RWBY: Dual Eclipse
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Scene Change
Chapter 7: Repair
Raoul walked down the street leading towards Mountain Glenn, eye shifting about as he took a look at the houses that lined the street. Many of the abandoned places looked as though anyone could simply walk in and begin setting up, likely a result of the mass exodus. With his Scroll open, he took to acquiring a few street maps, mainly to trace out a shortcut to and from the heart of the city. Given that the CCT was a fair ways away, that took a moment.
Heading over to the nearest one that looked unapproachable, it appeared to have been a single-story ranch style abode. The siding looked like it had survived the worst of several weather patterns, though the color was fading fast from the place overall. Time to try it out.
The front door was locked up tight, and a check at the side and back doors revealed they were also locked. Well, if the door was a no-go, perhaps a window could be jimmied loose?
One nearest the other end of the house proved loose, and after about a minute of work, the glass panel was removed, giving Raoul his entry. He was quick to put it back once he was inside, lest someone get suspicious. True, the streets leading down this way were utterly devoid of any people, but it was better to err on the side of caution.
Now inside what had to have been one of the bedrooms, he took notice of how spacious it was. Exiting this room, he took notice of another, equally spacious room right next to this one, and what seemed like a smaller office room across from it. Down the nearby hallway, there was the bathroom on the left-hand side, with a storage closet across from it.
At this junction, heading right would put him in the living room, whilst going left brought him to the kitchen. The back door and side-door were both accessible from the kitchen, and there was a stairwell leading to the basement. Said basement was also quite empty, having nothing left from its previous occupants.
A quick test of the pipes over by a slop sink proved that whomever had closed this place down didn't bother completely shutting off the water, likely due to the panic of fleeing the area years ago. An oversight on their part, but advantageous for him. Now came for the power... using his Scroll to provide some insight into how the housing worked, it looked like they'd need a few Electric Crystals to get the power back up... a crucial detail as well, since his Scroll looked to be around 32 percent power remaining.
'Well, it's not quite what I had in mind, but this'll do. Welcome to our base.'
'OK, but how are we to get any amenities in here? Y'know, like a fridge and whatnot- seeing someone effortlessly carry that stuff is going to raise some eyebrows...'
'That's why I had the back streets mapped out on my way down here. An exit strategy is always something to consider.'
Returning to the main floor, he worked the side-door lock, letting him leave the house. Time to go hunting for amenities.
Commercial District, 11:01 A.M.
Making his way back towards the Commercial District, he headed for the nearest Dust Shop... From Dust 'Til Dawn. Approaching the establishment, he saw a sign up that said "Currently Renovating - Open hours subject to change".
Entering, he saw powered Dust in tubes lining a far wall to his left, the nearby display case ahead showing several Dust Crystals in case, although many of the slots were currently empty. Further back and to the right were some magazines and other kinds of reading material. Manning the store was an elderly gentleman, whom had to have been somewhere between his seventies and eighties at a glance.
'Hey, ain't he the guy who ran that noodle cart?'
The windows were boarded up until replacements could be brought in. One of the other display cases was caved in, as if someone had jumped onto it.
'Looks like the place is still getting fixed up. Let's speed it along a bit.'
"Good afternoon." Raoul made himself known, and the elderly shopkeep looked up. "Looking to get some Electric Dust Crystals, mostly ones that can power large equipment. Any recommendations?" That caught the shopkeep's attention.
"Mm-hhmm.." Holding up a finger as if to say "one moment", he headed into the back. It was about three minutes later that he returned with a few yellow crystals, about five or so. These ones were easily the length of someone's hand, about 7 to 9 inches. "These ones should each last you a few months at the least."
"Those'll do nicely. How much?"
The shopkeep rang up the total. 475 Lien total for the crystals, plus a carrying case to ensure they didn't get jostled too badly. A bit on the pricey side, but given what was going on with the Dust thefts, he could understand.
