Chapter 21
Both Viktor and Hannes couldn´t help but give a whistle in impression. The city while not as impressive as Beacon was still something to behold. The combined styles of both classical buildings and futuristic highways made Vale look like something out from a story book.
"Ho-ly shit." Was all Hannes said before being smacked in the back of his head by Viktor.
"Language." He said. Hannes rubbed the back of his head while glaring at Viktor.
"I take it that you are impressed?" Ruby said with a smirk.
"Indeed we are. It is really something to witness." Viktor said. Hannes shrugged his shoulders.
"It is indeed impressive but I have seen bigger." He said as he started to walk. Viktor simply shook his
"If you think this is impressive, wait until you see Atlas." Weiss said.
"U-uh, whatever you say snow white." Hannes said as he passed her. She turned around and glared at him.
"Stop calling me that!" She yelled out angry while Hannes simply continued to walk forward, laughing.
"If you guys are done talking, how about that we get going. I´m starving!" Yang called out as she was on her way to leave the docking area. The others followed close behind as they made their way away from the airstrip. Soon they entered the city and walked down its streets. Team RWBY was in the front as Viktor and Hannes trailed behind. While they were walking, Viktor and Hannes checked out the style of the buildings.
"Hey Viktor?" Hannes began as Viktor looked at him.
"Don´t you think that these buildings are similar to European architecture?" Hannes asked.
"I thought so too. I would say that the style is similar to those found in Western Europe. Especially those in France and Germany." Viktor said as Hannes nodded.
"What are you guys talking about?" The two of them suddenly heard as they turned and saw Yang walking besides them.
"We were simply talking about the buildings. We thought that they were similar to those found on our world." Viktor explained. Yang looked at the buildings and shrugged her shoulders.
"Boring, I got some questions for you two." She said.
"Shoot." Hannes said.
"How many people have each of you killed?" She asked with a smirk. Both mercenaries were taken by surprise by this question as they looked at each other before looking back at her.
"How many we have killed?" Hannes said. Yang nodded.
"Why would you ask that?" Viktor asked. Yang shrugged her shoulders again.
"I was curious. From what I have so far seen from both of you, you two seems like badasses. I bet that you get caught up in all kinds of adventures and I really want to see that footage later of you raid on a drug lords compound. Both of you also seems calm about the idea of killing humans." Yang explained.
"I wouldn´t really say calm." Viktor said.
"I take it that doesn´t happen here that often." Viktor said as Yang nodded.
"Yup, since everyone has an aura, chances that a human kills another human without using weapons utilized for killing humans and since those are not that common, human killing another human incidents are rare." Yang said.
"So, how many?" Yang asked again. Hannes rubbed his chin as he thought about it.
"Now that is a though question. It's difficult to say. I lost count after about three thousand." Hannes said calmly. Yang looked at him with wide eyes.
"Nine thousand? You have killed around three thousand people?" She said in disbelief.
"I said that I lost count after around three thousand. My kill count today is way larger." Hannes said with a smirk. Yang still looked at him with wide eyes.
"Don´t worry, they were bad people. Terrorist, murderers, thief´s, you name it. As I said on the airship, I don´t kill innocents." Hannes said as he counted them on his fingers. He then looked at Viktor.
"But if we are going to talk about a large kill count. You should ask Viktor." He said with a smirk as Viktor glared at him.
"He was killing people while I was still in school." He finished as Viktor gave him a glare. Yang looked at Viktor.
"Really. How many?" She repeated the question to Viktor. Viktor sighed.
"Too many." Was Viktors only response as he then picked up the pace and went ahead of them. Hannes looked a little guilty as Yang looked on in confusion.
"I guess I went a little bit over the line. Viktor has blood on his hands just like me but he is far less comfortable with it then I am." He then looked at Yang.
"Viktor is literally a one man army and he have had armies sent after him and in the end, there weren´t that many survivors afterwards. When Viktor aims to kill, nothing will stop him. He feels no remorse when killing those who deserve it but when an innocent get caught in the crossfire, there is when the guilt start. A lot of innocent people have died but not by his hands, but by the beast." Hannes said as yang looked at him.
"The beast?" She asked confused as Hannes looked at her.
"That is what we call it when Viktor lose control. It is a relic from his past. An old programing from the people that made him what he is. Back then he was made to be an unstoppable weapon. Something that no bullet or bomb could stop. They succeeded but they hadn´t counted on that Viktor would be able to break away from their programming." Hannes said the last thing with a grin as Yang continued to look at him. She then looked forward at Viktor who was now walking amongst the rest of her team and chatting before looking back at Hannes.
"Who were they?" She asked.
"Those who did that to him." Hannes shook his head.
"I have already said too much already. Let's just say that those people haven´t been seen in a while, not since we took care of them." Hannes finished the last remark with a smirk. They soon all stopped at an intersection and turned towards each other.
"Okay, where do you guys want to eat?" Ruby asked the group. The rest of her team shrugged their shoulder as Ruby turned towards the two mercenaries.
"How about you two?" She asked. Viktor shrugged his shoulders.
"I´m really up for anything. How about you Hannes?" Viktor asked as he turned towards his partner.
"I could really go for a burger right now." Hannes said with a smirk.
"With cheese, tomato, fried onions, salad and juicy angus meat." Hannes described as he started to drool a little.
"Man that does sound good." Yang said as she also started to drool. Hannes took notice of this.
"So you guys have burgers in this world as well. That´s a relief." Hannes said.
"Why so?" Ruby asked. Before Hannes could respond, Viktor spoke up to all of them.
"Hannes really likes fast food. It is one of the things he eat regularly. If there is none of that, he falls into depression and starts crying like a little girl." He then looked at Ruby.
"No offence." He quickly said.
"None taken." Ruby said with a smile. Viktor continued.
"I still remember Libya," Viktor said as he started chuckling.
