"A monster, a monster

I've turned into a monster..."

- Imagine Dragons, Monster

Grimm. The scourge of humanity. Dark, evil monsters that shared some resemblance to normal animals, but only the basic body shape. Take, for example, the beowolf. Most were around three to four times the size of a normal wolf, and could walk on two legs as well as four. They had pure black fur, occasionally broken up by pieces of a white exoskeleton that acted as armor. Over their face was a mask of bone, with red lines occasionally marking it. They had no iris or pupil in their eyes; it was purely neon red. Like many Grimm, they could easily (and gladly) eat the arm off a grown man in one bite, and that's if you found a young one on his own. Most beowolves traveled in packs, and the older they grew the thicker their bone armor would grow. Not to mention their increase in intelligence, strength, speed, and battle prowess. Regardless, entire villages could be wiped off the map overnight because of their power.

It's too bad he was one of them.

Ethan sighed and looked over to his left, one of the beowolves coming up to him and poking at him with its snout, before going back to lie in a small spot of sun. The woods around him had branched out into a small clearing where he had run into the beowolves. The tall trees blocked out any sunlight, save for a few rays that managed to slip through the leaves. There were about ten Grimm in total, not counting the alpha. He was in the back of the clearing, easily distinguishable by the greater amount of bone armor that covered its form. It's armor covered most of its chest and back, with a couple of large spikes sticking out of his spine. The rest of the pack had several small spikes the size of a knife on their backs, but that was it.

Ethan himself was dressed in black sweatpants and a gray tee-shirt, the only clothes that had survived the destruction of his village. On his back was a tattered blue backpack; one of the straps was missing and there was a long gash across the top of it. He was about six feet tall, fair skinned, and human. His hair was pure white and unkempt; shorter in some places and longer in others. He wasn't particularly bulky, but if looked at closely enough you would be able to see long, thin white scars on his arms and legs, as well as around his eyes. His eyes were perhaps the most unique part about him. The iris was pure red, with thin, red lines shooting out through the whites of his eyes to connect with the scars.

He looked at the Grimm with contempt. He hated it. He hated the fact that they weren't allowed attack him. He hated the fact that he wasn't allowed to attack them. He hated the fact that it was their siblings that had killed his family. And most of all, he hated the fact that no matter what form he took, he would always be one of the-.

A sharp pain burst through Ethan's leg, cutting off the rest of his thoughts. He stumbled into a nearby tree and slid down it, clutching his leg in the process.

"Oh come on!" He howled, "Can't you give me a break? Just for a day?"

He felt a feeling of smug satisfaction well up inside him, and the pain in his leg sharpened more.

The Queen had had a nevermore - large, birdlike creatures as big as a small house with a wickedly sharp beak and claws - drop him off in a forest ten miles outside of Vale. He had been in the midst of walking to the city when he had run into the Grimm pack, and Cimex had decided to start acting up.

Ethan growled, and saw a red haze start to come across his vision. Cimex was the name he had given to the Grimm parasite currently nestled inside him. He had made a mistake doing that; they say that once you name something it's ten times harder to get rid of it. Seeing as how the only thing Cimex was causing was pain, Ethan really wished he had just left the thing nameless.

As far as he could tell, the Queen of the Grimm had planted the parasite in him for two reasons. First, to cause unending torment, as a reminder of what would happen to him if he failed his mission. Second, in order to gain access to his soul, so that she could continue her… experiment on him.

The haze across vision grew at the thought of the experiment; his muscles twitching involuntarily. She thought she had control over him because of what she turned him into. She thought because she turned him into a monster, he'd be a monster. He clenched his hands, the beowolves around him continuing to ignore him, besides the occasional growl. They weren't allowed to attack him, nor him them… but this would just be his first act of rebellion. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he quickly stood up and tossed his backpack to the side, cracking his neck as he so.

Ethan chuckled darkly, "You lot barely have any armor, you must be fresh out of the spawning pits. How'd you make all the way to Vale so soon?"

