Shade had woken up the next day and quickly went through his morning workout. Afterwards, he returned to his dorm and prepared for the day. He put on his full combat gear and strung his cloak around his shoulders before picking up his helmet, a metallic-black object with a green visor stretching around his eyes. His combat gear was light micro-fiber armor, black in color with green highlights. The Scout nods and leaves his dorm, making is way towards the courtyard when RWBY's dorm door opens up and Blake steps before him. She stares at him appraisingly, nodding with a worried glint in her eyes.
"You come back to me, you hear?" She says.
"I will do my best." He says. Blake nods in acceptance, popping up to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, before burrowing into his chest.
"Good luck." She says, and Shade nods as he runs his fingers through her hair softly.
"I'll need it." The Scout replies. The two part, and Shade nods to the remaining members of RWBY as well as JNPR when they poke their heads out. Making his way down the hall, he passes the common room when Velvet and Coco nearly tackle him with hugs. Yastu and Fox pat him on the back and Shade grins. Neptune and Sun appear and the three nod and bump fists. After all his friends give their encouragement and support, Shade makes his way outside. He immediately is joined by Qrow and Taiyang as they make their way to the courtyards. There, the three are joined by Winter and Glynda. The five exchange greetings as Ironwood and a girl with lilac colored hair.
"Ah, everyone." Ironwood says. Shade nods to him.
"General." The Scout says.
"I was on my way to meet you." The General says. "Shade, well, everyone, this is Viola Scarlet, the final member of team SSSN." The girl next to him had deep blue eyes and a stern, but strangely kind smile on her face. She bows in greeting.
"Please to meet you Viola." Shade says. "I'm the Vale portion of the team, Shade Kurogane."
"The acting Vanguard?" Viola asks. Shade nods. The girl smirks. "Wicked." The Scout bursts out laughing.
"In that dorm hall there." Shade says, pointing out the dorms. "You'll probably find a monkey Faunus and a blue haired guy up to no good. They're Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias, our other two teammates. I have a mission and probably won't be back for at least a day or two. I'd recommend introducing yourself and learning about each other." Viola nods.
"Ironwood told me everything." She says, holding out her hand. "Good luck. I look forwards to working with you."
"Likewise." Shade says, shaking her hand. They part and Ironwood joins the five in the raid party in the trek to Ozpin's office. When they arrive the General moves to Ozpin's side.
"Raven will be here momentarily." Qrow grunts, and soon after a swirling portal appears, and the Chief steps out.
"Raven, it's good to see you again." Shade says, as she takes off her helmet. The female Branwen grins to him. Taiyang was staring at her, before smiling softly and nodding to her. Raven nods back.
"I hope you're doing well?" She asks. Tai nods. "And Yang? Or Little Rosie?"
"Both are doing alright." Tai says, grinning at the nickname for Ruby.
"Okay, Raven, you know most of the people here. Tai, Qrow, Glynda, and myself." Shade says. "This is Winter Schnee,"
"It's a pleasure Miss. Branwen." Winter says. Raven waves her off.
"Just Raven." The red-eyed woman replies. "So you're the one that riles up my brother so much. I already like you." The three women in the group smirk mischievously.
"What have I done?" Shade asks himself, much to the girl's amusement. "Okay, so here's the situation." The Scout nods to Ozpin, and the room dims. A holographic map of the Dead Zone appears. "This is the Dead Zone, and our landing point. More specifically, it's here, at my old camp." A red dot appears at the location. "The landing zone will be a touch and go. The emergence of the Necros has riled up the local Grimm. From there we'll fight our way to the Barren Graves. The battleground. We have no data on the caves, so we'll be running blind at that point. We'll see many zombies, for lack of a better term. They're dead, just make sure that they stay down. At some point we'll actually leave the Dead Zone, we'll feel it. From there we find the Necros and take it down."
"Sounds simple enough." Raven says. Shade shrugs.
"Everything sounds simple in theory, but the Necros will be extremely hard to take down." He says.
"What are the specifications of the Necros?" Winter asks. The hologram changes to a large turtle-Grimm.
