Prologue: A Promise of Revenge
"The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet, is fear; it's funny then that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power.
Fear of growing close to someone, the subsequent fear of loss, fear of failure; and as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power.
Fear itself isn't worthy of concern, it is who we become while in its clutches. Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start?
I suppose we all find out sooner or later."
The alarms around him continued blaring, an incessant screech that echoed through the districts. The lampposts, normally glowing a soft yellow, were now a bright crimson red. The Grimm Invasion Alert was something he had grown accustomed to hearing during the past few months. Grimm of all shapes and sizes poured into the streets of Mantle, the screams of humans and faunus echoing through the half-abandoned city. The skies above were littered with Atlas Military Ships, gunfire, missiles and the roar of Grimm drowned his thoughts for a moment. He was reminded of Vale, one year prior… on the day Beacon Fell… the day his life changed forever.
Who would have thought that in a year, a young boy from Vale would be standing at the precipice, watching as a war between humanity and Grimm was about to start. The dark clouds were beginning to roll in, as the great evil that was hidden from Remnant was about to reach Atlas.
Salem.
That single name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the strongest of warriors. To say he was afraid was an understatement. He was terrified, absolutely terrified of what was about to happen. His hand shook, the cold breeze of Solitas making it even worse. He loved the cold, adored it, but now, the cold was just another grim reminder of where he was. What he was doing, what he could see, hear, smell. It was the sight of a war, one he wished he wasn't a part of.
He almost jolted as he felt someone wrapping their arms around him. His ears twitched, recognizing their breathing, soft and calm. He continued staring at Atlas for what seemed like an eternity, the roars of Grimm beginning to drown out the alarms that were meant to warn people of their arrival, all but disappearing under the ominous cacophony of the invasion.
"We're in a pickle, aren't we?" he asked, chuckling at the absurdity of his statement. He felt his arm being squeezed rather hard. It was clear his friend and partner did not appreciate that joke. He tore his eyes away from Atlas, meeting her concerned gaze. Cream. It was the first time he had seen this eye color. "Hey, don't give that look. I'm fine, promise."
She quirked a brow, her lip twitching slightly in annoyance. She knew him far too well for his own good and could tell he was lying. He sighed, looking away from her. "Alright, alright. No need to give me that look. It's clear, isn't it? I'm scared shitless, but what else do you want me to feel?"
The young woman released her grip on his arm, holding her own up. He paid close attention to each motion as she began 'speaking'.
"Okay, look. Things aren't going well… the General called for our arrest, we're separated from the others. Cinder is out there with the Relic of Knowledge, and Salem is here. But it could be worse, right?"
"What could be worse than Salem invading Atlas on a giant ass whale?" he exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face. The young woman tipped her hat back, crossing her arms in annoyance. She signed a single word with her left hand, resting it against her arm.
"Death."
"Death? Yeah, well we'll be coming in close contact with that in a few minutes. I…" he stopped mid-sentence, turning away from her. "This isn't like in Vale, like in Anima. We could fight back there, we at least had some freedom of movement. But here in Solitas? We have nothing. The Atlas Military is against us, we're separated from our friends, labeled as criminals and now there's an invasion about to hit us. We're disorganized, disoriented…"
"We could have died in Brunswick Farms you know… we were close too." the woman signed, making him frown. He noticed her reach behind her back for something, already knowing what it was. "We could have gotten killed by that Train Crash, the Apathy, fighting Tyrian in the streets of Mantle on our day off… about a thousand things could have happened. But it was our quick thinking and our wits that got us here, right? So why not use that against her." a mechanical voice said. She hated using her scroll to speak, but it was the best way to communicate her thoughts, without getting arthritis from signing multiple words.
He sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes he wondered where she got her spunk from. She tended to have a very overactive imagination, but it was that quirk that had saved their lives in the past. He placed a hand on his hip, a firm yet curious look on his face.
"Alright, what do you have in mind? Since you seem to have all the ideas tonight."
She couldn't help but smirk, gesturing for him to follow with a wave of her hand. He reached behind his back for his weapon, keeping it in its gun form, just in case he needed it. By the time he made it to the fire escape, she had already been down on the street. He jumped off the side of the building, softening his landing with his aura.
He quickly and quietly followed after his partner, he had grown used to controlling his breathing and how much noise he made with her. She was silent and deadly, and that was a technique that she had taught him, along with refining a lot of his fighting style. After avoiding a few creatures of Grimm, they made it to what he assumed was their destination. An open plaza with an abandoned Atlas Manta. His partner swiveled on her heel, giving him a grin as she pointed to it with her thumb.
"This? This is your plan?" he said, adding some air quotes to accent his sarcasm. Her joyful smile turned into an annoyed lopsided scowl. He was quick to add. "Forgive me for withholding my enthusiasm. But I don't exactly know what you intend to do with this."
She held her hand up, pointing at him. She pointed to herself, gesturing to the ship. She joined her hands together, forming a bird, before pointing it to the sky, in the direction of Atlas. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, giving her a nod.
"Okay, so we take this ship and head to Atlas, and then what? Wouldn't reconvening with our friends be more important?" he asked. She rested her weight on her left leg, giving him another annoyed look. "You aren't being clear with me, just tell me what you want to do!"
She grabbed her scroll, hastily typing a message on it before hitting the "Speak" function, holding it out to the man. "You idiot, we're going to steal this ship and head to Atlas. Then we'll hijack one of the bigger ships and use its armament to attack Salem directly. We may not be able to kill her but that doesn't mean we can't hurt her!"
The man remained silent, almost gaping at the woman. This plan was insane. She wanted to not only steal this Manta, but fly up to Atlas, steal an even bigger ship, and then face Salem head-on? Was she insane? He remembered at that moment the fact that she was a former criminal, which was also why there was so much stealing involved in this plan. He shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at the dark clouds still approaching Atlas.
"You're insane, there is no way in hell I am stealing an Atlas airship and flying right into Salem's little army. I want to live, dammit, not die!"
"Who said anything about dying? I've been on an Atlas Airship before, and I know the punch that they pack. The upgraded ones have all-new thanatonium missiles, missiles that were created by combining gravity, combustion, wind, and rock dust. A bomb of that caliber will at least kill that giant whale. We can't have it make land on Atlas, because if it does…"
"The whole country could fall on Mantle, and that would kill everyone," he said, finishing her thought. She nodded, clenching her fist tightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, before glancing back at the approaching Grimm Army. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, standing up straight.
"Her plan is a bit insane but… if we can take down that whale before she makes land, then it would give everyone a bit of an edge. Then again we don't know how many of those things she brought with her. She did say she could make Grimm at a whim, but even so, creating a Grimm of that size would take a lot of power. Meaning she should only have one… if we can't defeat her, driving her back is the best option…"
He said nothing as he strode forward, tapping the side of the ship with his hand. The door slid open, and the gangplank came out. Wordlessly, he and his partner entered the ship, heading over to the cockpit. He held his hand out, his partner placing a black scroll in his hand. He was thankful Pietro Polendina had returned it to him before he, Ruby, and Weiss had taken off.
"I am seriously glad we didn't get rid of this thing. Now then, let's get into the air, shall we?" he asked, earning a grin from his partner. He placed the scroll in the port at the center of the console, tapping the screen. It bypassed all of the systems, igniting the engine in rapid succession. It didn't take him long before he was airborne. "Heh, who said video games couldn't teach you valuable life skills?"
