A/N:
So… hello again, I guess.
I know, it's been a while (about a year, in fact), and this is just a rewrite chapter, instead of a new one… but it's been a hell of a time on my end. I'm not going into detail, as it's fairly personal, but most of my recent issues and my writer's block have cleared up, and the new releases in Destiny 2 have inspired me to write again, with a better plot in mind.
For better or worse, this will be the last time I rewrite my Destiny/RWBY crossover story. So, strap in and enjoy this, hopefully better, version of The Darkness Inside. The main plot of the RWBY part will be the same, but the first part of the story will be different, in that he has no idea how he arrived in Remnant and no idea how to return. He's a bit less angsty too, since most Guardians aren't afraid to sacrifice their feelings or their lives for their mission. Also, yes, I did rip off the Forsaken opening, why do you ask? With all that said, let's get on to the story.
DISCLAIMER: I own a digital copy of Destiny and Destiny 2, and have access to a Youtube playlist of RWBY. This does not, however, mean that I own the franchises. Unfortunately. There'd be more evil guardian subclasses and competent villains if I did.
-{}-
{DRIFTER'S SHACK}
{UNKNOWN SPACE}
-{}-
The shattered pieces of Ghost hit the dirt like simple debris, not the precious friend they once were, and I felt a tremor run through me and the area around as his Light vanished in one last burst. I knew the Vanguard would be mobilizing, but I also knew that they would get here far too late to do anything to help.
I glared at the Drifter's back, hand held to my bleeding side and grunting in pain as I tried to move. He chuckled, that dark laugh of his only pissing me off more, before turning back to me and pointing the Thorn at my head.
"You know, snitch, you really should've expected this. Oh, don't give me that look Guardian, it's not like you didn't know this was coming. Unless…" he chuckled again, "Oh, by the Nine, you actually didn't expect this?! Did you really think I'd just be okay with you spying on me, and trying to kill me for that idiot Aunor? Hell, don't get me started on you playing both sides with me and the 'Man With the Golden Gun'."
I growled, the hole in my neck preventing me from doing much more, and he held up his hand. "No, no, I'm not done yet. Seriously, how naïve can you be snitch? I told you, when you sided against me, that we were enemies. And you're only just now realizing that? You're only now realizing that I was against you this entire time? You're hilarious kid!"
My hand slowly stretched to my side, my fingers shaking as they gripped the handle of the Last Word, and the Drifter noticed. He narrowed his eyes, moving his aim to my hand and firing. The poisoned thorn pierced my hand, and I screamed, the sound coming out as more of a gurgle due to the blood filling my throat… but I managed to throw the magnetic grenade in my other hand at the Drifter.
He looked surprised, probably due to my ability to still use any of my Light after what he did to me, but a Taken Goblin appeared in front of him, taking the grenade instead. It exploded, and the Drifter smirked, looking back at my broken and battered form. "You know, I liked that little guy. Named him Georgie, he was the best little blocker you'd ever see… I think I'll take a page out of your book now, actually. You remember a while back, when Cayde died? How you hunted down everyone involved and put a bullet in their heads for revenge? That was inspiring, really brought a tear to my eye. It also gave me an idea. See, you didn't just shoot that bastard Crow the moment you saw him; no, you saved the asshole, then you waited till he realized everything he did was for nothing. Then, and only then, did you shoot the bastard in the head. See, that's dedication right there, that's fucking sweet, beautiful karma at work. I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this, right, snitch?"
The glare I was giving him answered that question, even as I felt myself slowly bleeding out. The problem with Guardians is that our bodies aren't actually living. Instead, we're just Light constructs, which is how we can be completely remade from the liquified puddles we become when hit by explosives or an Ultra's punch, and also how we can survive without food, water, or even air. That also means that, despite all the wounds I'm covered in, I'm still alive, because the damn Drifter hadn't killed me yet. And, to make matters worse, I couldn't even heal thanks to all the junk in my veins, from the Motes of Dark he had somehow shoved into me during our fight.
"Well, normally I wouldn't be talking to you about this before doing it, but eh, I feel like a good monologue today. See, I'm seeing a bit of a parallel between us: you've ruined my plans, exposed them to the Vanguard, but now I've got you on your knees- well, on your last legs, but same difference- and completely at my mercy. I can see by that stupid look on your face that you don't get it yet, so let me spell it out for you."
He shot my knee out, forcing me to fall to the ground on my knees. Then, he reached down to my side, pulling the Last Word out of the mangled remains of my right hand, and I finally understood. "Ah, yep, you got it! Let's play House, why don't we? I'll be Uldren Sov… and you can be Cayde-6."
He pointed Shin Malphur's hand cannon at me, and I sighed, looking to my side. There, surrounded by the shards of my Ghost, sat my broken Saint-14 Helm.
We had a good run, Ghost. You'd better have a seat saved for me, Cayde, I'll buy the first round. Sorry Shaxx, Zavala, we won't be having our weekly 'Titan Night' in the Crucible tomorrow. And I swear, Rahool, if I find out you screwed me over with that last engram on purpose…
"You know, right about now would be where you say something suitably badass before I blow your brains out, but honestly, I think we're both a bit beyond that point. So, Hero of the Red War, Crota's End, Kingslayer, Rivensbane, et cetera… have you ever fought a Dredgen?"
*BANG*
-{}-
{KUO KUANA OUTSKIRTS}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
I groaned as I came to, which in and of itself was a shocking event, seeing as how I'd died just a moment before. Oh, sure, coming back from death wasn't exactly new to me, but after losing my Ghost there was absolutely no way I should've woken at all.
Any other Guardian might have continued to lie there, either puzzling out their continued existence or grieving their losses, but I was a Titan. We charge head-first into battle, ignoring any and all distractions that didn't involve our objectives. So, with that thought in my mind, I slowly pushed myself off the ground, marveling at the lack of any pain or wounds that I definitely had before dying.
That was another thing to think about, but I put it aside and looked down at myself. My armor was almost in tatters, full of holes and tears from Taken and the Drifter, and my helmet was missing from my body entirely. The Ace of Spades was still hidden beneath my mark, and on my back sat my shotgun and auto rifle, but that was all I had on me besides my Glimmer and my Legendary Shards. And of course, the latter of which was all but useless now.
I sighed, looking at my surroundings to get my bearings. There, on the ground next to me, sat the shattered pieces of my Ghost, which I silently and reverently placed inside one of my mark's pockets, and my helmet, which I decided to simply hold until I could repair it. And then I looked out around me.
I'm not entirely sure what I had expected, but a luscious tropical forest was certainly not it. After spending most of my second life trekking through overgrown Golden Age ruins, Vex constructs and underground Hive pits, I should've been ready for almost anything, and yet…
"What the hell do you mean?!" a shout rang throughout the woods, and I quickly hid behind a fallen tree, Ace finding its way into my hand as I fingered the trigger anxiously.
I had no real proof that whoever was talking was an enemy, of course, and the use of Tower Common for their words made it even less likely, but I didn't live… well, survive, this long by taking chances. Without Ghost, and with my armor in tatters, taking chances was even less of an appealing option.
"Look, man, it's only a rumor, I'm not saying it's true. I'm just saying, people are talking. It's probably not true, but it makes you wonder…" a second voice responded, probably a friend or acquaintance of the first.
"Commander Taurus would never plot against Supreme Leader Khan! He owes everything to her, and every one of his actions is to better the cause!"
"Look, chill the fuck out dude! No need to go all zealot on me. I was just telling you what I've heard. You know, since you missed the last meeting, too busy jerking off to that Schnee bitch."
