A sneer crosses my face as I look at the little shrimp in front of me, a stunned look on his face as I turn towards him. Not a thought behind his glazes over mutant eyes. Judging by how he dressed, the little bastard was probably some communist too. My anger finally got the best of me while staring at this waste of space. "Give me one good reason I should meet this little master of yours, mutant." The comment on him having a master made him sneer, but sent my mind turning was the disdain I saw when I called him a mutant.
Every piece of wasteland scum I've ever confronted took the truth with either anger or beastly instinct since they could barely think enough to keep themselves alive. But this Mutie took the fact with disgust as if the word would make him ill. "Hey now, the master comment is a little far big guy, but mutant! I swear, last I checked, I wasn't ugly. Ok, at least not too ugly." A scoff escaped me as my mind started rushing. A mutant denying his true identity, the next thing he would say is that he's some standup, law-abiding citizen who would lay his life down for his country. And what he called me… a great American citizen wouldn't stand for such a title, let alone a man who served the president himself.
"I am not "Big Man'', I am Spe-." I paused, considering the president's and I's death at the hands of the Chosen One and Fate. "Ex-Special Agent Frank Horrigan, and if you call me by such a title again, then your little mutie body won't know what hit it before you witness your insides vacating your- UGH!" Pain ripped through my head at blistering speeds, making me collapse. The thought of caving in that bipedal molerat's chest sent aches and shivers down my brain stem. So this is how he will deter me, huh. 'No killing the natives, humans, or Faunus.' The Man must get a kick seeing me suffer because of my civilized thoughts.
Even with my comment weighing heavily in the air, his worry filled the air around him. Rushing to my side, I could see his mouth moving but not a sound coming out as my ears rang. I had only seen empathy in one mutant, and now, this guy; I guess he was different from the rabble. My vision swam as I shoved Qrow aside, struggling to stand up. "Worry not… Human… I will live. My reaction was merely the consequence of a deterrent I will learn to bypass."
My breath was shallow as I finally reached my feet. Towering over Qrow, I stared down at him pushing me up by my side even though my body had to be at least five times his weight; If I had my Power Armor and Plasma Gun, I would easily be a dozen times heavier than this shrimp.
I turned towards him with a savage grin. "Don't worry about me; I am fine. Now if this Ozpin is willing to help me get some clothes, weapons, armor, and a good fight, I might consider meeting him as a lesser. But if I don't like it, I will leave because, in the end, my sole loyalty resides in the great Enclave." 'or what remains.' was left unsaid. He looked shocked at my response, especially after I had mentioned my loyalty to the Enclave and my willingness to abandon his master and this place as a whole.
My eyes shifted as I noticed his hand reaching towards the blade on his back, threatened by the name of the Enclave. I was still grinning. If he wanted a fight, I would give him a fight. He spoke after a few seconds of thinking, his face hard, tensed, ready to fight as he saw the bloodlust in my eyes. "I can't guarantee to give you those, but if Ozpin thinks it's the right decision, he'll get you some of the best stuff Beacon and Vale can acquire."
Another place I need to worry about, first Vacuo, then Vale, and now Beacon, knowing what was around the wastes was already bad enough. Plus, I had no access to a pip-boy to help me catalog everything I've learned about this pre-apocalyptic hell hole. "Fine, take me to this little bastard, then we can discuss what he wants, and I can get my shit. How bout that… Qrow."
And so we marched, Qrow at my back, a sign of mistrust towards me. Even as I walked through such a different environment from what I was used to, I still remained vigilant, feeling Qrow's heavy gaze on my back. Each of my steps displaced soil and grass, slightly shaking the branches. As we marched, the silence grew deafening. No far-off howls or nearby chirping birds. It even felt like the trees had stopped swaying. Qrow pointed it out before I could even consider the approaching threat. Nothing could push me in a fight in the wasteland, but here... I needed to be careful.
