Chapter 7

Level 5 clearance detected, Accessing File: Roland Deschain

Roland Deschain: age presumed to be in his mid-fifties, nationality American, Class V Huntsmen. Roland Deschain was born in a hidden village located somewhere in the deserts of Nevada. As he was born into the Gunslingers he began his training at the age of six and when he was fourteen he undertook the rite of passage earlier than most and passed. After Walter Padick and his associates wiped out the rest of the Gunslingers he tried to kill Roland but Roland's mother managed to save his life thanks to some magic she learned and teleported him halfway across the U.S. though she was killed by Padick. Though he was forced to grow up a wandering orphan Roland was trained to thrive in the wild and any unknown environments. He trained himself to one day fight and kill Walter Padick to avenge the Gunslingers. Roland spent years searching for him going after many leads though finding him was difficult thanks to his tendency to change his name and the nicknames people gave him when he did not give a name. These names include Randall Flagg, Rudin Filario, The Walkin' Dude, The Hardcase, Walter O' Dim, The Covenant Man, The Dark Man, The Man in Black, and many others. After many years Roland found Walter in the slums of Empire City where he was recruiting criminals and the destitute to become fighters for the Invisible Hand or at least cannon fodder for suicide missions. The two fought a lengthy battle that lasted for hours and when it ended Roland killed Walter but was greatly injured he would've died if he wasn't found by a woman named Susannah Dean who brought him to the hospital.

Roland and Susannah would eventually marry each other and Roland taught her how to be a Gunslinger as best he could. But since she started her training as an adult she wouldn't be as good as past Gunslingers but she was still a strong one. Eventually the two would have a son they named Mordred but the boy was distant to his parents. The boy was given Gunslinger training though he seemed to sadistically enjoy it and in his free time Mordred would search for small animals to cruelly kill which greatly troubled his parents. When Mordred turned nine he unlocked his Semblance and what it was had shocked Roland to his very core, Mordred could shape shift to a giant spider like the Crimson King. Roland's father Steven Deschain once told him that with his dying breath the Crimson King cursed his bloodline to one day bring forth his reincarnation. Roland's family did not believe believed he was just taunting Steven but after seeing Mordred's Semblance Roland now sees it as true. Roland could've killed Mordred when he was still a child but he didn't for you see Roland loved his son since his son wasn't born a Fallen he believed he could save Mordred's soul, but he was wrong. When Mordred was 13 Roland went out one day and when he returned home he found the place wrecked and Susannah was dead. It looked like she was half-eaten by an animal or more precise a spider that did not drain it's victim of blood. He searched his home for Mordred and found a message on the wall written in Susannah's blood. "One day I will kill you father." Mordred had entered the dark path and Roland became cold and distant this was a side of him not seen since he embarked on his quest to kill Walter Padick.

Years later he came across he saved a group of nomads in the Wildlands from a rampaging Goliath, an elephant like Grimm, and of the nomads took an interest in the way he fought. A ten year old boy named Jake Chambers had asked Roland to teach him to fight the same way as he did. Though Roland said no Jake would not give up and would follow the old Gunslinger. Eventually Roland gave in and took Jake as his ward. Roland's time with the boy helped improve the way Roland acted around others and in time he was no longer cold and distant. Years later they would come into contact with Phil Ken Sebben who had learned about the legendary Gunslingers and asked them for help on an assignment of utmost importance.

Xxx

When pixies entered the heads of the group Nier believed he saw a woman around the same age as him. She wore blue jeans, a blue-grey shirt, and black high-heeled shoes. She has dark purple eyes and silvery white hair. The right side of her hair was tied in a ring and the left side remained straight and had a rare flower in her hair called a Lunar Tear, and a her sides are two serrated swords. This woman is Kaine Nier's wife or spouse as she would prefer since she identifies herself as non-binary.

"Kaine wait."

