#Jade Leroux - Cutscene

[teamoliv-archive]

The Showman - Origins

“Really? I never would have expected you to have wondered where I came from. Well, that’s a lie. Many do, but does it really matter?

“Oh, fine. I suppose I’ll humor you just this once...”

When I was a younger man, I had a backstage job at a prominent Mistral theater. I had wanted to take the stage in my youth but there were always others with more talent or promise or some other excuse. Day after day, year after year I continued to watch. Over time the theater had begun failing. Crowds were grumbling and it was clear they weren’t getting the show they wanted. I was working the lights the day of our biggest production. I saw that one of the lights had gone bad. The fixture was loose and some wires were exposed.

I did nothing about it. Instead, I watched it fall and crash into the set-piece, lighting the entire stage ablaze. It was honestly quite refreshing to see all of my so-called co-workers who snubbed and ignored me flail and flee. Many in the crowd also ran. No one went to help them as they were crushed or burned by the collapsing stage.

That’s when I noticed it. Not everyone had left. Several were sitting still, watching the carnage unfold whispering to each other. It’s when the veneer of politeness is stripped away when we see people for who they really are. I managed to approach them afterward. It didn’t take too much convincing but for one reason or another, I had them eating out of the palm of my hand in a matter of hours. It would take me another day or two to realize that I’d unlocked my aura in the fire- likely the reason I made it out unscathed as well.

As luck would have it, these men were connected to some of Mistral’s less official business industries and I was placed to work under one of the bosses. Of course, I had started to amass my own influence quickly and stole the operation for myself. By the time more of his men listened to me instead of him, he was too late to do anything about it. I, of course, wasn’t satisfied with simply running another run-of-the-mill operation. No, my mind kept going back to those days at the theater. How fascinated some of those people were at the chaos. That was something I could capitalize on- cater to the basic instincts of man and give them a place to freely express their darkest fantasies away from the prying eyes of judgmental neighbors. I would, of course, need people, money, and somewhere a bit less conspicuous to work that part of the tale is boring and full of a lot of fussy details I won’t bore you with here.

Besides, if you’re here, then wouldn’t you like to stay a while and enjoy the show?

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Old Grudges

Major Cobalt Ymir stood beside former police inspector Melina Briar, or as she has been calling herself, “Mother Marianne,” as they walked down the darkened tunnel Robin’s trail had lead them down. “I have been meaning to ask you,” He says breaking the silence, “Why tell me your name if you have been in hiding for so long?”

The old huntress lets out a wheezing sigh through her mask. That was a good question. “Perhaps... I merely wished to ensure someone would know I did not die in that blaze all those years ago in case my chase came to an end. I will not lie to you, Major, I am old and not as strong as I used to be. I only barely stood against your nephew the last time I encountered him and I will not have the advantages I did before.” Neither needed to focus on the trail. It was clear and both had concluded Robin was leading them somewhere. It was almost certainly a trap of some kind. However, a trap is only as good as the inability of the target to see it coming. Neither she nor Cobalt were worried.

Cobalt let out a dismissive huff. “Suit yourself. I have no intention of dying here. Playing martyr will gain us nothing. It’s an old army saying. The point of war is not to die for your cause, but to make your enemy die for theirs. The moment you enter into a fight assuming you will die, you have already lost.”

The tunnel began to open up into a large room. It appeared to be an old basement or work area for the sewers and tunnels in the city’s cliff face, but absolutely nothing but two more tunnels were on the other side.

And the man they were following standing right in the middle.

Robin Goodfellow wasn’t surprised at all with the appearance of both Cobalt and Marianne. They weren’t surprised to see him either. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit a cigarette. “Well... ‘Bout time you two showed up. Nice job with the fire by the way. I’ll tell you, that took everybody for a spin.”

“Robin. Had I known you were involved in this earlier I would have tried to stop you- I should have tried to stop you. You know why your father and I came here. Come home.”

“I will not pretend you won’t face substantial prison time for this, but if you surrender we can secure you some leniency. We are already prepared for any trap you have prepared. You can’t take on both-”

“Down!” Cobalt rushed forward deflecting several shots with his saber. They came from one of the tunnels behind Robin. Marianne did likewise. With swords at the ready they strained to see the figure approaching.

Jade Leroux stepped forward out of the shadows with his left arm extended and weapon primed to fire. “Trap? No. Ambush? Well I didn’t assume either of you would fall for that. No, this is merely settling the score.” He turned his attention to the masked huntress for a moment. “Ah, Inspector Briar. So nice to see you again after all these years. I really must thank you for sparing me all the trouble of hunting you down again. I take it you were responsible for the fiasco that just cost me my next star competitor?”

So that’s what this was about. Jade wanted to tie up loose ends and had Robin help. Still, news of Lapis being able to leave with the children was good. Now she could fight at ease.

“Listen, Uncle... I’m goin’ nowhere. Just finishin’ this last job up and then I’m off to do whatever I want. I’m a free man in this equation. All I gotta do is help polish up the mess. You don’t have to be here. Let’s just pretend we didn’t see each other, huh?”

“That would technically complete why I came here, yes.” He paused and ignored a dark look from Marianne. “However... I do not keep my promises only technically.

“And I have my own score to settle here. If I may echo your father, if you do not stay out of my way I will be forced to go through you.”

“So that’s that then? Then let us begin.” Jade darted forward with his arm-mounted blade and met Marianne’s sword.

“One last chance.” Robin says, readying his own weapons. “You let us deal with the old lady and we’ll make it worth-

“SHIT!-” He flings his kukri out to catch a large fireball that continued behind him. He forgot how strong his uncle’s enhanced dust was. “Alright, fine!” He charges forward at Cobalt, who held out his pistol in his left hand.

Cobalt braced and moved to the side when Robin swung, using his mechanical arm to block the sickle in his off hand. He brought the hilt of his saber down against the other man’s face just before he backed up. He’d have to keep that up. It took a lot of skill to be even decent with two weapons. Robin was a lot better than decent.

Jade met Marianne blow for blow and neither were getting anywhere. He spun around and slammed the side of his shield against her. She twisted her weapon to block a  few feet shy before the blade pivoted ninety degrees and the rest of the scythe’s handle extended to block just in time. She brought the longer weapon up in an arc to push his arm out of the way.

She was about to deliver a kick as a follow up but Cobalt beat her to the punch, turning his pistol on Jade and letting loose a powerful stream of arcing lightning. Robin in turn managed to get a heavy blow in with his kukri from the side. 

He slid his grip from the handle to a solid piece of leather dangling from it and started to spin the blade. It was building up flames as the dust chamber in the weapon activated, creating a ring of flame that he tossed around the Major and to his intended target. She brought up her weapon to intercept and break up the blow, but her cloak caught.

Cobalt brought his mechanical arm back to elbow Robin away as Jade charged forward, poised with his triangular blade again. Cobalt feigns a block and lets his saber catch the blade, only to let it be tossed from his hand. He uses this to duck under Jade’s arm and pulls his pistol back, letting his artificial hand collapse into the rest of the arm, forming a cannon. He slammed the dust magazine of his pistol downward. A vortex of wind starts to charge. “I knew what you were planning with the Reynard girl since before we left Atlas.”

The tornado blew his opponent forward, slamming him into the stone wall.

Jade picks himself up and dusts a few pieces of rock from his suit. “So the sudden Vytal Festival invitation was your doing. I thought as much. For all the good it did you.” He levels his shield to intercept the Major’s next attack.

Marianne swung her weapon in a fury, forcing Robin to keep to blocking and avoiding her attacks. “Cobalt told me everything. You have a sister the same age as those children you kidnapped!” She wasn’t sure how she didn’t make the connection between that Goodfellow and this one. She was on the tournament footage, too, after all. They even looked alike. “Does that mean nothing to you!?”

“Do not!” Robin got in close, forcing his opponent to retract her weapon and robbing her of the reach advantage. “Dare!” He brought up his sickle and forced her weapon sideways. He slammed his other weapon right onto the woman’s mask, carving a wedge into it. “Bring!” He slammed down again. “My sister!” Again. “INTO THIS!” One last blow splintered the mask apart, revealing the old huntress’s burnt face. In her stagger he kicked her down and kept her there with a series of heavy stomps.

Cobalt spun around, blasting a heavy earth shot back at Jade as he blocks, encasing him. “I was hoping you would do that.” He snaps before turning back to his nephew. “Enough, Robin! Because of what you did to help this man you almost doomed Violet yourself! What made you think you were going to be able to have it both ways!?”

Jade grit his teeth and tried to squeeze out of the earth dust. His arm was stuck in the rock. He pulled a device from his pocket. “You have no idea how expensive these are, you know... But failsafes are failsafes, I suppose.” After a click, it was tossed over the earth wall and exploded, sending the rock out everywhere as the dust grenade went off. Military contraband- Cobalt recognized it immediately.

Jade felt his aura fizzle and took a few steps back. “I’ll leave that for you to tell him. I have unfinished business to take care of. Unless, of course, you want to be the one to-”

“Fuckin’ gladly!” Robin flips his sickle over and aims his gun right at Marianne’s face. As he was about to fire two things happen at once. First, the old woman reached up to grab the weapon, the second, Cobalt tackled him.

The still not-dead Mother Marianne rose to her feet wearily. With her face no longer obscured, she stared right at Jade. Like him, she felt her aura reserves all but leave her. She had only a little bit left and she would have to save it.

Cobalt refolded his arm to allow use of his hand and pistol again. “I see... You hate this man as much as I do. It makes sense now.” He calmly walks over to pick up his saber. He points behind Marianne as Robin was about to try another shot before letting off a gravity shot, sending the woman flying back into the tunnel. “Leave her alone.”

Cobalt stared at Robin not with anger or spite, but kinship for his nephew. “You believe yourself beyond redemption after all you have done. Is that why?”

“What the hell would you know about that!?”

“Because I know exactly how that feels.” He didn’t bother to glance back at Jade. This was the reason he came here after all. “I also know that it is not an endless pit of darkness. Now, I am bringing you home. Your father misses you.”

Robin watched over Cobalt’s shoulder as Jade staggered off. He wasn’t going to be able to make a beeline for the wounded investigator in his state. He just readied his weapons. “I can’t go back.” He charges forward.

He knew Robin was holding back before. This was faster than he had originally planned for. Still Cobalt managed to dodge and parry, but he couldn’t get a good shot in. He had one shot left and had to make it count. “Robin, listen to me! We can beat him! We both have people we care about who were hurt!”

Robin had never heard the Major lose his composure before. He, on the other hand, remained unmoved. “Ain’t about him.” He says as calmly as in normal conversation, “I’m no man my old man can be proud of or a little sister can look up to. I was lost a long time ago.” He knew what he did for Jade and how wrong it was. His problem was he didn’t care. In some cases he was actually enjoying himself. That wasn’t the sort of thing that could just be fixed up with some pretty apologies. He moved to the side to dodge a few swings from Cobalt’s saber. His opponent’s aura started to drain into his pistol, charging the last bullet in the chamber. Seeing this, Robin started spinning his own weapon again, arcing lightning. In a wide swing he catches his opponent’s prosthetic, severing it, and tearing up his chest. The shot fired at a corner and covered it in heavy block of ice, sticking out on all ends.

Cobalt staggers back, looking down at his lost arm, pistol, and aura. Under any other circumstance, he would have tried to find a way to retreat. Most general cut-throats took well to bribes or promises of influence or secrets and he had done all of those things in his life during his dealings with Tyrael. This time, none of that came to his mind. He held his weapon defiantly. “Is this really how you want to end this? This is not how you have to be!”

Robin walked up to Cobalt firmly. In his stagger, he wouldn’t be able to bring his sword to bear. “Maybe not, but it is.”

He plunges his kukri through the Major’s chest.

Cobalt tried to choke out a few more words in protest. No, it was already done. His mind drifted partially to his old unit and that ill-fated mission where he and one or two others had managed to survive, and none with all their limbs in tact. They were waving at him. 

Robin watched his uncle’s body falter. To be sure, he spun around and slit his throat with his sickle, sending the body backward. “You wanted proof I can’t go back? There you go. Didn’t feel a thing.”

He stowed his weapons and started walking down one of the tunnels opposite the one Jade went through. 

Marianne wasn’t sure how much of the battle she missed, but both Jade and Robin were gone. 

Apparently, so was Major Ymir. 

The poor man had promised he was going to live through this. The old huntress couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed that he broke that promise, but that was the anger part of grief talking. She always had grieved when examining a body- even a little. Far from a weakness, she considered it her resolve to find justice for those who met a fate they didn’t deserve. This one was no different.

She wasn’t going to be able to do this alone, though.

She looked through Cobalt’s bloody pockets and found what she was looking for. Opening the scroll, she found a few contacts who she had confirmation were in the area.

