Night was a special time for many, and it signalled a lot for those who lived in Vacuo. It was a much needed rest from the scorching sun when the weather became much more manageable, giving way for nightly activities like sleeping for the tired and weary, or hanging out and partying with friends for the needy.
The moon shied not from these activities, for it was an indicator of their time. An object of romance, of light, and of comfort for some. Many stared into its shattered visage with wonder, a question on their tongue, though the same couldn't be said for the majority. After all, the moon was like that for as long as they had all lived, something they could trust would stay the same for eons.
Deeper within the city, beyond the parties, the bustle, and the activity, toward the corners where no citizens would willingly go, such actions were the exception rather than the norm. Places where footsteps would reverb for streets on end, where hushed words were heard as if they originated from the room next door, and where the moon couldn't see what's below.
The streets were unlit and abandoned as if they were dingy alleys, with what would have looked human appearing more like a shadow creeping from flickering lamp post to the next, sometimes emitting their own little spark, a cloud of smoke trailing behind. Each step forward only sunk the shadows deeper, their outlines less vivid, melding with the gloomy background until they disappeared from the moon's gaze, if only temporarily.
Slowly, shadows slunk through the narrow streets. Old worn buildings passed beside them, and with distance the buildings began shifting. The short and old gave way to the tall and new, and the alley-like roads sprouted into wide, multi-lane streets, where light found its way in once more. The moon could see, but only what wanted to be seen. The darkness was still there, lurking out of view.
The shadows knew how to avoid the moon's gaze, and hummed along their journey to what sat somewhere ahead. Rarely would their silhouettes be spotted, and even then, their dark bodies gave little to show.
Then upon one alley, they stopped. Unseen and unheard, not by the shattered moon, not by anyone in sight. A perfect place to perch, to wait for their prey - a band of rats that only came out every once in a while, their bodies tense, and their eyes knowing. They scurried between the buildings, the faint puff and the unlucky piece of gravel flying off giving a mere hint of their presence.
But it was not yet time. Shadows spread out of the alley, slowly, steadily. Their prey would not know of their existence until it was too late, patience needed if that was to be reality. Where the shadows found a way, it served to cage in the rats even further.
Time passed, and where the moon once could not see, its light shone - and where the rats once could not see, their faces turned to stone. And that was when they struck. The shadows pounced onto their prize from all angles, where fear and caution meant nothing in the face of total domination. Squeaks and growls only echoed for a couple of seconds, before silence took place once more.
The rats were to be dragged away, out of the moon's sight, out of the lamp's light, but they were not the real prize, not for these wolves. Their eyes were hungry for much bigger game, for that which sat behind the rats. A building so unassuming, so quiet and dreary, and not unlike those which it sat between.
Many of the shadows converged over to the side of the building, some noticing a glassy tint hidden above a door. It didn't take long for the door to become a doorway, and they marched onwards, into the den. The rest had a different idea, draping around the other side with silent steps.
Brown eyes glimmered in the darkness, steps slow in the hallway, bodies tense and weapons held tight. Breaths echoed until the shadows were face to face with a simple wooden door, hiding a treasure prized. No light found its way through the cracks in the wood, no life seen from behind.
Within but a moment, however, light broke through the middle of the door, from one hole to a dozen, the wooden board turning into splinters that showered the shadows unmasked. On cue, they brought their fangs to light, roars breaking through the hail of fire and into the barricade of sand and steel.
"Kill them all!" Yells from the exposed hallway roused the inner beast within, the shadows lighting up for milliseconds as gunpowder exploded into action. Blue waved in the turbulent air, iron invading the atmosphere and monsters alike, red painting floors and walls in a display of gore.
One predator weaved through the wall of prey, screams of desperation silenced after a flash of light. The shadows were given color, men spraying death left and right, half of the room ringing with pings and blows on metal, the rest with dull and shine, prey undying.
A voice cut through the rain, "Grenade!" Gazes widened and bodies hid in fright, while the predators took ground, sliding behind cover and waiting for their next move. The explosion marked a point of no return, its light blinding and sound leaving terror in its wake. A sudden roar of an engine replaced the aftermath of the explosion, followed by the tearing of metal that screached with a scream, men with blue armbands entering afoot.
The black vehicles produced men not unlike a nest of bees, fury coloring their faces, the anger visible even within the lack of light. Ears rung within the lull of combat, eyes yet trained and ready for more.
Words were exchanged between prey, but the predators had none of it, a voice sounding from behind one of the vehicles. "You have been surrounded!" The words shaking the prey to the core, only the vestiges of a gulp heard by beasts among men.
