Chapter 7 – Locke Vs. Winchester
Kassius
"Winchester!"
"Winchester!
"Winchester!"
The Crowd of Bandits all roar in unison, cheering the surname of the Huntsman that stands before the other gladiators in the arena. Kassius stands tall with his two swords held firmly in his grasp as he sees Cardin pacing back and forth, dragging his huge metal mace through the sand, and almost looking feral. From the stories that Kassius heard, he was more of an asshole than a creature like he seems at the moment. He also has some new scars on his arms as well that he never had before, and weathering scars on his skin as well, clearly from the sun and the sandstorms that Vacuo suffers from.
Sat down atop the booth that he found, made with ancient Arkhoni architecture, Kelham watches as the battle begins. He has multiple Prostitutes with him as well, Neryth being one of them with a giggly smile on her face as the Bandit Leader bites a chunk out of a chicken leg he has roasted. "Ooh...who do you think'll win, Kellie?" She asks him as she seductively bites his ear, and he doesn't even flinch.
"Dunno...can't wait to see." Kelham chuckles as he throws the chewed leg onto the floor, resting both his legs onto the barriers that keep people from falling over the edge.
Back at the bottom of the Arena, Kassius stands still with his swords in his hands, waiting for the match to start as everyone moves out across the arena to their positions. Most of the Gladiators are getting as far as they can from the Huntsman since they know that they do not stand a chance against him in combat. Cardin stands still with his hand holding his mace in one eye, his hair covers over one eye until he flicks it back round so then he can stare at his foes. "So this is Cardin Winchester, huh?" Kassius mutters to himself.
"Let the battle begin in three!"
The weaker gladiators shake on the spot with sweat beading down their skin whilst there are some that are calm and others that look utterly insane, bouncing on the spot. Some with hammers and others with knives. Kassius just remains calm, focusing his senses, he has fought against much, much worse odds in the past.
"Two!"
Cardin tightens his grip on his mace with a snarl.
"One!" Kelham roars before one of his bandits blows a huge horn that echoes for miles, with a triumphant bellow. Cardin walks forward, and Kassius spins his swords through his fingers as he prepares to fight.
It is clear who the Huntsmen are.
Since everyone else just charges towards each other like animals or runs away from the fight to try and escape.
Whereas Cardin and Kassius both wait.
The gladiators scream with bloodthirsty rage as they smash into each other, as soon as their bodies and weapons collide there is a thunderous uproar from the crowd. Kassius can feel the reverberations through the floor just from the pounding cheers and beats from the crowd as they stop their feet against the floor. The Huntsman with the Split Personality turns his head when a man sprints at him, screaming like a lunatic. Kassius just steps aside to dodge the swing of his hammer that smashes into the ground.
Kassius slashes across the chest of the Gladiator, spilling his blood across the floor as he screams, before he plunges the curved blade of his other cutlass straight through the Gladiator's ribcage. He gasps with agony before Kassius twists the blade to finish him off, pushing his boot against is corpse.
He turns...to meet the mace of Cardin Winchester that crashes right into his chest, sending him flying and smashing straight across the circular walls of the arena. The walls buckle and crumble, chunks of concrete and adobe sandstone crumble from where Kassius smashed through. Pieces of rebar hang out from the walls, dust pluming from the place of contact. Kassius grunts as he rolls across the floor, some cuts and bruises across his body and even some lacerations. Wounds that his fiery orange aura swiftly regenerates immediately, closing up his wounds, leaving only a few stains of claret on his chest and arm.
Kassius cracks his neck before wiping some of the dust and sand from his body, turning to see Cardin walking towards him with a glare. The huge Huntsman turns to one of the Gladiators who attempts to fight him, jumping towards him with one dagger thrusting forward towards him. Cardin yells with rage, grabbing the Gladiator by the throat, turning on his heel to smash the man into the floor. The dull thud accompanied with a crunch erupts from where he crashed into the ground from Cardin's attack. He wheezes in pain on the ground, only for Cardin to finish him off with his mace, smashing it downwards into his head – killing him instantly.
Kassius cracks his neck as he stands tall, ready to fight again as he picks his swords back up. He walks past the many Gladiators that fight against each other. Even terrified souls thrown in here against their will, being stabbed to death on the floor by others with knives, spears and hacked apart by axes. Their blood-curdling screams echo across the arena, only met by the cheers of the similarly blood thirsty viewers in the arena crowds. Blood soaks the sand along with the corpses of brutally murdered people.
But Kassius has seen it all before.
And by the looks of it, so has Cardin. A lot has changed since Beacon was destroyed, and it seems he has changed quite a lot. Cardin flicks the blood from the mace of his, running towards Kassius this time, jumping in the air with his mace held above his head. The red crystal inside activates with a heated flash of fire. He bellows as he swings it downwards, smashing it down into the ground where Kassius was stood with all his might. When the Mace hits the ground, a huge fiery explosion ignites through the sand, creating a chasm of destruction, scorching the ground beneath them. The Huntsman he fights against rolls out of the way, instantly spiralling round to slash Cardin across his side.
