Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

As fueled by hate and bloodthirsty as he obviously was, the fact that her assailant was far from a mindless berserker became apparent as he slowed his sprint in the last few steps to anticipate her own offensive strike. A quick burst of force from his palm gave her the distance she wanted, but it came at the cost of him being disoriented as he whipped his fearsome glare up to where she was being pulled towards her hammer.

He thrust out a hand with the force of a bullet, and she stopped.

There wasn't any deceleration or wind resistance. All her momentum just halted out of nowhere, and rather than being pulled towards it her hammer started falling towards her as the warrior snarled and hurled the crimson helicopter of death towards her suspended position once again.

There it was.

The inherent reason why fighting somebody who could even remotely do the same sort of thing as Glynda could was a very disadvantageous struggle. Getting stuck in mid-air like that. Like c’mon, how is that even fair? They could just play ping-pong with opponent!

But she wasn’t going to just sit there and just take it. She was going to do everything she could to fight back.

In this case it meant straining against the force keeping her pinned. Gradually, little by little, the muscles currently amped up managed to actually do so. It was slow, and sluggish, like she was moving her arms in water except the water was some sort of glue or something like that, but she managed still!

And when she did, the gravity dust infused gauntlet shined once more and brought her hammer right into her hand and she swung wildly with it, aiming to slam into the handle part of that staff and knock it down to the ground below before it could hit her again.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Wouldn't exactly say I wanted this, Ray. It's just my life."

And with that life came the frustration. His total inability to explain the nature of his existence to anyone who didn't have a lifetime of context backing it up, to counter their well-meaning optimism with the cold, harsh reality of his own personal timeline up to now. One where more friends, acquaintances, and allies-by-circumstance than he could count had paid the price for not giving him a wide berth, for dismissing his concerns about his own semblance as nothing more than jaded cynicism or anxiety brought on by what a mopey debbie downer he was. And like a total moron, he had let them. Even though he was the only one who'd ever been in a position to know, and probably the only one who ever would.

And in spite of all of that... she didn't even have to make her own points aloud for them to already be weighing heavily on his own mind. This was gonna turn into an unmitigated slaughter if someone didn't warn enough of their own about the tidal wave of teeth and claws coming their way, and he hadn't seen many qualified and non-crooked huntsmen or huntresses kicking around likely to take up the task themselves over getting a leg up on their competition. In other circumstances he might've still been too stubborn to consider it, but for as much as they were fully fledged huntresses now and all the fact that he still very much felt some kind of duty of care towards the younger generation from his own world gnawed at him too much not to mull it over.

"...Not sure how much better it is if I offload my curse on some other poor schmuck instead of someone with at least some idea what they're in for. But I have one term, and don't try to argue or haggle me down from it. If at any point things take a turn and it looks like I'm in a tight spot... you go. Ditch me. Believe me, I'll be fine. I wouldn't exactly say luck's always on my side, but it's never on the side of anyone trying to put the hurt on me, and if you make a habit of jumpin' to my rescue like you did just now... Well, one of us is gonna end up dead."

He was happy to leave it implicit who he intended that to be if it came down to it. He didn't turn to face her yet, but neither did he walk away as he stood there, stoic.

She was silent for a good thirty seconds or so before she finally turned. "Okay." She stated. "I agree to that. If things go sideways and we end up in a bad spot, and there's no other choice, I'll...I'll leave you behind. I promise." The reluctance and sadness in those words were reflected in the pained look on her face as she said those words. Not only for the words themselves, as much as it hurt to say them considering that the last family member she'd left behind had...lost so much of herself, but also because...

Because it was a complete fucking lie.

If all this has to end with one of us dying...it has to be me. You can’t die here. You have far more to live for than I do. You have a world to get back to and people, a family that cares about you...who need you to watch over them when you do get back there. Friends that need your support. So you damn well are going to get back there, you idiot. No matter what it takes. And if it means that I....I have to die to make sure you get there...well. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

She wasn't much fond of lying to her brother, but if it came down to that or abandoning him? It wasn't a choice at all. He didn't need to know that, though.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

There it was.

The inherent reason why fighting somebody who could even remotely do the same sort of thing as Glynda could was a very disadvantageous struggle. Getting stuck in mid-air like that. Like c’mon, how is that even fair? They could just play ping-pong with opponent!

But she wasn’t going to just sit there and just take it. She was going to do everything she could to fight back.

In this case it meant straining against the force keeping her pinned. Gradually, little by little, the muscles currently amped up managed to actually do so. It was slow, and sluggish, like she was moving her arms in water except the water was some sort of glue or something like that, but she managed still!

And when she did, the gravity dust infused gauntlet shined once more and brought her hammer right into her hand and she swung wildly with it, aiming to slam into the handle part of that staff and knock it down to the ground below before it could hit her again.

Their weapons clashed in a shower of sparks at the last possible second, sending his spinning back towards the floor and drawing a snarl from the fierce warrior as with a grunt he wrenched his outstretched hand towards the ground. Nora found herself launched towards the hard arena floor with similar momentum, and the faunus leapt high into the air with a burst of telekinetic momentum to snatch his bladestaff from its trajectory and attempt to bring it straight down on Nora's face, movements disciplined and only slightly affected by the fact he had his eyes closed.

She was silent for a good thirty seconds or so before she finally turned. "Okay." She stated. "I agree to that. If things go sideways and we end up in a bad spot, and there's no other choice, I'll...I'll leave you behind. I promise." The reluctance and sadness in those words were reflected in the pained look on her face as she said those words. Not only for the words themselves, as much as it hurt to say them considering that the last family member she'd left behind had...lost so much of herself, but also because...

Because it was a complete fucking lie.

If all this has to end with one of us dying...it has to be me. You can’t die here. You have far more to live for than I do. You have a world to get back to and people, a family that cares about you...who need you to watch over them when you do get back there. Friends that need your support. So you damn well are going to get back there, you idiot. No matter what it takes. And if it means that I....I have to die to make sure you get there...well. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

She wasn't much fond of lying to her brother, but if it came down to that or abandoning him? It wasn't a choice at all. He didn't need to know that, though.

"Raven, you..."

He began, uncertain of how to proceed. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.



"...You dumb bitch. You're still the worst freakin' pathetic excuse for a liar I've ever seen no matter what timeline you come from, you know that right? Sure, no doubt, there are plenty of people that con probably woulda gone off without a hitch on. But not me. Know how I know? It's that brooding, glazed-over look in your eye every time you go quiet for like half a minute while you have some conflicted inner monologue. Same one I get. That's how. Whatever, let's just go."

That mic drop aside, he had already turned around himself to cement the eye contact by the time she did so. He guessed they'd just have to cross that bridge if they came to it. Right now it was more important they focused than give any more time to either of their angst, and he gave a huff that was more a growl as he trudged past her with hands in his pockets.

"First things first... who here can your portals reach? That croc lady turned, is there a reason we can't just go jack her keycard with the element of surprise right now?" :|

He would've preferred to make a beeline for his niece, honestly, but somehow he didn't see it as a likely prospect that any kind of daughterly bonds had gone and formed in his absence. And the Raven who could help with that was having some kinda crisis, so that was out. It was always something with their family...​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Their weapons clashed in a shower of sparks at the last possible second, sending his spinning back towards the floor and drawing a snarl from the fierce warrior as with a grunt he wrenched his outstretched hand towards the ground. Nora found herself launched towards the hard arena floor with similar momentum, and the faunus leapt high into the air with a burst of telekinetic momentum to snatch his bladestaff from its trajectory and attempt to bring it straight down on Nora's face, movements disciplined and only slightly affected by the fact he had his eyes closed.

She hit the ground like a bullet, the impact knocking some of her breath out of her on impact, but there was only so much time to deal with that right now. Her aura was buzzing on high alert throughout all this, and as he came down, she forced herself to roll away at the last possible second so that his weapon only speared into the ground. She didn't roll that far away, however, and as that roll quickly came to a halt barely two seconds later, she was glaring at him in more than an irritated mood. More important than that, her weapon had once more shifted as well. At near point blank range she fired the single grenade in there, aimed at the ground where he had stabbed into.​

"Raven, you..."

