genessia | sins of the father [Action/Closed]

Entry tags:

sins of the father [Action/Closed]

Who: Mercury, Yang, Emerald, and SOMEONE
Where: Attleton, near the gate to Genessia City
When: Saturday, October 14
What: While fighting monsters in Genessia City, Mercury is knocked into Attleton. Things don't go well on the other side.
WARNINGS: Since it's going into Mercury's history with his father, this is gonna get pretty dark. Mentions of child abuse and murder are guaranteed, and as far as actions go there'll be violence, maybe some torture, and Mercury's mouth at its worst. It ain't gonna be pretty.

[ The past day hasn't been too bad for Mercury and Yang, all things considered. An influx of monsters may not be good news for a lot of people, but for two brawlers with a fondness for hitting things it was basically open season. Most of Friday saw the two of them tag teaming monsters in the streets of Genessia - Mercury because something something guardian, Yang because something something wanna punch things. It went well! The two ended up crashing at her current house because it gets pretty tiring, but it was a good day of going wild without worry.

Then came Saturday.

The monsters weren't really any tougher on Saturday, but after working so hard on Friday maybe his reflexes were a bit slower, or maybe his muscles were a bit less cooperative, but one beast manages to sling him hard through the air, soaring all the way through the portal to Attleton. It's not a big deal - he's taken worse damage from worse falls, he knows his aura will still be plentiful by the time he hits the ground on the other side. Yang should, too - he ought to burst right back through the portal and into action any second now.

Yup. Any second.

Sooooooooon.

...

He's not coming out.

What gives? ]

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[Yang is hardly worried. A slap from a big-pawed monster like that might seem devastating to a normal person, but for Mercury? He might be dazed for a few seconds, but no way he's taken any significant damage. She'd be surprised if he came back with even a scratch.]

[So there are no terrified cries of his name or hot-tempered punches of revenge. Mercury goes down, and Yang quickly takes his place, driving her metal fist straight down into the monster's arm with a meaty, bass crack. It howls, jerking its arm back as Yang flips back and throws two air punches to discharge a pair of incendiary bullets in its face.]

[Mercury should be stumbling out of the gate right about now, she thinks, just in time to see her blazing up into the sky, dropping down fist first into the creature to crush it into the pavement. It roars, crumbling to pieces, and she stands triumphant over the ashy outline of its body.]

Way too easy.

[She grins back over her shoulder, but there's no sign of Mercury. Huh. That's weird. Did it accidentally knock one of his legs off when it slammed against him? With one last look around Genessia City to make sure nothing is gunning straight for her, Yang jogs into Attleton to retrieve her partner.]

What happened, did you get bored?

...Mercury?

[ She'll find Mercury kneeling down, back to her, breathing a bit harder than he ought to be. For all intents and purposes, he just seems like he's winded, which is a little strange but not impossible at the very least.

She can't see his face.

She has no idea. ]

I'm fine. Just... come here, give me a hand.

[ One hand stays resting on his knee, the other lifting a bit into the air, palm-up. ]

...Seriously?

[She shakes her head with a smile, gravel crunching under the hard soles of her boots as she strolls up to him.]

You almost worried me for a second. You could have just told me you wanted to hold hands.

[Which, she guesses, is where this is all going. He's got weird timing, though. They've still got monsters to punch, he could have saved this for the break of dawn. She stops beside him, holding out her left hand.]

C'mon, let's get back to work.

[ He counts the steps, gauging the distance she covers with each. Using that, he can assume her exact positioning when he feels her hand touch his, and his fingers curl around hers in a light grip. Soft. Affectionate? ]

Yeah, let's.

[ He squeezes. Hard. Definitely not affectionate, yanking down to pull her off-balance as he suddenly leaps up, aiming to drive his knee into her chin to daze her. Not for long, mind you - he knows she can take a hit - but just enough to disorient her. Juuuust enough to blur her vision for a second.

Long enough, he hopes, to let his fingers find that sweet spot on her artificial arm to pop it off. ]

[He's such a dork. Why can't he just be straightforward instead of dancing around the subject? But just as Yang is ready to to tug him up to his feet, he jerks her down.]

[It isn't just the fact that he slammed a knee into her chin; it's that he slammed his knee into her chin, hitting much harder with solid metal than flesh and bone. Her head snaps back with the unexpected impact, her grip on his hand going slack.]

Hgh--!

[It's an attack. Not a move of flirtation to upset her balance, or pull her close to him. It was an act of deliberate violence. And though she knows she should retaliate in kind with a blow just as brutal?]

[She doesn't.]

[He's going for her arm, and Yang twists at the waist to shove her left shoulder into his chest while trying to keep her prosthetic out of his reach. She can guess why he's going for it. The real question is why he's going for it. If he wanted to attack her, he could have done that easily while she was sprawled out in bed fast asleep. Why now, and why here?]

What's your problem?!

[He'd better have a good explanation for this, or she really will let loose.]

[ Tch. She's still too quick for him to pull it off. That's fine, just means he needs to wear her down a little more. He leaps back, putting a little distance between the two of them, but staying directly between her and the portal back to Genessia City.

As he looks up, she may realize something is off.

Those who enter Attleton are forced to confront their fears, to see them come to life before them, but Mercury's greatest fear isn't something external anymore. Marcus Black himself isn't what he's afraid of.

It's becoming Marcus.

So rather than the visage of his father appearing before him, Mercury himself has begun to change, hair turning white instead of silver, the features of his face midway to morphing into those of a much older man, whose eyes bear no warmth or mirth. His clothes begin to transform as well, red replacing blue in his shirt, sleeves vanishing, and all of a sudden it smells a little bit like vodka.

Okay, a lot like vokda. It reeks.

Mercury, if that's even what he can be called anymore, rolls his shoulders, reaching behind his back for a single knife that he surely didn't have before. ]

You are. So let's do some problem solving.

