Child of Nothing Ch. 6: Improvements
Thank you to ThatInternetGuy for pointing out something that I was unaware of. I do use quickly far too much, and I will quickly get rid of that {yeah, that one was intentional}. So let's get going.
Derek sat awake in his bed. It hadn't even been a full night, but he couldn't sleep. For once, he wasn't sleeping as Drake, he was sleeping as Derek. Drake could rationalize the prospect of sleep, but Derek couldn't. He instead resorted to something that calmed him down, images.
He was spinning around the flames in his hands, making sure to keep them away from anything highly flammable. He spun an image of Monica, making sure to keep her face within his mind. He then quickly burned out the rest of his team, and then RWBY. He pushed them around the room, and just started to spin them. His friends... How much he would have loved to see them again on friendly terms. Unfortunately the odds of that happening wasn't great.
He heard a knock on the door, and extinguished his flames. He walked over to the looking hole, and peered through. He noticed someone. Not someone familiar to him, but someone who's uniform he recognized. Swiftly adjusting the pitch of his voice, Derek readied himself.
"Who is it?" He asked, raising his voice to a much higher level from it's normally throaty sound.
"Open up sir," a gruff voice replied.
"My apologies, but I was told to be cautious of strangers."
"Fine. I'm a hunter looking for a man who escaped Beacon Academy. That man is named Derek Flame, but he may be going by Drake right now." Derek felt his pulse quicken, and he just calmed himself down. "You may recognize him from some of the news feeds," the hunter continued. "He'll look an awful lot like a snake, or maybe even a dragon. He's expected to be wearing some kind of a brown cloak."
"I'll keep an eye out," Derek called out. "Thank you. Keep up the good work."
"I will." Derek watched as the man walked away, and he walked over to the wall. He leaned against it, and just slid down. He was in the middle of a crowded city. The prospect of having to stay hidden was absurd, even if he did pick up a new cloak.
A few moments later, he heard another knock. Sighing, and preparing his pitch, he took to his feet. He walked over to the door, and looked through the eye hole. He noticed a man standing there, but this one was different then the previous one. He had red hair that was sleeked back. His eyes were green, and very intelligent. He was wearing a red tuxedo with a light orange undershirt.
"Who is it?" Derek called out, keeping his voice at a higher pitch.
"Cut the crap, Mr. Flame," the man said instantly. "I know who you are, and I'd rather do business with you on a normal bases."
"Are you the representative?" Derek asked, completely baffled by the man's recognition of him.
"No, that might be a bit delayed. But I am a friend of the Rat." Derek sighed, and unlocked the four different locks on his door. He opened it up, and watched as the man calmly entered into his room.
"I hope that you can realize that we won't be completing all of our business in here," the man said.
"I'm sorry, but who are you and what do you want?" Derek asked. He calmly drew his weapons, and leveled them calmly at the man. "And be sure to answer."
"Ah, how rude of me," the man said instantly. "My name is Xavier. For our purposes, it's just Xavier. I am not your average man, I am an arms dealer. I was made aware that you were active a while ago when my brother took interest in you."
"Brother?" Derek asked.
"Ah, right. He goes by Xander Scars." Derek's grip on his weapons tightened, and Xavier just sighed. "No need for that, we both have a similar philosophy. Everything is business. And arms are my business, and I think that you could use something new. Tell me, how often do you use your weapons?" Derek pulled out his sword, and flew up to Xavier. "So I see," he muttered. "Come with me." Without another word, Xavier exited the room. Derek ensured that his cloak was wrapped tightly around him, and followed along.
Beacon Academy: Ozpin's Office
He watched over the tape once more, and carefully observed Drake's movements. He was doing everything so precisely, so well thought out. But something seemed off. The flashbang, where did he get it? If he had something like this, he would have used it sooner. Unless he was trying to clear out as many people as possible before making an escape...
No, it didn't matter. He had to get the troops going. Calmly placing a hand on his scroll, he pulled up the communications to all of his teachers.
"Organize a search party within the city," he ordered. "Get students that know him. I want him found immediately."
