RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)
I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.
I am making no money from this.
The Monty Oum Project, created in memory of Monyreak 'Monty' Oum. It's purpose is to encourage creative works in any field, as well as provide them with the tools to do so.
This is my contribution.
Get FNKI
Flynt Coal was dragged reluctantly from his sleep by the piercing high note of what sounded like an air raid siren blaring, cracking an eye open he was confronted by a sea of white mounds which caused him to force himself into a sitting position while mumbling a series of confused and barely intelligible curses between yawns. A few moments later after rubbing his bleary eyes and giving his brain a chance to come to terms with the fact he was awake now he managed to make sense of the situation; the white mounds around him were sleeping bags, from which other prospective students of Atlas Academy were rising in various states of disorientation
"GET UP YOU WORTHLESS MAGGOTS!" a stern voice roared
"STAND TO ATTENTION" the mess hall they had been confined to was instantly filled with teens in various states of undress rising to their feet and facing the speaker; flanked on either side by an Atlesian Knight was a short man in the white fatigues of the Atlesian Military, helmet removed to reveal a harsh and weathered face and wild eyes, spittle flying from his mouth as he addressed them once again
"I am Gunnery Sargent Harvest, your deputy headmaster. From now on you will speak only when spoken to and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be sir. Do you maggots understand that?"
"Sir yes sir" the prospective students chorused
"Bullshit! Sound off like you've got a pair!"
"Sir yes sir!" they repeated, each of them raising their voice in an attempt to match the furious tone of the soldier.
"If you ladies leave this facility, if you survive Huntsman training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death against the Grimm and our Kingdoms' enemies. Until that day you are pukes! You are the lowest form of life on Remnant! You are not even fucking people to me! You are nothing but unorganised grabastic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard you will not like me, but the more you hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair; there is no bigotry here. I do not look down on Fleabags, walking fur coats or chompers. Here you are all equally worthless" Flynt cast a quick look around and saw the handful of Faunus in the room bristling at the racial slurs, one in particular caught his eye; a feline whose tail was currently angrily raised which only partially distracted him from the fact she hadn't had chance to put a shirt on when the Sargent had called them to attention.
"Get your sorry asses dressed and stop staring at each others crotches maggots!" Sargent Harvest was speaking, or more accurately bellowing, again
"you have fifteen minutes to be locked and loaded and have your asses in a seat in the atrium. Now move it!"
"SIR YES SIR!" the group sounded out, Flynt immediately turning to his clothes which he had neatly folded the night before, his Dust fuelled trumpet and sonic cannon 'Duke Ellington' sitting atop the pile. It took him very little time to get dressed and recheck his weapon and make his way out of the mess hall following the direction the crowd were moving through the hallway, he found himself directly behind a towering teen in a crimson outfit with bulky body armour fitted over it that was a mixture of gunmetal and white, resembling an older model of what the Atlesian military used, slung across his back was what appeared to be collapsed heavy weapon of some sort
"Come on let's go, let's go let's go" an excited voice chirped from behind him, before Flynt could answer something shot passed him and clattered into the taller teen he was following revealing itself to be the Faunus girl he may or may not have been checking out a few minutes ago
"Sorry" she grinned making to speed off again on what Flynt now realised were roller skates only for the armoured teen to pull her back by the tail and elicit a furious hiss from her
"Hey ass-hole, what's the idea grabbing the tail? Didn't get chance to grab your own and give it a shake this morning huh? Did your momma not hug you enough or something fuck wit? Or I do just remind you of a pet kitten you killed because you petted it too hard 'cos I'm just saying you definitely look like the kind of brain dead meat shield the army could use more of, did you get lost? Is that why you're here?" Flynt shook his head trying to force his laughter to remain silent as he took in the rapid fire vitriol the petite girl was unleashing. Some of the others however were not so discreet in their amusement and the corridor full of people laughing at his expense forced the teen to react, hand reaching over his shoulder to his weapon
"Well it looks like you don't need to worry about initiation any more" Flynt noticed a slight accent in his voice that he couldn't place, the Faunus didn't bother with a verbal response merely smiling sweetly as she reached for the nunchaku tucked under her belt
