After dropping the disguises then changing to our regular outfits, we flew from Vacuo and now here we are in a small dust shop in Atlas a few days later. "Would you mind telling me why we are here again?" Cinder asked.
I took a look at some of the dust crystals then placed my hand on my chin. "Waiting for someone." I looked at the man at the counter. "Is it possible to make a ring out of dust crystals?"
"I don't know, it's never been done most likely because it'd be too dangerous. I'm guessing you have something or someone you'd go this far for?" He smiled and raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, I do and that is why I asked if it was possible."
"Well once my son comes to talk to you, I'll go around back and gather some materials so we can begin. Luckily I have a room that will be able to sustain any accidental damage. Come back in a few hours so we can get started."
"Well, well, well, if it ain't Idris himself, can't believe I barely got that call from you. What took you so long?" A door from behind the counter opened revealing Flynt Coal with a smile as his father walked to the back.
"I've been busy training these past few months. Nice to know the Schnees were able to give you your dad's shop back."
"It's terrifying yet awesome knowing that you can get stronger." He joked. "Also couldn't believe it myself but hey, I ain't complaining. And who is this lovely lady with you?" He looked at Cinder and somehow took out a rose from his vest and gave it to her.
"His mother and someone who isn't interested in boys like you, but thank you for the gift." She happily accepted it.
"Feisty. So what'd you wanna talk about anyways?" He asked, leaning on the counter. "I can't imagine it'd be about my intense musical ability."
"It is actually, wanna make a small band?"
"You play something?"
"Little bit of guitar but that's beside the point. What I was really wondering is if you knew about anyone who can get me the info I need." I told him.
"I do, but that depends on what kind of info you want exactly." He crossed his arms.
"Looking for a lab belonging to the White Fang. I heard there was one here in Atlas so I had to check it out."
"A lab? Hmm I think I have the right person who can help you with that. You know my partner Neon right? Well someone from her family owns the finest club in the kingdom. Speaking from experience of Neon dragging me there a couple of times, many kinds of people go there, from the classiest of people trying to have real fun to big names in the underground. Although I don't think they'll allow just anyone in so I'll swing by and find the person and get that info for you if that's ok with you?"
"Yeah that's cool with me. Call me when you get something good." We bumped fists then Cinder and I left the store.
"How exactly did you meet him?" She asked me.
"It was after the second rounds of the tournament, I was resting in the locker room when Flynt ran up to me. He thought I was cool so he gave me his number so we can hang out sometime after the tournament was over."
"I see, well we have some free time on our hands, what do you want to do first?"
"Well I need to go back to the dust shop to work on something alongside Flynt's father, so we should go eat then you go rest at the hotel meanwhile I go meet up with him."
We stepped into a little burger place and started talking about things ranging from stuff that've happened while I was gone to what I've been up to. She was glad to hear of the different kinds of people I've met along the way and that I made sure to work as a way to pay Lucy back for the training I got. We even got to reminisce of things from back when I was a child.
The little hunting trips and fishing trips her and I had before Cinder had to leave. She even spoke of the adventures she had when she was younger and driving Eve crazy every now and then. It was all interesting to hear and it felt nice to be talking with Cinder like all our worries were suddenly gone.
After we ate and we parted ways for the night, I walked back to the dust shop and walked in. "You ready kid, I got everything ready?" Flynt's father asked.
"Yeah I'm good to go." I followed him to the blast room as he wore protective gear. He looked at me as a way of silently asking if I needed to safety gear but I shook my head. "My body can take anything that's thrown at it so don't worry, I'll be fine." He taught me the basics of dust and the basics of being a blacksmith which involve a lot of measuring and careful planning as to ensure not much time or materials are wasted.
After the lesson was over, he handed some tools over to me then stood behind the blast shield. I put on some goggles and raised the hammer. "Remember, not too much pressure." He told me and gave me a thumbs up.
I nodded then took a few breaths. 'Alright, first time's the charm.' I swung down on the crystal as it shattered and exploded, covering the room in smoke. I coughed out some smoke then placed the hammer down. 'Too much.'
As much as I wanted to be done early, I couldn't get it done so I ended up spending the next few days and nights working as much as possible to get it right. I was close a few times only to mess it up due to small mistakes. I swear, this felt as bad as coding. The smallest of mistakes could end up ruining everything.
Around a week since I started working, I thought of the perfect plan and put it to use. "Finally! I'm done!" I laughed as I sat against the wall, covered in sweat and burn marks around my hands. "I'm sorry for wasting a lot of dust crystals in the process of making this, I'll pay for them." I told Flynt's father.
"Don't worry about it kid, I hope the person you give that too really enjoys it." He smiled as he wrapped some bandages around my hands.
