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Official Supporters:

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If you want your name on the lists of my stories and videos, head over to P a t. R e . o n and search for the Temple Walkers. Just let us know you're from Fanfiction, alright? There's a thousand of you, so a dollar a piece would really add up and help me a lot! Once I reach five hundred Supporters of any value over a dollar, I will make a concerted effort to put out a chapter of something once every three days at the very slowest.

Also, as some have noticed and done, I am beginning to take commissions. For anything, really. Just message me for details. Generally speaking, it's by chapter, so a multi-chapter one can be updated whenever you wish it to or you can get a one-shot up and running on a matter you are interested in.

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Mercury ducked away from her inaccurate attack easily, the small woman spinning in the air and lashing out at him with two more after that to drive him back and landing, chest heaving and dizzy from using her Semblance so much to get there in time as she watched Mercury and asked. "Is he okay, Dot?"

"He is badly injured, Miss Rose. He has suffered severe trauma to several primary arteries around his heart as well as a severe spinal fracture." The AI chimed in her ear, speaking through the comm-link Johnson had provided. "Thank you for hurrying Miss Rose. I doubt that this man would have let him live if you had not."

"I-It's fine, Dot." Ruby answered, grimacing as she forced herself to focus and stepped forward, legs spread to either side of the fallen Spartan's back below her and scythe resting across the backs of her shoulders, "His name is Mercury, and we... He took something from me, and I want to hear him defend it."

Mercury sighed, face hard and in a cocky combat stance, arms tucked against his chest so he could focus on defending with them and use his legs to their maximum and looked Ruby up and down before smirking, "Hey, Red, how you been? From the looks of things, not good. Or is that patch just an accessory?"

"It is practical and fashionable." She tried to convey confidence she didn't have, and it must have shown, because Mercury smirked even wider.

"Oh? Well, that sucks. You had such pretty eyes, so bright and hopeful and happy... I was looking forward to Cinder breaking you after what you did to her." He sighed, shrugging and spreading his hands to either sighed with a shake of his head, "Ah well. I guess one eye is good enough, just, uh, gotta stay on your side."

She adjusted her grip on her scythe, and he laughed, "Oh, you're going to try and fight me? Last time, you ran away. Just before one of your little friends ripped another of your friends into tiny pieces."

"That was your fault!" Ruby shouted angrily, spinning her scythe and turning her body, holding it on her good side with an arm and pointing it at him, "You kept me from saving Penny! A-And then she… Pyrrha didn't mean to hurt her, you people made her do it! So stop… pretending like it was Pyrrha."

"But it was her, Pyrrha right?" He held a finger out, pointing it at her and smiling, "You… did see her use her Semblance, right?" He snapped it, shaking his head and smiling brightly, dark eyes boring into hers angrily, "Ah, no, wait. You were too busy getting the shit kicked out of you by me."

She growled and took an angry step towards him, foot landing next to the Spartan below her's hips when Dot spoke again, "Miss Rose, I believe he is baiting you. It is likely he wishes to draw you away from Noble Six and use the opening to eliminate him."

"Why would he do that?" She asked, watching him closely. He blinked in confusion, cocky smirk vanishing and cocking his head to the side curiously. She grimaced slightly, he had to think she was absolutely insane right about now.

"Noble Six terminated the woman lying on the ground nearby." Ruby blinked, looking around for a moment until her eyes found Emerald's body, lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling with empty eyes. "She ambushed him, inflicting many of the wounds he has received in this confrontation. This man's reaction was instantaneous, attacking Noble Six with reckless abandon."

"Oh, Six…" She sighed quietly, looking at Emerald's body and shaking her head, "You didn't have to do that." When she returned her gaze to Mercury's, her grip tightened on her weapon, "I'm sorry about your friend, but you need to give up or leave, because I won't let you hurt Six. Please, we were friends once, we can find some kind of-"

"We were never friends." He snapped suddenly, face twisting in anger for a minute before he took a long breath and returned to his normal, smirking self. "And by the way, how exactly are you going to stop me from hurting him? Because there's like, two people in this world I give a fuck about, and he killed one of 'em." He leaned forward threateningly, smiling, and added, "And there isn't a damn thing short of killing me you have up your sleeve that can stop me."

"Sometimes…" Ruby sighed, closing her eyes, and nodding before she looked at him and spun her scythe behind her as she twirled towards him, angling the blade up on her right side towards the ceiling, "Sometimes, you fight someone you have to kill, or he'll hurt other people. He taught me that."

"And you think you can beat me?" He asked, laughing quietly at the idea and shaking his head, "Red, I am so far out of your league, you don't stand a frozen chance in hell. So how about you get on your knees for me now and I'll put in a good word with Cinder for you. Sound like a plan?"

