Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

"...Can we please not? Whoever's going or not going, can we just...focus on that?" Cinder more than asked, she pleaded.

"Look, junior, I'm not gonna get on your case. And you don't have to tell me the specifics. Just wanna figure out what happened before we all climb down into the asscrack of Grimm feeling like shit and get swarmed to death."

Whatever his eyes searched out in the long, lingering stare he gave Cinder at her tone and bearing had a more legitimate candidness settle over him than before, eyes downcast and lips inverting themselves in a taut grimace as his eyes flickered off up the alley they came from with a note of apprehension.

"...And why she's acting weird."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Oh.

Seeing Emerald break down crystallized so much of it for Neo. They would've never abandoned her. She wasn't a weight they were waiting on pins and needles to finally be rid of. She was a burden. One they'd been carrying ever since Haven. She hadn't even let them have their own feelings about Roman, because they were too busy trying to take care of her. Right up until last night, she thought, in that fleeting moment between the ground and Cinder's arms, that it was one they'd be relieved to finally be rid of. They'd cry, they'd mourn, and then they'd be better off.

She was an idiot. There wasn't anyone in the world who knew how it felt to lose someone important to them than Neo herself. She'd just never realized thats what she was to them. That it went more than one way, that she wasn't just some responsibility to them. It wasn't her choice to take that burden from them; if they wanted to carry it, then they could. Nor was she gonna pretend she could just stop being one. She could still feel it at the back of her skull, prickling her thoughts, a vicious anger at the ones who took him and at herself for not doing more to get to them, egging her on to stop indulging in anything but the hunt.

But she could do her best to make it weigh less.

She leaned against Emerald, the best comforting weight she could offer while still using her hands as she traced the air with her fingers. She still hated writing; the number her parent's last request had done on her ability to share her thoughts in any sort of out loud fashion was still going strong, but some things were more important than the requests of the dead, and as she nudged Emerald's shoulder to look up, she finished putting the last swoop on the sentence she'd traced in the air. Her handwriting was messy, and despite her efforts at putting forth a warm smile there were tears in her own eyes, but she did her best.

'I'm not going anywhere until you guys beat me off with a stick, stupid magic one or not. I promise.'

It wasn't an answer to Emerald's question, but she hoped it answered the one she hadn't asked directly.

Emerald, for her part, already seemed to be regretting everything about this, as incredibly self conscious of all the people around she was positive had to be looking at her as she was unwilling to look up and actually, you know, check. So she just shook, too quiet to even be considered sobs at this stage as she tried to make herself small and attract as little attention as possible even from Neo. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair, Neo shouldn't have had to comfort her, Watts shouldn't have had to hear all that crap hurled his way for the sin of being mildly annoying, Cinder shouldn't have gotten reamed for acting her freaking age. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was wrong with her.

Well, no. She knew exactly what was.

But it didn't matter. This wasn't about that. It wasn't about her.

She was not the main character here.

The prod from Neo was what finally got her to look up, eye just barely peeking over her elbow as she blinked it rapidly a few times to clear the tears, scanning the words front to back. A deep, uneven snivel wracked her entire body from deep in her lungs when they registered, and despite her best efforts fresh tears rolled out from her eyes the moment they did as she shook her head and tried to answer.

"I'm-m s-s-suh-sorry it-I'm-it's s-s-so s-stupid—"

Whatever tide had been unleashed appeared to show no signs of ebbing anytime soon, and she aborted the whole thing with a distraught, guttual moan and burrowed back into the safety of her elbows. Even Neo knew there was no way this could've all been for her, though given her near misses over the last few days god knew when the last time Emerald Sustrai actually let herself cry had been. And now here it was, happening in MicDynlod's like they were two drunk girls fresh from the club. Ugh.

In lieu of stringing a coherent sentence together, a row of bold green-printed typeface slammed down over Neo's words like the Pixar lamp.

I KNOW. I'M A HOT MESS. MY BAD.

It was then that a shadow fell over them. Emboldened, incensed or terrified by Watts' violent exit, and having had the job foisted on him by a line manager too intimidated to do anything herself, a kid even younger than they were clad in a MicDynlod's uniform now stood before them, looking sheepish, trepidatious, but above all baffled that he even had to say this to them.



"Ummm... you all have to leave. Like, forever."

He gestured behind him, where two other workers were already hanging portraits of the entire gang up under a great, gold-plated sign reading 'BANNED FOR LIFE'. All around them, chaos reigned. Stuff was broken. The door was frozen shut, trapping everyone inside with a bodyguard who only grew more and more enraged the more stains ended up on his suit. A kid had picked up the joint Tyrian dropped and started smoking it. Prospective customers were strewn everywhere, Lance having gone through them like a bowling ball through pins, and he seemed in no rush to leave as he calmly stepped ahead of Morgiana towards the exit, the two of them being chased and jabbed at by more workers holding brooms. The enforcer grimaced as he reached the door and saw Watts's handiwork, and while he set about dislodging it with a few well-placed shoulder checks Morgiana seized the opportunity to spin, throw double peace signs high to the sky again and yell across the room in a far more forceful, impetuous tone.



"QUESTION EVERYTHING! MEAT IS MURDERRRRRRRR!"

Even the most thoroughly beaten by Lance immediately started jeering and throwing stuff again. The next shove from the titan was far more aggressive, and the already-melting ice coating the door hadn't even finished shattering in a hail of shards when he turned with the motion to just straight up close his entire hand around his charge's face, righteous defiance in the face of the man muted to little more than horrified muffled wailing as he calmly picked her up like a suitcase that weighed nothing and strode outside.​

 

[MidwayLives]

It was then that a shadow fell over them. Emboldened, incensed or terrified by Watts' violent exit, and having had the job foisted on him by a line manager too intimidated to do anything herself, a kid even younger than they were clad in a MicDynlod's uniform now stood before them, looking sheepish, trepidatious, but above all baffled that he even had to say this to them.

"Ummm... you all have to leave. Like, forever."

He gestured behind him, where two other workers were already hanging portraits of the entire gang up under a great, gold-plated sign reading 'BANNED FOR LIFE'. All around them, chaos reigned. Stuff was broken. The door was frozen stuff. A kid had picked up the joint Tyrian dropped and started smoking it. Prospective customers were strewn, Lance having gone through them like a bowling ball through pins, and he seemed in no rush to leave as he calmly stepped ahead of Morgiana towards the exit, the two of them being chased and jabbed at by more workers holding brooms. The enforcer grimaced as he reached the door and saw Watts's handiwork, and while he set about dislodging it with a few well-placed shoulder checks Morgiana seized the opportunity to spin, throw double peace signs high to the sky again and yell across the room in a far more forceful, impetuous tone.

"QUESTION EVERYTHING! MEAT IS MURDERRRRRRRR!"

The next shove from Lance was far more aggressive, and the already-melting ice coating the door hadn't even finished shattering in a hail of shards when he turned with the motion to just straight up close his entire hand around Morgiana's face, screeches of rebellious protest muted to little more than unintelligible mufflings as he calmly picked her up and strode outside.

"Suuure, we'll just be on our way..."

Trifa started to quickly head for the door once it'd been busted down, taking along a cup full of ice with her.



"Thanks a lot, Tyrian. Run off and leave a mess behind for everyone else...."

Watching as portraits of them were all hung up, Blanche rose to his feet and looked at his.



"....You didn't capture my goodside...."

Ah well, small price to be paid for being banned he supposed. Wasn't the first time. Tucking his hands in his pockets, he quietly strolled out and saw Char still standing by the door.

"What the hell happened?"

"What do you think happened? We got banned."

"Banned?"

"Mhm."

"Eh, whatever, food's all processed bullshit anyway."

The two shared a laugh.

"...So, uh, how you doin now Char?"



"...I'll be fine. Think I might bite the bullet and finally talk to the kid. Get this shit off my chest." Blanche didn't really know how to go about confirming that. Talking to someone about their dad you didn't like and that they killed didn't sound like the greatest 'get to know you' story around. But he was just glad the drama seemed to finally die down.

"That's good, yeah." He eventually settled on.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"MTEN's been through enough. More than that, this isn't their fight anymore. I won't have someone who's hearts not in it tagging along out of sense of obligation and dying for it. That goes for your too, Tyrian" he said, finally looking somewhere other than off in the distance as he turned towards their former teammate.

"Cinder's- We've missed you. But... this doesn't have to be your fight either. Not if you don't want it to be. No one deserves to be thrust into it like Salem did to us before."

Tyrian's tail slithered along the ground like a snake as he rolled off the scooter and onto his stomach.

"Don't worry about it."

Pushing himself up into a seated position, he shook his head from side to side. Try and clear up his thoughts.

"I got my own business. Would have liked to do it myself but..." He'd already gotten Trifa roped in and she'd been kidnapped by a serial killer/leader of a mafia syndicate.

"....But no reason I can't do it and help the world out too."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

View attachment 877613

"Look, junior, I'm not gonna get on your case. And you don't have to tell me the specifics. Just wanna figure out what happened before we all climb down into the asscrack of Grimm feeling like shit and get swarmed to death."

Whatever his eyes searched out in the long, lingering stare he gave Cinder at her tone and bearing had a more legitimate candidness settle over him than before, eyes downcast and lips inverting themselves in a taut grimace as his eyes flickered off up the alley they came from with a note of apprehension.

"...And why she's acting weird."​

What part of I don't want to talk about it was too hard to get, I mean am I crazy or does hey I don't want to freaking talk about it mean something else in Merc-lish. And like, where does he get off asking me that like I'm supposed to somehow know why she's acting strange now, she's your partner dude!!! Not mine!!! Every time I tried to get to know her better crashed and burned, like literal scorched earth leavin' me wearing the crown as queen of the awkward. Once or twice at Beacon and then there was the train and oh god don't even get me started on what just went down when we met up back here and I just...I've just been trying so freaking much with so many gosh darn things in this week from hell and I just can't keep up, I'm not even allowed to drive yet but I'm already jugglin' so much more shit than I can even hold, being one of the most important people in the world cuz this magic randomly found its way to me, gotta do what I can to keep it out of his hands and safeguard that relic, with a whole world counting on me for that so hey no fuckin' pressure, plus I nearly died and watched friends almost die too, just from fighting a monster version of me, had to stand by and watch as the kingdom with the strongest military in the world decided to throw their lot in with the monsters too, another friend almost got herself killed in front of me too, and probably would have if I didn't push to 120% to save her, and now I'm runnin' on like 0.14 hours of sleep and still tryin' to work through the high that came with the hippie's loaded drug, and Emerald stabbed me in the damn heart with the truth, and the staff of creation is out there somewhere probably attracting mad amounts of grimm and who knows who or what else besides them are also makin' a play for the relic and I'm expected to cross miles and miles and miles of hot frigging desert to get there and try to help dig it up before any of the evil jackasses get their grimy no-good hands on it and now what, you're looking at me to know the answer about what's goin' on, I mean aren't you the perceptive one, the analytical trained assassin who picks up on things before my dumbass even registers stuff sometimes and now you're asking me like I haven't failed miserably every time I tried to get past Em's walls and...and...god it's so fuckin' much...

There was a lot of thoughts behind that tired stare, but she only said one thing and that was to pass the buck to Arthur and let him explain what happened if he so chose.

"Okay fine, if we’re gonna do this can you just tell him what happened, Arthur, and do it quick so we can focus...Please? With a capital P, even."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

What part of I don't want to talk about it was too hard to get, I mean am I crazy or does hey I don't want to freaking talk about it mean something else in Merc-lish. And like, where does he get off asking me that like I'm supposed to somehow know why she's acting strange now, she's your partner dude!!! Not mine!!! Every time I tried to get to know her better crashed and burned, like literal scorched earth leavin' me wearing the crown as queen of the awkward. Once or twice at Beacon and then there was the train and oh god don't even get me started on what just went down when we met up back here and I just...I've just been trying so freaking much with so many gosh darn things in this week from hell and I just can't keep up, I'm not even allowed to drive yet but I'm already jugglin' so much more shit than I can even hold, being one of the most important people in the world cuz this magic randomly found its way to me, gotta do what I can to keep it out of his hands and safeguard that relic, with a whole world counting on me for that so hey no fuckin' pressure, plus I nearly died and watched friends almost die too, just from fighting a monster version of me, had to stand by and watch as the kingdom with the strongest military in the world decided to throw their lot in with the monsters too, another friend almost got herself killed in front of me too, and probably would have if I didn't push to 120% to save her, and now I'm runnin' on like 0.14 hours of sleep and still tryin' to work through the high that came with the hippie's loaded drug, and Emerald stabbed me in the damn heart with the truth, and the staff of creation is out there somewhere probably attracting mad amounts of grimm and who knows who or what else besides them are also makin' a play for the relic and I'm expected to cross miles and miles and miles of hot frigging desert to get there and try to help dig it up before any of the evil jackasses get their grimy no-good hands on it and now what, you're looking at me to know the answer about what's goin' on, I mean aren't you the perceptive one, the analytical trained assassin who picks up on things before my dumbass even registers stuff sometimes and now you're asking me like I haven't failed miserably every time I tried to get past Em's walls and...and...god it's so fuckin' much...

There was a lot of thoughts behind that tired stare, but she only said one thing and that was to pass the buck to Arthur and let him explain what happened if he so chose.

"Okay fine, if we’re gonna do this can you just tell him what happened, Arthur, and do it quick so we can focus...Please? With a capital P, even."

"...Good talk. Feel like we covered a lotta ground there."

Mercury returned patiently, no actual mockery or sardonics in the offhand reply he tossed back after steadily meeting that gaze for as long as it took for him to be satisfied. Which, apparently, wasn't very long, Cinder apparently discovering the limits of how far even he was willing to push. He emitted a soft, resigned breath through his nose, then shrugged and pushed off the wall.

"Okay, okay, I get the message. We can skip another dose of the pouty eyes and whichever of the three flavors of upper class Wattsonian judgment I'm about to get scorched off the face of the planet by. We're not friends in an alley right now, you're team WTCH and I'm the guy from team MTEN who won't 'fuck off'." He seemed to take an overt interest in his yo-yo for a few seconds, watching it roll up and down the string a few times before he turned away. "And team WTCH, well, they're playing their favorite game. 'If you're not saving the world your feelings are less important!' Tch. Yeah, I get it. Not even being sarcastic, I really do. You guys look like shit. But we hate that game."

He snatched the yo-yo out of the air one last time, pocketing it as he started walking the long lonely road back to MicDynlod's.

"So when you're done playing, feel free to make the smart call and not the up-your-own-ass one. Tyrian, you know what the password to get back to the cave is, right? 'Open MicDynlod's'. Hopefully we'll seeya back there before we head out."

Besides, one of those implicit eyeball-to-brain communications Cinder had just beamed his way was right. He was Emerald's partner, or had been. Still just about the person who knew her better than anyone else in the world, he guessed, if you got down to brass tacks. For a moment it seemed as if the heavy, ruminative silence he lapsed into was to carry him all the way out of sight, any responses levied his way sort of just washing over him without gaining much purchase like water off a duck's wings, but right on the edges of earshot he stopped, head turning to make one last attempt at what he actually wanted to work his way towards as he chewed his jaw.

"...Whatever she did say... sorry. It just kinda clicked last night that the chick we've been trying to help through her grief for the last six months has a death wish, so 'scuse us if that fuzzy revelation didn't leave us in the mood for 420 shenanigans or a constant stream of cerebral put-downs. Can't say it feels like the only thing bothering her, but..." His hands alighted on his hips, heaving out a sigh so heavy his shoulders dropped from halfway to his head. "For what it's worth... try not to take it personal. Em acts like me, but she's not. She's actually kinda sensitive. If she's ever trying to hurt someone, I mean really trying, most of what ends up coming out is really just the worst stuff she thinks about herself. It's a dead giveaway."

He finally turned to make his way off proper, a much more amicable wave thrown their way along with a parting statement.

"And whatever's gotten into her since, yesterday she really was excited to see you guys."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Besides, one of those implicit eyeball-to-brain communications Cinder had just beamed his way was right. He was Emerald's partner, or had been. Still just about the person who knew her better than anyone else in the world, he guessed, if you got down to brass tacks. For a moment it seemed as if the heavy, ruminative silence he lapsed into was to carry him all the way out of sight, any responses levied his way sort of just washing over him without gaining much purchase like water off a duck's wings, but right on the edges of earshot he stopped, head turning to make one last attempt at what he actually wanted to work his way towards as he chewed his jaw.

"...Whatever she did say... sorry. It just kinda clicked last night that the chick we've been trying to help through her grief for the last six months has a death wish, so 'scuse us if that-

"WE'RE AWARE, YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING TOOL!"

There was already a spark of anger on Arthur's features the first time Mercury interrupted, but Watts hadn't turned around, trying instead to formulate how long it would take them to get to the staff their own way and relay such a plan to Cinder and Tyrian. There'd even be a grateful, if brief, nod of the head in Tyrian's direction that might've had more words to follow if something else hadn't immediately drawn his ire. The second time was it, however. He'd tried very hard to keep a lid on it before, when Emerald had lashed out. Because he got it. He knew where it was coming from, regardless of how it bit at his pride and heart.