Nier calls out to Kaine but she doesn't respond to him and keeps running down the tunnel. When Nier catches up he sees that the area has changed to the town of Yoshino. But the town was destroyed and littered with the corpses of humans, Faunus, and Mobians who had lived in it. As he looked around he found Kaine turned to stone and holding something in her arms that was petrified as well. When Nier looked at what it was it appeared to be a baby. This was a representation of Nier's fear of losing his spouse and unborn child. Nier falls to his knees and screams out at this sight when suddenly.

WACK!

Something hits him in the back causing him be sent across the area. Nier gets up and doesn't see anything. He gets back up and then draws his katana Faith, this is one of the many weapons he wields. He then senses another attack and he blocks it and then makes a strike from the area it came from. The sound of metal, flesh, and bone being cut is heard and Nier sees that Faith has blood on it. He now knows that something is here for sure and then activates his Semblance Gestalt. His double Shadowlord appears and attacks something that Nier can't see and even passes through the petrified Kaine. Nier realizes that he's experiencing some sort of hallucination

"Take this!"

Nier hears the voice of Jim and when the battle stops he calls out to the half-troll.

"Jim is that you? What's going on?"

"A pixies entered our heads and made us experience our worst fears."

Pixies are real? "How do I get it out of my head?"

"A simple hit to the head is enough to push them out of your head, so just slap your face."

Nier does what the Trollhunter said and the hallucination goes away allowing the Huntsman to see the cavern. He sees Shadowlord standing next Jim in his half-troll form is wearing a helmet that covers his face and ears, and the ground was littered with three dead armored bandits. Nier then sees a yellow glowing spark flying around that Jim catches and squishes.

"I really hate those things."

"Thanks for the save Trollhunter but where are the others?"

"I already saved McCree apparently he saw his old commander Reyes chasing after him. I told him what to do and he went looking for anyone else. Come on let's head back to the passageway and see if anyone else needs rescuing."

"Lead the way Jim."

The two make it back to where the Pixies got in their heads and find McCree and Roland waiting for them.

"You guys alright?" Jim asked.

"Yeah I found Roland here staring off into space when bandits were about to kill him," McCree said. "All he told me of what he saw was the worst moments of his life coming back to haunt him."

"Something's are better left unsaid," Roland solemnly said.

"All that's left is Jake and Claire," Jim said but before he could continue someone interrupted him.

"Someone say my name."

The group turns to see Claire walking out of the tunnel she ran into.

"Claire you're alright," Jim said as he runs up to her with his helmet disappearing and hugs her.

"Easy their Jim I'm fine," Claire said to reassure him. "That Pixie made me see Morgana and Arcadia Oaks luckily since that hallucination that make me see where I was going I ended up running into a stalagmite which ended the hallucination."

"Ouch you okay now?" Jim asked.

"Don't worry my Aura was active so I didn't feel a thing," Claire said. "But one of us is still missing."

"Jake," Roland said as he looked down the tunnel his adoptive son ran into. "This place must've been a trap for us."

"Come on let's go get your boy back," McCree said as he drew his Peacekeeper.

The group goes down the tunnel keeping an eye out for Jake and any trouble. As they continue down the tunnel Roland finds something on the ground it was Jake's Ruger.

"Something got him," Roland said as he picked up the gun and then spots some spider silk on the ground that he picks up. "Mordred was here."

"From the looks of it I'd say he took him alive," McCree said. "But why would Mordred take Jake when he had those bandits try to kill us?"

"Maybe he wants to use him for Umbra's experiments," Claire suggested.

"He's doing this to spite me," Roland said. "I won't let Mordred get away with this."

Unknown to the group Mordred was watching them as they move out. He makes an angry face seeing that his plan using the Pixies didn't work and then he hears a chuckle behind him. He sees Jake who is now tied to a chair laughing out Mordred's own frustration.

"Was that your only plan? Have Pixies enter our heads, make us experience our worst fears, and then have bandits kill us. Who serial killers were such sucky planners."

"Laugh while you can Jake," Mordred said venomously. "When Umbra is done with you we'll be seeing who's laughing then."

The alarms start to go off and Mordred looks back at the screen to see the group fighting through his Grimm and bandits, they're nearing the control room. Mordred pulls out his walkie talkie and says, "I've captured one of them and need an escape."

