Hello readers, WaterDragonMaverick here with the next chapter of "Sideline: Another Story". When we last left our heroes, they were on their way to Mirabelle before they encountered a dog that was ready to attack them. However, Rua was able to calm it down and Azalea removed a shock collar that it was wearing. Overhearing two men talking about dogfighting, the members of Fragment Hunter decide to follow them and see what's going on. How will this detour affect their trip? Can Fragment Hunter save the other animals that might be trapped and abused? What will happen to the dog they just helped? Find out in this new chapter just before Mirabelle, "Release the Hounds".
Let loose the dogs of war.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)
I only own my Original Characters
The members of Fragment Hunter couldn't believe what they overheard just minutes ago. After helping a scared and injured pit bull by removing a shock collar it had on, they heard two men talking about how it escaped from a dogfighting ring. Hearing them made Rua mad and she decided that they needed to investigate. "Rua, I know that you're mad, but we need to think about this clearly," Sunset told the punk girl of Team SLVR. "We all can't go after them. A group like ours would only get caught right away."
"Then we'll just send a few people," Rebecca stated. "The stealthiest of us will head off and find out where they went."
Ventus nodded in agreement over the idea. "Scouting the location would be a good idea," the Huntsman said. "Azalea, you and Rebecca go together. I'll join you."
"I'm going too," Rua stated as she kneeled down, petting the gray and white pit bull to comfort her after the close call with the thugs. "She was scared of them."
Silver saw his teammate was ready to crack some skulls, but he could also tell that she wanted to figure out more about who they were going up against. "I say go for it," the Wolf Faunus told her.
With the three teenagers of each team heading off with Ventus to follow the men, they stuck to the air and trees to avoid detection. The four managed to track them for a few minutes before they came across an old train wreck that was turned into a junkyard. When they did, they saw the men speaking to a guard while a few dogs with shock collars patrolled the area. Luckily for the scouting party, they weren't detected by the animals yet. "You find that runaway yet," the guard asked the one that had the switch.
"Couldn't find that stupid mutt. Besides, the collar was ripped off," the man stated.
"You know that the boss will be collecting the cash from the bets soon. And that pit bull is a warrior that gets a lot of money," the guard told him, not knowing the spying group heard them.
"Let's just get inside and watch the next fight," the man holding the rope told the two before he walked through the makeshift gateway, entering the junkyard.
The spying members of Fragment Hunter decided to get closer to see what was going on in junkyard. While Rebecca used her natural skills in stealth to hide from sight and the dogs patrolling, Rua teleported onto the top of the gate with her Semblance while Ventus carried Azalea as she made both of them invisible. When they reached the junkyard, the quartet hid from the bandits and criminals that were entering a section that was turned into an arena of sorts. Taking note of the dozens of people there, they saw several of them had low-quality weapons and more were carrying money on hand. Rua glared at each of them from where she was hiding, but growled when she saw what they were surrounding. "These bastards," she whispered as everyone turned to see what she was angry about.
Azalea quietly gasped as she saw not only dozens of scarred dogs caged up with shock collars around their necks, but also a few Faunus that were prisoners with their own collars. After the shock faded, Azalea's green eyes turned red as she looked at the state the Faunus and dogs were in. The anger from the four soon alerted them to new growling coming from below them, surprising them more when they saw a small number of Grimm caged up and trying to get free. "Get back," exclaimed a guard as he used a cattle prod to shock an Ursa away from the cage bars. "This Grimm's getting feisty. Think it would make a good opponent," he asked a man with keys on his belt.
"Depends on how much money we can make from the bet," the key holder remarked with a chuckle. "Let's just see if one of the animals can get some Lien for us," he stated as he approached the cages with a whimpering Faunus hiding in the corner.
"I've seen enough," Ventus told the girls. "We have to tell the others."
After returning to the members of Fragment Hunter at the train, the group was livid at what they heard. "Dogfighting with captive Faunus and Grimm!? What kind of sick monsters are these people for doing that," Silver growled angrily.
"And gambling with their lives at that," Cereza remarked in disgust.
"We have to do something about this," Sunset told everyone. "A real Huntress wouldn't ignore this."
"A Huntsman wouldn't either," Gin added. "We need to figure out more info on this operation or we can't do anything."