"No, this isn't happening" Flynt sighed stepping between the two of them and triggering his Semblance, one of his clones moving behind each of the would be combatants and placing a hand on their shoulder
"If you really want to fight you can settle up after our initiation instead of holding the rest of us up. Or do you want to explain this to the Sarge?" at the mention of the Sargent both of them relinquished their grip on their weapons
"Whatever man" the towering Teen in armour grunted before stalking down the corridor
"Thanks, I'll save you a seat, I'm Neon by the way" the feline smirked before setting off again; making sure to turn around to flip off her would be opponent as she skated backwards, Flynt couldn't help but snort at that
"So apparently I'm surrounded by idiots. I should be used to it at this point I suppose" a drawling voice with a Mistrali accent lamented from beside him. Flynt already moving once more turned and peered over his sunglasses at the girl currently slouched against the wall that had spoken, face obscured by a mass of dark purple hair; his eyes being drawn to the ornate sword hanging from her hip. He decided against making any comment when he saw that he was almost at the doors of the atrium; entering he made his way through the ascending rows of seats that faced the stage; a sharp whistle getting his attention
"Hey" he grinned as he saw Neon indicating to an empty seat next to her near the back of the atrium, he made his way to her and took the seat
"Thanks, name's Flynt by the way"
"Woo hoo, made a new friend" she did a little dance in her seat while giving him a sarcastic smirk; any banter between the two of them was cut short by a loud buzzing sound, punctuated by a slight crackling
"Old Holo-projector" Neon noted, her assertion was proved correct seconds later as a hologram of a man every applicant to Atlas Academy recognised flickered into life, translucent blue, flickering and several times his actual size; General James Ironwood addressed the prospective students
"Greetings and welcome to Atlas Academy. Today will be the first step on your journey to become Huntsman and Huntresses, if any of you wish to reconsider now is the time to do so" no-one moved, as faces took on determined expressions; after a brief pause the General continued
"Our initiation process is relatively simple. Based on your transcripts and assessments each of you has already been partnered with another student, Hunter units are traditionally a team of four. We will be deploying each of you to the remains of Old Mantle with your partner, each team of four will have a designated extraction point to reach within a four hour time limit. Your objective is for you to locate the other pair of Hunters in your area, make your way to the extraction point and hold the position against all hostiles until air support can arrive. Good luck" with that the hologram flickered and faded away as excited murmuring began to fill the atrium
"I was hoping they'd let us pick our own partners" Neon pouted
"Did you have someone in mind?" Flynt asked flashing her a winning smile and a wink
"Oh yippee horny boys, just when I thought Grimm were the only thing I'd be beating the crap out of here" Neon returned the wink as she stuck her tongue out, before her brow creased and a frown formed on her face
"Can you hear that?" she asked
"No, your senses are better than mine" Flynt admitted "What is it"
"Sorry I forget humans are blind and deaf" she chuckled "It's a hissing sound….Oh my Oum I can smell gas, they're gassing us what the fuck!" she shot from her seat panicking trying to find any of the other Faunus in the crowd to confirm her fears
"We're being gassed! They're pumping something into the room get the door open!" she shouted. An avian Faunus identifiable by the cruel curved talons they had in place of fingernails struggled with the door
"It's jammed!" a Scorpion Faunus whose tail arched over their head pushed them aside
"I've got it" their stinger shot forwards so fast as to be invisible before the Faunus staggered back clutching the appendage and wincing in pain
"What the fuck is that door made of?"
"Move over I've got it" Flynt turned to see who had spoken, it was the armour clad teen that Neon had almost fought with moving into the aisle between the seats and crouching like a professional sprinter before barrelling forwards, not making it to the door before he collapsed to the floor coughing and wheezing. Looking around Flynt saw that some of the others had already collapsed and were unconscious, jumping slightly as someone grabbed his arm he turned to face Neon who had sunk back into her seat and was leaning against him, arms wrapped around his
"Just gonna get comfy here and-" her slurred speech was cut off by a yawn
"Come on snap out of it get up, get up" Flynt hissed before sinking into his own seat feeling admittedly sluggish
"It's going to be fine" a vaguely muffled voice informed him from overhead, his eyes were too heavy to look up and see who it was "Just let it happen" upon hearing those words Flynt's eyes finally closed and he blacked out.