It probably just made it worse when it boiled over as he whirled on Mercury

"We know! You could not have more obviously changed your tune from last night, and hrm, lets think, what could of possibly given you and Emerald pause to rethink your little 'oh, lets see each other and be friends again, but if you mention anything about anything important that you're currently risking your lives over to Neo we'll kill you' schtick? Oh right, that same Neo pulled a JUMPER trying to avoid a conversation with Cinder and almost fucking killed herself! Do you all really think I'm that emotionally dense? That we can't see the context clues? Did you forget we were all there when Neo saw Vernal the first time? I didn't, because she FUCKING SHOT ME! She's not going to just get over that playing criminal house with you two the last six months or whatever the fuck you've been doing outside of doing your best to avoid everything about it! But here's the thing, Mercury, and this part's important, so listen very closely-" He said, his voice lowering in volume as he stalked over to jam his finger into the other former leader's chest.

"CUTTING YOU OUT WAS STILL WHAT YOU ASKED US TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU FUCKING TWIT, AND OUR 'STUPID MAGICAL QUEST' THAT YOU ASKED US NOT TO TALK ABOUT ISN'T A GOD DAMN SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ACTUAL TALK WITH YOUR TEAMMATE!"

It didn't stay lower very long.

"So I am so sorry if we have strong feelings about playing keep away with the lord of darkness for the fate of the world, and that yes, it and keeping the people on it alive is my biggest priority right now, one could even say consuming my every waking moment, and if I am overthinking things and being 'annoying' or 'a sociopath', or else gods forbid I miss something again and someone loses a tail, or dies, or an entire fucking kingdom falls to the enemy, and that if I think the best way for you three to serve that purpose, in the state you are, specifically in regard to the keeping people I care about alive part, is to circle back to my first request and Fuck. OFF!"

His breaths came in long, almost ragged ins and outs, his shoulders shaking slightly. He whirled back on his heels and stalked away with a murderous glare, his voice coming out in a dark sneer as he marched past his teammates.

"Lets go you two. We need to drop the lamp off with Penny, if she's even still alive-"

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP -*

As soon as Watts made it not another thirty feet down the alley, his scroll, scooter's touchpad, and rings all started to flash red, and he stumbled to a halt with a flummoxed frown that quickly turned to dread as he looked down "The lamp-!"

-was still hanging from his side, and the dread switched right back to confusion as he stuck his finger in the loop and lifted it up. Or tried to; the moment he touched it, the lamp shattered, and in its place was an identical yo-yo to Mercury's own, tied to a scroll with a charm on the end that was eerily similar to one on Neo's. As in it was identical. As in that was Neo's scroll hanging from Watts' belt loop.

He was completely silent and likewise still, yet somehow the action of just staring at the lamp (that was really a scroll) seemed to carry far more anger, just a sheer, impotent, blinding fury, than any of the words he'd just lobbed at Mercury.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Okay, okay, I get the message. We can skip another dose of the pouty eyes and whichever of the three flavors of upper class Wattsonian judgment I'm about to get scorched off the face of the planet by. We're not friends in an alley right now, you're team WTCH and I'm the guy from team MTEN who won't 'fuck off'." He seemed to take an overt interest in his yo-yo for a few seconds, watching it roll up and down the string a few times before he turned away. "And team WTCH, well, they're playing their favorite game. 'If you're not saving the world your feelings are less important!' Tch. Yeah, I get it. Not even being sarcastic, I really do. You guys look like shit. But we hate that game."

"N-no, that's not what...I mean..."

"I didn't..."​

He snatched the yo-yo out of the air one last time, pocketing it as he started walking the long lonely road back to MicDynlod's.

"So when you're done playing, feel free to make the smart call and not the up-your-own-ass one. Tyrian, you know what the password to get back to the cave is, right? 'Open MicDynlod's'. Hopefully we'll seeya back there before we head out."

"Hold on..." She had no idea what she was even trying to say anymore, where this train of thought was supposed to go, but this felt so...not right. Not what she intended to convey at all.​

Besides, one of those implicit eyeball-to-brain communications Cinder had just beamed his way was right. He was Emerald's partner, or had been. Still just about the person who knew her better than anyone else in the world, he guessed, if you got down to brass tacks. For a moment it seemed as if the heavy, ruminative silence he lapsed into was to carry him all the way out of sight, any responses levied his way sort of just washing over him without gaining much purchase like water off a duck's wings, but right on the edges of earshot he stopped, head turning to make one last attempt at what he actually wanted to work his way towards as he chewed his jaw.

"...Whatever she did say... sorry. It just kinda clicked last night that the chick we've been trying to help through her grief for the last six months has a death wish, so 'scuse us if that fuzzy revelation didn't leave us in the mood for 420 shenanigans or a constant stream of cerebral put-downs. Can't say it feels like the only thing bothering her, but..." His hands alighted on his hips, heaving out a sigh so heavy his shoulders dropped from halfway to his head. "For what it's worth... try not to take it personal. Em acts like me, but she's not. She's actually kinda sensitive. If she's ever trying to hurt someone, I mean really trying, most of what ends up coming out is really just the worst stuff she thinks about herself. It's a dead giveaway."

He finally turned to make his way off proper, a much more amicable wave thrown their way along with a parting statement.

"And whatever's gotten into her since, yesterday she really was excited to see you guys."

Great. Now she felt worse about it, exactly the sort of thing she had hoped to avoid by not talking about it. But she didn't have the chance to even get a word in on this particular point before the explosion right beside her went off.
​

"WE'RE AWARE, YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING TOOL!"

There was already a spark of anger on Arthur's features the first time Mercury interrupted, but Watts hadn't turned around, trying instead to formulate how long it would take them to get to the staff their own way and relay such a plan to Cinder and Tyrian. There'd even be a grateful, if brief, nod of the head in Tyrian's direction that might've had more words to follow if something else hadn't immediately drawn his ire. The second time was it, however. He'd tried very hard to keep a lid on it before, when Emerald had lashed out. Because he got it. He knew where it was coming from, regardless of how it bit at his pride and heart.

It probably just made it worse when it boiled over as he whirled on Mercury

"We know! You could not have more obviously changed your tune from last night, and hrm, lets think, what could of possibly given you and Emerald pause to rethink your little 'oh, lets see each other and be friends again, but if you mention anything about anything important that you're currently risking your lives over to Neo we'll kill you' schtick? Oh right, that same Neo pulled a JUMPER trying to avoid a conversation with Cinder and almost fucking killed herself! Do you all really think I'm that emotionally dense? That we can't see the context clues? Did you forget we were all there when Neo saw Vernal the first time? I didn't, because she FUCKING SHOT ME! She's not going to just get over that playing criminal house with you two the last six months or whatever the fuck you've been doing outside of doing your best to avoid everything about it! But here's the thing, Mercury, and this part's important, so listen very closely-" He said, his voice lowering in volume as he stalked over to jam his finger into the other former leader's chest.

"CUTTING YOU OUT WAS STILL WHAT YOU ASKED US TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU FUCKING TWIT, AND OUR 'STUPID MAGICAL QUEST' THAT YOU ASKED US NOT TO TALK ABOUT ISN'T A GOD DAMN SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ACTUAL TALK WITH YOUR TEAMMATE!"

It didn't stay lower very long.

"So I am so sorry if we have strong feelings about playing keep away with the lord of darkness for the fate of the world, and that yes, it and keeping the people on it alive is my biggest priority right now, one could even say consuming my every waking moment, or gods forbid I miss something again and someone loses a tail, or dies, or an entire fucking kingdom falls to the enemy, and that if I think the best way for you three to serve that purpose, in the state you are, specifically in the keeping people I care about alive part, is to circle back to my first request and Fuck. OFF!"

Her partner just went off like an atomic freaking bomb and she had no clue where to even begin with replying to that, at least initially. It cut deep, even though it wasn't aimed at her, just from how pissed Arthur was and also how much that display of frustrated anger boiling over reminded her what she had been so very close to exploding on Emerald with, though she'd pulled herself back from actually yelling any of it. Watts...clearly didn't manage so. Not that it was her place to judge, and she was about as silent as Neo in the uncomfortable seconds that followed those final yelled words. A shocked silence that lasted until he walked past them again, demanding her and Tyrian to come with. Cinder's gaze tracked his every step as he walked by, her head slowly following his angry stride, and that only broke when she turned back with a wince and glanced back in Mercury's direction.

She gulped and looked back again towards Arthur.​

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP -*

As soon as Watts made it not another thirty feet down the alley, his scroll, scooter's touchpad, and rings all started to flash red, and he stumbled to a halt with a flummoxed frown that quickly turned to dread as he looked down "The lamp-!"

-was still hanging from his side, and the dread switched right back to confusion as he stuck his finger in the loop and lifted it up. Or tried to; the moment he touched it, the lamp shattered, and in its place was an identical yo-yo to Mercury's own, tied to a scroll with a charm on the end that was eerily similar to one on Neo's. As in it was identical. As in that was Neo's scroll hanging from Watts' belt loop.

He was completely silent and likewise still, yet somehow the action of just staring at the lamp seemed to carry far more anger, just a sheer, impotent, blinding fury, than any of the words he'd just lobbed at Mercury.

She stepped up beside him just as the lamp shattered and the truth of what he was walking around with now was revealed. Cinder bit her lip as she looked at him in the eyes. "Arthur, I...listen, maybe it..., no, no maybe. It is. It's the right way to go about this. All of us working together, and I mean all of us. Not just...us." She gestured at the three of them. "Believe me, I get it. Taking on the weight of...everything, and having that burden...and thinking that the best way to keep all the people you care about safe, is by doing it yourself...but you shouldn't. We're stronger together, all of us. And yeah, maybe they aren't in the greatest conditions for that, but...are we really any better?"
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"WE'RE AWARE, YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING TOOL!"

There was already a spark of anger on Arthur's features the first time Mercury interrupted, but Watts hadn't turned around, trying instead to formulate how long it would take them to get to the staff their own way and relay such a plan to Cinder and Tyrian. There'd even be a grateful, if brief, nod of the head in Tyrian's direction that might've had more words to follow if something else hadn't immediately drawn his ire. The second time was it, however. He'd tried very hard to keep a lid on it before, when Emerald had lashed out. Because he got it. He knew where it was coming from, regardless of how it bit at his pride and heart.

It probably just made it worse when it boiled over as he whirled on Mercury

"We know! You could not have more obviously changed your tune from last night, and hrm, lets think, what could of possibly given you and Emerald pause to rethink your little 'oh, lets see each other and be friends again, but if you mention anything about anything important that you're currently risking your lives over to Neo we'll kill you' schtick? Oh right, that same Neo pulled a JUMPER trying to avoid a conversation with Cinder and almost fucking killed herself! Do you all really think I'm that emotionally dense? That we can't see the context clues? Did you forget we were all there when Neo saw Vernal the first time? I didn't, because she FUCKING SHOT ME! She's not going to just get over that playing criminal house with you two the last six months or whatever the fuck you've been doing outside of doing your best to avoid everything about it! But here's the thing, Mercury, and this part's important, so listen very closely-" He said, his voice lowering in volume as he stalked over to jam his finger into the other former leader's chest.

"CUTTING YOU OUT WAS STILL WHAT YOU ASKED US TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU FUCKING TWIT, AND OUR 'STUPID MAGICAL QUEST' THAT YOU ASKED US NOT TO TALK ABOUT ISN'T A GOD DAMN SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ACTUAL TALK WITH YOUR TEAMMATE!"

It didn't stay lower very long.

"So I am so sorry if we have strong feelings about playing keep away with the lord of darkness for the fate of the world, and that yes, it and keeping the people on it alive is my biggest priority right now, one could even say consuming my every waking moment, and if I am overthinking things and being 'annoying' or 'a sociopath', or else gods forbid I miss something again and someone loses a tail, or dies, or an entire fucking kingdom falls to the enemy, and that if I think the best way for you three to serve that purpose, in the state you are, specifically in regard to the keeping people I care about alive part, is to circle back to my first request and Fuck. OFF!"

He was probably aware of this, but of all the pertinent individuals Arthur could've chosen to make this the recipient of his fellow erstwhile leader was 100% the most likely to just clock him.

It wouldn't have been the first time. Mercury had clocked a lot of people during that first month or so at Beacon, and it had been a while before him and Watts could've ever been considered anything remotely resembling friends—if it had ever truly even reached that point. If he put his prodigious mind to it he probably could've even identified the specific moments he was thinking about it, minute cues rising and breaking over the surface of the assassin's face like waves before vanishing just as quickly, so subtle they would've been imperceptible at anything other than the proximity they were at. The ever-hardening steel in his eyes at some of the harsher truths about Neo, steel it was impossible to discern as being the sharpening edge of a battleaxe or defensive sheen of armor. The outright dangerous twitch in his brow as he dropped his gaze to the finger stabbing into his chest, one that coalesced into a lethal stare that definitely skewed further to one side of the offense/defense scale, one of the hands on his hips falling to his side and slowly balling in a wordless warning not to push it that went unheeded. By any system of observible logic about who Mercury Black was as a person, that was definitely around when he should've gotten clocked. It was like he wanted him to. Or at least, didn't care.

He didn't.

Whether he would've been ready for it or not, the logical swing never came, and instead Mercury just weathered the abuse with an iron jaw and a rapt, stoic frown that honestly never even really came close to matching Watts' vitriol or hostility. Why would it?

He'd taken so much worse.

He was left with gaze trailing towards the ground, one hand on the nape of his neck scratching slow, rhythmic circles behind one ear as his words came in a huff of resigned, sheepish admittance, almost too quiet for Watts to even hear over his own footfall as he stalked away.

"...I know."

Unfortunately, he could less hear and more perceive the subsequent eyebrow raise and wry, self-indulgent smirk reestablishing themselves on Mercury's face as he stared at his retreating back, the tone that accompanied his next words the sort of wryly smug drawl that only came about when the bastard was actually... taking credit for something.



"Shame there weren't any easy targets around you could've leveled all that at before you took a swandive into hell with enough pent-up negativity in there to make you the closest thing to a Grimm's idea of crack, huh? A reeeeaaaal shame..."

There was a saying he liked to throw around back at Beacon, just one of many insipid aphorisms he came up with to inspire the monkeys when WTCH and MTEN were going head-to-head for the dubiously prestigious title of 'coolest first-years in the game'. Guys like Watts, sure, they'd probably already read more books in their life than someone like him was ever going to. But Mercury? He just had a special knack for reading people.

And pushing them.

She stepped up beside him just as the lamp shattered and the truth of what he was walking around with now was revealed. Cinder bit her lip as she looked at him in the eyes. "Arthur, I...listen, maybe it..., no, no maybe. It is. It's the right way to go about this. All of us working together, and I mean all of us. Not just...us." She gestured at the three of them. "Believe me, I get it. Taking on the weight of...everything, and having that burden...and thinking that the best way to keep all the people you care about safe, is by doing it yourself...but you shouldn't. We're stronger together, all of us. And yeah, maybe they aren't in the greatest conditions for that, but...are we really any better?"

"Sure you are."

It was, quite frankly, absolutely astonishing at that point that Mercury had yet to commence with the fucking off, but here they were. Somehow it wasn't altogether that surprising, either.



He was trailing just far enough behind them to be in earshot, back to the alley wall again, probably to disguise from the fact that he'd just padded down here silently after them like some jilted loser. In contrast to before, however, there was no arrogant swagger, none of the flagrant condescension or infuriating verbal posturing that could make Mercury such a chore to be around at times. His words were measured, solemn in their gloom as he kept his head tilted down with eyes idly watching a bug disappear through a crack in the pavement.

"Just not cuz of anything he's gonna tell you. 'Cause here's the part Arthur doesn't get. He can say he knows, or he's aware, but he doesn't get it, no matter how hard he wants to pretend he's so much smarter than everyone else in a room that he gets everything that could ever possibly flicker through their tiny little peanut brains. That all their lousy calls fall on his big, colossal, world-bearing shoulders."

Strangely, the way he said that didn't sound at all like it was meant to be insulting, aside from a hint of wry derision at the notion of Watts's shoulders being any bigger than a pigeon's. What was clear was that if there was any implicit criticism in the words it wasn't directed outward, and he drummed his fingers against his bicep, the vexed sigh he gave enough of an indicator that Mercury was speaking as off the cuff as Mercury got.



"...Beacon was ours, man. You know what I mean? The four of us... we came from nothing. But we were something there. For the first time in our lives it felt like... like we could escape ourselves. Or... who we were supposed to be, maybe. I dunno." He huffed, the noise a soft juxtaposition of dismal and fondly nostalgic as he glanced away. "I mean... Emerald, Neo, Roman and me... we were four people who should never even have been friends. But for a while there, it felt like we were..."

He didn't finish. His gaze hovered listlessly on the wall across for him, and enough time went by that it almost would've been fair to assume he was just done. Then he glanced over sharply, and it was Cinder his eyes settled on.

"I know you get it. Some, at least. Maybe that's why you always fit in so well with us. Kinda always figured you and I understood each other better than most, not that we ever had a conversation about it or anything. It's a cool look, by the way. Little derivative." He snorted, and though whatever mirth entered his tone at that had diffused into muted bitterness when he spoke up again it too was too self-directed to accurately judge as hostile. "'Cause that's so easy for people like us. Just a big, long, mushy heart-to-heart about our baggage and shared traumas, yeah. More crap Arthur thinks being smart means he gets."

