Long wait for a long chapter. I hope you enjoy. Notes about the chapter for readers at the bottom.
We walked out to the makeshift airfield after a brief conversation with the returning Team CFVY. Their mission had taken much longer than expected due to a massive underestimation of the Grimm in the area.
Our hunter in charge was less than ideal. We got the hyper-active, manic, time-sensitive, Doctor/Professor Oobleck. He would apparently be leading us through this mission, and overseeing our progress. He also explained that instead of setting up a base of operations to hunt out of, we were to hack-and-slash our way through the miles of forgotten city.
Our flight was full of information about of destination, Mountain Glenn. This was also the site of the Mountain Glenn Project, a failed expansion of Vale that was overrun with Grimm after countless deaths and allocations of precious resources.
"The broken, half-born city is a dark reminder of our failure, and to keep us in line against trading lives for progress." Oobleck summed up. The project encountered numerous failures and setbacks, but was pushed further and further, the leader's sight clouded by the reward.
The flight was short and we touched down in a bleak and barren city park. No buildings were painted and the skeletal steel structures of many buildings were still shown. The builders had obviously left in a hurry the moment the efforts were disbanded. The wind blew through the ruins and created an ominous hum.
"Now, even though you are students, your first mission as hunters has begun. From this point on you must do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" He asked. I shrugged and the rest of them nodded, and Ruby's bag made a sound.
"Ruby! I thought you were told to leave all your belongings behind." Ooobleck said.
"You hadn't told us to listen to you yet… So I didn't." Ruby said. Despite the stupidity of the statement, the logic was unbreakable.
"You aren't wrong, but what could possibly be so important that you-" The professor was cut off as the bag made another sound and Zwei's head poked out of the top. Everyone was silent for a few moments before Oobleck spoke. His voice was dangerously even.
"Let me make sure I understand you. We are here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle, teeming with death and hostility, and you brought… A dog?" He asked. Ruby made to explain her case when Oobleck abruptly yelled, "Genius!"
He grabbed the corgi out of Ruby's bag and held him in the air, spouting all manners of information regarding the superior senses of dogs.
Blake interrupted Oobleck's rant to ask what we were doing. "Oh, straight to the point. I like it." He said.
"Now, as you know, this area has become a recent hotspot for Grimm activity, the most likely cause being… Grimm." He said. I stared silently while Ruby looked at us questioningly.
"Yes, Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately 100 yards away from us at this very moment." Oobleck stated as if he was telling us the weather.
"What!?" Weis yelled as we drew our weapons, but Oobleck stopped us.
"Wait. We are here to investigate the cause of the Grimm being here. One reason is that they are attracted to negative emotions. Such emotions as sadness, anger, and all manner of others are what our hidden group harboring ill intent. So we must wait, and track." He explained.
"So, how long will this take." Weiss asked.
"Well, it is hard to say for certain. Days, weeks, lone Grimm have even been known to wander without the pack for months- and there's the whole pack" Oobleck said, abruptly cutting off his own chain of thought.
"What?" Weiss asked, still confused as to what was happening. Some of the Beowolves in the pack perked their heads towards her voice.
"And now they've seen us." Oobleck stated calmly.
"What!?" Weiss half shouted, even more flustered than before. Oobleck didn't help matters by leaning in close to her and shouting his previous statement once again.
"Alright, so tracking is out of the question. What's the plan now?" Ruby asked. I answered for Oobleck.
"Rip and tear, obviously." I said.
"Precisely." Oobleck nodded, and gestured towards the charging herd. Yang jumped into the fray first, smashing through armored bone plates easily with her shot-gauntlets. Blake went wide and baited a small number with her clones. Weiss went the other direction and started combating the group with her glyphs.
Ruby jumped to the back of the herd, leaving me with a group of about five wolves. I drew my sword slowly as I waited for my prey to get closer. The mindless creatures didn't understand the key signatures of a trap and trampled right over the area I was focused on.
