A/N: I recommend reading this chapter alongside appropriate battle music of your choice. I for one used the opening stage to Megaman X4 while writing it~
I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. Otherwise I would be more inclined to rub it in people's faces.
Chapter 14: Battle On!
"The rules of the match are as follows." The headmasters voice brought the murmurs of the crowd to a halt. More and more students had arrived to see what was happening, and every single one had stayed once they did. To be honest, it was really nerve-racking, having all of these eyes on us.
"Once a participants aura has fallen into the red, they are to be remove themselves from the battle and make their way to the edge of the arena." He gestured to Romulus and me, "For our guests who do not have their aura monitored by our system, once I believe that you are unfit to continue, I will inform you to leave the arena as well."
Romulus and I nodded at the professor and looked to each other.
"So, what's the plan?" Romulus still had a large grin on his face and his swishing tail only proved the eagerness he had for the fight.
I thought about it for a moment, "Well, we know next to nothing about their weapons or abilities aside from first impressions..."
"Right."
"We know they're all top of their class..."
"Uhuh."
I held up a finger, "And they've all seen what your weapons are capable of while you were fighting those students earlier."
"So they'll be focused on me, you're thinking?"
"Bingo."
"And since all you have is a dust knife, you don't pose that much of a threat."
"No-pe." I said, popping the 'p'.
"What about that girl, Ema, you dragged into this?"
I held a hand to my chin in consideration, "I'm not completely sure what to make of her combat-wise yet. She's smart, but I haven't seen her fight yet. So it's hard to say." I turned to see Ema making her way through the crowd towards us, "Let's just hope this prototype weapon of hers works out in our favor."
Ema jogged over to us, panting and out of breath from running to her locker to get her... Whatever it is was. "I still can't believe you dragged me into this... in front of the entire school no less!" She cried out at me.
On her back was what I can only assume was her weapon, but it really didn't look like much. The shape was similar to a bulky disk, carried by a harness that was strapped to her back. It was metallic, no more than two feet in diameter, and on her forearms were a pair of braces that did little to protect her from anything, but I was sure they were important in some way.
Romulus shrugged his shoulders, "Put it this way, if our team wins, I'll let Hiro drag you along with our pack and you'll get to go to Beacon. Sound reasonable?"
Ema's expression lit up with hope. I held out a hand to her, "That sound good to you? You wanted to go to Beacon, right?" I let my hand hang there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for a response.
Ema hesitated, staring at my outstretch gesture for a minute before reaching out to shake it. "Okay. I'll try my best."
I smiled wider, if that was possible, "That's the spirit."
"HEY SCRUBS! ARE YOU READY, OR WHAT?!"
The three of us made our way towards the center of the arena where Lileth's team was waiting impatiently. Lileth seemed to be the only one without a weapon, but her semblance- that shadow thing- was something to be aware of. I took my place opposite her, while to my right Romulus towered before Jace, fangs bared. Jace didn't seem to be fazed in the least and had a smile of his own, his eyes still hidden from view behind his bangs.
That left Ema to take her place across from Victoria and her strikingly yellow bow. The look on the faunus girls face was strained as she tried to maintain eye contact, already trembling with nervousness.
With a gesture from the headmaster, our two teams shook hands. I mistakenly used my right hand, as Lileth proceeded to try and crush it in her own. I held a straight face through the pain, but I was screaming on the inside. Stupid aura-strength. Romulus didn't have the problem I did, or he just didn't show it, and Ema didn't have any issue, as Victoria decided not to follow her leaders example. Once we had finished, and my hand was relieved of the torture, we spun around and returned to our sides to begin the match.
"Romulus," I muttered, "Try and take Jace down quickly and then help out Ema. I'll try and stall Lileth until you guys can back me up."
Romulus looked unsure for a moment, "You think you can hold out against her for that long?"
I nodded, "I have one idea... You wouldn't happen to have some spare dust I can borrow, would you?" I popped the empty vial from my knife and tossed it to Romulus. He inspected the object for a second and then turned to his side, siphoning some dark red dust from one of his javelins into it, before tossing it back.
"Thanks." I made sure to insert the vial into the hilt before stowing it in its sheathe.
He nodded, "That stuff is strong, be careful."
At this point, we turned around to face the center, and a timer had appeared on the monitor above us, rapidly counting down to start the match. I turned to Ema and noticed that she was busily typing into an interface that was positioned under her left forearm, something I missed before.
