A/N: Been really busy but finally managed to complete this chapter working on it bit by bit, day by day.
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Four Months ago.
Richter sat in the corner of his cell, his eyes staring at the wall, but his mind a million miles away. The hunger would be coming again soon and he dreaded every second of it. It was the only thing he felt anymore, that surreal pain that shredded him to pieces both inside and out, only for his body to stubbornly put itself back together. The process had been repeating itself over and over for six months.
And he wanted it gone.
Richter was tired of the suffering, tired of the rigorous experiments and "Conditioning" that Cinder was putting him through. Mostly, he was tired of wishing he was back at Signal with his friends and knowing that wish was a fleeting dream. He tried not to think of those times anymore as doing so would just make him feel even worse about his predicament. The dark-haired boy held his head in his hands, was this how he was going to spend the rest of his short life?
"You look rather glum Richter." The hated voice of Cinder suddenly said from the other side of his cell's door. "Have you not enjoyed your training and conditioning?"
He didn't even look up from his spot, there was no point in glaring at her anymore. "What do you want?"
"To check up on my valuable research subject of course." Cinder replied. He could almost hear the smirk in her voice.
"Well I'm still shitty as always so feel free to leave me alone now."
Silence was his response, maybe she really did leave? Richter could only hope.
"It hurts doesn't it?" Came Cinder's question, He sighed, visibly deflating. He should have known better than to hope with her. He looked up, staring into her amber orbs as his fatigued brain processed the question she had asked. "The hunger." She clarified, "It doesn't just hurt physically, it hurts your very soul. A pain like that would make any person desperate enough to stop it." She gave a short laugh, "Well, anyone sane."
Richter's eyes narrowed, "Do you have a point to this or are you just doing it to hear yourself talk?"
"What if I told you there is a way to end the hunger?" Cinder asked, "To end the agony of your bleeding body and soul?"
He snorted in response, "I would say you were full of it."
"And you would be wrong."
A small white rectangular object flew through the cell door's viewport, sliding to Richter's feet. He recognized it immediately, it was a scroll. He considered just ignoring it, but the thought of ending the hunger, even if it was just a cruel joke on Cinder's part, was too enticing to ignore. Picking up the scroll, Richter tapped the screen, looking at the information on it.
"Sirensong?" He asked out loud.
"Yes, a device that attracts grimm. It's the key to ending your….insatiable appetite for them." She answered.
Richter was confused, "What good would this do? I don't need to eat this many grimm."
Cinder chuckled, "Have you forgotten Richter? You're not human anymore, you've been altered. The more grimm you eat, the stronger you become. Strong enough to, shall we say….evolve?"
Curiosity and dread coursed through the dark-haired boy. "Evolve into what?"
"I can't say exactly, but it would be something that was no longer tormented by the hunger."
He stared at her amber-eyes suspiciously, "How do you know all of this?"
"I have my ways." She answered, "There's more on the scroll if you're interested."
Richter swiped the screen once as a new page of information was displayed. "Darion Shiver?"
"A formerly jailed terrorist. He's leading an operation to steal the Sirensong from the Schnee Dust Company." Cinder explained, "They could use a fourth member for their team."
"You want me to be the fourth member." Richter said, cutting to the chase.
"You're sharp." She responded, sounding impressed, Richter couldn't care less if she was.
He looked up from the scroll's display, scowling at the amber-eyes watching him through the viewport. "I'm a hunter. You think I'm going to turn my back on everything I believe in to join a group of terrorists? Don't make me laugh."
Richter watched as the amber-eyes of Cinder Fall narrowed for a moment. "The only one who would be laughing would be me." She replied condescendingly. "Ask yourself this Richter, what have your so-called beliefs got you so far? Have they helped you escape my lab? Have they somehow conjured your friends to come rescue you?" Her voice lowered into a sinister hiss. "The fact is, everything you've known, everything you've been, it means nothing now."
Outrage, that was the first thing Richter felt, but all too soon it subsided, replaced with a grim finality that Cinder was right. Everything he was had not helped him in the slightest during his imprisonment here. More and more he was distancing himself from his life before. As the days kept passing he found that he cared less and less about Signal, his friends, Ruby. Lately, the only thing on his mind, the only goal he had, was ending this damned hunger. Suicide was an option, but Richter was determined to somehow see Cinder pay for all she had done to him. However, would he sink so low as to work with her in order to get what he wanted? He wasn't sure.
