AN: Don't forget to tell me your opinion. Have fun.
In the land of Mistral, Ace, riding his Demon Rider while playing music, was getting closer to finding Raven Branwen.
It took 3 days of traveling and searching in the reports and the signs of direction that leads to the bandits.
First of all, Raven either should teach them a lesson or kick them out of the tribe because this was stupid for a people that known to be deadly but in truth, you could count on your fingers the people that could stand against professionals, and that could help to detect their location if you tried to search well.
Secondly, they should find another job instead of this nonsense that leads to prison or death, and Ace had no problem with both. But he ain't stay for long. He would have a cup of tea with Raven, go back to Patch, have more time with the family, return to Beacon, and start the action.
Combining it with the reports that appeared about bandit attacks helped Ace narrow the location of them.
He stopped at a nearby gas station as his last place to stop and refuel the food supply. As he turned off the engine and stopped the music, he entered the store next to it and looked around. He saw the cashier who resembled your good old fat, smelled like alcohol, had a weapon to protect himself sometimes, and sat lonely for most of the time man. Another thing about this store was that it was surprisingly clean and it was not that common to find many gas stations clean in Mistral. So, either he cleaned the place whenever there wasn't anybody out of boredom or another person who cleaned.
"Well, well, hello, sir. Not many people come around here. How can I help?" The cashier greeted.
"I just need some food to eat before I continue to my search." Ace replied as he went to find any food.
As Ace was searching, he noticed the cashier looking at him but ignored him. But Ace was expecting him to ask and was ready at any moment for his question. After he got what he needed, he put them on the table for the cashier to scan them.
"Say, are you young to come here alone? This place can be quite dangerous." The cashier asked while he start scanning.
"Nah, I just need to find Raven Branwen and finish a few things with her." Ace said.
The cashier looked at Ace in shock. He thought that Ace was getting himself to death. "W-Woah, kid. You can't just go there and ask her out! Do you know how dangerous she and these thugs are?"
"Ha! These people aren't so strong." Ace laughed. "They're strong just because Raven is leading them while in reality, if you removed Raven, these dumb fuckers won't stand a chance against professionals."
"Really? If you say that, then a small group of professional hunters can get rid of them. I would see that anytime and have them beaten."
"Yep." Ace said as he took the bag of food.
Ace walked out of the store and headed to the Demon Rider. Upon arriving, he saw 3 people standing next to his baby and examining it. From the look and clothes they wore, these were thugs from the Branwen tribe or maybe another.
"Gotta say, this baby is rocking. We can have quite the cash from selling it." One of the thugs said.
"Your right, Champ. With how good this looks, many would pay nice cash for it." Another one said.
"Excuse me, gentlemen." The three thugs turned their heads to see Ace who carried the bag of food and the keys of the motorcycle in his other hand. "I ask you nicely to get away from my baby because I'm in a hurry and I need to meet a certain person before I head back to my home."
"So, that's yours! Man, you're lucky that you have something like that. But I, unfortunately, won't do that and we will take it." One of the thugs approached him and stood face-to-face with Ace. His face had some scars and a long beard. He wore a brown shirt, blue jeans and carried a gun on his belt. His body was big but his brains were zero.
"Ya know, I was being nice to ya, but my ride ain't for sale, Motherfucker." Ace said in a serious tone, making the other two stand.
The one guy on the left had Mohawk hair, a red scarf warped around his mouth, a mix of brown and yellow shirts, and brown pants. The other guy on the right, who was referred to as Champ, was bald, had a scar on his eye, wore a black shirt and jeans. Both of them had weapons hidden inside because they were thugs and needed to defend themselves from Grimm or hunters.
"So, we take your motorcycle, you go on your way, and everyone is happy, deal?" The big guy said.
"Deal." Ace said before he head butt the big guy on his chest, making him fly towards Champ and falling on him.
The guy on the left saw his friends on the ground and became angry so he turned to Ace and, without any warning, a fist came straight to his face, making him stagger before another fist came and knock him on the ground. Champ got back on his feet and pulled his dagger to stab Ace. As he approached him, Ace dodged it and grabbed his wrists with his left hand before he attacked a forearm with an open palm with enough force that broke his bone.
CRACK
"GAHHH!" The thug got on his knees from the pain. But this wasn't enough as Ace drove his knee to his face, making him unconscious.
"You little shit! You will gonna pay for it!" The big guy stood back on his feet and tried to pull his gun. As he looked at Ace, a coming back elbow came straight to his before a coming fist from Ace landed on the guy's jaw, knocking him on the floor. Ace turned to see the left guy trying to stand back. So, Ace flipped on the Demon Rider, and without the guy's noticing, he kicked his knees from the back and gave him an attack from his elbow to the thug's left side of his face. After that attack, Ace didn't stop as he grabbed the thug from his throat and left him to slam him on the ground before he kicked his face to knock him unconscious. He finally turned to the big guy and saw that he tried to look for his gun. Ace took the chance and went behind him without him noticing. The big guy was able to find the gun and smirked. He turned quickly and aimed at Ace and pressed the trigger. Unfortunately, Ace was near him before and quickly changed the direction of the gun to his left foot so the bullet went straight to his feet.
