Chapter 24: …Hits the Fan

AN: I think if I write shorter chapters, I would update more frequently, I really do.


CAMMY

Sunday Evening

"We have to get up to the station, we have to cut him off!" She ordered as she leapt out of the ambulance onto the pavement of the city street. Sage and Scarlet gave each other a look, as if they were assessing the civilian Cammy's authority over them. "Come on!"

"Cammy, that car was a lot faster than the ambulance. He has a solid head start on us... what are you going to do if he beats us there?" Sage asked.

"Thanks for slowing down to let me in, by the way," Scarlet said, clambering down from the roof. "I think my arms stretched out a few inches..."

Sage inspected his teammate's arms, then shook his head. "That might leave a bit of a bruise; you'll recover. Don't strain yourself for a day."

Rover crawled out from the driver's seat, joining them in the street. He coughed into his elbow. "What's the fastest way to the station?" The other three tried to ignore the red stain on his arm the cough had left.

"We have to get on that lift elevator there," Cammy said, pointing, "then we take that up to where the broadcast station is. It's almost on the peak, since the higher it is the better distance its signal gets or something technical like that..." She trailed off, mentioning that it wasn't her job to know how broadcasts happened, her feet moving her towards the elevator. With or without the huntsmen, she had to catch Bole before he did something stupid.

The three men followed her. "Miss Obscura, you didn't answer my question." Sage pressed.

She threw up her hands in frustration. "What do you want me to say, Sage? If he beats us there, the police will have evidence enough to tear apart the faunus district looking for Taurus."

"I'm just saying that with our odds, we need a fallback plan." Sage said, "is there something we can do to help the faunus, assuming the story makes it to the station before we can intercept it?"

"Not without alerting Taurus to the story. Then he just gets away, hides in some new place we won't be able to find." Rover said, "I'm still not even sold on not telling the military myself about his survival, since they relied on my semblance to close his file..."

"Yeah, speaking of which, how did Adam fool your divination semblance?" Scarlet asked. "You said once you locked onto a subject you could find them."

"I don't know. All I know is that I couldn't sense Adam Taurus being after that cavern. Maybe his semblance has something that counters mine, I don't know, this is all new ground for me and-" Rover stopped talking to hack up some more blood into his hands.

"Are you certain that you are okay, Rover?" Sage inquired.

"I'm a fucking licensed Huntsman, I've had worse." The man lied tersely, "not going to let a car crash keep me from protecting my reputation."

"Can you three stop yapping and hurry up!?" Cammy screeched. "The elevator is coming down, and if we're not on it when it heads up we'll have to wait another five or ten minutes!"

"Maybe Bole is waiting now?" Scarlet said, hopeful.

Cammy shook her head and pointed to Rover's trashed ride parked down a side street, faint wisps of smoke trailing out of its engine. "Looks like he already made it up topside, but he'll still have to talk his way to the boss... if the boss is even still at work." He might not be able to do anything until the morning! "We still have time!"

"Dammit my car!" Rover cursed under his breath. "Now this is even more personal. I'm going to make that little shit pay for that..."

Despite Scarlet's optimism, Cammy was correct. Bole was nowhere to be found waiting at the lift elevator loading zone. "Maybe he took the scenic route up and didn't even take the elevator?" Scarlet offered, though even Cammy didn't think Bole would be that stupid. At least there wasn't a lineup to board, which she supposed was due to how few people used the lift at this late hour. Anyone getting off work this late doesn't live up high, anyways. They stood together silently as they rode their way up the mountain. When they exited out they wordlessly followed Cammy as she led them towards the news station, where they found themselves at the front gate. Cammy rattled it impatiently, alerting a sleepy security sentry to her presence.

"What's all this?" The man complained as he glared out at her. "What's with making a racket over here?"

"Hey!" Cammy yelled, whipping her identification out of her purse to get his cooperation. "Hey! Let me in! I'm Cammy, Cammy Obscura, I'm a reporter and I need to get inside right now! It's a matter of life-and-death!"

"Ugh, another one?" He said as he peered at her identification. He shrugged. "Looks right."

"What do you mean, another one?" Sage asked.

"Obviously he means Bole got here first, so let's just go!" Cammy said. They rushed into the opulent building, but the knowledge that Bole was already inside gnawed away at their hope. "Fuck it," Cammy cursed as she took out her scroll and keyed in a number. "Boss? Boss! Don't listen to Bole, don't do anything with the tape!"

She swore as the device informed her that she was being sent to a voicemail. Either he's asleep, or he is too busy with Bole to answer his scroll.

"Why didn't she just do that from the get-go, keep my arms in their sockets?"

"No signal out in the town, and I think she was hoping to catch Bole before he made it this far?" Sage responded from behind, summing up her feelings succinctly.

They wove their way through the bullpen; pushing aside office chairs and Sage catching her as she slipped on a stack of papers someone had left on the floor. The entire building was dark, only the emergency lights letting them get to the hallway that led to the editor's offices. They slid down the dimly lit hallway and were met with the sight of five heavily armoured men standing outside the transparent office of the station manager. Inside the brightly lit office were three men: Cammy's boss, who seemed to be trying to sink into the seams of his expensive leather lounge chair, Bole, who was excitedly talking to the other two while his camera lay on the boss' desk, and the Crown Prince of Mistral, Jupiter himself, who wore an expression as calm as the eye of a hurricane. Jupiter's royal guards raised their weapons at the approach of the foursome.

"Halt. You are forbidden from coming any closer, by order of his Royal Highness the Crown Prince Jupiter of Mistral." The nearest guard said in a low, commanding tone through their ornate gas mask.

"It's fine, it's fine," Cammy squealed. I don't like having weapons pointed at me! "I work here, I need to talk to my boss in that room, I have important information for him regarding that other man in there." She wished one of the huntsmen accompanying her would step up and take charge here, but evidently they considered her to be in her element. They're making exaggerated assumptions about how important I am here or something... Instead of helping her out, they just stayed behind her. At least having Sage at her back was some comfort. Though Rover, standing behind Sage, in his current state of injury, was less comforting. It's not like we wanted to fight our way past, but coming in here led by me, coughing up blood, it doesn't really give us much sway.

"You may speak with him after the business of the Prince is concluded."

"But... but Bole is in there! Why'd you let him in?"

"Citizen, please go wait somewhere else."

"Cammy, perhaps it would be best to do as they say?" Sage said, "we are tired and could probably use a moment to collect ourselves anyways. Let's go back out to the desk area and-"

"Sod that." Scarlet stepped forward, pushing Cammy behind him with a hand, the thick red cape that he wore over his shoulders billowing out behind him as he moved. "We're going in. Now."

"Scarlet, what are you-" Sage hissed.

Oh gods, I'm going to die. Or get arrested, at the least. I knew I should have refused this assignment!

To the Cammy's astonishment, the guards' eyes changed from suspicious squints to blank gazes as Scarlet stared them down. They stepped aside to let the four of them pass without another word. Not waiting for explanation as to why they had suddenly allowed it, and wanting to get into the lit office before they changed their mind, she pushed her way past Scarlet and rushed into the room.

"Cammy!" Bole said as she entered the lit room. "How did you get here so fast?"

Cammy launched a punch at his face, the smarmy git, but found her arm stopped mid-way. Somehow another hand had wrapped itself around her wrist, a hand that was attached to Rover's lacerated arm. He gave her a stern look and shook his head.

"Now, now, let's all keep this nice and civil... especially in front of the Crown Prince." The huntsman punctuated his statement with a half-bow. Cammy saw Sage following Rover's lead and, realizing her breach of etiquette, dropped down into a curtsy.

"My apologies, my Prince," she stammered, fighting back tears in her eyes. "It's j-j-just that... I had to make sure-"

"You are forgiven. Now, tell me, who are you that has come into this private meeting?" Two of the guards followed after Scarlet into the room.

"These are others that are in my employ, my liege," came a voice from the other side of the desk, the manager's balding head rising up out of his chair to speak. "Cammy Obscura, one of our junior-reporters who Rufous here was assigned to as cameraman. Then two huntsmen, Haven-taught of course, that I had hired as extra security for her job out to Kuchinashi to showcase the excellent job done protecting the Kingdom's territory against the monsters." He looked at Rover. "I don't know who the older one is, I'm afraid."

Cammy decided it was best to not mention that her boss had been too much of a spendthrift to hire actual accredited huntsmen for her; the Crown Prince didn't need to know that Sage and Scarlet were still students.

"Rover. I wasn't expecting to see you back in the city." The Prince said as his eyes strayed from glowering at Scarlet to scan the rest of the group.

"So soon?" Rover asked.

"At all." The Prince replied, "you've not hidden the fact that you find city life distasteful. I would have thought you would have run back to the hinterlands after your payment."

"Got caught up in the whirlwind of city life, I guess," Rover admitted.

Jupiter narrowed his eyes at that and stared at the huntsman for a few moments. "I see."

"Cammy, what are you doing barging in here like this? I'm having a meeting with The Prince!" Hissed the station manager at her while the Prince spoke with Rover.

"How'd Bole get in here, then?" Cammy whispered back. How'd I get in here? She wondered, but couldn't spare a second to glance around the other men at Scarlet.

"Why, he was already here when my most esteemed liege deigned fit to grace our humble studio with his magnanimous presence..." The manager let the words of praise rise above the whispered volume of the rest of his castigation of her.

Sage stepped forward, coming to stand beside Cammy. "Sir, if you would excuse us, we would very much like to borrow Bole for a few minutes. I'm sure you would prefer to continue your business with our Prince alone..."

The station manager audibly gulped nervously.

"As much as I would like to focus on my initial reasons for coming here tonight at this strange hour," Jupiter said, "I must admit I find this new conversation captivating." He raised his hand and pointed it at a nearby wall; he pushed a button on the remote control and the wall transformed into a holographic projection.

Rothy's face covered the wall.

"Adam Taurus is my hero!"

Shit, Cammy thought. Of all the things that could have gone badly, getting the tape to the Crown Prince - the man who was undisputed in his command of the Kingdom of Mistral's military - was beyond what she had imagined. This couldn't possibly be worse.

"My lord, I can explain!" Rover yelled, his voice breaking and his bloodshot eyes showing his panic.

"Oh, no need to explain Rover, I think this little girl has done so quite succinctly." Jupiter lowered his hand, letting the video play silently in the background behind him. "The ferals got to you, made you their little bitch, so when I asked you to confirm their little terrorist leader's death, you lied."

"No, no, my lord I would never-"

"You lied to me, made me a laughingstock in front of the Menagerie rabble. They must have been having a great time, hearing me tell them that Adam Taurus - who they swore was our mutual foe - was dead at the hands of a grimm after they poured into his little hidey-hole." Jupiter raised his other hand and a concentrated gust of wind threw Rover against the other wall, sending books and paper reports flying about haphazardly through the room. "I should have known. I always said that letting that treacherous lion run our huntsman academy was a grave mistake. Makes me wonder: did you do it for your headmaster? Or did they have to pay you, too?"

"Prince Jupiter, please," Rover tried to speak more, but he broke into a coughing fit that left his face speckled with blood as the gust blew it back into his own countenance.

"Tell me you were at least smart enough to get paid for your treason, you feral-fucking slime," Jupiter said over the cacophony.

"My Prince! Rover is innocent! The moment he realized that Taurus had fooled his semblance he rushed back to warn you," Cammy cried out.

"He was in a devastating car accident and his return was delayed," Sage added, "he's in terrible shape, barely mobile."

Jupiter lowered his hand and the wind died down; Rover slumped to the floor, wheezing in pain.

"So, Cammy was it?" The Prince turned his full attention to her as one of his guards moved to check on the wounded huntsman. Her boss crawled around on the floor, gathering up the scattered documents, staying low to the hardwood as if that would keep him out of view. "What do you have to say about all of this?"

She'd never done a live broadcast. She'd never been put on the spot like this before. Cammy's brain shut down, her mouth gaping open and closed like a fish.

He's already seen it. I can't hide it from him now.

"I see. You've been out of town for a few days on assignment, Cammy? Maybe I should let your boss catch you up on what has happened since you left the network. Justin? Would you mind filling your employee on what's made the news lately?"

The station manager froze up on the floor. "O-o-of course, my Prince." He stood up jerkily, his hands shaking. "The Crown Prince bid farewell to a significant portion of Mistral's faunus population. They prohibited-" He paused, gulped, then continued. "Erm, they allowed us to report it afterwards so as to prevent public interference during the event; many faunus chose to travel to Menagerie with Chieftain Belladonna. Their travel was arranged and paid for by the Kingdom. Then, early this morning, it was revealed that ex-headmaster Leo Lionheart had died at the Battle of Haven Academy not trying to defend it, as we had been told, but while assisting Adam Taurus and the other terrorists in their effort to destroy the school-"

Rover wheezed in sharply, trying to gasp in surprise but his throat too full of his own fluids to manage it.

"-which we did not publicize, but instead made its rounds on the social media channels like a wildfire. By the time we saw it and began to scrub it, a quarter of the city already knew. Please sir, my people did their best: there was nothing they could do to stop the video from spreading."

"Video?" Sage asked.

"Why would he... why?" Scarlet muttered, as dumbfounded by the allegations as his partner.

Jupiter took over the explanation as the manager collapsed back into his chair, beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face as he quivered in terror. "Yes, a video - poor quality but excellent audio - from inside the school during the fight. Lionheart fought alongside the terrorists against the foreign huntsmen; makes me wonder why they told us otherwise... but then, why did we believe the word of agents of Vale and the Schnee heiress? Why believe the testimony of one faunus for another?" He shrugged and shook his head. "You also forgot to mention how you let my public address be interrupted by a livefeed of a street riot at the border to the faunus district."

"M-my apologies, my liege, I was about to get to that..."

The headmaster was a traitor? Cammy was confused, but Sage looked stunned. She didn't have the benefit of having known the high-profile faunus, but her companions had all been his students at one point. She felt sorry for them. If Lionheart's legacy was tainted by the video, then his students would share that shame whether or not they were as surprised as the rest of the populace.

