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Chapter 41: End of the Beginning
The first thing Arctus became aware of as his eyes opened slowly was harsh lighting overhead and a white tiled ceiling, indicative of some sort of medical facility. The second thing he became aware of was a dull throbbing ache consuming his entire body torso, his attempt to pull himself upright resulted in a coughing fit while he clutched at his chest
"Hey, you're awake" Diamond's came from beside him and he turned to find her in an uncomfortable looking chair, there was a brief pause where the two of them merely gave each other weak smiles then she slid from the chair and helped Arctus up, pulling him into a kiss as she did so
"Don't scare me like that again you dumb-ass" she whispered against his lips "I thought I'd lost you"
"Hey, I'm fine….I think?" he managed to croak out upon hearing her voice waver, anything else he may have wanted to say was muffled by another kiss
"Doctors say you're gonna be okay, just some scarring" Diamond confirmed as they broke apart for a moment as she positioned himself on his bed, taking care not to lean against him too much Arctus realised that were some obvious questions he needed to ask
"Where are-"
"Felix and Eagle are back at Halo, your dad had you brought to the nearest hospital but Felix blacked out from Aura strain on the way" hearing that they were safe felt like a weight being lifted from his chest but raised more questions
"My Dad? Diamond what's happening, is Vale still under attack?"
"Small pockets of Grimm, Eagle's uncle Flax is co-ordinating search and destroy missions. We won" she answered "Felix took that talking Alpha out after…." she trailed off, visibly shaken and Arctus pulled her close, Diamond gratefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders
"I love you Big Guy" she whispered as she buried her face in his neck
"I love you too" hearing the words brought a bright smile to his face despite everything, Diamond responding by cupping his cheeks and gently pinning his back against the wall
"Come here" before Arctus could reply she was kissing him fiercely, after a moment his hands drifted to her hips as he returned the kiss only for the moment to be ruined by a throat being cleared in the doorway of the room; they broke apart awkwardly wearing matching mortified expressions at the interruption
"Good to see you're up kid, how're you feeling" Gangrel asked as he entered the room, the older Faunus looked thoroughly drained, his Specialist uniform and cybernetic left arm bearing several scuffs acquired as the strike team he'd led through the city engaged with the Grimm
"I'm fine" he tried to shrug "Okay fine everything hurts like hell" he amended, seeing his fathers' disbelieving stare
"Yeah that's probably gonna last for at least a week while your Aura puts you back together. Chest wounds are a bitch" Gangrel nodded sympathetically "Doctors say you should be okay to head home though"
"Home?"
"Halo is closing early" Diamond explained, having been too preoccupied to do so earlier "My dad is actually gonna be arriving in New Vale at some point tonight to pick up any students heading back to Mistral"
"I'll stay in touch" Arctus promised her, catching the unspoken admission that she would be leaving, Diamond simply took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Gangrel made a point of not commenting on the display of affection, teasing his son could wait. A few moments later there was a knock on the door, when it opened two people very familiar to Arctus stepped inside
"Arctus I'm so sorry" Rover could barely look at him "If I'd been there, I mean if-"
"It's fine" Arctus assured him, somewhat distractedly as he took in the sight of his Aunt Artemis, or more specifically the small bundle of blankets she was cradling "I get it, you did what you had to….so are you gonna introduce me?"
"Of course" Artemis gave him a weary smile, mismatched eyes lighting up as she made her way over, taking the seat that Diamond had originally occupied showing Arctus how to hold the baby before cautiously handing her over
"Her name's Tuscan" Artemis informed him
"Beautiful aint she" Rover beamed proudly, Tuscan had a skin tone somewhere between those of her parents and though she currently had no hair Arctus could feel a canine tail coated in soft fur through the blankets she was wrapped in, a Husky Faunus like Rover; the wide and slightly unfocused eyes that stared up at Arctus had inherited Artemis's heterochromia the right a vibrant yellow while the left was piercing blue
"She's so small" Arctus noted
"She's a little premature, but she's fine" Artemis answered
"She's perfect babe, I'm so proud of you" Rover seemed almost in awe. After a few moments Arctus gently handed Tuscan back to Artemis and broke the silence that filled the room by turning to Rover
"So Uncle Rover, safe to say Team FADE passed our training mission right?"
"With flying colours" Rover laughed before turning serious "You kids held the line and there's a lot of rebuilding to be done but its' partly because of you that we've got anything left to rebuild"
"I'm proud of you son" Gangrel added, casually ruffling Arctus's hair before reaching into a hidden pocket of his uniform "Which reminds me, I was gonna make sure you got this after you graduated first year. Just make sure there's never a repeat of the incident with Kafsi" the older Faunus warned as he produced what Arctus immediately recognised as a plasma cell
"Holy Oum….is that new?" he asked incredulously "Where would you even get a new plasma cell? Nowhere makes 'em any more" it was the truth, the cell that had formerly resided in his weapon was repurposed from a warship that had served in the transition between Mantle and Atlas
"Just take a second to remember what my job is" Gangrel gave a feral smile and Arctus seemed to realise that the same man he'd played catch with as a child and allowed his daughter to paint his nails also probably has access to arguably more secrets and weapons than anyone else on Remnant besides his Aunt Winter. Before Arctus could ask any more questions Gangrel rose to his feet
"I'll be back to pick you up later kid, I've gotta go handle some loose ends"
"Yeah sure, see you later" Arctus replied, missing the way Gangrel's expression darkened. After a moment Diamond gently nudged him and held her Scroll out
"Doctors have still got your stuff, you wanna let your Mum and sister know you're okay? Just in case your Dad hasn't had chance" Arctus took the Scroll and braced himself
"This is gonna be fun" he chuckled.
