Gunfire echoed throughout once quiet halls. My sword flipped and turned, intercepting a vast majority of it while a thick metal plate, ripped from the compound's walls, held off the rest, shielding me and everyone behind me. Bandages unfurling with a slight movement of my aura, a faint click was quickly overpowered by the constant stream of shots, my sword separating into six separate pieces.
Using the broadside of the longer sword with the handle along its blade, I slammed the weapon into the different guards, their weak aura's crackling away as they hit the walls and slumped to the ground. The pair of serrated blades did the same but also went after many of their weapons, cutting into some as they fired and causing mini dust explosions. I kept the main blade and the daggers hovering near us alongside the torn metal plate to keep everyone protected.
All the while gunfire was returned, the White Fang member I'd spoken to and three more of his people all having picked up rifles from guards I've already taken down.
Between our efforts the guards ahead were dropped, shields cracked and left groaning as they clutched bullet wounds or unconscious on the ground. A silence, broken only by some of the whimpers of those following behind us, settled in as I moved forward, a crowd of steps following behind me.
"W-Wait, I have a fam-" Isolated gun shots forced more whimpers out of the group behind us, two of the White Fang members going out of their way to execute those I'd just knocked out and incapacitated, uncaring of whether they were human or faunus.
This group as a whole might've been responsible for imprisoning all these people, but I had no idea how deeply each one of its members were involved with that. I couldn't run around carrying out some indiscriminate slaughter.
But these people were their victims. Freedom was going to end up a thing of the past for them, many of them likely forced to work in conditions worse than those in the main hub of the black market.
The bushy tailed faunus fired a bullet through the head of one of the guards, at our feet, blood splattering across both of us. He caught my eye and gave a nod that I returned.
This was personal for them. A bloody choice like this was theirs to make.
But only them.
"Don't." I ordered as Miltia kneeled down to pick up one of the intact rifles, trying to avoid the growing pools of blood spread across the metal flooring.
"But-" She started turning to look up at me. She fell quiet, looking between me and the weapon before giving up on it and returning to my side.
The twins might've been imprisoned alongside all these people, but they didn't suffer the same treatment as the others. Their value hadn't been as possible slaves but leverage against their mother, their own choices ultimately leading them to end up in this situation to begin with.
With the business they were born into, it'd happen sooner or later, but there was no reason to allow either of them to bloody their hands under my watch.
Distant footsteps came from ahead, but I also picked up on an approaching group from the hall behind us. Shifting my hold on the still unconscious Melanie, I focused my aura, the building creaking and whining. The metal plating of the hall behind us began to rip and twist before the passageway completely collapsed under its own weight, the guards from that direction cut off.
As the guards ahead turned the corner, my swords surged forward once more, deafening hails of gunfire unleashed.
XOXO
Rocks cracked, dust falling free.
"Hurry it up! If we lose them, we're finished!" A desperate yell echoed throughout the tunnel, countless bunched up footsteps rushing after us. Just as the one leading the pursuing group of guards came into view, I yanked my hand downwards, focusing more of my aura. The pressure against the rocks intensified, the cracks expanding like webs before the loosened material broke apart, collapsing. Within moments the tunnel we'd left that compound through had completely caved in, no room for anyone to cross over.
Adjusting my hold on Melanie, I turned.
Left within the dark of the winding tunnels of Mistral's mountain, the defenseless group, the humans more than the faunus, were no less jumpy and panicked. I walked past them, Miltia falling in beside me as I made my way forward. Just like with the rest of these tunnels, it wasn't difficult to figure out which paths saw the most use, the White Fang handling guiding the former prisoners while I led the way.
With the fighting behind us, all it took was one long walk before we reached the end of the network of tunnels. Unlike the false wall I first entered through, this one had a metal ladder awaiting us.
I handed Melanie off to Miltia and headed out first, forcing aside the hefty stone that waited at the top of the ladder and pulling myself to the other side. An alleyway full of a few dumpsters and discarded trash, the incline of the mountain just behind me and streetlamps lighting up the alley's exit straight ahead.
I took a breath, enjoying the air as well as the light drizzle beginning to fall.
I wasn't sure what part of the city we were in but any part of it was better than being down there.
Turning back, I helped everyone else through one by one. Within minutes the wet alleyway was filled with people unsure of what to say or do, many shivering beneath the light rainfall, the rags they were left in providing no protection.
"We won't forget this." The bushy tailed White Fang member said, the other three gathered around him offering me nods.
"The humans." I said, nudging my head towards some of them, the man sparing a glance their way.
"We'll make sure they get back on their feet like the others." He said. That would have to do. Other than directing them to hospital or some police station there wasn't much more I could do for these people now that I got them out of there.
We exchanged another nod, those White Fangs members gathering up the uncertain people and leading them out of the alleyway.