"You ready?" I asked. Her breathing was heavy, and while she didn't respond right away, the way her fingers flew across the holographic keys was amazing!
She stopped soon enough and let out a sigh, "Done..." Looking at me she continued, "It should work now." Pushing one final button, a series of beeps and whirrs could be heard from the machine on her back. "Activating first time start-up sequence. This might take a few minutes."
I paled and looked at the timer, the match would start any second! "You have anything you can use during that time?"
She shook her head, "No... I'll be able to use some of it's functions as they come online, but the full program won't be ready until-"
"That'll have to do. We're about to start." Romulus and I readied our weapons as the timer ticked down...
4...
3...
2...
1...
"Go!" Romulus shouted and launched forward towards Jace, the two of them began a game of chase as the shorter boy dodged and ran from every strike as best he could. I wasn't able to follow their movements, however, because I caught sight of Victoria's bow trained directly on me. Before I could move, the arrow had left her grasp, sailing straight at my head.
"P-Program! Shield left!" I thought for sure the fight was going to be over before I could even blink, but out of nowhere, Ema slid in front of me, the disk re-attached to her left arm brace, blocking the arrow in the nick of time. "I... I did it." She muttered, shocked at her own actions.
I stepped up behind her, taking cover behind her and the small shield, my knife at the ready. "Thanks for the save. Think you can keep doing that?"
"I-I don't know. I think so." Ema had stopped shaking, but the nervousness had yet to subside.
"Just take a deep breath. You're not alone out here." She smiled, but it was short lived as we were both lifted off the ground and tossed away from each other. I landed about a dozen yards away, luckily on my feet. Ema didn't fare as well, but got to her feet quickly, only to be pressed hard by Victoria and her arrows.
Between us, Lileth's shadow had appeared, having thrown us. Lileth herself strode up a moment later as the creature returned to it's host. "Pathetic. You can't even touch me." She crossed her arms, a devious smile on her face.
I growled and charged at her, "Take this!" I swung down hard, activating a portion of the dust in my blade.
*KABOOM!*
An explosion erupted from the impact, staggering me back and sending my knife flying off behind me. Bringing myself to my senses I saw a rough looking shadow manifest in front of Lileth like a barrier, effectively blocking my attack.
"Yawn..." Lileth mocked me.
My anger rose and I ran back up, swinging my arms using basic fighting strikes. Jab left, punch right, kick left, all of my attacks being blocked by the shadows she was bringing up. I was getting nowhere, then a fist flew in from Lileth herself, hitting me square in the chest and sending me flying back once again. The air left my lungs as I landed, pain shooting from where I was struck.
The lack of an aura was going to be my biggest weakness, not having an energy reserve to fall back on or a way to soften blows was a pretty big deal. A painful one at that.
I staggered up and glanced at the monitor, all of Lileth's team still had their aura's nearly full green, while Ema was almost in the yellow already. I switched my gaze to Romulus, he was still having trouble getting a bead on Jace, and I could see a few needles sticking out of his body from attacks. The kid was just too fast.
I had to think of some way to get an advantage. I took a look at my own injuries, a few scrapes, a bruise or two, and my left arm was exposing a bit of metal.
...wait, what was I thinking?!
Ozpin had said to look at my deformities as an asset for my benefit. My knife wasn't the only weapon I had. My BODY was a weapon!
I retrieved my knife as the skin on my arm restitched itself and brought my arms up in a fighting stance once again, ready to try again.
=||-{([O])}-||=
"Hold still you little punk!"
Romulus slammed his collapsed shield into the ground, a split second after Jace had moved from that same spot. Another set of needles imbedded themselves in his back as he turned, swinging Jiat at the shorter boy.
Jace dropped to his knees and shoved another needle into the faunus's leg before rolling to the side. At this point, Romulus had had enough, raising Clypeus level with Jace's chest, he fired off a javelin. The impact was nulled by Jace's aura, but the subsequent explosion of dust sent him flying onto his back, sending him quickly into the yellow. Romulus spent no time hesitating as he sprinted to where the boy lay, ready to land the final blow.
As he approached, however, Jace brought himself to his one knee, hands clasped in front of him. Just as Romulus began to bring his blade down, the boy raised his head, eyes revealed and trained on the warrior. His eyes shone bright and orange, glowing and transfixed on Romulus, who had frozen in place.
"W-What? I... Can't move!" Romulus struggled to free himself from the invisible grasp, but it was futile. The number of needles embedded in his body had begun to glow similarly to his opponents eyes, keeping him under their master's influence.