Eagle briskly made her way through Halo Academies' hallways, walking as fast as possible without giving in to temptation and breaking into a jog. It was currently mid Saturday afternoon, almost twenty four hours since the breach had begun and Eagle was coping with the combined trauma, shock and exhaustion by sheer willpower alone; putting one foot in front of the other and taking care of one task at a time until she could get answers and have time to process everything that had happened. Eventually she found her way to her destination, the space between the parking facilities and the maintenance and engine rooms that were off limits to students. Making her way along rarely used corridors she found herself prematurely halted by a locked door, or more accurately the person stood outside of it
"Aunt Nora?"
"Hey I figured you'd make your way down here eventually"
"I wanted Hellion to know that her people have been caught. She deserves to know that at least" Eagle shuffled nervously
"She knows" Nora answered simply before sighing "She's gone Eagle, Atlas Spec-Ops came and collected her"
"Oh" Eagle said simply, she was unsure how to feel; the Shadow Cadre were criminals beyond any shadow of a doubt and justice had to be done but she had wanted to see the Dragonfly Faunus. Nora saw her honorary nieces' lost expression and placed her hands on her shoulders
"Eagle are you okay?"
"I don't….I just" Eagle ran her hands through her hair "I'm dealing with a lot right now"
"I know you are" Nora pulled her into a hug "Did you at least get a chance to see your Mum?" as Eagle returned the hug tears started welling up in her eyes, her stress finally finding an outlet
"Yeah but not for long, they've got her doing paperwork after everything else. Witness statements and things like that"
"Bureaucrats" Nora growled irritably "Ren told me you slept on our sofa for a few hours instead of your dorm so I did some asking around….Qrow told me about, well y'know"
"Don't wanna think about it right now" Eagle mumbled into her shoulder
"Then don't" Nora stroked her hair gently "But avoiding your friends isn't gonna make anything better"
"Felix knew" Eagle snapped angrily "He knew who my Dad was and kept it from me"
"Oh" Nora mouthed out simply, she had finally gotten some answers from Qrow himself after seeing him on the campus after the battle; it seemed keeping secrets and telling half truths really was second nature to him
"I just don't know what's happening any more" Nora gently pulled away, reaching up to ruffle Eagle's hair as she did so
"It'll all work out in the end, things usually do" she assured her "And it's okay to not know what to do right now, you know that we'll all support you whatever happens"
"Thanks" Eagle gave her a weak smile, the truth about her parentage and the fact it had been kept from her still seemed huge but Nora's words had helped
"Come on" Nora gently guided her away from Hellion's now vacant cell "I'll get Ren to make you some pancakes while you figure things out"
Glynda watched as Qrow made himself comfortable opposite her, noting that he seemed to have aged even more since the last time they had spoke; his expression was that of utter defeat
"Are you-"
"I'm fine" Qrow's words came out in a hollow sigh and for a moment Glynda was tempted to ask if he'd been drinking again despite not being able to smell the distinctive stench of liquor that had seemed to perpetually cling to him before the war, in the years since he had slowly started to cut back but never completely stopped.
"Winter won't be able to join us" Goodwitch informed him, choosing to get down to business "Understandably the fact that a cloaked Atlesian warship was in New Vale's airspace needs to be explained"
"The council should be grateful it was" Qrow noted with a frown "I'll make sure Winter gets the important information, she needs to be kept in the loop" Glynda nodded in understanding, she, Qrow and Winter formed the core of the group that had taken up Ozpin's mantle of protecting Remnant from behind the scenes and the events of the breach would no doubt keep Winter's most trusted analysts occupied for some time
"We don't have anything close to a full damage report" Glynda sighed "But it's bad. Under normal circumstances we would have been able to seal off parts of the city nearest to the breach at ground level and corral the Grimm while we evacuate"
"But they hit over a dozen places at once and managed to get a decent amount of fliers into the city" Qrow nodded "If the Council doesn't make some of display we're gonna have riots"
"They know that" Glynda assured him "Councilman Xiong of all people is already petitioning to have every available Lien put towards rebuilding, the rumours are that he's going to donate some of his own money"
"You mean he's going to launder it" Qrow snorted cynically, though perhaps a little too harshly; corrupt as Junior was the mobster turned politician had been one of the first to return from Patch and had turned the Black Bear Syndicate to helping the rebuilding process after the defeat of Salem; he had once been quoted as having said 'There are two things I love more than my Lien, my nieces and my city'
"Be that as it may" Glynda allowed herself a small smile "The council are planning to resume the bombing runs over the Exclusion Zone, I think Halo may have to move its' initiation to the Emerald Forest. It'll be traditional at least"
"I'll need to talk with whoever's organising those bombing runs" Qrow grunted "We both know that there're spawning pits in there and what's gonna happen if they get hit by a missile. We don't need something like a Gojirex knocking on our door"
"Agreed" Glynda shuddered at the thought of one of the truly colossal creatures of Grimm ever managing to make its' way into the Kingdom; she'd seen first hand what the consequences would be when the Dragon Grimm launched its' attack on Vale in the war.
