Chapter 13
It took a few beers for Arthur to come to terms with Sean's new eye. Granted, it was a far better outcome than what he had taken to be fact, but that cold and emotionless prosthetic really ran counter to cheerful, happy young Irishman that he'd rescued from Blackwater. John also seemed uneasy around their reunited friend, though it didn't seem to be because of his new eye. The way Marston shifted whenever Sean adjusted himself in his seat made it look like he was ready to react at any moment. It felt less like a meeting between lost friends and more like two wolves and a bear meeting in the woods.
"I gotta say English, you've caused quite a stir here in dust town. Half the city seems to want to shake yer hand, while the other half would cut it off." Sean jeered, either ignorant of or ignoring the tense atmosphere between himself and John. Abigail busied herself with trying to get something appropriate for Jack to drink, as well as making sure the little scamp took his medicine. That was another thing Arthur felt bad about; he'd abandoned them, and the most innocent among the gang had caught TB anyway.
"It wasn't really intentional. I just fell in with the first group of people I felt wouldn't stab me in the back. Turns out they aren't the most popular around here." Arthur's eyes roamed the bar as he said it, and he was somewhat relieved to see a few Faunus patrons about. It didn't mean they would help in a pinch, but the chances of Winchester's boys frequenting an establishment that served Faunus were low indeed. One less problem they needed in this mess.
"Aye, I heard about your Faunus pals. The White Fang; such a noble group of beasties." Sean noticed Arthur bristle at the term, and he held up a hand to defuse the outlaw's anger. "I got nothing against them. Just strange is all, the way the good Lord made 'em." Arthur nodded, but he still had to swallow a retort to keep things civil. Had he been dumped into Vacuo without a lien to his name like Sean had, he probably would have been a little more leery of the locals himself. But he'd made good friends in the White Fang, and Sean's casual remark had irked him more than it should have.
"They're good people, Sean. Just got dealt a bad hand, is all." Arthur defended, then sipped more of his beer. Vacuo's brew was definitely different from America. It had a little more kick to it, but also a smoother taste. Probably helped that technology was a little further ahead.
"Yeah, I've seen how they're treated. Just goes to show that people are more comfortable when someone's getting shit on." Sean dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand. "Now, I know I've got questions, and you probably have quite a few of your own. What do you say we clear the air and focus on what's next, eh?" It felt like just another scheme, one more job in a long line of jobs they had pulled in the past. Still, the trepidation that Arthur had felt upon entering the bar came back in full force. Should he tell Sean about Summer, or remain silent on the matter? Did his old friend deserve to be deceived in such a manner. I'll have to make that call as we go. Arthur grumbled to himself, caught between loyalty to Sean and the promise he had made to Summer. He motioned with his hand toward Sean's new eye, and he could have sworn it glowed in response.
"Why don't you start with why you ain't lying in a hole near Rhodes." Arthur said as he took another sip. "That's what I'm stumbling over right now, anyway." And hopefully, in answering that Sean would reveal why he was so interested in Summer. The Irishman smirked, though the humor didn't reach his eye.
"Not really much of a tale. I was walking with the three of you, ready for this security job, then the next thing I know everything goes black. When I wake up, I'm face down in the street just outside of Vale, with nothing but the clothes on my back and a letter in my jacket. I open the letter, and it says, 'You're life has been spared and you owe us a debt. Work to repay it, and you can keep the eye'. I didn't know what the fuck they were on about until I saw my reflection in a window. It was a right spook, no lie." He tapped the metal prosthetic in emphasis, and the dull clink of metal made Arthur's gut churn. Just from the pitch, he knew that the steel went deep into Sean's head. What kind of person could do that, merge metal and flesh in such a way?
"I can only imagine." Arthur said, if only because he felt that he had to say something. "I've seen some crazy shit, but nothing like that. Any idea who put you back together?" Sean shrugged in response, taking another pull on his beer as he did so. His human eye crinkled as he sighed happily, but his mechanical one burned all the same. It was difficult to look at.
"The letter just said that he was a doctor, but recently I've been thinking there's more to it. I'm too dirty to talk to everyone, but most of the doctors I've spoken to said that prosthesis alone couldn't fix a bullet through the brain. Someone put me back together before the doctor ever got to me. So right now, I've been making as much money as I can to pay off whoever the bloke was that decided not to leave me rotting in a hole." At Arthur's wince, Sean waved a hand in front of him. "No offense to present company, of course." So he didn't know how he'd gotten to Remnant at all? And on top of that, Sean had arrived in Vale, whereas the ruins that Arthur and the Marstons had used were in the desert of Vacuo. That meant two things: he had no idea about Summer, and there was more than one way to get between America and Remnant. Sean was trustworthy, but could he be burdened by the knowledge of a woman as wanted as she? Arthur still had not made any kind of contact with the people after her, her own family excluded, and Sean's mysterious benefactors seemed the wrong kind of shady. Then again, he could just be paranoid. The only thing that Arthur knew was that he did not know. And right now, keeping his cards hidden was doing more harm than good.
"Well, I assume that Abigail and John told you about the gang going tits up?" Arthur began. Sean nodded, his usual cheer fading as he recalled the fates of their friends. So many of them gone, and suddenly at that. "I was on my way out too, came down with a nasty case of TB. I went out for the last time, ran into a woman. Saved her some trouble with some Murfrees, and in return she sent me to Vacuo for treatment. Don't ask me how, either. One minute I'm eating dinner, the next thing I know, my horse is dragging me through the desert." Arthur then proceeded to tell the rest of the tale, exempting as much personal information about Summer as he could. That way, if his suspicions were correct, Sean wouldn't be an accessory to the powers that worked against him. If he was just being paranoid, then he could always introduce Sean to the woman later.
The Irishman nodded along with his story, snorting at the tale about the Sea Feilong and the White Fang. When Arthur wrapped up with how he had more or less presided over the White Fang's change in leadership, Sean let out a low whistle.
