Awww yes, chapter double digits, everybody! Also! It's super friggin cold right now and my fingers are freezing as I'm typing this :') Colorado is the worst. At least we have weed... Not saying that I smoke weed... *suspicious side glance* Yeah, totally...
Anyway! For those who might have not picked it up yet, last chapter I finally introduced the other Soul Calibur character :P So no need to guess anymore at this point, you guys can figure out now. I've actually received some...*cough* interesting PM's regarding my decision. And if THAT was the response...then I guess my goal of pissing off everybody was a success XD Woohoo!
But with all of that said and done, let's move on to the next chapter! (Also I need to find some mittens or something because I'm pretty sure my fingers aren't supposed to be this shade of blue...)
...
She was definitely more impressive than her previous model, General Ironwood noted.
The training simulation this new Penny was being put through was designed to overpower even the most seasoned of hunters, not even Winter herself was able to clear it. But yet this artificial girl, powered by a shard of Soul Edge itself, was passing with flying colors.
A smile formed on the general's face as Penny sliced through an ursa major, its black body dissolving into numerous bits of data. Penny grinned as she flipped over a beowolf that was meaning to take her head off. Her swords formed into the shape of a buzz saw, and she sent it hurling towards the data-grimm. The grimm howled as its body was shredded to bits, and the swords came flying back to the young robot as she delivered a harsh kick to a boarbatusk, causing it to flip over onto its back. The swords returned to Penny, and she drove two of them through the boarbatusk's exposed stomach.
Ironwood glanced at the timer above him. It had just passed the two minute mark. His eyes widened slightly as they shifted from the timer to the training simulation, back and forth. The training simulation contained seven waves of enemies, and the most successful hunters in it have been able to complete five out of seven, each wave taking roughly a minute and a half.
This was Penny's sixth wave in just two minutes.
"Unbelievable," he heard the scientist to his left murmur. "At this rate, she could easily become the most powerful hunter of this generation!"
"She might already be," Ironwood corrected. "End the simulation. I've seen enough."
The scientist blinked. "But sir-"
"I said end it." Ironwood repeated.
The scientist gulped and nodded, shutting off the simulation. The deathstalker Penny was about to strike down vanished into thin air, much to the confusion of the android. She glanced up towards the window Ironwood and the scientist stood behind, and a look of worry flashed across her face. She returned her swords to her backpack and waited as Ironwood disappeared from sighting, heading down the stairs towards the entrance of the simulation chamber.
The doors opened and Ironwood stepped inside. Penny shuffled her feet and glanced away from the general. "Did...Did I do something wrong, sir?" she asked nervously.
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and she glanced up to see the general's smiling face. "Of course not, Penny," he assured her. "You performed wonderfully, better than any of us could have anticipated. You made us all very proud."
Penny beamed, her posture immediately straightening as she saluted. "I try my best, sir!"
Ironwood couldn't help but chuckle as he patted the girl's head. "Go take a break," he ordered. "You've earned it, and I know your father is looking forward to spending more time with you."
"Yes sir!" Penny exclaimed as she skipped away. However, she paused and glanced back at the general. "Um...Mr. Ironwood?"
"Yes?" Ironwood asked, approaching her.
"Do you..." Penny paused for a moment, hesitating. "Do you know a girl named...Ruby?"
Ironwood blinked. "Why do you ask?" he wondered.
Penny shook her head. "No reason," she said, hiccuping soon after. "Never mind, it's nothing." Another hiccup. "Bye, Mr. Ironwood!" And with that, she continued skipping away.
Ironwood frowned as he made his way back up the stairs, stopping when he saw the scientist furiously scribbling notes. "Do you mind telling me what that was about?" he asked, chewing on to end of his pen.
"She seems to be remembering her past life," Ironwood explained. "She asked me about a girl named Ruby, a friend her first model made during the Vytal Festival."
"How is that even possible?"
Ironwood shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Perhaps a side effect of having Soul Edge inside her? There's still so much we don't know about it."
