v.3 beta: ssjSega
(Sentinel Prime)
(Argent D'Nur)
(Several Millenia ago…)
Eleven-year-old Markacc Ateius was panting like crazy as he wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his left hand, his right hand holding the wooden bludgeon as he stood in the center of the oval training arena, the light from the illumination units built into the walls shining down on him. His small, near bare body, save for his training shorts, were covered in a hideous number of bruises. His left eye swollen shut and blood running down from the corner of it; so much bruising it was a miracle he wasn't rolling over on the ground in pain. If he was an ordinary child he would have, but he continued to stand his ground.
Surrounding him were a dozen semi-conscious youths his own age, all beaten severely with the weakest groaning and sobbing in pain. Their agony went ignored by the overseers lining the oval wall, each firmly holding a staff to make sure their charges wouldn't attempt to quit training. The initiates' own clubs and bludgeons were scattered all over the ground which would be a tripping hazard of William wasn't on guard. He was heavily focused on his opponent, the drill master and the bludgeon he carried, himself uninjured and having made short work of this class of initiates save for the Terran half-breed who refused to go down, and whom had earned the bewildered admiration of the hundreds of young Silver-Eyed aspiring Night Sentinels watching from the bleachers. Two shadowy, seated figures watched from the balcony - Commander Valen.
And Grav of the Deagic Order.
Grav blinked, "Markacc Ateius? Is it not his real name-?"
"William Joseph Blazkowicz III. Quirinis' eldest grandson? Yes. Put on the exemption list by King Novik at the behest of the former High Priestess, but that old bastard wouldn't have it. Practically planned out his grandson's life before he was even conceived, but his son-in-law – the Outlander – had other ideas on how to raise his family."
"Did you not oversee the Terran's training too when he was lifted from the common soldiery into the Sentinels?" Grav asked.
"...I did."
Grav frowned, "Feh...that old fool never took having a daughter instead of a son well. And she chose to become a priestess - the traditional role for an Argenta maiden - instead of a warrior. Anyway, what is the half-breed doing here?"
"He arrived here at his own volition. Dirty, starving, exhausted and missing a part of his ear after he was savaged by a gargoyle. They cleaned him up, fed him, during this time, he was…unresponsive."
"Unresponsive?"
"He barely reacted to anything and he kept calling himself a 'monster' over and over, like something was all his fault and it left him in shock. He spent three months at the medicae center under the care of the priestesses. Thanks to them, he eventually resumed functioning normally, but he still refuses to talk about what happened to him or whatever it was that he did."
"It wasn't because his mother died?"
"Part of the reason, I'm sure."
"You can't just order him to tell the truth?"
"…"
"What does his father think of him being here?"
"Blazkowicz eventually came to Prime to claim him. He looked ready to blast his way through the citadel, but the boy refused to go home. I asked the man why his son ran away in the first place, and all he said was that it was all his, that is the father's, fault. That Hunter forgives him and he just wants his big brother back."
"Where are Blazkowicz and his youngest now?"
"They're still living in Elysium last I heard. Markacc hasn't been in contact with them for three months."
The roar of the crowd drew the figures attention when they saw William's bludgeon strike the drill master in the thigh, bringing him down on his knee and leaving the boy to follow up with another blow to the side of the older man's face. The scores of youth immediately silenced themselves when the overseers turned toward them, wiping the smiles and jubilation off their faces with silent promises of discipline for breaking silence. The drill master bellowed angrily and swung his left leg, William raising his left arm to block it but he was sent flying, his back smacking against the stone floor and drawing a pained cry from him.
Valen resumed their conversation. "Do you intend to subject the boy to the Divinity Machine?"
"...no. The Khan Maykr forbade it."
"Why?"
"She is concerned that to subject a half-breed would...finally bring forth the malicious one that we fear would destroy our way of life."
William got back up, grabbing another bludgeon off the ground and tossing it at the drill master, striking him in the head and dazing him, leaving him open for William to smack him between the legs. This drew a cry of agony from the drill master that was swiftly cut short when William struck him across the face repeatedly, each punch further bloodying his fist. The bell rang, signaling the end of the match, but William continued his assault on the drill master. This prompted one of the overseers to step forward and strike him in the shoulder with their staff. The electric shock the staff produced knocked the child down and sent him into teeth-clenched convulsions.
"..." they quietly watched as the incensed drill master spat out a tooth before stepping over toward the fallen child, putting his foot down on his left leg. William screams were horrific, the overseers too late to stop the drill master when he brought his foot down and broke his leg, leaving him to be dragged out of the arena by his arms, the furious drill master set upon by the overseers.
Grav smirked, "Your assessment?"
"He could become Praetor one day."
"A half-breed? Though one of Ormero's nonetheless?"
"Bloodline has never determined who would become Praetor, much less king. Only the strongest," Valen said. He frowned, "Be sure to remind the Khan Maykr of that fact, priest."
Grav stood up and curtly bowed to him. He paused before he left the chamber, "Oh, and how is your son Keel faring, Valen?"
"Why do you ask, priest?"
The Deag turned around with a sympathetic smile, "It must be such a terrible burden, for him to be the only one of Sentinel blood to carry the holy light of the Firstborn within him..."
(RWBY)
Kingdom of Tyrants V:
Kin
Subject Blood Type: AB Positive
Genome: Human
Unknown Foreign Bodies Detected
- Excerpt from the Medical Report on Subject DN-SIL, William Joseph Blazkowicz III
Information suppressed by order of the Atlas Council. Proof of human existence outside Remnant must be kept secret in order to prevent panic
(RWBY)
(Observatory, Ground Floor)
(Epsilon Labs and Facilities)
"Halt, you are not author-ACKK!"
William smacked aside the lone SDC guard that had been posted in front of the door leading to the observation, before kicking the door down into the building's mini-lobby. In spite of the alarms, klaxons and chaos of the Hell Priest's arrival, Neptune couldn't keep a smirk off his face as he stared down at the unconscious and quipped, "Employee of the month, ladies and gentlemen."
"..." William ignored him. He looked at the stairs leading up to the main observation deck overlooking the Slipgate. "Up."
Rushing up the stairs Sienna inquired, "I assume the plan is we still kill Schnee and Merlot? And this 'Deag Nilox' now?"
"Jus' Nilox," William replied. "Anythin' else means shit to me." Sienna scowled and was about to voice her displeasure when suddenly the sounds of explosions wracked the entire facility.
++The Slipgate has been deactivated but the demonic presence is continuing to increase throughout facility. Civilians and security casualties are rising substantially,++ VEGA reported. ++Gore nests have been detected in several parts of the facility.++
'One thing at a time,' William thought. They reached the stop of the stairs, stopping right in front of the doors leading onto the deck.
Sun gripped Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang and said, "So, Hell's waiting for us through that door?" Everyone was silent. He growled, "So we're really doing this?"
William raised his foot off the ground...
(Observation Deck)
...unaware of the standoff happening, Weiss' Myrtenaster touching the nape of Ruby's neck while Yang's Ember Celica was levelled at the back of her head.
"You guys realize we're all in danger right now," Blake pointed out, her own hand inching for Gambol Shroud. "Right?"
"I do," Weiss stated icily. She turned her head slightly, rolling her eyes toward Yang. "You?"
"Yeah, there's something wrong with this picture?" Yang snarked. "Or is it just me?" She turned her head toward the Schnee wife and son, then at the small crowd of Atlesian society, "Anyone?"
Everybody present looked at Team RWBY like they were insane. Willow put her hand to her forehead, the energy she felt earlier suddenly disappeared, leaving her wobbling on her feet as she croaked, "Weiss..."
"Mother," Whitley grabber her hand.
Alarmed, Weiss turned to her as well "Moth-?"