He gave a pithy 'tch', more sullen than anything as he squinted up out of the alley, trying to gauge where the sun was for no reason other than he needed something to focus on while he talked this long.

"This part he will get. They made me leader. Why? No, serious question, 'cause the hell if I know. Wouldn't have been my choice." There was a darker level of self-scrutiny in the way he said that, but he carried on undeterred like it was second nature to him. "Know what's funny? I almost bailed right then and there. That's not me. Only reason I even enrolled was I needed something to do, and it seemed easy. Salem called me in for a personal meet when she saw how I scored in my aptitude trials, you know that? Said they were some of the highest she'd ever seen. She told me—I let her convince me I could be good at it, I wanted to do a good job, I—god dammit, I shouldn't have given that bitch anything—"



They barely had a second to process just how rapidly Mercury's voice had cycled through mounting resentment, thick, harried sadness, and finally alighted on an anger so raw and internalized the dry crak the concrete gave as his heel came down and shattered it sounded meager in comparison. Whatever dam he'd been holding back before finally snapped, and Watts felt the original yo-yo whisk by his ear at such proximity he had to wonder how unintentional a miss it was as Mercury pivoted and jabbed a finger at him from across the alley, addressing him directly for the first time since his tirade.

"—and man, big guy back in the tent was punking you, but say it one more time. Say ONE MORE TIME that what happened happened because of 'something you missed' and I really will kick EVERY fucking tooth you have down your throat, because I was there. It's not important wherever the HELL you were or what you were missing. You don't get to make that about you. I was the leader, and I was the ONLY one who was there, and I couldn't do ANYTHING! I couldn't even make the guy who could've done something do it! The ONLY thing I could do was g-goddamn—"

"DO IT!"

CRACK

"DO IT! NOW!"

CRACK

"I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO DICK AROUND! LISTEN TO ME OR I'LL KILL YOU! DO IT!"

CRACK

CRACK

Five fingers left. He couldn't hear anything Jaune was saying, just his old man's voice coaching him on. Encouraging him.

"I WON'T BE ASKING YOU AGAIN!"

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

He couldn't even do this much. Couldn't keep his own comrades from dying. If he was better this wouldn't have happened. If he had a semblance this wouldn't have happened. Who was he kidding with this huntsman crap? There was only one thing he was good for.

And unless Jaune's will ultimately buckled and he complied, Mercury twisted around and drove his boot down into the son of a bitch's skull again and again, long past the point of his aura shattering until he stopped moving for good.

Once the deed was done, Mercury looked down at his handiwork in a dazed stupor before he dropped to his knees and tried desperately to plug up Roman's wound with his hands. Sleeves. Anything.

crak

The look in his eye during the initial step or two he'd taken at Watts towards the end of that was actually dangerous enough that Cinder might've been on the cusp of intervening when he turned, smashing his bare fist against the wall hard enough that it too left a spiderweb of cracks running out from where it made contact.

He held it there, opting against looking back at either of them when he finally let it lower, instead facing away and vigorously scrubbing a wrist across his eyes. He combed a hand back through his hair, ruffling the bangs to ensure they remained obscured.



"...So here's the thing neither one of you get."

His mask of calm successfully reasserted, he fought his temper back down and placed his hands on his hips as a centering exercise, bringing his breathing back to a more regular pattern.

"You guys broke up. Like the Achievemen." He snorted, though it was hardly more than a sniff. "Everyone goes and focuses on their solo careers for a little while. Everyone gets something to run off to. Cinder gets her power. Arthur gets to go home and tinker with bikes like he's a dad having a mid-life crisis. Tyrian has some weird little community he buries his head in, I dunno. Don't ask me what the hell happened there. And Hazel and Gretch, they do the only smart thing any of us have done since all this started. Hell, you suckers are already most of the way through your reunion tour. You broke up."

He grit his teeth, and somehow his next sentence was both sadder and angrier than anything that had come before it, all without ever raising so much as a decibel.

"You didn't shatter."

His hands slid into his pockets.

"What the hell did we have? We didn't ask you to ditch us. Not like we were gonna ask you to stay, either. You had shit to do. Fair enough. But we couldn't go on. Nothing to go back to, nothing to look forward to. We just got stuck." He shook his head, nothing left in his tone aside from rueful dejection. "We're all stuck in quicksand, and it's my fault. Because I failed. Because I've been failing both of them, ever since. Because I only ever learned to be good at one thing, and it's not this. And now, oh look, Cinder's high, everyone. Isn't that wacky? Hey, here comes Arthur Watts, still can't go five seconds without sliding his academic dick down someone's throat the second they open it to say something. Oh, look, he's got a biiiiiiiig inferiority complex now. Isn't that something? Isn't that sad and relatable?"

He gave a mock pout, then scoffed.

"You bitchy little rich boy, please. It's like you're cosplaying as me. You've played every card you were ever dealt just fine, no matter how shitty a hand it was. You're not the fuckup. I'm that guy. Me. You don't get it."

He spat, a singular glob of saliva aimed at his own feet rather than anywhere near either of them.

"And neither of you is trying as hard as you think you are."

He fell silent, hands sliding back out to his hips as he rapped his fingers against his side in plain agitation, still not turning back to them save to just about throw his gaze back over one shoulder.



"And y'know what? I didn't even chase you guys down to get into... any of this. What's the point? Play me a tune on the world's smallest violin, right? It's all bullshit anyway. Past's the past. But I saw that look in your eye, and you are not just gonna 'fuck off' again, Artholomew. Eat shit for even thinking about it, actually." He scowled, foot tapping against the alley floor to join the erratic rhythm of his fingers on his hip. "I wanted to tell you that if Em just took a swing at you, it's because something's up with her. Majorly up, not any of this or what happened last night. We're all missing something obvious, but I guess the hell with me for looking for help before she sinks a little deeper this time, right? Nah, like you said, you guys have your priorities. Guess I'll just wing it and screw it up, like always."

He kicked a rock, aggressively enough that it pelted off the walls and ricocheted the whole way up the alley as he promptly stalked off without another word, grumbling and drawing on mister 'ooooh analytical' or whatever the fuck to start playing the relevant events back in his mind.

She slapped the tip of the ruler she'd procured at an unspecified point down right at a specific point on the map, where a red X scratched out what appeared to be an ugly, jagged scar in the world's crust. Emerald seemed to know it, judging from the way her eyes widened sharply and her voice took on a prickly speck of urgency, luring her away from their attempts to corral Cinder. "That's..."

"I mean, yeah, she played it close to vest, but it wasn't that hard to spot if you actually give a shit! I know Cinder was too busy giggling at friggin' incense trails for anyone to notice, but something came over her the second they started talking about—"

He froze, and though they couldn't see it his eyes shot wide open with a blanching look of comprehension that had him locking the mouth of the alley in the most glassy thousand eyed stare he'd ever stared.

Because it was obvious. It was literally so obvious he should've picked it out the second he noticed something, and he was a jackass for not being able to, because he was the person who knew her best.

And he knew almost nothing about her.

Emerald had never been a sharer. The rare insights into her life before Beacon she'd offered those who attained a passing pretense of closeness with her were mostly as vague, nebulous and immaterial as one of her illusions, always scant on details and heavy on misdirecting anecdotes. They knew Emerald, sure. Actual, tangible details about her life? Nada. The Forty Thieves thing had come out of absolutely nowhere as far as he was concerned, and she hadn't exactly seemed thrilled about heading back to her birth kingdom. Fact was, she was an enigma. He didn't know anything about her parents. What they did.

"They're not going to. That's suicide." Emerald stated flatly, without an ounce of indecision. She glanced over to inform those not in the know. "Gneiss was one of the kingdom's richest Dust exporters. Every time they tapped a vein they found another one, and every time they did the population swelled and swelled. Then one day... that fissure in the ground, it just... opened up and swallowed them. Everybody died. Everybody. And everyone else just crossed it off the map."

Her chest heaved out a sigh, but a moment later whatever personal stake she may have had in that tidbit was buried behind the level stare she gave Morgiana.

"You need to drop this one. Whatever salvage they might have isn't really worth the certain death of it all."

Where she was from.

Shit.



"...Oh, man. How'd I miss that?"

The voice he chided himself with after all that was so tiny, dumbfounded and spent he figured somewhere two continents away Marcus Black's bloated corpse was doing somersaults.

Whether Watts was midway through tearing him a new, more highly evolved asshole, Cinder was saying something pitying, or all there was to interrupt was the sweet, sweet awkward silence, whatever it was was abruptly cut off with a firm "Bye" from MTEN's former leader, followed by a pair of echoing gunshots from his heels that sent him hurtling back towards the other end of the alley at meteoric speed. He used his hands and boots alike to skid to a halt, then took off in a full sprint back towards the restaurant, a hilariously ironic exit after everything he'd just had to say about fucking off.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Sure you are."

It was, quite frankly, absolutely astonishing at that point that Mercury had yet to commence with the fucking off, but here they were. Somehow it wasn't altogether that surprising, either.

He was trailing just far enough behind them to be in earshot, back to the alley wall again, probably to disguise from the fact that he'd just padded down here silently after them like some jilted loser. In contrast to before, however, there was no arrogant swagger, none of the flagrant condescension or infuriating verbal posturing that could make Mercury such a chore to be around at times. His words were measured, solemn in their gloom as he kept his head tilted down with eyes idly watching a bug disappear through a crack in the pavement.

The first reply to her question came from neither Arthur or Tyrian, and that fact was enough of a shock that loathe as she would be to admit it, she did jump in sudden surprise before her head whirled around to look over at him. If pressed about it later, she would no doubt attempt to deny she ever jumped, to passionately claim that she hadn't been spooked, even if Arthur came forward with a recording of exactly that. Would've dug in her heels, stood her ground and made clear that it didn't happen!! But right there and then, that hardly mattered.​

"Just not cuz of anything he's gonna tell you. 'Cause here's the part Arthur doesn't get. He can say he knows, or he's aware, but he doesn't get it, no matter how hard he wants to pretend he's so much smarter than everyone else in a room that he gets everything that could ever possibly flicker through their tiny little peanut brains. That all their lousy calls fall on his big, colossal, world-bearing shoulders."

Strangely, the way he said that didn't sound at all like it was meant to be insulting, aside from a hint of wry derision at the notion of Watts's shoulders being any bigger than a pigeon's. What was clear was that if there was any implicit criticism in the words it wasn't directed outward, and he drummed his fingers against his bicep, the vexed sigh he gave enough of an indicator that Mercury was speaking as off the cuff as Mercury got.

It was obvious, both from what he was saying and the way he was speaking, so unlike his usual way, that...he had quite a lot to say. So she gave him that time to just let it all out, and any potential responses that drifted up into her mind as he spoke stayed just that, a thought. One saved for a little later.​

"...Beacon was ours, man. You know what I mean? The four of us... we came from nothing. But we were something there. For the first time in our lives it felt like... like we could escape ourselves. Or... who we were supposed to be, maybe. I dunno." He huffed, the noise a soft juxtaposition of dismal and fondly nostalgic as he glanced away. "I mean... Emerald, Neo, Roman and me... we were four people who should never even have been friends. But for a while there, it felt like we were..."

He didn't finish. His gaze hovered listlessly on the wall across for him, and enough time went by that it almost would've been fair to assume he was just done. Then he glanced over sharply, and it was Cinder his eyes settled on.

"I know you get it. Some, at least. Maybe that's why you always fit in so well with us. Kinda always figured you and I understood each other better than most, not that we ever had a conversation about it or anything. It's a cool look, by the way. Little derivative." He snorted, and though whatever mirth entered his tone at that had diffused into muted bitterness when he spoke up again it too was too self-directed to accurately judge as hostile. "'Cause that's so easy for people like us. Just a big, long, mushy heart-to-heart about our baggage and shared traumas, yeah. More crap Arthur thinks being smart means he gets."

...She did. She really really really did know what he meant there. She had been the epitome of coming from nothing, just as much as any of them. Maybe even more so. Undoubtedly shitty as all their lives had been before they came to Beacon, they...had skills that came with. They'd earned their way into Beacon, with all their blood and sweat and tears. She...didn't. She had just been some unfortunate girl from a backwoods village deep in the heart of Mistral, constantly abused by her dad and scolded by her mom and forced into doing all their menial work by both of them. She knew how to hunt animals, had been forced to learn to serve as their meal ticket. She rarely fought grimm, and even when she had, it was just the smaller, weaker kind. Nothing that would have prepared her for the life of a huntress, no matter how much she wanted it. The freedom of the job, the escape from her nowhere nothing life...the chance to let the world know that she was here.

That she mattered.

That she wasn't just some girl who'd fallen through the cracks, with nobody to care about her, and nobody who even knew her name.



It wasn't something that she would have ever gotten on her own merit, or at least not like them. The only reason she was even there in the first place was because she got lucky. A random roll of the dice that she won. But once she was there, she put everything she had into all she did, trying so hard to justify Salem's trust in her and giving her the escape she'd always wanted, to show that the decision to bring somebody with next to no actual training to the most prestigious combat school in the world two years early wasn't a mistake. She'd stick it to her parents, who'd always thrown into her face that she would never amount to anything more than what they made her. Fuck them. She may have never been the most skilled, or the bravest, or the smartest student, but she was determined to be the best student she could possibly be. She'd may not have gotten into Beacon the normal way, but she fully intended to prove she belonged there. To earn it. The previous Fall maiden had died, and the power went to her, and there had to be a reason for that.

She didn't want it to just be about the secret power. A secret she initially kept from the people that became her team, her friends, though it hurt to do so, because she'd been asked to do so. Maybe some of them, like Arthur or Mercury, had sussed out there was a special reason why this kid with no remarkable talent for fighting got in to a combat school early, but she didn't say anything until all those many months after they'd met.

Just one secret she kept among many.

Because, yeah, there were times she wanted to talk about what she'd gone through with this grey-haired, cool and slick as all hell dude, because she could just...tell they had things in common. But he just seemed so...unapproachable to her, and she had no idea how to even say what she wanted to say. It felt like her tongue twisted itself into knots. So she'd never shared. Didn't tell any of them about the details of where she'd come from, what her dad had done to her back that left her emotionally sensitive to being touched there by people she didn't know, like that one guy back there learned when she snapped on him for patting her. Or about how small her mom made her feel whenever she messed up cooking or cleaning. Or the reason why she'd named her weapon Midnight and why she treasured it so much more than just as a weapon, the very same reason she came so close to just...ending it all for herself. Forever.

Or anything about the circumstances of her home burning to ash. She had yet to tell a single other soul about any of that.​

He gave a pithy 'tch', more sullen than anything as he squinted up out of the alley, trying to gauge where the sun was for no reason other than he needed something to focus on while he talked this long.

"This part he will get. They made me leader. Why? No, serious question, 'cause the hell if I know. Wouldn't have been my choice." There was a darker level of self-scrutiny in the way he said that, but he carried on undeterred like it was second nature to him. "Know what's funny? I almost bailed right then and there. That's not me. Only reason I even enrolled was I needed something to do, and it seemed easy. Salem called me in for a personal meet when she saw how I scored in my aptitude trials, you know that? Said they were some of the highest she'd ever seen. She told me—I let her convince me I could be good at it, I wanted to do a good job, I—god dammit, I shouldn't have given that bitch anything—"

They barely had a second to process just how rapidly Mercury's voice had cycled through mounting resentment, thick, harried sadness, and finally alighted on an anger so raw and internalized the dry crak the concrete gave as his heel came down and shattered it sounded meager in comparison.

The look on her face right then morphed into one that all but screamed she wanted to rush at him and tackle him into a hug, reassure him it was the right choice, tell him he had been a good leader who only would have become an even greater one, probably would have made their team into top of the class all around, even above hers, but...she didn't. She kept herself standing where she was to give him the chance to let it all out.​

Whatever dam he'd been holding back before finally snapped, and Watts felt the original yo-yo whisk by his ear at such proximity he had to wonder how unintentional a miss it was as Mercury pivoted and jabbed a finger at him from across the alley, addressing him directly for the first time since his tirade.

"—and man, big guy back in the tent was clowning you, but say it one more time. Say ONE MORE TIME that what happened happened because of 'something you missed' and I really will kick EVERY fucking tooth you have down your throat, because I was there. It's not important wherever the HELL you were or what you were missing. You don't get to make that about you. I was the leader, and I was the ONLY one who was there, and I couldn't do ANYTHING! I couldn't even make the guy who could've done something do it! The ONLY thing I could do was g-goddamn—"

Forced herself to do nothing but stand and listen.​

crak

The look in his eye during the initial step or two he'd taken at Watts towards the end of that was actually dangerous enough that Cinder might've been on the cusp of intervening when he turned, smashing his bare fist against the wall hard enough that it too left a spiderweb of cracks running out from where it made contact.

He held it there, opting against looking back at either of them when he finally let it lower, instead facing away and vigorously scrubbing a wrist across his eyes. He combed a hand back through his hair, ruffling the bangs to ensure they remained obscured.

The only responses continuing to be the way her facial expression shifted the more this went on, a look of brief concern turning into a wince as he struck the wall with enough force that cracks shot outward from the point of impact.​

"...So here's the thing neither one of you get."

