Sorry for the massive wait from the last chapter, I've been playing the new Destiny expansion, Rise of Iron and got distracted writing a story between that and RWBY... but here is the next chapter so ENJOY!
Naughtbeast
Chapter 31:
"Come on man! Just fight her already!"
"Take a swing!"
"SHOOT HER!"
These were all the words of 'encouragement' that was throw Josh's way as he was fighting in the arena. Josh and Demon had turned up to Miss Goodwich's class completely drunk… and so they were chucked into fights immediately. Demon had recovered from his drunken state quickly as he just activated his stims to purge the alcohol and could fight semi-decently. He was pitted against Ren, winning after Ren made the mistake of staying within the striking range of Demon's odachi. By then, Josh had grabbed a stimpack and used it on himself as well, being completely sober by his fight… the only problem was that he was a pacifist. He was set to fight against Kira… and was currently losing very badly. She had decided it would just be too easy to engage in long-range combat and so she switched her weapon to its two-handed kopesh form and began a melee battle.
The rules for the battle were a bit different for this battle as Josh still hadn't unlocked his aura, so Kira had placed a rubber blocker on the sharp edge of the blade to ensure it didn't kill him, while Josh was still allowed live round… which he still didn't use. The match began as they all expected… Kira running forward in a battle cry… and Josh turn tailing and running. After he was cornered, he fired a couple of rounds at her feet to try and encase them in ice and deter the attack, but she just smashed the ice. He had then turned his weapon into a hand-and-a-half sword and began an assault to try and escape his corner.
He made for a massive overhead slash and when Kira blocked the telegraphed swing, he activated the ice dust and froze the blade of her kopesh, causing her to lose her balance and for the blade to drop to the floor. Using the opportunity, he fled to the centre of the arena and turned to Miss Goodwich and yelled over the taunts coming from the crowd.
"I'm a pacifist! I made a promise to only hurt those when it will prevent further loss of life! And I especially don't want to hit her because she's a girl!"
"Well I'm sorry Mr Dakkery, but you're going to have to beat Kira for your team to qualify for the tournament as their place has already been ensured"
"I don't want to fight her!"
"Would you like me to end the match now?"
"NO!"
"Well then I suggest you get fighting"
Josh turned to see Kira... who was about a metre away from him… and ready to smash him. She swung with her kopesh in a heavy upwards strike… right into his groin. Every male in the room immediately cringed and Josh collapsed on the floor in pain. He rolled around for a few seconds groaning as he tried to recover from the blow.
"DUDE! I think she just killed your entire future generation!" Demon called to him, laughing at his predicament and remembering when he stole Rosaline's dropship. Josh slowly made his way to his feet and set himself up in a two-handed offensive stance, setting his right foot back and holding his sword pointed straight at Kira.
"You… are going… to pay… for that" he croaked out, still recovering from the blow.
"Pfft… I thought you won't hit a girl"
As she said that, something changed in Josh, although only three people noticed it… Demon, Blake and Ren. Because of Blake's faunus heritage, Ren's attentive nature and Demon's heightened senses from Sims, they were able to see something that confused them all. They all saw that he went completely lax for half a second and that when he went back to normal, his posture was completely different. His eyes were slightly blood-shot and when they looked closely they saw a tiny bit of smoke coming from his nose. When he spoke it sounded the same although when it was listened to carefully it sounded as though he was saying the same thing barely a millisecond after he spoke the original, making it sound as though there was two people.
"I made an oath to never kill unless it was absolutely necessary… but that doesn't stop me from breaking every bone in your body"
Josh then cut out in a horizontal arc straight at Kira and caught her in the arm before she could bring her kopesh to block. The two battled in He swung around for another swipe but his was blocked by her sword… until Josh spun his around and flung the kopesh out of her arms. She was completely defenceless and Josh took advantage of this. He cut and slashed as quickly as he could and quickly cut through Kira's aura... until it broke… but he didn't stop. He slashed across her stomach and a massive gash appeared. She screamed and stumbled back, blood splattering the floor and Josh's sword. Demon rushed into action and quick as a flash he had Josh in a headlock, knocking the sword from his hands.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Demon growled, beginning to choke Josh to stop him from struggling.
Josh seemed to snap out of whatever had happened to him and saw what he had done, Demon noticing the change and releasing him. Kira was coughing on the ground, spewing blood over the combat floor and her breaths were ragged with raspy.
"Shit… what happened?" he asked groggily.
"What do you mean what happened? You just cut her!"
"Crap… wait a second"
Josh quickly jumped forward and kneeled over the bleeding body of Kira, beginning to heal her. He watched as the wound over her stomach healed up and he breathed a sigh of relief when the wound fully healed and Kira began breathing normally. Miss Goodwich immediately was at her side and performing other checks, looking into her eyes and checking her stomach again. She tapped a few buttons on her scroll and medical staff were there within the minute, collecting her and helping her to the hospital ward at the school.
