I'd like to start off this chapter by once again apologizing for the long gap between chapters, I thought this would've been shorter than I needed it to be.
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3 years ago, Marigold estate.
Sore feet pounded against the stone floor, Kaiser was on the run. He had been kept hanging by his wrist, often taking beatings from Hank Hammers under the guise of "training." But he had finally seen an opening, the other guard: Franco, he had managed to bait the man into unshackling him. In an instant, Kaiser had escaped the underground cell, and locked Franco behind the heavy metal door.
"Stop him!" The booming voice of Hank Hammers had shot behind Kaiser like a cannon, the heavyweight boxing champion started to pursue the boy himself.
Kaiser meanwhile, ignored this, focusing on losing two more of Marigold's who were much more agile and likely to catch him. Out of the main security room, Kaiser had reached a spacious room, one built from dark oak and treated with varnish. The walls of the room had a criss-cross pattern to it, the middle of each diamond-shaped recess was occupied by bottles of dark liquid.
Kaiser knew that this must've been a wine cellar, and that wherever Hammers had taken him when he was first captured during the party a couple of days ago was still connected to the Marigold manor.
Opposite from where he came from, there was a stairwell, likely leading up to the main halls of the manor. He rushed to it, keenly aware of the sound of the door that he had just left clicking open.
Kaiser's hand shot out, grabbing one of the expensive wine bottles and whipping it back where he came from.
"Woah!" One of the guards shouted as the glass bottle exploded on impact.
Kaiser glanced back, it was Franco, Hammers must've let him out. Regardless, he raced up the stairs, each step aching as it was the first burst of exercise he'd done in a couple days. He burst out of the elegant wooden door, out into an ornate looking hallway. The walls were painted a pure white, with golden accents lining the vertex of the wall. Immediately, Kaiser had run into the first problem: he didn't know where exactly he was. He had studied the schematics, but he had been blindfolded in Chrysan Marigold's study. And none of the intelligence suggested that the man had an underground dungeon installed, or even the wine cellar. As Kaiser rounded the corner, he ran into the second problem.
The butler and his silver tray of hot tea.
"Good heavens!" The elderly man in the tuxedo suit was surprised by the dreadfully tired looking boy that was running out of the cellar. Hot tea splashed onto the both of them, steam floating up.
The butler stared at him, he would've asked what the boy was even doing here, but the door to the wine cellar had swung open, Franco aiming to tackle the boy. The butler didn't know how it happened, but the young boy managed to snatch the tray he was holding, and swung it as hard as he could.
The force of the tray had sent Franco sprawling to the white marble floor, the tray clattering alongside Franco soon after.
The butler stared at the body, turning his head, the boy had already disappeared.
Kaiser had run in the opposite direction once again, trying to find anywhere recognizable from the schematics briefing. Eventually he'd come up against stainless steel double-doors, with round windows on both doors.
The Kitchen!
Retracing his steps, Kaiser knew that the kitchen led right into the main ballroom, as he had used the grand stairway of the same room to look into Chrysan Marigold's study. Past the double doors were a whirlwind of activity, chefs in pristine white uniforms were at their stations preparing a banquet, Marigold must've had guests over. The culinary team was hard at work making an array of foods, pans and pots were ripping hot and occupied. Kaiser weaved past a couple of the cooks, some of them complaining why the child had even entered in the first place, he had almost reached the door when a heavy weight crashed into the boy.
Kaiser and his assailant had slid across the kitchen as he was taken to the ground, his head swimming, Kaiser lifted his gaze to see who was constricting him.
"Got you now!" Hammers roared, his heavy arms slowly crushing the boy. He turned his head to a cook that was approaching the two struggling bodies. "Keep serving Marigold's guests, we'll be done in a minute!"
In the moment that Hammers addressed the cook, Kaiser took to crashing his head against Hammer's skull. Hammers' grip loosened, which allowed Kaiser to escape from under Hammers' grasp.
Kaiser stumbled back up, annoyed to see that Hammers' had done the same without the exhaustion. The boy grunted as he tried for a knife hand strike to the throat, a technique taught to him by Martin Kane. It was meant to stun the target before an assassination, but Kaiser only needed to momentarily incapacitate Hammers'.
He learned at that moment why Hammer's had been the boxing heavyweight world champion.
The older man sidestepped flawlessly, aiming a right hook at the boy's head. The heavy fist colliding with Kaiser caused him major disorientation, he stumbled backwards. Kaiser tried to block the next strike, but a 15 year old boy could only do so much to defend against a 250 pound wall of muscle.
Despite its futility, Kaiser continued to block. One more strike had hit his arms, and the boy decided to counter.
Hammer's trained eye spotted the gap in the boy's defenses, landing a straight right to the Kaiser's mouth. Ultimately, it sent the boy falling to the ground, he fell on his back.
It was a couple seconds before Kaiser sat straight up, his hand shooting up to where he had been hit. Bile built up in the back of his throat, a horrifying realization had hit the boy. His finger traced his lip, a deep gash had torn from his upper lip to just above the side of his nose, with dread, he realized a portion of his lip was missing.
"How?" Kaiser's voice quivered, as he slowly crawled backwards away from Hammer's. He was next to one of the kitchen workstations, this one crowded with tools and a pot full of crackling hot oil.
"Do you understand now!" Hammers' swiped at the counter, sending spoons and ladles as well as other cutlery in Kaiser's direction. "You can't do anything to stop me or Mr. Marigold."
By the way that the kitchen staff had not reacted to the boxer beating Kaiser, it could be assumed that they were aware of the going ons of the Marigold estate.
Kaiser tried getting back up, but Hammers dropped down to one knee on top of the boy's chest. All the air knocked out of him, his arms shaking as they struggled to find anything to hold onto. His fingers eventually curled around a ladle, one with a hook on the end of its handle to hang on to pot rims. His left hand grabbed the ladle by the scooping end, swinging it as hard as he could.
It was to no avail, Hammers had maneuvered his head to dodge the utensil.
"Why would you think that something like that would take me out?" Hammers laughed, he pulled back his fist to punch the boy.
"Wasn't trying to hit you!" Kaiser seethed out, gesturing to his arm, still holding on to the ladle.
Hammers looked towards the hook-end of the ladle, it was latched onto something, it was a pot of burning oil. The boxer's eyes widened as he realized the mistake that he had committed, like how he had just so conveniently positioned himself over the boy.
Kaiser ended up pulling the ladle, splashing the sizzling hot oil onto Hank Hammers.
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"I thought you died." Kaiser backed away to one edge of the foreman's platform, his hands faintly touching the railing.
"Can't keep a fighter like me down for the count." Hammers jutted a thumb towards his mouth, gesturing to Kaisers after. "Lip of yours healed up well, I can fix that for you of course."
Kaiser gritted his teeth, fighting to keep himself from touching the almost forgotten scar just above his upper lip. "How'd you get in contact with Zodiac?"
"You think Marigold didn't need help sneaking his little surprise into the four kingdoms summit?" Hammers strolled over to the railing across from Kaiser, nonchalantly floating his own hand above the railing as he eyed the boy down. "He bought a couple parts from them, and I took it as a networking opportunity."
"And they put you in charge of the Hercules production line?" Kaiser took a couple steps forward, showing he wasn't afraid.
"What can I say?" Hammers shrugged as he began to meet the boy in the middle, his head whipped to the side as Kaiser cracked a punch across his face. A grin spread on his face as he grabbed the boy in retaliation and threw him back to the railing, a loud clang rang out along with the boy's groan. "I've got some transferable skills!"
Kaiser lay injured on the ground, he banged his fist onto the metal platform.
