Dragon Unleashed
Chapter 1: A Deal is Made
General James Ironwood was sitting in his office, contemplating his current situation. Ever since the war between Atlas and Vale had started, he had been in a downward spiral. Not only was he forced to fight against his old friends, he had been put in a leading position in the whole conflict by the leaders of Atlas. This meant that he would not only receive the most glory from the victories, but he would also be the one responsible for all of their losses. Sadly for him, there had been far more losses than victories.
He had seen it coming, to be honest. Atlas had never been held in a positive light by the other kingdoms. It's militaristic and almost tyrannical rule was one of the main reasons for this. Others would be the treatment of the faunus populace and it's great differences in welfare between people of different social classes. While such problems existed in the other kingdoms as well, they were not as bad as in Atlas. This view of Atlas caused Mistral and Vacuo to offer support to Vale, which put Atlas at a disadvantage.
There was also the problem that a lot of influential people had made friends in Vale, which caused them to question their loyalties to Atlas and sometimes even leave their home kingdom and join Vale. The most notable ones of these were the Schnee heiresses.
Atlas was slowly breaking down and Ironwood knew it. He needed to find a solution for this dilemma or he would lose his head. Not to mention, if Atlas were to lose, God only knows what would happen to the once proud kingdom.
Thankfully, a ceasefire had been declared, giving Ironwood time to figure a way out of his situation. He didn't have much time though and he needed to act quick. And desperate times call for desperate measures.
His solution was simple. Have leading figures in Vale's military assassinated and get the kingdom to break from the inside. With luck, Vale would pull back on it's attacks and the war could possibly end. They might even end up winning.
However, there was a problem. In order to do this, Ironwood would need someone who was not only capable but also willing to do such work. Especially, knowing that if they got caught, Atlas would immediately abandon them. The person also needed to be someone that couldn't be linked to Atlas directly.
The problem wasn't that Ironwood couldn't find a suitable person. He had someone that was actually perfect for this. He just didn't want to use her.
She was probably the worst criminal Remnant had ever seen. People like Cinder or Adam Taurus at least had a larger goal that could even be viewed as noble. However, she just killed people for enjoyment. The total number of her victims was unknown. Even when she was fighting on the side of Vale, she had killed numerous soldiers. Back then, her crimes could have been seen as acts of war. But when she got back to Vale and continued her brutal murders there, she didn't have that excuse anymore.
This monster didn't have any morals. Soldiers, criminals, civilians, human, faunus, men, women, children, young and the elderly would all fall victim to her. She didn't discriminate at all. And every single one of her victims was killed with a smile on her face.
She was perfect for what Ironwood was planning. Not only was she able and willing to do what he needed to be done, she couldn't be linked into Atlas, in case she got caught. However, Ironwood didn't like the idea of having her do this. He was still a man of morals, after all. Having a monster like her to be unleashed wasn't an idea he enjoyed, but he had no choice. He was out of options.
The big problem with using her would be to get her to follow commands. Ironwood knew that getting her to be obedient would require something that she wanted greatly. Good thing that he had exactly that.
Ironwood looked down at a file that was on his desk in front of him. The file had information that his spies had uncovered not too long ago and he knew that the person he was about to meet would not be able to say no to him, once she saw it.
Ironwood looked up as he heard footsteps coming towards the door to his office. It seemed that his visitor had arrived. The door opened and a group of soldiers walked in with a young woman in the middle of them. The woman was dressed in a gray prisoner's outfit. She also had a straightjacket on her, with strong chains wrapped around her upper body. Her lower face was covered by a mask that prevented her from biting anyone.
Even with all these restraints on her, Ironwood knew that he needed to be extremely cautious around her. Knowing her, it wouldn't be unthinkable if she were to simply break free and go on a rampage. Even as she walked calmly with her mane of golden hair gently flowing, her lilac eyes showing no malice and a sweet smile on her face, they couldn't afford to let their guard down.
Yang Xiao Long, the Golden Dragon Killer, was not someone you could not be too careful with.
''Well, if it isn't General Jimmy Ironwood himself,'' Yang said with a chuckle. ''What's the matter? Got lonely and needed some company?''
''I have something to discuss with you. Take a seat,'' Ironwood replied.
Yang did as she was told and sat on the chair on the other side of the desk. She took note of the file Ironwood had on his desk and smirked. Things seemed to be getting interesting.
''Do you have any idea why I called you here?'' Ironwood asked.
''You need me for something,'' Yang replied with a grin. ''Considering the fact that you have kept me alive all this time, you thought that I could be more use to you alive. Now that you have called me here and you have that file there, I'm guessing it's time you put me to work, right?''
Ironwood nodded. ''Exactly. We need your abilities to help us turn this war around.''
Yang chuckled. ''Oh, that's funny. The noble army of Atlas needs help from me. Well, I'm guessing you need me to kill someone. Who is it?''
''It's not just one person. We need you to kill a whole lot of people. Enough people to perhaps win the war for us.''
The blonde whistled. ''You're not kidding, are you? Why would you want me to do all of that? Don't you have anyone else to help on this?''
''Believe me, I would like nothing better than to use someone else. However, all of the people I have are nowhere near as capable as you. Besides, if you fail, we can easily cover our connection to you. Seeing as you have history with most of the targets I have for you, your missions would be treated simply as a continuation to your killing spree. Only a few people even know that you're our prisoner. We would be able cut you off easily.''
