Here is another chapter~! :3 And I have a story cover up too~! :3 It is of Omnimon's emblem here. It is the Crest of Friendship with the points of the Crest of Courage, but this will become a golden color on his cape later on. The only thing that is not is the grey slash mark. :3 I hope I do Sammael justice in here, Maximus. I am really trying to fix things now. I will also focus on him less from here on out, if only because I just can't seem to get him down. -_-'
Opening Files: Grimm Slayers
Tales of old tell of the Grimm Slayers, said to be men who had eyes forever shut and wearing priestly robes while wielding holy Auras and Semblances, said to purify Grimm and Fallen, cleansing them of all evil.
But that is far from the true story. Unbeknownst to most people, only a select few know of the true history of these brave warriors. Back when there were kingdoms throughout Europe, 13 kingdoms came together in an alliance, the largest alliance of its time, for back in the Middle Ages, no one had the thought to even fathom such a thing happening they were so obsessed with securing their own little lands. These 13 kingdoms were the foundation of a select group of warriors who could slay Grimm and Fallen with ease, depending on the power of said Grimm and Fallen. Only the strongest warriors in the 13 kingdoms could earn the truly coveted title and as such, be called Royal Knights.
However, what is truly extraordinary about the Grimm Slayers is that they had men and women amongst their ranks, making them the first ever group that had equal numbers of men and women in the ranks of employment. This diversity made the Grimm Slayers feared, and because they had such a wide array of talented fighters who could use a wide range of Aura and Semblances, many Fallen also fell to them.
Also called the Royal Knights, the Grimm Slayers were widely respected and feared all across the lands, and each member was welcomed in the kingdom of each of the 13 Royal Knights. As such, few ever dared to challenge the alliance members and they actually kept the peace in the land for many centuries, until 500 years ago. When the Fallen Sammael appeared, the Royal Knights had finally met their match, even if he was not yet as strong as he is in current times. He had slain all of them, even if they each inflicted grisly wounds that required rest after each battle.
Safe to say, the few Grimm Slayers that remained after the defeat of the Royal Knights fled, leaving to other kingdoms for refuge and making new lives for themselves, some as housewives and ladies for the women, farmers, peasants, and lords for the men. A few of those remaining stayed as Grimm Slayers, but wandered alone, never staying in one place for too long.
Despite dying out into legend, the legacy lived on, but became altered as time went on. Now though, there is said to be one Grimm Slayer wandering around, slaying any Grimm come across. But who it is, and what they want, is unknown...
"History can often get mixed up with false assumptions, and those can become mixed in as fact when they are often not." TOM said as he closed the Grimm Slayer History file and looked back at the audience. "When that happens, what is myth and fact can often become blurred. But if one looks closely, then the truth can come out, especially when looked at from two or more angles. After all, as someone once said, truth has two sides; only by putting both together does the real story come out." He looked out the window of the Absolution, only to see that white legged ship vanish in a flash of white light again.
Sammael looked on, pondering any way to work this newcomer into his advantage. He was already hearing of this white knight-like figure and his few exploits so far. Standing up to a Fallen was no mean feat, even if said Fallen was a newborn. A chuckle escaped him as he pondered on how to best handle this new fighter. Safe to say, perhaps a small test of his abilities would be in order. However, he paused when he thought about that. No. Perhaps it was best to see what else this newcomer was capable of in the meantime. Yes, he didn't want to play his hand so soon.
Van Kleiss was almost done with the new subject, and that would be of interest to see how the subject fared in battle.
'I could use that subject of Van Kleiss's to test the abilities of this warrior, if not gather data.' He pondered. He needed all the information he could get on these two entities from that universe. He wasn't going to be caught off-guard if they showed the ability to slay Fallen with ease. He highly doubted it, but it didn't hurt to be on the safe side.
In his lab, Van Kleiss was doing some more tests on the subject in question, and found to his personal dismay, the subject wasn't capable of killing Fallen like Sammael with ease. No, the subject had no such ability. True, it was strong, but it seemed it would be strong enough to take out Sammael. However, as he ran through the programming once more, he smirked to himself. It was complete, and the subject was ready for awakening into its new world, and to see its new master.
