New chapter, some tense stuff in this one, I hope it seems tense anyway. Also, Killerbeats359, thank you for sending me that review, I got a good laugh from the DBZ opening XD (Some parts get pretty...dark... so just to warn you)
Chapter 10: The darkest of nights
As I approached the base I started to see remnants of battles fought outside the walls. Between the blood and scorch marks, it was easy to see that the Grimm were holding the white fang at bay. I stopped by a tree near the main entrance to see a few dozen Grimm clawing at the large door stopping them from entering and tearing apart our common enemy. My eyes flicked up to the few white fang who stood guard at the top of the large wall. From this distance I was easily able to see that not a lot of the fang here had aura. Most of them must have just been everyday people. It was unfortunate that they were forced into taking action, just the wrong type of action.
I sprinted to the far wall of the complex and stared up the wall. It must have been at least two stories, maybe more. That was two stories too high for me, but a stupid wall wasn't going to stop me now. I pumped aura into my feet and jumped leaving a small crater in my wake. I went flying up and over the wall, as I came back down to remnant, I noticed a control center nearby. If I could create a distraction then that could buy me enough time to find Hayden. I landed in a roll and ran towards the control room. Fortunately, most of the fang were already preoccupied with the Grimm on the other side of the complex.
I I kicked open the door startling the one guard inside the small room. His mask was laying on the table, revealing his yellow eyes. Two ears of a puma poked out of his mop of black hair. He froze as his eyes rested upon my mask. I slowly started to walk towards him whilst spinning Ember in my hand. The Faunas stumbled and fell onto my butt, his bright yellow eyes widened as I stood over him casting a shadow. The small voice in the back of my head returned, it was now more prominent, it didn't send a chill down my spine this time though. "Kill... He is on the wrong side..." The voice almost sounded familiar, but I banished it away from my thoughts.
The Faunas shook in fear as my eyes scanned over his face, seeing someone so scared of me seemed wrong, but at the same time it felt nice to seem dangerous. "Y-you're Scar? You should be dead!" His voice came out shaky and cracked at the end. I let out a small chuckle and made my voice deep. "Nothing goes to plan when it comes to the white fang I suppose." Before he could answer I slammed Ember's hilt into his forehead knocking him unconscious. I sheathed ember and walked over the the nearby computer monitor and flicked through the camera feeds.
First I saw just how many Grimm were around the base, it was surprising that these guys hadn't been over thrown yet. All I was able to see was the glow of red eyes staring at the fang shooting bullets at them, it seemed that with each one they killed two more replaced it. I flicked through the camera feed until it stopped on a nearby garage. Inside were two Atlas paladins being worked on. My eyes widened slightly after seeing two machines of such quality in the ends of filth like this. Just how did they get them anyway? I had only heard of prototypes, maybe they had connections in Atlas, which wasn't good. I plugged in my scroll and recorded the feed. Now that I saw them, it explained how the fang were stopping the Grimm from overwhelming them.
As my scroll recorded the feed I moved to another monitor and flicked through messages between Hayden and someone called the "Black Queen". The first few messages seemed to just be about small things like meet ups and weaponry exchange, but one message stuck out. I quickly scanned over the words until my eyes rested upon the words "CCT is our next target." I chewed on my lip in thought, the CCT tower was in beacon, the thing that connected all the kingdoms. If their plan was to disrupt it somehow, then it could mean serious trouble. I quickly moved my scroll over and downloaded all the messages, any information on the plans of the fang was beneficial.
After my scroll finished downloading I moved over to the main control panel of the base and looked over the buttons. Most were just crane controls, but on stuck out like a sore thumb. A red handle was lifted up with the words "Gate control" over it. I slowly pulled the switch down causing loud sirens to start blaring throughout the base. I watched the camera feed as the the main entrance to the base slowly opened. Grimm poured through the entry point like water, destroying anything they could touch. Unlucky fang tried to escape but were soon torn to shreds as a wave of black consumed them.
Outside I could hear the roar of the beasts and yelling from the other fang. Explosions and gunshots rang throughout the base, now the Grimm had the advantage. From the camera feed I could see the paladins slowly rise to attention and sprint out of the garage guns blazing. The turrets tore through the sea of black, sending blood spewing everywhere. One of the paladins shot a rocket into the crowd sending flaming black bodies flying through the air. An Ursa major busted through the gate and charged towards one of the paladins. It roared and slammed into the side of the machine just as it fired a missile. I watched as the stray rocket exploded into a barracks full of dust. Flames exploded from the now destroyed building, blanketing the walls and ground in flames.
