After some refinement, and some minor tweaks here and there, I present you Chapter Two of this fanfiction, I'll say some more stuff at the bottom. But enjoy reading this!
*Unknown Area, Time Unidentified, Date Unspecified*
"Wake up, Mr. Shephard."
Those were the first words he heard as his eyelids suddenly opened. Scared for his life, Adrian jumped once he had awoken, taking in air and panting at a rate only a man dying would do. His eyes darted left and right, he checked where the hell he was, he could see… the Osprey? How long had he been flying then?
"Maybe I was just hallucinating everything…" his eyes looked to the open door, the void was there, but the orbs he had recounted were gone. Nope, I was wrong, THIS IS FUCKING REAL.
He thought to himself, very worried on what was going on. Adrian could see the military crates full of weapons and supplies, still, creepily in the same spot as when he suddenly fell asleep. And the man… that man was standing only centimetres away from him, staring through his soul with those darts that were his cold, green eyes.
Adjusting his tie and loosening his arms, he spoke with that low, commanding tone, it scared him now, scared him more than his drill instructor, or Dwight T. Barnes' voice ever did. He vividly remembered first hearing his shouting for the first time, he was still, though shocked, at his tone as he yelled orders at visibly scared recruits, but this voice, his voice, just emanated fear all over Adrian's mind.
"I am glad to see you awake, and in perfect condition, to say the least. I must apologise for leaving you without… questions to ask, although that is not why I have arrived for your aid. My employers, or, a personal employer of mine has asked for your assistance in… cleansing the world he watches over."
"Cleansing? What do you mean by cleansing?" Adrian asked, very happy he could finally speak his mind. "And who's this employer of yours, you make him look like a god with those words."
The man chuckled, "I assure you, Mr. Shephard, this man is no god, rather, an acquaintance of mine. He hopes you can help steer this world into the right… direction. Although the inhabitants there seem to be doing their job well."
"I'm being sent to an alien world, am I?" Adrian questioned, "Could you perhaps, give me intel on the place or planet your about to send me to?"
The man stopped momentarily, thinking, then stated, "This employer has assured me I am in no obligation to give you any… information of where you will go, as it shall come through others means, but, I can ask, will you accept this offer, Mr. Shephard?"
Adrian paused for a few minutes, he had absolutely no clue where this man was sending him, for all he knew he could end up in the middle of the ocean, or a zombie apocalypse, dystopian future or some Tron-esque land. The man was annoying, clearly holding back useful information he desperately needed.
He didn't like this at all. Yet, the chance to be in the action again, to fight an unknown force. Adrian had always craved a combat experience, Black Mesa being one of them, despite him going through metaphorical hell during those hours there.
It was all up to what he wanted, would he rather be stuck here and be safe, or in the man's words, which he could still grasp, "Convey you somewhere you can do no possible harm. And where no harm can come to you." Or rather than be stuck in this infernal Osprey that seemed to never stop, move forward, forget about Black Mesa, the HECU, the fact that his own government betrayed him and forge himself a new path that he alone could bend to his own will.
It would be hard, but he had to try. Adrian had to consider everything, he couldn't leave any variable out, he had to make the right choice.
And then he did,
"Alright," Shephard stated, "I'll accept this offer of yours, better than staying in this hunk of junk."
The man smiled, but not in a menacing way but rather, something that would be conveyed by a kind-hearted person. He moved back from Adrian's seat and lifted his hand to the right, palm facing upward. The landing ramp slowly opened to reveal a white void, just there, contrasting the darkness outside the open door of the Osprey. "Whenever you see it fit, Mr. Shephard."
Adrian slowly lifted himself from the seat, having not walked for some time, he got himself used to the feeling of standing on solid material. Eyes gazing at the blaring white before him, he took a deep breath before making a running start, feeling his heart pump and the adrenaline run through his veins. Like an eager paratrooper, he leapt towards the blinding brilliance, shouting an audible hoot of excitement as the light engulfed everything, his body, his mind, Adrian Shephard was free at last.
"It is time for bloody evolution, Adrian…"
*The Emerald Forest, near Beacon Academy*
The first thing Adrian smelt was the distinct smell of pollen, and grass. He was in a forest for sure, "Ugh, what the hell, where the hell am I?"