"Ya don't do things by half measures, do ya Arthur? I can imagine the store fight or maybe the Grimm in the ocean, but bloody all of it? I don't know if you're lucky or damned by the devil himself!" Sean punctuated his declaration with a bark of laughter as he slapped his mug down on the bar. The barkeep sent an irritated glance his way, but it went ignored by both outlaws. Arthur laughed a little as well, and they clinked their beers together in salute. Maybe it had been a little crazy when he'd first come to Remnant, but until now he'd considered his actions par for the course.
The two discussed a few more peculiarities about Remnant, and Arthur asked a little more about Sean's eye as well. Apparently, the thing never turned off, so it made sleeping difficult for the Irishman. He literally slept with one eye open now. On top of that, it apparently told him things, capable of marking people and magnifying to get a better look at things. Were it not for the hole in the head it took to get it, Arthur would have been envious of his friend's new abilities. As they talked, Tapster's became a bit more crowded as people came in from working night shift to drink their troubles away. Abby and Jack had made it back to the table by now, and were trading stories themselves to consolidate their little table. As the newcomers came in, the barkeep became more lively as well. Welcoming frequent customers and new faces alike, he started sliding and handing out drinks at a decent pace.
"Did you hear about Commissioner Redfield? I hear he got credit for catching a bunch of gangsters a few weeks back?" One of the newcomers gossiped. Arthur heard a snort come from the other side of the table in question.
"Yeah, right. More like he cleaned up after the White Fang. They were the ones throwing down with the alley dwellers." The dull thunk of a tankard hitting the table indicated the arrival of a third person to the table. Arthur leaned back from Abigail's tale about meeting a kid with green hair of all things to get a better look at the new arrival. Unlike his fellows, this man was a tad bit larger, and dark as a moonless night. His bald head was covered in scars, and his rough jacket and bandaged hands painted him as the bruiser type. At the mention of the White Fang, he scowled heavily.
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Them White Fang animals weren't doing it for no greater good. They was in it fer themselves." He groused, sipping from his frothy tankard and slamming it back down. His words raised Arthur's hackles a little, but he forced himself to go back to listening to Abigail. It wasn't his business what some knuckle dragging thug thought, and Sienna would scold him for getting involved in affairs as petty as gossip. He went back to drinking his beer, half wishing that it were liquor instead. Whiskey always drowned out the stupid.
"What's got your panties in a twist, Steve? Good is good, far as I'm concerned." The first speaker replied, and Arthur almost rolled his eyes at the interjection. Oh boy, I bet we're gonna get some civil discourse here. Arthur tried to ignore the conversation and get back to his own. Sean looked up to see that he was distracted, and his natural eye narrowed in suspicion. Arthur nodded his head toward the table behind him, and Sean began listening in as well.
"I watched them damn Faunus run off with perfectly good lumber, and I bet you my girl's garters that they didn't pay one dirty lien for it. What's what, I heard they had they selves a human to make the deal. Cowards were too scared to steal it they selves." The scarred man snarled, and Arthur very quickly came to the conclusion that he did not like Steve. Steve was a bigoted and ignorant prick. Some of his disgust must have spread to his face, as Abigail had stopped talking when he looked back, John and Sean were both giving him reproachful looks. Now it was his turn to defend himself.
"What?" Arthur demanded, though not too roughly. John just ran a hand over his face while Sean turned and explained to Abigail.
"You see my dear, that is Arthur's violent face. It's the one he wears when he's about to introduce some poor bleeder to his ancestors." Sean turned and looked at Arthur. "The exact face he doesn't need tae be making when we're trying to avoid a local crime lord." Sean made enough emphasis on it for Arthur to lean back and held his hands out to his side, clearly the victim in this completely uncalled for accusation.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Why does it matter to me what some dumbass thinks? I ain't gonna cause no trouble." Arthur tried to sound sincere in his words, but even little Jack raised an eyebrow. Who even taught him how to do that?
"Look, I know you were in tight with them White Fang folk, but you gotta put that down and think about your friends for a second." John admonished gently, and Arthur turned his incredulous look to him next. Were they really all thinking that he was gonna start some early morning bar fight over some sour words toward Sienna's people? He was about to respond on just how much they were blowing this out of proportion when Steve spoke up again.
"I even saw that tiger Faunus leading him into the city. I bet she's fucking him, making him do that what she asks him." Teeth clenched, eyes blurred, and Arthur's beer bottle shattered in his hand as he stood up, his Aura protecting him from the glass shards that rained down onto the table with the modicum of beer that he'd had left. John stood up as well, more to stop Arthur from doing anything rash than to join him. When Steve turned to get a good look at whatever was happening, he caught Arthur's knuckles with his face. The blow wasn't terribly reinforced by Aura, as angry and new to it as Arthur was, but it was still enough to break Steve's nose, the leg off of the chair Steve sat on, and send the large and scarred man crashing into the table he was sat at. Unsurprisingly, that broke too, dumping the dark skinned man and the drinks of his friends into the floor with a mighty crash. Arthur caught the man's tankard in his hand, wrapping around the handle before it could spill more than a mouthful of beer.
The crash startled the rest of Tapster's patrons, and the barkeep looked over at Arthur with an angry scowl. Only he had been privy to the conversation at the table, so to the rest of the establishment Arthur had just attacked a man for no reason. But all of that was just noise as Arthur leaned down toward the groaning man, his eyes dark and glinting beneath the brim of his hat.
"I don't make it my business of getting into other people's conversations," Arthur said with a snarl, "but if I ever hear anything like that come out of your ugly mug again, I'll make damn sure to cut your tongue out." Before Steve could respond, Arthur brought the tankard around, and the thick glass mug shattered as he clubbed the man with his own drink. Steve flopped onto the ground the rest of the way, thick glass stuck in his face as he groaned and coughed up beer. His two friends looked down at him, then back up at Arthur. The outlaw let his hand fall to his holster just in case they were about to try anything, but the two were already whimpering and scuttling toward the door in a clumsy, fearful fashion. When he turned back to look at the rest of the establishment, all but his friends had the same opinion. John was ushering Abigail and Jack toward the door, whereas Sean looked more resigned to disappointment. Arthur followed the Marstons out the door, stepping over his victim even as blood began to pour onto the wooden floor.