The Grimm paid him no heed, continuing to mill about like the mindless animals they were. The alpha, however, turned his head toward Ethan, tilting it slightly. Ethan only grinned in response and started quickly walking forward, making a beeline for the more heavily armored Grimm. The alpha stood up and howled, turning the gaze of the rest of the Grimm towards Ethan. Ethan ignored all of them but his original target, moving from a quick walk into a jog. At this point, he had the full attention of every Grimm in the clearing, many of whom started to tense up and growl. The alpha crouched down, readying himself to pounce as Ethan approached. Ethan broke into a full out run as he reached the center of the clearing, his skin starting to turn darker. Ten feet away from the alpha, his form rippled and exploded outward. His arms and legs grew longer as thick black fur grew across his body. His clothes were shredded as he grew taller and larger, reaching the height and size of a large brown bear. Long sharp claws grew in place of fingernails, and his face became more snout-like. His eyes, however, switched from a red iris and red lines through the whites, to the whites becoming a neon red and the iris becoming pure white.

The alpha froze in what Ethan could only describe as shock, relaxing from its crouch somewhat as it tried to figure out what was going on. That split second was all he needed to finish crossing the remaining distance and drive his fist, or at this point claw, into the alpha face. The force of the blow sent it flying across the clearing into a tree. A few leafs floated down as the alpha hit the ground, unmoving. The rest of the pack broke out of their stupor and howled in rage, rushing Ethan. Ethan turned towards them, smiling as best he could with his bear-like face. He caught the first one to reach him mid-lunge with a swing from his right arm, the claws tearing open the beowulf's belly and sending him tumbling off to the side.

Ethan ran forward to meet the next two, and batted the first one down with the same arm, crushing its head between the ground. He felt a searing pain, however, as the other beowolf bit down on his left leg and drew blood. He quickly reached down and threw the attacker into another approaching beowolf, the Grimm pulling out a large chunk of his flesh as it went. Seeing as how strength wasn't working for him, Ethan changed his body again into something similar to the late alpha, complete with armor. He winced as his bones and muscles broke and reformed to create his new form, while at the same time relishing the speed that four legs and the smaller form provided him. The transformation finished, he lunged at the two stunned Grimm. He reached them while they were still picking themselves up and clamped his jaw around the neck of the wolf that had bit his leg and pulled.

His newly formed teeth tore through the black flesh like paper, and he came up with a mouth full of fur and blood. He quickly spit it out and turned, swiping at the other beowolf that had just gotten to its feet. His claws drove a furrow across its face, its mask fracturing into pieces. Another beowolf ran up behind him and tried to hit his back, but the claws scraped across the armor without leaving a mark. Ethan growled and spun again, slashing the Grimm's chest open in the process.

With half of their numbers depleted, the remainder of the pack encircled Ethan, growling menacingly. Ethan responded with a howl of his own, charging at the five remaining Grimm. Galloping on all fours, he moved with a inhuman speed, fast for even a Grimm. The first two went down before they even had a chance to react, blood pouring from holes in their chest and neck. The other three quickly rushed towards him but hesitated as Ethan transformed back into his bulkier form; an Ursa. He hit the first two with a sweep from his right arm that collapsed their rib cages, crushing them into the ground. The other he hit with an uppercut from his left arm, sending its head up into the air before falling back to the earth.

Ethan sighed, allowing the red haze obscuring his vision to dissipate before slowly changing back into human form.

"Ursa are built for power and tankiness," Ethan said to no one in general, patting one of the dead beowolves next to him. "You, however, are built for speed and agility. Try to remember that next time."

The corpse didn't respond, slowly dissipating into black smoke as all Grimm did when they died. Ethan smirked and took a step forward, only to collapse as a searing pain shot through his leg. He cursed when he remembered that one of the beowolves had taken a bite out of his leg. Gritting his teeth, crawled over to where he had first transformed, grabbing a piece of his shredded shirt. He moved back to a sitting position and looked over the wound; a large chunk about the size of two baseballs was missing from his calf. The Grimm's mouth, of course, had been much bigger than that, but since he'd been in his much larger Ursa form when he was bitten the wound had scaled down when he transformed. The bleeding had already stopped, however, and he could see new bits of muscle forming at the ends of old ones.

