Chapter 2: Remus Cobalt, The Blue Flicker
Setting: Team VRSZ Base
In front of the freelancers' base were Violet and Remus, training together in hand to hand combat. They placed their weapons to the side along with Violet's brown, leather jacket so she could fight without overheating too quickly in the desert heat. She initiated the battle by reeling her fist back and Remus did the same with his hand.
Her fist met with Remus' open palm and they were staring each other down with amused looks. He used his palm to take hold of Violet's fist as he tried to attack her again with his other hand to palm strike her in the gut. Violet countered by lift her leg to block his strike from its original target, and she quickly followed up by using the same leg to kick Remus in the chest and push him back a little. He remained standing when Violet knocked him back and the look on his face meant he was still having a good time.
Violet moved in to land an attack with a spear hand to his chest, but Remus used his palm to push her arm away from him and repeated this action when she attempted this with her other hand. Not giving him an inch, Violet spun her body around to deliver a knife hand, but he blocked by using his arm. It was his turn to go on the offensive. Remus threw another strike to her left and she moved her arms to block, but it never came and she was suddenly hit by Remus' other palm from her backside then tried to kick her, but she was able to quickly counter his move by grabbing his foot before it made contact. He was able to force his leg out of her grasp and ran around her.
Violet was second to none on her team when it came to hand to hand combat. She didn't match Zelts in physical strength, but she was unrivaled in technique and skill. She preferred to strike joints and vital areas, cause dislocations, and if her foe didn't have a weakness, then she would create one and exploit it. Remus wasn't as skilled as Violet or as strong as Zelts, but he surpassed them all in speed and he used that to his advantage. With his superior speed, Remus made quick side steps and feints to throw her off guard. It worked well against his leader and the unpredictability of his fighting style only put the sparring match more in his favor. However, Violet wasn't the type of person to let a disadvantage like this be her downfall.
If she couldn't move fast enough to catch him or anticipate his moves, then she could get him to stop in his tracks. The rules of their sparring match said they couldn't use weapons, but semblances were never forbidden. Violet activated Invisibility and vanished on the spot, forcing Remus to stop moving to find her. Usually, Remus was the only one who could detect Violet while she's invisible out of necessity for fully utilizing their Cloak and Dagger maneuver, but because she developed her semblance to the point where she is undetectable by person, Grimm, or even machinery like radars, Remus can't locate her. The only downside was Violet couldn't physically touch others at this intensity, only observe. It's almost like she views the world from a different plane of existence. She'd have to downplay Invisibility back to its original state if she wanted to touch someone, though she could be detected or caught at this level.
Standing behind a confused Remus, Violet lowered the intensity of her semblance so she could leg sweep him off his feet. He feel on his back and felt weighed down by some unseen force. Violet deactivated her semblance and slowly came into view, showing she was on top him with her weight pinning him down and a fist reeled back just in case he wanted to continue, but he didn't.
"You win," he said accepting defeat with a smile.
Violet couldn't help but do the same after looking at his infectious expression. Their sparring ended with Remus' surrender, but it also ended abruptly when someone else spoke up.
"Is this a training session or did I come at a bad time?"
The two freelancers looked up to see Blood standing before them. Violet looked back at Remus and realized they were extremely close to one another and quickly jumped off him, though she felt embarrassed about her action. If Blood hadn't made that comment, Violet wouldn't have felt awkward and reacted that way. Remus didn't understand the implication of what Blood meant so he just sat up and said, "Hey Blood. You came to train?"
"No, I'm actually here on business. Lady Clair wanted me to go eliminate a new horde of Grimm that's been running a muck and I'm heading out to deal with them. She said I should ask one of you guys to help. You game?"
"I can't help. Zelts and I are planning something and Silver is out with Bianca and Ghost, but..." She looked to Remus, who nodded, "Remus is free."
"Sure, I like fighting Grimm and we've never been on a mission together Blood. Let's go." Remus was more than happy to help out his friend.
"Alright. I got an airship ready." Blood led Remus to the vehicle and they flew off to the Grimm sighting.
Setting: Desert
Blood landed in a desert area where many rocky formations were located, including a large structure with a hole leading to a cavern. Blood was informed by Clair that a horde of Grimm were using this as a sort of base of operations. Once the sun set, the Grimm would attack villages and people then return to this spot when daybreak came. Blood told Remus this information which is why he chose to ambush them while the sun was out. Remus seemed to be okay with all of this, but he had one question, "What kind of Grimm are we dealing with?"