The doors were suddenly kicked opened again. The Atlesian elites gasped when they saw that it was the Slayer, accompanied by a team of young Huntsmen, and with Sienna Khan herself and the White Fang at his back.
Joy once again crossed Ruby's face, "William!"
"Oh, thank you," Yang sighed.
Jacques gasped. "Y-you?"
Hatred crossed William's face, and several attendees were knocked out of his way as he made a beeline Jacques, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against the window, knocking Weiss aside. Ruby cried out in disbelief, and Weiss...
"THE WHITE FANG?!" she screamed in disbelief.
"You brought them here?!" Blake cried, doing a double-take between Slayer and Sienna Khan herself. "H-high Leader-?!"
And Ilia...
"B-Blake?!" Ilia yelled, outraged to see her.
"I-Ilia?" Blake replied, nearly in denial that any of this was happening.
Coyle discharged his scattergun into the air, startling all those present, already tired of the exclamation going off around him. He brought the barrel up underneath the chin of the first Atlesian in sight, "Hope you hoity-toity cocksuckers enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres, cause' the assfuck of the century is right here!"
"Though every last one of you deserves it, no one else needs to die today!" Sienna announced. "We just want Jacques Schnee and Dr. Merlot-"
"SHUT UP!"
William's almost inhumane roar silenced everyone present, a bright silver corona in his eyes. Calming himself down, William sighed, dropped Jacques on his ass and asked, almost civilly as he took his helmet back from Ruby and put it on, "Ruby, Yang, get everyone out of here."
Still reeling from once again listening to how ferocious the Slayer could be, Yang stammered, "W-what?"
A section blast shield surrounding the windows melted under the Tyrant's continued barrage of lasers. Looking across the field before the Slipgate he could see both the Baalgar, and the Deag that it was guarding.
Deag Nilox.
Nilox panicked when he saw the Slayer half-an-acre across from him, looking calm and emotionless.
"BJ!" Yang exclaimed.
William was still calm when he repeated. "I'll be fine."
The Tyrant growled, its targeting laser locking onto the Slayer as he jumped out of the hole in the window and landed on the field, where he immediately broke into a sprint toward the Slipgate, the Hell Priest, and the Tyrant, leaving everyone else behind him.
"..." Ruby quietly watched him.
"There's no way we're escorting these humans out of here!" Coyle angrily argued. "We...HYAKKK!"
Yang grabbed the lynx by the scruff and pulled him forward so that they were touching foreheads, causing the Faunus to shiver with fright at how red the brawler's eyes had become, "You really care to argue this now?!" She turned to Sienna, "Well?"
Sienna scowled...
Warning: Demonic presence detected within facility. All personnel follow standard evacuation and containment procedure.
...and shook her head, "Not at the moment." She called out to the Atlesian present, "We're leaving. If you humans want to live, you'll do the same."
"..." Ilia scowled.
"Could use the meatshields, I guess," Coyle grumbled.
"NOW MOVE!"
"Thought so," Yang grinned. "Now, Ruby...RUBY!"
Before Yang could grab her, Ruby followed after the Slayer, ignoring the screams and pleads of her teammates as she chose the Hell that the Slayer had jumped back into over them. Yang was about to follow...
"Stop."
...when Willow grabbed her shoulder, looking out the hole where the Doom Slayer had exited. She fought back the inebriation she still felt, though for a moment she thought she saw someone else other than the Slayer.
'...father?'
She had only known her father to be just as fearless.
"LET GO OF ME, LADY! MY SISTER NEEDS-!"
"Enough," Weiss firmly said, silencing Yang. She turned to her mother, "Mother."
"Weiss, I-!" Willow stumbled a bit as began to plead, that earlier courage she had struggled to muster fading entirely. She was, however, silenced by her daughter's firm, determined voice.
"Whitley," Weiss said, her back turned to him.
"Weiss, what-?"
"Help father, would you?"
"Y-yes," Whitley stammered, surprised that he was actually being depended on for once. He ran over to his father and grabbed him by the arm. "Father..."
Jacques angrily pulled away from him, "I don't need your-"
"Jacques!" Willow exclaimed, cowing him. Shaking her head as she fought to clear her mind, she tore her cravat off and tossed it as Whitley. Indicating to Jacques' bleeding stumps where his fingers used to be, she added, "Use that to stop the bleeding."
Whitley nodded and did as he was told. Suddenly screaming could be heard outside the doors leading into the observation room. They collapsed beneath the weight of the disemboweled SDC security officers suddenly flung into the room as an Imp leaped in after them and snarled, fireballs in both its hands.
"RAAARGHHHH!" Sage charged and quickly ran through it with Pilgrim, driving it through the Imp hard enough to pierce the steel wall behind it and sever the demon in two. The torso shrieked as it was sent flying down the stairs, where Possessed had flooded in and where shambling towards them.
Neptune stepped out into the hall, Tri-Hard in hand. "Trouble heading our way?"
"Shambling, more like," Sage retorted. "So, fighting our way back to the front door?"
"OUTTA THE WAY!" Yang shoved her way out of observation, the shells in Ember Celica clicking into place as she accelerated herself down into the horde of Possessed. The sheer force of impact sent several of them flying, each of them breaking into pieces in midair with one punch, painting the entire observatory lobby red. "Alright, downstairs is clear, I-!" All of a sudden, the entrance to the lobby was smashed open as a Hell Knight barged in, the scientist it had been chasing falling to the ground in front of it.
"N-!" the scientist wasn't able to protest his imminent demise when the Knight's foot came down on his head and crushed it. The Knight roared, beat its chest and went for Yang, before it took electric rounds to the head and chest fired from Neptune's Tri-Hard as he slid down the staircase's handrail. The Haven Huntsman-In-Training shifted his weapon into its Guandao polearm configuration as the Hell Knight. Sliding right off the railing toward the demon he gripped the handle of Tri-Hard tightly as he brought it down, severing both of the demon's hands off.
Yang let loose with an explosive left hook that sent blood, bone and entrails all over the ground. She followed with a straight jab through the chest, blasting its chest cavity right out its back...
"YAHHH!"
...leaving her to pirouette around the stunned demon and deliver a crushing kick to the back of its head and knock it flat on the ground, right in front of a very impressed Neptune.
"Graceful."
Yang gave a hesitant smile, "Showoff."
Neptune grinned confidently and held Tri-Hard across his shoulder, "Hey, what can I say?" Yang swore he saw a gleam in his pearly whites. "I got a lot of demon-killing practice back in-OWW!"
The armless, gutless Hell Knight suddenly lunged off the floor and sank its teeth into Neptune's ankle...
"AH! FUCK FUUCCCKKK!"
...which were still embedded in his flesh when its head exploded. Sun lifted his blood-splattered staff off the ground where its skull used to be and scowled down at Neptune.
He scowled, "And we're not supposed to let out guard down around these bastards, remember?" He offered Neptune his hand. "You can walk, right?"
Neptune pulled the demon's teeth out from his leg and stood up, wincing as his Aura already began to dull the pain, "Y-yeah."
The rest of Teams RWBY, SSSN and the White Fang made their way downstairs...
"DOWN HERE!"
"OUTTA THE WAY!"
"THE EXITS! GET TO THE EXITS!"
...the Atlesian elite pushed and shoved each other as they followed close behind.
"What about Ruby?!" Yang cried. "And BJ?"
++You should worry about yourselves for the present moment. Blazkowicz and Ruby can handle their current situation,++ VEGA said. ++He will not let anything happen to your sister.++
"My sister, that's gone completely mental!" Yang exclaimed above the shouting and screaming of panicked rich folk. "She's going to end up killing herself." She mentally added, 'Or us all?'
