Chapter 9: The Anniversary and Answers. The End of The Welder.
Ozpin! Heed my voice! I have grown tired of waiting. Previous events have made me realize I cannot wait any longer. You lied to me. You lied to my friends. You let us die like animals! Slaughtered, beaten, and betrayed! Well now I think it's time to return the favor. I will take all my anger, all my pain, all of the things I've kept inside me for years and I will take it all on you. You can prepare all you want but it won't make a damn difference, nothing will stop my rage and my onslaught! So prepare yourself o grand wizard! I am coming for you and one of us will not survive! Sincerely, from one of the most wanted criminals on Remnant, from the unbiased judge, jury, and executioner, from the loneliest mortal atop Mount Olympus, from one madman to another, from the deceived, enraged, and vengeful, from the loudest, quietest man, from the gamemaster, from the one peering into the looking glass, from The Forgotten One, The Welder!
-From the perspective of Takeda-
The sound of The Welder's car running in the night was the only thing either of us heard. My helmet laid in my lap being held by my two hands as I stared into the black visor barely seeing my reflection in the darkness. I decided not to look at The Welder during the drive, the anger that radiated from him could attract Goliaths. The roar of the engine grew louder easing my nervousness as I was afraid to strike up a conversation. Why did he want Ozpin dead? Sure he had a distinct hatred of huntsmen but to go after the headmaster of Beacon Academy was suicide. If he were to even try surely the military would be sent for him, he would have nowhere to hide. The Welder didn't seemed phased though, was he ready to die? I kept staring into my helmet letting the thoughts bounce off the walls of my brain trying to figure it out an answer, or perhaps a question. His hand went to the gear shifter and he went farther along the gears, the engine growing louder as the warehouse where I had confronted him before come into view. The headlights illuminating the decrepit doors and bare walls. The Welder walked out followed by me doing the same. His hands were in his pocket and even though his face was covered you could tell his eyes were eyeing something in the back. The farthest wall, covered by debris, dirt, and metal was clumped in a large pile. The Welder stopped to look at the pile, almost like a gravestone, knelt down and began to dig with his bare hands. He threw pieces of metal to the side and I quickly began to give him a hand. We were getting close, I could feel the metal pieces getting smaller. I hit a solid chunk of metal, confused I put my hand down trying to feel it, it was then that The Welder grabbed my arm and I looked at him in response.
"Please," he said. His voice, while not garbled or disguised, was cold, bone chilling, dark, and almost depressed. "Go back to the car while I finish up here."
I stared back into his goggles and with a nod I walked back to the car. I turned my head back to him as he bent down farther, the sound of metal hitting one another was evident more so. I leaned myself up against the hood while waiting for him to get finished. A thought came in my mind, my helmet has infrared vision capabilities and he never said I couldn't. Turning on the vision it took my eyes a bit to adjust to the difference. That's when I saw it. The body of The Welder stood up from the mass holding something, I couldn't tell what it was but he put it in his trenchcoat, so it must be important. He began to walk back and with a push of a button on my helmet the vision returned to normal leaving my eyes to readjust themselves. He didn't say anything, he practically ignored me, and he got back into the car revving the engine. I still sat on the hood lost in thought until his voice rang out.
"Are you coming or are you going to fall flat on your back when I leave?"
"Oh sorry man," I told him opening the door and getting back in and the car raced back and went down the unbeaten road.
The speed at which The Welder was going was a little too much for me. I knew this was urgent but something seemed wrong. Since he spoke first I decided to strike up a conversation.
"So," I said nervously almost expecting him to shut me up, "are we going straight to Beacon?"
It took him several minutes to reply but he did. "No. Not yet I need to make a stop first."
"What are we doing? Beating up some thugs? Stealing something? Saying goodbye to a girlfriend?"
That last one was to lighten the mood, it didn't work, as The Welder slowly turned to me. You could feel his gaze practically stabbing you. He turned and relaxed his shoulders shifting into his seat. "You could say something like that?"
Wait what? I stopped myself from saying to avoid any more uneasiness. The Welder, a murderer, a killer of anybody, slayer of huntsmen, had a girlfriend? That cannot be, he must be lying. I was proven wrong as the sound of his breathing grew more deep and slow. Was he… nervous? We spent another hour in silence as the capital came into view, but before we went down the way to the hanger where the ships went off to Beacon, The Welder took a sharp turn to the left going up a grassy hillside. It was a rough road as the car bumped off the four wheels and the sound of metal hitting the bumps was an unpleasant one at that too. Seeming to keep his stoic ways he didn't move the steering wheel wildly to straighten out he just made small adjustments. We approached the gates to something, the title of the establishment went by too quickly for me to see. The gates were closed, at this time of night it was no surprise, he nudged the gas pedal and the nose of the car showed that the gates were barely hanging on. This time stepping on it the car smashed the gates off with a loud sound the gates fell to the floor after scraping themselves on the entirety of the car. That's when I realized where we were. It was a cemetery. The gravestones lined up telling the bits of the lives of the people who laid beneath them. Many lived long lives, but the ones hard to look at were the ones whose lives were but short. We were already going slow throughout the place, his eyes never left the front. He didn't bother looking at the other people like I did, he knew where he was going. The car came to a halt and the engine quickly was turned off. The Welder just sat there looking at the dash while I looked at him. I put my arm on his shoulder causing him to jerk his head towards me.
