Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!

So sorry about the lateness, I completely forgot about it. Lately I've been more focused on finishing up my other RWBY fanfiction, 'The Candidates". It's a short one (5-7 chapters), so I'll be able to finish it up soon, at which point it'll be released to you guys. Hopefully by that point you'll all know who's backstory it's based off of (if you check my profile I tell you the name, but its not a character you've been introduced to yet).

Anyways, you guys have waited long enough. On with the chapter!

As I crossed the road where the chase had occurred, I saw that several reporters were gathered around, interviewing the traumatized drivers.

"There!" One called, pointing to me, "She was in the fight!"

Immediately I was swarmed by cameras and microphones. I decided to go along with it, just to give the poor drivers a break.

Through all the questions, I heard one discernible voice, "Why were you chasing this person?"

"I'd rather keep that private" I replied.

"Who were you chasing?"

"Rocco Trask." I replied, "A Faunus Hybrid"

"Why the interest in Rocco Trask?"

"Personal reasons" I replied, getting impatient, as I wasn't used to this much attention. It made me claustrophobic. I started to walk. The crowd allowed my movement, but they moved with me, making it difficult to feel like I was moving freely.

"Who are you?" One called.

"None of your business" I replied.

A camera flashed in my eyes. I raised my hand to block the light.

"Is Rocco Trask dangerous?"

"Yes," I replied, gesturing to the road, "Obviously"

"Why was he attacking you?"

"Private" I replied, starting to walk forward, getting tired of all the attention. They moved with me, so I kept pushing. My fox ears were hurting.

"Who was with you?"

"Private"

"Who is Rocco Trask?"

"A Faunus Hybrid." I replied, "I thought I said that already"

"Can you elaborate more on Rocco?"

"No"

They continued to swarm around me until I just gave up. I leapt into the air, over the crowd, and onto the roof of a car. Their eyes followed me through the air, and when I landed they ran as a clump towards me.

I turned around to run, only to find that I had landed quite close to the hole Rocco had made. Hopping over it, I tried to start running. Suddenly fingers clasped around my ankle, dragging me downwards into the hole.

The reporters followed, surrounding the hole and watching me slide down. I reached out, clawing at the tunnel. Dirt broke from the tunnel walls, falling into my face and getting in my eyes. I shut them and spat, as some dirt had also gotten into my mouth.

My other arm was stuck, sliding against the side of the tunnel.

"Let go of me!" I called, shaking my leg.

Just then I felt the pressure relieved from my ankle, and I stopped moving.

I froze, realizing that I couldn't move. My arm was caught, and the tunnel was too narrow for me to be able to wiggle through. I was stuck.

I kicked out my legs frantically, only dirtying my boots against the tunnel walls.

"Help!" I called, my voice echoing slightly through the tunnel.

I looked around, terrified. I kicked out again, breaking a bit of dirt free. I felt tears begin to fall from my eyes.

Suddenly I felt something wrap around my ankle again, only it didn't feel like fingers this time. It felt hard and cold, like the links of a chain. I flew down the tunnel until I felt my body slowly begin to enter open air, and eventually my whole body was out and I fell. I covered myself in aura, bracing for impact. My back slammed against the floor of a pitch black room. The ground cracked below me, but luckily my back didn't.

"Azure." I heard a familiar voice say, "You really are quite something"

I stood up, looking around until I saw a figure standing in the darkness. It was Rocco.

"I was going to leave you there to die." He started, "But then I realized how, inhumane, that would have been"

"What is this place?" I demanded.

"Getting right into business, as usual." He replied, "This is simply a hole that I decided to dig while you were away. Of course, I had a bit of help"

I looked around, the room was relatively large as well as deep. "Why?" I asked.

"For past experiments." He replied, "But who knows? Maybe I'll need this hole in the future. For, perhaps, private battles"

My hand went back for Cratorus 2.0.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Rocco said, noticing my hand. "You wouldn't want to upset the residents, would you?"

"Residents?" I asked.

"Who do you think started this hole for me?" He asked, "It certainly wasn't me. I only memorized its location and dug that tunnel" He flicked his chin upwards, gesturing to the tunnel from which I'd entered through.

"Who's with you then?" I asked, "Livie?"

"Goodness, no," He replied, "She's Gale's minion. Scitalis Abel is mine. And let me tell you, he's quite abel if you know what I mean"

That pun made me crack. I unsheathed Cratorus 2.0 and charged, ready to stab Rocco. He stood perfectly still, as if he knew that there was no way I could hit him.

Then something hit me, knocking me aside. I stood, taking up a low stance and looking around. Then I saw him. It appeared to be a Faunus. He was covered from head to toe in dark green scales, with yellow snake-like eyes. A long, thin tail stretched out from his tailbone, equally green and scaled. He wore iron armor on his shoulders, elbows, arms, legs, and knees. Over his body he wore a black vest, with two bullet belts tightly strapped across his body, each one stretching from one shoulder to the opposite hip.

He hissed, revealing a long forked tongue and long, extending fangs.

I hissed back, revealing my smaller fangs and trying to intimidate him.

"Go nuts" Echoed Rocco's voice as he left.