"Alucards. They're Grimm shaped like bats, but they aren't that much bigger than regular bats. Perhaps twice the size as regular bats, though Alucard Majors are as big as people so watch out for their fangs and claws. They're known for attacking in large groups in order to bite and rip people to shreds, basically flying piranha."
Blood and Remus entered the cave, but saw no sign of the Grimm. Blood listened for them with his heightened sense of hearing. He heard little movement, but believed the Alucards were in there. Remus confirmed this using his bionic eye to look further in and found them resting together deeper down the depth.
"If I let Romulus charge enough, then I could destroy the cave in one shot and get rid of them all," Remus suggested already transforming his double bladed staff into its railgun.
"Go for it."
He let it charge for a good while then fired a powerful bolt of energy deep into the cave and hit the ceiling, causing the entire structure to break apart and collapse in on itself. The Alucards inside went into a frenzy from the surprise attack. The only way for them to survive was to exit the cave, but the falling debris killed many of the Grimm before they could escape. Remus and Blood moved away from the entrance and watch eight dozen survivors fly into the open sky before the cave gave way. Sensing their presence, the Alucards moved to attack the two warriors in a swarm. Remus activated Checkpoint to teleport away while Blood opened his own bat wings and flew up in the sky where Remus teleported to. Remus turned his railgun back into a doubled bladed staff then separated them to dual swords form and dove onto the horde with Blood.
The Alucards flew up toward them to take them out with numbers, but Remus used his blades to cut through any minuscule Grimm that was in his way. The same went for Blood as he used his hands and feet to strike them down. When they made it back onto the sandy terrain, they were engulfed in a fog made entirely of Grimm with no means of escape. Remus was eliminating the tiny menace with ease, though some were getting a few nicks and bites here and there, but he didn't let that stop him. Blood was a little more graceful. He beat down any oncoming threat and every time he moved, he used his large bat wings to swat them away from his blind spots. The number of Grimm was gradually decreasing as their tiny bodies littered the sand before they disintegrated and Remus was having a blast. Being outnumbered only made it more challenging for him, but his fun stopped when something big knocked him away from behind and he was swarmed by a whole bunch of Grimm. With a swing from both swords, he killed the bats that dog piled him and saw what knocked him over, an Alucard Major.
Just like Blood said, it was a bat-shaped Grimm the size of an average human. It was black all over, except for its head, fangs, and feet which were covered in bone plating with red markings. It let out a horrible screech and the smaller Grimm seemed to move in synchronization toward Remus, who teleported a distance away. They were no longer attacking randomly, but listening to the commands of the Alucard Major, who attacked Remus by itself. It lunged for him by flying over his head to swipe him with its clawed feet, but the young warrior blocked each attempt with his swords. With the assault over, Remus took his chance and try to cut the threat in two, but with a quick screech it called for the lesser Grimm to come between and defend it by sacrifices themselves. Remus realized the Major had no problem letting the others die if it could prolong its own life. He looked over and saw Blood was facing the same dilemma, another Alucard Major with its own horde of bat Grimm obeying its every command. Anytime Blood went on the offensive the Major would order the smaller Grimm to swarm him so he couldn't land a punch or kick and forced him to fly a safe distance away. Neither of the two warriors were planning on letting this stop them.
Blood reached for the chakrams attached to his waist and used them to finish this battle. Blood flew straight the Alucard Major and it reacted by wailing to command the lesser Alucards into rushing the bat faunus full force. Blood used the dust in both his rings to envelope his weapons in flames then threw them in opposite directions, but each heading to the horde. When the chakrams went into the swarm they sliced through several Grimm before colliding into one another and the impact caused the fire dust to explode. All the Alucards were burned to nothingness, leaving the Alucard Major all by himself for Blood to destroy with his bare hands. When it tried to bite him, Blood grabbed it by the jaw with both hands then ripped its head off using his superior strength.
The Major fighting Remus called on its horde to surround him and eat him alive. Remus activated the dust in his weapon to let its energy flow through his blades, making them sharper and his strikes stronger. Surrounded on all sides, Remus swung his swords in a flurry. In every direction he sliced through each Grimm in one shot as their numbers dwindled by the second. The orb of darkness the bat-like Grimm created from circling Remus eventually changed to dancing light as every swing he made with his blades left a trail of light from the tips. This made his fights seem more appealing to the eye, but he didn't care about looks in battle. His assault didn't end till all the Alucards were dead, leaving the Alucard Major as the only survivor. After fighting so many Grimm at once, Remus' blood was pumping and he smiled like an mad man.