BANG CRACK
The fast movement of Ace made the bullet comes out from the gun towards his left foot, breaking his leg's bone.
"GUAHHH!" The big guy cried out of pain. He tried to crawl and tried to shoot Ace again but sadly, Ace caught his gun and aimed it at him. Before the big guy talked, Ace, shot another shot on the right foot, making the pain increase. His voice of screaming out of pain makes music in Ace's ears.
Ace chuckled at them before snapping the gun to half with his knee and going to grab his bag.
"H-HOLY! DAMN, KID! YOU SHOWED THEM WHO IS THE BOSS!" Ace saw the cashier exclaiming happily. "I owe you a one, kid. These crumps are very annoying and come to take my money or anything they want for free. I can't believe this what I saw but they are weak against someone who knows what he does!" The cashier acknowledged Ace and the blue-haired boy responded by nodding.
"Say, is there any police around here?" Ace asked as he rode the Demon Rider.
"They take 10 minutes to get here."
"Well, call them to get these idiots and tie them up before they run away." Ace said before he drove forward.
…
After a while of driving in the forest, Ace was getting bored of it, but that won't be enough. Ace's plan was if he didn't find Raven, he would go back to Patch and try it again after the tournament or if Raven was visiting someone in Beacon.
While driving, smoke was seen from the northeast from his position, so he drove to it. As he got closer, he started smelling it. The smell didn't feel like a fire forest, it feels like something was getting cooked and made it open in the wide. Ace stopped at a spot near the place, turned off the engine, and headed to the spot where the smoke comes out, hoping that's a good thing.
As Ace got closer to it, the blue-haired boy noticed a giant wooden wall with sharp tops on it. Ace raised his goggles and smirked, "Gotcha!"
Ace became so near to the wooden wall and saw the door of it with two guards next to it. One of them was wearing a leather jacket, brown pants, brown eyes, and had brown hair with 'unexpected' fallen teeth from his mouth. His skin was a bit brown with a little facial hair. He had a small sword next to him. The other was a skinny man with long dirty blond hair and gray eyes. He had stubble around his mouth. He wore a dark blue and gray jacket with torn sleeves over a long-sleeved shirt, a bandana around his neck, a shoulder pad on his right shoulder, brown leather fingerless gloves with straps, and brown pants with boots. From his look, Ace thought he was Shay D. Mann aka the guy Yang beat him and led her to the tribe.
"You see, my friend, staying here can be boring but as a guy who's sitting here for a long time, it became a normal thing. It gets crazy when some people or the weather gets funny to make this dangerously interesting." Shay said.
"Right. Right." The guy guarding next to Shay nodded. After a few seconds of silence, "Hey, do you ever wonder...why are we here?"
"Yeah, I know why are you here, little asses." Both men turned to see a trespasser coming from the front. "Is this the Branwen tribe?" He asked.
"What do you say if we told you!" Shay said as he and the other guy pulled their weapons.
"Oh, finally! I will have some talk with good old Raven." He exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles and neck.
…
From the inside, there was a young woman with tan-colored skin, short brown hair, and icy blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wore a light brown vest with dark brown panels on the top and a dark brown buckled strap on the back, over a torn white shirt that was partially unbuttoned revealing what appeared to be a black bra, alongside a collar that appears to be slightly turned up behind her neck.
She wore maroon-colored jeans with the right side rolled up to her thigh revealing the dark pink lining alongside a brown belt with a pouch attached to the right side. She also wore dark brown calf guards with one having a garter styled strap that went under her rolled-up pant leg. She wore a pair of beige and dark brown lace-up boots with folded over sides, showing over the white lining accompanied by a pair of maroon socks that partially covered her calf guards.
She wore dark brown fingerless gloves of different sizes, with the right being wrist length with a large cuff whilst the other was elbow length and covered with a dark brown armbrace. Lastly, she wore a narrow dark brown choker strap around her neck.
This was Vernal aka Raven's right hand and the decoy of the Spring Maiden.
Vernal looked displeased. It was because one of the idiots was cooking a big wild pig for dinner. It was not that she didn't like it, it was because the smoke of it spread quickly and can be smelled from outside. Raven warned a lot about cooking without covering the smoke as it attracted animals and unwelcomed guests to the place.
"Brady! How many times do we have to say stop cooking like that? Don't you remember the last time you did it like that?"
The guy who Vernal referred to, Brady, remembered it very well but most likely he wouldn't listen. "I know, Vernal. Don't worry this time. It's not like something will come here."
"Whatever." Vernal rolled her eyes and went to a large tent where Raven stays.
BANG
Vernal turned to the sound. The sound was a gunshot that came from outside.
CRACKLE
This time, the sounds of the wood behind getting hit came, making everyone in the tribe turn to it.
CRACKLE
The sound of someone or something hitting the wood got repeated. Vernal pulled her weapons which were two crescent-shaped blades, each with a ring-shaped center. The large outer blades had hooked points that pointed back toward the grip. They had four smaller blades located in pairs above and below the grip, which were wrapped in red cloth and curved to form part of the middle ring. The large outer blades were capable of collapsing towards the grip. Other bandits started to pull their weapons.
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE
Hearing the sounds of hitting got louder. Vernal noticed something from the door as the face of someone got printed on the backside of the door, making her in the fighting pose.
