Thanks to gold crown dragon and Dalastjedi who helped filter ideas and beta read.
I own neither RWBY nor Destiny only the story
Ozpin disembarked his bullhead and entered the Atlesian prison. Unlike others, this prison was empty, except for one cell deep below the surface of Remnant. The building was guarded with 24-7 security armed with the highest grade weapons, watched by CCTV cameras covering every inch of space in the prison, and equipped with thermal, night-vision, and motion sensor tech. And to back it all up 7 atlas warships each with enough firepower, to level vale in hours.
All the security was warranted, giving the man they were housing. For if such a man was released, the entire world would be in danger. But that's the man, Ozpin was hoping to see.
Ozpin walked into the warden's office which was filled with computers showing the output of the security cameras and the vitals of the lone prisoner.
"Sir, we didn't know you were coming. You don't seem to have an official appointment." The warden stated.
He was a rather big man, with a layer of fat tucked under his white atlas uniform. Ozpin saw crumbs of what looked like a bagel but paid no heed to it.
"Yes, well I need to talk with the prisoner alone. If you don't mind." Ozpin said, causing the man visual shock, but he quickly calmed himself.
"Sir we can't let you see him alone. It's a regulation that you must have an appointment and even then there must be 20 guards present." The warden declared.
"Perhaps I should call Ironwood, James Ironwood that is. I'm sure you two can talk and figure something out." Ozpin suggested, making the warden nervous. He knew that talking with Ironwood would result in him being fired, as he'd already made 3 mistakes, but his friend who worked closely with Ironwood was able to intercept the report about him from his superiors. But if the General were to investigate, not only he but his friend would be fired too.
To not get in trouble the warden signed a petition allowing Ozpin to see the convict. The warden also offered Ozpin a guide but he denied the proposal, as the architect of the building wouldn't need an escort.
As Ozpin entered the elevator he pressed the 11th-floor button on the panel, which was where the prisoner was being held. All the other floors were filled with guards and checkpoints that one had to pass through if the prison was set on lockdown.
Ozpin began to reminisce about his first meeting with the same prisoner he was about to see.
It was about 14 years ago in the middle of summer. Ozpin had just received a report of a frontier town that was attacked by a large amount of Grimm. What had stuck out to Ozpin was the amount of Grimm attracted to the small town. There were reports of Beringals, Nevermores', King Taijitus, Goliaths, even the legendary Wyvern was there.
Naturally, Ozpin wondered how a small town on the outskirts of vale could draw enough negative emotions to summon these creatures of Grimm. So he chartered a 30-man team and sent them to investigate.
After 3 days of silence, Ozpin received a report stating that the entire attack force was annihilated, which deepened Ozpin's worry even more, as the team should have been more than capable of handling the Grimm. But for all of them to be wiped out, it seemed like it was not a normal Grimm attack, which meant it could only have been organized by the Grimm queen.
So in response, he put Qrow, Glynda, Ironwood, himself, and a couple of other talented hunters on transport flying straight towards the settlement. He expected there to be a destroyed building, but what he saw made his head spin. The bodies of both humans, Faunus and Grimm laid torn on the ground. Entrails spilling out, heads crushed or cleaved in half, wings ripped off of bodies.
And at the center of it all, sat a man sat alone, clad in the darkest of armors painted black from head to toe with a chest plate that put robots to shame and boots heavy enough to crack bone. He had his helmet sitting beside him; it looked like a long 'T' with three optical eyes in the middle. Anyone else looking would have just seen the man. But Ozpin, he saw his true aura. It had no shape, only being a black flame surrounding the entire area.
The man caught sight of the airship as it flew by, he slowly got up and picked up a spear from one of the fallen warriors nearby. He planted his foot and like a professional athlete threw the javelin straight at the ship. The spear looked old but that didn't take away from the fact that Ozpin knew it was headed at them with more velocity than an assault round could ever achieve achieve
Ozpin ordered his team to disembark the ship immediately as he attempted to block the projectile from making contact with the ship. He created three back-to-back shields made of pure magic and moved them in the path of the spear.
1 second. All he bought was 1 second. The spear smashed apart the mystical barriers; like a train going through a wall, its momentum remained undeterred as it ripped through the wing bullhead, nearly missing Ozpin's head.
With the wing gone from the ship, it began to spin out of control. Ozpin took it as his cue and jumped off, using the trees to control down his descent to the ground. Once he landed he began to run towards the man who shot down the plane. He knew that if Ironwood and the rest faced off against that monster, they wouldn't live to see the next day.
Ozpin barely made it past the tree line, when he blocked an attack that came from none other than the man who downed their ship. It seemed as if he decided to take out the biggest threat first; Ozpin.