Motel: Xavier's Room
Derek cautiously walked inside the room, and carefully looked around it. There seemed to be nothing in there, but something about Xavier seemed shady.
"Now," Xavier started. "When I asked how often you used your weapons, you pulled out your sword. Tell me, how often do you use your spear?"
"I use it every fight," Derek protested.
"Yes, I'm sure that it's almost impossible for you to get through a fight without using both your weapons. But I can tell you, ditch the spear." Derek went to protest, but Xavier snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Derek couldn't speak. "Yes, a useful semblance in my field. Silence is golden my friend." Derek angrily puffed out flames, but Xavier just smiled.
"So," Xavier continued. "I believe that you would be better off adjusting to this day and age of technology. I understand that your natural resources are your most used weapon?" Derek just nodded, keeping a menacing gaze on the arms dealer. "Ah, so I think that I have just the thing for you." Xavier moved aside one of the TV monitors, and popped open a safe that was behind it. He opened it up, and sifted through many items. Derek could just hear the rattling around of metal, making him wonder as to exactly what was going on. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask since he was still muted.
"Got it," Xavier announced. He turned around, and laid out a metal gauntlet that looked more like a half sleeve. It was currently just metal plating and a hand piece, but it had several holes along the fist. "This would be nicknamed Dragon's Hand if you were to take it," Xavier explained. "It's a metal half sleeve, and it works in so many ways. Multiple short sword blades will extend from these," he pointed to a row of holes lining the fists, "holes. But only every other one. The others are reserved for SMG firearms, saving you a little bit of energy."
"So what are you saying?" Derek asked.
"I'm saying ditch the spear as a combat weapon and use this. Tell you what, I'm going to give this one to you on good faith of the Rat." Derek just stared at him, unsure of what the arms dealer's aim was. "Listen, I know who you are and what you're capable of. But because of that, I also know that you'd never buy this. If I ever get a chance to do future business with you, this is the smart move." He handed over several clips of flame Dust, and demonstrated how to load it. Regardless of what was Derek's opinion was of this, he was leaving with a new piece of equipment. It might not be terrible for me to have this. I can still carry around the spear, but if I were to wear a glove I could conceal the entirety of this thing. Hm, perhaps a valuable asset after all.
Later On: Derek's Room
He flexed around his arm, and watched as the plating slid down into each other. It didn't feel like any more of a burden on his arm then his scales did, which was convenient. He picked out a glove that was floating around in his room, and placed it over the metal piece. Luckily, it didn't seem to show through the glove. He looked around the room, and noticed a sufficient lack of food. Despite downstairs having some food, he felt as though it would be good to get some more for his room.
He grabbed his cloak, and quickly dressed himself in it. He pulled the sleeve tight over his arm, and made sure that everything was done that way. He scavenged the room, and found some old shirts. He ripped one apart, and made a makeshift bandanna out of it. He looked over in a mirror, and nodded approvingly. Only a small portion around his eyes were actually visible. He nodded approvingly, and exited the room.
Vale Open Market
It was still early in the morning, and so not many people were present. But if there was ever a place for him to be, it was here. Monica, Gwen, and Nathan were all browsing along the market, attempting to talk to anyone who might know whether or not he was there. It had been like this for about an hour, and they hadn't seen any results. But then again, they weren't really expecting too many results.
"Alright," Monica said. "Staying as a group isn't working for us. I say we split up. At the very least this tease can be over faster." Nathan and Gwen nodded, and split off from Monica.
The acting leader just walked along the sides, trying to pick out anyone wearing a brown cloak. She noticed someone dressed in a gray and green one, and just kept along her path. But then she paused. They were an awfully large person... Well, it never hurt her to ask.
"Excuse me," Monica said, walking over to the man in the cloak. He kept his back turned, but looked back slightly at her.
"What is it?" He asked. His voice was at about normal pitch for a man, which was higher then Derek's.
"I was just wondering if you had seen someone that was covered in scales," Monica replied. "He would be about my age, but that would be hard to tell with his size."
