Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

Ilia was shaking by the end of it as she winced away from the screaming in her ears, though whether it was from fear or anger she couldn't have answered herself. She also couldn't say whether it was bravery or sheer stubborn stupidity that had her open her eyes back up with a resolute glare past the tears that were trickling down the side of her face and a weak smile. Her own words were deathly quiet compared to Eve's furious rancor, yet no less emotion drifted behind them.

"...If that's how you want to think it went down between us, then fine. Glad we cleared up where we stand, and glad to hear you admit just how full of shit you are with your own mouth. That this hero of the faunus thing is still the act it always was."

She made to step around Eve towards the door, still talking as she went " So if you don't want me watching your every move, making sure that you don't mess everything up with one of your moralistic tantrums, then you might as well follow through with that threat Taurus. Maybe that will be enough for the others to see I'm right about you."

She paused as she grabbed the handle, turning her head towards Eve with a sniffle.

"...There's a talon roundtable in two hours. thats what I was supposed to tell you. Try not to choke to death on your hypocrisy before it"

Then, if she wasn't stopped, she slipped out the door and was gone.

Up until a certain word, it wasn't even a certainty that Eve was hearing her.

Apparently there was only so much even someone as spiteful as her could intimidate and hurt another faunus who suddenly seemed to have lost all the will to fight back. The still that had settled over her as her mind started to play back the words, the sheer directed viciousness in them, was genuinely unnerving. Now that her prey had gone too limp for Eve to keep seeing red, it wasn't the stalking, coiled form of a predator behind that stillness anymore. It was like... it was as if there was nothing. Like she was dead. Her face had gone completely blank, too, skin ghostly white and eyes glazed over as they stared through Ilia like she was a thousand miles away, like she wasn't even there, and had anyone else been privy to her thoughts they would've heard nothing save a reverberating cacophony of all the words she'd just said echoing around her brain, all the anger and spite and venom that had built up to an unstoppable inferno before she had even realized it, much less proved capable of reigning it in. Whatever she may have thought about her true motives or intentions, it was hard to imagine the woman in front of her as being capable of any kind of scheme or long con. She was just... angry. There was no pace to Eve's rage anymore. It was a dial with two settings, 0 and 100. Her prior choice of word hadn't been an exaggeration; it was as if she was genuinely growing to be feral.

Or just very, very unwell.

Whatever genuine trance she seemed to have slipped into was broken only by the delivery of one word. That old, Sienna-approved buzzword she felt like she couldn't get away from these days, like it was a thorn stuck in her side and the wound was festering.

'Hypocrisy'.

She laughed, a harsh, rueful rattle as her head lolled back to look at the ceiling.

"Sure. Let's go with that. Kind of unusual for a hypocrite to admit every single thing that they are though, huh? And it doesn't mean I can't fucking hate you for not being better."

The laughter resumed, genuinely mocking in how it followed Ilia all the way to the door. Just when it seemed like that was all, a hand snatched her by the wrist to yank her around again and stare into her soul with flared, deranged eyes, eyes that seemed so wrong on someone who had once dared to call herself any kind of hero.

"Run and hide, Ilia. Do what you do best. Doesn't matter how righteous you think you are. It got me and Blake. It'll get you too. It's going to get all of you."

Anything she might have said back went unanswered, Eve's face falling back into that glazed thousand yard stare again. It took a sharp yank or some other physical means to get her wrist away from that grip, and if at any point Ilia looked back during her descent down the staircase it was to the unsettling sight that the Bull hadn't moved. She wasn't looking at her, though. Her eyes hadn't come back to life, and she hadn't moved her gaze away from the spot Ilia had been previously occupying. She was just... standing there.

Motionless.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"It could serve as a token of good faith. A good one, at that. But be warned. The fights are unsanctioned. There are very few rules. There's no aura threshold like the Vytal Tournament; the fight stops when it breaks, and that can often lead to life-threatening injuries. And the other combatants aren't going to be your run-of-the-mill criminals or huntsmen—They're likely to be some of the deadliest in all of Remnant. Competing in these freakshows is not something I suggest lightly, and I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to line up and throw themselves at the idea. Somehow I feel like you're all going to anyway though."

'Few rules...Maybe...I'd actually have a shot.'

Grey leaned back in his seat.

"Interested."

Fighting wasn't his expertise. But if these matches were one on one and he caught them with his fog....Maybe he'd stand a chance.

If he died?

Well, sometimes you win, other times you end up getting killed in a tournament.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Yet apparently, Weiss and Carnelian have even found a way to take them to task. They feel threatened, but lack the credibility to do anything with the footage themselves. Esoteric semblances, digital doctoring... what happened at the Vytal Tournament let the world know to be skeptical of even their own eyes, and there are a million ways the councilwoman could spin such a leak to imply conspiracy. It's quite literally what she's been doing for months. The population loves her; they're not going to put any stock in allegations made by some elusive criminal. So Jabberwock's solution, naturally, has been to organize a tournament. I'm not sure if they do it for profit, recruitment, or even just the sport of it all. But they're offering the footage up as grand prize, and they've sent feelers out to the four corners of Remnant to invite any skilled warriors with a vested interest in seeing Weiss's regime fall apart to participate—Or simply anyone who wants to hold something over a Schnee. That does include people who could actually make practical use of the footage, and I can't imagine the councilwoman is feeling great about it."

He stood up and moved over to the window, gazing out across the wastes as snow drifted down.

"It's taken time, but from what I understand it should be ready to commence in a matter of weeks. They are, however, still accepting participants. It's something nobody under my military command could ever have gotten within a million mile radius of, but... well, we're not the military anymore. I was going to propose we simply flood the field with our most capable and see if we could use whatever's on there somehow, but if we truly do decide and alliance with the councilwoman is worth pursuing—which I'm not considering a matter put to rest yet, by the way, since we basically just bickered for a few minutes..." His eyes narrowed, tone musing, and he turned around.

"It could serve as a token of good faith. A good one, at that. But be warned. The fights are unsanctioned. There are very few rules. There's no aura threshold like the Vytal Tournament; the fight stops when it breaks, and that can often lead to life-threatening injuries. And the other combatants aren't going to be your run-of-the-mill criminals or huntsmen—They're likely to be some of the deadliest in all of Remnant. Competing in these freakshows is not something I suggest lightly, and I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to line up and throw themselves at the idea. Somehow I feel like you're all going to anyway though."

He couldn't help but let an understated ring of sarcasm creep into his voice, despite the mood.

