[Master Chief Petty Officer/Sierra-117/John]
[7th of September, 2528]
[Beacon Academy]
Chief walked through the currently empty hallways of the school, but he wasn't truly there. His mind was off in another place, thinking about the last week he spent here, and what he had learned.
After his initial meeting/interrogation with the headmaster, Ozpin, he was taken to his office. Which was interesting in and of itself, seeing as there were gears in the roof and floor, blocked by only was only accesible through the sole elevator, assuming the exterior was built in a manner that the actual tower couldn't be climbed, and that had left the Spartan on edge. It didn't look safe, but he assumed it was, otherwise it wouldn't be the way it was.
Once there, he was given another chance to answer the older man's questions, which he did and didn't. He answered who he was, the basics of the UNSC (he couldn't release too much info, for a multitude of reasons, the biggest being his loyalty and the consequences he'd face were he to give out sensitive information), and he talked about his team.
In return, Ozpin explained Dust, Huntsmen, Aura, and a very shortened version of this world's history. After the long meeting and info-exchange, the giant SPARTAN realized that the Intel they had received was either wrong, or a ploy to spread their defenses. Or both, which made the 17 year old super soldier scowl. He didn't even think to pin the blame on the people of this world. He already accepted that they weren't lying and that they were, in fact, an independent sect. of humanity. How they got here, John didn't know, nor did he care. All that mattered was getting rid of that damn interfering signal and warn the UNSC.
Except, well… Ozpin talked about the CCT, or Cross-Continental Transmit system, and what exactly it is. It was their version of the internet and the main way they communicate between kingdoms. Primitive, if Chief had an opinion on it, but that's to be expected when one lacked the fossil fuels to launch satellites. But, if what Ozpin said is correct (and he didn't doubt for a second that it was) then that was the interfering signal.
Meaning they couldn't get rid of it to contact the UNSC without starting conflict with the planet. And John was very sure the UNSC wouldn't appreciate being thrust into another war, even if it would be easy to put down. It would be a waste of resources and time. Resources and time they could use against the Covenant.
Chief needed to find another way to contact the Last Haven. He highly doubted the world's leaders would allow him to destroy a tower just to make a call to his superiors. This got him even more agitated, because it meant he came all the way here for nothing. He might have lost his team for absolutely nothing! The SPARTAN leader doubted his team would go down so easily, even if they ran out of ammo, but he couldn't help but worry about their wellbeing. Who wouldn't in his situation? They were his family. They were his responsibility. They were the reason he fought.
He shook those thoughts out of his mind and focused on the meeting with Ozpin. Dust, their source of energy and, logic be damned, magic. He didn't understand how Dust worked, no one really did, but he was definitely planning on bringing back a sample for Halsey. If harnessed properly, and had that whole 'doesn't-work-outside-the-atmosphere' problem, it could prove extremely beneficial in their efforts against the Covenant.
Then there was Aura. John didn't know how he felt about this one. It granted an individual, in what he felt would be Kelly's words, "superpowers". Increased strength, speed, healing, and even a shield to reduce the sharpness of blades or penetrative powers of guns. It seemed surreal to John, and it reminded him a little bit of the augmentation process of the SPARTAN-IIs, which caused his mixed feelings on the whole Aura idea. Ozpin explained that, with enough training and dedication, one could unlock the power of the soul, a 'semblance'. The unique ability granted on the user of Aura that defines their very existence. He found it unlikely and more fiction than anything, until he elaborated on Glynda's semblance of telekinesis. It explained quite a lot of the SPARTAN, like how she threw boulders easily thrice her size with such precision and speed.
And how she made a rope out of tree branches.
He shivered involuntarily at the prospects of an ability like that on an Elite. Not a pretty image.
He thought onto the next topic, Huntsmen. They used Dust and Aura to its fullest extent to defend humanity against the forces of Grimm - which he learned were those black animals he and his team have been fighting since they got here. He found this to be the most promising aspect of the conversation. These Huntsmen, or hunters and huntresses, were very powerful individuals. They were basically the SPARTANs of this world, just more plentiful and less disciplined. He realized the UNSC could definitely use such powerful people, and it made him a little giddy at the aspect. Anything that can help humanity is always welcome, after all.
