Team VRSZ Volume 4
Somewhere in Vacuo lies a place named Fortuna, a town that was practically nameless to the rest of Remnant. That's what it was in the past, but now it has transformed into something resembling a small city. It was nowhere near as developed as one of the four kingdoms, but it was a step in the right direction thanks to the reconstruction project. The success of the project helped repair old ruins into buildings that could be used as homes or places of business that furthered the semi-city's development. The project was created and led by a young woman named Clair de Lune Vantablack, a member of the Vantablack family, an aristocratic family whose members work behind the scenes in different governmental bodies around Remnant.
The expansion of Fortuna has brought in more residence and business, and because of it, Clair is almost viewed as a savior. The semi-city has gotten a little more recognition in the world of Remnant, but that wasn't always a good thing because new crooks and waves of crime have gathered as well and Clair couldn't fight them like a huntress, but in a manner befitting a ruler, though she will do whatever needs to be done for her home. However, everyone agrees that engaging Clair in an actual fight would be suicide. Clair has kept her home peaceful for quite a long time, even holding several parties and festivals to keep her citizens' spirits up in order to keep the Grimm activity at an all time low, but the Lady seemed rather cheerless in the past couple days and not many people knew why, though there were a few under her command who understood her dilemma.
Setting: Concordia
Clair de Lune Vantablack was in her office sitting at her desk trying to finish the last of the paperwork she had to complete and the reports she had to review. She was wearing a white shoulder-less blouse with long sleeves and a ruffled collar with a pair of black dress pants and matching high heels. Her finger nails were painted black and her ears were pierced with moon shaped earrings. Despite showing no physical changes, the people of Fortuna would say their Lady has grown even more beautiful after completing the reconstruction project. Her uncle, Sterling Vantablack, was by her side the entire time to deliver the work to their designated areas, but he saw his niece's sorrowful expression. Signing her signature on one last paper, Clair fell forward on her desk letting go of her pen.
"Finally I'm done," she said with her face planted on her desk. She saw a pair of hands pick up the set of documents and she lifted her head once more. "Thank you so much uncle, I don't think I have any more strength in my hands to carry those, or any strength to walk for that matter."
She was trying to be funny, but Sterling can see through the facade. "Clair, are you still unwell?" Sterling said cutting through her facade to get to the root of the problem. Clair remained silent because she couldn't put up a front with the veteran Vantablack. Seeing as how her uncle wasn't going to deliver the papers until she answered, she did what he wanted and answered.
"How long has it been since we've seen them uncle? It feels so long ago since we've been graced with their presence," Clair said while turning her chair to look out the glass wall behind her to look at her Fortuna.
"It's been around eighteen months since the last time we've seen those three. It has been quite awhile, are you worried about them?"
"Those two boys will be alright, but the bounty on Wallflower's head made me nervous the moment you told me about it. A month after she left and she receives a bounty of 400,000 Lien? That is clearly corruption on someone's part and it only continued to increase as time passed. By now it stands at 520,000 Lien. I did my best to find her or to remove the bounty altogether, but my efforts have proven useless."
"All efforts Clair?"
"Even Team BASG (Beige) is using their free time to search for clues, but they've come up empty as well. Hmm, I almost think she really doesn't want to be found by us, but I know Silver and I will keep looking."
"It has definitely been some time since I've seen him. How is master Silver doing in regards to searching for his leader?" Sterling asked with concern.
"Surprisingly well, I think he is used to failing to find her and he isn't bothered by it anymore," Clair answered. "In fact, Team BASG is out following a lead right now. Bianca informed me that a group of bounty hunters were planning a joint assault on Violet. They've been lucky enough to track her movements and Team BASG plans to attack and interrogate them before their ambush can commence, maybe find Violet and bring her home."
Setting: Somewhere in Vale
In a forest located near the fallen expansion known as Mountain Glenn was a large wooden lodge. Around the isolated building were unknown figures moving through the shadows. The figures were the members of Team BASG, staking out the building that housed the bounty hunters planning to go after Violet.
"Standby. Get in position Ghost. Once I give Blood the signal, the mission begins," Bianca said via wireless headset. She was near the lodge with another person beside her. Bianca appeared a little more mature, but her attire didn't changed at all.
