Another great morning at Beacon. The usual routine for Team RWBY.
After exercise and showers, Yang showed everyone a video she had found on the internet the night before while procrastinating. It was of a little piglet who was born without functional hind legs, and so his owner built him a wheel chair out of legos. All four girls agreed that it was the cutest thing in the world, watching the little guy walk around on the carpet in his wheels.
They decided to show it to Team JNPR at breakfast.
However, by the time they got to the cafeteria, they were shocked to see most students sitting down at their seats silently, not eating their meals, just looking up at the holo-screens displaying the news. The broadcast was showing buildings collapsed, burning, streets covered in rubble and wrecked cars and capsized garbage cans, and even dead bodies.
Team RWBY silently took their seats at their usual table with Team JNPR.
"What's going on?" Weiss whispered to Team JNPR. "What happened?"
"The City of Atlas was attacked last night," Jaune whispered back to them.
The four girls gasped silently.
"Who- who did it?" Weiss asked. "Was it the White Fang?"
Blake rolled her eyes at that. OF COURSE Weiss would point to THEM first.
"No," Jaune answered. "Creatures of Grimm. Hundreds of 'em."
"What? How was- how is that possible? The creatures don't-"
"Sh!" Ruby hissed, nudging her. "Let's just watch."
Normally, Weiss would have been annoyed, but she was too flabbergasted by the event to retort. She simply nodded and looked up at the screen.
The news woman continued to describe the story, describing how the body count was unknown for the time being, but about a hundred lucky civilians were able to escape via an evacuation operation.
They played interviews from the survivors. The survivors described how they watched the creatures tear their friends and loved ones apart and destroy houses. Not even the children were spared. The broadcast kept showing dozens of mutilated dead bodies.
Ruby stared back at the screen and watched the horrifying images of destruction flash across the screen. All these innocent lives, slaughtered. And for what? Why would anybody do this? Even for the Creatures of Grimm such an act was too horrible for her to imagine.
Weiss, too astonished for words, was covering her mouth with both hands. Nora clung to Ren's arm. Pyrra scooted closer to Jaune.
Something weird that the interviewees spoke of was how the bodies of the creatures "evaporated" and turned into a dark smoke once they were slain.
Suddenly, the screen began to flicker. The image was becoming distorted. The news woman's words became jumbled.
"Someone app… hack… frequency-"
Everyone must have put together that the frequency of the broadcast was being hacked.
The image on the screens fizzed with static and flashed. Apparently whoever was broadcasting this next segment was having trouble tuning his signal and getting on the right frequency. A few more images started flashing on the screen. One image showed a tropical forest. One showed a lion devouring a weasel. There was one of pigs in a slaughterhouse, one of an urban street with people walking about like normal. Quite a few seemingly random images flashed on the screen, some disturbing, some not as much.
Finally, the shot turned to one of a street of the still-destroyed Atlas. As the shot focused and became more clear, everyone could see there was a man standing in the middle of the shot, his back turned to the camera. His body was unnaturally thin, and was covered in a thick black cloak. The only part of him that was visible was what seemed like a large blue flame atop his head, just above the upturned collar of the cape.
"Good morning, Remnant," said the cloaked figure. If the subject were not so serious, Ruby, Yang, and Nora would have all laughed at his high-pitched, squeaky voice. "By the end of this broadcast, many of you will come to know me as a terrorist. A murderer. A monster. All of which are correct. If you wish to refer to me by name, you may call me… Demongo."
As he finished his sentence, the figure turned around to reveal his face. It was evident that he was not human. His entire face was black. He had no nose or ears it seemed. His eyes and mouth were glowing blue like a Jack-O-Lantern, the same blue as the flame that was his "hair." When he spoke, or when he opened his mouth in a horrifying grin, he revealed black vampire fangs and a blue forked tongue like that of a snake.
"A vampire?" Nora whispered. Ren and Pyrra quickly shushed her.
Demongo swung his cloak around to his back to reveal his full form. He seemed to be naked aside from the cloak, and what looked like a vest of clear dust crystals. The rest of his body was all black and thin, like a black tree, and his arms and legs thin, crooked branches.
"I'm presume many of you have seen the news this morning, of how Atlas was destroyed by an onslaught of Creatures of Grimm. Well, I am responsible for that. Tehehehehe!"
The room was suddenly filled with Gossip momentarily. Ruby stared back at the horrid thing with utter, unfiltered contempt. So HE was the one who killed all those people? And he was giggling like it was all a game? That sick bastard.
She turned to Weiss, who looked equally angry. She must have been thinking the same thing. Plus, Weiss had told them that Atlas was an important business partner of her father's company.
"Why did I do this, you ask?" Demongo continued, causing the dining hall to fall silent. "Well, I ask you, what kind of world do you think we live in? Ever since the beginning, mankind was thrust into this world, pitted against the powerful forces of Nature, including The Creatures of Grimm. Any of these creatures are stronger and fiercer than any mere man. We lived in fear. We were at their mercy."
As he spoke, more images flashed on the screen, all to fit the context of his speech.
