"Hold up." Roman spoke, standing still and leaning against the wall. Both Saw and Neo followed along, and one of the many hooded men passed by without so much as a glance. Stepping back out again, the thief smirked. "And there goes another one."
Another one... he said it as if they were rare. Saw chalked it up to an overly zealous attitude, which he suspected was born to help the man remain calm. It was a little strange, and perhaps somewhat irritating to most, but Saw wasn't about to critique someone's personal manner of handling stress; he wasn't all that much better himself, and considering there was nothing easily breakable around, the ex-terrorist banked on simply staying stress free - or at least keeping it to a minimum.
Easier said than done, taking into account they were walking along the outer walls of a prison courtyard absolutely brimming with newly recruited terrorists.
His old friends seemed to have kept busy since their split, and not once had they called him up; he'd feel insulted if he hadn't already made up his mind on seeking the truth. Roman siding with Atlas and vice versa; the destruction of two kingdom's schools and the White Fang itself: not to mention the chaos within Atlas via Robyn's crew and the election for council seating. And now here he was, who after having resigned himself as a wandering memory, was being pulled back into the limelight to take down a new start-up of the very group he'd have sided with under any other circumstances.
Roman made a case as to why he shouldn't side with them, and the knowledge he supposedly had about his reasoning for joining up with the military was a tempting mystery, however he was more driven by pure spite. His old buddies turned on him, and while he partially wanted to know why, Saw was mainly set on doing away with them.
Out of sight and out of mind.
"You think they'd have some sort of special security set up or something." Roman's cheeky comment was not lost on Saw, who having the extensive knowledge and experience related to the group that he did, chose to provide an answer to that.
"We couldn't afford it back when we were at our peak, and I doubt they can now."
"Didn't you guys just steal everything you had?" Right as he asked, Roman led the crew into a swerve around another group. The courtyard was more than a little packed right now, however the basic everyday attire shown throughout told them all these weren't big time killers: only the masks tied them together. "Yeesh, talk about a crowd. Subtlety my rear-end."
"Stealing relied on transport lines. Taking from facilities and shops, while not entirely ignored, wasn't our prime method. We'd corner transport of all types in the wild to minimize risk, especially for high profile robberies. Shops were targeted only for simple thefts, or sheer desperation."
"Like right now?" Pointing it out made Neo chuckle soundlessly, and while a little annoying, Saw couldn't say he was entirely wrong. "I mean come on: hold up in an old abandoned prison? It's like they're asking to be arrested."
"Prison's have plenty of space; tons of security; extreme surveillance; logical, but still confusing layouts; if anywhere was useful for a group to conduct shady dealings with a defense, a prison is one of the better options."
"Half the walls are broken down, I doubt the cameras are still functional on their own, and to top it all off: it isn't even connected to the main power grid anymore. They're probably burning Dust right now just to keep the lights on."
"Which makes it easier on us." Saw spotted the stairway ahead, right through a massive hole in the wall which others seemed to be using instead of the door farther over towards the right. "Had we still been in operation, this would be nothing more than a temporary gathering for a raid on the mines, but this newer group appears to have made it their home. Their faults are our advantages."
"If it even is a fault." Shaking his head, Roman and the trio pushed through the opening, pausing a second beforehand to let some soon-to-be losers pass. Neo kept them all invisible... mostly. In truth, the group might have been shadowed out of sight, but as a stand in Neo had a small black cat occasionally drawing the eyes of passersby: positioned and walking alone the tops of the open walls. "Honestly, I'm shocked anybody can be so stupid."
That was true… and something Saw hadn't considered. This had him a bit on edge now, and Roman noticed.
"What? See something?"
"No... but what you said is correct. It would be a waste to supply power based on Dust. My old men however, I know for a fact they aren't so foolish."
"Okay... so what are you getting at?"
"Take a look at that light up there." Pointing to the mounted bulb embedded into one of the only portions of intact roofing at the top of the stairs, Roman squinted.
"The light?"
"Yes. Now, do you notice anything strange about it?"
"Not really, why?" Sending a look to the man as they trudged up the concrete flight of stairs, Saw stopped them at the top; against the back wall and away from the obvious path so as to not be bumped into and discovered by anyone else.
"Keep in mind you assumed this place was powered on Dust: now look again."
The ginger followed those instructions, now bearing a slight scrunch to his features as he zeroed in on the glow. It was a simple light, unwaveringly solid as the wall it was mounted to. It took another second of staring for it to finally click, and all of a sudden he began to see why the idea of Dust usage was impossible.
"It's too steady."
"As we can easily tell up close. From far away it was much harder, but there's no denying it up here. If it were Dust, it'd be faintly flickering nonstop."
