Conditions

The Games We Play

Conditions​

As I turned around, I absorbed the scene calmly. The girl—Yang, I supposed—was beating the crap out of Junior's men. Junior himself had slammed into a wall after being knocked through that pillar and was probably seeing stars for the moment, not that I was sure it made much difference. Junior's level hadn't changed since I'd last seen him and from what I could see, neither he nor his men would be a match for Yang. Before my eyes, she leapt high into the air, coming down with a blow that seemed to make the floor around her ripple, tossing perhaps a dozen men away.

No, they definitely weren't going to win this fight alone, I thought with a sigh, looking at the girl a bit more carefully. When her gauntlets—or rather, her Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets—had expanded, I'd caught a glimpse of several rows of red bullets; it seemed she had a preference for literally firepower. She backed that up with sheer strength, blows crushing the floor beneath her targets or else tossing them away like ragdolls.

All told, she was pretty strong, I guess, but my extended run of bad luck had set me against far, far worse. In fact, the last time I fought someone around her level was…quite a while ago. Pyrrha, I guess. She seemed pretty good in a fight, confident and practiced, but after some of the shit I'd gone through, I was confident I could handle her pretty trivially if this was all she had.

Of course, I knew better than anyone that looks could be deceiving so I took a moment to look closer, Observing her for a moment longer. Her Semblance seemed to be…well, perhaps this was my old game obsession speaking, but it seemed to be similar to one of those gauges in a fighting game, rising as she took and dealt hits. It also seemed to be tied to her hair somehow, but…

If it was Adam, it might questionable as to who would win. Adam's Semblance allowed him to settle things with enormously powerful strikes after a fairly significant charging time, so he'd almost certainly win if he got one off early into the battle—but if it became a battle of attrition, perhaps things would go the other way. With a level difference as relatively small as theirs, it really depended on how they fought and who could force the other into their rhythm.

But though it might have been a little arrogant, something like that just wouldn't be enough to defeat me. If we were to fight, I felt certain that I'd be able to settle things decisively without too much difficulty and take her down. Even if she hadn't been Raven's daughter, I had no intention of turning a young girl over to Junior and his gang—even if her actions had been, as far as I could tell, unprovoked, between the punches and nut-shots and property damage, I couldn't imagine that would go well. Still, it should be easy enough for me to knock her out and just take her somewhere safe. If needed, I could probably just call Ozpin and ask him to deal with it since he knew her father; he could tell me where to put her and probably come up with an explanation for it, as well. After that point, it would be Taiyang's problem, not mine. That would be nice.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple, because there was the matter of her other parent to consider. I had no idea what Raven would think of any of this—I had no idea what relationship she had with her daughter, what she'd think of her actions, or how she'd feel about me interfering. From a professional standpoint, though, I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize my working relationship with Raven, even ignoring the enormous utility of her powers. From a personal standpoint, I just didn't want Raven upset with me, even with the power I'd gathered since last we met. It seemed like the best way to accomplish both ends would be to just stay out of Raven's business, which was what I'd really hoped to do.

Even so, I didn't really feel right about watching Junior and his men—my hosts—get beaten up and have their property destroy without doing anything to stop it. Beyond that, the Xiong family were, in a way, allies of the White Fang, who I supposed I was technically acting in the capacity of at the moment. What would it say if Jian Bing just stood back and watched those who had treated him fairly well in the past get beaten up for no reason? Nothing good.

So for both moral and practical reasons, I had to do something.

I sighed again. Perhaps it was a bit petty, but this night was supposed to be about Adam and I drinking—however ineffectually on my part—our grief away. Not…whatever this was.

"So," Adam said and though his words were still a bit slurred, his hand was as steady as a rock on the hilt of his blade. True to his word, I didn't think he'd have any problems in a fight. I wonder if that was a Hunter thing or a learned skill. "Who is this bitch?"

Might be wearing beer goggles, though. But at least he seemed to know who I was.

"Your sister, I suppose," I mused to myself, still watching the fight and looking for a chance to interfere. I wasn't worried about the wounds being inflicted since I'd be able to heal them easily enough, but if possible, I'd like to settle this without bringing down even more trouble upon Junior or causing too much property damage. As a side goal, I wouldn't mind not waking up to a headline about Jian Bing being in Vale, either. This night was probably shot to hell either way, though.

"Huh?" Adam asked eloquently.

I looked at him calmly despite the chaos below.

"She's Raven's daughter," I clarified. "And I guess you're sort of like Raven's really old son."