He lifted himself off the ground and got off his feet, checking his surroundings, he could see vibrant green trees swaying slowly with the wind, the grass on his feet was surprisingly healthy and sky was looking exceptionally beautiful.
Checking over himself, his PVC was still on him as well as the clothes he wore while flying to Black Mesa, with the radio too, although he suggested to himself that it would no longer work, his gas mask was on him too, and the HUD was still on, he could see that his health and vest energy were on 100%. Adrian sighed in relief and checked his night vision, "Yep, still works." he muttered under his breath.
Seeing a few boxes coupled within his sight, he walked over and saw a note. Checking it, it said, "The things you have picked up after your… sudden arrival to Black Mesa have been safely secured in these complimentary crates, please use to your discretion. Courtesy of "The G-Man"."
Adrian crumpled up the note and threw it away, Well, that's his name then. Thanks "G-Man", I'll be happy with whatever I get. Adrian went to open the first crate, and was happy to discover in it all the weapons he had picked up during his arrival to Black Mesa, from the Pipe Wrench he had picked up, the laser-sighted Desert Eagle the HECU had given him, even the Displacer Cannon was there, along with a well-lively Shock Roach and Spore Launcher.
Taking out the Spore Launcher first, he patted the living weapon, complementing "Who's a good deadly weapon? You are, yes you are!" The Spore Launcher cooed in excitement as Adrian placed it on the grass to do its own thing. The Shock Roach was next, picking it up, he slowly let the thing's legs grasp on his arm, the legs quickly tightened themselves, bonding with the skin. It didn't hurt really, rather, it gave off a tingling feeling. "Great," Adrian groaned, "I'm going to have to try and get this thing off later, but how, I have no idea."
Looking back at the weapons, he decided to take his M4 with him, along with his Desert Eagle and Pipe Wrench. Taking a few grenades and satchel charges and stashing them into his PCV, placing the Desert Eagle in his pistol holster and the Pipe Wrench on his back strap, he checked the next crate, which luckily for Shephard, was filled to the brim with ammo for all his weapons, even the Displacer Cannon which ran on a material called "Uranium-235".
Taking what he needed and reloading his weapons. Adrian started walking over to the third crate, he was pleasantly surprised when he found his personal items stashed within. DVD cases of movies such as the Star Wars movies, The Thing, Drive, Dawn of The Dead, some John Woo movies he and his HECU buddies enjoyed and… Felicity, really?
He had never remembered buying the movie, but it was a movie none-the-less, although a perverted one to be sure. He remembered his... "No point, I'm trying to forget." He suggested to himself. He could also see books that he had bought, toys that he had grew up with yet no longer needed, his mementos that he had during his time at the HECU, his iPod that held his favourite songs and most importantly, his diary, which was the first thing he saw opening the crate.
"God, damn it, G-Man's making it hard to forget, the bastard." He called out as he closed the crate to keep its items safe. The forth crate was probably the biggest of the bunch, Adrian wondered what was even inside the damn thing, had to be some sort of missile for sure. But before he could open it a howl came from behind him. Readying his M4 and turning, he was two red eyes staring back at him, What the fuck are you? No animal he ever saw on Earth had red eyes, not even the aliens he fought. The creature soon came out of the shadows to introduce itself, and Adrian was for sure interested.
The creature was a wolf, a very big wolf, larger than the average one, with its jet-black fur, it almost seemed like something out of a nightmare. The strangest thing about the wolf was that it had bony protrusions everywhere, a wolf with bone armour to summarise, even the bone surrounded the face, giving it an intimidating appearance. Jeez, looks like the Big Bad Wolf got an upgrade.
He was mixed about this, this was out of his league for sure, yet the challenge, in his mind, was exhilarating. He aimed his M4 at the wolf's head and slowly moved back, "Wanna play fetch asshole?" he asked the wolf. It slowly walked forward, then stopped and raked the ground, It's going to charge at me, Adrian smirked, How predictable. He turned off the safety of the M4, with a full smile under his mask.
"Alright big boy, let's play."
FORGET ABOUT FREEMAN
- JOEL NIELSON (REMIX BY MORCH KOVALSKI), BLACK MESA OST
(0:51)
Adrian was the first to fire, spraying bullets at the wolf as it covered its body with its massive arms. Running back and doing the "hit and run" tactic as taught by his drill instructors, he kept firing until his clip was empty. The wolf took the opportunity to run straight for Shephard, but he managed to roll away before it could ram him, quickly reloading his M4 and firing again, this time with a complimentary M4 grenade to the body.
