Chapter 10: Metal and Flesh
Research Facility Deimos
Owner: The Blossom Club
Southern Vale
10:00 pm
The previous evening...
What the world didn't know about the Blossom club was that its leader didn't just sell secrets, she even sold power. Hidden behind the organization's social appearances and secret information trading network, was a network of shell companies, technology firms, spies, assassins, scientists that varied in their skill sets (ranging from genetics to biotechnologies), and even mining companies. They had the monopoly on a very rare metal known only as Diveridium, a metal that could not be magnetized or destroyed easily, a metal that when cooled is physically indestructible. But on this evening, one of Reina's personal cyborg soldiers, Commander Erwin Carson, had arrived to "check up" on a special project of the staff's at Deimos. The doors to a secret elevator opened up, and Carson was greeted by a man that was shorter than him, and a cyborg as well...
" Commander Carson, this inspection is surprising." The man said.
" Salazar's orders, he wants me to make sure Project Hades is up to snuff, Doctor Bordeaux ." Carson explained.
" Well then, please follow me." Bordeaux said, directing the commander to the elevator.
The two men rode the elevator down, seeing exactly what the inside of the Deimos facility looked like. It was massive, scientists worked around the clock, to manufacture new tools to aid the Vanguard's soldiers in the field. But Project Hades was nothing like what the scientists were normally doing...
" The subjects' behavior is mostly that of a Grimm's, primal and savage." Bordeaux said.
" So I assume you found a way to keep them under control?" Carson asked.
" Yes, we conditioned their brains to respond to a signal that gives us the power to influence their actions." Bordeaux stated. " They've even developed a pack, which symbolizes an even low level intelligence." He added.
" No doctor, it symbolizes they have developed animal-like instincts, which means they are even trainable." Carson explained.
" I see, but you'll seen them in just a minute." Bordeaux said.
The elevator stopped on Project Hades' level, a level that was dimly lit so someone can't see what was being developed without the proper clearance to do so. Carson and Bordeaux entered a large room where Rooker, a lab assistant, was sitting at a console next to a large Window that viewed into an enormous room...
" Rooker, how are the hunters doing?" Bordeaux asked.
" They're just wrapping up dinner now. Big momma Ursa was on the chef's menu this evening." Rooker explained.
" Ursa, that's a rough meat." Bordeaux said.
" You're feeding these things Grimm?" Carson said in a surprised tone.
" Grimm meat maybe toxic to humans, but not to them." Bordeaux explained.
" Go ahead, see for yourself, sir." Rooker said, directing him towards the window.
Carson carefully approached the Window, looking into a large room where sat the mutilated remains of an Ursa, being fed upon by four individuals that appeared Cybernetically enhanced. Their skin was pale, eyes were bloodshot red, but it was their mouths that had attracted the attention of Carson. Their mouths were replaced with metallic jaws, lined with double rows of serrated teeth, soaked by the blood of their most recent meal. One de-cloaked itself in front of the window, right in front of Carson...
" Whoa, startled me didn't ya?" Carson said.
" That's the alpha, he likes to be sneaky." Bordeaux explained.
" They're perfect, Salazar is gonna be pleased." Carson stated.
" By the way, why does he need five hunters?" Bordeaux asked.
" Because he's got an assignment that's a challenge, so he'll need the best." Carson responded.
Carson then proceeded to instruct the doctor to forward any information about the "hunters" as they were referred to as, to Salazar for his assignment development. His assignment: Punish Mercury Black for his involvement in Cinder's plans...
Amity Stadium
Present Day
Yang was being hugged tightly by her uncle and sister, who were excited over the fact she was now walking around and had pulled through the horrific damage done to her just over a week ago in Mountain Glenn. But Yang was actually still sore...
" Um guys, can you let up?" Yang said.
" Oh, sorry." Ruby said, drying her tears of joy.
" What's wrong kid?" Qrow asked.
" Docs said I'm gonna be sore for awhile, so you can still hug, just not super tightly." Yang explained.
" Okay, we'll have some details to talk about in a bit." Qrow said.
Blake helped Yang sit down, with Ruby immediately taking the seat next to her and getting ready to watch the match between Team JNPR and Team BRNZ. After the match, Team RWBY proceeded down to greet their friends after a successful match, with Yang taking cover to surprise them.
" You guys were great!" Ruby said.
" You really think so?" Jaune asked.
" Well, argument aside, you guys weren't bad." Weiss said.
" Oh, Weiss." Ruby remarked.