After a few seconds, everyone saw that the giant door of the tribe had been kicked by someone.
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen for the noisy sounds I made, but these two weren't that nice to deal with." Ace fixed his collar like some sort of nick tie and formal tone. "Can I meet Raven Branwen at the moment before I kick your asses?" Ace demanded in a not too formal tone
"Huh! You have to pass through us first. Now, get back from where you came, and don't ever come back." Vernal threatened Ace while pointing her weapon at him, followed by other bandits.
Meanwhile, a woman wore an outfit that consisted of a shallow cut black and red dress with black shorts underneath, with a series of beaded necklaces and a belt that wrapped around her waist and carried her weapon's sheath. Attached also was a long black object that was either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material hanging from behind her. Her forearms bear red armored gauntlets that protrude outwards and black fingerless gloves. She wore black mid-thigh high leggings with red splatter patterns and black heels. She had long black hair and bright red eyes, in the exact shade of Yang's when she becomes angry or activates her Semblance. Raven was hearing the noises from outside but didn't bother herself to go.
Meanwhile, Ace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that it was a good option before the fighting option.
"I SAID, I WANT RAVEN FUCKING BRANWEN! RIGHT! NOW!" Ace yelled in a different tone. A dark and demonic voice. His red eyes started glowing and a radiating blue aura appeared. "LISTEN UP, RAVEN! I KNOW WELL THAT YOU'RE SITTING THERE! GET OUT OR I WILL FUCK YOUR TRIBE UP! AND YOU," Ace pointed on the bandits, "DON'T TRY ANYTHING FUNNY OR I WILL GIVE YOU THAT JOKE BACK AND THEN SOME!"
With a high note warning and a radiating dark aura, Vernal didn't think twice and went inside the tent where Raven stays.
"Raven! Someone wants you right now and he seems too serious for us to handle." Vernal said.
Raven sighed. She knew that she had to answer or this guy will beat her tribe like a bunch of dolls. She stood up with her Grimm mask and covered her face with it.
She stood outside to see her tribe shaking in fear from one guy. Raven observed the guy who made her tribe shake in fear and from one look, she knew that he was strong and one wrong step can end this place in a few minutes.
"So, you're the guy that asked me? No wonder why you're that strong. It requires the courage to come here and ask me personally." Raven crossed her arms.
"Oh, hey, Raven." Ace suddenly turned the mood and waved happily, "You're the person I was looking for."
"And why? Did someone send you here?"
"What? Nah, nobody knows anything about it." Ace answered playfully. Raven narrowed her eyes and got her hand close to Omen. "Now, no need to violence, Raven. I just came here to talk." Raven stopped from what he said. "I know what are you asking but that doesn't matter right now."
"What do you want to know?" Raven asked with caution.
"I don't need to know anything, Raven. I know many things about you." Ace said as he started walking to Raven. "I know that you were born in this shithole. I know that you went with your twin brother to Beacon and had a team called STRQ." Mentioning this information made her freeze. How did he know about that? "I also know that you had a daughter with your friend, Taiyang that looks like a complete mix between you two. Then left her with him for this shithole because you're supposed to be avoiding an important fight while in reality, you're too arrogant to admit that you're scared." Ace became near and walked up the stairs and stood face-to-face with Raven, "And you are having the key for an important weapon in the form of you but hiding it in poor Vernal" Ace leaned forward and whispered the last part, making Vernal freeze in shock who was able to hear it.
Okay, the previous information can be gathered from her old teammates and the Headmaster if they trusted you in it, but mentioning the Spring Maiden! Raven saw how big her situation was right now. He knew more than what she does. But that won't be enough to scare Raven. Except if you brought Salem to her door.
Raven pulled her mask. Ironically, she looked like Yang but a darker version. Raven narrowed her eyes and looked closely at the person that stands in front of her. She knew that a guy like him will be strong and not afraid to throw an insult right to her face, so she's avoiding it.
"Well, how about we sit down and discuss what you want?" Raven offered.
…
Inside the tent, Ace and Raven were sitting on the floor, between them a wooden table with cups of tea on it.
"So, what do you like to discuss?" Raven asked as she grabbed her cup of tea.
"Salem, of course. That topic is very huge like you know." Ace also grabbed his cup of tea.
"For starters, all of us are tricked in this world. We are secretly fighting in a war against an unknown and powerful evil, and that evil is Salem. And Ozpin helps her in it." Raven explained.
Ace heard what Raven said and couldn't contain his laugh. "Hahahaha!" Ace laughed loudly with a small tone of sarcasm in it and slapped Raven's shoulder like she was a friend to Ace, making Vernal shocked at how disrespectful Ace was at the moment.
"Hehe! Oh, Raven, were you trying to test me or trick me?" Ace questioned, knowing that Raven was pretty much lying. "I told you that nobody has any fucking idea about me, not even old Ozzy, at the moment, but that doesn't mean that I will believe such a lie. Do you think this lie will work on someone that knows what is he dealing with?" Ace took a sip of his tea.
"So, you aren't one of Ozpin's fools? I was expecting that, but with that laugh and disrespect you had, I knew that you're here to talk." Raven said as she took another sip of her tea.