"I really hope so too." I held the ring up as it shifted colors every few seconds. I stored it in my pocket and got up. "You know you can make some good money and a lot of people happy if you advertise what we just made. It'd put any kind of jewelry to shame."
"I probably could but this was mostly your idea so it wouldn't be right if I did it without you."
"Well if you ever need help, then call. Bye." I stepped out of the shop and checked my scroll to see what time it was. It was around noon so I walked back to the hotel in the middle of Cinder reading an X-Ray and Vav comic then took a long shower and changed back into my gear.
"So you finally finished with whatever you were doing these past few days?" She asked, closing the comic and setting it aside.
"Yep" I showed the ring to her as she was amazed by the way it looked before I stuffed it back into my pocket. "Also I didn't know you read comics."
"Who else would get you interested in them? Eve was more into novels, it was all she reads during her spare time."
"That is true. Anyways get ready, we leave in ten minutes"
"Why?"
"We got to go see a certain friend that's why."
"You mean your friend Weiss Schnee?"
"Yeah." We left the hotel and now stood at the front of a giant manor with the Schnee symbol displayed on the gate. I saw a monitor next to the gate so I walked towards it as it turned on.
"Please state your business?" A voice asked as an elderly woman appeared on the monitor.
"I am a friend of Weiss Schnee and in need of discussing an urgent matter with her."
"I highly doubt that a faunus ruffian would be affiliated with Miss Schnee or any of the Schnee family. I suggest that you leave this area soon or I will call the police." The monitor shut itself off and I sighed.
"What do you wanna do now?" Cinder asked.
"Wait out here for me." I flew into the sky and floated over the manor, sensing exactly where Weiss was. Her energy signal led me to a big window being covered by a curtain. Tapping on the window, she moved the curtains and I waved. She looked surprised as she opened the window and I let myself in. Once I touched the floor she wrapped her arms around me for a hug.
"I missed you."
"Never pegged you as a hugger Weiss."
She had a little chuckle and let go of me. "Winter told me what happened in Vacuo so I should've expected to see you here. Ruby told me that you vanished off to go training then after five months I suddenly hear that you destroyed a White Fang research lab from Winter. You've got a lot of explaining to do mister."
"I know I do-" I stopped when I noticed a bruise on her cheek. "What happened to your cheek?"
"I...don't wanna talk about it...Your tail is back?!" She said, pointing at my swaying tail.
"Yeah it regrew while I was training. Not having it is fine but I enjoy having a tail."
"How is that possible?!"
"Saiyan biology. If our tail is cut off, there is a chance to regrow it."
The door to her room opened and in came a slightly overweight light brown eyed man with balding brown hair and a large mustache. When he saw me, his eyes changed to an orange color. "What the bloody hell are you doing with Weiss?"
"Don't worry Klein, he's a friend." She told him. "A good one at that."
His eyes reverted to the color they were before. "My apologies."
I nodded. "No need for one, you were only caring for her safety."
She turned her head to me. "So why exactly are you in Atlas? I'm sure you had some business here other than just visiting me."
"I do but it involves breaking into a laboratory affiliated with the White Fang. Wanna help?"
"Well I have been practicing some new techniques although father would be furious if he found out that I left my room."
"Don't worry Miss Schnee, I will make sure he doesn't find out." said Klein.
"You sure?"
"Of course, anything for you."
"Then it's decided, jump onto my back and let's go." I turned my body towards the window as she hopped on. "Hold on tight." I flew out the window and made my way away from the manor. Soon enough Cinder was able to catch up with me.
"You could've told me to follow you." said Cinder.
"Sorry, must've slipped my mind that you were waiting."
Weiss looked over to Cinder. "Who's she?"
"Weiss this...is my mother...Cinder."
She gasped. "I thought your mother was killed by the White fang?"
"Give me a moment to explain. You see, Cinder was the one who found me and raised me for a few years. Complications rose and she had to leave me with the woman who adopted her. I didn't remember her at all until after Eve died which led to me regaining those memories and finally remembering everything when I saw Cinder."
"Wow…"
"I know right." My scroll rang and I saw that it was Flynt who was calling me. "You got it?"
"I did, although you may not like what I have to say. Their location is in the northeast side of Atlas in Mt. Steel. It was all I could get."
"Thanks Flynt, knew you would come through. I'll make to sure to come back to your shop when I have time."
"If you have time is what you really mean. See ya." He hung up.
"You're friends with Flynt?" Weiss asked.
"I'll explain that too on the way."
Halfway there, an increasing energy signal that was above the average human or faunus level appeared. It felt different from the aura levels of this world, in fact, it felt more like aura mixed with...ki. "Cinder, we have to hurry!" I started flying much faster.