"The Necros doesn't have teeth or claws, but can spin around on its shell, crush its enemies, or breathe a parasitical gas that kills you and then controls your corpse. The armor of the shell is virtually impenetrable from the top, so we'll have to go at it from the softer underbelly or straight down the gullet. Once it breaths out its gas it retracts into its shell to recover. We couldn't try it but I believe the gas can be ignited by fire dust." Shade says. "Our window is when it tucks into its shell after it breaths the gas. We lob any explosive we can find into the openings. If it tucks into its shell without breathing the gas it'll start spinning, so find cover and stay in it." The five nod, "Good. There's nothing else about this Grimm that we know of, but that doesn't mean that it has more tricks. We need to stay alert." The team nods.
"Sounds simple enough." Raven mutters again. Shade nods.
"It all sounds simple, but battleplans never really survive past the first encounter." The Scout says. Raven nods in acceptance. "Ironwood, Ozpin, as of this moment Glynda Goodwitch, Taiyang Xaio-Long, Winter Schnee, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen are officially Iron Lords." Collective gasps fill the room.
"But—we don't have the blade." Winter says. Shade grins.
"Winter, being an Iron Lord isn't defined by the Iron Blades, being an Iron Lord is about the spark of hope we set, igniting the flame that drives humanity and Faunus forwards for progress, peace, and protection." He says, "Iron Lords are an ideal, a dream of a better world, and the guardians of that dream. An Iron Lord is a guardian of the people, of their hopes and dreams. Iron Lords never truly die, and neither do the dreams of the dead. By agreeing to help me take down the Necros, you have proven that you are ready to give anything to protect the people." His eyes look to Raven, who closes her eyes with a small smile and nods. "I realize that you five have some sort of story together from your pasts, but you've pushed beyond that. We are a team, but moreso, now we're family. So, here's battle orders, Winter, Glynda, your job is to support Tai as he tanks, he's our shield that packs one hellova punch. Qrow, Raven, and myself, we alternate from guarding Winter and Glynda and attacking the enemy with high-damage, ambush attacks. If we fight on the vanguard, we strike from the shadows, taking out the small fry with one hit and vanishing. We're the damage dealers, Tai's the distraction, and our two mages are the support. Alone, we are impressive, together, nothing stands in our way." The five smile, and Shade grins back. "So, my fellow Iron Lords, are we ready to avenge our ancestors? Are we ready to save the Vanguard? Today, we face the monster at our door, and take the fight to it! Today, we're cancelling the apocalypse!" Shade holds out his fist, and his team all puts their own in.
"Ho-ah!" The collective shout of the six echoes throughout the office as Ozpin and Ironwood smile.
"That kid is going to open a door no one expected." Ironwood says. Ozpin nods.
"The forgotten light of the Iron Lords." The aged headmaster says. "It is something the world has forgotten, and our enemies have thrived in the shadows casted by its absence. That light, that flame, is the hopes, dreams, and memories of all of those that have fallen while facing the darkness. We aren't seeing six people before us." Ozpin smiles. "We're seeing countless generations of Hunters and Huntresses reincarnated in six people before us." Ironwood nods with a smile.
"The bullhead is waiting." The General says. "Vanguard, Iron Lords, good luck, happy hunting, and godspeed." The six file out of the office. The Atesian Knights file out, creating a straight path to the landing pads as the bells of the CCT tower ring across the city, drawing attention of everyone in Vale. All eyes watch a flaming-yellow Bullhead take flight and rocket off into the distance.
The members of RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and the remaining three of SSSN watch as the Bullhead carrying their friend rockets off. Blake's amber eyes close as she sends off a quiet prayer, hoping that Shade would return safely.
The cargo bay of the Bullhead was silent as the team went about mentally preparing themselves. Raven, Glynda, and Winter were meditating, Taiyang was resting while listening to music, Qrow was maintaining Harbringer, and Shade was dismantling and reassembling his pistol. How the small parts of Shade's pistol didn't go flying around during the bumpy ride was because the Scout had channeled a small bit of his semblance to make a magnetic charge on it. After de-magnetizing the parts and fully assembling his pistol, the Bullhead's pilot speaks up.
"Alright, we're nearing the LZ." The man up front says. The team moves into action as the Bullhead flies over the Dead Wall. Shade hits the button that opens the bay doors as the Bullhead slows to a hover. As soon as the jump-light turns green, the six jump from the Bullhead, making the short fall to the ground. They check the area, clearing it before regrouping at Shade's rundown tent.
"This was where you were for five years?" Glynda asks, eyeing the patchworks tent while Shade shrugs.
