Slayer: Here we are again at three in the morning…
Judan: Yeah we're just doing this and the disclaimer than going to bed.
Neos: I'm back home baby!
Ruby: Yeah!
Yang: Darn… I mean nice to have you back.
Artemis: Once again you have people that like and hate you.
Neos: What can I say… it's a talent.
Slayer: That or just the way I'm writing everything!
Judan: Let's not get into the philosophical debate on the point that you're arguing with yourself. Besides we should say that we have redid a few of the beginning chapters.
Slayer: True… okay everyone we fixed the first three chapters of this story. This was mostly because of season three of RWBY.
Judan: Yeah the contents might be the same overall but there are a few differences. But that's about it so I think it's time for the disclaimer.
Slayer: Fine… Shadow you're up.
Shadow: Of course I am… Anyways, we here at the Dark Guard productions own nothing. But OC's and Reality building concepts, everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further ado…
Everyone: Here's the story!
(S/N Slayer's notes)
(J/N Judan's notes)
"Dark inner voice/Hollow"
'Light inner voice/Zangetsu'
Thinking/talking to inner spirit
"Telepathic communication"
*Special attack*
Arc two: The real enemy
Chapter Eleven: The three sided fight
Time one day after meeting Artemis and Co.
Location Beacon Academy
As Zach laid on his bed, he couldn't help but sigh over the recent turn of events. After meeting Artemis and his entourage, they had quickly left the city. Luckily they met up with Ichigo and Velvet, and were able to explain the situation. Now they just had to train harder and wait for their leader to show up. Other than that he was wondering about the current increase in dust robberies. Currently they were having ED'E investigate that. However so far the eyebot hadn't come up with anything significant yet.
Oh well it's only been a day, I'm sure he'll dins something soon. He was about to close his eyes and take a nap, when he saw a grey portal appear in the room. Grabbing his sword, he stood up and waited to see who might come out of it. After a moment a rather disheveled looking Neos stepped out of it. Seeing his friend he smiled as he put down his blade.
Looking back towards Neos he greeted him. "Welcome back Neos, it's been a while. So how did it go?" Looking at his friend Neos shook his head sadly before speaking.
"Well the mission itself was a complete success, I've gained some new friends and allies. Plus I've become someone's uncle. But I also learned that things are going to start heating up real soon." Now while Zach understood the whole mission success and friends part. He didn't understand what Neos meant about becoming an uncle, and what he meant by things are going to be heating up. Seeing his confusion Neos sat at the table before explaining.
"Okay first off the uncle thing… while I was there I met this nine year old, who decided that I'd be her uncle from then on. Her name is Shirone Infinium, and is also a Nekoshou. Apparently her adoptive brother was the guy I was helping. So I guess it just sort of happened." Zach nodded his head understanding before speaking.
"Alright then, I guess that kind of makes sense. I mean I called Julie big sister when I was still small. But what about that last thing?"
Grimacing Neos answered the question. "Well while I was there I learned that the enemy, which Haze talked about, is currently on the move. You see Hunter the person I helped out was not only poisoned by them. But his school was also completely destroyed by them. Too bad really, Yokai academy seemed like a pretty good school to. But anyways it seems as though round two in this war has finally started." Zach sat down on his bed while rubbing his temples. It was too soon, he knew that only he, Ichigo, and Neos were ready for the up and coming fights.
So until the others were ready it'd be up to them to protect the others.
Man could this situation get any worse? Looking back at Neos Zach decided to tell him about the most recent events.
"Hey Neos yesterday we went out to the city. During that time we found out that dust robberies, were increasing in frequency. Not only that but we met a couple of people around our age. However they were actually looking for you." Neos was rather intrigued by this new information, and decided to question Zach about it.
"Oh? Well that's surprising… Do you find out their names? Maybe I know them from before."
Zach thought for a bit before speaking. "Well there was this guy in a white coat with dual gold katanas. I think his name was Artemis Fowl?" After hearing the name Neos started chuckling, but soon after it turned to full blown laughter. Zach looked at him in concern, but Neos eventually calmed down and looked at him with a smirk.
"Well I never thought that he'd find me. You see Zach, Artemis was my personal apprentice way back when." Zach blinked in surprise before returning the smirk and speaking.
"Oh really now? Well it seems as though we've found some more allies that can keep up with us." He then frowned while remembering the other two. "However Artemis was also with two others. One was a short girl with shot light blue hair, and the other was a taller girl. She had longer and darker blue hair. However while the shorter acted kind of like Ren, the taller acted like Nora." Thinking about the taller girl Zach gave an involuntary shudder. It was from imagining what would happen if the two got together.
Thinking about his apprentice's companion's Neos' face took on a wide grin. "Did he seem close to any of them?" Despite feeling a tad bit scared at the grin, Zach thought for a moment before answering.
"Yes actually, he seemed to treat the shorted girl, Charlotte I believe her name was. When he spoke her name it was softer than Irukuku the other girl. Why do you ask?" After hearing this bit of information, Neos fell out of his chair laughing. Confused Zach questioned him. "What on Remnant prompted this sort of reaction?" After a bit Neos calmed down and stood back up, however he still had a grin on his face.
Folding his arms over his chest he answered. "Well you see… over all the years I've known him, he wasn't once interested in any girl. But now based on what you said, he now has a girlfriend. I'm just happy that little Arty is finally growing up!~" Zach rolled his eyes at his antics, causing Neos' grin to widen as he continued speaking. "Well I'm in a good mood now! Let's go tell the others I'm back and go out and find Artemis. I'm sure he'll be easy enough to track down." Sighing Zach nodded his head before standing up.
Looking over to Rosa, he rolled his eyes seeing how she was somehow still asleep. Eventually walking out of the room with Neos, Zach led them to the library where everyone was. Seeing them especially Ruby Neos called out to them.
"Yo!~ I'm finally back everyone." Looking towards the voice, everyone brightened up at seeing their resident dragon. However upon seeing him Ruby jumped up and ran to him. Jumping at him with a hug, Neos had to brace himself as to not fall onto his back.
Of course she was also the first to speak. "Neos! You're finally back! I was actually starting to get worried." Smiling at her he returned the hug, before letting go and turning to the others. All of team RWBY, JNPR, and Mercenary were there. However he raised an eyebrow at seeing Ichigo and Velvet, sitting next to each other. While the rabbit faunus rested her head on the voidwalker's shoulder.