"Underground fighting tournament to get this precious footage...why am I not surprised it isn't something simpler?" Robyn shook her head, a somewhat bitter yet amused laugh escaping her lips at the notion of that. She couldn't say she much liked the idea of fighting at some criminal's behest, whether that was for some kind of gain, recruiting or just plain amusement. But even so, if it was necessary to get what they needed, then... "Count me in too. If this is the approach we're actually going with, I'll participate."

"Same here." The huntress Raven chimed in.

"As will I." Nora added. Ruby didn't say anything just yet, her mind more on the footage itself than this potential tournament. What kind of dealings or shady stuff could be on there...and how it would feel to see Weiss being a part of it. That, and the still present uncertainty on whether or not they were going to ally with Weiss, those things were far more on her mind than fighting in some underground tournament.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

More than fine, that was perhaps for the best that Winter be given some time to herself. Though not all felt that way, it seemed, as the fall maiden shot a glance around. Apparently she didn't see much of a reason to stay for the moment as she too made her way for the door after Winter. A lot of what she might have said seemed to be covered by others anyway, and if they reached a consensus on how to proceed before she returned, well. She'd just accept that and go along with said plan, whatever it might be. "Hey." Cinder greeted when she caught up with Winter after that departure. "Are...are you going to be okay?"

"No." Winter stated with total confidence after the fall maiden found her in some far off corner of the processing factory, arms folded and hand covering her eyes and brow. It was obvious she was fighting very hard to maintain a sort of thin veneer of composure, which was definitely going to shatter the moment Cinder went away. "I appreciate you meaning well, but I left to be alone."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No." Winter stated with total confidence after the fall maiden found her in some far off corner of the processing factory, arms folded and hand covering her eyes and brow. It was obvious she was fighting very hard to maintain a sort of thin veneer of composure, which was definitely going to shatter the moment Cinder went away. "I appreciate you meaning well, but I left to be alone."

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cinder hesitated, taking a deep breath before she continued, decidedly not stepping away. “And I’m even more sorry if this seems intruding or disrespectful to you, that’s not what I intend...but I think you being alone after all that...would be a mistake. I think you deserve to have more people standing in your corner right now. Not just people who look at you with sympathetic faces and giving empty words like they understand, words given only to try and make you feel better when they actually don’t understand.” She shook her head. “But I really do understand. Growing up in a messed up house, feeling alone...suffering alone. I’ve been there. I...couldn’t just stand by. Not without trying to help...if you let me.” She finished earnestly.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cinder hesitated, taking a deep breath before she continued, decidedly not stepping away. “And I’m even more sorry if this seems intruding or disrespectful to you, that’s not what I intend...but I think you being alone after all that...would be a mistake. I think you deserve to have more people standing in your corner right now. Not just people who look at you with sympathetic faces and giving empty words like they understand, words given only to try and make you feel better when they actually don’t understand.” She shook her head. “But I really do understand. Growing up in a messed up house, feeling alone...suffering alone. I’ve been there. I...couldn’t just stand by. Not without trying to help...if you let me.” She finished earnestly.​

"No."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No."​

Cinder didn’t say anything in response to that but she didn’t move to leave either. In fact, she got closer.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Cinder didn’t say anything in response to that but she didn’t move to leave either. In fact, she got closer.

"..."

She composed herself and shot Cinder a dull, expectant glare.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"..."

She composed herself and shot Cinder a dull, expectant glare.​

“It’s okay if you cry in front of me, you know. I won’t tell.” The teenager started off with that. “You probably don’t want to hear me run my mouth about it, but let me just say again that I do get living under an abusive dickhead for a dad. Mom too, even. I don’t really...tell people about them. I try not to think about them too much...they tend to only invite negative feelings. The worst kind. And that brings, well, y’know. Anyways, I just got the sense that having somebody else to listen to you, without it being said to like 15 people, would be helpful. So...if there’s anything you want to say...I’m willing to listen.”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“It’s okay if you cry in front of me, you know. I won’t tell.” The teenager started off with that. “You probably don’t want to hear me run my mouth about it, but let me just say again that I do get living under an abusive dickhead for a dad. Mom too, even. I don’t really...tell people about them. I try not to think about them too much...they tend to only invite negative feelings. The worst kind. And that brings, well, y’know. Anyways, I just got the sense that having somebody else to listen to you, without it being said to like 15 people, would be helpful. So...if there’s anything you want to say...I’m willing to listen.”​

"Okay. Or I could not cry, or pointlessly compare experiences with you."

...

She sighed. How was she getting dragged into this? Her eyes finally softened, just a bit. Bloodshot as they were. Seemed she was just going to have to hold all those tears inside the ducts for now. It wasn't as if it wasn't what she did 99.9% of the time, anyway.

"I'm... sorry to hear of that on your end, though. Was it... Well. I assure you it gets easier, even if I'm hardly a shining example of that right now. But this really isn't necessary, I'm just upset about my sister. I shouldn't have had such an emotional reaction with so little provocation, but it's... it's not as if I'm just going to tolerate some ignorant harpy's judgment! I don't care about whatever imaginary standard she holds herself to, she had no right to start making passiveaggressive little remarks about a sensitive matter that doesn't involve her in the least. Did you hear the way she was going on in there?! The last thing Weiss needed was two months of exposure to some yes woman who's just been validating all her ill feelings towards me!"

She may have been trying to act like she wasn't still hot about it, but quite blatantly was.

"...Anyway. I've no interest in venting like some schoolchild, either. I'm done letting her drag me down to her level." That sweet, sweet level of only having said a single thing to her literally ever. "And I cope better in solitude, so... there's really nothing to be gained from this. So you're aware."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

View attachment 720359

"Okay. Or I could not cry, or pointlessly compare experiences with you."
​

She tried her best to not flinch under the weight of that heavy glare, though a slight frown was evident. Oh god I'm so bad at this. ​

She sighed. How was she getting dragged into this? Her eyes finally softened, just a bit. Bloodshot as they were. Seemed she was just going to have to hold all those tears inside the ducts for now. It wasn't as if it wasn't what she did 99.9% of the time, anyway.

"I'm... sorry to hear of that on your end, though. Was it... Well. I assure you it gets easier, even if I'm hardly a shining example of that right now. But this really isn't necessary, I'm just upset about my sister. I shouldn't have had such an emotional reaction with so little provocation, but it's... it's not as if I'm just going to tolerate some ignorant harpy's judgment! I don't care about whatever imaginary standard she holds herself to, she had no right to start making passiveaggressive little remarks about a sensitive matter that doesn't involve her in the least. Did you hear the way she was going on in there?! The last thing Weiss needed was two months of exposure to some yes woman who's just been validating all her ill feelings towards me!"