"Once that video was on the network, the startling trend of huntsmen casualties on recent missions made a lot more sense. Lionheart disarmed this Kingdom; left countless settlements undefended against monsters." Jupiter said. "You'll understand that it causes me no surprise to see this young faunus," he gestured at the video of Rothy behind him, "already corrupted by the ways of her kin into revering treachery and terrorism, tell me that Taurus is lurking under our feet. It causes me no grief to have to give the order to send the might of Mistral into their warrens and shanties to, once and for all, ensure the safety of humanity in these dark times." Jupiter grabbed Bole's camera from the desk. "Now Justin, I must go to make some arrangements. You'll stay here and keep nice and quiet." He stressed the last word, and Cammy knew that it was an implied order to keep reports about the coming purge off the air until Taurus was caught.

"What are you going to do?" A voice asked. Cammie realized with alarm that it resembled her own.

The Prince turned to regard her, his eyes soft and comforting. He gave her a wide smile, just like the one he always had on screen when making his nice speeches about how Mistral would remain safe and good.

"I intend to safeguard my people from the monsters in our midst." He turned to his bodyguard that wasn't attending to Rover. "Send a team to extract that child from Kuchinashi. Convince her to show us the way to Taurus' safehouse, then move in with a precision strike force. Take him and the other conspirators together for trial." He looked over at Cammy's boss. "I think that sounds like it would improve public opinion, don't you?"

The boss nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, sir. The people will love to see a criminal faunus punished for misdeeds, it should offset recent opinion poll loses from the exodus' aftereffects by several points, minimum."

Hearing them talk about something as banal as publicity polls was oddly soothing, and Cammy sighed in relief. Rothy's life would be thrown for a spin, but at least it wouldn't take long for them to go in and take down Taurus this way. Certainly they would not harm Rothy, she was just a child. Totally innocent. With the Crown Prince here, things are actually better. If this story had gone out on its own, Taurus would have escaped and it would have sparked public outcry just like this video about the headmaster betraying the kingdom. The Crown Prince will ensure that things are taken care of smoothly, without undue harm. She thought about what the Prince and her boss had said. With all the faunus having left while I was out of town, my video really wouldn't have done that much harm. Assuming, of course, that Taurus hadn't escaped with the migrating faunus, that is. Cammy didn't really care one way or another: either Taurus was hiding in a relatively abandoned district, or was already out of the city.

Jupiter continued calmly in his regal tone, "that should set the stage nicely for..."

A scroll ringtone interrupted the Prince. It came from where her boss cowered on the floor.

"Who's calling now, Justin?" The Prince asked.

"It's my wife, sir." He paled. "May I... answer it this time?"

Jupiter nodded slowly.

Her boss began a greeting, but was quickly overshadowed by the screech that came from the device in his hands. Even so far from the speaker, Cammy could hear most of the shrill woman's voice.

"Justin! For fuck's sake, where are you? We need to get out of town! It's all over ... ...! ... got to get out of here before Jupiter finds out!"

"Dear, what are you-"

"Pack up whatever you've got, withdraw as many funds as you can, meet me at the western gate. I'll have my sister bring the truck around and we'll get to the coast!"

"He's already he-" Justin began, but the line went dead with a click. Then, his scroll began vibrating and in a robotic tone chirped to indicate that a file had been received.

"Seems like your wife just found out about the video of Lionheart." Jupiter made a low chuckle in his throat. "Do you really think that I would react so poorly to your mismanagement of your position as chairman of the local information executive? Justin, you're my friend. I invited you to my private opera booth just last week. Call your wife back." After a second of thought, he added, "but play the video. Lionheart's students deserve to see the proof of his villainy. It's public knowledge at this point."

Cammy couldn't help but feel that forcing Sage, Scarlet, and Rover to watch an esteemed authority figure betray the ideals they lived for was a rather cruel thing for Jupiter to do. Still, the curious part of her desperately craved to know what everyone else knew; I want the latest gossip, too!

Justin complied, putting on the video to replace the silent face of Rothy admitting that Adam Taurus was still alive, then moved to call his wife back to halt her premature escape to the jungle. He didn't get the third digit dialed before he - and everyone else in the room - stopped moving entirely.

Two naked bodies writhed in a tangle of sheets. Even without sound, Cammy could feel the woman's ecstatic moans as her fingers gripped onto the ornate headboard. They rolled over, bodies glistening with sweat in the candlelight of the room.

Jupiter immediately destroyed the projector, smashing it flat with his fists. "Cheating, lying, slut!" Jupiter snarled and turned back around to regard the rest of the room. There was a twitch in his eye. "You will find those responsible for that video. Until I give you something else, that is your only priority." Jupiter hissed at Justin, " and if I hear that you wasted time on so much as a fart instead of finding the people responsible for spreading that FILTH..." He let the threat hang in the air for a moment.

It had been a dark picture, the background out-of-focus, but the two figures - for the short time they had existed - were distinguishable enough.

"Oh gods, that-" Cammy began in awe as she realized what she had seen. The princess having sex with Ghira Belladonna. Jupiter turned to glare at her, his eye twitching, and she realized she had spoken aloud; she clapped a hand over her face to silence herself.

"Is that... on the network, too?" Sage asked, the least stunned of the witnesses.

Jupiter turned to regard Justin sternly. Justin looked at his scroll and after several long seconds shook his head, relief not evident on his features. If something like that made it onto the net, I'll have a new boss. And a lot of new coworkers in the network management division. He was lying! Which meant... it is on the network.

Unlike Cammy, Jupiter seemed to take the boss at his word for the time being. "Nor will it be." Jupiter said, brushing pieces of the broken projector off of his hand with the other. "I'm sorry that you saw that. Really, I am." He turned to his guards. "Arrest all of them, one of you stay here to see to Justin's comfort while he remains here to lock down the network to make sure that can't get aired. Make it look like a technical glitch or something. Better people see the station as incompetent than see that. Bring in some troops to oversee security. Nobody else gets in here. Send the rest of them to the theatre; a few weeks should do it."

I'm being arrested? Cammy's mind spun. I didn't do anything wrong! "Don't I get a lawyer?"

Jupiter kept talking, though, ignoring her.

"Full lock down for the faunus in their slum, contain the threat until we can get the gas canisters loaded onto the air fleet. If Taurus is still there, I don't want him to get away. If he's not there..." He paused, letting the horrifying intention behind his orders sink into Cammy's mind. "Send word to the outlying settlements' administrators, too, once the lockdown is begun. I want this girl-" he hefted the camera up to indicate young Rothy "-in chains, in a cell, as soon as possible. Force the cameraman to show you where she is."

Lockdown. Cammy struggled to move, to breathe. Everything was happening so fast. She'd just wanted to do a report on how a settlement had lived through a massive grimm attack. She'd just wanted to see her grandparents. She'd just wanted a little hot tub installed in her bathroom.

"Hey! Shouldn't I be getting paid?" Bole yelped out as one of the guards bound his wrists in handcuffs. "When do I get paid?"

Jupiter ignored Bole's outburst and continued to do so as the cameraman was hauled away by the guard, bound up and bound for Kuchinashi.

"I'll authorize full use of force and dust-rounds for the police. Prepare the long-range strikecraft, too. The boats shouldn't be too far off yet, and they won't have any anti-air defence." Jupiter looked at Cammy. "The animals have demonstrated their lack of respect for humanity, my citizens. It is my duty to protect you, and protect you I shall."

The Prince had seemed eager, or perhaps relieved, while telling the assembly of his plan to deal with Taurus. Now, he seemed quite deranged as he schemed a speciecide.

"By locking us up?" Sage retorted, "seems to me this is a personal matter for you more than a matter of national security." He gestured at the broken projector while grabbing Cammy by the cuff of her shirt and pulling her towards the plate glass window of the boss' office, the furthest point in the room from Jupiter and his men. Cammy didn't even take the time to enjoy the beautiful view of the city below her, glittering down below the sheer cliff of the mountainside, so focused was she on the scowling face of Jupiter.

Cammy considered their options. They could be arrested, sent to rot in prison for knowing too much. Not a great option. They could leap out the window and fall to their deaths. Not as great as the first option. They could fight the Crown Prince and his elite guards. She wondered what prison gruel tasted like.

"I suppose I don't have to lock all of you up," Jupiter admitted. "Mr. David, go with the others to Kuchinashi, save us the trouble of having the camera fellow out and about. Bring me the faunus. Then come back here and find your desert ape. He and the Belladonnas are close, I might be able to turn that into leverage if the strikecraft option falls through. Otherwise, it'll be a good test of loyalty for my cousin."

"With all due respect, not a chance." Scarlet said, striding to stand beside Sage defiantly. "I'm done."

"You dare-"

"I said I'm fukking done ya spoiled loon, not gonna be yer spy no longer. Sun's a good bloke and these here are innocent as all. You're planning on declaring war on your own people because of some gritty video of the wife, that's proper mad."

"My own-!" Jupiter's hands balled up into tight fists, then relaxed as he took a deep breath. "I thought I was able to count on you, Mr. David. Didn't you want some wind to fill your sails?" Scarlet didn't respond, and Jupiter's eye twitched. "Very well. If you thought my treatment of the Boys was terrible so far, just wait."

"Their fate were sealed the day the ship floundered. 'S about time I came to terms with that." Scarlet spat. "They barely even recognize me anymore, seems."

"All too true. They're loyal to me, now. Watch." Jupiter raised his hand and pointed it at Scarlet; his guards raised their guns and took aim. "Planning to go down fighting, or will you at least come quietly?"

Sage drew his massive sword. Cammy resisted the urge to drop to the floor and curl up into a ball. As the guards prepared to fire, they were interrupted as a blur of bandages barrelled into them.

"Run!" Rover yelled hoarsely, "get out of here! Save yourselves!"

Cammy realized that, in all the tension, everyone had forgotten about the man who'd been bleeding into his arm on the other side of the room. Even in his dismal state, he was still willing to give his all to protect them.

Sage slammed the blunt hilt of his massive sword into the plate glass window behind them and the air began whistling past. "Cammy, we're taking a shortcut out of here!"

"What?" She cried out, but he must not have heard her over the din of shots being fired at Rover and the wind rushing by. He grabbed her, wrapping one arm around her and another around Scarlet. A circular green pulse flowed from the floor into Sage's legs as he grasped onto Scarlet.

"Spring and Soar?" Scarlet yelled over the wind.

"Spring and Soar!" Sage confirmed. With a burst, they launched out through the broken window into the empty sky.

"I don't think I can carry both of you," Scarlet shouted over the howl of the wind.

Cammy caught a glimpse from behind them as they spun higher into the air; Jupiter was standing at the window with his arm outstretched, but whatever he was yelling was inaudible.

"No time, you'll have to try!" The momentum from Sage's leap finally died off, and they started to move downwards.

Downwards, towards the ground that was so distant below.

"Grab onto me tight!" Scarlet directed.

Cammy shimmied down to Scarlet's leg, clinging on for dear life as they plummeted. She tried to ignore how much of his body she had touched while doing so. Thankfully, her brain was more concerned with her imminent death than it was with grazing a boy's crotch.

Gonna die! Gonna die! I am going to die!

"...arm still hurts ... holding ... the ambulance" Scarlet's words were hampered by the air blowing past them.

"Just do it!" Sage ordered.

Suddenly they stopped falling at terminal velocity towards Cammy's premature death. She raised her eyes away from the ground, looking at Scarlet. He had spread his arms out like a bird and, while they were still falling, they were now doing so much more slowly.

"This is his semblance; he can glide!" Sage explained. "Mine lets me jump really high, helps with getting altitude for his glide so we call that 'Spring and Soar'. Otherwise it lets me get good momentum with my sword strikes against grimm."

"We're not going to die?" Cammy asked cautiously.

"Don't get yer hopes up yet," Scarlet wheezed, "I might be strong, but I don't normally take on passengers. Especially not like this. My arms are going to break. We're just lucky Prince Git back there needs to concentrate to use his semblance, and it's too dark for him to get us a bead on us with that spear o' his."

Well aren't you just a bucket of secrets, she thought, looking with renewed interest at the man she'd thought of as little more than a run-of-the-mill pervert.

"I guess seeing his wife having sex with Blake's dad made it hard for him to concentrate." Sage commented. Scarlet grunted in pain. "Come on, you've handled worse than this." Sage praised his partner. "What's the plan for once we touchdown?"

"No, I think my arms are already sprained. Just my aura letting me hold them out like this, and it isn't going to hold that much longer with all this weight. Your bleedin' sword alone, mate..."

There was a moment of silence.

So I'm going to die after all, Cammy thought. On the plus side, at least she had gotten to fly over the city. As far as last moments went, this was better than being eaten by a grimm or being in a train crash. She tried to put her mind at peace. She tried to imagine that death wouldn't hurt terribly. It was a long way down. She'd probably be dead too fast to even register any pain.

Sage spoke up. "I'll drop off, then. I'm used to falling a bit, shouldn't kill me if I channel my aura at the right time. Just find the crater I make when you get grounded."

"Mate, that's still a solid way down. You sure?"

"I wouldn't be much of a huntsman in training if I didn't help protect a civilian." Sage said, feigning cheerfulness, before abruptly letting go. "See you at the botto-o-o-o-ommmmm!" His farewell faded away into the darkness, his outline swallowed up by the city lights.

"So what's the plan now, Cammy?"

She took a moment to watch the spot where Sage had disappeared. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Sure he is," Scarlet lied. He didn't sound certain of that and Cammy worried that a huntsman-in-training had just sacrificed himself for her. She didn't feel like she was worth it. "What's the plan?"

"Honestly, I think the three of us might have just been fired, so I don't think I'm the boss of anything now." She thought more. "We need to warn people about what's coming. Even if that means letting Taurus get away... besides, he saved us on that train, he can't be as bad as they say, right?"

"Sorry to say it, love, but Adam's worse than they say. I was at Beacon when it fell. So was he." Scarlet began looking around for a place to land. "He's a bad one, and don't let the team tell you otherwise." He groaned in pain. "My bloody arm isn't going to last. We'll have to land higher up, make our way down to find Sage. Then we can get to the others. Figure out this mess you've landed us in. Shit." Scarlet swore. "The Prince is gunning for us all. Looks like we're in this fight one side or another."

