Ren observed the entire fight.
For his eyes, many bizarre things happened, but he obviously couldn't understand much.
When the Impaler Vampire fell from those stairs, shouting how much he hated Jaune, he only felt he was some sort of sore loser.
Humiliating himself further and further.
However, once Tepes himself admitted that, once he spoke words while crying, once Jaune too started to cry, Ren understood there was much, much more than what his eyes met.
And so, he aproached Jaune. He aproached the winner of the fight, the boy that stood on the top.
"What have I done..."
And Jaune's words were proof enough that the situation wasn't good. He was crying and didn't seem like the person Ren knew.
"Jaune" he called the winner.
Jaune turned to Ren. His eyes wide opened, the face of pure despair.
"R-Ren... I... I..." Jaune covered his face with his hands.
"Calm down, Jaune" Ren was really worried. "Relax and breath a little".
It was clear that Jaune couldn't start a conversation in that state.
So, Ren turned around and looked down, in the direction of the bottom, at the direction of loser of their match. Vladimir Tepes was lying on the ground, his face on the very blood he coughed and tears he shed.
"I will check on him".
"THAT IS AS FAR AS YOU GO!" Shouted a female voice from behind.
RWBY: Against All Odds
Jaune still couldn't react, but Ren could. Before he could do something, however, a bandage wrapped in his neck and constricted it.
"Ugh..." Side-glancing, he saw that Jaune too, was constricted.
The origin of the two bandages was a box in the back of the waist of that girl.
A girl of tanned skin, purple irises and very long eyelashes. With a long purple hair and a purple and golden dress, which seemed to be a mix of a battle dress and a ceremonial one. She also had golden earings and bandages (that didn't come from the box) wrapped in her arms and legs.
Ren could deduce from the bandages who she was: The Mummy of Impossible Defeat, the only member of team VLNT with a perfect battle record that never met a single loss, Tracy Khufu.
Ren couldn't speak and felt that should he try, she would constrict the bandages further and the interrupted blood flow would make him faint.
The girl spoke:
"I respected Vlad's wish and let him have his own battle. But you are not laying a single finger on my boyfriend" the gril walked through Jaune and Ren and started to walk down the stairs. "Do as much as draw your weapon and I will show you the fate that happened to the monkey faunus and the blue haired peons you sent after me".
Ren opened his eyes wide. 'She defeated both Sun and Neptune?!'
He felt the bandages lessen a bit, but they were still there. Both Jaune and Ren still at her mercy.
The girl glanced at them:
"I will see what I can do here. It's clear that he would wish to comply with the bet as soon as possible. However, should my treatment not work, I will apologize in his stead and at another time may you ask for your prize."
At that moment, two other bandages came from the box. The girl took out a black of fabric and upon touching the bandages it seemed to dissolve into darkness. The bandages then slid through Tepes' clothes.
The girl's expression got bitter.
"I really didn't expect him to go too far..."
"You are a healer" said Ren.
"What an amazing deduction" said the mummy sarcastically.
"Then... how?"
He saw her smile for a fraction of a second before returning to her bitter expression.
"How am I such a good fighter? You outsiders are all so simple-minded. Anything in excess becomes a sin. A high dosage of a cure becomes poison. It is really simple. Now, I ask for your silence. The situation here is worse than what appears, I need to concentrate".
Ren complied.
Tracy looked at the face of her leader. From the bandages, she could also detect part of what he was feeling. Strange emotions.
"Sorrow and... acceptance?" she murmured. "What did you come to accept, Vlad?"
Chapter 12: Fall From Grace
- Since when have I been fooling myself? I should have known from the start that hell wasn't a place after death, but my real world.
He remembered his homeland.
- The loyal kingdom that told me I could go far as long as I worked hard, but never believed in me.
He remembered the many people of Vale.
- The people that don't even need to train much and reach levels beyond me with ease.
Blake and Jaune appeared in his vision.
- Opponents that are bandits and liars, that keep the prospect of honor, but would just fake their background.
Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon finally was there.
- The leaders of powerful organizations, that put a blind eye to such people.
He remembered the starry sky with a shooting star.
- The god that wrote in the stone that I would never truly attain what I wanted.
An image appeared in his front: Tracy Khufu, the girl that believed in him. The one that told him he could become a warroor.
- Ah, even Tracy. Did she really believe in me all this time? Or is she just one of the many that said such hollow words just to cheer me up?
Finally, a mirror reflected himself.
- In the end, it's clear that the fool was me. I think that for most of the time I didn't believe I could become a warrior, but at some point I even believed such a thing was possible.
- Ha, what a sick joke. It just takes a few weeks of efforts for a talented person to reach my level. No matter how much I try, even if I cough blood and break my bones, this is the result.
- The powerful Impaler Vampire, Vladimir Tepes. That will be surpassed anyway in the next year or even less time. This is the reality.
In the past...
The young Vladimir ran and ran.
Just a bit more and he would reach the swamp and challenge himself.
'So close, so close!'
But he stopped. Cold hands held his head and he was pulled.
"Little brother, you don't really understand, right?"
With his body on the ground, he saw the smiling face of his sister upside down and she held him.
"The purpose of hide-and-seek is to not get caugh."
Vladimir pulled her hands away and imediately got up, but before he could run, she grabbed his wrist.
"Let me go, Bathory".