"Meaning it, at the very least, is getting an electrical charge..." Roman eyed the long luminescent bulb, and assuming it was similar to other prison wiring, traced where he believed the cords would have been all along to the wall nearest the next incline upwards. "Chances are they've rerouted the old power lines to a new setup: one off the grid and probably being fueled by a generator, Still fueled by Dust, albeit much less than what a purely Dust based system would have." Flicking one last look to Saw, he inquired his final curiosity. "How hard would it be for them to rob one of the transports Robyn's been targeting?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
"Fair point." Huffing out a strong exhale, Roman mumbled. "Atlas has been missing more trucks than they'd expected with Hill's louts on the go: I guess we've figured out why."
"They've anticipated losses already... and they haven't been trying to stop it?"
"The robberies our favorite 'freedom fighter' have pulled off were already planned around to begin with. Ever wondered why she's only snagged smaller tech and sometimes simple cheap tools?"
"Interesting... so it's all just an act." Saw hadn't heard anything really, but that at the very least proved the group held onto information well enough. Right now Roman was speaking from his point of view, and so Saw ignored the little slip-up.
"Partially." Roman waved his hand in a rolling type of motion "Every now and then she ends up yoinking something pretty important, and that's annoying for them, but they usually just replace it." His eyes then fell back to the wall. "But none of them mentioned anything about the Fang."
"I'd assume they were under the belief the group would be a non-issue, and now you see why we were so expansive."
"Pay a man no mind and they'll have your wallet before you know it." Looking back, the well-dressed double agent thumbed at the wall. "Think we can find the power source for their... well, everything? We can cut the lights on this little shindig."
"A blackout would lead to confusion, giving us a perfect chance to strike." Saw nodded, and Roman looked up at the ceiling light again before flicking his eyes over Neo.
"Think you can take a peek behind the scenes?"
The fairly short woman nodded, moving over a bit before hopping up. While a majority of the roofing was intact, there was still an instance near the edge where it broke, allowing the nimble one to practically slither inside. She was still close enough so as to keep up her semblance, so there were no worries right yet. Her range was fairly decent, but if the hole was too deep, she'd probably hop out and have them stow away somewhere until she tracked down the power supply.
And then she was back, almost as soon as she was gone.
"Find anything?"
Neo held her hand in a middling sort of motion with one hand, starting up to the stairs to the next floor. The trio continued to stick close to the walls, ignoring all the loiterers just milling around the place. Besides it being blatantly obvious that these folks had nothing better to do, their constant rumor trading served as a decent collection of information, which Saw was keen to listen in on as they haunted the open hallway.
"Yeah; apparently mister big shot Schnee himself is coming down to speak."
"Think we'll be handed the job?"
"We haven't even been accepted yet, dumbass."
"Well sorry for getting our hopes up."
A small chuckle ahead drew Saw's eyes back to Roman.
"What's so funny?"
"Come on, don't you hear them all?" Sticking his arms behind his head, he stretched them as he spoke. "Overexcited kiddies think they'll be the ones to take out the big wig of the S.D.C.; Come on, it's hilarious."
"They've got the spirit, but lack the temperament." Saw remembered when he used to be the same, believing he had what it took to get back at the man who tore him from his family, and bound him in the mines.
"And now you're sounding like the kids Jim's always on about."
"Jim?"
"General iron-pole: the guy who's roped me into this mess."
Saw hummed to himself, knowing full well who it was now. Roman certainly didn't respect the guy, but then again, he probably hated him solely for the fact that he served the law. If anything, it was a massive humiliation on Roman's end: being forced to flip the table by the hands of the very man you sought to swindle. Ironwood was a man with a reputation for his habits of always going all out. Challenge him to a duel, and while you whip out your pistol, he's already got a missile flying right for you.
Like clearing out flies with a hand grenade.
Suddenly they came to a stop, and Roman's voice escaped.
"What is it?"
Saw watched from behind as Neo held her buddy back, and while he appeared attentive, she performed the simple action of pointing to the right. They were at a three-way intersection, and there were only two other directions to go: straight ahead, and to the left. Neo however continued to point at the wall beside them, going one step further as to offer a couple knocks to it. Up in the left corner was a security camera, one which they had to assume was functional based on the lights. It never had a light of its own, but Saw was wary regardless.
"Behind here?" Neo nodded, and Roman eyed the wall a couple of times, flicking his head over Saw's way. "You heard her, pal: think you can bust it down?"
"Solid cement." Saw gave it a couple of test knocks himself. "And by the sounds of it, I'd say it's around eight inches thick."