His partner shrugged, her hands tightly grasping the stick before her. Flying Grimm were starting to swarm around the city, and she needed to be ready to fire if necessary.
"Manta 8-6, this is Central Command. We have an unauthorized take-off from sector seven, Manta 6-5 has gone AWOL. We need you to intercept, over."
"A ship that's gone AWOL and an unauthorized take-off? I think we know who's responsible for that," he said with a chuckle, grabbing a hold of the radio. He cleared his throat, pressing the button. "Central Command, this is Manta 8-6. We acknowledge Manta 6-5's AWOL status and formally request coordinates to comply with your intercept order, over."
The radio remained silent for a few moments, before it sprung back to life, crackling for a second before another voice filled the radio. "Levi Athan! What the hell are you doing aboard that ship?!"
He cringed, jumping slightly in his seat at the voice. He rapidly shifted the frequency, glancing back at his partner, who had a look of annoyance on her face. "What? How was I supposed to know she was in Central Command?"
"Once again, you are an idiot." she typed, returning her gaze toward the skies ahead. Levi squeezed the radio receiver in his hand, gritting his teeth. He shook his head, pressing the button on the side. He took a deep calming breath, staring out at the skies above Mantle, the ones rapidly filling with Grimm.
"I don't know if there's anyone listening, military or not, this is something that I need to say…" he said, pausing for a moment. "We're standing at the edge of a great war, unlike anything we've ever seen. I'm sure all of you are scared, I am too. But now is not the time to falter, now is not the time to give up. Atlas may have declared martial law, Atlas may have decided to abandon Mantle, but we haven't… I haven't."
His partner looked away for a moment, eyes widening a bit as she watched him speak. It was as if he had turned into a different person. Sure, she had seen him act confidently, fight aggressively, and be a loving person as well. But this was something she had never seen before. An hour before, she had seen a hopeless man standing before her, but now, there was a spark in his eyes that made her giddy. He hadn't given up yet, meaning they were still in this fight.
"The coming hours are going to be trying ones for all of us. Many of us will fight, many of us may die, but never forget, we are all one joint people. We're no longer men, women, children, human, faunus. We are one army, the army of humanity, joined together to fight the great evil that stands before us. The Grimm may be scary creatures, but they can be killed. Salem may be a frightening woman, who cannot be killed, but that doesn't mean she can't be stopped…
And we will stop her. We will drive her back, we will fight with everything we have, and we will show her just how strong we can be. For too long, she has hidden in the shadows, sending her minions to attack us. For too long, she has toyed with Remnant, thinking that she has total control over us. But she doesn't. We are not alone! When we are alone, we are fearful, frightened people, but right now is not the time to fear. It's time to join hands!
And in the warmth of that hand, we'll find strength and solidarity, camaraderie, and power. We will hold hands and fight, not just for Mantle, but for Atlas! For Mistral, for Vale, for Vacuo! We will fight for Menagerie and the islands inhabited by what's left of humanity. Let us fight together, to send this bitch back to the place she should have never left! Let's show her we aren't scared anymore!"
Though he didn't hear anything through the radio, he did hear voices. Glancing out through the window, he could see people who had been left behind by Atlas, all cheering loudly and grabbing whatever could be used as a weapon. He could see soldiers fighting and doing their best to protect defenseless civilians, he even saw a few ships change course, heading toward the outer edges of Mantle, firing at any and every Grimm they saw. He glanced at his partner, who had a look of admiration on her face, her eyes had settled on their usual pink and brown. She had a confident look on her face, a face that said "I'm going to fight alongside you!"
A moment of silence passed, before the radio crackled, bringing their attention back to it. He waited with bated breath, wondering who was going to speak. He hoped it wasn't General Ironwood, but even he knew anything was possible at this rate. Thankfully, the person that spoke wasn't the General, but it was someone else. Someone he recognized, someone he had grown to love over the last year of his life.
"Levi, you're an absolute dunce, you know that? Do you think rallying the troops is going to do anything to solve our immediate problem?"
"Well, it's nice to hear from you too, Snowflake. Here I thought you were radioing in to tell me how much you missed me," he said, chuckling.
"Oh piss off you…"
"Okay, time to get you off the line." another voice said, a brief shuffling being heard. "Levi, is Oscar with you? We haven't seen him for a while now. Jaune, Ren, Alto, and Nora told us he had to do something back at Atlas."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Ruby, but he isn't with me. Just me and Trivia. She got me out of the Academy, after that cave-in near the Winter Maiden's room. We had to leave, we had no choice." Levi said, sighing. "Sorry, I feel like shit for leaving him behind. But how could I have known?"
"Don't worry about it, what's important is reconvening." the voice of Blake said, causing him to sigh in relief. It seemed all of his friends were together, safe and sound. "We're thinking about landing soon, but we can't disclose our location, we'll be found easily."
"Right, right… hmm… I got an idea. You choose the place, and the moment you land, have Weiss use one of her Glyphs, she knows the one. We'll meet up and go from there." he said firmly.
"Roger that, we'll see ya in a few minutes. Stay frosty Kitty Cat, things are about to get dicey."
"Goddamn it, Yang." was the final thing he said before ceasing communications.
He couldn't help but sigh as he took full control of his ship. As he looked on ahead, ready for whatever the world threw at him, he couldn't help but think back to the previous year and several months, to when this crazy journey began. All with him rescuing his partner and best friend, a silent girl who looked like she had survived the worst day of her life.
One Year and Several Months Earlier
Location: Vale
Time: 5:00 AM
The large creature screeched loudly as it landed on the ravaged street. The sound that came from its beak was distorted, sounding like a cross between a scream of pure fear and agony. It was black in color, with leathery black and red wings, and thick bone plates covering most of its back. Sharp claws grew from its front legs and looked capable of slicing a building in half. Its face was its weakest part, but also the strongest, due to the thick bone plating that protected the soft fleshy exterior.
It was another target, another Grimm which had likely killed people. It didn't matter to him, all that mattered was driving it back, or killing it if he could. He had to protect the manhole behind him, where the people were quickly fleeing too. He had been fighting for hours and was growing tired. Several people had already gotten whisked away by Grimm and he wasn't going to let what remained of his neighbors die. He was a Huntsman-in-Training after all, it was his duty to protect the people from the creature of Grimm.
"Alright, come at me you asshole! I'm going to kill you and all your friends!" he shouted, trying to get the Griffon's attention. It screeched loudly, wings fluttering open as it prepared to take off. He shifted his weapon into its gun form, opening fire at its wings, mangling them before the creature could take off. Breaking into a sprint, he ran at the creature, letting out a battle cry as he activated his semblance.
A bright orange glyph appeared before him, swirling with a ball of fire. The glyph spun around rapidly, firing the fireball at the creature's face, its bones glowing bright orange from the attack. The young man jumped into the air, driving his blade into the weakened bone plate, twisting it with all of his strength. It cracked, a small piece of it falling off as the Grimm shook him off. He hit the ground hard, his body glowing a bright blue for a brief second. His aura had taken a big hit, another attack like that and it would disappear entirely.
"Dammit, I'm running out of options here. I barely have bullets, I don't have any more dust and more of these things are popping up by the minute." he thought, as he scanned his surroundings. The griffon before him let out another roar, swiping one of its claws at him, which he was quick to parry.