She may have been trying to act like she wasn't still hot about it, but quite blatantly was.

"...Anyway. I've no interest in venting like some schoolchild, either. I'm done letting her drag me down to her level." That sweet, sweet level of only having said a single thing to her literally ever. "And I cope better in solitude, so... there's really nothing to be gained from this. So you're aware."

"Oh don't worry dude, it has! I found a new home and a new..." She faltered in finishing that, because it wasn't strictly speaking completely true anymore. The only one left by her side that she counted in that was Hazel..and that was all her fault. "Well...Salem helped me with that. BUT LIKE I WAS SAYING DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT!" Cinder waved her hands in frantic dismissal. "I didn't come to further burden you with that!" The teenager tried to make clear before pressing on. "Yeah, I heard her and yeah, I mean...it's normal to express feelings like that when they flare up. Though I've sometimes maybe gotten too extreme about it...quite a few lectures from Professor Goodwitch on my...um...temper. But still, if you ask me, bottling that up inside is worse than just letting yourself feel it! My opinion at least."

She shrugged. "And I don't think doing so makes you seem like a child either. I think that's just...a human thing, no matter how old you are, and..." She trailed off, and suddenly smacked herself in the forehead. "Gah, what am I doing? I feel like I'm giving a lecture myself and that's not what I want to do. Bleh." Cinder shook her head in almost horror as she imagined herself being some crusty teacher like Port.

"You say that, but...how often have you tried not coping with things in solitude?" Cinder asked, more genuinely curious than trying to make a point. A deeper frown formed on her face in the seconds following that question, and she added another in a far quieter voice. "And...how was it growing up with siblings in that household, if...if you don't mind me asking? Did that...make it better, you feel like...or worse?" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Oh don't worry dude, it has! I found a new home and a new..." She faltered in finishing that, because it wasn't strictly speaking completely true anymore. The only one left by her side that she counted in that was Hazel..and that was all her fault. "Well...Salem helped me with that. BUT LIKE I WAS SAYING DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT!" Cinder waved her hands in frantic dismissal. "I didn't come to further burden you with that!" The teenager tried to make clear before pressing on. "Yeah, I heard her and yeah, I mean...it's normal to express feelings like that when they flare up. Though I've sometimes maybe gotten too extreme about it...quite a few lectures from Professor Goodwitch on my...um...temper. But still, if you ask me, bottling that up inside is worse than just letting yourself feel it! My opinion at least."

She shrugged. "And I don't think doing so makes you seem like a child either. I think that's just...a human thing, no matter how old you are, and..." She trailed off, and suddenly smacked herself in the forehead. "Gah, what am I doing? I feel like I'm giving a lecture myself and that's not what I want to do. Bleh." Cinder shook her head in almost horror as she imagined herself being some crusty teacher like Port.

She just raised an eyebrow, having little patience for floundering even if the kindness behind it prevented that eyebrow raise from becoming her own lecture or anything more.

"You say that, but...how often have you tried not coping with things in solitude?" Cinder asked, more genuinely curious than trying to make a point. A deeper frown formed on her face in the seconds following that question, and she added another in a far quieter voice. "And...how was it growing up with siblings in that household, if...if you don't mind me asking? Did that...make it better, you feel like...or worse?"

"...Both." She finally answered in extraordinarily even tones, almost excessively so. "We each helped the other through it at its ugliest. I can't fathom how much worse it might've been if we hadn't had that. But it was... difficult, watching it happen to someone you cared for, seeing the toll it was taking and being too young and stupid to know how to... Weiss and I, we just tried to get on with it. We found it extraordinarily difficult to talk about those things even to each other, but it... I learned to stand my ground, you see, for both of us. I suppose I became a bit rebellious. But she could never... she just wasn't l-like that, she was too... polite, too concerned with the way other people felt, even him, and I—"

For whatever reason, there was a wistful little ghost of a smile on her face as she said the words, but it wasn't a happy one. It carried notes of only sadness or regret as she turned away from the room where they were all trialing and judging her sister like she was some sort of fascist or war criminal and crossed her arms with a hand concealing her eyes again. There was a very good reason Winter had seemed so mentally frayed of late. Why Yang had triggered the sort high-strung defensive outburst only an eldest sibling who had endured every manner of criticism and overly harsh scrutiny of her every failing under the sun growing up—to the point that only a vocation where you were dressed down by superiors every single day felt natural for her to pursue—could muster, all by barely speaking so much as a word. She hadn't needed to say anything at all. Winter had been leveling those same remarks against herself internally every minute of every day for the last several months. A sudden hiccup shattered her mask of composure, the ring of a sob buried in there undeniable as her shoulders started to shake.

"...She was such a polite little girl... always trying to please people... L-Look, I NEED to be alone."

Her tone was open and shut without any room to argue or even protest this time, and she turned and stalked away without another word.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Both." She finally answered in extraordinarily even tones, almost excessively so. "We each helped the other through it at its ugliest. I can't fathom how much worse it might've been if we hadn't had that. But it was... difficult, watching it happen to someone you cared for, seeing the toll it was taking and being too young and stupid to know how to... Weiss and I, we just tried to get on with it. We found it extraordinarily difficult to talk about those things even to each other, but it... I learned to stand my ground, you see, for both of us. I suppose I became a bit rebellious. But she could never... she just wasn't l-like that, she was too... polite, too concerned with the way other people felt, even him, and I—"

For whatever reason, there was a wistful little ghost of a smile on her face as she said the words, but it wasn't a happy one. It carried notes of only sadness or regret as she turned away from the room where they were all trialing and judging her sister like she was some sort of fascist or war criminal and crossed her arms with a hand concealing her eyes again. There was a very good reason Winter had seemed so mentally frayed of late. Why Yang had triggered the sort high-strung defensive outburst only an eldest sibling who had endured every manner of criticism and overly harsh scrutiny of her every failing under the sun growing up—to the point that only a vocation where you were dressed down by superiors every single day felt natural for her to pursue—could muster, all by barely speaking so much as a word. She hadn't needed to say anything at all. Winter had been leveling those same remarks against herself internally every minute of every day for the last several months. A sudden hiccup shattered her mask of composure, the ring of a sob buried in there undeniable as her shoulders started to shake.

"...She was such a polite little girl... always trying to please people... L-Look, I NEED to be alone."

