While Cinder was making her move and facing off against the headmaster, elsewhere at the same time another individual was finally making theirs. This person was a latecomer, not to the attack on Beacon, but in a broader sense of the word. They were a late addition to the plan that climaxed with the attack, an extra bit of muscle to help pick up the slack… which they had declined to do until now, and even then they were putting in the bare minimum effort.
This person was Rufio, and right now he was riding his hoverboard on the path leading to Beacon's library. He wasn't particularly interested in the architecture or the books or even the path or the bodies and debris scattered around it, he was going only because it was a place to go to… However, on the way he did find something that piqued his interest; it was a young lady kneeling on the path. But his interest was neither romantic nor sexual, this was strictly business.
He couldn't see the young woman's face but he could tell that she had long braided brown hair, was wearing an Atlas student uniform, and that the weapon in her hands seemed to be a rather plain-looking battle rifle, the kind used by the rank and file troops of Atlas. This made it rather difficult to figure out which team she was from or even who she was at least until he got close enough to look at her face, and that was fine with him. The business he potentially had with her required him to get close, close enough to look in her eyes and that was his favorite part about this job.
He loved doing wetwork, he loved the people he met in this line of work and the places he got to see. He loved the stories he became a part of even if it was only as the last paragraph of the final chapter of someone else's story. He loved getting paid for this and right now he had a list of targets, a list of stories that needed to come to an end.
The woman saw him approaching out of the corner of her eyes and struggled to get on her feet. There was a large red spot on her waist, it was blood from a wound that was inflicted after some foe managed to break through her Aura. Once her Aura recovered it would get to work on healing that wound which was probably why she had been kneeling, to help speed up the process. Until then, she would be vulnerable and she knew that.
"Who are you?" She asked while pointing her rifle at Rufio and trying to hide how tired she was.
Rufio parked his hoverboard and stayed on it, "Calm down, I'm not a Grimm or a robot or even a Faunus. I'm just a guy looking for some people." He took out his scroll and began scrolling through the list to see if there was anyone on it that looked like her. Let's see, brown hair, greenish eyes, freckles, and a scar on her bottom lip.
"That doesn't mean you're a friend. I've heard that there were some weirdos armed with prototype weapons attacking people. I never saw you around so I doubt you're a student." She was staring at him rather intensely and her eyes occasionally glanced at his hoverboard.
"There are a lot of armed weirdos attacking people," He said while sweeping with one arm to draw attention to the bodies and broken robots on the ground before painting back at himself. "But as you can see, I am unarmed." Ah, there she is! Amelia Blanch, a second-year student of Atlas and the second daughter of Major Abigail Blanch… Now that I think about it, a lot of the girls on this list are either prodigies or have privileged backgrounds. But why kill someone for that?
Amelia didn't lower her rifle, "You have that hoverboard."
"So?" She's got good instincts.
"So? So?" Amelia scoffed. "During the first round of the competition, there was a Mistral student named Reese Chloris, her weapon was a hoverboard. But you'd know that if you'd been watching."
"I'm not really into tv."
"Or maybe they didn't have TVs in prison, Rufio." Then without any warning, she opened fire.
The bullets hit Rufio right in the chest, knocking him off the hoverboard. But Amelia did not get a chance to celebrate this small victory. Because the moment after she knocked him off, the hoverboard then rocketed forward and struck her in the chest with a terrible crack. It was the sound of bones being broken and it wasn't just bones.
Ameila's Aura hadn't yet recovered, it couldn't protect her, it couldn't protect her bones, it could not protect her organs, and it failed to prevent a fatal blow. "M-mom… help," She weakly whispered before falling backward into the concrete path to never rise again.
Rufio pulled himself off of the ground and waited just in case this was some kind of trick but soon enough he realized that there was no trick. "Well, that was easy." He walked over to where Amelia was lying dead on the ground and pulled his hoverboard out of her chest. "Yuck, it's going to take a while to clean this up."
"That was messy," spoke a stranger from behind Rufio.
The Lost Boy spun around to face the stranger while holding his hoverboard like it was some sort of shield, "And you are?" This guy is wearing a mask like the White Fang but the way he is dressed, that doesn't look like a uniform. It kinda looks like he's trying to show off.
"My name is Adam Taurus," he walked forward toward Rufio but that wasn't his destination. Even with that mask over his eyes, it wasn't hard to see that his gaze was on the library up ahead.