He began, uncertain of how to proceed. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"...You dumb bitch. You're still the worst freakin' pathetic excuse for a liar I've ever seen no matter what timeline you come from, you know that right? Sure, no doubt, there are plenty of people that con probably woulda gone off without a hitch on. But not me. Know how I know? It's that brooding, glazed-over look in your eye every time you go quiet for like half a minute while you have some conflicted inner monologue. Same one I get. That's how. Whatever, let's just go."

That mic drop aside, he had already turned around himself to cement the eye contact by the time she did so. He guessed they'd just have to cross that bridge if they came to it. Right now it was more important they focused than give any more time to either of their angst, and he gave a huff that was more a growl as he trudged past her with hands in his pockets.

"First things first... who here can your portals reach? That croc lady turned, is there a reason we can't just go jack her keycard with the element of surprise right now?" :|

He would've preferred to make a beeline for his niece, honestly, but somehow he didn't see it as a likely prospect that any kind of daughterly bonds had gone and formed in his absence. And the Raven who could help with that was having some kinda crisis, so that was out. It was always something with their family...

"....Oh." She replied as she blinked several times in shocked surprise at being confronted that bluntly. Perhaps she shouldn't have been. "Guess I am. Can't say I have that much practice with it." Raven shrugged. She had failed to fool Qrow but all the same it didn't seem to matter much being caught in her boldfaced lie, because he didn't turn away further and leave to find someone else to partner with. Maybe the future might end up showing that was a poor decision but even that dark thought couldn't erase the grateful appreciation that they were together in this madness. It was like he said...nobody alive knew her better than he did. Even from different worlds, some things just didn't change. It was so relieving in fact, that she couldn't stop the goofy looking grin from appearing on her face for a short while. It was gone by the time he asked about her portals though.

"Just you...and her, yeah." She sighed and crossed her arms. "We likely could. The two of us against her, yeah, it should be sufficient. But...it doesn't make any sense for her to have just turned like that. She spent decades being as loyal to Salem as any of us. The trust was there, through whatever troubles arose and even as...some close to her turned their backs. For her to just decide now to do that...no. Something's up." Yet at the same time, even despite wishing to figure out what the hell had gotten into the faunus to provoke this...the pragmatic side of Raven recognized that the two of them removing a dangerous player like Tock in a surprise ambush could only be beneficial to all their other allies. Suffice it to say she was conflicted with that course of action, but even so...

"If you think that's the play to make, then I'm with you." She'd do it and deal with the rest after.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Ruby found herself on the lower levels of the maintenance block, seemingly no luck in scouting other competitors to be had down this deep. Plenty of robots though. A majority of her opponents/prospective partners appeared to have chosen higher floors to begin their preliminary on, and she hadn't spent too long wandering when she was reminded why.

These floors, labyrinth of pipes, steam and droid repair units as they were, were the ones positioned right above the containment level. The maze separating that supposedly awful Grimm Jabberwocky had described from the residential floors. She heard something, echoing faintly through the darkness from a particular corridor branching off from the intersection she found herself at. It could've been one of two things; the first was simple release of steam from a pipe somewhere, generating a whistle that was shrill and warbling as it reverberated off the metal walls.

The other possibility was the ghastly wail of an old woman. Or an impersonation of one. Whatever it was, her neck started to tingle as its hairs all stood up at once.

The rose petals vanished and Ruby came to a stop in her stride.

The atmosphere had shifted tremendously.

What...What was this feeling of menace looming over her?

Without even realizing it, the fingers on Ruby's artificial hand began to tremble and twitch.

It was rather difficult to summarize it up in a concise phrase. At least when it was so simple to begin with.

She was afraid of whatever it was that lurked ahead. Grimm had been seen as lest of a threat over the years. Mindless creatures that she'd easily dispatch if they stepped out of line and tried attacking her. She'd even gone out of her way to clear them out when combating the other world's Neo. This wasn't just another Grimm though. The whole mood felt off. She took a step back and then another while keeping her flesh and blood hand wrapped around Crescent's handle to try and give herself some comfort. The feeling she was experiencing, she was finally able to place it.

"Yang."

The two had fought too much for Ruby to truly understand the weight behind the...thing that'd taken the place of her Yang's arm. During their fight in the motel whenever Ruby had pressed Yang into a corner, dredged up memories of days long since past where Ruby was in charge, it'd felt as if a switch had been flicked everytime Yang jumped at the bit to lash back. To shrug off her silver eyes and treat her as if she were little more than a kid playing dressup. A lonely murderous creep who couldn't stand that Yang wouldn't even look her in the eyes with anything but burning contempt. Whatever that 'thing' was, it wasn't any Grimm that Ruby had seen before. It felt far more primordial, an evil which didn't care for or wished to humor Ruby's attempts at domination.

And in the end whatever Ruby may have thought at the time, she didn't leave on her own terms. She'd been thoroughly humiliated. Bested in both physical ability and then through the realization that this creature could have seriously mutilated her if push came to shove and Ruby didn't have the slightest line of defense in her eyes. The uneasiness she'd felt now was 100% similar to what she was feeling now. That existential feeling of dread that filtered into every part of your being. That there was something out there that you just weren't ready to handle.

"...I shouldn't go any further..." That's what her body was telling-no, screaming at her. Experienced as she was and eager for a chance to prove herself, to stay down here and pursue this further would end up being more than she bargained for. Placing both hands on Crescent Rose, Ruby's eyes darted from side to side as the noises fell over her ears. They...reminded her more of Maria than she'd have ever cared to hear.

Uneasy as she was, she couldn't let it visibly get to her. Not now, now wasn't the time or the place. It'd draw them upon her. Killing the Grimm wasn't why she was here. She needed to find someone with a keycard and she needed to do it now!

~~~
​

Hmmm...

Her stare was contemplative as she looked on. She didn't move further from the corner she was peeking around but a moment later she did fire two bolts to ricochet off the walls on their way to hit the man in the head.​

"...Hmm?"

The bolts pinged off the walls and the grin never left Satin's face.

"Well, would you look at that?~"

Someone had spotted him and decided to test their luck.

Too bad for them.

Raising his left hand, a gout of fire surged out to consume/destroy one of the two bolts. The other was swiftly grabbed by Satin inches away from clocking against the aura around his face. "Phew. Close call there..." The captured bolt immediately went up in flames before being dropped unceremoniously at Satin's feet smoldering as it went. Looking over in the direction he'd heard the pinging coming from, he debated for the briefest of seconds: Do I really wanna shoot to kill? What if this person wants to throw in with me? Must of been pretty ballsy to see what I did to those bots and still wanna scrap with me.

....

'Ah well. If this kills them then they weren't worth it anyway. '

As the smoke from the bolt he'd destroyed wafted downb the opposite hall, Satin held his hand down towards the hallway he'd heard the bolts pinging around from. If he got the sucker who'd shot at him, great. If they died then it was just a grunt who'd have only slowed him down. If they survived? Then good for them. Maybe he'd let em live.~ An eerie blue glow stretched along the length of Satin's outstretched arm as he unleashed what by all accounts seemed to be a wave of fire bursting down the section of hallway. The metal coating the walls screeched as they were warped and scorched by the heat radiating off Satin's fire. Satin himself couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

It was so beautiful.

~~~
​

"... The Tiger."

~~Prior to encountering Hazel~~

The sirens had gone off signaling the start of the event. Tiger felt her blood pumping. The machines wandering the halls and attacking anything that got in their way. It was almost strange in a way. She felt something of a similarity with them. Wasn't going to stop her from destroying them though. She'd already had an idea of who she was going to seek out. Ripping and tearing the artificial constructs that got in her path was just a bonus.

~~Now~~

Tiger pounded her chest and fervently nodded her head.

"I'm glad you remember my title."
​

"Poor timing for a social call, only a few minutes. Less than that." His eyes dared to check the dojo's inhabitant once more before he continued along. "Sizing the opposition up at the last moment... or looking for a partner?"

Had she come alone?

The thought was discomforting enough that he visibly shifted, contemplating the idea of cooperating with the faunus that could have deftly ended his life in Argus.

Hm, now that was the million lien question wasn't it?

It was clear enough from their encounter at Mistral that the boy was opposed to Tiger and the Shadow Fang.

Both of them knew that.