Adam snorted like, well, a bull, seeming annoyed at the words. Which part, I wasn't sure. After a moment, though, he worked his jaw and his fingers began to drum a pattern I didn't recognize on the hilt of his sword.

"Not sure Raven would like me beating up her daughter," He muttered after a moment.

I resisted the urge to make a comment about her sending them both to their rooms which, really, seemed pretty big of me.

"I figured," I said. "Stay here until I give you the signal, then. And try not to say anything?"

Adam grunted and said nothing, which made me smile a bit. After a moment's thought, I brought up my group menu and sent him an invite, which he managed to both read and accept.

A high-functioning alcoholic was Adam, it seemed.

Meanwhile, Yang finished off the last of the men below, a process that involved the shattering of another glass pillar and the throwing of the DJ. Although, in fairness, the DJ did break out a machine gun. Two more girl came out to fight and the levels above their heads would have given them away as something special even if they hadn't been wearing something completely different from the rest of Junior's men. Thinking back, I vaguely recognized them as Junior's bodyguards.

Blood Stains the Earth

LV 34

Miltiades Malachite

Snow Covers the Bones

LV 35

Melanie Malachite

Yang reloaded, scattering bullets and grinning widely in the light of the club. Miltiades bared her crimson claws, Melanie slide a razor-edged foot forward, and I…well, I looked at the exit of the club, feeling just a bit wistful as I put my hands in my pockets. In the periphery of my vision, I saw the three girls move to attack each other—

And then I moved, drawing upon my skills to give me greater and greater speed. In a fraction of a second, I closed the distance and stood between the three of them, standing stock still as all three closed in. A set of claws slammed into my neck just below the ear, the back blade of a shoe connecting with my side just above my waist, and a gauntlet slammed into my left breast with a metallic sounding clang.

I gave each of the attacks the attention they deserved which was none, looking up at the ceiling of the club and kind of wishing we'd picked another bar.

"And that's enough of that," I said, dropping my gaze slowly as all three girl's paused at my sudden interference. "Miltiades, Melanie, good job. Why don't you two take five?"

That seemed to startle them all into action. Melanie sprang back, withdrawing her bladed foot, and both her sister and Yang followed a moment after, watching me warily.

"Who are you?" Melanie demanded, adjusting her footing quickly in case I was a threat. I looked her way and met her eyes.

"Someone on your side," I said. She looked away first, averting her gaze slightly from mine, which I flicked to the side a moment later. With my Clairvoyance and Elementals, I could feel him stumbling to his feet, so I'd let my voice carry. "Hei Xiong?"

After a moment, the older man stumbled into sight, looking over the scene of the club.

"Girls, back off," He said, eyes flicking to them both and then back to me. He took a deep breath and when he spoke again, sounded almost polite. "May I ask for your assistance, then?"

"There is no need to ask," I answered, dropping my gaze back to Yang with deliberate slowness. "But as my first bit of aid, if I might make a suggestion—let us end this here and save ourselves the trouble."

Junior looked like he wanted to snarl something at that, but stopped for a moment to look around the club, at his fallen men and the broken glass.

"There seems to be a great deal of trouble here already," He said, going for casual and not quite making it. "She—"

"Her name's Yang Xiaolong," I interrupted, stopping him. When I saw I had his attention, I continued. "Her father is a hunter named Taiyang Xiaolong."

Yang smiled brightly at the mention of her name, but the expression dimmed slight at that of her father's.

"You know my father," She asked, but I ignored her for the moment, focusing on Hei's abruptly considering face.

"You know Hunters as well as any, I'm sure," I continued. "With their teams and their families…while I understand your feelings, I would posit that the trouble it would cause you in the future would not be worth taking revenge now. If you wish, I will deal with this situation for you—"

I gestured vaguely at Yang as if she hadn't said a word.

"—But I'm afraid I cannot stay by your side forever. I have but some small business left here in Vale and then I will be required elsewhere. If his daughter should be hurt, it is unlikely I will be able to defend you from Taiyang's retaliation. If she should disappear…"

Junior let out a slow sigh and nodded once.

"You're right," He said. "It's not worth it. What do you propose?"

With slow, confident steps, I approached one of the fallen henchmen, reaching down to grab the back of his shirt and haul him to his feet, healing him in the process. He stumbled and nearly fell but caught himself, opening his mouth to say something—and falling silent as I lifted a finger.

"I will heal your men," I answered. "And do what I can to fix your club. In return, I ask that you…forgive the other damages, to avoid great trouble."