Flynt's eyes opened, yet everything remained black
"What the hell!" his voice came out a little more panicked than he was comfortable with
"Easy kid" a gruff voice chuckled, something was pulled from Flynt's head revealing Gunnery Sargent Harvest holding the sack that has clearly been placed over his head, behind him sat an olive skinned young woman whom Flynt realised upon seeing the sword hanging from her waist he had briefly encountered earlier, her mass of dark purple hair had been tied back and she was currently regarding him with an unimpressed expression, the Sargent's voice dragged Flynt's attention away from her
"We'll be at your drop-zone in a few minutes, thought I'd come and check on you. Most people wake up their partner when they see where they are, apparently not everyone" he cast an annoyed glance over his shoulder "Last chance to back out, when that hatch opens are you jumping or staying here?"
"I'm jumping….sir" Flynt added, Sargent Harvest let out a bellowing laugh at that
"Cut that shit out, it's Mister Harvest. I only put that act on this morning to scare off anyone who doesn't have the gears to attend my beloved academy. There's usually one every year" straightening out he made to return to the cockpit of what Flynt now realised was the interior of a Bull-Head transport "Your new Hunter issue Scroll is on your seats next your weapon and your hat, a map indicating your extraction point is there. The only other people in the area are other half of your new team….Good luck" with that he exited the rear compartment of the craft. Flynt looked down and saw that he was held in place by a harness which he promptly set about detaching as he stood up, donning his hat and pocketing his scroll
"So I'm Flynt" he said conversationally as he re-checked Duke Ellington, to make sure that nobody had interfered with the weapons' mechanisms "Gonna assume from the fact you've clearly been awake for a while and didn't wake me up that you're probably not going to be fun to work with. Also assuming from the death glare you were giving me that the feelings' pretty mutual….feel free to confirm or deny that, or y'know say anything at all. Got a name?" his apparently unwilling partner stood up having detached her own harness already, at her full height she was a few inches taller than him. Her outfit was comprised of loose fitting pants and a sleeveless jackets of varying shades of brown, a greenish yellow vest and various pieces of armour made of leather and roughly fashioned dark metal
"It's time to go" she stated bluntly, almost immediately the rear hatch of the Bull-Head lowered, without another word she leapt from the craft
"I could have been with that cute quirky girl Neon, but no" he sighed before jumping out of the Bull-Head and plummeting downwards. As the floor rushed up to greet him he rummaged through his pockets before producing a small black crystal, Gravity Dust; clamping it between his teeth he placed his trumpet to his lips and simply allowed himself to fall for a few more seconds before blowing, the crystal flying from his mouth and shattering, Gravity Dust was predominantly used as an accelerant but Flynt's father had showed him a trick to use it a braking mechanism. The downward blast of wind and concussive force robbed Flynt of most of his momentum allowing him to land safely and switch Duke Ellington to its' much less often used 'sonic handgun' mode
"Impressive, I suppose you're constant chattering helped build up your lung capacity" a mocking voice with a Mistrali accent noted, Flynt turned to face his partner whose name he still hadn't learned
"Okay look, I don't know what you're problem is but you surely knew Hunters work in teams before you applied to the academy. Right now we are two of four people in a ruined city, put your attitude to one side and pull your head out your ass so we can handle this mission" he snapped. His partner merely rolled her eyes and drew her sword
"I would much rather it were just me and Domingo. But since you're here you can hold the map, which way is the extraction point?" Flynt forced himself not to snap at her again, she was being at least somewhat co-operative. Pulling his Scroll from his pocket he saw that there was an unread message with an attachment, upon opening it he saw that there was a map with both their intended drop zone and extraction points marked out and instructions for how to call for a Bull-Head. Pointing down the ruined street they were stood in Flynt began moving
"This way, I'm guessing we're the first people here in at least a year….keep your eyes open"
"Obviously"
"Are we going straight to the extraction point or are we looking for our team….Y'know considering who I'm talking to I can't believe I asked that" Flynt chuckled
"It makes more sense to go to the extraction point, our team-mates will be doing the same if they're not idiots. Unless you want to wander around aimlessly trying to find them"
"Fair point" Flynt admitted as he trudged through snow that had been allowed to accumulate for an extended amount of time "I don't suppose you're actually going to talk unless you have to? This is going to be a long trip and know your swords' name but not yours, which is honestly kinda unsettling" his partner remained silent for a few moments' seemingly mentally weighing up the pros and cons of indulging him before sighing
"My name's Indigo"
"So how come you're not at Haven? I mean I can tell you're from mistral originally so-"
"We're not friends Flynt" Indigo cut him off "You don't need to know details about why I'm here, just that I am and I don't plan on carrying whatever team I'm placed on" Flynt's scathing retort died on his lips as an explosion sounded in the distance
"Change of plans, that must be our team-mates" he set off in the direction of the sound, Indigo let out a long frustrated sigh before following.