He snapped his fingers, lightning crackling around his fingertips. He channeled his aura through his hand, forming a large glyph beneath the griffon. It let out a screech of pure agony as lightning raced across its skin. Paralyzed and unmoving, Levi took his chance. Using what remained of his ammunition, he opened fire on the underside of the Grimm, hoping to weaken it even more, or even pierce its heart. He formed a violet glyph beneath his feet, launching himself into the air, forming another one behind him which he used as a springboard. Holding his sword out, he let out a cry as he pierced the hole he had made in the creature's faceplate. It let out one last agonizing screech before falling lifelessly to the ground, its body bursting into a shadowy mist.
Levi panted for breath gathering his thoughts. He checked his magazine, realizing he only had five rounds left. Reaching for his holster, he fiddled around for a moment, trying to grab one of his loaded magazines, only to realize that pocket was completely empty. He took a step back, relieved that the area was clear for now.
"Levi! Are you alright?" a voice cried out, causing him to turn around. It was one of his neighbors, a Reindeer Faunus named Clarice, who had a plasma rifle in her grasp. A rifle they had salvaged from some fallen soldiers. She had left the safety of the sewers to ensure he was alright. "We saw you taking that hit just now, tell me you aren't hurt?!"
"I'm not, Clara. You shouldn't be worrying about me, you should be worrying about everyone else. Get back in the sewer, I'll keep this area clear." he said, urging her to get back. "We could get attacked at any minute, make sure you and your kids are safe."
"I'm not leaving you out here alone, Levi! I promised your mother I would look out for you."
"And I promised her that I would do everything in my power to keep you and the rest of the neighborhood safe. You have two kids, Clara. Don't make me force you in there!" he replied, giving her a glare.
Before either of them could do much of anything, the sounds of an airship filled their ears. Levi's ears twitched slightly as he slowly turned around, eyes widening as he saw the damaged airship losing altitude. It didn't take long for it to land, heading straight for them. Its wings struck the nearby buildings, tearing them apart with ease, sharp pieces of metal and artillery fell in all directions as the ship continued its forward movement.
"Go go go!" Levi shouted, pushing Clarice along, the woman quickened her pace, her natural speed kicked in, leaving Levi in the dust. "Grr… that Reindeer blood flowing in her makes her a speeding bullet. Why couldn't I have been born with that? Instead, all I get are cat ears, a tail, and weird-looking eyes!"
Clarice slid across the ground, not caring that the pavement was scratching her leg and thigh up. She grabbed the edge of the manhole and started climbing down. Just as Levi was about to head into the hole, another Griffon appeared, landing right in front of him, causing him to dig his heels in, forcing himself to stop.
"Levi!"
"Forget me! Seal it up! I'll find another access!" he cried, raising his weapon. He pulled the trigger, firing an ice bullet at the griffon, the large ice ball struck the creature, making it screech in anger.
He backpedaled, the screeching ship behind him reminded him of his precarious situation. He couldn't go forward and he couldn't go back, so the only place he could go was left, right through a storefront. He held his gun up, firing at the glass as he ran at it, jumping into the store just as the Griffon attacked. He barely avoided the slash, which would have easily torn him in half. He jumped behind the front counter, hiding behind it. This was a bakery, a really good one that he often visited with his mother.
He wouldn't be able to taste those pastries ever again, the owners had been among the many victims of this savage attack. He had three rounds left, not enough to make an impact, but if he could lure the Griffon to another area, his semblance would aid in his victory. He used the flat of his blade like a mirror, seeing the Griffon slowly stalking into the building, the crunching of glass filling his ears.
"If I remember correctly, Griffons hate loud noises. If I can lure it into the kitchen, I might be able to distract it long enough to do some damage." he thought to himself, his finger on the trigger, poised and ready to shoot. "Let's hope what I learned from Professor Port works."
Levi moved toward the kitchen, making sure not to make a single sound. Despite that, he knew the Griffon was onto him. He slowly opened the door, rolling into the room. Looking around, he noticed some cast iron skillets hanging from a suspended rack. He reached for one, spinning it around his hand before kneeling on the ground, his aim at the door.
"Hey! Come and get me, asshole!" he howled, hoping that was enough to attract the Grimm. Thankfully, it was, its head poked through the door, its hulking form barely fitting through the door, getting stuck halfway. Levi started banging the skillet on the ground, cringing at the metallic sound that reverberated through the quiet kitchen.
Just like he thought, the Griffon started screeching in pain, trying its hardest to free itself. The young faunus took aim, firing a single round at its face, a Rock bullet which pierced the bone plate on its face, yet did nothing to kill it. He fired again, this time, a fire bullet shot out, striking the creature in the snout, causing an explosion in the kitchen. This stunned the creature for a few moments. What he didn't realize was that the force of the explosion ended up cracking parts of the wall. The Griffon struggled for a moment, cracking the wall further before it broke apart.
"Fiddlesticks!" Levi cried. The Griffon let out another violet screech, making him want to cover his ears, which he had flattened against his head to prevent any more of that dreadful sound from deafening him. He pulled his arm back, throwing the skillet at the creature, striking it in the center of the face.
He raised his hand, forming a glyph before him. This one was light blue in color, with a brilliant snowflake at its center. Stylish runes made up the outer edges of the circle, with thin lines connecting to various areas. Several ice spikes shot out of the glyph, striking the Griffon in the face and wings, destroying them with ease. With the creature stunned, he took his chance, delivering an aura-enhanced kick to its underside, driving its head into the ceiling. With a cry, he shifted his gun into its blade form, pulling the trigger. The final round, a combustion round, exploded, driving the blade straight through its skull.
The young faunus let out a sigh as the Grimm slowly burst into shadowy whisps, disappearing entirely. He fell to his knees, panting for breath. He was fatigued, his arms hurt, and his legs quivered from the strain. He was out of ammunition and completely alone. Yet the battle continued, the sounds of Grimm and gunshots were clearly audible. This sector was lost, he knew it, but something was driving him to keep fighting.
Levi had grown up in this neighborhood, ever since he and his mother had moved from Vacuo to Vale. This place was home, the people that lived here were friends of his mother, and by extension, his own friends. Seeing them being killed by Grimm, torn apart by those creatures, running fearfully toward their death, it sickened him. He was among the few Huntsman-in-Training in the area, so it was his duty to help them, and yet, he was failing.
"I need to get to my house. I have more ammo there, I didn't think we would get fully invaded by Grimm. I should have trusted my gut and brought all my magazines with me." he thought, heading toward the back exit. He threw the door open, stepping into the alleyway.
He scanned his surroundings, aiming his gun to and fro, only to remember he was completely out of bullets. The young man continued towards the edge of the alley, stepping out into the street, eyes widening at the utter destruction of his city block. The airship that had crash-landed was utterly destroyed, the buildings around it, which had once been homes, were now nothing more than rubble. Seeing it like this made him want to cry, but he knew he couldn't. He had to remain strong. Right now, he had to stop at his house, which hopefully wasn't destroyed, restock on ammo, grab some things, and head into the sewers to meet with the others.
The streets in this part of the city were completely empty. It seemed as if the Grimm had shifted their focus toward the center of the city, where all of the professional huntsmen and huntresses were likely fighting. He pressed on, ignoring the destroyed cars, broken ships and abandoned bullheads lying on the side of the street. Just yesterday, this street had been bustling with people, both tourists and ordinary citizens, all looking up at Amity Arena, waiting for the conclusion of the Tournament. What had gone wrong? How could things change so fast in such little time?