The first voice growled, "I feel nothing but hate for Winter Schnee, and you fucking know it. Let's just go, we're supposed to meet up with that woman here anyway."
A set of footsteps rang out, almost silent aside from a quiet click sound every step. A third voice, this one feminine and likely belonging to those footsteps, spoke up: "Well, well, it's nice to see you two boys think so highly of me. That woman, ooh it makes me feel all fuzzy inside."
Voice number two again, this time almost… nervous? "Uh, sorry, Serpent, it's just… well, you know how Kenny gets when he's impatient…"
Serpent? A callsign, most likely, though with my limited knowledge of this place it could easily be her real name, or even a title similar to 'Queen' or 'Kell'. Too many unknowns, not enough information.
I was snapped back out of my thoughts by the woman's next words, "Oh? Well, he won't need to be patient for much longer. After all, we've got an uninvited guest, don't we honey?"
The sound of safeties clicking off met my ears as I sighed, raising my hands above my head and slowly standing. Don't get me wrong, I could've put a round in all three of their skulls before they could squeeze off more than a couple shots, but for all I know they could be this place's Guardians, or some form of important leaders. Besides, there was no real reason for me to do so anyway, after all they hadn't actually fired at me or summoned some form of Traveler-forsaken demons. I was still a bit wary, but I decided to bury it behind my usual act.
"Why hello there!" I bellowed, channeling my inner Shaxx, "Would any of you three know the way to the nearest form of civilization?"
I felt rather proud of myself for nailing his voice, though I suppose nearly five years of listening to him scream at me in the Crucible might've ingrained it in my head. The looks of confusion and surprise on the two men were almost comical, but the woman's smirk worried me a bit. I gave them a few moments to think, before speaking up again.
"No? Hmm, I suppose I shall have to find it myself. It was nice to meet you all, but I must be going, many things to do-"
"And just where are you going?" the woman interrupted me, and I cursed internally, "After all, you were just eavesdropping on us a minute ago, how rude of you."
Fuck.
Shrugging, I dropped my act. "Is it too late to just apologize?"
Her tail whipped around behind her, as she- wait a minute. Looking between the three of them, I noticed something strange. The woman had a serpentine tail and small patches of scales on her visible skin (which was quite a lot of skin, with her… revealing outfit), while the two men had some form of feline and canine ears. Idly, I wondered if the reason they argued so much was due to those traits, before snapping myself out of those thoughts.
Back to the snake lady, she drew a dagger from… somewhere behind her back, which was vaguely confusing as there weren't exactly any pockets on her dress, while the two men simply raised their assault rifles again.
The woman smirked, twirling her dagger as it- wait, did it just…? Yes, it just turned into a sidearm. That's… new.
"You know, for a human, you're pretty cute. Tell you what honey, hand over that nice fancy armor of yours and those weapons you've got, and I'll let you live. How's that sound?"
I'm almost certain she meant that to sound seductive, but it came out more threatening than anything. "Yeah, no, I'm good. Here's a counteroffer: I'll let you three leave, alive and with all your belongings, unless you attack me. If so, all bets are off. How's that sound?" I mocked, twirling the Ace of Spades in my hand as I waited for their response.
They didn't disappoint, dispensing with the pleasantries and simply opening fire. Luckily, I'd already expected that, and simply summoned a Towering Barricade… except I didn't. Instead, nothing happened at all, and I was forced to duck behind a tree as their rounds impacted directly against my armor.
What the hell?! Why isn't my Light working?!
I heard the woman laugh, and annoyance rose within me. "You aren't doing so hot honey! I expected a bit more from you, but I suppose that gun of yours is just supposed to make up for something you lack."
She actually managed to sound vaguely disappointed, despite still unloading her firearm at the tree I hid behind. Unlike most of Earth's petrified woodlands, however, the thin palm tree I was behind provided almost no resistance as it was ripped to shreds, bullets passing through it and bouncing off my back armor as I curled into a ball.
Fuck! My shield isn't working, my Light's gone again, and I can't stand out in the open long enough to get a bead on them without them putting a round through my skull!
Then I felt it.
And it was horrific.
A shield sprung up around me, seemingly stronger than any Light shield I had ever managed to produce before, and I could feel what amounted to my grenade, melee and barricade charging, but unlike any time I had used them before, I could instantly tell something was wrong.
After over five years of using the Traveler's blessing to fight the Minions of the Darkness, shocking, burning and disintegrating my way through enemies of all types and sizes, I had become what I always feared. The Darkness had taken over. My Light had vanished, only to be replaced by something… else.
But I was a Guardian. A Titan. I had ventured to the furthest reaches of the Solar System, clearing the way for humanity's return. I had torn through packs of Fallen scavengers, unholy pits of Hive creatures, armies of timeless Vex machines, legions of Cabal warriors, and clusters of Taken abominations. I had destroyed the blight of Oryx and his son, Crota, as well as wiped Atheon from time itself. I had broken the Red Legion across my knee, taking back the Last City and bringing about the Traveler's return. I had impressed Emperor Calus, the exiled leader of the Cabal, and bested him and his chosen in combat. I had defeated the Scorn, sending their sorry carcasses back to where they came, and killed Uldren Sov, avenging my best friend's death. I had raided the Dreaming City, killing the ahamkara Riven and saving some of the Queen's handmaidens from their Taken state. I had discovered the Black Armory for all Guardians, and entered the ruins of the Last City in order to destroy Insurrection Prime. I had impressed Shin Malphur and earned his weapon, the Last Word. I had purified the Thorn, and wielded it against the Darkness. I had fought in the Crucible and earned glory and valor, I had completed incredibly high-risk strikes for the Vanguard, and I had defeated Taken and Guardians alike in the Drifter's Gambit.
I was a Guardian, and I was Legend. And a little Darkness wouldn't change that.
Hearing my assailant's weapons stop firing, giving the telltale click of empty clips, I spun out of cover and raised my hand cannon. The first shot slammed against the cat-eared man's overshield, the impact not breaking it but still enough to send him staggering. The second shot followed the first, hitting center mass hard enough for him to spit blood. The third shot met with no resistance, simply passing through his brain and exiting his skull in a shower of gore.
His friend screamed in rage and fear, firing at me with his reloaded rifle. Taking a page out of Cayde's book, I spun away from where I'd been standing, reloading Ace as I did. The gun's barrel was suddenly coated in flames as its special perk activated, and I squeezed off two more shots. They both slammed into the man, the first shot breaking his shield and the second passing through his heart. His body stood there for a moment, before registering his death and slumping to the ground.
I reloaded again, spinning Ace in my hand as I looked to the snake woman. She looked completely shocked, even flabbergasted, and I smirked. "You know, it's not too late to just leave…"
The shocked look faded quickly, before her free hand shot out towards me. It took me by surprise, and I was only barely able to dodge out of the way of a strange green whip that came out of her palm. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to completely avoid it, and it coiled around the Ace of Spades. My favorite weapon was pulled out of my hand, only to land in the woman's, who took this as her turn to smirk. "It's not too late to just give me the rest of your gear, cutie. Who knows, we might just have a use for you, and whoever made this beautiful thing…"
She ran her hand along Ace almost lovingly, and I saw red. How dare this woman treat the only memento of my best friend like it was hers?! Grabbing my shotgun off my back, I growled out curses in Eliksni and leveled it at her. The sheer size of it brought her pause, and she took a step back in the face of the oversized weapon.
