Chapter 5: Lone Wolf
I do not own RWBY, RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (R.I.P.) nor do I own any media that may appear in the story. I only own the OCs, Enjoy! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review.
The desert sand blew in the wind as a couple tanks drove over the ridge, Onyx sat on his knees as he stared into the distance at the wreckage of the other K2. Crimson and Keppel pulled themselves from the wreckage and collapsed to the ground, militants of the 184th ran over to help them up "Thanks man, the fuck was that?" Crimson asked as he draped his arm around the militant's neck "That my friend, was a dust cruise missile like the ones on the trucks back there." Titus said as he limped over to the two mercenaries, he looked over and saw Danny's tank burning near the blast zone "Poor mother fucker, didn't even stand a chance." Titus said as he lowered his head, Titus lifted his head back up and clapped his hands together "Alright, let's get you boys fixed up." Titus said as he led the men over to the others who sat against a T-90, five men carried Grullo over and laid him down beside the tank tracks "He's still unconscious, Bubba, go get some Coban, Morphine, Narcan, Kerlix gauze, Acetaminophen, Phenergan, and some cloth scissors, you know what just bring the whole truck." Titus told one of the medics that was adjusting Grullo's leg.
*Meanwhile*
Carmine groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, he looked up and was met with a wall of darkness with only a single light above him, a metal table was all that separated him and a hooded figure that sat opposite of him. Carmine attempted to move but found his hands were restrained to a metal chair "I wouldn't do that if I were you." A female voice said through an intercom speaker on the wall, Carmine felt another sharp pain in his side.
He sighed and stopped fighting back against the restraints "Good, now we can start." The voice said as the shadows began to take humanoid forms and started to remove his gear from his body. First his IBA then his hoodie followed by his facemask, one of the figures opened a pocket of his IBA and pulled out a pair of black panties 'So that's what Sapphire gave me, I guess I should have checked it sooner.' Carmine thought to himself as the man held it in his hand and raised it to his nose, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly "I might pay her a visit after were done with you." The man said as he tucked the lingerie into his pocket, Carmine gritted his teeth in anger "I swear, when I'm out of these restraints, I'm ramming your head into that wall until the wall breaks." Carmine said as he stared at the man, his red eyes seemed to darken as he grew angrier.
"Down boy." The intercom said as an electric shock began to course through Carmine's body, he grunted in pain as the electric current flowed through him. The current stopped as did his twitching, the intercom cut back on "Now, where is your base of operations located at?" The voice asked, Carmine snickered "Do you really think I'm gonna give up any information to you?" Carmine inclined as he sat in the interrogation room, one of the figures grabbed his arm and placed it on the table. The man pulled out a razor blade and cut into Carmine's arm, the blade sliced into the flesh of his arm as it drew blood from the wound, Carmine laughed as the wound disappeared "You know my aura will heal any wound I get right?" He asked as he looked at the figure that sat across from him.
The figure sat forward and let the light shine upon his hair, the white mask gleamed in the light that seemed to blend with his blood red hair "How long do you think your aura will last?" The man asked as he placed his hands on the table and poked a finger into the small pool of blood on the table. Carmine stared at the man "Death before dishonor." Carmine said as he sat shirtless in the dark room.
*Back in Vacuo*
Titus attached a leg splint to Keppel's leg and wrapped it in a compression wrap "Alright, this should stabilize your leg while your aura regenerates." Titus said as he changed his attention to Grullo, Bubba felt the man's body as he checked for wounds, Titus moved over to the large man and stared at the man. "Bubba, work your magic." Titus said as he moved away from the gunner, Bubba placed his hands on Grullo's chest as they began to glow pink. Grullo's body began to glow pink and brown as their auras were both activated. Grullo sat up and took a deep breath in as he looked around "There he is! Just needed a little help." Bubba said as he stood up and tended to the others. Grullo leaned back against the tank tracks and looked out at the wreckage that was strewn all over the desert. "What happened? All I remember was a huge explosion and a big flash of light." Grullo said as he looked a scorched ground where the missile hit.
Titus sighed "You remember when I told you about those payloads we found? Well, that sub had them onboard and fired one as it took off into the sea. The detonation was devastating and shredded some of our tanks." Titus said as he pointed at tank hulls jutting out of the sand dunes, Grullo gritted his teeth in anger "How did they do this? With the Grimm I mean." Grullo asked as he stared out at the horizon, Bubba looked at the gunner as he patched up Keppel's leg "We suspect they're working with the White Fang and whoever they work with, seeing as how the Grimm haven't shredded them to pieces." Bubba explained as he finished wrapping the compression wrap. Onyx cleared his throat to get their attention "I need everyone to stay calm, I have something to tell you." Onyx said as a man helped him to his feet, Titus wrapped his arm under his shoulder to keep him steady.
The Wolves sat up slightly as Onyx stood in front of them, he looked down at the sand and developed his thoughts into words "They took Carmine, all I saw was a cloud of black smoke swallow him up and dissipate into nothingness." Onyx said as he fought back tears, Crimson dropped his head in disbelief while Nightshade chuckled lightly "Did you say a black smoke swallowed him up?" A man who sat on the T-90 asked, Onyx nodded slightly. The clicked his tongue as he thought for a moment "That means that Phantom got him." The man said as he looked down at Onyx, Titus sat Onyx back down on the ground "Gentlemen, this is Aero. He is one of my Lieutenants and knows the most about the Grimm Reapers." Titus said as Aero leaped down onto the ground.
"Right, so you all met Opal, that sick and twisted thunder-cunt also goes by Loki. She is second-in-command of the Grimm Reapers, below her is nine Princes who are coincidentally named after Devils and Demons: Abaddon, Alastor, Astaroth, Belial, Cerberus, Leviathan, Lilith, Paimon, and Sabnock. Each of them command one Duke and four Knights, Phantom is the Duke of Alastor and is the one who took Carmine. Phantom's semblance is smoke transportation, he uses the black smoke as a sort of portal, when it swallows someone or something, that thing is then transported to a destination that Phantom has been to before." Aero explained as he paced back and forth while holding out his fingers to symbolize the nine Princes.