The scientist nodded. "Perhaps," he muttered, before changing the subject. "Oh, and the bullhead you requested earlier has arrived, it's waiting outside."
"Thank you," said Ironwood as he began to make his leave.
"If you don't mind me asking, general," the scientist pressed on. "Where are you going? To see Mr. Schnee again?"
The general shook his head. "I'm heading to Patch, outside of Vale," he clarified. "I'm paying someone a visit."
The scientist nodded, before returning to his notes. "We'll be waiting for you, then," he called over his shoulder.
Ironwood nodded and walked out, clasping his hands behind his back. 'I wonder how she's handling that new arm of hers?' he thought.
...
Professor Umber, the headmistress of Haven Academy, was a woman who was apparently supposed to be in her mid fifties, but she still looked like a beautiful model still in her early twenties. She had light brown hair that was in a boy cut, chocolate colored skin, and a bust that would've made Yang Xiao Long jealous. However, one shouldn't assume her character based on looks alone. Similar to Glynda Goodwitch, she was a stern, hardworking woman with no appreciation for funny business.
And this...This is something she considered funny business.
Rubbing her temples, she glared at the two faunus in front of her in annoyance. "So let me get this straight," she hissed. "Not only am I holding a destructive terrorist in my academy, but apparently there's a madman with a mystical sword on a boat who is coming here to kill us?"
Sun Wukong nodded and smacked his lips together. "Yeah...That about sums it up," he muttered.
Umber raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing their tale. "And you wish for me to prepare my students for battle?" she questioned.
"Ma'am, I know this sounds crazy-" Blake Belladonna began.
"Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it," Umber interrupted.
"-but we swear it's the truth!" Blake continued. "My friends and I witnessed it with our own eyes!"
"Multiple teenagers claiming to see something is hardly a compelling case," the headmistress pointed out. "I believe we are done here."
"Wait!" Sun protested, taking a step forward. "Professor Umber, would you at least come see our friends in the hospital? They'll tell you everything that happened!"
Umber seemed to almost consider it, but she simply dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "Mr. Wukong, you've always had a thing for jokes," she said. "But this one is beginning to annoy me. You're dismissed."
"But..." Sun turned to Blake, looking down. "Sorry, Blake. I don't think we can convince her."
Blake didn't say anything to Sun. Instead, she stepped forward and placed her hands on Umber's desk. The old woman glanced up from her paperwork, clearly not happy with the cat faunus's actions.
"Miss Belladonna-"
"Do you have a student named Cinder Fall listed in your records?" she asked.
Umber sighed. "I know of a student by that name, yes."
"But does she show up on your records?" Blake repeated. "Does she have transcripts? Any family? Anything that proves her to be who she says she is? And her team, too?"
Umber's eyes narrowed. "Where are you going with this, Miss Belladonna?"
"Remember Mercury Black?" Blake asked. "The student who was injured by Yang Xiao Long? My friend Ruby claims he was just fine the very next night, and that he attacked her. She also claims that Cinder Fall killed another student, Pyrrha Nikos. Now, if we were to ask, could we see if the students know of these people?"
"..." Umber remained silent, before sighing. "Mr. Black made a full recovery thanks to his aura-"
"Just come with us to the hospital, dammit!" Blake growled. "My friends are in danger and it's the fault of those people! It's the fault of Nightmare!" Tears began to form in her eyes. "I lost Yang because of Cinder and her goons, Jaune lost Pyrrha because of her, and now we lost Jaune because of Nightmare! JUST FUCKING COME TO THE HOSPITAL!"
"Blake!" Sun cried, yanking his friend back. "Calm down!"
Blake was shaking, but she slowly began to calm down. "I'm sorry, Sun," she murmured. "I don't know what came over me...I guess I'm just sick of this..." She turned around and began leading him away. "Let's get out of here, we'll end this ourselves."
"Wait!" Umber called. The two turned around, curious. The headmistress sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll accompany you to the hospital," she stated. "But that's it."
"Really?" Sun asked, before he broke into a grin. "Thank you, Professor Umber, thank you!"
