Ch. 18 – Of Gods and Titans
I do not own RWBY, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (R.I.P.) nor do I own any media that may appear in the story. I only own the OCs, Enjoy! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review. I'll be starting on the road to my career, so my posts might be less frequent than usual, and I'll try to post more often (hopefully I can beat my depression into a coma and then Yeet out a couple chapters of Titan Rising and Wolf Pack, this is going on too long. Kay, bye)
Carmine slowly sat up as Laurel pulled the gear off the rifleman's back, Carmine shivered lightly as he shook from the pain of the rebar that was pierced through his leg. "Shit, I think he's starting to go into shock!" Regalia said, Blake and Weiss both grabbed his arms while Regalia dug through her bag "Luckily I raided the med-bay back on the Valor." Regalia said as she pulled out a pair of forceps, a scalpel, morphine, gauze, and trauma kit. She shoved a wad of gauze into his mouth as Laurel injected some morphine into his leg.
Carmine tilted his head back as he felt the scalpel slice into his flesh, Carmine grunted in pain as he teeth tore into the gauze. Carmine blacked out from the pain as Regalia, Laurel, and Celadon went to work on his leg. Blood flowed into the snow and slowly melted the white around them, replacing it with a murky red pool, the scalpel cut into the meat of his thigh as Regalia used the forceps to pull pieces of shrapnel out of his leg, one piece had torn through a tendon and had some of the tendon still on the shard. "Alright, we need to get this rebar out." Regalia said as she pulled out a can of foaming thermite.
*One Hour Later*
Carmine slowly opened his eyes as he shook lightly, he reached up weakly toward the trauma kit which Regalia slid over to him. He reached into the bag and pulled out a needle, he pulled the cap off with his teeth and stabbed himself in the leg before he injected the contents of the needle into his body "Carmine, what the fuck?!" Regalia said as Carmine pulled the needle out and detonated it in his hand, he dropped the charred pieces into the red snow before he leaped up and yelled at the top of his lungs "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" Carmine yelled before he took off running, he balled up his and threw his fist into a tree.
The bottom of the tree was eviscerated the moment his fist connected, the top of the tree fell into the forest as Carmine shadow boxed and dodged nonexistent punches. Carmine ran back over to his team and jogged in place "So what did you just inject into yourself?" Regalia asked as she packed up her bag, Carmine stretched and collected his gear "Adrenaline, gotta get my heart going and get blood circulating again. Also, this wound will heal faster." Carmine said before Regalia projected her semblance into his leg "That's a big negative, Ghost rider" Regalia said as she healed his wound.
Carmine peeled back the gauze to see the wound completely gone and a nice scar replaced it, Regalia handed him a bundle of clothes "Here, sir. Weiss patched it up for you while you were unconscious." Regalia said as he took the clothes and unfolded them to see that they were his pants, he looked down to see that he was only wearing boxers and combat boots. "Well, that's embarrassing." Carmine said as he slipped the pants on and fastened the tactical belt. He adjusted his Heavy IBA as he put all his gear back on, he reached down and picked up his gas mask but found that the visor was shattered and the filter was destroyed. Carmine tossed the mask into the train car that smoldered slowly in the snow, he reached into his bag and pulled out a black gas mask with a black reflective visor.
He pulled on the mask and tested the steam purge system that made a hiss that echoed through the cold, snowy air. He pulled on his bag and adjusted the straps before he grabbed his Scar that was leaned against a boulder, he walked back over to his team as his feet crushed the snow beneath his feet. "Alright, I think I'm ready." Carmine said as his voice seemed distorted as it came through the mask.
"All black suits you better, war beast." Yang said as the others walked over to his group, Qrow grabbed Carmine by the shoulder "Glad your still with us, kid." Qrow said, Carmine chuckled "Hell, I ain't got no where to go anytime soon. I still got unfinished business." Carmine said before he ejected a spent shell from his Scar. "Oh Ruby, I finally thought of a name for my weapons." He said which caused her to perk up "Really, what are they? Tell me tell me tell me!" She said excitedly, he patted her on the head to calm her down.
"So, this is Judge." He said as he gestured to the .500 Magnum on his right mid-thigh, he moved up to the MP7 on his right hip "This is Jury." Carmine said before he moved up to his Scar "And this bad boy is Executioner." Carmine said as he rested the rifle on his shoulder. Ruby stared in awe "That. Is. So cool!" She exclaimed, Yang looked around the barren snow field "Great! This is just great! We're stranded, we lost a third of our party, and we've gained a defenseless old lady!" Yang said as everyone looked over to see a small woman near Oscar, she turned around and looked at Yang "My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless! I'm just a little hard of hearing. And blind without my eyes, that are in desperate need of repair." She said before she tapped on the prosthetics on her face, the shutters opened and closed before they remained open partially. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point." Maria said.
Qrow groaned "Yang, knock it off, will ya? If we lose our cool now, we'll just be inviting even more Grimm." Qrow said as he looked around the frozen hellscape, Blake shook her head "Does that even matter? Apparently, we've been attracting Grimm ever since we left Haven." Blake said as she and Weiss pushed their bodies up against Carmine to stay warm, Yang chuckled "Oh, and how could I forget about that?" Yang said before she looked at Oscar "What happened to "no more lies and half-truths"?" Yang asked angrily, Oscar nodded his head "Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation…" Oscar said before Ozpin took over his body.
"I did not lie to you…" Ozpin said, Carmine stepped forward "With all due respect sir but I call bullshit! What about fuckboy Lionheart who had all that information on me, Sapphire, and the Wolves, did you know about that?!" Carmine asked slightly angered, Ozpin paced back and forth in the snow "Please, now is not the time." Ozpin said as he tried to change the subject, Yang stepped forward and put her foot down metaphorically "Hell no! We're past that! I wanna know why you're still not telling us everything!" Yang yelled as she clinched her fists but relaxed when Carmine placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Yang's right, we have gone this far and put our lives on the line to get that fucking thing. We demand some god damn answers right now!" Carmine said more angered, Ozpin sighed as he lowered his head "It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the Relics. It's faint, but undeniable. I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option." Ozpin said, Weiss scoffed "You know, I'm getting real tired of people choosing what's best for me. The only person I would let choose for me would be him, only because he's been through more, more than I can say about you, Ozpin." Weiss said as she wrapped her arm around Carmine's arm.
Yang crossed her arms "Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?" She asked pissed off, Ozpin put his arms behind his back as he looked up into the snowy sky "Yes, as a matter of fact, I believed the Kingdom of Mistral deserved better than the truth. And I believed Leonardo deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years." Ozpin said, Carmine clinched his fists as his eyes darkened into their deep crimson color "Bullshit! The only people that Mistral deserve to know about is the 184th but no one tells their fucking story, those men saved our fucking lives and people act as if they don't exist. Why were we the ones who became famous? Because we were wiped out, the 184th offered their help but we declined and what happens? We all die, meanwhile Lionheart has full documents on each of us, but you think he 'deserved to be remembered for his lifetime of service.' Newsflash Ozpin, there's a word for what he was. Treason." Carmine said as he his fist twitched with anger.
"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him." Ozpin said, Carmine scoffed "Yeah, I regret ever thinking you had our best interest in heart." Carmine said which caused everyone to look at him shocked, Carmine chuckled as he looked down at the snow. Yang sighed and look at Ozpin "Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us! We're not gonna turn our backs on you." Yang said as she tried to reassure Ozpin.
"Do you really think Leo was the first?!" Ozpin said with his voice raised, Carmine raised Executioner slightly as he readied himself for whatever may come. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep, the reason I..." Ozpin started to say before he stopped mid-sentence and looked around the group.
"Where's the Relic?" Ozpin asked, Ruby raised the lantern and showed it in her hands "Right here, it got scattered in the crash." Ruby explained as she held the Relic. "Please, hand it over." Ozpin said as he reached out toward the Relic, but Ruby hesitated "So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?" She asked confused, Ozpin sighed "That's not what I meant to suggest. Miss Rose, the Relic is a powerful item and I simply feel as though it is my burden to bear." Ozpin said as he continued to hold his hand out toward the Relic, but Blake moved in front of Ruby "But, you said it couldn't do anything right now." Ruby said as she peaked out from behind Blake.
"Why does it matter who carries it?" Blake asked, Ozpin seemed to grow slightly angrier "I need you to listen to me–" Ozpin started to say as he reached out toward the Relic but stopped, Qrow stepped forward confused "Oz?" Qrow asked, Carmine quickly pulled Blake and Ruby back away from Ozpin before he moved in front of them and converted Executioner into its Falchion blade form. Oscar took back control over his body "Hurry… he's… trying to stop you!" Oscar said as he fought for control.
Yang looked visibly confused "Stop her from what?!" She asked as Oscar continued to resist Ozpin. "He's afraid… you'll find out what he's… hiding!" Oscar said before he collapsed to his knees, Carmine readied his blade in anticipation. "Her name is Jinn. Say her name to summon her." Oscar said as he struggled to fight back Ozpin. Ruby looked down at the lantern, but Carmine grabbed it quickly and tossed it up into the air "JINN!" Carmine yelled out into the sky, suddenly the snow stopped falling in midair and the wind had stopped blowing.
A cyan colored smoke emerged the from the Lantern that floated in midair, the smoke surrounded them before it went out and began to form a humanoid shape. The smoke took the form of a woman with curvaceous features, Qrow looked away while Carmine and Laurel stared in awe.