"It didn't take long at all for you to go native, did it English?" Sean muttered behind him as they pushed out onto the dusty street. Behind them in the bar, Arthur could just barely hear the barkeep calling the police. In one moment of weakness, he had turned a reunion between friends into an assault because he'd lost his cool. Somehow, he knew that Sienna would have been disappointed.
Summer could only huff and roll her eyes as she watched the trail slowly creep by. The back of the wagon was her assigned spot, both because the Wapiti didn't trust her, and because she could stop herself from talking to everyone. As such, Charles had taken 'pity' on her and put her on the back of the wagon. Since horse drawn travel was so terribly slow, the mother of two was irrevocably bored. She had sharpened her sword, organized the entire wagon, and attempted to speak with every single member of the Wapiti tribe within shouting distance. Unfortunately, even being Arthur's friend was not enough to end the embargo of words brought on by being an outsider. A few braves had been kind enough to nod at her, but that was the extent of their social inclination. Charles and Sadie made a point to talk to her whenever they could, but their history with the Van der Linde gang made them premium guards even among the Wapiti. That, and most of their braves had been lost in Dutch's scheme.
As such, Summer was condemned to suffer as an unwilling passenger on the slowest wagon of all time. Or at least, that was how it felt to her. I wonder what Arthur is doing right now. She pondered idly. She had left in one hell of a hurry after dropping off the Marstons, and she couldn't help but feel bad about it. Still, Ruby, Tai, and Yang would all be in grave danger if the wrong people found out that she was still alive, and Arthur had made it through Vacuo decently enough. She just had to hold out faith that John and Abigail would be just as shrewd as the older outlaw.
After successfully delivering the Marston family to Vacuo, Summer had decided to join Charles and Sadie in leading the Wapiti nation to Canada. Her original plan had been to go to the northern country anyway, but her intervention involving the Pinkertons had expedited that decision by several weeks. Whether Agent Milton was in the wrong or not, the Pinkertons were not going to take kindly to the slaying of their own. There wasn't a lot they could do to a seasoned Huntress physically, but Summer was not looking forward to the life of an American fugitive.
The Wapiti women were at least of some conversation. Summer was kept separate from them when the wagons were in motion, but she tried to converse whenever possible. They expressed quiet curiosity toward her clothing and the color of her hair, and one had even pointed at her sword. The last she had resolutely refused, on the grounds of a mecha shift weapon firing off rounds attracting far too much attention. Of course, she couldn't tell the woman that without being considered a witch, so she played it off as a warrior never relinquishing her weapon. That drew the attention away from her sword, but started up a whole new conversation about a female warrior.
"Daydreaming again?" The deep, masculine tone of Charles Smith snapped Summer out of her reverie, and she blinked owlishly upon hearing him. When she looked to her left, the man with mixed heritage was riding his horse alongside the wagon. She winced as she realized she was being a very poor rear guard, wandering around inside her own head instead of keeping watch.
"Something like that. I'm used to moving so much faster than this." She freely admitted. Bullhead or on foot, she was far faster than what had to be the slowest horse on the continent. "That, and no one really wants to talk." She tried not to pout, she really did. But judging by the way Charles held back a chuckle, succeed she did not.
"I can't really blame them for not wanting to trust outsiders, but I feel your pain. The only reason they listen to me and Sadie is because we've dealt with them before. And even that's been tense sometimes." Charles rolled his shoulders as he looked around, and Summer noticed that a few of the walking Wapiti were giving him sour looks too. And where were all the young men? Not that Summer was in the market for one, but she had noticed a distinct lack of adult males in the Wapiti tribe. Fighting age males, she could say.
Oh.
Oh.
Suddenly that made a lot more sense. Arthur had said something about lying and causing a mess with the local tribe, but Summer was only just now realizing the damage that had been done. Not only were the Wapiti wanted by the federal government, but most of their fighting age men were dead. In the trip up toward Canada, such losses would endanger the convoy during the trip. Sadie and Charles had to sleep sometimes, and even Summer couldn't protect them from everything. Sure, she could destroy most conventional forces that would notice a wagon train like theirs, but not before losses would be sustained.
"I'm surprised that they let us come with them at all, considering what happened." Summer freely admitted. Charles chuckled at that, though there was little humor in his tone.
"They almost didn't, to tell the truth. Were it not for Rains Fall, I doubt we would have ever seen them again. However, despite the unintentional hand we had in the deaths of their kin, we are also better warriors. The Wapiti are in need of protection, and will accept it from those they hate if it means the tribe will survive. They despise even me, and I don't blame them." Well that sucked the fun out of everything. Now not only was she bored, Summer was depressed as well! Her sour mood must have shown on her face, as Charles wasn't finished. "Don't feel so bad about it. You weren't with us, and I doubt you would have allowed Dutch to do as he had. From everything Sadie told me, you don't seem the type to allow selfish greed to put people at risk."
That was a nice compliment, but it still didn't alleviate the looks the Wapiti were giving her. On Remnant, only the most cynical little border towns would have been so leery with a Huntress. Hell, there had been a few times when she'd been asked for autographs after a successful mission. Here, even the children looked ready to spit on her. Days gone without wishing I could go back home: zero. Personal record... She sighed heavily. Also zero. Not for the first time, a sense of homesickness the likes of which she had never known on Remnant pervaded her chest. She longed to hear Ruby's triumphant cry upon her return, or feel Yang's soft hair as she was tackled by the energetic blonde. Or the steady beat of Tai's heart as he held her close...
