City of Vale: 11:00 P.M.
It is said that the deepest darkness does not rest within nature, but within man. Most darkness cannot comprehend the evil that lies within mans heart, nor can it ever hope to match it. In the path of darkness, there is always the light. The light holds fast against the darkness, even in times of dark…
The warehouse was dimly lit, dirty as hell, and reeked of body sweat. The men in blue coats lined with gold trim loaded the cargo onto the floor, mere transporters of various drugs, weapons, illegal armor…women. The men worked with detachment, their faces not showing one inch of regret for their captives' plight. Their armor had some meaning, but it was lost on the person in front of them. It was a woman, wearing formal clothing, looking like a queen. The effect was lost though, because of the huge cleaver on her back.
"Tell your commander the sale went off without a hitch," The woman said with a grin, showing off her teeth. They were too sharp to belong to a human, "Tell her that Mary Blud compliments her efforts and her soldiers' efficient behavior."
"Yes ma'me." The lead soldier said with a quick salute, never showing any emotion as he walked off with his hand on his gun, the women's begging could be heard as they were shoved into cargo containers. The sound of the closing door shut them off as Mary started away.
"I've an appointment to keep, you keep loading." She said, and with a quick flourish, she left the building. The woman walked with importance into her car, a lavish red one at that, and was driven away. Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes watched her as she left.
"Merde," The figure watching her drive away, his hand went to his ear, "Mary left, it's just the soldiers now."
"Damnit, wish we could have gotten her too, either way, stick to the plan," Came a hard female voice from the other end, "Alison, cut the power. Thatch, get in there and see if you can intimidate them into surrendering."
"Understood, cap'n." Came a gruff voice on the other end, along with the sound of sliding metal.
"Cutting power in…3…2…1," The warehouse flickered, "Go."
Insert "Hero" by Skillet…
In the building, the soldiers' hands all went to their weapons, righting them as the readied themselves for anything. The main window shattered as a large figure landed, his eyes glowing red, and with his hands clasping two Scottish-claymore style cutlasses.
"Surrender!" He yelled, the soldiers merely aimed their weapons. The random thugs who happened to be there fell into a fetal position, the individual charged the soldiers. Bullets rang out as he reached the first few, his cutlasses flashed; the soldiers fell down like marionettes with their strings cut. He dove behind a nearby van, bullets ringing around him.
"Could use some help here, these bloody bastards don't seem to think that my semblance is worth shit." The teen yelled, his gruff voice carrying a hint of what some would say was an accent of you olde pirates.
The doors opened to reveal another teen, this one clearly illuminated in the moonlight. Her armor was of old make, centurion style, her helmet bore a purple crest as violet as her skirt armor. The effect was lost, though, because of the huge shield she bore. It was also bright purple, which some would say was a horrible idea as it would draw attention. That was the point though, the soldier bullets clanged off her shield, the teen not moving an inch.
That when one of soldier realized that she was quite distracting, as in…very distracting. He looked up, only to see a skylight shattered as another teen fell in. Another female, this one wearing red robes under a green, leather chest plate. This was lost on the soldiers who she landed on as she spun her weapon around, hitting three of the five in a fell swoop. Her weapon, a staff with a hand on the end, a hand with claws that were quite sharp. The other soldiers dodged, one of them pulling out a slender sword.
The tried to charge, but heard a sound behind him. He turned, and saw a 6'1 beast slamming into him. The other soldiers pulled out their swords and proceeded to charge the teen. His cutlasses twisted around two of the three swords, pulling them in for a hard basket hilt punch to the face. The other pulled a pistol as the teen was busy with the pair and almost pulled the trigger. That was before a blast of electricity hit him square in the chest, the teen looked at the shooter. The teen in green smiled gently, only to be blinded by lights to their side.
The drivers had the idea to start running, the engines roared as the various vans drove away, leaving only a sixteen wheeler that had just started. It roared as it started moving, and, because the pair was smart, they dove out of the way. The teen in the front leapt onto the back, realizing the possible contents of the cargo containers. She almost lost her balance, but a thud later and hand grasped hers. Another teen wearing musketeer style armor with blue adornments and a rather nice hat.