The entire group was launched into the air by momentarily summoned force runes. The moment my sword left it's sheathe I poured energy into the blade and sliced five times, each cleaving the bodies of the airborne wolves in two and raining their pieces onto the ground below.
A quick look let me know that the rest of my team were faring well against their opponents, and dispatched the creatures quickly. Once they were done we all returned to Oobleck for our next direction.
"We will continue through the ruins, following the Grimm to lead us towards our target." He told us, and so we did. We encountered many more groups of Grimm, none of which our guide helped fight. Through the short battles though, he asked each of us why we had decided to become hunters.
Yang did it because she was a thrill seeker. Weiss did it because it was her duty. Blake explained that there was too much wrong in the world to sit by and let it happen. When the battles were over, Oobleck had Weiss, Yang, and Blake set up camp and took Ruby and me to secure the perimeter.
During the walk around he sent Ruby even further ahead of us and waited until she was out of earshot. "So Darren, why is it that you decided to become a huntsman?" He asked me.
"Would an unhealthy obsession with killing Grimm satisfy you?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"It would fill in the blank on paper, but I know it is something more than that. I am almost certain that you've got ulterior motives for joining this line of work." He told me. My hand twitched, ready to summon any variety of weapon.
"Oh yeah? What would you think those motives to be?" I asked him, thinking of multiple ways to disguise his quick death at the hands of Grimm, or other parts of our environment. My choice to kill him or not depended on his answer.
He stopped me before talking.
"The best way to defeat an enemy is to gain their trust, and the best way to gain an enemy's trust is to fight for their cause. It is obvious in the kingdom these days that conspirators are working against the Vale from within the kingdom, perhaps even within the school itself." He said. I prepared energy to summon a clubbed weapon, planning already to explain his broken body by burying it under fallen rubble.
"And you suspect me? Why?" I asked him. His voice was quieter on his next bout of speech.
"I don't suspect anyone yet. I'm simply looking at the pieces that have been playing too many spaces, game changers. You are in the class of students that have the possibility of being the most important players in history to date, and you are stronger than all of them. You, along with Ruby, were the only students unaccounted for at the time of the CCT breach. And you specifically took action to stay out of teams, almost as if you wanted all of that to fade into the background." The doctor rambled all of this out at me as I solidified my energy in the shape of a small studded cudgel hidden from his view.
"Maybe I'm just not a people person." I proposed. He narrowed his eyes further at me.
"I'm sure that's quite common in people from villages that don't exist." He said. I prepared to swing my weapon at him before Ruby's voice called out to us.
"Doctor Oobleck, you may want to come see this." She yelled. I sneered and gestured the older man in her direction.
"This is not over." He said, and began reluctantly jogging in the other direction. I dissipated my club.
I don't know how the coffee addicted old man was able to put pieces together that Ozpin himself wasn't, but it was a problem. He would need to die on this mission. While that might add another piece for another of the staff to put together, it was a risk that needed taking.
Oobleck and I arrived to see Ruby gazing at the horizon with her rifle aimed, and massive figures lumbering through the trees. Oobleck calmly lowered the barrel of her weapon and she looked at him.
"What are they?" She asked in wonder. "Why aren't they attacking?"
"Those are Goliaths, Ruby. They are older and more powerful than the Grimm you have fought. Unlike most Grimm, these are so superior that they have done the unthinkable for Grimm. They've learned. They know that in attacking us, they are likely to die." He said.
"Then why are they still so close to the city." She asked him.
"They are waiting. When you are virtually immortal as they are, simply waiting in a single location for decades, or even centuries, is child's play if in the end they will attain their goal." He explained. I could empathize with the colossal Grimm in the thick groves of trees. Waiting for a goal, a means to an end, is life for us.
Oobleck silently turned around and headed back to where the rest of our team. I could still feel him consciously being aware of my location around him. He didn't trust me, and for good reason. If it would be explainable I would slit his throat in his sleep tonight.
"Um, professor, I was wondering..." Ruby trailed off, and before she could regain the sentence, he cut her off.