++She will not. William will not allow it.++
(RWBY)
(Slipgate)
'...shit.'
Was the Slayer's singular thought as a familiar red blur brandishing Crescent Rose rushed past him. Spinning out of the way of the reticle of the Tyrant's cannon, Ruby felt the heat of the laser on her face as she dodged it and went straight for the beast's cybernetic heart. The Baalgar summoned its Hellblade and swung at the red Huntress, who in turn blocked it with her scythe. The force of the clash knocking her to the ground right before the Slipgate.
And Deag Nilox, who smiled predatorily down at her.
"Hello, Ruby," Nilox greeted her, raising his scepter.
"GAAHHH!" Ruby shrieked and swung Crescent Rose. The point was just an inch from the side of the Hell Priest's head...
"BACK, YOU!"
...when suddenly she was repulsed backward, landing on her back. Nilox gripped his scepter with both hands and closed his eyes.
He could sense the Gore Nests being forged from the corpses of the nonbelievers scattered throughout the facility and the demons that were pouring forth from all of them. Concentrating his power, he summoned a portion of them before the inert Slipgate, surrounding himself with a dozen Imps led by two Hell Knights.
Ruby's mouth formed a thin determined line as he stared down the Hell Priest and the demons he had summoned.
"Wouldn't your mother be so sad if she knew her little girl grew to become such a monster?" Nilox scowled. "You would follow the Beast into her grave." All of sudden he smirked, "Instead, however, I will haul you before the chaos throne of the Dark Lord himself-"
"Shut up."
Nilox found himself silenced, by Ruby's words and the smirk on her face. Gnashing his teeth, he pointed his bony finger at her and commanded the demons present, "KILL HER!"
The Slayer tried to catch up to Ruby, only for the Tyrant to launch a barrage of missiles at him. Switching to his plasma rifle he lobbed a stun bomb at its chest. The Tyrant convulsed as electrical static ran through its body, letting out howls of pain as its internal mechanic system fought to reboot itself. The Slayer then drew his combat shotgun and lobbed an explosive round in its face, burning the flesh away to expose bone and its glowing, mechanical red eyes.
More machine than demon, the Slayer realized. The Tyrant roared into the air as it forcibly restored itself with Hell energy, unleashing another barrage of missiles as it fired its arm-cannon. William barely managed to dodge each missile by a hair's breathe, the Tyrant's targeting systems proved to be more of a pain than the Cyberdemon's back on Mars, as he returned fire with his heavy assault rifle.
Ruby sliced the first Imp to lunge at her, catching a glimpse of William fighting the Tyrant, gasping when the Baalgar charged him with his Hellblade. She turned back in time to move out of the way of a fireball before looking up to see another Imp about to descend upon her.
Acting on instinct, Ruby unleashed her silver eyes. The Imp was enveloped in the Holy light, shrieking in agony as it felt its skin burn off before Ruby sliced its head in half. Turning to the Deag, the Hell Priest...
"EEEEHHHHHHH-!"
...shrieked as he recoiled, shielding his eyes with his free hand.
"THE SILVER LIGHT OF THE WRAITHS!" Nilox exclaimed. He gritted his teeth and pointed his scepter at Ruby, still covering his eyes, "AFTER HER! GOUGE HER EYES OUT! BRING ME HER WOMB! MAKE HER SUFFFFEEERRRRRRRR!"
The demons all leapt at the kneeling girl with intent to dogpile her, right before they were all blown away and reduced to bloody chunks courtesy of the Slayer's plasma rifle, quickly turning back to the Tyrant as it swung it's Hellbalde at him. The silver in his eyes were shimmering as he ducked underneath the Tyrant's swing and took off in a sprint toward the Slipgate, chainsaw drawn.
Looking like he just soiled himself from fear, Nilox pointed his scepter at Ruby as she charged him. "STOP HER! PROTECT ME-"
"RAAAARGGGHHHHH!"
Ruby swung Crescent Rose at the Hell Priest. Nilox quickly summoned a barrier between them. Ruby dug her heels into the ground to stop herself from being knocked back as Crescent Rose struck it.
DEAG NILOX
- DOOM ETERNAL OST, MICK GORDON
Ruby was screaming as she slashed at Nilox's shield, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO WILLIAM?!"
Nilox snarled, "What was necessary."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY MOTHER?!"
Nilox's feeble hands gripped his scepter as tightly as he could manage to weather Ruby's assault. "She defied the Khan Maykr! All know her!"
'Khan Maykr?' Ruby thought. Again, she shouted, "WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Ask Ozma's Whore-Queen!" Nilox exclaimed. "She will point you to her rotting, violated corpse!"
'Whore-Queen?' Alarm crossed Ruby's face, 'Ozma? Doesn't he mean-?'
Her face was twisted from despair.
"YOU'RE LYING!"
"TORESMA V CALNOS!"
Nilox summoned a concussive wave that sent Ruby flying straight at the Slayer. William lobbed another explosive shot at the Tyrant's face with his combat shotgun, winding it long enough for him to spin around in time to catch Ruby underarm and set her down on her feet. She immediately switched Crescent Rose into its rifle configuration, took aim at Nilox and fired, shattering his barrier and sending him flying right into the inert Slipgate.
"AH!"
The mechanical sound of the Tyrant turning itself was heard as it pointed its cannon at Ruby and fired. The blast hit her side and knocked her some distance away; landing on her knees as her Aura faded. The Slayer produced his minigun and attached the turret, opening all three barrels that proceeded to fire upon the Tyrant. Hot tungsten rounds bombarded the Tyrant's cannon, ripping through the steel and rupturing the mechanical parts inside. The cannon exploded, severing itself from the Tyrant's shoulder.
The Tyrant roared in pain, Hell Blade in hand extended as it turned back to the Slayer in time for his opponent to leap at him with his chainsaw. The Slayer slammed himself into the Tyrant's chest hard enough to knock it to the ground as he brought his chainsaw down between the beast's eyes. Blood and brain matter sprayed upward onto his visor, the Tyrant's head exploding from the sheer force of his pulling the chainsaw out.
Pained laughter soon followed as Nilox shakenly stood back up.
"Heh, it makes no difference," the Hell Priest chortled. "My soul is guarded. The Dark Lord himself-"
(END)
A blue-ish glow rose from the corpse of the Tyrant. It radiated a soothing warmth that felt familiar to the Slayer. Squinting through his helmet's visor, all he could see was a spinning blue celestial token inscribed with Sentinel runes slowly form from Wraith magic that had been hidden within the now dead Baalgar. Ruby's eyes widened in wonderment as the token flew towards the Slayer and he caught it in the palm of his hand.
Ruby could feel the warmth radiate from it, "Oh, it's warm."
William felt his breath hitch when he felt something familiar emanate from the holy token. He recognized the power as one that could only come from merging the energy of a Wraith with part of a person's soul. The power it possessed equaled power enough to dispel demonic magic, especially the kind that would allow Hell Priests to return from Hell if they were ever slain.
The only Argenta he knew that could forge such tokens would have been a High Priestess to the Elemental Wraiths. But the only one he knew was...
'...mom?'
Deag Nilox recognized the token and panicked, "Im-impossible! How could Aelia have-?" He was interrupted when the whole arena began to shake as it slowly started to withdraw back underground among the ruins.
The sensible thing for the Slayer to do would be to just go straight up to the Deag, flash the token in his face, dispel the protection Hell had granted him and rip his head off.
"Ruby? Go."
Ruby stood back up, breathing harshly as pain wracked her body, "No way."
Shaking with anger and frustration when he noticed the ground was about to close above them, trapping the two of them beneath the ruins with the Hell Priest, William shouted...
"I SAID-!"