Okay something had to have happened there. Good for them anyway. Turning away from the new couple he spoke out to everyone.
"Well it's good to be back! How has everyone been lately?" Everyone than told him they were doing fine and asked how the job went. Which he then explained what happened, causing everyone to worry. However… he did leave out the parts where he was almost killed, by a nether demon and a creature of the abyss. (S/N If you want to find out what really happened read my adventures story.)
Seeing everyone's now worried expressions, Neos smiled lightly before encouraging them. "Now, now… don't worry as long as we're together I'm sure we'll be fine. But as for now I'll need your guy's help in tracking someone down."
Line break
Location City of Vale (Good Times hotel)
Artemis let out a sneeze as he sat down in the hotel room they acquired. They had gotten two rooms, one for the women, and the other for the men. Even though Irukuku really wanted to share a room with Kuros. Naturally the black and white dragon refused persuasively. Saying something about her older sister, being lonely without her. It worked and after Irukuku stopped hugging Charlotte with tears in her eyes. Said older sister, than froze the black and white dragon in an ice cube. Artemis only shook his head at the entire scene.
The rooms he had gotten were small and had only one bedroom each. The rooms also had a small kitchen area, dining area, and a small living room. They also had a small closet in each of the sleeping areas. That was where Artemis put his clothes for the night. His sleep wear consisted of a black long sleeved night shirt and matching pants.
But back to the present, currently Artemis was checking over a map of the city. He was trying to find the most likely area Neos would be in. Having no idea that his old mentor was also trying to track him down. Still he thought the best place would be the air docks, since pretty much everything and everyone came through there.
Deciding that they would start their search there, and then make their way into the rest of the city in pairs. He got up and stretched his back out. Yawning he walked over to the closet, where he put his clothes away for the night. Quickly getting changed he peered over to the bed. There he saw Kuros sprawled out on the bed still sleeping. He shook his head at the scene, there was a reason he slept on the couch.
That dragon is too lazy for his own good. Sighing at his Neos' old partner he walked up to him. Looking down at Kuros, he leaned next to the dragons head to whisper something.
"Hey Kuros, another dragon is trying to court Irukuku." The effect was immediate. Kuros' mismatched eyes widened as he jumped to the feet snarling and yelling.
"Where is he?! I'll rip out his throat and then tear off his wings! And if he doesn't have any… I'll rip off his tail!" Artemis could only sigh at his rantings.
Even though he denies it… he really does like the other dragoness. Eventually Artemis had enough, and smacked him over the head. Causing him to stop mid-sentence, in order to hold his now aching head. Looking back up to Artemis he growled before speaking.
"What was that for?!" Artemis only shook his head and left the room. Snorting Kuros mumbled something rude about him, before stretching and jumping out of bed. He flapped his wings a bit to get any stiffness out of them, and flew into the kitchen. There he saw Artemis already making something to eat. He sniffed the air and could tell he was making eggs and toast. Simple yet… a pretty good starting meal for the day. A couple minutes later they heard a knock on the door. Telling Kuros to watch the eggs so they didn't burn, Artemis walked over to answer it.
Opening the door revealed both Charlotte and Irukuku dressed and ready to go. Nodding to the both of them he let them in before going back to the kitchen.
While he flipped the eggs he spoke. "Well let's see… after breakfast we should head out in pairs. That way we can cover more ground. So who wants who?" The groups quickly became unanimous, with Kuros choosing Irukuku, and Charlotte choosing Artemis. Not that anyone really minded that is…. Plus it was good to have at least one person, who knew Neos in each group. Although Charlotte and Artemis were worried about having the two least, responsible members of the group together... which kind of leads us to this point in time.
"Kuros why are we just sitting here?" Although it was a valid question… the way Irukuku whined about sitting on the bench, kind of made it seem less valid. Of course the fact that it looked like she was talking to absolutely no one… didn't help things. Sighing because of the dragoness in human form's antics, Kuros sighed before answering. "
"Irukuku, please keep it down. People are starting to give you strange looks! Plus we're here because this is the docking bay, for all ships leading to Beacon. Neos will need to come here first in order to get into the city." Of course this was all said in a whisper, but his partner could still hear him. However even though she understood, she still pouted.
"Yeah… but I'm bored! Why couldn't we be the ones to search the city?! That would've been more fun!" At this Kuros wondered if he should tell her the reason they got this job.
What would she do if she found out Charlotte, and Artemis didn't trust us to be the ones to search it? Deciding it was for the best Irukuku didn't find out at all he kept quiet. This in turn allowed Irukuku, to keep on whining about how bored she was. It was a choosing of the lesser evil situation. Unfortunately because of this they happened to miss, a certain group of people coming out of the ship. Of course it they weren't the only ones to blame… after all, the group consisting of team RWBY, Mercenary, and Velvet certainly missed them.
Back with Artemis he suddenly stopped walking, causing Charlotte to look at him curiously. Right when she was about to question him he spoke.
"You know… perhaps leaving the two of them alone was a bad idea." Instead of saying anything Charlotte just shrugged her shoulders. Now while it was true that they needed at least one person, who knew Neos in each group. They could have easily accomplished that by switching partners as well. Charlotte with Kuros, and Artemis with Irukuku, but at the time they just wanted to spend time with their favorite person. So they weren't really thinking of any potential consequences.
So as they say… hindsight is twenty/twenty. Still after a couple more hours of wandering around, they decided to just take a small break. They ended up sitting on a bench near a water fountain. Both were rather dismayed that they couldn't find their intended targets. Something left unsaid however, was their worry about what the others were doing. In all honesty they didn't actually expect them, to sit at the docking bay for the entire day. Sooner or later they knew that they'd wander off somewhere. They only hoped that they wouldn't get into too much trouble when they did.
As such it was only natural that hope be crushed, when a large explosion happened a little ways away. Groaning Artemis buried his face into his hands before speaking.
"If that's who I think it is… there's going to be quite a beating." Charlotte nodded her head in agreement, while rubbing Artemis' back comfortingly.