The giant bat Grimm moved to fly in and attack him and Remus let it, but before it did, he took out a dust crystal and placed it in the middle compartment of his arm bracer. The Grimm tried to bite him and Remus blocked with his arm, though the equipment was only big enough to block one fang and a couple teeth while the rest did a number on his aura, but this was what Remus wanted. Before it could do anything else, Remus activated Checkpoint to get away, but unlike the usual smokescreen that appears after he teleports, a cluster of ice took its place, encasing the Grimm. Teleporting only three feet away, Remus was ready to use his swords to cut the defenseless Grimm down. He sliced and slashed the frozen bat endlessly as trails of light danced around it. The Alucard's body split apart into many uncountable shards before they disintegrated into nothingness. With the threat eliminated, Remus brought his swords together and retracted the entire weapon to its bulky Bo staff form.
"And it's over. Thanks for your help Remus. It would've taken a lot longer without it," Blood said placing his chakrams back to his waist.
"Heheh, I didn't do much." Remus tried to sound humble, but he couldn't stop himself from grinning at Blood's compliment.
Blood pulled out his scroll to inform Clair that he finished the tasked assigned to him and he actually was surprised by the time. It only took them about half an hour to kill a massive horde of Grimm. He was impressed by their efficiency and thought Remus was living up to the Cobalt name.
"Come on, no reason to stay here anymore," Blood said and the two warriors walked back to the airship to return to Fortuna.
Setting: Vantablack
Blood walked with Remus back to his home before heading to Concordia. When the Team VRSZ base was around the corner, he asked Remus to stop for some reason. He took a couple Lien out of his pocket and handed it to his friend.
"Here," he said pushing the money into his hand.
"Why? This wasn't a job. It was a friend helping a friend so you don't have to pay me."
"Technically I did hire a freelancer and you did more than your fair share so here. And, you coming back with a few Lien will give Violet her Cheshire grin. I'm not taking no for an answer so here take it." Blood walked away so Remus couldn't give him back the money. He turned around to see his friend and say, "I'll see you when I see you Remus. Maybe we can fight together again." Blood grinned then took his leave and Remus walked back home.
Setting: Team VRSZ Base
Remus made it back home to see Violet and Zelts putting some kind of parcel underneath the couch. Seeing as how they didn't realize he was back, Remus spoke up to let his presence be known.
"I'm back." When he spoke he actually surprised Violet as she flinched from his words. She clearly wasn't expecting anyone to come into the base right now. Zelts remained calm, but he too was surprised by Remus' sudden appearance.
"Your back? Already?" Violet asked confused.
"Uh-huh."
"...Wow. Impressive. You been gone for about two hours. I thought it would take longer."
"Blood said the same thing. Speaking of Blood, he gave me some Lien for helping." Remus presented the money, and like Blood said, Violet had a Cheshire grin on her face before taking the Lien.
"Nice! You had a good day didn't you? Way to bring in some extra cash."
"You do realize you sound sort of like a pimp and it doesn't help that your color scheme revolves around purple," Zelts added, but Violet ignored his comment to put the Lien in her wallet then returned her attention to Remus.
"Well your day is not over yet Remus, so help us find a place to hide this where Silver won't find it," Violet said as Zelts was looking for a place besides the couch to place the parcel.
"What's it for?" he asked confused about the situation.
"You don't remember what Violet told you?" Zelts asked and Remus shook his head no.
"So you don't know what tomorrow is? It's the reason Blood and Bianca took Silver on a mission." He asked another question, but got the same head shake for an answer.
Seeing as how he wasn't getting the answer he wanted, Zelts just said it out loud.
"Tomorrow is Silver's birthday."
Despite being a bat faunus, Blood can honestly say bats creep him out a little, but will never admit this to anyone. He considers himself to have the best part of the bat, the wings, and everything else is just unappealing.
Ash Blood's theme song is Lost In The Echo by Linkin Park. The song is very hardcore and the lyrics relate to Blood who is a powerful warrior and one of the strongest in Fortuna. It also relates to his past as he faced adversity and hardship as a faunus before becoming the person he is now.
Alucards are bat Grimm of my own creation.
Remus' weapon can only change to its railgun form when the blades are out, not in Bo staff form. The mechanical parts of the blades help make up the railgun's form so it has to be in doubled bladed staff form first.