"Understood, awaiting your command," Ghost answered with the palm of Purgatory bursting with fire dust.
Ghost has changed in clothing and appearance. He still wore his father's old tattered Greyhound jacket, but he wore a dark cyan shirt underneath with white pants and white sneakers with the same shade of cyan in the linings. Ghost got a little taller, not as tall as Silver, but he finally surpassed his sister. The long hair that he once had was reduced to a short messy hairstyle. The only thing that appeared out of place was the ghastly claw gauntlet that was his weapon, Purgatory.
"Ready Silver?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered with a focused look as he crouched down next to her.
Silver was wearing a black sleeveless suit vest with five silver buttons. Beneath that was a silver shirt with matching silver trouser pants and a black belt complimented by a silver belt buckle and holsters for his guns. He still wore his one fingerless glove and had a pair of black shoes. Silver's hair has changed slightly. He kept his black hair on his right side in its usual slick back style, but the spiky silver skunk streak on his left grew in length so much that he almost had two spikes cover his left eye like bangs.
Bianca and Silver raised their hands and Blood swooped down from the skies to grab both of them and fly above the lodge. Blood didn't change his clothes either, keeping his dark brown dress shirt, black pants, and shoes that were red at the tip. He stopped directly above the building still holding Silver and Bianca. With a squeeze from her hand, Blood let them go as they fell onto the roof and Ghost used Spectre to phase through the floor with fire emanating from Purgatory's palm while Bianca and Silver busted through the roof and ceiling with their guns out. Bianca kept her original bayonets, but Silver sported new handguns.
They looked around, expecting to fight some sleazy, bloodthirsty, money-grubbing bounty hunters, but were met with a something they weren't expecting. The place was destroyed with furniture scattered, walls damaged, and many bounty hunters unconscious all over the place. It was clear that a battle took place here and they lost badly. Some of them had cuts and nasty gashes while others had second degree burns, broken limbs, and internal bleeding.
Blood entered by busting through the front door and saw the spectacle before Bianca ordered them to look for anyone conscious or at least alive. Team BASG found that they were all out cold, but will live to see another day, unfortunately that meant they wouldn't be able to find out what happened. Silver was finishing his search then found something that answered the 'who done it' question.
"She was here."
The others looked to him when he said that. Silver looked at one of the bounty hunters and found something he hasn't seen in a long time, a Vorpal Sword, Violet's Vorpal Sword, lodged into the man's shoulder, but it wasn't like the ones he remembered. This particular throwing knife looked more menacing than any set she has ever used. With zero regard for the victim, Silver grabbed the knife and pulled it out of the man who screamed.
"Looks like she's the one who got the drop on them," Blood said.
Scanning the area Bianca came to a conclusion. "This was fairly recent but-"
"Yeah, she's long gone now," Silver said wiping the blood of the knife. His teammates thought he'd be sad, but he smiled. Silver kept the knife as a souvenir. Bianca could tell he was happy knowing that Violet was still okay and kicking, not to mention this was the closest they ever got to her. Silver thought today was success.
"Let's go back, can't leave the airship out in the open like that. Grimm activity is more frequent around here than before after that whole Vytal festival fiasco," Bianca ordered and the members of Team BASG followed her lead leaving the bounty hunters to fend for themselves since they don't need or want to help them in any way.
"Blood, keep our flying under the radar. The kingdoms have become very testy when it comes to unsanctioned airships," Bianca told Blood who sat in the pilot's seat.
"Got it," he said prepping the vehicle for launch. Bianca sat back in the passenger seats with her brother and Silver who played with Vorpal Sword in his hand. She felt like he needed some reassuring words so she walked over to him to boost his morale.
"We haven't been able to track her, but her movements have been leading her closer to Vacuo. She was in Atlas, Mistral, now Vale, Vacuo is probably next, and then she'll make her way home," she said sitting down next to him.
"Yeah... won't be long now." Silver took his eyes off the knife and unto his friend. They looked at one another fondly, but to the third wheel in the room, Ghost thought it was disturbing.
"For the umpteenth time, she is my sister," he said breaking both their stares. He enjoyed being Silver's friend and having a sister was great and all, but the idea of the two of them together seemed to upset him significantly.