Rather than put down their arms and give up the fight, an aura of resolve oozed from the prey. "Give up?" Behind the barricade of prey stood a giant, his face steely and eyes made of cold rage. An explosion blew air into the compound, one that came as a surprise.
Predators blinked and gaped in realization, and gun fire ensued - outside. The moon could see flashes of light and drips of blood, walls holed and street coated. The red covered the blue, and throes of pain became more common than not.
The world inside was filled with dread, still, and a gravely laugh filled with contempt met the predators. "I'd say the same to you, but I know your kind. Fire!" He trained his gun and blasted toward the vans, their armors crumbling under the unnatural crimson fire.
Combat returned with fervor, the predators and the prey trading blow for blow, but one side was on a timer. The predators clenched their teeths, brown eyes reading doubt in the hearts of his companions, gun fire slowing.
The dog faunus grimaced, his gun heavier by time, and his pockets lighter by the second. Their power was running out, and the predators would become prey, desperate and fighting in fear rather than confidence.
Vibration shook the brown eyed beast out of his thoughts, putting down his gun and staring at his scroll with widened eyes. Eyes that met deep blue across the field, and he was unable to argue before a loud roar shook the combatants on both sides.
A blast of sand blew through the holes within the shutters, as if on cue for the blue eyed leader's assault. In response, the enemy's giant woke up and took to the middle of the field, a meeting of titans surrounded by flame.
Fist met palm, the two leaders stuck in a deadlock, their arms strained and taut, with no bullet coming near them in fear of one injuring his ally.
Azul's blue eyes focused onto his opponent's black, but it only reflected his glare back at him. The gang leader grunted as his foot began sliding backward, while the giant's only moving forward. Step by step, the giant's grin turned into a full ear to ear smile, yet Azul met it with full force.
Their auras clashed, and the smile began to tilt downward. The giant felt his hands becoming slippery, and sweat forming on his body at a greater rate. In contrast, Azul's strained face started forming a smirk, and the giant stopped.
He stopped his push to tighten his grasp on the opponent's fists, something that the gang leader noticed. Quickly, Azul jumped and drop kicked the giant, shoving him away while freeing his fists. As the blue eyed man recovered, he spotted the giant looking at his own reddened, smoking palms with curiosity before putting his gaze back onto the gang leader and preparing himself.
Before Azul could take another breath, the giant was back on the attack, this time with a telegraphed punch. Hurriedly, the gang leader scrambled into a guard as the fist slammed into him with the power of a speeding truck, sending him flying into one of the black vans and caving it in.
The giant snarled and leaped forward, because he knew the blue leader was not yet downed. Without delay, Azul roared and pushed himself off the truck. The distance was shortened in a flash and the giant's fist flew toward the gang leader's head.
However, it only cut through air as a counter came from below, taking the giant by the chin. Before Azul could follow it up, the giant responded with a kick, but his opponent knew better. It was dodged, and even brutally countered with a strike at the inner side of his thigh with a sharp punch. Growling, the giant grasped Azul's head and kneed him in the face with the other leg before he could fight back.
The gang leader took a few steps back, stunned, while the giant glared hatefully at him, briefly brushing over his struck leg. They both didn't move, taking a moment to observe their surrounding. The giant's eyes widened as he saw his backline being torn to shreds by a dog faunus, and he nearly took off to save his men, but he couldn't, not when Azul was taking deep breaths and looking to go for round 2, a sneer on his face.
The gang leader took the first step forward, while the giant didn't move, hands by his sides with a blank expression. It wasn't until Azul was within arms range that his eyes spotted a glint before his face was nearly cut, Aura taking the full brunt of the attack. Two stabs followed, one from each hand, the gang leader caught unaware.
Aura sparked, yet Azul's sneer changed not, spiked knuckledusters appearing on his hands as he took a few steps back. The two pieces of metal began glowing, and the giant's expression turned grim.
Combat began anew, both armed and vying for blood. The giant took to slicing rather than stabbing, and Azul hurried to dodge and counter. One attack, and his vest got torn, another, right eye nearly lost, so the gang leader began going on the offensive. His knuckles only touching the giant for a brief moment to elicit a cry of pain.
In an attempt to avoid similar attacks, the giant threw one of the daggers at Azul, the blade rocketing and meeting its mark, Aura flickering. While the gang leader was distracted by the sudden attack, he found his legs sliding from under him, and the giant jumping onto him.
Azul quickly held back the giant's hand from piercing the dagger into him, their arms contesting for dominance. Two seconds passed and Azul's began to buckle, but it wasn't meant to be as the giant found his head flying sideways and into the concrete, the ground cracking. Gunshots bore onto him while he was still trying to get up, his eyes catching the figure of the dog faunus as a boot zoomed toward his face.