"Give me Ace back, now."
Clearly afraid, snake lady nodded and tossed my gun back to me. I caught it in my off hand, keeping the Legend of Acrius pointed her way. "Now, I'm going to need answers. Who the hell are you, and why are you out here?"
I could see her gain some confidence back, likely due to her feeling in control of the conversation now, though she still eyed my gun warily. "My name is Catie Greene, White Fang Infiltrator, codename Serpent, for obvious reasons," she chuckled, before continuing, "I was out here to meet with two other White Fang members, you know, the two you just murdered-"
Seeing that she was getting confident enough to snark back at me, I fired a round at the tree next to her. The veritable lightning bolt penetrated through the tree, hitting another two before scorching another and fizzling out. I pointed the barrel back at her head, my message clear, and her bravado quickly fled her.
"Okay, okay, look, I was here to meet with these two to discuss what to do about Ghira Belladonna's refusal to endorse the White Fang. We figured it's only a matter of time before he decides to denounce us publicly, and that would cause most of the population to turn against us. All we want to do is help them, why can't they see that?! Humans like you are the enemy, all you've done is oppress us, enslave us, and when we fight back, suddenly we're the bad guys! So we burned a few buildings, so we killed a few bigots, this is war! This is a war for our very rights, and no one realizes it! And you, you're just another damn human, throwing your weight around against us! What are you going to do, huh? Kill me? Put me in chains and force me to work in a damn Dust mine? Rape me?! Well fuck you! I'm not going to let you, you damn-"
She had been slowly but steadily marching forward towards me during her heartfelt speech, close enough to attempt a punch. I cut her off with a fist to the stomach, doubling her over and allowing me to grab the back of her head, slamming it into my raised knee rapidly, one, two, three times. I felt something give way under the impact, likely her shield, and I grappled her, throwing her over my shoulder and onto the ground.
The impact drove the wind out of her, but her tail still managed to whip out and wrap around my wrist. Its strength was surprising, as she managed to throw me away into a tree despite my heavy armor and build. The tree itself wasn't much of a problem, as my body simply plowed through it on its way to the ground. By the time I stood up again, she was on me, throwing a palm forward almost as fast as a Hunter's melee. Unfortunately for her, I was used to dodging around punches far faster and far stronger than hers, so catching her wrist in my hand wasn't difficult.
She had just enough time to realize what had happened before I slammed my other hand into her elbow, breaking her arm like a twig. She screamed in pain, and I took the opportunity to bury my fist in her torso again, directly in her diaphragm. I held back most of the force, so instead of pulping her insides it simply drove the air out of her lungs. Not letting up, I slammed my palm into her temple, crossing her eyes and probably rattling her brain inside her head. I repeated the move, and this time I could practically see the lights turn off inside her mind. Her eyes rolled back and she passed out almost instantly, leaving me there holding an unconscious woman.
Jeez, good thing Ira-3 isn't here, or she'd give me so much shit for this.
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why I didn't just shoot her too. It was probably because of her speech there, it was far too heartfelt and earnest to be a total lie, and I suppose I felt bad for her, especially if her accusations against humanity were true. Of course, that wasn't to say I forgave her or her idiot friends for attacking me with no justification, but there was no real reason to kill her since she really didn't pose much of a threat to me at this point.
I frowned when I thought about how difficult it was not to kill her. Somehow, I was stronger than I had been before I came here, or everyone else was weaker than I was used to. I couldn't entirely blame the Darkness either, since I didn't enhance myself with it at all besides my shield while I fought. Come to think of it, besides the anger I felt (which could be explained away as my own emotions), there wasn't really any reason not to continue using-
No, no, that line of thinking led down the path to Dredgen Yor's mistake. I wasn't exactly a newbie Guardian who couldn't handle a simple Darkness zone, but there was no way that using the Darkness would end well for me. Unfortunately, something told me that I would have to eventually, if only to survive in this strange world.
Now, the only question is, just where in the hell am I supposed to go…?
-{}-
{KUO KUANA CITY}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
Luckily enough for me, there just so happened to be a city close enough for me to walk to, having seen the lights as soon as the sky had started to darken. Of course, the walk was still a lengthy one, and I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts. Most of which were not happy ones.
-My mind screamed as the Drifter shoved another Mote of Dark into me, the pain unable to be comprehended and why can't I feel my Light where is Ghost what is happening where is the Vanguard how could he do this to me am I going to die someone HELP ME-
I shook my head vigorously to rid myself of the memory, sighing as I reached into my mark's pouches to feel Ghost's remains. As morbid as it may have been, I felt a certain sense of… comfort, as if he was still with me.
Heh, maybe I finally lost it, and this is all some fever dream I'm having while I convulse in the Drifter's cabin. Who even knows at this point?
One thing I did know, however, is that I knew nothing of this world. I was stuck here for the foreseeable future, without Ghost or even the Light to comfort me. Instead, I had the Darkness, the greatest enemy of the Traveler, Guardians and the Last City, and I had no choice but to continue using it if every fighter was on the same level as those three from before.
Damned if I do, damned if I don't… Maybe I'll get lucky and find a space-worthy craft and a starmap to point me back to Earth.
Unfortunately, judging by the shattered moon in the sky, I was likely a bit farther away from the Sol System than I would've liked…
I was snapped out of my defeated thoughts, however, when a bright light broke through the treeline, and I caught my first glimpse of this world's civilization.
The city itself was incredible, nothing like anything I had seen before. It was certainly smaller than the Last City, at least from what I could see, and there were almost no skyscrapers whatsoever. The streets were also wider, and the buildings themselves were mostly kept in good repair, unlike the cramped streets and hastily constructed buildings of the Last City. All in all, it looked like what I imagined the smaller early Golden Age cities must have looked like, before we had lost everything.
I was still carrying the snake lady, having slung her over my shoulder to leave my right hand free, with my helmet strapped to my mark. Said hand was currently clenching Ace, ready to draw as soon as I ran into any trouble.
And run into trouble I did, as I heard voices from a nearby alleyway.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? A pretty kitty, all out on her lonesome in the middle of the night… Well, me and the boys will just have to show you some hospitality, won't we boys?"
Three 'yea's rang out, and I sighed. The Last City wasn't devoid of crime, of course, but it was far less common than this place, thanks to the looming threat of annihilation hanging over our heads. Here, I had already seen at least three counts of vandalism, a robbery, and now what sounded like a rape. I hadn't interfered before, seeing as how a bit of spray-painting wasn't exactly hurting anyone and the robber was caught by what must have been the local police, but I couldn't just stand back and hope someone else would deal with this one.
Stepping into the alley, my eyes immediately locked onto the four delinquents. All of them were clad in some form of leather jacket, with pants made of what I could only assume was denim. Two of them didn't have an undershirt on and had left the jacket open, but their physique, while muscular, wasn't really anything threatening. Honestly, Warlocks had better muscles than those fools.
The other two were what worried me. One of them stood a full head taller than even me, with the type of muscles you only got using steroids. Again, not too dangerous, but the truly massive sledgehammer on his back was cause for concern. The apparent leader of the group, however, was the smallest of them all, thin and wiry, with some form of rifle on his back, though the drum magazine pointed towards it being an automatic weapon.
Their victim was a diminutive woman, perhaps five feet or so tall, with what appeared to be snow leopard ears on her head. She held a purse with the same design, and her dress was a deep red with sequins placed strategically to make it sparkle. She was also backed against a wall, shaking in fear as the lead delinquent stalked towards her.