Hammers' laughed raucously, his arms spread out to gesture to the entire factory, from the foreman, to the workers, to even the guards patrolling the workstations. "Here we have a unique opportunity to put on a show to not only our workers, but our gracious boss." Here, Hammers gestured up above their own platform. On the wall up above, was what could be described as an architectural box sticking out of the wall, topped with corrugated iron and window panes lining the sides of the box. On the side of which, a flimsy staircase led up to it, presumably to enter it. "Today is the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance for me to come outta retirement for one more match!"
"So that's what this is about." A smirk formed across Kaiser's face as he shakily got back up on his feet, regarding the man across from him. "Trying to relive your glory days, by beating someone you used as a punching bag?"
"That, and to make an example out of you, boy." Hammers slowly stalked the boy, with all the toughness of raging bull in restraint. "Everyone here will know never to act up against us." Hammers grabbed at Kaiser's arm and proceeded to toss him to the middle of the foreman's platform, no, it was to be their fighting ring.
When Kaiser did stand up, he faced back up to the boxer. His cover had been blown from the very start, and he wouldn't be allowed to leave here alive. Hammers had raised a single finger, an indicator of the first round.
Kaiser stepped back, barely avoiding a haymaker that could've taken his head off. He'd been all too familiar with Hammers' fists, but he only now realized that he had been holding back those years ago. He might have held back maybe because he was a young boy, or because it was unclear whether or not that he was a spy. Both of those were gone, and all of Hammers' restraint had gone to waste.
A couple more jabs shot towards Kaiser, he did his best to dodge. These did manage to catch Kaiser on his upper body, he took the brunt of the damage to his chest. One more powerful strike was aimed directly at Kaiser's face. Desperation fueled the boy in weaving around the blow, getting a good few feet away from Hammers. The boxer caught onto Kaiser's distress, immediately taunting him about it.
"You're scared, ain't yeah?" Hammers' lips curled into a cruel sneer. "Afraid to get your face busted up like last time?"
"I'm more afraid of the surgery bill that'll come out of it!" Despite the rapid breaths coming out of the boy, he did his best to snark at the man, if only to show that he wasn't at all alarmed by him.
Hammers lunged at the boy, his left fist shooting out to knock over the boy to which he ducked, then sidestepped. The opening left for a fraction of a second had given Kaiser the opportunity to put all his force behind a single shot, dealing a brutal uppercut to Hammers' chin. It was apparent it had no effect on the man, Hammers reared back his head a little more, then swung it forward.
The crack was audible as Kaiser stumbled backwards, his head pounding from the heavy headbutt dealt to the boy. His vision swayed, everything around him becoming shaky.
"Fuck!" Kaiser held his face in his hand, his other arm keeping him steady on the railing. He removed his hand, blood stained his palm. A cold realization had hit him over the head almost as hard as Hammers had, his suspicions confirmed when he heard the boxer laughing.
"Are you feeling it yet?" Hammers once again taunted, he adopted a much more relaxed stance, as if not expecting Kaiser to retaliate. "I know you had a run in with my associate in Vale, Jasper Greene."
A flicker of recognition showed on Kaiser's face, the instance caught by Hammers.
"Yeah, you remember." Hammers started nodding, only barely starting to sweat. "He showed me his little encounter with you, every hit you took. And something didn't seem right to me, you were holding out for a long time, longer than a normal person should. You had aura, didn't you?"
Kaiser took slower breaths, thankful for the very brief break amidst the onslaught of violence.
"That's exactly what Jasper figured, it was why he didn't kill you, it would've been bad for business if we had huntsmen snooping around our operations." Hammers took a couple steps forward, relishing in the subtle panic setting into the boy's eyes. "We got an Atlas technician to work for us." Kaiser had cut in after Hammers' statement, surprising the boxer with his defiance.
"Goldenrod, right? He provided you with aura cancellation devices, so you could kill huntsmen!" Kaiser figured that this had been their primary defense, Zodiac didn't actively seek war with the government, just wanting to turn a profit at the expense of its consumers.
"Correct, we didn't think we'd actually need them, but you know what they say about speaking of the devil." The boxer leaned back onto the rail, very obnoxiously showing Kaiser the little damage he had taken. "Say, how'd you know about Goldenrod? Last I heard, he hired a couple goons from one of the other branches!"
"Went in to get information from him, I'm still waiting to see what's left of the grandmaster assassin that I beat!" Kaiser growled out, hoping that the partial lie would discourage Hammers from fighting him, even a little bit of doubt could provide Kaiser an opening.
"Ballsy, you've grown from that scrawny kid I had tied up in the basement." Hammers held up his finger, a sly smirk playing on his scarred face. "Get up, it's time for round two."
Kaiser used the rails to keep himself up, his breaths building up in his chest. Nobody would have guessed the booming noise emitting from the boy. "QROW!"
Somewhere in the crowd below, one person tensed up.
"Get to the observation deck on the third level! Find the black box and destroy-" Kaiser dodged a lunging Hammers, only barely being able to relay the information he had about the aura cancellation device.
Once again, Kaiser narrowly avoided a crippling blow.
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Down below, Qrow watched as the muscular man began beating down on the boy he was in charge of. Kaiser's desperate words replaying in his mind, what black box? Was there such a thing as an aura cancellation device?
Qrow willed his aura to use the power bestowed upon him by Ozpin, trying to shift into his bird form, only to open his eyes and see he was still in his much less mobile human body. He clenched his fist, that must've been what the aura cancellation device was.
So, how was he supposed to make it to the third level?
Heads turned to Qrow just as he had broken out into a sprint, he aimed to go for the stairs the other workers had gone up. Qrow dove behind a short wall of supplies that was set up near, machine gunfire ripped into the wall where the huntsman had just been. He looked to next to where he had landed, a stack of cardboard boxes shielded him from sight of the guards. They had seen him dive under here, so why hadn't they even tried to hit him?
"Hold fire." A booming voice rang out, all the guards quiet, the only noise coming from the death match playing out above them.
Looking closer at the boxes, there were some familiar illustrations on the cardboard. When Qrow realized that these were boxes full of volatile dust, he figured that the guards stopped shooting to prevent a catastrophically large explosion.
This allowed him a pause in the manhunt, there were two sides from which the guards could come through. With Qrow sandwiched between the wall of the building and the wall of dust supplies, he was trapped. If that aura cancellation device worked enough to disable his bird form, then regular bullets could put him down like any other man!
Qrow just needed to focus, his ears narrowing in on sounds other than the sharp blows trading between Kaiser and the built man upstairs. Among that noise, the faint steps of boots on concrete were heard, the ones approaching his right much more closer than the ones approaching his left.
Qrow sprung into action, darting to his right just as the barrel of an assault gun poked through the corner.
When the guard himself had rounded the corner, Qrow swiped the gun to the side, hitting the guard in the face at the same time. A technique he picked up from a visit to Atlas when he was delivering a message to General Ironwood, at first offended at the general's suggestion that he learn from his troops, now grateful that he had practiced this particular move for a while.
It was enough, Qrow had stunned the guard, and taken his gun. He immediately swung it to the left, to where the other guard had come through. He squeezed a quick round at the man, the bullet going right into the guard's shoulder. This had taken the man off his feet, completely letting go of his own rifle. Qrow acted quickly in sliding the downed man's rifle to himself, both to take away that man's ability to shoot, and to provide himself with extra ammunition.
"I don't want to kill any of you, but I'll shred through all of you if I have to!" Qrow's voice came from behind the boxes, he began a standoff with the guards.
Qrow sighed at the stress of it all, this was only supposed to be a grimm extermination assignment.
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The second round of Hammers' twisted game had gone just the same as the first one, Kaiser trying desperately to survive. It had only been easier when Kaiser had figured out the rhythm at which Hammers' fought.