"Grow up Ghost, we were just talking and if I recall, I'm the older sibling so I really don't have to listen to you," Bianca said with a playful smirk that made her brother arch his eyebrow in annoyance while it left Silver feeling like she was playing with both of them. They were times Silver thought Bianca saw him as another brother.
"Oh before I forget, how's it going with Sapphire?" Silver jested knowing how Ghost felt about the girl. The grim look on his friend's face proved he struck a nerve.
"...Nothing Silver. There is nothing going on between us. I don't care what lies she is spurring." Ghost's grumbling got a laugh out of his teammates.
Ghost knew Silver liked his sister and Bianca liked him too, but preferred to tease him about it than be upfront with it. He was the type of person who didn't like the idea of friends hooking up with family, even if they knew each other long before they met him. Fulfilling his role as younger brother, Ghost planned on interfering with any kind of relationship that could prove romantic.
Setting: Desert Near Fortuna
Team BASG's airship was able to fly under the radar as the team made their way back home. While Blood was piloting the airship, the rest of the team waited patiently till they made it back home, well everyone except Silver was waiting patiently. He was sprawled out dramatically and moaned loudly so everyone present knew that after several hours of flying he was bored.
"AAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! Are we there yet?" He complained because he wanted to, much to the annoyance of those around him. It was at this point Bianca would walk over to Silver and punch him to shut him up, but Blood turned on the intercom before she followed with her action.
"Hey guys, we made it back and there seems to be some Grimm activity near Fortuna," Blood informed them.
Silver got up and used the intercom in the hanger. "We already completed our mission for the day, someone else will get to it."
"I know, someone has already engaged them in battle," Blood responded.
"See, some bounty hunters or new academy students can take care of it," Silver said before walking back to his seat.
"Actually Silver, the work being done down there is being done by a freelancer," Blood said happily.
When Silver heard him use that specific word his head perked up instantly and his eyes widened. Bianca and Ghost looked at each other, then to Silver and said 'Go!' in unison. Silver turned on his heels and ran to the cockpit where Blood was flying the airship. Through the windshield, he saw Grimm being tossed around through the sands and in the middle of it all was a man with twin wingblades mixed with gold stirring up a storm to batter the Beowolves and Nevermores.
Silver had a very large smile on his face as he made his way to the airships door where he slammed on the emergency button to open it. No one tried to stop him when he opened it and they didn't stop him when he jumped off the plane with no parachute, only someone who was the opposite of ordinary could do this and Silver was very far from ordinary. He reached for his guns and took them out as he used Gravity to increase his mass, sending him plummeting faster. Silver landed on the back of an unsuspecting Nevermore and the sheer force killed the beast as its fading body fell as Silver jumped off reversing Gravity's effect in an instant. The freelancer on the ground spun around once and created a massive windstorm that pushed back and killed some Grimm then Silver descended safely to the ground next to the person.
"Only person in Remnant who's a literal windbag! Zelts, my man it's been too long!" Silver said happily as he walked up and placed a hand on the freelancer's shoulder.
Zelts turned around with a big smile on his face that was now sporting a chin strap beard to match his short messy ginger hair. From the looks of his clothing, Silver guessed Zelts had spent considerable time in Mistral before coming here. Zelts adopted a more ronin style of clothing. He wore a pair of grey Inakaya denim pants with a sleeveless gold armored muscle shirt laced with dust and a short samurai robe that ended at his waist like a jacket and it had only one sleeve on the right side. The robe was green with gold ornamental lining. Zelts also wore a green scarf given to him by Lily and despite his new style of clothing he wore black converse high tops.
"You got taller," Zelts said with a grin.
"And you have facial hair."
"Yeah, Tigr- I mean Lily really likes it," Zelts said rubbing the back of his head with a hint of blush on his face.
Silver grinned nudging Zelts in the gut while Grimm surrounded them. With a twist of his blades, Zelts created a small burst of wind that sent them all flying and Silver shot each of them with his guns and the dust rounds set the Grimm ablaze but the remaining Grimm continued to move in close.
"You dog you, tell me the details about you and Lily after this, alright?" Silver said and it made Zelts laugh at the innuendo.
"I've really missed you Silver," Zelts said genuinely.
