The Apex Predator


Common : Hello everyone I'm back with another new chapter and this one is very exciting, first off i want to thank everyone again for the submission, reviews and support for this story. We just hit over 3000 views, can you believe that it's unbelievable.

Ruby : Yaaa tell me about it (eats a plate full of cookies)

Common : Uuuhhhh Ruby ? Where did you get all those cookies ?

Ruby : Ummmm ohh that guy name 'TheMao17' I think was his name, he's been reviewing this story which received me more cookies !

Yang : Wow that's a lot, can I have some ? (Reaches for a cookie)

(Slap Yang's wrist)

Yang : Owww what was that Ruby ?

Ruby : Sorry, the guy told me no cookies for anyone just me. Especially you he specifically said.

Yang : What ?! What a jerk ? What's the guy's name ?!

Ruby : Check with Common, he has the list of people who reviewed

Yang : Common hand me the list!

Common : Okay okay here chill out Yang

(Hands List To Yang)

Yang : (Gasp And Looks At The Specific Reader) I know who you are, I don't know why you said only Ruby is getting some but I will find you...and I will beat you

Common : (Sign) Disclaimer please.

Disclaimer/Ruby : Common does not own the RWBY series or anything els in here, only Ken. RWBY is currently owned by Roosterteeth. ...I love these cookies

Yang : I WILL BEAT YOU!


Chapter 7 : The Young Mercenary

Ken was quietly and calmly reading his book as the bullhead was taking him to vale, the pilot had informed him that in about five minutes they were arriving to their destination. Ken nods as he continued to read but was lost in thoughts later, "I wonder if she still remembers me, it's been a year already since our last interaction" he looked towards the widow as he rested his chin on his palm.

"I better hope she still doesn't hang out with that bastard" he continued to stay like this for minutes until he was pulled back from his thoughts once the pilot had told him they have arrived. "We're here, welcome to vale good sir"

Ken gladly thanked the man and began to walk down the raft, he inhaled the scent of the area as he looked around admiring the scene. "This place is amazing, all though the view is nothing compared to Mistral"

Ken pulled out his scroll as he checked the schedule for the next aircraft to arrive in vale, "ok so I've got about four hours until the next airship arrives, guess I'm gonna have to make this fast"

He then began to walk towards the street as he began his search for his first partner for the team he'll be forming, he didn't exactly know where he'd be going but he hoped that she still was in the same location he last saw her "hope she still hangs in the same place cause I'd seriously be lost if she wasn't"


Team RWBY and team JNPR were currently sitting and chatting below a tree at the garden section of beacon campus, they all had already finished their picnic about fifteen minutes ago and was now resting on the tree enjoying the company of their friends. Ruby was the first to say as she stood up and checked the time for their transportation to town. "Guys we've got to go, the next airship to Vale is about to arrive at five minutes"

Yang soon followed "Oh boy, we better hurry. We don't wanna be late"

Everyone quickly got up to help each other clean their leftovers and began packing and heading towards the landing port, Nora had to hurry back to their dorm first to return the picnic and meet them at the port. "Nora hurry back okay, you've got about less the three minutes to be there" Jaune informed her.

Nora gave him a salute before running towards their dorm, "Aye captain, I'll be there asap" she soon disappeared in a blur as she swiftly passes the many students walking close by.

Everyone began quickly walking as they checked their time for the airship to arrive, they had about four minutes till the next ship was coming so they started jogging to fasten their pace. Ruby was already ahead as she had used her semblance to pass her slow jogging teammates, she stopped to wait for her friends as she turned to wave at them. "Guys come on, we don't have much time before the ship is here"

Weiss answered her call as she was left with her friends this time running instead of jogging, "Not everyone is as fast as you Ruby"

It took them less then three minutes to arrive at the landing port but now they were left to wait for Nora as they could already see the bullhead slowly descending at the landing point, "Where's Nora, we're gonna be late" said Pyrrha as she placed her hand on her hips.

