Chapter 8: Mayhem
A screech of bloodlust erupted from the largest of Beowolves, challenging all that lay in his sights. The encroaching wave of Grimm fell upon the students in the stadium. All manner of grounded beasts from Creeps to Ursas fell upon the young Hunters. But both their prowess and their unity as teams matched the overwhelming numbers.
Coal blocked an attack from a Beowolf, and kicked it's jaw. As he heard the neck snap from the sudden jerking upward, Azure's blade severed it from the body. Coal rolled away before a Creep could trap him in it's maw. Viridian's sword crashed down on it, more as a bludgeoning tool rather than cutting. Both the Beowolf and the Creep eroded into nothingness.
Keep on your toes, Coal. Seraphina reminded, using flashy moves to dispatch those that approached. Though she was not as skilled as the others in Grimm slaying, due to her minuscule strength, the psychic only needed to slash away with her razor sharp whip. Like a dancer, captivating the eyes of many, she weaved between Grimm. And at her side was Azure, using similar movements, yet more sleek and discreet.
Like I needed a remin- A Boarbatusk rammed its way past the army and flung Coal through the air before he could finish his rebuttal. Damn that witch. She knew exactly what she was doing. Coal reoriented himself, and with the granted aerial position, he shot at the Grimm below with his guns. Upon landing, he used a shield bash to divert the Boarbatusk, before finishing it off with more bullets.
"Aww, you just had to finish it off!" Sylvia shouted, lowering her axe. He only now noticed her coming from the other side, eager to stop the rampant beast. She instead settled for cleaving a nearby Creep in two. Coal hadn't noticed her until now thanks to the chaotic nature of this training. He barely had time to think to himself.
"Coal! On your feet!" Professor Teikoss barked. Positioned in the eye of the storm with his arms crossed, the titan glared at the aspiring Hunter. "The Grimm aren't going to wait for you to be ready!"
"Yes, sir..." Coal grumbled. He dashed back to return to his team. He knew of his own team, stationed to fight off the horde approaching from the South of the training stage. Team Mustard was somewhere. North? East? He couldn't tell. Too focused on trying to keep his neck intact. Two more teams placed elsewhere, all attempting to protect the titan.
Coal rushed back to rejoin the front lines. This training is stupid. It's stupid!
Enough of your bickering. Why can't you be like V? He's enjoying himself. The loud grunting and battle cries emitted from the gladiator could somehow be heard above all the mayhem.
I don't want to be compared to that monster. Another Boarbatusk charged past. Coal cursed briefly before trying to give chase. But before the Grimm could leave his vision, metal coiled around it. Coal saw that Sera had ensnared it in her whip, the other latched around Viridian.
Stop trying to do everything and stay in your position. That's the whole reason everything's falling apart. You keep letting things slip through. She barked as Viridian's giant bolt pierced the Boarbatusk. It gave a pained squeal before falling limp. The gladiator reformed his sword and dragged it through the ground, launching a Creep high into the air.
"Coal! Don't fall behind!" Tyrian shouted from the center. "You're dragging your team down with your indecision! A Hunter must be resolute and steadfast! The beasts of Grimm can smell the slightest hesitation!" Coal grumbled more angry nothings as more Grimm barreled his way.
Aiming for the throat was the best way for him to dispose of a Grimm. But his claws lacked the range and the raw might to be of much else use. Not unlike other training sessions before, Coal felt as though he was the weakest of the four of them. Even Seraphina was capable despite her shortcomings.
It comes with practice. You're focusing too much on your ineptitude. Sera reminded.
What a nice way of putting it. But it did give him the opportunity to think about his role in their group. Even being weak at Grimm slaying doesn't mean he's completely useless. There was a reason he chose dual shields and claws. With a swift movement, Coal dashed in front of Viridian, swiping away.
His attacks, though they sliced through limb and hide all the same, did not deal much damage. But that wasn't important. What was important was whether the Grimm perceived Coal as enough of an annoyance to want to deal with now rather than later. He was correct in his assumption. Several of the Grimm now turned their attention to the aspiring Hunter.
And now began a flurry of dodges and swipes. Coal performed all manner of acrobatic maneuvers to avoid the Grimm's onslaught. All so he could pull their attention off of the ruthless gladiator. Viridian swung his sword in a vicious arc. Coal's form flickered into a haze as the massive pendulum flew through him, destroying many Grimm.
The two continued to work in conjunction, though it was more Coal prepping enemies for Viridian to execute. Using a shield bash to divert an attack that would leave a Beowolf in the lines of the gladiator's next attack. Jumping off the gladiator's massive frame to distract the Grimm from a deadly beheading. Coal spun his body as he fell, drilling his way into the back of a hardy Ursa.