"Look, lady, I've been bothered about this three times today. I'll tell you the same thing I told the first hunter and your friends, I've seen nothing. Now, can I continue to shop?" Monica just nodded, and walked off. She got around to Nathan and Gwen, and started to confer with them. But then, something clicked with her. He said that earlier, a hunter had bothered him. But why would he make the connection that Gwen and Nathan were her friends? Unless...
"Derek?" She called out. The man didn't move, but now Monica was ready. She started to walk towards the man. "Derek Flame, you in the green and gray cloak."
"What are you doing Moni?" Gwen asked, running to catch up with her. "Why are you calling out this guy?"
"Derek, please," Monica called out. "Just answer me." She saw his shoulders rise and fall, and he slowly turned to face her. She noticed a piece of green fabric blocking off his mouth, and really most of his face, and the rest of him completely concealed.
"Back off lady," he growled. "I don't know who you are, but leave me alone."
"You should have covered up those scales," Monica said, bluffing entirely. She couldn't see any scales, but she had to play her last card. She watched as the man paused, and then slowly took off his gloves. The first one revealed a metal fabrication around his arm, and the second one revealed a scaled hand. He lowered down his bandanna, and they saw his entire face.
"I thought I told you to back off," Drake growled.
"Derek, why are you doing this?" Monica asked. "Just come back with us, we can help you."
"Maybe," Drake agreed. "But you wouldn't be allowed too. I tried to get the leave for my project to be complete, but I wasn't allowed too."
"What project?" Gwen asked. Out of them, she was the only one that might have been content with letting him be for a while.
"Who cares about the project?" Nathan piped up. "He needs to come back."
"My project," Drake said rubbing the metal on his left arm casually. "Is about my past. Now, I'll let you take your guesses. Might I suggest you leave now?"
"Alright," Gwen said, taking a step back. She knew that at this range, anything that Drake, since they clearly weren't dealing with Derek, could throw at them would be too close for her wind to affect it. "We'll back off."
"Like hell we will," Nathan growled. He stepped forward, and Gwen tried to stop him.
"Very well," Drake said. He lifted up his arm, and clicked on the trigger mechanism. A barrage of flame Dust was shot out at the feet of the rest of DRGN, and they were forced to scatter. Drake turned around, and started to run.
"I've got this," Gwen said. She blew forth a wave of wind behind her, and launched herself in the direction of Drake.
"Nathan," Monica barked out. "Go after her." Nathan nodded, and took off in a sprint. Monica just started to call in that she had seen Drake. A wolf Faunus, a dragon Grimm hybrid, and a girl with control over wind. There was no chance that Monica could keep up with them, but that made her more angry.
Drake
He rounded a corner, and ducked out of sight. He knew that Nathan was more then likely coming after him, and then more would come. Okay, I need to get back to the motel. But how?
"Drake," a voice said. He turned quickly, and activated the blade part of Dragon's Hand. He saw that Gwen was standing behind him, her axe lowered to her side. "Shh, I'm trying to help you. We're upwind from Nathan right now."
"Why?" Drake asked.
"Because I'm the only one smart enough to figure out that this has to have something to do with your parents." Drake went dead silent, and his expression softened. "You'll need to run, but first I need you to hurt me in some way. Cut my leg and melt my axe." Drake stopped, not fully understanding what her aim was. But he complied.
He snatched the axe from her hands, and melted it down into a puddle of metal. He then flexed out his claws, and took a careful aim at Gwen's leg. He slashed across it, and watched as it buckled. He gently helped lower her to the ground, and then just waited for her next plan.
"Take off," she said. "Run. I'll wait for a few minutes, but then I'll call for help. I'll tell them you went... Where are you staying?"
"East," Drake said, not willing to divulge all of the info.
"Alright, I'll tell them South then. Go, now." Drake nodded, and took off in a sprint. After a few meters, he covered up his mouth and put on his gloves again.
True to her word, Gwen waited five minutes before calling for help. He had gotten away again, but how long would this dance continue?
End: Check on my twitter {Codyknight22} for a picture by the wonderful TheWolfBane987 {on here and twitter} of Dragon's Hand. Questions, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is appreciated.