The wolf was injured, but not down. Charing again Adrian quickly got himself a satchel charge and threw it down while running back again, waiting for the wolf to run over it before detonating the charge and blowing up the belly of the beast, ending its life.
Before he could celebrate another howl was heard behind him and Adrian quickly took his Pipe Wrench, slamming the wolf's head and cracking the bony covering. The wolf did not appreciate this hit and Adrian soon took a claw to the chest. The PVC's vest energy took most of the force, only inflicting minor cuts, with 94% on health and 71% on vest energy. Running away from the wolf he used the Shock Roach to grab its attention, although the shots were quite useless due to its size, the wolf soon charged again.
Placing the Pipe Wrench back, throwing down his M4 and taking out his Desert Eagle, he turned on the laser-sight and aimed for the left eye. The wolf was only metres away when Adrian took the shot, successfully crippling the left eye of the wolf. It howled in pain and held it's left paw over it to numb the sensation, but not before Adrian took another shot at the right eye, essentially now blinding the wolf as it bellowed in a mix of pain and anger.
Adrian took the opportunity to quickly run behind it while it was distracted, placing the Desert Eagle back in its holster and taking out his Pipe Wrench to cripple its legs, each crack of bone only made the wolf angrier, swiping blindly at its target, with Adrian dodged the swipes successfully, although taking the force of two in return, gaining still only minor wounds thanks to his PCV.
With the wolf now unable to move nor see, Adrian took out a grenade and pulled the safety pin, shoving it into its now mutilated right eye and running before the grenade erupted into an explosion, burning the head of the wolf clean off.
[END MUSIC]
Taking a moment to check for any more howls, Adrian looked at the body of the wolf, which was for some strange reason, disintegrating into thin air. Adrian could only look in bewilderment, quietly saying "What the hell, these things don't… die?" before calmly walking over to the fourth crate. Opening it he found that it did not hold a missile at all, rather what he could identify three portable Snark Nests and fifteen canisters of Spore Fruit, with three in each. "Well, that solves that case."
He closed the crate and checked over his current inventory, 1 M4 magazine, 5 Desert Eagle clips, 2 Satchel Charges and 4 hand grenades. His health was at 78% and his vest energy at a severely low 30%. Adrian couldn't afford another fight or he'd lose his life. Adrian swapped his M4 for a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, storing it on his back, his Pipe Wrench with his knife and got himself the Displacer Cannon, carrying it in his arms.
Grabbing the necessary ammo, Adrian eventually elected to leave the crates behind, hoping that no wolves would trash them. Adrian ran towards the brush, hoping that his run could take him to civilisation.
*The Emerald Forest, Launch Pad Area*
Professor Ozpin watch keenly of the strange new arrival as he ran, jumping over fallen logs and crouching under branches. He had seen the man fight the two Beowolves with deadly proficiency, whoever this man was he was certainly a planner, adapting to the situation and thinking of ways to end it. He was at best, better than a normal huntress or hunter fresh out of graduation.
"Don't you think we should take action against this man?! He clearly could harm the students with those weapons!" Glynda asked worryingly, his skill was immense, too immense, for a person his age.
"I assure you Glynda, I don't think this man is here to harm anyone, rather," Ozpin paused as he switched to a different camera, hearing the man worry over his own predicament "Shit, I hope I find some people soon, I seriously need direction on where the hell I'm going at this point." Ozpin smirked a bit, "He's simply lost, hurting the students would only hinder his objective, the students will be fine, even safer with this stranger around." Ozpin stated.
Glynda shot an angry look at Ozpin, but sighed, "I completely hope you're right about the man Ozpin." Glynda muttered. Ozpin took a sip from his mug, wondering how this man would interact with the to-be huntsmen and huntresses in training.
*The Emerald Forest, near Beacon Academy*
"Jeez, this is tiring work, I need some rest." Adrian tiredly said to himself, stopping and finding a tree to lay himself down on. Adrian took the time to take in some air and calm himself, after the fight with those wolves Adrian seriously needed to calm himself for another encounter with those things, he needed all his effort this time, since his suit energy was on the brink of ending entirely. Deciding to ponder on his current situation, Adrian checked over his weapons to see if they were in good condition. While checking over his knife Adrian heard the distinct bang of a sniper rifle, and howls of pain soon after.