He stopped, however, when I tapped him on the shoulder, having walked forward while he and his friends were distracted. He whirled around, his mouth already beginning to form what I imagine was a threat, before he saw me.
Now, I'm not one to brag, but I imagine I cut quite the imposing figure. I had left the woman who attacked me lying against the wall when I entered the alley, and at the moment I had my arms crossed over my chest, displaying my intricate gauntlets and pauldrons. The fact that my extremely heavy armor was tattered and ripped in places likely only added to the look, and the large guns on my back and heavy revolver on my hip showed that I was well-armed and dangerous.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing!" I bellowed, once again copying Shaxx and trying my best not to laugh my ass off while doing it, "By the Traveler, you four must be the most pathetic I've met here so far! If you don't have anything else to do other than prey upon defenseless girls, I suppose I'll have to entertain you boys myself. Now get lost, before I do something you'll regret."
I punctuated my threat by drawing my auto rifle, blue lights shining from it as I held it loosely in my arms. The four boys, for they were certainly young enough to be boys, took a collective step back before their leader found his bravado again.
"You think you're hot shit, just cause you've got some shitty armor? Well me and my boys have our Aura and Semblances, not to mention Huntsman weapons! Let's see how you do against those!"
Yet more things in this world I didn't understand. White Fang, animal humans, Aura, Semblances, Huntsmen… I'm starting to think this place is even weirder than my own. Don't even get me started on the miniscule amounts of Darkness I could sense, or the fact that all four of these idiots seemed to have some form of Light inside them…
My thoughts were cut off when the largest delinquent stomped closer, rearing back and preparing to swing his sledgehammer at me. Luckily, the move was so telegraphed that I was able to dodge it easily, allowing me to snap my rifle up and aim at his chest. My finger pressed the trigger, and lightning streaked between us.
The Hard Light poured its rounds into him, and thanks to his closeness to his fellow would-be criminals, many of the ricochet rounds bounced around, staggering them. The clip ran dry, and I frowned at the lack of damage I had done to them. Apparently, their shields were much stronger than the two men from earlier.
With a deft hand, I slotted in another magazine, the lights on my rifle changing to orange with the press of a button. The leader managed to use the short delay in order to close the distance, unslinging his weapon and belting out a war cry as he held the trigger down.
Like I had thought earlier, it was an automatic weapon. What I hadn't expected, however, was for it to be an automatic shotgun. The first few blasts caught me off guard, splashing against my Darkness shield and depleting it at an alarming rate. Fortunately, I caught my bearings and was able to spin out of the line of fire, shooting bolts of fire at the shotgun user to force him to take cover while I ducked behind some trashcans, grabbing their would-be victim and dragging her down with me.
She was still shaking in fear, but I didn't have time to console her, simply cycling Hard Light's damage to Void: the only Light type I hadn't tried against these guys yet. Using Arc was little better than a static shock through their shield, and Solar was even less effective. With the strange properties of Void, however, I had a bit more hope. Quickly slotting in another magazine, I poked my head out of cover.
The leader was rushing towards me, and I let out a calming breath before unleashing hell upon him. Purple streaks tore across the alleyway, hitting hard enough to stagger him and practically disintegrate his shield. The moment before I thought it would break, however, his body seemed to contort, somehow dodging the rest of the shots with seemingly no effort as he practically danced back to cover. I wasn't able to ponder on for long, as the large one raised his hammer above his head.
Having seen the same move from other Titans, and having used it myself, I decided discretion was the better part of valor and grabbed the leopard girl, tossing her gently onto a soft pile of trash bags and rolling to the side myself. Just in time too, as the pavement cracked and caved in along a straight path leading from the impact point to where we had been moments before.
Seeing the destruction that had been wrought in such a short amount of time, I decided to stop playing around. Reaching deep inside me, despite my misgivings, I shaped the Darkness into a Barricade to buy myself some time. The result was… interesting.
Every Titan worth their Ghost had access to the two Barricades, Tower and Rally. The first was a protective wall, the second was simple cover that allowed your Ghost enough protection to repeatedly transmat rounds into your gun as you fired over it. The barricade that appeared in front of me, however, was nothing like either of those. Instead of one large rectangular barrier, or a chest-high rampart, a circular… void, for lack of a better term, formed before me. It was around the size of a Tower Barricade, with some form of decorative spikes lining the circumference. Inside, however, was simply black, almost reminding me of a Taken Blight.
I almost smirked when I saw my four opponents begin to back away, before the shirtless idiots (now that I looked at them, they looked almost identical) decided to try their luck. Both of them pulled out matching weapons from behind their backs, some form of sword with what looked like an ammo belt hanging from it and a gun barrel fused to the dull side of the blade. Honestly, this world's weapon choices continued to astound me.
An almost silent whirr brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see that the large one's sledgehammer had- oh shit that's a minigun!
I wasn't entirely certain what, if anything, my new barricade would do, but at this point I didn't have much choice other than to duck behind it and pray to the Traveler that I wasn't filled with whatever metal this world used for their bullets in the next few seconds. Surprisingly enough, my prayers were answered.
The veritable storm of bullets simply passed into the strange vortex, being swallowed by the darkness inside without a sound. I barely had any time to admire the new addition to my abilities, however, as only a few seconds later it exploded. Almost like a shaped charge, its energy was directed forward in
a cone shape, catching one of the two shirtless fools who strayed too close.
He screamed in agony as his shield was torn apart and the rest of the blast caught his arm, scalding it and burning off a layer of skin. He passed out almost immediately, his… twin, I suppose, managing to catch him and dragging him out of the alleyway. I let them leave, too busy wondering just what the hell had happened.
The Darkness was… almost too easy to manipulate. Not to mention the feeling of pleasure I received whenever I used it. Summoning that barricade and using my overshield were practically second nature, almost no different from when I used the Light. Even learning the Sentinel class after I regained my Light had been trickier than the Darkness was.
What the hell happened to me?
I didn't have much time to ponder the ramifications of this, however, as I heard the familiar whirr of Sledgehammer's minigun spinning up. Ducking back behind my cover, I glanced over my options. Ace didn't have a high enough fire rate to battle against a minigun or LMG, and using Hard Light was just asking to get shredded by said heavy weapon. Acrius could definitely do it, if I could get close enough, but I didn't see that happening anytime soon.
That left two options from what I could tell. Try to rush across the alley and shoot the big guy with Acrius, and hope I don't die, or try using the Darkness again.
One look at the woman hunkered down next to me, silently crying, and my decision was made for me. Holding out my hand, I focused the Darkness into it, trying to form some kind of orb or sphere. Strangely enough, it almost seemed to anticipate what I wanted, forming a rough sphere that seemed to pulsate with some form of inner light. I gave it a dubious look, unsure what exactly it would do, but the sound of bullets pinging off the steel scrap we were taking cover behind snapped me out of my doubts.
Taking a quick second to aim, I slung the grenade towards Sledgehammer. Years of Crucible, Iron Banner and Trials had honed my aim to astonishing levels, and the grenade slammed directly into the middle of his torso. Instead of exploding, like I had expected, it seared into his chest, ignoring his shields entirely. He screamed in pain, trying to brush it off his chest but only managing to burn his hands as well, before falling onto his rear on the ground as tears welled in his eyes. Moments later, it dissipated, leaving his burned torso on full display.
I looked around, trying to locate the last enemy, only to hear a high-pitched scream next to me. Drawing Ace of Spades from its place under my mark, I whirled around, my finger already halfway to pulling the trigger before I registered the sight in front of me.
