Book 2: The one winged dragon
Summary: Now that the door of his past are beginning to open Drake along with his family and hunters must found the relationship between the mavericks with the white fang and Roman Torchwick not knowing that he has yet to face stronger challenges.
Chapter 13
"You two have no idea in how much trouble you are in!" shouted Alia as she stood in front of two beds in the infirmary of the MH HQ.
"I am really amazed how fast she changes from caring mother to angry mother." Said Axl who was resting against the wall as he received an smack on the head.
"Thank you Bullet." Said the blonde mother as she looked at her two sons, one who was looking straight at her eyes with a little hint of fear, while the other one looked away not wanting to look at her mother`s red eyes, you can already guess which who was each one.
"In my defense… it was totally worth it."
That only made Alia twitch while Axl face palmed.
"Worth it, Worth it!" shouted Alia as she looked at Vent`s medical record, "You have most of the bones of your left side fractured and a hole that was made with celestial energy! Had it not being for your brother, you would be death Vent." Said his mother with an stern face making him flinch.
"And you," she looked at Gunvolt, "You allowed to go on a dangerous mission with no more backup."
"I wouldn't have been to find the lair of the White Fang if it wasn't for him." Said the blonde in a calm way.
"And even after that you let him stay!?"
"He proved his worth in the mission, not only was he able to hijack the paladins,"
"Neat! Ouch!" said Axl who was soon smacked by Bullet.
"And was able to hold his own against another celestial."
"That one was thanks to me." Said model A who was floating next to Vent.
"You quiet."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Wow, he really behaves like you." Said Bullet gaining a glare from the orange brunette, "No he doesn't!"
"So, what are you doing tonight?"
"In second thought… you were never this direct," said Bullet making Axl frown as she looked at A, "Do you have something planned?"
While Axl mentally thought of the self-destruction of model A, Alia who finally admitted defeat in scolding both of her sons, changed back to a caring mother… with red eyes.
"What about Lumine,"
Axl stopped his rant about a 'technological device stealing his girlfriend' and focused on what he was hearing.
The moment he and A checked that Drake and Vent were alright, Axl didn't waste time in calling the HQ so they could take Vent from there and while he took care of Drake until there was someone else who could keep an eye on him.
"There was a psychopath near to you and your uncle, one that is not only supposed to be death but is also a celestial, how do expect to explain that Gunvolt?"
Surprisingly the blonde didn't have an excuse to aid his younger brother.
"Just as I thought," he looked at her younger, "I know that you feel unstoppable now that you have a way to fight, but your desire to do so is going to be your end son." Said his mother referring of the use of his domain.
"Please don't take this away from me." Said the brunette with a pleading voice not wanting his right to be a hunter, a true hunter, to be negated.
"… I wont."
Vent's eyes opened slightly with a little hint of hope on them, "Under some conditions,"
"One, you will only use your domain on yourself to the point were you can recognize ally from enemy, two, only leave the use of the 100% as a last resort, and mean last Vent, three, always get the priority of the mission in mind."
Vent nodded not seeing a problem with any of the requests, "Is that all?"
"Yes, for you."
Alia looked at his older son, "All of the others conditions doesn't matter, if your brother disagrees with this."
Gunvolt eyes his brother for a second to see that his narrowed a bit, "What is my/his condition mother?"
"… From here on, you and your brother will be partnered together, permanently, I want you not only to look for him, but also to inform me if any of the restriction mentioned before were violated."
Gunvolt nodded his head without hesitation, not expecting his mother to pull not just him, but also Vent out of his head to receive a tender hug.
"Promise me you will only take care of each other."
"Wow… way to much sentiment for my liking."
"Don't ruin the moment A." said Bullet as she looked at Axl whose eyes were red, the simple fact of thinking of lumine make him angry to no end, making her worry knowing that things would get harder, and dangerous.
"You do know you owe me for this right?"
