Prologue
"You realize that I can't blindly abide by this decision."
"I understand, but trust me when I say that she is more than worthy."
"I shall be the judge of that. Though Krasnaya did well against Hazel, I believe another test is in order here."
"Of course: shall I dispatch our men?"
"No: I have something else in mind here."
Chapter 10: Assassin's Gambit
At the Maroon household, Boris was rapidly typing away on his laptop while his mother finished cooking dinner. She placed the bowl of pasta on the table and then took a seat next to him on the couch. "Sheesh, how much homework does that school give you for one night?" She asked.
"Too much. But I finished it hours ago." Boris smiled, proudly. The teenage technical wiz set his laptop on the coffee table in front of him and pressed play. "I've been working on this…"
Jane adjusted her glasses and watched with interest as the video started. The screen was black, but then slowly transitioned into a picture of Atlas. Jane let a giggle slip when her son's voice provided a dramatic narration. "Atlas, 1977. Crime was rampant and politics were corrupt. But there was one good thing that came from that year; Jane Magnolia Maroon was born!" The picture shifted once again, showing a younger Jane in her Atlesian police uniform. "With an insatiable hunger for justice, Jane Maroon signed up for the Atlesian police department and spent five years loyally rooting out corruption so well, it made James Ironwood jealous! But when the city of New Rushland cried out for help, she answered the call! And for the past year, she has successfully led the NRPD in cleaning up the streets and preventing wannabe crime lords from corrupting this city!" Again the images shifted to show Jane being sworn in by the mayor as Police Captain. "Now, with the successful take down of Bui Sulfur - AKA Bonfire - she's ready to take the next step! Vote Jane Maroon for Commissioner of the NRPD!"
Boris pressed pause on the video and eagerly turned towards his mom. "So? What do you think?"
Jane tried her best not to laugh. "Uh, well… that was certainly… something."
"W-well, it's a work-in-progress." Boris remarked, defensively. "It's gonna get better. You said I could help run your campaign after you caught Bonfire."
"I said I'd consider letting you help." She chuckled, ruffling his hair. "But there's more to campaigning than just making funny videos."
Before Boris could respond, Jane's scroll went off. "Captain Maroon." She answered.
"Captain, it's Detective Cash." Ayisha replied. "Uh, listen, I… don't know how to say this in any way that makes sense. So I'll just give you the facts as I have them. The Red Woman just dropped off an alligator Faunus who was tearing up the city."
Jane blinked in confusion at such a statement. "Is Detective Coal back from sabbatical?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Alright, have him pick me up. We'll get to the bottom of this together." She hung up her scroll, kissed Boris on the forehead, and headed for the door. But when she opened the front door, she found a familiar robin Faunus waiting on the other side. "Cyan? What're you doing here?"
"It's Thursday." She smiled, holding up her backpack.
Jane smacked her forehead. "Oh, right. Tutoring night. Uh… okay, I don't have time for this. Boris, help her study, have dinner, and get to bed on time. See you in the morning."
One Hour Earlier
Krasnaya was happy that tonight was Cyan's tutoring night once she saw her newest opponent. Janice Sage - more infamously known as Arma-Gator - had a tough upbringing. As a rare alligator Faunus, she was subjected to prejudice from both humans and Faunus. After her parents were killed, she was forced to live in a swamp and survive off of anything she could sink her teeth into. Unlike the equally rare shark Faunus, Polu Shark, she had never met anyone to help her channel her anger into a just cause. She looked like a monster, so everyone treated her like a monster, and eventually she became a monster.
Krasnaya would have felt sorry for her if she hadn't just injured multiple civilians in her rampage. The Crimson Crusader tracked the criminal Faunus to a rooftop in the downtown area just as a helicopter took off from the helipad.
"Thought I caught your scent." Arma-Gator growled.
"I know I caught yours." Krasnaya sneered in disgust.
Arma-Gator responded by grabbing a nearby propane tank with her bare hands and throwing it at Krasnaya, who quickly moved to dodge. She quickly glared at the rogue Faunus even as she got into a fighting stance, determined to bring down this killer once and for all.
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Krasnaya began to see a pattern in Arma-Gator's fighting style. Every time the Faunus picked up another fuel tank, she fired a round of fire dust at it to make it explode. Eventually, Arma-Gator's aura was weakened to the point where the Crimson Crusader could fight her in close corners. In an act of desperation, Arma-Gator bit down on Krasnaya's shoulder and tasted her blood. Krasnaya fought through the pain, however, and managed to tackle her opponent into the fence behind her, which broke loose from the roof and now dangerously dangled ten stories above the ground.
"Your boss: what does he want?!" Kransnaya growled out, referring to the helicopter that she had seen fly away earlier.
"The only boss of me… is me!" Arma-Gator taunted back.
Krasnaya just snarled, bashing the Faunus' mouth in response. "You want teeth? I want answers!"
