Chapter 1: Lost

Tony didn't quite recall what had occurred over the last few hours, ever since donning a rubberised chicken mask hallucinations have plagued him. He couldn't recall much, only who he had to protect, the one named Corey. Tony had failed to perform and had completely failed his objectives. In the darkened room, with SWAT pouring into the building like a flood, various chatter could be heard from their radios, Tony sat with the rapidly dying Corey in his arms. Corey had been shot, by a 12 gauge slug through the sternum, her heart was in pieces, both proverbially and literally... Corey only had a minute maximum left. She slowly reached for her mask, and made a pitiful attempt to grab the mask and raise it above her face, her lack of strength and the blood coating her hands removing her ability to do so. Slowly, Tony removes the mask for her, and removes his own.

Corey looks up to speak, but sputters up reddened droplets, and lowers her head back down. She takes one last breath... and off to Valhalla she goes. Tony is left to wallow in his own pitiful existence, as a blind rage builds within him.

They won't miss you

They all hate you

You are nothing

Waste of flesh

Fucking useless sack of shit

A blonde, tired, slightly malnourished man in a navy jacket strides in, yelling "FREEZE" pointing a rather regal revolver, … Tony could tank that kinda round, he would bet all his money on that... a mistake he had no chance to regret. Tony leaps for the officer and, with fist wrapped in shredded bandaging soaked with blood and other bodily fluids, some Tony's, and some not, Tony's fist slips forward and collides with the man's skull. His face exploded, not into chunks, not into tine splinters, but into a fine red mist. The SWAT begin pouring in at the sound of commotion, rifles at the ready, primed to empty lead. Tony continued to swing, brutalizing the black and blue bastards charging him, blood splatttered and splayed across every single fuckin wall in the building, blood smearing every inch of Tony, suffocating his pores, choking him out, drowning him in his own sorrow.

Bullet holes covering his body, a living, but mutilated slab of meat, weakening rapidly, Tony was bleeding, a bit too much for his fancy, he knew he didn't have long. His mask, originally an orange and black spotted pattern donned upon it, with an eye slashed and bleeding, now completely blood red, stained in it's entirety, with a 50 blessings logo splattered upon it, in magenta and green, thanks to a concoction of both Corey's leftover paint she had on her as a backup weapon, and Tony;s madness. Tony stumbled out of the front door of the building, police sirens echoing around him. He looks to his right, and spots a corpse, covered by a rag. Tony meandered over, and carelessly kicked the rag off of the corpse... The man who killed her... Tony, in one last fit of pure, unbridled rage, straddles the corpse, and proceeds to slam his now broken fists into the already gored face, until he too collapsed, just like she did.

I awaken in the woods... strange, could've sworn I was dead. The sky is blue, unlike the estranged shades of purple Miami had, So I ain't in Miami no more. Gradually standing back up, I look around, there is nobody around, all I could see was the luscious green bushes and... rather ridiculously tall trees. There is a building in the distance, It's either really tall, or above the forest, most likely the latter, suppose I'll head over there and see if I can find something. I reach for my mask, and not only find it, but another alongside it... it is hers...

It had been a few minutes since I started walking, and I was yet to find anything. That was, until I came face to face with several rather large black beasts, bones sticking out of various locations on their body, perhaps for a makeshift armour for the beasts. Slipping my mask onto my scarred face, I ready myself for yet another fucking fight, at least it ain't people this time... The first of the beasts charged me, I noted the lack of armour on their chin, and provided an uppercut, my fist went right through, and out the top of its head. Grabbing the boney faceplate of the beast, I yank my arm back of the beast, and throw it at another beast, beheading it.

I was prepared to take on the other beasts, but the majority of them ran off, presumably in fear, however they didn't get far, as they ran face first into two men, one in a pink warmer and a blue biker helmet, with a meat cleaver in his gloved hands. The other in... that fucking chicken mask... with a hammer in his hand, and a tape recorder in the other. That man had to be Jacket, the other I believe the man who assisted him, Biker. If it were another day, I would have chased Jacket around, begging for an autograph, but his actions lead to her death, and I can't forgive that. Jacket pulls a tape recorder from his back pocket, and plays a line, which contained a creepy twinge.

'SCREEEEEE'"Do you know what time it is?"

Jacket Began swinging that blunted hammer around, a miasma of notched and blunted agony crushing the bones of the beasts, as Biker stood still, watching. Eventually they were all dead, Leading the two to enter a stare down with me. Biker readies his cleaver, and Jacket lowers his. I simply continue to walk forward, unto my destination.

Bizarrely, Jacket and Biker had followed me, seems they spotted the tower too, and went in the same direction. I finally made it as close to the tower as I could get, It was part of a facility spanning a few Kilometres at most. Unfortunately, there was a big fuck-off cliff in the way, No problem for me, I could scale the fucker in a few minutes bare handed, but the other two are who I worried about, I had a respect for Biker, ending the original 50 Blessings, and Jacket, was paramount to my meeting of Corey, so while I may hate the man, It's a false hate, something I can use to remove an ounce of guilt from myself.

I observe the cliff until I spot a hidden away rope ladder, closed off to stop the beasts from earlier presumably grabbing at people. Its claustrophobic, Jake couldn't fit in this enclosure even if the fat bastard wanted to. I note the presence of Biker and Jacket, and wave them over, as I begin climbing the ladder. By the time I'm about half way up, The rope ladder begins to shake more, seems Jacket and Biker are once again following me, Not that I can complain.

"We can't just ignore their presence, They appeared from nowhere and have just slaughtered a pack of Ursa, we can't ignore that, Ozpin" Complains the ever hot-headed blonde friend I keep around. I sit in silence and continue to observe...

"No need to fret Glynda, They are coming to us it seems."