"There's something else" Qrow murmured, expression darkening and taking care to keep his voice down despite knowing that Glynda's office was safe "I listened in for a while when Antonia Arc and her….our daughter were talking, I wasn't seen. Eagle seems to think that there was an intelligent Grimm leading the charge, a Grimm that could talk"
"That's impossible" Glynda gasped, her stunned silence at the fact that Qrow had a child superseded by the idea of a thinking Grimm
"Not impossible" Qrow growled "It's happened before, it can happen again. What's important is how we deal with is….there can't be another Salem"
"By Oum" Glynda mouthed, her barely audible voice laced with horror "The multiple attacks, I mean we all predicted a spike in Grimm activity with the festival but it was a co-ordinated assault"
"We don't have proof of anything, but we can't afford to rule anything out" Qrow, stroked his grey beard as he pondered his next move
"I'll have my people on Menagerie search for anything strange, Salem holed up there it might be worth checking. Shade has the oldest library on Remnant, I'll contact Rae and tell her to see if she can find anything. We need more information"
"What do you need from me?" Glynda asked, expression stern as she prepared herself
"You're on the Council. I'll need to know when those bombing runs are happening and details of any additional defences they put around the Exclusion Zone"
"You're going to send people in?" Glynda demanded, mildly aghast
"Strictly scouting missions" Qrow shrugged as he rose to leave "Other than that the only thing you and Winter can do is make sure that the kids you're training are ready….there's too many statues where there should be families as it is" with that he trudged out of the office, for once looking every day of his sixty years while Goodwitch sighed and removed her glasses; nodding in silent agreement. History could not be allowed to repeat itself.
Felix regained consciousness slowly, requiring several attempts to remove himself from the sheets and pillow that even his sleep addled mind could tell were not his own. His groggy and barely intelligible grumbling could charitably be interpreted as speech and were clearly a source of amusement for someone as the sound of someone chuckling nearby reached his ears
"What? Where….Medical wing" he finally managed to make sense of his surroundings as he caught sight of several other beds occupied students, Pepe Le Puce of Team PSTL being the only person Felix recognised; the skunk Faunus lay unconscious and unmoving in the bed opposite with several tubes inserted into his body and an oxygen mask covering his face. Turning away Felix caught sight of the person who had laughed at his attempts to rouse himself; Helios Nikos was sat nearby his armour and weapons nowhere in sight, before the Lion Faunus could comment on this he caught sight of his fellow team leaders' face, the flesh of his left cheek was a painful looking angry red where it wasn't mottled with purple and yellow bruises and Felix could make out the stitches holding a long gash from his lip to his ear closed. Helios evidently caught him staring as he turned, hiding the wound from view while inadvertently displaying more bruising on the backs of his broad shoulders
"How bad is it?" he croaked out, vibrant green eyes clearly worried despite the attempt at nonchalance "I haven't looked in a mirror, I'm not sure I want to see"
"I mean its pretty bad" Felix admitted "But it should heal up fine with Aura. You'll still look hot with the scar" his mouth closed with an audible click and as Helios remained silent, seemingly having no response Felix was left to wonder just how frazzled he had to be to have said that out loud
"Thank you" Helios mumbled, the bruising made it hard to tell but Felix suspected he may have been blushing "I hope getting your nose broken again doesn't ruin your good looks too much" the redhead delivered the words with a smile and Felix could feel the colour rising in his own cheeks and quickly distracted himself by taking his Scroll which had been left on his bedside table. Opening the device and activating the front camera caused him to wince in displeasure, he had apparently recovered enough of his Aura for the pain to not bother him unduly but dark ugly bruising spread from his, reaching under his eyes
"Oum damn it" the Lion Faunus sighed, before deciding all things considered it could be a lot worse. Casting his eyes around the medical wing again he was struck by something else
"Hey Helios, where is everyone?"
"I'm the only one of Team NEON left" the redhead saw the horror on Felix's face and quickly clarified "Left at the academy I mean. Halo is closing early, Olivine and Ether left immediately to find their families. Nyanza left for Patch a few hours ago"
"He okay?"
"He fought bravely" Helios gave an approving nod "Better than I would have ever expected of him when we were first partnered; his injuries will heal"
"What about you, are you going back to Anima?"
"Indeed" Helios looked almost thankful "I leave for the airship soon. I promised your sister that I would wait here as long as possible in case you woke up; she's in the canteen. Her partner convinced her to eat" Hearing that Team CLIR, specifically Corvid were safe caused Felix to let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding but prompted another question
"Have you seen any of Team FADE?" Helios shook his head
"Corvid mentioned that you blacked out from Aura strain while getting Arctus to a hospital?"
"Yeah" Felix nodded as memories of his cousins blood soaked and limp form being rushed onto an Atlesian Bull-Head came flooding back to him "If Arctus is in hospital then that's where Diamond is. They probably just brought me here to free up a bed. Have you seen Eagle?" his anxiousness began to creep into his voice with those words, he remembered that his partner was furious with him and was fully justified.
"I've barely left the medical wing" Helios answered "She wasn't at the Bull-Head terminals when I walked….ah" the way he abruptly stopped caused Felix to turn and follow his gaze, his entire thought process being brought to a screeching halt when he saw Eagle regarding him with clear discomfort from the doorway, her armour had been discarded leaving her in a black hoodie and a pair of ripped and faded jeans. Sensing the obvious tension between the two blondes Helios rose to his feet and made to leave
"Glad to see you returned safe" he murmured to Eagle before addressing Felix over his shoulder "I'll let your sister know you're awake" Felix remained silent as the sound of Helios's footsteps faded away, struggling to find something to say he decided to ignore the elephant in the room for the moment
"Hey how's Sentinel? He took some damage back there"
"It's gonna take me a couple days to fix his arms" Eagle answered, her tone icy and her crimson eyes narrowed
"Well at least it's nothing-"
"Is this what we're doing?" Eagle demanded "Just gonna pretend everything's fine. I mean I know you've had practice-"
"I wanted to tell you!" Felix shot back
"Then why didn't you?" the Lion Faunus took a deep breath at the question, loathing himself even more as he answered
"Uncle Qrow convinced me it was for the best not to tell you yet"
"How?" Eagle bellowed "How on Remnant is the fact that my Dad has lived close enough for me to go visit him since I was three years old and nobody told me for the best?"
