Sorry for the delay guys. Had some stuff going down last weekend. Anyway, Thanks to Ginger and Anc1ent for your review. I hope to hear more. I hope this answers more questions than it poses. I really hope of of you enjoy it.
Zade reached and gingerly touched his nose. He finally opened his eyes to see that he was in a small motel room. Zade's instincts kicked in and he immediately jumped up from the bed.
"Hehe. Slow down there sport." Qrow chided from across the room. Zade took one look at Qrow and then charged at him. Zade grabbed Qrow and pressed him against the wall. Zade pressed his arm against Qrow's throat.
"How Dare you show up here?" Zade demanded. Qrow glared before pushing his finger on Zade's shoulder wound. Zade backed up in pain.
"I don't know anything about this. That's why I rescued you from the Schnee mansion, before they could arrest you. I want my own answers. Your stuff is in the bathroom when you want it." Qrow explained. Zade nodded reluctantly.
" Yeah I'm your son." Zade stated blandly. Qrow seemed deep in thought.
"Whose son are you. Clarine's… no. Sarah's… no. Elizabeth's… no." Qrow started listing off names. With each successive name Zade grew even more angrier.
"Of course you wouldn't remember her. She was probably just a cheap whore for you to have one of your drunken escapades with." Zade seethed. Qrow's face turned to a scowl.
"Well well, someone's a little bitter." Qrow joked.
"You think this is a fucking joke!" Zade shouted. Qrow was taken aback at his sudden outburst. "You think it's fun waking up everyday with a burning passion to kill someone. To have your entire purpose be focused on the annihilation of a single person. Do you think it's fun to have the memory of a shotgun shell tearing through your mother's skull imprinted in your brain for years, the only reason you have for living being to make the one person responsible for it pay. Everyday is waking nightmare, and you just meander off to your next victim." Zade shouted. Qrow grit his teeth.
"You think that I asked for you to be my son! You think that I want to know that I'm responsible for the suffering of my own blood?" Qrow asked in retort.
"Goddam right I think that. What else would a drunk fornicator be asking for." Zade snapped back. Qrow just stood their silently. "Don't think this little tussle was the end of it. I will kill you, even if it takes my entire life."
"He's serious. Especially if inherited that power to seek it. He really will waste his life trying to kill me." Qrow thought.
"Look… I know you hate me. You've made that more than clear. Right now though, you have a bigger problem. So, if you'll accept my help. I'd like to do something right for a change." Qrow offered.
"Hell no. I don't want you anywhere near this." Zade stated.
"Why not? You need all the help you can get. Besides…"
"Qrow! Zade! Open the damn door." Yang yelled, hitting the door ever harder. Zade and Qrow looked at each other panicked. Both of them dived to the far side of the bed as Yang smashed the door into splinters. "What the hell's going on!" Yang demanded.
Qrow and Zade cringed, neither really wanting to explain stuff to the the three angry girls before them.
"Talk. Now." Ruby demanded in the most threatening tone she could possibly muster. Qrow sighed.
"Girls. I have a son. Long story short it's Zade." Qrow spat out to prevent either girl from attacking him. The girls stared at them.
"You know what? I see it." Blake admitted, scanning over the two hunters. "I mean they both have red eyes, gray hair, they wear capes, wield scythes, and a relationship with a schnee." Zade turned towards Qrow curiously.
"Winter." Qrow responded quickly. Zade nodded, expecting that to be the answer.
"Wait… Doesn't that mean we're related?" Yang asked. Zade looked really confused.
"That's right kiddo. You are cousins." Qrow answered. Zade shook his head.
"No! That cannot be possible!" Zade exclaimed.
"It is. He's our uncle Qrow." Ruby confirmed. Zade trembled with anger, before composing himself.
"We'll cross that bridge after he's dead." Zade decided in his mind.
"Anyways. What are you going to do now Zade?" Ruby asked. Zade laughed.
"The one thing I do best. Make rich people's lives a living hell." Zade answered. Qrow chuckled.
