Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except two, Nick and Isabel. Those belong to my friend, although I did design them.)
Blood of Grimm: Chapter 5
"Damn. He got away. Everybody okay?" Coco asks her team.
"Just scratches and bruises. Could be a lot worse," Yatsuhashi replies. "I don't think he was fighting seriously at all. At least, not to kill."
"But he nearly killed Coco! I can't believe that was him," Velvet argues, in shock.
"But he could have just stabbed me when he rushed me. Instead, he only pushed me down," Coco reasons, attempting to calm Velvet down. "Have some faith. He's your friend, right?"
"Yeah, you're right," Velvet admits, ashamed. "But why did he attack us?"
"I don't know. We'll find out one way or another. But first, let's go back. We need to report to Ozpin." They leave the caves, and head back to the airship, grabbing Valke's equipment on the way out. "Hello Professor. I'm sorry. We found Valke, but he had turned into a strange creature and attacked us. He beat us easily and ran."
"So the worst has happened, other than his death," Ozpin replies, not surprised at all. "Please keep this a secret. You may return to Beacon. I'll send another team that will be better prepared."
"Sir, what is he?"
"…He's an experimental Grimm called a Reaper."
Team CFVY's airship takes off, leaving behind several unconscious White Fang members and a decimated base. The next day, a White Fang airship arrives. The torturer steps out. When she enter the base, she is greeted by the survivors. They bring her to the room the would-be torturers had tried to interrogate Valke in. The inside is a bloodied mess, and nobody wanted to clean it up.. The bear was basically rotting hamburger, and the rat was in the corner, disemboweled. His ears are cut and torn, his face stuck in a horrified scream. A large, jagged bite is taken from his neck, and his arms are broken. His guts lay out all over the floor, and his chest has a large hole where his heart would be, but instead is dangling out, crushed and cut. The fox smiles. "So the prisoner did this? I love it! It's very brutal." She exits, chuckling quietly. "You three! Clean this mess up, or I'll have you tortured and killed in a worse fashion than those two."
"A Reaper? And what's an 'experimental Grimm'?" Nick asks. Professor Ozpin had called team to his office on the day when they were to select their first mission. Students from the four combat schools from around the world had been arriving for about a week in preparation for the Vytal Festival.
"Yes. They were made in a secret joint experiment by some of the world's top scientists, mainly from Atlas, in the western region of Mistral. Made by applying human DNA to the blood of every known Grimm, they're fierce hunters, with high strength, intellect, instincts, and vitality. They heal much faster than humans, and can even regenerate limbs. They represent the only successful case of Grimm experimentation and research that I know of.
"Now, you may be wondering how he can be so much like a human. That is my doing. You see, Reapers have two forms and two sides. Human and Grimm, sentient and feral. Normally the feral side controls both forms, but if they wear certain pieces of jewelry, which I developed for the project, the sentient side can control the feral side. The next part, which would allow the sentient side to control both forms, was finished in theory and testing, but never developed due to all the Reapers escaping, killing all the personnel on site at the time. I admit that I regret taking part in this experiment, but now I can help. When Valke came here, I made his second phase control device, for his necklace. It just finished a few days ago. So now, we need him back. That's where you three come in."
He looks at Nick. "Poison… while dangerous, it will likely only slow his healing and reactions down. The tricky part will be to actually inject it into him. Teamwork will be key. Also, beware of his blood. When it turns red, it is infused with Dust and becomes a weapon, and can explode on command. On the bright side, he probably won't try to kill you; his sentient side is strong enough to resist.
"That's all, you may leave." Team VNIS begins to exit. "And don't tell anyone about this," he says, looking at Sara.
That night, the team is about to go to bed when Sara receives a call. Answering it she is surprised to hear her mentor and guardian's voice. "Hello Sara, how have you been?"
"General Wilde! This is a pleasant surprise. I've been doing well. How are you? And why are you calling so late?" She moves out into the hallway.
"Oh, I'm doing fine. The R&D department just received a new research grant for a new secret project. I just got a break and decided to call you. We haven't talked since you went off to Beacon." General Wilde is in charge of Atlas' Science and Technology Department. His voice gets softer. "Have you found the boy I described?"
"Yes, actually, I'm in a team with him. But um… he's gone missing. We're going to southwest Vale, near the border to search for him. But don't tell anyone that."
"Okay. Do be careful Sara. He's very dangerous."