"That'll take a while to heal," Ethan mused, tying the piece of cloth over the wound. "Twelve hours at the very least, a day at most."

Crawling over to a nearby tree, Ethan braced against it and pulled himself up, keeping all his weight off of his wounded leg. Slowly, he put the leg down, testing to see how much weight it could hold. As soon as it touched the ground, however, Ethan immediately pulled it back up, hissing in pain. While he may heal abnormally fast, the beowolf had still taken out a sizeable portion out of his leg. He looked around and saw a long branch with a forked end, perfect for a crutch.

Ethan hopped over on his one good foot and picked it up, breaking off the parts of the stick opposite the fork until it was able to rest under his left armpit. This would, at the very least, allow him to reach Vale before nightfall. Hopefully by then his leg would be healed enough that he could walk normally. He hobbled back over to his backpack and pulled out a spare set of clothes. The other unfortunate fact about his condition was that his clothes were ruined every time he transformed. He grimaced as he threw on the clothes, the pants causing his leg to flare up in pain as it brushed past they bite.

The Queen wouldn't be happy about this, but she would hopefully never find out. In time, he would find a way to beat her. "But until then," Ethan thought, picking up his backpack and heading back towards the trail. "This will have to do."

In hindsight, risking pissing off the Queen probably wasn't his best idea. To begin with, she commanded all the Grimm on Remnant, who occupied ninety percent of the world. Taking on eleven measly beowolves was nothing compared to some of the things she had created in the Grimlands. Second, Cemix was still in his body, and he severely doubted that it was hurting him out of love. Third, while the Queen hadn't given him much information on what his mission was, she had made it very clear what would happen if he failed.

"Her ability to cause pain is uncanny, both physically and mentally. But it's not like she'll stop if I succeed; if nothing else, she'll only take it as her experiment being 'successful' and continue. But if I fail, or if she finds out that I betray her, she'll just bring me back to the Grimmlands and continue the experiment just out of spite, and I can't go back there, not after what she did time… I can't go back… I can't... not agi-"

Ethan was cut from his thoughts as the forest abruptly came to an end. In front of him stretched a grassy field, leading up to the tall wall of Vale. On top of the wall he could just make out the figures of the guards; ever valiant for any sign of Grimm. Stationed at regular intervals were anti-air turrets, preventing any avian Grimm from entering the city. Way off in the distance he could see the sun setting over the sea, the wall extending out into the water a short distance before dropping off.

The path that he had been following led up to a small gate in the wall, looking almost like a portcullis from a medieval castle. How that would hold up to an enraged ursa or a deathstalker, Ethan had no idea, but he was sure that there was more there than met the eye.

It had been several hours since his fight with the beowolf pack; he had left the place where the nevermore had dropped him off at eight in the morning, and it was almost six now. He had run into a few more Grimm since then, but he decided not to pick any more fights until his leg was fully healed. The Grimm, as per the Queen's orders, had left him alone as well. He had kept his leg off the ground all day, deciding that he would check to see how much it had healed when he got in sight of Vale.

He tentatively lowered the foot to the ground, testing to see how much weight he could put on it. It quivered but held all the way up until he put his full weight on it, which caused him to collapse to the ground. Sighing, Ethan unwound the cloth from around wound and saw that the most of the muscle had been regrown, though the outside skin was still missing. Most of the pain had faded at this point, leaving him with a dull throb and an itchy feeling. His other leg, the one Cemix had been hurting, was just as bad as ever. He sighed, and decided to wrap the wound back up until it was fully healed.

He picked his improvised crutch back up and broke off the fork at the end, turning it into more of a walking stick. Breaking free of the tree line, he finished walking (or rather limping) the last half mile to the wall. The ground around the path had several small craters and divots in the ground. Some were covered over with grass, while others looked like the dirt had just been overturned.