"Then you should know that Leo punk took Weiss away already. We don't know where they are." Yang explained.
"I expected as much." Zade answered. Suddenly, everyone was stopped as Zade's scroll rang. Zade pulled it out and placed it on speaker. "Yes boss?" Zade asked.
"Yeah, We have a big problem." Darron said, panicked.
"What?" Zade asked.
"Are the girls there. And Qrow?" Darron answered.
"Yes." Zade said.
"Good. So we were watching the party through the Schnee security cameras. After the party Leo took Weiss somewhere, Max is tracking them now. Here's the kicker. Leo has called out a hit on you. 400 million lien bounty." Darron explained. Zade sighed. The girls and Qrow looked at Zade nervously.
"So?" Zade inqured.
"This is on you. Do you want to go after Weiss?" Darron asked.
"Of course." Zade answered, resolutely.
"Alright. Hundreds of people have already accepted this. Max is on route to bring the girls home. Zade I'm cutting you off. You and Qrow go full off incognito. Allister and I will do our best to drag as many mercenaries towards us. You just need to get Weiss as quickly as possible. Do you understand?" Darron explained. Zade scoffed.
"Do I need to take Qrow?" Zade asked, painfully.
"Yes. He kicked your ass, he's a great hunter, and he hates Jacques Schnee as much as you do." Darron explained.
"Fine." Zade growled. Zade turned to stare at Qrow when Max walked into the room.
"Hello hello." Max greeted, tossing a pack towards Zade. Zade walked into the small bathroom and began changing.
"Hey Max." Ruby greeted. Max smiled back before addressing the rest of them.
"I've retrieved your luggage from the Schnee mansion already. You good to go?" He asked. The girls nodded in affirmation and Max lead them out of the room. Zade walked back into the main room wearing his normal outfit.
"Holy shit. You do look like me." Qrow stated.
"C'mon. Let's go." Zade directed, storming out of the room with Qrow close at his heels.
Max and the girls walked out of the motel. Max looked around suspiciously, ensuring that no one had managed to follow him. Max opened Titan slightly and produced Gambol Shroud, Ember Celica, and Crescent Rose. Max tossed each girl their respective weapon.
"Keep your eyes peeled." Max instructed. Max left the three girls standing in a circle as he ran towards a small van. Max unlocked the vehicle and gestured for the girls to get on. Yang ran around and jumped in the shotgun seat while the other two girls climbed in the back.
'Where did you get this?" Blake asked, hopping in after Ruby.
"Borrowed it." Max vaguely answered. Once the girls were in the car Max turned on the ignition, but the car failed to start.
'Oh what the fuck man!" Max exclaimed, as he continuously tried to start the car. Max glanced over to his side view mirror and could see a small figure on top of a building behind him. It only took Max a moment to realize what it was.
"Down!" Max yelled. Team RBY didn't even question the order and ducked their heads as soon as a powerful sniper round punctured the side of the car.
"They found us already?" Ruby asked, surprised.
"Ruby there are hundreds, even thousands of people looking for us right now it's not too shocking." Max explained, still fiddling with the ignition. Two more rounds pierced the van, one just barely missing Ruby's arm. Ruby pulled Crescent Rose off of her back and extended it to its sniper configuration. Ruby loaded some explosive dust rounds and pulled back the bolt.
"We can't keep being sitting ducks. Blake on my signal open the door." Ruby ordered. Blake nodded and cautiously crept to the back of the Van.
"Now!" Ruby yelled immediately after a third round pierced the car. Blake threw the door open and Ruby quickly lined up a shot. Ruby's bullet hit the sniper's throat dead center and exploded.
"Well that's that." Ruby announced, just as the car roared to life. Blake slammed the door shut.
"Atta girl!" Max complimented. "And good shot Ruby." Ruby just glared at Max.
"Uh guys." Yang commented. Max looked over and saw her hand coated with blood.