Her tone was open and shut without any room to argue or even protest this time, and she turned and stalked away without another word.

That answer was unsurprising. It was one the teenager had hoped to hear yet at the same time dreaded to have confirmed by someone who went through something like that herself. "I...always wanted a sibling."

Growing up, she had so longed for somebody, anybody at all, who at the end of the day could and would be there for support. To make even the worst days of it more tolerable, to give her somebody that the mere sight of...didn't inspire fear, or rage, or hate. Yet, the thought that she was being supremely selfish in that wish warred with the hope she felt about it. Even as a kid she recognized that nobody deserved to be born into that kind of family. The idea that she'd have to watch as someone else likewise suffered under that roof, and the guilt it could provoke, knowing she had so desperately wanted a sibling...even in just her imagination those thoughts hurt so badly. Just because she'd managed to somewhat withstand the abuse, didn't guarantee that any potential sibling would have been up to the same thing.

And if she had tried to stand up for her brother or sister...it might have just made the abuse even worse.

Or...something even tougher to consider, said sibling could have taken after her parents in that way. Been the spitting image of those cruel, lazy, vain, self-centered, mean-spirited, envious, walking and talking trash cans that pretended to be people. If she'd had a brother or sister, and it had gone down like that in the worst of ways...perhaps she'd one day have been in a similar place as Winter currently was.

Maybe it was ultimately for the best that she was an only child, even when it didn't seem like it.

When Winter got up, after that hint of a sob that Cinder couldn't have missed even if Nikos had taken both her eyes away, there was no objection on Cinder's part. No attempt to follow now. "Okay...and sorry." That was all she said as she listened to the footsteps get further and further away. When she could no longer hear them, it was only then that she started to walk away herself, heading back for where Ironwood and the rest still were. As soon as she got there: "So...hey, what did I miss?"

"There's an underground fight tournament going on soon with a juicy prize we could use against Weiss if that's the way we go with, and the former general is considering having us sign up for it."

"..." She looked towards Ironwood for confirmation.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"..." She looked towards Ironwood for confirmation.

Spoiler: In actuality

"Yup."

 

[MyrtenRose]

​

 

[MidwayLives]

It'd all felt like a carefully orchestrated dream.

No matter how fast he ran, it always felt like the world around him always seemed a step ahead.

The motel had shifted overnight to a crime scene. Markers in the loby indicated where a body had fallen and the door to one particular room had been shattered.

Dried blood stains coated the street.

"No..."

He stumbled back feeling as his heart was racing a hundred miles per hour. "No...." He repeated like a sickening melody. This couldn't be happening. He hadn't been that gone long, there was no way Fox could have found them this quickly. It'd only been two days since they'd fought. The only ones who should have known they'd have been staying were just the two of them! He glanced over at the lobby. He obviously didn't know that the clerk had handed over Trifa's room number in a futile attempt to save himself. To him it looked as if Fox had simply killed the clerk and taken the information for himself. But nothing was adding up! This...This just wasn't computing with his brain. He'd promised Trifa that he'd be back, that he wouldn't have let anything like this happen. The door itself looked as if it'd been torn apart and Trifa pulled straight through what remained of it.

That...That didn't seem like Fox's M.O.

if it'd been them why not just abandon the human they'd been using after the fact? Why bother killing the clerk? But who else could have done this?! Sure, he'd ruffled more than a few feathers while roaming around Mistral for information. Nothing to the extent of them attacking Trifa.

Which meant that somebody he didn't know had taken her.

All while he'd been busy drinking.

Falling to his knees near the police tape blocking off the lobby, Tyrian stared vacantly at the destroyed room.

First it'd been Ichabod. Dying while Tyrian and Trifa had gone on to lead their own lives apart from the ring. Unable to do a damned thing to save him.

Now?

He'd gone out and for just one day in the miserable series of events that constituted his life he'd been genuinely happy.

In turn Trifa had to pay the cost for his happiness. Just as Ichabod had when he'd encouraged Tyrian to take his talents to Beacon.

He'd never be able to explain it himself but something broke inside Tyrian upon seeing this dreadful sight. Before he'd shown a minuscule hesitance for killing if needed or if he was pushed such as when he'd been at his wits end during his fight with Fox and almost gunned down the human he'd been possessing. The voices were like baying hounds urging him to give in and satisfy his innate bloodlust. To kill when the opportunity presented itself. He'd always told them to shut up or outright ignored them. if he went down that road he'd be no better than a feral animal. Just lashing out at everyone and everything. As he gazed up at the sky with his cheeks stained by tears, he exhaled.

Whether Trifa was alive or....dead.

He'd find out who did it and he'd make them suffer.

Just like Ichabod did and just like she did. He hadn't been there for them...

When all was said and done and he was still standing? What would he do then?

....The traumatized faunus truly didn't know.

Racing away from the motel, he drew his weapons and prepared for the hunt. It didn't matter if he had to tear this whole goddamn town to the ground, he'd find the one who attacked the motel and absconded with Trifa. Whether they were Shadow Fang, Ozpin's minions, or just some run of the mill psycho, he'd take on all comers.

He didn't have a choice not to.

