Chapter Forty Eight: Friends Like These
'Aura Level: 0%!'
The red alert blinks on the cracked scroll. Slender hands turn the device, lightly thumbing over the damage. Popping a thin casing off, the circuits are exposed, as the slender hands hover over them... No. The hand closes the casing. The scroll is turned back around... still flashing.
'Aura Level: 0%!'
Blair glares at the offending device. Her pleated shirt is pulled up to the shoulder for the left arm, a bandage at the elbow. Her clothes were still dirty. The blonde's hands clench tighter around the device in frustration.
Stop. Calm. She places it in a cup holder. She's inside the CRBN van. She glances to the sight in front of her.
Carmine.
The boy lay in the back of the CRBN van, armor removed from him, shirt and jacket gone. A thick bandage is in place at his left side, wrapping up to double as a bandage for his right shoulder. Small patches littered his body. An IV drip is connected to his right arm.
Another pair of hands work on cleaning a patch on his leg through a cut on his pants. Neo was similarly patched up, but much better off. The typically aloof and mischievous looks were replaced with a furrowed brow and neutral mask hiding her emotion. Blair was fairly certain she'd seen Neo's eyes blink their colors white once or twice, but when asked, Neo seemed composed.
Questions for another time. The real concern was at hand.
Carmine's chest ever lightly rose and fell. He was alive. Which, of course, is good!
But... He'd been out for 28 hours. No signs of life outside a pulse and breathing. Then, there was the scroll. She glares at it, confused.
'Aura Level: 0%!' It continues to flash.
Her radio pops off. "Barbie, you read?" Roman's voice chimes in. Breathy. Tired. Blair reaches to key her own.
"I hear you. What is it?" Her voice rasps. Dry. "Did you find anything?"
. . .
"Anything?" His voice rings out, nearly echoes, the man underground in the wide expansive area. "I've found everything." Despite success, he seems unhappy. "They definitely cleared out this place yesterday. Probably while we were fighting the street samurai."
He moves into one of the enclosed buildings near a rail yard. Roman continues by a room filled with scrapes, abrasions, and blemishes. Is that dried blood? He crouches and brushes it with one hand. Yep, that's dried blood.
"Series black training facility. Being actively used." He rattles off.
"No one home? Any apparent reason for them to leave?"
"Unless our presence is oh so terrifying... Which, given their cyborg initiative, I doubt that's it. There were three stooges on guard that are dealt with." Roman grumbles. "Although, we've probably graduated to actual threat by now. I think they had alternative reason to leave. They probably expected us to die and to show back up home for cleanup." A grimace forms as he exits the building, crossing his arms.
"I see... Find out where they went, then rig the place with as many traps as you can. We will follow after them soon as Carmine is awake."
"Oh!" Roman huffs an amused laugh. "That's easy, though I doubt you'll like the answer." He marches to an open space between two tracks. "So, you mentioned an underground train, right?"
The silence was grim... pun unintended. Thank the gods, Silver Streak isn't here.
"Yes... You're not insinuating that they..?" Her implication hung as Roman sighs.
Standing in front of a great wide, and OPEN, subway tunnel, he grimaces. "I'm standing directly in front of it. Wide and open for all to see." He peers over the machinery in nearby train carts, then glances at the mismatched metal making the tracks. Some shimmering. Some dark and eroded. "Power tools for digging and some replaced tracks too."
. . .
"Shall we tail them on the tracks, or no?" Roman's voice rings.
Blair is unable to respond, pinching her nose in frustration. How long has that been cleared? Did Ozpin know? He needs to know... It's a massive hole in Vale's defenses... At least of the criminal nature. Grimm aren't exactly coordinated to find the underground hatch, venture to find the endless tunnel with miles of nothing so they may find a single small opening.
Still.
Neo nudges her, gesturing to Carmine. She holds up a thermometer, his temperature raising. His breathing was starting to get choppy.
She keys the mic. "No. Taking the tracks back to Vale may put us into another trap."
"Glad we agree. I was already planning all the traps to make."
"You're certain that AZRL won't be able to use the location afterwards?"
A short chuckle comes out. "Give me an hour, and no one but me will be able to set foot in this place. Keep the van warm for me. Least we know they're in Vale."
"I'll hold you to those words. Take any medical supplies you find. Our first priority is finding an Inn where Carmine can rest and be treated. Radio if you run into trouble." She clicks off the mic, sighing.
Neo settles back by the boy, frowning. She quickly gazes about, eventually finding a cloth. She soaks it with a water bottle, placing the cloth on the rasping boy's forehead. She glances over to his cracked scroll.
'Aura Level: 0%!'
Her fists clench her pants tight in frustration. All of them had gotten IV drips and processed what they could of the black dust from their systems. Her own aura was the worst off of the three, sitting at 13%. Yet, Carmine's just refused to budge one point. He should be dead, right? Yet, he's still breathing. But, he's not getting any better! So, is this pointless? Is he already..?
She's sparked out of it as Blair's hand gently eases Neo's. The girl didn't notice her knuckles white, a slight pain in her palms. Nails digging in. "We'll figure this out." The blonde tries to look confident. It must have clicked, as Neo lets her hands release along with her breath. "He's like a pest. You can't be rid of him." Blair tries with a small smile.
That works better, earning a knowing smirk from the teen. Blair then places a hand on Carmine's chest. In a quick huff, she pumps some of her aura with her semblance into him... She should gain some insight-
Nothing. The aura she just pumped in is snuffed out, beyond her reach.
Gone.
She notices Neo looking at her. The mute was far too observant to miss the blonde's tense reaction. Shit. She nods. "We need a place to set him where I can give a full check... Maybe..." She eyes the boy's scroll again... The flashing icon by the time labeling four missed calls.
. . .
Beacon Academy
The academy was a bustling with students. Teens of all shapes and sizes either already established in routine... or those arriving.
The first years have arrived for their first semester at the academy, the large air craft ships depositing dozens upon dozens of 17 year old teens, give or take a year on the ages. The newcomers were scrambling about, mesmerized by the architectural beauty. A group of girls march up to the magnificent fountain, quickly trying to get together to snap a picture!
Peacefully observing from above, far up on the tallest tower stands its headmaster. Ozpin watches with a mask of calm, what he would usually enjoy as the children below enjoy being what they are. Kids.
Not what they will become... Let them enjoy what they are for as long as possible.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
His scroll rumbles in his pocket. The man pulls the device out, spotting the name and allowing a curt gasp. Carmine...
Ozpin answers. "Hello, Carmine."
"You only call him Carmine when you're alone or serious... I need information, Professor." The blonde's voice was terse, cold. The headmaster's lips were already formed into a frown. Well, as close to one as he could, an ever slight pursing of the lips.
"Ah, Miss Goodwitch. A pleasure to speak with you once more... Where is Carmine?" He wasn't going to comment on her knowledge of what is certainly one of the boy's observations of the man. "What happened?"
"Carmine has been rendered comatose. Answer my questions so that I may help him." Ozpin's form remained stoic, still as he one handed brings his coffee. "First, why does Carmine have an... 'other' aura? What is it that he's dealing with? I know you know."
That confirms it. His feeling... and she couldn't possibly have missed it.
"Bring Carmine here, and I can have him properly recover. Your group is within the area, is it not?"