The leader of the group had managed to sneak around me while I was dealing with his friend and had taken the leopard girl hostage. One hand held a knife to her throat, and the other pointed his shotgun at me. I wasn't worried about that last part, judging from the shaking of his arm the recoil of the gun would throw off his aim after the first shot, but I had no idea if the girl had the same form of shielding as the others or if she was like the citizens of the Last City. Judging by the fearful look in her eyes, it was most likely the latter.
No matter, this wasn't the first time I had dealt with a hostage situation. The Fallen were fond of using them in order to gain the upper hand against their enemies, as the scavengers were often too weak to win in a straight-up fight. I'd lost count of how many times residents of the EDZ were captured by them, and Hawthorne or Devrim had to call me in to take care of them. Long story short, those situations had prepared me well for this one.
The leader was running his mouth, probably gloating or threatening me, but I wasn't paying attention. Instead, I was watching the hand holding the knife. I could see he was struggling to keep the same position for so long, likely due to a lack of proper training and musculature, or simple tiredness. However, what mattered was that every few seconds, the knife would dip slightly away from the girl's neck for a moment. I carefully timed my shot, waiting for it to happen again, before pulling the trigger and slamming a round into his shoulder. This time his shield broke, likely still weak from earlier, and he staggered backwards, the knife in his hand drawing a thin line across his captive's neck, barely drawing blood. She dropped to the ground, scrambling away from him, and I raised Ace again, this time aiming at his head.
"This is the police! Hands where I can see them!"
Turning my head slightly, making sure to keep the leader in my sights, I took in the appearance of the men who had just showed up. Several vehicles of some kind sat behind them, similar to pre-Golden Age cars with flashing lights installed on them. The men themselves were all in uniform with weapons holstered on their waist, though some had already drawn them and were standing at the ready. Quickly processing all of this information, as well as the relieved look on the leopard girl's face, I concluded that these must be something similar to the old Pilgrim Guard, the peacekeepers of the Last City.
Carefully holstering my weapon, I raised my hands above my head, making sure my Darkness shield was still intact. Just because these men appeared to be the guards of this city didn't mean I was going to put my life at risk, especially now that… now that it was my last one.
The leader of the delinquents tried to make a run for it, but I tripped him with a quick kick, slamming him back into the ground. Suddenly, a lot more weapons had been drawn and aimed my way, and I froze, taking care not to seem aggressive lest they blow me away.
"You in the armor, drop your weapons on the ground and kick them over here! You're all under arrest for disturbing the peace and assault with deadly weapons!"
They slapped a pair of weak metal cuffs on my wrists, and I had to stop myself from scoffing. They thought these could hold me? Hell, these couldn't stop a Warlock from snapping them in two like a twig, let alone a Titan! But, I held my tongue, simply doing as I was told and entering the vehicle when prompted, ignoring the officers reading off my rights as I did so.
Man, this was such a strange world.
-{}-
{KUO KUANA POLICE DEPARTMENT}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
"So, do you know why you're in here son?"
The officer across from me was likely supposed to intimidate me. Easily over six feet tall, with a build that even Shaxx would appreciate and what appeared to be ram horns on his head, he cut an imposing figure. Of course, he couldn't compare to the likes of Atheon, Crota, Skolas, or the plethora of other Ultras and Majors I had fought, so said strategy was pretty ineffective against me. Didn't stop him from trying though.
Realizing he was waiting for an answer, I sighed. "Yes, officer."
"Good, that makes this easier. Now, what, exactly, was a human doing in an alleyway, surrounded by two heavily injured delinquents, an unconscious woman, and a terrified girl?"
Oh, right, I forgot about that 'White Fang' woman. Whoops. "I was preventing a rape, sir."
"Whose? Yours? Because I highly doubt that."
I held my tongue, trying to ignore the man's accusing tone. Something told me that these animal humans were extremely averse to normal ones, for reasons beyond my knowledge at the moment. "No, sir. I was preventing the rape of the 'terrified girl' you mentioned. She can confirm my story, if needed."
"Hmm, I think I'll ask her then. If I find out you were lying to me, boy, you'll wish I had just shot you now."
And with that, he had left, leaving me to sit and stare at the walls in boredom. They had taken my weapons and helmet, though they had left me with my armor. I had been in worse situations before, however: from the moment I was first rezzed, armed with a run-down assault rifle and covered in the flimsiest armor I'd ever worn, I had faced death over and over again, several times with the threat of it being my last. I had seen many good Guardians, both friends and strangers, perish on missions with no chance of success, and had lost even more during the Red War. But never had I been in this situation, completely without my Ghost and with strange energy flowing through me.
Right as my mind began to descend into grief again, I heard voices outside the door. "You say you can't find any records of him?"
"Yes, sir," the officer who had spoken to me responded to the first voice.
"Strange. According to the cameras, and the witness reports, he was in fact only intervening to help. But, that strange rifle he used, and not to mention those abilities, I've never seen anything like them. No Dust weapon is that powerful, and those purple shots were obviously something other than Gravity Dust. And that strange vortex he summoned, along with the strange orb that ignored Aura… no Semblance ever recorded has manifested such a robust and powerful array of abilities," the first voice rumbled deeply in thought.
"Actually sir," the officer again, "I believe it to be some form of dimensional manipulation. Possibly. It would explain the vortex, as well as the ability to ignore Aura, as if either the Aura or the attack was not entirely in this plane of existence. Though, what kind of character would produce such a thing is a question I can't answer."
"Dimensional manipulation… Ozpin would likely be interested in that. I wonder if there's a legend about such an ability…"
"A… legend, sir?"
"Oh, nothing, forget I said anything. What is your verdict on this young man?" the unknown voice sounded serious, almost as if a decision was depending on this answer.
"Well, despite being a human, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Of course, whatever personality traits would produce such a Semblance worries me, especially since I can't tell if they would be good or bad, but someone who would go out of their way to prevent the rape of a young woman can't be entirely evil. Just, be careful with him, Mr. Belladonna."
The strange voice chuckled, "I've told you before Jen, call me Ghira. I think I'll have a chat with our mysterious young man. You go check on Ms. Snow, see if she's doing okay after her… experience."
"As you wish."
I heard one set of footsteps patter off into the distance, followed by the door opening and admitting a man inside. And holy Traveler, this was a man indeed. Even bigger than the officer from before, and with arms as big around as my head, he was quite impressive. He didn't seem to have any animal traits, though they may have simply been under his clothes or something like retractable claws, and he was sporting a majestic beard that made me a bit jealous that he could grow facial hair and I couldn't. Unfortunately, as our bodies are mainly made of and supported by Light, we didn't sweat, grow hair, age in any way, or anything else that normal humans do, which had led to many citizens of the Last City seeing us as undead, barely any better than the Darkness we fought against.
But that was neither here nor there, and right now I was more interested in what this giant of a man had to say. "Can I help you, sir?"
He looked startled for a second, likely expecting me to ask something else, before chuckling. "Yes, young man. I believe you can," he checked over a clipboard he was holding, before continuing, "My name is Ghira Belladonna, the mayor of Kuo Kuana, and I'd like to ask you a few questions. It says here that your name is Jaune Arc. We haven't managed to find any information on you other than that, so would you mind telling me about yourself?"
Fair enough. I didn't exist here, so it was understandable that they wished to learn more about the supersoldier who simply appeared in their world. Of course, from what I had observed, these people did not have the Traveler's Light, despite having something similar, and so likely had no knowledge of the Darkness, Ghosts, and the Sol System in its entirety. So, time to twist some facts to fit this world's reality.
