Chapter Four- "On The Road Again…"

Path from Atlas to Rhea

Day Two of Mission

"Nice job on getting us both chased out of Atlas, buddy." Johan stated sarcastically, his voice slightly muffled by the helmet encasing his head. He walked alongside Greg to remind the young Marine of their deal about the armour issue. It had been two hours of walking towards Rhea since the two teens were forced out of Atlas. Along the way, they geared themselves up in case of hostilities from the mountain town itself. According to Johan, Rhea wasn't very friendly towards foreigners and had been known to attack them if they insulted them.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, asshole." Greg grumbled while adjusting his Kevlar vest. Being chased out of a major city by military school students wasn't one of his greatest moments. He knew that once the news reaches Beacon Academy he would get a lot of jokes about it for a while.

Ignoring the continuous sarcasm from his companion, Greg finished up the final touch to his combat gear. He still wore the same light blue clothes as before, but added a few things to it. He had button up the plaid shirt and placed a light Kevlar vest on top. His elbows and knees were now protected by light armoured-pads and gray combat gloves covered his hands. He still wore his ballcap, but had Oakley sunglasses over his eyes and a light blue plaid shemagh wrapped loosely around his neck. These improvements made him look like one of the Tier One operators from one of the games they had at the arcade in Vale.

"So how long will it take to get us chased out of Rhea? Less than a day? Less than half of one?" Johan continued, hoping to see a reaction from the currently silent sniper. However, Greg decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being until they would stop for the night. Undeterred by the lack of response, Johan continued to ramble on out loud, running the risk of attracting any nearby Grimm. Unfortunately, this was the case where he did get a reaction, just not from Greg though.

The AMC student was tackled off the trail and into a small depression on the ground by a Beowolf while more of them surrounded Greg. Taking in the situation, Greg couldn't help but grin at the opportunity this encounter offered. Greg brought up his weapon, switching it to the M4A1 Holographic Sight with M203 Grenade Launcher mode, and fired one of his grenades at a grouping of Beowolves. Instantaneously, four of the beasts vaporized while five more received devastating wounds. At the loss of this group, the Alpha Beowolf roared as its pack charged at the young Marine.

Meanwhile Johan was tearing through the other pack of Beowolves that surrounded him with a sadistic glee. Using a machete in one hand and a tomahawk in the other, the Maniac slashed and hacked his way through the pack, sending limbs flying in the air with blood. Within ten minutes, only one Beowolf was still standing, making it the only one in front of Johan. After a few seconds, Johan started towards it and, with whimpering and yelping, the Beowolf fled the scene in terror. This was understandable, considering the fact that this single person killed off most of the pack and was still standing, covered in its blood. Johan remained silent until he started laughing maniacally at the mess he created. However this is short-lived when he looked up the small incline and spotted Greg staring at him from above.

Greg had finished off the other pack in half of the time it took Johan so he planned to go down and help the AMC student with the other Beowolves. He stopped when he witnessed the massacre of the pack and heard the sadistic joy that Johan took pleasure of. So now the two teens stared at each as the atmosphere grew tenser. Johan slowly started to smile with a lust for blood as he readied himself to fight Greg. On top of the incline, Greg didn't see this expression due to Johan's helmet, but also held his finger on his weapon's safety in case something went wrong. It seemed as though the two teens would start to fight each other in a battle to the death at the rate things were going. Finally, Greg broke the intensity of the situation.

"Come on, Johan. We should move before more Grimm start showing up." Greg ordered as he turned back to the trail and continued his journey. After a few moments, Johan ran after him, this time with his weapons sheathed.

After a couple of more encounters with creatures of Grimm, Greg had confirmed to himself that Johan has a more serious case of mental illness, most likely linked to PTSD. Greg had been told before by his father about how one Marine became a serious sicko and started to collect the hands of the enemies he killed as part of his "trophy collection". Greg prayed thanks to God for not having that sort of severe case of PTSD. However Johan obviously enjoyed his lust for blood spilling whenever he had on the Maniac Armour. The only time it stopped is when the helmet or all of the armour is off.

"Johan, I need you to take off your helmet for a second. I would like to see it for a moment." Greg requested, figuring out a possible solution for the AMC student's issue.

"No way, man! We made a deal about it earlier so there is no way I'm taking off this armour!" Johan retorted, obviously not agreeing with Greg's order. The noticeable change in personality was enough evidence for Greg to be correct about Johan's severe case of PTSD. With his armour on, Johan was more aggressive and terrifying in contrast to the socially awkward AMC student he was with the armour off. Greg, being too stubborn to give up, tried again to get Johan to remove his helmet.

"Johan, I know we made an agreement about this issue back in Atlas. However I'm starting to think that the armour is starting to be a liability to my mission. So at least take off the helmet."

"Not happening! You can't control me like that! I don't care what you think about my armour, but it is not coming off, period!" Johan snarled in return, slowly reaching for a throwing knife attached to a belt behind his back. Greg failed to realize this danger, continuing to his attempts to make Johan take off the Maniac Armour.