"Had to, I guess. Okay, we've been over the plan, here's some more intel." He says. "I didn't state this in the briefing because it's mostly my theories based on observations. The parasites take over the body, but if the host is too damaged, they can't take over. The zombies cannot use aura but are able to use equipment. Stay alert as we near the base." The five nod. "On me!" They break off into a sprint, but strangely don't encounter any Grimm. They reach the charred ground of the battlefield after a few minutes. Looking over the destroyed base, Shade narrows his eyes when he sees no activity. Tai curses.
"The blast doors that were installed on the cave's entrance are shut. We'll need to turn on the generators to open them." He says.
"Understood." Shade mutters. "Glynda, you and Tai handle Generator 1. Winter and Qrow will handle Gen. 2. Raven and I will take Gen. 3. After we get the generators on, meet back at the front gate."
"Why there?" Winter asks.
"Because I have a feeling once those gates start to open all hell will break loose, we'll need that area as a buffer." The teen replies. Everyone nods. "Winter, Qrow, once you're done there, try to get some comms up. Everyone, let's move." The six break up, all heading to their generators.
"Generator 1 is active." Glynda says.
"2 is up." Winter reports.
"We got 3." Shade says. "Regroup." The six regroup at the front gate. Shade looks to his left forearm as a holographic pad appears. He types in a few sequences and the gate into the cave begins to open. Suddenly, the blast doors explode outwars.
"Ahhh shit." Qrow mutters. Standing in their way was an Atlesian Sentinel, the big brother of the newly released Atlesian Paladin and designed from Goliath hunting.
"Scatter!" Shade shouts, and the six break away as the Sentinel opens up.
"Shade! We don't have any anti-armor rounds for that!" Winter shouts. Shade thinks for a second.
"We may not, but this base does! It has Anti-Goliath munitions all around!" The teen shouts, he then spots something on the right leg. He pulls out But Not Forgotten and takes aim. The sharp report of his rifle echoes over the battlefield as the high caliber round tears through the hydraulic lines for the leg. The Sentinel falls do its knee. "Currently, all I can do is take out hydraulics! But a Sentinel has redundant systems as backups for that! Qrow, Raven, and I will distract it! Winter and Glynda, lay covering fire! Tai, there's an AA gun on top of that wall, it's loaded. Turn it around and blast this thing! Raven draws a black sword from her sheath, a regular blade. Qrow loads Harbringer and Shade draws Forgotten Night. The three rush forwards with incredible speeds, even without the assistance of aura. The Sentinel stands back up and takes aim with its machine gun, opening fire. The three scatter, and the left shoulder of the mech opens to reveal missiles. Three launch off and head towards the three scouts. Winter and Glynda take aim with their rifles and destroy the missiles. Just as the Sentinel takes aim at the two Supports, Shade appears before the head, slashing with Forgotten Night. He lands, and sprints off again, leaving a stunned machine behind. Qrow then unloads his chamber into the back of the right knee while Raven slashes the back of the left knee. The Sentinel is knocked down as Beowulfs swarm from the cave.
"Tai!" Qrow shouts.
"Glynda, Winter! There's an explosive cache behind you!" Raven shouts. "Use those 'nades!" The two grab the grenades and lob them out, taking out the Beowulfs en masse.
"Taking aim!" Taiyang shouts. "Firing!"
"Scatter!" Shade shouts. The three scouts make it back to the Supports when the AA gun fires off, directly hitting the Sentinel.
"Got it!" Tai shouts.
"Check for a pulse!" Shade says. "That thing was made to take down Goliaths! Those guns have clips of two!" Tai fires another round and the resulting explosion throws out Sentinel parts. When the dust clears, the team sees the mangled remains of the mech. All six breath a sigh of relief. "Okay, gather ammo and gear from the base. Nothing too heavy however."
"How many Sentinels did the base have?" Glynda asks.
"Only the one, and no Paladins." Winter says. "There wasn't much Goliath activity so we only sent one." Shade nods and a few minutes later, the team stands at the entrance of the cave.
"Once more into the breach." Shade mutters. Raven chuckles.
"Shakespeare?" She asks. Shade shrugs.
"Blake and I read Henry V, the quote stuck." The teen says. The team chuckles. "It was weird to read something from before the naming tradition." Glynda laughs.
