Chapter 3
A New Hero
I walked down the street casually, looking around at the various shops and homes. It was the weekend and I decided to take the time off to walk on my own. A month had passed since I had joined Signal and I was getting better. The first years were currently making their weapons and getting used to them. I asked Aegis why he just gave me a weapon instead of letting me make one on my own. He told me that he wanted to save me a lot of frustration. I mean, I watch Man at Arms and knew that the process of making a weapon was long and took multiple people, but I could probably do it.
As I walked through Vale, I noticed a trend. Either it was just the part of town I was in or this whole city was pretty much New Jersey. Well, the architecture and in infrastructure looked nice, but the people were really shifty. I literally saw a guy standing next to his wanted poster. The police that were on patrol were corrupt and the people were too scared to say anything. Fuck the Grimm, your problem is inside your walls. I kept my weapons in sight and moved my wallet from my back pocket to my front pocket.
I noticed a group of men dressed like Torchwick's goons walk into a small blacksmithing shop. I pulled out a small rod and folded it out into a black quarterstaff with a red band on each end. I wanted to be non-lethal here. My mandible gauntlets (Which I called Twin Scorpions) weren't designed to knock people out. I loaded sleeping darts into Twin Scorpions and snuck in. A man at the front pulled out a gun and the rest brandished machetes. A stout bald man with an apron behind the counter cowered in fear.
"You were supposed to deliver the weapons to the drop point yesterday" The leader growled at the man menacingly.
"What?! You said the order was due tomorrow!" The shopkeeper wailed.
"Change of plans" The gangster smirked and turned to the rest of the men "Take what you can and leave. I'll deal with this wimp"
With this order, the men spread out through the high shelves, collecting anything of high value. I took this chance and started to sneak around. One by one, I took out the guards. The low lighting gave me a distinct advantage. I didn't want to draw attention to myself due to my low skill in combat. Upon taking out the last man I started to make my way towards the man with the gun.
Then suddenly, I felt cold steel touch the back of my neck. I dropped the staff and put my hands in the air.
"Pretty impressive kid, you can take out a few thugs. Let's see if you can take a bullet to the head" The man gloated, taking the time to relish the situation. Then I remembered that self-defense technique. I whipped one of my hands around and grabbed the man's wrist, keeping the gun away from me. I then wrenched the gun from his hand and pistol-whipped him in the face, knocking him to the floor.
"Oh, how the tables have turned" I growled, pointing the pistol at his face and planting my foot hard on his chest. The man scrambled and tried to escape, but to no avail.
"Here's what's going to happen. You and your little posse here are going to leave this store and never come back. If you do, I'm going to join you" I got down on my knee and aiming the gun at his face, digging my knee into his solar plexus. He nodded and stood up, gathering his cronies and fleeing the store. I threw the gun away and recollected my discarded staff, returning it to storage form.
"Is everything alright?" I leaned over the counter, looking down at the terrified smith. He jumped at the sound, getting off the ground and scanning the room for the other men.
"Are they gone?" The man cried.
"Yep, all gone" I gave him a thumbs up. I was actually super pumped right now, from my first real life combat situation.
"Oh, I can't thank you enough, those men were going to take all my weapons! I must repay you!" He shook my hand vigorously and started searching for an appropriate gift.
"Whoa man, rewind a bit" I held my hands up at the man, signaling him to stop "At least tell me your name. I'm Kyle"
"Oh, where are my manners, my name's Ted" He shook my hand again, but less frantically.
"Aren't most people named Ted destined to work in an office?" I asked wittily, smirking. He laughed at my comment.
"I get that a lot. I guess I was lucky" He chuckled.
"So, do you mind if I buy a few things? I kind of need some stuff, now that I think about it" I asked the surprised smith.
"Oh, of course. What do you need?" Ted smiled.
A few hours later…
"Thanks, bye!" I walked out of the small tailor shop. I began walking back towards my house with a heavy box. I kept my eyes peeled for any more activity, but it seemed that the man from Ted's shop spread the word.
I set down the box to knock at the door and picked it up again. I heard a fumbling around inside and some loud bangs echo from upstairs. The door opened to reveal a disheveled Laurel wearing sweatpants and a tee shirt.
"Hey Kyle" She wheezed tiredly. Further inspection showed that she was sweating. I walked into the living room and set the box down. The room was a decent size and had a couch, coffee table, chairs, and a TV.
"What were you doing that made you so tired?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Exercising"
"Upstairs?" I smirked, having a slight idea of what she could have been doing. Laurel blushed, realizing what I was suggesting.
"N-no! It's not that! I was bench pressing Burning Wasp!" She stuttered from embarrassment. Burning Wasp was her Bo staff that had buzz saws on either end. I found it funny that her weapon matched the name of a stance mod in Warframe.
"Keep telling yourself that" I smiled.
"What's that?" She asked, changing the subject.
"A box"
"No, what's in it"
"Air"
"Wow, really treating yourself" Laurel said sarcastically.
"I know, right?"
I opened the box, pulling out a helmet in the shape of the skull from The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb cover, but it was black. It was surprisingly light for its size and had black lenses in the eyes to complete the look. I took it and put it on.
"How do I look?" I looked back at Laurel, who was sitting at the couch. She jumped at the frightening appearance. Apparently the bloody tear streaks worked.
"What the fuck!" She shouted, her eyes bugging out. I laughed at her surprise.
"Stop, I don't like it" She whined. I laughed some more, only earning a pouty face.