"Have a good day." Paying for the crystals, he placed them into the case and was on his way. It was about three minutes later that the shopkeep seemed to partially recognize the man that had walked out. He'd seen him before at the noodle cart he had on the side... no wonder he seemed familiar.
Raoul's next target was a mini-fridge, something he could carry back without arousing too much suspicion. It appeared that most appliance shops were open, though there was a refurbishing shop that would be open sometime next week, its owner having gone down to Vacuo for business. Entering the name of the place into his personal Scroll, Roshin's TV & Appliance, he saw that the place had favorable reviews, as the owner did some good work in fixing up broken units. A bookmark and reminder was set for this place when it opened.
Still, no reason not to check out the other stores and see what kind of price range existed for these items.
A secondhand shop was nearby, and a quick glance through the window showed that it dealt mainly in furniture - sofas, beds, even a few shelving units. Shifting his viewpoint a bit to his left, he saw that the place also dealt in clothing and some gently used electronics as well.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He entered the store...
Residential District, 12:51 P.M.
Slipping back into the single-story he claimed as his base, Raoul headed downstairs to deposit his purchases.
From that second-hand shop he'd gotten a hammock with a metal stand for surprisingly cheap, at about 75 Lien. An older-model holographic TV was being sold for the same price, and it came with a setup manual to tune into local broadcasts.
First thing was first - he headed over to the breaker box, and opened it up. Sure enough, the chamber for a Dust Crystal was empty, and if the regular dust on the box was an indication, this place had been out of use for years. After taking a moment to clean it as best he could, he inserted one of the crystals into the chamber, closed it back up, and then flipped the switch. A low humming sound could be heard, and to test if the power was indeed working, he attached the filched Scroll to a charger and plugged it in.
Sure enough, the charging light came on, indicating that everything was working as needed.
Next on the list was tuning the older-model TV to the local broadcasting stations. As this model didn't have a paired remote, he had to tune it in manually with the buttons on the deck. About a minute later the display showed "Now Searching", and a number began counting up. Another two minutes later, after tallying up around 45 channels, it immediately flipped to the nearest channel available... the Vale News Network.
The news was currently re-running this morning's story about the bust made in the Industrial District... his handiwork.
'Really becoming a popular guy, aren't you, Mr. Raoul?'
'My old man always put it thus: if you're gonna be somewhere for a while, might as well do what you can to leave it a little better than how you found it.'
'Y'know, of what demons I do remember, excluding our bunch, you're way different. Most of the ones I know would've probably tried global domination by now.'
'Comes with the territory of being ripped out of your home and being forced to adjust to whatever world you've found yourself in. As some would put it, it's a humbling kind of experience, the kind that most Netherworld denizens wouldn't experience for a long time.' He tapped through the channels, seeing what all Vale had in its broadcast lineup.
Music... Cooking... Kids' shows... looked like standard fare so far. Flipping to another channel, it appeared to be a spotlight program highlighting various hotspots around the other Kingdoms. Today's Kingdom of discussion was Mistral. As this played out, Raoul took this time to set up the hammock and stand.
Located on the eastern continent of Anima, Mistral held the largest amount of territory among the four kingdoms, and thusly held multiple ecosystems and diverse cultures.
Early inhabitants took to carving out the cliffs to find shelter from the Grimm, and from there thriving cities soon began to crop up. Thanks to frequent trade with Mantle, and even learning how to form settlements on Solitas, Mistral had begun to follow Mantle's example. For a time, the arts had been banned, due to growing fears that expression was what brought in the Grimm from the other areas of the continent.
Just as earlier theorized, when Mistral made some settlements on Sanus territory, close to Vale, it was indeed cultural differences that sparked the first bout of the Great War. With Grimm attacks on the rise, many of those settlements were lost.
Mistral and Mantle were able to keep Vacuo out of the conflict, but when they began pressuring the Dust-rich kingdom to ally with them, their offer was rejected, and Vacuo allied with Vale instead, kicking off the war in earnest.
