Chapter 8: Mission Underway
It was finally here, they finally tracked down Relius and where they took Hyde, Naoto, and Yosuke. They have arrived at the lab and Kokonoe found a trap door to lead them inside.
"Remember the plan, I'll go with you to find Hyde, Kajun is for Naoto. If you find find Yosuke, send us a message and tell us were you are. After all three have been retrieved, we are to leave immediately, got it?" Kokonoe asked as she tossed them each a communication device, Linne and the others nodded, one by one, they dropped down the hatch.
"We'll meet you guys outside, time to make a scene." Yang smiled as she pounded her fists. Now she gets a chance to really shine, no need to hold back here. The three of them left as Kokonoe closed the hatch. They arrived to a scene of several metal lined corridors, looked like some futuristic dungeon or something. Kokonoe pulled out a map with three circled sections.
"Another thing hidden away with the location was the layout. My best guess is that Hyde will be here. No doubt Relius wants something with his energy. Considering he didn't note anything particular for Yosuke, he most likely might be by his containment area. Naoto might be in this region due to him saying something about a Grim Heart projects." Kokonoe said as she pointed to several different areas in the lab.
" Also, quick change of team members, Chie and Weiss will switch, we need an even amount of force just in case. " Kokonoe said.
"That sounds good, now let's go save our friends." Chie said, she and Weiss went to their new sides and the three teams split down the different corridors. Ruby and Linne used their powers to burst ahead and scout. Yuzuriha and Kokonoe close behind.
Linne ran to a door and stopped. Ruby quickly skidded to a stop as well.
" What did you find Linne?" Ruby asked.
"He's here." Linne said, she recognized thst energy, she pressed a hand on the door. It was locked, much to her annoyance.
"I'll hack it. It'll be quick." Kokonoe quickly caught up with Yuzuriha and she immediately went to work with the door.
"Oh, um, why did we not bring Orie or Makoto?" Ruby asked, it wss a bit strange that they got left out.
"Because I need someone to help watch over the lab. Makoto is also technically an NOL soldier, one that supposedly 'betrayed' the NOL. If she's here, our goal of getting out of here silently will become more difficult. So it would be easier in the teams we have now. Get ready. " Kokonoe said as she unlocked the doors. All of them readied their weapons as the doors opened.
"Hyde? If you can hear us, please say or signal something." Ruby said as they slowly walked into the room. They all looked at the machine in the back of the room. Linne froze as she saw a familiar red and black energy flow away from the machine. she ran forward and toward the center pod.
"Hyde!" Linne pounded on the pod, the others ran over to see why she was upset. Ruby fell down from shock, Yuzuriha staggered back with a hand over her mouth, and Kokonoe growled before running to the computer monitor near the machine.
"No, why..." Ruby has seen many people asleep, but this, Hyde looked like he was dead, even with the blue tinted window, she could see how pale he looked, his chest was dangerously slow and an oxygen mask was keeping him alive.
"Don't worry Hyde, we'll get you out of here, I promise." Yuzuriha said as she placed a hand on the pod. She didn't like seeing him so, lifeless. She made a promise, she's not going to break it now.
"My theory was correct, that bastard is forcefully extracting his Void Red energy. He's being kept in a comatose state so energy levels remain constant for safe extraction. He needs a stimulant to make his body self maintaining again. As for all this energy, it's being transferred to two different locations. Linne, this energy isn't dangerous to a non inbirth or flammable is it?" Kokonoe asked, Linne shook her head.
"I hope this works." Kokonoe pressed some buttons and the stream of energy from the machine stopped. She pressed a few more and energy flow was redirected to a different location completely.
"Alright, energy flow has stopped, I'm transferring the energy to a different location. Until I can figure out how to safety eject him from the pod, find any medicine lying around and bring them here. We need a stimulant if we don't want to lug an air tank along with Hyde to keep him breathing." Kokonoe said, they nodded and quickly began searching the room. Linne glanced at the pod and sighed.
Just hang in there Hyde, you're not dying yet...
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"Naoto! Can you hear us?!" Kanji yelled as they walked through the corridors. Kajun sighed as she slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Don't go shouting, we don't know who else is here. We can't rely that Ragna and the others got their full attention. This is still a stealth operation." Kajun said.
