ARC KNIGHT
NIGHT 09
JAUNE ARC AND THE CURIOUS CAT
-o-
"Do you know who I am?" He spat, pulling at the rope binding him to the chair.
"Nothing."
The older man was put off by this response. It was the first time he had heard his captor speak, and the voice sounded... Wrong. Like a pre-recorded message, or a speech help tape.
"Whoever- You were- it doesn't matter anymore. You are- Nothing here." The cut up audio reverberated off the walls, echoing through the dim room.
"Now-" The glossy black motorcycle helmet revealed no emotion as he washed his hands in the sink, the blood mixing with the water before being sucked down the drain.
"Do you know what time it is?"
ARC KNIGHT
"This is lame." I groaned. "My plan was so much better."
"Explosions don't make plans better."
"Wrong. Explosions make everything better."
Beauty shushed me as we approached a little old lady chilling on a bench, feeding birds.
I'm craving seeds. That's not weird, is it? This mask is totally cursed.
"Hello, ma'am." Beauty greeted politely, causing the woman to look up.
Her eyes darted from Beauty to me, then back to Beauty.
Several seconds went by, and I began to get worried. Was she alright? Did she have a medical condition? What if she's having a heart attack?!
"Cosplayers?"
Wat.
"Excuse me?" Beauty asked, momentarily put off. I didn't blame her. This was the third person out of six that hasn't run off screaming in terror, and that was the first thing she said? Cosplayers?
"Cosplayers. That's what you kids call yerselves these days, ey?" She threw another handful of seeds onto the cobble. "Buncha weirdos 's what I calls you I do."
"No," Beauty protested, shaking off her surprise and holding out her sketch. "We were just looking for a friend that's gone missing. Have you seen him?"
The old lady leaned close to the picture, squinting at it. "I don' think I have."
"Are you sure?" I asked. This was a very boring method of searching for the kid, and I wanted to be sure.
She woman seemed to notice exactly what I was wearing for the first time, and her squint of death was suddenly directed at me.
"You're an ugly one, 'aint you?" She observed after a moment. "Hidin' yo' face."
And now I'm being unprovokedly bullied by a grandmother. Everyone wants a slice of Jaune.
"Well you're a very… Prune-y old lady." I shot back, trying to save my wounded pride.
She 'hmph'-ed in disapproval, before sitting back and throwing another handful of seeds out.
"This is stupid. Why would he come back here when others could be looking for him like we are?" I complained, shoving my hands into my pockets as we strolled through the crowded square.
"You're right, we should just go with your plan. We just have to find a few military grade rocket propelled grenades and a tank." She agreed.
"That sounds dangerous."
"It was your plan, and it was sarcasm."
"Was it? It sounds unusually stupid and dangerous..." I paused mid step. "So it was."
Eventually, we came to a stop at a line of caution tape that was strung across most of the street, connecting several vacant stands together.
"A normal person would turn back." I said, peering over the tape.
Beauty ducked under the tape, completely disregarding the law. "Good thing we're dressed like freaks."
"Wait!" I called after her in a loud whisper. People had yet to take notice to the cosplayers crossing into the crime scene. "If we do this, we're law-breaking heroes! That's the worst kind!"
She seemed to not have heard me, instead venturing further into the area I was specifically begging her not to go into.
After a moment of internal debate, I ducked under the tape after her.
ARC KNIGHT
"Hello!"
The man stiffened at the loud greeting, before waiting for the voice to continue.
"Boss's wondering if you've found the kid yet."
"Negative."
An annoyed sigh came from the other end. "Well hurry it up. He might be selling our secrets as we speak." The line went dead.
Quickly replacing his gloves, the man took a second to admire his handy work before leaving the room, as well as the body.
ARC KNIGHT
"Wait up!" I quietly shouted, broken glass crunching under my feet as I jogged after the cat faunus.
The girl in question had stopped at a destroyed wooden stand, and was now picking through the wreckage carefully with a hand.
I watched her for a few seconds, before losing my patience.
"What are you doing?"
She glanced up at me, before going back to digging through the debris. "I'm looking for clues."
"Of course." I nodded, pretending to understand why there would be clues in a collapsed stand.
Absently, I wondered what had knocked the stand down in the first place. Besides a few broken pieces, it looked like it had just fallen apart. Maybe it was old?
Suddenly, her hand came out of the pile of crap with something shiny in hand.
"It's a bullet." I said dumbly. I knew there had been shooting, and she knew there had been shooting, so why was this important? It was like trying to solve a mystery novel after knowing who did it and how. Who cares how you figured it out?
"It's a high caliber bullet that was fired from a sniper rifle." She explained patiently, as if it were obvious.
"So if we find where the sniper was, we might find some clues on what the Savants want with him?" I finished, understanding what she meant. Eventually.
That's impressive.