Mistral culture today was one that couldn't be tied down to a singular description. The residents of the kingdom had built their technology and culture around the natural geography and resources held within, thus holding a high respect for nature, usually of the sea and sky.
With the stand assembled and the hammock stretched out between the two anchoring points, he climbed in to make certain it'd hold. He shifted his weight about for several minutes, testing the stand.
'All right. We are solid.' Climbing back out, he headed over to change to another channel.
'Speaking of solid, I've been doing some more poking around the coding of the Scroll we stole from that gang member. I think I'm close to figuring out the nature of how it got rewritten.'
'It'd make busting that Torchwick guy's operations a lot easier.'
'More than that- if this works out like I'm hoping, we could find the bitch in the red dress and bring her down as well, considering that he's working with her.'
Cinder's Location, unknown time
'Disappointing... most disappointing...' Cinder collapsed her Scroll as the report of the bust came in. This was twice now that some rogue Hunter had managed to find Roman's operations and bring them to the Police's attention. If things were going to continue along these lines, changes would have to be made. The Dust and other supplies were crucial to carrying out this operation. The one saving grace was that Torchwick had told the Gang to fission off, to spread the supplies and other stolen goods out, minimizing the damage done to the operation.
Then again, with eyes currently on Roman and his heists, that had allowed her to move about and obtain what she needed unimpeded. The transcripts needed to carry out the next part of the plan were currently being drummed up by their informant, and with those, it'd put her much closer to where she needed to go.
She had no fondness for that man whom was working with the informant, but his work in programming and rerouting was undoubtedly genius. It'd be hard to believe that something so simple could be so damaging.
Idly, she reached into her satchel and brought out the glove. The sigil was still present on the back of the hand, meaning the specialized Insect could be summoned once again. If the Fall Maiden was being held at Beacon for her own protection... then that fool of a Headmaster couldn't have placed a bigger bullseye on the Academy if he tried. And this time, there'd be no idiot imitating a Grimm to stop her.
She would reclaim that which was long overdue to her. Obtaining the Maiden's powers was just a step towards that goal.
But for now, ensuring that Roman's Dust thefts were successful was higher on the priority list. Word was going around that thanks to Roman's efforts in Vale, the Schnee Dust Company was going to be sending a freighter loaded to the brim with Dust their way... likely their way of trying to play hero to the situation.
It was her thoughts about the incoming Dust shipment that forced her to think back on her failed attempt to recruit the White Fang for this missive... and of how that shadowy creature effortlessly manhandled her.
To say that it left a sour taste in her mouth would be understating it... because of that thing's interference there was now a new reason for her erstwhile allies to ridicule her, not to mention that her master knew that the attempt on the Fall Maiden had failed. While her reprimanding wasn't as harsh as she had imagined it being, it still stung like a Rapier Wasp. Once she had obtained the Fall Maiden's powers, that thing would be her first target.
But it was getting late in this part of the world, and she would need her rest for the next stage of the operation. She'd have to settle for dreams of incinerating that creature.
These next few months were going to be a long wait, but one that would pay off...
Fifteen days later
Friday, March 25
Vale Agricultural District, 3:38 P.M.
Raoul's axe came down hard on the head of another Beowolf, silencing it for good as its head was cleaved in half vertically. Not missing a beat, he turned and unholstered his gun, firing off two quick shots that blew another Beowolf's leg and head off respectively.
One tried to get in close to swipe at him, but all that accomplished was getting a fist through its chest, silencing it for good. Removing his fist from the creature, he watched as it dissolved away. Cautiously, he looked around to see if anymore of the pack had hung back to wait out the battle. About two minutes had passed before he had determined that things were complete.
"Looks like that's the last of 'em." Raoul holstered his weapons as he headed back towards the request poster to collect his pay for the under the table job. Said poster was one of the Agricultural District farmers, a slightly portly gentleman whom had been getting a touch leery of any Grimm getting too close, and had decided to shell out a bit extra for some pre-emptive action.