"You have two choices Richter." Cinder announced, "You can stay in that cell, getting jabbed with needles every day and live with the agony of the hunger. Or, you can join Darion Shiver's group and make yourself not only stronger, but hunger-free as well." Richter felt off as he glared at the amber-eyes behind the viewport. "I'll give you some time to think about it." She said, her heels clicking loudly in the hall outside as she walked away.
It was only when he could no longer hear her footsteps when Richter realized why he felt so off.
It was because he had felt nothing. Cinder had even managed to take his feelings from him. Everything had been stripped away.
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Present day
Richter was frustrated.
He had been so focused on one thing, one goal, to end the hunger. It was all he had cared about. He was a monster without a place, so why not play the part?
The short ex-huntsman looked back towards the campsite, spotting the reason for his inner conflict. The petite girl wearing a red cloak and wielding a scythe that was taller than she was, Ruby Rose, his old friend, well more than friends now he supposed, and that's what was bothering him. She made him feel like he was almost human again, but he knew otherwise. What future could they possibly have together? He knew he should just dismiss the notion, but he couldn't, hence his frustration.
"Everything okay?" Ruby's familiar voice reached his ears. Richter almost jumped, she was standing in front of him now. He had not even noticed her walk up, so lost in thought he was.
He closed his eyes, rubbing the eyelids with his right index finger and thumb. "Fine, fine. Just uh, trying to psyche myself up for the coming battle." He told her.
Ruby grabbed his left forearm with her right hand. "We can do this Richter, don't worry." She said with a wink, walking back to the campsite to gather her things. Richter felt something in his chest grow warm, but he ruthlessly shoved it back down, now was not the time to have his thoughts clouded. He needed a clear mind for what was to come.
Instincts told him he was being watched and the short ex-huntsman stood up straight, left hand hovering over the hilt of Dyrnwyn. "Is there something you need Blake Belladonna?" He called out.
"No." A voice said from behind him and to his right, he turned to see the dark-haired huntress perched on a tree branch.
"Then why aren't you with your team?" He asked.
She regarded him coolly. "They aren't the ones I don't trust."
"I see." He said, he might as well get used to the fact that Ruby's entire team wouldn't trust him, he couldn't blame them really.
"You remind me of someone." Blake continued. "A man I was close with. A man who was willing to throw away everything to achieve his goal."
"And did he achieve it?" He asked.
Blake dropped down from the tree branch, knees bending to absorb the impact before rising to her full height, her amber-eyes never leaving him. "That's still up in the air." She answered, "The point is, you have a goal that you are willing to sacrifice a lot for at the end of all of this, just like him. I'm wondering just how far you will go, Richter Bremen."
He narrowed his eyes at the huntress. "I guess we'll find out soon enough won't we?"
"I guess we will." She replied evenly, she began walking back towards the campsite. "Tread lightly Richter, I'm watching you."
Richter contemplated her words after she was out of earshot. How far into darkness did he have to go to end the hunger? How far was he willing to go? It was a legitimate question, one without many answers.
After everyone was packed up, Richter led the way to the hideout, Ruby close behind him. No one spoke, probably because they were mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming battle. It was high stakes, no doubt about it. This wasn't a training lesson, if they failed, the repercussions would be immense. A sea of grimm would be unleashed upon Vale and the kingdom would come under siege.
Finally, after what was only two hours, but seemed so much more, Richter spotted a familiar hill. One that marked they were close to the hideout.
"We're here." He announced to the rest. "Just over this hill will be the hideout's entrance."
The group crouched down, peeking over the hill, spotting the man-sized hole in the side of the mountain. So far there were no grimm or any sign of Darion and Novus. Richter was beginning to believe they beat them to the hideout.
"Help from Vale should be arriving soon." Weiss said. "Maybe we should wait for reinforcements?"
Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose, shifting it into scythe-form. "We can't afford to take that chance. We're going in now." She ordered, "Everyone ready?" The red-cloaked girl received affirmatives from all of her teammates, she turned to Richter, who silently nodded his assent. With that, she faced forward again. "Let's do it!"
Richter followed Ruby and her team as they raced towards the entrance to Darion's hideout, with luck, they may be able to disable the room Gena had made to supplement the Sirensong. However, as they drew closer to the hole in the mountain, Richter realized something was amiss. The entrance, which normally was barely large enough for him to enter unhindered, was now three times the size, as if someone large had busted through it.
Someone large like Novus Procter.
The sound of a gun being loaded instantly drew all of their attention and Richter quickly leapt to his right. Ruby and her team also leapt away, but in different directions. A moment later, the ground they had been standing on exploded, spraying debris everywhere. Richter landed on his feet, facing the entrance to the hideout, where a familiar large man with a red Mohawk walked through, axe resting behind his head, on his shoulders. Novus Procter, in the flesh.
"Look at you all scatter." The axe-wielding goon said, "Like a bunch of rats."
"Novus." Richter snarled.
Novus grinned, "Ah look, it's the traitor who abandoned the winning side for his little girlfriend." He brought his axe off his shoulders and hefted it experimentally, "Good, Darion won't have to sully his hands with your blood."
"It's five against one." Blake pointed out. "Surely you don't expect to win."
Novus raised an eyebrow at the faunus huntress. "Five to one? You must be mistaken."
A rumbling sound began filling Richter's ears, he saw Ruby and her team looking around, trying to locate the source of it. The short ex-huntsman caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked towards the mountain to see countless specks of black racing down it. Specks of black with white masks, Richter grit his teeth, grimm and a lot of them.
"It's more like a hundred to five." Novus corrected them.
Ruby maneuvered herself to Richter's side. "Is this the Sirensong?" She asked him.
"No, this is all Darion." He replied grimly.
Yang clenched her hands into fists, preparing herself for the onslaught of grimm. "He can summon this many without that thing?"
Richter drew Dyrnwyn from its sheathe. "Yes, he must be close to full strength again."
Ruby's eyes narrowed in determination. "We have to take them out fast then."
No more words needed to be said as Yang sprang into battle, shooting behind her with Ember Celica to gain some extra height in her jump. A beowulf met her in mid-air, right foreclaw reared back in preparation to slice her in half. Yang struck the grimm hard in the snout with her right fist, sending it crashing back into a group of its brethren and knocking them down. Another beowulf jumped up to meet her and Yang slammed her left fist onto the top of its head and fired, propelling herself even higher into the air. When she was at the peak of her jump, the blonde huntress fired above her and used the recoil to crash back down into another group of grimm like a missile. A fiery explosion rocked the ground around Yang as she landed in a crouching position, grimm were scattered all around her from the impact.
The blonde huntress heard the sound of an ursa quickly advancing towards her from behind, there would be no way for her to get up and meet its attack in time. She glanced behind her to see the bear-like grimm with its left forepaw raised. Yang braced herself for the big hit, but it never came. Shots rang out across the forest and the ursa jerked backwards as its face was riddled with bullets. Yang looked back in front of her to spot Blake smirking at her, she smirked back. The ursa collapsed onto its back, dissolving into black smoke in a manner of seconds.
Blake shifted Gambol Shroud back to sword-form as a group of six creeps approached her. She dashed towards them at high-speed, delivering six blindingly fast slashes that cut each grimm in half. As Blake cut down the last grimm, she spotted two ursa ahead of her. One of them raised its forepaws above its head, preparing to slam them down to create a shockwave to hit the faunus huntress, but she wasn't going to let that happen.
Switching her weapon to sickle-form, Blake shot the sickle right into the ursa's vulnerable gut, anchoring it there. She then took a few running steps and leapt into the air to her left, holding on tight to the ribbon as she spun around the pair of ursa, body parallel to the ground. She managed to do a full circle around the pair of bear-like grimm, wrapping the ribbon tight around them and stopping them from moving. She landed on the second ursa's back, gripping the ribbon tight in her right hand. The two ursai snarled at the faunus huntress, trying to get at her with their teeth and foreclaws, but they couldn't reach her. However, Blake herself couldn't finish them off either in the position she was in, it was a stalemate.