"Mr Dakkery…" began Miss Goodwich, her voice filled with accusation and anger "What possessed you to attack Miss Durack after her aura broke?"
"I… don't know" he replied, holding his head in pain.
"Are you expecting me to believe that excuse?"
"I'm sorry, but I am being honest. After she smashed me, I blacked out and came to just as Demon was choking me!"
Miss Goodwich gave him a hard glare, looking into his eyes to see any signs of lying… but found none.
"Alright… Class, all lessons are cancelled for the remainder of the day… dismissed"
She turned sharply and stormed out of the classroom, following the path that the medics took. Every other student quickly made their way out of the class while the group stayed behind to question Josh. Demon grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes… and saw something he didn't like. In the very middle of Josh's pupils were two tiny red dots… the same thing that happened to him when Kalazar first came into his head. He took a step back and quickly questioned him.
"Did you hear a voice?"
"Ummm… yea?"
Shit… KALAZAR! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!
"Dammit! You don't need to shout! What do you want?"
What did you do to Josh?
"Well… I might have accidentally left a part of me in him when I took control of him during his fight with Ice Queen"
Well then get it out!
"Why? It makes him better!"
Get… it… out!
"Geez… now all you need to do is slice his neck…"
We both know you're lying!
"It was worth a shot… give me a second"
Josh went limp for a second and Demon had to hold onto his shoulders to stop him from hitting the floor. After that, he quickly came to and the red spots in his eyes were gone.
Dammit Kalazar… next time something like this happens, TELL ME FOR GOD'S SAKE!
He didn't receive any response, so he helped Josh over to a chair. He told the others to go and check on Kira while he spoke to Josh, which they hesitantly complied to.
"Josh… forget about the voice you heard… I was told it helps to stop it happening" Demon lied, making sure that he made it sound as convincing as possible.
"Sure… it just hurts a bit" replied the pilot, holding his head.
"So what do you want to do now that the afternoon is free?"
"Well… I was going to ask if I could borrow your motorcycle after school"
"Yeah… no" replied Demon with a monotone voice, making sure he got the point.
"Please? I really need it!"
"Give me one reason…"
"It's my birthday!"
Demon stared him straight in the eye and knew he wasn't lying… pilots were trained to notice signs of falsehood during interrogations and so far Josh showed up as though he was telling the truth.
"I will allow you to take the cycle…" Demon began, Josh's face lighting up with hope, "on the condition that you take us along as well"
"Grrrr… no"
"Trust me… they will find some way to ruin it if they don't know it's happening… just tell everyone and you'll have a good time!"
Josh just mumbled and Demon knew he had won.
"Well at least one good thing came out of this…" Demon added, walking towards the door.
"Oh? Really? What could have possibly been good about this?"
"Well I think unlocking your aura is a pretty good thing"
"What?"
Demon just pointed over to the stands and saw something that made no sense… his gauntlet was sitting on his seat… but hadn't he healed Kira?
"I didn't expect you to unlock your semblance or aura at the same time but I guess the world is a strange place…" Demon concluded as he walked back to his pod after throwing the keys to Cerberus to Josh and leaving him to his thoughts. Demon had honestly thought that when he had told Josh to help out, he would have sprinted over and grabbed his gauntlet, but apparently the adrenaline in his system made him completely glance over the fact that he didn't have it and made him heal her anyway… aura works in strange ways. He made it back to the pod and was immediately greeted by a very angry Weiss.
"YOU!" she said, glaring at him "Back before the initiation you said that you regretted killing people because you saw their FACES every day… but then today you said that you couldn't remember them! What's up with that?"
"Well… if I told you back then that I remembered everyone that I've killed but can't see their faces what would you have thought?"
"That you were insane?"
"Exactly…"
Demon walked inside the pod, Weiss following him, and saw that Markus was in the process of dismantling his old Pilot helmet.
"HEY! PUT THAT DOWN!"
Markus quickly darted up and stared at Demon for a few seconds before he assembled the helmet back together, his hands moving as fast as darts.
"I'm sorry Captain, I was just curious… I have begun to have strange visions of technology"
"What?"
"Well I was looking around your pod and suddenly, as I was inspecting a Hammond pistol, the entire inner workings of it were revealed. After I disassembled the pistol, I focused on your helmet and I found something strange within the back half"
"What do you mean strange?"
"Well it appears that it has been modified to fit an extra storage component"
"That would be the AI…"
"I'm afraid that that is not the point…. I found this…" Markus added, revealing a small data-chip in his palm. It was roughly the size of a standard USB except it was a little flatter and wider. Demon took the small chip and plugged it into his laptop and began trying to access the files… only for it to prompt him with an encryption.