"I guess this means you didn't kill the rest the others like you said you could how disappointing, be glad I still have a use for you Mordred Deschain."

Mordred gave a sigh of relief he was worried that Umbra would kill him if he failed again.

CRASH!

The fighting is nearing the control room. Mordred walks to Jake so that when Umbra collects them he'll get both of them.

BOOM!

An explosion sends the door flying and out from the doorway came the Hunters ready to get Jake back and take down Mordred. Two guards that Mordred has with him approach the group and Nier activates one of his Sealed Verses called Dark Execution. From the ground he summons forth a straight line of magical spears that impale the two guards. The group turns to Mordred who has one of his guns pointed point-blank at Jake's head.

"Make a move and I blow my replacement's brain out."

"Mordred you weren't born a Fallen like your past life," Roland said to his son. "We can still save your soul son."

"His past life?" Nier asked.

"I was born as the reincarnation of a Fallen known as Los, the Crimson King," Mordred said. "He was skilled in magic enough to reincarnate himself through his own bloodline, not enough to be a Fallen again it seems."

"Do you really think we can save him Roland?" McCree asked.

"This is your last chance Mordred," Roland said ignoring McCree's question.

"What comes next old man will be your permanent end," Mordred said.

The shadows start to gather around Mordred and Jake and the upper half of a figure wearing black clothing and a Grimm mask emerges from the shadow.

"That's Umbra!" Jake said. "Get out of here!"

"Quiet you!" Mordred said as he pushed his gun against Jake's head.

Umbra sends forth a wave purple magic against the group. When the attack hit the group McCree, Roland, and Claire are knocked back but Nier and Jim are still standing thanks to Nier's Dark Wall and Jim using the Eclipse blade to cut through the dark magic. Jim summons his combined boomerang dagger and throws it at Umbra. The dagger hits Umbra's mask causing the sorcerer to grunt and turn to the Trollhunter. Umbra's right eye is now visible the eye of a Fallen an eye with black sclera and a red iris. The mask begins to crack and fall apart revealing Umbra's true face, a man with deathly pale skin that has deep red and purple veins and shoulder length white hair.

"So you are a Fallen," Claire said as she got up.

"This makes no difference," Umbra said as him, Jake, and Mordred disappear into the shadows.

"NO!" Roland said as he tried to run into the shadows but they were gone already.

"They're gone," Jim said.

"What do we do now?" Nier said. "We don't have another way to track them."

"We do," Roland said.

"How?" McCree asked.

Roland reveals a necklace and says, "Jake and I are both wearing tracking devices disguised as necklaces, if one of us disappears we can find the other with these devices. Now let's go get him back."

Xxx

Umbra's lair.

Inside a cavern multiple vats of a black liquid stood below a catwalk and walking on the cat was Umbra, Mordred, and a tied up Jake. The three stop above a vat that Umbra is staring at and then looks at Jake.

"You should consider yourself lucky Jake," Umbra said. "You're about to become the next step in the evolution of the world."

Jake looks at the vat and says, "What by throwing me in a vat of Grimm essence!? What are you trying to do turn me into a Fallen!?"

"No and who said anything about Grimm essence," Umbra said as he pushed Jake into the vat.

When Jake feel into the black liquid it starts to recede into the spot where Jake fell turning the parts the receded into water. When the black liquid recedes something emerges from the water and lands of the cat walk in front of Mordred and Umbra. Jake has become a half-troll like Jake but he has tan stone skin and bat like wings. He starts growling at Mordred and Umbra acting like some sort of wild animal.

"It didn't work," Mordred said disappointingly.

"Remember the Stalkling remains I added into Merlin's formula are that of a beast," Umbra said. "I'm trying to turn myself into a half-troll that's immune to sunlight but testing it first is needed before I apply it to ourselves."

"Ro...land...Roland," Jake struggled to say.

"We seem to be making progress," Umbra said. "We managed to retain some sentience but not enough."

Umbra then fires a magic blast that knocks out Jake.

"Put him in cage with the other rejects."

"Yes Umbra."