"Yeah, so the plan right now is to regroup?" Cammy felt like this was all her fault. I should have let him down off the roof of the ambulance earlier. She realized that she was clinging to Scarlet's leg, her face very near his crotch, and remembered why she had been all too willing to let the trainee-huntsman suffer a while. "I guess you don't have girls clinging to you like this very often?"

"Ah, no, all the time, chicks dig me." His voice wavered, and Cammy suspected it wasn't from wind distortion.

They floated down for another minute in silence. As the ground came closer, Cammy worked up the courage to ask him what had been burrowing around in her brain. "So, you know the Crown Prince?" She hoped he didn't drop her for asking; despite being a bit of a pervert, Scarlet didn't strike her as a bad guy. "Sounded like you two were on a first-name basis."

"I guess. It's a long story, and we may as well save all that for Sun."

Cammy didn't know why he thought morning would make the explanation any easier, but then she wasn't the hero, was she?

I'm just the one who wanted to write about heroes for the paper.


BEDLAM

Monday Morning

He awoke slowly, his relaxed muscles complaining against his need to get up. He made a feeble attempt to move, but his clothes were heavy. So heavy. Arguments in favour of waking up floundered, sleep invited him back.

...Blake.

He sat up, despite his waterlogged outfit. The snow had melted off, the tunnel was warmer than it was outside. That's enough of a rest, I need to get back to work. He'd have to find some way of getting Blake excised from her human herd, get her weak. Then he could strike.

Something underneath him splashed in the water, and he realized he was not alone in the tunnel. In one fluid motion, Wilt was unsheathed and infused with enough of his aura to make it glow red and hot. He could see.

He saw grimm.

A dozen grimm, at least, each one looking like an ashen skeleton. Their gangling limbs reached up at him, a sickening caress against his dangling feet. Their red eyes hollow and emotionless, set in a bony skull that composed their heads above their gaping maws.

He couldn't identify their type; he had not gone to school for Grimm Studies 101 like some huntsman-in-training. He knew that, whatever they were, they were a threat. More importantly, they were an obstacle between himself and his quarry.

Blake.

His mind focused. He sprung to another nearby support beam, then another, getting some distance between himself and the creatures before he dropped down into the water and brandished his sword at them.

"Back off, I don't have time for this." He warned them as they approached, creeping towards his new position. He hated how everything just seemed to want to align itself against him. Why does everything have to be such a struggle? I hate all of this! I just want to take care of Blake once and for all! "Get out of my way!"

To his astonishment, the creatures cleared a path. They moved to the walls, almost as if they were making room to let him by. He immediately understood the ruse: lure him into their midst, so that they could all attack him at once without any way to retreat. They must be clever grimm or something. Old grimm. He wasn't an idiot; he looked around and saw a variety of side passages built into the tunnel. I'll just avoid them for now, take one of these and get the layout of the area.

He spent the next little while wandering around the tunnels. All of them were wet, none of them seemed to have been maintained in a year or two. A skeleton lay in the water in one passage, nothing useful on the remains. Perhaps whatever fool built this place? Blake's team had stumbled upon an abandoned ruin... he spared a glance behind him, where the gaggle of grimm that followed him stood patiently. They moaned eerily, and on occasion shrieked, but for the most part were strangely well-behaved.

He began talking quietly at them, treating the monsters as if they were an audience. Hearing his own voice was soothing. A little pang of regret that none of his copies had come along shot through him; alas, they just don't have the same drive to take care of this Blake business that I do.

"She must be up there, somewhere. She won't stay here long. I've got to find a way to take her out, here, before she makes it to the safety of Argus." It was a succinct, if underdeveloped, plan. If Blake made it to Argus, she'd have the protection of human authorities and solid buildings to keep him from her. Out here, his odds were better.

He found a dry-floored room filled with barrels; he entered through a small arched doorway to the tunnels, but one of the walls of the room seemed to have collapsed a while ago, making an impromptu second entrance to the tunnels. He wished he had found this place before he'd gone to sleep on a support beam. Pickle barrels, maybe? He checked them. Alcohol. He shook his head. He had always disliked alcohol: the dependence, the loss of faculties, the utter silliness of drinking rotted grain juice. "Any of you fellows drink?" He whispered. No laughs from the peanut gallery, of course. Pickles, peanuts... can't let my hunger distract me.

Behind the barrels, he spotted a staircase. Excellent. He moved to it and tried to open it slowly, but found it to be locked from the other side. He contemplated using his strength to bust it open, but then considered that that might give away the element of surprise. After Yang spotted me, I might not have that anyways, though. He still left the door alone for the time being. He had a pretty good idea of the layout of the tunnels, now, but there were still a few more corridors to figure out.

"I do have a few advantages in environments like this." He told his new followers, who continued to part for him to pass by while he finished his exploration. He was growing oddly used to their company, now. He figured that these grimm must be so old - or so weak - that they had learned to avoid humanity. Or maybe they just respected him as a non-human. "They called me 'the Minotaur of Mantle' when I was a kid. No maze could best me. It's why I made up the name Taurus for myself as a boy. If you threw some grimy human into a mine shaft, or into these tunnels, they'd be lost for hours before they could start figuring out how everything connected. Not me, though. Two lefts, straight past three, and a right. That's the way to where I came in. That little hole there leads around and goes back to the cellar room. If I could get Blake down here, I might be able to separate her from the others. Incapacitate them, let you lot distract them, and get out of here with her in hand before any of them are the wiser. Yeah." He smiled. "Use her weapon to tie her up so that she doesn't escape. Take her out into the woods and have a nice chat. Catch up on how we've been."

One of the grimm moaned solemnly.

"Oh, I've been doing alright, Blake. Met some new people, caught up with some old friends. Saw you KISSING SUN!" He slashed at a nearby support pillar, leaving a sizable gouge in it. "Thought we wanted to keep things platonic! Non-physical! Saving ourselves for marriage in a world that no longer crushed our people!"

The grimm shuffled along behind him.

"Nothing to say for yourself? Thought I wouldn't see?" He hissed at the absent Blake. "I know almost everything about you, darling! The only thing I cannot understand is why you thought you could leave me!"

There was a light up ahead. He shut up and approached it cautiously. It turned out to be an entrance to the surface; it seemed that he was at the bottom of a well. Judging from the light streaming in, morning had arrived and the storm had finished.

I must have slept longer than usual. Probably because I'd stayed awake on the train for days on end. He hoped that he wouldn't have to make a habit of insomnia... but he was willing to do whatever it took to take care of his Blake problem.

He shot a gaze over at the grimm. Seeing nothing different about them, he figured it was safe to climb up. He leapt up and grappled onto the cobblestone sides of the round well and hauled himself up, his ears keen for the sound of his treacherous runaway. Arriving at the top, he peeked over the edge. There were a number of farmhouses and barns around, the nearest - largest - one seemed to have been used recently. At least, it was where all of the footprints led towards.

Judging from the distance to that building, the locked cellar door is in the basement of that house. Again, he wondered if he could get in without being heard. Even having slept in late, there was a solid chance Blake had slept in longer. He imagined the look of horror on her face as she saw all her little human friends dead on the floor. The fear as she found herself tied to a chair, her reflection visible in his sword as he held it up to her human leader's throat.

Ready to watch Ruby die, my love? He would ask her, but Blake would do anything to not have to watch Ruby die like the others. She would beg for his forgiveness, plead with him, offer him anything. As her tears hit the floor, he would offer to spare Ruby's life if Blake swore to be his. He would let Blake keep Ruby as a pet, a reminder and responsibility. A constant hostage. If Blake misbehaved, Ruby would bear the brunt of his wrath for her. Then he would take the two girls back to Mistral to rejoin his selves, victorious. Their relic, too, for good measure. Brazen would be grateful, while he and Blake would live happily with their human pet while they waited for his other selves to hurry up and take care of their paths.

It'll be so good to throw in their faces how much faster I finished my job! It made him smile to think of himself relaxing, feeding Ruby a cookie as a treat while Blake gave him a shoulder massage, while his brothers asked him for help.

"Please, help me find Cinder!" Brazen would plead.

"I need help recruiting for the White Fang, can you give me a hand?" Dominic would ask politely.

He would nod, generously, petting his girls on the head, and do what he could to assist them with their simple errands. After all, he had to be able to rely on himself, right? Besides, they had a bit to make up to him, making him come all this way, doing all this work, while they played with their human pet in the city. That's right, selves, I can feel the pair of you using our semblance. He wasn't sure about the context, technically, but he felt the tingles.

In his pants, his cock hardened as he thought about how different Blake's tongue would feel compared to Neo's. His attention was stolen away from that, though, as he heard something clatter from inside the house. Moments later, the blinds on one of the first-floor windows were pulled open.

Dammit, so much for scouting. They're already awake.

He dropped down into the well, Wilt and Blush ready to strike at any grimm who dared to accost him, but they courteously gave him ample space.

Well, he thought to himself in a resigned way, I overslept so I guess and missed a good opportunity. If she makes it to Argus, that makes my task harder but not impossible. I can't spoil this by being impatient. My moment will come. He didn't feel that bad, though. If the group had been staying on the first floor rather than upstairs, sneaking in through the basement would probably not have worked. Blake's senses rivalled his own, perhaps even exceeded in terms of hearing thanks to her ears. It wasn't like they'd all sleep at the same time without a couple of them taking turns to be on watch, and there was no way of knowing which hours Blake would have been on duty. Yup, it's for the best that I didn't try to sneak in I guess.

As he pondered what to do presently, he heard the front door open and they began to mill out into the open.

Momentarily he wished he somehow had Ruby's weapon. A sniper rifle... his enemies out in the open... it could have been easy. He looked at Wilt and Blush. Not really ideal for long-range combats, either of them. Suddenly superstitious, he gave them a little hug. He still loved his instruments! He wanted them to know that, despite their shortcomings, they were still the best friends he had.

I mean, Brazen and Dom aren't my friends so much as just mes. Me, plural.

The sound of something being pushed through the snow echoed down the well. From the scattered bits of discussion that he overheard, it seemed like they were attaching a wagon to Yang's motorcycle. He frowned. A vehicle to carry them all would give them a good lead on him getting to Argus. He'd be playing catch up again. He shrugged. Whatever, I don't care. Everything will work out. He just had to be patient, he reasoned.

One of the nearby grimm trembled, its gruesome head bobbing up and down from the strain it put on its weak, frail neck. Almost like it was nodding, agreeing with him. He knew it was just a coincidence, but he decided to pretend that the grimm was agreeing with him. Overall, he'd dealt with much more annoying grimm than these revolting fellows. Catching and caging all the ones in Forever Fall and Emerald Forests to be released into Vale? That had been annoying. Worth it for the price of seeing Blake's face when she saw her precious new life going up in flames and smoke.

One of the grimm meandered past him, then started crawling up the well.

Shit! Was it trying to imitate him, or was it drawn to the negativity of the huntresses? Or, more likely, to their relic? He nicknamed the lanky grimm Twittle.

He looked at his hand.

The grimm weren't attacking him. He knew the grimm were drawn to the relics - that had been a fun train ride - but he had assumed that had been the extent of its power over them. Is the relic able to give me power over the grimm? Control? That would explain why Salem would be waging a covert war to obtain them for itself. She's just trying to protect her monopoly, maybe. He could respect that. I should mention that to Brazen, next chance I have. He wasn't going to bother trying to contact himself now, though. He was sort of in the middle of a whole scene. His mind snapped back to the issue at hand, only to realize that the grimm had scrambled up the walls quite adeptly.

They might seem slow, but apparently they could be quick if they wanted to be. Good climbers, at any rate. He looked at the rest of them. Their eyes were just burning pits of scarlet in the dim light. "Stay down here!" He whispered at them, hoping that the relic's power would prevent any more of them from following up the first one to try the ascent.

His doubts in his hypothesis about the relic's power were mitigated by evidence; the crowd of grimm shuffled back a few steps. Some even ducked into other tunnels.

Yup. Definitely need to tell Brazen about this. Should make his negotiations with Cinder's grimm-boss a bit easier. He tried to stay focused, but was compelled to imagine the three Adams with total command over the population of Remnant's grimm.

Certainly, Blake would have to give him what he deserved then, yes? He would be the ultimate hero, the bringer of peace and harmony. All would be right with his world. He might even eventually forgive her for that incident at the train station. Eventually.

Raised voices from above startled him out of his thoughts about what sort of degrading costume he would have Blake wear as an apology.

(A maid outfit seemed the most reasonable, but how short should the skirt be?)

Maria's voice rang down the shaft of the well. "You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?"

"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas." Said another female voice.

"It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare." Replied Ruby.

"It's not just that." He identified the first voice as belonging to Yang by process of elimination. She sounds different when she's not launching herself, screaming, towards me. "It's everything...storms, crashes, monsters. I'm so tired."

"Me, too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by." Blake said, her voice quiet. She must be further away from the top of the well, but his ears picked up her familiar tone.

Bedlam had to be careful to not laugh out loud at hearing her complaints. Typical Blake, so entitled. Never wanting to put in the necessary work, such an idealist. My little philosopher princess.

"We signed up to try and save the world... not just... delay the inevitable." Said a boy's voice.

Bedlam jealously tried to figure out what boy Blake was hanging out with now, as the Schnee heiress threw further doubts on the team's mission to take their relic to Atlas. Yang took her side, and it sounded like everyone was pressuring Ruby to just give up. It wasn't hard to conclude that Blake wanted to just run away from yet another problem.

"I am... really... tired..." Ruby agreed. Her voice was faint, but as her shadow appeared at the top, he knew it wasn't from distance. She sounded weak. Ruby held their group's relic in her outstretched hand, dangling it over the drop. Twittle, the bold little grimm who had decided to climb up, inched nearer and nearer to the human. If Blake had been the one at the top, she'd have easily seen it in the darkness; Ruby's human eyes were weaker, and focused on the relic she held. She thankfully didn't see the grimm edging its way towards her - towards her relic.

Bedlam considered what would happen if she just dropped it. He would find himself with two relics. Two! One had already changed his life so much. If he could get them to Mistral and his brothers, then show Blake that he had the lamp... she'd have to come for him. Their entire little scheme, from what he overheard of their ongoing conversation, depended on nobody and nothing finding their precious relic at the bottom of a well in the middle of nowhere. All for the sake of shirking their duty. Such a stupid plan, but in all fairness that's what Blake is all about.

