Well hello again, not much to say in this little snippet other than thanks for all the support...
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Naughtbeast
Chapter 37:
"I'm really sorry Araksa, I've just been doing some stuff" came the feeble and chocked response of Demon as he tried to speak while a Deathstalker claw was wrapped around his throat.
"Is that really the best you could come up with! You are our Alpha and we needed you to give us instructions!" roared Araksa, throwing him aside into a tree and slamming her stinger into the ground next to him. Demon didn't seem too fazed by the display but stood up anyway and addressed her again.
"Ok, look… I'm here now so we can move into the process of expanding the pack. First order of business is to assemble the pack"
"If you had paid any attention at all you would know that half have left for stronger leaders…"
"Hmmm… ok then, time to get them back" Demon said simply, walking off over to a beowolf. "Wolf, do you have a name?"
The Beowolf seemed surprised to be addressed by him and nearly lept back in fear, taking a spit-take to compose himself.
"No Alpha, I was not deemed worthy of a name by the past alpha.
"Hmmm…" he mumbled, turning back to the Deathstalker "I'm allowed to name him right?" he asked, receiving a nod "ok, you shall be called Folgen"
"Thank you Milord!" cheered the newly dubbed Folgen, a weird smile forming on his wolfish mouth.
"Now I have a special job for you, can you track the ones who left?"
"Yes?" answered Folgen, not figuring out why he would ask.
"Good, take me to them… I need to have a chat with their leader"
The beowolf nodded and sniffed the air for a bit before he ran off into the forest, howling so that Demon could follow him. Said Pilot jumped onto Araksa's back and instructed the pack to follow the beowolf, every Grimm obeying his command and taking off into the trees.
A few minutes later he came into a clearing and saw hundreds and hundreds of Beowolves and Ursai, all growling and grumbling while pawing the ground a few metres from the edge of the trees, Folgen stopping and pawing back to Demon.
"They are here Alpha, I await your command…"
"Good, although I don't really want any unnecessary deaths of my loyal subjects so I'll be doing it myself"
"You're going to kill them all!" Araksa exclaimed in disbelief, taking him off her back and putting him on the ground.
"No, although it's great to hear that you care sooooo much for your Alpha… no, I'm just going to kill the Alpha and take them all"
"THIS IS THE STRONGEST PACK IN THIS SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS!" Araksa argued, growling in challenge.
"Good, then that'll get our numbers up quicker than I had hoped…" Demon replied cockily, walking off over to the giant pack in front of him. "Who's the alpha?" he asked, the group continuing to growl angrily.
"What are you doing here human…" came a loud growl from behind, the massive pack parting aside to reveal a massive Ursai covered in spines and red moss lumbering forward. It was easily the size of a Titan and he was sure it could take a hit like a tank.
"So I take it you're the alpha? I've come to take your pack" Demon said, sizing up the foe.
"if you think it would be that easy you are wrong, you must beat me in open combat to take my pack so I recommend you leave it and run back to your petty city"
"How about no? Although I'll let you leave here unharmed if you give up now... I wouldn't want to ruin that mangy coat of yours"
"YOU DARE MOCK ME! PREPARE TO DIE!" roared the Alpha as he reared back and charged, eyes glowing a dark red. Demon smiled and took out his combat knife, putting it in a reverse grip and setting up in a defensive stance. The rest of the Grimm set up a wide circle around the pair and began cheering on their respective Alpha, a small amount of in-fighting between the two sides taking place as they argued.
The Ursa blundered straight up to Demon and took a massive slash that would have decapitated him even if he had full Aura, but the Pilot dived underneath the arm and slashed at the palm of the Grimm causing a shallow but long gash in the fur. It roared in anger and began slashing continuously at the human, finding no purchase while he continuously got slashed by the nimbler fighter.
Demon dodged a slash by the Ursa and stabbed a knife into the forearm of the Grimm, holding onto the blade, using his momentum and vaulting onto the back of the beast. He wasted no time and stabbed several times into the unarmoured fur on the back of its neck, severing the muscles and making its head hang low.