[What the...?! Yang's confusion shifts quickly to surprise. What is going on here? A shapeshifter? No way... She's been with the real Mercury long enough that she doesn't think someone could replace him so quickly and easily. There would have been a fight, and she didn't leave him alone inside this gate for that long.]

[Yang takes a step back, only too happy to put some distance between them, and adjusts her arm with a quiet 'click' to secure it back in place. He almost got it, and knew exactly how to get it. That alone is proof that she can't be dealing with an impostor. The only other person in the city who would know how to detach her arm is Ironwood, and she's not dealing with him either. No, this is Mercury all right, but something very wrong is happening to him.]

[Her hands come up in tight fists to disguise the trembling in her left hand. Get it together, she growls at herself. He's in trouble, this is no time to let the past interfere.]

Fine by me.

[Yang can't hold back. The only way to figure out what's wrong with him is to take him down, hard. She knows he can take the blows she dishes out, so it's not a matter of trying not to hurt him. It's a matter of knocking him out so he can be dragged to the nearest hospital or lab. He could be possessed, or controlled via some sort of chip.]

[Yang exhales.]

[And then she's mobile. Instead of charging straight at him with one shot from her gauntlets, she shoots to his left side, then rockets into him with a fiery burst from her fist.]

[ Mercury Black loves a good fight. He loves toying with an opponent, smirking his way through a battle, teasing opportunities just to yank them away at the last second and punish the enemy for thinking they had a chance. He fights like it's a game - he plays to win, but he plays all the same.

That's not what Yang is up against, not now.

His movements are cold, calculated, precise - he doesn't move an inch at first, though, waiting as she makes her approach, eyes following her every move until she's almost on top of him - then he ducks down and to the side, keeping low to the ground, spinning to lash out with his knife against her leg and continuing that momentum to bring the heel of his boot (not weaponized anymore, just plain black leather) against the back of her head. He doesn't give her a second to recover, this time; her semblance makes her dangerous if she's injured but not auraless. He needs to keep her off her game.

Still low to the earth, he grabs a fistful of dirt and gravel, hurling it at her face the very next chance he gets. If she's blinded he's not going to let up, charging with a fury of slashes, punches, kicks, aimed at any part of her that's exposed. Chip away at the aura, and the huntress will fall.

Easy work, for an assassin. ]

[Yang's been fighting next to Mercury all day. Their previous spars clues her in on his usual moves and tactics. He's more accustomed to her charging straight forward, fists swinging, reckless and fierce. So she's counting on him to count on her to be those things when she changes her tactics.]

[And that's her mistake, because she's not fighting Mercury. She thrusts out her metal arm to deflect the knife, but it leaves her open to take another blow to the head, driving her to stumble. He fights dirty ~~literally~~. Yang flinches, recoiling and squinting against the fistful of earth he hurls at her face. One of her eyes is watering, but she ignores it because she has no time to rub out the dust. He's got her on defense, deflecting blows, stepping back to keep him from completely overwhelming her.]

Mercury, snap out of it!

[She saw him changing. He's still in there somewhere. Has to be. Yang's forearm collides with her opponent's wrist to redirect his stabbing thrust over her shoulder as she tries to sneak in an elbow to the gut.]

[But as hard as she tries to deflect, redirect, and block, he's still getting in more hits than she is, and little by little, her aura is waning. She blinks, eyes red, and blinks again, eyes lavender.
She doesn't want to hurt him with her semblance, but if this keeps up, she's not going to have much choice. She'll just have to hope he can weather it as well as he did in the tournament.]

[The tip of the knife just barely scrawls a line of red against her cheek, forcing her head back, and upsetting her balance for just a split second...the only fraction of a moment he needs for a kick to throw her back into the pole of a stop sign hard enough to bend the length of metal.]

Hah...hah...what is going on...?

Edited 2017-10-14 18:09 (UTC)

[ Emerald didn't know what was going on. She had half a mind to just keep walking, but something felt off, and it wasn't just Mercury's hair color. Yang she could give less of a damn about. Mercury had been hanging out with her more lately, she knew that much, but this didn't look like a friendly fight. Yang's yelling sounded like she had no idea what was going on, and that wasn't like Mercury. Neither was the outfit. She wasn't close enough to see the change in his facial features yet and she was staying behind him for the time being, but she didn't need to while she was watching to know that something was wrong, and whatever it was, Mercury was going to regret it later.

It's why she didn't hesitate to use her semblance to get close to Mercury without being seen. As long as Yang kept focused on Mercury she wouldn't give her away, and hopefully if she did notice Emerald, the finger to her lips to hush her as she slowly approached would keep her from focusing on Emerald long enough for her to get close. If Yang didn't give her away, Emerald was banking on the surprise heel to Mercury's backside to knock him off his direct line to Yang.

They could figure out which side of this fight Emerald would be fighting on officially once she figured out what was going on. The stench of alcohol was enough to give her an idea, but she was still trying to figure out just how far off the deep-end into a bender Mercury had gone. The unnerving similarities to his father('s corpse- she never met the man alive after all) she could notice without seeing his face directly had been enough to set her on edge. Whether the kick connects or not, it's met with a simultaneous statement- just enough to pretend things aren't quite dire yet. Personally, she's hoping he's drunk enough he's just going to fall over if her foot connects to his rear. ]

If we're picking fights with the brats you're supposed to give me a heads up.

[ It felt good.

Yang was a strong fighter, that was obvious. She wouldn't have made it to the finals in the Vytal Tournament if that weren't the case, but that only makes it that much more satisfying to push her against the ropes like this. Every time she flinches, grunts in pain, stumbles from a well-connected blow, it's satisfying. Not only because he's hurting someone, but because he's hurting Yang.

Yang, who wanted to dance with him.

Yang, who saw through fury to give Mercury a second chance.

Yang, who wanted to spend time with Mercury, to get closer to Mercury, to try and bring out the best in Mercury.

