The Old And The New
"Debby, activate."
"Welcome, Swift, i'm D.E.B.B.Y, short for-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, i've heard it all before." a muffled voice says to the AI implanted in his face mask. "are my Gen-Pistols operational?" Swift gets up from a shallow puddle in a deep cavern. "Gen-Pistols are in 89% condition, the barrels are slightly damaged and scuffed though." the AI reports while he starts limply walking to a shimmer of light at the far end of the cavern.
A trembling of rocks stops him from going further.
"Debby, seismic activity in the area?!" the injured figure frantically inquires Debby as the trembling grows stronger. "Negative, Sir, there are no signs to suggest that this is the cause of seismic activity." Debby calmly answers. Rocks and debris start falling from the ceiling of the cavity, threatening to collapse and bury the man. Swift starts to run as fast as he can to the exit, but his bruised left leg slows him down.
"Debby, engage booster pack!" he pleadingly commands.
"Booster pack engaged, prepare for flight." The thrusters on his back spews blue flames and launches Swift faster into the light.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" supports of the cave falters and release large sections of debris on the cavern, completely filling it in.
The figure narrowly escapes it's burial after it reaches the exit of the large cavity. "Disengage thrusters!" Swift commands, slowing down his graceful fall into a pile of destroyed concrete and brick. "Oof! Argh damn it! Debby, assess damages and activate Aura boosters!"
Swift wipes some dust off his armor and looks out of his tinted visor and gazes upon an urban wasteland covering up a darkened sunrise.
"Vale has seen better days." he remarks while he slides down the piles of ruined city.
"Awoooooooooo!" an ear splitting howl erupts from the forest below. Normally Huntsmen would just kill them off without a thought.
Jaune Arc wasn't really a huntsman though.
He thought that an expedition without backup or even telling anyone where he was going to the Emerald Forest was a good training exercise.
Jaune Arc wasn't really the brightest either.
So there he stood, face to face with a pack of Beowolves and only his signature crappy sword and shield. "Calm down, Pyrrha trained you enough to handle a couple of pesky Beowolves, so why worry?" he told himself, knowing full well that he didn't believe in his abilities at all.
The Beowolves stood ferocious and eyed their prey carefully with an expression that just radiated disappointment. "Even Beowolves mock me, how did i even get in to this school?" Jaune thought carefully,"Oh right, i cheated." Then sighed.
The air felt still for a minute until a large claw lunged at the tense blonde. "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screams, raising up his shield to block the life-threatening attack. At this point, the rest of the Beowolves jump at the knight to tear him to pieces. The knight understandably runs in the other direction.
"Crap." He thinks to himself, navigating through the woods in the night without a flashlight. The howls of the Grimm getting louder and louder as they continue to close the distance. Jaune cuts through a branch in his path and continues his hopeless chase in the chance that someone will save him. Or someone.
Jaune sees an open area and runs faster, hoping to reach Beacon before the Grimm catch up, but it was too late, they pounce on the weak-willed Huntsman. Until a hail of bullets reduce them to shreds.
"Wha-" Jaune is cut off by a large "Boom!" coming from the distance.
A military officer greets him with his gun's barrel. "Not good." He gulps.
"Are you infected?!" He shouts.
"What do you mean?" Jaune confusingly asks the soldier pointing him down.
"Have you been bit,scratched or otherwise injured?" He restructures his question.
"No." Jaune simply responded. The barrel went down. Both him and Jaune sighed a breath of relief.
"Thank God, i didn't want to have to kill a kid."
"Kill a kid? But why would he need to kill me? I haven't become a traitor, or committed any crimes." Jaune's eyes widened "I did pee in the bushes at Beacon, but that was only because the bathroom was too far away! Oh my Oum Mom's gonna kill me!" Jaune silently panicks.
"Are you okay kid?" The Officer said, bringing him back to reality. "My name is Glanner Demmers, Atlas Military Officer, Lead of Vale Emergency Operations." He lends a hand to Jaune. Jaune, still picking himself back up, figuratively and literally, accepts his help.
"Why did you have to kill me?" Jaune asks the troubled officer.