"Yes, the names are quite odd." The Professor says.
"Alight, Qrow. I see you brought some scanning equipment?" Winter asks. Qrow nods.
"Yeah, saw it and thought it would help when navigating." He replys. Winter nods.
"Okay, activate it." Shade says. The machine humms to life. A pulse of ultrasound, unheard to the team, is rung out. Roars from Grimm further down the cave echoes back. "Well... Shit."
"Eloquently said." Winter mutters.
"Lock and load!" Shade says, and he draws out his pistol. The team charges in, shooting, slashing, and obliterating the Ursai and Beowulfs that swarm them.
"Fork in the road!" Qrow shouts, looking at the scanning device. Shade stops for a second, feeling a tug in his gut. "The enemies are coming from the left, that's where we gotta go!"
"Hold it." Shade mutters. "We go right."
"But-!" Winter says.
"I can't explain!" Shade says. "But my gut tells me to go right."
"Well, that gut did help you survive here!" Tai shouts. The team takes the right path, following Shade as he runs through the cave. Suddenly, everyone gets a sudden rush of energy.
"I think be passed under the Dead Wall." Glynda says. Shade nods.
"Eyes alert." He says, as the team enters a giant cavern. Hordes of Grimm and zombies fill it below. "I think we're at the right place." A large mound of rock on the cavern's floor shutters, and the cave rumbles as the mound slowly stands. Two glaring orange eyes stare back at Shade. "Remember me?"
The Necros roars in defiance, and the hordes of Grimm rush towards the Fireteam.
"Remember the plan?" Shade asks, all nod. "Good, change in plan slightly. Winter, how many Beowulfs can you summon at once?"
"Not enough to level the numbers but enough to make it a fight." The Schnee responds.
"Good, do it." Shade says. A large blue glyph covers the area, and spectral-blue Beowulfs appear around the team, rushing to meet the charging mass. "Tai, how explosive are you?"
"Yang's my daughter, where'd she learn it from?" Tai snarks back.
"Point." Shade shrugs. "Well have at them." Tai's fists catch fire as he rushes the mass with the summons, soon after explosions rock the cave. "Glynda, crowd control with Tai, Winter, catch your breath and then join Raven, Qrow, and I on taking out the Necros." The three scout-types look to each other and nod, and Winter grunts in response. Raven returns her metallic blade to her sheath, before drawing a red blade from it. Qrow reloads Harbringer, and Shade draws Forgotten Night, the glaive catching fire as soon as he draws it. The three use their speed and rush the Necros. The giant Grimm raises a foot and stomps it down, causing the cave to shake and boulders to fall from the ceiling. The three dodge them. Qrow unloads his barrels into the foot, and then Raven unleashes an inferno of attacks. Shade jumps up to the Necros's face, spinning and slashing in a deadly dance of flames. He plants a foot on the Grimm's head and flips back just as a yellow blade from Raven fills the gap where he was, electrical energy crackling as it unloads a massive shock into the roaring mouth of the Grimm. The Necros staggers back, and then roars in further rage. It stomps the ground again, but Qrow's semblance then decided to rear its semi-ugly head, causing most of the boulders to fall on the Necro's shell, a relatively large and spiked boulder gets lodged in the armor plating. Suddenly, a spectral Beringal appears and slams the boulder down, spiking it into the Necros's back and causing the massive Grimm to roar in pain. Winter's glyphs surround the Necros as the three Scouts fall back. The three watching morbid awe as Winter unleashes a terrifying onslaught of her glyph attacks. The Necros is knocked around before tucking into its shell and beginning to spin.
"Cover!" Raven shouts, and her brother and her duck into a small niche in the wall. Winter uses a glyph to run into the air to stand on a ledge. Tai and Glynda duck back into the tunnel. Shade however, runs forwards, Forgotten Night sparking with flames. The Necros spins towards him, and the teen kicks off the wall, lunging over the massive Grimm. Landing behind it as it slams into the wall, the teen then throws his glaive into one of the holes in the shell, a shimmering string connecting the weapon his right arm's armor. Flames explode out of the shell, and Shade pulls his right arm, retracting the string and returning Forgotten Night to him. The Necros pops back out, scorch marks covering its body. It roars in rage.
