Trailer 3: E: The Emerald Knight
AN: Did you guys really think I'd leave this guy out on this? This is my baby right here, the first OC I ever truly gave a damn about. Some of you have been here with me since Ed made his first debut in the Emerald Knight, and he's undergone quite a few changes since that first chapter I wrote on that Labor Day weekend, all those years ago. These changes have been made with the help of my good friend, Ghost Fire 6, and sUbSoNiCSoundwave. Whelp; let's get this show on the road.
This is dedicated to Jarrod.
Kalico, Atlas
In a bar located in a small mining town near the border between Atlas and Vale, the barkeep served his patrons, though there were only a small handful of people in the bar at the moment. "Gotta love slow days like this…" he muttered, when the door to the bar swung open, revealing two figures in different colored cloaks. One was an older woman wearing a black cloak with the hood down, with gray hair in a sort of pixie cut that framed her face. Her compatriot was a younger man about 17 years old, 6 feet with messy green hair the same color as his eyes, slightly reaching the nape of his neck with a few bangs in front of his eyes, wearing a green cloak, but the barkeep noticed what looked like armor framing both sides of his head.
"Got room for two?" The woman asked, and the barkeep gestured to two stools at the bar.
"He old enough to be in here?" The barkeep asked, gesturing at the woman's companion.
"You really going to turn away business on a day like this?" The young man retorted, gesturing around the empty bar.
"Just get him some juice and a Sippy cup, and he'll be fine. I'll take whatever you've got." THe woman said, much to the irritation of the younger man. "He raises a valid point, though. Evening shift in the mines should've just ended, so there should be plenty of people in here right about now." She inquired, looking around the bar as they took their seats.
"You serious? Everyone's too busy with the strike." The barkeep asked, taking out two glasses, filling one with ale and the other with soda, passing them to the odd pair.
"What strike?" The young man asked, and as he reached for the glass with his right hand, the barkeep noticed the telltale silver plating of a prosthetic limb.
"You mean you two came all the way out here and don't know anything about the strike?"
"Not a thing. We've been travelling around Remnant for a while now, and are just stopping for a breather on our way back to Atlas." The woman explained, taking a sip of her drink.
"Well, as you already know, this town is built around a decent sized Dust mine owned by the Schnee Dust Company, which provides most of the jobs around here, like my husband and his family. Even on the worst years, we still haul in a pretty decent sum." The barkeep explained, resuming his polishing. "However, recently, conditions have become…less than favorable. Some of the safety equipment's starting to break down, making a lot of the miners reluctant to go into the mines."
"So the strike's about getting better equipment? Seems awfully overdramatic when all they could do is just place a requisition order." The young man reasoned.
"Except there's more to it than just needing new equipment, isn't there?" The woman asked, and Barkeep nodded.
"That's right. You probably haven't heard, but lately, the White Fang's been stepping up their attacks on the Schnees, such as destroying Dust shipments and harassing the mines. A few weeks ago, they attacked a train heading through Forever Fall in Vale carrying a pretty hefty shipment of Dust, including some from our mine. After such a huge loss, the higher ups decided to cut wages to try and still make some sort of profit-"
"And the miners didn't take too kindly to that." The young man finished, and Barkeep nodded.
"Exactly. No one's willing to step on foot in the mines with faulty equipment working for peanuts, hence the strike." Barkeep explained. "The SDC is starting to listen, and just sent an official here to negotiate for better working conditions."
"Really?" The woman amusingly said. "Didn't expect that old glacier to send one of those spineless penguins from Atlas all the way to an area like this. Let me guess, they showed up with enough Atlas security to fight a small army." The barkeep chortled slightly at that.
"Bingo. Our local police chief is an old friend of mine, and he told me the other day that one of the Schnee heiresses was assigned as security." The Barkeep noticed the young man perk up at hearing this.
"Really? Did he say which one it was?" He asked, and the woman chuckled a little bit.