"Don't avoid the answer. You know the answer. Let me know so I can treat him." Her tone gets chilled. Accusatory.
A silence brews for a moment as Ozpin measures his options. Eventually, he settles. "That information is only available to myself, Carmine, and top trusted agents. I cannot tell you."
The emphasis on trust must have gotten an ill reaction... as Blair's voice gets louder. "You did know, and you've kept it from him! What is this power? It has nothing to do with his own aura or semblance. It's been in his blood since before I met him, and he called upon it yesterday. He's yet to wake up. If I'm to treat him, I NEED to know what I am dealing with."
"You will bring him in to Beacon where we can properly treat him." Ozpin affirms, again not answering her question. "What you are dealing with is beyond conventional knowledge."
. . .
Blair's grip on the scroll tightens. Fury bubbles out. "You mean it is knowledge you wish to control." She almost glares at the scroll in hand, the blonde speaking outside and away from the van. Blissfully ignoring Neo able to hear her rising tone from within the van regardless. "Did it ever occur to you to inform Carmine of any of this for his own safety? This is vital!"
"A fact that necessitates bringing him back to Beacon immediately." Ozpin's voice remained neutral to the woman's mounting fury. "He must be instructed how to avoid further complications."
Further... avoid... instructed... necessitates.
She schools herself, biting back cold. "Ozpin, is this magic?" She cuts to the chase. Like the floating islands, like the fairy tales... an energy that cannot be accurately measured, yet with tangible effects.
The silence was telling...
"Your silence speaks more than you do, and you wish to speak about trust?!" She snaps.
"Miss Goodwitch." His authoritative, and slightly dipped, tone of headmaster returned. For a second, she flinches, feeling like she's back in that office getting lectured before expelled from the academy. Fitting... "Trust is something that must be earned. Carmine has that... You do not."
Blair feels like she's been slapped, but the pit in her gut tells her not to respond with fire... He had a point. However, the rational part of her was boiled out by indignation. "Misguided or not, do not dare equate my dedication to knowledge to your puppeteering of your son, you bastard."
"Like your search for knowledge, spreading this information could yield farther consequences than you realize, Miss Goodwitch." His infuriatingly calm tone was all the more condescending.
And yet... Just him responding like that may be an overreach. Blair blinks before scowling at nothing. "There's someone out there. Someone else keyed in on this. Not AZRL, no... You didn't know about them." Calm now, she mulls over that realization.
"There are many things hidden from view within the world. Of them, only a handful do not bring danger with their knowledge-"
"-And so we remain vigilant against the darkness abuse of knowledge may bring." She finishes, rattling off like she's heard it before... In fact, she has. "Science of Grimm, fifth edition, Chapter 2: Ethical Pursuit, page 47. Quote from former Beacon headmaster Professor O'Cyrus. I remember that chapter with you teaching it."
"I'm glad you remember. So to should you bring Carmine immediately. If AZRL requires haste, I can request Huntsman Branwen join your team in Carmine's absence-"
"No." She states simply.
"Miss Goodwitch-"
She cuts off again. "No. If Carmine shows up to you, it will be his decision. His INFORMED decision after you explain yourself to him." Blair demands, anger bubbling back. "Also, be damned if you expect this team to function without that boy."
The pause let her know the conversation had come to an end.
"I'll have Carmine call you after I've gotten him awake. You continue doing whatever it is that you do." She hangs up on the biting comment. Turning back to the van, she sees Neo inside its open door frowning.
The little girl gestures with her own scroll. Hmm? Oh, Roman must be on his way back. Hopefully, Roman has some ideas. Blair nods back to the girl.
"Either way this works out... We're returning to Vale."
. . .
Ozpin sets the scroll down, grimacing. That could have gone better, he supposes. Still, he cannot disregard this.
He taps on his phone, hovering over his contacts. The name under his finger centers his mind like a grim omen. Qrow...
He pulls the digit back. No, hasty action is something James would prefer. Ozpin prefers diplomacy. Perhaps giving an olive branch would hasten things. So, he types out a message, sending it soon enough.
'Test his responses to injection of foreign aura. That will yield your first answers.'
. . .
Two days later
The streets were bustling with the lunch time hours of yet another business day. Dozens- no. Hundreds of adults living the urban life. Mixed in are the young adults moving about their own hangouts. Teens on their lunch time breaks from classes rush to socialize.
Stepping around a large building is a man. In a black jacket, black dress pants, gloves, he removes a pair of red aviator sunglasses. He runs a hand through his brown hair, brushing his brown clean trimmed beard before reaching down for keys. Unlocking the door, he enters the large, dark, expansive main room of the building.
Behind him, two teen girls follow. Each wears a leather jacket for warmth. One with black fur lining the collar. The other with white. They appear in their mid teens with raven black hair. Identical in every feature, save for the coloration of their attire.
Each are carrying a bag behind him, looking more annoyed to be there than anything.
That is, until one stops, eyes slightly wide and alert. She looks into the darkness, tense. The other girl notices this as well, quickly dropping her bag.
Both girls step forward, in front of the man, as he reaches for the lights. It spooks him. "Huh?" He takes in their posture, eyes narrowing himself. "Hmm. It's unwise to break into my nightclub unannounced."
As if in answer, he hears the clatter of ice in a glass, the sloshing of liquid into the same glass he guesses. Someone is here... in HIS club.
He flips the switch...
The nightclub snaps on, a full pristine dance floor and booths all around. The empty stage where entertainment would be. And finally, the bar...
Where Roman appears, swirling a small mixing straw in a green mixed drink. He smirks condescendingly at the bar owner. "Sorry, I'd heard this place had excellent bartenders, but none were here. Figured I'd make one myself while I waited."
Both girls tense, ready to pounce, when the bar owner gasps. "What... the hell are you doing back?" He waves off the girls. "Melanie. Miltiades. Stand down. He's not hostile." His nostrils flare as he glares. "He's just annoying... Hello, Roman."
Roman scoffs in mock offense. "How is that a way to treat an old friend? How are things, Junior? Enjoying the rule of the underworld you craved so much? That I gave you?" He ends with a smirk.
"Girls, take the bags to my office. I'll have a chat with him." At both girls sending arched brows his way, he waves off again. "He's fine. He doesn't work like that. Prep the security and food for the day. I'll join after."
"Hmph." Both girls in unison glare at Roman before haughtily stepping away with their bags into the back.
Roman watches them leave before chuckling. "My, continuing the legacy? I didn't know you had daughters."
Junior glares at him as he approaches. "1. Not daughters. My new bodyguards. 2. If we're talking, you're getting the hell out from behind my bar." Roman holds the stare a second before smirking. He steps out from behind the bar, both men moving to a booth nearby.
"Bodyguards, eh? Since when do you get anyone other than the typical stooge?" The conman starts out.
"Since becoming Vale's number 1 crime lord... For all the good it brings." At Roman's next look, the barman sighs. "Let's just say there were a LOT more challengers to my rule than we ever expected. Half my control of the outer Vale territories went untethered since my boys were so preoccupied with problems here."
Ah, I was right, Roman thinks. The barman is weak in rule. No wonder AZRL, the Consortium, and many others have spread through the countryside. Roman takes a drink from his glass. As he moves to sit it down, Junior's hand catches his wrist.