"So you're the boss of the Grunts making a mess everywhere? There's not many of them left."
"They knew the risks and completed their mission, now if you will excuse me." Adam walked past Rufio fully intending to never see or speak to the Lost Boy ever again.
However, Rufio had other ideas and began walking beside Adam, "That's pretty cold of you."
"Why are you talking to me, Human?"
"Geez, the way you said that word… it almost makes it feel like a slur."
"That's because I was using it as a slur.."
"But I thought Faunus couldn't be racist."
Adam groaned, "First off, everyone can be racist. I'm racist but it's easy to overlook my racism because I'm not systemically privileged but it's still racism. Second, why are you talking to me, Human?"
"I just wanted to talk to a coworker but everyone else is so busy!" It's kinda weird how I haven't seen any of the other Lost Boys, those idiots probably got taken out already.
"Well, I'm busy too."
"You're busy walking."
Adam stopped walking and glared daggers at Rufio, "I am walking towards a target-rich environment."
"The library? Are you targeting books?"
"No. I'm targeting the people who will be at the library."
"Why are they at the library? I get that late fees can be annoying but there's a time and place for everything."
Adam clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "They are regrouping there."
Rufio gave him an incredulous look, "At the library?"
Adam snapped, "YES! AT THE LIBRARY! IT'S NEAR THE CENTER OF THE ACADEMY AND YOU CAN REACH THE CCT FROM THERE! IT'S WHERE EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE!"
What followed was a tense moment where the two men just stood there facing each other. Neither said anything and the only sound that could be heard was Adam trying to catch his breath. Then the moment passed and Adam broke away from eye contact before continuing his march towards the library. But unfortunately for him, Rufio kept following him.
"Why are you STILL following me?" Adam asked when he couldn't ignore the man any longer. If only he didn't have that hoverboard, then I'd be able to ditch his clown ass.
"I'm not following you. We're just headed to the same place."
"Bullshit."
"No, it's not. I have a list of people I gotta kill and I've heard from a reliable source that the library is a good place to look." Ruifo then gave Adam a shit-eating grin and kept talking but at that point, Adam had stopped listening or at least he was trying to.
The problem was that Rufio just kept talking and while Adam was doing his best to mentally drown out the yapping, it was becoming harder and harder to do every second Rufio kept talking. Soon it reached the point where he seriously considered killing this guy or at the very least sucker punching him and leaving him behind. Already one hand was balling into a fist while the other was subconsciously reaching for the hilt of his sword but he held them back and it wasn't for Rufio's sake.
The reason why he held back was because they were no longer alone.
From one of the nearby buildings emerged a group. It was a group of about nine students who were interestingly dressed in their combat uniforms suggesting that they were already wearing it before the attack. That meant they were either from Vacuo or that they hadn't been eliminated from the now-canceled tournament. If it was the latter then it meant that they were good, real good, at least as far as students were concerned and that meant something.
It meant that they were probably good enough to get rid of this pest for him and that thought put a smile on Adam's face. A nasty cruel smile of someone that wished you harm and was about to get their wish, a smile that Rufio noticed and didn't like.
"Adam, why are you looking at me like that?"
That question went verbally unanswered but it was answered. It was answered by Adam using his Aura to boost his speed so he could yank Rufio off of his hoverboard and throw him toward the group of Huntsman-in-training.
"What the FUCK ADAM!" Rufio cried as he flew through the air before hitting the ground.
The group of students stopped dead in their tracks and looked at the Lost Boy before turning their attention to the one who had thrown Rufio toward them. The group then fanned out and drew their weapons which Adam expected, he was a known terrorist after all. But what he didn't; expect was that some of them pointed their weapons at Rufio, as if they knew who he was. But stranger still was that he recognized most of the students. For most of them, it was as simple as having seen them on TV, one was someone he didn't know personally but he knew her family very well, and… one was someone who once stood by his side.
Adam looked at that last person in the eyes and said, "I've been looking for you, Blake."
"Adam? Is that really you?" Blake asked, feeling a strange mix of fear, surprise, apprehension, sadness, and anger over finding her old mentor here. "What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
Adam opened his mouth to answer but then decided against it. He and Blake were going to have a conversation but not here. There are too many people here, she might get away… But I know how to isolate her.