" Anyway, did you hear anything about your sister's progress?" Pyrrah asked.
" Well..." Ruby said before turning around and whistling.
Yang came out from around the corner, with Team JNPR looking towards her with surprise...
" Hey guys." Yang said with a big smile on her face.
" Oh my god, Yang!" Pyrrah said as she rushed up and hugged Yang.
" YANG!" Nora said with excitement as she ran up as well.
" Don't hug her to tightly, she's still sore from the incident." Blake explained.
" Okay." Pyrrah said.
They hugged Yang as they were joined by Ren and Jaune, who each had their own hug with Yang before backing off...
" So, how long are you gonna not be fighting?" Ren asked.
" Doctors said I am going to be out for at least a couple of weeks." Yang explained.
" Oh, my." Jaune said.
" Do you have an idea to ease the pain from being sore?" Pyrrah asked.
" Yeah, the doctors have got me scheduled to attend therapy sessions with a very good physical therapist." Yang stated.
" Ren might know a thing or two about relaxing sore muscles." Nora said.
" Really?" Yang said in a shocked tone.
" Yeah, he helped me deal with my sore muscles after I swung Magnhild to hard one time." Nora said.
" Are you referring to the time you swung your hammer at that girl because she made fun of your hair?" Ren asked.
" I don't what you're talking about Ren, but combine his stuff with the therapy sessions, Yang, you'll won't have to worry about soreness anymore." Nora said.
" She was only 12 years old Nora." Ren said, with Nora realizing what he was talking about. " Aside from that part of the talk, I might show you a few things in your free time." He added.
" Thanks man." Yang said.
" I noticed you got a hair cut." Jaune pointed out.
" Well, the Grimm tried to give me one." Yang said sarcastically.
" Heh, that's a good point." Ruby added.
" Anyway, Blake fixed the mess it was left in this morning." Yang said.
" Hey, you can thank Weiss for the scissors." Blake added.
" Thanks for reminding me Blake. Anyway, I was planning on keeping it like this from now on." Yang stated.
" That's probably a good idea." Jaune said.
While they were talking, Penny was walking along with General Ironwood towards the exit when she turned and saw Yang...
" YANG!" Penny hollered as she ran up.
" Whoa, good to see you kid." Yang said.
" Yang?" Ironwood asked in a shocked tone.
" Hey, General." Yang said.
" Can I speak to Miss Xiao Long alone for a bit, everyone?" Ironwood asked.
" Sure, I'll be nearby in case anything happens, okay?" Blake said to Yang.
Ironwood and Yang went over to the railing, looking down into the arena where the next match was being set up. Yang noticed that Ironwood looked fatigued, as there were darkened bags under his eyes and he let out a large breath when he leaned against the railing...
" What's up, General? You look a little beat." Yang said.
" Well, you were in worse shape." Ironwood said.
" True." Yang responded.
" Ugh, I've been dealing with press calls, threatening messages, and people calling me someone who sends "innocent kids to the grinder." Ironwood said.
" What happened in Mountain Glenn has hit you that hard?" Yang asked in a surprised tone.
" Yeah, even Ozpin was angry at me." Ironwood said.
" How was Professor Ozpin angry at you?" Yang asked.
" After Ruby told him, Qrow, and Goodwitch about what happened in Mountain Glenn, he was furious at me for what had happened to you and Xavier." Ironwood explained.
" Man, that's rough." Yang said.
" Yeah, he said that I "broke my promise" as I promised him that the kids were going to be safe. But instead, You and Xavier ended up being hospitalized." Ironwood said in a dismayed tone.
" Yeah, turns out that it wasn't your fault." A voice said behind him.
They both turned around to see Zach standing behind them, Maddening strife resting at his side. He was wearing his back up uniform, which was an armored red and white leather jacket, with high tech gloves, armored black pants, and white and blue greaves, since his primary had gotten damaged in Mountain Glenn.
" Hey Yang, good to see that you're up and about." Zach said.
" Good to see you too, Zach." Yang responded.
" What did you mean I wasn't at fault?" Ironwood asked.
" Well, after they whisked Xavier off to the hospital, I began to get this feeling, like someone had intended us to head into danger." Zach started in a classic storyteller tone.
" What do you mean?" Yang asked.
" Like his plan wasn't his own at all." Zach said.
" You think the placement plan was sabotaged?" Ironwood figured.
" Oh it was." Zach said in an assured tone.
" Wait, what?" Both Ironwood and Yang said.