"So how do we find Phantom?" Crimson asked as he typed the names of the Princes and Loki, Aero stopped in his tracks and looked down at Crimson "Well, that's the upside to this whole thing; Phantom's semblance has a 'vapor trail' so to speak. When he transports something to a destination, said destination leaves an environmental stamp on the ground at point A." Aero explained as his radio buzzed "Aero, we found something!" A voice through the radio reported, Bubba walked up to the group with a large scroll tablet and swiped up slowly "Alright boys, after connecting your auras to my scroll, I was able to gauge your aura recovery." Bubba said as he watched all the aura levels go from red to orange and one by one the Wolves pushed themselves to their feet. "I'd keep those splints on though. You may be able to walk but that doesn't mean you can charge back into combat." Bubba said sternly as the Wolves limped across the blackened sand of the desert, three men stood around a rock and a few red leaves "Here it is, do those red leaves look familiar?" Aero asked Onyx who stared at them but he only muttered two words 'Forever Fall' before he clenched his fist in anger.
*Meanwhile*
A man back handed Carmine across the face and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind from his lungs. Carmine was hunched over and tried to catch his breath "Where are they, Carmine!?" The man across from Carmine asked him, blood dripped from the Carmine's mouth as he caught his breath "Fuck. You." Carmine said before spitting blood onto the ground, the man next to him grabbed the back of his head and slammed his head onto the metal table. The intercom cut on "Alastor, that's enough!" Opal barked through the intercom, Alastor glared at a mirror that was above the door "How about you stay out of this Loki and let me have my fun." Alastor said as he pulled out a straight razor and placed it next to Carmine's neck, the blade slowly cut into Carmine's flesh but stopped when the door was flung open and banged against the concrete wall.
A large man dressed in all black with only two glowing red eyes walked up to Alastor and grabbed him by the throat, the razor fell from his hand and clanged against the concrete floor. The man slammed Alastor against the wall and choked him slowly, Alastor struggled to breath as the man applied more pressure "Don't step out of line again." The man said as he let go of Alastor who fell to his knees and coughed as air refilled his lungs "I'm sorry Diablo, It won't happen again." Alastor apologized as he knelt down, Diablo looked at the man that sat across from Carmine "I think you should leave, Taurus." Diablo growled as he walked out of the room, the man stood up and followed Diablo out of the room as two men entered and unshackled Carmine from the now bloody chair.
The men dragged him down the hall and into another hallway where they tossed him into a room with steel bars, a cot, and a metal toilet. The door slammed as the tumblers locked into place and locked Carmine into the cell. Carmine laid on the cold, hard concrete floor and slowly pushed himself off the ground, Carmine looked around the room and felt his neck where Alastor cut into with the straight razor but the wound was gone. Carmine clenched his fist and tried to use his semblance but nothing happened, Carmine sighed as he sat on ground and leaned against the wall "Get comfortable kid, you'll be here for a while." A man said who was in the cell next to Carmine's, his face was sunken and malnourished, he had a long, shaggy beard and was wearing tattered rags that were once clothes.
"How long have you been in here for?" Carmine asked as he wiped blood from his lip, the old man chuckled "What day is it?" He asked as he moved closer to the bars that separated the two cells. "These people are brutal." Carmine said as he rested his head against the cold stone wall, the man sighed "Yeah, I actually put a few of them away once." The man said as he lowered his head and looked down at the floor, Carmine's head bolted to attention "Wait, what was that you just said?" Carmine asked as he sat up, the man looked over at him solemnly "Hmm? Oh, yeah I used to be a Police Officer but they kidnapped me and imprisoned me here. They call him Sabnock but his real name is Gundy Lilo, he murdered seven people in Mistral and was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences but when the prison transport arrived, he was nowhere to be found." The man said, Carmine felt his pockets until he found a folded piece of paper and unfolded it onto the floor.
He dabbed his finger into the wet blood on his lip and used it to write 'Sabnock – Gundy Lilo' on the paper along with 'Loki – Opal'. "What's your name, old man?" Carmine asked as he folded the paper again, the old man chuckled lightly before coughing heavily "Nobodies asked me that in a long time, I'm Thomas Lazu of the Mistral 8th Precinct or Residential Area." The man said as he extended his hand through the bars and shook Carmine's hand lightly. As he retracted his hand, the hall door slammed open "Lunch time, degenerates." A loud male voice called down the hall as it approached the cells, Thomas slid away from the wall and looked pathetic again as a lanky man walked past the cells and tossed plates of what looked to barely pass for food onto the ground. Thomas scurried over and started to quickly ingest the mush as the lanky man moved to Carmine's cell, the man slid a tray in under the cell door "Alastor made yours special." The man said as he let out a malicious laugh and walked back down the hall.
As soon as the door closed, Thomas sat up and scrapped the 'food' onto the plate and sat back by the metal bars "They want to break us and make us subservient but it won't work. Son, just know that you relit the burning fire inside the soul of this old man." Thomas said as he slowly ate his mush, Carmine looked down at his plate and saw it filled with an assortment of food: bacon, lettuce, cocktail sausages, and gelatin. Carmine picked up a piece of bacon and was about to take a bite when he sniffed deeply "Do you smell burnt hair?" Carmine asked Thomas who shook his head, Carmine grabbed the plate and moved into the light from the center dome light. He held the bacon to the light and looked it closely but was horrified at what he saw "Oh my gods, that's part of a tattoo." Carmine said as he threw the cooked piece of flesh as far away from him as possible and ran over to the toilet where he vomited the contents of his stomach into the steel bowl.
Thomas looked down at the plate and gasped in shock "That's not the only thing." Thomas said as Carmine turned around and looked at the plate on the ground, there were four fingers with burn marks on the plate along with shreds of Tobacco leaves and the gelatin. "Maybe the Gelatin is somewhat normal." Carmine said as he picked up the tray and sniffed the jiggling substance, the strong smell of iron flooded Carmine's nostrils which caused him to throw the tray out of the cell. Thomas looked at him puzzled "Not gelatin?" Thomas asked, Carmine sat down against the bars "Nope, congealed blood." Carmine said as he rested his head on one of the bars.