He was killing her, and it felt great.

Maybe because he wasn't really Mercury anymore.

He's on the verge of slamming the palm of his hand into Yang's nose when there's a sharp impact at his back, and he snarls before leaping out of the way, stumbling to a stop a short distance off to look over his shoulder at the interrupter. ]

Oh, good. The leech is here.

[ That voice, that face, absolutely do not belong to Mercury Black. Emerald's never seen or heard either, but she'll know for certain that they're not that of her friend. ]

First the floozy, now you. How'd he get himself surrounded by such useless little shits?

[Another clue. Not enough for Yang to connect all the dots, but enough to know the persona they're dealing with isn't Mercury. He might say all kinds of nasty things to Yang, but to his partner? No way, she doesn't buy it. She gives the green-haired illusionist a short nod of both thanks and respect. She'll even let the comment about 'brats' slide without offense. Emerald's intervention gives Yang the time she needs to catch her breath and commit.]

[This foul-mouthed psychopath is going down.]

[A wash of heat from Yang's position is all the warning Marcury gets before Yang plows right into him, unleashing her semblance to take full advantage of his divided attentions.]

Hey, eyes on me!

[Two against one. With Yang's raw power and Emerald's unique ability to change the man's perceptions, this should be easy as long as they work together.]

[ It stung, almost immediately. Because Mercury had said things like that before, the last time he'd been this drunk. But his face was different. His clothing, his hair-- she recognized him more from the backside than the front since she'd only ever seen him face-down in the ground, but the front certainly confirmed this wasn't Mercury anymore. Which left... ]

Marc--

[ Before she could get it out, Yang was already reacting. As much as Mercury was a pain in the ass at least he wasn't the kind of person who just assumed someone who interrupted a fight was on his side. Emerald wasn't about to try to take down the person who should've been Mercury just because Yang was pissed off- definitely not if they were who she thought he was, and definitely not without asking questions. She would stand her assessment of Yang as a brat later.

It didn't take more than a second for one of Emerald's bullets to fly in Yang's direction. Don't forget she's not on your side, Yang. She's definitely not on Marcus's, but until she figures out what happened to Mercury she's not about pounding him into the ground. ]

I interrupted to stop you getting murdered, you stupid bimbo, not start round two! Where's Mercury?

[ If his father is here with Yang, talking in third person, she needs to know where he is now if Marcus is here. ]

[ The man-- no, let's just call it like it is. Marcus rolls his eyes at Yang's outburst, more than ready to get to work on dismantling her. Emerald being here is an annoyance, her semblance is no joke, but there are ways around it. He knows its limitations, what it can and can't do, what to look out for. It might not be easy with the drunken haze that seems to be overtaking him, but it's not impossible.

For him, it's not impossible to hurt anyone.

But Yang's charge is stopped by none other than Emerald herself, leaving Marcus to straighten up, roll his shoulders a bit, as if barely acknowledging whatever level of threat these two present to him. ]

He's right here, you idiot. He's always been here, same as me.

[ It's... not crystal clear, what he's saying. ]

Like you actually give a shit, and like he actually gives a shit about you. All you're doing is fucking up a good thing I started.

What are you doing?!

[Yang's good arm jerks back as the bullet hits it, stealing more of her aura. She doesn't have much left, and this guy needs to go down, like, now.]

His body just started changing into THAT guy! If you're not going to help, stay out of the way!

[She'll even try to shove Emerald out of the way, trying to push her behind her. Not a smart thing to do if Emerald decides she's not on Yang's side and teams up with the older man, but this guy isn't playing around. He might kill the other girl if he gets his hands on her.]

[Emerald knows who he is, Yang heard her call him 'Marc.' But there's not really any time to ply her for more information. Her semblance isn't going to last forever, and she sends her fist rocketing toward Marcus's heavy jaw.]

[ Emerald grits her teeth, her fingers gripping more tightly on her revolvers. She's almost shaking with her own anger right now. If Mercury physically turned into him somehow like Yang said, and he was still here like Marcus said..

She and Yang were going to have a talk about this later. A talk that might very well involve a strong magnet just to piss Yang off. But for now, if Marcus really is in charge, they need to somehow get him down without killing him and just.. get Mercury back. She doesn't know how that's supposed to work, but that's what they need to do. Beating his face in seems like a reasonable start to it.

Emerald just sighs in annoyance behind Yang. She's not going to argue with him that she cares about Mercury. She's got enough uncertainty about being abandoned that... she doesn't want to have that conversation. At all. ]

Doesn't matter who cares, he's the better killer. I know who my bet's on, and if he's still in there he should know he needs to stop waiting for a rescue that isn't coming. I never came to help, we wanted you.

[ She sure as hell doesn't think blondie's going to win on her own, and she knows Marcus and Mercury are both stronger than she is. For now, it's better to play like she has no intention of helping while Yang tires herself out and hopefully wears Marcus down a little. Emerald works better when her opponent doesn't see the strike coming. ]

We were just going to leave him there to rot until he proved himself stronger than you ever could be, so I probably don't even need to fight you. Neither does Yang, but she's dumb.

[ Nevermind that she was kind of terrified of Mercury at the time. But whatever, they got past it. ]

[ Yang's coming again. Of course she is. She's Yang. He tries to properly deflect it, which won't be hard - it's a pretty easy punch to read, and even if her semblance is active that doesn't mean he can't alter her trajectory, get her in passing. Easy. He lifts his hand--

It twitches. It doesn't do anything else.

And Yang connects with his jaw, rocking his head hard to one side as he stumbles back - but with a roar he's right back at her, and now the cold eyes of an assassin are gone. Now there's the indignation. The fury. The need to not only kill, but maim, brutalize, tarnish.

It's a view only one person ever got to see before, and it's not pretty.

Both hands snap out, grabbing just beneath her forearms to give himself a moment's opening to step in, slamming his forehead down into Yang's nose as hard as he can. Then again, swinging his head back up to connect with her chin. ]

You can't even help yourself, how the hell are you going to help anyone?! Pathetic!