"TRIFA!!!!"

~~~

His search had been less than fruitful. Less than usual given the blinding rage that didn't seem like it was going to be working it's way out of his system anytime soon. Coming into a rather rundown section of the town, Tyrian involuntarily shivered as a gust of wind blew past him and beyond. Letting a growl slip past his lips as his hair was blown every which way, he moved to pull the hood of his jacket up. Shitty weather wasn't going to stop him.

'Lost....?'

He paused and froze in his tracks. Had he just....Did he...

Hear someone talking to him? A quick survey around showed nobody around him. Even the alleyways seemed to have been left deserted.

Another trail of wind blew by causing Tyrian's face to scrunch up in discomfort as he tried to piece together what'd happened. "Was...I just hearing things?" It wouldn't have surprised him in the least if it was the case but somehow he didn't feel that was the case this time.

'Lost boy....'

No, he definitely wasn't hearing things that time.

"Come out and show yourself. I'm in no mood for games." The scorpion snarled, his pupils glowing as his hands took on a multicolored sheen of their own. The wind continued to blow and for a moment or two the faunus could have sworn he'd heard laughter among the wind. The chill the wind left along his shoulders felt almost...violating.

'Follow my voice on the wind....Little Scorpion.'

The faunus steeled himself and did just that....

His trek had taken him some time and plenty of sprinting but the mocking laughter on the wind lead him to what seemed like kind of abandoned warehouse. The place looked like it'd been deserted for years with dust collecting on the windows to the point you couldn't even look through them if you tried. The metal doors were coated in rust and one of the door handles had actually succumbed to time and fallen off onto the concrete steps. The seemingly ever present trails of wind that'd been harassing Tyrian blew open the doors as if to beckon him inside. Even in the depths of a psychotic break, the faunus had enough self-awareness to realize he was likely walking right into a trap.

he didn't care.

Stepping inside Tyrian watched all manner of bugs scurry and crawl further into the darkness. Due to his nature as a faunus, the darkness wasn't much of an obstacle for Tyrian. At least not as much as it was for humans. His tail was coiled up and as he walked through the floor, the place was eerrily quiet apart from the wind blowing outside and his footsteps. If there was someone else here they'd done a great job of masking themselves. Reaching a stairwell, Tyrian was nearly blown back off his feet as a huge gust of wind came surging down from the top of the steps. Skidding back but coming to a stop once he dug his heels in, Tyrian glanced up at the one who'd called him here.

They may as well have been hidden to human eyes but Tyrian could see them as clear as day.

Whether or not he wanted to see them was up for debate.

Before he'd even managed to reach the staircase, Tyrian didn't like the looks of them. They looked rusty and if one wasn't careful, he'd imagine they'd fall through if you stood on them for too long or put too much pressure on them. Now that he could see this bastard, he almost wanted to hear the groaning of the steps as they worked their way down them but that simply wasn't the case. The coattails of their coat flapped in the seemingly everpresent wind around them and their pitch black combat boots took slow methodical steps forward but not on the stairs. But rather a few inches above them. Their feet never once touched the stairwell.

"I'd....spotted you, you little tease.~"

Distorted by the reverberation the wind buzzing around their head, Tyrian could still feel the sliminess ooze off the stranger's words. But he hadn't come all the way to this dump to be creeped out, this person had apparently been following him for some time and he didn't have the slightest goddamn clue as to who they were. Pointing a finger accusingly at the figure, Tyrian barked.

"Listen up, you Shadow Fang filth! Tell me where she is right now and I'll let you live."

The figure said nothing, instead merely quirking thier head to the side.

"...Fucker! Answer me!" Tyrian snarled as he started to make his way forward.

"Not....what you're looking for....That's not me. The voices don't like the animals." As with the creepy statement that'd proceeded it, Tyrian could feel the audible disgust in the mention of 'animals' like a baseball bat striking him in the head. "No....You can call me Jack. Or..." The figure's twisted grin only seemed to grow wider.

"Daddy."

Tyrian's face twisted in revulsion. Jack....Was this guy just some goddamn pervert who'd lured him here trying to get his rocks off?

Normally, Tyrian may have just let them off with an asskicking.

But that side of him was away and Tyrian didn't know when he'd be back. Which is why he promptly raised one of his gauntlets and prepared to simply gun this fucker down right then and there. "Jack, creep, asshole, whatever. I'm in the middle of something and I'm sorry to say..." Tyrian chuckled darkly. "I don't have time in the schedule for creepy fucks like you."

If 'Jack' was bothered by the reveal of the barrels, he didn't let it show at all in his body language.

"...Just a pervert, huh? Maybe this'll help..." Jack reached inside his jacket and fished out something.

"DON't FUCKING MOVE-"

Before he could finish his sentence and fire, Tyrian froze once more. The object in Jack's hand...it was...

Trifa's mask. Torn to shit and covered in blood but he'd recognize it anywhere.

This was the piece of shit who'd attacked the motel and killed the clerk and...

HE TOOK TRIFA!!!!

"Hehehe...Are you upset? You shouldn't be....Daddy understands, he really does...' Jack murmured in a tone that seemed more like a parent consoling their misbehaving child than a serial killer mocking his prey. "You shouldn't be though, y'know? Spider helped me out a lot. I'd been looking for a little....release." The emphasis on the last word in that sentence didn't particularly carry positive implications. "It's both your fault's for this. I saw you two come into town and when I see something I want, I take it, it's mine. Seeing her face covered in her own blood. I'd never meant to hurt you two. She...just...kept making me think those thoughts....Forgive me? Forgive me!"

Tyrian said nothing but the trembling of his body wasn't from the wind or it being cold out tonight.

He was absolutely seething.

They'd come here to search for clues on where to find Taurus. He'd gotten them mixed up in a two person war against the entire Shadow Fang and instead of making sure both of them were safe, he'd gone and got himself utterly wasted. While he slept on the cold hardwood floor, a predator who'd been stalking them since they'd arrived in town had made his move and Trifa paid for Tryian's mistakes.

Just like every other time.

Well, he was going to make it up to her. One way or another.

"Jack, was it...? How did she taste...?"

Jack didn't miss a beat.

"Absolutely...exquisite."

Tyrian raised both his gauntlets.

"That so? Then eat this you fucker!!"

The darkness was temporarily alleviated as bullets soared straight on the direct path to Jack. But even after Tyrian's clear intent being to kill him, the serial killer took no precautions or seemed worried in the slightest. The bullets never actually touched Jack's aura, instead being caught up in the wind barrier he constantly kept up around himself. In real-time Tyrian could see all the shots he'd fired circling around Jack and then-

"Coming back."

The shots were returned at an even faster rate than Tyrian's weapons had been pumping them out. Crates were blown open, windows were shattered at the few that Tyrian managed to dodge but the majority didn't miss their mark due to Jack guiding them along subtly with his wind. The faunus's aura flared as if Tyrian had become a flare as he was thrown back through a pile of stacked crates by his own ammunition. It was clear enough that this guy's semblance let him control wind in different ways but to finesse it to such a degree that he could almost exactly guide them to hit their mark and nail him? What a frightening ability...