"Slow down!" Weiss yelled, struggling to hang on.
Reaching the source of the signal, I arrived at Mt. Steel. I gathered energy in my hand and let it out against the mountain side, blasting a hole then flew inside. I set Weiss down as Cinder joined us.
"Why would you fly that fast, I could've fallen?!" Weiss scolded.
"They're getting closer to finishing." I told Cinder.
"But how? All they have are blood samples, that shouldn't be even close to enough to generate a single being, let alone an army." She said.
"Guess Samson was right about them fusing dna." They followed as I started walking. Stopping at a ledge, I looked over to see the lab filled with a dozen guards plus two scientists and a massive container filled with a blue liquid.
"Finally, our goal is almost complete. To think that we've come this far, thank you for agreeing on merging your lab in Mystral with ours Maxis, it was the best thing we've done." A woman said.
"Certainly Emma, the advances we've made will certainly instill terror on our enemies. Fusing the dna of our faunus subject with the dna of that boy wasn't easy but we were successfully able to do it. Hopefully that will be all that we need to start generating an army of them. Are you sure we can keep this thing under control, what if it loses control?"
"I've got a plan for that Maxis, in fact, I've made many preparations for many different possibilities."
"You better be right cause the mountain shaking earlier means he must be here."
"I know. You can come out of hiding now!" She yelled. I moved out of hiding then jumped down and hit the floor with a thud. "Perfect. Now I know you must be wondering why we'd do this."
"I can give many reasons why, now get out of my way." I told them.
"Guards, do your thing!" On her command, every guard raised their rifles and began shooting at me.
I caught each and every bullet that they shot and once they ran out, I let go of the scraps, creating a small pile on the ground. "Regulars don't work, use dust bullets!" One of them yelled. They were gonna shoot again but were stopped by dark circles appearing under half of them which exploded into a blast of fire, taking them out. The other half were frozen solid. Weiss and Cinder jumped down, landing next to me and ready to fight.
"So you brought help, guess I have no choice but to release him." She walked to the container and pressed a few buttons. The container hissed as it opened, revealing a shirtless man wearing only pants and boots who also had a monkey tail like mine. It opened its eyes and walked out of the container before kneeling down in front of Emma. She pointed at me and smiled. "Luxor, destroy the boy and those two women." She ordered.
"Yes master." He stood up and looked at me straight in the eyes. We walked up to one another and I noticed he was a few inches taller than me, much like Ironwood's height. "You die first little man." He declared.
"A mixture of a saiyan and faunus. I wonder what advantages being both will entail. Sad really...knowing that I will have to kill you. Such a waste of potential."
"We'll see about that." He popped his neck then threw a punch. Catching his punch, I quickly punched him in the stomach twice then kicked him back.
I looked over to Cinder and Weiss. "Both of you take care of Maxis and Emma, I'll deal with this guy." I charged at Luxor and slammed my fist onto his face and blasted him into the wall. He got himself out of the wall and growled at me. He jumped into the air and shot a few energy balls at me which I deflected away from everyone else then jumped back in order to avoid his fist which smashed the floor. "That all you got?" I smiled.
He turned angry from my smile and clenched his fists. "You will eat your words!" He jumped at me with a kick so I moved past him and grabbed his leg with my tail then slammed him onto the floor. While he was down I kicked him, sending him a few feet away. He sprung up and held his hand out as a large ball grew from his hand and was sent towards me so I retaliated by grabbing it with my hand and crushing it with ease.
'I may not have gone past Super Saiyan Two but my training certainly helped me improve so much. Don't even need to transform.' I yawned and rubbed my eye. 'This should rile him up a bit more. I know I shouldn't be doing this but my instincts are pressuring me into letting him put out more power.'
Sure enough I felt his energy increase as did his anger. "Power...I need more power!" He ranted. For some reason, his veins were glowing as his muscles grew bigger, surprising me. It reminded me of Bane and Broly. One cause of glowing veins, the other cause of the rants for more power. With one step he rocketed from his spot and tackled me into the wall. I was pushed further into the wall by his constant punches. "What's wrong, you seemed so confident earlier?" He smiled as he stopped his assault.
Rubbing my arm across my mouth, I noticed a bit of blood smudged on there. I removed myself from the wall and quickly went Super Saiyan. "You surprised me that's all. I hope you're fighting seriously cause you'll be in a world of pain from now on." Disappearing from my position, I appeared behind him and grabbed his arms before ramming my knee into his back. I let go of one arm and used the other to keep a hold of him while I kicked his stomach and lower back a couple times then threw him back.