"Vale certainly doesn't spare any expenses when it comes to protecting itself… wish my village had had half the protection these guys do." Murmured Ethan, eyeing the holes with caution. He had no doubt that if the guards saw him transform, they'd blow him away without a second thought. Grimm were everyone's enemy, after all.

Two figures looked down at him with smiles as he approached the gate, their rifles casually slung over their back.

"You made it just in time!" The guard on the left one chuckled, leaning against the rampart. "Any later and you probably would have been fighting off some Grimm in the dark."

"Wouldn't have been an issue for him." The other one commented, "Anyone crazy enough to be walking through the woods alone can take a few Grimm single-handedly. He probably one of Ospin's hunters coming to report in."

At the mention of Ospin, Ethan felt the parasite emit a burst of rage as the pain in his non-bitten leg sharply increased. He quickly shifted his weight to his other leg, which subsequently flared up as the newly formed muscles tried to support his weight. The result was Ethan constantly shifting his weight back and forth between his legs, which the soldiers mistook as a sign of impatience.

"Ya ya, we'll let you in." The first guard said, pulling his scroll out his pocket. "Hold up just a sec while we call down to the control room. Geez, these hunters just have no patience."

The other guard just shook his head at his partner's antics. "Sorry about him, we all know that you and the other hunters are risking your life out there to deal with the threats that we can't, so thank you."

Ethan could only grimace and nod his head in response as the gate opened upward. Him, a hunter, making the world a better place? If anything, he was here to help harm that world - not that he wanted too. He shook his head and tried to push that thought out of his mind as he walked through the gate. The wall had two sides to it, he noted. The outside was made of stone, like what he would expect from a castle to be made out of, but the inside was reinforced with some kind of metal. Poking through holes in the wall toward the outside was what he assumed were large machine guns, soldiers chatting amicably nearby. As he came out on the other side of the wall, he saw more soldiers sitting by artillery cannons, casually smoking next to shells as big as his forearm.

"It's still not enough," Ethan thought, the pain level in his non-injured leg finally decreasing back down to normal. "Those shells would slow down the goliaths for a second at most, and the machine guns would just bounce off a deathstalker's shell."

The artillery was cut off from the rest of the city by a small chain link fence, but otherwise there wasn't that much security on the inside of the wall. After all, when there are unrelenting evil monsters that would like to do nothing more than destroy humanity sitting right outside the city, who in their right minds would sabotage efforts to stop them?

Ethan chuckled darkly as he walked through the fence, nodding his head towards the soldiers as he walked by. He pulled out his scroll and powered it on, having had turned it off to conserve battery on the trip. Opening up the mapping application, he saw that he had come in through the South of the city and was currently entering the agricultural district. It made sense, he supposed, for the city to have an entire district devoted to growing food. When monsters roamed the land, securing safe farmland and protecting it was difficult. That's not to say it wasn't done, but it was safer for the average citizen to farm inside the walls instead of out. Any foray outside would require the farmers to be armed and ready to fight, both of which took time and money.

The activity between the greenhouses was minimal; it looked like a new batch of crops had just been planted. He headed North until he came to one of the main roads, where he finally started to encounter civilians. Off to his left, he saw several people loading crates of food out from a greenhouse onto the back of a flatbed truck. To his right, he saw more domestic like cars driving out towards the residential district, probably heading home for the day. Inside, of some of the greenhouses people were checking over the newly planted crops, occasionally spraying them with a liquid of some kind.

At the sight of all the people, however, Ethan felt a ravenous hunger well up inside him. The pain in his right leg spiked, causing him to drop to a knee and hold his head in his hands. Red tinted his vision and he could feel something squirm inside him. He looked up. The humans glowed, almost as if they were light bulbs. He even saw fainter glows through a wall further on, where it looked like some people were making coffee in a break room.

But the lights seemed so… wrong. Like they shouldn't exist. Like they were blights on the land that needed to be wiped out. Like they needed… to die. He was hungry, so very hungry. These things would be perfect; easy pickings. All he needed to do was transform and eat. They couldn't fight back, these weren't trained hunters, these things were food, and he was about to ea-.

