Dark Rose
Chapter 9: The Stranger
The last bulkhead docked at the station when the teens arrived back at Beacon. The crew hopped off the ship, and started to shut everything down, preparing to pack up for the night. The outer courtyard was quiet, with only the nightingales to keep them company, whose infrequent chorus made the courtyard seems less empty. "I had...a nice time today, Jett." Ruby stated, smiling slightly. "Well, I'm glad you liked it." he answered, looking pleased with himself. "Don't get too full of yourself, lady-killer." Ruby teased. The two made their way through the center of the courtyard, laughing and joking.
Suddenly, a figure in a black cloak, with his hood covering his face, stood in the middle of the first wide open area leading up to the school. Jett spotted the figure first, and stopped dead. He felt uneasy, like he had a feeling of deja vu'. This person seems very familiar. Jett thought. Why do I feel like I know him? He could feel waves of ill intent rippling off this mysterious figure. "Hey, why did you stop-" Ruby started, but stopped when she followed Jett's gaze until she saw the figure too. She took a step back, and put a hand behind her back to grab Crescent Rose, only to find that it wasn't there. She silently cursed, and dropped into a defensive stance. Lucky for Jett, he had remembered to grab Ebony & Ivory. He extracted them from their holsters slowly, transforming the revolvers into swords.
The figure raised an arm from beneath it's cloak, the tip of a glowing ruby-red sword shone from underneath, and it was pointed at Jett. Two burning coals for eyes bore into Jett from across the distance, it's rage flaring bright orange in the pupils. The mysterious stranger made the first move, crossing the distance between them in seconds-almost faster than what Jett could see, time dialation or not. He thrust his sword at Jett's head, which he deflected at the last second. "I...I'll go get help!" Ruby exclaimed, running for the entrance. The stranger's eyes darted in Ruby's direction, and started to turn to cut her off. "No you don't!" Jett shouted, using his own sword to stab at the man. He knocked the sword away, and turned to face, Ruby again. Jett scowled, and launched himself onto the back of the assailant, wrestling with him. "Go!" Jett shouted. Ruby nodded, and disappeared in a display fo rose petals.
The stranger reached up and grabbed Jett by the hair. With Aura-fueled strength, he threw Jett, launching him through a pillar across the courtyard. Jett's Aura cushioned the fall, but damned if he didn't feel it! "OWWWWW!" Jett exclaimed, holding his head as his Aura attempted to heal his cracked skull. The figure charged Jett again, this time faster than before. "Well, good time as any.." he muttered. Jett closed his eyes, and time slowed down, as per usual. He opened his eyes, and saw the assailant running at him at a normal pace. "What!?" he said shocked. "I dialated time by 1/300th of a second!" The stranger's eyes burned into him, and Jett could see the faint hint of a smile. "Rrrrrrr, quit mocking me!" Jett screamed, eyes flashing with electricity. He focused on where his blade lay forgotten on the ground, and teleported over to it in the blink of an eye. He grabbed the blade, and turned around to see the stranger confused, looking around. Ah, I get it! Jett thought excitedly. He must have a Semblance, similar to me! But he doesn't have my time displacement, or my Mirror Blade ability. Jett: 1 Mysterious Stranger: 0.
Jett smiled, letting energy cloak his body in wreaths of lightning, and dropping the time dialation. "Hey, ugly!" Jett jeered, waving a hand at the man. The figure turned around, and narrowed it gaze. "Yeah, you! Come get some!" The figure shot forward, following the same pattern as before. Jett smirked, disappearing in a flash of light as the assailant swung his sword at where the teen was. Time slowed down for a moment, as Jett dashed past the stranger, slicing through his side cleanly. Jett turned to look, and saw a stream of blood spilling out from the wound he had just created. "If something is moving faster than your brain can comprehend, your Aura can't react and protect you." Jett explained, wiping the stranger's blood off of his blade. He could see the stranger's Aura already healing the wound the Jett had created, leaving the tear in his cloak and clothing.
The stranger let out an inhuman roar, releasing a shockwave that made his cloak and surrounding area blow in an updraft. Jett caught a glimpse of the figure under the cloak: a man in his mid 40's, left half of his body looked normal. Scraggly beard, slicked-back brown hair, bushy eyebrows, and burning red eyes. His right side looked as though it was covered in shadows. His right arm was unnaturally muscular, with white claws formed on the tips of his fingers, with an extra, smaller finger-claw tucked behind his pinkie. The right half of his face was covered with a white mask, with red markings on it. Jett took a step back, and gasped. Around it's neck hung a worn-out SawTooth necklace, with a ratty-looking leather strap holding it to the wearer. "You're...a Grimm!" Jett exclaimed, gripping Ebony & Ivory tighter. The creature roared again, and lunged at him. Jett put his blades in an X in front of him, and prepared for the blow.