"Fearless leader, don't quit on me now, I would hate to see your beautiful face on the pavement." The teen said, his face with the cheekiest of grins. The female scoffed as she started forward, only to be blocked off by two more of the soldiers.
"Think you could help, pretty boy?" The girl yelled as she blocked a blow from the lead man. The male laughed as he ran to her side, his rifle's bayonet in front. The second man drew his sword and met the teen head on, the blades clashed, sparking as the teen fired a shot at the soldier. The bullet broke the engagement, just long enough for the teen to throw his rifle in the air and, with an elaborate flourish, have it open up and the bayonet to be fully revealed as a rapier. The rifle landed on his back, along with his cheeky grin.
The girl was still on the other end of the truck, he shield currently blocking the mans rifle butt. The man was fighting with reckless abandon, like a man without fear. The teen had pulled out a short sword to match him, but the man, whatever kind of faunas he was, held a definitive advantage in strength. The shield was being pushed and the man readied for the kill, only for the shield to be bashed against his skull and flipped to reveal a minigun. The man, even though he had no fear, could still tell that he didn't want be hit with the torrent of lead that thing would spew out. He didn't expect to have another man thrown into his back.
End Music…
The female looked at the other teen with question in her eyes.
"Not worth the wait." He said as he approached the cab, merely grabbing onto the side and flipping to the driver side.
"Pardon Moi, could you pull over for me?" He said as nicely as he could. The terrified driver, to everyone surprise, complied. The truck stopped on the side of the highway, with the driver coming out in a panic. The teen laughed, stopping when his leader pulled out a scroll.
"Holmes," She said, "We have a package."
"Really, what kind we talkin?" Came another voice on the other end, this one gruff yet educated.
"Couple of White Fang, transporting illegal good." The teen said with formalility.
"What kind of good?" The voice on the other end asked, his voice firm.
"Drugs, weapons…women, we got the last one with us right now." The teen said, her voice shaking at the last thing she listed.
"That's all? Got the women?" The man on the other end said, making the teen clench, "It's was a good call, tell me, anything unusual?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, just…the soldier wore black with gold trim…mean anything to you?" The teen said with a sigh of relief.
"Shit, are they subdued?" The voice asked, his voice becoming darker.
"Yes, they served as guards, we got two here, the rest are at the warehouse. Thatch and Alison are with them" The teen said back.
"Maria, check with them, make sure the soldiers are subdued. I'm on my way with some help." The voice on the end said back, cutting the connection.
"He sounded scared." Came another gruff voice on the end of the line.
"You listened in, Thatch?" Maria asked a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Course I did, the bad guys subdued, mission accomplished," The voice said, making Maria look at the sky as the connection was severed.
"We missed her though…"
Meanwhile, in the fancy car…
Mary was reclining in the back, her driver cruising down the highway. Suddenly her phone rang.
"Hello?" She said her voice thick and sweet.
"Ms. Blud…I…I'm sorry." The scared voice on the other end stuttered.
"What?" She asked back, her voice suddenly hard.
"The site was ambushed; all the Special Forces are…captured." The voice stuttered back.
"And the product?" She asked back.
"All of it got out…except for the Cat House…the women got way." The voice answered back. Mary pondered this, her hand resting on the seat.
"You said all of the soldiers are captured?" She asked.
"Yes." The man answered back, more fearful that ever.
"This…may play to our advantage, they can't report back to that lion bitch. Continue on with normal operations." She said, and with a snap of her scroll, the deal was sealed.
Darkness is the opposite of light but while neither can exist without the other, one must always be cautious of the shadow. The beings that exist in the darkness and light, their intentions are nigh impossible to determine. The shadow can be a great enemy, but it can also be the greatest of allies. The ones who have dark and light in their souls, they are the most dangerous. To whom, is the only question.
On the other side of the four kingdoms…
Rain pounded down on the man as he ran through the streets, running like the devil was at his tail. He dove through ally's, jumped over fences, and even through random buildings. He could feel it closing in, that…thing. He was part of a simple mugging, nothing hard. Just find an old rich man, pull him into an alley, and rob him blind, which was before that…thing showed up.