His mask of calm successfully reasserted, he fought his temper back down and placed his hands on his hips as a centering exercise, bringing his breathing back to a more regular pattern.

"You guys broke up. Like the Achievemen." He snorted, though it was hardly more than a sniff. "Everyone goes and focuses on their solo careers for a little while. Everyone gets something to run off to. Cinder gets her power. Arthur gets to go home and tinker with bikes like he's a dad having a mid-life crisis. Tyrian has some weird little community he buries his head in, I dunno. Don't ask me what the hell happened there. And Hazel and Gretch, they do the only smart thing any of us have done since all this started. Hell, you suckers are already most of the way through your reunion tour. You broke up."

He grit his teeth, and somehow his next sentence was both sadder and angrier than anything that had come before it, all without ever raising so much as a decibel.

"You didn't shatter."

"................"

She looked away then, the first time she'd done so after Mercury had announced he was still here with his answer to her question. Her stare rested on some empty patch of sand to the left, clearly troubled about something she thought about in that moment, but still as quiet as she'd been. Her eye had slid shut by the time he said they didn't shatter, only opening back up after his hands were in his pockets, her stare settling on his back.​

"What the hell did we have? We didn't ask you to ditch us. Not like we were gonna ask you to stay, either. You had shit to do. Fair enough. But we couldn't go on. Nothing to go back to, nothing to look forward to. We just got stuck." He shook his head, nothing left in his tone aside from rueful dejection. "We're all stuck in quicksand, and it's my fault. Because I failed. Because I've been failing both of them, ever since. Because I only ever learned to be good at one thing, and it's not this. And now, oh look, Cinder's high, everyone. Isn't that wacky? Hey, here comes Arthur Watts, still only able to go five seconds without sliding his academic dick down someone's throat the second they open it to say something. Oh, look, he's got a biiiiiiiig inferiority complex now. Isn't that something? Isn't that sad and relatable?"

He gave a mock pout, then scoffed.

But only for a little while before it pulled away again in guilt and shame, briefly shooting to the side to see how Watts and Tyrian were taking this before that stare lowered to her boots.​

"And neither of you is trying as hard as you think you are."

He fell silent, hands sliding back out to his hips as he rapped his fingers against his side in plain agitation, still not turning back to them save to just about throw his gaze back over one shoulder.

The frown on her face deepened as her head slowly raised to meet his sullen grey eyes with her sad, guilty and apologetic golden one.​

"And y'know what? I didn't even chase you guys down to get into... any of this. What's the point? Play me a tune on the world's smallest violin, right? It's all bullshit anyway. Past's the past. But I saw that look in your eye, and you are not just gonna 'fuck off' again, Artholomew. Eat shit for even thinking about it, actually." He scowled, foot tapping against the alley floor to join the erratic rhythm of his fingers on his hip. "I wanted to tell you that if Em just took a swing at you, it's because something's up with her. Majorly up, not any of this or what happened last night. We're all missing something obvious, but I guess the hell with me for looking for help before she sinks a little deeper this time, right? Nah, like you said, you guys have your priorities. Guess I'll just wing it and screw it up, like always."

The guilt and sadness only intensified as he threw that at them, how he'd wanted help and how they'd responded....and the jab about their priorities, and most of all how he said he'd...screw it up. Like always. That left her speechless, and not for the reason of letting him get it all out. Her mouth had opened up but no words came. How did one even...was there any perfect way to respond to hearing that? It sure didn't feel like it, and as she struggled to figure that out, he was already stomping away. While he froze trying to figure it out, she finally got it in her to move and took a step forward, her hand outstretched as she spoke at last: "Wait-"​

Whether Watts was midway through tearing him a new, more highly evolved asshole, Cinder was saying something pitying, or all there was to interrupt was the sweet, sweet awkward silence, whatever it was was abruptly cut off with a firm "Bye" from MTEN's former leader, followed by a pair of echoing gunshots from his heels that sent him hurtling back towards the other end of the alley at meteoric speed. He used his hands and boots alike to skid to a halt, then took off in a full sprint back towards the restaurant, a hilariously ironic exit after everything he'd just had to say about fucking off.

Her hand fell back to her side, but the sound of the gunshots hadn't even faded as she glanced at both Watts and Tyrian in quick succession. "...So...now what?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"So when you're done playing, feel free to make the smart call and not the up-your-own-ass one. Tyrian, you know what the password to get back to the cave is, right? 'Open MicDynlod's'. Hopefully we'll seeya back there before we head out."

Tyrian sat up and looked over at Mercury.

He'd been so focused on his spars with Neo that he'd never even given the slightest thought to Mercury or Emerald's own feelings.

He should have been grateful they willingly got themselves mixed up in his business when he'd asked them. Saving Trifa, stopping the Mistral Murderer, etc.

He hadn't even said 'thank you' come to think of it.

Their help had just come for granted.

"Mercury..."
​

"CUTTING YOU OUT WAS STILL WHAT YOU ASKED US TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU FUCKING TWIT, AND OUR 'STUPID MAGICAL QUEST' THAT YOU ASKED US NOT TO TALK ABOUT ISN'T A GOD DAMN SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ACTUAL TALK WITH YOUR TEAMMATE!"

It didn't stay lower very long.

"So I am so sorry if we have strong feelings about playing keep away with the lord of darkness for the fate of the world, and that yes, it and keeping the people on it alive is my biggest priority right now, one could even say consuming my every waking moment, and if I am overthinking things and being 'annoying' or 'a sociopath', or else gods forbid I miss something again and someone loses a tail, or dies, or an entire fucking kingdom falls to the enemy, and that if I think the best way for you three to serve that purpose, in the state you are, specifically in regard to the keeping people I care about alive part, is to circle back to my first request and Fuck. OFF!"

"Arthur, wait! Stop-"

His head started hurting...
​

"—and man, big guy back in the tent was punking you, but say it one more time. Say ONE MORE TIME that what happened happened because of 'something you missed' and I really will kick EVERY fucking tooth you have down your throat, because I was there. It's not important wherever the HELL you were or what you were missing. You don't get to make that about you. I was the leader, and I was the ONLY one who was there, and I couldn't do ANYTHING! I couldn't even make the guy who could've done something do it! The ONLY thing I could do was g-goddamn—"

"AAAAAGHHHHH!!!"

Tyrian's tail lashed out against the wall he'd been near. The stinger dragging a wide swath through the side of it with drips of Tyrian's venom descending to the ground. Holding either side of his head, he shuddered and growled.

"Someone made a comment earlier...I can't remember who...About how I'm doing, right?"

A lot of the time memories seemed to just blur together. Maybe he was just going too fast. Or just had his focus elsewhere.

"....I'm not ok. I haven't been since I lost my tail. Hazel's gone, I was lacking leads. Fighting with Neo was the only thing that's been holding me together." He shook his head from side to side. "I can't handle all the arguing. It's gonna set me off. It's..."

He wrapped his tail around his waist and slumped down against the wall he'd scarred.

"....Almost too much."
​

Her hand fell back to her side, but the sound of the gunshots hadn't even faded as she glanced at both Watts and Tyrian in quick succession. "...So...now what?"

"We go back, get the real lamp..."

Tyrian's stinger hovered inches from the ground.

"....We just keep going whether we're together or not." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Well m'dudes, that's gotta be just about the worst anyone's ever done it," Morgiana had no choice but to declare with an abjectly troubled sigh, sitting on the edge of a fountain in the MicDynlod's adjacent square and cupping her hands to gently scoop some water onto her face. "I really didn't think this was all gonna go down like that. Kinda sorta feel like a totally innocent trip for some breakfast grub got totally hijacked and besieged by the forces of bummer."

"Yeah, but you incited a huge brawl, though."

"That was just goofin, Lance! That was adorable." She flapped her hands at him in a very silly way, the picture of stoner innocence. "I almost never get out into the kingdom. You well know that the morn on which Morgiana the Mystic deigns leave her sanctum and stride in the daylight is a rare one indeed."

"That's 'cause you smoke up soon as you're awake then don't wanna leave bed all day."

"Dude! It's agoraphobia." She dropped her mystical affectations to instead emit a sullen, outright petulant mewl of embarrassment, swatting him with one of her floppy sleeves and coughing to reassert herself before she peered over at the others. Emerald, at the very least, appeared to have settled, managing to regain some semblance of her own impenetrable poise where she sat by Neo a few meters away with knees tucked to her chest and gaze distant as she scanned the busy market stalls, alighting on the occasional pickpocket or purse-snatcher she saw doing the same. There was little to differentiate it from Emerald's standard issue closed-off body language, except...

Her eyes hovered over the small hand perched atop Neo's, lips twitching up in a shrewd smile. Her bodyguard's trailing glance was far more fleeting, immediately more concerned with monitoring the throngs of people, though he did pass one remark. "Huntress school changed her, huh?"

Morgiana shrugged, stretching out on the fountain rim with an enigmatic smile that carried over into her dreamy murmur.

"Nah. I think she just finally met people who make her more comfortable bein' who she's always b—"

"EM!"

That astute, heartwarming summation of Emerald's overarching development themes would unfortunately have to go unfinished as a blur named Mercury whisked past her so fast she yowled and almost fell in the fountain, baseball sliding to a stop so aggressive and abrupt in front of his two teammates it kicked up enough sand and dust that Emerald was nearly hacking up a lung as she glared at him. The look on his face quickly had it lose its teeth, though.



"It just clicked, I figured it out, you don't have to—"

She shushed him, one finger automatically pressed against his lips before always-tactful Mercury dragged the truth she had internally come to terms with in the last few minutes all out into the open as she met his frantic confusion with a mild roll of the eyes. Seriously, putting it together with that little to work off? Dick.

"Mercury, it's fine."

She took the finger away, though it was another few seconds before he replied, tone extremely dubious. "...Yeah?"

Her shrug was casual, the kind of breezy indifference Emerald could conjure with a snap. "Yeah. Neo and I went over it, it's cool. Don't worry about it. We'll go."

She was a big girl, contrary to whatever the hell that had been about back in the restaurant might've led some to believe. She wasn't about to let her hangups get in the way of what they had to do. Where they needed to be, no matter what that where might've represented to her once upon a time. They had to do it for Neo, sure, but... really it was for all of them.

"You're... sure." He still looked unconvinced, not really sure he was understanding or if there was some subtext or coded message being communicated here or what, and he didn't until Emerald glanced back up from where her gaze had drifted to the floor with a look that nearly made him double-take, so uncertain yet certain of exactly what it wanted to say.



"Yeah! I mean, it's just a big, stupid hole in the ground anyway, right? That's all. And we're family."

Such a blunt, unapologetic word choice from one who typically screened and filtered herself so carefully had even Mercury's eyes widen a millimeter or two, enough to even jolt him from the weird frost he'd put between himself and Neo since last night as they flickered over to her in a 'did she just say that' kind of way. Thinking about the other illusionist too hard still sent him down all kinds of dark spirals, and he still couldn't actually meet her gaze for long without a flicker of guilt dragging his own back to the ground again; but the snort that followed a moment later was obliging, and it was evident just from the sheepish grin on his face that his next words were meant for both of them.

"Ooookay. I m-mean sure, if you say so. Em what the hell that was so awkward."

He started snickering, the kind that would've been infectious had it not been so obviously at her expense as she bristled where she sat and tried to slam down her layers upon layers of her naturally installed self-consciousness like a steel grate all at once.



"Oh yeah, and Neo stole the lamp and I'm pretty sure Watts is on his way here right now to either kill us or be real pissy about it."

"Ughhh. I hope it's the first one."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"AAAAAGHHHHH!!!"

Tyrian's tail lashed out against the wall he'd been near. The stinger dragging a wide swath through the side of it with drips of Tyrian's venom descending to the ground. Holding either side of his head, he shuddered and growled.

"Someone made a comment earlier...I can't remember who...About how I'm doing, right?"

A lot of the time memories seemed to just blur together. Maybe he was just going too fast. Or just had his focus elsewhere.

"....I'm not ok. I haven't been since I lost my tail. Hazel's gone, I was lacking leads. Fighting with Neo was the only thing that's been holding me together." He shook his head from side to side. "I can't handle all the arguing. It's gonna set me off. It's..."

He wrapped his tail around his waist and slumped down against the wall he'd scarred.

"....Almost too much."

She nearly jumped again from the sudden scream and the wild tail lash that ripped its way across the wall(man, they were responsible for so much property damage...), but managed to keep it restrained to a briefly alarmed look before it dropped to a concerned frown. "...It's okay to not be ok, you know." Cinder pointed out. "After everything that's happened, nobody can blame you. Now, I can't promise there won't be any more arguing, I mean..." She gave a not so subtle jerk of the head over in Arthur's direction. "...but I'm here now, and if I can help in any way...please ask!" Cinder beamed. "As for Hazel and the leads for your thing...he's not gone gone. We can always see him again, some time. And I'm not pleased about it but again, with how many times we've crossed paths with the Shadow Fang, I'm certain we will again. You'll get your chance. I know you will." She reached out to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder.​

"We go back, get the real lamp..."

Tyrian's stinger hovered inches from the ground.

"....We just keep going whether we're together or not."

"Right! Let's do it!" Cinder agreed, her hand dropping from his shoulder to grab one of his hands and she turned, her other reaching out to grab one of her partner's hands too, aiming to take off running at top speed back towards the fast food place and drag them both along with her.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Emerald, for her part, already seemed to be regretting everything about this, as incredibly self conscious of all the people around she was positive had to be looking at her as she was unwilling to look up and actually, you know, check. So she just shook, too quiet to even be considered sobs at this stage as she tried to make herself small and attract as little attention as possible even from Neo. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair, Neo shouldn't have had to comfort her, Watts shouldn't have had to hear all that crap hurled his way for the sin of being mildly annoying, Cinder shouldn't have gotten reamed for acting her freaking age. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was wrong with her.

Well, no. She knew exactly what was.

But it didn't matter. This wasn't about that. It wasn't about her.

She was not the main character here.

The prod from Neo was what finally got her to look up, eye just barely peeking over her elbow as she blinked it rapidly a few times to clear the tears, scanning the words front to back. A deep, uneven snivel wracked her entire body from deep in her lungs when they registered, and despite her best efforts fresh tears rolled out from her eyes the moment they did as she shook her head and tried to answer.

"I'm-m s-s-suh-sorry it-I'm-it's s-s-so s-stupid—"

Whatever tide had been unleashed appeared to show no signs of ebbing anytime soon, and she aborted the whole thing with a distraught, guttual moan and burrowed back into the safety of her elbows. Even Neo knew there was no way this could've all been for her, though given her near misses over the last few days god knew when the last time Emerald Sustrai actually let herself cry had been. And now here it was, happening in MicDynlod's like they were two drunk girls fresh from the club. Ugh.

In lieu of stringing a coherent sentence together, a row of bold green-printed typeface slammed down over Neo's words like the Pixar lamp.

I KNOW. I'M A HOT MESS. MY BAD.

Neo put a gentle hand on Emerald's shoulder as her had went back down, a soft frown on her face as she watched the words crush her own that she wiped off with a valiant attempt at a cheeky smile as she swatted her other hand through Emerald's words to wipe them away and very carefully start trying to spell out her own reply.

'Have you seen me the last few mo-'

It was then that a shadow fell over them. Emboldened, incensed or terrified by Watts' violent exit, and having had the job foisted on him by a line manager too intimidated to do anything herself, a kid even younger than they were clad in a MicDynlod's uniform now stood before them, looking sheepish, trepidatious, but above all baffled that he even had to say this to them.

"Ummm... you all have to leave. Like, forever."

He gestured behind him, where two other workers were already hanging portraits of the entire gang up under a great, gold-plated sign reading 'BANNED FOR LIFE'. All around them, chaos reigned. Stuff was broken. The door was frozen shut, trapping everyone inside with a bodyguard who only grew more and more enraged the more stains ended up on his suit. A kid had picked up the joint Tyrian dropped and started smoking it. Prospective customers were strewn everywhere, Lance having gone through them like a bowling ball through pins, and he seemed in no rush to leave as he calmly stepped ahead of Morgiana towards the exit, the two of them being chased and jabbed at by more workers holding brooms. The enforcer grimaced as he reached the door and saw Watts's handiwork, and while he set about dislodging it with a few well-placed shoulder checks Morgiana seized the opportunity to spin, throw double peace signs high to the sky again and yell across the room in a far more forceful, impetuous tone.

The moment the poor kid came in with the reminder that yes, this was a public place Emerald was breaking down in, Neo eyes snapped up because irregardless of that fact, it was Emerald's breakdown he was interrupting, and this was the most emotion she'd ever seen out of her, even after Haven.

The face that actually looked up at him wasn't her face; she was going to do her best to say 'fuck off' without putting in the slow effort it would've taken for her to trace the words.

She felt pretty confident in success.

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

Even so, she helped scoot Emerald back onto her feet and followed her out the door, tracing the rest of her message as she went. She was about to trace another as they made it out of the door-

"EM!"

That astute, heartwarming summation of Emerald's overarching development themes would unfortunately have to go unfinished as a blur named Mercury whisked past her so fast she yowled and almost fell in the fountain, baseball sliding to a stop so aggressive and abrupt in front of his two teammates it kicked up enough sand and dust that Emerald was nearly hacking up a lung as she glared at him. The look on his face quickly had it lose its teeth, though.