Every third punch with his left he'd switch it up with his right, every strike from his right either going for his upper body, or his head.
That is to say avoiding his attacks became manageable, but not guaranteed. Even though he could avoid his heavier strikes…
Kaiser went in for a right haymaker, it was blocked, Hammers' right shot out to meet Kaiser's face.
…he couldn't bypass the man's damn defenses.
Great! Now he had a broken nose, Kaiser continued to fight through the glassy eyes and bloody nose.
Kaiser got back up, because that was what he was supposed to do, everybody expected him to. His fist raised up, he waited for the Hammers' next strike. And come it did, Hammers' left colliding with Kaiser's side.
Then he saw it, for a fraction of a second, Hammers' side was also exposed.
Damning the consequences, Kaiser countered with his own strike, leaving himself completely defenseless. Hammers' was a little too slow in his reaction, breaking away from the interaction as Kaiser had made his first meaningful hit against the boxing champion.
"You've got moves, brat." Hammers' spat out, he held his side where Kaiser had managed to punch him, he looked at the injured boy with disdain. "Where were they when I cut your face open like a summer sausage?"
"Same place your career went-" Kaiser himself nursing the area he had let Hammers' hit him, he braced himself for the inevitable charge. The mention of his dead career was a sore spot, Kaiser almost didn't blame him for being pissed about it, he'd be livid too if he lost a 430 million lien contract.
Sidestepping Hammers', Kaiser pivoted around and shot out a swift front kick. It was blocked, Kaiser kept on by attempting to hit Hammers' head with a roundhouse, but that too was swatted away. Kaiser reversed the other way around to try for a reverse roundhouse kick to the face as soon as his leg hit the floor.
Hammers' had blocked all three kicks, pushing the boy away. He shot forward with a straight left, letting it be deflected by the boy, then feinting a straight right before landing a heavy right haymaker onto the boy's face.
Kaiser's head whipped to the side, every thought running through his head screeching to a halt. He didn't have time to be disoriented, on instinct, he swung a heavy right. Hammers' ducked, the fist arced over his head, retaliating with a swift crack against Kaiser's jaw. Hammers' threw a straight left at the stumbling boy to gauge his state of alertness; it had landed cleanly on Kaiser's chest, pushing the boy back even further. In the darkness of disorientation that Kaiser found himself in, a hand reached out, it latched onto the collar of the ratty shirt he wore. Feeling himself being pulled forward, Kaiser threw one strike at where Hammers' head was sure to be located.
His world exploded into light, Kaiser struggling to concentrate through his ringing ears.
Kaiser's vision had become clear, and he looked towards Hammers', he was seemingly as stunned as the boy had been. Kaiser lunged forwards with a three punch combo, all of which had been deflected or blocked by Hammers'. Kaiser latched his hands on the back of Hammers' neck, driving his knee in a couple times. It was obvious to everyone watching the match that the boy was getting desperate. After the clinch, Kaiser shoved the man away, frantically performing a jumping front kick. All it did was budge the boxer, immediately retaliating with three strikes to Kaiser's side.
Hammers' launched a heavy haymaker to Kaiser's head, the boy starting to catch on, he ducked. Pained gasp escaped the boy as he was brutally struck twice in the chest, he blocked the next two strikes to his sides. Hammers' had caught his second wind, starting on another devastating combination, hitting the boy with two hard punches to the face.
Kaiser's arm lashed out, eyes widened as the blow was caught. He was sent spinning to the ground as Hammers unleashed a devastating haymaker, this time catching Kaiser right in cheek.
Face up on the steel floor, Kaiser looked at Hammers. He tried getting up with half-lidded eyes, crashing to the floor once again as Hammers smashed his fist back into Kaiser's head. All control was lost, Kaiser couldn't get back up, he couldn't even feel his own body anymore. He could feel Hammers' gaze on him, even as he was face down on the floor.
"I'll kill you, then I'll feed you to the grimm outside." Hammers seethed out towards the boy, the boxer had gotten up on his feet, shouting towards the other guards. "Can I get a ten count?"
The guards on the upper floor began a chant, the countdown to his demise.
One!
That was it, Kaiser had been completely drained from the fight, even the thought of getting up was a struggle.
Two!
He had failed the mission, not only had he not figured out the cause of the sudden surge in grimm in the area, but he also failed in preventing the production of the Hercules serum.
Three!
The sounds of gunfire were heard below, Qrow was making his stand against the guards, likely Capricorn soldiers, Kaiser mused.
Four!
Qrow could handle them, he was a huntsman after all. Aura or not, Qrow could probably kick these guys asses. Nobody would blame Kaiser if he just closed his eyes, with all the shit he'd gone through this week, he didn't want them to open…
Five!
The only reason he wanted to be a huntsman was so he could escape being a spy for Albert Ross, both roads somehow lead to the same place. It didn't matter if Kaiser wanted to be a spy, a huntsman, or a goddamn waiter, he wouldn't be allowed to live his own life. Maybe… maybe it was better if he just let go…
Six!
"I hope you know that I was thrilled to do this operation with you tonight."
Seven!
Martin Kane's words rang out clearly in Kaiser's head, he remembered how excited he sounded. He also remembered how relieved he felt when reuniting with the assassin. It was a waste of a feeling now, knowing Kane was alive just as Kaiser would die so pitifully a couple of days later.
Somehow, violet eyes flashed into his memory, soft eagerness staring right at him.
Eight!
"The thing is, I like you, Kai. I like you a lot."
Nine!
"God, I'm so tired." Kaiser groaned under his breath, he had managed to get onto his side. His body screamed in protest as he pushed himself to his knees, feeling like every fiber of his being was being torn apart as he was getting up, once again.
"You just won't stop, won't you?" Hammers stared incredulously, the boy glared back as he raised his fists.
"I won't, not with your weak attempts of knocking me out." Kaiser shifted forward, almost enticing Hammers into attacking.
"Get ready for round three." Hammers shifted into his own fighting stance, angrily approaching Kaiser. His movements were jerky, predictable, and Kaiser knew exactly where Hammers had aimed to strike.
Kaiser's arm shielded his head from the blow, the impact rippling all throughout his left side. He hadn't even attempted a counter, he knew it wouldn't affect Hammers, and the cost of catching him off guard was too great to even try.
Another jab, Kaiser had slipped past it, only to be caught by another tremendous shot to the side. He had blocked that one too, with a swift backstep, Kaiser spun around to lash out with a kick. Hammers had prepared to block his sides, it was unnecessary, as the kick had swiped an inch away from Hammers' defense.
It was never Kaiser's intention to get at Hammers' torso.
Kaiser placed the lashed out foot on the floor, spinning once more to gain momentum, jumping in the air for a 360 roundhouse kick.
The kick landed on Hammers' face, the audible crack of shoe on skin reverberated throughout the factory.
Feints seemed to be a good tactic to use on Hammers', Kaiser would keep that in mind. Those thoughts were almost knocked out of Kaiser just as he was almost knocked out of his own consciousness via another of Hammers' heavy strikes.
Kaiser could feel his strength waning with every blow he had taken from Hammers', he moved in once more. His head jerked to the side as a fist came flying to where it had been. Kaiser countered by two quick jabs to the face, Hammers' expected the third, thus catching it. Kaiser was trapped, Hammers' hit with the force of a bullet, two nasty body shots taking Kaiser's breath away.
Without air in his lungs, there was practically no resistance in Kaiser's defense as Hammers' once again heavily struck the boy away. He wheezed as his lungs desperately tried to suck in air, sweat and tears blurred Kaiser's sight of the boxer fast approaching. Kaiser had to spring his trap, the difference between life and death depended on this one maneuver.
Hammers' stopped short as he saw the boy gear up for another kick, another bad attempt at striking his head. Instinctively, Hammers put his thick arms up to protect his head.
