Boom!
Panic spread all across the commercial district of Vale as two warehouses were blown apart. From the ashes of the warehouses emerged a group of masked individuals, bearing the red insignia of the White Fang on their backs. In front of them was another individual, bearing the familiar traits of Roman Torchwick.
Roman gripped his hand around his cane, breathing in deeply as he felt a power he'd never felt before. He'd been missing this power, though he'd never had it to begin with. His hair was such a dark red that it almost looked like dried blood, his skin now deathly pale, his eyes a cruel red.
"Oooh..." Roman cooed as he looked over his shoulder at the White Fang that were given to him. He knew that he could probably take them all on and kill them, but he also knew that he needed them for now. "I gotta say, Perry." He said to one of the terrorists as he slapped his shoulder, "I feel great!" He then proceeded to shove off the smaller subordinate.
He looked around at the large trucks being packed full of Dust, both powdered and crystalized. Roman squinted his eyes as he remembered his orders from the kid in the Grimm mask.
"Congratulations, Roman, you're not one of them anymore. You're stronger now, you're one of us."
The shirtless form of Roman Torchwick was busy retching on floor after he'd fallen out of his glass coffin he was forced into. The experience of whatever had been done to him was blurry, but he knew it was painful. Soon enough, the pain that flowed through his veins morphed into a sort of power. Like he was filled with a surge of constant hatred induced adrenaline, his aura going into overdrive just before it became uncomfortably brittle.
"Wha-" Roman stuttered, getting to his feet and feeling like every movement he made was overshot, "What the hell did you do to me!?" He demanded. He looked down at his skin and noticed the pallor, nearly white as snow. The hair that dangled before his eye was darkened like it was charred.
"We saved you, Roman. Now you're gonna live through the end of the world." Replied the boy in the mask who moved to remove the bone white armor from his face. After the damaged deathstalker mask was gone, Roman caught view of a boy, no older than seventeen. His messy payne grey hair was flattened by his mask, his crimson eyes now wide and enthusiastic. "Now you don't have to worry about dying like everyone else."
"W-what are you talking about?" Roman asked as he felt the overwhelming power surge throughout him, no sign of it dying any time soon.
"Roman, you're not human anymore. You're one of us." The boy elaborated, "You're gonna help us build the perfect world."
Roman tried to say something, anything. But every time he would open his mouth, he'd only stutter or cough.
"Roman, I'd like you to take another look at your little friend here." Said the boy, moving out of the way to show Roman his dead subordinate, Neo. She lay on the floor, dead, unmoving. "Tell me what you feel when you see her."
As Roman Torchwick looked over his dead partner, he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. He could remember the feelings he once had for her, training her like an apprentice, like a child of his own almost. But now, all Roman saw was a body; a piece of spoiled meat...
"I don't feel anything..."
"I know you don't." Replied the boy. "You won't anymore, because you're above them. These humans are nothing to us, Roman. Nothing but a dead link in the constant evolution that we must continue." The boy stepped up closer to Roman, his two partners following closely behind him. One bore the mask of a boarbatusk, the other donned the visage of a creep. "As much as you may think you want to fight it, you want them all to die just as much as us. It's instinct now, Roman."
The more Roman contemplated the boy's words, the more he realized their truth. Everyone he could remember from his past was now covered in a thick sheet of hatred. He hated them, all of them. He wanted them to die, he wanted to kill them. He wanted their light to go out. He wanted to break them. He wanted to end those filthy humans.
"What do you want me to do, kid?" Roman asked with a smile that broadened across his mouth, showcasing a new set of sharper fangs.
The boy smiled back. It was a devious smile that showed cunning and hatred.
"We got a few thorns in our side that we need to pull out."
Roman stood before the trucks as they were loaded up. He knew that a robbery this blatant and noisy would attract his targets. As he looked around at his troops, he knew that they didn't stand a chance. He was surrounded by weaklings. It didn't matter if they were humans or faunas, they were weaker than he. He decided quickly that if his targets didn't kill his men, he would do it himself. Just the thought of seeing these peoples' blood made Roman feel giddy.