Then the final topic they covered, Remnant's history. It was very vague and a little strange, John admitted. It speaks of humanity coming from dust thousands of years ago (eerily identical to the biblical tales of Adam and Eve, he added), and that the Grimm came shortly after with the sole purpose of wiping out humanity. It then went on to mention how humanity found Dust while on the brink of extinction, and used it to push back the forces of Grimm. Ozpin then went on to label the four kingdoms and their basic history, like who founded them and the simplified version of their early politics. He then explained the origin of the Faunus, which were animal-human hybrids. He said that Atlesian and Mistralian scientists teamed up to mix genetics of animals and humans after experiencing how the Grimm didn't target wildlife.
To be frank, it failed miserably, the scientists were put to death for inhumane testing, and the Faunus were forever regarded as lesser beings and discriminated against heavily. John nodded at that part, as he had expected it. Humanity wasn't very kind to new races, but he supposed that was true for any race, if the Covenant, who didn't even like the other species in their radical group, were anything to go by.
Ozpin continued and caught him up to current day struggles. Including the White Fang, the Schnee Dust Company, the four academies, Atlas' advanced military (which caused John to mentally scoff, the only thing they had over the UNSC was their use for robots, which they could easily do if they desired), and their time of peace.
He was brought back into reality as he heard some yelling coming from in front of him. He looked up and blinked in a little bit of surprise. When did he get in the mess hall? He saw a bunch of the students here looking at him in awe, fear, and indifference. He shrugged it off and looked around. Seriously, when did he get here? He must have stumbled in when he was lost in his thoughts. He mentally chided himself for that. He was a soldier, he should always have his guard up in unknown territory.
He felt a finger poke his chest plate, causing him to look in front of him. More appropriately, down in front of him. He saw a white haired girl - white hair? Why does everyone have exotic hairstyles here? - with a scar down her left eye. "Can I help you?" His voice caused her to recoil slightly, but she quickly hid it up with an impressive level of self-control.
"As a matter of act, you may. By moving." Her voice reminded him of Linda in a way. Cold, but with an underlying level of warmth that one would never catch. The thought made his heart ache briefly. He really needed to find his team.
"Sorry," He moved out of the way with a quiet grunt. He heard her huff and walk by him. Out of sight, out of mind. He scanned the mess hall once again and saw the girl he ran into on his first day here. The small red themed one with an obsession on him being a robot. He saw a blonde haired boy next to her, looking extremely awkward, along with a black haired boy - with a pink stripe? - next to him. His gaze fell on a bow clad girl who looked downright murderous. For a second, he tensed, thinking her glare was directed at him. But quickly realized it was beside him, at the back of the white haired girl who just walked past him. He hummed and looked at the other three residents. An orange haired girl, a bright red head who looked like she belonged in ancient Rome, and another blonde, this time a girl. A hidden eyebrow raised at the sight of the seven, clearly unique, students.
He pushed back a groan as he saw the small redhead notice him and wave at him. He resisted the urge to smack his helmet with his hand, and instead cocked his head towards her. Hopefully she'd just accept that as a greeting and move on with her life.
… It wasn't meant to be, as she appeared extremely quickly in front of him with a trail of rose petals behind her. His muscles tensed so fast it nearly hurt, and he stepped back in preparation for a fight. Instead of a fist or a bullet, he was met with a childish grin and a wave. "Hello large robot guy!"
This time he really did slap the front of his helmet. He grumbled his response, "For the last time, I'm not a robot." She ignored him and grabbed his wrist. She tugged on him, probably thinking she could drag him, but didn't take into account his weight. She grunted as she was pulled back, much to John's silent amusement. He didn't have much experience dealing with civilian children, so this was certainly a new experience for the super soldier.
"... You could have just asked for me to follow you, you know." No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep out the small sliver of amusement in his voice. The girl stuck out her bottom lip with a blush on her face. He raised an eyebrow at the strange girl, but shrugged it off to her weird behavior.
"Fiiiiine… Follow me!" She started walking again, this time John letting her 'drag' him. He didn't know why he was letting her, but it definitely had something to do with distracting himself from his team. He could also use this opportunity to learn more about Huntsmen, he rationalized. And, if all went well, he could get their help to track down his team.