Yes! Someone's out there! I gotta get my ass up and double time it! Putting the knife back in its holster and picking up his Displacer Cannon, he ran to the source of the sound as fast as his legs carried him, he didn't want to lose whoever was out there.
Deciding to hide under the brush after hearing several more howls, he eventually reached the source and hid under a bush, peeking out to see who it was. Adrian was completely dumbfounded when he saw a 15-year-old with a sniper rifle of sorts finishing off one of those wolves. Having neck-length choppy hair with dark red on the tips, she adorned herself with a long sleeveless dress, a black waist cincher with red lacing up front and… a skirt?! "Who the fuck wears a damn skirt while fighting wolves the size of Voltigores?!"
Adrian whispered. The most distinct feature of the girl was her red cape, which swayed with the wind as the corpses of the wolves disappeared. "Who is this kid trying to be? Little Red Riding Hood?" Adrian rubbed his temples, clearly annoyed with this as he saw the girl change her rifle into what seemed to be its carry form and strap it across the back of her waist. Adrian also saw a girl slightly older than LRRH beside her, she had white hair instead that pulled back into an off-centre bun tail on the right side, pinned with some sort of snowflake pin, all her attire was based on snowflakes, especially her dress which was stitched to resembles snowflakes.
She also… wore a skirt too, "For crying out loud, what is it with skirts in this forest?" Adrian rambled as the two started to bicker.
Adrian decided it was the right time to reveal himself. Lifting himself from his hiding spot, he was right behind the girls. Calling out "Hey! You tw-
Before Adrian could finish his sentence, the two suddenly turned to face him, the Red Riding Hood look-a-like jumped at the sight at him, comically putting herself in a "please don't hurt me" pose. The girl in white, on the other hand, faced the tip of her rapier towards him, a deathly glare on her eyes.
"WAAAAAAAH! SCARY MASKED MAN STAY BACK STAY BACK STAY BACK!" the red-hooded one yelled, clearly frightened of Adrian's appearance.
"You! Announce your intention or face the wrath of a Schnee!" the snowflake girl stated. Adrian, in an attempt to not die, lowered his Displacer Cannon onto the ground before raising his hands up, signifying surrender. "Hey look kid! I'm not here to hurt anyone!" Adrian firstly stated, "Could you just please, put the damn rapier down!" the snowflake girl initially kept it there, then sighed before putting it down.
"Probably not a good way to start…" Adrian muttered under his breath. Coughing, he announced himself to the two. "Alright, well, the name's Corporal Adrian Shephard of the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit. And you two are…?"
"Ruby Rose, the Grimm slaying extraordinaire! And the cutest huntress ever!" the red hooded one said.
"Ugh, the name is Weiss, Weiss Schnee, the soon to be heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." The snowflake girl blankly stated.
Grimm? Huntress? Dust? Adrian was taken back by these words, he needed answers, now. "So, uh, I'd like to ask a few questions, if that's fine by you."
"As long as you answer our questions as well!" Weiss stated to Adrian, he could only think of how much of a brat she was.
"Fine," Adrian said, "Ok first question, what the hell are the fucking Grimm?"
"Bad word! BAD WORD!" Ruby yelped, covering her ears.
"Silence you dolt!" Weiss ordered, "Anyway, the Grimm are soulless creatures bent on destroying all of humanity, how do you not know this?" She asked rudely. Adrian stayed silent, silence was his best tactic when it came to exchanges, using it against Black Ops soldiers and the Black Mesa guards too. "Dunce, anyhow! What is this "Hazardous Environment Combat Unit" you're talking about?" Weiss asked.
Adrian decided to not reveal much, an overall summary would have to work. "The HECU are specially trained to deal with a variety of indoor combat situations, usually involving dangerous environments and unconventional enemies. Basically, we're the best of the best, right behind Black Operations." Adrian answered, a bit of a venomous tone saying, "Black Operations" was evident too.
He could see that Weiss was confused, noting it by the way she put her hands on her hips. Adrian could hear her whisper "I've never heard of a HECU before. Either this is an exclusive unit from Atlas or this "Adrian Shephard" is clearly out of his mind."
