I was at my sister's birthday party yesterday (her 40th) and her dog was super excited to have so many people around. Today, I got a text saying it'd been making unhappy sounds and she took it to the vet, and apparently its badly sprained its tail from all the wagging, lol. Cute but in a sad way. It's weird, like "awww but aww no, but awww..."


Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 73


Blake returned from her date with Sun and stepped into her apartment building, walked to the elevator and took it up to her floor. Against all odds, the date had been a pleasant one. Sun hadn't been pushy despite how overly confident he acted, and he'd been really quite nice. He had the look of some muscle-headed jock but he'd been funny, polite and flirtatious, all without coming across a creep. It had been, by all definitions, a good date.

Why, then, did she feel so fatigued? He wouldn't have been her type before, but her "type" had given her Adam, so it could jump out a window for all she cared. Someone that was Adam's exact opposite ought to have been a top pick, and Sun was the anti-Adam in every way that mattered. Better yet, he was a huntsman-in-training picked to represent Haven in the upcoming tournament, meaning he was not only capable of looking after himself but also hopefully wouldn't be one of the first to die against the Grimm.

He'd also make good money, but it wasn't like finances were a concern for her anymore. Her bank balance was still growing faster than she could spend it, and that was having increased her massage appointments to once a week. Though they might as well be called gossip sessions for how the women were there. Shaking her head but amused at the thought of how they'd act when they heard about her date with Sun, Blake stepped up to the Containments Office and turned the doorknob, creaked the wooden door open and stepped inside.

Jaune had guests.

"Hello Blake." Jaune smiled at her from over his desk, ignoring the man who had a hand planted threateningly down on the woodwork next to him. "How was the date?"

"It was good..."

He frowned. "I'm sensing a but."

"But," she agreed, "I don't know." Blake released a hefty sigh. "He was great and everything was wonderful, but I was just so paranoid through the whole thing – and not even about him. Was that waiter acting funny? What if there's something up with the kitchen? The fork wasn't the same style as the knife. Coincidence or something deeper?" Blake slumped into her sofa, brushing past a green-haired girl who had Amber in front of her. "I hate the whole `it's not you, it's me` thing, but I think it really is here. I was a paranoid mess."

"I'm told that's normal," said Amber, the young girl in her fancy suit speaking over the arm a woman had around her neck. The girl didn't appear to be too worried about the gun planted against her temple. "A lot of my sisters have had trouble relaxing around other people, especially when there are secrets to be kept. That's why Saphron was considered to be lucky when she fell for someone who already worked for the company."

Blake hummed. "I guess so." It was annoying to know work had taken over so much of her life, but she couldn't deny it. She'd barely been able to focus on Sun for how stressed she was about everything else. "Sorry," she said, noticing the irritated expressions of the two people in the room. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes, actually!" snapped the silver-haired man. Or boy. Blake placed him at seventeen. He had pale skin and dark eyes, and he was staring between her and Jaune. "I don't think you realise the situation you've walked into here."

The green-haired girl who had a gun to Amber's head stepped back toward the door, keeping both Blake and Jaune in front of her lest either of them make a move. Not that Jaune had or would. He looked perfectly relaxed behind his desk. Then again, Amber looked fairly bored as well.

"Oh, I do." Blake yawned and kicked her feet up on the table. "So, what is this about? World's unluckiest robbery? Honestly, you two have picked the worst place to rob if that's the case. First of all, we don't keep any money here, and secondly the things we do keep here are objects you really don't want."

"We know what you are," said the one with the silver hair. "ARC Corp. Collectors of rare and unusual objects." The way he said it suggested he knew what they did but didn't quite believe it. "We've been sent to relieve you of your burden."

Jaune smiled. "Oh? Really?"

"That's right. All you need to do is give us the anomalies and we'll take care of them all for you."

"Well, that's awfully generous of you. Isn't that generous, Blake?"

"Very," she said, smiling for the first time that afternoon. "Shall I hand them our finest?"