Only…
"How do we find where the bullet was fired from if it was just lying on the ground?" I asked, seeing realization dawn on her too.
Suddenly, she started fumbling for her scroll.
"Are you calling your super secret contacts to deliver a Crime Scene Reconstruction Module?" I asked, getting excited. I once wanted to be a detective, for about a week, and it was my dream to have a CSRM, just like the one used in issue #56 of Inspecteur Simmons. It's a french comic about a Cyborg Detective. Mhm.
She unfolded the device, turning to show me a frozen frame image from the news clip she had shown me this morning.
"There." She pointed to a laser.
I studied the laser for a good thirty seconds, before a huge smile crept onto my face under the mask.
"Is it a cat thing?"
She seemed surprised. "Cat thing?"
I nodded. "Yeah. You know, little red dot. Sworn enemies?"
A contemplative atmosphere formed around her, as she tried to make sense of my words, before contemplative turned murderous.
"There." She pointed to a different location on the screen, and I realized it was where the laser was coming from.
Ooooooh.
I quickly shuffled out of her bubble.
"Let's never talk about this again?" I suggested, a sheepish grin on my face.
It withered and died under her silent glare.
ARC KNIGHT
"I… Need to get a grappling hook… Or something…" I wheezed, hauling myself over the parapet and flopping weakly onto the rooftop.
Beauty stared down at me disapprovingly, as if I was something she had stepped in. "Why are you so out of shape?"
"I… Uh…" I struggled to think of an excuse. My brain was as deprived of oxygen as the rest of me. "I recently had… Lung surgery… On my lungs."
Her gaze softened. "Right. I didn't mean any offence."
I accepted her apology and her hand, allowing her to help me to my feet.
God, Jaune. You're such a dick!
Shut up, me.
"This is a pretty small roof." I observed, my eyes sweeping across the building top. "Should be hard to miss anything."
Beauty nodded in agreement as she perched herself up on the parapet. She seemed lost in thought, staring out over the marketing square.
I was about to drop a smooth line asking what she was thinking about, something slick like 'A penny for your thoughts?' when a glint of light caught my eye. Shiny.
"There." I pointed, already moving towards the hypnotizing light. It was just so… Shiny… I love shiny things.
Beauty trailed after me, and I picked the object off of the floor before she could steal my treasure.
"It's a bullet casing." I sighed. I thought it was a quarter. I love quarters. Come to think of it, I love a lot of things. Cereal, Quarters, Shiny things, and the color yellow.
"Look at this."
I turned around to find Beauty crouched in front of one of the AC units, reaching under it for something.
She suddenly stood up and spun to me, holding a piece of laminated paper in her hands.
She passed it to me after a moment, allowing me to see what was on it.
A picture of a coppery-blonde kid covered most of it, a surprised look on his face as he looked over his shoulder at the camera with two amber eyes.
PHAETHON
This little shit was playing both sides, selling information not only to us but to the Forgers. Take him out before he gives away any more of our secrets.
PS. - Lose this sheet and I'll gut you myself.
"Charming." I commented as it began to rain. I stashed the sheet in my cloak. "And exactly what we were looking for. But what other secrets do you think they're talking about?"
Beauty shrugged. "Smuggling operations, gang hideouts, that kind of thing I guess."
"That's a pretty fake sounding name."
"Seriously?" She asked, dumbfounded.
Suddenly, sparks flew as my cloak pressed against my body, protecting me against an unseen attacker.
Acting faster than I thought I knew how, I darted forwards and held the edge of my cape up like a shield, protecting both Beauty and I from the barrage of slicing attacks from an invisible sword. Peering over the cape, I could see an outline on the other side of the roof, their arms twitching around as more gashes appeared on the wall of the rooftop entrance and the floor of the roof itself.
"What the hell?" I muttered, my mind taking in the details faster than anyone who knew me would have expected. I was also wondering what the actual hell was going on.
Beauty poked her head out to the side, and quickly retreated back behind my cape-shield as the AC unit behind her had a corner sliced off.
ARC KNIGHT
Sorry for the random ARC KNIGHT thing, but this is where the chapter was going to end when I said "Fuck it! Let's keep going!"
"Arc!" I felt a surge of panic before quickly remembering that that was one of my six vigilante nicknames. The other five were Raven, Freak, Douchebag, Clumsy, and Are-You-Kidding-Me?.
Beauty had crouched behind my cape and under my arm, and I had no doubt that she could smell my Schnee-Brand Deodorant, for when the going gets tough, remember that women like edgy men. Or something.
I wanted to ask "What?", but with the vibrations running through my body every time one of the unseen weapons hit my cloak-shield, my teeth rattled together. If I opened my mouth again, I was probably going to bite my own tongue off.
Instead, I did a little grunt/hum thing.
She looked up at me, with an expression that said 'really?' before continuing.