"Ugh!" Summer cried in frustration, her fingers clawing into her cloak as she cursed her predicament. Why did Salem have to seek her out, of all people?! Were the silver eyes really that damned important?! If Summer didn't already know how fruitless it would be, she'd have gouged out her own eyes long ago to protect her family. But even then, Salem would chase her to the ends of both worlds. Not only because of Summer's eyes, but Ruby's as well. It was the ultimate form of helplessness, and the bitter truth of it was she had run away. Just like Raven had, though Summer still didn't have the full story on that. With her exile in America nearly complete, she doubted that she ever would.
Not far from the road they traveled, a lone raven pecked at a newspaper that had been half buried in the mud. The bird pulled and poked at the paper, seeking the delicious bugs that dwelled underneath. The paper was torn and the ink smudged, but the front page's biggest story could just barely be read.
Dutch Van der Linde Captured! The Noose Awaits!
Sienna made sure that Ghira was aware of the coming storm. It was only proper, seeing as how they had only just selected a new base of operations. Until it was constructed, official White Fang business would still be conducted on Kuo Kuana. Unlike the party and her appointment to Supreme Leader, however, she would be receiving her brother's entourage at her personal home. She knew what it was that Shao Khan sought, and it wasn't to sit around sipping tea and exchanging pleasantries. His Outlanders would be coming in like a triumphant army, and she would rather have any violence play out in her back yard instead of Ghira's mansion. Besides, her training ring was large enough to bury him under.
She looked down at her battle chain, curiously absent of emotion as she considered her brother's arrival. He had always boasted to be the stronger of them, though she couldn't remember a time when they had ever come to blows with intent to kill. His prideful ass had won a majority of their spars, but that was before Sienna had truly known how to fight. Before she had discovered her Semblance. He'd left to join his bandit tribe after their parents had died, leaving Sienna all alone to fend for herself in the unforgiving slums of Mistral. Somehow, she was glad he hadn't taken her with him. Better that she had lived as a street rat than become some trophy whore for the strongest in the tribe.
And now, we'll see if he is truly as strong as he claims. She thought dully. Sienna really, really didn't want to fight for the leadership of the White Fang. She'd done everything possible to attain the position of Supreme Leader, but she had done so with the hope that at least a few months would pass before she would spill blood in defense of her station. But of course, Shao Khan didn't care about her hopes and dreams. All he cared about was seizing power and wielding it in as many ways as he could.
Tukson had volunteered to wait at the docks for her. Cain would be close by, ready to call for assistance while Adam tried to protect the civilians. Kuo Kuana's economy thrived on the marketplace next to the docks, and she needed her best out there. Ghira's own security force would be present as well, but short of the man himself there weren't many people on Menagerie that could go toe to toe with Shao Khan and live. Thanks to the fact that he had already handed over leadership, Ghira was not required to get involved in the Khan's family discussion. If any citizen of Kuo Kuana was harmed, however, then Sienna doubted that Ghira would take it lying down.
Sienna itched to be the one to greet the Outlanders at the docks, if only to drive home the point that they were guests, and poorly received as well. Adam had convinced her to remain home, however. In a rare show of wisdom, the boy had counseled her to remain passive instead of meeting them head on.
"If you meet them at the docks, you will fight them at the docks. I can already tell that Shao Khan will force a confrontation, and the whole reason you're out here in the woods is to keep innocent people from getting hurt." Of all the times for the boy to acquire some wisdom, it had to come out when he was telling her off. Still, he had a point. Her brother was a brute and cared very little for collateral damage. Anyone conducting their daily business at the market would be at risk if she confronted him there. So instead, she was forced to rely on the others to bring Shao Khan to her. And she did trust them, but the waiting was beginning to get to her. It made her wish... no, she was a grown woman and she could handle these things herself. Sienna Khan had been a strong leader within the White Fang long before she ever met that gunslinger. This was HER problem, not Arthur's.
Sienna stood in the relative shadow of her back yard, the tropical forest casting enough shade over her to be comfortable as she grappled with her current dilemma. She held her scroll in her left hand, though it was wrapped up in her skirt as she twitched and gnashed her teeth. The tiger Faunus looked about impatiently, desperate for any sign that the interlopers had arrived. But if she asked prematurely, it could be perceived as anxiety...and not entirely inaccurate either. Today, everything she had worked for in the White Fang was at risk. If she failed, Ghira would have to take power away from a blood thirsty monster as she bled in the dirt. And if she refused Shao Khan's challenge, his Outlanders would rampage across Menagerie until she came after him.
Ding! The default notification on her scroll nearly stopped her heart, and Sienna had to physically restrain herself from flinging it across the clearing. Her yellow eyes stared down at the device for a few seconds before she scolded herself and opened it, revealing a message from Cain. Unlike her brother or Adam, Cain actually knew how to report relevant information.
They're heading your way. Shao Khan got short with Tukson and threatened him, but no one has been harmed. Fifteen Outlanders accompanying. He has his hammer like you said. Cain's message read. From the last time Sienna had bothered to keep up with her adoptive brother, his entire tribe had only been fifty strong. For him to bring more than a dozen showed that he was either committing a lot of his resources, or the Outlanders had grown. Neither possibility was a good sign. Sienna texted Cain a quick thank you and walked over to the porch of her bungalow, setting her scroll down so that it would not be damaged in the coming fight. Unless he actually decided to talk for once...
"Deep breaths, Sienna. You got this." She muttered, focusing on taking deep breaths to center herself and at least present a facade of calm. She took a deep breath and counted to ten, then slowly breathed it back out. After a half dozen of those, Sienna's mind no longer raced with the possibilities beyond this meeting. And when she heard the first rustle of underbrush, her heart rate was back down to its normal tempo. She would succeed in this, because failure was not an option. The first figure to break the treeline was large, and the one she had been expecting these past few days.