Line break
Location City of Vale (With Neos' group) twenty minutes earlier
Now while it was true that Neos was once trained as an assassin, soldier, leader, swordsman, and even a huntsman… as such his patience should be at an incredible level. However that all meant fairly little, when he started turning into a dragon. By nature dragons are… lazy, rough, intelligent, and very impatient. This is especially true for the younger generations, the older generation were the ones known for being lazy.
The reason why any of this is relevant was because… um well…
"We've been searching for hours! Where in the world could my wayward apprentice be wandering off to?!" Neos' patience had been wearing thin, ever since they started looking for Artemis. Normally he'd be a lot calmer about the situation. However he hadn't had the best week so far, add everything together and you get a very irate Neos. This wasn't really that fun for anybody… especially for those he had split up with. When they first got out into the city, they decided to split up into three groups. Each group would have at least one member, of team Mercenary with them.
However it ended up with them just teaming up with their favorite people… Hmm… seems rather familiar… Any ways the groups were as such. Neos, Ruby, and Weiss were apart of group one. Group two consisted of Zach, Blake, and Yang. This left Ichigo and Velvet on their own. Team JNPR would've helped with the search, but not only did they not meet Artemis and co. But they also had some things to do back at the academy. Something about Nora breaking somebodies legs, and making a mess in the lunch room… But back with group one.
Done with the dragon knight's complaining, Weiss snapped at him. "Would it kill you to be quiet?! I know it's we've been searching for a while now, but you just need to be patient!" Again there was that word, a word that made Neos scowl in annoyance before speaking.
"Patient eh? HA! You really don't have the right to tell me to be patient! I've had my fill of being patient. I've waited for quite a number of things, and I've grown tired of it! As a real fire breathing dragon you all should be thankful… that I haven't snapped and burned down the city! We dragons aren't made to be patient!" Though a bit concerned at his statement of raising the city to the ground, that was replaced by anger at what he said after that.
"Well excuse me oh mighty dragon! But you can't expect everything to go your own way every single time! Not even back home did things go that way for me. And we Schnee are practically royalty!" Neos snorted at that before replying.
"Royalty my scaly tail! You're just a bunch of rich people! Now back before I came here… I truly was royalty! Ahh the heir of Orobas they called me, I had entire fjords, and a sentient island with a magnificent castle like tower built on it. I had servants, trainers, smiths, enchanters, and even a necromancer! I also had runners that would go out, and get me all sorts of precious gems, metals, and plants. The dining hall was stunning, and the main bed chamber was superb! Now that… that was the life…" At this point he was so caught up in remembering, he didn't catch the strange looks Ruby and Weiss were giving him.
The looks had started when he mentioned his island was actually sentient. For the life of them, they couldn't figure out how that could ever be possible. They also grew concerned when he mentioned his necromancer. As far as they knew necromancers were evil, and raised the undead to use as an army to take control of the living. Now while that's generally true… there is a multitude of different necromancers existing. In fact another name for paladins, or clerics could actually be white necromancers. But that lesson is for another time.
Eventually Weiss recovered from her confusion, and got right back to arguing with the dragon. This left poor Ruby to walk in the middle of them awkwardly. To be fair the only reason why Weiss was with them instead of Yang, was because said blonde still didn't like Neos all that much. Although their relationship has improved significantly since, Neos told Ruby about her mother. It unfortunately still wasn't enough to stop Yang, from trying to kill him during combat practice. Although with Neos' remembered skills, it was currently impossible for anyone, but his two teammates to scratch him.
Still I was up to the red clad girl to get them both to stop arguing. However before she could say anything, Neos stopped moving altogether. And looked in the direction that the shipping yards were, humming slightly to himself he started moving in that direction. Becoming slightly worried by his odd behavior, Ruby and Weiss started following him. As they walked a tense silence gripped them, greatly unnerving both girls.
Deciding to break the silence Ruby spoke. "Hey Neos are you alright?" He glanced at her briefly before looking forward again and nodding.
After a couple of seconds he spoke, although his voice sounded… hesitant. "Yes Ruby I'm fine, however I just feel something… off. I really can't tell what it is, but I know it's coming from the shipping yards." Furrowing his brow as he remembered something he turned to Weiss. "Hey wasn't there supposed to be a huge shipment of dust, from your company coming in today?" Weiss blinked in confusion before answering.
"Yes… but what does that have to do with anything?" He rubbed his chin in thought before answering.
"Well you know how two weeks ago, the amount of dust robberies had increased exponentially?" Thinking back to what the officer said the day before Weiss' eyes widened.
"Wait you don't think that they're going to rob the shipment do you?!" Though she was missing his actual point, he could understand Weiss' worry.
"While that's partially it… I meant that they picked up a day after our fight with Haze. Also the fact that I sense a very strange presence over there, means something big is happening. So if you could call the others and tell them to meet us over there… that'd be great."
"And I think that today is also great." All three of them jumped slightly as the quickly turned around. Looking towards the person who spoke, they discovered Penny behind them.
Quickly Ruby yelled out to her. "Penny! What are you doing here?!" As Ruby and Weiss talked to her, Neos examined the strange orange haired girl. He ended up getting a familiar feeling from her. Remembering where he had felt the strange feeling before, his face lit up in understanding. And as he hit his right hand into his left palm he spoke.
"Ah ha! I remember now… You're either an android or cyborg right?" At this all three girls turned to him, and while Weiss and Ruby looked at him oddly… Penny's face was one of shock. However not noticing their new friends face Ruby spoke up to reprimand him.
"Neos! You shouldn't go around calling people things like that!" Weiss nodded her head in agreement before also speaking up.
"That's right! Besides how would you know?!" Neos looked at the three of them, and shrugged before answering with a bored face.
"Well… it wouldn't be the first time I've worked with one. Plus I was a cybernetic assassin a while back before… well I'd rather not get into that incident…" His voice trailed off as he looked upwards, as if he was remembering something extremely unpleasant. The girls however only looked at him even more confused than before. Then again poor Neos' life was just one confusing event after another. The event he was referring to was when he was punched, by an arch demon named the dragon god. He died there and all cybernetic parts he had, fused to his flesh enhancing him. That was after he got his body back however…
Still that was the moment he met Artemis so… he decided that he had a rather thick silver lining.
