And now we're back with this story. Before I get into it, let me answer a long-standing question that was asked in the reviews a while ago. First off, yes, Slate has ups and downs with his fighting ability. He's new to this ok, cut him some slack. Second, no, this isn't why he could kill the giant nevermore and then lose to Pyrrha.
They are very different opponents. One is a gigantic, relatively slow target with no defensive abilities and no reason to hold back against it. The other is a champion-level fighter with balanced weapons for attack and defense, an aura, a semblance that directly counters Slate's tricky bullshit, and(a pretty important point here) is a human. Not a monster that could be blasted into oblivion with raw power.
Do we have that settled now? Good, on to the chapter!
"Ah, scenic Vale. Not a frozen hellscape. Not a deadly desert. And sure, it's not a tropical paradise or a beautiful oriental haven(heh, get it) of art but it also doesn't have food shortages or massive amounts of organized crime so meh, you win some you lose some." Truly, Vale was the Canada of Remnant. I'll leave the meaning behind that statement to your imaginations.
'I need to find Cinder and her posse before I go insane again. All those years without sapient contact has done a number on me.' Last I checked, talking to oneself wasn't a sign of picture-perfect mental health...Good thing I was meeting some fellow crazies! I'm sure we'll get along fine.
'Step one, find Junior's club.' Thankfully Yang was a good sport about giving me the address. With the condition that I'd treat her to a drink later of course. I was half tempted to just search it up with this world's equivalent of the internet but decided to play along. 'That girl is probably stressed with the Weiss and Blake shenanigans.'
'Speaking of shenanigans, time to mindwipe the bouncer.' A quick mirage effect later and I was in the club, the blaring music, and flashing lights immediately giving me a headache. 'Come on, come on, where is that bearded explosives enthusiast or those color-coated valley girls.' The less time I spent here the better.
"Aren't you a bit too young to be here love?" "Didn't your mommy tell you not to walk into strange places on your own?" Speak of the prototype devil. Wow, I'm thankful that Rooster Teeth and Oum decided against using these two as Ruby and Weiss' designs. I don't think I could handle those voices for any significant length of time.
"I can say the same of you two, now run along and grab the little bear, I have some business with him." I back sassed in equal amounts, much to the girl's annoyance but begrudging respect.
"Hm, you got some lip on you brat, whatever. Uncle Hei is on the second floor, follow us." Well, that was easier than I thought. I guess being forward with it works a lot better than Yang's approach of ordering a drink and then grabbing their boss by the balls.
"Junior, we have a kid who says he has business with you. This face ring a bell?" Melanie spoke up to the bearded club owner, pointing at my face as she does so. Obviously, the guy never met me before but I spoke up before he could say no.
"I need a bit of information and I'm prepared to pay in the same medium. It's about a certain mascara-wearing thief and his new mistress, does that ring a bell?" The guy damn near broke the glass of liquor he was holding at my words. That kind of reaction made things simultaneously easier and harder for me.
"How the hell does a kid like you know about Torchwick, let alone that she-devil he's gotten involved with? You know what, I don't want to know. Say your piece and get out, I want nothing to do with that monster." ...Fair enough, not gonna lie if I wasn't powered up with Saiyan DNA and the pride that came with it I wouldn't want to mess with Cinder either.
"I want to know where Roman's hideout is, if I find him I find Cinder. And my payment… Dr. Arthur Watts is alive, and a certain cowardly lion in Mistral is sending his hunters out to die on purpose. I'll leave it to you." The wide-eyed look I was given by Hei spoke for itself. The first name alone was significant, albeit outdated...Or seemingly outdated until now. Knowing that one of the smartest scientist's in Atlas' history was still alive was huge.
But it was the lion comment that really caught Hei flat-footed. At first, he thought it impossible, a headmaster of one of the four main huntsman academies, a traitor? And why, what could he possibly gain from essentially killing off his own huntsman? Hei was half tempted to dig deeper but ended up deciding that he didn't want to touch that topic with a twelve-kilometer stick, thank you very much.
"Warehouse 3395 in Vale's northwest shipping dock. Get out, we never met." His answer was quick and to the point, I could sense fear in his voice and did as he asked. Criminal or not this guy didn't deserve to be caught up in all of this anyways.
"Thanks, and don't worry too much. I'm not gonna lie, Cinder and her little cabal were planning something big, really big. But there are people fighting against her, keep your chin up." I try to reassure the man before leaving, fully prepared to back up those words with actions. The fall of Vale would not happen so long as I had a say in it.
Now, onto more pertinent issues...How should I fuck with Roman?
One hour later, sea-side warehouse.