"Glynda, boulders!" Shade shouts. Glynda uses her telekinesis and flings the boulders at the Necros, hitting it in the head. "Tai, smash!" The man's flaming from flying over the rear of the Necros is Shade's answer. Tai slams his fists into the top of the Necros's head, and an explosion knocks it down. "Winter, flip it!" A massive glyph appears under the large Grimm. In a burst of light, the Necros is flipped on its back. "Raven, Qrow!"
"On it!" The Branwen siblings shout, unloading everything they got into the weaker underside of the Grimm. The Necros roars in pain as it struggles to get up. With a spinning flourish, the Necros knocks back Raven and Qrow. Shade growls in annoyance as he observes the situation. He checks his scroll. Winter and Glynda had around four fifths of their aura, Tai was down to three fourths. Raven and Qrow were at half, and he was sitting at half as well. He glances up to see something he didn't notice before. The plates on the Necros's where Tai had slammed the boulder into were cracking and falling away, revealing the solt flesh underneath.
"Okay! New plan!" Shade shouts. "Go for its back! The shell is breaking there!"
"Roger!" The team shouts. Raven, Qrow, and Shade rush into action just as Tai grabs the Necros's attention with a flaming fist to the face. Countless attacks from Winter's glyph-spells fill the cave, eliminating any smaller Grimm as well as attacking the Necros. The rubble from boulders and rocks float in the air and condense into spears as Glynda launches them. Shade slashes the exposed section and then the armor shatters, breaking away as the Necros roars.
"Hit it with all we got!" Raven shouts. The team uses every ounce of energy, every round left, and attacks with their strongest ability. The Necros roars in pain as Glynda zaps it with a massive dust spell. Followed by Raven flashing in and unleashing a flurry of multi-colored attacks. Tai follows soon after, a flurry of flames and fists knocking the Necros around. Qrow appears next, Harbringer turning into a scythe as he performs a deadly dance of shotgun shells and blades, taking out the legs. A massive glyph appears soon after, and Winter unleashes a maelstrom of attacks. Shade charges soon after, Forgotten Night channeling his semblance. Blue lightning crackles as he jumps high into the air. Throwing his weapon towards the Necros's head, Winter catches the teen with a glyph and launches him after the glaive. Forgotten Night impacts first, driving itself into the skull plate, but not enough to kill the beast. However, as lightning surrounds Shade's form, the teen lands on the hilt of his weapon, driving it through the skull with an explosion of lightning. Shade lands, returning Forgotten Night to its place on his back. The Necros shutters with its final breaths, before collapsing into the ground, dead. It begins to turn to dust, but instead of the usual black, glowing blue, purple, and pink dust appear instead. The six watch as the dust condenses into its colors, before rocketing off through the caves, heading towards Beacon. The six look to one another, before they stumble, all breathing heavily.
"We did it!" Tai shouts, tackling Raven with a hug as everyone chuckles. The area grows quiet as they watch Raven. "O-oops, sorr-"
"Shut up you oaf and kiss me." Raven demands, and Glynda bursts out laughing as Tai does so. Shade smirks as Winter pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyed-amusement. Qrow just takes a swig.
"Could I get a shot?" Shade mutters, and Qrow shrugs, giving Shade his flask. The teen takes a swing of the whiskey before handing it back. Glynda huffs. The six gather together and make their way leave.
"Well Tyrian," A posh voice says, watching from the shadows. "It appears our lady will have some bad news."
"Well, it isn't our fault, isn't it?" A crazed man replies.
"She'll decide that." The posh man states. Tyrian crackles softly as they fade into the shadows.
The Grimm that had filled the caves disappeared. The team quickly noticed this as they made their way out. All squint as they near the surface, and sigh with relief to breath fresh air.
"Let's get home." Shade says, as Winter fires up the flare.
In Beacon's infirmary, three women flinch as their aura spikes. Before a set of blue, a set of pink, and a set of purple eyes snap open and all three gasp. All three mutter the same thing.
"Shade?"
Annnd done! Sorry this took so long.
Before y'all bust me for the Ho-ah thing earlier, brief thing. Marines go Ho-rah, Army goes Ho-ah, and Navy goes aye-aye, according to my ROTC instructor, who was in the Navy and now Army. If I messed that up please correct me.
How'd you like it? I grew tired so I left it off on a cliffy. Let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all in:
RWBY Dead Zone
Vol. 2 Chapter 7
Home