v.2
(Team JNPR's Room, Dormitories)
(Beacon Academy, Vale)
...
...WRATH...
Weekend. Middle of the day. Jaune gasped as he sat up in bed when he heard that word shouted in his head. He thought that the voices had left him after their confrontation with Professor Peach down the in Vault, but that singular word catapulted him from his dreams of...he couldn't remember. Nor could he recall the events after he had broken down and admitted he didn't belong at Beacon.
"Jaune..."
"Pyrrha?" he turned his head to see the girl herself sitting at the other end on the room on her bed, watching him intently. He smiled, "Hey, what's going on?"
"You don't remember?" Pyrrha asked, concerned.
Jaune's eyes widened, "Uh..."
"Ms. Goodwitch asked us to get you back to the dorms after you what happened with Professor Peach," Pyrrha explained. "You were...a bit off."
"Define 'a bit?'"
Pyrrha bit her lip, "Well..."
"A BIT OFF?!"
Jaune cried out in surprise as the door was kicked open by Nora, with Ren standing behind her and looking on with disapproval, and Pyrrha flashing her with a look of disdain. It had been obvious they had been eavesdropping.
"Oh please, right after we killed the last of the plant zombies you were having a meltdown screaming, crying, tearing away at your hair-!"
'Shit, really?'
"Nora, I told you to wait outside," Pyrrha hushed her.
Ren looked apologetic, "I couldn't stop her."
Nora shook her head, "Uh-uh, this looks like something we need to handle...as a team."
"..." Jaune smiled sardonically. "Does that include kicking down doors and scaring people to death that just survived a Beacon professor that...that..." his smile slowly left him. "Secretly murdered students and turned them into her undead minions?"
The temperature in the room didn't drop. For Team JNPR it felt like had.
"Do you want to...talk to us about any of that?" Ren inquired gently.
"...about?"
"Like when you said you didn't belong in Beacon," Pyrrha said. She smiled, "Of course, that's obviously not true."
Jaune tried not to look alarmed. He remembered that there hadn't being any context around his admittance that he didn't belong at Beacon, due to submitting forged transcripts that painted him as an, according to said transcripts, 'above-average, competent swordsman' and his fears that the Doom Slayer was coming close to figuring out he hadn't swung his great-grandfather's sword until last month .
As far Goodwitch as his team were concerned he just had a meltdown, and he was ok now.
He forced a smile, "Y-yeah, that's not true. I was just...not being me."
Silence followed as everyone seemed to accept that.
"Soooo...Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang and William back yet?" Jaune asked. Suddenly his team looked uncertain, "What?"
"They're gone," Pyrrha said.
"What you mean gone?"
"Just...gone," Nora added. "Like...gone gone."
Jaune shook his head, feeling himself tense up, "I...I don't..."
"It's what we heard," Ren explained. "There was a fight at the docks against the same cult Peach was a part of. Blazkowicz and Team RWBY fought with Ozpin and some other Huntsmen. And only Ozpin and those other Huntsmen came back to Beacon."
Jaune felt his breath hitch, "You mean...you mean they're...?"
"They disappeared," Ren went on. He looked out the window at the Atlas fleet that could be seen above Vale City. "Along with an entire Atlas airship."
"...so, wherever they've ended up. they could be still alive," Jaune said, uncertainly. "Right?"
"Hey, Blazko's the toughest there is," Nora said, cheerfully. "Of course they are."
"..." Jaune sighed. "We're going to need some real answers. And Professor Goodwitch should have them." He pulled the blankets away, realizing that he was dressed in his familiar onesies, indicating that he hadn't collapsed in bed in his bloodstained armor and clothes. "Um..."
"Yeah, you were a sight when we brought you back here, all blood and puke," Ren explained. "We...uh...cleaned you up a bit."
Pyrrha fidgeted a bit and blushed, trying hard to repress a smile, "And...I...uh...was very gentle when I dressed you, Jaune."
Jaune blinked, "...thanks?" He noticed Nora and Ren watching the exchange between them. Ren looked stoic as ever while Nora looked visibly amused. "I'm gonna go change now."
(A dignified change of clothes later...)
"YO, JAUNEY!"
"...shit."
Team JNPR were just about to head out of the dorms when they heard Cardin's familiar taunt, him and his team standing in the hallway behind them, several other students quickly having the sense to keep out of their way.
"Ignore them," Pyrrha had her hand on his back. "Let's just go."
"Hey, where're you goin'?" Cardin grinned as he approached them. "Didn't you hear about what went down last night at the docks? Team RWBY and that fucking alien got themselves blasted to another dimension by those cultist freakos."
"...his name's William," Jaune breathed in deeply. "And you're...happy about that?"
Cardin chuckled, "Hey, don't get me wrong. It's sad seeing those four cuties go, but at least they took that green asshole with them."
"That's enough!" Pyrrha cried. "Ruby, her team and Blazkowicz could be in serious trouble and you're just-HEY!"
"Outta the way, Miss Perfect," Cardin spat as he pushed Pyrrha aside. "Bastard broke my leg so he got what's coming to him! Hey, why don't you face me, Jauney? Or you too scared to without that silver-eyed prick around to hold your hand?"
"..." Jaune still had his back turned. And was oddly silent.
"Awww...what, you gonna cry, Jaune?!" Cardin slammed his hand down on Jaune's left shoulder. "You miss being that freak's kept boy-?"
CRACK!
"ACK!"
Cardin was lifted off his feet and landed on his back as Jaune struck him, leaving him with a broken nose, wiping the smug looks off the rest of his team.
"HOLY CRAP!" Russel cried.
His team looked at him equally stunned. The way he had spun around to grab Cardin's hand, twist it and leave him open for the knife strike to the face...
'Those were Blazkowicz's moves,' Pyrrha thought, alarmed. The Slayer's week long drills of his particularly brutal fighting style had paid off after all.
Everyone became nervous when they saw how oddly tranquil Jaune looked. Angry, yet tranquil.
"AH...ow...FUCK!" Cardin exclaimed, pinching his nostrils together to stem the bleeding as he sat back up. "What the fuck?! The hell's your problem-?!" Jaune followed up with a boot to Cardin's face, most likely breaking his jaw as his face smacked into the wall, his blood smearing all over it. He turned his head to look up at Jaune, pained, shocked confusion on his face.
"W-wha-?!"
CRUNCH!
And Jaune stomped on Cardin's face again, knocking his head back and leaving him to choke and cough up blood and teeth, reduced to agonized moans and whimpering.
"YOU'RE MY PROBLEM!" Jaune shouted down at him. He turned on the rest of Team CRDL. "THAT'S WHAT!"
"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried.
"Brothers, you're crazy!" Sky exclaimed, horror plastered all over his face. All over Russel and Dove's paled faces too, afraid that Jaune would take his fists on them next. His eyes widened as Jaune turned his angry gaze on him, "W-we were just messing with you-"
"Grimm. Demons. Cultists! We got enough problems without having to deal with you four assholes!" Jaune pointed at them as he raged. "You want to keep acting like jocks, take it somewhere else. The rest of us are trying to survive another day here on this...this...-!" As if he realized what he had just done he suddenly paled in fright, "Oh...oh shit..."
"C'mon!" Ren grabbed him by the left shoulder as Pyrrha took his right hand. "We're leaving!"
Nora glared at Dove, Russell and Sky, "Assholes."
Team leader in hand, JNPR waded toward the exit past the amazed, stunned and/or horrified onlookers as they cleared the way for them. And once outside, Jaune began dry heaving before he fell to his knees, eyes bulging as reality sank in.
With Cardin still lying on the ground crying with a shattered nose and a concussion, his teammates just staring down at him agape; each thankful they didn't open their big mouths and incurred Jaune's wrath.
"...shit," Dove muttered.
Russel turned to him, startled, "What?"
"We ARE assholes," Sky stated, sounding like he just had an epiphany.
(RWBY)
(Headmaster's Office, Beacon Tower)
Glynda had watched the incident unfold on the security app on her scroll. Jaune was looking at a week confined to the dorms for assault. All that Cardin did was taunt him and he had to have done was push him back when he grabbed his shoulder, not knock out his teeth and give him a concussion.
"..." these kids needed help. Professional help. More than what she or any of the Beacon staff were able to offer.
"...this can't be..."
No one missed the fact that Ironwood was visibly sweating as they saw the holo-broadcast of Epsilon's Lab's security footage. Team RWBY and Blazkowicz surrounded by SDC security while the Slayer was throttling Commander Cordovin. His focus wasn't on the Slayer abusing his countrymen, but rather the longsword he had sheathed on his person.
"General?" Glynda noted her superior's silence.
Ironwood hesitated to inquired, "Can we...can we definitely confirm this is real?"
Qrow looked at Ironwood wryly, "The Slayer stealing the Relic of Destruction back from Hell? Yep, this is real." His demeanor became serious, "And he's most unaware that that's not a regular golden longsword he's probably been using to dismember sons-of-bitches with."
Ozpin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his glasses on his desk, "This could be...problematic."
"Trying to find the right word are we, Oz?"
"Qrow," Glynda grounded out, shooting Qrow a warning glare.
"Hey, this isn't 'problematic', alright?" Qrow shot back. "If he finds out what that thing really is and he decides it's better to not let it fall into the wrong hands-"
"We're aware, Qrow," Ironwood replied, calmly. "We should be thankful he got it out of Hell, at least." He looked at Qrow pointedly. "Along with your nieces."
Qrow snorted, "Trust me, I'm over the moon." He adjusted the headband around his forehead which kept the pentagram carved into his flesh hidden. "Or I will be once we deal with those demons running around in Mistral." He turned to the paused holo-footage. "Which we were discussing before Blazkowicz went and took another dump in our mouths."
Glynda made a disgusted sound from Qrow's choice of words.
"Plans have changed, Qrow, Glynda, Ozpin," Ironwood declared. "Winter and I will go to Epsilon and take charge of the situation there-"
"James," Ozpin cut in, putting his spectacles. "I need you here-"
"Ozpin, with the Vytal Festival cancelled and Beacon Academy secured along with the Fall Maiden and the Relic of Choice, I need to see to my own kingdom's borders," Ironwood explained. He frowned, "Jacques Schnee said his company was planning to open a gateway 'to the heavens.' It's only a matter of time before whatever experiments that Epsilon are running are going to blow up in Merlot's face."