"There's been a new virus leaked among the population of the city." Glanner turns back and commands his troops.
"What are you all waiting for? The fall of Beacon? get your asses up and do your job!" he commands, rallying the men into order and dispatching them across the area.
"Alright kid, come with me. This is designated as Area Zero, so it isn't safe to talk here." Glanner motioned for Jaune to follow him into a nearby Armored Vehicle.
The inside of the Vehicle was militaristic and gritty, but safe enough to rest in. There were no windows to speak of, and the outside was reinforced with high-grade steel, along with an automated light-artillery turret on the top.
Glanner sat Jaune adjacent to him in the Carrier, and knocks on the plating of the vehicle twice. It whirred to life, and began moving.
"Truth is, we've been expecting this eventuality for quite some time. I'm part of Operation Artrix and we were sent to retrieve the huntsmen and huntsmen-in-training from these academies and bring them to Atlas." Glanner offers Jaune a bottle of water and Jaune accepts it, pouring it down his dry throat.
"How did you know i was in-training?" Jaune asks while finishing the rest of the bottle off. Glanner chuckles lightly and reaches for a cigar. "Not everyone carries around armor or a sword. we just had to make sure that you weren't infected."
"That infection thing again, what are you talking about?"
"I'll explain to you later, right now we need to-" Glanner cuts off his sentence, listening to his comms."What! Soldier, full speed to Beacon, ASAP!" he practically shouts his command, making the vehicle go faster and faster.
"What's happening?!" Jaune can barely get out, the speed making it hard to hear.
"Beacon's been attacked!" he loudly replies, making sure that Jaune can hear him.
Even though it was inaudible, it was enough to send Jaune into panic.
Beacon has been attacked, but by who?
Or by what? The Question stirred in Cinder's mind. The planned Fall was weeks ahead of now, but only hours in and Beacon's erupted into chaos already. But that was not what troubled her so,
It was the Grimm.
The Grimm were unlike anything she had ever seen, infecting and attacking the hunstmen defending themselves. Those who have been attacked by the Grimm through bites slowly turned into the Grimm, continuing the vicious cycle of death.
Cinder would've called it genius, were it not for the grotesque beings shambling towards her.
She flickered with a wisp of flame levitating inches away from her palm, and launched it at the Grimm.
They were set alight, easily burning away from the flames engulfing their rotting corpses. They were weak, sure, but enough of these could wipe out cities if released to the public.
"Salem's plans have changed so late? But why?" She wonders while immolating more huntsmen-turned-monsters in her way to her dorm.
It was no use to hide her abilities now, especially when a single injury or cut could mean certain death. They wouldn't have time to stop her when they were being swarmed by the undead.
Speaking of, she continued to walk through the corridors while ignoring the huntsmen being eaten alive and begging for help. They'd only prove distractions and there'd be nothing to gain from risking herself to save them.
Turning a right into her dorm room shared by her protégés, she discovers no signs of them, only a scroll that has note scribbled hurriedly with "watch me" attached to it.
"What is this about? Where are they?" She picks up the scroll and tears off the note, hoping to find some answers.
"Em, damn it! There are literally zombies in the corridors outside, what the hell are you doing" a familiar voice says in the background, out of sight.
"We need to let Cinder know where we're going, she probably enacted the plan already, we'll let her know where we are so she could meet with us later." Green hair and dark tanned skin covers up most of the screen.
"Cinder, we're retreating to the city. we've assumed that you've started the plan without us early so we're letting you know where you can find us." Bright red eyes stare into the screen with a worried expression.
"We're going to the cafe near the Bullhead docks, on the rooftop." Mercury's face cuts in from the right.
"Now come on let's g-"The screen turns black, then shatters when it's thrown to the hardwood.
"Those imbeciles! They could be killed, or worse, captured!" Cinder's eyes burn with fury.
Her heels nearly break at the force she's putting on them, but she doesn't care, she just cares about escaping this hellhole.
The raven-haired beauty passes destroyed parts of the school, going back into the courtyard and destroying the bodies in her wake, Grimm or not.