"Oh, absolutely. It's what they want after all."

Blake brought two fingers to her lips and blew out a sharp whistle. "Timothy!" she called.

There was a crash from outside in the hallway as her apartment door proved no match for the monster within. The clickety-clack of numerous feet echoed in the hallway and the green-haired girl leapt away, dragging Amber with her, as a dark shape appeared and lunged into the office.

Amber screamed, as did their two intruders, and then Timothy as well, because the cutie didn't want to be left out if everyone else was. It reared up on its hind four legs, bending its body and offering two long, stick-like legs to the silver-haired man, who backed up into Jaune's desk in abject terror.

"Timothy," ordered Blake. "Hug."

"Skreeeeeeeeeee!"

The spider darted forward with incredible acceleration and leapt to hug the frightened teenager, who screamed like a little girl and went down under the giant spider. It was a new trick she'd taught Timothy out of boredom, and mostly because even if she was afraid of dogs, she'd always wanted a pet. The six-foot spider might have been atypical, but he was a good cuddler. Though the teenage criminal he was currently cuddling, and wrapping up in silken webbing, didn't seem to agree and kept screaming shrilly.

"Emerald!" he screamed. "HELP ME!"

The newly named Emerald flinched as all eyes turned to her, and yanked Amber closer to her chest, pressing the gun so hard into her temple that the bullet would be an injection. "I—I'll kill her!" she shouted. "I'll shoot!"

"Oh no," said Amber, lazily rolling her eyes. "If only I had aura or something."

Emerald swore and locked eyes with Blake. Suddenly, Amber began to weep and cry, begging her not to make a move and saying her aura was running low. It might have worked on the Blake Belladonna of a year or so ago, but her time with ARC Corp had made her unreasonably paranoid.

"Hey Jaune, is Amber crying and sobbing or is that just me?"

"It's just you," he remarked. "An illusionary Semblance? That's kind of cool."

"It kind of is," she agreed, still relaxing with her feet up on the table. "Hey, can you make it so I'm being waited on by hundreds of attractive ninjas? Is that a thing you can do? Because I bet people would pay so much money to have you fulfil their fantasies for them. It'd beat trying to rob places like this."

"Shut up!"

The illusion cracked and Amber was back to being bored, though she did keep eyeing Timothy as the spider wrapped up the other boy's face and head. His screaming was muffled but still somewhat audible.

"S—Shut up!" the girl repeated, even though no one had spoken. "I—I can't leave empty-handed. I won't." Her eyes slid to the nearby shelf where a few anomalies lay. "I..."

"I wouldn't if I were you," said Jaune. "Half of them will screw you over, kill you, or erase your entire existence in one way or another. Then again, that would solve this whole silly stand-off problem we have. Honestly, I'd suggest you just leave. No one's even trying to stop you."

Emerald eyed her fallen and wrapped-up friend.

"You're welcome to take him with you."

Blake snorted. "If you want to wrestle him off Timothy, that is."

"Skreeeeeee!"

"Ah... C-Cin..." The girl swore and thrust Amber away, sending the younger girl tripping over Blake's legs and onto the couch. "Fuck this! You'll be sorry!" With those final words, the girl fled, bursting out the door and away as the guy on the floor wailed in fury.

No one bothered to chase her.

There really wasn't much point.

"So," said Blake, eyes on Jaune as Timothy began to drag the intruder back to his web in Jaune's closet. "Looks like you've had as interesting a day as me, huh?"

"Looks like it. You should give your date another chance, though. Romance doesn't come around often and it sounds like you didn't dislike him."

"I know. I've offered him a second date. I'm just not sure I can turn off from work, and it'd be unfair to lead him on if that's the case." Blake sighed. "And I guess we need to explain to your sister about Timothy now as well."

"That would be appreciated!" growled the girl. "And you named it!?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Why did you give something so horrifying such an innocent name!?"

"Horrifying?" Blake eyed the girl like she'd lost her mind. "What are you on about? He's the cutest little thing."