"Okay, I'm done" I stopped laughing.
"Why do you even need that?"
"You'll see"
Next I pulled out a black cape with continued tear trails down the cloth. There was a picture of Brimstone from the same game on the back with two butcher knives crossed behind it. The cape was bound together by two buttons that looked like crosses. The last thing in the box was a black tunic with the same bloody streaks flowing down it. I put on the two garments and stood up.
"Let me ask again, why do you need that?"
"Well, everyone's got their fancy combat gear and stuff, I need some of my own" I explained.
"I thought you hated hot clothing"
"I do, but in this case it looks cool"
I took off the helmet and walked up to my room in the attic. It was a small area that contained a bed, an old desk where my laptop sat, and a dresser where my clothes were. I took a seat at the desk and started watching some YouTube. After a few hours, I realized that it was really late and Laurel's parents weren't back yet. I got up from my desk and walked downstairs to find Laurel eating some cold pizza.
"Why aren't your parents home yet?" I asked.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. They went out on a business trip and won't be back for a few months"
"Wouldn't they hire a sitter? They seem like those kind of people"
"Yep, me!" Aegis said, who was on the table as his normal book.
"How did they hire you?" Laurel asked.
"Well, I just made myself look older and more 'professional'" Aegis said professional as if he was doing air quotes.
"Aegis? Professional? It's simply not done!" I joked. Aegis gave me a 'humph' that sounded unamused.
"Anyways, what's for dinner?" I changed the subject.
"Cold pizza" Laurel pulled out another piece of pizza from last night.
"Why don't you warm it up?"
"I don't want to heat it up in the oven"
"Just microwave it" I said simply.
"What's a microwave?" Laurel asked genuinely.
"You know, the thing you put food in and it hits it with microwaves to heat it up"
"What are microwaves?"
"You know, radiation" I said, the subject being simple to me.
"What?"
"Wow, you don't know?" I was genuinely surprised that she didn't know. This city seemed more scientifically literate than America.
"What's this radiation?" Laurel asked.
"Well, in a nutshell, radiation is light" Laurel gave me an utterly befuddled look "Okay, so let me explain this in more detail…" I began explaining what radiation and light were and really got into it, going off onto my own tangents and managing to keep her interested. I went off onto topics like astrophysics (My favorite) and even theories like the multiverse. I'm pretty sure I knew things that even the greatest scientists of Remnant don't know. Even though teaching wasn't my strong point, I still think I did well.
"So, that's pretty much it" I wrapped up my long explanation. I'm pretty sure it was about two hours long.
"Wow, that's some super cool shit" Laurel sat there, digesting the information.
"Thank you, you will now be quizzed" I joked, but I am apparently super convincing. Laurel looked suddenly extremely worried, realizing she didn't take notes. I laughed at her, earning me my second pouty face of the day. I took a seat at the table and pulled out one the last two slices of the cold pizza. After finishing both I decided that it was a bit late and went upstairs to sleep for the night.
Later that night…
I awoke suddenly by a loud noise from outside. I pulled on my Twin Scorpions and donned my new combat gear. Due to the black color, it was hard to find and put on. I peered out the window to see if anything was amiss. I didn't see much at first, but I eventually made out a man dressed in black clothing picking the lock to our door.
I opened the window and leapt out, sliding silently down the roof and towards the target. I snuck around the front and went behind the criminal. I waited for the distinct click of the door opening. When the man unlocked the door, he looked over his shoulder and freeze in fear. I stood directly behind him, standing still and letting my cape billow in the conveniently windy night.
"Leave" I altered my voice to be much deeper and more menacing. The man ran like a bat out of hell down the street, surely going to tell his buddies. I was about to go back in when I heard a loud bang and a scream from down the street. I locked the door up and ran through the shadows towards my objective.
Surely enough, there was a pair of men closing in on a woman in an alleyway. The woman kept calling for help as she hit the back wall. I activated my semblance and walked in front of the woman so my entire body blocked her figure. I deactivated it, convincing the men that she was no longer there and I took her place. Man, I was getting addicted to these terrified faces.
"Flee, flee in fear. The Fallen only challenges the strong" I used the same voice, taking the name of the boss from The Binding of Isaac as an alias. Come on, every hero has some cool name. Except Aquaman. The two men peeled off into the night. I turned to the woman crouched on the floor.
"Do not be afraid, The Fallen does not harm the innocent. The darkness has crept from Grimm to man, and I must banish it" I said in my deep voice before disappearing off into the night, Batman style. After the encounter with Ted at his shop, I knew that crime levels in the city were really high. Cleaning out the city might also hinder Torchwick in the future, making RWBY's job easier. I crept back to the house and climbed back up into my window to get as much sleep as I could.
Another chapter done! So, Kyle is going to be a new mysterious vigilante in Vale. This is mostly for a kind of way to give the character more combat experience. I mean, three years at Signal alone won't get anyone too far with combat ability. I want him to be on par with or a little weaker than RWBY so he isn't completely useless, but not totally overpowered. A lot of fics out there feature some super OP guy that ends up in a harem with every character in the first chapter. Oh and to all the people out there that don't know, I am a massive fan of The Binding of Isaac. I translated this over to the character because, well, he is me. That's the whole inspiration. This chapter was written while listening to 'The Clubbing of Isaac' by Big Giant Circles and Danny Baranowsky. But enough of that, Goodbye peoples! Necrorizah, out.