"Well, as you just said, my name is Jaune Arc. I was born in Old Russia, in a large settlement far from here. From birth, I was trained to be a Guardian, a Titan specifically. As a Titan, I protected the city, and led strikes into the wilderness around in order to kill threats to the city. One day, a little over a year ago, we were attacked by a group of raiders known as the Cabal, who flew over our walls and wreaked havoc inside, killing many citizens and Guardians alike," I couldn't keep the emotion out of my voice at this. Even if the story was modified, the Red War was still a terrible wakeup call for all of us and losing so many of my friends still hurt to this day.
"I'm… sorry, Mr. Arc," Ghira sounded genuinely apologetic, but I shook my head and continued the story.
"We managed to take the city back from the Cabal, and we used the next few months to rebuild. But, only two months ago, there was a prison break. I, along with two of my friends, Cayde and Petra, ventured into the prison to round up the inhabitants and put an end to the riots. However, a dangerous group of criminals, known as the Barons, managed to escape…" I paused, before sighing and spitting out the next part, "And they killed Cayde."
Ghira looked troubled at that, but didn't interrupt, out of interest or respect I didn't know. "I spent the next two months hunting them all down and exacting my vengeance, before finally coming across their leader, a man known as Crow," Ghira jerked in his seat, eyes widening, but I continued, "His real name was Uldren Sov, and he had convinced the Barons that he was their father, the one who gave them their powers. Not entirely sure if that was true or not, but I tracked him down and put a bullet in his head easily enough, theoretical magic powers or not."
I chuckled humorlessly, before finishing my story, "The Vanguard, the leaders of the city, were divided on the issue. Cayde was one of them, the Hunter Vanguard, before his death, and they were thankful that I had avenged him. The Warlock Vanguard, Ikora, was particularly grateful. However, I had still gone rogue, and instead of protecting the city and its people, I had gone on a personal quest for vengeance, defying my duty as a Guardian due to my emotions. I've always been bad about that. So Zavala, the Titan Vanguard, exiled me, and I traveled for a time before arriving here. That's my story."
Of course, there were quite a few spots that weren't entirely true to the script. Zavala definitely hadn't exiled me, he hadn't even thought of it. Cayde was his friend as well, after all. But I needed a convenient excuse to not be where I had been before, and what better explanation than exile?
Ghira seemed moved by my story, tears welling in his eyes, but he simply finished writing on his clipboard before looking me in the eyes. "I suppose you don't have any idea what to do now, Mr. Arc?"
"You would be correct, sir."
He seemed to think for a minute, before nodding his head slightly. "I have a proposition for you. With your skills, I think you would make an extraordinary Huntsman, and from what you've told me you have experience fighting against Grimm as a protector of your home."
Grimm? Yet another word I didn't know, but I simply nodded my head nonetheless, it would look suspicious otherwise. "Yes sir."
"I'm friends with the headmaster of Beacon Academy. I can provide you a recommendation to present to him, it will allow you to participate in Beacon's Initiation in three months. Until then, I'll provide you an apartment, along with a monthly allowance for food and other necessities."
This sounded far too good to be true. "What's the catch?"
Ghira didn't seem surprised that I had figured out something was up, though to be fair it was pretty obvious. "That woman in the alleyway, the unconscious one, was wearing an interesting symbol and suffering from exhaustion brought along by Aura depletion. I assume you were the one who captured her?"
Assuming he meant the lizard/snake lady, I nodded.
"What you may not know," he continued, "Is that symbol belongs to a larger organization known as the White Fang. You may not have heard of them out in…" he paused for a second, before remembering the name, "Old Russia, but they were formerly a group of faunus rights activists, formed of both humans and faunus. A few years ago, however, they made the transition to terrorists, kicking out all their human members and turning towards violence to achieve their aims.
"I'm sure you're wondering why exactly I'm telling you this. I want you to keep an ear out for any information on them you can find and report it directly to me. They tend to keep a lower profile in Kuo Kuana, due to the city being mostly faunus, so most of the citizens believe their smokescreen of still being a peaceful faunus rights group, or at least freedom fighters for the people. Because of this, there's no faunus I can turn to, as all of them are either avid supporters or would be sold out by their friends as soon as they tried to spy. You, however, are an unknown, and most of the White Fang will be far more open with their violent tendencies towards a human."
I spoke up, curious. "This all sounds quite simple, but I feel like there's something you aren't telling me."
He sighed, folding his hands and looking down at the table. "I… my daughter has gone missing. She was part of the group, still foolishly believing in their cause despite the wrongs they committed, and a month ago she disappeared, cutting off all contact. No one I've asked will tell me anything, but I have reason to suspect she was moved away from Menagerie entirely, to conduct operations somewhere else. I… I would appreciate any information you can find on her."
There really wasn't any reason for me to refuse. The reward was generous, and it wasn't like there were Fallen or Cabal running around for me to punch into the dirt. This sounded as much like doing the right thing as anything else in this place did.
Making up my mind, I looked Ghira in the eyes. "I'll do it. What's her name?"
"Blake Belladonna. Thank you so much, Jaune."
-{}-
{ELECTRONICS 'R' US; KUO KUANA BRANCH}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
The store we entered was truly strange. It almost resembled some of the rooms in the Ishtar Collective, full of monitors and screens and hi-tech gadgets, but most of them were clearly inferior in every way to the tech of the Golden Age. The 'scroll' device, however, was interesting to me. It had a variety of functions, ranging from simple communication to a handheld HUD, able to display your global positioning, a compass, the route to your chosen destination, and even your Aura levels. This was especially useful to me, as my helmet was damaged, and the HUD didn't register the Darkness as it used to do with my Light.
As the cashier helped me through the process of setting up my scroll device, I thought about how crazy my day had been so far. In only a few hours, I had discovered a secret White Fang meeting, gotten shot at, killed two grunts and captured another, found my way into a city that looked more like a tropical resort, stopped a rape attempt, discovered that the Darkness inside me was extremely powerful and strangely eager to help me, beat up a group of thugs, got arrested, met the mayor of this town, and agreed to spy on a terrorist organization in order to find said mayor's daughter, who was also a terrorist.
Huh. Now that I list all that out, it almost sounds like an average Tuesday for me.
After a few minutes of running through the features and controls of my new scroll, I forked over some 'lien' and watched as the device was placed back in its box and dropped into a shopping bag. This world's currency was strange to me, though I don't know what I had expected: after all, it was an extremely slim chance that they would have discovered Glimmer.
Speaking of the extremely useful programmable matter, I was lucky that I still had most of mine stored in a pouch attached to my mark. After all, without it I would have a much more difficult time of repairing my armor and weapons, not to mention how fast I would have run out of ammunition. As it stood, however, I needed some form of computer in order to control it, which the scroll would hopefully cover, but it would still take time to learn this world's programming language and convert it into the Golden Age coding I needed in order to control my Glimmer.
As it stood, that would likely take months to do, and I had much more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, figuring out how exactly I would go about finding this 'White Fang' and discovering their secrets. Perhaps I could-
"Excuse me, sir. Your purchase is ready," the cashier, a middle-aged faunus with some form of canine ears, told me, holding out the shopping bag with my scroll in it.
Coughing lightly into my fist to hide my embarrassment at getting caught daydreaming, I nodded, taking the bag from his hands and walking back over to where Ghira had been waiting.
"Find everything you needed, Jaune?" he asked, pointing towards my bag with a raised eyebrow.