He finally reached his street, seeing a few Atlasean ships broken and destroyed on the road. A Manta stuck out of the side of a building, the bodies of androids and human soldiers laying on the street. He shifted his gaze, trying not to see the carnage that lay before him. He hadn't seen dead bodies before today, and he hoped never to see them again. His house was, thankfully, undamaged by the chaos going on around him. He started moving toward it, jumping a bit when he heard glass shattering nearby.
The man aimed his gun at the source of the sound, finger on the trigger, despite his magazine being empty. If it was an enemy, he would hope they would be scared and run away. If it was a Grimm, well, he'd have to make it to his house and restock before he could take it on. However, he quickly realized what he was aiming at the moment they stepped out from behind an abandoned car.
It was a girl, not much older than he was, at least that's what he assumed since she was rather short. Her body was littered with cuts and bruises, her outfit, which consisted of a white jacket with long sleeves, and a pink lapel, with a black undershirt, had seen better days. The jacket was torn and dirty, half of the right sleeve was gone, the girl's clearly broken arm being completely visible. Her pants were in a similar state, covered in dirt and blood, with large pieces being torn, and in the case of the left leg, gone completely. Her left heel was broken, and she was using what looked like a parasol as a cane. Her broken hand was holding something as well, a bowler hat, which seemed to be torn.
"She looks like hell." he thought, beginning to lower his gun. It was clear this girl had been fighting just like he had. He had never seen her before, but she must have been fighting hard if she was in that state. Her pink and brown hair was matted, with bits of dried blood and dirt. He could also see the dark spot around her cheekbone as if someone had punched her in the face. He shook his head, making up his mind. "I can't just leave her… my house is right there, I'll check her over, let her rest and then move toward the sewers."
Nodding to himself, he took a step forward, lowering his gun. "Excuse me, Miss?"
The girl stopped in her tracks, looking at him fearfully. She noticed the gun in his grasp and started backing away. She ended up stumbling on her broken heel, falling back to the ground, her broken arm hitting the sidewalk. A silent scream left her lips, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. He realized he had scared her with his weapon, and quickly sheathed it, moving toward her.
"I'm not gonna hurt you! I wanna help."
She glared at him, brushing his hand away with her own. She reached for her parasol, thrusting the ferrule at him. It was then he noticed the thin blade that was coming from its tip. He ducked and dodged it for a moment before sweeping his arm, pulling it from her grasp. She tried to throw a punch at him, which he easily caught. "Will you stop? You are hurt, lady. I'm trying to help you!"
She glared into his eyes, but realizing her precarious situation, decided to let him. She gestured for her parasol, along with the hat she was holding. He handed her both, and once she was comfortable, allowed herself to be lifted into his arms. She grit her teeth in pain, as she repositioned her broken arm over her chest, holding it tightly. Levi said nothing as he headed toward his house, quickly walking up the stairs. Thankfully, the door had been left open, due to his and his mother's haste when they had been leaving.
"I'm gonna set you down on the couch, there's some stuff in the bathroom that I'll use for these cuts. I dunno what to do about your broken arm though. Just… sit tight okay?" he asked. She gave him a silent nod, momentarily curious by her surroundings.
Rather than heading to the bathroom the moment he made it upstairs, he went toward his bedroom. He moved toward his bed, pulling the drawer open. He grabbed his weapon's carrying case, pulling out. Several magazines, along with boxes of ammunition lay within. He dropped all of his empty ones inside, replacing them with the ones that were full. Latching it closed, he quickly stood up, moving toward the bathroom.
Once he had gathered what little medical supplies he had and headed back downstairs. His guest was exactly where he left her. She had a look of relief on her face as he approached her, kneeling down beside her.
"Okay, I don't have much but it'll do for now. Before we do anything, here are some painkillers for that broken arm. We should probably get you to a hospital so we can-"
She vigorously shook her head, waving her hand back and forth. The expression on her face told him everything he needed to know. She didn't want to go to the hospital. He sighed, a frown on his face. "Alright look, I get it. Hospitals suck, but we can't do anything about that broken arm ourselves. It's either you go to the hospital and get a cast, and it heals properly, or it heals wrong and you lose the use of it forever. I can tell your aura is non-existent, meaning you used it all during this chaos. Once it starts recovering, that bone will set in place, and well… I've heard stories of people having to rebreak their bones to fix them."
The young woman cringed at the thought, clutching her useless arm tightly. She silently howled in pain, choosing not to be too rough with it. Levi pulled out two pills and handed them to her, along with a bottle of water he had grabbed from the nearby kitchen. The two of them knew it wasn't going to get rid of all her pain, but it was better than nothing.
"Let's start with the obvious wound. I'll use some gauze to make a sling, but again, I'm not gonna be able to fix it myself," he said, taking a hold of the gauze roll. She sat up a bit, cringing in pain as he started pulling her jacket off.
She didn't fight him, knowing it would only make it easier for him to work. She allowed him to unbutton her black corset, leaving her in nothing but her pink bra. She cringed a bit as he pressed his fingers against her ribs, which sported a dark black bruise. He looked up at her, a frown on his face.
"Whelp… I can tell you've got two broken ribs on your right side, but the good news is that those should heal in a week with your aura. Nothing I can do about that but wrap them." he said, earning a nod from the woman. He began wrapping the gauze around her chest, making sure it wasn't too tight. Once he was done, he started on her shoulder, which would eventually facilitate the sling he was planning on making.
Before he finished, he checked her arm. It didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it, aside from the obvious compound fracture. Having to improvise, he grabbed his coffee table and pulled the legs apart, using his weapon, Shiva, to slice them in half, and then again to have two thinner pieces of wood. The young woman continued watching, curious as to why he was going through so much trouble for her.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call this a medical marvel-" he started, once he had finished her splint. He used a bit of medical tape to secure it, slipping it carefully into the gauze sling he had made. He looked into her eyes, giving her a smile. "-But, it should make things easier for a little while. But like I said, we'll have to take you to a hospital."
She glared at him, making him chuckle. "Okay, fine. No hospital, we'll have to do something. It's not like I can hire some back alley medic to come fix you."
The woman tapped her leg, clearly searching for something. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she seemed a bit distraught. He was about to ask her what was wrong when he heard his scroll going off. He reached for his holster, pulling the device from within. He pulled it open, seeing the tired-looking visage of General Ironwood on the screen.
"Citizens of Vale, my name is James Ironwood, General of the Atlas Army, and Headmaster of Atlas Academy. Last night, at 18:00 Hours, the Kingdom of Vale was invaded by the Creatures of Grimm. We cannot be certain of who brought them here, but we do have the identities of those responsible. A woman by the name of Cinder Fall has fled Beacon Academy, which now lies destroyed and overrun with Grimm. Her accomplices, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black were seen fleeing as well.
Furthermore, it has been confirmed by a Huntress-in-Training that the thief and high-profile criminal, Roman Torchwick, is deceased. He was killed by a creature of Grimm, on the Flagship of the Atlas Army.
