For a moment, the only noise in the tunnel was the sound of distant dripping water as the tomb raider and the student stared at each other. Porella dipped her head into a slow nod, and for once, Adam didn't look away as the situation moved out of his comfort zone.
"…we shouldn't keep Velvet waiting, but this is important. Tell you what- after this, come back to the museum with Basil and I. You can stay with us for as long as you'd like- we have the room. We can work through whatever's on your mind at your pace, and conduct business in the interim. Would that work for you?"
"I think it could," Adam admitted, his voice softening. "It may take some time. A lot of time. Everything is just so confusing and frustrating and… I don't even know how I feel about a lot of my life anymore."
"Most people go through a phase like that, whether they'll admit it or not is another story," Porella said with a slight grimace. "Not everyone who has their shit together managed to get to that point easily, and no one managed to do it alone. It seems to me like you're very much trying to do it alone, even when surrounded by friends. Might be time to make some major changes."
"What kind of changes?" Adam asked. "You're not suggesting that I ch-"
A volley of distant gunshots echoed down the tunnel, giving the faunus pause as he snapped his attention in their direction. He looked back toward Porella almost immediately, color draining from his face.
"I don't think Velvet usually uses guns…"
"Move," Porella commanded as she slipped past Adam in the tunnel, drawing her the longsword from her back and one of the pistols at her side. "Be ready for anything!"
Adam pivoted and moved to follow her, gripping the hilt of his katana as he broke into a run. Another, louder shot rang out, clearly coming from a bigger gun. The new noise was enough to distract Adam and cause him to almost run into Porella… as well as Velvet, who stood impatiently before a fork in the tunnel.
"'bout time you two showed up," Velvet sassed as her ears twitched at another high caliber shot. "Are we running toward the gunfire or away from it?"
"I vote toward," Porella said immediately as she looked to Adam. "Is your head in the game enough for this?"
Adam hesitated only a moment before turning toward the tunnel on the left and beginning to charge down it.
"Toward!"
Velvet and Porella fell in line as some sort of explosion caused the tunnel to shake. Flecks of dust and sand came raining down from the ceiling, kicking up clouds of brown dust as the trio momentarily braced themselves against the sides of the tunnel. As soon as they were stable, Adam broke into a run once again as a final few sidearm shots up ahead were chased by an inhuman scream. After a few more seconds a running, the faunus emerged into a cavernous chamber at the tail end of a fight between two unknown parties.
Of the two combatants, only one was left standing… and Adam didn't know which was more interesting. One had been a grimm, and judging by the cloud of ash rising from a pile of twisted bone at the far end of the chamber, it had been massive. Adam guessed that it likely would have been the biggest grimm he had ever seen if they had arrived only seconds earlier, and the discarded piles of previously possessed bones left behind by the creature supported that theory. A single oddly shaped plate wedged into the floor of the cavern stood taller than the victor of the struggle… who also looked entirely unfamiliar to the boy.
A woman, seemingly about Porella's age or a few years younger at best, stood victorious before an empty skull that reached up to her shoulders. In her hands was a long firearm with a spear-like bayonet beneath the barrel and several colored tubes hooked into a boxy attachment beneath it. The woman had a sidearm at each hip and a belt full of grenades, though the rest of her outfit lacked any sort of technological flair. She wore a simple tactical outfit of primarily white with blue accents, body armor, knee pads, and shoulder pads, with a white bolero jacket featuring a blue stripe down the sleeves over it. The rest of her gear was topped off with a dark blue beret bearing some sort of golden insignia that Adam didn't recognize. Unsure what to do, the faunus hesitated while Velvet stepped forward and around him.
"What are you doing h-"
The older huntress whirled on Velvet, extending a hand and making a pinching motion with her thumb and forefinger in the air before her. As the digits met, Velvet's voice died down entirely until she was moving her mouth without producing any words at all. Eventually, the faunus stopped trying to speak and stomped her foot… though the expected harsh noise from her boot on the stone below also resulted in no noise at all.
"Easy now," the woman warned, her accent not far removed from Velvet's own. It was distinctly Vacuan, though her clothing suggested she was anything but. "Wouldn't want an unnecessary fight, especially with someone outta your league."
"Three on one?" Adam asked as he narrowed his eye. "Unfavorable odds for anyone, no matter how skilled."
"…for most," Porella said warily as she sheathed her longsword but kept her pistol in her hand. "Stand down, both of you. She's an Ace. This isn't a fight worth picking."
"A what?" Adam asked, looking between Porella and the unfamiliar woman.
"You're shitting me," she replied as she snapped her fingers before bringing her hand up to give her hair a flip. The woman wore it in a side ponytail down that curved down and around her neck to rest in front of her, its dark purple color and crème streaks contrasting harshly with her outfit. Her eyes were a deep blue and naturally suspicious, and her skin was an olive tone pocked with a few freckles about her nose and cheeks. "You've never heard of the Ace Ops despite growing up in the mines just beneath Atlas, mate? Figured you'd be at my throat like your little bunny friend, Adam."
