The world was ending. That was fine—it was designed by some cosmic or astral force to happen eventually. I always welcomed that kind of idea… y'know, maybe a zombie apocalypse could be really interesting or something.
What I didn't expect for this apocalypse was… god, this sounds stupid, but killer toys.
On Christmas, no fucking less!
The streets were littered with these obscene monstrosities, and to my ire they did nothing but kill indiscriminately. I could count on my hands the amount of people I've seen get their face bit off by a far too eager build-a-bear, or someone get devoured by a pack of ravenous fuckin' furbies.
"I swear to Hades, whoever pissed off Santa Claus, I´m going to kick their fucking ass!" I roared, grabbing a bat from besides the toy store. I swung it across my chest with the precision of a professional baseball player, knocking the head off of one of Santa's possesed helpers.
"Not today, Santa." I said, flourishing the bat before letting it rest on my shoulders.
I was, luckily, the only person from my family living in the closed area this was happening in. It was like the Dead Rising games, when they are limited to a fucking supermall—a supermall, of all places! Were the wilds not good enough? Was a beach too unrealistic? I'd rather be dead on an island or literal food for the walking dead than… deal with this.
Did that make me some sort of extreme nihilist, or did I actually derive some sort of pleasure from being stuck in this situation?
Back to the situation I was in—All Shopper Super Mall was currently closed. Things would make more sense if I could recall all the events together:
I fell asleep in a bathroom until closing time on Christmas Eve. I was drunk off of my ass on my birthday. When I woke up, I saw one of the guards getting gutted by a Barbie Doll… with a katana.
This is painful. It's like the more I acknowledge the situation I'm in, the more difficult it is to take the entire thing seriously. I know Barbie had multiple careers, but being a fucking Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu student couldn't have been one of them.
...
Unless Mattel was on to something.
Random line of thought, but have you ever experienced a sudden inspiration of dread? Dread so dire, that it turned your stomach to ice, and then punished you even further by having it melt slowly? Slow enough that the weight and pain of the ice was there, but quick enough for you to register the eventual flood of emotions that came with the ice-water slowly trickling down?
I didn't particularly take in kind to feeling that. I also really, really loathed what inspired that feeling in me.
"You're a Batman toy," I said uselessly, eyeing the caped crusader warily.
"No," the thing said, it's voice a few octaves too high for my liking. "I am the night!"
"SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT! COVER!" I screamed, jumping behind the counter. A knife caught the shallow end of my jacket and tore into it, but luckily didn't nick me. A few more flew overhead, embedding themselves into the walls. Once I stopped hearing them, I opened my eyes and saw a duffle bag full of baseballs. I grabbed one, feeling the surprising amount of weight in my hand.
"Jesus, what are these? Steel Balls?" They weren't super heavy, but they definitely weren't normal baseballs. Welp, better to steel ball cower behind a counter than steel ball run at the enemy, I thought. I peeked from behind the counter, and the Bat-toy had been joined by a life size clown doll that looked like the Pennywise from the new IT movie and an inflatable Sex Do- what.
I'd rather have the zombie apocalypse. Literally just… ugh, why do I even fucking bother? I'm being threatened by a Batman toy, a clown… which was quite literally the bane of my existence, and a sex toy, which wouldn't be all that threatening were it not carrying a weapon of mass penetration.
"The fuck? I- Is that the fucking Penetrator from Saints Row? Why?" Sex Doll-chan, and I only affectionately refer to her as such considering she was practically some greasy overweight weaboo´s wet dream, was wielding a gigantic, purple, dragon-dicked floppy dildo with a handle.
"What are you, a Bad Dragon sex toy?!" I screamed as the Pennywise doll threw a hatchet at me. It lodged itself in the wall behind the counter, missing my head by a few inches… although I think it did cut my hair a bit. Y'know, because I've always wanted an undercut.
I know sarcasm doesn't translate well, but if you could hear the words come out of my mouth they'd be dripping with smarm and anger, I promise.
"SWEET POSEIDON!" I got into cover again, taking square breaths. After slinging the duffle bag full of needlessly heavy Steel Balls over my shoulder, I tossed the one already in my hand into the air. The bat I had 'borrowed' from the store was a comfort no woman could provide in this situation, and with a well placed hit I nailed the ball.
If this were a RPG, I'd pray to random-number jesus right now. Sure, I usually get ones, on the count of my piss-poor luck, or maybe the confidence I lack because Sarah broke my heart in high school.
I'm not bitter, I promise.
With skill I hardly figured I possessed, the steel ball ran a course through the toys, knocking them towards a conveniently placed fuse box.
This was it! My critical hit chance!
I mustered all the strength I possessed, and even thensome into my arms, throwing the bat towards the fuse box. I was no stranger to the fact that wood didn't conduct electricity, but I wasn't looking to shock anything.
I was looking for an explosion.
With a sharp inhale I threw the bat with all my might… several inches away from the fuse box… and out of a window. My heart hammered in my chest, the rhythm following the same tune of the glass I just managed to break.
Fuck.
I scrambled behind the counter, only for the faint sound of sparks to ring in my ears. I didn't have the confidence to look up, but a wave of heat passed just above me and after some smoke cleared I could see that the fuse box did indeed blow up.
I shrugged, "Guess it was a crit after all. Thanks Deus Ex Machina!" I said, walking out and away from the store. I grabbed a new bat, this one luckily made of aluminum instead of the wooden one I so poorly mistreated. As I walked out, I saw a guard running from a huge stuffed Care Bear that was saying "GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!" over and over again.
If I was a hero, I'd help the poor bastard…
Gah, bleeding hearts of the world, unite!
I ran up to the guard, shoving him away without an afterthought. I hit the bear in the head, making it stagger. I can't describe to you what I hit, but I can say with three-hundred percent fidelity that it felt like I struck bone as opposed to cotton.
"THAT HURT NOW PAY!" The bear screamed at me, hitting me with one of its stubby arms. It simply bounced off my head, not damaging me. I deadpanned at the bear, not impressed nor amused.
Honestly, when I struck the bear, I thought I had hit an actual ma-
Fuck.