"Now, now" she pulled his other wirst and turned. Manipulating his arms around herself, making him hug her against his will. "Let's not be hasty and give me a big hug. Either way, you already know that I would win if we fought" she finished her phrase with a cocky smile.
"Ugh..." He tried to get away, but couldn't.
He always hated it. How easy it was for her to just toy with him.
"You are so adorable with your determined eyes. You do realize where you are trying to go?"
"The swamp!"
"Yes... the swamp. Right in this time of the year, very cold and the air full of humity. Your body would fight against itself in this contrasted situation, even if you ran and ran, you wouldn't be able to sweat and the situation would just get worse and worse from there".
She released him finally. But he still glared at her.
Bathory merely smiled.
"Let us not be so defensive, Vlad" from her back she took her black mantle. "See? It's just a little hero cape" she wrapped it in him.
"?" He touched the fabric.
"A little too big for you, but that will do. Hmm... a bit of red would combine better. And since your wings get in the way... maybe a coat? Either way, that will help deal with the 'stage', also, it's fire proof!" She turned around. "I will give you a handicap this time. You have until the sunset to hide and then I will seek. Bye bye".
The child looked at her in surprise, but then smiled.
"Thanks!" And the young Vladimir ran to the swamp, ready to test himself.
- It wasn't bad to have fun like this... what was bad was when I realized that no matter the advantage, I would never be able to surpass her. She toyed with me to cheer me up, never realizing how much her harmless actions and words hurt me.
Present...
"Vlad!" The girl called.
He opened his eyes weakly. Tracy was there, very worried as she looked at him.
"Tracy..." he forced his words through the pain.
Tracy smiled.
"I knew you would handle the process. You are much stronger than before".
'Much stronger, yes...' he looked at her eyes. 'But that seems like the limit. As if I have a high speed right now, but everyone else has a higher acceleration, ready to surpass me anytime with ease'.
"I... do you believe... that I can become... a warrior..."
"Yes" she said full of conviction as she hugged him. "You will become one. Did you already forget?"
"I... see..."
With deep dark bags unders his eyes, the red irises reflected the will of a dead person.
Her words affected the boy, but not in the way she wanted.
'They are the same words, but they hurt so much' he thought. 'It's having some sort of expectation I would be doomed to disappoint. It's seeing her play fool I once was'. He looked around, Jaune was there but didn't look at Vlad in the eyes. 'After all, there is this gap I will never be able to cross, held by people born with normal bodies and born with talent'.
Vladimir glanced at Jaune and Ren. No willpower, no arrogance, no anger. Just a shell filled with the sorrow of reality.
"I am... a man of... my word *cough*"
"Vlad!" Tracy was worried. Once again, blood was there.
"I will... apologize for... all the troubles... I have caused and... I will tell you... everything..."
The defeated 'villain' finally complied to the will of the 'hero'.
"Let us... *cough*. Begin. First of all... all of you were wrong... we were never tasked with an assassination..."
Ren opened his eyes wide.
"What?!"
"We... *cough*"
"Stop" Tracy interrupted Vladimir.
"But... my word... my promise... I need to comply... I need to... to..."
Tracy covered his bloodied mouth with her hand.
"Wait and rest up a bit. You have strained your body too much. This much I can do in your stead" she turned to face Ren and Jaune. "We were tasked to find a student from Jammer. Someone that infiltrated Beacon and stole confidential information. The girl of red hair that broke our rules and seems to be related to the White Fang in a way or another".
Ren opened his eyes wide.
"Then... we fighting you..."
Tracy nodded.
"You were getting in our way. Indirectly helping someone that potentially stole information that can be used to win a war should it happen".
Jaune averted his gaze he already knew how their roles had been traded. But Ren didn't.
Only then that boy understood. How much in the wrong side they were, helping an enemy that hid in the shadows while attacking those that were trying to stop him.
Heretic Notes:
More of an interlude and little of progression...
Fun fact: although he was wrong about the reasons, Cardin was the only one that deduced they shouldn't fight team VLNT.
Fun fact 2: while Vladimir knew that his actions would attract trouble, he also knew how difficult it would be to explain to Pyrrha why he (that looks like a vampire) was attacking someone in the middle of the night (a girl seemingly harmless)
Fun fact 3: Damn, only now this is gettin fun! That's right, I lures you guys with the comedic start for this fic! And you people bit the bait! Hahahaha!
I wanted to continue with the bang, but it will be a bit slow, about 3 chapters before the start of the next arc.
Hmm... I think that after the next arc starts there will be bios of team VLNT.
Next arc will feature a new set of antagonists. They will be anti-versions of team RWBY. While VLNT is based in horror movies villains, this new team is based on the antagonists of RWBY's fairy tales and also serial killers.
By the way, the start of the next arc will not be as happy as the finale of the first arc was. No, I am going to take this to the exponential.
This OC fandom needs different stuff. It needs more original things happening. It needs emotions, not settings repeated over and over such as initiations. It needs purpose, not self-inserts that win senseless battles. In the beginning, those things were fun, but it has become an excess.
And anything in excess becomes a sin.
Yes, Vladimir was the start, an OC such as him, designed to be an antagonist, to shake up the heroes' minds, to Fall From Grace with the beauty of the unfair world being shown was merely the beginning.
When arc 2 starts, only then you readers will have my permission to be surprised. A taboo shall be commited.
I highly doubt any OC writer in this fandom has ever done what I will do! Mwahahahahaha!
Till next time, guys!
Heretic, out!