The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 39: Mexican Standoff
"Okay... Okay... Can handle this... I can handle this..." Weiss muttered to herself over and over again as Saturn just sat there, taking a sip from a bottle of beer.
"Hey, mind ordering me another? I can't see the name of it... Since you, you know, shot me in the eye." Saturn said with a lazy attitude, slouching back in his chair, letting out a sigh as one of his Guardians sprung to life, just floating in the air beside him in snake form, looking sad for its master.
"Shut up or I'll finish the job." Weiss threatened, pointing her sword at his throat, tempted to just spear him now and be done with it.
"That's not a way to treat a defenseless old man. Then what? You going out to club some seals?" Saturn chuckled, Weiss not looking amused one bit.
"How are you even alive? I saw your arm ripped off, I stabbed you, you fell off the platform. Hell, I even shot you in the head!" Weiss exclaimed, stabbing her blade into the table.
"Turns out you're a lousy shot." Saturn said with a small smile, thinking. "Bullet got stuck in my eye; didn't go all the way through."
"No one could survive the injuries you had." Weiss noted, looking at him with a glare. "How." She demanded.
"Well, that's a story..." Saturn began, hiccuping as he started his story...
Months Ago
Saturn's Fortress
Throne Room
Saturn was blind, not only in one eye but both, along with dozens of cuts and missing his left arm, falling to his death.
A typical night out for the crime lord in his opinion.
'Ugh... When can I just hit the ground already?' Saturn thought with a groan out of absolute pain, hearing the sounds of water connecting with stone.
'Ah, there we go-' The crime lord began to note in his mind before a sharp pain connected with his head, knocking him out for a good while.
Saturn's body had landed on a sleeping DeathStalker, in a coma of some sort, whose armored body managed to knock the man out upon contact, rolling off the beast and into a small stream nearby.
The stream carried his body down the cave and down several turns and chambers of tunnels, all while out cold. His torn body took a turn down another tunnel, a sharp and bright light greeting him as he flowed out the exit...
"Ah!" A girlish voice squeaked out, jumping up in her red dress made of news papers, dropping all the flowers and items she had collected into the stream by her side.
Saturn's body had been ruined, bloody, cut, and he was out like a rock in the river, scaring the girl in red.
"Sis! Come over here! Quick!" The girl in red said, panicking, recognizing the man from a long time ago.
"I swear Miltia, this better not be another rabbit again." A girl in white said with a hint of annoyance, holding a small brown basket of materials hand.
"Mel! It's Saturn!" Miltia, in red, called out in worry, her sister in white now running over to investigate.
"What? Did you just say Satu-" Melanie said, wearing her white dress, dropping her basket as she spotted the crime lord. "Oh dear..."
"Call the car, we need to get him help." Miltia said with a gulp of fear, worried for the mans life.
"Got it." Melanie said quickly, pressing a button on her phone, signaling their escort driver to meet them by the river. "Wait... Where's his arm?" Melanie asked, confused.
Miltia then noticed a long log that had washed up near his body, a red color oozing out of it. It took her all but a moment to realize it was his severed arm, promptly fainting...
Juniors Club
"Then the next thing I knew, I was at Jays bar here, blind, cold, and tired. The girls patched my arm up and my wounds, and I've been here since." Saturn explained with a sigh, feeling the table for a beer.
"Saturn, the crime lord, bane of Orion, now a bum?" Weiss noted, scoffing at his luck.
"Yeah yeah, very funny. So are you here on business or what? Cause if you are going to finish me, go ahead. Right here." Saturn said with a huff, pointing close to his forehead.
Weiss blinked.
'Wow... He fell hard...'
"Business. I want to kill you, so VERY bad, but I can't right now. Orion wants your help." Weiss said, exaggerating the word very.
Saturn let out a raspy laugh, coughing into his hand. "I'm blind, homeless, poor, and I have no weapon. How exactly does that asshole think I'll help him? Go on, explain, make me laugh."