[ A boot lifts up, slamming into her stomach to knock her back and away, his glare turning fully onto Emerald as he spits on the ground. ]

And you, you're next! You're nothing without someone else to hide behind, and there's nowhere you can hide where I won't find you! You're garbage, everyone knows it, even you! Make it better for everyone and just drop dead!

[She could have sworn she saw...]

[The moment is interrupted by Marcus's brutal strikes, but it doesn't erase that brief glimpse she saw of his hand. Mercury is in there. He's fighting for control. Whatever he's up against, it's strong, stronger than she is, but there are three of them against one if Emerald would just start using her illusions already. Why is she holding back?! How much longer does she expect Yang to be able to stand up between them?]

[She rises, not bothering to wipe the blood from her face.]

...heh...

[All right. If Mercury's not giving up in there, Yang isn't either.]

That it...? ...Ha...

[Two swings of her fists from where she stands to discharge a pair of screaming, twinkling rockets from her bracers.]

Compared to one of Mercury's kicks...just a lovetap. You're weak.

[Ordinarily she wouldn't bother with the smack talk, but she's pretty sure Mercury can hear what's going on. She's got his back. Yang raises her fists again as if she's about to unleash more bullets, but reverses at the last moment to shoot herself at Marcus, knee up and aimed for his gut.]

[It's a feint; the real blow is coming from her metal arm straight for that white-haired head of his to clock him but good.]

[ Emerald silently urged Yang to get back up. She still needed time, and she was honestly hoping that Yang wasn't that much of a push over. She knew that Mercury had held back in their fight- that he'd needed to, because otherwise he couldn't have lost. Not against some kid like her. They say a day outside is like a week in school. Mercury and Emerald had both been "outside" since they were old enough to cry for help and have no one answer with anything but cruelty. Maybe they weren't the world's most dangerous, but they certainly weren't going to get their asses beat by a bunch of students who'd never seen misery in their lives. But she had kind of been hoping Yang would stand a little more of a chance, at least long enough that she could keep Marcus's attention off of her well enough that she could make a move- if he still had Mercury's memories since he seemed to be implying that he was definitely both, she needed that attention split or he'd know.

When she sees Yang raise her fists again, that's when what Marcus saw and what Yang saw would divide.

Marcus would see her back up, just the slightest amount of hesitation- flinching, her throat tightening up in response to Marcus's words and attention. The fear that Mercury had seen when he'd lost control all on his own with her was easy to imitate because she'd felt it before. The brief seconds from obedience Cinder had instilled in her bubbled just beneath the surface.

"You don't.. I'm not hiding, I'm not garbage!" he would hear, her eyes shutting tight as she reached up to cover her ears, as if trying to block him out, the chains on her weapons jangling with her movement.

Marcus wanted fear, he wanted her to tremble. But if she didn't argue, it would seem too much like the appeasement that it was. The distraction from Yang would hopefully keep him from seeing through it, his attentions split between the two women would hopefully keep him busy.

Yang would see her back up, just the slightest amount of hesitation- a look of pain in her eyes. It hurt, no matter how much she could focus on pretending, on manipulating Mercury-- or Marcus's? mind. Because "even you" was right. Emerald didn't think much of herself at all, and even now she was hiding behind Yang, using her as a distraction. Fighting him alone she had no doubt she'd end up dead- it's why she spent so much of her life running after a theft instead of fighting. She was a good fighter, but her lethality only worked because it was a mirror to Mercury's. He put on the show, then she finished while no one was looking and focused on the parts of the battle no one else could.

But unlike what Marcus had seen, Yang would see Emerald's chains drop, the revolvers dropping into its kusarigama form and being tossed up to the lamp post overhead, then wrapped around to pull her up. Marcus could see the dirt shift if he watched the ground, so she knew to avoid it. Yang was making enough noise with her fists that the jangling of metal on metal wouldn't likely be heard and the illusion's cover would hold Marcus's thoughts about what it could be. Emerald would be able to use the time to pull herself up to the top of it. She was moving a little slowly- Emerald had to concentrate or he'd realize what she was doing.

Emerald would strike within a brief second, both chains shooting out for his waist to try to then pull him back, up and over the lamp's horizontal overhang then to the vertical concrete base to slam him into it. The idea was to either trap him in the chains or slam his head hard enough against the pole that he lost consciousness- she'd take either, anything. It was a long shot that it would work, but hopefully Yang would catch on in the split seconds her actual actions took place and would follow up with some firmly fisted support. ]

[ The goading doesn't seem to faze him much, though his lip curls into a sneer of disgust. He's only here now, like this, because Mercury is so weak. Because he can't move on from his past. Because he can't escape the ever-lingering fear that while he got away from his father there was always going to be a little bit of his old man in him.

And he was right.

He weaves one way, then the other, sliding between each of Yang's shots with as little movement as necessary - a bit of the assassin mindset coming into play, again. Yang was wearing down, and Emerald wouldn't take much. As long as he stayed ahead of them both in stamina, they'd tucker out and be easy pickings. Hell, he might even be able to drag it out a bit. Going straight for the kill was fine for a job, but if they were going to piss him off like this he'd make sure they died regretting every single second they opposed him.

Yang's rocketing in, and he sees that knee, but he knows, knows a punch is coming, and he's going to wait for it. If he uses one palm to knock her knee aside he can keep his attention on her fists, and sure enough he sees the swing winding up. So predictable. So easy. He--

feels the chains around his waist.

That bitch--

The yank is timed perfectly, either by coincidence or conscious effort, and his balance is yanked away just in time for Yang's fist to connect with the side of his head completely unhindered. Fueled by her semblance the blow is enough to blur his vision, not knocking him unconscious but dazing him enough that Emerald's chains pull him off the ground before he can dig his heels in to resist. He could tell now, clearly, that her illusions were in play - but she had to be the one on the other end of this chain. That meant he knew, at least roughly, where she was.