"You okay?" I asked.
He paused for a while and turned his head to the side before bringing it back up. "Yeah I just haven't been here in a long, long time." The Welder then opened the door and walked out.
The night was cold, empty, and quiet. No birds chirped in the night, the sounds of the city were there but barely, the light were far from this place. The wind casually breezed slightly causing the ends of The Welder's coat to flow with the breeze. His hands in his pocket once again he looked at the gravestones that laid before him. I had gotten out by this time and leaned my body on the door of the car which still had its headlights on. It was then that The Welder began to speak.
"Hey guys how are you doing?" He asked. I thought it was directed towards me and was about to answer till he spoke again, "I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. The job has left me preoccupied. I know I promised to spend more time with you but I am only human, if not cursed by the devil at this point. Oh, I brought a friend with me," This caught my attention as his arm motioned back towards me, "his name's Takeda, he has a few family issues but he's working on it." I began to grow curious at who was he talking to. I didn't see anybody come in and his head was lowered so I decided to walk up slowly at first angling my head up farther to get a better look. That's when I saw 'them'. Four gravestones with one larger stone behind the four. I couldn't see their names or age but the larger one was right in the middle of the headlight beams. It read: 'Team FATH, may they forever be in our hearts and mind. They went in trying to help protect and gave the ultimate sacrifice.' The Welder had gone silent, he noticed that I saw the gravestone, he looked at me but I couldn't tell if he had any emotion.
"Welder," I talked to him softly, "what is going on here." He just stared back at me for a long time, only I wasn't nervous or scared, I wanted real answers. He had just taken me from the woman I had just fell in love with, he tells me we're going to kill the headmaster of Beacon, then drags me to a cemetery and talks to a few headstones. I deserved answers.
The Welder pointed to the large stone illuminated by the headlights. "There. That team right there. Team FATH (pronounced 'faith') went into a village on day hoping to help the locals who had been dealing with bandits. They were experienced, a fourth year team and were going to become huntsmen the next year, the powerhouse of Beacon, they did well in both Vytal Tournament and barely failed a mission. They thought it would be easy, protecting a village from some bandits, they thought they would have it done in a few days max. But the situation turned sour real fast. The bandits were too well equipped for regular thugs. By the time the bandits left, the village was in tatters, the team was dead and then the Grimm came in. If there were survivors the Grimm made sure they were dealt with." The Welder then pointed to the first gravestone to the far left, "Faith was the leader of the team named after her. She was rambunctious, rash, fun-loving, and one of the most beautiful girls in the whole school. Every week some random guy would try to win her over with flowers, chocolates, or some cheesy pickup line but they never worked on her. She was known for wielding a wicked mace and scepter combo weapon that used dust to her advantage, she was hell on the battlefield." He then shifted his hand one gravestone down. "Ashley was the most outgoing on the whole team, even beating Faith, she would try any food, give her opinion on any topic, finish her essays last minute still scribbling a sentence as she walked up to hand it in.. Sometimes to be a bit promiscuous around the opposite gender she seemed to like to tease guys more than actually date them. She seemed to be fearless where others would hide." The Welder then shifted again pointing to another keeping his gaze fixed on the stones, "Tracey was one of the best fighters in the school, born and raised from a family of huntsmen and huntresses she seemed to go down that very same path. Her will was unbreakable, not even in the face of Alpha Beowulfs would she crack under pressure. A stoic and generally reserved woman very many decided to keep their distance lest she break them like styrofoam." He then paused looking at the final one, he sighed and put his hand down to his side, back into his pocket. "Then there was Wells, the only male on the team. Some called him lucky, but his teammates and himself knew that wasn't the case. Born with nothing to his name Wells was born an orphan, how poetic when you think about it, he never saw his parent once, and grew up in the orphanage. There was no future given to him, he had to make his. Seeing as how he had much time doing nothing he would train for hours, even days on the weekend saying 'he'll be back' one day and not return till the day before school. He never got to go to combat school because of his financial situation so he just continued to practice by himself for years. The day came for him for the rigorous exam for Beacon. Everybody was skeptical he would make it, with no prior experience from the combat schools he seemed hopeless. They were all proven wrong as he emerged as one of the better fighters. However his demeanor had left overs to be wary of the boy, he was never the nicest to anyone even himself at times. When he was paired with the three girls they began to pry him out of his shell. It took time and many frustrated evenings from both parties but the cold personality of Wells G. Hippogryph soon warmed up. They were the big team on campus, everybody wanted to ask questions, have lunch with them, and make friends with. And they did, the team was nothing but kind. Then they had that godforsaken mission to do…" The Welder's voice had gone quiet, his head was pointed at the ground.
I walked up him as he leaned himself against the hood. "So, were you one of the friends?"
His head shot back at me. "No."
"A teacher of theirs you took a liken to?"
"Nope."
"A survivor of the attack?"
"NO!" He was now yelling, "No Takeda I wasn't any of those things!"