Amra-Gator merely scowled, taking note of how unsteady the area beneath her before snarling, deciding that if she were going down, she would at least freak out her opponent with what she knew. "Wait until the other assassins get through with you!" Arma-Gator growled.
"What assassins?!" Krasnaya ordered before punching again.
Arma-Gator chuckled. "Whoever wins is gonna be famous! And rich!"
Krasnaya had heard enough and struck the alligator Faunus with her hammer, knocking her unconscious. "At least we know they won't be ugly."
As she dragged her opponent onto more stable ground, Kransnaya couldn't help but notice a scroll in Arma-Gator's pocket, with an encrypted message shown on screen due to the thing not being turned off. Deciding that it might have a clue as those assassins that the Faunus had mentioned, she went ahead and pocketed the device.
She had just summoned her Warthog to come pick her up when she noticed someone else watching her. Coal gasped in shock at the sight of the Crimson Crusader. He fumbled with his badge and just barely managed to speak. "You have the right to remain silent-!"
But Krasnaya drew her sickle, and in one fluid movement, fired the grappling hook to make a hasty getaway. Detective Coal looked on in awe as the vigilante had once again escaped. He would have been upset if she hadn't stopped the dangerous Arma-Gator from destroying the streets of New Rushland.
Present.
Boris couldn't help but blink as Cyan suddenly let out a groan. "Something wrong?"
"I'm fine: I just had the strangest feeling that something exciting happened a while back and I didn't get to be a part of it," Cyan declared.
Boris just shook his head in amusement. "Well at least we know that whoever ends up dating you is going to have a fairly interesting life."
At that very moment, Krasnaya returned home and tiredly pulled off her cowl. An uncomfortable grunt slipped through her lips as she had forgotten about the massive bite mark on her shoulder. Luckily, Mikhail had been waiting for her return and was prepared to bandage her up.
"I'm guessing you ran into trouble tonight." He asked, concerned.
Krasnaya just snorted even as she plugged Arma-Gator's scroll into the computer for analysis. "That's oversimplifying things a bit, though hopefully the information I find on this scroll will help simplify things a bit."
After a couple of minutes of scrubbing through the files, Krasnaya called her husband over. "Mikhail, I've decrypted the message; it's an offer for fifty million lien to several infamous assassins." Krasnaya read the manifest. "They've been offered the reward in exchange for my life."
Mikhail looked over his wife's shoulder to get a better look. "Who in their right minds would be crazy enough to try and take you down?"
"I've already met one and put her behind bars. Janice Sage, alias 'Arma-Gator.'" Krasnaya pulled up the felon's picture, startling her husband. "She's a rare alligator Faunus who's worked her way up the criminal empire, using her natural strength and tough skin to her advantage."
Mikhail shuddered. "I pity her cellmate."
"I don't." Svetlana remarked before she continued reading over the list of assassins. "Here's one I heard about while in Team CPPR; Lt. Col. Lavender Quartz of the Atlas military, alias Fatalblow. She was a test subject for a failed medical experiment to increase her muscle mass and mental fortitude."
"'Failed,' you say?" Mikahil couldn't help but snort as he looked at the pictures of the former Atlas soldier taking down multiple assailants, singlehanded.
"Hm, she's definitely going to be a challenge." Svetlana groaned. "Here's someone I don't recognize; Amethyst Vatika. Apparently her semblance grants her control over plants in a similar fashion to Ivy Greene. Then there's Onyx Bone. Goes by Bloodshed. A master marksman who never misses a shot. Sounds a lot like Deadeyes from Team SWCD. Lastly, Buzz Golden. Calls himself 'King Bee.' A street thug trying to make a name for himself. Whoever sent out this bounty gave them until tomorrow morning to collect."
Mikhail sighed in relief. "Well, that's good. Since there are only a few people who know that you're Krasnaya, all you have to do is wait this out."
"It's not that simple, Mikhail." Svetlana explained as she pulled her cowl back over her head. "Those assassins will put innocent people in harm's way to draw me out. I can't let that happen."
Mikhail sighed, but he knew that his wife was correct. "Alright, where do we start?"
"I saw some of Whitley Schnee's men at the docks earlier tonight: maybe he'll know something." Krasnaya decided as she headed back to the Warthog.
Due to legal technicalities, Whitley Schnee managed to get out of his arrest warrant for trying to destroy Atlas and had decided to lay low. Just last month, Whitley had purchased a nightclub on the east end of New Rushland as a front. Behind the scenes, he was running an underground fight ring.
"I do hope you aren't intending to have 'Azure' help out here." Mikhail felt the need to call out.
"If it comes down to it, I might not have a choice, but for now, I'll let her continue to spend time with her friend," Krasnaya reassured her husband. She reentered her Warthog and drove off into the night.
A few minutes later, the Crimson Crusader arrived at the establishment and made her way to the roof to sneak in. Using the shadows to her advantage, she stealthily avoided the guards and patrons of the bar to sneak down to the lower levels where she heard the faint sound of cheering. Peering through the vent, she spotted two men in a cage fight to the finish. Krasnaya glared at the crowd of the fighting arena before dropping down into it, knowing that this would be her best chance of locating Whitely.