Soon she reaches the Bullhead docks, the only way students can get in and out of Beacon. The Bullheads are still intact, but the pilots have turned into Grimm already.
Luckily her experience with Bullheads is quite thorough, but that wasn't the problem.
It was the enormous Grimm humanoid blocking her.
Now enormous might be an overstatement, the Grimm stood at least 9 feet tall, but that didn't break down it's terrifying stature. It's entire face was covered by a thick Grimm bone mask with horn-like protrusions on it's head. It was covered with bone plates and armor. It had spines on it's back and a thin tail ending with a large spike. It's negative aura was terrifying, even to her.
Cinder took a step back as the Grimm took a step forward. It didn't look very powerful to her, but considering he was holding a torn head with grey hair and a pale complexion, she wisely rethought that.
She ignited orbs of fire between her hands and sent it flying to the beast. The beast didn't even flinch when the orbs splashed across it's chest, covering the air around it.
The gigantic monster didn't quite take a liking to the surprise suntan and narrowed it's glowing red eyes at the maiden in front of it.
The ground started shaking. The Grimm raised it's claws and brought them together, making bone spikes erupt from the ground and nearly impale Cinder if she didn't dodge out of the way.
"Bone manipulation? That's impossible, only one other person could do such a th-" Cinder broke her line of thinking when a spike tried to kebab her face, dodging out of the way and firing blasts of flame at the unaffected monster.
The fight continued on for quite a while, both opponents seeming equally matched in both power and durability. When Cinder would gain the upper hand, the Grimm would just shrug off her attacks.
When the Grimm attacks, she would just dodge it.
The fight kept at a stalemate and looked like it would never end, but Cinder knew better.
She would lose.
The Grimm constantly took her attacks and showed no damage to itself, but Cinder had no such advantage.
Being athletic and skilled, she was practically the perfect form of a huntress, but even huntresses had a breaking point.
She numbered everything the monster had against her, and it will soon prove too much. At this point she was running on willpwer and the strive to live.
Fleeing was the only option. But Cinder Fall did not 'flee', it was simply a tactical retreat to reconvene herself and strike the enemy harder and stronger. Though no matter what she told herself, it was the only way.
Holding her hands down, she formed a circular orange vortex under her and fired several balls of fire at the giant Grimm.
It seemed to take it's attention, for it's red gleaming eyes narrowed at her.
Before rushing to attack her.
It had never done that before, simply making bone constructs to widen the distance and keep away from direct engagement.
Cinder smiled weakly, her plan was going nicely. She sped up the vortex while simultaneously attacking it as it got closer, provoking it to rush faster.
"Perfect." She thought as she put her palms together and summoned whatever energy she had left.
The Grimm closed in, moving faster and faster until...
She releases a wave of fire at the beast. It angers it even more, rushing through the flames blindly, trying to reach it's aggressor.
Cinder back flips out of the vortex just as the Grimm steps near it. The vortex starts spinning faster.
The ground explodes below, flinging the Grimm into a bullhead docked nearby.
She takes the chance and runs with all her strength to the nearest functional bullhead before the Grimm gets up again.
Practically jumping on to it, she incinerates the poor Grimmified pilot and takes it's seat. But before the Bullhead could take off to the sky, a sharp thud is heard behind her, shaking the bullhead violently. She looks outside to see a long, white spike stopping her bullhead from flight.
The Grimm locks eyes with her, just as another nearly kebabs her face, impacting the bullhead once again.
Facing impending death, Cinder knew that there was no other option.
She'd have to kill it, or die trying.
On the rooftop of a small cafe, Emerald and Mercury overlooked the chaos below.
"Looks like it is a zombie apocalypse down there. I guess we should get to repopulating the planet, huh?" an elbow to the ribs showed just how kuch she liked that plan.
"I'm still waiting for a message from Cinder, i don't even know if she got the message we left." Emerald looked at her scroll, clearly distressed.
"You think the mastermind behind the fall of Beacon wouldn't check a damn scroll that has a 'watch me' note on it?" Emerald blushed lightly at the her stupid assumption.
"R-right, stupid question. But i'm still going to wait here for her."
Emerald composing herself and checking her scroll once more.