"He started crying right there on the street and yelled out on top of his lungs "Why does the world hate me? A kingdom for a burger, with cheese!"." He said as he started laughing. The girls chuckled to themselves as Yang gave a full blown laugh. Hannes glared at Viktor with hate in his eyes.
"I can't believe you told them that!" He yelled out. Viktor stopped chuckling and looked at the girls.
"Alright, back to the topic at hand. Where should we eat?" He asked.
"There are a couple of restaurants spread out around here. We can choose from amongst them." Blake said. Viktor nodded.
"That sounds good. How many are we talking about?" He asked as Blake shrugged her shoulders.
"A couple dozens of them." She said.
"We can split up into two groups and when one groups find a place they can contact the others." Ruby suggested. The others thought about this.
"That is a good idea. We can cover more ground that way. However, one of us have to go with you since our communication devices doesn't work in this world." Viktor said.
"Great, I go with Yang and Blake." Hannes said as he made his way to the two huntress in training. Suddenly a large hand grabbed him by the throat which made him stop in his tracks with a "GLEH!" as he had a hard time breathing.
"As I said before Hannes, as long as I am with you, you aren´t getting close to Yang by yourself." Viktor said as he tighten his grip around Hannes throat with a smirk. The others were still surprised by Viktors brutal treatment towards Hannes but Hannes seemed to only smirk back.
"Come on Viktor, I won't do anything, promise." Hannes managed to say.
"I can't take any risks with you, you are going with Ruby and Weiss." Viktor said before looking at said two huntress in training.
"Sorry for it." He said. Weiss looked like she didn´t like that while Ruby seemed like she didn't mind. Viktor let go of Hannes and pushed him towards the two of them. He then glared back at Viktor.
"Why do you always apologize to people when you assign me to them?" Hannes said as he continued to glare at Viktor.
"Like you don´t know the answer to that question already? Just drop it for now, do you want to eat or not?" Viktor said. Hannes grumbled to himself as he walked over to Weiss and Ruby. Viktor turned towards Yang and Blake and walked over to them. When the two groups and gathered they both turned towards each other.
"Okay, we will go in this direction…" Viktor began as he pointed behind himself, Yang and Blake.
"…and you will go in that direction…" He said as he pointed behind Hannes, Ruby and Weiss.
"…as soon as one group have found a good restaurant, contact the other group and we will all gather there. Does that sound good to everyone?" Viktor finished as everyone nodded. The then turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction. Ruby, Hannes and Weiss rounded the closest street corner and continued down on the street while Viktor, Blake and Yang continued forward on the street they were currently on.
Ruby, Weiss and Hannes continued down the street in a normal pace. Weiss seemed to have gotten a call on her scroll but she simply ignored it. Hannes noticed that she seemed to wear a frown when she saw the name on whoever was calling her. He looked down at Ruby with a confused look as she simply shrugged her shoulders, she was just as confused as he.
"So Hannes?" Ruby began as said person looked at her.
"That rifle that you used in the forest. What was it.?" Ruby asked innocently as Weiss groaned at her leaders' fixation with weapons. Hannes simply chuckled before saying.
"You really have a thing for weapons, don´t you?" Hannes asked with a smirk.
"I see how you look at my handgun on my hip and on all of those weapons in the bag. You are really interested in them, aren´t you? "Ruby looked away in embarrassment.
"Maybe." She said while she averted her look elsewhere.
"She is more obsessed then you know. The first week we met, I couldn't get her of me about asking how my weapon worked. Same with Blake´s." Weiss said as Hannes raised an eyebrow.
"Your weapon?" He said. Ruby responded.
"Yes, every students on Beacon have their own weapon. If it is was either something that they built themselves or if it was passes down from a family member." She said. Hannes still had his eyebrow raised.
"Aren´t you two a little young to be handling weapons?" He asked.
"Not here, Viktor have mentioned that there is an age limit on weapons and in most places they are illegal in your world, but not here. As I said earlier, because of the Grimm threat, carrying weapons openly is legal. And since hunters are trained to be the protectors of the four kingdoms, we are allowed to use weapons at such a young age. They train us on how to fully use them, to maintain them and to channel our semblance into them." Ruby explained. Hannes remained silent for a moment before responding.
"Damn, the school I went to only taught me math and grammar. Why don´t we have such badass schools where I come from?" Hannes said with a frown as he crossed his arms. Ruby giggled at this while Weiss simply rolled her eyes.
"They still teach us that as well." She said.
"Which is boring." Ruby said with a groan.
"Shush you, that knowledge will be helpful one day." Weiss told the red reaper.
"Hate to say it but snow white here…" Hannes began which earned a glare from Weiss.
"…got a point. While some of the stuff you will learn in school will be completely useless in the real life, some of it will either save yours or your friends' life´s one day." Hannes finished. The two huntress in training looked at him.
"Really?" Ruby asked as Hannes nodded.
"Yup, I never thought Spanish lessons would save my life but I was proven wrong when I had to defuse a bomb whose instructions were written in Spanish." Hannes said with a smirk before giving a hearty laugh.
"Spanish?" Weiss asked.
"It is a language from my world." Hannes said.
"Is it the language of your country?" Ruby asked.
"No, in my country we speaks Swedish." Hannes said proudly.
"What does it sound like?" Ruby asked.
"Tja, det låter lite som det här. Det är ett intressant språk och är roligt att uttala. (It sounds a little like this. It is an interesting language and is fun to pronounce.)." Hannes said. Both Ruby and Weiss looked at each other before looking back at him.
"That literally sounded like gibberish." Weiss said as Ruby nodded. Hannes stopped in his tracks and glared at the two of them. The glare made both of them stop in their tracks as well.