But maybe it was just her being overly optimistic for once in her life. She saw potential in the young one's strength. The idea that he could get stronger if given the chance to showcase his abilities. The latter of which had been sorely lacking in their previous encounter through no fault of their own. Sometimes the circumstances just weren't right. Before Tiger could properly answer, the noise of one of the machines shambling along the hall caught her attention.. Her eyes narrowed and her feline ears twitched as she turned on a dime and Hazel saw her muscles ripple and grow considerably on her relatively lean frame. The leather of her glove tightened as she pulled back her fist.

"50%"

A nice balance for now. Both for herself and those around her.

The soles of her sneakers scratched against the ground as she completed her turn.

The metal that made up the machine's frame was strong. It had to be to endure some of the semblances out there like Satin's/Winter's/etc. Even then the slightest hints of it buckling appeared with just one rocking punch from the brawler. Up to a certain point in her life she'd struck out against anyone who even thought of harming her for being who she was. ...Who she was was an interesting idea in it of itself. To some of her peers like Hound she was just 'Arena Meat' and nothing more. Even when she had to use only but her thumb and forefinger to render him unconscious. At times she was probably no better than this loose construction of wires and weaponry. A tool to be used at the High Leader's leisure.

"The answer to your question..."

The android was thrown back and hit the wall across from the dojo hard enough to dent it. It'd been disturbed and rocked. Nobody was denying that but it wasn't finished yet. Pushing itself back from the sizeable dent in the wall, Tiger strode forward and raised her left hand.

"IS YES!"

An aura coated chop fueled by the power of her semblance tore through the skull of the machine. Cracking it clean in two as you'd crack open a coconut, her hand continued downwards like a hot knife through butter. As the two halves quietly fell over to either side, Tiger stepped back and casually flicked the oil and other lubricants likely required to keep these things in operational shape off her glove. Watching as the splatters coated parts of the wall, she looked over her shoulder at Hazel. The smile on her face seeming to have only grown in it's sincerity. She didn't lie, there was no real point to it. Better to be honest and tell others what's on your mind when the situation called for it.

Pointing towards herself with her oil soaked hand, she raised her shoulders and exhaled.

"I desire to see how strong you really are. Fight by my side and show me the strength lurking within. I believe in you! It'll be a nice taste of things to come when next we cross paths." Tiger brushed a stray lock of hair back into place.