"THEY'RE NOT TAKING YOU FROM ME AGAIN!" Ruby screamed, gripping Crescent Rose as she made a break to charge at Nilox again. "YAAAAA-AWKK!"
William grabbed her by the scruff of her uniform, choking her and causing her world to spin as he hurled her up and out of the arena where she landed outside on the plaza, knocking the wind right out of her. The Slayer spun to face the Hell Priest...
"BEGONE!"
...and the next thing he knew he too was high in the air just underneath Epsilon's dome.
"W-wha-?"
...and he was falling. With the compensators in his Praetor Suit damaged from the previous battles, there was no way they would be able to absorb the impact of a fall from this height once he hit the ground. Only the glyphs cast by Willow as she stretched out her hand toward him slowed his fall and softened his impact considerably as he landed right beside Ruby. He let out a pained grunt as he landed on his chest, blacking out for a split second. Once his vision cleared, he was greeted by Ruby's shaking, tear-stricken, apologetic face.
"W-William..." Ruby sobbed. "I-"
Ignoring her, William got up and ran back toward the edges of the plaza in time to see the Slipgate disappear beneath the ground as the steel barrier closed over it, sealing it and the Deag back in the ruin.
"..." William felt blood trickle down his chin, having bitten into tongue from rage. Rage from missing his shot at killing one of the Deags for the destruction of his world and the damnation of his people.
For betrayal of the highest order.
"RUBY! BJ!"
In spite of the alarms going off around him signaling the arrival of Hell's forces and Yang shouting over at him as she and the rest of the survivors rushed over toward them, the Slayer just stood there stewing in anger. He just ignored them until Yang, after making sure her sister was alright, walked right over to him.
"Yeah, I'd like to stand and brood too but we really need to get the Eff You See Kay outta here and link up with Ironwood!" Yang exclaimed.
"..."
"HEY!" Yang smacked him in the shoulder. "WAKE UP GODSDAMMIT, WE NEED YOU!"
Yeah, of course they do. The Slayer glared over his shoulder at Yang and bitterly commented, "Again?"
They always needed him.
Yang gasped, before she growled, "Damn right. Who was that vicious old fart?"
"Deag Nilox," William replied.
"'Deag'?" Weiss cried. "You mean like that demon Deag Grav?"
William shook his head, "Not demons. Argenta."
Alarmed, Blake asked, "Your people?"
"..." William shoved past them and walked toward Ruby. Yang ran over toward her.
"Hey, Ruby," Yang patted her on the shoulder, smiling. "Can you get up."
"...sis?"
"We really need to go now I..." she looked up to see William staring down at them. She glared, "Don't you start on her now, Blazko!"
Ruby groaned, "Wha-? Yang, what-?" She looked up to see William looking like she was...
"..."
Disappointed with her.
For rushing headfirst into peril. For endangering herself and her teammates. For not listening to him. For costing him the chance to kill one of the Hell Priests with a piece of his own mother's soul, William felt himself balling his left hand into a fist, tempted to slap Ruby across her face...
"T-that hurt..."
'...fuck.'
...instead he just turned to simply glare down at her in silent judgement.
"I told you to go," the Slayer said. "I said I'd be fine."
"William, I-"
"Quiet."
Ruby dipped her head and stared down at the ground, feeling tears well in her eyes. Though Yang didn't enjoy seeing her sister like this, and was more than tempted to punch William in the dick for talking down to her sister, she knew this was something she needed to hear.
"Do it again, I won't be around anymore. Believe me."
Ruby was almost reduced to sobbing at the thought of never seeing William again. But for her dignity's sake, she simply nodded, letting Yang lift her back up onto her feet.
++We need to exit Epsilon and regroup at the runway,++ VEGA said.
The Slayer shook his head and headed toward the nearest walkway back toward the science lab.
"HEY!" Yang exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulder. "I don't think you've noticed, we're about to be balls deep in Grimm here."
++Ms. Xiao Long is correct. The fighting here would have attracted the attention of the Grimm outside Atlas. Enough to possibly overwhelm this facility, and they will end up becoming corrupted by the demonic corruption.++
"..." William pulled away from Yang, seeing the rich folk being escorted toward the lobby and entryway, Team SSSN and the White Fang following after them while Weiss and Blake waited for them. "Outside. Now."
They followed suit, Ruby more or less carried between William and Yang as they caught up to them. Exiting the plaza, they saw the rest of the SDC security and civilian staff already there. Many of them sporting horrific wounds, courtesy of the hundreds of demons that had crossed dimensions during the brief time the Slipgate had been opened.
One of them being the security guard whose artery Ruby had sliced, with Dr. Catrice kneeling close by and making sure his makeshift bandage was tightened when she noticed the Huntress-in-training looking their way. The guard didn't pay any attention to her, himself pale from blood loss and shock, and Ruby felt a chill go through her when she realized what she had done to him.
Then she looked over at Jacques, and the fingers she had severed off him. The businessman noticed her looking his way, and nearly keeled over from fright right there and then.
When she realized what she was becoming.
"Ruby?" Yang noticed her fall to her knees.
Ruby swallowed, extending her hands and balling them into fists, bringing them up to her eyes as she quietly sobbed into them.
Blake rolled her eyes, "Seriously? We don't need this right now?"
"Quiet," Weiss whispered harshly to her.
"..." William knew what was coming.
"...sorry..." Ruby apologized quietly, whether to herself or to everyone around her they couldn't tell. "I...I'm so sorry, I-"
William knew it had been coming. He had been this way once, a long, long time ago.
Screaming was heard as the remaining security in the plaza opened fire. Ruby sighed, wiped her nose, grabbed Crescent Rose and turned toward the fray. The Slayer and rest of her team followed after her, along with Team SSSN and the White Fang.
Ruby looked scared for a second...
CALL MY NAME
- IN HARM'S WAY, "POSTHUMAN"
...when she saw the familiar figure punch his way through the guards present, blood and body parts flying all around, before she steeled herself.
Yang growled, "You..."
The Marauder slowly approached them, "...me."
Those present suddenly shivered at the sinister reverberation in the Marauder's voice.
"It...it talks!?" Neptune exclaimed.
The Marauder drew the seemingly ruined axe handle from his belt, turning his head toward the Slayer.
"Do you remember me, half-breed?" the Marauder asked. "Do you remember everything now?"
"..." William glared in response.
"You were never one of us," the Marauder intoned, activating his Argent battle-axe as he moved slowly to the group's left, akin to a predator stalking its prey. Everyone felt the heat of the hard-light blade, prompting them to ready their weapons. "Your father was a usurper. Your mother, a heretic. And you, a FALSE idol."
Ruby was alarmed to hear the Marauder mention the Slayer's parents, 'Heretic?'
"..." Slayer revved his chainsaw up.
Yang's eyes went red, "Hey, fuck you!"
"Half-breed?" Blake quietly parroted, staring between them in shock.
Sienna visibly shook in anger, "Whose blood is that on you?"
"The blood of animals,"the Marauder replied. "Unruly beasts put down."
To emphasize how little value he placed on Faunus lives, he reached behind himself and tossed a ball made of a dozen scalps right at the feet of the Slayer, blood splattering all over his boots. Coyle thought he recognized the hair color of a few of them - all of whom belonged to the brothers and sisters that were supposed to have escorted all those imprisoned Faunus home.
"..." William knew the people he had just rescued from SDC captivity were dead. Slaughtered like the animals his people had derided the Beastkin as being for thousands of years.
Teams RWBY, SSSN and the White Fang found themselves forming a protective wall. Is was them between the Marauder, and the wounded and innocent civilians trapped in the entryway.
"My eyes have been opened," the Marauder's eyes briefly flashed silver past the hellish red as he scrapped his axe against the ground. He glanced at Ruby, "Let me help you both to see." His tone suddenly became mocking, "Markaac."