"Calm down, Ed, it's probably Winter. You really think the old man would send Weiss all the way down here?" She asked, and got out of her chair, headed towards the door. "C'mon. Might as well say hello while we're in the same town." She instructed, and the young man, now identified as Ed followed her out. The Barkeep watched them go, before realizing something after they left.
"Hey wait! You didn't pay for your drinks!"
Kalico Town Hall
Outside the town hall of the mining town, a young woman stood at the doors. She was tall, with pale skin, white hair tied in a bun at the back of her head with bangs brushed off to the right side of her head, wearing a white Atlesian military coat with the sleeves exposing her arms from her elbows to her shoulders, the coat buttoned over a gray corset over a white undershirt, with white pants and gray boots that extended past her knees, with what looked like a dueling saber hanging on her right hip. "Secure the perimeter. I don't want to risk even an insect getting in." Winter Schnee ordered to the Atlesian soldiers under her command, and next to her walked an older woman dressed in a black business suit.
"Are you sure this is necessary, Ms. Schnee?" Margaret Harken, one of the Schnee Dust Company's top negotiators, asked her escort.
"There have been multiple White Fang sightings in this area, not to mention the chance of a Grimm wandering in and killing everyone." Winter stated. "My father asked me to ensure the negotiations went smoothly, and I intend on fulfilling his expectations. Now, why don't you head inside and prepare. Kalico's representative should be here shortly, and-"
"Hey, Winny!" A voice called out, and Margaret noticed a vein bulge on Winter's forehead.
"I know that voice." She stated, and turned in the direction the voice had come from, seeing Ed and the older woman walking towards them, flanked by guards. "Edward Gawain and Moira Stone…"
"Commander, we found these two on the edge of the perimeter, and you ordered us to bring any suspicious individual to you for questioning." A soldier reported.
"Good work, soldier. Leave these two with me, and return to your post." Winter ordered, and the solider saluted before taking his men back to their posts.
"Commander, huh? You seem to be doing well for yourself." Ed said, and Moira scoffed.
"If you can call being an Atlas sellout 'doing well,' then I guess you are. I thought I taught you better than that, Winter." Moira spat, and Winter narrowed her eyes at the two of them.
"I have half a mind to detain the two of you for breaking my perimeter…not to mention leaving my sister like you did." Winter threatened, glaring at Ed, and Ed held his hands up, nervously laughing.
"Easy there, Win. All we wanted to do is pop by and say hello. No need to bust out the handcuffs or anything." He said, trying to defuse the situation.
"Cease calling me nicknames in front of my men, and we may be able to work something out." Winter said, the smallest, microscopic hint of a smile on her face.
"Deal." Ed replied, and Moira looked around at the soldiers. "Something wrong, Teacher?"
"Hunters and military blending like this…the whole thing puts a bad taste in my mouth. We're meant to be defenders of ALL of humanity, not just citizens of a certain land." Moira argued. "Let me ask you this, Winter: if a war breaks out, what do you think will be the first weapons out on the battlefield?"
"I hope we never have to answer that." Winter said, and Ed felt chills down his spine as the two glared at each other.
"Hey, Teacher, we might as well stick around and lend a hand while we're here. I'm sure Winter wouldn't mind another pair of eyes, right?" He asked, hoping to defuse the tension before things escalated. He knew full well how both of them got when arguing, and he didn't want the people of Kalico caught in the crossfire. Winter glared at Moira for a few more seconds, before turning to Ed.
"Very well. The Mining Union representative should be here soon, and you'll act as main security for the meeting. Moira and I will remain out here." Winter explained, and Ed gulped.
"Uh, you sure? I'll stay out here and-"
"Ed, do as she says. We'll do our best not to kill each other." Moira promised, yet, surprisingly, that didn't do much to reassure Ed that Kalico wouldn't be a smoking crater within the hour.
Winter noticed a car approaching further down the street. "Blue Team, target is approaching. Prepare for escort into building." She ordered into a commlink, and soldiers flanked the entrance to the Town Hall as the car pulled up. "Come on. We have a job to do." Winter stated, and she and Ed walked to the car as a scruffy looking individual in a suit that didn't quite look natural on him, the Miner's Union Representative, exited the vehicle. "Mr. Gibson, thank you for agreeing to this meeting. My name is Winter Schnee, and this is Edward Gawain. He'll be acting as your security for the meeting."