"Where to start though? This place is like a maze." Weiss said as she looked at the walls, an eerie echo as their shoes clicked on the floor.
"Kokonoe said Shirogane would most likely be in this area. However, everything has been quiet so far. Concerning a live subject, he most likely has something running." Kajun took a breath and placed her hand on the wall. she closed her eyes, and slowed her breathing, almost like she was entering some sort of mediation. Sh stayed like that for a good minute, she opened her eyes and pulled her hand away from the wall.
"This way." Kajun said, Yukiko and Weiss looked at her confused but followed her. Kanji took a quick look around before following them.
"How can you be sure?" Weiss asked as she walked beside the lavenderette. Kajun kept her face focused as they navigated the halls.
"There's a consistent flow of Seithr going in this direction. If Kokonoe hasn't informed you, seithr is the term used for 'magic element' a substance that exists in this world. It's as common as is air, however can be depleted in a given area and needs time for it to replenish. The consistent flow means Relius most like is using Seithr to power some sort of machine, most likely where Naoto is. Here." Kajun stopped in front of a door, Kanji, Weiss, and Yukiko readied themselves as Kajun unlocked the door. Stepping inside, the lights were off, the only light coming from the machine in the back of the room and computer monitor to the right of it. Kajun turned on the lights, brightening the room a bit more. she went up to the machine as saw that it was a pod. Inside, was who she expected it to be.
"Just what I'd expect from Relius." Kajun said, Kanji took note of her words and went to the pod. Nearly falling back as a result.
"Naoto?" Kanji breathed, inside the pod was Naoto, her eyes were shut and she looked like she was sleeping. She would look fine if it wasn't for the faint metal plates creeping from over her shoulders and neck, nearly invisible from the thin white clothing over her shoulders and neck, plus the metal band around her forehead.
"Kokonoe, this is Kajun, we found Shirogane. She's in some sort of pod." Kajun said as she spoke into the communicator.
" Same, we found Hyde in a pod as well. The bastard was forcefully extracting his energy. He was put into a comatose state, currently trying to find a stimulant to reactivate his system."
Kokonoe responded through the comm and Kajun sighed.
"No word from Narukami's group just yet." Kajun said.
" Once we get everyone, we're leaving. Try and see if you can safely extract Naoto from her pod. If she isn't also in a comatose state. "
With that, Kokonoe ended the call. Kajun sighed and looked at the monitor.
"Can you wake her up?" Kanji asked, Kajun looked at him briefly.
"Most likely, based on the data he has on her currently, she isn't in a comatose state. She's simply asleep, looks like he took her out of the pod rather frequently." Kajun said, looking through, she noticed a timetable in one of the windows. When she opened it, she was greeted by a bunch of times for the pod. Wait, what?
"What is it?" Kanji asked, he noticed that Kajun became more concerned.
"These are time tables, for her pod. She was just placed back in there a few hours ago." Kajun said.
" That means you can wake her up, right? " Kanji asked, he really didn't like seeing Naoto in such a state.
"I can try." Kajun said, before she could hit any buttons though, the screen flashed blue before turning off. A loud hiss sounded.
"Um, Kanji, Kajun!" Weiss called, they saw the pod door open. Naoto was in full view now, metal plates and armor littered her body, mostly peaking from behind her. Her outfit was that of a simple two piece white skintight suit, exposing her belly. Her arms were covered in a white glove and long toeless socks/stockings went up to her midthigh. A white cloak was around her neck, with small colored decals.
Her eyes opened to reveal an empty blue.
"All systems functioning..."
Elsewhere...
Relius was looking over further projects he could use Hyde's Void Red energy for. It has proven to be very useful in many aspects. As he suspected, the Insulator permanently kills and seals the fate of all who fall under it's blade. In return, small fragments of the souls resided within the blade and energy. He has managed what he thought was impossible, now he has more power to further experiment.
Relius walked over to his work bench where Ignis was waiting. It didn't take long before an explosion echoed from the next room.
"Hazama..." Relius said through a communicator. The person in question chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to exterminate the pests. Let me have some fun first, I'll take care of the rest." Hazama hung up and the door was sent flying. Relius snapped his fingers and Ignis got into an offensive position.