"Well look who it is: the Crimson Crusader herself," the announcer mockingly called out. "I believe that such an honored guest deserves a proper welcome."
Krasnaya merely raised an eyebrow at that statement before the lights in the arena shifted to shine on a new opponent.
"You just saved me a lot of trouble coming here, Krasnaya," King Bee declared before fluttering down into the arena. Two blades extended from each of his gauntlets; one bright red from intense heat, and the other blinding yellow from electricity. "Killing you will set me up quite nicely!"
"I'm looking for the person who put up the bounty on my head: where are they?" Krasnaya demanded.
King Bee merely laughed. "I'm not here to talk: I'm here to kick your ass!"
"This is your last chance." Krasnaya warned. But her warning fell on deaf ears as King Bee charged at her. With a roll of her eyes, she drew her hammer, threw it directly at the thug's face, and watched as he collapsed to the ground from the impact. Just as she'd calculated, the hammer bounced off of his helmet and spiraled through the air until Krasnaya caught it.
Krasnaya merely scoffed upon looking at the downed King Bee, feeling disappointed that he'd failed to notice that she planned to exploit his arrogance, a tactic a child would have been able to figure out. Deciding to ponder about why the one hiring assassins thought that THIS sort of person was worth going to later, the Crimson Crusader merely looked to the crowd with an angry expression. "Who wants to show me where Whitley is?!"
In response, many other common criminals flooded into the arena. Annoyed by such foolish and reckless actions, Krasnaya soon went about incapacitating every goon who tried to fight her. In less than five minutes, thirty hired criminals were lying unconscious on the floor while the Crimson Crusader held the only remaining criminal up, pinned against a nearby wall.
"Where's Whitley?!" She growled.
"I'm not telling you jack." The crook choked out.
"A little more pressure and I'll crush your larynx: what's it going to be?"
"Screw you."
"I don't have time for this," Krasnaya sneered, darkly.
The thug shivered in response here. "Alright you win: he's in his office. Only way in is through the casino…but you'll never get past his bodyguard."
"The bodyguard," Krasnaya said with disdain to make it clear what she thought of the individual in question, "won't be a problem." …and that was the last thing the thug heard before Krasnaya knocked him out.
Meanwhile Whitley and his bodyguard were already debating how best to deal with this masked vigilante…only for said vigilante to burst into the room a short while later.
"Hey, you can't come in…" …and that was as far as the bodyguard got before he was tossed aside.
"Y-you don't scare me!" Whitley stammered, even as he was hoisted into the air. "I've seen your act! You don't kill!"
In response, Krasnaya used her free hand to load a cartridge of fire dust into her sickle and stabbed it into Whitley's shoulder. The crime boss screamed in agony at the searing pain. "You'd be surprised what you can live through." She threatened, ominously.
While Krasnaya interrogated Whitley, she failed to notice the armored assassin sneaking up behind her. "W-wait!" Whitley choked out. "I-Ivory Towers! Some large g-group checked in! They were led by some foreign old lady! Maybe they're the ones who-"
Before Whitley could finish, something grabbed Krasnaya by the ankle and dragged her out of the room. Whitley wasted no time in running away, but Krasnaya didn't have much time to think about it as she was hoisted into the air, dangling upside-down. Her attacker drew a katana and prepared to cut her down, but Krasnaya blocked it with her sickle and pushed her back with her hammer. She then cut the cable holding her up and glided down to the boiler room floor. The assassin in black armor jumped down after her, aiming her sword at the Crimson Crusader.
"It would seem that the game is over before it even begins." Fatalblow remarked in a cocky tone.
"I'm not playing games, Quartz." Krasnaya growled.
Fatalblow drew a second katana and got down into a fighting stance. "Vigilantism? A waste of your talents! You could rule this city!"
Krasnaya ignored her opponent's words and held up both of her weapons. Fatalblow threw a smoke grenade on the ground to give herself cover, but Krasnaya's Huntress Eyes easily allowed her to spot her opponent through the smokescreen and block her attacks - she even managed to steal one of her katanas. The assassin sheathed her swords and switched to long-range firearms. But the Crimson Crusader proved too agile for even the former Lt. Colonel's advanced skills. Growing impatient, Fatalblow decided to combine blade with firearm in her attacks. Krasnaya expertly deflected each blast of dust with her hammer and sickle before combining the two into her rifle. With one, well placed shot, she blasted Fatalblow out of the air and destroyed the rest of her weapons.
Krasnaya just huffed to herself even as she held the katana she stole from her opponent in her hand. "It's over Lavender."
The aforementioned mercenary simply growled as she stared down the first person to have ever beaten her in a fair fight "What… are you?" Fatalblow heaved, out of breath.
Krasnaya didn't respond. Instead, she threw the katana at her opponent, and the blade stuck into the wall behind the assassin. While Fatalblow was distracted, Krasnaya lunged forward with her hammer and struck her in the back of the head.