He then dramatically turned around while making sure that his coat whipped as he did so and began walking away. Behind him, he could hear Blake shouting after him and her teammates trying to calm her down, and that made him want to laugh. He wanted to laugh because he knew that they would fail, Blake would chase him down and that would spell her doom. Apart from Rufio, this has been a very good day. And then he stopped holding back his laughter.
"ADAM!" Blake broke away from her friends and began to chase him.
"Blake, wait up!" Yang shouted before following her partner.
"Don't follow him! That's what he wants!" Nora called after them but they ignored her so she turned to Jaune. "What should we do captain?"
Rufio smiled, "Captain? I thought you were just Tock's boy toy, but you're a captain as well?"
Jaune frowned, he wasn't sure what to do. Yang and Blake would need help against Adam, they couldn't ignore Rufio, they needed to get to the library to gather as many people as possible to help Penny, and they somehow needed to do all three at once. We're going to have to split the group up, but how? Do we sen-!
Ruby then cut in, "I'll head to the Library. I'm the fastest and my eyes will be the most helpful there."
"I'll go with you," Pyrrha said.
"Then I'll help Blake and Yang, I got personal business with Adam," Weiss said before running after her teammates.
"Ren, Nora go with her," Jaune suddenly said.
"Are you sure?" Asked Ren.
"No. But I do know that they'll need all the help they can get against someone like Adam."
Roy, who had been silent until then, confidently stepped forward until he was next to Jaune, "I guess this is my chance to pay you back for healing me."
And with that, everyone split off to confront their own enemies.
Rufio stood up and raised a hand toward his hoverboard which then flew into that hand. He then looked at his two opponents with disdain, "I don't like being underestimated."
"Who says we're underestimating you?" Roy asked as the buzzsaws contained in his gauntlets began to spin.
"You sent five people after Adam, and what do I get? I get a cripple who thinks of himself as a pirate and a guy so unremarkable that you feel like a background character… I am the leader of the Lost Boys, I deserve respect."
Jaune held out his sword and began to circle Rufio to try and cut off any escape route, "I thought Peter was the leader."
"He thought so too. But I was the respected one, I was the muscle, and I was the ideas guy. When Peter fucked off, I stepped in and kept the group afloat." These guys are trying to push me against the wall of the nearest building… Well, that sounded far dirtier than I intended.
"I don't care about your group dynamics, Rufio." Jaune said, "Surrender and you won't join the rest of your crew in Davy Jones's locker."
Rufio gave him a puzzled glance, "Join the rest of my group in Davy Jones's locker? I'm not sure what's worse, the news that my Lost Boys have kicked the bucket or how bizarrely committed you are to this pirate gimmick."
"You don't see that beat up about it," Roy observed.
"Because I'm not, I was getting bored with them anyway. Besides, those children did nothing but make a mess and bicker endlessly." These guys aren't giving me room to maneuver. It looks like I'll have to reveal one of my tricks to pull this off. But if it works, I'll be able to head towards Adam and pick off all those girls and nab myself a massive paycheck.
Jaune then said, "I'm going to ask you one last time, surrender."
"Alright!" Rufio lifted his hands into the air and held them, but he did not let go of his hoverboard.
"Drop the board."
"As you wish." Rufio dropped the board but it didn't drop. Instead, it suddenly accelerated towards Roy who barely had enough time to block the blow with his gauntlets but was knocked on his back in the process.
"You bastard!" Jaune charged forward to stab the man with his rapier but then the hoverboard flew at him forcing him to try to block the hit with his prosthetic arm. I don't understand, how is he controlling the board and why does it hit so hard?
The hoverboard then flew back to Rufio who jumped on it and began to make his getaway, "So long losers!" Now to make some cash.
"Not so fast!" Jaune threw his prosthetic arms forward and launched the hook towards Rufio intending to pull him off the board.
"Too slow!" Rufio jerked the board to the side and dodged the hook but instead of flying past him, it began to follow him. "What?! Is this your Semblance?" Is it like mine?
"As if I'd tell you!"
"Whatever, keep your secrets! You're too slow to sto-!" Suddenly a buzzsaw struck one side of his hoverboard and shook his balance while a second saw hit him from the opposite side and knocked him off. Fortunately for him, his Aura held.
"I'm here too!" Roy said as he charged forward and recalled his saws, "Watch out for that hoverboard, Jaune! I don't know how he is controlling it but I can tell that it has Gravity Dust inside of it, that's how it hits so hard!"
"How the fuck did you guess that!?" Rufio angrily asked as he dodged Jaune's hook and recalled his hoverboard to shield against Roy.