"You're wrong." She said simply, Mercury raising an amused eyebrow, "You aren't out of my league, you're in my league. That's why I couldn't beat you before, because I couldn't hold back and fight you. And this," she emphasised by lifting the scythe and nodding to its keen edge, "it's only designed for killing things."

She gave him a sad look when he scoffed and asked, "You really think you have it in you to kill me? My Aura is practically full, and you have to protect that armored asshole. But you think you can beat me?"

"I can, and I will." She said, smiling sadly as a light left her eyes, her silver eyes darkening as she settled in to what she was going to do. What she had to do. "I'm sorry, Mercury. That you lost your friend, and for… For what I have to do now, but… I have to pick, because you're making me, and I pick Six."

"Oh, cut the 'I'm sorry I have to do this' and 'I don't want to do this' kinda shit." Mercury growled sarcastically, smirking and shaking his head from side to side mocking as he slid into his fighting stance again. "Goody two shoes shit never sat right with me. It's Brothers damned ANNOYING!"

He shot towards her and leapt, spinning in the air and lashing out at her head with a kick, and she ducked back under it, bending at her hips and spinning Crescent Rose to ward off his attack. He landed on her other side and she turned to match him, swinging her scythe through the air between them when he tried to charge. He staggered to a stop as it sang through the air, the metal faintly whistling as she made another rotation on her toe-tips and stepped forward, slamming a horizontal swipe down at his right side. Mercury side-stepped it and lunged, turning into a roundhouse kick aimed for her chest just as the blade of her scythe touched the ground and she pulled the trigger.

She shot away, spinning in the air and landing with her feet against the wall and Crescent Rose inverted, another shot sending her spinning through the air to slam two legs int a solid kick to Mercury's stomach, Crescent Rose firing point blank into his chest above her legs and hurling him into the far wall of the room, and away from the Spartan as she knelt low over his chest and laid a hand on his shoulder to steady herself. He staggered away from the wall, glaring at her, and she smiled grimly and aimed her war-scythe behind her, chambering another round.

"Oh, shit-" He crossed his arms just as she fired, her shoulder slamming into him and hurling him against the wall again hard enough to crack the stone, and she felt a sorrowful satisfaction when her feet hit the ground and he shoved, tackling her and yanking her weapon away, hurling it across the room while he practically straddled her stomach above her hips and wrapped his fingers around her throat, "Fuck Cinder, now I'm pissed off and- Glrk."

His eyes drifted down to his sternum, the black handle of a knife sprouting there in her dainty hands, right between his ribs where his heart sat. Surprised eyes returned to her own and she released the knife, grabbing his shoulders and flipping their position while he touched his fingers to the handle, red slowly spreading across his shirt as she sighed and stepped away.

She retrieved her weapon and knelt by the Spartan's side, closing her eyes as he choked out something, "I'm… So sorry. I… I tried to warn you. And you wouldn't listen." She looked over her shoulder, giving a sad smile to Mercury's darkening eyes, "You wouldn't listen."

His eyes dulled and his arms went limp at his sides, and she spared him a single tear, rolling down her cheek from her good eye before she wiped it away with her sleeve and started trying to roll the Spartan over, grunting with effort and pulling at his shoulder with her legs propped against the ground, scraping weakly. "Do… He's heavy… Little help?"

"I am unable to access and move his MJOLNIR armor without him granting me over-ride capabilities, I apologize." She answered, a moment passing before she added, "The enemy is withdrawing, Miss Rose, call for help. They should be there quickly enough."

She let his arm go so suddenly she flopped onto her back with a whoosh of air, slamming a hand to her ear in her haste, "Guys, Six got hurt really bad, I need help in here. I can't turn him over!"

Johnson was there inside a minute, the man sliding to his knees next to the Spartan and murmuring to himself while he worked at pulling her friend over, "No, no, no, no! I won't be the only fucker here again! No, God, please not that again."

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The first things Six noticed as consciousness began to return told him several things.

The dull throbbing in his head told him he'd been heavily sedated for a while, he reacted particularly unfavorably to being sedated in that manner. Always had, his entire life, and probably always would.

Then he noticed the lesser pains, a dull echo in his chest and down his back. Surgery? Probably, based on what he remembered of his injuries. He tested his legs and could move them, though it sent lances of pain up his back and he soon ceased any movement. They worked and that was his concern.

Then he noticed things that were lacking, notably the scents of disinfectants and latex normal for a hospital. Instead he smell oil, metal, cloth, and… Pancakes, faintly at the very least, for all the insanity that brought on. Along with other foods, eggs, fruits, grain of some kind, and spicier dishes.

Where in the name of God was he?

"...killed him. I know, it's stupid he let himself get that hurt, but you know Six. We worked together to beat him, and Mercury tried to go after me, and Six protected me." He heard Ruby sigh as doors nearby opened, two sets of steps closing on his position.