No messages from Cinder.
"Why do we have to wait for her anyway? Let's just throw her to the wolves." Emerald's eyes hardened at Mercury's suggestion.
"I mean come on Em. Sure i'd join her again if we see her, but this is probably a lost cause. Me and you-"
"You and I." Emerald corrects, irritated.
"Right. What i'm saying is that she's probably dea-"
"She's not DEAD!" She cuts him off again.
Mercury, obviously sensing he touched a nerve, tried to calm her down.
"Come on Em, she's not invincible, and you saw what those things do to people."
"I refuse to believe that she would die in such a way." She crosses her arms under her breasts and looks away from her partner.
"It's been 2 hours, Em! You have to accept that she might not be coming back-" She cuts him off a third time by punching him right in the face.
"Ah! What the hell!" He says, rubbing his stinging cheek.
"You never held any loyalty to her, she and I knew that you would betray us the second you had the chance! You can shut up and leave, I don't have to listen to your crap!" Mercury's eyes widen.
"Holy crap..." he trails off.
"What? Why?" Her rage switches to concern immediately.
"Your eyes... They were burning with fire."
"Wh-What?" she repeats, tears forming in her eyes.
"They were burning at the edges..." Reality hits her hard, making tears stream down her face.
" No no no, i refuse to believe it!" She nearly falls down, but Mercury catches her.
"I'm sorry, Em..." He rubs her back as she breaks down in tears.
It was only one of the countless miseries to fall upon this grim day.
Salem was not hard to please, not at all, actually. All you had to do was to succeed in your given objective and she'd be satisfied.
But for things to go wrong so much that she had to take it on herself to finish, it wasn't a good sight to see.
Though to be fair, Cinder's mission has been going perfectly, even if he didn't want to admit it. The plans have suddenly changed a slight bit, with the added measure of causing the downfall of most of Remnant through a Grimm virus that infected humans and Faunus.
Not a problem at all.
Watts sipped on his morning coffee, though in the Grimmlands you couldn't tell at all.
Watts joined Salem's faction because she'd given him an outlet to use his genius. The odd job of redirecting political fire out of his way, keeping corrupt officials in government, and occasionally destroying the career of whomever his mistress told him to.
Not all that glamorous really.
But style was not something he would focus on too much, it would be efficiency. He always gave his best to please his Queen.
But even his best would obviously come short if compared to a Kingdom-collapsing bioweapon that had no viable cure. Even thinking about it has made him feel inadequate.
They'd been little things really, Salem sending him out on missions less often, or Salem telling them to go away and leave her be. He of course followed her every word, who would refuse to comply with the Queen of Grimm?
Watts looked around the table. It seemed Hazel has slowly started to catch on to the problem he was wrestling with right now, and Tyrian looked insane as always.
He had to do something about it, she would kill him in time. Why not die a heroic death by alerting the masses of her plans before dying an unfulfilling death? It seemed the best option to take, but being a genius did not mean being reckless.
The time for betrayal was nigh, and time wouldn't be waiting for anyone's mercy now.
"My Queen." Watts stood up and looked at his mistress.
"Yes Watts?"
"I have some work to do back in Atlas, so please forgive my early departure."
"Running away like a little rat? Be careful Doctor, we might have to hunt you down." Tyrian then laughed loudly. He'd underestimated his intelligence, or what was left of it.
"Tyrian!" It quieted the Faunus down, wearing the expression of a kicked puppy.
He excused himself from the room and proceeded to his own personal bullhead.
Watts has managed to make a fake company that exports dust mined in the Grimmlands to the citizens of Mistral, giving them much in the way of income. He'd managed to convince Salem that stealing Lien would only make them look suspicious.
"The things i do for her." he huffed, but she'd probably feed him to the Nevermores if he said that in person.
The flight took more or less 5 hours, nobody noticing a bullhead come from the Grimmlands. He thought it was coincidence or ignorance, over time, it was most likely the latter.
"Ah, Arthur! I didn't expect to meet you here, old friend!" Atlas Council Member Gavin Linderton exclaimed, a close associate of Watts who knew nothing about his real alliance.