As the ursine corpse vanished, Coal was granted a moment of respite to catch his breath. He exhaled a heavy sigh, feeling the sweat bead on his forehead. But before he could stand back up, he felt a hand grab at the neck of his jacket. Next, he found himself swung through the air, the world spinning in his vision. Then it all stopped as Coal realized Viridian had thrown him.
Coal wasted no time in preparing an attack. He swung back his shielded fist, a sickening snapping of a Beowolf's neck on the target he landed upon. All that force focused in one blow, but even Coal had a hard time believing that was enough to completely kill the Grimm. Not wasting any of the inertia, he kicked away at the body, and both he and the Grimm went flying in opposite directions. He swirled through air, claws outstretched like a whirling saw blade.
Coal! Watch out! But the aspiring Hunter stupidly turned to face Sera, curious what she was warning against. A Creep battered into him from behind. Coal's body flew back, and he had only a moment's time to not be torn apart by angry Grimm surrounding him. Viridian's tamed beast pummeled a path through the crowd.
Thanks for bringing em all together. The gladiator remarked heartlessly.
"What the hell was that?!" Coal found himself blurting, looking back to trace the path the Creep took.
There, the titan glanced the opposite way, saying "Team Passion, you'll be docked more points if you let another Grimm through." Upon noticing Coal's gaze, he seemed to grow more irritated. "Eyes up front Coal!" But Viridian's Grimm had thrown him back before battering the rest. Coal began to wonder, in his brief airborne moment, how he was supposed to keep track of all the nonsense around him. Just the frontlines and his own group was hectic enough.
A Boarbatusk rammed its way past Team Mustard's defenses, spinning rapidly. It made a beeline for the stationary titan. "LOOK OUT!" Coal screamed. The Grimm bashed against Professor Teikoss with unrivaled might. And bounced off. The professor didn't even budge. If not for the fact he was now glancing at the Boarbatusk, Coal would have believed the titan didn't feel a thing. Still spinning, it charged again, but his target wouldn't yield. The Grimm managed to speed past and head directly for the opposite side.
"Team Mustard, you've let yet another Grimm by." He stated in a bored tone. The Boarbatusk zoomed off, breaching through to the fourth team stationed to protect the professor. Other Grimm seemed to fly out after the porcine bowling ball rammed its way through. "Being a Hunter is about more than just fighting Grimm. It's about protecting those who cannot fight. That is the purpose of your vow as a Hunter."
That's something that sounds profound, but when he says it, it seems odd.
Right you are. Sera agreed. It's the Grimm that need protection from him. And V.
"How many innocents will you all let fall before you learn that?" The titan barked once more. "Every breach is life lost, your duty failed. Be thankful for this practice, for in the real world, there are no second chances. Once a life has perished, nothing can be done."
Coal struggled to listen to the professor's insight. He was fighting for his very life right this moment. It only further cemented the fact that he was weak. Practice makes perfect, or so he hoped. Though the thought brought with it another question. If Hunters and warriors hone their skills in their off time, how do vagabonds and criminals become skilled?
(-)
Vale. Such a quaint and bustling city. Ripe for harvest. Beacon. A monument to prosperity. Crime. The sworn enemy of both Hunters and authority alike. Those sleazy chumps really think they're better than us. Roman Torchwick, crime lord in the making, considered the alcohol in his glass while he watched havoc unravel in the club.
White Fang devotees and common thugs brawling like their lives depended on it. Broken weapons, broken chairs, broken glass, and most rare of all, broken teeth flung through the air. Roman tilted his head to the left as an iron ball flew by. Leaning back against the bar, he gave a happy sigh.
"Man, I've missed this place." The crime lord shoved a vagrant with his foot giving a hearty laugh. "The people, the mayhem; home sweet home." He declared for none to hear over the chaos, chugging the beverage. A stray bullet shattered the glass in his hands. Roman groaned over his soiled jacket.
"Wish I could say 'welcome home', but I've made it quite clear you're not wanted here." A man said, seated and facing away.
"Aww, don't be like that, Junior. My offer was more than generous." He watched Neo pour him another drink and hand it to him.
"What offer might that be, huh? You can't be talking about the one where you and your White Fang friends muscle in on my turf. That's impossible. You've nothing to offer!" The exasperated bartender shouted. Junior loosened his red tie, his tired, grey eyes glaring at the crime lord.