As the group tried to figure out what to do, the pit bull whimpered as she had her tail between her legs. "Oh, it's okay," Rua said as she comforted the dog. "Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. Not when we're through with them, you precious little warrior princess," she told the dog before devolving into baby talk and playing with the canine's face.
"I never expected you to be a dog lover," Lazuli remarked as she and Lapis leaned on her motorcycle, Lorelei.
"Back at a few orphanages, a couple of strays always wandered close by when I was outside," Rua explained. "I always liked playing with them, but I kept getting moved around due to my 'issues' and never really got to stay with them."
"Well, she certainly seems to like you," Ivy noted as she saw how the pit bull's tail was now wagging lightly. "Looks like the 'little warrior princess' enjoys your company," she said with a smile. "Hmm... Perhaps we can call her 'Xena'? That's the name of a warrior woman in a series I enjoyed when I was younger."
Rua looked at the dog and spoke to her. "You like that name, girl? Xena?" The dog smiled and licked at Rua's face with her tail wagging faster as she did. "Hahaha! Okay, Xena it is!"
"Now that we have a new friend, what are we going to do about that dogfighting ring," Percival asked.
Before any of them could think of anything, they heard new footsteps in the snow and Vixen used her Semblance to cloak them in a new illusion. "I'm telling you, the junkyard is this way," said a new man that arrived with three others.
"And I'm saying that it's that way," a second man with a shaved head said as he pointed up the tracks.
"What if it's that way," questioned a third man with red hair as he pointed in the opposite direction of the tracks.
"I think it's that way, said the fourth in a dimwitted voice, pointing in the direction they came from.
"It's not," said the leader of the four.
Looking at the four thugs, Terracotta and Ivy immediately recognized them as they kept talking. "We've been there before and I'm saying that the fights are this way," the bald man stated.
"No, it's this way," the redhead told them.
"Oh look, sheep," said the dimwit of the group as he looked at the illusionary disguise of Fragment Hunter.
Realizing they had the chance, Terracotta walked forward. "Hello, gentlemen," greeted Terracotta as the three arguing thugs didn't notice his illusion fade away. "May I help you?"
"Yeah, that would be good," the leader said as he closed his eyes and turned in the direction of Terracotta's voice. "Can you tell these idiots where we can find a... junk... yard," he began to say, but began losing his voice when he opened his eyes and looked up to see the muscular Faunus Huntsman staring him down.
"Good to see you again," Terracotta said with a smirk and crossed arms as the thugs immediately recognized him.
"OH SHIT, IT'S HIM," the three exclaimed in fear as they held onto each other for safety, only to be picked up by Terracotta in a bear hug.
"What are we talking about," asked the dimwit before he turned around to see Terracotta's red eyes looking at him. After a few seconds, he dropped onto the ground and began to play dead. "If he thinks I am dead, he'll go away. Like a bear," he said to himself.
"I don't think that's true," remarked Vixen as she stopped using her Semblance and revealed the members of Fragment Hunter.
"What do you want from us," the redhead asked in a scared voice, remembering that Terracotta singlehandedly sent the four to the hospital years ago because they harassed Ivy.
"Information," Terracotta stated. "You know about that dogfighting ring, so tell us everything you know."
"Why would we tell you," the bald thug exclaimed before Terracotta tightened his grip on the men. "You raise a good point," he said with a strained voice.
"Why do they have Faunus in cages," Azalea questioned.
"Because animals belong in them," the leader remarked, getting hit by the butt of a revolver thanks to Slate. "Ow! Take a joke!"
"It wasn't," Pinkie scolded the man with a glare in her eyes.
"Why should we listen to a kid," the redhead questioned before Terracotta squeezed the three more. "Uncle! Uncle! Uncle," he cried out in pain.
"They don't have families because of the Fall of Beacon. Things were bad for them before and the guys in charge of the dogfights thought it would bring in more money to see them fight dogs or Grimm," the leader explained.
"Why haven't the authorities done anything," Lapis questioned as Lazuli formed icicles from her Semblance changing a handful of snow.
"There's a Scroll Jammer. It blocks any calls going in or out of the area," the redhead explained. "The place is a dead zone until it's broken."
"If we can take it out, we can call for help with taking everyone to Mirabelle," Ivy stated.