Roy's gauntlets struck the board with a heavy hammerstrike enhanced by his spinning blades but the board held. "Isn't it obvious? You're not the only one who uses it!" Why is this hoverboard so sturdy?
The bottom of the board emitted a purple light as the Gravity Dust within it activated, sending out a repulsive wave that pushed Roy back. But Rufio did not get the chance to celebrate this small victory as Jaune took advantage of this momentary distraction to jab the man in the back, sending him reeling.
Jaune then stepped in for another thrust but Rufio blocked it with his board and sent out another repulsive pulse. But Jaune was ready for that and threw out his hook as he got pushed back and nicked Rufio's shoulders as Roy's Buzzsaw blade struck the Lost Boy from behind.
"THAT'S IT!" Rufio was pissed now and worse he understood that holding back here would get him killed. "YOU BOTH DIE NOW!"
Jaune and Roy tried to stop Rufio but the Lost Boy was moving faster than he had before and leaped on his hoverboard and released the strongest repulsive wave yet. It was so powerful that it knocked both boys off of their feet and by the time they were able to get up, Rufio had finished his preparation.
The hoverboard was gone or rather it would be more accurate to say that it was no longer a hoverboard. The board had split into two parts, the larger longer part had become some sort of one-handed single-edged sword with a wide blade. Meanwhile, the smaller part rearranged itself into the shape of a small circular shield called a buckler. Both parts of the weapon glowed purple thanks to the Gravity Dust inside but it was a faint glow, that left push had exhausted the Dust.
And Rufio wasn't done just yet, "I got a couple of new toys that I wanted to test out on a real challenge. But you two assholes are just asking for it."
"Well… where is it?" Roy asked.
"It's coming and it's going to be super cool when it gets here."
Jaune stabbed his sword into the ground and pulled out his pistol before asking, "You didn't take it with you?"
"Yes, I did! I just left it on the ai-!"
BANG*
Rufio blocked Jaune's bullet with his shield, "Not cool, asshole!"
"I'm a pirate. You can't leave yourself open like that and not expect me to take the shot." Jaune reupholstered his pistol and grabbed his sword. I need to be faster.
"Fuck you."
"That's really ima-!"
A beam of light suddenly struck Jaune from behind as a pair of strange-looking Drones arrived at the scene. Both Drones were circular with fins and antennas sticking out at angles but one was equipped with a Hard Light Rifle hanging on the underside and the other had some kind of disk-shaped device also attached to the bottom.
Both Drones flew over to Rufio and hovered beside him like bodyguards, "Okay, now this is a fair fight!"
Blake didn't have to run far before she caught up to Adam and that didn't surprise her one bit, on the contrary, she expected it. She used to be his partner after all, she knew his favored tactics so she wasn't surprised when she found that Adam had led her into an alley with a dead end.
"Would it surprise you if I said that I didn't know this alley was here until after I found it?"
"If you knew about this place beforehand then I would be the one cornered right now." What am I doing?! I can't beat Adam, but I couldn't let him go without hearing some answers first.
Adam smiled, "Well, I'm glad to see that you were paying attention while working under me. But you weren't paying enough attention."He then drew his sword, pointed the empty sheath at her, and pulled the trigger for its built-in gun.
Blake deflected the bullets with her sword but didn't shoot back, he wanted her to shoot back and she knew it. Likewise, she made sure to keep her eyes open and focused on him, she had to if she wanted to survive. Adam was fast, he was perhaps the fastest sprinter she'd ever seen and his mastery over his Semblance boosted his speed making him even faster than Ruby over short distances.
Meanwhile, Adam moved in to close the distance before attempting a stab that Blake moved out of the way of. "Look at you! The Blake I knew wouldn't be so cowardly, is it the Schnee? Is she the one who defanged you? Is she the one who made you turn your back on our cause?"
Blake kept her distance but she did answer, "Weiss is on our side. I'm building bridges and pushing the cause forward for everyone's sake. You say I've changed for the worse but look at what you have done and what you're doing now!"
She pointed at the damaged buildings around them and at the smoke rising in the air. "Attacking Vale was bad enough but attacking an academy!? That helps no one, all you're doing is setting our cause back by decades!"
"That's the point Blake, that's why I agreed to this plan. I am setting Your cause back by decades and then I'll push it even further back." The way he said that sent shivers down Blake's spine in the worst way possible, and then he smiled. "The crashing of your doomed cause will signal the rise of mine. We are not equals to humans, we are better than them and the fall of Beacon is just the start."