"The room next door, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"I wouldn't say that." Crossing his arms, Saw scanned the wall for any and all breaks or cracks; any weakness he could use. "I'm a pretty heavy hitter, but it'll take more than a few slams to knock it down if it's still stable."
"Drat..." Rather than hold on that fact, Roman slipped his hand into his coat, pulling free a Fire Dust crystal. "Too thick for one of these bad boys, you think?"
"On its own, yes. But if we had a gravity one to go along with it, we could amplify the explosive with extra concussive force."
"No dice, but I do have some lightning ones to fling around." Looking up, the thief pointed up to the light above them: smack dab in the middle of the ceiling. "How about a system shock?"
"Unless you can overcharge it a couple levels, we'll do nothing but flicker the lights for a second."
"And so the search for the entrance begins." Sighing, he put the crystals away. "Ah well: no use standing around. Let's get a move on everyone."
"Hold on."
"Hmm?"
Motioning towards the camera in the corner, the leaderless soldier spoke his mind.
"What do you think: operational or not?"
Roman shot a look up.
"Well everything else seems to work, so why wouldn't it?"
"Good, then I may have an idea."
.
.
Marrow had never, never experienced something so painful in his life.
Completely unsure of how much time had passed, he pulled himself to his feet, gasping heavily as he shook. His mind did its best to wrap his head around what could have possibly happened, but in the end the best he could do was chalk it up to a semblance of sorts... not that he believed it himself.
There were no words in any of the world's languages that could ever contain the extensive complexities to describe such pain; heck, his mind was having trouble discerning if it even happened to begin with - it was just that unreal. He'd seen the broadcast of Vale, he knew this 'Vermillion' character was one to keep an eye on, but this? It was something out of a dream: a pain so vividly unbelievable it mirrored how easily memories of dreams slipped away a few moments after waking up.
Even now he couldn't exactly remember anything about it, only that his mind never wanted to process it ever again; if it even processed it to begin with.
"What are you doing?" Raising his head, he saw Harriot standing above him, eyes narrowed curiously. In response he tried reaching out, only to trip and nearly fall over. His teammate caught him though, and her wonder turned to caution. "Alright, get me up to speed, and fast."
"I don't know." He took a few quick breaths after that, feeling the sweat pouring down his face and soaking both his hair and clothes. "Be careful around Vermillion. I don't know what he did to me, but I know it hurt."
"How did he do it, and how severe?"
"I wish I knew both."
"I- '' Harriot would have pressed for more information, had she not zipped both her and Marrow out of the way. The wall behind them didn't explode, but the sound of collision rang out regardless, predated by the minor explosives of the spread shot rounds. Coming to a standstill two seconds later, the quickster glared off in the distance. "Hold that thought."
"Nice dodge." Yang cocked back each gauntlet individually. Neither gauntlet really needed to release any empty shells as they were usually expelled right after firing, but it appeared as though she wanted to make an impact with her appearance. "Think you can keep it up?"
"Funny, I should be asking you that."
Right as Yang was opening her lips she backed up, throwing her fist forward and colliding with Harriot's leg. The blow sent the tanned one skidding back across the floor, and while sparks of electricity were still fizzling out, she stood again, smirking. Yang pulled her fist back.
"You're not that bad yourself." Harriot straightened her stance, all the while Yang fell into hers. "Not many people can see my movements."
"Let's just say I'm used to dealing with blinding speeds."
As Yang and Harriot were about to begin their brawl, Blake was a fair distance away up north, wandering along the tops of the raised platforms across the battlefield. She hadn't been entirely blown away by the display of change, but she had been pleasantly surprised. Beacon used a standard arena, but Atlas went all out, and that change alone interested her, leaving the woman to consider if this reflected the facets of hunters that each school focused on.
A shift in the air had her stilling, and as the hammer slammed down through her apparent form, the brute of a woman swinging it smiled hard, watching as the body tore apart into a series of misty shadows. A few paces back, Blake stood at the ready. Lifting up her hammer, Elm called out.
"Not a bad trick with the clone; I didn't even see you leave." Blake gave the muscular figure a once over, tilting her head slightly, and upon seeing this, Elm spoke up again. "See something you like?"
"Not particularly. You just remind me of someone with that hammer of yours. Is smashing all it can do?"
"Why don't you come over here and find out?"
Not ten seconds after, general James Ironwood walked into the overhang: offering up a nod to the few onlookers within, as well as coming to stand before the woman overseeing the match.
"Sir."
"At ease." The command tumbled out automatically. "How are things progressing?"
"The match has only started sir." The instructor took a second to look around, before facing the general again. "Is specialist Schnee with you right now."