Looking down into it, I took in the forms of the three boxes and one book inside and nodded. "Yes, sir. Thanks for this, Ghira. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you."
"Ha! Honestly, you don't have to be so polite Jaune, you're doing me a huge favor. My wife will be thrilled to hear that such an upstanding young man such as yourself is helping find our daughter. Now, like I said, I'm not entirely sure where exactly she is, nor where the White Fang are, as they've kept their movements well-hidden. Though… they do have an embassy near the center of the city. I doubt you'd find anything extremely blatant there, like shipments of illegal weapons or important files, but you may find hints that point you in the right direction. Though, ah… you might want to get a few sets of clothes. Your armor is incredible, even with how damaged it is, but it isn't exactly subtle."
Glancing down at my armor, I conceded the point. The Iron Truage armor was a medal of status and skill amongst Guardians. Symbolizing success in the Iron Banner and requiring Lord Saladin's approval to receive, it was an intricately detailed armor that combined the styles of pre-Collapse samurai and Vikings, with golden wolf designs covering it in its entirety. Unfortunately, it was also extremely flashy. For a Titan, that was a good thing, it attracted attention and drew enemy fire, which kept said fire off of our far squishier allies, but on an undercover mission it was more of a liability than anything else. A pity, I liked this armor quite a bit actually.
"Any recommendations, Ghira?"
He looked thoughtful for a minute, before responding, "Actually, I know just the place…"
-{}-
{LUAU CLOTHING STORE}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
The sheer selection of clothing was almost insane, I'd never seen anything like it. In the Last City, most people wore clothing made of thick cloths, draping ponchos or jackets over the top in order to keep warm in the cold climate of Old Russia. Most of those pieces of clothing were drab, only one or two colors at most and generally lacking any kind of patterns that were not added personally. Even at the Farm, which was located in the European Dead Zone, most people wore the same drab clothing. It helped them not draw attention which, when Fallen scavengers were around almost every corner, was a good thing for civilians. The bright colors and crazy patterns were therefore generally left for Guardians to have.
All of that was why the vibrant colors and intricate patterns of this world's clothing was surprising to me. Even most Guardians didn't wear armor this intricate, due to how annoying it was to keep clean when out in the field and pressed for Glimmer, but this… Remnant's… occupants didn't seem to have that issue. Many of the shirts seemed to be advertising companies of some kind (Schnee Cola, People Like Grapes, and a ton of other brands I didn't recognize), while others simply had designs that seemed to serve no purpose other than looking pretty. Hell, some of the shirts were simply brightly colored flowers on a bright background, which I found eye-watering.
"Hey! You!" a voice called out, and I looked around, curious.
What met my gaze was a bit surprising to me. Now, at the Tower, before the Red War, I had seen a lot of strange looks. Humans with the strangest hair colors, Awoken ranging from dark blue to aquamarine, and Exo of literally every color combination. But never had I seen anyone like the girl who just approached me.
The first thing to catch my eye was her height. Now, as a Titan, I stood taller than most, at around 6'5". This girl was, at most, two inches shorter than me. Adding on the ears on top of her head, she actually beat me by an inch or so. Her hair was also the most vibrant shade of orange I had ever seen, with black stripes mixed in to match her tiger traits. Her skin was bronze, a tad lighter than Ikora's own skin, and her jade green eyes shown with mirth. Despite the simple uniform she had on, likely the same one that all staff of this establishment wore, I could see that her build was that of a warrior, one whose muscles had grown in response to use, not just exercise.
All these observations were made in the split-second I took to look over her, but she still seemed to have caught my staring, judging by the smirk on her face. "Well, I was going to ask if I could do anything for you, but I think you might want something I can't help with. At least not while on the job…"
The suggestive wink she gave made me laugh. Ah, jokes at my expense, something that was ironically more familiar to me than traveling to other dimensions. You'd think, with the number of times I had traveled into the Infinite Forest, not to mention the amount of Throne Realms I had crushed, that I would be used to being in strange places, but it still got to me. Joking around with fellow Guardians, however, especially those who were far more verbal than I? Yes, that I did enjoy, even if most of said jokes were at my expense and usually told by Cayde.
Damn, I made myself sad again.
Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I gave the girl a grin. "Oh, I'm sure you can find some time to help out. But for now, I suppose I'll have to settle for help with finding myself some clothes."
Letting out a put-upon sigh, though the smile on her face revealed her true thoughts, she looked me up and down. "I suppose you do need the help, what with your apparent fashion choice. I mean, the gold is nice, and the detail is impressive, but I don't think that armor really helps your figure," she paused for a second, "You… do have a figure, right? I mean, you have to, if you're wearing that heavy plate without any difficulty… Know what? I've got just the thing, follow me."
And that's how I got into this mess. I stood in front of the mirror, glaring at my reflection. While I wasn't vain, I didn't exactly hate my figure… but the shorts I was wearing made me want to bleach my eyes. Not only were they way too short, barely making it past my undershorts, but they were the most garish shade of purple I had ever seen. The girl's reaction when I walked out of the dressing room, namely hysterical laughter, confirmed my suspicions that I had just gotten pranked.
"Alright, sorry, sorry. No more jokes, I promise! Here, try this on. Don't give me that look, you'll look amazing in it!"
Trekking back into the dressing room, but not before shooting her my patented Crow-Killing Stare™, I looked down at the bundle of clothes she had given me. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
A simple maroon jacket, a white shirt, and black pants. A pair of combat boots, these with what I could only assume was some form of reinforced toe plate due to their feel, completed the outfit. Looking over myself once more in the mirror, I nodded, pleased. It was functional, the material strong enough to provide protection against the elements without being too stiff for me to move in combat, and the outfit itself was definitely far more inconspicuous than my armor was. It was also close enough to my skin that it would be difficult for an opponent to grab onto it or for it to catch on anything. In other words, exactly what I needed.
Grabbing another set of the same clothes, I also selected a few differently colored versions of the pants and shirt before walking back to the front of the store. Unsurprisingly, the same girl that helped me out was there, standing behind the register. "Fancy seeing you here, handsome. Feel up to testing out your strength later?"
Testing out… what? Nevermind. "Nah, just here to pay for this. Thanks for helping me out, by the way."
She giggled, "Don't mention it, Mister…?"
Ah, we never did exchange names, did we? "Just call me Jaune. And you, lovely lady?"
Hah, if Cayde could see me now… Well, actually he'd have probably already managed to sleep with half the women in this town or gotten into an all-out shootout while racing through the city, forget about playful joke-flirting and alley brawls. He was always unique like that, I suppose.
"Just call me Jade," she parroted my introduction back at me, "You got a scroll?"
Raising an eyebrow, I nodded, holding it up for her to see. She snatched it out of my hands, and before I could make a sound, she had already finished typing on it and handed it back.
"There a reason you just stole that from me?"
Rolling her eyes, she responded, "Please, if I wanted to steal it, it would've been stolen. Nah, I put my number in your scroll, gimme a call sometime. Got it?"
"Got it," I agreed, chuckling.
Not even a day here and I'm making 'friends', that's just the Guardian way I suppose. After all, I had already befriended my fellow Guardians within hours of being rezzed for the first time, what's to say that the same wouldn't happen here?
"Anyway, there ya go. Oh, actually, wait a second!"
I paused mid-step, turning back around. "Yes?"
"Luau Clothing has a special offer for Hunters and Hunters-in-training. I can engrave a custom emblem on your clothes if you want, for another five Lien."