"Nice to meet you." Ed said, extending his hand, but Gibson didn't even acknowledge him, walking right past him.
"Glad to see you tyrants came to your senses. The sooner we begin, the sooner my men can start earning a living again." Gibson spat, and Ed escorted him towards the building. However, as they passed Moira, her eyes widened.
"Get down!" She yelled, pushing Gibson down to the ground, before clapping her hands. Massive vines exploded from the pavement to form a shield, just in time for a missile to impact and explode. Ed looked around the shield to see where the rocket had come from, and saw a man standing on the rooftop, holding a smoking rocket launcher. He couldn't make out any features of the man, but he could make out the importance of what he was wearing: the white uniform and mask of the White Fang. Almost immediately, the windows of the building across from them opened up to reveal dozens of White Fang members, all armed with automatic weapons. They opened fire, only for Winter to quickly weave a glyph and form a massive iceberg to block the gunfire.
"That won't hold them back forever! Quick, get Gibson inside and-" Winter began to order, only for the iceberg to shatter as a large body of mass crashed through it, landing on the ground and forming a small crater. It was the man from the rooftop, and Ed was now able to make out more features about him: he was extremely muscular, standing at about 6 and half feet tall, with tanned skin, wearing dark gray muscle shirt with padded armor on the chest, with separate armor on each shoulder. On each shoulder pad there were vials of dust, each linked to a series of tubes that sprawled out all along his arms and back, and both plates appeared to be linked to a dial on his left wrist. On his face he wore a skull-like mask with red markings around the eyes and teeth
"Now where do you think you're going?" The man asked in a gruff, and twisted the dial on his wrist. Instantly, fire dust began traveling through the tubes into his arms, red his veins turning red and his eyes burning behind his mask as they all felt the heat rise. The man clenched both fists, fireballs encircling both of them, and charged at Gibson with blinding speed, only for Winter to use an Air Step glyph to appear and front of him and block his punch, though she was still pushed back a few inches. She then created a glyph below the man, and instantly encased him in a block of ice. However, it was already beginning to melt from the heat being projected by the man.
"Edward, get the VIP inside now!" Winter ordered, soldiers already returning fire at the White Fang in the next building.
"Are you serious? You need all the help you can get!" He argued, aiming his right hand at the large man, only for Moira to hold up her arm.
"Do as she says, Ed. We can handle this." The older Huntress ordered, and tossed off her cloak. She wore a form fitting gray blouse with a pointed collar, with black combat pants and gray boots. On her right arm was a tattoo of a segmented dragon, and on her left was a snake tattoo that spiraled around her forearm.
Ed knew this meant she was serious, and nodded, taking the arm of the representative. "C'mon. You don't want to be caught in the middle of this." He said, and Gibson nodded, following him inside. Winter and Moira watched as the masked man melted through the ice Winter had imprisoned him in, and chuckled, cracking his knuckles.
"Well, looks like this is going to be fun after all." The man stated, and the two women rushed towards him, initiating what was sure to be a difficult battle.
Inside the Town Hall, Ed pulled Gibson along, searching for a safe zone, and soon came across an Atlas soldier. "Where's the safest room here?" Ed asked the soldier, as his charge had been reduced to a stammering, incoherent mess.
"Commander Schnee had us fortify the Conference Room in case something like this happened. Quick, follow me." The soldier said.
"Just like Winter to always expect the worse. Some things never change…" Ed muttered under his breath as they followed the soldier, eventually arriving at the door to the Conference Room.