There was a general rule to Faunus about the number of animal traits they had. Most only had one or two, depending on the characteristics of the animal each person resembled. Shao Khan blatantly disregarded that rule, most likely due to the rarity of his heritage. As a Dragon Faunus, Shao had always been told he was special, and it had gone to his head. His skin was thick and tough, and his forearms and back were protected by thick scales. Bony spines protruded from his forearms as well, natural weapons she'd seen him use to dislodge or break blades. His bones were thick and durable, capable of withstanding far more than the average Faunus. His eyes were glowing orange, slitting pupils emanating his malice and greed. His bald head was covered by a plated helm, the face plate created by salvaging a human skull. His teeth were serrated and sharp, and created a vicious snarl regardless of his mood. And if she were a decent judge of him, that mood would be smug.
Shao Khan wore little in the way of armor as well. A dark gray cummerbund wrapped around his thighs, hidden partially by golden bolts of cloth that fell to his knees. His shoulders were covered by gilded pauldrons, sharpened metal plates that jutted outward from him. Beyond that, he wore wooden sandals and kept his hammer in one hand. The cudgel was inlaid with gold on its shaft and came to a rectangular head of stone, with a snarling dragon carved into the center. He stood over six feet tall, and likely weighed on the better half of two hundred and fifty pounds. His size would have been dangerous enough without his Semblance. Shao Khan had the infuriating ability to call his weapons to his hands in an instant, and transport himself to their location as well. Where Sienna needed to physically jump and climb her way up a hill or steep wall, all Shao Khan had to do was throw his hammer to the top and use his Semblance to jump to it. It made fighting him a dangerous prospect, but Sienna had a few tricks of her own.
"Hello, sister." Shao Khan greeted derisively, any hint of familial care lost in his deep baritone. "How has leadership been treating you?" Sienna didn't let the faux attempt at care irritate her. She knew he was going to be an ass ever since he'd announced his intentions to come see her.
"For the three weeks I've had it, never better." Sienna responded impassively. "What do you want, Shao?" She made sure there was no mistaking her ire, and he chuckled in response.
"Straight to the point, as ever. Very well." The towering Faunus raised his hammer threateningly in her direction. "I've come for your seat." Sienna made a show of looking behind her, though she never took her eye off of her treacherous brother. With his intentions declared, there was no telling when he would strike.
"Well, seeing as how I'm standing and not sitting, you seem to have wasted the trip. How terrible." Sienna tossed her hair and cocked her hip, using the motion to disguise the deployment of her battle chain. "Begone, Shao. I have no use for a supremacist traitor, much less the leader of a bandit tribe." Shao Khan snarled at her casual dismissal, and Sienna heard more rustling in the forest around her. She glanced around, and sure enough her brother's contingent of Outlanders slowly emerged from the foliage, arranged in a rough ring around her property. They looked like common bandits, clad in a hodgepodge of leather and iron armor in various styles. All were Faunus, true to her brothers supremacist views, and all looked ready to tear into her should their leader command it.
"Hide behind sarcasm and bravado all you like, Sienna, but this day will see me as leader of the White Fang. You cannot defeat me." Shao marched forward, swinging his hammer around on his wrist. It wasn't an attack, he was moving too slowly. But still, he approached. Rather than be dog piled by his subordinates, Sienna turned and marched toward her training ring. As she did, she scanned the trees behind the Outlanders, searching for any sign of her own allies. After a few seconds of searching, she saw a shock of red hair half way of a palm tree. Thank the Gods for Adam Taurus. She thought with relief. The boy wouldn't interfere with her duel, but at the very least he would keep Shao Khan's minions from tipping the scales. And if Adam was nearby, Tukson and Cain weren't far behind. That still left her to face down the metaphorical dragon, but she needn't worry about his cronies forcing her defeat.
"If you honestly believe that the White Fang would tolerate a hostile takeover, you have another thing coming." She lectured, taking up her place across from him. "We're freedom fighters, not your bunch of thugs that bow down to the dog that barks the loudest." Shao Khan did not react to her words, though if that was a testament to his self control or how little he cared for her opinion Sienna neither knew nor cared. Instead, he held up his arms and looked around at his followers, pumping his arms as if he were trying to egg on a crowd.
"Pay heed to the outcome of this battle, men! Whosoever walks away from our conflict shall be declared ruler of the White Fang and the Outlanders!" With his declaration, the Outlanders began to hoot and holler, calling for blood as Shao Khan turned back to face Sienna. The cries of his men did little to deter her, though she couldn't help but hope that Adam got the jump on Shao in the event that she fell. But it won't come to that. She reminded herself, taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what was to come. Her battle chain slid out a little more, the favored metal links slipping through her finger effortlessly as she gauged her opponent. Shao was twenty feet away, and well within striking distance. If she retreated, she could control the field and stay away from his hammer, but he would expect such a strategy. Sienna's eyes searched for any new additions or possible weaknesses, all while maintained the aloof detachment of a proven warrior. She would not give him the satisfaction of unsettling her.
Not only is he stronger than me physically, but his Semblance allows him to move unpredictably. Piece of cake... One of the Outlanders approached from the edge of the clearing, not attacking but rather moving purposefully toward the center of the ring. He wore thicker armor than most, and Sienna recognized him by his cowl wrapped face and glowing green eyes. Hannibal Shakur was a lizard Faunus of some kind, and his eyes glowed faintly at all times. Even with such a handicap, he was a master thief, his padded leather robes and iron plated shoulders moved silently as he stood in the center. Sienna kept her eyes on him, ignoring her sneering brother as Hannibal turned and looked at both fighters equally. Despite the fact that Shao Khan was his leader, Hannibal paid the same respect to him as he did to Sienna.
"These two fighters have declared a duel. They shall do battle until the death. Any attempts to surrender or flee will be met with lethal force. Are the combatants ready?" Hannibal's deep voice washed over the clearing as Shao and Sienna both nodded their consent. Once he was certain that the fighters were ready, Hannibal stepped back and raised his hand. He let it drop as he retreated and declared, "FIGHT!" Before he had even cleared the circle, Shao Khan's massive hammer crossed the space between them, spinning through the air with a sinister hum.