Jace smiled as Romulus's body began to move on its own. Watching helplessly as his body spun to face his ally, Romulus could only scream as his second javelin was brought up to fire, "NO!"
The javelin fired.
=||-{([O])}-||=
Ema was on the defensive from minute one. Her prototype weapon was still in shield mode even though a couple of other functions had come online. Without the courage to attack, she was being toyed with by the taller archer.
"Come on, weakling! Show me what you got!" Arrow after arrow pinging off of her shield, a few grazing off of her aura, never giving her a moment's breath. She could see Hiro and Romulus out of the corner of her eye, pushing their own attacks the enemy team.
Ema had never been able to last well during combat class, usually being taken out before she could even begin to try. Yet, here she was, fighting alongside a random team against the top students, and actually lasting longer than she had before.
Glancing at her data screen, her weapon had only loaded 57% of it's programming, and she silently cursed herself for not bringing it online sooner.
Romulus and Hiro had believed in her ability to fight with them. Hiro had saved her from bullies, and they came to Signal to find HER. Not Lileth, or anyone else. HER. She wouldn't just sit back and let them down after all they went though.
Taking a deep breath, Ema stepped forward, "Program! Blaster left!" At her command, the shield on her arm separated in several places, shifting around her wrist and revealing two small barrels. "Rapid-Fire!"
Taken by surprise at Ema's sudden shift in courage, Victoria was soon on the defensive as well, as she was forced to dodge around several blue energy rounds coming in her direction, firing her bow when given the chance. A small smile crept to the archer's face, 'This battle might be some fun after all.'
Ema circled around firing her weapon, making sure to watch out for any arrows heading her way as well. She had evened the balance of power, but she needed to tip the scale.
Spinning away from another arrow, Ema drew her weapon back, "Program, Jet-Fist left!" Once again, the weapon rearranged itself, quickly creating a gauntlet around her arm as she ran directly at Victoria. Once completely assembled, she threw her fist forward, a stream of energy erupting from the back. "Here I come!"
Victoria, seeing the incoming attack, brought up her bow to block the strike. The force of the punch sent the weapon spinning through the air and knocked her to the floor of the arena. On the monitor, Victoria's aura had fallen into the yellow.
Ema looked at her disarmed enemy, surprised that she was actually able to successfully bring down an opponent. "I... I did it..." A weak smile appeared on her face, her eyes fighting back a few tears of joy, "I really did it!" She repeated, excitedly.
"Grr... Lucky shot..." Victoria muttered, retrieving her bow and bringing herself to her feet. "It'll take more than one punch to... Huh?" The yellow weapon she held was now severely bent in the wrong direction, rendering it useless, "Aww Crap!" Victoria shouted, a worried look on her face.
Ema recollected her wits and took another fighting position, "Program, Sword left!" The disk returned to it's previous form, but in place of the blaster barrels, a blade of energized dust appeared. "I won't lose!"
Ema dashed forward with newfound strength, a dumbfounded Victoria in her sights. "It's not possible!" Victoria cried out, turning to run. Ema was already on her before she could escape, the sword slashing across her side and sending her aura straight into the red. Victoria was eliminated.
The crowd cheered, Ema had taken down the number three ranked student single-handedly. Ema did her best to catch her breath, having never lasted this long before, she was growing tired, but the battle wasn't over yet.
She turned to find her allies to help out when she was suddenly forced to bring up her sword to block an incoming projectile coming from-
...Romulus?!
The impact sent the mouse girl flying backwards onto her side, her aura resting just above the red zone. "R-Romulus?! W-What are you-" Ema cried out, sitting up to see her comrade fighting against his own body, several orange needles glowing from it.
"E-Ema! Run!" Yelled the wolven warrior, the javelin retracting back into it's launcher to fire again.
"P-Program! Shield left!" Ema commanded, just in time to deflect another shot from Clypeus and its friend. She had seen Romulus fight only once, and his strength was amazing to say the least. If he was fighting for the other team...
Her face paled. This was not a fight they could win.
=||-{([O])}-||=
I slammed another powerful fist into Lileth's shadow, finally shattering it. I was reaching my limit, my breathing was heavy and body exhausted. Lileth wasn't faring much better, as my constant barrage of attacks had taken it's toll on her semblance and aura, leaving it in the yellow.
I had seen Ema using her weapon to attack, but I couldn't lose too much focus on my own fight to get a good impression of what it can do. I just hoped she could hold her own a little longer.