"Okay thank you. I did watch him take out a gigantic Goliath, so I believe you."
"Well, I should go and let you sleep. Good luck and stay safe."
"Goodbye sir!" Sara hangs up and reenters her team's dorm, then gets into her bed, falling into a deep sleep.
The next day, the team wakes up early to pack their stuff and load supplies onto their airship. Just as they load the last of the supplies, Professor Goodwitch walks up to them. "Hello students. Since you have been assigned a difficult mission, I have been assigned to accompany you." The members of team VNIS just look at each other and shrug.
As they walk into the airship and take their seats, team JNPR and RWBY are talking. Nora exclaims: "You're going on world-saving missions without us! I'm hurt and sad! Maybe a little hungry…" Her voice is cut off as the door closes and the airship takes off.
"How is that girl so hyper all the time?" wonder Nick shaking his head. "It's one of the world's greatest mysteries.
A day and a half later, they arrive at the forest Valke is in and notice large storm clouds rolling in. They land and find a nearly abandoned Atlas camp. There are several dozen tents, but only a few soldiers and a couple technicians. They come out to meet them, standing at attention.
"Hello! We were told to expect you. There were a lot more of us, but they went into the forest yesterday and never came back. We are working under the orders of General Wilde to help you," says one of the soldiers to team VNIS and Goodwitch.
"Really? How did he know we were coming here?" Goodwitch wonders. Sara looks away nervously. "Well, we could use the help I guess. I'll stay here and report to Professor Ozpin. You three enter the forest with the soldiers to begin the search. I'll join you shortly. And don't go too far. Don't go farther than a few hundred feet from the tree line." She turns around and pulls out a tablet type Scroll.
Team VNIS and the soldiers gather around. "Here, so we can communicate easily," a soldier says, passing out radios. "We'll use a modified version of the standard search pattern, with about triple the distance. Everyone will have about five Atlesian Knights with them. If any major threats are detected, call over the radios immediately." Everyone nods. "Okay, spread out!"
They spread out at intervals of thirty five feet, and then enter the forest. The soldiers enter first, then team VNIS. After the first soldier reaches a depth of about 280 feet, he calls in on his radio. Everyone stops, and then turns ninety degrees to the left. They walk for another few minutes, when a scream comes over the radio: "It's here! It appeared out of nowhere and attacked! Ahh!" The loud chatter of gunfire is heard, then a blood-curdling scream, and the sound of tearing flesh, a tight jerking sound, then a gurgle. Everyone rushes to the soldier's location.
Once there, in a large clearing with a huge lone tree in the center, they are all horrified at the scene. The robots lay scattered about, in irreparable pieces. The unfortunate soldier is dangling, lifeless from a tree. His arm is broken and slashed open, a red knife pinned into the ground, which trails a thick, black rope-like substance. Before their eyes, the knife explodes and the rope evaporates, and the soldier's corpse drops down. A humanoid figure walks towards them from the tree line, unarmed. The soldiers aim their guns, but Nicholas notices something.
"Wait, don't fire!" he screams as he runs to the soldiers. The figure wasn't in even a battle pose, and was walking toward them almost like a zombie. But it's too late. The soldiers open fire, unloading an entire clip each, for a total of 140 bullets. The dust settles, and the soldier look at their handiwork.
They're shocked to see a crumbling wall. It breaks down, red shards flying, homing in towards them, and embed themselves in the soldiers and explode, making it rain blood and guts. Valke steps forward, spear in hand, and snarls. The feral side has taken over.
The team drops into combat stances, and spread out around the clearing. Nick dashes into the trees, and Isabel circles around, surrounding Valke. Isabel and Sara both charge at Valke. Valke dodges under Isabel's scythe, then uses his spear shaft, now changed to a rope, to wrap around Sara's weapon, then pulls, launching the spear away. Sara is dragged toward him, off balance, and he punches her in the gut. As she collapses to the ground, Isabel takes a large uppercut swing, tearing up the ground. Valke jumps up, catching a tree branch, then swings on it, landing in the trees. Isabel starts to chase him, and Nicholas is still hiding, watching for an opportunity to strike. Valke turns, a tree obscuring him from Isabel's view. She turns at the tree as well, only to find he's not there. She walks cautiously, weapon out. A black and white blur passes by, and she swipes it its direction, but only cuts a medium sized tree down. Nick takes cover behind this, thanking luck for the new convenient cover. Just then, Valke dashes from the trees, tackling Isabel. His blade mounted on his arm, he draws back his arm, preparing to stab Isabel.