"Let's get on with it you furry fools, I know you're used to being lazy dullards in the white fang but we need to get this dust prepped and ready or we're ALL screwed. Capiche?" Everybody's favorite pimp impersonator directed (*read: yelled at) his faunus workers to hurry up with the Dust work…
"And they say that irony is dead," I speak up, grabbing everyone's attention. Letting them know that a masked, floating figure was watching them for god knows how long. "A bunch of faunus freedom fighters slaving away preparing dust for their human boss who himself is just a middle manager in the grand scheme of things. How's it going by the way Roman, I've heard mediocre things." Maybe mocking the man the first chance I got was a bad idea, but I didn't care, it was pretty funny.
"And who might you be? Considering that you have the audacity to call me 'middle management' that means that you know who the leader of this not-so-little operation is. So that begs the question, why are you here flying monkey boy?" To his credit, Roman recovered quickly from his surprise and responded with his usual flamboyant approach.
"Wow, how original. My name doesn't really matter, you can call me whatever you like. All you really need to know is that I represent an organization that deals with the things that go bumping in the night." I started my sales pitch, my own showmanship rising to meet Roman's for the fun of it.
"Ever wonder what your sexy boss' plan is? Who she works for? How they could possibly benefit by collecting enough dust to equip a small army in the middle of Vale? Knowing the answers to those questions, preventing them from happening, or in the worst case, controlling the fallout is our job." By our, I was of course referring to Ozpin, his little gang, and myself though obviously, I wasn't giving that away.
"Is that right, then do you mind spilling the beans on those plans? I won't lie, the only reason I'm even doing this is that I'm scared shitless of Ms. Molten Glass, something I'm sure you can understand if you really knew her." Lucky for him I was here to do just that, Roman while somewhat dangerous wasn't on my threat list. He didn't even want to be here and was just forced to play along by a higher, angry power.
"First things first, Cinder's boss. Before we continue I should let you know about my semblance, it's pretty similar to the one your right-hand woman has, and yes I know she's here somewhere. You can come out now ice cream girl." Stab to the neck from the right. My mind helpfully provided, allowing me to dodge at the last moment.
"Woah there little lady, I come in peace. But yeah, my semblance is illusions, I can manipulate a person's five senses directly. Using that as a visual aid I'll be able to show you exactly what I mean when I say it's in your best interest to help me take Cinder and her colleagues down." Deciding to take the direct route I gestured for them to walk with me into an isolated area and started up a projection in the minds of the master thief and his assassin waifu.
What did I show them?
Evernight Castle
"Good work Cinder, you have done well. Beacon has fallen and the relic's hiding place is within our control. Now, I expect a direct answer from you, did you kill Ozpin?" A monstrously pale woman intoned, voice as smooth as silk yet tinged with an edge of barely restrained violence and power.
And then there was Cinder herself, her previously long hair cut short, her eye burned and missing, her voice hoarse and quiet from her injuries. This was the monster that Roman and Neo begrudgingly feared? Who and what the hell was this Salem person? And Cinder killed who now?!
"Salem, ruler of the grim and a huge pain in the Foundation's ass. Long story short, she's immortal, not unbeatable." I stressed, already seeing the despair in their eyes. "And she can control the grim along with having the ability to create new types. And let me tell you they're fucking annoying!" It was key to express annoyance of our opponent instead of fear or even respect, I needed it to be clear in their head that this enemy was beatable.
"And how has nobody heard of this monster before? I'm having a hard time believing that something this big has been hidden for so long. And to such a degree." The crystal clear images being inserted into his mind and the fact that mind-based semblances were limited to the user's own experience helped evade the disbelief I'd usually expect after such a revelation. Instead, Roman went straight for the hard questions.
"The big players of the world are all involved. Including the Foundation, the headmasters of every academy are in the know. Pretty much everyone of importance." A thoughtful look went across Roman's face, that would explain the nonexistent information. If any group could keep a good secret then it would be the top hunters in the world.
Reading Neo's mind though with the grin on her face it wasn't needed, I sighed. "No, she is truly immortal. You could crush her into a paste, burn her to ashes, drop a meteor on her." Incredulous looks. "Yes we tried that, and she just keeps reforming herself. Maybe a few minutes later, maybe an hour, but she eventually comes back." Neo just seemed disappointed, and then her grin came back in equal measure. Little sadist.
Moving on. "Luckily she prefers to let minions fight for her and she isn't that powerful compared to a team of top-tier hunters. She's still beatable, but I won't lie and call her weak." In practical terms she wasn't that dangerous, it was the grim she could control and her immortality that made her annoying. Otherwise just bombarding Salem with continuous artillery would be all you'd need to do to hold her off.