"Then why have you been so depressed over the last few days?" Yang's unmistakable voice asked in a mildly teasing tone, pausing only a second as she surely made some kind of face at her smaller sister, "Or is it because he's hurt, and you're totally crushing on him?"

"W-What?" Ruby squeaked, "N-No, Yang, I am not crushing on Six."

"Then why are you blushing?" Yang teased more, Ruby sighing aggravatedly in a vaguely defeated way. "See? You'd normally argue with me about this kinda thing. So you have to be crushing on him."

"Yang, seriously, cut it out!" Ruby complained, whining cutely and stamping her foot, "Stop teasing me! You always act like I'm some little kid, and it's mean."

"Okay, okay, you enjoy your visit, I'm going to go check in with Blake." Yang said, chuckling as heels clicked on the floor and she made her away away.

Six forced his eyes to open, looking at the back of Ruby's head as his eyes adjusted and she watched her sister leave. He shifted and grunted, and she turned around suddenly, blinking at him with mer mouth working uselessly until she managed to force out, "Six?"

"Ruby." He returned simply, trying to rise before her hands pressed him back down gently. He grunted, but eventually gave in and relaxed against the small bed they'd brought in for him. "What happened? I remember fighting, I eliminated the green-haired woman. But there was another combatant when I fell, and-"

"I killed him." She said quietly and suddenly, stepping away from him when he gawked in surprise at her and dragging a chair back with a grimace. "I got there and… And you were hurt, and I had to protect you. Everyone else was fighting, or… Or hurt. No one could come, Dot told me, so I… I fought him."

"Dot?" He asked quietly, a second surprise hidden in the explanation of the first.

"She… Called me, on the comm-links, when you got hurt." Ruby explained, plopping into her chair and avoiding his eyes, instead taking a very keen interest in the floor between her feet. "She told me what had happened, and that she was…. In your suit, and that confused me, but she said you were hurt and I was the only one free, so… I ran."

"Revealing herself to a civilian breaks protocol." He growled, angry in spite of circumstance for a moment over her disobeying her given orders. Ruby nodded, and he sighed. This wasn't the time for that, he could deal with Dot later, now he had to handle Ruby. "But... You said you killed the other combatant?"

"I…" She looked at him, face twisting for a moment with tears welling in the corner of her good eye, "I tried, Six, I-I told him to… to leave, that he could go… He said no, he-he made me do it!" She caved in on herself, shoulder scrunching up as tears began to fall into her lap. Six tried to reach out to her, but could reach, his hand stretching out towards the crown of her head. She saw though, scooting closer and laying her head on his lap, crying quietly while he awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. After a couple minutes, she got quiet, and he heard her murmur, "I… told everyone you did it."

"Why?"

"I don't know…" She whined, rolling her head so she could look at him. Her eyes were red and what little makeup she wore was smeared a bit, but she smiled anyways, bitter and strained. "I… I couldn't face them, I guess. I don't know why, but… I'm ashamed about what I did."

"You saved my life." He observed simply, not arguing with her guilt.

"You saved mine before, and everyone else's too, almost." She dismissed, shrugging, "That's… not a big deal. All of use protect each-"

"Yes, it is." He immediately returned with, Ruby blinking in surprise at the sudden interruption. He sighed, and explained, "Ruby, killing people isn't easy. It's… a very, very serious thing to do. I know that, as does every other soldier alive. Qrow as well, probably." He ruffled her hair and she grimaced, but allowed it, "But don't think that devalues what you did."

"But I-"

"Gave an enemy every chance to leave, or surrender, and were refused." Six cut her off, removing his hand and letting her up. "You did everything you could, and he made his own choice. All you did was respect it, and make your own. Never doubt that." She sniffled, but nodded, and he smiled thinly, "Now, catch me up on what happened in the fight."

"We... We won. Yang got the Relic and gave it to Unc-..." She trailed off, swallowed, and sighed, "T-To my… My d-dad, my real one I mean. We're going to Atlas next, as soon as we can, to get the second, and then… I don't know. B-But no one else, you know, got hurt too bad. Some cuts and bruises, but… That's all."

"I didn't ask about the fight, Ruby." He chided gently, her face scrunching up in confusion, "I asked you to catch me up. So do so. What all has happened?"

She made an 'O' of understanding with her mouth, before starting to explain, and Six looked at a small bird perched in the back of the room. Watching quietly for a couple more seconds, before it silently flew up and out the skylight it had entered through.

That would be a problem for later. For now, things were good.

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Andy 021 :

Can't, and never did here. What happened here was Watts distracting everyone, Hazel hurling him away, and Emerald using illusions to trick him while Mercury dodged in and out to land hits on him.

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And this story is done. I hope everyone enjoyed it, the stories that can take this slot on the 'rotation' as loose as it is will be discussed on Pat. eon. In the coming days.