Falling.
He was falling.
There was nothing but sparks of light around him. Disoriented, James tried to find some sort of directionality. He reached out an arm, his prosthetic hand passing through a pulsating orange orb that shed off beams of light as it went through.
He spun around to see Neo flying toward him. The woman threw a fist at him which he caught, then caught another. Neo transformed into Winter and snapped at him. He kicked her back and the woman spun out away from him.
James tried to turn himself over but found that he was losing consciousness rapidly. He couldn't keep himself aware.
He awoke to the sound of lapping waves. Sand?...
Ironwood sat up with a snap. Where?... What is this place? The general cupped a handful of sand and let it pour down his robotic fingers. Real enough. He rose from his seat and walked out to the sea. There was absolutely no land in sight. James knelt, and dipped a gloved finger into the water and then tasted it. Salty, like any other ocean.
He rose, turning around to see a marvelous sight. A massive tree that looked fantastical dominated the landscape. A forest of mushrooms, cherries and candy canes sticking out of what appeared to be white snow.
James took it in with awe. This was not Remnant. Have I died? Is this the afterlife? He gazed up at the twin suns blazing in the sky.
No. It couldn't be. Rationally, he had fallen somewhere. The only question was where exactly that somewhere was? He ruled out Remnant. If something like this existed, someone would have found it already. No, this was elsewhere.
Ironwood looked for Due Process. It had landed on the beach without harm just as he had. He knelt to pick up and checked his ammo. Low. He'd have to conserve what was left. Loading what little he had left into a fresh cylinder, he holstered the gun and began walking inland.
If I survived the fall, as did my weapon, the rest of my weapon must have ended up here as well. He knew what he had to do. Find his cannon. Escape the island. Destroy the traitors.
Whatever was out here, Ironwood figured he'd find out at that tree. Pushing past palm trees, Ironwood found his eyes watching the greenish, purple cloud like leaves of the tree. They were mesmerizing. Mettle snapped him back into focus. He had to find the cannon.
Sighing he pushed on. A dodo bird, long thought extinct, cawed repeatedly to his annoyance. Frustrated, he walked past it only to find himself at the same palm tree. Three more times he walked away only to be met with the same gaze at the great tree in the center.
In anger he put a fist into the palm tree, knocking it clean over down with a crack. Panting, he sat down and leaned against the ruined tree stump.
A squak brought his attention back. Looking up he saw a mouse. It looked expectantly at him. His gaze fell on the stalk in the ground. Sighing he reached out and pulled at what he assumed to be a carrot.
It was not.
A block of cheese attached to the carrot stalk emerged to Ironwood's surprise. Still, it wouldn't be the strangest thing he'd seen today. The mouse sat in his new cybernetic hand and began eating chunks of the cheese.
Even now, even here, James found it in him to chuckle. "If only you could help me." The mouse looked up at him, swallowing its meal and then….
"I could try."
James looked at it deadpanned and then reached for his gun with a scream. The mouse covered its ears at the sound. "Why are you yelling!?" it asked. Ironwood was at a loss for words.
"Did you want to share?" the mouse asked, gesturing to the cheese. James was still too shocked to speak. The mouse slumped its shoulders and kept talking. "I guess it's only fair."
Shaking his head, James finally replied with a "No. I've never spoken with a mouse before" he said. The mouse looked up at the bearded figure that was James Ironwood, crossing its arms.
"Well I've never spoken with a… you before."
It was clear that this mouse had no idea what a human being was. That led him to theorize there were no humans on this island, or faunus for that matter. He would have to test his thesis.
"I am a human," he explained curtly. The mouse looked clueless. "A general. A huntsman."
Nothing. The mouse was utterly dumbstruck by such concepts proving that they were foreign things here. "I am James Ironwood."
"And is to James Ironwood your purpose?" the mouse asked with a tilt of the head. James frowned.
"No. That is my name."
"I'm too young to have a name."
James considered his options. A part of him screamed to leave this nonsense behind and find his cannon, but the logical part of himself argued that he needed a guide. This was not Remnant and this mouse was his only chance at not getting lost here.
He opted for having a guide. "Why don't I call you Little" James settled for the simplest and most accurate name he could think of.
"And what is to Little?"
"That's not-, look, I need help to find my way around here. I need to locate something I've lost" he asked politely to Little. The mouse rubbed its head and then smiled. That was a good sign.
The little mouse ran up his prosthetic and onto his shoulder, standing by his face. James huffed in annoyance but grit his teeth and bared it. Anything to recover his cannon. "What is it you're looking for?"
James opened his mouth to describe his weapon but stopped in his tracks. This mouse didn't even know what a human was. It wouldn't have a clue about weaponry. "Well, it's something I use to protect myself. It's large and…"
He paused, rising from his seated position with Little in tow. Pulling out Due Process, Ironwood showed Little his weapon. "It looks like this. But larger. This fits into it. There's another one just like this but black. They go together. I'm trying to find this so I can stop some bad people. Other humans, like me."
"Exactly like you?" the mouse squeaked up into his ear. Ironwood couldn't help himself from chuckling. Annoying as the creature was, its childlike innocence had its charm.
"Not exactly like me, no. Similar, but different. One has long blond hair. The other has cat ears."
Little squealed in fear, jumping into Ironwood's beard for protection. James stiffened.
"I'm trying to find them. And defeat them. They did something very wrong to me."
Little twisted its head in confusion. "Like what?"
James didn't even know where to start. "Let's say I trusted them and they betrayed that trust." Little was eager to find out more but didn't push the issue.
"Do you know how to help me around?" Ironwood asked the mouse. The creature perked up, its whiskers rising up.
"Of course? I can take you to my den. With the rest of my family!" The mouse pointed Ironwood in a direction. The General had no choice but to accept and begin marching on.
A/N: Short chapter. Yes, Ironwood and Little are the main characters. Yes he will teach the mouse how to blow stuff up.
I'd like to remind everyone that this is an indulgent revenge fic. This is exactly what you think it is. Ironwood will kill all of his enemies by the end, and this might mean your favorites are in the crossfire. I kindly recommend you read no further.
Rooster Teeth should pay their workers.