"As enemies."

~~~
​

There definitely was a bloodcurdling screech at Grey's sudden appearance.

"Oh my god, Grey, I thought you were another one of them!" The huntress hissed, before allowing herself to collapse into a shuddering mess that was as fleeting as it came, recouping her composure as she leapt to standing, deftly moving onto a different matter entirely.

"Sorry. It's just me."

Grey stifled a chuckle.

'If the circumstances were better I'd laugh. The shoe's now on the other foot.'

He remembered Gretchen approaching him to judge the food contest all too well....
​

"But good timing-- kind of-- you got a partner? Quick, I need to know and also you should be aware, I left traps around my proximity. How did you and that guy avoid them, maybe I'm actually bad at this."

Also because, yeah, time winding down and the rule of maintaining the minimum distance at the tourney's start.

"I've covered skirmishes you know..."

Bit too young to say he'd covered wars...

'Know my way around a trap or two. Like to think so.'

At Gretchen's question, he nodded his head.

"No. But I'm thinking I'll need one."

And then he sprinted away from Gretchen to put distance between the two of them before the event commenced properly.

For once it did, he'd have to round back to her and they'd be facing machines, Grimm, killers...

"Oh my..."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

'Ah well. If this kills them then they weren't worth it anyway. '

As the smoke from the bolt he'd destroyed wafted down the opposite hall, Satin held his hand down towards the hallway he'd heard the bolts pinging around from. If he got the sucker who'd shot at him, great. If they died then it was just a grunt who'd have only slowed him down. If they survived? Then good for them. Maybe he'd let em live.~ An eerie blue glow stretched along the length of Satin's outstretched arm as he unleashed what by all accounts seemed to be a wave of fire bursting down the section of hallway. The metal coating the walls screeched as they were warped and scorched by the heat radiating off Satin's fire. Satin himself couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

It was so beautiful.

That's hot, she thought to herself from where she now stood, having long since pulled away from that corner and leaving the flames to harmlessly burn nothing but the hallway itself. : |

Undeniably impressive, though the guy was lucky the bolt he had caught had not been an explosive one that would have blown up in his face. She had only been testing the guy more, after all. Something she tried to make more apparent as she called out. "Wait, stop!" It was difficult to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. "That was only me putting you to the test, I wasn't looking to actually start a fight! I'm open to teaming up!" Much as this guy seemed like a lunatic who she wouldn't ordinarily partner with, this tournament was full of guys like that. Might as well try to reach out to the first one she found.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"All competitors will be required to isolate themselves prior to the event's initialization.

Competitors who fail to secure a minimum distance of 100 yards from other players upon commencement will receive an automatic disqualification, as will groups with prior affiliations who attempt to spread out across a single floor.

"We all have to start in our own spheres, though..."

The arena was something of a special case where the floors were concerned. It was built across five levels where most of the bunker facilities only occupied one, and with the exception of the backstage areas constructed under the floor it took up every corner of the space it occupied. Which gave it an interesting caveat for this particular preliminary, being that multiple competitors could occupy the same room at the starting pistol without violating the distance requirement.

 

[Gus Gungus]

She hit the ground like a bullet, the impact knocking some of her breath out of her on impact, but there was only so much time to deal with that right now. Her aura was buzzing on high alert throughout all this, and as he came down, she forced herself to roll away at the last possible second so that his weapon only speared into the ground. She didn't roll that far away, however, and as that roll quickly came to a halt barely two seconds later, she was glaring at him in more than an irritated mood. More important than that, her weapon had once more shifted as well. At near point blank range she fired the single grenade in there, aimed at the ground where he had stabbed into.

That near point blank splash radius propelled them both away from its point of impact, but it was Nora who found herself under immediate pressure as the saberstaff tore itself free from the floor it was embedded in and came whirling right after her, both ends working in tandem to keep her from getting her footing as the man conducted the lethal symphony from a mere short distance away with the most lackadaisical finger flicks imaginable. His lips were pursed thin in concentration, and the fact that his eyes remained closed meant he missed the shadow looming over his features until it was too late as their bloodstreaked yellow orbs flared open at the last possible second before a thunderous BOOOOM heralded an entire arena balcony being brought down upon him like the wrath of a vengeful god. The titan who had wielded it with no more effort than Nora swung her hammer turned, the mere act of dusting off her hands producing shockwaves that ruffled her hair as she turned to regard the huntress sternly.



"Now yield your card at once."

"If you think that's the play to make, then I'm with you." She'd do it and deal with the rest after.

"Eh." Not like she was his friend. He flipped out his scroll and regarded the map with brows creased, perplexed by the lone tracking blip in range now that the two of theirs had vanished from forming their partnership. The fact that whoever it belonged to was just hovering in the stairwell was what bothered him more than anything, but he felt reasonably assured that no one in their circle was creepy enough to be doing that. Poor sucker. "It's your call. Whatever we're doing, we can't afford to stay around these floors too long. Last I saw there were a whole lotta ugly claws and teeth headed down through the maintenance stairs, so I'm not exactly eager on being here when the stampede rolls through."

---

Unbeknownst to either of them, the sole reason it hadn't already were in the hands of that mysterious blip; a lone man sitting in the stairway, back to the wall and whose lips peeled back in a malicious grin the moment he heard the telltale scampering and growls heralding the oncoming horde of darkness. It was a darkness to which he had only one thing to say, looking up to regard them all with fond, dark-tinted eyes when they came before him.

"ᴵ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳˢᵗᵃⁿᵈ."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

That near point blank splash radius propelled them both away from its point of impact, but it was Nora who found herself under immediate pressure as the saberstaff tore itself free from the floor it was embedded in and came whirling right after her, both ends working in tandem to keep her from getting her footing as the man conducted the lethal symphony from a mere short distance away with the most lackadaisical finger flicks imaginable. His lips were pursed thin in concentration, and the fact that his eyes remained closed meant he missed the shadow looming over his features until it was too late as their bloodstreaked yellow orbs flared open at the last possible second before a thunderous BOOOOM heralded an entire arena balcony being brought down upon him like the wrath of a vengeful god.

"Oh MY GOD can you QUIT it?" Nora complained as she did her best to dodge the saberstaff chasing her down like it was a heatseeking missile. Her wild efforts almost made her look and feel like she was skating on ice. "I swear I'll--" Whatever she was about to swear to do, the world never found out, thanks to one gargantuan lady bringing down the place. Literally. The dude got buried under a whole freaking balcony smashing into him. Somehow she didn't think he was going to be walking away from that one, or at least not for a while. Either way...with his concentration broken because of that and after a quick glance around as if looking for disapproving authority figures, Nora scooped up the saberstaff that had slid to the ground by her feet. "Mine now." She muttered to herself as she hurriedly looked for the off switch.​

The titan who had wielded it with no more effort than Nora swung her hammer turned, the mere act of dusting off her hands producing shockwaves that ruffled her hair as she turned to regard the huntress sternly.

"Now yield your card at once."

She was still looking when she got addressed by the behemoth lady and with exaggerated slowness her eyes inched away from the new claimed weapon. "Look, see, here's the thing." She extended a finger upwards. "Mr move things with his mind was one thing, but...I gotta say I like my chances matching muscle with muscle a lot more. So...NAY I SAY! I SAY TO YOU, YIELD YOUR CARD NOW!" She finally found the off button as she felt along the saberstaff hilt and she clicked it before putting it away and readying Magnhild. "Or we can figure out together how hard I have to hit you to put you down."

She seemed pretty open to finding out.​

"Eh." Not like she was his friend. He flipped out his scroll and regarded the map with brows creased, perplexed by the lone tracking blip in range now that the two of theirs had vanished from forming their partnership. The fact that whoever it belonged to was just hovering in the stairwell was what bothered him more than anything, but he felt reasonably assured that no one in their circle was creepy enough to be doing that. Poor sucker. "It's your call. Whatever we're doing, we can't afford to stay around these floors too long. Last I saw there were a whole lotta ugly claws and teeth headed down through the maintenance stairs, so I'm not exactly eager on being here when the stampede rolls through."

"..." Okay, even she could see where this would inevitably go, with them being stuck in a back and forth about who should take charge and make the call on that plan. So she just bypassed all that by rolling her eyes and apparently deciding to not go with that plan as she just began strolling away and heading for the stairs to the upper levels. If they ran into Tock at any point on their way up, she'd deal with that then but she was in no rush to make that fight a reality. "Come on then, let's put some distance between us and them." Taking charge really wasn't her thing, no more than it was his, but the alternative was an endless back and forth. More than that? Even if she didn't want to, It made far more sense for her to lead. The one who hadn't been recently wasted to the point of passing out.

"So. You've been the one on your own for a while now, scouting and running around as you please when you aren't chugging down at the bar. Got any useful intel to share on some of the more deadly players in this thing? Who to avoid, who we can handle, their mother's maiden names, anything at all really."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She was still looking when she got addressed by the behemoth lady and with exaggerated slowness her eyes inched away from the new claimed weapon. "Look, see, here's the thing." She extended a finger upwards. "Mr move things with his mind was one thing, but...I gotta say I like my chances matching muscle with muscle a lot more. So...NAY I SAY! I SAY TO YOU, YIELD YOUR CARD NOW!" She finally found the off button as she felt along the saberstaff hilt and she clicked it before putting it away and readying Magnhild. "Or we can figure out together how hard I have to hit you to put you down."

She seemed pretty open to finding out.

"You have no muscle."

The bouncer spoke frankly but had no further witty comebacks, letting her sheer force of presence speak for itself. The air sizzled with far more than just Nora's electricity as the two brutes faced off, the tension so thick they could've swam in it, and it acted as a convenient smokescreen to keep Nora from wondering why her pocket felt ever so slightly lighter than it had before. The moment she looked down, a pair of feisty eyes and cutesy tanuki ears twitched in tandem as the upper half of the barmaid glared fiercely at her from where she was phased into the floor, sticky fingers clutching the entirety of Nora's pockets' contents.

Including her keycard.



"Ooooooooor THIS! YOU JUST GOT GOT, SUCKAAAA!"

She puffed up her cheeks, sucked in a deep breath and plunged backwards as if partaking in a scuba dive, passing straight through the solid steel grates like they were incorporeal. The bouncer watched the whole display with a stiff nod of approval, though it was clear from her face she took no joy in it.

"Yes. My apologies for enabling her to Get you, but by the sacred oath of my job description I cannot allow harm to befall her. I wish you luck in replenishing your lost card."

She moved to turn away without another word, at the same moment Nora felt the saberstaff on her belt start to violently shake.

"So. You've been the one on your own for a while now, scouting and running around as you please when you aren't chugging down at the bar. Got any useful intel to share on some of the more deadly players in this thing? Who to avoid, who we can handle, their mother's maiden names, anything at all really."