I looked past the bear, taking note of the guard currently making use of the pavement as a bed. I hope it was a bed, anyway. Sure, I hit him hard… probably hard enough to kill him too, but he looked like a trooper.
"SHIT-" was the only thing the bear managed to say before I grappled it. I dug my nails between the stitching lines, tearing it's head off with a lot of style.
At least, that's how I want to picture it. For the average outsider, it might've been stuck between a phantom thief unmasking a shadow, and a magikarp trying to use splash. Maybe knocking the guard out wasn't so bad after all.
"Fatality, you fuck head." I kicked the head away, letting the body fall. This was my moment! I could use another one-liner here, I'm sure of it. All that's left is to think of- Oh fuck me.
An army- No, a Legion of toys. They were swarming the lower floors of the mall (Did I forget to mention I was on the floor below the mall's roof?). I could see almost no end to them, and the only exit was the mall´s front entrance. I started looking to see if there was a backdoor of some sort, but the only way I could go… Was up the stairs to the roof.
"Ares´s left nut, why the hell don't they have service entrances? Ugh, maybe there's a fire exit somewhere in the roof…" I sneaked towards the stairs, but they were blocked by a metal curtain, attached to the floor with a lock. "Ah fucking- Ugh." I raised the bat and started hitting the lock, keeping an eye out for the killer toys. It took a while, but eventually, the lock gave a crack and broke. I took it out, and proceed to grab the curtain and started rising it slowly. Luckily for me, it wasn't making a lot of noise, and I lifted it until I could just go under it, and let it down. "Uffff… That was heavy…" I rolled my arms around a bit, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling in my arms.
The stairs were clear, as far as I could tell, but I still got a ball from the bag. I started up the stairs slowly, making sure to not make a lot of noise. As I climbed, my mind wandered. 'Why did this even happen? Is there an angry God, a failed experiment, or did Santa finally crack?' It was a weird situation, and I was not going to feel surprised if the Government decided to bomb the place.
As I reached the door of the roof, I started hearing what sounded like someone screaming. "This power… great… unstoppable! I am unstoppable!" Well, that sounds like I found the culprit of this situation. As I step in front of the door, I take a deep breath. "Showtime."
I pulled the handle down, and opened the door. In the middle of the roof, there was someone standing, who spun on their heels to look at me. It was a man, looking to be around his early 30´s, dressed only in a pair of ragged, blue jeans that hung loosely from his hips.. He was extremely skinny, his bones noticeable through his entire body. He had hair that looked like straw, light blonde and dry, and bloodshot blue eyes. He had a crazed smile on his face, but the most attention-calling thing on him was a huge tattoo that was on his left shoulder and stretched down the left side of his looked like a deer skull, colored black. From the tattoo and outwards, his veins were black colored, and bulged from his body, looking about to burst.
"Who dares interrupt me?! Who are you, and how did my soldiers not kill you?!" He screeched at me, his voice nasal and shrill. I am not impressed, buddy.
"The name´s *******, and it looks like you didn't think a whole lot when you chose toys as your Personal Army of Dooming Doom. Yes, they almost killed me once or twice, but still, TOYS. Now, are you going to tell me your evil plan, or will I have to beat it out of you?"
The blonde guy lost his smile, and glared at me. "You dare challenge me? Very well, then. Prepare to meet your maker, you fool."
I put my guard up, ready for anything. Except, there wasn't time to react.
They say that when you are about to die, you see your life flash in front of your eyes. That's a disgusting lie. How do I know? The guy moved so fast, I couldn't see the moment he punched a hole in my chest.
I blinked, then took a look at his fist, piercing clean through where my heart should be. "Well, shit." There wasn't even pain. The guy threw his arm to the side, removing his hand from my chest, and flinging me over the side of the roof.
'Well this is just nifty. At least I shouldn't feel it when I hit the gro-'
SPLAT
Rebooting…
Processing …
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100% Reached, rebooting Soul.
Welcome, Wayward Soul, to Limbo.
…
At first, there was only dark. Then, I saw a light, coming closer and closer to me. Then, the smell of flowers, grass and rain hits my nose. Slowly, my senses had started coming back to me. I could hear the sound of birds and insects flying, and feel grass under my hands and the back of my head. Then, I felt a phantom taste of copper in my mouth. I finally opened my eyes, wincing when the light hurt my eyes. I then blinked, confusion flooding my mind, when I realized I was alive.
"What… Where am I?" I was still a little groggy, and I raised myself slowly, a slight pain in my chest and most of my torso. "Ow… I'm definitely not at the mall… Am I in the afterlife?"
"You could say that, yes." I snapped my head up, looking to the sides. "I'm over here, my dear." I look forwards, and an interesting sight welcomes me. I´m in a forest, trees as far as my sight goes, all of them a vibrant mix of greens and browns, yellow, red and purple appearing from time to time. I was in what seemed like a clearing, the ground occupied by patches of leaves of many colors. In the middle of the clearing, there was a fountain, ivory white stone with flowing crystalline water flowing through it. In front of the fountain, there was a little table with two chairs, a tea set and a little pot with cookies on it. One of the chairs was empty, the other one however, was not.
"Hello there. Come, don't be shy, I won't bite." A woman was sitting on it. An extremely attractive one, at that. Black, cascading hair that stretched down her back, all the way to the floor, shiny emerald green eyes, caramel colored skin, and a killer body dressed in a green dress with a brown sash. Large breasts, motherly hips, the whole package. I'm pretty sure I was gawking like an idiot, because she giggled and looked at me with amusement in her eyes and a beautiful smile on her lips. I then proceeded to click my mouth shut, and cough, feeling heat creeping up my neck all the way to my ears. Shit, I'm blushing like a schoolgirl! Keep your cool, man!
"Ah. Err… Sorry, I'm slightly thrown off by what I'm pretty sure was my death. Didn't expect to see a pretty lady after death. Not that I'm complaining of course! I just… Ugh." I covered my face with my hands, before sighing and getting up. As I did, I noticed I was dressed in a pair of loose, white pants and nothing else. I looked at myself, wincing when I saw the hole in my chest, and touching the borders of the wound with my fingers. Looking up, I saw the woman smiling softly at me, a bit of sadness in her eyes. "Excuse me but… Could you tell me where I am, exactly?" I walked towards the table, sitting on the empty chair, and after looking at the lady and getting a nod, grabbing a cookie.
