RWBY: Tainted Blood (remastered edition)
Chapter 1: Outbreak
"An insufficient virus kills its host, a clever virus sticks with it." James Lovelock
Mortician's Office
Downtown Vale
2:30 pm
(Scene is shown through a camera recording of a Mortician and his assistant recording an autopsy)
"Is it recording James?" The Mortician asked.
"Yes doctor." The assistant said.
"Ok, this is Autopsy #431, cadaver is human male in his mid-20's, recently gunned down by police for violent, erratic behaviour and attacking people on the streets. There are signs of skin discoloration, as there are patches of darkened veins and white patches on the legs, underarms, and back of the neck. There is a red circular outline around the irises, and blood work has shown signs of infection in the internal organs." The Mortician said.
"Travel records have shown that he had recently come back from a trip to Vacuo." The assistant said.
"There is also signs of cerebral damage, such as complete shutdown of inhibitors and swelling of aggression centers." The Mortician explained.
"Signs of this sickness match...reports coming out of Vacuo? Atlas? Even Mistral?" The assistant said.
"Wait, the blood work report has just changed, it is now registering a class four virus." The Mortician said.
"Class four? That means its a blood-bourne virus." The assistant said as blood splurted on the mortician's face.
"I am hereby halting the autopsy in order to notify the authorities." The Mortician said.
"Sir?" The assistant said as the mortician ran over to the intercom.
"I request a full lockdown of this facility, effective... immediately." The Mortician said in a scared tone.
(Narration by Dante begins.)
Death is a cold-hearted bitch you know that? You're just given a death and told to take it. Because of this, so many people are scared of Death that they won't even fight against death as they know it's not their time.
"Dante, get up to the defense line." Arcann, a Aletian student said.
"What are you talking about? We need to get out of here." Dante said.
"It's Anna, she's hurt bad." Arcann explained.
"Arcann? What are you talking about?" Dante said as Arcann started walking away.
Dante followed the student in order to find out what he meant by Anna was injured. He listened to the loud sounds of the fighting going on outside the building, in which he followed Arcann outside the building where he saw a group of students fighting off the attacking White Fang soldiers...
But in life, there are those who are considered legends among us. They are the ones who stood at the edge, facing death square in the face, and turned back. The day I experienced this was the day my school was attacked. The attack was when White Fang insurgents hijacked a munitions depot and stole a stockpile of weapons, including mortars. They attacked the Valorian Academy of Huntsmen which was home to a mere 500 students and staff, intent on killing all there. But as security was getting overwhelmed, several students joined in the battle and managed to counter the attack. My friend Xavier and my girlfriend Anna joined in the battle, with Xavier taking the lead on the counteroffensive effort and Anna provided support. That was until she went down...
"Dante, over here!" Xavier shouted.
Dante rushed over to Xavier, who was holding onto an assault rifle that he acquired from a fallen soldier and crouched down next to Anna, who was on the ground and writhing in pain. He noticed that her forearms looked severely burned by something, and carefully noticed a slight golden glow in her eyes...
"What the hell happened?" Dante demanded.
"She over-charged her semblance, this is the result." Xavier explained.
"They're at it again!" Arcann shouted.
"You two, get her to safety, Dante, we need to hold them off." Xavier ordered.
"Don't hurt my girlfriend." Dante told the students carrying Anna to safety.
Xavier was a natural leader, so a brave few decided to follow him into battle against the White Fang. Their involvement in the fighting almost turned the tide in their favor, until the mortars were used...
"Cover those ones on the right!" Dante exclaimed, firing his pistols Fire and Fury.
"Watch out!" A student shouted.
An explosion happened right next him, sending him flying over the railing nearby him. He was on the ground, dazed and disoriented as a result of the explosion, but he could hear the commotion...
"Watch out, they're using mortars!" A student shouted.
"Fall back!Now!" Xavier shouted to the students.
"Perez is down man!" Another student shouted.
"I got him, get yourself to safety!" Xavier ordered.
Xavier ran over and picked up the injured Dante, slinging him over his shoulder. Dante watched as mortars exploded all around them, staggering Xavier but not slowing him down...
I owed Xavier my life for what he did for me that day, but I watched as the environment around us deteriorate faster than he anticipated. I wasn't sure if he could hear the whistling...
Dante tried to warn Xavier as he heard a loud whistling sound on the air which was the a sign of a mortar was on its way to their location. But in that moment, just when Dante feared he was about to die, Xavier immediately grabbed Dante by his side tightly and threw him off. He flew into the closest ditch, in which he immediately saw the oncoming mortar that was about to hit. When he hit the ground, so did the mortar, as he watched as the explosion was so bright that he saw Xavier be knocked off his feet, but he watched as a leg and forearm separate from him in the flight...