"It just clicked, I figured it out, you don't have to—"

She shushed him, one finger automatically pressed against his lips before always-tactful Mercury dragged the truth she had internally come to terms with in the last few minutes all out into the open as she met his frantic confusion with a mild roll of the eyes. Seriously, putting it together with that little to work off? Dick.

"Mercury, it's fine."

She took the finger away, though it was another few seconds before he replied, tone extremely dubious. "...Yeah?"

Her shrug was casual, the kind of breezy indifference Emerald could conjure with a snap. "Yeah. Neo and I went over it, it's cool. Don't worry about it. We'll go."

She was a big girl, contrary to whatever the hell that had been about back in the restaurant might've led some to believe. She wasn't about to let her hangups get in the way of what they had to do. Where they needed to be, no matter what that where might've represented to her once upon a time. They had to do it for Neo, sure, but... really it was for all of them.

Neo spat out a bit of dirt Mercury had been kind enough to gift directly into her mouth, her own look deeply unimpressed until she saw his face and that whole conversation happened.

....She was missing something!

Her face contorted as it tried to look annoyed and concerned at the same time, a frustrated huff escaping her as she crossed her arms and tried to parse what they'd just said. She knew something was off with Emerald, obviously, or... well all that wouldn't have happened. But she apparently wasn't' quite the detective Mercury was, because the what hadn't clicked yet. They hadn't gone over anything! Not to sound a little self important, but she actually had been pretty sure that she'd been the biggest reason Emerald had cracked like that, but that wouldn't have surprised Mercury, made him run back here all apologies and anxious frowns.

She was normally better at this. She just needed a push. A hint, something extra to point her in the right direction-

"Yeah! I mean, it's just a big, stupid hole in the ground anyway, right? That's all. And we're family."

Such a blunt, unapologetic word choice from one who typically screened and filtered herself so carefully had even Mercury's eyes widen a millimeter or two, enough to even jolt him from the weird frost he'd put between himself and Neo since last night as they flickered over to her in a 'did she just say that' kind of way. Thinking about the other illusionist too hard still sent him down all kinds of dark spirals, and he still couldn't actually meet her gaze for long without a flicker of guilt dragging his own back to the ground again; but the snort that followed a moment later was obliging, and it was evident just from the sheepish grin on his face that his next words were meant for both of them.

"Ooookay. I m-mean sure, if you say so. Em what the hell that was so awkward."

He started snickering, the kind that would've been infectious had it not been so obviously at her expense as she bristled where she sat and tried to slam down her layers upon layers of her naturally installed self-consciousness like a steel grate all at once.

"Oh yeah, and Neo stole the lamp and I'm pretty sure Watts is on his way here right now to either kill us or be real pissy about it."

"Ughhh. I hope it's the first one."

The first two sentences hit Neo like a freight train.

When Mercury looked over at her, she didn't even seem to notice, her eyes locked on Emerald in a look of horrified understanding, one hand balled up into a fist and pressed against her mouth as her eyes hung wide open

"Gneiss was one of the kingdom's richest Dust exporters. Every time they tapped a vein they found another one, and every time they did the population swelled and swelled. Then one day... that fissure in the ground, it just... opened up and swallowed them. Everybody died. Everybody. And everyone else just crossed it off the map."

...Neopolitan's scars were obvious, regardless of the fact that they weren't physical. No matter how kindly you put it, whatever flavor of positive spin you gave her silence, there was something wrong with her. Mt. Glenn had left her mark on her in a way that no one seemed surprise when why she was so quiet got shared with them. The silence itself beget a question, and the question had an obvious answer.

Emerald had always just... been Emerald though. Neo had never felt like there was some great mystery to be solved about her. She'd just accepted that the person she met was the person Emerald was. She'd never questioned, really, why someone who'd been so commited to the Beacon Mean Girl bit had blunted her fangs around her and Roman. Why she kept them all at arms length, even as they all became genuine friends and more. Why her family came up even less than hers or Mercury's.

She never knew, but just how quickly she understood had her knees threaten to break right out from under her, the full weight of what Emerald had been carrying, what she'd been trying so hard not to compound, what Neo must've made her feel on that bridge, all came to a realization at once.

She understood that pain better than anyone.

Except she'd still had a tie to her home, for so long, in Roman. Emerald hadn't even had that.

When the two next gave her their attention once they were done trying to shift back into cool kid mode, it was clear Neo wasn't going to be playing the same game. Her hands were clutched next to her chest, and no matter how hard she tried to smile it wouldn't form right on her face.




She just wished she'd known. Not that it was true. She would never have wished that on anyone, even those she hated most. But it was true, and she done nothing but make it worse for Emerald since Haven. Even that had a new framing. A weight she hadn't even pretended to be their to help Emerald carry, or Mercury, because she never considered that it could have been crushing anyone worse than her.

and all of this, everything that was roiling in her chest right now, from guilt to understanding, was absolutely dwarfed by one simple word.

She'd called them family.

She'd called neo family.

No matter how much everything else was keeping the smile off her face, it would be wrong to call the tears streaming down Neo's face anything but a mark of joy.

Joy that was going to get all over Mercury and Emerald as she all but tackled them with a hug, a coincidence of placement and posture the only reason her tiny wingspan was able to snare them both at the same time.

It was a moment that wanted to hold onto for as long as she could.

It ended almost as soon as it started. A thunderous clang of metal crashing into concrete filled the air, something impacting the street behind Neo with enough force to jostle them a full inch off the ground.

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

"Shame there weren't any easy targets around you could've leveled all that at before you took a swandive into hell with enough pent-up negativity in there to make you the closest thing to a Grimm's idea of crack, huh? A reeeeaaaal shame..."

There was a saying he liked to throw around back at Beacon, just one of many insipid aphorisms he came up with to inspire the monkeys when WTCH and MTEN were going head-to-head for the dubiously prestigious title of 'coolest first-years in the game'. Guys like Watts, sure, they'd probably already read more books in their life than someone like him was ever going to. But Mercury? He just had a special knack for reading people.

And pushing them.

Pushing was the right word. If Watts hadn't been so focused on the lamp, there was a good chance that Mercury would've been the one earning a provoked punch, no matter how poorly that would've actually worked out for Watts.

But it was barely a blip on Arthur's radar. The entire back half of what Mercury had said barely seemed like it reached Arthur's ears for how much he reacted or responded.



For all the ridicule this thought would've gotten him, perhaps deservedly, and from all corners, it felt like they just didn't understand. It wasn't about superiority. It wasn't that he thought he was the only one that could make mistakes, or that he was responsible for everything they did. It wasn't that he thought their friendships weren't important.

It was that it didn't matter who's mistake it was, where the failure in any given plan or action was. The stakes they were playing with weren't just their lives, it was the world, and that meant covering every base they could, at every turn, against a force that had them outgunned in every sense, or the price paid would be blood on a scale they couldn't comprehend. He had to consider every mistake his own, because every little misstep was a price paid exponentially.

And they were treating the Lamp of Creation like a toy.

Like a cheap blackmail tool or some fucking aesop gotcha.

He started to take a deep breath. So be it. He'd kept calm in the face of worse, more frustrating. Ever since it'd been revealed to them that this world was some sort of reflection of another, much like so many of the others he'd been cognizant and wary of his own darker nature. He'd been calm. He'd been helpful where he could. Kind as he could manage. Surely-

Now, I can't promise there won't be any more arguing, I mean..." She gave a not so subtle jerk of the head over in Arthur's direction

"Oh, fuck it."

By the time Cinder turned back in Watts' direction, the scooter was gone, and her partner had gone tearing off into the sky

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


"The lamp, you idiots. now."

The metal shell standing over them glinted in the morning sun, dark blacks and greys accented with hues of green that matched the more vibrant visor that cut across the middle of the helm, hiding whatever features came with the taut anger apparent in Watt's modulated tone.

That might've been the end of it. The lamp could've changed hands, and they could've talked from there. But Arthur didn't understand, what, exactly, he was butting into, and Neo had yet to realize the full severity with which Watts was taking his role as the lamp's protector, nor just how much the stress of the last few days was pressing against his shoulders; she'd been there for how he'd reacted, or rather not, to Emerald's tirade, and not for how he'd blown up on Mercury.

She meant it to be cheeky. To take advantage of Watt's metal shell (that'd she'd be absolutely baffled and enamored with in any other circumstance) for a bit of venting and rebuttal. She'd have never done if she could see the look in his eyes.

But she didn't, and before Emerald and Mercury could do anything about it, she released them, spun on her heel, and brought Hush down to smack right into the top of Watts' helmet to ring the ol' bell.

The reprise came out much faster than she ever expected Watts to move, and there was a far different clang as steel met flesh and bone when his fist sent her flying down the street.

 

[MidwayLives]

"Oh, fuck it."

By the time Cinder turned back in Watts' direction, the scooter was gone, and her partner had gone tearing off into the sky

"Arthur...?"

Tyrian gazed up into the sky watching Watts disappear into it.

How was it that between the three of them, he was the only one who couldn't fly now?

More importantly...

"We have to catch up to him!" Tyrian clung to Cinder. "Fly, Cinder!"
​

"EM!"

Walking out the door thanks to Lance's efforts, Blanche walked over to stand beside his partner.

"Was that him that just came flying by?"

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Why didn't you say anything?"



"Hmm, that's the million lien question ain't it, Blanche? I didn't say anything because now ain't the time! How the hell am I supposed to even approach this? Walk up to him, casual as can be, and say 'hey your dad was a douche, glad you killed him, can we talk?' Maybe I should vent to him while I'm at it! Like these punks don't got enough on their plate! You ever think of that, Blanche?!" Char snapped as he threw his hands up in about the most dramatic fashion one could. Before they were lowered back down beside his waist.

"...Look, I'm sorry okay? I just ain't so good with the talking and getting my emotions out. I've walked through most of my developmental and adult years dragging a huge chip on my shoulder. Getting your ass kicked by a bunch of kids and barely avoiding getting killed by your boss doesn't really prepare you for heavy conversations." Char admitted before slumping over. "Maybe I'll just got see if anybody needs work done. 'Anyone looking for a professional jerk? Well you better come while I'm here and still an asshole. Don't bother calling the jerk store, they're all OUTTA me!'"

"...Char-"
​

The metal shell standing over them glinted in the morning sun, dark blacks and greys accented with hues of green that matched the more vibrant visor that cut across the middle of the helm, hiding whatever features came with the taut anger apparent in Watt's modulated tone.

"Blanche? Am I seein things or is that a giant robot?"

"Nonono, it's one of these kids riding in a giant robot."

"You sure?"
​

"The lamp, you idiots. now."

"Have you ever heard a robot call anyone an idiot?"

"I dunno, I don't know too many robots."



"Sorry, sorry. Dumb fuckin thing to say."

Char and Blanche looked over Watt's mech.

"....Do we have to fight it?"

"Mmmm, I do not believe we are carrying the lamp so no."

"Good."
​

She meant it to be cheeky. To take advantage of Watt's metal shell (that'd she'd be absolutely baffled and enamored with in any other circumstance) for a bit of venting and rebuttal. She'd have never done if she could see the look in his eyes.

But she didn't, and before Emerald and Mercury could do anything about it, she released them, spun on her heel, and brought Hush down to smack right into the top of Watts' helmet to ring the ol' bell.

The reprise came out much faster than she ever expected Watts to move, and there was a far different clang as steel met flesh and bone when his fist sent her flying down the street.

"Hey! What the hell was that?!"

Char had met Neo by swinging his sword at her.

Wasn't anything personal, just doing what Blanche and him had been asked to do.

She and her friends had gotten the better of him.

She'd even saved their lives.

"Like hell I'm gonna stand here." Char growled as he reached for Riot Breaker's hilt.

"Char! This is not our fight! Putain d’idiot!!!"

Stepping infront of the mech, Char narrowed his eyes.

"Kids'll be kids, yeah, yeah. But what kinda friend socks another one with some kinda robot suit?"

He hadn't drawn Riot Breaker or activated the Null Zone yet.

"How about we all take a minute to chill out, huh? Before things get uglier." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh, fuck it."

By the time Cinder turned back in Watts' direction, the scooter was gone, and her partner had gone tearing off into the sky

"Arthur...?"

Tyrian gazed up into the sky watching Watts disappear into it.

How was it that between the three of them, he was the only one who couldn't fly now?

More importantly...

"We have to catch up to him!" Tyrian clung to Cinder. "Fly, Cinder!"

"Oh no--I know!" She stammered, the two halves of her sentence directed at one of her teammates. So running was out. Any hint of a smile vanished as the jets of blue flame shot out of her boots and she basically exploded into the air with Tyrian in tow, rushing after Arthur.​

"The lamp, you idiots. now."

The metal shell standing over them glinted in the morning sun, dark blacks and greys accented with hues of green that matched the more vibrant visor that cut across the middle of the helm, hiding whatever features came with the taut anger apparent in Watt's modulated tone.

That might've been the end of it. The lamp could've changed hands, and they could've talked from there. But Arthur didn't understand, what, exactly, he was butting into, and Neo had yet to realize the full severity with which Watts was taking his role as the lamp's protector, nor just how much the stress of the last few days was pressing against his shoulders; she'd been there for how he'd reacted, or rather not, to Emerald's tirade, and not for how he'd blown up on Mercury.

She meant it to be cheeky. To take advantage of Watt's metal shell (that'd she'd be absolutely baffled and enamored with in any other circumstance) for a bit of venting and rebuttal. She'd have never done if she could see the look in his eyes.

But she didn't, and before Emerald and Mercury could do anything about it, she released them, spun on her heel, and brought Hush down to smack right into the top of Watts' helmet to ring the ol' bell.

The reprise came out much faster than she ever expected Watts to move, and there was a far different clang as steel met flesh and bone when his fist sent her flying down the street.

"Kids'll be kids, yeah, yeah. But what kinda friend socks another one with some kinda robot suit?"

He hadn't drawn Riot Breaker or activated the Null Zone yet.

"How about we all take a minute to chill out--"

It didn't take long at all for them to catch up, Cinder's eye widening as she watched Neo also learn to fly as she got punched down the street. "...no..." That didn't have to, she knew her partner was taking it real seriously and she understood why but that didn't need to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, they...the last thing they needed was to fight each other now and just feed into that frustration and anger and say or do more things that they didn't really mean to. That guy she didn't really know down there had the right idea. Which is why, before he could even finish his sentence, he got struck by the very sudden ice wall that shot out of the ground and expanded in an instant, putting some more distance between them thanks to her magic. "That's enough!" Cinder landed in the next second behind the armored suit, and she was upon him just as suddenly as that ice wall had emerged.

With her arms wrapped around it in a from behind hug. "Arthur, please...I know how focused you are on protecting the relic, how much you..." She hesitated, briefly looking off to the side before deciding not to continue saying what she'd been about to. "But you don't have to attack our friends, we'll get it back without that! Okay?" She hoped that was enough to at least start to get through to him.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The first two sentences hit Neo like a freight train.

When Mercury looked over at her, she didn't even seem to notice, her eyes locked on Emerald in a look of horrified understanding, one hand balled up into a fist and pressed against her mouth as her eyes hung wide open

Oh shit.

The stare of soft, limpid alarm that faded into being over Emerald's prior expression like one of her illusions when she clocked the significance of Neo's own was as contrite and wide-eyed as they came, yet another genuine crack forming in her perennial affectation of the insouciant klepto. Because... well... shit. God damn it, this was exactly what she'd been living on tenterhooks over ever since they first hitched a ride to this stupid kingdom, triply so since Cinder and Watts showed their faces: that her carefully cultivated emotional avoidance skills were gonna get all jacked up and the ugly little cluster of feelings about her past she had hermetically sealed away in her chest was gonna come unravelling to the point she couldn't play it coy anymore, and now it had, and...

Mercury was one thing. She'd never really felt motivated to fill in the gaps in his knowledge or anything, and it seemed like he got her well enough not to ask, but she felt confident enough in their single shared brain cell that he wouldn't have been opposed to just taking it on board and sweeping it right back under the rug again with her. But Neo, and Roman when he'd been alive—and as aware as she was that this probably made her a bad person, or a fake friend, or whatever the name was for someone who withheld from those closest to her a place of potential solidarity to help shoulder their most grievous burden, their rawest of open wounds—were pretty much exactly the two people she would've least wanted to ever find out about the true extent of her own baggage. From where she was sitting right now, on the other end of those eyes, it felt almost pompous, like it was all some elaborate maudlin pity grab she'd orchestrated just to get people to feel extra bad for her once it all inevitably came out; but the honest, unmitigated truth was...

It just didn't feel as important.