"You are currently in my realm, Where Life Began." I looked at her, taking her appearance in, and looking at my surroundings, I started to think about my situation, and who exactly I could be talking to. "Would you like some tea, dear? It's just made."
I nod, thanking her and putting some milk and sugar in it. "If I may be so bold, why exactly am I here, Gaea, Mother of all life, and Titan of the Earth?" I looked at her over my cup of tea, watching her expression switch to one filled with curiosity.
"How did you know who I am? I could easily have just been an angel, or a demon of sorts." She asked, her voice a mix of amusement and curiosity.
I shrug, taking a sip of my tea before putting it down and leaning against the back of the chair. "I like to read, and I´ve done so enough that I can try and take an educated guess at certain things, as long as they are related to mythology, legends and stories. Not really one for realistic reading." I looked at my surroundings before looking at the literal goddess again. "I woke up in a truly beautiful forest, in front of a woman that creates the same feeling a mother does, right after dying. It wasn't that incredibly complicated. And as such, I ask again. Please, tell me, why am I here, instead of… wherever I may have gone?"
At this, Gaia's face fell a little, before sighing, making the leaves shake as a sudden wind blows. "I'll have to tell you something before I can explain my motives. From time to time, I see people that are suffering terrible lives. In certain cases, I do something to help them. The most recent, was a toy maker that had gone bankrupt after his wife's death took his inspiration away-"
I interrupt her, my voice even, the only thing betraying my anger being my death grip on the cup making my knuckles white. "So, you´re telling me that because you took pity on someone, you unleashed the possible end of the world and got me and many others killed? What, did you grab us one by one to say sorry? Well, forgive me if I don't want to hear it. You got me killed on Christmas, right the day after my birthday, taking away whatever amount of natural life I could have lived."
Gaia took a long look at me, and sighed once again. "No. I only took you because you were the only person that should still be alive in that situation. I wanted to say sorry to you because of what I made happen. And I want to make a deal with you."
I stared at her, arms crossed.
"I can give you life once more, but I can't take you back to your world. I would have to make you be born again, and let you live a full life like that." She stares at me, sadness noticeable in her face. "Will you give me the chance to fix a mistake?"
I sigh, and finish my tea. "Yes." I extend my hand. "One question, however. Do you have a power called The Gamer to give?"
She blinks, shock clear on her face. "I… Yes, I do. I see you want it." She extends her hand, and a tree leans towards her, leaving a crystal shaped like a sphere in her hand. "Let me warn you, however. If you take this, I won't be able to choose where you´ll go, or who you will be."
I smile. "Even better, then. Life is dull without risk, after all." I take the crystal, and look at Gaia. "So, what now? Do I swear an oath to protect life?"
Gaia nods, smiling softly. "That sounds nice, yes. Do you, Champion of Gaia, swear to protect life as it is?"
Me and my big mouth… Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. "I, the Champion Of Gaia, swear to protect life." As I finish speaking, the crystal starts shining more and more, quickly becoming blinding. The last thing I see and hear is Gaia. "Good luck, my dear Champion."
At this point of the story, my memories become… fuzzy, for a long time. Looking back on it, it was rather obvious that my memories of my original life couldn't be held in the mind of someone young. 17 years of life passed, in a rather interesting world. Remnant, world of Hunters and Eldritch Abominations spawned from the negative feelings of humanity as a whole. I´ll give you a basic explanation of how the me before The Remembering lived, and who he was:
My Remnant self´s name is Iridesca Chroma, but, and now I realize it was because of my lingering memories, he asked people to call him "Jabberwock". The reason why? When I was reborn, I became a Reptile Faunus, one that for some reason reminded me of the aforementioned creature. But. That wasn't exactly the craziest thing, incredibly enough. Thanks to what I took to calling 'MC Bullshit ™', I managed to meet the ENTIRETY of both Team RWBY and JNPR. Let me explain the chain of happenings that occured.
First, my parents and I live in Patch, and my parents have been co-workers with Qrow for a long time. Ergo, I met Ruby and Yang. Both of them are like sisters to me, Yang an older sister that tries and tries to tease me, but always fails. (Thank God for Gamer's Mind letting me keep my cool.) and Ruby an adorable little sister to be protected. Second, in one of her outings, some of the White Fang attacked Weiss and her guards. They managed to corner her, before I entered the scene and distracted them long enough for her to run. Of course, I got my ass handed to me, and had to be hospitalized with quite grave wounds, that scarred, since I didn't have my Aura or Semblance. A "mystery benefactor" paid for the entirety of my treatment, wich made me swear that the next time I met the girl I saved, I´d thank her.
After this, and before meeting Blake, I got my Aura unlocked and my ass enrolled into Signal at the same time that Yang did. The day I forged my weapon was quite hyped, and Ruby and Yang insisted on helping. I ended up with a quite interesting weapon. A lever-action shotgun, with a BIG bayonet, around the size of a Bowie Knife. Simple, and effective, paired up with a belt that contained multiple kinds of bullets. I named it Bandersnatch. My "Semblance" awoke in my third year. I was capable of shooting ice, fire and thunder from my left hand, in exchange of my aura. An odd side effects was that my hand changed appearance depending on the power. Purple crystals for electricity, cracks of what looked like running magma for fire, and frost and icicles for ice. It didn't hurt, but the first time had me and Yang screaming and Ruby crying thinking I was gonna die.
Meeting Blake was an… interesting situation. 2 and a half years before the start of the series, I had found Tukson´s Book Trade, and promptly got a job there, due to my love of myths and legends. One day, Blake came in and while browsing, some impulse made me give her the first book of the Ninjas Of Love series, starting her down her path of becoming a "Closet Pervert"... and becoming her Smut Dealer. Which started a running gag of shady dealings, that both of us laughed at.
