Hello Everyone and welcome back to Rise of Devastation, and let me start off with an apology. The game of life has kept me busy, but now I'm back to entertain you with yet another exciting chapter of this demented crossover. First off, let's answer the reviews:
Soundblaster: Thanks for your wonderful review, and now let me tell you of the carnage to come. I largely chose the characters that join up with Soundwave based upon their ability to wreak havoc (barring one character, who hasn't really gotten any lore). Naturally Cinder and Co. won't respect any long standing traditions within Vale, so we need a cast of characters that can turn a fine city like Vale into Gangland Chicago.
I won't spoil anything regarding team RWBY and their interactions with the plot, but will admit that Ruby is gonna be hit the hardest (cause she's the main character) but in a good way. Yang indeed does not approve of Ruby around anyone she thinks is criminal (despite her underage drinking, destruction of property, and relationship with an ex-terrorist), but that's because she's supposed to be the overprotective big sister, which is something Rooster Teeth seems to have forgotten… and if anyone brings up volume 9 I will point out how it took Ruby literally killing herself for ang to realize something was truly wrong.
Havoc: Pity anyone who bullies Velvet, she is now the friend of a seven foot tall samurai, six barely sane ex-convicts with ties to rebels/terrorists, a time traveler, and a man who has scientific proof that the afterlife exists… That is a combination of friends that I don't think anyone would want to mess with in any reality, fanfiction or "canon." The best way to describe how people will view the Constructicons would be how gangsters were viewed in the 1920s: we all know they've done something bad, but we don't have any genuine evidence, so it's best to treat them with respect and caution.
Delatprime2: The best part about AU's and fanfics is the fact that you can mess around with certain parts of the main story. All will be explained later in the chapter.
Razor: Atlas uses the Pits the same way Victorian London factory bosses used children: cheap disposable labor that they don't have to actually pay. The Decpticons/Rise and The White Fang used to be relatively tight….. Keyword being used to be. Naturally, events within the story will deteriorate that relationship even further.
Rampage: Devastator treats everyone equally… the problem is in how he treats everyone *cackles.*
Guest 1: Sorry about the delay, I was just drained from finals. Those short clips were inspirational, and I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" them later on…
Guest 2: Did you ever watch the original 1986 Transformers movie? Towards the beginning of Volume 3 Vale will start to look like the end result of the Battle of Autobot City.
Chapter 11: First Day Blues
Beacon Academy
Glynda Goodwitch jolted from her dreams (or were they nightmares? She wasn't sure anymore) at the righteously ungodly hour of 4:30am.
She groaned as she reached for the pair of glasses she left on the bedside table of her room on Beacon's Campus in order to confirm that, yes, she indeed had woken up far earlier than she had intended, and that it was unfortunately the first day of the fall semester. Which meant that she had a heap of tasks and responsibilities to fulfill, starting off with Beacon Academy's latest group of "problem children."
With a sigh that seemed to become heavier with the start of each new school year, the youngest Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy began to ready herself for a rather long day. First she made her way to her on-campus domicle's bathroom for a quick shower. Once she had completed her shower, making certain to not look at herself in the large mirror of her bathroom until she was in her bath-robe, she quickly placed her hair into a simple bun, and applied just enough makeup to hide the near dark-purple circles under her eyes, and finished her routine by brushing her teeth. It was only once everything else was done that she would finally get dressed in what she termed her "school clothes" and made her way to the first stop on what was going to be a long day.
As she made her way across the maze of cobblestone roads and well-kept gardens that surrounded the hallowed halls of Beacon Academy, Glynda made sure to appreciate the few upsides of being unable to sleep for more than a few scant hours each night. She was currently in the liminal state of late evening and early morning, when the last nocturnal noises began to be drowned out by the automated sprinkler system and the proverbial "early birds" that made their nests in the trees of the Emerald Forest. This was perhaps her favorite time of day, and unfortunately she would have to temporarily ruin it by reviewing her files on team "Construction."
Struggling to keep her growing scowl under control, Glynda brought up the initiation video alongside the files she had procured from an old friend/acquaintancefrom the Valean Guard and the student application forms the six convicts turned "students" had filled out. Most of the basic information seemed to be accurate between the two sources, such as height, weight, and age, but neither seemed to agree on where the six boys had lived for the past five years, or how they had managed to leave the "Pit" of Kaon, much less immigrate from Atlas to Vale, then there was the "school" they had mentioned during their confrontation with the nascent Team CFVY. However, what truly stood out to the professor of combat was the name of the institution the teens had claimed to "dropped out" (escaped, a dark part of her mind whispered) from.