"Ahem! Well, Raven. I came here to discuss helping us in fighting Salem. That's all I ask." Ace offered.
Raven narrowed her eyes at him and got a bit pissed, "No! I won't join this hopeless war, whatsoever. Because I-"
"I don't care about your reasons Raven because I know exactly why. I want you to start helping us from underground until that bullshit gets serious." Ace interrupted Raven.
"The answer is still no. Fighting Salem is a dead end to me, you, and everyone. I saw how powerful she can be, Ace."
"Me too, Raven. The difference between me and you, however, is that I tried to fight her and you are too scared to do it."
"Don't you understand, idiot? There's no win in this fight. Only suffering."
"THERE'S A WIN, RAVEN! YOU'RE TOO SCARED AND ARROGANT TO ADMIT IT!" Ace's outburst on Raven. "I believe we had a chance if we worked together and thought very well on how we fight her."
Raven hit the table with her hands in anger, "NO! YOU don't know what are you talking about! Did you even fight Salem or meet her face-to-face?"
"Oh, I had my ways, Raven. She's yet to know about me but I know a few points we can use. SIP She's powerful, but she is not invincible. She's immortal, but we can use her healing for a small advantage or using the time to breathe and run away. She can be tricked if you were powerful enough like illusions, etc. SIP How do I know? That's a secret." Ace winked at the last part. "The relics can be a key but that will be a huge problem if Salem got her hands before us. And by a huge problem, I mean Remnant is fucked up and nobody will help when the choices get limited. There's a win, Raven. It's hard, but not impossible. It will cost a lot of our mental health, but we will deal with it without depending on suicide. I'm telling you, we can win. It's that we're too scared to do it. Myself even. I also know what she will do but I ain't telling you anything more than that." With that, Ace took a long sip of the tea, finishing it.
Raven thought for a moment, how someone young like him met Salem and no, fought her even? Was he tricking her or what? Because if he wouldn't talk about anything and hides too much information, then he's too dangerous to be left alive.
"Anyways, I would have liked to stay more but I have Beacon to attend in two weeks from now." Her thoughts got interrupted by Ace getting up. "This offer will be on the table, Raven and you better start thinking well. Salem won't let you rest once she knows that you had the Spring Maiden. SHE will knock on the door and ask for help in getting The Lamp of Knowledge and good luck trying to get away from her. Besides, I'm sure Yang will like a mother-to-daughter moment that is full of 'emotion and reunion' so don't forget her because she will have a somewhat role in the future." Ace got out of the tent, leaving Raven before she also got up. "Also, good trick but it's useless." Raven saw Ace's head and on his face a smirk before he stick his tongue out like a child.
As she got out of the tent, Ace was heading outside of the tribe. "Now, if you considered talking, you know where to find me." Ace turned one last time before sprinting outside.
As he got out, Vernal stood near Raven, looking concerned. "Did he-"
"Yes! And somehow didn't sleep to it." Raven exclaimed angrily. She planned to prison Ace because of the information he had and interrogate him at what he knew but the plan failed somehow.
"What will you gonna do with that problem?" Vernal asked, still concerned.
"I will take care of this, later," Raven said as she went inside her tent.
Meanwhile, Ace was running outside to his Demon Rider that had been sitting there and nobody touched her. So, he rode the Demon Rider and ran the engine. Before he went on his way, Ace checked in the smart screen of the motorcycle for the boost option. Ace pressed it, making a pair of booster pipes come out from behind. Then, he processed to go and activate the boost at the same time, making him go like a rocket.
"Whoa! Yeah!" Ace exclaimed at how fast he was at the moment. Thanks to Violet's upgrades, he can return quickly and with the new fuel system, he can not be stopped.
…
A few days later after meeting Raven, Ace was going like the rocket. He went through many forests, small towns, mountains, and the good old mother of nature when she got in a bad mood to get to Vale. Yeah, Ace was driving while it was raining above him. It was not a bad thing for Ace when he drove because his goggles protect him from the water, it was the fog that made it hard sometimes to navigate. Thankfully, the sensors were detecting any natural or human obstacles in his way so that he can slow and turn better, but a better option was getting inside a shelter or anything until the rain stops. Another problem was that there was no civilization around, so he kept moving which was positive, as he could save some time before he continues.
Ace huffed as he got bored from the rain, especially how strong it was getting with the only thing that made him drive forward was the music that helps him go forward.
"Come on, baby. We can find a place or so…" Ace said to himself as he took a glance around him.
He saw something familiar to him. A mountain with the top of it being oddly edged out and a statue of someone that seemed familiar to him even though he didn't know anything about it. A moment later of driving, he realized something.
"N-No." Ace muttered under his breath. He slowed the Demon Rider bit by bit to not slip in the mud underneath him. "No...Not this place."
Driving forward, he started to remember this place. A place that held a painful memory to him. This odd place that Ace knew very well.
The past made his reunion sooner than he thought.
Ace stopped immediately.
He saw it.
In front of him, a house. An old, dirty, and messed up house with a garage door that barely held itself. The house was full of memories. Little good and many bad. Ace got out of the Demon Rider and moved to the house while pulling the Demon Rider with him. As he got near the house, a flashback hit him. A red and black sky filled the atmosphere around him. The house suddenly turned to a well-built house for a moment before it went back to the messed-up house.