Jaune´s was an amusing situation. I actually met him at an Ice Cream parlor! He was with his mother, Mary Arc, whom I recognized as the Author of N.O.L (Well, aren't I fortunate?) and I got to talk with him. We got along swimmingly, talking of comics, video games and Hunters (His father is apparently a rather popular one, called Joseph. I see the irony there, Fate.). I may have told him to train a lot, but I can't exactly remember. Ren and Nora, I simply met them at the park. Nora was chasing Ren around, and once she got tired, Ren took a break on the bench I was sitting on. We got to talk a bit, when Nora came over. I spent a while talking with them before going home. Meeting Pyrrha was… interesting. I got in trouble with a racist asshole that accused me of stealing his wallet, before getting himself to look like a fool when Pyrrha walked up to him and told him he dropped it. He promptly got his ass kicked when he attacked her. The police was involved and everything! Pyrrha was told to leave, while I almost got brought in for "questioning" if not for her saying I was with her. A talk later, and I found myself becoming quick friends with her.
However, those don't compare to a rather bad/good thing that I caused. Good, because it left the enemies without a rather important power, bad, because it's now harder for me to use what knowledge of RWBY I have. Around 2 years before the series began, my father took me with him on an assignment he got, a VIP to be escorted to Beacon. Who was the VIP? None other than the Fall Maiden. Of course, we were attacked by Cinder and her mooks, Mercury and Emerald. My father died that day, Emerald had used her Semblance to allow her, Mercury and Cinder sneak up on us. Cinder shot an arrow into my father's neck, and the wound ended up killing him. I and Amber had to fight alone. I… honestly don't remember anything between my father's death and waking up in a farm. All that Amber told me was that I apparently went berserk with rage. She told me was that I hurt them quite badly, it seems. Cinder shot her in the back, and tried to attack her with some bug. I didn't let her, though, since I broke her arm. After that Qrow arrived and scared them off. He had to knock me out since I wouldn't snap out of my rage.
We went back home, and with Amber safe in Beacon… I had an odd feeling. Pride, like I never felt before, and like I had gained something unknown. I now have an idea as to what it is, but that explanation comes later. I think she was going to be hiding in the basement for a while, but I'm not sure.
Now, once I got to Beacon, after graduating from Signal in the exact middle of the class, Yang a bit higher than me, and Ruby right beside us in the bulkhead, everything changed. All was going well, until initiation happened.
Why, you ask?
I got my OLD memories back. A rush as both sets merged and stabilized, and I was looking around, suddenly frowning. I was hearing Ozpin in the background, and looked down. I was on the cliff edge, looking at the launch pads.
"Well, shi- AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! FFFFFF FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee….!"
I was launched. And so, started my true life as Iridesca "Jabberwock" Chroma, Hunter, and Gamer.
And so, the Game Of Hunters, had begun.
Right after I slammed groin first against a tree, sadly.
"GMF!" I fell from the branch, falling and hitting others before reaching the ground. As I got up and looked around, multiple, loud dings started ringing. Screens appeared before me, reading thing like LVL UP, SKILL GAIN, SKILL UP, STAT UP, and other.
"My head!" I had to cover my ears, but the ringing continued. after a few seconds, a growl came from the bushes. "Oh fuck, not now…" A Beowulf, stalking from the bushes, was getting nearer."Come on, now?" I winced, covering my face with my arms when I saw it leap.
BONG!
Poomf!
I looked up, wondering why I wasn't doggie chow, and saw someone standing behind what looked like a Heater Shield. Although, given who I was looking at, I might have died anyway.
How to describe Lavender Dolce? It's a complicated thing to do. Soft is one of the 3 main words I´d use, since she was a rabbit Faunus. Beautiful is another. Remember how I described Gaia? Well, that. Only lavender hair and eyes, pale skin, shorter, a bit plumper and so much softer. Adorable is another. After saving me from the Beowulf (She had blown it´s arm off with her weapon, btw) she turned to me, and with worry in her face and a melodious, angelic voice spoke to me.
"A-Are you alright?" She asked with a slight nervous stammer. I stared like an idiot for a couple of seconds, my brain still processing, before a thought escaped my mouth.
"You… are really, really beautiful." I, of course, immediately realized what I said, and slapped a hand on my mouth, blushing. "Ah- Sorry. Thank you, Miss…?" I asked her, trying to think of anything else.
The blush that spread across her face was big enough to spread to her chest. What followed were a series of incoherent noises as she tried to compose herself in the face of such a blatant compliment. "L-Lavender D-Dolce..." she finally managed to squeak out. And yes, it was a squeak.
"Holy shit, she's adorable!" I couldn't avoid thinking. This adorable girl, who had just saved my ass and was protecting me with her shield, was looking at me with worry. "I'm Iridesca Chroma, but call me Jabberwock, everyone does. A pleasure to meet you, now, shall we combat the Grimm? Seems like the one that attacked me brought a few friends."
"What?" She turned when she heard growling, letting out an "Eep!" when she saw the Beowolves emerging from the overgrowth.
I pulled Bandersnatch from my back, flipped to my feet, and got back-to-back with Lavender. "You know, Ms Dolce, one thing I never understood is why the Grimm are even here in the first place. Packs of them, so close to a school full of veteran hunters and enough students to make a small army? Doesn't make sense."
She pulled what looked like a canister of red Dust from somewhere and loaded it into the back of her heater shield. "Do you think the teachers let them out here to test the students?" She asked.
I paused for a second, humming. "That… actually makes sense. They can just be bringing them here each Initiation-" I stopped to shoot a Beowulf that had come a little too close for comfort. "As I was saying. Bringing them here so that the students can prove themselves." I took a look at the shield, and realized the fact that, unlike me or other Hunters, she was wearing armor. "Well, look at that. A Huntress with enough common sense to wear armor instead of the normal clothes. And a shield, to boot. Very smart, Ms Dolce." I'm going to be honest, now I was complimenting her just to see how she would react.