"You pay for that, by the way." Junior adds.
A short pause, and Roman relents. "Somebody's gotten stingy." He comments, his off hand place some Lien on the table.
Pocketing it, Junior huffs. "Just 49,999,980 you owe me, now."
Roman coughs up in reaction. "Now, hold on! Every penny you earn more than you did before should go into that!" He jabs a finger forward.
Junior smirks at that. "You don't know my finances. I may not have earned a single Lien out of this." Roman sends a quick glare... Okay, so he HAS learned to maintain some control... In which case...
They both burst into a laugh. The two mobsters ease into the seats. Something Roman almost feels nostalgic for. Roman lets out as they quiet. "Someone's gotten shrewd. So, outside of control being almost impossible, how has it gone? Seriously? Two little girl bodyguards?"
"You're one to talk?" Junior retorts, allowing Roman his drink back. "They're the Malachite Twins. Pretty deadly. Also quite loyal when you and their former employer..." He waves off. "Eh, that's a long story. Short answer, they're good once you get past the moody attitude."
Roman chuckles. "So, remove the fun from Neo and put it in stereo. Typical teenagers." He fixes a look to the barman. "You didn't get them from..?"
"Gods, no! I already had to pay for yours. AZRL is still off limits from this city!" Junior states confidently... Well, that's not good. Roman's face must have shown it. Junior's smile falters to a serious glower. "Ah, right. How has the fight with AZRL been?"
"Well, for starters... City's not as off limits as you claim."
. . .
Three blocks away, on the fourth floor of a hotel, the remaining CRBN members occupy a double room. One of the beds is cleared, Carmine laying motionless upon it. An IV drip is still hooked to his right arm as Blair draws blood from his left.
One of the room's tables, typically holding a lamp, is cleared off of the room's amenities. Instead replaced by a microscope and vials. Blair had taken the advice from Ozpin to heart, setting up to examine Carmine's blood. She continues to examine samples as Neo comes out of the bathroom.
She's cleaned up, as the others are, now in black pants, brown high boots with pink lining, and a pink v neck shirt. The girl ties her hair back into a mixed color ponytail before a shatter illusion comes over her. Her colors shift to raven hair, yellow eyes, and her clothes colors going to black and red. She grabs Hush, now colored red with black designs, and presents herself to Blair.
"Be careful and out of sight." Blair states clearly. "Don't actually go in anywhere. Just find the locations where AZRL could be accessing the underground and monitor anyone in the area." The mute nods, sparing another look to Carmine. Blair softens and nods. "I have him."
Neo pauses before nodding. She leaves the blonde, going out for recon.
Blair turns her attention back to the blood. Injection of foreign aura? A direct reference to her own semblance. Yet, every time she's attempted to place her aura into the boy, his body snuffs out the aura given in seconds.
She needs to see at a micro level... So, she sets up a blood sample on a slide, moving it under the scope. She looks at it...
"What?" Blair recoils back from the scope before peering back in...
The blood was... normal?
Recalling the first time she'd ever evaluated his blood years ago, she thinks back. Aura dies out in cells separated from the body rather rapidly. The aura is visible inside the cell nucleus. The spark of life. However, Carmine's blood was always special in that, despite aura dying out, there was this... other aura that remained within the cells.
This was the power Fluorescent Finish could call out if the sword's wielder didn't enact their own aura..
And this no longer seemed present. The pockets of aqua teal energy that she'd become familiar with seeing in his blood samples was not showing.
So... his blood is normal? Like everyone else? Was it a finite source that's now been used?
No... If that was the case, Carmine would be dead from aura exhaustion. A casual glance at Carmine's charging scroll the table clarifies that. 'Aura Level: 0%!' Still blinking red. No. That other power is still in effect. Has to be. So... to test foreign aura.
Blair carefully slides her hand underneath the plate holding the contents under her scope... and activates her semblance. She injects her aura into the blood sample in a small grunt. Satisfied, she peers into the scope-
What..?
Nothing. The cells still show no aura in them.
A bubble of irritation fills the woman as she glares, focusing more on her semblance. A hum in strained effort influences the blood sample as her aura pumps out into the small amount.
She lets her hand drop, an exhale of effort as she gathers her breath. Then, she checks the blood.
Almost normal. Almost... A tinge of blue in the red blood cells slowly wanes. Is that the pocket she'd been used to seeing? She can almost make out the spot of that power, but damn. It's disappearing on her!
Keeping her view in the microscope, she focuses and fuels her aura into the blood sample. Hoping to see something in real time-... Ah...
She watches visibly as her own aura, brightens in the cells like a small saturated violet pocket in the nuclei. Her strength begins to sap as she maintains the flow of her aura into the blood sample. The bubble of her aura through the cells flickers, waning.
As it dims and brightens, she sees it. That other power. Its pocket occupies the same area and slowly gets brighter. She can see it! It's literally consuming her aura for itself! Her aura flow stops... and the violet power in the cells dies out within two seconds.
Informative... If this other power was aura, then her semblance and aura control would mix in with it. She would have a conscious will over it... Suppose she does in a sense. She can feel her aura getting consumed by the black hole that this power seems to be.
However, she recalls the use of Carmine's blood in Fluorescent... This... Overlap ability. Even without conscious use of aura, this power almost demands aura be present. Be presented. Almost as payment.
She runs cold at the thought. Carmine called upon the power when his aura was already nonexistent against Ray Mibu. So, this coma... is the result of calling upon this power without having aura for the power to feast upon?
Blair glances at the scroll. 'Aura Level: 0%!' Flashing red.
"That's it... Your aura IS recovering... and this power is sustaining itself before allowing you to keep it."
On the one hand, this relationship between this power and aura was... a breakthrough!
On the other hand... Carmine's aura has no means of recovery until this power is reconstituted...
Blair moves to Carmine's side. If it's aura it wants, then aura it will get. She places her hands on his bare chest. Her gaze closes as she focuses solely on the boy. She floods her aura into the boy through her semblance, hoping.
. . .
Disguised, Neo found herself in the lower ends of the city, following above ground rail ways to a massive train yard. Using Hush to shield herself from the bright sun, she first moves around the perimeter of the property. Simply one of the crowd.
First pass, she looks for anyone who clearly doesn't want to be seen. Potential Johnsons. No dice. Sure, a few pickpockets in hoods and ratty clothes, but no one fully decked out in anonymity. Everyone she could see fit perfectly in the environment.
No three eyed skulls to be seen.
She enters a restaurant, going to their restroom and changing her illusion to match the ratty looking homeless of the area. Gray pants, discolored green zip jacket, a beanie holding down brown hair, and brown eyes. All illusion.
Now, to make a second pass. This time searching for holes in the property line to sneak through. Secondly to spot where rail ways may lead underground. Roman did say one of the ways underground should be via subway...
For a time, she merges with the crowd, following the example of the pickpockets even.
"No stealing."
She can hear Carmine talking her ear off. In a pout, she turns back to the businessman she'd just pilfered 10 Lien off. Three minutes of tailing, she ends up placing the cash back in another of his pockets. Now, she's pissed. If Carmine was here, she'd have just kept it to annoy him... But he's not here.