'Markacc?' nearly everyone present thought, confused.
(1:22)
"FUCK YOU!" Coyle screamed as he raised his scattergun and fired.
The plasma pellets only managed to pass through the afterimage generated by Hell energy as the Marauder dodged, raising his - the Slayer's - super shotgun and firing with one hand, hitting Coyle in the face and chest; knocking him to the ground, his Aura close to shattering.
"SCATTER!" Sienna exclaimed. "ARGH!"
The Marauder ran into her and knocked her out of the way as he went straight for Coyle, who was getting back up. The lynx Faunus' eyes went wide with horror as the Marauder swung his Argent great-axe down, slicing his scatter-gun in half when he raised it in a vain attempt to block. He could only manage a croak as the axe embedded itself between his eyes. The Marauder's eyes flashed again, then with both hands he sliced the White Fang mook right in half and kicked the left half towards the Slayer, who got blood and viscera all over himself as he blasted through it with a charged burst from his combat shotgun. The Marauder generated a shield with his axe to absorb the Slayer's shots.
Sage appeared behind him and swung Pilgrim. The Marauder turned his super shotgun, aimed at the greatsword and pulled the trigger, throwing Sage off-balance enough...
"SAGE!"
...for the Marauder to swing his axe and sever the young Huntsman's left leg off amidst Sun's frantic screams; and swinging his right fist into Scarlet's face, which sent him spiraling into the air and landing on his head, knocking him out of the fight. The Slayer switched to his plasma rifle and prepared to fire, only for the monkey Faunus to get in his line of sight as he swung his nunchaku, hitting everything and blasting chunks out of the Marauder's armor to keep him from deploying his shield. The corrupted Sentinel stuck his foot out and tripped Sun up, putting an end to his onslaught. With both hands on his axe, he almost brought it down on Sun, only to catch an explosive Fire Dust infused sniper round to the chest courtesy of Ruby as she looked through the scope of Crescent Rose's sniper configuration.
The Marauder roared and swung his axe, unleashing a wave of cutting Hell energy that caught Ruby off guard. She quickly rolled to the side to avoid it, but not quickly enough. Ruby screamed when she felt the wave cut across her cheek, leaving a burning wound that was going to leave a scar on her face. The Marauder turned to parry the Slayer's chainsaw with his axe, hard light against rotating steel; he fired a double-barreled shotgun blast to the Slayer's torso that the Praetor suit barley managed to absorb, knocking him back and causing him to catch the axe with his right arm, the force of the impact knocking the Slayer to the ground.
"EVERYONE, STAY BACK!"
Weiss summoned a Hell Knight with her glyphs, one that was made of Fire Dust. It charged the Marauder and swept him up in a bear hug before it detonated itself, everyone recoiling from the massive amount of force and heat.
Willow's eyes were like saucers. Her daughter can summon demons?
Jacques thought he was going to void his bowels, he was suddenly even more terrified of his daughter. And Whitley just remained quiet, once again reminded how much he felt overshadowed by his own sisters.
Weiss looked smug that she had managed to...
"SLAYER'S WHORE!"
...the Marauder, now on fire, charged out of the explosion straight towards the heiress. Before Weiss could react, she was struck by a burning uppercut to the chest. She wailed in agony as she flew back and hit the pavement, landing on her right arm and shattering it.
"FUCKER!" Yang screamed and rocketed herself at him, throwing a right hook that he caught, gripping her wrist, feeling Ember Celica's roar graze the side of his head. He kneed her right in the groin, causing her to gasp out in muted pain, eyes bulging before the Marauder's next strike hit her rips, knocking her down and leaving gasping and rolling on the ground, tears in her eyes.
"YANG!" Blake cried. The Marauder reloaded his super shotgun and fired at the cat Faunus, only managing to hit the shadow clone she had substituted herself with as she appeared behind him and brought Gambol Shroud's blade onto his head. Before the attack could connect, the Marauder turned and glared at her, catching the blade with his bare hand. Twisting his fingers, he tossed her some feet away. As Blake picked herself up and turned to face him...
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
...Blake's scream were almost deafening when the Marauder summoned a snarling astral wolf with a wave of his axe, Blake reacting as she would toward any predator as the wolf bared its fangs and went for he throat. Blake was crying in fear and struggled as she gripped the wolf's jaws to keep it from tearing her trachea out.
"H-HELP! HELP ME!"
The wolf let out a yelp when the Slayer kicked the wolf off her and shotgun blasted it back to the astral plane it was summoned from, forming an impromptu barrier between the Blake and the Marauder.
"..." Blake swallowed, seeing that Slayer once again stood between her and something that wanted to hurt. This time, however, he came to her instead of her clinging to him.
The Marauder raised his axe and readied to rush the Slayer...
KWAP!
...and was suddenly struck in the back of head, voltage coursing through his skull as he turned around to glare at Ilia and the way she looked as angry as she could to mask her own terror. She found herself ducking and swerving to avoid his Argent axe, turning her whip into a sword and thrusting it forward, skimming past the corrupted Argenta's right eyes and leaving herself opening to getting struck in the side with the axe that shattered her Aura and sent her flying.
"GARRGHHHHH!" she found herself writhing on the ground, a burning wound in her stomach.
The Slayer moved to engage...
"COMIN' THROUGH!
...but Neptune rushed past him, the Marauder using his axe to defend against Neptune's trident thrusts. The corrupt Sentinel brought up his shield to deflect Sun's attack when the monkey Faunus tried to catch him from behind; he proceeded to counter with the pommel of his axe between Sun's eyes.
Sun shook his head and shouted, "What's your problem with Faunus, pal?!"
"You are feral spawn of the Ancestrals, freak," the Marauder replied, hate lacing each word. "You murdered, raped, and blasphemed against the Argenta for generations until we discovered steel and took the hammer to you abominations, right back to the pits you crawled out of!"
The sheer volume of hate and vitriol toward Faunuskind seemed enough to make Blake, Sun, Ilia and Sienna's hearts stop for a second. Were the Faunus truly reviled not just on Remnant, but throughout the universe?
Sun staggered backward, caught off guard by the Marauder's declaration. Remembering that Sage laid some feet away with his leg cut off, Sun snarled and tried to summon several of his light clones. The Marauder rushed towards him in the blink of an eye and threw an uppercut to his stomach, knocking the wind and spit out of him before receiving several blows to the face and chest in rapid succession. The last of these strikes knocked him to the ground with a broken rib.
Neptune gulped when the Marauder turned back to him, and was promptly knocked to the side, the Slayer catching the business end of Marauder's axe to the shoulder. William hissed when he felt the axe touch his shoulder, grabbing the shaft and holding it tightly, immobilizing the Marauder to giving Sienna time to hurl several Dust blades from her chain whip infused with Fire Dust that hit the Marauder in the back of the neck and torso. The explosion sent the two of them flying opposite each other.
William forced the axe-head out of his shoulder, wincing as he noticed steam rise from the breach in the armor the Argent weapon left. He saw the Marauder get up and point his super shotgun at him. Gripping the axe he charged forward, wincing when he felt buckshot hit him the right breast and shoulder as he swung, slicing the barrel and the handle. The Marauder dropped the mains of the super shotgun and thew a punch that cracked the Slayer's visor before bringing a knife blow down on his wrist hard enough to knock the axe out his hand.
Both the Slayer and Marauder rained several deathly punches on one another, where another blow from the Marauder sent William's helmet flying and knocked him down. Quickly grabbing his helmet, he hurled it right back at the Marauder's face before getting up, charging and tackling the corrupted Sentinel, slamming him into a wall. The Slayer grit his teeth when he felt the Marauder bring his elbow down on his back repeatedly.
