RWBY: Paths of Light and Dark

Chapter XXVIII: Extracurricular Activities

Valethornia Academy – Disciplinary Building

Roanos walked slowly down the hallway. He was restrained by various cuffs and guarded by four members of the schools security forces. It had been two days since he woke up. The doctor that had treated him cleared him with a clean bill of health only a few hours ago. He was immediately restrained and taken to the disciplinary building.

His team had seen him off with varying emotions. Sable had a slightly smug smile on her face. Viridian offered up a few sympathetic words to him. Lavi looked as if she might cry and told him she'd visit every day. While Roanos told her that she didn't need to, he knew that she'd come anyway.

Roanos passed various cells filled with other students who had stepped out of line. They jeered as he passed while some congratulated him for his fight with Malyganya. Roanos ignored them and continued with the guards to the solitary confinement area. He complied with each instruction given to him and in minutes was released from his restraints.

As the door closed behind him Roanos felt a strange pressure begin to push down on his body. He tried to activate his semblance but when he did the pressure increased causing him to lose focus. A dampener? He thought as he began to expand more aura.

The more he used the heavier the pressure against him. Roanos smirked and dropped to the ground. With the pressure against him the imprisoned teenager began doing pushups while releasing a constant stream of aura.

Valethornia Academy – Atrium

Roane looked around as the students filled the area. Sitting nearby his team were the members of Team MTAL and Team JSMN. Malyganya was still missing however as she recovered. Even though it had already been half a week since the fight Malyganya's wounds were a lot more serious than everyone had initially thought.

Roanos's spear may have missed vital organs but being impaled was not something someone could just shrug off. Roane sighed and turned his attention to the assembly. The head mistress had called for each year of students to meet separately at the various atriums and auditoriums the school housed.

Whatever the case was it wasn't as if the school couldn't hold its entire student body in one location. The fact that they had been called separately meant that something big was going down. On the stage near the center one of the staff members climbed up and began to settle down the crowd. Roane didn't recognize the man but after a few moments the students became quiet.

"First Year Initiates, there has been a new development within the government." The man spoke into the mic that had been set-up.

"Due to the increase in gang activity which has caused an increase in Grimm related incidents it has been decided that a new extracurricular activity be introduced. Starting today teams may sign up to become volunteer law enforcement." The man continued.

There was an immediate explosion of sounds as students began to shout.

"Settle down, settle down." The instructor called out.

"I'm sure this comes at a surprise to you all. First off this is a completely voluntary activity. Secondly, the final decision for which teams are approved are up to the headmistress. Since this is being designated an extracurricular activity the teams that are assigned will have to maintain a strict average grading." He continued.

At this information, loud groans could be heard from the students who knew they're teams wouldn't get approved because of low scores. Roane smiled as he thought of his team and how they were just a little above the line to be eligible for extracurriculars. Jett was by no means stupid but he rarely applied himself outside of physical interactive classes.

Roane looked over at Jett and saw the young man smirking. He could only think that an extracurricular activity this exciting might actually be worth the time and effort needed to improve his grades. Orpheus looked as if he was in deep thought as he grabbed his chin. Of all the members only Crimson looked uninterested in what the instructor had to say.

Even though Crimson had joined them a few days ago, the young man refused to tell his teammates what he had been doing. To be more specific he refused to go into detail about what he was doing. They knew he had been training and that he had gotten permission to skip out on classes in order to do so.

Jett had pestered Crimson into revealing the results of his training but Crimson told him it wasn't time for that. Orpheus had been generally more accepting and merely told Crimson to learn the new team formations they had formed while he was away. Roane was curious about Crimson had been doing but knew that his teammate would reveal things in time so he left him to his own devices.

Since then things had been business as usual. They went to class, hung out with their friends, and generally had an uneventful two days. Now with this announcement Roane anticipated that their "normal" routine would change.

"Orpheus what do you think about this?" Roane asked the team leader.

"At the moment I think it would be prudent for us to polish up our team skills before signing up." Orpheus answered.

"That's bullshit Music-man!" Jett exclaimed in a hushed tone as he inserted himself into the conversation.

"We might not even get approved because of your low grades Jett." Orpheus stated in a matter-of-factually tone.

"This is true; your ineptitude could be the reason. You were warned your actions would have lasting consequences." Crimson's muffled voice could be heard.

"Dang guys; show some kind of restraint, no need to jump down my throat." Jett stated with a sheepish smile.

"We aren't jumping down your throat Jett, just stating a possibility. You have been neglecting your academics and now it might prevent not only you but the team as a whole from participating in this." Roane clarified.

Jett sighed and shook his head in defeat. He knew the others were right but it didn't change the fact that he thought Orpheus's decision to not even apply was bullshit. Leaning back in his chair the young man pulled out his scroll and began playing some game on it. The rest of Team ORCJ also began to pay attention to the rest of the announcement as thoughts of which teams might be chosen crossed their minds.

Kenju Forest

Lance stood in the field near the forest. It was rare for him to be out of his laboratory but today was special. Pulling out a seed, the size of which was similar to a softball Lance smiled before placing the item deep into the earth. There was a short rumbling and soon the seed sprouted.