Tears were forming in his eyes. This house was looking familiar to him. The house that ACES found on their first mission together… But also the house that housed him, Luna, Adrian, and later Carl and Violet when Salem made Remnant a hell.
He couldn't contain his tears and they started to fall without slowing down. But before he collapsed on his knees, he went to the garage door and left it up to reveal a garage with a rusted and broken roof. Ace pulled the Demon Rider inside and closed the door behind to stop the raindrops and the winds from getting inside. With that, he collapsed on his knees, letting out the tears of sorrow and pain.
(Insert Song: Fear by Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams.)
After those tears, he wiped his wet face and went to the door that connected with the house. As he opened the door, a sudden flashback hit him again. The house looked clean and nice. It had what many houses contain. Furnished, many rooms, a nice kitchen with a big fridge and stairs that led to the second floor. All of that nice scenery had suddenly gone and replaced with a dirty place that had broken furnishings, bad smells from the garbage that stayed there, a lamp that seemed burned, and nothing but bad stuff.
Ace took a breath to calm himself down but he couldn't. This sudden appearance wasn't expected and resulted in this revelation. Looking more at this house, he went to the dining room. From there, another flashback appeared. There was a nice couch, a long table, a bookshelf, and a glass door to the backyard. But that wasn't important, because what he focus on right now is two individuals that have an age near him.
It was…His sister…Luna…
And his friend's nephew...Adrian…
Both of them were sitting in front of him.
There was Luna, who was happily reading a book, her legs were swinging in a happy mood and resting on Adrian's shoulder. Adrian, on the other hand, was smiling like Luna, warping his arm around Luna's waist and reading with her.
Both of them were happy. Something that he didn't have for a long time. Something so precious when they needed it to relax from constant fighting. It was also like a hint that the two were getting together after living for a long time in the same spot. It was something that Ace wanted to see how it ends and one of the things that kept him sane had gone away in one day.
The tears became faster and they will get faster from one.
Suddenly, it disappeared and returned to the old and dirty house.
Ace punched the wall with a force that dropped the dust from the roof and the walls. This sudden emotional outburst was getting him and no one couldn't blame him. But oh boy, there was one thing left. Ace took a deep breath to prepare himself for the last memory. The most painful one.
Ace opened the glass door and stepped outside, not caring for the rain and the wind that surround him. One last memory. He saw himself, kneeling on the ground and crying from his heart. His outfit looked similar to the current outfit he was wearing but in black. His body was half human and half demon body. Next to him, a shovel. A shovel looked dirty from the dirt it dug. In front of him were four graves.
In the memories of Luna Storm. An amazing fighter and a great sister.
In the memories of Adrian Cotta Arc. A warrior that drove himself forward despite the challenges.
In the memories of Carl Andersmith. The musician and huntsman that doesn't come very often.
In the memories of Violet Entrapta. The inventor Faunus that made her best to achieve her dreams.
The day Salem found them and killed them one by one in front of Ace. Leaving a destroyed person in front of the only people left in his life.
The day that Ace swore to beat Salem once and for all to get his revenge and fix what she made.
The Devil's Rage had been unleashed upon Remnant.
These flashbacks were gone and replaced in a non-dug field with a broken lawnmower.
Ace didn't contain his not just sadness but anger. His teeth were girting loudly and worse than a fork scratching a chalkboard.
"RUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ace roared with all of his might and emotion. His roar can be heard within the rain going down like streams because of how it got faster. Then he went to the lawnmower and started punching it.
Punch after punch. With all of his emotion that had been buried inside him. It got to the point where the metal got bent so clearly but he didn't stop. He swore that he will beat Salem. Revenge for himself. Revenge for his family. Revenge for his friends. And revenge for everyone in Remnant that lived and died under Salem's destruction.
He didn't stop. He continued to hit it more until it started bleeding with the marks getting bigger and bigger.
After beating the shit out of a poor lawnmower, Ace finally stopped and took quick breathes. His hand regenerated from the punching section and moved back the hair that covered his face. Realizing himself, he got back inside the house to stay until the rain stops.
Inside the house, Ace took off his red coat and placed it on the hat hook, and sat down on the dusty couch with his hands together and fingers linked between them.
The anger in his breath. The grinding teeth. The glowing red eyes. Showing little of his real anger and hatred towards Salem. But also, he knew that he should control himself because continuing would eventually attract the Grimm to him despite the rage he had outside. He pulled his scroll and searched for nice music to help him relax and spend some time until the rain.
(End Song)
(Insert Song: Contact Redux by Trocadero. Feat: Meredith Hagan.)
He raised the volume and put the scroll on the table, letting it play.
We've been here so long
Still, I remember the rainy September
Contact
Two, four, one, ten
Two four, one, ten
Am I transmitting?
Is anyone listening?
Contact
Ace sang with it. He always liked singing music and not just playing it. Especially that his singing ability was great and the reason why 'The Mentally Unstable Hosts' were a thing.
We are green and gray
The longness of Semper, still I remember
Contact
Two, four, one, ten
Two, four, one, ten
Am I still willing to foot all this billing?
Contact
While it was a weird choice to play, it was the best one that captures this feeling for him.
