Here's a chapter of Nightmares of Abyss~ Welcome Azrael Darkfire, for joining the family :D
Hmm, how long have I been working? I'm completely derived of sleep. Well, doesn't really matter. I'll be visited by a sly fox anyways.
Speaking of the little vixen, she's late.
How annoying.
Infuriating.
Frustrating.
I really hate it when people don't come by the hour they've promised to come.
"Well, if she's aggravating you that much, why not kill her?"
A voice.
The same distorted one as before.
Disturbing.
Unorthodox.
Perhaps I should just go now?
I've taken a peek at the time.
8:30 in the morning.
Huh.
I've been working that long?
I don't feel tired at all.
Though, my instincts have been bothering me.
I wonder if he's the one behind this…
… …
The next few minutes were boring for Vanitas. He stood in front of the police station, anxiously checking the time with his watch. The people and faunus alike gave him weird looks due to his attire and why he wasn't being told off by the police.
He sighed. He was gathering too much attention. Where's that little vixen when he needs her?
"Vaniii~!"
Speaking of the devil, there she was. She, with such an endearing voice, called out to him. It was as if the two were on a date.
"Sepia, took you some time," Vanitas called back. Sepia twirled around to show off her new clothes. She was wearing something lighter today; a normal blouse with tight jeans. Her hair followed the wind trail a little too smoothly; it was as if it was artificial.
"Teehee, how do you like my new look?" asked the girl. Vanitas groaned. He would go through long lengths just to make the girl stop her foxiness. He landed a karate chop blow on her head, causing the girl to innocently put her hands on the spot where she was hit.
Sepia looked up to him with a pout.
"What was that for, Vani?" inquired Sepia. Vanitas sighed wearily.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Vani?"
"Eehhh? But it's such a cute nickname," said Sepia. Vanitas heaved a tired sigh.
Frankly, he was getting tired of his partner's attitude. On public, she puts on that innocent, clumsy and adorable personality. But if it comes to just the two of them, she turns into a fox, accompanied with its slyness.
This little vixen was giving him more work than he should be handling.
"Let's just go. Sorry for bringing you along," stated Vanitas.
It was true. He didn't wish to bother his partner since she wasn't supposed to be involved in all this. However, she has sharp senses, and a clear insight that will make her useful in his investigation.
"It's nothing really, let's go!" said Sepia, clinging her arms to his and dragged him around town.
… …
During the first few hours of their investigation, they've found nothing. There were no clues that could link up the Dust Store robbery to the White Fang. The same case applied to the other notorious crime organizations around the world, and even of Vale.
Although, they did find something interesting.
The two have found the black haired Faunus, Blake, to be chatting with a man with golden hair. She was talking about how she was a former member of the White Fang, who left due to the unlikable situation the White Fang placed themselves in.
Vanitas and Sepia didn't mean to eavesdrop, but they couldn't pass by this important piece of information.
"Hey, Vani. They're leaving. Should we follow them?" asked Sepia. Vanitas nodded his head.
"As much as I hate stalking, this will be our only chance to finding out whether the White Fang DOES have something to do with the recent Dust Shop attacks. Everything to this point has been pure speculations; now we have the chance of getting concrete evidence. I'm not letting this past. Also, stop calling me Vani!" scolded Vanitas. Sepia just chuckled, and told Vanitas to lead the way.
Currently, the two were tailing the Faunus. Vanitas was used to this kind of job, even out in public. Surprisingly, Sepia knows how to keep her presence low.
"So, what's the plan now?" asked the Golden Blonde, called as Sun. It was at this point that Vanitas knew he lived in a world of color fetishes.
"I'm not sure if the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before…" responded Blake.
"What if, they did? I mean the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they are most likely to go to if they were to do it, and not find them there… right?"
"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be…"
"Well, while I was on the ship, I've heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."
"How huge?"
"Huge, big Schnee company trailer," said Sun.
"Ship… The warehouses," Vanitas thought. Sepia and Vanitas looked each other, and nodded their heads to confirm their suspicion.
Along with the two faunus, who didn't seem to sense their presence, the two humans rushed to the warehouses.
