"Tsss... uuhhh..."
My eyes fluttered open, and I scrunched them shut almost immediately from the stinging in my orbs and the sharp pain it was giving me from taking in too much light all at once.
Subconsciously, I held a hand over my head to block the white flare.
I forced my eyelids to tear themselves open, even if my mind is telling me to get some more rest.
My eyes watered slightly from the blinding white light, as if I never used them in forever, while my hazy thoughts were accompanied by a splitting headache.
Half lidded, I muttered. "Where..." As a silhouette appeared at the corner of my peripheral.
"RUBY!" Someone screamed as she wrapped both arms around the reaper, engulfing her immediately.
"Can't... breathe..." I desperately gasped for air as Yang nearly choked the life out of me in a rib crushing hug.
I blinked a few times to let my eyes focus and adjust to the rays that were invading my eyes, and only then did I realize that I was in a familiar hospital bed. "Yang, why are you crying...? What... happened?"
"You... don't remember?"
"Blake...?"
"Do I sound like Weiss to you?" The faunus countered sarcastically. "What was the last thing you remember then?"
"I remember being in the pod and..." Ruby's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "LOUIS!"
"Woah woah woah," Yang said as she dragged the small reaper down to her bed by her shoulders. "Easy there sis." She said, using the back of her arm to wipe away the tears from her lilac eyes.
"B-but... Louis!"
"He's... " Both Blake and Yang looked down, and that was when Ruby noticed something was off.
"Yang, Blake." Ruby leant towards the front to meet her sister's eyes as sternly and as calmly as she could. "Where. Is. Louis?"
"He's in the other room." Blake answered. "You passed out trying to save him, and Yang wouldn't allow the rest to even come near you after that whole... fiasco."
"Fiasco?" Ruby muttered. "So he's..."
"Awake..." Yang bit her bottom lip as her lilac eyes roved towards Blake for support. "But..."
"But what?" Ruby's eager eyes narrowed as she shot forward, the curiosity getting the better of her. "But what Yang?!"
Did it work...?
Did I-
"Friend Ruby!" The door slammed open.
"Oh great." Ruby groaned as she palmed her forehead. "Hey Penny." She croaked back weakly as she slumped against the frame of her bed, prompting the ginger haired android to skip and hop towards her side with an expression that was filled with nothing but pure joy.
"I am pleased to see you are back into an awakened state after shutting down for almost a week."
"A WEEK?!" Ruby yelped and flinched as pain flared on her side.
"That is correct." Penny scratched her cheek as her eyes rolled up as if the answers were somehow at the back of her head.
Knowing that she was secretly an android, the database probably was located somewhere in her equivalent of a cranium.
"I am not sure if it is normal for you meat persons to hibernate for such long periods." Penny giggled as she tiptoed. "But father said after what you did, that it is normal."
What I... did?
"The Aura Transfusion was a success!" Penny claimed as she rocked back and forth.
"Then Louis is-"
"He awoke a day before you did." Penny confirmed with a nod. "That is to say, the day before the now day or yesterday's today."
"But...?" Ruby asked as she exchanged her attention between the forlorn ones Blake and Yang were giving her in not meeting her eyes, and instead choosing to look at the ground, and Penny, who was smiling uncannily.
Knowing the drawbacks, the android's eyes saddened.
"His brain has not recovered it's functionality yet." Penny said without stuttering, voice stable but her lips were set into a thin line, killing her iconic smile. "His motoric performance is still uncalculated as well, but at the very least he is conscious, and is in a stable condition."
"So he's..."
"Disabled." Yang finished with a snarl as her eyes looked down at her lap, her fists trembling on her knees from anger or frustration, Ruby couldn't tell. "Alive and awake, but brain dead."
...
...
"I want to see him." Ruby said as determination gleamed in her eyes.
"Ruby, you don't-"
"I don't care Yang!" Ruby shouted. "Penny, help me up. I want to see Louis."
Before the ginger android could approach, someone scooped her up by her legs and carried her bridal style with a loud sigh, and from the tall altitude she was being lifted, it wasn't Penny.
"You didn't let me finish." Yang sighed again. "I was about to say, you don't have to do this alone."
"Penny, you get Blake." The brawler nodded off to the cat faunus, who in return, gave a slight nod.
Penny scooped her up the same way Yang did to Ruby.
...
...
"You... can put me on my wheelchair now."
Shift
3 knocks sounded at the door.
"Come in." A feminine voice answered back.
"Oh, it's you girls." Amber smiled weakly as the door opened. "Glad to see-"
"We didn't come here for you Evans." Yang frowned, getting a sigh and a shrug in return.
"Yeah yeah, I'll get out of your hair." Amber waved off as she got out of the room, making sure to shoot Ruby a smile as she passed by the trio. "Take care of him for me."