"Well could please explain who you are then, because you can't be one of the four because they are all dead!"
He just stared at me, I could see a little into his goggles and saw his eyes were furious. His head leaned back down and he crossed his arms. "They never found all the bodies…"
I couldn't believe what he was saying. "What?"
"When they came back to the village to assess the damage among the bodies they found Faith with a bullet hole in her head, Ashley with multiple puncture wounds, and Tracey's body was nearly unidentifiable after the Grimm had picked it clean. The only one they didn't find was the body of Wells. Coincidently a fire brewed in a forest shortly after, supposedly caused by the bandits to cover their tracks. They assumed they either took the boy or he died in the fire."
"So Wells was never found, eh?"
"Nope."
"I'm sorry," I placed my hand on his shoulder, "Wells."
He didn't need to say anymore, I figured it out. They didn't find his body because he was still alive. Wells G. Hippogryph was standing in front of me, he had become The Welder. "Don't call me that. I don't deserve it."
"And why not?"
"Because I failed!" Wells now stood up facing me and motioning his arms to the graves, "I failed them Takeda, they're dead because of me!"
"You can't say that Wells."
His head began to shake and he raised a fist. "I said," he punched me in the chest knocking me over, "stop calling me that! Wells G. Hippogryph died that day. What came the next day is this wretched, vile, and worthless piece of shit that calls himself The Welder! A murderer, a hitman, a hired gun, an executioner!"
"Fine then Welder!" I stood back up to face him, "What does this have to do with Ozpin?"
"Ozpin lied to us. It was to be an easy mission was what he told us."
"He could have been wrong."
"Oh really? Ozpin, the famed headmaster of the illustrious Beacon Academy screwed up? I don't think so, he wanted me gone for a long time."
"And why is that?"
"Because I've always had a issue with huntsmen." I stared back at him when he said this. Even as Wells he didn't like huntsmen back then. Why? I soon got my answer. "When I was brought to the orphanage it was by a huntsmen, most of the time it was a huntsmen who brought some child whose life was just ruined, we were told they were warriors who always saved the day. They were the like heroes in the stories they read to us. Well I saw otherwise, I saw their failures in the eyes of children crying, children who lost their parents a commodity I never had. During my third year at Beacon I began to feel these same feelings once again after being around huntsmen and huntresses suppressed these ideas and counteracted them. I saw a team fail a many payed the price and I saw the same thing happen to me as a child that I saw happening to them and it nearly broke me. I told Ozpin about these thoughts I told him he should go after the rat bastards who did this but he said a huntsman should not act in revenge, if they did then how were we any better than them. I nearly lost it, because of how society would view the act is the reason we couldn't go after them. I told Ozpin that society can be damned if that's your response. If something happens and if I need to get revenge then I will take those steps necessary, I will be the judge, jury, and if need be their executioner. He raised an eyebrow and told me to go back to my room to calm down. I just stood there, I can still remember his eyebrows narrowing and I remember turning my back on him and slamming my fist into the side of the elevator. That was when I stopped believing in the huntsmen and the lies they spread. No one group can truly keep the peace. Peace itself is an illogical fallacy to keep people to stay in line. The huntsmen cannot protect everyone and the police and military are their to react instead of proact They lied to me. They lied to us and we had to pay the price…"
What was I to do? Tell him he was wrong? He might kill me if I did that. Wells seemed to have a point, a skewed point but I digress, he saw the one thing he pursued gone in an instance but something still nagged me. "So why didn't you go back, they would say it would be a miracle if you came out of something like that."
"Yes you're right, I thought that same thing, but when I realized the actions I had taken I knew they could never accept me back. I had done the one thing that Ozpin said separated the huntsman from the monsters and I took the step across. I became that monster, the bandits didn't last long, I killed them. I killed them all or I let them burn in the fire."
"Welder I am sorry but going after Ozpin won't bring them back, sometimes you have to let sleeping dogs die."
"Funny when I was in Atlas I was going to tell you the same thing."
He struck a nerve and he knew it, he knew that I couldn't retort back to him. Even if his motivation was misplaced he knew I couldn't argue. The Welder had just help me kill a member of the family I was disgusted to be a part of. I sighed and look to the gravestones of his past life. "Well then Mr. Hippogryph," he turned to me, "Welder. What do we do now?"
"Simple," Wells explained getting back into his car, "we go kill Ozpin." He came back out of the car with a bouquet of flowers, where he got them from was a mystery. He placed a single rose on Ashley and Tracey's grave. He then placed the rest of the flowers onto the grave of Faith. He must of loved her, I thought. No flowers were placed on his grave, I felt sorry for him. The fact that The Welder had said he was going to kill Ozpin so nonchalantly seemed a bit worrying to me. Sure any other person I would be happily on board, but this was Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy. He was constantly surrounded by the best upcoming fighters in the world, plus the teachers would be there too. I worry that we may not come out of this one.
The dock that housed the airships taking trips to Beacon were closed, it was the crux of night. There were no workers out, no people waiting for rides, nobody was there. Without hesitation The Welder broke open the entrance to the front, glass fell crinkling in the common sound it made. The sound made me turn my head reflexively making sure we weren't being followed. Nobody… good. Making his way to the ship I stopped to look at what we were about to do. It was a straight shot to Beacon, an open, dangerous, and bashful path to the school. We would be spotted in an instance, the two of us were probably being watched right now. The twin engines of the Bullhead roared to life, lighting the darkened floor.