First and foremost, I would like to apologize to all of you. I brought the military here to ensure your safety and the safety of the participants of the Vytal Tournament. But all that it amounted to was being hijacked by the enemy. My own technology turned against me, and now my men, along with citizens of your kingdom, friends, family, students in training, huntsmen, and huntresses, lay dead on the streets. I am sorry that I wasn't able to assist you…
There will be city-wide evacuations, starting at 7:00 AM with the total evacuation of Beacon Academy. Sector 12 of Vale is our priority, as that is where most of our casualties are. Several airships will be leaving from these points here in two hours intervals. Make your way to them as quickly as you can.
Also, be on the lookout for these four suspects. Along with Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black, a White Fang operative known as Adam Taurus, was seen attacking students at Beacon. If they are spotted, do not engage, I repeat, do not engage. Report them to your local authorities as quickly as possible.
For any and all Huntsman and Huntresses in training out there, fighting to defend the city, you are all relieved of duty. Licensed Huntsman and Huntresses will take your place… thank you for your cooperation, you've saved many lives today. I am forever grateful to you all, and deeply sorry this has been thrust upon you.
As a final note… I would like to say farewell to a dear friend of mine. Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, lost his life today trying to protect his academy and his students. The world has lost a brilliant man, and a skilled Huntsman. The students of Beacon Academy will be forever grateful to have met him. May he rest in eternal peace… that is the end of this broadcast. We will be continuing operations for as long as we can… thank you."
The broadcast ended, making Levi deflate a bit. He sat down on the ground, making sure his tail wasn't in the way. The reality of what was happening finally hit him. Vale wouldn't be the same, Beacon didn't exist anymore. The life he had been training for had ended. His mother was gone, killed by a Grimm during the earlier battles. The Headmaster who had shown interest in his prowess was also gone. His neighborhood was torn up… he had nowhere to go.
"Oh… oh god what am I doing here? What the hell am I doing here? I thought I had what it took to be a Huntsman, I need to call my teammates. What the fuck…"
The young woman before him grabbed a hold of his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. He looked up, seeing her tear-soaked eyes. Her mascara was running down the sides of her cheeks, leaving dark black streaks in their wake. She hastily wiped them away with her arm, her eyes remaining red and puffy. He took a deep breath, realizing he needed to be brave.
"Right… I'm… sorry that I almost lost it. It's been a long night, I should focus on bandaging you up." he said, taking hold of the alcohol and some cotton balls. He started cleaning her cuts, making sure they were clean before they were bandaged. "So um… what's your name? If you don't mind my asking?"
She frowned, pointing at her throat. She made a few gestures that he didn't really get, but he seemed to understand what she was trying to sign. She was mute. That was the reason why she hadn't said a word because she couldn't. He briefly wondered what had happened to this girl to have lost her voice, if she even had one in the first place. He looked around for a moment, noticing something on the fridge. He smiled, heading toward it.
"My mom got this thing in order to remind me of chores I had to do before heading to school. Suffice it to say, I doubt I'll be doing chores anytime soon. I think it'll serve you better." he said, handing her the magnetic pad and the erasable marker. She practically beamed at him, uncapping the marker. She balanced the pad on her lap, scrawling something on it.
"My name is Neopolitan, you can call me Neo."
"Neopolitan? Like the ice cream?" he asked, earning a nod from the girl. He took in her appearance again, realizing her hair, and even eyes matched the flavors of neapolitan ice cream. He nodded, holding his hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Neo. My name is Levi Athan, Huntsman-in-Training, and one of the last few Miqo'te Faunus."
She erased what she had written, writing something else just as fast. She held the board up to him. "Miqo'te?"
"Yep… we're a diminishing race of faunus. Our roots trace back to the forgotten kingdom of Eorzea, on a landmass that has no name. During the great war, our continent was pillaged, and raved by the attackers. It was seen as nothing but a land where they could build forts and bring in heavy armaments. Mistral and Atlas were trying to conquer Vale and Vacuo and saw it as a perfect place. What they didn't realize is that the continent was inhabited by people."
He remained silent as he looked away, spotting a picture of himself and his mother, both having bright smiles on their faces. "They didn't seem to care… the Miqo'te to them were just another race of animals, stupid faunus that didn't deserve shit. So they took our continent and our resources and kicked us out. Vacuo was kind enough to give my people some land to live on, and the great village of Eorzea was founded.
It lasted about two hundred years… until it was ravaged by Marauders. My mother was convinced they were people hired by the Schnee Dust Company. Slave traders seeking to force my people into those damned mines. My mom left Vacuo shortly after I was born, and I've been living here ever since."
Neo honestly felt sorry for the man. He didn't look much different than other Faunus she had seen in Vale. She even went as far as saying he was very handsome. He was a tall young man, with silver-colored hair, with wisps of blue streaking through it. He had lightly tanned skin and bright eyes. She noticed his left eye was a brilliant amber, while the right one was cerulean blue. He had feline-like ears atop his head, big and fluffy, with small tufts of fur growing from within, though it was nice and trimmed. She noticed there were some red markings on his face, almost like tribal face paint of sorts, but she also noticed the scar that ran across his face, expertly hidden by said face paint.
"See something you like?" he asked jokingly, making the woman glowered at him. She erased what she had previously written, turning the board to him when she was done.
"I've never seen someone like you. You are different from other cat faunus, not only that but your eyes are differently colored."
"I'm not a cat faunus. The miqo'te do have feline traits, I will admit, but we're more like… lions or jaguars if that makes sense. The top dog… er… cat." he said, shaking his head. He lifted his cloak a bit, wiggling his tail. "We also have one of these, unlike other faunus, who only have one animal trait, we have two. And another cool thing about us, is that we're more in tune with Dust and Aura than other people, we can bring out its full potential with enough training, and treat it almost like magic."
She gave him a nod, pointing toward the last end of the statement, making him roll his eyes. "You have different colored eyes too. Brown, and Pink… and wait, Cream? What?" he mumbled, staring deeply into her eyes. She smirked and continued blinking, her eyes changing color with each one. "Okay, you gotta stop that, it's creepy."
He turned away from her, missing the raspberry she had blown at him. "Anyway, we can't stay here long. I promised my friends I would go back to them. They're in the sewers beneath the city. I gotta get them to those evac stations ASAP. And I gotta get you to a doctor."
Neo once again erased her board, this time taking her time to write everything as clearly as she could. She was just glad she was ambidextrous, or else she would be having an even harder time writing.
"I can't go see a doctor, I have certain beliefs, so I refuse to see a doctor. However, that Atlas Airship has medical equipment on it, including a dust powered machine that uses your own aura to heal injuries. We can use that to fix my arm."
"Wow… Atlassian Technology is really cool and… hey wait, how do you know that?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. "If those ships have medical equipment like that, then hundreds of people would flock to Atlas for that kind of medical treatment. How does someone like you know about it?"
She chewed the inside of her lip. Thinking quickly, she jotted the first thing that popped into her mind. "I'm a former Atlas Military Graduate. So I am very familiar with the technology. I trained aboard one of those ships so I know what makes it tick. We should go to the one that crashed earlier, not just for that equipment, but for all of that dust and ammo that was left behind. We could make use of it now."
Levi remained silent. He wasn't exactly sure going with her idea was even legal, but she did have a point. That ship had a lot of equipment that they could make use of. It was probably stocked with supplies, including lots of abandoned ammunition. It wouldn't be long until a detainment was sent to retrieve it. They were close by, and she did need medical attention. He nodded to himself standing firmly before her.