"Shit." Max immediately began inspecting Yang's body for wounds. Max finally found it just above her left leg.
"Is it bad?" Yang asked.
"No you'll live. Looks like the bullet went clean through." Max assured.
"Clear through what?" Ruby asked, still in the back. Just as Max went to answer, he noticed a pair of White vans round the corner.
"Crap! I need to drive. Pull Yang back their and use this on her, she'll be fine." Max yelled tossing a green canister into the back. Max shifted the car into drive and slammed his foot on the gas. Everyone could hear the tires Squeal against the pavement as Max took off down the road.
Ruby crawled up to the front, and gently lifted Yang over and into the back.
"Yang are you Ok?" Ruby asked nervously. Yang just smiled.
'Yeah I'm fine. Hurts like a bitch though." Yang answered. Yang suddenly drew in a sharp breath As Blake placed the green canister against Yang's open wound. Blake was about to use whatever was inside when Max made a sharp turn, causing her to fall back and hit her head against the side of the van.
"Drive more carefully!" Blake yelled up at Max.
"You want to drive. Be my guest!" Max yelled back. The sudden sound of automatic gunfire, presumably from the two white vans, convinced Blake that arguing wasn't the best of ideas right now. Blake placed the cannister against Yang agains and this time used it. A green foam littered with small white crystals. Once it covered the wound the foam hardened rather quickly. Blake made sure that it was adequately applied to both Yang's entry and exit wounds. Yang lifted herself up.
"All the pain is gone." Yang announced, impressed.
"Yeah it loaded with painkillers. They're temporary, but they should be enough to get us into the air, where I can get a better look at it." Max responded.
"Ok. Now what?" Blake asked, obviously addressing the cacophony of bullets hammering the walls of the van.
'You shoot them dammit!" Max responded. Max opened Titan again and tossed and assault rifle into the back. "Ruby use that. It's better for this than a sniper. Blake and Yang should be fine." Max said. Ruby crawled over, picked up the rifle and cocked it.
"Light em up." Ruby said, earning nods from her teammates. Yang stood up and kicked the doors to the back of the van open. Yang immediately punched out with Ember Celica, firing shotgun rounds at the vans behind them. The enemy drivers quickly swerved to avoid the shots. Yang jumped deeper into the van as men popped out of the passenger window of both vans and began returning fire. Blake creeped along the edge of the van and started firing Gambol's pistol. Blake managed to find her mark as she shot one of the pursuers multiple times in the chest. Blake watched as the body slipped out of the window and just rolled across the street. Blake's reprieve was short lived as another man leaned out of the window and began firing directly at her, some of the bullets ringing off of the metal near her head.
"Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Ruby yelled, stepping forward and sprayed the road with lead. A number of her bullets managed to hit the windshields of the approaching vans but did relatively little damage otherwise. Ruby continued yelling and spraying until only a clicking sound could be heard from her gun. Ruby looked at the reemerging baddies and chuckled before bolting to the front of the van to receive another clip from Max. Unfortunately at the same time Max made a rather sharp turn. Ruby was swept off of her feet and she barreled towards the opening at the back of the van
"Ruby!" Yang called out. Ruby turned to look at her sister as she flew out the back of the Van. Ruby screamed, waiting for her body to slam hard on the pavement. Slowly Ruby opened her eyes to see that her cape was stuck against the door.
"What cliche is this!" Ruby complained, as she continued to flap around. Ruby pulled her arms and legs in to make herself as small a target to her enemies. Blake and Yang immediately ran forward, providing suppressing fire so the enemies wouldn't shoot at Ruby.
"Max. We really need titan right now!" Yang yelled up. Max looked back at Yang and nodded. Max rolled down his window.
"Titan. Ai control protocol. Driver override, code name red." Max dictated, before tossing the briefcase out of the window. Titan rolled across the ground for a moment before lunging at Ruby, encasing her. The armor shifted itself to fit the girls smaller frame, and detached her from the Van.