"Takeda remove the locks!" Wells yelled from the open side door.
I walked over to the locks that held the wings in place while the engines roaring had calmed down but the hum was beginning to grow again. With a flip of my arm the links loosely fell in my hand. Placing them in between the lock and the wing I began to pull. The metal was cheap and broke easily, the pieces falling down with a mighty clang. The same could be said for the other side as the Bullhead soon was freed from its restrictions. I got in and sat in the passenger seat as Wells maneuvered the Bullhead out of the dock. We must have passed some sensor as a male robotic voice came over the Bullhead's radio.
"Stop," its monotone voice rang out, "You are not cleared for takeoff. Please turn off engine while the authorities come."
I never did understand why they have those type of messages. If I'm going to commit a crime then why put a voice saying I should wait for the authorities? The Welder shared this same sentiment as he ignored the voice and raced the Bullhead at a speed that was much too fast for the insides of the hangar. As I looked forward I understood why he was in a hurry as the blast doors were beginning to close. It was going to be close, we might scratch the paint job. Hopefully they have insurance for people stealing the Bullhead, then using it to go kill a man of great importance. I assume it would be under liability? The door came to the front of the airship as the top and bottom teeth scraped up against the hull of the racing ship. We still made it through as I gave a relieved sigh.
"Don't get comfy yet," The Welder told me, "the worse is yet to come."
I noticed he looked back and cursed as multiple ships bearing the markings of police cruiser were already on our tail. Another, more human, voice came over the speakers in the Bullhead. "Stop, you are in restricted air space. State who you are and state your business. If you don't tell us soon we will take action."
The Welder just shrugged and press the communication button after adjusting the object in his scarf. "This is The Welder," his garbled and distorted voice said, "and I am going to kill Professor Ozpin. Any retaliation will be met with a swift death." While originally baffled by his bluntness it wasn't any better than not saying anything or making any sudden action.
The guy on the other end must have been dumbfounded, or scared my money's on scared, he was silent. Given the circumstances I would have done the same thing. Then one of the three ships following us began to open fire. With a nudge of the joystick the blast went under the wing and into the cliffs in front of us. He pushed a button and the side hatch opened behind us and stood up. "Takeda," he said to me while walking to the hatch, "would you take the controls? This will take but just a second." I didn't say anything just grabbed the control stick and kept it straight as the sound of an explosion from behind me nearly made me jump. A second went off, then a third, and then he returned retying the front of his coat. When he took the controls I took a moment to look behind me and saw the three ships from before slowly descending into the water. I did feel sorry, I had a hard time agreeing with the way The Welder would just kill, but he did warn them. Beacon soon came into view and it looked close, it seemed like Wells' plan was going to succeed. That was until one of the engines began to spark and go haywire, the shot from earlier must have grazed it and now was beginning to kill the engine. After a small explosion came a bigger one and The Welder wrestled for control, the ship wildly flailing about. I noticed the landing platform was nearby and got an awful idea.
"Welder!" I yelled pointing to the platform.
He must've picked up what was being told to him because he angled the ship towards the pad. With a spin of my chains I broke the windshield and we both jumped out. Finding a lamppost I latched the chain so I didn't have to hit the ground too hard. I swung over and over the before I used my free arm to stop myself. The Welder decided to land on the ground rolling several times before standing back up (the showoff). When he stood he appeared to be unphased by the Bullhead crashing behind him, the sound of its dead hull scraping behind him and the explosion made the guy look like an action hero. After getting down the two of us regrouped taking shelter behind a wall. Wells' had peered his head around the corner and then turned back.
"The Tower is the tallest building," he said as I peered my head over the corner. It was far, the Wells understated that fact with what he said next, "It's the farthest building, I am unsure what kind of resistance we will encounter. If it's a perfect storm, then we should have none."
"Shouldn't we worry about the students?" I asked finding it important to point that fact.
"I'm not worried about them," his torches activating for a quick second before turning off, "besides they are in another kingdom for the Vytal Festival tournament in the upcoming week."
"Did you plan this all out?"
"Nope, just happen to be this way."
The Welder than ran with me following him behind his heels. I've never to Beacon, it was a lovely place, I bet it's way more beautiful in the daylight, with students, and the two of us not trying to murder their headmaster. The main buildings were behind us when we were stopped by a voice.
"Welder stop!" A male voice yelled.
We both stopped and turned to see a student, an older student at that too, in the pitch black of night you could see his spiked orange hair and scraggly beard to match. He must have worn a black tank top because you could see his arms but not much of his body. The Welder chuckled a bit and put his hands in his pockets. "Why hello Vulcan. It's so nice to see you again"
Confusion would be a good word to describe my face as I turned to Wells. "Wait," I said pointing a kunai at the kid, "you know this guy?"
"Remember when I told you about that cult?" He asked me.
"No, not at all," I stated a matter of fact, "I think I would remember something as strange as that." I honestly don't recall him telling me about that."