"Guys! This is the robot I was talking about!" Five of the seven greeted him, most of them calm or at least awkward. The orange head though… He was glad his helmet blocked out loud noises. The blonde girl and bow girl didn't even notice his presence. The blonde one just glared at his shorter Gothic theme companion. The black haired girl just stood up, announced her departure, and left. Strange group…
He nodded at them as he stepped aside to get out of the black themed girl's way. He saw the blonde boy get up and follow her, worry etched on his face. He watched them leave but shrugged, focusing back on the group in front of him.
"He doesn't talk much. All he really says is 'I'm not a robot'," she deepened her voice to imitate him. He'll give her credit, she was pretty good at imitations. Well, for a girl with the voice that was polar opposite of his.
"Probably because it's true," he added. He shrugged at the looks he got, sighing quietly. Why'd he come here again? He wasn't even remotely decent at conversations that didn't involve missions, weapons, tactics, or other military related topics. Kelly or Fred were usually the ones to do that.
The taller redhead simply raised an eyebrow at him, her eyes scanning his figure. Smart. He complimented mentally. Always observe someone new. You never know if they're the enemy or not. Plus, it never hurts to know what your ally is capable of, either. "If you're not a robot, why do you look like… That?" He grunted and looked back at her.
"It's armor," was his short reply. The girl hummed but eventually nodded, accepting his answer. The blonde girl (who finally noticed him), on the other hand, raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk.
"Then why not take off that helmet and show us what ya look like?" He was immediately put off by her tone. Teasing, seductive, and amused were the best words to describe it. It reminded him of some of the female marines in the gym, when they saw him outside of armor. It always made him uncomfortable…
"Can't. My face is classified." The girl only grinned wider and popped a french fry in her mouth, a mischievous glint in her lilac eyes.
"Oh? Classified by who, soldier?" The seductive tone of her voice was stronger than ever, and John had to force himself not to leave the mess hall right then and there. This girl was going to be difficult to handle for sure…
"Classified," his rough tone replied. Better squash any… unwanted thoughts running through this girl's head before they grew. She'd be disappointed to find out his libido was practically non-existent. T'was a side effect to the augmentations, after all.
Her damn grin only grew. She probably thought he was playing hard to get. "Mhm, sure. And I'm Glynda Goodwitch's daughter." John cocked his head in confusion. She had a daughter? It did explain the hair… But the personality? She might have gotten that from her dad, he rationalized.
"I didn't know she had a daughter." He confusedly replied. Wouldn't there be some prior evidence of this? He did spend almost an entire week around her and Ozpin, for safety measures. He learned a lot about the two of them, but nothing like this. As far as he was concerned, the two were practically virgins.
The blonde girl laughed, causing his eyes to narrow. The Gothic themed girl finally stepped in, thank God. "That's enough Yang." His eyebrow raised once again at the tone of the girl's voice. He's heard a lot of emotions in them, ranging from excited to embarrassed, but never hostile. There must be some major beef between these two…
"Tch." The now named 'Yang' scoffed and looked away, deciding the other side of the cafeteria was more worth her time than the girl. "Whatever, Rose."
Yep. Definitely some beef there. He briefly contemplated what it could be, before deciding he didn't really care. 'Rose' growled quietly and crossed her arms. She looked over at the black haired boy and waved him over. She then looked at him and nodded towards the doors of the mess hall. John shrugged, deciding to just go along with it. Rose's friend stood up and walked up to them, nodding at him, before they all walked out of the mess hall.
John was, admittedly, confused with what all just went down. The two teams seemed to have problems with one another. The black haired girl with the scarred one, and Rose with Yang. It made him wonder why they didn't get along, but decided it didn't matter in the long run. Petty relationship problems don't matter on the field; they'd get over it after a fire fight. No need for him to step in and fix it. Not that he could, he never had to settle any issues like that with the other SPARTANs. Usually, when something was wrong, they'd fight to get it out of their system. Then they'd be back to normal, like they were before. He hummed quietly as he tuned back into the conversation between his two new companions.
"And then my Uncle Qrow swooped in, tripped the Ursa Major, and cut off its face! All while drunk, might I add." … Okay, maybe he should have stayed in his thoughts. That sounded ridiculous. No way could someone function that well while intoxicated.