Not to her. She knew that the second other people's awareness broadened into that aspect of her past everything about their perception of Emerald Sustrai was going to change, that it was gonna be all emotional sensitivity and walking on eggshells to avoid ever accidentally talking about family or earthquakes or whatever else while she was around, and she didn't want that. She sure as hell didn't feel deserving of it. Not that she'd ever really sat down and tried to unpack it before, but she was fairly confident that what happened to Gneiss definitely hadn't been to her what the destruction of Mountain Glenn had been to Neo, and while she didn't know what that made her the fact was every action Emerald had ever taken in her life since the township disappeared into a crack in the world had been designed to make sure the Emerald who existed there disappeared with it—and every one of them had been mostly successful. She didn't want any ties dragging her back to her past. She didn't want to be a blip on anyone else's emotional radar, least of all someone like Neo. She didn't want to be a prospective source of guilt, or sadness, or pain of any kind to someone who was already struggling with so much. She was ashamed enough as it was. How was it fair? Why did Emerald get to just bury her feelings and keep moving forward and largely be okay, while poor Neo didn't even get to start the healing process without something horrible happening and dragging her all the way back towards her trauma by the ankles?

All she ever wanted to be to someone like her fellow illusionist was the breezy, uncomplicated source of reliable wit and poise who floated around and never showed any signs of going anywhere, or changing, or disappearing like so many others in her life had. The figure she only ever admitted she herself might've needed in her lowest moments, when she was hungry and alone. A prototypical supporting character to those around her, capable of occasionally tapping into her own life experiences to offer strangely astute observations or nuggets of wisdom but nothing else. A shoulder to lean on, or cry on. A mirage. An oasis in the desert.

An illusion.

The best she'd ever spun, she was pretty sure. Only now she felt like both the deceiver and the deceived, sitting there with lips trembling and eyes stapled open, no idea what to do or say, half looking like she expected Neo to get mad and start hitting her or simply shatter and disappear from her life forever herself, the irony there not exactly lost on her. She was... she felt so dumb. How could she ever have really been there for her?

She never even learned to be there for herself.

"N-Neo, it wasn't like... it's not as bad as I made it—"

She'd called them family.

She'd called neo family.

No matter how much everything else was keeping the smile off her face, it would be wrong to call the tears streaming down Neo's face anything but a mark of joy.

Joy that was going to get all over Mercury and Emerald as she all but tackled them with a hug, a coincidence of placement and posture the only reason her tiny wingspan was able to snare them both at the same time.

It was a moment that wanted to hold onto for as long as she could.

Oh thank god. Talk postponed.

The release of the knot of tension she hadn't even been aware was starting to constrict the rise and fall of her breathing was so sharp and vigorous it came out as an actual hiss, and while the complicated storm of emotions raging in her wasn't quite quelled the shaky laugh she let out was very much one of relief as she instinctively drew Neo as deep into her embrace as the tiny girl could fit.

Mercury, on the other hand, got a far more casual arm slung around his shoulder and a flick in the ear for essentially giving her away, which did little to abate his mounting laughter at just how corny this all was even as his own attempt at a hug came like the embrace a warrior gave his allies after the heat of combat.

"H-hey! If you sappy chicks can't accept my role in the family dynamic as the aloof, emotionally uninvolved father figure whose sole pleasure in life is derived when I crack open a brew or five to watch the game then—"

That was when he felt her fingernails dig into his ear, and rather than a mere flick he got a far sharper, more pointed yank communicating that now was a moment when he really needed to zip it instead. Which isn't exactly what happened, but he did at least stop talking.

It ended almost as soon as it started. A thunderous clang of metal crashing into concrete filled the air, something impacting the street behind Neo with enough force to jostle them a full inch off the ground.

"The lamp, you idiots. now."

Spoiler

Mercury was approximately a Yang out of 10 on the style-o-meter, Emerald somewhat of a hyperstressed cross between Ruby and Blake

The two swung in wildly different directions on the emotional pendulum as they disentangled themselves, Emerald still plainly off-kilter and staring up at MechaWatts with eyes that were somehow even wider than before, lips slightly ajar like she wanted to say something but unsure of how to even start with just how blatantly and empirically this was her fault. Sure, they were all kind of a hurricane tier disaster of different baggage and terrible coping mechanisms right now, but Emerald had been the first one to explode like a powderkeg, played against type and let herself drift into such an intense emotional freefall she took it out on two people who didn't deserve it no matter how obnoxious they were being which in Cinder's case she definitely felt like had been moreso than usual but hey not the point. They didn't know. They were in the same boat as Neo, except just this one time Emerald had crowned herself queen of the hypocrites and actively failed to check herself, be the effortlessly levelheaded paragon of poise she'd chosen to take on as her entire identity.

Still, this seemed like... a lot, and what struck her as a very Atlesian show of force had her eyes slowly sharpen from a rattled look of apology to a far more guarded, ambiguous squint. It wasn't a million miles away from the one Mercury had settled into from the word go, a single quirked eyebrow and a few blithe, curious blinks of the eye the extent of the reaction he let slip as he reconciled the power armor's color scheme with that doofy little scooter he'd been draging around. Huh. Bit more than a mid-life crisis, then.

They both spoke in unison, a stark contrast in their tones that ultimately became irrelevant.

"Um, dial it back a notch much—?"

"You check under your seat—?"

The reprise came out much faster than she ever expected Watts to move, and there was a far different clang as steel met flesh and bone when his fist sent her flying down the street.

"—Hey, WHOA—"

"..."



They became irrelevant because their reactions to that were nigh identical, if very different in volume. A streak of raw, stunned incredulity and concern that jolted between them like a current of lightning every bit as potent as anything Lance could discharge, the difference in how quickly it shattered what came before it negligible at best. For as potent and explosive a moment of candour as Emerald had finally lapsed into under the weight of all last night and the morning's revelations, one thing had stood out.

"—I'm sorry we're not him, we weren't trying to be but we need you way more than you need us, I swear to god I'm not just saying that it's true—"

From the moment Roman Torchwick drew breath no longer, neither one of them had ever been trying to replace the void in her life he left behind. They couldn't. Nothing could. He'd been the final link to her past and he was cruelly and violently ripped away from her, and it sucked and it was awful. But that was that. He was gone. They hadn't been trying to become her custodians, either, no matter how their clumsy attempts at emotional support might've given off that impression.

The truth was they were just scared. They needed her. Neo couldn't talk, but in many ways she was a better communicator than either one of them, more open and in tune with herself than it felt like they could ever hope to be, and as many vacuous hangers-on as they'd been able to intimidate into their orbit for clout at Beacon it was hard to imagine many people like her ever wanting to be around them. Plus she was a weird, goofy little pixie with a bigger heart than just about anyone in the entire world and the extent to which they cared about her made them both feel better about themselves as people. She was their anchor, and if she disappeared from their lives neither one of them knew what kind of person they might be inclined to float away and become; everything since Haven had been them just trying to hold onto her, to stop her from drifting any further away from them than she already had, except every time they saw her slip so much as a millimeter closer to the abyss they'd been too emotionally dense to know what to do beyond grab on and desperately yank her as hard in the opposite direction as possible.

And of course, being them, they had no idea how to actually tell her any of this. It wasn't really even something they'd crystallized aloud to one other, just innately mapped onto the fact that they felt the same way. They just... they had to stick with her, even if they didn't know what to do. They had to show her they were worth not pulling away from. Above all else, they had to look out for her. They had all fractured in all sorts of ways after Haven, big and small, but they couldn't lose sight of the fact that none of them had been dealt a worse hand in life than Neopolitan. She was strong just for making it as far as she had, but there was no way of knowing how much more she could take, how heavy of a blow needed to be dealt for Neo to finally shatter like one of her illusions. Whenever possible, they needed to eat those punches for her.

So why the hell did they keep failing so bad?

Was it just that bad a fit? Were they just that deficient? Were they just that lacking in whatever intangible quality it was that made someone a good person? Emerald had her own share of guilt over the way Neo had spiralled, their proximity to it and total failure to do anything about it. It was complex, an uneasy, rolling source of anxiety in her gut that never let her be at ease.

It was nothing compared to the sheer volume and darkness of the guilt Mercury was carrying over it.

Because, as he'd just finished spelling out unbeknownst to her, he was there. If he'd been better, stronger, or even just a little smarter or less cocky he could've stopped it. But he'd been none of those things. He'd just been a failure, and in his mind every single branch Neo was hitting on the way down to wherever she was falling towards was on him and him only. He was carrying that, and every now and then it slipped out, as evidenced by the violent, angry reaction he'd had to Tyrian going too hard on her in training. Unlike Emerald's, what Mercury's guilt turned into when he was given a target to point it at was very, very uncomplicated.

"You fucking waste of air."



Emerald, the very second Neo either shattered or got up or gave some indication that she was okay wherever she landed, had been about to whirl, quite frankly to pick right back up where she left off and resume coming for Watts' entire existence with far more vindication in her words. But something about the way Mercury said that had her stop, turn to face him instead. He was still. Eerily so. His once pristine boyband bangs had become so scruffy and dishevelled they settled almost the whole way over his eyes, but she knew him enough that she knew the second she looked at him, before she even reached out with her semblance to lightly brush the surface of his mind. Emerald was furious, make no mistake. It wouldn't have taken much for her to take a few swipes at Watts herself.

Mercury was horrifyingly angry.

Watts was... in danger right now. Of getting seriously hurt, of ending up with the psychological scars from seriously hurting Mercury before her partner backed down from what was about to happen, she didn't know. But her aversion to either outcome was enough that any thoughts of reprisal in her mind vanished, and as Cinder erected her ice wall she instead reached out to nudge him in the shoulder.

"Okay. Let's try dialing it back several notches for you, slugger."

He didn't respond. Hers wasn't the voice he was listening to right now.

Kid's a piece of work, isn't he? Mr. Patronizing. Mr. 'Fuck-You-Using-Every-Word-In-My-Vocabulary-Except-The-Words-'Fuck-You', And-That-Makes-Me-Better'. You know back in my day we used to just beat the shit outta guys who talked to other people the way he does. His problem is you've been too soft. You got tolerant, and he's gotten comfortable. Why? He obviously hasn't been bullied enough in life to develop the self-esteem issues that keep egos like his in check. His parents were too soft on him too, I'll tell ya that much.

It wasn't a loud voice. For Mercury, the rage had never been loud. It had never been explosive or consuming or overpowering.

Know the damnedest part? He actually thinks he's the good guy right now, I bet. Mr. Hold-Up-The-Sky. Mr. 'I'm-A-Shitty-Atlesian, But-Watch-Me-Drop-Down-In-A-Half-Hour-In-This-Fucking-Mobile-Tank-Suit-I-Made-And-Slap-The-Shit-Outta-The-Kid-Having-The-Worst-Few-Months-Of-Her-Life (And-That's-Fucking-Saying-Something)'.

It just made everything so deathly, deathly quiet.

Thinks having smarts gives him the right to swing his pencil dick at whoever moves into range. So probably 'bout an inch or so, huh? Nobody ever told this guy that being a genius doesn't give him the loudest voice in the room. It's a talent. A special skill. And now he's the big man, compensating for little pencildick, using his special skill to get his way and screw anyone who says different. A shitty Atlesian? This guy? Nah. Mr. Fucking Atlas.

To the point that the voice and the sounds of combat were the only thing he could hear. Everything else was excess. A luxury. An impediment. Emerald said something and jostled him again, harder this time, but he didn't acknowledge her, didn't react except to turn vaguely in her direction, which drew a hopeful arching of her eyebrows until he reached over and snatched one half of Thief's Respite from her hip without so much as looking up.

That's right. Kid wants to compare special skills? Oblige the fucker. Show him yours.

He separated it into its kusarigama state and started winding the chain around his wrist, still ignoring an Emerald who grew increasingly fervid in her attempts to snap him out of... whatever this was. It wasn't good. She knew that much.

It didn't take long at all for them to catch up, Cinder's eye widening as she watched Neo also learn to fly as she got punched down the street. "...no..." That didn't have to, she knew her partner was taking it real seriously and she understood why but that didn't need to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, they...the last thing they needed was to fight each other now and just feed into that frustration and anger and say or do more things that they didn't really mean to. That guy she didn't really know down there had the right idea. Which is why, before he could even finish his sentence, he got struck by the very sudden ice wall that shot out of the ground and expanded in an instant, putting some more distance between them thanks to her magic. "That's enough!" Cinder landed in the next second behind the armored suit, and she was upon him just as suddenly as that ice wall had emerged.

With her arms wrapped around it in a from behind hug. "Arthur, please...I know how focused you are on protecting the relic, how much you..." She hesitated, briefly looking off to the side before deciding not to continue saying what she'd been about to. "But you don't have to attack our friends, we'll get it back without that! Okay?" She hoped that was enough to at least start to get through to him.

Emerald's attempts at piercing her former partner's aura of malice had been too quiet to discern through the wall with complete accuracy, but they definitely both heard the loud, harried "GET AWAY FROM THE—" about a split-second before it became too late to matter.

Not a demand.

A warning.



Show him what I taught you.

Mercury exploded through the wall with so much impact it rolled the entire way through the structure and shattered it into a hail of icicles that pelted down on their position, the oft-overlooked fact that his mechanized legs struck with enough force to match Yang's heftiest of haymakers and belt titans as impressive as Yatsuhashi and Hazel around like he was their size on full display. The first heavy clang of his heel striking Watts' armor was like the drum of a hammer against an anvil times twenty, enough to crack the pavement under his feet regardless of whether he braced against it or not and even before the sharp blam that sent him ricocheting off and to the side. He caught himself in a handspring, another gunshot echoing to further boost his momentum, and in the next few seconds as he dove back in something became unnervingly clear.

clang

Had this just been Arthur and not Arthur piloting an individualized war machine, Mercury would've been trying extremely hard to murder him right now.

clang

How much the armor's presence was even influencing that approach was unclear. He would've been a daunting opponent for anyone to find themselves on the wrong side of, more tornado than man, a spinning, devastating whirlwind operating on a level even fleeting glimpses of which had prompted Goodwitch to throw entire first period spars out and send him to the showers to cool off.

clang

It was a furious, relentless style of offense unquestionably brought to bear by all the anger and spite Mercury carried around inside him, yet it was nothing so base as a berserker state. Every move he was making was calculated, every incessant sounding of his heels against the suit assessing what exactly it was made of, how much it could take, what Watts's mobility was like in it, his visibility and periphery, how fast he could move. He was never in the same place for more than an instant, creative use of his gun barrels melding seamlessly with his flowing offensive to let him attack from the front one second and have a boot swinging for the back of Arthur's head from his blindside a second later, and—

He suddenly disengaged, a gunshot from both heels sending him skidding away before another launched him into the air, and another sent him into a violent yet graceful spin mid-momentum that was very flashy but looked utterly pointless. Until, at least, Watts heard the sudden jangling of a chain pulled taut and felt a constriction around his knees.

A glance downward might've just about afforded him a glimpse of the kusarigama looped through and snared around his legs several times, until Mercury's maneuver wrenched him off his feet and through the air towards him, his own legs hooking around the chain from his end to keep his trajectory under control and a final blam ringing out to bring one boot swinging down in an overhead axe kick, meant to spike him into the ground headfirst with enough force to leave a substantial crater.

clang

Everything that followed was pure offense, the feeling-out phase at an end, Mercury seeking to capitalize on getting Watts momentarily off-balance and rain down a ceaseless barrage of kicks and stomps for the head, the jugular, for joints, for anything and everything that looked even remotely like a weak spot.

clang clang clang

The most terrifying part was that he hadn't said a word.

clang clang clang

Not since telling Watts he didn't deserve to breathe.

clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang—​

 

[MidwayLives]

It didn't take long at all for them to catch up, Cinder's eye widening as she watched Neo also learn to fly as she got punched down the street. "...no..." That didn't have to, she knew her partner was taking it real seriously and she understood why but that didn't need to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, they...the last thing they needed was to fight each other now and just feed into that frustration and anger and say or do more things that they didn't really mean to. That guy she didn't really know down there had the right idea. Which is why, before he could even finish his sentence, he got struck by the very sudden ice wall that shot out of the ground and expanded in an instant, putting some more distance between them thanks to her magic. "That's enough!"

Char still hadn't drawn Riot Breaker.

Wasn't really feeling up to fighting a kid in a robot suit.

But he was up for this apparently. The budding ice wall tore through the ground in it's expansion-sending Char flying across the ground.

"Well. I tried."

"Char!" Blanche ran over to his partner's side and helped him back up. "Y'know what I changed my mind, let's uh, sit this one out Blanche." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

It didn't take long at all for them to catch up, Cinder's eye widening as she watched Neo also learn to fly as she got punched down the street. "...no..." That didn't have to, she knew her partner was taking it real seriously and she understood why but that didn't need to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, they...the last thing they needed was to fight each other now and just feed into that frustration and anger and say or do more things that they didn't really mean to. That guy she didn't really know down there had the right idea. Which is why, before he could even finish his sentence, he got struck by the very sudden ice wall that shot out of the ground and expanded in an instant, putting some more distance between them thanks to her magic. "That's enough!" Cinder landed in the next second behind the armored suit, and she was upon him just as suddenly as that ice wall had emerged.

With her arms wrapped around it in a from behind hug. "Arthur, please...I know how focused you are on protecting the relic, how much you..." She hesitated, briefly looking off to the side before deciding not to continue saying what she'd been about to. "But you don't have to attack our friends, we'll get it back without that! Okay?" She hoped that was enough to at least start to get through to him.

It was weird how quiet Watts was when CInder suddenly tried to disengage them all from the fight, his stride towards where he'd sent neo coming to a brief halt as the ice wall came up and Cinder's arms wrapped around him from behind. When his voice did come, it carried none of his usual drawl, or even the bite that he'd had when he'd snapped at Mercury. It was just straightforward, and calm in a way that could only be called forced.

