[Rooftops of Vale's dorm building overlooking the CCT courtyard, 6:45 pm]
"So… It appears two more individuals from Earth Omega have appeared." Said a crimson stranger who was communicating with someone at the time.
I noticed, however their date of death is not near. Do not engage. Got it dear? The other replied.
"Yes dear. I won't. However the same can't be said for those of that terrorist group. What was it called again? The White Fang?" He asked.
Go ahead. You need to shake that rust off anyway old man She replied.
"Hey I'm only in my forties." He retorted with a chuckle.
And your children need their dad. Don't do anything reckless She cautioned.
"Sweetie, that's my entire thing, is recklessness." He retorted.
Crimson wings unfurled from his back and flew towards Vale.
Justin/Achilles' POV
"You really need to learn how to control your powers. We don't want Ozpin to find out anytime soon." I deadpanned.
"Sorry, it's hard to control my emotions. Especially after seeing what is left of Cinder's memories…" Jocelyn replied.
I gripped her shoulders "Look, I know the memories are painful. But you have to keep ignoring them."
"What's up fuckers?" Aaron said from the other end of the training hall. He was joined by my other friend Keoth. Who you may remember is now a fox faunus.
"Hey." Keoth said.
"Oh hey you two. Perfect timing." I said with a smile.
"So this was the only place we could all talk in private?" Aaron asked.
I nodded "Team RWBY went back to our dorm right after class. Not sure about Blake though, I was called to Oz's office pretty much as soon as my fight with Cardin ended." I answered with a shrug. "Dunno why he was pale as a sheet though."
"So… about those two…" Keoth pointed out.
"Oh and there's that." I turned to Aaron. "Why did you attack them? You normally never just attack out of nowhere like that."
"I was testing them. You know for a fact if I had actually tried he would be knocked out right? Real MMA fighters are trained like that." He replied.
I sighed "I understand man, but at the same time, ya should have done better than that."
"So are we training for the VYTAL festival?" Keoth asked to change the subject.
I gave him a nod. "Fuck yeah we are."
"We may even unlock your semblance before it starts." Aaron pointed out.
I sighed and let go of Jocelyn "I've been trying on my own. No amount of meditation, or really any advice helped much. It's as if my semblance doesn't want to come out."
Aaron nodded "Well maybe it just takes the right push. I unlocked mine after Cinder basically said: fly bitch."
"I unlocked mine after getting my ass handed to me by Neon." Keoth said.
"That must have been humiliating." I commented.
"It was." Keoth spat.
"And you remember how I unlocked mine." Jocelyn said as she wrapped her arms around my left arm.
"Yes dear, you and I were sparing when I suddenly lost a bit of aura. Which followed up by healing my wound from a tree branch with your right hand. Even though 'twas a minor scratch."
She smiled "Aww… you remember."
"Of course dear. Now let's get to training." I replied. I wanted to make an Oblivion poop reference with the whole 'these double D's' thing. But for the sake of being able to sleep without back pain, I decided against it.
Besides that, if I want to keep up with those two, I need to doubletime it.
Louis' POV
I felt the gentle night breeze rustling against the tree branches nearby as I lifted the glass against my lips.
Then… something rattled the railing and landed nimbly and quietly on the balcony.
I smiled.
"You showed up."
"Don't read into it."
"Read into what?" I craned my head back to see an upside down version of Blake strutting slowly towards me.
And no Sun in sight.
"Huh. You're less paranoid than I gave you credit for."
"If Achilles trusts you… Then I thought… I should too." She scraped the chair back and cautiously took a seat. "Though depending on how tonight goes, that might change."
"Yeah yeah," I waved off. "Eat up."
She eyed it, tracing it and flicking her eyes between me and her fish and chips to try and see if there is any shift in emotion.
"Not poisoned, not drugged, not anything'd-"
She swiped a knife off of the table and nibbled on it before swallowing while making a low purring noise in her throat.
"Hm." I smiled. Brings back old memories.
Her eyes narrowed into baleful slits.
"What's that look on your face for?"
"Nothing." I said as the waitress came back with more seafood. "Get me one dead eye."
Her eyes widened.