"Good luck. There are dozens of guys there and plenty of captives. No way you can save them all," the bald guy boasted, only to be silenced from Terracotta's grip getting tighter.
"We'll see about that," Sunset remarked before the thugs were knocked out by Terracotta performing a suplex on them. "I have a plan," she said to everyone.
The guards patrolling around the junkyard kept an eye out for any signs of trouble, but thought that nobody would bother them out in the middle of nowhere. "So, you place a bet on one of the dogs," the younger guard of the two asked as he turned to his partner.
"25,000 Lien on the champion," the older guard stated. "Nobody can take him down."
"That Pit Bull seemed like a good contender, but she bolted after the remote glitched up on her handler. Gave her a chance to escape," the younger man remarked.
As the two guards spoke, the dogs patrolling with them smelled something unfamiliar and barked as they chased after it. The guards soon went after them and the four made their way into the woods. "Let's see who or what decided to intrude," the elder guard said while cocking a shotgun. When the dogs stopped, they barked at a tree where some footprints stopped. "They must be hiding up there."
"I'll get them down," the young guard stated before firing the pistol he carried into the higher branches of the tree. When only birds flew away, the guards scowled at the lack of something in the tree. "Dogs must have just smelled a squirrel," he remarked as he looked at the animals in annoyance, but was confused when he noticed their necks. "Hey, where did their collars go?"
The older guard turned to look at the dogs and saw that the shock collars worn by the dogs were missing. Suddenly, they felt a jab in their necks and the two were knocked out cold. Appearing out of thin air, Azalea held the broken remains of the shock colors out to Rebecca. The two smirked before signaling the others. "Okay, they're out and the guard dogs are free," Rebecca mentally told Sunset over the telepathic link the group leader set up.
Coming out from the forest, several members of Fragment Hunter were ready for a fight while Rua teleported in and took the dogs with her back to the train. "Two down, several dozen to go," Vinyl said in sign language as she adjusted her sunglasses.
"Let's go with Phase 2," Sunset told everyone as Rua returned. Everyone nodded before splitting up into teams. Silver, Vixen, and Rua went with Lazuli, Percival, and Xena to the northern end of the junkyard. Team FCSA went to the western side with Terracotta and Dante while Team SAFR went to the south with Gin. As they went to their destinations, Ventus kept an eye on things from above while Ivy stayed behind at the train with Lapis, Bianca, and Pinkie. When Team SAFR made their way to the southern entrance of the junkyard, Sunset held her pet gecko in her hand. "Okay, Phoenix. Let's get a good look inside," she told the lizard, using her Semblance to look through her animal's eyes. The gecko peered through some of the cracks and saw that around the junkyard, there was a series of heaters keeping the snow off of the scrap and a makeshift arena. Phoenix crawled toward a heater to stay warm while getting a better view of the number of people and dogs around. "This place is like a bandit camp," Sunset remarked to everyone telepathically.
As Phoenix spied on the area, Azalea used her Semblance to walk in unseen and approached a guard dog growling in her direction. "Shh... It's okay, boy. I'm here to help," Azalea told a mixed breed before ripping the shock collar off. "Go on," she prompted the dog before it ran away from the junkyard and Ventus brought him to the train. "Got another dog free. What about you, Rua," Azalea asked over the link.
As she heard it, Rua jumped over three dogs before slashing the shock collars off with her weapon's arm blades. "Three more getting out now," she stated. "Come on," she whispered as the group began to make their way through the camp until they found the main arena for the dogfights and Xena quietly whimpered. "Looks like a fight is going on now," she said to everyone that began rejoining, unheard by the crowd of cheering criminals.
The group watched as a giant Mastiff with a large shock collar was circling an unarmed Snake Faunus. The Faunus' scaly skin was covered in dry blood as he watched the Mastiff growl at him. The dog soon barked before jumping at him and bit down on his shoulder while he was pinned. The members of Fragment Hunter were horrified and disgusted by what they were seeing while the criminals all cheered. "And the champion wins another fight," an announcer said as the Mastiff was zapped by the collar, forcing him away from the bloodied Faunus. "Can't let this guy get too hurt. After all, he's got more fights later," the announcer declared as some handlers held back the Mastiff and some other thugs dragged the Faunus to the cages. "Now, who's ready for the champion's next round against an Ursa!?"
