Evolution
Chapter 10: Investigation
The sun shined high in the sky to signify the start of a new day. The wolf Faunus professor was already up, getting dressed in his usual jacket and pants. He put the hood over his head and looked out the window to see the blazing orb. He then imagined the opposite orb glistening against a black velvet sky. The image sent him a flashback from last night with his chat with Blake. A bright red blush appeared on his cheeks at the words they shared with one another. He looked at his hands and remembered the soft feeling of her hands graze his.
"Her hands felt so soft," he said.
"Whose hands felt soft?" Raiden asked behind him. Mizu was too focused on his thoughts to check the scent and jumped in surprise. Raiden saw the red blush on his cheeks and smiled.
"What's going on with this? Why are you blushing so badly?"
Mizu averted his gaze, but couldn't hide the blush.
"It's about Blake isn't it?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Don't forget; I'm the analyzer and you're the locater. Now out with it, what's going on?"
Mizu sighed. "I talked to Blake last night. We just had a simple conversation and then we started talking about what we thought of each other."
His friend nodded. "So you basically confessed to one another."
"I…don't know really. I will admit that she was blushing too and she did pour her heart out to me; I guess she did confess," he responded. Raiden continued to smile.
"Did you comment on it?"
"No, I just told her what I thought about her; we almost held hands, but we pulled away at the sudden contact. Well, she might've wanted to hold hands, but I know I pulled away," he explained.
"I see," Raiden placed his hands on his shoulder while still smiling. "I think it's time you told me your true feelings now. Do you love Blake?"
Mizu looked down at his feet and let out a heavy breathe.
"Yes, I've fallen in love with Blake."
Raiden patted his shoulders.
"It's about time you said it. I bet it feels good, doesn't it?"
"Oh shut up; what about your situation?" His partner questioned. Raiden shrugged.
"Blake told me to stay the course."
"I see. Now can we go get breakfast? I'm hungry," Mizu told him. His partner laughed at him.
"Alright, alright, let's go."
He watched Mizu head to the door and quickly sent a text to his parents, uncle, and auntie. He followed his partner out and walked through campus to the cafeteria.
"So my little wolf buddy finally admits his true feelings," Raiden said. Mizu had to blush again.
"I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it."
"Alright, I'll spare you the details, but what are you going to do?" The lightning user asked.
"I'll take care of it," his wolf friend replied. The two professors made it the cafeteria, only to stop suddenly, as a stampede of students rushed out the building. A couple of the students saw the professors and got their attention.
"What's going on here; what's with all the commotion?" Raiden questioned.
"It's a major food fight going on," one of the students told them. The two professors burst through the doors, only to see a huge pile of tables stacked on top of each other with Team JNPR standing on top of them.
"Hahaha. I'm the queen of castle; I'm the queen of the castle," Nora stated. Across the field, Team RWBY stood ready, as hundreds of food lay on the ground for both teams to use. The two teams engaged in combat, Jaune and Ren throwing the first wave of watermelons.
"Yang, turkeys," Ruby commanded. The older sister rolled to the two conveniently placed turkeys and wore them like Ember Celica. She pounded her fists together and smiled confidently. She threw a couple of strong punches and easily destroyed the melons. She then performed a backflip, launched the two turkeys like a fire bullet, hitting the opposing blonde leader in the face, sending him to the ground.
The two professors stood by the entrance, along with two more students. One a monkey Faunus with short spiky light-blonde hair and dark-gray eyes. He wore two red wrist bracers and an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his muscular abs. He also wore blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt with white bandages on his legs underneath and has a chain hanging from his belt loop on the right side. He sported black and yellow sneakers and has a twisted golden necklace with a round pendant hanging from his neck. He has a long prehensile monkey tail the same color as his hair.
The other was a teenage boy with tan skin, having dark blue eyes and messy light blue hair that is shaved on the sides and in the back. He wore a white dress shirt and black tie under a red jacket with wide upturned black collar and a pair of gray jeans with black paddings strapped to the sides. A silver symbol appeared on the back of his jacket and he wore black shoes that are fastened with straps, rather than laces. Notable accessories include black fingerless gloves and a pair of yellow-tinted goggles worn on his forehead.
"I just love these guys," Sun, the monkey Faunus stated.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Raiden question to Mizu.
"Yes, go get Professor Goodwitch," he replied.
"Are you sure? I kind of want to join in," Raiden said. Mizu shot him a glare.
"Despite how fun it looks, we are teachers first. Now go get Goodwitch; I'll try to settle things here."
Raiden sighed in disappointment.