"Had enough yet?" I bluffed, trying to look as confident as possible.
Lileth was breathing just as heavy as I was, but I cringed when I saw a grin appear on her face, "You think you've won? Why don't you just look behind you?" She teases, pointing over my shoulder.
It could have been a trick, but the way she was smiling had me worried. Looking over my shoulder I watched in shock as Romulus began attacking Ema.
"E-Ema! Run!" I could hear him shouting, something wasn't right. I glanced over at Jace, who was motionless near the side of the arena, his eyes glowing a bright orange. I quickly put the pieces together in my head and, making sense of the situation, I moved in the boy's direction only to be stopped by a large shadow coiling around me.
"Just where do you think YOU'RE going?!" Lileth's words were filled with venom as I was slammed against the ground and tossed aside like an old rag doll. Let me tell ya, that REALLY hurt...
"Argh..." I was sure that if I had any aura I would probably be out of the match, but since it was all decided on what could be seen, I just had to stand up and show that I was fine.
Weakly, I pulled myself onto one knee, struggling to think of a plan. Romulus was being controlled by Jace, who was now being protected by Lileth. Ema was doing her best to avoid Romulus's strikes, and it didn't look like she had much fight left in her. I was running out of time and options. I had to do something to switch the battle back into our favor.
Wait... I got it!
With all the strength I had left, I stood and sprinted away from Lileth, towards where Ema and Romulus were fighting. Reeling back my fist, I slammed everything I had into Romulus's shield, sending him soaring quite a distance, but not causing any major damage.
"H-Hiro!" Ema was relieved I had shown up, but it was quickly replaced with concern as she saw how battered I was.
I stood between her and Romulus, who was getting back to his feet. "Ema, you trust me, right?"
"What? Well... I mean I..." She looked between me and the approaching warrior. She nodded, "I trust you."
"Good." I replied, "Because I'm going to have to borrow the prototype for a minute."
Her jaw dropped, "What?! B-B-But- It's not meant to be attached directly to the body! without the bracers you'll-"
"I'll be fine. It won't be that long anyways." I held out my arm, "Please, it's the only way we can win."
She hesitated, and honestly I would have too. Though now was not the time for second guesses. With a deep breath, she began to type into her datapad with lightning speed. The disk switched into its natural form, detaching from her left brace and reattaching to my bare arm. I flinched as it transformed around my wrist, creating a gauntlet style weapon. The pain would have to be ignored and it wouldn't do any lasting damage, but man did that sting!
"Transfer complete." Ema stated, "Be careful."
I nodded and faced Romulus, "You might want to prepare yourself for this one, partner."
Romulus growled, "Please, don't let me stop you." He grinned, "Give it everything you've got."
I smiled, I had one hell of a teammate. Ema backed away as I circled around, waiting for the best moment to strike, I'd only have one shot at this.
I took a deep breath and pulled my fist back, the dust inside the prototype whirring to life. Then I charged...
...straight at Lileth.
"Time to turn things around!" I shouted.
"WHAT?!" She barely had time to bring up a shadow as my powered up fist slammed straight through her defense and into her face. With my momentum increased drastically by the prototype, the blonde girl was sent flying into the arena wall, her aura dropping straight into the red.
But I wasn't finished. Following through with my attack, I leaped, spinning my right foot into the side of Jace, throwing him off of his concentration and freeing Romulus. It wasn't enough to take him down all the way, and I had fallen to my knees after the last attack, unable to stand.
The young puppet-master turned towards me, needles in hand and ready to finish me off. There was nothing I could do, but that's not what was important.
I smiled, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
A look of dread crossed the boys face, and before he could turn around he was lifted into the air and thrown across the arena. Romulus growled and raised Clypeus, firing his javelin up at the helpless fighter, the projectile struck, dropping his aura down into the red and ending the match. The crowd, which consisted of the entire academy, cheered louder than ever.
I remained on my knees. I was bruised, bleeding, and unable to stand, but we had won. A hand appeared in front of my face, I looked up to see Romulus standing there with a smile, his canine teeth exposed and his tail wagging. I smiled weakly and took the offering as he helped me to my feet. "That was quite the trick you pulled. If that chick wasn't so cocky, she might have seen that coming."
"Maybe, but I did have a bit of help," I held out my open fist, revealing a bit of leftover dark red dust.
Romulus was baffled, "You had that in your hand?!" He hit me on the shoulder, to which I let out a groan in pain, "You idiot. You could have blown your hand clean off!" He rubbed his eyes, shaking his head, "That was a good plan though."