With another assassin down for the count, Krasnaya used her sickle to grapple herself back up to the balcony where she left Whitley. Much to her chagrin, the crime boss had vanished. Using her semblance, she scanned the room to find any evidence to suggest where he went. At last, she spotted a purple leaf laying next to the coffee table in his office. She was brought out of her concentration by the sound of someone sneaking away. She threw her sickle and pinned the cowardly bodyguard to the wall.
"What happened? Where's Whitley?" She demanded.
The fallen bodyguard could only whimper. "I…I don't know. It all happened so fast. One minute, we were getting ready to leave, and the next, armed goons came running in and ambushed us. We fought back, but they overpowered us. Said something about taking him someplace that he should find familiar."
"Ivory Towers," Krasnaya mumbled, remembering her interrogation from earlier.
"Yeah, that's it. Listen, you gotta believe me!"
"I do." And that was all the warning the bodyguard got before being knocked out and heading out of the building. Krasnaya tapped on the communicator in her ear as she made her way out of the office. "Mikhail, I'm heading to Ivory Towers to find Whitley. Send an anonymous tip to the NRPD, tell them Lavender Quartz is waiting for them in-" She stopped herself once she looked back down at the empty arena. "... so that's what that feels like." She remarked to herself.
Meanwhile Jane couldn't help but worry about the implications of the bounty that they found out about while interrogating Arma-Gator. The police captain assembled her lieutenant and top two detectives to discuss their next move. Just as he arrived, Detective Coal spoke up.
"Captain, we just got an anonymous tip." He said. "They claim one of the assassins dressed up like a giant bee is tied up outside Schee's nightclub waiting for someone to pick him up."
"Hm. Send a squad to check on it." She ordered. "In the meantime, Rojos, I want every officer on high alert. If anyone sees so much as a post about these assassins, I want someone ready to investigate."
"Yes, ma'am." Rojos nodded before leaving to assemble her task force.
Meanwhile Krasnaya had just arrived at Ivory Towers, hoping to find Whitely and finally get some answers. Using her semblance to lock on to Whitley's aura, she eventually found him in the basement. He was suspended in the air by a chain wrapped around his wrists, and his clean white suit had been stained with dried blood. "Get me out of this thing." He snapped.
Krasnaya barely acknowledged the growl in Whitley's voice as she lowered him to the ground before approaching the male Schnee. "Where are the other assassins?"
"Go to hell."
"Wrong answer," Krasnaya declared before kicking him in the chest, unaware that someone else had entered the room and was waiting for her moment to strike. "By my count there are still four more ribs I can break."
A vine burst from the ground and wrapped around the Crimson Crusader's wrist. She was pulled away from Whitley and found herself face-to-face with Amethyst Vatika. She drew her sickle and cut her arm free, only to somersault away to avoid a triad of acidic spores Vatika shot from her palms.
"Kill her and I'll pay you whatever you want!" Whitley offered. "Make her suffer and I'll double it!"
Amethyst crossed her arms in front of her chest, summoning two more vines to restrain Krasnaya's arms. "An empty promise from a false king!" She snapped back at Whitley. "Be grateful to leave with your life!" Suddenly, Krasnaya broke free from the vines and continued battling the plant-based assassin. Taking advantage of the distraction, Whitley forced himself back onto his feet and stumbled out the door.
"Couple of freaks." He muttered. "You two deserve each other."
Krasnaya growled in anger; because of this assassin, her only lead on whoever hired the other assassins had just gotten away. She briefly considered the possibility that Vatika could lead her to the puppetmaster, but she was too busy trying to dodge her attacks to act on it. Without warning, a sharp pain shot through her arm and she instinctively sliced her sickle in the direction. Much to her worry, she saw that her latest opponent had summoned a thorned vine behind her, and it had cut her arm. But what was most concerning was the blue liquid leaking out of it.
The Crimson Crusader dropped her weapons as her stomach began to churn and her muscles grew weak. "W-what did you do to me…?" Krasnaya gasped as her vision blurred.
Amethyst laughed before sprouting leaf-shaped wings from her back. "I killed you." She smirked. "And in a few minutes, your body will realize it."
While the plant-based assassin flew off, Krasnaya put every minute of Ironwood's training to good use. She centered herself and forced her lungs to steady her breaths. Using her "Huntress Eyes," she scanned the blue liquid to discover its chemical composition. As she feared, it was a deadly neurotoxin. Fortunately, she knew it could be cured.
"Cat Burglar, I'm uploading a scan of a toxin that Amethyst was able to produce," Krasnaya called out, using her husband's code name in case Amethyst was close by listening in. "I need you and Oobleck… to synthesize an antidote."
"Your vitals are off the charts: what happened?!" Cat Burglar asked over the comms system before suddenly grimacing. "Uh, never mind: just get somewhere so that you'll have an easier time getting to the airdrop I'll be sending over…and after this you're coming back here so that I can have a look at you."