Roman looked up at the bright blue sky and the passing clouds and couldn't help but growl. Stupid bright colors... He thought as he watched the plumes of smoke from the destroyed warehouse blot out the vibrance of the day.
Those same plumes of smoke were seen by Xavier Ray and Blake Belladonna, who were moving through the crowds of panicking people to get closer to the crisis.
"Blake, slow down!" Xavier cried, moving closely behind the girl. Xavier and Blake eventually escaped the wave of people when they reached the end of the street. "What are you doing?" He asked, taking a brief moment to catch his breath.
"That smoke, it's coming from the old Dust storage warehouses! If we can get there in time we can catch the real culprit that's been stealing all this Dust." She called over her shoulder as she ran as fast as she could.
What Blake didn't expect was the sudden sound of FLLFFL powering up, and Xavier's arm to quickly wrap around her waist as he burst off the floor, taking her with him.
Blake quickly gripped around Xavier as the two flew quickly towards the site where the explosion had taken place. She didn't have the time to be entranced like the night before, as she and Xavier were both confused on what to do once they got there.
"Xavier! Do you have a plan!?" Blake asked loudly, as she couldn't hear herself at the speed they flew. "No!" Xavier replied at the same volume, "Violet's always the one with the plan!" Before either of them could come up with anything, they were already dangerously close to their destination.
"Jump!" Xavier ordered, dropping the cat girl from his arms.
Both Blake and Xavier hit the floor simultaneously, a cloud of blue exhaust surrounding them. Before them were four large trucks that were probably loaded with all different kinds of Dust, as well as nearly two dozen soldiers from the White Fang.
"No..." Was all Blake could get out as she shook her head sadly.
Xavier switched his blade into an underhanded manner, light glinting off of the reflective blade. He held the sword at eye level, crouching down and concentrating. "Blake, maybe you should try to appeal to their Fangy side, y'know, since you were part of them once." Xavier suggested, "Hurry, before things get violent."
Blake nodded affirmatively before pulling quickly at a strand of her bow, removing it. Her cat ears were revealed as she approached the terrorists with determination. "Brothers of the White Fang!" Blake began, standing tall and speaking with authority, just as she had done when first meeting Xavier. "You are above petty robberies such as this! Where is your honor!?"
It was then that many of the members that were ready to engage seemed to tense up and get nervous, some even looked a bit guilty.
"Throw down your arms and leave while you still have some honor left!" Blake commanded. Just in case things got messy, Gambol Shroud was holstered to Blake's back. She watched the emotional confusion among her fellow faunas and couldn't help but feel she made a small impact.
"Honor this, little kitty." A voice cut through the silence, as well as a flare that nearly hit Blake if not for Xavier once again bursting forward and taking her in one arm.
Roman Torchwick gritted his teeth as he launched several more flares at the pair of students. "Alright, you animals! Take'm down!" He ordered, thrusting his free hand forward in a fist.
With that, the White Fang moved forward.
Xavier let go of Blake quickly, who span out of his grip and delivered a brutal downward kick to the head of one terrorist as she landed. Hastily, Blake dismounted Gambol Shroud and unsheathed her weapon, switching it quickly to pistol form while she held her bladed sheathe in an underhand. Blake disappeared quickly as one Fang member struck her copy, being quickly put down by a slash to the leg and a quick and brutal jab to the head with the butt of her pistol. She proceeded to attack more enemies as they came to her, using decisive shots and slashes.