Cardin grunts, his orange aura protecting him as always, flickering around that wound. He swiftly spins round to smash the mace downwards at Kassius again. The massive mace crashes down into the ground with a heavy bang, an attack Kassius dodged as he bounced back. Instantly rushing forward to jump up and smash his knee up into Cardin's jaw to cause him to stagger. Cardin roars with anger as he staggers back, as Kassius slashes his cutlass across his leg to bring him down to one knee.
Kassius thunders a yell as he slams both blades downwards at Cardin, only for the Winchester Huntsman to hold up his mace, stopping the two blades. Kassius stares into his eyes with gritted teeth, holding him down. "So you're Cardin Winchester? I thought you'd be taller!" He laughs, receiving a roar from Cardin as he tightens his grip, Kassius turns his attention to the red crystal within the man's mace. His eyes widen when he sees the red energy channelling into flames as he blasts fire out and it wraps around the mace.
Cardin pulls the mace away from Kassius and spins all the way around, smashing the mace into his chest. Kassius grunts, thrown into another wall, lodged inside it this time with his arms hooked into the rebar and concrete. Cardin stands up, his eyes focused on Kassius. "I don't believe we've met before." Cardin states as he walks towards him.
"We haven't, but I know Jaune!" He yells, and Cardin stops walking when he says that, his eyes widen with disbelief when he hears his name. Showing what appears to be relief in his eyes opposed to anger.
"He's alive?" He asks.
"Last I saw him he was!" Kassius yells back as he tries to free himself, Cardin stands tall with his eyes focused onto his mace as he stands there.
"As much as I'd love to stand and chat, we still need to fight." He says.
"Well then...if we both survive...then I guess we'll chat later." Kassius chuckles, somehow making friends with Cardin even when trying to beat him in combat. Cardin smirks, but he spins round when another Gladiator charges at him with a spear, trying to skewer him like a kabob. Cardin catches the wooden spear in his huge hand and pulls the Gladiator round and throws him straight into the others. The Gladiator screams as he clatters into the side of another, winding him in the process. One of the others manages to pick up a Crossbow and loads a bolt into it. The weak man has to put the ranged weapon on the group and use his leg to help pull the limbs of the weapon back so then he can serve the bolt into the chamber.
Cardin walks towards the three Gladiators, two of them getting back up after his attack he made on them. The Crossbow User finally loads it and he struggles to lift it up, aiming it straight at Cardin to fire. He fires the bolt but Cardin spins his mace through his fingers to deflect the bolt – the wooden arrow shatters upon contact with his mace, and then he accelerates into a charge. The Crossbow firer screams with fear as he turns to run away, whilst the other Gladiators pick up some weapons left on the ground to fight.
One picks up a Battleaxe whilst the other picks up a sword and they both run towards the huge man. The Axe-Man jumps at Cardin to cut downwards onto his aura but Cardin ducks and dodges his attack, smashing his mace straight into his chest. The metal hooks in the mace puncture into his ribs, keeping the screaming man stuck to the weapon. Cardin smashes him downwards and rips the mace from his crushed chest, instantly thrusting his armoured shoulder into the sword.
The blade snaps against the shoulder pauldron, sparks burst outwards from the breaking of the sword, shards of metal thrown across the area. Cardin swiftly takes is fist and ploughs it straight into the Gladiator's face, before swiping his mace across his legs to knock him onto the ground. Finally he takes his mace and smashes it down into his head, crushing the skull and splattering blood everywhere.
The crowd erupt with a monstrous cheer from seeing such a grisly death. Blood drips from the mace and Cardin sighs as he flicks it off, turning to see that man that fled. Running away desperately and trying to climb his way out.
Kelham watches as some of the people try and escape and a smirk grows across his face, so he turns on his chair to look at Thorne. "Looks like we got some cowards." Kelham says and Thorn chuckles.
"Unleash the beasts!" Thorn bellows, and the man on the gate turns with terrified eyes as a pen rises up from underneath the ground. The concrete and sandstone floor shifts open to reveal a cage with a creature inside. But this is not actually a Creature of Grimm, it is a form of Vacuo Wildlife. A huge Lion-Like animal but with crocodilian skin and razor sharp teeth. The legs of some kind of dog or cheetah and the muscle of a Lion or Tiger, it turns its flaring orange eyes to the desperate man attempting escape.