The main entrance was now a flame, burning any Grimm that dared to enter. Another Ursa charged through the flames, not caring if its fur slowly burned away. It joined its brother against the paladin. At first it seemed they were making no progress as they were being pushed back by the robots hail of bullets. But one of the duo's paws slammed into the paladin's right arm, snapping it off and sending it flying towards the wall. Soon after both Ursa converged on the now defenseless paladin. The pilot inside tried to fight them back, but was ultimately overwhelmed. The mechanic beast collapsed to the ground as the two Grimm tore armor plating off of its body. A loud whine sounded before the paladin exploded, killing both of the Ursa at the same time.
The other paladin sprinted to the other entrance of the base as a Deathstalker slammed into the gate with its tail. A large ice arrow slammed into its thick armor, this seemed to only agitate the beast more. I switched camera feeds to see Hayden standing with a girl who had blue hair and a dark red trench coat. In her hands was a large bow made of silver. She reached back to her quiver, but instead of arrows it was full of long dust tubes. She clicked a red tube with her index finger then pulled her hand away. A flaming arrow formed in her hand as she aimed it at the Deathstalker. The arrow impacted sending a large wave of flames over the beast, covering it completely. It screeched and thrashed against the gate, denting it with each hit.
I unsheathed Ember and ran out of the control room towards the Hayden's position. As I ran I saw more dust explosions erupt from the other gate, most likely that girl with the bow. I ran past the crater left by the paladin, all that was left was pieces of metal scattered around the mud road. It was such a waste of machinery, then again it wasn't mine. From the corner of my eye I saw the glint of the something from the shadows. I barely had enough time to bring up my sword to block a small knife. Said knife bounced from my shield and landed in the mud.
My attacker slowly walked out from his dark hiding spot and into the light. He was wearing a coat similar to the girl, but this one was a dark grey with black accents. his hair and eyes were both a dark crimson, almost the color of dried blood. A single scar ran down his face from hairline to jaw line, crossing over his right eye. A large frown was plastered on his face as his eyes locked with mine. "I'm guessing you are the one who caused this, especially with that rare mask." I brought my sword up in front of me ready for what ever this guy was planning. He pulled out a knife like the one before and spun it between his fingers. "My partner really likes rare masks, I think I just might get it for her."
He spun the knife one more time before throwing it directly at me. I brought Ember up and deflected it out of the air. As The knife connected with my blade a dark smoke erupted from the knife, blocking my vision. My eyes flicked around the smoke trying to to spot any movement. A low whistle caused me to spin and dodge another knife. I watched as it disappeared into the smoke again without a trace. Soon after two more came from a different direction. I quickly blocked both and started to sprint to the area they were thrown from. I pumped aura into my eyes, soon after his dark red aura glowed like a light in the dark smoke. I sprinted forward and struck at him with an overhead slash. He quickly pulled up a knife and blocked it, but struggled to hold my weight.
He let out a small chuckle and grinned. "Oh so you aren't a talker eh? I was hoping to hear you scream a little." He kicked me away and pulled out another knife in his other hand. He sprinted forward and started to swing with both knives. I was able to block most with the help of Instinct but some still got through leaving small cuts along my arms and legs. He slowed down for a split second giving me an opportunity to throw a kick at him. He blocked the strike with his arms, but wasn't able to dodge the bullet I fired from my pistol that was still holstered. He cringed in pain as the bullet struck his arm, weakening his block. I quickly switched feet and slammed my foot into his chest launching him out of the smoke.
I sprinted out of the smoke and dodged a knife with a quick duck. I then pulled out my pistol and fired at his leg, nailing him in the thigh. Again the bullet only hit his aura, but it still effected his stance. He stumbled back and tried to recover. But it was too late as I kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. His red aura flashed for a second before disappearing into the nothing. I aimed and fired two bullets into each of his legs. he let out a scream of pain as he collapsed onto his back. He pulled out another knife, this one glowing yellow and threw it at me. I dodged to the side expecting it to miss, but to my surprise it exploded mid air, sending lightning into my body. I clenched my teeth as the electricity coursed through my body.
I watched as he prepared another knife, a smile on his face. "You thought you could beat me so easily, I've been through much worse than this." He brought his arm back and prepared to throw it. before he could I pumped aura into my arm. "Funny, I was thinking the same thing." Before he could respond I brought my arm back and threw Ember straight towards his arm, the blade pierced his flesh while nailing his arm to the ground. He let out another scream of pain and tried to pull his arm free. I collapsed to my knees as the electricity stopped flowing through me. I let out a groan as steam rose from my hands and shoulders, some parts of my armor and jacket were looked burnt and smoked as well.