"Fine, I'll go get her."
The lightning professor dashed out the door and left his partner behind. Mizu saw the other two students, who met his gaze.
"Hey there," Sun waved. Mizu nodded back.
"Are you friends with them?"
"Yep, they're great people; what about you?" Sun asked back.
"Yeah, I'm friends with them, but at the moment, I'm there professor. Are you two new students?" The wolf Faunus asked.
"Yes, we just arrived today," the one with blue hair stated. He held out his hand.
"My name is Neptune Vasilias, nice to me you."
Sun held out his hand as well.
"I'm Sun Wukong."
Mizu shook their hands
"I'm Mizu Ragonis, a new professor here at Beacon. I'd chat more, but I have a fight to break up."
The three guys saw Yang get knocked into the air and crash through the roof. They heard a laughing Nora and saw her with a handmade hammer in her possession.
"That's my cue."
He whistled loudly and gained the students' attention.
"You guys do know I can give you detention for this?"
"Oh come on Wolfe; we were starting to have fun," Nora stated.
"Well sorry to spoil your good time, but my duty as a professor ultimate outclasses the friendship thing," he explained. "And no, I can't just look the other way."
"Aww, come on professor please?" Ruby begged. Mizu made sure not to look at her eyes and shook his head. When he was about to respond, Nora came down on him with a smash of her handmade hammer. The wolf Faunus jumped back, but Nora kept on the attack and attempted another smash. Mizu revealed his claws and cut through the pipe, destroying the hammer; however, she had several cans of soda that she dropped and quickly moved back. The cans shook vigorously and then exploded, covering the Faunus in different flavors of soda. He closed his eyes instinctively and jumped out the cloud of grape and cherry. His back touched the wall, as he reopened his eyes.
"Okay, that was a cheap trick."
His comments halted as Jaune engaged him next. He wielded a long stick of bread as a sword and a platter as a shield. He swung down, but Mizu met the attack and sliced the bread stick in half.
"Jaune, my claws are not for show."
The blonde knight smiled at the professor and dove out of the way, allowing Pyrrha to throw another bread stick like a spear. Mizu didn't meet the raw power head on and ducked, causing the bread to crash into a pillar. The power made it collapse and fall towards the wolf Faunus, but he quickly got of the way and watched it crashed.
"Seriously, I try to stop a fight and now I'm the bad guy."
Suddenly, Weiss glided across the ground with a swordfish in her grasps. Mizu turned sideways and let the heiress pass, the tip of the sword sinking into the wall.
"You're a reasonable person Weiss; even you must see the childish acts in this."
"Trust me; there's no running away from this," she responded.
"Is that so?" Mizu performed a couple of quick slashes and filleted the fish. He walked past the heiress and engaged Ren in combat, his choice of weapons being two celery sticks. He rushed the professor and swiftly thrust the sticks. Mizu deflected the attacks and brought his claws down, but the magenta haired boy back flipped away and leaped into the air. He threw the celery sticks at his opponent, who readied his claws and cut away. The pieces fell to the floor, as the cutter let out a sigh.
"You honestly think food will win against me?"
Blake was about to engage him, but she remembered the moment from last night and decided not to. A bright red blush appeared on her cheeks as she decided not to engage him. Ruby on the other hand, used her semblance to run at maximum speed and raced around the place, kicking up fierce gales that picked up the debris and made it follow the redheaded leader. She spun in midair and made a twister swallow the wolf professor and Team JNPR.
Mizu dug his claws into the ground and braced himself. JNPR on the other hand, couldn't handle the intense cyclone and crashed into the wall, as the remainder of the food and drinks collided into them and covered the wall with its contents. Mizu managed to stay on the ground and waited for the cyclone to die down. Once it did, the wall and JNPR were covered from head to toe in leftover food. They fell from the wall and landed on the ground, as the creator cheered happily at her victory. Mizu released his claws from the ground and let out a heavy sigh.
"I love these guys; I told you they were awesome," Sun stated to Neptune, who wore a frown because he too was covered in food and drinks. Suddenly, the doors burst open to reveal Goodwitch with her crop ready.
"Children, food,"
With an elegant wave of her crop, she easily set all the tables back to their original places. When she was done, the cafeteria looked just like it did before the whole mess started.
"Is not meant to be played with."
Nora let out a loud burp and giggled. Raiden soon appeared behind her and walked to his partner.
"So who won?"
"Uh, I want to say RWBY," he shrugged. Raiden snapped his fingers.
"Crap, I betted on JNPR."
"With who?" Mizu questioned. As if on cue, Ozpin walked into the room.