SMS Message to Tyrael Cheshire, Shin Goodfellow: [S.O.S. Officer down.] after also giving coordinates and putting the scroll back away to send the signal to them, she looked around. She was exhausted and there was no telling if Jade or Robin would return.

She would need to find a place to hide again until she recovered. She looked through her own scroll and gave the young man Lapis a call.

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Resistance

The creaking of the door at the end of the hallway at this hour only meant one thing. That bastard was coming again to try in vain to convince her to give in.

“I’ve come with something for you.” Jade said is a polite and gentle tone. He already knew the girl saw through him, but he wasn’t about to be the first one to lower their guard in this little game of theirs. She was remarkably willful. “I heard a few of your meals were skipped. I made sure your friends knew and we’ve arranged for the cook in question to face all three of your little friends in the next match.”

Lazuli stayed silent. She knew better than anyone they were being forced to fight for this monster’s sick amusement. She just hoped they didn’t normalize it too much. Arvinda worried her. She had a tendency to get lost in fighting. Nilah and Iris would do what they had to but Arvi could lose control. Either way they’d have to kill the poor man. Despite receiving messages and notes from them through this man she hadn’t seen them in person in weeks. She didn’t trust anything he gave her because of that.

“You don’t want to at least watch? Such a selfish girl. They’re doing this for you you know. What should I tell them when I return?”

“Or perhaps I should have Molly challenge them afterward?”

Dammit. She had learned that one of the ‘rules’ of this twisted place was that anyone could challenge anyone else- but it was always to the death. Many picked their battles carefully but whatever money came in was apparently dependent on crowd reactions and displeasing the crowd could get someone ‘challenged’ by someone they just couldn’t beat. Molly was a girl she had met only once- when she took Autumn off for her new training when she sold the rest of them out. Still, she could already tell by the weapon and her blase attitude toward the whole thing (and her utterly creepy devotion to the nutcase currently in front of her) that she could probably beat all three of them easy.

No, she couldn’t let him get to her. That’s what happened to the others. Somehow... Somehow he had convinced them they wanted to be here.

She still had no idea what she was waiting for, but something in the back of her mind practically demanded that she hold her ground. She refused to believe it was just stubborn pride or rebellion. She couldn’t let him back her into a corner. “You can’t keep doing this.” She said more like it was fact than a plea. What was she doing? This was stupid! She could get herself, or worse everyone else, in serious danger.

If I don’t do something they’re going to get killed anyway.

If they saw her, maybe she could help send a message to her friends, if not anyone else. “Because I’m going to stop you.”

“I doubt you can do a whole lot emaciated and behind bars. You know if you accept my offer you would see that it’s not all that bad. Come, watch your friends and see how they’re doing. You know they’ll love to see you again.”

“Stop talking.” She issues harshly, standing up with difficulty. “I’m going to fight.”

“I knew you’d come around. Why don’t you tell me-”

“I said shut up! This isn’t because of you! This is because I’m going to stand up for myself instead of lie down and die of starvation. Your precious ‘crowd’ isn’t going to accept someone who isn’t strong enough to fight for a match so I’m going to need time to get ready, right?”

“Correct.” Jade says hesitantly. This was suddenly a little less pleasing than he’d have wanted it to be. She was forcing him to only respond instead of letting him speak. A small problem but one he disliked anyway. “Now, why don’t you let me-”

“I’m not done.” Keeping him silent was working- whatever it was she was planning on doing with that. “I was told you can pick your first opponent when you’re ready, well I have it.”

“YOU!“

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Policeman’s Ball

The following footage was recovered from an abandoned warehouse. Its contents are still classified by Mistral PD but a version of the footage has found its way online through underground channels titled “Policeman’s Ball Intro”. However, outside of a few isolated cases, the public is largely unaware of the recording’s existence. It appears to detail the fates of several policemen who went missing following a pursuit of a brazen murder that made news in a tributary village outside the kingdom.

WARNING: Villains at play. Proceed with caution.

“Okay, then... This thing on? Perfect!” A high-definition scroll recording starts playing in an old building decked out to look like a policeman’s ball complete with soft music playing in the background.

“Good evenin’ there ladies and gents. It’s your old pal R.G. here with a mighty special offer for ya. You all remember that little incident a few weeks back, right? You know, the one with the infamous snitch that got his sorry hide cut in half in broad daylight? Well we went and did our thing not just for your benefit but for your entertainment pleasure. See, we got a little present for our favorite customers.”

The camera pans off of the man speaking to showcase a half-dozen uniformed police officers bound and gagged to chairs. Many of them were bruised and battered and clearly didn’t go down without a fight. The voice continues with a shot focusing on each one. Throughout the entire recording muffled intelligible shouting from behind the gags is heard. “Every single one of these fine uniformed officers lead the chase against our little firebrand who did the nasty part of the job; and something tells me you all know most of ‘em. How many of you lost loyal boys of yours to these guys? How many of your got your businesses ruined? How many fine establishments who were just minding their own damn business got shut down because of some... legal technicality? Well let’s let our master of ceremonies tell you what treat you’re in for!”

The camera pans up to a much neater looking man in a tailored deep green suit and a pair of stylish spectacles.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I know this is a tad deviant from our... usual festivities, but I promise you this will be a unique treat as my dear compatriot put it. Each of the officers you see here is responsible for the shut down or arrest of people and ventures that you spent quite a lot of time and money on. You know who you are. Take a good long look at these men while we wait for our first set of calls. For every bid you make, you may choose one of these officers and make a suggestion for what we do with them. It is only fair that you have a hand in their fate, after all.”

“Oh, and don’t worry. We’ve made sure to feed the poor men. Unlike them, we treat our prisoners to proper meals. Girls, if you would be so kind? Officer York hasn’t had his coffee yet.”

The camera pans to two redhead girls in their late teens in wine red cocktail dresses standing by a table decorated with coffee and donuts. Next to the sugar where the creamer would be is a jar of strychnine- clearly labelled. The shorter of the two girls pours a cup of the coffee, mixes in the sugar and creamer and walks over to one of the bound men, while the taller one tilts his head back. They undo the gag just enough to pour the coffee down his throat. All the while his thrashing was kept to a minimum due to being held there. Afterward, the gag was refastened and the two girls gave him reassuring smiles, a kiss on each cheek and then a cheeky wave as they head back to the table.

“It’s not enough to be lethal of course but they will be awake and very jittery for a long time. We don’t want them to miss your revenge, right? The bidding will begin at 10,000 Lien a call, and just because we appreciate you all so much, you can even use your time to tell them everything you’ve always wanted to. And remember, this is members only. Now enjoy the show. Let’s wait for our first call.”

The footage ends here. The policemen’s bodies were never found and the other four in the video were never identified.

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Outstanding Debts

Jade let the crack of aluminum soothe him for a brief moment as he opened one of his canned teas. He takes a long drink and considers the ramifications of his recent victory. He was certain that Melina Briar was at the very least in critical condition in a sewer somewhere, though he had his men searching the wreckage of the district thoroughly. All of his people were firmly in Tyrael’s hands, which would prove useful if he could convince the man to trade favors, and that pesky Major Ymir had been dealt with. It wasn’t part of the plan but an unexpected boon nonetheless. The fact that he could shift the blame to Robin helped if need be. A hurried enforcer rushed into the room, souring his mood as he felt that pang of irritation the moment a half-panicked voice called to him.

“Sir! Mr. Cheshire has come to see you.” The man was obviously terrified. Tyrael had that effect on people most days. Jade pats the man on the shoulder and gives a reassuring smile. “Relax. You know he values us.” He steps out into the large meeting room he had set aside.

The Red Arena’s primary building was constructed under and old school and Jade made liberal use of the old offices and classrooms to serve as quarters for his people while the basement created the titular arena itself. The meeting room was an old office that had the large reception desk removed and replaced with a table years ago. Not a lot of the furniture had survived the bombs and subsequent fires but the building itself had remained standing thanks to a still-operational sprinkler system and more than a little luck.

Tyrael himself was standing in the doorway with a very harsh look on his face. Jade decided to speak first. “Tyrael, why you never visit the Arena yourself. What could-” 

His introduction was cut short by the larger man raising his shotgun and firing off several shells silently. Jade raised his shield and took the impact of each one. The debris of the table and chairs blew against the walls from the force.

“This isn’t about Major Ymir, is it?”

“Partially,” Tyrael answers, “I would also like to address the actions of the Reynard girl, your associate Mr. Goodfellow, and now that we have opportunity to discuss with impunity- the death of my wife. So far I am less than pleased with your performance.”

“Does this really require weapons, Tyrael? I would offer you a seat but we’ve been having... difficulties,shall we say. I regret to inform you the girl’s not here. In fact I haven’t seen her since you cast her off to Menagerie. Curious how she never returned with little Jett. How is he by the way?”

“Enough!” Tyrael barks, “There will be no more negotiations, Leroux. You’ve overreached and caused me damage. I will be exacting payment for those damages.” Tyrael’s gun unfolds into the large sword and he charges faster than one would expect of someone his size.

Jade darts out of the way. “Is there really no other way you wish to do this? I’d like to think our deal has been quite good so far.” He ducked out of the way of a large sweep and put his shield in front of him for a tackle. He smacked right into the larger man but he barely budged. 

He felt his jacket tighten when Tyrael grabbed the back of it and flung him against the wall. 

Tyrael shifted his weapon back to its shotgun form and began firing volleys. Jade had righted himself and was darting out of the way, leaping off of the corner and kicking the gun downward. He had no choice but to suffer through a few quick swipes of Jade’s shield blade before reaching up to grab his arm. He grit his teeth and growled, he started to squeeze.

Jade forced a smirk through the pain in his arm. “I think you’re forgetting something.” He tosses something with his free arm and faint beeping sounded behind his opponent. A gravity dust grenade went off, sending his opponent backward and allowing him to keep his footing.

Tyrael skid backward, planting his feet on the ground just barely. “That’s enough talking out of you.” He reconfigured his weapon back to sword from and pulled the trigger on the handle. Charlemenge’s blade caught a shot from the barrel now stuck into the blade, causing it to light up. Tyrael swung it in a wide arc, sending a large gout of flame in front of him.

Jade dove into the blaze, skidding on his knees to bend under the majority of the wave and stand back up. He still burned a chunk of his suit but it was better than standing and taking the whole hit.

“You Cheshires really do seem to love fire, don’t you?” He aimed for a low swing and was punished for his efforts with Tyrael’s sword being slammed point first into his shield. It took all he could to keep from breaking his arm.

Then the man started to glow with a faint yellow shimmer.

“I assume your little spy told you what my semblance is, correct?” Putting an unstoppable momentum behind his blow, he pushed the sword downward, puncturing the man’s shield and pinning his arm to the ground. He saw him fumbling for another grenade in his coat. One rolled behind him and exploded in a burst of lightning.

His clothes were singed and he seemed to have barely hung onto what little of his own aura remained, but Tyrael Cheshire was still standing. “It is time to pay your debts, Mr. Leroux.” With one more push that caused his body to spark out a pale yellow light that ended his aura reserves, he gave one last push to shove the blade of his sword through Jade’s weapon- and his arm. “That, was for Cobalt. He lost that same arm serving the Atlas military.”

Jade stared at the stump of his arm in shock. He didn’t feel any pain- perhaps that was just his body insisting that such a thing needed to be masked for his own sanity. That did not stop the large sword from raising again. The larger man’s foot planted on his other arm, pinning it in place. A sharp pain tore through his back.

“The boy suffered a scar just like this when Redmond Reynard’s daughter killed my wife. Seeing as you were the one responsible, it is only fitting you bear that price. Now for all the money you’ve lost me due to your little project falling apart... I will be in control of your activities directly from now on. Disobey me and I will kill you.”

“I’m... certain... we can renegotia-” His words were cut short by a sputtering cough as Tyrael’s foot raised off of his arm and stomped right onto the open wound on his back.

“I believe the next words out of your mouth were going to be ‘Yes, sir.’ You will reorganize according to my directions. Nothing in your operations will happen without my oversight. Lastly, you will bring your little apprentices and Robin Goodfellow to me. They will join you in your restructuring or they will be eliminated. Am I understood?“

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Theater

Sterling sat next to Redmond in a box stand of an elaborate arena. At the bottom, a group of what were effectively gladiators slaughtered each other wearing motley and face paint. It was that mix of brutality and clownish whimsy that gave Darcie’s ‘Crimson Theater’ its moniker. According to Big Red, the naming similarity to Jade Leroux’s simpler ‘Red Arena’ was intentional. The two were partners in murder-for-entertainment. Sterling knew about the fact that some of the Cheshires’ operations weren’t strictly legal, but he had familiarized himself with smuggling and fraud- crimes that didn’t hurt people. He could barely stomach knowing this was the big new investment, let alone watching it. Hiding his face beneath his hood, he leaned down to speak. “Why are we watching this?” He hisses.