Inside Titan's armor Ruby looked around in awe, trying to comprehend the controls. Suddenly, a small screen appeared in front of her.
"New driver calibration complete. Manually operated systems list available." Titan said. Ruby's eyes widened as a list of commands appeared in front of her. Ruby took a few moments to test out Titan's movement. She found that they surprisingly mimicked her normal ones. Once she was comfortable with the movement, she issued the first command.
"Deploy weapon." Ruby ordered. Titan fired out a block looking object. Ruby instinctively reached out and grabbed it. Once she grabbed it she recognized it immediately. It unfolded into a massive replica of Crescent Rose. Her trusty scythe by her side, Ruby took off after the 3 vans still in pursuit.
Max, Blake, and Yang, were still under heavy fire from two vans. Yang dropped to the floor, as a bullet entered the car and ricochet around.
"Damn!" She yelled, firing a few a few shotgun blasts in return.
"We're almost there." Max announced.
"Look" Blake shouted, pointing to beyond the vans. From beyond them Ruby, encased in Titan, could be seen fast approaching.
'Alright Rubes" Max cheered. Ruby reached up with the furthest of the van's pursuing the team. Ruby pulled back her massive scythe and slammed it down on the van. The blade tore right through the side of the car, revealing the enemies inside. Ruby drew back again and slammed crescent rose v2. Against the van's wheel. Ruby smirked as her blade sliced through the tire, causing the car to flip over and roll down road, incapacitating it. Ruby smiled as her accomplishment.
Ruby's excitement was short lived as the back of the other van opened up to reveal a rocket launcher.
"Oh." She said, right before a rocket blasted her directly in the chest. Ruby was slowed down but relatively unharmed due to Titan's superior armor. Ruby recovered quickly and raced forward after the second car.
Blake watched to see the entire second van focus all of its attention on Ruby. Blake jumped from the van and used her semblance to land on the hood of the enemy van. Blake used gambol shroud to shoot the driver, killing him. Blake ran up over the top of the van and jumped. Just as Blake predicted, Ruby caught her. Before any of the grunts could realize it, they had run off the road without a driver. Max and Ruby, steered away as the enemies crashed into a building. Ruby carried Blake back to the van and jumped in herself, recompacting Titan.
"That was so much fun." Ruby cheered as she tossed Titan into the front seat. Max reached out and caught his weapon.
"I bet. You looked awesome." yang complimented. Ruby nodded furiously.
"Once you get used to it, it's really easy." Ruby explained. Max simply smiled and continued driving.
After a few more uneventful minutes later. Max parked the van next to a waiting Airship. Max and the girls, cautiously raced across the tarmac and into the plane. Team RBY immediately sat down and buckled themselves in. Max made his way into the cockpit ,where two pilots were preparing for lift off.
"Let's go." Max instructed. One of the pilots rolled his eyes.
"We are doing are best." He replied. Max chuckled.
"I know just get us out of here." Max stated.
"Sure thing." the pilots answered..
"Before those two idiots get themselves into more trouble than is necessary." Max thought, before returning to join team RBY.
`Across town, Zade and Qrow had managed to slip past airport security. They were both currently standing in line for the next flight to Menagerie, or as close as possible. Zade has a mask drawn over his face, convincing the guards that he was heading home after a terrible accident to seek better reconstructive surgury. Fortunately, the two managed to board without a hitch, and they found a secluded compartment. Once inside Both Zade and Qrow pulled off their disguises.
"This sneaking around stuff sucks." Qrow stated.
"Then stop and die." Zade warned. Qrow scowled, which went ignored by Zade.
"Look… While we're stuck here I have some questions." Qrow said. Zade fell down in his seat and sighed.
"Fine." Zade grumbled. Qrow shook his head and took the seat opposite.
"I get that you hate me, but I need to know about the scythe wielders myth." Qrow inquired.
"What about it?" Zade asked in response.