"Apparently, I do."

Emerald's attempts at piercing her former partner's aura of malice had been too quiet to discern through the wall with complete accuracy, but they definitely both heard the loud, harried "GET AWAY FROM THE—" about a split-second before it became too late to matter.

Not a demand.

A warning.

Show him what I taught you.

Mercury exploded through the wall with so much impact it rolled the entire way through the structure and shattered it into a hail of icicles that pelted down on their position, the oft-overlooked fact that his mechanized legs struck with enough force to match Yang's heftiest of haymakers and belt titans as impressive as Yatsuhashi and Hazel around like he was their size on full display. The first heavy clang of his heel striking Watts' armor was like the drum of a hammer against an anvil times twenty, enough to crack the pavement under his feet regardless of whether he braced against it or not and even before the sharp blam that sent him ricocheting off and to the side. He caught himself in a handspring, another gunshot echoing to further boost his momentum, and in the next few seconds as he dove back in something became unnervingly clear.

clang

Had this just been Arthur and not Arthur piloting an individualized war machine, Mercury would've been trying extremely hard to murder him right now.

clang

How much the armor's presence was even influencing that approach was unclear. He would've been a daunting opponent for anyone to find themselves on the wrong side of, more tornado than man, a spinning, devastating whirlwind operating on a level even fleeting glimpses of which had prompted Goodwitch to throw entire first period spars out and send him to the showers to cool off.

clang

It was a furious, relentless style of offense unquestionably brought to bear by all the anger and spite Mercury carried around inside him, yet it was nothing so base as a berserker state. Every move he was making was calculated, every incessant sounding of his heels against the suit assessing what exactly it was made of, how much it could take, what Watts's mobility was like in it, his visibility and periphery, how fast he could move. He was never in the same place for more than an instant, creative use of his gun barrels melding seamlessly with his flowing offensive to let him attack from the front one second and have a boot swinging for the back of Arthur's head from his blindside a second later, and—

He suddenly disengaged, a gunshot from both heels sending him skidding away before another launched him into the air, and another sent him into a violent yet graceful spin mid-momentum that was very flashy but looked utterly pointless. Until, at least, Watts heard the sudden jangling of a chain pulled taut and felt a constriction around his knees.

A glance downward might've just about afforded him a glimpse of the kusarigama looped through and snared around his legs several times, until Mercury's maneuver wrenched him off his feet and through the air towards him, his own legs hooking around the chain from his end to keep his trajectory under control and a final blam ringing out to bring one boot swinging down in an overhead axe kick, meant to spike him into the ground headfirst with enough force to leave a substantial crater.

clang

Everything that followed was pure offense, the feeling-out phase at an end, Mercury seeking to capitalize on getting Watts momentarily off-balance and rain down a ceaseless barrage of kicks and stomps for the head, the jugular, for joints, for anything and everything that looked even remotely like a weak spot.

clang clang clang

The most terrifying part was that he hadn't said a word.

clang clang clang

Not since telling Watts he didn't deserve to breathe.

clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang—

On the outside, it looked like Watts was getting obliterated; almost every kick landed home, the sheer, nigh uncalcuable difference between Mercury's and Arthur's martial prowess on full display, and the only reason he hadn't been put through every wall in this district of the city was the sheer weight of the suit. He was doing his best to fight back, or at least to minimize the damage, but his best just wasn't going to keep pace with Mercury Black; it was a delay, if that.



The rigid, furious calm Watts' face carried behind the visor would've made it apparent that there was more to it than just that.

"Hays?"

'Damage minimal; aura extension not req- Damage minim-'Dama- Da- Da-D-Dama-D-D-D-Dam-Da-D-D-D-D-Da-D-'

"Disable non-critical damage notifications. 18% to cannon. .6 second window required." he drawled as a particulary intense flurry overcame him, a brief flash of his usual dryness overpowering his anger. It wasn't that he wasn't feeling it; Mercury kicked like a tank shell with kickboxing lessons, and it was honestly a bit frightening how quickly he'd found the softer points in Watts' defenses. He'd have bruises on his bruises come morning tomorrow.

But bruises were only bruises. 'Softer' wasn't soft.

He'd built this after Haven, after seeing what, exactly, the sort of monstrosities and magic they were up against were capable. Nothing worth wasting his aura on, at least yet. It was far too precious a resource for other tools, and Mercury wasn't the only one on the hunt for precision. It came the instant after he impacted the ground, his breath heaving out of him in a gasp as he felt the impact compounded by the weight of the suit itself; the tiniest bit of space, a moment of breath between when Mercury's assault began and when it'd start anew.

It was all he needed.

A tiny green light flickered into existence on Mercury's chest mid falling strike, before it suddenly expanded into a full blown laser beam that tore into the morning sky like a spotlight in reverse, and took Mercury along with it. It flickered back out of existence a second later as Watts' back thruster tossed him back to his feet and he raised his right arm while Mercury was still in the air, the pair of gun barrels lining the armor both flickering to life.

"Double A mode."

'Warning; targets labelled 'friendlies' in-'

"override" Watts snarled, before both barrels hissed in ignition before filling the air with a barrage of dust rounds; His arm seemed to unerringly track Mercury through the air, twisting a adjusting with a motion far more mechanical than organic, and the rounds weren't aimed to hit Mercury so much as around him, exploding in concussive blasts of flame as they neared like the anti air guns of the old wars.

Then they suddenly stopped, Watts' HUD flashing with a 'TARGET LOST' warning as Mercury seemed to completely vanish from his vision; the sky clear even of the smoke and debris from his own fire-

Neo reappeared besides Watts, at the back of his suit, well outside of his visor's periphial, Hush' handle already hooked around the bottom of his ankle as she twisted her arm and heaved.

His foot moved like an inch, and Neo's face winced in a surprised pain as she almost pulled her arm out of her socket in the attempt.

He was uh. Heavier than she realized.

She didn't even see what came next; the only thing that kept her head from meeting a steel kneecap was sheer survival instinct, the fighter's edge she'd spent the last month honing against Tyrian, as the thruster on Watts' other foot kicked to life and sent it into a flying knee strike that she just barely managed to sidestep, only to be sent tumbling forward as an explosion flared against her aura from another shot from Watts' arm that cracked off as he retreated.

She hit the ground with a roll and came back up, her eyes narrowed, her lip in her teeth. She didn't even know how to play this, or what she was even playing for. One moment she'd been flying through the air, skidding to a halt on her haunches after one painful rebound off the concrete, and the next she saw Watts was opening fire on Mercury. Was she just supposed to let that happen? Was Watts not clearly out of his mind right now? Should she just give him the lamp, or would that even help at this point, and the best option was-

It was a thought that lasted barely a second, but it was indecision Watts' wasn't suffering from. A green beam slammed into her chest, the shoulder cannon swiveling to stay trained on Neo even as Watts spun the rest of his body to catch Mercury's first reprise on the hardlight shield that flared to life on his other arm.

 

[MidwayLives]

Everything that followed was pure offense, the feeling-out phase at an end, Mercury seeking to capitalize on getting Watts momentarily off-balance and rain down a ceaseless barrage of kicks and stomps for the head, the jugular, for joints, for anything and everything that looked even remotely like a weak spot.

clang clang clang

The most terrifying part was that he hadn't said a word.

clang clang clang

Not since telling Watts he didn't deserve to breathe.

clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang—

It hadn't taken them long to get here. Thanks to Cinder's maiden abilities and all.

It'd taken even less for Mercury to get through the wall Cinder had manifested.

Tyrian had seen some nasty fights as a kid. Many times he sought to even stick his nose in. Murder was off the cards in the club but what happened to your opponent once they were out of the ring? It wasn't your concern if they kicked the bucket or not. Eventually the faunus grew to ignore such things. The people who went into these fights did it because they knew the risks. He'd only be dishonoring them by sticking his nose in where it didn't belong.

But none of those people had been his friends.

Or as close to him as Watts had been.

Was.

Tyrian skittered forward on all fours. He knew Mercury was fast. He knew he was tough. Tyrian came to a sudden stop, the soles of his boots scrunching against the ground, his fingers digging into whatever they could. He'd always been looking for a chance to fight. It didn't matter with who. Maybe that in it of itself was something that needed addressing. But that wasn't what worried Tyrian the most about all this. The two had sparred often enough that Tyrian knew how tough Mercury was. He'd land on his feet just fine.

That was the problem.

One that in his heart Tyrian wasn't sure he could-or even wanted to-handle.

Not like this.
​

It was a thought that lasted barely a second, but it was indecision Watts' wasn't suffering from. A green beam slammed into her chest, the shoulder cannon swiveling to stay trained on Neo even as Watts spun the rest of his body to catch Mercury's first reprise on the hardlight shield that flared to life on his other arm.

"Neo."

Tyrian looked down at her once the beam had launched her wherever it had.

"Just give us the lamp. It'll stop all of this."

He enjoyed fighting Neo. It was the one thing that'd helped keep all his pieces together when it looked as though the stress was going to tear him apart.

His tail reared up to slam down if she so much as did anything but what he'd asked.

He really hoped she did.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

It was weird how quiet Watts was when CInder suddenly tried to disengage them all from the fight, his stride towards where he'd sent neo coming to a brief halt as the ice wall came up and Cinder's arms wrapped around him from behind. When his voice did come, it carried none of his usual drawl, or even the bite that he'd had when he'd snapped at Mercury. It was just straightforward, and calm in a way that could only be called forced.

"Apparently, I do."



On the outside, it looked like Watts was getting obliterated; almost every kick landed home, the sheer, nigh uncalcuable difference between Mercury's and Arthur's martial prowess on full display, and the only reason he hadn't been put through every wall in this district of the city was the sheer weight of the suit. He was doing his best to fight back, or at least to minimize the damage, but his best just wasn't going to keep pace with Mercury Black; it was a delay, if that.



The rigid, furious calm Watts' face carried behind the visor would've made it apparent that there was more to it than just that.

"Hays?"

'Damage minimal; aura extension not req- Damage minim-'Dama- Da- Da-D-Dama-D-D-D-Dam-Da-D-D-D-D-Da-D-'

"Disable non-critical damage notifications. 18% to cannon. .6 second window required." he drawled as a particulary intense flurry overcame him, a brief flash of his usual dryness overpowering his anger. It wasn't that he wasn't feeling it; Mercury kicked like a tank shell with kickboxing lessons, and it was honestly a bit frightening how quickly he'd found the softer points in Watts' defenses. He'd have bruises on his bruises come morning tomorrow.

But bruises were only bruises. 'Softer' wasn't soft.

He'd built this after Haven, after seeing what, exactly, the sort of monstrosities and magic they were up against were capable. Nothing worth wasting his aura on, at least yet. It was far too precious a resource for other tools, and Mercury wasn't the only one on the hunt for precision. It came the instant after he impacted the ground, his breath heaving out of him in a gasp as he felt the impact compounded by the weight of the suit itself; the tiniest bit of space, a moment of breath between when Mercury's assault began and when it'd start anew.

It was all he needed.

A tiny green light flickered into existence on Mercury's chest mid falling strike, before it suddenly expanded into a full blown laser beam that tore into the morning sky like a spotlight in reverse, and took Mercury along with it. It flickered back out of existence a second later as Watts' back thruster tossed him back to his feet and he raised his right arm while Mercury was still in the air, the pair of gun barrels lining the armor both flickering to life.

"Double A mode."

'Warning; targets labelled 'friendlies' in-'

"override" Watts snarled, before both barrels hissed in ignition before filling the air with a barrage of dust rounds; His arm seemed to unerringly track Mercury through the air, twisting a adjusting with a motion far more mechanical than organic, and the rounds weren't aimed to hit Mercury so much as around him, exploding in concussive blasts of flame as they neared like the anti air guns of the old wars.

Then they suddenly stopped, Watts' HUD flashing with a 'TARGET LOST' warning as Mercury seemed to completely vanish from his vision; the sky clear even of the smoke and debris from his own fire-

Neo reappeared besides Watts, at the back of his suit, well outside of his visor's periphial, Hush' handle already hooked around the bottom of his ankle as she twisted her arm and heaved.

His foot moved like an inch, and Neo's face winced in a surprised pain as she almost pulled her arm out of her socket in the attempt.

He was uh. Heavier than she realized.

She didn't even see what came next; the only thing that kept her head from meeting a steel kneecap was sheer survival instinct, the fighter's edge she'd spent the last month honing against Tyrian, as the thruster on Watts' other foot kicked to life and sent it into a flying knee strike that she just barely managed to sidestep, only to be sent tumbling forward as an explosion flared against her aura from another shot from Watts' arm that cracked off as he retreated.

She hit the ground with a roll and came back up, her eyes narrowed, her lip in her teeth. She didn't even know how to play this, or what she was even playing for. One moment she'd been flying through the air, skidding to a halt on her haunches after one painful rebound off the concrete, and the next she saw Watts was opening fire on Mercury. Was she just supposed to let that happen? Was Watts not clearly out of his mind right now? Should she just give him the lamp, or would that even help at this point, and the best option was-

It was a thought that lasted barely a second, but it was indecision Watts' wasn't suffering from. A green beam slammed into her chest, the shoulder cannon swiveling to stay trained on Neo even as Watts spun the rest of his body to catch Mercury's first reprise on the hardlight shield that flared to life on his other arm.

Watts had a voice in his head, the atonal timbre of whatever artificial intelligence package he'd installed in his suit's runtimes keeping him abreast of noteworthy developments and key observations. Mercury had something a little like that too; his was just far more literally in his head, more the crystallization of abstract intuitions that came as naturally to him as breathing than actual thoughts, and it came to him in a harsh, partially slurred rasp he seriously fucking thought he'd be done with by now.

​

Thing weighs a ton. More than Penny, less than Paladin.

5 Hazels? 6?​

Legs can go the distance.​

Rest of you stick and move.​

Watts uses aimbot. No shit.

Em signalling for something.​

Runs on dust and ??????​

Helmet limits peripheral vision. Use that.
Ow.
Ow.
Ow.
Ow.
Ow.
Don't get hit by that.


None of that made it any less the voice of a machine.

His body was its circuitry. His perception its firmware. The rhythm and flow of combat was the logic system it adhered to, the ones and zeroes that broke down the intricacies of the world around him into a format that made sense. This was his life. This was what he was made to do. In the Black family, your semblance wasn't your weapon. Your weapon wasn't your weapon. Some fancy prototype suit of power armor wasn't a weapon, it was a conditional modifier.

You were your weapon.

A weapon was something created to batter, break and steal away life. It had no other purpose. What the rest of them were using right now, the way they were using it, it was glorified pest control equipment. That was what they went to school for, were trained to use it for.

As far as Mercury was concerned, the only weapon taking the field right now was him.

The yield on Watts' shitty little scooter was making an excellent case for itself, though, and while he was already tucking and twisting in midair to attempt to contort himself around the air mines being fired at him in erratic movement patterns to test the limits of his autoaim, it was only after he felt the shimmering effect of Neo's semblance slip over his aura that he relaxed and let himself land in a more natural backflip atop two fresh magazines, locking them into place even as the spent ones landed to either side of him. He eyed the field, eyes scanning all the pertinent players and reverting to Watts in the time it took his heart to beat. Its cadence was steady, predictable, the kind that sent ice water pumping through his veins. But when he saw Neo get hit again, one look at his steel-toned eyes told Watts all he needed to know about who the bulk of his focus needed to be on.

Those eyes were lethality incarnate. And it wasn't the kind of unhinged glee Tyrian could throw himself into a fight with. It was far too composed for that.

They were the eyes of a machine carrying out a task.

It just so happened that he was gonna enjoy this one.

The heel struck hard against his wrist's shield, a spinning crescent kick that sent a ripple of a shockwave out across the rapidly clearing square even as a deafening blam had him spin for what anything more than a passing familiarity with his fighting style suggested would've been a spinning heel.

The rattling of the chain still tangled around his legs was the sole cue Arthur received to the contrary before it was joined by the intense hammering of Mercury's leg hydraulics kicking into overdrive. Their strength, and his momentum, wrapped around the tether, intended to yank Watts completely off balance again and right into the boot that lashed out to catch him under the jaw with another clang as the assassin completely inverted himself to brace against his hands, before he pushed off with a corkscrew spin and resumed his guarded keepaway tactic from before. The chain worked to keep his bearings from him, the attacks Mercury poured down on him a light smattering of hail by his standards that still packed a hell of a kick by most anyone else's, and enough seconds went by that it occurred to Watts to wonder what exactly the endgoal was here—

'Warning; unknown obstruction in right shoulder cannon.'

Hays chimed in with a warning just about audible over the clangs and cracks of Mercury's boots, but if he actually pivoted his head the marginal distance required to check no such obstruction was apparent—

'Warning; unknown obstruction in right wrist cannon A. Warning; unknown obstruction in right wrist cannon B. Warning; unknown obstruction in propulsion stability jet B. Warning; unknown obstruction in: your butt.'