I slowly stood to my feet as the man grunted and pulled at the sword pinning him to the ground. As I walked over to him the voice in my head came back, this time more even more noticeable. "Kill him... He deserves it." I pulled Ember from his arm slowly, pain was evident on his face. I felt myself smile as fear flooded into his eyes as I aimed my pistol at his head. I chuckled darkly and pulled the hammer back. "It looks like your partner wont be getting my mask, or your friendship ever." I pulled the trigger and watched as the life drained from his eyes almost instantly. He collapsed to the ground with a small thud. Another dark chuckle escaped from my throat as I stared at his body.
"NO!" I slowly turned around to see the girl from earlier staring at me with tears rolling down her cheeks. I pointed my pistol and fired into the dead body next to me without looking causing her to grit her teeth and pull out a blue glowing arrow. She pulled back the arrow and fired it directly at me, I blocked the arrow with Ember causing it to shatter on impact. I spun Ember in my hands and smiled. "Maybe you can put up more of a fight, unlike your friend over there." I motioned my head towards the dead body.
Her eyes flicked from me to the body then back to me. I watched as she grit her teeth and transformed her bow into a staff, she then grabbed her quiver and slid it onto the staff. The quiver then shifted until it was locked onto the staff, which now created a spear with a multicolored tip. I titled my head slightly and giggled. "Very creative I see. I doubt it will help you in battle though." She let out a huff and charged at me spear at the ready. Her first move was to swipe horizontally at my mid section, I rolled under the strike and sprinted away from her dead partner and out of the corner I was in. I slid to a stop, splattering mud around me as I did. I quickly pulled up my pistol and fired a single shot at her head.
To my surprise, she sliced the bullet in two with her spear, sending the two pieces into the wall behind her. I slid my pistol into its holster and spun Ember. "Hm, maybe you are more talented then that piece of trash you called a partner." I smiled as she grit her teeth and sprinted at me. She was easy to piss off, perhaps this would be too easy. As she got closer I activated Instinct and lowered my self to the ground. She lunged forward aiming for my throat. I dodged to the side and slashed at the tip of her spear, causing it to slam into the mud. She immediately jumped off the ground and spun using the spear as a pivot and planted her feet onto my forearms, pushing me back.
As I recovered she grabbed her spear and started spinning towards me, aiming her spear for different parts of my body. I was actually having a difficult time blocking each strike, most bounced off my armor luckily, but it was difficult none the less. I could tell she was getting tired as her strikes became much slower and more predictable. I blocked her next strike then grabbed her spear with my free hand, stopping all her movements. A smile came across my face when I ripped the spear from her hands and slammed the flat end into her stomach. She doubled over the spear and coughed. I pulled the spear away and sheathed Ember, then took the spear in both hands.
"I can see that keeping that attack up for long periods comes with risks, you should really pace yourself." She let lout another coughed and looked up to me with a smile, blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. "Don't underestimate me." Her hand made a slight clicking noise, soon after the tip of her spear changed into a bright yellow and exploded, causing yellow dust to rush towards my face. I felt the spear disappear from my hands as a bright yellow cloud formed around me, blocking my sight. I slowly looked around the cloud, trying to detect any movement. I pumped aura into my eyes and tried to spot her aura, but my search came up fruitless. I dodged to the side after hearing a slight whistle. I looked down to my arm to see a slight cut in between my armor plating.
I assumed it was an arrow from the sound it made, that and because she was an archer. I dodged another arrow, except this time I was able to see it, it seemed that she used her aura to increase their speed. I pulled out my pistol and slowly looked around for another arrow. After a few seconds I saw a small green glow in the yellow hue. I ducked under the arrow and fired towards where the arrow came from. A low groan erupted from the area that I fired from, followed by the glow of green. A smirk appeared on my face as the yellow smoke slowly started to dissipate, revealing the girl. She was now crouched on the ground holding her thigh, tears dripped down onto the muddy floor.
I put Ember under her chin and lifted her head up slowly. As we locked eyes I felt something change in me, like a dark presence had been controlling me. The sight of her bright blue eyes glistening made me remember someone from a time long ago, seeing the pain in her eyes froze me. She sniffed and scowled at me. "Just do it already, Don't waste my time." I slowly lowered my sword and stared down at her. She lowered her head again and kept holding her thigh. I slowly looked over to her dead partner as a wave of grief flooded over me. I had just killed this girls partner, the one she held closest to her. I stared down at my hands, covered in dried blood of my enemies, but it was my fault they had to fight me.