The woman had blue skin and slightly darker blue hairs, she wore a gold chain headdress, gold big hooped earrings, the right ear also having an extra gold earring, a gold choker, gold bracelets with gold chains dangling from them along with a single gold bracelet on her left forearm, gold anklets, and a gold belt of chains around her waist that ended in a big ring with three prongs. She stretched out and let out a moan as she stretched her arm "Oh god, that's hot." Laurel said before Regalia slugged him the arm. Carmine stared at the voluptuous woman as she reflected off his visor, she seemed to float in midair as she spun around in the air and flipped around before she ran her fingers through her hair.
"Wonderful." Jinn said as everyone stared in awe, she looked over the group "Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?" Jinn asked, Carmine stepped forward "So what are you?" Carmine asked, Jinn giggled "I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer-" Jinn started to say before Ozpin cut her off "That's enough!" Ozpin yelled, everyone looked at Ozpin who had taken control of Oscar's body.
"... two questions this era." Jinn said as she finished her sentence, Carmine glared at Ozpin in his peripheral vision and he rested his hand on the handle of Judge. "It's a pleasure to see you again, old man." Jinn said with a smirk, Carmine extended his left hand and gestured Ruby forward "The floor is yours, Little Red." Carmine said, Ruby stepped forward as she held her hands close to her body. Ozpin reached up slightly "Ruby, please... Don't." Ozpin pleaded, Qrow stepped forward "Hey." Qrow said as he took a step forward, suddenly Yang, Weiss, Blake, Regalia, Carmine, Laurel, and Celadon raised their weapons defensively while Ruby stared at him in disbelief.
Qrow sighed and relented "Do whatever you think is right, kiddo." Qrow said as everyone lowered their weapons, Ruby exhaled slowly before she turned around. "Jinn?" Ruby asked which caused Jinn to look at her with a curious expression on her face, Ruby exhaled again and looked up at the voluptuous woman "What is Ozpin hiding from us?" Ruby asked, Ozpin yelled out "NOOOOOOO!" Ozpin yelled as he sprung up and attempted to rush Ruby, but Carmine quickly drew Judge and pointed it at Ozpin's forehead before his reality was swallowed by white.
Carmine looked around the vacant white room "Blake!? Weiss!? Laurel!?" He yelled out as he holstered his revolver. Suddenly the white room changed to show Beacon but somehow, it was different "Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower that sheltered a lonely girl, named... Salem." Jinn said as the scenery around Carmine changed again
*We all know how that song and dance goes so… SKIP*
Carmine was brought back to reality where he still had Judge aimed at Ozpin's head, Ozpin was on his knees with his head lowered, Carmine placed Judge back in the holster and clicked it closed before he picked Ozpin up by the neck with one hand. Carmine held his arm out as Ozpin struggled to breathe "Carmine, let him go." Yang said but Carmine didn't budge as Ozpin's feet flailed in the air, Carmine slowly tightened his grip on Ozpin's throat "Sorry kid." Carmine said to Oscar who wasn't in control of his body. "CARMINE!" Blake and Weiss yelled before Laurel put him in a rear naked choke hold which caused him to drop Ozpin.
Ozpin fell to the ground and gasped for air, he had deep imprints on his throat from Carmine who fought against Laurel "Walk away, just walk away." Laurel said as he guided Carmine away from Ozpin who rubbed his throat as he slowly pushed himself up off the ground. "Salem can't be killed… you all heard her too, right?" Yang said as she paced back and forth in the snow.
"I–" Ozpin started to say before Yang cut him off "There was so much you hadn't told us! How could you think that was okay?!" Yang yelled as she tried to maintain her anger, Ozpin hung his head in shame as he remained silent. "Professor… What is your plan to defeat Salem?" Ruby asked Ozpin, he lifted his head slowly "I... don't have one..." Ozpin said before he was sucker punched by Qrow, the blow sent him flying into a tree. "No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good..." Qrow said as his voice shook with anger, explosions could be heard in the distance accompanied by yelling and cursing, Regalia lightly shook her head "He's getting out his anger before he comes back." Regalia said as there was another explosion.
"But, you are!" Ozpin said tearfully, Qrow shook his head "Meeting you... was the worst luck of my life..." Qrow said with venom, Ozpin lowered his head "Maybe you're right..." Ozpin said before his eyes flashed yellow and suddenly Oscar had control again. He grabbed his cheek as the pain hit him like a freight train "What happened?" Ruby asked confused, Oscar looked up in shock "He's... gone." Oscar said in shock.
Gunshots rang out in the distance before Carmine and Laurel emerged from the tree line, Carmine ejected a spent shell from his rifle before he dropped the magazine from the rifle and slapped a fresh one in before he pulled off his mask. He exhaled slowly as a large plume of steam rose from his mouth into the cold air, the steam melted all the snow that fell from the sky. "That bastard! Tell him we're not done yet!" Yang exclaimed with anger, Oscar shook his head "No, this is different. He's gone. It- It's like he's locked himself deep inside my head. Our head?" Oscar explained before he grabbed his head in pain. "I hate this! I want it to stop!" Oscar said as he cradled his head in pain.
"He just left us?" Weiss asked in disbelief as Carmine rejoined the group and pulled his gas mask back on, he tightened the straps on the back before he pulled the hood over his head. Weiss and Blake looked at Carmine with concern on their face "Honey, are you alright?" Blake asked as she slowly walked up to him, she placed her hand on his right arm as he exhaled slowly "Yeah… I just had to get out some rage, I took out a lot of trees before I took out the Grimm that showed up." Carmine said as he rubbed his hands together. "So, what did I miss while I was gone?" Carmine asked.
"Well, Ozpin left us." Weiss explained, Carmine looked down at the ground for a moment. "What are we gonna do now?" Blake asked before Yang growled in anger. "Enough! We need to get move on. It'll be dark before we know it, and every one of you is spewing negativity! It doesn't help that this one just led a war path against trees." Maria said as she helped Oscar off the ground with her cane. "There's a trail over there, trails usually lead somewhere." Maria said as she gestured toward a trail in the snow.
"Lady, I don't know who you think you are but-" Yang started to say before Maria cut her off "No buts! I understand that you're upset. Honestly, I'm still coming to terms with the fact that this is humanity's second time around. But, if we don't move, we die. And I'll be damned if I've lived this long just to die out here in the cold!" Maria said as she shuffled through the snow.
"The tiny woman has a point, we better get stepping before other Grimm show up." Carmine said before Maria smacked him in the knee with her cane, he looked down at her "That doesn't hurt, I've got armor plating in my knees." Carmine said as he knocked on the knee pads with the metal in his gloves, the two made a metallic clang. "Alright everyone, grab your shit and let's get moving." Carmine said as he lifted Yang's bike up out of the snow and wheeled it over to her.
Everyone picked up as much Dust as they could carry along with their belongings, Maria climbed up and sat on the back of Yang's bike. Ruby walked up to Oscar and handed him his cane, Oscar sighed "I'm just going to be another one of his lives, aren't I?" Oscar asked in a defeated tone, Ruby looked at him in a serious manner "Of course not. You're your own person." Ruby said as they walked down the trail. "Don't lie to him, Ruby." Qrow said before he took a drink from his flask "We're better than that..." Qrow said as he trekked through the snow along with the group.
"Alright! Regalia and Laurel, I want you guys to take up the rear while Celadon and I will take up the front." Carmine said as Laurel and Regalia moved to the back to form a rectangle around the group. "Keep your eyes open." Carmine said to Celadon who scanned the horizon as they walked. Carmine kept his rifle pointed toward the ground as they walked through the snow, "Doesn't look like this is gonna let up." Qrow said as he took a drink from his flask, Carmine heard Weiss and Blake shiver behind him "Sorry ladies, I wish I jackets for you to wear." Carmine said apologetically, Blake giggled "It's alright, I just want to get this stupid Relic to Atlas and get out of this storm." Blake said, Weiss nodded "Let's hope we don't have to walk all the way there." She said as she held Blake for warmth, Yang hmphed "I thought trails led somewhere." Yang said sarcastically to Maria, the little lady looked at the blonde girl "Do you have nothing better to do than to harass a defenseless old lady?" She asked as they moved through the snow storm.
As they trekked through the frozen, snow-covered tundra, Carmine's head perked up when he heard what sounded like the faint squeaking of rusty metal in the distance.
"Everyone shut the fuck up for a moment!" Carmine yelled which caused everyone to be quiet, it was dead silent as a faint squeaking noise could be heard in the distance. "You hear that?" Carmine asked, Blake's ear twitched as she moved her head "That way." She said as she pointed to a silhouette in the distance. The group pushed through the storm until they came upon a large farm with a sign that read 'Brunswick Farm', the gate squeaked as the wind pushed it back and forth. "Well, at least one good thing happened today." Blake said with a chuckle, Weiss tilted her head "It looks abandoned." Weiss said, Ruby looked over at her "It's still better than this." Ruby said as Carmine pushed the gate open.
Carmine and Celadon slowly moved down the driveway as they approached the main house, Carmine raised his rifle as he scanned the windows of the buildings. He held up his right hand and made a fist before he signaled Laurel to take the left flank and Regalia to take the right flank around the well that stood in the center of the farm. Laurel and Regalia quickly moved to their positions as they had their weapons raised, Carmine walked up to the door and jiggled the knob, but it wouldn't budge.
He signaled Laurel over to him as he looked at the door knob "What you wanna do?" Laurel asked, Carmine looked around the farm slowly "It looks like no one has been here in a while, look at the bottom of the door. That snow should have been broken if the people left recently, but this… this is just eerie, like…" Carmine said as he started to trail off. "Like you've seen it before?" Laurel asked, Carmine nodded "Yeah, The Grimm Reapers." Carmine said before he moved Laurel away from the door. Carmine stepped back and swiftly kicked the door in before he and Laurel pushed in with their weapons raised, everyone moved into the house as Regalia and Celadon followed slowly as they watched the driveway.