"Unfortunately no, she's most likely finishing up her own work. I've only just dealt with my own duties."
"I see."
The general made his way towards the glass, peering down at the battlefield below. There were holographic displays over on the right wall that gave a more detailed and up close showing over the battle via the use of mobile cams flying around the field itself, however James preferred to watch most fights with his own two eyes. It wasn't a perfect view, but it was satisfactory: he could see the students' clear positions below, as well as make out their tactics.
From the looks of it, the whole battlefield was in a standstill, with the only source of action being from V. It looked like Vine was rushing in for hand to hand combat, which wasn't a surprise as he rarely made use of his weapon; general Ironwood couldn't blame him either as a semblance like his was perfect for a more direct combat style.
Seeing the spray of blood afterwards though, that had the general's mind in overdrive.
"What?!"
The sentiment was shared by both James and the overseer who rushed to turn on the speaker. That motion was wasted though, as right when her finger collided with the button, a serrated chill ripped across the spines of everyone in both the arena below, as well as their position up in the overhang. None of them could really make out what it was, or what they were really feeling at that moment, but James had a theory.
Even from his position up high, the general saw V move his arm. Rather than pull Vine's hand free of his body, it looked as though his arm tensed somewhere in the front. If James had to guess, he'd say V grabbed the man somewhere, and did... something. Down below though, Ruby and Weiss watched on with a distinct sense of terror.
It was especially bad for them however, as it felt like their insides were crawling out of their skin, and Weiss herself was visibly shaking. The way his veins pulsed and pumped in union with the faint glow of deep purple pasting over his skin in waves of rippled shadows stabbed at her core. The guy whose arm was sticking through V, he went pale, more so than before. His eyes looked to almost lose all their color completely, removed from life and twitching towards the back of his head.
Feeling her hands on V's skin snapped Ruby out of her own daze, and it looked to do the same for him too.
When had she run out? Ruby couldn't say, but watching as the pulsing essence of terror left him, Ruby couldn't even begin to describe how relieved she was when he pulled the guy's arm from him. The wound was huge, but both open walls closed in with the obstruction removed. His aura sprang to life then, desperately burning against the injury. At the very least it closed up the broken skin, but she knew for sure it would take a day or so to fully heal the insides.
"Ruby?" He sounded... winded, and reached for her. She batted his hand aside, taking him by the arms and pulling him away from the monk guy now twitching on the ground and struggling to breath. Weiss rushed over, taking to the man's side, and whilst believing her partner could handle him, Ruby instead took to V: wearing a not so happy face.
"What did you do?"
"I... I don't-"
"What was all that?!" She backed away slightly, grasping one of his arms and staring at his skin. She raised up the limb, tracing her finger along one of the dark veins. "These were pumping, and you were surrounded by smoke and stuff. What were you doing?"
"I was trapping him."
"By having him rip a hole in you?!" She dropped his arm, and it fell limply back to his side. The disbelief on her face was prominent, she herself knew this, but she had bigger concerns. Shooting her head over, Ruby ran to Weiss. "How is he?"
"Unresponsive." Weiss, while sounding and appearing mostly calm, couldn't hide the worry in her voice. "I don't know what it is. His body's fine, his aura feels normal, and I can't find a single sign of injury whatsoever." Her hand trialed towards his face, where his eyes continued to twitch along with every other part of his body. "He won't say a thing though; won't even look at me."
Ruby stood again, turning back to see V just standing there. She didn't know what to do, or what to think. V did something to the man, and yeah, he was her friend and all, but that didn't mean she could just ignore what happened. Calmly this time - due to seeing how the Ace-Op guy was still at the very least alive - she made her way over to V. Stopping just a step away, she opened her mouth.
"Please, can you tell me what happened?" Watching as he stood there was agonizing, and her worry skyrocketed. Once again, Ruby was about to speak, and hopefully coax an answer from him, but he beat her to the punch instead.
"His soul." V raised up his hand, looking at it and squeezing it open and closed. "I could feel it around his arm." Staying quiet, Ruby stilled as his eyes burrowed themselves into hers. "Something in me, a part of me, it wanted to touch it, to grab it and crush it, just a little."
"I don't understand." He was scaring her now, but even so she kept up her strong façade as his monotone voice carried on.
"The other obelisk... I think this is the power it gave me."
"But... but you're not armored up." Ruby knew how his powers worked: they needed him to use his armor. What he was saying didn't make any sense.