"What did you just say?" Hannes said with his glare plastered over his face. Ruby ran behind Weiss in an attempt to hide while the heiress gulped in fear. Weiss tried to speak but found herself unable to. Hannes walked forward while Weiss tried to back away. This however was difficult since Ruby was hiding behind her. Weiss turned around and sent Ruby a glare before looking forward again. However, as soon as she did that, she found herself staring down the barrel of Hannes pistol. The color drained from her face as Hannes continued to glare at her.
"Well?" Hannes asked.
"I said that it was a beautiful language and everyone should speak it." Weiss quickly said as Ruby nodded from behind her. Hannes continued to simply stand there before he started to chuckle. Soon the chuckle turned into full blown laughter as he had a hard time standing up. Both girls looked at him in confusion. He then looked at the two of them.
"You should have seen your faces. HA HA." He said between laughs. Both girls looked at each other in confusion, they then both glared at him.
"Wait, this was all a joke. You scared us half to death. I really thought that you were going to shoot me!" Weiss yelled while Ruby nodded.
"Yeah, jokes are supposed to be funny, that wasn´t funny." Ruby said with a glare. Hannes slowly stopped laughing and looked at them. He snickered a little before fully composing himself.
"Heh Heh, It was funny to me." He said with a snicker. Both of them still glared at him. He raised his hands in defense while still wearing his smile.
"Woah, stand down now, were still friends. I simply used the opportunity to create my own amusement. Seriously, haven´t you guys listened on anything I have said in the past hour. I don´t hurt my friends." Hannes said.
"Actually, you said that you don't hurt innocents." Ruby corrected as she stepped out from behind Weiss. Hannes waved her off.
"Whatever, the point is, I know that my language sounds like gibberish to people that are not familiar with it. Hell, even I sometimes laugh at some of the words we have and I grew up with this language. Still, sorry for scaring you guys." Hannes said with a smile. He then looked Ruby in the eyes.
"And to answer your question from before Ruby. My rifle is a Psg 90. Psg stands for prickskyttegevär which is Swedish for sniper rifle and 90 stands for the date it was introduced into service, 1990. It is the same rifle I used in the military and I brought it with me when I left the military." Hannes explained as they started to move again.
"Cool, what caliber does it use?" Ruby asked.
"7.62x51mm. however, the barrel can be switched so it can use .308 Winchester ammunition instead.
"Winchester?" Ruby asked.
"It is an American weapon manufacturer from my world. Full name is Winchester Repeating Arms Company. They specialize in bolt action rifles and their type of ammunitions." Hannes said. Both Ruby and Weiss looked at each other before looking back at Hannes.
"They share the same name as one of the students from Beacon." Ruby said.
"Really? Who?" Hannes asked.
"His name is Cardin, Cardin Winchester. He is not really that nice. In fact, he is kind of a jerk. He always picks on Jaune and he is also mean towards Faunus just because they are a little different." Ruby said.
"Sounds like a guy that deserves some ass kicking." Hannes said with a frown. Both Weiss and Ruby couldn't help but nod to this.
"One of my friends name is Winchester as well but I am sure that there is no relation between them." He said with a smirk.
"Unless this Cardin fellow speaks with a British accent." He added.
"What accent?" Weiss asked.
"Never mind. Shall we continue?" Hannes said as he started to walk again. Ruby and Weiss followed him. They didn´t get far until they heard someone yell behind them.
"Ruby!" A voice yelled and said person looked in the direction of the voice. Hannes and Weiss looked as well. Towards them, a young girl wearing a grey and white dress and having orange hair, came running. The girl wore a sweet smile and curious eyes. Behind her was another girl who wore a white uniform looking outfit with a blue dress and on her head she wore a blue beret with a small golden sun on it. Her face was more serious than the other girl. The orange haired girl stopped in front of them and waved in the air.
"Salutations." She said with a smile. Ruby beamed up and ran up and hugged the girl who hugged back.
"Penny!" Ruby yelled out in happiness. Hannes heard a groan from his side. He looked and saw Weiss burying her face in her hands.
"Not this girl." She said quietly to herself. Only Hannes heard it as he raised an eyebrow. The other girl soon joined up with them and looked at the orange colored girl.
"Ms. Polendina. You shouldn´t run of like that without alerting me first. I am under orders to look after you." The girl said with little emotion in her voice. The other girl, whose name appeared to be Penny, looked at the blue beret wearing girl.
"Cheer up Ciel. I was just thrilled to see one of my friends. Especially one of my best friends." Penny said as she let go of Ruby who smiled at her. Penny looked then at Ruby and her friends.
"It is always good to see you Ruby." Penny said with a smile.
"You too Penny." Ruby smiled back. Penny then looked at Weiss.
"Greetings friend Weiss. It is good to see you." Penny said as she still wore here smile. Weiss nodded.
"Hello." Was all Weiss said. If Penny took any offence by this, she didn´t show it. She then looked at Hannes. She looked him up and down, still wearing her smile. She then took one step and stopped in front of Hannes. She then extended her arm towards him
"Greetings, mysterious stranger. My name is Penny Polendina and it is nice to meet you, friend of Ruby." She said in a way to happy tone. Hannes looked at her with a blank stare before looking down at her hand. He then grabbed her hand and shook it.
"Pleasure to meet you too." Hannes redundantly said.
"The name is Hannes Månberg." He finished. Penny let go of his hand and looked at him, still with her smile.
"Manberg? That's a weird name." She said. Hannes narrowed her eyes at her.
"Watch it lady." He mouthed with a frown. He then looked down on his hand. Something didn´t feel right when he shook her hand. Ruby then decided to step in before anything wrong erupted.
"Yes, this is my normal friend Penny. She is an exchange student from Atlas who is here for the Vytal festival." Ruby said quickly as she stood next to Penny and held her with one arm. Both Hannes and Weiss raised their eyebrows in confusion at Rubys behavior to Penny. Ruby then looked behind Penny. She noticed the other girl standing there who still wore her neutral face. Ruby stepped up to her and offered to shake her hand.