With his payment received, Raoul headed back up towards the Commercial District. From the chatter among the people on the streets, excitement for the Vytal Festival was picking up pretty intensely, many businesses and other storefronts already beginning to create decorations and other related items. Popping his Scroll open, he decided to check out what all the buzz was for this Festival. He had heard of the term back when he first landed, but a refresher would help.
Named for the island north of Vale where the treaty to end the Great War was signed, the Vytal Festival was a biennial gathering that held the purpose of celebrating all of Remnant's diverse cultures, as questions regarding individuality and self-expression were catalysts to the Great War.
Whichever kingdom was host to the Festival would open its borders to visitors from the various other kingdoms, as several images from the other Kingdoms attested to. One of the biggest draws of the Festival was the Hunter Tournament held in the Amity Colosseum, an immense, floating arena that was created with resources from all four kingdoms.
Several more images of prior tournaments were posted, showing prior students engaging in combat against other participants from the other kingdoms.
Up to 32 teams from the Academies would participate, but should a team advance to the next round, they would have to elect which two team members would advance. Should that team win once more, they'd have but a single member representing them in the finals division.
'So to celebrate a war's ending, they decided to beat the shit outta each other? Are we certain these humans don't have any kind of demonic blood somewhere in their family trees?'
'It certainly does sound like a bit of a glorified bloodsport when you put it that way. I wonder how this is supposed to promote unity.' He ultimately shrugged as he continued to look over the information. 'Guess we'll understand more about this whole thing when it arrives...let's see here... according to the date, it's not for another four to five months, give or take a week or two for other preparations.'
'Must be something huge if they're preparing for it this early.'
'Perhaps. Still, we got our own business to attend to.' Closing the page that had the information about the festival, he turned his thoughts towards the acquisition of other electronic parts. Aside from hopefully rigging something up that could be space-worthy, there was also his gauntlets to consider. If they could be fixed up, it'd give him access to the extra functions.
He'd need to go back to his base and disassemble his gauntlets to figure out which parts needed replacing overall if he was going to repair them.
There was also, of course, keeping tabs on any more of those robberies. Sure, he could have let the Vale Police handle it, but they'd already proven a touch incompetent since he had to do most of the legwork and provide the coordinates to tell them "Hey, go here and check this out".
He began heading back towards his base. Along the way there, he made a quick stop to pick up a few items.
Residential District, 6:52 P.M.
Slipping back into his unofficial base, Raoul headed downstairs, bag in hand with his new purchases, and a collapsable table held tightly beneath his arm. Upon entering the basement he set the bag down near his hammock and set the small table up. Opening the bag right afterwards, he pulled out a lightbulb and installed it into one of the overhead fixtures.
A quick test proved the connection was strong, and with that he dug back into his bag and withdrew a toolkit, setting it on the small table alongside his gauntlets.
'It has been a good while since I last disassembled these things.' With that, he opened the toolkit and grabbed one of the tools inside. Time to go to work.
Hours would fly by as he disassembled each part of the gauntlets, seperating the components into different piles. The circuitry components were undoubtedly shot, and would need replacing.
'Yeesh. These look like they've seen better days.'
'That's putting it lightly. Combine this with the inability to get the proper replacement parts and all the fighting I had to do afterwards...' He took the non-electronic pieces of the gauntlets and began cleaning them out, getting rid of weeks of built-up dust and other errata.
'What all were these supposed to do?'
'Well, back in the realm I was in before everything went down with our group, there were multiple combat machines that were rampaging about - nobody had any idea as to what drew them up. Either way, after engaging some of them in battle I took notice of what capabilities they had, so I got the idea to integrate some of them into units that could be used for protection.'
He fiddled with some of the casing for the fingers, taking them apart.
'These things were multi-purpose. Protective shielding units in the palms, which could be combined to create a disruptor field, the fingers could project either a small laser blade, an ice beam or fire bullets... I'm pretty sure some of these features can still be used, but I'd rather fix up the components first before I give them a try.'