Regalia and Celadon pushed a large drawer in front of the door to keep it closed as the rest looked around the abandoned house "You smell that?" Laurel asked Carmine who pulled off his masked and took a deep breath in "Yeah, decay. Everyone be on guard." Carmine said as he checked corners as he entered rooms "I saw a chimney from the outside. Maybe we could get a fire going?" Blake said as she looked around for firewood or stuff to burn. Carmine pulled open a drawer and found a golden pocket watch that he pocketed before he continued to search room to room, occasionally lighting lanterns and lamps. "Please. I'll look for some blankets" Weiss said from the other room "Yang, go with her." Qrow said as he looked around the house.
Carmine walked back into the main room "Bottom floor rooms are clear, I just need to check the upstairs…" Carmine started to say before he was cut off by a high pitch scream. "Weiss!" Carmine and Ruby yelled at the same time before Carmine sprinted up the stairs, his boots slammed down on the wooden stair case. He rounded the corner and found Weiss and Yang standing in a room in shock, he looked past them and saw two corpses in a bed "Cover your eyes!" Carmine said as he placed his hands over their eyes and backed them out of the room.
Qrow walked into the room before Carmine joined him "You ever seen anything like this before?" Qrow asked the mercenary, Carmine nodded "Once, we were chasing a man by the name of Cerberus, he was a disgraced Atlas Scientist. One of his labs we found had a victim who looked like that." Carmine said as he walked over to the body and examined it closer, he pulled on his gas mask to protect against the smell of rotten flesh that permeated off the corpses.
"Well, luckily for us, this house acted as a sort of tomb for them so there are no maggots or flies." Carmine said before he opened the side window and pulled the corpse out the bed "What are you doing!?" Qrow asked confused, Carmine looked at him "Mourn the dead later, we got shit to do." Carmine said as he tossed the corpse out the window, he dragged the other corpse over and tossed it out as well before he shut the window.
He pulled the fluid-soaked sheets off the bed and tossed them out of the window before he grabbed a fresh set from a cabinet and made the bed "There, done." Carmine said as he looked at the freshly made, non-corpsey, bed. "Wow Carmine, you'll make a good house wife one day." Qrow said, Carmine withdrew Judge and pointed it a Qrow without looking away from the bed "Sorry, what?" Carmine asked, Qrow chuckled before he walked away. Carmine placed Judge back into the holster and walked down stairs to the main floor.
"Right so, we got a bed with clean sheets and no bodies in it." Carmine said with a chuckle, Yang looked at him "Did… did you just make a joke about dead people?" Yang asked confused, Carmine shrugged "When you've seen so much death, you kind of become numb to it." Carmine said as Qrow walked back in from outside "It's the same in every house." Qrow said as he brushed snow off his shoulders, Yang sat up "What?" She asked confused "Bodies. Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up." Qrow said as he sipped from his flask.
"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked as she sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, Carmine looked down at the floor as he crossed his arms "I'm afraid we don't have much of an option, with out the Airship or the Valor, we're not going anywhere fast." Carmine said as he leaned against the wall. "We don't have a choice. Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere." Qrow said as he walked over to the fireplace.
Maria hopped off the couch and walked over to the book case "Well, might as well get comfortable." Maria said, Carmine picked up his bag and sat it on a table with a loud thud "I think I have seen this before and if I'm right, I might want to start a contingency plan." Carmine said as he pulled on his bag and withdrew Executioner before he moved through the house. "Okay, then, let's do something. If this place wasn't abandoned, it might still have supplies we could use." Ruby said as she looked over the crowd, Laurel stood up and left the room to join Carmine.
"What's the game plan?" Laurel asked as he raised his shotgun and cleared the next room with Carmine, the rifleman sighed "If this is what I think it is, then everyone is about to get really tired and weak." Carmine said to Laurel who looked back at him "Wait, what?" Laurel asked confused, Carmine pulled out his scroll and pulled up a data sheet "It's called 'The Apathy', this Grimm is powerful and very dangerous. It drains the willpower of its victims and makes them want to give up." Carmine said as they pushed into a room that had a bar in it, Laurel chuckled "You wanna have a drink?" Laurel asked, Carmine shrugged "Sure, whiskey, neat." Carmine said as he placed his rifle on the bar top.
"So, you've seen The Apathy before? Where?" Laurel asked as he slid a glass over to Carmine, the rifleman pulled his gas mask off and sat it on the bar "I found it on a computer that was owned by Cerberus of The Grimm Reapers. It kills its victims slowly and apparently it also has an ear-piercing shriek." Carmine said as he slammed the whiskey back. Carmine pulled his Ka-Bar out of the sheath and held it by the tip before he threw it at the wall, the knife flew and stabbed into a wooden pillar. The rifleman stood up and pulled the knife from the wall before he placed it back into its sheath.
"Alright, let's do this." Carmine said as he pulled a box of C-4 from his bag and sat it down on the bar, he pulled a brick out and peeled the back off before he placed it under the bar. He pressed the switch on the brick which turned a red light on, he tossed a brick to Laurel who placed one on the wooden pillar and flipped the switch to activate it. They moved into another room that had a metal cellar door on the floor with a chain looped through the handles, as Carmine examined it closer, Ruby and Weiss walked into the pantry with them.
"Great, more alcohol. Oh, hey Carmine, what are you doing?" Ruby asked as they looked around the room. "Why is this hatch locked?" Carmine asked before something banged against the metal doors, everyone stepped back slowly as Carmine unsheathed his knife and stabbed something through the slit in the door, black smoke rose from the slit and dissipated quickly. "What was that?" Ruby asked confused, Carmine placed the knife back into the sheath and turned to face to two girls and Laurel "The Apathy, some seriously nasty Grimm." Carmine said before he stuck a brick of C-4 to the roof of the pantry.
"Grimm?! We gotta do something." Ruby said as she withdrew Crescent Rose, Carmine patted her on the head "That won't do anything, but this will." Carmine said as he clicked the switch on the brick. Carmine grabbed five bottles of vodka off the shelf and walked back out to the bar where he pulled cloth rags out and stuffed them into the bottles of vodka before he tipped it upside down temporarily. "Boom, Molotov Cocktails. Just light and throw." Carmine said as he placed a lighter on the bar. "What do you mean it won't do anything, your knife just…" Ruby started to say before Carmine cut her off "I stabbed it in the head." Carmine said as he crossed some wires that caused a light on a detonator to turn on.
"There's food on that shelf, grab it and get back to the fire." Carmine said, Ruby and Weiss grabbed some cans off the shelf before they left for the main room. "Want to break the chain?" Laurel asked, Carmine shook his head "No, we need to keep those fuckers down there." Carmine said as he stood up and walked out of the pantry. He zipped up his bag and put it back on before he and Laurel walked back into the main part of the house, Laurel placed the Molotov Cocktails onto the kitchen table as Carmine sat his bag on the floor and sat down on the couch in between Blake and Weiss.
They both rested their head on his shoulders while he pulled off his gas mask and sat it in his lap "You girls get some sleep, alright." Carmine said as he stared into the fire, Yang leaned back against the sofa and rested her head against Carmine's leg as she closed her eyes. Carmine reached down and played with a few strands of her golden blonde hair, he looked down at the floor and saw Regalia with her head on Yang's thigh. Carmine nudged Regalia "Wake up, we got work to do." Carmine said in a hushed tone, Regalia sighed "Five more minutes, I'm in bliss." Regalia said as she rolled over and was face down in Yang's thighs.
Yang giggled as Regalia rolled over, so she was looking up at Yang who brushed Regalia's purple hair out of her face and behind her ear "Go, I'll be here." Yang said before she kissed Regalia on the lips. Regalia stood up and fixed her skirt "Right, what do we need to do?" Regalia asked as Carmine slowly stood up and rested Weiss's head on Blake's lap. Carmine brought her into another room where Laurel and Celadon were waiting "Right so, we might have Grimm problem on our hands. In the backroom, there's a cellar door that is chained shut, like it's keeping something in and I stabbed whatever was on the other side of the door and it turned to black smoke." Carmine explained in a hushed tone.
"Oh, hell no, I just got that sweet, sweet blonde nectar in there, I am not losing it." Regalia said a she raised her bat shotgun, Carmine shook his head "Look, as far as I know, the Grimm are trapped in the cellar so what we do is before we leave, we cut the chain and let them flood the house before I blow the charges." Carmine said as Laurel handed him a yellow box that he sat on the table and unlatched two latches, he opened the lid to show his team a two rows of ten lights that had only six lights lit. "This is an EDD or Electronic Delay Detonator, I turn the key, press in a small code, and press this red button. Big boom." Carmine explained before he closed the box and put it in his bag.
Carmine pulled out a couple bricks of C4 and handed them to Regalia and Celadon "Place them on key points and choke points." Carmine said as he pulled out some for himself. Team CRCL went to work as the others slept in the silent house, they were quiet as they armed explosive charges throughout the large house.
*The Next Morning*
Everyone was passed out in the house, Qrow was asleep in a chair with wine bottles on the ground by his feet. Carmine leaned against the wall as he looked out the window, Qrow dropped a bottle which startled Ruby awake "Carmine? What time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes, Carmine pulled out the pocket watch he found and clicked it open "About 7am." Carmine said as he closed the watch and placed it back into his pocket. Ruby stood up and looked at everyone fast asleep "Wanna have some fun waking them up?" Carmine asked, Ruby lit up with excitement "What did you have in mind?" Ruby asked curiously.