"Sir, we are not responsible for any-"
"High blood pressure, headaches, stomachaches, muscle spasms or strokes that I experience afterward yeah yeah." I finished, causing her mouth to open and close like a fish. "Caffeine overdoses can also lead to death. Heard it all before."
"Got that warning one too many times." I explained for Blake, who just raised a brow.
"What was that all about?" She stared at the frightened waitress scurrying away before snapping back to me. "A… dead eye?"
I lifted three fingers. "Three shots of espresso, mixed along with condensed dripped coffee packing one powerful punch. Enough juice to set your heart alight till tomorrow."
"It's basically coffee mixed in with more powerful coffee."
"That…" She blanched. "Sounds hard to digest."
"Whatever keeps me awake." I smirked as the waitress came back and pushed the saucer with the tips of her fingers in my direction like it was full of acid. "Thanks."
"Y-you're welcome sir." She hurried away as if I was a ticking time bomb.
"So," She took a dainty sip of her tea, before closing her eyes to enjoy the flavor. "Just who are you?"
"You can call me Noir." I put the cup down. "And friend's called Tempest."
She gave a nod "I see." She then tilted her head "So... did you two come from the same town as Achilles?"
I shook my head "No, I'm from a village on the outskirts of Vacuo."
"And I'm guessing it burnt to the ground never to be heard from again." She guessed as if she heard it thousands of times.
I shrugged "Not exactly, just don't remember the name is all."
"I see." She took another dainty sip of her tea. "Achilles seems to know you. That's why I asked."
"Oh?" I quirked a brow. "And what's his story?"
"You'd be better off asking him yourself."
Hm… My eyes narrowed slightly. Interesting...
Soon the waitress brought me a glass of water.
I raised my brow when she didn't serve it.
"H-here you are sir." She said carefully.
"Thanks." I quipped. After she left I took a swig.
Blake looked at me with a funny expression.
I shrugged "Well, the other stuff doesn't have as much of a kick to it."
"So you can't have regular coffee?" She asked.
"Nope." I twisted my wrist so that the contents would swirl and mix along.
Then I notice her nose scrunch up.
"Wanna try?"
Her ears stood up.
And not in a good way.
"I would rather try Ruby's mix."
"Isn't that full of milk and sugar?"
"It's better than what you're having." She sighed and shook her head. "Still wondering how you can drink all that in one go."
"Practice… or… " I lapped up the remaining residue. "Habit. I guess."
"Not a good one."
"Neither is the smut you read when everybody's asleep with your night vision."
All the tension broke as her cheeks were set aflame.
"Achilles that traitor!"
"Sure." I chuckled silently as she spouted all the horrible things she was going to do to him once she got back. "Why not."
Just then something caught her eye.
We interrupt this program to bring you this breaking news. A warehouse in the south-eastern area of Vale appears to be under attack. Eye-witnesses claim to see brief flashes of red light every once and a while.
Blake's eyes widened with fear. "Oh no…"
I gently put my glass down. "What is it?"
She turned to me, then looked around to make sure no one else was in earshot.
Blake then leaned in and whispered "That's where the White Fang is located. Whoever's there must have a deathwish. I need to get them out."
"The White Fang or whatever is in there?"
She didn't answer and instead, shot up to her feet to take her leave.
But not before glancing over her shoulder.
"I'll make it up to you some other time." She promised as she leapt on the railing. "Thanks for the meal."
Blake's POV
I approached the warehouse and all seemed quiet.
Darkness painted the window sills, and no flickering red lights like when it was reported in the news.
In case someone was still in there, to avoid alerting them, I tiptoed and went around the back.
And once I got in, I saw a morbid sight. Thousands of White Fang members brutally killed. Either being slashed in half, missing their heads, set on fire from the looks of it, or filled with bullets.
"Who would do something like this?" I asked nobody in particular with a small quiver in her voice.
Just then I heard something that sounded like a plea.
I approached slowly as I came into the main room. More bodies littered the floor. And a guy wearing primarily red with blonde hair stood over a white fang member with a gun pointed at his head.
"Please! I have a family!" The grunt pleaded.