"You must be one of Pennys friends. It is nice to meet you." She said with a smile. The other girl by the name of Ciel simply stood there.
"Greetings." Was all she said in an emotionless voice. Ruby was taken aback a little while Weiss smiled.
"I like her." She said as she looked up at Hannes. Penny stepped in.
"This is Ciel Soleil. My friend from Atlas. She doesn't talk much but she is a good listener." Penny said. Ciel simply looked away. Hannes narrowed his eyes at Ciel because of her attitude before smiling to himself. He knew what to do. He took a step forward towards Ciel and extended his arm towards at her.
"Greetings, as you may heard before. My name is Hannes Månberg and it is nice to meet you." He said with a smile. Ciel simply looked at his hand just like she did to Rubys.
"Greetings." Was all she said once again in her neutral voice.
"I rather not shake hands. In fact, I would rather not continue this conversation." Ciel said. Hannes simply chuckled to himself before reaching into his shirt. He then pulled out a pair of dog tags.
"Is that a way to speak to a superior officer, soldier?" He said with a grin. Hannes showed his dog tags to her. He was covering the Swedish side and showed her the English translation side. The word Captain was engraved into it. Ciels eyes widen in shock and almost instantly, she snapped to attention and gave a salute.
"I-I´m sorry s-sir. I-I didn't realize who you were Mr. Månberg." Ciel said with a stutter as she managed to pronounce his name right. Even Pennys eyes widen but there were more in fear than surprise. Hannes however still had his eyes trained on Ciel. From the moment he had laid eyes on her he had realized that she was the authoritarian type of person. When it was later mentioned that they came from Atlas which he remember was the only country with an organized military in this world, he put the dots together. He may have not been from Atlas, but he was still a superior officer so he decided to have some fun as he continued to smirk. He put his dog tag away and put his arms behind his back.
"That´s captain Månberg to you, soldier." Hannes said with a serious voice as his smirk had disappeared from his face, but on the inside he was still smirking. Ciel seemed to shrink under his gaze as she rapidly nodded.
"Y-yes sir, sorry sir." She corrected herself. Penny then walked up.
"You´re military?" Penny asked. Hannes then looked at her.
"That's right missy. Five years of service with no regrets." He said.
"What regiment?" Penny then asked.
"Life Regiment Hussars, 31 Airborne battalion, Parachute ranger forward observer. Our motto is "Pergite!" which is Latin meaning "forward!"." Hannes said with a sense of pride in his voice. Penny thought for a second.
"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. I haven´t heard of any regiments with that name in the Atlas military." Penny said.
"Who said I was from Atlas." Hannes said with a smirk. This caught Pennys and Ciels attention.
"Pardon?" Ciel asked.
"I served in his majesty's military in the Kingdom of Sweden. Served under the command of Kal Anders Herbert Ingemar Lindberg and before you say anything, yes, I know that name is a mouthful." Hannes explained.
"Sweden? Never heard of it." Ciel said. Penny calmed down a little and she hoped that nobody noticed that. Hannes was too focused on Ciel at the moment to notice anything as he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's far from here. Have had minimum contact with the other nations." Hannes said.
"So you are not Atlas military?" Ciel asked. Hannes glared down at her.
"No but I still outrank you soldier." He said in a stern tone which made Ciel tense up again.
"And I thought I told you to call me by my rank." He said as he glared into Ciels eyes. She once again put up her hand to her head in a salute.
"Y-yes sir, sorry sir." Ciel said as she put her hand down. The others now giggled at her reaction as she gave a quick glare at them before looking back at Hannes. Penny then suddenly tensed up.
"Oh no, I forgot. We need to get to the shop before the sale is over. Come Ciel, we must hurry." Penny suddenly said as she grabbed a hold on Ciel and dragged her away with her.
"Bye Ruby." She yelled.
"See ya Penny." Ruby called back with a smile. The three of them saw them disappear behind a street corner. Hannes then looked at Ruby with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"Interesting friend you got there Ruby." He said. Ruby tensed up a little at his remark.
"W-what do you mean by that?" She asked nervously while wearing a nervous smile.
"I meant that she as an interesting personality." Hannes finished. Ruby tensed down after hearing this.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. That makes sense. She can be something sometimes but she is kind and smart. She is a really good friend." Ruby said. Hannes nodded while Weiss simply groaned.
"Can we continue on now?" Wiess said irritated as she made her way past the two of them. Ruby followed but Hannes remained were he stood as he looked at the corner were Penny and her friend had disappeared with a frown.
"When I shook her hand…" He thought to himself.
"…that was definitely not human flesh I felt." He finished thinking before following Ruby and Weiss.
"Seriously?" Yang said in disbelief.
"Da." Viktor responded with a smirk.
"A burning cinderblock?" Yang asked again.
"With a sledgehammer." Viktor finished, still wearing his smirk. While looking for a restaurant to eat at, Yang had asked about more information about Viktors past, especially about his military past. Viktor had been reluctant to talk about it but Yang finally managed to convince him. He has so far only talked about his training within the Spetsnaz. From the things both huntress in training have heard from him, they were surprised to see that Viktor was still somewhat sane. Yang looked at Viktor with wide eyes at his description on how the training was while Blake stood in the background, fighting the urge to throw up. She hadn´t taken it lightly when Viktor told her about the infamous "Meat Locker". Even Yang felt a little ill at his detailed description of that part of the training. Blake finally managed to swallow it back down and then looked at Viktor.
"Did you really need to be so detailed in you description of that part." Blake said. Viktor simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Not really, but why leave anything out." He said before his mouth turned into a smirk. Blake glared at him while Yang laughed in the background.
"Well Viktor. I can really say that you smashed through that training." Yang said as she grinned at her pun. Viktor looked at her with a blank look.
"Don´t ever do that again." He said after a while. Yang continued to grin.
"What do you mean? I´m simply burning in excitement to hear it all." She continued.
"Stop it."