"GRAAHHHH!" the Marauder griped both of his shoulder and shoved him off, following up with a headbutt that burst a blood vessel in William's forehead. Blood ran down the Slayer's forehead and before he could guard, the Marauder threw another punch that knocked the Slayer down. Bending down to pick up his axe and stormed over to the Slayer and pinned him to the ground with axe.
Ruby thought her teeth were going the crack the way she was gritting them as she struggled to stand back up. "William!" she cried. "Get up!"
"Does it frustrate you, Markacc? To have people depend on you once again?" the Marauder asked. "Are you afraid you will fail them? Again?"
"..." strugging, William levelled a death glare up at the Marauder.
The Slayer had never liked being given the name of the 23rd Praetor of the Night Sentinels.
"GET UP, PLEASE!"
"Like you failed Keel?!"
The Marauder raised his axe, Ruby's panicked screams ringing out...
"WILLIAM!"
...and felt Sienna's whip wrap itself around his wrist and thrown off when she pulled. Snarling, she yanked as hard as she could and pulled the Marauder off of the Slayer.
William leapt back up onto his feet and charged, swerving his head to avoid the Argent axe before launching a left hook that hit him in the mouthpiece, knocking it right off and revealing it his near skeletal face. The Marauder snarled...
'Keel.'
...and caught the Slayer's right fist. From the corner of his eyes, William caught Weiss reaching for her rapier with her still functioning left arm as she shakenly got back up. The Marauder proceeded to headbutt the Slayer's own head, the wet sound of skull fracturing followed before the Slayer lunged forward and wrapped his right arm around the Marauder's neck as he got behind him. He grabbed him by the left wrist, grunting with exertion as the Marauder fought to break free from the Slayer's grip.
"WEISS!"
Weiss raised Myrtenaster, switching the setting to Ice Dust, and summoned a glyph that appeared before the Slayer and the Marauder. William gritted his teeth, his hold on the Marauder tightened as Weiss brought forth a massive ice spike from the glyph, piercing the Marauder through his exposed abdominals and out his back, hitting the Slayer's armor plating. The Slayer let go of the Marauder in time to be sent flying some distance away, leaving the corrupted Argenta with a weaponized icicle that had lifted him midair and held him there, impaled and unable to do anything except cough out blood as he approached death.
Yang wiped her mouth. "Got you now, you bastard," she grounded out painfully as she stood back up on shaking legs. She panicked when she saw William on the ground, unmoving. "BJ?!"
The Slayer raised an arm, indicating that he was alive. He sat up, and looked at where the spike had struck him. The force had been hard enough to crack the abdominal plating of his Praetor Suit before looking at damage to his shoulder plating. Standing back up, he knocked a fist against his cracked visor.
"..." yeah, he was going to have get this suit replaced at some point. No amount of armor shards lying around was going to mend Hell-forged plate forever.
Or was it Hell-forged plate? The Wretch, the one who gave him the armor, came to mind. He couldn't remember if the Wretch had been a demon or...
Had it been Legate-Commander Valen? Valen, who-William sucked in a breath as his pupil's diluted when he recalled his and his father's own instructor - the one responsible for the fall of Argent D'Nur...
"SLAYER!"
The Marauder's bellowing regained his attention. Putting his helmet back on, he stepped over to where he was impaled in midair, picking up his Argent axe as he circled around the ice spike.
"This…this is not the end, king!" the Marauder exclaimed. "There is an army of us! An ARMY…with the same gift you were-"
SPLATCH!
(END)
The Marauder's head exploded from both the heat of the axe and the force of which the Slayer brought it down on his head. Deactivating the axe, William stared at it intensely before breaking it over his knee and tossing the pieces aside.
Yang groaned and nearly fell over, only to be caught by the Slayer. She gasped lightly and stared up at the visor, to see the rage that was still in his eyes.
"...who's Keel?" Yang asked.
"...." William didn't answer, nearly letting go of her which elicited a cry of panic from her. "Hey!"
"I-I'll live," Yang groaned out loud, wincing as she rubbed her groin. "Bet this doesn't feel any different for men, huh?"
"..." He wouldn't know. He turned over toward the Atlesian high rollers still pressed against the doors leading out of the entryway toward the airstrips outside.
Jacques shakily raised his scroll, "This is Schnee. I order you to open."
"I'm sorry, sir. We can't risk anything getting out-"
"It's clear for the moment!" Jacques shouted. "The Doom Slayer saw to that. Now let us out!"
"Stand by...Ironwood just lifted the lockdown. Stand back, opening the shutters now."
The security lockdown lifted and the shutters peeled back to reveal the snowy tundra outside. The Atlas folk once again pushed and shoved amongst one another...
"HEY! SINGLE FILE!"
until an Atlesian officer shouted at them to settle down. That and the several hundred guns pointed their way.
"HEY, LITTLE HELP HERE?!"
Hearing Neptune's desperate voice, the Slayer looked over to see Sage crying out in pain; Sun and Neptune trying to hold him still as Scarlet slowly picked himself up, moaning lightly from the pain. William walked over them, reaching for Scarlet's waist...
"Hey, wha-?!"
...tearing his belt off and tying it around Sage's stump, tightly enough to stop the bleeding.
"It'll do for now," William said. "His leg still around?"
Scarlet paled when he saw Sage's severed leg, "Y-yes?"
"Go get it."
"I...I think I have a concussion, I-" Scarlet began, only for the Slayer to glare him into silence, and he obeyed with some hesitation. The Slayer looked over at the two remaining White Fang to see them staring down at the shattered body of Coyle.
b"..." solemn, Sienna said, "Ilia?"
Ilia removed her mask, eyes closed as she bowed her head, "Brother Coyle died for the future of all Faunus." She opened her eye when she saw Blake approach them. She shot her a contemptible glare before turning her back, crossing her arms.
"Belladonna," Sienna greeted her, with not nearly as much contempt but she clearly wasn't happy to see her.
"High Leader," Blake replied.
"You understand the penalty of leaving the White Fang?"
"I do," Blake replied defiantly. "I remember that rule belonged to the White Fang I believed I was a part of, not what Adam turned it into."
Ilia gasped lightly; her face literally red with anger as she faced Ilia...
"YOU-!"
...and noticed the Slayer standing nearby looking their way, and she could make out his glare through his broken visor. She stammered with fear for a second before she spat out at Blake, "So what, you're on the humans' side now?"
"Enough!" Sienna exclaimed. "We'll settle the rest of this later."
"But Coyle?"
"His corpse is of no use."
Ilia bowed her head, defeated. "...yes, High Leader."
Blake returned to the rest of her team, the tree of them staring at her as if they were unable to feel about how she had just let loose against her former comrades. Catrice gave her a sympathetic look before stepping outside, following behind the security guard whose artery Ruby had slashed, but she had managed to staunch the bleeding.
"Um...Blake?" Ruby began. "Anything you want to talk about?"
Blake shook her head glumly. "No."
Ruby noticed Weiss cluthching her broken arm, "Weiss..."
"I'll live," Weiss frowned. "First, there's something else I need to say." She rounded on William, glaring up at him. "About things that have been kept from us."
The Slayer sighed, "Can't it wait?"
"Weiss?"
The heiress turned toward her mother and her brother, the two of them standing outside the door while everyone else was shuffling past them out of the Epsilon.
"I'll be right behind you, mother," Weiss called back. "Whitley?"
"..." the boy was quiet, before grabbing his mother's sleeve and walking her still slightly inebriated self out.
Weiss watched them leave, before she glowered over her shoulder at the Slayer and walked over toward him, "Blazkowicz."
"..." the Slayer blinked. Referring to him by his last name, she must be mad at him again.
"Did that monster know you?!" Weiss cried, angry and upset that this had been kept from her.