“Quality assurance, my dear Sterling. We do not want to make the same mistake that Tyrael did with Mr. Leroux. Everything is to be exactly to our specifications before we fully give our financial backing.” Redmond turned back to the ‘games’ with his usual analytical gaze. A spatter of blood hit the lower crowd, who began roaring in cheers. This more elaborate show catered to a larger and less wealthy group than Leroux’s operation, but it was far more popular as a result. He turns his attention to Sterling again for a moment and his calm pleased look fell from his face into a more placid stare. “What is it?”

Sterling was far more distressed by the display. “Did you know about this? Did you know this was what we were going to find in this place? I thought we were here to just ‘recoup financial losses’ not sit here and watch a bunch of kidnapped people kill each other. We have to have some kind of standards, right?”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have come after all.” Redmond says calmly. “To answer your question, yes; I had a suspicion that there were existing competitors, if not partners, to Leroux’s operation when we failed to take over what remained of his enterprise. Did I expect it to be this... elaborate? No. However, I will not look a gift horse in the mouth if we stand to have a hand in a more stable business.

“It’s just a matter of shifting capital. We can also sell plenty of things here if we play our cards right. Sterling, if you do not want to watch this, you can leave for now-”

“No...” He wanted to see exactly what this was all about, no matter how much the gruesome performance distressed him. Was Big Red and the boss really that okay with this? He doubted half of these people were there willingly, and this was just the primary event. Plenty of side acts and guest ‘services’ peppered the other tents and VIP lounges. “Hey... What’s going to happen to those girls from before? The ones you were talking to?”

“I have no idea.” Redmond says, still mentally taking notes as he watched the performance mid-conversation. “That wasn’t anything to do with us. You would have to track down Mr. Hallward and ask him.”

An announcer cried out at the end of another wave of cheers now that only one fighter was left standing. “Ladies and gentlemen I hope you’re all enjoying the show so far! But now it’s time for our main event!” A group of people were lead through a gate forced into acrobat’s outfits. “It’s time for the acrobats to take to the stage!” The arena started to shift and rings and beams rose from the floor before being visibly electrified or lit on fire. “And now for the main performer! For the first time the theater we have a guest appearance by the princess, herself! Please put your hands together for miss Molly Briar!”

Molly smiled and waved at the crowd in a new flashy dancer’s dress and her signature giant buzzsaw weapon slung over her shoulder. The crowd went quite while she roared the machine to life and planted it into the ground, spraying sand behind her before it took off.

  The show was starting. 

She had almost forgotten this feeling- the rush of adrenaline and undeniable feeling of superiority when the lesser performers ran and scampered for their lives. She was no ‘champion’ like Robin like in Jade’s circle, but here she was a prized performer and Darcie’s successor. She was respected, praised, and feared. She wasn’t about to keep her crowd waiting to see her comeback.

The ‘acrobats’ quickly rushed to the deathtrap structures to avoid the girl with the buzzsaw. Several were stopping once they realized their choice was a slow painful death by fire or electricity, or a quick messy one by Molly’s weapon. She flipped and swung the massive weapon around with expert grace, putting on a show of her own as she tracked down the escaping people leaping away from her and trying to scramble to safety. It wasn’t enough to save them when she finally caught them and gave the audience its due. The crowd got their screams, their sprays of blood, and most importantly their spectacle- and it was all because of her. For the first time in nearly a year, after months of things falling apart with Jade’s death she was somewhere where things made sense.

It was good to be home.

“I have a feeling they’ll do just fine here.”

This was not ‘just fine’. Sterling couldn’t shake that they had stepped into something far darker than even this. Who was this girl where she was treated like this, but still had to be forced to come back here? And what about the other one? Sterling couldn’t force the thought from his mind. He needed to know what exactly was going on. Maybe he’d go talk to that Hallward guy, but he had a feeling that going directly to the source would be a more accurate way of learning. He’d have to find that other girl.

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Consecration

Onyx lost count on how long he had spent pouring over these letters between his mother and grandfather. The more he read them, the more he had felt that he had been lied to. He tried to focus on the ones that pertained to the time he came into the Cheshire household and the years following. There were talks of what were to become of him after being given to them by Leroux, ostensibly to be a spy alongside Ivory. This, of course, hadn’t happened. He had been raised as one of their own children. It was never a warm household, he knew, but something still felt off.

Tyrael’s words, words he repeated more than once during their less civil encounters, still bothered him. Your mother loved you.

Why was he demanding confirmation of this? He had been scouring these letters for something, anything positive or warm concerning him. Nothing. He refused to believe that even as harsh a man as Dunstan Baskerville was, his own daughter would lie or cover up her feelings in these letters. Nothing else about them seemed like she did. Still, it was all about how useful he would be and how damaging the situation would be to Jade’s plans. Jade Leroux was dead now, so was Cassandra Cheshire. It didn’t matter anymore, did it? But what did that leave him?

A light shone through the dimly lit office as the door opened. Violet saw Onyx still there, still reading those old letters. Outside of training and missions, this was where he’d been spending all his time. Every day- for hours. She saw a half-eaten meal on a small table that had since grown cold from their breakfast earlier today. Had he even eaten anything since? “Onyx...? Come on, the rest of us are heading out today.” She was still a little shocked they were allowed outside at all, but perhaps that was just for appearances so no one would assume nothing was wrong. “You can’t keep doing this, it’s not good for you.”

Onyx lifted his head silently turned to the bright beam of light from the door. He set his jaw and rubbed his neck. It looked like he hadn’t slept well in days and his once near perfect grooming had begun to fall short. “I will stay here.” He forces out in his now usual harsh whisper.

“No you won’t.” Ivory came in through the door, opening it the rest of the way. Lapis also stood in the hallway with his arms crossed and waiting. “You need to go outside for a change. Listen, did you hear was Lapis and Violet told us about that altar girl? We’re going to go check it out, see what’s going on. We’re not letting you stay here like this. Those letters aren’t going anywhere and if you don’t start eating and sleeping right, you won’t be able to handle yourself on missions anymore. Then what?”

Onyx sucked in a breath and set the pages down. He hated that she had a point. They also weren’t going to just allow him to read in peace. “Fine...” He scoops up the papers and stacks them gently before going to put them back where they belonged, locking the drawer to his mother’s old desk again. “We had better not be gone all day.”

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

The four stared at the large archway and heavy wooden double doors to the church entrance. A full, unbroken moon with a chain around the edges was embossed in the center of the doors, split in half perfectly. Reliefs depicted mankind on one side, both human and faunus, fighting Grimm on the other door. Behind both were depictions of the religion’s gods of Creation and Destruction.

“I don’t want to feel like I have to say this, but please remember this is a church- my church. No one’s going to expect you to know the rules or taboos or anything like that since you’re just visitors, but be respectful.”

Ivory stared up at the lofty building and its carvings. It was probably more elaborate than anywhere else in Mantle. It looked old, too; pre-war old. “We won’t try to break anything or attack anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. Don’t worry, we’ll behave.”

Entering into the church, the plain white stone of the main sanctuary was nearly devoid of decoration. There were a few old tapestries, wooden benches, a few pamphlets left on a table, the altar at the back, and a few simple doors that lead to places only Violet knew about. It was empty for the most part. A small handful of people sat at some of the benches speaking to a priestess at the far corner while another figure in a simple white and blue robe was sweeping.

Sapir paused from her duties and gave the group a small bow and a smile, focusing mostly on Violet. She beckoned them closer, noting that Violet had brought two more with her. She offered a simple curtsy as greeting.

“Let’s start here. Sapir, this is Team OLIV, the ones I went to Atlas Academy with. I don’t think I actually introduced Lapis the first time. He was my partner at the academy. This is Ivory, and our team leader Onyx.”

Ivory stood as tall as she could, monitoring the girl. If Lapis and Violet were to be believed, this little silent altar girl took down an alpha Grimm with Auburn. “So does everyone in this church get taught how to fight?” She opens immediately, “I heard some pretty impressive things about you.”

Sapir shakes her head. She held up a hand and flashed a series of numbers with her fingers.

Lapis stared at Ivory’s confused state. She didn’t have any exposure to Violet’s silent friend and her bizarre way of “talking”. “Goodfellow, translate.”

“Allow me.” The woman from the back, wearing yellow on her robe instead of Sapir’s blue and wearing a matching miter stepped forward. “The call of the huntsmen is one of holiness. We must all of us prepare for the coming enemy. The Gift of Creation Book 1, Chapter 2, Verse 16.”

Violet stared at the woman for longer than was probably comfortable. She didn’t recognize her at all but here she was, wearing the high priest’s robes. “I... Who are you?”

“You must be Sister Violet. Your family has told me a great deal about you. I am Sister Lucianna. I have been the head priestess of the church for a few years now.”

Violet had a lot of questions. “Wait... What happened to Father Benjamin? And, you don’t have to call me Sister. I’m not ordained like Sap is.”

Sapir shrunk into her robes and set her jaw the mention of the old priest. Unlike many of the others of the church who merely looked up to and respected him, he and the other clergy were the closest thing to family she had. She saw Violet’s sad reaction and knew she had figured it out.

Lapis had hung back from the conversation for the time being, but this sounded fairly familiar. This was the kind of reactions he’d seen on the faces of Pineyard’s villagers whenever one of the elders passed from old age or illness. “I’m sorry.” He offers.

“It is alright. Hurt and loss are natural. Love leaving the soul can be damaging if you do not remind yourself of those you still have around you.” The high priestess offers a comforting smile and a change of subject.

“As for you, Sister Violet, you were once of the choir, weren’t you? I do not believe that the members of the church clergy should hold themselves above our parishioners. I did not take the title of Mother when I was placed in charge nor will I restrict our togetherness to simply those of us in robes.

Ivory listened to the small story. The fact that this woman was newer to this place’s inner workings might explain a few things. “So was her taking up fighting your idea then?”

Sapir stared at Ivory with a stern look, seemingly daring her to continue questioning them the way she was. She takes a few steps forward in a challenging manner before Lucianna holds an arm out in front of her.

“It was.” She answers simply, “Huntsmen do not take all jobs that show up in Mantle and we have a holy duty to fight the forces of Destruction. The Grimm are an unholy blight that must be destroyed. We may not have been in the age of templars for nearly a century and the Atlas council has forbidden non-licensed huntsmen from operating, so I have elected to train Sister Sapir myself and have her take the exam to allow the church to more properly play its part in our struggles against evil.”

Lapis paused for a moment, “That means you’re a huntress, aren’t you?”

Lucianna shrugs slightly and turns around as another visitor comes in and heads to a seat. “A story for another time, I think. Sister Sapir, please see to your duties. You are after all the one who greeted them.” She gives one final smile to the group. “I am glad to have finally met you and your team, Sister Violet. I hope I can look forward to seeing you all again. These are dark times and we must all band together for the coming of Destruction whenever it shows its face.”

Sapir makes a circle gesture with her hands and nods her head as Lucianna passes before turning back to the group. She fixates her gaze on Onyx, who had been standing behind the group silently the entire time. He was dressed well, if slightly disheveled, but more importantly she had caught herself staring at the gnarled scar that made up the base of his left ear where it no longer attached to his head. She snapped her eyes to his when she realized he had noticed.

Onyx stared back for a few tense moments, having not decided to simply glare at the girl. The cold air of Mantle made it more difficult for him to speak than normal and this church didn’t seem to do much with its heating outside of what the city itself provided, so he kept silent and his hands in his pockets. For now, he just kept contact to gauge her intentions. He might have been looking too much into someone staring at an old ugly scar, but it still bothered him.

Ivory reflexively placed her hand on Isengrim’s handle, but didn’t grab it. She knew Onyx wouldn’t do anything too problematic here, but she found the sudden stare down worrying. Then it hit her. This was Onyx’s first time outdoors within Atlas borders with his faunus ears in plain view. He already didn’t like people asking about his ear. She hoped nothing bad would spring from something so petty.

Violet gave a nod to Lapis who was ready to be a big body in the way of a possible issue while she paid attention to Sapir. She knew her friend’s facial expressions by this point, but this was a new one. She watched Sapir slowly walk forward.

Her step was less confident and serene than normal and she  withdrew as she moved. There was a hesitance that Violet had never seen before. Then she flushed slightly as Onyx took a step back and Violet couldn’t help but burst out laughing which caught everyone’s attention.

Violet tried her best to stop her giggling but instead was forced to cut her words into her laughter. “O-Oh my goodness... I... I can’t believe...” She continued her laughing before smiling brightly at Sapir. “You know if you wanted me to introduce you earlier, you could have just asked. Come on! We’re about to head out to eat anyway. See you can come with us! We’ll get a table for you two.”