I finally hobble above the ladder, take a few steps forward, and turn to see the view. I remove my mask to get a better view... It's difficult to see out of those things, but the way it changes your psyche is well worth the downsides. Jacket and Biker soon join me,removing their own head garments, Jacket, a slightly aged, demented man, with a short blonde tuft raising from his scalp, the other a long haired man, a headband banded around his forehead. We continue to observe the environment around us, until we hear footsteps, six sets to be exact. I slowly lower my mask back into place and prepare for combat, the others follow suit, Biker pulling a second cleaver out.

We are greeted by an older couple, and four younger women, some more... voluptuous than others, but they were around the same age at least. The older man of the couple signals for the others to stay, and walks towards us, a small smirk adorning his face. "Well gentlemen, it seems we find ourselves at a standstill, I suggest you come with us, we are peaceful as long as you are."

I think, then realize I'm not in that shithole Miami any more, and nobody else knows who we are. I lower my beaten and battered fists, Biker lowers his cleavers, and lowers Jackets hammer for him. I speak for the first time in a while, my voiced weakened, my larynx crackled and dried. "Well, let's move" My voice is audibly painful to use, and the four girls from earlier notice, one in particular lowering her weapon, understanding that I... no, we mean no harm. The old man turns and walks off, and we follow, eager for an explanation as to just where the fuck we are, and who the fuck he was.

The older man lead us through the front gates and courtyard of the complex, some bizarre architectural choices with bizarre angles and unhealthy shapes, to an elevator, and the nine of use crammed into the elevator, and rode to the top floor of that tower I spotted earlier. During the ride up, our masks remained on, however my other mask was hanging from my belt, a bloody hand print over the eye slit, which one noticed, the one in black and red, she reached for it, trying to be quiet about it, shame I was the silent killer of the group I used to be part of. I slap her hand away, she pretty much shits herself, and splutters back, her friend in yellow notices, and prepares for a fist fight, perhaps overprotective of her, maybe a sister or close friend, maybe lover? Who knows.

I mutter "Don't touch the mask, It's not yours, so please, for her..." I notice my mistake in wording at their confusion over the word "her" and I begin to panic slightly... I shake my head, The elevator doors open, and I clamber out. The younger girls stand to the right of a large wooden desk, The older woman on the left, and the older man sitting behind it. There are three chairs in front of the desk, myself, Jacket, and Biker sit, ready for a talk.

"So, care to explain how three under armored men such as yourselves ended up in the Emerald Forest of all places." The old man grumbles out with purpose.

"I just, appeared there, no idea how, never seen this place, or any place with a blue sky before, so I think I may be somewhere I ain't been before, the others are most likely the same." I muttered out with numbness enveloping my body, the adrenaline of combat circumventing from me. The other two nod, they are in the same situation as me.

The older man seems to mull over the thought, then mulls over the thought of a different colored sky, and, content with believing us, replies "Do you know who I am?"

"You are just an out of touch pedophile, old man" Biker stated with a voice that, while higher pitched than the average male, still held animosity and violence.

The older woman went to make a move, but was stopped by the older man stating "Don't bother Glynda" before looking back at us. "Alright then, I am Professor Ozpin, The Principal of Beacon, an academy for Hunters and Huntresses to fight the beasts you fought in the forest, and criminal riff-Raff... Now, who might you be, and I need a name."

I realize I have no need to hide my identity, and mutter out "I'm Tony, The one in the chicken mask is Jacket, and the other is Biker." Oz seemed content with the answer, and replied "Well, Tony, I have a proposition to all of you."

I find myself intrigued and lean in closer. Oz grins, and states "Since you are all so proficient in combat, would you like to join my academy, you seem like nomads as of now, and completing this course gets you respect from everywhere around here. There are teams, and I was planning on putting you three into a team, and since you lack the fourth member, provide you with a joint team member, you get to learn new fighting techniques, hunt the Grimm, etc. So, you in?"

I spend a minute thinking it over, and come to the conclusion that I need something to do to keep me out of that life I was in before this, second chance, and I can spend time with people I actually don't completely despise, It's an above average encounter. "I'm in." I mutter. Jacket and Biker nod in agreement.

"Very well, I will provide you with a room, make it your own, some communication devices, and maybe a bit of money on the side as a token of appreciation, now any questions from anybody in the room?" Oz questions.

The one in red puts her hand up, then questions me, with the rather painful gesture of "Who is 'her'?" She is referring to the encounter in the elevator, It pains me to say anything, I think it over, then I note I will spend time with these people, might as well be honest.

I remove my mask, my scarred face, little cuts and bruises, surrounded by various blood stains and burns, and mutter "She was... a companion of mine, she... didn't make it here..." A tear drops from my eye, but I quickly slap it away, and continue talking "Her name is on my arm, Corey... She cared for all of us, but everybody else is dead, slaughtered my a drugged up lunatic, I'm all that's left." I remove the mask from my belt, The others spotting it for the first time, and I stare into the bloodied eye slit, and begin to internally scream, and externally, cry some more. The girl in red takes a few hesitant strides towards me, the one in yellow makes a grab for her, but misses, and mumbles "Ruby, no." The now named Ruby stops in front of me, and stares at the mask, I can see the gears in her head turning, and eventually she whispers "It's okay." I reply "No, it's not". I then stand, and ask Ozpin "Which room am I looking for?" "Room 308" I grab one of the 'communication devices' Ozpin mentioned earlier, and get in the elevator, and prepare to head down, Jacket and Biker follow.

I stumble to room 308, and wave the device at the door, which opened the door, turns out doing stuff in jest can open doors around here. I kick the door open, and see a room with grey walls, and two bunk beds, I fall onto one, and pass out, with my mask still on, In case anyone feels lucky enough to attack me at night.

To Be Continued...