Or at least it would have been if she had been alone.
A flash of scarlet sped past the two ursai and a moment later, their heads separated from their shoulders. The scarlet flash coalesced into the familiar form of Ruby, she fired Crescent Rose behind her to boost her speed even further, slicing the legs off a trio of beowulves with a single horizontal slash of her scythe.
The red-cloaked girl landed in a crouching position and was greeted by the sight of a beowulf alpha standing before her. With cat-like reflexes, Ruby fired Crescent Rose into the grimm's chest, using the recoil to push herself out of melee range. Unfortunately, it put her right into swiping distance of an ursa directly behind her. Sparing a glance to the rear, Ruby swiftly aimed at the ground behind her and fired, nailing the ursa in its right kneecap, causing it to roar in pain and tip over onto its right side. The same shot propelled her into the air and she spun her scythe in circles rapidly, building momentum. As gravity took hold once more, Ruby brought the scythe down on her descent, right between the beowulf alpha's eyes. she sliced it clean in half vertically. Without looking, Ruby landed and pointed Crescent Rose behind her, shooting the downed ursa in its left eye, the grimm went limp, dissolving into black smoke.
Dozens of grimm replaced the ones felled, they approached Ruby, who responded by planting her scythe and firing multiple rounds from her sniper rifle. The red-cloaked girl heard the sound of one of Weiss' glyphs forming and she smirked. A second later, her white-clad partner sailed by overhead, Weiss positioned herself upside-down above a group of creeps and formed another glyph at her feet. She darted down onto the grimm as an ivory blur, a large irregular shaped cluster of ice forming on impact and freezing the creeps. The heiress leapt into the air and repeated the action two more times, destroying or freezing the group of grimm that were going to attack Ruby. She then landed in front of the ice clusters and used a pulse of aura from her right palm to shatter them.
Richter observed all of this while cutting down a group of grimm on his own. The short ex-huntsman leapt into the air and brought the tip of Dyrnwyn's blade down on top of an ursa's skull, embedding the blade in it. Still gripping the handle, he planted his feet on the ursa's chest and rode it down as it fell onto its back. He barely had a moment to take a breath before a beowulf took a swing at him. Richter ducked under the attack and thrust his left palm forward, letting out a pulse of his aura from it. The pulse knocked the beowulf several dozen meters away and out of the fight. With a fierce tug on the handle of his weapon, Richter wrested it free and immediately decapitated another beowulf to his right. He then turned and blocked a punch from another ursa with the flat of his blade and counterattacked by lobbing off the offending limb. As the ursa roared in pain, Richter spun behind it, reversing his grip on Dyrnwyn and stabbing the blade into the grimm's back. The ursa gave a jerk and then went limp, the short ex-huntsman removed his blade from its spine and the grimm collapsed face-first into the dirt.
He was about to rejoin Ruby when he spotted something above him coming down fast. Reflexes were the only thing that saved Richter as he leapt backwards. Novus crashed down less than a second later, burying his axe in the spot he just was at. The axe cracked the ground around it, shooting up a decent-sized amount of debris.
Novus looked towards the area Ruby was fighting at, a grin on his face. "You know, I'm impressed by your little girlfriend's prowess." He licked his lips. "I wouldn't mind having a little one-on-one with her myself."
Richter's expression immediately darkened. "Stay away from her." He threatened, his knuckles going white as he gripped Dyrnwyn so tight he thought he might break it.
Novus turned his gaze back towards the short ex-huntsman, a triumphant smile on his face. "I knew you had no business being with us Richter!" He shouted, "You're just a little kid who thinks he's full of darkness, but the only thing you're full of is shit!"
Richter clenched his teeth, doing his best to keep himself calm. His not-so-subtle threat to Ruby affected him more than he cared to admit. He knew she could take care of herself, but he couldn't help but feel protective. Novus had murdered trained hunters before, best if he just stopped the asshole here and now.
"Keep talking." Richter replied with an angry calm, his dark-brown eyes narrowing at the hunter-killer. "I'm going to rip your vocal cords out in a minute."
Novus smiled wider, "Oh, scary."