"XAVIER!" Dante shouted.
Silverdrift Towers
Kingdom of Vale
8:09 am.
2 months after the attack.
Dante sat straight up in his bed, sweat trickling down his face, as he just emerged from a nightmare about the attack on the school. He carefully stepped out of the bed, walking out onto the balcony. As he walked out onto the balcony, the sun was shining brightly over the city as people were going about their daily lives. Scars on his torso were easily shown in the sunlight, reminders of that incident that made him into the man he is now.
"You alright?" A voice said behind him.
Dante turned around to see Anna, who was wrapped up in the blanket from the bed and curious at why he was outside in nothing but the pajama pants he would normally wear to bed.
"Dreams again." Dante said.
"I wouldn't be surprised, I still have them myself." Anna said.
"How are your arms feeling?" Dante asked.
"Great, the medication has been a great help to me." Anna said.
"That's good to hear." Dante said.
"Why don't we get dressed and head down to the dining hall for breakfast?" Anna said.
"Okay." Dante said, giving her a kiss.
The two went back inside and immediately got dressed in civilian ware, leaving the apartment to have breakfast in the tower dining hall. But what they were unaware of the events about to unfold...
WHITECROSS Vale HQ
9:30 AM
Xavier arrived at the Vale headquarters of WHITECROSS, a large building that had the symbol of WHITECROSS (A towering White cross stabbing through an Ouroboros) at the top of the building. He was wearing a formal black suit, His robotic leg shown underneath his right pant leg and his robotic arm was shown in the form of his hand on the left. He walked inside, his elegantly designed cane tapping against the ground with every step he took. As he walked inside the building, He was greeted by his employees...
"Good morning, director." Marcy, the receptionist at her desk, said.
"Good morning, Marcy. How's your daughter?" Xavier asked.
"She's doing fine. School had to be canceled for her thanks to a lot of the students calling in sick." Marcy said.
"Well, let's hope they recover." Xavier said as Joel, a Faunus inter-office mail courier, came up to them.
"How you doing, Director?" Joel asked.
"Doing good, Joel, how's your boy's sports team?" Xavier asked.
"Doing good, they're going to be heading to the championship game next week." Joel explained.
"Well, tell him that his father's boss is rooting for them." Xavier said.
"He'll appreciate that, sir." Joel explained.
Xavier walked over to the elevator, taking it all the way to the top floor. Upon arrival, he was greeted by his personal assistant, Carla...
"Good morning, Director Moore." Carla said.
"How are we doing this morning?" Xavier asked.
"We received a lot of reports today." Carla explained.
"Let me guess, division PMC commanders submitting progress reports on recruitment?" Xavier asked.
"No, these ones came from the chapter leads themselves, and they've been labelled urgent." Carla explained.
"Hmm...I'll look at them in my office." Xavier said.
Xavier entered his office, which was an open room with a single chair in the center of the room with a small console on a little table next to it. He sat down in the chair, pressed a button on the console, pulling up a series of holographic grids and charts. He pulled up the reports on one of the holographic monitors, in which he looked through the reports, seeing a clear message in each report and finally reached the Vacuo chapter's report...
Vacuo Chapter Report
Director: Vera Hermes
Topic of discussion: Possible Viral Pandemic
Over the course of a few months, signs of a recent viral infection has been reported in the kingdom of Vacuo, in which the government has taken emergency precautions to be ready in case of emergency. However, I request that we take immediate action in the matter as biomedical director has confirmed the infection to be a result of a blood-bourne virus. Will have staff on standby awaiting for responsive action by Director.
"Carla, can you open a secure channel?" Xavier said into his console.
"To who, sir?" Carla asked.
"The directors of the WHITECROSS chapters of Vacuo, Mistral, Atlas." Xavier said.
"Understood, sir." Carla said.
A series of holographic people appeared on silver circular platforms, each wearing a formal black suit. These were the directors of each WHITECROSS chapter in the kingdoms, Salazar Quill of the Vacuo chapter and porcupine Faunus, Asher Downing of the Atlas Chapter, and Maya Broussard of the Mistral chapter.
"Good morning, Director Moore." Salazar said.
"Morning Salazar, now let's get straight to business." Xavier said.
"Is there a reason why the directness this morning?" Maya said.
"I just looked at your reports, apparently there's a virus spreading through the kingdoms?" Xavier said in a direct tone.
"We were just becoming aware of this early in the morning. What protocol must we follow for this sir?" Asher asked.