Carmine pulled out his KSG and cocked it before he fired a single shell into the wall, the blast startled everyone awake and to their feet. Ruby barely contained her laughter as everyone looked around confused "What was that?!" Qrow asked confused, Carmine chuckled "Mercenary alarm clock." Carmine said as he placed the KSG back on his lower back. "Let's get going, we should get going." Carmine said as his team members prepped their gear and readied their weapons.
Outside, Yang and Laurel dragged a trailer from a shed and lined it up with Yang's motorcycle "Weiss, can you make a hitch with your rapier?" Carmine asked as he tossed Laurel a hollow piece of metal, Weiss nodded as Laurel lined up the metal, Weiss used the fire dust in her sword to weld the metal onto the trailer and hooked the trailer to the bike. "There." Weiss said as Laurel tested the weld, he looked back at Carmine and gave a thumbs up.
Laurel walked over to the side and lightly kicked the side "Alright, looks good…" Laurel started to say before the left tire popped and deflated. "You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" Maria asked sarcastically, Yang sighed "I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas." Yang said in a defeated tone, Ruby sighed and looked up at her sister "It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare." Ruby said in a somewhat optimistic tone. Yang shook her head "It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters... I'm so tired..." Yang said as she crossed her arms.
"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by." Blake said in a somber tone, Carmine chuckled "Blake, I love you, but you don't know what it means to fight to get by." Carmine said, Laurel and Regalia looked at him shocked as everyone got quiet. "Do… you realize what you just said?" Celadon asked in a low tone, Carmine shook his head before Celadon repeated what he said verbatim. Carmine clenched his fists before he pulled on his gas mask and withdrew his rifle "I'll be right back." Carmine said, anger and hatred resonated in his voice as he started to walk away, Laurel and Regalia moved in front of him.
"Why? Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but... how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?" Yang said as Carmine swapped the magazine in his rifle for one labeled 'AP' and pulled back the bolt on the side of the rifle. "What? The Grimm might…" Ruby started to say before she was cut off "They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now." Yang said as she had a dazed look in her eyes.
Ruby took the Relic off her belt and walked over to the well "Ruby, wait." Carmine said as he started to move toward her, she held the Relic over the well "I am... really... tired..." Ruby said as her pupils dilated, she started to pull back but was startled by something in the well that caused her to drop the Relic into the well.
"No! No! No! I didn't mean to!" Ruby said as her pupils returned to normal, Weiss looked at her with the same dazed look "Ruby, it's okay." Weiss said in flat tone. "No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!" Ruby said as Carmine ran up to the well and aimed his rifle down the well. "Yeah, you better run, skinny." Carmine said in a low tone. "Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go." Yang said as she placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, but Ruby swatted it away.
"What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back! Oh, what was I thinking?!" Ruby said as she mentally kicked herself. "All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare." Qrow said as he sat against a pole. "I'm not leaving without the lamp!" Ruby yelled as her teammates stared at her with dazed looks. Blake sighed "I'll go down with you..." Blake said, Carmine chuckled "We'll go too." Carmine said as his team readied their weapons behind him.
"We'll go down together." Weiss said, Qrow shook his head "Fine! Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire." Qrow said as he walked back into the house. "Where are you going?" Maria asked, Qrow shook his flask "Where do you think?" He asked sarcastically, Maria shook her head "Stupid." She said as she continued to read the book she had. Carmine leaped into the well and bounced off the walls to slow his descent, Regalia, Laurel, Celadon, and Team RWBY followed behind them.
"Alright Wolves, eyes up and sweep left to right." Carmine said as he raised Executioner and clicked the tactical light on that was attached to the right side of the rifle. He slowly moved deeper into the tunnel, he checked corners and passageways as they walked down the waterway "Maybe the current carried it away." Yang said as they moved deeper into the tunnel, Ruby acted nervously "Oh, come on, where is it?" She asked as they continued through the water. "Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake asked in an unsure tone, Carmine clicked the light on his rifle off as Ruby and Yang turned their scroll lights off. Blake looked around the tunnel before she noticed something in the distance "There!" She said as she pointed at a blue glow that was, Ruby ran forward before Carmine could stop her "Ruby, wait!" Carmine yelled.
"I got it!" Ruby yelled as she picked up the Relic but let out a shriek when she came face to face with a tall, sickly looking figure "What the fuck is that?!" Yang and Laurel asked as Carmine raised his rifle "The Apathy." Carmine said as he shot the figure three times in the head, the figure quickly dissipated as others rounded the corner slowly. "Ruby! Run!" Carmine yelled as he continued to fire into the pack of Apathy. One of the figures let out an ear-piercing shriek which caused everyone to drop to their knees, Carmine pulled out a pair of ear buds and placed them into his ears "Alright, let's see if my theory is correct." Carmine said as he pressed play on his scroll in his pocket.
"My weapon... feels heavy…" Blake said as she struggled to stand, but Carmine stood tall as he continued to fire into the crowd of Grimm. Carmine pulled the pin on a frag and tossed it down the tunnel before it exploded and ripped threw a couple Apathy. "Run!" Maria yelled from behind the group.
Hells Bells – AC/DC
I'm a rolling thunder, pouring rain, I'm coming on like a hurricane. My lightning's flashing across the sky, you're only young, but you're gonna die.
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives nobody's putting up a fight, I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell, I'm gonna get you, Satan get you.
Hell's bells! Yeah, hell's bells. You got me ringing Hell's bells! My temperature's high, Hell's bells!
"Now!" Maria yelled as the group ran out of the tunnel behind her, Carmine fired a few more rounds before he followed behind them. "Go, go!" Carmine yelled as he followed behind them, they took a right and sprinted down another tunnel as they passed more Apathy.
I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine, if you're into evil, you're a friend of mine. See my white light flashing as I split the night, 'Cause if good's on the left, then I'm sticking to the right.
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives nobody's putting up a fight, I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell, I'm gonna get you, Satan get you.
The Apathy let out another shriek and caused everyone to collapse, everyone except for Carmine who fired into the crowd. "Looks like I was right." Carmine said to himself as he dropped the empty magazine and inserted a fresh magazine. He switched Executioner into its sword form and sliced through one of the Grimm's neck "Anytime guys!" Carmine yelled as he balled up his fist and delivered an explosive uppercut to another Apathy.
Hell's bells! Yeah, hell's bells. You got me ringing Hell's bells! My temperature's high, Hell's bells!
As Carmine fought through the mass of Grimm, the song in his ears abruptly changed to the sound of air raid sirens and distant mortar fire combined with claps of gunfire and helicopter blades. A voice echoed through his mind 'make them your bitch.'
Indestructible – Disturbed
Another mission, the powers have called me away. Another time to carry the colors again, my motivation an oath I've sworn to defend, to win the honor of coming back home again. No explanation will matter after we begin, unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within. My true vocation and now my unfortunate friend, you will discover a war you're unable to win.
Carmine gritted his teeth as his he withdrew his Ka-Bar and stabbed another Grimm in the throat as he decapitated another one quickly. "An exit. An exit!" Maria yelled, Ruby crawled toward Weiss who was on the ground "Come on!" Ruby said as she struggled to stand up, Ruby and Carmine heard a weapon clatter to the ground. They looked back and saw Blake collapse to the ground "Blake!" Carmine yelled as he tried to move toward the Faunus, but he was back handed into a wall by an Apathy. He dropped to the ground, but slowly picked himself up off the ground "Blake... get... up!" Ruby yelled as more Apathy came in through the opening in the wall.
"It's fine." Blake said weakly as an Apathy approached her and reached its sickly hand down toward the cat Faunus "Noo!" Carmine yelled as he picked himself up. "BLAAAAAKE!" Ruby yelled as a large flash of white light filled the room and damaged the Apathy to a point of semi-retreat. Everyone broke from their trance and picked themselves up, Regalia helped Yang off the ground and led her toward the stairs that Maria had found.
"What just happened?!" Maria asked confused, Weiss ran up the stairs and tried to push open the doors "It's locked!" Weiss yelled. "Out of my way." Yang said as drew her arm back, but the Apathy let out another shriek which dropped everyone to their knees. Maria crawled closer to Ruby who was on the ground "Ruby... what color are your eyes?" Maria asked, Ruby looked at the short lady "They're… silver…" Ruby said which caused Maria to gasp. "You have a family? Friends?" Maria asked.
I'll have you know that I've become!
Indestructible determination that is incorruptible from the other side. A terror to behold, annihilation will be unavoidable. Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible. Take a last look around while you're alive, I'm an indestructible master of war.
Another reason, another cause for me to fight. Another fuse uncovered now, for me to light. My dedication to all that I've sworn to protect, I carry out my orders without a regret. A declaration embedded deep under my skin, a permanent reminder of how it began. No hesitation when I am commanded to strike. You need to know that you're in for the fight of your life.
Carmine pushed himself off the ground and placed Executioner on his back before he pulled out his KSG, he ran forward and dumped multiple rounds into the mass of Grimm. Buckshot after buckshot, he fired shell after shell into the skinnys. Ruby looked over at Carmine who was fighting back the Grimm, Laurel and Regalia had joined him as they fired into the mass of Grimm. One after another, the Grimm dissipated and exploded into black smoke, Laurel drew his machetes and tore into the Grimm as they got too close to him.