The door clicked shut.
None of the other boys were present.
"Louis...?"
Ruby basically scrambled out of Yang's grasp the moment the door closed, making her seem more like a cat for once compared to Blake.
She crawled up on his bed side, bitter tears stinging the edge of her eyes as her eyes scanned up and down at his crumpled state.
Louis was hunched forward, shoulders slumped, fingers twitching like an addict while his eyes were devoid of light, looking down at the toes of his feet.
Even at the sight of his leader and his team entering the room, he didn't react, nor did he glance.
"I-I'm so sorry..." Ruby cried as she sobbed into the blankets by his legs. "I couldn't save you..."
Yang and Blake looked away.
"This was my fault." She sobbed. "My fault... I should've been a better leader... I could've helped you! We could've helped you. I'm sorry!"
Yang hesitated to approach the leader, while Blake grabbed her partner's shoulder from Penny's grasp, and shook her head.
The brawler's hands fell to her side.
"You can't leave us! Please!" Ruby begged. "Not now! Not like this!" The small reaper yelled into the sheets. "Not when we haven't settled out problems... I promise I would listen this time. I promise!"
Then, after a moment of thought, she screamed as loud as she could, as if that were the solution to her problem.
"I love you!"
"Ruby..." Blake muttered.
"I love how you listened in on my past and comforted me through it all, how you attempted to help me get over my worries of being a bad leader, how you're always trying to help us in your weird ways and lucky guesses. That's why... that's why..."
"Oh, what else do you like about me?"
"You're handsome, and learn combat really really quick, I really like it when you spar with us, makes my confidence skyrocket to know there's someone that's older then me and isn't as good as I am, you suck as dancing as much as I do..."
"Mhmm, go on."
"You're always treating me like I'm a kid that doesn't understand anything, but I do! I also like how you came to me out of everybody else on how to build your first weapon. I understand now that this feeling that makes my heart soar isn't just some stupid childish crush! I love-"
"Uhh..." Yang dragged on as she made to tap her sister's shoulder. "Rubes..."
"I'm not through yet Yang! Louis asked what m-"
Ruby stilled.
He.
Asked.
...
Louis.
Asked.
She glanced up as damp silver eyes met obsidian, accompanied by a sly yet apologetic, smirk.
"You know, if this is what it takes for you to confess to me, or in this case, vent it all out in a fit equivalent of a tantrum, I have a feeling that we're gonna have an issue."
...
...
"You..." Ruby struggled to get out the words as tears poured out of her eyes. "You... big..."
The words died in her throat as it broke into sobs halfway, engulfing Louis in a warm embrace.
"Waaaaah... Louis..." The young reaper cried into his chest, wiping the tears on his hospital gown as her head shook from side to side, her arms flailing around weakly to try and beat it into his chest. "Louis..."
"There there." Louis hushed as he patted her head. "It's okay... You did good." He smiled. "All of you."
"Wanna tell us what the fuck just happened?" Yang asked with a curious brow as her eyes flashed crimson. "You were okay this whole time?!"
"Get JNPR in here will ya?" Louis requested as he nodded past the duo. "I think it's time for a bed time story."
"Copy." Amber smirked back from the doorway with her arms crossed.
"You knew?!" Yang shrieked. "And you didn't bother to tell us?!"
"That's what you get for hitting me in my gut and trying to do stuff on your own." Louis sighed in relief as he worked some knots out of his joints. "Really, the next time you try to do something, use your head for once."
Yesterday
Louis's POV
My eyes fluttered open as light poured into them, blinding me almost instantly.
"Urrrgh..." I groaned from the pain spreading throughout my whole body.
At least I could feel pain.
The last thing I need was to feel fuck all.
That's good enough.
"Yo." A voice called out towards my side.
I glanced at the woman with copper skin who was smirking in relief, back leant on the doorway. "You look like shit."
"Checked the mirror out lately?" I mumbled as I tried to get up and face her on an equal level, but the soreness in my limbs paralyzed me.
Where the hell are we?
Evans must've noticed my expression because he answered "Welcome, to Prof P's base of operations in Vale." He gestured through Amber's body. "You're in the med bay."
Med bay?
"So I'm guessing we did it?" I groaned out the question.
"Rest easy old friend. Beacon is well... I wouldn't say safe per se." I raised my brow at the woman scratching his chin, then narrowed my eyes. "But Grimm free. And the girls are safe."
"JNPR?"
"Alive."
"Thanks..." I gratefully nodded as I felt my own lips curled up into a smile, cracking some kinks out of my neck, and flinching almost immediately as I heard something crack within as sharp pain shot through my neck.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Amber sighed as she helped me prop a pillow against the frame, and helped me up to lean my back into it. "That Berserker armour really took a toll on you. You came out looking like swiss cheese."