"As far as the freaks and wackos you got running around your Remnant? No idea. This place sucks. Some weird clown told me I was an 87, whatever that means. But Ironwood's little underground operation has a rat, so you might wanna jot that down."

The reveal was so casual (and faintly smug) that she would've been forgiven for thinking he was joking, but the severity of his expression as he trudged along with hands in pockets spoke to the grim reality of his words.

"Not some low-level goon with their ear on a glass whenever a major meeting goes down, either. Whoever it is is in the meetings. Someone near the very top is feeding Weiss info on every move James makes. She knows everything, sis. Where the major players are at any given moment, what they're doing, right down to the open forum you all had about whether it's worth the risk of teaming up with her or not. Knew somethin' felt off from the day we threw in with that crowd... James is too good at this kinda crap to make as little headway as he has. Now we know why Atlas has always been a step ahead; it's been that way from the word go."

He scowled, willing to take the time out to stop their forward progress to meet her eyes gravely.

"More than that I don't know, so don't ask. And be careful who you tell, Raven. Ruby, Yang, Ironwood himself, sure. But if whoever the snitch is gets word that they're made... there's no telling what might happen."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You have no muscle."

The bouncer spoke frankly but had no further witty comebacks, letting her sheer force of presence speak for itself. The air sizzled with far more than just Nora's electricity as the two brutes faced off, the tension so thick they could've swam in it, and it acted as a convenient smokescreen to keep Nora from wondering why her pocket felt ever so slightly lighter than it had before. The moment she looked down, a pair of feisty eyes and cutesy tanuki ears twitched in tandem as the upper half of the barmaid glared fiercely at her from where she was phased into the floor, sticky fingers clutching the entirety of Nora's pockets' contents.

Including her keycard.

"Ooooooooor THIS! YOU JUST GOT GOT, SUCKAAAA!"

She puffed up her cheeks, sucked in a deep breath and plunged backwards as if partaking in a scuba dive, passing straight through the solid steel grates like they were incorporeal. The bouncer watched the whole display with a stiff nod of approval, though it was clear from her face she took no joy in it.

"Yes. My apologies for enabling her to Get you, but by the sacred oath of my job description I cannot allow harm to befall her. I wish you luck in replenishing your lost card."

She moved to turn away without another word, at the same moment Nora felt the saberstaff on her belt start to violently shake.

"...What??" She stared down with alarm in her eyes at the faunus half poking out of the floor. "No. NO!" She suddenly bellowed as the barmaid vanished beneath the floor and she swung Magnhild down wildly as if to split the ground itself apart and follow after the thief that way. But that was nothing more than wild reflex guiding her actions. Barely a few seconds after the hammer struck the floor she went for a different tactic. The shaking saberstaff she pulled back up off her belt and then she just immediately dropped it. So much for claiming it, but right now she had about zero desire to deal with that guy. It was a cool weapon, undeniably so, but it just wasn't worth the headache. The moment it hit the floor, she brought her warhammer down onto the handle in a hard smash before she took a few running steps forward.

And leapt at the gigantic bouncer, Magnhild coming in for as powerful a swing as she could muster, lack of noticeable muscle definition aside! "You can't just walk away!"

"MAKE HER GIVE IT BACK TO ME!"​

"As far as the freaks and wackos you got running around your Remnant? No idea. This place sucks. Some weird clown told me I was an 87, whatever that means. But Ironwood's little underground operation has a rat, so you might wanna jot that down."

The reveal was so casual (and faintly smug) that she would've been forgiven for thinking he was joking, but the severity of his expression as he trudged along with hands in pockets spoke to the grim reality of his words.

"Not some low-level goon with their ear on a glass whenever a major meeting goes down, either. Whoever it is is in the meetings. Someone near the very top is feeding Weiss info on every move James makes. She knows everything, sis. Where the major players are at any given moment, what they're doing, right down to the open forum you all had about whether it's worth the risk of teaming up with her or not. Knew somethin' felt off from the day we threw in with that crowd... James is too good at this kinda crap to make as little headway as he has. Now we know why Atlas has always been a step ahead; it's been that way from the word go."

He scowled, willing to take the time out to stop their forward progress to meet her eyes gravely.

"More than that I don't know, so don't ask. And be careful who you tell, Raven. Ruby, Yang, Ironwood himself, sure. But if whoever the snitch is gets word that they're made... there's no telling what might happen."

"..........." She came to an abrupt stop on her part as she turned to stare at Qrow. "If that's some attempt at a bad joke, congratulations. It was truly awful." That response was thick with bitter sarcasm, however, and she knew better than to think that was genuinely bad humor. Nor did she remotely believe he was lying. Why would he? And that would explain a lot about the happenings in Atlas. She blinked, her gaze shifting away from Qrow and down towards the ground.

"Damn."

A snitch? But who could...the cowboy always hidden behind that thing? Her sister? Somebody else? ...No matter. She couldn't allow herself to be excessively concerned by that now, and without hesitation she resumed her stride onward. "That'll have to be dealt with at a better time. Let's go, we have to get higher up and find some more of these damnable cards." Or meet somebody along the way and fight. Truth be told her sword finger was itching for the opportunity.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...What??" She stared down with alarm in her eyes at the faunus half poking out of the floor. "No. NO!" She suddenly bellowed as the barmaid vanished beneath the floor and she swung Magnhild down wildly as if to split the ground itself apart and follow after the thief that way. But that was nothing more than wild reflex guiding her actions. Barely a few seconds after the hammer struck the floor she went for a different tactic. The shaking saberstaff she pulled back up off her belt and then she just immediately dropped it. So much for claiming it, but right now she had about zero desire to deal with that guy. It was a cool weapon, undeniably so, but it just wasn't worth the headache. The moment it hit the floor, she brought her warhammer down onto the handle in a hard smash before she took a few running steps forward.

And leapt at the gigantic bouncer, Magnhild coming in for as powerful a swing as she could muster, lack of noticeable muscle definition aside! "You can't just walk away!"

"MAKE HER GIVE IT BACK TO ME!"

The seam where both hilts of the saberstaff met disconnected with a click so close to her hammer finding its mark that it was hard to tell if she struck true or not, but the fact that it was in two pieces when it was torn from the floor to curve violently off towards the balcony debris in a wild arc was promising. Her yells gave the bouncer all the warning she needed to turn her mighty neck in the midst of her charge, and when confronted by the strangely unpalatable thought of being struck by the far smaller bruiser she did the only sensible thing for a towering, weaponless(?) behemoth to do.



Lightning, meet thunder.

Unfortunately the shockwave generated on impact was so loud it set both their ears ringing, but she clenched her jaw and truly raised her voice for the first time to compensate.

"Fool! If I had means to 'make' her do anything we wouldn't be here!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The seam where both hilts of the saberstaff met disconnected with a click so close to her hammer finding its mark that it was hard to tell if she struck true or not, but the fact that it was in two pieces when it was torn from the floor to curve violently off towards the balcony debris in a wild arc was promising. Her yells gave the bouncer all the warning she needed to turn her mighty neck in the midst of her charge, and when confronted by the strangely unpalatable thought of being struck by the far smaller bruiser she did the only sensible thing for a towering, weaponless(?) behemoth to do.

View attachment 738422

Lightning, meet thunder.

Unfortunately the shockwave generated on impact was so loud it set both their ears ringing, but she clenched her jaw and truly raised her voice for the first time to compensate.

"Fool! If I had means to 'make' her do anything we wouldn't be here!"​

"AUGHHH!" She yelled out in pain as she got knocked back by the thunder clap and once she had stopped rolling across the floor her grip on her hammer was released, eyes shut and both her hands temporarily rising to press against her ears. Even the sound of the other's voice made her wince a bit, but Nora soon enough tensed up and blocked out the pain to the best of her ability. Her eyes opened again in narrow slits as she glared at the other and strained to listen. "Then..." She lowered a hand and picked up Magnhild, moving to swiftly reload it.

"THEN I SUPPOSE I WILL JUST HAVE TO KICK YOUR ASS, TAKE YOUR CARD AND THEN FIND HER, TAKE BACK MINE AND TAKE HERS TOO!"

She yelled that to the big woman and to the heavens themselves but didn't quite make an actual move yet.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"AUGHHH!" She yelled out in pain as she got knocked back by the thunder clap and once she had stopped rolling across the floor her grip on her hammer was released, eyes shut and both her hands temporarily rising to press against her ears. Even the sound of the other's voice made her wince a bit, but Nora soon enough tensed up and blocked out the pain to the best of her ability. Her eyes opened again in narrow slits as she glared at the other and strained to listen. "Then..." She lowered a hand and picked up Magnhild, moving to swiftly reload it.

"THEN I SUPPOSE I WILL JUST HAVE TO KICK YOUR ASS, TAKE YOUR CARD AND THEN FIND HER, TAKE BACK MINE AND TAKE HERS TOO!"

She yelled that to the big woman and to the heavens themselves but didn't quite make an actual move yet.

"A SOUND STRATAGEM, WERE IT ONLY POSSIBLE! I DO NOT HAVE MY CARD, I GAVE IT FREELY TO HER! STOP YOUR MEWLING AND KNOW WHEN YOU'VE BEEN OUTPLAYED!"

Her own return serve was a bellow nearly as loud as her thunderous clap, though tempered by the harsh winds of reason as she resumed sidling off in the direction of the door, likewise making no move to violence.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"A SOUND STRATAGEM, WERE IT ONLY POSSIBLE! I DO NOT HAVE MY CARD, I GAVE IT FREELY TO HER! STOP YOUR MEWLING AND KNOW WHEN YOU'VE BEEN OUTPLAYED!"

Her own return serve was a bellow nearly as loud as her thunderous clap, though tempered by the harsh winds of reason as she resumed sidling off in the direction of the door, likewise making no move to violence.​

Nora stood silently there, long enough for the bouncer to take more than a few steps as she thought about those words and let them fully sink in and weighed her options. The woman had to be lying, right? Given the sort of relationship she had briefly seen between them and the size and overall discrepancy between how threatening the two appeared to be...there was no way the giant lady would trust the faunus with her card, surely. But no sooner than a second after thinking about that, did she decide it was irrelevant. She was going to go with the whole kicking some ass plan regardless. If she really did have her card on her, an excellent prize! If not, well, Nora lived for the challenge and truth be told she did want to see how her strength measured up to the behemoth.

So it was that after the bouncer's very next footstep.....

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She charged all the same. It was not sneaky in the slightest but sneaky wasn't her style.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Nora stood silently there, long enough for the bouncer to take more than a few steps as she thought about those words and let them fully sink in and weighed her options. The woman had to be lying, right? Given the sort of relationship she had briefly seen between them and the size and overall discrepancy between how threatening the two appeared to be...there was no way the giant lady would trust the faunus with her card, surely. But no sooner than a second after thinking about that, did she decide it was irrelevant. She was going to go with the whole kicking some ass plan regardless. If she really did have her card on her, an excellent prize! If not, well, Nora lived for the challenge and truth be told she did want to see how her strength measured up to the behemoth.

So it was that after the bouncer's very next footstep.....

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She charged all the same. It was not sneaky in the slightest but sneaky wasn't her style.

The goliath gave no returning battle cry, no warrior's defiance or ferocious acknowledgment of Nora's intent. She simply stopped, tensed, and spun around to swing her impossibly broad fist with as much force as she could muster in retaliation, stepping forward to put her full weight into it as the unstoppable force of Nora's hammer swung true to meet the immovable object of Cookie the bouncer.