Krasnaya merely nodded as he made his way out the door, figuring that he'd get to the drop zone as quickly as possible. With her head swimming, she stumbled through the building to get to the drop zone. She regretted having dropped her weapons as she heard Vatika's laugh echo through the halls. She pushed her way through two heavy metal doors and collapsed to the floor; when she looked up, a hallucination of her husband angrily stood before her.
"This isn't the life I wanted for us!" The hallucination of Mikhail spat, bitterly. "Staying at home, worrying myself to death while you waste time on these frivolous nightly escapades! And for what?! What would your parents think if they saw you like this?! You're not this city's savior! You're a Crimsonoff! And a worthless disappointment of a Crimsonoff at that!"
Krasnaya shook her head and rose to her feet. She knew Mikhail would never say such a thing to her. She made her way through another pair of metal doors and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
A new hallucination appeared. This time, she saw Cyan in her Flying Robyn costume, sobbing on the floor. "Why didn't you save my mommy and daddy?! You're no hero! A real hero would've saved them!"
Again, Krasnaya pressed on, finally making it to the elevator. Fighting the urge to sit down and rest, she propped herself against the wall as a new hallucination came into existence.
"You could have saved me… if you'd only come sooner! What were you doing?!" The hallucinations were becoming much more vivid. This time, Krasnaya saw her old friend, Penny Polendina laying against the elevator wall as it went up. The Summer Maiden turned her head; half of the synthetic skin on her face had peeled away to reveal rusted gears and circuitry. "I wouldn't have had to sacrifice myself against Salem if you had been there to come up with a better plan! I'd still be alive if you'd only been better!"
The hallucination disappeared once the elevator doors opened. Krasnaya struggled to steady herself, but managed to wobble out into the open. Just then, she heard something fly overhead and land a few yards in front of her. Mikhail's real voice called out into her ear.
"Krasnaya I'm sending you the antidote now: can you see it?"
"I see it." Krasnaya heaved and stumbled towards the payload. Keeping herself awake, she managed to open the capsule, grab the antidote, and inject it into her arm. The fog in her head began to clear, as did her vision. Another vine burst from the ground , but she instinctively caught it before it could infect her again. Amethyst dropped from the sky to face her prey.
"You think you're cured?!" The plant-based assassin snarled as she prepared to attack once more. "My poison is still in your veins, and it will stay there for as long as you live! Which won't be long!"
Keeping her guard up, Krasnaya closed in on her attacker, slashing at every vine and thorn that came her way. Once she was close enough, Krasnaya struck Amethyst in the stomach with her hammer, knocking the wind out of the assassin and forcing her to her knees. Realizing that Amethyst's semblance depended on her hand gestures, she took out a pair of handcuffs from her belt and restrained her wrists behind her back.
"Cat Burglar, I've subdued Vatika." She called into her earpiece.
"Oh, good. Are you alright, love?" Mikhail's worried tone called out over the comm.
"Yes, I'm fine. That antidote you synthesized worked almost immediately." Krasnaya praised. "Thank you."
"Oh, don't thank me. Thank Ivory Masque for having the Brahmi plant root I needed for the antidote inside her warehouse when she kidnapped me."
Krasnaya frowned. "You stole a rare medical herb from a notorious crime boss?" She asked, disapprovingly.
"I would have happily paid for it, dear, but they don't exactly sell them at CVS." Mikhail rolled his eyes. "Now, come home so I can take a proper look at you."
"I can't. Not yet." Krasnaya took out her handcuffs and latched them onto Vatika's wrists. "There's still one assassin at large. And he's the only one who can tell me who's behind this."
"Not exactly," Amethyst suddenly remarked, having heard Krasnaya's proclamation. "I know where the Cult is."
Krasnaya blinked. "What?"
"The Cult of Grimm: they're the ones who hired the assassins, myself included, and I know where they are right now," Amethyst declared. "There's an abandoned bar that's currently marked as due for inspection close to the tallest building in the city. In said bar, you'll find a secret passageway to where the Cult is holding up."
"You seem rather cooperative," Krasnaya remarked.
"I didn't want to do this, but the Cult has my baby cousin." Amethyst admitted. "They promised that they'd let her live if I took up the bounty. I…I know that you don't have any reason to believe me, but I really was trying to go straight after I ran into some students from Beacon a while back. Do whatever you want with me, but please, don't let them kill my cousin. She's all I have right now."
Krasnaya just nodded. "I'll get your cousin out of there alive and try and see that you get a more lenient sentence seeing how you were coerced into helping here."
Amethyst merely gave a grateful smile. "Thank you."
"Thank me after I get your cousin back." Krasnaya declared.
Sometime later, Mikhail put away his medical kit, having looked over Krasnaya after she came back to the layer like she had indirectly promised. "Well, I'll need to look over you later after I've taken another look into Ivory's notes to be certain, but I think you're in the clear now."
"That's good to hear," Krasnaya declared as she went to grab her cowl off of a nearby table.