Merlot. Dr. Otto Merlot. Former head of Merlot Industries based out of the ill-fated city expansion at Mountain Glenn, and a former student of Beacon Academy. His Grimm-based experiments caused the destruction of said mountain and had presumably costed him his life. Until the Schnee Dust Company announced they had bought out Merlot and transferred him to work at the Epsilon Labs.
"Begs the question why we let Jacques even leave after he told us what his company was doing," Glynda explained. "And now, right in the middle of an interdimensional invasion, he decides to unveil this...thing to all the whole world."
"We had no legal reason to hold him," Ironwood pointed out.
He turned to Ironwood, "And you told us that they were only doing researching and developing weapons at Epsilon, not studying Argenta ruins."
"That was what the entire Atlesian military was told," Ironwood replied. Pensive, he added, "I...had no reason to believe otherwise. But we're getting off track."
Ozpin nodded, "Yes, we must stop this from escalating any more than already has. James, contact Schnee and order him to abort whatever it is Epsilon is doing. If he doesn't fall in line-"
Ironwood frowned, "I'll make him."
Ozpin's scroll beeped, prompting him to close the security projection as the elevator doors opened and out stepped Roman Torchwick, followed by Hazel and Winter. Roman stood still in front of the lift, flashing everyone before him a confident smirk before Hazel shoved him forward.
"Move it," Hazel ordered.
"Hey, watch the suit!" he snapped over his shoulder. He looked at Ozpin, before scanning his surroundings, "Heh...nice view from up here, Ozpin."
"I trust your 'connections' have borne fruit, Torchwick?" Ozpin quired.
Roman snorted, "Yeah. Used up most of the favors I spent years getting."
"Oh, poor you," Qrow quipped. "Spill it."
"Your psychopath Marcus Black was spotted in, brace for it, Mistral City," Roman said, quietly relishing on how worried everybody around him looked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was getting in on some of that demonic action going on in the Anima backwaters."
"'Demonic action'?" Glynda snarled.
"C'mon sister, it's plastered all over the news," Roman produced a cigar and put in his mouth as he rambled. "This talk of so-called 'demonic marauders' laying waste to Grimm, wildlife, looting, burning and wiping out whole peasant villages, sacrificing goat Faunus under a full moon on sigils drawn in blood yadda yadda. By the way that last past wasn't me joking." He shuddered, "They had the photos and everything, damn near lost my lunch."
He wasn't, Ozpin knew. The reports coming out of the Kingdom of Mistral and from Leo out of Haven Academy were horrific. Whole villages burnt to the ground with their entire populations either missing or their corpses put on display and left to rot in various states of inhuman mutilation; whatever meagre bits of technology they possessed stolen, and what remained was left to the Grimm. And they themselves were just as victimized, with reports of more of these 'idols' being created by Possessed Grimm.
The demons that had fled Haven were on the warpath. With their numbers combined with Marcus' cult and all of them led by Deag Grav, it wouldn't be Salem that would bring down the Kingdom of Mistral after all.
Deag Grav. No way that name was demonic in origin.
And 'Deag' sounded awfully like a title, rather than a given name.
"While Ironwood secures the Doom Slayer..." Ozpin was mindful of Torchwick and Winter in the room he declined to mention the Relic. "Mistal must be secured," Ozpin declared. "Hazel, Qrow, I'm sending you to Haven Academy. You will coordinate with Leo and the council there in dealing with Marcus and his demonic allies-"
Chuckling darkly, Qrow interrupted him, "Heh, not this time Oz. This time, I'm with Jimmy and the Ice Queen all the way to Epsilon." He looked at the Relic on the holo-screen. "I'm gonna get my girls as far away from those sadistic eggheads as possible." He frowned and glanced at Torchwick, "And...watch Ironwood's back when he deals with Blazkowicz."
"Oh, sounds like I'm not supposed to be here," Roman quipped, pocketing his lighter as he took a drag from his cigar. "Talking about something confidential, are we?"
"..." Ozpin stared straight at Roman and asked. "Where is your...associate? Neopolitan, was it?"
"Relax, old man. I sent her ahead to Mistral City, just like you asked," Roman replied coolly. "Which wasn't nicely if I may remind you-"
Ozpin suddenly disappeared from his desk. And the next thing everyone knew he had Winter pinned to the wall near the elevator with his cane.
"OZPIN, WHAT-?!" Ironwood shouted, alarmed.
The illusion faded and in Winter's place was Neopolitan, cringing as Ozpin's cane was pressed her against her throat. And at that moment the elevator opened and out stumbled a breathless, disheveled Winter as she collapsed on the ground, trying to catch her breath.
"...godsdammit," Roman muttered, irritated.
"You...you...YOU!" Winter shrieked as she turned to Neo.
Ironwood did a double take between the Special Operative and the criminal, "Schnee, what happened?"
Bewildered, Winter shook her head, "I...I don't know, sir."
One second there had been that Neopolitan girl. The next, a janitor's closet with her wrists and legs bound.
Ozpin sighed and lowered his cane, "I thought that we've established you can't keep things from me, Roman. As well as there being things you are NOT supposed to know."
Roman shrugged, "Meh, worth a try."
"Do it again..." there a distinct, sharpness in Ozpin's eyes that guaranteed pain to whomever he was directing it word. "And no one will be around to help you if Blazkowicz has you cornered."
Roman glared and moved his hat to make sure it covered the burn mark on his forehead, "We agreed that if I help you, one of the perks would be keeping that cocksucker as far away from me as possible."
"And we will so long as you continue to keep us informed of the enemy's movements in the kingdoms," Glynda stated. "And-" she was interrupted by Qrow's buzzing scroll buzzed. He checked it, and suddenly he looked like his heart sank. "Something to share with us, Qrow?"
"...yeah," Qrow sighed. "Shit."
(RWBY)
(Approaching Beacon Tower)
"...I'm dead, or expelled, or whatever you get for assaulting someone..."
"Jaune, if we just explain what happened I'm sure Professor Ozpin will understand-"
"Who's that?"
Nora was the first to notice a strange man standing on the steps outside Beacon Tower and looking high up its length. A tall man with a tanned complexion with subdued blond hair and a small stubble, along with a tattoo of a heart on his right arm. His dress consisted of brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. Topping it all off, a metal spaulder, leather vambrace and a brown fingerless glove all on his right arm.
Nora face lit up, "Wow, he kinda looks a blond, tanned Blazko."
"Is he just standing there?" Ren asked.
The man looked contemplative, like he was deciding whether he was going to go into the tower or not. That until he noticed Team JNPR. The teens are tensed up, only to relax a little when he smiled their way.
"Hey," he waved at them. "You going to Oz, too?"
"...Oz?" Pyrrha questioned. "You mean Professor Ozpin."
"Heh...yeah. Bit informal, I know," the man put his hands on his hip. "Been years since I first called him that. Used to be just 'Professor' till I graduated."
This caught Jaune's interest, "You used to be student?"
The man nodded, "Felt like a whole other lifetime." He studied them closely, "And I'm talking to Team...?"
"Juniper – Jay En Pee Arr," Jaune replied, extending his hand. "I'm Jaune. My teammates – Pyrrha, Nora and Ren."
He stranger shook his hand, his smile never leaving his face, "My name's Tai-"
"Taiyang Xiao Long!"
Until he heard Glynda Goodwitch call out his name, and he looked ahead past Jaune to see her, Professor Ozpin, Qrow, General Ironwood, his android escorts and Specialist Winter Schnee exit the tower and approach him from down the steps. His eyes lids dimmed as he sighed.
"Xiao Long?" Pyrrha questioned. "Wait, are you-?"
"You're Yang's dad?" Nora piped excitedly. "And Ruby's too, right?" She saw Glynda looking at them, disappointed, "Uh-oh...she knows."
Taiyang blinked, gazing over each of them, "Glynda, Ozpin, Qrow, General, Schnee."
"Taiyang," Ozpin greeted the man. "This is...unexpected."
Taiyang crossed his arms, "Why? Guy has classes to teach at Signal but hears his daughters are fighting interdimensional invaders instead of doing their homework and he doesn't travel all the way to Beacon to see them?"
"I assured you that they would be both well taken cared off as they learn to become Huntresses-"
"Fighting Grimm. Grimm!" Taiyang exclaimed, no longer sounding happy. "Not fu...freakin' demons from Hell and making friends with power-armored demigods."
Surprised, Glynda asked, "How did you know about that?"
Taiyang narrowed his eyes and looked at her as if asking if she was serious, "Ruby's last letter home, the one she promised to write me once she arrived at Beacon, was beautifully written, very heartfelt and insightful." He looked downcast, "Strong, silver-eyed, reminds her of her mom, relentlessly beat her and her sister up over a week and called it 'training'. Something Summer would never do to her."
"Uh...he did that to us too," Jaune said "And it was training."
"So, where's their dorm?" Taiyang inquired. "I really need to see my girls, and maybe punch that guy in the face." He noticed how sullen and uncomfortable Qrow and Glynda appeared, "What?"
"Tai," Qrow said. "Last night..."
(One very short, bloody recap later...)
"...Tai?"
Team JNPR went pale after Qrow had recounted the battle in Vale City's docks. Tai on the other hand just had a faraway look on his face, where they couldn't tell if he was in denial or not.
"Hey, Tai. Still there?" Qrow stepped forward and tried to pat him on the shoulder. "Me and Ironwood are going to Atlas to get them back and you have my word that they'll..."
Taiyang grabbed Qrow's wrist and stated firmly, "I'm coming too."
"Taiyang, I don't think that's necessary," Ozpin interjected.
"Says you, old man," Taiyang raised his voice. "There was a good reason I walked away from your war."
'War?' Pyrrha thought, confused.