Hmm you know I should start studying that scroll my birth mother gave to me. It's been a while since I've looked at it. Of course being a while meant about sixteen years his time, but it really wasn't his fault. His life had become rather hectic… what with his mind being wiped, de-aging, and also having most of his abilities sealed away. It was here that he realized something. Huh… you know… I hate my life…
And truthfully who could blame him for that? After all there were only a few good events in his life. They were also outweighed by all the horrible things in his life. He did have to kill his mentor and father figure. He also had his soul split in half, and then almost died fighting against it. He also found out that his real father was a sociopath (S/N not psychopath). And to top it all off, his real mother died after giving him her last words in a scroll. Sure there were a number of other horrible things but those really took the cake.
As Neos continued to think on all of the horrible events in his life… he started to unknowingly give off an aura of pure depression. You see another thing about being a dragon, especially a young one. Was that it was fairly easy for one to become melancholy. Dragons… incredibly powerful beings with some being able to destroy planets. Yet still quite emotional and easily depressed. Hooray for dragons…
However none of this was known to Neos' kind girlfriend, who only became worried about him. So while Weiss was calling the others, so they could meet them at the shipping yard. Ruby had walked up to Neos and gave him a tight hug. Because despite not knowing why, she did know that he was sad about something. Feeling the hug Neos snapped out of his thoughts and looked down. He couldn't help but smile and return the hug.
After a moment they broke apart while Ruby spoke to him. "Are you all better now?" Chuckling for a bit Neos answered her with a smile.
"Yeah I am, thanks Ruby I can always count on you." She blushed a bit before questioning him on what happened.
"So… what exactly happened there Neos? I've never seen you get so depressed so quickly before." Neos grimaced while scratching the back of his head before answering.
"Well before there wasn't really anything for me to get depressed about. You see it's easy for us dragons to get dispirited over past events. So now that I have all my memories again… there's quite a lot to get miserable about." Ruby nodded her head in understanding, before giving him another hug while speaking.
"Then I'll just have to make sure to give you even more good memories." Neos smiled while embracing her tightly again. Because even though what she said she would do, was going to be hard. He appreciated it nonetheless. Hearing some clear their throat, they both looked over to see a slightly smiling Weiss.
"Well while it's good to see your relationship growing… I'm afraid it's time to get moving again, seeing how I already contacted the others." Quickly separating Neos coughed into his hand before speaking.
"Alright then, thank you Weiss. Now let's just uh… let's just get moving." He then turned to address Penny. "If you want you can come with us, or not it's up to you." Thinking for a bit Penny made her decision.
Line break
Location City of Vale (With Ichigo and Velvet) near the shipping yards.
After getting a call from Weiss telling them to head to the shipping yards. Velvet and Ichigo had quickly started heading over in that direction. Looking over to his bunny eared partner Ichigo smiled. He was honestly surprised that she had volunteered to help out. Currently she was wearing a white, form-fitting top, with a collar lined with black and a pink ribbon tied neatly below. She also wore a dark-brown, long-sleeved jacket that comes down around her chest over the shirt. She wore dark-brown shorts and a pair of black form-fitting leggings that come to just below her hips.
She was also wearing golden spaulders and vambraces, as well as a similar belt. The top of her leggings are edged with a similar band, and her heel and toe are likewise protected. She also had a box strapped to her side. He didn't know what was in it, but he could tell it would do some damage if released.
However as they neared their destination. Ichigo felt something dark and stopped while holding his right hand out, to stop Velvet from moving. Looking over to him concerned, Velvet turned to look at what her partner was looking at. What she saw made her eyes widen. Because in the middle of the road was a black vortex of sorts. As they waited eventually someone walked out of it. Both of them observed what they could only assume was a man. For his stance and stature, along with his torso couldn't have been from a woman.
He was about seven feet tall, and his shoulders were broad. He was also covered in some kind of grey leather armor. Although they used the word armor loosely. It was more of a very long grey leather robe that went down to his feet. The top of the robe was clasped together with two dark grey metal buckles. This left the lower part of the robe to open up in a V, and reveal the bottom of his shirt and pants. His shirt was a light grey and looked to be made of some thick cloth. His pants were a dark grey, and made of leather that opened up at the bottom. He also wore very dark grey boots that had one inch heels.
He also wore thick grey leather gloves and a strange metal helmet. It was strange as in it was shaped like a skull, except where the face should be. There instead was a rounded glass mask which was also colored grey. For weapons he had one five foot long katana in a grey sheath, then a four foot long wakizashi also in a grey sheath. Those two weapons were on his left side. Tied to his robe by a grey sash. Currently his right hand was on his katana's handle and his left was on his wakizashi.
Moving his hand to his holster Ichigo prepared to draw his weapon if needed. But based on the feeling he was getting from this guy, he knew that fighting was inevitable. So instead he tried questioning the tall giant in front of him.
"Hey, since you came out right in front of us. I can only assume you want something." There was no response, but Ichigo kept talking. "Can you even understand us? I know there are different languages for different places." Again only silence, which ended up angering the void walker. However when he took a step forward, then the man in grey spoke. It was raspy and also sounded as if he dragged out every word.
There was also a slight echo as if he was talking through a microphone. "Ichigo Kurosaki… Velvet Scarletina… I'm afraid I cannot allow you to move from this spot… If you try to continue moving I will be forced to stop you… So for your own good stay where you are…" As if to clarify his point he unsheathed his weapons and stood at the ready. As if just waiting, daring them to try and get past him. Seeing the upcoming fight was going to happen no matter what, Ichigo took out his weapon. Feeling that long ranged combat would be useless, he quickly changed it to its sword mode.
Seeing how Ichigo was preparing to fight the man in grey also got into a fighting stance. His legs were spread out, and he held his katana out in front of him. While he had his wakizashi in a reverse grip behind him. Velvet seeing the two about to fight, gulped nervously before also getting ready. However Ichigo had other ideas.
"Sorry Velv… but I can't let you fight this guy. He's on an entirely different level than anyone you've ever faced. If you fought him, it'd be over in less than five seconds." Velvet wanted to protest, but in the end she knew he was right. For despite being a year younger, Ichigo was much stronger than her. In fact it was a well-known fact that team mercenary, had the strongest members in the entire school. Besides that the man in grey gave her a very eerie feeling. As if there was something unnatural about him. So with a guilty look and droopy ears she nodded her head sadly.