"It is a virus that is present in all kingdoms, causing violent, and erratic behavior in anyone who is infected. This is has grown into a serious threat while we had our guard down, so there is only one solution to this: we have to initiate Andromeda Protocols." Xavier said.
"Are you sure, sir?" Salazar said.
"I am sure, get your activation keys and get ready." Xavier said.
The other directors disappeared from the holographic platforms, while Xavier walked over to the right wall of his office. He put his right hand on the wall, where a blue light moved up where his hand was. The section of the wall he rested his hand immediately separated from the wall, rising up to reveal a sleek, cylinder shaped object with two small prongs on the sides of one end, resting on a small stand. Xavier knew this was the activation key required to activate the Andromeda Protocol, so he grabbed it from its stand and returned to the console while the directors reappeared on the platforms.
"Are you ready?" Xavier asked the directors of each WHITECROSS chapter.
"Yes." They all responded.
"Alright, 3,2,1, initiate." Xavier instructed, inserting the key into a slot on the console next to the chair.
Xavier watched as the holographic monitors around him went red, displaying the message: ANDROMEDA PROTOCOL ENGAGED, AWAITING DIRECTOR ORDERS. Xavier picked up a small earpiece, placed it on his left ear and began to speak...
"This is a priority alert for all WHITECROSS personnel, Andromeda Protocol is now in effect. Please report to your headquarters for assignments." Xavier said into a machine using the earpiece.
All over the kingdoms, every WHITECROSS employee began to rapidly surge to the headquarters of each WHITECROSS chapter for their assignments. But while each WHITECROSS chapter readied itself for the task at hand, Blake Belladonna was about to have something happen to her that would change her life forever...
Apartment 431
Luxinden Apartments, Vale
8:47 am
Blake Belladonna of Team RWBY was standing out the apartment of an old friend from her days in the White Fang. That old friend was named Marcus Kellen, and was the most sly fox Faunus in his days as a scout for the White Fang. After her defection, he and several others had followed suit and deserted from the White Fang as Adam Taurus acceled through the ranks and into leadership of the Vale branch of the White Fang. But something was wrong, he had suddenly dropped out of contact with her and mysteriously vanished from the public sight. She knocked on the door, only to have it drift open with all the lights off...
"Hello, Marcus?" Blake asked.
She walked into the room, only to see that the apartment was a mess. Garbage covered the floors, letters from the landlord covered the kitchen table, demanding either rent payments or warnings of being evicted from the building. As she progressed into the room, a figure attacked her from the shadows wielding a knife...
"Woah, hey! Stop that!" Blake exclaimed as she fought off the attacking individual.
"Die, Adam!" The figure exclaimed.
"Marcus?! Stop! It's me, Blake!" She exclaimed.
But he seemed lost to reason, as he pressed his attack on her, leaving her with no other choice but to defend herself. She quickly drew Gambol Shroud, and swung it at him, hitting him in the side of the head...
"Please, don't make me do that again." Blake said.
"Die...MONSTER!" Marcus screamed.
In a panic, Blake turned Gambol Shroud into its pistol form and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered on her face as Marcus fell backwards onto the floor, in which she looked at the blood on her face after running a finger over the right side of her face. She ran into the bathroom and turned on the sink, washing the blood of her face with great speed as she wanted to rid herself of what she did.
"I've got to get out of here." Blake said in a panicking tone.
She ran out of the apartment with great speed, not noticing the patches of discoloration on Marcus's face and neck...
Thus the remastered edition of RWBY Tainted Blood begins. This remastering is happening due to major errors in the choices that I had made when I wrote the first story. With the original version, I was running too close along the plot of Kumafromtaiwan's emotional RWBY comic and I had left an information gap that I had tried to close up with long paragraphs or "Blocks of Text" as I refer then as, plus I felt that I had made an ending to it that was very confusing. Plus, I can bring the story up-to-date with this remastering by integrating some of the new characters and info that Volume 4 had brought in. I hope that the readers can be a patient with me as I completely reconstruct the story that I had done so long ago. Trust me, this will be better than the original version of RWBY Tainted Blood as this one will contain completely remodeled scenes, characters that hadn't been revealed in the original version that I mistakenly chose to refrain from adding, and the introduction of two factions that will have major roles to play in a future sequel I have planned for this version of RWBY Tainted Blood. In the next chapter, WHITECROSS prepares to mobilize as they begin to take action against the viral outbreak now ripping its way across Remnant, while Team RWBY prepares to undergo an assignment for their school, without knowing the danger lurking among them...
WAIT AND SEE...