Another blush spread across her face, though she didn't flop around like a fish on a deck as much, since her game face was set on facing the Beowolves. One lunged at her and she blocked it with her shield, the impact releasing a fiery burst that sent the enemy Grimm scrambling back... and on fire. "Well, most Huntsmen and Huntresses don't bother with armor since Aura heals wounds and blocks damage, but... What if I'm out of Aura?"
I nod, hitting a Grimm with the butt of my weapon, before stabbing it in the eye. "And the shield creates knockback and uses Dust. Consider me even more impressed. As for the armor, I had a similar train of thought when getting my own clothes. Had them reinforced actually." I won't bore you with a description of my clothing beyond Fancy Hunter (At least for now). "After the hundredth time that sparring with one of my sisters ended up with me hurting due to Aura Break, I decided to wear armored clothes. Yang really doesn't pull her punches- Duck!" I yelled, side stepping Lavender before decking the Beowulf that snuck up on her with my hand, cracking the mask. "Also, why I armored my gloves and shoes!" I then proceeded to kick it in the jaw, and shoot it in the head, spinning the shotgun to cock the lever and eject a shell.
The girl got back up from her duck and bashed another Beowulf with her shield, hitting it with another fiery burst from the Burn Dust in her shield. "That's smart," she complimented. "Though I admit, this armor is a bit hot sometimes. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a rabbit Faunus, but I overheat pretty easily," she explained, tugging at the V-neck of her chainmail shirt like she was airing it out, which was surprisingly low cut for what was intended for protection. "I try to wear things that breathe easy, hence the combat skirt. You have sisters, though? I have a twin brother! He should be somewhere in this forest..."
Lucky us, there only were a couple Beowolves left, of whom I took care of quickly with a couple of headshots. I took a breath, and while reloading Bandersnatch, turned towards Lavender. "Well, I call them sisters. They actually are childhood friends of mine. We met when we were young, and have been friends ever since. Ruby is the youngest and Yang is the same age as me. Now, Ozpin said the temple was to the… north, right?"
She hit a switch on inside of the back of her shield, ejecting the spent Dust cartridge. Sighing in relief, she turned back to me, her Combat Skirt™ fluttering up a bit as she spun. "Uh, yeah, but... you don't have to take me along. You seem like you can handle yourself just fine..." She said, and I could hear the self-doubt in her voice.
Oh my god, she's so adorable I can't deal with it. "Sorry, Ms. Dolce but did you forget what the Headmaster said?" I ask, an amused smile in my face, before fully smiling at her. "The first person you make eye contact with will become your partner for the rest of your school time." I holster Bandersnatch. "So unless you already have a partner, you and I are sticking together for a long time."
She stared up (and with a height difference of sixteen inches, I do mean up) at me blankly for a time, as if processing what I said. I could almost see see the loading screen above her head. Then her face positively lit up and her eyes got as bright as stars when the realization finally dawned on her.
"I have a partner!" She exclaimed. She clenched up and shuddered, then literally leapt for joy. "I have a partner! I have a partner! I have a partner!" She cheered, jumping up and down, causing interesting physics to occur to her skirt and chest. After doing this for a while, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me in an excited hug. Wow, she didn't just look soft, she felt soft! Warm, too!
I, of course, answered the hug. It was like hugging a warm cloud. After a few seconds, a familiar voice came from the side. And I felt my stomach turn stone cold.
"Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting? C´mon partner. We should keep moving." I whip my head to the side and see Yang and Blake staring at me, Yang taking pictures with her scroll and Blake just smiling smugly at me.
Lavender looked up and turned her neck to look at Yang and Blake, but didn't break the hug surprisingly enough. "Oh! Um... Hi. I think I saw you two up on the cliff before we got launched..." She noted.
As she didn´t stop hugging me, Yang started smirking and Blake had a Cheshire Cat smile on her face. I blushed up to my ears. "Err… Ms. Dolce? We might need to get moving now. Also, hi Yang, hi Blake. Yang, if you don't delete the pictures I'll tell Ruby you ate her last box of cookies. Blake, come by Tukson's when you have a chance, the boss told me he has your books. Also, yeah, I know the other, tell you later, for now, we need to find some relics."
"Oh! Right." Lavender pulled away, blushing as she smoothed out her skirt. She turned to Blake and Yang, bowing politely to them with her hands clasped demurely at her waist. "N-Nice to meet you! I'm Lavender Dolce, your friend's new partner," she greeted, blushing more when she said 'partner.' There was a giddy twitch to her hands when she said it too, like she was just ecstatic to actually have one.
Yang and Blake both smiled. "Heya, Lavender. I´m Yang Xiao Long. Nice to meetcha!" Yang introduced herself, bombastic and energetic as always. Blake, on the other side, was calmer. "Hi. I'm Blake, Blake Belladonna. A pleasure." Before I could say anything, Yang bounded up to me and put her arm around my shoulder. "Sooooo, flirting on the first day, huh?" She smiled at me, shaking me a little. I blushed slightly, frowning a bit at her. "Well, at least I didn't leave my sister alone yesterday, didn't I? Ruby was lucky she found me." And Jaune as well, honestly, that guy gets lost more often than Zwei eats Ruby's homework. Yang had the dignity to look a bit embarrassed at that, rubbing her neck and looking to her feet.
"Now, let's get moving!" I start walking, gesturing for Lavender, Yang and Blake to follow. "Ladies, adventure awaits!"
Lavender didn't follow, though. Now that they were closer, she was glancing between them, back and forth, and giving them each a different look.
For Blake, she was staring at her with a perplexed look, like she could tell something was off but couldn't place it. Could Faunus smell other Faunus, or was it more just a feeling they got? To her credit, Blake didn't bat an eye, though she did spare a glance at the lavender-furred hanging lop bunny ears growing from the rabbit Faunus' head.
The look she gave Yang was completely different. She almost looked dejected, her eyes giving the blonde an up-and-down from head to toe, with a noticeable lingering on her chest. Likely stemming from her lack of confidence, Lavender was probably the type of girl to compare herself to other girls, and she looked at Yang and saw, in her eyes, everything she wasn't. She didn't have much to complain about in reality, though. Up close, I could see that Yang and her were about the same size, though Lavender's looked larger due to her much shorter height-
OK Jabberwock, mind out of the gutter before the super ladies notice and kick your teeth in! I thought, shaking my head a little. I looked at Lavender, stopping besides her. "Ms. Dolce, shall we?" I extended my hand to Lavender, acting as over-the-top elegantly as I could, hoping to make her laugh a bit. "We have things to do after all."