"HE'S BIGGER THAN YOU ARE!"

"Still cute, though."

/-/

Cinder was not unused to being disappointed by those beneath her, and yet to be told that they had lost Mercury was unwelcome news. She would have punished Emerald for coming back alone and unsuccessful but for the fact that the girl was a babbling, inconsolable mess crying on Cinder's dress, and generally making a fool of herself.

Whatever she had seen had truly bothered her.

"—eaten him alive. It'll have reduced Mercury's organs to a juicy syrup to suck out by now," she sobbed. "And I left him! I hated him, but I didn't want him to be eaten alive by some huge spider! Wahhhh!"

Consoling the crying was not Cinder's forte, so she simply petted the girl's head and left her to sob. Emerald was ultimately still useful thanks to her Semblance and its ability to fool key people. Tools like her were important, and the more she had at her disposal the better.

Which was why when Salem had informed her of ARC Corp and the man who ran the office here, she had been alight with greed. Objects of near-magical power that could warp reality and change the way the world worked? Creatures that were almost unstoppable, items that could render you perfectly invisible, and so much more, all housed within the run-down apartment the company's least-favourite child used as his office.

How could she possibly ignore such a treasure trove of powerful artefacts? Salem had warned her against it of course, and Cinder did not doubt there were some there that would prove too dangerous for her to utilise, but there would also be those that she could. Objects and items that could grant her so much power that she could walk into Beacon unmolested, kill Ozpin, take the maiden's power and walk out again.

Power, perhaps, that would even let her stand on an equal footing with Salem herself. To ask her to just pretend she didn't know of such things now was ridiculous. All that power, just to be contained away. She could not allow it; she simply could not. Items like that deserved to be used, and she would use them.

It should have been trivial for Mercury and Emerald to threaten the man into submission. He didn't even have aura! Obviously, she had miscalculated. It made sense that a man who held so many powerful objects would have employed some for his own defence. He was probably using several to bolster his own influence. Why else would he strike against his family and horde the anomalies instead of destroy them? He clearly wanted them for himself.

If threats would not sway him then she might need to resort to other measures.

"Roman."

The man shifted uncomfortably. Cinder secretly enjoyed the effect she had on him, and often indulged in just fixing him with an unreadable look to watch his reaction. His little minion, on the other hand, was far more confusing. Sometimes the girl called Neo would smile at, or past her, in a way that suggested this was all some cosmic joke.

"Cinder," he said. "Uh..." His eyes fell to Emerald, still sobbing. "Dare I ask?"

"Mercury has been lost."

"Ah. That's... I'm sorry for your loss?"

He didn't care, and she didn't really either, so his lack of sympathy was hardly an issue for her. Still, Emerald was beside herself so she played along. "Thank you for your kind words. Regardless, I would like to employ you to break into the place where Mercury died and steal a few objects for me. I am prepared to pay your usual rate. Perhaps to even give a bonus if you can burn Mercury's body and remove any evidence."

"And where exactly is this?"

"It's nowhere too protected. A quiet office in a block of flats belonging to a company that calls itse;f ARC Corp—"

The reaction was immediate.

Fear.

"No! Nonononono. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening. No chance, no way, no how, no Roman." He wildly shook his head, and his arms as well.

Cinder sighed. "I can pay double—"

"You can pay a hundred times and I won't do it."

"I'd caution you to think twice about who you are denying here, Roman..."

"And I'd caution you to think three times about who you're bothering here, Cinder." It was the first time he'd ever talked back to her. "ARC Corp is not a group you want to get involved in, and especially not that kid and his feline helper. They're insane, and his family are even more insane! One of them backhanded a Bullhead. The other fired a freaking star at a cargo container. They're insane! If I cross them, they'll tear Vale apart to find me!"

"The spider—" wept Emerald.

"Ugh. And that." Roman shuddered. "That pet of theirs is evil. I don't want anything to do with the weird-ass things they deal with on a daily basis. I am quite happy existing in a world where things make sense, and the people around me are perfectly normal human beings."