She couldn't believe what he had just said… no, that wasn't right.
She didn't want to believe what he had just said but it made so much sense. His attitude towards rallies, coalition building, fundraising, canvassing, humanitarian aid, and plenty of other things that happened when Ghira was the leader. And under Sienna Adam kept getting into trouble and heated arguments over how much violence was acceptable and where the line was or if there was a line at all… Blake even recalled conversations she had with him, conversations where she'd bring up the abnormally high body count on his missions only for him to deflect and turn it against her.
It was so painfully obvious in hindsight, she just didn't want to see it. He conned her and so many others in the organization. This is why Sienna sent him to Vale and left him underequipped. She saw who he was but couldn't get rid of him because of how popular he was so instead promoted him out of the way and left him to rot.
These thoughts clouded Blake's mind and that was on purpose. Adam knew he couldn't catch her if she ran and she was being far too cautious for him to take by surprise. So instead he told her the plain truth and as he had hoped, it stunned her.
It was only for a moment but that moment was all he needed, already he had crossed the line between safe and deadly. Now the moment was over and Blake could see what he was doing but it didn't matter, there was no way for her to cleanly avoid this next attack. Right now she had to choose between trying to deflect which would fuel his Semblance or accepting a hit.
BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Three lead slugs flew through the air and came between Adam and his target. He only had a fraction of a second to react and instinctually raised his sword to guard his chest while stepping back. That turned out to be the right choice as the first and third shots were aimed at his chest while the second was aimed at where his legs were just a moment before.
"GET AWAY FROM HER CREEP!"
Adam studied the new arrival, it was a tall extremely fit human girl with long blond hair and about the same age as Blake. Judging by the gauntlets and clothes this person was some sort of martial artist, he also spotted the smoking gun barrels sticking out from the gauntlets. He had no idea how she used them but he was willing to bet that she knew how to perform a Recoil Dash.
But the thing about this girl that stuck out the most was how Blake was looking at her… she was happy and relieved to see her but there was something else there. Something that was pissing him off so he decided to weaponize it.
"So that's how it is." Adam kept his distance and they kept theirs. "I know we never saw eye to eye but I'd never imagine that you'd whore yourself out to a human. What would your parents say?"
"Shut up creep!" Yang shouted at him. "You're the whore, you whored your group out to complete monsters!"
Adam scoffed, "I've only ever stayed true to my beliefs. Meanwhile, you're trying to protect someone busy cowering behind you."
Yang opened her mouth to answer him but the moment she did he pointed his gun at the ground and fired. He had aimed at a piece of rubble on the floor and his bullet sent flying towards Yang's head… it didn't hit her but he didn't need it to hit her. What he wanted was a distraction and that is what he got when she swatted the rock away.
In a moment he crossed the distance and in the same moment he swung his sword at Yang's neck but Blake intercepted him with her blade. In the next moment, Yang comprehended what was happening and joined her partner in a flurry of fists and steel that pushed Adam back but he didn't mind. He ultimately came out ahead in that exchange even though it wasn't obvious.
"Damn it, we're in trouble," Blake muttered.
Yang raised a confused eyebrow, "How so?"
"His Semblance is like yours but instead of needing to be hit, he needs to block it. We are fueling his Semblance!"
"Shit… So he is playing with us." A drop of sweat went down Yang's face as she recalled every punch that she threw out that he blocked. Hold on a second, his clothes… the pattern is glowing? It must be laced with Dust that's reacting to his rising Aura, we really are making him stronger.
"You're free to run if you'd like," Adam smugly offered. "But understand that I will take the free potshot just like you did the same to me when you arrived."
"You're not taking any of this seriously, are you?" Yang asked.
"No. Why would I? You're just a couple of students, talented students but still just students. You're nothing compared to some of the Huntsmen I've killed."
Yang scoffed but Blake understood. She saw the sadistic gleam in Adam's eye and the way he was playing with them and she understood him better in that moment than she ever had before… He was a bully. He was an arrogant thug who picked on people he considered weaker than himself and unfortunately included themselves.
"He's right," Blake whispered to Yang. "We can't beat him and he's not going to let us run either."
"Then we fight dirty," Yang answered before activating her Semblance just long enough to slam her fist into the dirt.