Riding on shiny metal horses
Singing a rider's song
One of us will be forgotten
The other will be wrong
Two, four, one, ten
Two, four, one, ten
Am I transmitting?
Is anyone listening?
Contact
The lightning outside had struck. Making the atmosphere sadder and sadder.
When I think of you
Your name's in the sky
90 feet high
Contact
Riding on our shiny metal horses
Singing a rider's song
One of us will be forgotten
The other will be wrong
Riding on our shiny metal horses
Singing a rider's song
One of us will be forgotten
The other will be wrong
Oh... Two, four, one, ten
Two, four, one ten
Am I still willing to foot all this billing?
Contact
(End Song)
"There's no time for tears. I need to move on and get Salem. I cried enough but these tears won't stop falling in the future. I will beat Salem no matter what. I will sacrifice myself and my body to end her reign once and for all if I needed." Ace said to himself. "I promise again and again that I will put down Salem to her end."
Ace moved his hair back and took a deep breath. He picked up the scroll and changed for another song. Seconds later, he found another song that can lighten the mood.
"Until then, let's clean some of this place a bit." Ace said as he pressed for the song he wanted. Then, Ace put the scroll back on the table and started some cleaning.
He went to get the garbage that stayed for a while and pulled it out from its place to outside to get rid of it later. Then, he pulled the Dust Decoded and turned to the Wind Dust mode. The sword's blade turned into a green turtle-like shell with black holes that helps release and control the wind with ease. After it transformed, he processed to spin the sword in a circle and release wind with a little force to remove the dust from the rooms without making anything fly with it.
Then, he went to the bathroom and what do you think? It smelled bad and without thinking, Ace turned to the fire and water dust and removed the dirty stuff in the bathroom without ruining the bathroom itself. The rooms were next and the dust got removed with the wind and got rid of useless stuff that have been there for a long time. Then, the basement was next, and oh boy, rats, bugs, and a lot of bullshit so without thinking, the Dust Decoded have been used.
It had been some time since he started cleaning, since then, it was very nice to clean and get rid of some useless stuff. While he had many flashbacks and memories, he continued nonetheless. He wouldn't fix all of the house's problems, of course, but it was a nice way to spend the time.
While yes, the house will get dusty again, still he didn't have anything to do and would save a lot of time when ACES comes to it in the future.
After the cleaning, the storm was still outside, so he went to the Demon Rider's tank where the food and a book were there to use to spend some time learning or having fun whenever there wasn't anything to do. He read many books in his life when he was free from studying or training. Some things involved science, fiction, or learning other languages. And because of his learning different languages in the past, he could spend some time on either harder ones or anything other than languages like the Time Travelling theories.
The time moved on, and finally, the rain had stopped. While the clouds were a bit black, meaning that it will rain more, still, he will use this time to get to Patch before he takes longer than should be. He grabbed his coat and went to the garage to grab the Demon Rider and ran the engine. After he got out of the garage, he looked into the house one last time.
"See you next time, I will never forget the memories we had here." Ace processed to activate the booster again and continued on his way to Patch.
…
Back at Patch, Ace loved to see the nature around him and how it was the beginning of how to live in the wild like the huntsmen and huntresses. Whenever it was the mountains, the forests, the nice river, or the simple grassy road with fighting the Grimm that lives here and not be so unique to the place. Well, maybe that's not how you feel about Patch, but for Ace, it does. Disabling the boost option and being exposed to the nice sun, was one of the things that helps Ace in relieving his stress. And if it had some nice tea or hot chocolate or any hot drink and you made the perfect relaxing section.
But enough talking about relaxing as Ace arrived at Patch at 4:32 PM. A good time given how slow was the ship that boarded Vale and compared to the speed Ace was traveling with. Is that how Yang felt when she had to travel to Mistral when she left Patch for the first time since she lost her arm? Maybe.
After some sightseeing, Ace arrived at his house. It always felt good when you return to the good house you were born with. Outside of the house, there was Zack, Lisa, and Seth, who looked tired and dirty, showing that they finished their training with Zack in whatever that was. As they were standing outside, they noticed the Demon Rider and Ace on it.
Finally, Ace stopped outside the house, raised his goggles, and looked at them. "Hi, everyone!" Ace exclaimed with open arms.
"Big brother!" Both Lisa and Seth approached their big brother.
The young gave their big brother a huge welcome back hug. "Oh my god, Ace! What did you take so long? We thought something happened!" Lisa said worriedly.
"Sis, it was you were the most worried and followed by mom." Seth corrected, making Ace contain a small chuckle, knowing that Lisa worried a bit too much about her brother.
"Still..." Lisa said as she and Seth released their hugs.
"Well, looks like my son succeeded in surviving outside and alone." Zack approached his son by his shoulder. "You weren't kidding when you said that you will take some time."
"Yeah, it took a while to find but I was lucky to catch him/her. And I can't say if we made a deal because I'm waiting for the answer." Ace nodded.
"Okay, enough talking about that mysterious person. I want to tell you an awesome thing that happened in Signal days ago." Lisa grabbed Ace's wrist and pulled him to the house. "Come on. I will tell you the details while we eat."
Another story with Lisa. Ace knows about that story but he won't mind hearing it again. After all, it was a funny story nonetheless. As he went inside, Regina approached Ace and nearly began pulling his ears because of the lateness but it didn't happen eventually, and thankfully for Ace as it's a very painful thing.