By the time they've got there, it was already nighttime. Vanitas told Sepia to go home, but she strongly refused for an odd reason.
"I'm not letting you have all the fun!" complained Sepia. Vanitas groaned at her behavior, and looked on.
They were currently observing from a building just opposite of where the two faunus were. Luckily, they haven't noticed despite the contrasting colors the two humans had on.
"Still, when are they going to come?" inquired Sepia. Vanitas was about to answer, until they saw a large plane land in the middle of the sight. By the time the hatch has opened, people wearing outfits that obviously showed their symbol: The White Fang.
Vanitas grinned. Looks like the White Fang WAS involved with the whole dust store robbing bullshit.
But for what purpose?
Then appeared a man with red hair and a cane.
"Roman Torchwick," growled Vanitas in a voice deeper than usual. Sepia flinched at his tone.
"Wh-what's wrong?" asked Sepia. Vanitas didn't want to answer.
"Nothing. Just have some unsettled account with that fuck," replied Vanitas. Just as if on time, Blake jumped off the building she was observing from with her weapon out.
"Sepia, stay here. A riot's about to start," said Vanitas. He pulled out his bow, and immediately pulled out an arrow.
"W-wait, what are you doing Vani?!" asked Sepia. Vanitas simply smiled.
"Providing back up fire to the little cat girl over there."
"Cat girl?"
As if on cue, Blake appeared out of nowhere and put her blade on Roman Torchwick's neck. A few talks here and there, and more planes came out of the skies.
"Tsk, this isn't good. They have too many reinforcements," thought Vanitas. He bit his lower lip. He might just need to kill these people in front of two innocent girls. He doesn't want that to happen but it looks like he has no choice.
Torchwick set off an explosion that threw Blake back.
"Blake!" shouted Sepia. Torchwick was fired another bullet, but Vanitas fired just as fast. He countered Torchwick's bullets with his arrows, leaving an outraged Roman Torchwick.
"You again?! I fucking swear you love ruining my plans, don't you?" shouted Torchwick. Vanitas knew that it was time to show up. He strapped on his bow, and flew forwards the commotion.
"Vanitas!" shouted Sepia who was irritated that she was being left out from the fun.
… …
"Nice to see you too, Torchwick!" shouted Vanitas as he'd rained down spikes down at Torchwick. The latter returned the favor by shooting back with his bullets. He accelerated downwards, forming two blades made from pure dark red dust and struck down. His opponent countered rapidly, and the two traded blows like there's no tomorrow.
Each blow was accompanied by an explosion that shook the battlefield. The poor blonde faunus, who was supposed to stomp down on Torchwick's head, lost his balance and fell from the crate he was on. Bad timing called for it as reinforcements rushed forward to get him.
Blake, on the other hand, was utterly surprised to find out that one of her classmates knew about this man. While she did find it weird that he was working with the police at such an early age, she didn't expect that he'd be in this business as well.
She wanted to go forwards and strike as well, but the two were trading blows with high levels of malice and ferocity. It was like they were seriously trying to kill each other, than to disarm each other.
"Are you here to attempt to kill me once again?!" shouted Torchwick. He swung his cane at Vanitas as an attempt to hook him in. Unfortunately, Vanitas saw this come.
"Nah, there are kids watching!" responded Vanitas, who crouched low and delivered a low kick. Torchwick was thrown off balance, and, as a process, accidentally hit Ruby who was watching from afar.
It was only until that point when Vanitas noticed the girl.
"Ruby!" shouted Vanitas. Ruby was thrown afar, momentarily distracting Vanitas.
"Hey, I'm right here!" shouted Torchwick. He caught Vanitas offguard, landing a blow on his chin. Vanitas staggered backwards, but Torchwick pressed on his attack. As a result, Vanitas suffered heavy blows and bullet wounds that pierced through his flesh.
Torchwick thought he was winning, but he really wasn't.
Without warning, blue fire rolled off from Vanitas like a furnace.
"Enough!" shouted Vanitas. His voice cracked as he spoke that sentence; it was as if he's snapped his sanity in the process. He released a powerful shockwave of pure dark blue flames, pushing Torchwick back with violent force. He scanned the surroundings, and found a certain orange haired girl with a pink bow: Penny.
