The snowy tundras of Antarctica were extremely cold. This was what Trainer thought to himself as he lay dying of phase force exertion in the massive blizzard that raged on for many many miles around. He wanted to get up. To escape the cold, but his body would not listen to him. He lay in a deep snowbank, slowly being covered by the torrents of gale blasted snow.
Even now, he was freezing. He could feel it in his bones. It wasn't unbearably cold, as he had been through far worse before.
However, this was not his only worry. He could not move or make any attempt to save himself from freezing to death. Lying in the snow to his left and right were massive bodies the size of large buildings. One was Beelzebub, the Legion Commander, and the other was the revived Hecatoncheir. Both were beaten and broken on the snowy ground. It was a fight that pushed him to his very limits, but he had won.
The problem was that his victory was offset by his overuse of Phase force to extreme levels, causing his body to break down. Even if he wanted to move, to call for help, or even to tilt his head, he could not do so of his own volition. His body had been torn and his power had been completely exhausted beyond it's biological limits. This was beyond even what Camilla did to him.
Using the last of his power, he closed his eyes, accepting that he would die here, frozen to death.
Sure enough, he froze to death in the tundra with his two dead enemies as his only company.
However, death seemed to relinquish it's hold on him as he felt warmth and the tickling sensation of grass on his face. A soft but warm breeze blew through the area, waking him further from his slumber. Taking in a long deep breath, the scents and fresh air proved that he was very much alive, and he was not in fact in hell where he assumed he would go upon his death. It seemed his time was not over just yet.
Opening his eyes slowly, he looked around. Sure enough he was not in a burning landscape, but instead he lay on a grassy clearing surrounded by trees on all sides. Composing himself quickly, he sat up and looked around more thoroughly. Everything was quiet except for a breeze that swept through the area that blew his hair away from his face, revealing the scarred tissue on the right side of his face.
This injury had come from his final altercation with the sniper Tina who had blown herself and the building she was on to kingdom come with a high powered explosive having no intention of being captured by him. He had managed to survive it with a phase barrier he quickly erected, but he hadn't managed to do it fully on time, causing the right half of his body to be horribly burnt.
Looking at the trees, they seemed to be Birch and Ash trees leading him to think that this was somewhere in either Europe, Canada, or North America. He knew English to a fair enough level for communication so he wasn't very worried. Still, this wasn't Korea and he had no diplomatic immunity. Still, all he had to d was catch a plane from UNION. He was certain if he contacted one of his allies in Centum city, that they could set him up with a flight.
At this moment the sun had reached the perfect position to reflect off one of Ozpin's cameras he had set up for the initiation. It immediately caught Trainer's eyes and he approached the tree it was nestled in. Jumping up to the thick branch it was resting on, he picked up the camera and looked into it. It was small, something you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, or in the situation where the sun refracted off the lens.
Crushing it in his hand to fine dust, Trainer grit his teeth. Was he saved to be monitored like some circus dog? he had promised himself and the whole Wolf Dogs team he ran that they would never be forced to do things for people like Shia Hong ever again, and he didn't plan on letting that happen to him in America, or Europe, or wherever the hell he was.
Running his hand through his pocket, he searched for his cell phone. He had the number to the Cuckoo and if that wasn't online, he could phone J or Alice. However, much to his dissatisfaction, his pockets were empty. This called for a change of plan. He would have to access a phone from one of the local booths.
Testing out his phase force, he found it was fully recovered, so he shot off like a cannonball through the forest at hypersonic speeds that would give even Ji-Soo Seo pause. Granted, Ji-Soo was in a league of her own that Trainer had never attained, however, his speed could not be discounted easily.
Quickly picking up on the life energy of a group of people nearby high up above the forest, he decided he would investigate to see if they were hostile.
Seconds later he arrived at the foot of the cliff. Stopping to look up and admire thee size for just a moment, he knelt down like a compacted spring.
BOOM
With a sonic boom he jumped, shooting far up in the sky and landing with a muffled boom a good ten meters away from what looked like a group of students and two staff members. They clearly weren't closers, as even though they held weapons, not a speck of phase force was to be found in them, be it the first, second, or third phase force.
He landed in a ready stance, and observed the students who were looking at him expectantly. The two staff members quickly went into action and spoke in English to the students, telling them to stay away from the strange scarred man in the gray suit jacket, dress shirt, and slacks.
The staff then approached the man. Ozpin was the first to speak up.
"Sir, I'm afraid this is private property and you are trespassing. Not to mention disturbing school activities" He approached the situation kindly, but sternly. He would not allow his students to be harmed by this strange intruder that had destroyed one of his cameras moments ago.
Trainer relaxed slightly, it seemed these students and staff were not instantly hostile.
"Easy there. I've just arrived here and have no intention of disrupting your student activities. I just need to get in contact with UNION and I'll be out of your way" Trainer said, taking the route of diplomacy instead of shooting first.
"Union? I'm not familiar with such an organization. However, If what you say is true, then I have no issue with having someone escort you to the nearest transport hub" Ozpin offers, extending a courtesy to the man.
Trainer looks at Ozpin oddly before accepting the offer. After all, if worse came to worse, he could easily escape. There was very little on earth that could harm him when his phase force was full and he was in control of his body. Even if he was dropped from twenty miles above the earth, he would land unharmed.
"Reaching out a hand to professor Ozpin, Trainer greeted him.
"The names Kim. Kim Tae-Hyung" Trainer gave one of his aliases to the professor who nodded.
" And I am Professor Ozpin. Nice to meet you Mr. Kim" Ozpin said, shaking his hand before turning back to the students.
"Initiation will be put on pause for a few moments while we get Mr. Kim safely to a transport area. Please wait patiently" He addressed the students before tapping a number into his scroll and calling for an escort for Mr. Kim.
A few minutes of waiting passed before an all wheel drive vehicle that looked suspiciously like a jeep pulled up at a dangerous speed. Swerving to a stop nearby was the escort.
"Well, do take care Mr. Kim. I'll be going back to my students now" Ozpin said as he turned back to his students who were watching the interaction curiously.
"You too Professor" Trainer said before approaching the vehicle.
The driver was an average man on first look, but further inspection while the man drove showed Trainer that this man knew very much what he was doing, and his seeming reckless driving was careful and fully in control.
The man had on a black baseball cap, a gray casual dress shirt and black slacks. His skin was lightly tanned and firm. His eyes were covered by wide black shades and he quietly hummed a tune unfamiliar while he drove.
Trainer sat in the front passenger seat across from the driver who drove them past a massive tower and building complex. This must be the school that the man was a professor of. It was rather impressive in Trainer's opinion.
A short drive later and the man pulled to a stop in what looked like a small airfield.
"Well, here's your stop. I've been ordered to provide you with a ship voucher to whatever airport you wish to go. Good travels" The man said as he took out a small folder and passed a paper slip from the folder to Trainer.
"Thank you" Trainer said accepting the voucher and stepping out of the vehicle.
The sound of tires screeching as the transport drove away was the last he saw of the man.
Looking ahead, he was greeted by a small, but clean concourse.
"It looks like I've have to figure this out myself" Trainer said, resigning himself to more work.
