A/N: sup peeps, got chapter 10 here for your enjoyment but before we get to the story, I has a gift-news thingy for Ya! To make up for the severe amount of lag on my end, I have decided to do one of two things. One, accept another character or two, have a chapter that contains fluffyness between two characters of my choosing. Which ever one receives the more positive reception shall be used. Furthermore, this chapter is a bit longer than usual. With that possible hole I have dug for myself out of the way, I own nothing except for my own OCs.
Chapter Ten: Unleashing the Horde, Skewer the Winged Beast...
"So how do you guys want to play this?" I asked as I slowed time for us to plan something that ensures no one dies.
"I say we split up, me and Sam take on the angry lizard, you and Violet attack the horde." Zack said which everyone agreed on. I checked my ammo before taking a deep breath.
"Alright, let's kick some ass" I said as I let time speed up to normal time, unleashing the largest fight I've ever had to participate in. Violet teleported to the middle of the horde and began ripping the Grimm apart in a rather messy fashion. She ripped out throats, cut off heads with her wings, she even beat Grimm with other Grimm. I let out a wry chuckle as I started firing into the mass of Beowulfs and Ursa. I walked forward towards Violet as I fired upon the dark creatures with my SMG, cutting down dozens at a time.
"So nice of you to join me Alex, you lazy ass" Violet grunted out as she clawed out an Ursa's eyes.
"I'm not a lazy ass, I was just taking a bit of a stroll" I said as I blocked a swing from a Beowulf with my forearm armor before tearing it in half down the middle with my SMG.
"Smartass" she said as she jumped over me to kill 2 Beowulfs at once
"Now you're getting more accurate sweetheart, you deserve a cookie" I said sarcastically as I shot a Beowulf in the nuts with my rifle.
"Fuck you Alex, we need to hurry the hell up so we can help with our scaly friend" she said as the angered shouts of Xiuhcotai could be heard in the background.
"As good of an idea as that sounds, we still have to deal with the large scale bullshit-DUCK!" I yelled as I shot a Ursa that sneaked up behind her right in the mouth, making its head explode into a mist of black blood.
"Yeah, that might be a while" she said slightly winded from a hit she couldn't get away from. From there, things generally went downhill.
An hour later...
"Fuck, this is just stupid!" Violet yelled as she ducked under a swing from an angry Ursa Major. There was simply too much for two people to handle. We kept up though, because that's all we could do, until mistakes were made. A slip of a foot was all it took for me to get pinned by a Beowulf, and I could do nothing as it descended it's jaws towards my throat.
*CLANG*
It's head fell in two before dissolving into gray feathers, taking both me and Violet into surprise as I quickly climbed to my feet to stand back to back (wings actually) with Violet.
"Girly, if you keep your mouth open like that you'll catch flies for sure" a gruffled male voice said from in front of Violet, immediately sending me onto the defense. I span around her left side with my rifle leveled to be met with a very menacing greatsword, held by a man who's very aura felt like death.
"Don't point a gun at someone who just saved your ass" the man said as the Grimm halted around us, as if they where having second thoughts. The man in question looked no older than 20 though he carried himself like he was 50. He wielded a massive sword, with a large number of gears in the center of the blade's base.
"Come on Qrow, don't scare the guy, I'm sure his girlfriend wouldn't appreciate that" I heard Tai-Yang say from behind me, sending into the biggest laughing fit of my entire life. I actually started crying from laughing so hard, which earned some unique comments.
"I think you broke him Tai" Qrow said as he watched me roll on the ground, bellowing with laughter.
"Me?! What the hell did I do?" Tai asked before I stood up and answered for him.
"I know I got a new armor set but Damn Tai, you really thought I was her boyfriend? You might need to retire soon, before you go senile you old bastard" I said as I removed my helmet to show him who it was.
*sighs* "Alex, how come every time I see you, I have to pull your ass outta trouble?" Tai asked as he leaned against a strange looking hammer, it basically looked like a bomb on a stick.
"It's not my fault this time, the plane I was on went down!" I said with a slight pout before switching the voice on my helmet to my 'work' voice.
