Ch 4: 'R' Trailer
Roman sighed as he ran a hand over his face, frowning as his hand ran over a light covering of stubble along his chin. "Damn. Gonna have to shave this bush off my lip." He quipped, more of an observation than a complaint as he pulled the top of his hood down over his face, obscuring the long, brunette braid that ran down to the small of his back. Sauntering into the ruined temple grounds where the Nevermore and the Deathstalker had met their respective ends, Roman gave a long, drawn out whistle at the destruction caused by Teams RWBY and JPNR. He couldn't count the number of times he'd watched that particular episode of the awesome show, but to see the site for himself was something else. "And suddenly I feel very small and insignificant." He quipped as he peered into the gray, fog covered abyss that stretched out far below the stone structure, its main bridge shattered and broken from Nora's thunderous hammer strikes.
Shaking his head, he was about to start away, but the sound of a twig snapping underfoot was all the warning he had as he hurriedly looked up to one of the remaining pillars off in the distance. It was all he needed as he felt rather than saw an Ursa claw just touch his back, but Roman was no longer there as he 'stepped' away, leaving a fast fading copy of himself behind. Dusting himself off as he spun on his heel, the young man bowed at the waist and grinned, the hem of his long white hood swirling around his feet as he straightened. "Nice to meet you too buddy! Too bad ya hit nothing but air!" He grinned as the bear like Grimm growled impotently from its spot on the edge of the cliff. As much fun as it was to watch it fume uselessly, Roman just couldn't let such an attack go unchallenged. Slowly pulling the curved, silver dagger blade that was unusually big and bulky compared to most daggers of its size, Roman chuckled quietly as his weapon began to change.
The Ursa could only watch as another blade unfolded from the first as the metallic rod holding them together lengthened and expanded, turning into the barrel of a slender, silver colored rail gun while the blade that had revealed itself slammed into place just beneath the weapon's muzzle, serving as an improvised bayonet. The original blade meanwhile pointed up and away from the stock of the rail gun as pale green Dust energy gathered within the muzzle. "See ya!" Roman called before pulling the trigger, a single, near light speed round of Dust shooting forth in a near blinding flash of green light that sliced right through the Ursa as if it were made of paper.
Another doppelganger appeared where the Ursa had once stood as Roman jumped, his eyes never straying from the phantom copy before he suddenly found himself on the cliff in the next moment. "God I love that trick. Emily Kaldwin's got nothin' on me." He chuckled as he hefted his rail gun up onto his right shoulder before he noticed a familiar sight fast approaching. With a drawn out groan, Roman shook his head and let his rail gun's barrel hit the dirt at his feet as a Deathstalker stormed out of the trees, knocking one down where he'd just been standing until he Doppelstepped aside. "Really? Didn't Team JPNR kill you already?!" While chances were it was simply another scorpion Grimm, his question still got an angry clattering hiss from the oversized bug as it began to close in. If Roman had any say, that would be its last mistake.
Mirror, tell me something,
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
"Heh. I gotta ask," Roman began as he Doppelstepped after summoning another copy in the nearby boughs of the trees behind the scorpion, "but are all Grimm so stupid, or are you just a special case?" Despite its size, it couldn't turn on a dime as it tried to reorient to chase him down, but Roman was well ahead of it as he casually held his rail gun out before him as it began to change in rapid order. The barrel shrunk, the blades shifted about, and the metallic rod holding the two equally curved silver daggers snapped into place before he began to spin the swallow so that it came to a stop just behind his back, his arm outstretched behind him as he stood perfectly balanced on his chosen tree limb. Springing off of the limb, Roman shot forward, his swallow he'd named Khanda, lined up to take the Deathstalker's stinger where it connected to the rest of its tail.
Mirror, tell me something,
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Fear of what's inside of me;
Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?