Sapir froze and cursed herself for being so transparent. She turned around to hide her face and prayed to God it would fade by the time she reached Sister Lucianna. She had never asked for time to herself before like this. She marched away from the others and hoped this wasn’t about to be a terrible mistake.

“I did not agree to this.” Onyx chokes out to Violet, his dry voice causing him to groan in frustration. This was far from healing fast enough for his liking. 

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun! I get to hang out with an old friend, you get a date out of it...” She trailed off with a sigh.

“And maybe I can ask Sapir what else that Sister Lucianna had changed here since I left. I’ll explain after we eat, but let’s wait for Sap and get going. Ivory, can you pick out a place for us?”

---------

“And what sort of question is this? ‘Do not stray from your duties, but know the difference between idleness and caring for yourself.’? You want a break then, Sister Sapir?” Lucianna looked down the large room at the team still waiting by the door and seemingly arguing over a scroll. “I see... Of course you can. However, might I ask a favor? 

“While you are with them, discover what their connection is to Cheshire’s unholy experiment. We may be able to convince Sister Violet and her team to join us in the coming conflict. Destruction approaches and we must be ready. Evil needs to be exorcised from our home sooner rather than later.”

Sapir nods firmly before returning a small smile to her face and rushing back off to where Team OLIV was waiting for her. Once she seemed to have what few things she actually owned with her, they departed. A voice came from the darkness of the small preparation area behind the wall of the altar.

“Is this wise, Sister Lucianna? One of them is from the Cheshire line, the other Reynard. They are evil people and should be excised. Corruption comes in many forms.”

“I think it is good to see Sister Sapir reconnect and find some new friends. Besides, the Cheshire boy is a faunus- not of Tyrael’s blood. He has likely lead a dark life, but I do not believe that they are beyond salvation. As for the Reynard daughter, corrupt though they may be, with effort even the naturally wicked can be brought to see Creation’s holy mission.

“I do not trust this. We must prepare for the battles ahead.”

“And for that we will need allies, Brother Castor. We will see where their hearts lie. If they are good and true, we will have valuable potential templars for the coming struggles against Destruction’s monsters. If they are false, they will be destroyed with the rest of their wicked ilk. Trust Sister Sapir. They do not know it yet, but she will be their judge.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The Key

Melina had no idea how long she had laid there on the ground. The unearthed ground and the remnants of Zarla’s mechanical beast laid broken on the ground. Darcie’s “Magician” had done brutal work this time around. She mentally went through the list of things that went wrong: 

The downed aircraft had been a ruse. If there were any crew aboard the old Atlas ship, they were likely long dead or missing. This was a trap to lure her in and finish her off. Second, Morado had managed to buy her time and a chance to escape despite not standing a chance against Roland the “Strongman”, another of Darcie’s team of “frontliners.” He had been captured for his efforts; a foul trade in her eyes. Ezra, her enigmatic “Jester” had done little more than scare away the remains of Morado’s squad and drop a key in front of her after the others had cleared out. She didn’t assume any extra motives out of him- this was a taunt, a lure to keep coming after them. That left only the “Ballerina” Amrin missing. The woman was a sniper could have been anywhere, but if they wanted to kill her now they could have done it at any time- so why haven’t they?

Part of her knew she had to keep going. Jade Leroux was long dead but his old partner was still operating in full. More important than that, one of her daughters had survived- and they knew where she was, and were sickeningly responsible for what Molly had become. She didn’t expect the girl to embrace a mother she never met, but she needed to see her and hopefully see her chasing her own path instead of the one chosen by the people who stole her.

She barely heard the muffled screech of a hawk overhead. Forcing herself to look at the sky, it was coming right for her. She only took in a shakey breath and closed her eyes. “Fine... I’m not dead yet, but I may as well be. Feeding the forest isn’t a bad fate.”

The bird perched nearby and a voice echoed from it. “Been there, done that, wouldn’t recommend it. Geez, you went and got your ass kicked out there, huh?”

Robin Goodfellow. Once again the fallen “Prodigy of Mantle” returned to haunt her. For a moment she wondered if she was hallucinating, but the green glow in the hawk’s eyes wasn’t her imagination. He was somewhere nearby, immobile and controlling that creature from somewhere. “You were watching the fight.” She forces out.

“Damn right I was.” Robin himself was a roughly a few hundred feet away. Making sure to obscure himself during the fight so he could watch from a distance was the trickiest part when dealing with Darcie’s weird clown. Sometimes he swore Ezra wasn’t human, and not in a ‘faunus’ kind of not human. Thankfully he’d pulled it off. “Part of me wants to ask if you knew that was a trap, but I have a feelin’ you two would be there even if you did. Hold still, comin’ to you.”

Melina worried about what Robin could possibly want. He was strangely on his own after Jade had left, last she knew he had been seen with a small band of his own now- his old team and that strange girl from Ciar. “On your own again?” The hawk’s eyes faded back to normal and the creature squawked and flew off. That could only mean he was going to get up and move as he said he would. The dead silent wait was eerie and she had to force down her paranoia over what could happen next. Robin Goodfellow was an enigma when it came to his motives- one of the unpredictable ‘on their own side’ sorts. He’d just as easily help or hurt whomever he wanted to in order to get what he wanted and his loyalty was only to himself.

As she laid there on the ground her thoughts were broken by a loud thud next to her head. She snapped her vision in that direction and could make out a bag of some kind.

“Get up.” Robin says harshly, “I’ve fought you. You’re better’n this shit. Or are you tellin’ me you’re too old to be doin’ this anymore?”

Every inch of the old huntress’s body still ached from her injuries. Was he really going to force her to push herself to her feet and dress her own wounds? “This is probably the most heartless aid I’ve ever received.”

Robin walked over to a tree and leaned against it. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tapped it against his hand to push one out. “Yeah, well, it’s what you get. See, the way I see it, you fucked up pretty bad.” He lights it and plants it between his lips, sometimes moving the smoke from one end of his mouth to the other.

“But, you’ve got yourself a key to Pandemonium and I want it. See, once I finally decided to tell Jade to take his new plans and shove ‘em up what was left of him, I wasn’t thrilled to hear Darcie just swooped in and took it all back. No one robs me of an accomplishment. I killed Jade right out from under that Cheshire fucker’s big scowlin’ face and they’re gonna goddamn remember that!”

Melina shook her head and fell back down as her arm gives out under her. She lets out a small yelp and grits her teeth, “Not even you can single-handedly barge into a place like that and destroy it. You’re not a one-man-army, Robin.”

Robin smirks, watching her fall again and again trying to even sit up. “You think I don’t have backup? Well they don’t know they’re backup yet. I spied another little group tryin’ to find the place. Besides, didn’t you just get an invitation? If I show up with the key, I’ll have the whole gang on the front door. You? They’ll want to play with you. That’s my avenue to sneak in.”

“Besides, it’s gonna take me time to find the place. A key’s useless if you can’t find the door. So while you’re reachin’ for that bag and seein’ to your wounds, I’ll start lookin’.”

“And if I fail it looks like I was only struggling to crawl and no one knows you’re here...” She returns in a shaky biting tone. For now she stopped struggling for the medical bag and just focused on breathing. She had to keep herself willing, to want to reach for it so she didn’t just collapse out of exhaustion. “Tell me something. Did you know? Did you know about Molly?”

“Course I did.” Robin replies, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and tapping it gently against his knee to remove the lingering ashes. “Jade almost had a fuckin’ heart attack when he found out you were alive, though. I didn’t know who the fuck you were. That’s why you’re gonna keep goin’ ain’t it? She probably doesn’t want anythin’ to do with you and she ain’t what you would have hoped, but she’s still your kid, right?” He didn’t give her room to reply, “My old man said the same thing to me. Bless his fuckin’ heart, he still thinks I can be a good man. He’s dead wrong, but that’s just how parents are, I guess.”

Melina plants her hands onto the ground and tries to shove herself upward again. “I just... want to know what happened to her. I need to.” If she had to endure this ridicule and torture to patch herself up or die trying, she would. If she couldn’t handle this, she’d be dead once she reached this Pandemonium anyway.

[teamoliv-archive]

Overheard Conversations: Silly Meta Stuff

“Alright, guys, I have something for you to see.”

“What is this?”

“You makin’ fun of us, Ivory?”

“Well isn’t this just delightful! Why don’t we go down this list? It appears Ivory’s already done this. Molly, why don’t you start?”

“Ugh! Fine. Okay, I’m going to lump a few together now. My semblance isn’t ripped off of anything or an element of any kind. None of ours are, right?”

“Maybe, but I see one for ya! Tragic backstory, dead family, that sort, right? I mean my family’s all hunky dory and I wasn’t really a troubled kid at all.”

“And yet you work for me.”

“Cut me some slack, I don’t even know who my parents are. Jade grabbed me off of Vale’s streets when I was, like, eight. I wouldn’t really call my situation ‘tragic’. I mean I wouldn’t. Ivory, this is stupid! Why are we doing this? None of this applies to us!”

“Let’s keep going, anyway. I’m curious to see what else is in here. Is this really common among people? Who are these people being mentioned in here?  None of us have disabilities or any abilities related to Grimm, nor are we faunus of any sort. That invalidates a lot of these... What’s this ‘fanfic summary’? That is remarkably generic. How dull.”

“Quit skippin’ around and go in order! Where are we? Okay... weapons. Ripped off of Final Fantasy...”

“HA! One for the boss! Drinks up, Jade!”

“Incorrect. The Warriors series has nothing to do with Final Fantasy. A good try, though; but please don’t reveal anything about me too early.”

“Oh, thank god we’re almost done with this stupid thing. People don’t treat us like crap because the author doesn’t like them and... well... Okay, do we qualify as overpowered? I mean, we’re the bad guys. We’re supposed to be.”

“And I still lose my first onscreen fight.”

“That’s just because I haven’t showed up yet. I mean you two are still trainees. I’m a professional huntsman! Besides, you skipped angsty. Drink up, Molly.”

“I’m blaming you for this, Ivory...”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: The New Normal, Part 1

Onyx didn’t bother spending too much time in the suite that was “generously” prepared for him and his team. He knew the layout of the Cheshire estate better than perhaps even his father, save perhaps Sterling who understood the nooks and crannies of the place with an almost supernatural ease. But Sterling wasn’t here right now and his usual spying wouldn’t be a concern. He crept into the old parlour as silently as he always used to by picking the lock, turning invisible, and slipping inside. His mother’s old desk still sat in the back. She always preferred to keep her things here where there were large sunlit windows and a table to arrange things on better. She and Father used to spend hours in this room talking, planning, and going about family and company business though he and his sister were never allowed to participate. This was their time as strange as it was.

Now both his mother and Lilac were gone. Even the usual faces of the now long dead Major Ymir, Ivory’s father Redmond, and the snooping butler Sterling were absent for one reason or another. Despite this, he couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t alone here. He slowly crept up to the old desk and pulled out a stack of aging papers. It was here he had “conveniently” found his old adoption forms falsified so that he didn’t know where he really came from. His damaged ear twitched and he grit his teeth with a small resurgence of pain. Perhaps some of his old medicine was still lying around somewhere, but he doubted it. Mother’s old desk was always an interesting source of information and one only he knew to look through for any kind of information. He wasn’t sure what he would find this time, he just wanted to settle himself by delving into an old bad habit; then he found the letters.

The letters were perhaps decades old based on the dates on the ones written on Cheshire Financial and Atlas Council letterhead respectively. He was thankful for his faunus ability to see in the dark or else he would have had to give himself away by turning on a light. A quick scan showed that these seemingly had nothing to do with his father or the company at all, though. 

They were addressed to and from Cassandra Cheshire and her father, former Atlesian councilman Dunstan Baskerville.

The sound of the door gently creeping open caused Onyx to freeze, hoping what probably looked like floating papers to anyone else were hidden behind the desk.

Tyrael Cheshire walked into the darkened room and ran his finger up a slider to raise the lights slightly, but not to maximum. It was still dim in the room. He walks right past the desk and drew the curtain to look out the open window and the view into Atlas below.

“I had a feeling you would be in here. There’s no need to hide yourself, Onyx. There are things we have to discuss anyway.” 

Onyx slowly stood, letting his invisibility fade and set the stack of papers carefully on the desk. There was no sense in hiding it now. “How long have you known...?” He cautiously whispers out, careful not to ruin his still healing voice.

“Since you started snooping around.” Tyrael explains calmly, “Did you really think you just stumbled into those false adoption papers? Your mother put them up front for you to find. Her intention was to make sure you didn’t dig too deeply into where you came from just in case Leroux tried to pull some strings he shouldn’t have. There was never anything in that desk we didn’t want you to see. In fact, a few times we counted on it.”

“So this was all set up to use me like everything else was it?” Onyx leaned against the desk, staring at his own reflection in the large window. “Was I ever really anything here? To anyone?”