"GERONIMO!" was the high pitched cheer that sounded as Neon leapt from the Bull-Head, followed by insane cackling as she picked up speed and readied her Semblance. Neon could convert kinetic energy into a stream of hard-light particles that trailed behind her, hence her choice in footwear, the skates helped her build up momentum again after discharging her ability
"I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the….WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU JACKASS!" the Faunus demanded as her partner flew past her, his body enveloped in a vibrant red glow. Curling herself into a ball as she fell she hit a pair of switches on her skates and hoped for the best, she hadn't had a chance to test this new feature as thoroughly as she'd like; unfolding just as she heard her partner impact against the ground with a boom that made her wince she listened for the mechanical click that signified her skates shifting into their hover-skate made and activated her Semblance the moment she heard it. A trail of rainbow coloured light streamed out behind her, slowly siphoning off her momentum as she used her new hover-skates to direct herself. The cheer of joy she let out was premature as a sudden tremor running through her leg alerted her to a malfunction, her momentary distraction to caused her to loose control of her Semblance sending her face planting into the snow from several stories up while shimmering rainbow coloured light ripped carved neatly through the nearest building. Rolling onto her back and sputtering Neon managed to deactivate her skates, the wheels and small Dust powered thrusters collapsing back into her boots before the sound of laughing reached her
"And they say Faunus are animals, if you were actually a cat you would have stayed on your feet" Neon glowered up at her partner, the same armour clad Hunter who had grabbed her tail earlier, offering a hand to her which she reluctantly accepted
"Yeah well that's the downside of making your own gear instead of buying army surplus" she laughed "Besides your landing didn't sound any less painful"
"My Semblance" he countered simply with a bored shrug "That and the fact I'm not built like a toothpick, perhaps the next thing you make should be some armour….or a coat?"
"That's weird, your mouth moved but I heard my Dads' voice" Neon smirked while rolling her eyes "So I take it we're going to forget about what happened earlier?"
"Well unless you hold grudges and have a daddy kink-"
"OH FUCK OFF!" Neon spat, earning a deep rumbling laugh from her new partner "So what's your jar head? I'm Neon"
"Kool, Kool cherry" he managed to gasp out
"Wow" Neon gave him an evil grin upon hearing the name "Your Mom did not like you"
"No but yours will love me" the Faunus narrowed her eyes before gathering a hand full of snow
"A snow ball fight, really?" Kool shook his head while withdrawing his scroll from his pocket "Okay I see where we're meant to be going"
"What about our team-mates?" he merely shrugged at Neons' question
"They're either already heading to the extraction point or they heard my landing and they're heading this way" with that said he began trudging through the snow in the direction of their destination, Neon trailing along behind him. They made it through several streets whose ruined buildings had not been occupied for almost a century before the wind carried a sound to Neons' sensitive ears
"Wait" she whispered nudging Kool "I hear something" coming to a halt she strained her ears, hand flying to the nunchaku at her belt at the sound of growling and snapping
"Grimm" she informed her partner "Sounds like Beowolves" she readied her weapon 'The party starter'
"Just so you know, this is your fault" Kool noted conversationally as he unslung the weapon over his shoulder, shifting the high calibre machine gun from its' collapsed state "But it's okay, Juggernaut here is going to deal with them, she's loaded with Fire Dust right now"
"Fail to see how this is my fuck up" Neon grumbled
"That little panic attack you had when your boots stopped working, Mantle's been deserted since the Great War, that was probably the first negative emotion that any Grimm here have had to latch on to for a while" the bickering died as the first of the pack of Grimm rounded the corner several feet away, tilting its' head back and howling
"And you're just gonna let that happen?" Neon demanded incredulously
"Well I'm not wasting rounds on just one. Be a dear and deal with that one if it gets close" eye twitching at her partners' attitude Neon set her Nunchaku to use an Ice Dust crystal she had loaded into it and stepped in front of him as the Beowolf stalked towards them before leaping into the air, clearly intending to lunge at her face Neon ducked and swung her weapon upwards; the Beowolf letting out a yelp of pain as its' underbelly froze on contact with the Dust. Using a strength few people expected her to posses Neon picked the Grimm up and hurled it against the wall of the nearest ruined building, its' frozen body shattering on impact; she had no chance to celebrate however as the rest of the pack had arrived, over a dozen equally bloodthirsty Grimm, each staring directly at the pair of Hunters