The Beowolves once again attacked in a swarm, surrounding the two freelancers, but Zelts once again swept them up into another maelstrom. Silver used Gravity to jump on top of one of the Grimm and killed each one with a point-blank head-shot before jumping to get to the next one until the windstorm ceased and he was high in the sky about to battle the Nevermores leaving Zelts to cleave through the Beowolves on the ground.
Team BASG set their airship down nearby and watched the spectacle, as the battle continued they all noticed one thing, half of Team VRSZ fighting together again with smiles on their faces. Blood and Ghost watched with amused looks while Bianca watched as well, but her focus was more on Silver. She smiled happy for her friend who finally had one of his brothers back after all this time. Bianca knew he really wanted to spend time with her and they were able to bond this past year and a half like before, but she also knew he really missed his surrogate family. The day would come when Team VRSZ would reunite and Silver would leave BASG, but that wouldn't bother her, their friendship, or anything. Thinking of his happiness, a blush of red came to Bianca's face as she forgot about the battle taking place and just stared blankly in its direction.
With the last Nevermore killed and the sun setting, the battle came to an end. The two freelancers stood back to back while catching their breaths before facing each other.
"New weapon, nice," they both said at the same time then laughed. Silver wrapped his arm around Zelts' shoulder and guided them to the place they've longed to return to.
"Let's head home and catch up, It's been far too long Zelts."
"Yeah, it really has."
Additional Information
It has been a year and a half since the end of Volume Three and some of the characters have aged up and changed during the time skip.
Silver Synch: Height: 5'11/ Age: 18/ Birthday: July 17th
Cerberus: New weapon created by Onyx that can be seen as an upgraded version of Ceasefire. A pair of handguns with a silver dog head decorated on each barrel and more powerful than his last pair. No longer relying on Violet to supply him, Silver keeps his own rounds of dust to add more variety to his attacks. Silver himself is considered the third head of Cerberus. The escrima form of this weapon has the dog heads at the end of each stick to add more blunt damage with each strike. When paired with Bianca and her dual handguns, the Archangels, their team attack is called Orthrus by Blood and Ghost. Despite working a respectable job as one of Clair's special task force, he is still a dirty fighter.
Gravity: Silver's semblance has developed more than anyone else on team VRSZ. His mastery over Gravity allows him to activate it almost as if it were a passive semblance. Silver can jump high, walk on walls, ceilings, and water without his body glowing from his semblance being active. He can do what the Alpha did and alter the weight and gravity of objects just by touching them so he only uses Gravity Bullet mostly on objects and people out of his reach. When he uses the technique the Alpha can use, his body glows silver like it used to. However, he cannot use Gravity to fly like Alpha, that is his semblance at its peak and has yet to obtain that level.
Zelts Allister: Height: 6'4/ Age: 20/ Birthday: November 28th
Heart of Gold: Zelts added some gold ornaments to the Wings of Icarus after constant battles wore the shield out. He went to an armory in order to add some gold looking material for repair and added defensive capabilities. The material also replaced the yellow painting of his feather symbol in the middle of the shield. Zelts thought the weapon looked different and it needed a new name. He gave Lily the honor and she named it after the owner, Heart of Gold. His abilities with the weapon hasn't changed much, though he has gotten stronger and can still surprise opponents. By twirling one of the blades in his hands, he can cloak the blade in its own wind and throw the weapon. The blades will move in a circular direction while spinning, slicing whatever is in its path before it returns to Zelts' hand. The technique is similar to using a boomerang. Zelts has been working on manipulating his aura and learned how to apply it to his shield to amplify its defensive capabilities and withstand more powerful attacks.
Conversion: Zelts' semblance has evolved as well. He is now able to absorb energy from any part of his body not just his hands. If there's nothing around for him to use Conversion, then Zelts will use the new addition to his arsenal, his armored muscle shirt laced with dust. He absorbs the dust in the shirt to activate Conversion without the need to rely on an outside source anymore.
Zelts is based on the character Peter Pan but he is designed to look the exact opposite. Where Peter Pan was a young scrawny boy, Zelts is a young adult with muscles and facial hair. While Peter Pan is forever a child, Zelts is the oldest member of team VRSZ.