" I asked around your soldiers for a bit, until one of them that you showed the original plan to showed me what it was." Zach said. " It was actually pretty smart, putting the volunteers closer to the city wall, it would have given them more cover and places to be safe should the Grimm target them." He said.
" Your plan was sabotaged?" Yang said as she turned to Ironwood.
" Oh, the pissing-you-off train isn't gonna stop here." Zach said in a sarcastic tone.
" There's more?!" Ironwood said, starting to sound angry.
" Oh the train has stopped for you, this bad news is for her." Zach said, pointing to Yang.
" What do you mean?" Yang asked.
" My team was the real target Yang, you and your teammates were the bait for the trap." Zach said in a serious tone.
This had left Yang and Ironwood speechless and furious: Ironwood's plan was turned into a trap that was set for Xavier's team, placing Team RWBY in danger as bait. While they were talking things over, Penny was about to make a new friend...
Amity Stadium Transport hub
General Ironwood's personal transport
9:59 am
Penny had slipped away from the group, sneaking back to Ironwood's airship, where she pulled out a tablet she had been hiding behind one of the seats. She pulled up an app on it, in which it had shown the blueprints to a robotic arm. It was running calculations about it successfully melding with human physiology, but came up with a result that seemed to annoy Penny...
" Oh, drat." Penny said.
" Tablet having issues?" Ashlyn asked.
Penny looked up with a startled stance to see Ashlyn standing in the doorway of the airship, but Penny thought she was a random stranger...
" Gah, who are you?" Penny immediately asked.
" Hey, relax kid, I might be able to help." Ashlyn said in a calming tone.
" It's just a-" Penny said, nervously.
" Math equation? Trust me, I had the same issue awhile back." Ashlyn said.
" You shouldn't be here, General Ironwood is gonna get furious that some stranger is on his ship." Penny said.
" I'm surprised that an Atlas-made android is actually worried." Ashlyn said.
" No (hiccup) I'm not an android." Penny said.
" Heh, you would make a terrible poker player." Ashlyn said.
Penny asked Ashlyn to shut the door, in which she did so...
" So, how do you know I'm an android?" Penny demanded.
" We don't have to hide our true selves from each other." Ashlyn said, removing one of her gloves.
" What?" Penny said in a shocked tone.
" This isn't a prosthetic, I'm not a real girl either." Ashlyn said.
" You're an android too?" Penny asked in an excited tone.
" Not just any android, do you hear that ticking?" Ashlyn said in a humored tone.
"(Gasp) You're a clockwork android?" Penny said.
" That's right." Ashlyn said.
Penny was rendered speechless by the being that had stood before her: a living, breathing clockwork android that had actual human emotions. Ashlyn then looked to Penny's tablet, which had shown the same error message again...
" What have you been trying to figure out?" Ashlyn inquired.
" I've been designing an artificial limb for a friend who is in the hospital, but I'm trying to get the right sequencing so his body won't reject it." Penny explained.
" That's nice of you." Ashlyn said.
" Yeah, but the sequencing algorithm can't be calculated properly." Penny said in annoyance.
" Why don't I give it a try?" Ashlyn said in a cocksure tone.
" Be my guest." Penny said, handing Ashlyn the tablet.
Ashlyn looked over the tablet, punched in a couple of numbers at several different times, hummed " Red like Roses" throughout the entire antagonizing process, then handed the tablet back to Penny. Penny looked down at the tablet after taking it, only to be amazed that Ashlyn had managed to get the exact sequencing algorithm that she had sought after in only just a few minutes.
" How did?" Penny said in a confused tone.
" You modern day robotic models are more about force than processing power." Ashlyn said in a cocky tone.
" Sometimes force is a powerful aspect." Penny said.
" Well, equal balance of both force and processing can be the key to many great victories." Ashlyn said before walking off the airship.
Penny was left on the airship to ponder the words that Ashlyn had told her, so Ashlyn took off into the city and she walked along its winding streets until somebody threw her in front of a large metal truck...
" Goddamnit." Ashlyn thought.
The assailant turned out to be Emerald, who was walking up with a big smile on her face. She walked over to Ashlyn's busted remains, which her gears were scattered all over the street, oil and blood had soaked onto the street, tubes had been all over the street, her left arm was busted off and her right arm was a complete mess.
" Goodbye, tin girl." Emerald said.
" Oh..." Ashlyn said.
" What?" Emerald said in a surprised tone.
" Oh... Really?" Ashlyn said as her metallic arm shot up and grabbed Emerald's throat.