The " Jhiaxus's Reformatory Academy for Wayward Intellectuals" did indeed exist, and was founded roughly six decades ago by one Dr. Josef Jhiaxus. Dr. Jhiaxus had gotten the approval to build the institution from the Atlesian Council, who were desperate to corral the growing resentment amongst the people of the Five Pits, who had once again been denied representation in Atlesian politics in return for fighting in the Great War, despite the promises of various politicians and even Nicholas Schnee, with their only defense being that the average citizen of the Pits were too "immersed in violence" to be an effective civil servant. Sensing an opportunity, Dr. Jhiaxus proposed the creation of a curriculum that would "acclimate" the "best and brightest" of the Five Pits' children to Atlesian culture.
In other words, it was a re-education camp.
And that was just the most basic history of the institution, Glynda had not yet begun to dive into the news articles describing the poor conditions of the school, or the rumors of dreadful experiments being performed upon the "student" body in the guise of medical examinations…. If even half of what she had discovered was true it was a miracle that the place hadn't attracted every Grimm on Mantle within 100 miles.
Though a small part of her thought that was the point.
Shaking her head clear of doubts and the rumors that created them, Glynda focused on what she knew for a fact: The six young men she was about to face were criminals with a record as long as one of Port's more extravagant stories. There was no doubt in her mind that they had an ulterior motive for accepting Ozpin's ludicrous offer, just as she doubted that the six boys had seen the "error of their ways." They were hiding something, from her and Ozpin both, and Glynda was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery that surrounded these six criminals…. Starting with finding out their actual birth names.
It was an admittedly petty thing to hold against someone, but at the same time it wasn't. In older, less advanced times knowing a person's name was believed to give someone power over that person, and if anything that belief held even more sway in the modern era, where a name gave a person access to their social media, medical records, educational background, banking information… the list goes on.
Headmaster Ozpin may be willing to take in anyone he believed to be useful in near-eternal battle without any consideration for their pasts, but Glynda was the one who had to pick up the pieces when something inevitably went wrong. That was the thought that was rolling through her head as she arrived at the dorm of Team Construction, the one thought that she attacked from every angle after she knocked on the door, the one that threatened to consume her as the brute who insisted on calling himself "Long Haul" opened the door, scratching the pair of ears on top of his he-….. Waitaminute
No, her non-caffeinated brain was not deceiving her, those were indeed a pair of whitish-brown ears upon the head of the largest member of the largest and potentially most dangerous team in Beacon's history.
"Deputy-Headmistress Goodwitch," the young faunus grumbled as he looked down at her with sleep-reddened eyes, "What can I do for you this morning ma'am?"
The question and the surprising use of her actual title (many students tended to only refer to her as professor, if they added any title at all), snapped her back into focus. " Good Morning Mr…. Haul…Headmaster Ozpin has asked me to personally go over some rules regarding the specifics surrounding your team's enrollment. Is the rest of your team awake yet?"
The young man nodded his head, "One of us is awake, so the rest of us are awake." Once again a hand went towards the top of his ears, "I-We just need a minute to get decent." Apparently noticing what Glynda thought were subtle glances, Long Haul decided to add "They're Grolar Bear ears."
"I'm unfamiliar with the breed." She admitted without a hint of the embarrassment or curiosity she was feeling.
"A hybrid of polar and grizzly bears, it's a rare event in nature, much less with faunus." Long Haul shrugged his shoulders in a way that said he didn't really care to talk about the subject.
"I'll make sure to update your student profile." Glynda commented as she opened up her scroll to the form. It was only then that she noticed that the boy hadn't filled out the section on his form stating whether he was human or faunus, and she felt her face descend into a frown as she realized the other five probably hadn't done so as well. "Are there any dietary concerns that the Beacon staff should be made aware of?"
"I drool if I see a picture of a seal, but otherwise I get along just fine." Long Haul admitted, then added reluctantly "Though I tend to overeat in the fall, and I've been told I'm extra irritable if woken up early in the winter."
It was after that poor attempt at humor that he seemed to get an unnoticeable signal from the rest of his team, as he stepped aside and allowed her to enter the room.
The lights were still turned off, but from what little sunlight was entering the room from the sole window the room appeared to be perfect. The beds were made, the floors clean, the walls were bare of any decoration and there wasn't a single item out of place on their desks…. Which put her more on edge than if the room had been completely trashed. Normal teenagers barely kept their rooms halfway decent, but this was a level of sterility…. It was as if they expected to be judged on how well they kept their rooms….. Glynda made a mental note to locate any and all information regarding the Jhiaxus "School" and the general culture of the Five Pits as soon as possible, it was becoming clear to her that there was a clear gap between her experiences in academia and whatever these six had gone through. Once she saw that the six were indeed wide awake and staring at her with a look she couldn't quite place, she began to explain the rules that they would have to live by for the next four years and beyond.
