Outcasts and Outlaws
Chapter 11
The Outlaws Return
Okay, so this chapter will introduce another villain, one that will have a place in the next few volumes. He has quite the past, but that won't come until later. Even now, I've yet to write the spin off that tells his story in its entirety, but anyway, enjoy this one! Also, I can't remember if I mentioned this before in one of these chapters, but if you like basketball and anime, please go check out my Kuroko no Basket fanfic, Through The Hoop, which involves lots of action packed games.
Opening Music: RWBY OP 1
(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]
Team JNPR, Ruby and Connor stood in the central plaza of Vale in the middle of the night. Pitch black darkness covered the city, the moons light barely illuminating it. Connor stood by Ruby, still wearing his eyepatch and pendant, looking into the darkness.
Ren stepped forward out of the darkness. His weapon, an automatic pistol with a dagger attached to the clip which he called stormflower, hanging on his belt. "Now what do we do?"
Ruby chipped in excitedly, "Let's go to the magazine shop!" She pointed at the magazine shop in the plaza, the same one that they'd been in when Brook had attacked. Connor was surprised it was open this late, but he knew Ruby loved her weapon magazines, so he agreed to go inside.
As they went in, a man watched them from the shadows on the other side of the plaza. Barely visible in the dark, he wore a brown jacket over a white shirt. His brown hair was quite a mess and was starting to grey, and his face was riddled with dirt, scars and stubble. He had a weapon belt around his waist with two flintlock pistols in the sheaths.
The man watched for a while as he waited for the group to come back out, as he did so, his apprentice came around the corner holding a burger box.
"Here's your stupid burger, sir." Brook snarled, clearly disrespecting his mentor. He stuck out the burger box, his hooks stabbed into the bottom of it for grip. The man took his burger out of the box and tucked into it, sauces dribbling down his chin.
"You could've gotten me a napkin." The man said, speaking in a deep but somehow soft voice.
"Damien." Brook said, grabbing his attention. Damien turned his head to his apprentice, chewing his burger ravenously. "What?" He asked.
"Where's the boy?" Brook asked, gritting his teeth in anger. If he had fists, would've clenched them. Instead, his hooks hung uselessly at his sides.
"He just went into that shop over there." He replied bluntly, nodding his head at the magazine shop. Brook immediately dropped the box he was holding in his hooks and walked out into the light of the plaza, towards the magazine shop.
"Brook!" Damien yelled, trying to call him back. "Stop! I order you not to kill him! There's another way!"
Brook stopped in the middle of the plaza and turned around. "Screw you, old man!" He shouted back at Damien. "Your way isn't working! I have to kill him!"
Damien stepped out of the shadows and continued to argue with Brook. "You're crazy! Why is murder the first thing you think of?!"
At that point in the argument, Connor, Ruby and Team JNPR came back out of the magazine shop and Connor immediately noticed Brook and recognised him. He flicked out his blades, holding them in front of his face and bracing himself. Brook rushed forward instinctively, ready to slash with his hooks. He came to a stop however, when a katana blade blocked his path at throat level. He looked to his right and saw his master, Damien, holding one of pistols in his hand. Attached to the end of the pistol was a long katana blade, which was now positioned in front of Brooks throat.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Brook asked him furiously, fuming at his master.
"I told you not to kill him, there's another way." Damien replied.
Team JNPR stared at the scene in front of them, all incredibly confused, not knowing who either of the two men were. Connor kept his blades in front of his face, just as confused as Team JNPR but not wanting to drop his guard. Ruby shifted a little closer to Connor, knowing full well the danger they were in.
"Allow me to introduce myself." Damien announced, surprisingly politely. "I am Damien, ex leader of the rebel band known as the Outlaws."
Connor suddenly remembered what he'd read in the magazine the day he first met Brook. Damien was the leader of the Outlaws once upon a time. A gang of rebels that eventually gathered a small army to fight for them, but we're taken down. This man and Brook were the only survivors and they were both wanted for treason. This guy was dangerous.
"Despite my comrades attitude, I have no wishes to kill you." Damien explained. "I'm not the kind of guy that kills when there's other options."
Connor didn't know whether to trust him. He had protected them from Brook, but he'd also been responsible for a small scale civil war.
"The reason Brook wants to kill you,"
He continued, seeing their distrust, "Is to get to Kane."
Connor almost jumped out of his own skin, he dropped his guard and stepped back. This prompted a movement from Brook, who was once again blocked by Damien's blade.
"Allow me to explain." Damien said. "A long time ago, at the mere age of 13, Kane joined the Outlaws. He was a child prodigy and so we hired him for our army."
"Shut the hell up." Kane said, but of course only Connor heard him. Kane hadn't ever spoken about his past, and now he seemed reluctant to let the truth come out.
"When we were coming up with ways to win the war, we got our hands on something of immense value. The Kalos Crystal." Connor tensed up upon hearing that. The crystal that he and Mars had looked for had once been in Damien's possession. He could only imagine what terrible things he could've done with it to win the war.
"Unfortunately, as soon as we got the crystal Kane thought he'd like to have it to himself!" Damien continued, now losing his politeness and speaking in an angry snarl. "He murdered two of my men and stole the crystal, then fled with one arm cut off at the elbow!"
Connor, Ruby and Team JNPR froze. Connor now understood why Kane had been so beat up that day in the field, and how he'd gotten the crystal. He killed for it. For power.
"Run. Run now." Kane pleaded, but Connor stayed put as Damien continued.
"Since then, Brook and I have spent our days searching for Kane, and we've finally found him." Damien announced, composing himself and going back to being polite. "He needs to pay for what he did. So hand him over. I know you can eject him from your body of you want to. Do it now, give us Kane."
When Damien's speech came to a close, he lowered his blade from Brooks neck. He didn't move, however, he simply stood and stared at Connor awaiting his response. Team JNPR all put their hands on their weapons, ready to fight if they had to. They now understood the severity of the situation. Ruby stood behind Connor and looked up at him, hoping he had had some sort of plan. Connor looked down at the floor, desperately trying to think of what he should do. After a short while, Damien grew impatient and asked, "So what do you say?"
Connor snapped his head sharply, with a wild look on his face and yelled, "Screw you!" Then he placed his hand on the ground as it pulsed with a dark aura, exploding the ground beneath him and sending black smoke all over the plaza. Damien and Brook both coughed loudly while Team JNPR and Ruby covered their mouths.
"Where is he?!" Brook shouted as the smoke cleared. He was answered by a small rock smashing into the back of his head and leaving a small bruise. He and Damien turned around and saw Connor standing on a rooftop, his long black coat flapping in the wind, the moon shining behind him. His eyes were pitch black, just like they were when Kane destroyed the village.
"You think I'd just give up Kane?!" He yelled down at them. "He may be an asshole, and he may have ruined my childhood, but I've been with him for 8 years and in that time I've come to respect him! I'd never sell him to out to you!" As he stopped speaking, the dark aura crawled up his arms and surrounded the rest of his body, he coat flapped even more brilliantly than before and the moons light illuminated his outline.
"My name is Connor Hikaru-Kodomo, and I'm gonna kill you!"
Ah, I remember writing that line. It's simple, but it gave me joy. Anyway, the next chapter will have some action in it. Until then!