In the evening, the night came and it looked cloudy and soon to rain after. Ace sat down for a bit in the backyard before it did, clearing his thoughts after he visited the house the day before. Ace took a very deep breath. Inhale and Exhale.
Inhale and Exhale.
Those flashbacks of the background being mostly red and black with fierce red eyes hiding and ready at any second to attack. The feeling of the old man that wore a similar outfit but in black for years, his body being half-human half-demon, and the long beard running on both sides. It made Ace feel old again. And with the beard started to grow up in his age making him start to feel old early. However, he still likes the beard and always makes sure to take care of it, making him, as Yang said as a tease, a lady attracter and better than Jaune, who made that haircut in Atlas and attracted many ladies when he was making some duties in Mantle before. Which yes, he noticed the looks, but he didn't care that much and also laughed at it, sometimes. Ace didn't care about those things a lot. The background and the crazy abominations of the Grimm were Tuesday compared to fighting Salem when she wasn't serious.
"Being lost in thought?"
"Not so much."
Ace replied to the coming person he sensed his bored aura behind him. Sitting next to him, it was Seth in the same bored face as always.
"Tell me, Ace…You're the expert in this, but how you're making this far with those thoughts you have and the responsibilities on your head?"
"First of all, it's not that easy when you know what I know, Seth. You're still young to understand how big the problem is or how crazy this mayhem I'm trying to deal with. Secondly, the incident was something that changed a lot in my mind. Like how blood doesn't feel the same as before and it doesn't taste the same as how I felt when I killed him. Thirdly, that's a secret and to understand that secret, you have to deal with the type of problems that makes you go to the next level. Like having your worst enemy, having friends with your team and the others in the future, and when you realize your love life." Ace explained with having a teasing smirk in the last sentence.
"Oh? And who will like a person who's emotionless for most of the time?" Seth punched Ace's shoulder with a small force.
"Someone that will make you move. You won't realize it until it's late." Ace clinched his heart from the thought.
"Nice try but still,"
"Well, I can think of someone but I won't tell ya." Ace warped his arm around Seth's neck and rubbed his fist on his head. "You won't stay in this emotionless forever cause she will give you a reason or two to do it."
"Gosh! Knock it off!" Seth pulled his brother's grip away and punched him on the arm before he turned his head away from the embarrassment.
Ace chuckled at his brother's reaction. He looked adorable when he tries to not look embarrassed but failed. Ace knew who was the lucky girl but that was something for another day. He had to wait to see Seth starts to change this bluntness and there was not a good way to do that other than starting slowly from Signal Academy and going to Beacon with Seth's best or would become his best friend and hopefully girlfriend.
Dip Dip Dip
Ace felt a waterfall on his head. As he looked up, the clouds were going to start raining, eventually.
"Okay, let's keep this between us for now. Come on, it's going to rain." Ace said as he started to get up and carried Seth with him like a child.
"You know you should stop this or otherwise, your girlfriend will start teaching you how you should THUD oof!" Ace got interrupted from a knee attack on his stomach. Yeah, he should stop this denying and work on it.
With that, the rain started to hit hard. Ah, yes. Nothing better than having a nice rainy night these days.
…
Days later, Ace packed his bags to Beacon. He will start working on many things. One was having Lisa's weapon being made in free time, making 'The Mentally Unstable Hosts' if possible, and others. But those are the 'Side Missions'. The main was stopping Cinder's plan from hacking Beacon. While it was a risk to go to the CCT Tower and try to not be suspended for having any wrong ideas or telling Ozpin and Ironwood that Cinder was planning to have Beacon destroyed to get Fall's remaining power. But that wouldn't stop Ace from visiting Cinder in person to steal the codes if he had to.
Family hugs and one ride later. He arrived at Beacon and not many people returned yet. That was plausible because it was a bit early for his return, but not that makes matters anyways. The only thing he was thinking about was having ACES together.
As Ace arrived in his dorm, he smelled the room and it was a little dusty.
No Problem.
Cleaning section later and all done. Now, he prepared to create Lisa's weapon. Knowing how he can create weapons from Joseph's and Violet's lessons from the past will eventually finish it in a few days or so. After all, he was the one who created Luna's and Adrian's weapons before. It will happen when he's able to use Violet's stuff, so nothing he can do other than prepare the Dust and the materials.
Now, Lisa is a Hand-to-Hand fighter so gauntlets with being unique on their own will be helpful.
The idea Ace had is being hidden in rainbow-colored bracelets. The colors will resemble the Dust so he needs to make a simple yet effective. Then, with a way to activate it, the gauntlets will start covering her hands to make it like a small claw out of metal. Speaking of claws, one to three claws would appear from the knuckles, using both metal and different elements. Ace knew that Lisa will like it. After all, it would suit her and wouldn't take so much space. She can put it on her hands any time and nobody will notice that colorful bracelets were supposed to be a killing machine.
The next day. Ace woke up, started his training in the gym, and Iai-Jutsu training, as usual, brought some food to eat while preparing for the next lessons when the second semester starts and also spent some time waiting for CES to arrive. A while later, he finished everything, and nothing had yet to happen he sat down on the floor, crossed his legs, and began relaxing.