The force of that punch made a crater in the ground and sent dust and debris flying into the air creating a smokescreen. Yang then ran up to the nearest wall and punched a hole through it before running back to Blake, grabbing her hand, and whispering something into her ears.
Meanwhile, Adam watched with amusement as used a bit of his Aura to enhance his hearing though he quickly regretted that. When Yang broke the wall it made a sound so loud that it caught him off guard and flinched for just a fraction of a second… Fortunately for him, the smokescreen that shielded Yang and Blake also kept them from noticing that window of vulnerability. These fools. All they're doing is prolonging their suffering.
When the smoke cleared Yang and Blake were gone and on the side of a nearby wall was a very conspicuous hole.
Adam looked at that hole and rolled his eyes, "Are you even trying?" He then walked up to the opening and peeked inside, it was just an empty classroom. "Huh?"
At that moment Yang and Blake appeared from behind and opened fire.
Adam spun around to defend himself after the first bullets had struck him. Despite his best efforts, his swords could not intercept the numerous projectiles coming from different angles. These bitches only pretended to go through the hole, they must have walked out of the alley and hid out of sight until my back was turned! These cowards are mocking me!
If Adam had been less prideful he might have complimented their quick thinking but instead, it pissed him off. It pissed him off so much that he stopped trying to defend himself and took a chuck of the Aura that his Semblance was stockpiling and launched it at the pair in a red murderous wave of energy… that crashed into a wall of ice that suddenly formed between him and them.
"You dolts!" A new voice suddenly said. "I'd expect this reckless behavior from Ruby, not you two!"
Weiss entered the scene with a frown, she didn't know what that red wave was or how often Adam could use it. But she did know that she did not like that psychotic smile on his face or how worried her teammates looked.
Emerald and Mercury were nervous but neither would admit it. Which was rather silly as it was a completely natural feeling to have given the circumstances. But it didn't feel that way to them and that was also a valid point of view to have even though, objectively speaking, the worst was already over. They had successfully cut off the fingers that kept them as Cinder's slaves, they had gotten aboard the Atlas Battleship Blue-2, and they had contacted Torchwick and Neo who had agreed to hear them out… all they had to do now was walk into the bridge and pitch their plan, the hard part was over.
But they still felt nervous and they were right to feel that way. They were at the point that would make or break everything and they had no plan. How could they have a plan when they had been winging every single step here? How are they going to convince Torchwick and Neo to betray Cinder without a solid idea of how they were going to do it and how they were supposed to get away with it?
"We're fucked," Emerald whispered to Mercury just in case Torchwick was listing in through some microphone they didn't notice.
"I know that!" Mercury whispered back, "Help me come up with something."
"How? We're almost there." She pointed to the large blast doors that separated and protected the bridge from the rest of the ship… though it didn't protect the old crew from the Lost Boys. "I can see Torchwick waving at us!"
"Then the least you can do is wave back so he doesn't get suspicious," Mercury said as he waved back at Torchwick.
Emerald returned the wave before turning back to her partner and whispering, "There, are you happy?"
"A little."
"You're so immature."
"I won't deny that."
What followed was a brief but welcome bit of silence between the pair though it did little to manage their nerves. Rather it was having the opposite effect, they were almost at the blast doors and they had no real plan. Torchwick and Neo were many things and plenty annoying in their own right but they were professionals at the end of the day. They would not be won over by some kind of emotional argument, they would demand a plan and had every right to do so.
Emerald then broke the silence, "It's moments like this that make me wish I could just run away like I used to."
"You used to run away a lot?" She doesn't often talk about her past, but neither do I. I guess that's something we'll have to change assuming we survive this.
"Yeah, yeah I did." She briefly hung her head in shame, "I spent most of my life lying, stealing, and running just to survive. That's how I met Cinder, she caught me using my Semblance to steal and then chased me down until she cornered me. I thought she was going to arrest me until she offered me a better life."
"Well, that was a lie."
"It sure was. Nothing changed, I was lying, stealing, and running even before I got my Semblance, and getting it just made it easier. Cinder didn't recruit me, she recruited my Semblance. I doubt that she even sees me." She only ever saw my Semblance.
"At least now you'll get to use your Semblance to stand up for yourself and make a difference instead of running away… wait a second! Running away?" Something was clicking together in Mercury's head.
"Are you alright?" Emerald asked, wondering why he suddenly seemed distracted.