Carmine stared at the crevices of the bricks that were splotched with specks of mold and mildew as he thought out loud "Maybe I can use my semblance to break us out of here." Carmine said as he closed his eyes, Thomas turned his attention back to the rifleman "What's your semblance, my boy?" Thomas asked, Carmine laid back against the cold floor and glared at the roof "I can generate explosions from my fist on contact, I just unlocked it not too long ago." Carmine said as he made a fist and looked at it. "Do you know how to harness your energy so it doesn't eat away at your aura?" Thomas asked as Carmine laid on the ground, he sat up and shook his head.
Thomas chuckled lightly "Well, no better time to learn." Thomas said as he pushed himself up, Carmine followed suit and brushed the dirt off himself. "Put your hands together and place them in front of your chest like this." Thomas said as he placed his hands together in front of his heart, Carmine followed suit "Now, take a deep breath in and exhale." Thomas instructed the rifleman who took a deep breath and exhaled it out slowly. "Good, now take yourself to a place that bring you tranquility." Thomas said as Carmine closed his eyes and took himself away from the hell he was in.
He opened his eyes and found himself on laying in a hammock in between to large pine trees, snow lightly fell from the sky and collected on the ground underneath him "What's wrong, honey?" A light female voice asked curiously, the warmth of love and compassion rushed through his body as his crimson eyes met her sapphire blue eyes that was accented by her jet black hair that was draped on his chest, she laid on top of him with her left hand on his right peck. She wore a large ring on her left hand, the ring had Sapphires and Rubies and was surrounded by diamonds, she tilted her head concerned for his well-being "Yeah, I'm fine." Carmine said as he lowered his head back into the hammock, she rested her head back onto his chest and listened to his heartbeat slowly as the wind rustled the tree limbs.
Carmine looked to his right and observed a snowcapped mountain range in the distance, he turned his head left and saw a large two story house with his armored truck parked in the driveway. Sapphire exhaled a sigh of contentment as she embraced the man she loved. A voice seemed to ring out in his head "Don't you two look so content." A female voice said from within his head, Carmine looked around and noticed that Sapphire was gone.
Carmine shot out of the hammock and frantically looked around the yard for her "Sapphire!" Carmine yelled as he ran around searching, he kicked open the door and ran inside the house. He ran upstairs and pushed open the door at the end of the hall where he found Sapphire standing.
A Beowolf appeared from the darkness and wrapped its razor sharp claws around her throat, the Beowolf snarled as it sniffed her hair "I told you I would pay her a visit." The Beowolf said with Alastor's voice before it snapped her neck with one quick movement, Carmine yelled in intense anger as he was returned to the prison he was in.
Thomas stared at him as he panted and wiped sweat from his forehead "You saw it, didn't you?" Thomas asked the rifleman who leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. "Yeah, I was in peace in the mountains with my girlfriend, or I guess in that instance, my wife. I heard Opal's voice and suddenly she was gone, I ran into the house and found Alastor with her, he snapped her neck." Carmine explained as he cradled his head in his hands, Thomas sighed "Sorry to do that to you kid but now you know what truly fills you with rage. Now, use that energy and channel your semblance into it." Thomas said as Carmine stood up and positioned himself in the middle of the cell.
He raised his hands into a combat pose with his right foot behind him and his body turned to the right, he exhaled as the same visuals flooded his head again and he watched her die again. He clenched his fists tighter as she died over and over again, he was helpless to do anything about but after the fifth time he ran forward and threw a right hook that caught Alastor on the left side of his face. When his fist connected with Alastor's face, the supernova detonated and shaved Alastor's head clean off. Carmine opened his eyes and looked at his fist as he felt the energy flowing through it, he unclenched his fist and felt the energy reenter his body as his anger died down. "Good, but don't rely on anger and rage for it, this is so you stand a chance to escape." Thomas said as Carmine approached the metal bars "You mean when we escape." Carmine said, correcting the old man but he shook his head "Sorry son, looks like you're the only one getting out of this. This old man's days of action are way behind him." Thomas said as he sat down on his cot.
Carmine looked at his hands and at the massive violation of moral ethics that littered the floor "Oh there is one more thing I want to teach you about using your semblance, it's an old method that not many people know these days, it lets you recharge your aura." Thomas said as he crossed his legs, Carmine sat on the ground and crossed his legs as well in front of the man. "Do you know what chakras are?" Thomas asked the rifleman, Carmine nodded lightly "Chakras are the seven regions within your body that when aligned, allows for energy to flow freely into you and thus, can refill your aura. The seven chakras are: The Root Chakra, The Sacral Chakra, The Solar Plexus Chakra, The Heart Chakra, The Throat Chakra, The Third Eye Chakra, and The Crown Chakra." Thomas explained while holding up seven fingers.
"Can I keep all seven aligned even if I get angry or am in combat?" Carmine asked as he leaned forward slightly, Thomas shook his head "No, you have to be calm and cool headed. But the good thing about it is that the energy can be stored in a sort of 'break in case of emergency' type of vault in your soul." Thomas explained by clasping his hands together to symbolize a vault.
"The official name of the 1st chakra, muladhara, comes from the words Mula, which means root and Dhara, which means support. When you think of your Root Chakra, think of your day to day survival here in Remnant. This energy center's role is to give you everything you need to survive. For us in this modern age, that typically translates to financial and emotional security. When your first chakra is balanced, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and peace when you think about things like money, safety and shelter. You will feel connected to your human experience." Thomas explained, extending one finger.
"The 2nd chakra is the sacral chakra or svadhishana which translates to "the place of the self." This chakra is all about your identity as a human and what you do with it. Your sacral chakra is the home of the creative life force energy that helps you enjoy your life here on Remnant. It's the energy that motivates you to enjoy the fruits of your labor including indulging in pleasurable activities like sex. When your 2nd chakra is balanced, you will relish in the pleasurable things life has to offer, without overdoing them. Sex, good food and creative activities will be inspiring and enjoyable, and you will get a sense of wellness and abundance from them." Thomas continued as he extended another finger.