Tyrael lets out a long breath and hangs his head a moment. “This room, all of it, was your mother’s. Cassandra’s touch is on every decoration, every piece of furniture, and what she put inside the desk. This was her space to do as she wished on her terms- and she allowed you to share it by sneaking in here instead of changing the lock or having either of us confront you about it. “You may not believe me, but your mother and your sister- they loved you as if you were blood. We may have begun subverting Leroux’s attempt at sinking his influence deeper into my company, but that is not all that resulted.”

He turned and looked at the two small couches in front of the desk and the small table between them then moved to a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of wine and two glasses. He set them on the table and opened a mostly empty bottle with a pop before pouring the glasses to half-full. “Sit down, son. Bring those letters with you.”

Seeing any kind of real emotion on Tyrael Cheshire’s face was a rarity. Mother’s private parlor always felt like a strange sanctuary of sorts and perhaps it was true for his father as well. Right now Onyx’s father didn’t look like the strong, unmovable businessman, the ruthless Atlesean crime boss, or even the retired huntsman; he was just an old tired man who was finally lifting the weight of his emotions and responsibilities off of his shoulders for a while. He pulls the letters from the desk as well as a remaining stack that were still in the back of the filing drawer and set them down on the side of the table, taking his seat at the other couch. 

“These are between Mother and Grandfather...” He begins. It was odd of him to say it out loud. Onyx had never met Dunstan Baskerville. Still living somewhere in his late nineties, the former councilman is one of the only people left on Remnant with a living memory of the Great War. On the council he was a steadfast hawk with an unquenchable desire for Atlas to reach for the glory of the former Mantle Empire. His routinely brutal and increasingly authoritarian attitude ultimate got him booted from the council more than a decade ago. He was all but exiled to live out his days under assisted care in his old age somewhere in Atlas, but he was allowed no further participation in the public sphere. It seemed he still had time to write to his daughter, though.

“Let me see them.” Tyrael reached over to take the letters, looking through them carefully. “The old councilman and I very rarely got along. To him I was little more than a mercenary with delusions of grandeur as well as an outsider to Atlas at the time. I was still working with Auroras and Hari with their business when I met your mother. He hated me and you and Lilac by association. Your sister met him once and insisted never again. As he aged his nationalist rants turned into mad ramblings and he was finally forced to retire. His practical house arrest likely means this was his only communication with the outside world. He is still alive, I hear, possibly out of a pure stubborn refusal to die until a ‘proper Atlesean reaper’ comes for his soul.”

The small joke got a self-satisfied smirk from Tyrael and a wide-eyed look from Onyx who didn’t really think his father capable of humor.

“I was hoping you would look through that old desk again. Following Cassandra’s example, I decided it was time to show you something important. Take a look through those letters.”

A scan through them again revealed that his mother spoke to her aging father on multiple topics but many of them involved defending Tyrael, Lilac, and himself from the man’s increasingly unhinged insistence on insults to Atlas’s honor by “muddying the waters.” It showed a side to his mother he never really knew. While she had a proper, almost haughty public air, Cassandra Cheshire was highly intelligent, steadfast, and unwilling to back down in the face of a threat to her family- even from her own father. She poured everything into guarding what she cared about.

And when Jade Leroux decided this was going to get in the way of his plans, he had her killed...

Onyx set his jaw and tried to focus on anything but that “accident.” He had almost perished as well and bore a heavy scar across his back as perpetual proof. Instead he tried to keep his attention on the letters again. The fact that Dunstan Baskerville was apparently still alive was a strange thought. What must life be like for someone who is nearly one hundred, disgraced beyond redemption, and all but isolated from the greater kingdom? He didn’t care to dwell on it for too much longer. He floated his gaze over the words again and again, “If Grandfather was as impotent as he seems this late in life, she could have just ignored him. Why even bother answering these?”

“Because the man was, before anything else, still her father. I suppose she felt he could be helped with some communication. All of her pleas to meet with us pleasantly were utter disasters as I’m sure you can see there; but if you ever wanted proof that you meant something to this family, there it is. Find the ones that speak about you.”

There they were. Onyx himself got the most passionate defense. It seems her father knew about him being a faunus and was none too pleased that he wasn’t just killed instead of raised in their household, as a son let alone a servant. Before he could get emotional himself, Onyx stops reading and sets them aside. “Why show me this?”

Tyrael picks up the wine glass and takes a small sip. “Make no mistake, Onyx. The Borealis Project may be on the forefront of our efforts right now, but I did not go through all the trouble to give you a task interchangeable with anyone else. You crossed weapons with me knowing you would lose just to prove that you would not seek to be subjugated by anyone else.

“I’d like to think any faunus peers you may have made over time would see it as inspiring, but that’s not my point. As much as Auburn seems to believe she must replace you for her own sense of self worth, you and I know better than that. She is being placated while I test the project. She will be a useful ally in the future if you can learn to control her.”

“And you expect me to do what?”

“What else? You have never once stopped calling yourself Onyx Cheshire, have you? Like it or not, you are still part of this family and with your mother and your sister gone... you are all that I have left.  One day you will take over this company. In the coming months you will prove to me you deserve it.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Change of Plans (Part 1)

“I’m here as you asked, Tyrael.” An unimpressive-looking middle-aged man opened the door to the Cheshire head office carrying a large scroll pad in his hand. The translucent screen showed an array of charts and numbers from its reverse view.

“Redmond, take a seat. There is a lot we need to discuss regarding reconsolidating our presence in Mistral after Leroux’s inglorious demise.” Tryael turned immediately to the form of Redmond Reynard- officially the company’s financial analyst, he was also a trusted consigliere and fixer for the activities the council would otherwise have frowned upon. The man was brilliant, precise, and trustworthy. However, the disappearance of his daughter following the Red Arena’s collapse had caused more than a few concerns. The man needed a task to occupy himself, it seemed.

“I’m going to assume you already read through the files I gave you. Our primary source of money an influence in Mistral is gone, my daughter is dead, and the ones responsible for both are now running free.” He was referring both to his former adoptive son and his team and the wrench Robin Goodfellow’s actions threw into the mix. Both would need to be dealt with.

“Tyrael,” Redmond spoke confidently enough to speak to his employer more like an equal than a subordinate, “We can’t keep ignoring the fact that our own children are unaccounted for after this. This isn’t just parental worry. Ivory knows a lot about how Jade Leroux’s operations functioned and all the connections he had. If what Robin Goodfellow told you is true, he has friends she can turn to. I understand you trust your former teammates to collect them and I have no doubt of their abilities, but we have to make sure don’t make unnecessary enemies. We cannot hope to financially or socially restructure from the crater Leroux made of his operations, particularly if he had a fallback plan.”

“I am well aware. Auroras and Hari will ensure the children are brought to me. Your daughter will not be harmed outside of an absolute worst-case scenario. As far as our money is concerned, I will be placing donations and investments in Ciar’s new project. Jacqueline’s results speak for themselves-”

“Stop,” Redmond cuts off Tyrael’s sentence with a calm firmness a small handful of people could, “Placing all of our captial in a single entity again is not going to win back our losses. Work with Ciar all you wish, but as your adviser I am advising you to exercise caution.

He places the large scroll onto Tyrael’s desk and a video starts playing of a girl standing on levitating stones and proclaiming herself the world’s new protector. “Do you see what. Dr. Xanthos has been doing at Beacon? This was there opening ceremony from several weeks ago. It only just now arrived to us. I saw the information you were given on their Aurora project and there is no way we were given everything. Whatever this is, they’re hiding information from us. The facts are plain, we are not in control of anything that’s going on at Ciar, nor will we be.” 

He swipes a few fingers across the intricate display and another set of charts and numbers shows itself again. “In regards to these operations we were warned about, Jade Leroux’s partner, Darcie is the only name I could find, has apparently recaptured everything he had left in less than a week of his demise. You weren’t even back in Atlas before then. She managed to hide any information about herself and her operations even from me.”

“There are too many unknowns here, Tyrael. We cannot just proceed without a better plan. We have your mercenary friends searching for our children but while you may trust Ciar, I insist we are either being duped, or they are infighting, and we have no plans regarding Goodfellow’s threats or any possibilities Darcie may bring to the table.”

“This is precisely what I wanted to speak with you about.” Tyrael responds flatly, “Your unease is baseless, Redmond. Ciar needs our money to continue operations and Xanthos owes us for his job and resources in the first place. There are parts of this project you do not know. As for Goodfellow, I will deal with him personally.”

“Personally? Tyrael, we can’t just leave Atlas. The smuggling routes are slowly being blockaded and your absences have been noticed. I’ve already shown you my maps.”

“Leave? No, I will simply be taking a little stroll to Mantle. Robin Goodfellow himself can be dealt with on Tiberius Ciar’s time and expenditures. However, he does have family in Mantle that I may speak to.”

“And risk making the childrens’ collection more difficult. Remember who is also on that team you’re hunting down. Or do you plan to just use brute force for this one?”

“I think that’s going to depend on how fast you are, Redmond. I am sending you to Mistral. Find and speak with this Darcie and see if we can’t renegotiate a new deal. This time, we will have less to worry about with Leroux no longer around to attempt to manipulate things and they will likely be better prepared as well. If you happen to find Team OLIV and their friends along the way, pass the message on to Auroras and Hari and this can be much more painless.”

Redmond disliked the sound of that plan. Again, there was the possibility of Darcie turning hostile given what Lilac had done in vengeance. It could be quite a bloody circle. He might have to regroup with his mercenaries beforehand. Still, bases were covered and this gave him an excuse to look for Ivory on his own terms. “Alright. I’ll be packing immediately.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Thicker Than Water

The sound of heavy footsteps echoing Robin’s own caused him to stop. A single solid step followed as the person following him also halted their movement.He was dreading this moment right when he saw that his family had arrived in Mistral.

“Robin, please talk to me. I can help you.”

Robin spun around slowly, shoving his hands limply in the pockets of his vest. His father probably hadn’t picked an intentionally secluded place to confront him but this entire part of the city was now evacuated now that most of it was burnt down. “No you can’t.” He responds in a mutter. “I just wanted to keep Vi out of this. That’s it.”

“You’re not goin’ to do that by scarin’ her off, you know. This family doesn’t shy away when things get tough, and right now, they’re real tough.” Shin wanted to smile when saw his son, but this wasn’t the time for that. He would need to put a lot of thought into what he was going to say rather than just be there to help him. “You really think she’s goin’ to stay out of it once she finds out Cobalt’s dead. I may not have agreed with the man all the time but he was still family and your sister loved him just as much as any of us.”

“She always did look up to him, huh?” Robin takes his hands out of his pockets and rests them on the handles of his weapons. “Tell her I did it; it’s the truth after all. I can’t have her chasin’ after me. You don’t know everythin’ I’ve done.”

“Would we be here if we didn’t find out? Come on, Robin. You’re not helpin’ anyone tryin’ to push your family away. Let us help you! You can come home! You don’t have to do this anymore!” Shin sucks in a shaky breath and sets his jaw. “Tyrael Cheshire’s on his way to find Jade Leroux right now. You knew your uncle was a friend of the man, right? God cast down his blackened soul but even he cares about something. We can end this.”

Robin stares hard at his father. “You leave Jade to me. Just take Violet and go home. No where’s gonna let me just walk free if I’m go anywhere. Besides, you think I’ll be able to face Mom, or Violet, or Aunt Poppy after explainin’ ‘Yeah, all that money I’ve been sendin’ all these years have been from some of the nastiest illegal syndicates in Remnant.’? I’m too far gone.”

Robin draws his weapons, clenching his jaw tighter. “And if you keep pushin’ this I’ll make you stop!” Without any warning, he charges forward, his blades caught in a quick response by his father’s harpoon, flag unfurling from the butt of it.

“Robin, stop this!” He focused his efforts entirely on defensive blows. Even if the situation were more dire, the thought of having to raise his weapon against his own son tore at his soul. “You have to trust me, we can make this right! I am not accepting that you’re some kind of monster!”

Robin continued his assault, blows being blocked or deflected. He could tell by the weight of the parrying that the was making his father work for it, but his big fear about the ordeal was coming to pass. He couldn’t really go all out. Cobalt was one thing- this was different. “You wanna know why I did it? I didn’t have to kill him you know. I needed to make goddamn sure you weren’t goin’ to try and pull this! I don’t care what you think I am or ain’t! Why can’t you just give up, go get Violet, and keep out of it!? Why keep huntin’ me down!?”

“Because you’re my son!” The shout caused Robin to stumble a moment, though whether it was the words or the volume, Shin couldn’t tell. He positioned his harpoon so that the opposite end with the flag was pointed at Robin and thrust it forward at his gut. He again stumbled back but only for a moment before Robin flipped his off-hand sickle around and fired a few pistol shots.