"Damn it…" Demon swore, opening a file on his laptop and began the decryption program, the file estimating the time until decryption… but it never came. The program ran for a minute to try and estimate… but when it ended, it only came up with an error symbol… the device couldn't be decrypted.
"What…" Demon spoke, not believing that this was possible… not even the high-end security systems within the IMC had enough level of coding.
"I already tried that…" Markus interrupted.
"Why didn't you tell me!"
"Would you have believed me?"
"Point taken…"
"It is a specially designed system so that it only activates through one thing… blood… a specific person's blood to be exact"
Demon regarded this with interest and pulled out the small chip, spying a small pin in the centre of it. With a bit of hesitance, he pulled off his gauntlet and under-suit gloves, pricking his finger against the small pin. A tiny light on the side of the device blinked red a couple of times before turning solid green. Demon plugged it back into the laptop and the file opened fine this time. The screen went black for a few seconds, turning to static for another 3 and switched to a blue screen. Another few seconds passed before a small download bar appeared and a loading symbol appeared.
Time until completion: 4 days… 3 hours… 57 minutes…
"Well then… it looks like we're going to have to wait a while before this gets done…" Demon chimed, moving his laptop off to his workbench and plugging it into a charger. Weiss seemed to be in a daze for a few seconds before she turned to Markus with a confused look on his face.
"Why did you address Demon as Captain?"
"His full rank title is Captain 1st class, Commander of the 56th Militia Legion and Arms Master of the Silent Prayer…" Markus listed, bringing up Demon's file from his database. "He was raised to the rank of Captain after commandeering an IMC vessel during the raid over Demeter and was later given command of the 56th Legion after 17 successful single-handed raids performed by the Silent Prayer"
"So you have an army?" questioned Weiss, not quite understanding the rank.
"You could say that… I have a total of 5,000 men and women under my command as well as control over a re-fitted IMC transport carrier. It's almost the same as being in control of one of those giant ships that the Atlesian military put out in front of Beacon as giant eye sores"
"Any you didn't tell us?"
"It didn't come up as a topic"
"You're so annoying!"
"Back onto the topic… so Markus and Josh have managed to unlock their aura and semblances… which is very annoying"
Weiss just gave him a deadpan look.
"Ok then… keep being silent Snow Angel… just give me a second"
Weiss blushed a bit as he said her lesser used nickname while Demon just smiled, pulled up a file in his HUD and phoned everyone except Josh.
"Everyone get to the pod now… it's a massive emergency"
In the next 5 minutes, everyone was inside the pod and sitting, waiting for Demon to talk to them.
"Friends… today is a dark day for us all…"
"NO MORE PANCAKES!" Nora shouted from the stands, her face dropping instantly and fear crossing her features.
"Quite possibly!" Demon responded, deciding to go along with the red-heads antics "If we do not make sure to complete the most crucial part of the plan I have devised!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Jaune, not quite getting the point.
"Well… today is a very dangerous day my friends! Today is Josh's birthday… so we are going to make it as good as possible… and it is going to be NOTHING like my birthday…" Demon announced, staring at Ruby who shied back a bit. Demon emailed them their jobs and everyone nodded in agreeance… except Jaeger.
"Why am I stuck with cleaning?"
"Well… I would have stuck Josh with it if it was someone else's party, but you're the next best for the job"
Jaeger just grumbled and walked off, grabbing a broom from the side of the pod.
"So… we all got our jobs so let's go!" Demon ended, pumping his fist in the air and letting everyone go.
This is going to be the best party ever…
Five hours later…
By now it was just past midday at Beacon and everyone was almost ready for the party. Yang, Kira and Tempest had driven to Juniors bar and procured as much alcohol as they could, using Yang's 'persuasive' skills to be able to buy enough for probably the whole school. Ruby, Rosaline Blake, Nora, Pyrrha and Weiss had gone shopping, buying the food and supplies for the party, making sure that they only got one cake this time… from the most expensive cake decorator in Vale, much to Weiss' chagrin. Jaune, Ren and Demon were in charge of decorating, having to argue for 20 minutes just to convince the girls that they could do it properly. They had procured the training room to use for the party after Demon agreed to meet after the first round of the Vytal festival and give schematics for equipment used by the Militia. It was now thoroughly 'partied up' as Yang had called it and the girls approved of the set-up. All the equipment was set off to the side and there were a couple of tables around the room for drinks and food. Demon had ripped the head off a spectre and linked it up to his laptop so that it acted as a make-shift projector onto the large back wall. There was a couple of couches in a ring around the wall so people could properly watch it as well.
