Never Change

Chapter 14

The night was quiet in the city of Vale.

The street was desolate, the people having long gone to bed, preparing for their work the next day.

The storefronts were devoid of displays, which was just as well, since there was no one there to admire them. Cars sat empty along the curb, collecting dust.

The streetlamps that weren't burned out projected little circles of white light an empty, cracked sidewalk. The traffic light swung gently in the breeze, telling all of the nonexistent drivers to stop.

The clinking of glass heels was heard on the ground, as Cinder Fall strolled freely through the streets, her black hair cascading gently onto her shoulders. Mercury and Emerald walked beside her, the two of them following her lead as Mercury whistled a jaunty tune, and Emerald berated him.

They were heading towards one of Roman Torchwick's warehouses on the outskirts of Vale, looking to inform him of the recent developments.

Something tingled.

Cinder paused in her steps, holding a hand up.

She whirled, hand flashing out to block the first bullet with aura, then blocked the next two.

Mercury and Emerald kicked into high action, Emerald immediately cloaking her with her semblance and throwing behind two copies, as Mercury fired back at the rooftop behind them.

Their assailant was already gone, though.

Two quick shots were squeezed off, both slamming into Emerald's throat. Her aura managed to hold them back, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.

The green-haired girl's scream was choked off by her own throat muscles, as she stumbled in pain.

She tried to cast her semblance, but she couldn't feel it... it wasn't there! Her aura was, though.

Cinder fired at the man, but it missed by a hair's breadth, singing his armor as he dashed towards them, avoiding the return fire by Mercury.

They clashed blades, the assassin a whirlwind of steel, but Cinder outclassed him.

Badly.

Her dual blades reached into his defenses with pathetic ease, chipping away chunks of his aura at a time. The assassin tried to run, but she snagged his wrist, and pulled her back to him.

Cinder Fall smirked.

She scorched his wrist.

Or at least, tried to. Cinder blinked in confusion when her semblance didn't activate. She felt something try to pull her semblance away from her body, but she yanked it back, making sure it was in her control.

The brief struggle allowed the man the chance to stab her in the abdomen. Although she managed to push aura to the region to blunt it, the force was great enough that she still doubled over in pain, before receiving a knee to the face for her reaction.

The man ducked under Emerald's sickle, backtracking as he grabbed one of the sickles by the chain, and yanked with surprising strength. Emerald was sent flying towards him, and he slammed his boot into her nose with force. Her body flopped from the momentum, and she banged her head on the sidewalk painfully.

However, Mercury hadn't been idly sitting by as they had been fighting.

He'd been stacking up blasts in the air, and as soon as Emerald went down, he fired the final tracer blast.

The assassin turned to see a behemoth of silvery blasts raining down on him, tearing at his aura.

The assassin tried to roll out of the blast range, but he came face to face with an angry Cinder Fall.