"Quick, get the VIP inside and-" The soldier began to say as he opened the doors, only to be stopped by the sight they were greeted with: A room full of dead Atlas soldiers, blood from various stab wounds and bullet holes staining the furniture in the carpet. In the center of the room stood Margaret Harken, and she looked as if she was about to say something…only to cough up blood as a blade pierced her chest from behind, before going limp. Her attacker pulled the blade out of her body, revealing the blade was attached to a claymore that was slightly larger than a normal type, with a trigger beneath the guard. It was held in the hand of a male around Ed's height, wearing black metal armor on his torso, legs, and shins, over dark gray robes that went to a little past his knees. On the right shoulder plate was the White Fang's emblem, and on his head he wore a black helmet that covered his entire head, with a single, circular purple eye where his face would be.
"Well, this certainly makes my job easier." The man said staring right at Gibson, his voice electronically distorted by the speakers in his helmet, and the Atlas soldier aimed his rifle at the man.
"You bastard!" He yelled, and fired. The Masked Man used Harken's body as a shield to absorb the bullets, and once the soldier's gun clicked empty, drew his baton and ran at the man with a yell. Masked Man ducked under a swing from the guard and used his momentum to toss the soldier over his shoulder, and was about to plunge his sword into the Soldier's chest, only to dodge a green energy blast that was aimed for his head. Looking in the direction the blast came from, the Masked Man saw Ed standing with his prosthetic pointed, a circular port in the palm of his hand glowing.
"Get the hell out of here and hide." The green-haired young man said to the cowering representative behind him. "Now!" He shouted, and Gibson ran off to go hide, leaving Ed to stare down the mysterious swordsman. "Alright Spooky, I'm going to need a name. I like to keep track of whose ass I've kicked." He taunted, and the Masked Man seemed to be…evaluating him.
"Alright, but it won't matter. You'll be dead soon anyway. You can call me Percival." He said, rotating his wrist to swing his sword in a circle as he and Ed stared each other down, a tense silence filling the air for a minute…only for Percival to dash forwards and swing the claymore at Ed's neck. Ed quickly ducked and attempted to do a sweeping kick and knock Percival's feet out from under him, only for Percival to jump backwards a few feet from his opponent, pointed the tip at Ed. and pressed a button on the hilt, causing the blade to split and reveal a machine gun turret. Percival pulled the trigger, releasing a massive spray of bullets at Ed, only for it to end up ripping Ed's now-empty green cloak to shreds. Percival had little to process this, as he was forced to dodge a punch thrown at him from behind that left cracks in the floor. Standing where Percival had once stood was Ed, and Percival quickly analyzed his attire.
Ed wore armor that was reminiscent of the kind worn by Atlesian soldiers, only it was dark green with an emerald trim over a form fitting, blue long sleeve shirt, though Percival noted that Ed had neither the sleeve or armor over his silver prosthetic arm, instead having movable emerald armored plates along the arm, and that the armor extended past his neck to frame both sides of his face. Ed also wore black combat pants that bore green and emerald trimmed plates at the thighs and around the lower legs and calves, as well as black combat boots.
"Well, now that thing's off, we can get the real party started." Ed stated, the armor on both sides of his face shutting over his mouth to form a lower faceplate with slots in it to resemble helmets of Medieval Knights, a silver visor appearing to cover guard his eyes. He flicked the wrist of his prosthetic arm, and a silver bladed chain as unleashed form his forearm and extended over his wrist, the chain locking into the shape of a sword with a green colored edge. His weapon now complete, Ed rushed at Percival, only for Percival to take a nearby chair and throw it at Ed as his machine gun reverted to claymore mode. The young swordsman sliced through the chair, only to quickly bring up his blade to block a slash from Percival. They were in deadlock for only a second, before Ed began to push Percival back, the masked swordsman slightly thrown off by the incredible physical strength Ed possessed for a man his size. Percival had to jump back, before propelling himself off the wall and slashing at Ed, who was forced to block. Percival's momentum pushed Ed back, and Percival used Ed's shoulder as leverage to flip over him, landing behind the conference table. Percival kicked the massive oak table, demonstrating considerable strength of his own as the table flew at Ed, who used his sword to slice through the table. Percival took advantage of his opponent's distraction to run forward and slash from his left side, knowing Ed wouldn't have enough time to maneuver his blade in time to block it, only for Ed to bring up his left arm. The gauntlet quickly expanded and lengthened to form a shield, blocking Percival's strike, and allowing Ed to slash at Percival's neck with his right arm, only for Percival to kick Ed in the chest and knock him out of the room, hitting the wall of the hallway.