"You're heading to the bar now, aren't you?" Mikhail couldn't help but ask.
Krasnaya simply nodded. "I don't have a choice: not only do I need to stop the assassins before they can put more innocent people in danger, but I made a promise to someone that I'd keep their cousin safe."
"And you're sure this isn't a trap?"
"You didn't see the look in Amethyst's eyes," Krasnaya declared with a shake of her head. "No one could fake that level of raw emotion."
"Alright then. Just be careful, love."
Twenty minutes later, Krasnaya was halfway to the bar in her Warthog when someone shot out one of her tires. She managed to jump to safety at the last minute, only to be met with a bright spotlight to the face. "Krasnaya, this is the police! Do not try to resist or you WILL be fired upon!"
Krasnaya merely glared at the man in the helicopter, no doubt having been sent by Alex Rojos hoping to cash in on the bounty and get rid of her at the same time…only for her face to twist into horror as the helicopter to be hit in the tail fin by a sniper shot, causing it to explode.
"Oh no! Mayday! Mayday! I'm going down!" the pilot cried out before dying in the crash.
Despite not being a fan of Rojos' men, Krasnaya was still not a fan of seeing a man getting killed like this. The officers might have been scum, but even scum have families. "Someone is going to pay for this."
Once again using her semblance, she managed to trace the trajectory of the bullet to the gun it was fired from. Much to her surprise, the bullet had ricocheted off of multiple metal plates that had been strategically placed around the city block. But what really frustrated her was that the bullet had been fired from a remote-controlled firearm. The serial number had been filed off and replaced with a radio frequency. Taking out her scroll, Krasnaya tuned in to the signal and picked up a broadcast.
"Hello Krasnaya. I see you picked up on my invitation: well done," Bloodshed said over the radio. "But I'm afraid that the time for talking is over. Come to the courthouse so I can put a bullet through your head and collect my check. Oh, and in case you were thinking of not showing up, I've got a hostage, and a very itchy trigger finger."
Krasnaya just snarled before heading over to the courthouse, determined to end this before it went too far. She rushed towards the courthouse using her grappling hook to propel herself above the rooftops and glide through the air. At last, she arrived at the courthouse and was just about to break down the door when she heard a gunshot.
Krasnaya knew she wouldn't be able to move out of the way in time, so instead she used her hammer to block the bullet before taking cover behind a nearby dumpster. Meanwhile, Bloodshed could only stare in disbelief as he lowered his rifle. "I missed?" He growled to himself. "I never miss."
The assassin collapsed his rifle into its smaller components and reconfigured them into short-range firearm gauntlets as he made his way back into the courthouse.
"Keep your spacing," Bloodshed called out to his men. "She even thinks that you're showing weakness, she'll work to exploit it, so don't give her that luxury."
At that very moment, Krasnaya found a vent grate in the side of the courthouse. Stealthily, she made her way through the building and systematically took out each of Bloodshed's hired goons one-by-one. But the Crimson Crusader froze suddenly as she heard some childish whimpering as one of the men brought in a young girl.
"Is it time boss?"
"I'm afraid so," Bloodshed declared, having acknowledged Krasnaya's skill, due to her being the only person to have ever made him miss. "Listen up, Krasnaya: you want to waste your talent by playing the hero? Well here's your chance: your life or the life of a small child: you have five minutes to decide which you value more. After that, I'm pulling the trigger…and I very much doubt that the rugrat can dodge bullets as well as you can."
Krasnaya merely gave a silent snarl as she attempted to sneak up on the mercenaries, realizing that the girl in question was no doubt Amethyst's cousin. She cautiously used her semblance to find a grate beneath the assassin and made her way towards it. Bloodshed was still using his infrared goggles to try and find his quarry, unaware of what was soon to come. Krasnaya finally burst from the floor grate, placed Bloodshed in a chokehold with one arm, and used her free hand to grab his wrist-mounted gun and aim it at the hired thug who held the child at gunpoint. The Crimson Crusader could feel her blood boiling the longer she gazed at the coward who would dare to threaten a child.
"Drop it…" He ordered, timidly. When Krasnaya's glare hardened, he pressed the barrel of his pistol directly against the little girl's head, making her cry. "I said drop it! I'll kill her! Believe me, I'll do it!"
"... I believe you." With that, Krasnaya choked Bloodshed into unconsciousness and fired his gun directly at the other villain's weapon. In the blink of an eye, she rushed over, knocked him out with her hammer, and caught the child.
"Wha…?"
The Crimson Crusader just smiled, happy to know that the little girl was alright. "It's okay: your cousin sent me. I'm going to get you out of here."
"I believe that's my line."
Krasnaya gave a disgruntled snort even as she turned around. "How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough to see you take out a pair of assassins nonlethally despite having a bounty on your own head," Jane declared. "Don't worry: I'm not planning to collect on it myself."
"Believe me: you wouldn't last long if you were," Karasnaya teasingly remarked even as she let Jane take the girl out of her arms. "Pass along a message to one Amethyst Vatika for me: her cousin is safe and I intend to look into the bar near the tallest building in the city that she mentioned to have a 'talk' with the people responsible for all of this."