Kaiser smirked, switching legs once more, putting all of his force behind it, he executed a perfect back kick. The high impact strike collided with Hammers liver, rendering the man useless.
Kaiser had conditioned Hammers' through the third round of this sick game of theirs, always putting some sort of effort in exclusively aiming for his head. Even pretending that the torso was his target to get another good strike to the face, it was inevitable that Hammers' would assume that Kaiser was aiming for the head, leaving a vital organ unguarded. That along with the Scorpio assassination tactics taught to him by Martin Kane provided the boy with the perfect win condition.
All he had done was modify his fighting techniques to include trickery and deception, fitting for a person like Kaiser.
Hammers' crumpled to his knees, defenses low, the hit to his liver temporarily paralyzing him. Kaiser had started his comeback, first whipping Hammers' head skyward with an uppercut that sliced through the air. Kaiser tackled Hammers' upwards, getting him on his feet. His imposing figure meant nothing to the fire alight in Kaiser's blood, he pressed on.
Now, it was Hammers' that was preoccupied with defending against a flurry of blows, every strike a meaty thwack across Hammers' arms. A desperate roar was let out, one fueled by rage and hurt, the vulnerability of the young boy underlining the battle cry. Every time Hammers' tried to counter, Kaiser parried and attacked the boxer's exposed weaknesses.
Kaiser didn't slow down, not until he heard the uncertain rattle of the metal handrails on the foreman's platform. To this, he spun around and delivered a low kick, the momentum of the kick buckling Hammers' knees from under him. Hammers' had gripped onto the rail, raising himself up.
One step back, Kaiser geared up for another strike, he used his leg as a baseball bat to hit the ball that was Hank Hammers' body. He seemed to have underestimated his own strength, having knocked Hammers' over the rail.
A flash of panic from the crowd, as the boxer leaned a little more heavily onto the rail than normal. His huge weight leveraged past the rail, the heavyweight world champion of boxing toppling over the rail to the ground floor.
Everybody on the second floor watched as the head of security for the Hercules production line fell to the floor.
A loud splash was heard, causing Kaiser to dash towards the railing. Looking over the edge, he saw the wide array of the open chemical containers. One in particular contained the neon orange liquid, the fluid inside rippling from the splash that Hammers had taken in it.
The silence was palpable, only interrupted with gunfire slicing through the lack of noise. Kaiser dove to the floor, dodging gunfire from the guards on the second floor. He knew he had set off the other guards, humiliating their superior, something that warranted a death sentence.
The sound of gunfire coming from all around Kaiser's reminded him of the struggle below, he had to help Qrow. Keeping in mind from where he had heard the first shots during his match with Hammers, he dove in that specific direction, aiming to get a view as he fell towards the corner of the platform. He crouched to get a quick glance, one instance was all he needed to assess the situation.
Four Capricorn soldiers silently approached the wall of stacked boxes, meanwhile there was one soldier rounding the corner.
They were trying to bait Qrow, the moment he took down the first approaching gunman, he'd be caught off guard by the four other soldiers.
Kaiser couldn't let them kill Qrow, a plan already forming. His legs were coiled like springs, and just like springs, they launched him to the other end of the hand rail. Bullets spat to where Kaiser had been, typical Capricorn soldiers, never thinking ahead.
The gunfire shredded the corner of the handrail, leaving one entire end of the railing loose. Kaiser had noticed throughout the fight with Hammers that the railing was quite rusty, that meant that if it was forced hard enough, the railing on the other end would snap.
From his low position, Kaiser tackled the other corner of the handrail, the one untouched by the gunfire. He braced himself for a hard stop, the snap of the rusted handrail reverberated, the shock of the hit made waves through his side. In one instant, Kaiser snapped a 10 foot long hand railing off the foreman's platform, and dragged the scrap metal with him as he fell down the roughly 30 foot drop.
Using his strength, Kaiser threw the railing in the direction of the four soldiers. The small unit looked in shock at the massive hunk of metal shooting towards them, as well as the teenage boy falling soon after.
A chorus of shouting and cries rang out as the four soldiers behind the wall of boxes were crushed under the loose railing, the weight of the 170 pound boy pinning them to the floor.
"Who knew that rusty metal would cushion my fall?" Kaiser groaned out, already rolling off the hill of bodies he'd just created. He rolled just behind the men, he used their bodies as cover for the other soldiers on this floor. Reaching out his hand, Kaiser snatched one of their firearms, a Beretta M9. It had already been loaded and rounds had been chambered, all that was left was to look for targets. All he needed was a distraction to make sure that the soldiers didn't shoot him as soon as he popped back up.
A round of automatic fire had come from behind the wall of stacked boxes, the soldiers returned fire, making sure that their rounds didn't touch the boxes.
A little strange, but all in all, a great diversion.
Kaiser crouched up into a kneeling position one glance and he pinpointed the position of the guards. He brought up the M9, not bothering to aim, he shot in the general direction of the three remaining soldiers on the base floor. Kaiser's point shooting technique had not been as advanced as Martin Kane's, the older assassin most likely would have no problem shooting the three men in their arms to disable their ability to fire. Despite this, Kaiser did manage to fire the bullets into their chests.
The rest of the soldiers on the first floor went down, their focus on Qrow behind the stacked boxes distracting them from the boy behind the pile of unconscious bodies.
"Qrow!" Kaiser called out, just so he wouldn't get attacked as soon as he turned the corner.
"Kid!" Qrow pulled Kaiser behind him, sticking his head out to scan the area. "What the hell was going on up there?!"
"Had a fight with the head guard." Kaiser turned his gaze upward, noting that the other guards were refraining from taking a step. They likely took firing positions if Qrow or Kaiser decided to make the trek up the stairs. "Go up the floors, get the black box, break it so we can get our aura back. I'll cover you from here."
"Why can't you go up there?" Qrow reloaded his automatic weapon, adjusting it to his liking.
"I just beat up their boss, none of them are going to be my biggest fan." Kaiser lied through his teeth, this time anxious of what was to come.
Qrow had rolled his eyes, beginning to run up the stairs. Momentary panic flashed through his body as one of the soldiers appeared from nowhere at the top of the steps, the soldier already having his gun aimed.
A shot rang out, the soldier was launched back, Qrow looked back. He saw Kaiser, his arm outstretched nonchalantly, the M9 in his grasp with smoke floating out of its barrel. Qrow gave a slow nod to the boy, to which the boy reciprocated. No matter their differences, no matter their dispute from when they first arrived to Vacuo, they were in a life or death battle. Kaiser would have Qrow's back, and Qrow would have Kaiser's.
Qrow continued, crouching behind a workstation from the upper levels to avoid being shot. Periodically returning fire, he made sure that none of the workers were among the injured.
Kaiser meanwhile sprinted across the lower level of the factory, picking off the few guards who were unaware as to keep their backs to the mezzanine. Four shots later, and the path was made clearer for Qrow. The older huntsman had little problem shooting the other soldiers, despite the body armor, the force of the gunshots ensured that they would stay down for the time being.
"Hey!" A voice rang out to the side.
Kaiser's gaze snapped to it instantly, it was Rillo, their unofficial guide of Vacuo's underground. Rillo seemed to shrink at the emotionless eye that flicked in his direction.
"Uhh-" Rillo faltered with sudden nerves looking at the stark contrast to the harmlessly reserved boy he had met just a day ago. Standing before him now was a focused fighter, desensitized to the sudden rush of combat. "There's something coming from the vats!"
Kaiser brought his attention to the lined rows and columns of chemical vats, deep within was a pounding sound that echoed throughout the floor.