The bullets struck Shin’s chest, but were blunted by his aura and a quick flare of his semblance, stiffening his coat with a shimmer.

“You’ve gotta run out of juice sooner or later! I’m serious, here!” He didn’t dare refer to his father in any capacity. He wasn’t sure he was going to handle it and keep his cool. “I can’t just make up for all the years of what’s happened! I’m takin’ Jade down my own way, then you won’t see me again. It’s that simple. Vi needs to be the one you and Mom can be proud of. I missed my chance.”

And yet you saved that girl all the same. It sounded like his father responded, but he hadn’t. There was no way Shin would have known about that girl from the plane crash he swiped from Jade’s ‘trade’. Why that one was something he didn’t entirely comprehend, as well as another thought in the back of his mind: Why only that one? He had made his lines clear before and part of him wondered if he should have acted on them. If he had perhaps he could still have been a better person, but he didn’t.

Shin watches Robin stand there holding his weapons for a moment. Perhaps now simply wasn’t the right time. He holds up his harpoon and plants it into the ground, letting the flag billow next to him. “Fine, go.” He says with a gentleness. “But once this is done, remember that you will always have a home. You’re not the best man out there, sure, but you’re my son and Iove you anyway. Just don’t make a bigger mess of things, okay?”

Robin’s arms felt stiff. It took him a few seconds to fully register the white-knuckle grip on his weapons before turning and walking away. “Shut up...” He spat back, “I’m not your fuckin’ son anymore.” He had to leave. He kept glancing over his shoulder to see if Shin was following. He wasn’t- only watching him go. He had to duck down an alleyway to stay out of his line of sight before finally booking it, knocking down burnt pieces of wood and trash along the way. He slammed into a wall and crumpled himself against it. They were going to find out about the girl he helped escape more than likely.

When you fuckin’ find her. Don’t be proud of me. Don’t you fuckin’ dare be proud of me!

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: New Grudges

The robotic limb felt strange. It didn’t really feel at all, but his brain kept telling him that an arm was there and that he was moving it exactly as it would if it were his own. He grimaces and turns his head. “While I’m normally a fan of cruel jokes, giving me Major Ymir’s arm is a little disturbing. To think you would pull the thing off of the corpse of your dead friend, do you genuinely care about anyone?”

This remark was met with a blow to the back, right in that still sore wound. Jade falls to the ground. He collapses to the dingy floor of the sewer he had previously encountered the Major and Inspector Briar. Cobalt Ymir’s body had since been taken out of the area by Tyrael’s men on the pretense of preparing him for a proper funeral. The switch for the arm was made during then. Already battered and bloody, Jade still felt insulted when he landed in what he was mostly confident was the Major’s dried blood.

“It is to remind you of how much you owe me, Leroux.” Tyrael growls, “Now keep quiet. I will need you consolidate myself here once we salvage what’s left of your miserable operation. Remember, you work for me.”

The rest of Tyrael’s statement is cut short as shots ring out from the dark tunnels of the sewer. He prepares his weapon just in time to realize the shots weren’t meant for him. They had fired on the prone Leroux.

Jade rolled over in a bloody heap, the bullet wounds in his back now obscured as he bared his front to the ceiling. With his body still recovering and his weapon destroyed, he had no real means to defend myself. “I... know that sound. Robin, what are you doing?”

“What I should have fuckin’ done years ago.” Robin Goodfellow stepped forward, revealing himself in the darkness. A mouse skittered in front of him in a panic and tried to dart past Jade and then Tyrael, who stomps on it with a sickening crunch and a weak squeak.

“You do not belong here.” Tyrael glares at Robin. He raises his gun and fires off a volley of flares. The other huntsmen dashes out of the way and manages to roll out of the last blast.

So this was Tyrael Cheshire. The tall muscled man was about as imposing as the rumor said. “You don’t waste time either, huh? Well let me lay it down quick. First, I’m killin’ that bleedin’ snake on the ground. Then I’m shootin’ you in the foot for squishin’ my mouse.” He dashes forward, blades ready. His forward momentum was halted by another fiery blast from his opponent’s massive shotgun. He had to crossguard his weapons to block and it sent him backward a few feet.

Tyrael walks forward still firing. “It is one thing after another with you, Leroux, isn’t it?” He focused his fire on keeping the huntsmen at a distance. Robin Goodfellow came with a fearsome reputation but a tendency for overconfidence. He may be cleanly dodging for now, but a few well-placed blows should be able to subdue him. Once the flares ran out, the weapons shifted into the large greatsword. A shot rang out mid-transformation and a pool of blood formed where Jade Leroux still lay.

Robin skid to a halt with Jade between him and Tyrael, his weapon pointed right at the now dead man. “Is that my uncle’s arm? Fuck is wrong with you?” He straightens his posture and stares the larger man down.

“If you want me to explain myself, you’re shit out of luck. I’ve got my reasons I don’t give a damn why you’re here. Just leave. That psycho bitch Darcie’s probably gonna make what your kid did to the city look like a birthday party once she sees this.”

Tyrael set his jaw and stared at Robin for a short period. He didn’t know who the man was talking about but that was definitely going to be something to investigate later.  “I have a feeling you are going to make my life very complicated if I let you out of here alive. I’m going to need you to elaborate on what you just said. If you do, I will only kill you. If I have to beat it out of you, what family you have will be targeted.”

Robin’s stance turned more aggressive in an instant. “Not while I’m here you’re not.” While he understood this was probably one of the worst times in history to grow a conscience, at the same time this line of his never really changed. “You do what you want with me, but if you drag my family into this, I’m gonna make sure you’ve got nothin’ but problems.” He sprints forward just in time for Tyrael to swing that massive sword of his. He catches one side and rolls over it, focusing mostly on dodging the man’s massive attacks. He wasn’t making a big attempt at accuracy Robin noticed. This guy was so massive he likely didn’t need to- so long as he hit once that was what he needed. He just needed to make sure he didn’t get hit.

Tyrael brings up a knee and then a kick to catch Robin in his dodge. This sends the man flying into the far wall. Tyrael charges forward, a pale yellow afterimage trailing behind him. With a roar he raises his sword and crashes it down into the wall, shattering a portion of it.

Robin shoves himself between his opponent’s legs to slide under the blow and leap back upright. The damage to the wall clued him in to reinforce the ‘don’t get hit’ plan. This guy was still slow and that could be used to his advantage. He spins around and starts an offensive, slicing away where he can.

Tyrael spun himself around, not actually blocking the blows. Cuts in his outfit started appearing but he wasn’t bothered by the impact at all. With his semblance still active, he could afford to take blows to maintain his momentum. He swings his fist at the other man to pin him to the wall. He hits the brick again and it shatters at the impact. Robin spun himself out of the way again, continuing his assault in between dodges and parries, keeping too close for Tyrael’s sword to make an effect, so he swung the massive blade again, forcing Robin to duck and slams it into the ground. “It was getting in the way, don’t you agree?” He says cracking his knuckles.

Robin jump to the sword stuck into the ground and uses it as a springboard to get some distance. He fires off some more shots that Tyrael just lets his aura take. He couldn’t keep that up forever, but this guy probably knew exactly how to judge what he had left. Thankfully, he could keep this up too, ducking and weaving out of the way of attacks. He doubted Tyrael was going to be that much faster at hand to hand. No, he just wanted to get in close so Robin had to switch tactics to range. He lets out a few more shots before going in low and slashing at an armpit. He was still only hitting aura, but he was hitting. “Fightin’ a guy who makes his livin’ in deathmatches ain’t the smartest move, you know.” He shifts to a more offensive but dodgy pattern, keeping away from Tyrael’s reach.

Tyrael takes a step back and swings behind his planted blade, lifting it up and swinging it again to gain some distance. He yanks the trigger on the weapon’s handle which sprays flames down the blade and out around him. “And you should not be backing so close to Leroux’s body.” The sword shifts to its shotgun form again and fires off a shot right at the dead man- and igniting what grenades he still had on him.

“Shit.” Robin dove to the side to keep away from the bulk of the explosion. Fire shot everywhere. “Why did that have to be the one you didn’t use, Jade!?” He shouted to himself before standing back up.

“You done yet? ‘Cause I’m just gettin’ started. You’re good, but you’re not gonna win this. I’m tellin’ you once. Stay away from anyone with the name Goodfellow and I won’t bother you. I hear about a single fuckin’ thing, and I tear down what’s left of what you got.”

“You are in no position to be making threats to me, boy.” Tyrael responds, “I have access to things you cannot comprehend. “If I have to go through you, believe me, I will.”

“Right then, time to get serious.” Robin rushes Tyrael down faster than before flipping around him and planting his pistol’s gun barrel right against the man’s shoulder and firing repeatedly. He lifted his legs up to prevent the man’s supernatural momentum from taking advantage. He finally sees a flash come over the man as his aura gives out just in time for Tyrael to force them both backward into the crumbling wall, letting Robin take the brunt of the blow. It hurt like hell but he wasn’t going to be able to do it twice.

Tyrael took a few heavy steps toward the debris where Robin laid still. He raises the sword with both hands ready to strike. He watches as Robin’s arms start to flail almost like they’re flapping. “You can’t move anymore can you?”

“Figured you’d do that...” Robin says with a battered smirk, “I’ve got one last trick up my sleeve. See, I am movin’.” His body jerks forward as a swarm of bats, lead by one with glowing green eyes flew right at him.

Tyrael has to cover himself as his vision is obscured by the sudden bat swarm. One moved, and the rest followed. He swung his arm and splattered several against the wall and injuring them. Once the swarm was clear, Robin was gone. It appeared he was going to need to pay a visit to Ciar before he went back to Atlas. This wasn’t going to stand.

Getting out of the sewer suddenly became the major priority. Tyrael Cheshire may have been injured, but that probably wasn’t going to slow him down. Then again, he seemed the sort to Robin to plan something slow but big. He’d have to watch for him later. For now, he needed to make sure his father knew what was going on.

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: Yellow-Eyed Monster Part 2

Lazuli spun her weapon in wide arcs, blocking and deflecting the oncoming blades that Auburn hurled at her. She was hoping to knock their trajectory off course so she couldn’t retrieve them, but even when parried away, they spun and returned to her.

“How do you like the new addition?” She taunts as the curved blades swirled back to her and locked back into the discs on her arms, which gave off a small glow as the blades returned. “I had this installed when you were busy starving in a cell.” She glares down at Lazuli with a grin on her face.

“I already heard about how you managed to get out, but the difference between then and now is that I know what you can do- and I’m ready for your fancy little trick; so come on, let’s see it!” She leaped from the rooftop and dove at her.

Lazuli braced for the impact, focusing again on parrying and dodging instead of attacking. Auburn’s blows felt heavier than they should have. She had no idea if that was a result of her not being fully recovered or if her opponent was just stronger than she used to be. With Auburn focusing on hurting her rather than the wounded huntress behind her, she didn’t have to worry about defending anyone but herself at the moment, but she still worried. One of Winterfang’s blades missed its parry and she readied herself for a hit from Auburn’s swipe, only for a shot to ring out.

Marianne was leaning against the wall, holding out her sword upright revealing the gun barrel on the side of the hilt. “You’re forgetting someone.” The scarred woman grimaced before snapping her good eye to Lazuli. “You have covering fire, girl! What are you doing?” She sounded more pleading than demanding. They both needed to do all they could to survive in a weakened state.

“Right!” Lazuli moves to attack while Auburn jumps out of the way, sending more blades out in wide arcs around the two. Shots and blows were made to try and deflect them, forcing them to return to their owner.

“Ugh... And here I was hoping this would be easy. Fine.” She plants her feet down and her shadow begins to spread around where she stood, coating the area in a twisted version of the landscape.

“This is all just an illusion,” Lazuli shouts to Marianne, “She’s trying to use the images and sounds to distract us. Just focus on where she is.” This was easier said than done. She heard a voice come from a lamp post.

“Come on! Where’s that semblance of yours?”

That was an unfortunately good question. she wasn’t too sure exactly how hers fully worked yet. She was thinking about something- almost like the fight was a secondary focus, but how did she do it last time? She stood still for a moment, trying to feel what it was that caused her semblance to activate during her fight with Jade. Now, it was only enough to distract her and take a blade to the shoulder.

“I knew you weren’t going to be able to do that twice. Now I get to take my time. Let’s get your leg next.” The blades came from a few directions, spinning and making a high-pitched laughing noise.

“That’s the spot.” Violet says, pointing out to the neighborhood where she fought Ivory and her allies earlier. Something was wrong with it, though. It was still covered in smoke from the fire. This wasn’t normal smoke, though. That looked familiar. 

“I don’t think we’re alone. One of the others that was with Ivory could make these weird eyes in the shadows.” She says, having difficulty explaining it, “Whatever’s happening down there, she either came back or never left that spot.”