"Aaah!" Ruby suddenly cried out in alarm, followed by a metal-on-stone clang, then a splash. Bedlam's eyes went wide with amazement as he saw that their relic had literally just fallen into the water a few feet in front of him. It was like the cosmos was making up for all the shit it had put him through thus far... he couldn't see how his day could get any better. He could just sit here, doing nothing, and everything would just fall into place. He picked up the second relic and leaned against the wall, relaxing as he listened to the drama unfolding topside. He wondered if anyone had ever held the power of two relics simultaneously before now. There was a feeling of absolute power coursing through him. Two relics. All the power. "Oh no. No, no, no, I didn't mean to!"

The tunnels down here were dark. Oh mines, he swore, the only way this day could get better would be if they sent the one member of their team who can see in the dark - Blake - down here to fetch the relic back. It would be so easy to overwhelm her with Twittle and the gang. Twittle had scampered back down the shaft and now knelt in front of Bedlam, obeying the power of the relic like a good little monstrosity. By the time the rest of the team summoned enough courage to come down to look for their missing Blake and relic, he could have already made it well into the woods with both. He smiled, a lazy grin on his face. Everything was fine. It was all going so well, and he didn't even have to do a thing.

"No, no, there's something down there, I saw it!" Ruby shouted. Drat, if they're suspicious of a threat down here they will all come down. Still, this maze of tunnels was his territory, his domain, now. With the grimm on his side, they wouldn't even have the advantage of numbers. Poor Blake; I'm sure she really wanted to see Argus. "It was looking at me!"

"Hey. It's okay. You just said you're tired. It was probably nothing. Now let's go." Yang said.

Disappointing, but getting the relic still gives me a lure to catch Blake later. His mind thought about what the best way to contact her with his demands would be. A messenger would be ideal... maybe one of these helpful grimm? He could scribble a note, tie it around its neck, then tell it to walk into Argus. Even if the grimm was disintegrated, the note should probably survive.

Ruby didn't seem to be giving up, though. "What's wrong with you? We can't just leave, we have to go down there, we have to get the lamp back! Ugh, what was I thinking?"

Alright. The relic and her leader are still good bait. I can work with that. Bedlam whispered orders at the surrounding grimm. "Hide. Get back into the side tunnels. Guard the passage leading outside." If any of the girls came down, he decided it would be best to get them a bit away from the well. Whoever came down didn't need to have access to easy topside backup. If he was able to get them close to where he'd come in, then he would be able to make a quick getaway.

A male voice up above began giving orders from further away from the well.

"I'm not leaving without the lamp!" Ruby screamed in response.

Bedlam began slowly retreating down the corridor, letting himself go with the gentle flow of the current.

"I'll go down with you." Blake's voice said after a heavy sigh.

"We'll go down together." Weiss added, sounding thoroughly disappointed in herself for offering to go into the filthy well; it was certainly no place for an heiress, she must think.

"Fine. Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire..." The male voice said, growing quieter until the sound of the door slamming shut gave him away for having went back into the farmhouse.

Bedlam continued away faster from the well now, passing several side-passages until he caught up with the grimm. He put the new relic on the ground, shoved his way past the assortment of hideous monsters he commanded in the hallway, and climbed up onto a support beam so that he had a good view over the mob. He took out Blush and aimed it at the main corridor where the girls would approach from. If the grimm can't subdue them, then I will have to break their aura.

Echoing sounds came through the tunnels.

Splash. Splash. Sp-lash. Splash... Splash... Sp-lash...

The grimm seemed torn between looking at him, or looking at the girls' relic on the other side. So they just sort of stood there, listlessly.

"Maybe the current carried it away." Yang's voice carried through the tunnel. Then the clamor of several pairs of feet trudging through the shallow water. The girls were looking for it. Flashes of light glittered, reflecting off the water and the walls; they must be using flashlights or their scrolls.

"Oh come on, where is it?" Ruby asked, clearly getting annoyed at having to fetch her mistakenly abandoned magic lamp. He almost felt sorry for her. She is only human, it must be so hard on her. He remembered how she had come down into the kitchen in Mistral to gorge herself on cookies, making him cling to the ceiling to stay concealed; he felt less sorry for her present plight.

"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggested.

Yes, good idea Blake. More darkness, more power for the faunus and the grimm. She could have just kept following the flow.

Their foot-splashes were closing in, now. So close.

"There." Blake said. She sounded half-asleep.

Excellent. She's the only one with nightvision, so she's the only one who can see. She'll come first. Take her out, the rest of them will waste time trying to restore light. Precious moments that will cost them as the grimm get themselves in between the girls and my escape.

His rifle shook a little as he shivered with anticipation. It had been so long coming, this moment. He wanted to enjoy it fully.

She came around the bend, rushing towards the relic, but she wasn't Blake.

Not Blake!

It was Ruby. Shit, she just followed the light! She didn't need nightvision for that! He nearly swore at himself, then saw the mass of grimm begin to surge forward. The grimm would snatch her, claw at her... she didn't know that she could use the lamp to control them yet; otherwise, they wouldn't have been fighting the grimm that had attacked the train, would they. They would have just used the magic to protect the train... and they would probably be cozy up in Argus right now, instead of in this sewer.

Ruby Rose, the girl who loved cookies, was about to die in front of him.

Ruby Rose, who had accepted a faunus like Blake on her team, would die.

Ruby Rose, in the dark with her regrets and fear, separated by those she relies on... like me, in the mines. Abandoned. She was barely more than a child.

She didn't deserve what was about to happen to her.

I don't care about the rest of the team, I just want to take care of Blake, Bedlam recited angrily. He was angry that Ruby had decided to come first; she should have sent Blake! Then again, going in first rather than delegating gritty (and possibly glorifying) tasks was sort of something out of his playbook. He couldn't really fault her for wanting to be the one to personally get the relic back after having been the one to drop it down here.

Ruby bent down and picked up the relic out of the water and rubble. "Guys, I-" Then her eyes glanced back up, forwards, and in the faint blue glow of the relic she certainly saw the outlines of the monsters to whom belonged the glowing red eyes and maws as they turned to regard her arrival. Her mouth gaped open as she began to realize her impending doom.

She doesn't deserve this!

As she screamed, cowering before them, Bedlam instinctively grabbed at the nearest grimm - dropping Blush - and hissed at them. "Stay!"

Pain shot through his body, shooting through his arm to his chest. He tried to shrug it off; it must be some sort of defence mechanism these grimm had or something when touched.

Ruby's scream alerted her companions. Yang shouted out in alarm. "Ruby!?"

Ruby continued screaming, but looked up. The grimm were flailing towards her with their fleshless limbs, but they were not moving forward. They were like an immobile wall of skeletal arms, grasping out at her, but she was just out of their reach. With a start, she bolted back out the way she'd come.

"Just Blake!" Bedlam ordered them, a headache starting - probably from the echoing scream of the girl. "Just bring me Blake! Distract the rest if you can, but try to get Blake cornered. The faunus, with the black hair and perky cat ears, Blake!" He missed having intelligent subordinates that understood how to prioritize. Ruby, Yang, even the Schnee heiress, all of them meant nothing. Not even capturing the relic surpassed her importance. He was only here for Blake.

~Take care of Blake!

With their new orders, the grimm surged after the escaping girl, chasing the lamp, looking for Blake. Bedlam peered around the corner, waiting for his time to shine to appear. He knew that the rest of the creatures had probably been shadowing the girls as they searched for the relic in the tunnels; if his luck kept up, maybe they'd find themselves nicely surrounded.

Ruby rallied, drawing her weapon. Ah, right, they're huntresses. This might not end well for my unexpected muscle. Actually, calling them 'muscle' was a bit of a stretch. Gristle? The unknown creatures didn't have much mass to them.

Despite their frail appearance, Bedlam was in for another surprise in his favour. Ruby shot at the grimm, point-blank, with her sniper rifle. The shots all connected, but Twittle didn't seem to care. The grimm just kept slowly advancing at the girls.

Damn! Bedlam thought proudly. These grimm are tough! Another thought occurred quickly afterwards: perhaps his relic was empowering them? Maybe even these weak, frail grimm were serious threats while under the influence of the Relic of Choice? Or maybe the girls' relic was responsible. He was quickly losing track of all the ideas he wanted - needed - to bother Brazen about later.

Once I have Blake, I can pick her brain about this sort of stuff. She's so smart and well-read, but I can make her think she's doing something good while she's captured, trick her into brainstorming relic theories with me. It all was coming together. Blake, contrite and contained, back with him and the boys, fighting for a free faunus future together, with the power of a relic or two on their side. With a legion of grimm following them, even Ghira would have to bend the knee and accept that the Adams were the true champion of their beleaguered peoples. She'll be more willing to deal with me if I keep these gristly ghouls from tearing her friends apart, too; that must be why I moved to keep Ruby alive. It made sense: with all the power in his court, he had full control of the situation. He would show Blake how he could be merciful, why he deserved to wield such amazing magics.

Maybe I'll get a kiss, too.

The other girls drew their own weapons, prepared to join the fray, but then a noise began, like a sharp ringing in his ears. His grimm were moaning, and the moan escalated into a high pitched whine. The whine echoed through the tunnel, reverberating through flesh and bone. It was, Bedlam had to admit, a rather unpleasant unique ability that was felt more than it was heard. He was not going to sell out any concert halls with this queer critter choir.

"What... is this?" Mumbled Yang, as the girls buckled at the knees.

"My weapon... feels... heavy..." His darling stammered, struggling to stay standing.

Adam leaned against the wall, his water-logged clothes soaked with the water of the tunnels, but he was used to wearing weighted outfits for strength-training. I can just let the creatures weaken them a bit longer, before I make my own move. He tried to decide what he would say to introduce himself. It had to be something memorable, something Blake would always remember as the moment when she lost, when her naive idealism finally submitted to him forever. Maybe something like 'finally done running?' or something witty about a game of cat-and-mouse being over at last.

"Run!" A new voice shouted, but not an unfamiliar one.

Maria! Bedlam realized with a shock of recognition. The old woman had, it seemed, come down into the tunnels as well. How did she even get down here? He suspected that perhaps they'd gotten a rope or something to climb down into the well with, and the elderly human had just taken longer than the younger ladies to scale her way down.

"Now!" She yelled, waving her cane to direct the girls to follow her away from the grimm.

The girls watched Maria slosh away through the water, then took another look at Twittle and the gang. With their attention focused on the immediate threat of the grimm, none of them spared a glance in Adam's direction.

"Go, go!" Ruby decided, and they turned tail and fled.

Dammit, I was winning! Bedlam scowled to himself as he pushed his body away from the wall he'd been hiding against. His grimm began the pursuit. "You two, guard the exit tunnel." He ordered the nearest two; they staggered back towards the only way in besides climbing up the well. With that exit secured, it was just a matter of keeping them away from the well. His inherent understanding of the place's layout would give him a definite edge once the exits were blocked. "You three, head around to cut them off. Straight down that corridor, then two lefts. You three, with me, we'll head around the other way to get them in a pincer. The rest of you, keep after them. Don't let them rest, don't let them regain their bearings, don't let them get up the well." Hopefully they wouldn't be able to decide who to send up first, letting the grimm catch up. If nothing else, Maria wouldn't be able to get out quickly, and I doubt the huntresses would abandon the old woman to save themselves. Giving orders to the grimm felt strange, but they seemed to obey him and split off as he had instructed. As if on cue to ease his worries, a few stragglers that had hidden in the other passages came down the corridor towards the girls, blocking their way back to the well, forcing Blake and company into one of the side passages. He knew that path would take them far from the well, so he breathed easier knowing that their escape was delayed further. Victory seemed to be assured at this point. Honestly, with this much control, he could just relax... maybe take a nap... let the grimm handle all the work for a while. It was just like the plan for Beacon, on a smaller scale.

~Take care of Blake!

Ugh, he sighed. He should still put his own personal touch on this. He needed to reveal himself at a dramatic moment. Hard to do that if he was off-stage for the finale. Also, the grimm's loyalty was relatively untested. He wanted to be on hand in case things became dire; he had to make sure that none of the girls actually perished until Blake was safely stolen away. He had to, as annoying as it was, protect his quarry from harm - if only temporarily. The thought of protecting the lives of Blake's human friends made his skin crawl, made his heart ache. He rubbed at his covered eye with his left hand to relieve the itch from the sleep gunk. One of the grimm grazed at him with its bony-clawed hand, and he brushed it away. He decided that, once he was the master of the grimm, it would be all well and fine, but he'd prefer to keep them at a distance as much as possible.

They were creepy!

He heard distant cries, the splashing of their feet as they rushed hither and fro in vain in an attempt to find another way out. "The barrel-room." Bedlam muttered. The girls wouldn't have his compunctions against breaking through the cellar door; they had no need for stealth. If they found that, they might still escape. With his knowledge of the labyrinth, he should have easily made it there well before they did to head them off - that would be his moment to reveal himself.

Instead, he realized that he'd forgotten to pick up Blush and had to backtrack to retrieve it. Obviously he'd gotten a bit distracted by the sight of Blake, and that screech hadn't helped his mental state much. He shook it dry, then resumed his pursuit.

He rounded a corner and through the door he'd left open spotted the grimm closing in on the girls in the barrel-room. The girls had entered the barrel-cellar through the crumbling hole-in-the-wall. Things seemed to still be well-in-hand, despite their adjacency to a possible escape route. The grimm made that awful sound again, and the girls fell to the ground. With the protection of the relic, and him taking cover against a stone wall, it affected Bedlam to a lesser extent, but he still felt his neck stoop a bit. He wanted to order them to stop doing that trick - they were durable enough to do their job without it - but as his face came back up, a delightful sight awaited him. All of the girls were still on the ground, Blake closest to him and the pursuing grimm. Funny, he thought. She must have been trying to prove something to the others by covering the rear as they retreated. Trying to ditch your reputation as a coward, my love?

"I can't... do this..." Mumbled Yang, crawling desperately. "I...can't."