"Alright! Where are you hiding them?!" Yang yelled as she charged through the door. She launched at Relius who summoned Ignis to block her attack and shove her back. Gordeau and Ragna followed suit shortly after. Ignis blocked an attack from Ignis while Relius used one of his machines and mechanical arms to punch Ragna in the gut and send him back.
"That is of no concern for you. Now that you're here, I can test my new upgrade. " Relius did a hand motion and Ignis launched at Gordeau, a familiar stream of red and black energy emerged from her claws and she slashed at Gordeau. He barely dodged the attack as it swiftly cut in half a few metal crates lying around the room. Gordeau landed with a thud and looked at the robot, red and black energy streaming from her claws.
"No way..." Gordeau breathed out as he readied his scythe again. The hostility radiating from the robot was twenty fold compared to when he last fought with that energy.
"It is what you think it is. I have been running several tests, Hyde's Void Red is the most unique and powerful energy source I experimented with outside of seithr. That power radiating from it is close to that of the Azure Grimoire. No wonder that energy fueled the blade known as the 'Immortal Killer'." Relius said with a smile. He raised his hand and Ignis launched at them again, streams of energy coming from her claws and acting like something akin to a whip. Yang blocked the attack as it swung her into a wall. Ragna was able to run past it and attack Relius directly, the two exchanged blows as Yang and Gordeau tried to fight Ignis.
Elsewhere...
Yu, Chie, and Blake ran through and checked all the holding cells Relius had in his base. Only to find all of them empty. The comm Kokonoe gave Yu rung and he asnwered it.
"We read you." Yu said, Kanji's voice emitted from the device.
"Narukami, we found Naoto, Kokonoe's group found Hyde. They're both in some sort of futuristic stasis pod. Kokonoe and Kajun are trying to figure out a way to 'safely extract' them as they said. Anything on Hanamura?"
"Nothing on our end so far. Get them out of there and call us when you safely got them out. We'll let you know if anything comes up." Yu said, Kanji gave a quick ' roger that' and ended the call. Yu sighed a bit with relief. That's already two of the three they needed to get out of here. If everything goes well, they will be able to get all of their friends out with minor diffilculties.
"Where is he?" Chie mumbled as she checked room after room. Yu and Blake not having much luck either.
"He's here, I can sense him, but I can't find him." Yu said as he looked around the room, if only Rise was here, her persona would definitely help in this endeavor.
"My, my, look who we have here." The group froze as black dress shoes clicked on the metallic floor. Hazama came walking toward them, a smile on his face and a hand on his fedora.
"Hazama, was it?" Chie asked as she took a combat stance, Blake readied her weapon and Yu drew his katana.
"My goodness, suspicious of me already? We just met, although I heard kids like you don't have many manners." Hazama said, the group glared at him, Blake especially, he reminded her too much of Roman. Moreso like a cranked up version of him, he didn't try to hide it either. He knows they're here.
"Let's get straight to the point. Where is Yosuke Hanamura?" Blake asked, taking a step forward. Hazama raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? My dear old tag partner, I don't want to say, it'll ruin the surprise. Is it a good guess to say two other groups of your friends came as well to look for Hyde and Naoto?" Hazama asked with a sly smile. The statement made them concerned, he was aware at least somewhat of their plans.
"Listen Hazama, we know who you really are. We are not scared of you, so tell us where Yosuke is before we have to force you." Yu said, pointing his katana. The action made Blake raise an eyebrow and Chie to look at him surprised. Yu glared at Hazama, Yosuke was his partner, and told them how he felt something was off about Hazama when they were teamed up in the Phantom Field. Yosuke and Naoto were his dear friends, so was Hyde when he saved Yukiko and teamed up with him to fight Jin and Jubei, there's no way he's leaving either of them behind. Most likely course of action would to keep Hazama occupied until Naoto and Hyde were safely extracted.
"Oh? Who I really am? Tell me then, I would be interested in your answer." Hazama said, still keeping an unnerving calm facade.
"Your real name is Yuuki Terumi. One of the former six heroes, one of the strongest, deadliest, and cruelist. One of the few who answer directly to the Imperator, and had no qualms about killing your former teammates." Yu listed off, his gaze never straying from Hazama's form. Hazama was silent, before he began to laugh, he laughed and laughed. Chie and Blake took a step back at how unsettling and crazy Hazama was acting. His fedora suddenly flew off, his eyes shot open, revealing glow yellow reptilian eyes, his hair sudden stood up on end, looking spikey and his once neutral to cool face turned to that of a sadistic smile.