Their day to day activities were to be heavily monitored by Beacon staff, with any off campus expeditions to be verified by either her or Ozpin himself, and they would have to be back on campus by 11pm. They were to submit to bi-monthly drug tests, in addition to monthly psychological evaluations (this was met with a quick glance towards the one they called "Mixmaster"). Their dormitory would be searched weekly for items considered "contraband," and their on campus lockers for their weapons were to be closely monitored outside of scheduled combat classes. Finally, they were required to know and follow the rules of the Beacon Academy Student Handbook, as any and all infractions could qualify them for expulsion, which meant a return to the Kingdom of Vale's prison system (and potentially extradition back to Atlas).
When she was finished the six boys then took turns asking for clarification on a variety of subjects, most likely attempting to find any loopholes that they could exploit. This added another thirty minutes to her preplanned speech, and left her with such a headache that she briefly considered making her first pot of coffee with whiskey instead of water, but she answered every question clearly and in detail. Once they were done, Glynda left the boys to their own devices in order to prepare for the first class of the semester, making sure no to look in the direction of the camera hidden in the corners of the wall.
City of Vale
Of all of the bullshit that his new "arrangement" had caused Roman Torchwick in the past six months, this had to take the bloody cake.
War is bad for business. It causes countries to tighten borders, sends most of the consumer base off to die, potentially drafts up for best men, and drains supplies away until the black market becomes too expensive to maintain. Street Wars were even worse, because then every alleyway became a chokepoint, abandoned buildings and on-going construction projects became fortresses, sniper-nests, and mausoleums, and the civilians became scared. Scared civilians brought the Grimm, which led to the rare union of City Police and Hunters that every common crook feared like the gods themselves.
Soundwave knew this well, that cold-hearted faceless bastard belonged to that rare breed of street-soldier that was actually book-smart in addition to street-smart and wielded both with efficiency. He was also connected in ways Roman wasn't, and had probably already called his people and was awaiting an army of psychopaths and zealots to paint the streets with the blood of his enemies if it moved his cause forwards. Fortunately for Roman, Soundwave also liked to gather information before he launched any assault, so he had some time to turn this mess around before he needed to rally the troops…. But first he needed to lock down that idiotic black haired bi-
"Roman." speak of the devil and she shall appear, "I trust there's a reason that you decided to bombard my scroll with your voicemails?"
Roman did not immediately turn to look towards the source of his future gastrectomy and possible death. Instead, he took out a new cigar and lit it, took a few drags of nicotine into his system while he readjusted his tie, and then plastered on his fakest smile before he turned towards his greatest pain in the neck. "Cinder! Darling, it's so nice of you to visit me during office hours."
The groans that came from the door the black haired woman strutted in from confirmed to Roman that she had brought her two minions with her, and encouraged him to continue with his "husband and wife" charade he had established early on in their one sided partnership. "Let me tell you about my day dear, first I get to the office and catch up with all of the paperwork that piled up from our vacation," Meaning he had to remind all of his lieutenants who ran things while he was locked up. "Once I get through all of that mess, one of our oldest clients calls me out of the blue, stating that they were considering dropping us-"
"Get to the point Roman." Cinder commented with a look that she thought meant "You're wasting my time," but in reality translated to "I want to show how powerful I am in front of my subordinates."
Roman took another long drag of his cigar in order to avoid snapping at the child pretending to be an adult in front of him. Oh well, he tried to be nice. "Alright then, one of my dearest "friends" in this city recently had some business disrupted due to the White Fang hitting an SDC train." Roman started to pace around the room as he said this, keeping one eye on the trio of idiots before him and another eye on the shadows and windows of the room they were in. "Normally I don't care what those animals do out in the wild, but this friend of mine, he's a paranoid sonnuva gun, and he comes to me saying that I somehow was involved in this mess." at that he shook his head for effect, before moving in for the "Now, obviously I had nothing to do with this raid, but I do seem to recall that you wanted to gather more soldiers for… whatever you have planned for the next Vytal Festival, and what better way is there to gain support from the second most organized group of terrorists on the continent then by striking out at the SDC?"
"Second best implies that there's a group more powerful than the White Fang in Vale." Cinder responded with a raised eyebrow, "Do you happen to know this group of people, or are you just upset that I didn't include you in my decisions regarding the White Fang?"