"Running… away? That's it! By the brothers, it's so simple! It's so obvious and yet it feels unthinkable, that's why we hadn't considered it until now." What he was feeling right now was akin to the feeling of being stuck on a difficult math problem for what felt like hours and then realizing that you had been looking at it the wrong way… The problem hasn't been solved just yet, but the answer no longer feels out of reach.
"Mercury, what are you talking about?" They were now at the blast doors, just a few more steps and they would be on the bridge.
"I know what to tell them!" Mercury replied just a little too loudly out of excitement.
"And I'm all ears," Torchwick said. "Please, take a seat wherever you'd like."
The bridge was a mess thanks to the Lost Boys. Many chairs and several stations were damaged thanks to their attack, somewhere beyond repair. Even worse was that nobody had bothered to remove or even set aside the bodies of the crew who had made their final stand here. Frankly, it was a testament to Atlas tech that the ship was even still operable despite the loss of many computers and the crew.
It was all thanks to the ship's internal pseudo-AI system that made up for the gaps without the burdens or complexity of true AI. It was a system so capable that even a pair of thieves could operate this aircraft despite lacking the training to do so. Though it was also a system that failed to protect its crew from the Lost Boys… Speaking of the Lost Boys, one of them was there with Torchwick and Neo but he didn't seem to be paying attention to anything going on around him. All of his attention was on the game he was playing on one of the ship's computers.
"Um, why is this guy here?" Emerald asked as she walked into the room.
Torchwick waved off her question, "Oh don't mind him, he's cool. Now please sit down so we can begin."
"Thanks," Mercury said as he walked up to a chair occupied by a corpse and proceeded to kick that body off of the chair before sitting down.
Meanwhile, Emerald quietly made her way over to an empty chair as Neo carefully watched her and she carefully watched Neo back. At least I now know that she respects me as a fellow illusionist but I wish she'd stop staring… It's creepy how she can hide such bloodthirst behind a cute face.
Torchwick grabbed a chair and moved it to the center of the bridge facing the two former assistants of Cinder. "So what's your plan?"
"Run away," Mercury answered with a level of unearned confidence that nearly elicited a groan from Emerald.
"Oh wow! Why didn't I think of that?!" Torchwick rhetorically and sarcastically asked nobody in particular. "Oh wait… it's because it's a STUPID IDEA!"
"Is it though? Or is that what Cinder wanted you to believe?" Mercury smugly asked.
"And that's strike one," Torchwick said with a playful yet poisonous tone.
Emerald stepped in, "What means is that Cindner likes to control people by reducing the number of options that they have but as someone like you is well aware of, that's impossible. So she does the next best thing, she makes you think that you don't have a choice. She made me and Mercury believe that we didn't have any options apart from her and when we began to wise up… well, we already showed you our fingers."
Torchwick mulled over her words while casting glances at Neo looking for her input which she gladly gave in silent words only he could hear. After a few seconds, he responded, "Go on."
"I need you to think and I mean really think, has Cinder given or forced anything on you? Maybe it's something that you weren't aware of or didn't seem important at the time. Please think hard because your lives do depend on this."
Torchwick was surprisingly quick to answer. "I've dealt with her kind… or rather I've dealt with similar wannabe masterminds. I never accepted anything from her and Neo and I always made sure to check if anything was added, missing, or changed. The only leash she ever had around my neck was her personal power and the promise that if I ran I would then spend the rest of my short life running."
Mercury chuckled, "Well, I hope you're ready to spend the rest of your short life running because guess what!? You just fucked with the entire world and Cinder doesn't need you anymore."
Torchwick and Neo glared daggers at Mercury but didn't do anything more than that. Perhaps it was because they knew he was right or maybe it was because or maybe it was because they were planning something horrible for that little jab regardless of how correct it was. But whatever the reason, Mercury wasn't done talking.
"But that's also the good news. Cinder only cares about people she can use, she didn't hesitate to let Emerald and I know that… and the fact that she doesn't care gives us all a window of opportunity to fuck her over and get out."
A savage glint appeared in Neo's eyes and for a brief moment she glanced at one of the main monitors on the bridge, it was a map. Specifically, it was a map created by an executive array of sensors around the ship creating an all-encompassing view of everything around the ship for miles around. This map allowed the crew to keep track of everything within range of their weapons and even past that so they could keep track of potential future targets and threats.