"I know..." He let his hand drop. "When I died for the first time, my armor had left me, but I was also without aura, and Cinder was able to kill me because of it." Raising his hands up to look at them, Ruby felt something in her gut tangle. "I'm more Grimm than man at this point, so I wouldn't have stayed dead. Normally, when a Grimm dies, their essence flows out into the world, where it reforms somewhere else. My essence however, it didn't do that. I was... it was like I was dreaming. I could see all the stones I'd found so far, and each of them had the writing I'd read. There were some that hadn't been written on, and so far I've assumed they're ones I just haven't found yet. I touched one, the one I found in Menagerie, and then it sucked me in. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I woke up next to that same stone in the wasteland, both naked and alone."
That's right, the stone!
He'd said he found one again, when he'd told her about the slaves of the mine. The thought still made her shiver, but not as much as the direct confirmation of his death. Worst of all, he'd outright confirmed that killing Grimm wouldn't truly kill them. There had been theories before, but this outright confirmation meant that no matter how many they destroyed, the number of Grimm in the world could never drop. Her mind then flew back to the present, catching on to what he was implying.
"You believe that was a power? The ability to choose where your body comes back into the world."
"I'm certain of it."
"And it didn't need your armor?"
"No."
"So... you think this new ability doesn't need aura either?"
"Yes."
Both parties fell quiet, with Ruby unsure of how to react. V however chose to react instead, walking towards and past her.
"How is he?" She heard him speak, and she also heard Weiss's response.
"What do you think?!" This was followed by some harsh breathing, and a sigh. "I'm sorry, it's just..." There was a pause. "He doesn't have any major wounds I can see, but I can't get a response."
Ruby turned around, sucking up her fear and watching as V kneeled down. He looked over at the guy, and at that moment she didn't know what to think. Ultimately, Ruby was clueless on how to react, of what to do, and how to respond after. V apparently gained a new power, okay, but what exactly was it, and what did it do? They all felt it though, that horror climbing up their backs must have been a response to him using it. He said he could feel the guy's soul... the very source of everyone's aura: the core of their being.
For a second, Ruby recalled the feeling, internally comparing it to how she used to feel as a kid when she saw people getting hurt. That shivering of her skin when she watched the other children get hurt… Was that it? They called it a phantom pain: the ability to somewhat feel someone else's pain, even if you didn't experience it yourself. Had V been doing something to the guy's soul, something that their own souls could empathize with? Was this the phantom pain of the spirit?
It was an admittedly dumb and childish idea, but nothing was off limits anymore, so what did it matter if the idea was stupid sounding? Ruby started towards the trio, but found herself stopping when the arena itself began to revert back into its original state, leaving everyone else able to see each other. They all looked to be lost on what was happening, dazed in a sense, and then a voice played over the speakers.
"This match is over; everyone, remain where you are."
"Bwa?" Yang was the first to shout, until she saw Ruby standing off in the distance. Her sister was just the first to respond though, because once the wolf guy saw his partner on the ground and twitching, he practically sprinted over.
"Vine!"
"Hey!" The shout came from Elm. "Marrow, stop! We have to stay put!"
Marrow either didn't hear her, or didn't care, and came up on them, skidding next to Weiss and overlooking his ally.
"What's happening with him?!"
"I don't know." Weiss retained a calm demeanor. "But he's okay: that I know."
It was more like she believed he was okay; knowing V's brand of insanity, she couldn't say for certain, but that information wouldn't exactly calm the man now at her side. Weiss didn't blame him, his partner clearly wasn't in the best of states; she'd surely feel panicked too if one of the others was hurt.
As everyone stuck to their areas, the general and instructor from before came in. The headmaster of Atlas Academy had a hard look across his face, while the instructor went over to apparently check on Vine. She shot a glare at V, who had no reaction other than to meet her eyes. The woman then returned it to Vine.
"Vermillion." The call prompted the less than Human hunter to stand, turning around to face the general. "Please, come with me."
Nodding, V started off, and all anyone could do was look on in confusion. Unlike the rest however, Ruby was worried for the man. It was most likely unintentional; he couldn't have meant to hurt Vine as badly as he did... if they could even figure out what exactly he did.
In the end, all Ruby could do was hope the general didn't punish him too harshly.
Author's note
…
And it all falls down… for V at least.
Am I giving our present protag to many abilities? Probably, but the trend of obelisk abilities has to continue, and what better than a power to parallel the worst within him? Yet again he gets himself into deep shit, but hey, at least this time not everybody comes out hating him; baby steps, remember?
The terrible trio make their move on the Fang, and with the combined might of all parties, it should be easy enough to take 'em down and retrieve Penny's upgrade. Speaking of Mantle's protector, we might be seeing her again next chapter - ooh, surprises!
Catch you all next time.