"So you're the kid Tai was telling me about, you have the shittiest luck I have ever seen in my entire life" Qrow said as he hefted his weapon over his shoulder. I gave an exasperated sigh as a mini rain cloud formed over my head
"Don't remind me" I said in a downtrodden devoice, making Violet teleport next to me and hug me from behind
"You still got mee~" she sang happily which I so gladly shot down just for the sake of being an ass
"That's why I said don't remind me" I said with a deadpanned tone as I put on my helmet, making her glare at me. The only reason I could tell was because I could feel it burning into the back of my skull... Might have pushed her a little too far
"Anyway, me and Tai here got called out because of some abnormal seismic activity. We get here to find that you managed to piss off a good majority of Grimm in the area and that you somehow managed to find one of the last Grimm dragons on the planet" Qrow said as the Grimm backed away from us.
"Yeah... Its been long day. By the way, Why aren't the Grimm trying to kill us?" I asked the veteran huntsmen in my work voice which made Qrow smile.
"My semblance, it intimidates weak willed creatures with images of death." Qrow said as he flared his aura slightly, making some of the Grimm run off into the woods.
"That's... Fitting. Anyway, me and Violet are gonna go help with the Dragon, you two have fun with the Grimm. Make a game out of it if it gets boring." I said as I started walking towards Zack and Sam who where still very busy with my scaley friend. I felt the air behind me grow hotter, though it felt like it was from the desert rather than a heat source. I paid it no mind as I sprinted ahead to help Zack up off his ass from the rather powerful headbutt he was met with.
"Fuck, that thing hits like an Ursa on steroids" Zack grumbled out angrily as he got onto his feet.
"What did you fucking expect? It to hit like a kitten?" I asked as I started shooting at the Dragon with my rifle.
"Why are you so sarcastic all the time now? It's actually starting to be a pain in my ass" Violet said which earned a rather powerful deadpan from me.
"Before we can ask stupid questions, let's kill the big fucking dragon first." I said which earned a yell of agreement from Sam, where is she anyway?... Oh... I found her. She was on the dragon's neck grabbing the now non-fiery hair of the beast to ride it like it was a fucking steed.
"...what is she doing?" Violet asked quietly out of sheer confusion.
"It appears that she is riding the dragon like a god damn horse" I said as stopped I shooting just to watch the scene unfold.
"YOUR DAMN RIGHT I AM, NOW ONWARDS MY TRUSTY STEED!" Sam screamed with glee, clearly not right in the head at the moment.
"She got hit in the head didn't she?" Violet asked Zack to which he simply nodded. I let out a small sigh as I facepalmed (well, helmet-palmed).
"Violet, could you please reel in Sam before she gets herself killed" I asked but Violet couldn't answer since Sam got flung from the Grimm into the ocean behind it.
"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" *SPLASH*
"Nevermind, that problem solved itself, so you find any weak points Zach or are we still fucked?" I asked him which made him point at the dragon's face.
"I cracked the facial armor, another hard hit and it will fall apart" he said as the Dragon finally calmed down from having a passenger it didn't ask for. It looked at us and opened its mouth
"You. Food. I. Consume" it said in a voice that made my work voice sound like kittens.
"Did that thing just talk" Violet asked fo which everyone nodded and bolted towards it to make it not exist anymore. Zach continuously kept punching the facial armor as hard as he could while Sam (who is now right in the head from her impromptu swim) and Violet kept its claws at bay. I fired from a good distance into the beasts eyes, ears, and wing joints. I hit the left eye directly with a rifle shot which severely angered Xiuhcotai to the point of launching everyone away from it. Zack landed next to me and I got a brilliant idea.
"Zack, I need you to throw me at the Dragon as hard as you can, preferably its face" I said as I kept shooting at it.
"Alright, your funeral man" Zack said as he grabbed me by my torso and threw me like a javelin. I froze time and straightened out so that my feet would impact first. I pumped almost Half of my aura into my legs and kicked as hard as I could as I impacted Xiuhcotai, its facial armor letting out an audible cracking sound. I let time resume as I jumped off its face, and I quickly scurried away to not get savagely murdered by the ancient beast I just pissed off. Though time was normal speed no one moved, and that's when it happened.
*Crack... Crack... SHATTER*
It flailed violently as its facial armor broke and fell apart from its body. It took to the sky and simply hovered above the battlefield, hate pouring out of its eyes for a split second before it did something, well completely weird.
"I Yield. You Win" it said as it simply hovered in place.
"What do you mean win?" I asked confused.
"I Surrender. I live. I slumber. For many years, I am loyal" it said before flying to the Volcano and going inside, probably to sleep for another extended period of time. Everyone just kinda stood there dumbfounded by the recent turn of events.