"I only found out recently, after your Mum…." Felix trailed off, running his hands through his messy he hair "I was going to tell you. Uncle Qrow told me your Mum had asked him not to, she wanted to be the one to explain everything. Eagle I'm sorry, I should have told you"
"You're right you should have"
"I just….I was worried about you Eagle, you were already dealing with your Mum being kidnapped-"
"So you just made a decision about my life and what I should be allowed to know?" she was almost screaming at him now, it was a small wonder than none of the other students or medical staff had asked them to leave "I thought I could trust you Felix"
"Eagle I-"
"No!" she snapped "You were my best friend, honestly the first real friend I've ever had and you kept something this important from me….I just, Felix I don't know if I can trust you any more"
"So where do we go from here?" he croaked out, silently dreading the answer.
"I'm leaving" Eagle informed him bluntly "I've barely managed to speak to my Mum since the battle. We're going to my grandparents place for a few days then she's heading back to Atlas and I'm going with her for the summer. She promised we'll talk about everything"
"I hope everything works out for you-"
"Felix, don't call me over the summer" Eagle added with a sigh before turning to leave "I really don't want to talk to you" the Lion Faunus sat in silence as she left, silently willing the tears not to fall; they fell regardless and Felix was left to contemplate how he'd failed so badly as a friend.
It was late Saturday night when Candy Cain had been woken by the sound of someone sneaking around in her kitchen. She'd fallen asleep earlier than usual after the nightmare that besieged the city the previous evening, she'd been in her early twenties when Vale was attacked and hoped that she would never see Grimm up close again. Her desire for a peaceful life was denied once again when police had arrived at her home that morning and attempted to search the premises without a warrant, informing her that Rhodium had somehow managed to turn the chaos to his advantage and escape from prison. From what little titbits of information she could prise from the officers it seemed that they would most likely be far too busy to chase her son for some time, apparently they were also too busy to halt the wave of opportunistic looting that had doubtlessly washed over the city; though as Candy Cain made her way down the stairs, taking care to miss the step that creaked and holding the baseball bat she kept under her bed she couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for whichever unfortunate soul had chosen to break into her house of all places. Reaching the hallway of her small home in one of New Vale's most impoverished areas she saw that her would be burglar was either incredibly arrogant or simply not very bright, they'd turned her kitchen light on and by the sound of it were rummaging though her cupboards. Creeping slowly closer she made her way to the door and took several quiet breaths, willing herself not to lose her nerve before busting into the kitchen; only to come to a sudden halt, the bat falling from her grasp as her hands flew to her mouth. Standing there in her kitchen with his back still turned to her and from this angle looking like the ghost of his father was Rhodium
"Hey Ma" he turned to face her wearing the same confident smile he'd always had when she confronted him for his behaviour and in an instant Candy had crossed the kitchen and begun slapping any part of him she could reach
"You nearly gave me a heart attack you stupid boy!" every word punctuated with a swat to the back of his head "I've had the police here for you yet again, you've really done it this time Rhodey! Escaping prison! What on Remnant were you thinking?"
"Ma, Ma!" he managed slip free of the barrage of admittedly painless swats "For Oum's sake it's fine"
"Fine?" she looked at him incredulously "It is far from fine!"
"Ma will you just calm down, please" Candy finally relented somewhat, no longer attempting to slap sense into her son and merely staring at him with silent disapproval that demanded answers, sitting on the kitchen counter Rhodium made himself comfortable
"Yes, I myself got out of prison" he raised his hands hoping to cut off his mothers furious interruption before it could start "But look my lawyers are still working on that, it's taking longer than it should have because the police are withholding records and evidence; they really want me to stay inside Ma"
"Don't try and play the victim Rhodey" Candy huffed "You know as well as I do that your lawyer is a crook and you're guilty of everything you're charged with" he merely shrugged, fully aware that arguing with such an obvious truth would be pointless
"But things are gonna be different now Ma" he gave her his most winning smile "I've had time to think while I've been away, I've been working on something and I can't make changes if I'm locked away. The law doesn't want to fix anything they just want me out of sight out of mind" Candy continued to look at her son in silence though she dared to hope that maybe this time he'd faced real consequences for his actions and learned something, that he might apply his brains and charm to something other than crime. Rhodium sensing that she was still unconvinced reached into the his jacket, having disposed of his prison jumpsuit and picked up some new clothes, he pulled out a folder and handed it over. Candy's eyes scanned pages rapidly as she flipped through the documents
"What is this?" she murmured
"A business plan" he beamed "Nothing's concrete yet but we're looking at ways to make my money legal or the law or just gonna shut me down. Obviously I can't be the owner on paper right now but this is what I wanna do"
"But why?" his mother seemed at a loss for words
"Because the system has never worked for us" Rhodium shrugged, sliding off of the kitchen counter "The Council don't care about us, we're poor. We've gotta make our own opportunities and that's what I've been trying to do. This time I'm gonna try and make life better for everyone around here"
"By starting a security firm?"