At the very least, she was holding on, and that gave him enough to work with.

He recovers as he nears the lamp post, flipping to plant both of his feet solidly against the vertical pole to bring his momentum to a grinding halt. He grips the chains in his hands before pushing every ounce of energy he has into launching himself down towards the ground - aiming, it seems, to do exactly to her what she aimed to do to him.

But taking it a step farther, whipping his arm about to change the momentum, hoping to send Emerald crashing into Yang herself. ]

[Man, did that feel good. Long overdue, but amazingly satisfying. She sees that Emerald started moving, definitely saw the chains, and the inner frustration and doubts that had started to seep in are quickly dismissed. If an illusion was in play, she didn't see it, but the effects at least served her well.]

[Yang throws her whole body into the punch, pivoting on the balls of her feet, prepared to slam her fists into him over and over and over. She won't let him recover from this.]

[But up he goes, leaving Yang behind and staring at him with her murderous scarlet gaze. If Emerald can daze him one more time, then Yang can finish this with one or two more solid blows to knock him out. She pursues, fists clenched and raised as she circles him like a predator.]

[However.]

[If Emerald becomes airborne, then Yang's arms reach out instinctively to catch her instead of letting her get tripped up. Good for the illusionist, but it'll also temporarily keep Yang's best weapons at bay.]

[ The illusion breaks essentially the second he grabs the chains. The amount of focus is requires to keep that going- to imagine an entire other reality for someone else while still having to interact with your own and line up movements and sounds? It's an orchestration that doesn't work beyond quick flashes once her opponent is aware of what she's doing. And Marcus knows who she and Yang are, he has Mercury's memories. It likely won't work again.

Emerald would've preferred Yang hadn't caught her though- not because she was being intentionally ungrateful, but because that kind of "support" was costing them their only shot at that moment. If Marcus had hold of Emerald's weapons, she couldn't fire until they retracted. Yang's weapons were the only firing power they had until she could get them back from Marcus, and she had been depending on that second of Yang pressing forward instead of catching her to retract them. She might not be an amateur anymore but she's certainly not making this battle easy with her stupid ethics.

But they could exchange battle tips later. As soon as her footing was regained thanks to Yang, Emerald ducked down to the ground to hopefully give Yang some space to fire above her head because if Marcus had let go of her chains, he'd be coming for them. If he hadn't, it would be a chance to hit. And it also gave Emerald her next idea. Unless whatever was going on regrew Mercury's legs for Marcus's takeover, a 'break his knee' take two might be in order. A very fast illusioned message would flash into Yang's vision that just said "Vytal YvM+SSSN" which Emerald was sincerely hoping Yang would figure out as "you focus on breaking his knee, utilize yellow dust to create an electrical current while I focus on getting this fire hydrant so we can overcharge his legs" instead of freaking out that there was unnatural writing in her vision for two seconds, since Emerald has no idea that Yang knows what she can do. It was worth a shot if Marcus didn't miraculously have the power to regrow limbs, and she figured the fire hydrant part would make sense next since Emerald was definitely dashing for the one on the nearby street- with weapons if Marcus let go, if not she's going to try to bash the cap off with the heel of her shoe and a hell of a lot of aura focusing in on it. ]

[ He'd prioritized wrong. Emerald was easier to take down once she was alone, sure, but she was also a huge pain in the ass when she had a distraction as loud as Yang on her side. But her abilities had a very specific set of rules, and she had to concentrate pretty hard to make them work to their full potential. He knew he threw her, because while she could fake an image and sound she couldn't make him feel that tension in the chains, the weight of her body as she was thrown, so he knows for sure that the real Emerald is the one that hits Yang.

And he's not going to let her get a chance to get in his head again.

She takes off - and he knows to watch the ground for a moment, to make sure her footprints don't take off in another direction, but it definitely looked like he was dealing with the real Emerald. He released her chains, so she'll have her weapons to work with when dealing with the hydrant.

Or... she would.

Marcus Black and Mercury Black have an unfortunate number of things in common, and one of them is their speed. Even in his drunken state he's blazingly fast, and the moment he can tell where she's going he's there, catching her just shy of actually getting to take a swing. His hand snatches out to grab a fistful of mint-green hair at the back of her head, and with brutal efficiency he steps forward to put all his weight into slamming her head against the hydrant.

Her aura pulses. Doesn't break. ]

Nobody wants you!

[ Another slam. He can feel that he's close, but not quite there. ]

He sure as hell doesn't want you!

[ A third one, punctuated by a roar of anger, and he hears that sickening, satisfying crackle as her aura finally gives out. Another slam like that could crack her skull in two.

But no. Not yet. Instead he throws her to the ground, hard enough to do some damage but not to break her neck. She needs to wallow in it a bit before he decides to finish her off. ]

Find a new home, you parasite.

[ Yang, he expects, is going to be on him any second.

And he has some choice words waiting for her, too. ]

[Not just any second. This second. She would have been there sooner, but cycling through her ammunition to find the last two rounds of lightning dust cartridges keeps her rooted where she is. She trusts Emerald's directions, though she's no longer certain their opponent has metal legs. He did at the beginning, but now that the transformation is complete, she has no idea what modifications he does and doesn't have.]

[But even if his legs aren't conductive to electricity, it's still going to hurt like hell if she hits him with that dust while he's wet.]

[Unfortunately, he's too fast. He's charging for Emerald, and Yang stops what she's doing to desperately through two punch-shots from her left bracer at his legs. Miss. Miss! He's already on her ally, a blur of motion as he breaks her down with his words and actions. Yang charges. She shouldn't. She knows what happens when she goes in without a plan, but if she delays her actions, Emerald might die. One of the lightning ammo rounds is wasted, sacrificed for momentum, as Yang fires twin shots to propel herself that much faster at her target.]