His veins glowed and his muscles grew bigger as he got up. He yelled with gusts of wind that grew and a yellow aura surrounded him. His pupils disappeared and his hair spiked itself with a red hue just like a false Super Saiyan. "Now you will die!" His voice became slightly deeper. We rushed one another and clashed fists, creating shockwaves. We clashed a couple more times then were in a power struggle. I didn't move as much unlike him. I used a bit more power and punched him back a few feet. I stood still as he charged at me again. Moving under his punch, I reeled my fist back and rammed it into his stomach, sending him into the container and shattering it completely.
I descended slowly from the air and turned to Cinder and Weiss. Both seemed to be doing great on their own so I turned back to Luxor. 'Time to end this.' Walking to him, I held him by his neck. "You put up a good fight Luxor, but this is the end." I threw him into the air then began to spread my arms out. "Final…" Now locking them together, I moved them beside me. "Ka...me...ha...me…" Charging enough energy, I thrusted my hands forward. "Ha!" A massive beam shot out and consumed him then went on to make its way through the mountain, leaving a giant hole before disappearing into the sky. I changed back then looked over to Cinder and Weiss again to see them working together. Cinder used fire to distract Emma and Maxis as Weiss used a glyph to summon a giant knight made of ice behind them. While they were distracted by the fire, the knight grabbed both of them then slammed them into the wall then the floor, knocking both of them out.
The knight kneeled in front of Weiss then faded away as a mist. "And that takes care of that." She put her hands on her hips and smiled.
"That was pretty cool Weiss, when'd you learn how to do that?" I asked her.
"Family secret."
"What should we do with them?" Cinder pointed to Emma and Maxis.
"You girls head on back to Atlas, I'll take care of these two." I said, seeing them leave. I turned around and wrapped some cables around each of the two scientists. I was about to pick them up when Emma started waking up. "Nice to know you're awake."
"Bite me." She scoffed. "What do you plan on doing with us?"
"Turn you over to the Atlas military." I took out my scroll to call Winter.
"The White Fang will get us out and we'll go back to experimenting, after all, you and everyone else are just bodies in our way of achieving our goals."
"Yeah yeah." I said as I dialed Winter's number.
"And once we get out, not only are we gonna continue, we may even experiment on that one cat faunus. You know, the one that used to work with Taurus."
I lowered my scroll and looked at Emma. "What?"
"You heard me, what was her name? Belladonna right?"
"Please don't play this game with me."
"You have no idea what you have done do you? You can do your worst to me but this little expedition of yours will certainly paint a huge target on you once the higher ups find out you're cause of this. Everyone you love will get hurt or maybe even killed. You sealed their fate." She smiled, fully knowing what she was doing. "The hero who got everyone he loves killed. Quite a befitting title for you actually. In time you'll earn that title and I can't wait to see your face when you do."
"I don't care who is targeting me but if you can, let them know that I look forward to fighting them. And warn them that if any one of them get near my friends, then I will make them suffer."
After Winter arrived then left with them in her custody, I flew back to the Schnee household where I met up with Cinder and Weiss who were in the middle of a conversation.
"-certainly agree on that." Cinder smiled then looked my way. "I assume you handled them?"
"Yeah, Winter came and took care of the problem." I nodded.
"What're you two gonna do now? I mean those labs were the only reason you both went through the kingdoms." Weiss wondered.
Cinder walked up to me. "I have to ensure that there are no more threats. If something comes up then I will call you or even when I just want to talk but for now, this is goodbye." She kissed my forehead and hugged me before leaving. "Our time together was good and I hope we can do it again someday.""
"And you?" Weiss asked me.
"I have to go find someone don't I?" I laughed. "I'll see you later Weiss and please call if you ever wanna talk. It wouldn't be fun if you never talked to any of us. After all, we are family." I gave her a small hug then stepped out of the house. Focusing, I found that person's energy so I shot into the air and flew. The skies darkened after a few minutes. I was closing in on the person's location so I descended slowly and touched the ground with a soft thud. I walked the rest of the way and found the person I was looking for.
I took a small breath and smiled as the person noticed me and the person smiled as well. "It's been a long time, but I'm here now…Blake."
"You say it as if it's been years since we've seen one another."
"With what I've been putting myself through, you'd be surprised." I laughed and held her in my arms. "I'd go through hell and back just to see that beautiful smile of yours."
"I swear, you get cornier everytime we meet." She said with an even wider smile.
I felt a tear roll down my eye and she wiped it away when she noticed it. "I told myself I wouldn't cry." I joked, getting a laugh out of her. "I love you Blake." I kissed her softly then placed my forehead on hers. "And I will never stop loving you."