"Well then," The Welder stated clapping his hands together, "you and Vulcan can spend a lovely time talking about it." The Welder then began to continue walking.
"Wait!" Vulcan yelled catching Wells by surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Without taking a second to decide The Welder spoke. "I an here to kill your headmaster, Ozpin."
While someone of his age might have laughed it off he just stared at The Welder. "Fine then," he said putting a hilt into the side of a metal pack on his back pulling a blade like magic, "I will stop you." Vulcan then lept raising a second blade from his side pack.
I had to act, if The Welder got distracted then he wouldn't be able to complete his task. I threw my two chains as they wrapped around his waist I brought him down like a bag of bricks. He looked to me in surprised. "Go," I said to him, "fly you fool."
Without another moment he began to run to the tower. I pulled back my chains and wrapped a portion of them up leaving a few feet hanging off my arms. The kid named Vulcan stood back up holding his stomach then cracked his neck and smiled. "Well then this will be fun," he said before running at me with his two swords.
The kid gave a downward swing that was blocked by one of my chain covered arms. After pushing him away I swung at his feet with an elongated chain. Vulcan was caught and fell over as I brought my other chain in a downward lash. Rolling away the chain missed his face and got back up with a small jump like a fish does when out of water. After getting my chain back and rolled up I swung a fist at him. He backhanded it aside and threw a punch connecting and landing the blow. My head recoiled back and I knew a second blow was oncoming. Raising my other arm I grabbed his left hand as he tried to slash me. Pulling his arm in I kicked his chest sending him a few feet back. I took this time to unravel more of my chains and separate my distance. Taking a notice to this he kept his distance, his mind was now thinking about how to get in. He placed a sword into the side and pulled out hand axe. Interesting, I thought. I began to whip my chains on the ground sending small shocks and denting the ground. With small flourishes I crossed the links between each other and tried to confuse the kid. The charade ended as I threw out the kunai tips at him. Latching onto both his arms I pulled him in, he had gotten wiser to my dismay. Originally struggling to pull back he stopped resisting and jumped to me. I couldn't unravel my chains in time as his two weapons slashed against my body. My aura took the hit but you still feel a bit of pain. I was able to get multiple strikes in causing my body to violently jerk with each hit. I put a stop by grabbing the hand that held the axe, his sword was also soon stopped. We stood there, in the lonely courtyard of Beacon with nobody in it but the two of us, we were in an arm lock neither one of us wanted to surrender to.
"So let me ask you why?" Vulcan said to my face, "Why help The Welder?"
My answer would confuse the boy for years to come…
-Switching to The Welder's perspective-
When I left Takeda to take care of Vulcan I looked back as their forms got smaller and smaller. Don't kill him Takeda, I thought to myself, he's a good kid and maybe one of the few honest huntsmen out there. The Tower grew and grew in size until I stood in front of the massive building. It had been so long since I had been to these steps. The last time I willingly went here was to give my opinion to Ozpin about revenge. Beacon hadn't changed much in my absence, the buildings held their pristine white color while the Tower still had that green glow. Stepping in my mind remembered the smell, the sights, and the sounds. My mind threw images of a younger me walking into the tower and going into the elevator. My mind also threw the image of me storming out of the room slamming the door nearly breaking it. Looking back I still don't know if it was a good idea to talk to him about how I felt. For the few years I spent at Beacon I could feel his eyes were always judgemental of me, he was impressed by my skills, but he never got along with how I voiced my opinions or rather just my opinions in general. But the time for memories was over, I had a job to do. No not a job, I had to fulfill a promise. A promise I made to the girl who I never got to tell that I loved her, a girl whose body laid in my arms, a girl named Faith…
-To the perspective of Professor Ozpin minutes before The Welder and Takeda crashed-
I looked around at a scattering of letters. I took a sip from my cup and stared at them. Whoever this Welder was, he seemed to have it out for me. I feel that something may happen in the future but I am not worried. For now I must turn my attention to a Anniversary of a team who died long ago, I have to give a speech about the four who died in their service. Glynda soon came in stepping rather quickly out the elevator. She didn't even let me say hello.
"Sir we have a problem," she said urgently.
"Oh," I paused taking a sip, "and what problem would that be?"
A screen came up showing footage of two men taking a Bullhead from the dock heading to Beacon. One of the heads looked towards the camera and then I saw it. The face of The Welder. I have not met The Welder but the Council has expressed interest in me finding him before he causes mass panic. But everytime I send in somebody they never comeback, I almost turned to Qrow to go find him. I have not met The Welder yet, I have only read the letters he has sent me. It looks like we get to meet. The sound of an explosion catches our attention and we turn behind us to see three police airships falling into the water with the stolen Bullhead coming our way. It looks like I get to meet this man after all…
-Back to The Welder-
The elevator ride took, what felt like, an eternity to get to the top floor, to my target, to Ozpin. Knowing that if he saw me standing there a certain professor who always clinged to his side would surely make quick work of me. I took a deep breath and pulled my second to last explosive and cloaked myself. Then the last circle flashed and the doors opened.