The growth of the plant was astronomical as its bud grew and grew. Soon a flower bloomed and from there it began to grow in size as its shape changed. The stalk of the plant expanded as both its height and width increased. Lance watched on in fascination as a humanoid shape formed.

Directly beneath the wreath of flowers that had initially bloomed was the head. The face couldn't be seen from within the protective covering of the stalk that currently surrounded the creature growing within. Lance had always been fascinated with plants. He was a leading authority within the field of botany.

His discoveries had changed and improved the medical field as well as the chemical one. Lance realized that his study into plant life wasn't enough however and expanded his research to include genetics and biology. Through experimentation he pushed the limits of all three fields.

The creature continued growing until it was roughly the size and shape of a young adult human. Lance's eyes filled with wonder. His latest breakthrough had been the most time-consuming. Initially Lance had spliced his own genetic make-up with various plants. Through trial and error had come upon a combination that eventually granted him eternal youth.

Emboldened by the success he push for complete immortality. Every experiment failed however through the limitation of human DNA that was his base. Rather than give up on the project the scientist shifted focus from making someone immortal, to creating an immortal being from scratch. So far each experiment had ended in failure but he was confident about the latest one.

Eventually the plant finished growing as its stalk opened up to reveal a pale green-skinned being. Its form was distinctly female with breast-like mound on its chest and wide hips. It had no other real distinguishing features. The face was slightly plain, being narrow with a triangular jaw. The creature opened its eyes revealing bright yellow-green orbs with no pupils.

"Hello there, my name is Lance and I am your creator. Do you understand what I am saying?" Lance greeted as he inspected the creature.

"You are my creator. What is a creator?" the creature asked, its voice was soft with a slight raspy tone to it.

"A creator is someone who makes things. I made you." Lance answered as he continued to inspect the newly born creation.

"Am I a creator?" the creature asked looking behind itself at Lance.

"No, you have not created anything. You are a creation, the product of a creator." Lance explained.

"Why was I created?" the creature asked, its curiosity unsated.

"You were created to help me with my experiment." Lance replied as he walked a few feet away.

"Help you? What am I supposed to do?" It asked.

Lance was surprised at how quickly the creature was able to grasp the concept of conversation. He had manipulated the DNA sequence to help promote mental growth but what he saw developing was far past his calculations. The creature knew how to speak in complete sentences and respond to outside stimuli.

"You are going to fight. You will fight until you die or if my experiment is a success until everyone else is dead." Lance answered.

The creatures face shifted and Lance could see the expression of fear. He always hated this part. He knew that self-awareness was crucial to the experiment but it seemed like a waste to have something be aware that it was made to die. He could make use of drones but he needed an emotional response from whichever subject achieved immortality so he could see its effect on the psyche.

The creature looked around as it became surrounded. From the ground faceless misshapen earth mounds formed. They had been the first batch of creatures Lance made. Their regenerative abilities were extraordinary but they never lasted more than an hour, two hours at the most.

The mounds moved first and attacked the newborn with ferocity. The creature dodged the attacks as long stretches of earth shot past it. Leaping into the air the creature summoned forth a leaf-bladed spear from its own arm. Armed with a weapon it attacked the mounds.

Three of the mounds were sliced apart in rapid succession. As quickly as they were taken apart however they healed and began to attack once more. Lance's newest creation however had continued to move through the crowd. It used the blade end of its weapon to literally disarm its foes while the shaft of the spear was used to defend itself by pushing them away.

Lance continued to watch the spectacle. He took notes of the way the newborn creature moved; its actions and reactions to various attacks. He took notice of the small pauses the creature took to plan out its next assault. All the while it never took more than a glancing blow. The mounds weren't enough.

Tapping a button on his scroll Lance activated the next wave of enemies for the creature to fight against in addition to the mounds. These new beings were short, standing only two feet tall. They were stocky however, being formed with a dense cluster of particles. The new midget monsters charged the newborn and tackled it to the ground.

As the collection of limbs tumbles on the ground Lance sighed as the calculations in his head predicted the outcome of the match. The mounds joined the fray as they climbed over the newborn and began to restrict its movements. Struggling against the overwhelming odd the creature managed to throw off some of its attackers but it was already too late.

Each of its limbs was grabbed by one of the midgets and with a painful cry the creature was ripped apart. Lance watched as the creature went through its death throes before finally expiring. Cursing silently Lance deactivated the other creations as he finalized the data.

"Another failure Lance?" a female voice said from behind the scientist.

"This was merely a setback." The man replied without turning around.

The female's voice laughed softly in response.

"Vargas and Eze are having another meeting. Should I instruct Drevas to inspect closer?" the female asked.

"No, let them have their privacy for now. Head to the capital, there is a subject there whose genetic material I want you to retrieve. The details are in a file I've sent you." Lance instructed.

"As you wish Professor." The female's voice stated and in moments Lance felt her presence leave.

Looking around the field once more with a look of peace and serenity Lance sighed contently.

"Back to the lab again." He said to himself before heading west.


A/N: Poll is still up for voting.