Now it was Ichigo's turn to feel slightly guilty. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, no he only wanted to keep her safe. So he quickly turned to her with a smile and rubbed her head gently.
He then spoke with a kind voice. "Hey don't worry about it, you'll catch up eventually but for now just let me fight alright?" Feeling a bit better the bunny eared faunus, quickly decided to do something she's never done before. So grabbing Ichigo's coat she pulled him towards her, before quickly kissing his cheek before he could react. Turning away from him while becoming scarlet she spoke in a small voice.
"Good luck Ichigo." Nodding dumbly the red faced boy turned to his opponent, whose body language showed that he was amused. Shaking himself from the kiss Ichigo set his sights on his enemy, and brought his sword out in front of him. Narrowing his eyes he observed every part of his opponent. However he gave off nothing, even when he spoke.
"Are you sure this is the course of action you want? Be careful for this is your last chance to simply sit and wait…" Ichigo's answer was to shunpo in front of him, and then try to slash at his mid-section. But like he expected he was easily blocked by the larger man. Katana meeting sword, while they tried to push on each other. However it quickly became clear that the giant was the stronger of the two of them. So quickly backing off Ichigo then leapt forward, and began a quick assault of slashes and stabs. But with his opponent's dual sword style, he was able to block each and every one of his strikes.
Watching the fight was an amazed Velvet, the faunus girl could barely keep up with what was happening. However she yelled out in concern when Ichigo's opponent, suddenly kicked out catching the voidwalker in the stomach. Wincing a bit from the blow he quickly righted himself up, to look at the giant who quickly tried to take advantage of his position. Scowl deepening Ichigo blinked out of the way, when the man in grey swung his sword down at his last position. Confused he quickly turned around just in time to stop Ichigo, from running him through.
Both jumping back from one another they turned back to each other. Both charged forward and pulled back their weapons.
Line break
Location City of Vale (With Zach's group) at the shipping yards
Zach was getting slightly worried, up until a little bit ago he could feel Ichigo's aura. But now it had disappeared along with Velvets. It reminded him of the time he could no longer feel Blake's presence. Shaking his head he decided to focus on the issue at hand. Or at least he would if two blondes weren't busy chatting with one another!
Turning to them he snapped. "Yang, Sun… could the both of you shut up!" Currently they were lying on their stomachs on a red metal shipping crate. Blake was on his left side, followed by Yang, and then Sun. Sun Wu Kong was actually the monkey faunus they tried following the other day. They had actually met up as they were taking a small break at a café. He had decided to help them since he was bored, and both he and Yang had hit it off pretty quickly. Hence the need to tell them both to be quiet.
Normally he'd be much more patient, but the two of them combined had quickly grated on it. That and he didn't like Sun all that much, and only because of one reason. He tried to flirt with Blake, which was a big mistake to do in front of him. Blake found it a bit cute, that Zach was jealous that someone else was flirting with her. But she already knew he was the only one for her.
However Yang was annoyed at the interruption. "Well sorry oh great one! But we've sat here for five minutes and nothing's happened. Do you even know what we're looking for?" Of course as soon as she asked that, a bunch of bullhorns started to come into the area. So with a blank expression Zach answered her.
"We're looking for that Ms. Xiao Long…" Choosing not to pay attention to the blonde's mutterings, he instead focused on the air ships. Taking out his rifle he got to his knees, and aimed at the first one landing in the area. What he saw next honestly surprised him.
"No way… why are the white fang here?" Blake was just as confused by this, because stepping out of the ship, were most certainly members of the extremist group. Their white masks reminiscing of grim, as well as their black clothes, and white and grey lined armored tops gave it away. But the biggest surprise came from the second ship. Once landed Zach focused on it and to his greater surprise, stepped out the orange haired Roman Torchwick.
However another figure also stepped out of the ship behind him. And this one gave him a terrible feeling, as if his instincts were telling him to run away. He felt movement to his left, and looked to see that Blake was also getting the same feeling. In fact it looked even worse for her. So lowering his rifle he put his arm around her shoulders. He didn't say anything but Blake relaxed a bit, even if she didn't know what was coming over her.
Turning back to the scene they watched as Roman talked to the man. "You know Jauk I believe I could've handled this myself." The masked man shrugged before answering.
"Sure you could, if it was against regular people. But we both know the ones coming here aren't regular. They're already as skilled as Qrow Branwen. In fact one of my associates is distracting two of them right now. Besides we have a dragon to deal with, and I plan to clip its wings. After that we'll kill the others, then you and your "queen" can do whatever you want." After hearing the words from the coated stranger, everyone but Sun was extremely worried.
Yang was the first to whisper to the others. "That man knows my uncle Qrow and based on what he says… he plans on killing Neos before taking out the rest of you." Zach grimaced at her words before speaking.
"Unfortunately it doesn't seem as though he'll stop there. Based on the sounds of things he'll probably kill your uncle, as well as Glynda, and Ozpin. Along with anyone else capable of being a threat." That got Yang to consider other targets before she thought of Ruby.
"If that's the case Ruby's in danger as well!" As the conversation continued Sun, felt like he was left out of the loop. But he did understand that the guy with the hat, was going to kill a lot of people. The current conversation would've continued, but they heard a raspy high pitched voice speak to them.
"Oh no! It isn't nice to spy on people, no sure!" Looking up they saw the strangest bat like creature they've ever seen. "Oh! Looks like I've been spotted, by dragon's friends and stranger." The creature then turned around and yelled out to the brown coated man. "Master! I've founded some eaves droppers!" Zach silently cursed the creature before looking back at the man called Jauk. Red eyes met red as the two looked at each other.
Putting his hands behind his back Jauk spoke to them. "Well… I knew you'd eventually make your way here Void spawn. You as well Nekomata… but I didn't expect you to have the two blondies. However you two are my second and third targets respectively. So if you two could leave until I've dealt with the dragon? That'd be great thank you." Scowling at what the man had called them Zach jumped down, and was soon followed by the others. Already Zach's hand was resting on his rifles trigger as he aimed at him.