That fact brings her to a halt. Her face hides all emotion, the shatter illusion having a stone cold neutral stare. Like that of a doll. Her hands ball into fists. She can't help him, either. So... this is all she CAN do. Make progress while he can't.
The girl can think of nothing further as she stands in the street.
A heavyset teen boy shuffles around her, marching off after a businesswoman who'd just exited the rail yard. As the woman turns, the heavy boy lurches and reaches for her purse-
He jerks back. Hush's hook handle catches him by the nape of his jacket neck. The girl still not paying an ounce of mind to him. Sneering, he notices the businesswoman has flagged down a taxi. Jerking away from Neo, he rounds on her-
She's gone.
He whips his head back and forth looking for the little girl... then notices. He reaches for HIS pockets, finding nothing. "What the- BITCH!"
High up on a nearby roof, Neo sits perched on the corner. She smirks, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Steal from those that deserve it. That's the ONLY time it's tolerable." Carmine. Always nagging her. Nag nag nag.
God, has it already been four days since he'd last chewed her out? Well, not really chewing out. More like mildly adorable nipping om verbal form. Her lips purse tight at that mental comparison, a tinge of pink lighting her cheeks.
"Hmm..!" She hums annoyed with her distraction before counting the Lien in her hands. 30 Lien, a violet dust powder- Drugs, ah-, and a knife. Just a strong arm robber street rat. Disgusting.
She tosses the knife away, pocketing the money and drug capsule. Not to use! Just something that can come in handy perhaps.
Right, so entering the rail yard. A gap in fencing on the northern end lead into the more run down end of the property. Near there will be a stair well to go further under. Still, after that mild scrap in the streets, maybe she needs to switch appearances again.
Yeah, best be safe.
Neo stands, getting away from the edge before allowing her image to shatter to her real self. What kind of appearance to go for now?
… Ah, she smiles.
Her body shimmers with the new shatter illusion. Her brown hair is red, pink hair now silver, with sky blue eyes. She's given herself some freckles, faint. Black pants, white undershirt, and a navy blue jacket with silver stripes.
Rocking Carmine's colors, Neo climbs down the fire escape. She quickly ventures through the fences and into the subway station under the rail yard. Time to explore.
. . .
An empty glass touches down on the table. Roman and Junior share concerned glances, Junior more disturbed. "I don't get-. There's no way I wouldn't know about it unless one of my boys is two timing! Which shouldn't happen! We've spent years weeding out the disloyal bastards!"
Roman squints in thought. "You're SURE that there's no one that could be looking out for their own team?"
Junior shakes his head. "No one. Not a single one of my lieutenants now has any affiliation that could even approach loyalty to anyone other than myself... Well, myself or-"
The clacking of heels rings through the room as one of the girls from before marches into their area. She looks alert, almost... worried. The other is rushing behind the bar, snatching a remote to one of the bar televisions.
"Hey! What did I say about-"
The sister behind the bar, Melanie, turns on a television. She's focused as she does so. The other points to the flashing screen. Miltiades speaks up. "Watch. It's a problem."
Junior and Roman eye the television, watching as Vale News comes on... The headline catches their eyes. 'A Terror Free?!'
. . .
"Ah!" Blair stumbles back into the roller chair. Sitting back, it rolls back into the next bed. Her ragged breath now sounds through the room. Amber eyes glaring at the ceiling. Feeling the sting of a headache, she closes her eyes, massaging her head.
God, has she been at this for an hour already?!
A migraine was starting to form. With one squinted eye, she peers out to find Carmine's cracked scroll. She lights the screen, ignoring the fading headache.
'Aura Level: 1%!'
'Aura Level: 0%!'
She saw the drop. Could have seen the drop occur in more real time had she not taken that minute to herself. Still, she has a job to do. She rolls to the side table peering into the microscope. The blood she'd tested before... it still had that other power alive in it.
Blair comes away, sighing.
Flooding aura into a small patch of blood is one thing. Flooding aura into a whole person? Just the time to transfer that much aura is extensive. She shifts to the side, pilfering through her bag and finding her lining pouch she'd typically keep under her clothes at the collar or side.
And it's contained blood capsules. Each marked with color tabs to keep track. She grabs one with a green tab, marked 'UM'. Ururu Mibu. Maybe... Ururu's semblance could steal aura from one's opponent for the user.
Maybe Roman could make a scheme to allow Blair to collect aura from other people? Crowd sourcing aura to fast track this? Crazy, but when do they not do crazy?
Still, she has her direction. Keep flooding until she gets a result-
The flashing of the television catches her eye. It'd been on mute, not to distract, but potentially entertain... It was a news show.
A frame on screen shows a stone simple building she was familiar with. Vale City Penitentiary.
Something at the prison... She snatches the remote and turns the sound on.
. . .
Neo slides around the next corner, the train station was fairly populated. However, very few people stuck out to her. There were some spots with guards, men wearing simple suits with no insignia or markers present. That last fact DID stick out, as security or police who act as order or control should be identifiable. For legal purposes, the losers and their stupid rules.
Her attention grabbed, she spent her next rounds observing these guards. Being colored up in Carmine colors and not looking quite as... homeless as her last disguise, they seemed to ignore her. Not like the dozens of teens with tattered clothes they seemed eager to police.
She finds two guards posted near the stair well that would lead further underground. Signs clearly showed that the lower subways were off limits, with older worn out signs having crossed off directions to a 'dock G'.
Maybe a private stairwell would help? If she could even find one-
"Aye, I'm gonna use the restroom. You got this?" One of the two guards to Dock G says to the other. He gets a nod from the coworker, and Neo grins behind her illusion.
The girl stalks the man, eventually finding him going into a restroom. Neo peers right, then left. She marches right to the restroom as her image flashes. Using Carmine's colors, might as well use his image. An illusion of Carmine coats her as she enters and whistles.
Only her and the guard in the men's restroom... From outside, the man's voice echoes out.
"Wha- Hey brat, I- HEY! Ah, get-" Impacts of flesh on tile and strikes echo. "AH! Get- HEL-" SMACK! A thud sounds.
Inside, Neo, as Carmine, pats his hands satisfied. The guard is knocked out and bound, sitting on the toilet of a center stall. "Hmm Hmm." She hums a laugh in a descending tone.
Sparing another glance to ensure they are alone, the girl enters the stall, closing it for the privacy to search the guard's person. Flashlight? Taking that. Stun baton? An AZRL standard issue, but not uncommon in regular guards. Taking that.
Neo retrieves a scroll from the man's pocket. Code locked. That's a bummer. Blair can have a field day later with it. Wallet? Contains a wallet for a Walter Jenkins- Wait, it's a Vacuo ID. Neat. 75 Lien-
It's in her pocket in the blink of an eye. And finally, she nudges around him to check the back... Bingo.
Red ink numbers. 16214. Series red for labor. Guy is just a grunt.
Satisfied, Neo steps back inside the stall, shifting her shatter illusion to that of the very guard conked out on the toilet. The girl, now in the guise of the suited guard, exits the stall, tying up its lock to keep him trapped inside should anyone try entering.
At worst, people think there's a homeless man sleeping in the stall. At best, they think its just a guy dropping a number 2 and move on. She exits the restroom, returning to the guard post. The other man huffs.
