisps of smoke trailing from the two. The glow snaps away, leaving Summer in front of them, eyes clamped closed.

Seconds pass before the woman snaps her eyes open in a scowl and deep groan. She drops to a crouch, taking aim with her rifle mode. One shot, goes directly through Earl's kneecap. A through and through dropping the hulking off guard faunus to a kneel.

Earl barely keeps a grip of his weapon, free hand alternating between his knee and face. Summer stands, twirling her weapon into its naginata mode. She charges into a sprint at the two.

The distance closed, she kicks off, stepping off his knee to strike his jaw in a flying knee! Earl drops back, flat on his back. Over him, Summer twirls her blade down and thrusts down as she lands.

In pain, aura nearly expended, the blade sinks into Earl's chest with a sickening smack of metal through meat. Summers full weight drops the blade further in. Earl's body twitches, breath and screams cut out.

Summer's eyes close shut, heavy ragged breaths coming out as the movements under her settle. She sighs with her breathing, opening saddened eyes downcast.

Cal's screams die out into wheezes, the raccoon glancing up in horror to see the woman holding the blade in his partner. His eyes twitch, choppy wheezing breath quickening.

A spark catches his attention out of his shock. Earl's maul. The lightning dust vial! The faunus aims his arm at the maul head, his katar opening. The gun barrel fires, the shot hitting the sparking center of the head.

Summer and Cal both shield themselves as the hammer head surges and explodes, a shockwave of electricity pulsing out.

The pulse shocks Summer, being closer to her. The blast rockets the woman off of the gorilla faunus, into the wall of the closest shack. Cal, being several yards off to begin with, is mildly shocked, but he shakes it off. He groans, slowly standing to his feet. His body is littered in burns and scrapes, but he snickers at the sight before him.

The dark brunette lays against the wall, out of commission. The faunus scoffs and smirks, despite his injuries. His gaze trails back to the crane... smirk widening to a grin.

Up on the crane, Carmine's eyes peek open. His vision blurs, adjusting back to the dark after that bright flash... thing. It takes him a minute, but he gets his breathing under control, looking around.

Gunshots and crashes continue in the distance. His father fighting him. But no sound coming from below. He reaches his hand around the beam, but flinches back. Don't move. She told him NOT to move.

His nerves raise. The eerie quiet around the crane after so many bangs. It's just... something feels wrong.

CLANG!

The beam he rests on lightly vibrates, the sound making the boy jolt like an explosion! He snaps his head up to the sky, seeing just who he didn't want to see standing on top of the scaffold above him. Cal snickers at him, eyes unhinged. "Bad news, brat!" His right katar slides back in to form its blade. "I'm quite pissed."

. . .

BANG!

Jared slides back, skidding to a halt. Before getting his footing, he dodges left. The faunus's spined tail lashes by, grazing the human's chest.

He hammers the butt of his gun into Killa's guard, knocking the bastard back a step. A flip of the gun and Jared fires both barrels gang style.

Killian ducks the shots, but Jared jump steps forward. The Hunter power kicks the ducked criminal, knocking him flat on his back.

Prone on the ground, Killa snarls and aims his wrist guns, firing. None of the shots hit clean, but slice around Jared. Gashes on his arms, sides, and legs, the man is thrown onto his back foot.

He rolls back, onto his feet, and removes two more spiked spines from his back. He throws them at the Hunter, smiling as the close in.

The first spike scrapes by Jared's cheek, leaving a bleeding cut. The other hits his shin, going through his leg. A loud scream of pain pulls the cop to a kneeling position, unable to stand properly.

"Say hi to the bitch for me! Ha ha!" Killian charges, tail slinging behind him with each stomping push.

Jared scowls up, scoffing. A flick of his right hand, and the cylinder pops open from Heulin Noon. All six shots aura pellets from his semblance fall out into his left hand. He pushes up with his good leg, as much force as he can.

Killian spins, lashing his tail once again from the human's right. Jared twirls his gun, blocking the tail. Simultaneously, he palm thrusts his left hand into the faunus's gut.

For just one second, he enjoys the look of shock on the monster's face before the aura shots explode. A blast erupts, both fighters blurred out from the shockwave. The concrete beneath quakes and shatters.

The dust and debris clears, both men standing at the center still. Killa's gut is blackened up to his sternum. Both arms clutch at his abdomen, his shaking legs barely keep him standing.

Likewise, Jared's left arm hangs limp, dripping crimson with bruises all over it. His left leg quivers with the spike still through. However, his right hand flicks the cylinder back into his weapon. He brings the weapon up, barrel a mere inch from the criminal's head. "It's ov-"

He stops. Everything stops. Freezes as he sees a slight, glimmer at the edge of his sight. Above ground, above the water line with the yacht sinking below. Atop the rust yellow crane, he sees red hair... and the raccoon faunus standing over him, blade raised.

No thinking. No need to think. His weapon inches over, no longer aimed at Killa's forehead, now aimed over his shoulder and up.

The faunus's eyes follow the gun barrel, then see the other man's eyes trail off. Hazel eyes widen, a smile coming on as he twists in place.