"Did Alex just make friends with a Dragon Grimm?" Zack asked Sam to which she simply nodded.
"I need a vacation...and alcohol...and possibly getting laid..." I said as I picked up a piece of the Dragon's armor as every piece dissolved, except for this small shard in my hand.
"You alright Alex?" Violet asked me but I simply shouldered past her and started walking home.
"...Alex?" She called out again but I ignored her, I ignored the Grimm, I ignored everything, I was simply done. I walked past Qrow and Tai-Yang and continued to walk simply not caring. It was a very peaceful walk home, there's something liberating in not giving a Damn about anything.
Violet's POV
"...Alex?" I called out to him but he simply ignored me. I was going to run after him but Zack stopped me.
"Don't go after him, he has had a very long day." Zack said as we watched Alex shoulder past an Ursa Major to which it sat there utterly confused until Qrow cut its head off.
"But he's going to get himself killed, we have to go after him" I said as I pulled away from Zack and left him with Sam to watch the professionals at work. It may have been a long day, but we still have a lot left to go...
9:38p.m., home base, Alex's POV
"Alex, you in here?" I heard Blake call out from the other side of my door.
"Yeah, come on in" I said as I cracked open another beer. She walked in donned in her yukata and immediately flushed red before screaming as she turned around.
"WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES!?" She yelled at me shocked by my lack of said items.
"I'm in boxers so it's fine, besides, from what I've heard, you have seen more than this." I said with a gesture to myself. She turned around and was less flushed than before though her eyes were locked on my face, mainly the right side.
"You have done so much for us... Given up so much.. Why?" She asked, her eyes still locked on my scars.
*sighs* "I have no other choice, I can't leave since I have nowhere to go, and because I'll probably be hunted down by Adam or you. I'm stuck here, plain and simple, so Blake, what brings up this question?" I asked as I downed my the rest of my beer before grabbing another 2, one for me and one for her.
"Ah... Can you keep a secret?" She asked abnormally quiet, almost like a small child.
"Yeah, I have no reason to betray your trust." I said as I gestured for her to sit next to me and tossed her a beer.
"Well... I don't want to be here anymore. Adam isn't the man I once knew, he's a monster, he- I-" she began breaking down which was entirely out of character for her.
'Probably from watching someone she loved turn into a monster' I thought to myself as I pulled her into a hug.
"Blake, I'll help you escape. I have a mission before the train heist with you and Adam. I can provide cover fire from afar and, in the event he gets violent towards you, I'll act as a fleshy meat shield. You'll have the chance to start over and live the way you want to" I said as she sat up straight, slightly surprised by what I said.
"You'd throw your life away for me?" She said as her head tilted slightly
"One, It wouldn't be throwing it away since it was for a good cause, two, I don't die that easy. I have my semblance nearly under control. Though it feels as if something is missing... Anyway I got your back." I said with a smile which set her at ease.
"So how do you intend to help me escape without getting cut apart by an enraged bull?" She said with a witty smirk before sipping from her beer.
"We'll discuss that when it comes up, for now, just relax. If anything, I could use your escape to cover mine." I said with a minor slur since I've been drinking since a half past noon.
"Sounds good, so is this what you do all day?" She asked which made me sigh slightly.
"No, just after missions, I figure if I'm too drunk to walk, it'll help me forget about the blood I spilt." I said as I downed another beer. I reached for another but a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
"Alex, your destroying yourself like this. You have to talk to someone about this" Blake started but I cut her off
"Who gives a Damn, I'm just a soldier. I die and you'll have another 30 people in line for the same work." I spat out darkly, earning me a slap to the face.
"Don't you dare talk like that, people care about you and your life is too valuable for that kind of talk" she uttered out in a low voice
"What about those soldiers? What about the family they never get to see again because I cut their life short, because I decided to play god and decide who gets to continue living and who doesn't?" I asked with a more noticeable slur to my speech.
"You just live with it like the rest of us, it grows easier with time" she said quietly which made me laugh
"I don't think it works that way for me, I wasn't raised to be a murderer, I didn't want to choose this life." I said as I leaned back onto my bed
"And you think I was?" She yelled angrily at me
"No, you just have a better reason to kill than I do. These people didn't do anything to me, while they caused you a world of hurt." I said as I pulled the blankets up over me and turned away from her before closing my eyes, signaling that I was done with the conversation.
*sighs* "Good night Alex, sweet dreams and thank you for your help" Blake said before I felt something warm press against my cheek, then the door opened and closed signaling her exit.