"Man, what happened in there? You blow out your ovaries?" Neo moves to wave off and grunt, but pauses... She was definitely impersonating a man, right? "You always whine like a woman after dropping one. You need to stop eating at Zoni's."
Neo settles for giving a barely audible grumble and huff. The guy takes the hint of unhappiness and leaves it. She just has to hold out until this guy has a reason to leave for a break.
For a short bit, it's smooth sailing. Silent intimidation of the passing civilians. However, it all comes to a halt when the guy asks Neo. "Boss is supposed to be here any minute right? He said 2 o'clock?" For a second, the girl sits still like a deer in headlights. She barely musters a will to shrug in answer... The other man wasn't buying it. "You out of it? Hell happened to your voice?"
Neo briefly checks the area... still people. She COULD knock the guy out, but then she'd be outed.
Thankfully, the man turns off, stiffening. "Ah, shit. Here he comes. Act natural!" Neo gets rigid on her side of the guarded stair well, looking ahead for who this 'boss' is...
A young man, with perfect posture, and a girl slaying pretty face is stepping down underground from the above world. His short raven hair is perfectly swept so as not to obscure any part of his face. Not a blemish or freckle in sight. His brilliant blue eyes held nothing but elation and a peppiness to him.
He wears a stark white business suit with black dress shoes, black undershirt, and a white bow tie. She notices him wearing tiny Ankh earrings... Her eyes narrow on them... The bottom of the religious symbols are broken off like teeth, and the center of the cross shows three eyes. There it is... Guy looks incredibly young, though...
The man pauses before them, casting a smile upon the two and nodding. "I trust all is well?"
"Y-Yes, Mr Crimean. Not a single incident here." The other guard answers after Neo is silent.
The man, Crimean? He nods happily before strutting past. "Please continue your noble work, friends." He marches down into the depths, leaving Neo and the other man.
"Whew... Guy creeps me the hell out." He shakes jitters free, seemingly forgetting his conversation with Neo. "Ugh... Now I need a leak. Hold the fort down." Neo gives a thumbs up, seeing the man off as she is left alone at the post.
Neo waits less than a second, then heel turns and bolts down the stairs. Rounding the corner, the guard illusion shatters, replaced once again with Neo recolored with Carmine's color palette. She follows the young man, maintaining a distance as they move down the subway platforms...
Eventually finding Dock G.
The train is running... What?
Hiding behind a pillar, she peers around to find a sub train coming to a halt on the dock. Mr Crimean is standing alone with a smile towards the train. It opens up as the young man smiles wide. "I had worried I was the hold up. How did I arrive before you?"
From the train, several AZRL guards step out, wincing and limping. Neo can even make out some red on the cabin floors of the train. They looked terrible... Wait. This was the line! Mountain Glenn connected to Vale here!
Guess they found Roman's traps... Ha! Serves them right.
Out from the train comes a somewhat familiar woman... Ah! Roman had said her name. Mary Anne? The dirty blonde was spotless and clean in a black and yellow tight dress, hair curled behind her. However, she looked clearly PISSED.
"Well, Jayce, we lost that base." She grumbles unhappily. Jayce?
Mr Crimean blinks wide. "Really? CRBN won against 2002?" He glances up in thought. "Huh. I had assumed they wouldn't have bothered with the fight."
"You don't know them!" Mary snaps, cutting a glare at the train. "The whole base is rigged with traps. No end on sight. Going in is basically just asking to die. Yeah, the hideout is a bust."
"Very impressive! 1065's doing?"
"Torchwick's doing, yes." Mary clarifies. "At least, I'll feel insulted if it was anyone else." She composes herself. "We could have killed them then and there if not for the old bastard. How did the Series Blacks do on the job?"
Crimean smiles wide, aloof to her mood. "Complete success. We got him out during a prison wing transfer. The little scamps are guarding the codger at one of his own safe houses set up by our middle men. He was... supposed to go with you back to Mountain Glenn... I suppose that's off the tables?" He chuckles at her curt glare. "Well, either way, he is expecting to handle payment through you for some of the children, so..."
Neo sucks in a breath. She catches Mary perk annoyed before the woman nods. "Summon him here then."
"Very well, Ma'am." Crimean waves his hand as his aura manifests in the air beside him. Like a perfect square haze of gold hanging in the air, the aura then shines.
Neo has to shield her eyes from the light, but manages to adjust to spotting a silhouette step out. In a blink, the golden aura disappears, dimming the area back to normal. Neo blinks the glare out of her vision to adjust. Who is the person?
They're wearing an orange prison jumpsuit... gray hair is swept behind him as the man stands confidently before the two AZRL members. A neatly trimmed silver goatee adorns his face... Brown eyes dark and experienced. He's ever slightly larger, though she can't tell if it's from fat or muscle.
. . .
The television news anchor, a middle aged woman, addresses the camera serious. "An open call to calm. Authorities have now given us the details of a prison escape just two nights ago. During a prisoner escort between department wings at Vale Penitentiary, an unknown group of assailants broke in and freed Hie Xiong, colloquially known as the business tycoon and former Vale crime lord 'Senior'."
Blair remains transfixed on the broadcast, a deep frown setting in. This... complicates things...
"No information has been obtained about those that broke him out, but an ongoing warning from the police chief is this. 'If you run across anyone you believe to be associated with Senior, assume they are dangerous, assume they are armed, and call the police. Beacon Academy has issued his own statement as well-"
. . .
The image on the television changes to a gorgeous shot of Beacon Academy. A still photo featuring the famous headmaster is placed in the corner as the news program plays a sound clip of a phone call. It's Professor Oobleck's voice.
"An evaluation of Senior's personality and behavior is that of someone typical of a Machiavellian persuasion. Those around him are twisted to work in their own interests, coinciding with his own. He cares little for any other goal. Interacting with him or his associates in even the slightest capacity is designed to limit you and force you to go along with him. Should you have ANY indication of such connection, contact the police or Beacon Academy's job request line. An open bounty has been enacted. Our Huntsmen and Huntresses are being prepared to intervene."
Roman lets the shock fall off, a grimace formed as he turns to look at the barman across from him. Junior was stunned in silence. "Well... what was that about your lieutenants only being loyal to you?"
Junior twitches in barely contained anger. "Damn... it! Melanie! Get a hold of our police informants! Miltiades, get the tap and listen to my calls. I need to someone else to have a read on the lieutenants when I talk to them. Someone is getting buried for this!" He then glares at Roman. "You wanna work off your debt?!"
Roman blinks and mockingly pretends to think things over before his smarmy grin forms. "What else are friends for?"
. . .
Senior stands before the two AZRL members, huffing in annoyance as he massages his wrists. His hardened gaze comes upon Mary, who has schooled herself to match the cold glare. "Ah, Zandril's taste in associates has stepped up, I see."
It was spoken in a lecherous way... Yet, somehow the matter-of-fact tone almost made it more creepy. As if the flagrant complement was expected to occur. Mary feels her skin crawl in front of the cold old man. "Plans have changed. It would appear that the very people who put you in prison are nearby. They've made the base we had inoperable for the time being, so we shall require you to use another safe house."
Senior merely raises a brow. "Young Jayce, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was left with the impression that you and your associates are capable."