"Questions for tomorrow Ruby. I think we've all had a long day. It is best to eat and get sleep for tomorrow's trek." He said.
"Oh… Okay." Ruby said disappointedly. Night almost fell before we arrived in our building. It was less broken down than the others and kept a large amount of wind out. There was also a small hole in the wall in which one could keep watch.
In the center of the room was a fire surrounded by four bedrolls. I had neglected to bring one, not exactly needing sleep. I sat myself at the edge of the hole and called first watch, listening without interest as they conversed.
The night started out mostly still with a few lesser Grimm wandering around on the grounds below us. I had told them I would eventually switch watches, but I actually had no intention of doing so. About halfway through the night Ruby woke up anyways, and I pretended to sleep while she aimed down at the streets below.
The time was 2 AM when Zwei barked quietly. Despite Ruby's protest he left the room and Ruby followed with him. I opened my eyes and watched the exit of the building where Ruby and Zwei ran out of. The dog had only ran out of the building to relieve himself, and barked happily when he was done. The sound echoed down the road.
"What was that?" A voice said. Ruby hurriedly grabbed the animal and hid around a corner. Two White Fang soldiers rounded a building with guns to investigate the sound. With Ruby hidden and Zwei no longer making noise, they quickly wrote it off as a stray Grimm. One of them mentioned returning to base.
I was very angry. Cinder had texted me a long list of their bases that they operated out of. There were a few near the South-East, but none had mentioned anywhere close to this. Cinder was hiding things from me. We would need to have a talk very soon.
Ruby began following the two soldiers down the street. I jumped from the window, allowing darkness to thin and lighten my form. I was barely discernable from the shadows around me as I landed on the ground without sound.
Following the clueless men was as easy as possible. Ruby hid around rubble and peeked around corners while I boldly strode mere feet from the faunus men. They did not speak even after a large hatch was opened and we descended stairs.
The place we entered perplexed me. It seemed the Mountain Glenn project was not the first of its kind. Under the streets were buildings far more dilapidated than those above. I did not get much time to admire the view though, as a large crash was heard near the rooftop we came out on. A burst of gentle moonlight opened up and down fell Ruby, a good 15 feet onto the metal rooftop.
The men beside me aimed their weapons, but I rushed forwards before they got the chance. Ruby must have felt the wind off me as an invisible force struck both her temples at once and she fell immediately unconscious.
I let my invisibility fall, adorning the nightmarish form that I had come to use frequently in my affairs outside the school. The men stepped back, aghast at the face in front of them. "Who are you!?" One of them yelled. I turned slowly and smiled.
"You two have some explaining to do." I told them before I threw Ruby's limp body over my shoulders. "Take me to whoever is running this place." I demanded, flashing my jagged teeth in a wide snarl.
"Why should we?" Asked the soldier on the left. As quick as I rushed Ruby I appeared in front of him. With my free arm I crushed his gun into jagged shards before picking him up by his throat. My fingernails extended just enough to draw blood.
"I do believe that smart men fear death. Are you a smart man?" I asked him, beginning to squeeze tighter. His partner stared in frozen fear while the man I held flailed, nodding and begging as much as he could.
"Y… Yes." He choked out. I dropped him like a sack and he crumpled to his knees.
"If the man overseeing this operation is not in front of me in the next five minutes, I will make you watch each other as I eat your beating hearts." I snarled, bringing the man up to his feet by his armor strap.
They began a fearful run as I followed, them checking only once to see if I was still behind them. Within a few rounded hallways I was show a door. "Roman's in there." They told me.
"Is he now? Well, I thank you for the service. Do stay out of my way, I can't guarantee your continued life if we cross again." I told the two of them. They ran without a second thought, likely trying to put at least a mile between me and them.
With Ruby still over my shoulder I shoved the door open to see Roman standing on train tracks, facing a few more faunus soldiers. On reflex or fear he threw his cane upwards and fired. I held my hand towards it and summoned a force rune.
