RWBY: Son of Qrow Branwen
Liam's POV, Goodwitch's classroom, the next day
I stood in front of Annie, my fists at the ready.
She took a few steps to the side before rushing me with a right hook. I pushed her arm away and quickly countered with a straight jab, hitting her jaw and causing her to stumble back.
She regained her stance and we slowly started to circle each other.
I ran at her and threw a left cross which she ducked under. She tried to land an uppercut but I jumped back before lunging forward with a knee to her hip. She stumbled back a few feet before running at me again.
She brought back her left fist but as she reached me, she punched me with her right. She didn't let me recover and threw a barrage of punches at me. I managed to block a few but felt more land on my cheek.
She threw another punch but I managed to grab her arm, spin around and throw her over my shoulder, pinning her down with my foot as I twisted her arm, locking her in place.
I smirked, thinking I won but Annie managed to kick my legs out from under me. I landed on my back and Annie rolled to the side, lifting her heel up and slamming it down where my head was, barely missing as I rolled out of the way.
We got to our feet and ran at each other, not wanting to give the other a chance to recover. We both threw a punch but caught each other's fist with our free hand, ending in a lock.
"You're getting faster." she smirked.
"Or you're getting slower." I replied with my own smirk.
"Heh, yeah ri-" she was cut off as I placed my foot behind hers and tripped her. She landed on her back with a soft thump.
I held my hand out to her and helped her up. "Good fight."
"I still have more wins." Annie told me with a smile.
"I'll catch up soon."
She walked passed me and left the classroom, giving a slight smirk as she passed by.
"Hm." my scroll beeped. I pulled it out of my pocket to see a text from Rico.
'Hey, I'm bored. Wanna go get somethin' to drink?'
'Sure.'
'Alright. Do you know a place called "Junior's"?' she asked.
'Yeah, I know the way.'
I placed my scroll in my pocket and started making my way there.
A few minutes later
"About time." Rico said as I approached the doors to Junior's.
I shrugged as we walked inside. "So, why ask me out and not Annie or Mina?"
"Because Annie is...Annie and Mina doesn't drink." she replied.
"Hm." I crossed my arms as I followed her inside and towards the bar.
"Hey, Junior." Rico greeted. "Two whiskeys."
"Good to see you again." Junior said with little enthusiasm. "Who's your date?"
"We're not on a date." she told him. "I asked him for a drink is all."
"Hmph." he knelt under the counter and brought out a bottle of whiskey. He filled up two, decently sized, cups and handed them to us.
I picked up the glass and looked it over. "Cheers." Rico said as she lightly tapped her glass against mine before downing the liquid in one gulp.
I pressed the glass against my lips and slowly tilted the liquid into my mouth. I coughed a bit, seeing as how it was my first time drinking something this strong. Dad would give me sips of his flask every now and then but he usually made sure it was filled with something that wasn't as strong.
Rico chuckled at me. "First time drinking?" she asked.
"Yeah." I cleared my throat and took another sip.
"It'll get smoother." she said.
"Hm." I continued to drink the whiskey, coughing a few times before downing the rest.
"Another." Rico said as she tapped her glass with her index finger.
"Hmph." Junior filled the glass to the brim before turning to me.
"Go on." Rico urged him.
He filled my glass up and placed the bottle on the counter.
"Thanks." I took the glass and started to drink. "I didn't know you drank, Rico."
"I don't drink often." she replied. "Besides, it's good to relax sometimes."
"Huh." I held up my empty glass for another round.
"Might want to slow down, kid." Junior said as he filled it up.
"This is my last one." I replied as I slowly downed it.
"Who's your new friend, Rico?" two new voices asked.
Rico turned around to face them. "Hi, Melanie, Miltia." Rico greeted. "This is Liam, my teammate. Liam, this is Melanie," she gestured to the girl in white. "and this is Miltia." she gestured to the girl in red.
"Hey." I waved as I finished my drink and placed the empty glass on the counter.
"Nice to meet you." they said as the two girls took turns shaking my hand.
"Pleasure's all mine." I replied.
"Is it now?" Melanie asked. "Meeting a gentleman is rare nowadays."
"Meeting two stunning women is as well." I added.
They both blushed a bit. "We should get going." Rico said as she pushed herself away from the bar.
"Yeah, it's getting late." I followed her out of the bar. We had just left when two familiar people approached us.
"Rico? Liam?" Yang asked as she joined us. "Out on a date?"
"Nope." I replied. "Just out for a drink."
She sniffed. "I can tell." she smirked. "You smell like whiskey."
I rubbed the back of my head. "I had a few glasses."
"We were just on our way back to Beacon." Rico told the blonde. "What're you doing here?"
"Me and...him..." she pointed at Neptune who stood behind her. "Are going to get some intel out of Junior."
"Sounds fun." I turned to leave. "See ya back at Beacon."
A few minutes later, Vale
"Shit." Rico muttered.
"What?"
"I forgot something." she turned around and started to head back the way we came. "You can head back if you want."
"Alright." I nodded and continued my way to Beacon.
I walked for a few more minutes when I stopped, hearing loud thuds coming further down the street. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and saw a giant robot running directly at me.