Indestructible determination that is incorruptible from the other side. A terror to behold, annihilation will be unavoidable. Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible. Take a last look around while you're alive, I'm an indestructible master of war.
"Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!" Maria said as she tried to get Ruby to focus. As soon as they had an opening, Carmine handed Laurel and Regalia ear plugs and gestured to them to put them in. The moment they placed the plugs in, the Apathy let out a shriek but didn't affect the three who fired back at the Grimm.
Indestructible determination that is incorruptible from the other side. A terror to behold, annihilation will be unavoidable. Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible. Take a last look around while you're alive, I'm an indestructible master of war.
Ruby closed her eyes and opened them moments later, her silver eyes now glowed brightly as the light flooded the room and ripped through the Grimm and rendered them into smoke. Yang shot up quickly and slammed her robotic arm while the gun in her wrist fired, the explosion blew open the door as the others quickly stood up and ran up the stairs.
Indestructible determination that is incorruptible from the other side. A terror to behold, annihilation will be unavoidable. Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible. Take a last look around while you're alive, I'm an indestructible master of war.
"We're back in the house?" Blake asked confused as Carmine fished out a brick and stuck it to the roof of the cellar, he clicked the switch before he ran up the stairs. Qrow was passed out at the bar as everyone ran through the door, Ruby stopped and shook Qrow "Uncle Qrow, get up!" Ruby yelled as she shook Qrow. "Hey! Get off me! What are you doing here?" Qrow said as he slurred his words. "We're leaving, you idiot! Come on!" Maria yelled as she ran out of the room.
Weiss looked back at the cellar entrance "Not yet…" She said as she grabbed a couple bottles of vodka and threw them on the ground, the bottles shattered on the ground and coated the stairs in alcohol. "Hey... Hey! What are you doing?!" Qrow yelled as Weiss used her rapier and a Glyph to send fire into the puddle of alcohol which ignited and lit the approaching Grimm on fire. "Now we can leave!" Weiss said as she and Ruby grabbed Qrow's arm and dragged him out of the room. "Stop it! Stop! What's wrong with you?! What's..." Qrow asked until he looked back and saw the approaching Grimm that Carmine and Laurel were shooting at.
The two turned and ran out of the room, Carmine grabbed Qrow and threw him over his shoulder before he bolted out of the house with Ruby, Weiss, and Laurel in tow. Carmine placed Qrow into the trailer with the others, he climbed into the back as Yang started up her bike and wasted no time in driving away. Carmine fished a box out of his bag and opened the lid "Yang! Stop!" Carmine yelled before Yang stopped the bike "What?!" Yang yelled, obviously scared. "You're gonna miss the fireworks." Carmine said as he turned the key, pressed a few numbers, flipped a switch, and held down a red button.
Within seconds, massive explosions ripped through the houses and engulfed the farm house in fire. Shockwaves shook snow that had built up on tree branches and fire quickly melted them, black smoke filled the sky as the fire raged and explosives continued to detonate, a few chunks of wood fell from the sky as a burning mattress crashed into the snow followed by a burning corpse. "Huh, guess I missed one." Carmine said as the others looked on in horror, explosions echoed in the distance as Yang started to drive away. Carmine placed the EDD back into his bag before he kept his rifle at the ready, Laurel and Regalia pulled their ear plugs out before they placed them in their pockets "How did you know to put ear plugs in?" Regalia asked, Carmine chuckled "Cerberus of The Grimm Reapers, he was actually a doctor from Atlas who was disgraced for his unethical experiments and he continued to work under the name of 'Cerberus' and was protected by The Grimm Reapers." Carmine explained. "Is that why you were unaffected by those Grimm?" Ruby asked, Carmine nodded.
"The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was hemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always." Maria said as she recited what she had read in the book she found. Oscar read from the book "Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired." Oscar said as he read the entries in the book.
"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked." She said before she took the book from Oscar. "No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left." Maria said before she tossed the book into the snow as they continued down the trail.
"I'm... sorry for what I said... about giving up." Weiss said as she apologized to Ruby, Yang stopped driving and turned around "Me too. We can't quit until the lamp is safe." Yang said as she apologized as well. "It's not your fault. It was those... things." Blake said as Carmine sat down next to her and Weiss, he wrapped his arms around the two ladies. "I should have taken action sooner, but I didn't want to alarm you, I just wanted guys to get some rest." Carmine said, Maria shook her head "I should have known. The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be." Maria said as she lightly tapped her prosthetic eyes.
"Miss Calavera? How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?" Ruby asked, everyone turned to look at the short lady. "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had Silver Eyes." Maria said with a smile.
*Cue Flashback (Nope, too much writing) *
"But I wasn't... I went into hiding soon after." Maria said as she wrapped up her backstory. Qrow looked on shocked "I can't believe it. You... You're the Grimm Reaper, you were a legend! And then you disappeared..." Qrow said as he continued to look shocked. Oscar seemed confused "How exactly does a legend just disappear?" Oscar asked, Qrow lightly shook his head "You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper." Qrow explained.
"Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way." Maria said, Blake shook her head "How can you say that?" Blake asked confused, Maria sighed as she looked up at the students "Child, a Huntress is supposed to protect others to the bitter end. But after I lost my eyes, I only ever looked after myself. Even after my surgery, I was too afraid to fight. Afraid someone would find me again, finish what the others started. You shouldn't aspire to be like me, especially when some of you are clearly stronger already." Maria explained.
After hearing what Maria said, Yang looked down at the snow on the ground. "It's... comforting, seeing that your generation seems up to the task of inheriting this world. I'm just sorry I didn't do more to leave it in better shape." Maria said as she looked at each of the students. "Well, maybe you can do something now. Teach me to use my powers the way you did." Ruby said before her scroll started to ring.
"It's Jaune!" She said as she answered the call and put it on speaker. "Uh, hello?" Ruby said as she answered the call. "Ruby! Oh, thank you! I've been checking my Scroll for your signal since we made it to the city!" Jaune said through the speaker, everyone looked around confused "The city? Wait..." Ruby said before Yang drove forward up a hill to the top.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've arrived in Argus." Yang said as they looked out over a port town. The Valor sat in the harbor as Atlas VTOLs flew around Argus, Carmine looked down at his scroll as it was going off. He opened the device and answered the call "Go for Carmine." He said as he adjusted his feet. "Hey boss, it's Verde. Listen, uh, they kind of… seized the ship." Verde said through the ear piece. Carmine lowered the phone from his ear and looked at Yang "Drive!" Carmine yelled as he readied his rifle.
"What?! Are you gonna take on all of Atlas?!" Weiss asked confused, Carmine shrugged "If I have to." Carmine said as the motorcycle pulled the trailer down the hill to the front gate. Carmine quickly shot up and leaped out of the trailer before he sprinted into Argus; Laurel and Regalia sighed "Fuck, we'll go after him." They said as they jumped out of the trailer. Carmine bobbed and weaved as he moved through the crowd of people, Carmine came to a stop and looked around the town until he heard a familiar voice.
"Well, well, well! You got a lot of nerve to show up here." A bald man with scar down the side of his cheek said as he walked toward Carmine. "Thomas Lazu, how've you been you son of a bitch!" Carmine said as he embraced the man in a bear hug. "I just want to say, thank you again, for getting me out of that hell hole. For the longest time, I thought that place would be my tomb, but you left and the next thing I know is people are running around like a headless chicken saying, 'they're coming' repeatedly." Thomas said as he let go of Carmine.
"So, this is what you look like with full gear." Thomas said as he patted the rifleman on the arm. "Well, I just stuck with what worked. Change is hard whenever you find Heavy IBAs comfortable as hell." Carmine said as he adjusted his vest. "I… heard about what happened in the forest a couple years ago, my condolences." Thomas said as he placed his hand on Carmine's shoulder. "Yeah, I wasn't the same for a while afterward. I was almost on a self-destructive path until I saw Sapphire's photo on my dresser, her loving eyes telling me to go on and live. So, I put down the bottle, picked up the weights, and got my shit together before I started at Beacon." Carmine explained as Laurel and Regalia came running up.
"Carmine, don't do anything stupid." Laurel said, winded as he fell to his knees. Carmine chuckled "Don't worry guys, I mean I was gonna raise hell, but then I ran into this guy. Laurel, Regalia, this is Thomas Lazu. He's the man who helped me unlock that energy thing I did in the one vs eight match back at Beacon." Carmine explained as he introduced everyone. "I met him when The Grimm Reapers had me as a prisoner, he talked to me and kept me sane." Carmine said as Laurel and Regalia shook Thomas's hand.
"Say, Thomas, do you know where the Devil's HQ is? I need to pay them a visit really quick." Carmine said as he rubbed his hands together, Thomas nodded "Yeah, go to the end of the block and hook right before you cut into an alley two doors down. Look for a pentagram." Thomas explained, Carmine nodded "Cool, you wanna come with?" Carmine asked but Thomas shook his head "No son, this old man is done with the action in his life." Thomas said as two kids looked out an open window behind him "Hey Grandpa, who are you talking to?" One of the kids asked as Carmine waved to them. "Oh, just an old friend of mine." Thomas said with a smile, Carmine chuckled "Glad you found peace, Thomas. You take care of yourself, now." Carmine said, Thomas laughed "I could say the same to you when you're not getting shot, stabbed, or blown up." Thomas said as he laughed, the bald man turned and walked back into his house as Carmine continued down the street.