The sound of splashing mud caught my attention, As I turned to investigate my stomach was met with a boot that sent me flying in the opposite direction. I impacted the muddy ground with a loud thud then rolled a few inches before stopping on my back. I let out a gasp as the air in my lungs left all at once. After panting like a dog for a few seconds I mustered up the strength to see who had attacked me. My eyes went wide when I saw the man I came for standing where I was moments ago. He wore the same mask from the pictures before, but now he wore a large trench coat similar to the other two I had fought, except his was pitch black with blue veins running along the sleeves.
He looked down to the girl crouching next to him, then to her partner, and then to me. "I'm surprised you were able to defeat BOTH of my henchmen, They WERE supposed to be the best." He spun and kicked the girl in the face causing her to yelp in pain. As she writhed in pain he simply walked over to her spear and slowly picked it up. "I trained you both to beat anyone you faced, and here you are, crying like a little child, how pitiful." He raised his arm with the spear and held it in the air. "I trained you better, you are a Disgrace!" He plunged the spear right into the girls heart with no effort. Her body collapsed to the mud without a sound. Hayden shook his head turned towards me.
I quickly jumped to my feet and into a defensive state. If I am going to win this battle, then I need to be smart about it. I watched as he slowly walked towards me, each step felt like he was going to attack, it didn't help that It was hard to see his one eye. He stopped a few feet short of me and stood like a statue, it was kind of unnerving. "That mask, a friend of Scar I presume?" I stayed silent, less he knew about me the better. The sound of chains grinding filled my ears as two sets of chains dropped from Hayden's sleeves then smacked onto the muddy floor. Before I could even think of a reason why he had them he sprinted forward with the chains in tow. I quickly brought up my sword as one of the chains came flying at me. By the time I blocked the first set, his other arm raised up, launching the other set at me. I quickly pulled out my pistol and fired a bullet at the incoming chains, the bullet impacted knocking the metal off course.
Taking the opening I had I jumped back out of his reached and quickly reloaded my pistol. He is fast, even with all that extra weight, it seemed I would be sing everything in this fight. I readied myself as he sprinted at me much faster than any normal person, he swiped his right arm around, but instead of chains like I was expecting, a long sword came within inches of my throat. I shook off my surprise and quickly rushed at him. I holstered my pistol as our swords clashed sending sparks flying out in all directions. I grit my teeth as we pushed against each other, it didn't help that the floor was slippery. I could tell he was struggling too, but not as much as I was. "I see, you are a lot stronger then my two subordinates, they would have given up already. You really are his student."
I pushed away from him and pulled out my pistol. Before I could fire he grabbed my arm and slammed me into the ground causing my pistol to fall out of my hand. I rolled away as his foot slammed into the ground, pieces of dirt and rock uprooted to form a mini crater around his foot. I let out a sigh and gripped Ember tighter, this guy was no push over. Hayden stepped out of the crater and faced me, a single blue eye stared at me. "There is something special about you, but since you wont talk, I will have to make you." He sprinted forward and lunged with his sword. I brought mine up to deflect the strike, but just before our swords connected, his dissipated into a blue dust. Before I could change course his knee impacted my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. Then his foot came and collided with my mask causing me to slid back.
Before I could catch my bearings his chains came flying towards me and wrapped around my entire body. I tried to push them off but with each struggle it only caused they to grow tighter and tighter. I fell to my knees dropping my sword to the mud. I slowly looked up to see Hayden walk up and grab Ember from the ground. I noticed the chains weren't connected to his arms anymore and that they had the same blue veins wrapping around them. I struggled against the chains again, but let out a sigh knowing they won't budge. I heard Hayden chuckle as he inspected my sword. "The more you struggle the more painful it will be." I watched as he inspected the sword carefully, almost as if he was looking for something.
"Ember... So I suspect your semblance involves fire? Other wise that's a stupid name." I squinted my eyes slightly but refused to speak. He turned to me and stabbed Ember into the ground. "You really don't like to talk, I'm guessing you have no friends." He waited for an answer and let out a sigh as I stared at him. "Jeez kid, and here I thought we could have a conversation like a normal people." I scoffed and shook my head. "I'm hardly normal..." He kicked me in the stomach causing me to double over. He let out a satisfied laugh and knelled down in front of me. "The kick was for being a rebellious teenager. And I'm surprised you spoke to that. You are unpredictable when it comes to talking." He grabbed a handful of my hair and held my head up.