The monster roars with furor, charging towards where he screams with terror, standing beneath the climbing man now. "Please! I wanna go home!" He wails, only for the creature to start to place its claws limbs onto the metal fence, climbing up behind him with a growl. He looks down and he cries with horror as it bites down onto his leg and pulls him down. "No! Please! Argh! Help me! Please!" He screams with agony as the creature throws him into the floor, blood leaking from his lacerated and shredded leg. The huge monster prowls behind him, the taste of blood covering its jaws as it closes in. His cries for help go unnoticed, and the monster jumps onto him, his screams drowned out both by the sadistic cheers of the crowd and the haunting growls of the monster.
It claws and rips at his body, ripping chunks from him and disembowelling him on the sand, shaking him around in its crocodilian jaws. His screams are muffled when the creature slowly closes its jaws around his neck, and ripping his head from his shoulders. A fountain of red sprays into the air as the creature begins to devour him inch by inch. "The Faeli Suchus!" Kelham cheers as he watches the beast feasting on his remains.
From behind the fences, one of the Bandits fires a shock round into the Suchus' side, making it roar with pain and rage, spinning round to stare at him with teeth gritted together and blood drooling down its jaws. To keep it focused on killing the others opposed to feasting on its first victim.
Kassius continues to struggle, trapped inside the wall where Cardin had smashed him into, forcing his arms as hard as he can to break free from his current predicament. He looks around to see the Suchus stalking across the field of battle, seeking out the weakest link. Setting its eyes onto him and snarling as it approaches. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Kassius exclaims as he pushes his metal arm as hard as he can against the concrete and metal. "You have not come this far to get eaten in a goddamn wall!" He roars as the Suchus charges towards him with a monstrous roar.
Kassius finally breaks his arm free from the metal and he jumps out from the wall that he was imprisoned inside of, landing on his feet. The charging Faeli Suchus jumps towards him with a monstrous roar to savagely attack him. Only for Kassius to uppercut the monster with his cybernetic fist, causing it to grunt and be thrown a few feet from where he was standing. The Suchus crashes to the ground with a snarl, its armoured scales scraping across the ground.
Kassius glances down to where his swords are...
They have been snapped in two, from Cardin's attack. Leaving him with nothing more than his fists. "Alright then...guess we're doing this the old fashioned way." Kassius chuckles as he cracks his knuckles when the Suchus stumbles back up with a guttural hiss. The huge creature paces back and forth, sizing Kassius up and determining how best to take him on. Kassius keeps his eyes focused on it, every single move it makes, these things are still Crocodilian in nature, meaning that can exert extremely fast and powerful attacks.
Blood stains the white teeth of the Faeli Suchus, drooling that man's blood into the soil. Kassius' heart is in his mouth, fighting people is one thing but challenging a creature like this with no weapon is something else. The growling grows and grows, then it attacks, lunging forward and snapping its jaws at him, but Kassius moves out the way at the perfect moment. He smartly lands a punch with his metal fist too, causing it to stumble from that attack, but it does not back down.
It immediately attacks again, charging forward and smashing its head into Kassius, so hard it throws him onto the ground. Kassius slides across the sand from the beast's attack, but it quickly jumps onto him, pinning him down against the sand, growling as it goes to bite him in the head. But Kassius holds his metal arm upwards to stop the jaws, and the teeth bite down onto it. The teeth scrape across the metal and his aura crackles where it constantly gets attacked.
Kassius strains as it shakes him around like a chew toy, reaching out for anything he can use as weapon against the creature. He finally catches onto a rock that chills out on the floor next to him, best opportunity he has. Kassius grabs onto it and roars with rage, smashing the rock straight into the Suchus' eye, so hard that blood actually squirts out from its head. The creature stumbles away from Kassius with a growl as the blood trickles down the side of its scaly head.
Most animals would back down.
But this thing does not.
It just continues to snarl at Kassius as it prepares to attack once more.
Across the arena from Kassius, Cardin gets hit across the chest finally by a competent enemy in the area. A huge brute of a man with a huge war hammer that crashes into Cardin's chest plate. He grunts as he is thrown back and crashes across the ground. He tumbles and tumbles until he slams his mace into the floor to slow himself down. The large man charges towards him with a couple other guys as well. Cardin cracks his neck and he charges at them too, unleashing his semblance upon them all.
A semblance called the Wickerman's Rage.
He tenses his body and roars with fury, as the crystal inside his mace ignites and blasts energy through his entire body. His skin burns and turns black like charcoal with crackling embers trailing through the cracks in his body. His eyes glow red as he roars, sprinting towards them as he uses his Semblance, smashing the mace into the chest of one of the Gladiators. The single impact kills him instantaneously, flames ignite across his body as he falls to the floor, and the scent of burnt flesh fills the air.
The next one to try and attack the Wickerman is met by the mace that falls downwards and crushes his skull, blood pours down his shoulders from where the mace had ended up lodged. Cardin releases the mace and with a bellow he starts punching the men with an animalistic vigour, pound for pound he beats them down. Arching his huge muscular arms all the way back to deliver undeniably lethal punches.