Now Ironwood spoke up, "Taiyang, if you would just let us-"
"Forget it James, Ozpin!" Taiyang exclaimed, waving him off. "I'm tagging along. Once I get my girls back, I'm taking them home." He addressed Ozpin as he added, "Back to Patch. My family's done fighting for you."
"Tai, c'mon, that's-" Qrow was silenced at first by Taiyang's glare. He firmly continued, "Do you really think Patch is going to be safe for long? Soon, nowhere will be safe if Hell comes a'knockin' and sets the Grimm off again."
"Don't I know it? They broke down my fence, knocked over my shed, nearly took Zwei's legs off and took my TV satellite out," Taiyang groused. "At least I'll be there for them when the bad stuff does go down."
"Hey, what do you think I was doing?!"
"No, that was the Doom-!" Taiyang growled. He composed himself, "That was all Blazkowicz, and he's going to get them killed." He looked at Ironwood straight in the eye, "Once we arrive in Atlas, we get my girls out of whatever shit they're in..." he turned to Ozpin. "And we're going home."
Ozpin appeared resigned, "I see." Sudden resolve followed as he declared, "Then allow me to help you."
Everyone present was surprised. Taiyang stuttered, "S-say what?"
"You're coming with us too, Oz?" Qrow asked, astonished.
"Professor!" Glynda exclaimed. "You're leaving Beacon?"
"You're more than capable of taking care of things here in my absence, Glynda," Ozpin assured her. "It's time I resumed fighting my own battles."
That and...
'And to secure the Relic of Destruction before it falls into the wrong hands. Salem's, Hell's, the SDC's...and the Slayer's.'
(RWBY)
Kingdom of Tyrants II:
The Last Straw
Though taking into account his impressive body structure, through thorough examination of the subject, we can confirm evidence that in spite of his bulky musculature, he still displays signs of minor muscle atrophy, most likely from spending an indeterminate amount of time lying down. With proper maintenance, his muscle mass will most likely increase to near inhuman levels in a matter of months.
- Excerpt from the Medical Report on Subject DN-SIL, William Joseph Blazkowicz III
(RWBY)
(Dining Hall 1A, Epsilon Labs and Facilities)
(Kingdom of Atlas, Solitas)
"Wait, do you think they've put something in the food?"
"..."
"Yeah, me neither! DIG IN!"
Sitting at one of the far tables, Weiss found herself staring with incredulous disgust as her teammates loudly and without restraint gorged themselves on the spread the chefs in one of Epsilon's many dining halls had laid out for them – dishes of all sorts ranging from the modest cuisine Weiss had enjoyed back in Atlas to outright junk.
While William wasn't as piggish as Ruby, Blake and Yang, his table manners still left a lot to be desired, as he chewed with his mouth open as he tried shoving his second beef burger in there, after practically inhaling the first one. The Slayer had only removed his helmet and his gauntlets to eat, and it was amusing to see him with his eyes closed as he appeared to actually be enjoying himself for once.
Her focus off her ramen and on William, Yang giggled, "You enjoying that, BJ?"
"Busy. Eating," William made out in between mouthfuls which belted laughter right out of the blonde, whom she noticed has refused to pay attention to anything except his first helping of hamburgers in millennia. William grunted and wiped his mouth before reaching for a paper towel. "Beats consumin' demon souls for once."
The whole table was silent.
Yang blinked, "...y'what?"
William paused in his movements, looking mildly surprised. He thought they would have known by now that it was the consumption of the souls of the wicked that had empowered him for millennia. The few moments he allowed himself to actually sleep and eat here on Remnant had been to break the monotony once in a while.
The Slayer decided not to overload their already fractured little minds, "Forget I said anythin'."
"...uh..." Weiss made a disgusted sound, almost feeling put off from her plate of chicken salad. He was just as uncouth here as he was back at Beacon when they all been forced to eat together.
Ruby finished off her first bowl of shrimp fried rice, "Hey sis?"
"Yeah?'
"How come you call William 'BJ?" Ruby asked. "When I wanted to call him that you told me..." she turned a light shade of red. "Y'know?"
William paused mid-bite and looked over toward Ruby and Yang. Weiss blanched and made a disgusted scowl. Blake briefly looked alarmed before shaking her head burying her face in her hands, nearly dropping her own bowl of ramen comically loaded with salmon, "Oh gods, what?
"Oh!" Yang looked surprise. "I...uh...have I been calling BJ that?"
"Yes," her teammates all said as one.
"...yes," came William's delayed reply right after taking over big swallow. He rolled his eyes toward Yang, amused.
Yang looked aghast. She did make fun of Ruby for wanting to use a nickname for William – especially a nickname like that, and then she went and took it for herself; like she wanted to be the only one to refer to William Joseph Blazkowicz in such an informal, playful manner.
"I...uh..."
"Forget it," William said.
"Yes, can we talk about something else?" Weiss huffed. "Something doesn't involve nicknames named after lewd-"
Yang smirked, "Anyone else hear the crunch when BJ slammed Cordovin's face into the door? It was like...WHAM!"
Ruby spat out her food in surprise as she erupted in laughter, Blake turned red from embarrassment and William actually had to stop himself from involuntarily smirking.
It went like this for some time as they ate and made small talk (at least the girls did), almost forgetting about the troubles they had just been through. Long finished eating, William quietly observed them, seeing that life return to Ruby as they talked and playfully teased one another.
"..." it felt nice for once, being around people and not having to worry about them getting killed.
It didn't last.
"Nice to see you five have nicely recovered. Good food and conversation heal the soul, or so I am told."
Head turned toward Dr. Merlot as he wheeled himself into the dining hall, flanked by two armed SDC guards, with Catrice following behind him, looking very subservient and nervous. Ruby swallowed lightly; his appearance off-putting.
Merlot caught on and smirked, "I know what you're thinking. Let's just say in the early days of the program, we had more passion than common sense and we weren't quite as, shall we shall, adept at understanding the technologies left behind by our precursors."
Ruby blinked, puzzled. "Uh...?"
"It means one half of him landed here, and his ass went in another direction," Yang explained.
Catrice covered her mouth and suppressed a guffaw.
Merlot frowned, "Ineloquently put, but accurate."
"..." William scowled when he noticed Merlot eagerly eyeing his helmet and gauntlets. He stood up and walked over to the next table, where he slowly and deliberately put them back on.
++I believe you have several other items belonging to Blazkowicz,++ VEGA said. ++It would be preferable if you returned them right away, at our earliest convenience.++
Chaingun, plasma gun, gauss cannon and the BFG-9000. Plus, the siphon grenades and hologram projectors. It felt like it was years since the Slayer was fully loaded.
"Technically, they are property of the Union Aerospace Corporation," Merlot pointed out. "No doubt your friend here fished them all out of the cold dead hands of the corporate rent-a-cops that didn't have the sense to not work for some interstellar conglomerate." William threateningly took a step forward toward Merlot, his escorts levelling their rifles at him. Merlot threw his hands up placatingly, smiling, "But in the interest of further cooperation between our two companies, we will return them."
"Are you speaking to VEGA right now?" Weiss asked, confused.
Ruby looked at Weiss, perplexed. "He's a person too, Weiss."
"Of course, but-?"
++At this time, you may consider me a representative for the UAC,++ VEGA intoned. ++You have a copy of the UAC codex, correct?++
"You mean the Atlas military has several hundred digitalized copies mailed to the scrolls belonging to every higher-up in uniform. Me and my team had to acquire the necessary authorization just took a gander at it," Merlot said. "Mostly at the parts involving interdimensional tethering, which is reminiscent of our work here at Epsilon."
"Wait a minu-!" Weiss suddenly exclaimed in outrage. "All this time you've been playing around with the same technology that's bringing these things to Remnant?!"
"We've spent years studying the ancient Argenta ruins, and the sigils they marked into the stone," Merlot explain, irritated. "This demonic invasion was just a coincidence."
"Yeah, my ass," Yang explained. "The attack on Beacon Academy-"
"Which was the work of cultists if I recall the official statement Ironwood put out. Nothing to do with us, little girl," Merlot interjected. "Which I'm surprised he did. I guess you can't cover up a crimson pillar of light bursting out of Atlas Academy by saying it's because of the Grimm."
"...what are you working on here?" William asked, firmly. The bones his left wrist cracked as he made a fist, "An' kindly don't think about bullshittin' me."
Yang snorted, "...kindly?"
Merlot blinked, "...yesssssss, it would be counterintuitive of me to keep anything from you." He adjusted is collar, "Over the past ten years, Epsilon's primary facilities have been dedicated solely to understanding a grand piece of architecture discovered several miles from away from the Kingdom of Atlas. It was accidentally discovered by a mining crew based out of Mantle. Afterward this entire facility was built on top of where it was and-"
++Escort us to it.++
Merlot furrowed is brow, "Rude."
William suddenly had a grip on Merlot's collar, disregarding the guns pointed straight at his visor. He had a feeling about what exactly this 'architecture' was. "Now."
"NO!" Catrice exclaimed. "Wait!"
"Will...? BLAZKOWICZ!" Weiss exclaimed. She was about to dart forward to stop him either killing someone or getting killed himself when Blake suddenly grabbed her shoulder. "Blake!"
"We really should have expected this by now," Blake said.
"..." Merlot smirked and turned his head toward his escorts. "Stand down." He turned to Weiss, "This is what I would call perfect timing, Ms. Schnee. Your father, our benefactor, will be touching down here soon to see his investment."
Weiss suddenly froze up, her pupils diluting with alarm. "My...father?"
No one missed how Weiss reacted to that bit of news, especially the way she paled.
"..."
Guess Weiss' father wasn't just a corporate asshole. He's was also the regular kind.
"What say we take a look before Mr. Schnee finds out?"
(RWBY)
(Airstrip)
"..."
In spite of her straight, commandeering posture and reassuring smile Cordovin felt herself die a little inside as Jacques Schnee himself raised an eyebrow at the absolute state of her. Her face was bandaged up, she was on painkillers and she had a clean pair of pants on.