The thing showed up, the man only saw his partner be ripped into the air to know that this creature was something not to be trifled with, and thus…here he was now. The man took a right, only to see a solid wall, he quickly turned…only to see a figure in his way. The neon signs around them illuminated the thing. It was a man, wearing a combat suit tinted black, his face was covered by a mask with white eyeholes. It encased his entire head; the man had no flesh that could be seen, only adding to the fear.
In his hands, he clutched an axe, nothing special, just a plain axe used by woodcutters. That made it all the more scary as anyone who saw a horror movie would know the distinctive shape, the whole setup made the man look like a creature out of hell. The thug tried to scale the wall, only to fall face first onto concrete. He turned around to see the man charge, with a hard hand; he was slammed into the wall again. The thug cried out in pain as he slid to the floor, only to have the ax slammed into his leg.
"That hurt? Good, now pay attention," the man said, his voice showing a mixture of anger and excitement, "I know that you're a big man here, local…that you are the one they come to when someone wants to set up a meeting of ill repute."
The thug nodded vigorously, making the masked man laugh.
"Good, nice to see that I got the right guy, now then…tell me where the White Fang are recruiting," The man asked, only to get a hard shake of the head, prompting him to slam the ax into the other mans good leg, "Sorry, don't take rejection well."
"I…I don't know what your talking about," The thug said, only for the masked man to step into the wound on his left leg, "Fuck man, I don't know."
"I don't buy that for a second you sick bastard, tell me…or this gets worse." The masked man said, only for the thug to smile.
"Maybe we negotiate…" The man said, only to have the ax shoved into his right arm.
"Maybe I won't show you the inside of your guts." The masked man yelled back, making the thug quiver in fear.
"Alright…They're meeting on fourth…warehouse." The man stuttered through the pain, the masked man got up off his knees. He then aligned his ax with the mans neck.
"What the fuck man? I told you everything!" The thug yelled.
"Yes, I believe you…but you have been responsible for the death of many, the robbing of many, and other crimes. Don't beg to me, I'm just an Axman." The masked man said as he let the ax fall, lopping off the mans head. The bloody deed was done, he had set out with two goals tonight, one was accomplished, the other was about to begin.
A few minutes later…
The warehouse was…actually well lit, the people inside could clearly see, it was actually clean, and it was next to a beautiful ocean. The Axman just stared at it, his shock evident.
"For the first time in forever, I'm not going into a crap hole." He silently sang to himself as he climbed up the side of said building, the roof was littered with skylights which he promptly looked into. He could see he was in the right place; the White Fang had a flare for the dramatic when decorating, even when it was temporary. The hopeful recruits hung in the middle, listening to the speech by the captain. He was a wolf faunas, broad shouldered, wore black and gold robes. He was surrounded by normal White Fang soldiers, all of whom had a sword or a gun.
"Time to go to work." The Axman said as he opened the skylight, taking a dust crystal out of his pocked as he did, and throwing said crystal into building. It exploded in an electric shockwave, briefly knocking out the lights. The new folk were scared as the soldiers look around, worried about a Special Forces unit or something of equal caliber. The sound of a body landing attracted the gaze of everyone; the only thing visible was white glowing eyes. The eyes seemed to get up, right as the lights came back up.
The locals all shrunk back in fear, they knew who this person was…but the soldiers didn't.
"Who are you? No person could possibly be stupid enough to walk in here without backup." The leader said incredulously, his men all aiming their respective weapons. The Axman did a quick count, five and the commander, two with swords, three with guns, commander had a shotgun.
Insert "Let the Bodies hit the Floor" by The Drowning Pool
"Not stupid, just with a little hint of badass and craziness." The man said as he readied his ax, the two men with the swords charging. The first ones swing was blocked by the ax, seemingly opening up him up to the second guy. The soldier swung, only for the man to duck around both blades, and pull out a bowie knife. He stuck the blade into the second soldiers' guts, ripping his stomach open. The man fell, the pain making him black out, leaving the last man.