'Huh. And these were for others' use?'
'More for the people that lacked the outright strength to combat some of the denizens I met over there. Some of 'em were allright kinda characters, but others... yeah, these would've been an immense boon. Last I remember, some of the people I worked with still have the design notes we drummed up, so they might have a newer version floating around.'
'No foolin'?'
'I hope so, at the very least. Things got downright weird over there.'
Raoul chanced a glance out one of the windows, seeing the moon high up in the sky. A quick look at his Scroll told him it was 10:25 P.M. already. Opening up a messaging application, he began noting down what circuitry to look for in Remnant to get his gauntlets back up to full capacity.
'OK... couplings for the power supply, more connectors to get the functions flowing... and of course extra metal to weld over the tears.'
Deciding that he would put it back together once he got the necessary parts, he closed his Scroll and climbed into his hammock. Might as well pass a little time through sleep.
Saturday, March 26, 6:29 A.M.
Raoul's eye shot open, mere minutes before sunrise.
'That's it!' His surprise outburst startled his companion awake.
'Eh? What's it?'
'The solution we've been looking for. We've already got our best option right here... how did I not see this sooner?'
'...context?'
'You're a Desco-unit, and they're technical cyborgs, right?'
'Yeah. What of... wait, are you suggesting...'
'That's right.' He raised his left arm. 'The graft you turned yourself into... it might take some time to potentially grow the parts, but if these can be reliably created and crafted, then we've got our ticket right here.'
About ten seconds passed before his companion spoke up.
'...huh, that idea never crossed my mind. Though, assuming my transformed state is able to cultivate the parts we need, how do you intend to get them once they're done?'
To that, Raoul summoned out his left wing, shaping it into a knife-like point.
'Might have to cut it open to get the cultivated parts, but it's a minor point in comparison.' Had his companion's face been visible, it would've blanched right now.
'Won't lie, not exactly fond of getting put to the knife again, but if it'll help us get home, then best to get it over with when the time comes... so, what all parts are we looking at cultivating for this?'
To that, Raoul flipped out of his hammock and headed over to get his Scroll. Opening it up, he flipped through to find the notes.
'First and foremost, we'll need the internal workings to carry the message, mostly the circuitry for the power and a recording unit to actually hold the message. Then there's the wireless transmitter to send the message out.' Flipping through the notes, he carefully read each necessary part, making certain his companion could see and understand what was needed.
'Mmmm... if I rush it I could get them done in about a week or two.' To that, he shook his head.
'I'd say take your time to carefully craft them. While I'd like to ensure everyone else is doing fine, a rush job could easily end up overlooking a vital detail that could compromise the situation. Also, with these being in our arm, rushing it could cause something to break, especially when we end up in the middle of action.'
'Fair enough... Say, you think these components could also be used to repair your gauntlets?' At that, Raoul froze for a moment, the gears turning in his head.
'It'd be worth a shot. There are considerably less parts needed for them, so we could treat their repair as our test run.' Heading over to his still disassembled gauntlets, he flipped his Scroll to the notes containing what parts would need replaced or repaired, allowing his companion to read them.
'Looking it over...these should be easy. Gimme 'til the end of the day to create these.' There was a feeling of something... shifting within his left arm, being pieced together. It was in several spots along his arm, ranging from his wrist to somewhere above the crook of his elbow.
'I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that.'
With that out of the way, Raoul found himself now wide awake. So, what to do now? Might as well check the local news for any information and wait for some extermination requests to come in.
'So far, no reports of any more robberies... but I honestly doubt the crimson bitch is giving up so easily, not if she has that group at her beck and call.'
'Guessing we'll just need to wait for them to strike again.'
Looks like another trip through the city was on tap. Might as well get some exercise in.
Beacon Academy, 7:32 A.M.
Ozpin brought up his desk's monitor once more as he did a quick check for any urgent messages.
First up was a message from Qrow. He opened it up.