"Fuck you," Velvet spat, bristling with rage and sounding somewhat surprised that she could speak again. "And how do you know Adam!?"
Adam took a step backwards as realization hit him. He hadn't made the connection upon hearing the word 'Aces'… but Ace Ops meant something, even to him. More likely than not, it meant that he was in serious danger, especially if the huntress did indeed recognize him.
"I'm not going back," Adam declared as he tightened his grip around the handle of Wilt. "I don't care if you're a member of the Atlesian military's special operatives. I'm not l-"
Clearly for show, the huntress mimicked turning a volume knob as she robbed Adam of his ability to speak while rolling her eyes.
"Gods above and below, you two like to carry on, don'tcha? I might use S.D.C. tech, but I've got no love for the cunts, and I don't need the bounty when I'm at the top of the military payroll. Far as I'm concerned, I didn't see you out here. Who's going to believe I ran into wanted murderer Adam Taurus in some random cave beneath Vacuo, anyway? Breathe, kid."
Adam did as he was told, though he couldn't hear said breaths as he tried to calm down. He also didn't move his hand from the hilt of his katana as he stared the woman down.
"Well, all of this raises more questions than it answers," Porella pointed out, "but Adam's with me right now, and if you're not going to make a move on him for whatever supposed 'bounty' he has, I'd rather focus on a different question. What exactly are you doing all the way out and down here? Atlas was supposed to pull out of Vacuo completely after the war in terms of any official presence. If word got out that an Ace had been sent here to do something clandestine…"
"That a game you really want to play?" the woman asked threateningly as she snapped her fingers once again. "Of all the places it's hard to find a body, down here's close to top of the list. Mull that over before you ask again. My turn. Who are you people, exactly? I've heard of Adam, obviously, but…"
"Porella Oaks," the huntress answered. "Museum curator and treasure hunter. Someone who would be high on the list of priorities for Vacuo City if she went missing."
"Velvet Scarlatina," the faunus answered angrily. "Academy student, and Adam's friend."
"Right, right, ease off," the Ace said with a wave of her free hand. "Alice Accelerando, Ace Ops, but I'm sure you already knew that. That said, if you three are looking for treasure down here… what do ya say we bury whatever hatchet you two want to flail around and join forces for a bit, eh? I've got a bit of a shopping list, and it might go more quickly if we kiss and search the aisles together."
"If it's dust you're after…" Velvet began angrily.
"Dust?" Alice balked. "You think I'd be sent all the way out to this hellhole to sneak around for dust? Honestly."
"If it was about dust, she'd already have it," Adam said warily as he looked to Velvet. "Solitas had no trouble stripping Vacuo of what they needed, from the sounds of things. Besides, you said they were starting to figure out how to grow their own hard light. Whatever this is, it's something more important. Something…"
A sudden revelation hit Adam, as though something had suddenly just clicked into place without a conscious effort. Though he had no proof, he had a distinct feeling that he knew exactly what Alice was there for… especially if his assumptions about the 'fragments' Porella had mentioned hunting for were correct.
"Something…?" Porella encouraged with an expectant look.
"…dangerous," Adam tried, making an attempt not to give away that he knew something. Even so, he got the distinct impression that Alice saw right through him, and he refused to meet her eyes. "Something unique to Vacuo, and not just a type of dust. Otherwise, the risk of sending her all the way out here doesn't add up."
"And what if I'm out here of my own volition?" Alice teased. "Say… on vacation, perhaps?"
"I vote no, especially if she's going to be this smarmy and shitty about Adam," Velvet spat as she folded her arms across her chest. "We don't need some Atlesian hotshot to come down from her ivory tower and 'help' us along. We're just fine on our own."
"Velvet, calm yourself," Porella warned. "The grimm down here are… not quite what either of you are used to, and they can prove a challenge even for someone like her. Right?"
"They can," Alice agreed while checking her nails- they were painted a deep purple with dark blue tips upon them, looking oddly fashionable for someone involved in such serious fieldwork. "The one I just took down was… I'm going to go ahead and say a behemoth."
"…not only that," Adam cut in, "but if she's hunting for something precious to Vacuo… wouldn't you like to be there to see what it is when she finds it? Then, we can decide if we're going to remain allies or… not."
Velvet took a long, deep breath.
"…yeah. Fair. Let's get moving, then."
"Not so fast," Alice ordered as she collapsed her rifle and attached it to a magnetic frame upon her back. "I just got done clearing tunnels for several hours to wind up here. I was about to make camp when I got jumped by that grimm. It's late, these tunnels are large… I say we settle in for the night and set out in earnest tomorrow morning."
Porella look at her guards before giving the Ace a nod.
"…fine. Lead the way."
Author's Note:
People who know What You Stole know what Alice is like… but she's not usually an Ace. How that affects her remains to be seen…
-RD