Next day, Mess Hall, Violet's POV
"Have you seen Alex?" Zack asked me as we sat at a bench with our breakfast.
"No, why do you ask?" I questioned since I was genuinely curious about it.
"I have to train him in more hand to hand before his next assignment so I might as well start now." Zack said rather passive about it before his rabbit ears twitched as if he heard something.
"I advise you get down" Zack said as he dove under the table, I was about to question why until the doors burst open. There was Alex, standing in the doorway wrapped in a blanket holding an empty coffee mug.
"Coffee, need coffee" he mumbled half asleep, and possibly half dead from the definite hangover he has. He stumbled towards the coffee maker until LT decided to be a dick and trip him. Alex stood up with a look of death in his eyes. Alex then appeared at the coffee maker almost instantly, while LT was on the ground sobbing, holding inbetween his legs.
"Did he just..?" I began asking Zack to which he nodded as he sat back at the table.
"He just kicked him in the jewels, really fucking hard. Not cool but LT deserved it, you don't mess with a man and his coffee. Especially when he's hungover." He said with a gesture to LT'S pathetic form on the ground.
"Yeah.. I think you should hold off on the Hand-to-Hand combat training for a bit" I said as I watched Alex nearly pour some coffee before stopping himself and taking the entire pot of coffee with him.
"I'll wait one hour, then I couldn't give a shit less about his hangover" Zack said as he set a timer on his scroll. We watched Alex stumble towards our table as he chugged his coffee.
"I need one of you to shoot me in the face" Alex said as he flopped unceremoniously onto the bench with his now half empty pot of coffee.
"It's what you get for drinking from noon to almost ten at night. I didn't even know you had that much alcohol in your room" Zack said with an amused smirk on his face before he grabbed an airhorn from under the table and blasted it near Alex's head. It hurts my ears pretty badly but Alex looked like his brain imploded before he faceplanted into the table.
"I hate you so god Damn much right now" Alex told Zack with his face still firmly planted on the table, which earned a yell of agreement from everyone, even me.
"Oh you know you love me, by the way, you might want to hurry up, I got you for combat training in about an hour" Zack said with before leaving the table. Alex groaned and looked at me with puppy dog eyes
"I will pay you in both lien and blood if you hide me for the day" he said miserably from the dent he made in the table.
"Hmmmm Nope! I wanna see you kick some ass" I said happily as I stood from the table and grabbed his arm to teleport him to his room.
*FWOOOSHH*
"I hate when you do that *gags* and so does my stomach" Alex said while looking a little green around the gills
"You'll be fineee, now get dressed, I want to see you kick some ass!" I said happily before teleporting away to the training room to wait for Alex..
One hour later, training room, Alex's POV
As I walked into the training room in some basic workout gear (compression shirt and gym shorts), I was met with a very unpleasant-
"Hello!" Zack yelled rather loudly, furthering the migraine I had from the fresh hell known as a hangover
"I hope you break your dick next time you have sex" I muttered venomously at the smiling rabbit man.
"Anyway... Today I will be teaching you how to fight hand to hand. Now, I want you to assume a basic boxing stance and try to hit me." Zack said as he brought his hands up in a mock guard that one would call a bastardized boxing stance. I sprinted towards him and quickly struck with a left hook that he simply moved away from, forcing me to over-extend and subsequently get thrown across the room.
"You'll have to try way harder than that to hit me" he said in a encouraging voice that had far too much sarcasm laced into it for it to be healthy. I got up and ran towards him again and repeated the same exact move hoping for the same result. As I over-extended, he grabbed my arm again to throw me again, exactly what I wanted. As he began swinging me past him, I lashed my leg out into his stomach, making him stop the throw as he slid back a few feet.
"Maybe I should be teaching you a kick based style because your legs are pretty Damn strong." Zack said as he straightened up and gestured for me to walk over to the punching bag he had set up. I walked over to the bag with Zack in tow and saw Violet sneaking up on me out of the corner of my eye. I felt her appear behind me and I stopped time to move to the right before resuming time, causing her to tackle the air instead of me. She hit the ground face first with a pained yelp before standing up and looking at me with a sad face.
"Why'd you move? Hitting the ground hurt." She said with a pout before turning away. I ignored her behavior and got into a fighting stance in front of the punching bag upon Zack's command.