His eyes narrowed and his frown deepened, he hadn't had the time to prepare for what was to come from the moment he kicked Hammers over the railing. The only bit of strategy he had done was send Qrow upstairs, between the two of them, Kaiser knew what to expect.
Sounds of crumpling metal and spilt liquids filled the floor, slowly approaching the assembly line.
Splashes of neon orange sprayed towards Kaiser, he stepped back, the wasted Hercules serum falling at his feet.
"Was wondering how long it was going to take you to turn like this." Kaiser may as well have been talking to a brick wall, that's what it was going to feel like if he took a punch from the figure that emerged from the wreckage of the chemical vats.
The figure said nothing, just standing there, drenched and dyed with a light orange hue. It was Hammers, a terrifying mass of artificial muscle pumped full of the steroid that Kaiser knocked him into. When the boxer had been submerged in the stuff, it must've seeped into his body by way of his mouth, nostril, and even his ears. Hammers had been the very image of a veteran to battle, a battle-hardened warrior with a lifetime of wins under his belt. Now, he looked like a mindless monster, one hellbent on the same goal that Hammers had without the Hercules: killing Kaiser.
Hammers had grown at least twice in size in both height and musculature, veins popped out of every body part that he had. By some miracle, only his uniform shirts and boots had ripped through as his mass had enlarged, leaving the muscled beast in only his uniform pants. Rage filled his eyes, and it exuded from the monster, even as he charged toward the boy.
Kaiser, with only a pistol and his tenacity as his only weapons, ran towards the amalgamation of his worst nightmares.
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Qrow crouched behind another workstation, Kaiser had stopped supporting him one minute into his assault on the second floor. Great, at least the boy had taken three other soldiers down before they got the chance. The sound of erupting gunfire had drowned out the noise coming from below, and thus, Qrow had not noticed what was happening underneath him.
Another soldier popped up, Qrow squeezed off a precise shot, the soldier went down easily. Before he could even celebrate, Qrow ducked behind cover as bullets from two different directions had launched past where his head had been. Swiftly, he changed positions from behind one workstation to another, quickly shifting from station to station unnoticed.
Qrow waited..
More automatic fire coughed in the direction Qrow was last seen, he tackled the shooter to the floor. Using his position above the man, he balled his fist, attacking the soldier's rib cage. This resulted in the soldier dropping his gun, a couple more punches and he had been down. He struck the back of the head for insurance, he brought up his weapon once again. Just half an inch, and he held the trigger, sending a torrent of bullets towards the last unsuspecting soldier.
Qrow looked around one last time, the floor littered with downed soldiers and crouching workers. He had a clear path, all that was left was to advance to the observation deck.
The rickety steps creaked as Qrow pressed it down with his weight, with his luck, the stairs would collapse before he made it to the floor. His leg kicked the door in, cool air conditioning seeped out of the closed off observation deck.
Inside, a slender, much older man was inside. He was hunched over a computer, typing in a document.
"Hands up, asshole!" Qrow shouted, startling the man that seemed to be running this entire operation.
"What are you doing!" Dull brown eyes looked at the weapon pointed his way, the face was wrinkled from stress.
"Evening the odds." Qrow gestured to the black box on the table next to the computer, the leader's gaze drawn to it. "That's the aura jammer?"
At the sight of the huntsman pointing a gun in his direction, the leader nervously nodded. He braced himself for the torrent of bullets coming his way, they may not hit him since he wasn't the target, but they would come pretty damn close. His eyes screwed shut as the gunman's finger pulled the trigger back.
A click sounded off, no resounding bang.
The gun had jammed, the click immediately bringing relief to the leader. At the same time, bringing panic to Qrow. Even as he dashed forward towards the leader, he knew that some of the previously downed soldiers were beginning to climb the stairs.
Qrow's semblance may have been factored out due to the aura cancellation device, but what was not foreseen was the preternatural efforts of the universe trying to prevent any amount of good to occur in Vacuo.
/-/
Kaiser dove backwards, the concrete that Hammers had slammed his fists into cracked under the impact. Just a millisecond too late, and he would've been flattened. From his position on his back, Kaiser swung the pistol out, instinctively firing off a couple rounds at Hammers' chin.
The 9mm rounds dug into the chin of the monster, a spatter of blood erupted, the monster still persisted. To Hammers, the bullets likely felt like pebbles thrown his way, nothing worth stopping for. More bullets crashed into the wall of muscle as Hammers charged at Kaiser, each shot popped into his skin.
Kaiser had left his reaction a little too late, with Hammers' new extended reach, his heavy arm swatted the boy aside. Kaiser's body flew through the air, landing in a heap of cardboard boxes. A vague thought passed through Kaiser's head as he saw a small print stamped on the side of a crumpled box in the pile that he had landed in.
Combustible material.
The fine orange particles dribbling from some of the ruined particles had indicated that it had been dust, specifically, the lightning and fire dust mixture used in the production of Hercules. An idea sparked in his head, and in a couple moments, something else would be sparking.
Kaiser dashed out of the pile of cardboard boxes, dragging one of them with him. He nearly ran right into the Hercules-powered Hammers, only barely being able to jerk himself to one side to avoid slamming himself into the monster. That last hit had disoriented him intensely, hopefully he'd be able to pull off the next trick without any trouble.
The drawback with Hercules was that the increased muscle mass and strength resulted in a major decrease in mobility. Sure, Hammers could run as fast as a professional football player, but turning and switching directions wasn't exactly his strong suit. Thus, it took a couple seconds for Hammers to turn around. The time it took Hammers to face the boy, the cardboard box had already been flying at him.
Kaiser had already drawn, pointed, and fired the pistol before the cardboard box even made physical contact with Hammers.
The gunshot drilling right through the box, then the dust, ignited the spark needed. Essentially turning the cardboard box into a flaming projectile, one that would spread its contents all over Hammer's body.
In an instant, Hammers had caught on fire, the crackle of lightning overlapped with the flames consuming the hulking beast. A devastating roar came out of the burning brute, he made for a desperate tackle for the boy.
The flames seared Kaiser's clothes, the used clothes he borrowed from Rillo catching on fire. Kaiser dove to the floor, immediately rolling on the dry ground, putting the flames out. When he had stopped, he looked, facing the massive foot slamming down towards him. Kaiser had no choice but to attempt to dive again out of the way, if he hadn't…
Kaiser looked back at the spot where he had been, Hammers' foot planted firmly in the ground, the concrete now cracked.
…he'd certainly would've ended up with a set of shattered ribs.
Kaiser rolled into a standing position, instantly turning around into a spinning kick, instinct guiding his move.
The strike landed on Hammers' knee, Kaiser's kick having completely dislocated the joint, breaking the leg at the knee. Kaiser knew that this wouldn't be enough, but at least Hammers' speed was cut down.
Pained roars shocked Kaiser as Hammers knee buckled in, a grotesque crunching almost eliciting a gag from the boy and anyone within range of the noise.
Kaiser winced at the noise, then panicked at the sight of Hammer charging away from the boy. More specifically, charging at the workers hiding behind the packing station.
"No!" Kaiser rushed towards Hammers, jumping at the last second, his weight landing squarely on Hammers' injured leg.
Disgustingly, the leg crumpled inwards, causing Hammers to topple over. The ground shook as the muscled beast hit the floor, one of the heavy arms falling on Kaiser, dragging the boy to ground.
Pinned under the hand weighing about the same as a tree trunk, Kaiser shakily struggled to lift the arm off of him. He needed to get out from under the arm to start fighting back, no, what he really needed was a goddamn miracle!
The shatter of glass cut through the chaos, the loud clatter of hard material on concrete drew Kaiser's attention.