"Alright then, Neo. We'll get you to that ship and then fix your arm, but right now we need to rest. It's been a long night. Heading back out there with little energy would be suicide, especially you. I'll find some clothes for you to change into while we rest, and make some breakfast." he said, earning a nod from the mute girl. "We'll get this done."
She gave him a smile, watching him head toward the stairs. Once he was gone, she lowered herself into the couch. It took everything in her power not to burst into tears. She noticed the bowler hat sitting on what remained of the kitchen table. The tear on its side was clearly visible, it would take an expert to fix it. She strained herself to get it, pain shooting up her arm. She didn't care, she just needed to hold it.
"I can't believe you're dead… you promised we wouldn't ever be apart. And now look at you, you big dummy. Swallowed up by a Grimm of all things… I…" she closed her eyes, a look of anger flashing onto her face. "It was that stupid red-cloaked bitch. She was the one who challenged us, she was the one who separated us. It's her fault you're dead! I'm going to find her, and I'm going to ruin her… I'll start by killing her sister, then that cat faunus, and that bitchy heiress. I'll kill her other friends too until she's all alone wallowing in her misery."
She couldn't help but smile as she held the hat up above her, a malicious look on her dainty bruise-covered face. "And then, when everyone she cares about is dead, I'll kill her too… and I'll make it hurt, just like you were hurt, Roman. That's my promise to you…"
The city was deathly quiet. The distant roar of Grimm seemed to be centering around Beacon Academy. He didn't know what was going on there, every single time he tried to contact his teammates, all he got was static. He was beginning to grow worried.
The last thing he had told his team leader was that he wished they had never met. This had been due to an argument they had following their participation in the Vytal Festival. It had been days since they had even talked in a civil manner. He had decided not to go to Amity Arena to see the finals shortly after their latest argument, where he had said the aforementioned statement. Vale had been invaded and he had been busy trying to protect his neighborhood from being destroyed. Now that the streets were quiet and the soldiers of the Atlas Army lay all over the place, it felt too… indescribable.
He hadn't been in contact with his mother since the beginning of the invasion either, and he was beginning to grow worried. But he couldn't focus on that, he had to focus on the here and now. Just like she had taught him. If he had to force himself to have tunnel vision, he would. Case in point, he was currently leading Neo to what remained of the Atlas Flagship. The humongous steel vehicle had crash-landed in his sector only a few hours ago. Large pieces of the wings had broken off, crushing whatever building was unlucky to be in its way.
The bow itself remained raised, but the stern of the ship had been broken, dragging chunks of asphalt and crushing whatever was caught beneath it. Bodies of Atlas robots and soldiers lay around it, men and women who had been fighting the Grimm during the attack. Now all of them lay on the ground, lifeless. He ignored the bodies as they walked, aiming Shiva in all directions. He wasn't going to take any chances with the Grimm.
"This is so sad. This neighborhood was bustling yesterday, there were people everywhere. Tourists, kids! I hope they all got out okay." he thought, closing his eyes briefly. His head was pounding, and he was a bit faint, but he was going to keep pushing forward. He needed to, it was a Huntsman's job to help the injured after all.
He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Neo trailing behind him, clutching her parasol tightly in her grasp. Her splinted arm had been snugly tucked against her chest. She had convinced him to do this in case they needed to fight, something he had advised against. She gave him a pout, holding her nose high but relented. The last thing she needed was a broken leg on top of her destroyed arm.
The pair slowly came to a stop then they finally arrived at the Flagship. He had seen this vehicle while it was in the sky. It was huge, bigger than any bullhead he had ever been on. It contained machinery he could only dream of using. Weapons meant to take down hundreds if not thousands of Grimm in a fell swoop. Seeing it in this broken of a state hurt him. The pride of Atlas had been crushed by a single attack. It must have been very demoralizing to see, not just for the people of Vale, but for the other kingdoms, for Vacuo, Mistral, and of course, Atlas. He took a deep breath, turning to face his companion, a curious look on his face.
"So, how exactly are we going to get on this thing?" he asked. Neo tapped her chin in thought, glancing up at the ship. Her eyes trailed down to one of the broken wings, seeing it touching the ground. She held her hand up, a single finger pointing forward. Levi followed, taking note of the broken wing she had found. "You wanna climb aboard using that wing?"
Neo gave him a nod, attempting to sign something only to cry in pain. She frowned, looking down at her feet. Levi reached behind his back, pulling the whiteboard he had brought along with him. He held it out to her, along with the marker.
"I know it might seem dangerous, but it's our only option." she wrote, earning a nod from the young man. He took the board back, placing it in his holster. He led his companion toward the wing, scanning the area for a moment, making sure they were alone.
"Alright, we're clear. Let me go first, I'll pull you up," he said firmly. He flicked his wrist, returning Shiva to its travel form, sliding it into his holster. He jumped up to the wing, swinging his leg over it. It creaked a bit but remained standing. He held his hand out, taking Neo's into his grasp.
It had been a slow and steady process, but the pair had managed to make it up to the weather deck. The ship was creaking, a few alarms still beeping throughout its empty frame. Drawing Shiva, he started moving toward the nearby door, which was firmly closed. Normally, it would open the second someone walked in front of it but the scanner had been damaged. He flicked his wrist, activating Shiva's blade form. He wedged it between the doors, pushing with all of his strength, partially opening the door.
With a bit of strength, he was able to open it enough for him and Neo to step inside. The pair looked around for a moment, only finding an empty corridor, with flashing emergency lights. He didn't hear anything, not voices, not screaming, only the sparking of exposed wires and a low beeping from what he assumed was a fire alarm. He looked over his shoulder at his friend.
"Where to?"
She looked around for a moment, before picking a direction, gesturing for him to follow along. The pair remained quiet as they walked, not exactly knowing what to talk about. He reached into his pocket for his scroll, flicking it open. He tried calling his teammates, Aria Blaze, Cadenza Di Capriccio and Sonata Piccolo. The lines stayed dead, only static appearing on screen.
"I'm starting to get worried, Neo," he said, earning a firm look from the young woman. "I've been calling my teammates for a while now and no one is answering. The message General Ironwood sent was through an emergency channel. But ever since the attack started, I haven't been able to speak with anyone. Not even my mother?"
She stopped for a moment, flicking her marker pen. She walked to a nearby wall, jotting a question onto the door. "Who's your mother?"
"She works for Beacon Academy. She's a teacher there, her name is Terra Athan, but to me, whenever she isn't in school, is just mom. She was the one who inspired me to become a Huntsman. She used her influence to sign me up for classes at Signal and made me the person I am today. I get worried whenever she doesn't call me. She's just being held up is all."
Though his tone was reassuring, something in his heart told him something had happened. After all, he hadn't been with his team. His mother had called him briefly when the invasion had begun and their communication had been cut short. He just hoped Beacon Academy was doing a lot better than the city of Vale was.
It didn't take them long to reach the medical bay. A quick scan of their surroundings let them know it was empty. Neo strode toward the center of the room, gesturing to the control panel on the other side. Levi handed her the whiteboard he had brought along, allowing her to write out a message.
"Okay, the medical bay runs on its own power supply. All of the machines here have Lightning Dust powering them. All we have to do is find the fuse box and turn on the emergency power. Once it's on, it should automatically kick in and turn on the machines." she wrote, earning a nod from the young huntsman.
"So I just flick a switch and that's it?"
"That's right."