"Yeah, well. It's supposed to." I shrugged back nonchalantly. "You know what it does. You helped me build it."
"You're an idiot."
"That makes two of us."
As I observed the room around me, I craned my neck upwards to catch sight of a symbol of a man in a wheelchair with the words-
You've gotta be kidding me.
"Evans I need to ask you about this."
"Shoot."
"Why did you stick Deshabille above my head?"
"Because you were disabled."
...
...
"Deschabille means undressed, you moron!"
"Have you looked at yourself lately?"
I looked down.
Shit.
I would've scrambled to put some covers on myself if I could feel my arms.
As of now, I could move some of my limbs, but my fingers were out of the question.
As to feeling them though? They're... numb.
"Can you at least get me dressed before the girls come in and see my naked ass?" I groaned.
"You want me to be the one to do it?" Amber grimaced.
"You want one of the girls to be the one to do it?" I raised my brow.
"They already did" She muttered under her breath.
"I heard that." I deadpanned.
"Ugh, fine." Amber rolled her eyes as she walked out the door. "I'll get Penny to do it."
"Fine by me."
Later...
"You feeling alright though?" I asked honestly once I got all comfortable and snug in my new teal jeans and a simple jet black T-shirt. "You weren't in the best condition as the maiden and sure as hell don't look it now."
"What can I do?" Amber shrugged back. "My real body has to go to the Land of Darkness otherwise they'll start getting suspicious."
"You left already?" I asked.
"About a week ago, when I was certain you'd recover."
"Huh, who'd knew you had such faith in me and my Aura." I chuckled, made to raise a brow when Amber flinched. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing. You recovered faster than expected." She ran a hand through his hair and chuckled back nervously. "Anywho, now that you're back, do you want me to inform the others? They missed you y'know..."
"Oh my, how'd you figure that one out?" I rolled my eyes.
"Is that a yes?"
"It isn't a no, but just not yet." I smirked. "I think it's time for a bit of payback..."
"Ooh, me likey."
"By the way, make sure Penny knows, you know how she is."
"Hey, her droid features make poker facing look like child's play."
...
"Good point."
Present Day
"Now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions," I said as I glanced towards the 6 main characters currently seated in a rough circle around the room, with Evans in the form of Amber back leant on a chair on my left, and Kevin sat on a barstool on my right. "So who's gonna be the one to address the Goliath in the room?"
Ruby... refused to leave my side, so I let her clung on in the space between Evans and me, which should've make things awkward, but dismissing her would be bastardous and utterly mean of me.
Plus even when told, I doubt that she would let go, and any attempt in prying her would make my already fragile bones snap like a twig.
I was just glad it wasn't Nora instead, or else I would've been dead minutes ago.
As I was told by Evans, Weiss had been forced to go back by her father with Winter as an escort in case anything happens, just like in canon, while Qrow is being sent to search for Li'l boy Ozpin.
Knowing Oscar, it might take a while to find a payphone, especially when there is a 6-8 month time skip in Volume 4, and not knowing when exactly everything lines up, we unfortunately just have to play the waiting game.
With the majority of Team RWBY not splitting up, Qrow had no direction to go on since he plays the secret babysitter role in 4, and a literal babysitter role in 5, so he had no choice but trust in the words of Evans in the form of Amber, since y'know, he was supposed to be guarding Amber in the first place.
And Evans as Amber could probably commit suicide, he pointed out. Still don't get why that's a thing after we'd worked so hard to save her maiden ass, but knowing Qrow and the thing's he'd probably seen, I couldn't blame him entirely.
Surprisingly he trusted the boys to take care of his nieces, or the other way around, as he left only after making sure the men all couldn't fight back.
After clearing up the misunderstanding and the stern reprimanding Evans got from Glynda in the form of... gravitational bondage? He got off the hook when she had learned that we were doing this for the betterment of mankind, just like how she herself was backed into a corner by forcing the choice on Pyrhha, even though she disproves of it herself.
Same same, but different. To be declining us in our ways would be hypocritical of her.
With these similarities, the teacher and our party came to an understanding, and she was being sent to negotiate with Ironwood for our, that is to say, Team RWBY's, arrival.
Evans is a wanted felony while I am dead to the world, after all. If we were to tag along, we were to remain in the shadows.
Knowing we don't have a choice but to go to Argus because the whole of Atlas is gonna shut itself out from the world come the year, all we could do is hold out hope that facing Cordovin wouldn't be as much of a pain as it was in canon.
Winter was actually considering apprehending Evans after we settled down for causing the Fall in the first place, however...