She turned to look at me with those eyes the color of her namesake, eyes that looked as if they'd never held a glare, or even could. "Uh... Yeah! Sorry. Heh, let's go," she said, grabbing my hand as she started walking, a gentle grip like she was afraid she might accidentally break me.
I didn't notice, but Yang was smiling behind us. "Oh. My. GOD. They're so cute together! How much that he takes a year to notice how perfect they are? I bet 50 Lien." And starting the biggest betting ring Beacon ever saw. "50 that he takes a year and asks her out on next years Valentines Day." She and Yang shook hands, and sealed the deal.
After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached the ruins. There was already a couple of people at the ruins, one a Faunus and the other a human. The Faunus had mouse ears and a green cape, while the girl was dressed in a blue dress and had a really shiny sword in her hand. "Hello there! Didn't think anyone else would have arrived before us." As we got closer, I started looking around, waiting for Ruby and Weiss to drop and for team JNPR to arrive. As I looked up, I heard Yang and Blake greet the other students. "Hey there! I´m Yang!" Blake simply nodded, before introducing herself. "I´m Blake. A pleasure."
The mouse Faunus of the two had a slim body, black hair down to his shoulders, dark brown skin, with reddish-brown eyes and freckles across his cheeks and nose. His Faunus trait was his black-furred mouse ears. His mouth was hidden by a green cloak and he was wearing brown boots, black slacks, a black tunic, and a black tophat sitting between his ears. In his right hand was a black quarterstaff, while his left was holding a book that he was presently reading. His reddish-brown eyes glanced up from whatever he was reading ("Beacon: A History" the title said), merely giving Blake and Yang a nod of acknowledgement, but not saying anything, nor did his face betray any emotion. Wow, this guy was hard to read.
"Donnelly!" Lavender cried, running up and hugging the mouse Faunus. He visibly stiffened at the contact. Probably didn't like being touched. Still hugging him, Lavender turned to look at me, smiling. "This is my brother, Donnelly Dolce! Don't worry, he's not much of a talker. You get used to it."
Letting go of her brother, she turned to the girl he was with. "Are you his partner? It's nice to meet you! I'm Lavender Dolce, Donnelly's twin sister," she greeted, bowing politely.
The girl looked at Lavender with a strikingly blue pair of eyes, a soft smile on her face. "Hello, Lavender. It's a pleasure. I'm Alice Blue, and yes, it seems like I am your brother´s partner. And you are?" She turned to me, but before I could say anything, she looked upwards with the same smile in her face. "Do any of you know those girls? They look in trouble." I turned around, looking upwards just in time to see Ruby jump off the Nevermore.
"Caaaaaaatch meeeeeeeee!" She yelled, waving her arms as she fell. Yang looked at me and I immediately understood what she wanted. I crouched, putting my hands like a platform and after Yang jumped on them, shot her towards Ruby. She managed to catch her, although she did get knocked back. Right into me.
After a bit of complaining, we all got up while Weiss was screaming from the Nevermore´s talon. A few seconds later, an Ursa burst from the trees before falling down dead, a sad Nora and a very winded Ren beside it. "Nora! Never… do that… again!" Poor guy. A second passed and Nora was already behind us dancing with her rook, while Yang was examining the Knight, looking slowly like she was getting angry. A few seconds after THAT, Pyrrha burst from the forest with the Deathstalker behind her and Jaune caught Weiss before falling.
"CAN CRAZY THINGS STOP HAPPENING ALREADY?!" There goes a Yang. I quickly snatched a black king, the twin to the one Alice grabbed. I saw each team get their pieces. the ones from canon.
"Well, this is a fun situation for me. How's everyone doing?" I smile, waving at all the new arrivals. All of them looked towards me with surprise, and mixed noises of recognition rang out, before a lot of "You know him too?" rang out. I laughed, amused. "Well, I can do the introductions and how I met everyone later, now, we might need to kill a few Grimm! And before I forget, Ms. Schnee!" Weiss looked towards me, frowning before looking surprised. So she does recognize me, then. "I never got to tell you, but thank you. That Mystery Benefactor was what saved me that day." She blushed lightly, before turning away and facing the Grimm.
Lavender looked surprised. "You know all these people, Jabberwock?" She asked. Donnelly glanced up from his book for a moment, but didn't show any reaction before returning his gaze to it.
I had started shooting at the Deathstalker, keeping an eye on Ruby to avoid her running off, before speaking up. "Trust me, Ms. Dolce, it's just as surprising for me to see all of them here." As my gun clicked empty, I grabbed some Fire Dust rounds from the belt and started loading them. I just saw Ruby barely start to move. "Ruby! Stay with the group and cover the close quarter fighters with Crescent Rose´s rifle mode! Ren, Nora, try and crack it's armor! Pyrrha, see if you can hurt the Nevermore enough to make it land! The rest, go crazy!" I finished reloading and started shooting at the Deathstalker again, flames exploding against its tail. The others exploded into movement. Jaune followed Ren and Nora, while Pyrrha and Ruby started shooting their rifles. Weiss and Blake started attacking the Nevermore with their weapons.
Lavender loaded what looked to be some ice Dust into her shield, while Donnelly held his quarterstaff out in front of him and just... let go of it. Was that staff floating? From the top of the staff, four little grenade-like contraptions deployed, floating out with particles of purple-black dust. The staff itself floated in front of the mouse Faunus, relaying a cyan-colored holographic screen that he read with disinterest, slipping his book into a pocket inside his cloak.
Lavender ran up to him, ready to fight. "That's my brother's weapon, Logistics Caduceus. It'll give him a full readout on whatever his satellites can catch with their scanners, including enemy movements and positions, so leave the coordination of the fight to him," she said, sounding quite proud of him. She held up a small earpiece to me, and also pulled her hair aside so show she was wearing one as well. "He can communicate and relay information to you through these earpieces."