"What have you done!" roared the Alpha, clawing at its back to dislodge Demon but by this time he had stabbed his knife into the beast's back with a rope attached, then dropped down so he was hanging just a foot in front of its head. It saw the human and tried to bite, only to find that it couldn't even move its head. Demon casually took out another knife from his armour and flashed the blade in front of the beast's eyes, seeing true fear finally come across its features.
Demon smiled and stabbed up into the Ursa's eye, twisting the blade and tearing it back out. It roared loudly, somehow managing a sound through its broken tendons, although that was quickly silenced when Demon twisted upside down and kicked its head hard enough to snap it around fully, killing the Ursa. He cut the rope and dropped to the ground, pulling into a small roll to avoid the massive body of the Alpha that crashed to the forest floor behind him, the rest of the Grimm going silent.
"YOUR ALPHA IS SLAIN, JOIN MY HORDE NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
Demon's previous pack howled in admiration and a few of the Beowolves and Ursa from the other pack slowly made their way over to join the howling. The others didn't at all seem interested and didn't seem to fear death even when it was staring them right in the face.
"Demon, we have a problem…"
You always seem to say that whenever the fun's starting!
"The beasts that aren't moving are under a mind-control of sorts, there is no way that they can be convinced to join you…"
So we're going to have to kill them, fine by me…
"A route that I'd approve of normally, except that it would be much easier to break the hold on their minds as fighting would certainly lessen the numbers of my pack enough to completely negate this entire hunt…"
And how would we go about breaking the mind-control thing?
"Watch and learn… except the watching… and learning. I need to take control of your body for a second"
Fine… just make it quick!
Demon felt his consciousness lapse and what seemed like a few moments later, he came back into consciousness and the entire pack was now stationed in front of him. He didn't even bother questioning Kalazar how that had even happened, always receiving a half-truth answer every other time, so he just went with it.
"Welcome to the pack!" he shouted, opening his arms wide as to encompass the mass of Grimm that now stood in front of him. "As the others would know, Araksa here will be my emissary so anything she says you need to follow, if not I'll get this big guys to rip ya a new one? We clear?"
Rea'ksh, the massive Ursa enforcer from before, stepped up beside Demon while growling and baring his fangs, crushing any last thoughts of resistance. Demon smiled as he saw the entire pack bow low, recognising him as an alpha, then decided it was just about the right time to mock Araksa.
"So… not bad for the first day on the job aye?"
"Your presentation and execution could use work but it was excellent work your majesty"
"You're just jealous!" he teased, avoiding a stab from the scorpion's stinger. "Awww… someone's mad! Anyway, I gotta get back to kicking some ass back in civilisation, do you think you can hold the fort for a while?"
"If by holding this fort you mean ensuring the pack does not dissolve before you return then yes, I believe that task can be accomplished"
"Ok, do we have any Nevermore's yet?"
"What are these Nevermore's you speak of Alpha?"
"Oh right, they have different names… umm, the giant crows which shoot feathers?"
"I believe two were pressed into service when you conquered this pack, you may find them near the nests at the back"
"Good luck making sure none of them leave, if they do then just make sure that Rea'ksh gets some more dinner for the night… wait, I never got to ask but what the hell do you guys eat anyway?"
"We do not consume food in the manner that is accustomed to your species as we feed of the negative energy and life-force of those with a good soul. We do not require as much sustenance as a minute of draining will offer us a content stomach for a month"
"So when was the last time you ate?"
"One dusk change before you killed our previous alpha"
"Oh, so you're hungry aren't you?"
"We have not yet received any signs of starvation in the pack but the signs are showing, we would certainly require a feeding soon to keep us alive"
"Great, the one bad thing about keeping pets… having to feed them" Demon muttered as he began moving from his perch towards where he could see two Nevermore near the back, jumping to the side to avoid another attempt from Araksa to crush him for the comment. He bounded up into a tree and used his parkour kit to avoid the mass of black fur beneath him then eventually made it to a branch just above the two Nevermore. They slightly inclined their beaks in acknowledgement but didn't really show much interest.
"I need help from one of you" Demon stated simply, one of the two raising its head to look at him.
"And what would you require?" it replied, its voice sounding slightly chittered and sQtrained.