"Don't hammer down my fun." Yang continued.
"I´m warning you."
"Why do you have to lock me out?" Yang finished with a fake pout.
"That's it! I´m going to hurt you now, Yang." Viktor yelled out as she started chase to Yang. Yang simply laughed as she ran as fast as she could away from Viktor.
"What's the matter Viktor? I was only gunning for answers." Yang yelled back to Viktor as she ran.
"That's not even relevant to what I was talking about!" Viktor yelled back.
"I know but it still irritates you and that works for me." Yang said.
"RAAAAAAARGH!" Viktor yelled out in rage as he ran faster than before. Yang´s eyes widen as Viktor was starting to catch up to her and she started sprinting faster. Blake rolled her eyes at the display of those two as they draw a couple of confused looks from onlookers on the street. She however couldn´t help but smile. Her friends really have made her life a lot more interesting, and in a good way. She started to chase them down but both of them but they had gotten a far lead. Yang especially seemed to run even faster than ever before, but that was probably because of the enraged Russian currently chasing her. As she ran down the sidewalk, something caught her eye on the left. As she passed an alleyway, the unmistakable silhouettes of two people walking down it could be seen, however, one of them seemed to be sporting a large fluffy tail. Blake stopped in her tracks and looked into the alleyway as the two figures disappeared behind a corner. She looked around and saw that no one was around for the moment so she ran in. She came to the corner and carefully looked past it and saw that the two figures was still moving further in amongst the buildings. She stayed out of sight as she followed the two figures. Both figures stayed quiet all the time as they made their way further amongst the buildings. They soon arrived at the lover part of abandoned construction site. The skeleton structure of the building stood there rusting as abandoned equipment and material lay scattered everywhere. A single light was still alit in the middle of the site and the two figures was heading towards it. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps. Blake moved away from the wall and hid behind an old rusting steel beam. The two figures walked into the light in the middle of the half-finished building and Blake could finally see the more clearly. Both were male and wore casual clothing. One of them had grey hair and a dark grey wolf tail sported itself from the back. The other had blonde hair and had a pair of horns on his forehead. They were defiantly Faunus.
"What are they doing here?" Blake thought to herself.
The two of them stood there in silence when suddenly another pair of footsteps could be heard in the darkness. Soon, out from the shadows, another man came out. He wore a fancy black suit with an overcoat that went down to his knees, a fedora and a pair of dark sunglasses that completely covered his eyes. Blake couldn´t find any animal features in this man which made her assume that this man was human. He had a horseshoe mustache and had a cigarette in his mouth. Blake could never understand the urge humans had to smoking. Faunus couldn´t smoke because of their more sensitive biology. Humans weren´t that much better, yet they still subjected themselves them. She could understand why Viktor smoke, it calmed him and it couldn´t hurt him, thanks to his superhuman nature. The man walked up and stopped in front of the two Faunus. The man stayed quiet as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke into the air. The man then then looked at the two Faunus as he held the cigarette in his fingers.
"You´re late." The man said in a dark tone. The two Faunus flinched a little but didn´t back down.
"It's not our fault, ever since the failed attack here in Vale, we have a difficult time moving around without being noticed." The Faunus with the wolf tail said. Blakes eyes widen, they are part of the White Fang! The man looked at the Faunus as he flicked the cigarette into the darkness.
"I don´t want to hear any excuses. If we take the time to arrange a meeting, we fucking expect you to be on fucking time." The man said in a grim tone as he looked at them with an angry expression.
"Maybe you don´t want our help in your pathetic excuse for a revolution." The man finished. The goat Faunus panicked.
"No no no. We didn´t mean any disrespect. We are here now. It can begin without any more complications." The goat Faunus said. The man looked at him and stayed quiet for a moment.
"Very well." The man finally said as he then took out another cigarette and lit it up with a lighter he took out as well. The man put the lighter away and breathed out a cloud of smoke.
"The boss have looked it over and has approved of your request. The deal is to go down at 23:00 hours tomorrow at the usual place." The man said. Both Faunus looked at each other.
"Why on a such short notice?" The goat Faunus said.
"We have to act quickly, we don´t want anyone getting wise on this." The man said.
"What do you have to offer this time?" The wolf Faunus asked. The man looked at him.
"What are you willing to pay?" The man counter asked.
"Adam is hell bent on making the White Fang the most powerful force on the planet. He is ready to pay anything." The goat Faunus said. The Man took a puff of his cigarette and blew out another large cloud of smoke.
"Good. At least Mr. Taurus is taking advantage of the benefits of our partnership. Unlike our other so called "partner"." The man said as he referred to a yet unknown person. The two Faunus each gave a short laugh before a look from the man shut them up.
"If there is no other things to discuss, this meeting is adjourned. Tell your leader about the agreement and this time, don´t be late." The man said as he was about to turn around and leave.
"I still don´t understand why we didn't just have this conversation over the phone." The wolf Faunus said. Almost immediately, the man spun around and smacked the wolf Faunus across the face as the Faunus yelped in surprise. Blake eyes widen as she clenched her teeth in rage. Seeing a human strike a Faunus like that brought back painful memories from her past. How she was treated when she was younger, just because she was different. She was brought back to reality as the man spoke once again.
"You stupid fucking animal. Do you want them to know all about of our plans? We don't want to take any risks, especially when it is something big like this. Even though the chance is slim, someone could always be listening." The man said with a frown. Blake tensed up even further, especially about the part of being called an animal. The wolf Faunus seemed to take just as much offence from this as he glared at the man.
"Why you… I oughta…" The wolf Faunus began saying as he started to pull out a knife until a pistol barrel made contact with his forehead. The wolf Faunus stopped in his tracks as the man stood there, aiming his pistol at him. The man was now smirking as the color drained from the wolf Faunus face.