He disconnected the wires from the subject, which was no longer a bright silver with red and gold accents. No longer was there a bright red cape either. The armor was now a dark grey with brown and orange accents, the black hazard-like symbol on the chest now a sick green color, and the cape was dark purple as well. The subject's eyes opened, revealing them to be no longer a bright amber color, but a dark purple color in appearance. "Ah, I see you wake, my dear subject." Van Kleiss purred as the knightly form sat up and looked at him with a loyalty that was unquestioning.
"What is it you desire done, milord?" The knight asked with a deep voice that had a sinister tone to it.
Van Kleiss sneered. "Just a few tests for the moment." He said as he gestured for the form to get up from the lab table and to head into the training facility.
Sammael watched this with interest from the lab's door. 'So, it appears he was able to reprogram the subject to be loyal to him, unquestioningly.' He pondered on whether this would be an issue down the road, and frowned to himself mentally. He would have to keep an eye on Van Kleiss's subject for now. While it was good the subject was loyal to the point of not being disobedient, the fact it was loyal to Van Kleiss was a bit of a problem. It meant Van Kleiss had something planned down the road, and he would have to take care of that before it became too much of an issue.
He hadn't survived this long by being careless, no. He had to plan for if and when Van Kleiss planned to turn his subject against himself. A plan came to mind and he smiled to himself. This would be interesting to see if it worked as he thought it would.
"Van Kleiss." He said as the man looked over at the Fallen entering. Sammael knew he could handle whatever the man was planning at the moment, but if Van Kleiss was anything, it was smart and shrewd. He had to plan for anything, including the possibility the man could find a way to weaken him. "It seems you successfully reprogrammed the subject."
"Yes." Van Kleiss replied as he looked back at where the subject was training. "It wasn't easy, but it was done."
"Good." Sammael agreed. "Based on what is going on, I perhaps would have a mission for the newest recruit, once he is done training of course."
The man looked surprised. "So soon?"
"Yes." Sammael replied. "You see, I have gotten word from one of my sources that someone is looking to disband one of the main sources of new Fallen."
Van Kleiss blinked. "You mean those Grimmnoids?"
"Yes." Sammael confirmed. "If we lose the Grimmnoids, we would lose a major source of new Fallen." He looked back at the man with a red eye. "We need to eliminate the threat to them."
Van Kleiss frowned at that. It wasn't good if they lost the Grimmnoids. Sammael had a point, but he wasn't aware that the Fallen's plan was also to see just what the subject was capable of himself. It was also a test of how loyal the subject would be to Van Kleiss or to Sammael himself. "I see." He said as he looked back at where the subject was training still. He then sighed. "Very well. If it would please you, I can have the subject sent to dispose of the threat to the Grimmnoids."
"Excellent." Sammael said while keeping a straight face.
Omnimon was sleeping in the back of the Mystery Machine as Daphne and Shannon continued to drive, the two women taking turns driving the van so the other could rest. It was nearly midnight when they reached the old village, which was as Daphne remembered it. She sighed wistfully as Shannon looked back and shook the Digimon awake. "Wake up." She said as he opened his blue eyes, only to stretch and yawn as he did so, or at least make yawning sounds to signify he was just waking up. "We're here."
He looked out, only to see it was indeed the same Indian village from the map. "This is the place?" The Royal Knight asked as he looked back at her.
Shannon nodded. "It is." She replied. "We were following a lead on finding Daphne's old friend, so it led us here."
"Hmm..." Omnimon hummed to himself. He looked it up and down, but it didn't seem that special. Then again, that was what made it a possible hiding spot to have a headquarters in. The back doors opened as soon as Daphne brought the van to a stop and Omnimon got out, looking the village up and down still.
He didn't like the looks of the place, but he had to check it out to see if the Grimmnoids were indeed hiding there. Daphne and Shannon were beside him as the trio made their way into the village's boundaries, or at least close to the ladders leading up to the village itself. Looking up, Omnimon pondered on how to get up there himself while Daphne and Shannon climbed up the ladders.
"Hey!" Shannon's words down to him made him snap out of his thoughts and look up at her. "You coming up or what?!"
He nodded before he had his weapons data manifest into the replicas of hands again and he revealed them, climbing up the ladders while using them to grasp the rungs of the ladder as he climbed. Once at the top, his hid the hands as it became just a mass of data again. Daphne and Shannon didn't question his hiding of his 'hands' as they looked around the old village.