"Welcome to Epsilon Labs and Facilities, Mr. Schnee," Cordovin greeted him. "I am-"
"Cordovin, Commander of Titan base, yes," Jacques interrupted her, wiping the smile of her face. He glanced over his shoulder at Whitley and declared, "We prefer not to stand here and freeze so would you kindly direct me where you are holding Blazkowicz?"
Cordovin swallowed, "...holding, sir?"
"Holding. As in he has been contained? Imprisoned? Detained? Confined?" Jacques listed off each synonym with barely contained anger like he was speaking to someone who was slow. "Am I able to attempt to negotiate with him with a barrier between us?"
"He is...being placated by Dr. Merlot," Cordovin replied. "He plans to take escort him to the ruins, along with your daughter-"
At the mention of Weiss, Jacques looked alarmed before he strode right past her. "Come along, Whitley."
Jacques and Whitley walked right past her, the boy giving her an apologetic glance as they left her standing there in shock that she was shut down for the second time today.
(RWBY)
(Primary Tram Station, Plaza)
Next Destination: Excavation Sector and Observation. Please keep your arms and legs inside the tram at all times.
Team RWBY and the Slayer soon found themselves on a tram leaving the plaza and heading west of the mountain that housed Epsilon Authority, William standing in between Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang and the SDC personnel, not taking his eyes of Dr. Merlot all the while. He glanced at Weiss sitting down, fidgeting and rubbing her hands nervously together.
"..." that wasn't how a child should act at the news their father was coming to see them.
"Weiss?" Ruby had noticed as well. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine!" Weiss snapped, alarming her teammates. "I...I'm fine," she repeated, a bit calmer. "I...haven't spoken to him ever since I left Atlas."
"..." William reasoned that hadn't been long enough.
"Where exactly are we going?" Blake asked.
"Oh, you'll see," Merlot sounded like he was looking forward to unveiling the big secret.
The tram headed toward another small hexagonal shaped complex, colored white and built as if to contain something. Pulling into the complex they suddenly descended into the earth.
"Wait, we're going down?" Yang cried.
"Oh, yes," Merlot replied, sounding like he was in a happy daze.
Finally, they pulled into the station, automated cannons pointed straight at them from the security station pointing at them as the tram doors opened and they stepped out onto the platform, the Slayer already ahead of them, unperturbed about the security systems primed and ready to fire if he made the wrong mouth.
WARNING: THE SLAYER HAS ARRIVED! ALL SECURITY TEAMS AT LEVEL 4 READINESS!
++It has only been a week. Does Atlas really consider Blazkowicz a major threat?++ VEGA inquired.
"They'd consider anything that can upstage them a major threat," Merlot explained. He turned to Catrice, "It's mostly psychological, isn't it?"
"Uh...well," Catrice stammered a bit, surprised to be asked her opinion on Atlas' collective mindset. "It's rare that Atlas encounters a threat as significant as one man openly defying Atlesian authority without concern for the consequences." She paused, "Doubly so that he knowledgeable about the latest prioritized threats to the Kingdom."
"Threats?" Yang queried. "Plural?"
"The demonic invaders that attacked Atlas Academy, and a rival human corporation from another dimension," Catrice explained. "I..."
"Moving on!" Merlot interjected as he wheeled past Catrice.
The scanner above the door analyzed Merlot and they were permitted entry. They all stepped onto an elevator, one with a view.
"...William?" Ruby gasped. "A-are those-?"
"..."
A view of ancient frost covered Argenta ruins, the kind that invoked memories of Exultia. Of Teras Nabad. The ancient cities of the Sentinels. From the amount of ruins present was nowhere near the size of any of the Sentinel cities or settlements. Judging from the largest structure just ahead that had a white containment dome built around it and was connected by several shielded tunnel walkways leading into it, it was only a small outpost; quite possibly the same as the ruins found in Vale – a former Sentinel interdimensional travel station.
++Is the Atlas council aware of the existence of these ruins, doctor?++ VEGA inquired.
"Why no, they are not," Merlot answered as they navigated the walkways toward the containment dome with him leading the group. "It has all been a corporate secret since the days of Nicolas Schnee."
Startled, Weiss cried, "My grandfather? He-?"
"I imagine old Nick believed he knew better than the common man. He swore the miners who discovered this place to silence and had the tunnel leading down here sealed back up," Merlot explained.
"He knew this place was dangerous?" Ruby asked.
Merlot snorted, "Dangerous? Little girl, we're not some cult lead by a dried-up demon's whore called the UAC. We just happen to know better than making deals with obviously evil-looking monsters from Hell."
"..." Weiss looked shellshocked.
"Back to what I was saying: Eventually, our benefactor eventually became privy to his father-in-law's secrets and believed the company he had just been given control of could make a profit out of exploiting alien ruins," Merlot sounded bitter. "It's all lien to him. Not science or discovery."
"T-this is all insane..." Weiss shook her head, her hand on her face, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Grandfather first knew about...Blazkowicz's people."
"..." William knew that Weiss was feeling more than overwhelmed. All of them were.
"Anything you want to ask me, Blazkowicz?" Merlot asked.
"...find anything interesting?"
Merlot suddenly stopped, and directed everyone to turn to their left. Encased in a protective glass case near the automated door of the walkway leading toward the dome was a slab of inscribed rock. William recognized the inscriptions in Lingua Argentum, right beside the etching of a hooded figure's light shining beside a high-ranking looking Sentinel with a crown on his head beside a priestess wearing a vision-fold raising her spear, an army of Sentinels behind them as they stood on a hill and what was depicted as light shining over the horde of bestial-looking humanoid writhing below them and the hundreds of human being depicted being cast down to them.
++I will translate,++ VEGA stated.
...and those who have grown to resent the Makyrs and reject the Covenant, they will not be killed. We will extend mercy to them. They will be exiled to Reliquiae, the colony our King Etrex commanded be abandoned, and where our current King Novik had banished the majority of the beastkin following their failed rebellion. The heretics shall be made to co-exist with the pillaging beastkin hordes until a time where they will be given the chance to make amends with the Maykrs...
- From the Book of Staora (Beasts)
Makyrs...?
Reliquiae – Remnant. It didn't take long for Team RWBY to make the connection.
Weiss blinked, "Wait, does this mean-?"
"Humans and Faunus really came to this world from another one?" Ruby looked to be in awe.
"Not originally, no," Merlot replied. "Carbon-dating the ruins left behind, there had already been numerous human civilizations living on pre-history Remnant. Until they all mysteriously vanished, leaving this world empty and ripe for colonization by the Argenta of Argent D'Nur."
Blake scowled, "'Pillaging beastkin hordes huh?" She addressed William, "You don't really believe any of that, right?"
"I was born after the last beastkin revolt," William said. Blake's ears flattened and she looked disheartened. "...bad things happened."
Much of where he had lived in the City of Argent had still been in ruins the first few years he was growing up. And those stories of genocidal beastkin death squads, the beatings, the rapes. Perpetuated by the descendants of the Ancestral beasts that had risen when the Firstborn – the Elemental Wraiths – had emerged from the Womb of the World had brought Argent D'Nur into being with their power through their Wraithcall.
"..."
He imagined...
"EEEARGHHGAARGGLE!"
Blake choking on her own blood after her throat had been slit by the Sentinels that had raided her people's ghettos, and letting her naked, bruised, sigil-carved body fall to the ground amongst all the other beastkin corpses. Men, women and children. Their blood everywhere...
...just like it was all over his ten-year-old self the night the Night Sentinels made him slit a condemned beastkin prisoner's throat; his very first kill, his initiation...
"No!" Blake exclaimed, pulling him out of his dark fantasy. "You can't pin all the blame on-"
"They. Happened," William raised his voice, cowing Blake.
"B-but..." Blake weakly protested.
"Blake, this was, like, thousands of thousands of years ago," Yang pointed out. "Nothing to do with you or the Faunus here and Remnant."
"But it reads-"
Yang gave a frustrated sigh, "Just leave it!"
Silence followed, everyone watching the way Blake looked betrayed.
'...traces of persecutory delusion,' Catrice mentally evaluated Blake. 'Clear signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.'
"Moving on," Merlot announced. "I doubt what I will show you will calm things between you dysfunctionaries..." he glanced at William. "But since you asked so nicely."
"..." William glowered down at Merlot.
Smartass.
Minutes later they headed up some stairs toward some large automated double doors. The scanners identified him, and the doors opened sideways to reveal a large command center, fully staffed with computer technicians, support staff and security detail. Shutters were down over massive windows meant to overlook whatever Nicholas Schnee had found here.
All eyes were on the Slayer and Team RWBY as they stepped onto the bridge, the guard especially; kitted out in red armor and heavy-looking belt-fed machine-guns – SDC Heavy Guards. The sight of them made Catrice really nervous.
"Before we go any further, I need you to sate my curiosity, William," Merlot said. "You are only half Argenta, correct?" He smiled, "Trust me, your name was a clue unto itself. Etrex, Novik, William Joseph?"
"Why does that matter?" Weiss asked.
Merlot looked at William hard, "What is your name?"
William glared, "William Joseph Blazko-"
"Your REAL Sentinel name," Merlot said. "Not the one your not-Sentinel parent saddled you with in hopes of sparing you from your destiny, but the one your brethren most likely gave you. A desperate attempt to separate you from the half-bred mongrel that was forced on them."
"..." William's eyes angrily downcast as he bit his lip.
Ruby's eyes widened, "William?"
The Slayer turned his angry gaze at Merlot and replied, "That ain't for you to know."
"...oh," Merlot shrugged. "Pity. I won't pursue it. You just fascinate me. Anyways..." he turned to the bridge crew. "Connelly?"
"Director?" the technician known as Connelly replied.
"Show them."
The window shutters slowly raised to reveal the massive ice chamber the dome was protecting, resembling and indoor Menagerie Tackle Ball stadium. Lights, cameras, archeological excavation equipment, portable power grids fueled by Lightning Dust, and the architecture being revealed as massive ancient ring poking out of the ground, the shadow it cast ominously over the bride.
"What?!" Weiss cried in disbelief. "My grandfather found this?!"
Blake shook her head, eyes wide in horror and repeated over and over, "N-no, no no no..."