Sara had recovered quickly, and retrieved her weapon, then followed the path of trampled and torn flora. She sees Valke with his arm up, Isabel pinned beneath him. "No, stop!" Her eyes glow, and time slows down. She dashes to Valke and flips her spear around. Catching Valke's blade in the claw, she twists the spear, shattering it, then thrusts the spear into the ground, pinning it in the hole in Valke's skeletal arm. Time begins to flow normally again. "Nick, now!"
Surprised at how she got there so quickly, he nonetheless dashes toward Valke, flicking out a needle. He immediately stabs Valke in the neck, injecting a normally deadly poison. Valke roars, then grabs Sara's spear, pulling it from the ground. Tossing it aside, his tail whips around, cutting Sara lightly before she jumps back, then he elbow's Nicholas in the face, knocking him down. Valke runs off in the direction of the clearing.
The trio just stay there, attempting to catch their breath. "Hey, how did you get here so fast? You were a few yards away, then you just instantly appeared here," Nick questions.
"That was my semblance. It slows down time for a limited amount of time, about ten seconds."
A few minutes later, Goodwitch finds the soldiers' corpses, then calls Team VNIS. "Hello students. Where are you? Are you safe? Did you find him?"
Isabel answers: "Yes, professor, we're safe, barely. We found him and managed to inject the poison, but he ran. Where are you?"
"I'm where the soldiers died," she says, looking around in disgust.
"We're probably about a few hundred feet west of that. We're resting after the first fight. We have an idea of where he ran to. There's a large tree next to you right? That's probably where he is. He shouldn't attack, we beat him somewhat, and he didn't attack us until the soldiers attacked first."
Professor Goodwitch looks at the tree. "Alright, I'll come find you, and then we'll finish this."
A few minutes later, team VNIS hears rustling, and Professor Goodwitch approaches. She looks at them, and then looks away, satisfied that they are not majorly injured. "It's almost noon. You should eat before the next fight, or you'll run out of energy. Here," she says, passing them supplies from the ship. They eat with gusto, hungry and excited to finish the mission. After a few minutes, they finish their light meal, then grab their weapons, rested and ready to fight.
Meanwhile, Valke is in the large tree, which is hollow. He feels slow and sluggish. His sentient side is fuming inside: "Those stupid Atlas soldiers. I was trying to control myself, but they shot first, so the feral side gained control again. They probably did it on purpose too," he thinks, remembering the video he had found in the ruins the day his village was annihilated.
Atlas soldiers are guarding a compound. The cameraman passes by them, showing them an ID. As he passes, they salute. He enters a building resembling the ruins. There is a long hallway with many doors. As he passes by, some doors open and scientists go in and out of them. At the end of the hall is a large, reinforced door, with a pair of guards, who also salute. The door opens, and the cameraman enters. Inside is a lab table with restraints, a female reaper strapped to it in human form. She has red eyes and black hair like all the reapers, save for a red stripe going down the left side of her face. A masked scientist is putting an earring on her left ear. It's black with red gems in it. At first, she gains sentience, looking around, asking where she is, but then red lightning sparks, and she shifts into Grimm form.
"Hold her down!" the scientist says, grabbing a syringe. A robot grabs the Reaper's arm, where the scientists injects a powerful anesthetic, making the woman fall asleep and revert to human form. "Damn, another failed one. Why can't I get this right!" he slams his fist on a table. "Every time I fail, one of these Reapers is mentally injured. I need to perfect this in as few tests as possible," he says pulling off his mask. The masked scientist is Professor Ozpin.
"Ozpin, calm down. I understand that you want them to be able to live among us, but they're just-" the cameraman speaks.
"No! Don't even finish that sentence. They are sentient, they have feelings, and dreams, and emotions. They just need help to express it, take over the feral side. But I can't hurt all of them while doing it." He looks at the cameraman. "Doctor Wilde, do you have any idea what the value of life is?"