Suffice to say that it was disappointing for both of them when the clash was interrupted a split-second before it could be decided, and both women found themselves immobilized with their respective weapons of choice mere inches apart. Powerhouse blueballs were a less pressing matter than the sudden, constricting force they each felt on their jugulars, however, and as they were lifted up off their feet to hang like pinatas in the air the sinister form of the more deadly among the arena's faunus finished shoving off the remnants of the balcony, even more terrifying with a single hand outstretched towards them and features contorted into a visage of rage.



"Indeed."

His weapons levitated beside them, having separated into two individual blades that each hovered poised to start punishing them at the first sign of resistance, but for now he seemed content to simply watch them choke.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

His weapons levitated beside them, having separated into two individual blades that each hovered poised to start punishing them at the first sign of resistance, but for now he seemed content to simply watch them choke.​

She tried to spit on him but anything that actually got out of her mouth fell far far short since, yeah, she was choking to death.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang had met Prisma’s question with nothing but a sly smirk and a finger put against her lips as she shook her head. She gave him a nod as he walked by her, and only let the worry show on her face once he’d crossed the threshold of the hallway. Sure, teaming up and camping the elevators sounded like a good tactic; literally everyone had to go that way, and most wouldn’t bother making the trip until they’d already gotten their share of keycards. If they teamed up and waited there, it’d be easy breezy (relative to other plans anyways) to snag three cards and move on with their lives to the part Prisma was actually looking forward to and Yang actually cared about.

Except what if Nora or her uncle or one of the others was that first person? She didn’t think the clown prince of crying tattoos was gonna buy ‘nah, not this one’ for no reason. She grumbled and leaned against the wall hard enough to bonk her head against it, eyes closed and face locked in a concerted frown.


...nah. She’d have to go hunting. Work a few floors down, try to snag some cards, then either coast back up victorious or give in and play the camper. Nodding to herself in resolve, she pushed off the wall and jogged for the stairs.


------------------------------------


However long ago from then until now either lucky or unlucky enough to have not run into anyone yet made of flesh, Yang flopped onto her back side as she took a deep, long breath, the scattered remains of a veritable horde of the combat androids around her.

“So… many… of them. Why?”

She took a few seconds to just soak in the moment of silence after so much violence, before she kipped up back to her feet and dusted her legs off. Oh well. Her aura was a little jazzed now, but so was her semblance, so it wasn’t a huge loss. Hopefully she wasn’t the only one still coasting without a partner though, because she did not wanna do that alone again.

The goliath gave no returning battle cry, no warrior's defiance or ferocious acknowledgment of Nora's intent. She simply stopped, tensed, and spun around to swing her impossibly broad fist with as much force as she could muster in retaliation, stepping forward to put her full weight into it as the unstoppable force of Nora's hammer swung true to meet the immovable object of Cookie the bouncer.

Suffice to say that it was disappointing for both of them when the clash was interrupted a split-second before it could be decided, and both women found themselves immobilized with their respective weapons of choice mere inches apart. Powerhouse blueballs were a less pressing matter than the sudden, constricting force they each felt on their jugulars, however, and as they were lifted up off their feet to hang like pinatas in the air the sinister form of the more deadly among the arena's faunus finished shoving off the remnants of the balcony, even more terrifying with a single hand outstretched towards them and features contorted into a visage of rage.

View attachment 738706

"Indeed."

His weapons levitated beside them, having separated into two individual blades that each hovered poised to start punishing them at the first sign of resistance, but for now he seemed content to simply watch them choke.​

She tried to spit on him but anything that actually got out of her mouth fell far far short since, yeah, she was choking to death.​

As Nora felt her lungs gasping for air, she noted something… strange about the weapons being held towards them as a threat against any resistance; they were slowly starting to turn the wrong way, angling towards their weilder. The many most certainly felt it himself, something working against his own semblance to threaten him with his own tools.

Then a very familiar shield came spinning silently through the darkness like a ballistic discus, straight for the back of the faunus’ spiked skull while he was focused on the two brawlers and his traitorous sabers.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Cutting through a chunk of the wall to make room for himself, Char stepped on through. Geez, for such a nimble looking kid she sure as hell made a big hole when he'd punted her through the wall. As fun as this was though if Blanche was in danger he had to tend to that. Which meant trying to wrap this up as soon as he could. It pissed him off but if gods forbid something happened to him? Char would never hear the end of it from Violet and the boss lady. That was ontop of what Aurora would think about the Hitman Team not only failing to accomplish their mission but one of them being killed in broad daylight? It wouldn't be a good look and they were struggling for even the slightest bit of scraps at this point.

"C'mon kid. I know that wasn't enough to knock you out. Up and at em."

Given the fact that she hadn't immediately lunged out to try and take a stab at him, Char was starting to lean towards 'yes' for the answer to his question. This kid wasn't a killer. If Malachite was dead then it meant someone else had to have pulled the trigger. Which was it's own can of worms that Char admitted he wasn't smart enough or diplomatic enough to weed his way through. The facts on the ground were that she was dead and Lil Pinky here had apparently taken over the joint.

The seconds continued to click on by.

"You know being polite is one of the key features of a well adjusted person...I mean look at me." He grumbled as he looked from side to side with Neo still refusing to show herself.

Sheesh, was this place always a dump or did he mess it up by knocking the kid through the wall? Evidence pointed to the splinters of varying sizes scattered across the room.

Alright, if the kid wasn't gonna nod her head or anything then it was clear: She just wanted to fight. No talking, no answering, just kombat.

He stomped his left foot down hard enough to crack the tile underneath. Riot Breaker's electricity grew in intensity as he swung outwards. Cleaving straight through one of the countertops and demolishing a good chunk of equipment and wares that happened to be on said counter. Watching as it all sailed through the air, Char watched as the chunk of what was now debris crashed to the ground trying to see if he could spot Neo behind it. No semblances meant that if she wanted to run away, she'd have to make a break for it and try bolting. Which he wasn't gonna let happen so long as he was breathing.

They both wanted a fight. Now it just came down to who wanted it more.

Just as Char raised his blade to strike, he heard it, just barely over the still blaring techno music behind him; the sound of foot steps sprinting from that direction, as if Neo had somehow gotten behind him even without her semblance, and when he turned he saw-

nothing

Then an airhorn went off in his ear.



Neo had lived her whole life with her semblance, unlocking it from an early age. But while someone else with such a powerful one might've used it as a crutch, Neopolitan had always understood what it was.

It was a tool. It might've been a manifestation of her soul, but it was only something to be used to achieve her goals, not the be all end all of what she was to be as a huntress. She'd long mastered using it to trick and bamboozle humans, sure, but she was training to be a huntress, not some gladiator or assassin, and there was more than one species of grimm out there that just straight up didn't have eyes. Just because she'd lost her best weapon didn't mean she wasn't still the queen of misdirection, and a few buttons from a small watch hidden under her sleeve had a sound queued up on her scroll just moments before she hopped over the counter and presented the Good-Yang-Vengeance-Delivery-Apparatus directly to the side of Char's ear canal, right before she whirled and to brain him upside the head with Hush's handle

 

[Gus Gungus]

“So… many… of them. Why?”

She took a few seconds to just soak in the moment of silence after so much violence, before she kipped up back to her feet and dusted her legs off. Oh well. Her aura was a little jazzed now, but so was her semblance, so it wasn’t a huge loss. Hopefully she wasn’t the only one still coasting without a partner though, because she did not wanna do that alone again.

She ended up receiving two wildly different answers, each from an opposing end of the corridor. One was a harsh, grating screech of ones and zeros, a bot whose core processor she'd only damaged rather than outright destroyed more cadaver rising from the morgue than artificial automaton attempting to retain function as it lurched to its feet with jittery movements. It took a step her way, then another, then shrieked its binary death rattle again as its palm jerked out towards her, both dust cannon and the energy nodes visible through the structural damage bursting with a far more unstable glow than when it was at full integrity as it prepared to fire, skeletal jaw shuttering open and shut.

The second was barely perceptible in comparison, and came from behind her in the form of something sharp grazing her hair. Whatever it was embedded itself in the android's blaster so rapidly it exploded in a ball of energy before she could get a real look at it, but the two subsequent projectiles revealed themselves to be playing cards of an absurdly sharp nature when they struck it between the eyes and at the power source on its chest, slicing through its scratched chassis as easily as a hot knife through her arm butter.

Like the first, both grazed differing points of her head at such a close shave it had to be deliberate; left, right, and the top, like the trick of a rodeo cowboy in their equidistance. The droid gurgled and fell, but the movements of its slayer were smooth and relaxed in comparison as he lazily fanned himself with the five additional cards he clutched between his fingers.



"Maybe it's karma...?~"

There wasn't any kind of accusing bite to the words, but the fact that he was here and had no compunctions about staring her down seemed to indicate he was curious about being blown off if nothing else; Apparently enough to alter his own trajectory and follow her down to the non-platinum rooms in the first place.

This part was boring enough that he could afford to indulge idle whims.

As Nora felt her lungs gasping for air, she noted something… strange about the weapons being held towards them as a threat against any resistance; they were slowly starting to turn the wrong way, angling towards their weilder. The many most certainly felt it himself, something working against his own semblance to threaten him with his own tools.

Then a very familiar shield came spinning silently through the darkness like a ballistic discus, straight for the back of the faunus’ spiked skull while he was focused on the two brawlers and his traitorous sabers.

The man's snarl curled deeper and his efforts redoubled upon recognition of the intrusion, but the increasing strain on both sides came to a sudden end when the discus collided with his aura and horns. That had his rising growl become a seething roar, and he dove forward into a roll with the impact as bouncer and Nora alike were released from their entrapment, flung right back at the offending party along with the shield like a lethal return serve before he grunted and poured every last scrap of his telekinetic focus into bidding his sabers return to him. His instinct was to meet force with force, to prove superiority over whatever intruding power believed it could stand against his.

"The gnats swarm," he spat, the sheer venom in the words making every syllable as lethal as the weapons he fought to regain control of. Metaphorically.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She ended up receiving two wildly different answers, each from an opposing end of the corridor. One was a harsh, grating screech of ones and zeros, a bot whose core processor she'd only damaged rather than outright destroyed more cadaver rising from the morgue than artificial automaton attempting to retain function as it lurched to its feet with jittery movements. It took a step her way, then another, then shrieked its binary death rattle again as its palm jerked out towards her, both dust cannon and the energy nodes visible through the structural damage bursting with a far more unstable glow than when it was at full integrity as it prepared to fire, skeletal jaw shuttering open and shut.