Ozpin's inward thoughts ended as he reached the bottom of the 11th floor, in front of him stood a 7-inch-thick titanium door where the lone prisoner was being held. Ozpin inputted a code only known by three people in the world, himself, the Warden, and Ironwood.
The metallic door slid open and revealed a large chamber and in the middle, a man, the same man Ozpin fought all those years ago, the true reason for his momentous loss in power and the death of one close to him.
Each arm and leg had thick chains coupled to it, his neck was held in place by several other chains of similar strength. The chains on his limbs each pulled in their own direction effectively hoisting the man above the ground and over an acid pit. Ozpin looked at the sides of the room, each side had 5-peepholes that housed sniper rifles with 0.50 caliber rounds.
Ozpin walked to the end of the thin ramp, which brought him face-to-face with the prisoner who to anybody else was asleep. Ozpin looked over his shoulders at the closing door; It wouldn't open until the warden pressed a button on his desk. He then looked at the peepholes and as he requested they all closed up, allowing him to talk to the criminal alone.
After a period of silence, Ozpin spoke up.
"You can stop with the facade; I know you're awake," Ozpin stated to the sleeping body. But just as he said, the man opened his eyes and smiled a toothy grin. Ozpin hadn't seen him in 14 years, ever since he designed the prison. He'd tried to forget about him, but he could never forget his eyes. Like a cold snowstorm or like the unfathomably bottomless ocean his deep blue eyes were cold, calculating, sadistic, and never showed a hint of remorse.
"Well if it isn't Ozpin. Tell me, why are you here?" The man asked, his rough voice booming throughout the chamber.
"I came to talk, I'll admit I tried to forget you, though no amount of booze, liquor, or coffee will ever do that," Ozpin replied remembering the coffee mug that he had to leave behind before entering the facility.
"Huh, it seems time has been friendly to you." The man complimented
"It's been even friendlier to you," Ozpin said. But it wasn't a compliment; besides the man's hair which had grown uncontrolled and uncut for the last 13 years. The man had literally not aged a day since their encounter.
"I know, and I could explain to you why, but I want to know what was your reason for coming. It obviously wasn't just to mingle with me." The man said, cutting through the conversation.
"Your right, you obviously have more pressing things to do" Ozpin joked, chuckling at his own tease before continuing
I'm offering you a once-in-a-lifetime deal. The Grimm you slaughtered that day belonged to someone. The Witch Queen, Salem. She's begun to assemble her forces and if she isn't stopped then the entire world of Remnant could be in danger." Ozpin explained.
"And why would I care what happens to this world, as you saw I can take care of myself" The man stated.
"Yet you lost to me. Which means you'll lose to Salem. Once upon a time, she beat me, back when I was at full strength about 5 times the power I used to fight you." Ozpin told. The man slowly frowned, he knew Ozpin wasn't lying; he could hear his heartbeat even from where he was. If Ozpin could beat him when he was at a 5th of his original strength, then this Salem posed a problem.
"That is a dilemma, yes. So what do you want from me?" The man asked.
"You see, I run one of the 4-Huntsman Academies that teach our youth to combat the forces of Grimm. I need you to impart the children with your knowledge." Ozpin insisted. The man chuckled at this before giving his response.
"And what would make you think I would agree to it"
"Because it's your only option on getting out of here, you must know by now that you can't escape. I know the sedatives can't keep you under, but they do drastically condense your ability to move and the strength of your body. Those rounds up there could tear through a nevermore, sure they can only shoot every 15 seconds. But all they need is one shot. You'll never make it above the 9th floor, the guards will track you down and stop you before you even make it that far" Ozpin reasoned, making even the man agree with him.
"How do you know that I won't run off, once I'm out of here?" The prisoner probed.
"I don't but I'm trusting our mutual enemy to keep you with us. Besides if you do I will take every Atlas ship, every huntsman at my disposal find you." Ozpin reassured.
"My final question why would you choose me of all people to teach your students"
"You are the most troubling being, I've ever faced aside from Salem. Your strength, your speed, your ferocity. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. I had to reinforce my body with magic just to withstand your punches, improve my eyes to see your speed, and use the most powerful magic I could do at the time just to close the gap in pure skill. If we could train the students like that, then this world would be safe"
"I guess it'll get me out of these chains. I haven't breathed real air in over 13 years" The man sighed.
As the man finished talking the door opened up, indicating that 15 minutes had passed. Ozpin stepped outside of the cell and moved to the access terminal which was to the right of the door.
Ozpin pressed one of the two and a few seconds later the screen began the video call to the warden's office.