He decided to voice his opinion, but got two deadpan looks from his companions. Well, the boy always looked like that, but Rose? "... What?" His voice sounded more annoyed than he intended, which got him a mental scolding. He was losing his temper every day he couldn't find his team.
Rose let out a grin eerily similar to that Yang character. It unnerved him. "Are you doubting my story?" Chief raised an eyebrow and grunted, nodding silently. The grin grew, and thus, so did his uncomfortability. She giggled and pulled out her scroll. What was she going to do with that? His answer came up soon enough as she opened up a video file labelled 'Qrow's Drunken Moments'. The SPARTAN deadpanned behind his visor at the name. She had an entire file for this man? Talk about drunkard… Rose pulled up a video titled 'Ursa Major #13' and pressed play before handing him the scroll.
He took it and looked at the screen, half-expecting it to be fake, but was surprised to see an ashy haired man stumble around on the screen. John would be the first to admit the man didn't look dangerous, but if anything was true in this planet, looks can be deceiving. He was proven right when the man pulled out an impressive looking sword in his drunken stupor before cutting the bear's face clean off. It… Was actually very impressive, if he had to admit.
"... Oh." The girl grinned up at him again and took back her scroll.
"Told ya so!" He shook his head in amusement as she started telling another tale to her partner, who remained as stoic as he apparently always is. Chief tuned out the conversation and let his mind wander, his thoughts being on the same topic that's plagued him for a week.
Blake was furious. Not only did the Schnee talk bad about Faunus, she talked bad about the White Fang! As though her family wasn't the one to bring them to their current actions to begin with! Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but they were one of the main pieces that brought them down the path of violence. That brought him down that path. The thoughts of her old partner immediately dampened her anger, causing her to fall into a slight depression. She got to her team's dorm room and walked inside, letting out a soft sigh.
A couple minutes later she heard the door opening again, though she didn't look up from the book she was reading in the corner. Nor did she look up when she felt someone sit down beside her. Nor did she look up when a hand was placed on her book. Only did she look up when said hand put her book down. She was met with concerned, warm blue eyes - Unlike the cold blue eyes of that bitch Schnee, her mental self added - of her partner. She saw the worry in them and immediately felt guilty. It must have shown, because the worry on his face only grew.
"What's wrong, Blake?" She didn't realize she had been crying until his hand brushed her cheek, part of it coming back wet. She bit her lip and looked away. She let out a sigh a minute later, knowing he wouldn't be leaving until he got an answer.
"... I… I'm…" She sighed again, shaking her head. No way could she tell him the truth. How could she? That's right, she thought, you can't trust him. You don't know how he would react. He could hate faunus for all you know. He could hate you for all you know. The teeth clenching her lip pushed down harder, causing her to wince slightly. Luckily her aura prevented it from breaking, but it still hurt. "I had a… Friend. He was a faunus. He was… My best friend. He took me in while I was young and taught me everything I know. He was my best friend; my brother." Jaune nodded, showing that he was paying attention to her story. "He was so kind, energetic… Happy. We joined a… Club. The… Red Talon. It was a faunus only club, but his connections let me in. It was a fun club, a peaceful club at first. But slowly it… Changed." She sighed, rubbing her wrists to her eyes. Thankfully she had stopped crying. "And so did he. It became more dark, more violent. Eventually, he began to run the club. And with that power, he made it do a lot of bad things, Jaune… He had members kill anyone against it. Eventually, it became no better than a criminal organization. We mugged, stole, beat… Killed. We did it all, and I thought we were doing it for the faunus. I justified it with that excuse." She scowled, not caring any longer to hold back her emotions. "My friend wasn't doing it for that reason though. Sure, he claimed he was, but he was just doing it because he enjoyed it. He thrived off of it. It sickened me.