"This must bring back memories, huh, cousin?" Shannon asked as Daphne nodded sadly.
"It does." She sighed as Omnimon cocked his head to the side in confusion. He didn't quite understand why she was so upset about this place, but he didn't ask, for it wasn't his place to pry.
"Let's look around." Shannon said as the two with her nodded. As they began to walk towards what had to be a meeting chamber or at least a place where the leaders would gather or hold ceremonies, Omnimon didn't sense any Grimm or Fallen around, which worried him. Was it possible he had just been led into a trap by the elders of that village? Dread began to creep down his spine at the thought of it. However, before he could ponder that any further, a loud explosion threw him and the two girls with him back. It was only because he flared his Aura that he was unharmed, although his left arm ached for some reason. Looking down, Omnimon was surprised to see one of the horns on his WarGreymon head-hand was missing. His left foot also had that same aching, and when he looked down, he saw one of his 'toes' was missing as well. Blood came out as Daphne groaned and Shannon gasped at his wound. "Your toe..."
Omnimon was speechless as he stared at the wound. It must have happened before his Aura flared to life, he mused before he shook his head, shaking off the shock of obtaining such a wound.
Shannon was already wrapping it as Daphne looked around, her own Aura and Claymore weapon activating. The Celtic runes on it glowed, ready to use at the slightest threat or provocation. "Who's there?!" She demanded as Omnimon stood up, his missing 'toe' now bandaged.
"Show yourself!" Omnimon shouted, the authority in his voice showing it was not a suggestion, but an order.
Then, from the flames, a form began to emerge. "Now is that any way to treat an 'old friend'?" A masculine voice mocked. Daphne gasped at the voice as she saw the figure as it emerged slowly. The bull horns and blonde hair were a dead give away, as were the blue eyes. But he had changed and she didn't like it one bit. His outfit was different as well, and his weapon was held on his left shoulder with ease.
"Freddie?!"
The bull Faunus looked up at Daphne with a sneer. "I will admit, I was surprised at you coming back here." He said as he held his club pointed at her, Shannon, and Omnimon. "This will just make things easier for me." With that, he launched the spikes of his club at the trio, but Omnimon moved in front quickly, prepared to deploy the Brave Shield, but to his surprise, and hidden horror, he was unable to. Instead the spikes came at him, Daphne and Shannon, impacting each of them hard. Well, impacting Omnimon at least since he stood in the way of the trajectory of the spikes that were aimed at the two women.
The Royal Knight flared his Aura, which took the brunt of the impacting spikes. The wires attaching the spikes to the club pulled them back, to which they attached with many clicks. Fred sneered as he looked at the form of the Royal Knight, who was panting slightly now. He glared with his blue eyes at the bull Faunus, who simply twirled his club around before rushing towards Omnimon with his Aura flared. The bright orange Aura was then enveloped by a blazing rush of orange energy as Daphne gasped. "Oh no...It's Fred's Semblance!"
"What?!" Omnimon asked as he looked back at her. "His Semblance?!"
"Yes! Bull Rush!" Daphne explained. "If he's using it, we won't last long!"
Looking back at the bull Faunus, Omnimon growled to himself. Right when his Brave Shield would be most useful, he was unable to use it for some odd reason! Last he knew, he hadn't used Ability Breaker on himself, so why was he unable to use his Semblance in the form that he needed most?! The orange energy of Fred's Bull Rush Semblance came closer and closer, Omnimon being only able to stare as it got closer and closer. His blue eyes were wide as the energy enveloped his line of sight and his face before the impacting energy slammed into him and sent him flying away from the two female humans. A cry of pain escaped the Digimon as he flew through the air before he landed on the ground with a grunt and went rolling a few times before coming to a stop on his stomach. Daphne looked back in horror. "RIK!"
Fred just laughed as he grabbed her by her long red hair, eliciting a scream of pain from her. "Now who is the weak human?" He taunted as Daphne tried to swing her weapon, but due to the way she was being held, her weapon would hit Shannon if she did that, so she was effectively held back from attacking.