There was a reason why Cinder's plan involved Torchwick being arrested by Atlas and that reason was on the screen. Blue-2 was Ironwood's ship, its weapons and sensors had the longest range and that range was forcing the other ships of the fleet to stay away from Beacon out of fear of being shot down… But if Blue-2 were to leave. Without the threat of being shot down the rest of the fleet could move in and with them would come supplies, supporting fire, and squads of soldiers and even a handful of specialists.
Something like that would certainly fuck over Cinder.
"That's a cute idea, kid," Torchwick said after he and Neo silently conferred with each other. "However there are just a couple of problems with it, two small details that I'm sure you've taken into account… How do Neo and I get out with our lives and how do we avoid spending the rest of our lives running?"
Mercury didn't have an answer, but Emerald did, "You have Neo and we have an ugly airship that doesn't belong to Atlas. You guys can take it, Neo can use her Semblance to disguise it, and then you can fly away without them being able to track you."
Mercury let the idea settle in their heads before adding, "Sure they'll still try to find you, but a pair of professionals like yourselves should have no problem avoiding them especially since the two of you will be pretty low on their list of priorities."
Torchwick nodded along agreeing with the logic so far and was already considering the best way to pull this off, "And what will you two be doing?"We could have the ship self-destruct but that would just piss Atlas off. Do we just leave it hanging here? That would buy us plenty of time but then they would see where we're going. It's the same thing if we try to take the ship.
"We're going back to Beacon," Mercury answered.
"That's stupid. It's basically suicide."
"I know, but Cinder can't be allowed to win."
"Why not? It's not like she'll care about you two or about me and Neo when this is over… unless," Torchwick examined their expressions as he said this, there was something else that they were worried about. Something that went beyond Cinder and to be honest he wasn't surprised. He had long suspected that Cinder wasn't working on her own or even on her own behalf.
"Okay… you don't have to tell me anything, I don't care."
Neo made a bored expression and shook her head to indicate that she didn't care as well.
"I don't care either, but I do have a suggestion." The lanky former Lost Boy said, speaking up for the first time since this conversation started.
"What is it?" Torchwick asked genuinely curious, even Neo was inching a little closer to hear what the man had to say.
"If you guys are going to do this then why don't you use that ship's autopilot?"
"And what would that do?" Mercury asked.
"It wouldn't do anything for you," answered the Former Lost Boy. "But it would give Roman and Neo the time they need to get out. You see, the other ships won't risk getting close to Blue-2, at least for now. So, just use the autopilot to send the ship in one direction. Then you just have to stay close by it until you're ready to split off."
"But what about you?" Emerald asked, noticing that the man didn't include himself with Torchwick and Neo.
He shrugged, "I'll stay here. I've always wanted to try working for Atlas, perhaps this is my best opportunity. If I can show them that I can pilot one of these things without help from a computer… maybe that will impress them."
Torchwick stood up and gave the man a handshake, "In that case, good luck." They're gonna fucking execute this idiot.
"Hold up, does that mean you're going to do it?" asked Mercury.
The thief chuckled as he walked over to his partner's side, "I'm gonna be honest with you kid, Neo and I had already decided to go along with your plan before you even told us what it was."
Emerald stood up, "Then why waste our time like this? What was up with that, strike one thing you said earlier?"
Torchwick chucked again and even Neo was making a noise that sounded like chuckling, "Because unlike you two, we like to know what we're getting into before we do it. If your plan was garbage, then we'd know and be able to come up with something to bail ourselves out while screwing you over."
Now Mercury was standing up, "Wait, wait, wait… are you serious? Cinder has been fucking you over ever since you first met her, she's been fucking us all over and you were going screw us over despite how we came here to help you?!"
"Nothing personal kid, that's just how it is in this business."
"Bullshit!" Emerald exclaimed, "I was a thief too, you're just an asshole!"
Torchwick then pointed at her, "And that's why Neo and I are the master thieves and you two were the side bitches of an even bigger bitch but we forgive you." And with that, he and Neo strove out of the room to prepare their escape while Mercury and Emerald stood there seething but unable to say anything back.
Or maybe they did say something, Torchwick wasn't listening anymore but he was certain that it wasn't important.
Author's Notes: There's not much to say this time around. Though I will say that there was a part that I was stuck on for several days, but then the answer literally came to me in a dream. I woke up repeated the revelation out loud just to make sure that it made sense and spent an hour or so planning before I went back to sleep.
P.S.
I probably don't have to explain this but Amelia knew who Rufio was because she talked to her mother.