I chuckled and rubbed my shoulder as Ema ran up and wrapped me in a hug, "Hiro, that was amazing!" She released me, allowing me to breath again before continuing, " I mean just the fact that you were able to successfully utilize the prototype withoutitbreakingyourarmandcausinglifelastinginjuries was purely AMAZING! I never thought that someone without bracers could-"
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" I interrupted, "Did you just say that thing could have BROKEN MY ARM?!" Ema turned beet red and shyly nodded. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. 'Thank dust for mechanical limbs...'
I lifted my arm, "Here, take it back before it decides to break me." With a few pushes of some buttons, the prototype lifted off of my arm and attached itself to Ema's back before a small beep was heard.
Glancing at her datapad, Ema let out a sigh, "It's done activating now..."
'It just NOW finished turning on?! What else can that thing possibly do?!'
Romulus placed a hand on her shoulder, once again causing her to tense up, "You did good kid."
I'll admit, even I was a bit off guard by Romulus's compliment. Ema looked down shyly, her face a bit pink, "Thank you..."
"Excellent work, you three." The three of us were pulled from our conversation by none other than the headmaster. Standing behind him was Lileth and her friends, each of them had a sour look on their face, "You all fought admirably, and didn't give up in the face of defeat. Miss Terrawood." He turned to Ema, "Congratulations on your first victory. You have shown excellent strength in regards to your ability to fight alongside people you have just met. I understand that these boys wish to invite you to join them at Beacon Academy, yes?"
Lileth looked appalled, and stuttered, "S-Sir?! You're not really considering letting them take her with them, a-are you?!"
"Oh, but I am Miss Gardener," He looked at me and Romulus, "These young gentleman have more than proven that they can look after Miss Terrawood if it becomes an issue."
Romulus and I smiled and gave a thumbs up as Lileth was overcome with defeat and collapsed onto her back, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"I will contact Headmaster Ozpin and collaborate with him on her transfer to their roster."
I nodded, "Thank you, headmaster."
He shook his head, "I am merely filling in for the actual headmaster while he is away on vacation. Just 'Professor' will do."
"I nodded, understanding, "Thank you, Professor."
=||-{([O])}-||=
It took about an hour to get to the front of the school, as the entire student body wanted to congratulate us- that is, Ema, on her victory. She wanted to walk us out before she went to pack up her belongings, since she was to be transported to Beacon Academy later that evening once all of the paperwork was completed.
Romulus had to help me walk out of the school, my strength completely gone without any aura to help me out. He had asked about it, noticing my wounds that weren't healing, but I just shrugged it off, saying that it just wasn't that strong. He appeared skeptical at my answer, but let it slide. I was going to have some explaining to do later.
It was going to be a long trip back to Beacon, so we decided to say our goodbyes for now so we had time to rest.
Ema, strangely enough, was the first to say anything, "I... wanted to thank you two for what you're doing..."
Romulus just shrugged, "Don't thank me," He gestured his head towards me, "HE'S the one who picked you to find first."
Ema looked at me with a smile, "Thank you for believing in me, Hiro."
My face blushed as I looked to the side, "I-It was nothing." I tried to play it off like so, but it was obvious of how embarrassed I was. "Besides, without the headmas- I mean, that professor's help, you wouldn't have been allowed to come with us."
She nodded, smiling even more, "Yeah, Professor Qrow is pretty cool."
I nearly choked, "PROFESSOR QROW?!"
Ema jumped, "Wah?! Do you know him or something?!"
For the first time since I woke up on that building nearly a week ago, I had no trouble remembering who someone was. As my vision faded, I could see Ema's worried face in front of me as my head rushed to meet the concrete.
=||-{([O])}-||=
Qrow.
Scythe Wielder, Professor at Signal Academy..
Uncle to Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long, and the very same person who taught Ruby how to master the use of her own scythe.
One of the last surviving members of a team consisting of Taiyang Xiao-Long and his wife, Summer Rose, and himself.
A well renowned huntsman and beloved family member. Skilled, understanding, and wise.
The memories didn't stop there...
Ruby Rose.
Scythe wielder, Student at Beacon Academy.
Fifteen year-old daughter of Taiyang Xiao-Long and Summer Rose.
Leader of team RWBY and self-proclaimed weapon expert. Heroic, kind, and naive. Likes strawberries and sweets.
Yang Xiao-Long.