"Exactly" Rhodium was pacing as he spoke now, his energetic enthusiasm becoming contagious "We can't rely on the police, hell I'm proof of that, nobody here can afford to contract Hunters. There's a lot of people selling themselves as mercenaries and muscle for hire, I'm gonna give them a legal job"
"And the name?" Candy whispered, barely believing what she was hearing
"Cain Security Personnel, thought you might like that….this is me giving something back Ma" Candy took one look at the hopeful expression on her son's face and her resolve crumbled
"I really hope so son, all I ever wanted was the best for you" she pulled him into a brief hug "You can stay here tonight but that's it, no doubt the police are gonna come back with a warrant"
"Thanks Ma"
"Now I'm going to go back to bed" Candy reached up and gently ruffled her son's her before leaving him with some parting words "And it really is good to have you home Rhodey"
"Night Ma" the smile slowly slipped from Rhodium's face as he listened to her footsteps, after all he hated lying to his mother. The mobster would not be leaving his life of crime behind at any point in the foreseeable future, through means that utterly baffled him the Eco-Dust supplier known only as Dunwitch had managed to contact him within twenty-four hours of his escape; the message simply read 'New Vale seems to be on fire so I asked some questions. I hope to continue doing business with you Mr Torchwick'. There had been some truth to Rhodium's words, Cain Security Personnel would most assuredly become a reality and would both employ and protect many of the people in the neighbourhood but it was far from an altruistic gesture; time in prison had done nothing to curb his ambition and when Rhodium made his move on taking control of New Vale from Melanie Malachite the mercenaries, thugs and out of luck Hunters he was planning on recruiting would form part of the army he went to war with.
"What's the best way to kill a clown?….you go for the juggler"
"Corey"
"Why can't you hear a psychiatrist in a bathroom?….because the pee is silent"
"For Oum's sake Corey"
"Okay, okay; when is the best time to go to the dentist?….tooth hurt-y" Felix's only response was a groan and a shake of the head. By the time the Xiao Long Siblings arrived on Patch on one of the many additional ships ferrying people between the mainland of the island it was the early hours of Sunday morning and currently the pair were making their way home, Felix's belongs packed hastily and messily into suitcases which he carried while Corvid had elected to leave almost everything at the academy, the single bag she'd packed being carried by the Omega Wing which flew beside her at shoulder height
"You just don't appreciate good jokes bro" Corvid huffed dramatically as she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder; Felix had been sullen and clearly bothered by something on the journey from New Vale and since he hadn't wanted to confide in her Corvid had decided instead to coax a laugh or smile out of him the best way she knew how. Eventually they trudged their way into the front yard of their home, taking note of both Blake and Yang's motorcycles parked outside and the fact that the lights were on. Felix unlocked the door while Corvid retrieved her bag from the Omega Wing and he had barely made it inside before he heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards him
"Hey M-" he didn't have time to finish the greeting before Blake had wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a crushing hug, Corvid received identical treatment from Yang
"Thank Oum you're both safe" Blake whispered before pulling back and taking in the sight of her sons' heavily bruised face
"Need some painkillers for that?"
"Mum I'm fine" Felix grumbled
"Let your mother worry about you" Penny chided him softly as she stepped into the hallway from the living room
"Hey Aunt Penny" Corvid gave her favourite Aunt a bright smile "What're you doing here?"
"I asked Ruby to come over, I kinda wanted the whole family together" Yang admitted "Dad left earlier, Sun needed an extra pair of eyes. Ruby is upstairs asleep with the twins….Sorry Corey but they've got your bed, she hasn't wanted to let them out of her sight"
"No problem, I'll take the sofa" she shrugged
"Where's Qrow" Felix almost growled, his tone catching Yang off guard
"He's still on the mainland, what's with the attitude Fluffy?" he merely slouched in annoyed silence for a moment before realising that Yang expected an answer, finally he told her
"Eagle knows about her and Qrow….she knows I knew. Took it about as well you'd think" Yang's expression softened but before she could offer any sympathetic words Corvid chimed in, clearly confused
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Eagle knows what about her and Qrow?"
"Go on, tell her" Felix fought to keep a sneer out of his voice, he knew that taking his anger out on his parents wouldn't help anything.
"Corey, come into the living room you're probably gonna want to sit down for this" Yang suggested before leading the way
"Okay, now I'm thoroughly creeped out" Felix felt Blake's hand on his shoulder
"Fluffy come outside for a minute, let Yang handle this please"
"Fine" he placed his hands in his pockets as he followed both Blake and Penny back out into the pleasantly breezy night air and around to the garage, as Blake fished her keys out of her pocket Penny turned and explained to him
"The Pearl went down in the battle"
"Oh sh-" he caught himself before he could curse in front of his mother "Everyone's okay right?"