Onyx winces as his ears pick up the distinct hiss of steel clashing and strange laughter. Someone was fighting down there. He glances to Violet and sternly nods, pointing to it and deploying his claws.

Deflecting the incoming blades was difficult when forced to stand still, but Marianne was managing as best as she could with Lazuli faltering. She stumbles forward, trying to join the young girl. “We need to get out of here. You’re still exhausted and I am in no condition to fight- URGH!”

Lazuli turns to catch the huntress as another spinning blade came from the back and sliced through her already battered cloak. It didn’t do a lot of damage through the woman’s armor but she couldn’t be taking other wounds. “You’re right, but I can’t get my semblance to work! I don’t know what I did! How are we going to get out?”

“Alright, that’s better. On the ground and pleading for your lives where you belong.” Auburn recalls her blades and takes a few steps forward, only for something to catch her leg and pull her forward. The look of shock on her face pierced through the haze of her semblance.

“Are you guys alright!?” Another girl jumped over the faltering Auburn and rushed to the two. “What’s going on here?” Was that... Lapis’s sister? She only saw her a few times when she had visited Beacon for the festival and once before at Atlas. What was she doing here?

That must be her, the sister Robin was so adamant about keeping away from his matters. Marianne spotted the resemblance quickly. “We are under attack and injured.” She explains.

“My brother went off to find who was responsible for the fires earlier. Someone’s in danger.” Lazuli paused, “You... You were on my brother’s team at Atlas, right!? Lapis Hamelin?”

“Hey! I’m not done with you yet!” Auburn gets to her feet and readies her weapons. She prepares to fling out her blades again, but feels her arm stopped as if someone came from behind and grabbed them. Looking to her elbow, she saw strands of wire wrapped around her arm.

The faunus on the other end of the wires stared with a confident smirk on his face. No, there will be no getting away from this. You have bigger problems to worry about now.

Violet ignores the trapped enemy behind her. Onyx could handle that. “Then we don’t have a lot of time. Onyx knows who’s responsible for that blaze and if we don’t do something, she’ll burn the whole city down! You said Lapis is here!? Which way did he go? There’s no way he can handle this by himself.”

“That way.” Lazuli says, motioning to where he had run off with the injured girl from before. “But we still have to take care of Auburn. She’s not going to stop if I run.”

“First thing’s first.” She pulls out a flare gun and tosses it to the injured woman who looked like she had been to hell and back in those fires. “You don’t look too good. Fire that and help will show up. There’s four shots. Get to safety and fire.”

“You’re with those Atlas soldiers then? Very well.” Without skipping a moment, she slowly started to slip through the nearby alley. “I will be fine if I don’t move quickly. Just go!” 

“I can show you which way my brother went. I know I’m not in great shape right now but I’m coming with you. He saved me, and now it’s time for me to help him, too. I can still fight.”

There wasn’t going to be any dissuading Lauzli otherwise, Violet could tell. If it was her brother she’d probably do the same thing. Hell, that is what she’s been doing. “Alright. Just be careful.”

Lazuli turns to Marianne with a concerned look. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

Marianne stared at standoff between Onyx and Auburn. “I think I will be left in good hands- or claws in this case.”

“Let me go!” Auburn twisted and slashed at the wire, finally freeing herself and facing Onyx with an intense glare. “I don’t know who you think you are but you’re interrupting something really important! I don’t have time to put you in your place!”

Onyx stared back at Violet. There was no time, why was she still just standing there? He swung his arm at them to tell them to move, then he turned back to the girl in front of him. The message was pretty clear: I’ll handle this one. He watches Violet and Lazuli rush off while the older huntress ducked out of the fray.

“Give me one reason I should even bother with you. Who are you!? SAY SOMETHING!” Auburn says, readying her blades again. More wire sprayed around her faster than she saw coming. Dangling right in front of her was an old hospital tag. The name was crossed off and written over.

Jett Huldre Onyx Cheshire

Auburn took a step back. “No. That can’t be right!” She snaps her head up to Onyx and stares incredulously. “How are you alive!? Why are you here!? You were sold! Your parents were killed off! You were supposed to die as some rich asshole’s servant or something, not...”

Cheshire. Those were the people who were paying for Jade Leroux’s operations in the first place. He wasn’t just some operative. He had a brand new name- a family name. How did some doomed cousin she only ever heard horror stories about turn out to be not just a huntsmen but a rich one? “This isn’t how things are supposed to go. No, this isn’t right! How!? Come on, dammit, say something! Are you here just to taunt me!?”

Onyx stood without much fanfare. He still didn’t really know who this girl was or what his old name meant to her. Truth be told, however, he didn’t care. He opens his mouth and forces out a weak croak of a voice. It was painful to speak yet, but he was at least starting to manage again. It came out as a raspy whisper. “No... You’re just in the way. Will you continue to be?”

“I was supposed to be the one who survived, the one who proved we weren’t all weak. Why!? How did you take that away from me, too!? Jett, I am still standing in your way. I have a destiny! I’m going to be the one at the top of it all! Let that stupid little backwoods brat run. I have a bigger target now!”

Onyx forced another harsh-sounding reply. “Do not call me that. My name is Onyx Cheshire, and you will remember it. Prepare yourself.”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: For the Ones We Love

How long had Molly been running? Time sped up and slowed down around her as she stumbled through the flames of the ruined district. It took forever to find a clearing that was decently clean. It looked like everything here had already burned. When had she come back to her senses? It was hard to tell what had happened over however much time she had spent trying to get away.

A flash of light caught her attention. “I don’t have time for this!” She shouted instinctively. It was some spherical drone that beeped and flashed at her. The intervals were hard to pin down. She still didn’t know how to fix her warped senses. She heard the sped up and then slowed down sqeak of more wheels as more of these things rolled up around her.

She was surrounded!? What were these things? They started to flash and make noise randomly, a practice made even more disorienting by her sense of time constantly shifting.

Just slow it down... slow it down...

The world around her slowed to a crawl. Molly had to turn her head away from some lights that shone too brightly. Then she felt the very slow impact of something smacking her in the back of the head.

“Gotcha.”

“Molly!” Ivory shouted into the raging din around her. She picked up Oroboros by its massive handle, hoisting her partner’s massive death wheel onto one shoulder. She was much taller than Molly so it neatly slung over her shoulder and hung down above her knee. She rushed into the direction that she thought Molly was going.

A beep caught her attention.

Another of those weird wheeled ball robots. The ones belonging to Lilac Cheshire. She was about to bring her ax down on the annoying thing when it flashed a screen in front of her. It was Molly.

She was stuck somewhere with a worrying number of tubes and needles stuck into her. Nearby was the triumphantly smirking face of Onyx’s sister- no, Cassandra Cheshire’s daughter.

“I’m not playing nice here, bitch.” She started with a venomous tone, “That’s a dust-infuser I’ve strapped your little friend to. You, your crazy master, and a whole bunch of other people are going to die for what you did to my family. Follow that drone to where it leads you and maybe I won’t turn this machine on. Do you know what happens when you inject dust right into a person’s body? It’s strong sure, but it’s agonizing. I happen to have enough to freeze, burn, and shock this kid from the inside out all at the same time.”

The drone starts wheeling away at a surprising speed.

“You have ten minutes!” It shouts on a loudspeaker.

“No....” Ivory felt nothing but guilt seeing Molly the way she was. They had to be somewhere nearby to be able to transmit that message. It didn’t look prerecorded. Lilac looked right at her. She was the one who killed Tyrael’s wife, ruined Molly’s plans to go to Beacon for Jade while she went to Atlas.

No, I went to Atlas for Jade. Molly wanted to go for herself...

She didn’t have a choice. She had to follow.

She planted a speed target on to the ground and started a sprint. With the sound of a shatter, she darted ahead of the drone for a while, following the only logical path she could take, lugging Molly’s massive weapon with her.

“Don’t worry, I’m coming!”

The drone sped up to match her speed, leading her to a building that was suspiciously unburnt. She slams her ax into the door, not bothering to try and opening it the right way. It busted off at one of its rusty hinges and swung open at an awkward angle. Inside, there they were.

Lilac gave a death glare at Ivory. Molly hung from the harness she was strapped to from some kind of hook in a half-conscious state. “We knew you did it,” She spat, “We knew from the start but your master managed to convince Dad not to make you wish we’d killed you.”

“I’m fixing that. Then I’m making sure Leroux is dead, too.” She was wearing a similar harness to the one that Molly had been attached to, but with some added things to it. It looked attached to her coat. A flash of hard light appeared in front of Lilac’s eyes as the tubes on her coat began flaring up with various colors. The blood vessels in her skin started to glow and her hair flashed with arcing power as the dust started to take effect. A jolt of pain was soothed by the anesthetic.

Molly’s harness started to glow and she started to convulse and scream in agony, jolting back awake but blind to the world around her.

“I made this specifically to kill you! You try to escape and your friend explodes do you understand me!?”

Ivory didn’t have time to think about all the factors involved in why this was happening. That was probably going to come crashing into her once the adrenaline wore off. She dropped Molly’s weapon and readies her ax. Those drones were still here, too and nothing was stopping that crazy harness from killing Molly anyway if it looked like Lilac wasn’t going to be able to pull this off. She could have just blown them all up, but this was a woman driven by revenge. She wanted the satisfaction of spilling Ivory’s blood herself.

She readied her weapon by pointing the blade straight in front of her and pulling the trigger on Isengrim’s barrel, rocketing her forward. The blade stops just short of Lilac, catching on a wall of rock that flashes in front of her.

Lilac walks around the jagged barrier watching Ivory try in vain to yank her weapon free. “You’re strong. I know that. But you’re so reliant on that thing.” She reaches out and grabs her arm and it starts to ice over.

Ivory felt a horrible chill come up her arm. Lilac was going to try and take her apart piece by piece if possible. She kicks at the woman, still holding her gun with her free arm. Slamming her finger against the trigger, the ax blade crushes its way through the earth dust and breaks it into pieces. The impact frees her arm and she immediately uses the recoil to put some distance between them. Her left arm was numb and frozen. That was going to make blocking difficult.

She twirls the ax to try and block a sudden barrage of fireballs that shot out of something on Lilac’s wrist. Of course the coat would be using the dust, too. She looks to the walls where the drones were driving up various surfaces. Since when could they do that? She plants a target on the ground and shoots herself into the air by kicking at it.

Lilac walked her shots, switching up the elements seemingly at random. Ivory had taken to the air and this made it harder for her to dodge, even if she used her gun to bounce off the recoil. She could only go in a straight line. Where was she even shooting for anyway?

A series of vanished blips on the screen in front of her revealed it. She was shooting out the drones. Clever, but it wasn’t going to do a lot. Taking a few steps forward, Lilac started to create a rising ramp of ice, rushing up it while electricity flared in her arms.

She flung her arm in a huge arc, sending a whip of lighting across the room, taking out a few of her own drones in the process. She could always make more. Besides, that wasn’t the issue- they were packed with explosives anyway. “Did you forget how I started these fires in the first place!?”

The shock of the explosions launched Ivory across the room, landing in an inglorious series of crunching bounces against the hard ground. She felt a spark of her aura give out and her weapon slide to the ground. This was bad.

Slowly forcing herself to her feet, she saw Lilac close in with a heavy fist enveloped in a black energy. She rolled away as fast as she could, but the surrounding objects and herself were dragged back toward her fist on impact. This included a few more of those exploding drones that launched themselves off of the ceiling.

“Face it you heartless tool!” Lilac said with an excited tone. “Everything you’ve ever done, everything you’ve ruined for your precious master, trying to destroy the house that took you in, it’s all going up in smoke. I bet you’re only saving your partner here because he wants you to. You’ve never cared about anything! Now you’re going to die here the same way you took my mother away from me!”

If those got too close she was dead. She watched as Molly’s weapon slid forward in the well of gravity. Reaching out, she grabbed it and squeezed the handle to flare the saw to life.

Swinging the blade forward, she only manage to clip a few of Lilac’s dust tubes, the rubber hoses on her coat spraying powder and thick liquid over her. The broad arc knocked the falling bombs away. The explosions detonated and sent them both flying. They were injured, but not dead.

“This isn’t about Jade...” Ivory says, struggling to her feet. “This isn’t even about your family. This is about you and me, and I will not let you drag Molly into this!” She swung around and tossed the still buzzing saw toward where Molly was struggling with the harness. When it collides with the hook and severs the connections, she falls and collapses to the ground. The device lay in tatters as her partner- no, the closest thing to a sister she’s ever had, whimper on the ground, barely hanging on. 

She notices Isengrim on the ground nearby. It must have come with Lilac since her hand was still flush with gravity dust during the explosion. She picks up her weapon and readies herself. She was out of aura and had restricted options, but Molly was free at least. “Get back up. We’re not done.”