"But I couldn't leave. No, he'd have me killed. They'd beat me until I couldn't even twitch, then he'd have me killed. I've seen it happen before to deserters. The club was ruthless. It was just a terrorist organization that acted on violence in the name of equality. When in reality, it was superiority. My friend… He no longer wanted humans and faunus to be equals. No, he wanted faunus to rule. He wanted humanity to die off." She frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together in a deep scowl and she ran a hand through her hair, clearly angry about the tale. "He wanted mass genocide. After I realized that, I planned my escape. I left after we robbed a train of Dust, when he wanted to blow up the entire train with passengers inside. I couldn't do it anymore, Jaune. I was tired of it all. Of all the killing… The club was my life. And he killed it. And with it, everything I ever dreamed of." She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, causing her to tense up slightly, her irrational side telling her he hated her. That he was strangling her. She pushed that side away and hugged back, the tears flowing freely once again.
"It's okay Blake." His voice was soothing, completely different to the usual awkward or suave voice he usually had. It made her feel like everything really was okay, if only for a brief moment. "Whatever you did, it doesn't matter now. You left that 'club', it's behind you. You clearly came here to make a difference, and to amend for past sins. You're not that person anymore, and I don't care." He pulled back slightly, probably feeling a little smug at seeing her shocked expression. That bastard… "Although, I'm pretty sure your friend's contacts aren't what got you in that club." This got Blake to blink in confusion before she gasped, reaching a hand up to her head. Her heart stopped and her eyes widen when she didn't feel the bow. She looked around for it and saw it lying behind her. She quickly grabbed it and looked back at her partner, seeing him look amused at the situation.
Anger swelled up inside her, covering up her shock and fear. He was laughing at her! She felt tears once again sting her eyes, her face morphing into one of anger. He lost his look of amusement and immediately looked worried. Probably worried for himself. She growled mentally. She glared at him and tied her bow back on, her body language suggesting she was pissed.
"Blake? What's wrong?" He leaned in slightly, only to get slapped by his black haired partner.
"Don't act worried about me! I know what you're doing…" Her voice wavered despite her best efforts to sound strong. She pushed back a sniffle and settled with glaring at him again. "You… You humans always act like you pity us, when all you do is mock us!" His surprised expression brought a small sense of morbid satisfaction to her. She ignored it and continued on, "Every time you people see a faunus, you do nothing but ridicule them! And even if you don't, you do nothing when someone else does! You humans are all the same!" She was yelling by now, but she didn't care. Why did it matter? She wouldn't stay here after this. She had no reason to. Her team would hate her. So much for second chances…
She tried standing up, but was forced back down by two surprisingly strong pair of arms. She thrashed against them, thinking they were trying to hold her down so he could beat her. The tears now freely leaked from her eyes as she thrashed around, but she slowly stopped. She couldn't bring herself to care anymore. Everything she did always ended up in her being screwed. She went to the White Fang to make a difference, but ended up making things worse. She went to Beacon to make up for past mistakes, but ended up letting her secret loose after the first week. She just couldn't win, could she? She closed her eyes tight in preparation for the beating, only for nothing to come.
"You know, for how analytical you usually are, you sure did jump the gun really quick on this one." His voice held no humor, despite the joking tone the comment would usually hold. Instead, all there was was calm understanding. She opened her amber eyes to look into blue, confusion etched across her face. "I don't care if you're a faunus, Blake. Human, faunus, robot. Doesn't matter to me. You're Blake, I'm Jaune. We're not faunus or human, just us. Partners 'till the end." He gave her a soft grin and let go of her. She slowly sat up, looking shocked for the third time that night. She looked at her partner and wiped her eyes, slowly nodding.
"Yeah… Partners…" His grin grew wider and he held out a fist towards her, causing her to raise an eyebrow. He noticed this and nodded towards it. "Fist bump. Y'know, to seal our friendship."
"... Dork." She smiled softly and bumped his fist with her's, causing his grin to turn into a smile.
"So... A city, huh?" Questioned the current Blue Team leader, Fred, as he sat next to Linda, who was currently looking through the scope of Nornfang. She nodded with a grunt of confirmation, making the male frown in thought.
"Think it's held by the Insurrection?" Linda hummed quietly at the question, pondering it. There wasn't any noticeable Insurrectionist activity... Nor was there any technology that could confirm it as Insurrectionist. It made her frown herself in thought. If it wasn't Insurrection or UNSC, what was it?
"I don't know. We'll have to go down there to find out," she replied. She looked over at Fred and saw him motion Kelly over. The girl lived up to her reputation and appeared by his side almost instantly. She focused back on her scope and looked over the city, trying to find out any crucial information.
