Chapter Three - Welcome back to Beacon...Again
(22 Days after the Fall of Beacon)
Xiao Long-Rose Residence
09:00
Epsilon finished drying himself after his shower and got changed into his regular combat outfit: a yellow T-Shirt, black jeans, black belt, black boots with the miniature jets inside, his black right hand fingerless glove and wrist power receiver, to tell him how much power he has left. Epsilon stretched and exited the bathroom and entered the guest room where Yang sat in bed, Ruby with her.
"All done?" Ruby asked him.
"Almost, just one more thing." Epsilon told her, and opened Yang's draw, pulling out a brown bandana, tying it around his neck. "There are bad people still out there who will kill me on sight, and people still kind of hate me for 'breaking' Mercury's leg. This can just help me blend in a bit more."
"Oh, okay. So what now?" Ruby asked Epsilon, swinging her legs a little.
"I've set up a visual receiver in both of your scrolls, you can see what I see. Try it." Epsilon told them. They pulled out their scrolls and looked at the screen, and saw themselves from Epsilon's perspective.
"Why do we need this?" Yang asked.
"You can help me when I'm searching and point out things I might miss. I'll be able to hear you through your scrolls." Epsilon explained, sighed and looked at his watch, 100% power. "It'll take a few hours to fly to Beacon."
"Good luck." Ruby wished him. "Oh, and if you get a chance, can you go to our dorm, there was some stuff we left there."
"I'll try." Epsilon assured her.
"Keep safe." Yang told him.
"I will." Epsilon nodded to them and exited the room. He walked down the corridor and out of the house, looking at the rising sun in the clear sky. In the far distance, he could see Vale, and he could just barely see Beacon. Epsilon clicked his neck and took off running, jumped up and his boots activated, and flew towards Beacon Academy for answers.
Beacon Academy
12:00
Epsilon looked down as he flew around Beacon, spotting thousands of Grimm down below, off various ages, types and sizes. They slowly walked up the path and towards the CCT, or what was left of it, with the massive Grimm Dragon stations at the top, still frozen in place. Epsilon saw the top of the CCT ripped off, the gears scarred at the floor at the bottom of the tower, a few fragments still at the base of the tower.
"Are you getting visual?" Epsilon asked.
*Yep, crystal clear.* Ruby answered, adding a pop with the 'p'.
*Yes.* Yang answered.
He glanced at his power reserves, which has at 80%. Epsilon flew over to the tower and landed, skidding to a halt. He turned around and looked at the Dragon, which breathed heavily and glared at Epsilon, but unable to move. He approached the Dragon and looked at it.
"Are you seeing this?" Epsilon asked.
*It looks old. How old do you reckon it is?* Ruby asked.
"No idea. You said it came out of the Mountain?" Epsilon asked them.
*Yeah, just after I landed on the airship. It flew around for a while before landing at Beacon. It made me feel cold when it flew by.* Ruby told him, a shudder in her voice.
"I wonder why it came here?" Epsilon asked himself, looking at the Dragon's white bone plating on it's head. He turned away, a sinking feeling in his stomach the longer he looked at it. Epsilon walked over to Ozpin's desk, tapping the desk and three holographic monitors activated.
At least this still worked.
He plugged his scroll into the desk and started scanning his files for information on Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick and known associates. He opened a file with all of the contestants of the Vytal Tournament, and found Cinder's team, comprising of Cinder herself, Mercury, Emerald, and Neopolitan in a drastically altered outfit. The team name didn't display, but he imagined what it was. Epsilon now had her knows associates.
He searched the incident report of the Breach in Vale and the people who arrested Torchwick were none other than Mercury and Emerald. Epsilon groaned and slammed his head on the table. Roman Torchwick being arrested was a set up, they had planned it months beforehand and it all worked out. Two Airships full of Atlas soldiers were killed when Torchwick hijacked one, and all of the crew were killed by Neopolitan. So much unnecessary death.
Epsilon was about to remove his scroll, but spotted a file, a message, left by Ozpin and addressed for Epsilon, the date created was mere moments after he was hijacked. He added the file to his scroll and removed it, his work done.
"Got everything I need." Epsilon told them.
*Good work, Epsilon. Now...our dorm, if you have time?* Ruby asked hopefully.
"Sure thing." Epsilon said with a smile. He looked at his watch, 77%, he had just enough to fly back to Patch, so he had to get to the dorm on foot. He walked along Ozpin's office to the elevator, but stopped when he saw something shiny on the floor. He knelt down and picked it up: a bronze circlet headpiece, with two chains on the side with two small Emeralds. Epsilon held the last piece of Pyrrha Nikos after her death at the hands of Cinder. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to pay his respects to her, and attached the circlet to his belt, and walked over to the elevator, a person sides hole in the floor. He hopped down the hole and fell down the tower, falling for several seconds and took his right dagger out of his wrist, stabbing it into the side of the wall and slowing himself down to a halt right at the ground floor. Epsilon vaulted off the wall and landed at the base of the base of the tower, coming face to face with half a dozen Beowolves.