The Winchester Huntsman's semblance is ironic – for he is an effigy to his own sins in his life, an effigy that never burns to dust.
Cardin's punches are well placed and skilled, three fast hits to the lower abdomen of one of the Gladiators and then one hard punch straight to the face. Every single time he hits them he blasts the flames across his body into them, burning them alive and spreading his Wickerman Traits to others. The large man swings his hammer at Cardin but the Huntsman catches the huge hammer in his massive hand, channelling the flames into the palm of his hand to melt the metal down. His semblance looks similar to Kassius' except his cracks have expanded into burning his whole body and he does not even feel it.
Whereas Kassius' has another mind entirely.
Cardin pulls the hammer from the fist of the man that wielded it and throws a powerful hit into his chest. He jumps high in the air and he lands on the last other Gladiator's chest and he punches him repeatedly in the face over and over again. Flames igniting with every punch that he delivers, until finally the Gladiator is dead on the floor with his skull partially collapsed from how hard those punches were.
Cardin rises back up, and he disengages his semblance, staggering slightly and his aura immediately repairs the damage. His blackened skin flushes back with Caucasian skin and the cracks fade away. He reaches down to pick up his Mace and he turns to see Kassius still fighting the Suchus without a weapon.
Locke slides underneath the jaws of the Suchus and he grabs its open jaws with both hands, pulling it across the ground and punching it in the head with force. The Faeli Suchus roars with anger, slashing its sharp claws across Kassius' chest, knocking him over. The deep cuts quickly heal on his pecks and shoulder thanks to his aura. The Suchus snarls as it jumps towards him and bites hard into his shoulder.
Kassius roars with furious pain as it drags him across the floor, the teeth digging hard into his flesh even with his aura fighting to repair it. It shakes him around viciously, attempting to rip chunks out of him. As it keeps bashing him into the floor, Kassius pushes his hands against the floor as he grits his teeth. His eyes glow brighter and brighter and the cracks begin to burn through the faint marks on his body where they have come through in the past. Multiple lines that ignite with fire when angered enough.
"Get off of us!" Hyde bellows as he takes control, a blast of hot energy erupts from Kassius' body and it throws the Suchus from Kassius' back, with some of his blood coating its jagged teeth in its huge snouted jaws. It snarls as it lands on the ground, dragging its heavy scaly tail the sandy ground as it watches him, feeling the still warm sand beneath its feet. Drawing energy from it to make fast attacks – it is more dangerous in the day since it can absorb heat and energy from the scorching hot sun.
The Suchus watches as Hyde takes temporary control over Kassius to beat this thing, since he can fight just as viciously as this monster can. The markings have all ignited across his body, across his human arm in places, over his pecks and down his shoulder blades. Normally that is not seen, since usually it is just around his eyes that the cracks burn through. Embers trail out from the fissures that have been formed and the Suchus roars as it lunges at Hyde.
He jumps at the creature and he grabs it, tackling it into the ground. He thrusts his cybernetic fist into the face of the Suchus over and over again, breaking some teeth from its jaws. It crawls away from him to catch its breath, but Hyde grapples onto the long tail and drags it right back. It roars with frustration until Hyde digs Kassius' hands into its mouth, holding onto the teeth. It shrieks with pain as he slowly pushes the jaws apart, opening its mouth wide as it roars.
Then...
Bang!
Hyde twists the whole skull of the Faeli Suchus and there is an Earth Shattering crunch from the sound of its neck and even the jaw bone snapping from the action. The roars are silenced instantaneously – giving the animal a quick death at least. It was humane, for a Demon.
Hyde releases the cadaver of the Suchus and it slumps to the ground with a heavy muffled thud, its head crashing against the floor. Hyde relinquishes control and Kassius shakes off the residual pains from the scars igniting again. "Thanks for the help, buddy." Kassius whispers to Hyde.
"Any time...you were taking too long as well." Hyde jokes.
"Cocky." Kassius scoffs, until he turns to see that Cardin stands across the battlefield from him. Dead Gladiators around them all and one dead beast that was unleashed to them. Both of them know that they must fight each other – luckily they have just met, so there is not much holding each other back. Kassius turns his attention to a sword on the ground from one of the dead Gladiators, so he crouches down and picks it up, spinning it through his fingers.
Prefer having two...
Well I guess beggars can't be choosers.
Cardin roars as he charges straight at Kassius and he jumps extremely high in the air with his black mace held above his head with both hands clasped to the grip. Kassius rolls out of the way when the crystal ignites and blasts a huge explosion through the ground, throwing chunks of concrete and adobe into the air. The dust blows into his face but Kassius slashes his sword sideways at Cardin. Winchester grunts, spiralling round with his mace to swing at Kassius with force, spinning it through his fingers when Kassius ducks and swings it upwards.