Neo raises a brow. Jayce? So, Jayce Crimean is the young man's name.
The young man nods with a smile. "Most capable, sir! However, we should note that one of this Team CRBN IS your former number one agent, Roman Torchwick."
The elder glances up, as if reminiscent. "Ah, yes." He speaks airy, curious. "A rose turns out to be a weed left to grow too long." Before Mary can comment, the surly old man huffs. "Well? What's your plan to get rid of them?"
Mary's furious glare bores into the man. "As of right now, even our full team of series blacks would be hard set to face them. We do believe that Team CRBN is injured following their last battle, but our resources are too spread to have our top agents put them down."
Before the sour old man can speak again, the young man, Jayce Crimean, pipes in cheery. "Mr Senior? Miss Anne?" He gets their attention. "If CRBN is within the city, and they are responsible for your son's rise in the city's hierarchy, perhaps you could assist us. If your associates, even few, can help us kill them, surely the rest of your former lieutenants will fall back in line."
Neo tenses, crouched behind the pillar twenty yards behind them. Shit, this is crucial information, but...
Carmine...
They're not prepared for a full on gang war to break out.
"A good idea, but can you even locate them?" Senior points out. Mary crosses her arms, brow raised.
Jayce just smiled wider... "Well, I'm afraid that I haven't disclosed the reason I was late." He chuckles, standing straighter somehow. "I was simply taking the precaution of walking the block a few times before heading down..."
Neo feels a drop in her gut...
As Jayce turns an eye over his shoulder exactly to where she hides. "I found a curious little rat..."
His aura pulses yellow. The square ethereal portal that summoned Senior appears before him. Neo flinches as the same glow warps and appears directly behind her... with her between it and the wall...
Jayce lunges through the warp in front of him. From under the cuff of his right sleeve, a blade spikes out. A hidden blade. The man disappears through the gold portal in front of him and appears from the one behind Neo.
The girl turns to see Jayce lunging right at her... Horror appearing on her face.
SHATTER!
An impact hits the pillar, cracks forming up to the ceiling. Jayce's hidden blade and whole hand is embedded in the concrete. A smile still on his face.
Neo is gone... but he smiles.
Mary and Senior wheel around the pillar, the dirty blonde scoffing. "2814..." She glares at Jayce. "You missed."
Jayce smiles back at her. He holds up a small screened device with her left hand. "Oh? I struck exactly where I wished."
. . .
Neo skids to a halt from a full sprint, now in the streets. The frantic girl breaks into a full sprint. Shit. SHIT! How was she found?! What trick did he use? Just... How? She was certain that her presence was suppressed.
Gotta run. Gotta get back to Blair! Damn it, Blair TOLD her not to overreach her scouting! Thankfully she managed to dodge him. That was close...
The girl's Carmine colors shatter off as she once again takes her street homeless look from before...
Unaware of the small blinking metal ball stuck to the back of her real shirt...
. . .
The girl hadn't stopped running the whole way to the hotel. She burst through the main lobby, getting to the stair well and shedding the homeless illusion, falling back to the initial illusion she'd left in. The girl gets to the fourth floor, finding their room and using her room key to scan in.
She bursts in, slamming the door shut and holding herself up from collapsing. Inside, both Roman and Blair burst to their feet. Roman looks like he'd just arrived... "Neo, what happened?" Blair immediately approaches her.
Neo sheds the last shatter illusion, back to normal as she catches her breath and signs out frantic. "Found them. Old man too. I risked it. They found me. I ran." Her signs were frantic. The girl looked ready to kick herself for getting caught.
Blair and Roman exchange a glance. The blonde goes first. "At least you got away. Roman and I were just discussing the Senior debacle." Neo gives a questioning look to the conman.
"Junior is still in our corner... IF we help him." Roman eases back into the chair. "I can work with Junior myself. Got the experience of a hometown advantage."
Blair shakes her head. "It's too dangerous to put you out by yourself. Neo will work with you until I get Carmine back on his feet." Neo spares a glance at Carmine, prompting Blair to smile. "I've made a breakthrough. He'll be fine after I treat him enough."
The girl brightens after that, letting a relieving breath out as she calms. She signs more. "AZRL is short handed. They're going to use everyone on the old man's side against us next." She looks to Roman. "They found your traps. They were going to hide him there, but can't now."
Roman smirks. "Good. We've locked them to the city limits at least." He offers a hand. "Good job, kid."
Neo smirks and low fives the hand... then Roman's own smirk drops.
He quickly steps over, reaching around the girl. She squeaks in alarm until he pulls the blinking red device from the girl. Neo freezes as she realizes where it must have came from. Roman grimaces and holds it up for Blair to see.
The exact same type of tracker that Kirran picked off the van earlier this week... Blair's face says it all. Roman clenches the ball and crushes it.
Neo looks down, eyes snapped shut. Her mouth silently moves, reading 'shit'.
"We gotta move. Now." Blair bursts into action, throwing her medical devices and materials into their bags. Thankfully, Roman and Neo were light on belongings in the room. Roman begins grabbing Blair's equipment. Neo helps Blair remove the IV's from Carmine.
She eyes the boy's scroll and squints. 'Aura Level: 1%!' '0%!' '1%!' '0%!'
The number repeatedly alternates. Neo is almost transfixed by the device, but shakes her head. Focus.
Roman pauses, glancing out the window. Blair does the same after she pulls Carmine's jacket back onto the boy. Out the window, Roman can spot an angle of the block, seeing multiple trucks and vans coming to a halt. With Carmine fully clothed, Blair gets one arm over her shoulder to drag carry, steadying him. She shifts to the window, frowning.
Over a dozen men exit the vehicles... All in jet black suits, red undershirts, black ties, black hats, and red aviator glasses.
"Junior's men?" Blair mutters low.
Then the men openly produce guns and batons from under their suits.
Roman grimaces. "Senior's. Move!"
The three burst into the halls, Blair supporting the unconscious boy. Roman takes the lead. "Stairs." He says, taking the lead. "Neo, bullet shield. We'll clear a way to the van. Barbie's on defense!" Neo sprints ahead of Roman, Hush out. (Guitar riff begins soft, slowly building.)
Ahead of the group, the stair well bursts open as three suited men step out into the hallway. The first sneers and points. All three draw pistols. Neo opens Hush as they open fire down the hall. The shots deflect off, eliciting screams from nearby rooms. (Riff repeats with full instrumental.)
Neo power slides down, sweeping out one man's legs. Hush closes as Roman kicks past Neo, bashing another man away. He ducks a shot from the last and strikes the gun up with Velvet before palm striking the man out a window at the end of the hall. Shouts from the stairwell echo. Roman nods his head to Neo, then the window. She nods. ("Rev it up!")
Roman leaves the girls in the hall, charging into the stairwell. Men filter up from the floors below. Rom smirks, hooking the guardrail with Velvet and leaping over. He swings down one level, stomping down into the next man. (Instrumental bridges to first verse.)
The next man flinches back. He lunges from Roman, who catches his arms and slams him into the rail. The next man after aims a pistol, so Roman jerks the one in his grip up to take the shot. The man screams in pain, shutting up when Roman palm strikes him down the stairs into the shooter. ("A wild child with a lot to prove. I'm a sheddin' off the shame and the dead dead weight!")