"So why are you telling us this? We're working with Cinder against our will sure, but what do you want us to do that will be worth pissing her off?" Obviously, they were interested, Neo especially. But not so interested that they would risk themselves unnecessarily. "And what's in it for us besides the obvious." I was also dealing with a master thief, this was expected.
"Well, you won't die for one. But if it's something more material you're looking for, I have multiple things to offer, some I'll need permission to give but two that I can teach you myself." I lift my hand and show them a ki ball. "And before you even ask, no it's not an illusion, I can't imitate heat or pain."
"Now that's something you don't see every day. Or ever nowadays. Raw aura manipulation... And you say that you can teach us this in any reasonable amount of time?" Roman said with a bit of awe in his voice over the rare ability. Neo herself had the look of a child coveting something shiny.
"Not quite, this is an alternative energy source that all souls should have access to. If aura is the energy of the soul, then ki is the energy of the body and mind. Physical conditioning, courage, and vitality are all components of it." I say, casually destroying their previous worldview once again. Needless to say, this got their attention.
"Now normally I'd say yes to this alone, having a second source of power to fall back on would be any huntsman's dream but you mentioned multiple things…" He trails off, greedy bastard, I'll get him back for that later.
"Flight is one of the techniques I can teach you after you learn how to even use ki. Unless you want to try to reverse engineer it yourself and risk falling to your death?" I made it very clear that they needed me far more than I needed them. Personally, I kinda liked these two, that's the only reason why I even bothered to give them the heads up instead of leaving them to their own devices.
"Message received monkey boy. Consider us bought, I'll be giving Cinder my two-week notice at about the time her throat gets slit...We are planning to get rid of her right? I refuse to work with amateurs too caught up in 'morals' to finish a job." Yeah no, he didn't have to worry about that one.
"Cinder has two options, join me and live, or stay with Salem's group and die. I'll defeat her and give her one chance to surrender, I don't give second chances." Harsh? Yes. Do I feel bad about it? Fuck no! Tragic backstory or not this woman was planning city-wide destruction and mass murder. Join or die was all she deserved.
"Ha! Good to see the youngsters nowadays aren't all caught up in the no-killing crap that some huntsmen push. Are you sure that Cinder would ever join you though? She seems the type to lead by intimidation rather than follow, granted Salem is a thing so what do I know?" Roman wouldn't lie, he'd love to see the annoying woman submit to someone else for once.
"Cinder is a megalomaniac, her only interest is personal power and influence. The foundation and I are more than capable of giving her what she wants while attaching her prize to a nice leash. Her cronies are about the same, the boy is a sociopath with daddy issues who's just in it for the violence. And the girl... If Cinder kneels so will she." Mercury and Emerald were non-factors. Especially at this point, they were no more than children following their leader, they'd fall in line easily enough.
"You keep mentioning this foundation of yours, I get the Salem bit, but you make them sound like they're a bigger deal than just that. Is little ol' Roman allowed to know about it?" A turned around, trying my best to hide the shit-eating grin on my face.
"Let's just say that Salem isn't the only horror left behind from ages long past...Or in normal people speak, there's a lot of weird shit out there and it's our job to secure, contain, and protect any anomalous entities or items from the world at large. Salem just happens to be the most in our face about it." Yup, I was creating a branch of the SCP foundation on Remnant. Why? Because it sounds fun as hell and I loved messing with people of course!
Besides, there's bound to be a number of lost magical nonsense hidden somewhere on this planet from the age of gods. Dust and the relics are just the most obvious examples, it would be a fun hobby to go out looking for the rest. "Don't worry too much though, most of these anomalies exist outside of the main kingdom's reach. Most people don't tend to find them unless they had the worst luck or were purposefully looking for them."
"I'll take it I guess. I'm guessing this is one of those, 'the less you know the better' type of things?" I nod in affirmative. Whether it was the actual SCPs or most of the magical bull from this planet, the less you knew the safer you were in general. Salem already had seers and probably a number of other magical means of obtaining information, so secrecy was the name of the game here.
"Fair enough, do you have any other world-changing revelations to drop on us before you disappear into the night or something equally cliche?" Roman asks, to which I simply give him a deadpan, shook my head, wrote down my scroll number of a slip of paper, and walked out of the door at a sedate pace...That's it, I just walked back to beacon from there.
"...I'm going to need more smokes." Neo glares at Roman's words. He rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah, ice cream too."
That he does, especially since Roman is mostly non-essential in the grand scheme of things. The poor guy doesn't even have Neo's waifu status to protect him from the world's insanity. Anyways, that is all for this chapter, hopefully, I'll be able to keep up this pace of writing from now on but I make no promises, 2020 part 2 has been equally shitty.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this, from this point forward Slate will be leaving the canon plot for the most part so thankfully the boring/repetitive bits of early RWBY are soon to be over. See you all next time.