Ethan slammed his head into the side of the metal greenhouse next to him, hitting it hard enough to draw blood. Instantly the lights and the hunger went away, and his vision returned to normal. Inside him, he could feel the parasite recoil before seething in anger, and he felt the pain in his right leg return.

He sighed, used to the pain at this point. Besides, it wasn't as if the Queen hadn't done much, much worse. But there was doing to be a problem if Cemix did that to him everytime he saw human life, because slamming his head into a wall was neither a practical nor painless solution.

"Hey Hunter, you ok?"

Ethan blinked and looked up, and saw one of the workers who had been loading the pickup truck standing over him.

"Ya, uh, I'm fine. It's just been a really, really long day."

Ethan could feel the hunger coming back; the urge to devour everything that moved, but he crushed it as soon as it popped up.

"I hear ya man. I know It's tough hunting Grimm, but I hope you know we appreciate what you guys dos do."

Ethan nodded and thought about just asking him to leave. But then again, the guy did have car…

"It's not really a problem," Ethan replied, straightening his posture to look more alive and Huntsman like. "But hey, if you'd like to help, is there any way to could get me a ride over to the industrial district? I need to report in, but I'm afraid I'm going to miss my deadline at the pace I'm going."

The worker grinned and motioned towards the truck. "Sure thing, we were just heading over there to deliver this batch of wheat now. Just hop on the back and I can get you over."

Ethan got up, hiding his grimace behind a smile as both his legs throbbed. The other workers had finished loading and were headed off towards a parking lot. One stayed behind, starting up the car as they approached.

"Let's go Gary!" He hollered over the engine. "This stuff ain't gonna deliver itself!"

Gary chuckled and walked towards the front of the car. "Hop on up in the back, I'll let Jeff here know what's going on."

Ethan did as he was told, climbing up the back of the truck and sitting down between two sacks of wheat. He sighed, enjoying the feeling sitting down after being on his feet all day. He didn't miss the irony behind the workers seeing him as a hunter, nor the irony behind the fact that he was soon going to actually become one.

He pulled out his scroll and double checked the map. The man he was supposed to meet was the famous, or rather infamous, criminal Roman Torchwick. He had apparently made one of the warehouses in the industrial district his base of operations. From what news had reached him when his village was still standing, the man was responsible for most of the crime in Vale. It appeared that he was now working for the Queen, though whether that was helpful or harmful for him remained to be seen.

They stuck to the back roads and drove North, avoiding the rush hour traffic currently going along the highway. As they crossed the line that separated the agricultural district from the industrial district, the glass-roofed greenhouses changed into the tiled roofs of warehouses. They were aligned side by side on both sides of the road, maximizing how many could put on one street. According to the map, most of the warehouses bordered the agricultural district and the docks. The factories were farther North, closer to the residential and commercial districts.

Eventually, the truck came to a stop in front of an open warehouse. The large garage doors on the front of the building were open, and Ethan could see rows of boxes stacked next to each other. Several workers hopped off of some empty scaffolding and started to unload the truck.

"Last load of the day boys!" Gary called out as he stepped out of the truck. "Let's get this food packed away and head home!"

The workers cheered and picked up their pace, grabbing bags and carrying them back into the warehouse. Ethan hopped off the truck and started quickly walking away, hoping to escape the attention of the workers. It worked, mostly. Gary called out after Ethan, giving him a wave as he did so. "Good luck hunter! Glad we could help you out!"

Ethan turned and nodded, waving his own hand back. He stomped down on the guilt that he was feeling, not wanting to be distracted at the moment. It's not like his actions would put any of them in danger... he hoped. Torchwick's warehouse was about a half mile away, giving Ethan time to check to check on his leg. He broke into a jog and smiled when he didn't feel any pain from his left leg. After he rounded a corner, he sat down in a warehouse and unwrapped the cloth from around his leg. The wound was fully healed, with the last of skin forming over the muscle as the cloth was unwound. He tossed his walking stick to the side, its purpose fulfilled. Ethan grinned and stood up, stretching his leg to its full extent. It felt great, being able to walk without any-

A pang shot through his right leg, Cemix reminding him that he wasn't fully free of pain yet. Ethan grimaced, then sighed and kept walking. The sooner he was free of the parasite the better. Perhaps some actual hunters could help him... if they didn't eviscerate him for being a Grimm first. They just had to be a way to get it out...