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Mr. Wukong," Umber said as she reached for her coat. "I'm still not completely on board with this strange story of yours."
"Then why come with us..?" Blake wondered.
Umber paused for a moment, before she sighed sadly. "Because that's what Ozpin would do," she whispered. "But enough about that, which hospital is this?"
"St. Plum's," said Blake. "It's about a five minute bullhead ride from here."
"Hm. Well then, lead the way, Miss Belladonna."
...
Adam didn't like Vacuo. Despite its general acceptance of faunus, the land itself was unbearable. The endless sand, the scorching heat, the lack of water... Truly, this was a place only meant for those with an undying will to survive.
Despite his hatred for this slightly backwards kingdom, he couldn't help but admire its citizens' unwavering capability for survival.
He was here because there was something Sienna Khan, the leader of the White Fang. was looking for. Apparently, there was some sort of 'treasure' or something hidden within the harsh desert caves of Vacuo, a treasure that Sienna claimed would prove to be the ultimate tool for the faunus' fight for freedom. However, all attempts to find this treasure have failed, most either dying on the journey or simply returning empty handed and thirsting.
Sienna Khan was not happy with this lack of progress, and she thus ordered Adam to take on the task. Considering how Adam was such a skilled asset to the terrorist group, she came to the conclusion that the bull faunus would be able to pull it off.
"I will not fail you," Adam had said.
So now here he was, standing in front of a tunnel in the middle of the desert, which he hoped contained whatever relic Sienna was looking for. He peered into the gaping hole in front of him, almost surprised by how dark it was. In a kingdom where the sun constantly beat the earth with light, he never would've expected to see something so black, so ominous. Part of him almost wanted to leave, to turn around and tell Sienna that he hadn't found any trace of the relic. But at the same time, something inside the hole called to him, urging him to find it.
"Boss?" a voice broke through his thoughts. Adam turned and faced one of his higher ranking soldiers, a rabbit faunus named Perry.
"It's nothing," Adam said. "Let's just hurry up and get this over with." He turned to face the rest of his men, fifteen in total. "Listen up, whatever Sienna Khan wants is in here, and it's our job to get it. We've worked hard to make it this far, we better not return empty handed." He pointed to a larger soldier. "Graz, lead a small group in there first, scout ahead for us. We'll be right behind you."
Graz nodded, and he gruffly ordered four other soldiers to follow him. Without hesitation, they jumped inside the hole, swallowed by the abyss. After about a minute, Adam heard Graz's voice in the radio in his ear. "We're in, boss," he informed. "There's a single path here, nothing much to see. Wherever this leads, it's man made. This could be what we're looking for!"
"Roger that," Adam responded. "We'll be right after you guys." He turned to the rest of his group. "Alright, we're going in!"
Suddenly a loud blast of static sounded in Adam's ear, and he painfully groaned.
"Boss!' Graz's frantic voice could be heard. "W-We're not alone in here!"
A feral cackling could be heard, followed by a beastly snarl.
"G-Get away from me!" Graz screamed, his voice full of fear. "Stay back! STAY BACK!"
Adam heard something hit hard against Graz, and the sound of tearing flesh echoed through the radio.
"NO! NO!" Graz cried. "HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME-AGHHHHH!"
"Graz?!" Adam hissed. "Graz, do you copy?!"
Silence, save for the sound of grinding bone, followed by a satisfied hum.
"Shit!" Adam cursed, before addressing the other White Fang members. "Something down there got our men," he told them. "And whatever it is, it needs to be stopped. New mission: Go down there, find that thing, and kill it."
The soldiers nodded nervously, and they followed Adam as he jumped down into the gaping blackness.
Upon landing, Adam immediately saw the pathway Graz had been talking about. He glanced behind him and saw his men readying their weapons. Adam's hand found its way to the handle of Wilt, and he cautiously began leading his men down the eerie path.
He could hear it, scurrying around them. But every time he glanced at the direction he though it was, he would only see a glimpse of it, before it disappeared. His men could sense it too, and they instinctively huddled closer as they neared the end of the path.