"They are, just tired and a little shaken up" Penny nodded "But the Pearl itself had to be salvaged and carried back to our landing pad"
"Well the firm Penny hired for that is a company that employs a lot of Faunus that I've given legal representation to" Blake added "So I called in a little favour and got them to make pick this up for you" with that she opened the garage door and Felix was unsure of whether he should laugh or wince at the sight of the Killer-Bee
"It's not currently combat ready, but you have all summer to work on it" Penny noted, Felix thought that may have been the biggest understatement he'd heard in his life. His car was demolished, the entire front end had been partially crushed, part of the roof had been caved in, there were no windows left unbroken, a door was missing, the paint job was ruined and he guessed from the way the vehicle sat that the suspension and axels would need work not to mention whatever damage was under the hood
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be an all summer job" he sighed as he paced around the remains of his pride and joy
"Well now is as good a time as any to work on some upgrades" Yang suggested
"Good idea" he murmured somewhat distractedly "Armour plating is probably gonna be a safe bet but I'd have to work on the engine to offset the extra weight-"
"We were thinking weapons" Penny told him as she made her way to the back of the garage where something was covered with a sheet, the Lion Faunus had utterly failed to notice the object but now his eyes were wide when Penny removed the sheet. He recognised this item, he'd helped Corey mark it for recovery in the exclusion zone months ago after all, it was one of the laser batteries that the Shadow Cadre had stolen
"Where did you get that?" he asked, barely able to form a coherent sentence due to the shock
"When Antonia Arcs kidnappers were apprehended this was left not far from my house" Penny explained as she gestured to the barrel of the weapon that had been drastically shortened "They tried to saw it down and make it handheld, you could probably fit it into the trunk of your car and find a way to integrate it….Atlas won't want this back, it's old tech and it's damaged; so it's yours if you want it"
"Sweet. The Killer-Bee's gonna have a stinger" Felix's face became a wide smile as possibilities and logistics presented themselves "Thank you"
"Fluffy I'm gonna head back inside and see how Corey handled the news"
"I'll come with" Felix followed her out, silently thankful that he had something to occupy his time and divert his focus away from the fact that his partner and best friend seemingly hated him; he was unsure how he'd cope without it.
Hellion heard the door of the cell she'd been confined to unlock with an unnatural hissing sound, that of air rushing into a vacuum and slid off of the uncomfortable bunk she'd been laid upon, suddenly curious. Hellion had been unaware of the battle in the Kingdom below until she had been escorted from her cell by a pair of heavily armed and armoured soldiers whose uniforms identified them as Atlesian; the pair had remained silent when she attempted to question them as she saw traces of the destruction from the Bull-Head and while she was still shackled by her Aura dampening collar the Dragonfly Faunus knew it would be futile to force the issue. Upon docking on what was clearly an Atlesian ship a hood had been placed over her head and she'd been marched to a cell that was more closely related to a storage cupboard than living quarters; one small mercy that had been granted however was her own clothes, those had been pushed through a hole in her cell door after a tray of barely edible food which had closed immediately after, her knives had naturally been taken but she was still glad to be free of her prison jumpsuit and wearing familiar clothes with at least some armour integrated into them.
Prising the cell door open Hellion found her way briefly barred by a series of beams of light spanning the width of the door frame, a dull barely audible crackling and faint scent of ozone emanated from them and while Hellion was unsure exactly of what they were it seemed unwise to take the risk; after a few seconds the beams of light dissipated and she stepped out into an empty corridor, brightly lit with pristine clinical white walls and several cameras easily visible; it seemed the ship had a prison of its' own. Before Hellion could attempt to look for a way out multiple hissing sounds alerted her to three more cells opening and her mouth hung open as familiar figures stepped out into the corridor
"Car, Onyx, Raffia?" her voice came out as a disbelieving whisper, not daring to trust her eyes but in a moment they had rushed over to her and the four of them collided in a frantic, awkward group hug; physical closeness was second nature to their seafaring tribe as space was always limited and Hellion realised just how touch starved she'd been since her capture as Carcharodon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Onyx ruffled her hair
"You were wounded" the Shark Faunus rasped as he took in the scar running beneath her collarbones, courtesy of Torchwick's goons "Who? I'll feed their bodies to the gulls"
"It doesn't matter now, you're all safe"
"Debatable" Raffia spat venomously as he tugged at his reattached Aura dampening collar "They wouldn't let me eat until I put this back on. We're trapped and unarmed….Onyx could have escaped. Should have left me to die and followed Car"
"And then who would I have to torment my every waking moment" the Puma Faunus snorted in response, gently cuffing him around the back of the head. Hellion drank in the familiar bickering eagerly before realising that there was something missing, a familiar weight on her left arm that wasn't there
"Where's Marauder?"
"The Hunter that captured me took him" Carcharodon answered, bowing his head in shame as he did so. Moments later the sound of a door sliding open at the end of the corridor they were in caught their attention and the four of them caught sight of several Atlesian soldiers with weapons trained on them before a larger figure strode through their midst, the moment the hulking silhouette stepped into the corridor the doors closed, a moment later the figure had vanished only to reappear in a burst of acrid smoke directly in front of the Shadow Cadre. The man was a towering Bear Faunus, taller even than Onyx and equally broad shouldered the mans' entire left arm had been replaced by prosthetics that lacked the usual sleekness of Atlesian technology, a monstrous sword with a hooked blade was slung over his back while his scarred face and amber eyes held nothing but cold disdain for his prisoners; the only sign of anything akin to hope was the familiar bird perched on his arm. Marauder fluttered onto Hellion on the Dark skinned Faunus fought the urge to coo over the raptor, Gangrel Slate merely surveyed the group in silence before stepping towards Raffia, the Axolotl Faunus rolled his shoulders back and refused to back down despite the fact that the older man was over a foot and a half taller than himself.