"Geez, not even a full minutes as partners and you are already abusing of the situation." Replied Vent who mouthed a thank you to his brother who only nodded.
"He looks so peaceful… I am going to paint his face!"
"Nora!" shouted Ren making Nora from painting Drake`s face while he slept profoundly, very profoundly.
Axl had asked Ren to look after Drake because he didn't want to leave him alone since he was a little paranoid for what had happened in the infirmary, unfortunately he was also going to look after Nora who didn't want to stay away from Ren, while said girl also invited a certain number of people.
"Why the hell do they have a room that is the double the size of the normal ones only for themselves?" Thought Yang out loud as she searched for every drawer while Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby looked at Axl `s hunter equipment, mainly his camouflage device while Zwei looked at it fascination.
Blake was sitting in Axl`s bed while reading Drake`s book collection, and although they lacked some of her usual preferences, they were still ok.
And Weiss and Yang, "Found anything?" asked Weiss.
"Nope… wait what are you looking for?"
Weiss stopped and then looked at the blonde, "What are you looking for?" asked Weiss with a voice suspicion as she raised her eyebrow.
"Something to blackmail or make Drake feel uncomfortable you… you are looking for something that you could use for your companies benefit don't you?"
"Good luck with that," said Ren getting their attention, "according to Axl, Drake keep a lot of important things in a safe, so you are losing your time Weiss, not sure about you Yang." Replied Ren as he made sure that Nora ate Axl`s food, he was not going to be happy but it was better than her childhood`s best friend to destroy everything.
"Why don't you go an play with Ruby and the others, perhaps you could se if that machine can made a version of you that it isn't so… plain."
Weiss turned red of fury as Yang laughed at her reaction while the white haired girl exit the room in anger.
"Was that really necessary?" asked Blake who was smiling behind the book she was currently reading.
"I am pretty sure Drake and Axl wouldn't like the situation if Weiss happened to find something important."
"And what you are doing is any different because…"
"Because there is no harm in a little leverage for the future, wanna help me out?" asked Yang with a grim on her face as she saw Ruby using Axl`s device to be an older version of herself making Yang feel threaten for some reason as she saw the matured Ruby.
"No thanks, I am comfortable right now."
"Suit yourself, I am going to as Zwei, maybe he might be able to find something."
"Just get him away from me." Said Blake as she looked at Yang with sharp eyes.
"I wonder how is that you are afraid of Zwei and yet you carry Lambert like nothing."
"That is one of my many mysteries."
Yang snorted as she looked around looking for said dog to see Zwei looking at the night table next to Drake`s bed.
"What are you looking at Zwei? Anything I can use as leverage?" asked Yang as she saw on the bed carefully not wanting to disturb Drake, not that it mattered anyway.
"A photo?" asked Yang making Zwei bark as she took the frame, it was a pretty recent photo of Drake, Axl and Lambert, she knew it was recent by the simple fact that no one, not even Drake himself knew that Axl was his brother.
The blonde brawler frowned as she took the picture and looked at Drake`s robotic arm, she turned her head to see him sleeping peacefully even with all the noise around.
This make her remember what he had told her during the dance, Drake didn't feel the need to eat not sleep unless he swallowed some pills, he then regained the need to eat and ate four massive towers of pancakes while Nora watched with a murderous glare.
And now Drake was sleeping without a care in the world, did it meant that he was finally cured? What about his soul?
There were so many questions going through her head, unfortunately her train of thought was interrupted as she felt Zwei's paw touching her.
"What is it? Wanna see the picture?"
Zwei`s answer was a soft bark making Yang giggle as she showed her pet the picture only for him to put it`s paw in the extreme of the frame.
"What? Looking at Lambert? He may be able to turn into a Grimm but I am sure you are smarter than him." Replied Yang only to receive an small bark as Zwei repeatedly raised then put it`s paw over and over again making the blonde rise an eyebrow.