"That is until we harnessed our intelligence, and developed ourselves means of defense. Weapons. Shelters. Dust. And it was because of those developments that we made ourselves stronger. That is how we became the dominant species on this planet for a period of time.
"The moral of the story? Power and dominance must be found and seized, and those who are most powerful gain dominance. It's as the old saying goes; Eat or be eaten!"
Once that was said, the shot went back to Demongo.
"And now, I have created a new kind of power. Something far more powerful than anything mankind has ever created before. And it has made me the most powerful being in Remnant! So, it stands to reason that I should have dominance over this world."
"This can't be real," Nora whispered. "This has to be some… kind of sick joke."
"Some of you may be watching this and thinking, 'who is this joker?' oh, 'is he serious?' Well, allow me to demonstrate, to prove to you just how much of a joker I am." he snapped his bony fingers, and two beowolves entered from Demongo's side, and threw a man in expensive-looking armor, which was nearly destroyed now, at his feet. The man got to his knees before the wolves stopped him there and held him in place. He struggled against them but to no avail. He had already clearly been beaten and bruised, and was missing one arm.
It was then clear to everyone in the cafeteria who this man was.
"Presenting his royal highness," Demongo announced, "The King of Atlas!"
Gasps and murmurs and gossip were heard all through the cafeteria.
"Your majesty," Demongo said to the King, roughly tugging at the latter's mantle. "Please tell the world a little about my strength, and how I annihilated your forces. Oh! And make it sound cryptic!"
The King just gritted his teeth, whispered "Damn you!" and spat at Demongo, a drop of spit and blood staining the latter's cloak.
Demongo's smile turned to a very angry frown. He pulled a crowbar from inside his cloak, and swatted the King across the face with it.
More gasps filled the cafeteria.
"You better cooperate, Old Man!" Demongo hissed, again grabbing the King by his collar, "Or you can start watching your hunters die one-by-one!"
The camera panned over to see a line of hunters being held in line by beowolves and ursas, and then back to Demongo.
The King sighed, and then spoke more calmly.
"There were… creatures everywhere. More than many probably have seen in their entire life. My warriors fought so hard. But no matter how many creatures we struck down, they kept coming. You just kept… summoning them with some witchcraft, a power I've never seen before."
"That sounds about right," Demongo said gleefully. "And is it true that in the end, your forces were overrun? That your city was ultimately destroyed? Thousands of lives lost, both military and civilian? Human and Faunus alike?"
The King slowly let his head fall, looking to the ground shamefully.
"Yes," he uttered.
Demongo burst into a cackle, his voice teeming with taunt.
"There! So you see, Remnant? My power is so great, I have brought an entire city to its knees, without even breaking a sweat. And were these apes able to defend themselves? No!"
The beowolves then dragged the King off screen as the shot zoomed in on Demongo.
"Now, I do hope this managed to convince some of you what your entire race is up against," Demongo continued. "I say to the other three monarchs, if you are watching. If you think you can stop me, if you think your armies can overpower my power, then come at me! Just try to stop me! Send your hunters, police, military! Throw all you will at me! My power will eradicate them all! And with battle, I will only become more powerful!"
Finally, he made a 'cut' gesture across his throat with his hand, and the video ended; shut off, just like any television, and then returned to the news.
The cafeteria was silent for about ten seconds, though it seemed much longer than that. Everyone started whispering to each other and gossiping over what they had just seen.
Team RWBY spoke amongst themselves.
"Oh my God…" Yang said sullenly. "I don't believe it. A whole city…"
"Goddamn it!" Weiss hissed, slamming her fist on the table. That was all she said. Ruby knew she was distraught over both the death and how this will affect her father's business, both equally as much.
Some people started getting up to leave the cafeteria. Team RWBY stayed in place for a few minutes.
"Just when I thought I had seen the absolute worst, most despicable of people," Weiss said.
"Yeah, I know," Blake whispered with a slow nod. "I've never seen anything so cruel."
"And he's just laughing it off like it was joke!" Yang hissed between clenched teeth. "I wanna go find this guy and pound his stupid face in!"
"Y-" Ruby was about to shout 'yeah' in agreement, but she hesitated. Professor Ozpin's words repeated in her mind.
Being a leader is a badge you wear constantly. If you are not performing at your absolute best, what reason do you give others to follow you?
"I say we get Jaune and the others, and anyone else up for it," Yang continued, "and we head over to Atlas and pound this son of a bitch!"
"What?" Weiss exclaimed. "No way!"
"Why not? Weiss, you saw what he did! That maniac's gotta be stopped!"
"Yang," Ruby said sternly. "She's right. "We can't just blow caution into the wind and run into battle with an enemy we know nothing about."
"Ruby, don't you- wait, what?" Weiss paused, clearly surprised by Ruby's answer.
Yang's anger turned to surprise as well as what her little sister said sank in. She never expected such a reaction from Ruby.
"R… Ruby?" She whispered.
"This guy, Demongo, took out an entire city, and dozens of hunters. DOZENS. We don't know anything about him or his power. We need to be rational about this. This is out of our league. The military will deal with him. And I'm sure Professor Ozpin will know what to do, and he'll hold an assembly soon or something where he'll tell us what to do, how to handle this."