With the help of her cane, and the physics of having the least distance between being on the ground and being at her full height, Maria forced herself back to her feet. "An exit. An exit!" She had clearly spotted the cellar door at the far side of the room.

Maria, Bedlam silently admonished the woman, why are you being such a nuisance all of a sudden? You were such a nice old lady on the train, yet here you are getting in my way. He wondered if he should make an effort to spare her. Obviously he may as well save Ruby, the young one who shared his respect for floral symbology in her attire. Perhaps even the other huntress teammates Blake had, just to make her less miserable on the trip back south. Maybe I could take an another arm off of the blond one, and the Schnee... well, if he could give Dominic a trophy from a Schnee, certainly that would help his recruiting efforts for the faunus rebellion.

Ruby crawled up to the Schnee heiress. "Come on!" She cried to the white haired girl.

Maybe her hair? It would be easy to cut that off, and maybe it could keep Blake company during the trip. He pictured Blake cuddling up with a bundle of her rich human friend's severed locks. Hair it is, he decided.

Bedlam felt the handle of Wilt through his damp glove. Soon, his long journey would be over. Soon, everything would be back how it should be. If he wasn't so wiped out from the friendly fire of the grimm's sapping cry, he might have crowed triumphantly as he saw Blake crumple to the ground, utterly defeated.

Ruby glanced back at the sound of Blake's body slumping down. Their relic hung impotently on Ruby's belt. The only thing they could do now to save themselves would be to harness the power of their relic, he reasoned. Fortunately for his plans, they were too ill-informed to realize the power they had at their disposal. Not like me. I'm fully aware, at my prime. I have all my cards face-up and know what's in my hand. If Brazen and Dominic could see just how smart he was being, they would be so impressed. "Blake. Get. Up." Her human eyes couldn't see Bedlam observing her from the arched original entrance to the waterworks from the barrel-cellar.

"It's fine." Blake sighed, vanquished.

Beautiful. Everything Bedlam had ever wanted was happening right in front of his blindfolded eye.

Twiddle, or one of the grimm - they all sort of looked the same - slowly reached down to grab Blake. Good, Bedlam thought, fetch and bring her to me. He decided that once Blake was secured in the grasp of Twiddle, he would stride in and make his ultimatum.

"I'll let your friends live, for now, Blake. But you will be coming with me. And to make sure your friends don't forget the price of helping you..." He would say sharply, before slicing off Weiss' locks of white hair and Yang's other arm. "Maria, it was nice seeing you again." Then he would pluck the relic away from Ruby, pat her on the head condescendingly, and make his exit after commanding his goons to leave the tunnels with him to cover his withdrawal.

It would be a happy ending to his tale. Blake would see that he let her friends live, so she wouldn't be upset with him. There was the strong chance that some of the humans might see fit to come after him to rescue her from his clutches, but it would be worth it to keep her a bit more docile - less angry with him - during the journey back to the city. Plus, I've got all these grimm on my side now!

As he mustered his determination to step out into view, something happened.

"BLAKE!" Cried Ruby, followed by a searing flash of light. His blindfold didn't protect his eye - either eye - from the blast, and his entire body was wracked with a burning agony. It was like his entire torso was on fire. He spasmed, and was forced to brace himself against the wall to keep from falling over.

What the fuck was that?

"I've got her." Ruby's voice said clearly. It was like he had been hearing her speaking through a door before, and now the door had opened. Everything around him, despite the darkness, even seemed brighter now. Pain lanced through his torso, and he felt it more acutely than he remembered ever having felt pain before. The musty smell of the barrels invaded his nostrils, mixing with the odour of the cold, stagnant water.

"What just happened?" Maria asked. Judging by the sounds in the room, the huntresses had gotten to their feet and were again making for the exit.

There were sounds of the cellar door being beaten against. "They're locked!" Weiss reported with alarm.

They're still stuck down here with me, Bedlam noted with hope. He had to get his bearings, but his arms weren't responding. His shoulders itched, like they were covered in biting insects, but it wasn't like he could take his clothes off; there was too much happening to bother. Even still slightly damp, they were his only protection other than aura against the cold. He just had to force himself through the irritation.

Twittle and the boys seemed to be undergoing similar pain, but they managed to rally and launch another devastating scream at the girls. Light faded, sounds became muted again.

Whatever that flash of light was, I still have the advantage. He wondered if it had been their relic. What if each relic does something different? Obviously, the Wizard's description of the Relic of Knowledge implied it had different powers already - three questions or whatever rubbish - that distinguished it from the ring on his fingers, but perhaps they had other powers, too.

A ring kind of looked like a collar, a control device, so it sort of fit that it would give him control over the grimm. A lamp was generally known for making light, so that clearly must be what Ruby accessed to pull off that trick.

He felt like an idiot for not having noticed all this before. Of course each relic has a different power array. It made him happy to have the grimm-control one; it seemed like the better of the two he knew of so far.

It made him wonder why Dai wouldn't have told him about being able to control the grimm with his. Or why the Wizard-boy wouldn't have told the girls about whatever light-trick ability the lamp gave. Maybe Dai just doesn't like letting mortals control grimm for some reason, or maybe she didn't know; maybe the Wizard doesn't know the full extent of the relics' powers, either.

He shook his head to clear his mind. All of these thoughts were Brazen's business. All he had to do was-

~Take care of Blake!

Yeah, that.

As the scream washed over his prey, he felt the disturbing hum through his sinew, but steadied himself to spy again into the room. The girls were back on the ground. Yang had been going up the stairs to help Weiss blast through the locked cellar door at the top. All of them were incapacitated, shivering in the cold and panting from the exertion of trying to stay up.

He spared a moment to appreciate these grimm, as more and more of them approached the barrel-cellar from the various sodden corridors. A few of them, scattered through a town's existing sewers, followed by a clean-up crew of Dominic's followers... we could take a city with ease, with no casualties. Despite their wretched appearance, they would make fine soldiers in the new revolution.

Just look at how easily they managed to subdue a team of schoolgirls and an old woman!

"Ruby..." Maria's warbling voice asked, "what colour... are your eyes?"

"Silver."

Maria gasped.

"You have a family. Friends?" Maria said.

"What?" Ruby responded, on her back looking up at the old woman crouching over her as Bedlam's unstoppable and growing horde of super-grimm closed in at a leisurely pace.

"Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus. On the thought of them. The way they make you feel. Focus." Maria continued.

Who loves me? Bedlam paused to ponder as he overheard their strange discussion. Brazen and Dominic, of course. Not that they counted - they were just him. I love myself, that's still pretty good. Who loved Adam Taurus? It wasn't a long list.

Who hadn't he alienated in the course of his righteous crusade?

Even Blake left my side.

My followers in Vale didn't love me, they loved what I promised them. The thought of getting out from under humanity's heel.

Cinder used me. Just a tool for her human schemes.

Lichen had taken him in, but out of a sense of obligation, paying back a debt, not out of love.

He felt himself drooping down as he suffered a crisis of identity. What was he even fighting for, anymore?

Even his own parents hadn't loved him enough to take care of him.

~Take care of Blake!

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he hissed at the nagging thought from the back of his mind. A few days on a train, and not looking at the picture of her kissing Sun, had softened his recent rage at her. He could make Blake love him again. He would show her that he was better than she thought, powerful enough to make a world where they could live together. Safely. Happily. She'd realize in time that he was the only one worthy of her.

The girls wept and whimpered inside the bordering room.

"Life is beautiful. It is precious." Maria went on. As far as speeches to give as she was about to die, it was a bit of an oddity. She probably would have been better off comforting the girls, telling them that their lives hadn't been spent in vain or that their loved ones would remember them or survive without them in their lives. He'd seen enough death to know that some people just liked to die in peace and quiet reflection. "And it must. Be. Protected."

Maybe insofar as it is preferable to subjugate my enemies rather than eradicate them, Bedlam considered. His wet blindfold was bothering him, rubbing irritatingly against his brand all of a sudden. He hoped that the weather stayed clear for his trip back to the city; sunshine would be the only means he'd have to dry off.

He saw Ruby suddenly pull herself up. One hand moved towards the lamp as she stared towards Twiddle and the gang. Bedlam knew what was coming, and dodged away and shielded himself behind a wood support beam away from the opening. His caution was rewarded as another bright flash of light flared out from the room.

Mines, he swore. Maria must somehow know about the relics, or how to use the lamp, or figured it out. He hated himself for having not gutted her on the train. It wasn't like the onboard security would have noticed her absence. I could have just tossed the body out the window for the beasts to eat. His body was itching again, but at least it wasn't as painful as the first blast. Now it was just a bit of an ache in his shoulders, a tightness in his chest, like his skin was shrinking. He would manage.

There was a moment of silence. Nothing moved. No moans, no whimpers, no screams or screeching.

Then, a blast like the report of a pistol, and a crash.

He crawled over to the entrance. The girls had made it out.

Shit.

More of his grimm made their way to the area. He pointed up the stairs. "Catch them! Bring Blake! Kill the old woman! Get their relic away from them!" His voice sounded hoarse, but the grimm obediently surged past him as he struggled to his feet and drew Wilt. It was long past time for him to join the fray. He still had more grimm. They were still running scared. He was still in control.

"We're back in the house?" He heard Blake exclaim.

"Uncle Qrow, get up!" Ruby shouted.

Bedlam paused. Her uncle was a famous elite huntsman. A proficient grimm slayer, but those skills could easily translate into being capable of fighting another man. If he'd been relaxing up until now, he'd be at full power. Bedlam didn't know if he could take down the girls and their uncle, especially if they had figured out how to harness their relic. He wasn't keen to risk his one chance as the odds worsened like this. Maybe I should just hold back, scout out a bit more, make some new plans that included this newfound army of monsters.

None of the girls had mentioned him at all since they'd come out to the well earlier. Maybe Yang and Blake hadn't told them about sighting him, not wanting to terrify the others. Or maybe they weren't even sure if he was here at all.

"Get off me!" Qrow slurred. "What're you doin' here?"

"We're leaving, you idiot!" Maria scolded. Bedlam looked at the barrels around him. Had the huntsman been getting drunk while his wards had been in peril? What a human thing to do. "Come on!"

Bottles started smashing at the top of the stairs as some of the grimm marched up.

Bedlam shook his head. All their dust and strength and bullets didn't stop the creepy grimm, but they thought that broken glass would? Maybe it was something they'd learned in Grimm Studies 101.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Qrow yelled, evidently confused at whoever was stupid enough to throw bottles at bullet-proof grimm.

Another flash of light, but this time from a burst of flame rather than from the Relic of Knowledge. Bedlam realized that it hadn't been the bottles, but the alcohol, that had been the intended weapon. The flammable, plentiful alcohol.

He looked at the barrels around him again.

Shit.

"This way!" He grabbed at the nearest grimm and pulled them back out into the corridor. He'd lead as many as he could out through the way he'd entered before the flames licked at the barrels and blew the place to smithereens.

He had barely gotten out through the tunnel entrance with five grimm - two of which had been dutifully guarding the egress as per his earlier instructions - when the explosions began rocking the earth. A can of beans landed beside him, its contents steaming hot. He fell to his knees in the snow and laughed. A hearty, solid, deranged laugh at the comedy of the cosmos.

None of the grimm bothered to ask him what was so funny, but he decided to tell them, anyway. "I'm still better off than I was." He gestured at the burning wreckage above the ditch as burning debris scattered from the blasts, lighting the other buildings on fire. "At least now I have company and a nifty new ability." He tipped the can of beans into his mouth, the gooey contents spilling out. "Food, too!"

In the distance he heard the faint sound of the motorcycle engine after the explosions subsided. It didn't take him longer than the can of beans lasted to find the tracks of the motorcycle-wagon through the snow.

"My path is still clear." He would catch Blake, torture her friends and the Schnee, then haul her deserting ass back to his brothers to put her back to work.

None of the grimm disagreed.

His chest felt better, now that it had had a chance to recuperate from being hit by Ruby's lamp and given some food. Striding through the snow, his adrenaline rush slowly wore off, and he put Blush to his side and tapped the handle of Wilt. It was a bit stuck from rime, but eventually his embedded scroll popped out. I should make a quick report for Brazen and Dominic about all this. This will be worth letting them know.

My status.

Our relic controlling the grimm. The reason why Salem was so invested in fighting the Wizard-reborn.

Blake's relic being a glorified flashlight.

He considered asking them what was causing the tingles, the sensation that they were using Moonbright, so late in the morning, but decided not to. I'd rather not know what they're getting up to with Neo. It was bad enough to know it was happening; any additional insight would just be an unwanted distraction.

Walking along calmly, writing a lengthy report about his adventures so far into his sword-scroll, he almost missed the sight of a book sitting in a snowbank. He picked it up and saw an image, helpfully labelled, of his new friends.

"Apathy." He said with a shrug. "Well, it's about time you guys cared about something, so let me tell you about a scared little girl named Blake..."


NEOPOLITAN

Monday Morning

Paying the toll for yesterday with a splitting morning headache, Neo tried to rise from a tangle of blankets as vertigo made the room spin. As she blinked crust out of her eyes she spied Adam sitting up by the window, reading something on his scroll; Dominic was nowhere to be seen. Light streamed past Adam through the windows, and she realized that she had been curled up in the blankets that they'd used to darken the building's interior prior. A pile of the other blankets and pillows, stained and soiled, had been shoved in a corner of the room. Evidently someone had hurled up the contents of their stomach all over them. She recalled from school the fun fact that cattle regularly regurgitated their cud, so Adam was probably not put off at all by whatever she'd done upon returning to their base.

I certainly did worse while I was sick.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." Adam greeted, not bothering to look away from his scroll. "Dominic went out to grab breakfast. You doing alright? You weren't in great shape coming in last night."

Too groggy to respond, Neo made her way to the bathroom. She used the hose to clean up: wetting her hair, spraying the sweat off her curves, rinsing out her mouth. After that she checked her scroll while putting on some makeup. There were several dozen new messages from Malachite waiting to be read in her inbox. All of them pertained to her recently discovered talent with fabricating video footage. Her work had caused quite a stir! Adam was sure to be pleased with her quick connection to the Spyders. He would see that she was of more value to him than Cinder could ever be. Whatever she'd been after at Beacon that Adam wanted to know more about couldn't be worth anywhere near as much as Neo was worth.