"Done," He said. "If she leaves and doesn't come back."

"That seems only reasonable to me," I answered, looking back at Yang, who seemed torn between growing impatience and instinctive wariness. "Miss Xiaolong, I can't help but notice that you're rather young for this club, anyway."

That was hypocritical, but hell, if I'm not allowed to get drunk or enjoy myself in this club, I don't see why she should be allowed to. It seemed like a fair punishment for not doing this on literally any other night of the year.

"And you're pretty knowledgeable," She replied, reaching for a pocket to draw out a phone. "What your name? And do you recognize this woman?"

The image she held up showed me Raven's face from a time that Observe told me was about twenty years ago. She looked…pretty much the same, honestly.

I tilted my head and looked at Yang absently. Even without my Empathy, it was easy to see where this was going—enough so that I barely held back another sigh.

Pointless…

"Mr. Man," I said at last. "And no."

The words seemed to make her smile.

"Well, Mr. Man," She said, winking at me. "What would you say if I told you I didn't believe you?"

"I'd say that was unfortunate," I replied. "Though truthfully, I probably wouldn't care. May I escort you to the door, Miss Xiaolong?"

"No need," She said brightly. "I know the way out."

I closed my eyes as I exhaled and leaned out of the way of the first punch.

At least the first half of the problem had been solved…

I pushed Junior's henchman away with a light—or, at least, relatively light—shove and felt displaced air brush against my face. Even with my eyes closed I could feel her clearly through my Elementals, from the water within her body to the flames rising from her skin to the very air her mass displaced. I knew exactly where she was and each motion she took all but glowed inside my mind.

So I didn't even bother opening my eyes. Making a point, I turned my upper body left and then right before skipping back a step. I leaned forward as she went for a high kick, letting the blow pass cleanly over my head and straightened casually. I felt her land and leap backwards, a reflexive motion expecting a counterattack, but I stood still, hands in my pockets. I felt a flash of concern from her, dawning second thoughts, but at the same time a growing…something. It wasn't quite confidence or even pride, but it pressed her forward.

Her arms moved back and there was an explosion of heat, a sudden light in the darkness to Suryasta's eyes. She'd fired two shots, flinging herself forward with a bang. I slid to the right with a minimalistic motion, letting her fist go by my face—and letting the rest of her crash right into me. I didn't stumble or twitch, but stood stock still like a wall even as she slammed into me, lifting my left arm to catch her when she rebounded off my chest and began to fall. She caught herself on my arm with the same hand she'd just tried to punch me with and then paused for moment in sudden alarm. The next, with an action that was almost reflexive, her other fist slammed into my chest and there was another explosion.

I stood still again even as she threw herself away, extending my Aura to cover my clothes. It was a waste of energy when my skin was far better armor, but I didn't think Raven would appreciate me fighting her daughter in rags or, worse, naked. My tail would probably be revealed in my clothes were destroyed anyway—and I suppose I had MP to burn regardless. As such, I merely brushed my shirt off as she skid to a halt, keeping track of the others around me—of Junior and his followers moving away to ensure they weren't caught in the fray, but no doubt watching intently.

When I finished making a show of how little the blast had affected me, I returned the hand to my pocket and stood relaxed, eyes still shut. Yang had stopped her assault and taken a slow, quiet step to the side, followed by another and another still when I didn't react. After a few seconds, she stood at my three o'clock, emotions rising and falling. Empathy wasn't the same as telepathy and I couldn't read her mind, but I could connect her feelings to my own knowledge and make guesses. She was trying to decide on the best approach, considering how to attack. Closing in had no effect, so next—

A pair of shots, bright and hot in my mind, were suddenly closing in on me from the side. I considered them as they approached, contemplating my counter in turn—I could let them impact harmlessly again or try to snuff out the flames with Suryasta's, but if I wanted to make a point…

My right hand came up, rising from my pocket in an arc that crossed the paths of both bullets with just a slight pause in-between. With my eyes closed—and with my bare hands—I caught both bullets and crushed them in my fist.

"There," I said aloud, opening my eyes and making sure I looked bored. "With this, it should be obvious that you're out of your league, Miss Xiaolong. I think you should leave."

"Aw, don't you want to play with me, Mr. Man?" She asked but I saw the minute twitch of her cheek, felt the flash of uncertainty. Her words were confident, at ease—a front I was familiar with—but it seemed she wasn't blind.

"Fighting even when you're afraid is brave," I answered. "But only when you do so for a good reason. What you're doing is merely reckless. You know you can't win and it frightens you, but you fight to try and prove it doesn't."