The two, Ozpin and Miss Glynda Goodwitch, stood in the office. Glynda looked stunned while Ozpin stared in my direction as if he knew I was there. Hastily I threw the grenade, when it left my touch it became visible, its red light began to flash. Glynda in a fit of fear brought out her riding crop and a purple aura surrounded the bomb and she flung it out the window and exploded soon after. Perfect, my mind went as I ran towards her still cloaked. Miss Goodwitch felt the unknown force of my palm grabbing the side of her head and smashing it into a wall and quickly backing off. She looked confused as her head whipped back and forth looking for where I was. With a quick punch to the face she sprawled back and I grabbed her arm only to punch her into the ground. She was about to get up until I kicked her in the chin and she went out like a light. It was then that Ozpin spoke.
"Welder!" He yelled picking up his cane, "Enough! I'm the one you want, leave her out of this!"
"Oh," my natural voice said as I uncloaked revealing my trenchcoat body to him, "how funny. I thought the same thing years ago."
"I don't know who you are or what I did to warrant this!"
You liar, my mind flared as anger began to consume me. I wanted no more of his lies as images of their faces and then her face came in. "You say you don't know me!?" I roared in anger reaching into my coat pocket, "Well here's something to jog your memory!" He got into a defensive stance while I pulled a weapon from the inside of my coat. It was originally folded but as I brought it out it assembled itself to its true form. The folded weapon shifted, and separated into a large battle axe. It was double sided, larger than me, and was colored white primarily with orange highlighting the outer edges. On the bladed ends though they were discolored with the staining of blood. I brought the weapon down onto Ozpin. He blocked it by setting up a bubble like barrier around his body. The weapon setting sparks off as it clashed with the shield. Ozpin's eyes shot wide as the shield enlarged and pushed me back holding the axe in my two hands.
"You're alive," Ozpin uttered.
"Surprised?" I growled, "Surprised to see me alive after all these years?"
"We never did find you Wells. I always had my suspicions."
He doesn't deserve to call me that! He let us be slaughtered! I thought as I went in for another strike. He caught me and jabbed furiously with his cane. It didn't hurt, nothing hurt, nothing could hurt more than the pain that I already felt. "You let us die!" I yelled between clashes of our weapons, "Butchered like animals!"
"I could not have known the bandits were so bloodthirsty!"
"Or maybe you did."
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Ozpin I know you have a way of doing things. You act all mysterious and foreshadowing to cover it up but I saw what the huntsmen were. A bunch of failures! They brought nothing but the failures of missions as I saw more children cry than any one man should bear. I saw my team killed before my eyes, the woman I loved shot dead! What do you think my mind is going to think!"
"I think that you are lost! I would never let a bunch of people die for my own gains. If you truly believed what you told me those years ago then you were never meant to be a huntsman!"
Those words dug into me like knives and only furthered my anger. "I was never to be a huntsman?! So what I should've just rotted away in that piece of shit orphanage?! I chose that life because I wanted to prove myself wrong!" I had finally landed a blow on him and he fell down, his cane knocked to side. I raised my axe for the final blow. "I was wrong about everything…"
I swung down but it was Takeda's voice that caught me off guard and made me stop.
"Wells STOP!"
-Switching back to Takeda's perspective during the fight against Vulcan-
"Don't you understand?" I asked a confused Vulcan, "The Welder has wanted to kill Ozpin for years."
I set the young huntsmen in training down from my chains and armlock now that he had calmed down a bit. He continued in his confused look, "Yeah I do and what he should go do that?"
"Do you honestly think The Welder can kill Ozpin?"
"I uhh-"
"He can't."
"What makes you say that?"
I sighed and looked back to the kid, "Killing Ozpin has been what's keeping The Welder along all these years," I explained, "he had nothing to start with and he lost everything he's gained using Ozpin as a scapegoat for his problems. So do you think that if he kills Ozpin he would be able to find something else to keep him going?"
"You're saying that if he kills Ozpin, he basically kills himself?"
"Just about, he has no other reason to live."
"Well should we stop him?"
"No I think he'll be fine."
The sound of one of The Welder's grenade filled the air, the sound smashing all the silence. We both looked at each other and we knew what we had to do. We raced to the elevator in what seemed like the most awkward and longest elevator ride in history. Here I was about to stop The Welder with a guy who I had just fought with, boy will Allison love this. The bell dinged and when the door opened Ozpin's office was a mess. The body of a woman laid on the floor unconscious, a broken window with a small hole, the room was in a mess with a desk flipped over, and there was Wells G. Hippogryph wielding a large bloodstained battle axe standing above Ozpin.
Vulcan quickly went to the aide of the woman on the ground calling her 'Miss Goodwitch'.
"...I was wrong about everything," his voice called out as he brought the axe up above Ozpin's head.
I had to stop him. Before he made a mistake he would regret. "Wells STOP!" I yelled at him as the axe came down.
He stopped and froze the axe just above his hair. The Welder turned to me and I felt the fear when I first had encountered him at his warehouse long ago. "Takeda what in damn god's name are you doing?!" His voice roared, he was loud enough for three people.
I sighed and look the broken man that stood before me. "Don't do this man, what the hell are you going to get out of this?"
"I will finally get revenge Takeda! Revenge for them!"