I'm a fucking treasure! She decided, admiring herself in the grimy mirror. There's nothing Cinder has that compares to me!

"Other than her voice." Roman reminded her. "She's got a bit of a height advantage, too. Maybe Adam likes taller women?"

She grasped her chest, letting her breasts fill her palms. She's smaller here. That had to count for something, she began to reassure herself, but while the memory of Roman crumbled away, the uncertainty remained. She strode out of the bathroom, not bothering to get dressed yet. She peeked up at Adam, but he didn't return the glance. He seemed to be absorbed in whatever stupid thing he was reading. She looked in the other rooms. The ceiling fan in one of the offices gave her an idea. If she made sure to keep herself above Adam as much as possible, then her diminutive stature would not be in his thoughts. She went into the musky testing chamber and began pushing at the restraining table. Despite the wheels on it, neglect had let them rust so the movement resulted in a loud screech as she pushed and heaved against it to move it out of the room.

The screech of the table's movement summoned Adam, who dropped down from the rafters to appear beside her. His eyes and frown said he wanted to know what she was up to."You know, you paradoxically make a lot of racket."

She pointed at the table, then made a glowing pink line on the floor made of little arrows directed towards the other office.

"Why, though?"

She pulled a couple condoms out of her purse, compliments of one of the bars she'd crawled through yesterday after doing the task for Malachite.

His face went from annoyed scowl to what she hoped was wary interest, his eyes slipping down from her face momentarily to regard her state of undress. "Alright? Well, let me move that. Otherwise one of the neighbours is going to hear all the noise. Not that there seems to be that many people working today out there." He grabbed onto the table and picked it up, showing off all his bulging muscles for her. She felt a little twinge under her gut at his display of strength, making her wonder if he cared about the noise or if he just wanted to show off. As he quickly relocated the table, he grumbled under his breath - just barely loud enough for her to hear. "...all the noise she's making, all the noise she's not making... waltzing about completely naked all the time... this partnership..."

She paid his mumbled complaints no heed. Once he saw what she had in mind, he'd forgive her. Gonna have some fun, she preened. Gonna get some good morning dick. She spent a moment fantasizing about the feeling of having those nice, strong arms around her, lifting her up just as he lifted the table.

"We could just destroy this table, you know. Slice it up, take it out piece by piece."

She shook her head. It was one of the core components of her current scheme! Silly dum-dum, he doesn't have as much imagination as I do. That's why he needed her around. Obviously he needed her as the brains of this operation, the visionary. Not that she would make a joke about his vision issues! The brand scar is actually kind of sexy. I wonder if he'd be okay with letting me put my own mark on him somewhere more... personal. At the very least, he would have to accept some fingernail scratches on his back regularly.

"Okay, there, it's out of the testing chamber and stored away in here." Adam said, then nervously added while his eye shot between her exposed body and the condom she clutched in her hand, "are you planning on heading out to look for the information broker today?"

"EVENTUALLY. GET ON TABLE. I HAVE FUN IDEA TO TRY BEFORE YOUR BROTHER GETS BACK. I DON'T THINK THIS WILL WORK WITH BOTH OF YOU." She typed. She could tell him about her success after he'd properly woken her up.

He didn't move to comply, which was understandable given the table's past usage. With overactive imagination, she made copies of herself and Adam appear in the room. The fake-Adam lay down on the table, while fake-Neo stood above him on it.

Adam's looked like he was about to say something critical upon seeing himself laying on the table, so she punched him in the thigh and made a be-quiet motion with a finger to her lips. Continuing to focus on the illusion, the fake-Neo used the table's winch to increase the table's height, so that it could grasp onto the ceiling fan with its hands. It began rotating, and lifted the perfect replica of Neo's shapely legs out so that it began to spin gently on his dick. As real-Adam watched the display, she moved her hand to begin rubbing his crotch to prepare him.

"Is that even safe? I feel like I'm going to regret this somehow."

"YOU WILL BE FINE. AURA!" Neo's scroll insisted from her other hand. His pathetic mewling concerns would abate soon, and then she would feel his semblance reflecting all that spinning energy back into her. Oh gods, this is going to feel so good!

Adam groaned as her hand continued to rub against him, and she felt him stiffening.

That's my good boy! She growled as she nuzzled against his chest.

"Okay, but your legs are just going to mirror the fan... you're just going to end up slamming me in the face." Adam continued to protest. "I can already see how this is going to go wrong."

For her counterargument, Neo stood back and brought her right leg up to her cheek, in a swift showcase of her dexterity before kneeling down in front of him to open up his zipper.

"Wow, I might have the horns and name but you're a real flex-i-bull girl, aren't you?"

Neo rolled her eyes at the pun. This boy!

Adam had gotten noticeably harder. "I guess we can try it a bit? Give it a shot and such." Adam conceded as he sprung out to meet her waiting tongue, his erection betraying his prior protests. He rubbed the top of her head with one hand, while the other moved to the fan's switch. "How are you going to turn the fan on while you're on top of me, though?"

She hadn't thought of that. The fan was in the middle of the room, and the switch was by the door. Now would have been an excellent time for Dominic to be around, even if it would have been sort of awkward to ask him to just help and watch.

He flipped the switch and the fan began making a wheezing clack-clack-clack noise as its mechanisms struggled to overcome its lack of maintenance.

Seeing it run, she decided on a way to overcome this latest obstacle. "IT DOESN'T SPIN THAT FAST, I CAN TURN IT ON AND THEN HOP BACK OVER."

"Can the fan support you hanging from it like that?" He turned the fan off and it rattled back to being stationary.

Her cheeks puffed up with indignation. "ARE YOU CALLING ME HEAVY?"

"I don't think any sane man could, no." He stifled a snicker, shaking his head quickly to assuage her pride. "Alright! Alright, let's try it. No further questions. Just wanted to make sure this idea of yours is safe." He shook his pants off his leg and went to stand beside the table, bending over to use the winch to make it rise up. "I'm sorry I tried to be attentive to our well-being."

That's better! He was much more agreeable when he simply did what she told him to do, deferring to her expertise when it came to this sort of thing. On the other hand, it wasn't like she didn't value his input or his adorable concern for their lives from time to time. They were partners!

"Umm... I guess I should have said it before, but you know you don't have to feel obligated to do stuff like this. I mean, if you don't want to. We can still track Cinder down without..." He gestured at their naked bodies.

"WITHOUT GETTING DOWN?" Neo finished. She walked back over to him and hopped up on the table so that she was closer to his face, making herself nice and tall-looking. She might be mistaken, but it was sounding like his thoughts weren't concentrated on ravishing her. Doubts began to sprout in her mind. Is he not committing to me because I'm not a faunus? Because he is already in a secret relationship with slightly-taller (but flat-chested) Cinder and is plotting against me? Because of my handicap hampering my expression of eagerness for this? Neo was not willing to lose for any of those reasons. Adam was going to be hers, the difference in their species be damned! She'd reveal her muteness when she was certain that he was devoted to her. In order to make him hers, she had to educate him in the pleasures of the flesh in which she was well-versed. The absolute pleasure she received from his semblance was just a delightful by-product of establishing him as her companion. Even if his thoughts weren't concentrated on ravishing her right this instant, at least his body was, and his soul-powered aura would quickly join in the fun. "GET ON THE TABLE." She hopped off and put her hands on her hips in an impatient stance, tapping her foot.

He lay down on the table. "Do you want to build up to the fan idea? I think if we go straight for that it'll be worse than that time you bit me."

That wasn't my fault! I was sick!

He reached out and picked her up, bringing her up to straddle him. He massaged her thighs as they hung over the sides of the table, and she wiggled her hips and ran her bare mound along his abdomen. "Come here," he added, and slid his hands up along her back and pulled her face to his for a long kiss. He took her scroll from her hand and carefully tossed it down into her purse on the floor.

Okay, some foreplay is a good idea. Her hands went up into his hair, grabbing at his horns. He hummed with approval as she let her soft fingertips run along the smooth surface of the faunus features. It feels like a really big fingernail, she thought, and remembered how he had hurt his hand when he'd turned the tables on her incarceration of him on this very piece of furniture. He'd worn his gloves constantly, or the room had been too dark to see if he'd removed them, but the gloves were off now and under the flickering fan's light she had a clear view. She leaned back and grabbed his hands, examining them. They were calloused, large and long, but showed no sign of damage. His aura must have healed it already, she conjectured as she remembered how fast his aura had recovered after being captured. That had been what had necessitated her use of the cattle-prod to keep him subdued.

Remembering the cattle-prod, her mind returned to how he had stuck it between her breasts to tantalize her crotch after obtaining his liberty. It had been unbearable! Her hips rubbed faster against his chest, shifting from side to side and pressing down with increased pressure as her heart began to race. His hands slowly ranged up and down her back again after she released them, occasionally halting to give her butt a gentle pat or two. She wanted to slide down and take him in, but every time she attempted to he put his lips back to hers.

"We're agreed on being allies... but it feels like we are becoming something more than that, now." He asked her in between kisses. "What do you want to be?"

I can be anything you want! With her semblance she grew a set of matching horns on the top of her head, leaning back to show them off. Or maybe this? They transformed into cute kitty ears. Whatever you like, I can look however you want. Her breasts expanded. Her breasts shrunk. Her eyes cycled through various colours, and her hairstyle changed. Fangs? Scales? Gills?

He put his hand through the illusion, pulling her back down for more kisses. "Maybe I'm just not experienced with this sort of thing happening to me. I... just want to know what you want us to be."

Lovers. Girlfriend-faunusfriend. Fuckbuddies. Whatever word gets that dick into me! Whatever gets you to keep me and choose me over Cinder!

"Dominic doesn't fully trust you."

Understandable.

"Between the stuff that went down on this table, and you being human, and my current status among my own people and the wanted posters..."

Neo took the opportunity while he spoke to wiggle towards her goal, her hands snaking down to grab it and guide it towards her opening.

"But he sees the potential here, I think? Kind of warming up to you as a member of the team." Adam went on, not reacting to what she was doing beyond making soft little grunts as she touched him. "He's not going to be in the city much longer. He wants to believe that, once he is gone, you won't just turn on me. People have been doing that to me a lot, lately. He just wants some... assurances."

Assurances? What did he want? A chip in her head that would explode at the push of a button? No, thank you! She felt Adam's hot member pulsing in her hand, reacting to her minute strokes against it as she let it poke against the inside of her thigh.

"I don't know how to fix that." Adam admitted. "I don't know how to make him trust you, I don't know how to make you trustworthy, there is a whole list of things I don't know. Even the evolution of my semblance is being a bit of a pain."

Not for me it isn't! Neo consoled.

He took her head in his hands and forced her to look him in the eye, her chin resting above his pounding heart. "I know this relationship feels like it is moving really fast. I know my prior relationship wasn't a great comparison. I know I... like being with you, and I hope you like being with me but I'm not sure if you are here because of my semblance, because of my bounty, or... I don't know..." He paused and gulped as she took the moment to impale herself on his girth. "Or... if I'm just some sort of replacement for Roman Torchwick in your life."

Neo stopped; she'd shoved him inside of her when he'd mentioned his stupid bounty - like I'd care about that right now - which was probably why he'd gulped. However, she found that she couldn't bring herself to move at all now. She was paralyzed.

Roman.

She'd spent a long time in that motel room thinking about this relationship with Adam Taurus, and arrived at the conclusion that she wanted to be with him. She had various valid reasons for relying on Adam to assist her in her quest, and no realistic better options. She couldn't deny that, even if she had another means of getting to Cinder, she'd want to be involved with Adam.

He was sexy; covered in scars and muscles, a savage bad-boy type that suited the lifestyle she had pursued for the past decade.

He was strong; capable of fighting and surviving the dangers of their world.

He was malleable; cunning but amenable to her purposes.

But, a replacement for Roman? Could he be her friend? There were definite similarities between the two of them that were hard to ignore. Even a dum-dum like Adam seemed to have noticed!

"You can't replace me with some dirty faunus, Neo. I told you that. I'm the only friend you'll ever have." Mini-Torchwick mouthed, lightly appearing above in between Adam and Neo's staring contest.

"O-o-okay. Why is there a miniature version of Roman on my chest?" Adam asked slowly, regarding the back of the illusionary man with confusion.

"Wasn't the plan to get your scroll and keep him at arm's length?" Roman went on. "You can't trust him, and what better proof of that is there than the fact that he doesn't trust you? Is he even looking for Cinder? None of those files you've seen him looking at have anything to do with her. This semblance of his is messing with your head, making you get sloppy."

She wanted to make some vulgar retort about how and where she was getting sloppy, but her mind was fuzzy. Was she just trying to fill the void Roman's death had made in her life with Adam? She was certainly feeling pretty full right now! His dick pulsed, bulging with vigour, making her thought processes strained.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked. "You've got tears in your eyes... am I hurting you? Do you want to put the condom on?"

Adam can't take your place, Roman. He's a good lover and partner on a job... you were my teacher. My boss. More than that. You were real. Just because I need a new partner in crime doesn't mean I could ever try to replace you. It doesn't mean I'll ever stop missing you. At least once Cinder was dealt with she hoped she might feel a bit better about it, though.

"This got weird." Adam said. He suddenly relaxed and slumped against the table. "I'm sorry for bringing him up if it bothers you. I know it's a sore point. It's been an odd couple weeks, my head must just be in a strange place." He took his hands off her butt and rubbed his temples. "Mines, my head is throbbing right now, like there's a chorus of braincells just telling me to close my eyes and go back to sleep; probably burned myself out a bit trying to read so much this morning. I'm not really the bookish type... I guess Vale messed us both up that way."

Just as she'd lost Roman, he'd lost Blake. He had just had more time to adjust to that, and he'd had the rest of his White Fang to support him. She'd been left with nothing, so it wasn't really a fair comparison!

Beside Roman appeared a demure brunette girl. Trivia Vanille. Neo hadn't seen her - thought about who she'd once been - in a very long time. "You want to wake up cuddling in his arms like in some romantic fairytale? He's not going to do that. He can't really love you because you are impossible to love. Daddy knew it. Mommy knew it. You know it."