Yang laughed. ''You know, most of the time you're supposed to keep info like that to yourself.''
Ironwood frowned. ''Quit acting. You know good and damn well that neither I or anybody else thinks of you as anything other than the animal you are. Your death would be an improvement for our society and not a single person would be sad.''
''I guess that's true,'' Yang said with a shrug, her smile still present on her face. ''So, what do I get out of this? Don't tell me that you expect me to work with no pay. You are asking a rather huge favor from me, after all.''
''I obviously have quite a few things prepared for you,'' Ironwood replied. ''First of all, you would get a full pardon on all the crimes you have committed against Atlas.''
''That's to be expected,'' Yang said with a nod.
''Second, you would be provided with enough money to live the rest of your life with ease, along with a house and a large piece of land to live in.''
''Sounds good.''
''Third, we would give you a 'safe haven' of sorts here in Atlas.''
This got Yang's interest. '''A safe haven'?''
Ironwood nodded. ''It's obvious that you will continue killing people. We would allow you to live safely in Atlas no matter what you did. Provided that you commit your crimes outside of Atlas and you do not target any high-ranking people from our kingdom, when they're in the other kingdoms.''
''Sounds good. Really good,'' Yang said with a chuckle. ''But I'll have to pass.''
''The offers I have given you so far are things murderers like you could only dream of. Why do you reject them?'' Ironwood asked with his face remaining unchanged.
''Simple. I can't trust you. How do I know that I'll get any of the things you just promised? Besides, I can get my freedom through other means. I mean, did it ever occur to you that the only reason I'm still your captive is because I just haven't bothered to try escaping?'' Yang replied with an evil smile on her face.
Ironwood sighed. ''I somewhat expected your refusal. Luckily, I have something you can't resist,'' he said as he picked up the file in front of him. He took a picture out of it and threw it in front of Yang.
''And just what could this-'' Yang started to say, but the words died in her throat as she saw the picture. Her smile dropped, her eyes went wide and her face paled.
In the picture was the only person that had loved her always. The one person Yang loved and would never harm. Ruby Rose, who was supposed to be dead.
Yang looked up from the picture and back at Ironwood. ''Is this a joke?''
Ironwood shook his head. ''No. That picture was taken a couple of days ago, along with some other photos. There's more info on the file.''
Yang looked back down at the picture again, before she suddenly destroyed the restraints around her body. The soldiers in the room immediately took aim, but Ironwood signaled them to hold their fire. He watched as the blonde in front of him picked up the photo and started tracing her fingers over it gently. Yang then reached for the file and took it. She started going through it's contents, looking at every picture and written report, before suddenly stopping.
''What the hell is this?'' Yang asked while gritting her teeth and looking at one of the photos. Her eyes were switching between red and lilac.
''I suppose you saw who she has been living with,'' Ironwood said. ''It seems that in order to keep Weiss Schnee in Vale's forces, Ms. Rose was given to her as payment. The two of them have been living together for some time now.''
Yang's eyes were red. In the photo, Weiss was standing behind Ruby, with her head resting on the redhead's shoulder and her arms around her. Just the idea that her Ruby had been given to someone else was making her blood boil. She would kill Weiss as painfully as possible.
''Where is she? I'll kill her!'' Yang growled out.
''Her time will come, I can assure you,'' Ironwood replied. ''Her betrayal hurt us badly. We can't let her-''
''I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR POLITICS! THAT BITCH HAS RUBY AND IS DOING GOD KNOWS WHAT TO HER! I WILL NOT JUST SIT ON MY ASS HERE AND LET THAT HAPPEN! SO WHERE THE HELL IS SHE!?''
''I guess you do not understand your situation,'' Ironwood said with a smirk. ''The location of Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose is something I won't simply give you for free. First you need to do some work for me, before I'll tell you. After you're done with that, you'll do some more work before receiving the rest of our agreed payment. Understood?''
Yang glared at the general. ''What makes you think I won't simply run, when I have Ruby?''
''Remember what happened last time you were on the run with her? While you might be able to avoid capture on your own, having her with you slows you down. This time, she might not come out of it alive.''
In a sudden burst of anger, Yang hit Ironwood's desk, splitting it in half. The general remained calm and almost completely still, only motioning his soldiers to hold fire.
Yang looked up at Ironwood again with her enraged red eyes. ''I'll do it. When do I start and who do I need to kill?''
''We have set up a small place for you as a base of operations. It's an abandoned building that used to be a training camp for huntsmen. It's located near the border between Vale and Atlas. You will receive your missions there,'' Ironwood explained.
Yang nodded. She took one last look at the picture with Weiss and Ruby, before crumbling it in her hand and dropping it on the floor. She then gathered the rest of the contents of the file and took them with her as she left the room, with the soldiers escorting her back to her cell.
After Yang left, Ironwood let out a deep sigh and muttered, ''I am sorry for what I have to do, my old friends. May God forgive me for unleashing this monster.''
Author's notes: This story is basically my take on 'Yang kills the RWBY universe'. Ever since I saw that story, I wanted to try something similar. I really hope you guys will like it. I had fun writing it. There's more info on the author's notes in the next chapter. Please read them.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.