"There she is" Jaune pointed out at the distance as Nora came running towards them fast like a moving vehicle, she didn't appear like slowing down which made Jaune very worried cause she was going straight towards the blonde knight.

"Beep beep coming through!"

Both Jaune and Nora immediately stumbled down in immediate impact as the rest of the individuals watch the two trying to ease their pain from bumping each other, "Ahhh Nora you didn't have to do that" Jaune said as he rubbed his head.

The orange haired hammer wielder slowly got up from the concrete floor and went to offer her leader a hand, "Well you kinda told me not to be late so ya, here I am"

The bullhead soon finally descended to the ground and Weiss soon announces her teammates to follow, "Guys come on the ship is here"

"Yeahhhh, onwards to Vale my friends" said Ruby.


Somewhere in Vale was a dark alley with a reinforce steel door connected to a brick wall, that door led to an underground urban arena where most mercenaries, street fighters and thugs would hang out and watch two strangers dual against each other for entertainment of the audience. Ken Markes was currently walking up towards the steel entrance to finally meet his first member of his team, "Lets just hope she's still here, I'd be wasting my time she isn't"

It was about late afternoon and it took Ken about three whole hours to find this place again since his last visit to Vale was about two years ago, he didn't remember the routes very vividly but at least he eventually found the alley he was looking. Ken walked up to the steel door and knocked three times waiting for the small gap to slide open, seconds later the gap finally opened to reveal and man with completely black eyes and a deep voice. "What do you what?!"

"I want in"

"Password"

Ken immediately felt impatient and quickly pulled out his military tactical knife from his sleeve and switched it into gun form, he pointed into the man's head on the gap revealing it to be a desert eagle. "Here's my password"

Ken was about to speak but the man had already close to gap on the door which only irritated him further, on the other side of the door the man had ignore Ken and walked back towards the underground arena. He walked away chuckling to himself until he heard the door behind him make a loud thud noise, he turned back and slowly approached the steel entrance as the sound continued like someone was trying punch the door open. The man was about to reach for the gap and slid it open but the door had already broke and he was push against it and was send flying with the steel metal crashing into a nearby wall. Later the door fell to the ground and the stranger was left hanging on the crater wall silently crying in pain, Ken used a portion of his grimm powers to break the door open and finally enter the area he had been yearning to go. His eyes slowly turned back to normal and calmly walked inside ignoring the hanging man on the wall, he approached the rusty stairs that led underground and quickly walked down while ignoring the other strangers that gave him a look of displease the further he went down the stair. He soon found himself in the underground arena with the crowded people around the ring cheering the fighters and pulled up his hood to hide his facial appearance. He tried to walk through the crowd as they cheered the fighters on, he felt very uncomfortable feeling the closeness of the people around him but felt even worse as they pushed and rumbled. He wanted to find the person he was looking for fast so he could finally get away from this sorry excuse of an arena but clearly luck wasn't on his side as he looked all over the place finding no traces of even the slightest of his current objective, sighing heavily he sat on a table near the crowd as he was about to give up and leave the place to look somewhere els for his hiding teammate. "This is no use, I'll never find her at this rate. Ugh might as well leave before trouble follo-"

Something then caught his eye as he looked at the arena, watching the fighters clashing trying to over power the other. He looked at the two opponents, one was a man and the other was a young girl. The man appeared to be in his early twenties and held a long sword, he had armor from all over him but Ken didn't pay to much attention on him. What really caught his eye was the girl, she wore black shorts and a black shirt V-neck shirt that exposed her stomach and wore black arm bands. What really stand out was her outfit and eyes, she may wore black completely but it had a few strands of red as well and her eyes were crimson red. Her black hair was tied in a bun while she held a large machete that glowed purple on the blade of her weapon, she had red shoes to top it all off, Ken immediately knew who this girl was. "Found her"

The girl continued to slash from every direction to break her opponents defenses but the man appear to have block every strike and was about to strike towards her chest, the girl had predicted his attack pattern though and side stepped to the left avoiding his sword. She then sends a devastating barrage of cutting power and the man immediately fell to the ground unable to continue the fight, she ranged victorious lifting her weapon in the air while the crowd cheer. "Yeah whooooaa, who's your mama ?! Oh yeah, I rock" She cheered.