"I trust that your talk was informative sir." the warden assumed
"Yes, it was. Though I have a request. I need you to set the prisoner free" Ozpin demanded. The warden's eyes went wide as he processed the request.
To say Ozpin didn't expect the surprised look would be a lie. Even though he didn't know about what the prisoner did as Ironwood restricted access to the files to only him and Ozpin. He was still a prisoner here and it was his job to keep the prisoner in.
"What you're asking me to do, I can't. This prison was made solely to keep him in, I can't just let him leave even if you're a friend of Ironwood"
Ozpin knew he couldn't convince the warden himself. So instead he called James on the scroll they didn't seize.
"Yes, Ozpin." A man with a firm voice; carrying authority, answered.
"I need a favor, someone is in prison and I need him out"
"I guess I could pull a few strings. But you're going to have to tell me who this prisoner is" Ironwood, insisted.
"I can't exactly do that. You're just going to have to trust me on this"
After a period of silence, James spoke up.
"Alright, you've never led me astray before. But I'm trusting you on this. Now patch me through to the warden."
Ozpin did just that. He could see the warden picking up another phone, which Ozpin already knew was Ironwood.
"Yes, this is the Warden. We can't just-. Yes. But-. Alright." The warden faltered as he and Ironwood talked.
After the warden put down the phone, he turned his attention back to Ozpin.
"I'll release the prisoner immediately. Hold on, I have to find the switch first. I never really kept track of it as we never thought he was going to ever leave." The warden admitted before pulling up a key, which he put into a panel by the side of his desk, as he turned the key a red button emerged.
"Are you sure about this, I never got to know what he did? But if he was so dangerous that they built a prison just for him. I'd want to keep him locked up" The warden advised.
"As unfortunate as it may seem we need him" Ozpin admitted.
Hearing his answer, the warden sighed and pressed the button. After a few seconds, an alarm loudly rang throughout the halls. The warden pressed the knob on his office speakerphone.
"Attention everyone, this is the warden. The prisoner is being released by the higher-ups. I want a 20-man team to escort him and the man here to pick him up, to the helipad for their extraction from this facility. After that, this place will be shut down in 3 days." The warden said on the speakers throughout the halls.
Soon after, a 20-man team came through the halls, all dressed in heavy armor and armed with rifles. They followed Ozpin into the room. As they all entered the chamber the acid vat below the ex-prisoner closed and the peepholes from which 20-guns were pointed at the ex-prisoner all closed up. The chains that were holding him were released causing him to fall on top of the closed acid vat with a thud.
Two of the guards that followed Ozpin moved down the side steps onto the floor below, while the other 18 made sure to point their weapons directly at the ex-prisoner. They released the man from his chains and slapped cuffs onto his hand. They were not your run-of-the-mill officer cuffs. These cuffs covered his entire arm up to his elbow, they were made of reinforced tungsten with localized gravity dust preventing his movement inside the shackles. They also shackled his feet with tungsten cuffs but these allowed them to move but still restricted him from running.
They dragged him along the steps and out with the door with 6 guards in the front and back, 3 on each side, and two carrying him. They made it to the elevator where only Ozpin and the two guards carrying the ex-prisoner stepped in.
As they moved up the floors Ozpin heard something behind him. He turned and saw the ex-prisoner trying to stand on his own. As he did his leg did not support him and he began to fall, but he quickly pushed his back against the elevator wall, regaining his balance.
"Yeah I think I got it now," The ex-prisoner said as he finally stood up straight
The elevator took a while but eventually, it made it to the top where everyone disembarked and moved to the helipad.
They passed the warden's office on their way. Ozpin looked at the warden and the warden looked at him. Ozpin recognized the face that the warden was showing. It was a face of worry. The Supermax prison was built just for the prisoner, letting him out didn't seem like a good idea. But Ozpin was undeterred. He'd rather make a temporary friendship with a monster to combat another one than to see the world be destroyed.
As they exited the building and made their way across the helipad, Ozpin spotted his bullhead. A two-man airship, with jet propulsion and 4 small supports to land. The guards that were previously carrying the ex-prisoner, handed Ozpin a key that would disable the cuffs and a document to sign. Ozpin took the key and placed it in his pocket then used a pen provided by the guards and signed the document for the prisoner's release before stepping into the bullhead and helping the ex-prisoner do the same.
Once Ozpin strapped the ex-convict into the passenger's seat. He himself moved into the pilot's seat and began the startup process of the airship. But as he did a question came into Ozpin's mind.
"You've asked me questions, it's about time you answered mine. What is your real name?"
The man was a bit taken back by the question, he could lie, but it wouldn't affect him either way. Instead, he decided to tell the truth, as no one should know him anyway.
"Oryx. My name is Oryx.