Epsilon rolled out of the way as one lunged at him, flipped his dagger into a pistol and shot the Beowolf in the back of the head, killing it. He aimed and shot five more, killing the five Beowolves as they started decaying into black smoke. Epsilon glanced at the door to exit the tower and heard the sound of many Grimm heading his way, undoubtedly hearing the gunshots. He sprinted out of the tower and saw an army of Grimm approaching, thousands upon thousands of them. He had never seen so many at once.
*Epsilon run!*
Without a second thought, Epsilon sprinted towards the dorm section of the campus, using the jets in his boots to propel him faster as he steadily got further away from the Grimm. He ran into the dorm building and slammed the doors shut as dozens of Grimm pressed up against the door, desperate to kill him. Epsilon raised his pistol and shot the centre of the double doors, melting the metal and forcing the doors together. He sighed and ran over to the staircase, looking up as he realised he had dozens of flights of stairs to climb.
"Damn it." He muttered annoyingly, and ran as fast as he could up the stairs as the Grimm continued to beat on the door. Several minutes later, Epsilon reached the floor he needed to be on and ran along the corridor and reached Team RWBY's form room. He opened the door with his scroll and entered the room, closing it behind him. He got hit by nostalgia when he looked around the room, more specifically Ruby's crazy idea for bunk beds, which surprised him as they still remained hanging from day one. "Anything in particular I'm looking for?"
*There's a picture under my pillow, can you get it?* Ruby asked him. He got up on the bedside table and moved the blanket hanging above Ruby's bed and reached under the pillow. He pulled out a picture and smiled at it. It was Team RWBY, sometime before he was created. They were in the dorm room, Yang was smiling widely with her arms around her teammates, her left around Blake's neck, who was trying to pull away, and her right around Ruby's shoulder, who was grinning, with Weiss crushed between Ruby and Yang, trying to escape. Epsilon chuckled a little and pocketed the photo.
"Anything else?" Epsilon asked.
*No, I think that's it.* Ruby told him.
"Yang?"
*No.* She answered simply. Epsilon sighed and walked over to the window, his work done. He leapt out of the window and flew back to Patch, flying over the destroyed cafeteria.
Unaware to Epsilon, a woman with black hair and amber eyes watched him fly away. She walked through the cafeteria and over to a dismembered arm, one half of Ember Celica attached. She removed the gauntlet and threw the arm away, pocketing the gauntlet and walked away.
Xiao Long-Rose Residence
23:00
Epsilon scrolled through his scroll, lying in Yang's bed as Ruby slept across from him, snoring lightly. After reading through all of the files, a few leads to go on, he opened Ozpin's message to him.
Epsilon, if you are reading this, you have made your way back to Beacon Academy to retrieve information of this tragic event. I have compiled all of the data I have on Cinder Fall and her associates into files you have likely already searched, but am afraid I can help no further. Cinder has come to kill the Fall Maiden, and if you're reading this, then she most likely succeeded and I am most likely dead, and Beacon Academy has fallen. I trust few people, Epsilon, but I do not hesitate to say that you are one of the few I trust wholeheartedly about some of my most secret secrets.
For you see, Cinder Fall is not the mastermind behind this, the assassination of the Fall Maiden and the Fall of Beacon, but she is a mere pawn in a much larger plan, created by a being called "Salem". My knowledge of her is minimal, but I do know there are more pawns out there, some that are dangerous, some that are more than dangerous. If I were you, but unfortunately I'm not, I would take a closer look at what you've found, and be more observant for what you are looking for.
Good luck, and stay alive.
Ozpin.
End of Chapter Three
Replies to Reviews:
TheOtherSanics: Thank you for the compliment, and I hope that the story ends up improving throughout. Thanks for Reviewing!
Creeperscrafterx10: Yeah, that's just a thing I said in the last story with Epsilon. Basically, Epsilon is considered a member of Team RWBY by the team, but they are still officially called "Team RWBY", so Epsilon is technically team less. He is officially an unofficial member of Team RWBY, since he is the first one to join, but he isn't official because teams are always four people (as far as we know). Thanks for Reviewing!
Hey, so chapter three is out, as you've read. I apologise for the lateness of the update, I have literally watched Stranger Things for the first time, watching them all at once and three more times, because the show is incredible. Literally, as I write this, Season 2 just got announced, so WOO HOO! Also, I spent three days writing a 32000 semi-descriptive plot for a future story that I am seriously excited to write, and as far as I'm concerned, will only get longer before it's written.
Right, back on track, sorry for the lateness and shortness, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and keep an eye out for...
Chapter Four: Black and Yellow