"Here's a fact...."

Jack started as he began 'walking' down towards Tyrian.

"You won't lay a hand on me unless I will it."

Incensed by the cockiness on display, Tyrian's tail swung around to smash into some of the crates he'd been knocked into. As splinters cascaded through the air, Tyrian burst forward. Fine control or not, he didn't give a damn. This freak was going to pay! Watching as Tyrian barreled towards him, Jack shook his head from side to side.

Tyrian reared back his left arm...

"No."

"RRRRRRAAAAAGHHHHH!!!" The arm was thrown forward in an attempt to try and skewer Jack. But before the faunus could even fully register what'd happened, his blades ended up crashing into the handrail of the staircase shearing the rusted metal and making the decrepit steps even more unsteady. "Look at the way you move, you're her little angel, aren't you....?" Jack teased before he was gone from Tyrian's immediate field of vision. Ripping his gauntlet free, Tyrian swayed on the staircase as he looked from side to side to side.

"Here's another fact for you....."

"BASTARD-"

Tyrian's tail lashed out but not quicker than the punch he'd earned right to the face.

The stinger went wide completely missing Jack's person entirely.

Tyrian was flung back against the staircase itself, his vision going blurry if just for a moment as he tried to collect his barings. "One...One punch hurt that much...?" Looking up , he saw the ominous figure that Jack cut looming above him on the staircase leaving him with nowhere to run.

"You won't escape me, Scorpion. Spider couldn't either..."

Tyrian roared and hopped back to his feet. A bit too quickly as just as he'd predicted, one of the steps gave way and Tyrian's left leg got stuck in the process. "Damn it!!!" He cursed as Jack noted the faunus's predicament and proceeded to....

Kick him right in the face.

The aura flared and Tyrian was taken for a loop yet again.

The blows kept on coming. From different angles and quicker than he could respond to. Kicks, punches, it didn't matter. Using the wind to 'hop' from one spot to the other in quick succession, Jack appeared to have superhuman speed along the lines of one ex-Ace Ops Harriet Bree but rather it was simply him kicking off the wind itself and using it to boost himself along. There wasn't an angle he hadn't accounted for, any direction that his wind couldn't traverse in. As long as the projectiles weren't explosives/if they were, most with a long enough detonation time could still be deflected/returned, none could touch him through his barrier and the same went for punches and kicks.

Stopping after one more punch, Jack turned his right hand with the palm facing upwards and raised his fingers. A powerful gust of wind came from underneath the stuck faunus and ripped him free from the staircase he'd been stuck in and too busy being pummeled to escape from. Rearing back his fist, Jack cracked Tyrian right in the stomach and with the extra oomph from the wind behind his punch, the faunus was sent hurtling into and through a crate on the ground floor of the warehouse. As he crashed into the large wooden box like a living rocket, Tyrian's aura flared yet again as he lay in a pile of debris while flat on his back.

All the times he'd gotten angry....

Nora, Qrow, Fox....

They'd all played on it and used it against him.

It didn't matter whether he was angry or not. He was toying with Tyrian like Fox had and the both of them knew it.

"Oh dear..."

Jack commented as he hopped from one foot to the other on little more than the air itself.

"It'll all end in tears at this rate, I'm afraid, little Scorpion..."

"Fuck....You..." Tyrian growled as he pushed himself back up to his feet. He'd taken an absolute thrashing. This guy's semblance wasn't too unique. He'd seen Cinder pull off elemental techniques before, hell, he'd seen....His face fell into a deep frown as he recalled the battle back at Haven....where Vernal had betrayed them and he'd lost his old tail.

"...."

"Something on your mind...?"

Jack had jumped to Tyrian's position while the faunus had been caught up in his thoughts. As the two stared eachother down, Tyrian huffed and his hands began to take on the glow they had earlier. "Trifa....Is she alive..." The way he'd phrased it made it clear that Tyrian was more demanding an answer than asking for one.

"She is."

"For how much longer...?"

" 'Til I've had my fill of her. Same goes for you..."

"Then in order to save her, I've gotta take you down here and force you tell me where she is."

"Unlikely..."

Jack reached inside his coat once more.

Tyrian giggled.



"I think that's enough talk...*cough* don't you?"

"..."

Tyrian lunged forward and attempted to try and make contact with Jack's person. If he could just get one hand on him in the right spot...He could still turn this around....He could bring this bastard down....

He could actually save someone he'd cared about.

The swipes, numerous as they were, were deflected without Jack so much as moving a muscle. Either Tyrian's hands were way off the mark or his footing was knocked off to such a degree that he stumbled from side to side like he'd done the other day when he'd been wasted out of his gourd.

Jack didn't get to come out much. The voices didn't like it when he wanted to play. They believed him to be a bad man. It hurt to be thought of in such a way. It wasn't his fault, really it wasn't. It was people like the Spider and Scorpion.....Tempting him with their disgusting innocent looks making him want them....Still, even the Spider hadn't been this persistent. Just as none of the other motel patrons came out to try and help Trifa, it seemed there was nobody in sight to help Tyrian. Part of why he did this was to satisfy himself. The urges that welled up inside him simply couldn't be contained after a while. He needed to let them out and this was the way to do it.

Tyrian's persistence had soured the mood.

Which meant it was time to bring this farce to a close and take the Scorpion 'home.'

*shunk*

*drip* *drip*

What was this....warm...wet stuff running down his stomach?

Oh....He'd been stabbed right in the gut.

Truth be told even with faunus eyes, he hadn't even seen the bastard draw a blade or even noticed one embedded into his flesh.

"It'll hurt but I'll patch you up. You'll get more scars...More wounds....Until I grow tired of you too."

He went to pull the blade back but paused in surprise as Tyrian grabbed his arm. "Wha-What??"

"...Heh."

Tyrian glanced up, his eyed radiating with determination.

"I..gave it some thought....about after the 20th or so time you punched me....The barrier you have around yourself....The wind needs to be dispersed when you want to throw a punch or grab something...." The grip on Jack's arm grew tighter. "So for those precious few seconds, I can put my hands on you...Guess your 'will' ended up benefiting me instead, huh?" The aura around Jack's arm began to fade and the serial killer finally seemed like he was starting to lose his composure. "You.....You can't....Can't do that!!!" He screamed as he went to pull his arm back from Tyrian.

*slash!*

A scrap of the bandages that made up jack's mask wafted to the ground. A tuft of hair stuck out but Tyrian was too tired to see what color it was. Had he known, he might have been more confused than when this whole mess started. "Hehehe....Was trying to cut one of your eyeballs out....Give you something to remember Trifa and me by....Guess I messed up. Ah well."

"AAgh....AAAAH....My face....MY FACE!!!!"

Jack ripped his invisible blade free and disappeared from Tyrian's sight, reappearing behind him.

One hand clutching at the portion of his exposed face and the other raised up in a chopping motion.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE FUCKING ANIMAL!!! YOU'VE RUINED IT!!! YOU RUINED MY FACE!!!"

His hand swung down and Tyrian's aura finally gave way.