"..." guess he had been at one point. Plenty of his men had turned on him.
Blake, however, was just angry, "You kept that from us?"
"..." William blinked. "I forgot."
That was the truth. Millenia spent in Hell, memories faded with the passage of time, only holdings onto the ones that mattered – his parents, his brother, his home, Perenna, and his undying hatred of Hell.
Hell, and not the Maykrs. He had forgotten about them too.
Everyone looked at him, bewildered. Yang scowled, "What do you mean you for-?"
++Warning: Grimm activity detected approaching Epsilon.++
Everybody, sans the Slayer, felt their blood run cold.
"H-how many?" Neptune asked.
++Substantial.++
"Yeah, no shit!" Yang exclaimed. "Surprised this place wasn't up to the ass in Grimm a long time ago, with all the hideous shit that's been going on."
++Atleisan reinforcements are touching down outside, including Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood. We should go to meet them and prepare to defend our position,++ VEGA interjected. ++High Leader Khan?++
"..." Sienna didn't respond right away. She turned to Ilia, the chameleon nodding as well. "Yes."
++Blazkowicz?++
"..." William looked back to the plaza and the buildings beyond it, including Epsilon Authority at the top of the mountain just underneath the dome - where Merlot would be hunkered down. And the Argenta ruins underneath their feet, where Deag Nilox was trapped.
f++The Hell Priest is trapped. For the time being he has no means of escape from this world. And Dr. Merlot appears to be content to remain in Epsilon Authority to observe events as they unfold.++
The Slayer stiffened when he felt Yang pat him on the arm, "Yeah, I think we're going to need your big guns for the time being." She frowned, "We can't stop those two assholes if we're balls deep in Grimm."
"...grr..." the Slayer growled lightly. He glimpsed toward the entry leading out of Epsilon and the Atlas forces waiting outside. "Let's go."
"Right...AH!"
Yang's leg muscled seized and she almost tripped over, were it not for William grabbing her by the shoulder.
William frowned, VEGA voiced his voice, ++Would you prefer if Blazkowicz carried you?++
Yang smirked, "Would you?" William didn't lose his frown. Yang lost her smile, however, "Nah, I'm good."
She pulled away from the Slayer, Ruby immediately rushing over to her, saying, "Don't strain yourself. You got punched in the v-"
"It was nowhere near my-uhhh..." came Yang's hushed response as she leaned on her sister as they, along with everyone else, stepped out of the area and made their way to the exit. Neptune and Scarlet had their arms around Sage's shoulders as they walked him out, leaving Sun to limp toward the Slayer, nursing a broken rib as he remained at the rear in case more demons showed. But so far...
++No demonic presence detected within the plaza. They appear to be keeping to the other buildings underneath the dome.++
"Restricted labs, an' how the White Fang came in?"
++I have already alerted General Ironwood on the location of the SDC hidden rail track.++
"..."
(Outside...)
The Atlas Air Fleet controlled the skies above Epsilon, their guns pointed down at the hard-light dome. The Titan Base detachment were already busy fortifying their position in preparation for the approaching Grimm hordes, among them Marrow.
"YAH!" the dog Faunus exclaim in panic when William passed by him. "You...you hit me!"
"Who's this guy?" Yang jabbed her thumb in his direction.
++You attempted to freeze us, preventing us from returning to Epsilon,++ VEGA replied.
"I don't understand. How come my Semblance didn't affect you?" Marrow asked, bewildered.
++It does not affect anyone with an Aura, perhaps?++
William noticed another civilian plane touching down on the runway.
"But the Grimm doesn't have Aura and they don't go anywhere when I use it on them," Marrow argued. "I...this is-?"
"Relax," Yang patted him on the head. "BJ has that effect on everyone."
"Yang," Blake scolded, the way Yang patting the dog Faunus on the head not compatible with her sensibilities, especially the way Marrow whined pitifully like a, well, dog seeking comfort. Blake noticed something off with Marrow, namely the dried blood on the seat of his pants. "You're-"
"Tail was cut off? Yeah," Marrow sighed. "Guess they thought I'd panic and chew it off."
Sun glared over his shoulder at Jacques, and the way he was shouting at the medics to treat him first before Sage, "Yeah. Fucking corpos. We oughtta-" William clapping him across the shoulder drew his angered attention, where he then pointed out into the distance and the approaching Grimm that numbered most likely in the hundreds. "Oh, that is a lot."
"BLAZKOWICZ!"
All eyes turned to see General Ironwood and Winter approaching them, the former looking angry, specifically toward the Slayer.
Winter looked shocked at her sister, "WEISS?!"
"Winter!" Weiss cried, happily.
Winter ran toward her, and paled at the disheveled sight of her...
"Your arm!" Winter cried.
Weiss nodded, "Yes, I...I think it's broken."
++General Ironwood.++
"You murdered Atlas security personnel!" Ironwood exclaimed. He turned to Sienna and Ilia, the two of them gripping their weapons tightly as Atlesian soldiers surrounded them, rifles up and primed. "And you...are allied with the White Fang, This is something I can't let you walk away from."
"..." William noticed everyone was backing away from both the Slayer and the General.
++The SDC security in the Restricted Labs were complacent with human and Faunus experimentation involving Hell artifacts,++ VEGA clarified. ++They fired on Blazkwicz and Team SSSN from Haven Academy first. They were defending themselves.++
"It's...it's true."
Cordovin, still pale and shaking from watching the footage of Faunus experimentation, approached them.
Winter looked alarmed to see the veteran Special Operative like this, "Specialist Cordovin?"
The elderly woman shivered and pointed at the Slayer, as if indicating VEGA, "The AI has evidence that could...be a scandal the likes of which our kingdom would never recover from."
"..."
"Ruby?! Yang?!"
"...dad?"
Both sisters looked like happiness incarnate as they saw past Ironwood and the Atlas forces to see...
"DAD!"
...both their father Taiyang and uncle Qrow, along with Professor Ozpin. Both girls ran from William's side toward them, leaving him alone before the Atlesian officers.
"In light of the current circumstances, it would be folly to attempt to take you into custody to answer for your crimes," Ironwood stated. "And right now, we need every weapon in hand if we are to keep this site secured."
"My thoughts exactly, general," Sienna said, she and Ilia joining in on the exchange. "Too many lives have been destroyed here, Faunus and human." She turned to Ozpin when he too approached them, "You are Professor Ozpin?"
"High Leader Sienna Khan," Ozpin nodded. "It is a surprise to see you out here."
Sienna glanced at Blake, and the way she winced when she said, "Yet another unpleasant one."
"..."
Ozpin noticed William looking toward where Taiyang had Ruby and Yang in a bone-crushing hug. "Doubtless, you're angry about what you've witnessed and experienced these past few hours." He followed the Slayer's gaze toward the family, the four of them overjoyed to be together again. He smiled, "You don't need me to tell you did a good thing reuniting them."
"..." seemingly ignoring Ozpin, William walked over toward the Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen quartet.
Taiyang finally, and reluctantly, released his daughter, "Thanks gods you're...you're..." Taiyang gasped, panicking when he saw the cauterized cut on Ruby's cheek. "Ruby, your face!"
"It...it's nothing," Ruby said, trying to sound reassuring as she can as she gently removed Taiyang's hand from her face. She smiled, "We're still alive-"
"Thanks to BJ," Yang interjected. "If weren't for him?
Taiyang felt his left eye twich, "'BJ?'"
"Eww...Yang!" Ruby cried, disgusted. Flashing a reassuring smile, she added, "His name is William."
"...ah, right." Taiyang looked past his daughter's head to see William approaching them. He didn't miss how Ruby lit up even more at seeing him come their way.