"The 3rd chakra is the Solar Plexus or Manipura which translates to "lustrous gem." This chakra is where your self-confidence, identity and personal power are born. When your 3rd chakra is balanced, you will feel a sense of wisdom, decisiveness and personal power. Many call this chakra the warrior chakra, as the feeling you get from it is comparable to a wise warrior going into battle." Thomas elaborated as he pointed to his gut and extended a third finger.
"The 4th chakra is the Heart or Anahata chakra, which translates to "unhurt." This chakra is where your love, compassion and kindness are empowered. When your 4th chakra is balanced, you are able to equally feel love for yourself and others. Even when tough things happen, you can still see the compassion and kindness in others." Thomas said as he pointed to his chest and extended yet another finger.
"The 5th chakra is the Throat chakra or Vishuddha which translates to "very pure." When your throat chakra is balanced, you will be able to clearly speak with love, kindness and truth. You will know exactly which words are appropriate for each situation. Speaking with a balanced throat chakra will enlighten and inspire those around you. Balancing your 5th chakra is as easy as thinking before you speak." Thomas stated while he ran a finger down his throat and extended the fifth finger on his left hand.
"The 6th chakra is the Third Eye Chakra Ajna which translates to "beyond wisdom." This chakra opens up your mind to information beyond the material world and the 5 senses. Extra sensory perception, intuition or psychic energy, all comes from the third eye. A balanced third eye is a beautiful thing, and it's really what you are trying to achieve when you start on a path to spiritual development. When your third eye chakra is balanced, you will equally feel in tune with both the physical world and the material world. You will receive psychic information as frequently as you receive information from your 5 physical senses, but it will not overwhelm you." Thomas said as he pointed to his forehead and extended his thumb on his right hand.
"And finally, the 7th chakra is the Crown or Sahaswara, which translates to "thousand petaled." This chakra is pure consciousness energy. The Crown chakra is one of those energies that's hard to explain. Our own personal consciousness is located in the 7th chakra, but it's really more like the seed of a universal energy than something personal or individual. Achieving a balanced crown chakra is the goal of every spiritual warrior, and it's not easy to do. Once you achieve it, you're not really human anymore – you've conquered suffering and death." Thomas explained as he pointed to the top of his head and extended the seventh finger, he held up seven fingers that symbolized the seven chakras.
"That's all of it, balance all seven of them and you'll be able to take anyone on." Thomas said as he laid back on his cot, Carmine nodded as he closed his eyes and put his index finger and thumb together on both of his hands.
*Meanwhile, back in Vacuo*
"How do the Reapers keep gaining members?" Crimson asked confused as he crossed his arms, Onyx was crouched down near the ground as he stared at the red leaves. "All their members are convicts or dangerous criminals, Phantom for instance is wanted on multiple counts of kidnapping, murder, rape, and grand theft. Opal is wanted on crimes against humanity and Faunus, that's just the umbrella term for that thundercunt." Aero said as he described two members of the Grimm Reapers and their heinous crimes.
Onyx stood up and cracked his knuckles "We're going after them and not one of them is leaving alive." Onyx said as he started to walk back toward the wrecked K2, he opened the hatch and pulled out his bag and AK-103. Nightshade and Grullo followed suit as they removed their gear from the tank hull, Crimson and Keppel returned with their weapons from the other K2; Crimson gripped Carmine's SCAR-H and his bag as they regrouped on a sand dune.
Titus, Grizz, Aero, and Bubba joined them on the dune "We're going too, you're gonna need all the help you can get and also, those fuckers killed Danny." Titus said as he pulled back the bolt on his M4A1, Aero placed a compound bow over his body and mounted the quiver on his back. Bubba pulled back the bolt on an M249B while Grizz pulled the chord on a chainsaw and revved the engine, everyone stared at him as the engine idled "What?" Grizz asked confused as he cut the engine off.
Titus shook his head as he led the group away from the blast site and toward the base where two Humvees were parked, Wolf Pack loaded up in one and 184th took the other as they both raced off toward the initial beach landing. As they neared the beach, sand could be seen being kicked up by one of the LCACs as it was loading up a Paladin.
The Humvees came to a stop near the destroyed tent, the two teams exited them and sprinted onto the LCAC "I radioed them as we were driving, figured we could use some firepower considering what we're going up against." Titus said as the ramp closed and the LCAC pulled away from the beach. "So, do we know any of the other Reapers?" Crimson asked as the LCAC raced across the ocean, Aero shook his head "No but we better hope that Carmine doesn't meet them first." Aero said as he pulled on a pair of goggles to protect his eyes from the sea salt of the ocean.
*Back in Prison*
Carmine sat with his legs crossed on the cot and silently meditated until he was interrupted by the slam of a metal door "Oh Sable! Come out and play!" A male voice called out from down the hall, Thomas snapped his fingers at Carmine "Psst! It's Alastor and he sounds pissed." Thomas warned as he sat back against the wall, Alastor walked up to the cell door and banged on it "Hey you piece of shit! Did you like your lunch? I made it special." Alastor said as he opened the door, Carmine stood up and walked out his cell to where Alastor was standing "Let me guess, more torture?" Carmine asked sarcastically, Alastor pushed him forward "Nope, we got something better in store for you." Alastor said as he led Carmine down the hall and into another room where Opal, a hooded black figure, and three other people were standing. "Welcome back to the party." Opal said as the man in black cracked his knuckles, the seven stood in a group as black smoke surrounded them.
In an instant, they were transported to the fractured remains of what was once a large city "Wait, I know this place. This is Mountain Glenn, so 'something better in store' is a tour? Thanks guys, you shouldn't have." Carmine said sarcastically, Alastor kneed him in the ribs and knocked him to the ground. Opal smacked Alastor in the back of the head "Don't break his ribs, they might puncture his lungs." Opal said as the man in black picked Carmine back up and dusted him off, Alastor pushed Carmine forward as Opal led them to the destroyed remains of a large building that was falling apart. As they got closer to a large door, a Beowolf walked out from behind a pillar and stood in front of the door as if it were a sentry; Carmine couldn't help but laugh "It thinks its people." Carmine said as he chuckled to himself, Alastor smacked him in the back of the head as they got closer.
