Well, wasn't sure I would get this out on time! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you all enjoy this one as well. Only one was asked this time and that was from 'guest2'. If I read it correctly, then you asked me if it was RWBY characters in the RvB universe. The answer is yes. The reason for this was because a lot of the RvB/RWBY crossovers out there have either RvB characters in the RWBY universe or the two moulded together with the RWBY universe being the more dominant. I felt like I wanted to do something different and this was the most logical choice. Now, on with the show!
Chapter 6- Trust Issues
"Wait, what are you saying?" Yang demanded. She wanted to make sure that she heard 'Epsilon' or 'Church' or whatever the hell he's called right.
"Really? Do I have to spell it out?" Epsilon deadpanned. Yang quickly balled her fists and let out a low growl.
"Are you saying that YOU locked down this area?" Weiss quickly said before the situation deteriorated any further.
"Congratulations Weiss! You win first prize! Of course I did you fucking idiots!" Church replied in a sarcastic manner. In fury at the attitude, Yang swung a right hook at Church, her fist passing straight through his holographic form.
"Wow...what don't you get about a holographic avatar?" Church asked, followed quickly by Yang delivering a left hook at Church. "Still not getting the whole 'avatar' thing are you?"
"Just stop! Both of you!" Ruby shouted. Weiss, Yang and Church all turned to face Ruby. "Why did you do it?" she asked, visibly shaking as she awaited a response from the A.I.
"Well, you were looking through classified files which is pretty suspicious if you ask me." Church stated, the cockiness from his voice now replaced with a serious tone. "Hell, I should be the one who's pissed! I vouched for you guys and this is how you repay me?"
"What are you talking about? We've never met before!" Weiss retorted. As far as she was aware, this was their first encounter with the A.I.
Ruby racked her brain, trying to figure out what the A.I was talking about. Then it hit her.
"Weiss, remember what Carolina said, about her partners agreeing with us? He was the other partner!"
Weiss' eyes widened as she remembered the conversation. Ruby was right, the A.I must have been present the whole time and just chose to remain invisible through-out the interrogation.
"Wait a second, that doesn't explain why you were watching us!" Yang quickly butted in, causing Church to look at her.
"Carolina told you that you'd be under close surveillance. I'M that surveillance." Church replied quickly. "And judging from what I just saw, she was right to do so."
"Look!" Weiss interjected, raising her hands slightly. "All we wanted to do was-"
"Find out what happened to your friend...I know." Church interrupted, actually sounding sympathetic for the first time. "Which is why no one else is aware of this deadlock..."
Ruby looked at Church questioningly. "Wait, what?"
"As far as anyone else is aware, this conversation isn't even occurring..." Church replied, causing the huntresses to look at one another in surprise.
"Wait, this isn't a dream is it? Because that would be REALLY lame!" Yang asked, putting a large amount of emphasis on the word 'lame'.
"What? No, that's just stupid! Why would you think that?" Church asked exasperatedly. "What I mean is, that we are the only people who know that I activated the deadlock!"
"But...the guards outside and in the building in general..." Weiss stated, knowing that a building this important would be manned to the brim, even on a night shift.
"Oh please," Church reassured. "The walls here are so thick you can't even here if you drop a bomb right outside!"
The huntresses looked at one another and shrugged, deciding to take Church's word on the matter.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I understand what it's like to lose someone...especially if they're close to you." Church said. The huntresses could tell that there was a hidden sadness behind those words, who had he lost in the past? "But you have to treat these privileges you've received with care!"
"What do you mean?" Yang questioned. She had gotten over her rage for the most part and was more interested in what Church had to say.
"You think it's hard for you to trust us, then just imagine how hard it was for us to trust you!" Church replied angrily. "And if you go around sneaking into files and places you shouldn't be, you're going to lose that trust!"
The huntresses looked at one another sheepishly and realised that Church was right. These people, who barely knew them, had given them the benefit of the doubt and decided to take them in despite the circumstances and they had done what? Betrayed that trust and effectively stabbed them in the back.
"We...we understand. And we're sorry." Ruby finally said. She looked towards her friends and could tell by their expressions that she was speaking for all of them. They were suddenly alerted by the sound of grinding metal and turned to see the blast door beginning to rise. They stared in utter shock at first the open door and then Church.