"Didn't explain the details, he just thinks that with the recent events that you might be able to help out." Weiss said with a shrug before realizing Saturn couldn't see her do that.
"Well, I could help..." Saturn said with a bit of thought. "For a price..."
"Price? How about don't cut off your arms? Deal?"
"My dear girl... I've lost all my belongings, I have nothing to lose. So go ahead, kill me. Or, pay my price and I'll help all I can." Saturn declared, grinning his cocky smile.
"Fine. What's your price."
"Several things." Saturn said, holding out a fist, pointing one finger up. "One: three million Lein. Up front. Followed by eight once my tasks are done."
"What...?" Weiss blinked.
"I want some form of payment. After all, Touko hasn't paid me. She probably thinks I'm still dead." Saturn said with a cough.
Weiss thought.
"Money is no object."
"Good. Two," He began, holding out another finger. "Warm bed, shower, clothes, all that good stuff."
"Fine." Weiss said with a grumble. "And?"
"I want my sight back." Saturn finished, grinning as he held up his third finger.
"Fuck. That." Weiss said, stepping back as she crossed her arms in defiance.
"Well, I can't help if I can't see." Saturn teased, laughing a bit. "So what is it going to be, Schnee? Give your greatest enemy his eyesight back and risk me killing you all? Or will you end it here and now?" Saturn began, opening his other hand, which had a small coin in it. "My father was a cruel man, but a wise one. He always bet on chance to control his fate. Will you be willing to risk your lives on the flip of a coin, Schnee?"
"Never."
"Good. He was an idiot." Saturn said with a sly smile. "Now. Take me to Orion, we can settle the details later."
Emerald Forest
9:09 PM
"What's taking so long?" Blake questioned, Yang somehow already asleep on a stump, snoring loudly.
"Don't know." Orion mumbled, playing a game on his Scroll that he "borrowed" from Ozpin.
"I hope she's okay..." Ruby said hopefully, poking her combat boots into the dirt and grass below.
"Well, she's a big girl. I'm sure she can handle anyth- oh." Orion paused, opening the Scroll with a message from Weiss.
"Can you pick me up before I kill this idiot?"
"Ah." Orion said with a slight smile, flicking his hand out. A large ebony portal opened up, dumping out a duo of white and black onto the ground.
"Ack!" Weiss said as she tumbled down, landing on some leafs.
"Weiss-y! You're back!" Ruby chirped happily, walking over. "So who's the..."
Ruby blinked as Saturn slowly stood up, looking around aimlessly, trying to steady himself. The young Goddess went pale, yanking out Crescent Rose MK.2, pointing the sniper at the man.
"Ack!" Orion made out, standing in front of Ruby. "No Ruby, we don't kill him yet."
"But! But!" Ruby repeated again and again, lowering and raising the sniper over and over. "He's a bad guy!"
"Look at him." Orion said, gesturing to the aimless blind man, Ruby blinking a few times. "Does he look like he could hurt a fly right now?"
"No..." Ruby said softly, lowering her sniper.
"Good." Orion said with a deep breath, walking over to Weiss, helping her up.
"Any problems?" Orion asked the heiress as she took his hand, yanking her up.
"He wants stuff in return." Weiss said with a huff, looking at the man as he walked into a tree. "Wants his eye sight back."
"What?" Orion blinked his golden eyes, confused. "He wants what?"
"His eye sight back. He says he can help more if he has it." Weiss huffed again, not sure what to do.
"Well... It's your call Weiss."
"Huh?" Weiss questioned, turning to the God. "What do you mean?"
"I want you to decide what to do. You control your own fate, Weiss. Only a few people can do that; bypassing my powers. So I want you to choose. I will say that we will need everyone in their best condition, and he isn't in that at the moment..."
Weiss looked at Saturn, feeling a swell of emotions. Anger, hatred, fear, frustration... and strangely, pity. After all, he hadn't been targeting them by his own accord. It was the Touko lady Blake talked about, and her father did say Saturn cared about the Schnee family... And now he was like this. Alone, blind, weak, barely able to do anything himself...