As did his collarbone.

A loud crack filled the warehouse and Tyrian took a few curious steps forward.

'What....What did he just do to me....?' He pondered as the pain hadn't quite caught up. Shock and all that.

.....

...Ah, there it was.

Tyrian fell to his knees and while he'd been terrified of Carneilan, absolutely shaken to his core, he clutched at his arm and...

Just cried....

"Mo...Mommy!!! Daddy!!!" The faunus whimpered in between his terrified sobs. The blow he'd managed to land had taken off a snippet of Jack's mask but nothing more. He'd cried and prepared to die when Carneilan said he'd kill him. He'd believed the general would have done it without a second thought and there would have been nothing Tyrian could have done to stop him.

Here?

He HAD tried doing something and it'd failed. He'd failed to even come close to finding out Trifa's whereabouts and now...

He looked over his shoulder at the horrifying figure lurking inches away from him.

"AAAAAGhhhhh!!!!! NNGFHHHHHH!!!! No....NO!!!"

Jack truly didn't understand WHY he wore a mask or why it was so bad if it got damaged/destroyed. All he knew was that the voices didn't like it. They really, really didn't like it. They'd berate him constantly even when he was trying to indulge himself and now they were screaming and it was all his fault! One hand clutching tightly to the side of his head, Jack took a step towards Tyrian...who cowered away, whimpering as he did so. Jack flicked his blade to the side sending a splatter of Tyrian's fresh blood onto the ground. He drew closer and closer until he was practically atop the poor boy.

Tyrian was at a loss for words. He'd been thoroughly bested and the only thing he could do was revert back to the little slave he'd been back before he'd met Ichabod. "Pl-Please!! Don't hurt me!!! Don't!!!"

"....It's okay."

Jack reached out and gently wrapped his free hand around Tyrian's neck. The bandages around his hands prevented him from truly savoring the feeling of what was to come next. But for what had been done to his mask, he was sure he'd find enjoyment in some way shape or form. "Daddy's here..." The grip suddenly grew tight and Tyrian let out a terrified wheeze as he could feel a sudden escape of air rush out of his mouth. His face still partially obscured, his 'glowing' eye stared down into Tyrian's pupils, a look of sadistic joy compared to a child's petrified fear.

"And he's never going to let you go...."

Tyrian's gasps grew harder and harder until....

"Hello?! Is anyone in here?!"

That voice....Jack himself couldn't recognize it but he knew that the voices in his head did. It was someone important. Someone that he couldn''t play with like had the Spider and Scorpion. "....Looks like I'll have to leave you here...." Tossing the scorpion to the ground to bleed and sob, Jack turned away. "But I think we've seen that you can't protect your friends....Maybe I'll play with them next..."

With that the killer simply....walked away.

As he lay there bleeding from a stab wound and in angonizing pain from a fractured collarbone, Tyrian could only look up at the ceiling of the warehouse. Even though the guy was a total creep, a friggin pervert, and murderer, he was right. He'd set out on this mission to find and avenge Ichabod against Taurus. What hopes did he ever have of achieving that if he couldn't even stop a run of the mill serial killer with a tweaked out semblance from running roughshod over him?

None, that's what.

'Maybe....' He thought, 'Maybe it'd better if I didn't wake up...'

Having been alerted to the trouble brewing into the warehouse after his subordinates reported hearing loud gusts of wind coming from within/around the place, he'd taken it upon himself to check. After all, it was what a leader did for those under him. Take the first plunge into anything that might seem dangerous. If he couldn't handle it then the others needn't risk their lives. As he continued into the warehouse however, the wind seemed to have stopped. "...Damn it." Had he been too late? Was whatever happened here already over?

"Wait..."

Was....Was that a trail of blood? Following the path it'd left behind, the figure who'd arrived just in the knick of time came across quite the depressing sight.

A boy whom'd wished to die and simply could not.
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"You can't go, by the way." He added casually, just in case it wasn't obvious that they weren't going to be putting a maiden at risk at that. "I suggest you instead use the coming weeks to train and develop under Raven's tutelage, like she suggested. Mister Winters, not to be skeptical, but I hope you've given this adequate thought as well."

His words were, however, indeed skeptical as he sent a pointed glance Grey's way.

"You aren't a huntsman or soldier. You went into detail just a few minutes ago about how you don't consider yourself a fighter, while every single person competing against you will. A majority of them will also most likely consider themselves killers. Your semblance is interesting, don't get me wrong, but understand I'm not trying to insult you when I say you may simply be outclassed. Not to mention, they don't go out of their way to ensure those who try to earn spots in the fights but aren't up to par make it through the experience unscathed. There's no guarantee you'll even survive the preliminaries."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You can't go, by the way." He added casually, just in case it wasn't obvious that they weren't going to be putting a maiden at risk at that. "I suggest you instead use the coming weeks to train and develop under Raven's tutelage, like she suggested."

"I didn't plan on it." Cinder agreed. She sure didn't want to be part of that, especially not when her time could be better spent. "Yeah, good call. Already got some of that from one spring maiden...might as well get some more from another one." She gave a supportive thumbs up over to Ironwood after that suggestion. "And...I don't know if you guys have gotten any closer to making a call about Weiss, one way or the other, but whichever you decide...I'm with you." The teenager nodded to emphasize that further. "Though, if there's nothing else you need me for right now...General, may I have permission to go...you know?" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Ma'ams, sir. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but what the hell? " She asked as she rubbed the side of her head. "I do not understand, truly. Why spend a month pretending to be the Miss then just tell the biggest name in town she's dead? Hell, he's one of the people you bamboozled a few weeks past! The hell was the point? And... its Callie. Callie Jane." She answered with a gruff frown in the face of Mercury's boyish charm, already flustered by her life falling to shambles around her.

"Callie, Callie. Babe."

If the rugged criminal imperviousness to his moves dissuaded Mercury even slightly in any way, it didn't register in his approach. He effortlessly inched forward where he was leaning over the bar and threw out that smooth, reassuring, slightly-red-flaggy-because-obviously-someone's-had-way-too-much-practice-at-this hand, grip steady enough to be assuaging without being unpleasantly firm.

Spoiler

"We couldn't just throw up some eternal pokerface and bluff our way through Mistral's whole ass organized crime scene forever. That's like, a super shaky foundation to run a business like this off. Transfers of power like this one happen in the criminal underworld all the time. It's happening all across the kingdom, right now. Old bosses get bumped off, new ones take over. S'no biggie. Everyone knows the nature of the beast. You just gotta ease into the new way of things, that's all. That's key. Sure, yeah, we kept what happened here on the DL for a little while. Kept the hyenas off our backs and the sharks from smelling blood while we learned the ropes. Now, we're ready. We're good. Time for Miss Malachite's to reopen under new management."