Opal walked up to the Beowolf and rubbed it on the snout "Oh Blue, you're getting so big." Opal said as the Beowolf nuzzled her neck, Carmine starred in disbelief at what he was seeing. Opal rubbed its belly and scratched behind its head "Now, can you open the door?" Opal asked in what seemed like baby talk, the Beowolf trotted over to the door and grabbed the large three spoke handle, it twisted left and unlocked the door with ease "Good boy, Blue!" Opal said as she rubbed Blue's belly, Blue laid on the ground as she rubbed his belly "Alright Blue, I want you to close the door behind us, ok." Opal said as Alastor pushed Carmine into the room and down three flights of stairs, Opal rounded the corner and descended the stairs as the large vault door closed behind them.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the sound of screams could be heard echoing throughout the halls of the dimly lit chamber. Alastor pushed Carmine down the hall labeled '3' on the wall, rooms with viewing glasses lined the hall and all of them were filled with bloody chairs or people strapped into the chairs begging for mercy. They arrived at the end of the hall in front of a single door, a man in a leather apron opened the door "Ah, what do we have here? Is this the infamous Carmine Sable I've heard so much about?" The man asked as he lifted up a bloody mask and grabbed Carmine's jaw, turning his face left and right "What a fine specimen." The man said as he guided them inside, Alastor pushed Carmine into a chair and strapped his wrists down to the arms of the chair. The walked to the front of the room and faced Carmine "Well, my name is Belial and let's have some fun." The man said as he wheeled a cart over from beside a cabinet.
A door opened on the side of the wall and a man was guided out by Alastor, Belial grabbed him by the arm and chained him to the wall. Fear was plastered all over his face as he tried to get out of the restraints, Opal leaned against a wall and tossed an apple in her hand "Where is the base, Carmine?" She asked before taking a bite of the apple, Carmine remained silent and looked down at the ground. Opal sighed and nodded to Belial, he nodded and lowered his mask as he picked up a scalpel and cut across the man's abdomen. The man screamed in pain as blood seeped from the fresh wound on his stomach, tears slowly flowed down his cheeks as the blood dripped onto the ground. "Let him go!" Carmine yelled as he tried to break from the restraints, Alastor laughed "Not until you tell us what we want." Alastor said as Belial made another cut on the man's arm.
Blood flowed down his arm and onto the floor, blending with the other pools of blood on the floor already. Carmine gritted his teeth in anger as the man weeped in pain, Alastor got in Carmine's face "Tells us where and all of this stops." Alastor said, Carmine drew his head back and slammed it into Alastor's face. He stumbled back and gripped his face "Fuck! My nose!" Alastor said as blood flowed from his nostrils as he held his hand over his mouth and nose. Belial picked up an axe from against the wall and swung it into the man's neck, decapitating him instantly. His head fell to the ground with a thud and rolled around on the ground, Carmine turned his head away from the sight but the man in black held his head straight and his eyes open. A trap door opened on the floor and the body fell into the dark pit below, Belial kicked the head in before the door closed again; the door on the wall opened again as a hooded figure led a terrified woman out of the room and handed her over to Belial who chained her to the wall.
Belial pulled out a knife and caressed the woman's neck with it as he inhaled deeply "Mmm, you smell nice, it's a shame about what's gonna happen to your pretty face." Belial said as he grabbed her breast, the woman was petrified as tears flowed from her eyes, Opal pushed herself off the wall "Hey Belial, save me her eyes." Opal said as she tossed the apple core onto the floor, Belial looked at the core and scoffed "Loki, please don't dirty up my workspace." Belial said as he placed the apple core into the trashcan. Alastor opened a cabinet and pulled out a steel bat, twirling it in his hand casually as he walked back over to where Carmine was.
In one swift movement, he struck Carmine in the ribs with bat and knocked the air from his lungs; Carmine hunched over and gasped for air as Alastor lifted his head with the tip of the bat "Don't pass out yet bitch boy, the show is just about to begin." Alastor said as Belial rolled a metal cart over and removed the sheet that covered it. The metal cart held a small generator and a set of jumper cables attached to it, he attached the jumper cables to the chains that held the woman to the wall and turned a knob on the generator. The woman's body began to convulse as electricity flowed throughout her, she thrashed violently while Belial grinned as he turned the voltage up.
Carmine closed his eyes as he tried to focus his energy and block out the woman's screaming, he felt the energy swell in his fists as it charged up. He pushed his arms forward and slammed them down on the arms of the chair, two explosions detonated when his fists connected and blew the shackles on his wrists off. The steel clattered to the grown as he pushed himself out of the chair, he reached down and blew the ankle shackles off as Alastor slammed the steel bat into his back.
Carmine stumbled across the room and caught himself on the wall, Alastor charged at him as Carmine charged a Supernova in his right fist and connected it into Alastor's chest, which sent the Reaper flying into the wall. Carmine picked the bat up and cracked Belial across the face with the bat, the man in black charged at him but he connected the bat to the man's left leg, which fractured his Tibia and sent the man to the ground. Carmine turned the generator off and removed the jumper cables as the woman shook from the residual electricity, Carmine sighed as he looked around the room for Opal but she was already gone "Fuck!" Carmine yelled as he made his way over to Alastor who was picking himself up off the ground, Carmine shoved him into the wall and pushed the bat into his throat "Where did she go?!" Carmine asked angrily but Alastor just laughed maniacally.
*Meanwhile on the LCAC*
"Alright, we're nearing Vale. When we make land fall, make your way toward Forever Fall. We'll…" Titus was saying as his scroll started to go off "Go for Titus! Oh, well you don't say. Alright, thanks for the head's up!" Titus yelled as he closed his scroll, he looked back Onyx and Nightshade "Well change of plans boys, a scouting party from Beacon saw people moving through the ruins of Mountain Glenn. So I guess that's where we're going." Titus said as the LCAC road up onto the land, the main door opened and the Wolf Pack ran out onto the beach, Onyx looked back at Titus "Leave the Paladin, we'll take an airship there! It'll be way faster!" Onyx yelled, Titus sighed and grabbed his M4 as the Militants rushed off the LCAC. The group of Mercenaires ran up the stairs and through the streets of Vale, Crimson pushed off the brick road and sprinted toward the air docks where a Bullhead was docked.