Twin gun barrels fire. A spiked tail lashes, the sound of sticking in meat with a smack.

. . .

Carmine screams, arms raised in a futile defense. Cal grins, bringing his blade down in a crazy.

BOOM!

Carmine watches on. A flash of impact, as a hole bursts through the Faunus's chest... No protective aura left. The shock of the hit leans the raccoon man back on his heel. A wet gasp gurgles out the man's mouth as he sways. Left. Then right. And back again... tipping over.

The man falls back, hitting one of the crane beams before sliding off it, no attempt to catch himself. A wheeze escapes him as he slips off, fading off.

Carmine sits stock still, eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape. Ragged breaths go in and out, lightly shaking.

CRRK! The child jumps scared stiff. The wet cracking smack echoed out from below.

Shaking, he gulps. Can't stay still anymore. A soft whimper escapes him as he slides along the arm of the crane. Reaching the base of the arm, the top of the crane tower, he makes it onto an attached ladder. The boy shakes and whimpers, moving down the ladder. Shaky breath turns to gasps when he sees Cal's disheveled body laying flat on the concrete, a dark puddle forming around him.

His climbing stutters, quickly doubling his pace on recovery. He slides down the last steps, stumbling a few steps into a crouch. Shattered concrete, scorched wood, smoldering embers. Wide blue eyes scan the surroundings.

The boy jolts back, a snap yell escaping once he finds the limp gorilla faunus still before him. His ragged breathing turns to wheezes, seeing red liquid soaking chest fur and the man's vest.

Shambling his way, Carmine stops at the concrete edge, the yacht fully sunken below. He gulps, looking over the water way gap. His wide gaze narrows, confusion.

Rrrrrrip! The faint sound comes from two figures in the distance.

There! Across the gap filled with water, Killian rips away from Jared. A drip of red flicks off the spines of his tail. The human sways with the ripping pull, making eye contact with the boy. The boy, whose being shuttered from the sight.

"NOOO!" Carmine's scream brought him to his knees. The boy's hands shot to his mouth, covering it while his eyes bugged out. He lurches, eyes forced to the ground, breathing unsteady.

Killa looks across at the boy. Behind him, Jared coughs, falling backwards, prone on the ground. The faunus turns fully, hunched with one arm over his blackened gut. A rasped giggle escapes him, lips curling up.

The man's body shifts gray before he begins sinking into the concrete. "The prize is mine..."

Carmine's body convulses, a coughing fit coming before the ground shifts to his left. The boy flinches to his right, tripping and falling onto his back. He looks up in horror, a smiling Killa sneering down at him.

"Woo! I'm back, ba-" The man's eyes widen as he dives back. A burst of petals blinds the boy before his last protector stands for him.

Summer's silver eyes glare at the man. Her weapon held up with the blade mere inches from the monster's throat.

All three freeze. The boy on his back, mouth agape and broken eyes wide. The faunus with a disgusted scowl raising a brow. The woman keeping her blade up, tense and ready.

"Well... This is awkward." Killa's scowl masks behind a smirk. "Don't you know how hard it is to find good hired help? You killed my second and third choices!" He takes a step back from the woman. "Talk about gruesome."

Summer takes an aggressive step forward, keeping the blade of her weapon at Killa's neck. "Shut. Up." Her silver eyes dimly glow once more. Barely. Making the color stand out far more than the whites of her eyes, gray in the darkness of night.

Killa's false cheer dissipates, scoffing. "Oh, bite my glorious technicolor ass, Sweetheart." His anger wavers as the blade inches closer, so he steps back again. "But... perhaps we can make an arrange-"

"I'll die before I let you take this child." Summer states with absolute authority.

This gets the faunus to smirk once more. "Ah, you specifically say 'take', huh?" She narrows her eyes to a glare. He chuckles lightly at the defiance.

"Tell you what. You can fight me... and you would win in our current conditions, but with both of our semblances, you can't possibly guarantee you'd keep that brat safe." Killian begins taking a few steps away, sending a glance at the terrified boy.

"After all, if I can't have what I want, no one can... usually!" One finger raises. He speaks in a light tone, eyes on the boy. Summer steps between them, ready. "So, you like the little rascal to be safe, and I like living to have my fun another day. See where I'm going with this?"

"You think I'm going to let you go after what you've done?!" Summer says, anger truly warping her tone for the first time.

He glances off, looking thoughtful as he nods. One hand flippantly points behind her. "Yes, if you want him to have a life ahead of him." Killa answers plainly. The woman halts her advance, conflict showing.

Tension slowly eases, the blade lowering just an inch. The woman's narrow scowl remains on the faunus, yet not nearly as biting. The options were weighed. Risk one life to potentially save future lives, or guarantee the child's safety.

Although, it's not one she had to consider for long...

"You stay away from him. Forever!" She asserts, but the man is already grinning.

"Hey, hey! I know when I've lost... Two mediocre friends and a yacht..." He trails off, backing away. His steps are slightly limped, but his tone remains light. "I feel like I've got the bitter end here. Wasted my business venture."

Summer's eyes lightly glow brighter, her eyes widening in fury. "Leave!" A twist and her weapon enters its rifle mode.