As the criminals all cheered and started making bets, the members of Fragment Hunter were tired of hiding. Firing a shot into the air with her Semblance, Vinyl caught everyone's attention as the group had their weapons at the ready. "You're all under arrest," Gin said as Ventus landed in front of the Huntsmen and all four showed their official licenses on their Scrolls. "Surrender now and nobody gets hurt."
The criminals were surprised to see the warriors, but a number of them drew their own weapons and were ready to fight back. Shooting at Fragment Hunter, the criminals only watched as Gin used his Semblance to send the bullets through a glyph before redirecting the shots back at them. Unfortunately, a few stray bullets ended up hitting the locks on the nearby cages and freed the captive Grimm. An Ursa roared as several Beowolves and a few Boarbatusks charged into battle. As the group split up to take on the variety of opponents, the handlers of the Mastiff smirked as they released their hold on the dog. "Sic 'em," one called out as the champion barked loudly and charged toward the first opponent it saw, immediately biting the throat of a Beowolf.
"That one's going to be trouble," Terracotta noted as the Grimm died at the first bite. "Dante, defend," the Huntsman instructed the Wolfhound Mix, prompting the dog to use his Semblance to create barriers and block the Mastiff from attacking Percival as he leaped toward a pair of criminals like a jungle cat. Dante and the Mastiff stared each other down and growled as Dante's barrier held steady. However, the dogfighting champion charged at the barrier and struck the wall directly in front of Dante. When he did, a shockwave went through the barrier and hit Dante in the side, making him yelp as the barrier faded away. "Dante," Terracotta shouted as he saw the dog hurt from what appeared to be a defense piercing Semblance.
Attacking once again, the Mastiff charged at Dante just as the mixed breed formed another barrier. When the wall was struck, another shockwave surged through the shield and flew into a sheet of scrap metal, denting it like one of Lapis' sonic screams. "Whoa! That dog is strong," Percival remarked before dodging a knife-using criminal and slashing him with his claws.
"Dante, come," Azalea called out. "We need to regroup," she told her pet before they ran toward another part of the junkyard with the Mastiff and some thugs chasing after them, closely followed by Rua.
The chaos around the junkyard was loud and could be heard quite a distance away. As the battles were going on, Sunset deflected several attacks with her sword before counterattacking. "Let's see if you know where that Scroll Jammer is," she said to a thug she grabbed and activated her Semblance to search his memories. "Nothing," she complained before throwing him aside. "How's everything going," she asked the others with her telepathic link making sure she was heard.
Cereza beat down a trio of bandits without bothering to use her Semblance before she answered. "The criminals themselves aren't the issue, but we have to keep the captives safe until we free them," she stated.
Silver slashed away at some Grimm with his chainsaw before he spoke up. "Ventus has been grabbing the dogs and taking them back to the train, so it'll be easier when we get those other Faunus free."
"Let me get them," Lazuli said as she made her way to the cages, keeping the other dogs and the Faunus prisoner. Grabbing her Dust Driver, the Fish Faunus placed it on her waist to easily beat down the guards aiming at her.
"DUST DRIVER, ON!"
When the weapon 'spoke', it surprised the guards and captive Faunus while Lazuli selected two vials of Dust lined in her coat.
"GRAVITY! GRAVITY! TWIN MATCH!"
Turning the Dust Driver's crank, the tubes began to turn black and purple before energy spheres of the same colors swirled around Lazuli. "Transform," Lazuli exclaimed before the energy coated her body and solidified.
"ATTRACTING ORBIT! SINGULARITY! OH, YEAH!"
After the voice stopped, everyone looking at Lazuli was surprised by the black armor on her. The armor style was simple and had purple details on the ankles, wrists, and chest. The suit also had red eyes on the helmet and a pair of antennae that resembled arrows. The shoulders of the suit had a swirling spiral pattern while the gloves had small decorative orbs on the back of the hands and the boots had them on the sides. "Your dogfighting ring is going to come crashing down," she told the criminals as she stepped forward, causing the ground to crack with each footstep.