"Who says I'm afraid?" Yang smirked, lifting an eyebrow cockily. Even so, the focus of her own words betrayed her.

I met her gaze for a moment and held it calmly, watching as he forced herself to match me.

"I do, Miss Xiaolong," I replied at last, tilting my head slowly to the side. "And to answer your previous question, no, I do not wish to play with you. Or rather, if we played, I suspect you would not enjoy it."

"Oh?" She wondered, voice taunting. "You don't think you could entertain me? Where'd your confidence go, Mr. Man?"

"My apologies," I inclined my head slightly. "But in my experience, games of cat and mouse tend only to be enjoyable if you get to be the cat."

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," She said back. "Come on. Take one shot."

I considered her for a moment and exhaled slowly, feeling strangely old. Maybe it was because of the way she was acting.

"You're trying to taunt me into hitting you," I noted. "I am well aware of how your Semblance works, Miss Xiaolong."

Her eyes widened for a moment at that but then she took a bracing breath.

"What, are you afraid?" She asked at last, smile returning if a bit more bleakly.

"I'm afraid of breaking you, yes," I admitted. Although, honestly…I didn't really want to hit her, but I couldn't help but think it would make this go a lot faster. It would probably be easier than continuing to talk to her, as well. And like many quick and easy routes, there was plenty of room for regret, later. In the few conversations I'd had with Raven, her daughter hadn't exactly been a topic of discussion; I had no idea what she'd want me to say to her daughter, much less how she'd want me to deal with something like this. Honestly, fighting back shouldn't be a problem, right? Between two Hunters—or Hunters-in-training, depending on how you counted it—something on that level should be fine, so long as nobody got hurt. But would Raven see it that way or would she be outraged if I so much as touched a hair on her daughter's head? So far, I hadn't hit her even once, so there was really nothing Raven should be able to complain about, but at this rate…

I felt a sudden motion, drawing my attention to Adam as he drew his sword and made an act of checking his blade, looking bored—but his emotions told a different story, at once reassuring me and planting doubts.

"If Raven gets upset, I'm blaming you," I formed the words beside his ear, along with a sigh. Reaching out with my thoughts, I checked the area around the club—despite the way it had been emptied, there didn't seem to be any further commotion of sign of the police. Maybe they were slow to respond in this part of town, or perhaps they just had a deal with Junior's family. Either way, I only sensed one person nearby and I kept their location in mind.

"But very well, if our host does not object," I said with my actual voice. "Junior?"

"You're not actually gonna break her, are you?" He sounded worried now that he knew about her father. I only he knew about her mother…

"I will go easy on her," I promised, dropping my eyes back down to Yang as I lifted a hand, fingers curling into a fist. "Pay attention, Miss Xiaolong—one shot, as you asked. And, to be safe, I will stop short just before I hit your face. Fair enough?"

I thought she might argue or say something foolish, but if she wanted to, she held it back. Her eyes focused on me as she dropped low in a ready stance, preparing herself. I gave her four seconds to be polite.

Then I closed the rest of the distance in a fraction of the fifth. With my Haste and the White Tiger's Tread and Lunge so high leveled, with my Aura at level ninety-eight, and with just a touch of Acceleration, I reached her side as if I were taking a single step, fist swinging—and, as promised, stopping short just before touching her face.

A single Far Strike took care of the rest. A moment later, glass broke as she was flung through a high window and far into the street beyond. I glanced at Junior, inclining my head once in farewell, and followed her out with a single jump. As I landed silently on the street outside the club, I took a breath of the night air and looked down at her. Her hair was glowing brightly, but at least for the moment she laid prone on the ground.

But she was alive and hadn't been truly hurt. I'd held back enough for that, I was sure, and a quick heal would fix the rest, if necessary.

"Please be more careful when picking fights in the future, Miss Xiaolong," I said, walking slowly to her side. "If you had fought someone else, the results would have been less fortunate. Now, please—"

"Yang?" A voice asked and I sighed again, turning towards the person I'd sensed earlier. Of course, it would be someone she knew and—

And abruptly, nothing else mattered. In an instant, my wariness was gone and I was on high alert, power rising. I saw the girl before me—her black dress, her red cloak, and her silver eyes—but my gaze went higher, focusing on the words above her head, upon her title. As they went, it was far from the most impressive I'd seen, but it stood out for what it meant.

The Red Rider

LV 50

Ruby Rose

XxXXxX