"Yeah and then what?! They'll still be dead, you can't bring them back. I know I shouldn't be talking but nothing comes from bloodshed, just more bloodshed. You have a chance to stop right here so please take that chance."
This only got Wells more furious. He removed the axe from above Ozpin's head and placed it into a resting position. "Stop?! Just stop right here when I'm so close?! Why do you think I've worked so hard to kill this pathetic excuse for a human being. I know they're dead Takeda! That's why I want to avenge them!" He then turned back to Ozpin, "I can't stop now!"
"Then what will you become?!"
"I was never something to begin with Takeda. No past, no future, and no chance of redemption," The Welder then grabbed his scarf and goggles, "you want to know what I will become, it would be better to ask what I am now!" The Welder ripped off his scarf and goggles revealing the horrific, tired, and beaten face of Wells G. Hippogryph. I was in awe, for months and years the cops, the media, and public have all wanted to see the man behind the disguise. Yet as I looked at it I think it felt better to have his scarf cover his face. Wells had become a man ashamed of his own face because of his failures, he had become a man of failures, it's all he saw, he saw himself as a failure. "You happy Takeda?! This is what I have become! This wretched! Disgusting! Vile! Cancerous! Repulsive human being! I have one last promise to fulfill and no one, not you, not Vulcan, and nobody can stop me." Wells then raised his axe, I was still in shock I didn't have time to react and Vulcan was caring for Miss Goodwitch.
"Wells don't!" I reached a hand out as the axe fell one more time. I closed my eyes not wanting to look at what I helped do.
Nothing happened, just silence, I opened my eyes to see Wells seemingly frozen. Not encased in ice, just his body didn't move. His stare was still there but nothing was happening. What happened to Wells…
-Switching to Wells-
"...I have one last promise to fulfill and no one, not you, not Vulcan, and nobody can stop me," I told Takeda before bringing my axe down.
I had waited so long for this moment, finally I can rest. Before my axe fell on the filth that was Ozpin's head everything went black…
When my eyes opened I awoke in a grassy field surrounded by the blackness of space and stars. It was a sight I never wanted to see again. The field, the sounds, it was all too familiar. Tears began to form in my eyes as a voice I thought I never would hear called out. "Wells."
"No," I said to the feminine voice behind me, tears were now streaming down my face already.
"Wells," it called out again, "please turn around."
"I can't."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm ashamed."
"Ashamed of what?"
Reflexively I turned around. "Because I'm a asha-" I stopped for a minute looking down at the grassy ground, "ashamed of what I've become."
I felt a hand on my chin lift my head and the tears in my eyes only got worse. "Why are you ashamed?" Came the voice of the girl who stood before me, the girl who I lost all those years ago, the girl I loved. Faith.
"Because I failed to save you, I wasn't strong enough," I managed to get out between sobs.
"Wells, there wasn't anything you could do."
"Please don't say that."
"Wells please listen to me. You were the most quiet, scared, and powerful kid I knew. You told me things that would have broken me but you were able to persevere through that. There wasn't anything anything in heaven or Remnant you could have done to save us, if you tried you probably would have died with us."
"But not a day goes by that I wish I did."
"Wells you dummy," she punched my shoulder, "then what would happen to all the people you've affected."
"You mean the people I killed?"
"No," she brought up people like Takeda, Vulcan, Petra Hamelin, and then the young faunas girl Faith from the village I met so long ago, "these people. If you didn't help vulcan he could still be in that cult trapped, Takeda could be dead trying to go after his family, Petra would have had to fight those pirates by herself. Wells you've helped more people than you imagine." It was then that she brought up Ozpin, "After what happened he was distraught, never had a team been killed in the field. He questioned what he was doing and whether he was doing it right. A whole kingdom, a whole world, pulled their support for the four of us."
"You mean for the three of you. I was there at the funeral, nobody showed up for me."
"Except for Ozpin, he was there for you."
"That man hated me."
She got up close to me and placed a hand on my cheek. "No he didn't. After when you stormed out of his office he called me to tell me about the conversation. He found it helpful to hear a different opinion besides the same old one. He said that you would change the face of what it meant to be a huntsman. None of us could really fathom at the time what that could mean."
"Faith," it was the first time I had said her name and more tears came down, "look what I have become. I'm a monster. I've become this thing of hatred and revenge. I don't think I could ever go back."
"Wells do you remember my mother?"
It was an odd question but yes I had met when I had nowhere to go over a long break and Faith invited me over than have me stay in Beacon all alone. "Yes I vaguely do."
"Well she had a saying. There are some things that we cannot control. Nature has set a path for us that cannot be strayed from. If we do then it violently corrects itself. It may take five years, it may take five minutes but life will always be on course. It something we have to live with."
I knew what she was trying to tell me, I had to accept the fact that they were gone, and I couldn't do anything about it. It was something I had told myself that I already accepted the fact but I never truly believed it. I caressed her cheek and removed her hair to look into her beautiful eyes that I had longed for so for years. "Faith I-I-"
She didn't need to hear what I was going to say, she already knew, she kissed me. A kiss I had longed for since my days at Beacon, I kiss I longed for as I held her dead body in my arms, a kiss that I had longed for my entire life. She pulled away, I knew what was going to happen…we had to say goodbye. "I have to go now," she said looking up to me.