Crimson stumbled as he grabbed the handle and pulled himself onto the VTOL "WE NEED TO GO TO MOUNTAIN GLENN!" Crimson yelled before he collapsed to the ground, out of breath. Nightshade and Onyx caught up and boarded the Bullhead "What he said." Onyx said as he picked Crimson up off the ground, the pilot nodded and fired the engines up which shot out blue jets of fire as the rest of the team boarded the VTOL, the air ship took off into the sky and banked right as it mades it way to the derelict city. Within minutes, the VTOL circled around the abandoned metropolitan city and touched down in a clearing that was littered with destroyed swingsets and basketball hoops, the back opened and the joint task force stormed out of the aircraft but Onyx looked back to the pilot "Circle around and wait for our exfil!" Onyx yelled to which the pilot shot a thumbs up back at him.
Shots rang out as they dispatched Boarbatusks and Creeps that charged at them, Grizz plunged his Chainsaw into the chest of a Creep and cut it half before mutilating a Boarbatusk by jabbing it in the face, bullet casings flew from Bubba's M249B as he mowed down three Ursas and two Beringels that collapsed to the ground and smoked into nothing. Keppel scanned the horizon as he did a full 360, his sight rested on a single building that had an Alpha Beowolf standing in the middle of the building "There! That building!" Keppel said as he pointed out the destroyed building, the team charged through the streets and into the husk of a building, the Beowolf roared as it charged at the team; Grizz rushed forward and caught the Beowolf in the throat with the chainsaw, he flipped a switch and dumped bullets into the Grimm's chest as they broke through the body and hit the roof. The Grimm dropped to the ground and turned to dust as the team approached the vault door it was protecting "Grullo! You're up!" Onyx yelled, the heavy gunner walked up to the door and jiggled the three prong handle "Locked tight, guess we're doing this the old fashion way." Grullo said as he pulled his bag off and pulled out a box labeled 'Thermite'.
He pulled two sets of panels and tossed the box to the side, he stuck the charges to the door and unfolded them both and crossed the wires, before pulling both ignition pins "Get back!" Grullo yelled as he scrambled behind a pillar, the others hid behind fallen pieces of debris and concrete; he clicked the detonator which caused the two charges to cut into the door, the bright orange of the burning thermite lit up the surrounding area then BOOM! The charges exploded and blew the thick steel inward and made a giant hole in the wall, Onyx stood up and stormed through the smoke into the open chasm, he quickly descended the stairs and came to the muliple hallways that were in front of him.
Screams of tortured people echoed throughout all the hallways, he stood in shock as all of it hit him at one time, the others joined him on the main floor and stood shocked. Titus nudged Bubba "Go call Vale Police, tell them we need multiple units here now." Titus said before Bubba sprinted back up the stairs to call for backup.
*Meanwhile*
As Carmine kneed Alastor in the gut and slammed his head into the wall, an explosion echoed throughout the bunker which stopped Carmine in his tracks "Looks like your friends are here!" Carmine said as he headbutted Alastor and knocked him out, he picked the bat up and grabbed the man in black who was crawling away. He pushed down on the compound fracture that was jutting out of the man's leg which caused him to scream in agony "Where is your base?!" Carmine demanded as he grabbed the man's hand and broke his pinky finger, the man pleaded with the rifleman "Please man, I'll tell you anything just please stop!" The man begged, Carmine scoffed "Oh now you beg for mercy but laughed when that piece of shit tortured that man to death?!" Carmine yelled as he pushed the metal bat into the man's throat but perked up when he heard talking.
*Joint Task Force*
Muffled screams echoed from the end of a hall labeled '3' and Onyx jogged down the hall toward the door at the end, the others followed as they passed rooms with people strapped to chairs and empty bloody chairs, as they got closer to the door they could here muffled words "Oh now you beg for mercy?!" A muffled voice yelled, Onyx stepped back and kicked the door down before charging in to the horror of the torture room. Carmine charged at them with a bat but Onyx shoved his shoulder into Carmine's gut, knocking the man to the ground "Friendly! Friendly!" Crimson yelled as he came in with his rifle raised, Carmine pushed himself off the ground and wrapped his arms around Onyx "You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys!" Carmine said as he started to break down, Crimson and Keppel embraced him in a bear hug as he sobbed.
Titus and Aero strolled through the doorway and looked at the carnage but Aero stopped "That's Alastor, over there is Belial, and the one with the broken Tibia is Phantom." Aero said as he pointed to each of the Reapers, Nightshade kneeled down next to Alastor and patted his pockets, he pulled out a set of dog tags, women's lingerie, and a red crystal skull. "Guys! Look at this!" Nightshade said as he handed the assorted items to Onyx, Carmine grabbed the dog tags and put them around his neck, he shoved the panties into his pocket and acted like nothing happened. "So what were you doing in here?" Grullo asked as he picked Alastor up off the ground and hung him on a meat hook by his harness, the man slowly spun in a circle as he dangled in the air.
"Well, I was trying to figure out where there base is located. That's what they tried to get from me." Carmine said before he held his hand up "Hold that thought." He said as he made his way over to a door on the wall and swung it open, he flipped a light on and came to realize the horror that laid in front of him. People in cages lined the wall, children in smaller ones and women chained to the walls with harnesses around their necks, the people looked petrified as they stared at Carmine who stood in the doorway. Titus walked over to the woman chained to the wall in the torture room and placed two fingers on her neck as he felt for a pulse "She's alive, but just barely." Titus said as the woman sprung back to life "Oh gods, please don't hurt me!" She yelled as she begged for her life, Titus grabbed her hand and held it "Hey! Hey! You're gonna be alright, the bad people are not gonna hurt you again." Titus said as he unshackled her wrists and legs.
Onyx, Nightshade, and Crimson joined Carmine in the holding room and were met with the same horror that Carmine was, Carmine stood motionless with his head lowered as he looked at the grey steel floor "They're gonna burn. All of them. They will all die a brutal death, these transgressions will not go unanswered. Opal's death with be uploaded to the net for all to see as evil is purged from Remnant." Carmine said as he cracked his knuckles, Onyx walked up behind his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder "We'll make them pay, for this, for Vacuo, and for all of the other shit like Komsu." Onyx said, Carmine turned around and looked at his brother confused "Komsu? But that was the White Fang." Carmine said confused, Onyx shook his head as he showed Carmine the red skull "Nightshade found this on Alastor." Onyx said as he placed it back in his pocket.