"You oughta what." The man asked as he mocked the Faunus way of speaking while still wearing his smirk, as he pulled back the pin on the pistol. Blake tensed up as she wished she had brought with her Gambol Shroud. Even though they were part of White Fang, they were still her kind. The goat Faunus once again panicked.
"Wait, if you shoot him, the deal is of." The goat Faunus said, trying to be threatening. The man didn´t even turn away from the wolf Faunus as he spoke.
"You make it sound like this deal is important to us. Let's make things clear here. This deal was your idea. This deal is not important to us and one last thing." The man said as he then slowly looked up and stared at the goat Faunus.
"You need us but we don´t need you. All I have to do is shoot both of you, go back to the boss, say that the deal isn´t happening and watch as your organization crumble." The man said in a cold tone. Both Faunus gulped loudly when suddenly, the man then pulled the pistol back. He put it away and turned around and started to walk into the darkness.
"The deal is still on, just remember your place in the future. Adieu." Was the last thing the man said before he disappeared into the darkness. Both Faunus looked at each other in fear and quickly made their way out from the construction yard. While she was tempted on following those two Faunus, Blake was more curious about this strange man. Who was he? She jumped over the steel beam and made her way to were the man had disappeared. However, when she arrived, she found no trace of him. It was like he had simply disappeared into thin air. She cursed to herself as she frantically looked around for him but found nothing. She hung her head in defeat and then came to think of those two Faunus. If she followed them they could lead her to a White Fang hideout or even better, Adam Taurus himself. Blakes eyes dropped in sadness at the thought of her former partner. Hearing his name once again brought back a lot of memoires from her past. She still remembered the last time she saw him. When they were both striking that Atlas supply train and she took her chance to leave the White Fang for good. The look he had given her was one of betrayal. She still remember it like it was yesterday. She reached where she had last seen the two Faunus only to find that they also had seemed to disappear into nowhere. She continued to look for them when suddenly she ran into something, or more like someone.
"There you are Blake." Came the familiar voice of a certain Russian mercenary. Blake looked up and saw Viktor standing there, looking at her.
"Viktor." Blake said in surprise. Viktor chuckled at Blake´s reaction.
"Surprised to see me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Blake composed herself and looked at him.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. Viktor shrugged his shoulders.
"I was chasing Yang until she ran into this maze amongst the buildings. I lost her and has since then wandered around trying to find my way out. I am not the best when it comes to finding directions." Viktor said.
"What about you? What are you doing here?" He asked her. Blake tensed up. She knew that she couldn´t lie to Viktor but she didn´t want him to know about her former affiliation with the White Fang, at least not yet. She got an idea however, it was a long shot but she had to try.
"I thought I saw someone here so I got curious but it was nothing." She half lied. Perhaps it would work. Viktor could easily detect lies but perhaps she could get away with a half lie. Viktor raised his eyebrow as he looked down on her. Blake tried her hardest to keep a straight face. Viktor finally shrugged his shoulders.
"Makes sense. Let us find Yang and finally find a place to eat. I am getting kind of hungry." Viktor said as Blake nodded. Before Viktor could turn around, Blake asked.
"What happened to your shirt?" She asked. Viktor once again raised his eyebrow in surprise as he looked down on his T-shirt. A small cut could be seen on the torso section.
"Oh that, I accidently came in contact with a loose pipe and it shredded my shirt. I may have skin tougher than steel but my clothes are still easily shredded." Viktor said with a grin. Blake nodded as they started making their way out from the maze of alleyways. Blake couldn´t help but wonder where those Faunus disappeared to. As they walked. Blake failed to notice something weird on the ground next to a dumpster. A knife with its blade bent like folded paper could be seen on the ground next to the dumpster. Suddenly a drop of blood dripped on it. The blood came from the dumpster and a bloody hand could be seen sticking out, together with the traces of grey fur.
Yang looked around as she wondered where both of them had gone. After she managed to loose Viktor in the alleyways, she went back out on the sidewalk, looking for Blake. However, there were no trace of her. She decided to wait for both of them. Suddenly the two of them emerged from one of the alleyways. She walked over to them.
"There you guys are. Where have you been?" She asked the duo.
"Well, I got lost in the alleyways after you lured me in there." Viktor said with a grim tone that made Yang laugh awkwardly.
"He he. Sorry about that. But you intended to kill me after just a couple of puns." She said as she smirked.
"I wouldn´t have killed you. I would have simply broken both your arms and legs." Viktor said calmly. Yang looked at him weirdly as she awkwardly laughed.
"he he. You´re kidding right?" She said. Viktor only smirked as he simply passed her as he started to walk. Yang now looked horrified as she looked at Viktor as he continued on.
"Right?" She asked again but as before, she received no answer. Blake passed Yang as well and started to follow Viktor. Yang stood there silent for a moment before she shook herself out of it and caught up with those two. The three of them continued to walk down the streets of Vale in their search for a good restaurant. As they continued to walk, Yang finally spotted something. On their left, there was a restaurant. The restaurant had red walls and a couple of tables was located on the outside of it. A couple of patrons already sat there and was eating their lunch.
"Hey, I remember where we are. There is a good restaurant up here that serves all kinds of things and they make the best burgers in town." She said. Blake nodded.
"They make really good noodles as well." Blake said.
"Shall we take it?" Viktor asked the two of them. They both looked at him and nodded. Yang then pulled out her scroll.
"I will contact Ruby and the others." She said.
"That won't be necessary." Viktor said as he pointed forward. Both Blake and Yang looked forward.
"This place serves the best strawberry cakes ever." Ruby said to Hannes.
"And their tea is out of this world." Weiss added.
"Sounds nice. I´m up for it if you guys are." Hannes said. Both Ruby and Weiss nodded as Ruby took out her scroll.
"I will tell the others to meet us here." She said.
"Won't be necessary." Hannes said as he pointed forward. Both Ruby and Weiss looked forward. Both groups stopped in front of one another and looked at each other. Both sides were equally surprised as both have had the same conversation right now.