Xavier was dealing with Torchwick, striking hard and fast with jabs and movements assisted by his jet. Roman blocked every hit thrown his way, even managing to get a swing or two in and strike his opponent. The battle between the two was obviously being controlled by the man with the cane, who was merely toying with the wolf boy as the two of them went back and forth. "Give it up, scruffy," Taunted Torchwick as he pressed his cane down hard on the boy's blade, forced him downward. "I'm a new man! A survivor!" He growled, leaning into the boy's face with a mad grin, "You're just a stupid human that will eventually die off anyway, so give it up now!"
Xavier grunted as he strained to keep the man off of him. "I'm- grrk!" He tried to reply, feeling the pressure on his arms increase with every second he tried to hold on.
"What was that, scruffy?" Roman taunted, leaning in mockingly, "Does the wittle doggy think that he's 'people'?"
Before Xavier could come back with anything, a loud blast was heard throughout the lot.
"Get!"
Bang!
"Away!"
Bang!
"From!"
Bang
"My!"
Bang!
"Friends!"
Standing atop one of the buildings surrounding the lot were Ruby Rose and Violet Storm, as well as another girl with auburn hair who was wearing some sort of techno-victorian getup. In Ruby's hands was a gigantic red and black sniper rifle, firing powerful rounds that cracked the ground and sent Fang members flying.
One of these high impact dust rounds struck Roman hard in the chest, sending him off of Xavier and against the wall. The wolf boy used this opportunity to burst away from Torchwick to land somewhere near Blake.
"Ruby!" Blake cried, reaching up and removing her attention from the battle momentarily. Xavier barely got there in time to block a grunt's downward slash with a naginata-rifle that would have got Blake.
"Fight now! Reunion later!" Xavier barked over his shoulder, gaining an affirmative nod from Blake.
On top of the building and next to Ruby was Violet, watching the whole battle play out. Many of the White Fang that were here had already been beat, but there was still more of them, and the threat of Roman Torchwick.
"What do you make of all this, Rubes?" Violet asked, her hair being blown back with every shot from her friend's Crescent Rose.
"The guys in uniforms look like push overs," The younger girl replied, "But that guy in the hat... I've seen and fought him before!"
Bang, bang, bang!
"Seen him before?" Violet asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah!" Ruby answered, reloading her rifle quickly and efficiently, "He's kinda the reason I got into Beacon two years early." Her new magazine was locked and loaded, so she began firing once more. "He looks different now, it's kinda weirding me out."
Penny moved in between the two girls and stared at Roman, who was simply pacing back and forth as he watched his henchmen throw themselves at the enemy. Her eyes were squinting as she took in every detail of the man and processed it.
"He's not matching the data for 'Roman Torchwick', his signature is looking quite odd." She said simply as she analyzed him.
"Penny, what are you talking about?" Ruby asked before unleashing another round. "Why are you talking in techno babble?"
Penny shook her head quickly, "Er, I'm just going off what I've read about him in articles and other examples. His hair is orange, right?" Penny asked, just before a small hiccup escape her. She continued on in an attempt to divert the subject, "But now it is like dried blood."
"His hair color doesn't matter right now!" Violet said with a nod, "I'm going down there to get in on this. Nobody hurts that scruffy idiot but me!"
With that, Violet leapt off the roof of the warehouse, flipping forward and unfolding her Spiral Songs. Quickly, she used her reverse semblance and used the spinning to slow her fall.
"I will assist my friend, Violet." Said Penny with a determined smile and a nod.
"But Penny, it's dangerous down there!" Ruby warned, firing a round into a White Fang members chest.
"I've told you before, Ruby," Penny assured with a broad and confident smile, "I'm combat ready!"
From there, the small pouch on Penny's back opened up, releasing ten thin, angular, glowing swords that seemed to float around her. They hovered dangerously around her as she converted the bottom ones into a form of pistol before jumping off of the roof to follow behind Violet. As she jumped, she flashed Ruby one more smile.
Boom!
Both Violet and Penny slammed into the floor next to each other. Penny wasted no time in charging forward, moving through the White Fang members with her blades to get directly to Roman. Violet was more concerned with her teammate, who was surrounded on all sides by White Fang members.