"Hey, you want to interrogate these guys before reinforcements arrive?" Grullo asked as he stared at Phantom's wrecked body that sat in the metal chair, Crimson backed out of the room and grabbed Belial who laid on the ground. Titus carried the woman away as Crimson placed Belial in the same shackles and picked up the jumper cables, he turned the DC power on and tapped the clamps together which generated an arc of electricity "Keppel. His pants. Off." Crimson said, Keppel pulled out his Ka-Bar and cut Belial's belt off, his pants dropped to his ankles as the man woke up "Wha… What the fuck?" Belial asked confused as he tried to move but found it difficult.
"Morning sunshine." Crimson said as he clamped the jumper cables to Belial's testacles and his penis, Belial struggled more intensely as he tried to break free but he just tired himself out. "Now, let's start with an easy one: What is your name?" Crimson asked as he kept his hand on the dial, the chained man stalled "Ding times up!" Crimson said as he twisted the dial, Belial convulsed wildly as electricity coursed through his body which caused the man to scream out in pain. "PERCY! AMAS!" Belial yelled through the convulsions, Crimson cut the current off "Now, was that so hard?" Crimson asked in a condescending manner, Belial lowered his head as he recovered from the electric shock. "So Percy, where is the base?" Crimson asked, Belial panted heavily "Forever. Fall. Cave. Entrance." Belial said, Keppel wrote down what he was saying.
Aero walked over to Crimson and showed him his Scroll "I ran his name through the database and this is his rap sheet: Three counts of murder, twelve counts of rape, four counts of assaulting a police officer, seven counts of human trafficking, and twenty counts of grand theft." Aero said as he closed his scroll, Crimson shook his head "Right, so we know what we need to do." Crimson said before he pulled out his pistol and shot Belial in the head, blood splattered all over the wall as his body fell limp. Crimson replaced his pistol back into its holster and clicked the strap closed, Carmine and Onyx walked back into the room with the rest of the guys who were looking at Belial's now dead body "Good riddance, you piece of shit." Carmine said before he moved over to Phantom.
Keppel looked at the blood stained floor, he tried to find Opal's footprints but the crisscrossing of boot prints made it almost impossible "Damn, I'm trying to use my semblance to track Opal but with this floor, it's impossible. I need something that would have her scent or DNA on it." Keppel said as he looked around the room, Carmine pointed at the trashcan "Apple core, it's what she was eating." Carmine explained as Keppel moved over to the can and pulled out an apple core, he stared at the core and looked at the bite marks which had residual saliva "Ah ha! Got you now." Keppel said as he cut the bite mark out, Keppel closed his eyes tight and reopened them. His irises changed from a light brown to a glowing cyan blue, he stared at the chunk of apple and analyzed the bio components, he quickly pulled out his scroll and typed in the raw information that he was processing in his head.
"Got it, her full name is Opal Mai, she is approximately 5'7". She is a Faunus with Chameleon attributes so she can change minute details like hair, eye, and skin color. Wait, according to this double helix, the sequence for skin color transition is defective. Her semblance lets her project a mirror image of herself anywhere in a mile radius. Her shoe size is a size 8 so I can track her easily now." Keppel said as he stared at the ground and followed a single set of footprints that led to the wall.
"Dude! What is your semblance?! That was insane!" Aero exclaimed as Keppel felt the wall "I call it Bloodhound, it lets me analyze the DNA of any person and provides me raw information like blood type, species, and gender, I then enter that into my scroll that runs that info through all the databases of the different kingdoms until it gives me a result. My semblance also lets me track footprints and scents." Keppel said as he pushed a square in the wall inward which caused a segment to raise up.
"Looks like we got a secret path. I say we wait for reinforcements to show up first." Keppel said as Alastor woke up as he dangled from a meat hook, he struggled lightly as he tried to get his harness off. Bubba ran into the room with everyone else "Vale Police are on their way here now." Bubba explained as he looked at the current situation "Did I miss something?" Bubba asked as Titus leaned against the wall next to Aero, Phantom writhed in pain as Alastor dangled from a meat hook and Belial was chained to the wall, dead. Titus pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to Phantom who was in the chair "You comply with us and Bubba here will heal those wounds." Titus said, Phantom shook his head "Please! I'll tell you whatever you want to know." Phantom pleaded with the man who stood before him.
Bubba rubbed his hands together and placed them above Phantom's leg, the bone moved back inside the leg and the skin reconnected with itself as the bone healed back solid. Bone clicked in his hand as his pinky was reset and the fracture was healed, Phantom opened and closed his hand as he tested the newly repaired joint. "Alright, now talk. What's is the Grimm Reaper's master plan?" Titus asked as he folded his arms, Phantom sat up and put his hands together "I would like to tell you, honestly. Because I am terrified about what he would do to me." Phantom said as he gestured toward Carmine who cracked his knuckles.
"Alright! Belial already told you where the base is, at least one of them is. If you go there and find Diablo's office, look for a black filing cabinet, and in the third drawer should be a layout of the base, a map with the other locations, and maybe the plans. If you can't find the plans, then you can interrogate Astaroth; he is Diablo's right hand man." Phantom explained as he told them everything, Carmine stepped forward and looked at Phantom.
"One more thing: We found a woman who had the same red crystal skull that Alastor had, what is it and what does it mean?" Carmine asked as he stared at Phantom "Oh, you ran into Lilith. Opal sent her there to round up people for trafficking but she never reported back. As for what they mean, they're makers for the nine Princes, they have little crowns etched into the front of the skull." Phantom explained, Onyx pulled out the skull and examined it closer "Well shit, I never noticed that." Onyx said amused by the discovery.
"I take it that you guys are the reason she never returned?" Phantom asked, Crimson glared at the man "She was hunting down and killing children, she slaughtered the whole town and strung them up from trees." Crimson said, Phantom lowered his head "Diablo was going to strip her from the team since he has a strict 'no child victims' policy, she was insane and killed anyone she came in contact with." Phantom said, Bubba looked down the hall to the main room as officers stormed the room with weapons drawn.