"Look, I'm not here for you, get out of my way…I'll let you live, I want your commander." The Axman said, only for the soldier to charge again. The vigilante merely ducked under the blade again, this time cutting the soldiers throat. The remaining soldier started firing, only for the man to grab the body of the dead guy and use it as a shield. The body was almost turned to mush, but since the assault rife only has a clip of about thirty rounds…the clips emptied quickly.
The masked man threw the body into the men, making separate, and then was on them like a flash. The first man fell with the Axmans blade into his chest, and the other two where kicked into the air. The Axman threw a knife into one of them, before leaping and kicking the man into the ground with a hard enough impact to stun him. The vigilante landed with a hard thud, turning his head towards the commander. The man showed no fear as he fired his shotgun, forcing the Axman to dodge.
The vigilante dove to the ground, rolling again to dodge a second shot, before grabbing the stunned White Fang soldier on the ground. One elaborate flip and slight of hand later, and he had him a human shield and loaded handgun. The black robed man eyed the pair, and, with almost no hesitation, fired through the soldier hitting the vigilante square in the chest. He went down, hard. The black robed soldier quickly turned to the remaining crowd, knowing he had to choose his next words carefully.
"The White Fang calls upon you to sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice…" The man started to say before he was interrupted.
"You know, jackass, its pretty clear that your new in town, otherwise, you would have kept pumping" The voice said as a knife erupted from the back of the mans knee. He fell to the floor in agony as the vigilante walked around the fallen body, turning to the crowd, "This is all that awaits you, death and betrayal."
End Music…
The crowd, too terrified to move until now, all ran out of the building. The Axman was a legend that had just turned real, their fear was justified. The vigilante turned to the wounded soldier, the man showing no regret with what he had just done, or fear of the man approaching him. The Axman pulled his ax from his belt, slowly walking towards the man in an attempt to build suspense. It was lost on the wounded man…
"I'm no afraid of you…" The man gasped out in pain, the wound on his leg sapping his breath away. The Axman merely shrugged as he stood next to the man; the vigilante raised his ax, and slammed it down into the mans good leg. The man screamed in agony, the sound was contradicted by the laugh that filled the air.
"Oh…that's a good sound, the sound of the guilty being punished. The sound of a murderer being given the pain that he has committed, brings a tear to my eye," The Axman said as he leaned down next to the man, "Blood, that's all you deal in, White Fang…and I'm merely here to collect your due."
Without ceremony, the vigilante slammed his ax into the other mans brain, killing him. The still twitching body laid there, silence overtaking the building. Suddenly the Axman pulled out a scroll.
"Reporting in, both targets dealt with." He said his voice calm.
"Dealt with how?" Came an annoyed female voice on the other end.
"My way…no collateral damage I assure you." The vigilante said, adding the last part quickly.
"Rick, you know that…" The voice on the other end began, only to be cut off by the man named Rick.
"Hey, don't worry about Emily, no innocents…just bad guys." Rick said, his attitude cocky.
"Whatever, hey…Ben picked up your mail while you were gone; got something you might want to hear about." The other voice on the line went on.
"I'm all ears; tell…did they finally make a way to makes the Dragonslayer blade a reality?" Rick asked, his joking nature contrasting sharply with the façade that he put up moments ago.
"No, although I truly fear the day when you can use that…It's a transfer script…you're going with us to Beacon." Emily said her voice full of a mixture of dread and happiness.
"Huh, should be fun…lot of people to kill in Vale, sounds good, when do we leave?" Rick asked, his voice barely containing his excitement.
"Tomorrow…" Emily said as she signed off.
OK, done with the Prelude…I think some clarification is in order. First, the team in the beginning belongs to my associate Zivon96, he has allowed me access to his characters for a while and I really wanted to use them. If you haven't read his story "RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light" or its sequel "RWBY: Light Extinguished", you should. It's a very well written story with a lot of action. (And the second one features four of my very own OC's from this story and my other one "Eight New Faces."
In other news, in case you haven't figured it out yet…this story is going to be VERY mature, as in booze, sex (No lemon though, I don't write that), violence, and extremely dark themes. So if you don't like that, this is your eject button. If you're staying, please enjoy!
Please…R&R, and remember…The Dark Side is Strong in this one.