The man continued talking undaunted. "Oh? Are you planning on fighting me right now? Sorry but I'm stronger than Haze, and it took you, the dragon, and the voidwalker to even make a dent in his power. Also unlike him I plan to kill you. Nothing personal just business." Zach now worried unconsciously gripped his prosthetic arm, while Blake moved behind him a bit. Yang however just look incensed at what he said, while Sun not knowing who this Haze was got out his weapon. It was a long bow staff made of four parts; it was also colored red and had gold engravings.
Roman however was rather interested, since the one in the black coat was someone he recognized.
Isn't that one of the brats that ruined my heist a few months ago? Of course while the stare down was going off, the white fang members had slowly converged on them. Already having drawn their weapons, which were just curved red bladed swords with black handles. Seeing them approach Zach decided to scare them a little.
So putting on his mask he spoke. "Well now… it seems you of the white fang have gotten a bit braver. Especially if you're trying to attack mercenary Dusk." Having heard stories of the one named Dusk before, they quickly backed up a bit. After all "Dusk" was the man who took out three separate white fang facilities by himself. Roman however only grew annoyed at their fear and yelled at them.
"What are you animals doing?! He's just a boy and our friend Jauk here is more than capable of handling him. Just focus on the brat's friends!" Even though they were all angry at his initial words, they did take the rest to heart. So nodding to one another they charged at the group. Seeing how there would be a fight, Yang activated her weapons while Blake unsheathed her borrowed sword.
It was actually Neos' katana, and she was grateful to him now more than ever, for letting her borrow it. As for Zach he quickly gathered a bunch of shadows, and used them to take out half the group. But that was before Jauk ran at him, with his left katana drawn.
Seeing the movement Zach dropped his gun, and took out his katana. He then raised it to block the downwards slash sent at him. As Jauk's strange katana met his own, Zach felt his knees buckle from the strength behind the blow.
What kind of monster is this?! Feeling that he was about to slip, Zach sent his shadows to hit his opponent. However Jauk saw this and simply back flipped away. Seeing him now a distance, Zach continued to use his shadows. However with what looked like practiced ease, the brown clothed man block all shadows.
Sending another one of the white fang to dream land, Blake turned to Zach with a worried expression. She knew the fight wasn't going to well; in fact Jauk had the upper hand. She wanted to help him, but also remembered what Haze did to them. So as much as it hurt she turned to face the other enemies. As for Torchwick… he found that the monkey faunus was a lot tougher than he thought. At the moment sun had disconnected the parts of his staff to make two nun-chucks. However these also had built in shot guns… it really wasn't his day.
His scowled deepened every time he blocked on of Sun's attacks. It deepened even more when one of the white fang lost consciousness. Things weren't going as planned… Glancing over at Jauk and Zach his scowl deepened even more, when he realized he was just playing around. And that angered him more than anything. His ally could've finished the brat quickly and then take out the rest. Sun noticing Roman's distraction switched back to his staff, and swung it at Roman's head.
As the staff connected it sent Roman tumbling away. Slowly standing up Roman held the right side of his head where he was hit. The fight really wasn't going well. He was a good thief, crime boss, and even an amazing fighter. However that last bit was compared to a civilian standard. To any huntsman or huntress he was just decent. As such he was only doing slightly better in his fight than Sun. However with the amount of failure going on around him… Roman was kind of distracted.
"HEY!" Quickly the fighting paused to look at the source of the voice. Looking over on a shipping crate was none other than Ruby, along with the rest of their group. Although Zach and the others were a bit confused as to why Penny was there. Neos quickly analyzed the current fights panning out. And almost immediately his eyes narrowed onto Jauk. However for Jauk, seeing his main target brought a smile to his face. Even if you couldn't see his mouth under his mask, his eyes were definitely smiling.
As such he quickly spoke to him. "Well, well, well… if it isn't the dragon? Finally showing up to play are you?" Feeling the monstrous power the stranger was giving off. Neos wasn't exactly too surprised to see that he knew what he was.
After a brief moment he answered the man. "Sure I can play if you like sharp teeth, claws, and raging infernos. If so we're good to go for this little playdate of yours." Jauk quickly laughed a creepy yet happy laugh. Further narrowing his eyes at the strange man Neos jumped off the crate. He was quickly followed by the others in his group. Waving his hand around there was a small distortion in the air. He then put his hand into the distortion and pulled out a black guardless katana. Turning back to those in his group he spoke.
"Hey I need you guys to assist the others; me and Zach will handle this one." Ruby and Weiss really wanted to argue but didn't, knowing that they'd just get in the way. However before they could agree Jauk addressed them again.
"Oh?! You want to fight me with just the Void spawn? Not exactly a bright idea, sure if you had the walker it might be doable. But right now he's rather busy at the moment, fighting one of my associates. Sure I doubt either will actually win the fight… but it'll be just long enough to get rid of you two." Still eye smiling he reached inside his coat, and brought out a small pyramid shaped device. It fit in the palm of his hand and was made of metal.
Seeing it Neos' eyes widened before questioning him. "Where did you get that device?! The only one ever made was…" Jauk quickly cut him off as he spoke.
"Made by the dragon terror patrol yes, yes…" He said this while sounding rather bored but continued speaking. "That little group of failed dragon slayers were interesting… yet highly disturbing." Under his breath Neos muttered an agreement as Jauk continued. "However they were able to make a device that stopped you from transforming. However we took it a step further…" Tossing the device into the air the sides of the pyramid opened up as it landed. Inside was a tesla rod that immediately sent forth a blue dome like field. It expanded quickly and when it went past Neos it shocked him.
"ARGH!" Crying out in pain as blue electricity danced along his body, he collapsed to his knees.
"NEOS!" Seeing him writhing in pain Ruby quickly ran to his side. Touching him she noticed that she wasn't being shocked. Confused she held him up to her chest to try and comfort him. All the while Jauk was laughing at the scene. Turning to glare at him Ruby spoke with enough anger, that it actually scared her team as they ran over to them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Not even caring about her anger Jauk answered her.
"Oh that's simple… you see this little device, was made to stop dragons from using their abilities. The affects vary between the varying types of dragon kin. But as a Broodknight one of the highest tiers of dragon… your little boyfriend has had quite a nasty shock. As of right now his mental and magical abilities, the ones he relies the most heavily on. Are currently sealed though by the looks of things… War over there is having some trouble as well."