The bandits began to shoot at Lazuli, but their bullets only began to orbit around her body because of the Gravity Dust she used for the armor, rendering the projectiles useless until they flew back toward the shooters. Yelling in pain as they were hit by their own bullets, the thugs grabbed some pipes and tried to beat Lazuli up. However, Lazuli simply deflected the attacks before countering with heavy punches and kicks, sending the bandits flying back and pinning them down under their own weight. "You scaly bitch," one criminal shouted before rushing her. Lazuli only dodged by jumping in the air, then kicked the air again for a pulse of Gravity Dust to send her higher like a double jump in a video game. "What!?"
As her enemy was confused by her increased air, Lazuli redirected herself and slammed her fist into his shoulder when she fell back to the ground. Before she could approach the cages, a burly bandit attacked her with a broken axle from a car. Lazuli scoffed before she turned the crank of the Dust Driver. As she did, the bandit attacked only to find himself getting pulled in by a gravitation field forming in her hand. As he was pulled in, he dropped his makeshift weapon out of shock as he floated helplessly in the air. "So long," Lazuli told the man as she stopped turning the handle and pulled back her fist.
"GET SET! DUST IMPACT! YEAH!"
With the Dust Driver excitedly announcing a powerful attack, Lazuli delivered a heavy punch to the bandit, knocking him out cold as his body was sent flying into the cages holding the captive Faunus, breaking the doors off their hinges as he fell to the ground. The Faunus slaves were amazed at what happened before Lazuli walked in front of them. "Let's deal with those collars now," she told them just as she heard Gin Aurum fire a gun at a Boarbatusk. "Hmm, so that's what he was working on," she said to herself as she looked at the samurai as the Grimm evaporated.
Gin wielded an advanced-looking version of a matchlock gun that had a Dust crystal in an opening next to a disk. Scratching the disk like a DJ's turntable, a steady mid-tempo beat sounded off from the gun before he pulled the trigger, firing a blast of flames like buckshot at several criminals. Firing it several more times, Gin soon noticed some Nevermores flying toward him and scratched the disk again. Before he took aim though, he turned a switch on the other side of the disk and the tempo increased. Holding his weapon steady, the shots fired more like a machine gun and allowed him to shoot down the Nevermores flying around. "Vinyl, this is awesome! I'm glad you were able to help me out with it," Gin exclaimed to his sister as she used her breakdancing skills with her hard light katana to slash away several thugs surrounding her. As an Alpha Beowolf ran toward him, Gin prepared the gun once again and set the switch to a slower tempo. Pulling the trigger, a large shot fired like a cannonball and decimated the Grimm along with a part of a scrap pile.
As everyone kept fighting, the announcer of the fights spoke to a scrawny assistant underneath the Scroll Jammer. "Take this to Auric and make sure he's in a good mood when you tell him about these Huntsmen crashing our business venture," the announcer told the assistant and gave him a case of Lien before he ran off without any of the Grimm or Huntsmen noticing him. "I swear, these Huntsmen shouldn't have been here today," the man said to himself before grabbing a machine pistol.
"Blame the local wildlife," Terracotta retorted as he approached the Jammer. "I take it you're the leader of this whole sick game?"
"Yeah, what's it to you, freak," the leader said as he took aim and fired at the Bull Faunus, only to have each shot blocked when he twirled his claymore, Sarangay. The announcer growled in anger at his failed attack before revealing a blade on his weapon to change it into a short sword. "I'll turn you into steak cuts, you filthy animal," the man shouted as he rushed at Terracotta.
The Bull Faunus only sighed in disappointment as he easily avoided the attack, knocked the leader off his balance, then pinned him against the Scroll Jammer hard enough that his Aura flickered and the tower started to bend. "What makes you think you can get away with treating dogs and Faunus like gladiators," Terracotta questioned in a quiet voice with plenty of tranquil fury behind his words.
"I don't have to explain that it's easy money, you tree-hugging horn-headed animal freak of nature," the leader shouted in Terracotta's face.
Terracotta looked at the thug with disappointment and anger, but then started to chuckle. The criminal was confused at why Terracotta was laughing until he spoke again. "An apt choice of words with 'tree-hugging'. Allow me to show you a new meaning to the phrase," he said before throwing the criminal toward a large tree that was close to the junkyard. The criminal screamed as he flew, only to crash into the branches and break some off. Groaning as his Aura shattered on impact with the tree, he fell to the ground and cried out in more pain when he felt something break without Aura protecting him. "Just like those land sharks that kept going after the farm back home," Terracotta remarked as he remembered every time that he scared off shady businessmen from Plum Blossom Farms. "Now to deal with this," he said to himself before punching through the solid steel of the tower, breaking enough to make it crash. Terra nodded in satisfaction before he returned to the fight, stepping on a piece of the Scroll Jammer that resembled an eye emblem with three points on top and one at the bottom.