And without a second thought, he pulled the trigger. Killing that grunt instantly.
He then turned to me. His eyes were covered by a crimson mask. He made no advances towards me. In fact, he holstered his gun that he used to execute the poor grunt.
"Did you do this?" I asked anyway, even though I knew it was a stupid question.
He looked around. Then looked back at me and shrugged.
My shoulders shook in anger as I gritted my teeth. "They didn't need to die! They were misguided!"
He tilted his head out of intrigue. He then started approaching me.
Just then, the windows shattered, and a dark figure landed in front of me with a shower of glass.
"You never change…" A warrior's wolftail hung behind his head as he swept his weapon to the side. "Do you?"
Her eyes widened.
"What are you doing here?!"
[Yakuza: Like A Dragon OST - Overcoming the Dragon (Yosuke Tendo Theme)
Louis's POV
My eyes narrowed in on the masked man before me.
"Got anything to say?"
He merely shrugged.
Blake looked like she wanted to protest, but figured that without her team by her side she could use the backup.
Her hand pulled out Gambol Shroud out of its sheath and attacked him.
He dodged by ducking under her blade and then punched her in the gut.
Requiem aimed for his head, but I hit nothing.
The masked man stepped out of my guard and unsheathed the sword he had strapped to his side, and playfully pointed it at us.
The blade looks similar to the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda. But the guard was just a nub that went over his fingers. A green gem went into the center of the black guard which matched the hilt.
Blake charged at him once more performing a flurry of slashes.
He parried every one of them and got in a good pommel strike to her head, sending her flying.
"Must you always aim for her?" I raised my brow. "Or do you just not like her that much?"
He replied, not with words, but with the point of his sword directed at my face.
I parried it away and slashed at him.
Heavy clunking and rasping was all that was audible as a flurry of jabs and strikes were flung, canceled, diverted and parried.
He moved his head enough for me to almost shave his head, before Requiem clicked open and chipped away at his mask.
He then gave me a look of annoyance as he tried to roundhouse kick me away.
His eyes widened beneath his mask when my arms made contact with his legs.
"Jackpot."
His Aura flared, crimson at first, then black the next.
"Hnnrmm…"
"That's what I wanted to hear!" A fist rocketed towards his face, before he swatted it away with the pommel of his blade.
Something dark flickered and wisped from the corner of my eye.
"Blake stay back!"
Blake charged back in full force.
He grabbed his blade and slashed at her with one fluid movement. Which would have connected had she not used her semblance.
Blake gritted her teeth and went for his midsection.
He leaped back to avoid the slash.
He realized too late.
Gambol Shroud's ribbon laced around his blade and held it in place as I went for a diagonally aimed downward strike.
I expected it to cleave through his body.
I expected it to tear through muscle.
What I did not expect it to do, is for my blade to glide off him as if it were dulled.
It shrieked as it tore through a corpse that was beneath my foot, somehow making the disfigured grunt look even more mutilated.
He then wrapped his forearm with the shackles that were keeping him in place and yanked Blake off her feet to slam her into me.
I skidded to a halt with Blake in my arms while dragging Requiem across the ground to bleed off the momentum.
We looked back at our opponent.
"We can't take him one on one." I noted.
She nodded. "Keep him distracted."
Leaving Blake to blend into the shadows, I readied Requiem and prepared to strike.
His feet left the ground.
So did mine.
A volley of steel was outputed and received as the air heated up around us.
Sparks flew, before one well placed strike got past his guard, causing him to careen to the side.
Something laced around his feet.
Requiem whirred and hummed before crimson light gathered within the spacing in the middle.
"Devil Sword Dante…"
My eyes widened.
Earthen.
Leaping back, I threw condensed Hard Light spikes to make a surrounding cellar that he can't escape from.
He seemed to have studied each one that fell, cocking his head full of curiosity.
"You so much as move, it explodes." I explained as Blake strolled up to my side with Gambol Shroud at the ready. "Talk."
He touched the tip of one of the spikes, not minding the fact that it charred his fingertips to a crisp.
"Interesting…"
One foot stepped into the space between the searing bars.