Sienna was far enough away to see it coming, and she knew better than to block such a heavy weapon. Most of Shao Khan's strength came from the near constant use of the hammer, and she wasn't foolish enough to think that Aura would be enough to stop it. Instead, she slid forward and ducked as it helicoptered over her head, flinging her chain behind her as she did so. Just as she expected, her brother disappeared from in front of her, and her chain went taut as it wrapped around something. Sienna rose from her slide and wrapped the chain around her forearm, turning to grasp it even as Shao Khan looked down at his trapped leg. With an Aura enhanced heave, Sienna pulled his leg out from underneath him, causing the dragon Faunus to cry out as he slammed into the ground. Pressing her advantage, Sienna reeled him in a few more feet and jumped upward, uncoiling the chain from her arm as she did to. When Shao Khan reached down to pull her off balance with the chain, all he succeeded in doing was drag her in with even greater force.
Sienna fell out of the sky and drove both feet into Shao Khan's stomach. The Outlander leader gasped as the air was driven from his lungs with great force, but Sienna knew such a strike was minor. She kicked off of his abdomen, driving him further into the dirt and leaving behind an indentation in the packed dirt. Her brother coughed and snarled as she landed a few feet away, calling her chain back to her to prevent him from manipulating it further. She didn't need him tossing her around like a rag doll.
"First hit goes to me, brother." She made certain to put as much disdain into the word as she could. "Seems you've gotten used to fighting weaklings." All around her, the Outlanders chattered and jeered, not happy that she would speak of their leader so flippantly. Shao Khan himself remained silent as he lifted himself from his personal crater, though the glower he sent her indicated that he was not amused. Only when he had risen to his feet once more did the dragon speak.
"Mind your tongue, sister. It will take far more than that to defeat me." He slapped his stomach on emphasis, and Sienna was a little disappointed to see no evidence of her kick. Still, she knew going into this that he had a massive Aura. It was up to her to whittle it down to nothing. Before he could launch into another diatribe about how inferior she was, Sienna closed in again, forgoing her chain and instead focusing on melee combat. She went in low, driving a foot forward to take out a knee. Shao Khan was ready this time and stepped to the side, and Sienna could only just spin to the side as his hammer came humming bare inches from her head. Sienna drove a flurry of strikes into his unprotected side, but besides a grunt of pain and a retaliatory swing there was no effect. She ducked once more and delivered a focused palm strike to his elbow, seeking to disarm him as the hammer passed. Her palm carried a decent amount of her Aura as she struck, but the only clear reaction was that he let go of his hammer with his left arm. That became a problem when the hammer continued on, but his left hand came back and slammed into her face. Unlike her blows upon him, Shao Khan's single hit sent her flying backward, skidding through the dust before she came up into a guarded stance. Her cheek stung, and the right side of her jaw pulsed with pain at the lateral movement.
The worse thing about fighting Shao Khan was not that he was incredibly sturdy or incredibly strong; he was both. If needed, he could take hits that would incapacitate or kill a normal man just so he could return one in kind. And Sienna had no illusions about the strength her adoptive brother possessed. Still, the White Fang was in danger as long as Shao Khan breathed. She would not tolerate such treachery to continue.
She rushed forward again, dodging to the side at the last moment and driving her knee into the side of his thigh, aiming for the common peroneal nerve that ran through the center. It had some effect, but the meaty hands that wrapped around her shoulders eliminated any satisfaction that came from the strike. She planted her feet and pulled backward, trying to escape his grasp. She did not succeed.
The same knee that she had targeted to weaken him came thundering up into her gut, and it was Sienna's turn to gasp for air. Unfortunately, she did not share her adoptive brother's sturdiness, and her vision swam as another knee strike lifted her from the ground. Shao Khan released her shoulders before she could recover, and the follow up kick to her chest sent her flying once more. Sienna's Aura protected her from the strikes, but she had still felt her ribs shift from the last strike as she slid across the ground once more. This time, she didn't bounce up quit so quickly, still reeling as she coughed violently and tried to control her breathing once more. Colossal asshole that he was, Shao Khan hit like a truck.
"Second and third hit goes to me, sister. Submit, and I will make your passing painless." Judging by the cruel sneer behind his skull mask, that was a lie he enjoyed telling. Not that she would give up, regardless. She would be damned and burned before she allowed anyone to take the White Fang from her especially some supremacist upstart like her brother. Still, she wasn't going to beat him by using her normal disabling tactics. She had to hit him as hard as she could, and stop trying to remove his ability to fight, or else he would just keep tanking through her attacks.
"Oh, shut up already." Sienna wrapped her chain around her forearm once more, holding one of her knives in a reverse grip. His Aura could take light cuts and strikes until the end of time, but she was capable of more than that. Sienna held her wrapped right arm back and beckoned with her left, inviting Shao Khan to battle once more. It was an offer he took with savage glee.
"HA!" The Outlander leader hurled his hammer at her once more, aiming low this time as it spun through the air. Sienna hopped over it with a little more effort than she had dodged it the last time, and her eyes widened as Shao Khan hefted a nasty looking spear. He hadn't thrown his hammer to hit her, but rather to empty his hands so that he could summon another weapon. She cursed as she rolled in mid air, twisting her body as much as she could to escape the wicked tip of the javelin as it flew towards her. She succeeded, if barely, with only a slight shower of sparks as the thrown weapon bounced off of her chain. It continued forward and dug deep into the dirt, but to her frustration Shao Khan vanished from her sight. Sienna landed in a low crouch and spun around, leaping backwards in anticipation for the flanking maneuver that was inevitable. Shao Khan's clawed hand reached out to drag her into another debilitating grapple, but her agility and quick thinking kept her out of his grasp. She jumped back once more to get more distance, but Shao Khan followed relentlessly. Not wanting to get backed into a corner, Sienna reversed her direction and instead slid forward, driving her leading foot into the inside of his ankle. Normally it would take a stout blow to trip Shao Khan, but his forward momentum and Sienna's Aura-infused strike were enough to send him flying over her head. With her adoptive brother airborne and surprised, Sienna capitalized on his position.