"Incoming!" a voice exclaimed from above him. Jett looked up, and saw Yang airborne 20ft above him, her armored fist cocked back. "Dodge!" she shouted. He did a handspring backwards, and escaped the blast radius. Is she going to bombard the area, or something? He thought. Yang let loose two explosive Dust rounds from her gauntlets, aimed at the creature. It blocked the rounds with a swipe of it's right arm. "Weiss!" Yang shouted. "Got it!" a voice from the side exclaimed. Jett looked to his left, and saw Weiss in her pajamas, her rapier in one hand, the other making glyphs for Yang to land on. Why do both of them have pajamas on? Jett wondered. Yang landed on the first glyph, which launched her to the one above her. She hit the next glyph, and clung fast to it. The stranger below roared again, and shot fireballs from beneath the cloak at the blonde berzerker. "Ha! My dad aims better! Now, Weiss!" she taunted as the fireballs flew past her aimlessly. The glyph Yang was clinging to switched and turned black, launching Yang directly into the ground. She smashed both fists down on the creature in the cloak, causing an explosion which shook the school, and left an enormous crater in the pavement, with Yang left smoking slightly in the center of it.
The confused girl looked around. "What? Where did it go?" she shouted, looking slightly dizzy. The smoke begun to clear, and the figure appeared at the edge of the crater, limping and holding it's side. It looked at Jett, boring it's eyes into him. The creature finally spoke: "Remember me, Jett.." it simply said, still staring at Jett. Before he had time to ask it the question that had just popped in his mind, the creature grabbed a crystal of inscribed Fire Dust from inside it's cloak, and smashed it on the ground. The three teens covered their faces as a wave of heat rolled over them. Jett removed his arms from his face, and looked where the creature had been: a blackened mark was left behind where it had been standing, with rapid-looking footsteps leading away from where it was. Yang raced up to where the creature had been, and scanned the area. "We need to follow it!" she exclaimed, loading another set of rounds into Ember Celica. Jett shook his head in disbelief, still shaken by the creatures words. A million questions filled his mind, all crying out for an answer at once. Where did he know this man from? How did he know him? Why was he targetting him particular? All these questions, but no percievable answers to be found.
"Is it over already?" a voice from behind whinned. Jett turned to see Ruby approaching, Crescent Rose in hand, Professor Glynda and Headmaster Ozpin in tow. "Wait. I thought you sent Yang and Weiss to help me, Ruby?" Jett asked, confused. She shook her head, and looked at Yang and Weiss for answers. "We saw the fight from our dorm window." Weiss explained. "Luckily, Yang was already looking out the window with her binoculars, trying to catch some of the boys after their showers." She finished with a disapproving look at Yang, who chuckled, nervously scratching her head. "You change into your pajamas early, too?" Jett joked. Weiss crossed her arms. "I was studying.." she muttered. "I wasn't!" Yang added. "We know, you boob!" Glynda strode over to the edge of the crater, and looked at the courtyard with scowl. "Why can't we go one year without someone breaking something?" she said with a sigh. Ozpin adjusted his glasses, and looked at Jett "What happened? And why were we awakened at this hour?" he asked, annoyed. What time is it? Jett thought, taking out his Scroll to look at the time. 10:46pm. He put away the device, and told Professor Ozpin what happened, as the group of them walked to Ozpin's tower.
...
"So, an unknown assailant, which you say was a Grimm hybrid, attacked you with a similar Semblance as yours? And Miss Xiao-Long and Miss Schnee intervenned? After which, the creature actually spoke to you?" Ozpin repeated, taking a sip of his coffee. "Yes, sir." Jett answered. Ozpin sighed, and put down the mug. "As ridiculous as this sounds, it certainly can happen." Ozpin stated. "So you believe him?" Yang asked incredulously. Jett turned around and looked at Yang. "Oh, ye' of so little faith?" he teased. He turned back around. "There's still something that I'm wondering." Ozpin picked back up his coffee, and took a sip. "Oh? And what would that be?" he asked. "He, the creature, told me to 'Remember Him'."And?" "Well, that would mean that I must have know him at some point..." Jett trailed off. His fists clenched, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The image of the assailant's necklace flashed through his mind. "Not again..." he mumbled, collapsing. A harsh blanket of white surrounded him as he slipped conciousness.
A cliff stood before him, with the village of Patch in the distance, striking an outline against the horizon. A young Jett stood at the edge, looking down at the waves splashing against the cliff face below. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man with slicked back brown hair and a scruffy beard towering next to him, looking off into the distance. The sea air gently carressed his hair, exposing a concealed SawTooth necklace under the man's shirt to the open air for a second, before disappearing again. "Daddy? Why we here?" Jett asked. The man laughed. "Just here to take in the view before the big day tomorrow, Jett." the man said kindly. He looked down at Jett, and gave him a big smile. "Really? What we doing tomorrow?" Jett asked excitedly. The man just smiled, and ruffled Jett's hair with his hand. A twig snapped behind them, and they both turned towards the noise. A tall man with messy black hair, in a green trenchcoat stood before them "It's time, Jett." he said, simply. The man standing next to Jett nodded solemly, and turned back to Jett with a kind smile. "Well, I've got to go, kiddo." he explained. The man walked past the other man in the trenchcoat, and looked over hs shoulder at Jett. "Remember Jett: 11-31-22-07-23." he said cryptically, turning away. Jett suddenly felt nausous and dizzy. He fell on to the ground, slipping between conciousness.