"Well don't just stand there with your thumb in your ass and your mind in neutral! Go on, you can leave!" Church snapped, startling the huntresses with the sudden break of silence. The huntresses turned to leave, but stopped at the door, turning to face Church again.
"Thank you, we really appreciate what your doing for us." Ruby said, a grateful smile on her face.
"Yeah yeah, whatever..." Church half heartedly replied, disappearing in a sudden flash of white light. The huntresses stared at the empty space where the A.I once stood, contemplating what had just occurred.
"Hey Weiss." Yang said, breaking the silence.
"Yes?" Weiss asked, turning to face the blonde brawler.
"You two are kinda alike!" Yang snickered, a slight grin on her face. Weiss sighed, placing the palm of her hand on her temple as Ruby and Yang laughed to themselves.
"Dear god I hate you all..."
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Blake wish she hadn't heard what Locus just said. She looked in horror as Locus left the room, leaving her with Torchwick, Jackson and the two other Pirates. Jackson shoved Torchwick forward, who had a slight grin on his face, before turning to his subordinates.
"You two, take her out back and be quick about it!" he said, tossing a key to one of the Pirates who caught it with ease.
"You got it boss..." the Pirate menacingly replied.
Jackson turned and left the room, leaving Blake alone with the two Pirates. One walked forward, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.
"You go on ahead, I'll do this myself." the other Pirate said, reaching for a sword on the nearby table.
"You sure?" the Pirate asked, receiving a nod in return. "All right, I'll be outside if you need me." The Pirate turned and left the door, leaving only her and the lone Pirate in the room. Blake could only just make out the silhouette of the weapon he carried, and it made her all the more horrified.
"You know, I've always wanted to kill someone with their own weapon!" the Pirate menacingly stated, twirling Gambol Shroud in his hand before the weapon shifted into its pistol form. "Now I'm gonna see if it's as good as they say it is."
The Pirate levelled the pistol at Blake's head, switching the safety off as he did so. "Any last words before I blast your brains out?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. Blake merely met him with stony silence, earning a dry chuckle from him. "All right then..."
As the Pirate applied pressure to the trigger, Blake quickly kicked Gambol Shroud to her left, the bullet instead hitting the wall. She then brought her leg back, swiping the Pirate across the head and causing him to spin around slightly. Before he could recover Blake kicked him square in the back, causing him to grunt and hit the table, sending him staggering back towards Blake again.
As he approached her, Blake wrapped her legs around the Pirates neck, tightening her grip slightly. The Pirate dropped Gambol Shroud, gasping for air as he clawed at her legs, attempting to gain a grip on her. Blake applied more pressure. She wouldn't kill him, that life was behind her, but if she applied pressure onto the right points it would send him to sleep. The Pirates movements became more sluggish, just a bit longer and-
CRACK!
Blake froze almost immediately at the all too familiar wet sound of bone's snapping. She looked down in horror and saw that the Pirate had gone limp, his head twisted slightly to the left. She released her grip and the Pirate slumped to the floor, dead. She bit her lips to stop herself from gasping in horror. She had sworn never to kill another human again. This man was simply following orders and she didn't even know who he was! For all she knew, he had a loving family back home, waiting for him to return. A sudden knock on the door brought her back to reality.
"Hey Marlowe, you okay in there?"
Blake immediately composed herself as the knocking continued. The world was probably better off without this man living on it. Right now the most important thing was to get out and find her friends.
Gambol Shroud was still on the floor in pistol form. Perhaps if she could get a hold of it, she could use it to escape. The knocking became more persistent and louder.
"Come on man hurry up!"
She had to be quick or she would miss her window. She managed to hook her foot on the weapons ribbon, ensuring it was properly secured. She only had one shot at this and if she screwed up, game over. She kicked Gambol Shroud into the air, barely managing to catch the weapon. She let out a sigh of relief before the weapon morphed into its katana form, severing the chain attached to the ceiling. She quickly checked the Pirates corpse, grabbing the key off his belt and undid the cuffs, rubbing her wrists as she was finally relinquished from her bonds. The knocking soon turned into banging as the Pirate on the other side became more frustrated.
"That's it, I'm coming in!"
The Pirate unlocked the door, freezing in his tracks upon seeing Blake standing their whilst the other Pirate laid slumped on the floor.
"What the-"
Blake quickly barrelled past the Pirate, knocking him onto his back with a loud grunt. She continued to run, not daring to look back.