Neo giggled silently.

Cinder frowned. This was unwelcome news. She could threaten him, but she had the feeling he'd rather deal with whatever punishments she lumped on him than upset these people, and he ultimately knew that she needed him alive to keep procuring dust for her. Threats only worked if the one you were threatening believed you would follow through. Roman knew she couldn't kill him.

Yet.

How very bothersome, but maybe she ought to deal with this herself. It was the only way to ensure a proper job was done, and this Jaune Arc and his cat had taken away one of hers. They owed her a helper, and she might force them into giving one of their own.

"Very well, Roman. If you are not up to the task then I suppose I shall have to deal with this myself."

"Really? Huh. Well, it was nice knowing you."

Cinder paused. "Do you doubt me, Roman?"

"I don't doubt you'll go. I just doubt you'll walk out alive – or yourself. But hey, you do you. Surprise me. You've got this." He made finger-guns toward her. "Go Cinder. Fight the good fight."

It was no secret he wanted her dead, if only so he could be free of her influence, so she wasn't surprised by his attitude. What did surprise her was the confidence he had in these people to best her. One of them didn't even have aura, and the other – by all accounts – was a former White Fang terrorist who might be skilled, but certainly wasn't at the level of a huntress.

They were beneath her.

/-/

"So, what are we going to do with him?"

Blake nodded to the wrapped-up teen, who Amber had been poking in the cheek for the past few minutes to make sure he was still alive. Some webbing had been cleared away around his mouth and nose so he could breathe, though they'd gone and gagged him to make sure he wouldn't scream. Timothy wasn't unhappy to have his prey taken away seeing as how he didn't even eat people. He was munching on dead and dried crickets out of a cat bowl in the kitchen.

"I don't know," Jaune admitted. "I don't really want to just hand him over to the authorities when he could start talking about Timothy, and they'd want to check the office and treat it as a crime scene. That's a disaster waiting to happen if one rookie doesn't get the memo and touches an anomaly."

"This is why it's better if all anomalies are destroyed," said Amber. "Less risk that way."

"If you attempt to destroy Timothy then I will kill you," warned Blake.

"I'm only saying why they should be," the girl grumbled. "Can't we just kill this guy?"

The guy – his ID suggested he was called Mercury – could obviously hear just fine because he started wriggling and thrashing in his web cocoon. It didn't do much other than send him rolling across the floor until he bumped into Jaune's desk.

"We're not killing someone in cold blood, Amber." Jaune's words calmed Mercury down. "Honestly, I figure we'll just wait until that girl comes back to collect him. I'm sure they'll have learned a valuable lesson about not messing with the wrong people."

"You think?"

"No," he admitted. "But I think if they do come back and try to steal anything, that the thing they steal will probably end up killing them anyway."

Jaune may have been putting it on a bit since Mercury was listening in. A lot of the anomalies he had out on display were obviously harmless. The dangerous ones were kept locked away in various safes and containers. If Mercury was going to take what he heard back to his friend however, then it was best he take horror stories.

A knock came at the glass of their door before they could continue.

"Just a moment!" shouted Blake, quickly gesturing for Amber to drag the wrapped-up man out of sight. "We're just cleaning something up—"

The window smashed as a fist came through, shattering the glass and startling Blake. It bent down, unlatched the door and then pushed it open. The woman that stepped in was tall and undeniably beautiful, with long black hair and eyes startlingly similar to her own. That was where the comparisons ended. The woman had a fuller body that she showed off in a tight red dress, and her eyes were cruel and calculating.

Behind and to the side of her walked the green-haired girl from before.

"We would have opened the door in a few minutes," Jaune complained. "Do you know how much hassle it's going to be to have that repaired? Oh, it's you again. Have you come back to collect your idiot?"

The woman's eyes narrowed but Emerald gasped before she could speak.

"Mercury!"

"Mphhhhh!"