He smashed his knee into my face causing my mask to shatter into pieces. He crouched back down and lifted my head up. "I knew it, you were that little brat Scar took under his wing! I remembered that blonde mop of yours." I scowled slightly and looked down at the broken pieces of Scar's mask lying in the mud. Hayden noticed and let out a little whine. "Awe, did I hurt your feelings? I know you teens are so emotional!" He punched me then let out a loud laugh. "I suppose I should kill you n-" he stopped suddenly and grabbed my hair again. He then stared into my eyes and let out a gasp. My eyes went wide when I saw his one blue eye, it was identical to mine. He let go of my head and stood up. He pulled open his coat and pulled out a radio.
"Hey its me... I found something you might want to see... Alright, I'll be there by morning." He placed the radio back into his coat and laughed. "I see you are surprised as I am, well I guess I could give a little history lesson while I slowly sap out your aura." He pulled out a collar from his coat and dangled it in front of me. "Now, I'm sure you know about the four main families from the war blah blah blah." He grabbed my hair again and held my head back while placing the collar onto my throat. It wrapped around with a click and started to glow red. He stepped back and looked down at me. "Anyways, you are an Arc descendant, I know because you have golden eyes instead of blue, plus your aura has a certain feel to it."
"I am apart of the Price family, we aren't as strong and as powerful as you mighty Arc's so we got pushed aside." He slowly took off his mask to reveal his scarred up face. One X was across his left eye that went down to his ear. The right side of his face looked like it had been burned severely and wasn't treated correctly. He smiled and slid the mask back onto his face. "My family rebelled against the Arc's in hopes of getting more power, they resorted to inhuman ways and were called monsters. I reflect that monster side of my family. As you can see, I'm not the prettiest of people." I scoffed and smiled at him. "You got that right."
He snapped his fingers causing a sharp pain to go up my spine and into my head. I let out a yell and collapsed to the mud. Hayden cackled and kicked my side. "As long as that collar is on you, I control how fast or slow your aura drains. So I would watch yourself, unless you want to be in pain for the next hour." I glanced up to him and let out a groan. He laughed again and snapped his fingers causing more pain to go through my neck. I clenched my teeth and tried to pump aura into any part of my body hoping something would happen. But it only caused my aura to drain even faster. Eventually I gave up and just laid there as Hayden played with Ember.
I slowly closed my eyes and thought about how everyone would react to never seeing me again. Most of them would probably not care, but Pyrrha would probably feel something. She is the closest thing to a friend that I have, I guess I should have ran when I had the chance. "You don't have to run..." I opened my eyes to see I was standing in a dark room with a single light above me. I spun around trying to see anything indicating where I was. "I can help you." Suddenly a dark figure appeared in the light. Its features started to become more noticeable until I realized that... It was me. Except this Jaune had black veins spreading out from the corner of his eyes. His iris was a blood red instead of blue, and the whites of his eyes were black like the veins. I took a step back as this dark Jaune smiled.
"Oh don't be afraid of me, I know I look a little scary but I can help." His voice didn't sound devilish like it did before, now it was normal. I narrowed my eyes at him and folded my arms. "If your me then why do you look like that?" He let out a dark chuckle and held his arms out. "I am all your stored up hate and anger, I am your most powerful emotions. Everyone has their own inner demons right? I actually helped you earlier against those two henchmen, you were pretty badass eh?" I shook my head and scowled at him. "No I don't care, I knew something was wrong. It was you controlling me!" He walked closer to me and smiled a genuine smile. "I'm just helping you out, like right now. Let me lend you some power. You can destroy this guy easily." I pondered for a moment on his words, if it could help me out then I suppose it wouldn't be too bad.
I turned back to him chewed on my lip for a second. "Okay, how does this work then?" He laughed and placed his hand on my shoulder then smiled. "Just like this."
Chapter end
Holy crap that was dark am I right? Dark Jaune is pretty...Dark! Jeez that sounded stupid, anyway I wanted to keep on with this chapter but after seeing how many words I decided against it. This chapter probably could have made it to at least 7 or 8 thousand if I kept going. So next time there will be lore, and introducing a new character to the story! (Not another OC, too many XD) How will dark Jaune's power effect normal Jaune, will it be enough to defeat Hayden? I sure hope so, I need more Arkos in my life. XD
Side note, my school starts up next week so updates my slow down a little, but they will still come out I promise!
Please please please leave a review on anything! Last chapter I only got a few, I love to hear from everyone, even if its just saying if the chapter was good or not, tell meh please! Till next time!
Yukas, out.