Had their faces always been this close? Just how far was Mercury leaning over the counter right now? These were the questions that she didn't have answers for. Maybe she didn't want them.

"...Riiiiiiiiiiight after you give us one last instructional crash course in how to do... everything. Just to make sure we really got it, y'know? Sh."

He smirked at her as his other hand softly touched two fingers to her lips, muting her in a gentle sort of way almost the moment she started to give a reply.

"Hold onto that thought for me so I can give it the attention it deserves. Looks like some bum just rolled in off the street; probably 'boutta start shaking customers down for spare change. A bouncer's work is never over."

Nor had his literally even begun yet, but whatever. He pushed off the bartop playfully and made his way over to deal with it, strut casual and unconcerned.

Her hand lowered back to her side and she strode right in without any further delay. "Heya, Miss M, you around?" She called out as she entered. "Dunno if you'd remember me, been a while. Got a proposition for you."

Which meant Vernal definitely recognized his face before he did hers, covered up, hooded, and homeless looking as she was, so she had her pick of a chosen response to someone who definitely wasn't going to respond well to seeing her swaggering over like he owned the place.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I didn't plan on it." Cinder agreed. She sure didn't want to be part of that, especially not when her time could be better spent. "Yeah, good call. Already got some of that from one spring maiden...might as well get some more from another one." She gave a supportive thumbs up over to Ironwood after that suggestion. "And...I don't know if you guys have gotten any closer to making a call about Weiss, one way or the other, but whichever you decide...I'm with you." The teenager nodded to emphasize that further. "Though, if there's nothing else you need me for right now...General, may I have permission to go...you know?"

"I do not, but permission granted."

Not like she fell under his chain of command, and he imagined she was sharp enough by this point to take the necessary precautions. Call it intuition.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The thunderous sound of a fierce explosion echoed throughout much of the building, enough so that parts of said building even shook a little. Those closer(unluckily?) to one particular lab in that building, they might have been able to make out the sounds of frantic shouting in the wake of whatever had just gone off in there. "Jennings! Unseal the door already!"

"I'm ahead of you there, master He--"

"THEN WHY ISN'T IT OPEN YET?"

"Perhaps, if you relaxed some of the security measures on the door, it could--"

"Not an option! You know well how I hate to be disturbed when I'm in the middle of something!"

"Then I'm afraid you will just have to grow accustomed to the slight delay, master Helios."

"Just...do the thing!" Gwen finished, accompanied by a series of rough sounding coughs. Her arms flailed frantically, trying to clear some of the smoke away from her face.

"Done." He acknowledged, with a trace amount of smug satisfaction. The door slid open, folding into the wall. Immediately a thick cloud of black smoke billowed out through the open lab door and into the hallway itself, giving the special operative inside a little bit more breathing room. "Hey! Don't think t-that I didn't h-hear that in your voice!" Gwen pointed out in an annoyed grumble. "Also, make sure the ventilation system is cranked up to max in here!"

"Already on it..."

"Fan-tastic!"

"...was that a--"

"NOPE." Any further attempts at a conversation between them were readily ignored for the moment, Gwen's mind elsewhere now. She tapped away at a scroll, a red light soon emerging in the corner of the device to signify that the audio recording function still worked properly. "Special Operative GH, audio log number 11-16-2007. SO! Turns out there is such a thing as having too MUCH power applied to a wrist-mounted railgun. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, you could never have too much power!" Whether she was being serious or not, it was difficult to tell. "In other news, Jennings reported to me earlier that the two trespassers still have not been located, which, admittedly, did dampen my mood some. Either the two are craftier than I gave them credit for, or the AK-200s and Omega Squad are not operating at the level of proficiency I expected. Perhaps both, now that I consider it. Nevertheless, they will not rest until they do find that elusive duo! Special Operative GH, end log." She tapped at the scroll again, ending the recording.

Gwen turned back to her companion. "Jennings?"

"Master Helios?" The modified AK-130 replied back to the absolutely filthy looking Spec-Ops soldier, her pale skin marred with splotches of black all over the place.

"Is there a break in my schedule for a shower?"

The robot brought that up in a holographic display, rapidly looking through. "...If you rush one, perhaps."

"Hngh...right."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

View attachment 720867

"I do not, but permission granted."

Not like she fell under his chain of command, and he imagined she was sharp enough by this point to take the necessary precautions. Call it intuition.​

"...The, you know...you gave me the address some time ago...that?" Cinder continued, perhaps unnecessarily, considering how he had just given permission, but she wanted him to know very well what she was talking about. "Thanks nevertheless for the permission."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...The, you know...you gave me the address some time ago...that?" Cinder continued, perhaps unnecessarily, considering how he had just given permission, but she wanted him to know very well what she was talking about. "Thanks nevertheless for the permission."​

"Oh, you mean the extremely memorable highlight of my day. Of course."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Which meant Vernal definitely recognized his face before he did hers, covered up, hooded, and homeless looking as she was, so she had her pick of a chosen response to someone who definitely wasn't going to respond well to seeing her swaggering over like he owned the place.

She came to an abrupt stop the very second she noticed that face, the bags of stuff she had in hand slipping from her grasp and dropping to the floor. This guy...why is he here? Of all people, and of all places...here?? Now??? The appropriate response would have probably been to run the hell back out but...something inside kept her feet almost glued to the floor, hardly a muscle moving as he approached. Her blue eyes shot around, trying to see if any of his pals were about too.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She came to an abrupt stop the very second she noticed that face, the bags of stuff she had in hand slipping from her grasp and dropping to the floor. This guy...why is he here? Of all people, and of all places...here?? Now??? The appropriate response would have probably been to run the hell back out but...something inside kept her feet almost glued to the floor, hardly a muscle moving as he approached. Her blue eyes shot around, trying to see if any of his pals were about too.

Mercury came to a halt in front of her, sized her up under the hood, and...

"No homeless. Out."

Apparently just completely, entirely, did not even recognize her one little bit.

Apparently. The tone he told her to leave with was not one that invited argument, though, and how much of that was simple dedication to his new job was uncertain. Though it had to seem pretty blasé in light of the way their last encounter went, in the event he hadn't somehow completely forgotten her face over the last few months.

As a point of interest, Emerald's eye was sharply keeping track of the situation from behind the bar, and if Neo happened to chance a glance over at any point then it was a totally different face she saw under that hood. This one.

​