She, despite her strict nature and to our relief, had waved it off as a favor for saving both her and Weiss's life.
Surprisingly, there was no news as of now for Tai Yang Xiao Long's whereabouts, and that was probably because... We were located in an underground research facility of Professor Polendina.
We're probably gonna get screwed over if Ruby does all the explaining of being kept 'underground' by 'a group of large men', but with Yang present, I wouldn't worry too much.
...
Okay, maybe worry.
Worry a lot.
"Why don't we start from the obvious?" Yang demanded with crossed arms and an even more crossed expression. "Why didn't you tell us about this plan of yours?"
Alright, here goes nothing. I sighed internally.
"Quite honestly," I started. "I wanted to."
I met every set of eyes possible, making sure to bore into them my honesty.
"We trusted each other, fought, ate and bled together. A camaraderie was built between us that I would never had betrayed. So why?"
"That is the question I'm asking yes." The blonde brawler specified needlessly.
"Well, that was because the plan was altered." I answered with a shrug. The others balked at that. Their expressions seemed to ask 'That's it?' "Drastically altered, with last minute changes that we could never had anticipated."
"Everything is done for a reason. I told this to Blake and, to my surprise and pleasure, she seemed to take it to heart." I smiled her way, causing the cat faunus to shrink and turn red under my gaze. "Well, our original plan was actually to..."
Flashback
The rest of team RWBY then introduced themselves to Penny, who introduced themselves back, with the exception of myself, but... Yang introduced me along anyways. Before they left however, I made sure that Ruby jolted down Penny's contact number by scroll.
"Alright! Bye bye friend!" Ruby waved off.
"Why would you need a competitor's number?' Weiss asked, raising her brow.
"Backup." I smiled as we walked off.
Later...
Beep...
Beep...
"Hello?"
"Friend Louis!" Penny screamed into the scroll, causing me to reel back and hold my own a limb's length away.
"Hello... Penny." I said slowly, like I was surrounded and about to be interrogated by the mafia.
"Yes, this is delightful! My second friend who has managed to come to talk to me after Friend Ruby. This is my first time calling a friend with my scroll system apart from contacting father. Does that make me a call gir-"
"Uhh, Penny...?" I felt my cheeks heat up slightly.
Man am I glad this wasn't on speaker.
"I am learning so much! You must teach me the art of calling women. What do we do after this friend Louis? Do we visit each other's quarters and have a 'sleepover'? Delightful! I must report this to father immediate-"
"Penny!"
"...Yes...?" She asked meekly.
"Is this is a secure line?"
"Why yes." She said all too happily. "It comes with high quality signal as well. After all, my scroll is built in-"
"Built in...?"
"It is nothing, friend Louis."
She hiccuped.
"Listen." I rubbed my temples. "Can you perhaps patch this call through so that I could talk with your father? I have a friend that would like to learn a lot from him. And before you ask, that's an extra friend for you too."
"Another friend?!" She squealed, causing me to hold out my hand and wince from the sudden increase in volume. "Oh yes, this is very delightful! I have made so much friends in the time span of under 24 hours. Father shall be delighted!"
"Great," I said as the call went silent, and my scroll beeped a few times.
"Hello...?" A deep, raspy voice asked. "Penny? Why'd you call? Father's busy right no-"
"Hello, Professor Polendina." I greeted calmly as I heard a startled gasp. "Don't panic and don't disconnect. I know who you are and that you are afraid about the world knowing what your daughter is," I made sure to keep things vague, in the case that Penny actually is recording this. "And this is not a threat. This is actually.. a proposal."
"Proposal you say?" He asked, genuinely interested.
"I have a friend who is actually quite interested in your field of work." I smirked cockily. "Would you please entertain the idea of having an intern?"
"A-an intern?!" The elderly man on the other side of the scroll choked.
"If you're worried about him spreading your research, don't be. We're doing this for the betterment of mankind as well. Plus, Penny had already acknowledged our existences as her 'friends', and you know she's gonna be all too happy to meet one. Especially one that comes to visit everyday."
"Uhhh..." I could imagine him scratching his bald head, weighing out the options. "I don't know... I've never had experience in teaching anyone before, and I don't know how good this 'intern' of yours is."
"He learns fast." I said as I checked my wallet. "And we're not native, and came from the outskirts of Vacuo. We desperately need this line of work and need the money soon. I hope the pay is up to standard?"
"For Aura research?!" He laughed heartily as all the strain in his voice dissipated almost immediately. "You will be rewarded handsomely. I will consider it after an interview with him myself. But young man, where is this intern of yours located?"
"Vale." I said. "You need to come here anyways right? To watch over Penny."
"Why young man, I coincidentally am en route to Vale as of right now. Why don't we discuss this over some hot chocolate, and bring your intern along with you!"