A screaming Faunus flew behind the bar, smacking into the shelves. Bottle after bottle slid off and knocked the poor oaf unconscious. "Nothing to offer? We've got five White Fang to every one of your goons!"
"Exactly why this mess broke out. Vale is fat and lazy, just how we like it. Not anymore, with this-" The bartender gestured repeatedly at the White Fang, fumbling with his words. In time, he settled upon spouting out "Riff raff cavalry!"
Roman feigned a shot to the heart. "You wound me, Junior."
"Vale ain't got the resources to support all my boys and your feral flea bags. We struggle to make ends meet as it is! And you wanna quintuple the stress on all that?"
"What I'm asking for, politely, I might add," Roman answered with a quick chug. "Is a cut of your marks. My animals as you so eloquently put it, need to be tempered into fine killing machines. They got a lot of spirit, but we both know that alone doesn't stop bullets."
Junior scoffed, drinking from his own glass, still ignoring the fight breaking out on the dance floor. "Fact is, you ginger pimp, you may have us outnumbered, but we still hold the advantage. Any of my boys can take ten of your extremists any day of the week."
"But, given time." Roman interjected. "The White Fang can do great things for you."
"Hah. Please... We both know the White Fang have it out for me as much as they do the Schnees. In case you hadn't noticed, the police now label most Faunus as criminals. Just for being Faunus. My boys have shed sweat, blood and tears just to be considered a repeat offender! It's no exaggeration to say we're not helping their reputation. So, yeah, sure, we ain't exactly doing favors for the White Fang."
"All the more reason to accept my bargain. Get in the White Fang's good graces."
"It looks to me that they've already got one eager lapdog." Roman cast the stink eye at the bartender after hearing that. Even so, Junior babbled on. "Last chance. Get the hell out of my club." Junior snapped his fingers, and the light and dark twins rose to attention. The two who had slumped in their chairs until now hopped to their feet. Their daring and arrogant poses amused Roman.
"We finally kicking these bozos outta here?" Melanie mumbled.
"Bout time. Things got so noisy since they came. It's giving me a headache." Replied Miltia.
"These guys are so rude. Let's get this over with, fast."
"Ladies, ladies..." Roman declared, bowing his head while grinning ear to ear. "I'm afraid we'll only take our leave after your boss takes our offer." The twins turned their heads to Junior, who only waved him away.
"How dumb can you be? His answer is no." Melanie posed, her stilettos ready to stab away, while Miltia sharpened her claws off of each other, as though filing her nails.
"A true gentleman never raises his hand to a lady." Roman said with an extravagant bow. As his body lowered, Neo came flying through, kicking both girls to the ground. She then hooked one's neck with her umbrella and flung her into the chaotic dance floor. "He sends his right hand to do the dirty work."
"You really think you can leave here alive?!" Junior shouted.
"You really think you can take us?" Was Roman's reply. The music, which had for the most part been drowned out by the fighting, switched tracks. A loud, high tempo song began shaking the speakers. The crime lord could feel the bass in his bones. "Let's dance!"
(A.N: I've come to learn the RWBY series is starting it's 7th Volume. As it stands, I've only seen up to the 5th Volume. Main reason I'm pointing this out now is to get one notable detail of my story out there.
My story is not going to vary or change much because of new information canonized by the series. I've only recently discovered Atlas might actually be a flying city, which I might still be able to work around as I haven't entailed what Atlas was like from the outside. I'm not going to be adding the new characters unveiled in the series into my story.
Basically, this story of mine was already determined from about 30 chapters back, what would happen and how it'll end. Which, by the way, probably won't end until Book 4. The only thing I did change was the Spring Maiden into the Summer Maiden, as Raven Branwen was confirmed the Spring Maiden in the series.
Changes like that are a bit of a headache to work around and come off as hasty attempts of still being a plausible side story that could actually happen in the background. To be honest, that's kind of what I'm going for, but I'm not gonna jump through hoops just to get that effect.
That's the whole point of this story. It's a fanfiction. From a writer's standpoint *Hah, I believe I'm a writer* its important to have the details of the universe settled and figured out. Up until this point, RoosterTeeth has done some things to quell our curiosity with the World of Remnant series.
But it wasn't enough for me to have a concrete idea. So, I've already basically completed the work of how Aura, Dust, and Semblance functions and interacts on my own. If RoosterTeeth comes out with more stuff on how those work and it differs from mine, oh well.
Man, this got really long. Maybe as an apology for the late chapter. Anyway, read on, if you like what you see. If you don't, give me a shoutout on why it sucks. Seriously, any feedback is appreciated.)