The man pushes the injured one off him, aiming his gun again. In one fluid movement, Roman slaps the gun down, twisting it around to fire into the shooter himself. Roman strikes him away, off hand snatching the gun for himself. ("A live wire with a broken fuse. We will never be the same but we're bound by fate")
He descends the stairs, emptying the clip into three more men charging up before any of them can draw their weapons. He rounds the stairs to the bottom, finding the stairwell exit to the back alley. ("Overturned and overrun. From the depths to paradise.")
"Here goes." He mutters, bursting through the door... finding over a dozen men gathered around cars and preparing guns and stun batons. The man he'd thrown from the window before is splayed out with two men around him. All turn to stair a Roman, who grimaces annoyed. ("Hope and roses on the guns. Take me down to the afterlives!")
Half the men prepare guns and aim... Roman shifts Velvet's gun grip out, only one shot in it. Above, Neo leaps from the window above. (Music quiets, building into chorus.)
The girl slashes down into the nearest gunman. The men flinch back from her, allowing Roman to aim Velvet and shoot his chambered shot into another gunman. Roman closes in, kicking one thug and twirl striking the next with Velvet. ("Three times the power and three times the pain!.. Three times the confidence!")
He ducks a baton swing, cracking the attacker in the jaw with the cane. The man rocks back from the hit as Neo grabs him from behind. She twist throws the man into a nearby trashcan. A larger suited brute swings a baton at her. SHATTER! ("Tear down the towers and fire up the flames!.. We strive for providence!")
She appears behind the nearest standing gunman, side kicking him in the jaw and cracking him into the alley wall. The brute turns to Neo too slow, she slashes his leg out with Hush, bringing him to a knee. The girl proceeds to kick him senseless, the last head shot knocking him out. ("Don't stop, build it up! We are the energy! Don't stop, show your style~")
She spots Roman mopping the floor with four more near the mobster's vans. Satisfied, Neo looks up to the window, seeing Blair. She opens her arms wide, nervous smile. Blair sighs, lifting Carmine. She can't believe she's about to- ("Don't stop, build it up! It's electricity! Don't stop, keep it wild~")
More men round the halls behind Blair, alerting her. Shit. She tosses the unconscious boy out the window. Neo catches the boy in the alley, squeaking in surprise when he comes. (Instrumental plays into second verse)
In the hall, the first man fires a shot at Blair. The blonde spins like lightning, drawing Fluorescent and slicing the shot up into the ceiling. The men all slowly back seeing her counter. Seeing her glare, one holds his hands up. "We can talk about this." ("A split soul with a bitter wound. I'm a feather I'm a fang I'm a dark dark dream.")
Blair raises a brow, nothing further. Seconds later, all three men are launched out the window, landing painfully in the alley behind Roman. She lands right after, looking to see Roman finish the last mobster with him. ("Become whole or become consumed with a shadow in my hands and a primal scream!")
"Fun time, Barbie?" Roman asks. Both their attention is pulled up as another van screeches around the corner, driving into the alley. ("To erase the rational. Draw the words out of the page.")
"You're up!" Roman calls, Blair stepping forward. She inserts ice dust, activating it into a pale blue blade. She slashes, a chaotic clash of I e and metal smashing the front of the charging van and stopping it! ("To embrace the animal. Let the beast out of the cage!" Music builds into chorus)
Roman smirks, whistling for Neo's attention. The girl is getting Carmine's arm over her and supporting him when she looks over. The conman tosses his keys to her. ("Three times the power and three times the pain! Three times the confidence!")
The girl's hands, one holding Carmine's arm, other gripping Hush around the boy's back, are unable to catch. The girl blinks confused, and barely leans and catches the keys with her mouth. Seeing Roman amused, she squints a glare before retreating. ("Tear down the towers and fire up the flames! We strive for providence!")
Roman turns back as another mobster hits the ground. Blair stands over six men, her aura pulsing. A dark shading hazes over all six, getting screams of pain from the woman's semblance. She holds up Fluorescent and a blood capsule. Ururu's. ("Don't stop, build it up! We are the energy! Don't stop, show your style~")
"This should do..." She casts the semblance through the red blade, blue aura pulsing out from the six men, into the blade, and into Blair. Siphoning just enough to NOT kill them, she shuts off the power, well beyond full aura herself. ("Don't stop, build it up! It's electricity! Don't stop, keep it wild~")
As she and Roman turn to follow Neo, the Inn exit bursts open as more suited men charge the two. Roman sweeps two men's legs with Velvet before striking another when Blair asks "Where's your ammo?!" (Instrumental plays into new riff.)
Now annoyed, Roman kicks another man away. "In." He ducks a swipe and palms another man away. "Ah! The van! Didn't want to blow down the building!" (New riff plays. "Rev it up")
As the two fight, Neo rounds the building to a side lot between it and the next building. The small girl rounds two cars to get to the CRBN van. She presses Carmine against the side, allowing her hand to use the keys. Movement... Her eye catches a reflection of another mobster. (Instrumental bridges into final verse.)
Neo ducks, a gun shot piercing the van! She sweep kicks Carmine's leg back, using it to kick the man behind her! The man stumbles, allowing Neo to jerk Carmine's weight back over her. The girl rams Carmine's weight into the man, knocking him over. Another two men with batons are charging. ("A firework in a glowing sky. Through the hell and havoc stride.")
Eyes wide, she sees Hush still leaned on the van. Shit! She shifts Carmine off before whipping him shoulder first into the first man. She then jerks the boy back, using his own arm to block the second man's baton. ("Cool smirk a smokin' style. Rev my engines up and ride!")
Dropping under the propped up boy, she kicks the man's footing back. Then, she throws the boy into the mobster. With the opening, Neo quickly slides the van door open! She then dodges back as the first man is up and swipes at her. ("Demon heart inside of me. Got the style to make the grade.")
Cartwheeling back, Neo rolls onto Carmine on the second man, wrapping her arms on the boy. She finishes the cartwheel into a fireman carry, Carmine over her shoulders. The standing man swipes at her. SHATTER! The girl's smirk is in place as her image shatters. ("Carve my name in ivory! Devil tears upon the blades!" Music builds into chorus)
The van jolts, Carmine's weight hitting the back seats. Neo appears behind the two men, snatching Hush and slashing both down! The two baton men hit the ground unconscious. The first man with the gun stands and aims. ("Three times the power and three times the pain! Three times the confidence!")
Neo jumps into the open van, opening Hush to cover the back doorway. Two shots deflect off the parasol until Blair slashes from behind, taking out the man. ("Tear down the towers and fire up the flames! We strive for providence!")
Neo closes Hush, only to gulp at Blair and Roman running from another dozen men, now with rifles, filtering out from the hotel. She throws the keys to Roman before slamming the door shut. ("Don't stop, build it up! We are the energy! Don't stop, show your style~")
Roman gets in the driver seat, Blair getting into the passenger. "Go now!" She yells. Neo presses Carmine down to the floor in the back as bullets pierce into the van! ("Don't stop, build it up! It's electricity! Don't stop, keep it wild!")
The wheels screech before the van hits the highway. The CRBN members keep their heads down as sparking shots rip the top half of the van full of holes. The assault fades as the van gets out on the open highway, Roman and Blair slowly easing up and breathing in relief. (Music plays out and fades.)