I snapped my fingers, stepping in front of Blake to shield her from the explosion that tore a good chunk of the warehouse and caused the roof to cave in.
Blinding, incandescent light filled my eyes and burned away at any form of visibility I have left, letting me take the searing brunt of the debris and shrapnel that came my way.
"You good?" I asked over my shoulder.
She bristled, both in shock and in fear.
"What… was that?"
"Achilles could answer that for you." I shrugged.
"Even Yang couldn't dish out that much destruction." She gaped at the cremated bodies and rubble around her. "What… are you?"
Before I could reply, a third voice joined us.
"If the both of you could stop flirting."
I expected to see a charred corpse.
What I ended up finding was that he was still standing.
Buck naked
The StarDust ate away at his clothes and gear, causing what little tatters and drags he wore to be nothing but ash.
He looked directly at me with an annoyed scrunching of his nose, and dusted off his shoulder.
"Great." He mumbled as his clothes seemingly reform themselves. "Gonna have to pull up the magic reserves."
"You're not human," I quirked my brow. "Are you?"
"Kid," He chuckled "You have no idea how many times I've heard that question."
"And here I thought the cat had your tongue." I retorted.
"No, but she certainly has yours." He fired back as he pointed at Blake.
A quick look back had Blake glaring at him.
"Not in this lifetime." I looked back at him. "So, now that you're able to talk, why don't we have a little chat over some beer." I sheathed my sword over my back, causing Blake to gape.
He too, looked shocked, but didn't show it.
"Noir! He-!"
"If StarDust couldn't do anything to him, I doubt anything will." I pointed at the melted and scorched concrete around us. "Though that doesn't explain as to why you were dodging this whole time when you could've just tanked it."
"I like to have fun. Besides that, you both shouldn't have attacked me." He threatened.
"Not like it could've done anything to you either way you wuss." I rocked playfully as I walked in a rough circle. " Also, it was an unfortunate chain of events. You got involved in Blake's state of affairs, which, in the end, concerns me. I don't know who you are…"
He slowly aimed his sword at me.
"But you weren't fighting to kill." I said. "Not us at least."
He lowered his sword with a smile. "Well well. You're smarter than you look."
"There are a lot of things you can tell by the way a person fights." I nodded. "Now, the real question should be, whether you'd wave this all off before the cops arrive or whether you want to stand here flashing everyone." My eyes lowered to his waist as his clothes somehow decided to cover his privates last.
I whistled, genuinely impressed. "Nice cock by the way."
He rolled his eyes just before he swiped his face. Which made his mask reform as well as the rest of his clothes. "Be thankful my wife is preventing me from sending you two to Hades." He stated, and turned away as he sheathed his sword. "You're interesting. We'll no doubt meet again soon."
"Put it on my tab." I waved off.
He then turned to look over his shoulder. "I know what you have done. My wife is less than pleased. But your date of death is not near."
He then turned to leave.
"Hey wait! We're not done here!" Blake yelled.
"But I am." He deadpanned as he walked away. "Later." he waved.
Blake tossed Gambol Shroud's scythe form at him, before it went through and turned to dust.
We looked around as his disembodied voice said "What you do from here on out will be watched. By either your gods, or us."
She looked at me for answers. "Who was that?"
"Kitten, I just threw what's basically equivalent to fifty Dust bombs going off at once at him." I deadpanned. "Do you really think I would do that to a guy I know?"
Blake sighed as she put Gambol Shroud on her back.
"Right…" She took out of her backpocket what seemed to be a familiar looking mask.
"You've been keeping that on you?" I raised my brow.
"Of course." She replied as she turned the porcelain mask over. "It reminds me of who made me what I am."
Her ears perked up when she noticed the extra weight she had in her hands.
"Sometimes, it may be better to just forget."
"Yeah…" A tear streaked down the side of her face as she knelt and set it down atop one of the grunt's charred bodies.
The sounds of sirens filled our ears.
"We need to report this to Ozpin." She said suddenly.
"And what?" I asked. "Let him know that you've ran after the White Fang alone again?"
She hesitated.
"I'd say go to your team." I offered as I linked my hands over the back of my neck. "You know where to find me."