The flare slowed as if in water and slowly fizzled out a foot from my palm as Roman watched with him mouth agape. "Startle you?" I asked. He lowered his cane and tossed his cigar down, stamping it into the stone floor.
"Why you… Who the hell are you? Are you the one that's got Cinder on edge the past few days?" He asked.
"Yes, I suppose that's me. Now, as a show of good faith…" I tossed Ruby's limp body at him and he shouldered the impact. "Red?" He muttered. The impact must have jarred Ruby awake because her eyes opened to see his face and she immediately lashed out at him.
"Nice to see your brain still functions." He said, tossing her a few feet away onto the floor. She slid on her back while he laughed. "Wow. You are so much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool."
Ruby made to get up and rush him but stopped when she saw me. I knew I was a nightmarish sight to behold, but the childlike fear in her eyes was delicious, even more so when she thinly veiled it with a fake courage.
"Who… What are you?" She stuttered out, sitting on the ground still. I smiled a crooked smile.
"Death incarnate. Pleased to meet you." I spoke. She winced while watching my face.
"That uh… That doesn't look like a mask." She said. I knew she was talking about how I told her the murderer of the Atlesian troops wore a hellish mask.
"Why no, I'm sure it doesn't. That's most likely because it isn't." I said to her, gnashing my teeth together for effect. She yelped and squirmed backwards.
"Alright Red, listen here. How'd you find this place?" Roman asked, the barrel of his can pressed against her throat. A quiet explosion rumbled the ground a distance away and Roman growled. "Perry, go take care of that." He ordered, and turned his sights back on Ruby.
"Answer the question Red!" He yelled. A much larger explosion shook the ground violently and swayed Roman's aim. Ruby used the opportunity and briefly entered velocity to kick him and begin running. Roman fell next to me and Ruby gained twenty feet of distance.
"You, scary man." He said and I turned to him with malice in my eyes. "Kill her… Please?" He half ordered. I smiled lightly and took off after her. Behind me I heard him tell the last soldier to start the train.
About halfway to Ruby I saw the sight of the explosion. Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Oobleck were running with Zwei towards our location. Ruby saw them and sprinted faster. They had a slight reuniting where Ruby asked where Darren was.
"I don't know. He wasn't there when Zwei woke us up." Yang said.
"Um, I think we've got bigger problems than that." Said Weiss, pointing to me. I drew my sword, a near clone of the original except with serrations, bandages wrapped randomly, and dried blood.
"Now, you've got two decisions." I told them.
"W-What decisions are those?" Ruby asked.
"Well, you could try to fight me all together and maybe bring in the killer of those poor, poor soldiers." I stated, waving my sword towards them. "OR, you could stop whatever it is that Roman is trying to do here. If you go after him I won't follow you, but it'll be some time before you get this chance again." I finished up.
They looked back and forth to each other nervously before Oobleck stepped up. "I chose both." He stated boldly.
"How?" Was my simple question.
"Girls, I need you to be strong and stop that man. I will stop this monster." He said. Ruby grabbed his sleeve.
"No professor. You… You'll die. I don't know how I know but I do!" She pleaded. Tears were starting to stream down her face. Oobleck set his hand on hers.
"Ruby, A Huntsman's title isn't just to stop Grimm, but any threat to the kingdoms. That means human, Grimm, or otherwise. Right now, he is the threat." He said.
"I can't say I will catch up with you because I don't know if I will. But I do know that you can stop this from happening. Stop Roman, and maybe I can stop this threat.
Ruby sobbed for a quick second as the first life or death decision in her existence hit her like a train. Stop the train and maybe save dozens, or possibly trade them all for just his life. She was innocent, but her inner scale told her what she needed to do.
"Ok." She said, and turned to her team. "Let's do this." She ordered, and the group of four ran off to catch the train with Zwei. The professor stayed stoic and stared me down.
"I thought you'd be stronger. After all, suicide is the coward's way out." I told him. He only grinned.
"So what if I am the sacrifice? I still might get the chance to stop you." He said.