It thwacks against Kassius' chest, throwing him up in the air with a couple of deep gashes across his chest from the sharp prongs in the mace. Kassius crashes against the ground as Cardin charges towards him. Locke stands up quickly and throws the sword at Cardin and it pins through his mace, not breaking the crystal but perfectly getting caught inside it. Pinning it to the wall behind him. Cardin refuses to let go as his mace is carried off and gets stuck to the wall by the sword which Kassius had thrown.
He pulls but it refuses to come free, he snarls and turns back to Kassius, both of them now only using their fists. Perfectly equal now opposed to the situation that Kassius was in earlier with no proper weapon to use.
Kassius raises his fists as Cardin cracks his neck, walking towards him and raising his own. The two of them pace around each other with their eyes focused on one another, ignoring the roars of the crowd. Cardin attacks first, and that was his first mistake – Kassius moves aside and grabs onto Cardin's arm, pulling it downwards and using his leg to keep his arm down there. Kassius yells as he punches Cardin across the face multiple times with both his human and metal fists.
Cardin takes multiple hits from the Vytal Huntsman, ones that even his aura cannot shake the dazed effect that his fists inflict upon him. Cardin growls with rage as he tenses his muscles and he throws his arm up that Kassius had his foot pressed onto. Kassius summersaults into the air and crashes onto his back. The sand beneath him blasts away from the force of his impact, Cardin rises up and he swings his fist downwards at Kassius' head.
He rolls out of the way, and as soon as he gets up he lands a precise kick against the side of Cardin's head. Seems not all of Cardin has changed, he seems to struggle a bit in Hand-to-Hand combat, opposed to Kassius who has become a master at it, like Sun and Ren as well. Cardin rolls from the impact of Kassius' boot that smashed against his head, but he tumbles back to his feet, seeing Kassius stood before him with his fists still held up, pacing back and forth. Cardin grits his teeth as he glares at the Huntsman, running at him again, always making the first attack.
Cardin strikes hard and fast, swinging his huge fists forward at Kassius, who backs and veers to avoid each fist thrown his way. He pushes one fist aside and he smacks both hands against his ears, stunning him for a second. He takes that second to jump up and slam his knee upwards into Cardin's jaw to make him stumble. He rolls under his legs when Cardin punches downwards to knock the Huntsman down. Kassius rises back up and jumps onto his back, hooking his arm around Cardin's neck, pulling him back.
Cardin lets out a bark of anger, reaching back with his massive arms to try and grapple onto Kassius. The spider monkey like Huntsman pushes his feet against Cardin's back, rolling the landing off and sliding across the sand, staring straight at him. Cardin growls with anger, his attention turned to a spear on the floor, the same one he caught earlier. He yells with fury, grabbing it and throwing it straight at Kassius.
His eyes widen as the spear smashes into his chest, his aura protects him from being impaled but the impact launches him back, falling on his chest. The spear snaps upon contact with Kassius' chest, the spear head rolling across the floor. Cardin smirks, running at Kassius, and this time he has the upper hand. He kicks Kassius in the side to roll him onto his back, and he starts to punch him over and over again in the fact.
Then...
One punch breaks his aura, and Cardin stops when he sees the orange crackle across Kassius' body.
He could finish him right now...
Why doesn't he?
Jaune...
He knows what I did to him...he must be a friend of his...I...I can't...
He grunts as he pulls his fist back, stepping off him as he looks at Kassius. Kelham stands up, pushing Neryth off his lap as he walks over to the edge of his platform, staring down at Cardin. "What are you waiting for, Cardin? Finish him off!" Kelham bellows, but Cardin looks at Kassius and he sighs, shaking his head.
"He's beat – let him live." Cardin says to Kelham, looking up at where he stands.
"You know the rules – only one man is left standing." Kelham states.
"Sure – but wouldn't two deadly Huntsmen be worth more than one?" Cardin asks him, and it is clear that Cardin has been here for a while now. And he knows how to talk to men like Kelham, since all that he sees when he stares at them is – how much lien will he get for them?
A small grin forms on Kelham's face as he watches the defeated Kassius roll onto his side with a grunt. For all his skill and tactics...Cardin was simply stronger and luckier.
And had a thicker aura and did not have to take on a Faeli Suchus on his own with no weapons.
Kelham nods his head, turning to Thorn behind him with a girl sat on his lap, touching him up in places. "Take them away – turns out the brute has a point." Kelham chuckles as he picks up his horn of wine and he finishes it off.
Cardin looks down at Kassius who lays there with a groan, bruised and battered from their fight. "You fought well...reminded me of Yang actually." Cardin says with a chuckle, surprising that he actually remembers them.
Kassius scoffs. "Well...she is my girlfriend." Kassius admits, making Cardin chuckle as well.