"Seeing something I am not?" asked Yang as she looked at the picture once more while Zwei nodded as he tried to stood in two legs to touch the very same spot on the place, this made Yang look at the corner of the picture to notice there was an small end under the actual picture making the blonde smirk thinking she found something to blackmail.
"Very clever Drake, but not enough." Said Yang as she opened the frame to see a second picture behind the actual one, "And what do we-"
Her words were suddenly cut short as she saw the picture while her skin turned pale.
She looked at the picture for a full minute and then put it in one of her pockets with care not wanting to ruin it.
She finally stood up after putting the frame back in it`s original position, she kneeled and rubbed Zwei`s head as a thank you and silently started to walk to the door as she looked at Drake one last time as she finally got out of the room with out the rest noticing.
Yang stood out of the room and stood there for a full minute until she decided to go for a walk outside thinking in the last thing, person, she was expecting to see in a picture.
The brawler shook her head as she pushed the thought of the picture for later, not expecting she was going to have another surprise waiting for her in the statue of beacon.
"Why I am being the only one to 'grounded'!?" shouted an angry Veronica who had all her chest bandaged.
"You did not only disobeyed your order but also engaged against not one but two members of the D Dragon family." Said a cold yet soft voice.
"What about Forte!? Wasn't he supposed to end Drake`s life ever since the Forever Fall."
"Forte`s priorities changed, Drake changed from elimination to a retrieve target, something that it would have been possible if he didn't had the need to go and rescue you and your brother."
"How was I supposed to know than that little trash was going to have a trump card."
"I told you Veronica, never underestimate a member of that family."
"But-"
"But nothing, this is the second time you are a near death experience thanks to your behavior, you are not leaving this place until I say so, and that is an order." Said the female putting an end to the conversation as she looked at veronica with cold eyes.
"…As you wish mother." Said Veronica as she bowed and then walked away leaving her mother alone, or so did Veronica think.
"Don't you think you were rather hard with her my lady?" asked a man with an old voice.
The woman turned her head to the corner of the hall too see the face of very old man with a Long nose and white hair, he was using some kind of special suit that allowed him to levitate while it also had a clear helmet around his head that was filled with an dark yellow liquid.
"Only because she is a celestial, it doesn't mean she is invincible," said the woman as she frowned, "How is he?"
"… All of his organs were slightly burned due to the excess of electricity, you do not only owe Forte for saving Veronica, but also Orchid, a little more time and the damages would be irreparable, or worse."
The female narrowed her eyes, "Anything else?"
"I am afraid he will need to time to recover."
"Good, in another subject, did Lumine got what you were seeking?"
The man grinned, "Oh yes indeed, thanks to her the knowledge of the weapon the youngest Dragon used is now on our power, it will help nicely to project APOLLO."
"Speaking of which, will the subjects be ready for the tournament?"
"Ready? With this they will be more than ready, I am still amazed someone so young was able build something so magnificent, with it we might be even be able to recreate Drake`s domain and not need of him."
"Perhaps, only time will tell, by the way, why did you come here? I am sure you could have told me about the state of my son via message."
The old man turned to the corner he from where he came, "You can come out." The old man ordered making come out a tall person with red hair wearing a Grimm mask with bull like horns coming out of it, and a all black suit with red marks in some parts with a katana in hand.
The woman grinned the same way the old one was as she saw who it was, "Why are you here?"
"To obey your every word."
"Does the name Axl D Dragon sound familiar to you?"
"Is he a target?"
the grin of the woman just couldn't get any wider that it was already.
"Just I predicted, don't you see Ozpin? All this time I was in the right." Said Ironwood who was in Ozpin`s office with X, who had Purgatory in hand, and Lambert as he pointed at the screen.
Ironwood had sent his soldiers to clean the rest of the tunnel of Grimm and investigate the place the white fang was staying, not expecting to find bodies, no, bones.