That's not true! Neo protested. She swiped her hand through her illusions, breaking them, and began slowly fucking Adam, focusing on the carnal motion of her hips to distract her mind from the thread of disparaging thoughts.

"Was he... talking to you?" Adam gestured to the fading sparkles of what had been Mini-Torchwick and Mini-Trivia. "What's going on?"

With a wave of her hand she fabricated a sign in large neon letters on the ceiling: FUCK ME. She grabbed a condom and broke it open, fitting it onto his dick as quickly as she could so that she could resume enjoying the solace of sex with him to - if only for a moment - make her forget that everything she had had before had been taken away by Cinder's schemes. Her hips slammed down over and over again, their bellies fitting together as she pressed close against him. After acclimating to him inside her, her esurient passion demanded more. Time to take this to the next level! She bounded off him, flipped the fan's switch on the wall, and rushed back to get atop him once again, lifting her hands up to latch onto the blades of the fan as it spun just above her head.

Just for another little while, let me lose myself in this.

She lifted her legs up and he was as deep inside her as was possible, nudging against her womb and making her see stars. She focused only on the pleasure of his semblance, keeping her legs hovering above his face, and keeping her grip tight on the fan blades. Adam shone with a steady glow from his semblance as the rest of the colours in the room faded, and she struggled to keep her grip on the fan as her body began to tingle.

"I'll admit it, this is surprisingly fun." Adam said, his hands hovering under her as she spun. "I mean, you look really cute doing this, and it is a pretty efficient way to charge my-" He grunted, and his hair glowed as the room flared white. "-my semblance."

The fan wasn't moving that fast, nowhere near enough to be dangerous; Neo wondered what it would be like if it was. If Adam was holding her up to a turbine engine, would she trust him not to shove her in? She began lifting herself up and down with the fan blades, pumping his dick to create a bit more pleasure.

Adam closed his eyes. "This is nice."

She wanted to offer to do this again, without the condom. Let him feel how good he was letting her feel for himself. She felt a bit guilty about stealing all his pleasure for herself.

"I think... if I didn't will my aura into it, my semblance wouldn't reflect all the energy. I think I'd feel this more." Adam said, his theory echoing her own guilty thoughts.

She realized what he said had meant, though. He was letting her have all the pleasure, he wanted to make her happy. Whether it was from some sort of chivalry, or if he was uncertain about how well he was performing for her, or if Blake had just emotionally broken him in, the end result was that he was willing to focus entirely on her enjoyment of their time together. A part of her detested how perfect he acted. If he'd just be a bit more selfish or mean to her then she could justify not trusting him. Instead, he gave her every reason to believe in him and the idea that she was valued by him. He'd probably gained his faunus following in Vale by the same sort of selfless behaviour.

"Can't let my personal desires get in the way of training to use my semblance, though. I need to figure out new ways to make this useful."

She saw her belly bulge out as his dick pressed up against it from inside of her, before it rotated to press deep against her guts. He's so fucking deep! She rasped, hating the fact that she couldn't tell him how she felt. She slowly spun around on his cock, letting it rub against her from all angles; his hair glowed as she felt his semblance continue to conduct pleasure back at her. Her body kept gently rocking atop his, occasionally going into delightful spasms as she teased her limit.

It was the ceiling, though, that reached its limit first.

With a loud crack and a shower of ceiling tile debris, the fan snapped off and she tumbled off onto the floor. Neo wasn't too heavy for the fan, but her excited wiggling hadn't been factored into the fan's design. She wasn't heavy, but she was strong, and her energetic motion had multiplied the strain she put on the antique fixture. Adam rolled off to the opposite side, sputtering curses and groaning in pain. She sprung to her feet and went to examine him after retrieving her scroll.

"I knew this was a bad idea." He said blankly, lying on the floor staring at the new hole in the ceiling. "I'm just going to lie here for a bit. Feeling kinda tired after that."

He did not look injured. She sat down beside him, propping herself up at a right angle against the table while she combed through his hair with her fingers.

"So... I still want to know what we are."

"NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR ROMAN." She put into her scroll.

"So... did you and Roman... did you ever..." He gestured at the hole in the ceiling.

Neo gagged a bit at the thought of that. Roman had been her teacher, taking care of his side of the business. Her immediate revulsion at the thought of her and Roman left Adam looking more comfortable. Neo didn't know if she wanted to follow up on his potential for jealousy or not; after what he and Dominic had done, she hadn't thought that it was a concern (and she also wasn't really in the mood to look elsewhere for what he was giving her). The fact that they were twins and must have an inherent lack of jealousy towards one another had slipped her mind. She couldn't recall ever seeing the Malachite twins get jealous of one another. So he must still be able to be jealous of her being attached to other men, but Dominic didn't count. That sounded like it made sense, sort of. Well, the important thing is that if he is jealous of my closeness with Roman then he likes me, right?

"I'm still not fully sold on your consent in all this. You're sort of... quiet? All the time. You make little gasps, and moans, and stuff like that, but you only use your scroll and semblance to talk. It's sort of off-putting. Is this some sort of thing to do with Roman and Cinder?" Adam asked. "I mean, it would be nice to hear you say something about wanting to do what we're doing. After how this relationship started, it feels sort of like a power-struggle sometimes. Maybe it is just the result of having fought so long for faunus equality, but it makes me feel bad to think about gender inequality, too. Like, I never took into account whether someone was a girl or a guy when planning missions, just their skillset and experience."

Adam continued talking about how he was pro-gender balance for a while, but Neo was distracted. Gender equality? If he was so interested in equality, why was he making her feel good while leaving the condom unsatisfied? He was being a total hypocrite! If he was serious about being her partner, he'd allow her to make him empty himself with her affectionate ministrations!

"Then there's the fact that my adolescence I spent surrounded by the likes of Kali, Sienna, and Blake..." Adam prattled on, continuing to expand upon the basis for his stance on gender.

Neo stopped paying attention to him, more concerned with her own apparent failure as a woman. What was the point of the condoms (other than letting him use his semblance) if he wasn't even going to finish? On top of those concerns, there was the growing fear that the biggest attraction to Adam she had wasn't his semblance but his resemblance to Roman. Oh fuck, what if I do have daddy issues like some common whore? She racked her brain for answers. Was she secretly, deep-down, disappointed that Roman had never wanted her? No, I never needed that from him and respected his asexuality! Probably. But maybe Adam was just her exploring what it would have been like if Roman hadn't been so... Roman-y. No! Just because there were some... superficial similarities between Roman and Adam didn't mean that fucking Adam was just a way of working out repressed issues or something. She wanted this relationship. Besides, there was so much about Adam that she was attracted to that had nothing at all to do with Roman. Adam had sleek horns! Adam had deep scars! Adam was a faunus! His semblance! Roman had been cultured, elegant, but Adam was a cunning brute!

And Daddy had been a cultured brute. Until he died; a disturbing trend amongst the important men in her life. The words of the memory of Trivia haunted her. Impossible to love. Neo was dangerous. Involvement with her was peril.

While she'd delved into her own thoughts, he had changed topics and was now waxing on about their plans. "Once we find Cinder, we'll figure out what was going on at Beacon, how it was connected to Haven. After that, we'll figure out just how vital she is to her boss' plans. I should probably get you up to speed with what I've learned about them. So far I think all I've told you is that Cinder is still in the city, or at least she was a few days back. The important thing is, Cinder is the key to all of it."

No! Cinder has to die! She pouted, leaning up and stretching. Roman might have feared whatever organization Cinder worked for, but Neo didn't really care one whit. She typed quickly into her scroll. "YOU SAID YOU HAD LEADS ON HER ORGANIZATION."

"Yeah. I know more about who Cinder operates under than I did when she first approached me. I've met a few of..." Adam said, then his body jerked as he reached for his scroll. "Oh, frick, it's been a week. Sorry, Neo, I gotta go and take care of some business. We can continue this conversation later tonight; I'll probably have a lot more then to fill you in on than I do now." Clutching his clothes in his hand, he left in a hurry.

She tried to stand up to chase after him, but her legs were still soft and tingly; she made a pathetic attempt to crawl across the room to the door, arriving in time to see him throwing on his shirt as he took off out the door. All his talk about being honest with him, what about being honest with me?

"Maybe if you spent more time getting to know him and less time focusing on hedonism, you'd not be left in the dark so much." The apparition of Roman scolded her.

Neo brushed it away. What it had said made no sense at all - she was putting all her skill into making sure Adam cherished her. It was just Adam's ridiculous semblance - and stupid self-control and inhibitions - that foiled her! Neo hobbled back and sat by the table for a minute, her arms crossed unhappily. Hearing him talk about letting Cinder live, Cinder being important, it really pissed her off! Cinder wasn't the one riding his juicy faunus cock. Cinder wasn't the one who was educating him in the ways of being a man.

I am!

"As far as you know." Mini-Roman warned as he reappeared, voicing her inner fear about Adam's true loyalties. "Maybe he's running off to see her right now? Even while his crotch is still slick with the taste of you."

Ignoring the thoughts presented by her imaginary friend, Neo stumbled around, collecting her own clothes from around the desk and concocting a plan. She'd make her way up to the local police station or whatever they had in Mistral and infiltrate that. Certainly the cops would have something on Cinder by now.

"Or you could just turn him in for the bounty, go legit, and see him in his cell whenever you want for conjugal visits." Roman suggested.

No! Neo refused the idea; despite its merits, it ignored the fact that she still needed Adam to help her take her revenge upon Cinder. Or, at least, to get to the point where she could. Even if he was secretly colluding with Cinder, at least with him she felt safe sleeping. Not as safe as when Roman was still... alive... but safe enough to sleep. That doesn't even count the times he's fucked me so absolutely I've passed out into blissful dreams.

If Adam was so keen on keeping his hands clean of Cinder's blood, that was fine. Neo was perfectly happy to find a way to kill her without him.

"Say what you will about Cinder, but that's not a fight I'm sure you'd win. They say she beat Headmaster Ozpin and the Nikos girl one after the other at Beacon. No small feat." The memory of Roman lectured her. "Having Adam backing you up to make sure she goes down was one of the original reasons you got yourself into this mess. She's got Emerald and Mercury helping her already, you need to play this smart. Also, there's a solid chance they'd just execute Adam, so no conjugal visits if you take the bounty lien."

She managed to get up and dressed. Adam was long gone; no point trying to track him down now. Going to the police station seemed like a not-bad idea, though.

The door opened, Dominic returning. He had a few bags of groceries in his hands.

"Good morning, sleepy-head. What'd I miss? You weren't in great shape coming in last night." Dominic asked as she approached him. "You on your way out again? You doing alright?"

Neo gave him a wave as she walked by, grabbing a couple fruits and a handful of bun, noting how he tensed up. She blew him a little kiss after she sauntered past him. Adam wasn't going to get jealous of Dominic, so she could flirt around with him and not piss her partner off. They were brothers. They were more than brothers. Twins. A nascent scheme began to gestate in Neo's head. Maybe Dominic would be her key to ensuring that, when Adam's loyalties were put to the test, he would choose her rather than Cinder? She wasn't sure how she'd use Dominic to do it, yet, but he was the wildcard element. He didn't trust Neo, and he'd not been in Vale with Adam when her partner had gotten caught up in Cinder's villainy, so he probably didn't trust Cinder, either. There had to be some way she could use that. For now, she'd just have to get him to trust her.

There was no need to bother either of the brothers with the inroads she'd made with the Spyders. She'd bring Adam in on that once Malachite produced some actionable intelligence for her to find Cinder with.

"Yeah. Not telling him the truth. That's how you build trust." Roman sneered. "Gods, I'm so proud of how much you take after my teachings. Trust is for suckers. Making him need you - that's the way to do it."


An Hour Later

An airship lifted off from behind the high white-painted walls of the military police facility. Soldiers were visible on its top deck carrying large rifles, while its ventral pod was loaded up with a large tank of yellowish gas. Neo assumed it was some sort of fuel container for the long patrol necessary to keep the lands of the largest human Kingdom's safe. Guards looked down at the street from watchtowers along the walls, and a handful more stood at the entry gate. They didn't look so tough. A small crowd of people crowded in front of the gate, keeping some distance from the guards. Several seemed to be using their scrolls to report on the situation. They didn't look like they were official media, so it was likely they were doing personal podcasts. Several of them wore t-shirts with a crossed out White Fang emblem. A protest against the faunus exodus, Neo surmised, but not as busy as what was going on at the district border.

The airship's wings fluttered as it rose to join a host of its siblings that hovered gracefully over the city. They looked pretty, like a school of gleaming fish in the sky.

"Mistral has a large army, very powerful." Roman said. "They have to, to keep control of so much territory. Well, a modicum of control, anyways. Look, I'm saying that teaming up with the authorities is a good back-up plan if the whole faunus angle doesn't work out for you."

That sounded tantamount to betrayal of Adam. If she went and made a deal with the cops, it would be just as bad as Adam secretly being in league with Cinder.

"Come on, Neo, he probably is secretly in contact with Cinder. That's probably where he was rushing off to."

I should have tailed him. Neo frowned. No, that wouldn't have done anything to improve the situation. His faunus senses would probably have just picked me up and then what trust would there be between us? She thought of his mismatched eyes. The brand had made him like her: irregular. A freak. Us freaks should stick together. Besides, she had better things to do with her time than stalk him like a jealous yandere. It wasn't like she had any proof that he'd ever lied to her. She'd have to try her best to trust him, to believe that they both were on the same side and working towards the same goal.

"Speaking of eyes, I'll point out that Dominic is always wearing that eye-patch. Do you think his eye is even worse?" Roman gave his cane a little twirl as he watched Neo bite into the tropical fruit she'd nicked from Adam's handsome twin.

Who cares, Neo purred as some juice dribbled down her chin. His body is just as good as Adam's. She wondered if he had a similar semblance to Adam's. Dominic was a bit colder towards her, though. He probably wouldn't be as nice as to always use his semblance to make her feel good. Still, ain't nothing wrong with having two twins willing to share with each other, letting me rub my hands all over their chests and-

"Neo, the mission?" Roman pestered, trying to interrupt her train of thought.