Turning to Zach they noticed that he was breathing a bit harder. This was due to him being made into a dragon faunus. Although he was a voidspawn first and foremost, it still did some damage. But since he used aura or spiritual abilities he was still mostly fine. Worried about her boyfriend Blake put a hand on his back. But even if she couldn't see it due to his mask, Blake knew he was smiling at the gesture. Their bond was still connecting them, which they were glad about.
Having enough of the sappy moment Jauk continued talking. "Ugh… do the happy lovey stuff somewhere else please. Still continuing with the explanation of my device… it doesn't work on extremely strong dragons. You know like Maxos or that old lizard Patriarch. Actually if Neos didn't have any seals on him, this device wouldn't work on him either. But with his weakened state it was easy to use on him." Ruby gritted her teeth while pulling Neos closer to her. Hearing his ragged breathing as pain wracked through his body, may have angered her. But not being able to do anything about it infuriated her more.
Looking at the small device on the ground, Ruby lowered Neos to the ground gently. She then took out clockwork, and stood up. Seeing her actions Jauk raised an eyebrow before speaking.
"Are you sure about your current course of action red? I mean I doubt you can even enhance that scythe with your aura." At that Ruby paused and turned to Blake, who in turn only shrugged. Ruby than turned back to her opponent before speaking.
"Why does everyone always say that?" She then disappeared in a swirl of rose petals. Blinking in surprise from the speed, Jauk backed up as Ruby swung at him. Once he was a few feet away he whistled in appreciation.
"Whew… I must admit you're a lot faster than I expected. Not once had you shown this kind of speed, during any of your spars. But before we get this show on the road, how about an introduction? Ahem… I am Jauk Triven Guns an assassin, a un-pleasure to meet all of you." He then bowed mockingly before drawing out his second sword. Backing up a bit Ruby prepared to fight along with the others. As for Torchwick… he looked around and noticed all the white fang members were unconscious. Sighing he turned back to Jauk to speak.
"Well I see that you're quite busy so I'll just be taking my leave now." Jauk turned to him and nodded his head in understanding before turning back. Roman than ran to escape in one of the bullhorns. Seeing this Zach tried to run after him but Jauk got in his way forcing him to stop.
"Sorry but I can't let you get too little old Romey yet. Besides we aren't done here…" Zach let out a growl as he watched Roman get away. Turning back to Jauk he got into a running position, with his sword held out to his right side. Seeing how the fight was about to resume, Jauk stood up straighter with both swords held downwards. But he raised an eyebrow when everyone else ran up to join Zach.
He gave out a short laugh before speaking. "Hahaha! Oh my, seven of you versus little old me? Now that just doesn't seem fair… You shouldn't have handicapped yourselves so much." Jauk than disappeared in blinding speed, signaling the start of the fight.
Looking around Ruby raised Clockwork in order to block, a one handed overhead strike. She had to use every ounce of her strength, to keep from kneeling on the floor. Yang seeing her sister in trouble ran at Jauk, and gave a right jab at his side. Seeing this Jauk just raised his other sword, and blocked her gauntlet with the flat of his blade.
"Tsk…" Seeing her punch blocked so easily, she started to send a barrage of punches at him. However they were all blocked easily by his left blade. As for Ruby he still had his right sword bearing down on her. So in an attempt to get him off of her, Zach tried to stab him on the chest. Noticing the movement from the corner of his eye Jauk jumped back... Only to have to quickly turn around as Weiss sent a stab at his back. While turning he brought his swords up, and parried her off to the side. However even he was surprised when he saw Blake, coming up from a low crouch prepared to slash him.
Grunting a bit he quickly jumped up to avoid the slash, only to have Sun try to cave his skull in with his staff. However what happened next worried the others. Spinning in midair Jauk managed to lash out with his left sword, and cut the bow staff in half. Both landing and jumping away from each other, Sun looked down at his weapon and grimaced a bit. His staff was now unusable… but he smirked as he activated their gun-chuck modes.
Jauk prepared to run forward again, when he felt something slam into his back. It didn't really hurt him but he did stumble forward. Looking behind himself he saw Penny, with multiple green one edged swords flying around her. Slightly interested he spoke to her.
"You know I'm actually surprised… I didn't even feel your presence from behind me. Mind sharing how you're hiding your energy?" Penny's response was to launch some of her swords at him. Sighing because his question wasn't answered, Jauk quickly sliced all of them into pieces. It was at this point that Ruby, remembered something that Haze had said…
"This you see is a Psi blade. Only a few metals can withstand being hit with this, and I doubt your weapons are made from those materials." Looking over to all of Penny's broken swords, Ruby realized that the swords, Jauk were using must have been made out of one of those metals.
Just our luck… only three of us have weapons capable of dealing with his swords. She then looked over to Neos in worry. Make that two of us actually… Wait! Ruby saw Neos' katana lying on the ground next to him. Thinking quickly she turned to Weiss.
"Weiss!" Hearing her name Weiss turned to her leader. "You see the sword Neos has?" Looking back over to the unconscious dragon she gave an affirmative nod. "I suggest you use that instead of Myrtenaster. If you don't use it, I believe it'll end up just like Penny's weapons." Looking at said broken swords, Weiss nodded and went to pick up the black blade. But when she did for a brief moment she felt something strange. As if she got some kind of new power. Looking at the blade curiously, she shook her head before looking back to Jauk. Putting her rapier away, she held the new sword out in front of her and waited.
As for Jauk he was getting rather bored with the current fight. He was just messing around; no one was providing a decent challenge. Sighing he decided he was done with everyone. Jumping back away from everyone, he stabbed his swords into the ground. He then clapped his hands together and held them there. Everyone then watched as purple lightning, started dancing around his hands.
Zach was the first to comment. "That does not look good…" Everyone quickly nodded in agreement as Jauk started laughing.
"HAHAHA! Well you aren't wrong!" Jauk then slowly spread his hands apart, and between them… was a purple ball of energy slowly increasing in size. Currently Zach had no idea how they were going to block… let alone dodge! Something with that kind of power behind it! Zach grimaced at their current situation, but looking over to see Blake's worried face… But became quite surprised when Neos stood up, albeit sluggishly.
Zach quickly called out to him. "Hey you shouldn't be moving around like that yet." Ruby quickly agreed with Zach.