"I hope you realize that I'll need to send some men to check out that bar for myself," the police captain called out with a raised eyebrow.
"With any luck, it'll be empty by the time I've finished," Krasnaya said with a disgruntled shrug before giving the girl in Jane's arms a somber look. "Look after the girl for me."
Captain Maroon just nodded, turning to signal to her men to secure the area as she did. "Believe me: I plan to do just…that," she declared with a blink at the end upon realizing that Krasnaya had vanished when she had turned away, causing her to scoff. "That's starting to get annoying."
One hour later, the NRPD escorted the assassins to Red Cell Penitentiary, sans Fatalblow who had managed to escape without a trace.
"Sorry about Fatalblow," Amethyst couldn't help but declare as she finished filling in the NRPD about everything that she knew. "From what I understand, she was a fairly formidable opponent even before she underwent that procedure of hers."
"Given what I've been able to find about her, I believe it," Jane said with a sigh before giving a light grin. "But that's an issue for another day. For now, I believe that there's someone here who'd like to see you."
Amethyst blinked as she was led into another room. "Who?"
Jane just smiled. "See for yourself."
"Amee!"
Amethyst simply smiled, recognizing that nickname as being what her cousin called her due to being too young to properly call her by her full name. "Hey, little buddy: it's good to see you." she declared as she went over and brought her cousin in for a hug.
"It's moments like this that make the job worthwhile," Jane remarked as she watched the two cousins bonding here.
"Do we really have to lock her up?" Detective Cash couldn't help but ask from beside the police captain. "You know as well as I do that what happened tonight wasn't her fault."
Jane just sighed. "I know she was placed in a difficult position, but that doesn't change the fact that several people are dead due to her actions tonight." She then gave her cohort a reassuring grin. "…but that doesn't mean that we can't be a bit lenient with her…or that we can't wait a few more minutes to take her to Red Cell Prison."
Ayisha just smiled with a nod as she watched as Amethyst continued to hold her baby cousin in her arms with tears of joy and relief in her eyes before giving a sigh. "Still one problem though: Amethyst was apparently that rugrat's only living relative as the Cult of Grimm didn't want to leave any witnesses behind: what's going to happen to her?"
Jane just smiled. "Well I guess Boris is going to learn how to be an older sibling."
Detective Cash gasped. "You didn't."
"I did," Jane replied with her ever present smile. "Until Amethyst is back on the street, I'll be taking protective custody of little…uh…"
Amethyst, realizing that she never did introduce her cousin, simply smirked. "Hope. Her name is Hope."
"Appropriate."
"While I don't disagree, I have to ask: why did you let Krasnaya get away…especially when she indicated knowing where the person who hired all these assassins would be?" Rojo couldn't help but growl out.
"Two reasons: first and foremost, with everyone cleaning up after the assassins and/or making sure that there weren't any more out there, we don't have the manpower to bring Krasnaya in…and given she took down all of those assassins by herself, I'm not sure it would matter too much even if we did have the manpower," Jane declared, while also hiding the fact that she hadn't wanted to arrest Krasnaya tonight anyways.
It was a good thing that she did though as Rojo was looking like he had sucked lemon due to how she couldn't refute what Captain Maroon had said. "...and the second reason?"
Here Jane just sighed. "I feel like if the person who hired the assassins wanted to, they could have easily killed us while the assassins were being dealt with…so the fact that they didn't means that they want us alive for whatever reason, and I'd rather not upset them by disrupting what I'm hoping will be a relatively peaceful meeting between two rivals."
Detective Cash just nodded. "Sometimes Alex, you have to pick and choose your battles, and something tells me this isn't a fight that we'd want to draw ourselves into."
Rojo merely grumbled at this even as Boris came out of his mother's office and approached Amethyst.
"I can see why you were willing to go to the lengths that you did," Boris admitted as Amethyst handed Hope over to him. "She's a cute little one."
"That she is," Amethyst declared with a bittersweet grin before quickly losing it with a sigh. "Look after her for me."
Boris merely nodded to Amethyst even as he held Hope in his arms. "I promise you: I'll watch after her as if she were my own flesh and blood."
"Thank you." Amethyst smiled, sadly, before taking one last look at her cousin. "You be good now, Hope… Amee's going to have to go away for a long, long time."
Hope whimpered as Amethyst was led away. "Amee…"
Boris simply rocked the girl back and forth in her arms. "Shh, Amee will come back for you, but I'll be here for you in the meantime."
Rojo couldn't help but give an impressed whistle as Hope fell asleep in Boris' arms. "You actually aren't doing too bad there."
Boris simply smiled. "Well to paraphrase someone I know, a hero can be anyone, even someone doing something as simple as holding an upset young girl close so as to let her know that the world hasn't ended yet."
"Sounds like a pretty okay guy to me."