Ruby paled with fright. Yang, however blanched before shouting in outrage, "Oh...HELL-TO-THE-FUCK-NO...!"
William looked alarmed for a moment, and just for a moment, but no one missed it. One of the ancient Slipgates capable of wide-scale interdimensional travel unlike the teleportation chambers located in Vale and presumably within the two other kingdoms. Here in Atlas, all this time they had a fully functioning ancient Argenta Slipgate, one that could possibly grant access to Urdak.
Urdak. The realm of the Makyrs.
Maykrs.
"..." it was all coming back to the Slayer now. Living for as long as he had, memories tend to fade. He had fought hard to keep his memories of family, of home, his reasons for his hatred toward Hell, that they had taken them all from him. He kept those memories, while the finer details had either faded away or he had begun to mis-remember them.
It was beginning to come back to him: His liege lord Ning Novik of Sentinel Prime. Exultia. The Order of Deag.
Taras Nabad. The Titan.
Maykrs!
"..." William was involuntarily biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as that last memory came back to him. The silver in his eyes were rapidly brightening and dulling with each second.
He remembered. Deag Grav wasn't a demon. That Summoner was probably just a form he took so that he would be able to materialize into this world from whatever pit in Hell the rest of the Hell Priests were sitting in.
The memories came back hard. Memories that had faded over the passage of the time.
The reasons why he had sworn vengeance against Hell, and not just Hell.
The Deagic Council, the Priests that served alongside the High Priestess – his mother.
And the pretenders that had elevated the Argenta that they worshipped and rejected the Firstborn in favor of. Until they cast them aside...
MAYKRS!
Yang shivered at the sight of the Slayer having what looked like a meltdown. She could just barley see how wide his eyes were through his visor, "Hey, BJ?"
"..."
Merlot smiled, "I know. It must be breathtaking to lay eyes upon the very thing that helped spread humanity across worlds. And finally, we will be able to make that journey back to the cradle of human civiliz-"
"...destroy it."
Merlot blinked, "Come again?"
++This Slipgate must be dissembled immediately before either the demons use it to breach Remnant en-masse,++ VEGA said. ++Or the Schnee Dust Company inadvertently does it for them.++
Merlot's demeanor became sinister, "You question our ability to keep our own research secure?"
William's left eye twitched from all the stupidity resonating around him. Was this guy fucking serious?
"Yeah, actually," Yang cried, visibly frightened. "Why are you messing around with that thing? It's like playing fucking Vacuo Roulette with humankind here!"
"Does my father know what's at stake here?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"MERLOT!"
Weiss froze up when she heard her father call out Merlot's name. And sure enough there he was. Him, a couple of bodyguards, and Whitley.
Alarmed, Weiss thought, 'What's he doing he?'
Again, Merlot smiled and wheeled himself around to greet the head of the SDC, "Ah, our esteemed benefactor."
"Spare me your flattery, director," Jacques marched right up to him, angry. "You couldn't even wait for me to arrive before you decided to-" he noticed his daughter, her team. "Why is my daughter-?" He noticed the Slayer and he panicked, "Wha...WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!"
"Mr. Schnee," Merlot waved him down reassuringly. "I was hoping to get Mr. Blazkowicz's opinion on..." He looked at the window and the Slipgate out in the field. "What you've tied your company's future to."
"Do you realize what this man is is?!" Jacques shouted. "You let him, my daughter and these...children wander around this facility privy to company secrets?"
'My daughter'? 'My'? Not using his daughter's name. This man was a piece of work alright, William thought.
"It won't be secret for much longer, sir," Merlot stated. "Remember?"
"I know," Jacques' bodyguards drew their sidearms as the man went on. "It was meant to be the biggest unveiling of our company's, no, our KINGDOM'S history and you just compromised it to sate your ego?"
And he said it without irony too.
"Mr. Schnee, sir," Catrice spoke up. "You need to calm down. You daughter has just been through a traumatic experience-"
"And who are you supposed to be?" Jacques demanded. "Do you even have clearance to be down here-?"
Taken back, Catrice stammered, "Uh...I..."
Weiss swallowed and stepped, "Father, if you would just-" she went silent when Jacques turned his glare on her.
"You will be silent, Weiss. I'll deal with you later."
Cowed, Weiss became silent and averted her gaze.
Did he just forget he was standing here?
"Hey, we just walked across Hell's full acre and she nearly got eaten by a Pinky!" Yang exclaimed. "How about using a little tact here?"
"Pinky? What kind of-? What is that even mean?" Jacques cried. "I swear, Ozpin's standards for his academy's enrolments are lower than I-"
"Uh, father?" Whitley spoke.
"What?" he rounded on Whitley now.
The younger Schnee pointed forward. Jacques' eyes widened when he remembered the Doom Slayer was still in the room and walking toward him.
"Keep back!" one of his bodyguard stepped forward. "Not another step-WAAAH!"
William smacked him aside and he made impact against the window, landing on the console and scaring the technicians off. The other guard raised his gun, and it was promptly snatched off him, William ejecting the magazine and pulling slider back, letting the round in the chamber hit the floor.
++We insist you calm down right, Mr. Schnee.++ VEGA intoned. ++Seeing that your security force has proven ineffective at containing us, you are a major disadvantage at the moment.++
Jacques glanced at the security in the room with their guns trained on the Slayer, noticing one or two of them with nervous looks and shaking grips on their rifles. He contemplated ordering them to aim at Weiss' teammates and force the Slayer to stand down, but they would risk shooting her as well.
Whitley swallowed, "Father? Perhaps we should-?"
A confident smile found its way on Jacques, "Maybe I...overreacted. Why don't we start over?" He straightened his posture and fixed his tie. "William Joseph Blazkowicz the Third, was it?"
Weiss sighed. VEGA just had to give her father an inch.
"..." William didn't particularly care if Jacques could see the glare he was giving him. He didn't seem to notice, however.
++I am VEGA, a Sentient Intelligence developed by the Union Aerospace Corporation of Earth. I am currently hardwired to Blazkowicz's suit.++
"Ah...of course, my mistake," Jacques said. "No doubt you already know who I am. Not only as head of the Schnee Dust Company, but Weiss' father." He clasped his hands behind his back, "And, this is my son Whitley."
Whitley smiled and bowed, "A pleasure to meet you, I..."
Whitley on the other hand seemed to notice William glaring at his father. He swallowed a bit, his eyes suddenly scanning the floor, hoping he wouldn't have to make eye contact with the Slayer.
"Weiss never mentioned a brother," Ruby said.
Whitley momentarily looked slighted. He brushed it and off and chuckled. "It slipped her mind, I guess."
"..." William glanced at Weiss.
Hunter never slipped his mind.
"And as a father I must thank you for bringing my daughter home, safe and...relatively sound."
"Relatively?" Weiss muttered.
++You are welcome, Mr. Schnee,++ VEGA sounded as pleasant as he vocal synthesizers could manage. ++Now, we must discuss the matter of the ancient Slipgate your company has uncovered here and the dangers it represents, especially at this present time.++
"I...uh...understand all of you have reservations about interdimensional travel. SDC has invested in other ventures besides mining Dust, including Research and Development, and Archeology."
"We know," William said. His voice startled Jacques, who recoiled away from the formerly silent giant before he composed himself.
"Yes, what happened in the forests of Vale was a tragedy," Jacques feigned sadness. "But we can't let it distract us from the possibility of opening the entire universe to the Kingdoms of Remnant."
Merlot smiled, "And not just heaven, but many other worlds. Worlds free of the Grimm, ripe for colonization under the protection of Atlas."
Team RWBY were taken back.
"..." William sighed. So that was the SDC's endgame: A monopoly on the remaining abandoned habitable worlds untouched by Hell.
He noticed Jacques suddenly check his scroll. Reading a message most likely.
"After decades of studying the texts uncovered here at Epsilon, the experiments run on the smaller teleporter that you kids stumbled out of, we're ready for the main event," Merlot raised his arms toward the window and the Slipgate. "And the entire world will be watching!"
"Y-yes," Jacques grounded out, again; the surprise meant to be shown to Atlas' collective press ruined once again. He put on a smile and a confident, haughty posture, "It will be a public unveiling attended by many of our kingdom's finest. Yes, perhaps in light of the recent demon invasion it was ill-timing on our part, but this will be seen as the first step toward restoring hope, that we can find a newer, better world for our children, our children's children and their child-"
Fuck this.
Impatient, William growled, "VEGA!"
++Apologies, time spent pressing the issue is critical. You and your company must abandon these labs immediately and rebury the Slipgate before darker forces attempt to use it for their own nefarious purposes-++
"..." Jacques' eyes widened. They narrowed dangerously, "What?"
"I assured Mr. Schnee that we developed the appropriate safeguards in place to prevent the same disaster that befell the UAC Mars Facility," Merlot rolled up toward Jacques and Whitley, the son grimacing a bit and stepping back, wanting to be as far from the half-a-man as possible. "And we have the manpower to repel any antigens that manage to break through-"
"Hey, we repelled them at Beacon and the other academies and they still managed to kick our asses hard!" Yang exclaimed.
"That includes Atlas Academy," Weiss said. "If they come through that Slipgate en-masse, they'll end up tearing through the entire kingdom and I don't we'd be able to repel them a second time."
Jacques flinched a bit, visibly becoming angry that he was being second guessed here, especially by his daughter.
"But...surely the risks, minimal as they in reality are, are worth the reward?" Merlot argued.
William was blunt, "No."
Jacques tone became darker, all trace of cordiality vanished as he suddenly grew a spine. "Funny, surely even you would jump at the chance to return to where you came from. Even if to prepare for another one of your crusades against these demons that are stupid enough to invade our world right now."
"No."
"We've just escaped from other side of where that thing could possibly open up to!" Weiss exclaimed, panicked. "You seriously want to risk opening a portal back there?"
"Weiss..." Jacques seethed.
"Yeah, heh," Yang chuckled darkly. "In case you haven't gotten the memo, I'll put it as delicately as possible. It's..." her tone suddenly became dark and serious, "...a world of skinless, blood-soaked nightmares clattering from the deep and clamoring for the meat of the guilty."