"That I will." I smiled. "Thank you."
"Young man."
"Hm?"
"I didn't catch your name, or the name of the intern."
"My name is Louis sir," I replied with a cheeky laugh. "And the intern's, is Evans."
Present Day
"...Not long after that, his salary got split in two, since, you know, I need to eat as well."
"Freeloader." Amber mumbled.
"Hey, I got you the damn job in the first place!" I almost threw my hands up in the air, only to wince and shrink under the glares everybody was giving me from even talking with the injuries I've gained. "And I can't exactly concentrate of both getting a job and keeping tabs of both the villans and main characters all at the same time."
Amber huffed and crossed her arms.
"Anywho... A few weeks into it, Evans found a discarded concept for project S.T.A.R.D.U.S.T in the garbage can, and when asked why it was thrown away, Penny's dad mumbled about it being too lethal and too unstable to use."
"But you still used it." Blake deadpanned.
"Hey, anything to get a decent edge against the enemies we were gonna face." I shrugged. "Life isn't fair, and so are the villains we're facing here. Thus, we pushed it until it became the weapon you know now."
I pointed at Amber. "Evans took the first step and built White Knuckle Ride. Once he determined it was safe to use, he passed the recipe onto me, where I built Rose Nasty, now renamed Obsidian Nova." I quickly corrected when Ruby glanced upwards and gave me a stink eye. "Based off the same projection-type dust Velvet was using, and amplifying it to get a cutting edge."
"That still doesn't answer what your plan was." It was Ren who asked, skeptical as always.
"Well, initially, we wanted to interfere subtly," I explained to the best of my potential. "As you all already know, Penny and Pyrhha were supposed to fight in that Arena, and Emerald was gonna use her Semblance to make Pyrhha ends up killing Penny."
Pyrrha flinched while Penny stood beaming.
"But..." The android continued, prompting me to go on.
"But we weren't just gonna sit around. We planned to change that." I cut in before Jaune could act irrationally. "Evans's job was to draw the attention of the villains and get him to be the one to fight Penny." I gestured towards the maiden, who nodded.
"Since I have White Knuckle Ride, I'll be able to shut Penny down without harming her. Just like flipping a switch on a light bulb, but it isn't permanent." He added quickly when Ruby shot him a horrified expression, and others looked at him confused.
"Oh yeah," Amber added. "Penny's an android."
Everybody in the room either raised a brow or scanned the ginger haired girl up and down repeatedly.
"And I." I continued as some faced me while more was still in awe at the fact that she looked so lifelike. "Built Obsidian Nova based on the couple I'd thought I'd succeeded pairing. It's synonym of a name is BlackSun, after all." I glanced at the cat faunus in question. "The dual wield aspect was from you and Gambol Shroud, while the fact that it could connect to a long lethal polearm was based on Sun's weapon. Doesn't matter." I added when Blake made to look away. "What's done is done, and if you aren't happy with him then I can't force you to be."
The cat faunus shied away under my gaze as she looked towards the ground, as if a knife had just been twisted in her gut.
"Do you... " She mumbled. "Want me to get back with him...?"
"Not if it doesn't make you happy, no I don't."
She smiled as her cheeks flared bright pink, with Ruby pouting cutely underneath me.
I was told by Evans that they broke up.
To make it worse, it was over my death.
"Anywho, since Evans is gonna fight Penny, I was about to fight the champ herself." I gestured at the champion. "Since her Semblance is Polarity, the only things she could affect are metal. If Emerald tries to pull the same trick and fool Pyrhha into attacking me, Obsidian Nova's hilts would get torn out of my hands and possibly come slamming into me, but the blades would automatically retract the moment I don't hold on to it."
"Thus saving your life with minor injuries and exposing them..." Pyrhha realized.
"That's..." Jaune looked speechless. "I don't know, genius...?"
"Okay, so why was the plan altered?" Blake asked.
I met Amber's deadpan gaze.
"I thought it was obvious..." I deadpanned myself with an exasperated sigh. "Dwiki exposed the cruicial truth right before the Fall, remember?"
"Luckily, we're prone to pulling all nighters and last minute deadlines." She continued, shaking her head with a sigh.
"Woah woah," Yang held out both hands as if to say 'Slow down'. "That doesn't explain why you have to cause the Fall of Beacon in order to stop it."
"What do you think we're trying to do?" Kevin cut in before I could open my mouth.
"Help... us...?" Ruby's eyes shifted towards the rotund man.
"True, but what are we really trying to do?" The rotund man asked again. "If we stop them here and now, what's to say they won't try again?"
Everybody present just exchanged confused looks, and after a while of thinking hard, they shrugged and hold both hands to their sides, giving up.