"Sound the alarm! One of the prisoners have escaped!" the Pirate shouted from behind.
Blake kept running, sticking to both cover and the shadows as she ran. The darkness of the night gave her some cover, but it was almost dawn. The Pirates were on full alert now, but thankfully didn't know where she was. As she moved forward, she could see that one of the gates was still open. No doubt a patrol had left earlier that night and they were waiting for their return. This was her only exit, she had to take it. She broke cover and made a bee line for the gate.
"There she is!"
"Open fire!"
"She's heading for the gate! Stop her!"
Orange plasma bolts flew around her as the Pirates focused all their attention on her. A Pirate blocked her path and let out a few controlled bursts from his weapon. She quickly used her semblance, thankful it still worked, leaving behind a shadow clone as she rolled forward. The sudden appearance of the copy startled the Pirate, causing him to lower his weapon.
"Huh?"
She quickly shoulder barged him, causing him to grunt in pain, before she bashed him on the head with the flat of her blade, knocking him out. She quickly heard the sound of metal grinding and turned to see the gate closing.
She quickly ran forward, dodging bullets with both her natural grace and her semblance. She then slid under the gate, just as it was about to close, feeling the air blowing out as the gate closed.
"Quickly, shoot her!"
Blake looked up as a pair of Pirates on top of the gate began to fire their weapons at her from above. Blake wasted no time and sprinted for the forest, the plasma bolts trailing close behind her. As she ran she let out a shadow clone to help distract the Pirates, but upon using it, she gasped in pain and collapsed, the clone dispersing immediately afterwards.
'Damn it, not now!' Blake cursed to herself. Her Aura levels must be dangerously low if she couldn't even maintain the clone for a few seconds. There was something wrong with this planet for sure if her Aura wasn't regenerating at its usual rate. Perhaps it was the gravity of this place or some other cosmic phenomenon.
"Damn it, I lost her!" she heard a voice shout.
"Oh man, Locus is going to kill us!" a second complained. The voices sounded distant, at least she had lost them.
"Come on, we need to report this now!" the first said, the voice sounding more distant than it had before.
"Right!" the second replied, trailing off into the distant.
Blake struggled to her feet and trudged forward. In the distance she could see the outline of a city and hopefully, a refuge…
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Locus marched forward, heading towards the communication room. A pair of Pirates guarded the entrance, saluting as he approached and entered the building. The small room was lit by a single red light whilst a large computer screen hung from the wall. Locus activated the console, the screen lighting up upon contact. After a few short commands Locus came upon the contact he required; Control.
After ensuring that the network used was secure he initiated contact. Almost immediately, Chairman Malcolm Hargrove's face appeared on the screen, a neutral look on his face.
"Locus, I wasn't expecting you to call! This had better be important, I'm rather...preoccupied at this moment in time." The Chairman said, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.
"Sir, we've come across an anomaly. A new group has appeared on Chorus, one we've never seen before!" Locus reported, earning a raised eyebrow from the Chairman.
"How many of these individuals are there?"
"At least twenty, but apparently there are more that may become a threat in the future." Locus continued, the Chairman now scratching his chin in deep thought. "One of these groups has offered their help in our cause, as well as to take care of the other group."
The silence was almost deafening, the Chairman taking in every word that Locus said.
"And why have you called me then?" the Chairman finally asked.
"To know what your opinion on the matter is, sir!" Locus replied. The Chairman simply placed his hands behind his back and gave Locus his response.
"Do what is necessary to win this war!" the Chairman replied, before terminating the connection.
Locus stared at the screen, the Chairman's face replaced by static. He then reached for the comm on his helmet and relayed his decision.
"Jackson, come in! Over."
"This is Jackson, what's the matter sir?" Jackson replied over the comms.
"Release the Torchwick and his men. For now, they work for us."
"Roger that Locus, over and out."
Locus turned to leave the communication room when suddenly, a blaring siren wailed through out the complex.
"What the..." Locus muttered to himself as he searched the comm channels on his helmet.
"Locus, this is security! The girl, she's gone! She killed Marlowe and did a runner!" a voice sounded on the other end of the comms.
"What!?" Locus exclaimed, shock and anger in his voice. "Where is she?"
"We don't know, she's heading West to New Lincoln!" the voice replied.