The madman's grin widened as he back paced into a concrete wall. His skin began to shift gray. A low chuckle passes his grinning teeth. "Remember kid..." Carmine's eyes transfixed on the psychopathic faunus. Said faunus raised his right hand and wriggles it. "I used this hand.."

He passed into the material of the wall, just before Summer fires a round through. Summer's eyes glance every which way. Moments passed before she lowers her weapon, turning around to see the boy.

Carmine's gaze, filled with terror, darts back and forth. He body shivers, though, he manages to stand back up on his feet. He shakes himself out of the shock, turning around. Across the water way, his father still flat on the ground... "D-daddy?"

Summer whips around, mouth opening, yet she stops herself. She sees Jared, still, on the ground in the distance, and Carmine is already sprinting around the water way, rushing towards the man. The huntress grimaces, eyes downcast, but she takes off after the kid.

The boy sprints along the concrete. His teeth clacking is he contains a sob. "Dad!" He slides to a stop, seeing the man laying on the ground before him. Like a punch in the gut, he tries to breath in, but just can't.

He begins taking a few short steps. He flinches back at the sight of red on the man's shirt. "N-n...no.. No no." His head already shaking back and forth... a wet sting in his eyes. Still yet, he continues to march forward.

Diagonal puncture wounds line from the man's hip to his opposite shoulder. His gun rests solid in his right grip, laying on the ground. A trickle of red seeps from the corner of his slight open mouth. His eyes, clouded and dark, blink.

A dim smile quirks onto him, gazing at his son. He wheeze escapes his breathing. Summer catches uo, stopping just behind the boy. Her gaze falls, concern fully on the quivering boy approaching his father.

"No no no-" The boy chokes on a breath. Hoarseness fills the child's call. "No, Daddy!" He drops beside the man, shaken hands pushing against the adult's arm. "Get up! Get up!"

The man wheezes another breath. Mutely, his head turns towards the kid. A low rasp of a voice comes. "Hey, Slugger..."

The huntress found herself looking away, gripping her arm. The man's voice had come out so weak, a faint gurgle coming with it. Jared's eyes lost focus, dimly glancing in the woman's direction. Once she finally looked back, the man cracked a grin for his son.

"Everything's okay, Carmine. My son." His smile drops, eyes clouded in thought. He reaffirms himself. "My son... do you have any clue how proud I am of you?"

Tears began to fall, the boy sniffling. "Dad, I-I... I'm s-sorry. T-they came and Mo-"

Jared's left arm reaches up, falling on the boy's hand. The shaking child meets his gentle gaze. "Sh... It's okay. You were SO brave, standing up to them all on your own. Does a father prou-" The man convulses, a coughing fit coming on.

Carmine flinches at the sickly sound, looking up at Summer then back down. "Get up! H-hos-spital!" He glares up at Summer, irrationally shouting. "Get help! Take him to a hospital!"

The hand comes up and rests on the boy's head. Feather light, it ruffles his hair. He returns his gaze to his father. "Carmine. Hey... she can't do any more than she has." He gives a weak breath of a laugh. "Don't forget to treat a nice lady with respect now. I give her full permission to set you straight."

The boy just stares at him. Shaking his head, he places his hands on the man's chest. "Th-then I'll heal you-"

The hand falls from his head, dropping onto his own hands, gripping them. "That-" He coughs once more, A groan escaoes. "That won't work, Carmine. It doesn't work."

"But-"

The boy's words die out with a stern look from the man. The hard eyes slowly softened, a smirk forming. "Carmine, you will go with Summer. She will take you to Vale. You can trust her, and... you can trust anyone she brings you to."

He smiles, though, his head falls back, flat on the pavement. His right arm inches up, grunting in pain. His right hand unclenches, Heulin Noon twirling loosely and hanging on the trigger guard from his finger. The hand gently presses into the boy's chest until the small hands gripped the weapon.

"And you will go on..." His voice loses strength, his being weakening. His hand drips down from the boy. "And you will do... amazing things." The last word cuts short, breath ran out.

Like that... he was present in Carmine's eyes, but gone immediately after. Movement stopped. No breath. Hand not as warm as it should have been.

Numb. If anything, that was the only thing he felt.

Gentle, an arm drapes softly onto his shoulders. His gaze locked on the body before him. His eyes slowly clench shut, a gentle draw tugging at him, so he allows the woman to pull him in. A protective hug supports the boy before a sob sounds. And he cries.

And another chapter down. Some Roman, and hopefully some accepted Summer love. But, we ARE out of some OC territory now.

No music for this one, only because I only want to use certain things once, and the ones I had for this one are better spent later. Just some drama and straight forward action.

Ivor Hallow as Summer's weapon. I sorta wanted to replicate the naming of Crescent Rose, where one word described the weapon and another the color. Ivor for Ivory for white obvious, and Hallow means a blessed person or object, since silver eyed maiden.

As for her semblance, people might dislike what I used for it, but Ruby's is a physical semblance probably because of her dad's genetics, so Ruby's can travel fast physically, while Summers is instant, but less straightforward and less useful in situations.

Read next time, in Chapter Six...