Azalea and Dante ran through the junkyard to get away from the champion Mastiff, but the dog was right on their trail with a few thugs following after. "That big guy is strong," Azalea said to Dante. "He probably had to be so he could survive these monsters," she remarked. "We have to get that collar off him and convince him not to hurt us." Azalea watched Dante nod before they heard the Mastiff barking loudly and she used her Semblance to turn them invisible.
"Come on out, you two," one of the criminals with a switch for the Mastiff's shock collar and an SMG called out. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Personally, I'd like it hard."
"That's what she said," joked another criminal with twin pistols, making Azalea roll her eyes in disgust and glad that the boys of Fragment Hunter were never like that in public. "Get over here, cutie. I won't hurt you if you just give up quietly," he said as he searched for Azalea with a lecherous grin on his face.
Azalea grabbed a rock and threw it over toward a wrecked car, alerting the criminals to the noise before she pulled out Penny's swords and slashed away at the criminals while still invisible. After she did, she made sure to kick the perverted one in the groin to make sure he stayed down. "Pig," Azalea muttered to herself before hearing the roar of an Ursa over the barking of Mastiff. Seeing both arrive where she was, Azalea stopped using her Semblance and watched the Ursa strike at the dog. Despite taking a heavy blow, the Mastiff was still ready to fight and attacked some Beowolves that appeared. As she watched it, Azalea was able to see the dog's body language and realized that even though he was a vicious fighter, he was scared. "Poor guy, I have to help," she said as she switched Penny's swords for her Multi-Action Dust Batons, setting one of them to use Gravity Dust. As she did, she placed them in her greave just in time for the Ursa to notice her and attack.
Staring the bear monster down, Azalea watched it swing its paw down at her before she blocked the strike and countered with a lariat. Swinging the Ursa around like it was a ragdoll, Azalea then threw it about 20 feet away from the fighting Mastiff before she marched toward the dazed Grimm as it tried to get off its back. As she approached the Ursa, Azalea stomped down on the ground in front of the Grimm to use the Gravity Dust in her weapon, launching the beast into the air high enough that everyone was able to see it when it roared. Continuing her rampage on the beast, Azalea jumped up and performed a scissor kick on the Grimm that sent the beast falling back to the ground in pain before she stomped on its head while landing. The conscious thug who saw the attack was speechless, but then saw the Mastiff finished off the Beowolves. Pressing the switch and zapping the dog, he only shouted two words as a command. "GET HER!"
Azalea turned to see the dog leap toward her, prompting Dante to use his barriers to protect her as she used the Hard Light Dust in her vambraces. Unfortunately, the Mastiff's Semblance unleashed a shockwave from its paw when it came in contact with the shield, which then went flying into Azalea's shield and continued through, pushing her back onto the ground. Dante growled as Azalea was hurt and attacked the Mastiff, but it powered through Dante's attack and a shockwave injured the Wolfhound. Before the champion could claim an unofficial victory, Rua teleported in and blocked the attack with her shield. "No, you don't," Rua shouted as she pushed the dog away. "I would have gotten here sooner, but there were more than two guys after you," she told Azalea.
The criminal only glared at the new arrival before zapping the Mastiff again, alerting the girls to the dog. With pain surging through his body, the canine attacked and immediately used its Semblance to create another shockwave. However, Rua dodged the attack and was about to cut the collar off when the criminal fired his SMG at her. "You're dog food, shrimp," the criminal shouted as Rua was shot in the back with her Aura taking most of the damage for her. "Attack," he ordered the dog while Rua was left open. The Mastiff jumped at Rua and knocked her weapon aside while the shockwave from his jump broke Rua's Aura. "Finish her, you mutt!"
Rua struggled under the weight of the dog as he was ready to go for the kill. "No, you don't want to do this, Champ," Rua said to the dog in an attempt to calm it down, but the growling dog wouldn't listen to her because of the threat of the collar it wore and went for Rua's throat. Suddenly, a gray and white blur tackled the Mastiff aside and freed Rua. "What," the punk girl of Team SLVR questioned before she saw a Pit Bull standing protectively in front of her. "Xena!?"