Locus hesitated for a second. New Lincoln was a wasteland, one of the first cities to feel the full brunt of the Civil War. As far as he was aware, the city was unoccupied…
"Hold position for now, Felix is still out in the field. He can sort this out..." Locus finally replied, the comm channel going silent as the subordinate left to relay orders.
Locus then switched to one of the more private channels, giving him direct access to Felix. "Felix, come in! Are you finished yet?"
Felix reply was almost instant. "Almost..." Locus then heard the sound of metal grinding against flesh followed quickly by a quiet gurgling. "We're finished here now Locus, what do you want?"
"The girl, she's escaped!" Locus answered, a soft chuckle on the other end of the comm channel.
"Seriously? I leave you in charge for less then half a day and you manage to fuck it up?" Felix smugly asked before sighing. "Where is she headed?"
"New Lincoln. You and your team are the closest group to her immediate destination, find her and neutralise her!" Locus quickly replied, earning yet another chuckle from Felix.
"When you say 'neutralise', you mean-"
"Kill...yes!" Locus interrupted. Every second Felix wasted was a second the girl had to escape.
"All right, I'll head out now. I better get paid extra for this crap!" Felix quickly responded, the comm channel quickly turning to static as Locus left the channel. Now his immediate attention was set on their new allies...and what information they had to offer.
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"Just so you're all aware, I think this idea is terrible." Grif casually stated. He had been standing for nearly an hour now 'helping' Simmons clean up the workshop after Sarge had nearly destroyed it in his quest for 'Shotgun Gauntlets'.
"You think ALL our ideas are terrible!" Simmons countered, sweeping away the tiny fragments of metal that had been created when Sarge had used a 9 inch grinder to cut the barrels of multiple Shotguns off.
"That's usually because they all ARE terrible ideas!" Grif retorted. During his time in Blood Gulch and just the Red Army in general, he'd taken part in a lot of terrible ideas, but this one took the biscuit.
"You're only saying that because he's gonna test them on you first!" Simmons replied. When it came to testing new weapons, the pecking order usually went: Grif, Grif, Grif, Grif again and last but not least...Grif.
"Yeah well, I think the prospect of dying is a very valid reason why I think this idea is terrible!" Grif casually replied. He was well aware of the pecking order for weapon testing and he still believed there should be more variety.
"Relax, it probably won't work anyway..." Simmons replied, discarding the last of the scrap in the Scrap Bin.
"Oh yeah? Then why does it look like Donut and Lopez are wondering what flowers will look good in a funeral arrangement!" Grif angrily replied, pointing towards Donut and Lopez who were both staring intently at Grif.
"No importaría lo de la flor que elegimos. Tú haces que las flores se marchiten en la vida debido a su olor, que se desintegrarían al ser llevado a un metro de su cadáver en descomposición! (It wouldn't matter what flower's we picked. You cause flowers to wilt in life due to your stench, they would disintegrate upon being brought within a metre of your decaying corpse!)" Lopez stated matter of factly.
"You're right Lopez, tulips WOULD look good in Grif's open casket!" Donut cheerily replied, causing Lopez to face-palm slightly.
Simmons sighed before turning towards Grif and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look, when have any of Sarge's inventions ever worked?"
Grif stood silently as he contemplated Simmons words. "Now that you mention it...it does sound kinda stupid." Grif finally said. "Hey your right! I take it back, this idea doesn't seem that bad..."
"Feast your eyes upon these beauties!" Sarge's booming voice echoed throughout the room.
Everyone turned towards Sarge and stood frozen in shock. There Sarge was, Shotgun strapped to his back, but their attention was turned to his wrists and the weapons mounted on them. The weapons were insanely large, they weren't even sure if Sarge could lift them without assistance. His hands were gripping a metal bar to both allow easy access to the weapons and allow them to be removed easily. On each side of the gauntlets were Shotguns, bolted and welded on with an automated reloading system attached as well as an automatic pump action system.
"Ladies and Gentlemen...and Grif...allow me to introduce to you 'The Sargeinator 5000'!" Sarge bellowed, lifting said weapons up to allow all to get a better look at the weapon.
"Wait, why 'Sargeinator 5000'?" Simmons asked, recovering from his earlier shock.
"Because 'Haymaker', 'Terminator' and 'Grif-Squasher' were all taken via copyright infringement." Sarge quickly replied.
"Huh..." Simmons muttered, turning to face Grif.
Grif stood frozen in fear, dropping the Suppressor rifle in complete shock.