Onyx nudged Keppel "Get a DNA analyze on Alastor before the cops get here." Onyx said, Keppel moved over to where Alastor was dangling and wiped away some blood from his mouth, Alastor stared at him as Keppel started his analyses, Keppel's eyes raced back and forth as the information flooded his frontal lobe. He focused on a double helix and broke the genome apart in his mind, he pulled out his scroll and typed the raw data into the search engine "Han Lec. Age: 27. Blood type: A-. Oh, you have multiple warrants in Atlas. I bet they'll have a field day with you." Keppel said as he handed the information over to Onyx.
As they all stood around the room, four officers walked into the room and were shocked at what they saw "This place is like a house of horrors." One of the officers said as Onyx walked up to them and extended his hand "Onyx Sable, leader of the Wolf Pack. There are prisoners in the back room there and we're pretty sure they're some of the people on the missing posters around town." Onyx said as he pointed to the open door in the back. "Right, we'll contact huntsmen and Atlas to help get these people out. Now, what is the story here?" The lead officer asked, Carmine stepped forward and began to explain everything "These are two princes of the Grimm Reapers, Alastor and Belial. In the chair is Phantom, his semblance lets him teleport to locations that he is familiar with so that is probably how some of these kidnappings happened. We don't know his real name so we haven't done a background check on him." Carmine explained as the officer wrote the information down.
"We recommend extraditing Alastor to Atlas to stand trial and giving Phantom to us. We don't know the extent of his crimes since all we know is his alias." Crimson said, Phantom yelled a name out loud when he heard 'giving Phantom to us.' "Perry Ube! My name is Perry Ube! I'm 24 and from Mistral." Phantom said as Keppel typed the name into his scroll "Huh, all they have him for is petty theft and loitering. Why did you join the Grimm Reapers?" Keppel asked confused, Perry looked at the ground "My older brother was a subordinate of Leviathan's but he was killed by Lilith when she had a psychotic break down and shot him repeatedly. Ever since then, I have been trying to find an out and that's why I loosened the bolts on this chair." Perry explained as his unscrewed the washer the rest of the way from the bolt.
"Did you kill anyone innocent?" Nightshade asked as he stared at Perry, he shook his head "No, I just collected who they told me to collect." Perry said, Onyx scratched his head as he thought to himself "So you were a victim of circumstance, so if you knew what Carmine was capable of, why didn't you spring him sooner?" Onyx asked the young man in the chair, he looked at Alastor and lowered his head "After everything Alastor did to him, I doubt he would have believed me if I told him." Perry said, Carmine shook his head "Yeah, I was so angry I might have blown you away on the spot." Carmine said as he patted the man on the shoulder.
Grullo escorted a few of the officers to the back room and revealed to them the horror of humans and Faunus inside of cages like animals, one of the officers grabbed his radio and flicked it on "We're going to need multiple transports and emergency services here." The officer said as he walked inside the room and looked at all the terrified people.
"Please, don't worry. You're safe now, we're going to get you all to safety." The officer said as another officer entered the room with bolt cutters and started to cut the locks off, the metal locks hit the ground with a heavy clang. The lead officer approached Carmine and Onyx who were leaning against the wall "Alright, you guys can head out. We got it covered from here, backup just arrived outside." The officer said as he shook Onyx's hand, Carmine clapped his hands and got everyone's attention "Wolf Pack and 184th, we're moving out." Carmine said as Crimson approached him and handed him his SCAR.
Keppel reexamined the footprints on the ground and tracked them down the new passage way, Onyx and Crimson followed behind him with their tactical lights on and pointed down range. Grullo escorted a now handcuffed Phantom down the corridor with the barrel of his LMG pointed at Phantom's back "So why would she use this path?" Nightshade asked as he kept his FAL pointed down the path as it started to open up more. "Because this leads to a cave and I assume there was a vehicle parked in said cave." Phantom said as they walked into the cave, light shone from the mouth of the cave and illuminated a black silhouette in the light.
Crimson pointed his rifle at a silhouette and illuminated a BTR-60 "Whoa! I haven't seen one of these in years!" Carmine said as he sprinted forward and climbed up on the front of the APC, he reached down and opened the hatch before he slipped inside of the APC. He popped out of the side escape door and coughed "Oh gods! It's fucking dusty." Carmine said as he coughed "Let me use your flashlight." Carmine said to Keppel, he reached into his pouch on his side and pulled out a small, black flashlight and tossed it to Carmine.
Carmine clicked the light on and shone it inside the dark APC "Oh here's the problem! I knocked the key out." Carmine said as he put the key back in and turned the ignition, the APC roared to life and shot black smoke out the exhaust pipe. He clicked the lights on and illuminated the rest of the cave.
"Alright, everyone get in." Titus said as he climbed up and opened the rear hatch. One after another, the joint task force boarded the APC and closed the hatch behind them. Crimson got into the passenger seat next to Carmine and activated the weapons system mounted on the roof, Carmine grabbed the shifter and pushed it forward before he pressed the pedal down. The BTR slowly pulled out of the Cave and into a makeshift trail in the forest outside Mountain Glenn "Hook a right! That's where Vale is!" Onyx said, Carmine turned the steering wheel and drove the BTR through the forest slowly.
The heavy wheels crushed the brush beneath the heavy metal hull, sticks and branches were crushed into splinters as the BTR drove through the forest. The main turret spun as Crimson scanned the surroundings, as he looked through the optics, he could have sworn he saw movement "Hey, I think I saw something chasing us." Crimson said as he looked through the optics again.
Suddenly, the BTR came to a screeching halt as the tires dug into the ground. "What is it?" Onyx asked as Carmine stared dead ahead of them, only a single word escaped Carmine's lips.
"Goliath."
A/N: Thus ends chapter 5: Lone Wolf. So much information in one chapter! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for Chapter 6: Bunker Bustin' Good Time. Remember to Favorite, Follow, and leave a Review. Volume 6 is set to air on October 27th so look forward to a new chapter in Titan Rising, and as always, This is Nightmare 6-4, signing off.