The second was barely perceptible in comparison, and came from behind her in the form of something sharp grazing her hair. Whatever it was embedded itself in the android's blaster so rapidly it exploded in a ball of energy before she could get a real look at it, but the two subsequent projectiles revealed themselves to be playing cards of an absurdly sharp nature when they struck it between the eyes and at the power source on its chest, slicing through its scratched chassis as easily as a hot knife through her arm butter.

Like the first, both grazed differing points of her head at such a close shave it had to be deliberate; left, right, and the top, like the trick of a rodeo cowboy in their equidistance. The droid gurgled and fell, but the movements of its slayer were smooth and relaxed in comparison as he lazily fanned himself with the five additional cards he clutched between his fingers.

"Maybe it's karma...?~"

There wasn't any kind of accusing bite to the words, but the fact that he was here and had no compunctions about staring her down seemed to indicate he was curious about being blown off if nothing else; Apparently enough to alter his own trajectory and follow her down here.

This part was boring enough that he could afford to indulge idle whims.

The whirl that followed after the cards arced over her had a face at war with her actions, her fists immediately flicking back and forth to extend her weapons, the glove on her prosthetic long since shredded to reveal the gleaming black metal that coursed with red lines beneath, yet her face was alight with a small grin. She looked ready to launch herself at Prisma on a whim, but her tone was casual as she spoke, with an amused edge to her words

"Aww, I didn't know you wanted to be exclusive, chuckles." She shrugged " Look, I know this isn't the part you're here for, but just waiting upstairs seemed so boring. we get what, one fight? that's it? I meant to come down way before the blood started flying, I just got a little caught up with my friend upstairs."

She didn't lower her fists, but the tension in her shoulders loosened a bit as her grin turned sharp.

"Sooo? You ok with having a little fun down here in the scrum, or am I a bad girl you've gotta punish now?"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The man's snarl curled deeper and his efforts redoubled upon recognition of the intrusion, but the increasing strain on both sides came to a sudden end when the discus collided with his aura and horns. That had his rising growl become a seething roar, and he dove forward into a roll with the impact as bouncer and Nora alike were released from their entrapment, flung right back at the offending party along with the shield like a lethal return serve before he grunted and poured every last scrap of his telekinetic focus into bidding his sabers return to him. His instinct was to meet force with force, to prove superiority over whatever intruding power believed it could stand against his.

"The gnats swarm," he spat, the sheer venom in the words making every syllable as lethal as the weapons he fought to regain control of. Metaphorically.

The sheer Gs of the throw she was subjected to meant the blood must've been rushing to Nora's head, because as she went careening down the hall, the lithe form that gracefully leaped over her and caught the shield on their arm with a landing spin looked like a ghost. A red haired ponytail was held in place by a champion's tiara, and her armor called to mind the warriors of old rather than a modern huntress.

Anyone could dress like her though. What really sold Nora that it was the ghost of Pyrrha Nikos that was haunting this battlefield was the warm, apologetic smile she shot her as they passed by each other.

The mistralian champion planted her feet as she landed, and the faunus warrior found his weapons freed from whatever outside force was accosting his powers as she twirled her sword in hand and rested it on the edge of her shield. Whatever warmth those eyes might've held for Nora was burned away as they stared the man down, a far more savage smile upon her features as she called back towards him

"Sorry! You seemed like you were having too easy a time for this to be a fair fight. Perhaps I'm more your speed!"

 

[Gus Gungus]

The whirl that followed after the cards arced over her had a face at war with her actions, her fists immediately flicking back and forth to extend her weapons, the glove on her prosthetic long since shredded to reveal the gleaming black metal that coursed with red lines beneath, yet her face was alight with a small grin. She looked ready to launch herself at Prisma on a whim, but her tone was casual as she spoke, with an amused edge to her words

"Aww, I didn't know you wanted to be exclusive, chuckles." She shrugged " Look, I know this isn't the part you're here for, but just waiting upstairs seemed so boring. we get what, one fight? that's it? I meant to come down way before the blood started flying, I just got a little caught up with my friend upstairs."

She didn't lower her fists, but the tension in her shoulders loosened a bit as her grin turned sharp.

"Sooo? You ok with having a little fun down here in the scrum, or am I a bad girl you've gotta punish now?"

"Oh? Do I bore you?~ I did hear you're insatiable." ♡

Again, there was no hostility to his melodic drawl. His unflappable aplomb never wavered even in the face of her own, the false clown garishly extravagant right down to the way he was propped against the metal pillar he leaned on with one foot popped as he kept dexterously fidgeting with the cards in his hand. Her continued bravado even had him bite his own lip to stifle a chuckle, the dull sheen in his eyes more pronounced by the time he swung them around to meet hers again, tapping a finger to his chin in a coy affectation of thought.



"Okayyyy, I forgive you.~ There's just one problem. Another old flame of mine on that level wanted to team up with me, so I was planning on betraying you. Or him. I was gonna decide once we all got there, hehe.~" ♡

He sighed, feigning a hurt pout as he clasped his hands together and turned away sullenly, schoolgirl-like.

"But you never showed, so..."

His eyes flicked behind her.



Even if Prisma hadn't been talking, even if the hall around her had been dead silent and the faint sounds and screams of combat hadn't been echoing distantly up the metal halls, Yang still wouldn't have heard what was going on behind her. A vent cover on the ceiling was peeled back with the efficiency of a silent master, ninja game on a level either Remnant's Blake would've been hardpressed to find fault in as a pale, gaunt figure with hair that was long and slick uncoiled and lowered himself, quiet as the spider dangling from a thread right up to the moment he touched down on the floor and spoke to announce his presence.

"Oh, it's you."



Whether or not she gave someone as dangerous as Prisma her back was her prerogative, but if she did the face she was met with wasn't any more reassuring. Unlike the jester, there was nothing unsettling about his features outside of the eyes; but he made up for it with them in spades. Both pupils were just a little bit too large, a shade of black just a bit too deep, and beyond that there was something cryptically mesmerizing about them that started to numb the mind if they were stared into too long, an effect too potent to be anything other than the work of a semblance. A gauntlet covered his right hand, though it was smaller than her own and appeared to eject miniature, needle-like darts enhanced by dust rather than any sort of ballistics, several of which were grasped between his fingers with perfect balance as he cocked his head and regarded her with neutral curiosity.

"What happened to your hair? I thought you were trying something different. It wasn't bad, you know."

Like Prisma, she could recall seeing the man from the terminal records; his name unknown, he was allegedly the eldest son of some fabled clan of assassins living up in the mountains somewhere, zealous in their craft to the point that the likes of Marcus Black and his contemporaries were regarded as little more than rank amateurs in their eyes. He had a single showing in the pit fights to date, wherein he spent most of his bouts securing lazy environmental and technicality-based wins (including one over Prisma decided via rock-paper-scissors) and made it all the way to the final round. Additional notes on his profile hypothesized that his opponent there, a Pit veteran in his own right, had in fact been his target; a conclusion drawn primarily from how he gruesomely killed him within minutes.

The familiar tone he took gave the sense he was also acquainted with her otherworldly counterpart to a degree that far exceeded Prisma, while his overall presentation and aloofness indicated the possibility that Yang Xiao Long had a type that transcended gender, morality, species and timelines. Though considering how she was in this world it was equally probable that it indicated nothing.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Somethin' ain't right."

The twins had made steady progress to the higher lodging floors, mainly finding their path impeded by groups of robots that proved less troublesome with two Branwens cutting them down as opposed to one and easily evaded if they shifted into their bird forms. They even had the good fortune to run across a pair of combatants who were complete chumps in comparison, and both were one keycard heavier after leaving them slumped in one of the rooms as they navigated the bunker's endless hallways.

It had been Qrow who shifted back to human form first, his lips a thin frown as he glanced both ways up the hall they were in and moved over to the nearest adjacent one to do likewise. Nothing, save for another squadron of bots marching towards the far end that he ducked back to avoid, and a frustrated hiss escaped through his teeth as he slunk back over to his sister with hands in his pockets.

"I saw those Grimm get sicced on this place. There were a lot. They should be everywhere by now, so how come..."

He trailed off, gaze whipping sharply to the right as his ears picked up something in the distance. The reverberating walls of the steel tomb they were all competing in carried it further than it would've traveled otherwise, and while it was impossible to tell precisely where on the floor it was coming from beyond the vague direction what the sound itself was was unmistakable.

Humming.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Haha, yeah I guess I lied!"

Go figure.

He took aim to shoot again. Right in the abdomen.

*click*

"Wha..?"

*click*

Out of all times to run out of ammo...

"...Pfft hahahaha!"

He couldn't help but laugh. It seemed fate had made it's mind up. It was just as cruel as life itself. So caught up in his laughter was he, Blanche didn't really resist as he was taken to the ground. Nor did the laughter stop even as the empty gun was wrenched from his hand and struck across his face over and over. His aura flared up and shined as the piece of metal hit him again and again. It seemed he'd lost. If the others heard he'd lost to some street bum he'd never hear the end of it. Hell, that may have been grounds enough for expulsion right then and there. That wasn't even getting into what The Boss may have thought of one of his subordinates getting beaten by some hobo. But throughout the fight Vernal had shown she was more than just a run of the mill drunkard.

Which meant he couldn't give up just yet. As the arm came down to pistol whip him once more, Blanche reached out and grabbed onto Vernal's arm. In any other occasion this would have spelled doom. He'd grab on and rapidly age his opponent with 'Beyond the Years' and he'd have his victory. Wasn't going to happen when they were situated inside the Null Zone. Grinning at the bandit with a streak of blood running down his forehead, he spoke softly and apologetically.

"Gonna need this back."

Giving Vernal a sharp shove off him, Blanche grabbed his eyepatch and nearly tumbled over as he stood up.



'Oof. Think I've about hit my limit. Too tired to see this through to the end. By the time I caught my breath...' Char would likely have already finished fighting the others or been taken by surprise by this chick continuing to interfere in their business. Blanche hoped it'd be the former. Like it or not he'd come as Char's partner and he was gonna end up leaving him to finish this mission by himself. That wasn't a cool thing to do and if there was one thing Blanche prided himself on: It was being cool. He whipped his gun as far as he could throw it. Didn't want it possibly used against Char or anything. Maybe she'd throw another bottle at him.

Slipping the eyepatch back on over his scarred eye, Blanche staggered towards the entrance of the bar. He had to warn Char that he'd lost. To let his fellow hitman be aware that Blanche couldn't stop Black's kid and buddies from escaping if they tried to flee.

'Ugh, what kind of shitty partner am I? I didn't even get to see Black's kid in action. Haven't heard Char screaming for help...' Blanche thought to himself as he reached to push the doors open. 'Guess the others were wrong about you, Char. You're not a coward. You lasted longer than I did! I'm proud of you. You're doing the Hitman Team justice..'

The doors were pushed open and the cigarette fell from Blanche's lips as he started to fall forward.

'Sorry for being dead weight.'

*thud*