"You used to have a sword that turns into a flail?" Gangrel growled out, voice low enough that the Shadow Cadre felt it as much as heard
"Did it find its' way into someone you know?" Raffia challenged with an evil smile
"My son" Raffia had no chance to react, Gangrel's haymaker left him sprawled on the ground with blood dripping from his mouth, dazed and barely clinging to consciousness. The remaining trio instinctively made to lunge at their attacker only for Gangrel to bark out orders
"Nobody move. You have no weapons, your Auras are suppressed and there are over a dozen armed guards outside. Stand down" Carcharodon made a gesture and both Hellion and Onyx stepped back while the Shark Faunus himself stepped into Gangrel's space; attempting to make it clear he would not be intimidated
"Good, now that's out of the way let's keep things professional" Gangrel seemed utterly disinterested in Carcharodon's attempt to unnerve him "Let me make this as clear as I can, I am one of the highest ranking military officials in Atlas, you are on my ship, one of you stabbed my son and all of you were complicit in kidnapping someone I know personally. You were also involved in a failed attempt at raiding a weapons shipment in Atlas and one of my Specialists is in critical condition because of you. Your lives are in my hands right now"
"Why do you Kingdom born cowards need to gloat so much?" Carcharodon sneered "You don't trust your victories, as if you know they won't last-"
"This isn't gloating, I'm just making sure we fully understand each other" Gangrel snarled, metallic claws of his cybernetic arm extending as he reigned in his temper and stopped himself from backhanding the teen in front of him "I honestly don't like being judge, jury and executioner; especially not for a bunch of kids. It's not something I believe in, that being said I was given the job of bringing you in and the sentence will either be life in prison or death
"We choose death" Carcharodon answered simply, the bluntness seemed to throw the Bear Faunus off a little so he continued "We live free or die. The Skia-thirio apo Pagonia-potami are subjects to no-one. If the sentence is death then draw your sword and kill me here and now" Gangrel held Carcharodon's gaze, piercing amber boring into bottomless inky darkness; eventually a grin formed on the older Faunus's face
"Your friends don't seem as certain as you. Luckily I'm here to offer a third option, because I believe in second chances and I recognise potential to be better when I see it, your heavy hitter helped get my operative medical attention after all" Carcharodon cast a glance towards Onyx and Hellion who were helping Raffia to his feet and the fact that the four of them were the last of the cadre, quite possibly the last of their entire tribe and way of life suddenly seemed more real than it ever had before. When he spoke again it was the hollow voice of an utterly defeated terms
"What are your terms?"
"We are not servants Car!" Raffia bellowed "Better our people go into the night with our head high than be lapdogs like the Nikosi!" Gangrel merely cocked his head
"I'd suggest keeping that one under control" Carcharodon visibly bristled though the Bear Faunus paid no notice "As for terms it's fairly straight forward to be honest, the other group involved in the attack on the weapons shipment have so far proven impossible to find. You're going to help me find them" the corridor was deathly silent as the four surviving members of what had been one of the most feared group of raiders on Anima processed what they had just heard. When the silence was broken it was by Carcharodon whose head hung low, it took Gangrel a moment to understand that was being said before he realised that the younger Faunus was listing names
"Sol, Aka, Garnet, Clay, Mizu" when he looked up and met Gangrel's gaze his hands were shaking with a cold fury that seeped into his voice "Counter offer; the Shadow Cadre will assist you on the condition that when we find the people who butchered my people we get to dispense our own justice on their leaders" Gangrel made sure that it didn't show on his face but the sheer hatred on Carcharodon's face was frankly disturbing, it reminded him of Adam Taurus at his darkest; then again Gangrel had seen photographs of the way the Shadow Cadre had been massacred
"I can live with that. I need to know what you know about this group; their name, motives, leadership"
"We never met their leader" Carcharodon rasped "We met a group who claimed to speak for several factions with a shared goal, but the group themselves, they claimed to be their leaders right hand and speak with authority. They had a name"
"What was it" Carcharodon knew of the White Fang and their war against Atlas, how could he not, the Shadow Cadre were born of its' consequences; however he had no way of knowing the effect his next words would have
"They called themselves the Cult of Taurus"
Authors Notes:
And that's the end of first year.
Yes, yes I literally ended a three Volume Arc on a cliffhanger because it is the perfect set up for what's going to be happening in second year.
I'm not sorry.
So let's summarise:
The big ol' bear survived, you all knew he'd be fine; he just got himself a pretty nasty scar to show for it.
Flax is ex Atlas Spec-Ops (He trained at Atlas while Vale didn't have an academy) seeing as New Vale is partially based on Atlas's Hive Cities he's one of the best people to be leading the search and destroy missions if Ruby and Penny are unavailable.
Gangrel interrupting Arctus and Diamond, think back to Gang and Weiss in the Downward Spiral….You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the cock block.
Just remember that Arctus has his equivalent of community service to do over the summer, he's not getting a free pass on the thing with Kafsi; that's gonna put a limit on how much he can talk to Diamond.
Rover and Artemis's daughter, you knew we'd be meeting her this chapter surely? Also I know canonically that two different kinds of Faunus having a child produces a random Faunus….I just think that's dumb as fuck so in my stories the Faunus will be the same kind as one of their parents, in this case Tuscan is a Husky Faunus like Rover.
Arctus's getting his big gun back.
Oh yeah telling Weiss and his little sister "Hey I'm in hospital, I got opened up from hip to shoulder" is gonna go over great.
Eagle needs all the hugs and a years worth of sleep.
Qrow telling Nora about him being Eagle's father is just so everyone is gonna be on the same page in second year, having to have the revelation half a dozen times kinda takes away from it,
The Shadow Cadre are in Atlesian hands now.