The Pit Bull barked at the Mastiff, making it growl just before it went in for an attack with its Semblance unleashing a shockwave. Xena managed to dodge in time, leaving the shockwave to hit the criminal and destroy the switch he held as the girls saw what happened. "Rua, we still need to get that collar off him to earn his trust," Azalea called out as she threw the girl her shield, Skull Cracker.
"We just need an opening," Rua replied. "He's too tough with that Shockwave Semblance." As the fight with the Mastiff went on, Xena and Dante worked together to try hurting the dogfighting champion. However, the beast was too aggressive for them and Dante had to keep putting up barriers to limit the damage. As the shockwaves went through the shields, Xena kept getting in front of Dante before the attack actually made contact. "What is she doing," Rua questioned as he and Azalea watched the fight.
Keeping an eye on the Pit Bull, Azalea thought there was something familiar about how Xena was taking hits while dealing her own to the enemy. Soon, sparks of energy came off of Xena's body and Azalea gasped in recognition. "She's like Yang! Xena is taking hits and building the energy up," Azalea explained. "I bet that when she has enough..."
"She'll be able to knock out Champ with a clean hit," Rua voiced as she realized Xena's plan. "Get him, princess!" Immediately after Rua encouraged Xena, she sparked with crimson and bronze energy. Noticing this, Dante immediately created a barrier around the other dogs. With the emerald-colored barrier around them, the Mastiff was confused before Xena unleashed a howling surge of energy that enveloped the dog, breaking his Aura just as the barrier was removed. The Mastiff was barely able to stand after the attack Xena used with her Semblance, falling to the ground as Azalea and Rua approached the larger dog. Using Skull Cracker's blade form to cut the collar off, Rua dropped the item on the ground for Azalea to crush under her foot. "No more killing for you, Champ," Rua told the dog as she kneeled in front of the Mastiff, then affectionate pet Xena.
"You can do what you want now," Azalea told the dog as Dante sat by her side, but she offered her hand to the defeated dog. "You don't have to be here any longer, Champ," the Cow Faunus told him. The newly named dog was touched by Azalea's kindness and licked at her hand meekly before she hugged the dog warmly. "You'll be okay now. All of you will," Azalea said. "I know a great place for everyone that was a prisoner here to go."
After all the battle ended, the junkyard was freed of all dogs and Faunus while the criminals were all tied up with scrap metal keeping them bound. "Even when you're gone, you're still helping us, Pyrrha," Sunset said to herself as she used Pyrrha's Polarity Semblance to bind down the last group while Phoenix crawled into her jacket for sleep. "Now, who do we call since that Scroll Jammer is down?"
"Since we can call Mirabelle, I know just the right person," Terracotta said as he pulled out his Scroll and found a specific contact named 'Thomas Huckleberry'. It only took a few seconds for the Huntsman's call to be answered. "Sheriff, it's Terracotta. Been a while, hasn't it?" The students were able to overhear the call with an apparent sheriff. Azalea smiled as she heard the conversation while staying with Dante and Champ. "Everyone's okay, but one person with us was blinded in the Fall of Beacon. We're trying to get help from Doctor Whitethorn for that. But the main reason I'm calling is that we found a dogfighting ring in a junkyard not too far from town," Terracotta told the sheriff. "We'll need help bringing all the criminals to jail and transporting some of their captives. We can take the train we were riding on, so we'll meet you at the next station. I'll explain what I can when we get there. See you soon, buddy. We'll go for drinks."
As Terracotta ended the call, Rua was the first to speak up. "Who was that?"
"Thomas Huckleberry. Mirabelle's town sheriff," Terracotta explained. "An old friend that Ivy knew as a kid and I met while I was still a rookie. His department will help keep these guys in jail and help with who we freed."
"Maybe some of the dogs could stay there with him," Vinyl remarked as she made sure a bloodhound didn't wander off.
"That's the idea," Terracotta stated. "Come on, let's get these punks into the train," he said as he easily lifted two groups of chained criminals in his arms. As he did, the rest of Fragment Hunter did what they could to transport their captives to the train before throwing them into one of the cars with Gin watching over them.