Wow. These two are really impressive. "Just as impressive as his sister, then. We might want to start moving towards the cliff again." I took a quick look around, seeing what was going on. The Deathstalker was getting quite hurt, Nora having apparently cracked it's faceplate, but it was still going strong. The Nevermore was shooting feathers as best as it could, but wasn't hitting anyone, luckily. Looking back towards the scorpion Grimm, I saw Nora get knocked back towards us, falling close to where I was. I ran up to her and started charging some of my powers. A crackle, as purple crystals pierced my skin, growing from inside my left hand, with electricity arcing from crystal to crystal. "Hey Nora, you absorb electricity, right?" After a surprised look and an enthusiastic yeah from Nora, I pulled her up with my left hand, charging her up. "Go get the Grimm, Valkyrie!" She smiled, grabbed Manhild and launched herself over to the Grimm, smacking it hard enough to completely break the mask. Hmmm. I wonder if I get loot.
At that moment, there was a brief radio crackle and then a voice I never heard before hit my hearing through the earpiece.
"Three o'clock..."
Instinctively, I raised my weapon towards my right side and shot. A Beowolf fell to the floor, headless, before fading away to reveal a couple of colored chips and a green crystal. LOOT! I yelled in my head, quickly pocketing it before looking towards Donnelly and nodding.
The mouse Faunus nodded back, but it seemed his focus wasn't broken, since I heard "Six o'clock" in my ear. I whirled around to see that the Deathstalker has somehow broken free from Team JNPR and was rearing its claw at me.
CLANG!
In a flash, Lavender had dove between me and the Deathstalker, its claw knocked away by her shield and gaining a coating of ice from the Dust in the shield. Hey, every good party needed a tank! Still, a Deathstalker was a high-level Grimm and the force of the claw strike had knocked the rabbit Faunus' shield away. She still had her grip on it, but it was currently away from her body, and the thing about scorpions was they effectively had three limbs. In a flash, the Grimm's glowing stinger lashed out at Lavender's exposed chest, a bright flash of lavender light emitting form the point of impact as her Aura worked to block the blow. A loud tearing noise filled my ears as I saw pieces of chain and white cloth fly out from the point of impact and Lavender fell to the ground, her Aura no doubt in the red.
I spun around and ran towards her. "Shit! Lavender!" As I reached her I slid to my kness, looking her over for a few seconds before my brain registered the… clothing damage. "AH!" I looked away, red faced. "Y-you might want this." I quickly took of my jacket and handed it to her. I got up and charged fire into my hand, cracks forming on it with something that looked like lava flowing in them. "Suck on this, you oversized arachnid!" I threw the forming rock at it, watching it explode against the broken mask, killing the Grimm.
Looking over, I saw Lavender pull herself into a sitting position, blushing from the brief exposure and clutching my jacket around herself, but it looked like her Aura prevented any actual damage. Donnelly ran up, kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder. Brown light flowed from his hand to her shoulder, causing her own body to glow lavender. Wut?
"This's my brother's Semblance, Aura Medic," she explained, looking up at her taciturn brother with pride. "He can use his own Aura to restore the Aura of others or heal their wounds."
A tank and a healer? My MC Bullshit is still going strong. Wait, how high is my luck stat? I need to check later. "You have quite the semblance, Mr. Dolce." I nod at him, before looking up as the Nevermore made some noise. Seems like Weiss used her Glyphs to launch Ruby and Yang towards the thing, since I managed to see it get beheaded and the main body exploding quite brutally at the same time. Huh, we're doing quite good.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Fuck. You. Murphy!
I looked back, to see a damn Alpha Beowolf roaring at us. Well, time to test the Gamer. "Observe!"
[Alpha Beowolf. LVL 30]
[A beast of Grimm, The Witch of Salem's slaves and main force of attack. This one is a Beowulf that managed to live long enough to become an Alpha, making it more powerful.
HP: 2000/2000
AP: 0]
Donnelly cast the Alpha Beowolf a hard, studious glance, likely sizing it up, but otherwise showed no reaction besides deploying his floating staff in front of himself again, the four satellites hovering around the battlefield surrounding us and the large Grimm. Was it possible his satellites' scans gave him readouts on its abilities?
"An Alpha Beowulf! Oh no... I-I'm not sure I can do this, Jabberwock..." Lavender cried, staring at the large lupine Grimm with fear.
"GUYS! WE NEED SOME HELP HERE!" The others managed to hear me, thank god, and rushed over to help us. Yang had used her Ember Celica to rush over, Nora blasted herself over to us (carrying Ren and Jaune over, both screaming) and Pyrrha began running to us . Ruby, of course, just used her Semblance to get here quickly. Once we all got together, Alice appearing from nowhere, a creepy smile first and eventually all of her. "C'mon everyone, we can do this!"
"We need to take care, Jabberwock! This is a strong Grimm!" Yang yelled at me, shooting at the Grimm quickly. Blake attached the ribbon to it, tying it's legs and struggling to keep it pinned. Jaune, Pyrrha and Alice started attacking it with everything they had. Nora was hitting it repeatedly in the head, seemingly doing nothing. Ren, Weiss and I were shooting it.
The satellites from Donnelly's weapon hovered around the Alpha Beowolf, which gave them no mind. A brief radio crackle in my ear signalled the mouse Faunus's coordination.
"Its weak point is its stomach... Get someone to jump over its head so it'll try and reach up for them and straighten its back, then go for the stomach when it's no longer hunched over..."
Lavender nodded to me, having heard it as well over her earpiece. "I'm the smallest and lightest."
I looked over at her. "Let me launch you over him, then." I took the same pose as when I threw Yang, nodding at Lavender. "Go!"