His body was pushed a meter away as another Aura empowered kick hit his ribs, and another nearly found his face had he not caught it with his hands. The surprised expression of the dog faunus turned to horror as he was carried leg up, the bullets arcing upwards until the giant punched the man in his stomach, the blow forcing him to drop the gun.
The gang leader finally got up and ran to assist his companion, but he was met with a man shaped mace that blasted him to the end of the room. The dog faunus then found his body slamming into the ground repeatedly, the blows testing his Aura to its limits, until it unceremoniously broke, and the giant slammed him twice more for good measure.
He roared the Blues leader's name and approached the recovering Azul, taking the gang leader by the head and smashing his own forehead into it, a loud crack echoing in the now silent room. Azul tripped to the ground, disoriented, and the giant took the opportunity to glance around, finding none of his men up, and a disproportionate lack of corpses on the Blues' side. He ground his teeth and was about to take his anger on Azul before three gunshots hit him from behind, his Aura signalling its depletion and his body falling in response.
He moved his head and found a man from where his men stood, one hand limp and the other clutching a pistol. A shot hit him in the thigh, blood spurting in response. As the giant was falling to the ground, another got him in the chest, and the enemy leader hit the ground lifeless. "Take that, you bastard!" The guy at the opposite side of the room yelled.
Coughing, Azul wobbly stood up, seeing blood pool under him. He took a deep breath and stared at the unmoving corpse below him with contempt. "May the Brothers throw you in the depths of hell, scum".
Quickly, he walked to the dog faunus, and injured men streamed behind the shooter doing the same. They all surrounded the faunus who shifted his head slightly, and a hoarse laugh escaped him. "D-did it." A cheer arose from his voice, if only minutely. Azul shook his head and pulled out a pill from his pockets, putting it toward the dog faunus's face, but each time it came close to his mouth, the man shifted his head away.
"Come on, don't be like that." Azul sighed, and the faunus stayed adamant. His blue gaze went toward his other men, "What happened while I was fighting?"
One of the men spoke, fatigue evident in his voice, "After brother Topaz finished off the Ravagers, he came to save us and told us to wait back, but he couldn't stand back." He pointed at the man who was still holding the gun.
"Thank you, but where are the others?" Azul looked around, and the men flinched.
"They were taken away, we don't know where." The words caused Azul to grimace, but he nodded regardless.
"We need your help outside, are you able?" As if on point, an explosion rumbled the building, and the men nodded and rushed with their weakened bodies outside, Azul's face landing on a proud yet pained smile.
As he was standing up to follow, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, and his gaze landed on a blooded arm, eyes widening. Not a second later did he feel his face caving in and his body flying into one of the walls once again, his Aura breaking.
"I will kill you." The giant walked slowly toward the crouched figure of the gang leader, "You may have defeated my men, but I will avenge them, and end this now!"
Azul rubbed his chin while still crouched, his throat moving up and down. The giant went for a rocket punch that aimed for the gang leader's face, but it met an unyielding palm. A second punch followed, but it found itself in a similar situation. The giant roared and the ground broke as force went into the push, but Azul stood up with blood dripping down his face, eyes filled with cold fury.
The knuckledusters began glowing red hot, and smoke seeped between the points of contact between the two combatants, but the giant would not ignore the fire on his hands, a yell as he pulled his arms upward, sending Azul into the ceiling with a loud crack, their hands untying.
As the gang leader fell, the giant went for an uppercut that was deflected midair, and found light filling his vision. The blow sent him careening and nearly falling on his back, his face charred and branded.
The gang leader flipped and stood up with a stance, and he motioned with his hands. Logic went out the window then and there, and the enemy leader's eyes turned red, his Aura lighting up like the sun.
"You won't leave this place alive!" He roared, and Azul's eyes narrowed.
"Neither will you."
And the fight resumed.
And so comes the end of this arc, finally all, or most, of the pieces are on the plate. Board, yes, not plate.
But this chapter in particular just murdered the pasta, sucked all of the sauce away, turned me into a bland noodle.
Alas, I can celebrate. Finally, no longer do we have an unwilling Gamer, but one that plays.
Originally, this chapter and the one prior were flipped (as in one in place of the other), but as I've taken one too many months, the pasta decided on placing them in this order.
All I can really say is : Damn you for making me write a better story! How dare you! This arc was supposed to end like 2 chapters ago! 2!
Seriously though, thank you for waiting, and I hope this double release was in similar or better quality than before.
For my future releases, I'm currently in the process of writing next chapter, but no concrete date, can't do that with other meals fighting for my plate.
No, this is not the end of my plans. I did not plan just this arc, but an entire story revolving around Remnant, all of it.
Stay tuned. Pasta out.