After Ventus finished telling the train driver to head off, Fragment Hunter continued their journey to Azalea's hometown. Azalea was comforting Champ by petting him as she looked at her mother and friends doing the same thing with several of the dogs while Terracotta spoke with the freed Faunus from the junkyard. The young Cow Faunus smiled to herself as she was ready to return home for some peace after everything that happened recently.
In an old and dark office, the thug that escaped the junkyard during Fragment Hunter's battle spoke to a man sitting in a chair. "So, tell me," the man said as he shut the case of Lien in front of him to speak with the messenger. "How is it that our dogfighting circuit was easily destroyed by some Huntsmen that randomly appeared? We were careful with the Scroll Jammer our associates supplied," he said with only one eye showing itself in the dark. The messenger gulped as he saw the golden color reflecting what little light was shining through the dark room.
"We, uh... we-we-we didn't expect them," the messenger stammered. "We think they found one of the dogs when it escaped, then just found us by sheer luck."
The man with the golden eye looked at the thug in contemplation over the news, then gave a curt laugh. "Fitting that a gambling ring was stopped by chance," he remarked. The messenger sighed in relief as he thought everything was fine. "Let me just ask something else," the man said politely to the criminal. "Did any of the Huntsmen seem familiar?"
The scrawny thug thought back to the junkyard and remembered the faces and uniforms of Fragment Hunter. "A lot of them were from the Vytal Festival Tournament. I remember that, Mister Kintsugi," he stated as spoke to the other man.
"Please, call me Auric," the man told the thug. "But that does help us," Auric stated as he turned to a painting behind him. Taking a small amount of dirt out of a potted plant next to him, Auric's fingertips began to glow as the soil transmuted into a piece of gold that began to reshape into a small key. Moving the painting, he showed that there was a safe behind the artwork and used the key to unlock it before placing the case inside, next to a custom gold-plated gun that was likely his own. Before closing the safe, he took a small bag of Lien and tossed it to the man. "Review footage of the tournament, then tell me who you saw. I'll inform Xanthic and his crew about them. You can have the money as a reward for telling me about this," he told the messenger as he placed the key in the pot, which turned back into dirt soon after.
"Th-thank you, Auric," the criminal said before heading out to do what he was told.
Auric soon sat back down as he thought of what to do in case he met the Huntsmen that stopped one of the operations he benefitted from. "Even if they stopped one venture in the middle of nowhere, they won't stop every investment I have in Nashihana and Mistral. I could contact Xanthic, Orochi, or Kane if things are getting serious," he said to himself before his Scroll rang. Seeing the caller ID, he smiled before answering. "Hi, Kira! How's my little girl doing today," he said as he began to leave his office as light shined onto a picture of a 7-year old girl with a sparkling smile and blonde hair.
And now, we've finished the dogfighting ring side-mission. I wanted this to be a chapter to show off more ideas for animals with Semblances, so Champ and Xena were made to help show that. As well as have Fragment Hunter get ready for more foes to face off against while in Anima. Next time, Fragment Hunter reaches their destination, Mirabelle. I would have finished this chapter sooner, but I was having fun reading "RWBY: Before the Dawn". A good novel that deserves another book to focus on Team SSSN more and to tie up any loose ends from the story. It would make a good "Vacuo Trilogy".
I really enjoyed writing the battles in the junkyard. Champ's Semblance being a shockwave that passes through defenses until it hits the target or something big enough, Xena's mix of Yang and Adam's Semblances, Gin and Lazuli's fights with their gear (with his new weapon being a Dust version of the DJ Gun from Kamen Rider Gaim), Terracotta's "tree hugger" moment, and Azalea's way of defeating the Ursa (which was her using the Rampage Power Blast attack combo from Kamen Rider Zero-One with a few twists).
I also liked adding in the thugs that Terracotta encountered before (who were in a previous one-shot fic of mine, actually). Had to give Fragment Hunter their information somehow.
As for the villain of Auric Kintsugi, I'll show more of this golden-eyed man later. He'll be important, but he's not entirely evil as shown by his final line. But the people he mentioned will be shown later. Just have to find the right places for them.
Now that the heroes helped more people, they'll reach Mirabelle next chapter and we'll see what the town is like. Until then, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.