"Look. I know that you suffer from PTSD, Johan. I'm trying to help you with fixing it. PTSD is like combat wounds. They hurt painfully, but they can still be healed. However, your armour is hurting you more than it's helping. I'm not asking you to take off all of your armour. I just want you to take off the helmet so that way I can see your face." Greg explained calmly as he slowly approached the AMC student cautiously. He knew that the situation would worsen if Johan decided to do something drastic so he had to treat the situation with extreme gentleness. Johan still glared at the approaching Marine as he gripped the knife tightly behind his back. To him, Greg was starting to become a serious threat that had to be eradicated.

"You don't know anything I've been through, asshole! You've never seen your friends being slaughtered all around you and being the only survivor left!" Johan shouted back at the Marine as he pulled back his arm to throw the knife at him. Greg, upon hearing the statement Johan claimed, had rage flow inside of him and he charged at the Maniac with his powers, tackling the AMC student to the ground. Greg then started to punch Johan's helmet repeatedly, using his powers until it finally shattered off of Johan's head, revealing his extremely pale face and fear-filled eyes. Greg then got off the AMC student and lifted him up by the collar of his armour. Johan shivered in terror as he stared into the raging anger that burned in Greg's bright-blue eyes.

"You're wrong. You think that I fared any better than you have? I've witnessed the deaths of my family, my friends, my fellow Marines and Armed Forces personnel, and the people that used to live in my former home city. I saw my mother killed and her body violated by enemy soldiers when I was only ten. My father bled to death in my arms months ago and now the same enemies that killed my mom have brought back my dad and now he is the sick bastard I'm after on this mission. You may have seen combat and been trained since the age of five, but you have seen half of the shit I've been through. You will listen to what I say and obey it down to every single letter, or so help me God I will shoot you myself. Do you understand, Lance Corporal Verruckt?" Greg stated in a serious tone that did little to mask the anger and pain in his voice from the terrified Johan in front of him. The AMC student meekly replied yes and nodded his head shakingly. Greg let Johan fall to the dirt and turned away, walking down the trail a third time. Johan, not wanting to face the pissed-off Marine sniper, followed behind him from a distance. He left the remains of his helmet behind at the clearing since they were beyond repair at this point.

Several hours later…

Greg kept walking despite the fact that daylight was retreating for the night. He still felt fury about what Johan had shouted at him, but not as great as it was earlier. The silent walk allowed the young Ghost to calm himself down to where he could think more clearly. Truthfully, he shouldn't have snapped and attacked Johan, but at the same time, he was glad that he got rid of Johan's helmet before it became too dangerous to be around the AMC student.

Meanwhile, Johan followed Greg a few feet behind, looking around himself nervously. The loss of his helmet made him feel weak and vulnerable to anything, creating a constant feeling of fear for the AMC student. Before Greg forcibly shattered his helmet off of his head, Johan believed that the armour made him powerful and able to withstand anything. To him, Greg looked unprepared for his journey when he put on the light armour on his person. However, Johan realized that Greg's armour allowed more maneuverability and didn't weigh down on him like the Maniac Armour did. At that point, Johan understood the fact that Greg never wanted to create a feeling of false security for himself unlike what the AMC student had done himself. That was why the Marine wore the light armour. He wanted to feel like he was in constant danger so he could be ready for the unexpected.

Suddenly Greg stopped and looked up into the distance. Smoke billowed in the direction the two teens were going up ahead as fire lighted the sky in an orange-red hue. Then gunshots were fired and echoed across the area, emitting from the same area as the fire and smoke. Johan froze at the sound, thinking that hostiles surrounded them. However Greg noticed this and spoke up his observation.

"Johan, we're not in trouble yet. The valley around us is causing the gunshots to echo. We're not near the area it's being fired. Also that sounds is the exact retorts AK-12s create when set to semi-automatic. That means the Federation is attacking some village, most likely Rhea. We'll have to hide somewhere off the trail for the night." Greg pointed out, knowing exactly what to do for this newly-risen situation. Greg began searching for a temporary shelter off the trail with Johan following close behind.

After a few moments of searching, Johan spots a cave and points it out to Greg, unwittingly walking towards the cave while explaining. Greg quickly grabs him and pulls him back, shaking his head in disappointment. He tells Johan to wait outside and hands him his M4A1 before walking into the pitch-black cave by himself, armed with his M1911 and a Ka-Bar knife. Few moments later, the screech of an Archne bellows from the cave, followed by the five retorts of Greg's pistol. After two minutes of silence, Greg walks out of the cave, pistol holstered, and reclaims his primary weapon from Johan.

"Now it's safe to stay in." Greg states as he and Johan walk back into the cave to rest.

One hour later…

Johan stared at the dying campfire as he sat up, huddling himself in uneasiness. Greg could see that the AMC student still wasn't okay from the loss of his helmet and decided to solve the problem. He reached into his pack and pulled out a spare Kevlar vest and a helmet.

"Hey, Johan. That armour is gonna keep weighing you down since its missing the helmet. Try wear this for tomorrow. It isn't as protective as any type of Juggernaut armour, but it does its job. Besides, even in Maniac Armour, you are never truly invincible. You can't let false security be your weakness." Greg explained as he handed the armour to Johan. The AMC student looked at the new gear in his hands before setting it to the side. Greg grabbed a bucket of water and walked over to the fire.

"Well, lights out. We have to be ready for tomorrow when we reach Rhea." Greg finished before dumping the water on the fire, extinguishing the small flame. Darkness soon hid everything as the two teens fell into their own separate dreams or nightmares.