“You’re right... We’re not.” Lilac struggles her feet as well. Her screen had cracked in the impact. She didn’t know where her drones were or what her aura levels were at or what toll the dust was going to take on it or her body. No, that didn’t matter. She was still in better shape than her.

Molly whimpered as she struggled to keep her eyes open through the blinding pain. Was that her weapon!? When did it get here? When did Ivory get here!? What was going on!? She could at least see the world right again. “I-Ivory!” She shouted in a hoarse voice. “She was planning this from the beginning...”

“I know.” Ivory responds quietly, “You’re hurt, Molly. You need to get out of here while you can. It’s me she wants.”

“No... No, don’t try to fight her by yourself! I can’t leave without you! I can’t be alone again!”

“If you stay she’ll only kill us both! I promise, I’m not leaving you, Molly. We don’t have any backup. You have to get out of here while you have a chance of living!”

“What’s the matter?” Lilac says interrupting them, “Afraid you’ll lose something precious? Well then I think I know where to start!” Dust flares up in the woman again, power spraying wildly from the broken tubes as she charges forward.

“NO!” Ivory steps in the way and takes the blow with the flat of her ax, sliding back. Her arms ached from the impact. “You can tear me limb from limb, you can go after Jade all you want, you can tell me my entire life is a heartless sham, but I will not let you hurt my sister!”

“Ivory... I...” Molly knew she and Ivory were close. They weren’t blood, but that didn’t really matter, did it? No, she wasn’t going to let her die, but it took all her strength just to stand. Oroboros felt heavy in her arms as she lifted the heavy weapon. Slowly she heard the infernal roar of its engine. Stepping onto the pedal she she heard the blade scraping against the floor. Making a bank, she drove past Lilac and heading to the exit.

“Don’t you dare die, Ivory! I am not losing my family again! All I need is time! I’ll be back, I promise!”

Ivory stepped in between Lilac and Molly, swinging her ax at another shot and splitting it in half. “I said, this is between you and me Lilac Cheshire! If you want at her, you’re going through me!”

“Gladly. Now where were we?”

[teamoliv-archive]

Cutscene: True Loyalties

It was three agonizing weeks since Onyx was able to get out of that wretched hospital. His voice was still gone but at least he no longer felt the awful lingering symptoms of being without his old medications. Somehow they managed to clear that up. What was shocking, however, was finding out that his bills have been taken care of already thanks to a generous donation from the Cheshire Financial Group to aide victims of the White Fang’s violence. He knew that wasn’t what actually happened. The note hidden in his room solidified that.

It was from his sister, and it came with directions to come to her home in the city’s upper levels quietly once he got out.

Why was Mistral built against a cliff!? It had taken him forever to get up here and even longer to find the blasted home. As he expected of his sister, the place took up a lot of property in one of Mistral’s most affluent districts. A filthy faunus wandering around drew a lot of eyes that he subsequently ignored. He had half a mind to throw the next jeerer off the side of the mountain. He didn’t have the energy to keep himself invisible the whole time. The building itself was big and the surrounding grounds even bigger. There was an electronically locked gate at the front. He didn’t even get to push the button before he heard Lilac’s voice on the other end.

“Took you long enough, Nyx. Get in here.”

Lilac had soon sat her brother down with a fresh change of clothes, a bath, and a decent meal. He looked way better than he did when he got there. “Geez, Dad really did a number on you, huh?” Before her brother could silently protest, she waved it off, “Yeah, I know what happened. I’ve been watching the entire city for a while now. Come on, I’ve got a few things to show you.” She starts to guide him to a large room that looked to be a personal garage turned into a workshop. Sitting on a table was a sleek set of gauntlets plated gold with black on the finger joints and underlay. The whole mechanism, particularly the reel, was more compact than before. “Go ahead. Try it on.”

The new gauntlets fit perfectly. The underlayer must have been made out of some kind of armored fabric or rubber. No cold steel to deal with there. He flicks his wrist like before and it contracted back onto his arm in a much nicer-looking bracer, only the finger-less gloves that remained betrayed what it did. The smaller reel stayed in place. He looks up at Lilac in a bit of surprise. He had never been hugely close to his sister but they never hated each other either. Even if they weren’t blood, he assumed they were as close as most would be.

Lilac offered Onyx a smile and nodded. “Good. That’s a present from me. You’ll need to be able to get back out there, won’t you?” No, as conniving and stealthy as he liked to try to be, Onyx wasn’t ever one to really back away when he knew he had a fight on his hands he couldn’t avoid. He wasn’t going to take this sitting down.

“I hope you’re ready for this next part, you’re going to need to see it.” She lit up a few monitors showing footage from her drones. Several shots of the attack on Haven were shown, as all manner of other nasty things. Among them were several shots of Ivory speaking with that man from before- what was his name? 

Jade Leroux. It took a moment to click in Onyx’s head. He did recall Father mentioning something about this being why she had left. What was this about?

“Nyxie...” His sister continued, “This guy’s responsible for everything. Everything we care about anyway: What happened to you, what’s been going on with your trip to Menagerie, and Mom... That ‘bodyguard’ of yours has been his mole for years. She was supposed to get close to you... That’s why Mom and Dad wanted you meeting people so badly. They knew but they didn’t want to tip him off either. He was making them too much money to risk that just yet- and that’s why she killed her.”

Onyx felt like he would have been speechless even if he hadn’t lost his voice. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t gotten reason to suspect it from what Leroux and his father had said to him. Looking back, Ivory was the only one who could have made a vehicle explode the way it had. This made too much sense, including Ivory’s awkward attempts to comfort him so soon after his mother had died. She hadn’t left his side after she found out he was in the same car. It was strange at the time, but that really was when she started sticking to him as much as she did ever since.

Was all that trust he placed in the one person he could really call a friend all just an elaborate lie!? He didn’t want to believe this was the whole story, but that didn’t matter right now did it? He tried to speak only making a few choking noises still.

“I’m sorry, Nyxie... I am. But I couldn’t let them keep trying to use you like that. Dad can handle himself. He knows what happened, but I don’t think he’s willing to move against him. We can’t just keep letting them do as they please.

“At least not to the Cheshires. I say it’s time we remind them who they’re trying to manipulate and burn them for even trying. It’s time for revenge. Mom wanted Leroux dead and I’m going to show his little tools what happens when they think they can attack us like that. I have some friends who are going to be causing a lot of problems soon. We just need you out of the lower levels for this.” She gives her brother a pleading look as she walks over to a mannequin wearing some kind of tubed vest. “I want you here with me when we do this. We’ll get this done, no matter what we have to do or who gets in the way.”

How long was Lilac holding this grudge? It seems like she’s been harboring this for years and planning the entire time. Why not tell him sooner!? Was she waiting to get him away from Father? He watches a map on another screen. There were several blips showing something sending a signal from various public buildings, including the hospital he was just at. A lot of these were lower-income neighborhoods- the residential ones. He points at it carefully.

“That’s how we’re going to do it.” She says, turning toward the screen, “I found out Leroux’s operations are somewhere in that district. Just killing him won’t send enough of a signal of who he thinks he’s messing with.” There was a venom in her voice that Onyx had never heard before. It was pure bloodlust. “So I’m blowing the entire district. If he wants to pretend he’s as dangerous as he says, let’s see him deal with this. I’ve already got armed people going after his favorite little spots, too... and whatever else they want. It was part of the idea.”

She turns back to smiling when she locks eyes with Onyx, but something about her seemed a little unhinged. Had his sister always been this way and he just not noticed? He very seldom saw her. “I need to introduce you to my contact sometime, Onyx. I think you’ll like her.”

The entire district!? As much as Onyx wanted to play off a lack of concern over civilian casualties, he had to admit this had him horrified. Seeing a plan that would result in hundreds burning to death purely to make a point was... disturbing. Perhaps his time in Menagerie had softened him, perhaps he never was as callous as he thought he was when he came face to face with the consequences of Lilac’s plan... 

Maybe he was just a coward. 

Either way, he couldn’t hide his revulsion and horror. He unravels the gauntlet back over his hand on reflex and took a step back as if a large Grimm had just materialized in the room.

This is what Father was saying when he mentioned you ruining everything, didn’t he?

“Onyx...?” Lilac tilts her head. Maybe this was a bit too much all at once. It was a lot she was asking. “You don’t have to do anything.” She says, taking careful steps forward, “Just stay here. I’ll do the rest. We’ll get rid of them and then we can make Dad listen.”

Stay here. Yet another who wanted him to just lay about and do what he was told... He wouldn’t have expected it from his sister as well as his father.

Well thank you for the weapon, Lilac, but I will be taking my leave now.

His sister’s eyes narrowed, half in anger and half in disappointment. “I get it...” She walks over to the tubed vest and puts it on. He watches for a moment as she starts to fasten something to her arms-

Needles? She was sticking them into her... Another look revealed some kind of dust cocktail on the back in numerous small doses. She throws her thick rubber coat on over this and turns to face him.

“One more time, Onyx. Stay here. You don’t have to think this is right or even a good idea, but don’t go back out there until I’m done! I will force you to if you don’t-”

He had already made up his mind. Lilac had clearly gone far past any point of reason if she was so willing to annihilate an entire city block to kill one man, let alone whatever that vest was for. He unleashes a flurry of wires, forming a barrier between the two of them. 

Then Lilac started to spark as the machinery she attached to herself whirred to life.

The visible parts of her skin began to glow with a bright violet light and arced lighting her hair and eyes started to glow along with it. She buckled under the pain while waiting for the painkillers to start coursing through her system and dull the feedback from the dust.

“I guess we’ll be testing both our new weapons, huh?” Her voice had a sickly static to it, like it was masked behind a radio- likely a side effect of the lightning dust. So this was only one chamber, huh? What would happen if she used others? Or combined them? Well, best not overload herself now. She didn’t want to kill her brother anyway.

She outstretches her hand and starts building up aura augmented with the dust. With a quick flash, a wave of electricity danced through the metal wires.

Onyx had to take a quick leap back to avoid the arcing lightning. It wasn’t going to kill him, he wagered, but it would heavily incapacitate him again. No, he couldn’t stand here and fight. He needed to get out of here. Mustering as much strength as he could, he snapped free the maze of wire and forced himself to flash out of sight. He hadn’t used his semblance in weeks. It was going to take a lot more concentration than normal and he didn’t assume his sister didn’t have a security system in play, too.

For whatever reason, Lilac wasn’t following, but he heard her over an intercom that played over speakers she had installed in various points in the home. 

“There’s still time, Onyx! I’m doing this for us! For our family! If this is because of that militia then remember it was Jade’s idea to send you there in the first place! Are you going to tell me you’re letting him get to you!?”

No, this wasn’t about Leroux. This wasn’t about them either. This was about himself- and a pledge to never let anyone else make his decisions for him no matter who they were. The door to the final exit in the hallway slammed shut. He had to push himself into a right door that opened into a parlour. This was clearly a middle room since there were no windows. He’d have to keep going.

That’s when he heard all the beeping. Several ball-liked drones wheeled out of hiding places and started to chase him. A few had small arms mounted into them and began shooting. It wasn’t much trouble dodging to deflecting the shots. These little things didn’t seem to be all that accurate and had difficulty making sharp turns. They were not meant to fight against a trained huntsmen. One spray of wires tripped up their pathfinding and send them crashing into each other, beeping sadly.

He ducked out of another door and down another hallway. Windows! Then came the loud slamming noise as the metal security shutters started falling. He’d have to move fast and race them to get out one of them. He was only just getting there before a large mass of stone slammed into his path.

The colors in Lilac’s dust-infused form had shifted again- yellow this time. Her hair’s color mostly stayed the same but the glow that came off of it and affected her aura clued him as to what she was using. “You’re only going to get yourself hurt again!” His sister shouted, “Don’t you see that!? I’m protecting you!”

No, no you’re not. You’re trying to just keep me out of your mad crossfire.

That shot had slammed into a wall and nearly broke it. An idea formed in his head as he decided to pull something risky, he moved in an obviously telegraphed manner that he was going to head in the other direction. This wouldn’t fool most people but Lilac never had any formal fighting training. She wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. All she knew how to do was throw raw force at the problem until it stopped moving. As expected, another large earthen shot flew in front of him. Speeding up, he intentionally let it slam into him and the wall behind him.

Right at the window shutter. The thin metal creeked and groaned under the impact and Onyx felt that now too familiar feeling of his aura breaking. It was enough to shatter the glass behind him.

He rolled behind him and tumbled out the busted window into the grounds below. He ached yet again but at least this time he wasn’t being electrocuted or having the life choked from him. He throws out a wire at a street lamp and swings off down the street, lashing to new points as he keeps going. There was no way she was going to be able to follow that quickly.

He only hoped he could find a way to stop this...