Him, and the arsenal he was somehow lugging around. He smiled as civilly as he can manage, gently pushing his daughter between himself as William got closer.
++Taiyang Xiao Long,++ VEGA greeted him. ++Apologies for the circumstances surrounding our first meeting.++
Taiyang blinked, "...uhh..."
"Ah, that's VEGA," Ruby pointed out.
William took his helmet off, a gesture that seemed to indicate to Taiyang that he was a human being.
Still smiling, Taiyang greeted him, "William J. Blazkowicz, right?"
"..."
"Right. First thing's first..."
The Slayer's expression didn't change when he suddenly raised his hand to catch Taiyang's fist, the man having the briefest of his surprises on his before William countered with a right hook to the jaw...
"DAD!"
...that broke his Aura and knocked him into the snow, face first. Taiyang rolled back over, sporting a split lip.
"...fuck," William muttered.
"Holy shit!" Yang exclaimed. "BJ! Dad!"
"Ow..." Taiyang grumbled, rubbing his jaw. "That's smarts..."
"Why'd you do that?!" Ruby cried. She turned to Taiyang, "Dad?!"
Taiyang scowled, "I just nearly had my head punched off and you're angry with me?"
"..." William blinked. Ruby wasn't angry at him for striking her father. Turning his head to Yang, even she wasn't angry he struck him, rather just upset the two of them were coming to blows the second they first meet each other.
Instead of looking outraged over the whole spectacle, Qrow looked bemused. "You know, Blazkowicz, for putting a man's kids in danger, the polite thing to do would have been to just take the punch."
Yang scowled, "Excuse us?"
"Why?" Ruby cried. "William didn't do anything wrong."
"..."
"Ok, this isn't how I imagined all this playing out," Taiyang muttered to himself. He spat blood and glared up at the Slayer, "You put my daughters through Hell."
William blinked. "An' who let them?"
Taiyang's pupils shrank, "...what?"
Doing a double take between the two men, Ruby said, "Wait, what?"
Ozpin and Ironwood shot a disapproving look at Qrow. He sighed and stepped forward.
"Hey Tai, far be from me to interrupt your girls introducing you to a guy, but can you all kill each other later?" Qrow asked coyly, Harbinger in hand and in its war scythe configuration.
"..." William glimpsed at the uncle, before offering his hand to the father.
Taiyang grinned painfully and accepted it, the Slayer pulling him up onto his feet. They turned toward the empty tundra and the hundreds of Grimm that were coming down on them fast. The eight of them - The Slayer, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Taiyang, Qrow, Winter and Ironwood – and the Atlesian Air Fleet and Army at their backs. With her injured arm, Weiss was quickly escorted away by medics.
For the Slayer, at that moment it was like he was truly home. Raising his Heavy Assault Rifle, he took aim through the scope and fired, blasting the head of an Ursa and the legs of two Beowolves, then suddenly the rifle jammed as the breech caught an expended FMJ.
William blinked. This was the first time this had ever happened.
Then didn't go unnoticed by Qrow. He cringed as he thought, '...ohhhhhh...shit..'
Jinxed again.
(RWBY)
(Lab 101)
"I...I think they've forgotten about us."
Keys panicked when he realized that no one was coming back for him and Carmine. Red alerts were detected throughout Epsilon, and on the security feeds they had seen demons breaching through into the material world when the Slipgate had been activated. Now that it's been shut off, they had begun slaughtering every living thing they could find and piling the corpses up create their Gore Nests and summoning more of their kind to Remnant.
Soon enough, the entire complex will overrun. And the doors sealing them in Lab 101 would only be able to take so much punishment.
"Keys, stay calm!" the eldest scientist urged him. "We can hold out here until reinforcements reclaim the facility."
Keys angrily shot back, "But they'll find out we've done-!"
Carmine frowned, "Would you prefer live in prison or an eternity in Hell?" He shook his head and typed away at his console, "Besides, I'm not worried about them breaching the door leading into the lab, I'm more concerned about the power outages the demons are causing through their summoning. If one of them happens here then-!"
The safeguards keeping 'Mr. 101' in the pod would be disabled, and it would enough for him to wake up and claw his way out.
"..."
The power in Lab 101 suddenly went out, bathing the chamber in red.
"...no..." Key croaked.
He quickly drew his handgun and pointed it at the pod as they heard the magnetic locks forcibly retract, the harsh breathing within growing even louder as frenzied rattling could be heard as whatever was within was trying to force open the door.
Which it did, with a burst of Hell energy that melted a hole through it.
"No, no..." Keys cried as he shook his head. He put his gun under his chin. "I'm not gonna let it do things to me!"
BLAM!
Carmine didn't even to stop Keys from killing himself, knowing that it was a merciful compared to what would have happened if the monster had gotten its hands on him. Key's body slumped backward over the console before dropping to the floor. Fear temporary gripping him, Carmine made a mad dash for the door and went for the door controls, and grabbed his wrist with his free hand to prevent himself from doing so.
This thing must not be allowed to escape Epsilon...
"Heh...heh...heh...heh..."
The pod was forced open, revealing enshrouding darkness within. The thing put its left mechanical, hooved foot out, followed by its right, and revealed his pale, humanlike flesh and naked, muscled yet lean body that would belong to a male in his late adolescence to early adulthood. There were cybernetic hands replacing claws at the end of his arms, and his head was encased in a mechanical, cubic SDC containment hem with the company logo imprinted on the side, and three eyes red, glowing eye slits.
Carmine couldn't stop himself from staring at the area around the creature's groin– all replaced by steel plating to prevent him from regenerating his genitalia following his forced castration after the incident. Shortly after it had been summoned, it managed to sleaze its way out of containment, grabbing Dr. Myra Teal and security guard Alexander Tyger and...
"COCKSUCKERRRRRRRR!"
...his life promptly ended when the creature put his fist through his head as it shrieked obscenities, shattering it into pieces and splattering grey matter all over the place. Raising its hand, it slowly watched as the blood dripped from its fingers, watching the drops fall to the ground. Feeling around it's helmet, he dug his fingers into the mouth piece, tearing it right off and revealing its pale, humanoid nose, mouth and rows of human-like, teeth. Breathing harshly it went straight for the door, before it stopped and turned back to the body of the human he had just brutally murdered.
He felt his groin, mouth agape when he realized they really had castrated him.
"...uuckkk...fuck...fuck...fuucccckkkkk..."
As punishment for when it had broken free and...
He gritted his teeth, reached into Carmine's pocket and pulled out what looked like a pill bottle.
"..."
Popping the cap off he poured the content into its palm. It then closed his fist over them, hard enough that the pills were reduced to powder. He then proceeded to snort it; the powder mixed with Carmine's blood. Gritting his teeth, his face slowly relaxed into a smile as he became high over prescription medicine laced with the blood of his enemy.
"Heh..."
Sucking in a breath, he suddenly bellowed out loud as it kicked the door out of the lab right off its hinges as if announcing to the world...
"MAAAAAARVVVVVVVVVVV TAAAAAAAAAAAAALGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
A/N: Just introduced a new villain, one that I thought up years ago.
Yeah, the Slayer socking Taiyang in the face, that's was just my stab at that trope where the hero just stands there and takes whatever abuse the jaded family members of the people they've endangered, willing or not, dish out at them. Not the Slayer, though.
More chopping, cutting and pasting this chapter. And just in time before the month finishes.
Next chapter of my Hexen/Kuroini Crossover Black Dog Chronicles: Hexen is out. I could use some feedback if you're able. :-)
Shoutout and special thanks to ssjSega for his beta working on previous chapters.
Yeah, this chapter is v3 now (thanks again to ssjSega for proofreading). I went back and removed a certain spoiler. I agree, it was just too soon to reveal it.