Neopolitan Stars
Chapter 11- Neo
The four people seated with team RWBY happened to be team JNPR, the other team we were supposed to work with in taking down Cinder and the White Fang. Their leader was an interesting blond guy in light armor, with a telescopic shield and unremarkable sword, named Jaune Arc. There was also Pyrrha Nikos, a famous young huntress who I'd heard of many times. From the stories, I knew she possessed dust-reinforced bronze shield and a spear that could turn into a sword and a rifle. The other two were a talkative, pink haired girl named Nora Valkyrie and a quiet man everyone called Ren. I had no clue what weapons either of them used.
Conversation flowed easily through the group after the initial instructions. There was one awkward moment with Nora, but luckily Orion saved me. Again.
"So Neo," Nora had questioned me with an interrogative look. "How do you like it at Beacon? Or better yet, have you even paid attention to it or are you trying to stay unattached to the school because you're secretly working for Cinder and will eventually call her in to bust the place up after you've learned all of our weaknesses and can defeat us and get to the invaluable treasures that thisschoolobviouslydoesn'tpossesbecauseit'saschoolandnotabank?!" By now, our noses were touching and I was leaning as far back on the bench as I could. She'd spoken too fast for me to understand most of what she'd said, but it's not like I would've answered anyway. I held her gaze and smiled, tilting my head slightly. We stayed like that for a while before Orion jumped in.
"You'll have to excuse her, Nora. Neo doesn't talk much. Ever, in fact," he informed her. "Nevertheless, I assure you she's no longer working for Cinder and I'm sure she's very impressed with your school." The still sunglassed man concluded and took in a mouthful of his steak, specially ordered from the kitchen for him.
"Das nod troo," Yang managed to say around a mouthful of mashed potato. I grimaced at the lack of manners. Table manner infringement was one of my biggest pet peeves. The brawler swallowed and draped an arm around me, pulling me into a hug from the side. "She apologized to me verbally at the end of our fight today."
Everyone around the table except for Nora looked shocked. Even Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were surprised. Unlike their talkative comrade, they'd picked up on my silent, near muteness immediately. Orion was the most dumbstruck of them all. His jaw hung open and a piece of stake fell out. I couldn't help myself as a small giggle escaped me, the first hint of a voice anybody here except Yang had experienced.
"What's her voice like?" Ruby whispered, as if I couldn't hear her just as well as Yang.
"Hmm... Well it was a bit of a pained whisper at the time, but from what I could tell it was very pleasant and smooth." The blond turned back and beamed at me. "How about it, Neo? Why don't you say something right now!" I opened my mouth to say something, but immediately shut it again and shook my head, looking down at my lap. "Alright, don't want to make ya do anything you're uncomfortable with. Maybe some other day." The rest of the night people asked me yes or no questions I could nod or shake my head to, but mostly just conversed with each other. That's how I prefer it anyways.
At some point, we got on the topic of Cinder. We each gave brief explanations of our weapons and semblances so we could work together more effectively. Ruby had a scythe that could turn into a sniper rifle, named Crescent Rose, and her semblance was speed. Weiss used a rapier with a dust revolver called Myrtenaster and had the semblance of glyph creation, the type of glyph depended on the type of dust she had cued up in her sword. Blake's weapon was called Gambol Shroud. It could switch between a sword and "chain pistol" while the sheath is used as a bludgeoning weapon in her off-hand. Her semblance was a shadow, like half of mine, but hers could change what it was made of depending on the dust in her weapon, similar to Weiss. Yang had her Ranged Shot Gauntlets, called the Ember Celicas. Her semblance was a very interesting one. People tend to call it "going super sayan" and it absorbed any attack she was hit with and made her hit that much harder. Unfortunately, it didn't make her any more resistant to attacks, so she still felt every punch she took as if her semblance wasn't active.
Moving on to team JNPR, Jaune had that unremarkable sword and telescoping shield that I'd seen before. The shield doubled as a sheath, too. He had yet to discover his semblance. (Laaamme) Nora wielded a war hammer, which could change into a grenade launcher. Her semblance was the ability to channel electricity into her muscles, overstimulating them and effectively tripling her strength. As for Pyrrha, I already knew about her spear and shield, but I didn't know that her semblance was magnetism. Finally, Ren had dual SMGs with blades on them. He kept them up his sleeves, but he didn't mention a semblance and nobody asked.
Team ONYX was the last to share. Orion explained that he had made an umbrella that doubled as a high-powered rifle and had a blade built into the handle. I was especially interested as he spoke, because I'd only seen him use it as a gun and a bludgeoning weapon. I had no idea it had a hidden blade, and I didn't know what his semblance was. "As far as my semblance goes," he explained as he looked directly at me. "It's called a sixth sense. I can sense the auras of everyone around me. I can also tell the difference between people and shadows. That's how I always knew where you were during your sneak attacks, Neo." I smiled in understanding, glad to know he really couldn't read my mind.
Now it was my turn. I took out my parasol from under the table, ready to show it off. To start, I screwed off the handle and showed everyone the sharp stiletto blade attached before I screwed it back on. Next, I pressed a button on the pole and the same blade sprang out of the end. Then I retracted the second blade and placed the parasol back on my lap. Orion informed everyone that I had a dual semblance, allowing me to both teleport and leave behind shadows of varying strength.
Yellowjacket was up next. She wielded a telescoping lance with rocket boosters on the back that could shoot off the tip like a missile launcher and had a shield similar to Jaune's built into the armor on her left arm. Her semblance was speed, but it wasn't like Ruby's speed. Yellowjacket's also doubled her forward momentum. This gave much more power to her lance, but it also meant her semblance was only useful in a straight line path. She couldn't turn effectively while using it.
Finally, it came down to Xavier. He had those two swords I'd noticed before, called wakizashis. There was a firing chamber and barrel built into each of the red hilts, making them pistols as well. His semblance was the ability to create fire glyphs. "Because my glyphs are only of one type of dust," he explained, "they're much more powerful than the ones most glyph semblances can make."
Now that everyone knew how everyone else worked, we made a plan for after the next day's classes. Yang decided she'd consult with her underground source, Junior, to try and find a lead on what the White Fang could be doing. "How about it, Neo? You wanna come with?" She looked at me expectantly and was answered with a vigorous nod. I couldn't wait to get back on that motorcycle with her, and I was sure Junior'd have something. He had been Roman's go-to guy for weapons and ammo, after all. Meanwhile Blake and Weiss would go to the Cross Continental Transit System to look for any extra information on the White Fang they could find and everybody else would search the city for any hideouts the White Fang had and try to scavenge whatever plans they could. Orion would use his semblance to find a White Fang hideout in the city, then raid it for any info or plans they had with Xavier, Ruby, and Yellowjacket. Finally, team JNPR would try to crash a recruitment rally, to save a shop and stop at least a few faunus from joining the White Fang. (Turns out Jaune's ideas are just as lame as Jaune is)
Hey, guys. Sorry if you found this chapter a bit boring, but now you know the abilities of the new OCs! Since this was such an informational chapter with nearly no actual plot development, I decided to just tack it on to the last chapter and post it all at once. I also felt like celebrating our return with a double post- sue me! I hope you're all pleased with the new OCs' abilities!
