Stalwart Stand 8.4
It takes you far too long to figure out what your response should be, to the point where it starts feeling kinda awkward for your captive audience. You hate the idea of letting this chucklefuck run free, letting him keep preying on more Rats and business owners. The idea of letting a whole Syndicate's worth of these chucklefucks keep doing the same.
But ultimately, you have your priorities. You need to get home. You can't pick fights with every Syndicate member that gets in your way. Well, you
could. But it would be pointless. They'd wear you down eventually, probably. Meaningless conflict that gets you no closer to the City. Would it help the people of Mistral? Probably. They're not the ones you've sworn to protect, though.
You'd
like to kill him and be done with him, but you also promised Glynda you'd try not to do that. And… sure, you respect her enough to hold to that. It's not so inconvenient.
So yeah. He promised that he'd keep mum about you to his boss, if you let him go. And with a little more persuading, he might actually do it.
How to make the message stick… Know what? Honesty's the best policy.
"Sure. I'll hold you to that," you say, feigning amiability and not breaking character. "You can even take your invisibility cloak with you."
Clear relief floods the Spider's face. He smothers it with bravado soon after, though, as you lift your foot off his back and let him clumsily take back to his feet. And after that… it shifts to fear.
"One word before you head off, though?"
You're still blocking the exit of the alleyway, after all.
"I'll make this clear. Not letting you go because I'm scared of your boss. Nor your boss's boss. Not your entire Syndicate. If they come after me, I'll kill 'em all. If I see 'em around, I'll put a stop to them.
"I'm letting you go, assuming you keep your mouth shut, because facing down your entire group would be
inconvenient, you know? I've got things to do. Playing at being an exterminator would be a fun afternoon. But I do have other things that actually
need my attention."
You're actually kinda proud of that last quip. You're usually shit at banter.
"So yeah. Because it'd be so
inconvenient, if I get word that you've blabbed, I'll make sure to take a little time out of my day just to find you. And we can rehash this conversation. Sound good?"
The grunt gives you a tight nod, though he doesn't look quite as cowed as you'd like. You're not entirely sure you're on the same wavelength here.
Still, you can't waste your time here forever. So with a slight jerk of your head and a 'Get out of here,' you say goodbye to that waste of space.
As he bails while trying to look calm, you take a deep whiff of your cigarette, calming your slight nerves. You figure you've caused enough trouble in Mistral Below for awhile. Who knows, maybe you've made a lasting difference?
Heh.
Anyway… you're gonna go check to see if the lift is fixed yet. And if not… guess you'll be walking all the way back to Haven Academy. Or you'll find someplace to stay down here, who knows.
You turn to leave, then realize that you
completely forgot about Brett, the homeless guy unfortunate enough to witness your thrashing of the Spider goon. Who, judging by your side-eyed glance, seems to be huddling as tight as possible, hiding behind his dumpster. From the Spider or from you, you can't tell.
You'd throw a stack of An at him, but you don't have any of Remnant's paper currency. S'all on your Scroll thing.
[ ] He'll be fine.
[ ] Write-in.
Thank fuck, the lift
is working. You don't have to hitch it all the way up a billion flights of stairs. You would've thrown yourself off the cliffside after the first half billion.
On your way back to your temporary home, you pass by the big building that houses Leonardo's office. Raised voices emanate from within, Leonardo arguing with someone. You'd normally be inclined to leave Haven's headmaster well enough alone, except you recognize his conversation partner's voice.
Qrow's.
Curiosity brings you through the front doors and into the corridor right outside Leo's office, at which point you can finally make out what the two men are actually saying.
"…walking across Anima? Yes, but—dear, does that mean… Are they still alright?"
"For now," Qrow's voice confirms. "Last I left them. But not for long, if we don't get moving. Salem's minion is dangerous. We need to get that kid to a hospital. Who've you got on hand? Ratten? Khan?"
"I told you, Qrow! Everyone is dismissed for the season!"
"
Everyone? Leo—"
You butt in at this moment, having heard all you need to hear. "You need some muscle?"
Both Qrow and Leonardo turn to you, surprised. Leonardo, in fact, is so shocked that he drops the teacup he's holding, which shatters on the hardwood floor.
Qrow doesn't seem to give a shit as he says, "Yeah. My niece is in danger. And she's got someone from your end of the woods with her, in case you need motivation."
You didn't. Endangered children have always been a sore spot for you. So you push that bit of unnecessary information to the side and focus on the threat ahead.
"When're you leaving?"
You both jump onto a particularly-antiquated-looking airship, apparently the best Haven Academy has to offer on short notice. It does seem to travel at a decent clip, despite having a literal sail, so what do you know. Qrow starts filling you in as it starts to fly.
The primary threat is a batshit insane serial killer scorpion Faunus named Tyrian. He's got enough skill and power to fight Qrow to a standstill and a tail filled with extremely virulent poison, enough to put a man down within a day. You know this because it
did; apparently, the Citydweller in the group got infected with this poison, and desperately needs medical treatment.
In any case, once Qrow is done filling you in on the bare details, he hops out of the airship and turns into a crow, quickly outspeeding you to rejoin the group. You, meanwhile, sit there and wonder which victim of the Library ended up out here. Another Liu Association member? A W Corp Janitor? From what Xiao told you, the Librarians used the powers and abilities of people they'd previously defeated, hence their mishmosh of outfits when you'd fought them.
You hope it's not one of the Thumb Soldatos.
You hear the battle before you see it. Or, to be more specific, you hear the
screaming before you see the source. A decidedly inhuman scream. You hop off the airship before it lands and rush towards the source, hoping you won't be too late.
As you approach the ruins of an outskirts town, you see… well, it's definitely a mess.
Tyrian is easily identifiable with his massive segmented tail, clashing against Qrow. At a glance, the two do seem evenly matched. The young girl in red you presume to be his niece, however? Really should not be in the midst of the two like that, because she's definitely outclassed, and providing a serious weakness for Qrow.
In the midst of the town square is the source of the screaming. A massive Grimm, resembling a horse and slumped-over rider. Two kids engage it, one wearing green and one wearing pink. Both are holding their own, but it's a close thing. Neither of them are employing what you'd consider to be an effective strategy.
And the Citydweller that was knocked out cold by Tyrian's venom is nowhere to be seen. You assume they're hiding, avoiding stray shots from the fracas.
This mess is a little more than you expected. Still… time to kick some ass.
Your first priority is to…
[ ] Find the injured Citydweller and get them aboard the airship. If this poison is as dangerous as Qrow said, they might not have time to spare.
[ ] Engage the Grimm. Qrow seems to have Tyrian more or less in hand, and you don't want to see the kids die today.
[ ] Help Qrow. The sooner the serial killer's out of the picture, the sooner you can put the Huntsman's experience to good use.
[ ] Write-in.
[ ] Manifest E.G.O.?
A/N: I've been waiting for this moment for more than a year now.
Kali's timing in showing up on Remnant was… less than ideal. It's directly led to this mess, in fact.