"Let's see, one… two… alley way." Carmine said as he walked down the narrow corridor and entered a large opening that was barren, he looked around the area until he found a manhole cover with a pentagram on it. "Laurel, help me with this." Carmine said as he grabbed one of the openings, Laurel grabbed the other and lifted the cover, one by one they climbed into the sewer before Carmine closed the cover behind them. He landed on the concrete and clicked the light on his Five-Seven on to illuminate the area, when the area lit up, they came face to face with demonic statues and what looked like a sacrifice alter.
Carmine, Laurel, and Regalia slowly moved along the walkway as they moved deeper into the sewer "What the fuck was that?" Regalia asked in a hushed tone, Carmine chuckled "That's how they keep kids and nosy adults out." Carmine said as they moved down another passageway. As they walked down the walkway, they came up to a large metal door that had a pentagram painted in red paint, Carmine reached up and slammed his fist on the door five times. "What?" A voice asked as an eye slit opened on the door "I need to speak to Duke, tell him Titan is here." Carmine said, the slit closed as a series of locks unlocked and the door slowly opened with a spine-chilling creak.
The trio walked into the dark room that was dimly lit by skulls with candles inside them "God, this is creepy." Regalia said as she wrapped her arms around herself, a masked man opened another metal and ushered them in. This room was lined with monitors, maps, and file cabinets, multiple people ran across the room to other rooms carrying files while few answered calls at a few desks. "What the hell just happened?" Laurel asked as he looked back into the dark, demonic room they just left.
"Namaste, mother fucker!" A man with a Mohawk said as he leaped off a second-floor balcony, Carmine laughed as he walked up and bumped chests with the man "How have you been, Duke?" Carmine asked the man, Duke chuckled as he gestured around them "Well, we fucking upgraded! We tapped into the signal relay and have been getting their alerts two minutes before they got them. So, we've been able to respond and are more effective than the Atlas mooks." Duke said as he showed them the reaction map with multiple cameras of live feed from squadrons of Devil Disciples, some engaging multiple tangos.
"Well, god damn." Carmine said as he looked around, Duke held up his finger "But wait, there's more. Since the Vega and Vale incident a couple years ago, the Devil's Disciples, Viper Legion, and the 184th Mistral Militia all linked up and will respond in unison to any threat if it warrants such a response." Duke said as he pointed out a joint operation board, he gestured to a marble wall to the left. Carmine turned his attention to the wall and saw multiple plaques on the wall that read 'Dedicated to the brave warriors of Operation Reaper Killer.' Laurel and Regalia walked up and read the plaques "Wolf Pack led by Carmine and Onyx Sable, Viper Legion led by Harlequin Flae, Devil's Disciples led by Duke Snow, and the 184th led by Titus Quinn. Wow, this threat must have been bad, but how come we never heard of it?" Laurel asked.
"Simple, because the council covered it up. Atlas couldn't afford for the world to know that their experimental weaponry fell into the hands of terrorists and it took four mercenary groups to stop them, and even then, we received no thanks or medals. Just mean looks and those fuckers at Atlas turn their noses up at us." Duke said as he rubbed his hands together. "Now you know why I hate the Atlas military so much, we get our hands dirty and they're hesitant to pay us, let alone acknowledge us." Carmine said before Duke laughed "Oh, you wouldn't believe how many contracts we did for those fuckwads at the port." Duke said as he sat down in a large leather rolling chair.
"Wait, what happened in Vega?" Regalia asked, Carmine and Duke rubbed the back of their heads as they sucked in air through their teeth. "What we do know is that while we were meeting in Vale and the Devils were assaulting a bunker in Mistral, multiple people walked into a large convention hall on the day there was a comic con going on and opened fire. Over three hundred and fifty-four people were killed, while eighty others were wounded." Duke explained as he pulled up photographs on one of the monitors, the sights were horrifying as it showed the Vega massacre. The floor was covered in blood and splattered on the walls that were riddled with bullet holes as bodies of men and women littered the floors.
"What the fuck?!" Laurel and Regalia exclaimed simultaneously as Duke turned the pictures off, Carmine scratched the back of his head underneath his hood before he shifted the weight to his right leg. "So, the reason I stopped by, those shit fucks captured my battleship and I'll be damned if I'll stand by and let them take it after I recaptured it from the White Fang. I'm getting it back and we should voice our oppositions to these shit sticks." Carmine said as he cracked his knuckles, Duke developed a grin as he stood up and pressed a single button on his desk.
A pair of double doors opened on the side of the wall before multiple armored men walked out onto the main floor, they wore all black body armor with black metal masks that had two horns on the head, there were four who wore black Maska-1Sch helmets and carried an RPD LMG, an RPK LMG, an M249 SAW LMG, and an MG-42 LMG. The others carried ARX-160s, CZ-805 BRENs, H&K XM-8s, and H&K G3s, they all carried MP-9s as their sidearms while Duke had a MR-412 REX on his hip. Duke grabbed his MK-14 Mod 0 EBR and pulled back the bolt on the side of the rifle.
"So, are we doing this? We got some choice words for them and they owe us some Lien for us getting our hands dirty." Duke said as he walked toward Carmine, the rifleman shook the marksman hand as they shared a hardy laugh. "Come on, we'll take the new BTR-94 and BTR-4s that we just got in." Duke said as he led the Carmine, Laurel, Regalia, and the rest of the Disciples to the back. They walked into cold dark room before Duke flipped a switch and illuminated a large garage that had multiple APCs lined up.
"Very nice, let's get going." Carmine said as he, Duke, Regalia, Laurel, and seven other Disciples climbed into the back of a BTR-4 as the other Disciples boarded the other BTRs and started the APCs up. A man pulled a chain and lifted a large metal door that let sunlight shine into the dimly lit garage, the BTRs pulled out and up the curved pathway that led to Argus. The BTRs drove into the city and were met with a series of claps and cheers from citizens walking down the street.
"Alright, are we ready for this?" Duke asked as the convoy came to a halt, Carmine climbed out of the top hatch and sat on the roof as he tapped into the Argus audio systems. He looked ahead toward a bridge that was outside of the Atlas base "Is that Weiss and Blake?" Carmine asked himself as he squinted his eyes, he shook his head and banged on the roof of the APC before the convoy continued. Heavy rock music played loudly from surrounding speakers, loud guitar riffs echoed through the city as the group on the turned to face the source.
Shoot to Thrill – AC/DC
"Is that… Carmine?" Weiss asked Blake as the convoy drove down the road.
All you women who want a man of the street an' don't know which way you wanna turn Just keep a-coming and put your hand out to me 'Cause I'm the one who's going to make you burn.
Carmine sat on the roof of the lead BTR as the convoy drove down the street and neared the bridge.
I'm going to take you down, oh, down, down, down. So, don't you fool around, I'm gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger!
Shoot to thrill play to kill, too many women too many pills, yeah. Shoot to thrill play to kill, I got my gun at the ready gonna fire at will!
The mass group backed up to the side of the gate as the BTRs occupied the bridge in front of the base.
I'm like evil I get under your skin, just like a bomb that's ready to blow. Cause I'm illegal, I got everything that all you women might need to know. I'm gonna take you down, yeah down, down, down. So, don't you fool around, I'm gonna pull it, pull it, pull the trigger.
Carmine hopped off the lead BTR and slowly walked toward the gate, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll before he clicked the music off. He cleared his throat and looked at the two guards "Carmine, they're not gonna listen to you." Yang said dismissively, Carmine chuckled and looked at the two guards "I want my ship and my crew back, now." Carmine said with anger in his voice. The guards huffed "The ship is property of Atlas Military, have a good day, sir." One of the guards said. "Fine, then I want to see whomever is in charge, or else." Carmine said vaguely, one of the guards scoffed "Or else what?" He asked arrogantly, Carmine chuckled "I take it by force and you both know I could." Carmine said as he grabbed their shirts and pulled them close to the gate "Now. Go. Get. Them." Carmine said as he exhaled steam slowly from his gas mask. The guards jogged away like squares as the Disciples disembarked the multiple BTRs and formed a line behind Carmine.
Within minutes, the guards returned and announced in unison "Introducing Special Operative Caroline Cordovin!" The guards said as a short woman walked out from behind them. "I've already heard what your other little friends had to say." Caroline said as she looked at RWBY, RNJ, Qrow, and Maria before she looked at Carmine who towered over her. "I'm not here for that, I'm here for my ship. I want it back, or else." Carmine said, Caroline scoffed "And who are you?" She asked with an arrogant tone, Carmine pulled his gas mask off and revealed his face to the cool sea air.
"Carmine Sable, leader of The Wolf Pack and according to YOUR database from Ironwood himself, Commanding Officer Fourth Tier. But you can run and check that if you want." Carmine said with a shit eating grin, the woman growled before she looked at one of the guards "Go check." She said as she put her arms behind her back as Carmine stepped out of the way, Duke stepped forward and eyed the woman "You owe us some Lien, three million to be exact." Duke said, the short lady laughed loudly and wiped a tear away "And why would I do that?" She asked with a smug look, Duke knelt to her level and stared her down "Because we don't have problem killing every last person on this base and making it look like someone went crazy." Duke said as the Disciples all cocked their weapons and the BTRs started up.
Caroline gulped as droplets of sweat formed on her head "Right, do you take check?" She asked, Duke nodded as Maria busted out laughing "Oh, not so tough now are ya, Cordo?" Maria asked as the guards returned "Operative Cordovin, his info checks out. He technically out ranks you, ma'am." The guard said as Carmine pushed himself off the wall "Now, go get my crew." Carmine said with venom to Cordovin who saluted "Yes sir." She said before she ran into the base, Carmine gestured to everyone as he walked in, the BTRs slowly pulled into the base as they took point.