"Small world." Cardin says to him as the Bandits approach. Cardin just pushes one of them out of the way, since he knows where to go.
Kassius looks up and he sees Thorn dropping down with a thruster on his back, softening the landing as he drops down in front of Kassius. Still wearing his hat as he approaches with a smirk. "Nightie night, handsome." Thorn chuckles.
Thorn stamps down onto Kassius' face.
Knocking him unconscious.
Ortega
Parallel to Kassius' predicament, the ice cold air of Atlas sends a slight chill up the Admiral's spine as he stands inside of an elevator with his hands behind his back. His head held low like any high ranking soldier would, along with a couple of Acolytes of the Coin soldiers at his side as well. With his chrome revolver holstered on his hip, he waits for the elevator to reach the right level.
Eventually it does with a bing, and the doors open up for him. He walks out, and the two soldiers follow him with their rifles in their hands. The Admiral is far from defenceless, he does not need to have two soldiers guarding him. But it is more for appearances – an attacker would be more intimidated if he was on his own – be more of a shock when he can actually kick the living hell out of said attacker if he made his strike right now.
But that is unlikely considering where he is going.
He walks through the Schnee Manor with his hands behind his back as always, his brown eyes glance over at some of the pictures that are on the walls – and to his surprise they are all still the same ones that were there before. Even after everything that Jacques and Whitley have done, everything that has happened to the Schnee Family...he still keeps their faces on the walls.
Perhaps for a constant reminder of his own failure?
It matters not, Ortega just keeps walking onwards with his two soldiers. He approaches the door to his office, and he looks over his shoulder at the two soldiers with him. "Clancy, Parker. Wait here, this'll just take a moment." Ortega says to them, even showing that he knows the names of two random Mercenaries that work for him. It is highly possible that he knows the names of all his soldiers.
Because he respects them.
Ortega clears his throat and he knocks on the door with his hand. "Come in." The muffled voice of Jacques Schnee speaks up, thus Ortega pushes the door open and enters, closing it behind him. Sat at his desk as ever is Weiss' Father – his hands clasped together on the desk as Darren walks into the room. His well kempt ice white moustache concealing his lip, and a conniving look in his blue eyes. "Ah Ortega, always precisely on time." Jacques chuckles with a grin behind the facial hair.
"I try my best." Ortega replies as he stops at the head of his desk. "You summoned me here, what is it you want?" He asks him.
"Straight to the point too, one of the many thinks I have always admired about you." Jacques says to him with a smirk, Ortega turns slightly when he senses the presence of a third individual in here. That individual being the shadow of his father – Whitley Schnee, one arm tucked behind his back as always.
"I like to get to business right away – helps me get it done faster." Ortega explains, looking right back to the cold businessman.
"Well, since you are indeed here. We have a new source of intrigue, one I would like my son to accompany you on." Jacques begins to explain, getting rather suspicious look from the Admiral when he turns to Whitley.
"What does that mean?" Ortega questions.
"Our – employer I guess you could call him – has informed me of a new development that stands as an interest for us." Jacques states, as he takes out his scroll and opens it to show the holographic image. It shows an Auction Date that is being set up in the coming days...and on the Auction list is a familiar name.
Nikos Family Crown
Beginning bid: 25,000 Lien
Being Sold By: The Ackerman Trading Corporation
It also shows an attached photograph of the crown on a pedestal where it is being advertised for any investors or businessmen. A very valuable artefact to have, especially from such a renowned family. Seeing the photograph sends a jolt of anger through his body, still feeling great resentment towards Pyrrha Nikos for the death of his daughter, even though she is alive but as a machine.
Yet he still does not see her that way.
And Merlot is his best chance of getting her back.
"That's..." He slowly says, before Jacques answers for him.
"Pyrrha Nikos' circlet." Jacques states.
Ortega stares past the crown at Jacques who waves the hologram aside so then they can actually see each other. "What interest is that crown to us? Want it as a trophy?" Ortega questions with a scoff.
"If only – no, no...I'm afraid there is actually significant importance behind this circlet. You see Vir Nominis Umbra has informed me that this Circlet has ancient wisdom from the Arkhoni on it...wisdom that may help us locate Arkhonex's location." Jacques explains to the Admiral.
"I don't get it, if he knows all this...if he really did help destroy Arkhonex and is as old as he claims...then how come we need to find it? Why doesn't he just take us there?" Ortega questions.
"Because he wants to see us locate it – remember this is like a big game to him." Whitley reminds with his arms now crossed.
"I'm afraid I believe my son is right, he may know the location of this lost city...but he refuses to tell us. As said, it is entirely probable he wants us to find it – wants us to learn I guess." He scoffs.
"What a fantastic teacher." Ortega sarcastically mutters, clearly not very fond of the Soothsayer.