Brawler, student at Beacon Academy.
Seventeen year-old sister of Ruby Rose.
Member of team RWBY and one of the strongest fighters of their year. Brash, protective, and short-tempered. Loves to make jokes and puns.
Every member of team RWBY and JNPR had a memory for me. I knew things I never saw, heard, or read. There were scenarios associated with each memory that had yet to happen. Yet, memories didn't appear for everyone. Romulus, Ema, Doctor Night, even myself were exempt from the things returning to my memory.
Then I saw someone else.
Someone I didn't recognize, yet I felt like I had known them all my life. Almost like seeing someone after so long, that they aren't even part of your life anymore. Yet, the memory is still there... Somewhere…
=||-{([O])}-||=
I woke up beside Romulus on the boat returning to Vale. Apparently he had carried me there after I collapsed in front of the school. Ema had been worried, but he had assured her that I would be fine, deciding to take me back to the Academy for some much needed rest.
I apologized, but he didn't mind it, knowing how messed up I must have been after that fight. I was lucky to have him as a partner, even if he was only truly happy on the battlefield. I slept the rest of the way to Vale, and then again on the shuttle to Beacon. By the time we made it back, classes had already been let out.
Romulus made a beeline for the cafeteria, but I wasn't too hungry and opted to just make my way back to the room. I decided to make a quick stop somewhere first, remembering one last thing…
=||-{([O])}-||=
Weiss Schnee had gone through one heck of a day, her mind was currently filled with what Professor Port had said to her after class. Was Ruby the best choice for a leader? That had remained to be proven in the heiress's eyes, though she was willing- just enough so- to let her give it a shot. She would just have to settle for being be the best teammate she could be, just as the professor said.
She frowned as she turned a corner, making her way back to the room after being in the library studying. Just because she could accept everything didn't quite mean she was okay with it as well.
As she passed by another hall, she stopped. 'What is that sound…?'
Eyes down the second hallway, she could hear the muffled sound of music coming from an old classroom. Curious, she decided to investigate.
It didn't take much time to find which door it was, and Weiss could make out the sound a bit better as she pressed her ear against the door. What she heard made her freeze up, someone was singing along with a piano, and she knew that song well…
"Mirror, tell me something…"
"Tell me who's the loneliest of all."
"Fear of… What's inside me…"
"Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?"
The voice was soft and hard to hear, so it was impossible to tell who was singing, but the piano cover was being done remarkably well… 'Maybe if I can just open the door quietly...'
Weiss slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open, being careful not to make a sound. Looking in, she could see the back of someone sitting at a finely crafted grand piano, humming along to the rest of the song while they played the melody.
It might have been hard to tell who it was, but Weiss could place that crazy red and brown hair anywhere. It was a bit shocking, 'Who knew he could play an instrument like that?"
The notes were soft and slow, almost in a sad way. As much as she wanted to berate the boy for trespassing in the unused classroom, she couldn't help but feel like she should let it slide, just this once. So, keeping the scene in mind, she gently closed the door and began to make her way to the dorms.
=||-{([O])}-||=
A/N: So here's the next chapter, just as promised~
I recommend listening to a piano cover for 'Mirror Mirror' at half speed where the tempo would normally pick up. It makes the song sound sooooo much different and meaningful, in a somewhat somber way.
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it really helped me get back into the creative style I enjoy so much. It will be a while until my next update, but hopefully not as long as before. Like I've said, I'm working on some new projects that I really want to see through to the end as well, so I won't be pouring 100% of my time into just this story.
That does not mean I will leave such a huge gap between chapters like I did before, but it does mean more cool stuff for you guys to read/watch! I'll let you know how things are coming along next chapter.
SakuraNights01: Thank you so much for helping out with the last two chapters last second, I really appreciate the work you put into fixing anything that doesn't sound right and even adding in details that make it that much better to read. Thank you!
Flamewing98: Thank you for your PM and for sticking with the story so far. Romulus is an excellent addition to the story and I hope I do his character justice. I'd like to think that your story and reviews on my own story help a lot with keeping me motivated to continue writing this story, so thank you as well!
That's all for this chapter guys, if you liked it, leave a review and let me know! I enjoy the feedback!
If you want to see more of my work, check out EmptyBucketGamers on YouTube, I'll be posting animations I come up with on there, along with gameplay videos me and my friends do.
Until the next chapter everyone, keep moving forward, and Stay Gold!
Your personal guide through the internet,
-HiroNinja