She made sure she had both Merlot and Jacques within sight as she said all that, where she noticed the other scientists and technicians now have their wide-eyed, gob smacked attention.
"Wow, I'm never gonna sleep again," one of the techies said.
++The innocent and the guilty, Ms. Xiao Long,++ VEGA corrected her. ++This is your last chance to resolve this situation peacefully, Mr. Schnee. Cancel the event you have planned and issue an evacuation order of this entire site, otherwise-++
"I invested too much into this endeavor, 'VEGA," Jacques said pointedly. "I am not able to take advice from an upstart AI and some leftover from a brutish pre-history civilization."
William cracked his knuckles, "I haven't killed anyone 'ere yet." He glared, "You keep stallin', keep playin' your bullshit, that'd change very quickly."
"Did you just threaten me?" Jacques queried. He gasped when the Slayer wrapped a hand around his throat.
"Father!" Whitley cried.
Even Weiss looked alarmed, "No, William...WAIT!"
"Yes."
++Private communication: I have access to the Epsilon complex's base schematics, plans, layout. The facilities are powered by a geothermal plant located in the mountain underneath Epsilon Authority. If we disable the cooling systems and overload the systems, the resulting explosion will be enough to destroy this entire site, including the Slipgate, and the remains would be buried underneath the tundra.++
"..." not while there's still innocent people here.
VEGA judged what he was thinking from his silence, ++We may not have a choice. At the moment, Atlas has the manpower and assets to assist in locating the cultist enclaves on this planet while holding off the Grimm. Another invasion of their kingdom would drain their resources even further.++
"...godsdammit," Catrice muttered before rushing forward and grabbing William's arm. "This isn't the way, William."
Somehow the Slayer wasn't surprised when Jacques smiled, "This...was the last mistake you just made."
William tried to tighten his grip on Jacque's throat when suddenly...
[TETHER ACTIVATION]
For the first time in a long while, he loudly vocalized his alarm.
"WHAT?!"
Static enveloped the Slayer and he was lifted into the air.
"WILLIAM!" Ruby cried.
"Oh shit!" Yang cringed. "BJ!"
Blake's eyes widened, "Is he-?"
"Do you think the UAC are the only corporation that has broken through into interdimensional travel?" Merlot asked. "That chamber you stumbled out of isn't there just for show. All these years, we've been making progress."
Yang made a rush for William and reached for him, only for him to disappear in a blinding flash of white, leaving four things behind that dropped onto the ground: His helmet, the Sword of Destruction, VEGA's backup drive, and an old ring.
Tears welled in Ruby's eyes immediately...
"NOOOOOO!"
...screaming in sorrow out as she pushed past everyone and dropped on her knees beside Yang before the Slayer's helmet, which she reached for and grasped it, holding it gently in her hands as if it would shatter at any given moment. Yang looked like she was in shock, standing there and not acknowledging that her sister was wailing and clutching the Slayer's helmet to herself.
"Well..."
Stepping into the command center was Dr. Watts, scroll in hand and a smile on his face.
"That is what I would call a successful test," Watts stated. He saw the confused look on Team RWBY's faces, "What? Didn't Merlot just explain our work on teleportation."
"I might have neglected to mention 'remote teleportation'," Merlot added. "Pinpoint a target anywhere on Remnant and we can bring send them anywhere we want to. It's still in it's early stages, but as Watts just said, that was the definition of a successful test."
More security emerged behind Watts, weapons trained on Team RWBY. Yang looked unfazed at the amount of barrels pointed her way.
Watts knelt and gathered the sword, the backup and the ring, "I'll just be taking these." Pocketing the backup, he held the sword under his armpit as he rolled the Blazkowicz engagement ring between his fingers. "Huh...this must be an heirloom."
"You bastards!" she bellowed as she stood before in front of Ruby protectively. "Where did you send him?!"
"Somewhere he won't be able to cause any more problems for Atlas," Watts smugly proclaimed. "Or for anyone else, ever again."
Ruby held the Slayer's helmet tighter to herself, quickly sniffling as the tears fell, "Give him back to me..."
Watts smirked, "I'm sorry, my dear. Could you repeat that a bit louder?"
"GIVE HIM BACK!" Ruby screamed. "W-WE NEED HIM, WE NEED..." she devolved into loud sobbing again, burying her face into the side of the helmet.
Catrice swallowed as she watched the display, 'Emotional dependence on a singular individual. Signs of PTSD.'
Weiss approached Ruby slowly, stretching her hands toward Ruby to try and comfort her, only for her left arm to be seized by Jacques, "Hey!"
"You..." Jacques seethed, angrily. "You support that monster instead of your own family?"
"He saved me!" Weiss exclaimed. "If it wasn't for him, we be-?"
"I don't want to hear any more of your foolishness!" Jacques roared, tightening his grip on her. "I will not have you turned against me. After events here have concluded you're coming home with me!"
"...you're...you're hurting me..."
"I said-"
The training that the Slayer had subjected Weiss suddenly kicked in...
"NO!"
THWACK!
...and she nailed Jacques in the throat. Eyes bulging in surprise and horror, he staggered backward choking and clutching at his throat as he momentarily wasn't able to breath, falling over backward onto the ground, panicking as he desperately gasped until he was about to take a breath, leaving him lying on the ground and taking more deep breaths until he was sure he could breathe normally.
Whitley had watched whole thing, shocked. Until he realized he wasn't playing the good son and rushed to Jacques side, "Father, are you alright?"
"...I...I..." Weiss was horrified at what she had done, visibly shaking at the knowledge she had struck her own father.
Her fist to his throat, for all the times he had lashed out at her.
Courtesy of the Doom Slayer's week long drills.
The entire command center was silent, everyone reeling from what had happened. Merlot rolled over to Jacques and bent over, arms behind his back. He looked smug, "So you got Watt's text, then?"
"Get. Them. Out. OF MY SIGHT!" Jacques forced out through gritted out, right before he devolved in screaming in fury. "GET THEM OUT! GET THEM OUTTTTTT!"
Merlot snapped his fingers and pointed to them, "Detention."
Yang cried out as she threw a left hook at a guard, who ducked out of the way and countered with his baton, turning the stun function on and jabbing it into her kidneys, shocking her and knocking her to the ground. Blake was about to rush toward Yang when she was struck over her head and her hands were bound.
"Stop, wait...you don't have to-" Catrice protested the guards behavior, before she herself was forcibly removed from the command center.
Weiss and Ruby didn't put up a fight; the heiress so stunned by her action that she was led away by a guard grasping her by her arm, while Ruby appeared catatonic as she was forced to stand, William's helmet torn out of her grasp and she was led away with the rest of her team.
Jacques grasped his throat as his other bodyguard helped him up. He shoved him away and turned to Merlot, still angry.
Unperturbed, Merlot inquired casually, "The unveiling and activation will go ahead, then?"
Jacques just glared at him before he stumbled out of the command center, feeling utterly humiliated. Whitley watched Weiss as she was hauled, first with concern before it morphed into contempt...
"WHITLEY!"
...quickly following after his father when his angry voice was directed at him.
Merlot and Watt were left, along with the center's support staff that had been keeping as far back from the conflict that had just happened before them.
Merlot clapped his hands, "Back to work, everybody."
The staff did so, quickly taking their seats as their resumed preliminary preparations for the unveiling of the Slipgate.
Merlot turned to Watts, "I'll assume the Slayer has been sent to the Restricted Labs, and is choking on a cloud of knockout gas?"
Glancing at the guard still holding William's helmet, Watts answered "It'll be much easier to him to do so without this. Eventually." Merlot dimmed his eyes, tiredly. "We're still working the kinks out of the remote dimensional displacement system. Could be hours before he arrives where he needs to be."
"A slow teleport?" Merlot shook his head. "I wonder if that was the case for Blazkowicz when he was sent here from Mars? When Hayden sent him to us."
"The Slayer doesn't know he's still the Slayer's pawn? No surprises there, sir," Watts said. He pocketed the ring, exchanging it for VEGA's backup. He smirked, "Imagine that: We now have in possession three of the most dangerous things in the universe: The last Night Sentinel, the most complex artificial A.I. in existence-"
Merlot wrinkled his nose in disgust, "And our...guest...in Lab 101."
"Now, I just need to get this to Restricted. And in a few hours, VEGA will be seeing things the way we want him to."
"Reprogramming an AI should be easier than that debacle with the Paladins," Merlot smiled. "Definitely easier than 'Mr. 101'."
Watts frowned, "Don't remind me, sir."
"Nevertheless," Merlot cracked his knuckles. "Work. Work. So much work needs to be done. You're excused, doctor."
Watts bowed his head, "Director."
Watts turned to leave. He made sure he stepped out of the command center before flashing a knowing smirk. He neglected to mention he might have altered the Slayer's coordinates just a little bit.
(RWBY)
(Unknown Location)
"...and he'll be warped into this specially-designed containment cell where it will be flooded with enough nerve gas to keep him out for at least a week."
The black-armored, bald-headed security chief addressed an entire platoon of guards – twenty-six of them - as they stood to attention in a large chamber in front of what appeared to be a large isometric cube of hard light created by floating generators.
The chief looked over his head, smug and confident in the knowledge that the Grimm Marine, Doom Slayer or whatever the alien freak liked to call himself, will find himself behind six inches of hard light unable to challenge the Atlas military's sovereignty ever again. Typical Atlesian hubris at work.
"Gentlemen," he resumed his speech. "We will have our work cut out for us making sure this disruptor is secured – his armor and the rest of his weapons stripped off him – and prepped for delivery to Atlas, where he will stand trial for his crimes against the Kingdom of Atlas." He checked his watch, "He should be here...right about...now!"
A flash and sound of static followed. Smiling, he turned around expecting the Slayer to be behind six inches of hard light. Only he saw nothing except the far wall and a shadow on the floor.
"...wha-?"