Shannon looked very scared as she looked on at Fred holding her cousin by her hair, waving his club about her head. "What should I do first? Should I bash in your head? Or should I just take you with me to make you my slave, just as all you humans have done to my kind?" He wondered aloud as Daphne looked back at him with anger in her eyes.
"Why should I be your slave? What happened to you, Freddie?!" She snapped back. "You were never like this when I knew you!"
Fred looked down at the woman with a glare before he smacked her with the hand holding his club. "Shut up, human scum!" He snarled. "You don't get to make the rules here! After all, I believe I am the one who has you at his mercy instead of the other way around!"
Shannon knew she had to help her cousin, but she was just too scared to act. This was a bull Faunus, and one of the few who could be a threat to an unarmed human! Daphne might have been a skilled Huntress herself, but she didn't have any way to fight back when held like that.
Looking up from his spot on the ground, Omnimon growled to himself as he stood up, albeit shakily as he did so. It was only because of his Aura that he had escaped the worst of the blow. But he could feel his Aura's energy output was weaker than before, so he knew he had to be careful. 'How can I beat a Faunus like him? I can't even access Ability Breaker when I need it most!' Shaking his head, he charged right back in, trying to call upon Ability Breaker again. However, while he got out his Grey Sword, the Digital Runes didn't start glowing like he wanted them to. Looking at it with a growl of frustration, he didn't realize his mind wasn't on the battle and found himself getting smacked aside by Fred's club. A grunt escaped him as the blunt weapon made contact with his helmeted head, and he fell to the ground once more.
Shaking his head, Omnimon tried to make the headache go away, but to no avail. In fact, it seemed to be made worse by the motion. Shannon was shaking as she watched the fight between the Royal Knight, bull Faunus, and her cousin. She knew fights between rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses could get fierce, but it was nothing like she had imagined. Omnimon staggered to his feet again, swaying as he did so. He was sure he had gotten some kind of blow that disoriented him in some way.
Fred just laughed as he watched the Royal Knight struggle to stay on his feet. Daphne could see it as well and she didn't like what was going on. Omnimon tried to walk towards the bull Faunus, but it backfired as he fell to his knees, his head aching all the while. For some reason, Omnimon was getting the feeling he had a concussion, but he couldn't be too sure.
Daphne could only watch as Omnimon struggled to get back to his feet and Fred just laughed again. Through the pain muddling his mind, Omnimon was able to conclude that attacking head on was not the best way to handle the bull Faunus. No. He needed to be smarter than that. At the same time though, his head's aching only got worse when he tried to think of a way to outsmart the Faunus.
Omnimon groaned to himself as the pain in his head finally got to be too much for him to handle. His vision began to blur and he saw five Daphnes and five Freds as the rest of the area became nothing but blurry masses. Blackness began to creep into his line of sight and ink over his vision, making it darker than normal. He tried to fight it off, but in the end, his vision inked out and went dark as he passed out.
Daphne stared as Omnimon blacked out and fell to the ground unconscious. Fred let out a victorious roar of laughter as he grabbed Daphne and hoisted her over his right shoulder. "Let me go!" She exclaimed but the bull Faunus didn't listen to her.
"I believe I will be taking you with me instead." Fred sneered back before he began to run off with his prize. Shannon wanted to follow, she really did. But with Fred having Daphne as his hostage and Rik unconscious, she couldn't do much of anything. She, instead of following Fred and her cousin, went over to Omnimon's unconscious form.
It wasn't like she had much in the way of a Semblance anyway.
As Fred left with Daphne, Shannon could only worry about the knocked out Royal Knight.
Omnimon grunted as he opened his eyes, the aching in his head having subsided somewhat, although it still remained. He winced as Shannon shined a bright light in his left eye, the light causing the pupil to contract as expected. She did the same with his right eye, only to get the same reaction. "Good. It looks like your concussion isn't bad." She said as she put the penlight away.
"Where's Daphne?" Omnimon asked as he sat up, feeling the world spin and seeing his vision swim as he did so.
"Fred took her deeper into the village." Shannon replied. "I have no idea where he took her though."
A grunt escaped the Royal Knight as he snorted at the comment. Of course he would, the Digimon mused to himself. After all, it only made sense since he and Shannon didn't know the layout of this village. The bull Faunus had probably been lurking here for months if not a few years.