"You scruffy little jerk!" Violet yelled, catching the attention of Xavier and all those surrounding. She then proceeded to blast round after round into the enemy before her while pressing forward to get to her teammate. Soon enough, every assailant around Xavier was either flung back from the shots or writhing in pain on the floor. "I thought I told you to stay in contact!" She told him, now walking up to him with her guard completely down. A White Fang member attempted to get the jump on her but was shot down by a high pressure round from Ruby's Crescent Rose. "Jeez, I leave you alone for a few hours and you're already caught in an explosive battle with the White Fang! Idiot!"
Xavier groaned, also letting his guard down. "Can we do this later?" He asked exasperatedly, "We have a criminal to catch and some Fang to put down." Without even blinking, he spun around and drove FLLFFL across a terrorist's face. Violet sighed, "When we're done here..." She muttered the rest incoherently.
Penny and Blake were both attacking Roman Torchwick simultaneously, delivering elegant slashes and twirling strikes that were all expertly blocked and dodged by the man. As Roman fought, he happily hummed "Singing in the Rain" to himself.
Before delivering a hard kick to Penny's chest, he flashed a wicked smile full of teeth like that of a predator. Spinning around from there, Roman could focus more effort on taking down his other opponent, who now fought alone. Blow after blow onto Blake's Gambol Shroud rattled her hands, and Torchwick was getting better and better at predicting where she was and where her copy was. After firing an explosive round into Blake's chest and sending her flying back, Roman stood alone.
"Blake!" Xavier shouted worriedly, jetting over to her on the floor. He began to help her up, before she pushed his hands away and shook her head. "I'll pick myself up." She muttered through gritted teeth, before forcing herself to her wobbly feet.
All five of the students stopped their actions and stared at Roman. He was obviously toying with each of them. Even if they all attacked him at once, he'd be able to come out on top.
He smiled wickedly at the teens as fire from the destroyed factory danced around the whole lot, reflecting madly in his bright red eyes.
"I think it's my turn now." He said to all of them. With that, the back of his shirt tore open, revealing two ten foot raven wings with mangled feathers and a reflective film. They glinted in the falling daylight, the sun now beginning to set on the battle.
Before any of them could react, Roman was bursting through the air, firing round after round of explosive flares that torched and blew apart the ground beneath the students. All the while, Roman sang aloud. "I'm singing in the rain~! Just singin' in the rain~!"
The students screamed painfully as their auras were pushed to their limits, only Ruby who stood away from the lot on top of a building fought back. She fired round after round at the now airborne Roman Torchwick, missing every shot as he shifted in the air.
"What a glorious feelin'~" He sang as he fired off a flare directly at Ruby, "I'm happy again~, I'm laughin' at the clouds~!" Ruby could barely backflip out of the way before the shot blew away her previous position.
Roman quickly slammed down on the charred area, smiling at Ruby Rose with animalistic bloodlust, "I've a smile on my face~," He continued to sing, his wings now retreating as he sprinted forward at the girl. "With happy refrain~!"
Ruby quickly shifted her sniper around her and into its scythe form, barely catching Roman's can as it slammed hard into the six foot handle of her weapon. She winced and grunted as she pushed with all her might against Roman's strength, dwarfing hers. "Just singin~" He sang happily to her as he pressed down with little effort, "Singin' in the rain!"
Just as he'd finished his song and was ready to finish the little caped girl before him, a large cyan ray collided with Roman's chest. He flew back and away from Ruby, being pushed back by the force of the beam slamming into him, looking for a moment to notice the new player on the field.