"Huh, what are the odds?" Hannes said as Weiss and Ruby nodded.
"I thought the same." Viktor said as Blake and Yang nodded. Both sides then looked at the restaurant.
"Shall we enter?" Viktor said. All of them nodded as the six of them entered the restaurant. As soon as they entered. The restaurant had a simple layout of a couple of tables and chairs around it. Paintings of different places could be found on the walls and in the far end was the entrance to the kitchen. A waiter soon came up them.
"Hello there, table for six?" He asked them.
"Yes" Viktor answered as the man started leading them to a free table. He motioned them to sit down and they did. The waiter then walked away. Hannes and Viktor sat down next to each other while team RWBY sat down on the other side of the table. The waiter then came back with six menus in his hands. He gave one to each of them. They all started to read their respective menus and soon they had all picked what they wanted. As the waiter came back, they started to order.
"So, can I take your order?" The waiter asked. Viktor spoke first.
"Yes, I take the pasta with the beef." Viktor said. The waiter nodded and scribbled it down.
"I take the past as well." Ruby said as the waiter wrote it down.
"I´ll have the salad." Weiss said. The waiter nodded.
"I´ll have the noodles with fish." Blake said.
"I take the burger." Yang said as the waiter wrote down her order. He then turned to the last person that had yet to order, Hannes.
"And what will you have, sir?" He asked. Hannes looked at the menu once more.
"I´ll have the burger as well." Hannes said.
"Very good." The waiter said as he began writing down Hannes order. Hannes then smirked.
"And I take it raw." Was all Hannes said. The waiter stopped writing as he then looked at Hannes is confusion.
"Pardon?" The waiter asked. Team RWBY looked at Hannes in confusion as well while Viktor simply gave of a silent groan as he buried his face into his hands. Hannes simply leaned back in his chair.
"You heard me, I said I´ll have it raw." Hannes repeated himself. The waiter tried to find the right words to say.
"You…I…you can't be serious sir?" The waiter asked in disbelief. Hannes didn´t back down.
"I repeat myself. I´ll have it raw. End of story." Hannes said but this time, with more authority in his voice. The waiter backed away a little in fear before nodding.
"Y-yes sir. We will start with your order right away." The waited stammered out as he then headed of towards the kitchen. Hannes leaned back in his chair as team RWBY continued to stare at him in confusion. Hannes, finally having enough of the constant staring sighed.
"What, can´t a guy order what he want." Hannes said.
"Why would you order that?" Weiss asked in disbelief. Hannes simply smirked as he leaned forward on the table.
"I like my meat raw." He said in a seductive tone. Weiss recoiled away in disgust. Even Blake leaned away a little while Ruby simply sat there looking confused. Before she could ask what he meant by that, Yang spoke up.
"Oh, I bet you like your meat raw alright. To be able to feel it when it is fresh." Yang said with a seductive tone of her own. Hannes simply smirked and looked at her.
"You better believe it girl." He said in a whisper, still wearing his smirk. Before the conversation could go any further, Viktor suddenly grabbed Hannes by the back of his head and smashed it down on the table. The loud bang that followed earned some stares from some of the restaurants patrons, but they were quickly to go back to whatever they were doing before. Hannes eyes rolled around as he sat there dazed for a moment before he shook his head. Viktor let go of his head and leaned forward onto the table.
"Whoops, my hand slipped." He said in a deadbeat tone. Yang got the message and sat down on her chair again with a scared look on her face. Hannes then grabbed a hold of his nose in pain as a little blood started to come from it.
"Ow, I think you broke my nose." Hannes said in a nasal voice. He grabbed a hold of a handkerchief from the table and put it against his nose. He then glared at Viktor.
"Was that really necessary? I was just playing around. It wasn´t like I was going to do anything impropriate with her." Hannes said. Before Viktor could answer, Ruby spoke up.
"What do you mean with impropriate?" She asked in an innocent voice. The entire table went dead silent as everyone but Ruby looked at each other in silence as they thought about what to say.
"Uhhh." One said.
"You see…" Another began.
"The thing is…" One tried to say. Suddenly, Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Yang sitting there with a grin.
"I´ll tell you when you are older." Her sister said.
"You always say that. What is it with that I need to be older before you can tell me?" Ruby asked as she crossed her arms with a pout. As the other girls giggled at their leaders´ expense, Viktor leaned to the side towards Hannes.
"What the hell were you thinking, ordering raw meat in front of these people?" Viktor asked in a whispered hiss. Hannes responded with a hiss of his own.
"You know damn well that I can´t eat processed meat, I need it raw to satisfy my hunger." Hannes said.
"Didn´t you "feed" earlier today?" Viktor asked.
"Indeed I did, but better safe than sorry, right? I don't want a repeat of last time." Hannes argued. Viktor wanted to argue back but deep down he knew Hannes was right. Viktor sighed and leaned back into his chair. As soon as he did that, the waiter started coming with plates with their food on, even Hannes own plate with his burger with raw meat on it. Soon they all had their own plates of food as they started to dig in. The girl were a little shocked to see that Hannes ate his burger without a care in the world. They had first thought that he had ordered that to simply be cool and that he would back out as soon as he got it, but he ate it without any problems. As they all ate, Blake ate her noodles a little too fast, as she found herself lost in the taste. Hannes took notice of this.
"Woah, slow down there kitty. You´re gonna choke if you continue eating like that." He said as he took another bite out of his burger. Blake immediately stopped, as did the rest of team RWBY as they stared at Hannes.
"W-what did you just say?" Blake asked shocked. Hannes looked at her as he chewed.
"You´re gonna choke if you continue eating like that." He repeated with a mouthful of food. Blake shook her head.
"No, before that." She said. Hannes raised his eyebrow.
"Slow down Kitty?" He said as he swallowed. Blake nodded.
"Yes, w-why did you call me that?" She asked. Hannes shrugged.