"He isn't perfect but he is who we have – now, I want Whitley to go and purchase this artefact. With the S.D.C funds we can easily afford this crown, however I fully expect my daughters and her friends to somehow learn of this as well. They always end up interfering with our business. So I want you to send a good leader there with plenty of soldiers to guard the area. As soon as you spot any of those brats you take them out." Jacques explains.
Confused around one certain point though. "Why am I not going then?" Ortega questions.
"Because I need you aboard the Drift of Wandering Star – keeping an eye on the forces and making sure we are secure. With the White Fang against us we need to stay vigilant." Jacques explains to him, and Ortega sighs.
"As you wish...I will inform one of my lieutenants to oversee the exchange." Ortega assures as he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
Jacques sits there, watching the door before looking to his son.
"He does seem...problematic at the moment, doesn't he father?" Whitley asks him.
"He does..." Jacques agrees.
"I guess we need to keep an eye on him...his deal with Merlot may make him a threat." Whitley states.
"If he tries anything we eliminate him, as simple as that." He states.
"Let us hope so."
Kassius
A throbbing pain beats into the side of his head as he begins to wake up with a groan, slowly sitting up on the floor where he was dumped. Hearing the monotonous sound of a ball hitting the wall over and over again. His vision fuzzy from the concussion he suffered from Cardin, he shakes his head as he regains his strength, sitting upright as he looks around.
His cell is different, bigger and not so much of a dump anymore. As he looks around he realises he is not alone in the cell, and sat on the other bed in here is Cardin. He is laid back with a tennis ball that he was given, throwing it against the wall and letting it bounce back into his hand. Repeating this little cycle over and over again from his boredom that eats away at him. The Winchester Huntsman looks over at him, seeing he is awake finally and he chuckles. "Hey, you're awake. Starting to worry that you were dead."
Kassius groans as he sits up and leans against the stone wall next to his bed. "How long've I been out?" Kassius asks, pressing his metal hand to his head, each plate of metal intricately moving as a normal hand would.
"About five hours now." Cardin answers and Kassius groans.
"Shit...I need to get out of this shithole." Kassius says as he stands up, grabbing onto the Isomacium Bars that keep him from getting out.
"Don't bother, I've tried breaking those bars, even with my semblance. Nothing breaks through that stuff." Cardin assures.
"It's Isomacium...seen it before..." Kassius sighs, letting go of the bars, then he turns to Cardin. "We good?" He asks him.
"Let you live didn't I?" Cardin replies with the shrug of his shoulders. Kassius bounces his eyebrows up and down once, turning and walking around the cell.
"Cardin Winchester...must admit you were the last person to meet in here." Kassius says to him, and Cardin scoffs.
"Yeah well, I didn't think I'd be fighting a competent foe today. Guess today is all about surprises." He says to him. "And if you know me...then clearly Jaune has told you about...me." He sighs, sounding guilt as well when he says it.
"Oh he told me all about it...preying on his weaknesses for your own gain. Trying to get him to hurt Pyrrha, though? Stupid mistake." Kassius chuckles, and Cardin chuckles as well.
"Too bad she's gone." He sighs, totally unaware of...everything.
Kassius begins with informing him on the elephant in the room. "She's alive." Kassius tells him, getting a surprised and shocked expression from Cardin.
"What? How?" Cardin questions with disbelief in his eyes.
"Long story...in short, she was brought back by an evil being, was possessed by Jaune managed to bring her back...I spent five years with him, Nora and Ren tracking her down...and..." He stammers, feeling his hand shake just at thinking about what happened.
"Then what?" Cardin asks.
"Then something happened recently...I lost control...my semblance...I attacked them both and the last thing I remember before being grabbed by Kelham was having their blood on my hands...I don't even know if they are alive." Kassius sighs with grief as he slumps down to the floor with a guilty sigh.
"Guess we both have made our fair share of mistakes." Cardin says.
"That's putting it lightly." Kassius chuckles as he sits there.
Cardin has so many questions on his mind, he never remembered seeing him at Beacon Academy – but that is because he was never there – he also never remembered Yang having a boyfriend at the time. "You said Yang's your girlfriend?" Cardin asks him.
"Yeah, why?" He replies.
"Oh nothing...I just thought she was into chicks for a while." Cardin admits, making Kassius chuckle.
"I heard that a lot." Kassius agrees with a smirk on his face.
"Well...congrats man, you've got one smoking hot girlfriend." Cardin compliments with a chuckle, but all this talk of the girl he loves gets him worried again. He does not even know if she is still alive back home at Beacon.
"I don't even know if she is alive..." He stammers.
"Wait what? What else did I miss?" Cardin questions, and Kassius sits forward with a sigh again.
"Do you know about what happened at Vacuo? The Horridus Morbus plague unleashed?" He asks him.