It was right at that moment that Professor Goodwitch's voice came over on the intercom.
"Attention all students," she said. "All classes have been cancelled today. At 18:00 sharp, report to the assembly hall."
"There," Ruby said.
Yang, Weiss, and even Blake were all astonished at how Ruby was taking this. How could she of all people be so calm right now?
As soon as Demongo made the cut gesture with his hand, Orson clicked off on the camera, and then lowered it from his shoulder.
"We're finished here, your highness," Demongo said, turning to the King. "Thank you for your cooperation. I no longer have use for you at this moment."
The King glared back at Demongo with unmatched anger. "Well then?" He spat. "If you're going to kill me, do it now and have it done with."
"Kill you?" Demongo repeated before cackling. "Nonsense! I have no need to kill you yet. The rest of Remnant is in need of you."
Demongo snapped his fingers, and a nevermore bird waddled over from pecking at a nearby corpse.
"This nevermore will fly you to Mistral. I suggest you meet with their Queen to discuss a proper course of action for how to deal with me."
The King seemed confused for a moment. He must have been wondering why Demongo was letting him go so easily. He glanced down at himself, as though trying to find something on his clothes.
"Oh don't worry. I didn't implant a bomb or curse or virus into you or anything." Demongo stated.
That said, The King thought of something else and glared back at Demongo. "And what of my hunters and huntresses?" He demanded. "Will you release them too?"
"No. I still have some use for them. Don't worry. You'll find out what for soon enough, in a few days."
The King's expression became even harder. He gritted his teeth. "What's your game? What are you planning you sonovabitch?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Demongo said, his voice teeming with mock. To top it off, he stuck his long, forked snake tongue at the King, and then started cackling.
"Take him away!" Demongo barked at the nevermore once he caught his breath. The two beowolves released the King. After a screech, the massive bird picked up the King, grabbing his whole body in one massive talon, and took off into the sky.
Once the bird was gone, Demongo turned to the first team of hunters who had been brought before him. All four were beaten, bruised, unarmed, and with torn clothes, pushed to the ground in bowing positions by the beowolves guarding them.
"How fortunate for me that you have survived the battle," Demongo said musingly. "The four of you are now my pawns, just like these creatures." He gestured the surrounding Creatures of Grimm.
The four of them stood up. One man in cracked brown armor spat at Demongo's feet.
"We will never betray Atlas!" He shouted. He was clearly the leader. "We will never swear loyalty to you!"
"Oh, you don't have to do that," Demongo chuckled. He reached into his cloak, and took out another empty dust crystal, and held it out in front of the leader.
A bolt of bright yellow lightning shot from the crystal, and encased the team leader. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees. His teammates all stood back and watched in horror. Demongo licked his lips as a huge sadistic smile spread across his face.
"Isaac!" screamed the red-haired huntress.
And suddenly, Isaac's body began to… break apart, for lack of a better term. It were as though his head and hands were all made of puzzle pieces, and the pieces were coming apart, and began to travel up the lightning into the crystal. More and more pieces began to break apart, until the entire body had vanished, sucked into the crystal.
Just like his full crystals, this new one was filled with a jumpy liquid, but this one was yellow instead of black. Demongo cackled minaically as he placed the new crystal in with the others, and brought out a new empty one.
The remaining hunter team was petrified by the sight of their leader vanishing so suddenly. What was worse was knowing they were next.
Demongo prepared to assimilate the next hunter, a man in a red skin-tight ninja suit and mask.
"Wade!" the girl exclaimed again, again scared for her teammate.
"Ah, crap," the red hunter, Wade, cursed under his breath.
Author's Note: I enjoyed writing this chapter, mostly because it was writing for Demongo, the villain of this story, and who is just all around an awesome villain.
Not sure if anyone picked up on it, but that last hunter, in the red suit, was actually Deadpool. He's just sort of been on my mind lately. I played the game a week ago, and loved it. So funny! I thought of maybe having Deadpool make cameo appearances in this story to annoy Demongo and provide some comic relief.
A lot of reviewers have asked me if Jack or Aku will be in this story. The answer is no, they will not. Demongo is the only character and aspect of Samurai Jack that will be in this story. Everything else is set in the RWBY universe. I'm sorry to disappoint all of you. I could possibly have a small appearance of a hunter who bears a resemblance to Jack perhaps. Not sure though. If that's what I decide to go with, it will be the most you'll get of Jack.
That pig video thing was a reference to Chris P. Bacon. Don't know how many readers here have heard of him. I just think micro pigs are really cute. I want to adopt one when I get a decent job and home.
So I saw RWBY volume 2 episode 1 earlier tonight. It was okay. It was okay getting to see the bad guys. The whole food fight thing was a little far-fetched. Kinda silly, but pretty funny I'll give it that, and it was clever with all the food they used as weapons. I still think it could have been a little better-done. But What do I know? I mean I know nothing about how Rooster Teeth makes the episodes. And maybe I'm taking the series too seriously. I mean look at me trying to write this gritty story here.
So thanks for reading. Favor, subscribe and review please, and I'll see you all next chapter, whenever I get around to posting it.