The bones found in the tunnel were neither from Faunus nor humans, instead the remains were of elephants according to the scientist.
It wasn't until Ironwood recalled Oobleck's report that all of the pieces started to assemble together.
"It was going to happen eventually." Said Ozpin as he took a sip from his mug while X was rubbing the spot between his eyes.
"The first thing I tell him between coming to the academy, do not use neither the cannon or your semblance to that degree, and yet he does do it, goddammit Drake."
"With this we can finally turn the tides with the Grimm." Said Ironwood confidently as he filled his coffee with alcohol, all of it.
"Yeaaaaah, no." said X plain and simple making Ironwood stop from taking a sip of his high alcoholic coffee.
"Excuse me, what?"
"What you heard," said X as he calmly stood up and put his mug in the table, "Let me explain it to you from the beginning with your thought and point of view in the table, so can see how it all leads to a serious of misfortunate events,"
X pointed at the general, "That are mostly your fault."
"We start with a younger Drake, who adventures himself in the Emerald forest after listening something Ozpin," said X who looked at the grey haired man, "That really says a lot about you parental skills."
The professor simply rolled his eyes as X continued.
"While been in a forest infested with Grimm, he met a deathly yet adorable little Beowulf that he befriended and then later to turned into a doggy."
Lambert barked, "Correct, you Lambert, and after some misfortunate attack from the Grimm in the forest, Drake managed to destroy them in a… beast like manner if have to say myself."
X took a breath and the looked at Ironwood, "And that is where you enter, Ozpin called you for help after he saw the video feed taking by the cameras of the forest, you knowing that Drake turned a Grimm into a living animal, became obsessed by it and decided to experiment with him to try and find how did he do it."
"Something I still blame you for." Said X referring to Ozpin, who accepted full responsibility for that action.
"You can save the speech," said Ironwood, "We all know what happened that day."
"Oh but that is the problem, you don't know what you and your stupid machine caused."
"You mean your brother becoming an antisocial, great thing."
X narrowed his eyes as he used his thumb to reveal part of the blade, "I would be more than happy to rip off that right hand of yours, especially with this blade."
Ironwood kept a very straight face although he started sweating as he saw how X started to draw the green blade.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Want to bet?" asked X making the man stand back.
"Drake ability as you might have guessed, or at least I think you know, is Light and Darkness. By manipulating the darkness inside of the Grimm and convert them to light, and since the light inside them was once dark, all of their abilities of when they were Grimm are retained, and with the new light inside of them the generation of aura it is possible, that is what Drake did with Lambert all those years ago without him knowing until recently."
"I still don't unders-" Ironwood stooped what he was going to say as X put the tip of Purgatory millimeters on his neck.
"Your stupid machine not only changed Drake in his way of being, it also messed with his soul badly. When he stayed with us I explained this very same thing I am telling you and then proceeded to experiment with a little nevermore, do you know what happened?"
James didn't say a word, but he knew the answer wasn't positive as he noticed that X`s eyes had turned red.
"The process of conversion was painful for him, he started to bleed from his eyes and nose, but he didn't stop thinking that with this he could help with the threat that are the Grimm."
X made the blade make contact with Ironwood`s skin as he continued, "In the end it did work, instead of a black savage beast, stood a wonderful white bird that cried for freedom out of his cage. But before either of us could open the gate, the bird stated dying. And let me tell you it wasn't a cure sight. The bird stated to change between black and white and stated to move irrationally, almost as if he was dying from the inside, which was the case. In the end, the bird died, and soon after it`s feathers felt and the skin began to deteriorate until only it`s bones remained, and why did it happen, because one giant piece of shit decided to use my little brother as a guinea pig."
"Enough." Said Ozpin with a calm voice letting them remember that he was also in the office.
X snorted and unsheathed the green blade while looking at the man in white, "We cannot use Drake`s semblance to that level ever again, yes, it works to kill Grimm, but the pain is to big for him to handle it."