"Now its' worth wasting ammo" Kool smirked, Neon took that as her cue to get out of the way; as soon as she was clear the bulky Huntsman opened fire, a barrage of high calibre rounds, filled with incendiary Fire Dust ripped through the beasts, reducing them to rapidly dissipating wisps of darkness within seconds
"Okay that was cool" Neon grinned "But any Grimm that turn up now are on you, because there is no way they didn't hear that" Kool merely scoffed
"I'm not sure that's how-" he was cut off by a noise that sent chills down his spine, an echoing screeching roar. The pair looked at each other
"I know I probably shouldn't brag right now but I-"
"Just get moving, use the path I cleared through the snow to scout ahead" Kool instructed, looking at the ground she saw that the incendiary rounds had indeed melted through the accumulated snow, seeing that her skates would now have traction she deployed them and set off, making it the end of what looked as if it had once been a high street in seconds before casting a quick look around the corner and seeing the Grimm that had roared prowling towards their position. Turning towards Kool who was making his way towards her, still clutching Juggernaut she silently mouthed out to him
"Only one, but its' huge" Kool slowly made his way next to her, back against the wall
"What are we looking at?" he whispered
"Ever seen a Fatalis up close before?" seeing him shake his head Neon continued "A whole lot of teeth and muscle, they can keep pace with Bull-head transports as well" the larger Hunter took a deep wavering breath
"Well we've gotta get past it. Direct approach it is" Neon didn't have chance to argue as he rushed around the corner and opened fire with a primal roar that trailed off as he watched the monstrous Grimm simply run up the nearest wall and on to a roof avoiding his gunfire, seconds later Juggernaut was empty
"I need to reload!"
"You won't have chance" Neon argued, only to be proven correct as the Fatalis leapt from the roof directly into the street they were on and turned to face them. The Grimms' haunches reached the second story windows, its' ribs and underbelly appeared to be emaciated whereas its' limbs were masses of coiled muscle, bone armour encased its' skull and ribcage and sharp protrusions jutted from its' spine and its' upper jaw sported a pair of fangs each almost as long as Neon was tall; the sabre toothed tiger Grimms' whip like tail swished as it stalked towards them
"Up close and personal it is then" Kool grunted as he shifted Juggernaut into its' secondary mode, armour sliding over the barrel of the machine gun forming a shaft as it morphed into an oversized hammer. The Fatalis rushed at him with a snarl, only to smash face first into a shimmering rainbow barrier. Neon had lunged across the street while triggering her Semblance. The barrier was only strong enough to take a single hit before vanishing, right as Kool swung his hammer; the solid connection against its' skull knocked it back a step only for it to bat him aside, sending him crashing to the ground before rounding on Neon.
"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat" the feline whispered to herself as she collapsed the wheels of skates back into her boots and assumed a fighting stance, switching the party starter to Gravity Dust; she blocked its' first swipe with her nunchaku, the Dust jerking its' forelimb back with a sickening crack of breaking bone
"OH YEAH!" the Fatalis turned to face the source of the shout only to be tackled by Kool, whose shoulder impacted against its' ribs sending it crashing to the ground. The larger Hunters' body had the same vivid red glow she had seen when he leapt from the Bull-head, though it was rapidly fading
"What was that?" Neon demanded, utterly dumbstruck?
"My Semblance" he grinned "Its' called 'Wall Breaker'"
"And it was really, really cool, right up until you said that" Neon snickered. The moment was short lived as the Fatalis rose to its' feet hissing and snarling its' defiance, its' left forelimb was a mangled mess bent at an odd angle and there were visible cracks running down the bone armour of its' flank yet it was still more than capable of killing them as it stalked forwards
"Any ideas?" Kool asked
"Erm, blocking didn't work, shooting it didn't work, hitting it didn't work….I'm drawing a blank"
"HEY! HEY OVER HERE!" the Fatalis rounded on the newcomer and Neons' eyes widened at the sight of Flynt standing behind the Grimm and to the left….and also to the right
"You might want to cover your ears" a third Flynt warned her as it as well as a fourth got behind the beast as it turned, all four Flynts placed an Ice Dust crystal between their teeth, brought their respective trumpets to their mouths and unleashed; encasing the Fatalis in a block of ice before the three clones vanished, revealing the Flynt stood nearest to be the real one
"You're gonna have to colour code those or something" Neon muttered
"INDIGO NOW!" he shouted, his partner revealed that she had taken a position on a nearby roof and sprinted forwards, leaping onto the frozen Grimm and jamming Domingo through its' eye and into its' skull before back-flipping to the ground and landing with a flourish. Flynt turned to Neon, giving her a bright smile as her peered over his sunglasses
"So" he smirked "What's new pussy cat?"