The video had ended there. He had tracked down Ozpin, intending to find out who Wilde was, when tragedy had struck a half year before he went to Beacon, and he lost another loved one…
Suddenly, the feral side jerks awake, standing up. The team was back, with Professor Goodwitch. "No, stay away. I have no grudge against you all!" The feral side stands up and struggles to summon its spear. It blends into the shadows inside the tree, spear held in the hunter position, ready to throw. The party of four enter, searching within the dark, when Nick turns and looks directly at Valke, pulls out his knife, then fires a hidden gun straight at him. Valke rolls out of the way, revealing his position. Isabel pulls out her rifle and shoots, forcing him to stay mobile, barely escaping the bullets. Nick dashes in front of him, then flips Valke over, onto his back. Valke stabs at him, trying to break free. Nick jumps free and Sara rushes in. She stabs Valke in the chest, but is surprised to feel mostly air, only scraping hard bone. Pinned to the tree, he cuts himself and attempts to form a bladed ring to throw, but is interrupted by Goodwitch breaking part of the tree and sending the fragments toward him as several small spears. They pierce him and he falters, his blood dropping to the ground, still black.
"Mister Rich, put him to sleep."
"Roger." Nick pulls out a blue needle, then stabs him in the neck, opposite of where the poison had been injected. Valke thrashes, then goes limp, slowly reverting to human form. Sara quickly removes her spear, and he drops to the ground.
A few minutes later, he's back in human form. They all look, now that he's not in his cloak. "Wow. He's actually pretty handsome," Sara blurts. They all look at her. "What? I'm not lying." They find his necklace and put the chip into it. When they do, green sparks run down his body for a few seconds, then the gems in both necklace and chips turn green.
"Hey, what's that on his hand?" Isabel asks, noticing a black ring on his left hand.
"Children, we should get going. We'll load onto the airship, tell the remaining Atlas members to leave, then return to Beacon," Goodwitch says. They lift Valke up and move him over to the camp.
They return to the camp to find it empty. The walk over to the airship, then load Valke into it, putting him several seats, lying down. "Let's look for traces of the technicians." They leave and head back to the camp.
"Are they gone?" a technician peaks around a crate in the ship.
"Yeah, I think so. So this is the boy, huh? That means the soldiers failed. We need to complete the mission," the other one says, pulling out a thin, long knife. He walks up to Valke and prepares to strike, but Valke wakes up, grabs him, then pulls a long, thin string from the metal circle on his glove, wrapping it around the assassin, then kicks the other one, who had pulled out a gun. Knocking out the first one, he kicks the gun away from the other one then ties him up as well.
The other four come back to see Valke waiting outside. "Hey. Any of you guys have rope?" They look at him weird, so he walks inside, beckoning to them. They see the two technicians, and the weapons they had used. "They tried to kill me, so I knocked them out and tied them up. We need some rope though; it's more intimidating than my string, and hurts more too." They pull out some rope from a crate. "That works."
The technicians wake up half-way to Beacon, to see all of our heroes holding their weapons. "You're going to tell us what you were ordered to do, or I'll let these students do whatever they want to you," Professor Goodwitch threatens. The students all take a step closer, an evil glint in their eyes.
"Eep! Okay, I'll talk! We were ordered by General Wilde to head to this area and kill a boy being sought after by students from Beacon Academy. We were told he was not human and highly dangerous, and to shoot on sight. That's where most of the soldiers went; they were supposed to kill him before you all arrived, but never came back."
"Well, they're gone: torn in tiny little shreds or the animals to eat… If I didn't eat them already," Valke says, emotionlessly. "My feral side loves eating human hearts you know. It says their tough yet tasty." He grins maniacally then walks way, then the other follow him.
In the seating area, away from the new prisoners, they sit down. Valke leans back and closes his eyes; Nick pulls some supplies from a small box, and begins refilling his needles. Sara looks out the window, deep in thought, while Isabel stares at Valke. After a few minutes: "Hey, Valke? What's that ring on your hand?"
Valke's eyes dart open, and he looks at his left hand. On his ring finger is a ring. It's silver, with a thinner black crystal ring in the center as the decoration. Around the black ring, between the silver and the crystal, is a red substance. His eyes get a sad look, obviously remembering a memory. He then pulls it off and passes it around.
"What's this red on here? It looks almost like…" Nick asks.
"Blood? Yeah, that's what it is…" Valke closes his eyes and looks down, returning the ring to his finger. "This ring… is from my late fiancée. It's also my keepsake. That blood is hers." He leans back again. "I'll tell you the entire story back at Beacon." He dozes off, not saying anything else for the rest of the trip.
Hello, Valkerix here. So, I want to ask any readers about what you want. Do you want a darker ending, or a happier ending to this eventually? Should Valke help RWBY and JNPR and friends, or Salem and the other villains? Please leave a review with your vote.