Okay so Qrow has his "Bat-Cave" in the basement, he's the one doing most of the active work looking for new incarnations of the Maidens and keeping an eye out for any possible threats, Glynda and Winter are both Headmistresses and have seats on the respective Kingdom's council, it was specifically mentioned but Shade's head (From The Downward Spiral) is allied with them but is primarily concerned with Vaccuan safety, she also has access to the biggest library on Remnant; Ruby and Penny are Qrow's main field agents, though Winter has probably asked Gangrel to bring in a few of his best Specialists.
I actually mentioned that New Vale could lock down parts of its' city at ground level when we first saw it from the air in Chapter 04, but I honestly kind a forget about that so the thing about it not being much use due to there being multiple attacks at once was me covering my own plot hole.
I like the idea that Junior, as corrupt as he is will do everything in his power for the Kingdom because at the end of the day he's still a Vale boy at heart.
I know Qrow listening in on Eagle and Toni was scummy but I needed a way for him to know about Phobos and he hasn't had chance to speak to Felix yet; also come on Qrow is a spy, he does things like that.
Qrow has people on Menagerie, Ruby in Chapter 02 mentioned that she'd been on Menagerie and visited the remaining members of Team CFVY who're operating out of "Port Alistair" I'm not saying Coco, Velvet and Yatsu are some of Qrow's operatives that he doesn't call on much….but they're totally his operatives that he doesn't call on much.
A Skunk Faunus called Pepe Le Puce will never not be funny, he's a first year on Team PSTL who will never be anything other than background characters (Pretty sure Eagle sparred the S in one chapter).
Yeah Helios got fucked up.
And Felix finally admitted it, he think Helios is hot (And also has a massive crush but that's for second year) Battle-Cat shippers, rejoice.
I love that Helios acknowledges that Nyanza can be a bad-ass when he needs to be, when they first partnered up he couldn't stand him.
Corvid was clearly sat at Felix's bedside until Lux forced her to go eat something, which she only did when she was sure that someone would be there when Felix woke up.
Sentinel still functions.
"I know you've had practice" Eagle is pulling no punches.
Yeah that went badly, Eagle who wants to be everyone's friend just flat out saying "Don't talk to me" is up there with "I'm not mad I'm just disappointed" from Ren.
Rhodium Torchwick's Momma don't play.
I'm sorry but the idea of Rhodey trying to have the whole "Prodigal son returns" moment and just getting his ass beat by his Mum makes me smile.
Rhodium is starting a front business and basically hiring all the Hunters/Hired guns that people like the Scavenger Guild go to as well as all the local gangsters and a few failed Hunters and giving them legal, respectable, tax paying jobs; turning them into something like the security firm that Team NEON were assigned to; of course it's all a ploy and he's gearing up for a turf war.
'Dunwitch' Rhodium's Eco-Dust supplier for the drug Booster. What if I told you that the person behind the moniker is someone who's already been mentioned and will become more important later on than you can imagine.
Corvid is definitely the kind of big sister who sees that her brother is upset and decides to pun/dad joke him into submission.
I can imagine Ruby not letting the kids out of her sight for a while after last chapter.
Okay so now Corvid knows that Eagle is technically her Aunt.
Well we have the Killer-Bee back….most of it anyway.
Yes, Team FADE are gonna have a car with a warship scale weapon built into it, because Hunters deserve bad-ass transports.
Atlesian holding cells are tiny, look at the one they kept Roman in. Also the ones on Gangrel's ship are pretty much airtight, soundproof and have a forcefield just outside the door as added security.
Shadow Cadre reunion, because as ruthless as they are those four love each other like family.
Oh come on, you didn't really think Gangrel wasn't gonna deck Raffia for stabbing Arctus?
This story is twenty years after the Downward Spiral and it shows, Downward Spiral Gangrel would have beaten the shit out of Carcharodon.
He's still got his principles though, he's seen how Atlas used to treat people which is probably why Winter made him head of the Specialist Branch; she knows he won't abuse the authority.
"We choose death" admit it, that's kinda bad-ass. How do you even answer that?
The deal Gangrel is giving the Shadow Cadre is pretty similar in essence to the arrangement Gangrel had with Ironwood in The Downward Spiral.
The Shadow Cadre's brand of justice is most definitely going to involve death.
"The Cult of Taurus" Oh second year is gonna be fun.
There are Neo White Fang factions in Atlas, Gangrel is recruiting the Shadow Cadre, Poly-Tech is based in Atlas and most importantly Atlas Academy will be hosting the Vytal Tournament….all roads lead to Atlas in second year.
Thank you to Araniladin, SumoSnipe, FleetOfWarships, Arkanes Shippou, Ferrous, TigerRose, FluffyFirefly and ShadowAlex2000 for their reviews on the last chapter (Also congrats to ShadowAlex2000 for being the 250th reviewer on FF Net)
The Bee lives….it's just a bit broken.
No take backs indeed.
How did I make you cry? WTF?
Yeah Phobos was always gonna be Felix's kill, that's been planned since initiation (Phobos was the same Alpha Beowolf that got away then)
My Hero Academia soundtrack makes everything better I know everyone loves "You Say Run" but I personally think "Sora Ni Utaeba" is great, and Caleb Hyles's cover is amazing.
If either of the Xiao Long kids are gonna join Blake and Yang on a ride it's gonna be Felix. Corvid doesn't have a ride, she flies.
Yeah the twins do have silver eyes, they have Rubies' eyes, freckles and curly ginger hair.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.