Weiss took a breath.
"Do it." Weiss decided, walking off towards the girls of her team.
"Alright then..." Orion said with a sigh, deciding that she probably made the right choice. "Well... It couldn't hurt to check the future..."
Orion activated his powers, getting a short glimpse into the future...
A occupied city, airships flying over; a military lockdown. But it wasn't human soldiers...
A large stage was set, a group of Hunters were lined up, ready for a firing squad to execute them...
Several sniper shots were fired, killing all but the Hunters, allowing them to escape, one being Ozpin himself...
Then his vision ended.
"Hmm... Good choice Weiss... Good choice..." Orion muttered, walking over to Saturn who was leaning partially on a tree.
"Alright idiot, surgery time." Orion said with a wicked smile, pulling out a bucket and a very sharp looking dagger...
Meanwhile
Deep Emerald Forest
A small group of Beowulf pups lead by an older one raced through the wooded area, several Ursi loafing around near a honey tree; all was "peaceful."
A lone boy emerged from the brush, a large shadowy arm extended to cut up branches and trees in his way, standing in a large empty clearing save for one large oak tree surrounded by a few minor ones.
The boy, Hayden, changed his arm back to normal, brushed off bits of grass from his navy blue shirt and black cargo jeans, his ebony hair blowing around a bit in the mild wind.
Hayden's head turned to the rustling of leafs, a lone boy in a light navy blue tunic, stepping out and watching the boy across from him with confusion.
"Hello there, fellow child of the Gods. How fair you?" The monk spoke with a mild bow towards Hayden, who nodding in response, mimicking the bow of the monk.
A tree was suddenly slashed in two, falling into a small part of the large clearing, a young man in all white with a fuzzy looking green cloak or cape walked in, two long multi colored swords about as long as Orion's Saber in hand.
"Hm. I wasn't expecting humans in this Grimm infested location." Lucas said with a regal look, collapsing his swords into two small white crosses, hooking them to his belt.
"Quite so." Feng noted, sensing more people approaching.
More and more people exited the woods and entered the clearing. Morris, the ex-Vale special forces soldier and Felix, the ex-White Fang agent both walked in from opposing sides of the clearing, noticing the trio in the middle.
A large Ursa Major was sent flying across the sky above the clearing and into the opposing woods area, a boy exiting with a light brown toothpick in his teeth, pocketing a pair of black shades. A large grey mechanical arm was attached to his body, a real arm, right, concealed within it, various metallic devices and gears twisting and turning as the metal fist at the end shifted into a pentagonal shaped hole at the end; a small cannon. He was wearing a pair of red cargo pants with various holes in the knee area, wearing a white tank top with large muscles.
"Huh? You all kill the Grimm in the clearing already?" The boy, Jacob, said with a bit of annoyance, hoping they would say no.
"No Grimm nearby. Haven't been any." Morris said, a black and red assault rifle in hand, his short light grey hair unmoving in the mild and occasional gusts of wind.
"You, sir, need to cease your hostilities and retract your weapon. You're actions are quite hostile towards our wellbeing." Lucas said with a glare, his white hair blowing, silver eyes regarding Jacob with anger.
"It's Jacob, first of all. I'm here for my task, commander, and I don't care what you have to say. So don't tell me what I can and can't do." Jacob retorted, a hand to his pocket.
"I'll say it once more: put the weapon down." Lucas said, his hand to his crosses.
Jacob grinned and pulled out a green device with a pin, tossing it up and down in his hand. "Come on, commander. Show me what you got. Go a few rounds?" Jacob taunted.
Lucas pulled his twin swords out again, pointing both at Jacob, who in turn pointed his arm cannon at the white clothed boy.
Felix, without a word, pulled out his two pistols, aiming them both at Lucas. Hayden took a step back, being the youngest in the group, Feng standing in front of him, ready to defend. Morris aimed his rifle in one hand at Jacob, and a large black and grey heavy pistol towards Felix, who then pointed a pistol at Morris.