Hey Oz, it's me.
Leads are running a bit dry in trying to find out whomever it was that decided to go after the Autumn Maiden. I got about one more end to try here in Mistral before I try heading down to Vacuo to search for clues. I'll be in touch if anything comes up... also Leo's been more panicky than usual. Betting it's stress.
Ozpin had figured as much - a methodical enemy such as them wouldn't leave behind many tracks. At the same time, Leonardo was probably fretting over how few leads there were in this case. A Maiden getting assaulted out of the blue, especially one he had been in recent contact with would put anyone ill at ease.
Up next was a report from Atlas.
To Headmaster Ozpin,
The Autumn Maiden, Amber, has successfully reached our borders as of two nights prior. While the current population appears to regard her as merely a passer-through, after considering your report on the attack around five months prior, I must suggest a vigil over her, if not having her guarded around the clock.
James Ironwood
The Headmaster of Beacon sighed. If Amber was able to be identified by the enemy so easily, then having guards would draw even more attention to her. He'd have to give James a reply, else the Atlas Headmaster might end up going through with his idea.
To Headmaster Ironwood,
While I understand your wish to have Miss Amber guarded around the clock, drawing too much attention to her would be a detriment to her overall safety and security. If you wish to maintain a vigil over her, I would suggest a more subtle approach, so as not to cause her any undue stress or potentially draw her assailants' attention. I'm more than certain you have long-range surveillance easily capable of keeping tabs on her.
Ozpin
Message sent, now that left other business to attend to.
The Base, 6:34 P.M.
Raoul laid his left arm onto the small table, wrist facing him as he began forming a wing from his back and sharpening it to a point. The shifting sensation in his arm had stopped a while ago, his companion confirming that the parts for the test run were ready to be extracted.
'Here goes...' With a steadying breath he plunged the sharpened wing into his left arm, piercing the green flesh closest to his elbow. Slowly, he dragged the wing up towards his wrist, opening it up to expose an intertwined fusion of organic circuitry, muscles, bone and nerves. With his arm now opened up, he split the wing, using it to hold his arm open whilst the other wing shifted into something resembling forceps. 'All right, now to extract the parts.'
'Up a little below the wrist...' His companion was guiding him to which new growths were the ones crafted for the gauntlets' repair. 'Down from there, bit to the right... wha, too far!'
'Oops, sorry about that.'
'Now for the last one, down to about midway, then on the left... got it!' As the last piece was extracted from his arm, he laid it on the table beside the other parts of the gauntlet. Much like the arm they were extracted from, they were small green masses of flesh mixed with red circuitry lines, though more resembling the latter. With the extraction complete, Raoul focused a Heal spell onto the inflicted open wound after using his wing to hold it closed, slowly trailing his right hand down the left arm from wrist to elbow. The process took him about ten to fifteen seconds, as he was making certain the incision would close properly. He then flexed his fingers, closed his hand into a fist, and rotated his wrist around, mainly to test for any discomfort that would've arisen from the extraction.
'So far, everything feels all right.' With that complete, he took the extracted components and began to try and fit them into place in his gauntlets' inner workings. The new components, upon being placed in their spots, began to fuse with the older circuitry and spread.
With the new components in place on his left gauntlet, he took a moment to see if the power supply still ran, even after all this time. He didn't want to fully assemble it, only to have to take it apart again because something went wrong. After slipping the skeleton onto his left hand, he clicked a small switch nearest the battery compartment, and straightened his hand out.
A strange shield began to form from the palm of the gauntlet's inner workings. He quickly shut down the power, then slipped it back off.
'That's a good sign. We'll need to go further south if we want to test the other features - don't need to let loose a gunshot and wake up half the damn neighborhood.'
'No time like the present. With it getting late, most people shouldn't see us.'
Collecting the remains of the gauntlets into the Dust Case, he made his way out of his base and towards the southern end of the kingdom.
Wilds, 6:57 P.M.