He nodded, trusting her at her word. He started looking around, pressing his hand against certain areas of the wall. He figured the fuse box would be hidden behind a panel somewhere. Atlas Technology was famously hard to hack and access, without the proper access codes or channels. He checked over the machinery, seeing the Hard-Light Dust screens being powered down, along with the computers beneath it.
What had happened to this ship to make it fall out of the sky? It made no sense that something as large as the Flagship of the Atlas Fleet would suddenly just drop. What had happened to the crew? The soldiers that had been stationed there? He already knew the cybernetic soldiers had been reprogrammed and had turned against the Huntsman and Huntresses out in Vale, along with citizens and virtually anyone who had a soul. That had been what had brought the Grimm to their kingdom. That fear and panic had brought them in droves, and now they all seemed focused on Beacon Academy.
"What could have possibly done this? Was it Torchwick? He had been stealing and amassing a lot of Dust from all over the Kingdom. That mission Team RWBY took to Mountain Glenn exposed that hidden network. Hell, we had to pick up the pieces from that Breach through the forgotten underground network.
Then there was what General Ironwood said. Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Exchange students from Haven Academy. Had they been the one who had planned this? And where had that last girl gone? There are far too many questions and not enough answers."
He could only hope his mother had more information on whatever was happening. The citywide evacuations would likely continue for some time. Helping Neo took priority, after that, he would help the people in the sewers get to safety and get himself to Beacon Academy. After all, he had to make sure his teammates were fine so that he could apologize to Aria. A loud creak caused him to jump. Neo flashed him a grin, having found the fuse box they had been looking for.
"Nice! Now we can get that arm of yours all patched up!" he said, looking at all the fuses. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, scanning for the right label. Finally finding the one he needed, he flicked it on, only for nothing to happen. He flicked it on and off a few times, his smile curving into a frown. "Well, I guess the power is totally dead."
Neo tugged on his jacket, pulling him toward her whiteboard. She erased it with her rag, clicking her marker. "The power isn't dead, it's more than likely you need to approve it from the bridge. After all, emergency power will affect the engines and how they work. So it makes sense for it to be approved from there."
"Shit. Of course, approval from the bridge would be necessary," he huffed, silently cursing Atlas. He cleared his throat, turning toward the door. "Stay here, I'll venture to the bridge and switch over to emergency power. I trust you'll be able to handle yourself here?"
She gave him a thumbs-up, gesturing with her hand to get a move on. He nodded, leaving the medical bay. He pulled Shiva out, keeping it in gun form as he moved. He closed his eyes, slowly sprinting toward the edge of the corridor, kneeling down. His footsteps were practically silent as he moved. Years of training to mask his movements aided with the litheness of a faunus had really honed his craft. He was glad he had night vision, as it made traversing through the darkened corridors that much easier.
He kept moving through the darkened corridors, reading the signs above him, each one pointing him toward the bridge. The flagship was magnificent, some of the facilities on there had been things he had never hoped or even dreamed of seeing. Though now he'd likely never see it in operation. It didn't take him long to find the central corridor, which led him to a large staircase up toward the bridge.
Scanning his surroundings, he kept his gun trained on everything, almost expecting something to attack him. The bridge was devoid of life, large consoles and flashing screens being visible all over the place. The forward part of the ship had been damaged, the gigantic windshield having been shattered by what he assumed had been an explosive blast of some sort. A few of the consoles were sparking, causing him to back away from them whenever it happened. His eyes traced every single screen, trying to find the one he needed.
"Alright, there has to be a message about engaging Emergency Power here somewhere." he thought, spotting something that looked rather odd. A scroll had been placed into the console, a black model. It didn't look damaged at all. "What the hell?"
He pulled it free from the console, causing it to light up. There were a few things he didn't recognize on-screen but he decided not to mess with it. He closed it, stuffing it in his back pocket as he looked back to the console before him. He pressed a few of the keys, causing the screen to light up. He sighed with relief when he saw the prompt he was looking for. "Activate Emergency Power? Y/N.
Hitting Y, the console went dark for a moment only for the others to spark to life, some quite literally. The lights in the bridge kicked on, though a few remained off, likely damaged from the fall. Turning around, he started heading down the stairs only to slide to a stop.
A Griffon, exactly what he needed. He grit his teeth, kneeling back, Shiva at the ready. He made sure his magazine was fully loaded before even attempting to fight it. Before that, he checked his glove, making sure it too had dust. Due to his Semblance, he had to get a custom set of gloves created, allowing him to infuse dust into his glyphs. They were his lifelines, the only reason he could do some of the things he could with his Semblance. If he didn't have them, then his glyphs would be glowing circles incapable of producing effects. It would just make him a sitting duck.
Taking a deep calming breath, he activated his semblance, a brilliant blue glyph appeared above the Griffon. It was blue in color, with markings etched into the outer ring. The inside had a glittering icon in the shape of an urn, the symbol he had used for the element of water. Without much thought, he urged a large bubble of water to drop on top of the Grimm, leaving it stunned. He bolted forward, jumping into the air, using his momentum to spin around.
Blade clashed with bone, noise erupting from their connection. The Grimm let out a screech, causing Levi to flatten his ears in an attempt to stop the explosive sound from destroying his hearing. He swung his blade with all his strength, pulling the trigger as he did so. The energy dust exploded from the barrel, his swing moving twice as fast as before, causing the blade to chip away at the protective bone around its face.
It lifted its claw, aiming to gut the young faunus, but he was quicker, using the sides of the corridor as springboards. He opened fire from behind, wounding its back. He noticed it already had some wounds on the side, someone had been fighting it. He shook his head, clutching his weapon tightly in his left hand, the fingers on his right ready.
The Griffon let out another screech as it flapped its broken wings, attempting to fly at the young man. Its injury was far too great to achieve anything other than senseless flapping, as its left-wing had been left mangled. Levi took advantage of this, angling his blade. "Alright, let's make this quick."
Darting forward, he jumped over the sharp claw swung at him, slashing the creature's leg. He delivered two more quick slashes, followed by a quick volley of gunfire. Fire, Ice, and Rock dust struck the griffon hard, causing its leg to gave way. Levi ducked to the side, delivering an aura-infused kick to its lower jaw, making its head snap upward. He dropped down to a knee, casting a water glyph beneath it.
A torrent of water flowed from the glyph, causing the Grimm to caw and howl in both pain and annoyance. Quickly shifting Shiva into its blade form, he delivered a single slash to the water, the glowing blue blade freezing it on contact. He flipped out of the way, spinning around mid-air, casting a Yellow Glyph above it.
Similar to his water glyph, this one was infused with lightning energy, giving it a crackling yellow glow. With a snap of his fingers, massive bolts of lightning rained down on the Grimm, sending lightning coursing through its body. It spasmed and twitched as it received the shock of a lifetime, the frozen water shattering from how much it moved. Flipping his blade around, Levi started running forward, jumping into the air. With a cry, he pulled the trigger, the kinetic energy from his Energy Dust sent him into a spin, allowing him to send an ice-infused aura blast at the Grimm, slicing its head clean off.
Levi let out a sigh, glancing at the slowly disintegrating Griffon, nodding to himself as its body started to disappear. His ears twitched as he listened to his surroundings, making sure he was truly, finally alone. "This thing must have come into the ship through the bridge. Would explain why half of the windshield is busted up. But those wounds… they looked like they were made with a bladed weapon…"
Deciding not to stick around for another Grimm to attack him, he started going back to the medical bay, following the lit signs. It didn't take him long to make it back, in fact, when he did, he noticed Neo had already placed herself into the machine. He entered the bay, just as she had finished taking her splint off. He hurried along, catching her broken arm before it hit the table.