He was a young man, not a student, but a man. Probably in his early twenties. His sky blue hair waved wildly, being pushed back by the force and energy from the large beam cannon in his hands. Over his eyes were a set of shades with cyan lenses, completely reflective and showing none of his eyes themselves. From the waist up he wore a black skintight shirt with short sleeves, blue suspenders crossing over his chest and back in an 'X'. His legs donned armored pants that were blue on the cloth areas, while matte gunmetal on the metallic plates fastened along it. His boots were made of a the same metal as the plates all over his pants, moving easily with his feet. From his forearms to the tips of his fingers he wore skintight gloves of the same material as his boots and leg armor.
The silver and blue beam cannon in his hands was bigger than he was, being 6'2, and looked ridiculously heavy. It was thick, but sleek, looking like a fighter jet in the form of a cannon. The vents and seams on the sides of the cannon glowed with blue brilliance, exhausting little sparks of Dust as the cyan beam burst from the nozzle at the end.
"Get out'a here!" Cried the new arrival, directing his shouts toward the girl in black and red. Ruby was about to protest before the man yelled "Now!" Ruby nodded quickly before moving toward her downed friends in the burning lot below.
The beam bushing Roman back ceased shortly after the girl's escape, resulting in a pissed off criminal and a man with his teeth gritted.
"Let me guess, you're a Huntsman?" Roman asked, casually walking toward the man before him. The man nodded, revealing his position, "Yeah, I am." He said, "And you're a terrorist." He said threateningly.
The two stared each other down momentarily before Roman sprinted forward with a sudden incredible speed.
The Huntsman growled and quickly pulled a lever on his cannon, removing the foot long nozzle of the gun and an extra foot within. Just as quickly, the man slammed the husk of the cannon on his back. After letting go, the silver and blue cannon shell transformed and wrapped itself around the Huntsman's back and chest, becoming a layer of hard armor, guarding his torso.
The two foot rod in his hand contained a Dust crystal and several other mechanisms, but most importantly was a switch. The Huntsman flicked the switch upward, producing a six foot cyan beam of light from the nozzle. It glowed brilliantly in the dim light of the dying sunset, daring not to be snuffed out.
Roman instantly closed the distance between the two of them, and the new arrival thrust out his hand. The two then disappeared instantly in a flash of white and blue.
Down below, Ruby Rose was moving through the mess of rubble and the flame that was once a backlot to a Dust Storage Warehouse. She'd taken little to no damage in the fight, due to her position on that roof, so she used the time that mysterious man gave her to look for the others.
"Blake!" She cried, drawing out the syllable as she stumbled across the cracked asphalt. She looked around frantically, trying to find any sign of life. Then, she heard coughing. Feminine coughing. Ruby rushed over to the source of the coughing, taking out Crescent Rose and using it to hack away the rubble surrounding her friend.
Blake was free, but heavily injured. He face was covered in soot and her arms and face were cut all over. Her aura was visibly trying to patch her up, but it wouldn't be enough. "Ruby..." She wheezed, her arm being taken by the smaller girl and thrown over her shoulder. From there, the two half limed, half dragged around the vicinity, looking for the others.
"Xavier!" Blake tried to call out, but she could barely put out the sound. "Penny!" Ruby sounded, calling to her odd friend.
Violet was on the other side of the destroyed lot, her eyes wide open in shock.
Fire, fire surrounded Violet as she cried and cried for her father Indigo. The buildings around her were none more than ruins and she lay on her knees in a pile of soot and debris. Howling filled the night, as well as growling and snarling. Monsters wanted to eat her and she knew there was no escape...
"Violet!"
The voice was like a wake up call to her, forcing her out of her dark memory. Before her soot covered face was a boy's gloved hand, and beyond that stood Ross Mayweather. His face was full of concern, his eyes with small bits of tears at the ends, and he trembled slightly.
"Ross?" Violet wheezed as she looked at the boy in front of her. Her mouth moved up into a melancholy grin as tears began to roll down both their cheeks. "How's it going?" She creaked.
Ross wasted no time in helping her up and over his shoulder.
"Weiss and Yang are looking for Ruby and Blake," He told her with determination, "Tanya and I are finding you, Penny and Xavier."