After that, he opened his scroll and checked to see anything on the news or some videos to watch. Not long after that, he heard muffled sounds from outside of his room. Ace recognized the voices and knew who was opening.
"Well, the security system I made wasn't so perfect at the start. I made so many changes and updates on it to make it as best as possible. You won't understand that unless you knew how to program and hack." The voice of the familiar turtle Faunus explained the system she made to our familiar blue-haired girl.
"Yeah, I need so much time to understand these programming shenanigans." Skyler sighed. She knows how cool hacking was, but also, how difficult it was. So, she asked Violet to help her on this topic and Violet have so much time to do that.
Next to them was Carl who didn't relate to their problem with any small attention. He just plugged his ear pods and listened to the music on a volume not too high so he can listen if they asked him anything until he can finally rest and play on Nevan.
"So, are you finished or what?" Ace asked, making them jump out of surprise.
"GAH! ACE! OH, HOW GREAT YOU'RE HERE!" Skyler was the first one to recover from the surprise appearance and went to approach Ace with a welcome-back hug.
Ace stood up and took the hug with open arms before he returned it. It stood still before Skyler started to tighten the hug. "Can you please not crush me with hugs? You will get to the level of my sister sooner or later." Ace interrupted the process of the tight hug.
Now, that was a nice approach from Skyler. She went forward and hugged her crush without so much hesitation. While Ace can feel her face getting hot, that was a nice step forward. After Skyler's hug, Carl and Violet hugged Ace.
"Man! It feels good to return together after some time. Say, when did you come back?" Carl asked as he and Violet stepped away.
"Yesterday. I cleaned the place and didn't make many things other than preparing for next lessons and start working on something." Ace replied.
"I thought of doing that, too. Anyways, how was your family visit?" Violet asked as she put her luggage on the ground and started pulling out her stuff.
"Oh, nothing so special. My sister, Lisa, caught me up with her time at Signal. She attending in her first year by the way. Then, went to someone and asked him to help me with something personal. So yeah, nothing was worth mentioning." Ace explained without telling so many details like the house or Raven's visit as it was a big secret for the moment before he turns to Violet, "Also, before I forget, Vi, can you lend me your tools for a while?"
"Umm…why?"
"It's my young sister's weapon I was planning to make. I told her that I will make a nice surprise for her and I planned to give her the first weapon. So, if you won't work on many things later, can I use them?"
"No problem." Violet replied before she used her Semblance, Metal Manipulation, to bring the bag of her tools in and send it in front of Ace, "Just don't mess them up." Violet warned.
"Don't worry about that." Ace grabbed it and put it on the table. "Also, how about yours? I know you told your family about ACES."
"Exactly. I told mom and my precious siblings about our time together and they didn't believe your feat of carrying that huge Grimm at the initiation. Also, the looks on their faces were priceless." Skyler told her story as she rested on the bed and chuckled at the memory.
"Us too." Carl and Violet simultaneously said.
"I still don't believe how crazy that move was. Normally, people who had strength-related Semblances can do this feat easily but looking at your body and Semblances, it requires a lot." Violet said
"Well, I will admit that's the Sabrewulf Gauntlets power and what you saw was baby stuff compared to worst shit I can and will do."
"I knew there's something about those gauntlets of yours. Care to explain them?"
"I found them in Patchwork Mountain, but I have no idea about their origins. Whoever made this somehow made a very powerful weapon with strong abilities and unknown material. I mean the Dust Decoded's metal is so durable and handles quite the shit most weapons can't take. It's stronger than Torbjorn's metal and the BFG's to a certain level. So, if you had found a material I tried to search for a while and didn't find anything about is suspicious and has an unknown origin that I didn't bother myself to look for anymore. And before you try, I tried a lot of things and experiments on the gauntlets and this shit can take quite the damage."
Violet hummed and thought for a moment. Ace, despite being her friend, was someone that considered to be questionable at many stuff. He didn't say so many things about himself despite literally telling us about three of his secrets in the first semester and trusting us in keeping them. She could search for his identity but it mostly will be a waste of time. Though this was their first year, and there was so much time to see if there anything interesting will be brought up, "Okay." Violet said slowly before she returned to her bag.
Back to Ace, he brought the materials, the dust, and Violet's tools to the table, "Okay, let's see what we got here?" Ace muttered.
AN: Hi, guys! I hope you like this chapter and tell me your opinion on it.
For Raven's meeting, that's how Ace would pretty much like to talk. Expect things like that in the future. Now, if you're asking how Ace found Raven that quickly, he used the boost in the Demon Rider FYI. So, he could have maneuvered around Mistral quickly. I had the idea of Ace vs Raven, but I might do it later because it didn't fit.
The reunion with the past. I don't know if I did well in it. Tell me if it's good or needs some fixes because that's what I was able to make. I think the song can help the atmosphere but maybe just me, who doesn't have a lot of experience in writing.
Now, C9 is in progress but I don't think it will be finished until later. I know that I'm a guy that who doesn't have a good schedule but I don't know what to do except force myself to write this story and have music playing in the background while hoping the laptop doesn't crash on me when I write.
Okay, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review this chapter.
Sincerely, Eslam.