Ethan trailed off in thought, and the rest of the walk to Torchwick's warehouse was uneventful, with the most exciting thing being a bullhead crossing the airspace above him, heading toward Beacon Academy.

He eventually arrived at the warehouse marked on his map, one of many lined up on the street. He looked around, keeping an eye out for any security, but saw nothing. The street was totally deserted, the only sounds coming from the cars racing along the nearby highway. He shrugged, and walked into the alleyway made by the warehouse and the one adjacent to it. The main bay doors were closed, so Ethan figured he'd have better luck if we went around and looked for a side door. He was correct, and a short way down the alley was a regular sized door.

Ethan frowned, perturbed at still not having seen any security. A famous criminal like Torchwick would have at least a few guards if only to watch over his loot. However, all he saw was a security camera above the door, pointing in the opposite direction he came from. He raised his eyebrow, but stepped forward and knocked on the door anyway.

The door cracked open immediately, and a gruff voice called from within. "What do you want?"

Ethan blanched as the smell of whiskey hit him. "I'm here to see Torchwick, he should be expecting me."

He heard some shuffling and hushed whispers before the voice spoke back. "I ain't ever heard of no Torchwick, and he certainly ain't here. This is a private warehouse, and you're trespassing. Now piss off before I make you."

Ethan groaned and slammed his hand against his face. "Look, I've had a really long day, and it's starting to get chilly out here. So why don't you do us both a favor and ask him if he's expecting anyone, before I decide to break this door down."

The door slammed shut, and he heard the sound of a chain being slid across a lock. Ethan jumped back as the door opened outward just as quickly, the edge barely missing his face. Six men in black suits with red ties and sunglasses stepped out. The one in the front held a pistol out in front of him, while the others held various forms of firearms.

Ethan growled as the pain in his right leg flared up, suppressing the urge to transform and tear the group of men to shreds.

"I told you there ain't no Torchwick here!" The man in the front yelled, pressing his pistol to Ethan's head. "Now I'm giving you one last chance to scram before I blow your brains out."

Ethan raised his hands in surrender... before grabbing the barrel of the gun next to his head with his left hand and pushing into the man's stomach. His right hand simultaneously struck the man's face, before reaching down and grabbing the butt of the gun, wrenching it from the man's grasp. The man doubled over, clutching his face and stomach in pain. Ethan kicked him away and pointed the gun unflinchingly at the other goons.

Due to the suddenness of the act, it took them a second to react. The sound of Ethan cocking the gun, however, caused them to bring their own weapons to bear. They stood there for a second, the only sound being the moaning of the man on the floor. Ethan's vision slowly started to turn red again, and the hunger that he'd felt before came back. The men started to glow, but unlike the workers at the greenhouses, their glows seemed to be darker, more sinister. But they glowed regardless, and they needed to die. It would be easy to take them out; the bullets wouldn't be able to pierce his armor and they would be torn to shreds in seconds. All he needed to do was transform...

A man dressed in a white suit coat and black bowler hat burst out of the warehouse, a scowl evident on his face. He angrily stomped up to the men and used the hook of a cane he held in his right hand to pull down the goons' weapons. "What the hell are you imbeciles doing! I told you we were expecting someone and to let him in, not to go and try to get yourselves killed!"

The men who hadn't had their weapons pulled down lowered them slowly and started to grumbling. The man with the cane whacked one on the head, sending him stumbling.

"No, I don't want to hear it. Get back inside and go do something useful, if you even have the brain power to do that."