"Any luck with the other two?" Violet asked, "I mean Xav' and Penny."
Ross shook his head, "No, your the first one we've found."
"Why haven't you tried calling them?" Violet asked as they stepped around a large piece of rubble with rebar sticking out of it dangerously.
"We have, but we think your scrolls may be damaged, or outright destroyed." Ross answered, "Besides, I barely know how to use these weird Vale gadget-things."
They continued to walk with Violet's arm over Ross' shoulder, limping and wincing with each hard step.
The air was surprisingly quiet, save the crackling of fire and occasional shifting of rubble. This quiet was interrupted though, by the sudden muffled song "Gone and Faded" from the scroll in Ross' pocket.
"I think that could be Tanya." Ross said to Violet as he set her down gently. He then proceed to quickly take out his scroll and flip it open, revealing the emotionless face of Tanya.
Ross accepted the call, holding it to his ear and asking "What's up? Did you find anyone?" He spoke very loudly into the scroll, hearing Tanya grunt on the other side from his yelling.
"Negatory, but Weiss did manage to locate our friend Xavier." She informed, "He was discovered in an unconscious state under a large mass of rubble, he appears to be heavily injured."
"Roger tha-" Ross was cut off by the interruption of Yang, "We found Blake and Ruby!" She exclaimed excitedly, making both Tanya and Ross wince. "They're together, that leaves one more."
"I got Violet here," Ross informed, looking at his injured leader.
"Good, we'll call a bullhead then to pick us up and take us back to Beacon." The voice of Weiss interjected.
"How are all of you getting on one line?" Ross asked incredulously. He could have sword he heard all of their hands hit their foreheads, even Violet who did so before him. "Never mind." He said sheepishly, "We're at these coordinates..." Ross then turned to Violet and whispered, "How do I check coordinates on this thing?" Violet simply shrugged, gaining a sigh from Ross, "Forget it, just call a bullhead, they'll see us."
From the outside of the lot, looking in, was the trashed form of Penny.
The flesh covering left half of her entire body was charred down to the dented metal and frayed wires beneath. He left arm was missing and her face was burned down to the endoskeleton. Her eyes though, they looked unharmed, glowing bright green and reflecting sadness and fear. A light in her chest blinked on and off, and her eyes looked down at it sadly.
"Father is going to be so upset with me." Penny whimpered to herself, unable to amass organic tears, so she dispersed small falls of water down her damaged facial structure.
She would have to hide and wait for a private vehicle to pick her up, then see the horrified and disappointed looks about her rescuers faces. Then, she would return home to see those exact same expressions on her father's face. It was going to be painful...
Soon enough, a bullhead appeared. It hovered over the broken lot and shined its light down on the teens how looked up at it with their eyes wide.
Each of the students had their own reactions.
Violet was just happy to finally go home...
Aight, my friends and followers. I know this is kinda sudden, but I decided that I'm gonna be breaking this story into Volumes, like the actual show does. This will be the Final Chapter of this Volume, as I'd actually like to have a completed story under my belt.
I'm going to have a few mini-stories that will take place between this Volume and the next. Yes, these stories will be canon in my "Grimm-verse" as I've decided to call this AU.
One idea is called "Violet Dragon". It's gonna be about Violet and Ross. We'll see a bit more about their childhood, as well as a possible developing relationship.
I also have "O Brother, Where Art Thou" which will focus on Tanya, Lilac, and Forest. It'll expand on the romance between Forest and Lilac, and it'll begin the struggle between Tanya and Forest.
The last of my ideas is "Alpha and Omega", which is all about our favorite scruffy little bastard, Xavier! It'll focus on his conflict with Irvine, but it'll have some expansion on the romance between he and Blake.
If you like any of these ideas, be sure to tell me! I'm sorry to end this volume so soon, but I really wanted to do these individual pieces. Be sure to tell me what you thought of this story!
Artisan Out!