"Now, I want you to kick the bag with your right leg then left leg as fast as you can for 10 total cycles. Ready, begin!" Zack yelled, causing me to lash out extremely quickly against the bag.
*smack* *smack* "1!" Zack called out as I continued
*smack* *smack* "2!"
*smack* *smack* "3!"
*smack* *smack* "4! Keep it up!"
*smack* *smack* "5!"
*smack* *smack* "6!"
*smack* *smack* "7!"
*smack* *smack* "8! Almost done!"
*smack* *smack* "9! Just one more!"
*smack* *smack* "10! All don-"
*THUD*
"Damn, you broke the bag man. I'd say you're ready for some live practice." Zack said as he sent a message on his scroll.
"Like *pant* hell I *pant* am" I said hunched over in a futile attempt to catch my breath.
"You're usually not this winded, you alright?" Violet asked from the rafters above, concerned about my health.
"Kicks take more energy to use but they have longer range and are capable of more power. Alex here, isn't used to kicks quite yet so it'll take some live practice to fix that." Zack said as the doors to the training room opened, revealing at least ten white fang soldiers.
"Sup boss, you called for us?" One of the soldiers asked Zack, with an accent that reminded me of New Jersey.
"Yes I did, you're all going to help me train Alex here in hand to hand. Worst hand to hand fighter first in line, best in back. You see where I'm going with this right?" He asked his men, to receive collective nods. "Well then, HOP TO IT!" Zack yelled, setting his men immediately into motion.
"The rank are not the brightest in the bunch are they?" I asked Violet as she teleported next to me.
"They are not at all, but they still know more hand to hand than you so make of that what you will" Zack said which made me realize how little I knew in the field of punching and kicking things. The first guy in line was much shorter than me, and just as skinny. He took up a marital arts stance and gestured for me to attack him.
I sprinted towards the small man and stopped just inside my kicking range before planting my foot directly into his stomach. He gave out a small wheeze before grabbing my leg and pulling me towards him with the intention of clotheslining me. I slid under his arm as he stuck it out before sweeping his legs out from under him and slamming his head into the pavement.
"Well done Alex! Next!" Zack called out, alerting me to the big solder running up to me on my blindside. I kicked the big man square in the face, only for him to shrug it off and punch me hard enough to launch me into the wall, ending the fight due to me being stuck.
"That went a bit worse than I expected, but you'll get better. We'll try this test again in a week, in the meantime, keep practicing. You're all dismissed" Zack said as he walked away with the soldiers just meandering about until it was just me and Violet left.
"You good?" Violet asked me as she pulled me out of the wall.
"Everything's good with the exception of my pride, that's destroyed" I said as I walked over to the punching bag Zack had set up before I broke it. I grabbed its chain before setting it back up, then I started beating on the thing with a variety of punches and kicks in order to train myself more.
"Dont you think you've trained enough for today Alex?" Violet asked me as I preformed, albeit rather sloppily, a roundhouse kick.
"No, I need to keep working if I'm going to be any good at hand to hand. Besides, what would I do if I got separated from my weapons?" I asked as I hit the bag with 3 left hooks before adding a right cross immediately after. I saw her shrug and sigh slightly out of the corner of my eye before she teleported to god knows where. I wiped the sweat off my face before resuming my onslaught on the bag...
1 month later, Alex's POV, aboard a Bullhead heading to an unknown location.
"So what's up Sammy, there has to be a reason for us flying towards Vale" I said as I checked over all the gear I apparently 'had' to bring. She sighed as she took off her helmet, revealing just how long her blonde hair has gotten, falling well past her shoulders.
"Assignment, we're grabbing something called the "sarcophagus". Supposedly, it's designed to power a military class structure for decades. Before you ask, the source is legit, I dug it out of the info we stole from that rig myself." She said which made me nod my head
"Which is why you had me bring all of my weapons, right?" I asked which made her smile and nod. I looked at all of my gear and realized just how much stuff I had. 2 high powered rifles, 1 smg, a pistol, 2 combat knives, and enough ammo to supply a squad of soldiers. I sighed as I grabbed my Barrett, Scorpion, Socom, knives and respective ammo for each.
'Something big is going to happen, I can feel it' I thought to myself as we deployed in an ally near our target building.
A/N: IT'S DONEE! And I am so so sorry about being so behind on updates. On that topic, my football career is over so that means I'll have more time for typing this beauty. special thanks to Secret confusion for helping me proofread. Later peeps and hopefully, it won't take me another few months to update.