Scitalis, or at least that's who I assumed he was, sneered, licking his lips, only his tongue stretching out and tapped his unblinking eye.

I tightened my grip around Cratorus 2.0, readying for his attack. Suddenly he charged, hissing. I wrapped my other hand around the shaft of my spear, bracing myself. He smacked my spear, but I refused to move it. He punched me in the face, sending me staggering backwards. As I recovered I looked up into his foot. He kicked me backwards, and I fell over, dropping Cratorus 2.0. As I reached for it Scitalis placed his green bare foot over it.

"No weapons" He said. His voice was scratchy yet still smooth sounding. His voice seemed to perfectly suit a reptile.

I stood, raised my fists, and planted my feet lightly into the ground. I preferred to kick over punch.

Scitalis raised his fists in front of his face, taking up his fighting position. He threw a punch, aiming for my head. I moved my head to the side, avoiding the attack. His second fist went for my gut. I swung my hand down, smacking his fist away.

He hopped backwards, planting his feet into the dirt. I hopped lightly on my feet for a while, then leapt and kicked forwards. He side-stepped, avoiding the attack.

Clenching his fist, he faked a swing. It distracted me enough for him to sweep out his foot, hitting my leg and sending me to the ground. He stepped on my head, pressing it into the rock below.

"Embarrassing" He hissed, lifting his foot and kicking me over in the face. My nose bled, and I yelled out in pain.

Rolling over, I saw Cratorus 2.0 and reached out for it. Wrapping my fingers around it, I started to turn. There was no way I could win this fight with my fists alone. Clearly this guy was a professional.

As I spun around to face him, a bullet flew, knocking the spear from my hand.

"I thought this was a no-weapons duel" I said.

"So did I" Scitalis replied. I saw that his weapon appeared to be a long shotgun. He fired at me again. I brought up my aura, deflecting the shot. He fired three more times before he paused. I reached for Cratorus 2.0 again, only to hear the sound of a light click and more flying bullets.

I spun around, blocking the bullets and standing back to my feet.

"So are weapons allowed now?" I asked.

"Suppose so" He replied.

I let out a breath, then charged, swinging Cratorus 2.0 down on him. He whipped up his shotgun, blocking the attack. Evaporating my spear, then solidifying it below his gun, I jabbed forward. The spear stuck into his gut, drawing blood. He looked down, then back at me. He frowned, then slammed his shotgun against my face, sending me stumbling backwards.

Catching myself quickly, I saw him charging, shotgun aimed forward. He fired, then swung his shotgun upwards, revealing a silver axe blade attached to the stock. The bullet distracted me, but not enough to stop me from barely blocking the blow.

Yanking my spear back, I swung downwards on him, transforming it into a sniper rifle as I did so. I pulled the trigger, firing a bullet past his ear before yanking the rifle back, transforming it, spinning, and snapping it against the side of his head.

He spun to the side, catching himself quickly. As I charged, he drew another weapon: a sawed-off shotgun with a drill attached to the bottom of the barrel. He fired, making me stop to block the attack. I spun Cratorus 2.0 around, creating a shield that dispersed the explosion from the gun around me. He lunged, drill spinning, towards me. I struck out my hand, activating my aura. The drill hit the shield forming above my hand. He pushed, and I propelled my aura forward. However, he was stronger, and his drill was slowly reaching my palm.

I reached up, swinging Cratorus 2.0 around my head and slicing his forehead. He stood for a second longer, seeing my moment of vulnerability. His drill went straight through my hand before he fell backwards.

My hand bled out, making it impossible for me to hold Cratorus 2.0 with two hands.

Looking up from my dripping hand, I saw that Scitalis was gone. Quickly I found him, climbing the rocky wall. Transforming Cratorus 2.0 into a rifle, I aimed up at him and fired. He had a powerful aura projected up, making any bullet penetration impossible. If he's using that much aura then he's clearly retreating.

"Coward!" I called, hoping that he was too proud to take that. He wasn't, and soon disappeared into a crevice high up in the wall.

I sighed, focusing my aura on my hand. I was lucky he didn't return after I yelled at him. I was in no shape to continue fighting. It was likely that my hand wouldn't heal the same way, but I wanted to stop the bleeding nonetheless. As the wound sealed itself up, I saw that I still had a small hole in the palm of my hand, the edges covered by a layer of pale white skin. Better than a bloody hole, I thought.

Looking back up to where Scitalis had disappeared, I realized that he'd probably long since escaped.

Glancing to the end of the room, I saw a huge tunnel at ground level. Sheathing Cratorus 2.0, I approached it. There appeared to be some kind of staircase leading up to it. It felt too intentional to me.

Looking up into the tunnel, I started forward.

So there you have it. A little fight, an introduction to yet another character, and more mysterious information on who Rocco is. Plus a reference to Gale, if ya'll remember her from Violet I, as well as Livie, her minion.

Scitalis was (if you can believe it at this point) made up on the spot. I think at this point I was already planning an Azure vs. Rocco fight so I didn't want them to duke it out just yet.

Also, Azure's new hand hole. That's fun, and I play around with that in future chapters as well. The thought of having a hole in my hand kind of wigs me out though. Oh well, such is life.

Anyways, not a heck of a lot to say, so as usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!