"What do we do?" Shannon asked as she looked at the Digimon with her.
"We look for her and stop her former friend from hurting if not killing her." Omnimon replied, his tone grave. Shannon looked nervous at his words.
"You really think he will do that?" She asked, but the Royal Knight looked down without looking up at her even once.
"I cannot say for sure." He admitted at last. He then looked back up at her. "But first, why does he hate all humans?" Omnimon asked. "Because I met a Faunus once before and she didn't act like this one."
Shannon sighed here. "There is tension over the rights of Faunus. Some places see them as equal to humans, some see them as second-class citizens, and yet others see them as mere slaves and objects, nothing more. And in a select few, they are..." She shuddered here. Omnimon cocked his head at her reaction, confused as to why she would act like that.
"They are what?" He asked, hoping to get an answer.
The female human looked at him. "Are you sure you want to know?" She asked, uncertain of what his response would be. "Because you will not like it."
Omnimon nodded. Shannon sighed. "They are seen as delicacies." Noting his expressionless look, she sighed again. "In other words, Faunus are eaten."
She felt fairly sure he would react with disgust or indifference, possibly even claiming that Faunus deserved it, but she was not prepared for the sudden sound of a weapon coming into existence and slamming into the ground point first, his head facing the ground now, blue eyes unseen from her point of view. "So...that is how they are seen, is it?" He asked, his tone harsh as ice.
"There are Faunus who are fighting against that, but the most radical are the Satyra, a terrorist group of Faunus who think violence is the best way to gain respect, but it is only creating fear instead and making things worse in the long run." Shannon continued. "And Fred, the bull Faunus who captured Daphne, fell into their line of thinking it seems."
Here the Royal Knight remained silent before he lifted his head slightly. "So that's why you were searching him out. To see if he was truly a part of this group." He mused as Shannon sighed once more.
"Yes and no. We were indeed searching him out, but only to find out why he left Daphne and her friends after a case one day." The short-haired redhead replied at last. "But it appears that was answered for us."
Lifting his head once more, Omnimon knew what the two of them had to do. "Well, we can't just let him hold her against her will, now can we?" He mused as he stood up, Shannon following suit. He pulled his blade out from the ground and it vanished into his WarGreymon head-hand once more.
Shannon looked back at him at his words. "You sure, Rik?"
Omnimon nodded without looking back at her. "I am." He replied before he began to walk towards the village's center. Shannon followed him without protesting. Even if she was unsure of this, she wasn't about to stand back and leave her cousin behind.
Daphne grunted as she felt the rope around her chest get drawn so tight it burned into her skin and left marks. It didn't help her hands were restrained in such a way that she wouldn't be able to use her weapon either, not that she could with the claymore sitting against the wall. With her arms pulled close her chest so that way the backs of her forearms were almost pressed against it, she couldn't reach the knot that was right on her chest. Her hands were bound together at the wrists, and that rope was in turn tied to the one wrapped around her chest. Rope snaked around her elbows, tying her arms together that way as well, and that one was wrapped around her waist. Her legs were also bound together, and the ropes around her ankles, waist, and chest were tied to a pole, so she was effectively unable to get free and was now Fred's hostage.
He leered at her slim frame as he finished tying off the last knot, feeling glee at what he was doing. "So...how does it feel to be the helpless one?" He purred to her, making her blush slightly, even though it was essentially a life-or-death situation. "Because many of my kind's females have been restrained this way..."
Daphne gave a slight squeak as he purred this last comment close to her ear. However, as soon as he finished that sentence, he grabbed a piece of cloth and shoved it into her mouth before tying it off at the back as well.
The bull Faunus was sure he could get away with the acts he had done before again, especially since this was one of those who had claimed to be his friend, but had turned against him in the end. Daphne looked up at him, fear in her blue eyes as he hefted his club and pondered on how to end her life.
"Now...how shall I go about this?" Fred mused. However, as he gazed into the human's fear-filled eyes, he felt for a moment, no matter how brief it was, old feelings coming back. For the briefest of moments, he hesitated, wondering if he could really go through with the act. Then rage came back to take its place. This was a human, one of those who had killed his father! He couldn't be sparing her just because of some old feelings! They were inferior to Faunus!