"What the fuck is that weapon doing here?" thought Vanitas. He shook his head, and turned his attention back to Torchwick. Unfortunately, he already ran away on his plane.
"Damn it, get back here you fuck!" shouted Vanitas with glee. He raised his hand and was about to blast the plane from the skies. Unfortunately, it backfired. Instead, the blue flames began to consume him.
"Fuck, I screwed up," muttered Vanitas. The blue flames continued consuming, causing him to scream out in agony.
"Vani!" shouted a certain vixen, who still hasn't left the scene.
Fortunately, the girl did what every sane person would do.
Smack the living shit out of the rampaging man.
… ….
By the time Vanitas came to, he was surrounded by 4 girls and the blonde faunus. Vanitas groaned in pain.
"Anything good happened while I was out?" asked Vanitas.
"Ah, thank the heavens you're awake!" shouted Ruby who suddenly hugged Vanitas. At this, Vanitas huffed at the sudden change of comfort.
"What happened back there?" inquired Blake who was narrowing her eyes at Vanitas. Vanitas sighed. He looked around, and caught glimpse of a blonde girl and silverhead girl coming their way.
"I'll explain later. You have other things to take care of," Vanitas replied, pointing at the visitors. Ruby instantly let go, and panicked by the sight of the two. She quickly approached Weiss, speaking rapidly that almost made it not understandable.
However, the Snow Queen simply passed by Ruby and stood face to face with Blake.
"Err… Should we be here? This looks like an internal conflict to be honest," whispered Sepia to Vanitas. Vanitas shook his head.
"I have a feeling that we'll be with this group for quite some time. We might as well get to know them," softly answered Vanitas.
"Weiss… I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with-"
"Stop" commanded Weiss. Vanitas raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed with her attitude. She's still almighty despite the situation. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"
Blake's eyes widened with surprise.
"12 hours. That means I've had 12 hours to think about this, and in that 12 hours, I've decided…" Weiss stopped there to build up tension.
"… Seriously. Did she really have to?" commented Sepia. Vanitas lightly chuckled at his partner's unneeded comment.
"I don't care."
"You don't care?" asked Blake, who was skeptical of her answer.
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"
"No, I-I haven't been since I was young-"
"Upupupupup. I don't wanna hear it. All I want to know that next time something this big comes up? You come to your teammates, and not some… someone else."
At this, Blake started tearing up and everyone in the vicinity smiled.
"Just. Kiss. Already," muttered Sepia. With a baffled expression Vanitas has looked at his partner.
"Of course…"continued Blake.
"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together," said Ruby. Vanitas turned his attention back to the group. They huddled around Blake, completely forgetting the duo.
"Sepia, let's leave," said Vanitas. Sepia nodded her head.
"You'll be explaining to me what happened earlier, mister," growled Sepia. Vanitas sighed in exasperation.
"I'm still quite not sure how I feel about you," said Weiss. Sun nervously laughed at her.
"Hey, wait a minute… Where's Penny? And Sepia? And Vanitas?" asked Ruby.
… …
That night, it took tremendous amount of effort to explain everything to Sepia in a way she won't be traumatized with him.
Vanitas, accompanied by his father, explained his abilities to Sepia along with his "curse". Glynda was currently doing paperwork, so she wasn't able to come and help the two.
"So… Let me get this straight. You're an assassin."
"Yes."
"And your Aura is something that eats up your sanity every time you use it."
"Err… Not really. It's just if my Aura turns berserk, that's when it starts eating my sanity."
"… So your Aura is more or less a double edged blade?"
"… Yes."
Sepia sighed at the revelation. True, she likes her partner because he was strong. She wasn't ready to be committed of turning into this person's babysitter though.
"You'll have to explain this to the other people in the scene then, Vani," said Ozpin. Vanitas groaned again.
"No need to remind me. Can I get some sleep now? I haven't slept for ages," muttered Vanitas.
"Sure, go get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow," said Ozpin.
Together, Sepia and Vanitas walked to their room, and collapsed on their respective beds.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.