Her chain came free as she punched forward, leading the chain with the knife she had pulled. It arced at an angle, wrapping around Shao Khan's lower leg twice and looping over itself. By the time he landed on the ground, Sienna had planted her feet and was ready to actually do some damage. She wrenched hard and spun around, wrapping her chain around her back and hauling him across the ground and up into the air. As he turned in mid air, Sienna drove her foot into the middle of his back as hard as she could, channeling her Aura with a savage snarl. The kick drove Shao Khan away again, and despite the painful strike he was already fiddling with the chain that kept his leg trapped. Before he could free himself, another massive effort from Sienna had him airborne once again.
Sienna could feel the thrum of energy within her as her Semblance took hold. She rarely used it these days, as offensive as it was, but Shao made the perfect target. As his Aura was reduced and he took damage, she could feel her strength increasing. And with it, her fury climbed as well. At the beginning of the fight, she would have been hard pressed to throw her brother around like she was, but it was becoming easier with every blow she landed. Her Grudge was working against him.
Sienna pulled her chain up and in, dragging Shao up into the air directly above her. When his muscled form eclipsed the sun above her, she yanked downward, drawing him back down to the ground with forceful speed. His eyes widened as he caught on to her plan, but there was little that he could do from his position. He had no leverage in the air, and Sienna was rocketing up to meet him in the air. With an inhuman growl deep in her throat, Sienna drove her fist directly into Shao Khan's chin when they met, the force of the blow sending him into a somersault as he continued down to the ground. A loud crack of bone on bone filled the clearing, followed by a much duller thud as the Dragon Faunus impacted with the ground.
Shao Khan groaned in pain as he struggled to breath. His sister's blows from earlier had been stout, but easily shrugged off given his size and experience in fighting. These new strikes were on a whole other level, however. As he shifted in vain to escape the Shao Khan shaped hole in the ground, he felt one of his ribs flare up in pain. That bitch... He thought savagely. Only then, did he look upward.
Sienna was poised and ready to strike, coming down upon him with a kick that, given her increased strength, would most likely cut him in two. Were it not for his Semblance, anyway. Just before Sienna drove her foot into his gut with all the force of the Gods themselves, Shao Khan avoided the strike by jumping to the location of his hammer a short distance away. The rumble of breaking earth filled the clearing along with a cloud of pulverized dirt and dust, obscuring both fighters from the surrounding observers. A few more loud cracks filled the air, and the cloud warped and distorted before being blown away completely.
When the cloud dissipated, more than a few were surprised to see the two siblings locked hand in hand, Sienna matching Shao Khan's superior strength. By the power of her Semblance, the damage her brother had sustained bolstered her strength to match his. And that fact did not sit well with the bandit leader.
"What power is this, woman? How are you able to match me?" He growled in her face, straining to gain some form of leverage. Sienna didn't reply, the feral look in her eyes giving him doubts on the outcome of this battle. Was this her Semblance? If so, how did it work? Shao Khan tore his left hand from her right and brought it back, driving it toward her face with all of his strength. Sienna surprised him and everyone around by stopping the blow with her palm, a sickening crack filling the clearing as bone met bone and she took the blow head on. He jerked backward, trying to knock her off balance with the sudden change in momentum. Instead, all it did was open up his stance for a debilitating kick to his instep, one that unbalanced him instead. Shao Khan cried out in anger and pain as Sienna swept his weakened leg and forced him to the ground again.
The White Fang' Supreme Leader had lost the cool control she often boasted, her fangs bared and pupils drawn to slits as she took the mount. Her knee pinned one arm at the elbow, the other trapped at Shao Khan's side. He dodged her first strike by moving his head, but she just grabbed his helmet and set him up for the next hit. With a firm grip on him and no way for the bandit leader to defend, Sienna had him dead to rights.
"Yield." She snarled, an order that had none of her usual diplomacy. Whatever anger and hate she had toward her brother was on full display, evident in her clenched fist and furious expression. But Shao Khan had not made it to this point in life by giving up at the first opportunity. He strained against the knee that trapped his extended arm, then spit in her face.
"Never!" He returned haughtily. Another feral growl escaped his sister, and her fist crashed into his nose like a meteor. The first one stunned him, stopping his attempts to escape for an instant. The next one came too quickly for him to put up a fight, and they began to rain upon him. Sienna was yelling now, screaming her hatred and fury into his face as she rained blow after blow upon him. Every strike lowered his Aura, which in turn increased her strength and ferocity. The fourth hit shattered his mask, sending bone fragments into his face and her knuckles. It didn't stop her.
Shao Khan's struggles to free himself weakened as her cascading fists continued to rain, and soon Sienna was spattered with blood, hammering the unconscious form of her brother with a savage snarl on her face. The surrounding observers were silent, watching on as she continued to bludgeon his defenseless form. But she didn't care about what they thought. She didn't care if he was defenseless. All she knew was that he was there to take everything she held dear, and she would be damned before he laid a single finger on what belonged to her! She continued to punch and claw and rip and tear...
It wasn't until a splash of blood crossed her eyes that she stopped, like waking from a dream. Sienna looked down at the ruined mess of Shao Khan's face, her eyes focusing as if she were looking at him for the first time today. It was difficult to tell where the blood ended and his flesh began, but the bone fragments of his mask had been pushed into his skull and soft tissues. One eye hung from its socket, the normally intimidating orb hanging limp and empty. His chest was still, and she couldn't hear any breathing. Not over her own gasps and pounding heart. Sienna gave her brother one last look before she clambered off of his still form, blood dripping down her arms onto the broken ground. As she continued to gasp for air, the haze of battle slowly filtered out of her mind. Her Semblance faded away as well, and she became distinctly aware of just how tired she was. And her right arm was on fire.