An inconspicuous black box fell from the observation deck, quite a ways away from the ensuing battle. Somehow, the miracle he needed had fallen out of the sky, more accurately, had been thrown out the window. Forcing himself forward, Kaiser crawled out from under Hammers' heavy arm, grunting with all the effort exerted.
A sense of dread filled Kaiser's stomach as a deep rumbling emanated from behind him, Hammers' was getting back up. Pushing with everything he had, Kaiser rushed towards the black box. Every step pounded on the concrete floor, he could feel Hammers' on his tail, just one swipe and Kaiser wouldn't make it to the box.
Already, he could sense Hammers' gearing up to strike at him, the Hercules serum overpowering any sense of self preservation.
Kaiser screwed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the next attack.
Rapid fire shots rang through the air, Kaiser ducked, a barrage of bullets had slapped against Hammers' skin. Marks littered his overdeveloped body, small patches of broken skin dripping a little bit of blood. This was exactly what he needed, Kaiser charged forward, with Hammers a little further back, yet still hot on Kaiser's heels.
Kaiser stretched his arm low as he ran, his fingers finding purchase on the heavy box. As soon as he picked it up, he felt a thrum of power vibrating from the device and shooting up his hand. It astounded him that the electrical device in his possession had the capability of disrupting one's own soul, he didn't dwell on this, as he was about to destroy it within seconds of picking it up.
Once again, Kaiser's hyper-awareness had warned him of another imminent attack. He gauged the distance between the two from the pounding footsteps of the juiced up giant, then stopped running. Pivoting his feet to the other way, Kaiser swung his arms toward the incoming missile that was Hammers' fist.
Pieces of reinforced plastic and metal alloys showered the factory floor, the device shattered by the single minded rage of the former boxing champion. With the drug having taken over his senses, Hammers' had lost any sense of self to the titan he had become, but the ire towards the boy bubbled to the forefront as soon as he saw the self-satisfied little smirk.
A flash of fury, Hammers' brought both his arms up, linking his hands together, swinging them down with all the force of a speeding car. To a normal person, the attack would have crushed the person into a fine red mist and a stain on the floor.
The fists had stopped abruptly, Hammers' trying his damndest to apply more pressure to kill the boy. Any person without a super steroid invading their mind could tell you that the boy under Hammers' was struggling to block a force equivalent freight train. Kaiser was very much not a stain on the pavement, and more importantly: Kaiser was not a normal person.
/-/
"Can you let me go now?" Gemini's new leader was held in a vice grip between Qrow's arm and his torso. His head had the older huntsman's arm wrapped around his neck, every word came out in a grunt.
"Try to move and I'll drop you like your men over there." The threat felt empty, Qrow was too occupied by what he was seeing. Seven feet of grotesquely pumped up muscle advanced on the boy he was supposed to be chaperoning, neon orange tracked throughout Hammer's body by way of his veins. Other parts of his body were covered by a thick layer of charring, as if the man had been roasted over an open flame.
Qrow had managed to incapacitate the soldiers that had come into the observation deck, he tried wrestling the device from the leader, only for the leader to throw it out of Qrow's reach. The device had flown out the window, shattering the glass window on its way down. Which was when his heart dropped into his stomach, their chances of surviving the morning- much less the next 20 minutes- had gone down significantly.
Qrow aimed the rifle, and fired as soon as he saw the giant beginning to attack. He just managed to buy the kid an extra second of pause, a sigh of relief let out as the boy evaded a heavy attack from behind.
The loud cough of gunfire erupted in Qrow's direction, the older huntsmen throwing himself and the leader of the Gemini group to the floor. Bullets sprayed the inside of the observation deck, clearly, the soldiers that he'd shot had gotten back up. Grasping the rifle, he popped back up when he heard the gap in gunfire. A single shot cracked through the chaos, planting itself firmly into Qrow's shoulder. He went down immediately, heavy breathing followed, Qrow clutched at the area where the bullet had impacted.
Qrow's eyes snapped open as his palm brushed over the hot metal of the bullet, shock overtook the man.
The round hadn't entered at all, Qrow felt fine. In fact, he felt a surge of aura flowing through his veins. What the hell had happened, he'd heard a shattering of plastic and metal, and now he felt electricity coursing through his body.
Qrow had access to his aura again!
Which came with the amplification of all his senses, allowing Qrow to hear the hollow rattle of the first step of the stairway. He quickly scrambled to the doorway and dropped into a slide, his leg leading the charge. The approaching soldier's eyes widened as an 185 pound man, those same eyes falling shut as he was launched away from the staircase and back down to the second floor.
With his aura restored, he jumped down the stairs, pursuing the weapons of the downed soldiers. With his aura restored, he was untouchable.
/-/
Kaiser caught a full powered punch to the side, the impact surpassing that of cannon ball shot at a brick wall. This sent the boy back, his vision swimming, his legs buckling. Even with his aura restored, Hammers still had the power to knock the boy around. For a split second, Kaiser was immobilized, enough for Hammers to swat him to the side once again.
Kaiser fell onto the work table where the workers had previously been filling the vials with Hercules. At the end of these vials, was a thin needle, likely for ease of access to inject the steroid. One rolled away from the collapsed table, diligently trekking across the warehouse floor. The glass shattered as Hammers indifferently stomped the vial into nothing. The neon orange liquid splattering under Hammers' heel, seeping into the concrete.
A singular red eye peered at the approaching monster, fatigue setting in. Just a week ago, he was in a similar position when facing Jasper Greene in downtown Vale. He remembered the conversation they had before the last stretch of their showdown…
…and one little detail that would win him this fight!
It took more strength than it reasonably should have for Kaiser to get up, his body screaming for rest. Still, he pushed past his bodies' limit, standing defiantly against the figure from his past life.
"Come on Hammers! If you wanted a rematch, you should've talked to my manager!" Kaiser cast a sidelong glance to the workers, they had chosen self preservation, the majority of them huddled in the corner near the chemical vats. "Though, I don't deal much with cheaters!" Kaiser hoped that there was a bit of consciousness left in the man, hoping more so that the small part of what was left of Hammers was pissed off.
Whether it was the single mindedness of the monster before him, or Hammers' innate drive to win, the hulking slab of muscle charged at the boy.
A flash of darkness engulfed the floor, Hammers' desperately ramming forward, a hard impact suddenly stopping him. Two piercing stabs were sent into his lower back, the monster screamed in frustration. The darkness flushed away, revealing the light of the factory floor just as Hammers' roar reached a crescendo.
Kaiser's breathing had been labored, sweating profusely. He had never stretched his semblance to that degree, it showed by how much it had taken a toll on him. It was only a couple seconds, but using his semblance to cover the expanse of the factory floor had drained almost half of his aura.
Gunfire zipped by Kaiser's still body, all the second floor soldiers aiming for Kaiser, who was perched atop the railing of the mezzanine. How he had gotten up there so fast was a mystery, a mystery that the soldiers were determined to make disappear along with the boy. None of their bullets touched him, as one by one, Qrow had picked them off expertly from the stairs leading to the observation deck.
Kaiser's eyes flicked to Qrow's position, camaraderie exchanged between them. Kaiser had covered Qrow earlier, and Qrow was returning the favor.
The boy aimed his attention back to the powered up boxer below, his words coming out taunting yet playful. "What's the matter? I thought you were going to throw me to the grimm!"
This had garnered Hammers' rage, his legs bending, Hammers launched himself into the air. The jump easily would have carried him high enough to reach the second floor, and it would have put Hammers in perfect range to strike the boy down…
…had Kaiser not jumped off the railing to meet Hammers in the middle. Hammers cocked his fist back, ready to catch the boy. Kaiser, instead, focused his weight forward into a dive. Ultimately diving a little past Hammers, but not before leaving another nasty surprise for the man.
Yet another deception by the trickster spy.