The end of the path formed a small, circular room, littered with human bones. Apparently Graz and his squad weren't the first victims...
Speaking of which...
"Boss..." Perry murmured, pointing to the left of the group.
Adam and the others followed his finger, and froze. In a large pile were the remains of the White Fang scouts. Most were torn to shreds, half eaten and half clawed. Graz laid on top of the rest, his stomach torn open and most of his organs scattered about, vicious bite marks on all of them.
"What the hell did this to them?" a soldier towards the back muttered.
Adam didn't answer, instead just sniffing the air to catch the creature's scent. However, his superior sense of smell failed him as the stench was everywhere, and was thus impossible to pinpoint. 'Dammit,' he thought. 'Whatever it was, it's pretty damn sneaky to trick us faunus like this.'
Now, he held up a hand to signal for his men to remain silent. They obeyed, and everyone strained their ears for any sound, any sign that the creature was around them. However, there was nothing. Nothing except the stench of blood and rotting flesh.
"Boss!" Perry then exclaimed, startling everyone. They all glared at him, but he pointed ahead and ignored them. "Look!"
They turned around to see what he was pointing at. Indented into the wall was a small hole, and inside that hole was a gleaming object, that seemed to shimmer with beauty.
"Is that the relic?" A boar faunus next to Adam asked.
Adam once again didn't answer, slowly approaching the relic with caution. This was it, he decided. This was what had called out to him, this is what he came here for...
He gently lifted it out of the small hole, inspecting it closely. Then he frowned. "What is this?" he growled.
It was a shard. A shard that looked like it came off a broken sword. This was it?! This was supposed to save the White Fang and all faunus-kind? A scrap of fucking metal?!
"Are you kidding me?!" he roared. "We traveled all of this way, lost our brothers, all for a stupid piece of scrap metal?!"
And then that's when he heard it.
The growls.
And before he could turn around, he heard his men cry out as something jumped them, already making short work of them all.
Whipping around and drawing out Wilt, he finally saw the creature. It was holding Perry by the neck, choking the rabbit faunus with one powerful grip.
Adam immediately shot a bullet from Blush at the creature, but his eyes widened in shock as the projectile harmlessly bounced off the creature's scaly hide. The creature still noticed it, however, and it dropped Perry to face the bull faunus. The creature was a monstrosity. It was a humanoid lizard like creature, with dull yellow scales and black markings all over it. It's long tail swished over the sand, creating a dust cloud behind it. It wore an armored breastplate, with arm bands and shin guards. It almost appeared to be an ancient warrior, if it wasn't for its beastly appearance.
The creature seemed to grin, as if sensing something in Adam. Then, it stood up straighter, almost abandoning its animal crouch but not fully. It then reached behind it, and pulled out a duel set of hand axes, coated in blood. The creature licked its lips and began circling around Adam, and the bull faunus readied himself for a vicious battle.
Then the creature, Lizardman, let out a fierce screech before charging.
...
Aw yiss, I added a THIRD Soul Calibur character, and it just so happens to be Lizardman, aka the second creepiest motherf*cker in the games :P Added him last minute, to tell the truth. I thought it would be nice to have Adam battle something instead of just getting a hold of the "relic" and it all ends like that. NOPE!
Anyway, I know there are a few of you who are probably REALLY pissed at me due to the lack of Nightmare battling like a boss, but you gotta understand something. This isn't just a story about Nightmare. Because really, it's still a RWBY fanfic, and thus takes place in the RWBY universe and settles around the RWBY characters. While Nightmare is a major focus in this story, it isn't just a story about him killing Cinder or whatever. Nightmare's presence is going to be felt all throughout Remnant. That's why I'm focusing on other plot lines right now. All of Remnant is involved in this. From Penny wielding a piece of Soul Edge to Adam fighting the friggin Lizardman. It's all leading up to something much bigger, because Nightmare fights on a level that shakes the whole world! So I hope this sorta makes you less mad at me.
Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!
(And yes I did make Sienna Khan female. The name 'Sienna' just strikes me as feminine... A female tiger faunus!)