"Not only do I know them, they're threatening to kill us all if you don't apologize for messing with their plans." That seemed to get her attention, "That "friend" I mentioned? Turns out he wasn't happy to wake up and find out the people he thought weren't organized enough to influence his people's long term plans suddenly had the strength to take on a suicide mission and survive. Now he wants to meet with you-"
"Why do we need to meet with this guy?" and now the green one was interrupting him, "What's wrong Torchwick? Afraid some secret group we never heard about is gonna disrupt our plans?"
"No, I'm worried that some "secret group" you never bothered looking into is gonna kill me because of your bullshit." Roman then looked away from the red-eyed thief to her boss, "You're from Mantle- don't try to hide it your accent and fashion sense give you away- So I know you know what I'm referring to when I say these guys are from the Pits."
That bit of information had Cinder's pupils turning into saucers, "You mean to tell me that someone from the Five Cities managed to escape?" The tone in her voice made it clear that she thought fairies or the Two Brothers existing were a more likely scenario.
"No, I'm saying that an entire group of people from those hellholes managed to escape and establish a foothold here in Vale." Roman countered, "Odds are they're also in the other kingdoms and bloody Menagerie, but that's not the issue right now."
"The real issue is that your ill thought out raid disrupted their business, and now they want their pound of flesh." Roman spat out his cigar and stomped out the ashes. "Knowing Soundwave like I do, it's best for us to sit down with him sooner rather than later, before he brings the roof down on our heads."
"What's the worst thing this "Soundwave" guy can do to us?" the silvered haired brat decided to throw his two lien in, all swagger and unearned confidence, "We just knocked down an SDC convoy like it was a one armed beowulf."
Roman gave Cinder a look that asked if she wanted to explain to her pet cripple how cocky he was being, or if he should beat him over the head with Melodic Cudgel? Seeing how she looked away, he took that as his cue. "Tell me kid, are you a pious sort?"
Mercury and Emerald looked at each other with confusion before he responded with a flat "what?"
"I'm not trying to mess with you kid, do you believe in The Two Brothers?" Roman chuckled, "Or how about The Animal God? Or Oum the Creator, or just about any sort of creed beyond "might makes right?" When he saw that the brat still wasn't getting the hint, Roman tried a different approach.
"Let me tell you a bit about the people of the Pits," He drawled as he searched for another match and cigar, "The Pits are a group of five cities filled with the descendants of the worst criminals the Kingdoms of Mantle and Mistral ever produced back when the two kingdoms were actually equals instead of one being the other's buffer-state against Vale and the Grimm."
"Now for those of us who don't know jack shit about the criminal underworld, we tend to follow some pretty strange traditions, be it swearing oaths to certain saints, ritual tattoos, or even burying our dead in a specific way." Roman wagged his finger like one of his old professors, "Now this becomes important when you find out that in addition to genuine crooks, the Emperor of Mistral also sent the Wardens of Mantle the clerics of certain religions He found to be…. "Disruptful to the Harmony of the Nation," and sought to break their follower faith." He lit a match and then blew it out in order to illustrate his point. "Naturally, this backfired horribly once the priests arrived in the mountains of Solitas."
"Everyone knows that the ice-storms of Solitas are kept at bay by the Grand Furnaces, massive dust consuming works of iron and steam that melt raise the temperatures to slightly above freezing." Seeing Cinder nod her head, Roman moved on, a prophet preaching to a congregation of the unenlightened, "But the furnaces of the pits are barely functional, given just enough Dust to keep the antifreeze in their machinery from freezing, much less keep frostbite away."
"The people of Mantle didn't care that the criminals were freezing, never mind when they began to die from "natural causes" or "workplace incidents," but the criminals did, especially when they couldn't bury their dead friends because the ground was frozen solid." Roman let out a sigh and lit another match. "This allowed the priests to do what priests were supposed to do: comfort the grieving and guide them towards the faith."
"Eventually, one cold and dark eternal winter, the furnaces began to give out because they didn't receive their fire dust supply for the month." the match slowly began to burnout, "Until one priest out in Tarn gathered his flock together and instigated a riot. Only instead of demanding for better conditions or more food, the priest ordered his disciples to bring the bodies of the dead from the various storehouses and false crypts, and throw them into the furnace." He lit another match by using the dying one. "News got around, and similar riots broke out, with people justifying it as a way of escaping the living hell they were trapped in and reaching one of the myriad versions of the afterlife that were being preached."
"A few generations of syncretism and oppression later, you get a civilization of killers with frost in their veins, corpse ash in their lungs, and dreams of freedom in their hearts who're willing to do just about anything in order to achieve their goals." with that Roman pulled out a new cigar and lit it with his last match. "And right now they think that we're in their way."
"So imagine what they'll do to us if you don't apologize to them?"
Sorry for the long delay, hopefully this makes up for it.