Hammers once again roared from the two piercing stabs made to his upper back, near his shoulders. The shock of the action stunning him, preventing him from grabbing onto the ledge. Hammers fell with a resounding crash, Kaiser waiting patiently on the ground floor.
"Get up, Hank!" Kaiser faked his arrogance, in reality he was quickly running out of energy and a couple more hits from Hammers would put him down. "It's time to take your shots!" He revealed what he had hidden behind his back, vials filled with neon orange liquid.
Kaiser had been injecting Hammers with the very liquid the boxer was in charge of producing.
With the amount of exposure to Hercules that Hammers had, it would take a while for the drug to leave his system. Instead of waiting for the drug to flush out, Kaiser decided to go the other way around and inject the man with more. Kaiser dashed forward to inject the man twice more, the last two vials he had managed to pick up in time that he shrouded everything in shadows.
Hammers twitched.
Kaiser stopped immediately, stepping back just as Hammers slammed a giant hand where the boy had been. Clawing at the floor, Hammers charged headfirst into the boy. Crashing his skull into the stomach of the boy, taking Kaiser along like a rhino impaling a target.
A loud clang reverberated through the factory floor as Kaiser's back hit the steel door that was the entrance of the factory. The air was punched out of him, Kaiser barely got his bearings together when he felt the door crack open.
The high creak sped up as Hammers forced the boy through the large double steel doors, shock going through Kaiser's head as he felt himself being lifted and charged through the underground tunnels below the streets of Vacuo.
Kaiser slammed his hands down onto the arm that trapped him, trying to free himself. It was to no avail, as Hammers had started to slam Kaiser against the walls. His vision shaking with every impact, Hammers lifted Kaiser over his head, finally slamming the boy on his back to the floor.
Kaiser's head hit the floor, and in that slight moment, something very strange happened. It was as if a mental fog had lifted, a blast of clarity hitting the boy. In truth, he did not know when this mental block had been weighing him down. The pain, the danger had helped him see clearer. For a while now, he had the intention to forget who he once was. Throwing himself fully into the life of a student of Beacon academy, despite this, he felt like a ghost that roamed the halls. He had been able fit in, while never truly belonging.
It was for a single moment, Kaiser was reminded of who he was, and what he was trained to be. Deep down, he was a weapon, a sharpened blade with a single purpose.
Kaiser kicked up, stepping back from a wild swing by Hammers.
This was the shit that he lived for…
Kaiser stepped in range, plucking one of the empty steroid syringes from Hammers' body. Choosing carefully, the boy struck at another weak point in Hammers defense. Jabbing the thin needle of the syringe into the boxer, continuing to do this until Hammers had caught the boy off guard with a kick that sent him further down the tunnel.
…this was the shit he would die for!
Kaiser caught himself against the wall, he slid down the corridor wall. Once again, he dashed towards the juiced up boxer. Using his speed, he ran up the wall to gain height, jumping to catch Hammers in the face with a wild kick.
Hammers head snapped to the side, growing more agitated as Kaiser used his shoulders as a landing and jumping off point. He landed with a roll onto the floor, quickly turning around just as Hammers was gearing up for a devastating haymaker.
Kaiser jumped backwards, just in time to avoid a punch from Hammers, this one instead hitting the tunnel's wall to his left. Kaiser had set his sharp gaze upon the explosion of dust particles that was the result of the demolished stone wall, the Hercules that Kaiser had injected into Hammers had supercharged the man. If he wasn't careful, Hammers could kill anyone with a single strike, the gap in power between Hammers and Kaiser was that of a mere monkey facing down a lion.
As the dust settled, Kaiser braced for Hammers to charge forward, then he paused. Hammers stood in front of the boy, he was… convulsing? Hammers' muscles started contracting as if they were having a bad reaction, it slowed down after a second. Kaiser spotted a broken rusted pipe lining the wall, it had snapped open on one end at Hammers' destructive blow. Kaiser snatched the pipe and immediately swung at the man, crashing the pipe into Hammers' fractured knee. This brought the man down a bit, low enough for Kaiser to crack the pipe across Hammers'. A low groan left the man as he took one more blow from the pipe before finally catching the pipe, crushing the damn thing in his right fist.
Kaiser once again found himself pinned to the wall by Hammers' enlarged hand, pulling back his other arm for one final attack. This one was guaranteed to land and kill the boy, more importantly, there was no possible recourse for the boy to turn to. For a single instance, the two fighters had seen what the other had devolved into during this bout.
Hammers', a shell of his former self, fueled by a blind rage. Kaiser stared with a cold indifference at his own death, as for a short moment, he had reverted to the weapon that he had been when he was fully under the control of Albert Ross.
Hammers pulled his fist back, letting it find its final target.
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Qrow had managed to keep the soldiers at bay, but the weapon he had could only hold so many rounds! Ducking behind one of the workstations, he continued exchanging shots.
An empty click sounded, Qrow screwed his eyes shut, keeping his senses sharp. Qrow figured that there might have been another soldier hiding behind another workstation two tables down, he needed to go and take that man's gun. As he mentally prepared himself to go, he paused, hearing a noise from outside.
An explosion, somebody had blown a hole through the brick wall of the building!
Sounds of footsteps burst through the door, each one in time with another. One- no five- actually, a full eight man squad of soldiers in sand-colored uniforms. From the looks of it, they looked like special forces. Qrow doubted he'd be able to handle a shootout with them, he was starting to regret leaving the weapons he and the boy had at the motel.
To Qrow's surprise, they started rounding up the soldiers running the place. They must've been the Vacuoan branch of the special weapons and tactics team. Given that they were no threat to him, Qrow ran down the stairs to follow after Kaiser. He had managed to catch the unbelievable sight of the boy being charged through the entrance door by a tank of a human being. As soon as he reached the bottom floor, Qrow had paused.
An alarming red dot had appeared on his chest, three more accompanying it soon after.
"Identify yourself!" The man in charge, and the one aiming a rifle at Qrow's chest barked out.
"I'm Qrow Branwen, I'm a huntsman from Vale." Qrow was confident his reputation would carry him through this interaction.
"You're the one with Canvas?" The man in charge asked.
"Who the hell is that?" Qrow stepped back, suddenly doubting his choice to let himself be seen.
"Just got confirmation from command." One of the other officers marched up to the leader, handheld transceiver in hand. "He's with Canvas, where is Staplo Brown?" Both officers aimed questioning looks at Qrow, their gaze beginning to annoy the man.
"Who?" Qrow once again stared dumbfounded at the officers.
"The man behind this drug operation." The officers informed Qrow of the basic description of the man, good thing for them, Qrow did have a slight idea where the man might have been.
"I got him tied up in the observation deck, he's on the third floor." Qrow pointed out the piece of architecture jutting out of the wall, he then gestured toward the large double doors where he and the other workers had entered through. "I gotta go check on my partner." Without even waiting for a response, Qrow ran for the double doors.
It was a strain to open one of them, cracking it open, Qrow slipped inside the dark tunnel. The sound of fist pounding flesh cracked through the eerie silence, Qrow made his way toward the noise.
Qrow flinched as his foot hit something hard, with the low light, it was hard to check what he had almost stumbled upon. His eyes began to adjust to the dark, marking a faint outline of what- no- who he had found.
That incredibly large man, the one who presumably fell into the chemical vat.
And on top of the man's still chest, raining down heavy punches on his face…
"Kid!" Qrow ran to the boy's side, well, as much as he could without stepping on the man. Hammers' face was wrecked, and Kaiser fist had developed a thin sheen of blood. Whether the stain on his hands were from the man's face or the boy's knuckles were up for debate. The unnatural stillness to the man had told him one thing, Hammers had stopped breathing a while ago.