As we neared about 500 feet from the treeline, the Mutant, Grimm, as they called here, decided to finally show itself. Looking like a Giant Radscorpion took some FEV and got hit by another blast of radiation; it seemed strong. This would be the first real fight I've had since arriving. What stood out to me was the bone plates decorating its body, similar to the wolf earlier, and the golden stinger adorning its long tail. This would be good. Qrow spoke up, finally seeing the beast. "This is a Death Stalker. You're big, but fighting with a Grimm like this is beyond you, especially without Aura."
That slowed me down. Qrow didn't know who he was talking about. I ate mutants like these for breakfast and their offspring for lunch. If it could land a solid hit on me, I'd give it a damn medal. "Worry about yourself. You don't know my strength. Plus, every Enclave scientist said I had quite a presence when I woke up, so my 'Aura' is fine." Qrow stood dumbfounded as I got myself into position.
The beast took out short talk as a sign of weakness, throwing its stinger toward my chest. Preparing to do a quick sidestep, I barely heard Qrow yell at me to move before flinging himself in front of the tail, tanking the hit for me on his blade, and flinging him past a few trees. A little shrimp taking a hit like that almost certainly crushed a few ribs and popped a few organs. Unless he had spares somewhere. I guess I have to bring myself to this Ozpin guy.
In a bid to finish the fight off, the Scorpion flung its claw at my bare midsection. In a show of flexibility, I bent backward, snatching the Death Stalker's claw as it flew over my head. With a twist, I relieved the Grimm of its natural weapon. No Power Armor had its downsides, but this was one of the few pros of not having it on. With a twist and a pop of the joint, I separated the claw, wielding a half in each hand like duel blades.
In a roar of pain, nearly busting my eardrums from the volume alone, the Death Stalker flung the bulk of its body at me, attempting to barrel me over. It only succeeded in giving me an opening. A slide through its legs as it rushed past, and I had open access to its flank. When I finally stood back up, I took the chance to disable its other arm, jamming the left claw into its shoulder joint and stopping the movement of its left arm.
Rearing its tail up, I went for the deathblow as it tried to take us together. A duck down and stab to the neck was all I needed. My arm, following the tip of the claw blade as it stabbed at the Grimm, punched through its neck. It still moved. I had seen mutants without legs continue to fight, disemboweled super mutants still trying to mow me down. I had never seen a mutant continue to fight without a throat or nerve connection to its head. What should have been a death blow became an opening for the Death Stalker's stinger, flying towards my side as it slowed down in my vision. I guess I'd be giving it that medal after all, right after I ripped out the stinger that was about to pierce my chest.
That moment never came as Qrow flew out of the forest, scythe in hand as he cleanly split the stinger off, kicking it out of the air as he landed on the Death Stalker's back. A large smile pressed over his face, hiding the grimace I could see in his scrunched eyebrows. "Guess I underestimated you, huh. If I knew you were that good, we could have been done and over with this fight!" I laughed at his attempt at humor, my arm still lodged in the beast's neck.
"And If I knew you were that sturdy, I would have used you as a shield before smashing this Mutie's head to a pulp. The Enclave would have loved a soldier like you." He still seemed repulsed by the word mutant, holding onto a pride that he held at least some qualification for, but he still gave me a confused thanks at my comment on the Enclave. With a swing of his scythe, the Death Stalker's head thumped on the ground, the boom reverberating throughout the near-silent forest. Qrow looked relieved, hopping off the beast's back as I mashed what remained of the beast's neck while pulling out my arm.
Qrow looked me in my face after typing in what looked like a small, transparent PDA. Sighing, he spoke up to me. "Let's go ahead and get out of here. Ozpin can't wait to meet you, especially with how you handled that Death Stalker." That brought a glint to my eye. This Ozpin fellow was excited by how I dealt with the beast, my brutality included. It seemed like he and I might have something in common.
Chapter 1 and 3 has been revamped if you want to reread it. I'll finish Ch 2 soon (I swear, in my mind, Qrow looks like Dante (Never watched RWBY) so excuse the bit about white hair). If you have any tips, complaints, or recommendations on what should happen, please expand on them when writing a review. (I really don't know what you mean by the Format)