"Sir, why are these heathens with you?" One of the guards asked which caused Carmine to stop in his place, he turned around quickly and got in the guards face "Son, you wanna say that again? These men are my brothers and YOU WILL SHOW THEM THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE!" Carmine yelled, the guard visible shook as Carmine backed away "Now, get out of my sight." Carmine said before the guards ran away into the base.
"So, what the fuck was that about?" Yang asked as everyone stared in concern, Duke cleared his throat and got everyone's attention "Carmine and I, along with members of Viper Legion and the 184th all fought together against the Grimm Reapers at the siege of Vale. A lot of good men died that day and Atlas buried it along with the Vega massacre, that's why you've never heard of it before." Duke said as he explained the past war. "So, when that man called us heathens, he spit on the graves of all the men and women who died during the Siege and it pissed Carmine off." Duke explained.
"And who are you?" Yang asked, Duke chuckled "Where are my manners, Duke Snow, leader of the Devil's Disciples. These are the Disciples, we're mercenaries like Carmine is and like the Wolf Pack was." Duke explained as he rolled up his sleeve and displayed a tattoo of a pentagram with a Ursa head in the middle. As they conversed, three men walked out of the base and up to Carmine, "Phantom, you son of a bitch! How've you been?" Duke asked as he embraced the man in a bear hug.
"I've been good, I'm glad I got on the right side of all this BS." Phantom said before he looked at Carmine "As we speak, they are refueling and rearming the Valor as well as the Harbinger." Phantom informed Carmine who nodded "Thank You, Phantom." Carmine said as he shook the man's hand. "Carmine, where did you go? We pulled up to Argus and you just split with Laurel and Regalia chasing after you." Blake asked her boyfriend, Carmine shrugged "I ran into Argus in a blind anger, but I ran into an old friend and he directed me to the Devil's lair." Carmine explained as he bumped arms with Duke.
"Oh, I forgot to mention but we formed The Onyx Coalition in honor of your brother, and we want the Wolf Pack to be in the coalition with us. We'll still accept our own contracts, but we'll come to each-others aid and link up when it is warranted, like during the Siege. And to welcome you back, we're gonna retake Vale while you continue to Atlas." Duke said as a few Disciples raised their weapons in solidarity. "Well, there are some Atlas personal there so y'all better be careful. I greatly appreciate it, Duke." Carmine said as he noticed Cordovin speaking to Ruby and the group "Excuse me, Duke. Clearly someone doesn't learn." He said as he patted Duke on the shoulder.
"You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So, allow me to say this slowly, with smaller words: This base, that relay tower, the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas! And it is my duty to uphold them, as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task." Cordovin said as she berated the huntsmen and huntresses in training, Carmine was about to speak when Laurel stopped him "Let them handle it, you can't be there all the time to defend them." Laurel said in a hushed tone.
"Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible." Maria said before she laughed to herself, Cordovin growled as she clenched her fists "You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates! This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesian ancestors, and what do we get in return? The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!" She said as she raised her fists and made various arm movements. Ruby stepped forward slightly "Please, we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We were there." Ruby pleaded with the tiny woman.
"No one's happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried. It's why we need to talk to-" Weiss started to say before the tiny woman cut her off "The General is no coward! Atlas is strong. If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail!" She said proudly before she sighed. "If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then, of course, the Atlas military will escort her home. But the kingdom will not be responsible for her "friends" of... questionable character." Cordovin said as she looked at Blake and Cobalt.
"Now you can go." Laurel said as he released the Dog of War. Carmine walked toward the group of students and spoke up "What the fuck was that, Cordovin?! I don't think I heard you right. Did you just refer to my girlfriend as a 'questionable character'?!" Carmine yelled as anger and venom filled his body. Cordovin stuttered and stammered over her words "Wha… well… I… she…" She started to say before Carmine held his hand up. "Just stop and do something for the first time in your life, listen. These people are with me, these people are my friends, and you will treat them as you would treat myself." Carmine said, Cordovin lowered her head "Yes sir, I am deeply sorry." Cordovin said as she tried to apologize. Carmine scoffed "No you're not, if you were truly sorry then you wouldn't have said it in the first place, knowing they were with me." Carmine scolded the woman before he turned his head "Get out of my sight." Carmine said as he dismissed the woman.
"Holy shit, Carmine. What happened to you?" Yang asked confused, Carmine chuckled as he looked at the blonde girl. "I'm tired of seeing the people I care about being walked on, especially one of my girlfriends. I'll be damned if I let this shit sticks stomp all over us." Carmine said as he put his hands behind his back. "So, what now?" Weiss asked, Jaune raised his hand "One of my sisters lives nearby, she wouldn't mind us staying with her for a couple nights." Jaune said, Carmine raised his hands "Hey, now there's an idea." Carmine said as Duke leaned against one of the BTRs. "You guys go ahead, we're waiting for these fuckers to bring us our Lien." Duke said, Carmine nodded and led the group away from the base.
"So, what's the plan for Atlas? What is Ozpin's plan?" Nora asked, Oscar looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his head. "What is it?" Ren asked as they walked up a flight of stairs, Carmine sat his bag down in the corner of the room as Ruby filled Jaune, Nora, and Ren in on the events from earlier. Jaune balled his fist and slammed it into the wall, the plaster cracked as he removed his fist. "Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed, Jaune gritted his teeth "Everything we did was for nothing!" Jaune said angrily, Blake stood up from the couch and walked over to the middle of the room "That's not true." Blake said in a calm tone, but Nora grew angrier "Really? Because it sure does sound like it." Nora said in an angry tone, Ren shook his head "If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?" He asked as he crossed his arms.
Everyone was silent for a bit while Carmine laid his head against the wall, Jaune scoffed "Wow... Great plan everyone!" Jaune said sarcastically, everyone looked hurt as Oscar stepped forward "Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here." Oscar said defensively, Jaune scoffed "Are we sure about that?" Jaune asked, Carmine looked up at the blonde male "Mother fucker, do you honestly think we wanted ANY of this? We have been through a lot of bullshit and are not gonna take this after everything we've done." Carmine said with venom on his tongue.
"What?" Oscar asked confused, Jaune got in Oscar's face "He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this?" Jaune asked Oscar in an angry tone. "He didn't know any of it!" Weiss said as she defended Oscar, Jaune grabbed Oscar by the throat and slammed him against the wall which caused Carmine to shoot off the ground. "How much longer can we even trust him?!" Jaune said as he picked the boy off the ground. Carmine pulled out Judge and put it to Jaune's head before he cocked the hammer back "Put the kid down." Carmine said as furious anger resonated off him.
"How do we even know it's really him?! What if we have been talking to that liar this whole time?!" Jaune asked as he held Oscar off the floor, "Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed as she glared at him and he glared back at her, he looked back at Oscar who cowered in fear, Jaune dropped Oscar and stepped back a bit. He walked up the stairs and slammed a door shut, Carmine un-cocked the Judge and placed it back in the holster. He picked Oscar up and straightened up his shirt "You okay, kid?" Carmine asked, Oscar nodded as he rubbed his throat.
"Is he... gonna be okay?" Yang asked, Nora and Ren sighed "I don't know!" Nora said before she left the room, "I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves." Ren said before he walked up the stairs.
Carmine unclipped his shotgun and his rifle from his back before he sat down on the couch, Blake sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder while Weiss sat on his lap as he wrapped his arm around her waist. A woman with long blonde hair walked out of one of the back rooms and looked around the room "Oh, hello. I don't think we've met." The woman said, Carmine looked at Blake and Weiss before he chuckled "I'm… a little stuck. I'm Carmine Sable, leader of The Wolf Pack." Carmine said, the woman chuckled "I'm Saphron Arc, Jaune is my younger brother." Saphron said as she semi-bowed, Carmine chuckled "Thank you for welcoming us into your home." Carmine said as Blake and Weiss had passed out against him.
Saphron giggled "Tough job having two girlfriends and being a mercenary?" Saphron asked as she sat down on one of the sofas. Carmine chuckled "Yeah, but thankfully the four major groups formed a coalition so now I know I won't be running into a war alone. Do you remember the four main groups?" Carmine asked as he rested his head against the wall, Saphron nodded "Yeah, I remember seeing the news break about the shootout at the Schnee Gala in Atlas." Saphron said, Carmine chuckled "Yeah, not our finest moments." Carmine said as he looked at the roof.
Suddenly, Yang ran into the room "Carmine!" Yang yelled, her voice grabbed his attention and woke up Blake and Weiss, Carmine looked up at Yang who was panting "What's up?" Carmine asked as Weiss stood up and let Carmine off the couch while Verde, Phantom, and Cobalt walked into the living room with Regalia, Laurel, and Celadon. Jaune, Nora, and Ren ran down the stairs "Where's the fire?" Nora asked as she looked around, Yang shook her head "Oscar's missing." Yang said, Carmine nodded "Right, Cobalt, go prep the Harbinger, Phantom, find Duke. Celadon and Verde, take to the roof and use your thermal optics to search the streets. Regalia and Laurel, you're with me." Carmine instructed.
Carmine grabbed his bag, shotgun, and his rifle before they all ran out of the house "Alright, I'll be here." Saphron said as she was left with just Jaune and Nora "We'll find him and be back as soon as possible." Jaune said before he ran out of the house. "Oscar!" Laurel and Carmine yelled as they slowly passed through alleyway after alleyway. The mercenary's gear bounced and clanged against his body as he ran 'God, I need to empty out this fucking bag.' Carmine thought to himself as he dug in and powered through the heavy bag that added strain to his back.