"You kids nowadays." Kevin's chair scraped back as he got up. "We're spreading messages to get passed on. Memes, the DNA of the soul."
"They shape our will, they are the culture, they are everything we pass on." He spread his arms as if passing on an important lexture. "Expose someone to anger long enough, they will learn to hate. They become a carrier. Anger, Greed Despair. All Memes, all passed along."
"Adam and the White Fang..." Blake murmured under her breath, drawing all attention on her.
"Bingo." Kevin pointed towards our resident cat faunus. "At first, his reasoning for the killings was to protect innocent faunus. You dismissed it and believed him, not that we fault both of you, for he himself might've once believed in that ideal too."
"As time went on, it evolved to something else. Keeping those thoughts in mind and that the person he 'loves' believes it too, it spared him the burden of all the lives he's taken." Amber continued. "Absolved him of guilt when he so clearly enjoyed it."
"That is of course until the illusion was broken." I finished Monsoon's quote right then and there. "And thank dust it snapped you awake."
"So what 'memes'." Yang air quoted as she raised a confused brow. "Would you like to spread by 'killing' yourself?"
"A false sense of victory, for one." I explained. "Thank god for both our Sembelances, otherwise we wouldn't be able to pull this off at all."
"You... HAVE a Semblance?" Nora shot to her feet, lurching forward while Ren and Jaune held the hyperactive redhead back. "Ooooh, what is it what is it?!"
Luckily Ruby was too exhausted to keep up with her usual sugary hype, though it didn't stop her from looking up, silver eyes gleaming curiously into mine.
"Really?" I asked as I scanned the crowd. "I'd thought it obvious by now."
Flashback
"Worked up a landing strategy yet?!" I yelled over the rush of air across my cheeks.
"Nope." Evans popped. "But we'd better work on it quick or else we'll just end up as just another pretty stain on the ground!"
Shit.
I thought he'd at least thought this part through.
"I'm not sure our Aura's could even tank this much damage..." He muttered.
"Do you prefer the tall but perpendicular angle or the lower but fast route?"
"Tall!" He yelled out in panic as we rapidly descended in altitude, brushing past the branches of a few taller trees along the way.
"Okay, follow my lead!" I roared as I positioned myself to crouch in a fetal position mid air rotating so that my feet was facing upwards, while Evans synced his feet to meet mine.
"On 3." He said.
"3!"
"Wait waiiii- AAAAARRRRGH!"
He zipped upwards, effectively slowing his acceleration while I skyrocketed downwards.
Seeing the overgrowth, I dived headfirst in between 2 tall trees that were sprouted too close to each other, with the space between it able to fit a body of a grown man.
They should be more dried up compared to the others, considering they're sapping nutrients from one another...
Perfect.
Here goes nothing...
I flicked Rose Nasty outwards, extending crimson translucent blades as I twisted my body to spin around as fast as I could, making the world's deadliest human sized Bey blade. Twigs snapped and trunks scraped against the blood red projection dust, gradually slowing my altitude with each foot I descended.
I came to a complete halt a mere 3 feet from the ground, with my arms feeling like rubber and my spinning momentum completely halted.
"Whew..." I sighed in relief, kicking my feet outwards so that my feet could touch the ground. "That's a one in a million."
I could've tried to pull what Ren did by jabbing Rose Nasty in one huge trunk and going around the trees, but there was no guarantee the blades wouldn't just pierce all the way through.
Huh, I wonder how Evans is doi-
"Oof!" All the air was blasted out of my chest as I felt a boulder slam into my back.
"Nailed it!" He smirked cockily.
"Asshole." I muttered as I looked behind me at a sitting Evans. "I'm guessing you haven't managed your landing strat yet."
"You are my landing strat." He joked lamely as he hopped off my back. "In any case, we should head out before the sun sets."
"Agreed," I nodded as I dusted myself off and grabbed ivory hilts. "We should scout for a place to camp. Any clue?"
Later...
Growling.
Crunching.
That's what we heard as we made our way deeper into the forest.
"Day one and already a pack of Beowolves huh?" Evans hunched his back and fell into a boxing stance, slipping on White Knuckle Ride.
"Seems like it." I replied as I unbuckled Rose Nasty from my belt and deployed the blades to my sides.
The beasts emerged from the treeline, a mixture of low classed mammalian Grimm, ranging from Boarbatusks, Beowolves and an Ursai thrown in there somewhere, with what seemed to be an Alpha Beowolf leading the charge.
"I'm counting 15 easily." I said as my back touched Evans's.
They lunged at us with bloodthirsty intent.
"Split!" I yelled as Evans and I rolled opposite sides of each other, landing on our chests as the Ursai lumbered over to me.