Figuring they should be far enough south to not draw any attention, Raoul set down the case and extracted the skeleton of his gauntlet. Slipping it over his left hand once more, he aimed at a tree, clicked a small switch nearest the power supply and extended all four fingers towards it. Bullets made of energy flew forth, ricocheting off the trunk if they didn't sink into it.
'Beautiful. Now for the other functions.' Curling his other fingers down so that only his index finger remained pointing, he clicked the switch to a different function. An icy-cold beam shot out, hitting the tree and partially freezing it over. Not skipping a beat, he flicked the switch to another function, and a 45-centimeter laser blade emerged, a dark blue in color. 'Well, that's a wonderful feeling. Now to get the other gauntlet fixed up.'
'Wouldn't it also have the same features as this one?'
'Certainly would, but as I said before, the shield units could be combined for a disruptor unit.' He switched off the laser blade and opened up the case to begin work on reassembling his right hand gauntlet.
'I gotcha.'
'Also, given how long it's been since I last had the chance to use these functions, this is also a test of the battery itself. No real telling how much power they have left.'
In practically no time at all, the right hand gauntlet's skeleton was formed back up, and as he donned it and tested out its other features, he found them to match the performance of the left hand. The damage was more or less symmetrical, so finding what to fix was easy enough.
Now came for the big test. Pointing both palms inward, he focused as a technological shield began to form between them. As he moved his palms apart, the shield began to grow, and when he thrust his palms towards that poor tree, the shield flew forward until it impacted the tree and shattered like glass.
'Nice.'
'There's one other function, but I shouldn't use up too much more of the battery.' Placing the skeletons back into the case, he made his way back to base.
The Base, 7:28 P.M.
Slipping back into his temporary base of operations, Raoul headed downstairs to begin piecing the gauntlets back together. Since his personal magic was still able to work, he could simply weld the gash on his gauntlets' palms shut himself.
'All in all I think this was a good run. We know we've got the ability to make the parts, though the more important thing is how you're holding up.'
'What with that being my first attempt at doing so, I think I'm gonna need a bit more time to fine tune the crafting process if we want to try that again. And if I might be honest, we'll need that extra study time.'
Raoul focused a strong flame on his right hand's index finger, and slowly dragged it across the palm of his gauntlets' outer casing.
'Agreed. If we're going to make the items to send the message out, we'll need to check some of the other shops to get parts that we can study.'
'That, and since these are being crafted directly from me, we're gonna need a lotta energy for it.'
'...explains why I feel hungry again. If just the gauntlet parts took this much energy to craft...' The heat began to soften and melt the metal back together, closing the gashes.
'Well, hopefully fine-tuning the process should increase the efficiency, thus lessening the drain when we make these.'
The gashes were finally closed, and he tapered off on the heat in favor of shaping the metal back together. Now the skeletons could be fitted back into the casings once the metal was cooled off. That would take a little while, so now might be a good time to open up the mini-fridge and get himself a drink.
Present Time, Interrogation Room, 10:49 A.M.
"Otherworldly technology..." Ironwood's mind was running through several scenarios at once, his eyes looking over the gauntlets that Nelius had handed over prior to the investigation, as was custom in Vale. Certainly Atlas had the know-how to replicate such designs. Gauntlets such as those could easily be used to save more lives on the battlefield, especially if they could be combined with the upcoming Atlesian Knight models.
"Truthfully, after this, the trail went kind of cold for a while." Nelius admitted. "There was the occasional small hit here and there against whatever heists Torchwick was pulling off, but it wasn't until about three months or so later that things picked back up."
"...the incident at the docks." Ozpin zeroed in on the most likely candidate, to which Nelius nodded. "Seems that attempted heist was the catalyst for quite a number of things these past few months."
Of course, Ozpin had been thinking as to how one of his student teams had been there ever so coincidentially, alongside two of the other students that had come for the Vytal Festival.
"Well then, let's hear your take on that incident." Ironwood suggested.
Chapter 7 - Complete