The men glared but did as they were told, holstering their weapons and filing back inside. Ethan, on the other hand, still hadn't moved. His mind was torn between transforming and killing everyone, and his more practical side trying to hold him back. The red haze was still over his vision, and he could see the glow of the men through the wall as they walking inside. He snapped out of it, however, once the white-suited man clapped his hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Morons, the lot of them. I swear, it so hard to find good help these days. You understand I'm sure, having underlings yourself. Always going off and doing their own thing, or thinking they know better than you. Then you got those guys who can't even follow simple instructions. Like, you tell them to do one thing, then they go off and do the opposite! And don't even get me started on the ones that suddenly start to have morals-"

Ethan cut the man off, brushing the hand off his shoulder. "So you're Torchwick then?"

He was really in no mood for the man's crap, and the fact that the man thought he had underlings pissed him off even more.

"Ah, yes yes, I am. Perhaps you'd like to come inside so we can talk a little more... securely?" Torchwick suddenly grew more nervous, a stark contrast from his previous attitude. That was good, any more of the better-than-thou personality and Ethan probably would have killed him, Queen or not.

"Yes please. The sooner this is over, the better."

Torchwick gave Ethan a questioning look, but motioned with his hand and walked into the warehouse. Ethan sighed and followed him, grabbing the holster for the pistol as he walked past the man on the ground.

The inside of the warehouse was packed with boxes and crates, and there were quite a few black-suited men standing around with beers. Torchwick, however, completely ignored the obvious slacking off and walked straight into an office, Ethan trailing slightly behind.

"Alright, as the boss requested, your transcripts have been sent to Beacon and they've accepted you for initiation."

Ethan sighed. He had hoped that the teachers at Beacon would see through the forged transcripts, but apparently, Torchwick had been able to fool them.

"That's... wonderful. When is the initiation?"

Torchwick put his cane down on a table and pulled out his scroll. "Let's see... there's an airship coming to Vale the day after tomorrow to bring the new students to Beacon. You go through some sort of orientation that day, and then the actual initiation is the day after that."

Ethan nodded. So he got a day to explore Vale before he was shipped off to become a hunter. That wouldn't be too bad... if he didn't get the urge to murder everybody again. Hopefully, a huntsman would be able to stop him; he really didn't want to have civilian blood on his hands.

Torchwick coughed and handed him a card. "The boss also requested that I set you up with some money, so here you go."

The card was completely white with the exception of a black strip and a beveled number. In fact, it looked so plain that Ethan almost mistook it for some sort of kid's play card. Torchwick chuckled at his skeptical look.

"Don't let the appearance fool you. That card is connected to my personal account, which as you can imagine, has quite a bit of Lien."

"Quite a bit of stolen Lien." Ethan mentally corrected. Still, money was money, and since all he had was quite literally the clothes in his backpack, he would need to do some shopping. That, and some of Vale's charities would be receiving some extremely generous donations. He smirked, and Torchwick raised an eyebrow at him.

"Anyways... can I ask what you're doing going to Beacon anyways? Seems a bit counterproductive going directly into the viper's nest, so to speak. Well, that is if the viper's nest consisted of the most powerful huntsmen on the face of Remnant."

Ethan frowned at the mention of his 'mission'. Needless to say, the Queen hadn't sent him away out of the kindness of her heart. His job was to join Beacon, mix in with the student population, and find a person.

The issue was, that person was one of the four most powerful hunters on the planet. And while she was apparently 'injured beyond the ability to fight', she would most likely be surrounded by the best protection that Beacon had. Considering Beacon's sole purpose was to train people how to fight Grimm, that was a lot.

Regardless, he had no interest in carrying out the mission. There was no way he was going back to the Grimmlands, not with the pain that awaited him there. Yes, the Queen would have his head, but even that was better than more experimentation. Cemix would be an issue, but he'd find a way to get rid of him eventually. He would have his revenge, but for now he had to keep up appearances.

His mind set, Ethan let a malicious smile spread across his face.

"Why my dear Torchwick..."

He turned towards the door and let out a small chuckle.

"I'm here to kill."

Authors Note:

I hope 'yall enjoyed this first chapter. I'm writing this as if it was a stand-alone novel separate from the show, so bear with me if I describe things too much. Next chapter will cover Ethan's time in Vale before Beacon, and by chapter three he should be in Beacon.

- KingmakerN