Carmine ran through the street before he came to a stop in a park, he looked around and found Jaune standing near a statue. "It's really beautiful, isn't it?" A woman with short red-hair asked as she looked at the statue, Jaune nodded "Yeah... uh, why here?" Jaune asked as Carmine listened in from behind a large oak tree. The red-haired woman smiled at Jaune "She trained here, Sanctum Academy. Everyone was crushed when she chose Beacon over Haven. No one wanted to see her go, but... it was where she wanted to be. I'm just glad she was surrounded by such amazing people." The red-haired woman explained.
Jaune looked down at the snow-covered ground and shook his head lightly "She should be standing here…" Jaune started to say before the red-haired woman shook her head "She is." The woman said as she held a bouquet of flowers in her arm. Jaune had confusion plastered on his face as he looked at Pyrrha's statue "She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be." The red-haired woman said, Jaune forced a smile as he faced the woman "Pyrrha never got the chance to graduate... But she was a Huntress." Jaune said proudly, Carmine smiled as he hid behind the large oak tree.
"Thank you." The red-haired woman said as she wiped a tear away, Jaune's attention was caught by Nora and Ren who were calling his name "Jaune!" Ren yelled, Carmine quietly snuck into the shrubs and out into a side street where he met up with Laurel and Regalia "Nothing, how about you?" Laurel asked, Carmine shook his head "No, but I did find something else." Carmine said as he gestured to the statue of Pyrrha.
As Carmine looked around the street, he felt his scroll go off in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was Phantom, he opened his scroll and put it to his ear "Go for Titan." Carmine said before Phantom started to speak "Two things: One, I think I found Qrow and Oscar. Two, Loki's back." Phantom said, Carmine's body went cold as his scroll dropped into the snow. Laurel grabbed the scroll quickly and put it to his ear "Talk to me." Laurel said before Phantom spoke through the ear piece. "Alright, we're on our way." Laurel said before he closed the scroll and handed it back to Carmine. Carmine stared into the ether as Phantom's words echoed in his mind as he stood in the street.
"I… I shot her… multiple times. I blew her up, there's no way, there's no fucking way that she's alive." Carmine said in disbelief. Regalia placed her hand on Carmine's shoulder as he looked at the snow-covered brick road "Don't worry, we'll take care of her when the time comes." Regalia said as she reassured the rifleman. "Yeah, and now we got the Disciples here, so I dare this bitch to try something. Let's go!" Carmine said before the trio took off running down the street toward Saphron's house, they arrived minutes later to find Qrow passed out on the steps.
"I…I have no words." Carmine said as he nudged Qrow's leg, Yang shook her head "I've never seen him this bad." Yang said as she looked at her uncle, Carmine knelt next to Qrow and examined the side of his neck. "What are you looking for?" Ruby asked as she looked over his shoulder, Carmine pushed Qrow's head to the side and looked at his shoulder "Well, another person from my past has returned, a person I swore that I killed, so I'm looking for puncture marks or small lacerations." Carmine said which caused Ruby and Yang to look at each other. "Who is it?" Ruby asked, Carmine looked back at her and was about to speak when Team JNR walked up with Saphron with a small child in her arms and a woman with dark hair next to her.
"I'm sure this looks great to the neighbors." The dark-haired woman said sarcastically before Celadon leaped down from the roof, Verde walked out of the shadows, Cobalt flew down from the sky, and Phantom emerged from a black cloud of smoke that formed on the ground. "Well, I stand corrected." The dark-haired woman said, Carmine stood up and walked over to Phantom as Team RWBY and JNR conversed with Saphron and the dark-haired woman. "How do you know it's Loki?" Carmine asked, Phantom pulled up a picture on his scroll and showed it to Carmine, the photo depicted a woman with silver hair, a robotic left arm, a robotic right leg, and a metallic jaw with jagged teeth.
"How is she alive? I blew her up and shot her multiple times." Carmine said as he shook his head, Carmine tilted his head "Where did you take this picture at?" Carmine asked, Phantom pulled up a map of Remnant and zoomed in to the coast of Mistral. "It was around here when we were sailing around the coast, I stepped out and used a pair of binoculars to view the coast. That's where I saw her and I had Cobalt fly over to snap that picture, that's her but she doesn't seem like the sociopath she used to be. She seems to be a shell of her former self." Phantom explained before he closed his scroll.
Carmine shook his head "A hand grenade is still a hand grenade, even if the pin is still in said grenade." Carmine said before he turned around and rejoined the group as the door opened "Oh, I was wondering when you'd get back." Oscar said as he stood in the doorway, Carmine stared at the boy as RWBY and JNR tackled him "Surprised you didn't join them." Saphron said as she stood next to Carmine. He pointed to the hand grenade that dangled by the spoon from his Heavy IBA "Would be very bad if the pin were to come out." Carmine said as he walked up the steps with the others following him indoors.
As everyone walked inside, Qrow stood up slowly and walked inside before he started up the stairs "Is something cooking?" The dark woman asked, Oscar chuckled "Oh, uh, yeah. I thought you guys would appreciate a hot meal after... spending all day looking for me, apparently." Oscar said, Jaune sighed and stepped forward "It's my fault we were all out there in the first place. Oscar, I am so sorry for earlier. I was way, way out of line, and what I said…" Jaune started to say, but Oscar cut him off "No, it's okay. These past few days, I've feared the same things you were. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be... me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left." Oscar said as he seemed to come to terms with his own mortality.
"Good. This team isn't the same without you, Oscar." Jaune said as he placed his hand on Oscar's shoulder, suddenly the smoke alarm went off and shocked them back to reality "Oh no, the casserole." Oscar exclaimed, Saphron laughed "We're on it, chef." Saphron said before she and dark-haired woman jogged into the kitchen.
Ruby sternly looked at her uncle who was walking up the stairs "Where are you going now?" Ruby asked, Qrow sighed "I don't want to get in the way of your celebration." Qrow said bitterly, Ruby shook her head "Look, Ruby, I'm glad you kids worked out, uh, whatever all that was. But the fact is, we're not a single step closer to Atlas." Qrow said, Carmine and Jaune stepped forward at the same time. "Actually, I think I have an idea. But... it's sort of a "no-going-back" kind of idea." Carmine and Jaune said at the same time.
The rifleman and the swordsman looked at each other confused "Uh… you go first, kid." Carmine said as he stepped back a bit. "With Cordo on watch, only Atlas airships have the clearance to leave for Solitas. So... we... steal an Atlas airship." Jaune said, Ruby looked at Carmine confused "Why not his airship?" Ruby asked, Carmine chuckled as Jaune had a look of realization on his face. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Jaune said, Carmine held his hand up "I think we're going to need another airship, as mine plays the role as a 'guardian'. So, we'll need another one or should I say, I wouldn't mind having another one in my arsenal." Carmine said as he crossed his arms.
Weiss looked at her boyfriend concerned "That's not just breaking the law. That's... that's definitely worse." Weiss said, Carmine nodded his head "We'd be court martialed and tried, while I would be blacklisted and imprisoned for crimes against the kingdom." Carmine said which caused the room to go dead silent. "How would we even get onto the airfield?" Yang asked as she broke the silence. "That part I haven't quite figured out yet. But–" Jaune started to say before Qrow cut him off "Okay, stop. Just... stop! Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas Military we're talking about." Qrow said before he sighed slowly "For your sake, just drop this." Qrow said which caused Team RWBY and JNR to look discouraged.
Ruby looked up at her uncle with a determined look on her face "I want to hear him out." She said to her uncle in protest. "Ruby…" Qrow started to say before Ruby cut him off "I want to hear him out! I know you're trying to protect us, that you're afraid we can't do it, but right now, I don't really care what you think!" Ruby yelled which shocked everyone. Ruby looked at her friends that stood around the room "Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way! And I say we do it our way. And if you think you can keep up with us 'kids'… we'd be happy to have you." Ruby stated.
Qrow looked down sadly before Maria laughed "Looks like you didn't give her enough credit either." Maria said to Qrow, but Qrow didn't say anything. Carmine looked up at Jaune "Alright kid, what's your plan? You got the full support of The Onyx Coalition." Carmine said as he leaned against a support column. "Well, so Carmine, you'll escort Weiss to an airship stating that you'll take her back to Atlas, but Maria will be in her suitcase. Meanwhile, Blake and Yang will disable the tower that runs to the Argus base." Jaune started to say, Ruby raised her hand "Why can't Carmine just take one?" Ruby asked, Carmine chuckled "I out rank her on a technicality." Carmine said.
"And what is that?" Qrow asked from the stairs, Carmine looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "I hate the man, but I also admire his military strategies, I still hold a grudge against him for the fact that he insisted on using these poor excuses for soldiers to protect a train carrying extremely dangerous weaponry, then expect a six man team to go in and destroy it with nothing more than some RPGs and small arms." Carmine said as he seemed to dance around the question. "Carmine! What technicality?" Blake asked as everyone moved in closer.
"Shit, okay. Apparently, Ironwood is my father." Carmine said which caused the entire room to fall deathly silent.
A/N: Boom, another chapter down! Oh, this one took me a while to write, I feel like I should be writing my own fiction and making hella bread. Be sure to check out Wolf Pack and my new fic, In Another World With A Marine, and check out Team BAWM which is co-written by myself, RebelKira, and TheBurningRuler. Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review, and as always, this is Nightmare 6-4, signing off.
Edit (5/9/20): Came back and fixed a few things, added some other things I left out initially. Kay Thxs Bye!