"Yeah that's right! Just leave things to us for now." However Neos didn't respond instead just watched as Jauk gathered energy.
Sighing he finally spoke up. "Well there's a first for everything…" Before anyone could say anything, Neos summoned another weapon into his hand. Although because this was a magic ability he winced in pain. But now in his right hand was a longsword, it was three feet long with a silver crossguard. The handle was made of blue leather, with a circular pommel. Wondering what he was doing everyone's eyes widened as they saw Neos run forward.
Ruby quickly cried out to him. "NEOS!" However he just ignored it and stopped ten meters away from Jauk. Closing his eyes he brought his sword out in front of him and waited. Jauk seeing this laughed before slowly opening his hands. There in between them was a glowing dark purple ball that expanded in size, as he moved his hands apart. Then shoving his hands forward he launched the sphere at Neos. Ruby yelled out to him as she was being held back by Weiss. However everyone was surprised as Neos opened his eyes, stepped back, and swung his sword at the sphere. Instead of just exploding the blade and energy ball met.
As they clashed together black and purple lights came from the contact point. As well as great gusts of wind flowing outwards in all directions. Using just his aura Neos held on, gritting his teeth as he was slowly pushed back. As this was happening he couldn't help but think a few things.
This is probably one of the most insane things I've ever done! This coming from Neos was actually pretty bad… But still he was giving it his all to protect his friends. Said friends were scared out of their skulls at the moment. Especially Ruby who was being held back by her partner. But as time went by the ball of energy weakened, making Jauk narrow his eyes. So right when Neos thought he would beat the attack back, Jauk launched another one at the first.
This caused an explosion that covered the area in smoke. The force of the blast also knocked everyone but, Zach and Penny to the ground. Zach squinted his eyes as he waited for the smoke to clear, as everyone else stood up. Everyone waited with baited breath as the smoke cleared up.
As she watched Ruby's face became relieved, as she saw the still standing dragon knight. But as she began to call out to him… her voice got stuck in her throat as he face became one of horror. Although he was still standing his clothes were now torn up and burnt. His sword broken and useless, and he was bleeding profusely. Then as if in slow motion he fell backwards, but using her speed Ruby was able to catch him. She didn't even care that his boiling hot blood, that was getting on her clothes. Nor did she care about the pain it brought while touching it.
Checking his unconscious form over, she discovered a lot of blood coming from his left eye. So hesitantly she opened it to discover it was missing. Tears streamed down her face as she closed it and held him closer. Zach watched the scene unfolding in worry, but still kept an eyes out for Jauk.
His eyes widened as he saw him, and he quickly cried out to Ruby. "Ruby! Jauk's right behind you!" Turning to look she could only watch as the assassin, raised his left sword above his head. He then swiftly brought it down as she closed her eyes tightly. However everyone was surprised as they heard a loud clang. Seeing how she wasn't dead yet Ruby opened her eyes to look. But there right behind her was someone in a white coat, using a golden katana to block Jauk's attack. Her eyes widened even more as he spoke.
"Well now… it seems as though Master Bladedancer needs some help…" He then turned to Ruby and she looked into his blue eyes. "So… mind if I help out?"
Omake
RWBY Antics: Three
Hosted by: Kuros
Guest star: Irukuku
Kuros didn't know how they got into this mess. First they were just sitting at the docking bay, now they being thrown out of a casino with a ton of money.
Of course Irukuku didn't quite understand the situation. "HEY! That was rude! Don't you know you're supposed to treat ladies with kindness?!" The bouncers didn't even respond, instead they just sighed and went back inside. Not that Kuros blamed them; this was just not part of their pay grade. So sighing as well he decided to try and calm down the angry dragoness in human form.
"Irukuku… they didn't have much of a choice here. I don't know how, but you kept winning every single game you played. So this was only bound to happen after they asked you to leave politely. Seeing how you were going to put the casino out of business. What possessed you to come to this place anyway?" Irukuku blinked before putting her right index finger to her chin. After a bit of thinking she answered.
"Well I've always heard you can get lots of money from a place like this… so I thought I'd be a good way to earn money while having some fun!~" Using the tips of his wings Kuros rubbed the side of his head in comfort.
Why? Why did I have to fall for such a spaz! I swear if something doesn't happen soon I'll go crazy! It was at this moment that they heard a large explosion off, to where the shipping docks are. Sighing deeply Kuros spoke out loud.
"Me and my big thoughts… Irukuku come on let's make out way over there." She mocked saluted despite Kuros still being in the bag. However Kuros did have one last question. "Say… how did you win all those games? Everyone watched you closely so you didn't cheat. But seriously no ones that lucky." Giggling she answered him.
"Oh that's simple… I just used some illusion magic on the card, and ball spinning games. While also using some wind magic on the slot games." Kuros was about to say that she basically cheated, until he realized something.
Now that I think about it… Neos also did things similar to that. I think his excuse was that there weren't any rules against him using magic. So as simple as that he forgave her, and decided that Charlotte could talk to her instead. He gave a wry smirk at that thought, knowing that the following lecture would not… be a pleasant one. He's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of an explosion.
He quickly yelled out in confusion. "What in the void?! What happened?!" Irukuku also confused turned to the direction of the explosion and shrugged.
"Don't know but let's find out!" And before Kuros could protest they were both off.
Slayer: We're done on our end here. So the next thing is the Void Dragon Emperor a story by…
Judan: ME! And trust me mine is way better story wise than Slayer's.
Slayer: I highly doubt that but yes we finally have come back. So we'll try to update faster from now on. It's just this one was very hard for me to write. Don't know why but it just was.
Shadow: Ahh… You better finish this story though; I want to see how awesome I'll be in the future.
Slayer: Yeah yeah… It won't matter since I already know how the story will go.
Neos: I lost an eye! What in the world were you thinking?!
Slayer: Well it was either you or Zach. And he had already lost an entire limb.
Zach: I don't know whether to be thankful or not that I kept my eye…
Slayer: Do you want a demon eye that'll try to take you over? Because that was what would've happened if you lost yours.
Zach: I think I like keeping my eye…
Slayer: That's what I thought.
Judan: Huh… well if that's it we should just wrap this up. What do say Shadow?
Shadow: Agreed… now then, this has been a Dark Guard production now signing off.
Everyone: Goodbye!