Forming a fast moving doppelganger as he cut into it on his first pass, Roman Doppelstepped to its other side, losing none of his momentum as he twirled through the air and landed some distance away behind the giant bug as it thrashed its oversized pincers from side to side in pain, its golden stinger falling some distance away. "How many legs does a Deathstalker even need?!" He asked as he jumped back and away when one of those same multi jointed legs slammed into the ground where he'd just been. Having found his next target, Roman shot forward, his swallow already on a collision course with its right flank as it struggled to keep up. So long as he kept away from its pincers and its front side, his chances would be considerably better.
Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?
Save me from the things I see!
I can keep it from the world,
Why won't you let me hide from me?
His first strike did little more than piss it off, but a Doppelstep above its back right leg saw him poised for a second as he fell, his swallow's leading blade driving right through its segmented armor where it was weakest, cutting the leg clean off near the body. Landing, he bent back and grinned as he spun and slashed all in one movement, his swallow singing its tune as its next leg was left hanging by a few shadowy tendons. Ducking beneath the pincer it swung towards him as it once more tried to get a bead on him, Khanda slashed and pushed the pincer up and away as he nimbly got out from beneath it before Doppelstepping into another tree as he cartwheeled back to safety.
Coming out of the cartwheel so he was perched on yet another branch, Roman grinned and bowed once more. "Thank you but hold your applause until after my grand finale!" He called to an imaginary audience before seven phantom copies appeared around the Deathstalker. "Hehe, let's see if watching Darth Maul all those times has paid dividends." With that, he held his swallow out before him before pushing himself off the trunk of the tree. The first Doppelstep launched him at the Deathstalker's right side, his double bladed staff weapon leading in a dance of whirling silver as another leg was cut off before he was jumping up and over, his eyes alighting on a second doppelganger.
Mirror, mirror, tell me something,
Who's the loneliest of all?
Stepping into that one next, he lost none of his momentum as the scorpion fell onto its side, revealing its soft underbelly which he wasted no time in cutting into on his way past before stepping into another phantom as it and its remaining four brethren ran literal circles around the creature. Every Doppelstep that followed that first only served to further increase Roman's speed, to the point he seemed to be in two places at once as he cut, slashed, and danced around the oversized bug until he appeared above its armored back. Spinning like a pendulum blade end over end, Khanda sliced clean through the Deathstalker's back. Hitting the ground a split second later, Roman came out the other side in a crouch amidst a storm of black dust as the Deathstalker died around him. "Ewww, dude, I got your ash and shit all over my nice cloak!" Roman cried as he beat at his hood in an effort to remove the offender's remains as he straightened to his full height, only to pause when a series of loud claps reached his ears.
I'm the loneliest of all
Spinning to face the source of the noise, Roman sighed and rolled mismatched blue and brown eyes upon locking onto Carrie's smirking face. "Carrie." He breathed, relaxing immediately upon recognizing her scaly hide. "I thought I saw your handiwork from the direction of the Forest Temple."
"Yep, that was me." She declared, quietly proud of herself as she nodded approvingly towards where the Deathstalker had once stood. "Not bad, you're getting a handle at being vertically able."
"Meh, I'm still getting used to having two working legs and a body that isn't weaker than pig's shit," Roman offered with a shrug and a smirk that no longer reached his eyes, "but I'm getting there. Well, that and it helps my mood considerably that I can wipe my own ass now."
"Ugh, too much information Roman."
"You brought it up Ms. Prom Queen." He shot back, earning an annoyed if amused scoff from Carrie for the jab at her chosen name.
"Says the guy who decided to name himself after everyone's favorite RWBY douchebag."
"He's a survivor, in that we're not so different." Roman said with another shrug of his wiry, yet deceptively strong arms. "I survived an abusive dad and that damned genetic disease I was stuck with, it seemed appropriate at the time when we woke up here."
Carrie nodded in understanding as one hand went up to her throat before she jerked her hand away at the unconscious impulse to rub the spot in question. Instead she said, starting away as she did, "Come on wannabe Ezio, let's get outta here before something else decides to take an interest."
"You don't want an encore?" Roman asked, chuckling as Carrie gave him a none too gentle if playful shove forward. "Yeesh, so violent Ms. Cross."