Ken quickly got up from his seat and made his way towards the arena as the crowd continued to praise her, a voice was then heard echoing throughout the urban jungle. "Now who amongst you think can go head on with the 'Red Eye Princess'?!"

The crowd continued to rumble but no fighter approached the ring, the 'Red Eye Princess' began to pace around the arena, mocking the others who weren't man enough to fight her. "Come on!, is this all the underground can offer a little girl some entertainment? Who's man enough to fight me?!"

"I am!"

The crowd turned as a man with dark green cloak and a hood covering his face slowly approached the entrance of the arena while receiving discouraging curses and Boo-s, the girl had a smug on her face as Ken entered the ring and stood at the opposite side. She the raise her weapon at him as she spook, "You've got balls kiddo but don't think you can leave without having a little taste of my weapon the 'Violet Stinger'"

"Well then I guess I can't hold back, hope you remember 'Bon Fortuna'"

"Bon Fortuna ?" She whispered.

"Wait, Thee 'Bon Fortuna'?!"

It was Ken's turn to speak, he slowly pulled down his hood to reveal himself from her, "Drop the act red eye princess, or should I say...Rosa"

"Ken ?...Ken Markes?!"

The crowd's rumble slowly started to die out as whispers and glances were given, the voice spoke once more as everyone was expecting the match to begin. "You heard her folks! Ken Markes takes on the 'Red Eye Princess', match is about to begin in thirty seconds"

Rosa immediately went into her fighting position as Ken simply stood there watching her moves as the countdown began, "Don't think I'm going easy on you just because we're friends Ken"

Ken held out his hand in defense, "Rosa please, I'm not here to fight. I've come here for a proposition"

"Proposition?"

"Begin!"

Rosa immediately rushed towards him as she quickly slashes Ken in hopes to deliver the first strike, but Ken kept his stand and stood waiting for her large machete to connect. "You haven't changed not one bit" he said.

As Rosa was about to slice him, Ken had disappeared before her very eyes and suddenly felt a numbing pain on her chest. Ken reappeared behind Rosa as he sliced her one time ending the match with his weapon, she quickly fell to the ground but Ken had prevented her from falling and held her bridal style. "You've lost Rosa, now hear me out"

She look at Ken as she was being held in his arms, "You never held back, what do you want this time ?"

"Just hear me out"

Rosa still being persistent argued with him, "Why should I? You're just gonna leave again like last time"

Ken tighten his grip around Rosa as he replied, "I'm sorry, i know what i did back then devastated you but I had no choice"

"You're sorry ?! I haven't seen you in a year and finally you come back to me and all you say is I'm sorry ?!"

"Please Rosa, just hear me out. Please" Ken silently pleaded to her as she saw the look in his eyes, he always somehow knew how to get to her with the right words and it definitely worked this time. Rosa gave him a weak smile which he returned and set her back to her feet, "Fine, you win. What's this proposition you were saying ?"

"Not here, but it does involve you leaving your mercenary life and following me"

She immediately knew what he was referring too and crossed her arms together and looked away, "No absolutely not, I told you long time ago. I'm not interested on being a guardian nor a soldier"

"But that's the thing, I'm not asking you to be a soldier nor a guardian ?"

She raises her eyebrow, "What do you mean ?" She turned to him this time as Ken continued. "Like I said not here, all though this is a choice. Do you come with me ? Or not?"