~~~

While Blanche had passed out before warning Char of his defeat, the other hitman was having troubles of his own...

Briefly distracted from his search for the disappearing mute by Mercury and Emerald's antics, Char gazed over in their direction.

He didn't like what he saw.

"That fucking face....You really do look just like your old man...'

Marcus was always 'too good' to be bothered with those in the Hitman Team. Came with the territory of being one of the Boss's Elite Guards but things were so damn secretive with that guy that none of the people in the Hitman Team even knew what his semblance was. The few times that Char had encountered Marcus though? The guy was a total fucking prick and Char wouldn't have been surprised that if the reason he stopped showing up to meetings was that he got offed. Whether it was by someone baring a grudge or his own kid wouldn't have really shocked him either way. You didn't get to stand in the Elite Guard being a nice guy.

Turning to start walking towards Mercury, electricity crackled and danced along the edges of Riot Breaker.

"You're the whole reason my partner and I came here. Why don't you go ahead and show me what you-"
​

the sound of foot steps sprinting from that direction, as if Neo had somehow gotten behind him even without her semblance, and when he turned he saw-

nothing

Then an airhorn went off in his ear.

"Ohohoho! So there you are, kid! ALRIGHT!"

He turned and swung Riot Breaker and hit...nothing?

"What the fuck-"

*BWOOOOOM*

-AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
​

It was a tool. It might've been a manifestation of her soul, but it was only something to be used to achieve her goals, not the be all end all of what she was to be as a huntress. She'd long mastered using it to trick and bamboozle humans, sure, but she was training to be a huntress, not some gladiator or assassin, and there was more than one species of grimm out there that just straight up didn't have eyes. Just because she'd lost her best weapon didn't mean she wasn't still the queen of misdirection, and a few buttons from a small watch hidden under her sleeve had a sound queued up on her scroll just moments before she hopped over the counter and presented the Good-Yang-Vengeance-Delivery-Apparatus directly to the side of Char's ear canal, right before she whirled and to brain him upside the head with Hush's handle

Char stumbled back nearly dropping Riot Breaker in the process.

He'd seen a lot of things in his time as a gangster and as a hitman.

Getting blasted in the ear by an airhorn was a new one.

Raising his sword above his head, he swung it down. Cleaving the countertop in twain and leaving him wide open as Neo vaulted over it and-

"AAAAAGHHHHH!!!!"

He ripped Riot Breaker free and clutched at his left ear. That hurt, it actually really hurt!

*thwack*

Riot Breaker clattered to the ground as Char fell onto the floor.

On his back for the umpteenth time this fight.

He'd believed this kid to be just like the rest. She'd crack like an egg now that she'd lost her semblance. Give or take a bit, she'd eventually be like putty in his hands. For some their semblance was part of who they were, what made up the M.O. of their fighting style. Yet this kid had not only managed to knock him down three times but two repeated blasts to the ear had left him a bit dazed and slow to sit up. Scratching his head, he stared the huntress down. If Violet were here this is where she'd bet that Char would have started begging for mercy/trying to talk his way out of the mess if his opponent actually proved to be competent without their semblance. With three people around him and Blanche having been knocked out(not yet known to him)it would have been advisable at the very least.

But he couldn't do that. He couldn't just turn tail and run.

"Kid."

He brushed himself off and stood up with a bit of a shake in his posture.

"I underestimated ya. Sorry 'bout that."

He lashed out with Riot Breaker to try and catch Neo right across the chest.​