Ed had to quickly dodge to the right just before a spray of high caliber rounds tore apart the wall where he just was, only for Percival began to adjust hos angle of fire in the direction Ed had dodged, making Ed realize what his opponent's strategy was. 'He knows we're pretty equally matched in swordsmanship, but that machine gun mode gives him the advantage of range.' Ed thought, only for the spray of bullets to stop, and Percival burst through the wall, tackling Ed and slamming him through a window, sending them falling to the streets in the back of the building, while Moira and Winter continued their battle against Percival's companion on the other side. Percival landed on top of Ed, using his knee to keep Ed from using his weapon, and began to wrap his hands around Ed's throat and choke him, both their weapons having been knocked from their hands in the fall.
"You've got some good moves, but those'll only get you so far!" Percival yelled, hands tightening around Ed's windpipe. Ed placed his right hand on Percival's helmet, right where his eyes would be, and began to squeeze, cracks appearing in the helmet, but his vision began to tunnel as his air supply was beginning to run out.
'Dammit, this can't be how it ends! Not like this, not now!' Ed thought, his eyes beginning to close. 'I need to survive! I need to see her, at least one more time…' He thought, images of a young woman with white hair tied in an asymmetrical ponytail flashing before his eyes. 'I…I'm sorry, Weiss…' Ed thought, the end almost upon him…
When someone hit Percival in the head from behind, knocking him off of Ed. The faceplate separated as Ed graciously gulped in air, his vision restoring itself to reveal Gibson standing above him, holding a fire extinguisher. "Thought…thought I told you to hide." Ed panted out.
"Son, my mama didn't raise no cowards." Gibson said, offering his hand to help Ed up. Ed looked to Percival who was by now steadily rising, a noticeable dent in the left side of his helmet. One of Ed's fingers had managed to punch a hole right above his right eye, revealing a black eye that was simmering with anger.
"What was that you said earlier? About me being dead in a few minutes? So tell me, Dickface, how do your own words taste?" Ed taunted, aiming the palm of his hand at Percival. "As a concerned citizen of the Kingdom of Atlas, I hereby place you under arrest." Percival said nothing, only continued to glare at him as Ed began to walk behind him to place bindings on his wrist. However, just as he was about to tie them, Ed heard the faint whine of twin engines becoming steadily louder, before a Bullshark with the White Fang's logo on it peeled around the corner, massive tendril-like vines close behind, almost as if they were trying to catch it. However, the drop ship managed to stay just ahead of it before the vines stopped, apparently having gone as far as they could, and the ship hovered above Ed and Percival, the door opening and dropping a single rope. Percival kicked Ed in the chest, pushing him back, grabbed his blade from the ground, and grabbed the rope, the cable quickly pulling him up to the ship. Ed watched Percival board the ship, and the Masked Man that had been fighting Moira and Winter, his clothing in tatters and small pieces of frost on his right arm and his cracked mask, helped him up. The doors began to close, but not before Percival turned around to stare Ed right in the eyes. No words were spoken, but the message in Percival's eye was perfectly clear:
"This isn't over." The doors of the transport shut, and the Bullshark flew off, quickly reaching top speed and putting several miles between them in a matter of seconds. Ed continued to watch the receeding dot before it completely vanished from view, even as Moira, her clothing slightly singed and blood pouring from a cut on her forehead, and Winter, her hair disheveled and scratches covering her body, came around the corner.
'Percival…somehow I just know that you and I will end up facing each other again And it's clear that, at the stage I'm at now, I won't be so lucky.' Ed thought, even as Moira and Winter began to question him about what had happened. 'Just you wait, Percival. I'm going to become stronger, and next time…I hope you're ready to put your money where your mouth is.
Next Time: R