"Good ole' Mexican Standoff, eh?" Jacob noted, a thumb to the pin.
Almost everyone was in a deadlock, guns aimed at each other, massive laser swords pointed at throats, and a monstrous mechanical arm somewhere in the mix.
"Now Jacob. I'll give you one more chance to take a step back and stop acting so abruptly. You're actions are very uncivil." Lucas said with a stern look, pointing a blade towards the boy, who was holding the grenade.
"Naw, I'm fine with what I'm doing, captain asshat." Jacob said with a grin.
A loud crack echoed around the group of 6, everyone pausing.
"FOR THE LOVE OF YVELTAL... SHUT THE FUCK UP!" A feminine and masculine voice shouted out from what seemed to be inside a nearby tree, sounding distorted.
"What was that?" Felix asked to no one in particular, his revolvers in hand, aimed at Lucas and the soldier.
"I AM TRYING TO SLEEP!" The voice echoed again, a woman stepping out from a hole upon the mid-section of the large oak, standing on a branch.
She wore mostly purple, jeans and a white t-shirt with a red painted grin on it, a long head of hair that put Yang to shame, which was dark black, featuring spots of purple. And she was pissed.
Jacob froze. 'Be still my beating heart...'
"CAN YOU IDIOTS SHUT UP FOR 5 MINUTES?! I SWEAR, I'M THIS CLOSE TO JUST KILLING YOU ALL!" The woman, Cheshire, said, with a flaming purple Aura. Her voice shook the ground below the group, everyone now looking at her.
"Ma'am. Please stop the yelling." Lucas said, Hayden just looking around, not really sure what was happening.
"YOU." Cheshire said, suddenly in his face. "Will be the first to die. Then you, you, you, you, aaaaaaaand you..." Cheshire said, pointing at random people, ending on Jacob, freezing.
'Well hello!'
"Uh... Missy?" Jacob asked, his mech arm lowered from Lucas, the grenade pocketed. "We feel very sorry for waking you."
"Um... It's fine..." Cheshire said with a mild gulp.
"Hmph, finally she shuts her loud mouth." Lucas noted, brushing a bit of her hair from his cloak.
"SHUT UP OR I'LL SHOVE THAT TREE DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Cheshire shouted back at him, pointing to the massive oak tree she emerged from.
"People! Can we all just be calm? Seriously, the Grimm around here are going to be smelling our anger. We just need to relax..." Felix said softly, an attempt to defuse the tense area...
Just as Felix mentioned Grimm, a massive roar shook the ground. Trees were ripped off the ground as a massive DeathStalker charged forward, its pincers at the ready to strike at Cheshire.
"Look-" Jacob began as Cheshire snapped her fingers, a large black and white piano, as large as the DeathStalker itself, spawning and falling from the sky, crushing the Grimm beast under its weight.
"-out..." Jacob finished, blinking.
As the others looked on in utter awe at the crushed beast, Cheshire gripped her chest, her heart pounding rapidly.
'Okay, I just need to take a small break... Damn seal... Limiting my powers...' The purple cat girl thought, taking a few deep breaths, removing her grip.
"Okay! Now that we are all friends, care for a chat?" A tall man in a trench coat asked, stepping into the clearing with a group of four girls and a man, who looked freshly cleaned.
As Orion walked further towards the group of 7, Saturn and the girls stayed back, the crime lord brushing grass off his new and fancier black suit.
"Saturn." Weiss said with a tap of her foot, the man turning to her. "I've made my end of the deal, now I expect you to fill yours."
Saturn blinked with a vile grin, his new eyes locking with Weiss's own.
His eyes were mechanical, orbs of black that had very sophisticated lenses, changing to the color green. At will, he could switch them to infrared, night vision, normal color, and anything in between. Colors would also show his emotion, green being mild.