"Just pointing out we've got just under forty five minutes to be at the extraction point" Kool grumbled as the four of them made their way through the deep snow and streets that had been the site of battles that they had all been told stories about as children "I didn't take the long ass flight to Atlas just to get sent home"
"We're going to make it" Flynt assured him as he pointed towards what looked like an old commercial district in the distance "It's about fifteen minutes walk that way….where are you from by the way? I noticed you've got a weird accent"
"Born and raised on Seeungeheur outpost" Kool answered, chest puffing out with pride until he realised nobody else present had even heard of the place "It's a giant deep sea Dust mining rig, I mean huge it's basically a town on its' own, really far out at sea we're actually nearer to Vale than Atlas. My parents work there"
"Oh so they work for the Schnees?" Flynt asked, face darkening
"Yeah but fuck the Schnees, they're more bothered about money than peoples' lives" Kool growled
"Now there's a sentiment I can get behind"
"It's why I want to be a Huntsman" Kool explained with a shrug "Because we're so far from Atlas the response time for the Hunter Corps or the Specialists if any aquatic or airborne Grimm attack is just too long to wait, Vale won't send their Hunters because we're an Atlas settlement but old man Schnee won't spend the money on a handful of Atlesian freelancers. My dads' a chief engineer I got taught from young if you want something done properly then see to it yourself, I want my home protecting"
"Fucking Schnees man, they own half of Remnant but can't pay for security" Flynt shook his head in disgust "My Dads' got a little Dust Shop down in Lower Atlas, I grew up on his knee listening to Hunters tell me stories about all the cool shit they've seen; I figured that's my ticket out. I love my Dad but I really can't see the family business lasting much longer, every time the White Fang hit an SDC shipment the price of Dust and insurance goes up for everyone"
"Speaking of Hunters" Kool looked around "What's with the Grimm here….I mean I know it's a training exercise but you'd have thought the Freelancers would have used this place as a training ground or base by now?"
"They don't have the clearance" Neon informed them, smirking at the disbelieving stares on her team-mates' faced
"All Old Mantle settlements are designated no go areas, since Freelancers aren't part of the standard chain of command they'd be turned away by the ships that patrol the perimeter" she explained "I'm an army brat, grew up on warships; Mum's a gunner Dads' the repair guy for our robot troops"
"So you're going into the family business?" Flynt asked with a playful grin "Sorry, as cute as you are I can't take you home. My old man would use you against me"
"Oh Oum no" Neon snorted "I'm going Freelance, picking my own jobs and actually getting shit done" Flynt and Kool gave her approving nods at that, sharing her opinion on the effectiveness of government contracted Hunters. Flynt turned to his partner
"Hey Indie, what about you, feel like sharing?"
"Not especially and don't call me that" she drawled
"Ouch" Neon stage whispered "Maybe you shouldn't have told me I'm cute then tried getting her to warm up to you" Kool snorted at his partners' antics
"Fine" Indigo huffed "If it'll shut you up for a few minutes I'll tell you a little about me. Never knew my Mum she put me in my Dads' care and vanished, Dad was a Huntress living in Mistral when I was born; whole family were Hunters. he came over to Atlas to help my uncle who was one of the Freelancers, got himself was killed by a giant bug Grimm and my uncle took me in. I'm not trying to save the world or anything noble. I just want to kill Grimm"
"Damn" Flynt sighed "That's….fuck, that's really-"
"I don't want your pity Flynt" she snapped "Surely we're at the damn extraction point?" he checked the map again, deciding to let her snapping at him again go
"Yeah, about two minutes that-" he trailed off seeing the towering building that he assumed had once housed office blocks "Pretty sure its' that big building there. Weapons, ready let's go" he reached for Duke Ellington and switched to Sonic Handgun mode, the trumpet might be flashy but he wanted to be able to rapid fire if it came to a fight, Kool readied Juggernaut having reloaded the gargantuan weapon on the way, Domingo found its' way into Indigo's hand and Neon twirled The Party Starter nervously as they approached
"I'll bet a hundred Lien right now that there's Grimm in there" Neon turned to her team "Any takers?"
