Ch35: K(rak)IN
(Monday, Y+1, M+4, D+27)
[Auditorium, Beacon Academy]
"Today I have an unusual, although not unheard of, announcement to make. As many of you may know, we currently have a five-person team here in Beacon, Team RWWBY." Ozpin says, as the portraits of Team RWWBY appear in the air behind him. "Due to the addition of two more students in the past week, a new, three person, team has been formed." Ruby's, Weiss', Blake's, and Yang's portraits disappear, leaving mine. My portrait is soon joined by two more, blacked-out portraits. "It is my pleasure to introduce to you team K(rak)IN." I step onto the stage followed by Ivan and Neo, to the confusion and excitement of the students assembled. Ozpin had called for all students and faculty to gather in the auditorium for a special announcement. As we step onstage, Ivan's and Neo's portraits are revealed. "Led by: Kurt Wagner." Ozpin says and I crack a smile.
'Hey, I'm a team leader now. Woot.' I calmly turn around and march off stage, my new teammates behind me. 'Guess the secret's out. Neo's with us now. Cinder and her crew won't be so happy about that. Sucks for them I guess.' I smirk, waving my team to me. "C'mon we've still got class to go to. I think it's History with Oobleck."
[History Class with Dr Oobleck.]
"Today, students, we will be talking about the long and bloody history of humanity and the Grimm." Dr. Oobleck says, zipping around while sipping on a coffee cup. "First records of human-Grimm interaction are sparse, but they are mostly in ancient texts concerning the northern continent of Draconis. Yes, the continent was once home to the mighty and cruel kingdom of Draconia. In fact, the rulers of Draconia were so cruel and strict that the word Draconian came into being simply as a way to describe them. It is from this continent that the Grimm first originated. The kingdom of Draconia was the first to fall, before long the four surviving kingdoms realized that they would be the next to fall to this almost demonic threat. It has been theorized that the kingdom of Draconia was, in some way, responsible for the advent of the Grimm threat." He says, standing still behind his desk, a rare occurrence to say the least. He refills his coffee cup from his thermos that he keeps on his desk, and then launches into a recount of the major events concerning the Grimm since their advent. Notable was that after every war, Grimm would undergo a notable increase in both number and aggression. In fact, the years following the Great War were known for the hordes of Grimm rampaging across the world, destroying many villages and fortified towns. Locations that had just survived the greatest war known to Remnant were swarmed by the numberless hordes of Grimm. But, eventually the Grimm concentrations normalized and they became less aggressive. Just the same as had happened for the war before that, and the one before that, and the one before that. Eventually, after they'd done untold amounts of damage and taken innumerable lives, they would stop attacking and head back to whatever pit of hell they spawned from. Or maybe not, maybe they were just waiting for the right- *RINGRINGRING* 'And there's the bell. Wonderbar. I was just getting into that train of thought.'
[Dueling Class with Professor Goodwitch]
"Well done Mister Arc, congratulations." Goodwitch says. Jaune, barely, managed to best one of our classmates, a boy using a sickle-sword with an integrated shotgun. "Now," She says as Jaune and the boy leave the arena. "Who would like to fight next?" She asks.
"I'll go." I say, standing up. I haven't taken part in a match in a while, so I might as well get back into it. I walk down to the field, checking my weapons on the way. When I make it to the field, I put my helmet on and bring Blue Death up, leaving the safety on and pulling back the charging handle. "And would anyone like to challenge him?" Goodwitch asks. A single hand raises from the rest of the class.
"I will." Mercury Black says.
'Great, I've got to deal with this guy.' I quickly snap the C-100 onto the front of my AR, 'I'll just have to cheese this I guess.' I think, making sure that I have everything ready one last time as Mercury descends from the stands.
"The fight begins in three." Mercury just stands there. I pull a cylinder from my greatcoat. "Two." I hook a finger through the pin. "One." Glynda's almost finished counting down. Mercury sports a self-confident smirk. "Begin!" I yank the pin out and lob the grenade towards Mercury. He dodges to the right and stands there. I smirk. Using vocal commands, I set my visor's polarization to its max and turn off my helmet's audioreceptors. The flashbang goes off, disorienting Mercury for the precious few seconds I need. I reset polarization and reactivate the audio receptors as I bring Blue Death up to fire, dropping to one knee to steady my aim. As the sights hover over him, he raises his head and looks at me, still apparently disoriented by the flashbang. As I pull the trigger he ducks, managing to dodge my first burst. I reacquire him. And he dodges it. And again. And again. 'He's getting closer. Scheiẞ. Time for plan B.' I pull another grenade from my coat and pull the pin. Mercury speeds up, to keep me from throwing it for fear of hitting myself. If that were my plan, anyway. I drop the grenade and make sure my armor's filtration systems are working and switch to IRNV. In a few seconds the grenade starts spewing thick white smoke, which I had made sure was opaque to the naked eye but perfectly clear to IR gear. 'Can you dodge what you can't see?' I fire off a burst as Mercury stops just in front of the cloud, presenting an easy target. He catches the first burst full on before charging into the smoke, trying to find me. I produce another cylindrical grenade, smirking and dropping it.
*bamf* I teleport to the opposite side of the field and reload Blue Death. I drop to one knee and aim for the cloud of smoke, which has taken on an off-white/yellowish tinge. Mercury soon stumbles from it, coughing and hacking, right out of bounds. "Well. I was kinda hoping that that wouldn't happen. But I guess you take what you can." I say, as Goodwitch announces my victory by ring-out. "Shame, really." I mutter, safing my weapons and emptying their chambers.
[Evening, Team K(rak)IN Dorm]
"Well, it's nice to finally have a bed to sleep in." Ivan says, falling onto one of the four beds in the room.
'"Want to share?"' Neo asks me, sitting on one of the beds with a smirk as i start stacking my armor in a corner.
"Sure, I've just got to pick something up from The Cave. Just a few books I left down there." I say, hanging up my greatcoat and weapon belt, keeping a few knives on me for good luck.
I make it halfway to the hangar complex when I get the feeling that I'm being watched. I quickly turn around, a small throwing knife at the ready. And nobody's there. 'Weird.' I turn around, knife still in hand, and pick the pace up on my way to The Cave.
*THWACK* 'PAIN'
*thud*