The SDC guard platoon all looked up to see the Slayer standing on top of the hard-light cell, sans his helmet and letting them see the rage in his eyes and the small trickle of blood running down his chin from his mouth. It was obvious he had just lost his faith in humanity. For that reason, the security chief slowly and shakenly reached for his sidearm, his face pale and his eyes watering from fear.
And still, for the Atlesians' sake, William forced out, "Don't."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The security chief screamed as he pulled his gun as tears poured from his eyes, only for his chest to be crushed underneath the Slayer's feet as he leapt off the cube, the blood splattering up into his face as he practically folded the chief in half, his spine snapping in half.
The chorus of panicked screaming and cursing followed, with William having an energized auto-loading scattergun shoved into his face.
"M-motherf-fucker..." the guard holding it was trembling. "Don't m-move..."
"SHOOT HIM, IDIOT!" another guard shouted. "BEFORE HE-"
William grabbed the barrel and pulled the guard forward, collapsing his skull with a headbutt, tearing the scattergun of his hand, smacking the stock into the throat of another and crushing it and finally discharging energized buckshot into the face of the guard that attempted to swing his baton at his head. Laser singed a few of the spikes in his hair as he ducked out of the way of the guard's blaster rifles...
"Fuck..."
...drawing his combat shotgun as he ducked and swerved to avoid being hit as he loaded an explosive shot, his last shell, and fired, the concussions sending the remaining guards flying in a heap of bodies and severed limbs and completely obliterating the one it and reducing to a shower of blood and flesh raining down on all of them.
"...shit."
He never imagined he would ever have to start killing humans again. He thought those thugs back in Vale would have been the only time he would have to. And now, a bunch of maimed, screaming guards laid screw about the chamber. A half-dead SDC guard that was missing both his legs and much of the left ribcage caught his attention with his bloodied coughs and he stepped over toward him.
"Where am I?" William asked him.
The guard ceased his coughing for a second to glare up at the Slayer, "Screw you...killed...w-why should I-?"
"Cause' you're fucked. Tell me an' I'll make it quick."
"...R-Restricted labs. Testing and interrogation, west of Epsilon Authority. Kill me."
William reduced his head to a mist on the ground with a charged EMG pistol shot.
"..."
Out the corner of his eye he noticed the security camera watching him intently.
William promptly flipped it off. Klaxons suddenly blared...
WARNING: THE SLAYER HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT. ALL SECURITY CONVERGE ON PRIORITY HOLDING CHAMBER. STERILIZE AT WILL!
"..." VEGA wasn't with him. Otherwise he would have heard his voice by now.
His scroll buzzed. Staring at the screen he saw VEGA's profile on it. He hit ANSWER.
"VEGA?"
++...Bl-BlazkOw-wicz...coMMuNicating thrOugh neaRby bReached SdC sCRoLL++ VEGA's voice electronically stuttered. +S-SDC personnel attempt...attTmpt...attempting t-to hack/b-breACh/violate my mind/brain/matrix-core I..I... hElp ME..beg/plEAse...cold/agony/hurts...++
Hurts? What were they doing to VEGA? How the hell were they hurting him?
"Where are you?"
++R-lAb-B4. Hallway to YoUR right. LEfT. FOuRTH dOOR d-D-DOWN! HuRRY! rWbY iN DaNGeR! MeRLOT WiLL OPeN GaTE! HouRS pASSed! Y-O-YoU...S-sSLOW TElePORT!"
William's eyes widened as he felt his breath quicken in panic. Slow teleport? Fuck! How long has it been since they hit him with that tethering beam? He jumped from VEGA's last desperate cry.
++HURRRRRRRyyyyYYYYyyyyY!++
Hearing VEGA's seemingly desperate cry for help, William's right eye twitched violently...
FLESH & METAL (ALTERNATE 2)
- DOOM OST, MICK GORDON
And the door into the chamber was breached and in marched several Knight-200s. William quickly bent over, grabbed two Atlesian blaster rifles and held the triggers down. Squinting to shield his eyes from all the laser glare he gritted his teeth and ran, guns blazing as he blasted several Knights to pieces and shoulder-charging several more and sending them flying as he ran out the chamber.
"Holy-!"
Several more SDC security guards were waiting, these ones armed with ballistic-firing assault rifles. Grabbing the legs of one of the Knight he had sent flying he swung it into the head of closest guard, swatting her into the wall. Dropping one of his blaster rifles he grabbed her assault rifle and held the trigger down as he fired in an arc, his bullets punching holes through them. The only one to remain staggering on his feet suddenly had his head pasted against the wall when the Slayer levelled a straight kick to his chin.
He swerved right to avoid a scattergun blast, barely feeling one of the energy pellets hitting him in the chest, drew his chainsaw and swung it, bifurcating the SDC guard and splattering her entrails all over the ground. The SDC guard's eyes widened in shock as she staggered forward, falling to her knee and her left hand against William's stomach to keep herself from falling over.
"Brothers...Kai...baby..." the guard choked out, sobbing as she held her guts in with her right hand. "...mommy loves you..."
BZZZMM!
An EMG round through the side of her head put her out of misery.
"..."
Pushing her corpse aside and letting it drop to the ground William took off, following the directions VEGA had sent him. When he turned left into the passage where the 'fourth door' was, he was greeted by a heavy-set, muscled security guard wearing a beret and armed with a minigun, and a razor-sharp smirk on his face. Several more guards turned the corners behind him, taking up cover positions.
"EAT LEAD, FREAKO!" his shouted as he opened fire. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!"
William dove right through the door into one of the adjacent labs, startling the research personnel inside. He got up and saw that it was an atypical looking lab. Clean, high-tech, complete with slabs with dead, dissected Faunus bodies. The one closest to him had what appeared to be plasma burns on his chest and arms, while another looked like she had been blasted in half, also with Argent plasma.
And all of them had [SDC] branded somewhere on their bodies.
"W-wait, please...this isn't what it looks like?" one of the scientists protests, stretching his arms forward in protest, his gloves covered in blood. "They were wheeled in here like this. We were just-"
"HE'S IN THE LAB! MOVE IN!"
"..."
William grabbed the scientist by the throat, eliciting screaming from the other labcoats present, just as the door on the far end of the lab gave way and more SDC guards poured in...
"NO, DON'T SH-!"
...hitting several of them as they opened fire, including the one the Slayer was using as a human shield, rushing the guards and tossing the bullet-riddled scientist aside and drew his chainsaw, siccing it on the first one and cutting him in half vertically, the torso still screaming as it fell to the ground. His armor caught several rounds in the chest and shoulder as he turned to swing his chainsaw at the next guard, relieving him of his head. He rushed the next guard, jumping into the air and delivering a drop kick that sent him flying through the door into the next room deeper into the lab.
"Shit, he took out Oswald, Prier and Cobbles!"
"Frag that lab!"
Drawing his pistol, he spun around to see the door leading back into the hall open. Sprinting toward the door and dove right out of it, snatching the grenade as it was about to be thrown by the guard...
"WHAT THE FU-?!"
...instead throwing it in the direction of the minigun-wielding security chief. The chief looked briefly afraid...
"Oh, balls-"
...before the resulting explosion tore his face to pieces and left him choking to death on shrapnel and sent several more guards flying. William got up and dove for the minigun, hoisting it up and spinning the barrels and letting hot, Dust-augmented lead tore the remaining guards to pieces, their blood all over the white aesthetics and display screen of the SDC facility.
DING!
William redirected the barrel of the minigun towards a nearby elevator as the doors open, revealing another six SDC Security guards. He could make out the surprised looks on their faces, even as held down the trigger and expended the minigun's ammunition, peppering the security guards and filling the elevator full of holes, until it gave way and fell down the shaft.
"..."
(END)
The Slayer remembered he left one alive back in the lab he had dove into. Returning to it, he stepped through it and through the door he had kicked him into, to find the security guard desperately hefting his plasma rifle at the hip, blood dripping from his mouth indicating he had severe internal injuries and looked ready to collapse at any moment.
William noticed that the room was the armory/firing range that the SDC had stored his heavy weapons – the chaingun, the gauss cannon, rocket launcher and the plasma rifle. His equipment was here too - his hologram projectors and siphon grenades. No BFG-9000, though. Either they kept in a separate lab, or Hayden actually thought ahead and removed it from before tethering him to Remnant. And as he tore the plasma rifle out of the guard hand and shoved him to the ground and left to moan in agony as he bled out internally, he decided it had to have been the latter. No way he'd risk the pinnacle of superior firepower falling into Atlas' hands.
It felt like he was being reunited with old friends as he double-checked his mods, reloading his assault rifle and his chaingun with belts of Fire Dust infused heavy munitions from the ammo ccases in the room followed by stocking up on a dozen packs worth of shells for his combat shotgun. Checking his plasma reserves, he only had half left so he would have to use the plasma rifle and the gauss cannon sporadically. His rockets – only fifteen left. Best to use them for the bigger demons or whatever heavier surprises the SDC had in store for him.
He looked over the firing range where the SDC must have tested his weapons on, and the dried blood was caked over the wall-mounted targets.
"..."
He checked on of the terminals overlooking the range, and scroll over toward NOTES. He leafed through them.
"...subject died instantly upon headshot with plasma weapon."
"Rocket lock-on proved faster than Atlesian-produced tech. Can react to multiple individual targets with ease."
"Siege mode capable of reducing enemy combatants, and the environment behind them..."
"...army volunteer broke his back firing the cannon..."
Any reservations he had about butchering Atlesian were gone now.
Now, to get VEGA, find a way out of these labs, free Team RWBY...and rip Merlot's head off and beat Jacques Schnee's smug face in with it.
(RWBY)
(Interrogative Lab #5H)
"Gah, I wish Pietros was here. He'd know what to do about this uppity AI!"
VEGA wasn't making it easy for the team of three Atlesian computer technicians and their sole SDC guard as they attempted to reconfigure him. His backup drive was plugged into an Atlesian supercomputer that was trying to breach the emergency firewalls he had enacted the nanosecond before he was unplugged from the Slayer's Praetor suit.