"Let them go; give them a chance to enjoy themselves," he told Goodwitch. He then approached Raiden and held out his hand.
"And I believe you owe me 50 lien."
Raiden sighed and paid the headmaster; but then, Yang finally fell out of the sky and landed in Raiden's arms. She was a little dizzy, but shook her head to focus again. Her eyes looked up and met Raiden's.
"Hi there," he smiled at her and let her down. A bright blush crept onto her cheeks, which didn't go unnoticed by the others. The headmaster and Goodwitch left the cafeteria while the two teams talked about their match. Sun and Neptune met with the group, Neptune hitting it off with Weiss fairly easily; but this time, Jaune didn't seem to care. Secretly, Pyrrha smiled with the widest smile she could possible manage.
Soon after, the two professors managed to grab something to eat and then headed out to the Emerald Forest. Mizu hopped into the nearest tree and scanned the area.
"Do you see anything Mizu?" Raiden asked him. The wolf Faunus hopped back down.
"I can't pick up the scent we're looking for. We have to delve deeper."
"Alright, let's move," Raiden stated. Mizu nodded and walked with his partner as they explored deeper into the forest. Mizu stuck to the trees and searched high while Raiden searched low. Mizu kept his nose searching until he finally picked up the scent.
"Raiden; I finally have the scent," he jumped down from the tree and told his partner. "It's close by."
"Lead the way," his partner replied. Mizu checked to see if the scent still lingered and led the way. Raiden followed close behind as he cleared the way through Grimm that stood in their way; however, the two soon ran into a pack of Beowolves, along with the alpha male.
"Great, they just keep coming," Raiden took his stance.
"Hold on, I want to try something," his partner interrupted. Mizu walked past Raiden and approached the alpha. He removed his hood and revealed his razor sharp claws, causing the alpha to growl at him. The underlings stood back and watched their leader take on the challenger, as did Raiden. Mizu entered an offensive stance and attacked first. He moved in a zigzag pattern in an attempt to deceive the alpha, but it caught on and met an attack. The two wolves raked their claws together, making a shrieking sound echo through the forest. The collision knocked them away, the alpha charging back in and throwing a horizontal strike. Mizu leaped over it and threw a diagonal strike aimed at the alpha's head. The beast blocked with its free claw and bounced Mizu back again.
He did a couple of backflips and leaped back into the air. He landed on a nearby branch and dashed through the area, the trees rustling from his movements. Mizu dropped back down and performed an X slash, but the alpha jumped away. Mizu hit the ground instead and made a dirt cloud pick up, but the wolf Faunus dashed right out with his arms extended. The alpha followed up and exchanged blows with the wolf professor, their claws raking their bodies. Mizu was faster, but the alpha had more power. Mizu raced around the alpha, his high agility giving him the speed to be at one place, launch fast barrages, and then appear in another place. Mizu vanished again and prepared to attack, but the alpha anticipated the attack and backhanded him.
Mizu wasn't expecting it and crashed back first into a tree. The breathe was knocked out of him, as the impact caused the tree to crash down on top of him. The place turned to silence, as the alpha stared at the crash site. It roared to the skies, but Raiden cracked a smile as he watched the timber shake. He whistled to the alpha Beowolf, who saw the rumbling timber and rushed at it. The alpha brought it claws down on the lumber, but Mizu suddenly bursts up from the pile and delivers an uppercut to its chin. Mizu landed on his feet and dashed past the alpha with his claws ripping its black flesh.
The beast roared in pain, but Mizu didn't stop and pivoted. He rushed the alpha again and attacked again, repeating the process ten times over and then leaping above the alpha and spun down with his claws stretched out in front of him. His claws ripped more of its flesh and amputated both arms. The alpha roared to the heavens and dropped to its knees, only for Mizu to deliver the finishing blow and rip its head off. Raiden whistled as he watched the head roll around and his partner face the dead alpha. He approached Mizu and patted his shoulders.
"Nice work, but why did you have me back down?"
Suddenly, the regular Beowolves jumped at the two professors. Raiden prepared for combat, but Mizu let out a loud howl, which caused the Beowolves to freeze in their tracks. Raiden was downright surprised and looked to his partner, who let out a menacing growl towards the Beowolves. The wolf Grimm stepped down and looked at Mizu's crimson eyes, seeing the fire within them. The wolf Faunus continued to growl, eventually causing the pack to run back into the forest.
"Whoa, how did you do that? I never knew you could do that," Raiden said. Mizu put his hood back on.