"No...I was grabbed...haven't heard anything since." Cardin says to him, meaning that must be why Team R.W.B.Y, Oscar, Winter, Neptune and Sun could never track him down when investigating what happened. And that is another question that Kassius has for Cardin, surrounding everything that happened with the death of the Vacuo Headmaster and the Pyromancer...and his team...
But, he deserves to know what happened. "Well...a plague was set off in Vacuo...and Yang was there. With Weiss, Sun and Neptune as well. They were looking for you after what happened with the Headmaster. Ruby, Blake, Winter and Ruby's Boyfriend Oscar were there but they left for other reasons." Kassius explains, remembering when he was briefed, and Cardin has an expression Kassius never expected from the stories.
Empathy.
"I'm...sorry." He apologises with a soft voice.
"Last I saw of her...she was looking bad, the virus was messing her up." Kassius says, before the stress gets to him and he punches the Isomacium Bar with his fist, this time it does not throw him back. He is just taking the stress out on the bars. "I need to get the hell out! I need to know she is okay..." He defeatedly groans, pressing his head to the bars.
"She'll be fine, she is the toughest chick I've ever met. Second to her being Nora Valkyrie...then probably Coco Adel. Get those three in a room and you don't stand a chance." He chuckles, making Kassius chuckle too.
"I don't even know what happened...I just know that...he was there." Kassius mutters, clearly talking about Vir Nominis Umbra. His voice is not one that you can forget, and neither is his presence.
"He?" Cardin asks.
"Man...you are in for one hell of a story." Kassius chuckles.
He sits down and he sighs, looking around the room. "Hang on..." He realises when he looks around at the cell he is in. "Where are we? This isn't my cell."
"You're in my cell." Cardin tells him.
"Uh...why?" Kassius asks.
"Dunno, guess they just felt like tossing you in here with my ass." Cardin chuckles.
"Wait so how did you end up here? Last Ruby told us you were nowhere to be seen." Kassius questions, and Cardin puts the ball down on the floor and he sighs.
"I uh...well...do you know about...what happened?" He asks him.
"You mean your team or the headmaster?" Kassius questions, making Cardin flinch.
"Yes." He sharply answers, since both happened, and from the way he answered Kassius decides to hold back.
"Go on." Kassius says, letting him continue with his story.
"Well, I was on the run after...I killed them." He sighs, looking at his own fist with resentment towards himself. Feeling so much grief over what he did to his own team. Kassius can tell that there is more to what happened than they even realise, layers that clearly Cardin is not comfortable talking about. "I was jumped when I was in hiding, knocked out by one of these." Cardin says as he points to the electrical shocking disk on his neck, same as Kassius.
"I noticed...what is it?" Kassius asks.
"They use it to keep us under their control – stop us from going crazy." Cardin explains as he taps the little disk that has been implanted into him.
"Great." Kassius sighs.
"Next thing? I woke up here. A Gladiator in their ring, Kelham was gonna ransom me to the authorities but he found a better value of my life in slavery." Cardin explains to him.
"Sounds like a real saint." Kassius scoffs.
"That's putting it mildly." Cardin chuckles.
Kassius leans against the wall, staring out at the opening in the wall where he can see the Fractured Moon, looking much worse than it did four years ago. It is barely even a moon anymore.
"We're gonna get out of here." Kassius promises.
"Yeah? How's that?" Cardin asks him.
"No idea – I'll figure it out along the way." Kassius states.
"Improvisation? No wonder Jaune likes you." Cardin chuckles, making Kassius chuckle too.
"Name's Kassius by the way." Kassius introduces.
"Nice to meet you."
Author Note - Can't wait to see how people try and ship these two, I know the RWBY community well.
I hope you all enjoyed! Kassius heavy chapter with him fighting like a Gladiator, and I hoped you liked the creature I threw it that actually ISN'T a Grimm. I based it off the Kaprosuchus, so that thing kind of existed once. Let that sink in. And the villains are going after Pyrrha's circlet, and Ortega seems to have a few targets on his head right now because of Merlot and the deal they made.
I also wanted to show in my chapter an answer to a question I have received a lot. People have asked me a lot about how I write without making them Mary Sues or Gary Stues. And honestly this chapter with Kassius in the arena is my answer. The best way I have found to write is by making them realistic just as the other characters. Make them lose, make them get hurt and get hit every now and then. Because I have read lots of stories and seen plenty of that never get hit and are made to be perfect. Umbra is the closest to being a Gary Stue but even then he still has a weakness, he is essentially a god too - so he needs to outmatch all of them.
So I hope this answers that question.
Also Yay! Cardin finally won a fight! I think that excluding that training battle with Jaune he has never won a single fight, so I wanted Kassius to lose one here. Cardin and Kassius' friendship in this story is one of the many things I am excited for, because I have a cool story arc planned for Mr Winchester. I also hope you liked his Semblance - the Wickerman's Fury.
Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter - Return to the Marshlands.
- Matt