"I'm not sure if you can see it in the dark, but there are wires flying around." She sounded very calm, which made me feel uncomfortable. She seemed to be putting a bit too much trust in the cloak I had made with sewing skills I learned from my mother several years ago and several months of allowance.
Wait.
Wires?
I tried to signal that I was confused, before remembering that I probably always looked like that. I instead waited for her to elaborate.
She stared at me for a second, before sighing. "Dust infused wires. They are razor sharp, and each one leads back to the figure on the other side of the roof."
I tried to project a question using telekinesis. If you have night vision, why can't you see who the figure is?.
I'm fairly sure my message didn't get through.
"Basically," She peeked around our makeshift cover, only to duck back in just as quickly as a long gash tore itself past her. "If he can't see us, he can't hurt us. Unless he has a military grade rocket propelled grenade launcher. Or a tank."
Please don't say things like that! I telekinetically begged. Or else a tank is going to fall out of the sky and land on me.
After another second, I realized just how badass of a way to go that would be.
"You got a plan?" I risked a question, drawing my tongue as far back into my mouth as it would go.
Beauty looked thoughtful.
"Nope."
We're boned.
ARC KNIGHT
"Ozz-gpin."
The headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin, looked up from his paperwork.
"It's you." Ozpin observed calmly. "The urban legends tipped me off. I've been expecting you."
He gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk, as well as the second mug of coffee that sat in front of it on the edge of the desk.
"Please, sit."
The man complied, removing his headwear and sitting back in the comfortable seat.
"It's been a while, after all. Let's talk, shall we?"
ARC KNIGHT
"This is why I make the plans." Beauty groaned as a wire brushed across my mask, leaving a thin line in the… Bone- Damnit. I was just getting comfortable wearing it, and then I… Never mind. "You're going to get us killed."
We were advancing on the wielder of the seriously overpowered weapon, and the wires were now connecting on all sides of my cloak, causing bright sparks to fly and cast shimmers of light across the previously invisible wire.
This unfortunately meant that the cape was now serving as less of a shield and more of a suit of armor. Beauty was probably close enough to smell my lunch, my lack of faith in this plan, and my fear.
"I've gotten us this far." I goaded. It was true that we had crossed most of the roof now, and were almost close enough to pop out and kick the crap out of our would-be murderer. "Besides, when you really think about it, you could honestly consider this a bonding experience."
"One that we will never speak of again."
Ouch.
"Alright," I began, ignoring the dig. "We're almost there. On my mark, you go left and I'll go right. You attack him, and I'll try to attack him."
She nodded, and I began counting the distance from him in my head.
One mississippi.
That's not a unit of measurement.
Two mississippi.
Seriously. Stop.
Three mississippi.
You're really doing this?
Four mississippi.
There has to be a better plan, other Jaune!
Five mississippi.
Man your battle stations, men!
Six mississippi…
...Nvm, brace for failure.
"Now!" I called, spinning away from the annoyed Vigilantess and unintentionally causing the cloak to fan out behind me like a blade as I twirled.
The sound of invisible wires snapping filled my ears, along with the sound of them whipping out of control and cutting into random objects like before.
Nice one, Jaune!
I'm trying to focus, me! Shhh!
I rushed towards the figure, only to trip over the flat surface of the concrete.
You messed me up, Jaune!
I'm sorry!
Without warning, something slammed into my side, and was followed by a surprised noise as a knee drove into the side of my rising head. My aura protected me, but it still hurt when the second boot crunched down on my back while Beauty no doubt tried to steady herself.
"Arc! What are you doing!" Was the last thing she said before she face-planted beside me.
Several thoughts passed through my mind in the blink of an eye as the two boots in front of us slowly and melodiously advanced. As hard as I tried, I failed to crane my neck up further than the knee pads.
Leave it to me to screw up the perfect plan.
Then again, it was my plan.
I had a right to screw it up.
We're going to die.
ARC KNIGHT
Bam! Cliffhanger!
As much as I screwed with your minds here, I really haven't decided on any ships. While huddling together behind a makeshift cover while someone tries to murder you might seem romantic to some…
...Eh-, It's really not.
Anyways, I've got some resemblance of a plot planned out, I'm still winging the dialogue minus a few quotes. Don't get me wrong, the three beginning quarters of the chapter was random as hell, but I'm working on it. I got a story board and shit.
I'm also increasing the length of chapters (At least until I'm done with a few… Special ones… I love the holidays.) so that I can get to a little mini-chapter-arc thing I wanted to do for Halloween. I was gonna make a clever reference to one of my top five heroes and DLC, and it would be cool, but I'm not sure people would get it. He's rather inFamous after all.
Anyways… What else? Beauty- Er, Blake now has a character tag as she's in most chapters as it is… New sexy profile picture… Yeah, I've got nothing.
WAIT! Yeah I do! Can you guess what the antagonist from the first paragraph's method of communication is inspired by?
See yah.