A quick jab to the gut halted it in it's tracks, and using both arms, I dragged the embedded blade across, making for a gruesome disembowelment.
"Oi Lou!" Evans yelled from the opposite side. "Need some help over here!"
"I'm trying man!" I shouted back as I used one of my light katanas to prop myself up, and gave a powerful downward slash to split a Beowolf in two.
Not good. I grit my teeth to hack into a Boarbatusk's skull as Evans backed up into a tree, with 4 bestial shapes closing in slowly.
A quick jab up threw the Alpha off balance, and I dove into it's guard to jab the back of my pommel as a pseudo uppercut.
"Come on ye bastards!" I yelled as one pounced for Evans, while I anchored another by aiming for the hamstring, piercing all the way to the ground like a makeshift nail.
The third and fourth were conflicted on who to go at, and ended up lunging in separate directions.
Just like I expected.
A loud thud from in front told me Evans had already handled his fair share of the deal, and with more pouring in to close in on us, I had to dispatch of mine almost immediately.
It growled sniffing the air for any suspicious scents, as if expecting us to have a form of backup. It's eyes scanned me warily, hoping for me to make the first move.
Then, it lunged.
I rammed Rose Nasty's blade into it's eye socket, the crimson tip visible on the other side for instant lobotomy.
"There's too many!" Evans said as he scrambled to hug a thick tree trunk in an attempt to climb it. "We have to get out of here, unless you want me to-"
"No! Don't use Raging Storm here!" I snarled. "It'll set the whole forest ablaze!"
"Right..." He said as he managed to somehow scale a tall tree, find a stable enough branch to settle on, and locked his legs around it to swing his body upside down, arms extended to reach out for me which reminded me of a certain monkey faunus.
"Give me your hand!" He yelled.
Gritting my teeth, I did as he said and reached up.
I felt my black tinted Aura flare, trying to force itself out of my body the moment our hands connected.
The Beowolves clawed at my feet and missed as I leapt upwards, then took a moment to sniff and relocate where my position was.
They all glanced upwards, then lurched, jaws chomping at my feet like a school of fish trying to eat off a bait at the end of a pole. One even managed to lunge higher than the rest, it's jaws wide open as it tried to tear Evans's arm off.
"Shit!"
Evans flung me higher then I would've wanted from the sudden panic, which almost caused me to never celebrate father's day again as I barreled down with my legs split wide open.
Luckily, I avoided that possibility as I tilted my body at the last few seconds, using both hands to propel the momentum I was going at and landed on the flat length in a crouch.
"Whew, that was close." He snickered as he saw the whole ordeal unfold with his scroll out, which caused me to deadpan.
"Really dude?" I asked flatly. "You knew that was gonna happen, didn't you?"
"Hey, you were the one who said we should come up with a landing strategy!"
"Yeah yeah, take it out on me why don't you?" I waved off, then widened when I saw what was trailing down his legs. "Dude, how'd you run out of Aura already? We just started."
"Huh...?" He asked, then gaped as he felt what I was looking at. Fresh warm blood trailed down his forearm, all the way down to his hands from a nasty gash across his elbow. "When the hell?!"
"Calm down." I said as I took out a med kit from my backpack. "Is your Aura really that thin?"
"No..." He replied, then his jaws dropped as he realized something. "Did you perhaps... unlock your Semblance already?"
"The hell are you talking about?" I asked back with a raised brow as I bandaged his arm. "No way I'd unlocked my Semblance this fast."
Present Day
"After a few trial and errors, we confirmed it." I said. "My Semblance is to deplete take away someone's Aura the moment I touch them."
"Huh... an Aura killer." Yang quipped as she put her finger to her chin. "Never saw you use it before though."
"Really?" Both me and Amber deadpanned.
"There's that fight with Qrow which only Weiss and Ruby saw." Amber pointed out.
Flashback
As soon as we skidded to a halt, Harbinger started to slowly glow and scorch on it's edge, deforming and warping where it met Obsidian Nova.
Evans got up and grabbed the top of Harbinger's blade with White Knuckle Ride on his hands as the rings around the spikes on his knuckle dusters glowed, causing sparks to travel down towards the scythe's handle. Cackling electricity burst through Qrow's fingers not a second later, causing him to let go of his weapon and yell out in pain, waving his scorched palms.
I followed it up by crouching and advancing towards him as I grabbed his side, causing Qrow to instinctively try to grab my wrist.
My body flared with a dark Aura.
Changing my stance almost immidiately, I then striked upwards with an uppercut, launching him back a few feet as he landed on his rear with a loud thud. Almost immediately, he sat upright and rubbed his chin spitting out blood to the pavement.
"Oookay... now that'd hurt." He admitted. "You just pissed me off kid."