"Kelly, you'll need to get inside the city. Make sure to do it without being caught, so stick to alleyways or rooftops," said girl nodded and went back to the campsite, gathering whatever supplies she'll need for the trip. "As for you and I Linda, we'll scout from afar and be ready to back her up if anything happens." Linda nodded, putting away Nornfang as she stood up.
The sniper stared off into the city, her brows furrowed in thought. "Thinking the Chief might be somewhere in there?" The sudden question caught her off guard, mostly due to the fact that's exactly what she was thinking about. She nodded after composing herself, getting a hum from the male. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. That's actually our objective, not scouting. I didn't tell Kelly because, well, she'd jump at the chance to help find him. We can't have her distracted." Linda nodded in agreement as she turned her gaze to the other girl of the team.
"We'll find him. Then we can get our asses off this planet." Her comment got a chuckle from Fred, causing Linda to give a small smile behind the visor. Despite the grim situation they found themselves in, he never found something not to laugh at. She envied it, but only slightly. She dealt better with serious situations than comedic, if she were being honest.
"Anyways, let's head out. Keep your comms up Kell, just in case you need help. We'll meet up here once all is said and done," they all nodded and split off to do their part of the mission.
Once Kelly was far away enough, Fred focused back on Linda. "I know I said we're sticking together, but we'd cover more ground if we split up. That alright with you?" Linda bit down a huff and settled with just nodding. "Alright. Same thing as before, we'll meet up here, and keep your comms on." With another nod, Linda walked off as she brandished Nornfang. Purely for familiar comfort than anything else, as she had run out of ammo for her precious sniper.
She trekked miles around the city within hours, constantly checking it through her scope for any sign of a 7'2" green man. Sadly, her efforts were for naught, as she came up without even the slightest hint of her team leader. She had even gotten close enough to the city that she could see individual people outside of her scope, but there was still no damn sign of John. It was almost enough to make her throw down her snipe in annoyance.
Well, that was an exaggeration, but she was irritated in all the wrong ways with this predicament. Linda thought back to when she zoomed in on a spiraling building a few miles west of their original start position. She thought to go there, but quickly shook her head. That place seemed important, and she doubted Chief would draw attention to himself by going there. Although she was starting to wish he had, because then it would be much easier to find the guy.
The redhead let out a sigh and once again looked through the scope of her Nornfang. She sweeped across the alleyways and streets, hoping to find something - anything - that would lend her a clue to John's whereabouts. Instead of finding the clue, however, she spotted a man with… Bright orange hair looking directly at her with a slight smirk. He seemed to be chatting with another person, smaller by the way he looked over every now and then, but she couldn't spot him. She cursed under her breath and quickly made to leave the scene, but was stopped by feeling something sharp on her neck. The mesh suit could block out blunt attacks easy, like bullets or fists, but knives or other sharp weapons? She cursed once again under her breath. How could she be so stupid as to get caught like this?
She turned her head to look at whoever had the blade to her neck, but stopped when the blade pressed against her a tad bit harder. She growled quietly, but kept still. She needed to plan this, not act irrationally. More than likely, it was an accomplice with that man down there. And, going off the looks of said man, they weren't soldiers. Thugs, maybe? That meant they didn't have any actual training, meaning she had the upper hand. Taking a deep, quiet breath as to not alarm the person with the blade, she spun on her heels and knocked away the… What? A parasol? She grunted as the umbrella came back and smashed into her side with a lot more force than a thug should have.
Linda kicked out towards the attacker, but was surprised when the very tiny girl twirled to the side and knocked her leg away. Who the Hell was this girl? She chewed on her cheek and backed away from the girl quickly to gain distance. Linda was possibly the worst SPARTAN on Blue Team at CQC, and this girl seemed to be at the very least adept at it. That put her at a serious disadvantage, especially since the girl had the reflexes of a SPARTAN…
The redhead spun out of the way of the tiny multi-colored hair girl's strike, and returned one of her own in the form of a backhanded fist. The midget smirked and ducked under the swing before she kicked Linda's stomach. She let out a quiet grunt, but smirked under her helmet at the look the smaller woman was sporting. Hah, teaches you to try and fight a SPARTAN in hand to hand. She thought as she lashed out with a couple more boxing-type punches. The girl weaved and dodged, but Linda didn't think on it. She had endurance on her side, meaning she could win this with a battle of attrition.