LEAVE HER ALONE!!!

[ The first hit was dizzying. Emerald needed to be able to concentrate to use her semblance, sure, but just using it was enough to give her a headache sometimes. Getting hit in the head three times in a row, feeling her aura break... Dizzying was the nicest word to put it. Her vision was blurred- she was sure she could see some red in the fog of her vision now, but she could barely focus on anything at all. If he wanted to stop any illusions from happening, he'd done so with greater efficiency than anyone else ever had. Mercury was the only one who knew just how devastating those blows would've been to her, and because Mercury knew, Marcus knew.

Because Marcus was a part of Mercury whether he wanted him there or not, and those words she could barely hear were from both of them. She couldn't think straight enough to reassure herself that no, no that isn't Mercury saying those things. And as much as she wanted to believe that Mercury really, actually wanted her there, he'd called her on leaning on him too much long before Marcus reared that ugly mug of his. She'd tried so hard to pull her weight despite that every moment working at that stupid arcade or bringing a wheelbarrow of fish from Fayren to Attleton or acting in that stupid telenovela, but the fact was that she was still just relying on him to be her home. It was weak, and more than anything relating to money or food, part of her just wanted someone to finally want her around- no one ever had, and no one ever did though.

That was something she'd never told Mercury directly. It was hard to believe Marcus was just pulling from his memory of some conversation, that he'd pieced it together from Mercury's memories and observations in a split second. He knew her, and even if Marcus was being intentionally cruel, that Mercury had called her a parasite before when he used to drink made it feel so much more real. And that was Emerald's fear, which is why right then she didn't see Marcus's face- even if it still looked like that to the rest of the world, Emerald saw Mercury's as she tried to push herself up. Because being abandoned by Marcus wasn't her fear- she wasn't afraid of Marcus, she was afraid of Mercury. Mercury was the only one who could really hurt her, no matter what physical damage Marcus could do. ]

Mercury...

[ Her vision blurred again and she faltered, her attempt to get up just leaving her falling on the pavement next to the fire hydrant again. ]

[ Right on cue.

Ignorant to Emerald's emotional plight (only concerned with her physical one for now, which she seems nowhere near overcoming), his attention is on Yang as she roars in - she's coming in fast, but her arc is predictable. Mercury remembers the last time someone came in at that angle with that kind of speed, and thus so does Marcus.

Ruby Rose had tried to get past him, that time. He'd shut her sister down the same way.

He doesn't telegraph his attack until the last moment, starting to swing his leg up as she entered his striking range but before he was withing hers. That's the natural advantage of fighting with legs over fists - range. His foot found her rib, and the combination of her speed and his strength made the impact that much harder. Combined with the strikes he'd landed before, her aura was bound to give out with just a little more.

A spin, his other heel lashing up to knock into the side of her head, sending her crashing to the ground. Yeah. That did it.

But even then he wasn't finished, leaping towards her as she skidded to a stop to land with his knees on her ribs, at least one of which gave out under the impact with a snap that was music to his ears. ]

You've got no idea what's in store for you, Blondie.

[ He echoes Mercury's nickname, blurring the line between father and son as he drives his fist into her face, making sure she was dazed long enough that this time he could take her arm off without interruption - with a pop and a click the prosthetic is pulled away, and he dangles it in front of her face with an ever-widening grin. ]

Or maybe you do. You've seen my handiwork. Couldn't tear your eyes off of it, in fact.

And he thinks I'm the sick one.

[Yang's sharp bleat of pain erupts from her throat as she both feels and hears that snap of her rib. She's reeling, her face throbbing and feeling as if every inch has puffed up beneath his vicious assault.]

[And she can feel his fingers sliding beneath the cuff of her sleeve. Metal fingers reach, grasping at him, before there's a sharp click. Her hand droops, no longer responding to the tiny twitches of muscles and nerves.]

[Yang's shallow breathing accelerates as she watches him pull the arm away from her, and her left hand trembles violently. No... No no no...!]

[She grits her teeth, fighting desperately through the panic, pain, and fear that's all around her.]

Wh...what...

[His words don't make sense to her, not at first. What handiwork? Was he talking about Mercury?]

[An image of Mercury strolling into the living room with a t-shirt slung over his shoulder flashes into her mind...not just because of his excellent build, but because she remembers all of those scars. Some of them did look just a little too precise and even to come from Grimm.]

[The realization sinks in. Whoever this man is, he was responsible for marring Mercury's body. Was that why he'd put the shirt on? To hide what some monster had done to him?]

[Terror dissolves, burned to ash by Yang's rising disgust and hatred.]

...you...who are you...

[ He drops her arm to the side - the side where she doesn't have a hand to try and grab for it, of course - to pull his knife out again, pressing the tip against her right shoulder as he grabs her gauntlet to keep her other arm pinned to the ground. She's out of aura - he can take his time now. ]

Well, you called him Mercury Xiao Long, right?

[ He pronounces the name with singsong disgust, but the man's face twists into a mocking grin as he begins to dig the knife through the fabric of her shirt, through skin and into muscle, where he begins to carve a slow, agonizing line. ]

Guess that makes me your father-in-law. Congratulations to the happy couple.

[Yang's teeth clench as she struggles to bite back the cry of agony that bubbles in her throat. It tears loose into a desperate scream. Without her aura, she has no semblance, and no strength to break free from the monster crouched on top of her. Her back arches sharply, her complexion shockingly pale as she struggles beneath him.]

[Father-in-law...Mercury's father... He did all of that to him?!]

[The disgust roiling in her gut is sharp and sour. Some of those scars were old, and Mercury wasn't exactly someone with a lot of decades under his belt. His father had scarred him...as a child...!]

[Yang's knee shoots up in a desperate attempt to hit him where it counts as she roars.]

You bastard!!!