"Don't wake the dragon if you don't want to get burned." Carrie warned, but the threat lost most of its intimidation factor from the light in her pretty eyes.
"At least when you say that line I don't want to punch a Targaryen in the face." Roman retorted, smirking widely even as Carrie brought her naginata up to one shoulder as he sheathed his since transformed dagger blade back onto his belt. "You know you have this most adorable furrow in your brow-"
He wisely Doppelstepped away when she made to grab him with a mock growl pouring from her lips. With a jaunty salute as he formed in the upper branches of the tree he'd been looking at, Roman made his nimble and agile way back to Beacon with Carrie cursing him with every step. But as angry as she appeared, when he landed just on the outskirts of the world famous academy, they shared a long look that seemed to freeze time around them. The moment passed when neither made a move to break apart or to draw closer, but there was a promise there as he finally looked away. "A-anyway, shall we?"
"After you." Carrie insisted and made no move to keep walking, much to Roman's amusement as he casually started to walk backwards.
"I know what you're planning Ms. Cross, and you won't get to look at my backside that easily." He chuckled, ignoring the amused eye roll that got out of her.
"As if you could stop me from admiring the view." She retorted as she hefted her naginata up higher on her shoulder while tucking her book into one of her ammo pouches.
"What's that supposed mean?"
"You sleep in your underwear, and we share a dorm room. Figure it out genius."
"Ah….right, that." He blushed, but shrugged as he spun around without missing a step, pulling his hood back down as he did. "Did you at least get some enjoyment out of the view?" He asked, one eyebrow shooting up to his forehead while he grinned lopsidedly at the dragon.
"If I did, I'd never tell you."
"That's as good as a yes."
"No, it really isn't." She argued in annoyance though it was only fleeting. "God, you are incorrigible."
"I know." Roman replied with another grand bow as he spread his arms wide to either side. "And you love it."
"You DO know I know where you sleep right? And I also know where you keep your porn stash."
Roman straightened immediately as he glowered openly at her, no longer amused. "You wouldn't." The little smirk on Carrie's scaled face said it all. "Okay you probably would."
"Be nicer to me and we won't have a problem." Despite such a 'low blow', Roman grinned at her back as she passed him.
"'Le sigh', caught by the short and curlies." He muttered, just loud enough for Carrie to hear him and laugh in a mix of amused shock as she jerked her head to look at his once more grinning face. "And I still put up with such abuse with a smile. I must be a masochist for your abuse." He mock swooned for effect, never losing his balance or grace from the sudden shift.
"I'll give you abuse." She promised, but Roman's grin said it all as he soon locked step with the dragon faunus.
"I won't hold my breath." He retorted, and promptly Doppelstepped away before she could grab him in a headlock. Appearing on the other side of the large courtyard leading up to the school, Roman bowed and grinned wider than ever before he glanced up to the roof of the dorm building. In the next instant, he was there once a phantom copy had appeared there first, leaving Carrie to shout after him. "Sorry! I can't hear you! You're so small from up here!" He called back as she started to run towards him.
"Urgh! You're gonna get it later!" She roared towards him, but even from this distance he could see the wide grin on her face.
"Promises!" He cackled in retort, and wasted no time in disappearing into the dorms. He would most likely pay for his teasing later, but for the moment, Roman was all smiles as he sauntered down the long, red carpeted hallway. Killing a Deathstalker, solo, had put him in a very good mood, and come what may with Cinder and Salem and all the rest, even if he didn't fully agree with the general plan, he'd at least hold onto that for a good long while.
When you go from being unable to do even the most basic of things your whole life to being able to kill giant monsters with a blink and a wave, one can't help but celebrate after every victory. And despite the threats that still awaited them, Roman was glad to be alive and to have been put with three very good friends to boot because he knew he couldn't have made this far without them. And as much trouble as he gave Carrie, well, it was safe to say he owed her the most out of the group, followed right behind Thomas and VV. Either way, he wouldn't let them despair if he could help it.
He was their designated funny man with an assassin themed power after all. If he couldn't laugh at a bad situation, who would?