That is, until she felt an explosion hit her back and throw her forward. She grunted as she hit the ground, but quickly got back on her feet to avoid being skewered by the girl's parasol. When she got up, she saw the man with a bowler hat from before standing there with a cane. But no gun or explosive in sight on the man. Then where'd the explosion come from? She leaned back to avoid a kick from the smaller girl and blocked the man's cane with her armored forearm. She was surprised, however, when the tip of the cane opened up and another explosive shot out, hitting her helmet with the force of a car.
Linda once again flew back from the explosion, her dizzied mind shouting in confusion at what had just occurred. How the hell did a cane of all things shoot explosive projectiles? She groaned and sat up, holding her head in one of her hands with the other supporting her. She noticed the two were just standing in front of her, both with matching smirks on their face. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, and she quickly sent a message to Fred to get his ass over here.
The man stepped forward and twirled his cane, his entire being just radiating with smugness. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He tipped his bowler hat mockingly. "I don't believe I've ever met a real life SPARTAN." Linda's muscles tensed with that announcement as she went to strike the man with her foot, but was stopped when the umbrella girl knocked her leg to the side. She growled loudly this time, making their smirks grow. "Now, don't be rude. We're just talking, you see? My boss adores you folk, and she would love nothing more than to meet one of you in real life. How about you make her happy and come with us? We'll be gentle." His smirk turned into a grin, causing Linda's blood to boil.
Linda pulled out a small standard M6C Magnum from her thigh and, gripping the barely, tossed it into the man's smug ass face. It hit him with a resounding 'thump' and caused him to fall back with a shout of pain. Linda let a small, satisfied grin form on her face. The orange haired asshole stood up, rubbing his face with an angry scowl as blood flowed down from his nose. The redhead's grin grew, realizing she broke his nose.
The grin disappeared as she felt something sharp stab into her gut, causing her to let out a gasp of pain. She gripped whatever decided to make its home in her gut and glared at the owner. The parasol girl had a scowl on her face, the only other emotion she's made other than mocking confidence. Linda gripped the parasol harder as she tried pulling it out, but barely made it budge. Sure, the girl was stronger than the average person, but she was still no match for a SPARTAN's strength. With both hands now gripping the umbrella, Linda slowly stood up to her full height, easily towering over both individuals. With a grunt of effort, she bent the parasol to a 90 degrees angle. The shocked face on the heterochromic girl was almost worth being stabbed.
Almost. She lashed out a punch to the girl, thankfully hitting her in her shocked face. Wrenching the weaponized umbrella out of her stomach, she bent it even more until a 'snap' resounded through the area. She threw the useless umbrella away and glared at the two, both of them glaring back with anger. Linda smirked behind her visor and got into a Wing Chun martial arts stance, prepared to take on either opponent. However, they both backed away despite their clear desire to continue, and eventually turned tail and ran. Linda made a move to run after them but was stopped by a hand laying on her shoulder.
She turned around, ready to attack, but relaxed when she saw it was Fred. She scowled and looked back at where the two ran. With a sigh, she grabbed her wound and chewed on her lip. Hopefully Fred had some biofoam…
Hello all! Sorry it took so long to update. I still don't have an update schedule, and I probably never really will with how hectic life is.
Anyways, we finally see Chief interact with the main cast, most just shrug him off, others tease, and others are indifferent. Chief uses the excuse "Yeah, let's use some future super powered guys to help me, that'll be cool" and hangs with Ruby and Ren. It was the only logical reason I could find for him to actually go around with them without really breaking character.
And there was that Jaune and Blake moment. I felt like a little fluff was needed, satisfy some of my readers who want some more of that stuff. Sorry if it didn't live up to your expectations, but it was my first attempt at writing anything like that. :P
Plus, we finally we got back to Blue Team! About time, right? In all honesty, I just didn't write them for the past couple chapters because, well, I couldn't find a way how. It would get a little repetitive if I wrote them down surviving in Forever Falls. So, I just did a time skip to speed things up.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, leave a favorite, follow, and/or a review! Positive and negative are welcome!
Until next time.