"Nope" Flynt shook his head before turning to Kool "Take a shot at some of the windows, the Grimm aren't too smart. I'd rather flush 'em out than fight in a confined space"
"You got it" with that he unloaded a salvo into the second and third story windows and was rewarded with the sound of snapping and growling almost instantly
"Only Beowolves, shouldn't be too much of a problem" Flynt noted, only for a buzzing and hissing to begin emanating from the building
"Why would say that dumb ass, why?" Neon demanding while shaking her head in disbelief. The source of the noise revealed itself, bursting from the side of the building and scrabbling down on countless pairs of thin legs that ended in sharp points. Its' body a twenty foot long collection of segmented underbelly and chitinous armour plating along its' back which sparked as the beast moved, oversized mandibles clacked as it regarded them, antenna waving incessantly
"Holy fuck, what is that?" Kool demanded
"That" Flynt hissed distastefully "Is an Infinipede….Indigo! Indigo what the fuck are you doing?" she had seen the Grimm and started marching towards it, Flynt looked from her to the Infinipede and a horrible thought occurred to him as he remembered what she had said only moments earlier. The olive skinned Huntress readied her sword and faced down the Grimm
"Hello, my name is Indigo Montoya and you killed my father. Prepare to die" and with that the battle began.
"Neon can you give us some kind of cover?" Flynt demanded as his weapon discharged waves of pure concussive force in rapid succession, each hitting with a low bass note
"Cover me me for a sec" she replied as she sprinted away from the scene hoping to build up enough momentum. Juggernaut let off a thunderous report as it mowed through Beowolves, Kool turned to Flynt
"I'll cover Neon, worry about her!" he nodded to Indigo who was dodging the Infinipede which was currently rearing up and attempting to dive down onto her, swallowing her whole. Her sword has already scored numerous marks along its' armoured carapace
"I can do both" Flynt countered before triggering his Semblance, splitting his attention equally between the Beowolves and the Infinipede just as one of the pack attempted to pounce on him, only to find itself decapitated by a rainbow coloured guillotine
"Sorry" Neon panted "I can't keep throwing those, I need to fix my skates"
"And I really need a bigger ammo drum" Kool noted before roaring with exertion as he charged forwards, body glowing as he swung his hammer into several Grimm. Flynt was preoccupied however, he could see electricity starting to arc across the overlapping plates of the infinipede and shouted over to Indigo
"INDIE MOVE IT HAS A RANGED ATTACK!"
"I know" she gave him a feral grin over her shoulder as she ran forwards. The Grimm attacked, countless legs sinking into the ground as it launched thunderbolts from its' antennae, twin crackling streams of lightning connected with the outstretched tip of the vengeful Huntresses' sword as she charged forward, Flynt could only stare open mouthed as Indigo seemingly parried lightning and hurled the attack back at the Grimm, several pairs of legs buckling under the attack as Indigo ran screaming with fury directly into its' open maw, the tip of her blade becoming visible as she stabbed repeatedly through the Grimm until it began to dissolve. Indigo turned to face Flynt on shaky legs, Domingo trembling in her hand
"My Semblance" she said softly, upon seeing the worried expression on his face "It's called Wizards' Parry, basically I can counter pretty much anything"
"We're pretty much done mowing through Grimm back here" Kool called over, Flynt turned to see that his Semblance generated clones had ceased firing while he was distracted, though Kool and Neon were more than making up for it by ploughing through Beowolves at close range
"Well that was fun, you should have joined in" Neon noted dryly before sticking her tongue out at Flynt who merely chuckled
"Okay the extraction point is up there" Kool panted, cracking his neck "How do will call our ride" Flynt checked his Scroll for the answer and was subjected to a sinking feeling in his stomach
"There's a ships' homing beacon on the roof. We have to go get it"
"And there' probably still plenty more Grimm to fight through in there" Indigo noted "We don't have time….We failed" Flynt's jaw set
"Not necessarily….Neon, any idea how much punishment the Beacon can take?"
"A metric shit-ton. They're meant to survive the ship they're part of being blown up" she informed him happily
"Kool, how exactly does your Semblance work?"