Would they be better off? Hard to say but no matter how things went for all those people it couldn't be any worse than being forced into the kind of work that went on down in that place.
Where they ended up from here was their problem, not mine.
"You're a good person, aren't you?" Miltia said, looking up at me rather than after the fleeting group.
"No, I'm not." I said flatly. She had no way of knowing just how ironic it was to attach a label like that to me. "And you shouldn't believe anyone who claims they are." Good people, genuinely good people, never needed to say they were.
"Ugh…" A low groan came from Melanie, her eyes finally cracking open. "Get your hands off of me." She muttered, a weak struggle starting as soon as her unfocused eyes passed over me.
"Mel. It's Talon." Miltia said, stepping up to her side.
"Talon?" Melanie murmured. Her struggle stopped as she calmed, the unfocused gaze of her green eyes narrowing in. It took a moment, but a spark of recognition entered them despite my different mask. "My dreams about you usually have a lot less clothes involved."
I sighed while she made herself comfortable, curling into me. If she was talking like that then it probably was just a sedative we were dealing with but better not to take any chances there. "Luckily this isn't a dream." I said while stepping out of the alleyway. "I'm guessing Spider has a personal doctor or two somewhere? We should take your sister in for a checkup."
"Right." Miltia said, taking the lead.
This wasn't exactly how I expected things to go down there, but it should be fine. Miss Malachite's main concern had been her daughters after all.
XOXO
A long yawn forced its way out of me as I headed up the stairs of the Baxter Building, the sun just beginning to rise and shine its light between the city's buildings. Luckily it was the weekend so there weren't too many out and about quite yet.
The twins were alright, nothing more than harmless sedatives running their way through Melanie's system like I thought. Members of Spider left to handle things out here would be keeping those two under watch until Miss Malachite finished wrapping things up in those tunnels.
Walking through the lobby, another yawn slipped free as I hit the button of one of the many elevators beyond the reception area.
Impromptu freeing of a whole bunch of unrelated people aside, I'm sure Miss Malachite would be satisfied with the result. Who knows, maybe I'd be getting a bonus for interfering with her rival's operation?
Yeah, as if. She was moving in to take over. I might've freed some people, but those cells would likely be refilled once she had everything firmly under control. There was no incentive to upset how things worked down there, my actions probably costing her a good bit of lien if anything.
How was it that people from the same place, surrounded on all sides by monsters that infested every part of the world from the sea to the skies, still found time to trample over one another was beyond me. Maybe there were those who got caught up in the illusion of power lien offered but there were just as many who flat out found ways to justify racism of all things.
Life in the tribe might not have been easy but at least we didn't have to deal with shit like that. It was us, human and faunus, versus anything that wasn't us. There were plenty who disagreed and argued with one another, brawls one of many ways to settle them, but seriously harming or kicking down another?
A taboo Mom had no patience for.
Then again, the tribe was one isolated group of people. Mistral was a city that covered so much space microcultures could be found across the different levels. Picking out and dealing with the bad apples was far easier in one than the other.
The elevator doors slid open and red eyes greeted me.
"Hey, good thing I ran into you." Emerald said as she stepped out of the elevator, joining me in the lobby. She raised a hand, a pair of tickets held in them. "Want to go see a movie? I wanted to bring Cinder, but she said no."
"Damn, I'm your second choice?"
"Try my only other choice." She said without missing a beat, drawing a chuckle from me. "So, you coming or did I waste my lien on this thing?"
"Isn't a little early to be heading to the movies?"
"Probably but I found this cool little 24/7 theater. It's next to an arcade I want to check out and-" And Emerald was once again proving herself to be the normal one, listing out places she'd probably always been interested in but skipped out on due to a lack of stable income. All places I wouldn't mind going myself.
Eh, why the hell not. My whole sleep schedule was already in ruins and I would've just spent the day trying not to fall asleep so I could reset it. Might as well enjoy myself while waiting for the night to come.
I nodded.
"Nice." Emerald said before raising a brow as she looked my face over. "By the way, is that blood?"
I reached up, wiping it away then adjusting my shades. "You wouldn't believe the night I had."
XOXO
(A/N: It might not have been obvious since Talon has been avoiding killing people as well as helping someone like Cinder but he lays in the gray category with leanings both ways when it comes to good and bad. I'd say unsurprisingly, his experiences as well as time between Raven and Summer has played major roles in solidifying his moral compass. It might be accurate to call him something of a middle ground between the two.
We've got four very interesting chapters ahead of us though. Hope you all enjoyed this one. Wish I could've explored that black market more but unless forced there Talon literally has no interest in knowing the details or seeing what's going on there. But there's always the future.
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Look forward to next week! I know I am. I'm really curious how everyone will like the chapters.)