Running for me, the rabbit Faunus hopped, her foot touching down on my hands. I threw her just hard enough to get her over the Alpha's head, and I made sure it was showy enough to draw its attention. As she soared over its head, the lycan-like beast began straightening its back out of its signature hunch to reach up for the flying bunny, revealings its tender belly. I then took my chance, and stabbed him as hard as I could with the bayonet in Bandersnatch. "Eat… this!" I struggled, and started slowly lifting the monster. "RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" I roared, and started shooting the gun, emptying the gun in the stomach of the monster, gouging chunks of flesh off of it with flares of fire , and to finish it off, I used my left hand to blast ice into it. After a short while, it vanished, and something hit me in the face. "Gah!" When I looked down, I saw some sort of mask on the ground. Picking it up, I looked at it. It looked similar to the top half of the head of a wolf, with red markings and white bone color for the main body. Two eye holes to allow the wearer to see. "What's this?"
The others got close, looking at the ground in interest. Weiss lifted a black crystal, and Jaune a few things that looked like they were claws in a collar of sort.
Lavender got up from where she had landed and stared at the loot, confused. "That's weird... Doesn't the entire Grimm vanish upon death? Even the smallest and simplest of Grimm trophies are just fakes made to look like them..."
I activated Observe on the mask, quickly reading through the screen.
[Beowulf, Grand Hunter.]
[The mask of an Alpha Grimm, slayed in combat. These masks are mostly decorative, but something might happen if you get the set of 5. ⅕]
Huh. That sounds interesting. "It looks like a mask of sorts. Ms Schnee, Jaune, what did you find?" I look towards them.
Weiss was shocked, looking at the crystal with surprise. "It's Void Dust. How did this get here? The Schnee corporation declared it a hazard due to it's effects, when employed in bullets, they tear through Aura." Everyone looked surprised at what she said.
Jaune handed over the collar. "It looks like a collar made of Beowulf claws, somehow. How did this things get here anyway?"
I shrug, acting like I didn't know. It still isn't time to reveal my hand. "No idea. However, we should be going back to the cliff."
"Well, yeah, we should probably finish this trial, but... Something really strange is going on here. Where did these things come from? How is it possible Grimm parts stayed behind after the Grimm was slain?" Lavender asked, clearly having trouble wrapping her brain around this.
I very slightly twitched, guilt overwhelming me at seeing Lavender so confused. Why does this girl affect me so much, when we barely know each other? "Maybe they ate it?" I gave the quickest excuse I could, before gesturing for all of us to move. "Well, we don't have all day. Let's go, everyone."
That explanation seemed to satisfy the rabbit Faunus for a time, but I couldn't help notice her brother casting me a curious look from over the book he was reading. Seemed that explanation was good enough for Lavender, but Donnelly probably wasn't buying it. He didn't say anything, though...
Lavender ejected the spent ice Dust cartridge from her shield and strapped it to her back for storage. She was still wearing my jacket, though in her rush to put it on in the heat of battle, it was only partially buttoned, giving her Yang levels of cleavage. She hadn't made a move to correct the buttoning…
"You might want to button up the jacket, Ms. Dolce." I said, looking away politely while blushing a bit. Oum, I've been blushing too much lately...
"Huh?" The rabbit Faunus looked down at her chest, a blushing coming to her face. "Eep!" She reached up and began buttoning the rest of it. She's a lot curvier than me, to say the least, but with the height difference, the jacket was big enough to fully button. She still left the top few undone for a bit of cleavage, just not as much as the plunging neckline from before. Huh, didn't she mention something earlier about overheating easily? That was probably why.
From the increasing amounts of snickering, the others are laughing at me. What I did hear, although it was mutters as to what exactly, was Yang making bets. Alice and Donnelly didn't make any though.
An hour and a half later, the teams were getting announced. As it was destined, RWBY and JNPR were formed, me applauding them cheerfully (and booing at CRDL) before it was our turn. Ozpin looked towards us, stopping on me for a second longer, before speaking. "And now, for the team that got the Black Kings. Lavender Dolce, Alice Blue, Donnelly Dolce and Iridesca Chroma, you are team LADI, pronounced Lady, and your leader is… Lavender Dolce." Oh? The obvious fanfic MC isn't the leader of the team? Finally a break from my MC BULLSHIT ™.
The little, curvy bunny's eyes widened, staring up at the significantly taller headmaster in shock. Probably more shock than Jaune had at finding out he was a team leader. "What? M-Me? Th-There must be some mistake!" She stammered.
Oh no, Lady, no adding more work to avoiding self doubting leaders, Jaune is enough already. I leaned towards her, whispering in her ear. "Ms. Dolce, please don't put yourself down. Ozpin must see that you have the potential to be a leader, if he chose you. Same as Ruby and Jaune, after all." I smiled at her, hoping I managed to calm her down a bit.
She cast me an unsure glance, but swallowed hard and nodded, standing straight before Ozpin. I knew this wasn't the end of this, but at least I'd settled her fears for the moment.
A short while after, we went to our rooms. Ours was 4 doors down from RWBY and JNPR. And imagine my surprise when I saw that, indeed, there was a small kitchenette and a bathroom. Rejoice, fans, it's canon.
Lavender lit up at the sight of our room, running in and jumping onto the bed, bouncing a bit on the cushy mattress. "Our room! This is gonna be our home for the next four years! Home sweet home!" She cheered, giggling delightedly.
Her brother Donnelly showed no real reaction, his nose still buried in his ever-present book, but he did cast a glance at the bookshelf.
Alice, who had been looking tired for a while, simply walked up to her bed and fell face first in it, light snoring becoming noticeable after a few seconds.
I took a good look around, smiling.
Now, this is it.
Now, is when the Game truly begins.
-End Of Chapter 1-
US AN: Hello readers! Welcome to Game Of Hunters, my RWBY SI! This was the lovechild of a fever dream and too much free time, so it's likely to be a bit crazy. However, I am not alone in this project. Now, drums, please!
*sound of drums*
Introducing a quite famous author in the internet, writer of stories like The Few, The Proud, … But the crying and more recently The Improvising Engineer… Cyberwease89! Applause!
Weasel A/N: Ummm... Hi there. I'm largely in charge of Lavender and Donnelly's material, so... yeah. Good to be here. *blush* *blush*
US AN: Well, I must thank you for helping me with this project. Chapter 2 will come when it comes, reality is fiction, sell me gold! Buh-bye!
-curtains cover the stage-