"Maybe I can-"
"You have done enough James, I suggest you to leave before this turns into something worse." Said Ozpin looking to the man straight in the eyes indicating it wasn't a suggestion.
Without saying a single word, not even a 'Sorry', General James Ironwood left the building.
"I can`t believe he had the guts to come here after he rant you to the council," said X as he sat on a chair and sighed, "I need a drink."
"How much of what you said was truth?" asked Ozpin as he pulled a bottle of scotch from his drawer.
"Don't you have anything better?" asked X leaving the question aside.
The silver haired man only stared at the brown haired one, "I suppose I shouldn't expect to less from a caffeine addict." Said X as he took the bottle to put some on his empty mug.
"You are really smart, Ironwood is really responsible for the effect of pain whenever Drake tried the conversion since the machine did affected his soul."
"But the part of the conversion being a failure was thanks to his wound, am I correct?"
X nodded, "But he doesn't need know that." X said as he stood up and walked to the elevator with Lambert to his side.
"I am sorry about what happened this afternoon." Said Ozpin making X stop.
"Don't be, that bitch is really slippery, I am just happy my son and brother are ok."
"Any idea why she was here?"
X face frowned, "No, but something tells me there is going to be a lot of problems with that in the future, have a good night Ozpin." Said X as he entered the elevator with Lambert who barked at him.
"Don't worry, I am going to leave you with Drake now, I am sure he misses you as well."
The puppy barked happily as they exit the elevator.
"About damn time." Said a voice that made X froze the moment he heard it while Lambert growled at the person that the hybrid did recognize.
"Rest Lambert, he is not here to harm us." Said X making Lambert confused while the older Dragon looked at the figure that was leaning against the wall next to the entrance of the elevator.
It was a man around the same age as X; he was wearing a long sleeved black shirt with shoes and pants of the same color, he black had black hair that was in a long ponytail, all that made the perfect combination for his Black colored eyes.
"Finally decided to come yourself? In another subject, using Dynamo, seriously?" asked X who started to walk away while Lambert followed his wary of the stranger
"He does anything for money," said the person as he also followed X, "Besides, you can`t blame him with out things are turning out to be." The person replied as he started to walk next to him, "You are gonna need to pay me back all that money when this is over."
X growled at the thought, after all, Dynamo`s service were nor cheap.
"Sorry," said the man breaking X chain of thought, "I was only able to repair the normal connection between Drake`s body and his soul, but I am afraid his full connection with his domain is beyond my experience." Said the person with regret in his voice.
"At least he is able to eat and by the looks of it sleep again like normal, although you could have fixed both the last time."
The person narrowed his eyes, "That one was your fault, you got there to soon."
"We were being observed, remember? I didn't want to take a risk, so why are you here?"
"Remember there was a shipment of 4 objects?"
X nodded, "Yes, it was in the report Drake and the rest gave me the night of the FALZARs."
"I don't know what they are, but there is a plan for them to be used during the tournament, and if I heard right whatever Lumine came here to do with help greatly as well."
X stopped at that, "Any idea of what?"
"I am afraid not."
X frowned at that, "Anything else?"
"Yes, there was something about the White Fang related with a high ranking officer, I am not entire sure what it is. I will try to keep you posted."
X nodded, "Thanks again for you are doing."
The man shook his head, "I owe it to you and Z, for everything."
"Take care then." Said X as he started walking again while the person did the same in an opposite direction.
"Oh right," said X as he stopped again and turned around while grinning , "Hey Bassium!"
Bass turned around annoyed, "I told not to ca-!"
The wielder of Pandemonium never finished the sentence as he left his whole body punched by something big successfully sending him away, "That was for fracturing Vent's bones."
Lambert barked at that, "And Lambert`s too."
AN: With this I set the stage for the next volume, if I decide to continue with this fic and if the next Vol really covers the tournament, because if it doesn't I might need to rewrite a little.