Emerald was gasping for air as the cold, metal hand was wrapped tightly around her throat. The arm smacked her head onto the metal fender of the truck, causing her to stand up in pain, struggling to get the metal arm off her throat. She noticed that the other arm had reassembled itself, as it shoved some rolling gears along back to Ashlyn's pieces, which had Emerald shocked...
" Are (choking) you freaking kidding me?!" Emerald said.
" I know, it's (reattaching her jaw and voice box) like clockwork." Ashlyn said.
" Did you just make a pun?" Emerald said, holding the arm back.
" Alright! Just give that arm to me." Ashlyn said, taking the separate arm with the attached arm.
After reattaching the arm, Ashlyn then proceeded to deck Emerald in the face as the damaged skin that covered her Diveridium body began to repair itself thanks to the Nano-repair system that Reina had activated in her.
" Why'd the hell did you push me in front of that goddamn truck?" Ashlyn demanded as she picked up Emerald.
" Cinder knew you were keeping tabs on us, so she wanted me to get you out of the way." Emerald said in a panicked tone.
" So you thought that causing the driver of that big rig to need to use his medical insurance was the way to go?" Ashlyn asked.
Before Emerald could speak, Ashlyn angrily threw her into a dumpster that was behind a pet grooming store...
" That's how you take out the trash." Ashlyn said before walking away.
Emerald climbed out of the dumpster, covered in animal fur and lotion, shampoo, and conditioner that was left over inside bottles. She did a walk of shame back to Beacon to get a shower, but something dark was going to happen to her partner the following night...
U.S.S Penitence Prison bay
8:30 pm
Mercury sat in his cell aboard the Aletian ship U.S.S Penitence, awaiting to be delivered into the city for his court hearing. He was immediately brought here after his arrest, wanting to deal with the pending charges of illegally tampering with the arena matches and illegal falsification of his medical records. He simply tossed a bouncy ball back and fourth, until the door to his cell mysteriously opened...
" Well, this must be my lucky day." Mercury thought.
He set the ball down and walked out of his cell, with the first thing he had seen had been the guards were incapacitated by what had appeared to be an unknown assailant. He heard heavy breathing, then proceeded to turn around only to see nobody there. This actually started to alarm him, as he continued to see the hunters torment him at every step, until the Alpha appeared behind him, growling very lowly...
" What the?" Mercury said as he slowly turned around.
The Alpha swung at him, but he quickly jumped backward to avoid it. He looked at the alpha, not noticing the others sneaking up alongside him, until they started attacking him. He fought them off with simple hand to hand tactics, until one knocked him out from behind. He woke up restrained in a cage, with Carson twirling a knife in his robotic hands...
" Ah, you're awake." Carson said.
" Erwin Carson, I thought Cinder blew your arms off and left you to die in a ditch." Mercury said.
" It's Commander, by the way, I found a new source of employment." Carson said.
" Really, who would take under their wing a freak like you?" Mercury said in a smug tone.
" Just La Reina." Carson remarked.
" I thought The Blossom club was just an information dealing organization." Mercury said.
" Oh, it's a lot more than that, and they're done helping Cinder." Carson stated.
" What?" Mercury said.
" Reina's done being Cinder's lifeline, so she sent me to remind you so you can tell her." Carson explained.
" Wait, Reina's cutting ties with us?" Mercury said.
" Yeah, she's fed up with Cinder's crap, plus, she's not too happy that Cinder attempted to send the next Fall Sentinel into a death trap." Carson said.
" What?! The next one's already picked?!" Mercury said in a shocked tone.
" Try to get some sleep, the boys here are gonna keep you up all night." Carson said before teleporting off the ship.
Mercury watched as the hunter's started reaching into his cage with metal hands with razor-serrated talons on the fingertips. Mercury was left speechless at what Carson had just told him: The Blossom club has just turned their back on his mentor and the next Fall Sentinel is here in Vale, but who was it? Mercury was oblivious to the truth that had been staring at him in the face...
THE NEXT FALL SENTINEL WAS XAVIER.
This chapter concludes with Mercury being trapped in a cage surrounded the primal hunters, cybernetically modified humans that have been driven to the point of insanity with only primal animal instincts to keep them going. He also learned the Blossom Club has turned its back on Cinder, and their organization is so much bigger than what the underworld thinks. The next chapter starts with Dante going toe-to-toe with the Changeling, and Yang begins her road to recovery following the Mountain Glenn incident.
WAIT AND SEE.