I placed my hand on my katana, readying myself in case it attacked.
"RUUUN!" a voice yelled.
I glanced above me to see Sun and Blake running from the robot on the rooftops. "Do they always get in trouble?" I asked myself as the robot got closer to me.
Sighing, I turned around and started to follow Blake and Sun. Taking a running jump, I turned into my bird form, following the duo as they jumped down onto the highway.
I kept up with the robot, trying to find the perfect moment to change back and attack but couldn't see an opening.
I tried to get closer when Neptune came from behind me, stabbing his weapon into the back of it. Sun noticed and tried to help with his semblance, sending two yellow copies of himself at it, which did nothing. Grabbing his bostaff, Sun tried to attack only to get hit by Neptune as he was thrown off the robot, knocking them both off the side of the highway.
I was getting a bit tired following the mech when it suddenly slipped on a sheet of ice and slid off the side of the highway, landing on the ground below.
Team RWBY quickly followed it, getting ready for a fight as I changed back and landed on the top, slashing it a few times before jumping off and landing by Ruby.
"Liam?!" she asked surprised. "Why are you here?"
"A giant robot running around Vale usually means somethings up, especially when it's chasing a member of Team RWBY." I replied.
"We don't get into too much trou-"
"Can we save the chit chat for later?!" Weiss growled.
"Yeah." I pulled my katana off my back.
"Freezerburn!" Ruby yelled.
"Wha-?" I was cut off as Ruby grabbed my hood, pulling me back as Weiss created a sheet of ice. Yang jumped into the air and slammed down on the ice, using a shot from her gauntlets to speed her up, creating a thick mist. If it wasn't for the robot's size and lasers, I wouldn't have been able to spot it.
I ran through the mist, trying to find the perfect moment to attack.
The robot shot at Yang and Blake, knocking them both away. I took the chance to grab my katana and slash at it, doing basically nothing.
"Damn." I sheathed my katana and looked for another opening as RWBY kept it busy.
"Checkmate." Weiss and Blake went in for a synchronized attack.
Weiss and Blake slashed at its ankles. It looked as though they weren't doing a thing until Weiss jammed her rapier into one of the weapons, causing it to malfunction.
They both jumped back as the robot shot a dozen rockets, knocking Weiss away as Blake dodged them. Before Weiss hit the ground, she shot a glyph at Blake's feet. This glyph looked a bit like a clock, and it seemed to enhance Blake's weapon.
She started to glow a slight yellow as the robot shot more rockets, which Blake swung her weapons at, sending a purple wave at them and cutting them in half, creating this huge line of explosions in front of her.
Ruby ran passed Blake. "Ladybug!"
The two started to dash between its feet, slashing as they passed back and forth. The robot shot at them but Ruby and Blake jumped, dodging the shot and came back down, slashing one of its arms off.
Yang took the opportunity to jump on its back, sending shot after shot pointblank, before the mech dashed backwards into a pillar, smashing through it and hitting another, coming to a stop as Yang fell off of it. It turned around and punched her through the pillar.
"YANG!"
Anger surged through me.
I ran at the mech and jumped on top of it, slashing the top with my katana as I ran to the front, before jumping down and grabbing the front of it. I held on as I stabbed my katana into it.
One of the guns aimed at me and shot, hitting me in my chest and knocking me away. I landed on my back and slid next to Ruby.
I sat up just as Yang punched the robots arm, turning it to scrap.
It kicked Yang back, sending her passed us. "Bumblebee!" Blake threw her weapon at Yang. Yang caught it and Blake used Yang's momentum to swing her at the robot. As Yang was about to come into contact, it jumped back.
"We need to slow it down!"
"And how do you propose we do that?" Weiss asked.
"Ice Flower!"
Ruby placed the tip of her scythe into the ground as Weiss created a few glyphs in front of it, allowing Ruby to shoot ice bullets at the robot. As each bullet hit, ice would form, slowing its movements.
Blake swung Yang around for another attack, and this time she hit her target, sending it rolling to the side and turning into nothing but spare parts.
Roman rolled out of the wreck and got to his feet. I didn't give him any time to recover as I quickly ran at him, punching him back.
He slid a few feet away and Yang was about to finish him off with a shot from her gauntlets when a girl jumped in the way, blocking the shot with an...umbrella?
"Ladies. Birdie. Ice Queen." Roman said.
"Hey!" Weiss growled.
"Always a pleasure." he waved. "Neo, if you would."
The girl bowed as I pulled out my glock, firing a few shots but, upon contact, the two turned to glass.
A Bullhead flew overhead a few seconds later with the two inside.
"Fucking coward." I growled as I walked over and picked up my katana from where it lay.
"Guess he got a new henchmen." Yang said.
"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans...fall apart?" Weiss added.
I sighed as Ruby snickered.
"No. Just, no."
"What? But you do it!" Weiss stated.
"There is a time and a place for jokes." Yang replied.
"Was this not it?"
"No, it just wasn't very good." Yang told her.
"Well, at least I'm trying."
"Wait, where are Sun and Neptune?" Ruby asked.
End of chapter 13