My first instinct was to reject it. After all, what need did I have for an emblem when my armor proudly displayed my allegiance to the Iron Lords? But then I thought of Ghost, and how I had nothing but his shattered parts to remember him by, and I made my decision.
"Actually, that would be great…"
-{}-
{CITY STREETS}
{MENAGERIE}
-{}-
I walked down the streets, inspecting the newest addition to my outfit. The dark grey, almost black scarf wrapped around my neck was a bit warm in the tropical climate of this city, true, but as Guardians had no real internal processes to handle, and we also didn't sweat, there was no real drawback besides a small amount of discomfort. Said discomfort was bearable, however, when I thought of exactly what this piece of clothing represented.
On the loose end of the scarf was my new emblem, that of a circle surrounded by four large and four small triangles. An extremely simple caricature of my Ghost's Sagira-inspired shell, yes, but one that would remind me to keep going as always. I had also bought a golden chain, in the same color as my armor's gilding. Carefully threading it through the hole in Ghost's core, I now carried my friend around my neck, as a morbid tribute to our travels together and a reminder of my mission: to protect the people from the Darkness. Whether or not these were my people, or even my Darkness, was irrelevant. All that mattered was that I was going to protect everyone I could.
After all, that was quite literally my only reason for existence, despite what others might have said.
Shaking myself out of those familiar self-deprecating thoughts, I turned my attention back to the street just in time for a young boy to run up to me and stare in wonder. I suppose it was understandable, since I had decided to wear the least damaged pieces of armor until I could reach my new apartment, carrying the rest in the large duffel bag over my shoulder. That left me with my left shoulder plate and both gauntlets, along with both armored boots and my mark around my waist. I had holstered Ace under my mark, as usual, but the rest of my weapons were in the bag with my armor and clothing.
"Wow! You look so cool, mister!" the child's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I focused on him.
He had on one of those annoying flower-shirts, a pair of tan shorts and what I could only assume was some kind of rhinoceros horn on his head. The glasses on his face drew attention away from said sharp horn, however, with how incredibly thick they were. Seriously, I had seen reinforced glass made thinner than those things.
"Uh… thanks, kid. Your, uh… shirt is pretty cool too."
Don't give me that look, I didn't exactly have much experience with kids. Or fanboys. Seeing as how most of us Guardians spent our time up in the Tower, and then the second Tower (yes, the Vanguard is lazy at naming, though it was probably Cayde or Zavala's fault), we didn't exactly interact with children that much. Especially since most citizens saw us as undead abominations, but that was neither here nor there.
"Thanks! Hey, mister, what kind of faunus are you? Ooh! I bet you're some sort of super strong gorilla faunus! That armor looks heavy…" Thanks kid, for getting me back on track.
Also, there's gorilla faunus? What kind of genetics allow for this variety of animal traits? Especially since I doubt they… well, you know, with animals.
"Actually, I'm a human. I don't have any special traits, though that would be pretty cool." Dead useful too, I can only imagine how useful heavily enhanced hearing or a tail would be when fighting the Darkness.
The look the boy gave me was one of pure confusion. "A human? There's no humans here, the White Fang said they'd protect us from those meanies! Don't worry mister, I won't tell anyone about you being a gorilla faunus!"
Well, that would almost have reassured me, if his next action wasn't to run back to his mother, shouting about his new gorilla faunus friend while she shook her head in amusement. Huh, who knew kids could be such a good source of information?
Not only am I apparently the only human in Menagerie (not sure why, it's a beautiful city, the perfect vacation spot), but the White Fang's mission statement is apparently to keep out all the humans in the first place. It would explain why I was attacked earlier… well, other than the fact that I interrupted an important secret meeting, but still. It probably contributed a bit anyway.
So, that's nice to know, but how does that-
"GRIMM! GRIMM ATTACK!"
Ah, screaming. Something that, as a Guardian, I was used to. Despite that, memories of the Red War had me drawing the Ace of Spades and sprinting towards the source of the screaming. On my way there, the muck inside me seemed to reach out towards something, something beyond the city walls. Something that felt… familiar.
Something… dark.
And, for some reason, I couldn't keep the happy grin off my face at the thought.
A/N:
So yeah, here's the first chapter. I'm not going to give a long, drawn-out explanation of everything this time, though I will list what all gear our favorite Guardian has in this story, as well as an up-to-date description of the 'Darkness' subclass, of which I have made three paths, similar to all classes in Destiny 2. Yes, unlocking the middle path will be an absolute pain, and will happen much later in the story. In this universe, I allow for multiple Exotic equips, seeing as how there isn't really any reason not to besides game balance (some Exotic armor pieces have lore that implies they wouldn't work together, but to my knowledge most weapons don't). Also, some of the Exotic lore is extremely interesting, and even more of it is completely hilarious. ACD/0 Feedback Fence's lore segment is about how exactly they work, but also makes a cheeky reference to AC-DC (the band), implying that they existed in the Destiny universe.
I'm sure many who played Destiny 1 or 2 are wondering why exactly I gave Jaune the Helm of Saint-14, if he is no longer a Defender/Sentinel. Well, in game I main top-path Sentinel (with a bit of mid-path for variety), with the exact armor set I detailed here (though my Shader changes whenever I get bored of the current one), and I love the look of the helmet. It will also be useful later on with his Darkness, though exactly how won't be revealed until much later.
GEAR:
Weapons:
Ace of Spades (Last Hand Ornament)
Hard Light (The Future Is Chrome Ornament)
Legend of Acrius (War Beast Skin Ornament)
Armor:
Helm of Saint-14
Iron Truage Gauntlets
Iron Truage Plate
Iron Truage Greaves
Radegast's Iron Sash
Golden Trace Shader
Mobility: 1
Resistance: 10
Recovery: 3
SUBCLASS:
Grenade:
Phase Grenade (Deals a moderate amount of damage to health, ignoring shields (does not ignore 'immune' status, must connect with enemy to deal damage))
UNDISCOVERED
UNDISCOVERED
Barricade:
Vortex Barricade (A large portal that absorbs enemy fire for a short time, before releasing a burst equal to the total damage absorbed in a short-range cone in front of itself (only lasts ten seconds, damage range is only five feet in distance))
UNDISCOVERED
Super: UNDISCOVERED
PATHS:
Top: Code of the Corrupted: UNDISCOVERED
Middle: Code of the Redeemed: UNDISCOVERED
Bottom: Code of the Tormented: UNDISCOVERED
What you see here is what you get. There won't be any other pieces of gear that our main character will receive in this story, through any means, besides a couple of disposable weapons used in extenuating circumstances. Also, the 'paths' will be different from in-game, he'll 'upgrade' to the next path and won't be able to access the previous ones, though he will be able to switch between grenades and barricades at will. Anyway, that's it for now, I hope you all enjoyed it. Review if you'd like, I appreciate any constructive criticism you have for me.
By the way, does anyone else find it humorous that Bungie released the Menagerie in Season 7, while the place Jaune arrived is also named Menagerie? Obviously not intended, seeing as this story idea is far older than Season 7, but still. I found it kinda funny, seeing as how I started this rewrite after Seasons 6 and 7 drew me back into the game.
Also, I have plans of doing omakes for this story, both my own and fan-made, so if you have any ideas send them in as a PM. The first one will be displayed at the end of next chapter, after the Darkness Subclass information.
The rest of the chapters will be uploaded as I finish them, so look forward to that in the next week or so.
Again, thanks for reading my story, and this is AWDTB, signing off.
I'll see you all next time.