Present Day
"Ooohh..." Ruby mused. "Is that how you managed to make him bleed in such a short time?"
"Eeyup." I nodded.
"Then there was that one time I had to fight a pissed off heiress because you two decided to play detective and followed me and Ruby."
Blake immediately looked at the floor while Yang, the ceiling.
Both whistled innocently while Ruby pouted and puffed up her cheeks with air.
I held my hands to my ears for what's about to happen next.
"YAAAAANG! BLAAAAAKE!"
Flashback
The suit of armour didn't hesitate for a second, as it limped towards where Weiss was, no concerns applied to it's scorched leg.
Beep.
My blade shut down completely, retracting both orange blades as the monitor went blank, and I slid to where Weiss was.
The armour, taking huge strides, arrived barely 10 meters away as it swung it's blade overhead to bring down.
Weiss closed her eyes.
Right then, it froze mid air, just like a still image.
After a few seconds, it started to slowly hiss and dissipate, causing me to let out a relieved sigh.
"What... was that?" Weiss shuffled about, eyes widening as she looked at my hand on her ankle, causing her to kick it off. "And what are you doing?!"
"I just saved us." I breathed a sigh of relief and detached Obsidian Nova from each other to buckle them on either sides of my jeans.
"What do you mean?!" Weiss shrieked as she crawled away in disgust.'
Present Day
"And then, obviously there was the tournament itself." I said as Ruby struggled to get a hit in with Yang and her superior arm length.
In the end, Ruby just flailed around and hoped that a slap connected, while Yang lifted her with a whole arm outstretched.
"Louis came with a fancy name for it as well." Amber chuckled as everybody leant in curiously. "He's calling it, Purge."
Flashback
"Don't interfere." Evans shouted aloud, as if addressing the crowd, planting his feet and fell into a boxer's stance as he squared his feet.
"This is between us." I echoed his shout as well, getting the crowd to erupt in a wave of murmurs.
"And it ends here." Evans held up both hands, rings glowing fiercely azure as the brass knuckles sparked and flickered to life.
My gazed flicked to the monitors for a split second.
55% of Aura on me, and about 38% on Evans.
"Okay." I crouched down into a marathon runner's stance as I extended my arms to both sides, leaving his front wide open as the crimson blades sparked to life, pulsating scarlet dimly in the afternoon sun. "Let's dance."
No other words were exchanged between us, as I charged straight ahead, with no attempt from Evans to dodge.
He reeled one fist back, prepared to exchange my blow with his, expecting a huge impact and recoil.
My body tilted sideways, and I grasped my chest.
To the naked eye in the afternoon sun, it was invisible, but my body glowed as black Aura flashed for a split second.
And at that moment, my vision blurred for a split second, before Evans multiplied into 3, and mecha shifted his knuckle dusters into revolvers, and aimed all 6 guns at my direction, fingers on the trigger.
...
Hmph.
Goodbye...
Old friend.
Present Day
"And that was how I 'died'." I explained casually with a shrug.
The others nodded intently, while Blake sat at the far end of the whole sisterly kerfuffle.
"And the reasons you didn't trust us to fake your death was...?" Yang asked with a raised brow as Ruby seemingly calmed down from her tantrum, only to give her sister a well deserved headbutt.
"Okay that's it!" She yelled as her eyes flashed crimson, and wrapped her sister in one of the med bay's bedsheets, layer by layer, like a cocoon.
Or... a straight jacket.
"YAAANG! Let me out of this, now!" The small reaper commanded as she writhed and bounced around like a rabid puppy.
"You need to calm down!"
"You followed me!"
"I'm your sister!" She persisted. "I'm supposed to make sure nothing happens to you!"
"You don't trust me!"
"I do! I just don't trust Louis!"
"I'm right here y'know." I deadpanned.
"Shut up!" She roared as she lumbered towards me to pick me up by the collar. "Enough beating around the bush. Why didn't you trust us with your plan? We could've faked your death quite as easily as you and Evans did."
I glanced at Amber out of the corner of my eye.
Her eyes met mine and shrugged.
"Who said it was faked?"
A/N
Finished this chapter a bit earlier then normal, so you guys get an early chapter. Yay!
Anywho, for those patient enough to wait and stuck through, I hoped this chapter answered most of your questions as to what how or why.
As to the plan, that'll come next chap, since this chapter had gone long enough.
Hope this chapter didn't just feel like a standard info dump, and I hope you guys have a great New Year so far.
Despite what the news says...
Reviewer Session
paradox0.5White: I completely forgot what that is. As in what it does.
ZmbMadragon: Glad to know that you enjoyed it, hope I can get your fav as well as follow, as well as your support in sticking all the way through!