"I need transport from here back to my ummm… nest, and I don't have anyone faster than one of you two"
"So you want us to run errands for you…" it stated, lowering its head and resuming whatever it was doing before.
"No, I need you to assist your lord to get me somewhere very important…"
"By running errands?"
"Well when you put it like that is sounds terrible… but yes"
"I'll take this one Ceraph, you look after the eggs…" the other one announced, standing up and shaking its feathers, letting a few drop onto the white and red eggs beneath. They were about the size of a small horse and even looked like it was bleeding. The Nevermore reluctantly walked over and bowed so that Demon could get on, the Pilot obliging and jumping onto its back and holding the feathers behind the crook of its neck.
"We fly!" Demon cheered valiantly, pointing off into the horizon... then was nearly thrown off the Nevermore's back as it bellowed its wings as hard as it could to flap into the air. He nearly ripped the feathers out, given that the Nevermore screeched loudly, then levelled out just above the treeline.
"Where to your Majesty?" it enquired, hovering in the air just above the nest.
"I think West?" Demon answered, grabbing onto the tuft of feathers again as the Nevermore set off at blinding speeds. The ride went on well enough, Demon learning that the Nevermore's name was in-fact Blindeg Schatten, something which he found funny since half of his crew were from Germany and it was strange that half of the Grimm had names from different languages. Then, out of nowhere, a Bullhead crested the horizon ahead travelling perpendicular to the Nevermore.
Gah… shit…
[1 hour later…]
I still don't know how I managed to convince that pilot why my Bullhead looked a lot like a Nevermore…
Demon had managed to avoid the prying nature of the Bullhead pilot and got the Nevermore to take him to where he had landed his own Bullhead in a clearing a couple of kilometres outside of Beacon, thanking the Grimm and watching it fly off. He powered up the engines and was soon off to the academy, whistling a nice little tune as he did.
I wonder how the others are going?
[Amity Stadium – Vytal Festival]
A cheer erupted in the stadium as Yang had finished off Mercury's aura and was pumping her fists into the air in triumph, the crowd joining in.
"I've got to say, she is quite the fighter…" Markus mentioned to the rest of the Angels.
"Damn right, it hurts when she kicks my ass every time I do something wrong…" Tempest put in, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I still think I could do better" Jaeger interrupted, still not even bothering to look at the match but instead using the chrome finish on his knife to comb his hair… again.
"Yea, well now Demon will have to finish her off in the final round if he wants any chance at the trophy" Tempest noticed, watching as Yang cheered, although then something odd happened.
Her eyes snapped to over where Mercury was… only she wasn't looking at Mercury. She was staring off into a space straight above him, looking as though she was looking someone in the eyes. Tempest continued to watch, seeing that Yang was scowling at something right behind Mercury, only then she punched straight down at Mercury as he was laying in front of her.
The crowd immediately silenced and a roar of disapproval and boo's emanating throughout the stadium. She was never stupid or angry enough to actually hurt someone… apart from Demon. He watched the massive screens in the stadium as it showed Yang punching Mercury while he was down again… that was what happened right? Wait a minute, what was that when the fist and leg connected?
He switched to the video feed of his helmet cam and re-played the video. When she fired off Ember Celica, the trademark yellow glow came off, but then for some reason, sparks flew off Mercury's leg that definitely not from the weapon. He cut the feed and saw that she was now surrounded by a couple of Atlesian Knights and some Atlas soldiers.
"Markus, scan Mercury now…"
"What?"
"JUST DO IT!"
A small pulse wave came over the HUD of the pilot's as they watched… and then something strange came into light.
"STOP EVERYTHING!" Tempest shouted over the din of the crowd, tapping into the speakers to play his voice max volume. He stood up and the entire crowd was staring at the interruption. "One second I just need to get down there…" announced Tempest, jumping out of his seat and using his parkour kit to jump down onto the next row then continued until he was standing on the platform just outside the ring of Knights.
"This is not what it looks like…" began the Pilot, pulling a smoking pipe from seemingly nowhere and put on a Sherlock Holmes cap. "Miss Xiao Long here is not at fault for this dreadful performance"
"What are you talking about! She punched my brother!" came a shout from a girl who had just ran over and kneeled next to Mercury.