"It was quite the surprise for me too, Gavin. My mistress asked me to personally meet with someone in Atlas." He'd disguised himself as the ambassador for the fake dust company and exported to the Atlas Military for cheaper, to strengthen ties between them.
"Oh? Whom might it be?"
"General Ironwood." he deadpanned.
"Ironwood! You say? Well i'll take you to him myself then. He's not busy to my knowledge."
General Ironwood, Headmaster Ironwood, was not busy? It seemed like a miracle, and he didn't want to disturb the poor man's free time, but this was for Remnant.
'And also your pride' his brain happily told him.
If he tried to punch his own brain, it would most definitely cause difficulty, so he refrained.
Either Salem or Ironwood would do that themselves.
They arrived at the door to the General's office. It was a simple thing, yet reinforced and refined with steel plating and complex carvings.
True to his word, the General was doing some small paperwork, but nothing that would take hours to finish.
Originally, Watts wanted to be all mysterious and subtle with the introduction of the virus and the reveal of him as a member of Salem's faction, but he would most likely be arrested before he got to that.
Instead he wanted to be as direct as possible, he didn't care if he was apprehended or executed (both sides would have his head anyway), all that mattered is that he'd listen.
"Hello Ambassador, how have you been?" Ironwood politely asked.
"I have been fine, General, thank you for asking." He sat down before the General would allow him, introductions would need to be cut short.
"If you don't mind, General, i'd like to skip the polite greetings. i have urgent news to share."
"Oh? do tell." Ironwood leans slightly forward, intrigued.
" I don't have much time left, General, but have you heard about a being named Salem?" His expression switched from pleasantry to dead, cold seriousness in a matter of seconds.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Ambassador." He catches Ironwood reaching his left hand to his right pocket. He was understandably nervous, I'd have to make this quick.
"i'm very sure you know what i mean, General. But you need not be afraid of me-" Ironwood snorted. Watts frowned.
"I simply wish to inform you of a slight problem with her." Watts passes a file containing vast information on the new Specter virus, Salem sought to endow them with as much as information as possible. Ironwood's eyes widened the second he opened it.
"How did you manage to get a hold of such information?" He demanded.
"Simple, i used to work with her." A magnum was pointed against him before he could even flinch.
"I said I used to work with her, she has no use of me now."
"Then what do you have to gain from this, redemption?" Watts almost burst out laughing.
"Heavens, no!" He exclaimed. " Redemption would be too far for me to even try to achieve."
"Historical relevance, fame, what is it?" The gun still aimed directly at his face.
"A mix of both really." Watts said honestly.
"Though Salem would kill me before I could ever get the chance to bask in that glory." Salem would inevitably find out about this ordeal one way or another. Either Hazel or Tyrian would be sent to retrieve or kill him, there was no turning back.
"Then hypothetically, if this is true, what do you think i should do about it?' The gun finally pulling away from his face.
"You are the tactical mastermind here, General. Think of your own solution." Watts pushed back his chair and stood up, getting ready to leave.
"You can either listen to me or not, it would not matter to me anyway. But know this, I tried to warn you, General. If you do not believe me, then the lives of Remnant will fall upon your hands." Watts walked towards the door.
"Just let them know, that Arthur B. Watts did not die a traitor to his kingdom." The door closed behind him, leaving Ironwood to his thoughts.
He could only groan.
Kicking past some debris in his way, Swift made his way through the destroyed city in a breeze.
You'd think that traveling through such terrain would be very dangerous, but constant Grimm migration and his Artrix training made it seem like a cake walk.
Speaking of Artrix, he was sent by them to regroup to a nearby Artrix outpost, presumably with another officer.
"Debby, how far until I reach the entrance to the outpost?" He ran by some ignorant Beowolves, not sending him any way or form.
"You are about 132 meters and counting to the outpost, turn another left when you see a clear path and turn a right when you see a hole in the debris." The bluish two-dimensional woman in his display helpfully informed.
"Alright, nearing entrance." Swift turned a right into the large hole in the debris.