Sienna winced as the appendage slumped to her side, useless and feeling very wrong. She prodded the limb gently around her shoulder, and any effort to lift it was met with pain and twitching fingers. Still, she looked around the clearing with determination in her eyes. All around, the White Fang and the Outlanders stared at her. She wondered if the bandits would honor their agreement now that she was wounded. Adam was a capable fighter, to be sure, but a slew of bandits rampaging across Kuo Kuana would still cause catastrophic damage before they could be brought to heel.
Hannibal, the bandaged lieutenant to her late brother, stepped forward with some gravity. He approached her cautiously, his arms at his sides, and gave her a nod. She met his eyes and gave one in return, then the bandit turned his attention to the ruined corpse of his former leader. He raised his right hand and gestured toward the side of the circle, and two more Faunus in leather and cloth armor approached. Tukson stepped from the ring as well, walking towards Sienna instead of Shao Khan's corpse. While the Outlanders encircled their leader, Tukson began examining her shoulder.
"That was reckless, taking that punch head on." He chided, prodding the wounded limb as she gritted her teeth. "You've definitely dislocated it." Sienna nodded and lifted the arm as far as she could, dropping it into his palm. Without much more comment, the pulled hard, jerking the joint back into its socket. Sienna roared past the pain, causing everyone else in the clearing to freeze. She blinked the tears from her eyes, her teeth bared as she rolled her arm. It was back to proper form, but there was still some mending to do. Tukson removed his cloth belt and fashioned an impromptu sling, slipping it over her neck. Sienna tested it with a grunt of discomfort, and was about to ask about the rest of the Outlanders when she heard the rasp of a blade clearing its sheathe.
Sienna and Tukson both turned abruptly, but it was to find Hannibal sawing away at Shao Khan's corpse, the neck in particular. Blood gushed from the still warm corpse as he worked, spattering his arms and hands. In the end, the reptilian Faunus held his former leader's head aloft for all to see. The White Fang members were sickened and repulsed, but the Outlanders had far more solemn looks. It was a changing of leadership to them.
"Shao Khan declared that the leader of this duel would be the chief of both the White Fang and the Outlanders. Sienna Khan, you have slain our chief in fair combat." He tossed the head at her feet, where it landed with a sickening squelch. The eye she had pummeled out of its socket looked up at her, even though Shao Khan's face was pointed to the side. At the time, she'd found nothing but pleasure in driving the life from his body with her bare hands. Now, nausea was the most prevalent thing on her mind.
Hannibal knelt before her, placing one arm across his chest in a salute. The other two Outlanders that assisted him mirrored the action. "What are your orders, Supreme Leader Khan?" The respect in his voice soothed her aches and troubled stomach, but Sienna knew that she was exhausted. Her Semblance had pushed her past her limits, and her dislocated shoulder would be one of many pains in the morning. Still, this wasn't the kind of question she could leave unanswered.
"Speak with Taurus. We must relocate from Menagerie for the safety of future operations. I want to make it clear, everyone hear is now a member of the White Fang." She placed her foot atop the decapitated head of her brother. "Anyone committing banditry against targets without my explicit instruction will meet a similar fate to your former leader." She looked around as she gave the instruction, and her gaze fell on Hannibal as she finished. The lieutenant nodded and stood, already moving to carry out her orders. Good, she thought. Saves me the headache right now.
Adam approached from her rear, nodding to Hannibal as the former Outlander went to spread the word. The gathered bandits did not seem all that upset about their new roles, but only time would show who the troublemakers were. Right now, all she had was a tumultuous feeling in her gut and an arm that hurt like hell.
"There will be some adjustment, you realize." The young man muttered, and Sienna nodded tiredly. She gestured toward where Hannibal had gone.
"Go with him. Make sure we don't have a coup brewing." She looked at Tukson next. "Be sure to explain everything to Ghira. I'm afraid I'm going to be disposed for a few hours." Tukson nodded, and she turned toward her bungalow, leaving the two men standing there. Adam shot the older member a glance, then set off to carry out her orders. Tukson watched them both go, then looked down at the severed head of Shao Khan. Somehow, this didn't feel like the victory Sienna wished it to be. He was about to follow Sienna into her house to caution her about her arm and the Outlanders, were it not for his scroll ringing.
Frowning in confusion, Tukson drew the device from his pocket expecting Ghira's number to be crossing the screen. What he saw instead made him wince. Tukson swiped the screen and answered the call, holding it to his ear so no lingering Outlanders could hear the other side's words.
"Hey, Arthur. What can I help you with?" The cowboy on the other end gave his usual pleasantries, then asked what was going on. Tukson sucked his teeth, wincing as he stepped in some left over blood from the fight. "Well, do I have a story for you..."
Sienna maintained an air of control and command as she strode toward her home. Both newcomers and seasoned White Fang members were still watching, and she had to be the leader they deserved. Both to mollify the Outlanders and to reassure her supporters. Once the door closed behind her and she was safe within her own home, however, the facade shattered. Sienna's shoulders slumped as she gripped her elbow, the improvised sling already grating on her nerves. She stepped into her room and removed what clothing had blood or dirt on it, leaving her in her spandex top and pants. The rest went into the clothes hamper, where she would most likely destroy them later. She used one of her older shirts to wrap a more comfortable sling around her arm, having more material so that it would support the appendage without her having to physically hold on to the sling.
Once that was done, Sienna took one look at the bed and shook her head. She would need to bathe before she sullied the sheets, and the day's fight had taken too much out of her to deal with a one handed shower. Both mentally and physically exhausted, it was all she could do to make sure the front door was locked before she sat down on the couch in her living room. So complete was her exhaustion, she barely even felt her back hit the cushion before she was unconscious.
A/N: Changed the fight to get away from the Mortal Kombat feel of it, and included Sienna's Semblance. Grudge is really overpowered if she only has one opponent, and explains why Adam had to take her by surprise in the series. Had he challenged her to a fight, she would have wiped the floor with him. I will be updating chapter 14 as well, then we will continue the adventures of Arthur Morgan and all of his really unlucky friends.