"Oh she did, I know that much… although it was not her fault"
"How can it not be her fault!" the girl yelled again.
"Mercury, may I ask how much your leg hurts?"
"It hurts like hell man! She put a shotgun bullet through it!"
"Well then…" Tempest spoke, walking over and kicking him in the leg again.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Mercury screamed, holding his leg in pain. Three of the Atlesian Knights turned and aimed their weapons at him.
"It's rather strange how there is no blood covering the floor even when you claim a shotgun pellet entered your leg… or the fact that there is no bullet hole on the floor to show that it passed through"
By this time, Mercury had stopped crying out in pain, although he still held his leg, the girl crouching next to him narrowing her eyes. Before either of them could react, Tempest dived down and ripped off the legs of Mercury's pants, revealing… his metal legs.
"Awfully strange how metal legs could hurt so much" Tempest announced in mockery, smiling as he saw Mercury's and the other girls faces instantly drop to hostilities. The girl was balling her palms while Mercury's legs were twitching like he desperately wanted to break Tempest's legs instead. The crowd had already started to boo and shout profanities at the stage… only this time it was directed at the 'wounded' student.
The Atlesian soldiers said something into his walkie-talkie before pointing to Mercury. Two Atlesian Knights went over and picked them up while taking them off the stage, the soldier walking over to Tempest as it happened.
"I've been instructed to take you back to my boss with the girl, if you would please follow me"
"ummm, sure, although can I take one of my friends with me?"
"I'm sure that would be fine"
Tempest nodded and updated his HUD, telling Jaeger to get down to the stage, the Pilot dropping in seconds later.
"What do you want?" Jaeger asked, still styling his hair.
"I need your expertise of finding flight paths…"
"Well you have come to the right place my friend, for I am the very best person in the known universe to ask!"
"Yep… I just hope this goes well or Demon will have my head for getting his sister in jail"
"Speaking of Demon where is he?"
"Probably doing something that seems completely unbelievable and annoying half the non-existent fanbase so they will stop reading the story because nothing is explained well at all…"
It was then that Tempest's Hammond Pistol decided to fire in its holster, ripping a hole through the Pilot's clothing and causing Jaeger to actually nearly drop his comb.
"Ok, I give you points for that writer, it was pretty original…" Tempest added, looking up into the sky at some unforeseen being.
"We seriously need to check you out for insanity…" Jaeger stated before putting away his knife and comb and following the Atlesian officer. Tempest looked up once more and scowled before walking over to Yang and helping her along while her eyes were red with tears and she was muttering something.
Dammit Demon, where are you?
[Demon's pod – Beacon Academy]
Hmmmm… I feel like something REALLY important just happened…
"You always have that feeling… and you're never right"
Yeah, I guess so… but I feel like I should be going somewhere or doing something?
"We could go murder..."
No! I know where this is going and it's already stupid...
"Awww… but I wanted to kill that Nikos girl by crushing her between 500 pound magnets!"
Why do you sound like you're pouting?
"Because I am… and there is also someone here to see you"
Huh?
As he was about to question what he meant, a knock came from the door, light and quick as though the person was hesitant to do so. Demon stood up from his couch and walked over to the door quizzically and opened it… and finding the one person he didn't expect to find. Standing nervously in front of the door, twiddling her hands idly in front of her, was Rosaline.
Oh… shit…
"Ummmm… Hi Demon" she started, her cheeks already flushing a deep red.
"Hi…" was all he could muster back as he seemed frozen on the spot, his heart beating a lot faster than normal.
"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done what I did without asking you first" continued Rosaline, twiddling her thumbs as she did.
"Well you technically did…" Demon mused, earning a small smile from the girl. "I should be the one apologising…"
He quickly fully opened the door and gestured for her to come in, Rosaline politely nodding her head and coming in to sit down, Demon closing the door behind him and walking over, sitting next to her. He mulled over something for a while before he finally decided and reached up, taking off his helmet and setting it to the side.
"So… where do we start" he asked, noticing her already red cheeks becoming even more crimson.