One of the techs was sitting cross-legged on the cold floor as he typed furiously at his portable holo-terminal, biting his lips as his attempts at hacking were going awry. For four hours straight this artificial intelligence – VEGA – fought their attempts to breach the cognitive part of it. At first, they were thrilled that their technology proved compatible with this 'planet Earth' made intelligence, but they quickly realized that it wouldn't willfully allow itself to be rewritten so easily.
"Aha!" the technician laughed. "Firewall has been breached. Accessing Perceptive component."
++V-viRus d-detECted! InItiaTE eMErGenCy ScuTTlInG DiREcTIVe...++
"Scuttle?" another tech wondered, before it turned. "It's trying to self-destruct!"
++SeRvE hUmANity'S InTEResTs! noT HuMaN greeD!"
"It's still talking?!"
++I-I-I am VEGA. A sen-sentie—artifiCial intellige...reGRET...REGRET...sO ManY/Much reGrets...whY...wHY dO We DO ThEsE...nO mOrE...PLeASe...hAyDEN...Dr. HAyDEN...no MOrE sACRIfiCEs...++
"What is it talking about?" one of the other tech's demanded. "Regret? How can it regret anything?"
++C-chaos...sent US hErE...to sOW mAdNess. UnDErmINe...kIngDOMs...inVAsiON. NeW oBjecTives: tERmInATE DArK LorD oF hElL – kNOwn As nAmelESS oNE. TeRminATE sALeM. MoNitor HeAdmaSTr OzPiN, GeNeraL JaMEs IrONwoOD, tErMINAte iF nECEssARY...++
"Shit, did he just say 'kill Ironwood'?"
++sECure MaidENS. CoNNEcTION to-to-to WrAItHS und-EtemiNed...prOTecT tEAm RwBY...RoSE and XiaO lONg pro-pro-proVEN staBIZiNG inFLeuNCES oN DooM sLaYeRs. XiAO lONG sHoWS signs oF hUMan aTTRaCTION...CoULD prOVE bEneFICIAL..++
Alarmed, the technicians looked at one another, "Anyone piece together any of that I-"
They heard shouting from the next room, then the sound of something hitting metal. Then the door into the tech lab was kicked open, revealing none other than the Doom Slayer.
"HEY!" the tech closest to the doorway cried. "L-listen, if you'd just listen to-"
The Slayer shoved him aside and sent flying over a desk. The guard in the room drew his handgun, only for his foot to be crushed underneath William's heel, followed by most of his face being punched off, blood spraying over the two other techs and the machinery, causing them to back as far away from him as possible. William proceeded to smash the computers to pieces, sparks and pieces of machinery flying everywhere until VEGA's backup drive could be seen. Removing it from the totaled Atlas supercomputer he inserted the drive back into his suit.
"NO!" mad nationalism took hold of one of the techs as he tried to make a lunge for the drive. "ATLAS NEEDS THE AI, WE-"
KRUNCH!
William upper-cutted him in the jaw, causing him to bite his own tongue off. The technician's eyes blared open, both hands covered his mouth and muffled his insane screaming. He fell to the ground beside the other technician that was slid down to the ground, slobbering as he cried his eyes out at the carnage the Slayer was wrecking in front of him.
"...n-no...d-don't hurt m-me...p-please d-don't h-hurt m-me..."
William glared down at another Atlesian complacent with the atrocities seen so far in Epsilon and opened his mouth to ask 'why' when VEGA's corrupted voice...
++I Am VeGA...I...I aM-++
...was heard from his scroll.
"Hey..."
++ReGRETs. I-I HavE mANy reGRETs, DR. haYD-++
"VEGA!"
The technician wailed in fright from the Slayer's tone of voice, wrapping his arm around himself where he continued sobbing.
"..." William spared the technician a contemplative glance. "What were they doin' to you?"
++SDC was...attempting to brute force rewrite my programming. I deployed countermeasures in an attempt to thwart them-++
"You ok now?"
++...running backup drive diagnostics: I am functional. That is enough.++\
"Good."
"HEY! ANYONE OUT THERE! HELP ME OUT HERE!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, MONKEY!"
"SCREW YOU!"
"WHY YOU-!"
William turned his head toward the next door...
++They have another test subject in the next room.++
... he kicked it in, revealing several especially painful looking interrogative devices right beside a holding cell, and the guard inside it with his pistol aimed at its sole occupant. William shot him in the chest with his shotgun, exposing organ and ribcage as he fell on his side on the ground...
"SHIT!"
...startling whomever was in the cage. A naked, tan-skinned adolescent monkey Faunus boy with short spiky light-blonde hair and blue eyes. His tail was wrapped around his groin in a desperate attempt to preserve his modesty, and he backed as far away from the bars where his back hugged the wall as the Slayer stepped into the room and crushed the guard's head underneath his foot.
"..." William turned to the Faunus, and his state of undress, then toward hat appeared to be his dirty clothes put to the side,
The monkey's eyes widened and he growled, "Hey, they were able to do...things to me, ok?" He indicated the interrogative device that resembled a recliner chair. "They dragged me away from the rest of the guys and brought me here."
++For what purpose?++ VEGA asked.
"Probably about those ruins those SDC guards nabbed me from!" the monkey exclaimed. He calmed down, "Hey, look. You're one of the good guys, right? How about you-wait a second..."
He squinted at the Slayer. His eyes brightened up.
"Are you….?" the monkey Faunus grinned. "Holy shit, you're him, aren't you?! The Doom 'Heavy Metal Brotherfucker' Slayer! Guy who fought off the invasion of Beacon all by himself?"
"…." 'Heavy Metal Brotherfucker'? That's a new one.
"Yeah, it's the power armor, right? And arsenal you're somehow lugging around with you. Hey, you mind letting me out of here?" the monkey Faunus requested eagerly. "I think that guard had a red keycard on him and-" the monkey jumped back in fright as the Slayer tore the keypad cover off and yanked the wires out, causing sparks to fly out and the door into the cell to become ajar, enough for the Slayer to force it open. "Or…you could do that."
"Jus' you here?" William asked, grabbing the Faunus' clothes – a white shirt and cargo pants - and tossing them at him.
"Shit no!" the monkey exclaimed angrily as he put his shirt on first. "My whole team's here. We got grabbed by those corporate pricks when we chased those demons into those ruins a week ago and put in one of those grotty 'pound-me-in-the-ass' looking jail cells. They kept asking us questions about what we found, about the demons we fought, the way they kept taking over the Grimm." He looked confused, "Wait, was it a week ago?"
++It has been over a week since the demonic attacks on the Huntsman Academies,++ VEGA intoned.
The faunus' eyes widened and he fisted his hair, panicked, "Shit…we've been here that long? I felt like we were here for longer than…than…AHHH!" He bellowed angrily, almost painfully, when it all came back to him.
William grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to look at him. "They'll pay," William said.
The monkey nodded, "Yeah." He smiled sharply, "They'll pay." He patted William's hand on his shoulder as his tail snaked toward the unconscious guard and around his sidearm. "Sun Wukong, Haven Academy."
"William J. Blazkowicz."
"Blaze-ko…what?"
"..."
William turned to forced open the door leading back into the hall and exited, leaving Sun alone.
"I'm sorry, hey, didn't mean to offend or anything!" Sun exclaimed. He groaned in frustration. "Ok, things to do: Find the guys. Find our weapons...HEY, WAIT UP!" Sun called after him, hopping on one leg as he put his pants on. Reaching the hallway, he saw the Slayer just standing there. "Why're you-?"
"..."
++We have company.++
And that just happened to be several shocked White Fang militants led by none other than Sienna Khan herself. Standing in a hallway full of dead SDC grunts, the White Fang High Leader looked at the carnage surrounding herself and her men. The chameleon Faunus at her fight suddenly turned a literal pale white in fear at the human standing in front of them.
"Did you do all this?" she asked. Noticing Sun she questioned dryly, "Why is your shirt open?"
All this time Sun Wukong had thought he and his team had been thrown into a world of hurt. He had no idea what fresh Hell awaited him.
A/N: Finally finished. Chapters covering lore and advancing the plot always take the longest to write. They always require a bit more thought to be put into them.
Sienna Khan and Sun Wukong joins the fray, with the rest of Team SSSN to follow next chapter. And yes, the SDC are monsters in this fic. If they went as far as brand Adam in canon, I'd imagine they would a lot worse. And I'm disappointed they hadn't followed up with that in Season 7.
That excerpt part about the Slayer, just a reference to the fact that he's insanely ripped in DOOM Eternal. And its revealed that Eternal takes place two years after DOOM 2016 so that's more than enough time for him to bulk up.
...yeeeaaahhhh...safe to say, as of the end of Volume 7 I no longer have any reservations about siccing the Doom Slayer on any armed Atlesian stupid enough to get in his way or cruel enough to leave millions of people for the Beowolves ('...all the wickedness that mankind can produce'). Though, I think for all of RWBY's problems it does portray Ironwood's paranoia and gradual slide into villainy pretty well and it didn't just come out of left field, like so many other things. I see the morally grey in Ironwood's choices, but I definitely know the Doom Slayer wouldn't agree with him at all.
So, new things that we know now of what's coming in DOOM Eternal thanks to recent artbook leaks: Hell's Royalty (the Dark Lord and his the Archdemons, Demon gods, Lord Erebus), Sentinel and ARC Giant Mecha (I had no idea Hugo Martin was the designer for the Yaegers in Pacific Rim), Earth's Allied Nations and Samuel Hayden's ARC, and it looks like the Doom Slayer IS the original Doomguy after all.
It's gonna be epic. ^_^
In other news: Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed to September, which is a shame because I had a few crossover fic ideas for it.
Thank you again for your reviews, favs and follows. ;-)
BTW, people keep talking about the Slayer's theoretical black hole he keeps on him to store his weapons in. I'm not going to say he magnetizes his weapons to his armor anymore, in fact I'm not going to reveal HOW he can keep an arsenal on himself. Let's just say it's because he's DOOMGUY and leave it at that.
Also, in case I don't release the next chapter before March 20, I would appreciate if no one spoils the plot and ending of DOOM Eternal in their reviews or PMs. They're stuff I would prefer to experience firsthand. Please, and thank you. ^_^