The three take in the sight of their van now looking like Swiss cheese. "Well... that was close." Roman mutters, getting a glare from Blair. "What? Are you surprised? This is what you get with Senior, Barbie."
"Five dozen men ambushing an inn?!" Blair grinds out.
"... Perhaps not so brazen, but given the circumstance of who WE are..." Roman trails off with a smirk.
Guh-thunk!
The van lurches, all three CRBN members blinking wide... Roman quickly looks at the dashboard grimacing. "Uh... engine is definitely not gonna survive." A pop in the engine echoes the sentiment, smoke spewing up from the hood. "They hit the engine!"
"The engine?! They hit everything!" Blair nearly yells at him. "Get somewhere hidden now!"
He turns off the main road, lurching the van around a ramp road to a lower level. Suddenly, the conman tenses. "Uh... Think they hit the break connection too..." He eases out before shouting. "We're stopping the hard way."
Neo jerks her head up like a spooked animal at the notice, seeing Roman turn the van to move under a bridge. She then ducks down over the boy as the van hits a support wall, coming to a stop under the bridge.
The crash jerks the three and all the vehicle's contents, Roman and Blair each getting smacked in the face by air bags. A quick shock fades off them as Neo shakes off the nerves. She huffs as Blair and Roman deflate the air bags. All three send sullen looks to one another.
They maybe got six blocks away...
"We need to move."
. . .
Two four door cars come to a stop near the shredded van. Seven men exit the vehicles, producing handguns, shotguns, and a Tommy gun. The group surrounds the vehicle, glancing around it. One man steps forward, opening the door...
Empty. The van is completely vacated.
The man grimaces and shouts. "They're on foot! Let everyone know!" The men scramble, two getting on their scrolls to inform their superiors... Under a nearby sewer grating on the other hand...
Roman looks up from under the grating. Watches as the men scramble and eventually leave the area. He sighs, moving away from the drainage area onto a walk way. A path for public workers to maneuver through the sewers if needed.
A short walk finds Blair and Neo each tending to Carmine. Roman gives a nod to Neo. "I stand corrected. They didn't notice the drainage and sewer entrances through your illusion." Neo smirks at her idea working, so Roman takes her down a peg. "Easy now. That says more about their stupidity than your brilliance." The girl keeps her smirk and sticks her tongue out at him. "How did it feel to use him as a weapon?"
Neo tenses at the question, an embarrassed blush forming as she looks away. Sure enough, she and Blair were each checking for any new blemishes. Blair raises a brow, a sullen look at the girl. "Perhaps a crude decision, but he's whole. Just new bruises." The blonde sees the bandage patch on Carmine's side. "Scratch that. His wound has reopened. We'll have to change his bandaging when we find a more... sterile atmosphere."
Neo frowns at that. It's been days and his wounds were still refusing to heal? What was aura healing good for then?
She watches Blair press her hands to the boy, a violet aura flash of her semblance before her power flows. Her aura acts as a hose, feeding her aura gathered from the mobsters into the boy. Neo raises a brow at the energy vampire approach, picturing Blair with fangs.
The girl shakes the thought aside, instead dwelling on the current situation. She looks to Roman. He seems to understand. "We'll move a few blocks and come up beside Junior's bar. I think we're in the deep stuff now, so to speak." He glances at Blair. "Any thought to involve old man superior?"
Blair keeps her focus, flowing her power into the boy as beads of sweat form.
Roman scoffs. "Got it." Annoyance coming out at the clear unspoken no. He looks to Neo, finding her transfixed on an object in her hand. "Whatcha got, Neo?" Blair huffs, pulling her hand away from Carmine to catch her breath.
Both adults gaze at the girl... and she smiles brightly back, holding up Carmine's scroll.
'Aura Level: 3%!'
Both blink once, twice...
Roman snorts. "Like a cockroach, he keeps on." Neo grins at him, pocketing Carmine's scroll and returning attention to him.
Blair allows a small smile as she looks up to Roman. "We roll with the punches, it seems." She slowly stands, attention back on the boy. "We're not out of the woods. Let's move."
Back home. We arrive back in Vale for the first time in... like thirty chapters. What's going on? What do we have here? Hmm, I don't know. (I do. I'm being an ass. It's Junior's internal mob gang war.)
Now, we've established Roman knowing about Mountain Glenn.
Also, with the arrivals of the first year students for the academy in this chapter, along with Carmine being 15 and Neo being 14, we are now EXACTLY three years prior to RWBY Volume 1 Chapter 2 canon.
So, Carmine's magic has manifested, and his magic ability plays with his semblance, changing from Recall to Overlap. I really want to know if I've placed enough restrictions on the ability so it's not seen as a huge negative. Part of the reason I always compare Carmine's base semblance to the Schnee glyphs is to reinforce that what I've made is not by any stretch the most OP thing RWBY has shown in terms of semblances, but now the magic is a different layer to it.
Essentially, he has the multiple actions overlapping which can be a game breaking single move, but any application of the move comes with HEAVY aura cost, and should he run out of aura while using his magic, he can end up in yet another coma like this chapter.
Additionally, just as every Multi Form's action is tangible, so too is each Multi Form's injuries. Any damage any of them take gets condensed into Carmine afterward, so there's no cheating his way out of getting wounded or cheesing people like against Ray without being left heavily wounded.
References:
New AZRL top brass member. Businessman Jayce Crimean. Like the rest of AZRL top brass, is based off a character from Soul Eater, Justin Law. It's... It's a J name followed by a last name with crime in it... cause evil character instead of good... I liked it...
Song is Show Your Style, by Miracle of Sound.
If you are reading this on Archive Of Our Own, then you do not see the two "trailer" chapters that act as the first and second chapters on Fanfiction.
In Trailer CRBN, aka Chapter Two on Fanfiction, I used this song already as an establishment that Carmine's team would be who we have. So, I decided to repeat the use of the song here when Carmine is incapacitated.
Reviews:
COULDNT12761022 – Glad I could actually get that reaction since that was the intention. To want that interaction. Hope you enjoy reading further!
CadiaBrokeBeforeTheGuard – I cannot understate how much I appreciate this review, and I hope to continue satisfying you! However, as a joke, I will point out that I let a lot of spelling mistakes through unwittingly, so "Grammatically" may be giving me too much credit!
Also, I've mentioned this a few times, I knew full well before starting this story that its engagement was going to be substantially shorter than its scope. (My previous fic was a middle of the road Dragon Ball fic that still gets a hundred plus views a day.) I knew the moment I went to a RWBY fic that wasn't Romance based and didn't involve any of the four primary RWBY characters that my engagement wasn't going to be anything groundbreaking in this community.
Hell, if I'm honest, the most engagement I expect to get from this story will be once I start the sequel, as it WILL have the an aforementioned RWBY main character in its tag. I expect this story to get more engagement via people seeing the sequel because of who the story follows.
Even if I'm just totally wrong on that, I still enjoy writing this story. And it gets far more attention than I initially expected anyway. I hope everyone enjoys reading further as we go... (DBZ fic reference incoming) ONWARD BRAVE HEROES!
Join next time in Chapter Forty Nine: Respecting Your Elders.