The massive goon slammed his axe into the ground, creating a linear shockwave that was heading straight for Richter. The short ex-huntsman responded with a shockwave of his own, created by an upswing from his sword. The two waves clashed between the fighters, casting a brilliant light across the forest.
Richter squinted through the bright light, trying to find his opponent. He didn't have to look long as Novus followed his own blast, charging right for him. Realizing the big man was coming too fast, Richter backflipped away to gain some distance, narrowly avoiding being bisected by Novus' horizontal slash with his axe. Halfway through the backflip, Richter spotted Novus swinging his axe back around, at the rate it was going it would slice him in half on his descent. Improvising, the short ex-huntsman extended his sword from his upside-down position in mid-air, stabbing it into the dirt. Less than a second later, the handle of Novus' axe slammed into his blade, halting the swing completely.
Gripping the bottom handle of Dyrnwyn tightly, Richter spun like a top, body parallel to the ground. He slammed the tip of his left boot into Novus' right temple. The big man staggered backwards, still managing to keep his grip on his weapon. The short ex-huntsman landed and switched Dyrnwyn to pistol-form, firing a few rounds at Novus' chest. The hunter-killer's aura shielded him from having his skin punctured, but the impacts still knocked him a few paces backwards. Seeing that his opponent's footing was getting wobbly, Richter switched his weapon back to sword-form. He raced towards Novus, leaping into the air and executing a full spin to build momentum. He brought his blade down towards the big man's neck in a vicious overhead swing.
The short ex-huntsman's strike hit nothing, but metal.
Richter's eyes widened as Novus managed to block his sword with the handle of his axe. Pain blossomed from the short ex-huntsman's gut shortly after as Novus buried his right fist into it. Doubling over in mid-air, Richter was soon hit hard in the face from the hunter-killer's left fist, sending him sailing backwards. He landed hard on his back, causing him to shut his eyes and let out a grunt of pain. Opening one eye, Richter spotted Novus high in the air, his axe raised over his head, ready to slice him in half.
Not good. He needed to move.
His body responded to his desperate thought and Richter managed to roll backwards a moment before Novus crashed down. He had barely rolled to his feet when he was knocked off them again from a blast from the top part of Novus' axe, apparently it housed the barrel of the shotgun part of his weapon.
Once again, Richter found himself on his back. He propped himself up on his elbows to see Novus dashing towards him, axe scraping across the ground. The short ex-huntsman realized with great alarm that he planned to split him in half from groin to skull. Thinking quickly, Richter switched his weapon to pistol-form and fired a baseball-sized blast of aura at Novus' face. The blast forced the big man to halt his charge and bring his axe up to block it. Richter used the same blast's recoil to roll back to his feet. He took aim again only to realize that Novus had somehow closed the distance between them and was aiming his shotgun at him. The barrels of their weapons were less than a meter away from each other, each charging up a shot. A clashing set of blasts from this range would be dangerous.
Neither combatant hesitated to pull the trigger.
Richter's vision was filled with the colors of red, orange and black as a giant explosion burst forth between Novus and himself. He felt Dyrnwyn fly from his fingers as he was propelled backwards, tumbling helplessly from the concussive force of the explosion. He bounced several times on the ground before lying still in a prone position.
After a few long moments, the short ex-huntsman raised himself to a crouching position and looked towards the area he was knocked away from. The explosion had dissipated, leaving behind a crater that was the size of a small house. Across the crater was Novus, who looked like he was also shaking the cobwebs out. Richter noticed that the big man had also lost his weapon in the explosion.
Novus finished shaking his head and looked to his left, which was Richter's right. The short ex-huntsman also looked in that direction to see Ruby slice the stinger off of a deathstalker with her scythe. He looked back at Novus to catch the hunter-killer licking his lips. The big man then turned his gaze back towards Richter and winked.
Richter's lips peeled back into a snarl, no words needed to be said, he knew who Novus would be going for next if he fell here. There was no way he was letting this bastard get near Ruby, weapon or not.
Rising to a standing position, Richter clenched his hands tightly into fists and dashed towards Novus. Determined to stop the big man at all costs.
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A/N: The finale battle is approaching and I might get carried away with the fight scenes, should be exciting though!