"Where did you learn about it, and how did you learn to control it. The reaper's pact should be fat too powerful for you too 's one of the most well kept secrets in the world. You can't nearly be an experience, or powerful enough scythe wielder to reasonably be given access to this knowledge ." Qrow inquired.
"From the source itself." Zade answered, chillingly calm. Qrow's eyes widened and he sat back in his seat.
"You've seen it?" Qrow asked in disbelief. Zade merely nodded.
"Then you're a damn fool. Do you know the consequences of using the reaper's power, the power of the first scythe user?" Qrow practically yelled. Zade neglected to respond, aside from a simple nod. "I need you to tell me. Has there been any adverse effects. Like has your heart stopped for a second before kicking back in?" Qrow pressed. Zade thought back to the time where he thought he was going to die on the airship, yet managed to keep his face stoic.
"No." Zade answered calmly. Qrow sighed relieved.
"Then you need to promise me now that you'll only use that power when absolutely necessary." Qrow demanded.
"Fine… whatever." Zade shot back. Qrow shook his head, knowing that's the best he could get from his alienated son.
"I don't know why the reaper appeared before him, but I do know that if he continues on this path it will certainly lead to his death… There's nothing I can do now, he hates me. Regardless, if I can do one thing correctly as a father, it will be to stop him from effectively killing himself." Qrow thought, contemplating his next move. The two sat in awkward silence, waiting for their eventual arrival in menagerie.
Weiss looked distraught as Leo led her down the halls of his mansion, deep outside of the kingdom itself. She couldn't keep her thoughts from Zade's fight with both her and his own father. Seeing him beaten so handily, even though Weiss doubted the extent of her father's power, broke her heart. Leo opened the door to a large bedroom and pulled Weiss inside. Weiss squeaked as she nearly fell.
"Who was that?" Leo asked seething. Weiss smirked.
"Your worst nightmare." Weiss answered. Leo rolled his eyes.
"That boy is simply but a nuisance. If the police don't kill him for his crimes, the bounty hunters surely will." Leo stated. Weiss looked up at him curiously
"W-what do you mean?" She asked nervously. Leo laughed.
"I've set a bounty on his head. One so high that every illegal hunter in the 4 kingdoms will be scouring the globe for him. There is not a single place he can hide." Weiss backed up, trying to process this news.
'How could you?" Weiss pushed, shakily, backing away from him. Leo walked over to her and gently caressed her face. Weiss turned away.
"I couldn't allow anyone to come between us, especially so close to our wedding date." Leo explained. Weiss was about to answer, when the door suddenly opened. Jacques and Mr. Baril barged in.
"I'm glad you've been so… understanding." Jacques thanked. nodded.
"It is quite alright. No one could have predicted such an unfortunate event." He conceded. "It is all the more reason we should have this wedding as soon as possible." Leo turned to look at the two men.
"I couldn't agree with you more sirs. I feel a quick marriage would be the optimal solution." Leo agreed. Weiss simply remained quiet, knowing her voice would mean nothing.
"I say in one week from tonight. We can have a suitable ceremony arranged in that time." Jacques proposed, and the other two men nodded in agreement. "Excellent. Now… may I have a moment with my daughter?"
"Of course." Leo answered. He and his father quickly vacated, leaving the schnee's along. Jacques walked up to his daughter and stared sternly at her.
"Do you enjoy being an inconvenience in my life?" He asked sharply. Weiss looked down, refusing to face her father.
"Look at me!" He demanded, and Weiss slowly, but timidly.
"Why did you have to bring that boy? "Jacques asked, clearly vexed.
"I...I didn't father, He followed me. I tried to tell him not too." Weiss explained.
"Regardless, It is still your fault. As such, you will get married, and you will never contact that… Zade again. Or so help me God, I will transfer the schnee company inheritance from you to Whitley, and I promise we will make your life a living hell." Jacques finished, and stormed out of the room, locking it behind him. Weiss stood, swaying for a moment before finally collapsing. Weiss buried her head in her hands and cried.
"Zade… please… save me"