The instant that last warning popped into view his entire HUD started flickering and distorting in a pixellated mess, right around the same moment Mercury emptied both his legs' barrels to propel himself backwards and disengage. Glaring spitefully, he skidded to a halt next to a shimmering mirage that promptly revealed itself to be Emerald, whose right hand snatched the other half of Thief's Respite away from him with a very irritable scowl of her own even as her left squeezed off a trio of shots for the armored figure with pinpoint accuracy for all the aforementioned areas but the last. No sooner than the rounds pelted home did the obstructions in question reveal themselves, crystallized shards of ice dust the thief had gathered up from one of the market stalls abandoned as soon as the fight broke out and jammed just about everywhere she could fit one as Mercury held his attention, and upon being struck—assuming Watts hadn't already ignited them attempting to clear the jams himself—dense blocks of ice sprang into being over his most visible weapons and much of the relevant body parts in a bid to render him immobile.





While all this was happening, the most insufferable deluge of popup ads were blitzing into existence over Watts' HUD, utterly clogging up both the readings and his view with such gems as:

HOT SINGLE VACUANS IN YOUR AREA!
World of Tanks - Play Now! Please! We sponsor so many things and I've never heard anyone talk about actually playing us!
Coming soon, that one movie you stole this idea from! You know, it's like this or whatever? (I don't watch comic stuff I'm sorry)
You Won't Believe What This Lizard Did Or How This Relates To A Product You Can Buy
Beacon Academy - Let's Not
HOT SINGLE VACUANS IN YOUR AREA!!!!!
What even is Bitlien?? Please explain it to me, I'm a dumb girl.

It all culminated with a single large window coming to the fore over all the others, where the fading view of Remnant's (far gnarlier looking) Dreamworks logo gave way to the crown jewel of the piece, a black screen and words that faded in from ancient shadow and gospels long past.

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly.

---



Emerald kept both her pistols leveled on Watts while she watched arguably one of the most sadistic and ruthless illusions she'd ever spun hopefully keep him occupied, the bulk of her focus on him and only cursorily breaking her eyeline as she stressed out through grit teeth.



"Okay, smart guy, I get it, I feel real bad and I'm sorry but can you just... not? I mean what the hell, dude, seriously! I know it's not your problem, but I happen to be having a shitty enough day as it—HEY DOUCHEBAG!"

She cupped one hand to her mouth and yelled at Mercury across the field like a foghorn as his new priority caught her attention, honestly still far more trepidatious of what her partner might do with his bare hands than what she actually believed Watts could do in some fancy science project.

---

"Neo."

Tyrian looked down at her once the beam had launched her wherever it had.

"Just give us the lamp. It'll stop all of this."

He enjoyed fighting Neo. It was the one thing that'd helped keep all his pieces together when it looked as though the stress was going to tear him apart.

His tail reared up to slam down if she so much as did anything but what he'd asked.

He really hoped she did.

The moment Tyrian squared up to Neo was the moment Mercury's priorities changed, and the moment Watts passed the baton in terms of who deserved the worst teeth kicking on the field in his mind. Because yes. He still had plenty of unresolved feelings about this.

His sole warning was a distant krak before the ex-leader of MTEN's steel soles collided with the side of his head, timed with the thump of his tail against the ground as Mercury unloaded both barrels into him to send him hurtling across the ground, already storming forward with a dark snarl on his face and nary so much as a glance in Neo's direction.



"You've always been a creepy little asshole, Callows, you know that?"

It seemed he was of as little mind to pull any verbal punches as he was physical ones, stomping his boots so his leg servos loaded another magazine as he raised his fists in plain anticipation.

"So the fact you're gonna side with daddy Watts now after he just shows up outta thin air one day, like he's not the one trying to force us in line with some stupid goddamn ultimatum and we're not the ones who've been stuck babysitting you ever since they all ditched you and you lost your freaking mind? That doesn't surprise me. You know what surprises me?"

He sneered, a hard, taunting edge to his voice that offered no indication of any reluctance for what he was about to do to someone he had at one time considered a friend.

"I'm surprised I'm the only one who can see the only reason you're even still pretending to care about anything we have going on is that slapping Neo around gets your dick hard."

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Her head snapped up in alarm immediately after Emerald's shout, though it was too late to do anything but witness Mercury blast straight through it with one purpose in mind. She averted her gaze and released her hold on Arthur as she took a few stumbling steps back. Her arm to guard her head as several icicles shot through the air right for her. They shattered on contact with her aura for the most part, not all that painful all things considered, but the loud sound of it all in addition to everything else drowned out her softspoken "no", a plea meant to stop this before it got too far. Though, after she straightened back up to better assess the situation, she doubted it would have been enough even if it had been heard.

It was difficult to fully comprehend what she was seeing. Mercury was going...she'd never seen him this enraged. He was putting so much more into every attack, every move, compared to his usual more laidback and cocky demeanor. He was so beyond pissed, but that didn't mean his assault was any less calculated. He was still thinking, it was just that his number one thought was how to inflict as much pain on her partner as possible. Cinder winced with each and every clang that echoed outward. Blows aimed for the head, the throat, knees, joints, it was...relentless. What's more, every thundering clang eclipsed her frankly pitiful attempts to speak, to call out for them to stop.

"N-no..."

clang

"Don't..."

clang

"Stop this..."

clang

"You guys can't..."

clang

"Please don't..."

clang


Even when she tried to raise her voice some, it just came out squeaky. Weak. The distraught voice of a 16 year old girl who hadn't asked for this, who wasn't prepared for this, who struggled with this. She was too quiet for so long in this fight, standing so still she almost seemed frozen and only managing to get out nearly inaudible words while Watts fought Mercury off and then in came Neo, and...Tyrian...so much was happening. The green from Arthur's cannon lit up her face, illuminating the deepening frown as this shit continued to escalate. "It isn't supposed to be like this." She didn't want this, not at all...but the moment was here, and right now Mercury didn't seem to care in the slightest what she wanted, and perhaps neither did Arthur or even Tyrian. All this, just after the talk they'd had, where she admitted that she felt she had a lot in common with Mercury...she didn't want to have to fight him...but at the same time, that was her team.

Arthur Watts, the transfer from Atlas. It was hard to deny that they weren't...the closest, at least not in the most typical way. Hell, their first meeting as partners in the forest had him open fire on her to try and send her scurrying away in search of a better partner. But they'd stuck together, and though their personalities clashed frequently, there was still a bond that formed. Hugs, and comforting talks and reassurances and despite the arguments...he looked out for her. Time and time again. Came for her after Haven, jumped to her aid out of nowhere up in Atlas when dealing with that whole mess...he was there for her when time called for it.

Tyrian Callows, the fight club escapee. She didn't know as much about him as she maybe should have, truth be told. He had always been more...quiet. No, not quiet. He was...like her. He didn't talk much about his past, didn't really share any of his secrets, at least not beyond some with Hazel. And that was totally fine, he was free to do that, and she didn't need to know everything to see him as a friend. Enthusiastic, threw everything he had into whatever he chose to do, was never shy with a hug, or a kind word, or a really infectious laugh...he just had this way of making things brighter.

Her fists clenched tight by her sides as she finally shook herself free from her self-induced paralysis and got over her indecision. Resolve replaced it. Like it or not, they had been her team and she would defend them...from anyone.
​

His sole warning was a distant krak before the ex-leader of MTEN's steel soles collided with the side of his head, timed with the thump of his tail against the ground as Mercury unloaded both barrels into him to send him hurtling across the ground, already storming forward with a dark snarl on his face and nary so much as a glance in Neo's direction.

"You've always been a creepy little asshole, Callows, you know that?"

It seemed he was of as little mind to pull any verbal punches as he was physical ones, stomping his boots so his leg servos loaded another magazine as he raised his fists in plain anticipation.

"So the fact you're gonna side with daddy Watts now after he just shows up outta thin air one day, like he's not the one trying to force us in line with some stupid goddamn ultimatum and we're not the ones who've been stuck babysitting you ever since they all ditched you and you lost your goddamn mind? That doesn't surprise me. You know what surprises me?"

He sneered, a hard, taunting edge to his voice that offered no indication of any reluctance for what he was about to do to someone he had at one time considered a friend.

"I'm surprised I'm the only one who can see the only reason you're even still pretending to care about anything we have going on is that slapping Neo around gets your dick hard."

"SHUT UP!"

That was the only warning that came before a blue fiery blur shot right through the air for Mercury, the young teenager more or less turning herself into a maiden cannonball aimed to slam into him at top speed.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"SHUT UP!"

That was the only warning that came before a blue fiery blur shot right through the air for Mercury, the young teenager more or less turning herself into a maiden cannonball aimed to slam into him at top speed.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The heat tickling his neck, the roar like an overclocked jet engine, the vibrant amber hues washing over him and Tyrian alike where they stood, was all it took for the machine to start processing.

Cinder.
God powers.​

Leans on them like a crutch.​

Average without.​

No variation when mad.

Mad.​

Sloppy.

Spoiler: Canon wants you to forget Mercury literally omae wa'd people in vol 3 but I won't

"Nah."

He practically snarled, the frenzy of motion that had ensued when Cinder boosted to grabbing distance a confusing one from the Fall Maiden's perspective that ended with her on one knee with one of Mercury's boots pinning it, an arm twisted behind her back. Not that he doubted she could toast him with a few special hand gestures or whatever, but with all due respect to her 'straight line like a cannonball' wasn't really that hard for him.

She could hear the edge of viciousness in his tone, feel the dark aura emanating from him in waves, but she was also fairly confident he was leaving her more space to move than he could've; the grip on her wrist not as ironclad as it could've been. For whatever reason, Cinder specifically had the assassin's son exercising perhaps the first modicum of restraint he'd shown since Watts had slugged Neo.

Still, he was pissed. Even the inflection to his voice was barbed in a way that was more raw than truly venomous at how Cinder had decided to single him out.

"I'm not pulling my punches, Cindy, but your boss threw the first one. And I gotta say, the longer he goes without simmering down the more inclined I am to say me and mine just cut and run with the goddamn lamp and leave you losers to go find something new to obsess over."

He roughly tossed her loose, making to step around her and walk on by for Tyrian again as he hissed back over his shoulder.

"You want this to stop? Tell Voltron there to cool his shit and get over himself. Or can you not tell how far up his own ass he disappeared back in Atlas? Seriously. This isn't that cute, inoffensive Watts behavior you love letting him off the hook for so much. We might be a mess, but your buddy's unhinged. Do something about it."

And just like that, as far as he was concerned, they were done.​

 

[MidwayLives]

The moment Tyrian squared up to Neo was the moment Mercury's priorities changed, and the moment Watts passed the baton in terms of who deserved the worst teeth kicking on the field in his mind. Because yes. He still had plenty of unresolved feelings about this.

Tyrian shook his head from side to side and popped a crick in his neck.

His aura spiked up.

That had hurt.
​

His sole warning was a distant krak before the ex-leader of MTEN's steel soles collided with the side of his head, timed with the thump of his tail against the ground as Mercury unloaded both barrels into him to send him hurtling across the ground, already storming forward with a dark snarl on his face and nary so much as a glance in Neo's direction.

"You've always been a creepy little asshole, Callows, you know that?"

Tyrian didn't stand up.

He didn't make any kind of move.

"You don't mean that."
​

It seemed he was of as little mind to pull any verbal punches as he was physical ones, stomping his boots so his leg servos loaded another magazine as he raised his fists in plain anticipation.

"So the fact you're gonna side with daddy Watts now after he just shows up outta thin air one day, like he's not the one trying to force us in line with some stupid goddamn ultimatum and we're not the ones who've been stuck babysitting you ever since they all ditched you and you lost your freaking mind? That doesn't surprise me. You know what surprises me?"

He sneered, a hard, taunting edge to his voice that offered no indication of any reluctance for what he was about to do to someone he had at one time considered a friend.

Tyrian knew that in his heart. They'd spent too much time together for him to believe that.

"I'm not 'siding' with anyone! I just want us to stop fighting! If Arthur gets the lamp we can STOP!"

How much of that was true?

How badly did he want this fight? Knowing that there was a chance he couldn't win? That he couldn't beat Mercury?

.....Even he didn't know.

"Whatever you're saying, I know you're just angry. I know-"
​

"I'm surprised I'm the only one who can see the only reason you're even still pretending to care about anything we have going on is that slapping Neo around gets your dick hard."

"....Is that...That really what you think about the time Neo and I've spent together?"

There were a lot of things Mercury could have said and Tyrian would have just written it off. Everyone says dumb things when they're angry. He certainly wasn't an exception to that.

Even more people did stupid stuff when they were angry. The scars littering his body and forehead were proof enough of that.

But this one hurt him somehow.

In his darkest moments he'd considered that very thing. That he enjoyed feeling like he was stronger. After the defeats he'd been through, what was the feeling of a good victory worth? He never believed in those feelings mind you. The very thought of them made him sick. Neo meant a lot to him. As a friend, as a fighter.

As a person.

"....You're wrong."

Tyrian spread his feet apart.

"....But it's too late to take it back."

The damage had already been done.
​

"SHUT UP!"

That was the only warning that came before a blue fiery blur shot right through the air for Mercury, the young teenager more or less turning herself into a maiden cannonball aimed to slam into him at top speed.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Tyrian sprinted forward with his tail coiled up and ready to strike.

He knew Mercury well enough.

.....Or he thought he had.

He'd come out ok from Cinder's attack. Which was for the better.

It'd only make things worse if she got hurt or hurt Mercury or-

No. No thinking of hypotheticals.

This is it.

Anything to quell the anger he could feel building up within him.

The kicker of it all?

He couldn't even enjoy this fight.



Not one bit.
​

He roughly tossed her loose, making to step around her and walk on by for Tyrian again as he hissed back over his shoulder.

"You want this to stop? Tell Voltron there to cool his shit and get over himself. Or can you not tell how far up his own ass he disappeared back in Atlas? Seriously. This isn't that cute, inoffensive Watts behavior you love letting him off the hook for so much. Your buddy's unhinged. Do something about it."

And just like that, as far as he was concerned, they were done.

"Grrrr!!!"

His tail swung for an overhead strike, missing Mercury entirely and instead smashing the chunk of ground in front of them to pieces. He'd struck with such force actually that bits of debris flew here and there as the faunus huffed and puffed. "You wanna get stuff off your chest while we're doing this? Fine!"

Tyrian lunged in for a swipe.

"I've always thought I could take you, Black."
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Nah."

He practically snarled, the frenzy of motion that had ensued when Cinder boosted to grabbing distance a confusing one from the Fall Maiden's perspective that ended with her on one knee with one of Mercury's boots pinning it, an arm twisted behind her back. Not that he doubted she could toast him with a few special hand gestures or whatever, but with all due respect to her 'straight line like a cannonball' wasn't really that hard for him.

She could hear the edge of viciousness in his tone, feel the dark aura emanating from him in waves, but she was also fairly confident he was leaving her more space to move than he could've; the grip on her wrist not as ironclad as it could've been. For whatever reason, Cinder specifically had the assassin's son exercising perhaps the first modicum of restraint he'd shown since Watts had slugged Neo.

Still, he was pissed. Even the inflection to his voice was barbed in a way that was more raw than truly venomous at how Cinder had decided to single him out.

"I'm not pulling my punches, Cindy, but your boss threw the first one. And I gotta say, the longer he goes without simmering down the more inclined I am to say me and mine just cut and run with the goddamn lamp and leave you losers to go find something new to obsess over."

He roughly tossed her loose, making to step around her and walk on by for Tyrian again as he hissed back over his shoulder.

"You want this to stop? Tell Voltron there to cool his shit and get over himself. Or can you not tell how far up his own ass he disappeared back in Atlas? Seriously. This isn't that cute, inoffensive Watts behavior you love letting him off the hook for so much. Your buddy's unhinged. Do something about it."

And just like that, as far as he was concerned, they were done.

"..." She had no idea what had just happened, it was just...all so fast. A total blur. Her inexperience in hand to hand combat showed, even before it ended with her pinned against the ground by his boot and one of her arms wrenched behind her. An almost embarrassing display, truth be told, her eye widening at how fast he'd put her in that position, but that was not the only reason it widened. His grip, it was...well, it was not loose but for a trained assassin it was not nearly as tight as it could have been. He had to know that. The realization made her pause, and before she could even attempt to break herself free, he simply let her go. Like she wasn’t even worth the trouble.

She didn’t move as he spoke. All Cinder did in those few seconds was listen. Every word only seemed to piss her off even more, if the worsening expression on her face was any indication. “He’s unhinged?!” She repeated in disbelief.

A few more seconds passed before she stood back up, enough time that Tyrian was already on the offensive. “Shut the fuck up. You’re the one who’s lost it! Neo was the one who took the lamp, after everything we went through for it, and I don’t even know why she did that but when Arthur demanded it back, she attacked him first and then...then he punched back and that set you off...you were attacking like you wanted to kill him! You’re calling other people unhinged, say terrible things about them and that they’ve lost their minds, act like they’re the ones who should simmer down, when it is all you! You’re...you...” Cinder trailed off, unsure how to continue for a moment. Her eye narrowed with frustration after, though, and she spat out.

“You giant damn HYPOCRITE!”

She was gonna do something, yeah. She was gonna get him to stop. If that meant by force, so be it. Her bow was in her hand and a dust arrow notched and loosed before she could even blink, joined soon after by several more, aimed to work alongside her faunus teammate as she struck from range while Tyrian engaged in close quarters.​