Rosa careful hesitate, she had been a mercenary since she was about thirteen years old and she has been enjoying herself since that day she became one. Surely she didn't want to leave but she knew deep down that this was something she didn't want to be for the rest of her life, what ever Ken could offer her could probably be beneficial to her. "What could you possibly offer me that could make me quit this life"

She waited for him to answer as she looked deep into Ken's eyes, "It's your choice"

She continued to think as she was unsure of what to pick, whether she stay as a mercenary or go with Ken to discover a new. Her thoughts was interrupted as a young teen who appeared fully armored from head to toe walked into the stage, his armor appeared almost the same as the ones they use in the military but very high tech, he wore a jet pack and the only part that exposes his appearance was his head but wore scouter on his left eye. He was the same height as Ken and had black hair, his eyes were cool white and has a scar on his right eye. Ken knew immediately who this person was and he definitely didn't want to deal with him right now, "Are you here to take away my partner again Ken ?" The man said.

"Avery Cole, I don't want to deal with you right now. This has nothing to do with you"

"Oh it isn't ?! You're here to take away my partner of course I'm involve in this!"

Rosa slowly back away as the two got closer to each other, their atmosphere getting thicker and their intended to kill becoming stronger. These two were a force to be reckon with but Rosa knew very well who would triumph in a battle, Avery Cole was strong, very strong indeed. His prowess was above average and his semblance was very powerful, but Ken had taken down treats worst then him. Despite being a high class mercenary, he was definitely no match for the army veteran. "I'll send you to your place this time Ken, and this time I'll make sure you won't leave this place alive" said Cole as he readied his .50 calibur sniper rifle and pointed at Ken.

Ken simply signed heavily as he summoned 'Bon Fortuna' from his hands and readies his stance, Avery whispered to himself as he was about to pull the trigger. "That's what I always hates about you, always showing of your moves and power"

Moments later shots were fired as the dual against the soldier and the mercenary had began.


Common : Aha got ya, hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter cause I sure did. I have officially declared the first winner of the Oc submission which is 'UNSC Know Your Place' for his Oc character 'Avery Cole', I like his character very much. But of course this doesn't mean that the Oc registrations are over, nooo i still on planning on introducing more characters. Of Course like Ken's team but also his squad in the royal guardians and the antagonists, so keep on submitting cause there's more to the story.

Ken : Not bad on your first day Avery.

Avery : Thanks, it's nice to finally be on the crew.

Rosa : Really was exciting, I love it!

Avery : All though this place is very...odd to call it a studio

Weiss : Thank You !

Common : Shut it Weiss, look I know this place may seem...out of place but once you get used to it it's no problem and it becomes comfortable

Weiss : We were here since the beginning and we're still not comfortable

Common : Put a sock in it

Weiss : How dare you, you imbecile !

(Weiss And Common Arguing In The Background)

Avery : Are they always like this ?

Ruby : Noo sometimes we just leave

Ken : let's just do the outro already

Ruby : Right! Common would really appreciate it if you left a review for this chapter, don't hold back cause he'll accept anyone's opinion

Ken : If you like the story then go ahead and click that follow button or the favorite button...or uhhhh both I guess if you really like it

Rosa :...

Avery :...

Ruby : Come on guys, you can do it. I know it's hard on the first try but you'll eventually get use to it and it'll start to get fun over time

Avery : Ok ummmm if you have any questions for Common about the story then go ahead and message him and he'll happily read it and answer, even if it's a opinion

Ken : Alright Rosa, your turn.

Rosa : Umm ok, uhhhhhh If you have any ideas ummm for an Oc then go ahead and fill the registration below and Common will read them to see who is worthy for the story,...he's not only looking for male Oc-s but female Oc-s too so don't be shy and submit your idea. You'll never know maybe you're character might actually be in it.

Ken : Again thanks for the support you guys and until then,

Unison : See Ya Laters!'

(Continues To Argue In The Background)

Ruby : Should we stop them ?

Ken : Nah let them be, soooo can I have a cookie ?

Ruby : Nope


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