"Seemed appropriate, seeing what you hide underneath that bow of yours." Hannes said as he simply took another bite. Blake´s eyes widen, as well did her friends as they all stared at Hannes. They all then glared at Viktor. Viktor sat there unfazed as he ate his pasta.
"Don´t look at me, I didn´t tell him." Viktor simply said as he continued to eat. Hannes then spoke up.
"Don´t blame him, I saw those extra ears of yours from a mile away. You have to be completely blind to not see what is located underneath that bow of yours." Hannes said as he finished his burger and leaned back into his chair. Blake´s eyes widen once again as she covered her head with her hands and shrunk down in her chair.
"But don´t worry, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. I know how important a secret can be to someone. And before you ask, no I don´t think any different of you. In fact, that bow and those ears of yours make you look super cute. Like a cute little kitten." Hannes said with a grin. Blake´s face had never been as red as it was now. The other girls giggled at Blake´s expense as even Viktor gave a short chuckle as he finished his pasta. Blake gave each of them a glare before she took her hands down from her head. She then gave a small hidden smile, maybe there was hope in mankind after all if they accepted her for what she was. As soon as they all had finished their food, the waiter came back.
"Was the food to your liking?" He asked. Each person at the table gave their compliments. The waiter than laid eyes on Hannes plate and saw that he had finished his burger. The waiters eyes widen in surprise as Hannes was still leaning back in his chair and picked his teeth with a toothpick.
"Yeah, it was good. Still a little to processed for my taste but still good none the less." Hannes said. The waiter tried speaking only for Weiss to snap him out of it.
"Can we get the check please?" Weiss asked. The waiter looked at her.
"Y-yes of course." He said as he walked away and soon came back with a piece of paper and a small portable credit card machine. Weiss took out her credit card.
"Don´t worry guys, this one is one me." Weiss said as she gave the waiter her credit card. The waiter put the credit card in the machine and waited. His face then turned into a frown as he pulled the card out and put it in once again. He seemed to get the same result.
"Excuse me, miss?" He said, gaining Weiss attention.
"There appears to be a problem with your card." He said which shocked Weiss.
"What, there must be some mistake. Your machine must be malfunctioning." Weiss said as the waiter shook his head.
"Impossible. We received this new card reader only a few days ago. I´m sorry to say this but there appears to be a problem with your account." The waiter said. Wiess simply sat there in silence as her friends looked at her in confusion. Before any of them could say anything, Viktor acted.
"This should be enough." He said as he held in his hand some Lien bills. The waiter gratefully took the cash and counted them. When he had finished counting he smiled and bowed to all of them.
"Thank you." He said as he then walked away. Team RWBY looked at Viktor oddly. Viktor simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Ozpin gave me an advance on my salary. That is how I have your world's money one me." Viktor said. The girls nodded in understanding. All of them then stood up from the table and walked out of the restaurant. Weiss however was still in disbelief.
"How does it come that my card is not working. Something must have been wrong with the machine." She said.
"Or maybe your fathers company went bankrupt while you were gone." Yang joked. This earned some laughs from her teammates except for Weiss who only glared at Yang. Then she realized it, her father. She had ignored him greatly in the last couple of weeks. Could that have something to do with it she thought? They all then started making their way towards the airfield and soon they were back on an airship bound for Beacon. The ride back was mostly uneventful except when Hannes and Yang started to joke again together which earned Hannes another trip into the wall on the curtsey of Viktors fist. As they then touched down at Beacon and exited the airship, all of them noticed more of these Atlesian airships, docked on the airstrip. Viktor frowned as he watched the soldiers march around and he even saw some android stand guard.
"Are those androids?" Hannes asked quietly. Viktor nodded.
"Man, this world just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Hannes said as he shook his head. They soon entered the main building and all of them stopped in the main entrance. Yang turned towards all of them.
"Okay, I go to the kitchen and get some popcorn. The rest of you, get our dorm ready." Yang said with a grin.
"For what?" Ruby asked.
"For Viktor and Hannes video. I have been dying to see it." Yang said. The rest of team RWBY remembered, as did the two mercenaries.
"Oh yeah, what do you say Viktor? Ready to show them some real action." Hannes said with a grin. Viktor shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"First of, that sounds so wrong coming from you…" Viktor said as Hannes simply shrugged his shoulders.
"…And second, something has come up that we must talk to Ozpin about." Viktor said.
"We do?" Hannes asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, we must talk to him about our new position here on Beacon. We have yet to get a full schedule." Viktor said. Hannes looked at him in disbelief.
"B-but movie." He argued. Viktor rolled his eyes.
"Some other time." Viktor said. He then looked at team RWBY.
"Terribly sorry about this. I know that I promised but is has to be another time." Viktor said. Ruby, Weiss and Blake seemed to understand this while Yang seemed to have been stabbed in the heart by a dagger, but they all knew that she was faking it.
"I never took you as someone to break a girl's heart, Viktor." She said in a pained voice. Viktor rolled his eyes once more and started to walk away.
"I see you guys later. Come now Hannes." Viktor said as he walked towards the elevator. Hannes looked at team RWBY.
"Sorry girls, some other time." He said before he ran up to Viktor. Team RWBY stood there for a moment before they all looked at each other.
"Now what?" Yang asked, her pained voice gone and replaced with a more disappointed voice. Before either Ruby or Weiss could speak, Blake spoke up.
"We have to talk."
AN: Cliffhanger! That is another chapter up. Sorry that this took longer than expected. I hope that you liked it. And it appears as well that I wasn´t that far of when it came to how powerful a Beringel is. If all of you have seen RWBY volume 4 preview you know what I am talking about. However, it seems like I made the one in my story a little bit too overpowered compared to those that will appear in the show. So let's just say that the one that Viktor fought was a legendary Grimm, okay? Good. As always, please leave a review if you like and I´ll see you in the next chapter.