RWBY, JNPR, DRSK and the Angels minus Josh were waiting in the hall for Josh to arrive, as well as the other people they had invited… which was practically the half the school. Demon had made sure to invite as many people as he could so he went down to every dorm in the first and second years so there were about 100 people coming in total. They had called in Josh to arrive 30 minutes before everyone else was scheduled to arrive so they had time to have a small personal party beforehand before the big one got started. Everyone was wearing their formal gear like the dance, Demon complaining until he was convinced by Rosaline to change into his tailcoat and hood, once again forcing him to braid his hair to get the hood to sit properly. Josh was set to be hear any minute and they waited, Demon playing a game of chess against Sid.
"Ok guys, what do you need?" came the voice of Josh as he opened the door to the training area, stopping for a few seconds after he saw the set-up and everyone standing around.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" shouted everyone at the same time… except Demon.
"DAMMIT!" Demon yelled, slamming the table in rage as Sid beat him yet again. He turned to see everyone looking at him as well as Josh. "Oh… umm Happy Birthday?" he added, tilting his head in guilt. Yang just walked over and punched him.
"Hey! Ok then… LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!" Demon announced, standing up and trying to look heroic… until Yang punched him again.
2 hours later…
The party had gone pretty well, everyone having a great time and most of the guests showing up. Demon was sitting on a couch, chatting to Yatsuhashi and Fox about just how Fox was able to see so well while he was blind. He was just about to get a good answer when he was interrupted by Josh tapping his back. He turned to see a thoroughly drunk Josh with a massive smile plastered on his face.
"Letsss go mannnn… we juft gotta git ya wasted…" he slurred, shoving a beer bottle in Demon's face. He just face-palmed and took the bottle, thowing it to Fox who caught it mid-air somehow, turning around again to see Rosaline next to Josh.
"Awww… comeeon Demann ya godda tri da beer!" she slurred, anger filling Demon as he turned to Josh.
"YOU GOT HER DRUNK!" he accused, Josh's face instantly dropping.
"Ssstop yellin mann" he complained, holding his head and looking all around the place.
"grrr… why does this shit always happen"
He grabbed Rosaline and led her out of the party, the girl not being able to walk properly without holding onto Demon with support. He took her to his pod and got out one of his sleeping pills, mixing it in a beer bottle that he had filled with water.
"Here… drink this" he said, offering the bottle to Rosaline who glugged it down before setting in on the table. She looked confused for a second before her eyelids began drooping. She walked over to Demon and slumped onto him, the Pilot having to hold her up to stop her from falling to the floor.
"I'm just gunna sleep faw a while…" she spurted out before slumping into his arms and snoring loudly. Demon just cursed his luck for the medicine working so fast, he had at least hoped that she could walk back to the dorm. He grabbed her and picked her up, Rosaline sub-consciously wrapping her arms around his chest. He took her back to the dorm, not seeing anyone else up on his walk. He had a bit of trouble opening the door but eventually got in, setting Rosaline down in her bed. He pulled the sheets up over her body and tucked her in before turning to leave… only to be stopped. Rosaline was holding onto his arm, her eyes still closed in sleep.
"Pwease downt weave…" she mumbled softly, holding tightly onto Demon's arm.
Dammit… stupid sleeping pill… should have just knocked her out…
"Or you could have killed her?"
Shut up…
"Sorry but I have to go to sleep now…" Demon responded, deciding to be kind to the drunk Rosaline.
"You can sweep wiv me…" she offered innocently, Demon's face instantly turning red.
If only she knew what she was saying now…
"Sorry but I have to sleep in my own bed tonight…"
"NAW!" she cried out, her other hand reaching up and holding his arm even more.
God damn it… I'm going to kill Josh for this…
He tossed the idea over for a few seconds, knowing that Rosaline would probably never speak with him again if he actually slept in a bed with her, so he tried to get out of the death-grip she had on his arm. He first tried to pry open her fingers, the girl somehow being able to hold on despite his strength, so he tried to twist out of it, writhing his arm until he was about to get out… until she gripped him even tighter.
God damn it…
He then noticed something, the fact that she was holding onto his bracer. He undid the clips on his bracer and slowly slid out of it, trying not to disturb her and make her tighten her grip again. He managed to slip out and thanked whatever divine being gave him escape and turned to get back to his pod… that was until he heard crying. He swore again and turned to see Rosaline clutching the bracer to her chest and crying through closed eyes.
I can't catch a break can I?
His heart broke yet again and he walked over to Rosaline and grabbed her hand, taking the bracer away and lying down in the bed next to her.
"Well this is embarrassing…"
You don't say?
Rosaline rolled over and hugged Demon tightly, pulling him closer to her and making him blush even more.
I am not going to live this down am I?
"Not a chance in hell…"
Demon fell asleep in the warm embrace of Rosaline, not seeing the faint smile that crept on the girl's face… a smile of triumph…