"I understand."
"We'll be waiting for you," as she motioned her arms the two other members of my team came into view and it nearly sent me into tears to see them, "but you still have a job to do."
"I do?"
"Don't worry I'll be here for you." As she separated from my grasp
She began to walk away from me before something popped into my head "Before you go though I want to say one last thing."
"Oh and what's that Wells?"
-Back to Takeda in The Tower-
It had been several minutes since Wells had froze I thought about going up there. Either to get Ozpin or see if Wells was alright. As I took a step Wells took a breath but didn't move his arms, his breathing was shaky, hitched even. Tears streamed down his eyes like gushing waterfalls as he dropped the axe from his hands with a loud clang that shook Ozpin up it even woke Glynda up from her comatose state. He looked at his hands which were trembling, he looked towards me with fear in his eyes that I thought was not possible for somebody who was enraged mere moments ago. He approached me and then hugged me. Vulcan gave me a look of confusion which made me shrug. The Welder was crying, hard, somehow when I looked to Ozpin he didn't seemed too unphased by this but when did ever change. He let go of me and turned to the headmaster who he tried to kill minutes ago.
"Ozpin I must apologize," he wiped away his tears he was about to say something else but was stopped by the headmaster.
Ozpin picked up his axe and gave it to him. "It's fine Wells, I understand."
"Ozpin I must take my leave now, the damage I have done is too immense. I must remove myself."
"Go Wells."
"Before I go I want to tell you this: There are some things that we cannot control. Nature has set a path for us that cannot be strayed from. If we do then it violently corrects itself. It may take five years, it may take five minutes but life will always be on course. It something we have to live with." He paused for a while before continuing, "Ozpin make sure you never disrupt that balance."
All he did was nod and walk back to Glynda and Vulcan.
"Weld-" Vulcan stuttered, "Wells I think I still owe you an answer?"
He waved it off. "Don't worry kid it's fine. Now then Takeda, we must take our leave."
I was relieved but concerned on one key fact, "Yeah but we have no way of getting out of here."
"Oh I think I can help with that," Ozpin told me.
The next thing I knew Wells is driving a new Bullhead down to his warehouse. "So what happened?" I asked him during the ride.
"Huh?" He asked still focused on what was in front of him. His face had changed slightly, he appeared more human.
"When you froze what happened?"
A small smile found its way onto his face. "I got to meet an old friend."
We landed down in front of the warehouse doors. Wells walked out slowly and seemed to take it in one more time. "This is where I take my leave Takeda."
"Wait here? They saw the two of us leaving Beacon on a Bullhead they'll find you. Arrest you. Kill you."
"Takeda I died a long time ago according to most people. They seem so bent on that fact that they already my gravestone," his voice seemed more chipper. He pulled out his detonator and pushed the button on top and the warehouse was soon filled with explosions. Fire filled the air, soon police and firefighters would show up. What was he planning? He turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes. "Takeda Donati it has been a pleasure." He had grabbed my hand and shook it. Wells then began to walk into the flame engulfed building.
I took off my helmet, I had tears streaks on my face. "This can't be goodbye?" I asked as I began to cry.
He turned to me and his smile was still there, it seemed even more honest. His appearance outlined by the fire behind him. "You know someone told me something a long time ago. If you don't say goodbye it's like they're really never gone, they're just not here right now." He stopped to take off his hat and threw his scarf and goggles at me, "so I'm just not going to be here right now." He then walked into the building a geyser of flames engulfing him.
I walked closer expecting him to come back out. "Wells wai-" my plea was cut off by a bigger, louder, more fiery explosion causing the walls and roof of thewarehouse to fall in. I fell to my knees in tears still holding the apparel he wore on his head clutching them. The next day it was said that the warehouse burnt down due to an electrical failure, why there was power running through there was still a mystery. That same day during his speech about The Anniversary Ozpin mentioned that he had seen The Welder die, personally seeing the footage of his death. The Welder was officially declared dead in all kingdoms. But the public didn't know, only those four people who were awake in The Tower knew what happened that night…
Dear Ozpin,
Hey Ozpin it's me Takeda I just thought you would like a letter, I don't know if you get many of these so I'm sorry if it takes a bit of time for you to read it. It's weird to think that it's been a year since… that day. It seems like yesterday I ambushed The Welder trying to get his contract on Mr. Sherwood. Oh Allison says hi too, I don't know if you remember her from when you visited us in Atlas. We got engaged, so that's cool. Maybe you can officiate for us, you're a pretty damn good speaker. I miss him, alot, and the shrine I have for him is getting a ton more attention now that The Anniversary is coming up. I must ask: did you know? Did you know that Wells was alive all these years? Or did you think he died like everybody else? Oh how has Vulcan been doing since he graduated? I know I was stoked to fight alongside this time instead of against, the guy has a mean left hook. Umm listen I know you're busy but if you stop by the graveyard during the anniversary could you pick up some roses? Put one on Tracey's and Ashley's and put the rest on Faith's. Oh and put one of Wells's, his always looked a bit lonely…