"There are some things even you don't know about me Raiden; but this is new to me as well. When we get back to Beacon, tell Nora that I have a surprise for her during the next full moon."
Even Raiden was confused by the sentence.
"You have a surprise for her during the next full moon," he repeated. Mizu nodded at how it sounded.
"Okay yeah, I see how it sounds now. Tell everyone that I have a surprise for them during the next full moon."
"That's not far behind; I think it appeared in three days I believe," his lightning friend told him. "But anyway, what was that seriously?"
Mizu took a whiff of the air and managed to track the scent again.
"I'll tell you during the full moon."
He went on ahead, making his still confused partner rush to catch back up. The two professors continued navigating through the forest until Mizu froze in his tracks. Raiden wasn't paying attention and bump into him.
"My bad, I didn't know you stop," he apologized. "What's up?"
"Shh," Mizu said immediately. Raiden shut his mouth and listened to his surroundings.
"Do you hear that?" His partner whispered. The lightning user shook his head and continued to listen, but still couldn't hear the sound.
"What is it?" He whispered back.
"Just keep listening," Mizu responded. Raiden did as he said and concentrated more, but all he heard were the rustling of the trees flowing with the wind.
"I still can't hear it; what is it?"
Mizu's ears twitched, but their owner pushed Raiden back.
"GET BACK!"
He leaped back as well and landed beside his partner, who covered his eyes at the gigantic object that crashed into the ground and kicked up a mighty dust cloud. Once the dust cleared, the being was still covered in shadows and couldn't be described due to it. The entire beast hovered over the professors as its white eyes measured them.
"What the hell is that thing?" Raiden questioned. Mizu shook his head.
"I don't know."
The beast saw Mizu and roared to the heavens, its screech causing the professors to cover their ears, as a ferocious gale kicked up and blew around the area. The professors uncovered their vision, only to see a raging arm racing towards them. They split up and let the arm crash into the ground instead, causing a small earthquake to erupt. Mizu landed on a nearby branch while Raiden slid into another. The beast pulled its arm out of the ground and extended them on either side. Raiden dove out of the way, but the attack grazed his shoulder. Blood gushed out for a brief moment and dripped to the ground. Mizu jumped to another tree as the one he previously stood in was destroyed by the beast's arm.
The wolf Faunus raced around the beast and jumped to his partner.
"Are you alright?"
Raiden nodded. "Yeah, it's just a simple cut; but it was too fast for me to completely avoid it."
"I noticed," Mizu replied. He reached into his case and pulled out Astral Star.
"Think we can take it?"
Raiden smiled and opened his case to equip Shadow Bolt.
"Only one way to find out."
The blade tips crackled lightning, as the user dashed right at the beast with inhuman speed. Mizu went back to high ground and launched his stars with his aura surging through them. Raiden attacked the beast's chest, but it completely failed and threw him back. The lightning faded away, but the user slid across the ground. He sat up completely astonished and watched his partner's weapons fly closer to the beast, which effortlessly deflected them away. Mizu was just as surprised and caught his stars.
"No way, they should've cut right through it."
His thoughts were shattered when he saw the beast's arm rushing to him. He quickly hopped down and rushed the monster, attacking the rushing arm; however, he was suddenly slapped away and crashed into the ground. Raiden attacked the limb that slapped his partner, but was slammed into a tree by the leg of the beast. The two professors groaned as they sat up. Raiden held his head while his partner shook his.
"Hey Mizu, you alright?" Raiden asked.
"Yeah, but what hit me?" He asked back.
"I believe it was its tail," the lightning user said. Speaking of tails, the beast whipped around and swung its tail at the professors, whom jumped into the air; however, the beast anticipated it and slapped them away with its arm. Mizu flew into a tree, in which the beast smashed its arm straight into him, destroying the tree, and sending him to the ground. Raiden managed to recover and attack when it was vulnerable. He aimed for the head and launched an uppercut, but when it hit, he bounced back like last time. The beast then slapped him with its tail.
The two huntsmen were struggling to get up, their blood collecting under them. Mizu had blood falling down either side of his face while Raiden bleed from his mouth, shoulder, and arm. The beast roared at the guys and wrapped its tail around Mizu's neck, hoisting him up. Mizu dropped his stars as he was slightly being choked. He grabbed the beast's tail and tried prying it off, but his strength was weak.
'Ugh, this Grimm…how is it…so strong? B-Class is the highest class in this forest so why is this one here?' He pondered. The beast slammed him Mizu into the ground and raised him up again, repeated the process three times over. On the four slam, Raiden quickly intercepted them and finally managed to hit the tail, setting his partner free. The beast roared from the slight pain and searched for the lightning professor, who caught his partner and took off through the forest.