"Well, if you are going to die, I suppose I should let you know that you are right. All of it. I'm playing all the sides, and I'm much more powerful than I've made out to be." I told him. He nodded, and extended his flask into a large club.
"Then this will only be enjoyable." He said, and splashed a final drink of coffee into his mouth before rushing me. He started by stepping so hard the ground cracked and he swung his weapon twice on the way to me.
I blocked the combined might of two fireballs and his hardest swing with my sword. I had no reasons to hold back this time, and I bordered on my first limiter. Needless to say, I toyed with him for the large portion of the fight.
Knowing I needed to eventually catch the train, I made the fight quick. Each time the old doctor attempted to strike me I parried him away and added another cut to his body. Soon he was breathing ragged and bloody breaths on his knees.
"Come on old man. I know you're still holding back. A fully realized huntsman would put up much better of a fight than this." I stated. He laughed.
"I do suppose that a battle of attrition is out of the question. Fine then. Let's get serious." Oobleck growled the last line at me as his whole body flashed in a green glow. The next time I struck him he was faster, and blocked it.
I smiled a toothy grin at him and kept striking. Amazingly the man kept up with me, blocking all my attacks and only glowing brighter. After a few moments when it seemed his green aura was now white, he triggered something in his weapon.
The green metal shot back across his forearm and anchored there, and the drinking cup formed a large dull stake. Steam began boiling off the weapon and his body as the old man prepared something.
"A last ditch effort then. My favorite." I said. I splayed my arms and left myself wide open for his attack, taunting him until the end. With a yell he rushed a final time, throwing a full body punch with his weaponized arm.
Like a steam cannon the weapon went off and extended, strengthening the blow. I felt it. I felt my breastbone crack on impact and screamed as his body went limp while standing. His glow was gone, all the energy he accumulated pushed into his attack.
"That hurt old man." I snarled, focusing energy to heal the break. He only chuckled.
"I'd hoped it would kill you, but I guess my hope was misplaced. Why don't you just kill me?" He said. You could hear in his voice that there was no more fight left in him. So I answered him.
"I'd cut off your head, but I do so want them to have an open casket funeral. It makes the sadness sweeter." I said, leaning in. He only laughed. While he was nothing compared to me, I still had respect a proper fighter.
"Valliant to the end." I muttered at him as he fell forwards. I could feel his life leave the man as I placed my hand on him and guided his soul away myself. The train had left the station some time ago, but these tracks must go for a long distance.
I shed my disguise and began running, pouring any power I had in strength and turning it to speed. Ten mph, 25, 50, 100. The wind was blistering in my ears as I accelerated to a speed more than double what a train carrying no cargo could match. My footsteps dug into the dirt behind me.
While running a thunderous boom sounded some distance in front of me. In my immense speed and reaction time, I dodged the train car falling from the ceiling as well as the influx of Grimm that fell with it. Daylight shown through the hole in the ground. I kept running.
There were two more booms and mosh pits that I wove my way through, and I realized what the train was doing. The negative emotions off all the White Fang on board would draw Grimm, and they were opening holes up for them. This was a massive lure.
Ingenious.
I jumped onto a train car in time to feel heat emanating from the floor and various booms coming from it. A peek through the hole in the ceiling showed Yang with blue eyes dominating the girl who originally stabbed her. Good for Yang.
Looking in front of me I saw white flecks of Weiss glyphs and runes coming from windows and holes in the cart. Blake had also just jumped through her own hatch. I watched Weiss for a brief second, fighting and beating a man with a large chainsaw.
Further still I saw Ruby and Zwei struggling against a small horde of White Fang soldiers and mech-suits. They were being pushed back fast. I suppose after killing an idol of hers, some help might be appreciated, so I jumped into the fray.
For anyone wondering why it was Oobleck that first suspected Darren for foul play, here's why. Ozpin is already stressed out about his job and Death's message, too much so to focus entirely on the students. Glynda works very close with him, so she is obviously caught up with how he is handling things, though she is mad at Darren about Pyrrha. Port lives in his own little world, so I chose Oobleck.