Despite this revelation, Kaiser kept up his offense, stringing together a combination of punches to the man's face and head. Each strike punctuated with a focused battle cry, barely aware of Qrow speaking to him.
"You're done!" Qrow managed to wrap his arms around Kaiser's torso, wrenching him off of Hammers.
Kaiser landed on the floor, the response was immediate, as he jumped up to attempt a counter.
Unfortunately, no amount of fancy moves could really do anything about the older man just shoving the boy against the wall. Qrow would keep him pinned there until he was sure that Kaiser's rage had subsided, but it wasn't Kaiser's rage. It wasn't any emotion at all, as if Kaiser felt nothing.
No, Qrow had gotten a better look at the boy, he had seen something despite the unusually calm manner in this high stress situation. Tear tracks ran down from the boy's eyes, ending at his chin. Even with the tears streaking down his face, Kaiser looked… empty. As if his body was only dictating how he should feel.
"What the hell happened?" Qrow knew whatever it was, he'd have one hell of a story to tell Ozpin.
/-/
"I… I killed him." Kaiser managed to grunt out, the pressure from Qrow pushing him, changing his tone of voice.
"Yeah, that much I figured." Qrow answered sarcastically. "How did you manage to overpower him?"
"I never could beat him with raw strength alone, I needed something different."
"Using more than one dose a day could kill you, right?"
"That- that chemical we've been helping to produce today is a steroid meant for combat purposes." Kaiser could feel Qrow let up just a little, Kaiser settled, it wasn't worth the trouble to start beating down Hammers. "Started as a prototype, but no matter how much they improved the formula, it's still a really powerful drug. Hammers was always going to die after taking in the amount he did, I just sped up the process."
Kaiser would never forget the very moment that Hammers' heart had stopped, it had happened just before the man could land the killing blow on the boy. It started as a ripple, something Kaiser felt through Hammers grip. Then, the final pause, before Hammers had loosened his grip on the boy before he had collapsed backwards.
"I pumped him full of Hercules to make his heart explode." Kaiser finished, not quite saddened, but not quite satisfied. He felt… nothing.
"Are you alright?" Qrow asked, dropping a hand down on the boy's shoulder.
"What?" Kaiser's wide eyes snapped to Qrow's. He had just admitted to murder, and Qrow was asking if he was alright.
"These are the types of things that we deal with as huntsmen." Qrow leaned back against the wall. "Some missions can be as easy as just standing watch, but others can leave shit on you. Not just scars, but stuff that you can't see. Most don't really bother confronting it, they let it build up. I mean, look at me." Qrow gestured to himself, his hand subconsciously reaching for his hip flask, the one he had left back at the motel. "So I ask you, one more time: Are you ok?"
Kaiser gave the easiest answer, "Yeah."
"Alright. We gotta get back in there, some guys came in while you were gone." Qrow began walking away from the body, towards the entrance of the facility. "I think they were special forces."
Kaiser trailed behind Qrow, still stuck in his own thoughts, flashes of the past few minutes stuck in the back of his mind. He only shook out his reverie when Qrow spoke up.
"Did you know him?" Qrow asked, not bothering to look back at Kaiser or Hammers.
"Yeah."
"How did you meet him?"
"I first saw him on a job, when I was 15. He caught me, I escaped, we both got caught in a scrap." Kaiser's voice was low, just loud enough for Qrow to hear. "I dropped a pot of hot oil on his face."
The older man snorted, his hands beginning to pull on the heavy steel doors. "Makes sense, I can't imagine you being in line for his autograph."
"Never really was a fan of boxers." Kaiser followed Qrow back into the factory floor, unaware of what lay before him.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure you get home safe." A man in combat dress had grouped together the workforce. Escorting them to a smaller transit van, enough to fit the group.
Kaiser caught a glance at the man, a tan combat uniform, much different to the ones the Capricorn soldiers here were wearing. Recognition flashed in Kaiser's eyes, these were the trained operatives working under the IPS. They knew this location, something that must've been discovered recently. Albert Ross had mentioned that they were looking for the facility for some time, and the only thing that had changed between that conversation months ago and now was Kaiser's own arrival in Vacuo.
The IPS had planted a tracker on Kaiser, and he had led the team straight to the production facility.
Kaiser immediately began conducting a body check, first patting down his torso and his back. He felt up his arms and finally, he moved down to his legs. Nimble fingers brushed over something smooth and clear, Kaiser inspected the small plastic patch on his ankle. He vaguely remembered one of the IPS soldiers grabbing at his ankle when they had intercepted the truck, that's how it was planted. Peeling it off, Kaiser inspected the near invisible wiring built into the patch. The last time he had seen this sort of thing was when the tracker was in its prototype stage right before he left the IPS, it seemed as if they managed to get a working model. Kaiser crushed the device between his fingers and brushed it off to the side, one of the soldiers was quickly approaching the boy.
"I heard rumors about the IPS having a kid on their payroll, didn't think those rumors were true." The man stretched out a gloved hand for Kaiser to shake, Kaiser did, but only out of professional courtesy.
"That's because they aren't, I'm not with you guys, and I'm not a child." Kaiser responded calmly.
"Like we're supposed to believe that, like how we're also supposed to believe that you weren't the one disrupting some Atlas imperialist group from stealing a couple tons of newly found dust ore from Menagerie a couple weeks ago." The man gave a sarcastic huff.
Kaiser crossed his arms, apart from the obvious being that he had been studying for one of Doctor Oobleck's exams, he decided to drop a small tidbit of information that would debunk the man's entire accusation. "I've never been to Menagerie. But all that is besides the point, who do you report to?"
"I'm under orders from Ahmed Ramaa, he supplied our team with the information to find you." The man had turned serious, something appreciated by Kaiser.
"And I'm guessing your director got his information straight from Vale?" Kaiser inquired.
"I'm not privy to that information."
"That's fine, I got a bit of an idea of how this all turned out the way it did." Kaiser had dismissed the man, he looked over to Qrow, who had a tired expression on his face.
"Seems like we're done here kid." The next words had brought Kaiser immense relief, the past few nights taking a toll on both Qrow and the boy. "Are you ready to get the hell out of Vacuo?"
It was finally over, not only his trip to Vacuo, but the nightmare that had been the Gemini branch of Zodiac. All those months of work starting from the moment he had encountered Edwin Morris injected with Hercules, had finally come to an end. He probably had to provide an after-action report to Ross, but he didn't really care all that much, all he could focus on was his answer to Qrow's question.
"Fuck yeah!"
/-/
Kaiser can go a little feral, but only as a treat.
This would've been done a day ago, but Spider-man 2 dropped, and I'm a big fan of the webhead. Fun fact, a lot of Kaiser's current combat style is inspired by watching spider-man. The grappling hook is supposed to be a sort of pseudo web-shooter, but with all the limitations you can put on a grappling hook as to not make it a 1 to 1 copy.
That concludes the mission in Vacuo, honestly the most grueling part of this story, seeing as we've barely seen it at all in the show(I'm assuming, I stopped after vol. 8). I honestly can't believe that it's almost been a full year since I started this part of the story, and three full years since I started this story in general. Genuinely, thank you for following on with this story as I grow as a writer, I really hope that you guys will continue reading until 2027 when I inevitably end this story and then move on with my life.
There were many times I wanted to just abandon this piece, or maybe end it by having Jasper kill Kaiser and then explain how realistically, there was little chance Kaiser had and why this particular ending was more mature and insightful.
I'm glad I didn't end it that way, or else I wouldn't have gotten this far. 202,000 words, it's unbelievable that I came up with that amount of words when I could barely come up with measly 200 words for any writing assignment.
I have about two more chapters planned after this before I take a while and start planning out the Vol.3 portion of this fic.
As always, reviews are welcome.