"I should have never done what I did, I just thought I was helping you" she confessed, looking as though she was on the verge of tears "I never thought it would ruin our friendship"
"It's nothing like that…" Demon consoled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder "I just didn't want for you to get into something you knew nothing about. And what do you mean you thought you were helping me?"
"I heard from someone that you have terrible night sleeps and I thought that you'd be better if you actually had someone to sleep with" she admitted, sounding a bit sheepish to admit it. Demon knew she either had some damn good contacts or had watched him sleep because he had never told anyone about his nightmares… although he had to admit they were better that night.
"Thanks for the thought… I just never thought anyone would care that much" admitted the pilot, telling her what he honestly thought… he never knew someone would actually care.
"Hawk… stop beating yourself up and know that I'll always be there for you" she consoled, sniffing back tears and hugging him tightly.
"I… just… sorry" he stuttered, not really knowing what to say "I don't want you to get hurt and I can't tell you why you will"
"Can't? or won't?" she challenged, drawing a groan from Demon.
"Telling you will cause more pain that if I didn't…"
"Hey… you literally left me to do nothing for like 3 days, I'm pretty sure I can handle it" she countered, smiling as Demon's face filled with guilt.
"Where did you go anyway?" he asked, smiling his own mask of victory as her face twisted in guilt as well.
"I went to go meditate" she began, then her face lit up "I found my Semblance!"
"You did? Ummm, great… but how did you even figure it out?"
"Hey, it doesn't work like that!" she warned, coyly smiling "I'll tell you my secret once you tell me yours"
"Fine, you win… this may sound stupid, but the reason I don't want to tell you… is because the reason I fight so well is because a voice in my head tells me how"
Her eyes went wider than he possibly thought they could and she recoiled as if hit by some unforeseen force. She looked behind Demon for a while and even looked like she was having a conversation in my head.
"Is everything ok?" he asked, concern crossing his features.
"Ummm, yep!" she said, not sounding convincing at all. "Ok, so now my turn… I accidentally fell from a cliff and that's how I found my Semblance"
It took Demon a few seconds to mull over the information.
"Two questions... why the hell did you fall off a cliff WHILE MEDITATING… and the other is WHY THE HELL DID YOU FALL OF A CLIFF!"
She giggled a bit, but stood up and stared him in the eyes.
"That doesn't matter but I bet it'll beat whatever your Semblance is" she mocked, smiling victoriously. Demon didn't have any time to question before a bright light suddenly engulfed the room and when it dulled… he was absolutely lost for words. Rosaline had what he could only describe as purple, spectral, angel wings flowing from her back, fluttering in some unfelt wind. True to her guess, he couldn't do anything other than stare in amazement.
"Pretty neat right?"
"HOLY SHIT YOU'RE A DAMN ANGEL!" he swore, receiving a slap across the cheek from Rosaline and a stern look before she collapsed into laughter.
"I KNOW! IT'S AWESOME!" she laughed, flapping them with a thought and lifting off the ground.
"She may be more true than she realises…" Kalazar suddenly interrupted, sounding more forlorn than at all interested.
What?
"It is something that I noticed some time ago… like you, she is not alone in her mind"
So she has the equivalent of you in her mind?
"In a sense… although it is not quite the same… it is giving off an unpleasantly nice vibe, almost as though it's another one of those annoying pacifists"
Sounds a lot better than what I'm stuck with… wonder if she'll trade
"Wow, it almost sounds as if you don't like me, I'm offended… anyway, you should be considering the fact that it is completely obvious when you talk to me"
No it's not!
"DEMON!" shouted Rosaline once again into his ear, finally snapping him out of his gaze.
"CRAP!" he screamed as he fell over in shock once again, picking himself up a second later. "Yeah, sorry about that I just tend to phase out a bit"
"Not listening to the 'voice in your head'" she teased, stopping when he looked down guiltily "Wait, you were?"
"Maybe… it just tends to appear randomly"
"And you can talk to it?" she asked, floating back down to the ground with her wing dissipating in a swish of purple.
"More think to it rather than talk but it really does help when I need it…"
She flicked into deep thought for a few moments until rushing over and embracing him in a tight hug.