Noticing it was a little deeper than he expected, "Debby, turn on night vision." His display flickered with light and dark greens, showing him a heavily reinforced door with the Artrix logo in the middle.
He knocked twice on the door, releasing a groan when it suddenly slid to the left, exposing the room inside.
It was nothing spectacular, it was made as a safe house where officers could regroup and resupply, and it served that purpose well.
The area was dusty and unclean, the walls featuring several weapon lockers containing ammunition and special Atlas equipment.
Helmets just like his were displayed on racks and incendiaries covered the tables, filled with concentrated burn dust for large amounts of Grimm.
They he particular thing that stood out though, was the other officer sitting cross-legged on a small sofa in the middle of the room.
"Chirper." Swift greeted.
"Jaune." He remarks, turning Swift's face into a scowl. Though neither of them could see each other's faces, Swift knew he was grinning.
"You could drop the codenames, we work together, and the codenames are demeaning." The figure went to take off his mask, revealing exotic, brown skin and brownish red hair. It was Fox Alistair, Former member of Team CFVY.
Most of them have buried the hatchet with their old friends and family, knowing there is no way to bring them back. They've grown close to each other, Spartan and Chirper being close friends he could talk to, Silence being a pain in the ass but always caring about them in her own twisted way, and Priestess acting as a motherly figure to all of them.
It was a new family built on experience and turmoil. Through countless battles looking after one another. It was something he was not determined to lose.
"You mean because yours is the only uncool one?" He took a seat on a couch to the right of Fox.
"Hey! Silence is literally mute, I'm not the only complaining."
"She can't." Swift pointed out.
"If she hears that, she will kill you." That was enough to actually make him quake. The brown bastard noticed and laughed at his distress.
"Enough about that crap, what's our mission about?" Swift asked.
"I think you'd find it quite interesting." He took out a file he stuffed under the sofa and threw it to the blonde.
It was about Beacon. Their objectives were to reduce the number of Grimm there and potentially destroy their nests.
Swift almost recoiled. It had been so long since he had been to Beacon. Come to think of it, he hadn't been there since the 1st Break. Coming back to the resting place of so many friends, teachers and people was terrifying. It wasn't Beacon anymore, that was reduced to rubble. This was an overpopulation of unwelcome graveyard visitors. He'll make sure they can rest at peace. Dying there would be the greatest gift he could get.
He placed the file beside him and walked to a weapon locker on the wall. It was filled with Artrix shield staffs and dust canisters. He picked up a few canisters for his booster pack and put a shield staff on his back.
"I'm ready, let's go." Swift walks outside, into the wasteland as Fox closes the doors behind him.
It took mere minutes to fly their way to the Beacon docks. Most of the Bullheads were destroyed or powered down, but a few dust canisters manger to refuel one of them enough for a round trip to Beacon.
While Fox flew themselves over to the abandoned academy, Swift loaded his Gen-Pistols and checked his booster pack. It was enough for now.
Hundreds of red eyes turned to look at the arriving ship. The doors opened, and hail fire entered the air.
Jaune Arc died at Beacon, Swift Arc replaced him. Cowardice was not an option.
Jaune Arc could only stare.
His home, where he grew into a better person, was falling to pieces in front of his eyes.
The Grimm were repelled by the emergency response, but the damage was done.
Very few students remained. Those who perished were overwhelmed or surprised by the epidemic.
They taunted their very life by using the bodies made to protect to turn them into their own worst enemy. It was the sickest irony.
Worst of all, those monsters took his friends away from him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He noticed a Grimm with a familiar rapier stuck in it's chest, to think they even attempted that was enough to send him into tears.
All of his friends, his family, were nothing more than soulless killers.
He'd find a way. A way to bring this to an end, even it takes a million years to finish.
He walks away, leaving that promise to a Grimm with green clothing and a sword impaling his back.
Goodbye, Ren.
AN: I got lazy at the end parts, sorry. Maybe I'll fix them in time, but for now I'll leave you with this. Give actual criticism but IF YOU HATE DON'T READ(Jk please leave constructive criticisms). I'm a rookie writer, and this will be updated weekly so please put up with my crappy writing. I'll improve in time. TIA.