"Oh? Well congrats, you know who I am. Ten points to you, your reward, me personally ripping your face off! Or better yet, just rip the faces off of your friends!" Terumi cackled, Yu stood his ground while Chie and Blake looked shaken. Hazama just changed in an instant, they needed a plan of attack.
"Terumi, I'm aware of what you can do. You feed off of hatred to fuel your powers. I have some things to tell you." Yu said, trying to keep his building rage inside his body. He took a breath, and calmed down. Terumi simply looked at him with an annoyed glare. Yu closed his eyes momentarily.
"And what does that shit have to do with anything?" Terumi asked as he watched the silver haired teen stand his ground.
*"Two things Terumi: 1. You were able to do so much damage and cause so much pain in this world due to having years of experience learning about them, but we're a new factor, so you don't know anything about us and can't manipulate us like you've done others. And 2. You're power may come from others' hatred of you, but I will always love my friends more than I could ever hate you." Yu stated, opening his eyes with detemination.
"Izanagi!" The silvery persona materialized and they both shot forward towards Terumi. The former hero laughed and dodged the attack, sending Ouroboros to strike at Yu, Izanagi quickly blocked the attack before vanishing. Yu launched at Terumi as the latter pulled out his knives to block the attack. Breaking from their place, Chie and Blake launched themselves at Hazama-Terumi. Blake transformed her smaller blade and began to shoot at Terumi, Chie summoned her own persona and launched an attack. Terumi tauntingly dodged the attacks and sent Ouroboros to tangle Blake's ankle and send her flying into Chie. Yu tried to make a stab at Terumi with his katana, only for something to knock it out of his hands. The figure shoved him back and landed next to Terumi, in a black NOL Intelligence uniform, kneeling still and facing the corridor behind Terumi. Terumi replaced his fedora and Hazama came back. His eyes closed and that sly smirk returned to his face as his hair fell under the hat.
"Love your friends more than you could hate me? Are so sure about that?" Hazama asked, he snapped his fingers and the figure stood up and turned around. Chie and Yu nearly felt their hearts stop.
The figure in the uniform was Yosuke, except his face was empty, void of emotion, and his eyes were slightly lidded, like he was tired, but they were also glowing an eerie green.
"Courtesy of Phantom, Yosuke is now my partner. You wouldn't believe how much fun he was, can you still stay true to your statement?" Hazama asked, placing a hand on Yosuke's shoulder. The auburn teen not responding in any way. Yu felt the rage boil in his chest, Chie as well. Yosuke was someone who should never have such an empty look on his face. A face usually filled with jokes, flirts, and sometimes idiotic moments, should never look like it was ready to die. That wasn't Yosuke, not the one they know.
"What did you?" Blake breathed, seeing the teen in such a state made her uneasy.
"Oh, a spell courtesy of Phantom, I won't say anything, but let's just say dear Hana-chan here won't be disobedient anytime soon." Hazama said with a smile, Yu tried to keep his anger down as Hazama taunted them by playing with one of his knives near Yosuke's neck. Especially with how Hazama was handling Yosuke.
"But, I am a busy man, have places to be, intruders to eliminate. Dear Hana-chan, please take care of these intruders. You are a member of the NOL and under my command. Please make sure they don't leave." Hazama said, with a smile. Yu saw him turn his back, thankfully making him further away from his mind-controlled friend. He ran forward, grabbing his discarded sword, and made an attack. Only for his blade to be blocked by a large kunai. He looked and saw Yosuke's form block his attack without question. With a strong shove he pushed Yu back to where Blake and Chie were.
"Hanamura! You idiot! Snap out of it!" Chie yelled, Blake opened the device and managed to send a quick message to Ruby and Weiss' groups.
Hazama knows, he's in pursuit, be careful
Blake sent the message before focusing on Yosuke. A person she had to figure out how to handle, keep them alive while trying not to die. She nodded to Chie and Yu, and charged forward with a new plan.
Elsewhere...