"Just remember that you have people who care for you now… don't ever forget that" Rosaline whispered, resting her neck on his shoulder. He returned the hug, although one thought was playing through his mind.
What are you hiding Rosaline… apparently I'm not the only one hiding secrets and pretty soon I'll find out yours, no matter what…
They stood for some time, favouring the feeling of each other's body's, until they both heard heavy footsteps from outside. They quickly broke from the embrace and turned just in time to see Weiss run into the pod, panting heavily.
"It's Yang, come quickly!" she almost shouted, turning around again and sprinting back to wherever she had just come from. Demon turned to Rosaline, shrugged his shoulders and went after her, picking his helmet up on the way.
[Atlas interrogation room]
"So, you're saying you just happened to see the sparks fly from his metal legs?" the Atlas soldier questioned Tempest for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"YES! Why can't you just believe me?"
"Sorry, just have to check for records… but may I ask why you brought your companion?" he asked, gesturing to Jaeger who was… wait for it… combing his hair on the mirrored glass of the interrogation room.
"To prove Yang's innocence"
"I'm sorry but without evidence we can't excuse her… the best we can possibly do is disqualify her from the tournament and place her under house arrest for maybe a month?"
"Exactly, which is why I brought him!" Tempest announced, taking off his helmet and pulling out the video chip. "Do you have a computer or something I could use?"
The soldier nodded and exited the room, coming back a minute later with a small laptop. Tempest thanked him and uploaded the files, bringing up the video from when Yang apparently assaulted Mercury.
"I've already seen this video; it's not going to help your case"
"On the contrary, it shall be all the evidence we need" Tempest stated, pulling his pipe and hat from nowhere again. "If you watch the video carefully you'll see my case, I brought Jaeger to help along"
"I don't see how?"
"Let me break it down, look where her eyes are looking… she is not even looking at the kid, she's looking behind him… now as Jaeger will show you, her eyes follow a path that will put her right onto where Mercury actually is"
Jaeger walked over and looked over the video, pointing with his finger to show the path of her eye.
"Now, with my CQC training I know that the strike she performed was not meant as an attack move but as one to block while still attacking the enemy… she thought someone was attacking her" Jaeger added, knowing that Tempest was going to say that anyway.
"I still do not see how this helps with her case? Couldn't it just be a case of contemplation?" the Atlas interrogator tried to argue, getting an 'are you shitting me' look back from Tempest.
"One word… Semblance… I'm sure you will find many examples of illusion Semblances which are meant to confuse the enemy and Yang probably just fell victim to a plot where Mercury wanted it to seem like she hit him… I don't know why he would, but I'm certain Yang didn't attack out of rage or anything like that!" Tempest proclaimed proudly, standing up and smiling widely.
"I've got to hand it to you, young man, you can certainly figure out quite a complicated case" came a calm and ordered voice from the doorway. The officer stood immediately and saluted, Tempest and Jaeger both turning and not bothering with the formality.
"General Ironwood Sir!" barked the soldier, still not breaking the salute until the man dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
"So you're the famous General that Demon keeps telling us about…" Tempest began walking forward and offering a handshake to the general, receiving a firm grip in return.
"You must be Tempest and this is Jaeger, no?"
"The one and only, so what did you need General?"
"I just came to commend you on your research and to say that Miss Xiao Long as been cleared of all charged barring accidental assault, meaning that she's cleared for the next round of the tournament and will only be placed on the watch list"
"Thank you so much Sir, we won't forget this"
"I wouldn't ask for anything more but I'd consider going to team RWBY's dorm to calm down Miss Xiao Long's brother before he gets arrested for assault by trying to get into the interrogation rooms and maim Mercury"
"Understood!" Tempest chimed, grabbing Jaeger and pulling him along the corridors back to the dorms. He really didn't want Demon going to jail just yet… he still needed to get more shells for his rocket launcher.
[Qrow Branwen – Vale – Currently on Mission]
"Hello? This is Qrow speaking!" came the slightly annoyed and far from sober voice of the old crow.
"Mr Branwen, I've called to say that your niece is in jail…" Ozpin stated rather nonchalantly.
"Excuse me!"
"The yellow one…"
"THANK GOD!... don't scare me like that again…"