[ The satisfaction of the look on her face is lost as her knee jerks up - she misses, just barely, but the threat of it is enough to push his patience over the edge. He draws the knife away with a decisive swipe, leaving a gash in her that will never heal perfectly.

His signature, really. ]

Anyone ever tell you that you ought to shut up?

[ Tucking his knife away, he reaches to the side for her metal prosthetic, shoving the metal forearm under her chin, against her throat - and pushes, forcing her throat closed, cutting off the flow of air to her lungs. He stared, unblinking, into her eyes.

He would watch her die. ]

He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anyone. If he did, he'd stop me right now.

[ He doesn't. He can't. ]

Think on that, you stupid tramp.

[She twists her wrist, firing off a shot in a last-ditch effort to break his grip on her wrist. But the recoil isn't strong enough to save her.]

You beat on a little boy...and think you have the right...to call me names...?!

[Yang tries to tuck her chin down as he forces the arm against her throat. Even with her scarf to serve as padding, he's still strong enough to cut off her flow of air. Her gasps for oxygen grant her nothing, and the nails of her left hand bite into her palm. Her legs thrash, heels dragging over the pavement as she struggles with every last bit of her strength, but it's fading, and she's weakening.]

[Her mouth works with barely audible creaks. There's so much she still needs to tell him, that it doesn't matter if he can't find it in himself to care just yet. She cares. She'll care enough for both of them until he's ready if that's what it takes.]

[But she can't speak a word of it. Black spots are starting to gather in the corners of her vision, spreading, as a ringing in her ears smothers out the sound of Marcus's hot, labored breath. Her eyes are wet, blurring with tears of frustration and sorrow.]

[While Marcus is having fun preying on people's weaknesses, a fist comes in his direction to attempt connecting with his jaw and blindside him.]

Get. The hell away from my daughter.

[If first impressions were important, than Mercury--or the personality taking over Mercury--had certainly screwed himself over. This isn't the Taiyang who smells of sunflowers and breakfast and invites people into his house to make dorky jokes and encouragingly teaches people. This is the Taiyang who watched this grown ass man go after his little girl and make her cry.

He may not have the same temper as Raven or Yang. But when it comes to his family? Going after them is the equivalent of a suicide attempt.

This isn't how he wants Yang to see him, especially when first getting here--but he'll silence this scumbag if he has to.]

[ All of the pleasure, the satisfaction, the delight in watching Yang fade away beneath him, is sent into disarray as his tunnel vision blinds him to an incoming fist. He's hit, hard, enough to knock him to the dirt and send him skidding a few yards before flipping to his feet. Who the fuck--

"my daughter"

Marcus(?) straightens up a bit, eyes narrowed at the newcomer with a sneer. ]

That runt is yours?

[ A scoff, flexing and unflexing his fingers. ]

No wonder she's such a pushover.

[ He closes the distance, coming in high only to drop low, trying to get a solid blow to the gut. One more sap to kill? Fine by him. ]

Cold air suddenly slammed down past the fire burning in Yang's throat. Her stomach hitched and jerked as she choked on the ragged breath, her freed hand closing protectively over her bruised neck. She couldn't see straight. Her vision was flickering and blurred as she rolled onto her right side, the one where the rib hadn't been snapped.

Something had stopped him. She could have sworn it was her dad's voice, but that couldn't be possible. He wasn't even here. She struggled to call out for her father, but her throat was constricted and raw. The words wouldn't come out. Yang's head fell forward as her body jerked with another violent hacking fit.

She had to get up. She was vulnerable and injured, her aura completely spent, and the longer she remained incapacitated like this, the greater the possibility she might die.

Her hand came away from her throat, trembling fingers fluttering over the rough surface of the road until she felt a brush of cool metal against her skin. Her arm. Yang seized it, dragging it close to her, taking a series of short, quick breaths that seared her lungs. She gave her head a shake to clear it and lifted her head. Marcus's voice echoed somewhere to the side, distant and indistinct.

Emerald... She squinted, trying to blink back against the tears that clung to her lashes as she searched for the familiar head of pale green hair. That madman had bashed her head so brutally...! Was she even still alive?

And who was that second person? Not a hallucination -- it had to be someone real, someone strong enough to get Mercury's father off of her. But who?

There.

Finally spotting the place where Emerald lay in a heap, Yang used her elbow to drag herself closer to her body. She just had to make sure. If not for her intervention, Marcus would have finished Yang off a lot sooner. She wasn't about to let her die if there was still a chance that Emerald could survive this.

[Yeah no.

A knee comes up to slam into the washed up son of a bitch's chin, using that opportunity that stuns him to aim another punch straight at his chest. He hears movement, which is both reassuring and worrying to know that Yang still has enough strength to move. But she's also stubborn, pushing herself too hard at the wrong times. He needs to end this fast so he can take her, and that other girl, to the hospital. He can leave Marcus to rot for all he cares.

He throws another punch, this one at his throat.]

[ In Mercury's mind, Marcus Black is the greatest nightmare, a title well-deserved. Mercury was able to kill him when his guard was down, when he was drunk even by his usual standards, but in a fair fight he's not sure he would have ever won against the man. He was a killer by trade, skilled enough that Cinder sought him specifically on Salem's behalf. He was a monster of hate and pain, and no one was better at it than he. As that man's child, the image of Marcus was always one of an insurmountable wall, someone he would never have the approval of, someone who would never look upon him with kind eyes.

A father's love is a complete mystery to Mercury Black.

Which means Taiyang Xiao Long is an entity his mind can't quite grasp. The idea of a father actually stepping in to save his child is so foreign, so unthinkable, that this nightmarish representation of Marcus seems thrown at its presence as well. Tai's blows land decisively - Marcus' attempts to block or evade are completely overwhelmed, the punch to his chin and chest putting spots in his vision, but even as he staggers back his eyes are full of poison. ]

Oh, I'm going to have some real fun with her once I'm through with y--

[ He can't even see the fist coming at his throat before the blow connects, and he chokes on his own words, one hand clutching at his throat as his eyes go wide. He's losing. He's... losing?