Boris had to hold back a snort, both due to how she didn't want to accidentally wake Hope up and due to the irony of how Rojo just complimented Krasnaya without even knowing it.
Meanwhile, following Amethyst's directions, Krasnaya finally arrived at the hidden base in the bar where the culprit who hired the assassins was supposedly hiding. "So let me get this straight…" Mikhail sighed, tiredly. "You're taking the word of someone who nearly killed you to lead you to the person who hired them to kill you?"
"I've got to get to the bottom of this, love." Krasnaya explained as she exited her Warthog. "This won't take long."
She opened the door to the bar and was immediately met with multiple guns and swords aimed directly at her. Krasnaya nonchalantly revealed her own weapons and the group collectively took a step back. The tallest of the group lifted her hand, silently ordering her men to hold their fire.
"The mistress has been expecting you." Cinnamon declared. "Right this way."
Krasnaya merely nodded as she was led to a table where an older looking woman in a dark green kimono was seated.
"Hello, Farmer Girl." The woman's voice was silky, yet menacing. Her green eyes shone like emeralds in the dark as they pierced into Krasnaya's soul. She snapped her fingers and the guards immediately lowered their weapons. "Thank you, Cinnamon. I wish to entertain Krasnaya alone."
"Yes, mistress." The tallest guard bowed in respect before leaving the room.
The mysterious woman chuckled. "And who says good help is hard to find these days?" She motioned to the table of food. "Please. Sit. Enjoy some of the fine wine and caviar. Or if this seems too expensive for you, I could have Cinnamon bring out some beef stroganoff."
Krasnaya crossed her arms. "I don't usually dine with people who try to kill me. Who are you?"
Another light chuckle slipped from the woman's lips as she set her glass down. "Apologies. Tonight, you bested my assassins. And for that, you have earned my respect. I… am Jade Munsell, the leader of the Cult of Grimm."
Krasnaya arched an eyebrow under her cowl. "You're Erin's mother? What do you want from me?"
"Allow me to explain…" Jade smiled as she got up to look out the window, glancing at the city. "Thousands of years ago, after the gods cursed Salem with immortality and wiped out the first of humanity, she began experimenting with the Grimm Pools. By the time humanity rose once again, she had created one that would grant a human with a will strong enough a longer lifespan. But while she waged war with Ozma, she needed followers to protect her discoveries. She chose a like-minded woman to guard her secret and ensure that if Ozma ever defeated her to take up her mission of extinguishing all life on Remnant… I was that woman."
Krasnaya glared in disbelief. "Even if I believe you, what does any of this have to do with me?"
"After Salem's death, the power of the Grimm Pool she trusted me with began to ebb." Jade elaborated. "While it still rejuvenates my body, its affects only last one year at a time, now. Soon, I will no longer be able to fulfill my dark mistress' last request. Both of my son's have proven to be formidable in their own rights, but they are no match for a proper female heiress. When Erin suggested that you would make a proper heiress, I decided to test your strength and will against the assassins. And you have indeed proven yourself, farmer girl. Marry my son, and take my place as head of the Cult."
Krasnaya growled and leaned forward on the table. "You're insane. Salem was a genocidal maniac. How could you follow her?"
Jade's smile wavered. "Have you not seen the state of the world, farmer girl? You built this new city to make up for the injustice that took your home away, and yet criminals have taken it as an opportunity for sinister gain. Humanity cannot be trusted, farmer girl. Join me, and we can return this world to its natural order."
"I'll never join you, Munsell. Never." Krasnaya declared before gliding out the window.
Jade watched as her quarry fled back to her cave. "... then I'll have to kill you."
Later that night, back at the Crimsonoff Farm
Cyan had taken the bus home after neither Mikhail nor Svetlana came to pick her up from the Maroon apartment. The young robin Faunus yawned as she unlocked the front door and stepped inside. She was just about to head upstairs and brush her teeth when she saw a rather bizarre sight to behold. Svetlana snored loudly; fast asleep and sprawled out on the couch while still in full costume. Mikhail gingerly picked her up in his arms to carry her upstairs when he noticed their foster daughter. Cyan scratched her head in confusion.
"... what'd I miss?" She shrugged.
To Be Continued!
Epilogue:
Onyx Bone had been quietly reading in his cell when he heard someone in high-heels approaching. With a heavy sigh, he looked up from his book to see a dark-skinned Atlesian woman in a blue general's uniform. "Alright…" He said, getting up and cracking his back and putting up his fists in defense. "Let's get this over with."
"I'm not here to kill you." She remarked, throwing a manilla folder into the cell. "My name is General Ciel Seoli. I'm here to make you an offer, Mr. Bone." With his curiosity piqued, Onyx reached for the folder before one of Seoli's guards fired a tranquilizer dart into his neck. Ciel snapped her fingers, ordering her men to collect his body.
"Grab Vatika, Golden, and Sage while you're at it." She ordered before making a call on her scroll. "It's me. Tell Dr. Ember to prep the lab. We've got a few new recruits."