"Indeed. And I'll try not to shoot all of you in the back. Try." Saturn said with a laugh, his old black sniper rifle strapped around his shoulder, his golden pen katanas in a pocket of his suit.
"I suppose that's the best answer I'll get..." Weiss muttered, turning to face the group that Orion was talking to.
"... So that is why, and how, I called you all here." Orion said with a mild grin, his golden orbs flashing with confidence.
"What did I miss?" Weiss asked Blake in a whisper, who simply shrugged.
"Most likely a major plot point that the author is too lazy to include right now, and she probably feels that showing it later on is a better idea." Blake noted, standing by Yang.
Weiss blinked with her good eye. "What?"
"What?" Blake echoed.
Feng walked over, kneeling at his feet. "I understand, Lord Orion." The monk was in a state of awe, recognizing the voice that spoke to him was this man.
The remaining group looked at each other, not sure what to do.
Cheshire locked eyes with Orion, growling.
"YOU!" Cheshire said with a roar, running at Orion with a bloodlust, hands morphing into sharp dark claws.
Feng suddenly did a quick flip, delivering an axe kick to Cheshire's neck, knocking her out effectively, the cat landing on the ground with a thud, snoring.
"Oooh, sub-plot." Blake said.
"What?" Weiss said once more.
"What?" Blake echoed.
"Well then." Morris noted, hooking his pistol to his belt and rifle to his back, his brownish trench coat blowing in the gust.
Felix spun his pistols into his pockets; the remaining warriors lowering or disabling their weapons, walking over to Orion.
"Huh. Haven't been this worshiped in a while." Orion noted, gesturing to Feng.
"Huh?" Weiss said, her group walking over to join Orion's. "But it's one person...?"
"Our religion is dead in a way, if it was ever alive... Only a handful know of our existence, let alone praise us. Damn father and his Dust..." Orion noted.
Thunder cracked in the distance.
"You. A God?" Jacob said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry but I can't say I believe you."
Orion clapped his hand, a swarm of puppies appearing, all tackling Lucas to the ground.
"I am convinced." Jacob recalled his previous statement. "Sweet."
The puppies melted into shadows, allowing Lucas to stand up as Saturn walked over.
"So... Which one do I kill?"
Orion sighed. "Yourself?"
"Not paid enough for that, Orion." Saturn said, his mechanical eyes changing from green to red; anger and sarcasm.
"Uh huh." Orion noted, rolling his own. "Welp! Someone is carrying Cheshire here back to Beacon. Onward everyone; we have a meeting to get to."
Beacon Academy
Headmaster Ozpins Office Tower
9:45 PM
"Absolutely not." Ozpin said with a pound of his fist on his desk, his coffee cup rattling around for a moment before settling down, Ulysses and Glynda just standing on both sides of the mans clockwork desk and chair.
"Oz." Orion said with a glare, the group of 12 standing around behind him. "I have far too many favors to count that I could use. Remember the Atlas Falls? Or the Crimson Nevermore nest? Perhaps the Battle of the Warrior? All valid favors to call in." The God said with a growl.
"Easy... I will not be intimidated in my own office." Ozpin said with a glare, pushing up his glasses.
"Sir." Ulysses said with a cough. "I believe the situation calls for this..."
"I hate to agree with the idiot next to me... Yet I do feel that their case is a strong one, sir." Glynda said with a huff, riding crop in hand to her side.
"You two surely can't be serious?" Ozpin said with a huff of surprise, confused as to how he was the minority here.
"Ozpin..." Orion said in a very serious tone. "If you don't help me..."
Orion pressed a note in his hands, a message from Dagonus. Ozpin took a moment to read it before paling.
"Not only will your school be destroyed..."
Ozpin put the letter down slowly, looking up at Orion, who snatched the paper back up.
"But possibly all of Vale." Orion finished with his face in Ozpin's.
"So I'll ask you, Oz, one last time. Lend me your students, lend me their belongings, lend me their time... And activate the Maelstrom Protocol. If I don't have it, Vale is going to burn."