"We have to get out of here Mizu and report back to the headmaster."
Mizu could only groan as the blood on his face continued to drip to the ground.
"Ra-Raiden, something is…wrong here."
"I know, that beast is much stronger than the other Grimm we've faced. The highest level of Grimm in this forest is B-Class, which are Nevermores and Death Stalkers. That beast is excessively strong to be a B-Class Grimm; it has to be either an A-Class or S-Class," Raiden stated. "An A-Class we can barely manage, but an S-Class Grimm is too strong for us."
Mizu didn't respond and continued recuperating.
"Yes, just rest for now Mizu; I'll get us out of here. Don't worry."
Raiden ran as fast as he could, but his strength was fading and prevented him from running at top speed. He dashed through the forest, but their opponent crashed down in front of them and slammed its tail into them. Raiden was too stunned to move and turned around, letting the tail the tail crash into his back. He flew back through the forest and crashed into another tree. The impact caused Mizu to fly out of his hands, but he recovered and landed on his feet.
He breathed heavily and rushed to his partner, who barely managed to stand up. The tail left a gash on his back, as his gi revealed the blood flowing down his back. He used the tree to support him and leaned against it.
"It just won't let up," he said. The beast in topic mowed down part of the forest and appeared before the professors. It roared and smashed its arm down, but the guys managed to muster enough strength to dodge it. Mizu finally then realized that his stars were left behind.
"Oh no! We left Astral Star," he told his partner. Raiden shook his head.
"No we didn't," he reached into the bushes beside the tree he crashed into and pulled out Mizu's case. He tossed him the containment and watched his partner equip his weapons.
"When you were being hoisted in the air I put your weapons in the case and set you free."
"Thanks," Mizu replied and took his stance. Raiden took his, mirroring his partner. The beast roared, kicking up fierce winds again.
"Mizu; I want you to know that if I die, you will always be my best friend. If you manage to escape, keep going and don't look back," Raiden stated.
"Tch, you idiot; why would I leave my brother behind. If I'm escaping, you're coming with me. Who else is going to tell Yang how much you love her?" His partner smiled. Raiden couldn't help but laugh.
"I guess you're right; and who still needs to tell Blake their true feelings?"
The two looked at one another with a smile.
"Ready?" Mizu asked.
"Ready?" Raiden nodded. The beast whipped around and swung its tail at the duo, but they jumped right over it. Mizu landed on Raiden's shoulder and launched himself higher into the air. With faster speed, Mizu aimed for the beast's arm, but the tail rushed to deflect him; however, Raiden intercepted it and made the blade tips of his claws spark with lightning. In retaliation, the beast threw its leg to smash the duo back, but Mizu smirked as he launched on of his stars at the incoming limb. Nothing else came to protect it and ended up being stabbed, making the beast roar in pain. The wolf Faunus kept going, along with his partner and performed a simultaneous uppercut straight to the beast's chin.
The attacks connected and made the beast fall back. Mizu quickly grabbed his other star and got out of the fall radius. When the beast crashed to the ground, the earth shook along with it. Trees tumbled over and crumbled from the beast's weight. The two professors took the opportunity to run past the beast and retreat; however, a wall of ice suddenly emerged and blocked them off.
"What the? Ice?" Raiden questioned. Mizu narrowed his eyes.
"They made their move then."
The duo jumped away from the wall, as it suddenly broke apart.
"Great, first this beast, and now them; who would've thought?" Raiden asked. The duo prepared their weapons, as Ruby and Weiss walked out from behind the trees. Their eyes shined crimson and their lips curled into a smile.
"And so the possessed huntresses finally make their appearance."
"So that book really is cursed," Mizu confirmed. "Looking at the eyes really will hypnotize you."
"It does more than that," Weiss spoke up. She snapped her fingers, causing the beast to roar as a result. It rushed the two and slammed its arms down. The two dodged them, but rose petals zipped around the forest and slashed at the professors, who put up their defenses and blocked the strikes. Ruby appeared beside her partner, who waved her arm and commanded the beast to swing its tail. The huntsmen leaped over it and re-entered their stances, as they face the huntresses and beast before them.
A/N: That does it for another chapter; I hope you all enjoy it, sorry for the late update. Also, I just saw Chapter 3 of Vol. 2; it was awesome. Jaune is still failing with Weiss, but at least he's still trying. Anyway, I'll leave you guys to read; please tell me what you think in a review or pm. This has been MalevolentDarkness16 and I will see you all next time.