The girl dashed forward and skidded to where his body was, digging her fingers into the webbing and revealing his face. Mercury was bright red, his eyes narrowed and his brows drawn down. "You're alive!" cried Emerald, almost in tears. She yanked his gag down.

"YOU LEFT ME!"

"Erk." Emerald flinched. "I... uh..."

"You. Left. Me. To. Die!"

"B—But you're alive—"

"You abandoned me to be eaten by a fucking six-foot spider, you-mphlrbblrlll!"

Emerald replaced the gag and tied it into place, flushed bright pink. Mercury kicked and spat and glared bloody murder at her, but the new woman simply released a long breath and said, "Thank you, Emerald. I am, after all, trying to speak."

Emerald winced. "Sorry."

"So, you are Jaune Arc. And that would make this Blake Belladonna and Amber Arc, I do believe." The woman eyed them one by one, appearing smug in her information.

None of them were overly moved.

Their names weren't exactly a secret.

"That's us," said Jaune. "And I do believe this idiot is yours. Do take him away with you when you leave. We lack the room to store him here."

The woman walked past Blake and Mercury both, to stand in front of Jaune's desk. She was taller than him when he was sat down, but that didn't seem to frighten him any. Then again, he'd been in this job longer than she had. If Blake was already mentally messed up by working for ARC Corp then she couldn't imagine what Jaune considered worthy of fear.

"I do believe you misunderstand the reason I am here. My name is Cinder, and I am—"

"Oh, you're Salem's girl." Jaune snapped his fingers, robbing the woman of some of her posture. "I remember you. Oh geez, don't tell me she was serious about that dating thing. I'm really not interested, no offence. It's not you, it's me."

Blake snorted at the repeat of her own words from earlier.

"I am not interested in dating!" snarled Cinder, snatching a hand out to grasp Jaune's chin and cheek. Blake stiffened and took a step forward, hand on Gambol Shroud. "I am here to tell you that I shall be relieving you of these anomalies you have been keeping under careful watch. But worry not, I won't be revealing or sharing them with the world. They shall be put towards a greater use."

"Hmmm." Jaune didn't flinch. "I'm going to have to say no."

"It is not a matter you have a choice in. I am taking what I want." There was a flicker about her fingers, and wisps of fire began to coil around Jaune's cheeks. "Otherwise, I might mar this pretty face of yours."

Amber giggled.

Cinder's head snapped back. "Is something funny?"

"You're threatening him with fire," giggled the girl, pointing. "And burning him. That's pretty funny."

"It's tasteless," said Blake, arms crossed. "Almost as tasteless as you laughing about it."

"Girls. Girls." Jaune sighed, as he had been ever since Amber arrived. "You really need to stop bickering. We're on the same side here. And Cinder, thank you, but I have enough of those already." He took Cinder's hand and peeled it off his face, utterly uncaring of how she intensified the flames to burn away at his hand and arm.

Jaune probably couldn't feel it, as deadened as his nerves were.

"If you tried this at any office other than mine then my sisters would have probably killed you already. Except Coral, if she was still alive. She'd probably have given you a few anomalies, but only so she could watch them destroy you and take notes. You'd have been a really convenient test subject in her eyes." Jaune's smile was nothing short of friendly. "But I always try to be a little more relaxed than my sisters, so I'm happy to let you go if—"

Cinder dragged him in by the hand he was holding, then somehow created a sharp black spike that she punctured through his right shoulder. The fabric of his suit jacket and shirt didn't provide any protection, and he didn't have aura either, so the spike pierced right into his shoulder and out the back.

It didn't spray blood, however.

Instead, ash and flecks of bright orange light, sparkling embers, puffed out from the back of Jaune's shoulder and into the air, along with some billowing black smoke that was expelled in a small cloud. Jaune grunted, but more from surprise as he was forced to take a step back to steady himself.

The spike within his shoulder, which appeared to be made of glass, began to melt and run down his suit like sparkling water, reflecting the light as it sizzled and set further down his suit, turning to glass teardrops over the fabric.