-touching all of their sexy scars. Now that she thought about the scars, actually, it seemed odd how many scars Dominic had. What had his life been like that his body was as badly scraped up as a wanted terrorist's? Maybe he'd been mistaken for Adam several times? Perhaps that was an angle she could use to get him to trust her? 'Your life has been so hard, Dominic, a lot of the time because you were mistaken for your twin. Wouldn't it be easier if we just killed Cinder and then the three of us just retire to Menagerie to eat fruit and be lazy like the faunus for the rest of our lives?'

"Actually, their scars are all in the same spots. Hard to tell in the dark, but you felt it a couple nights ago when they were sandwiching you. How could that happen?"

It was a good question. How could the twins have matching scars? Maybe Dominic scarred himself to show that he was capable of handling the same pain Adam suffered, or some stupid masculinity thing along those lines? She started to ask Roman if there was just a standardized way of beating unruly faunus, then remembered that he was just a figment of her broken psyche.

She looked at the police station, her determination to find something out about Cinder - or someone who could lead her to the target of her wrath - reinvigorated. After half an hour of scoping the place out, she spotted a man and woman in matching purple outfits striding through the crowd of protesters towards the gate. They moved with purpose and a measure of self-importance that cast them as worth watching. Neo cast a disguise on herself and crept up close enough to observe their conversation with the guards.

"Hey." The man said in a hushed tone. " Got some hot intel on Rainart, so looking to collect on a piece of that bounty the posters are on about."

Rainart? One of Cinder's flunkies from the Haven attack! Neo stifled a gasp of happy surprise and got closer.

"Nice tattoos. You're with the Spyders? What's Malachite got for us about Rainart?" The guard inquired. He seemed to be referencing the purple pair's arachnid tattoos. They must be some sort of gang sign associated with Lil' Miss. They must've started those up after Roman left them, since he hadn't had a tattoo. At least, nowhere I ever saw. Or maybe it was a sign of being high-rank?

"Location of his hideout. He came to us for info, but we kept a tail on him and followed him around until he finished his business with us. So if the proper authorities would like to find a wanted criminal, we can accommodate such an interest." The female said while holding out a data stick. "For a proper price."

"Nice of you to put your business ahead of public safety." Another airship lifted off from behind the walls of the compound. "Give me a moment to call the captain. This might take a minute."

"Looks like you're pretty busy here today. Bring the patrol ships in for maintenance or something?"

"I can't say. I just man the gate here." The guard replied, then used his scroll to contact his superior.

Neo realized that she was suffering from an abundance of good fortune. Two high-value targets: the data stick with Rainart's location on it, and Malachite's goons that could lead Neo straight to the information broker's lair.

Adam wants me to get him to Malachite, so I should follow these purple people. Trail them back to their base of operations, do some recon of how Malachite protected herself - since there was a solid chance the Mistralian would betray Neo at the first opportunity. Adam can be my insurance policy against that eventuality… if I can trust Adam.

"Yeah, you could do that, or you could just skip the middle-man and go straight for Cinder." Imaginary Roman said as he reformed on her shoulder. "If Rainart is hiding out somewhere, it's pretty likely that Cinder's sitting there, too, giving him his orders. Just get that data stick and go kill them yourself. Or heck, just tag along with whatever the police send to do the job and make sure they do it right. Skip getting any deeper in with the Spyders."

Roman's idea would save her the hassle of further dealings with Malachite when her mind was so inundated with a demand for revenge.

Yeah, the data stick is definitely the way to go. If Rainart's business with Malachite was over, he was probably getting ready to get out of dodge now. Which meant his hideout's value was about to decrease soon, whereas Malachite would be around for a while. The logical choice was moving on Rainart, now.

She watched the Spyders walk away - with a delicious amount of lien from the guard that almost made Neo chase after them - and focused on her semblance. She cleared her mind of everything else. All that mattered was getting inside the compound undetected. All that mattered was using her semblance to slip by the guards.

She got under a desk and waited for boots to turn away.

She tossed an eraser into a door-frame to keep it from locking closed, then slipped by once it was clear.

She hopped up into a ventilation duct and crawled around on her hands and knees.

"I don't fucking care if they said the data stick has pictures of Glinda Goodwitch sunbathing, I said run the bloody virus scan!" Someone loud and gruff shouted from a nearby room. "I'll be on call with the colonel, see if we're able to spare any ships for this."

Neo quietly crawled towards the direction of the voice. Data stick!

"It might be in town, sir."

"So what? I say bomb the place wherever it is and search for bodies afterwards. Nobody's going to give us a commendation for letting these bastards get away again."

Neo shimmied towards the voices, being as quiet as a mouse and trying not to get lost in the maze of echoes. A rumble shook the building; another airship taking off. The drone of their wings gave her some reprieve, aiding her stealth.

"System says the data stick is clean."

"Alright, let's see what we've got. I trust Malachite to give us what we paid for, I just didn't trust her not to slip in something extra."

Creep. Creep. Creep forward. Nice and slow and steady. She came to an opening and looked down into the room, feeling like she was in a spy thriller movie. She carefully pried at the grate so that she could enter the room while their attention was on a large holographic screen.

"It looks like Hazel is holed up out in the woods south of the city. Remote area, private property owned by some nobles for hunting excursions and nature hikes. They have a record of where he's been, too. Kuchinashi, all the way out to the White Fang's headquarters we hit... he must have been looking for his animal friends."

"Hmmm. Y'know, that isn't far off from the primary flight path. We could have them make a detour." The men turned to another screen and began talking to a third officer, their colonel. Neo snuck around behind them, her eyes glancing between them and the data stick.

"You're reporting in earlier than expected, Captain. Are all ships launched already?" The voice over the room's speakers asked.

"Negative, sir. We've just received new intelligence regarding the location of Hazel Rainart. Patching it through to you now."

The data stick blinked rapidly as the information was sent through the network to the colonel, then went dark again. Neo waited a moment, to be certain, then yanked it out. She plugged it into her scroll to make herself a copy of its contents.

"I'll see that the Crown sees this right away and will advise you once if he orders any changes to the operation. Until then, continue as planned."

Neo returned the stick to the port she'd pulled it out from.

"Yes, sir! Departures here are on schedule." The soldiers saluted and ended the call, then left the room. Neo waited for them to get some distance, then went out through the door. Now all she had to do was find her way back outside, rendezvous with her boys, and see how Adam reacted to the possibility of Cinder being threatened with a tactical bombing.

She hid in a broom closet while a patrol passed by her in the hallway, giving her a chance to breathe and worry about what to do next. As if on cue, Roman appeared back on her shoulder to offer her insights. "You think a couple ships will be enough to take out Cinder Fall? Better for you to go with the military yourself, blend in as a petty officer of some sort, get her once the military softens her up. Don't even bring Adam into this."

Well, I could at least text him the information and let him know. I guess I could hitch a ride with the local cops instead of waiting for him. It wasn't like Adam had his own ship to get out there before the military did. Or maybe he did? The military seemed to be pretty busy right now, too, their bureaucracy retarding their reaction to this critical development with Cinder's location. She sneaked along through the hallways. Was it a left turn or a right turn here? The corridors all looked the same. I definitely took a couple rights, she recalled, so she took a right.

Neo became lost in short order. After avoiding a few more patrols led to her having to scuttle down a staircase, she knew she was completely disoriented.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in sending him a text to let him know. It will at least give us an indication of where his loyalties lie. If he wants to get to Cinder first to get the information he wants out of her, then he might have been honest with you. If he wants to protect her..."

Then he is on her side! A test! She would put Adam's loyalty to the test!

"Also maybe ask him if he has the blueprints for this place?" Roman asked. "It looks like you're getting lost in here. Do you even know where the exit is?"

Sure I do, Neo lied to herself, then defensively argued that she wasn't trying to find the way she'd come in, but instead trying to find her way to the airfield where all the ships were taking off from. She figured that she may as well try and find a way out closer to the launching airships, since that seemed to be how the military would go after Cinder. If she was going to hitch a ride, she'd have to be on one of their ships.

"What if you get on a ship that's being sent out on patrol up around Lake Matsu?" Roman complained as he evaluated her plan. "You'd be stuck out there for weeks, or you'd have to commandeer the ship and make a whole new mess for yourself."

Neo decided to send Adam a text now, while she tried to figure out what part of the building she was in. ~Malachite's been spying on Rainart, Cinder's goon. Military is reacting to the info slowly, gives us time to get there first. Good chance Cinder is there waiting for Hazel before they get away.~

Her scroll began to vibrate. Oh. He's calling me. I can't use my text-to-speech trick if I'm using the scroll for a call! She glanced around and slipped into another closet for privacy. The scroll kept vibrating. She panicked. If I don't pick up now he'll think it's strange. She was on a stealth mission here, though! There was the chance that someone would overhear him if she answered it.

But if she answered the call, she'd see his face, right? His blue eye. His smooth horns arcing up out of his messy hair.

She accepted the call.

Adam's face appeared on her screen. Dominic shuffled around behind him in the background. They were at the warehouse.

"So remember how I wanted to get you up to speed on Cinder's organization earlier, but then had to run off?" Adam began. Neo adjusted her scroll to be as quiet as possible, leaning in close so that (hopefully) only she could hear. "I actually met with Hazel just a little while ago. I've met him before; he recommended Malachite to me in the first place. Sounds like Malachite double-crossed him. I've a few reservations about having any involvement with her."

"She is a human..." Dominic seethed, then squinted at Adam's scroll screen. "Speaking of humans, where is Neo right now?"

Neo panned around the closet with her scroll to give them a view of her situation.

"Looks like she's in a tight spot." Adam whispered, then waited for anyone to laugh at the pun. After nobody did, he scowled and continued. "Okay, well, Hazel doesn't know where Cinder is. He didn't even know that she was alive until I told him I sensed her going up that elevator. Hazel will be outside of the city's scroll network, not that he'd accept a warning call anyways." His hands moved while he spoke, directed at Dominic. [We go help? Friend in trouble, link to monster boss like fire girl is.]

Dominic shrugged. [No reason. Fire girl not there and big man not friend. Pet hates fire girl's followers. My ship comes soon, I will lay low and wait, get out with little hassle. Sun business is still an issue for me.]

Their gestures were simple - some would say efficient - but Neo was confident that she had gotten the gist of what they were 'secretly' discussing. Fire girl must be their sign for Cinder, so at least Neo had some assurance that Adam was being honest with her. They must be speaking honestly with their hands, otherwise he would have avoided referring to Neo as 'pet'.

Unless they know I know sign language and are using this to trick me.

"We have precious few remaining people willing to associate with us. I feel like we need to try to keep the ones we have left." Adam argued. He looked back at his scroll. "Alright, Neo. You're the one who found this, so how do you want to proceed?"

Liar! You're just using me as a tie-breaker since Dominic isn't up for running off to save Hazel! Oh, she was angry with him now. He hadn't told her that he'd been talking to Hazel! She regretted not chasing after Malachite's people. She could have tracked the broker down by now if she'd made an informed decision on what path to pursue. While not the logical action, at least she wouldn't have ended up wasting her time!

"Yes, Neo. Let's hear what you have to say about this." Dominic said with a little smirk as he stressed how much he wanted to hear her speak like a normal girl could.

Neo felt the blood rush out of her face. She didn't know what to do. Even if she could respond, she didn't even know how she would want to.

No Cinder. No Malachite. Emerald's life hanging on her choice. Mercury and Hazel's, too, she supposed, but she didn't care as much about those two.

Adam and Dominic watched her, waiting for her answer.

A scream echoed from somewhere nearby, followed by sobbing. It sounded like a woman?

"Neo, what's that in the background?" Dominic asked. "Is someone there with you?"

Neo shook her head.

"Neo, get closer to the source of that scream." Adam commanded.

Neo turned the scroll away. She considered just not doing what they told her to do.

"Neo, please?" One of them asked.

Well, if they ask nicely...

She crept out of the closet and went down the hallway, getting closer to what was now a soft moaning sound.

"My girl!" The female voice cried, followed by some sobs. "Bring her back! Don't let them take her!"

She brought up her scroll as she stood on a catwalk overlooking a brightly lit cellblock, then turned her scroll back around after a couple of seconds of letting them see.

[-definitely her.] Dominic finished signing. His face was contorted with hatred, and his voice as he addressed Neo was a veneer of politeness wrapped around his growing outrage. "We have a new plan. That's a faunus we know, in distress. Which police station are you at? We're going to come to you."

"We'll do a bit of a break-in, then a break-out. We can hijack one of their vehicles and take a trip out of the city. We'll get Lichen and Salt out of there." Adam added.

Didn't Dominic want to lie low? Neo wondered. Was he willing to risk his own safe escape for whatever faunus had gotten arrested here? Seriously, his drive to fight for his people is going to get him and his brother killed one day. She sent him the data and her location. At least he hadn't been spurred to action at the thought of Cinder being at risk.

"Meet us in front of the police station, Neo." Adam said. "We'll be there soon. I'm sorry about not telling you about Hazel. When this is done with, I'll tell you the rest about Cinder's boss and team RWBY. I promise."

The call ended.

Great. Now I just need to find my way out of here.


AN: New poll up on my FF profile.

So in case you weren't aware, this story has secretly always been about Cammy's quest to obtain a bathroom upgrade. Girl just wants to be pampered, ya know?

If you're wondering how Hazel managed to get back to town in such good time? He's not the sort of guy to let such a small obstacle as not having a ride block his path. He totally just stole a car after finishing his drink. What are they going to do? Arrest him?

Looks like the magic of the RoC managed to help Bedlam resist the Apathy's affect effect - though not entirely. He was still a bit sluggish there. He's also unfortunately made a couple of erroneous conclusions based on his lack of information. Do you see the ones I mean? Still, happy to see some more of my all-time favourite Adam get some page-time. I hope you're all happy to see him, too! Sadly, he now has to trudge through the snow for a bit to catch up to his darling again.

Jupiter looks like he is planning on whipping up a storm in Mistral. Will Brazen and Dominic manage to deal with an enraged Prince?

See you next chapter!