"I'm basically invulnerable while charging, anything in the way either gets moved or crushed" the larger Hunter explained
"So the support columns shouldn't be a problem?" the other three teens stared at him in shock as they realised what he was suggesting
"Yeah, yeah I can do that for you" Kool answered
"Okay go for it, Neon; one last barrier from you if you can pull it off; Indigo, me and you are taking out any Grimm that try and make a run for it" with nods of understanding they sprung into action Neon jogging on the spot as Kool rushed forwards, body enveloped in a vivid red light
"OH YEAH!" sounded from the buildings' interior before the sounds of the structure being ripped apart from the inside out made themselves known. Indigo shifted her rapier to a revolver mode that Flynt hadn't realised it had as the two of them opened fire on Grimm that tried to clamber from the windows as the building collapsed. Kool ran back out of the office block as it began to crumple under its' own weight
"NOW NEON!" Flynt ordered as Kool reached them, with a cry she let her Semblance loose; a solid plane of rainbow light protecting them from the storm of debris that clattered against it
"Everyone okay?" Flynt asked, wrapping an arm around an exhausted Neon as she staggered forwards
"Just mostly dead" she mumbled
"Okay then" he chuckled as his three Semblance generated clones manifested "I'm going to dig through that wreckage and find that beacon" with an objective in mind the clones moved forwards, Flynt beginning to tire as more energy was sapped from him with each moment they were active; an inexplicable feeling of elation passed through him, something he'd long since learned to associate with his Killer Quartet achieving a goal
"Okay they've found it and activated it, let's go wait" with that Flynt released his Semblance and the four of them climbed the small mountain of debris that had been a building. Within minutes the sound of a Bull-Head approaching reached their ears. They all stood to attention as the craft landed, rear hatch lowering to reveal Sargent Harvest staring at them in utter disbelief
"Do any of you maggots want to explain what the fuck is going on here and what happened to your extraction point?" Flynt cracked a smile as he answered
"Sir our orders were to converge on this location and defend the homing beacon until extraction, orders did not state that the building itself was required to remain standing. Mission accomplished sir" Neon, Indigo and Kool stared open mouthed and him; there was a moment of tense silence before the Sargent bent double roaring with laughter
"Oh the next four years are going to be fucking entertaining I can see. Congratulations upon completing your initiation, as of right now you are all students of Atlas Academy"
The four of them stood on the stage that evening, back in the atrium with the eyes of every student and instructor at the Academy upon them, in their newly issued Atlas Academy uniforms; Flynt thankful for his decision to visit his barber before leaving as he had been told in no uncertain terms that his hat was against regulation, hi Sunglasses were currently tucked into one of his pockets, next to him was Neon; hair let down and looking more than a little uncomfortable at the formality of the situation, next was Kool whom the Sargent had promised to issue a more recent model of the body armour he had integrated into his combat gear, Indigo stood furthest away expression as unreadable as ever.
"And our final first year team" General Ironwood intoned stepping forwards "Completed their mission with courage, determination and ingenuity that should make every citizen of the Kingdom of Atlas feel both proud and safe in the knowledge that they are counted among our defenders" he attached new dog tags around each of their necks as he moved from one student to the next
"Indigo Montoya, Kool Cherry, Neon Katt and team leader Flynt Coal; from this moment forward you will be Team FNKI"
Authors Notes:
A team FNKI Origin story, how have I not seen someone else jump at this?
Sargent Harvest….If I even have to tell you who he's an homage to, you're probably too young to be reading my work.
This story may or may not exist within the same universe as 'The Downward Spiral' I kept it vague so it can be interpreted either way.
I can't tell if I ship Flynt and Neon are not, I think they might be friends that fucked once and it never got awkward between them.
Flynt's weapon is, as in my main story, called 'Duke Ellington; because Jazz.
First year Neon took no shit.
Atlas's approach to its' initiation is a little bit more brutal, it seems fitting for them "Yeah we're going gas you and drop you into hostile territory, and we're not coming to look for you if you're not where you're supposed to be".
"That cute quirky girl Neon" is actually a reference to Jaune's thoughts about Ruby in Vol.1 because some things are universal.
If anyone didn't get it Kool Cherry is based on the Kool Aid man and the "Oh Yeah!" meme; his Semblance is called Wall Breaker for obvious reasons.
Indigo Montoya is based on Inigo Montoya and the "Hello my name is…." meme her sword is named Domingo after her inspirations' father and her Semblance is called Wizards' parry; Wizard is the fictional rank above Master swordsman than Inigo Montoya holds.
Fatalis and Infinipede are Grimm of my own creation based on Sabre Toothed Tigers and Centipedes
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.