"For the love of all that is good, could you not have waited for me to get back?" he snapped, earning a sheepish grin from the woman. "You could have done even more damage to it. Even torn a ligament or hell, had the bone pierce your skin. Just… just be careful, okay?"
The expression on her face changed, looking more like a puppy look than before. Her eyes had also stayed brown in color, filled with both worry and sadness. He gave her a soft pat on the head, reassuring her that everything was fine. "Now then, how exactly does this thing work?"
She gestured for her whiteboard, which he quietly grabbed. She clicked her marker, jotting down a quick explanation. "It's a machine that uses your own aura along with hard light dust to fix injuries. It doesn't fix things with internal organs, internal bleeding, or other serious medical injuries. This is more to prevent amputation, if possible."
"Ah, I see. How long do you think it'll take?"
She jotted down an estimate. "Half an hour to an hour at most. Also, it's going to be extremely painful. So if you could do me a favor and knock me unconscious, I'd appreciate it."
"Knock you unconscious? How the hell do you want me to do that?" he asked curiously. She reached for her parasol, handing it to him. With her hand, she gestured to the top of her head, pointing at the parasol. "You want me to whack you over the head with your parasol? Oh yeah, sure. I can do that. Not like we need to add head trauma to the mix."
She glared at him, using her good hand to sign that he was yapping and complaining. Before she even realized what he was doing, he whacked her over the head with her own weapon, causing her to fall forward onto the table. He held back the urge to laugh as he repositioned her onto the table, making sure the machines were right over her arm.
"Fuck, I should have asked her how this damn thing works before knocking her out. Pressing buttons until something happens is not the right course of action here," he mumbled as he looked around for a specific button. Thankfully, a blinking "Start" option could be seen on the nearby panel. He tapped it with his finger, causing the machine to whirl to life.
Levi stepped back, watching as the hard light dust illuminated her arm, a metallic strap wrapped itself around her wrist, injecting her with something. Almost instantly, her arm started glowing a soft pink, her aura had been forcefully activated. He briefly wondered how it was even possible, but he decided not to question Atlas tech. After all, they had made an artificial intelligence capable of producing aura.
"Amazing, how ingenious are the scientists at Atlas for creating something like this? And why the hell are they not using this stuff in public hospitals? So many people would benefit from this tech. Injured workers, sick children. Even the elderly. I know Atlas is a kingdom of wealth and greed but… they shouldn't keep this stuff to themselves."
He decided not to think too hard on it, pulling his scroll from his pocket. He once again dialed his Teammates, but he kept getting static. Now that he had more time, he went to his home screen and tapped the Network icon, opening a menu. His eyes widened when he read the words "Communications Down". That was the reason why he couldn't contact anyone. Comms were down, meaning there was no signal anywhere. And since the General's message was on an emergency channel, it was likely that something had happened to the CCT.
"Fantastic. I'm stranded in a destroyed sector of the city, on a broken Atlas Airship, with no means to communicate with my teams. Comms are down, possibly for the entire kingdom, and I am left with no options. What do I do? What would Aria do? What would Mom do?"
His mother would likely do the rational thing and seek an authority figure. Headmaster Ozpin would likely know what to do. Of course, he had fallen, so Beacon's chain of command had been disrupted. He didn't know if the other professors were around. It was likely Professor Goodwitch was fighting in Beacon and helping with evacuations. Professor Oobleck and Professor Port would likely also be helping with that, leaving only Professor Peach and his mother. There were too many variables, too many unknowns, not to mention several things left unaccounted for.
"Shit, fuck." he mumbled, ears twitching as he looked up at the sky. "Okay, the plan hasn't changed. I just can't get into contact with Aria, Cadence, or Sonata. Can't talk to mom, and likely none of the Professors and Atlas Central Command was terminated the moment this ship came down, so no help from the Atlas Military. I am effective, on my own."
Deciding not to think on it too much, he focused on something else, the black scroll he had found. Since Neo was getting her arm fixed and he was alone, he decided to mess around with it. Pulling it open, he noticed the apps on the home screen was a lot different than his own scroll. He tapped on one, seeing it was an unknown program. He didn't know a lick of coding, so he had no idea what it even did. He fiddled around with it for a few more minutes, finally finding something of interest.
"A black queen piece? What the hell kind of program is this?" he thought, as he opened the application. His eyes widened a bit when he saw what he had opened. It was a diagram of the flagship they were currently on, along with the sectors that were offline.
The engines were offline, the weapons were offline, communications were offline, Automated Soldiers were offline, the Manta docking station was closed, along with various other sectors and parts of the ship. Whatever had made this ship crash, this thing had been responsible. Someone must have climbed into the ship and placed that scroll into the bridge. This virus must have been the true cause of what happened, what caused the automatons to start attacking the people and eventually leading to Vale being ransacked by Grimm.
"This thing… it's evidence. I should keep it with me, hand it over to the authorities whenever I find them. For now, I should just focus on making sure Neo is fine. After which, I can meet up with Clarice, guide the others to safety and get out of here."
A plan finally formulated, the man leaned back against the counter, closing his eyes for a few minutes of rest. Even if his eyes were closed, his ears were at the ready, making sure they were truly alone. If something, be it human, faunus or Grimm, managed to get in, he would know about it. And he would be ready to deal with it.
A/N: This story has been a long time coming.
Welcome everyone, to Promise. This is a RWBY story that I have been working on for over a year, though I only had the basic plot down. Me and a friend of mine have been discussing it since basically the ending of Volume 6, and through his chats, have been inspired to finally get to work on it. This is a story that, will hopefully, amend some of the things that I personally don't like about RWBY, starting at the end of Volume 3 and going beyond. I won't be covering every single event, but I will make sure a lot of the events of the show are showcased.
Yes, this story will feature an OC, and yes there will be pairings surrounding him, but that's only minuscule compared to the other things I want to cover while writing this. While I love this series, there are a lot of gripes that I have with it, and I'm sure a lot of others have as well. But like I said, this one be a full word for word rewrite, at least not during the beginning arc. It'll be a bit rough, believe me, I've struggled to find a good direction for the beginning arc of the story, but realized that if I didn't post it, I would end up rewriting it endlessly. After today's hell of a finale, I have been inspired to work on this for the foreseeable future. I put my Fate story on hold because I'll be going away for a while and this is something easier for me to work on without having to be at home.
I will be adding my own twists to the story as well as giving characters that need development the development they need. Of course, characters that are fine will likely remain the same, but I am going to fix a lot of other shit that has upset me for a while. For one, Bumblebee will not be a pairing in my story. I personally feel like this pairing hinders the story. People have their own opinions on his of course, but this is one of the many gripes I have with the series currently. This story will be borrowing influences from Final Fantasy 14, mostly the miqo'te race, which is one of my personal favorite races in the game and I felt like they would fit the world of Remnant quite well.
I don't have much else to say, though I suppose I'll let the story speak for itself. Like I said, the beginning will be a bit rough but I hope you all stick around. And if it isn't your cup of tea, that's fine too. I ain't gonna be mad, read what you like! I hope you all have a great day and weekend, see you all soon!