Great, already making a joke out of myself. "Alright my turn," stated Adrian, "What do you mean by 'Huntress', Ruby?" He directed the answer to her this time.
"Umm, we're training to be Huntresses! To slay Grimm and be heroes! Aren't you training to be a huntsman?" Ruby questioned cutely.
"Hehe…" Adrian was stuck, and he would have to lie through it, even if he knew he was extremely bad at lying to others due to his training, especially around his drill instructors. "Well… YEAH! I'm training as… a huntsman! Yeah I am!"
"AWESOME!" Ruby yelled, Weiss just shook her head, Ruby was excited to meet another student, "So uh…" she paused for a moment, staring at Adrian.
"What?" Adrian questioned.
"WHAT'STHATWEAPONONTHEGROUNDISITYOURSDIDYOUMAKEITCANITOUCHITPLEASEPLEASEPRETTYPLEASE!" Ruby rambled so quickly Adrian only understood "weapon" and "touch". Sighing, he picked up his Displacer Cannon and held it out for Ruby to grab, of which she did without Adrian even noticing. Her eyes widened and she only looked cuter as she mumbled gibberish and stroked the Displacer Cannon like it was an average household pet.
"Do whatever you want, but if you get lost because you teleported to an alien world, blame it on yourself." Adrian quickly stated. Ruby suddenly stop and turned her head, facing Adrian, Weiss stared at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean by teleport myself to an alien world?" Ruby questioned innocently.
Shit. Adrian swore to himself, although in his mind. "Uh, I meant… never mind I was just thinking of a movie I guess." Adrien lied, trying to defuse the conversation.
"Oh! That's cool." She said with Weiss face-palming herself, Adrian sighed in relief before holding out his hands. "Could I have my weapon back now?" He asked, Ruby obeyed, but looked disappointed when she gave it back.
"Ok one more question," He coughed before continuing, "What's Dust? Why put ashes so highly anyway? Part of a cult or something?" Adrian joked, the question aimed towards Weiss.
"No! You idiot! Dust is one of the most important materials in Remnant, it powers everything! And no, I'm not part of a cult so shut it!" She argued.
Adrian really wanted to sock her in the face for being so rude, but held himself back. "Jeez princess, I didn't fucking steal your money and throw it into a blender so calm yourself before I stick my boot up your bratty ass."
Weiss was dumbstruck by Adrian's comment, Ruby covered her ears in a desperate attempt to numb Adrian's remark. "EXCUSE YOU! I'LL HAVE YOU-"
Adrian quickly ran behind her and covered her mouth with his hand, Weiss struggling to say what she had in mind as Adrian's grip was quite strong. Probably screaming swears like a banshee. It was the only logical choice, considering Weiss was so self-entitled and 'picture perfect'.
"Hey Ruby, this Weiss girl always like this?" Adrian questioned her, with Ruby nodding. "So, what're you kids doing out here anyway?" Adrian questioned again.
"Oh! We're here looking for 'relics' because the Headmaster said so!" Ruby mentioned, "You can come with us if you want, you don't seem to have a partner." She said.
"I don't," Adrian stated, "And sure, let's leave before those Grimm get us." Letting go of Weiss, he walked with Ruby as Weiss shrieked on and on about how disrespectful he was. Adrian chuckled a bit and Ruby had a smirk grow on her face. He had a lot of questions that needed answering, although with Ruby and Weiss with him, he probably would get them soon enough, if they could reach civilisation, that is.
Well, now that you've finished reading this. If you do know what the title is referring to, good job. You get a cookie.
Now, to answer some reviews, even if it is kinda redundant:
4 - I thank you for the comment lad, I will plan on continuing this until I reach the finale of Season 5 of RWBY, where I'll probably take a short break on this fanfiction and start on a Transformers & RWBY X-over that's currently in the works behind the scenes.
Roboman - No need to thank you due to the fact I've already did that through your DMs, but I hope this looks better now, and not so paragraph-heavy with like 10+ sentences in each one I write down.
I'll say it again, any critique and criticism is appreciated. It'll help me become a better writer and hopefully bring out other fanfictions that'll either match or exceed this one.
Next chapter will certainly have Adrian face off against the Death Stalker, I assure you that.
Until next time, I'll catch you folks soon!