Lifting up the club, Fred prepared to end it all, even the connection to his past life.
Omnimon and Shannon walked around the village, trying to find any clue as to where Daphne was. Of course, Shannon was worried about her cousin, but there was nothing she could do except support Rik in his attempt to save her since she herself lacked an Aura and Semblance.
Looking around, Omnimon tried to get a sense of where Daphne was, but he was unable to. Closing his blue eyes, he tried to tap his Damger Sense, but found he was once more incapable of tapping it. Growling slightly, he opened his eyes as looked back at Shannon. "It seems I can't sense where he took her." He said, making Shannon look down at the ground in worry.
"Then...we can't find her?" The young woman asked as Omnimon shook his head.
"No, I did not say that." He lightly scolded her as he looked around. "I just meant I cannot pick up on the general location where they are most likely hiding."
That did little to help Shannon with her worry. However, Omnimon was not done speaking. "We just need to figure out where he could have taken her."
"But where?!" Shannon protested. "Fred could have taken her anywhere in this village!"
"We know that he's still here though." Omnimon pointed out. "Unless he had a vehicle hidden away, there is no possible way he could leave the village without needing to stock up on supplies for a three-days walk across the desert in the daylight."
Shannon had to admit, that was a valid reason to conclude Fred hadn't left the old Indian village. "That's true..." She admitted before Omnimon looked around and paused in his walking as he saw a trail of footprints in the ground.
He knelt down and examined the prints. "Hmm..." Omnimon mused before he looked up in the direction the prints were heading. "The tracks lead towards the left outskirts of the village." He noted with interest. "I cannot help but wonder what lies down that path."
"I don't know either." Shannon admitted, albeit sheepishly. "Daphne did mention that she and her friends didn't explore this village much during the dognaper case."
Omnimon vaguely figured it had to be one of these cases that had been solved by Daphne back in the past, but that was not really on his mind at the moment, as he was more concerned about figuring out where he could possibly attack the bull Faunus from hiding. He just needed to figure out where the male Faunus was holding Daphne.
He stood up and began to creep towards one of the buildings, only to see the window was too high for him to see through, which given his height of 6'5", was a surprise. He manifested the replica hands out of his weapons data and revealed them, only to jump up and grab onto the edge with his 'hands' and pull himself up so he could peek inside.
The Royal Knight frowned as he saw there was no sign of either the human female or the male Faunus inside. He let go and fell to his feet, just as Shannon walked over to another building and tried to find a way to peer inside herself. Looking over, Omnimon walked over to her and held out his 'hand' to her, offering her a lift up. Shannon looked unsure before he nodded once, a sign he could be trusted. She took his 'hand' and Omnimon lifted the human female onto his shoulders, where she sat with ease.
Peering inside, Shannon looked around carefully and slowly.
"See anything?" Omnimon asked as she shook her head.
"Not yet...Wait...I do!" Shannon exclaimed in a low voice. "It's Fred! And he has Daphne with him!"
"Is she hurt?" Omnimon almost demanded; although it wasn't outright, the harsh tone of his voice gave away he was requiring an answer right away.
"As far as I can tell, yes, she is." Shannon assured him. "But she's tied to a pole as well as gagged."
Here, Omnimon growled to himself. He didn't need to get a visual look at the scene to know what that meant. It had occurred once before with a Digimon he had been becoming close to, although he didn't really remember it that well due to not being brought into the world of the living again for years upon years.
He took Shannon off his shoulders and set her down on the ground, kneeling down beside her. She turned to look at him with a serious look that did nothing to hide the worry for her cousin in her eyes either. Blue eyes met blue as the two stared each other down. "Don't you even think about having me stay out here." Shannon said before he could even speak, surprising him. The Royal Knight blinked before he chuckled.
"I was not going to suggest such a thing." He assured her. "She is your cousin after all, so it is appropriate you are involved with the rescue." Omnimon then gave her a serious look. "But I must insist that if I tell you to run, you do so."
Shannon frowned, but sighed as she accepted it. The two stood up and faced the door, Omnimon calling out his Garuru Cannon as Shannon held an old spear/staff she found on the ground and picked up.
Here is another chapter done. Enjoy~! :3