"Aaand that's a new suit," he said.

Blake had her gun out and pointed at Cinder's back. "At least our tailor will be happy. We're pretty much personally keeping him in business at this point."

Cinder stared at the wound she'd made, now exposed since the glass had melted away. Instead of flesh and blood, hot orange lava leaked out of the hole, causing Jaune's clothing to burst into flames. He sighed and yanked off his jacket, then his shirt as well. His gloves remained, but he stood topless, with his right arm blackened, cracked and burning with magma all the way up his shoulder and nearing his neck.

It had even creeped across his right chest almost to his nipple, and Blake wondered if the internal changes were nearing his lung, and what terrible things it would do when it reached it. Or, like so many other anomalies, would he continue to function when all his organs had turned to lava? Would it even matter? He already defied science by existing as he was.

"What—?" hissed Cinder, taking a step back. "What are you?"

"That's rude. I'm a human—"

"Less than human," interrupted Amber, earning a scowl from Blake. "But, really, can't we do away with this whole farce already? Jaune, she wants to intrude on ARC Corp's mission. Let's just kill them already and be done with it."

With a flash, Cinder had a blade in each hand.

"The Containments Office does not kill when it can be avoided."

Emerald was already dragging Mercury toward the door.

"Ugh. You're just going to make things worse," said Amber. "I'm telling dad."

"Can we spare the family spat?" asked Blake.

"Take your friend and go." Jaune waved his human hand toward Cinder. "And take this as a warning. You're meddling in things you don't understand, and Salem would not be happy to learn of it. Go back to whatever it is you're doing. Killing Ozpin and plotting the downfall of Beacon or something, wasn't it?" His words made Cinder flinch, and Blake groaned, certain that would end any chance of this being forgotten. "It's cool. We're not involved in your war. Just go do your thing and let us do ours. There's no reason we need to be enemies."

Cinder's lips peeled back. "This won't be the last you see of me."

"I mean, you do you," said Jaune, sounding tired. "But you will die. Just throwing that out there. I'm sparing you here because I don't want to have to kill anyone today, but in the hypothetical world where you did kill all three of us, the entirety of ARC Corp would come down on your head – and they know about Salem. Hell, we know her personally. We could literally write her a letter and ask her to murder you for us, and she'd probably do it."

Cinder backed toward the door. "This isn't over."

Jaune simply shrugged.

The woman backed out the door and away, shielding Emerald and Mercury until the door was slammed shut, causing a few loose shards of glass to tinkle out and shatter on the floor. Their footsteps raced away, and Blake lowered her weapon, sighing more out of exhaustion than relief.

"What a day..."

"Big brother, put a shirt on," said Amber. "No one wants to look at your ugly scars." Her eyes slid to Blake. "Except her, maybe, but I don't even see how the sex would work unless you're a huge masochist."

"I wish that girl had executed you," snarled Blake.

"I wish you'd died in the Twilight City."

Blake and Amber's foreheads pressed together, lips peeled back as they snarled like wild animals.

Jaune held a hand out to stop them, then sighed, shook his head and made for his bedroom to grab a shirt.

/-/

"I won't let it stand!" hissed Cinder, furious, shaking, but also deeply humiliated. The worst part was that Roman had been right, and that was something she couldn't stand for. She could already imagine the smug look on his face. "Contact Adam," she snapped at Emerald. "Tell him everything we know of ARC Corp, and particularly the fact that his runaway protégé works there. I'm sure he'll be interested in evening the score with her!"

"What if—" Emerald quailed under Cinder's furious expression. "I'll get right on it!"

"Mmphhlmblll!"

"And ungag Mercury!"

Emerald hesitated. "Maybe we could leave him gagged a little longer?"

Cinder glared.

"O—Okay." Emerald pulled the cloth away.

"YOU LEFT ME, YOU BITCH!"

"I came back...?"

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"


Next Chapter: 16th October

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