"I found something!" Ruby called as she ran over to Kokonoe with a vial, Kokonoe looked at the label and sighed in relief.
"Good, this is the medicine we need. I figured out how to disable the pod. Linne, stand here and press this button when I give the signal. Alright?" Kokonoe asked, showing the button to Linne, she nodded and got ready. Kokonoe looked around before finding a syringe. She filled the syringe with the medicine and walked over to the pod.
"Yuzuriha, Ruby, come with me." Kokonoe said, the other two girls followed her toward the pod. She signaled Linne to pressed the button. The pod hissed as the door rose to reveal Hyde's form. Cloaked in the experimental robe, IVs, oxygen mask, and restraining metal cuffs, he looked deathly pale with bags under his eyes despite being asleep. Yuzuriha felt like she was going to pass out from seeing her childhood friend in such a state, and Ruby felt like she was going to vomit from the sight.
Kokonoe got to work quickly. Removing the IVs, and mask before injecting the medicine into Hyde's arm. After pressing some buttons on the pod console, the cuffs opened and Kokonoe told Yuzuriha to gently take him out. Yuzuriha gently lifted and lowered Hyde's body out of the pod. He felt lighter too, Yuzuriha carried him bridal style when Linne felt a message come up on their communcator.
"Hyde..." Yuzuriha breathed as she looked at her childhood friend. She didn't like seeing him like this, at all. It felt wrong, they needed to get him out of here.
"Guys, we need to hurry. Hazama's on his way." Linne said, Kokonoe growled.
"Alright, then, we better hurry. Considering how she told us, it's safe to say Hazama already ran in with her group. C'mon, Yuzuriha, keep an eye on Hyde. The rest of us will guard you until we get out of here, or until we kill the asshole." Kokonoe said, Ruby ran with them as they left. She had questions, but they could wait until after they got Hyde to safety. Moreover, she wasn't comfortable with how Kokonoe so easily says 'kill' to a person. It makes her question how bad things are here, if this world was able to use such words so easily, with no remorse, what exactly happened here? How can this world believe human life was so expendable? It didn't seem right. Not to mention that Kokonoe said it like she personally was mad at Hazama, she didn't know, but Hazama must've done something to Kokonoe to make her act like thay.
"Oh? I caught you just in time." Ruby froze at the voice as they stopped. She looked up to see Linne and Kokonoe standing defensively in front of Yuzuriha and Hyde. Hazama stood before them, knives drawn.
"Ah! Miss Rose, it's been a while since we last spoke. How have you been?" Hazama asked, Ruby couldn't help but notice how natural Hazama said it, so natural and casual, like he was unaware of the fact that he kidnapped a boy in order to drain his energy.
"Enough with the damn games Terumi. We're leaving here, whether you like it or not." Kokonoe said, her eyes glaring at Hazama.
"Oh? I don't like that at all, can't have you leaving here with our precious power source. Relius is already dealing with your little, ah, distraction. So I'm taking him back, such a shame to see you youngins end so early." Hazama said, taking off the fedora, eyes opened. The sadistic smile returned.
"Get ready to have your skulls crushed!" Terumi cackled, Ruby readied her scythe, ready to fight the person she first thought was a friend.
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DUn, dun, duuuunnnnn
Recue Operation: Part 1 completed. Definitely would like to hear thoughts on the first part. Now it's mainly going to be a collection of fight scenes and personal thoughts for the next two parts.
As for time tables, this story takes place sometime before and during Chronophantasma with a few plot changes (mostly involving Ragna). It also takes place a month before the Vytal Festival/Volume 3 of RWBY.
* Special shoutout to 'Mystech Master' for being kind and letting me use this wonderful line (apologies if transition is bumpy).
I'll see you guys in the next chapter ;) have a good day.
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Also, here's a playlist of BB soundtracks I listen to during this whole operation. (Playlist will expand in next following chapters)
Ragna, Yang, and Gordeau vs Relius and Ignis (Plastic Night (Relius Clover theme) or Rushing Heart (Gordeau Theme))
Yu, Chie, and Weiss vs Yosuke (Silent Scream (Terumi Theme))
Kanji group (Imperial Guard (Noel vs Jin theme))
Linne, Kokonoe, Ruby vs Hazama/Terumi (Gluttony Fang (Hazama Theme))