He can be beaten.

He can lose.

It's an internal realization that causes some of the white hair atop his head to fade to a darker shade of gray, his outfit seeming to flicker between the last clothing Marcus Black ever wore to the familiar blues and blacks of Mercury's own attire. He knows his aura can take more, and deep down Mercury doesn't want this fight to continue, so when he spits out his next words they don't carry that same drunken slur. Hell, the voice sounds more like his normal self, if not angry, bitter, harsh. ]

Finish it.

[Yang's shaking hand reaches for Emerald's throat, two fingers extended. Without the other arm to steady herself, it's difficult, but eventually she traces out the spot where she can feel the pulse of life. Good. That's good. Yang closes her eyes, her ragged panting broken by a feeble sigh of relief. She knows better than to try to rejoin the fight; her aura is spent, and she's badly hurt. Right now she'd be nothing more than a liability.]

[She rolls onto her good side, pulling her head up to force herself to look at the fight. Her dad wouldn't seriously kill Mercury, so she doesn't have to worry...]

[...right...?]

[And suddenly she's not sure. She's never seen him look like that before. Sure he's been angry and disciplined his kids before, or thrown up his hands with a yell of frustration that time a rabbit dug up and ate half of his sunflowers, but this is different. This is actual rage at an enemy that hurt a loved one.]

[She shouldn't interfere, not until Marcus's aura breaks. Then she can plead for mercy once she's sure that doing so won't wind up in her father's harm or death. And she almost doesn't. But then she sees grey darkening his hair, sees blue instead of red.]

[And he's demanding to be finished.]

...d...da...d...!

[The words won't come out. Her throat is so raw and sore, her voice feels like she's dragging sandpaper against sandpaper. Yang winces, gritting her teeth. She has to make him stop.]

Mer...kkhhh...possess...

[Why can't she speak when it matters?! Her gaze shifts to her metal arm, the one that held the rocket ammunition. She grabs for it, fumbles, and she can't quite hold onto it tight enough. Yang sinks her teeth into her lip, sweat dripping down her brow as she curses her fingers. They close. Twist. And one of Ember Celica's twinkling red lights jumps into the sky with a piercing scream.]

...s...sss...ave...hhh--im.

[Something seizes in Taiyang's heart when this grown ass man makes that insinuation.] Don't you fucking dare! [Taiyang roars, seeing red. He almost lost his daughter once. Like there was any chance in hell he'd let it happen again. Just because he hasn't stopped Yang from leaving when she was ready and hadn't gone after Ruby didn't mean he had stopped being there for them. He might be a father, but he's also a huntsman. He'll kill He'll take a life if he must and Marcus isn't even giving him an argument not to. He wants to kill him.

And then he starts to look different, sound different. Taiyang didn't exactly understand, but now he's asking for him to end it? His voice sounds younger. Closer to Yang in age. He's reached an impasse.

And then Yang's voice snaps him out of it. Like when she was too sick to talk and was stuck in bed and he learned to listen out for any small noise that meant she was trying to sneak out. He doesn't understand her second statement, but he hears her plea.

Save him

He has a lot of questions. And they will be answered, but not right now. He has to save his daughter, and apparently this...kid? Needs help.]

This is gonna hurt. [He aims one direct, hard punch over the back of his head, this one meant to knock him out.]

[ He's not sure if he's asking for death or not. He isn't sure how long he can hold off this thing that's taken him over, and if taking him out is the only way to stop it then that's that. In the back of his mind he's aware that death doesn't stick in this world, even if a price has to be paid for it. That's fine. Whatever. He just can't be this anymore.

Yang's father warns him, and his instincts start to kick in - his body tries to move on its own, to evade and counter, but he wills himself to be still. It's all he has it in him to do now, but his mouth keeps going in the seconds leading up to that blow, the gruff voice of the older man escaping him one last time. ]

If it's not me, it'll be someone else. You can't keep her safe forev--

[ His body literally bounces against the ground from the force of the impact, aura snapping visibly around him in the telltale sign that he's been spent. The last thing he sees before he's knocked out cold, before his body finally returns to the form it's meant to have, is Yang's desperate form trying to keep this man from killing him.

Maybe he wouldn't wake up.

Eh.

Might be better. ]

[He reverted. Thank the gods. Thanks to her father. Is it really him? Or was this just some weird scenario where their dads all manifested? No one resembling Emerald showed up, though...]

[Yang falls forward with a shaky, shallow sigh of relief. She didn't miss the insinuation, but only now that she finally feels safe does she shiver with goosebumps flaring up over her bare skin. Ugh...what a nightmare.]

[She coughs, and wipes at her eyes.]

Thanks, Dad.

[It's just a rasping hiss, but there's so much love and relief in her expression to make up for her voice.]

[Far off, there's a heavy step, and the scrape of metal on pavement. It's a sound Yang's heard before, deep in the darkest pools of her worst dreams. She tenses. There's no way, though. Just a trick of the imagination, has to be.]

[Another step. Scraaaaaaaaape.]

[...Is that what this is? A manifestation of their nightmares?! If Mercury dreamed up his father, and it was the month of spooky things rising up to dominate the streets of Genessia with monsters and costumes for Fayren and candy in Everglade...maybe THIS realm is riddled with nightmares and fears. And that means, if it's going to pull out the nastiest shards of her own dreams...]

[...They need to go now.]

[Gritting her teeth, Yang forces herself to bear the sharp pains in her wounded shoulder as she jams the metal arm back into the bracer, twisting it in and locking it in place before struggling up to her knees. It's not like her dad can haul all three of them out of this place. Her aura and semblance might have bottomed out, but she's still naturally strong. She stoops to pick up Emerald by the arm to loop it over her good shoulder, her broken rib digging painfully into her side.]

Go...go...!

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sins of the father [Action/Closed]

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