"I take back my take back, this a FUCKING TERRIBLE IDEA!" Grif shouted, unable to move.
"Don't be such a baby, now, I'm gonna need to test these bad boys out on someone, any volunteers?" Sarge quickly asked.
Almost immediately, Simmons, Donut and Lopez pointed at Grif, still frozen in fear.
"Good to see you so eager to help me out Grif!" Sarge cheerily replied, causing Grif to whimper in fear. "Now I want to ask you what hurts more, 'A' or 'B'."
"W-wait...what's 'A' and 'B'?" Grif managed to stutter out, his body shaking in complete fear.
"'A' is your chest and 'B' is your groin." Sarge replied, only adding to Grif's fears.
"Now hold still, this will only last a few seconds..." Sarge menacingly said. All eyes turned to the two. Simmons didn't know if he could watch as he was concerned for his friend yet also wanted to see the weapon in action. Donut stood cowering behind a chair, not wanting to get all that blood red on his light red armour. Lopez just gave a neutral stare towards the eventual bloodbath, knowing full well he'd have to clean it up.
"GYAHHHHHHHHH!" Sarge bellowed raising the Sargeinator 5000, pointing the gauntlets at Grif's chest.
"WAHHHHH!" Grif screamed, raising his arms in defence and turning around to look the other way...yet the blasts never came. "Huh?" Grif muttered, as Sarge stood there, thrusting his arms forward.
"Come on you piece of...why won't it work?" Sarge grumbled as he began to shake the weapons around.
"Ummm, Sir, did you reinstall the firing mechanism?" Simmons asked as he slowly stepped forward.
"Of course not! That's redicu-Oh..." Sarge muttered, realisation dawning on him. Grif let out a sigh of relief and laughed.
"Now that was close, I thought I was a-" Grif never finished his sentence as Sarge punched Grif square on in the head, sending him flying towards the floor with a loud thud.
"OH the front of your head!" Simmons shouted, rushing towards Grif and checking his pulse.
"Is he dead?" Sarge asked, standing over Grif's body.
"No, just unconscious..." Simmons sighed, turning to face Sarge. "Sir, despite not having the outcome you wanted, those weapons are actually really effective Close Quarter Combat weapons!"
Sarge sighed as he shook his head. "I know, but it just ain't the same without the Shotgun blasts..." Sarge replied, sliding the weapons off his hands and gently placing them on the floor.
"Regardless, you've revolutionised modern warfare!" Simmons continued, not bothering to look at Sarge. "If we can mass produce these, the Pirates will have no choice but to-" Simmons was immediately cut off by the sound of two shotgun blasts. He turned to see Sarge standing with his original Shotgun drawn before a pile of smoking scrap formally known as 'The Sargeinator 5000'.
"That's that embarrassment forgotten..." Sarge chuckled, reloading a shell into the rifle. "Sorry Simmons, you were saying something?" Sarge continued, turning towards Simmons who was staring in horror at the broken weaponry.
"Nope!" Simmons managed to say, barely containing his anger.
"What the hell is going on in here!"
Red team turned to see Agent Washington enter the workshop, raising his arms in demand for an explanation. Sarge and Simmons turned to one another before turning to face the ex-freelancer.
"Nothing." Sarge replied, doing his best attempt to act subtle. Washington turned to face Grif's unconscious body lying on the floor.
"Why is he lying on the floor?" Wash asked, pointing at the heap of fat known as Grif.
"What do you think? It's Grif, he's sleeping." Simmons replied. Wash turned to Grif and then Simmons, unsure of whether he was telling the truth.
"Well, wake him up! You're all required in the War Room." Wash ordered, turning to leave the room.
"For what purpose?" Sarge asked, causing Wash to stop in his tracks and turn to face Sarge.
"We think we know where Blake is heading." Wash replied. Sarge, Simmons, Lopez and Donut all looked at one another before Simmons asked the question they were all thinking.
"Who's Blake?"
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Well, that's that chapter done and dusted. I wasn't sure about the whole Semblance and Aura thing as I couldn't find anything on whether the use of Semblance used up Aura. Feel free to confirm if this is true in a review. Also for those wondering what 'The Sargeinator 5000' looks like, just think of a more primitive version of the Hand Cannons used by Marauders in Starcraft 2. As always, leave your review and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you have any questions, either PM me or leave them in the review.
Raging Archon out!